Arcane Journey

Chapter 310 The transaction with the old man of Nise
"Welcome." Iolum, who was sitting on the chair, said in a soft voice, standing up and nodding to Brian, his gray hair dancing with his movements.

"I'm Iolum, and I'm very glad to meet you. Although I don't think it will take a few years, I still feel very relieved to see you come here in person in advance."

There was an illusion that made Brian feel that the great arcanist known as the 'Father of Nether' was not talking politely to him.

So, he straightened his back even more, and looked straight into Iolum's eyes, "Your Excellency Iolum, I'm more interested in the civilization of Netheril than the civilization of mind flayers."

"Really? Then you really found the right person."

Iolum smiled and said that Brian felt that there was a trace of sadness in the old man's smile. His smile made his dimly glowing face appear fine wrinkles. On the smooth and pale translucent skin, it seemed that tiny spider web.

"Then can you tell me about the history of ancient Netheril." He asked meekly: "As a descendant of the empire, I regret that I don't know much about it. After a few hours here, Already I feel like I've learned more than our surviving people have learned in the past hundred years."

Iolum turned his bright deep purple eyes on Brian, and that look made Brian flinch, not because he was afraid, but because he had never felt so thoroughly seen.

"The Netherese are never stingy with sharing their knowledge, young Brann, but... I think you may be the first person I've seen in thousands of years to come to me. What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Brian said.

Iolum sighed slightly, Brian couldn't feel the meaning of his sigh, so he said calmly:
"The lessons from that era are bitter, accompanied by blood, death and destruction. But ironically, the culprit who almost destroyed us later brought us redemption: a sense of belonging. The owner of every floating city Only be true to yourself, and never care about the safety of other floating cities. It was a terrible mistake that united us in the first place, and later made us united in rebellion. We are still atoning for that mistake. Future generations of Nether The people of Riel will still pay for these mistakes, but the unity itself is great. This is also the lesson I am trying to draw from the ashes of destruction. Unity, harmony. This is a valuable experience from the past, and I have learned a lot about it I have experience."

"Come with me, and I'll take you for a walk along the corridor of history." Iolum's deep purple eyes flickered slightly, showing a soothing and gentle smile.

"Young Brian, you will have the opportunity to witness the history of Netheril. Don't deny it. You are familiar with it, I have no doubt. But today, you will have access to a visual history that comes to life. If you Don't be shocked if you are an expert in the School of Illusion, these are the masterpieces of my once enthusiastic students."

His right hand flicked gently across the air, and the room began to flicker, as if someone had suddenly thrown a stone into the calm reflection of the lake.

Brian saw the scene in front of him flicker more and more, and suddenly, the room and the mastermind with a reddish luster disappeared, appearing in a bright magical corridor.

Both sides of the corridor are covered with pieces of dark blue crystals, just like the display screens on the square, following Iolum's simple instructions, all of them play a clear picture.

In the first video, the residents of the narrow sea fishing villages of Fenwick, Guise, Gillan, Gustav, Moran, Nosev, and Janik united to form an alliance of seven towns in order to protect each other.

To celebrate this alliance, the Netherian calendar was introduced.

"The dawn of the age of dawn," said Bryan.

"That's right." Iolum said, "Under the leadership of Nether the Elder, the seven small fishing villages in the Narrow Sea were united and named: Severton. The power of life and death, as well as the mastery of necromancy, sits at the top of power in every fishing village. As the power grows, Netherese changes the name of Sevington: Netheril, which means 'Dominion of Netheril' ', and his shamans began to teach the gifted Netherese the arts of necromancy."

"What about this one? What's the event?" Brian looked at the second one.

"The enlightenment of elven magic." Iolum said, "The Netherese began to study magic and focus on necromancy, which aroused the concern of the high-level officials of the neighboring elven kingdom Yeerlan. Yeerlan sent people to start paying attention to Netheril. After extensive discussions Afterwards, Yeerlan high-level officials believed that the best way to curb the development momentum of the Jaeger Church was to provide Netheril with another way to learn magic.

In order to prevent the Nether people from abusing necromancy and worshiping the god of death, the elves of Yeerlan started the initial dialogue with us and began to teach promising students to learn the arcane arts.They will take the chosen children away from their parents and go to the kingdom of the elves of Yerlaan, which is now the High Forest.What you see is that historic moment.

As you can see, all the kids were terrified except for the determined brown-haired boy who offered to reach out to the elf for the magic test, with a completely trusting smile on his face.He was Selion, Netheril's first great arcanist.Ye Erlan's strategy was very effective, the influence of the Jaeger Church began to decrease, and the Necromancer was reduced to one of the eight schools. "

"What is this crowded scene?"

"The turning point of history." Iolum explained patiently, "Old Netherese was assassinated, the younger Netherese gained the right to rule, and the Netherese chose a form of rule based on loose democratic politics. The rule has continued to this day, forming an empire called an empire, but it is actually just a loose and ununited city federation, laying the groundwork for future destruction, it is really vulgar and terrible."

He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Go on, this is an orc horde swarming from the Spine of the World, but the elves of Irfaran and Yeerlan are aided by the fledgling barbarians of Netheril and Rangath , repelled them. The Langath tribe was absorbed into Netheril, but these barbarians still retained a large degree of self-government, tracing the source of history, the Bedai barbarians are a branch of the Langath tribe."

"This scene." Brian said, looking at the Grand Arcanist, "is the trigger for another great war. In the end, after several years of successful expedition against the orcs, a mage lord named Esther bloodbathed the people of the Standing Stone Plain. The land of the rock gnomes, and killed and captured all the gnomes there, men, women, and children. And so began the war, which ended in tragedy for the gnomes."

"Your knowledge of history is impressive." Iolum smiled again, "but you should also remember that these wars did not involve any well-known arcanists. Because of this, no student is willing to draw images of related subjects .But it just so happens that I keep a diary about a rock gnome child."

Brian followed his gaze and saw a dwarf the size of a human baby curled up in a corner in a cold and damp cave, writing in a diary tremblingly:

Moon of Storms (April) 15th: I hate living like a mole in a musty cave.

But there's no way - our underground guard is dead, and we have nowhere to go.

The Netherese are at it again.

They killed Gretaum the Burrower with crackling lightning as she tried to protect us with her pickaxe.

They just waved their hands and grabbed the uncle and aunt.

Dad said we had to try to pray to Gal, and I did, but it didn't work.

The Netherilians keep coming back to take our people away.

I figured Gal must be mad at me, but Dad reassured me that he wouldn't.

Oh bastard Gal!

18th of Moon of Storms: We've been running through underground tunnels for days.

I'm sorry I cursed Gal, but I really don't know what else I can do.

I will be an adult next year, but maybe that day will never come.

21st of Moon of Storms: Today, I saw my uncles and aunts and some other people who were taken away, but they didn't look like their original self.

Their skin became warty and yellow-gray, their hair red, and their arms long and thin.

When Auntie saw me, she giggled loudly and started growing bigger—even bigger than those Netherese, and Uncle conjured flames out of thin air.

They're starting to get us!

He said that the creepers had made the people of Netheril give him new life.

Baba and I ran away as hard as we could, but I think we were the only ones who got away.

Dad got hurt and I became a human being.

Gal, please help us.

…………

"Most of my generation hope that this history can be forgotten forever, and the reason is very understandable. Let this history quietly sink into the abyss of forgetting, let it slip into the bottom of time, until the lake calms down again, no People will remember the memories buried in the depths." Iolum's old face wrinkled deeper, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"I am also ashamed of this history, even though I was not born when this happened, but pretending that this history does not exist means forgetting what it has brought to us. We will also end up making ourselves victims , instead of acknowledging that we have personally participated in our own destruction. We have chosen this path ourselves. We have chosen to walk this path until it is too late and there is no turning back. But it is also because we have made It is through such choices that we learn what lies at the end of that dark and shameful road.

So, I want to hear the experiences of those who have walked down this path that has almost led to the destruction of our entire species.I wanted to understand why they took each step, what made those decisions sound, appropriate, and right at the time.

I want to know this so that I can be aware of similar signs when they reappear.

There are two common sayings, the wisdom contained in them is beyond imagination.

The first sentence is: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The second sentence is... know your enemy! "

"The corridor of history..." Brian murmured, recalling the words of the great arcanist, before walking to the next image, "This one?"

"A Sarukh lich of unearthly power disguised himself as a human archmage and appeared to the Netherese who began to learn magic from the elves of Eerland. Although he called himself Alcindor, the Netherese The Er people gave him the title of 'Earth Prophet', because his power enabled him to see what happened in all parts of the world." Iolum stared at the image, sighed and said:
"The Earthseer, who taught us the secrets of the Arcane Arts and appeared to aid them many times over the centuries, never seemed to grow old. His exploits included translating numerous Netherian scrolls, exploring the northern Sword Coast, Occupation of the Owl's Well, and the warning contained in his many prophecies and teachings that the Netherese would perish at the hand of Karthus."

"Ashindor, the Prophet of the Earth?" Brian murmured to himself. In his impression, this Sarukh Lich would still have a chance to reappear in the future.

"That's right." Iolum's eyes, which made Brian feel terrible, saw through the thoughts in his heart, "Through the prophecy spell, I saw in the future fragment that you will soon be with this Prophet of the Earth. Intersect."

"So you can predict the future?" Brian looked at him in surprise.

There was an unspeakable sympathy in Iolum's strange deep purple eyes, and he put a pale hand on Bryan's shoulder.

"No, boy, the future is not a book to read."

Sadness floated across his old face, and he whispered, "The future is always changing, just like the current of water, or the whirling wind and sand. Occasionally I am lucky enough to get some guidance for the future, but that's all. What I can do Only to tell you what I have just said. The course of a river can be changed, but only you can make it change. This is all I know, how much I have longed for my prayers to save my people .”

The expression on Iolam's wrinkled face and his tone of voice made Brian understand something more that he didn't say: Iolam himself didn't believe that the prophecy was enough to save his people.

Therefore, when he learned of Netheril's future and was powerless to save it, he chose to leave his floating city.

As they moved on, Brian heard the rustling of human ghosts in Iolum, sounds that seemed to hold terrible secrets.

In the next five hours or so, under the leadership of Iolum, Brian witnessed the dawn of the Netheril Empire, the era of Mitherian nuclear energy, the silver age, the golden age, and the last age of discovery and Shadow Age.

And there was an aura emanating from the face of the old Nether that transcended time, which made Brian understand that Iolum welcomes him to ask any questions.

"Brian, for you." The two walked to the end of the corridor, with Iolum's old phantom facing him, "What is death?"

"The end." Brian replied.

"The end of what?"

"The end of existence." Brian looked at his back suspiciously, "It seems that the topic of our discussion will shift from history to philosophy."

"Nature doesn't understand any philosophical concepts, young Brian." Iolum's wise eyes flickered slightly, "People usually call their own attempts to understand the pathetic—or absurd—behavior of nature philosophy. They think that the result of this kind of experiment is also philosophy. Like the cause and effect of the question of "which came first, the chicken or the egg", and call the result of thinking "the eternal and mysterious conflict between the head and the root" ’, and see the rain as an unfathomable inducement. We arcanists don’t waste time trying to figure out what nature is, because we know what it is: we are nature ourselves. Do you understand?”

"I'm trying to understand, but please speak slowly, you look like you are talking to an egg." Brian said with a slight headache.

He really couldn't explain anything about the Grand Arcanist's problem.

"Have you ever wondered what the essential principles of the Metherian core were when it was invented?" asked Iolum, the inventor of the Metherian core. "The common view is simple: Netheril Man has tamed magic, they've forced it to serve them, just as man has conquered nature and taken control of it... How's your relationship with women, Brian?"

"Ah, sorry, what did you say?" Brian was stunned by his sudden question.

With the rustling of human ghosts, Iolum turned around and stared at him with a smile on his old face.

"I'm asking," he repeated, "what do you think about relationships between men and women."

"Which aspect are you referring to?"

"In your opinion, can a man force a woman to obey? Of course, I mean real women, not the general female species. Will real women be controlled? Will they be conquered? Will they bend to your will? If so, how do you do it? Answer me."

"..." Brian didn't know how to answer the question for a moment, he said, "In my opinion, men and women have always been equal, and I will try my best to make myself respect them."

"It seems you have figured it out," Iolum said after a moment.

"Perhaps you have always understood. So you should be able to understand that if the concepts of will and submission, command and obedience, male master and female servant are completely eliminated, unity will be achieved. The group will become a real whole. One heart. If this can If it happens, death and destruction will be meaningless. The magical power of the Mithr energy core will also be respected, and if we make good use of it, we may be able to avoid the fate of the empire’s destruction.”

"So, I know that what we Netherese have lost is far more than what we have gained. At that time, our culture was not polluted, pure and simple. We were protected and loved like children .but kids need to grow and our race is too easily manipulated.

Indeed, trust is important, and no one can say I don't understand it.But we must also be cautious.Deceit can lurk beneath those rosy exteriors, and even those we trust in our hearts can be seduced.

As I imagine the days gone by, I lament our lost innocence.But it is also our innocence that leads us to depravity. "

"We are all lacking in some way, it has nothing to do with our race. Sometimes weakness is really a strength not yet manifested, sometimes it leads to our total destruction, and sometimes it is a combination of both. The wise understand Its faults, and will learn from them, and the foolish man will allow his weaknesses to control and destroy him.

But sometimes... wise men are also stupid. "

The corridor illuminated by the magic radiance fell into an eerie silence, only the dim gleam of Iolum's human ghost form emitting a faint 'rustling' sound.

To Brian, the sound seemed to contain a myriad of meanings.

From his meeting with 'Father of Nether' Iolum until now.

This wise old man who seems to transcend all time has been telling him the history of Netheril, analyzing the reasons for its demise, and the final conclusion.

Very detailed and thorough, which deeply touched and inspired him.

After a long silence, Brian met the great arcanist's deep purple eyes that seemed to be able to see through him, and said slowly, "What is the purpose of telling me this?"

"You're asking knowingly."

"I just want a definite answer." Brian replied, "Only in this way can I consider it a burden, or a kind of... mission."

"Missions and responsibilities are only in your thoughts." The old man said, "If not, why did you take the initiative to find me again?"

"But you are the one who proposed it." Brian said respectfully, "I always firmly believe that any gift of fate has a price tag."

"I admit it." He took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone:

"I am a somewhat selfish person. The real purpose of coming here is to use my status to reach a certain kind of deal with you, but it is obvious that you, the old man of Netheril, have shown me that I was overwhelmed by an unexpected enthusiasm, and my thoughts became confused at the same time."

"A sincere answer." Iolum nodded lightly, showing a smile, but it was hard to hide the fleeting sadness in his deep purple eyes.

"But you have to understand that as long as you take it as your mission." He said, "You can get what you want without any other transactions, and achieve your purpose of coming here."

Hearing this sentence, Brian hesitated, and there was still a hint of heartbeat in his thoughtful eyes.

The old man watched him quietly, waiting patiently.

"Why me?" After a long time, Brian asked slowly.

"This is your own choice. From the moment you tried to trade with the stone giants and obtained the stone whisperer crystal, your fate has been decided." Iolum said gently:
"Dear child, you have always appeared where the battle needs you most. Everyone has their own path and their own war. The fate of Netheril is also our destiny. Now I want to throw away all regrets and let the barren and vast In the Ennook Desert, there is no gap for regrets, there is only hope and the determination to pursue the arcane, we must follow the guidance of the arcane, and bring it to every dark corner that needs it."

"I found that during the time I talked with you, your words have always resonated with me." Brian changed his tone of suspicion, and said to the old man:

"However, I am very puzzled. Since you have this determination, why don't you put it into action. In this way, your soul will definitely be comforted in the Ennook Desert. This is absolutely true."

Vaguely, he seems to have guessed why the other party lives here, instead of appearing in the surface world, to fulfill his ideals and make up for his regrets.

"Do you know the history of mind flayers?"

Hearing Bryan's inquiry, Iolum seemed to have aged a lot, and even the hazy brilliance that was unique to ghosts around him became dim.

"Of course I know." Brian's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at the human ghost standing in front of him in disbelief, apparently his thoughts were confirmed.

It is said that mind flayers may come from distant lands.

What is Far Country?

Scholars on the world of Toril have three hypotheses about the shape of their multiverse.

They are Multiverse Ring Theory, Multiverse Tree Theory and World Axis Cosmology respectively.

No matter what kind of theory, it is believed that there is an outer world outside the universe model, which is what they are accustomed to call: a distant country.

It may be a completely independent universe, even has its own laws of physics and magic, where 1+1 may not be equal to 2, the straight line may not be the shortest between two points, even a living person can infect a zombie by biting it become a living person.

And the mind flayers may have come from such a country.

Mind flayers rule a vast empire that spans the worlds.

Through the crystallization of their psychic technology, the magic ship called the conch ship travels through the barren universe, the astral world and the sea of ​​burning elements, sails between planes, spans more than a hundred worlds, and unscrupulously captures various creatures from all worlds. An intelligent creature used for experimentation, enslavement, and food.

This empire was built on the slavery and domination of all other races at that time, enough to despise everything at that time.

But at the end of this unimaginable realm, the mind flayer race has been driven to near extinction by some unknown crisis.

Their capital and academy were destroyed, and the surviving mind flayers hatched a desperate plan.

They sacrificed countless powerful and ancient masterminds, and created an unimaginably huge psychic vortex.

Such a huge amount of energy is even enough to tear apart the time laws that have been built up, allowing them to travel back to a certain point in time in the past to find a solution.

There is no doubt that this desperate plan did not go as smoothly as expected.

They did not return to this point in time, their own world, but traveled to other worlds, and even the powerful power they had mastered was greatly weakened due to the failure of the plan.

It is said that in the distant to unimaginable future.

When the stars dim and red embers drift coldly over dying worlds, the mind flayers will rise from their subterranean lairs to face the decaying twilight and rebuild lost empires more than ever before. Stronger, crueler and hungrier, when all hope ends.

Although their current strength has been greatly weakened due to accidents in the plan, they are still terrifying and strange monsters that cannot be ignored in the Toril world of the kingdom of Tianyu.

Brian suddenly recalled a group of mind flayers with different shapes he saw in the city, which made him realize that Iolum was probably studying the true form of the mind flayer race.

The thought he had just flashed was instantly confirmed.

"As you think, it is true." Iolum's ghost said slowly:

"Since my fusion with the mind flayer masterminds, I have gradually assimilated into this race over thousands of years, becoming more aware of race secrets and missions than many older masterminds in the world of Toril. Although I can completely avoid this kind of sequelae with my strength, at the same time, whoever has reached the level of strength like me, who still wants to go to the unknown field and go to the next level."

在布莱恩的印象里，伊奥勒姆的等级为：巫师35级/大法师5级/耐色瑞尔奥术师5级，兼职心灵术士20级/混沌学者10级。

Apparently, the old Nether wanted to move forward in the direction of higher legends.

"So, I've been secretly observing the world, trying to find someone who can inherit my arcane heritage." Iolum's deep purple gaze made him feel a sense of being seen through even if he didn't notice Brian. Terrible feeling, he said in a soft tone, "...and to inherit my legacy and restore Netheril, so as to make up for the regrets I left behind."

After hearing this sentence, Brian suddenly remembered something.

In the game world, his strength is limited to medium legends, and he still has some experience on how to break through high-level legends, but the non-god and non-god-like realms above high-level legends are unknown realms that no mortal has ever touched .

It is said that in order to break through this realm, something similar to the "cause and effect" of the ancient dragon "Echo" is involved.

This also understands the reason why Iolum, as the Netheril elder, has spent thousands of years, the blood in his heart has been worn away long ago, and he wants to revive Netheril.

"If you want, just promise me, and then complete my last regret." He said, "I can devote myself to the great mission of another race without any worries."

Brian took a deep breath. Iolum's words made him hesitate.

If he is a player who mainly pursues profit, he will nod his head and agree without hesitation, and he will get the benefit first.

But it's different now. He appeared in a real world. If there are too many "causes and effects" involved in his life, it may also affect his chances of breaking through the high-level legend in the future.

He knew that right now, as long as he verbally promises to this Netherese elder to help him complete the mission of revitalizing Netheril, he will be able to get everything he wants, such as: the production method of Mither Energy Core, the knowledge left by Iolum. tomes of magic, mind flayers' psionic lore, and even scrolls of Netherir that he kept.

In this way, the 'cause and effect' about Netheril fell upon him, and Iolum could sit back and relax and specialize in the fate of the mind flayers.

Brian remembers one thing vividly.

When he and Helisite entered the floating city of Azuma in Opus, this great arcanist who specialized in the field of creation also said this to him, and his answer was rejection.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't accept your mission." Brian said again in a firm tone, "I am very grateful that you shared with me the complete history of Netheril from its birth to its destruction. It makes me feel that there is no need for revival of this sick empire."

"I want to hear your reason." Hearing Bryan's resolute refusal, Iolum was not surprised, but looked at him curiously. Those deep purple eyes surrounded by wrinkles seemed to see through his everything.

"Although Netheril's magical achievements are indeed based on Netheril scrolls, they are not copycats, but a new generation of knowledge that transforms theoretical knowledge (magical theory) into practical knowledge (spells and magic items) Creators. In this regard, they have indeed achieved a height that no one before them has reached." Brian thought for a while, organized his language, and expressed his thoughts to the old man who listened attentively.

The fact is just like this, there are no specific spells in the Nether Scroll, but the principle of magic.

To use an imprecise analogy, the Nether scroll is equivalent to Newton's "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" or Maxwell's equations.

The Netheril Arcanist is equivalent to the junior scientists and engineers who have obtained Newton's equations and Maxwell's equations, and established an industrial system on this basis.

"It's undeniable," he continued, "and I call it 'morbidly brilliant' for a few reasons:

First, Nether's power is highly concentrated in the arcanist class, while the lower classes are enslaved like cattle and horses.

Second, Nether is not a unified regime in essence, but a loose mage alliance composed of many arcanists. It is not a unified country, which means that there is no unified ideal. The fate of the entire 'country' is actually determined by It is determined by the selfish desires of very few great arcanists.

Thirdly, Nether implements narrow human supremacy. This racist system has caused Nether to become an enemy of the whole world. This can be seen from the fact that their magic ship was expelled from the barren universe by many races. The consequences of a policy.

Therefore, although I recognize Netheril's great achievements in magic, I also despise their political, philosophical, and moral inferiority. "

"Let me restore such an empire, I can't do it." He followed his heart and said truthfully:

"Although I can't accept the mission of restoring Netheril, I can assure you that I will use my best efforts to turn the yellow and sandy Ennook Desert back into a verdant and lush forest plain. A brand-new civilization will be re-established on the territory, an arcane empire without exploitation, oppression, self-liberation, and a high degree of ideological awareness."

After saying this, Brian suddenly felt that he had a clear mind and a feeling of enlightenment, which made him realize that this must be due to the reason he set his goal.

If you can't accomplish this goal, it will affect your life like a demon in your heart.

After a long silence, Iolum smiled, and the wrinkles around the deep purple eye sockets gradually dissipated, showing relief and appreciation, and he said in a gentle tone:
"I can give you everything you need: arcane tomes, a complete Mithr energy core and its production method, the scroll of Nether, and the knowledge of the mind flayer's psychic powers, but I also have a small request."

"I'm ready for you."

Brian took out a psychic spar that he had specially asked Helisite to leave for him. "This crystal records the psychic knowledge of the world of Atas, as well as the secrets of superhumans and magic dragons."

…………

(End of this chapter)