Prologue
At the beginning there was nothing. Then God came. "Let there be Light" he proclaimed and with his words, a bright light began to shine in the Void. From this light came the stars and worlds filled with Monsters. But God was not satisfied with his creation. For Monsters only followed their animal instinct. He wanted something more: an intelligent life form in his image.
And so God forged the First Flame. And from it life began. The Prime races were created: Human, Elf, Beastman, Dwarf, Dragon and Celestial. He then chose one representative from each race to be their own Gods, giving them extraordinary power. These six were later known as the Primordials, as they were the first of their race. And with their commands, the world continued to prosper.
But the brighter the light the darker the shadow. For if there is Light, so is Dark. The Dark would not accept the Light. It corrupted the Monsters, creating an abomination known as the Demons. Savage creatures who dared take the form of man, who only knew killing to satisfy their bloodlust. The Demons waged wars against all races, driving them into near extinction. When all hope seemed lost, the Savior came and brought hope back to the people. For he was the hero sent by God to protect his subjects. As he struck down the First Demon Lord and repelled the Demons back in the isolated continent of Ragna.
However, one day, the Dark will come back and the Demons will rise again. When that time comes, the hero shall rise again and we will repel the Dark in the name of our Lord.
-Chapter 1 "Origin of the world" from the "Holy Scripture" by Saint Peter the First, First Pope of the Church of Light-
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Kingdom of Ceadric, Frontier Village Caine
It was cold. Of course it was since it was in the middle of winter. In the outskirts of Caine Village, an old man was returning from the hunt with his trophy on his back: a wolflike creature with a horn on his head, a Storm Wolf. The storm wolf was a common monster in these parts. They usually hunted in group but awkwardly not this one. This explained why the old man managed to slay it as it would have been difficult for him if there were more than one of them.
The man seemed to be in his sixties, bald with dark skin. But this was no ordinary weak old man as his body was covered with scars, not from the wolf he hunted down but from years of battle. He used to be an adventurer, going in dangerous dungeons looking for treasures or defeating terrible monsters. But it was not odd to see a retired adventurer walking around in a forest. What was odd was the direction the man was walking toward. Normally after a hunt, the next thing to do is either to sell the prey or bring it home. But the old man continued walking in the direction opposite of the village. Not to mention in this cold weather. The answer was simple: he was going home. But why live outside the village? Monster attacks were common in these parts. Surely it was better to stay inside the protective fence surrounding the village... Unless you had something to hide.
After a long walk, a wooden cabin came on sight. It was a simple two story house, located in the middle of the woods. The area surrounding the house was clear of trees. Normally it would have been covered by flowers, but in this season, nothing could grow on the snow. The light was on and white smoke was coming out of the chimney. An odd stench was filled the air around the house. The old man, approaching the house, recognized the smell immediately.
"10 years and still the same damn soup. Please God, let me live through this, as you did for the last 10 years!" he mumbled to himself.
Upon entering the house, he was greeted with a smile from a beautiful elven woman. "Welcome back, Gazel!" greeted the woman. Her name was Morgan. Long black hair as dark as the night with dazzling violet eyes as amethyst in a black coat, the elf looked almost out of place in the middle of this half broken place. She was seemingly concocting some mysterious potion in a big cauldron. The substance looked black with bubbles on the surface.
"I see you got quite a catch today. I wonder what dish I could make with this one. Oh I still have some leftover soup. I didn't know you would be back today so I let the children eat and go to bed already." she smiled grimly, glancing at the wolf on Gazel's back.
But when Gazel looked at what was inside the cauldron, he let out a long sigh."Every time I see that thing, I wondered if you are actually a witch.... FOR GOD'S SAKE WOMAN!!! How did you manage to turn only vegetables into this? Look at that! It even seems to be moving." Although on numerous occasions did he try to teach her how to cook, she somehow always managed to magically turn every ingredient into a black liquid substance, which surprisingly was edible but the taste and smell were so terrible that they caused the monsters to stay away from the cabin.
"You say that but in the end you always finish everything. Come on. Admit that you like it!" Morgan playfully tried to tease the old guy. Every time he complained about the taste of her cooking, but he always gulped it all down in the end.
"Anyway this should help us get through this winter. Well, we still have some supplies and dry food as reserves in case of emergency."
The old man spoke to the woman. He wrapped the wolf in a piece of cloth and put it in the storage. Suddenly he felt something jumping on his back. It was Alice. "Grandpa is back. Tell us some stories, please, please." She then dropped down, smiling brightly while looking at her grandpa with big eyes. A small boy, timidly hid behind her. He was Alastor, Alice's little brother.
"Alice, don't bother grandpa. He is tired. Let him rest. And it's time to bed for you two." Said the elf woman.
"But mom, it's still early."
"It's ok. I will take them to their beds." Gazel then turned to the children. Taking them to their beds implied a bed time story. Thankfully even if as an ex-adventurer, Gazel had more than enough stories to tell. Whether they were true or not it was a different story. "However just one story ok?"
"Yeeaahhh. Quick, grandpa quick", Alice took his hand and went for the stairs.
"You spoil them too much. Ok fine but just one story alright?"
The mother gave a sigh, giving up on dissuading the children. The girl jumped around with excitement and dragged her grandpa to their bedroom. The little boy said good night to their mom and followed Alice quietly.
The children now in the bed, only poking their small heads out the sheet. The old man took a chair and sat by the bed.
"So which story do you want to hear today? Last time was the creation of the world, if I remember correctly?"
"We want to hear about the story of the six heroes again."
The two children answered with excitement, opening their big eyes and listening carefully to their grandpa.
"Alright, alright. You two never get tired of this story, do you? Here goes. Once upon a time...."
"Wasn't it just 10 years ago?" Alice interrupted.
"Well yeah but just bear with me for a second. And no interruption this time or I won't ever tell you bed time stories again."
Understanding what their grandpa said, both children cover their mouths and nodded in agreement.
"Ahem. Once upon a time, there was a demon king who threatened the very existence of all life in this world. Upon seeing that, the six gods took pity on the people of Astora and chose six heroes, one from every race. Each received the blessing of their god. They were:
Lakyus, leader of the heroes' party and also First princess of the Empire. She was renowned for both her beauty and her swords skills which no man can rival.
Ingrid, the White. A celestial that has lived for a very long time. Some say that she has lived ever since the creation of man.
Izago, the Mighty. The king of the dwarves. Known not only for his unrivaled strength but also his beard which was the same as his height.
Theoron, the Wise. A three hundred years old elf who served as the elf king personal advisor. Known for his powerful spells and wisdom.
Celdora, the Dragon Lord. One of the few dragons who can take human form.
And finally Arshe, a rogue of the beast clan. Not much is known about him because he always hides in the shadow.
In their adventure, they encountered both friends and foes. Together they went through countless challenges and battles. Arriving at the demon lord's castle, they challenged the Demon Lord Asgore. It is said that their fight was so intense that the sky was set ablaze, mountains were cut in two, and forest burned to ashes. But in the end the heroes managed to defeat the demon lord and the world was finally in peace again."
"But what happened to the heroes after that, grandpa? Even though they killed the demon lord, I haven't heard about them a lot.", Alastor asked. Always the one with questions.
"Well that it's a good question. The answer, however, is a bit sad. Only half of the members of the heroes survived. Celdora returned to the dragon continent. Apparently he settled down from the world politics, married a human and had a child. I don't know much further than that. Information from the dragon continent rarely reaches here. Arshe became the Captain of the royal guard for the Beast King and became rich. Everything a man could want, I suppose, for saving the world. But I have heard that a year after his return, he quit and became an adventurer or mercenary and has since traveled around the world. The celestial Ingrid, however, disappeared completely, never to be heard again. The celestials were looking for her but I guess they gave up after 10 years. As for the three who perished, people has built temples and monuments to acknowledge their sacrifices. Aside from that I don't know anything else." Gazel explained proudly.
While the tales and accomplishment of the heroes were known widely, not much was known on what exactly happened to them after that. Not even scriptures of the Church of Light depicted the aftermaths of these events but only focused on their journey and how they defeated the threat of the demons.
"Alright It's late now. Go to sleep. I can always tell another story tomorrow. Sleep now, children!"
The old man patted both the children's heads before going out and closing the door of the room. He went down the stairs and sat at the only table in the room. Morgan had prepared a portion of soup for Gazel on the table and was still finishing up the chores in the house. He stared at the roof for a while, thinking about Morgan and the two children.
"It has been already 10 years now. Time passes so quickly." He took a glance at Morgan. She reminded him so much of his deceased daughter. The one he could not save from the hands of the bandit. He even lost his wife in that attack. It was since that day that the adventurer Gazel gave up hope. He quit the Guild and settled down in this god forsaken village, drowning himself in alcohol waiting for his end. His son however, could not bear watching his father falling from grace, departed from home and went to the capital of the Kingdom. Last time he heard his son became a knight captain, serving the king dutifully.
Gazel remembered as if it was yesterday. He used to live inside the village instead of this god forbidden place. After all he was and still now the village elder of Caine Village, there was no reason for him to live this far from the village. That was it until 10 years ago when 3 strangers appeared in front of the village gate. It was an elven woman accompanying with a baby child and a small girl.
While the villagers here were kind to each other, they were very wary of strangers, most likely because of bandits. When you lived in a frontier village, far from the capital, not only you had to deal with monsters but also bandits and even soldiers pillagers from another country.
At the beginning, people refused to let her come in the village. The only one who defended the woman was Gazel. Not out of pity nor out of conscience but because the elf reminded him of his daughter. The villagers here all knew the old man's past so they did not push it further. After a while the three strangers were openly accepted in the community. But one day, for an unknown reason Gazel decided to move to the outskirts of the village. Sometimes people still tried to convince him to go back. No one understood why he decided that way. Everyone was very kind to the elf woman and her children. Yet he refused to come back. Except for times when the woman came to the village for supplies, no one even saw her children. After a few years, people gave up and thought that maybe he has just gone senile. But did he?
That night, young Alastor had a dream, or perhaps it would be better to call it a nightmare. He was in a dark place. So dark yet seemingly endless. Then he noticed a shape inside that darkness. A black humanoid shape with a white outline. Then he spotted a second with a slightly different shape but still humanoid. Then another and another. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by hundreds of black shadows. While these shadows had no eyes, Alastor could feel their stares right on his skin. He could sense their emotions in the air: some with anger, others with pity. So many different emotions yet all share the same goal: revenge. Then he heard a voice in his head.
"Let the Ascension begin!"