There were three races who lived in the world, the 'Humans', the 'Beasts' and the 'Demons'. For a millennia they've fought with each other. Due to weak bodies, humans were the ones to always suffer the losses, but in the 2nd era of greater magicians, there was a group of remarkable people who fought against the demons and saved humanity from the brink of destruction. After great efforts, a treaty was signed between humans and beast-men, according to which they'd be engaging in various joint businesses.

Later many nations were formed where humans and beast-men started living prosperously. In the 3rd era of the world, known as the era of despair, a great war broke out between the living and demons. In this war, seven legendary kings fought with all the strength and became the first gods of the world. The kingdoms from which they raised from came forward as the seven gates of heaven.

In this Great War, there was a king who sacrificed his divine powers in order to wield a legendary artifact which led to the victory of living and the kingdom from which he came from is to be known as 'Arboria'. Today, it's been over 10 generations and yet 'Arboria' stands as one of the only four remaining gates of heaven. Hidden deep in the jungle, with resources plenty enough to maintain good relationships with the other kingdoms, 'Arboria' never had to wage a war again. It surely was a small kingdom, yet its existence was a crucial factor for the whole world. Legend says, before the fall of the God of divine protection, he hid a secret map to the heavens and also the ways to open the gates of the underworld, where the demons were sealed off, yet due to its remote location no one was ever able to confirm the myth. Of course this wasn't the only world in existence, it's just one of the many and the utter motive of the demon life-forms was to rule over all of them, thus they had to be sealed off with forbidden ancient magic.

The 4th era, which was also known as the era of uncertainty, there were many little kingdoms fighting over resources and territory as well. In the kingdom of 'Arboria', the wise king 'Evan' looked after his people along with his elder son 'Nicholas', his younger sister 'Merida' and the youngest of the siblings 'Theodore'. Nicholas was a gifted warrior and had always been the strongest one in the whole kingdom, he even once defeated a demonoid. While he was the strongest, Merida was the most gifted mage and recently passed lvl18. This world worked on a numbering system, that is power was defined by the number. The higher the number, higher the power. Even though it is difficult to earn levels, levels 1 – 10 was known amateur, while 11 – 15 was the domain of experts and 15 – 20 was known as levels of masters. Level 20 was a legend domain and only powerhouses of the world were able to step into it as there were various rituals and trials that one had to pass in order to become a legend. Domain above level 25 was god domain and no one knew much about it as people stopped ascending to that domain long ago. In this era there were very few legends, thus this was the highest anyone had ever heard. She was really close to becoming a legend mage. Though she has still had two levels and the trials that no one came across in recent years. Meanwhile Theodore, the youngest sibling had little to none interest in anything be it alchemy or fighting or politics, what he truly loved was exploring. By the date, he had explored more than hundred ancient ruins belonging to various civilizations.

Arboria was surrounded by many labyrinths and ancient ruins, some from even the 1st era. Theo always loved to go out of the castle to explore what was outside of the castle walls. This curiosity of his didn't help him in any warrior attributes, still he never cared, he'd always sneak out of the castle to go explore. Due to the combined efforts of people in the kingdom, they never had to worry about resources. Arboria had the most suitable geological locations for agriculture, rice being the main crop as there are many natural water springs around Arboria. With a wide spread of rice paddies and great number of livestock, Arboria even conducts business with neighboring kingdoms. There are even many pure veins of ores in the surrounding making Arboria a very resourceful kingdom.

Definitely not everyone was happy with the situation, especially the neighboring kingdom, 'Etherblade'. Recently they tried to steal the part of territory which had two pure veins of gold and a few rice paddies as well. After the unsuccessful attempt the duke of Etherblade had to apologize to Evan. He has been holding that grudge ever since. To find an opportunity he'd been scouting the surrounding of Arboria.

In the main-lands, a small figure was running through the wild. Fast as lightning, the ones chasing that person seemed to lack the agility and were being left behind. The darkness that was eloping the wild seemed to be in that person's favor. The chasing party soon began losing sight of the thief. After a while they stopped under a giant tree to grasp their losing breaths, "How fast does that guy have to be to run like that?" asked one soldier. "Must be someone who's familiar with the terrain", one of them replied to which all nodded. After looking around a while and not being able to find even a clue around, they left that place cursing the thief. Once it was clear that the soldiers were no longer around, Theodore stepped out of the bushes he was hiding in. "Damn, that was a close call. Though I managed to get my hands on the relic. I wonder what it actually does?" saying this he took out the relic that seemed to glow in the darkness, giving a bit creepy vibe. Under the darkness, he suddenly sped up through the trees after casually putting the relic away in his sack again.

Back in Arboria, King Evan was holding a party, in which he had invited many nobles and royalties. After all, this was his eldest son's, Nicholas's birthday and he also wanted to introduce him to the royalty. "Sire, I apologize as we were unable to find the prince", one of the guards reported to the King. "Where did he go, isn't this his brother's birthday. I thought he would've grown tired of his plays and yet.." before he could continue he was interrupted by a voice, "Can't help it father, if that's what he wants, we should just let him be." Merida replied while concealing a piece of meat stuffed in her mouth. "You both really over exaggerate things. My King, we should know he's your son and our brother Merida, no harm will come to him. With that being said, I believe he never liked such events in the first place, right? He'll come, we should be on our way as well My Lord" Nicholas, who was attending guests a while back, tried to relieve his father. "There he is", "whoa the crown prince surely has the charm". there was quite a chatter in the hall. People seemed to be enjoying the crown prince's birthday.

With all the guests gathered inside the main hall, the castle was pretty much unoccupied and thus was left with less than usual guards. Using this opportunity a shadow sneaked inside the castle and rushed through the hallway until it reached one of the rooms. Just as he entered the room he felt cold metal touching his neck, he soon realized the cold metal surely was a sword and gulped for a moment. The person holding the sword casually took their hood off, "Took you so long, were you lost? Don't tell me you actually made it? That…" before she could continue, he sneak attacked her using his daggers and grasped her from her back," You're losing your grip Vivian, should've focused on my hands instead of face" he seemed to grin a bit as he replied. That close encounter surely was a bit unpleasant for her, making her squeak as she grabbed him by his hands, and throwing him off by lifting him in a way he almost lost his hands. Thud! A huge bang and the shivering shadow could be seen on the ground, "W… Wh... What the hell you think you're doing so close Theo?". "Argh, that could have killed me, Vivian. Be careful with your strength Vivi, you want me dead or what? And yeah I did get my hands on it. Seems like your sources are a bit reliable." He said while standing up, shaking the dust off his clothes, and taking out the relic he had discovered. "That's rude, I helped you and you give such a rude compliment as thanks. Huh! Next time you come to me whining about Intel, I'm not going to tell even a single word. And why did you go right away? Didn't I clearly tell you about the security is tight right now? Goodness, and moreover you kept me waiting on your brother's birthday too." That sounded like news to him, "Birthday? Who's? Nicholas's? Is it today? Of all days! God! Dad's going to kill me. Did it start already?" he hurriedly started to look for his birthday suit in one of the closets while asking. "Yeah, they surely would have finished up with the cake as well. And you idiot, because of you even I am missing from the event." With a slight blush, Vivi replied. "Which one's better? This one's a bit flashy right?" Theo asked to which he received a sharp glare from Vivi. "I think I'll put this one on." He hurriedly changed his clothes and came out of the closet only to find Vivian standing with a red face. Without giving it much thought he grabbed her hand and stormed out off the room to hurriedly return to the venue while holding onto the gift he had packed for his brother earlier.

In the hall, everyone was greeting the crown prince for his 25th birthday. Many girls were trying to eye on him, no wonder there, he'd definitely become a king one day and he was extraordinarily handsome as well. The nobles were also trying to gain his attention for future relations to get stable. "Nicholas, forgive me if my taste is bad but, I tried to score the best sword our blacksmith could produce. Here take this, it's called 'Raḯa', a sword forged to slay evil once unsheathed. Do you like it?" Jason, Ruler of 'The Lake City', and Evan's good old friend asked Nicholas while handing him a golden sword. "It's more than what I can ask for and please don't be like that, even your presence is a gift for me, not to mention the sword of such high value. I can hardly imagine myself worthy enough to possess such a treasure worthy gift." Nicholas replied with a bow to the King. "Ha ha ha, why don't you see it yourself, if it's to your liking or not?" to the request of the King, Nicholas could hardly contain his excitement yet he drew the sword out of the sheath with a calm look. "It's perfect! I can hardly wait to see how it feels in the field" the crown prince showed a confident smile to which Evan replied with a smile, "That'd have to wait till the morning. For now, we should get to dinner, everyone is waiting."

As everyone was heading towards the dinner hall, Merida found something suspicious. She saw two people following who weren't there before. She approached them in order to see who they were and soon realized who they were. "Got you! No more slacking little brother. Can't believe you dragged Vivi into this all!" She stomped on the unguarded Theodore from behind. Both were startled as they were caught off guard in front of both the kings. "You alright? Did you sneak out of the castle again brother? I told you to always carry guards, you know you don't possess much mana. What would we have done if you'd have been attacked?" Nicholas asked worriedly to which Theodore seemed to feel guilty. "It was my fault brother Nic, I let him go on his own." Vivi sounded a bit worried. "Huh! No one would dare to lay a finger on my son, not on my watch, here come to join us. You know your brother, he's just worried about you. Come, Vivian, you should be hungry as well right? Handling this runaway son isn't an easy task. I should be thankful to you for being a good friend to him." To the King's words, Vivi seemed to become stiff. "Friend?" Vivi murmured with a hint of irritation and continued to follow all to the dining hall.

"Whoa, this meat is really good! We don't eat such exquisite meat at our place much, I personally love fish, fresh in fact. But I must admit, this food is delicious, no matter how many times I eat it." Jason kept bragging about the food with Evan. They seemed to enjoy it. In another corner, Theodore sat along with Vivian with a gloomy expression. "I really wanted to be the first one to wish him, you know. I even planned a whole schedule for his birthday. And I missed it. Huh! How lousy brat I am." Theodore with his sad expression complained to Vivi to which she replied with a smile saying, "Well you can still give him the gift and congratulate, he won't even complain. He's your brother after all, right?" That seemed to have relaxed him a bit and finally gathered the courage to approach Nic. "Brother, I believe I am late to wish you..." Theodore's voice was a bit low yet seemed to have reached his brother, even Vivi was cheering him on, "I'm a lot clumsy, weak, irresponsible, and I also hate being around so many people, yet you always support me. Without you, I might have shut myself from the world Brother. I can't thank you enough..." Everyone seemed to be shocked by Theodore's words. Nicholas was clearly shocked and Merida seemed like she could pass out any moment. Vivi's eyes were shining, "I can't possibly give you anything worthy yet, and this is all I could think of. Have a very happy birthday Nic."

Evan and Jason were looking at each other in chock, Merida had already chocked herself and others had blank expressions. "So many words at a time, and what words? Of gratitude! Guards!! Did we miss an oracle or the sun rose from the west? Go, find out. My son who's always running away from his brother's responsible eyes feels that much about him. God, Jason I can now leave the rest in your hands and get going." His eyes really did had tears. "Father it's rude to talk like that about someone's confession. But for real, I'm also grateful to have you as a brother too. Believe me or not, even Merida thinks that way too." Nicholas replied with a smile on his face. "That was scary, and hell I don't give a piece about you brat." Merida somehow managed to reply with a choked voice to which everyone burst out in laughter. Theodore on the other hand was turned cherry red from embarrassment and was heads down. "There, there, that wasn't difficult, right? You can do such things if you try. Brother Nicholas, why don't you unwrap the gift he gave you?" Vivi asked Nicholas while patting Theodore on his head. "Such a treasure, I can hardly contain myself with excitement. Father may I…." Before he could finish Evan laughed and interrupted saying "Haha let us see as well, what has gifted our… 'Crown Prince'.

That last word seemed to have killed the mood. Theodore abruptly stood up and ran out of the hall, followed by Nicholas and Vivian. "Father, you know it better than anyone. Then why keep taunting him?" Merida's anger was clearly visible. "Evan, it's always better to just let the past go and move on. Why stay stuck? And you know he is not ready yet!" Jason asked in a serious tone. Other guests were startled as most of them couldn't grasp onto the things happening. "Someday, the truth will haunt him, isn't it better to be prepared? One simply just can't escape his destiny. Jason, the Oracle has spoken. We must not ignore the call." Evan calmly answered while finishing his meal. "And it's a bad omen to storm off the meal too, kids these days…" Saying this, Evan got up from the seat and addressed the guests, "People, if you'll excuse me for a moment. My friend here will host you in my absence for the time being. I apologize for the interruption though. I'm counting on you, forgive me this time. Guards, get someone to deliver Theodore's meal to his room." The awkwardness could be seen clearly written on the face of Jason as he abruptly put a piece of meat in his mouth which everyone in the hall saw him doing. After addressing The King seemed to head towards the balcony. "How long has it been Lira? Yet the kids aren't ready. I hope everything turns out fine." Evan murmured looking at the starry sky with a sigh.