The old parchment had changed color. Although it was protected by magic and did not decay, eight centuries (Earth time) had left mottled marks on it. Just as Hao Ren thought, the sorceress who was trapped in this place had written down her story after realizing that there was no hope of returning home. Now, these blackened papers were quietly telling the story of an ordinary, wandering female sorceress' short life in this strange space.
"Anyone who can read these letters, if you can understand the words on them, I express my sincerest kindness and blessings to you. May the light of knowledge and mystery bless you not to be stranded here like me. My name is Beatrice, and I come from another world, and I believe you are the same.
"I came to this place in search of knowledge and mystery. After experiencing a hellish adventure, I fell into the abyss and was finally trapped here. In a sense, I got what I wanted. What I learned and what I came into contact with were miracles that I could never have imagined in my thousands of years, and I believed that even the gods of ancient times did not know the deeper mysteries of this world. All my ideas and knowledge system were almost completely subverted here. No matter how many pages I use to describe the surprise I felt when I saw this underground world, it would not be enough. I hope to share the joy of this discovery with someone, but unfortunately, I can't go back, so I can only record it on parchment …
Hao Ren quickly ignored the less important passages and only roughly skimmed through the records of Beatrice's early days in this world. He found that the witch received a lot of help from the locals after she was stranded here. The Fire tribe was a hospitable tribe, and they did not show much hostility to strangers of unknown origin. In fact, because Beatrice was good at some fire magic, her skills were regarded by the people in the tribe as evidence of her closeness to natural elements. In this world, being in harmony with natural elements was proof of "good quality," so Beatrice easily reached a friendly relationship with the locals.
She became friends with the "Witch of Fire" at that time, the tribe's saintess. The friendship between the two was wonderful. In this world, basic elemental magic was widely known, but the more advanced magic knowledge had been lost. Only the saintess and tribal warriors could rely on the help of blood or artifacts to get access to advanced magic. The warriors only used these powers to fight, and the saintess and her apprentices were the only ones who really focused on magic. The arrival of Beatrice brought new vitality to this knowledge-depleted world. The saintess of the Fire tribe found a partner who could study ancient knowledge with her.
They studied the lost ancient symbols together, and studied the ancient memories engraved in their blood instincts. In just a few years, the two became best friends. They even restored many ancient magic creations. the phlogiston lamp seen in the Wind tribe was made by Beatrice. She cracked the manufacturing method of this ancient artifact from the totem text of the Fire tribe.
Another feat was the cure of the black-spot plague, which established Beatrice's reputation in the hearts of the locals. Later, she was no longer treated as a foreigner. The people in the tribe regarded her as a "subject of the goddess" like themselves, except that this subject happened to fall from the Pillar of Eternity.
"… I've spent many years here. In the beginning, life was a little difficult. I had to learn unfamiliar words, languages, customs, and even eating habits from scratch. I still remember a plant here that almost killed me in the beginning, but it's the most commonly eaten delicacy by the locals. That was the first time I intuitively felt what the concept of a foreign world was. But anyway, the situation gradually improved. This is a place where I can live peacefully, and I even kind of like it here. In my hometown, people like me are taboo. Because of the changes of the times, the use of magic is declining. A war between races is coming to an end, and a 'witch' like me, or a 'witch', is on the losing side. I don't have much to miss in my hometown, and the days of hiding and fear are not worth remembering. It might be good to live here, at least for a while, I thought so.
"… In my spare time, I also observe the lives of the local people. I am very interested in their religion and living conditions, and more importantly, I am very interested in the state of this world. What kind of power can create another layer of earth on top of the earth? This is almost a concept that is close to the Arabian Nights, but it really happened in this world. According to the legends of the local people, I believe that this world was not like this at first, and some kind of unimaginable power changed this place …
"… The local people believe that the pillars that support the sky and the earth are the arms of giants, and in their religious beliefs, in addition to the 'goddess', the shadow of 'giant creatures' can be seen everywhere. The giants support the sky, and the clouds are the smoke that a giant monster breathes. They believe that the wind on the grassland is the yawning of a giant beast named 'Hakku', and the whole world is even built on the back of a hunchback old man named 'Toka'. This hunchback old man is the gardener of the goddess, and the goddess completed the work of Genesis on the back of this gardener. There are many such legends here, full of strange colors, and can not help but remind me of the strange 'gods' in my hometown in ancient times. But these legends do not seem to be laughed off. Although they are strange, they have a clear and rigorous logic, and they seem to have really happened, just distorted by historical inheritance.
"Yes, historical inheritance, the historical inheritance of the local people is a more interesting topic. I found that these people once had an extremely glorious civilization, which is probably higher than the height of my hometown. This civilization was broken, no doubt caused by the event that caused the closure of the vault of heaven in ancient times. In some ancient murals and slate books, I can see what the ancient civilization had created: self-driving vehicles, popular aircraft, magic-powered rock guards and iron giants, and even a floating magic city called 'Moro-Toshi'. But these things have disappeared, buried deep in the cracks of the earth …
"… There is a very interesting phenomenon. According to my research, the closing of the vault of heaven caused the world to lose more than half of the population, and the remaining population gradually withered in the following years, but this process was not completely caused by the disaster, but more like consciously controlled by the survivors. I found a lot of ancient slate records of planned population reduction, and found that the scattered tribes around the world followed a strict schedule to reduce their numbers even when contact was broken, and about three thousand years ago — I mean according to this world's concept of time — they controlled the population to the present size, and since then, the number has not changed.
"… The birth of newborns is strictly controlled, and they use ancient drugs to control when they can produce new offspring. The growth of newborns also goes through a ritualistic training process to ensure that the newborn children can fully bear their tribe's work and not die so easily. There are various signs that although these indigenous people do not know the meaning of living in an underground world, they are well aware of the fragility and barrenness of this world. Perhaps the control of population and the level of civilization is to reduce consumption — this concept has been passed down from ancient times, and although no one knows the meaning behind it, they still strictly follow the teachings of their ancestors. So who taught them to control consumption in this way? Perhaps only the goddess.
"I even suspect that they have a way to control the level of intelligence and thinking of newborns — I found in their daily use of spices that have an effect on the brain. These spices only slightly inhibit brain activity, not very harmful, but I think it is this just right inhibition that has stalled the development of their civilization. It has been thousands of years since the 'closing of the vault of heaven', which is enough time for them to rebuild the ancient kingdom, but they are still living a primitive life. This should be the result of intentional or unintentional control … Unfortunately, I don't have much time left, and I can't verify these conjectures. And even if I do, what can I do? I can't change their religious tradition. They value religion very much. After thousands of years of drug infection and traditional education, many of the ancient teachings have become something flowing in their blood. As an outsider, I'd better not intervene … "
Hao Ren suddenly looked up from the pile of old papers and looked at Bonia, who was dumbfounded. "Let me see the spices you usually use for the baptism of newborns."
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