Such a large and intimidating presence. The capital of Estolia, Atlis, had entrance walls that were humongous and covered in mossy greenery.
It was a place where the barren plains came to an end and met with a graceful evergreen parish of fortified walls and secured gateways.
The forest pathway seemingly had no negative features besides the annoying nonlethal insects which patrol its environment.
The pathway has no exact positives or actual noteworthy negatives, which is definitely something to be joyful of.
Not from mine but from a Solim native's point of view, Estolia was always looked down upon by your average for being the exact opposite of graceful.
Elves are revered for their battle-hungry, bloodthirsty, and sometimes cannibalistic behavior.
People from all around spoke about the Elves in a barbaric fashion, making them out to be more tribal than prestigious; a tight distinction from Solim's natural feel of nobility.
But what I was seeing with my own two eyes was nothing like the narrative they tried to paint.
Estolia was without a shadow of a doubt as aesthetic and pretty as a picture as they said it was.
A greater section of the kingdom's capital was enveloped in beautiful vines and majestic foliage.
Atlis's pleasing and engaging exterior alone captured what it truly meant to be from the heart of Estolia.
The tropical feel comforted me as countless exquisite blossoms of enchanting flowers and hordes of tamed animals and beasts walked through the streets.
Atlis has the unique property of seeming like it gets bigger as you get closer to it.
Passing directly through the deep forest which formed a barricade around Atlis, I coughed at the baffling aroma of Estolian pride.
Under the administration of the Elves as is the rest of the forest that makes up the kingdom, Atlis's entrance is passive to any unknown dangers that may dwell outside the kingdom walls.
A blended pathway of green and oak leading directly down the middle of the streets.
The trees that integrated themselves into the buildings grow to be tall enough to reach the skies, monuments stand tall all round its gated trees, and its scenery emits an radiance so irresistible, it's rumored to be divine.
Barricaded by enormous Elf statues and Elven guards all around the vicinity that keep unwanted intruders out, the forest entrance seemingly resembles the Garden Of Eden i've heard about in stories.
And we haven't even entered Atlis itself yet.
The carriage came to a stop by one of the Elves at the gate.
He was extremely tall and skinny, so tall in fact, that if he were any closer to the carriage, he would probably have to bend down to look inside.
The guard's face was mean and stiff all around, it was a face that you could tell meant serious business.
The tall Elf stared at Lucien through the open carriage window.
He stared for so long, time stopped and everybody involved held their breath and forgot how to breathe again.
". . . . ."
"You may pass."
The guard ushered us through.
Everyone exhaled in relief while trying to maintain a composed exterior.
All Elves are known for their staggering height and lanky builds.
They're also renowned for their enhanced sense of hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Humans typically avoid fighting Elves seeing as how in everything beside intellect they have us beat.
Which is pretty funny because that counts for almost every other race in Aldrith too.
On the path down the forest entrance, the passage slowly merged and became one with the main street into the kingdom itself.
Riding over a huge glossy and decorative bridge that connects across an ever so glorious sparkling river, serving as a generous piece of visual candy for those who pass by.
The pathway between the kingdom streets and the kingdom entrance consisted of deep rooted saplings which hung out in the open and tangled amongst one another as if they were sentient.
We crossed the neutral zone between the bridge of Atlis and the entrance of Atlis's front gates.
Passing by all the exotic faces of thousands of long-eared Elves, loud ruckus brought me to my knees mentally quicker than anything else.
Estolia is different from Solim by nearly every metric but this one.
When I say that i'm including everything. I'm talking about the way they design their buildings, their culture, and how their streets look.
The streets did not simply go straight like Solim's, they curved unpredictably leading to me confusing myself when all I did was try to look out at the roads.
"Don't break your neck looking, Nel."
Lucien added a snarky comment.
"Shut it."
I spat out recklessly.
Rolling forward towards the Estolia palace where the Elf King resided, our carriage came to a screeching halt.
"Alright folks, this is the end of the road for our o'l betsy here."
Alexander said while laughing in the driver's seat.
We all exited the carriage, Kadil stretching his stiff arms and yawning as he walked.
Ve paid none of us any mind and instead walked ahead with Lucien and Victor.
Oversized, sculpted mossy stone steps led us to two monster-sized stone doors smeared in flora.
Bigger than the ones to the Solim palace.
"Show off much?"
Victor expressed his thoughts.
Guards checked us, patted us down, and searched us a second time to make sure we had nothing of suspicion or of threat to the emperor of Estolia on our person.
Once that was cleared, we were all good to enter, the two humongous pair of stone doors sliding open with the gentle touch of the guard's palms against the stone.
Activating an iridescent glow that brought the doors to life through the power of the runes embedded in the doors.
Which in a similar fashion the Solim's, allowed for the guard's to activate them through simple actions like sound or small touches.
Entering the palace, dingy air hit us all hard. Walking through the main hall of the Estolia palace was eerie, I didn't know what to expect on the inside.
Oak and stone became one with golden trails and countless royal ornaments decorating the whole palace.
Something that made me realize that while it was a kingdom of nature, that did not mean they held back on the luxurious aspect of royalty.
Paintings and portraits of historic Estolian battle commanders instead of your typical political figures covered every wall in the place.
Strolling throughout the intricate palace, the golden material catching my eye again every once and a while.
The Estolian palace was a paradise secluded in the peak of royalty.
The echoes of idle conversation behind secure doors resounded throughout the palace.
The group of us continued forward progressively, and as we began to trample towards the main room of the palace.
The main room was the one that led to the throne room and had the appearance of a ballroom in design.
A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling above, squeaking noisily throughout the spacious quarters.
We stopped at the sight of the palace stairs. Their curvature diverted the right and left sides, only to proceed to connect at the manor's mezzanine.
We all stood, then sluggishly sauntered towards the mezzanine railing with sloth-like movements.
At that exact moment, another tall, slender male Elf with long green hair that had short bangs attached to the front had then entered the main room from the throne room.
Their longer than average ears, even by Elf standards, twitched at every little sound coming in.
Behind him were three other tall, but slightly shorter Elves who also had that enchanting green hair, they positioned themselves behind the head Elf, all of them dressed in expensive royal clothing.
A unique energy radiated from them, like they were all something otherworldly.
It wasn't mana, but it felt alarmingly close to it.
The tallest Elf's palm slammed roughly onto the railing as the humid and pressuring atmosphere almost instantaneously dispersed.
Lucien and the Elf's eyes connect, utter silence engulfing the palace as a whole.
"Well Hello. Lucien Solim. The King of the Solim empire~"
"Hello, Asmund Yuseus. The emperor of the Estolia kingdom~"
They traded greetings in passive aggressively.
Asmund staggered around at the top of the stairs, chortling as he tread lightly back and forth, the other three Elves silently mimicking his every move.
"Who may these people be?"
"I am familiar with Victor and Alexander. But what about those three?"
Curious and innately inquisitive, Asmund leaned over the railings of the staircase top.
Alexander and Victor
"These three? These are the new members of my personal legion; the Black Thorn. Think of them as my own personal guards."
I gave Lucien a quick side-eye then shrugged it off.
"Black Thorn you say?"
"Hmm.. Definitely Interesting."
Asmund smiled, showing off those razor-sharp fangs all Elves are born with.
"Well then Lucien. What is the reason for you to call me out like this to an urgent meeting like this, one where you must bring yourself to the distinguished dirt poor realm of Estolia?"
"Emperor of Solim~"
Asmund poked fun at Lucien's condescending nature.
"Oh Asmund, you sure do have a way with words."
The pair of snobby kings interacted, chucking at each other's jests.
"I never spoke of Estolia with a foul tongue. Estolia and Solim share more principles than some believe."
"And let's not forget that you and I have been acquaintances for quite some time now, Asmund."
"You are correct on that, Lucien. Now, what do you want...."
Asmund's voice shifted from light to heavy in an instant.
"Hmph. I've come to ask for a favor from an old pal."
"And that is?"
"I seek any information you may have concerning the whereabouts of the great kingdom of Valeria."
The entire room fell deaf. The chandelier above hung and swayed with a creak in the wind. Asmund shot Lucien a sharp disgusted look before letting out a deep breath and putting back on his noble facade.
"Valeria?
"That is right."
Lucien answered swiftly.
"Hmmm."
Asmund looked around and thought to himself.
"Hmmm….."
Asmund took some time to find the words, but once he did he looked right back at Lucien.
"I'm sorry to say this, Lucien, but I have no intentions to give you what you desire on this fine day."
"Hm?"
"Why is that?" Lucien questioned.
Asmund made his descent down the staircase with the other three Elves.
"Well Lucien, there's no easy way to say this, but I just have a hard time believing you're worthy of getting that kind of information out of me."
Asmund said as he made it down the stairs and got close enough to Lucien to touch him if he so pleased.
Asmund began strolling around Lucien in an annular manner, a desperate attempt at provoking a response out of the royal.
"You and your citizens of Solim have looked down on us people of Estolia for far too long Lucien.."
"I imagine you know of this plenty already."
Asmund leaned over Lucien's shoulder.
"Asmund, that is all nothing but speculation, and frankly, does not matter in the grand scheme of things."
"What matters is that me and you have a mutual, respecting relationship."
"And through that, we could change the external perception of the righteous Estolian people."
Lucien tried to mend the tense air of the situation.
"Hah, but you see Lucien. It does matter. All of it."
Asmund's passive aggression tilted from not so passive to blatant disdain.
"Solim citizens know nothing of adversity or hardship. You all sit in your tiny cabinets drinking from the comfort of your snug lodgings."
"I can't help but bear witness to how your people have mistreated mine. They spit on our hands when we beg, they throw mud at us and laugh behind closed doors. To call you vile would be a justice to what you people really are. You people are repugnant."
Asmund leaned up straight from over the shoulder of Lucien. Calming himself before continuing his tangent.
"But my scorn for you snobby types doesn't start nor end with you Lucien. I simply cannot hide my discomfort with the looks on your faces when you people come in at our feet in need of something from us."
He stopped moving and stood still.
"So?"
Lucien became curious.
"So.. That means I am willing to do work with you Lucien, despite our disagreements. There's just one catch."
"What could that one catch be?…"
Lucien raised an eyebrow awaiting the answer with suspense.
"My proposal in turn for the undisclosed information you so desperately seek on Valeria, is that three individuals from your rag tag group of nuisances, must engage with my three children here, in a contest of strength and will."
"As you already know Lucien, per Estolian custom, we only acknowledge the strong and mighty. Anything less is unfitting of being considered a champion, much less royalty."
Asmund pointed out at us individually as he spoke. His three children stood motionless and mute as their father spoke.
A contest of strength? Does he mean like a three versus three battle?
"Oh?" Lucien's voice peaked.
"Intriguing…"
"We accept."
Lucien shouted out immediately.
"What?!?"
Me, and Victor yelled out so loud it echoed through the entire main-room. Alexander chuckled thunderously as Ve and Kadil seemingly didn't care an ounce. With Kadil still being sleepy and Ve still standing there with that blank expression.
"Lucien what are you thinking?!?"
Victor begged for an understanding.
"Everyone knows that all of Asmund's three children are B to A rank Awakened!? These children just learned how to use their abilities a year ago!"
Victor spoke to Lucien in hushed whispers, shielding their conversation with mana so the Yuseus family could not hear.
"I know what i'm doing, Victor. Have a little more faith in our prodigies. I didn't waste all that blood for nothing you know?"
Lucien raised his hand in front of Victor's face, stopping Victor's rant in its tracks.
Victor smacked his face and dropped his shoulders in disappointment, realizing full and well now that his words were not going to get through to Lucien.
Lucien locked eyes with Asmund to indicate that he'd like for Asmund to continue with the specifics.
"The contest will take place in the form of a round based three versus three, with the rounds being done in the standard form of a one versus one between any of the chosen combatants in our lineups."
"Whoever wins the most battles out of the three, will be declared the winner."
"The loser will then be forced to abide by any favor the winner demands."
"And that counts for any favor."
Lucien and Asmund kept their eyes locked, nothing could penetrate their battle of egos, a battle Asmund broke in order to gain confirmation from Lucien.
"So? Do we have a deal, Lucien Solim?"
Lucien did not speak yet. Until he did. A smirk appearing on the surface of his face.
"A deal it is Asmund."
Asmund let loose a huge grin from ear to ear. On one hand, Asmund was eager to see what Lucien had in store.
While on the other, he was excited that he would finally be able to embarrass one of those stuck-up nobles.
"Alright then. To the Atlis Coliseum we head."
The two stepped up and closed the deal, signing it with a firm handshake that marked the beginning of something unbelievable.