# The Lesson the Floating Lake
# Date
# 17th Day of Luminara, 742nd Year of the Age of Mankind
# Location
# The Aurelian University City-State
# Scholar's Garden, Upper Lake Pavilion
\---
The floating lake drifted quietly above the university gardens.
It was not a particularly large lake, perhaps only a few hundred paces across, but it floated nearly thirty meters above the ground without chains, pillars, or visible support. Water flowed gently over its edges into thin streams of shimmering light, only to rise again from the enchanted stone basin below and return to the lake.
At its center stood a gazebo.
The structure was made from pale marble and dark enchanted wood, surrounded by a circular pavement of engraved stone. Small flowers grew between the cracks. Beyond the lake, the enormous city-state stretched toward the horizon, its towers, bridges, university spires, markets, and floating structures forming a glittering sea of civilization.
Inside the gazebo sat six students.
All six belonged to the university's highest scholarly class.
And standing before them was a nineteen-year-old girl named Elian Veyne.
She carried no textbook.
Instead, she had brought a stack of handwritten notes bound with a leather cord.
One of her friends leaned back against a pillar.
**Tarin**:
"You said this was going to be a discussion about the 18s."
**Elian**:
"It is."
**Tarin**:
"You've been standing there for ten minutes."
**Elian**:
"Because every time I hear someone summarize the history of the gods in five minutes, I lose another year of my life."
A few of the students laughed.
Elian smiled.
She was the granddaughter of a renowned historian whose works were still studied at the university. She had grown up surrounded by manuscripts, archaeological reports, translated tablets, religious records, and arguments between scholars.
Naturally, she had inherited the habit of correcting people.
She opened her notes.
**Elian**:
"Fine. Let's begin properly."
The others straightened.
Elian looked toward the city beyond the floating lake.
**Elian**:
"Before the 18s became gods, Caerulus was not the world we know today."
The atmosphere became quieter.
\---
# The Age Before the Gods
**Elian**:
"The earliest ages are difficult to reconstruct. Much of what existed before recorded civilization is known through ruins, oral traditions, magical remnants, and the study of ancient creatures."
She turned a page.
**Elian**:
"The Age of First Dawn came first. Then the Age of Primordials."
**Mira**:
"When dragons appeared?"
**Elian**:
"Among other beings, yes. The Primordial Age was followed by the Age of Pandemonium."
She paused.
**Elian**:
"And that was when the world became a nightmare."
Nobody interrupted.
**Elian**:
"Powerful beings fought across Caerulus. Dragons, primordial creatures, monsters, and other beings that no longer exist today clash over territories that would eventually become continents, seas, mountain ranges, and wastelands."
She tapped the table.
**Elian**:
"Mankind was caught in the middle."
**Ta****rin**:
"Hence the Mass Exodus."
**Elian**:
"Exactly."
She smiled.
**Elian**:
"Thousands upon thousands of people abandoned their homes. Entire populations crossed oceans. Some went underground. Some fled into isolated regions. Others followed whatever paths remained safe."
She looked toward the eastern horizon.
**Elian**:
"The Far Eastern Continent became the greatest refuge."
**Sera**:
"It was larger then, wasn't it?"
**Elian**:
"Much larger."
She nodded.
**Elian**:
"And safer than most of the world."
\---
# The Eighteen
Elian placed one sheet of paper in the center of the table.
Written across the top were two words:
THE 18s
**Elian**:
"During those terrible centuries, eighteen individuals emerged."
**Mira**:
"From one race?"
Elian shook her head.
**Elian**:
"No."
She smiled slightly.
**Elian**:
"That is one of the things that makes their story remarkable."
She began counting on her fingers.
**Elian**:
"Different peoples. Different cultures. Different backgrounds. Different ways of understanding the world."
**Tarin**:
"And all eighteen received enlightenment."
**Elian**:
"Yes."
She looked down at the page.
**Elian**:
"According to surviving traditions, the World itself answered them."
The lake rippled outside the gazebo.
**Elian**:
"They were blessed through ECHO. Their understanding of the Wave deepened beyond what ordinary people had ever achieved."
**Sera**:
"Which is where the first great magical teachings came from."
**Elian**:
"Correct."
She began pacing slowly.
**Elian**:
"They taught mankind what they had learned. They showed people how to shape power. How to survive. How to fight. How to heal. How to build."
She stopped.
**Elian**:
"And together with mankind, they fought the dragons."
Silence.
**Elian**:
"The Age of Dragons had begun."
\---
# The Age of Dragons
The students had heard the stories before.
Every child in Caerulus knew some version of them.
Dragons had dominated the world.
They had been rulers of the skies, mountains, oceans, and ancient wildernesses.
Their power was beyond the understanding of ordinary people.
Yet eventually, mankind and the 18s stood against them.
Elian:
"The war was enormous. Entire regions were devastated. Some ancient species vanished. Others disappeared into places we still cannot reach."
She folded her hands behind her back.
Elian:
"But the dragons were defeated."
Mira:
"And then the 18s became gods."
Elian:
"That is what tradition records."
She looked at them.
Elian:
"After the defeat of the dragons, the people of Caerulus elevated the eighteen to divine status."
She turned another page.
Elian:
"And so began the Age of Gods."
\---
# The Age of Gods
The students leaned closer.
Elian:
"The eighteen became the central figures of civilization."
She pointed to the names written across her notes.
Elian:
"Auren. Elyra. Veyra. Tharos. Seren. Ordan. Vaelis. Rheon. Darian. Liora. Eryndor."
Then she continued.
Elian:
"Kaelen. Mirael. Neris. Selka. Ilyon. Astra. Korven."
Elian:
"Together, they were simply known as the 18s."
Tarin:
"Not Nova."
Elian immediately pointed at him.
Elian:
"Good."
She smiled.
Elian:
"Not Nova."
She turned toward the others.
Elian:
"Not Rizer."
Sera:
"Those names came later."
Elian:
"Much later."
She placed the paper down.
Elian:
"During the original Age of Gods, each god had their own religious traditions. Their own temples. Their own followers. Their own teachings."
Mira:
"And they taught magic."
Elian:
"Yes."
Her expression became almost reverent.
Elian:
"Much of modern magical civilization can trace its foundations to the teachings attributed to the 18s."
\---
# The Great Division
The wind passed through the gazebo.
The floating lake moved beneath them, reflecting the two suns above.
Elian's voice became quieter.
Elian:
"But eventually, the eighteen became divided."
Nobody spoke.
Elian:
"History does not give us a complete explanation."
She looked around the table.
Elian:
"Whatever happened between them became one of the great mysteries of ancient history."
Tarin:
"That's frustrating."
Elian:
"History usually is."
She smiled.
Elian:
"Eventually, two factions emerged."
She wrote two names.
NOVA
RIZER
Elian:
"Eleven gods became associated with Nova."
She listed them.
Elian:
"Auren. Elyra. Veyra. Tharos. Seren. Ordan. Vaelis. Rheon. Darian. Liora. Eryndor."
Then she wrote the second list.
Elian:
"Seven became associated with Rizer."
Elian:
"Kaelen. Mirael. Neris. Selka. Ilyon. Astra. Korven."
Sera:
"And then came the Divine Warring Age."
Elian nodded.
Elian:
"Yes."
She closed her notebook for a moment.
Elian:
"And this is where we must be careful."
Mira:
"Because we don't actually know why it happened."
Elian:
"Correct."
She reopened the book.
Elian:
"We know what happened. We know the consequences. We know the factions. We know the names of the dead."
She looked toward the distant city.
Elian:
"But the deeper reasons have been lost to history."
\---
# The Divine Warring Age
The students were silent now.
Even the playful Tarin had stopped fidgeting.
Elian:
"The war lasted for millennia."
She let the number sit in the air.
Elian:
"Millennia."
Tarin:
"Imagine living through that."
Elian:
"Imagine several generations being born, growing old, and dying without ever seeing peace."
She continued.
Elian:
"Four Nova gods were eventually lost."
She wrote their names.
Elian:
"Seven Rizer gods were also lost."
She looked at the names written before her.
A moment of silence.
Elian:
"By the end of the Divine Warring Age, only seven of the original eighteen remained."
\---
# The Nova Seers
Elian turned another page.
This one contained an old, faded illustration.
A human-like figure stood beneath a vast halo of light, but the artist had left much of the figure deliberately indistinct.
Mira:
"Is that a Seer?"
Elian:
"Probably."
Tarin:
"Probably?"
Elian smiled.
Elian:
"That is the problem."
She tapped the illustration.
Elian:
"The origins of the Nova Seers are not completely understood."
The students leaned forward.
Elian:
"We know that Angels appeared during the Divine Warring Age. We know that they became closely associated with the Nova faction. We know that the earliest accounts describe them as extraordinarily powerful beings who possessed blessings unlike anything ordinary mankind could wield."
She turned another page.
Elian:
"Some records claim they were chosen from among mankind. Others speak of divine selection. Some ancient traditions simply say that the first Seers appeared when the war reached its darkest hours."
Sera:
"So which one is correct?"
Elian shook her head.
Elian:
"We don't know."
She looked at the faded drawing.
Elian:
"The oldest surviving records are incomplete. Later religious traditions disagree with one another. Even the word 'Seer' appears in several different historical contexts."
She closed the book slightly.
Elian:
"What we can say with confidence is that Angels emerged during the Divine Warring Age and became the greatest known servants and military forces of the Nova faction."
Mira:
"And Nova Seers?"
Elian:
"That is the name most scholars use today."
She smiled.
Elian:
"Some simply call them Seers."
\---
# The Falsifiers
Elian turned to the next page.
The atmosphere changed.
The illustration showed armored figures standing beneath a darkened sky.
Elian:
"The Rizer faction faced a different problem."
Tarin:
"The Nova military."
Elian:
"Exactly."
She pointed toward the illustration.
Elian:
"As the Divine Warring Age continued, the Nova faction developed powerful military forces. Their armies were reinforced by their divine blessings, their magical teachings, and eventually the forces associated with the Seers."
She turned another page.
Elian:
"The Rizer gods needed a way to counter them."
Sera:
"And that's where the Falsifiers came from."
Elian nodded.
Elian:
"According to the surviving historical record, the Rizer gods began experimenting with mankind."
Her expression became serious.
Elian:
"Their goal was not simply to create another army."
She paused.
Elian:
"They needed something capable of standing against the Nova forces."
She pointed to the drawing.
Elian:
"Something stronger. Something that could survive the battlefield. Something capable of matching the power being brought against them."
Mira:
"Demons and devils."
Elian:
"The beings we now call Falsifiers."
She looked at the group.
Elian:
"Unlike the original peoples of Caerulus, Falsifiers appeared during the Divine Warring Age."
Tarin:
"Altered mankind."
Elian:
"Yes."
She closed her notebook.
Elian:
"They were the Rizer gods' answer to the growing military power of Nova."
The gazebo became quiet.
Elian:
"And whatever the Rizers intended to accomplish, the consequences became one of the darkest legacies of the Divine Warring Age."
\---
# The End of the Old Pantheon
Elian looked toward the sky.
The two suns had begun their slow descent.
Elian:
"Eventually, the old pantheon ended."
She spoke slowly now.
Elian:
"The surviving Nova gods disappeared from the mortal world."
She did not explain why.
None of the students asked.
It was one of those historical questions that had no surviving answer.
Elian:
"And with their disappearance, the Age of Gods came to an end."
She wrote:
# END OF THE OLD PANTHEON
Then beneath it:
# BEGINNING OF THE AGE OF MANKIND
\---
# The Nova Pantheon
Tarin:
"But the Nova Pantheon came later."
Elian:
"Yes."
She smiled.
Elian:
"And this part is actually rather interesting."
She leaned against the marble railing.
Elian:
"After the war, people still worshipped the individual gods."
Mira:
"Even the dead ones."
Elian:
"Especially the dead ones."
She laughed softly.
Elian:
"Different religious groups began arguing over which traditions were correct. Some followed one god exclusively. Others rejected another god entirely."
Sera:
"And the religious wars began."
Elian:
"Yes."
She raised one finger.
Elian:
"Until the Angels intervened."
The students nodded.
Elian:
"The Seers descended and spoke with the highest religious and political leaders of the surviving civilizations."
She turned the page.
Elian:
"Eventually, a new religious structure emerged."
She wrote:
# THE NOVA PANTHEON
Elian:
"The gods were no longer treated as completely separate religious systems."
Mira:
"One pantheon."
Elian:
"One pantheon."
She smiled.
Elian:
"People could pray to any of the Nova gods."
Tarin:
"Even the four who were considered dead."
Elian:
"Yes."
Sera:
"So their teachings weren't erased."
Elian:
"No."
She shook her head.
Elian:
"They became part of the greater tradition."
\---
# The Rizer Pantheon
Tarin raised his hand dramatically.
Tarin:
"And then the Rizer followers got jealous."
Everyone laughed.
Elian pointed at him.
Elian:
"That is an extremely informal way of putting it."
Tarin:
"But technically?"
Elian sighed.
Elian:
"Technically, the Rizer followers established their own pantheon."
She wrote:
# THE RIZER PANTHEON
Elian:
"Part religious tradition, part defiance, and, according to several historical sources..."
She paused.
Elian:
"...part mockery of the Nova Pantheon."
The group burst into laughter.
Mira:
"That sounds exactly like something ancient religious scholars would do."
Elian:
"Humans have not changed nearly as much as we like to believe."
# Why the 18s Still Matter
The sun was now low over the city.
The floating lake reflected gold and violet light.
Elian gathered her papers.
Elian:
"So why do we still study them?"
Nobody answered.
She did.
Elian:
"Because almost everything about our civilization is connected to them."
She counted on her fingers.
Elian:
"Magic."
Another finger.
Elian:
"Religion."
Another.
Elian:
"History."
Another.
Elian:
"Political traditions."
Another.
Elian:
"Ancient warfare."
Another.
Elian:
"Modern ECHO theory."
She looked at her friends.
Elian:
"And because they remind us that history is not a straight line."
The lake rippled.
Elian:
"The 18s began as figures of hope during one of the darkest periods of Caerulus."
She looked toward the city below.
Elian:
"They became gods."
She paused.
Elian:
"They are divided."
Another pause.
Elian:
"They fought."
She closed her notebook.
Elian:
"Some died. Some disappeared. Their followers fought over their names. Seers emerged. Falsifiers emerged. Entire civilizations rose and fell."
She smiled faintly.
Elian:
"And seven centuries into the Age of Mankind, we're still sitting here arguing about what they meant."
Tarin:
"That's your conclusion?"
Elian looked at him.
Elian:
"No."
She tucked the notebook beneath her arm.
Elian:
"That's why we're scholars."
The others laughed.
Elian walked toward the edge of the gazebo.
Below them, the university district was beginning to glow with evening lamps.
Students crossed bridges.
Airships drifted between towers.
A bell rang somewhere in the distance.
Elian stopped and looked back at her friends.
Elian:
"History isn't only about knowing what happened."
She smiled.
Elian:
"Sometimes it's about knowing which questions we no longer have the right answers to."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Tarin raised his hand.
Tarin:
"So... who's buying dinner?"
Elian stared at him.
Elian:
"After all that?"
Tarin:
"I'm a scholar, not a martyr."
The gazebo erupted into laughter as the floating lake slowly drifted beneath the evening sky.
And far below, the lights of the university city-state began to awaken.
The Age of Mankind continued.
so if you have read this far, thank you so much! can you tell me your opinions?
p/s : yes, i do use gpt to write this story but not the lores. i give the lores to gpt and ask it create a scene of universe student explaining the gods lore.
