Chapter 71 - A Little Story Telling

Magierstadt is a country that is founded more than a thousand years ago. It originated from a scanty village inhabited by the Magi tribe, a clan of shamans of the Ancient tongue, Mystisch. The village was said to be established in the year 200, amid the Great War between the two continents of Earthland. They say that the mages of each country flee to the village and found refugee in the peaceful town occupied by the shamans.

Neither Zuerst nor Zweite fought for the village of the shamans; they were deemed diminutive and trivial, resulting in the two continents ignoring them most of the time. But given the location of the village—which is inside a significant landmass just lying between the two continents—making them susceptible to the conflict due to their land being the center of the ambivalence. This made the Magi tribe's village the refugee for military bases and the like. They were caught during the war.

Some say that several tribesmen found themselves in league with either of the two continents, joining their ranks; some also claimed that they infiltrated enemy bases as spies... and from such saying, people were able to conclude that the shamans were, as a matter of fact, keen individuals with very adaptive behavior.

As the war between the two continents grew stronger—including the tribesmen caught in the web of disarray, they unearthed means to use the preceding war to their advantage. The land of the Magi tribe was both a passage and a setup for a military base, and so the shamans found a method to utilize it to their favor. From their obtained knowledge from both the people of Zuerst and Zweite, the experiences they harbored as they interacted, observed and analyzed the environment that continuously changed, the tribe gradually developed a small nation from the scraps of wisdom that they earned through the process of adapting.

But this was not the end of the story; in approximate years of the hundredth, it sparked the bloodshed and mounting disputes of war. There were too many deaths for the battle of territory and conquerors can care no less for tribesmen. The small nation deemed to fall into the grasp of the militia, mistreated and are deprived of freedom. But they were adaptive individuals. No one knew how the now-blooming magician's country survived the catastrophic circ.u.mstances of the Great War, but they knew it was also with the help of an individual.

They say he is a part-Magi, and part-Zweitfolk, blood mixed from the second continent. A half-blooded shaman, a demi-Magi. His appearance appeared to be different from the rest; the shamans were known to be bestowed long lives, and their appearance was similar to that of indigenous folks; they had tattoos of ancient patterns in their tan skin matched their pitch-black eyes; their copper-colored locks were tied into a distinctive variation of braids. They had staves that were from a 'seed' they grew exclusively in their land, and spells they made on their own. They were folks whose magic was unknown to the continent, but they were individuals who obeyed. They did not promote hostility, and whoever came to their land were treated with hospitality.

But such ways were ended by the late 300s when a single, demi-Magi arose. Unlike the shamans, he had a striking silver hair, a gleaming, fair skin, and purple eyes in contrast to the appearance of the Magi tribe. He was revered as the Demi, a result of the love between a General from Zweite and a shaman Priestess. The land that was merely a diminutive nation swiftly transpired into the county of magicians. Civilization rose; the population grew; the country developed.

And then the Demi named the country Magierstadt—the Mage City—as he built the largest place that harbors Magicians—the academe, Magierstadt—where knowledge reigns supreme, along with peace and integrity. He built it for the span of several years with magic. The Demi was the epitome of a magician ruler. He was the one responsible for the urbanization of the country, freeing them to the shackles of obedience to others. Books from Magierstadt often depicted him as a charming ruler, someone who was calm and composed, as opposed to other rulers who were barbarous and uncivilized.

Given that Magierstadt is a republic, there was transparency. There was no monarchy, nor there is a Lord that wants to reign over others. It was close to Nirvana. Being the nation that holds no affiliations to the two warmonger continents, magicians immediately moved to this country and thus resulted in prosperity.

They named the Demi as the Schoolmaster, welcoming both magicians from Zuerst and Zweite alike. And for the first time, there was no hostility but only the sheer pursue of knowledge and to learn magic. It is he who brought true armistice to the continents. The Magi folk widely believes that it is the Demi who made the peace last for a good thousand years in the two continents. Even among scholars from different nations believes that Magierstadt served as a pathway to the peace between the continents—it portrayed that even in the pursue of a similar goal, individuals can find solitude and camaraderie as well as equity without the need for bloodshed.

And for many years, peace was in the land.

Until the murder of the royal family in Zuerst; the tragedy of the Feuerkriegers.

It was until then that the peace that lasted for a good thousand years was disrupted. Magierstadt was held under the suspicion of scheming the murder of the royal family, with the Unsterblichs, the descendants of the Demi, mainly the suspects. The culprit was someone of their bloodline, the one who possessed odd traits—a man named Jonathan Unsterblich, the heir to inherit the title as the next Schoolmaster.

The untarnished record of Magierstadt seemed to be soiled by a single person. His mad, killing-spree resulted in the Council and Court to put Magierstadt under supervision, specifically the Unsterblich. One wrong move and Magierstadt is done for. Feuerkriegers were renowned contributors of the Great War and were regarded as the leading royal family of Zuerst, coming from the fire country, Feuersturm Empire.

And again, Magierstadt was in its infancy. The country now obeys humbly upon Feuersturm, cautious of their actions to protect their almost a thousand years' worth of reputation.

"They say if Magierstadt falls, so will the peace between the two continents." A voice of a male says softly against the looming darkness. "Don't you think so?"

"Hm."

"It is by the speculations and theories of the scholars."

"How ironic." It answers. "We have been a trivial nation on the surface, forced to obey laws set by those who adhered upon us."

"What is our next move?"

A chess piece of a pawn propelled ahead.

"Move forward." The voice softly mumbles. "Let the game begin."