Chapter 2: So-called "Great Spirit Era"

I was too excited to fall asleep. I was shocked that an actual spirit from the stories I’ve read actually appeared in this world. The stuff you would usually see in legends long ago, trapped in history.

I quickly rummaged through my collection of books, usually deemed as simply fantasy by the rest of the village and grabbed one of my favorite books. I lit up the lantern sitting idly in the desk and started reading.

“The Legend of the Death-Walker Hemlock”:

“Contrary to his title he never brought death to anyone around him, not even to his enemies. One day he received a spirit telling him that if he wanted to achieve his greatest desire to unify the world, he must never kill a single soul. Because of his pacifistic nature, he became one of the pioneers of the continent’s unification. He went to village to village, establishing connections for each city. He walked day by day, taking records of where he visited to the point that he started one of the biggest guilds in the continent, the Hemlock Archivers.”

“He walked between life and death as he painstakingly traveled the whole continent to reach his ultimate goal; the creation of the World Map. Every cave, every town and city, every dungeon and liar he visited and mapped it out for the world to see. He sent his work through every city he went to. He died unexpectedly, not even halfway done with his greatest work. But wherever he walked, his followers ran towards it as the Archivers continue to complete the map of the continent (now called Alder). Their followers even today continue their work to unify the world by recording and displaying wherever they go. His achievements pioneered the transportation era with roads and paths to many villages and the rise of many travel guilds. Trade routes and vehicles are made possible by Hemlock and his followers by walking through every step of the way. Even coexistence with some of the different races of the continent was made possible with the Archiver’s guidance.”

“Many landmarks are made in his name such as the Great Hemlock Highway, Walker Trade Center and the Banana Peel Chasm. Even some villages still have statues of the great pioneer in the center of town.”

“He made many companions who would go on to become legends themselves, those legends who are mostly guided by spiritual forces; the Great Spirit Period. But those who are guided by these spirits don’t always end up being virtuous people as the period also brought some of the most terrifying monsters known to the world, adversaries that threaten the destruction of the world with their terrifying abilities.”

“Every encounter Hemlock faced has been always full of danger and both sides never left unscathed. Because of Hemlock’s situation, he would never kill any of the enemies he faced, usually leaving them incapacitated. He was known by Alder as one of the most merciful legend in the entire period.”

I stopped what I was reading, pondering if there are spirits like that and then started to think back of what Zephyr was talking about back then. How he asked for his desire, drive, and motivation. But before I could think of anything further, a wave of exhaustion passed through me, shutting down my eyelids as I drifted off to sleep.

… “Hmmmm” a voice echoed throughout the dark and empty background, too faint to tell where is it coming from.

“This is certainly something rare to find, I haven’t seen this happening months ago.” Another voice chimed in, a voice resembling a lady.

“I guess adventures are a thing of the past nowadays” the lady voice continued.

“Well with what happened with the so-called ‘Great Controversy’, it would make sense that everyone has been down lately.” The other voice replied.

The Great Controversy, what are they talking about?

“It looks like I will have to rely on my past experiences for this run to work” the voice said, sighing at the end in defeat.

As I try to process what happened, it became morning.