Prologue

High in the sky, just below the cloud layer, floated a behemoth of rock. A massive chunk of land that appeared to have been ripped out from the ground beneath. And it had; as etched out below was a great chasm, shaped like a puzzle missing its final piece.

The chasm was emanating a light blue glow coming from chunks of crystal which seemed to be almost growing out of the rock. Sounds of drilling, lifting, and loading wafted through the air as machinery worked inside and outside the expanse.

Surrounding the abyss was a sprawling concrete jungle of buildings fit for human habitation, this sight went on as far as the eye could see. A modern metropolis etched its mark on the surrounding landscape, declaring its presence and showcasing human engineering in all its glory. The city didn't look one bit out of place despite the odd scene of a massive and eerie hole in the center and a massive chunk of land soaring above.

Thick chains connected to the floating small-continent draped themselves over the city below across the four cardinal directions; North, South, East, West. Connected to these chains were four tall, lofty pillar-like towers which held the dominion of height over the surroundings.

These sleek grey towers marked the edges of the capital what lay beyond was a downright slum. They pulsated with a passive light-blue energy making them appear as if they could come alive at any moment. Smaller pillars encircled the entire city at fixed intervals pulsating a similar energy, albeit weaker.

Lush green nature decorated the cityscape keeping up aesthetics. Flowing blue water snaked its way through aqueducts and rivers across the zone adding to the charm. Birds, insects and all manner of harmless wildlife chirped and buzzed throughout the district. The place was like a paradise. No, it was a paradise.

On top of the floating small-continent peace reigned supreme. Across the verdant landscape were untouched forests where all manner of tame creature resided. Dotted around were buildings, towers and walled grounds and surrounding these clusters of activity were large clearings in the forest. These congregations of human architecture were where the only source of loud sounds in the forest which resounded out, every so often, in a crescendo of failed magical or technical experiments.

At the center of the floating-lands towering above all was a mountain. Upon which sat a palace. Built both into and around the mountain. It coiled around the mountain and at the peak, it grew into a tower surpassing the cloud layer. The palace could overlook the entire metropolis from its vantage point. And the city dwellers themselves; able to see the mountainous palace at almost every point in the capital.

Inside this palace was a man who stood on a balcony gazing out at creation. His creation; although not many knew about that. This man who didn't look a day over 30-years-old was the current head of the Council of Shangri-la. Titled: Star Archon. Most powerful mage on the planet; for all that it is worth, humans were weak after all.

Shangri-la was the city below him. A city-state for talented mages and their families from around the world. It boasted of a population of one-million mages and then another ten-million Magicless inside the city. On top of that, there were the slums which surrounded the city with who knows how many tens-of-millions more. These numbers made the city one of the largest in the world.

Involved in no conflicts with human, demi-human or intelligent creature nations they enjoy the peace. Seen as peacekeepers of the world, they only get involved in matters when they go too far or are a threat that needs to be stopped.

"Beautiful sight?" A female voice diminished by range passed through his ears waking him from his sight-seeing.

The man replied to the voice without turning away his gaze, "As always, Umbra."

Footsteps echoed through the room behind him as the female moved through it till she reached the divide of room-to-balcony. "I have collated the monthly report on what's been happening around the world. Barring any urgent events, which you would have seen already if there were any," informed the female.

The man casually commanded, "Read it to me."

"Of course." The woman poked her tongue out her mouth for but a second and silently hissed before getting into a serious mood.

"As usual I have ordered this into most important to least important." She cleared her throat, "Firstly and closest to home, we have more rebellions amongst Chinese Federation Frontier Cities, due to a lack of food and other necessities. This is mostly due to the on-going 10-year war on the Great Centaur Khan of the Mongolian Plains, which still shows no sign of stopping any time soon."

"Next we have a few terrorist attacks mainly of religious design amongst the Divine Cities of the Mediterranean. Then there were a few more in both the Euro-Mage Union and Tsar Remnants by the group who calls themselves Undeath. They are using the usual methods; kidnapping large groups, grouping them up, killing them, then finally raising them as the undead and letting them loose in the city."

"Then there is the latest Naga invasion of Australia, New Zealand and Philippine colonies which forced the British Empire to reveal one 7th-Class Magister and three 6th-Class Magi to put down an SSS-ranked Behemoth-Leviathan."

"Also there was another confirmed death of a 7th Class Magister on the outskirts of a Black Zone in Mexico. The West American Mage Alliance has reported to the public that all blood was drained and the female victim had twin puncture wounds in her neck. This marks the 16th body found this way ranging from 4th Class to now the first 7th Class victim. It would be most assured that this is the work of a vampire and one that is evolving quickly. It is most likely already X-ranked."

"Next we have-" He zoned out slightly while continuing to vaguely listen; still looking over the capital thinking. 'It has been 4000-years and humanity is still so fragile. Despite advances in technology and magic, claiming more land and building more cities defended by barriers, encouraging population growth. Humanity still isn't that much better than it was back then; humans are still weak compared to the creatures out there. Despite the massive amount of land out there, humans are still huddling inside shielded or walled cities, and human population is presumably not even a single digit over 2 billion. Weak. Fragile. That's an understatement.'

***

Half an hour came and went as the elegant female voice came to a close by finishing sweetly, "That's all there is, Master."

"What am I here for Umbra? 4000-years my soul has guided humanity, 4000-years of life and death— and for what!? A slightly better human-life? Why was I pulled from my lovely Earth and brought to this inhospitable Earth? 4000-years have I searched and I am still no closer to finding out. Am I to just keep repeating the cycle?" The man appeared to be questioning the heavens rather than his female companion.

Nevertheless, the woman replied, "I believe Master already said the answer. You are, and always have been, a Guiding Soul. A star shining brightly, lighting up the path for humanity- in this world, and the last." She continued fervently, "How else would humanity have reached this point in history without you? They would still be playing with swords. No, they would probably have regressed after the Cataclysm; that's if they had even survived."

"If Master is having second thoughts about all that you have achieved for humanity, then maybe you should sit down and write about those 4000-years of hardship." she followed-up excitedly, "I'll help considering I've been around since the beginning!"

The man turned and stared at the woman, "And why on earth would I do that?"

"Because master needs to remember all that you have accomplished throughout history! Going back and reviewing all of it would be like humans learning from their own history, to keep themselves from repeating past mistakes." Umbra explained, a glint in her eyes appearing.

"Except for you, it would be reaffirming all that you have done over those 4000 years. Like what you did before the Cataclysm such as; establishing the Xia Family and subsequent Dynasty. Interfering in the first undead resurrections within the shifting sands. Adventuring in an untamed continent. Or fighting in early wars between human and demi-human- or wars between man!" She continued, the glint in her eyes lighting up.

"And then there is the Cataclysm itself, where the entire human race was in danger! Fighting alongside different races, who we fought in the past, to push back the tide! Just talking about it gets my blood boiling!" Umbra tightened her fists, began breathing harder, and the light in her eyes getting even brighter still.

"Then there are things that happened in the past 2000 years after the Cataclysm like the Great Necromantic Wars, where tens-of-millions died! The discovery of a whole new continent! Or the many wars to establish human dominance over entire regions!" Umbra was now breathing heavily in excitement, her hands tightened so much that it was surprising she had not drawn blood, her eyes now illuminating the surroundings with a golden glow.

"Yes! This is the best idea I've ever come up with! I'm so bored with all this paperwork, if I can't go out to witness and participate in carnage, then I'll read and write about it! Hurry up, master! What are you waiting for let's write!" She brought her hands together in front of her like a devout believer praying, giving puppy dog eyes.

The man pondered for a few minutes, not getting caught up in Umbras' excitement.

"That does sound interesting. A fine idea to kill time at least, god knows I have a lot of that." He continued staring at the woman for a second, then made his way past her into the room, sitting at a desk.

With a few seconds fiddling around he found his mana-crystal-powered laptop under piles of documents, turned it on, and began typing.

"Now where to begin?"