> “You ain’t so big now, are ya?”

* Stonemuncher, the only Esunite to level 30 times in one sitting

Ten thousand times ten thousand years had passed since Mankind’s first cohesive civilizations had formed on Esun. Of course, in those ancient days, there had been Beastfolk, made by the hands of the earthen Giants, and Demons too, molded into shape from the dark ichor dripped straight from the lofty Archons’ veins. Three races of being, each of them forming numerous civilizations and peoples over the course of numerous years, each rising and falling, many enduring for much longer than one might think.

Hundreds of millions of lives, billions perhaps, over ever so many years. And yet, after it all, Beastfolk vanished, and Demons dwindled. Humans, the first and largest of the mortal races, lived on, and prospered. From the first simple tribes to vast, modern imperiums that spanned entire continents, humankind thrived.

In the modern day, 14 R.S. (In the Reign of Stillbottums), by Esultaran reckoning, or 1310 F.C. (First Confederation) in Diren, perhaps a more accurate measure. Of course, it was said that the most esoteric and of Ushorin stated the date to be 2,178,445,806, but that’s much too long, and what were they even measuring from? They never say. Nevermind them.

Nonetheless, in the modern day, whatever year you might call it, was a busy one. Though it was barely spring, the fourth highest level of his generation had died, the Fortress City of War, Cardona, had fallen into rioting, the champing rage of revolution roaring in many’s ears.

Along the Kingslake, the oldest living , and oldest living administrator of any kind, strode along at a fast clip, each step a lesson in grace. Further south, past the so often overrepresented Continent of War, Vrogottian debated in halls of marble and gold what laws would be renewed and which would fall to the ax this year, and, when all else failed, began a bidding war.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

To the west of Vrogott, Kandrevite sharpened blades and trained their bodies as weapons most swift and deadly, as deep beneath the earth conspiracies formed. Farther still to the west, Nok stretched out like a leisurely cat, a land awash with adventure and promise, as level 10 to 20 ventured deep into vaults long abandoned and gray bearded oversaw guilds of mercenaries and ragtag delinquents.

In southwesternmost Diren, where conversation was the lifeblood of society and where arguments and favors were worth more than gold, the , eyes rheumy with time, brow wrinkled and hair silvered by age, stood, staring, as he so often did nowadays, out from a window that made up an entire wall, taking in the pastoral fields of his peoples’ homeland, thinking more than speaking.

And, last, but definitely not least, on the easternmost rim of the world Ushorin could be found, its jungles and valleys awash with life and beauty, its people humble, ever striving to be truer, higher versions of themselves. Trees bent in the strong wind, but did not break, as a great storm could be spotted on the horizon. The and sat in council in their groves of power, ruminating on the coming troubles. For war, great war, was coming to Esun, and everyone, from the most bereft Bound, to the highest lord, began to feel it in the air.

A half-made of ink and paper and memory stood on a hilltop and gazed out at a world that had changed so much since his youth. He remembered being a , not even level 5, so many eras ago, following a with hubris enough to crack the sky.

He remembered much, and forgot little. A rumor had started some millennia ago that he knew everything; that was patently untrue, he simply knew most things. He reflected on his life, in that moment, as the dew gathered on grass wonderfully green, and thought about how many firsts he’d been apart of. First person to get past level 10 in an intellectual Class. First person to pierce level 20 in such a class as well, and level 30 too, for that matter. He was the oldest human, the smartest human, if the stories, so rife with misconceptions and exaggerations after so much time, were to be believed. He had made an , arguably the most powerful one ever made, and he would see it through. An taken as he crested level 40 all those years ago, and saw the horizon for what it was-- a trick, an illusion.

He looked towards the future, and his Oath burned in his heart.