The ancient parchment was discolored, and although it was magically protected from decay, eight centuries of time (Earth time) still left mottled marks on it. Just as Hao Ren imagined, the witch who was trapped here wrote down everything about herself after she realized that there was no hope of returning home. Now these blackened papers are quietly telling about an ordinary female magician living in another world A short life in this strange space—
"Anyone who can read these letters, if you can understand the writing on them, I express my sincerest kindness and blessings to you, and may the light of knowledge and mystery protect you from wandering here like me. My name is Beatrice, from another world, and I'm sure you are too.
"I came to this place in search of knowledge and mysteries. After a hellish adventure, I fell into the abyss and was finally trapped here. In a sense, I got my wish. What I learned and what I came into contact with Things are miracles that I have never imagined in the past thousands of years, and I believe that even the gods of ancient times would not know the deep mysteries of this world. All my concepts and knowledge systems are almost completely subverted here, No matter how many pages I can describe my astonishment at seeing this underground world, I hope to share the joy of discovery with others, but unfortunately, I can't go back, so I can only record these in on parchment…
Hao Ren quickly ignored those unimportant passages, and only briefly browsed Beatrice's early records in this world. He found that the witch received a lot of help from the locals after she wandered here. The Fire Tribe is a hospitable tribe, and they did not show much hostility towards foreigners of unknown origin. In fact, because Beatrice happens to be good at some fire magic, her skills are regarded by the people in the tribe as evidence of her closeness to natural elements, and in this world, being in harmony with natural elements is itself a proof of "good quality" , so Beatrice easily reached a friendly relationship with the locals.
She became friends with the "Fire Priestess" at the time, the Holy Maiden of the Tribe. The friendship between the two came about strangely: In this world, elementary elemental magic is widely known, but more advanced magic knowledge has been lost. Only saintesses and tribal warriors can rely on bloodlines or artifacts to access advanced magic, and warriors only use these powers to fight. The only ones who really devote themselves to studying magic skills are the saint and her apprentices. The arrival of Beatrice has brought new vitality to this knowledge-depleted world. The saint of the Fire Tribe has found a partner who can study ancient knowledge with her.
They worked together to study those lost ancient symbols and the ancient memories engraved in the blood instinct. In just a few years, the two became close friends. They even restored many ancient magical creations—the "phlogiston lamp" seen in the Wind Tribe was made by Beatrice, and she deciphered the manufacturing method of this ancient artifact from the totem text of the Fire Tribe.
Another deed was the cure of the Black Spot Plague, which established Beatrice's reputation in the hearts of the locals, and she was no longer even treated as a foreigner. People in the tribe regard her as a "Goddess People" like themselves, but this people just happened to fall from the Pillar of Eternity.
"... I spent many years here, and life was a bit difficult at the beginning. I had to learn new characters, languages, customs and even eating habits from scratch. I still remember that a plant here almost killed me at the beginning. , but it is the most commonly eaten food by the locals. That was the first time I intuitively felt what the concept of "different world" is. But anyway, the situation has gradually improved, and this is a place where I can live stably. I I even kind of like it here. In my hometown, people like me are taboo-because of the changing times, magic users are declining. A war between races is drawing to a close, and people like me' The witches' or 'witches' were the losers. I don't have much to miss about my hometown. Nor are the days of hiding and fear. It might be nice to live here - at least for a while. ,I thought so.
"... In my spare time, I am also observing the life of the local people. I am very interested in their religion and the current situation of life, and more importantly, I am very interested in the state of the world. What kind of power can be on the earth? Create another layer of land? This is a concept that is almost a fantasy, but it actually happened in this world. According to the legend of the local people, I believe that the world was never like this at first, and some kind of power beyond imagination changed here...
“…the locals believe that the pillars that hold up the sky and the earth are the arms of giants. And in their religion, there are shadows of ‘huge creatures’ everywhere except for the ‘goddesses.’ The giants hold up the sky. The clouds are a They believe that the wind on the grassland is the yawning of a giant monster named 'Haku', and the whole world is even built on the basis of a hunchbacked old man named 'Toka' On the body, this hunchbacked old man is the gardener of the goddess, and the goddess completed the work of Genesis on the back of this gardener. There are many such legends here, full of grotesque colors, which remind me of the strange things in my hometown in ancient times. 'Gods'. But these legends seem to be impossible to laugh off. Although they are grotesque, they have a clear and rigorous logic that is astonishing. They seem to have really happened, but they have been distorted by historical inheritance.
"Yes, historical inheritance, the historical inheritance of the local people is a more interesting topic. I found that these people once had an extremely brilliant civilization, and its height may be even higher than that of my hometown. This civilization has been broken, and it is undoubtedly the ancient The event that caused the sky to close. In some ancient murals and slate books, I can see what that ancient civilization created: self-driving vehicles, popular flying machines, magic-powered rock guards and iron Giants, and even a magical city called 'Moro Tosh' floating in mid-air. But these things have all disappeared, buried deep in the cracks of the earth...
"... There is a very interesting phenomenon. According to my research, the closing sky event caused the world to lose more than half of its population, and the remaining population gradually withered in the following years, but this process of withering was not entirely a disaster. As a result, it is more like the conscious control of the survivors. I found many ancient slate records that planned to reduce the population, and found that the tribes distributed all over the world followed a strict schedule to reduce even during the period of severance. Their own number, and about three thousand years ago—I mean according to the time concept of this world—they controlled the population to the current scale, and this number has not changed since then.
“…the birth of newborns is strictly regulated, using ancient medicines to control when new offspring can be produced. The growth of newborns also undergoes a ritual-like training process to ensure that newborn children can fully bear themselves Work in the tribe is not so easy to die. There are indications that although these indigenous people do not know what it means to live in an underground world, they are very aware of the fragility and barrenness of this world, perhaps controlling population and civilization The degree is to reduce consumption—this concept has been handed down from ancient times. Although no one knows the meaning behind this, they still strictly follow the teachings of their ancestors. So who educated them to control consumption in this way? Perhaps There is only that goddess.
"I even suspect that they have a way of manipulating the intelligence and thinking of newborn babies—I've found brain-affecting ingredients in the spices they use every day. These spices only slightly suppress brain activity and aren't terribly harmful, but I think I feel that it is this kind of just right restraint that has stagnated the development of their civilization. It has been thousands of years since "the sky closed", which is enough time for them to rebuild the ancient kingdom, but they are still living a nearly primitive life, which should be It is the result of intentional or unintentional control... It's a pity that I don't have much time, and I can't verify these conjectures. And even if it is verified, what can I do? I can't reverse their religious traditions. They regard religion as extremely important. Thousands of years of drug infection and traditional education, many ancient teachings have become something that flows in their blood. As an outsider, I'd better not get involved... "
Hao Ren suddenly raised his head from the pile of old papers, and looked at Bo Niya who was obediently beside him in a daze: "Let me see the spices you usually use for baptizing newborns." (To be continued~^~)