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Chapter 58: Forgotten History
Chapter 58: Forgotten History
Liam watched as the Giant Wolf's bloodthirsty maw loomed larger in his field of vision. Instead of dodging, he raised his right hand and hurled the object he was holding into the Giant Wolf's throat. At the same time, he tumbled to the left in a desperate attempt to avoid the beast's jaws.
The Giant Wolf's teeth clashed with a deafening sound, missing its target. It tilted its head to the right, eyeing its prey. The human now lay on the ground, within easy reach of its next bite.
However, the man's face showed no fear, only a strange smile. Just as the Giant Wolf was about to deliver the final blow, a searing pain erupted in its chest. A large gash appeared, and the beast's strength seemed to drain away through the wound.
Unable to hold on any longer, the Giant Wolf collapsed to the ground. The human, Liam, climbed to his feet and used a corroded, pitted sword to pry open the Giant Wolf's mouth, dropping another object inside.
In its final moments, the Giant Wolf's muddled consciousness cleared. It remembered that it, too, had once been human. The object in its mouth then exploded, and the world went dark as it lost consciousness.
Liam watched as the Giant Wolf's head was blown away, and the creature finally died. He let out a long breath and sat down on the ground, tossing the corroded sword far away.
He had taken a risk by throwing a jar filled with Sunlight Crystals and Cherry Bombs into the Giant Wolf's throat, gambling that the beast's internal defenses were weaker than its external ones. He had won the bet; the jar exploded in the Giant Wolf's esophagus, tearing open its chest. The effect was even better than he had hoped, paralyzing the beast completely.
Liam then used the last jar to finish the monster off.
Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly. Now, he had fewer than 100 Sunlight Crystals left. If he had hesitated any longer, he would have been left with nothing. Indeed, hesitation leads to defeat.
But how was he going to leave this strange place? Liam sat down and pondered the question as the Blood Mist that had shrouded the sky began to dissipate, allowing sunlight to stream down.
Liam turned to survey his surroundings. The environment was coming to life, no longer feeling as oppressive as it had under the Blood Mist. However, the Giant Wolf's body was undergoing a transformation in the sunlight.
Chunks of the corpse began to rise, and under the sunlight, they transformed into golden specks that dispersed into the environment. The Giant Wolf's body slowly vanished.
Such a large loot, and it's just gone? Liam felt a pang of disappointment as he approached the Giant Wolf's corpse to observe how it was disappearing.
He discovered that the corpse was melting like snow under the sunlight. Even when he risked pulling a clump of wolf fur, it quickly turned into golden specks that slipped through his fingers. Worse still, these fragments could not be stored in any spatial equipment.
"Guess it's just a dream, and even in a dream, I can't enjoy the thrill of finding treasure", Liam muttered to himself, unaware that a small, blood-red light in the Giant Wolf's heart had not vanished in the sunlight. Instead, it gradually turned golden, resembling an eyeball.
When the light finally turned golden, it shot toward Liam. He felt a chill at the back of his head as a burst of golden light exploded in his mind. Then, he found himself an observer, watching the life of an Ancient Viking Mage from a third-person perspective.
This Viking Wizard lived over a thousand years ago, among the first humans to set foot on Iceland. Back then, Wizards still lived among ordinary people, serving as leaders and protectors. In those wild times, magical creatures were far more widespread and some posed a significant threat to all humans. Without Wizards, it would have been extremely difficult for humans to survive in such a harsh environment.
In such a perilous setting, survival was the top priority. The methods used to survive were secondary, so there was little conflict between ordinary people and Wizards.
At the beginning, this Viking Wizard used a series of Nature Magic to soothe the natural environment and ease tensions with the local magical creatures. The first Altar on the island was also built during this time. Though called an Altar, it was more like a Wizard Tower, allowing Wizards to perform Ritual Magic and amplify their spells.
This harmonious coexistence with the surrounding nature lasted for thirty years. During this time, the young Viking Wizard grew into an elderly man with gray temples.
The tribe's population doubled due to the favorable conditions over these thirty years, which significantly increased the demand for resources. Conflicts between humans and magical creatures grew more frequent, almost reaching the brink of war.
Despite repeated efforts by the Wizard and his apprentices to mediate, the fragile ecosystem of the island undermined their efforts. After a sudden blizzard, the scarcity of resources led to large-scale conflicts.
Under the magical attacks of the magical creatures, humans, lacking magical professions, suffered continuous defeats. Witnessing the deaths of familiar faces, the Viking Wizard chose to abandon the path of natural balance and retaliate.
He repurposed the magic used to soothe the spirits of the dead to summon Wraiths, and the magic used for healing to strengthen his people and reanimate corpses.
At first, the Viking Wizard maintained a peaceful mindset, only summoning willing spirits and enhancing those who volunteered to sacrifice themselves.
However, as the war escalated, the bloodshed of his people pushed him further into obsession. He began to bind unwilling spirits and force them into battle. Eventually, he resorted to large-scale Sacrificial Magic to obtain Life Force, sacrificing not only captives and animals but even the elderly, women, and children who could not fight within the tribe.
The Viking Wizard sometimes questioned the rightness of his actions, but the brutal war and the surge in power distorted his thinking. He transformed into a Wizard who valued power above all else.
Despite his efforts, humans in Iceland were still vastly outnumbered. The magical creatures held an absolute advantage, and the human front continued to shrink day by day.
In the end, the humans of Iceland were forced to retreat from the Western Coastal Plains, step by step, to the Central Mountains. They abandoned rich fishing grounds and fertile land, using the mountainous terrain to barely survive.
Another winter came, and with limited food and clothing, the human population dwindled to fewer than a hundred. It was clear they could no longer fight. However, they were surrounded by the majority of the magical creatures on Iceland. In this dire situation, they made a bold decision: even if they all perished, they would take all the magical creatures on the island with them to hell.
(End of Chapter)
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