Chapter 16: The World Outside

Women held their children, while men carried their luggage on their backs.

Handcarts, mules, and pack horses.

Refugee column after refugee column passed by, moving along from the distance.

Almost all of them were heading in the same direction.

Cana and his four companions rode their horses along the dirt road.

"So many people actually managed to escape." Alirise had seen quite a few groups of refugees along the way; it was much better than she had expected.

"The Count led his forces to block more of the Bloodkin from encroaching further, giving these refugees a chance to catch their breath," Black said from the side.

Cana nodded; that was indeed the case.

His uncle truly wanted to preserve the last seeds of this nation.

In a roundabout way, it also cut off the Bloodkin’s source of reinforcements.

It was a pity that he had underestimated the power of the Bloodkin as they swept across the land.

This nation would have no chance to rebuild.

Alirise looked at the refugees with a sense of bewilderment and asked softly, "Where can we go from here?"

Alirise had never left this country. After her village was destroyed when she was young, she had been a knight-in-training ever since.

For her, the future meant protecting the royal family and serving as their sword and shield.

She had never considered a situation like this.

The nation had fallen, and the royal family was the primary culprit; she was utterly lost.

"Have you ever been to other countries? Have you seen other races? Have you ever yearned for the world outside?"

Cana asked suddenly.

This question caught those around him off guard.

Whether it was Alirise, Black, or the other two knights, they all couldn't help but lower their heads in contemplation.

It seemed they really had never left this country.

Knights usually began their training at a very young age, around eight or nine.

Some even started as early as six or seven.

This training would continue until they were over fourteen, at which point they would gradually begin to become official knights.

If categorized by game levels, Cana figured Black should be Level 3, and Alirise would also be Level 3. However, the current Alirise could be considered an "Elite" template, represented in the game by a bronze border around her portrait.

If Alirise also mastered the power of blood, she would count as having a "Heroic" template, represented by a silver border.

In the late game, she could even reach a "Hero" panel, or perhaps even a "Legendary" one.

After all, she was one of the dungeon bosses that appeared every April Fool's Day.

She would appear alongside the Joker Emperor—himself.

As the game progressed, her strength would naturally grow stronger and stronger.

In short, she was a stock with definite potential.

As for the other two knights, they should be considered Level 2 entities.

However, even at the same level, different unit types meant vastly different strengths.

Not to mention that these knights rode horses and wore full plate armor.

One had to know that a knight's full set of plate armor cost at least two gold coins.

Adding the horse and weapons, a full set could sometimes cost four to five gold coins to fully equip.

Compared to a soldier who also had Level 2 strength but was only equipped with cloth armor and a spear, it was a complete crushing victory.

Just like the previous captain of the guard, Nickern, who was also Level 2, he would certainly be beaten down by a knight.

"No. Sometimes I've only heard others talk about it, like how there is a lot of magical wonder outside. And many strange races, like the Elves, who are very beautiful, have pointed ears, and can live for a very long time. Or the Dwarves, who are short and sturdy, live in the mountains, and are very skilled at forging weapons," Alirise recalled.

"Ah, I know Elves, I've seen one," the knight walking in front turned his head and said with some pride.

Cana remembered his name was Kecha.

"I saw one on a merchant ship while I was patrolling the port of Coral City. They had pointed ears like fish fins, and their eyes were blue and very large."

Listening to his account, Alirise, Black, and the other knight all wore expressions of sudden realization.

Cana shook his head helplessly. "You must have misidentified them. You weren't talking about Elves; they were likely Sea-born."

Everyone turned their eyes to Cana, waiting for his explanation.

"Because of the different regions they inhabit, Elves' hair is mostly gold, silver, or emerald green. They are tall, very beautiful, and have a refined temperament. If you had seen one, you would definitely not forget or mistake them."

As the most popular race, that was no joke.

According to statistics, among players who had played *Stone of Creation*, 80% had created an Elf character account.

And among active players, those using the Elf race consistently stayed above 23%.

They were a major race, through and through.

The second-place human players rarely maintained an average of even 20%.

Cana seriously suspected that the total number of Elves in existence didn't even add up to the number of Elf characters played by users.

"As for the Sea-born, just as you described, they have ears like fish fins. They usually have beautiful scales around their collarbones, behind their ears, and along their spines. They are born with the ability to sense ocean currents and breathe underwater."

Seeing that everyone was very interested, Cana thought for a moment and chatted a bit more.

"However, the number of Sea-born is not large, and most of them are distributed among various fleets and merchant ships, usually serving as navigators. They are a race altered by the Stone of Creation, though not by a complete Stone of Creation. Instead, they used a large fragment of the Stone of Creation to grant their race some abilities to adapt to their environment."

"In their tribal legends, the former chieftain once held the Stone of Creation and made this wish: 'Gem of Creation, source of all life, please grant us the ability to survive safely on the sea.' His wish and will moved that large piece of the Stone of Creation. From then on, they could feel the flow of the sea and detect impending tsunamis and storms. They also gained the ability to breathe freely in the water and the power to live safely on the ocean."

After hearing Cana's story, everyone was enlightened, their faces showing they wanted to hear more.

"I didn't expect Your Highness to be so knowledgeable," Black praised.

Alirise nodded repeatedly. "Mm-hmm."

"Then, Your Highness, is the legend of the Stone of Creation true? If you hold it, can you make a wish, and any wish can be granted?" Alirise's eyes sparkled with longing.

The legend of the Stone of Creation almost permeated this world, and there were countless stories related to it.

Some were true and some were false, intertwined in such a way that most ordinary people believed it might just be a legendary tale.

But in reality, anyone with even a little bit of power knew that it was actually true.

Especially the small fragments, which would descend directly into people's bodies.

You never knew when someone might trigger a small fragment within them, suddenly becoming a genius or gaining other abilities.

Such things were everywhere.

"Of course it's true, otherwise why do you think there are such legends everywhere?"

"It's actually real?" Black was a bit surprised; he had always thought it was just a legend.

Cana looked at Black with some curiosity.

Logically speaking, Black should have known it was true.

But on second thought, it made sense.

This country was in a state of being both closed and not closed.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides and mountains on one.

The only safe path on land wasn't exactly convenient to travel.

The shipping routes on the sea weren't numerous, and the sea itself wasn't exactly safe.

However, the location of the Safro Kingdom happened to be on the sharp corner of this continent, so its position was actually quite good.

It could rely on several ports to collect significant tax revenue.

Logically, with such natural conditions, coupled with the Safro Kingdom's free and not-so-strict policies, it should have been very conducive to exchange and integration.

In reality, it was not.