Humans, elves, dwarves, Winged Folk, and orcs also lived on the Rune Continent.
Apart from the humans, who had two empires, the other races had only kingdoms. Even those with Saints lacked the population to establish an empire unless they united.
Besides, the true ruler of the Rune Continent was not a human empire, but the formidable Rune Mage.
The Rune Holy Land under his control had more Saints than the human empires.
The Rune Holy Land represented the highest honor on the Rune Continent, and countless Professionals dreamed of joining it.
Many American and Canadian players had joined it. But the Rune Holy Land stood in the continent's center, far from the coast, so they could only launch their expedition from the Song Empire near the West Coast.
These players bought a full thousand Warships from the Song Empire to explore the seas. That drew the empire's attention, but won them little support. At most, guilds based in the Song Empire received a few discounts.
As for the seas themselves,
every coastal power did some exploring and adventuring.
But the Legendary Continent was only a little over a thousand nautical miles away.
The Song Empire knew what it would face:
the Pacification Empire and Dawn City. The two had already formed something of an alliance, making it difficult for the Song Empire to gain an advantage at sea on its own.
It was better to let the Chosen Ones test the waters and see how the Pacification Empire and Dawn City responded.
Through various inquiries and contacts, the Song Empire had also learned something else.
Although the Chosen Ones of the Seven Continents had mysterious ways to communicate, they were hardly united. Bringing the continents closer would not bring them together. It would spark a civil war instead.
That