Raza sat quietly as his journey continued.
'I didn't get any points from fending off the Single Order. I wonder if it was because my mission wasn't completed yet, or because it wasn't considered an accomplishment to fight them…'
When he thought about this, Raza also began to think about Lender's battle. He was the same rank in terms of strength as the duel wielders, but he was able to easily take care of his foes. Raza came up with two theories as to why.
The first one was within a bracket of strength, there were milestones or different levels within each bracket. If the Single Order swordsmen were Blue Tier I, then Lender must have been Blue Tier II or higher. Allura also didn't flinch during the entire battle. Raza reasoned that she must have been closer to whatever the next level of strength was than Lender.
The second theory was their usage of skills and mana efficiency. Lender and the swordsmen actually had the same level of strength, but Lender utilized his skills in a more efficient way. That would explain why he was able to fight barehanded, and why Raza was able to fight two enemies on his own. Raza had no way of measuring himself, so he just assumed that everyone was stronger than him, just to be safe.
While Raza was lost in thought, Allura was staring at him curiously. Their trip was about halfway over, yet Raza never showed a shred of emotion. Well, any emotion outside of battle. To Allura, Raza was an entertaining person to tease, but she found herself growing a bit attached to him. She released a heavy sigh which snapped Raza out of his trance.
"It looks like the rest of our journey will be awfully boring!" Allura sighed.
"Don't jinx us!" Lender yelled at her.
"Agreed," Raza nodded. "Like what Lender mentioned before, there's a chance that the Single Order will send reinforcements. We should stay vigilant."
Allura pouted and crossed her arms. She wanted to continue teasing Raza, but she knew that she wouldn't get much of a reaction. Instead, she changed tactics.
"Raza, do you know why Mutants are so hated?" She smiled.
"Isn't it because they evolved differently from the rest of their species?" Raza raised an eyebrow.
He wondered why she bothered to bring this up, but Allura smiled at his answer. She found a new way to entertain herself.
"Tell me Raza, what are the 7 kingdoms that rule this continent?"
"There's the kingdom we're in now, Ambicia, and the Muntant kingdom, Exilliania. After that, there's the Elven Kingdom, Woocaida, the Dwarf Kingdom, Thike, the Monster Kingdom, Nueva Vie, the Beast Folk Kingdom, Herdicia, and the Shunned Kingdom, Hushed," Raza answered. "Why did you ask?"
"Well, the reason why we have so many different kingdoms is because people from different origins very rarely get along. Dwarves are drunkards, Elves are narcissistic, Monsters are overly emotional, but, of course, there are exceptions. There are a few Beast folk that live here, and you can find humans in most places around the world," Allura shrugged. "But Mutants are different…" She smiled.
Sensing that she wanted to add a dramatic pause, Raza sighed. He was interested in hearing where this was going, but Allura's desire to be entertained was annoying, to say the least.
"How?" Raza asked.
"Mutants are the descendants of people who were able to put their differences to the side in order to reach something else. Knowledge!" She proclaimed.
At this, Lender also began to listen in. Knowledge was power after all. Raza, on the other hand, could more or less guess where this was going, but he let Allura continue.
"Once upon a time, researchers from all over the world gathered together. They worked under one paradigm. 'If each species had hidden potential, then we can find and unlock that potential'" She quoted.
"Something doesn't add up. How are scientists coming into the picture if it was evolution that forced mutants to be shunned?" Raza raised an eyebrow.
"There are two ways to evolve," Raza," Allura said grimly. "It's either a form of survival, or you force it upon yourselves… Of course, the Shunned and Monsters were excluded from this research."
Raza thought about the information that he just heard. If this was true, then he had another question. How come there were so many different variants of mutants? As if sensing what Raza's question was, Allura answered.
"Of course, they all operated under the same central theory, but what the end goal looked like varied from group to group. Some Elves wanted to find true beauty, and as a result, Succubi came to be. Some Humans wanted to live longer, so Vampires were the result. The list goes on and on of failed and successful experiments," She explained.
"And as the experiments continued on, Mutants also gained special abilities and magic. Hence explained why they were separated into what is now Exilliania," Raza finished.
"That is correct, Raza!" Allura clapped her hands together.
Raza rubbed his chin. There was something that was still off. For starters, he wondered why Monsters and the Shunned weren't involved at all. The more he thought about it, the closer he got to a conclusion.
"I can understand why Monsters were excluded from the research. Their entire kingdom is composed of intelligent beasts who are already considered to be a powerful race. If they get any stronger, then the balance of the world would be upset. But what about the Shunned?" Raza asked.
"That's hard to say. I had never seen one of their kind, and they solemnly let anyone into their kingdom. If they didn't have a whole portion of the continent to themselves, I would have believed that they were a myth," Allura sighed.
"I can't say anything either, Kid," Lender chimed in. The Shunned are even more shady than anyone who's in the Ring. They never participated in any wars, and even during Continental Meetings that occur every decade, they only use a Communication Crystal to attend. They never appear in person."
"That is… unsettling," Raza sighed.
There was no point in trying to learn more about these people. If they wanted to isolate themselves, then Raza believed it was best to leave them alone. He doubted that they would become an issue later, but now, Raza's mind wandered off to the Single Order.
"All of the kingdoms have been relatively peaceful with each other for about a century now. Why would the Single Order try to stop the kingdoms from furthering their relationships?" Raza moved on to a new topic.
Allura giggled when she saw how curious Raza was. She learned that Raza valued information and knowledge as much as she did, and that was a quality trait that she liked. However, Lender spoke up before Allura did.
"You just learned an important part of this world's history, and you already want to move on to a new topic? Kid, you gotta slow down. Chew on what you just learned for a bit," Lender grumbled.
After learning what he wanted to learn, Lender was done with learning new things. He wanted to do something a bit more entertaining, but he had to drive the carriage. Part of him wished that someone would attack again.
"Very well," Raza sighed. "Thank you for sharing that information with me, Allura," Raza bowed his head.
"Of course, Raza. Consider it a thank you for protecting me from the Single Order," She smiled.
"Oi, I fought off more people. Where's my thank you?" Lender complained.
Allura's expression quickly died down to a frown when she heard Lender's voice. She sighed.
"I supposed I could request that you get a bonus for your efforts," She brushed off his comment.
"You suppose?" He mumbled. "I'm only driving you guys to our destination and fought with the Kid with no extra pay. But yeah, a bonus is all I deserve," He grumbled.
Allura paid no attention to Lender. For Raza, something popped up in front of his eyes.
Achievement Unlocked:
World History Learned
Info about The Shunned Learned
Points Awarded: 2,000
That would put Raza up to 4,280 points. Despite learning important information, he still didn't get nearly as many points as when he did for completing the Succubus mission. Perhaps actions were considered more valuable than information to the Rewad Shop. To Raza, it was a twisted sense of priority, but for now, he was thankful that he earned some points without doing much.
Raza didn't know what he should buy at this point, so he decided to just save his points. He was also willing to bet that he would learn a few new things when he gets to the Mutant Kingdom. He wasn't looking forward to having an audience to discuss the Single Order. He sighed. Their journey was only half way done, and it would take a week for Raza to get back home. Raza was not excited about the long trip ahead of him.