Chapter: 71
Humans instinctively reject those who are different from them.
Beastmen were also ostracized like that… Even though they’ve been somewhat accepted now, it’s really just because they’re useful to humans, not from any genuine acceptance.
Of course, there still appears to be some subtle discrimination against beastmen. But let’s put that aside for now and move on to talking about mages.
Anyway, since humans tend to reject things that are different from them, they also instinctively shunned mages who wielded powers unlike their own.
After all, humans had no spirits, no spells, nada.
Sure, merchants trading with elves or lizardmen might have known about that stuff… But those merchants were a minuscule fraction, while most humans freaked out at the mere sight of magic.
The Temple of Life? That’s been woven into the fabric of society for ages now! Plus, even if you’re not with the Temple, you can heal wounds with proper medicine and treatment.
But magic? They treated that differently.
Even though they could use mana stones to achieve the same results, were they secretly jealous that mages could pull things off without needing stones? Honestly, it’s just foolish.
And so, mages either lived hiding their talents, or they wandered off to other lands, or they gathered in groups to commune together.
Out of pity for those poor mages wanting to relocate, the Temple of Life’s pilgrims offered advice to disguise themselves as pilgrims since the human magic-haters wouldn’t dare touch them.
Some mages hid, some wandered around, and the rest searched for a place where they wouldn’t be persecuted, eventually settling down and establishing their own village.
It was a bit of a barren land—a stretch of desolate land on the edge of the blazing desert to the south. Other than a tiny oasis, there wasn’t a drop of water to be found.
In this bleak place, a village of mages sprouted up.
For ordinary humans, it would be an uninhabitable wasteland, but for mages who could wield magic, it was a challenging but survivable spot.
They primarily hunted monsters with magic for food, made water and ice with spells to cope with the heat and lack of resources, and shaped the surrounding rocks into homes to live in.
It wasn’t a breeze of a life, but they stuck it out, finding a way to survive.
Someone felt a bit sorry for them and went and built a small Temple of Life, dropping off a few pilgrims—a minor but sweet gesture.
These mages, using their mana for instinctive magic, became quite adept at efficiently employing mana stones, making them the pros among their subcategories.
They quickly grasped how to use mana stones, whether it was pulling out the mana to power up their own abilities, analyzing their own spells to recreate them with mana stones, or forging scrolls that could replicate magic using mana stone powder mixed into ink on papyrus.
It might seem like they could just clutch the mana stones and use magic, but oh, the efficiency!
Using just the stones to cast a spell would yield only 1 success out of 10,000. But with their papyrus templates, they could ramp it up to 10 or even 100 times better!
An efficiency increase of 10 to 100 times made all that extra effort a walk in the park.
Sure, if mages used mana stones directly for their spells, they could achieve an efficiency boost of 20 to 200 times, but let’s just skip over that for now.
These papyrus scrolls, often dubbed magic scrolls, turned into really valuable goods.
Papyrus itself was already a pricey item, but the mages’ neighborhood on the edge of the scorching desert was only a bit west of the lizardmen’s turf.
Getting papyrus from the lizardmen wouldn’t have been difficult.
So, the mages began slowly raking in cash, buying mana stones from traders, cranking out magic scrolls, and selling them off.
Of course, maintaining even minimal living conditions in such a harsh environment racked up serious expenses. But still, wouldn’t it be better than just wandering around aimlessly or living incognito?
Though the mages’ village was finally finding its footing, things were still a little shaky.
The biggest headache was the population. Mages have never been a very populous race to begin with, and the number of them willing to settle here was even smaller.
After about 30 years since mages first appeared, the population here still hadn’t exceeded 200.
So, I was thinking of adding something to this village.
Just in case some money-hungry human king got wind of the magic scrolls and decided to lead an army to invade, I wanted to make it so they couldn’t just waltz in… by using a bit of faith.
Fortuitously, Ifrit was nearby, so I could pull this off.
Anyway, that’s how the village gathered by mages, Babel, came to be.
But seriously, who named it Babel? Sounds ominous, doesn’t it?
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
“Seriously, me running around taking down monsters feels like such a waste of time.”
[Mother, I don’t quite get what you mean by that.]
“Right? I don’t really understand it myself.”
I made my way to the volcano located smack in the middle of the scorching desert for a meeting with Ifrit.
Since Ifrit had become the God of the Sacred Flame, thanks to the widespread worship of the sacred flame, I figured a face-to-face chat would be better.
“So, anything unusual happening?”
[Not really. I’m just hanging around here, utterly bored to death day after day.]
“Well, I’ve brought you a magic trick just for that!”
I taught Ifrit the spell to create an Avatar.
[What, you’re not returning my scales, I take it?]
“You talk like the scales belong to you! They were mine to begin with!”
[But… doesn’t teaching me this magic suggest you have no plans to return the scales?]
“Yeah, that’s right! No scales coming back your way! That’s why I’m teaching you this magic.”
Hearing that, Ifrit made a grumpy face and started experimenting with the avatar by moving it around.
“Ugh, seriously weak, huh? With this, I can’t even unleash a tenth of what I could as a dragon.”
“Dragons are just ridiculously powerful! Anyway, go on and enjoy that avatar.”
“Thanks for teaching me this, but… can’t you give me back my scales?”
“Nope!”
I flat-out rejected Ifrit’s request.
“Oh, and one more thing. Mind if I borrow a bit of your flame?”
“Huh? My flame? What are you planning to do with that?”
“A human village has popped up at the entrance to this desert, but things are still a bit dicey. If I can share a bit of your flame with their village and have it under your protection, it could help deter invasions from the outside.”
The belief in the sacred flame, which purifies the sins of the dead, has begun gaining traction on the continent.
If someone were to try invading, knowing they could draw the wrath of the sacred flame might give them pause.
“It’ll be beneficial for you, as your faith will grow, plus the village will be under your protection.”
After mulling over my words, Ifrit replied:
“I don’t mind sharing, but wouldn’t it just be easier for you to protect them?”
Protecting them myself… Hmmm.
Now, that does sound like a hassle!
Honestly, I’ve put in so much effort already! I spread life across this world!! I’ve aided evolution so much!! I’ve nurtured sentient natural beings like my own children !! I’ve given them bodies!! Dinosaurs have been born!! I’ve even helped out dogs!!!
Sure, I might have gone a tad overboard and cause a little chaos here and there! But after that, I’ve helped almost too much! I even created the Afterlife!
Can’t I just catch a break now?!
But, of course, I couldn’t spit those words out. Ugh.
Well, helping that village isn’t a bad idea, but still…
Not as the Creator Dragon God or the Goddess of Life. It’s too much of a bother.
Most importantly, the village is on the edge of the blazing desert. Ifrit is the perfect fit for the job since he’s the closest!
“You’re way better suited for this than I am. Not to mention, it’s a chance to really cement that faith coming your way.”
“Faith, huh… Honestly, it doesn’t feel any different to me.”
Ifrit grumbled some more, which honestly, I couldn’t blame him for.
The faith directed at me as the Creator Dragon God and the Goddess of Life is trickling in, but in comparison to my original power, it feels so weak that it’s almost insignificant.
But hey, anything in my favor is still a plus!
“Anyway, I get it.”
Ifrit moved his main body and let a small flame flicker off. I shaped a stone brazier to hold that flame.
Awesome! Time for the humans to face off with the sacred flame directly!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Just then, a figure appeared, blazing through the scorching desert.
It was a girl with long silver hair and horns on her head.
She carried a large stone brazier in her arms, flames burning brightly within, despite having no fuel to feed them.
The girl, seemingly unfazed and not a bit tired even after lugging the heavy stone brazier across the hot desert, set it down in the village’s central square and conjured a fence, proclaiming:
[This flame is part of the sacred flame. If you sincerely worship it, it will protect you forever.]
With hesitance mixed with belief, the mages began to pray at the flame, and strangely enough, the hot atmosphere surrounding the village gradually cooled down to a cozy living temperature.
Thus, this eternal flame turned into a sacred spot for those who believed in the sacred flame.
– The God of Fire and Warmth. Searching for its roots.
According to the records, her identity was a mystery back then, but it has since been revealed that she was the Dragon Priestess, a saintess from the Church of Life.
Opinions are divided on why the Dragon Priestess crossed the desert with a portion of the sacred flame, but the Church of Life hasn’t made any comments, keeping it in the realm of mystery.
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