Magic Apprentice

Chapter 3: Pact (1/6)

Cold. It was so very cold.

Fear. A fear that was very hard to suppress.

And isolation. The type of isolation that dampered ones spirits.

Ever since Elric entered this world, he had been met with all sorts of things.

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This world was desolate and terrifying with how itd rotate in between day and night every three hours. During the day, the temperature in the world would be as hot as within a furnace and the sun would burn the ground so hot that steam would rise up from it. Something akin to molten glass could even be seen flowing through the place like a river of fire. At night, the temperature had been chillingly cold. The source of this chill was from the moon that would hang overhead. Wherever the moonlight would shine on the ground, it would be extremely cold. Even the previous river of whatever substance it was had frozen up to reveal pores from the air pockets everywhere. While the temperature fluctuated wildly between day and night, there were also bolts of lightning that would drop from everywhere along with a surge of tremendous winds.

The place that Elric was in was what the people in charge of this place called Nadirheim.

Ever since Crazy found out Elric was the apprentice of her most hated person, Victor, she had arranged for Elric to practice here. She was fully deserving of being called a powerful magusshe had been able to rip apart the space governing the two dimensions and used a magic array to serve as the bridgeway between the two pockets of space. She had however acknowledged the fact that if not for the fact that this was where the Glorious Battle took place and where the demons and god races had used their powerful magic to fracture the space here, she would not be able to rip open an entrance to Nadirheim. Back when she had been fighting the elder wolf, the black sphere she had used originated from the very same type of magic. As of now, she could be said to be the only mage in this world that could control space.

A path to Nadirheim was usually put up by a warlock at the center of another magic array. As long as one kept up a meditative state of mind, then they would be able to maintain the life-saving barrier that was put up for them. Naturally, the burning hot and freezing cold fluctuations of the weather in this place was akin to the hell of the human world. If not for the fact that Elric had spent so much time learning how to clear his mind and meditate under the constant shocks of lightning, he wouldnt be able to maintain the barrier around him, and this personal hell of his would become a true hell.

Right now, Elric could only pray that Crazy would be able to show mercy on him and remember to recall him out from Nadirheim after some time. Last time, he had been forgotten in Nadirheim for three whole days. Of course, Crazy had said it was an unintentional slip of the mind. He had to convince himself that it was accidental, because, what else could there be? Belladonna could only pray from the human world for Elrics wellbeing. What she didnt know was that even the gods in Zenitheim wouldnt be able to help Elric who was down in Nadirheim. Kite had been a true friend and had once reminded Crazy to summon Elric back into the human world. But not long after that, Kite had suffered a tremendous injury during his training and fell into a coma for several days without being able to do anything. Even after he woke, Kite was no longer courageous enough to risk a repeat.

There was something else besides the hellish environment of Nadirheim that frightened Elric. Legend has it that after losing the Glorious Battle, the demon race fled to Nadirheim.

In the legends, the demon and god races once inhabited the same world with equal powers but opposing natures. The gods loved the light and the demons loved the dark. There had been no dispute at first, but then when the fight to control humanity came, both sides became embroiled in a war. It was said that humans were first created by the gods to be their servants and work in their dominion. The demons had in turn created the monsters to serve under them. After several thousands years where the power of humanity hadnt increased and their bodies were still as weak as ever, something had sparked a tremendous growth rate within them. The territory of the demons began to erode away and even the monsters that the demons made had begun to die off one after another. In the end, it seemed as if humanity would destroy the monsters in its entirety. Furthermore, it seemed that the potential of humanity in terms of warfare was only growing stronger and stronger. With the secret support of the gods, humanity had been brave enough to launch an all out war with the demons.  

Many conflicts broke out between humanity and demons throughout the course of history. While humanity suffered a tremendous loss of life with each conflict, the gods ensured that humanity as a race would live on. But the damages werent always noticeable. The elder demons guided their fellows demons with schemes that would tempt and shape mankind without their knowledge. By finding agents amongst humans, the demons managed to imbue them with the power of the demons. It was a success, but no demon realized that humanity would slowly learn to control the power they were given. 

By the time the gods realized their error, humanity became uncontrollable. Having lost their sovereignty over humankind, the gods eradicated the vast majority of them, but the damage was done. A schism broke out between humanity between the ones protected by the gods and the ones taught by the demons. 

After this schism, humanity slowly, but surely, began to repopulate themselves. The Glorious Crusade had finally placed humanity on the same playing fields as the gods and demons. And with the Glorious Crusade, the raw power from all three sides eventually tore apart time and space, creating several different realms.

The vast majority of demonkind perished in the war, leaving only a small number of them to escape. The realm they escaped to became known as Nadirheim. And despite the gods being considered the victors of the Glorious Crusade, they suffered just as tremendous a loss as their opponents. Calamity wrecked havoc throughout the realms and weakened even the gods to levels beneath their station. Weakened, the gods decided to find a new realm to live in and recuperate. This new home for them would be a home where only the beautiful could live in. Of course, they were meticulous enough to choose a select few groups of humanity to bring with them over to their new world. 

The broken world would be left for the rest of humanity to make do and live off of. The world stabilized itself after several thousand years of humanity managing to pick up the broken pieces of their past. Civilization was beginning to thrive once more and humanity was its newest ruler. Religion became a problem as the infallibility of the gods were questioned, leading to a bloody segment of history in humanitys growth.

As they lived in these tumultuous times, humanity eventually rediscovered the ruins of civilizations past and the scriptures they left behind. The old faith was brought back to light and magic began to make a resurgence. With humanity relearning the old faith and their prayers, contact was re-established with the gods of the other realm. The gods sent their messengers from the safety of their realm, sowing the seeds of religion back to humanity and creating the religious order that existed today. The gods were gaining their worshipers back once more, and humanity decided to call their new abode Zenitheim.