Ch. 11 Important Memories 1

Within the internal awareness of Maw, in a palace, Ash sat casually upon a grand throne.

"Now, would you continue...?" Ash prompted, his voice calm but authoritative.

Maw, despite being suspended by chains, managed a faint smirk. "What if I don't?" he challenged.

"I also have a solution for that," Ash replied, his smirk widening. "You don't understand, do you? I am the king of this domain here. And you? You are no longer an insect; you are like a robot here, with some memories in you, and I am going to interfere with them."

"You talk really big..." Maw scoffed.

Ash snapped his two fingers with Ash's eyes glowing more red, and the white space seemed to hum. In an instant, the color of Maw's eyes shifted from black to a startling, vibrant red.

"My king," Maw said, his voice now flat, devoid of emotion, as if controlled. "Tell me what I can do for you?"

Ash's expression turned serious. "Tell me, what do you know about the history!"

"Sure, My king," Maw replied robotically.

"Approximately 200 million years ago, when humans did not yet exist, the world was populated solely by living beings such as animals, dinosaurs, and the like. But alongside them, there were a rare few—no, many few—who were not what you would call 'physical living being'. They were spiritual beings without physical existence, we called them Soul-humans."

"Initially, they possessed no physical bodies, so they felt no pain, nor any sort of emotions. Because of their neutral emotional state, we called them Soul-humans. They were not as intelligent at that period as humans are nowadays, but they possessed an innate ability to learn. It is not recorded anywhere what their original form truly was, but it is assumed they had the ability to manipulate their form, not willingly at first, but with the passage of time."

"Over countless millennia, they learned all sorts of things from various animals: hunting, defending, offending, and many other skills. They were the first to create language to communicate. Their forms changed over time—sometimes resembling a lion, sometimes a giraffe, sometimes birds. They were very few in number, but eventually, they learned how to breed, how to reproduce, even spiritually. With time, they developed complex mechanisms within their spiritual bodies, all without physical existence. Now, they were able to feel and touch plants, animals, and other aspects of the world. But still, they could not eat, because the energy they required did not come from physical food, but from the Nature Energy flowing everywhere in the world. It is said that at that time, there was no curse energy."

"In this manner, they developed even more complex spiritual body mechanisms that are now considered extinct or a lost art. Over millions of years, they learned everything—all sorts of things a living being can do. Because of their independence of form, they could do anything other physical beings could. About 100 million years ago, they began to grasp a new skill: a skill that ruled over everything, a skill to manipulate nature itself by utilizing natural energy. Humans nowadays call it magic."

"At first, they could only do a few simple things, like light a fire, change the direction of wind, or manipulate water at a low level. But as time passed, over 30 million years, they advanced this skill to an incredibly high level. Through this, they came to rule the entire world. They were the first to establish systems of monarchy, creating kings, queens, slaves, and all the social structures that humans later believed they developed independently were first conceived by the Soul-humans."

"Wait," Ash interrupted, a curious frown on his face. "You're telling me about Soul-humans, an unknown word to me. Where are the Spiritumens and Curseumans?"

"Wait, my King," Maw continued, unperturbed. "There is still a long story you have to hear. Everything was going properly. The Soul-humans were ruling the world, and nature's cycle was flowing smoothly."

"But a catastrophic destruction took place when, 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck Elyndor. Every living being died, and even all the Soul-humans were automatically sealed by the disaster. At that time, due to this immense number of deaths, their souls combined and mixed with the flowing natural energy. The resulting spirit energy was then divided into two categories: the first was 'good,' and the other was 'bad.' Living organisms that were vegetarians—herbivores, or those who ate only fruits and plants—their souls were different from those with malice in their minds, like dinosaurs and carnivorous beings."

"Actually, the energy comprised of malice and hate was far more powerful and dangerous than the energy filled with goodness. With time, the Soul-humans began to resurrect—meaning, they unsealed. But they were no longer Soul-humans. They had divided into two categories: Spiritumens, with good spiritual nature energy, and Curseumans, with bad spiritual nature energy, which we often call Curse Energy. As Soul-humans were mostly good, the Nature Energy divided among all of them, and each Spiritumen received a small share of energy. But since the Soul-humans who were filled with malice were very few—perhaps a thousand, though there is no exact number—they received a very large amount of Curse Energy, as there were fewer to divide it among."

"But fortunately, Nature Energy was far more abundant than Curse Energy, which created an approximate balance between the two. Even so, it still required hundreds of Spiritumens to defeat one Curseuman. Therefore, Spiritumens always lived in groups, which led to the creation of villages, cities, and later, even countries. With time, as Spiritumens lived in groups, their advancements in magic techniques far surpassed those of Curseumans. They recreated what they had lost millions of years ago, becoming masters of the arcane. Meanwhile, the Curseumans continued to fight alone; they hardly ever lived in groups. They mostly relied on basic techniques and their raw energy. With the passing of time, the gap between the individual strength of a Curseuman and a Spiritumen was slowly decreasing."

"Many small wars occurred during that era. Sometimes Curseumans would win, but most of the time, Spiritumens emerged victorious due to their magic advancements and unity. Spiritumens also discovered a way to get rid of the immortal Curseumans: by sealing them. Curseumans were on the verge of extinction until an unknown person arrived. His name was Vorkos."

"He was a Curseuman, but his way of thinking transcended the imagination of normal Curseumans. He consumed his own kind—the weaker Curseumans and those he deemed useless. He even devoured the stronger ones. He became far more powerful, so powerful that even a hundred Curseumans could not kill him. He consumed all the male Curseumans, every single one of them. Of the remaining, only one female was left. For a period of time in history, there were only two Curseumans: one male and one female. He used her as a means of reproduction, and thus, more Curseumans were born. This news spread like wildfire all over the world, and every kingdom that tried to attack him, taking advantage of their number, Vorkos defeated all Kingdom alone. At this point, his powers were beyond imagination."

"His signature technique was Dark Flames—a flame that burned forever. The places where he fought Spiritumens were so utterly ruined by these Dark Flames that they could no longer be used for another battle. The main thing that made Dark Flames the most powerful technique was that they never extinguished; they burned forever. The Spiritumens understood that they were helpless against Vorkos, the King of Curseumens."

"As Vorkos remained silent and did not launch further attacks, the Spiritumens concluded that attacking him would only lead to their own destruction. For thousands of years, a period also known as the Silent Era, both Curseumans and Spiritumens did not fight each other, solely because of a single presence—a presence that was far beyond the boundaries of Curseuman and Spiritumen, the king of curseuman Vorkos."