Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, several dozen days had gone by.
Al often led the priests to sit around the altar, sharing their observations and experiences with each other.
They were priests, with no need to hunt; thus, they had more time to observe the world.
Through their constant exchanges, they gradually became astonished to discover a fact: the world was regular.
It began with someone saying, "Mushrooms grow at the base of trees, and the brightly colored ones are poisonous."
Then, someone else added, "Brightly colored frogs are also poisonous."
Afterward, the priests, through discussion, found that many bright and beautiful things were toxic, and often, the brighter they were, the stronger the poison.
Yarlessto stood up and, relying on his excellent memory, repeated all the items previously mentioned, then made a simple summary—the brighter, the more poisonous.
This inconspicuous summary became the beginning of the people of Logos discovering the regularities of the world.
After one regularity was discovered, the priests started searching for the next one, still following the steps of proposing, sharing, discussing, and summarizing. As time passed, the priests discovered more and more regularities, from the initial one to three hundred after several dozen days. And often, with the discovery of one regularity came the emergence of another one.
The regularities were intertwined and separate, with various sizes and levels, the relationships between them complex and manifold.
The priests realized that the world contained countless regularities, and the connections among them were innumerable, too lengthy a task to master in a lifetime.
Naturally, Al was also involved in this great discovery of regularities. Gradually, as the head priest, Al noticed that as more regularities were found, the priests' thoughts began to grow chaotic.
The world was simply too vast, and the kingdom that the people of Logos took pride in seemed like an inconspicuous grain of sand. The priests of the Logos Kingdom went from initial hope, desire, and curiosity about the regularities to gradually feeling lost, confused, and even despairing.
They had lost their spiritual direction.
The Prophet keenly sensed this and, having experienced a crisis of reason himself, did not want to witness another crisis that could devastate all of civilization. Therefore, the Prophet led the priests to search for the rule that governed all other regularities.
Or to put it differently...
To determine the rule above all others.
There had to be a supreme regularity, one that towered above all else, to integrate the countless regularities and unify all thoughts.
Al, bearing a great historical mission, was to make a definitive pronouncement on the supreme rule.
Above the subjects of Logos were the kings, the kings stood above the people, and the King's Throne rose unreachable on high stairs.
Likewise, the rule above all regularities was the supreme rule, the King of Rules that was, is, and would be, beyond the reach of all priests for thousands of years to come.
This supreme rule had to be distant and yet brilliantly radiant, serving as a beacon to guide the spiritual direction of generations to come.
Like a beam of light, it should shine atop a mountain peak.
On the wall erected beside the altar, Al smeared a mountain with rich ashes.
There was light atop the mountain.
Below lay the priests seeking regularities.
When this mural was completed, the Prophet pointed with one hand towards the mountain and with the other towards the altar.
The priests looked up at the mural, looking up at the light within it.
"There are tens of thousands of rules in this world, like tens of thousands of kings, yet only He is the supreme rule, the King of Kings," said the Prophet, making a historical declaration:
"God is the unification of rules, God is truth!"
And thus, Prophet Al ushered in the philosophical prelude of the Prehistoric Era.
Thousands of years later, in the Golden Age,
As the faith in the Lord quietly faded, the worship of the Gods dominated the Mortal World.
At that time, there were countless kingdoms on Earth, each with its own deity, and often when a nation fell, it was marked by the collapse of a Divine Statue.
And those who believed in the Lord were called True Believers; they were mostly commoners, slaves, and other impoverished folk.
They saw themselves as the children of God, yet even the children of God could be persecuted.
When the persecuted True Believers sought traces of the Lord's presence, they would unearth the remains of the Ancient Elf Kingdom.
Upon the fragmented slabs,
A divine oracle-like record was strikingly engraved:
Prophet Al proclaimed the beginning of theological history.
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Although the fire that was regularly offered had long extinguished, people still felt the need to make sacrifices, so they would often come to the altar to offer berries.
At these times, they would always encounter the Priests, either embroiled in noisy disputes or lost in deep thought.
Therefore, ever since the Priests began pondering and studying the laws of the world, the area around the altar came to be known by the people of Logos as the Pattern Garden.
The Priests gladly accepted this name, and no other title could be more fitting.
And if anyone was curious and wished to join the discussion, the Priests would show almost unanimous exclusivity.
"If you are not a Priest, how could you possibly seek the highest truth?"
For hundreds of years, it was customary for Priests to serve God from birth, and only they held the authority to make sacrifices; the same principle applied to their exclusive right to explore laws.
Not a single Priest found this amiss, and Prophet Al felt the same way.
One day,
Al visited the Pattern Garden to check on the wheat that was planted there.
He did not know the use of wheat.
But since it was a divine gift, Al dared not neglect it.
Therefore, since descending the mountain that day, Al had planted the wheat in the soil behind the altar and, as God had instructed, he cared for it diligently with his eldest son.
Today, Al realized that this wheat was not like other plants.
"Father! The whole field is covered with wheat!"
Yarlessto walked out from the land behind the altar, exclaiming to Al with amazement.
Al hurried toward the land behind the altar, his pupils contracting.
In less than a year, the ground had become a small patch of pale golden wheat field.
Al quickly walked over, he leaned down, looking at the intermingled green and yellow wheat with surprise—their appearance under the sun's bathing was exceedingly pleasant.
"But..."
After the initial surprise, Al felt puzzled and murmured to himself,
"How could this be the foundation of a great nation?"
This doubt did not ease with the astonishing proliferation of the wheat; rather, it deepened considerably.
At that moment, seeing his father's confusion, Yarlessto spoke up,
"Father... could this be something to eat?"
Yarlessto's words did remind Al, and the Prophet stepped forward, carefully plucking some ears of wheat.
He chewed on them, and his expression of doubt did not lessen.
Compared to the berries and meat that the people of Logos usually ate,
These ears of wheat were not tasty.
They were not only troublesome to chew but also difficult to swallow. Both the texture and taste were far from outstanding.
The only advantage, perhaps, was that these wheat grew rapidly, bearing plentiful ears.