Bonus: Random trivial references
Announcement: Sorry I have not finished writing the next chapter yet. I'll be extremely busy these next 6 months because I've been in grad school for like (eternity) 6 years now and I'm desperately trying to wrap up my research to graduate lol. That means running experiments nonstop/writing and publishing papers... All the time consuming activities >.>
I'll probably publish 2 chapters per month... if not less. Sorry! (>.<)
Anyways, since I'm not publish a new chapter, this is a quick trivial chapter, explaining most of the references I've used in the first "saga," which contains Arc 1-3
Kibadios: A character from Cluster by Clamp. I read it when I was in elementary school and thought it's the coolest name ever… Still do! :D
Rowan: I was thinking of using the name "Ronan" from GrandChase or "Roan" from Grandia2, but then I decided to change it to Rowan.
Astrals: From Granblue Fantasy
Holy blade works: Unlimited Blade Works (duh)
Jagan: Skill of Midou Ban from Getbackers
HaoS: Clearly taken from Hao Asakura, so as the use of "primordial spirits."
Ennead: Literally group of 9, though I specifically was inspired by Egyptian Mythology.
Nu: "Inu" lol
Shilna (Woof-elf clan Yllaner belongs to): named inspired by Silla (or Shilla), a korean kingdom
Modun: World tree from Mongolian mythology
Eyes of Horus: Egyptian mythology (duh!)
Yonko: One Piece (Of course)
Ryuujin: Dragon god from Japan mythology.
Esthar: A country from FF8
Freya: Norse Mythology
Suikoden: Suikoden series. Most of the structure regarding the hero system is from Suikoden.
Changxi Tears (Yllaner's Arte): Chinese mythology, though I was inspired by that skill used by the leader of the Lunar Society from Infinite Dendrogram.
< Juuchi-Yosamu> < Yawarakai-Te > (Amber's Arte) : two famous Japanese blades
Kido Butai (Adeus' Ultimate Skill): Combined Carriers battle group used by Japan during WWII (the ones that bombed Pearl Harbor)
"Gilga": If it's not clear by now, Gilga is derived from Gilgamesh and her city state is Uruk, as in the Uruk from Mesopotamia. Gilga (a slime) represents/ is inspired by Rimuru and Uruk is equivalent to Tempest. Her flirting and cunning personality is inspired by Sinbad from Magi, who also founded a city state.
Yin Empire: Clearly inspired by Qin, who unified all 7 states during the Warring States period. Historically, the (probably) competent crown prince was deposed/killed by official/eunuch and Qin fell apart soon after the first emperor died but here, I decided to have the (ruthless and competent) crown prince (now 2nd emperor) took over Yin, setting up the conflict for this arc and the next 2-3 arcs. :3
Hyakki Yagyō: the night parade of one hundred demons
Ashura: Well, we're all weebs here, no need to explain "Ashura." As clearly implied, Ashura is Oda Nobunaga's reincarnation. In this current world, he represents/is inspired by Rou from Re:Monsters. Hyakki Yagyo is equivalent to Parabellum.
"Doll" (Like Skyer): inspired by "Dolls" from Darker than Black, who are supposed to not have any emotion and obediently follow commands given to them.
"Erik": Okay, this is just a random name but I chose this name because I was reading Hero x Erik dj from Dragon Quest XI lol
"Furthermore, to maintain its influence over the elven lords, the Shilna Clan would practice a tradition similar to that employed by the Fujiwara Clan in order to gain power over the Japanese Imperial Court during the Heian period: The main Shilna Clan would routinely marry off their own members to the branch family's heads and give birth to the future heirs": Interesting historical fact I learned from watching Linfamy's youtube videos lol.
"She's pulling a Kingdom's Qin vs the 5 states coalition trick.": said by Kibadios when he was explaining/analyzing Yllaner's plan. Obviously a Kingdom (manga) reference. Highly recommended.
"Much like the Asur of the Warhammer world, the Astrals were an arrogant and proud race that looked down on the other inferior beings in Esthar." : Asur = Elf from Warhammer Fantasy Lore, who lived in a continent called Ulthuan, which is located in the middle of the ocean. They're exactly as described here: arrogant and proud race lol.
Matelus: Derived from Maotelus, a character from Tales of Zesteria/Berseria.
God Emperor of Mankind: a Warhammer 40K lore reference