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Translator: Snorri
Proofreader: theunfetteredsalmon
After the flood, the Charcoal Marsh would rise to the west of the newly emerged land, and with it came the impossibility for large-scale troops to pass through. Hittite’s army would have to first head south and enter the Syah Desert, thereafter they would have to turn to the northeast and march along the newly-formed lake before they could arrive. To its north, there was still the high mountains of the Syah Plateau. The Assyrian army also had to trample over mountains and through vast ravines to get to the fresh land.
To its east were the forested mountains and the Euphrate River, which was a natural defensive border. The region to the south of the lake was also a desert. Hence the Bablonian and Ejyptian troops couldn’t arrive there directly either. They had to first cross the desert from the east, then west, then go north.
This newly emerged land was geographically isolated from all neighbouring powers. An obvious difficulty for an expedition would be the highly expensive supply line that would be particularly vulnerable. Any war happening on this land would squeeze the treasury and human resources of the participating regimes. However, any wise man would notice that if one of them could occupy this place ahead of the others, they would have a huge advantage over their rivals. Once the state and farms were established, the abundant supply supported by the fertility of the land would create a breadbasket for the ruling empire. Thus, a war among the surrounding powers would be inevitable.
This was the so-called ‘blessing’ of Enlil. A new fertile land on this continent that could support and become the prosperous and peaceful homeland of hundreds of thousands of people. But Golier could already see the coming of another disaster. The land was going to witness another flood consisting of the blood of incalculable newcomers. But that would also be the choice of the mortals.
Golier could foresee it, but he was unable to stop it.
He even performed an analysis of the possible geostrategic change. The Kingdom of Assyr had not yet been established as a threat to Hittite because Assyrian troops had to cross the Syah Plateau to reach Hittite, the cost and risk of an invasion would largely overshadow the potential profit. But this might not be the case now that the situation was changed. Given that once they passed through the mountains, the high land would be in control, the Assyrians had enough reason to take the risk, since they were the weakest compared to their neighbours.
From a logistical perspective, Hittite had the largest advantage since it was the nearest to the newly emerged land, even taking into consideration the detour. But when military might as a factor is added, the Empire of Ejypt would take the lead. Bablon was around the same level as Hittite when it came to military capacity, and its supply line would be even shorter than Ejypt, starting from the lower reaches of the Euphrate River and crossing into the Syah Desert.
Every country had its strong and weak points. None of them was in an overly dominant position. Golier could only analyse the situation using his own experience. Even the Divination couldn’t help much. His conclusion was that, even with Assyr and Bablon out of the picture, a war would still break out between Hittite and the Empire of Ejypt in the near future!
The powerful Empire of Ejypt had conquered Hittite several decades ago. But the distance between the two countries had caused difficulties in sustaining a long term supply line. As a result, Ejypt failed to annex Hittite. In order to reduce local rebellion, the Pharaoh granted the Hittite people amnesty and allowed them to keep their own shrines. But they had to build new shrines for Horus and pay their tribute as a vassal state.
The undercurrent of resentment continued circulating around the country for many years. The people of Hittite refused to submit to the fate of a subordinate position. Many were consolidating strength in the dark and waited for the right time to rebel. Schmul ambushing Rod Drick’s caravans in an attempt to take away the Gods’ Tear was just another example of the ever-increasing tension.
To the Empire of Ejypt, the ocean and the desert made it impossible to conquer Hittite entirely while establishing an effective ruling system. But the appearance of this unoccupied fertile land made everything vastly different. Once colonized, it could serve as a strategic platform to deter other countries while becoming a new, vital centre of the economy.
The Empire of Ejypt was well aware of the growing dissent and resistance forces. When an upheaval occurred, the best choice was to strike first, extending their power to the newly emerged fertile land by sending an expeditionary force.
It would take some time to see Golier’s prediction come true, however. The geographic and climatic process would continue in the next three to five years before the environment of the territory stabilized. In the coming two years, the place would just be a vast, inhabitable marsh where conflict was impossible.
A month later, Golier walked out of his vault. He looked more tired than he did when the flood first ended. But he didn’t rest anymore. He summoned Warret, Raphael and Schmul to the shrine separately, and had a long, private talk with each of them, the contents of which were to be known by no one else.
Then he left Syah and returned to the Magic Academy in the capital of Hittite. He locked himself in his residence for the next whole year, away from any political or academic affairs. It was not unprecedented for him to return to the capital from time to time since he had duties in the Academy, but each time he wouldn’t stay long and would return to Syah. Even during his days in the Academy, he would show up regularly for research meetings and pedagogic practices.
This time it was completely different. Golier responded to no request and did not show up at all. He claimed that he was going to study some abstruse magic so he would deny any visitors. His esteem was unmatched in Syah and could exempt him from any criticism, but not in the capital. Some had tried, by different means, to impeach him for neglect of duty, others had suggested sending another mage to Syah to replace his post as oracle, leaving him a nominal Elder of the Academy so he could fully devote himself to magic. The Chief of the Academy tried to visit him and persuade him to cede the place of oracle. Nobody knew the result. King Lucier had sent messengers to Golier asking for an explanation, but the effort was in vain as well.
One could never be too prudent when dealing with a supreme mage. Even the king refused to express his attitude on this affair. When the Magic Senate of Hittite finally decided that this issue could no longer be delayed and launched the process of impeachment, Golier suddenly showed up in the latest meeting of the Academy. People were surprised to learn that he had become a ninth-level mage!
All doubt and opposition dissipated. So the esteemed supreme mage had indeed been studying magic quietly and had ascended to the highest level a mortal could ever achieve. In that case, any disturbance would be intolerable and any mundane interests should be ignored. Those who had been keen to trigger the impeachment process immediately transformed into his most genuine admirers, sending him the most precious of gifts. Golier accepted them all with a smile, which came as a great relief to everyone.
King Lucier held a feast to congratulate Golier’s breakthrough in magic practice. All the Elders of the Academy, all the Senators and most high officials attended. The feast ended in harmony. The king met Golier alone afterwards and had a long conversation. It was widely suspected that the king would keep him in the capital by granting him a more important position, such as the chief priest of the major Enlil Shrine of Hittite.
This conjecture turned out to be false. The next day, Golier took leave of his colleagues and went back to the remote border state of Syah where he was still the chief priest of the state and oracle.
The news of Golier ascending to a ninth-level mage after one year of solitary seclusion soon spread to every corner of the kingdom, including Syah state. When Golier’s carriage arrived at the western gate of Syah City, people swarmed out to the roadsides to welcome him like he was a deity. Golier’s reputation peaked among the locals.
As predicted by the Divination, Syah had witnessed a peaceful, perhaps even boring year as the traffic to the neighbouring countries had been cut off. Golier’s return could definitely serve as an excuse for a celebration, which was something that the people of Syah hardly had the chance to find.
Raphael had also ascended to a fifth-level mage. Being a talented young man, his progress unsurprising compared to his tutor’s breakthrough. Warret was still a sixth-level mage. Ascending to the seventh-level was so difficult that most mages would be stuck there and remain an advanced mage all their lives. It was how ‘supreme’ was coined in such exalted mages.
On Golier’s return, Schmul, the governor of Syah, had finally found relief. In the past year, the city enjoyed peace after the disaster, but the governor had been nervous all the time. Nobody knew why. It seemed that he wanted Golier back more than anybody else, which was strange because, in Golier’s absence, he was the power-holder of the entire state and held all the authority himself. He shouldn’t have been the one to urge for Golier’s return.
On the same day of Golier’s glorious return to Syah, on the mountain alongside the canyon of the Euphrate River, Amon left the caveman’s tribe in quietness, setting out for a lonely, long journey into the unknown. Why did Amon choose such a time to leave? The reason would date back to months ago.
Three months ago, Amon began feeling an odd pressure when practising body arts. Once he had exceeded some limit when using the power in his bloodline he would have felt a great pressure, as if a hill had been put on him. All the bones in his body would have cracked as if they were locking up.
It was a phenomenon that would happen to every warrior before they became an advanced warrior. It demanded great persistence and willpower to keep on practising body arts and finally break through. Those who couldn’t bear it would never go further in body arts. But even some who persisted in practising couldn’t succeed. Not everyone could become an advanced warrior.
Amon knew what he was facing. It was the ‘bloodline’s purification’. He had finally practised third-level body arts to its peak, achieving a balance in strength, speed and body coordination. The previous test, ‘body purification’, allowed him to shed his old wounds and diseases as well as regain his health. Along with his body arts practice, his physical nature was improving to adapt to the increase in strength. Those who couldn’t bear hardships or had a weak natural physique wouldn’t be able to get through this stage.
Amon was used to hardship. He was born in a poor single-parent family. He had been learning the technique of Duc ever since he was twelve, which meant he had to toil in the day and suffer in the cold spring at night. To him, body arts practising was nothing he could not bear and he hadn’t stopped practising body arts since his departure.
Nevertheless, he was surprised that the next test came this slowly. He ran into the first three tests very quickly and passed them just as quickly. But the fourth one only came after more than a year’s training. What he didn’t realise was that he had already been progressing at an amazing speed, even for mages and warriors. He was just fifteen years old, still in the primary stage of puberty. Even for a normal boy, his body was still growing.
Theoretically, it was the golden age for a body arts practitioner to ascend to the advanced stage, for the growth of the body could happen along with the improvement in physical nature. However, it was difficult for a warrior to achieve the third level this early. For instance, even Metatro, who had been practising body arts hard since childhood, had to wait to over twenty years old to ascend to an advanced warrior.
Amon progressed so fast in the first three levels because he had a spectacularly well-laid foundation. However, entering the advanced stage was much more difficult. It was already stunning that he encountered the ‘bloodline purification’ test in a little over a year.
It took him about three months to extricate himself from the locks inside of his own body. Now he felt fit and vivacious again. There seemed to be a force circulating in his veins that he could send out whenever he wanted, even to outside his body. He felt that if this force was strong enough, he could use it to fight against magic.
It was the sign of an advanced warrior.
The process of this test was long, but the passing was short and sudden. One day, while he was practising body arts, the pressure disappeared with no sign. Amon felt relieved as if he was freed from a mental burden. When he wielded his staff as an iron bat, he felt that the heavy staff was as light as a real rod. When he tried to send out the force inside his body, a slight lustre appeared at the end of the staff.
Wielding the staff like a piece of heavy rock, and sending it down like the lightest feather, Amon was still relying on the technique of Duc since he didn’t know much about martial arts. The staff was pointed towards a rock. Soundlessly, a piece of granite broke down into powder. It must be much easier extracting parangons in this way, Amon observed to himself.
As a simple boy, all he could relate to was his experiences in Duc.
The night he passed the test, Amon sat quietly in his house and took out the Terroculus. Before reading the message, he lifted his arm and waved, and a circle of flame appeared around him. It was the Fire Wall he had mastered.
Watching the wall of flame bounce briskly three feet away, a mischievous idea entered Amon’s mind. He snapped his fingers, and the wall of flame reshaped into an encircling fence that bounced no more. Amon then lifted his arm. The fence of fire extended upwards and enclosed on top of his head, forming a giant cage.
Amon was caged by his own magic, but he found humour in it. Gazing at the slim grids of faint light blue flame, he smiled in the dark. It was the effect of spatial magic. There was no primary spatial magic, it started as advanced magic. Being able to use two types of advanced magic in a synthetic way, he was already a fourth-level mage by the criteria of most shrines, not to mention that he had done this without a staff.
Amon was satisfied playing with his own magic. He nodded and quenched the fire, then activated the Terroculus. As he expected, Crazy’Ole’s message appeared in his mind, “I must say congratulations, my boy. You must be a fourth-level mage when you are reading this message. I don’t know whether or not you have found Bair. If you couldn’t find him or what he had left behind, I have some advice for you. You can always just be a sorcerer and cover your identity by acting as a warrior.”
“There shouldn’t be just one way to solve the secret of the gods. You should take what Bair has done as a reference. I always thought the new Adoratrice of Isis Shrine has a special bond with you. Perhaps you can have some deep communication with her when you become a supreme sorcerer. I have confidence in you. You can definitely do a better job than Bair has!”
Crazy’Ole’s advice came teasingly. Amon wasn’t sure if he was serious or just joking. The next part of the message was the introduction of some advanced magic. There wasn’t much new magic since many types of advanced magic had already been introduced in the previous message.
Apart from the advanced magic, there were also some other new tricks that Amon was interested in. For example, there was a thorough instruction on the making of magic artefacts, such as staffs and scrolls. The magic in the scrolls had to be written in hieroglyphs, so there was also a specific tutorial on the calligraphy of the hieroglyphs and the respective way on how to depict them.
At the end of the message, Crazy’Ole said, “I was not only an eighth-level sorcerer but also one of the best craftsmen in the world. Not all craftsmen can produce the staff you now hold in your hands, it was not processed in days. I’ve been working on it many times in the past years, and completed the final conversion in the last few days before you left.”
“Learning to make magical artefacts can be very useful to sorcerers like you. But you have to remember that it’s merely a skill and the artefacts are not part of you. Your achievement in your own practice is the sole fundamental factor that you can rely on. The magic artefacts can be of some help in dangerous times, but if you indulge yourself in them, you will deviate from the true path.”
“There was a supreme mage called Nero who was truly gifted, ascending to the seventh level not long after twenty. But he was obsessed with scroll-making. He later became the best scroll maker in Ejypt, but he failed to ascend to the eighth level in the next forty years. He went missing after joining the mission of pursuing Bair thirty years ago. In my opinion, he could have been a ninth-level mage. You should keep this lesson in mind if you are still in search of the secret of the gods.”
Crazy’Ole predicted the disaster and arranged a path that Amon could follow. But he couldn’t foresee everything. For example, he didn’t know whether Amon could eventually find Bair. So he could only prepare for the worse and give his advice. If Amon couldn’t find Bair, he could still follow Bair’s path and at least become a supreme sorcerer.
Crazy’Ole taught Amon the knowledge about the hieroglyphs in the message. But what he couldn’t see was that Amon had already learnt that in Bair’s last message in the cave. He also talked about Nero’s story, but he didn’t expect that Amon would ever obtain Nero’s scrolls. It was not until he read the message that Amon realized what a scroll-making master Nero was.
Amon had been playing with his newly-learned magic, but now he was in a completely different mood. He sighed and put the Terroculus back in the pocket, then bowed to the ground towards the west and kissed the soil. It was not the soil of Duc, but it belonged to the same land. He finally made up his mind to leave. During the journey, he would continue practising magic and body arts, and await the coming of the next test. In the unknown world outside the mountains, he was going to experience the ‘devil’s temptation’.
Lynk was meditating when a voice emerged in his mind, “Come to the big cave. Don’t let your people know. I am waiting for you there.”
Amon sent the message with message magic. Lynk got up hurriedly from his bed and went out of his house with the bone staff by force of habit. When he came to the big cave, Amon was already standing behind the fire, facing the wall.
Lynk asked nervously, “My god Amon! What can I do for you? Is there something important that you need to tell me at midnight?”
Amon turned around and gave him a brown staff with seven parangons inlaid in a spiral, “You’ve become a third-level sorcerer and warrior since two months ago. I promised you a real staff. So what do you think of this one?”
[List of Characters]
Lucier: King of Hittite.
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