16. World of Nethria (1)

"Here you go, my Prince," an older voice announced to the young elf.

It was the palace's chief of staff, Madame Coletta.

Following her words, a loud thud was heard inside the room as she dropped a heap of books on the table next to the door.

Drax's lips spread into a smile as he saw this and immediately, he hurried over and gave Madame Coletta a warm hug.

The old maid smiled and patted his head in the same manner as she would do her grandchild.

Just like every other staff within the castle, she loved the prince, maybe a bit more than the rest even.

Time had passed swiftly since his naming ritual and Madame Coletta, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of the royal castle, was pleased that Drax did not turn out to be a spoiled, pompous prince.

Freya did her job to raise him into a proper gentleman.

"Thank you," Drax said to her.

Wasting no time, he moved to the table and climbed onto his chair.

Drax picked the first one and flipped through it speedily, skimming through its content just to make sure it had what he wanted.

He did the same for the second, the third and fourth books.

After that, he no longer bothered checking the few left as he assumed them to be the right ones that addressed what he was searching for.

Drax looked at the elf maid, smiled and nodded, affirming to her that she had brought him just the adequate materials he wanted.

"Knock yourself out, my prince," Madame Coletta said in a playful tone before leaving the room for Drax to have his moment.

After he acquired a Spirit Node, there was a change in the manner in which Drax was being raised.

Now, and just like he always wanted, he could access things that were actually important to him in Nethria compared to when he had to deal with fictional literature because he was not yet ready to learn the magical aspect of Nethria.

Over time, Drax also began training in combat while also training his mind and magic.

This was one of the ways he trained his mind — by reading — and the staff of the royal castle were more than willing to help him with whatever books he wanted.

That, coupled with the help he received from his elf mother, Drax's knowledge about the World of Nethria increased exponentially and he was quite happy with this progress.

Right now, he was reading about the World of Nethria in general.

He had not yet been permitted to step foot outside of the castle, and so he made do with books and his imagination.

He didn't know what life outside the castle was like, much less the world beyond Avalonia.

Drax wanted to know.

He wanted to see the other races he was reading about.

Alucard was the only dragonkin he knew.

He was surrounded by elves and he was once human.

He knew nothing about any other race outside of these three, and it sparked his interest.

"We are currently in the Living World," he muttered as his eyes ran across the letterings of the book.

The book was thick and heavy, like some sort of world encyclopedia.

"...One of the Four Realms of Nethria. I wonder what the kingdoms of the other races are like. Given what I'm seeing here, I don't think they have advanced technology like we did back on Earth but magic sure makes up for this lapse."

Drax flipped the page to the next one, seeing the world map of Nethria as it expressed the Four Realms as well as zoomed in on the Living World.

"The Celestial Realm. The Spirit Domain. The Living World, where we are, and finally, the Abyssal World."

Drax massaged his chin. "Sheesh! Sounds scary and at the same time, exciting… especially the Abyssal World. It sounds like hell or something like that. But hell is one of the places a person goes when they die, I don't think that's the case here. I might be wrong though."

The encyclopedia was easier to go over since it was mostly filled with pictures rather than words. So, Drax was doing more of seeing and memorizing than reading words.

A few hours passed and he reached the final page of the thick book, much to his surprise.

The pictures were so fascinating and colourful that deep down he hoped it had more pages.

Drax puffed his cheeks and blew out air in disappointment as he leaned back and stared at the book.

"It's finished already," he groaned with slight disappointment, giving an even more critical look at the book.

"Did she get the abridged version? The way my mother described this book, I thought it would have hundreds of pages. Tch!"

The young elf sat back and recalled what he gathered from the encyclopedia so far.

"We have the Four Realms, each one distinct in its structures and form, and quite different. Then, there is the Living World, where most of the races dwell — elves, humans, fairies, giants, beastkind, merfolks and dwarves. Each of these races has its own distinctive cultures and kingdoms. I wonder when I will get to see them. Nothing much is talked about in this book concerning the other three realms of Nethria."

He paused and glanced at the other books next to him, and while he was looking at them, a knock came on his door.

"Come in," Drax responded.

The door opened up and the beautiful Elf Queen walked into the room with a bowl in her hand.

She turned to her son and smiled.

'I hope I can find something here. Well, even if I don't, I can just ask Mother. I'm sure she will be more than able to help.'

< Ding! >

< You have received +1 Intelligence stat point >

Drax remained calm.

He was now used to this.

Moreover, one additional stat point did not mean much to him anymore.

Drax now wanted more.

He wanted more increase but that would have to wait.

"Mother," Drax said.

"How are you, dear?" Freya replied. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Drax shook his head as he climbed down from the chair to go and hug her.

Freya patted him on the back and then took him by the hand as they moved to his table.

She wanted to see what he was up to, and after a glance at the book Drax just finished, she was impressed.

"You are reading this?"

Drax nodded.

"That's nice," Freya expressed while ruffling his hair.

She began to flip through the pages of the book to assess it.

"It's not complete though. There is no information on the other realms."

'I knew it!' the young prince exclaimed inwardly. 'I knew it was not complete. It just didn't feel complete at all.'

Drax held the queen's hand, prompting her to look at him. "Mother…"

"Yes, sweetie."

"Can you tell me about them?"