Ch. 12 Important Memories 2

"Vorkos," Ash murmured, a slight frown on his face. "I haven't heard anything about him."

Maw's form glitched slightly in the Void, a brief, struggling sound escaping him. "My... m-my... ki... kin... I will kill you..." The resistance lasted only a moment before Ash's control reasserted itself. "My King, Vorkos was the strongest Curseuman ever born."

What was that? Ash thought, a flicker of fear crossing his expression. Is that because of that name?

"Continue..." Ash commanded.

"Yes, my King!" Maw replied, his voice flat once more.

"When the Silent Era was continuing, King Vorkos..."

"Wait, don't call him King," Ash interrupted.

Maw's voice glitched again, a subtle tremor running through his controlled form. "When the Silent Era was continuing... King Vorkos...", Maw speaked with glitches in his voice.

What type of person is this Vorkos? Ash pondered. The word 'King Vorkos' is too deeply inscribed in this Curseuman's awareness.

"Continue..." Ash repeated.

"King Vorkos was totally focused on increasing the population of Curseumans,"

Maw explained, "which is why he is also known as the Father of all Curseumans. After about 2,000 years of the Silent Era, Curseumans began killing Spiritumens again. But these newly appeared Curseumans were incredibly powerful—sometimes, an entire army of Spiritumens wasn't enough to kill even one Curseuman. Curseumans were becoming overwhelmingly dominant, and the population of Spiritumens began to decrease rapidly."

"For many years, this continued, and Curseumans became like hungry animals. They started to devour Spiritumens, and because of this, they gradually lost their natural ability to absorb energy from nature. For them, it was like losing the ability to eat physical food. Without Nature Energy, it was impossible to survive, but Curseumans has another way to obtain it: by consuming Spiritumens."

"Again, after thousands of years, Curseumans lost their ability to think complexly. Vorkos, their king, ordered them to become silent for some time. During that period, Curseumans relied solely on their raw power to fight and devour. Vorkos, however, taught them how to use techniques, how to effectively utilize Curse Energy. He established a system of ranks, similar to the Spiritumens', to define their strength. He taught them to fight smarter, not just harder. All Curseumans ceased their hunt for a time. For their nourishment during this period, Vorkos fed them his own strength, his own power. This lasted for another 1,000 years, known as Silent Era 2."

"After this long period, King Vorkos had weakened considerably. But in return, Curseumans were now able to utilize their Curse Energy to manipulate nature, allowing them to create their own unique techniques. They were much stronger than before. However, during this Silent Era 2, Spiritumens focused everything on developing their magic energy, taking full advantage of the peace to advance. They created many imitations of Dark Flames, such as Red Flames and Blue Flames. They also created the most powerful seal: the 'Death Seal'. This seal was incredibly potent, capable of sealing Curseumans for thousands of years. Moreover, this seal could be embedded in magic, in swords, in techniques, and could even activate automatically by giving serious damage, if someone wants."

"After Silent Era 2, Curseumans again began to devour Spiritumens. But as the population of Spiritumens was rapidly increasing, along with their magic advancements, they were now able to fight Curseumans equally, even if they still lived and fought in groups. This led to the creation of Guilds, fostering even greater unity. This conflict continued for many years."

"Unfortunately for Curseumans, Vorkos was not with them during this time. He had sealed himself away to regain his lost power through a special technique. In Vorkos's absence, their queen was ruling them. Many millions of years passed in these continuous conflicts. Then, approximately 10 million years ago, the First Great Spirit Rebellion happened."

"In that war, every Curseuman and every Spiritumen fought each other with their full strength. In the beginning of the battle, both sides were equally matched. But suddenly, King Vorkos entered the battlefield, and the tide of battle changed drastically. Everything became one-sided, with the Curseumans gaining an overwhelming advantage."

"But there was a Spiritumen named Luminous. At that time, fortunately for the Spiritumens, he awakened the power of Sun Flames. In the beginning, he was a user of Red Flames, but after awakening Sun Flames, which allowed him to use the infinite heat and flame of the Sun, he brought the battle back to an equal footing. Both Vorkos and Luminous fought each other. Vorkos wielded his Eternal Dark Flames, while Luminous fought with his Infinite Sun Flames. It was a battle of 'Infinity versus Eternity'."

"In the fight between these two titans, ninety percent of all Curseumans and Spiritumens died just because the Dark and Sun Flames devoured the entire battlefield. This battle between Infinity versus Eternity lasted for one grueling month. In that single month, whole animal species, Spiritumens, Curseumans—everything was wiped out, burning in their flames. In the end, it is said that the whole of Elyndor was burning with Dark Flames because of their eternality. But the winner of this fight was Luminous. It is not recorded how he defeated Vorkos, or how Infinity gained the upper hand over Eternity. Luminous then used one of Vorkos's eyes and embedded it into his own body."

"Actually, Vorkos was the only one who could absorb these eternal flames, ending their eternality. Luminous used Vorkos's eye and absorbed the Dark Flames from the entire Elyndor. Because of this massive amount of flame energy absorbed, Luminous knew that one day, Vorkos, who was sealed inside him, would unseal, and the same destruction would happen again. Also, even after absorbing all the flames, there were no beings alive, no trees. Luminous realized that this was all their fault."

"He knew that Elyndor could not be revived in its current state due to the pervasive effect of the Dark Flames. However, he knew a way to revive Elyndor again: by sacrificing himself and Vorkos, who was sealed inside him. They could use this combined power to return a large amount of Nature Energy to Elyndor, to revive beings once more. He sacrificed himself, and the earth was revived. Many ancient Curseumans and Spiritumens were revived, and in a few million years, everything became normal."

"However, the power level of the Soul-humans from that time was very low compared to before. But many of the ancient knowledge and techniques were regained by both Curseumans and Spiritumens. Of course, many techniques were also lost forever. Approximately 5 million years ago, humans came into existence. Curseumans found these new beings tasty, so they began to kill them, but they could not absorb Nature Energy from them. So, they mostly used humans for their amusement and to rule over them. But Spiritumens did not allow this, and war started to happen again. Spiritumens taught humans much of their knowledge, advancing their brains. Spiritumens liked this form of human, so they converted their own forms to resemble humans. Some Curseumans also did the same, but others did not. Like this, more millions of years passed with continuous wars."