"Hey, Philip, do you want to hear a story?" Estella asked as she brought out one of the books that she had stashed away.
Philip's attention was immediately grabbed so he stared at her face with a joyful smile, gesturing that he would really like for her to read him a story, even though it might just end up with the same ending as always, with him falling asleep halfway through it...
After reading some children's story book, Estella then tried to slip in a story that her parents passed down to her, while still continuing her childish narration, something that she had always prepared for, in case that this moment that are happening right now ever comes, "A loooong loooooooooong time ago... when humanity were still at its age of infancy, when our ancestors used everything that they can find just to survive, surprisingly it was thought of as the time when our hometown was at its most peaceful stage, even though we were barely scraping by."
"It was reaaaaally hard at first, but due to the intellect gifted to us we created tools, we flourished, and eventually our population grew to the point that it was impossible to contain everyone in a single group, so eventually theeeeey had to create tribes."
"Personally, Philip I'm still not completely convinced on why our ancestors did that, but I'll say it to you just in case, our elders believed that it was due to the clashing beliefs of our ancestors, and if there was one thing that did not change from that time, it was that our ways which some may call primitive dominated that time, which still holds true to this day...
However, on that fateful night, when all of a sudden, their surroundings turned pitch black even though the sun was still supposed to be at its peak.
Then as if that wasn't bizarre enough, subsequently after it turned dark, the twenty-seven moons who were always seen as far apart as they could be from each other, aligned all together and became one, an event which had always been thought as an improbable one, after all it wouldn't be weird to at least see three or four align, but for all them, it was surely an anomaly never seen before.
Their planet and its atmosphere moved erratically causing their whole world to tremble. Then the torrents of winds came rushing down like a tornado without form, it was then followed by the sudden gravitational shifts turning those unlucky ones into mushed carcasses.
It had caused a massive uproar to all the civilizations that dwelled within, but even those without sentience followed their animalistic instincts, some growled, some whimpered, while some burrowed, and the humans where no different, it was as if the world was warning them of its impending doom...
Every single one of humanities tribes gathered, and they prepared to fight whatever what was coming. Because even though everyone felt hopeless, some warriors who were brave enough used their ancient weapons to fight back an intangible and unknown enemy.
Together they rallied and raised their spears and bows to protect their fellows and the future generations to come.
But right at the tensest moment, when it seemed like something was about to erupt, the ground beneath them froze.
It turned rock solid; they tried to move to release themselves from their footing, but alas they were bound tightly. However, right as they were beginning to panic, a loud shattering voice strong enough to make their eardrums bleed spoke.
The voice declared,
"Listen... MORTALS KNEEL"
Instantly, a light blinding enough to contrast the pitch darkness of their surroundings descended-
And one by one all the races were forced to prostate themselves...
The deities then further exclaimed and referred to themselves as gods.
"YOU HAVE ALL BEEN GRANTED A CHANCE!" The deities deep tone resonated all throughout their week mortal bodies.
The occurrence was just too bizarre, mystical even, to the point that their ancestors were curious to see what the deities looked like, it was ingrained in the intellectual race's nature after all.
However, that nature would prove to be a fatal mistake, it was a lapse on their judgement, as they didn't even begin to consider how arrogant those powerful deities sounded like.
One of the greatest Odysseus, what the humans called the storyteller at the time, the ones who were tasked with recording the most crucial events of the history of tribes, tried to raise his head.
"HOW DARE YOU TAKE A GLIMPSE AT US!"
The plants surrounding them rapidly began to wither, the domineering aura that was suppressing them became even more intense, and in a fit of rage one of the deities popped the head of the bold human who did not know his place.
It was a torturous and cruel method where instead of just killing him in an instant because surely, they were capable of that, they played with his agony at first.
Thus, the process began when his head's veins surfaced on his skin-
which then turned red-
and then into violet-
...until his head finally burst like a balloon, but the only difference being was that it made a squishing sound instead of just a pop.
"DON'T TRY OUR PATIENCE"
The demeanor of the deities changed; the vibrations from their voices-it was enough to send shivers down their spines.
It was clear that they were still angry, they were like insects that could be crushed at any moment-no not even insects they were beneath that.
It seemed like that the death of one of their own wasn't enough to quell their ever so increasing disdain for the lower beings.
"RIGHT ABOUT NOW A TOWER SHOULD BE EMERGING FROM YOUR WORLD-CONQUER IT, AND YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE POWER TO RULE THIS WORLD"
"WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, BUT BE WARNED THAT THE RACE THAT DOES NOT ATTEMPT WILL BE PUNISHED"
"THE WINNER WILL BECOME ONE OF US"
"YOU HAVE ALL BEEN GIVEN A CHANCE—DO-NOT-WASTE-IT"
Those were their final words as they vanished, and the returned the world to almost normal, as after that everyone was too stunned to even utter a single word, the sheer fear that they left was enough to last for generations...
So, for the last months or so, the snow didn't disappear, in fact it even became colder as the snow-like rain fell down on each and everywhere the tribes settled.
Their territories became unhabitable, to the point where some of them even died of starvation, because almost no life could survive the harsh winter that they were facing.
Until finally they reached their breaking point...
All of the tribes figured that they were being punished according to the gods' words. So, they came to an agreement, that they would send their best warriors as their representatives-
And among those who were chosen one stood out as finest of them all, Alexander.
He was a warrior through and through, because there was a time when the twelve other representatives just wouldn't budge on who should be their leader, none of them wanted to give in, so they decided to hold a fighting competition.
Nonetheless, the results were not even close, Alexander never lost a single match, and he beat the shit out of every single one of them.
Because of that no one even dared to argue against him.
So, together they went on to travel in an attempt to conquer the tower-Their direction? It was the gigantic stick from far away that even seemed to reach highest peak of our skies, perhaps maybe even outside it...
***
For the tribesmen the world kept on spinning even without those gallant warriors, their hope.
Still, in that ten years-time, the snow melted and even reached the point where it completely disappeared, thus it would not be long when Alexander would return with five of his companions, and it seemed like according to the news that he bore, that two of those who accompanied him died, while the other five decided to settle down and protect their base near the tower.
He came back even stronger and does not seem to have aged a single day, he then taught humanity a newfound power using his knowledge from climbing the tower, which was then later on came to be known as-Magic.
But he had another purpose for passing down knowledge on how to wield magic on all of the tribes, that is to find those who were useful and recruit them to climb the tower together with him.
It was an irresistible offer given to them, as there were those who'd wanted to seek for more, there were those with noble goals and ideals who wanted to fight for humanity, and there were those who were just greedy for power.
And as the land slowly started to resemble on how the gods willed it, one by one the tribes disappeared as Alexander's empire grew...
However, in the end there were also those who were stubborn enough to stay, but in time they all slowly ceased to exist, as some died due to the wild evolution that the animals went through, while the others weren't just able to hold a stable population to stop their tribe from declining.
But there was one village that were stubborn and resilient enough...
"Our ancestors then merged into one and cultivated this place and built it with the power of friendship, and that's how our great village overcame the times and became one of the best places there is." Estella exclaimed proudly, even though some of parts her story may not be as accurate and had left some parts out.
"But mommy, how did our village continued to survive to this day?" Philip wondered.
Estella then thought of just saying that it was because of the power of friendship, but she ultimately she decided against, as it is definitely not the answer her son was looking for, and in the future her bright son will definitely be able to see through her bullshit, and if that time comes and Philip confronts her, she will surely be placed in an awkward position, "Because one of our ancestors who awoken magic left us with something"
"W-What is it?" Philip asked and thought that-'Could it be something amazing?!'
"Now that is a story for another day!" Philip immediately pouted at his mom's reply.
Estalla then went on to forcibly change the topic, "Then let's get to the reason why I told you that story."
Which she then followed it up with, "It's time for you to awaken your magic powers! Aren't you my little Philip excited?!"
"R-Really?!" Philip now brimming with anticipation couldn't help but forgive her mother's past transgressions.
"Yes, that's right, with this "Truth Stone" that we received from the surveyor, we can tell what type of magic you're compatible with" Estella smiled cheekily and rubbed her nose, feeling proud of herself because of the story and the knowledge she just imparted to her son.
The stone from far away looks like as if it was just any other stone that one can find on the ground, but if one were to take a closer look at it, one would be thrilled to notice that the stone was perfectly round like a ball, and also there were multiple runes of ancient language carved into it.
[Ahh... I how could I forget about that cheery and outgoing surveyor, who used to bring us news from the capital of the empire.]
[His job was to survey and explore the land from the empire to the direction where our village coincides. Because of this, he would always stop by the village to rest while in the middle of his job, and in return he would give us news and items free of charge including the supply of truth stone.]
[However, if there was one information that he wouldn't share to us, it was anything that relates to people of royal descent, they were pretty tight lipped about whenever it was brought up.]
[We found that out when one day a curious villager asked, if Alexander who didn't seem to have aged a day was still alive? Given that the events of that pasts were turned into story of legends now.]
[However, the surveyor in a serious tone just replied with, "I suggest that you stop there, don't ask that question again, if you don't want to be executed."]
[Anyways, this nature of job, a surveyor, recently surfaced and became the most in demand and high paying job due to its necessity.]
[Because, when humanity reached the 50th floor, they finally came to know of the identity of some of the other sentient races, that are also attempting to clear this tower, aside from other humans.]
[So, they exchanged information with them and found out that our tower wasn't the only one that emerged from the ground, there were also others that were summoned near the territory of the other sentient races. From then on, through the various exchanges of information, with the help of the smartest conquerors and the empires most trusted aids, together they deduced the possibility of other multiple sentient races that lives in this world and where their territories would most likely be, aside from the ones that they just met.]
[Another crucial piece of information was that apparently the other races territory was so far away in the world outside of the tower, it would take about sixty years to cover even a significant amount of distance in between the countries of sentient races, even if one where to bring with him the fastest flight mage or the mage with the longest teleportation leap, which could teleport to over a thousand hectares at best, as the mages would need about a full week to recover their completely depleted mana.]
[Covering that amount of distance is just way too long and such a huge waste of time, when that could be spent getting stronger inside the tower. Thus, it would just be better to hire someone specific to see if how far away are other countries really from the empire according to academic theories, hence leading to the creation of the job surveyors to confirm those theory.]
[So, at that time, the only way to even possibly interact and have contact with each other was through inside the tower, where both humanity and the other sentient races grabbed the opportunity and expanded their territory in the floors where it was allowed.]
[In the end, when humans allied with some of the races, the only way to travel from empire to empire in the outside world, was through the passages of the naturally occurring gates inside the tower.]
***
Estella then instructed her son on what to do, "Now Philip, touch this stone and close your eyes to access the depths of your mind."
Philip obeyed his mother's words and began to enter his subconscious...
"Right about now, you should be seeing a similar sight to the galaxies above us." Estella further explained.
Philip thought that 'His mother was right, the sight was indeed very similar to the galaxies above us'
His consciousness then began to slowly materialize, it felt like he was rapidly solidifying but at the same time he felt free, like he was in an immaterial state where he could go anywhere in the vast empty void of his own galaxy-
He felt powerful...
"Think of your body as a hole in the galaxy and absorb all of the stars that are compatible with you—It's time to awaken your elements!" His mother said excitingly.
One by one, different colored lights began flickering, steadily their luminosity started to increase, until finally in their last glimmer, when their radiance shone brightly the most, a weave of light connecting them to Philip appeared.
Philip, listening to her mother's instruction began forcefully pulling all of the mystical light that he could...
Eight vibrant colored lights connecting to the stars slowly inched towards Philip's ethereal body, until he had fully absorbed them.
However, just when he thought the surreal experience was over. Without any warning, all of the remaining stars also connected to him and began traveling towards him instantaneously.
He knew that this was dangerous, his body couldn't handle this, as he slowly began feeling pain from both the physical world and here, his mother tried to pull him, but he couldn't stop-
He couldn't help but just stare, as the stars neared him...
The stars clashed with the energies already residing in him, until finally they collided with the stars inside him.
...
Philip's temperature raised through the roof; his agonizing expression couldn't help but also materialize at the physical realm.
His mother which was worried sick called for his husband, "D-Dear help us!!"
But both of them couldn't do anything as their son suffered-
"W-What do we do?!!, I shouldn't have made him awaken his magic-This is all my fault!" Estella spoke as she hugged her son, trying to comfort him.
Her husband consoled her by saying, "This wasn't your fault, I'll come ask the surveyor to see if he can do something."
However, before the surveyor could even arrive, Philip screamed in pain and had already lost consciousness...
***
[After that time, I fell asleep for a whole three years, but my parents didn't stop taking care of me, seeing that I still have a pulse.]
[Apparently everyday they washed my entire body, and didn't stop talking to me about their everyday life, they didn't give up on me-I was truly loved...]