"World Fusion? Like turning the world into a star or you're talking combining one world with another?" Val was not sure where Karl was going with this, but humoring him seemed the best way to get his answers.
"The latter, but not one world, not even just this world, the entire realm that is this universe." Karl explained.
"So what was this, and how was it magical? How did this cause these global disasters suddenly?"
"I will explain, but to explain this event, I need to explain another. Are you familiar with the story of Noah's Ark?" Karl asked.
Val frowned, not sure what biblical stories had to do with anything. "Roughly, a great flood, two of every animal, giant boat, a biblical extinction event, isn't it?"
"Yes, but it's a rewriting of a much older story, and much of it is incorrect, intentionally so, to get closer to the truth, we need to look at stories from early Mesopotamians."
"Ancient civilization, right? Around where the Middle East is now?"
Karl smiled wryly. "Not too ancient, but in terms of your history records, yes."
"What's this have to do with World Fusion?"
"The stories of great floods, earthquakes, plagues, extinction-level events, almost every civilization around the world had something like this. The ones that didn't have creation stories instead. Izanami and Izanagi raising the islands of Japan, Maui fishing up the Polynesian island chains, and so on. The event connecting these stories was the usage of a powerful, divine magic known as World Fission." Karl explained as he was peering into his mug. The grizzled old man looked lost in thought, or he remembered something unpleasant.
Val mulled over what he had been told so far. Some pieces of the story seemed to connect and fall into place.
"Hold on, 'World Fission' and 'World Fusion' sound like opposites events. If World Fusion is the reason for such destruction, why would the other be remembered with stories depicting the exact same situation?"
"Because they are intended to counter each other, but their capacity for destructive consequences is the same. Thousands of years ago, your world flourished with magic. Humanity coexisted with both the elder races and the younger races of the world. While not the strongest, fastest, nor smartest of the races, your ancestors were flexible, adaptable, and resourceful. They gathered and learned magical arts of all kinds, amassing power not seen before. In their hubris, they challenged the other races, forcing some to the brink of destruction. They waged bitter wars for land, knowledge, and ultimately more power." There was a tone of remorse in Karl's voice, or perhaps a sense of guilt.
Val sipped from his mug as Karl continued. "Eventually, humanity grew divided, not all humans could master magic. Some wanted nothing to do with it. Those that could use magic saw them as weak, incapable, and thus not fit for the perceived destiny of humanity. Humanity eventually challenged the gods, believing themselves superior to the other races. They wished to elevate their own gods above others and, in turn, be elevated above the other races. They enslaved those of their own who could not wield magic to construct a massive tower that was taller and grander than any mountain."
"This sounds like the Tower of Babel." Val raised an eyebrow, his eyes displaying a hint of doubt.
"Hmm, the tower you're referencing is more fondly remembered than the truth. The gods did not place a curse of tongues on humanity. They mustered their armies, called upon the other races of the world to destroy the tower and push back humankind. In a matter of a decade, they had pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. To many of them, humans had proven themselves to be a mistake, a cancer upon the world. Of the gods still partial to humans, one stood out and sought to bargain for mercy."
"There were gods still partial to humans? Which one?"
"There were many gods who loved humanity, many would later hold this one as God."
"God? Capital 'G' God? You're talking about the Christian god?"
"Yes, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, like many gods, he had many names, and was shared by many faiths. He called upon all the races to cease so he might strike a bargain with the gods. He and the other gods on the side of humanity would split the world into two. In one, all the magic capable races, in the other, magic-free humans and other living creatures who could live without it. The gods agreed, and God exercised a magic remembered as World Fission, but the amount of magic required to cast it was unthinkable. Even one born of divinity would not survive its use. Naturally, God volunteered himself to be the conduit for its use, but shortly before they commenced their plan, his own son, born of God to a human mother, took his place. He had insisted that the mortal men would need his father's guidance to survive a world bereft of magic. Distraught, God eventually agreed, and together they sundered the realm. All the magical races, including the humans too connected to magic to live without it, were removed from this realm. What remained was a realm in upheaval, Nature reacted violently to the sudden vacuum of magical power, the destruction left its mark on the world, and mortal men barely survived these days."
A long silence followed, Karl fed the fire more kindling, Val himself was indulging in more drink to stave off the sobering implications of the story. Huginn and Muninn sat silently to the side, Huginn was staring at Karl with sorrow in his eyes.
"If this story is the source of the extinction myths, what of the rest of it? Does all mythology stem from these gods?" Val asked.
"Not all of it, but much of it. The gods who remained with the mortal men tried to help them in rebuilding and finding a fresh path, one without magic. However, by choosing to remain in a world without magic, they could no longer draw power from their surroundings. They grew weaker as time went on, exercising what power was left within them, that would no longer return. Many chose to live as mortals, some having fallen in love with the human way of life. Some chose to sleep, and God himself, in memory of his son, would live apart in solitude, conserving what remained of his power so he could watch over mortal men as long as he could. Though it was by his instruction that mortals altered history, turning truth into legend."
"This still doesn't explain what has happened now. If what you say is true, there should be no magic left in this world, so magically caused destruction like the global cataclysms you described should be impossible." Val looked at Karl questioningly, it was an exciting story but did nothing to explain the current situation.
Karl smiled. "Magic has returned to your world. Though only theorized, World Fusion is the only thing capable of causing the events you have witnessed. Its only purpose was to undo the effects God sacrificed so much to create."
"Magic? In our world? Fairy tales and fireballs?" Val looked slightly incredulous as he questioned the remark.
Karl picked up a long pair of tongs and fished around in the fire, pulling out the glowing stone. "This stone is suffused with magic. Too much, in fact. It has started to change, forming a crystal structure. However, it is unstable right now, the changes occurring in the stone are giving off significant amounts of energy as heat. Or would you rather believe there exists a piece of rock the size of an egg that can remain hot as an oven for days without cooling?"
Val remembered the torched cabin where he found the stone and frowned. He was a man of science. It was true he did not believe the stone to be ordinary, but he had assumed it was the product of some natural phenomenon he had never studied.
"Why would World Fusion be used then? If God sacrificed his own son and the other gods were willing to give up their powers to separate us from magic, who would undo it?"
"Ah, that is the important question. Though I do not know how, or whom, I suspect why." But Karl did not elaborate further.
"Why then?" Val pressed the obvious question.
"The expectation, upon removing magic, was for humans to find their place in this world, living simple, peaceful lives. It was not entirely by selfless intentions for the humans, mind you. After all, some gods, even before magic left the picture, took to living among humans. They wanted simple, peaceful lives. You claim you've studied human history, what does it look like to you?" Karl asked.
Val thought about this for a moment, not sure what Karl was getting at.
"What do you mean?"
"If you had to name one thing above all others, to describe human progress, what would it be?"
He did not like it, but an answer came immediately to Val's mind.
"... War?"
Karl did not confirm, but leveled a sorrowful eye to Val's gaze.
"Without magic, humanity found a new path forward. Shortly after rebuilding again, they fought, for land, money, ultimately power. To gain more power, they shocked the gods by mastering Natural Law — and not the kind about moral conduct, but the rules and structure of all natural phenomena. They especially mastered anything that could help them kill others and exploit the land. Even the gods who took humanity's side, in the beginning, could only look on in horror as men devised weapons free of magic, that could still cause destruction rivaling the greatest of magical powers. Worse, the frequency and scale of war grew exponentially as increasingly terrifying weapons were produced."
"... You're talking about the first and second world wars." Val realized.
"Yes, do you know how many lives were lost in these wars?" Karl asked.
Val, like many others with modern education, had learned about the Great War and the subsequent war that would change its name. Some of his elder relatives on his mother's side had even experienced firsthand the horrors of human invention. He was not even sure if some of those on his father's side could truly claim innocence in the events of WW2.
"Over 50 million in WW1, and over 80 million in WW2..."
Karl nodded. "In less than a few decades, over 130 million lives were lost, and that's only the lives counted. Those that sided with humanity could no longer find it in themselves to fully trust in human potential. The realms of the dead burgeoned with souls taken too early, but they no longer had enough power to do much about it. They could only watch as humanity threatened to destroy itself every day throughout the Cold War. Some of them sought to influence human progress in what small ways they could to correct their path. For all of humanity's success, history records as much conflict."
"But why bring magic back to the world? You say the gods grew terrified of what we could do without magic. Believe me, we can do worse with it. You think a nuclear bomb is scary? You said we shocked the gods with our knowledge of things like physics and chemistry. As you mentioned, at some point, we demonstrated enough mastery over magic to challenge the gods themselves." Val had to admit human capacity for destruction was nothing if not impressive.
"Whether by a desire to regain their former powers, or feeling betrayed, or perhaps another crusade against humanity... No, probably some combination of all those things. Or perhaps all that was desired was to leverage the consequences of it to reset human progress. This may not be the end goal, but it turns back the clock enough to buy time."
"What about the humans in the other world? You said humans were divided, and some stayed here, but the others went there? Couldn't we rely on them for help while we rebuild?" Val knew it was a naive notion, but the sliver of hope remained that there was something humanity could rely on in these times.
Karl's expression confirmed Val's naivety. "Many of those humans believed themselves free of a burden. They saw it as an opportunity to build a new human race, with a higher purity of magical talent. I would not expect them to take too kindly to you, especially if they learned the extent of human progress without magic. I'm sure you have seen analogous situations, but your kind's technological prowess threatens the foundations of their magical culture."
"If things are really as bad as you say, we're basically fucked. That's it, right? Another world's worth of people from races we regard as legends are going to kick us while we're down? We're just out here camping in the woods hiding from the end of days?" Val was visibly drunk as he looked to vent his frustration on the current situation.
"No, we're out here, so you might arm yourself with what you need to survive. Your world has changed, and I do not believe there are gods left capable of fixing this. Two realms have been forcibly merged. For some, these are the end of days. For others, this is an opportunity." Karl said with an authoritative tone.
"... Let's say I believe you, what next?"