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Arthur appeared to be in dire need of a history lesson, as it was the first time he had heard of such a kingdom. Unlike Earth, nations rarely rose and fell on Nithe. Instead, most nations on the map have existed in one form or another since the start of recorded history.
It was only in the last six hundred years or so that wars of conquest became more commonplace. For most of Nithe's history, the small population kept border friction to a minimum, and the threat of a ninth-circle mage running wild acted as a significant deterrent for any would-be conquerors.
Arthur's tutoring on history began at the founding of the Cellan Theocracy seventeen hundred years ago. So, unless the kingdom of Aellyr was wiped from the history books, it needed to be older than the Theocracy for him to have never learned of it.
It seemed ridiculous that a story could be kept alive for such a long time by word of mouth alone. Even with the stability seen in early Nithian history, great families inevitably die out, and with no heir to pass the story on, it too would die.
He also wondered whether or not he should take Rennar's warning to heart. Jeren had told him he was the second son of some small baron family, but according to Rennar, he must bear Aellyrian lineage.
Whatever that meant, Arthur didn't think the two were mutually exclusive. So, Jeren may not have necessarily lied to him. It wouldn't surprise him for an ancient family to have fallen from grace over thousands of years, but he didn't even know what Aellyr was until a moment ago, so he couldn't rule it out.
On the other hand, Jeren had been nothing but helpful to Arthur until now, so there was no use panicking over it just yet. He'd need to learn more about Aellyr before deciding on Jeren's true motives.
"That story makes it seem like the gods abandoned us." Foster suddenly blurted out.
"Who knows." Jeren shrugged. "It's just a story my family passes down. Don't think too deeply about it."
Arthur listened in, but his attention was diverted by something he saw ahead. In the distance, a glossy white spire reminiscent of a cathedral's bell tower reflected light into his eyes.
Arthur curiously pointed it out. "What is that?"
"It's a ruin from the age of the gods, lord." Jeren replied. "There's some in southern Ollerin as well. You usually find them within a hundred or so miles from Elrinth Forest, but most are buried deep underground by now."
It looked far too pristine to have been carved thousands of years ago, so Arthur rode closer to check it out with his guards in tow.
The spire, reaching twenty feet high, sat atop a modest hill and appeared to be cut from a single block of polished marble. There were no seams anywhere, nor was there a single sign of weathering, as if it had just been carved yesterday and placed there as some sort of art installation in the middle of nowhere.
It lacked any fixtures or decorations other than the holes where windows once sat half-buried at its base, leading Arthur to believe the rest of the building was buried deep below them. He was curious about what the building looked like in its prime, but it would probably take weeks to dig it up, so he could only use his imagination.
Arthur ran his hand across the strange structure, finding it perfectly smooth to such a degree that it felt odd to touch.
Kyren grinned by his side. "Wanna see something cool, kid? Have one of the guards fire some magic at it."
Arthur's eyebrow razed as he wondered what Kyren was on about. He loved all things historical and would never allow such an ancient building to be destroyed unless he had no choice. Even if the building had no secrets buried within it, it had borne witness to the ages and stood as a testament to whatever civilization had built it.
"How has it not been eroded by time?" Arthur asked as he turned to face Jeren, ignoring Kyren's proposal entirely.
"Godstone is indestructible, lord." Jeren replied as he pulled out a small knife and attempted to scratch the spire's shiny surface to no avail. "Many men have attempted to break it with dreams of unlocking its secrets, but none have succeeded. Even ninth-circle mages with their most powerful magic can't leave a mark upon godstone."
"See? Nothing would've happened if ya just listened to me, kid. We have godstone ruins in Sparnia, too. If I couldn't break it in my prime, your weak guards don't stand a chance." Kyren grumbled.
Once again, Arthur ignored Kyren and pondered the new information he had learned today. If he assumed he was within the same universe as Earth, and everything Jeren and Rennar said was also true, then some of the more illogical aspects of Nithe began to make sense.
For starters, all the humans on Nithe looked European. It didn't make sense for humans to evolve on this planet, considering Nithe's climate was just as diverse as Earth's. Yet Arthur knew of no skin tones darker than one's found in the Mediterranean anywhere on the planet.
And that wasn't even mentioning the improbability of humans evolving twice on two separate and distinct worlds. Or the fact that some domesticated animals found on Earth also existed on Nithe. It could be explained by a truly infinite universe or Arthur being reborn into an entirely different one, but he could only speculate as there was no way for him to prove either hypothesis.
What he knew now was that a civilization existed on Nithe thousands of years ago that built indestructible buildings like the spire before him. The mortal races worshipped that civilization as gods, but after an apocalyptic outbreak of some vampiric-like disease, that civilization collapsed.
If he continued that line of thought, perhaps the Elrinth gods seeded this world with races that evolved elsewhere. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he died on Earth, but the idea that humans were spread out amongst the stars by a third party was much more palatable to him than assuming he reincarnated into another universe.
His new theory still had some inconsistencies, but he hoped Rennar could shed some light on it once they returned to the camp. Unfortunately, there were only a few hours left before sundown, and Arthur still wanted to check out Elrinth Forest, so he hopped back on Aithon and left the strange spire.
Soon, the massive forest came into view. The giant redwood-like trees rose hundreds of feet high and appeared to hold up the sky. Arthur had been able to see it from afar, but it simply didn't do the natural marvel justice.
The colossal trees were nonsensically close to one another as if the gods had erected a thousand-mile wall of bark to keep out intruders. Of course, there were still gaps between them, but most were no larger than a man or two standing abreast and seemed insignificantly small when viewed as a whole.
Arthur questioned how the trees could even exist in such a formation. Not to mention the number of nutrients they would need to sustain themselves, but the sheer size would cause them to crumble under their own weight on Earth.
As they approached the forest's edge, Aithon and the other tufts struggled and bucked beneath them, refusing to move closer than fifty feet from the forest's edge.
"It's best to leave the mounts behind if you wish to get closer, lord. Most animals avoid the forest out of fear." Jeren explained.
Arthur nodded and proceeded on foot until he was only ten feet from the closest tree. He didn't dare move closer for fear of accidentally passing through some barrier marking the forest's edge and being sucked inside. Of course, he wasn't aware of anything like that ever happening before, but it didn't hurt to be extra careful.
He leaned forward to peek between the gaps, but it was unnaturally dark inside. Arthur glanced behind him, and although low in the sky, the sun was still up. Yet its light appeared unable to go beyond the forest's border.
Arthur skimmed the ground below him before picking up a small stone and tossing it into the dark gap. Yet as it passed between the wall of bark, it vanished as the darkness shimmered and swallowed it whole. He tilted his head and listened, but the sound of the stone hitting the ground never reached his ears.
Curious about the strange phenomena, he bent back down to pick up another stone, but as he raised his head, the hem of a familiar muddied gray robe entered his vision. Arthur launched his body backward in a panic, falling to the ground, and only then did he realize how quiet the world had become.
He hesitantly raised his head, expecting to see the mysterious god-like being he had met in Munn, but no one was there. 59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hUwOMLbmh
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For those catching up after two years, I've added a recap of chapters 1-55 at the end of the chapter "Apology for hiatus" so if you want to check it out, head over there!59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJCWbWSTQB
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