The world of Vanion. A world full of magic and different races.

A world with many chances, but also with many dangers.

At the most northwestern point of the continent called Patreus was the small village called Originem. In the middle of the village stood a house with the nameplate Mirai Family". At the side was an open window to get fresh air in the heat of summer. One could hear an old voice through the opening that talked to someone.

Inside, an old man was sitting opposite a little boy at a wooden table.

The boy seemed to be about 15 years old. While he sat there with his hands under his chin and tried not to fall asleep, his short black with dark blue mixed hair wobbled in the wind that blew through the window.

The old man sitting opposite him had pale wrinkled skin and gray medium-length hair. This made him look about 70 years old. His eyes, which were blue and a little cloudy, were on the young man in front of him.

When he saw that the boy's light blue eyes would soon close, he got up from his chair and went to a bookshelf that was behind him against the wall. After a moment of searching, he took a small pile of papers back to the table. As he sat down, he showed the little boy the papers and said: "Vanroc, before you fall asleep through my talk, read this out loud."

The boy, who was almost asleep, suddenly seemed to be excited when he heard his grandfather's words. He stretched out his right hand to take the small bundle of paper. Looking at the papers, he saw two small notches on the top of the bundle that somehow held the papers together. He didn't know how it worked, but he was always fascinated when he saw it. When he asked his grandfather how the paper held together, he said he should focus on the contents and not on the paper itself.

Most people living in the countryside could read and write from little to no. When Vanroc was eight years old, his grandfather taught him how to read and write correctly. In this way, he wanted to create a basis on which he could teach his grandchild how to collect knowledge.

About two years ago, at the age of thirteen, his grandfather began to give Vanroc papers or books to read and discuss together.

Although there were many parts of the content that he did not understand even after talking to his grandfather, Vanroc enjoyed reading and discussing with him.

After turning over the cover page entitled "Gods and Religions", Vanroc began to read the contents of the handwritten papers:

Dear reader, thank you very much for your interest in my work. This book is a summary of my 40 years of research on the gods and churches of humanity.

As we all know, there are four gods and goddesses in our world.

First of all Sanctor, the god of war, who is worshipped by warriors, thieves , and general fighters.

Secondly Pyxitos, the god of fortune, who is worshipped above all by merchants.

Third Teneceps, the goddess of darkness. It is unknown who worship her mostly, but often they are part of sects or groups with dark rituals.

Fourth, Luxida, the goddess of life, is worshipped by people who want to help others.

In this world, humans were the weakest race of all. About 1300 to 1600 years ago ma humanity was on the verge of extinction due to a war with other races. In the darkest hours of humanity, each of the Gods decides to give ten of their hardest believers a special kind of power and opportunity to use it. From that moment on these people would be called "Godly Chosen". With their new powers, they could fight back their enemies.

The churches had almost no believer and no power until this miracle happened. From then on more and more people began to believe in gods. The churches, together with the Godly Chosen, carried out a ritual of awakening in which the believers would be able to receive powers from their God. The only difference between the powers of the Chosen and the people who receive their power through the ritual is the strength of the power. The powers of the elect are at least twice as strong as those of the people who receive their powers through awakening.

Today we call these powers "divine magic" or simply "magic" and the way they are used, "divine tongue" or "chanting".

After a long battle with the other races, humans could conquer a piece of land without any other race being alive than humans. On this land, they founded a land called Patreus. In this new land, people could find protection from other races.

After many years the land of Patreus had conquered the whole continent and was then called Imperium Patreus. The empire existed for about 150 years.

At that time the four churches founded the "Alliance of Gods" to build more control and power to rule this continent. They agreed that the empire should be divided into four parts and that each part should be ruled by a different church. To honor the holy raid of the country of Patreus against the other races for the sake of humanity, the entire continent is called "Patreus the sanctuary of humanity".

That is all I was able to research about the gods and churches even after so many years. It is difficult to find reliable facts that do not only come from the Church.

Even after such a long time there are so many questions that I cannot answer.

Why did the gods give power to these forty people?

The church told me that they gave power to these people because these forty had absolute faith in the gods.

This answer really does not satisfy me. Why did they not give them before? What does a God gain from giving people these powers? It makes absolutely no sense that they would give away power just because some people believe in them.

What do these gods look like?

As far as I know, no one has ever seen or met a God directly. Are they hiding? Why? That also makes absolutely no sense. Maybe gods are just another race with a long life span. But anyway, why are they hiding? Would they not be worshipped even more if they showed themselves and ruled?

Can the chosen ones communicate with the gods?

Well, the Church has denied it, but there are some sticky rumors about it. However, I cannot answer this question with certainty.

Are other races able to get these powers? Do other races have gods like us?

I have asked some slaves about it because it is quite difficult to find other races on this continent without being one. Well, at least I tried, but didn't get a real answer. Some said they didn't know. Some said they don't believe in anything. And others said they believe in the strongest of their race, their absolute ruler. In the end I'm still not sure because every race can have its own beliefs.

A research report by C.G.

When Vanroc had finished reading the report, he put the papers back on the table in front of him.

His grandfather looked at him with an expectant look. "What do you think is missing in these papers?"

When Vanroc saw the expectant look of his grandfather, he replied with a somewhat uncertain but clear voice: "There are no answers to the questions at the end"?

When he heard this answer from his grandchild, the expectant gaze disappeared and turned in disbelief. He sighed and spoke in an instructive tone: "That was not what I hoped for, but yes, in the end there were no real answers to these questions. I meant, what is different from most of the books you have read with me so far?"

The old man saw the questioning look of the boy in front of him, telling him that the boy did not understand what he wanted to hear from him. After a deep breath, he continued: "The difference is that there is no evidence and no sources for the statements. It could be a story the author made up."