"First of all, history is split into four eras. Beginning in what we now call the Pre-Imperial Era, followed by the Imperial Era, the Warring Era, and finally the Current Era.
One thing to note is that when referring to the Pre-Imperial Era, the higher the number, the farther back in time is referred to." Maros started the lesson with a brief explanation.
"There isn't much to say about the Pre-Imperial Era. It was only near its end that Humanity started forming more permanent settlements and started farming. And even later still that magic knowledge started to become widespread."
Aryn imagined that an early civilization wouldn't have many written records to document any important events even if there were any.
"It wasn't until the first emperor of the Ilyn Empire unified Sorven that people started following an organized calendar; marking the beginning of the Imperial-Era.
The Ilyn empire being the first large-scale nation, quickly grew. This of course caused the majority of the world to become engulfed in a war for unification."
"So that started the Warring Era?" Aryn was confused. That was too quick a summary for something referred to as the Imperial Era.
"No. This was still within the first few hundred years of the Imperial Era. It lasted for over 4000 years so you're jumping a bit far ahead." Aryn shut his mouth and let his dad speak.
"Anyway... The Ilyn Empire faced little adversity in its conquest. Most settlements were small and more than willing to hand themselves over to the safety and stability that could be expected from joining an empire.
But not all. There were other small nations that had sprouted up among the other continents, barring Avillis. They were smaller than the superpower that was the Ilyn Empire, but they were also numerous and willing to form a shaky alliance against it.
They still didn't stand a chance though. The empire had mages on their side to complement their warriors — something the rest of the world had yet to figure out."
"Wait, I thought the Conduit method was already a thing by then?" Aryn was confused.
Nodding, Maros took the time to explain, "It was. But the one who created it also happened to be the first emperor, Lorik Ilyn. He had also kept the method to himself for hundreds of years at that point. He was a High Mage already before he shared it with those loyal to him."
Taken aback by the revelation, Aryn could only admire the emperor's patience and ambition. He had waited to share his findings until the rest of the world could consider him unbeatable. Even then, he had decided that rather than give his knowledge freely, only those under his banner would have the privilege.
"This was also when Clan Mayer first came to be. They were among the first to be trusted with the method... Now back to the main topic.
With only warriors to fight in their name, the alliance of small nations fell quickly, leaving the Empire to swoop in and take control of everything. Lorik had successfully conquered every habitable continent, uniting the world under his banner.
Governance was split up into levels and those put in charge were left mostly to their own devices. Lorik knew that attempting to exert absolute control over everything would only end with the death of his empire, so the continents were split into various vassal nations with their own trusted leaders.
The vassal nations of each continent were to answer to a council overseeing their respective continent. And those councils were to answer to his own personal council, formed of those he trusted most.
The nations were to compete in innovation, artistry, single combat, just about every way one can compete against another... The nations that performed better would receive incentives to continue doing so. Tax cuts, festivals in their name, trade agreements, etcetera.
This continued for thousands of years. Emperors came and went, but they always stayed in power — untouchable."
"Until?" Aryn was enjoying the history lesson nearly as much as he enjoyed learning about magic. Learning about such legendary figures and events gave him something to strive toward. He wanted make his own legend. He wanted to start a new era.
"Until the start of the Warring Era. The 4632nd year of the Imperial Era is the year that Monsters were born, as well as the year marking the end of the Ilyn Empire.
As I've already told you, an Archmage attempted to create creatures similar in nature to dragons. This backfired and resulted in his death as well as the release of these creatures into the wider world.
These creatures were called Monsters, to differentiate them from natural Mana Beasts.
While a Mana Beast is just a normal beast that has gained the ability to use mana in some way, Monsters were made with the intention of being used as a weapon and their abilities show that.
Monsters all have at least one innate ability that they can use on instinct from the moment they are born, often more. These abilities are of a different nature than normal magic. These abilities are seemingly random, and it's very rare that two Monsters will have the exact same ability.
The randomness of a Monster's abilities is both a blessing and a curse to those that find themselves faced with one.
A blessing because there is a chance that the Monster's ability is completely useless in combat... And a curse because the unpredictability of their abilities makes it easy to be caught off guard and the nature of their abilities makes them nearly impossible to counter in some cases.
They act more like the Concept of an Archmage than normal magic. They will never be incapable of using their ability, unlike a Mage; who can run out of mental energy or mana.
For example, if a Monster has the ability to become intangible, it would be completely unkillable to anyone but an Archmage or someone with the perfect trait to counter its ability. It could simply continue to be intangible until it dies of natural causes or kills you."
Until now, Aryn wasn't even aware that their was a difference between Mana Beasts and Monsters. With his new understanding came a wariness. If the abilities of a monster were truly random, and they never tired from using them, there were no doubt some very powerful Monsters out there.
What if there was a monster with ability to simply burn something? Would anything it doesn't like simply be doomed to become ash? Were Archmages the same? He didn't want to think too deeply on it at the moment. He was too weak to concern himself with that.
Maros continued the story, "What exactly the Archmage wanted to accomplish with his creations no one knows for certain, but most believe he wanted to use them to overthrow the Ilyn Empire.
This wasn't a baseless assumption, as most of them crossed the ocean from Avillis— where they were created — to Sorven. More specifically, they went straight for the now long-destroyed capital city of the time, Gran-Ilyn."
Aryn had to agree that the theory was the most likely, but he figured nobody was ever going to be able to say they were certain that was the case. Regardless, he was pretty sure of what happened next.
"The Monsters were the reason it's 'long destroyed' then?" His question — more of a rhetorical one, really — was met with a grim nod.
"Yes. It was said to have fallen in moments, completely erased from the world by a particularly powerful Monster's ability, leaving only two alive from the initial attack. Both were Archmages; the current empress, and a member of her council.
They tried to escape, but only the councilman lived to tell the tale. The empress was killed by a Monster that we now call the 'Crawling Chimera'.
***
November 14th, 4632 IE
Empress Alicia Ilyn POV
Sat atop a grand throne of gold, jewels, and ivory, Alicia opened her mesmerizing turquoise eyes. The color contrasting beautifully with the crown atop her fair-haired head, entirely formed of what appeared to be ruby.
Lightly pressing the sides of her throne, she stood. As she reached her full height of 6'2" (188cm) — rather tall for a woman normally, but not for those of the Ilyn line — she looked around the room around her, extending her senses around the entire city.
She felt something was wrong. Her hair — reaching the back of her knees and a vibrant turquoise to match her eyes — seemed to spread like a mist behind her as she walked toward the hall to her left.
She felt a growing tension in the air as she increased her pace toward the courtyard of the imperial palace. She had sensed nothing when she extended her senses, but her instincts were only growing louder, telling her she needed to act now.
She didn't know what exactly she needed to do, but she was certain that she needed to figure it out quickly.
One thing that she believed was necessary to become powerful was good instincts, and she was perhaps the topmost expert on power across the world. Her opinion should be taken as law at this point.
It was her instincts that allowed her to stand out amongst her many siblings and earn herself the right to the throne. It was her instincts that allowed her to deal with the various schemes of those that sought to keep her from her birthright. And it was her instincts that told her to shield herself right this moment.
Without hesitation, Alicia activated one of the enchantments on her crown, encasing her in a bubble of something that she didn't fully understand.
It was not a moment too late, as the world around her ceased to exist all of a sudden. There was no light, no sound, only her, alone in a bubble. Then the world returned... Some of it at least.
Alicia was now floating above a crater, the bubble around her fading. The once bustling streets, the seemingly immovable walls, the marvel of culture and engineering that was the capital city of the empire no longer existed.
Looking around herself stunned into incomprehension, Alicia's mind spun around itself, trying to grasp anything she could of the unbelievable situation.
The area beyond the crater was just the same as it was before, a beautiful landscape of towering mountains and lush forests. She hadn't been transported away without her knowledge, this crater was what remained of Grand-Ilyn.
Her shoulders quivered.
This hole... It must've been 50 kilometers deep, and three times as wide. Alicia's vibrant eyes dimmed at the realization.
Her glorious city was gone. Her people were gone. The last bit of family she had left after the struggle for the throne were gone.
"W-what? How?... And why?..." In the absence of everything she had ever worked towards in her over 500 years of life, she realized how little she still was.
She was an Archmage, one of the few gods of humanity. She could bend the laws of the world with a thought. But she couldn't bring back the dead.
In the distance, on the horizon, she saw something. Many somethings, of many shapes and sizes. Chief among them was a creature of previously unimaginable proportion.
Alicia had grown up listening to stories of the first emperor, and his fateful encounter with a dragon. She imagined this is what he probably felt standing before it.
The creature before her was hideous. Despite the great distance between them, she could make out a gargantuan humanoid torso, set with thirteen limbs. Each of these limbs was an arm, and each looked to belong to a different creature.
A clawed human arm, the blade of a mantis, a bird's talon...
Each limb only added to the incongruity of the creature. It was an insult to the sanctity of life. It was an affront to creation itself. And it was crawling towards her.
She didn't run though. There was no point. If it was only this titan of a creature, she might have stood a chance. But the sky was growing dark with the sheer number. They were each unique, and her instincts — her damned instincts — were telling her that nearly half of them had the means to harm her.
Those same instincts screamed more than she had ever experienced before as the many-limbed abomination lifted its misshapen, camel-like head to look at her with its one, lidless black eye.
Then, her instincts went quiet. There was nothing to warn her about anymore, she had no avenue of survival, not even her precious crown could save her anymore.
*CRUNCH*
She didn't even attempt to fight back.
From afar, a man watched in horror as he the mighty Empress Alicia turn into a ball the size of his palm in the blink of an eye, shivering in the uncertain safety of his own personal pocket of space.
He was one of her most trusted councilmen, an Archmage controlling the Concept of space. And he could tell that if that monster noticed him, hiding in empty space couldn't save him.