Prologue
A thousand years ago, in the year 103 B.-H, the physical world was ravaged by a bloody and chaotic war opposing two factions; the Segon Theocracy, a powerful state extending over the Eastern Lands, populated by highly religious people that firmly believe in human supremacy and the Narean Union, a large alliance formed by the nations of the Southern Lands, including humans but also several other races such as the Rakshasa, Dryads, Elves and Giants.
Some races, fewer in number and fearing the repercussions of such a war, decided to stay out of the conflict like the Vampires, the Nagas, and the Dragonoids.
However, this did not prevent the Segon Theocracy from wanting to enslave them, their doctrine revolving around four warrior deities that promoted human supremacy, opposing completely the philosophy of the Western and Southern Lands inhabitants who wanted to live in harmony with all the existing creatures and life forms.
The unleashing of violence that resulted from the clash between the forces of both sides made far more losses than anything else, ravaging the wild lands of the West; the territory of many tribes and primitive groupings being invaded and their inhabitants enslaved, sent to the frontlines or reduced to playthings for the soldiers.
This type of traffic has experienced a rapid and significant expansion, affecting especially the Elves that were the main victims of sex trafficking, a phenomenon that had almost forced them to withdraw from the conflict for fear of completely losing their freedom.
Nonetheless, it wasn't the only element that drove the Segon Theocracy to subjugate them; the Elves were excellent sorcerers. Indeed, in this world, the manipulation of life energy, or aura, was called "Sorcery" and allows those who possess this talent to perform miracles, although it had certain limitations. The people of the Southern Forests were full of vitality and counted among their ranks many sorcerers: having them on his side was a crucial asset, but the way they were exploited accelerated their decline, leading them to the brink of extinction...
A hundred years had passed since the beginning of the war, yet neither faction imagined the end.
It was a time of pure agony as much for the different races as for nature itself. Sorcerers collisions etched eternal scars on the land and army clashes uprooted entire forests and destroyed ecosystems; the diseases were appearing on each side, weakening the troops of both camps.
In the year 3 B.-H, the army of the Segon Theocracy forced Svetheim's borders, the Elven Kingdom, guided by the mighty general Elijah Nemaan Shaviv, a terrifying individual who coupled the power of sorcery to the pure force of warriors. He crushed the fragile defense that awaited him and advanced his troops deeper into the unknown area, taking the bait of the Elves. The assassination and counterterrorism unit, an elite division of the Royal Elven Army, also known as the "Dead Leaf Unit", caused enormous losses to the human enemies who ventured into their territory, forcing Elijah to retreat and wait for reinforcements.
The Elven show of strength bought enough time for the Narean Union's reinforcements to arrive, Svetheim being a bridge between the Western and Southern Lands made it a strategic position: if the Theocracy managed to invade the Kingdom, the war would be over.
The Narean troops, commanded by the Rakshasa-General Shasukyu Ruru, arrived at the same time as those of the Theocracy, resulting in a devastating battle that ravaged the Elven domain. However, the sorcerers of Segon had brought with them a strange and large object, a giant sphere which seemed to be the prototype of a weapon of war. They devoted themselves to activate it in withdrawal, abandoning the allied soldiers in the middle of the confrontation. Without the sorcerers support, the warriors of Segon found themselves overwhelmed by the disasters rained down by the Elven sorcery units, forcing them to retreat again.
However, as the Narean army was preparing to deliver the coup de grace, a wave of death fell on the fighters in the middle of the battlefield. Troops from both sides began to collapse, forming a vast river of corpses all along the desolate landscape. The sorcerers of Segon managed to activate the weapon, but with a heavy price: all the life energy within a thousand meters radius was absorbed, resulting in a loss of one hundred and seventy thousand lives. These sacrifices were needed for the mysterious sphere to react, generating a tumultuous noise that was audible hundreds of kilometers away.
The Theocracy's sorcerers had just changed the very fabric of the physical realm, disrupting the fragile balance maintained with the spiritual world to open multiple loopholes between the two realities all around the world:
Spirits of various shapes and sizes emerged from these portals, visible only by those endowed with the gift of sorcery. They infested each zone, deserted or inhabited, adapting where they went and affecting the living beings that were there.
It was the beginning of a new era.
The spiritual and physical realms began to merge and the inhabitants of the invisible world brought with them a drastic change for the residents of the visible world. Indeed, these immaterial beings all had something in common: they fed on the aura of living beings.
Thus, they preferred places where there were large concentrations of creatures, feasting on their life energy, however not enough to physically affect them.
In addition, they passed through the physical attacks and absorbed the spells that the sorcerers threw at them because in the end it was only transformed life energy. Everyone came to the conclusion that it was impossible to hunt or touch them.
In the year 1 B.-H, the war is still not over but it has lost intensity. Each camp was obsessed by the spiritual beings and tried to study them for future military use. Through these studies, three discoveries have been made:
The first one is that these spirits are able to evolve. Indeed, each living creature generates a life energy different as much in quality as in volume, but also in nature, being modeled by its mental and physical state as well as its place of maturation. The spirits, by feeding on this aura, react and change slowly in appearance. To take one example, some spirits that chose overpopulated areas as a territory, including capital cities where corruption prevails, had gained a repulsive and morbid appearance in response to the type of life energy they consumed.
The second discovery is a new type of energy. It has been proved that by absorbing a sufficient amount of aura, spirits, in turn, generate an energy that is specific to them: spiritual energy. Its nature differs, depending on the type of aura they have consumed even though most of them have a preference for a certain type of life energy. For the living creatures, life energy has been classified into several types which themselves diversify into different subtypes. Generally, it is possible to deduce the nature of someone's aura simply by analyzing his personality:
Passionate, ambitious and determined individuals have a life energy of 「Fire」nature.
Erudite, wise and mentally balanced individuals have a life energy of 「Water」nature.
Reliable, strong and mentally stable individuals have a life energy of 「Nature」nature.
Dreamy, emotional and creative individuals have a life energy of 「Air」nature.
Pious, calm and charismatic individuals have a life energy of 「Sacred」nature.
Unstable, unpredictable and strange individuals have a life energy of 「Chaos」nature.
In addition, the spirits were also classified according to the type of aura they preferred to feast on, we can find:
The 「Elioria」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of「Fire」nature.
The 「Aeria」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of 「Air」nature.
The 「Chtonia」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of 「Nature」nature.
The「Hydraia」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of 「Water」nature.
The「Enalia」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of 「Sacred」nature.
The「Misophaes」, spirits who prefer to feed on the life energy of 「Chaos」nature.
The third and most interesting discovery was noted by Yaffa Illan, a female sorcerer of the Segon Theocracy. According to her observations, spirits are able to establish certain links with the living creatures who possess a life energy that they love eating despite the non-existence of means of communication. Indeed, she has received several reports according to which sorcerers and warriors of the Theocracy's army felt something "entering their body" a few days before an exponential gain of power. After weeks of studying them, she came to a conclusion:
The Spirits can merge with a living being against their will if they particularly appreciate the life energy they produce, however, a symbiotic relationship develops automatically between the two forms of life, forming a pact. In exchange for a certain amount of life energy, the spirit in question delivers to its host an equal amount of spiritual energy that is much more powerful and offers a wider range of abilities.
They made it.. They had found a utility to those spiritual beings who would serve to wage countless wars against other creatures. Each one of them is unique and therefore one host will never have the same power as another.
This news sounded like an alarm in the ears of both sides, who, starting a race against time, began to seek these spirits hosts to add them to their ranks.
Year 0 B.-H, the Narean Union and the Segon Theocracy have numerous units composed solely of these hosts and are preparing for the final battle; each faction was determined to end this war, and the two massive armies had been mobilized before what is now known as the "Valley of Heroes" in the Thuria Kingdom, located in the Western Lands.
Five hundred thousand soldiers were present on the side of the Nareans, against four hundred thousand for the Segon Theocracy. However, the latter had twice as many spirit hosts as the Union, making their forces nearly equal.
The sound of the war-horn reasoned through the valley, and the troops on both sides began their raid, ready to give everything for their nation.
That's when they arrived. The four heroes of the legend, hosts of powerful spirits. Their descent from the skies seemed like a thunderclap, the impact of which made the troops lose their equilibrium during the assault, freezing them on the spot. And then, they looked at the four individuals whose bodies were shining because of the massive spiritual energy flowing in them:
Vysrin Glyph Melford El Nyx, Great Emperor of Nosogov, a powerful human empire of the West that remained neutral during the Hundred Years War.
He was accompanied by Hest Karr, Sovereign Vampire of the Bloodhold Kingdom, and Rasuryus Spevia Ai Illdarun, Naga King of the Saramance Kingdom as well as Deiopheia Terpischora, Dryad Queen and Protectress of Brune.
These mythical figures made a show of strength that engraved fear in the heart of the Theocracy's soldiers, slaughtering every warrior on their way. The response of the enemy spirit hosts was fierce but brief because the Narean army joined the confrontation to sweep away what was left of their military strength.
Inscribed in the legend, this battle will be known as the Advent of Heroes, in honor of the four individuals who played a crucial role in ending the Hundred Years War.
Ten years later, in the year 10 A.-H, the Segon Theocracy fell at the hands of the Narean forces and its leaders were executed. The practice of their religion was forbidden in every existing nation and the Union drove the surviving people that were affiliated to this cult to the Wastelands in the East, prohibiting their return. By breaking up, the Theocracy freed the nations that were oppressed under her reign, including the Nijene, Pithis, Dallicia, Kalwar and Bormana Kingdoms to the East that will later form the Cronus Alliance and the Oryth, Pinecoast and Norhollow Kingdoms that the four heroes will unify to form the Pelairith Empire, serving as a symbol of peace, and diversity where every race and culture is the welcome.
The four sovereigns of Nosogov, Bloodhold, Saramance, and Brune gave up their names and titles as well as their kingdoms and domains, renaming themselves respectively Amodeo, Maimon, Egion, and Ziminar.
They formed the Imperial Council of Pelairith, recruited seventy-two spirit hosts that they judged able to govern the newly formed empire at their sides and then offered titles of nobility to them as well as the rank of "Imperial Hosts".
We are in the year 800 A.-H, the Imperial Council is formed of the same legendary heroes who seem as unmovable as ever, while the seventy-two Imperial Hosts are in their twenty-fifth generation.
The physical realm has evolved in a strange way and the four world powers are threatening to crumble, while whispers of the return of the Segon Cult are spreading everywhere, bathing the living creatures in the fear of a new war...