Old vs New

After Combat Training, Altair had a theology course. This was what he had been looking forward to since Homeroom ended. The Gods and how "They" interacted with Orvonia was a key point of interest for Altair, and likely held its fair share of secrets...

Everyone else had already arrived before them. His conversation with Elizabeth had delayed him slightly, though luckily the teacher had not arrived yet. Taking his seat, Altair couldn't stop himself from shooting a few glances at Nephelae, and so did other students. Her victory has been the most underwhelming, yet also the most showing.

"That petite little girl holds many secrets"

That was the message Nephelae portrayed, though whether that was intention or she was just being herself was unclear. According to Elizabeth, all Fae has a few peculiarities in their personalities.

.....

The sound of the door opening snapped Altair out of his reverie. He looked up to see an old man who looked to be in his sixties hobble in the room. And hobble was indeed correct here, since he held a cane in his left hand and walked with a hunched back. His hair was a clean white that fell just below his nape, while his black eyes were slightly sunken into his skull. The viscosity of life glimmered within them and held an unknown presence, causing Altair to subconsciously sit up straighter in his seat. This old man...was a figure as deep and fathomless as the ocean seas.

"Greetings students, I am Kieran Durnoff and I will be your theology professor for the duration of your year. I hope to get along with all of you, and that you will take something away from my lectures. I look forward to working with you."

Kieran's introduction was simple and softly-spoken, but his words clearly carried across the room. The other students had different reactions to the professors words, with Elizabeth and Ophelia also sitting up straighter, having caught on that this old man was more than he seemed. Alexander and Nezra sat with narrowed eyes, seemingly deep in thought. Nephelae's reaction was surprising: she snapped out of her daydreaming and focused on Kieran for several seconds, before sighing and looking away once again.

But the most extreme reactions came from Gordan and Zeze. The two seemed on the verge of having a panic attack, with their eyes and mouths wide open and their breathing irregular and rough. They stared at Kieran like he was a ghost, their gazes holding a myriad of emotions such as fear, shock and...reverence?

'That's a strange mix' Altair thought to himself. But there was no mistaking it, the two looked at their professor with awe and respect, even if the emotions were accompanied by less favourable ones. Altair pulled his attention back to Mr Durnoff as he examined him from top to bottom. Apart from the subtle chills he felt upon gazing into his eyes, Altair felt no other irregularities. That in itself warranted suspicion of course, since Ms Quadreign and Mr Lindt had projected their own auras.

If this old man had held no aura, then he was skilled enough to conceal it even from Altair's eyes. 'Should I maker use of the Analysis Skill?' he pondered, contemplating the next action to take. The System claimed there was nothing that could not be revealed using it, but Altair was afraid usage of the Skill would be detected. The changes in the Mana flow would be the biggest give-away, though Mr Durnoff's instinct could also be a cause for concern. In the end, Altair's curiosity won over once again, and he discretely activated the Skill.

====================<<♉︎♉︎ >>==========================

Name: Kieran Durnoff

Species: Human (Ascended)

Age: 1,250 years

Level: 99 (Mythic Tier)

Rank: S

Titles: Executioner, Lord of House Durnoff, Fallen Noble, Antiquity, Blade of Fernandez, Reaper of Chavez-Noir, Hand of Le'garde, Moonlit Judicator, Ex-Inquisitor, Magi

Skills: Analysis (S), Sonic Wave (S), Null Zero (S), Ice Storm (S), Anti-Analysis (S), Precognition (A), Acid Flood (A), Geokinesis (A), Lightning Jolt (A), Blink (A), Blender (A), .....

Remarks: Age and power go hand-in-hand. Truly a monster in sheep's clothing!

====================<<♉︎♉︎ >>==========================

Although his instincts had warned him beforehand, seeing this old man's Stats in person caused Altair to recoil in his seat. Such power...even with the numbers before him, Altair struggled to put them into perspective. From what he had gathered, the average Epic had the potential to destroy a city like Fellise, while a Legendary Tier could lay waste to the Academy City if it was left unguarded. So an Mythic Tier like Kieran, one on the verge of a breakthrough, could likely destroy all of Sky Cross, city and campus.

'This old man is likely inferior only to Le'garde, or perhaps the Vice-Principal of Sky Cross, whoever that is. With that power and the reaction of Zeze and Gordan, he must be quite famous in the outside world. And those Titles he has...this old man seems to have been quite an active killer in the past, or perhaps he still is.'

Analysis had revealed that this Kieran Durnoff was once a Noble Magi, whom presumably served the Fernandez Royal Family of the 4th Era. His age would place him as a young man at the time of the Great War, which checked out. His Titles also implied a connection to a Church or religion organization, since he was an "Inquisitor" and a "Judicator". Now he seemed to hold a special position within Sky Cross, since the System called him "the hand of Le'garde".

All this, Altair put together in three seconds. His high Intelligence and Denizen nature allowed him to process and formulate information like a supercomputer, though extended use left him burned out ands groggy. Within those three seconds, Altair straightened back up and looked away from Mr Durnoff, trying to pretend like he hadn't just Analysed him and stolen all his secrets. Yet Altair almost believed his efforts to be fruitless when Mr Durnoff suddenly spun his neck so fast Altair was sure he heard a crack.

His pitch black eyes stared darkly at Altair, who felt like he was out under a microscope. As he sat there powerlessly, he received a notifications from the System as time slowed to the point of nearly freezing.

[{Analysis} is being used on Host. Would Host like to block the scan or alter what appears?]

"Alter my information to make me seem normal" Altair stated hurriedly. With a *Beep!*, the System resumed time. Altair looked at Mr Durnoff anxiously for a few seconds before the old man sighed and looked away. Altair took a deep breath at the sight as he mentally scolded himself for being so careless. Obviously someone as old and experienced as Kieran Durnoff would have measures to detect an Analysis, even an EX Rank one. After all, the System only claimed that "nothing could hide from the Analysis" not "nobody can detect the Analysis".

With that warning tucked away in the back of Altair's head (where it would likely never see the light of day again), Mr Durnoff walked over to the board and began to write the words "Old Gods vs New Gods" in big, scrawling writing. His handwriting was surprisingly sloppy, yet somehow...refined at the same time. It seemed like Kieran Durnoff was so skilled at calligraphy that no matter how badly he wrote something, it would always carry a sliver of beauty anyway.

"For your first semester, you shall be learning about the Gods of our world, and the difference between the Ancient Gods and Modern Gods respectively. Now, since this is a subject about mythology, everything I say must be taken with a grain of salt. Even though the Gods I am about to mention still or did exist, "They" are not exactly keen on sharing "Their" pasts with us mortals. And the job of our poor Scholars are unnecessarily harsh because of this."

"First of all, everyone here knows who the Ancient Gods were, correct?"

Gordan raised his hand and answered after receive permission. "The Ancient Gods refer to any God that was active before the 4th Era, but also refers to the eight Gods of the 2nd Era specifically" he recited calmly. Mr Durnoff nodded his head and wrote new words on the board. "It is as Mr Willow here just said. An Ancient God is any God that existed before the Orthodox Churches came to be. So Gods like Allmer, Abaddon and the Almighty are also Ancient Gods. But as Mr Willow also said, the term also solely refers to the Ancient Gods that governed the Mythical Races in the 2nd Era. Examples include Giant King Aurgelmir, Beast King Sulyvahn or Devil Overlord Mephestos."

"Now, does anyone now what separates these Gods from Modern Gods, apart from "Their" longer ages?"

This time, Zeze was the one to answer. "The Ancient Gods were all born directly or indirectly from the Creator. Some split directly from "His" corpse, while others consumed fragments of "Him" and mutated from it. In both cases, the Ancient Gods skipped the process of Levelling and directly achieved Godhood."

Mr Durnoff nodded and raised another question "And why was this a bad thing for the Ancient Gods?".

"Because the Ancient Gods advanced too quickly and failed to solidify "Their" foundations. "They" lacked humanity and coherence, being driven by pure instinct and the remnant will of the Creator within "Them". In turn for "Their" rapid Ascension, the Ancient Gods were all mad and bizarre. Even the Almighty Primordial, praised for "His" benevolence and being the guiding grace of Humanity in the 3rd Era, was not free from the occasional bout of madness and destruction."

The detailed answer seemed to please Mr Durnoff, as he cast an apprising glance over Zeze and nodded gently to himself. "Miss Solaria has done her research it seems. Yes, the Ancient Gods were all bizarre and terrifying creatures, more like the embodiment of concepts and disasters than actual sentient beings. Even the noble Elves and proud Vampires were nothing more than bloodthirsty savages in the 2nd Era. Over the eons however, the Races have gradually mellowed out and become more...hospitable to Humanity. So if you think the Angels are bad now, you really should have seen them back then!"

His words elicited a slight chuckle from Nezra, Zeze and Gordan. The joke went over Altair's head however, as he mentally reminded himself to read up of Angels after class. Elizabeth and Alexander also seemed to understand the joke, though Ophelia and Nephelae gave no reaction to it.

"Now, a rough timeline of Gods will be covered before this class ends. Nothing strenuous, just simple groundwork. You all know the Original Creator, I'm sure?"

"Well, after "His" split, a war of concepts broke out in Orvonia. All that represented good joined Allmer while all that represented bad served Abaddon. The two sides were mortal enemies and reconciliation was impossible: this was a war on the fundamental level. Both sides literally could not exist with the other, as one side was the antithesis of the other. The conflict lasted the entire 1st Era and ended with the mutual destruction of both camps, and both Gods."

"The 2nd Era began when the surviving members of both sides picked up the pieces. Several new players joined at this stage, either being second generation Gods or having acquired unclaimed fragments of the Creator. In both cases, these new Gods were less affected by the temperament of the Creator and could co-exist somewhat, or at least to the point of avoiding mutual destruction like "Their" predecessors. The 8 Ancient Gods were thus saner but still insane, and waged smaller wars against each other for the next thousand years. Eventually, Vampire Queen Volanna was slain: the first God to die since the end of the 1st Era. This sparked a turning point in the times. until now, the Ancient Gods had a tactic agreement not to kill each other, only "Their" followers."

"With the death of Volanna however, this agreement was broken and all hell broke loose. Mermaid Queen Chrystalarium stuck the next blow and murdered Elf King Syntharae. The war of the 1st Era resumed and all of Orvonia shook from the carnage. It was during this time of strife and division that the Almighty Primordial made "His" appearance as the patron God of Humanity."