Cain awoke in his room. Three months had passed since he was crowned the champion of the tournament. In that time, he had managed to remain in the first rank. Cain had received several challenges, but with the exception of Elion, no challenger had a chance to take the coveted first rank.
The fights against Elion, however, were always full of emotion. So far, the blond boy had challenged Cain three times and in all of them Cain struggled. In the tournament's final, Cain had learned that he should fight Elion with caution. All their battles were long, and Cain only secured the win when his Lineage heightened his physical abilities.
Cain looked from the window of his room to the sundial outside the house. The day was clear and the sun was burning in the sky. The wind passed carrying the smell of dew, and birds could already be heard singing in the trees. The clock marked 9 am. Cain was late.
It was a Sunday. In tomorrow's class for the students from 12 to 14 years of age there would be a test about the Old Gods. It was going to be a hard one since the Master Geographer was very strict. Cain had promised to teach Elion, Adalind and two other girls of his class. They had arranged to meet in the library at 9 am and Cain was already late. The boy got ready and left the room quickly. Upon reaching the kitchen he grabbed an apple and went on his way. As he ran the College streets toward the library Cain thought about how he ended up in that situation.
Yesterday he was talking to Adalind and Elion about the test and then two 13 years old girls approached them to ask Cain to help them study. Cain was the best student in the class and it showed. He always was able to answer any question the Master Geographer asked him.
One of the girls was Agatha Ghuel. Agatha was a tall, slender girl. Her long blonde hair attracted the attention of all the boys of the College. Her face composed of delicate features along with her blue eyes. gave her a doll like appearance. Cain recognized her the instant she began to walk towards him. On Agatha's side was her friend Ingrid Jhug. Ingrid was a little smaller than Agatha, but her beauty was also known throughout the College. Ingrid had black hair and green eyes with brown traits. Ingrid's face had strong features and what really drew attention were her thick lips.
Hearing the request of the girls Cain readily accepted to help them. Elion and Adalind were close to Cain at the moment and ended up inviting themselves. Now Cain had 4 people to teach before the test.
Cain came to the library entrance. The sight of the secular building somehow always calmed the boy. He entered the library and went to the exclusive area for students of the institution. Cain worked his way up to the section of the library containing information on the Old Gods. When he arrived, he saw that the others were already there. Adalind and Elion were talking to each other on side of the table while on the other side Ingrid and Agatha were also having a conversation.
"Sorry for the delay" Cain said as he greeted the others.
"No problem. You're already doing us a favor, we couldn't require you to arrive exactly on time" Agatha said with a bright smile.
"Well, as we are already late I will start. Have you found the books that the teacher recommended?" seeing that all the other responded making a positive signal with their heads Cain continued. "Great. So, I want you to turn your book in the page where it explains the arrival of the Old Gods to the continent"
All the books were opened in the page that Cain had asked.
"So here we go. Any questions you may have just stop me and ask" Cain took a few seconds thinking what the best way would be to teach and then began to speak. "As you know the Old Gods arrived on the continent 5275 years ago. It is important that you memorize the exact amount of years. All students know the Master Geographer is very strict" before Cain could continue with his class, he was interrupted.
"I would say he is too strict. Why is there the need to know the exact amount of years? That little man must have a problem and he takes it out on the students" said Ingrid exalted. The girl's speech made everyone fall in laughter.
"I accept that some things he does are unnecessary. But be careful when you call the Master Geographer a little man. If he heard you there would be some punishment" Cain said while laughing.
"I did not tell a lie" said Ingrid smiling with her eyes.
The laughter continued for some seconds. When it was over, Cain resumed his class.
"The Old Gods arrived on the continent in their boats after crossing the Reri sea, which is still considered unnavigable to this day. The Old Gods were only able to cross because their ships were made of materials that exist only at the place where they came from. There are many theories as to why they had to leave their continent, but the most accepted one is that there was some sort of natural disaster that forced them to leave" Cain stopped at that moment to see if everyone was understanding.
Seeing that everyone still looked at him as they made notes, he started speaking again. "When they reached the continent they easily dominated all the resident clans. Those clans lived amidst wars in a fight to gain power and supremacy. But because of the military superiority of the Old Gods and how they easily dominated the humans they were called Gods" at that time Cain was interrupted.
"It is precisely this part that I get confused. You mean they were not called Gods before?" Elion asked a little confused.
"No. Gods was one of the ways in which humans called the Divines before. But since the humans were so easily crushed, they thought the new beings were a very powerful race and could not be mortals. So, we called them Gods and the Divines started being called only as Divines. Any more doubts?" Asked Cain looking around.
Cain answered a few more doubts that his friends had then stopped the lesson. The time had passed much faster than he expected. Soon it would be time for lunch.
"The Old Gods then settled in the Forbidden Lands and began to collect taxes from all Clans. They then opened the College of War on the pretext of teaching us the art of battle, but in fact the College also trained the people to be subservient to them. Five thousand years passed, the Old Gods continued to gain power until all the clans came together to put a stop to the oppression. A war began, on one hand were the Old Gods trying to keep their reign, on the other were the clans trying to break free. Thanks to the combined force of all the continent clans, humans managed to win the war and get rid of the control of the Old Gods" Cain said looking at the horizon imagining the war.
"But what happened to the Old Gods after that?" asked Adalind.
"Nobody knows for sure. All that is known is that they fell back to the Forbidden Lands. We do not have heard much of them ever since" said Cain.
"So, they may be organizing right now to try to regain control over continent?" asked Agatha, her face was etched with a mixture of fear and concern.
"It is quite possible. Most of them can also be dead as far as we know. And this is precisely the problem. We do not know anything for certain" said Cain in a serious tone.
The rest of the morning passed quickly, Cain said goodbye to his colleagues combining to meet again after lunch to finish their studies.
The boy went to the tower of the Master Initiator. Upon entering the tower he found Heirloc already having lunch in the living room.
"Hello boy. You took so long to arrive that I started to eat without you. Lunch is in the kitchen so go pick it up" The man said without taking his eyes from his plate.
Cain went to the kitchen took his lunch and returned to the living room. He sat on one of the chairs near Heirloc and started talking to the Master Initiator.
"Heirloc is there really a danger of the Old Gods coming back?" Asked Cain a little afraid.
"There is. Little is known about them, but in my days as a King of Battle I ended up facing some of them in the Forbidden Lands. It's a good story, someday I'll tell you about it. All I can say is that they are very strong and that if they really are organizing to try and retake control then a great war is coming" said the man now looking in the boy's eyes.
"And what we do? We cannot go back to being servants!" Cain said with a bit of desperation in his voice.
"Do not worry. Humanity is much stronger and organized today than it was before, remember now we have the Council of Clans. In the event of a war we would hardly lose. Excuse me, but now I'll have to go out. I have some things to settle with the Grand Master. Wash the dishes after you finish eating" Heirloc left his dish in the kitchen and left the tower.
After finishing his lunch Cain washed the dishes and left the tower to return to the library. Upon arriving at the meeting place, he saw that no one had returned yet. He then took one of the books on the session of the Divines and began to read. The book talked about some legends of the Divines. Cain swept past some stories he already knew and just stopped flipping through when he found one that he had never heard. The legend told the story of a great kingdom called Nub. The Nub people stopped worshiping the Divines to worship humanity itself. The Divines in retaliation cursed the kingdom with their wrath. The kingdom gradually began to suffer. The rains stopped falling, the rivers and lakes dried up and the pastures turned to sand. But the place most affected by the curse had been the capital of the kingdom. At night the dead rose from their graves and killed all the inhabitants of the city.
When Cain finished reading the legend he saw that Elion had already arrived. The two started talking and soon the three girls arrived as well. Everyone organized their stuff and went back to studying.
"Where have we stopped?" asked Cain looking at his friends.
"We stopped in the social organization of the Old Gods" Agatha said as she stirred her golden hair.
"Great, this is one of my favorite parts" said Adalind.
Cain then asked that all opened their books on the page that talked about it and began the lesson.
"The Old Gods live in a monarchical society. They were subdivided into: Barons, who are the lowest level of society. The intermediate level was composed of Marquises. The Dukes were on the advanced level. Lastly, the royalty who are the highest level. Among the barons and dukes levels the Old Gods can move according to their deeds, but royalty threshold can only be reached by birth in the royal line" Cain said.
'So, are the Old Gods subordinated to each other?" Asked Elion.
"Yes, the royalty rule over all others. The dukes rule over marquises and barons. Then the marquises rule over the barons. The royalty, as I said, are the ones in power. Dukes act as generals or bodyguards of the royalty. The marquises are like army captains and barons are the soldiers" said Cain.
"And how do you identify who is each class?" This time the person who asked the question was Ingrid.
"Looking at the talisman they carry in their neck. All the Old Gods use a talisman that is shaped like a dragon's head made of jade. What differentiates one from the other is the cord that holds the talisman. The cord of the barons is made of bronze, the ones from the marquises are made of silver, the ones from the dukes are made of gold and the ones from the royalty are made of platinum" Cain said.
'Hence I can identify the social class of an Old Gods just by looking at his talisman?" asked Agatha. She had already understood but wanted to hear the confirmation.
"Yup. This even caused an interesting effect during the war 500 years ago. People began to use the talisman of the Old Gods they killed. That way people could show everyone their deeds. If you had a talisman you already earned admiration. The higher the degree of the talisman one collected the more respect earned for the carrier" Cain added.
The children continued studying for the rest of the afternoon. When the sun was finally going down they came out of the library.
"Well I hope I have helped you" said Cain.
"Do not worry you helped us a lot. Didn't he Ingrid?" said Agatha.
"True, you saved us from getting a bad score. You deserve a reward" said Ingrid with a wicked smile.
The two girls then went to Cain and kissed one cheek each. Adalind and Elion were surprised by the gesture, but the one who least expected it was Cain.
"If you want, I can take you to the lodge. I would not mind" said Cain still not believing what had happened.
"Of course, you would not mind! But do not worry I'll be right with them and we do not need an escort" Adalind spoke, her voice a higher pitch than normal. Adalind then took the other two girls by the hand and pulled them to follow the path back to the lodge.
"What I did to irritate Ad?" asked Cain turning to Elion who was laughing.
"Nothing dude, nothing" said Elion trying to control his laughter.
The two boys talked about how they would never understand girls as they walked up to the tower of the Master Initiator. When they got there Cain went in and Elion continued his way.
Upon entering Cain saw Heirloc in the living room sitting in one of the armchairs.
"How are you boy? Seeing your tired face you seem to have had a long day" said the man with a smile.
"I'm exhausted. I did not know that teaching was so tiring" said Cain.
"Maybe now you understand what I go through every day" said Heirloc while laughing.
"Yup. Today I started to admire you even more. By the way, you owe me the story of how you became one of the Kings of Battle" said the kid.
"Oh, you want to hear it now? Sit in one of the chairs because it will be a long one" replied the Master Initiator. The man now had a more serene facial expression.
Cain then sat in one of the armchairs. The boy prepared to hear a story that would finally let him know the past of the Master Initiator.