"Throughout the history of Zelrun, Many sorcerers have rose in power achieving a status of power that most people can only marvel at from afar and below. The potential of the living is limitless but the time they live is unfortunately not. As different eras come and time passes. So does the giants who have to make way for the next generation of such behemoths. Countless people full of talent and determination rise to take the mantle of strongest but only few are able to actually do so in a world so full of competition and danger. The Paragons.
Paragon, is a title given to the sorcerer that is the strongest in an era or generation. The title is given to any sorcerer that is human, elve or even a demon. The title is given to someone who has individual strength above anyone else rather than having a large army to their sides. Which is why there have been many strong reigns in the Void continent but not many Paragon Demon Kings.
Dragons being non-humanoid creatures are also out the competition though truthfully speaking. The Four Elder Dragons are definitely the strongest creatures to exist despite not being considered paragons. As such- those four beings will not be mentioned as they are not in the range of this book.
This book will go over the history of paragon from the first officially recorded paragon to the state of the world right now.
It is important to note that not every generation had a paragon. Mainly because in such times stood various powerful figures, from whom we could not determine someone to be definitively stronger than everyone else. Which is why, no one during the invasion wars were considered as paragon since the five gods are considered equal to each other.
We will now go over not-so-much in detail about what is known for each Paragon, their strengths and background"
Nier read the introduction calmly as he thought about it. The book was pretty small and short which is why he picked it in the first place. He didn't really know much about every paragons aside from some of them and didn't even know the some of their names.
His thoughts went to his conversation with Reya but he avoided thinking about it. Flipping the page- He continued reading.
"Golden Age: Sun Empress
2200 years ago, 800 years after the chaos meteors destroyed the realm and birthed mana onto the world. The Sun Kingdom had already become the Golden Star Empire. Ushering the golden age of magic as behemoths ran amock. It was an era where the average being was much stronger than the average person now and many strong sorcerers were fighting to be the strongest. In such an age where competition was so high. The Sun Empress- Quesara Akhun' Nocra stood on top. What made her strong was what made the Golden Star Empire strong. The Celestial Stones. The extraordinary material that has now gone nearly extinct was once monopolized by the empire with several mines under their control.
Lady Quesara had always been fascinated with nature and its strengths. She researched a lot about the many phenomenon of the world and the many substances that stemmed from it. Off course- this lead her to the Celestial Stones. Being a princess, she was able to easily get her hands on some ores and after long research was able to develop a method to integrate its powers in herself instead using them as external tools.
Eventually she succeeded and gained an extremely high potential on top of her existing talent. The key word is 'potential' as she didn't instantly become powerful but had to work a little bit.
Her element and original powers are unkown currently but what she gained after the integration is known..."
Nier read through the chapter calmly thinking of many possibilities.
'Celestial Stones? This is the first time I have come in contact with this word...I guess It really is extic-...No, almost extinct...Does it still exist after a decade? Where? I guess I'll learn about it'
After that, her achievements and the story of her eventual death was written.
'Ironic. She died early in her life at the top due to the Celestial ore and it's powers poisoning her body. What made her the strongest led her to death. Heh...I wonder...will it be the same for me?'
Nier thought with a smile as he flipped the page.
"Post-Invasion War: Deathcloud"
Suddenly he heard a sound as he immediately looked toward its direction.
Magnus Ironstar entered the library with a smile.
"Had a good sleep? What are you reading- oh...This is...history of paragons? Haha...They'll need to update the book, probably a new edition...Heh"
"Eh. Why?" Nier asked with brows raised.
"Heh...You'll learn about that when you read it till the end...Or you know, you could skip to the present days section. Anyways, I thought we should continue our training..."
"Aren't you a squad leader? Shouldn't you have work to do"
Suddenly Magnus made an embarrassed face as he said.
"I left that to Jan"
"..."
"..."
...
In the Iron Mountain Squad Headquarters, The Captain's office.
It was 8 in the morning as Skar Ironstar looked at the time. Magnus wasn't present so he was doing all the paperwork and mission assigning. Sitting on the comfortable chair. He lifted his hands from the desk and leaned back to take rest
*Knock
Jan sighed as he looked towards the door
"Come in"
The door opened and a middle-aged man who had a magnificent mustache entered the room.
"Vice-leader, these are the reports you asked me to bring"
Jan immediately adopted a serious expression as he grabbed the papers.
He nodded as the man left the room
His expression became heavier as he went through the papers.
'What is happening in Maya? Is everything alright? No...it definitely isn't. So many dissappearences. The results of kidnapping? It the work of an organization? The number of children that have dissappeared is miniscule in comparison to healthy adults. So it likely isn't due greed for ransom. The people kidnapped aren't really even in the middle class so this likely isn't some revolution against the noble. Why would an organization kidnap so many people...
The thing that comes to mind is a sacrifice. A ritual that requires blood? But for what? Such rituals haven't been heard of from years now. If I'm remembering it right...they are used to call upon devils-but there hasn't been anything that can be related to the nether realm so what is going on? I should inform brother about this.
And isn't this being too obvious? I mean...I guess there can't be anything that can be done to hide it'
Jan leaned back in thought
He was worried about the safety of the citizens as he felt like a burden was thrust upon him.
'No...I'm not alone. I have brother with me.' Jan thought as he looked at the desk in front of him.
On the right corner to his side. There was a golden button that seemed like a bell, He pressed it and brought his hands on some of the empty papers.
He quickly wrote something on it as the sound of a knock came in.
"Come in"
The man with the mustache came in again as Jan continued writing. The man stood calmly as he waited for the Vice-Leader to finish. He could see the seriousness in the Vice-Leader's eyes
As soon as Jan finished writing. He stamped the paper and gave it the man.
"Tell Berg and Matilda to prepare for this mission. Tell them to meet me when I have the time"
...
It was 12 pm as Nier took a sip of water.
He was completely covered in sweat and looked as though he had run several miles for hours.
Magnus sat calmly at the seat made of stone. They were currently in the training arena.
"You see..I realized something. Your abilities aren't really versatile...They are suited for close combat and in that area, I can confidently say that you are full of potential. But you don't have an ability that can do much outside that realm. You know, help you in other ways like setting up traps or mobility-"
'You don't know about my ability to see mana but even that will only help in thwarting other's traps, not setting my own' Nier thought as he continued to listen
"Of course, You can engrave spells in your core that can help but I doubt you want to do so this so early. As such, your role in the team would become that of a tank- or a heavy hitter.
One of your greatest advantage is definitely the ability to heal. Of course, to do such a thing would take lot of mana but it still makes you much more durable than an average sorcerer your level. The downside side is that you can't use it on others, otherwise you would have become extremely important as the ability to heal is rare.
So I'll advice you to practice your healing and increase your efficiency. It will help in battle."
Nier nodded as he agreed. At the same time, he knew that Magnus didn't understand the true potential of his healing abilities since he didn't know that Nier had a special core.
"Now- I thought about it- you can copy spells, right? The limitation being that you can only have two at a time and you will lose those particular spell if you negate and copy another spell."
Nier nodded
"Currently you have a spell that allows you to create a barrier...but I suggest you change it if you are unwilling to form your own spells"
Nier sighed as he thought about Magnus' suggestion
'Originally I copied Diana's spell that allowed me to teleport and avoid any one tailing me, It's still here. That one was simple...The information of the spells that I negate come inside my head but I can't just master spells that are complicated and out of my style.
In such cases, preparing advance is indeed a good choice but that would also mean that I avoid using negation on anyone else so not to lose the spell I practice. Offcourse, my technique's main role is still spell negation and copying them is a side effect but still, it's annoying.
Though- the ability to see mana itself - 'mana view' and enhanced vision is also invaluable. I can't decide if my technique is bad or good. I wonder if I'll ever be able to achieve technique evolution.'
Nier thought filled with exhaustion
"Today you'll be having a makeover and forging of your new identity for the mission"
They exited the combat room and entered the lobby, Magnus walked to the last room in line and signalled Nier to follow him.
He opened the door and let Nier have a peek.
A secret exit!? Nier thought as he looked at the stairs that lead above the surface.