Chapter 24

“Dark… magic?”

“You don’t know about it…? You don’t either?”

“It’s not written in Felink’s books, at least.”

“What even is dark magic?”

“It isn’t written in history books, just to be clear, so everything I’m saying is speculation, but rumors state that back then, there was just one race-”

“Just get to the point already.”

“Ho- Hold on, I want to hear the full story,” I said, curious about this world’s lore. Elerina decided to not take any sides, making it a 2-1 in favor of the full tale, as Memorus too wanted to tell the entire thing.

“Fine…” Angen groaned after losing the vote.

“Ehem… Anyway, the north used to be a prosperous area, with loads of underground natural resources like gold and silver. It’s a large empire with goals of tackling the entire continent…”

•••

The Marling Empire was such an influential force that every single soul living on this continent at the time knew about it. Its name brought fear into the hearts of the people, and thanks to their brutality, many would surrender even before they fought. The empire’s resources were utilized fully to support its expansion, but of course, many despised them. Rebellion was common during that time. The empire, despite its massive size, found itself struggling at times.

As the war continued, their mages looked for a way to boost their powers even further. This pushed them to experiment with an uncommon form of magic, dark magic. It was said that nothing much was known about it. It existed even before the empire existed. Even the higher-ups of that time, who were very ambitious, steered away from dark magic.

But someone promised them great rewards. With the promise, the mages studied dark magic. What they discovered first was its ability to record space. It could read into a place’s history and recreate drawings from that time… which is, frankly, a weird ability. It wasn’t clear what use of such an ability would have. It is certainly useful for recording experiments, but some of the nobles weren’t too happy with it. If they did bad things, such magic would prove their guilt.

For a time, there was a push to make sure the study didn't progress. Had those people knew what would come out of it, they would probably stop the research. However, the mages pushed through.

Eventually, they came to a breakthrough. They managed to find another ability of dark magic that to the militaristic empire is much more useful than being able to record stuff. That’s the ability to control the minds of their victims. Once unleashed, the victims were fully under the control of the wielder. In a way, it was a much better alternative to killing their enemies. Instead of wasting their bodies, the victims could be used as meat shields to protect the more loyal soldiers.

But there was a mistake. Something bad happened. The magic began spreading rapidly, first from the empire’s capital, then to the outskirts, then the controlled territories. Many looked at this as a chance to free themselves from the empire. They would fight anyone trying to escape the empire’s central region. What they failed to realize was that the magic wouldn’t stop.

At the end, around a third of the continent was consumed before people finally banded together. Using nature-magic, they fought off the expanding dark magic and managed to restore a part of the lands affected by it. Not everyone that survived escaped unchanged.

Based on the region, there were physical changes to the people. The ones unaffected stayed humans, while the rest had their bodies transformed. Some gained better ability to swim underwater, while others had their ear shapes and positions changed. They would form the first tribes of the other races of today.

What precisely happened no one knew for sure, as they hadn’t been able to recover the records from that time. Considering the dark magic’s effect on the environment, exploring the capital of Marling was considered way too dangerous. No one that went that far returned. The stories we humans knew were passed down between generations, so there’s a chance there’s some mistakes in them.

Some said that, until today, the effects of dark magic still lingered in the fallen empire.

•••

“That’s what I knew, at least.” Memorus ended his story. It was a familiar story of greed and thirst for power. That said, there were some similarities with the magic we were facing now.

“The capabilities to control minds… isn’t that similar to how demon magic worked?”

Instead of controlling humans, demonic magic controlled monsters instead. There were some similarities between them, like how demonic magic caused the monsters to rampage, becoming stronger than they usually were.

“You have a point… Wait, so does this mean someone reactivated dark magic?”

“Might be… but… how?”

There were no reports of anyone ever returning from that region alive, but records of people departing there do exist. Why didn’t this happen earlier, then? Enough time had passed to make the empire felt like some distant memory. Were there simply a gap in departures?

“Not just how, but this also meant this person could control it.”

What differed this person from others in the past who also tried to control dark magic? Why was this one able to utilize it, and what are their goals? If their goal is to control the southern continent, then it’s working, albeit in a weird way. The point of dark magic is to control its victims, and let them be used by the master however they want.

But, so far, the monsters had been killing anyone they came across. What’s the point of power if there’s no one to rule over?

“Maybe the demonic magic is different from dark magic? Like a weakened version of it?”

“That might be possible, since a lot of time had passed since it first appeared.”

“Even the current version of magic are different from their originals, right?”

“In what way?”

“Some of the elves said that back then, nature-based magic wasn't an elven specialty.”

“Well, since back then races didn't exist, specific elements aren’t related to your race. It’s based on the region you were born in. But, after the collapse, people are forced to move. People tend to stay with their families and friends, and these groups choose specific spots away from other groups.”

After what transpired, people would be wary of each other, so it’s not surprising that they decided to choose an isolationist way of leaving.

“Eventually, people start connecting again. By then, we’re already different… is that so?”

“Yes, precisely. People that happened to live in the forest were the ones with tongues suitable for utilizing nature-based magic… or maybe, it’s the other way around. People that could use nature-based magic chose the forests.”

And that's how the world of today was formed. That balance was once again under threat by the demonic forces. Unlike back then, however, people banded together. As a result, they had better chances of defeating demonic magic.

“You know… I couldn’t really stand your long winded stories. What do humans find in them that is so interesting?”

“A felink with a short attention span like you wouldn’t understand.”

“You!”

Well… maybe they’re not fully united… but better than nothing, I guess?