Bro, I’m not an Undead!

The period that followed the victory of humanity and the Sif against the Giants had a lot of developments.

Rebuilding, remodelling and reconciliation.

A lot had to be done and thankfully, Aigas supported man to achieve many of the their dreams with long life.

Mana was thick in the air, so thick that it nourished the bodies of man even before they left their mother’s wombs, their physiques bearing stronger traits than those found in the current time.

With this abundant nourishment came long life and great strength, the average life expectancy of even the most tainted man being over 400 years.

The strength that clung to the bones and flesh, built on by the pure mana that traced through the air naturally, was profound.

Better yet, the purest of mana clung to man’s souls, giving them vibrance in thought and spirituality to a incredible degree.

The mana that nested in their souls was much more condensed and refined than that which ran through their bodies and it further enhanced their potential.

With this potential came the bestial nature of man when it came to battle. In this time, when war pervaded, savage was fitting of a word describe it.

It was brutal yet spotted with skill because of the long life that gave opportunity for honing of different raw styles of combat.

These different styles were ultimately decided by which nation one came from.

In Feinheath, there were three nations.

Maqi, the nation hailed to have the purest blood of men, untainted by the fishes and beasts of the jungles.

The strongest and most aggressive of man could be found in this land and their air permeated into all things, making their land the splitting image of its people.

Emeradis was known to have the smartest of man. Ingenuity, craftiness, shrewdness – these were common among the natives of this land and they took pride in it, making of their land what they could with their creativeness and innovation.

Then, there was Pelian.

The history behind this nation was fascinating but riddled with controversy.

Pelian did not exist until after the coming of the Giants.

As all stories involving the human race, Pelian had originally been a vast land that Maqi and Emeradis fought over.

After establishing themselves in their respective corners in the past at roughly around the same time, the lands left behind had been a subject of constant wars.

Numerous battles has been waged with different victors who claimed the land each time, ownership of this space that would get swallowed by Maqi and Emeradis interchangeably over centuries never being settled.

Maqi’s fearsome brute strength and Emeradis’ formidable strategy clashed without producing the ultimate winner for longest time before the coming of Giants.

When the large creatures had finally set foot on Feinheath, the war over this land had reached a pause, no definite inhabitants living in it as a gesture of laying claim, as those that settled there were either the poor or refugees.

The end of the First Grand War brought about a calm to Feinheath after the alliances built, the issue of the vast lands that remained without definite rule being left alone.

At this time, eighty and some millennia before the current time, a certain ambitious man from Emeradis took the chance to lay claim to this land.

A man by the name, Philemen Royan.

He was not gifted in combat and was not the brightest mind of the time, yet, those who wrote about him in the future, described him as a man with strength of will that pushed past the limits of man.

Ambition.

Direction.

He had secured these for a grand move that would leave a legacy that lasted millienia.

He gathered a small group of men and women with potential in various aspects – combat, leadership, technological innovation among others and left the nation of Emeradis to unite all the scattered individuals who dwelled illegally in the unclaimed lands.

He formed a small city that had a population of roughly 200,000 people whom he governed with word and action.

They wanted food? He gave them the means to secure it.

They wanted homes? He taught them how to build.

Each of the men and women he ran away with from Emeradis grew to head the varying facets of daily life that were required to keep the city which was made of vagrants, bandits and the weak into a powerful hold.

Naturally, when this establishment kept growing, Maqi and Emeradis could no longer remain still.

After 10 years, they sent their armies to destroy this new prospering space which they thought was a simple gathering of ambitious thieves, yet to their shock, their armies came back bearing news of defeat!

Against a small city, the might of armies of 500 combatants bearing the power of the steadily growing ranks of power were defeated and with relative ease but few had actually died.

Before the wrath of the two great nations could wash over his city with stronger force, Philemen requested an audience with the ruling parties of said nations, to which he was met with messengers instead, sent to hear his plea.

Philemen requested that the two nations allow him to form a nation of his own. The third human stronghold which would have a different culture, set of values and strength from the pre-existing two.

Another bastion for the race in case another threat from the Giants came.

Philemen was met with scoffs and ridicule as an expected rejection followed his plea, but he was not done yet.

Philemen challenged the two great nations.

He proposed, vowing with his life and soul that if he could produce a 100 Incandescent Stage experts within 10 years, Maqi and Emeradis would leave these lands to him.

If he could not, then he would personally slaughter every single one of the men and women within the walls of his city on top of handing himself to the two nations afterwards.

It was quite the shocking proposition, not to mention preposterous!

Over the 8000 years that the Giants settled on Feinheath and Opungale, the Universal power system had been established.

Mana cores, Classes and Stages.

Stages were known to be the most difficult to progress through and reaching the Incandescent Stage was no trifling matter.

With long life in these days came stringent attention to one’s foundation as a combatant. As such, a Foundation Stage expert of this Era could kill an Advancement Stage expert of the times that came later.

Beyond this, it took more than five years on average for one to scale the Foundation Stage, Tasks from different Deities accounted for, with even more time needed for the Advancement and Master Stages.

Taking ten years to reach the Incandescent Stage, even if one breezed through the Tasks without care for their foundation, was impossible!

All this said, Maqi was the first to agree to this ridiculous proposal but after adding another stipulation, mostly for ridicule.

Provided that these 100 Incandescent Stage experts could be produced, they had to battle 100 Incandescent Stage experts from Maqi and Emeradis in a death match and only by having at least half of them win, could Philemen be considered the new ruler of the vast lands warred over by the respective nations.

Quite the interesting rule.

What would Maqi stand to lose either way, after all?

It was good to entertain such ambition.

The result was an inevitable resounding failure and the show that followed this failure would be entertaining to watch.

​ Emeradis, with their decision followed after, agreeing to this proposal as after noting that this man was from their nation, they promised to punish him brutally for this deed after he eventually butchered his followers.

As such, by Philemen’s request, the deal was sealed with a magical contract that was created by an external party to ensure that none would back out.

Then…

Ten years later…

On the day of enquiry, when 50 Incandescent Stage experts from Maqi and 50 from Emeradis walked into the unnamed vast lands, grins and sneers showing on their faces…

100 Incandescent Stage experts sprung forth from the small city ruled by the seemingly unremarkable man who had started this bet!

…!

Their presence was nothing short of extraordinary and their bodies depicted no weakness, as if they had carefully sculpted themselves over hundreds of years!

Shock was palpable.

Disbelief was abundant.

Gaping mouth holes refused to close at this shocking development.

Philemen had done as he said!

In only 10 years…

Yet still, there was the bout!

There was no way these experts were as strong as those seasoned over hundreds of years!

It couldn’t be!

It was impossible!

Instead of the one on one that had been intended, the ruler of Maqi proposed a match of 100 against 100!

There was no time to waste!

The illusion and trickery borne by Philemen was to be revealed immediately!

The man behind it all did not struggle against the decision but fully agreed, with the match beginning thereafter in a dry plain of no significance.

The experts from Maqi and Emeradis were equipped with the powerful weapons and armours while those from the small city only had subpar equipment and protection.

Yet, to them it mattered not.

When the match began, many expected a brutal blood bath with the weaklings from this small city being trampled by carefully woven might.

Yet…

It was not so…

The battle ended before anyone could see a single sword slice through flesh.

All the 100 Incandescent Stage experts from the small, insignificant city in the wilds roared two words that manifested something that everyone else did not see coming.

Something that was considered terrifying and sacred.

A glimpse of the wrath of the wild!

Majestic Territory!