Another surreal dream began when Vin dropped into the liquid blackness of unconsciousness. Like each other instance, he was aware he'd been transported into his imagination and held complete autonomy over his body.
He was alone, and like before, he felt time distort. He didn't expect to take more than one or two steps before waking up in the morning.
Three paces ahead of him were white flowers he'd seen in a previous lucid dream. Pristine and bathed in a soft, otherworldly glow. He began a drawn-out venture toward them; their shared beauty beckoned him. But within a single step, the fabric of his reality began to fray, unraveling like threads of a delicate tapestry. He covered no ground at all before his world crumbled.
There was a curt transition from his dream as if his existence had been seared with boiling water and he had been burned into reality.
A fear-stricken invader suddenly shouted into his mind. This Voice's distress oozed like melted gold and burned Vin awake.
"This is not what I envisioned!" He heard, identifying the invader as the planet's Soul. "Please! Find peace!"
Vin had shot up to his bottom, sending the thin, black coat sliding from his torso down to his waist. He knew he was still in the dim jail cell and shakily clasped a hand over the side of his head before frowning. He'd already hated the intrusive discomfort of when that entity attuned to his mind, so its yelling was dreadful.
"As promised, I have provided! There is plenty, so please spare your new human brothers and sisters!"
Vin's eyes widened with lividity. ' Spare?' He bucked to his knees and scrambled for the Journal as if it would instantly make sense of everything.
"Speak to me; we can resolve your differences WITHOUT the murder of innocence, please!"
"Cease this needless bloodshed!" A broadcast Vin was learning was not just made for humans but directed to every inhabitant of that planet.
Vin's mouth exploded open in a fury, yelling atop his lungs, and then he began to bash his fist violently onto the cold, hard ground. Over and over, threatening another fracture.
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[Time:] 2:03am
[Date:] 1/2/300 AD - (After the death of Archangel Constantine Verthry)
[Population:]
[Elves:] 2.1 Billion
[Ravenours:] 1.3 Billion
[Rivanians:] 620 Million
[Churus:] 1.8 Billion
[Humans:] 5.4 Billion
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It had decreased by nearly three billion since the last time he'd looked and was constantly declining. Vin's rage elevated. Not because he was super empathetic but because the people he cared for were a part of that number. The settlements that were being obliterated housed the ones he loved.
It wasn't just the population that was growing smaller. The borders on the map that illustrated human territory were gradually being pushed inward in real time. Earthia was being conquered, and judging by how the North, South, and West regions grew, they were flanked by three different armies.
Vin seethed, screaming at no one in particular, "Fuck you! This is our world now too!"
[Humans:] 4.4 Billion
"They're trying to drive us extinct, do something, you piece of shit!" Humans had to have been getting butchered. They had little defense besides a new settlement and the encouragement to build anew; meanwhile, they were likely bombarded with grand spells capable of leveling entire fields.
Vin vaulted up and ran to the cell door before grabbing onto the metal bars and shaking them with all his might. "Let me out!"
He could see the older man, the Warden, from his cell, standing before his desk. Their head was hung low, and their eyes were shut. He held his hand over his heart, solemnly standing still.
Vin yelled for release again, but the man didn't budge. "My family is out there!"
Vin's mind vividly depicted the incomplete human settlements being razed. He envisioned his family in the same hopelessness he'd faced in the swamp, hunted by vicious monsters and running for their lives in a cruel foreign place.
It hurt even more to imagine Macy, his younger sister, being hounded. She—no one deserved that. And why? Because the other species didn't want new neighbors?
The Warden glanced heavily at Vin briefly, then turned his head away to hide his eyes and returned to his seat. It was useless; Vin cursed him, then darted his eyes around the room, "I know you're watching; now you don't want to help!?"
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Even the Phoenix was absent from his outcry.
"I had promised not to get involved with mortal affairs, but you have forced my hand. If this continues, I will swallow your armies with greater bridges and plunge you into the Archival Dimension."
That name again. It was the very place he was tasked with going, but now it was a threat from an entity that had proven very capable of forcing someone to go somewhere they didn't want to be.
With no luck of escape, Vin returned to the Journal. They'd been on that planet for one day, and half of the human population was already being butchered."
Vin wanted to know who- what evil could do that to them, so he asked the Journal to provide information about the North, South, and West regions.
First North, which, according to the Journal, belonged to the Elves. According to the Soul, they were the ones helping humans settle, so why would they turn against them.
Like when Vin read about the Ravenours, there was a provided description, but there was also space for humans to write their own notes.
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Elves: Known for their connection to nature, they are skilled with magic and possess a deep connection with their guardian spirits.
[Discovered By:] Geralds Leclerc
[Discovered On:] 1/1/300AD
[Name:] Elves
[Notes:] The Elven guides assigned to our settlement told us their kind was the first and original inhabitants of the planet. There are many of them, but only about ten thousand Elves are devoted to the Soul of Auroraan.
The few I've met have been extremely patient and kind, so I was sad to find out they'd been outcasted by their own people for following a different code. They tend not to talk much about their personal lives and feelings, so I'm writing this hoping more people will read this and try to understand they are here to help.
[End]
[Updated: 1/2/300AD, 1:20 am]
>The Northern Nations of Elves are merciless villains with no morals for any creature aside from themselves!
[End]
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Vin hastily read the entire page in fumes, quickly moving on to the hostile Southern region, hoping to learn anything about the ongoing peril humans faced.
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Churus: Resourceful tribal hunters with keen senses and the ability to hunt just as well at night as day.
[Discovered By:] Savana B. Patel
[Discovered On:] 1/2/300AD
[Name:] Churus
[Notes:] I'm all alone now.
Goodbye.
[End]
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The West was the only region that did not attack humans, but Vin wanted to know what kind of people they were.
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Rivanians: Inhabitants of both land and water. The only people that have method of communication with creatures of the vast oceans.
[Discovered By:] Viviana Laurentino
[Discovered On:] 1/1/300AD
[Name:] Rivanians
[Notes:] I fell into a lesser bridge a year ago and was dropped into the middle of a sea. I was pretty sure i'd drown out there but a Rivanian saved me. They're like… Water people with gills, I suppose. Anyways, i've been living with them for a year now and grown rather attached, but now humans are on this world and I have to go find my family.
[End]
[Updated: 1/2/300AD, A minute ago]
>I'm not at the human settlement yet, but I know what the other species are doing. DO NOT mistake the Rivanians for the rest of those monsters! Rivanians are also constantly being attacked by the Churus and are victims just like us!
[End]
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Then, last, were those Western Dragon vermins that imprisoned him. Vin was glad he hadn't written notes about them yet because it meant someone from the human settlement could.
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Ravenours: Descendants of warriors who consumed the flesh of dragons over generations to absorb their mystical properties, leading to remarkable physical changes.
[Discovered By:] Windrake Khan
[Discovered On:] 1/2/300 AD
[Name:] Ravenors
[Notes:] We were lied to! Those Elven guides told us the Northern Nations of Elves were supposed to be locked in war with Ravenours, but here they both are, working together to end us!
Those bloody, evil, horned devils hit Stadia in waves, killing us without mercy and burning down the wooden structures we'd begun to build!
[End]
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Vin's anger boiled over, and he shouted again, echoing the jail. "We were dropped at the center of a world that'd already been at war with each other!"
No matter how much he fulminated, there was nothing he could do from behind bars, so he tried to calm the blazes in his heart and think. Less than a minute later, a series of heavy bangs against metal pulled Vin from his thoughts, and he lowered his Journal before rushing to the cell door. There, he saw the Warden with a cautionary look about him; his face conveyed he wasn't expecting any visitors that late in the night. The man didn't rush but grabbed his sheathed sword and made grave steps toward the jail entrance. He barked at the door, but there was no reply, just a suspenseful silence.
It was then the Warden undrew his steel and repeated himself, likely asking the guests to identify themselves. Several more loud subsequent bangs at the door forced the hairs on Vin's neck to stand, and he gripped the bars of his cell and warned in his language, Earthian, "Don't open the door!"
Vin couldn't see the Warden from the last cell in the jail, but he heard the man shift his orientation to peek down the corridor at him. Moments later, the Warden shouted at the door and tightened his grip on his blade. Moments later, Vin heard the man pull the keys from his person, prompting an immediate reaction. Vin quickly turned and grabbed the cloak he'd used as cover, tearing it and wrapping it around his hands and wrist for support. He Tied the rest tightly around his waist for covering, then angrily spat loud enough for the man to hear him, "Weren't you ever taught not to open the door for strangers!"
Vin knew he may have overreacted; it could have been anyone outside. However, he couldn't help but feel he was next after nearly half of the human population was culled. He'd almost died enough times; caution was all he had to combat the fragileness of human life.