Chapter 27 - Lessons

Chapter 27 - Lessons

"S o, Mom, what are we learning today?" I asked, leaning forward with genuine interest, resting my chin in my hands.

Reyna closed her textbook with a gentle, patient smile. "You two have finished basic mathematics, so it's finally time to move on."

I perked up immediately, while Lyra let out a dramatic groan and dropped her head face-first onto the wooden table with a soft thud .

"We'll be studying history today."

"Ugh, history is so boring," Lyra whined, her muffled voice pressing flat against the grain.

I have to say, in a way I did agree with her. I wasn’t necessarily someone who was very interested in history back in my old life, but I did know some important events that happened, like when Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, which was a mole demi-human, and when Hawks Armstrong, an eagle demi-human, landed on the moon. Seven years of living in this new world taught me just how much of a blind person I had been.

“I promise it will not be boring, darling,” Reyna said kindly, spreading a large, old parchment paper right in the middle of the table. “Before we delve into kings and borders, we need to begin from the very start—The Age of Chaos.”

Lyra lifted her head slightly for her gold-colored eyes to peek from behind the wooden table. "The start of what?"

"The age where kings wore no crowns and soldiers wore no uniforms," Reyna said in a gentle tone, immediately turning it into a smooth voice of an experienced storyteller. "The world was one big peaceful utopia. Everything…everything came from the gods."

She traced a finger over a central symbol on the parchment. "They existed as a divine family of clashing temperaments. The God of Nature acted first, shaping the towering mountains, ancient forests, and winding rivers. From her hands came the first Elves. Originally, they were timeless, immortal beings who didn't need to eat, drink, or even breathe."

"Wait," I cut in as I tried to comprehend what she was saying. "Do you mean that they were originally self-sustaining immortals?"

She hummed softly and nodded slowly. "From the records, apparently yes."

"Hmm… but then how did they turn into mortals living for just eight or nine hundred years?"

"Honestly, no one knows," Reyna admitted with a quiet, sympathetic sigh. "That detail comes from one of the oldest surviving elven texts. Even the greatest scholars don't have all the answers, Kyro. It's a miracle we have confirmed records from that era at all."

I nodded, "Okay."

"Then came the Wind God ," she elaborated further in a lively description of the events, "and he gave rise to the wind, weather, and free will that resulted in the magnificent and winged Skyfolk. The Flame God made the dragons and their human-like kin known as Darkons. The Shield God made humans, vulnerable compared to the others, but endowed with an incredible capacity for adaptation and aura power. Lastly came the Demon God and with pure creation brought forth Beastfolk, demons, dwarves, and minotaurs among many more."

She rotated the parchment toward us, indicating an austere, striking symbol at the top.

"The eldest of all of them was the Lightning God . For many ages, he sat back and observed in silence. But then a dark spark arose within him—he felt envy. He wanted to have ultimate power and control, and he wanted people to worship him. Seeing this, the Blade God came down as well—not to build but to teach people the killing arts."

Just like Dad told us.

"The younger gods were horrified," Reyna’s tone grew heavy, tinged with ancient sorrow. "Their elder brothers had introduced widespread violence and blood into their peaceful creation. A divine war exploded between the siblings, lasting a full thousand years. The clashes shattered whole landmasses and boiled the oceans away. And the immense, volatile energy released during that apocalyptic war..." She paused, her green eyes locking onto ours. "...is what we call mana today."

Wide eyes, my mind grasped a cold realization.

"L-like divine fallout...?" I said breathlessly, with goosebumps on my arm hairs.

Damnit, that’s deep.

"The ground and its people had permanently consumed the mana," she murmured. "And in the end, only the Lightning and Blade gods retained any activity while all others withdrew. Humans made religions and civilizations out of them."

"D-did they die?" Lyra asked, her voice quiet, wide-eyed with genuine worry.

I found myself nodding along. I wanted to know too.

"No, sweetie, they didn't," Reyna reassured her with a gentle gaze. "They withdrew. Essentially, they are still free to fulfill their own divine desires, but now they operate under the elder brothers."

"Oh..." Lyra and I said in unison, letting out a breath we hadn't realized we were holding.

"Which brings us to another recorded history," Reyna said, smoothing a large, detailed world map directly over the divine chart. "Twelve hundred years ago, long after the gods faded into myth, the Demon Emperor Argoth attempted to conquer the entire world."

"Twelve centuries?" I questioned. "That's very long."

"That is correct. Argoth was a total behemoth with an enormous mana pool," replied Reyna, her expression growing serious. "Argoth was the very first recorded mortal to be able to master Wordless Casting, giving him the power to destroy entire armies within a few seconds without needing to say a single spell. It took the efforts of four Calamity Forces to kill him in a merciless four-against-one battle. The other three Calamity Forces did not even take part in that battle since their territories were not being attacked."

Calamity Forces? Who knows what the heck those are?

"That is to say, Argoth was sealed away by a famous hero called Alastera Goodman, the Sword God of that age."

"So what are these Calamity Forces, Mama?" Lyra tilted her head curiously and inquisitively asked.

"In just a bit, I'll tell you, honey," Reyna beamed at her daughter. "Anyhow, about six centuries back, Argoth shattered himself out of his seal and war rekindled all across the world. Argoth attacked the Demon Emperor of that time, Drakath. Faced with an overwhelming attack, Drakath went out to seek the assistance of all the great kingdoms, even the ones on the Light Continent."

"And, in the end, they managed to Seal him again, thanks to Emperor Drakath's sacrifice."

"That's odd," I muttered, crossing my arms. "Can't they just... I don't know... kill him? I mean, if this Argoth guy is the most threatening thing in the entire world, why just seal him?"

"He is simply that powerful, honey," Reyna said softly, a heavy silence falling over the table.

"...Jeez." I looked down at the map, humbled and slightly unsettled.

"Today, the current Demon Emperor, Dramon, has his royal throne positioned directly above Argoth's seal," Reyna added. "It is the most heavily fortified, guarded region on the Demon Continent, located at the heart of the Kingdom of Polis."

"Hah! Once I get older, I'm gonna be the one to slay Argoth for good!" Lyra declared, throwing her fist into the air with a booming laugh.

"I am sure you will, you brave girl," said Reyna with fondness in her voice. "Anyways, here is your answer. The Calamity Forces can be referred to as the absolute strongest individuals in an era. These people have such physical or magical powers that they alter the balance of the world. They carry that name because they are living calamities, and there are only eight of them in this era."

"Second, the Arch-Paladin of the Holy Church, Hal Matino."

"Third, Saira, the First-Class Sword God."

Sword God..? Oh, so Dad's with them.

"And fourth, Thorskil... the Second-Class Sword God."

I chuckled; I called it.

My mild-mannered gardener father with the sweet tooth who sometimes embarrasses me was included in the ranks of the nine most dangerous beings that existed in all of the world. I made an attempt to overlay his image with that of a world-altering giant, but my brain refused to cooperate with such a notion.

Whoa, hold on, Dad never told us anything about this...? He just said he's a Sword God. How did I not realize it was ranked as well?

"Wow, this is actually cool," I interrupted, bending over the table. "Do the Sword Gods have a hierarchical system?"

"Well, yes, but this is a new concept," Reyna said, grinning. "Just like Sword Saints, who had High Sword Saints and Mid Sword Saints. Until recently, only these two titles had such ranking systems, but Sword Gods have got them now."

Reyna put her chin on her palm. "You see, in almost every other era, there was only one Sword God. The exception to the rule was your dad. Back in decades, there was no official Sword God besides Saira; he wasn't even officially declared as such because he got the power without taking a trial for it. But the Holy Church found out that Thorskil had the Sword God Authority, and he became the second Sword God. Thus, he was officially named so and placed at Second-Class."

"Woah...! Papa is just awesome!" Lyra's eyes shone with pure ecstasy and pride.

"Yes, you have a truly amazing father," she smiled back, a look of deep, warm love shining in her eyes. "Now, moving on to the other Calamity Forces, which include the Demon Emperor, Dramon; the Beast Emperor, Keltre; Zombra, the Wizard God; and lastly, Kobalt, Darkon King."

"Mom, what about the Wizard God? How does magic rank compare with the martial ranks?" I questioned, curious as always.

Reyna's gaze turned to me. "There are specific structures in magic. The base of this structure is divided into four levels, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert. Ninety-nine percent of all mages from all over the world have reached their peak with the rank of Expert."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, her expression turning deadly serious. "Beyond standard human limits lie the extremely dangerous ones. Those are Wizard Saint, Wizard King, Wizard Emperor, and the peak among them is the Wizard God. In the Kingdom of Template, our Royal Army has countless advanced mages, a hundred Wizard Saints, some twenty Wizard Kings in all of the kingdom, and two to three Wizard Emperors. But a Wizard God? Only one per generation. This is Zombra, because his mana capacity is horrifying; he splits entire mountain ranges using the Wizard God spell without even being tired."

"WOAAAH!" Lyra beamed, bouncing in her chair so hard the whole heavy oak table rattled. "I take it back! History is the coolest thing EVER! I'm gonna be a Calamity Force too!"

"Maybe one day, sweetie," Reyna chuckled softly, reaching out to stroke her hair.

I caught the triumphant smirk tugging at the corner of Mom's lips. It was subtle, but I saw it.

Clever. She has purposely designed this entire lesson, from the beginning of God's creation, to ancient war to global fame, just to engage Lyra's wild imagination.

"Now that you understand where magic and power come from," Reyna said, drawing our attention back to the geography, "let's look at where we actually live. Our world is divided into two continents: the Light Continent and the Demon Continent..."

She pointed a gentle finger to a tiny black dot near the southern border. "We live in the village of Ytval, within the Kingdom of Template. And right below us, across the sea, lies the Kingdom of Zintar—which happens to be Mommy's original home—"

"EVERYONE! I BAKED CARROT CAKE!" exclaimed Dad in his booming voice full of cheerfulness from downstairs in the kitchen. "WHO WANTS SOME?! "

Lyra and I halted breathing, our eyes meeting in perfect synchronization.

"Carrot cake by Dad?!" We yelled excitedly.

We shoved our chairs aside making a screeching sound and dashed towards the door.

"Hey! We still have class!" shouted after us Reyna trying but failing to sound stern.

"Well we do not!" Lyra giggled with sheer happiness running down the wooden staircase two steps at once.

"Sorry, Mom!" I apologized running behind Lyra.

Reyna leaned against the doorframe of the hallway holding her hands crossed on her chest. She smiled helplessly as she saw her two unruly children running down the stairs.

"History can wait," she said to herself shaking her head and smiling affectionately. "But carrot cake cannot."

And so, she joined them at the dining table.

[End]