When people think of the World Tree, they usually imagine a grand, sky-piercing banyan tree that blocks out the sun, followed by endless lush forests and the fairies and elves living under the World Tree, guarding it.
At least, that’s how most fantasy stories Fia has read are set up.
However, to Fia’s surprise, according to Anastasia, in this world she now finds herself in, the World Tree is not just a tree, but an entire continent.
Since there were no pursuers along the way, Anastasia could leisurely explain the common knowledge of this world to Fia as they walked.
First of all, this is a continent inhabited by humans, elves, beastmen, fairies, frost crystal tribes, the undead, vampires, and dragons, known as the ‘World Tree Continent.’
It is said that thousands of years ago, all beings lived on a more expansive land under the protection of the gods.
However, one day, the dark faction, composed of dragons, the undead, and giants, challenged the gods.
The prolonged war devastated the world, and in the final divine battle, both the gods and the dark faction were severely wounded.
The world was filled with the resentment of the dead gods and the blood shed by the dark faction, which mixed together to become the all-consuming black ‘Chaos.’
Chaos not only devours the living but also strips away death.
Neither gods nor the undead can resist the invasion of Chaos.
To survive, the surviving gods transferred living beings to this place, which was considered a place of exile at the time, but because it protruded much more than the normal land, it accidentally prevented Chaos from reaching the World Tree Continent.
Thus, the remaining living beings began to take root here, multiply, and gradually form the current structure.
As for the whereabouts of the gods, according to Anastasia, the gods have been in slumber due to the excessive power consumption in the divine war and will only deliver divine revelations to guide believers to the light in times of extreme crisis.
Additionally, the dark faction, which was opposed to the gods at the time, also came to the World Tree Continent during their escape.
The dark faction does not refer to a single race but is the name of a faction, including dragons, giants, and the undead.
Although, like the gods, the dark faction is not a monolith, there are factions within it, but it is too complex and involves too many names, so Fia plans to slowly understand it later when she has time.
Compared to the history of the continent, Fia is more concerned with matters closely related to herself.
For example, the war between humans and elves.
Unlike humans, who have split into several countries, the elves have only one unified empire occupying the northeast corner of the continent, while the place where she is now belongs to a human country called the ‘Holy Kingdom of Milcandis.’
The Holy Kingdom of Milcandis is a theocratic state.
Because the gods worshipped by the elves are different from those worshipped by the Holy Kingdom, and because the Elven Empire Silivar borders the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis, conflicts often arise between the two, eventually leading to a formal war two years ago.
The death of the elven princess on the battlefield was also due to the war between the two sides.
Interestingly, when Fia asked Anastasia why, despite having magic that could destroy an entire city in an instant, both sides dared to start a formal war, Anastasia’s answer was that such magic does exist, but it doesn’t mean that any magic chanter can use it.
As recorded in the ‘Witch’s Secret History,’ on the World Tree Continent, those who use magic are called magic chanters, and the magic used by magic chanters is divided into ten ranks, from low to high, with higher numbers indicating greater power.
And magic that can destroy a city in an instant is at least of the seventh rank or higher.
Magic from the seventh rank onwards touches the realm of forbidden spells.
Except for some extremely special forbidden spells, magic chanters usually have to pay a price to use forbidden spells.
Some require a large number of magic crystals, some require burning the life of the caster, and some even require sacrificing living beings.
Therefore, not every magic chanter is willing to use forbidden spells.
Not to mention that the number of magic chanters is very small, making them a scarce resource, and training them requires a lot of money and time.
Moreover, even with enough manpower and resources, individual talent determines whether a person can become a top magic chanter.
Any magic chanter who can use forbidden spells stands at the top of the national pyramid.
For example, in the Elven Kingdom of Silivar, there are only four such individuals in the entire country.
Given their scarcity, no country is willing to treat magic chanters as disposable resources.
More interestingly, because Anastasia’s description differs from that in the ‘Witch’s Secret History’—the ‘Witch’s Secret History’ states that magic capable of instantly destroying an entire city is at least of the ninth rank, while Anastasia describes seventh-rank magic as capable of destroying a city—Fia couldn’t help but relay the content of the ‘Witch’s Secret History’ to Anastasia and ask for an explanation.
In response, Anastasia said it was because she and the author of the book had different understandings of ‘city.’
Anastasia’s idea of a city refers to a very small city.
In this world, smaller cities generally have populations of around ten thousand, usually between thirty to eighty thousand.
Only major hub cities might reach higher numbers, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
Even the most populous capitals of various countries do not exceed three million people—this is already a terrifying number.
Without magical support, it is impossible to form such large cities at this world’s level of production.
Even the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis barely has eight hundred thousand people.
It is precisely the difference in city scale that causes the discrepancy between the ‘Witch’s Secret History’ and Anastasia’s description.
Normally, a seventh-rank wide-area magic can destroy a small city of ten thousand people.
For important hub cities like Aurora City, eighth-rank wide-area magic is needed.
As for the ninth-rank magic depicted in the ‘Witch’s Secret History,’ it is enough to destroy a capital with a population of one million.
“Destroying a city with a population of one million is only ninth-rank magic…” Fia couldn’t help but murmur.
In Fia’s impression, a ‘city’ always started with a population of ten million.
Or rather, in her era, without a population of ten million, people would be embarrassed to call their place a ‘city’; at most, it could be called a county or town.
So Fia always thought that the ‘Witch’s Secret History’ referred to a city with a population of ten million, and thus she considered her Nebula Magic to be ninth-rank.
Now it seems that the power of Nebula Magic is more than ten times that of ninth-rank magic.
“Only?!” Hearing Fia’s murmur, Anastasia’s eyes widened.
“Your Highness, anyone who can use ninth-rank magic is a hero among heroes.
The ninth-rank magic that has appeared in history is probably less than the number of shooting stars I’ve seen! In the four hundred years since the founding of our Elven Kingdom of Silivar, apart from our ancestors using ninth-rank magic once, no one else has ever used ninth-rank magic.”
Her voice was filled with disbelief.
Clearly, she was treating Fia as a child who didn’t know what she was talking about.
“No…” Fia wanted to refute, but in the end, she held her tongue.
Without letting Anastasia witness it herself, Anastasia wouldn’t believe her.
She decided to wait for an opportunity to demonstrate in an uninhabited area.
Otherwise, when she told Anastasia that she could use magic more powerful than ninth-rank magic without chanting, it would surely sound as fantastical as rivers flowing backward or rice eating people.
Fia chose to change the subject.
“Speaking of which, Anastasia, do magic chanters in this world not need to consume something like mana when using magic?” When she was randomly casting magic in the desert, she never felt like she was running out of mana, and the ‘Witch’s Secret History’ didn’t mention that using magic required consuming mana, so Fia had to ask Anastasia.
Anastasia’s expression instantly became subtle.
“Of course, mana is required, Your Highness.
Without mana, there is no magic—ah, we’ve arrived.
This should be the clinic you mentioned, Your Highness.”
As her words fell, a two-story house, no different from the surrounding residential buildings, appeared in front of Fia.
