Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 256: World Expansion

Casters of the Sanctum had always prided themselves as the pivotal figures of the war. While the Hall of Knights and slave army had departed for the spatial fortress, they remained relaxed; most Magisters had merely begun to return for duty at only a month away from deployment.josei

The war was creeping closer and floating ships were entering and leaving the transfer zone at an increasing frequency; they barely had enough time to cast soul imprints on the last portion of slaves before they were taken away.

More Lehrlings, who were dispatched to attend outstation missions, were forcibly summoned back by the Sanctum. The planar war had called for the involvement of those under level one as most of the Sanctum and Hall of Knights’ military resources were held back by the ongoing invasion of Centauria.

Due to their inferior status, the high-rank Knechts’ understanding of planar wars was limited compared to the knowledgeable casters. Lehrlings were able to gain extensive information about it for they had access to the Sanctum’s gigantic archive. From what they knew, a planar war was fundamentally an expansionist endeavour.

Zauberia, a name that was passed down from the early ages, was their world. Most leadership roles in Zauberia were held by casters. ‘Caster’ was a modern term widely used in their world to refer to spellcasters, with its predecessor term being ‘sorcerer’.

The records of the Three Western Isles provided a clear picture of the sorcerers' true nature. Perhaps the Sanctum’s founder was once incredibly intrigued by the mythical and powerful ancient occupational role. Legends stated that major monsters that possessed unfathomable power and physique dominated the world before humans, who were just a fledging race back then. Be it on land or underwater, physique and magic were determining factors to one’s position in the food chain. Humans of that time were comparatively weaker so they were forced to survive under the threat and oppression of the stronger major monsters.

Humanity wasn’t naturally gifted with great physical strength that was on par with major monsters. As a result, the pursuit of more power through magic became the mainstream. For the sake of their kind, the first generation humans began to utilize their intelligence and observation skills to analyse major monsters in an attempt to understand how they were able to utilise mana.

A group of intellectuals eventually emerged over the course of years. They found that mimicking the stripes and patterns of major monsters on their bodies allowed them to use meek elemental powers. At that point, human beings in Zauberia lived in tribes, in which those that practiced magic were honoured as sorcerers. Their discipline back then could be classified as occultism.

Unlike beasts, mankind could learn and form meaningful interactions to improve themselves. In the last dozens of epochs, humankind’s increasing mastery of magic had eventually got them out of the bottom of the hierarchy. Generations of talented sorcerers and their unremitting efforts had finally allowed mankind to be the hegemons of Zauberia.

Sorcerers were enigmas but their wisdom was inspiring and admirable. They worshipped gods for strength but would slaughter gods in the name of knowledge as well. Gods were present in antiquity. The leaders of their tribes, usually sorcerers, oftentimes submitted to these deities despite their pride for their aid. However, gods soon amounted to nothing as their knowledge reserves continued to expand. Knowledge was the fuel of a spellcasters’ powers, after all.

The downfall of gods came once sorcerers pried deeper into the divine power that reigned over them. An age of prosperity began as the pioneering sorcerers overcame obstacles and guided mankind to glory. With that, humans gradually took control of Zauberia, driving the once superior major monsters deep into the mountains. Even the oceans were soon conquered by sorcerers and when they had nothing left to explore, they turned their gaze towards the skies.

Beyond the plane was the astral realm, more commonly known as outer space. Spellcasters, however, preferred the former term. The mysterious realm soon birthed a variety of new disciplines, the most famous of which being astralmancy.

Zauberia had merely begun to expand its territory in the recent era. Powerful sorcerers were now akin to gods on the plane. Through increased interaction and clashes with different planes, the art of spellcasting grew more diverse.

Twenty epochs ago, a fierce battle was triggered as a result of a collision between Zauberia and a medium-sized forest plane. It had been a difficult road to victory, which made the sorcerers realize that occultism alone wasn’t sufficient for them to dominate the universe. It was then that specialised practitioners of other disciplines like elementalists, alchemists, summoners, and bloodline warlocks began to take root in every corner of Zauberia. The arcanist profession was the most prestigious among all spellcasters. Since magic came from knowledge, arcanists were seen as the pursuers of the universe’s truth.

Arcanists were more well-versed with theoretical studies so they weren’t the most destructive spellcasters; an excellent arcanist didn’t necessarily equate to a powerful spellcaster but a powerful spellcaster, on the other hand, was certainly a polymath.

Despite it being a mid-sized plane, Zauberia was above average in terms of competence. Its planar consciousness was relatively lucid, able to express its vague will to live to its inhabitants. The plane itself had urged for expansion by relaying its intention to its inhabitants that were above level one; Zauberia’s final goal wasn’t to be a mid-sized plane. With the massive influx of resources brought on by the advancement of humanity, new talents were able to reach greater heights, marking the beginning of yet another epoch.

Due to Missia’s great geographical distance from Magion, the wizarding system practised on the Three Western Isles wasn’t universally practised. Elemental magic, which was more readily accepted, prevailed here. Despite that, there were casters that had outstanding insights beyond their own discipline, level-one Magister Ashar being one of them.

Maybe Zauberia, the ancient word for occultism, wasn’t the best name for the plane anymore, since there were more distinct spellcaster disciplines being developed. Now that impetus users had developed their own system that was comparable to the casters, the situation was indeed more complicated than the past.