CHAPTER 198: LUMERA

Ariel stared at him when he said that. "So will you fight for your family even when it means you’ll die in the process?" she asked.

Her question made Riven pause; it was far too direct. It was now he recalled something very important.

Whenever Lance was injured and came to her for healing, she would always give him advice that would actually help him later.

Some people in forums talked about how she might be a character with the ability to see the future.

’Could she have seen something about me? Do I actually die?’ Riven thought. He took a deep breath.

"I can tell that you know something you can’t exactly tell me, and that’s fine. Even if I die, my family will be happy, safe. My life is a small price to pay," Riven said, and he turned to leave.

"Such a drive and mentality is a good and dangerous one, Riven. You aren’t a tool for others’ happiness," Ariel said.

"Before, I chased after making people see me as worthy, and now I chase wanting to protect those I love. Looking at the past me, this version now is the best I can be," Riven said and held the knob of the door.

"Wait," she spoke. She pulled out a letter from her pocket. "I knew you would refuse to heed me, so I already wrote the letter. I just want you to know that the path you walk is a perilous one, and you might not be the Riven you are now anymore.

So take some time out now and make some memories, because those memories might be the only thing that keeps you sane when the time comes," Ariel said.

He turned back and took the letter. "My brother said the same thing. Maybe I’ll just do it then. Thank you, Miss Ariel," he said and walked out of the room.

Noel was waiting outside, back leaned against the wall. When he saw Riven, he propped himself up.

"What did you guys talk about?" he asked.

’Sorry Noel, I can’t tell you. If I did, you would try to follow my life and you’d end up dead or lost like me,’ Riven thought.

He smiled at Noel. "Nothing really, she just wanted me to be careful," Riven said.

Noel frowned. He knew it was a lie, but he also knew that Riven wouldn’t spill. If it was enough for him to lie, then it was something very personal or dangerous.

Riven made it back to the dorm building and to his room. He walked in and closed the door. The inside felt cozy and inviting. He wished he could just rush into his bed and rest, but sadly he couldn’t do that now.

He opened his cupboard and pulled out a fresh uniform. He spotted the book in the corner of the cupboard as well. He picked it up and tossed it on the bed.

As the book hit the bed, a page opened, but he didn’t notice. He put on his uniform, making sure he looked good, then he made his way to leave only to remember the book.

When he walked back to the bed, he was immediately stunned by what he saw on the pages. It was a map, a map of this world.

This was the first time that he had ever seen the map. Ever since he came to this world, he had never paid attention to learning geography, politics, and the structure of this world.

He initially thought that his knowledge of the world was enough for him to get by with. It was only when he entered that he knew this world was far more sophisticated than Frozen Fish portrayed it.

This world was beyond the hero-defeats-demon lord setup, and there were tiny nitty gritty details that Frozen Fish had left out.

Riven picked up the book and stared at the map. There were six major continents. And for the first time, he saw the name of this world, it was named after the goddess Lumis. It was called Lumera.

The Vermilion Kingdom existed on the central continent. The kingdom was at the border of the continent; they had a lot of port space, and just next to them by the east was Sapphire, the traitors.

There were several other small kingdoms there, but only two kingdoms stood out: the Blood Iron Kingdom and the Kingdom of Lumerg.

Those were the two most prominent kingdoms beyond Vermilion and Sapphire. Then there was the Holy Empire, the greatest country on the continent. The only place that could rival it was the Elven Dynasty.

This part of the continent was linked to another continent, the Northern Continent, . The Northern Continent was the smaller of the six, and it was the continent of elves and a quarter of it belong to the Dwarves.

Riven could tell just by looking, their continent was a massive forest and mountains. Elves held nature and spirits close to them; it was what made them powerful.

He focused back on the central continent. There were smaller settlements scattered across, beastmen tribes and more. There was also the mountain range, and all that was written there was "Dwarves." It seemed like the elves, the dwarves also settled here a little.

As for the four other continents, two were to the east and very close to each other. The two were known as the Demon Continents, the home of demons, and very few people had ever gone to those continents aside from demons.

There was one to the west, the Dragon Continent. Lesser dragon races like wyverns and more had their settlements in some mountains of the central continents, even in some places of Vermilion itself.

But from what Riven knew, there was no pure-blood dragon that would leave their continent easily. They saw themselves as the peak race.

And finally, there was the last continent to the south, and on it was written "No Man’s Land." Despite there being only six continents and seemingly looking easy to go across, Riven could tell one thing from this, this world was much bigger than Earth, much, much more.

And it was also complex. Despite the fact that every major race had their continent, Lance in the story found many races in other places, wanderers or travelers, and even in that foreign place, they had their own structure.

"Now, why did this book decide to show me this today?" Riven muttered.