A gigantic irregular flat patch of land, at least a hundred times the earth’s landmass, surrounded by extremely turbulent oceans on almost all sides. The oceans can only be navigated somewhat safely by sea races but even they only inhabit waters up to a certain distance away from land. Turbulence increases as one goes farther away from shore and becomes threatening to even the most supreme powerhouses known to man.
Human beings and other races have been exploiting this land for tens of thousands of years but it is still vibrant in resources. Thousands of years ago all races were at war with each other, riddled with internal and factional struggles. As we all know people only want the fruits of victory but no sane being actually wants war, so wars dwindled as civilizations evolved beyond basic primitive needs.
Trade and exchanges between various races for the last hundreds of years has facilitated the lessening of hate. Now people want a rich life, those who have a rich life want status, those who have status want power and those who have power want to achieve absolute freedom.
Human beings occupy a small part of the eastern lands governed by the Serafin empire while most of the continent is inhabited by other demon races. Elves occupy a very small part of the central lands which contain the densest forests. Dwarves live towards the north in an area commonly called the dwarven mountains.
Humans have been in trade with dwarves, peacock demon race, and the merfolk for a very long time. Merfolk are also one of the most peaceful sea races. Humans have also been the first to accept other races as refugees, into marriages, into schools, etc. Other races can hold any job in the Serafin empire if they have acquired its citizenship except for governmental positions.
But why is the continent called Darknorth? Beyond the dwarven mountains lies a piece of land, called Badlands, so deadly that no being has ever set foot there and returned to tell the tale. It is perpetually covered in miasma and clouds so thick that the sun never shines. But the biggest source of danger is that the laws of physics that work everywhere else on the continent and on the oceans don’t work in the Badlands. Even if you are the most supreme fire law powerhouse of the continent, what can you do without the control of fire? Legends say that the Badlands are inhabited by divine beasts like dragons and qilins but that’s all they are: legends. At least for the last ten-thousand years, no one has ever seen a divine beast typically portrayed in fables.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
For the last seven years, miasma in the Badlands has been fading and increasing in intensity frequently. Geniuses are born frequently. Sometimes even the laws bend unnaturally in the locality where a peerless genius is born. Nobody knows if there is any relation between the occurrences in Badlands and the birth of geniuses but prophets predict that the continent is going to encounter its most brilliant era in known history. The miasmal event in the Badlands has been termed the Badlands Paradox by the Darknorth inhabitants.
Our story starts in the Waterford principality, a medium sized state of one of the 58 principalities of the Serafin empire. It is located in the south east of the empire. In the capital of Waterford, Bluefire, lives a prosperous family called the Zechariahs. It is by no means an all-powerful family but it has occupied important positions in the government, produced famed scholars, researchers and cultivators for generations. The patriarch of the family is 562-year-old Mather Zechariah, a nascent soul cultivator and law enforcement chief of Waterford.
Our protagonist is 14-year-old Castiel Zechariah, a gloomy handsome grey-haired teen, studying in his last year of high school with other 17-year-olds. His father is Arthur Zechariah, an extremely strict and callous elder of the family. His father is 80-year-old and an early golden core cultivator. His sister is Amelia Zechariah, a cute and bubbly 5-year-old. His mother Alina was killed in front of his eyes during an attempted kidnapping of his sister 4 years ago. After a year of searching for the culprits, this case has become a cold case for the Bluefire law enforcement department.
Fortunately, Amelia doesn’t remember the event but it has been etched into Castiel’s memory like a scar. For now, Castiel has only one purpose in life: vengeance. Unfortunately for him, the Zechariah family and the Bluefire law enforcement have gradually given up on finding the culprits.