FiOP Bonus Chapter 03

The protagonist resides in the western region of the continent. The population is approximately 11 million, and the current leadership is a single king and his children. This has led to infighting and several factions forming among the king’s children. The three potential heirs are the first three sons, with most putting their backing behind one of those three.

The king has passed his prime, while his class was legendary, it was unfortunate that it was a charisma-based class. He lived for centuries, but the fact that he made his own way to become king, and had done so at a moderate pace, his body had aged more than most leaders would. Most of his time is spent hiding, afraid that his children would view his old age as a time to strike him down. He is forced to wear many pieces of equipment permanently as they increase his endurance; taking them off could cause his death.

The first son is the strongest; he was an adventurer in his youth and grew to a mid-rank epic class. He is one of the strongest people on the continent, and as such, is thought to be the most likely to inherit the throne. Because he was an adventurer, many of his closest allies are also high-level adventurers, including his four wives, who were his party members when he delved into dungeons.

The second son is the most wealthy. While not part of the trading cabal, he has close ties with them, perhaps close enough that they might back him if he made a claim for the throne after his father passed. Most of the wealthy nobles support him, more of a quantity over quality of support, as all the truly strong adventurers back the first prince. Still, if war does break out, the true fight will be between the first and second son.

The third son is the wild card. His class, harem king, seems like a useless one for growing stronger or gaining allies, but through brilliant strategic ‘marriages’, he is still in contending for the throne. Those who are looking to bet long to win big would support the third prince, as his chances are far slimmer, but far more impossible things have happened.

There were several smaller factions. A large portion of the princesses allied themselves together. The support of the dozen or so princesses could easily sway the tides of war in whoever they support's favor. The merchant cabal existed, but also the Problem Solvers, a hitman squad of high-ranking adventurers who handle problems for them.

Most villages had a mayor to oversee everything. The villages closer to the center of the continent tended to be bigger, while the ones on the outskirts were less safe/didn’t need to pay taxes. The larger cities circling the capital had nobles, families where a person accomplished something important. Their children lived in wealth, which often led to them being, on average, weaker, with more socially focused classes than others.

Although they didn’t seem that important. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of nobles, and they cared far more about who became the next king than the average person. It meant they mettled far more than they should, most nobles took a side that they supported, and some nobles were powerful enough to make a difference when the fighting for the throne finally started.

To the south were the undead lands, a powerful lich ruling over them. Constant, endless waves of undead clash against the borders, only miles of wild dungeons stopped the west from being overwhelmed, while the East built a gigantic wall blocking off access that was constantly being repaired and monitored. It was hard to estimate how many undead there were in the South, but it was well over 50 million.

While the Lich King hadn’t been seen in a long time. There were also his generals, the Four horsemen of the apocalypse, which were near legendary class undead, and the Seven Deadly Sins, which were weaker but still far stronger than the other undead. Each was strong enough to wipe out several cities if they ever went across either border, it would take the true elites of each region to take them out.

The area to the north was a desert wasteland. The total land may come close to the western region, but the population could be lower than a million. The hard environment made hard people, with their base stats naturally higher than Westerners. It meant that while they were outnumbered, Northerners were seen as more valuable. The West could overwhelm the North in a fight, but it would be extremely costly, and they wouldn’t get much out of it.

The north had very little interest in the business of either the east or the west, but some enterprising merchants or mercenaries made their living transporting goods or fighting for those countries. The north was also the freest, with the fewest laws, at the same time, it also had the most slaves per capita out of all the countries. Slaves had better treatment in the North than they did in the East or the West, though.

The north’s leader was a sultan, and two of his brothers working together. The Sultan would only have three sons; any born after would be killed, and the three sons would be trained in separate fields at a young age. The oldest would become the next Sultan heir, the second son would handle leading the military, and the third would handle the business part of the country. If the Sultan is assassinated, one of his brothers is forced to become Sultan, a position that neither of them would want. 

To the east was a more powerful region. Not only were their people more fit and their levels/class higher on average. The East was also more technologically advanced than the West. They could outright defeat the South, but it would be at an extremely high cost. The Lich hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years, some thought that all of the undead were old and no new ones were being created. But it was impossible to tell without someone heading south and checking for themselves. 

The West’s leadership was chosen by Senate vote. Previously, the leader was an Emperor, but that system was done away with after so many heirs were deemed failures. The infighting destroyed families and kept causing civil wars, so they did away with the system. They pulled the Caesars from the military most of the time; very rarely was a senator chosen when peace deals with the north needed to be worked out. 

Most of the attempts by the West to claim lands ended in failure. To the south were the dungeon wilds, to the north was an arid and unforgivable land with stronger people. The gigantic mountain range separating the west from the east was the only reason that the land hadn’t been completely taken over by the east. The mountain range holds possibly the strongest people and monsters on the entire continent. Many of the largest and strongest dragons fought over dense mana areas to build their strength.

The continent is separated from the rest of the world, making it impossible to know for sure what was on other continents. For all they knew, every continent could be dead and barren. The sea was a very dangerous place, and the technology to make flying ships was lost to time.