‘In the lands of Nozark.

A long time ago, humans lived in peace, tending to their daily lives. They would hunt animals and work on farms to feed their families.

One day, a group of people came together and formed a tribe. This small act brought a monumentous change. It was the start of what we now call a ‘society’ and humans, for the first time, realized what it meant to live in a society. Numbers became stronger and life became a bit easy. When the word spread, more people came together, forming more tribes. And time passed.

Over time, the tribes soon turned into villages as smaller tribes joined together. Everything changed for the better, as they became more organized. Laws were made and new professions such as Chief, Smith, and Teacher were born, to lead the village, arm the hunters with better weapons, and impart basic knowledge to the young kids.

The era of peace continued, time passed and soon the villages gradually became kingdoms, chiefs instead became kings. More people came together, more professions were created, humans became more organized, felt protected and the kingdoms flourished.

The peace was short-lived.

Greed. One of the seven curses from the gods - which we came to know about later on. It started corrupting human souls.

As the kingdoms made progress and became organized, the hunters became soldiers. Thus, the ‘Armies’ were formed for the first time.

It all started when Enes, King of the Kingdom of Ilios, attacked the nearby Raegia Kingdom, enraptured by Princess Reina, to try and capture her for himself.

A battle ensued in the wake, with one raving and the other defending, and humans for the first time witnessed the horrors of war. Rivers of blood - human blood - flowed, and vultures roamed the skies of the battlefield feasting on the dead. Gutless slaughter occurred and countless people died - all because of the madness of a single person. After month-long bloodshed, the Raegia Kingdom was burnt to the ground - its citizens either fled or turned to ashes with it, and the princess was finally captured and her family executed.

Mankind witnessed ‘war’ and its horrors for the first time. Their hunting for animals in the wild and tribal conflicts seemed paltry compared to this.

This started the quest for power of every kingdom, every man, to become so powerful to not suffer the same fate as the Raegia Kingdom and its people. The war, which came to be known as ‘The First War’, became the catalyst for it.

Power came at the price of peace.’

In a dimly lit room, a boy was sitting on a bed in the middle of the room, reading what seemed to be an old book from its worn and torn state. The room was warm from the continuously burning wood in the corner fireplace.

The boy gently closed the book, put it down, and laid down on the bed, thinking.

‘What did I just read?’

After he was unconscious for a week, the cleric advised him to bed rest to recuperate and his health to recover. After a week of staying in and doing nothing, boredom set in. Morgan gave him a book to read in the meantime, to pass time, and learn about the world.

The book was titled ‘Tale of the Old’, written by a prominent ‘Scholar’ of the past, one of the few to ascend to the level of ‘Sage’. The book told the tales of the past - some passed down through folktales, some through legends while others from hearsay - compiled and penned by him, thanks to his status as a Sage - the highest one could aspire to become from the Scholar Class.

The book became a classic of literature when released. Primarily reserved for nobility, it became widespread as time passed among the commoners and ‘a must read’ for all the academic students.

Vance had started reading it to pass the time and relieve his boredom, but the book proved to be too heavy for his innocent mind.

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‘How did people first come together?’

‘How hard it must have been to form a kingdom and run it? Father and I find it difficult to even run the small farmhouse.’

‘Why did King Enes do that? How can a person kill thousands, just for one person?’

‘Why did people kill each other for someone else sake? If someone tells me to hurt my father in return for something, I would never do that. So, what did they get in return? Was it ultimately worth it?’

All these thoughts constantly came into his mind, and he was always left with more questions. The only conclusion he came to was - ‘People are bad and will do bad things to you for no reason. He was suddenly reminded of what his father said to him the other day, ‘The world is a very scary place. A lot of bad people are out there. You have to be a big and strong man first.’

“I need to get strong to keep myself from all these bad people if I want to roam the world unhindered. Father was right. What if I went to the city alone and robbed or killed me?''

‘I need to be strong enough to not fear anything or anyone, and fight anyone who hinders my dream’ He thought seriously, his emotions shaping into his consciousness.

Finally giving rest to all his thoughts, he opened the book again to continue it. He had to admit that, even though he hated studying and reading, he just couldn’t stop himself from reading the book. The past seemed fascinating to him, although a bit gruesome.

He opened the book and continued.

‘Men are the scariest when they seek power. The conquest to seek absolute power and dominion lasted millennia. Countless wars were waged during that time, men fell by the numbers, and their numbers declined. Battlefields were painted red by the color of blood, kingdoms fell one after another after the invasion, women were taken in as pleasure playthings, and children were left to die for themselves.

After millennia of blood war, mankind arrived at a truce. Having established a clear hierarchy between the surviving nations, the period of peace once again began. Having gone through chaos and destruction, mankind prospered at a visible pace in the era of peace.

Human Civilizations reached new heights, nations were stronger than before. All was good.

‘But it was the silence before the storm, a more catastrophic one than before.’

‘The First Awakening’ is what it came to be known as later on. Witnesses reported ‘a ray of light came from the sky, wiping out a kingdom in its wake, leaving nothing behind.

That day, humans realized one thing - they were not alone.’

“Of course, humans are not alone. You forgot to include all the animals, you fool.” Vance complained about how dumb the writer of the book was.

“And why can’t people take a break from all the fighting? Can’t they live happily like me and my father? Do you see us hurting anyone?”

Vance was feeling irritated after reading the story. All those wars felt useless to him. ‘If they wanted to live happily, they could have lived like that from the beginning,’ he thought to himself. Reading about all the sufferings was taking a toll on his psyche.

‘Idiots. All of them, idiots” he grumbled.

After calming himself down from all the frustration, he decided to concentrate on the story to know what happened later.

'The appearance of a black lizard-type like creature induced fear in the hearts of countless men like never before. It was something people had never seen before, and they hoped never to see it again in their lifetime - alas it was just a hopeful wish. The creature had destroyed a single nation, without leaving any survivors and flew away like it was nothing. That monster was a dragon, an apex predator.

That day, humans came to know about the existence of the ‘Other Beings’.

Time passed, again. People came to accept the existence of someone else stronger than them. With time, the identities of others were also revealed - they were Elves, Barbarians, Monsters, and many others.

It seemed like the millennia of Blood-War had drawn the attention of others toward humans, and the struggle to survive against constant invasion once again began.

Absolute power creates destruction. Destruction begets hatred in the survivors, hatred begets the desire for revenge; desperation for survival filled with vengeance and hatred leads to the quest for absolute power - and the cycle continues.

Thus the quest for more began, once again, to stand against the ‘Other Beings’.’

Feeling tired, Vance closed the book and drifted to sleep instantly. The pendant on his neck started shining, giving a faint blue light.

Vance had a dream that night.

He was facing the back of a warrior. The warrior looked haggard, his armor in tatters and blood dripping from his injuries. A pool of blood had accumulated where he stood. He faced an army of thousands, blood-crazed and ready to pounce on him any chance they got.

“What rises with the break of dawn turns to dust with the descent of night. It's all for naught in the end, yet we have to keep going, keep surviving - because that’s life. I have stood at the top all my life, yet here I am in this state. Pathetic, isn’t it? But I have no regrets. I dreamt of being the strongest, and I was the strongest - it was a life worth living. Finally, I can be at peace with no regrets.” He said.

The grand scene, the display of valor, the determination, the satisfaction, and the relief - Vance saw it all, he felt it all.