The New Era

''The adolescent Phoebus ran around the garden of blooming flowers and fruits, chasing around the boar that usually intruded upon the food growing inside. The warm sun bloomed over the island residence of Apollonius. The wind gently graced across the lush grass. ''

''The old man sat ever quietly at the table, with the books scattered across the study. His head was sunken in the palms of his hands, with a brow of concern. He knew that he couldn't make any vanity of what would soon come to the front door or window of his sanctuary. He slowly glanced outside where the pure soul was. ''

"Phoebus. Please come inside now. We have to continue the lesson."

''Phoebus stopped in his tracks, watching as the boar scuttled into the forest. "Masstteeerrr!! It was only ten minutes! And you let that boar get away!" he groaned.''

''"Now there, you're no longer a child. You must come inside. I won't ask you again." ''

''Phoebus reluctantly ran to the house. He sat down at the table. He looked towards the gloomy old master, with frail eyes sagging to the floor. ''

''"Master? Are you alright." ''

''Apollonius knew that he wasn't alright. He walked to the door, locking it. After that, he closed the shutters to the window and unfurling the shades. He then looked down to the boy. "Today, I'm going to impart you with important information. This is something I hadn't expected to do until now. I need to let you know that this is something that you must never ever tell a soul, even to the Bellomonts."''

"But why not, sir? I thought you trusted them?"

''Apollonius smirked. "I thought I trusted them too. But what's more important is to learn about their history as a whole." He glanced at the bookshelf. "All those writings and works, I'll be bequeathing them to you. They contain the valuble knowledge within. But I'll start from the beginning." He walked over to his comfortable seat and sat down. ''

800 years ago...
''Centuries ago, the world was engaged in a massive war and era of uncertainty. This is called the Void Century: one hundred years without written knowledge. After a century of fighting, the Great Kingdom, a nation of unspeakable power, collapsed to the alliance of twenty kingdoms. These kingdoms would unite together and form the World Government. Of the twenty kingdoms, there were five distinctive kingdoms that were regarded as the strongest ones due to their major role in ancient history. I'll tell the names of each kingdom, their king, and the power that makes them exceptional: ''

''Kingdom of Merovingia: Their kingdom was ruled by Carloman Lotharingia the Patient. Their specialty relied on the grace of observation, cunning, and patience. By allowing them to watch their enemies, they would essentially know how to target that weakness through carefully crafted plans. Assassination and espionage are preffered methods of action for their kingdom. This kingdom has been known rivals with the Kingdom of Carolingia. ''

''Kingdom of Carolingia: Their kingdom was ruled by Hugo Ivar the Pious. Their kingdom was based on diligence, justice, and piety. While they may seem to be weak by initial appearance, each person within their country holds a strong adherence to devotion to not only their ruler but to the nation itself. Therefore, it enables essential motivation for everyone else, not allowing them to let their guard down. This kingdom is known to have bitter rivalry to the Kingdom of Merovingia.''

''Kingdom of Ugarit: Their kingdom was ruled by Hammurabi Ammurapi the Fearless. Their kingdom was strengthened through discipline, chivalry, and fearlessness. Their kingdom was solely on the basis that a nation must be well wary of the outside world. Any force who would dare issue a challenge to them, they would have to honor that challenge. Their entire society was devoid of any other means of escapism except for combat, dueling, and ridding fear within the soul. Any who would dare to escape would be executed for desertion. ''

''Kingdom of Sutnop: Their kingdom was ruled by Philaris Mithridates the Liberator. Their kingdom possessed the qualities of detachment, inventive, and prudence. They primarily focused on bettering the mind and ensuring that their foresight on developments were well taken care of. They major strength was the ability to develop ingenious technologies to compensate for their relatively smaller population. ''

''While these four kingdoms were considerable for their unique powers and abilities, the last kingdom is regarded as both part of the "Five Kingdoms of Power," but also a noted distinction with the other four. The kingdom itsel''

''Mont Kingdom: The kingdom was ruled by officially by the Black Prince, but would later cede the throne to Menelaus Bellomont. This is the ancient kingdom that the Bellomontian Dynasty established. They never indulged what powers or strengths the kingdom held. However, they knew that the four other kingdoms would underestimate their chance to survive. So they positioned themselves in a political powermove to assure that they will help support the other kingdoms aid and, essentially, hold themselves as the supreme power of the world. ''

''Each of these kingdoms would be the very influence of the first years of the World Government. But these kingdoms would oversee a war that would've costed the entire worlds destruction. ''

''To be continued... ''