Chương 49: The Rise of Vixia

A thin but potent energy seemed to permeate the room. The atmosphere grew denser somehow, Scarlet's senses just slightly distorted. Something in the air was shifting along with the Historian's words. It was as though he was himself but not himself. Or perhaps more than himself? Past versions of him seemed to intermingle and overlap. When he spoke, there was a sense of displacement, as though history overlaid reality. Scarlet looked into the info-layer as she took notes.

She could see the effect had something about his voice, his words, was creating the phenomenon. He was clearly using mana, but it was infused with faint traces of psionic energy. Her mind effortlessly split its concentration as the Historian continued.

"Everyone imagines historians collect victories and defeats, rises and falls. And we do, some. But we are the inheritors of reality as it is remembered. The people, the patterns, their ends and ongoings. We are the custodians of reality." He smiled to himself as reality rippled to the cadence of his voice.

"We piece together the past from things like diaries and recipes, scandalous letters, and the occasional trade dispute that led to a peasant uprising. A civilization is remembered by the everyday things that, in hindsight, become extraordinary." He folded his hands.

"So let us begin with something ordinary." The world flooded with darkness, and suddenly Scarlet was elsewhere. Present, but not present. A silent observer to the Historian's tale.

"The first thing you must understand is that there was nothing inherently remarkable about the first Vulpian homeworld, now known as Vixia One, or simply Vixia. Not every fallen civilization stood upon some impossible pinnacle before it collapsed. People believe the greater the height, the more devastating the fall. They forget it isn't about the fall but about the impact, and that can be devastating no matter the height.

"We were a civilization old enough not to remember our origins. The oldest cities in living memory had been rebuilt so many times that their foundations belonged to people whose names were better known as roads and cities than as living individuals.

"Before the System came, we had what one would call civilization. Markets that opened with the sun. Scholars who wrote and thought and imagined. Lords, labourers and everyone in between. We had poverty and prosperity, greed and generosity, sadism and sacrifice.

"Truly, our civilization was much like any other. Though unlike your world, Vixia had mana. How your people survived without it," he shook his head.

"Mana, like light or air simply was. How thoroughly it shaped is something most only recognise in hindsight" Something in his aura shifted, strengthened. The Historian smiled, and one of Scarlet's theories was slowly being confirmed.

"Mana was simply another reality of life. Our people discovered or cultivated their gifts much like they did any other process, though back then they weren't so well defined as 'Affinities'. People either had talent or didn't. Much like how some people were born muscular, while others had to work their entire lives to maintain a physique; or how some were born with perfect pitch, with an innate aptitude for song and music, while others could only hold a tune through dedicated practice and effort.

"With no System to quantify it into something more, those 'talented' people only discovered they had an Affinity once the System arrived. Of course, those hard workers often managed to awaken an Affinity of their own.

"Even before the system, talents on the level of Affinities were rare, however it was understood that if you wished to reach the highest of heights, such talent was a necessity. Blacksmiths often possessed talent for heat or metal. The most skilled farmers for nature, healers for life. And of course, the elements were always popular among fighters, something that hasn't changed to this day.

"Why should someone who could wield water like an extension of themselves settle for irrigating crops when they could sail the seas or drown their enemies in battle? Why should someone who commanded flame more easily than breathing settle for lighting candles for lords, when they could raze armies to the ground or excavate riches from lands inhospitable to anyone else?

"Vixia was split into eight continents and six major powers. Borders were both fixed and fluid. Dynasties came and went, leaders rose and fell, and through it all the six major powers endured. Not because of leadership or geography, but through ways of life.

"When the System came, the powers were as such.

"The Empire of Flame. This is where those with the fire Affinity tended to congregate. They believed in peace through overwhelming force, that strength and might were justice and truth, and that the best way to defend oneself was always to be the first to attack."

'This tactic is known as: «a good offense is the best defense»,' Scarlet sent to Maus, urging him to pay attention in the hope it would improve his INT.

'Fight first, Boss. Fight fast. I will keep you safe!'' Keep yourself safe first.' She shook her head and continued taking notes as the scent of ash and flame and indistinct visions of castles nestled in volcanic craters overlaid the world around her.

"Then there were the Water Clans, where, as you might guess, those with water Affinities were abundant. The clans were primarily merchant and agrarian. They were an incredibly adaptable and mercantile people. Being a global breadbasket does tend to breed competent diplomats and negotiators. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Then the Earthen Holds, probably the most stable of all societies. They were deeply rooted in tradition and craftsmanship. Loyalty to family and honor were the primary tenets of their people. At least publicly."

'A firm foundation can carry even a crumbling building,' he intoned, as though reciting from memory rather than history.

"Then there were the Air Tribes. Those with air Affinities were primarily nomadic. They believed land, sky, and water belonged to everyone. That responsibility and burdens were meant to be shared. That the nature of life was fleeting and transient. They are perhaps the people who followed their Affinities most closely, drifting back and forth across two continents. Despite being highly nomadic, they were also incredibly insular.

"And then there were the factions that never quite fit. Those Affinities that didn't slot neatly into the elements or their derivatives. The Esoterics, as they were called. Affinities like dreams or darkness that didn't quite fit with the common elements. Their continent was one of small islands. Many, by necessity more than desire, became scholars both of their own Affinities and of others.

"This bent toward scholarship bred both an air of superiority and exclusivity among the Esoterics. They were governed by a Central Council, most of whom oversaw some institution of knowledge. Their vanity, while well earned, was insufferable. Truly, their insularity saved them." The Historian pressed his lips together before releasing them with a roll of his eyes.

"Then there was the Faction of Purity," he sneered.

"They believed Affinities were a crutch. That people who relied upon or cultivated them had abandoned the purity of mana and become weaker for it. Whether born of inferiority or genuine zeal, they were no weaker than their counterparts.

"The faction mostly minded its own business, though the Priests of Purity were a consistent and persistent pain. No good thing comes when belief turns to dogma and faith becomes zeal.

"Still, it is important to know that by the time the System arrived, none of these factions were enemies. None of these traditions were actively in opposition. While conflict was frequent and inevitable, it was generally internal. The factions were cautious of one another, but not in contention.

"The morning the System arrived was so otherwise universally unremarkable that only one individual bothered to record the weather in her region. A Water Clan member, who only did so because the unexpected rain was a boon to her family's crops.

"And so the System arrived. All accounts agree that the announcement appeared everywhere, all at once, for everyone. Even the children." His lips tilted downward by habit more than conscious action. Then they rose again as he turned toward Scarlet.

"You will probably be more familiar with this part of history than I, perhaps there was some overlap?" Nice try, Scarlet thought, her emotions locked in a vice.

"Well, there were all the expected reactions. Confusion. Fear. General unrest and disorder.

"The first few weeks were chaos. Many died. So many died. People discovered power and the ability to gain it. Force, as it so often does in new world orders, came first. Factions rose and fell. Their leaders were killed or disappeared. The beasts that had mostly been beaten back by civilization began to gain strength as well, and blades turned from pointing at each other to pointing outward.

"Expeditions were organized, and by the time a month had passed, all six major powers had reached a tentative ceasefire as they sought to reclaim and understand.

"Most who went never returned. Those who did survive... well, many came back had not gone out by choice. Now they were stronger. Why would a Tier 2 peasant with a flame Affinity and a grudge listen to a Tier 1 or Tier 0 tyrant sitting on a committee?

"It became very clear, very fast, that levels, stats, and skills were the only new currency that mattered. Well, that and System Credits. Truly, the economic upheaval was perhaps worse than the terraforming.

"It became quickly and widely known that the planet was under a grace period while it completed its Integration and assimilation. What the System calls an Adaptation Phase is a well known phenomena for every newly integrated world. Though none of us yet knew its significance.

"We were given six years before the wider System fully integrated us into the Network. Six years to prepare. To grow stronger. To ready ourselves for whatever came afterward." Scarlet couldn't help but wonder what the time difference meant between Vixia's six, and Earth's twelve.

"Old disciplines evolved. The Interface became a discipline unto itself. Skills spread with astonishing speed. What had once been determined by talent or affiliation was now determined by Affinities. Old masters discovered new youth and greater heights. And, as it always is with newly integrated worlds, progress came quickly.

"There is a dangerous intoxication that accompanies opportunity. Otherwise intelligent people become convinced of their invincibility, of unlimited time, of never-ending growth and progress.

"Then, of course, there were the Portal Worlds. Pockets of reality governed by unfamiliar rules and filled with danger and opportunity in abundance.

"They went from curiosity to resource the moment it was discovered they could be claimed." Scarlet's pen stopped scratching across the paper as she looked up at the Historian, a silent question in her eyes.

"Has a portal yet been claimed on your world?" He asked.

"There's a world announcement when it happens. Well, for those at Tier 1 and above, so perhaps you wouldn't know." He grinned that annoying foxy grin.

"A great many things happen when you reach Tier 1." Then his gaze went distant once more, the air in the room rippling with his intensity.

"People grew and achieved and accomplished. Everything moved too fast all at once. Milestones, Advancements, Achievements, Tiers, Traits, Affinities, Skills. For some passion pushed them forward, for some pride, and for others, progress became an addiction all its own.

"So, the world continued to change.

"For perhaps the first two years, Vixia's greatest concern was internal stability. Things would settle, a new portal would be discovered, or a new Affinity or skill, and everything would change again.

"Of course, with power so abundant and seemingly free for the taking, the greatest advantage one possessed over another was information. Information and opportunity. Portals were guarded jealously. Skill books, even more zealously. Knowledge, as you already seem to understand, became a commodity more precious to some than even their own lives.

"With the planet changing as quickly as its people, nobody was looking at the bigger picture as powers beyond our meager comprehension worked behind the scenes. Those few who truly understood, who refused to be pacified, were silenced.

"All of them but one."