Fluren

Long before history recorded its first kings, before empires rose and fell, there was Luden—a figure of wisdom and mystery, a being neither mortal nor god, who walked the earth not to rule, but to enlighten. His teachings shaped civilizations, whispered through the leaves of the Arbor Divus, yet the world has all but forgotten his name.

Among those who sought him, one man stood apart—Larz, a restless wanderer burdened by questions he could never answer. In him, Luden saw a mind unchained by convention, a soul tested by suffering, and a heart capable of bearing the weight of knowledge. Thus, Larz became Luden’s first disciple, though his journey was far from simple.

As Luden gathered his thirty disciples, each one scarred by life’s hardships, he revealed the world’s greatest secret: a Gate to the Overworld, hidden beyond the seven seas, buried deep within the forgotten mountains. It was not merely a passage, but a force beyond comprehension—a door to creation and destruction, meant to remain sealed lest it unravel the fragile balance of existence.

But balance is never eternal. Forces beyond Luden’s reach conspired in the shadows, seeking to unearth what should remain hidden. And as the world turned, the burden of guarding the gate fell upon Larz. Would he uphold the path his master had set, or would the whispers of the Overworld tempt him into the unknown?

A story of wisdom, sacrifice, and the weight of knowledge, this tale explores the thin line between enlightenment and madness, destiny and free will, and the eternal question—
Should all truths be revealed?

Luden

The world had always sought something.

Men and empires had risen and fallen in the pursuit of it. Kings waged wars for it. Scholars dedicated their lives to unraveling it. Wanderers crossed endless deserts, climbed the highest mountains, and sailed across nameless seas to chase it.

But the question remained—what was it that the world truly sought?

Some said it was power. The ability to command, to control, to shape reality according to one's will. To build monuments that defied time, to raise armies that conquered nations, to carve one's name so deeply into the bones of history that it could never be erased.

Others claimed it was knowledge. The hunger to understand the fabric of existence, to peer into the secrets of the cosmos, to unveil the forces that bound the world together. To grasp the eternal, to solve the mysteries that even the gods feared.

And yet, there were those who believed the world sought immortality. Not just life without end, but freedom from suffering, from death, from the cycle that bound all living things. They searched for it in temples, in forbidden scrolls, in lost cities that time had swallowed whole.

But for all that men sought, they never realized the cost.

The Price of Desire

Luden had watched for centuries as men pursued these things. He had seen kingdoms crumble under the weight of their own ambition. He had seen wisdom turned to arrogance, knowledge wielded as a weapon rather than a gift. He had seen those who sought immortality lose themselves in the process, becoming something less than human.

And so he asked, "What does the world seek?"

And the answer was always the same.

It seeks what it does not understand.

It seeks what it cannot hold.

It seeks what it was never meant to have.

The world chased power without wisdom, believing it could control that which was beyond its reach. It chased knowledge without restraint, unearthing things that should have remained buried. It chased immortality without understanding that to live forever is not to be free—but to be cursed.

The Warning of the Overworld

In the deepest mountains, beyond the seven seas, hidden from the eyes of men, lay the Gate to the Overworld—the greatest secret of all.

It was said that beyond the gate lay everything the world had ever sought.

Power, in its purest form.Knowledge, beyond human comprehension.A path to eternity, untouched by time.

But Luden had seen what lay beyond the gate. He had glimpsed the raw forces that shaped existence, and he knew one truth that no man could accept:

The world was never meant to wield these things.

If the gate was ever opened, if the Overworld was ever breached, the world would not receive what it had sought. It would only receive its own undoing.

For power that is not earned becomes destruction.For knowledge that is not understood becomes madness.For life without end becomes a prison without escape.

The world had always sought the Overworld.

But it never once stopped to ask—

The Eternal Question

What does the world seek?

It seeks the forbidden, the unattainable, the impossible.

But perhaps the real question is not what the world seeks—

But whether the world will ever be ready to find it.

What Did the World Seek???