Rash eventually calmed down. After wiping the last tears from his eyes, he leaned back against the wall and let out a long sigh.
"But yeah… I'm a Sahari. Born and raised in Labet."
He tilted his head slightly toward me, his lips twitching again as he spoke.
"As you can see—no horns and no golden skin."
He almost burst into laughter again, but somehow managed to hold it back.
I kept looking forward.
Right now, I didn't even want to look at his face. If I did, I would only grow more annoyed.
Maybe it was obvious to him. But to me, he simply looked like a normal human—just with darker skin. Nothing about him screamed "different race."
Before my thoughts could continue, Rash spoke again.
"But man… Aldaria is like on the other side of the world. You came a really long way."
His words made my lips twitch.
I couldn't stop myself from replying in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh yeah, because Labet is just around the corner, right?"
Rash chuckled at my answer.
"Yeah, fair point. Seems like we both came a long way."
Before the silence between us could settle again, he pushed himself to his feet and dusted the sand from his clothes. Picking up his sword, he walked a few steps away before glancing back at me.
That casual smile returned to his lips.
"Hmm… Aldaria. You'll have to tell me about it sometime. I'm curious how my neighbors live."
With that, he turned and disappeared into the crowd of training teens. I watched his back for a few moments before he vanished.
Then I closed my eyes.
My thoughts drifted back to the words he had spoken.
Aldaria and Labet.
Two people from two different continents.
Yet at the same time—neighbors.
Another memory resurfaced.
It was about Lucien again.
The two of us were sitting in the library of the Ashspire mansion. On the wooden table in front of us lay a thick book, its pages filled with maps and writing.
Lucien had run away from his tutors and used me as an excuse if they caught him.
He called it a secret study session.
At the time, I had only been ten years old, and the amount of information had been overwhelming. Even though the memory was distant, and I didn't remember everything.
I still remember the important parts.
Terros.
This world is far larger than Earth.
Exactly how much larger was hard to say, but it was likely at least twice its size.
Why would I think that?
The reason was simple.
The number of continents.
Terros has fifteen continents.
About half of them were isolated and surrounded entirely by water. The other half formed two enormous continental groups.
Verda and Caldram are the names of the two continental groups.
They were like North and South America or Asia and Europe. Two huge continents connected to each other, yet still their own continents.
But while Earth had only two continents connected like this, Terros had four.
Verda contained four continents.
Sylvaria.
Dahlia.
Bayam.
Calis.
These are mostly green continents that have vast forests and far-reaching rivers.
Caldram also consisted of four continents.
Fjallheimr.
Aldaria.
Labet.
Smirheimr.
These continents were known for their mountains and open plains, with only Labet as an exception, which was just a big desert.
Together, these two continental groups had eight continents.
The remaining seven continents were all separated by the ocean.
Drakoria, where I was now.
Malakar, a continent shrouded in darkness.
Caleum, floating high in the sky.
Raos, which was a mixture of different biomes.
Ankis, a mysterious land said to have fallen from the sky.
Varuna, hidden beneath the ocean.
And the Center, which lies in the middle of them all.
These were the fifteen continents of Terros.
And according to Lucien, each of them is large enough to rival those on Earth.
Most continents possess their own unique flora and fauna, landscapes that sound like something straight out of a fantasy story.
When I first heard about them, a sense of adventure ignited inside me.
I wanted to dive deep into the ocean and reach the continent hidden underwater.
I wanted to fly high up into the sky and stand on the floating continent.
I wanted to see the continent that had fallen down from the sky.
Like anyone who hears about those magical lands—I as well wanted to traverse and explore them.
But what truly made these continents unique wasn't the land itself.
It was the race that lived on them.
Unlike Earth, where only one race ruled the planet.
Terros is home to many.
The fourteen dominant races.
All of them were humanoids.
Sylvaris had the Elves.
Drakoria had the Dragonkins.
Malakar had the Demons.
Bayam had the Beastkins.
Fjallheimr had the Giants.
Caleum had the Celestials.
Dahlia had the Plantfolk.
Raos had the Harudai.
Labet had the Sahari.
Ankis had the Xhantari.
Calis had the Lizardfolk.
Varuna had the Merfolk.
Smirheimr had the Dwarves.
Aldaria had the Humans.
These fourteen races were known as the dominant races. And as the name already implies, it didn't mean they were the only races that existed. Numerous smaller sub-races and humanoid groups lived across the world as well. It was just that they weren't a dominant race.
Each dominant race governed a continent. Some of them even had sub-races living under them.
Only one continent stood apart.
The Center.
The only land not ruled by any dominant race.
The Continent of Freedom.
The reason behind the distinction between dominant races and sub-races was a war.
It was a really long time ago.
Lucien had explained the story to me once, but at the time, it had seemed painfully boring.
I only remembered the basics.
Every race had fought for control of the continents.
In the end, fourteen races emerged victorious.
Each claimed one continent.
Only the Center remained unconquered.
That was how the fourteen dominant races came to rule the world.
Right now, the races live in peace.
Some kind of contract or agreement keeps them from openly attacking each other. But that didn't mean they didn't harbor resentment.
It resembled the relationships between nations on Earth.
While wars have happened in the past, we have arrived in a time of peace where each country looks out for the other in rivalry but without attacking each other.
Yet unlike Earth, where differences were mostly limited to culture or appearance, here the divide was far greater.
They were from a completely different race.
Thinking about the racism that exists on Earth simply because people look different makes it easy to imagine how much deeper prejudice could run between different races.
Of course, not every race hated the others.
Some even had deep friendships and alliances.
The Elves and Plantfolk, for example.
But others, like the Celestials and Demons, hated each other.
Some rivalries were simply longstanding traditions.
Such as between the Beastkin and Lizardfolk.
And then there were the odd ones.
The Giants, who simply ignored the affairs of other races and remained indifferent. Or the Dragonkins, who believed themselves superior to everyone else and looked down on all others.
Even in times of peace, the races constantly struggled for influence and power in quieter ways.
Lucien had explained all of this to me. Yet while the politics had interested him, something else fascinated me far more.
How these magical continents looked and the races living on them.
Unfortunately, there were no pictures in the book. That was also why I had been so confused about Rash being of another race.
For some of them, I could guess their appearance easily. Earth already has plenty of stories describing them.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Demons.
Celestials.
Merfolk.
Giants.
Beastkin.
Lizardfolk.
Dragonkin.
If I encountered one of those races, I probably wouldn't be too surprised.
But the others—
They remained a mystery.
Labet.
A desert continent neighboring Aldaria.
When I first heard the name Sahari, combined with the idea of a desert, my imagination ran wild. Perhaps I had added too much fantasy to their appearance.
A small smile appeared on my lips as I remembered Rash's reaction.
Now that I thought about it—
It must have been funny.