The world of the Second Epoch

Now that this is sorted out.

Sitting inside the majestic ancient palace above the spirit world, Klein straightened himself on his chair. He extended his hand and pulled a historical projection of himself when he was a Miracle Invoker.

Now that I have effectively befriended Amanises, I can put matters regarding the Fools uniqueness aside for now... My next main objective should be maintaining my humanity... Right now, I lack anchors, and I can only rely on myself.

But before that I should brief myself on the current world situation. After all, a 'magician' never performs unprepared. 

Klein nodded and then concealed himself within Sefirah castle. His consciousness descended into the historical projection. He then extended his hand bringing out creeping hunger from the historical void. He wore it on his left hand and Klein, now donning the face and identity of Merlin Hermes, grinned to himself. 

He stretched his hands, turned around and looked at the divine chair of Fool. He then leaned back and began to fall, the ancient majestic palace leaving his sight immediately as his body felt the chilling sensation of dropping down. 

In just a moment, he saw the seven lights that preceded over the spirit world, the embodiment of limitless knowledge. Klein closed his eyes and felt countless gazes on him, as if he was being watched from every direction. His smile only widened as he opened his eyes and twisted his body around, the image of the Spirit world entering his eyes.

The thick Greyish white fog that premiated the space, concealing indescribable figures that wandered the unfound, the saturated colors, forming a spectrum that seemed to resemble the seven pure light above. Countless murmurs, almost ravings entered Klein's ears. This was part of the abysmal land ruled by the various mythical races, this was the spirit world of the Second Epoch. The realm of chaos and knowledge.

Klein swiftly landed on his feet like a cat, and began to observe his surroundings. There wasn't much visible difference between the spirit world he was familiar with, and the spirit world he was currently in. Yet, Klein could feel countless beings eyeing him.

Klein laughed and clasped his hands. Looking up, he gazed at the seven lights above. In just a few moments, the orange light began to flicker and descend, landing just beside Klein. It took on a humanoid shape, and now standing in front of Klein was an old plump man in an orange robe. His appearance and demeanor appeared amiable.

The Orange Light Hilarion.

He smiled at Klein and nodded. "Your Excellency, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Orange Light Hilarion."

Why do I feel like this is a reenactment... While inwardly lampooning, Klein responded with a smile, "I am aware." Hilarion's expression didn't flatter as he nodded. He then said in a confused tone, "Your Excellency, I have a question I wish to ask of you."

"State," Klein replied. Hilarion calmly asked, "Your Excellency, It eludes us how your existence only came to be a few hours ago. Not only that, but a Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic of the Seer Pathway disappeared as soon as you manifested. My brothers and I have been very confused regarding this matter and have been meaning to meet you."

Klein's eyes twitched. He contemplated for a moment before saying to Hilarion, "Of course, It will be my honor."

As soon as he finished speaking, different colors of lights arose from the ground, each of them transforming into an old man.

"Your Excellency, Shall I introduce each of us to you?" Hilarion asked politely, to which Klein simply shook his head and replied, "There is no need. I am aware of each and every one of you." Klein smiled and showed his friendliness and gratitude. He then added,

"Let us sit down and have a chat." Suddenly dark red flames arose as various high back chairs appeared. Klein sat down gesturing to the other Seven lights. After they were all settled, Klein looked at them with a smile and said amiably,

"I am aware of the various questions you have and I am willing to answer all of them." The seven lights nodded as Klein continued, "You should be made aware that I am not the previous Lord Of Mysteries—The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth. I am merely a contender for "His" divine throne, and the current owner of Sefirah Castle."

The seven lights nodded in acknowledgement and Hilarion said, "Yes, while we weren't sure of it, we did infer if you were the great ruler of the spirit world or not. We couldn't divine or prophesies it, since that would have resulted in direct failure…

"While we weren't sure if you were 'Him' or not. This possibility was the most optimal... It would explain the sudden appearance of a great existence like Your Excellency in this time." Klein nodded as Orange Light looked at his brothers. They all gave curt nods as Orange light Hilarion continued, "While you may not be the great ruler of the spirit world, you are still the owner of Sefirah Castle, and a contender for 'His' divine throne…" Hilarion paused and then continued, "This fact in itself makes you a great existence. And so in our eyes, you are equivalent to the Great ruler of the spirit world, and Your Excellency!" The seven stood up at the same time, and gave a gentlemanly bow. Klein followed after them indicating his gratefulness.

"We will help you in whatever way we can." Orange light Hilarion smiled at Klein, followed by the other six lights. Klein returned the gesture and stated, "The reason why you were only able to sense my existence a few hours ago, was because I somehow managed to travel back from the 5th epoch to this time, the 2nd epoch." The seven lights' expressions visibly twisted before contracting. Klein didn't bother hiding anything as he considered that whether the seven lights knew he was from the future or not didn't change anything as long as they didn't divulge this secret. 

Yellow light Venithan slowly stated, "While I did expect that time travel should be possible, I didn't think there would come a day where I would witness one..." Klein chuckled a bit as Venithan continued slowly, "Your Excellency, do you think it might be the work of the great ruler?" Klein shook his head in decline. "I have considered all possibilities and it doesn't seem to be the work of the Celestial Worthy, God Almighty, nor the outer deities.

"While I am not sure which existence has enough authority to send me back in time. I am not too keen on knowing about 'Them'... For now…" 

The seven lights nodded in response. Klein leaned back on his chair and continued, "The one sequence 1 characteristic of the seer pathway also disappeared since I currently have the characteristic within myself… In fact I possess two." 

"That means Your Excellency is only a step away from becoming a True Deity!" The red light Aiur Moria exclaimed. Klein smiled, "Yes, but I am not keen on becoming one right now. Probably won't until the apocalypse is nigh." Klein paused and then asked, "Are you all aware of the apocalypse?"

Yellow Light Venithan nodded, "I have already deduced that this world will reach its end when the will of the Original Creator fades to a certain limit. Is that the apocalypse Your Excellency speaks of?" Klein sighed, and said, "1368 of the Fifth Epoch. That will be the day when the world barrier will break open…

"The day when the Greatest Oldest One will enter this land…" Klein paused feeling a little heavy then continued, "I came from 1353 of the Fifth Epoch, so I have yet to witness the apocalypse, not that I am keen on it hehe…"

The Seven Lights nodded and the Blue Light Kuthumi said, "We share the sentiment Your Excellency." Klein looked at him and smiled. "Very well. I need your help, more particularly I seek some information." Orange light Hilarion immediately spoke, "Please speak Your mind!" Klein chuckled at this.

"What's the current situation of the Eastern Continent?" Klein asked, assuming a more serious tone. Orange Light Hilarion replied slowly,

"The eastern continent as you should already be aware of Your Excellency is in a state of complete chaos. It's being overrun by the various races such as the Giants, Demonic Wolves, Sanguines, and so on.

"These races took over this land a few hundred years after the death of our Great Ruler. Since then, most of their kind have been at war with each other, while others such as the demonic wolves have vowed to annihilate all life from this planet leaving only darkness, horror and misfortune.

"They have also enslaved the humans whose ancestors once used to roam these lands under the dictation of The Omnipotent and Omniscient." Klein's eyelids twitched.

God Almighty... "He dictated the humans in the first epoch?" The orange light tilted his head, and slowly spoke, "It was more like, just letting them live in "His" lands. "He" never interacted with them, just observed."

Interesting, it seems weirdly fit for a Visionary like "Him" to observe Humanity… Klein silently took note of the fact. "In current times, Giant King Aurmir, Sanguine ancestor Lilith and Elf King Soniathyrm are on one side fighting against Phoenix Ancestor Gregace, Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt and Mutated King Kvastir.

"Whereas the King of Demonic Wolves, the annihilation king Flegrea and Devil monarch Farbauti just wish to corrupt and destroy everything." Klein nodded in acknowledgement. It's exactly as I remember... That confirms that other than my presence in this era, there are so far no additional anomalies…

"What about the Northern and Southern Continents?" This was something Klein was genuinely curious about. Any information he had on the second epoch stemmed mostly from Amon and the City of Silver's records. He had no idea about the condition of the northern and southern continents during this period.

"The northern continent isn't as chaotic and desolate as the eastern

continent. It is mostly ruled by Human families that are disconnected from the outside world. Hehe, of course it isn't rainbow and sunshine either. Most of humanity are living in small villages, and a majority are fighting against the Mythical Races that have been wanting to infiltrate the northern continent. This mainly includes the Elves.

"As for the Southern Continent, it is probably the safest place in the current world. It is completely inhabited by humans which are safe from the invasion of other races due to the extremely bad weather at the seashore, restraining transportation. The central continent which connects the southern and northern continents is also very dangerous, overrun by unintelligent beyonder creatures. This makes it way too dangerous to traverse through. As for traversing using the spirit world, its exact coordinates are unknown to most. And due to the bad weather and the still very much developing humans, its coordinates are unsettled and change often, preventing most from entering the place."

Klein displayed astonishment. It seems the Southern Continent has always been weird… Doesn't help that it used to be South America at some point. Also the Central continent is here, it was probably destroyed by Salinger during the beginning of 4th epoch or maybe the end of 3rd epoch. Or was it in the Pale Era? Klein thought. He then began to analyze the information.

The Northern and Southern continents haven't been invaded by the Mythical races yet... Considering that some of these Mythical creatures are going to fall in the next 10 or so years, it's safe to assume that it won't happen. It also makes sense why Antiginous and Mother of the Sky fled to the Northern Continent after the death of Flegrea.

The Northern continent should be in a state of disorder, with only a few loosely organized factions that are probably fighting off the Elves on the coast. Could this be the place where Leodero, Aucuses and Ouroboros were born? And later when Aurmir betrayed Lilith and caused "Her", as well as Kvastir and Flegrea to fall, these angels or demigods came together, drove all of the mythical races to extinction and later became King of Angles under the Ancient Sun God.

If that is the case, then I suppose Hermes is probably also from the northern continent... When did Ancient Hermes come to be then? Most likely, after the Mythical races fell so somewhere at the end of the second epoch... What was Hermes doing for the rest of the third and fourth epoch then?

Countless questions flooded Klein's thoughts. He decided to put matters regarding Hermes in the back of his mind. He then looked at Hilarion and asked, "What's the situation of the Abyss?"

"Devil Monarch Farbauti is currently looking for it. Besides that, there isn't much going on in the Abyss." Hilarion paused for a moment and then continued with a heavy tone, "At least on the surface… There seems to be something going on in the deeper parts of it. Forgive us Your Excellency but we are unable to go deeper than that, otherwise we will suffer corruption…" Klein nodded, and then thought,

Farbauti is looking for the abyss. If I recall, Amon mentioned that this ancient God, later known as the Dark Side of the Universe, was the only one bar Lilith, surviving Ancient God… That means "He" fled to the Abyss during the rise of the Ancient Sun God and later changed "His" name. So "He" began searching for the abyss this far back... But wait, how did "He" even get to know of its existence? The Abyss is in the far west whereas "He" should be in the eastern continent…

As if reading his thoughts, Hilarion spoke, "We are not aware of how "He" got to know of its existence. We only know that "He" began to search for its whereabouts a few years ago."

Is that so... Farbauti is the Sequence 0: Abyss. This pathway originally belonged to the Mother Tree of Desire... Could it be that "He" is being subtly influenced? But what's there in the abyss for "Her" to influence someone from "Her" pathway to seek?

At that moment Klein's head snapped, he immediately asked, "How is the situation with Giant Queen Ombella?" Hilarion tilted his head in confusion from the sudden shift in tone. "Nothing to take note of. The Kingdom of silver worships "Her".

"'She' would descend on the kingdom from time to time, sometimes to bestow a good harvest while other times…" Hilarion's voice became distant and hesitant. Seeing his brother troubled, Blue Light Kuthumi continued in his stead, "It's a little complex, Your Excellency please allow me to elaborate,

"When the Goddess of Harvest Ombella descends on the Kingdom of silver, "She" displays two images. One corresponds to light and goodness with 'The Harvest grace, life's precious embrace' as the core of fate, viewing the people of the Kingdom of Silver as "Her" own children, always ensuring bountiful harvest, an abundance of livestock and poultry. This is the main reason why the Kingdom of silver can prosper, and not suffer meaningless slaughter. This is also the reason why this Kingdom is the only successful human one within the Eastern Continent."

Klein bobbed his head up and down in enlightenment. Kuthumi continued, "As for the other image… More often than not, Ombella would descend in a different form than the one I just stated. This form of "Hers" corresponds to Death and Desolation, and brings forth extreme despair in all of the Kingdom of Silver. When Ombella descends in this form, "She" would demand for bloody sacrifices, with large numbers of humans as offerings. Even if the Kingdom of silver obeys to "Her", sacrificing their own family members and friends, they would still sometimes suffer famine, lasting up to a year. If they don't do so, then the famine might last up to 3-5 years."

Klein silently listened. He then sighed and thought, The city of silver always had one problem after another huh... Probably the Ancient Sun God's era was their only true 'peaceful' moment...

I wonder if I can do something for them... Klein then diverted his thoughts to Ombella. "She" has two completely contradictory faces. Ombella should be an angel of the Mother pathway, probably a sequence 1 Naturewalker… Could it be that "She" is being affected by the Mother Goddess of Depravity?! If someone like Farbauti can be affected by the Mother Tree of Desire, who isn't even a pillar, then the Mother Goddess of Depravity, who used to be a one and still has its mark on "Her", could probably better penetrate the barrier and influence creatures from "Her" pathway.

I should pay a visit in a convoluted manner to confirm my theory. Of course, I can't just show up out of nowhere, that would probably lead to my death, and especially not now when the situation is this tense in this place…

Klein noted down this fact and added it in his To-Do list. When the time is right, I will head to the Giant King's Court... Until then I could visit the Kingdom of Silver to better know the situation and also provide some help. Klein looked at Blue Light Kuthumi and asked slowly, "When was the last time Ombella descended on the Kingdom of silver?" 

"Around a year ago." Kuthumi immediately replied, Klein followed with another question. "Is there any set pattern for "Her" descent or is it random?" Kuthumi shook his head, "It's random Your Excellency, but "She" does seem to descend once every 3-5 years. But this could be longer than that or shorter." Klein nodded.

He began thinking of what to ask next. After pondering for many moments, Klein calmly asked, "Do you know anything about Leodero, Aucuses and Herabergen?"

The Seven lights were a bit confused, but soon remembered that Klein was from the future. For him to specifically ask about someone must mean they are special in future! The Red Light Aiur Moria replied, "Leodero and Aucuses are Saints that are fighting off the Elven invasion in the northern continent.

"Herabergen, better known as the Dragon of Wisdom Herabergen, is one of the subsidiary gods under the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt. "He" is a Sequence 1 Angel of the White Tower Pathway. Other than that there is nothing interesting about these three." Red Light Aiur Moria paused, looked at his brothers and then said, "But if you wish Your Excellency then we, the seven lights, will keep a special eye on them and alert you on any development!" Klein chuckled at Seven Light's willingness to serve him. He shook his hands and uttered, "There is no need."

The seven lights simply nodded and smiled. Klein rubbed his chin for a moment and began pondering. I want to ask them about Medici and Ouroboros but I'm pretty sure those are names given by the Ancient Sun God, and I am not aware of what "Their" original names were. Forget it. They are probably in a similar position as others.

Then what else is there… Suddenly Klein remembered something. "How is the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith?"

Orange light Hilarion cleared his throat and replied, "Nothing different than the other gods. "She" commands the entire Sanguine Race and is the Sequence 0: Moon. The only thing 'appropriate' to mention about "Her" would be the interesting fact that one of "Her" Sequence 1 Characteristics appear to be impure which allowed one of "Her" Subsidiary god, Auernia, to retain "Her" status as a Sequence 1 despite Lilith being the Goddess of the Moon pathway.

"There is also the Moon City, which houses both Sanguine and Humans alike. Although Humans are treated as slaves and 'livestocks' by this race..." Hilarion's voice trailed off. He then suddenly asked, "Your Excellency, were you used to being a human once?" Klein nodded in affirmation. "Huh, forgive me, then I should have stated about Humanity's condition long ago...

"Other than what I have already told you about Humans in the Northern and Southern Continents. The Sanguine race treats Humans as low level workers and slaves, and even livestock to quench their thirst. Elves treat humans as mere slaves, albeit providing them sufficient food and rest. Giants on the other hand treat humans as subordinates, providing them food, shelter, and clothes. They do not view them as equals and believe these low level species need to be nurtured. A major part of their military forces encompasses humans, and within the Giant's King Court, they usually work as laborers or servants.

"Of course, due to the Giant's bad temper, it is still dangerous to work for them. But it can be considered the safest place to be in as a human. The other races such as Mutants, Devils and Demonic Wolves do not care about humans at all and kill indiscriminately."

Klein remained silent and analyzed the information, he noticed a particular point of interest being the Giant's temperament against humans. It makes sense when I think about it. Giant King Aurmir should be aware that "His" origins were Human so "He" is naturally not hard towards this species... If only that was the case with the other races. Klein sighed and waved his head. Suddenly something snapped in him as his eyes widened and he thought to himself. 

Did I just... Refer to 'Humans' as 'This species'? Klein audibly sighed and rubbed his temples. That's not good. I am growing detached from humanity. Even if I may not be susceptible to losing control, I can still lose 'myself'.

I should go around and explore these situations myself. Only when I witness the cruelty and harshness of 'mortals' as well as their suffering, would I be able to connect with them, and further strengthen my humanity... Klein came to a decision. He looked at the seven lights and spoke,

"That's all for now." Klein stood up from his seat, the seven lights following after him. He bowed and said with a smile. "Thank you for your answers."

"It was our pleasure. May Your Excellency return to the throne of the great ruler above the spirit world as quickly as possible." The seven responded in unison. This is literally a replay of previous events. These guys haven't changed at all… Klein lampooned as he politely sent the seven lights away.

Klein sighed and stood there for some moments, his head hanging down. Finally, he looked up and began walking in a certain direction.

Wherever fate led him.