“You know, you’re missing out on a lot of fun,” Lathia says later that night. I shrug, not really caring.

After dinner, I lie on the ground near the campfire David had set up, staring at the sky while the others talk around me, and as I look at the stars, I can’t help but think of the Eldest and the holy aura I had seen about him the day I became a Laen. How it dwarfed even those of the Masters around him.

“What did you say?” Drew asks suddenly as everywhere goes quiet.

I turn to look at him, my mind blanks for a moment before I realize I had unwittingly said the Eldest’s name out loud.

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of the Eldest.” I say.

Drew lets out a small knowing smile. “The Eldest, the closest thing we have to a god.”

“You know,” I can’t help but say, “I can't help but feel like you guys always like to overestimate his power. He may be the strongest Laen, sure, but I doubt he is strong enough to be comparable to a god.”

Drew shakes his head and says in a reverent tone. “The only reason you’re saying that is because you haven’t seen him display his power.”

“Don’t worry,” Lathia says to Drew. “He’ll become a believer eventually.”

I doubt it, but I don’t refute her statement. “Master Hogan once told me that the Eldest is more than a thousand years old. Is that true?”

Drew gives me a look before clapping his hands. “Gather around kids, let me tell you a story.”

“We’re not kids and we already know the story you want to tell,” Daniel says from Emma’s side.

Drew lets out a small laugh and focuses his attention on me. “Okay. Let me tell you the story of how the Eldest founded the Laen. The Eldest first appeared around three thousand five hundred years ago. I say appeared because no one knows when or where he was born or even who his parents are. It’s almost like he just appeared out of thin air. Two weeks before he appeared a meteor had struck the earth. The meteor wasn’t ordinary, the moment it entered the atmosphere, almost every magician felt it, and all were afraid. After it hit the earth, all magicians in the world began to move towards it, everyone wanted to know what it was. But, the Eldest got there first and he got what was in the meteorite, because, once everyone else got there, there was nothing. After that, the whole magic community began to know him.”

“So, whatever was in the meteorite is what gave him his abnormal strength.”

“That’s what we think. Anyway, before I continue you need to understand something. In those days, Fasurus were the top dogs on the planet due to their innate ability to use magic and their immortality. Some of the stronger ones were worshiped as gods and even the weaker ones were respected. Only magicians could handle them and even then they had to be careful not to incur the wrath of the top Fasurus. Apart from that magicians were weaker then too, even if they were more common. I mean, they had to draw out noers with chalk, or blood or whatever they had on them before they could use magic, some even used some type of consumable scrolls but it didn’t make much difference. Compared to the Fasurus, they were much too slow in using magic and that gave the Fasuru an edge.

“Besides, the strongest human’s magic couldn’t even compare to a fraction of the Fasurus top brass. My point is, during those time, Fasurus were the ones ruling this world. Zeus, Thor, Amun Ra, all those gods were just Fasurus, really powerful ones. In those days, so long as we served them well and all that, they would treat us well, even going so far as to grant some people power. We were like their pets. That is until the Eldest challenged and defeated each and every one of the pantheons.”

Did I hear correctly just now? “When you say pantheons…”

Drew nods his head. “I mean pantheons, he didn’t just challenge individual gods. Sometimes he even challenged multiple pantheons. In the end, he defeated them all and sealed them into the abyss.”

I am silent for a moment, trying to imagine the amount of power a man would need to take on a huge amount of gods and not just survive, but win. “How come not even a trace of this is in the history books? I mean, something as big as a man defeating gods, it should have driven everyone crazy.”

“It was hidden, people whose power comes from those gods will obviously not let it be known that their source of power was gone. That is why the legacies of those gods kept on, long after they stopped showing their power.”

“So all those things from myths were real?”

“Some of it. Stories, even history, change over time.”

“Then how come those mythological creatures are gone? I mean, the Eldest only challenged the gods, right?”

“Those creatures are usually the result of Fasuru possessing animals. In those days, as long as they could appear mysterious and powerful enough, finding human hosts will not be too much of a problem. Also, animals have less mental resistance than humans so it wasn’t too much of a hustle. Possess an animal, use magic to change its appearance, find a host or some worshipers willing to do anything for power, and boom, they have all they need to grow stronger. Some groups of Fasurus didn’t even bother finding human hosts, preferring instead to just stick with some animals.”

I ruminate over what he said before letting out a sigh. “It’s kind of depressing. I mean to discover a whole new world of magic only to realize that apart from magic the only other new thing is evil spirits.”

“Depressing?” Lathia asks incredulously. “Maybe for you. I like things the way they are. Fasurus are bad enough, not to talk of dragons or elves or whatever.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with elves!” I protest.

“Really?” David asks. “How about the fact that we humans will have to compete with another species as intelligent as us and with a natural talent for magic? Or the fact that crocodiles are bad enough, not to talk of giant fire-breathing monsters that may or may not have magic.”

“Thank you for saying that,” Lathia says. “It's almost as if he doesn’t realize how dangerous magic is, who knows what sort of tragedy magical creatures will cause? Haven’t you watched enough fantasy movies to see how bad things can get when magic is added? For me, Fasurus are enough.”

“Tragedy is a part of life,” I reply, “no matter what, people will experience it. As for me, I would rather die fighting magical creatures than from a heart attack or something like that.”

For a moment everyone in the group looks at me like I am a complete idiot. “What?” I ask looking around at them.

Drew shakes his head, a strange look on his face. “I don’t blame you. You obviously don’t know how it feels to fight for your life.”

“And you do?” I ask jokingly. I immediately regret it the moment it leaves my mouth. The atmosphere becomes chilly as David and Daniel glare at me before turning to look at Drew, along with Lathia and Emma. My words dry up as I know that I have said something wrong.

Drew shakes his head slightly, obviously not taking offense at what I said. The tenseness in the atmosphere reduces a bit but doesn’t disappear. After that, the conversation falters while David and Daniel begin to act a bit hostile toward me. I know I said something wrong, but I can’t understand why they are taking it so seriously. What exactly happened to Drew?

In the end, I greet them with an awkward goodnight and go to my tent.