Granvaloa
In the year 2043, a VRMMO called Infinite Dendrogram was released and took the world by storm.
This game provided its players—Masters—with an experience so realistic it rivaled reality itself, as well as beings called “Embryos” that granted powers unique to each person.
Upon first entering this world, the players could choose one of seven countries to start in.
The Kingdom of Altar, the Land of Knights.
The Dryfe Imperium, the Land of Machines.
Huang He, the Empire of Hermits.
Tenchi, the Land of Blades.
Legendaria, the Fairyland.
Caldina, the Mercantile City-State Union.
And finally, Granvaloa, the Maritime Fleet.
All of these seven nations, aside from Tenchi and Granvaloa, were located on a massive landmass sometimes called the Central Continent. Caldina occupied the vast desert in the center with Huang He to the east. To Caldina’s west, going from north to south, there was Dryfe, Altar, and Legendaria.
Tenchi and Granvaloa alone were not located on this continent. Tenchi was an island nation that controlled an archipelago located to the east of Huang He, while Granvaloa had no land at all.
All of Granvaloa’s inhabitants were seafarers, dwelling on artificial islands made by connecting large ships, as well as in the depths of the ocean where only aquatic humanoids could live.
Both Masters and foreign tians—NPCs—found this country’s way of life very curious, but to Granvaloans, this was completely ordinary.
And because they were bound to no land, their activities were spread across an incredibly vast area. They had ships traveling all over the north, west, and south—everywhere except the eastern seas surrounding Tenchi. They dominated the expansive ocean that surrounded the continent.
In that sense, some might say that they possessed more territory than any land-based country could ever hope to have.
Granvaloa was led by an individual known as the grand captain or navarch, beneath whom were four fleets that each handled different affairs of state.
The trade fleet was in charge of commerce with other countries.
The military fleet hunted down monsters and protected Granvaloan vessels, as well as any foreign ships that put in a request.
The pirate fleet led all of the nation’s privateering, targeting unregistered ships in Granvaloan waters.
And then there was the adventure fleet.
Sometimes called the “pioneer fleet,” their main duty was to search for land that Granvaloa could take for their own. Indeed—they sought out new territory so they could stake their claim before any other nation.
There was a history behind Granvaloa’s seafaring lifestyle, of course—perhaps a story for another time.
While the adventure fleet had actually already discovered a number of islands, they all had issues that made them hard to inhabit, such as powerful monster presence or violent volcano activity. So far, they had found nothing that was fit to sustain a permanent population.
Based solely on how well they’d accomplished their main objective—finding new territory for Granvaloa—one might assume that the adventure fleet hadn’t accomplished anything. However, that was far from the truth.
While they had not yet been successful in their search for land, Granvaloa had benefited from countless other discoveries made by the adventure fleet.
They had uncovered ancient ruins—the many underwater locations known as “Seafloor Excavation Forts,” as well as the seafloor ores and minerals that were often found alongside them. They never failed to dredge up ships that had sunk in ages past. And everywhere they sailed, they salvaged what they could, finding many things that passed as treasure and enriched Granvaloa.
All in all, the pioneer fleet had truly earned their alternative name—the adventure fleet, braving uncharted waters to search for the riches they held.
They had a dazzling reputation. Many Granvaloan tians and Masters looked up to them and dreamed of joining their search for treasure. The adventure fleet was a true shining star of the seafaring nation.
But that all changed a mere three months ago.