(((Erased? You mean it’s gone?)))
The high anticipation, immediately turns into a confused dejection.
Instead of their supposed feeling of wonder and enlightenment, the peanut gallery's head is now full of confusion and questions.
“Yeah, I feel just as annoyed as you are on that part.”
On the other hand, the dummy wizard has a completely different reaction, as her face scrunched up so much that all the fabric on her head gets dragged into her face.
“As to why, you can easily guess who it is...someone whose name started with a G, ended with a D, and spelled out as 'dripping constipated asshole’. Yep, you guessed it, it's the cause of all our problems until recently!" She sarcastically said, her eyes smiling to no one. "Thank goodness some good samaritan manage to wipe that one-eyed penis, along with the rest of that cocking bastard's charlatan council off the face of the earth, my only regret is that it hasn't happened sooner, or that I don't have a hand on it, or that there isn't a body part left for my pet to chew on…”
(Uh, Ahaha… are they realllly that much of an annoyance even before then? I mean, they literally were trying to blast us into crafting material with absolute greed in their eyes, but it was really that bad…)
(Kyu (Again, there is such a thing as giving people too much credit, Marigold. Some people in the world are just that cartoonishly evil))
(Either way, it’s a good deed for us to prevent them from ever doing any more harm, so it's not something that needs our attention any more.)
With Rose’s statement as final, the three of them collectively stop their 0.01-second meeting, and lead their attention back to Merlis’s unending rant, angrily tapping her staff as she goes, while throwing out accusation after accusation about their intimate relationship with a hole in the wood.
Immediately after, the Headmaster proceeded to stare at them heavily, almost as an instinctive reaction. There is no concrete proof as of yet, so for now all he can do is to drill their head with his glare.
Finally though, the barrage of insults toward their unmentionable has stopped (for a bit), as she has to catch her breath and moisten her throat with a fresh bottle of water, before returning to the topic.
“*glug, glug* Hah...Anyway, thanks to those very fine gentlemen of cuckoldry (may their grave get blessed with the golden shower of a thousand beasts), there is no more material left in the mortal world that details specifically what Primordial Magic is, how it works, the extent of its power, the specific connection between it and our modern version of Chanted Magic (Modern Magic for short), and many more. If there is any blessing though, at least their kleptomania habit should make them collect what's left of that topic deep within their Vault Of Ultimate Magic (lol), so I recently have my disciples ransacking the place to the very bolt on the wall, making sure to leave nothing behind."
"Tsk...either way, since we have nothing on it (for now), instead let's talk about the impression on the people, and what came after.”
Clicking her tongue, she then brings out an ancient-looking book, and writes out the word verbatim.
‘However, the magic of our times is dangerous. It’s volatile, it’s unstable, and it’s the result of a dark and troubled time, full of superstition and pagan art. It’s not the art for the people, instead gnawing on the prosperity of civilization, like a parasite from a primitive age.
Witnessing the plight of our times, our king Rudor, the Great Magus, strives to devise a system of magical rituals and practices that would have been accessible to all. A system of rationality, of enlightenment, and of logic and pure understanding.
For this achievement, he built for himself a fortress of knowledge that will last for eternity, filled with only the greatest mind, the greatest philosophy, and the greatest magic. For this achievement which will last forever more, we name His Highness the King of Magic, the greatest, wisest, most enlightened mind of our time. One whose divine vision ushers us all into the age of light.
-excerpt from The Record of Grand Vision’
“...So, as you can see, the one behind this writing is an asskisser, and the claim is questionable.” She spat out her words, not even trying to be impartial, as she looked at the text like looking at garbage. “However, with multiple texts of the times telling essentially the same thing, it's clear that people’s sentiment of the time considers Prime Magic as forbidden art, or at least a practice that is prone to casualty. Annoyingly, they don't have any explanation as to why it is considered dangerous, because obviously the reason and origin of it also get eliminated as well by the ass from above…”
“Kyu (Isn’t it also because the reason was obvious for it times, and that all the texts left behind are all propaganda in nature as well?)” Dragon “helpfully” chimed in, with a smug look of superiority.
“Of course, but I’m keeping to my truth.” She replied, giving out a sidelong glance of not-giving-a-shit “Not helping the fact is that a lot of the knowledge and information of what that so-called King of Magic has created (of which I will call Old Modern Magic), have been lost in a literal blaze of glory more than a thousand years ago, in the chain of events which lead to the First Cycle of Good and Evil, as you all know. It isn’t that relevant to our lesson though, so let's move on…"
[“What? it is completely relevant! Tell her, Marigold!" A certain fairy screams out in protest.]
["Ask her to tell the origin of the greatest story ever told! That’s the key to everything, I promise!” A certain fairy pleaded to you]
[“It’s definitely not because I wanna hear it again, I swear on my little heart!” A certain fairy pleads with a sparkle in her eyes]
“(Okay, okay…) Teacher, can you tell us the story of the First Cycle, please? I am very curious about it!”
Getting pestered by the constant notification stream, Marigold reservedly comply, before raising her hand once again. This surprised the teacher, prompting her to ask
“Oh? I thought you should know about it already? Last I heard, it has been a pretty popular topic for a while within your group."
“Well, kinda… I just wanna hear it from your perspective, since there is still a lot I want to know from the source!”
“ ‘From the source’, huh… Don’t know if I am the right person for that, since I got a feeling you already have someone better, but I like your enthusiasm! Class, is it fine for me to be on a bit of a tangent, to explain to this fine young lady over here?"
Seeing the sparkly eyes of Marigold staring down at them innocently, the peanut galleries felt like they didn't have much of a choice, and collectively nodded.
“Well, if the class thinks it's fine...This isn't entirely related to our magic class, but here is how the First Cycle begins…"
----------------------------------------
The Tales of Old are threatened to be Snuffed.
Like a candle before the storm, like fireflies before the heavy rain, like the hearth before the winter tide.
The keepers of the tales all huddle together, desperately try to protect their warmth.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Hopelessly against the tide of times, vainly against the scream of voids, wearily against the law of lands.
“The Tales will Die, the Tales will Perish!” The keepers lamented.
The people have spoken, the decrees have declared, the world has decided.
The word, the song, the dance of the ancient tales, all confided to oblivion. All will disappear, all will be gone, all now too weak to utter their voices.
“This cannot stand, this will not stand!” A murmur uttered.
One whisper becomes many, many shouts become an unending scream, the endless scream becomes hatred, and shrieks fuel the crimson flame.
The flame of crimson, twenty in all, came to the steps of the City of Law.
The King of Law, his man in folds, aims to extinguish the bloody blaze. The Law against the Tales, a fight spoke only in burn and scar.
The blood pooled, the body piled, the ichor drained, the mind dulled.
Twenty turns to ten, ten turns to five, and five turns to pair.
The grip tightens, the noose of fate is near their neck, their chant softens, their robed tatters.
Yet, their hidden eyes still contain a red-hot glare.
They burn the King’s arrogant smile, they carved the King’s greedy eyes, they gouge the King’s dirty gut.
Their inferno gaze was enough, to leave the King, standing proud and wise, into mere cinders.
And then, their vengeful heart, flaring with a deep vermillion flame, was enough to consume the rest of his men.
In one day, the City of Law burst into a pillar of light. In one night, every rubble turns to ash.
In a flash brighter than the sun, the once-proud empire explodes into rubble and dust. Their endless knowledge, reduces to soot.
At the center of it all, scorch marks are all that remain.
And from the burn left behind, left embers of blood and rage.
The flame yet lives, blood stagnant into dark pus, anger carved into earth and stone.
From all the suffering and wail of beings, come the start of the First Cycle…
-part of The Blood’s Beginning, from A Fairy’s Endless Storious Tales
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“...Huh? What was I talking about, again?”
Immediately after, her eyes stopped glowing green, and her back also stopped glowing delicate illusionary butterfly wings. At the same time, a suspiciously fairy tales-like book conveniently disappeared from her hand, into a puff of fairy dust.
“Wait, I was talking about the beginning of the First Cycle, but that isn’t what I remembered… or was it? Argh, my head…"
With a dizzying headache, Merlis felt as if someone was clearing messing with her head and scrambling with her memory. In her haze, she also remembers holding a book she clearly doesn't own, that seems to subtly overwrite the book that she has…
(High magical capability above my own, fairy theme, love of story...Fuck no, it is impossible to be her, right? It shouldn’t be, and yet…)
Subtly glancing at Marigold below, awkwardly looking away with an awkward smile, the unthinkable idea spinning in her head seems to be true… Then, upon arriving at that troublesome thought, she swiftly put that thought away, just as fast as she arrived at it.
‘Anything related to that fairy only screams annoyance and trouble', is what her heart screams deep down. As such, she quickly returns the lesson back to the topic, after she fiddles her hat and clacks her staff.
“Ahem-Well, after that it is what you guys should expect: The further persecution of the Keepers which lead to their hiding, the appearance of the First Demon King as their final representative, the First Hero coming out and fighting to a standstill, the sealing, the barrier of cycles, the making of Tutoria, yadda yadda...It's all that you guys should have known, so I won’t talk further.”
The clumsy and awkward way she tries to shift the topic away from the strange story session immediately caught the peanut gallery's eyes (if the weird fairy motif doesn't tip them off already). As such, they stare intensely at the trio (and the increasingly shrinking Marigold), somehow knowing from experience.
Only until they get glared back by the extremely frigid and murderous gaze of Rose and Dragon, do they hurriedly look somewhere else.
[“Phew...shame that I couldn’t go further, but this should be enough.”]
Meanwhile, a certain fairy in the background acts completely proud, seemingly oblivious to what she has done.
“Back to topic...Because most of the record and knowledge of Old Modern Magic get so conveniently erased so thoroughly, for a really really long time what we have left is just mangled bits and pieces. One step of a ritual over here, an untranslatable sentence of a chant over there, unrecognizable runes and symbols, whose meaning and application beyond what the god given them is completely gone...It's all annoyance for historians and practitioners alike, and because of that our magic ends up completely inferior to the day of old, without relying on the bastard divine being, or the help of the fickle and hard-to-please elemental creature.”
“That has been the state of our Modern Magic for a long long time...until quite recently.”
Stabbing her staff with an audible clank, an overwhelming amount of mana filled the air once again. She chants an enchanting hymn, with a language from an ancient time.
Within the center, countless rings of runes and symbols appear on the ground, contained entirely in circles within circles.
“With the endless cycle broken, and the influence of the god weakened...the information about the old magic began to be revealed unto the world, and we began to piece it back one by one.”
The runes seamlessly connected to one another, and the symbol rearranged itself meaningfully around the runes. As it floats, it begins to take on a three-dimensional shape, becoming more and more complex.
“The lost symbol, the missing chant, the unidentifiable shape and figures of the Old Modern… as we began to unearth more and more, we found a peculiar pattern…A sign, that suggests all the current forms of magic within this continent come from one, are one, and derived from one singular system."
From the complex, the shape creates fire, water, wind, and earth. From the four main elements, they began to endlessly combine into countless forms, countless phenomena, and countless creatures.
All those creations, made from the excitation of the element through the power of Mana, gradually began to meld together as one.
“As such, we began to build a system based on that assumption, by combining all that we have...though, more accurately, we’re rebuilding it, trying to recompile, and recomplete, the unified whole of the Chanted Magic develop from the supposed Age of Enlightenment, made by the so-called King of Mage.”
"The result, unfortunately, is still incomplete. After all, there are still a lot of unknown symbols and runes we discover, whose hidden meanings still elude us. We haven't even been able to fully translate the ancient language from which this system is based on…”
“But at least, even if we haven’t obtained the system’s true meaning, we have obtained the system’s true form.”
At the end of the endless combinations, is a singular shining sphere.
A globe of meticulous beauty, its smooth surface is the total compilation of endless patterns, formed and arranged in countless shapes. Like a complete jigsaw puzzle, all the countless pieces fit together perfectly, into a work of art that transcends time itself.
“Hence, we called this the Grand Unified Form.”
“The complete pictures, formed by the steadily completing images we have from a time long past, which have finally been revealed to the present.”
“This is the gate and key, both together in complete harmony. Through further analyzing and completion of this system, we will finally be able to understand the ancient knowledge from the bygone time, and from that, further be able to gleam at the complex primordial structure of Prime Magic, the true beginning of our age!”
Looking at this immaculate structure, everyone became stuck in time. Their eyes glued to the place, it was as if they were watching eternity itself.
Unchanging, everlasting, and ageless. It was like the very truth of the universe was staring at their face, the very complex interaction between all elements expressed in one singular completed solution.
It was beautiful, flawless, and beyond compare. Even if they don’t understand what its content is, the objective brilliant still convey.
“Hahaha, Be At Awe!” Through their pure admiration, she declares herself accordingly and proudly "Soon, you will be able to learn about this... but not yet, I'm afraid! This is knowledge at the very cutting edge of the field, not something that you will be using in your everyday life."
"Instead, now we will be learning a basic spell or two, something you will utilize often in your great adventure ahead. Ah, even though it's mostly for newbies who just come, I think this lesson will serve the veteran well, as well! Now, let get start-"
"Question."
...However, to the three of them, they can only look at this structure with pure puzzlement.
As expected, they can understand what it is with just a glance. However, that only makes them even more confused, as to how it can even be possible.
But...combined with what they learn so far, this sense of incongruity has become more clear.
As such, making her voice clear through all the bustling voices of admiration and awe, Rose raised her hand gently, while holding a notebook she had meticulously written on all this time.
The inscrutable gaze she directed toward Merlis, makes her both jump up a little and a bit befuddled. Nevertheless, she still tries to reply to her stone-cold face with a wry smile.
“? Yes, what is your question? Is it about this complex we have right here?"
"Yes...or rather, it’s more than that, but I will limit it to this right now. About this Grand Unified Form...”
“Ah, perhaps you want to know more about it, or perhaps even share more of your insight toward our cause? Yes, I can easily guess so, considering that your-”
“Well no...Can I ask, how does all this look so wrong?”
Immediately after, everyone is sent into silence.