Richard's POV
The orphanage was still quiet when I finished my chores.
Chores. Surprising, I know. Someone like me doing chores. Haa.
The sun had only just begun to rise, painting the sky in pale shades of orange and pink.
Most of the children were still asleep, and even Sister, despite her usual diligence, was nowhere to be seen.
I hesitated at the front door, recalling how she had looked last night–dishelved, hollow-eyed, barely holding herself together.
Yet, when I finally saw her as I stepped outside, she looked... better. Not completely, but enough to appear as if she was trying.
Her hair was neatly tied into a bun again, her usual warm smile making a hesitant return.
She waved at me awkwardly as I passed. I merely nodded. I wasn't sure what to say, nor did I think saying anything would change what had already happened.
The world was cruel. But I had known that long before yesterday.
I turned and made my way toward the town library.
*********
The library was an impressive two-storey building made of polished stone and wood.
A building meant to house knowledge, though whether that knowledge was valuable or tainted with the bias of its human writers remained to be seen.
Stepping inside l, I was met with the scent of old parchment and ink, the soft glow of lanterns illuminating rows upon rows of bookshelves.
Strange round objects attached to the ceilings providing light to the place as well.
There were a few people present tho none paid me any mind.
Approaching the front desk, I cleared my throat to get the attention of the middle-aged woman sitting behind it.
She glanced up from her book, looking mildly irritated at the Interruption.
"What is it?"
"I need access to the history section and any books related to magic," I said.
She scoffed. "You're not an awakened, are you? Spell books are restricted to only awakened."
Of course they are. Humans were so paranoid about power.
I held back my annoyance. "Fine. Just tell me where the history books are."
She gestured lazily. "Shelves one and five."
I left her without another word, walking between the towering bookshelves. I found the two books I needed–Lumora's After War History and General History of the continent–and settled into a chair.
And then, flipping the page open, I began to read.
********
Two hours. That's how long it took for me to process the sheer weight of information before me.
So this was what happened after my death.
The spell that killed me–that dawned Sage's final act–had not just wiped me out but had slaughtered thousands, both demon and human alike.
It left the demon race in chaos, our once-unified kingdom fracturing under the greed of the seven great clans.
I had spent centuries forging an empire, only for those fools to tear it apart in mere years.
Humans, of course, seized the opportunity. Like the parasites they were, they burrowed into the cracks of our fractured society, striking when we were at our weakest.
Aragon, once nothing more than a small kingdom, led the charge. They retook the lands I had painstakingly conquered, pressing their advantage with ruthless efficiency.
And when they emerged victorious, they claimed those lands as their own, forcing fealty from the now weaker nations.
And that was how the Aragon Empire was born.
Hah. The arrogance.
It was infuriating, but not surprising.
The real blow however, came when I read about the Elves.
I had burned their nation to the ground. I had personally reduced the Silvermoon Empire to ash, slaughtering about 95% of their wretched kind.
Even the World Tree, the very heart of their people, had been incinerated by my flames.
And yet... they survived.
It had taken them eight hundred years for the World Tree to regrow. Eight centuries for their race to crawl out of near extinction.
And even then, they were but a shadow of their former selves. Their lifespans had been drastically shortened, their strength diminished, and their numbers a mere fraction of what they once were.
A slow death.
I smirked.
Good. They deserved it.
Their hatred for me must have been unfathomable. Even now, centuries later, the name Deivaros Veirs Crimson likely still sent chills down their spines.
If only they knew that I was still here, still breathing, still watching.
But what truly caught my attention–what made me pause–was the information about mana.
Something had changed after my death. The mana in the world had diminished, not in quality but quantity.
While this did make the mana more controllable, it also made independent awakenings... impossible.
No longer could people simply awaken to their cores on their own. The Holy Order now conducted the ceremonies for awakenings.
The Holy Order.
I gritted my teeth at that name.
Those self-righteous vermin.
I had wiped them out. Burned their temples, slaughtered their followers, eradicated their faith from the face of Lumora.
Yet, here they were.
Alive. Thriving. And still training new heroes.
I should have known. The Order was like a disease, persistent and impossible to kill completely.
They were the ones who had trained the hero before, and from the looks of things were still doing it.
Lucia...
My jaw tightened.
At least now I understood.
I closed the book, exhaling sharply. The ranking system had been changed, though not entirely.
Now,it was categorised into Grades, with Grade 1 being the pinnacle for most. But there was something beyond that–Special Grade.
A rank so powerful that even multiple Grade 1s would stand no chance against a single one. And there were only seven in the entire continent.
Tch. Humans always finding a new way to label their strength.
I stood up, returning the books to the shelves.
Just as I was about to leave, something caught my eye. A smaller book titled The Age of Advancement: Rise of Technology.
Technology huh?
I picked it up, flipping through the pages.
Strange Contraptions, like the ones I saw yesterday, filled the images. They were metallic vehicles called cars, buses, and bikes.
There were also screened devices called televisions that displayed moving images, cell phones, devices that allowed communication over long distances.
Even aircrafts. Tho they were works in progress and only aircrafts designed for military purposes had really been created.
All this was really just fascinating.
Humanity had adapted in ways I had never anticipated. The absence of widespread mana had forced them to evolve differently, relying on innovation rather than raw magical prowess.
I could respect that.
Still didn't make them any less pathetic tho.
Closing the book, I placed it back and walked toward the exit.
This world had changed. Drastically.
But one thing remained the same.
Power ruled all.
And if there was one constant in this world, one undeniable truth that had persisted across the ages it was–
The strong dictated the fate of the weak.
And I would make sure I stood at the top once more.