3: Divide

Ether was a place unlike any other, mostly because it was the only place in the world that was safe for humans presumably. Even with the safety, there was a certain issue that plagued humans.

Divide.

Humans had started to become divided. In the middle of Ether, where it was most prosperous, nobility and royalty of old formed several factions, the rich succeeded in life while the poor were forced to commit crimes for a living.

…

Inside Ether, Inner City.

Inner City was the most prosperous, where the majority of the nobility and royalty resided. Other cities around Inner City are referred to as the 'Middle Cities', and those even further beyond are referred to as the 'Outer Cities'.

Within Inner City, on that day…

A family was in a carriage, horses pulling the carriage with the clipping of their hooves. The stone pavement was smooth, and the boy in the carriage stared out of the carriage, uninterested.

"Don't look outside." His father snapped.

The boy turned to face forward, at his father. His father was a stern man with greying short hair and countless wrinkles. His eyes were dark and showed a type of wisdom. The boy resembled his father to an extent, having a similarly stern expression by default. His mother was not in the carriage with them.

"You don't want anyone making eye contact with you." His father said, drawing the curtains of the carriage.

"Why?" His son asked, confused.

The boy was only around 12 to 13 years old and did not yet know why there was a divide in the country. His father sighed and shook his head, saying, "You'll understand soon enough."

The son leaned back in his seat. They were a family of minor nobility. Not exactly rich enough to rule a large plot of land, but definitely rich enough to live life luxuriously. The son was dressed in the renowned uniform of the school, Ether School. The only school in Inner City befitting the status of nobles and royalty.

It was the first day of school, and he was rather nervous about meeting other nobles. He glanced at his father, who was sitting straight, arms crossed.

"Will mother be home tonight?" He asked nervously, a hint of hope in his voice.

"No." His father replied, his tone final. "You're mother left the family a long time ago."

"But… it's my birthday today…" The boy muttered.

His father's gaze dropped slightly before he told his son, "I will see what I can do."

The carriage came to a stop.

The door swung open, their family's maid gesturing for them to exit the carriage. The Maid extended a hand for the boy to help him get off. He stood there, staring at the massive school in front of him where he would be studying at. He saw many other children wearing the same purple uniform as him, but also saw a couple wearing the blue uniform. The blue uniform was worn by those that were 'chosen' and able to wield magic.

His father knelt, lowering his eye level to match his son's. He brushed his son's shoulders and said to him, "Enjoy your time at school, okay?"

The son nodded before walking towards the school.

To the children of Inner City, the city was all that they knew. As they grew up, they were going to learn about monsters and how to defend humanity against them. The current goal of humanity was to expand their territory, but the monsters were preventing them from doing so. To these kids that were growing up, the only enemies they had were the monsters that roamed the lands outside of humanity's territory.

They were taught the first and only Evil Dragon extermination. The Evil Dragon, as it was called, had been going rampant across the country in the past, killing livestock and people. It had wiped out towns, the casualties unknown. Humanity had banded together in hopes of bringing it down, resulting in an insane number of casualties.

They were taught how scary monsters could be. What Dragons were capable of, how to avoid Goblin attacks, how to fight back against an Orc.

Almost as if they intended for it to be erased from human history, they never taught anything related to The Great War. The reason was simple, they simply did not want to share what threatened humanity most.

Sure, the Evil Dragon had caused damage and bloodshed, sure monsters may have killed many humans, but how many humans had humans themselves killed? The Great War, the war that saw the destruction and unification of humanity, the war so bloody it made the extermination of the Evil Dragon look like a joke.

The divide in humanity had caused it. Monsters like Goblins do not fight each other for they are their own kind. They view each other as one and the same, even if it was a different species of the same monster. Yet, humans despite being the same, fought and fought and fought.

Divide, the way humans viewed each other. Originally started when only certain humans were given an advantage by being able to use magic. A hierarchy was formed, putting people above others and driving some into the dirt. Then existed seven different kingdoms across the world that was eventually pushed to fight each other in The Great War.

All because they saw each other as different.

Divide is formed when one is placed over another when the entire society has an obvious gap in something. Power, knowledge and especially money. Driven by jealousy, they do unsightly things.

Schools did not teach of The Great War, for it was the epitome of human ugliness.

But divide still existed in Ether, and it was an unholy thing.

The son stood in the courtyard, a smile on his face as he saw a woman beside his father. It was his mother, a woman with shoulder-length black hair and a gentle smile. She had left the family for her own reasons, but she still loved her child. She reached her hands out from the carriage, welcoming him in, his father also inside, his stern expression looking rather jolly.

The boy took a step forward, and his smile disappeared as his sight was quickly engulfed in orange. People screamed in the background, and people screamed in front of him. The horses panicked and started running, the carriage lit on fire. His parents weren't able to jump off before the carriage started moving. The boy could only watch as the carriage went forward, the fire producing a black smoke that travelled to the sky. The carriage crashed into a shop, where the interior also caught on fire.

There, near where the carriage originally was, was a man. His clothes were worn and tattered, and his face was red. His movements were sluggish and he had a delirious smile on his face.

"Serves ya right ya rich pricks!" He shouted, putting a bottle to his lips and swinging it.

He had thrown a lit torch at the carriage. The boy simply stood there, eyes wide as he was unable to do much. The man was tackled to the ground and restrained. He tried to struggle, but it was no use.

The boy was held back, his eyes covered by some adult. The boy, for the first time in his life, had just seen the ugliness of humanity, just how disgusting humans could be.

He wanted revenge.