America Appears in Another World

Chapter 34: The Despur Continent

The Quenlari Kingdom is perhaps one of the most disadvantaged Kingdoms in the Manrea continent. Having to protect most of its borders, the Kingdom has only survived through the combined interests and support of surrounding nations. As a Human nation, it relied on the Onleng Empire to its eastern border while relying on the Kingdom of Waloa to its north. Its border to the Northwest is mostly protected by rugged and barren terrain with a mountain range to top it all off. However, its southern border is heavily guarded. And the main reason is because of the Despur continent which lies past its borders.

Not much is known regarding the Despur continent. The only thing note worthy is it's barren landscape which starts to form around the border of the Quenlari Kingdom. But despite being barren, the border is lively. And this is because of the potential riches the continent has to offer. The riches come in the form of Mana beasts which roam and enter through the southern border.

Normally, Mana beasts are very rare in the Manrea continent. Typically, Mana beasts only form when there is a large concentration of Mana and phenomena. The Malacan Empire has a very large concentration of Macana wood in its territory, so it has a fair amount of Mana beasts it must deal with on a regular basis. Other special regions also have odd Mana concentrations which allows for Mana beasts to form over a period of time. However, for the most part, Mana beasts are not found around the Borthern sea. These circumstances are good for these nations, as they don't have to worry about dangerous monsters occasionally wiping out a village. Although, that doesn't stop the random mercenary group from ransacking a village.

The point of the matter is that Mana beasts are relatively rare within the Manrea continent. So if someone wanted to hunt them, they predominantly must set up in the North or South areas in the continent . And this is exactly why the Quenlari Kingdom has a ton of towns and villages near the border, despite having terrible soil compared to the hinterlands of the Kingdom. Mana crystals which can be dug out of the Mana beast are usually very expensive, and can be sold for a high price. With this, various companies and guilds have formed around this industry along the southern borders in the Onleng Empire and Quenlari Kingdom. Whether it's the body of the beast and its Mana crystal, they can make anyone rich quite quickly. However, there is a deep cost for getting into this trade, and that's potential death of course.

Mana beasts are not remotely weak. Especially if the Mana crystal they have has a higher Mana potency to allow for greater strength, speed, and lethal attacks which also include Magic attacks as well. This means, the people going out and killing these things must know at least some sort of magic or Mana usage. However, educating and using such magic is very difficult, and often difficult to apply it practically to a combat situation in many cases. Furthermore, many would rather work for the military's of various Kingdoms and Empires, since it would bring great wealth while being comparatively safer.

There are still many stories of Mana users that go into the Despur continent, but never coming back. Although, as of late, not many would dare venture into the Despur continent, and that's because of the increased frequency and appearances of some really powerful Mana beasts along the Southern borders of the Quenlari Kingdom as well as the southern border of the Onleng Empire. Now, the Mana beasts from the Despur region have attacked even more as of now.

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Quenlari Kingdom. Southern Border. Town of Ynnad.

A Mana user in a tall lookout tower within the town of Ynnad near the Southern border stood to look towards the horizon of the southern border. Typically, he would alert the town of attacks by ringing the bell four times. This town is just one of many which acts as an informal barrier to protect the Quenlari's souther region from an influx of Mana beasts which tend to move North during certain times of the year. However, this year has been particularly worse in attacks for some reason.