Two days after the procession returned from Nantes, Noah’s desk was stacked high with books. Most were modern copies of older records, while some bore the church’s seal, certifying its approval of the contents. They weren’t exactly what he wanted, but he decided to start with them before searching for other sources.
That morning, the teacher arrived and sat across from Noah’s desk. He noted the number of open books in front of Noah.
"I heard from the house head that you’ve been interested in the records of the empire’s founding since you returned," she said.
"I wanted to know why the nobility considers the lives of those of lower blood to be worthless."
The teacher’s expression changed slightly when he heard Robert’s name without a title, but he made no comment. Instead, he pulled the oldest book from the table and placed it between them.
"To understand the nobility’s status, we must first return to our origins as human beings."
The teacher opened the book to a faded map whose clear borders had mostly disappeared. The continent on which the empire was located was drawn in the center, while at the edge of the page, dotted lines indicated a distant land beyond the sea.
"After a long migration, our ancestors arrived from another continent. The details of this journey remain hidden in the mists of ancient times, and the name of this continent has been lost to history."
Noah looked intently at the map before asking:
"How did hundreds of thousands cross the sea without leaving clear records of their ships or their routes?"
"They did not all arrive at the same time, and the migration lasted a long time. The stories passed down by the survivors became oral traditions, and most of them were lost during the catastrophe that followed."
The answer wasn’t really convincing, but Noah didn’t interrupt him. He was interested in hearing the official account in its entirety before looking for contradictions.
The teacher continued speaking after turning several pages.
"When our ancestors first arrived on this land, they discovered that it was under the control of the Great Jinn. His power surpassed that of any human sorcerer; yet instead of expelling or oppressing our ancestors, he granted them land on which to settle and protected them from monsters and disasters they were unable to face alone."
"So it began as a debt that humans were obligated to repay."
"Humans lived under the jinn’s protection and believed their suffering ended! However, the world began to lose its warmth, and the reason was the Great Jinn’s descendant."
At first, people thought the winter was harsher than usual, but the cold did not subside as the months passed. Rivers froze to the bottom, and crops failed before they could ripen. When the villages ran out of firewood, people were forced to tear down their homes and burn the timber to stay alive.
The sorcerers were able to protect small groups using fire, but their power was not enough to warm an entire land. As the cold persisted, those of the lower bloodline were the first to die because their bodies were unable to withstand the frost or draw upon mana.
The teacher said, "Humans sent a group to the Great Jinn’s headquarters to find out the cause of the freezing. There they discovered that his offspring required an enormous amount of heat to complete its growth. It was drawing warmth from the earth ,air and the seas, and so the entire world was freezing for the sake of a single life’s birth."
"It was his only offspring, and so he refused to sacrifice it. Perhaps he thought humans would be able to endure the cold until the birth was complete, but no one knew how much heat the offspring still needed."
The teacher partially closed the book, then ran his fingers over the cover before continuing.
"When the truth spread, humanity split into two factions. Some saw fighting the Great Jinn as a betrayal of the being who had saved them, while others believed that loyalty did not mean waiting for the death of all humanity. Most of the High Blood Wizards sided with the second faction, because they were the only ones capable of confronting the Great Jinn."
The conflict among humans began even before the real war started. Loyalists to the Great Jinn tried to prevent the sorcerers from reaching his heir, and so the settlements turned into battlefields. After the first casualty fell, neither side was willing to back down.
And when the sorcerers attacked the Great Jinn’s stronghold, he struck back with a force that tore apart the land he had granted to their ancestors. The mountains collapsed and the plains cracked open, allowing seawater to surge in. As the temperature dropped, the bodies of the dead froze before anyone could bury them.
A vast number of sorcerers died during the war, but the survivors learned to use mana in ways that had never been known before. The longer the battle raged, the more powerful they became, even as their numbers dwindled, until in the end only six remained.
"And they are the founders of the current system?" Noah asked.
"Yes, the six managed to kill the Great Jinn. Then, they reached his offspring before its birth was complete and killed it as well. When the offspring died, the heat it had gathered returned to the world, and the ice began to melt."
The teacher opened a scroll before Noah containing an illustration of the six survivors standing majestically above a land covered in corpses while a crowd of humans knelt in submission.
"Those of the lower bloodline saw that the sorcerers had sacrificed all their companions to save humanity, so they decided to swear an oath of eternal loyalty before them, pledging their allegiance to the sorcerers in exchange for preserving the world’s warmth and stability. This oath came to be known as the Unbreakable Covenant."
The teacher read the phrase written beneath the drawing:
"Once again, as long as those of the Higher Blood remain in power, humanity will not suffer from hunger or frost."
Noah continued to gaze at the image, while the teacher went on to explain what happened after the war. Five of the sorcerers fathered sons to whom they passed on the power of the Higher Blood, and from their descendants arose the great families.
As for the sixth sorcerer, he did not father an heir; instead, he chose to guide the new families and establish the rules governing their relationship with those of the Lower Blood. Over time, his group became the origin of the current church.
Dear reader, before reading this novel, please understand that English is not my native language. If you enjoy it, I would greatly appreciate your support in correcting any linguistic or grammatical errors.