HISTORIES

Lynne and others spent good few hours conversing with Y’se, during which they had learned a great multitude of things in regards to the current affairs of the World. Among many, Lynne had learned that there were currently at least seven surviving Ancient Clans, theirs being one among them. Secondly, he also learned that, save for the exact number of Divine Realms – which were defined by the quantity of Mana and Natural Treasures – the clear number of the realms was still unknown.

However, what shocked him the most above all was news that the Great War he had decided to participate in was actually just a facade. When he thought for a moment, he realized that it even managed to fool Primordial God of all beings, rendering him absolutely speechless. It wasn’t that the Great War wouldn’t happen, but rather that it would most-likely act as a wool over the eyes for something much greater.

Even Y’se, Queen of Tower of Knowledge, was unsure about the underlying factors, to say nothing of other people. As hours slowly passed, only Y’se and Lynne remained seated, with Thalia and Gru having already passed out from drinking a bit too much.

“You sure can hold your liquor.” Y’se teased lightly, warm smiled painted on her face.

“Eh, I have a lot of experience,” Lynne said casually. “You don’t disappoint either.”

“But of course,” Y’se said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Good, strong alcohol is one of the very few pleasures of the world that are in abundance.”

“Truth be told, this ale of yours really is a bit too strong,” Lynne said, observing three empty bottles he had managed to drink over the past few hours. “My taste buds are a thing of the past.”

“Ha ha, yeah, it can tamper with you a bit,” she said. “Don’t worry, big sis here obviously has a way to cure it if it’s that hard.”

“Ah, it’s fine,” Lynne shook his head. “If I can’t even handle something so light, how can I call myself your younger brother?” Lynne said cheekily.

“So you do get it.” Y’se said. “Now, before you and I pass out as well, those old farts have informed me that your aim for coming here is to seek approval to build Kingdom around this Tower.”

“Yes,” Lynne’s expression quickly turned serious. “However, what I merely wanted was just an identifiable ground, I never sought to exploit Tower’s excessive library.”

“Exploit? Ha ha,” Y’se laughed lightly. “Why is it that the outside world seems predisposed that we’re some sort of devils? All who tread here are naturally welcome. We have knowledge because we wish to share it. However, naturally, if we are to build a Kingdom here, we’d have to put on some restrictions.”

“… so… you agree?” Lynne said, somewhat surprised.

“Why would I refuse?” Y’se said lightly. “You also seem aware of the Ryuuk’s upcoming awakening, which is probably why you decided to build a Kingdom here, rather than just establish yourself on the mainland.”

“Hm.” Lynne simply nodded in agreement.

“While I can’t claim this to be the safest place in the world, I can claim that no major catastrophe will occur for as long as I’m here.”

“Oh, right, before coming here,” Lynne spoke. “I met a strange entity deep beneath the desert.” after, Lynne proceeded to retell of his encounter with the strange voice and even stranger garden-like land beneath the desert. All throughout, Y’se had somewhat bemused expression as she listened. “… and, looking at you, you clearly are that Queen.”

“Indeed I am,” Y’se smiled lightly. “You were lucky your Bloodline was awakened. Otherwise, considering you’re an Empyrean, she would have killed you rather than spoke to you.”

“Aii, don’t make it sound so dangerous… she did say my flames are kind.”

“That was most-likely before she recognized your Blood,” Y’se said, smiling slyly. “She just did it to draw your attention, planning to kill you.”

“… what is with this sudden urge to take a piss?”

“Ha ha,” Y’se laughed briefly before her expression became somber. “In order to understand why, you need to understand history. After all, Eastern Wastelands wasn’t always a massive desert devoid of life. Once upon a time, it was a true, Heavenly Garden of Life, undisputed across the entire World. Although you won’t find any records of it in history books, or even ancient tomes and scriptures, it is still part of this realm’s long, long history.”

“Before humans even came to be,” Y’se continued, taking in a deep breath. “There were plenty other existences roaming the World. Back then, this realm of ours was actually considered a Heavenly Realm, class even above Divine Realms.” although shocked, his expression didn’t betray his thoughts as he listened on. “However, that only meant that the competition was even fiercer. The voice you heard belongs to an ancient creature, sprawling from the Primordial Era itself: Heavenly Turtle.”

“It was a Guardian of the Garden, with Garden itself being home to numerous species of life, and billions of individuals. Yet, Primordial Era drew toward its end; Gods, Dragons, Phoenixes, Serpents, all drew their fangs and the first World War, spanning hundreds of realms, occurred. The entire Heavenly Garden, which stood proud even within the Heavenly Realm, was doused in flames, burned down to only ash. It was precisely a True Dragon of Flames that had done it and, ever since then, she had sought to mend past grievances. Were it not for me, she would have already engaged in a life and death struggle with our friend down south.”

“… wow.” Lynne exclaimed softly as he began wrapping his thoughts around the past so distant, it almost seemed unreal.

“Humans came into being halfway through the Desolate Era,” Y’se continued in a calm tone. “As for our origin… who can truly tell? Some say we were birthed from Gods, some say we are descendants of Divine Beasts, and some say that we evolved from lesser beasts. Whatever the case was, the ones who passed on Laws onto us were actually Dragons. However, it wasn’t until Magus Era that human race truly began to prosper in terms of Magic. While we are called Ancient Clans,” Y’se added. “Our history runs only as far as the very end of Desolate Era. There are some human remnants that linger on, even older than us…”

“Was the World War cause for realm’s downfall to such a degree?” Lynne asked after a short silence.

“Yes,” Y’se nodded. “It wasn’t just Eastern Wastelands that were scorched, there’s an entirely different continent, bigger even than our own, that’s met much worse fate. To this day, even Divine Mages fear to venture too deep, for fear of losing their lives.” Lynne sucked in a cold breath, feeling nearly overwhelmed with the sudden obtained knowledge.

“I didn’t realize…” he muttered. “Our roots truly run so deep.”

“Yet, it is merely a speck of time,” Y’se smiled, somewhat solemnly. “Who’s to say that there weren’t any eras before the ones we’re vaguely aware of? Who’s to say that there aren’t still some realms and dimensions that we’ve yet to unearth? In the end, even with over two billion books in this small library, our scope of knowledge is still so limited.”

“Suddenly, everything I did so far seems so small,” Lynne sighed softly as he looked through the window of the topmost floor of the Tower, his gaze overlooking the vast clouds rather than the desert beneath. “Can I tell you something in confidence?” Lynne suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat low and uncertain.

“…” Y’se said nothing, merely nodding her head gently.

“I had a chance meeting with a Primordial God,” Lynne’s words shook Y’se so much that even she wasn’t able to keep a normal expression. “Although, luckily, I was let go, even the Primordial God warned me of the upcoming war for Time and Creation. I don’t think that it is just a mere ploy to divert just our eyes.”

“…” still unable to recover, Y’se remained frozen, her eyes wide open, as she pondered on Lynne’s words. It was only after nearly ten minutes that she somewhat recovered. “Even if they wanted to, there is no way just mere neo-clans would be able to influence The Source itself.” she spoke lowly, as if fearing her own words. “This… aah, little brother, how I wish I remained in the dark.”

“Well, you kept bombarding me with shocking revelations, one after another. I only figured it was right to pay some debts early.” Lynne said, smiling lightly.

“This matter, don’t speak to anyone else about it,” Y’se said in a serious tone. “Even I will have to be careful as I investigate slowly.”

“Ah, Parsia is probably on his way back,” Lynne mumbled. “I should go back and lead him here.”

“If you don’t mind, your big sis can take care of that easily. Meanwhile, I’ll also talk to our little turtle down below to help us reshape this place a little bit. Seems truly desolate the way it is now, no?”

“Ha ha,” Lynne laughed lightly. “Indeed. It could use some color.”

* * *

An extremely small, enclosed chamber was lit up only by a single candle. There, three figures sat in a circle, one of which was Lynne’s mother, Yunchi. Her expression was currently somewhat shocked, but quickly calmed down as she entered deep thought. Besides her, the other two figures were precisely two pillars of the Hyorn clan: Patriarch Yul and Clan Master Sylac. Similarly, both had expressions of those deep in thought.

“We can’t delay any further,” Patriarch Yul suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. “We at least need to probe out their strength before proceeding forward. With Y’se ascending, that means that – at least publicly – just their clan alone has three Divine Mages. Worse case scenario being that they most-likely have at least four, if not even five.”

“Indeed,” Clan Master Sylac said, his brows furrowed. “Even with just two, if they join hands with some other Clans, we’d be pressed hard to proceed according to our plans. Also, from what I’ve heard, the Ancient Desert Dwellers have also begun making their move, converging toward the south.”

“Don’t worry about them too much,” Yunchi said dismissively. “At best, they’ll just send their servants to scout us out in hopes they’ll be able to reap some benefits afterwards.”

“Aah,” Patriarch Yul suddenly sighed, shaking his head. “What I thought to be a simple expedition to render some merit for the alliance turned out to be such a headache. Sylac, begin converging some of our elite forces toward the Wastelands. Also pluck some from the other factions, but have them wear our clothes.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Clan Master Sylac said solemnly.

“Yunchi, stay in the encampment for now and observe the Dragon’s movements,” the Patriarch then turned toward Yunchi and continued. “In addition, begin making plans for the battle against our beloved Queen. Having left seclusion, although my progress was somewhat hindered, I’m confident in being able to ascend to the third stage within half a year. Until then, unless the sky tears open, don’t summon me.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Yunchi said with grave expression.

“Also, keep an eye out for that bastard son of yours,” the Patriarch said with somewhat of an angry expression. “The last we knew of his position was when he was still at the border of the Wastelands. Since then, regardless of how we tried, we were unable to detect his location. There’s a great chance he might meet up with the Queen, considering that bastard father of his belongs to the same clan.”

“… Yunchi understands.” she spoke softly, clear signs of guilt and resentment in her voice; despite the fact that she was still valued highly by the Clan, more so than anyone else of the younger generation, Median and Lynne were two shames she was never able to dispel from her heart. Ever since the Holy Paradise battle, she had sought ways to remove both of them, but could never find it. One day, I’ll kill both of you. Only then would my heart be ready for the final ascension…