Ninth Epoch, Covenant Epoch Year 2153 Spring I — Fourth Continent, Wind Season Year Six.
After two years of war in the west, the Mage Alliance had wiped out the various local powers hidden among these treacherous mountains. Some were killed, some surrendered, and some were directly absorbed. From then on no force in this area could stand against the Mage Alliance. They expanded their sphere of influence and began developing this region that had lain barren for thousands of years.
Geographically across the Fourth Continent, the broad eastern plains were the most habitable: gentle climate and cloud-sea harbors linking to other continents.
Although the Mage Alliance was currently the most powerful coalition on the Fourth Continent, historically the eastern regions had usually been stronger and wealthier.
The continent’s north was the windward side because the whole land mass rested on the back of a giant serpent moving through the cloud sea, and the serpent’s head lay to the north. Massive air currents therefore blew in from the north, carrying abundant moisture that fell as torrential rain or ice storms, eventually accumulating into great volumes and forming the Ice Sea on the continent’s northern edge.
Compared to the west, survival in the north was more brutal. If the south of the Ice Sea still held many primitive tribal peoples, only the Blood Clan could endure life north of the Ice Sea.
Crossing Meteorite Lake brought one to the vast southern forests and grasslands. The terrain there was varied: high mountains and canyons, hills and plains. The complex landscape split the southern continent into many nations of different sizes and fostered factions and organizations with highly diverse styles.
In the early Ninth Epoch the Fourth Continent lacked any major coalition. If one insisted on naming a power, it would be the Eastern Trade Federation, a framework used by eastern factions to trade resources and resolve disputes, but it lacked strong unified authority.
The Mage Alliance’s predecessor began as several scholarly groups in the continent’s center. Through sharing and exchanging knowledge they gradually grew.
At first they served like advisers and technicians for nobles, similar to the Candlefort School now. But a subgroup dedicated to archaeology—the precursor to the Origin Hourglass school—began uncovering and decoding the past, and in that process they mastered the powerful Secret Word aspect techniques.
That freed them from dependence on nobles’ grant of Castle law-power, granting them independent strength. The Secret Word aspect’s advantage lay in inheritance and teaching: they could comprehensively pass down arcane knowledge, including the nuanced realizations and details acquired during advancement, correcting and refining it generation after generation.
With that accumulated expertise, the school’s strength grew until it could rival powerful kingdoms and influence neighboring states.
Inspired by them, many scholarly organizations imitated their methods and likewise expanded and strengthened.
Finally, at an opportune moment, those archaeologist-scholars rallied many similar factions and formed the earliest Mage Alliance.
After its founding, intra-alliance exchange increased because of shared transmission methods. Many of their theories and arcane techniques were mutually applicable, which quickly completed the Alliance’s cultivation and advancement system and allowed it to catch up with ancient sects across the continent.
Faced with the Alliance’s rise, other Fourth Continent factions emulated it, leading to the founding of the eastern Harp Flower Union and the southern Hidden Grove Alliance.
By Ninth Epoch Year 1156 the major continental coalitions had taken shape, and over the following centuries they expanded, absorbing and merging many smaller powers.
Why the west remained uncleaned until now? Historically the west had been home to largely uncivilized peoples: mountain barbarians and beastmen who often could not read and followed primitive beliefs. They were hard to communicate with and their lands lacked resources worth coveting. Also, when the Mage Alliance was still completing internal development, it lacked spare manpower and energy to deal with the western regions.
Now that the west had been pacified and brought under control, the Mage Alliance began assigning people to develop the surface parts of that territory. The Shadow World of that region was also a focus for exploration and development.
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“So, that’s why the academy placed their field training in the newly controlled western territories.” Standing below the rostrum, a Tetis College instructor briefed the students above on the destination for the coming months.
“There, you and the other instructors will lead them to recognize the local unique lesser beasts, observe the combat styles of regional factions, analyze frontline situations, and most importantly guide them in Shadow World exploration above that area to accumulate precious experience.”
With the new term concluded, the trainees stepping into seventh year, like Sylutia and the others, would leave the college and be exposed more to field combat and Shadow World exploration.
For adolescent students, that was far more exciting than staying inside the college endlessly repeating abstract theory. Even though most of them were gifted, they were starting to tire of obscure doctrines.
“Are we really going there?” some trainees dared to ask.
“That’s amazing!”
“Finally we get to breathe some real air.”
“He said that—didn’t we just finish winter break?”
“I heard the west has a lot of beastmen and monsters.”
“A senior who returned from there last year brought me a bird-person skull. It’s just like a bird’s—totally different from human.”
“They call them bird-people, so it’s not that weird.”
“Still, seeing it the first time was surprising.”
As everyone chattered, Sylutia sat by the classroom window, spacing out and thinking about how to apply the Dense Runes she’d recently mastered to the alchemical pieces she was designing.
Then the teacher began listing supplies for the trip: several sets of clothing, blankets, toiletries, self-defense weapons, mosquito repellent, medicines for infectious diseases, and so forth.
“As for tents, food, and water for the journey, the Alliance will provide them on site.”
After the rundown the teacher dismissed the class. The next two days were free for the trainees to prepare their items.
Sylutia remained at her desk, pencil scribbling formulas into her notebook while sketching and shading a schematic of a mechanical component.
Most trainees had already left, but two came to Sylutia’s side to watch her drawings and wait patiently.
After about ten minutes, Sylutia recorded the sudden inspiration that had popped into her head, then set down her pen and looked up at the two. One was Peline, who often helped her with chief-related affairs; her hair was ash-blue. The other was Imei, a rune-specialist student who used the Star spell; today she wore a deep chestnut single ponytail.
“You waited for me? Is there something you needed?” Sylutia asked, remembering no prior arrangement to wait.
“Chief, we’re going shopping this afternoon to buy supplies. Are you free?” Peline volunteered.
Realizing she did need to pick up some items, the girl nodded in agreement.
Peline often proactively approached her, so it wasn’t surprising she’d waited. Imei, however, was only an ordinary classmate previously, and they hadn’t interacted much.
“I’d like to go too, if I may.” Imei spoke with a little awkwardness and timidity.
She was actually usually outgoing, but when facing Sylutia she seemed reserved—perhaps out of reverence. After all, she had last year witnessed this young chief’s awe-inspiring performance in Branur’s public event.
Black hair falling softly over her shoulders, Sylutia’s pretty eyes turned to Imei and she nodded.
“Alright then, let’s go together.” She didn’t make a fuss over small things; her mind still lingered on parts of the design she had just conceived.
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