The Empire of Nouzara

Isaiah was still shaken over the scene he just witnessed.

So he killed her just like that?

As Isaiah asked the burning question in his mind, one of the merchants answered, "egotistical bastards abusing their power."

Isaiah had a confused look on his face as he didn't know what egotistical meant.

Seeing this, the merchant explained, "Those powerful bastards treat human lives as nothing more than dirt on the floor."

"All for the simple reason that they can; after all, who would go out of their way to confront them just for the life of a commoner?"

The merchant finished with a laugh that contained deep sadness and anguish.

Isaiah didn't know why, but the expression on the man's face brought him deep sadness.

The night passed quietly, and the morning quickly came into spring.

Isaiah was still a little shaken by the events of last night, but he forced himself to think past them.

Soon the merchants left the inn and continued their journey.

The Empire of Nouzara was fueled by war and the conquering of other Empires and Kingdoms.

Due to that, power was above all. Compared to the enemies of the Empire, the Empire did things a little differently.

Power wasn't handed down from the nobility or anything of the sort.

It was gained from contributions made to the Empire. And what was the best way to contribute to the empire? Joining the military, of course.

Especially so since sparks of war were beginning to be seen. Gold, Land, and titles—all of that was granted by the empire to its strongest soldiers.

Due to that, every poor and hungry bastard from all over the land scurries to join the military, all for a chance to rise to the top.

Each and every form of power was accepted by the empire, which was another major line that separated the empire from other large bodies of power.

Others may be specialized in one thing, like Magic, Internal powers, psychical powering, or other mystical forms of power, but the empire accepted everything.

In this world, Individual power was greater than collective power. Meaning one Mage would be able to easily beat hundreds of Mage disciples.

Internally, the empire must be messy and have no sense of order.

Wrong.

Compared to other places where you would be denied power simply because of who and where you were born, the empire was a paradise, as none of that mattered as long as you had the resolve to become more powerful.

And what if you didn't want to join the military? Fine, there were plenty of other jobs that you could easily make a living with.

Soon a few hours passed on their journey to the Town of Pernith, as that was where the merchants would be stopping.

From then on, Isaiah would need to find another caravan heading to the Royal capital.

The Night was quickly approaching, and the Group needed to find a place to stop for the night.

As they were on the main road, up ahead there were a few lights indicating human activity.

As they got closer, they saw a few carriages camping there for the night.

It was common Knowledge to alert any other merchant group of your existence, or else you would be branded as bandits.

One of the merchants left the caravan and got closer to the campers.

After talking with them for a while, he came back and told the other merchants to join them.

Obviously, you can't just trust any people you find out here in the wilderness, but the other group had proof of their identity easily seen through the symbols on their carriages.

Soon the two groups got together and arranged the carriages in a sort of protective barrier around them.

The lights from earlier were a fire started by the other group to heat up food and generally use for warmth.

Isaiah and the others joined them around the fire.

The other group consisted of 2 women and 3 guys. One of the women had a third eye on her head, and the pupil kept changing from color to color smoothly, giving it a hypnotizing effect.

Isaiah's shoulder was shaken by one of the merchants.

Don't look into her eye for too long, kid, or you may just lose yourself.

After hearing the man's words, Isaiah realized that he had been staring at the woman for the past ten seconds. He quickly apologized for staring and found something else to look at.

The woman laughed a little and asked, "Never seen a Kaigan before, kid"?

Isaiah shook his head, as in the village of Black Wood he had never seen a human with three eyes.

The woman explained that Kaigans were one of the many races living within the empire, her voice sounding soothing and calming to listen to.

Kaigans were naturally born with a third eye and were very gifted in mental manipulation and hypnotism. But having a physique a little on the weaker side

The merchants shared stories of the dangers they braved and ate food while they talked.

Soon, the night slowly passed.