Chapter 979: Act 152 – Song of the Mundane II
Freya blinked as she woke up from the darkness. The candle on the table had burned out at some unknown point, leaving the bedroom shrouded in pitch black. After a moment of confusion, she recalled the events that had transpired earlier: the slate that Brendel had gifted her had suddenly cracked, from which a golden disc emerged, shooting a beam of light that struck her forehead—was this a dream? She instinctively looked toward the table and was startled to find the dull, lifeless disc lying quietly among a pile of stone fragments, moonlight filtering through the window to cast a cold, luminous glow upon it. Freya then noticed that the moon had returned to the sky, but she had no idea what had happened before; she initially thought it was merely an eclipse and was surprised to find that she had slept through the night.
Could everything that had happened be real? Her thoughts raced back to the dreamlike event, and she suddenly sat up, realizing that she had acquired some strange knowledge within her mind. This knowledge seemed innate, though a portion of it felt unfamiliar, as if she had systematically learned it at some time in the past but had not used it for a long while, leading to its obscurity. It was not the result of rote memorization but felt as though it would become clear with just a bit of recollection; she even had the illusion that, given the opportunity to practice a few times, she could master it with ease.
Much of the knowledge in her mind was about combat techniques, as if she had once been trained to become an elite warrior belonging to a group called the “Guardians of the War Goddess” (or the “Valkyrie Guard”). Beyond that, there was nothing else significant in these memories. Besides various combat skills, there were methods of using different weapons and equipment. Additionally, there were a plethora of materials about magical creatures, but she had neither seen nor heard of them before.
What were “Orichalcum Warriors,” “Raiders,” “Blade Bugs,” and “Dream Stalkers”…? Most of these terms sounded more like military ranks than monsters. Freya discovered that they all shared a common annotation, with most categorized as “Kin.” The remaining few were referred to as Twilight Kind, Crystal Mass, and Nightmare Bugs. She knew of Crystal Mass; Brendel often mentioned these creatures. As for “Kin,” she had a vague recollection of having heard it somewhere before, a faint feeling that she might have battled these creatures at some time in the past. However, she knew that this feeling was not a genuine memory but stemmed from the inherited knowledge she now possessed.
In her memories, the Valkyries were warriors of the War Dragon Tiamat, endowed with a unique ability to summon ancient weapon projections from the War Dragon upon the earth. Freya extended her hand and recited, “Hercules—” This peculiar incantation seemed to have suddenly appeared in her mind. A beam of white light descended from the air, piercing through the ceiling and landing in her hand. Countless tiny luminous particles converged and coalesced into a long blade. The sword was very peculiar; its blade seemed to be made of light, not radiating or being constrained together, but forming a plate-like structure akin to crystal with a slight curve. The crossguard of the long sword had four metal plates folded backward, shielding the long handle where it was grasped.
The overall design of this sword was completely different from the artistic styles of the continent; it bore no embossed decorations and lacked common insignia like ivy, dragons, or solar thorns, giving it a sense of simplicity and strength. “Is this an ancient weapon?” Freya had never seen such a long sword but could sense its extraordinary beauty.
Raising the sword, her gaze flickered, and she suddenly realized there was someone else in her room. This startled her, and she immediately took a combat stance, only to find that the figure standing silently in the darkness was the Emerald Knight, fully clad in armor. Freya paused momentarily, “Mr. Knight, what are you doing here?” He was the guardian spirit of the Lionheart Sword, following her closely ever since she obtained the Holy Sword but he rarely appeared in her line of sight, even refraining from helping her during battles, seemingly only to protect the sword. She had hardly seen him over recent days and almost forgotten his presence.
However, his silent intrusion into her room annoyed her. As a knight, didn’t he know that entering a lady’s chamber without permission was quite impolite?
Yet, the Emerald Knight seemed different today. He lifted his head, the hollow soul flame beneath his helmet flickering quietly. He cast a glance at Freya, then turned and left through the door.
The Emerald Knight said nothing, yet Freya felt an unsettling sensation arise within her: he was leaving.
The night wind swept across the mountains of Toniger.
The fir trees rustled softly, as if composing a melody, reciting an unknown future.
…
On the first day of the autumn twilight month, the residents of Vaunte witnessed an unusually rare solar eclipse that afternoon. Of course, most believed it was simply an eclipse as the sun reappeared in the sky in less than fifteen minutes. However, in many regions, such as Luzer to the south of Saint Ausoor, White Mountain, the eastern glacier, and portions of the Ten Cities, as well as the dark forests of the southern lands of Erluin, and parts of the Saintly White Plain, the sun did not rise after it had set.
In those locations, large-scale chaos quickly erupted, transforming them into completely lawless regions over the course of the following week. In the absence of light, food, even drinking water, the political entities swiftly dissolved, and with the loss of order, the once-civil environment gave way to barbarism. The residents turned into robbers, leading to waves of refugees fleeing to other areas. However, in those pitch-black regions, even the robbers could not survive for long; waves of refugees surged forth, heading toward the brighter regions.
But the tide of refugees had not reached farther places yet, so in most areas, people remained unaware of what was happening.
In the Sea of Star Gathering, a floating city drifted above the outer sea—the name of this city was Lataki, one of the more famous floating cities in the Silver City-States, usually stationed in the Sea of Star Gathering, responsible for monitoring the movements of monsters across the plains east of White Mountain. Yet now, this city known as the “Eye of Darkness” was silently suspended in a shroud of blackness. Wizards illuminated various lights with magic and gathered in the brightly lit central square of the city. Above the square floated wizards dressed in various robes, all sharing the common trait of having at least seven silver trims on their robes. Those with fewer than seven trims remained on the ground, appearing as a dark mass from a distance.
In Bud, wizards who could cast spells below the fifth ring were called apprentices, while those who could cast spells from the fifth to seventh rings were referred to as quasi-wizards. Although those capable of casting spells beyond the seventh ring were collectively known as great wizards, in this Silver City-State, one was either a great wizard or an apprentice; only by becoming a great wizard could one shed the status of an apprentice. Once they shed this identity, they could freely fly within the city, which explained the crowd of people occupying the ground.
Those unfamiliar with Bud might think this so-called Silver Alliance was nothing remarkable, but in reality, most of the so-called “apprentices” on the ground were actually quasi-wizards, with those who could only cast spells below the fifth ring being exceedingly rare. Only those children under ten years old with poor wizarding qualifications could be found.
In Bud, if you could not cast a fifth-ring spell by the age of fifteen, it was no longer simply a matter of poor qualifications; it was a sign of being a freak.
Such was the power of the People of Silver.
In fact, from a purely combat standpoint, the disparity between the first generation of Silver and Gold was not that significant; it was just that during the era of the Twilight War, the Gold lineage was a true warrior race, while the Silver People rarely engaged directly in battles. For instance, the dragon lineage, exceptional individuals within the Gold lineage, far surpassed the artisan wizards of Bud in individual strength. However, dragons were exceedingly rare, even during the most prosperous times of the first generation of Gold—they were the smallest population among the Gold races. In terms of one-on-one fights, ordinary dragon members easily overwhelmed the average-level artisan wizards. Yet, when viewed from the perspective of entire races, the people of Bud need not fear dragons.
However, during the time when the gods were still present, the ancestors of the People of Bud, the Archyd scholars, were the custodians of the Tower of Babel, responsible for organizing and collecting the knowledge and heritage of civilization. In contrast, dragons were purely warriors, charging into the front lines of the fight against twilight. Their division of labor was clear-cut.
This was also the greatest distinction between the Silver and Gold races.
But for a millennium, since the end of the Holy War and their withdrawal from the continent, the People of Bud had not revealed their power in Vaunte. They rarely intervened in disputes, let alone participate in wars. Thus, even when Queen Cruz of the Cruz Empire brazenly proclaimed the restoration of the Minren Dynasty merely a short time ago, they had only uncharacteristically funded a fleet for Brendel—nothing more, not even sending half a man. Even that fleet was merely part of the original transaction with Duke Toniger, with the Bud folks adding a little extra, hardly a proper form of assistance.
Yet at this moment, these wizards were more serious than ever.
A wizard robed in red was delivering a speech in mid-air, his voice booming like thunder, enveloping the entire city: “According to our investigations, on the first day of the autumn twilight month of the year 376, after the surge of magical tides at noon, a meteorite fragment fell from the skies over Vaunte. Most of it constituted the knowledge and heritage claimed to have been lost on the earth after the destruction of the Tower of Babel, which is also the most critical part of the ‘Arbiters’ civilization heritage… The remainder consists of Somir Crystals.”
In Bud, the silver-robed wizards were the holders of the White Tower’s staff, wielding silver staves and known as Silver Staff Mages. They were the guardians of knowledge and held a high status within the Silver Alliance, second only to the council wizards. The most common wizards were white-robed and gray-robed; here, white-robed wizards were ordinary artisan wizards, while gray-robed wizards generally came from the combat ranks of the Silver Alliance, most being elementalist mages. The remaining black, red, and blue-robed wizards were the rarest and most unique three classes of wizards.
Blue-robed wizards were unique to Winged Lion City, serving as personal guards to Rosadelle, one of the twelve wizard leaders of the Silver Alliance. Rosadelle specialized in rune magic, making blue-robed mages the strongest rune mages among the People of Bud. Black-robed wizards typically hailed from the recluse organizations of the Silver Alliance, largely comprising necromancers and warlocks who practiced spiritualism and array techniques; these individuals were generally high-minded and looked down upon the bumpkins from Madara.
Red-robed wizards, also known as Seers, came from the Tower of All Things, representing the pinnacle of astrologers throughout Vaunte, naturally excelling in astrology. Among them, the most distinguished was the leader of the red-robed wizards, Vladimir Kheliyarnov, also the lord of Lataki, who possessed a powerful artifact known as the Sunspot, which took the form of a unique black eye, hence being referred to as the ‘Eye of Darkness,’ the namesake of Lataki.
Vladimir still appeared with his famously bald head and thick beard, a black symbol upon his forehead—the mark left by the Eye of Darkness. He surveyed the entire square from the air, pausing for a moment before continuing, “As we all know, the People of Bud are descendants of the Archyd scholars, and it is our duty to collect and manage knowledge on earth. The precious knowledge within the library of the Tower of Babel was once the most important wealth of the wizards, so it is our responsibility to retrieve it and safeguard it well.”
Silence fell over the square.
However, Vladimir did not seem to mind; what he needed was not the responses of these individuals, but merely the opinions of the twelve people located at his height.
To be precise, he needed three; for within the Silver Alliance, it was not as tightly organized as people imagined. Long before the second holy war, the wizards of the Silver Alliance divided into three factions due to disagreements. Among them, the silver-robed wizards led by William held the orthodoxy of Bud—the two most important cities of Kanaj and the White Tower, claiming to be the Secret Silver Society. Secondly, there was the Recluse, the stronghold of black-robed wizards, led by Yuki, who stationed the floating city atop the Eastern Glacier. Although they acted discreetly, they were the most eager to engage with matters on the continent; however, these black-robed wizards sought not to vie for power on the continent, but rather to eradicate chaotic forces, making them the greatest adversaries of the Everything Returns Society and the Shepherds.
Lastly was the so-called Red-Blue Alliance, also known as the Sassardal Alliance, which was merely a dual-city alliance between Rosadelle and Vladimir, deriving its name from the two floating cities hovering above the Sassardal region. This alliance was the weakest in the Silver Alliance and, therefore, less prominent. However, it had a significant feud with the Secret Silver Society led by William. Vladimir himself had long coveted the position of the White Tower and consistently argued that the guardian wizards of the White Tower should be more insightful astrologers rather than law-wizards—though within the Silver Alliance, law-wizards were typically referred to as scholars.
Yet Vladimir was also well aware that among the twelve wizard leaders, the Secret Silver Society, led by Solomon, was first, followed by William, with Turiman in fourth place. His own position ranked eighth, and Rosadelle was inferior even to him. Challenging the Secret Silver Society with the strength of the dual-city alliance was somewhat fanciful.
The reason he coveted the White Tower was due to its holy status among wizards; Bud’s White Tower was established as a replica of the Tower of Laws from the Elemental Five Realms. Each level of the White Tower was filled with literature and books from all over Vaunte, being the largest and most cherished library of the People of Bud. What was the most important thing for a wizard? Naturally, it was knowledge. The White Tower, as a symbol of knowledge, had long been regarded as a sacred place for wizards.
Yet now, he clearly saw a better option.
The People of Bud were descendants of the Archyd scholars, who once served as the custodians of Babel. They possessed the knowledge and heritage of countless civilizations, spanning thousands of years, from the Gold lineage, the Silver People, and even the gods, all stored in that celestial tower. In that era, Babel was the center of civilization and a symbol of order. If he could one day reclaim this knowledge, the White Tower would become insignificant.
Vladimir waited silently in midair, his red robe moving without wind.
Soon, he heard a voice emerge from the void.
