《Golden Age》 Prologue The vast universe, all encompassing. It¡¯s a wonder how nothing has any weight in comparison, nothing can influence its existence as its existence itself was impossible in the first place. Yet, there was something else whose existence also was as impossible, and that something was challenging its indomitable existence. Crossing space with impunity at the speed of 1/ls, a lone crystal the shape of a tear drop, the length of eight meters and the width of three meters was piercing through matter and dimensions, yet despite that nothing could slow it, nothing could reach it, its destination unknown as the time it has been travelling, time being not of importance to it but maybe its age could rival that of the universe. Unchanging in the ages, unchanging in existence, yet the spell broke and something changed. Speed, 0.99 lightspeed, a change, its eternally unchanging existence, changed for the first time. Speed 0.98.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 1 - Fallen Star - The third princess of the Bel Kingdom, Aiyana Bel was felling very unfortunate right now. The smell of horses and unwashed bodies did nothing to lift her spirit. As the youngest of her siblings one may think she lived a pampered life, unfortunately for her that was not the case. Aiyana did not have any intention on fighting for the throne, she had said as much to her siblings. Yet she was not left alone as she hoped, her family decided to get some use out of her in a way or another, and that is why she is now on her way through the hills and plains of the Helion Island south of her Kingdom. With the excuse of scouting in preparation of building a new stronghold on the island, she was sent on this quest even though her presence mattered not, after braving the sea for days and then the hostile island, what awaited her was nothing more ruins. The ruins looked as if they had been hit by siege spells for days before they were left as nothing more than a sad shadow of their former shape. If the King wanted to build something here, he may as well start from scratch, it was nothing less than a miracle that there were still some walls standing. ¡°What could have done this?¡± I ask myself as if expecting an answer, from what I was able to find out beforehand it seems that the kingdom lost contact with this stronghold a hundred or so years ago. The king at the time, sent an investigation squad as soon he was made aware of the unusual silence from the island, even so weeks passed until the squad arrived. What they found out can¡¯t be explained to this day, every building was broken to the ground, and stranger yet not a trace to be found of any human, no blood no swords, it was as if they just disappeared in thin air together with their equipment and clothes. To this day this island was considered cursed and the kingdom no longer wanted to send people here, yet here I am, the Bel Kingdom discovered unusual movement from its neighbour the Pira Kingdom, the bigger and hungrier kingdom started to slowly gather troops and the isolated Bel Kingdom was the perfect prey, surrounded by sea on three sides, its only connexion with the other kingdoms was through the Pira Kingdom. Aiyana could understand that if they build a new port on the Helion island it would be no small help, they could continue trade in case Pira closed its borders to the Bel and more than that they would have more options when considering military actions in case of war. She understood that this quest was important yet why was she sent as a scouting party; she did not know. While in contemplation it was nothing less than a miracle that she caught the reflection of light coming from the metallic point of an arrow before it was shot right at her, she threw herself to the ground before she even had time to think, and that saved her life. Her guard that was just behind her caught the arrow in his neck and dropped to the ground. There was silence for several long seconds before people started yelling and moving as fast as they could. Yet before they could do much, a valley of arrows came from the same direction, two of the closest soldiers threw themselves in front of Aiyana, saving her life at the cost of theirs. As the rain of arrows ended Aiyana was brought to cover with the rest of the survivors, from the one hundred soldiers and personnel that accompanied her around 30 were killed or were unable to move.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. She was no stranger to violence, yet this has been the first time she had seen 30 people die in mere moments, she didn¡¯t even know how she was brought to cover as she was stunned at that time. Yet the enemies had no intention to let them rest and create a defensive position, with the sound of yells and horses a hundred soldiers on horseback came out of the forest a hundred meters or so from the ruins Aiyana party was at, with more still coming. At this moment Aiyana knew that there was no escape, she and everyone else would die today and by the looks of the enemy attire the Pira Kingdom would be the cause, they even had their flags raised, she almost feels like laughing. Yet, what happened next not even those present could believe what they were seeing. As if a gigantic and invisible foot descended on them, the horsemen charging at them and a good part of the forest behind were pressed to the ground as if stomped by a gigantic foot. The scene before her eyes will haunt her for many nights Aiyana knew, the soldiers and their horses were slowly being buried alive, their insides finding escape from every hole in their bodies, the scene was one of nightmare. From a distance it looked like a strange painting where the main colour was red was painted on the ground and after another moment only a mirror like surface remained, from the more than a hundred charging soldiers, no trace remained. It was so silent not even the animals or insects on the island dared move, the pressure in the air was too strong, the bodies of everyone present were stiff as metal. If not for the fact that the world around them was being bathed slowly in a white light which became increasingly stronger with every second, no one would have moved for a long time. The spell was broken by yet another unknown phenomenon, the survivor slowly directed their gaze to the sky where the white light was coming from. There in the sky, a new sun appeared, a sun that emitted a white light. Aiyana was scared, terrified may be a better word, yet she was awed at the same time by the beauty that followed the horrifying spectacle of just a short time ago, yet that light did not care about their feeling, nor about the people that died there, the light did not let them rest. Aiyana could see the light coming closer and closer and in an instant the sky and earth become connected by the light that seems to cut the from the sky to the earth. In the centre of what now was a mirror made of earth and corpses, a huge crystal found its place. Floating just above the ground, unmoving like a mountain the beautiful violet crystal hovered, silence was the sovereign. Who dared move and who dared speak, in front of them the absurd happened and no one knew how to react, maybe one of the reason was the terrifying fear of something that could have killed so many people like they may have killed insects, while walking, without ever knowing about them. That is how those people expired, and the survivors feared that they too would be trampled if they dared move. Therefore, they would not move, they dared not move. Chapter 2 - New Player - On the ship returning to the capital, Aiyana still shivered while recalling the happenings of the day before. The captain of the Bel Kingdom¡¯s scouting party who was also the one who took her to a cover during the attack, regained her wits and started to reorganize the troops. While cautiously observing the crystal, many wished to just leave the damned island and never come back but the captain had other thoughts. She made the decision to get to a safe distance and observe until it was time to leave, fishing for any clue about what that crystal might be and what was its purpose. Hours passed and Aiyana who was together with the captain started to see a change. ¡°Look Sera, doesn¡¯t it seem like the crystal is melting?¡± Aiyana who was the first to notice pointed out to Sera. ¡°Hmm?¡± Looking carefully, she could see that the edges were rounder and the crystal was indeed slimmer and shorter. ¡°You¡¯re right, Princess.¡± From that moment it only took a small amount of time until changes started to become more obvious and together with that fact another terrifying secret was revealed. As the crystal became thinner and more translucent, they could make up the silhouette of a person inside it. Seeing this, chills ran through the people present, this was too much for their minds. Sera made the decision to start preparing for the embarkment on the ship, this was enough information and it was better to leave with what they had than to risk getting killed and gain nothing if that thing wanted to kill them like it did to the troops from the Pira Kingdom, she was very curious about its identity but there was no medicine for regret so it was better to kill their curiosity.Stolen novel; please report. An hour passed from the moment the order of preparation was issued to the moment the people were ready for embarkment, Sera, the Princess and a small number of soldiers stood at an elevated location a safe distance away from the crystal. The crystal became thinner and more translucent in that small amount of time, they could now make out the shape of a woman, it was still not clear enough to make out the details but they could see long and lustrous wavy hair the colour of silver that reached her foot, her height around 1.80, even without seeing the exact details everyone present was captivated by her impeccable beauty and with her doll-like face, she was wearing a pure white dress that hugged tightly her body. They were so captivated by her figure that no one would have moved if the air around the crystal hadn¡¯t started to distort just at that moment, before they had time to react, the area of the distortion extended to double its original size almost reaching them, that was the signal they needed to wake up from their dreamy state, in seconds they were already on their way. Looking behind them, Sera and the Princess could see the area where the distortion was, becoming worse and more distorted with every passing second until they couldn¡¯t even make out what was on the other side anymore. When the princess arrived at the ship together with Sera, only then did she have the courage to look behind, the spectacle that awaited her was not something she would forget, something akin to a waterfall of crystal water that fell from the ground to the sky greeted her sight, inside it a rainbow of stars found their home. ¡°Oh, dear gods!¡± Aiyana could hear Sera echo with her words how she herself felt. ¡°Indeed, dear gods, let¡¯s make haste it is too dangerous to stay here anymore!¡± Aiyana herself felt like praying at this moment, what happened today will bring change to the world, she only hopped that it will not be a bad change for her. Two hours after the party from the Bell Kingdom left, the entire island became a crystal tower and just like it had appeared, it disappeared. At the centre of the mirror platform where the crystal was, only a huge hole wider than a house and so deep its end was not visible remained. Chapter 3 - Awakening Helion Island, 2000 meters underground. The space under Helion Island was changing at a fast pace, looking with the naked eye, it looked like the earth, rock and minerals besides many more resources were fast disappearing. Looking on a microscopic level, nanomachines were processing everything around them, reproducing and at the same time converting everything to basic materials. At the centre of all this, sleeping, a beautiful girl lay in a golden capsule. Around the sleeping girl, walls were being created as if growing from the ground, beautiful ornate furniture and decorations followed suit, but that was only a small part of the changes that were happening. As the nanomachines reproduced, the transformation extended to a larger and larger area, machines were added together with power sources and more. After 2 days the construction of the underground structure was complete. The nanomachines turned earth, stone and a huge amount of other materials into various alloys and organic materials. The end result was a huge underground complex spanning several hundred square meters. At this moment inside a huge room inside the decorated with fine and elegant wooden furniture was a red king size bed, red curtains surrounded it. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. On the bed a very beautiful silver haired girl was sleeping. After an unknown amount of time her eyelids trembled and her eyes slowly opened. ¡­. Before knowing anything else I found myself awake on a big bed, covered with a soft red blanket. My mind was empty in the beginning, some time passed until I could think. I tried to think about who I was and memories came to me. After an unknown amount of time I understood, I didn¡¯t recall anything, as the moment I gained a self I also gained knowledge about myself. Those were not memories but information that came with my birth enabling me to function. I am [Queen], that is me, not my name because there was no need for a name, I am the only me, no name was needed to differentiate me from others as I am unique. I am inside my castle that was built as a byproduct of my birth, it could be considered a part of my body but now it is only at its most basic form, many improvements were needed. Thinking of this, several screens appeared before her listing the status, resources, subjects, buildings and much more. My castle is separated in ten main levels. Starting from the top Level 1: Unit storage and Deployment Level 2: Manufacturing Level 3: Research Level 4: Residential Area Level 5: Powerplant, Levels 6, 7 and 8 were reserved for resource storage, the last two levels were Level 9: Control Level 10: Royal Quarters. The shape of the huge complex was built taking into consideration future expansions. I already knew that on an instinctual level so I just got straight to the subjects section and selected the creation tab. Here I could create my subjects that will aid me in everything. There is already someone so there is no need to create another one so fast, I should first meet her. ¡°Ren¡± I called that name in my mind. ¡°My [Queen]! Congratulations on your awakening! How may I serve you!¡± A lively voice of a young girl resounded in her mind. She was Ren, the main Grade 10 AI working as the supervisor of the castle and main assistant of the [Queen]. Feeling amused at her liveliness I started speaking with Ren. [Ren, come to me.] Chapter 4 - Ren In a flash of light a young girl appeared in front of me, she was barely reaching my chest, with short blond hair and yellow irises, she had a cute appearance. A strong feeling of wanting to hug her surged within me but I managed to suppress it within me, I didn¡¯t want to leave a bad impression on our first meeting. [My Queen! Congratulations ohnn *aii* on y-your awakening!] She just bite her tongue while speaking, this is too much, it¡¯s not my fault, it¡¯s her fault for being too cute. I made a large step and took her in my arms, hugging her head tightly against my chest. I could hear a muffled voice coming for her but I was not strong enough to let her go just yet. After some time I returned Ren her freedom. Ren with a flushed face she didn¡¯t want to meet my eyes. Did I overdo it? As soon as I thought that I felt her clinging to me. Suppressing a certain feeling surging through me, I took her hand and with a thought we teleported to Level 9 which was the Control Level and brain of my castle.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I sat on the main seat overlooking the whole level. This level was the real core of the whole caste and this seat is special, when I sit on it I will be connected on a very profound level with the caste directly increasing my power and the castle¡¯s power. I lifted Ren from besides me and put her on my lap. [Ren, what can you tell me about my origin?] Besides me there is only Ren for now. While I know everything about the castle and its functions I still know nothing about my origin and creation. [My Queen, what you desire to know does not exist. My Queen is a singularity that occurred between this universe and the ¡®other side¡¯, as a result my Queen became to contain laws from both sides, what this entitles I can¡¯t imagine. I also don¡¯t know how we arrived at our current position in this universe.] Ren explained to me in a cute voice, after a short pause to let me digest the information she continued. [My Queen is a completely new and unique race and have the absolute power and authority over it. My Queen is a perfect and supreme being!] [Thank you Ren, apart from my origin I have a complete understanding over everything else.] Thinking over what Ren told me in the end my origin does not matter, what matters is only me and my subjects, I feel a strong love and protectiveness towards Ren and I know I will feel it towards the subjects that will be born in the future. The most important skill I have is the one to upgrade and control my castle. Using huge amounts of materials and power I can upgrade my castle giving me more power and abilities and upgrading all my castle¡¯s functions. At this moment the castle is level 1, there is no upper limit so there is no limit to its potential, at this level the most important ability I have is the ability to create other subjects. [It is my utmost pleasure and duty to serve my Queen!] What a cute girl she is, I couldn¡¯t resist giving her a kiss on the cheek. I know she was born to be the perfect aide for me but her personality is completely natural and I am happy to have her beside me. Blushing she couldn¡¯t meet my eyes. [Where are we now?] It¡¯s the time to learn about the outside. Chapter 5 - Nano [My Queen, we are on the Helion island besides the Ked continent with an area of around 42,549,000 km2. On this continent there are five territories with different systems of government, they are the Bel, Pira and mirus kingdoms besides them there is the Xanth Theocracy led by a pope and Bristol state which is a dictatorship] Said Ren [Oh? How did you collect that information?] I was surprised as I knew there were no units tasked with intelligence gathering sent or even manufactured as of this moment and the information she had been very specific. [At the moment of your arrival on the Helion Island there were two groups of humans fighting and one of the groups was in the area of effect of the reverse gravity field used to decelerate and at the same time create an appropriate area for your landing, killing them. The other group did not retreat and remained in close proximity when the release of the nanomachines was initiated.] Ren explained to me, after she said that several screens appeared around us showing images of a crystal. I instinctively knew what that was, me. Ren continued to display images of a group of humans equipped with armour and weapons indicating a low level of technology present. Ren resumed her explanation. [This is my Queen¡¯s ¡®cocoon¡¯, it is made of an uncountable number of nanomachines and energy rich material that will awaken in preparation for the Queen¡¯s awakening, they will use the high energy material to build the castle and also myself, and most importantly, they will create a very strong shield around a large area surrounding the castle to give the Queen time to awaken and to reach a suitable level of power. When the nanomachines were released they entered the bodies of the humans with the scope of intelligence gathering, that is why now we are speaking the common language of this continent.] While almost out of breath, Ren finished her explanation.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. [Very good explanation Ren.] I was very satisfied with her competency and ability, I am also impressed with all the groundwork that was completed for my awakening. Her explanation helped clarify some questions but at the same time, it created more. Ren blushed and smiled happily. Thinking something I brought up several screens. As I thought, the nanomachines weren¡¯t so simple. On the new screen there were countdowns for the completion of a more complex task. The nanomachines that were hypercharged from the high energy materials of my cocoon remained in the bodies of the humans leaving the island and infiltrating their brains, slowly building a special chip there. They also separated along the way, reproducing and slowly constructing a relay network for data transfer. As the number of nanomachines infiltrating their bodies was not big, the time needed for the completion of the task was long. I will have to I understand myself a bit more now, I need to use the surrounding resources to create new subjects and ¡®soldiers¡¯, besides that I will also need to upgrade my castle. With a thought from me, a screen appeared in front of me showing some statistics of the castle. The energy stored in the castle will last for around a year under a normal consumption, but taking in consideration the energy required for building of units needed to cover the need of materials gathering, manufacturing and manutention ,besides other important tasks, it is not enough. I will have to prioritize the development and research of energy production, with this in mind I will create my second subject and companion. Chapter 6 - Nano 2 With the next step decided, I teleported together with Ren to the second level. Only I have the ability to move with a though inside the castle, the others have to use other means. The second level is where everything is created. At this point the facility is lacking in advanced tools and machinery, the only thing present is the basic infrastructure needed for the development of basic drones and robots. On this level there is a special section only accessible to me, this section is dedicated to the creation of new members of my race and also my subjects, thinking of this I should find a suitable name for my race later. Together with Ren whom I gave permission to enter, made our way in the spacious room. The room is white, you can¡¯t even see where the wall and floor meet giving the impression of being in a white world, there is nothing there except for a black pod at its center. I walked to its side and without any input from me, several screens appeared before me. From looks to personality and skills, everything could be decided by me. I did not want to create a personality myself of course, I also didn¡¯t want to decide her looks in her stead that is for her to decide heself. The only thing I will decide for myself is her ¡®class¡¯. The class will decide her advancement path and will also give a huge boost on that path. I already made up my mind before coming here so from the long list of options is selected ¡®Researcher¡¯. After selecting her class I gave her full authority over level 2 as she will be the head of this level tasked with Research and Development of new technologies.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. It was time to decide her name, and an answer jumped in my mind. ¡®Nano¡¯. Lastly I could select the amount of resources to allocate for her creation, the more resources the better she will be, I used 30% of all resources. With this the process started, showing a countdown of 24hours. When she awakens she will have the base level of knowledge plus superior research knowledge, her personality will take some time to develop on her own, unlike Ren who was made to fit my taste in every aspect. Ren was silently watching me all this time with a smile on her face. I returned to her side and took her hand in mine teleporting us to my quarters. Having to wait for Nano to wake up before I could fully begin to develop my little queendom I wanted to speak more with Ren before sleeping with her as a hugging pillow. She was starting to relax more in my presence and that was a good thing, I don¡¯t want my people to behave too formal in my presence. [Ren, what do you wish to do?] I asked her. [? What do you mean, My Queen?] She seems puzzled by my question. [What should we do in this world, I have an idea but I also want to hear your view.] [My desire is to serve by your side, whatever you do, I am happy to accompany you!] Responded Ren in a determined voice. I expected this answer, I have a lot of time to make her more selfish, in various ways fufufu. A shiver ran through Ren¡¯s back but she ignored it as her imagination. I decided to just improve and strengthen my little queendom and just go with the tide for now, I¡¯m sure I will have a lot of fun in the future. Before falling asleep, I accessed all the information the nanomachines collected from those humans. The only thing in common between their race and mine is the exterior aspect and that too has some differences. They seem to have two genders and with their union other humans are born. I found it strange, we have no gender nor do we have a genital apparatus to reproduce. I am the only one that can create other members of my race through my castle. It really is curious. They also have a need for eating and sleeping daily while also having a limited lifespan. I only need to sleep by choice and not by necessity, I found it relaxing. I should have Nano do some research on them later. It seems they are also in possession of a power called ¡®Magic¡¯, I wanted to know more about that. With that in mind I fell asleep together with Ren. While the two girls were peacefully sleeping the world knew nothing of what will befall upon it.