"Those who place their faith in the gods shall surely receive salvation after death!" — This was, in essence, the foundational tenet inscribed into the doctrines of every deity.
And precisely because of this, the worship of the gods had spread across the entirety of the Divine World, giving rise to countless fanatics who would willingly sacrifice their lives for their faith at any moment.
Any research related to the soul was absolutely forbidden here, regarded as a desecration of both the dead and the gods.
"Placing your hopes upon someone else — what a foolish thing to do!"
Leilin sighed, though he had no intention of forcing change. He understood all too well how difficult it would be to overturn notions that had been ingrained over hundreds of thousands of years.
And it was precisely because of this that his mentor
"If... one day in the future, your name is inscribed within the Temple of Knowledge, and my name appears in the biographical entry beneath it — then I will have no regrets..."
Anthony voiced his hope.
Within the Temple of Knowledge, there was a dedicated Wall of Honor, inscribed with the names of those who had made great contributions to the spread of wisdom. It was regarded as the highest honor a scholar on the entire continent could achieve.
Anthony's hope was that when people beheld Leilin's glory, they would discover his name in the accompanying biography — appearing as Leilin's first mentor.
"I'll do my best, Teacher!" Leilin felt somewhat exasperated deep down but offered a vague promise.
"Excellent! Let us begin today's lesson! Turn your textbook to..."
Upon hearing Leilin's verbal agreement, Anthony's entire face was suffused with a radiant light, as though someone had poured oil upon a flame, causing his dwindling life force to blaze with a fervent vitality once more.
Leilin opened to the indicated page, and an ancient map appeared before him. Its lines had been rendered almost illegible by the countless fingers that had traced over them.
Black charcoal lines outlined the shape of a fractured continent, surrounded by numerous small islands scattered like stars.
At the edges of the ocean lay vast stretches of darkness, marked with symbols denoting the unknown and the perilous.
"The history of our Material Plane is a history of great discoveries. From the Year of the Redbud, when written records first began, to the present day — through the great geographical discoveries, the continent has expanded hundreds of times over, taking on the shape you see before you..."
Anthony spoke slowly: "And the rise and fall of countless kingdoms brought even more changes to this continent. You can see the shifting of those borders on the next page... Now, I need you to find our current location on the map!"
"This..."
Leilin looked helplessly at his mentor Anthony, whose expression carried a faint hint of mischief, and silently rolled his eyes.
"Our Faolan territory is located in the waters of the Danbures Kingdom, in the southeastern part of the continent — a new territory claimed by the kingdom during the Third Age of Maritime Discovery..."
Leilin's finger pointed to a corner in the southeastern portion of the map, where the faint characters for "Danbures" could barely be discerned.
"But... compared to the entire continent, Danbures is like a single sesame seed, and our Faolan territory doesn't even register as a speck — so it isn't marked at all. Unless you have a far more detailed map of the kingdom..."
Due to the scale of the map, the entire Danbures Kingdom was a mere drop in the ocean.
Though Leilin said this aloud, his eyes held a faint glimmer of excitement and passion.
The entire Divine World was vast beyond measure. There were even kingdoms established by beastkin and elves. It also possessed an underground structure similar to that of the
Across the continent, hundreds of kingdoms, duchies, and the like stood in rows, with villages and settlements springing up endlessly.
Humans, beastkin, elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, gnolls, the undead — every manner of race, along with gods from different divine hierarchies, played out countless immortal legends upon this continent!
There were passionate adventures, secretive conspiracies, and wars and peace between different races, different civilizations, and even different divine hierarchies!
Creatures from every plane — whether devils and demons or other beings entirely — watched this place with greedy eyes, eager to claim a share right under the gods' noses.
"This is where legends begin..."
Leilin felt a fire kindling in his heart. He could barely contain his eagerness to set out traveling and adventuring across the continent.
Of course, this desire was immediately suppressed by the cautious nature inherent in his personality.
With his current strength as a fifth-level Wizard, he might be considered an elite among adventuring parties on the dangerous continent — but there were still far too many beings capable of taking his life.
"Very well! Let us look at the Lionheart Kingdom at the center of the map. In the year 37,628 of the Divine Calendar — thirty years ago — King Charles of Lionheart..."
Anthony began his lecture, and Leilin listened with a serious expression.
But secretly, his thoughts continued to drift.
"The Divine Calendar! It was the calendar established by the gods. Though it was nominally dated from the birth of the gods, in truth, Year One of the Divine Calendar was simply the first year after the conclusion of the Ancient Final War!"
This dark history of the gods naturally would not be found in any history book. Leilin had pieced it together through his own research, accidental slips from
"The Ancient Final War had nearly shattered the entire Divine World. The continent itself had broken into several pieces, and the civilization of the Material Plane was destroyed in an instant, plunging into the darkest of ages. A multitude of gods fell, while the lucky few who obtained the divine nature and godhood of the fallen rose rapidly, igniting divine fire to become new gods —
Leilin's eyes gleamed: "So among the current gods, aside from the division into divine hierarchies, there is also the division between Old Gods and New Gods — and the Old Gods are certainly far more powerful on average than the New Gods..."
Clearly, if the legendary powerhouses of the Material Plane wished to slay a god and seize divine nature, the New Gods were the best targets. The same was true for Leilin.
"Also, in the Divine World, has it been over thirty-seven thousand years since the Ancient Final War?"
Leilin stroked his chin: "It seems the flow of time in the Divine World differs somewhat from that of the Wizard World..."
Once the lesson ended and Teacher Anthony had been seen off, Leilin returned to his room.
"Young Master! Young Master! You've received a letter from Miss
At that moment, Claire came jogging over, a pink letter held aloft in her hand. Her chest heaved from the exertion, and a slight blush along with beads of sweat colored her young face.
"You've worked hard!" Leilin gently brushed Claire's small hand, causing the maid to flee with a blush.
"Heh heh..." Satisfied with his successful prank, Leilin smiled contentedly and settled back into his reclining chair, beginning to open the pink letter.
"To my dear cousin Leilin Faolan: Dear Leilin, how are you? Do you still need your diapers and pacifier changed? It's been five years since I left Faolan Island, but I still can't stand the gloom and dampness of this city — especially the moss on the ground, which has practically grown all the way into my room..."
On the letter paper was the distinctly childish handwriting of a young girl — initially full of teasing, but gradually shifting to longing and complaints.
"Five years already?"
Leilin sighed, recalling the time he had spent with Isabel. Though she had loved to bully him, her protectiveness had been unmistakable.
But she had her own family, and in the end, they had come to take Isabel away when Leilin was eight years old.
When she left, Isabel had cried until she was a tearful mess. Leilin still remembered the feeling of her gripping his hand tightly.
"...According to Father's arrangements, I will be entering the Church of the
"Becoming a priest?"
Leilin nodded. In those noble families, besides the eldest son who would necessarily inherit the title, the other children received only a pittance — or nothing at all — before being sent away.
The younger sons who were educated went into management, becoming stewards for other nobles. The others became knights or entered the church.
As for the daughters, they bore the heavy responsibility of arranged marriages with other families. Old husband and young wife, or old wife and young husband — such pairings were perfectly commonplace.
For Isabel, being sent to study as a priest meant that even if she still had to marry later, she would possess her own power and the backing of a temple. That was quite a good outcome.
It was just that... thinking of how his somewhat fierce childhood cousin would have to put on a compassionate, merciful demeanor, endlessly invoking the names of the gods — Leilin couldn't help but want to laugh.
After finishing the letter, Leilin made his way to the side of his house.
There, there was a small alchemy laboratory, its metal-surfaced worktable covered in numerous precious glass instruments.
Just purchasing these items alone had significantly reduced the Faolan Family's trade profits for several months.
And Leilin's expenses were only the smaller portion — the real bulk of the spending was at his mentor Ernest's place.
This terrifying level of consumption made Leilin fully understand why the majority of wizards came from noble families.
Aside from the lucky few, only the nobles could afford such horrifying quantities of spellcasting materials and experimental expenses.