" It's unknown why, but the earth goddess Minerva took pity on the planet and decided to bless the land. She created different creatures from the dirt and molded them to resemble what we have today. Initially, there was only a giant island surrounded by vast oceans. Human, elves, demihuman, demons, merfolk, everyone lived in harmony for many generations."
"Elves? Demihumans?" Noah thought he had never heard of these races. But what surprised him was there were demons and sea-dwelling people, too? What the hell was this world?
" What happened then?" He asked.
" War, a lot of war. How it started didn't matter, but every race fought against one another, and those better at multiplying, like Humans, even fought among themselves. No matter which part of the world one went, one would see a river of blood so thick that it turned everything red. After hundreds of years of friction, goddess Minerva decided to intervene." Alastair paused and put him down. The road ahead was reasonably flat.
" Thank you." Noah put on his clutches and started walking beside him. The ball of light was still following them, but it was silent, which Noah found strange.
" You look like you have something on your mind."
" Right, do gods really exist here? Has anyone seen this goddess Minerva?"
" Of course, there are many religions in this world; people of this kingdom mostly worship goddess Minerva. In my youth, I did travel to other places, and they had entirely different faiths. Some demihumans worship the beast god, while Demons are rumored to be faithless. The thing about faith is It doesn't matter if one had seen her or not; it's about what they believe in their heart."
Noah felt uneasy hearing him speak about religion; it felt like the old man was trying to recruit him to some shady cult with how warmly he said about Minerva.
" He is wrong about Demons; every race has a god more like a caretaker responsible for looking after them. These are proxy beings placed here by higher beings like me. It is complicated, but you don't have to worry about them. What's interesting in their names, as far as I know, they don't have any names, just numbers to distinguish from one iteration to another."
" Oh yeah, then what's your name then?"
" Even if I try to tell you, your primitive mind wouldn't be able to understand it. Unfortunately, I have to act as your companion in this lower realm, but I guess I can give you the honor of coming up with a name for myself!"
" I don't like it either, but since you are asking me to do it, how about boo? Like a cute little baby name."
" Boo? What kind of name is that? Pick something else! I don't like to be called cute or baby!"
" Fine, what about Orb? Just like a ball of light, it fits perfectly to your condescending image."
" Orb? Is that the best you can come up with? It's pathetic!"
" Hey, don't blame me for it. I am not good with names. Hmmm....what about Nova? It has a nice ring to it, right?"
" Nova? That's...satisfactory. The contract is established to integrate new functions. To process the changes, I need to enter hibernation...you will be able to....use your powers....in the meantime....try to....stay alive." Nova vanished in thin air.
Noah was astonished; he didn't know what was happening, but it looked like they had made a contract. He could feel Nova's presence more clearly and was strangely aware of changes that were rapidly taking place in its body.
" Young man, why did you stop? Are you tired?" Alastair, still blabbering about religion, turned back to see Noah standing still.
" No, I got distracted for a moment."
" We should rest for a bit." Alastair knew it was hard for Noah to move with such injuries. Any average person wouldn't be able to walk for a few minutes, but with Noah's strange apparatus and medicine, he seemed fine after half a day of rigorous trekking.
Noah pulled out some food and water to replenish themselves. He was still thinking about what Nova said, but Alastair didn't give him time to dwell on it. He continued his story.
" After the prologue, wars decimated most of the population, and there were only a few people left. Humans, with their largest numbers, dominated the continent for several decades; elves went into hiding. Even now, not many people have actually met them. Demon's population was hit the hardest; they retreated to the mountain ranges. Only demihumans who were the result of crossbreeding could mingle with the human empire. They weren't treated well, but they formed their own nation on the outskirts of fertile land."
" What about the Merfolks?"
" They went extinct, at least that's the theory, because they had never been seen after the war in which they supported humans but were ultimately betrayed and annihilated in the process. The world entered a peaceful age, but it only benefited humans; they prospered exponentially. Few empires were more fortunate than the others, and that ultimately led to their demise."
" Another war?"
" Yes, it was horrible. It killed more people than all the previous wars combined, and it was mostly common people who suffered. It is said that they were the ones that prayed to the goddess every night, begging her to free them from their sufferings."
" People from all walks of life began to pray to her; it spread like wildfire and engulfed every human empire because they honestly didn't know who else to turn to. They were already living a miserable life with kings and leaders who didn't care about them. The goddess became their one and only hope."
" Can't they just rebel? I mean, there is strength in numbers, right?" Noah asked the obvious question.
" Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. Every sorcerer that had offensive abilities was employed by the nobility. They enjoyed lavish life serving under them, and no matter where they went, people either feared or revered them." Alastair paused to look at Noah's changing expression. He was confident that the young man was a sorcerer, but it didn't feel that his abilities were aggressive type.
Honesty, he had never encountered someone with strange abilities like Noah, and he had met enough of them, more than any average person. Which begged the question if the young man would tell him about it if he asked; he was only curious.
" A single sorcerer was able to raze a normal town to the ground at that time; it was overly powerful, which was how humans could defeat stronger opponents. Of course, in this day and age, such feats are not possible; even news about such sorcerers will attract major power in the region." Alastair tried to give him a hint, but Noah was utterly clueless.
" That's great; we should get going. The medicine is beginning to wear off; you can tell me the rest during our journey." Noah started packing, and Alastair could only sigh in disappointment. But he was not discouraged; they still had some time before they reached his village.