1 Prologue
In the center of a cold and empty void, a shining bright object could be seen from anywhere on the prevalent space.
It was as if the empty void miraculously created this large and bright object, only to make it stationary and not move. There was only one function it had, and it was to slowly absorb the most fundamental aspect of the energy surrounding it.
Time passed… Eons passed before finally…
BOOM!
A powerful explosion had occurred that originated from within the bright object, and the built-up energy from inside had spread outwards to every corner and inch of the empty void.
The empty void strangely reacted to this stimulus, as if it had a subconscious of its own and was obeying the will of this bright object.
Soon enough, the empty void had changed and was no longer an 'empty void,' but rather a wide-open and vast primordial world that had covered everything that the void had originally taken up.
A new world was slowly created over a long period of time, and the bright object soon greatly dimmed, but it had become the sole core of this world. Although the light within the object was faint, it still had remaining energy that was continuously leaking out towards the world.
This energy was enough to create an immense number of things, such as life and nature.
Specifically, it had created a small race of powerful and intelligent beings that were essentially transformed by this energy, and it allowed them to freely harness it and use it to their will.
These beings were gigantic in size, and had come in all shapes and sizes, but they all had an overbearing might that could seemingly topple the world. These beings were also naturally arrogant, and had often come into disputes, so a large majority of them were isolated with their own territories.
Due to the innate nature of this powerful energy and with the increasing strength of these beings, they were able to eventually sense the source of the energy and trace it back to the center of the world.
This source was naturally the bright object that had greatly dimmed, and had become the core of the primordial world in which they had lived in.
They had named the energy as 'Primordial Energy,' and the core object of the world as the 'Ancient Void Crystal' due to its unique and solid shape, as well as its mysterious and empowering nature.
These beings were unable to actually get near the Ancient Void Crystal, and had concluded that it was too powerful or there was a barrier that they were not qualified to pass through.
They had jointly viewed this Ancient Void Crystal as the reason for their existence, so they had labeled it as the most important sacred item of the entire world. The beings then decided that the Ancient Void Crystal should not belong to anyone, and thus it would be ultimately shared amongst them.
Although the beings were not able to make direct contact with the Ancient Void Crystal, the extraction of primordial energy was enough for them, and thus they used it in various ways.
A large majority of these beings had wantonly used this primordial energy for their needs and desires. Most commonly, it was used to create massive amounts of vastly inferior lifeforms and have them worship the ones who created them.
These lifeforms lived and survived in 'The Below,' which was directly below the surface of 'The Above,' where the all-mighty beings lived. The Below seemed like it was an entirely separate world of The Above, as it was essentially a world of darkness that permanently contained a bone chilling cold that could pierce the skin. In contrast, The Above was a world of light that brimmed with a dynamic nature, and had an invigorating atmosphere that improved one's state.
These lifeforms were known to be as the 'lower races,' as their primary purpose of their existence was to serve, worship, and fear these beings that they viewed as gods. Over time they grew in intelligence and in number, yet they still couldn't escape their miserable fate.
They didn't have the basic qualifications to contend with these mighty beings because there was a general belief that had firmly imprinted onto their minds that they were forever insignificant ants in front of them.
These beings that were viewed as gods by the lower races were known to them as the, 'Old Great Ones.'
Mysterious, inconceivable and terrifying existences that the lower races were unable to comprehend and fathom in every aspect.
Forcefully trying to oppose their will or even trying to have a higher understanding of them would shatter their minds and scatter their souls. No one in the lower races had dared to do anything else besides submit in fear and worship them.
This was the 'Age of the Old Great Ones,' and it had lasted for countless of years… until one fateful event had occurred.
The First Daemon Scourge.
A mysterious and powerful species that was thought to have come from outside the void had invaded the world to cause chaos and for one ultimate purpose: to rule over the primordial world.
They were innumerable in number and had discovered the secrets of the Old Great Ones power, which they had strongly used in their favor. Although, this power had come from the Old Great Ones, it had coincidentally become the greatest weakness to them.
The daemons were swift and decisive, as they fully organized their attacks to overwhelm and kill the isolated Old Great Ones before they had moved on to the other mighty beings. The rest of the Old Great Ones had barely any time to plan and counter-attack before they reluctantly decided to unite and fight against a common enemy.
The war waged on between the daemons and the Old Great Ones for many years… and eventually, the final battle had occurred.
The result of this battle was the complete annihilation of the Old Great Ones, the massive decrease in strength of the daemons, the disappearance of primordial energy, and the faint light within the Ancient Void Crystal to flicker one last time before fading away into eternal darkness….
The daemons had won, but the price was too heavy… what was left was a relatively small number of them remaining. They needed an extremely long time to recover to their peak state and to fully integrate into the primordial world.
The 'Age of the Old Great Ones' had ultimately ended.
Not long after this era had ended, a small light had appeared and spread throughout The Below. It was a pale and dazzling fire, an extremely beautiful sight to the lower races as it brought comfort to their souls and warmth to their bodies. It was a miraculous event and brought in a momentous contrast to the everlasting cold of the permeating darkness in The Below.
The lower races had named this flame the 'Origin Flame,' and not only did they discover that this origin flame had the unique property of dispelling the cold darkness around them, but it gave them great power.
The upper echelons of the lower races had also gained a great prophecy upon wielding these powerful origin flames, which was a voice that had come to those that were deemed worthy.
The prophecy foretold the end of the 'Age of the Old Great Ones,' and that the lower races were able ascend to The Above and become the rulers of the world.
The individuals who had heard this prophecy declared that it had to come from a wise Old Great One, which they had named 'Old Great One Nalan.'
There were some who were wary about this prophecy, and others who completely believed in it. It wasn't until after years later that some of the brave lower races had decided to ascend to The Above.
The first sight that the lower races had seen after ascending to The Above was a soul-stirring sight that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
It was a desolate and barren wasteland with indistinct corpses of extremely large beings, as well as innumerable corpses of smaller sized beings that were littered around them.
The news of the prophecy being true was spread to the rest of the lower races and all of them soon ascended to The Above.
It wasn't long until they had made contact with the hostile 'daemons,' and found out that they were about comparable in strength.
The lower races were united, and with the use of the powerful origin flames, they had killed a majority of the daemons and pushed the rest back to unknown parts of the world.
The lower races had become the overlords of the world, and it ushered into a new age.
The Age of Fire.
This era marked a prosperous time for the lower races as countless empires and dynasties rose and fell, and powerful heroes who wielded the origin flames became the cornerstone of their races.
A power hierarchy was established and distinct tiers were soon made that indicated the strength of a specific race. Countless relationships were formed, enemies were created, and territories were taken through wars.
There were now clear divisions among the races, as the rule of survival of the fittest was the dominant principle and the strong had become the rulers of the world.
The influence of the Old Great Ones was still prevalent everywhere, as a wide variety of research was still done by each race in order to grasp the eldritch truth, and to seek any hope of attaining the way to ultimately ascend and become an all-mighty being.
Hundreds of thousands of years have passed and a new prophecy emerged towards the worthy ones of each race. The voice of the Old Great One Nalan had returned and every race hoped for great news once more.
The prophecy had become rather dreadful, as it indicated a drastic mass extinction event that would soon appear. It also foretold that those who were brave or strong enough, should voyage to the center of the world to rekindle a lost sacred item in order to save their race and have a chance for survival.
Each race didn't doubt this prophecy at all considering the last one had become true, but a large majority of the races deemed this task almost impossible because the center of the world had become an extremely dangerous area, and that traveling to the very center would be tantamount to suicide.
Many years had passed and the prophecy became less true by the day. The upper echelons of every race became increasingly negligent… until it was too late, the prophecy had become true once more.
The Second Daemon Scourge.
The daemons had returned once more, but they were nowhere near comparable in strength to their peak state when they had annihilated the Old Great Ones. Even thought they were greatly weakened, they were still an extinction threat.
A massive difference this time was the descent of the 'Blood Moon.'
The blood moon had signified the pervading darkness and had turned the entire world into an eternal night. The practice of blood transfusion had become prevalent and the members of every race had a high chance of mutating into daemons.
The daemons had overwhelming advantage and it seemed like they would bring about the end of the world.
A large number of races fell and the remaining ones had no other choice but to trust in the prophecy. They sent in their best warriors to travel to the center of the world as their last resort.
Not all warriors survived as most of them had perished in the dangerous journey to the center of the world, but to those that did survive numbered in the thousands that belonged to 100 different races.
They had arrived at the center of the world and they were able to perceive the sacred item that was the core of the world, the Ancient Void Crystal that had long turned into a dark husk.
Every warrior channeled all their origin flames into the Ancient Void Crystal in order to rekindle it. They had become successful and the Ancient Void Crystal was faintly rekindled and it soon caused a massive chain reaction.
The Ancient Void Crystal had drawn upon countless strands into the sky and was collecting the essence of the origin flame from every part of the world.
Soon, a large explosion occurred and the Ancient Void Crystal released continuous waves of energy outwards that killed and pushed back the remaining daemons. The blood moon had disappeared, and light and day was once again brought back into the world.
The art of the origin flames was lost and the Ancient Void Crystal had an almost nonexistent light to it. The warriors that were near it had also been pushed back and the area had become a restriction zone once again.
They had finally returned home and were praised as not only heroes of their entire race, but the saviors of the world.
These heroes were named as 'Empyreans,' an extremely grand title that had exclusively belonged to them.
Although the profound ability of using origin flames had vanished, the remaining 100 Races had noticed that the natural energies of the world had become different, and that the linking of the Ancient Void Crystal hadn't disappeared.
Research of this became the norm and the 100 Races became unified to uncover the secrets, and to improve upon their strength because they had believed that another catastrophe would eventually arrive.
Thousands of years had passed and the world had become the 'Dawnfire World,' with a new age…
The Age of Insight.
...
...
...
Somewhere in the specific part of the present world, a large and sealed cave that had long been forgotten by the people of Mount Trinity.
It was a cave that was terrifyingly dark and at the end of it was a rough stone bed that was erected out of the ground, as well as four poles at each of the four corners of the cave with unlit candles on them.
On top of the stone bed was a sky-blue quilt, and laid on top of it was an adolescent male whose eyes were still closed, despite after what seemed like years had passed.
The cave was extremely quiet and one could even hear a water droplet falling from the ceiling and landing on the ground.
| "Wake up… Wake up… It's about damn time that you should wake up!" |
These words were like a calling that echoed through the dark cave, but were actually spoken by a loud and clear voice within the mind of the adolescent male.
As soon as the voice ended, a sharp and swift gale of wind blew past and had lit the four candles on top of the poles.
This brought a faint light within the deep darkness of the cave.
The eyes of the adolescent male slowly opened and before he was able to respond to anything, a deep and hoarse voice was spoken near his side.
["You're finally awake…"]
