Chương 1: History of the kingdom
Darren lay over his desk while lighting the last candle on the chandelier placed with thought and care over it, checking for the last time that everything was on the right spot, overlooking and checking elements from an imaginary list with a nod of satisfaction with his arms crossed.
He was a young man of peculiar aspect, some less polite would call him unfashionable, with his black hair completely messy and short. His facial features were slim and sharp, with an unshaved beard that was a few days old. He was wearing a black shirt with rectangular neck and long sleeves and plain straight grey pants, clothes that highlighted his excessively slim structure, a sad result of his malnutrition and a constant lack of care for his own health. His eyes were of a dark brown, round like little dark spots in his face.
'Snacks, check. Candles, check. Emergency lantern, check. Ink strategically positioned to avoid incidents, check. Notepad, check. Pen, check. And at last, the most important one of them all…'
Darren stopped his thoughts and looked at the book on his table, which held the central core of nearly everything that had been placed on his desk.
It was an old book, with pages darkened with dust over the years, bound in a strapping leather that made it open to the eye. The title of the book was simple, and to the point: 'Introductions to Magic, and the Treatise about Magic'.
The title itself shone with silver letters, unaffected by the degradation of time itself. These written words seemed seamless, to the point that it would be presumed that the words would continue to live on, even when the book itself was destroyed by the hands of time.
Darren wouldn't be surprised if said illusion was the effect of some sort of enchantment spell, placed by the author as a statement of his mastery over magic. After all, in the great scheme of things, the existence of magic was still a recent discovery and many of the possibilities and effects that the world of magic could cause were still a mystery.
Books and informs about amateur mages and their discoveries pop up all the time. Darren had studied a lot about the subject, and discovered that the great majority of those examples were nothing more than straight up plagiarism. Nothing more than other mages simply stealing from previously talented mages or just insignificant theories with no potential to transcend whatsoever. However, in this world, were knowledge was jealously hidden, finding the truly interesting discoveries was a difficult task.
Darren himself took pride in owning the biggest collection in his personal library. He had spent his life looking for books and studies, having a whole section of history, another of legends and myths, religious treaties, engineering, magic, enchantments and so on. All of them have been read by him and a very good bunch memorized word to word.
When he was just at the young age of twenty-two, he wrote a book titled 'Introduction to Universal History', which was something of a prideful attachment to him. The book contained the general study and his conclusions of the major historical events to this date, with the objective of ease the task for any history fanatic such as himself.
The book on his desk, however, was a completely different matter. This book was a literary jewel which had an incredibly scarce amount of copies. Those who did look for the book would be forced to deal with those that had guarded it in numerous safe boxes, or have to deal with schemers who tried to sell the name of the book with pages from others of a similar subject.
Just to be able to get an authentic copy took a lifetime of work, dealing with numerous days of freezing cold and debilitating hunger just to be able to purchase it. But at last, after all that struggle, he had the book. He had a true copy of this masterpiece in his hands, which was written by Elias Moonlight, the first person to discover the element known as 'Mana', and who was a pioneer on the study of magic and it's applications.
All mages and researchers owe all their discoveries to this man and everything had started with this book more than 50 years ago. This one book was enough to push a revolution on the technology advancements and the improvement of the life quality in the whole kingdom, as well as major changes in the social structure and behavior of others in society.
As a history researcher, he was able to notice how one man and one book were capable of bringing upon such a sudden and abrupt change. He knew that in order to read this world-changing book, the setting had to be perfect, with no kind of interruptions popping out of nowhere. He had spent several hours previously to ensure that everything was in its rightful place, and to clear his schedule to be reassured that he would not be interrupted for the next three days.
The last part was not so difficult, Darren was a man with little friends. It would be more accurate to state that he had no friends at all, due to the fact that he had spent a majority of his lifespan searching for books. Once, when he had felt somewhat satisfied with his personal library, he attempted to try out social interactions.
There wouldn't be another time where he would go out and socialize again. In that one attempt to social life, he discovered three things: first, peoples didn't like those that were the 'know it all' type. Second, social interaction wasn't the same as described in books. Last but not least, he felt more comfortable reading than interacting with anything with a face.
After feeling satisfied, he finally decided to sit and read it. He found himself in a comfy position, relaxed into his seat, and opened the book, taking an awful amount of care to not break or harm the book in question.
And with that, he opened the book to reach the first chapter, and began reading to his utmost desire…
*************
Chapter 1: Elemental History and the Discovery of a New Element
Before we begin, let's talk about history, keeping in mind the prime objective of a better understanding of what exactly is that I chose to call as Mana and the implications of such discovery.
As is told in the historical records, the world was at its beginning devoid of all form or substance, nothing more than a dark fog of emptiness inhabited solely by winged creatures of great power known as dragons. These winged creatures, named dragons, were the holders of the elements which would now form the earth and with that power, they give form and substance to the world, giving life to all the creatures in it, saving some of the noblest elements for a few.
All living creatures, including humans born in this world were under the seal of one element, giving them power and control over it. It is natural to think that every person can be measured and judged only by the element with which is born. Some are suitable for war and violence, such as iron, while others less fortunate are born under a more insignificant element, such as phosphorus and argon, which makes them weaker in comparison.
And then there are those who were gifted by the elements granted by the dragons themselves, such as silver and gold, people who are born with a great and ominous power and an even greater life expectancy. These kinds of people that exist very few, limited only to the royal family. This is due to the events of little more than a hundred years ago, known as "The Tyranny of the Dragon Slayer"
According to the records, a man whose name is now unknown stumbled across a powerful and dangerous discovery. He discovered that by killing a dragon, a man could steal it's power over the elements, giving him immeasurable strength.
Moved by his ambition and thirst for power, this man drove the ancient dragons to extinction and began a rule over mankind, which would last for hundreds of years. His rule was one of a tyrannical state, pursuing and eliminating anyone who could oppose him, at least until a single woman dared to face him and raised a revolution.
This woman was then known as Lucrecia, the Silver Maiden. This woman defeated the dragon slayer in battle and brought peace to our kingdom once more. Or at least, that is what history books tell.
With peace, came leisure, and with leisure, comes meditation.
I, as perhaps many of those who are reading this, was born without an element, an anomaly in this world that has never been explained until now.
Our land was driven by war for many centuries, whether if it was the conflicts between noble families, confrontations with another kingdom, or the tyranny of a supreme overlord and its consequential revolution… Under the threat of death, our kind has little time to do anything except to survive, powerless and defenseless in the face of those blessed with the power and strength of their elemental seals.
This was the harsh and cruel reality of our kin over the millennia. But with the unification of the kingdom and the peace bestow upon us by our Silver Queen, we have been granted the time and tranquility necessary to think. And with this opportunity, I had made a discovery that will forever change the way our kind thinks, the history of the world, and the future of society…
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