The Accidental Archmage by Edmund Batara (read out loud books .TXT) 📕

tablets, Elder. It seems science on

your world had traveled down a different path. For your ancestors, it was science and

magic combined as a tool for the search for more knowledge and the path to

ascendance.”

“So why call me an Elder? I come from Earth, not Adar.”

“Your ancestors came from Earth, Elder. Events in their history forced them to move to

this world. But with the destruction of the rest of my memory banks, I cannot provide

details about such events. Only a few incomplete strands of data remain accessible to

me. I fear the information from the rest of the tablets have been corrupted by damage

or destroyed, hence such data is to be denied release as it is incomplete and may

mislead. As for your status, your ancestors have already foreseen your arrival on this

world as a being devoid of any magical energy. It could have been somebody else from

Earth but that person will have to come from a timeline when magical energy is almost

absent.”

“Please explain.”

“Your ancestors left the First World after a series of devastating conflicts among them.

Some of them have ascended to a level equal to gods of their time. But burdened with

human traits and desires, ascendancy of their forms to a higher level was not perfect.

Greed, the desire for power, and madness tainted many of these ascended. Maladies which led to the conflicts I mentioned. Conflicts which maximized the use of magical

energies on Earth, greatly depleting what that world had to offer. Wars which lasted for

millennia. For a time, the destruction resulted in a planet barely fit to live in. As a result, the few who survived the cataclysmic conflicts moved to Adar. A magical echo of what

the Earth was at the birth of sentient life. But through the ages, they had come to

realize that though Earth retained some magical energy, the rise of deities and magical

beings through the willful and strong beliefs of men, not to mention man’s intentional

use of such magical energy, will affect the availability of magical energy on the First

World. With the beginnings of monotheistic beliefs and your kind of science, they

concluded that the time was nearing that magical energy will eventually be depleted as

belief is crucial to magic and the renewal of magical energies.”

“Wait, you mean belief in magical energies creates magical energies? Isn’t that an

argument going around in a loop?”

“Back then, there were two kinds of magical or divine energies on Earth. One is what

had been called many things but the terms “mana”, “ether”, and “akasha” were the

most common. A remnant of creation, it is the greater energy that flows among and in

everything. But humans are gifted with another form of energy, a personal one, a

divine spark if you will. One which gave them life in the first place. A spark which also

enabled humans to be sentient life forms. This personal energy has also been called

many things: “life force”, “the soul”, “prana”, even as the “odic force”. When man

believes in magical energy, then each being so believing unconsciously creates “mana”.

Which in turn gives life and substance to man’s imagined gods and mythological beings,

among other uses. In a way, it also renews to a certain extent the magical energies in a

world. But when man’s beliefs turn from a belief in the existence of magic and magical

beings to a monotheistic Creator or even in your present-day belief in scientific and

non-magical principles, then no such energy is created. The quantity of the magical

energy in a world becomes stagnant. Yet depleted constantly by the existence of

magical beings, the use of such energies by human warlocks, sorcerers and witches,

and worse of all, expended needlessly in great conflicts involving man’s created

mythological beings. Just consider the expenditure of magical energy in what humans

of this world call a Divine War. Imagine the drain of the world’s magical energy if such

a war lasts a millennium or more.”

Tyler thought for a while, trying to make sense of what the voice was saying. He knew

some information was deliberately being withheld from him. Which was but logical as

he would be doing the same if the position were reversed. Truth has always been

elusive and subject to the vagaries and needs of those who present them. The voice

itself admitted that the Elder, or at least their own ancestors, were subject to human

frailties. But even so, his mind was struggling to wrap itself around the concepts and

ideas now being presented to him.

“In effect, what you are saying is that these mythological deities and beings are created by man and his imagination.”

“Correct.”

“That when Earth started believing in a non-magical and monotheistic God and non-

magical principles, magical energy on Earth started depleting to the extent of being a

threat to mythological beings?”

“Yes, Elder. Hence, the Great Migration as I believe you have heard it called by beings

of this world.”

“You say these events were foreseen by your makers?”

“Yes, Elder. Your ancestors saw what was going to happen after observing Earth

through countless millennia. They were, above all, inveterate but secretive seekers of

knowledge. But at the time of the Great Migration, only a few Elders remained on Adar,

mostly to set the final preparations for the coming of their descendants. After they have

all left, one thing they didn’t foresee was the many Divine Wars which erupted. Though

their sanctuaries were cloaked from magical beings or even the humans of Adar, they

were not impervious to damage and destruction. As a result, as reticent a race the

Elders may be in the matter of interference with Adar’s affairs, they were forced to

intervene during the last Divine War which threatened Adar itself in many ways.

Appearing in lower but ascended forms, they stopped the war and laid down rules for

the pantheons.”

“You called me an Elder. How did you determine that?”

“Humans born in Adar have magical energy in their bones, though of varying degrees of

potency. This energy permeates everything in a world. Modern humans from your

world, with its nearly depleted magical energy, have no such power. Any magical

energy remaining in your world are barely enough to maintain the existence of a few

minor mythological beings and artifacts. And inevitably, they will be gone from your

world forever.