The Guardian

Extra Chapter 1: Theological Debate

“Hello, can you hear me? I am Aión Supreme God of Terra nova. I am also known as the God of Time and Space or God of Destiny. Anyway, the Gods of your world can no longer protect you and have asked me to take over. Anyway, let me be clear, Terra nova is real!”

A plump woman in her forties, theology teacher Mia Santulli wrote a few words on the blackboard.

“Those were the first words that Aión, the God of Time and Space, said to mankind. That God who, according to Terra nova mythology, was a Primordial god of the beginning of the worlds, that God was the one who helped mankind,” Professor Santulli reported with a severe expression.

“Our gods could not protect humanity and had to ask for help from an outside God... Aión was the God who took care of the dimensional barrier that separated this world from the other worlds, the monsters, and mainly the magical energy. However, that distant Primordial God who was said to have existed since the beginning of time and who could control time and space at will helped strangely,” Professor commented.

“Well, if we call creating a virtual reality machine that allowed humanity to connect to another world as a game and they didn’t know it was real ‘strange’, then it would certainly be strange,” Alice said with a hint of sarcasm, ate some chips, and with a playful smile, added. “Some would call for his help in another way... In a nasty way.”

Malevolent, vile, manipulative... Non-believers had many words to describe Aión’s action; some even said it was the stupidest idea he could take.

After all, he made ‘immortal’ players enter Terra nova and do whatever he wanted; it’s not like it was a few hundred thousand people who entered... It was millions of players who used the virtual reality machine known as ‘Terra nova.’

Worst of all, the ‘players’ had no restrictions, giving it total and complete freedom as a revolutionary virtual reality game.

“Yes, but there’s a serious error in your words there... Aión always said Terra nova was real.” Professor Santulli intervened without being bothered by Alice’s words, looked at the other students, and explained. “From the company in charge of distributing the virtual reality machine, Aión’s Twitter, the terms and conditions of the ‘game’, and even the countless mentions the company gave. From the beginning, it was mentioned that Terra nova was real, that players were connecting to another world, but humanity thought it was just a way to give publicity to the ‘game’, using the ‘unlimited’ and realistic possibilities to sell more.”

“Wait... The God of Time and Space was using Twitter?” an incredulous student asked.

“Oh, sure, but that was a long time ago and at the time the Aión account was thought to be that of the creator of the virtual reality machine posing as the god from Terra nova mythology,” Alice explained, slightly amused, and then looked at the teacher, who was nodding to confirm her words.

“As Alice said, humanity was the one who believed it was all a business strategy and they thought that the companies distributing the virtual reality machine, the creator Aión and all that, was just a great business strategy... Moreover, that some people pointed out that there were no ‘servers’ and that the creator was just a ‘man’ made it seem as if it was all part of a very well-planned marketing strategy.” Professor Santulli commented.

“Sure, now we can look back and see quite a few peculiar things, for example, that states never banned the virtual reality machine in their countries no matter if players could rape, torture, or perform heinous actions within the ‘game’... Even the most stringent country with the toughest laws, at the time, remained silent and allowed the virtual reality machine to keep circulating.” Alice mentioned with a smile that hinted at more complex meanings.

“Undoubtedly, more happened at that moment than it seemed at first glance. However, one fact is evident... Aión, the God of Time and Space, helped us. This ‘game’ allowed humanity to have knowledge about magic, martial arts, mythology, rituals, gods, and an enormous amount of knowledge that allowed us to survive,” Said Professor Santulli and specified. “Ten years after the launch of the virtual reality machine, Aión gave its revelation and our world was shaken by the ‘Great Cataclysm.’ The dimensional barrier weakened and humanity entered a new epoch.”

“At that time, mankind was not helpless in the face of that new event. It had knowledge about magical energy, monsters, and the different natural events that happened to the Earth. Instead of humanity going into chaos in the face of the arrival of monsters, we were able to face them without fear or trepidation.” Professor Santulli stated, and after looking at the students, she commented. “I, as well as millions of others, were one of the many players who traveled to Terra nova. And in the face of the arrival of those monsters, we could defend ourselves using the knowledge, ability, and experience we had gained on Terra nova.”

Her tone was loud and high, sounding as if, rather than reminiscing about a tragic time, she remembered an important day.

Alice nodded in agreement with her.

The virtual reality machine of ‘Terra nova’ had a system that allowed casual players to learn skills and spells in an instant as if it were a typical game, but these players learned only half of said spell or ‘skill’ by following complex ‘class’ rules usual in games.

However, another group of professional players dedicated themselves to reading the thick books of magic and woke up every morning to train with their swords, learning everything from scratch or completing what they had learned with the system.

When the virtual reality machine stopped working, these players who after ten years managed to become archmages, ‘Sages,’ swordmasters, Sword Saints, or skilled individuals brought their knowledge and experience back to this world with them.

Still, Alice looked at the teacher, waiting for the next part.

“It is undeniable that Aión’s actions gave rise to great tragedies in both this world and Terra nova. The genocide of the werewolf race carried out by the ‘enemy of humanity, the great chaotic war between players and natives of Terra nova, the ‘Chaos’ and ‘Order’ factions that many believed were a mega-event of the ‘game’, but was actually a real scenario that led to the death of millions of people, is a clear example of what happened,” Professor Santulli said with a slightly bitter smile and, at the same time, a firm look.

“Even without mentioning Terra nova, the Earth went through similar tragedies. The mass suicides that occurred after Terra nova was revealed to be real, performed by those people who could not bear the burden of having murdered other beings, is an obvious consequence of ‘Terra nova’,” Professor Santulli mentioned with a slight sigh, then her eyes filled with strength, and she stated. “However, ‘Terra nova’ allowed our world not to be brought to a chaotic apocalypse, the end of civilization, or a large part of it.”

“If you ask any historian, connoisseur, or any person they would all agree on the same thing... Humanity without the help of Aión could not have withstood the ‘Great Cataclysm’ and even if we managed to withstand it, the world could not have recovered in as little as twenty years as we have.” Professor Santulli stated and received assent from most of the students, and even Alice.

“Although the world did enter a state of chaotic warfare after resisting the ‘Great Cataclysm’,” One student pointed out from the back of the classroom.

When the ‘Great Cataclysm’ where the magical energy that caused people to awaken abilities and monsters to appear in the world was overcome... Another more cruel event awaited.

War.

“Yes, in the year 2030 just two years after humanity realized that ‘Terra nova’ was real after overcoming the first years of the ‘Great Cataclysm’, in the former United States of America the first uprising of ability users mostly guided by lunatic gamers who in Terra nova performed thousands of atrocities broke out. I won’t go too far into the subject, as I am not your history teacher, but this war in which ability users clashed with supernatural forces that in some cases ordinary police force weapons could not bring down, was a catastrophic event in human history and was only the beginning of a long chain of events of equal or worse magnitude... However, this happened because of the actions of humans themselves.”

Looking at the stunned students, Professor Santulli smiled slightly and explained. “It is true Aión gave humanity, in general, the ‘weapons’ to defend us from what was to come, but it was humanity that used those ‘weapons’ against itself.”

“Most of the Gods whose religions have spread over the Earth have directly or indirectly helped mankind and at no time have they restricted us. It is true that believers follow certain creeds, and the will of their gods in exceptional cases, but in the end, the gods generally do not help only their believers, but everyone. Aión was a clear example in helping all mankind. The Primordial Goddess of Order blessed some individuals who at the time were known as ‘heroes’ by all mankind. The Goddess of Knowledge of Terra nova blessed some people and thus awakened the Sages. But even among these ‘Sages’ some of them have been teachers of individuals who sometime later ended up performing actions against humanity itself.”

“Are the gods to blame for humanity’s decisions?” asked Professor Santulli.

Alice smiled upon hearing that question.

Humans on earth had a long history and evolution without the presence of all-powerful deities to help it directly, quite unlike Terra nova, whose history said that they were ‘created by some particular gods and received their blessings being supported throughout Terra nova’s great history’.

Still, Alice spoke up.

“That’s not to say that those gods didn’t have their own selfish reasons in helping humanity... Even without going that far, not all gods are selfless and ‘good’, the Demon, Evil, Abysmal or Infernal Gods are a clear example of those beings who are dedicated to pure fun and entertainment. Even if for them it means creating chaos.” Alice said with a slight chuckle, amused by the conversation.

That was revealed by the long history of Terra nova, where some Demon Gods brought kingdoms, empires, or races to absolute ruin.

“Of course. In Terra nova Mythology, the ‘evil’ gods have been involved in many cruel actions and it is even said that the chaos that happened with the players in Terra nova was done by an ancient Primordial Goddess. But in the end, it is not about seeing gods only as omnipotent existences, but also as individuals with their own goals, desires, and emotions, just like humans or any race,” Professor Santulli said, and seeing some students looking slightly annoyed with her statement, she added. “Of course, not all gods are beings that are guided by their emotions. In this world, before the arrival of Aión, the dimensional barrier was maintained by some gods that mankind believed in for a long time. These beings, who in theory were born of mankind’s faith, had one simple and unique goal. The protection of humanity and that goal was accomplished through maintaining the dimensional barrier.”

“That is the reason why many of the ancient religions are still respected and praised today.” Finished the professor.

“Despite the misdeeds of their believers.” Added Alice munching on some chips.

There were a few snickers and annoyed looks, but Professor Santulli was among the first.

“It’s like I said before. It’s not about the gods, it’s about the believers themselves and humanity itself. In the world before the ‘Great Cataclysm,’ the gods could only devote themselves to the protection of the whole world and could not descend or intervene in humanity,” Professor Santulli stated with a tone full of confidence.

“How do you know?” A slightly curious student asked.

Professor Santulli let out a small laugh.

“Well, because if it’s in the god I believe in, then surely he would have descended when humanity was about to ruin all his hard work,” Professor Santulli commented as her lips turned into a smile.

“Pfff...” Alice had to hold back her laughter because of having chips in her mouth, and seeing that her classmates were looking at her, she cleared her throat and, looking at the teacher, commented. “I agree with you. And as for my classmate’s question, there are different Archmages and very knowledgeable theologians who have written their theories based on the fact that in the entire course of humanity there was almost or no verifiable ‘divine’ influence, and only rare ‘miracles’. That it is difficult to determine if they were thanks to divine intervention or simply magical or psionic energy that seeped through the dimensional barrier.”

It was common knowledge that magical or psionic energy caused different events... Paranormal or supernatural events were unexplainable to mankind before the ‘Great Cataclysm.’

What could be paranormal events to mankind before the ‘Great Cataclysm’ could be a slight psionic disturbance that caused a spirit to remain bound to the world.

“After all, though, we can’t be sure of those theories. The truth is that throughout human history there are many names of gods, beings, and existences that have existed on other worlds, but whose names have been extended here. While those names may not have had any real influence, it makes it clear that earth has had a connection to other worlds despite the ‘protection’ of the dimensional barrier,” Alice commented without changing her expression, noticing that both the teacher and the students were looking at her, she added. “‘Analysis of Worlds’ written by Sage Su Chin. A rare book, but recommended.”

“Quite impressive as always, Miss Alice,” Professor Santulli said, and with a smile, she walked over and asked quietly. “Can I borrow it?”

“Sure, I’ll send it to your mail, and if you wish, you can keep it in the Academy library, which doesn’t have this particular book,” Alice commented with a carefree smile.

“Perfect,” Said Professor Santulli with a smile, and looking at her side, she pointed. “Wake up your partner, it will be time for a break.”

“Thank you,” Alice said, and after looking at Aurora, who seemed to be only ‘resting her eyes in an upright position that made her look like a model student who was devoting her sense of hearing to her class, she excused herself for her. “She’s been training pretty hard lately.”

However, inwardly Alice praised Professor Santulli, who could spot Aurora, whose natural talent was to cover up her sleepy state.