Year 1676
The team of mages, who had stumbled upon the city, made their way back to their own kingdom, Aurion, after spending a year exploring the new lands and understanding the routes to and from there.
Over the past year, they gathered a wealth of information about this newly discovered territory. They learned that the land was divided into five kingdoms, with another kingdom to the south inhabited by a race known as elves.
Communicating with the locals wasn't an issue for the group since they had previously learned the barbarian language, which was similar to the language spoken by the people in these western lands.
Though they attempted to introduce the locals to the Heavenly Religion, they found that the people were deeply rooted in their own beliefs and not open to changing their faith.
They also discovered that the combined population of the five kingdoms exceeded 700,000—far more than their own kingdom.
Year 1678
Upon their return to Aurion, the mages reported their findings to both the church and the royal court, sharing all they had learned during their year in the foreign land.
King Hariu and the supreme priest of the church were thrilled with the news and showered the exploratory team with rewards, including treasures and influential positions within both the kingdom and the church.
The church proposed that King Hariu assemble an army to conquer these foreign lands and spread the Heavenly Religion. However, Hariu was cautious and decided against hasty military action.
He was aware that their knowledge of the enemy's strength was limited, and with only about 1,200 mages at his disposal—of whom only 40 were adept-level mages capable of taking on hundreds of troops at once—the risk of facing hundred of thousands of skilled fighters was too great as the aurion kingdom have only recently recover it's population which was reduced in the rebellion of the nobles 5 decades ago .
So, the plan to invade was put on hold as the kingdom of Aurion needed more time to understand the strength and strategies of these new lands and their inhabitants.
King Hariu believed in careful planning and gathering more intelligence before making any moves towards expansion.
Year 1679
King Hariu took a strategic step towards expanding his kingdom's influence by forming a team of elite diplomats, skilled in the language of the western kingdoms.
Their mission was to establish diplomatic relations with these foreign lands, a move aimed at peaceful engagement rather than conquest. Accompanying the diplomats were a security detail comprising over 30 apprentice mages and 5 adept mages, secretly sent by the church.
These mages were instructed to conceal their magical abilities unless absolutely necessary, and their secondary mission was to discreetly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the western kingdoms.
After months of travel, by using the path discovered by the previous group of mages, the diplomatic envoy reached the western lands.
Year 1680
The diplomatic efforts bore fruit, as Aurion successfully established diplomatic relations with the western kingdoms.
These relations with western kingdoms paved the way for Aurion to also engage with the elven kingdom located to the south of the western kingdoms.
Initially, the church expressed reservations about forming an alliance with the elves, citing various concerns.
However, after careful consideration and discussions, the church conceded, and Aurion extended its diplomatic reach to include the elven kingdom.
In the northern lands where the barbarians live, a young mage named Mau from Aurion Kingdom got caught by them. Since Mau was just a novice stage mage, the barbarians easily overpowered him.
Mau was part of a group sent by the church to find a way into the barbarians' lands. These were the same lands from where people had attacked their kingdom 80 years ago. The mission was to find the route and report back to the church.
The group did find a way into the northern lands. However, the leader of the group decided it was too risky to mess with the barbarians. He knew they couldn't blend in like they did in the western lands.
If the barbarians found them and attacked, the group stood no chance against these war-loving folks who numbered in thousands.
But Mau didn't listen to his leader. He sneaked out at night, wanting to prove himself and possibly get a reward like the team that discovered the western lands.
He thought the barbarians, who didn't use magic, were easy targets. That was until one of them punched him in the face.
The barbarians captured Mau. Seeing his magic, they wanted to learn how to use it themselves.
They tortured Mau for days for this knowledge. Mau, not being very tough, gave in pretty quickly and spilled everything he knew about magic.
Year 1681 (January)
The barbarians, having captured Mau, the novice mage from Aurion, learned the concept of magic from him. Mau explained that the key was to draw "Mana" from the air and into one's body.
Eager to harness this new power, the barbarians attempted and succeeded in absorbing mana. However, despite their newfound ability to gather mana, they faced difficulty in casting spells.
Mau, limited in his own knowledge of magic, could only teach them a few basic spells, which the majority of barbarians struggled to execute.
Year 1681 (December)
The expedition group Mau was part of eventually returned to the Aurion Kingdom. They brought news of discovering a route to the northern barbarian lands, which delighted both King Hariu and the high priest of the church.
The group was rewarded for their discovery. However, the leader of Mau's group concealed the truth about Mau's disappearance.
Instead of revealing that Mau disappearing one night, he claimed Mau had fallen ill and died during their journey.
This lie was told to preserve the leader's reputation and to avoid being seen as irresponsible for losing a subordinate.
Meanwhile, in the north, the barbarians' foray into magic yielded only a small number of mages, around 200 in total. This was a significant development but not the only breakthrough among the barbarians.
Those who could not wield magic and had been taught how to make swords and others weapons out of steel by Mau began to notice peculiar changes within themselves.
As they trained, they felt a growing power inside, which eventually manifested as a white light enveloping their weapons.
This phenomenon, which neither the barbarians nor Mau initially understood, made them and their weapons significantly more powerful.
A normal sword, when imbued with this light, became far superior to one without it.
The barbarians named this empowering light "Aura."