Chapter 436 - Book of Eternity
Geresco was born in the last year of the Dark Age. In that century, the cruel rule of the High Elves reached its peak. Revolts and repression were omnipresent, and every inch of land in Anril was stained with fresh blood.
The parents of Geresco were the two most famous mages of Felan Kingdom. Such a family background gave Geresco the best and strictest magic education from young. He became an Archmage at the age of 20, reached the Legendary-realm being 23 years old, and entered the Sanctuary-realm at the age of 30. His talent in magic was unprecedented.
In the final battle, Geresco defeated the entire Magic Legion alone. He killed the invincible queen of the High Elves and put a stop to the legendary period, the Dark Age.
That battle raised Geresco’s reputation to the peak. He became the strongest mage in all history and the mortal who was the closest to God. He was the living magic god.
However, the magic god rejected all requests for him to stay, and returned to Alanna alone. He lived in a tall tower in the northwest of Alanna for two decades, and modified the Magic System. Apart from making magic more suitable to be studied by humans, Geresco established the Supreme Council and the magic guilds under it. He made improvements to the environment for learning magic so that it would be accessible to all human beings.
Those were the two most important things that happened in the history of Anril. In Andoine’s words, the two deeds done by Geresco had helped to speed up the development of magic in the human world by 1000 years. If not for him, human mages would have still been exploring the concept of magic ignorantly. It meant that humans would need another 1000 years to achieve the same glory as the High Elves.
Geresco’s outstanding contributions sped up the development of human study of magic. The human mages now were not as strong as the High Elves. The High Elves were seen as the most perfect creatures that ever lived, and had a great natural advantage. In that era, High Elves who reached adulthood would at least have the ability of a Magic Shooter. Reaching the Archmage-level was as common as a stage of growing up. Amongst the nobles of the High Elves, it was very common to be at the Legendary-realm. The royalty was also expected to reach the Sanctuary-realm to have the right to the throne.
Furthermore, High Elves had a very long lifespan. That was not what human beings could compare themselves to—unless they reached the Archmage-realm, they would only live for 50 or 60 years. Even if one were to become an Archmage, he would only live up to 100 years. Only the Legendary-realm would allow one to live up to 500 years. Of course, once a human entered the Sanctuary-realm, he would be like a High Elf. Just like Apophis: if he wanted to, he could live another 1300 years.
The two advantages naturally gave the High Elves incredible strength.
However, humans had their own perks as well…
First and foremost, humans were more numerous compared to the High Elves. There were at least 1000 times more humans than High Elves. According to the records from the Dark Age, the heyday of the High Elves barely saw a population count of 220,000. On the other hand, there were already a few billion people in the Felan Kingdom. Even if there was only one outstanding mage from every 100,000 humans, humans would be more powerful than the High Elves.
Furthermore, unlike humans, the High Elves did not have the ability to improve.
The magic of the High Elves Print was all inherited from the ancient Dragon and Titan languages. That was the strongest force of magic in the world. In the words of the High Elves, this ability came from the gods. However, apart from Osric and a few geniuses, no other High Elf made any alterations or innovations to magic throughout the entire Dark Age.
Humans, however, had been enhancing magic theories and concepts ever since the Magic System had been established by Geresco 1300 years ago. Talents from the subsequent generations used their own intelligence to improve that system. Although human magic was not more powerful than the magic the High Elves had inherited from the Dragon and Titan languages, it was the most suitable magic for humans to study.
Although humans had yet to recreate the glory and civilization that the High Elves had established in the field of magic after 1300 years, their refined combat skills were comparable to, or rather, better than the High Elves’. After all, the human population was greater than that of the High Elves. The death of a mage would see him replaced by many new mages.
Everything was due to Geresco’s efforts.
The establishment of a Magic System for humans, and the building of the Supreme Council and magic guilds, allowed human magic to develop so excellently till today.
In the entire history of Anril, there was no other name more glorious than Geresco’s. Even the creator of the High Elves Dynasty, the Immortal King would not have been able to surpass Geresco’s fame. After all, it had been ages since the Immortal King’s era. That honorable past had already sunk deep beneath the dust of history.
“I had a bet with Geresco 1300 years ago. However, I have lost…” There was a sense of dismay underlying Tutankhamun’s voice. “According to the deal, I have to stay in the Blackstone Mountains to protect some of his things until people arrive to claim them.”
“You mean… You mean that those things… those things…” Hutton’s voice shook terribly. He nearly bit his tongue while talking.
Any mage would know that although Geresco did not leave behind many things in Anril, each of his possession could be described as a priceless treasure. One of the most valuable item would be the magic staff in Alanna Guild of Magic. That magic staff had been protecting Alanna Guild of Magic for a period of 1300 years. That guild maintained its noble status ever since, and everyone who entered the guild had to bow to the magic staff. These people included the king of Felan, the Pope of the Brilliance Shrine, and the arbitrators of the Supreme Council.
The inheritance from the magic god not only embodied extreme mystery, but also gave anyone in possession of it the recognition of the magic god, just like the Supreme Council and Alanna Guild of Magic.
“That’s right, it is you two…” Tutankhamun said as he reached out his finger and pointed at Hutton, and then at Stephen. “Your ancestors were disciples of Geresco. Me and Geresco had a bet that required me to pass his inheritance to the descendants of his disciples after 1300 years if I lost the bet—”
“Mr. Tutankhamun, may I ask what item it is?” Stephen interrupted excitedly. The inheritance of Geresco would be enough to let the Dark Blade rule over the entire Breezy Plains.
“Geresco left behind three items. A magic book, a key, and a magical crystal.” Tutankhamun told the men openly.
“Magic book?” Hutton’s eyes was wide open. He was filled with bewilderment. “Y-you mean… The Book of Eternity?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God…” Hutton exclaimed, dazed. He could not say another word. The Book of Eternity was a legend by itself!
It was said that each human mage of the Dark Age owned a unique magic book. It was extremely challenging for humans to practice magic during that era. Unlike the High Elves, they could neither comprehend the dragon scripture nor the language of the Titans. Having no opportunity to enter any guild of magic then, they could only learn directly from human mentors. Apart from Geresco, the other human mages only had one mage apprentice as they only had one magic book each.
To the human mages then, the magic book represented the knowledge and experience they had gained in their life. While Geresco’s book similarly recorded his knowledge about magic and experience from his research, his book had another function.
Geresco, the man who was born on the last year of the Dark Age, had a unique magic book. That book was called the Book of Eternity. Its pages were made from the Tree of Eternity, while the ink used to write the spells in the book was personally extracted from the Tree of Eternity by Geresco.
People who had experienced that era would know the value of Geresco’s Book of Eternity. The book itself had infinite powers. There were also many human mages who treated the book as the strongest magical weapon of that era!
However, no one knew where the book vanished when Geresco disappeared. That was a concern shared by mages in Anril. Many Legendary-mages believed that anyone who could lay his hands on the Book of Eternity would make it to the Sanctuary-realm in a breeze.
Of course, that belief might not be entirely true. After all, no one other than Geresco had seen the Book of Eternity. Yet, there was something that would not be doubted: the powers of the Book of Eternity would definitely not lose to Alanna’s magic staff’s.
As Tutankhamun nodded his head gently, the air within the wooden house became very stale. No one expected that Geresco had left behind such a treasure. Now, even Lin Li, who was not involved in the matter, could not help but hold his breath…