Kingdom of Gloria

The Kingdom of Gloria is the main setting. It is a feudal power ruled by King Salvana, with a rigid noble hierarchy stacked above and below him: marquises, counts, viscounts, barons. Class inequality is fixed in law, a commoner has almost no rights, and insulting a noble is a punishable crime.

Technologically the world resembles a light-novel fantasy Japan: instead of electricity there are magic stones powering household devices, carriages, and monster-warding charms. Gloria's capital is Technoreis, the kingdom's largest city, to which Alan eventually moves, hoping to hide from the long reach of Marquis Vermilion.

Threats to the kingdom come from without and within: monsters and periodic stampedes from the western mountains where dragons live; dark guilds of assassins and an underground slave trade; a corrupt Church and court intrigues. The king secretly knows the truth: a 'useless' unreadable skill can in fact awaken and become mighty — which is why people like the third princess Selena are kept at court just in case.

Power in Gloria is violence backed by the ability to use it: a noble almost always beats a commoner, and disputes between nobles are settled by rank seniority. There is no proper court system, and 'the innocent are not punished' does not apply here. Against this backdrop Alan forms his creed — to submit only to the strongest and to be that strongest himself.