Though I’d spent little time in Glaucen, my ability to pick up patterns let me take in the general concept of the city’s layout with ease. It didn’t take much for me to subtly encourage Lyssa to speak on the history of the buildings, city, and country. The church seemed to provide at least some semblance of an education to those in their ranks, so I was able to acquire a secondhand history lesson.

The city was based on oil production, or stenchwater in Derriad. Derrish? Well it was a portmanteau that easily flowed off the tongue. Although more pedantically it was really in the language that would eventually come to be known as Derrish. Due to the large number of monsters about, and the lack of magic users, fuel for lanterns was in high demand. Old Glaucen sprang up near the oil wells, and enjoyed a long period of prosperity.

“So where is the oil?”

“Near the southern part of town. It gets used in the forged set up there.”

“How did that happen? Old Glaucen looks like it fell apart as a result. I wouldn't think the people there would accept people settling on top of their cash cow.” We were only skirting along the edges of Old Glaucen at the moment; it’s not a place you want to live or visit. There still seemed to be the memories of a thriving town though, it wasn't like some random hoodlums just muscles that way onto their turf.

The culprit wasn't just random hoodlums though.

Fast forward several hundred years, and Derriad was entering the founding stages. Several hundred years? Apparently the centuries passed by with such ease, the error bars were at least a hundred. Sure the lack of record keeping inflated that number, but that's still a long time. After a long period of stagnation throughout the ununified lands that one day would be known as Derriad, upon finishing a central government Levaius began solidifying outposts over resource points.

Runite takes forever to respawn, you camping bastard!

Ahem.

While this may not have been the best for private ventures, the vertical monopolies in Derriad let them experience almost exponential growth, scouting, discovering and capturing new resource points. Apparently, the borders of Derriad then stopped expanding, as the result of some undocumented treaty between Levaius and the other powerhouses at the time. The fact that surrounding powers had not touched land that seemed perfectly fine aroused my suspicion.

Actually, a lot of this seemed strange. Most of the city’s history related back to Levaius in some way, but the architectural styles varied greatly. Even if he did have an extended life by some mystical means, the pace Lyssa was recounting the story seemed too quick. In fact, most of the events she recounted happened under the oversight of the first Archbishop. Apparently Levaius’ rule ended with a peaceful death, and with that anticlimax, events slowed down.

And when I say they slow down, boy do they slow down.

Now instead of about half a decade between events, it was becoming half a millennia. That’s right, generations came and went without seeing any change. Here is where I couldn't help myself.

“Wait, thousands of years have passed since Archbishop Levaius founded the Grand Cathedral?”

“Hmm? Yes, more or less. The volume of information is so great only the Grand Cathedral keeps proper records. Every other generation the Chapter will report to the Grand Cathedral, and each following generation will receive a summation of the major events in Derriad.”

No no no, I'm not asking how you've summed up so much time; I'm wondering how so much time has passed! How can you remain stagnant at a single technological era for millennia with so much food? Surely you should be able to support specialists who can produce science. Don’t tell me you left them all as entertainers?

“It just seems odd to me that nothing has changed. A thousand years is a long time.”

“It's not really a long time for a country though, only people. Once the first Archbishop established Derriad, there doesn't remain much for his successors to alter.”

I felt myself going pale even as my frustration rose. Has the very concept of technological progress been lost to the sands of time? Or perhaps it never was in the first place; without an era of enlightenment all nations just settled into a status quo in perpetuity.

But how could humans be devoid of a will to progress? My hand was clenching and unclenching, crushing an imaginary stress ball. Sameness and stagnation for a thousand years, I hated this sort of thing.

Lyssa wasn't the cause of it all, she just seemed to think that things usually continued as they were. In fact, she was giving me a look as though I were the one acting strange.

Sighing, all emotion vacated me and I returned to my default state; changing to a related topic.

“It could be seen that way. Why is it that the Archbishop lived for such a long time? Has it to do with the Vara’s healing?”

“He was personally blessed by The Guardian of Man. All incantations get power from asking for his benevolence, so in a sense a Vara might be able to imitate a similar feat. Even Disciples who specializes in healing is far from that level of attainment. It takes many years to gain such an understanding of the Flow of Life.”

“So what is that? The mana pool for Disciples?”

Lyssa stopped and turned around in an instant, giving me a harsh glare. Brows furrowed, and quite clearly rather upset, I’d no idea what went wrong. I just stopped as well and put on a confused and apologetic face. “I uh, just meant that’s what you use to actually cast magic, where the incantations are the spells…” The expression she wore was not getting better, so I stopped talking to try and understand more before defending myself.

“The Scriptured Doctrines and Flow of Life are not mere spells and mana. You're lucky I know you are foreign, and will give you leeway this once. But do not speak of the Flow of Life and Scriptured Doctrines in that manner again, not in front of myself or the citizens, and certainly not in front of an actual member of The Church.” We moved towards the side of the street as Lyssa began to explain, but the distance between myself and the Vara had increased. Man, their mana source was pretty important; I'd be sure to speak of it respectfully in the future. “From what I heard, even Braan had followers of Tiassing. At least on your travels, it should be unavoidable to understand how sacred they are.

“The Flow of Life is not just energy, it literally sustains all things. From it, all life comes, and eventually all life returns to. To be healed is to ask the Patriarch to deliver energy from the Flow of Life that was not originally meant for us. The Guardian of Man defies fate to bring us prosperity, but it cannot be used so wantonly. Being a Vara is the first step on the journey to understanding the Flow of Life and knowing how it should be used.”

Ahh, right. In the end Lyssa’s still a member of the religion isn't she? Her words didn't seem to paint the church in a good light, but I suppose that's a separate matter from the religion itself.

I still didn't really get why that seemed so worthy of veneration, but she looked frustrated enough as it was. Casually interacting with people like that is difficult, isn't it? I could only offer my apologies.

“I was unaware of its significance. My knowledge on the topic is poor, and meant no disrespect by my statement. Please forgive me.”

The atmosphere felt a little awkward, but the tension decreased. Haa~, I'm sorry I'm such a gaijin. Even if patterns can be used to predict things, this world is still too new.

“Going from unabashed to pitiful. You change moods quickly.” I wasn't going for pitiful; what makes you say such harsh things? “Not knowing though—You should be taught. But for you…”

“I am more than willing to try and learn if that is your reservation. It is clear that there is a great deal missing from my comprehension.” There wasn't really a chance of converting to Tiassingism (Tiaism?), but learning more about it would prove useful. Lyssa’s expression also continued to soften.

“That's good. In three days I’ll have a break. There’s not much time left today.”

“Ah,” I let out a soft interruption. As much fun as town was, there were things to accomplish back in Salt Village. My ride back would be departing before then, and I wished to return at the time I promised the villagers. Even if my magic wasn't capable of much, they all seemed quite appreciative of the mundane utility. My curiosity could wait. “I'm afraid I will be leaving the day after tomorrow. That’s the schedule of the merchant looking after me, and I don't wish to inconvenience him. Why not tell me a little on the way back?”

“Right, you're a traveler. Didn't expect a free spirit would stay.” Lyssa’s lips turned downward into some negative emotion too slight for me to understand “A little can be taught. Hopefully enough to keep from angering others.”

Lyssa sighed and pushed her hair back, and we walked together back towards the temple. She began explaining the principles of Tiassing slowly and rather methodically at first, but accelerated as we went. She spoke rather excitedly, especially if something related to the Flow of Life, and if not for understanding the kind of story being told, I'm sure I would have missed the point.

The lead of the religion, a being at the very least a demigod of sorts, went by several names; The Patriarch, Guardian of Man, Scholar of Life, Enlightened One, Tias. All quite overboard, but considering he was the center of a religion, perhaps not. Except the last, but only members of the church were supposed to use that one. I reminded myself to see if ‘Tias damn it’ was a common phrase.

Tias was not a creator deity. Instead, the Scriptured Doctrines began with him approaching the struggling race called humans. Using his might, he cleared away all that preyed on the humans he met, and healed the injured and sick. He showed no arrogance to the small tribes he traveled among, and acted in accordance with the old culture.

Main Character-Humble Messiah.

Tias did not just baby the humans though. He blessed the tribes and all of their lineage to be connected with him in spirit. Through this boon, humanity became able to access the divine Flow of Life. A gift of a power not meant for mortals. Humans had little ability to control the Flow of Life even after being granted the power, so Tias gave them the Scriptured Doctrines. Not only a history of what had happened, when certain verses were recited, Tias would aid their control over the Flow of Life.

Giving power and always waiting and aware of the incantations to further protect humanity: the Guardian of Man.

Plot-Promethean.

Ironically, isn't a promethean plot not promethean in itself? What a mess making adjectives related to characters.

There was more to the religion, but only in the details. The short of it being they respected the Guardian of Man for giving them the power to thrive. Insulting his gifts was insulting civilization itself.

“It’s quite profound. I will definitely return to ask more someday.”

“Unlikely, but I hope so.” Vara Lyssa shook her head “Some act untrue to The Patriarch, but if persistent you will manage. Stay well.”

With that, she returned to the temple grounds and entered the Varansterm.

I stretched my arms and began walking away from the entryway.

Old Tias, you call that a gift? I couldn't help but think the story was true considering how pathetic it seemed. Impotent control over an ability, needing constant assistance to use it? Calling that the underpinnings of civilization was blasphemy to me. Maybe Derriad was just too large for them to realize, but surely those outside its borders weren't surviving by the grace of ‘god’.

Perhaps not everyone is iron-blooded, but such dependency is still not needed to overcome struggles. Not a person in Salt Village could use incantations, and yet they march on through hardship. Ralph and the fishermen collecting food, Ross and Troy securing firewood and lumber, and I'd been told that Ria was fairly successful at creating herbal remedies. Tias’ gift froze Derriad’s innovation, something everyone aspired for, and all other talents were those to merely settle for.

Hoping my assessment was mere pessimism, and that some part of the history Lyssa told was false. Perhaps the church just hadn’t understood their magic fully. Perhaps as a Disciple, she was overestimating the worth of incantations and the Flow of Life. However it was, I headed towards the Alchemist Avenue; to find Theodore, and learn a new skill myself.

A/N: Ahhh!?