Calendar of the Gods
The followers of the gods would definitely be redeemed after death. That was the basis of the teachings of the gods. For this reason, the teachings of the gods spread throughout the world, causing the rise of numerous zealots who were willing to give up their lives for their beliefs.
Any research relating to the soul was made taboo here, and was considered to profane the dead or the gods.
‘How foolish they are to place their hopes on someone else...’ Leylin sighed, but did not try to change this mindset. He knew very well how difficult it would be to change an ideology that had turned into a culture over tens of thousands of years.
For this reason, his master Anthony faced death in a very calm manner, and it did not interfere with his daily work.
“Perhaps some day in the future... Your name shall be carved in the church of knowledge, and if my name were to appear in the introduction, I’d have no regrets in my life...” Anthony stated his wish.
The church of knowledge had a wall of glory, where the many names of those who helped pass on knowledge and wisdom were inscribed. It was considered the greatest honour amongst scholars in the continent.
Anthony’s hope was that when others saw Leylin’s name there, they would find his own in the introduction, where he would be mentioned as a young Leylin’s teacher.
“I will work hard, master!” Leylin was speechless, but he could only answer in a vague manner.
“Good! Let us start today’s class. Flip to page...” After hearing Leylin personally agreeing, Anthony’s face glowed the red of fire that had just been fed oil. The tiny bit of life force he had emitted a vigorous energy.
Leylin listened to him and turned to the page, and an ancient map appeared before him. Due to the many fingers that had touched it, the lines of the map were incredibly blurred.
The black lines of charcoal drew the outline of a broken continent, with many little islands like stars surrounding it. The edges of the ocean were full of darkness, marked out with symbols of danger and the unknown.
“The history of our prime material plane is the history of great discovery. From the beginning, where there were written accounts of the redbud flowers up till today, the continent has evolved to the state that you see right now...” Anthony spoke unhurriedly, “The rise and fall of many nations resulted in many dangers to the continent. You’ll find the changes to the borders of these nations on the next page... Now, I’ll need you to mark out where we are on the map!”
“This...” Leylin watched Mentor Anthony speechlessly while he kept rolling his eyes inside.
“Our Faulen Territory is in the territorial waters of the southeast part of the Dambrath Kingdom. It was a newly developing land that was found and occupied after the kingdom’s third sailing expedition...” Leylin pointed to a corner in the northeast on the map, where there were the vague words of ‘Dambrath’.
Due to the the scale, the entire Dambrath Kingdom was just a grain in the vast ocean. While this was what Leylin said verbally, his eyes were beginning to blaze with excitement and fire.
The World of Gods was vast beyond words, and there were even kingdoms established by the beastfolk and elves. Similar to the Magus World, there were things like the underground, where many dark races resided.
On the surface of the continent were hundreds of kingdoms and dukedom, and an inexhaustible number of villages.
Humans, beastfolk, elves, dwarves, pygmies, goblins, jackalfolk, death spirits... all sorts of races and gods of varying types showed the legends that had happened on the continent.
There were hot-blooded adventures, secret conspiracies, many races, various cultures and even wars and peace between gods!
Every dimensional being, whether devils, demons or anything else, were all watching this area with lustful eyes, hoping to gain a portion of it despite the watchful eyes of the gods.
“This is... the beginning of the legends...” Leylin’s heart blazed. He was already itching to begin wandering around the continent.
Of course, this desire was quickly suppressed by the cautiousness that lay in his genes.
With his might as a rank 5 wizard, he might be considered an elite in adventuring groups in this dangerous continent, but there were far too many existences that could take his life.
“Alright! Let us take a look at the Lionheart Nation at the middle of the map. On the calendar year 37628 of the holy calendar, 30 years ago, Lionheart King Charlie...” Anthony began his lessons while Leylin listened attentively.
However, Leylin’s thoughts were wandering.
‘The holy calendar! That’s the calendar established by the gods. While on the surface, it began because of the birth of the gods, in reality, the first year is actually a year after the end of the ancient Final War!’
This dark history was obviously not written in historic records. This was information Leylin had gathered through his resources, as well as Ernest and Anthony accidentally letting this slip, and a conclusion that he had eventually come to.
‘The ancient Final War practically left the World of Gods in ruins, and the continent was even split into several parts. Civilisation was destroyed in the prime material plane in an instant, and they sunk into their darkest time. Many gods fell, but there were also those who were fortunate enough to gain their divine powers and rose rapidly, igniting their godfires and becoming new gods. The Goddess of the Weave Mystra is the best example! They must have established the holy calendar after the new gods created their churches!’
Leylin’s eyes were shining, “Hence, amongst the gods, given the division of the ranks of the gods, which is that between the old and new gods, the old gods must have powers that generally surpass that of the new gods...”
Evidently, if Legends in the prime material plane wanted to slaughter gods in order to obtain their divine powers, the new gods were their best choice, which also applied to Leylin.
‘On top of that, in the World of Gods, it’s already been 37,000 years since the ancient Final War?” Leylin stroked his chin, “Looks like time flows differently in the God of Worlds as compared to the Magus World...’ After the class was over and he had sent Mentor Anthony away, Leylin returned to his room.
“Young Master! Young Master! You have received a letter from Miss Isabel!” At this moment, Claire jogged over, holding a pink letter in her hands. She was breathing raggedly, her chest was bouncing, and even her little face had flushed pink and filled with beads of sweat.
“Thanks for your trouble!” Leylin touched her hand, causing the maid to flush pink bashfully and run off.
“Hehe...” Having teased her successfully, Leylin chuckled in satisfaction as he sat back on the couch, tearing open the pink letter in his hands.
“To my beloved cousin, Leylin Faulen,
Dearest Leylin, are you doing well? Do you still need to have your diaper changed? It’s been about five years since I left the Faulen Island, but I still can’t get used to the darkness and dampness of this city, especially the moss on the ground that practically extends all the way to my room...”
On the letter was a little girl’s immature handwriting. She began with banter, but that then turned into longing and complaints.
“Has it been five years?” Leylin sighed, recalling the time he’d been with Isabel. While she liked to bully him, she obviously felt protective of him.
However, she had her own family as well, and when Leylin was eight, they had come to get her. While leaving, Isabel had bawled. Leylin still remembered the feeling of her grabbing his hand tightly.
‘Based on Father’s arrangements, I will enter the Grain Goddess’ church and become an apprentice priest. I’ve heard that rules are very strict there, and I hope I’ll still get the chance to communicate with you through letters... Isabel.’
“Becoming a priest?” Leylin nodded. In noble families, besides the first son needing to take over the feudal status, the rest of the children seldom received money and were even chased out of their homes.
If the second son was intelligent, they would study management and become the housekeepers of some noble family. The rest might become knights or enter churches.
The daughters would take on the great responsibility of getting married to other families. It was very common for there to be old husbands and young wives, or old wives with young husbands.
For Isabel, being able to study as a priest meant that she would have power of her own, as well as support from the church. Even if she would need to marry someone in the future, this was not half bad.
But... At the thought of the shrewish cousin of his who would need to bemoan the state of the heavens and fate of the people, carrying the name of the gods by her lips all day long, Leylin had the urge to laugh.
After reading the letter, Leylin went to the side in his home.
There was a small-scaled smelting room. On the laboratory table with a metal surface were numerous valuable glass apparatus.
Just purchasing these items had led to the earnings of the Faulen Family diminishing for a few months.
Besides, Leylin was still starting out with the miniature versions. The real stuff was with his mentor, Ernest.
With such terrifying rates of expenditure, it was understandable that many magicians came from noble families.
Besides the lucky, only nobles would be able to bear the terrifying cost of the materials for casting spells and experiments.