History & Past

"…Huh? Troupe? What Troupe? You must've been led astray by a madman, young lady." The man grumbled, eyeing the pair of them oddly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"…"

The fellow didn't reply, and instead intended to shut the door on Silver and Ariadne's faces, but, with all of her strength, that somehow resisted that of an adult man, she kept it open long enough to ask a question.

"Why are you trying to shut the door on us?! This isn't the scheme of policemen, and this place is already very hidden!" Ariadne's arm trembled as she spoke. "Also, you know me, from before! So, please, let us…"

"…Well, the missions that the Mercenary Troupes go on are too dangerous for two little kids like you, youngsters who barely seem a day over 14." 

Upon hearing these words, Ariadne and Silver felt their hearts skip a beat in worry. The only other way to earn money at this age was to become a chimney sweeper or offer to become a priest apprentice, which wasn't exactly a good option when wanting to earn money quickly.

"…However, your faces tell me that you're desperate. If anything, desperate young folk are what we Mercenary Troupes want the most." He paused, thinking for a moment, and then said something else. "If you truly desire to join us, head over to the old Slum's library, and find out everything you can about Land's Aberrations. You'll surely need that information…"

After speaking those words, he slammed the door shut, leaving Ariadne and Silver abnormally standing in front of that closed door.

"…Woah."

"Yeah… but, I think I succeeded in convincing him!" Ariadne cheered. 

Meanwhile, Silver stared at her weirdly.

"How did you know that guy? It doesn't seem like it's your first time meeting that guy."

"Well… let's just say that he saved me from being chopped in half one time, but that was a few months ago, so don't worry about it."

Silver sighed.

"You are truly a nuisance, huh? How can you say that so calmly?!"

"Ha… I already said, don't worry about it!" Ariadne exclaimed. "You know me, so you also know I wouldn't have died either way, even without his help! I'm even faster than you at escaping, after all!"

***

Soon enough, they arrived at the Old Slums, abandoned by most of the homeless that slept outside the comfort of homes, and within these slums was an old library, once the meeting place of the designated Beggar Kings of the town. It was dusty, even from the outside, and the wood had long since deteriorated from the passage of time.

"This is the library he was talking about, right? I do wonder why he wanted us to find out about the Land's Aberrations, though…" Ariadne wondered.

"…I heard that the Land's Aberrations were special areas that reflected the ruins of the past, places that weren't affected by the passage of time. Could it be that he will send us to investigate some ruins on our first mission?" Silver asked.

"Maybe… but, I'm not keen on knowledge, so let me know if you become sure."

They entered the library, and the first thing they smelt was ashes and dust. The books were unmaintained, and cobwebs were everywhere. However, this didn't stop the pair, as they got to work, searching for books related to ancient ruins.

In their search, combined, they eventually went through more than 50 books and gained random pieces of information that proved to be useless to them, before they found the things that they were looking for.

For example, within the first ten books that Silver read, he came across a book called, "Ancient Secrets of Salvation", which talked about the churches, and how they worshipped different Tri-Lords in different countries, even though the worldly religion, Celestial Theism, worshipped all of them.

He also came across a book called, "Legend of the Past Runes", which spoke about the Great Monarchs in great detail. In the eyes of the churches, and even the current Godhand, they were the Gods in human form. They wielded power to split the sea and the skies with a simple gaze and had long since transcended the restraints of mortality.

It was even rumoured that they had received Ichor, divine blood, from the Gods.

"In the entire Eastern Boundary of the huge continent, Lindsayer, only two Great Monarchs sit on the thrones that were built here… if the Gods truly act upon their oath that they have given to me, then, I could gain that power as well! Yet, it just doesn't seem… possible."

Silver shook his head, as he rummaged through more and more books with Ariadne, and eventually, the two of them found a singular book, called "Ruination of History's Past", which spoke about the ancient beasts of the past, the gruesome beasts of today, and the abnormalities amongst the lands.

"Wow… this is it! Let's read it, Silver!"

Upon its first pages, it read, "In the Divine story of all Creation, all was created out of the hands of the Gods. Ceaseless lands and dimensions, countless creatures of air and land, and the humans, which they created by imbuing their progenitors with all imperfections of the world, yet the necessary tools to survive and adapt."

"Upon the birth of the first humans, the Gods recited how all beings were birthed…." Both Silver and Ariadne groaned unexpectedly. "Ha, we already know all of this stuff! Before she died, Mother had already taught us about the story of Creation! Of how the Gods created the flesh of mortals by carving the flesh of the oldest Calamity!"

"…I agree. And, the books that I've read from the library reference this story way too much! Even the most boring person amongst the lands would get bored eventually." Silver uttered. "Let's just skip this part…"

They flipped through a bunch of pages and landed on the 158th page of the thick book, where it talked about ancient creatures, disturbing entities and monsters found across the world.

"…Mystical Beasts & the Heralds of Dark Calamities? Yeah, now this is interesting…"

From the book, the words read from its later pages, "The Mystical Beasts are creatures imbued with the sacred power of mysticism. A blessing granted to all beings by the Gods. And, within Mystical Beasts, their hearts are replaced by Shimmering Cores, allowing them to wield almost inexhaustible strength."

"There are plenty of them, found all across the lands, and by the slow, steady consumption of the Shimmering Cores, traces of mysticism will begin to flow through the heart and veins, allowing anyone to access that power." Silver finished, struggling to breathe properly after finishing a sentence of that magnitude. "Eurgh, that's—that's cool!" 

Even though he rarely used his voice to speak often, causing him to lack the ability to read properly, he only began to read again for the sake of Ariadne, who could barely read at all.

"…The Incarnates of death and destruction, of hatred and madness. They are the bile and flesh and blood of true darkness and filth. They are the only living enemies of the Great Monarchs and are supposed to have gotten their inextinguishable strength long ago, from bathing in both the blood of the Calamities and the divine blood of a Great Monarch, after the War of the Cursed."

"As blood spilt from the undying body of the Great Monarch of Longevity, the roar of the Calamities echoed as it succumbed, the crazed and the fearless began to bathe and drink and even eat the remnants and aftermath of it. And then, they became the Incarnates, the heralds of evil…"

"…That doesn't say anything about the Land's Aberrations either! Let's skip forward again!" Ariadne said as she slammed her hand on the table on which they read.

They skipped forward again and eventually landed on a page that talked about the history of the past, and the Remembrances, often called the Art of the Gods.

"In the world of the ancient past, the world was ruled by many sovereigns. Those who led armies across the world for new lands to conquer, those who fought both on water and on land against the most fearsome enemies, and those who always compelled the most love, admiration and affection from their subjects."

"Though, those beings were undoubtedly mortal, unlike the Great Monarchs, and succumbed to the passage of time eventually. Yet, their memory still lives on, in the Art of the Gods, known as Remembrances."

"The Art of the Gods can take on many forms. A great plum blossom tree that suddenly appears upon their burial grave, or a great statue arising upon the place which they lived, carved of the rarest metals. These mysterious happenings are miracles from the Gods themselves, and are a form of the Land's Aberrations."