A sense of anticipation seemed to hang in the air as Rahkim picked up the remains of 'A Brief History of the Under Realm' before sitting down on the floor. Rahkim very gently opened the book in his hands and began to read the legible sections of the book,

“The nation that we have come to know as the Under Realm wasn't always as impressive as it is today, in fact the capital of Jotenheim started as nothing more than a way station on a route that lead from the western side of the continent to the eastern side.

The Under Realm was brought into being by the Founding Emperor of the Gaia Empire, Valheim, as a method to cross the Divide from underground rather than sea. Back in those days it was known as the Causeway, a meandering underground highway that cut through the caverns beneath the Divide allowing Valheim to march his armies to the eastern portion of the continent.

With the Causeway Valheim was able to perform a feat that had never occurred before his time, and that has yet to come again since the fall of the Gaia Empire. Of course after Valheim united the continent under his rule the small way station known as Jotenheim began to flourish as most of the Empire's trade began to flow through it.

Of course the rise in wealth was not Jotenheim's only rise to power as it's central and rather unique location led to Emperor Valheim declaring the newly forged city as the seat of the Imperial Magicians. These Imperial Magicians would become the predecess-

…

The Under Realm was truly formed during the fall of the Gaia Empire, as the surface was embroiled in civil war and power struggles countless refugees fled underground to the stable power of Jotenheim. While the surface dwellers set about slaughtering each other the remains of the Imperial Magicians and the ruling elite of Jotenheim came together, and began to discuss the future of the city.

After a long period of discussion it was decided that the Jotenheim would declare itself an independent power, and it would come under the rule of the Council Tower which would be run by the most prominent Magicians. Shortly after this a Magician came forward and created the Light Stones which came to be the s-”

With a sigh Rahkim threw the book off to the side before cursing,

“I got lucky enough to find these damned books, but what remains is a pathetic amount of information in the end … It looks like I can't rely purely on luck, I'll just need to steadily piece together whatever I manage to discover from this city.”

Rahkim impatiently turned his attention to the second book as numerous thoughts began to fly through his head at the title. 'A Commoner's View on the Rulers of Jotenheim, Magicians', a simplistic and straightforward title, but the chances that it held answers for him seemed so high. Even though he could use magic and even though the tile said he was a Magician, he still didn't truly understand what a Magician was supposed to be.

His movements were extremely careful and a sense of utmost care, and caution seemed to float over him as he started to read the ragged book.

“All those who live in the Under Realm know that Magicians are like benevolent demi-gods who watch over us commoners and lead us down the path to further prosperity, but even then we don't truly understand their might without seeing it for ourselves. I have always held the Magicians of the Under Realm in high esteem, but it was only during my time working as miner for the Council that I came to see just how much our rulers should be revered for what they do.

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It was a month into our dispatch to a mine that had been established on the border of the Under Realm, our mining group had an escort of a hundred soldiers led by a Magician that the soldiers called a Magician Adept. While we were mining out a vein of iron ore the camp was attacked by a group of creatures called Trolls, these terrifying monstrosities that were almost ten feet tall.

I have never been as terrified in the entirety of my life as I was when I saw those grey skinned monsters with their arms that were almost as long as their bodies wielding weapons that seemed to have been hammered out of ore rather than pure metal. Their mouths spouted yellowed tusks while beady, blood red eyes glared down at us and the quills covering their scalps seemed to shiver in anticipation of killing us.

When the soldiers saw the four charging trolls their captain screamed for them to form a defensive line, and ordered his men to hold them back until the Magician could arrive. I will never forget the look of terror I saw in those soldiers eyes, they had battled the predators of the Under Realm for years but before these monsters even they trembled …

Us miners were forced to watch in horror as the archers fired volley after volley at the charging figures only for their arrows to shatter or bounce off skin that seemed to be as hard as iron. The arrows seemed only to enrage the trolls even more as they let loose roars that shook the cavern we were in before colliding with the ranks of soldiers in front of us.

It took only moments before blood soaked the cavern, wherever the troll weapons swept only death would follow and dozens of soldiers were slaughtered before the Magician arrived. Despite the losses caused by the trolls the soldiers seemed to rally at the Magicians appearance, and we watched on in awe as a radiant white light seemed to burst forth from the man's hands to begin to carve a circle in the air in front of us.

Dozens of symbols just seemed to form from nothing as that white light spread out and all I could feel was a sense of joy as if the magic itself was comforting me. As the circle finished the Magician said a phrase that stays with me to this day as the profoundness of it amazes me, 'Wind is like time, before it all will give way.'

In the next moment the air stirred to life and ripples were visible as cyclones seemed to surround the trolls before beginning to furiously spin, grinding rocks that got caught up in it to dust. The cyclones lasted for minutes, but when they faded all that rema-

…

It was only later that I understood that when the soldiers had referred to him as a Magician Adept it was his level of skill in manipulating something Magicians called Concepts. I had the lucky chance to have an apprentice magician explain to me the various ranks that a Magician could reach; Apprentice Magician, Magician Disciple, Magician Adept, Expert Ma-”

As if to mock Rahkim the book cut off there, and the skeletal mage could only sigh once more before tossing the book back onto the bed and reclining back against the stone wall. It really was not such a simple matter to obtain knowledge ...