Act 146: The Fire that Lights up the Next Era

"It is more stable than ordinary fire. It does not need such strict protection when being carried deep into the dark forest by the knights. More importantly, before it is ignited, it will also change the surrounding environment anytime and anywhere, although it only changes a few times. to a range of three hundred meters in diameter, but it is enough to protect explorers in areas of unknown chaos."

"It's exactly as the lord described it. Your Highness, this is an epoch-making product. I believe it will profoundly change Eruin, not even the pattern of the entire human world."

The hall was so quiet that one could hear it, with almost only Tamar's voice echoing. Antitina and Princess Griffin listened in rapt attention.

Before the Age of Return, mortals figured out how to harness the power of the fragments of order in Martha's Blessed Land.

Hence the term ‘tinder’ was born.

After that came Warnd's most magnificent and glorious era. The mortal empire expanded rapidly into the wilderness in four directions, almost reopening the territory that Warnd had been fragmented and buried in darkness since the previous era.

It was during this era that a series of small countries located on the border, such as Eruin, Antuobuluo, and Shicheng, were born. The Four Borders, the Great Plains, and the White Mountains were still barbaric territories during the War of the Saints. From this time, It has become the territory of civilization and order.

Thanks to the sages of that era, modern humans no longer need to use words like overcoming thorns and thorns when passing through areas such as the Four Realms and the Great Plains. In history, when the Flame King led everyone through the Great Plains, several mortal clans Almost half the population was lost.

During the most prosperous period of the Year of Return of Glory, the vast new territory that was growing every moment, as well as the endless rich products and resources from the opened up land, supported the saints in the civilized world. The most peaceful and glorious era for hundreds of years after the war.

Endless supplies and increasing living standards gradually created an era in which the spiritual world was sublimated, art flourished, and the pursuit of exquisite aristocratic life was achieved. All of this can now be seen in the flashy architectural style and armor of that era. Find clues in the artwork-like carvings.

It was an era of endless glory. People were full of hope for the future, and even wizards and astrologers once believed that mortals already held the key to the ultimate mysteries of the world.

After the death of the Dragon of Twilight, the world of order can finally defeat the power of chaos, thus establishing a world with infinite land and infinite products on the earth.

in this world. The living space of mankind will be broader than any previous era. Therefore, even if the gods have left, mortals can still create a golden age by relying on their own strength.

However, just like all dreams have a beginning and an end, the dream of the glorious return year also hit the wall of cold reality during the heyday of this era. Thus cruelly fragmented.

Around the time the Eruin people last explored the southern border, mortals first discovered the existence of the ‘Wall of the Past’.

In the year 1435 of the Chaos Annals, the fog elves and the undead in Saint Osol ended the famous War of Sparks. In the north of Warnd, an expedition team from the White City was marching. The Caps advance on the north side of the glacier. After they established an advance base in front of the crevasse fjord, they spent six years trying to ignite a fire called the 'Prometheus Seed', but failed. One exception failed.

At this time, few people knew that this minor incident, which was overshadowed by the mainland war, would become the trigger that changed the history of the entire continent in the future.

Around the Year of Purslane. What followed was a series of unpredictable failures, in the Ashenvale area to the east of the White Mountains, the Nalerus Peninsula to the north of Hazel, and the Sea of ​​Eternal Hope to the north of the Ring of the World.

In the Eagle Forest to the east of the Ten Cities, and in the Ring of Trade Winds to the south of Eruin, all the attempts of the knights to open up in that year failed.

What followed was the disappearance of a large number of pioneer knights and adventurers after the Year of the Dead Moon. Within five years, humans began to encounter obstacles in the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest.

An 'invisible line' wall of the past has stopped the rapid expansion of mortals since the year when glory returned.

The pioneer knights discovered. Once they cross this invisible line on the map, the 'fire' becomes extremely unstable, difficult or even impossible to ignite. It was not until the prosperous years twenty years later that some scholars came to a conclusion:

The so-called wall of the past. In fact, it is the era when Warnd was most prosperous since the last era, that is, the era when the gods and people still roamed the earth, and the boundary of the territory of Martha's Blessed Land in its heyday. The territories that humans opened up in the Year of Return were actually just repairing their homeland.

The establishment of this academic point of view also sounded the clarion call for war in that era.

In the same year, the Druid escaped from the world, and his glorious years followed. The people of Silver escaped from the world.

Half a century later, the Second Holy War broke out.

For the next five centuries, the history of the mortal world was dominated by each other's conquests, fights, conspiracies and intrigues, as well as the corruption and decay of the ancient nobles.

Once upon a time, the image of those glorious and heroic pioneer knights holding the swallow-tailed flag and traveling through the dark forest with their entourage and like-minded companions gradually faded from people's sight, replaced by the cold Metal, swords flashing with cold light, armies marching in the forest, flowing blood and blazing flames.

As we all know, since the end of the Year of Return of Light, the 'Fire' will become more powerful after entering the Black Forest (actually crossing the Wall of the Past, because during the Era of Chaos and around the Year of Moss, humans have almost expanded the Land of Order to the limit) It is extremely unstable, so it needs heavy protection, and it cannot withstand almost any bumps, otherwise it may be permanently extinguished.

And even if it is well protected, the 'fire' will still have a series of problems, such as being difficult to ignite, and even extinguishing after being ignited. Therefore, after the end of the Year of Return of Glory, mankind will be on the border of civilization. The expanded territory was extremely limited (not without it, because around the time of the separation, a second wave of development emerged in areas such as Eruin south of Cruz, and a series of areas such as Butchi and Tonigel were established during this era) .

After the end of the second development, mankind's use of fire was actually limited to mining veins in the Black Forest and igniting fire. Even if it was only a short period of time to create a place of order in the Black Forest, mining or selling mineral ownership would not be possible. Enough to make these people make a lot of money.

But this has actually become a kind of gambling behavior, because the high price and rare quantity of 'tinder' means that a failed ignition may mean the bankruptcy of a large number of people. Therefore, in this era, pioneer knights are no longer a glorious and inherent term, but are related to desperadoes, gamblers, robbers and even bandits.

Since the Year of Summer, Eruin's exploration activities in the Black Forest alone have led to the birth of many "robber knights" who are penniless and even burdened with huge debts.

And it can be said that the orderly and successful development of the Black Forest like Tony Geer is unique after the year of separation. But Brando relied on the power of the ancient fire of the Ring of Trade Winds. Since the fire of the Ring of Trade Winds was ignited, the powerful power of order has actually begun to penetrate and transform the order from Tony Geer to the Kalanga Mountains. environment, so the pioneer knights from the Fir Territory can gain a foothold in the dark forest.

However, Antitina blocked all news about the Black Forest and classified it as Tony Geer's top secret. Therefore, many people generally believe that Brando's success is due to luck, just like those in the Black Forest. Just like a desperate gambler, he luckily lit up a magic crystal mine, got lucky, and won the favor of the goddess of luck, so he achieved his current status.

People with this idea are not just the nobles in the north, but there are also many people among the royal party who are waiting to see Brando get into trouble after eating up all his money.

Antitina was naturally dismissive of these people's thoughts, but this did not prevent her from understanding the value of the bright crystal being held in the hands of Tamar's youngest son at the moment.

She knew that for a long time, the master of alchemy had been studying the ancient fire in the depths of the Ring of Trade Winds under Brando's instructions, and why it could ignore the 'wall of the past' and behave like this. A stable and powerful force of order.

The progress of the research is not fast. Although some fires are indeed produced in the laboratory, most of the fires in Tonigel are still obtained from places such as Ampersel, Braggs and Kurk, which cost a lot of money and require If Brando hadn't insisted, she would have almost ordered the work to be stopped.

The income gained from the Black Forest is actually far less high than people imagine. While the only few mineral veins support the consumption of Valhalla, most of the income is actually used to subsidize its development.

This is still under the condition that the area near Tonigel is affected by the fire of the Ring of Trade Winds. Once it goes deeper, the subsequent investment and personnel losses will be astronomical.

But all this may be rewritten today.

Antitina subconsciously glanced at each other with the princess beside her, and each saw the excitement in the other's eyes.

…(To be continued.)