Morning light fell across the tall windows of the Second Tier lecture hall, spreading long pale streaks across the stone floor. The room carried a low murmur of conversation as students settled into their seats, some leaning lazily across desks while others flipped through notebooks with practiced indifference.
Modred sat near the back of the hall with one leg stretched beneath the desk, his chair tilted slightly as he leaned against the wall behind him.
Taren sat beside him, already scribbling something in a thin notebook.
Lysara occupied the seat on Modred's other side. Her posture was straight as ever, violet eyes fixed quietly toward the front of the room.
The doors opened.
The murmurs faded.
A tall man entered the hall, his coat dark and worn at the edges, silver threads tracing faint patterns along the cuffs. Grey hair hung to his shoulders, loosely tied behind his neck. His presence was not imposing in the way commanders and nobles often were.
Yet the silence that followed him felt heavier than any shouted order.
He placed a thick leather book onto the desk at the front of the hall.
"Professor Halvorsen," he said simply. "Continental history."
No greeting followed.
No explanation.
He turned toward the board and began writing.
Four names appeared beneath the chalk.
Kaldea.
Ashkar.
Meridia.
Astria.
"For over one hundred thousand years," Halvorsen said calmly, "these four kingdoms defined the continent of Europa."
He stepped aside slightly, letting the names remain visible to the class.
"The gods themselves shaped the continent from their divine hands. Kaldea rose first, a kingdom devoted to knowledge and divine archives. Ashkar followed, a desert empire where the earliest Arcana forges were built. Astria grew into the empire most of you now call home."
His voice remained steady as he spoke.
"But the fourth kingdom was different."
He tapped the final name on the board.
Meridia.
"It was ruled by a single clan."
A pause settled across the hall.
"The Hazo."
A few students exchanged glances, the name unfamiliar to many of them.
"The Hazo clan were said to descend from a being the oldest records call Zarvak."
The chalk moved again.
"Zarvak, the Lord of the Abyss."
Halvorsen turned back to the students.
"Zarvak was not a god. He was something older. Something that existed before Arcana took form in the world."
He began walking slowly across the front of the hall.
"The Hazo inherited a fragment of that power. A darkness capable of devouring Arcana itself."
No one spoke.
"They called it the Abyssal Flame."
Modred leaned slightly forward in his chair.
"For centuries," Halvorsen continued, "the four kingdoms existed in relative peace, Until he ascended the throne."
His chalk struck the board again.
A new name appeared.
Zarveth Hazo.
"The final High King of Meridia."
The professor's voice did not change.
"Zarveth Hazo killed more people than any figure in recorded history."
A few students shifted uncomfortably.
"Entire cities disappeared under his campaigns. Kingdoms collapsed beneath his armies. Millions died during the wars he waged."
Halvorsen rested the chalk on the ledge beneath the board.
"Many historians describe him as the most evil man the world has ever known."
A faint pause followed.
"But history rarely records why men like him rise."
His gaze moved slowly across the class.
"Zarveth believed the gods had enslaved mankind, and that themselves are men who claim to be gods."
"He believed mortals should rule themselves."
"And he believed the palace of the gods on Mount Ordain should fall."
The silence in the room deepened.
"He invaded Kaldea. He burned half of Ashkar. And eventually…"
Halvorsen tapped the board once.
"…he declared war on the gods themselves."
The chalk moved again.
Two names appeared beneath the others.
Pantheon.
Deicida.
"Even the gods divided during that war after Zarveth's declaration of war," Halvorsen said. "The Pantheon believed mortals should be guided and ruled by divine authority. The Deicida believed the opposite—that mortals should be allowed to determine their own fate without interference."
Both sides had to join forces, since Zarveth had already killed most of the demigods.
Meridia stood alone against them.
"But among the Hazo," Halvorsen continued, "there was one man who refused to follow his king."
The chalk wrote another name.
Uther Hazo.
"The first prince of Meridia. Son of Zarveth."
"He believed his father had gone mad."
Halvorsen folded his arms behind his back.
"Uther betrayed Meridia."
"He formed a pact with the gods."
"And together they destroyed the Hazo."
The hall remained completely silent.
"Meridia was burned from the map."
"The Hazo clan was wiped from existence."
Halvorsen slowly turned back toward the board.
"Only four survived."
He wrote their names beneath Zarveth's.
Uther.
Alric.
Kaelan.
Darian.
"The four sons of Zarveth Hazo."
"The last blood of the clan."
Halvorsen stepped away from the board.
"After the war, the gods withdrew from direct rule over the continent. The Pantheon and the Deicida agreed to establish a neutral order to maintain balance among the kingdoms."
"The Apostles."
"An order tasked with preventing another war on the scale of the Great War."
He paused before continuing.
"But blood does not disappear so easily."
His finger rested on the first name.
"Uther abandoned the name Hazo. He accepted the title granted to him by the Astrian Empire and became Duke of Zethe."
"The Vayne bloodline began with him."
Several students shifted slightly at the name.
Halvorsen continued.
"Alric traveled east and established a new kingdom. Eldris."
"His descendants became the Rhise family."
His hand moved toward the third name.
"Kaelan claimed the fertile lands wedged between Astria and Eldris."
He turned back toward the class.
"He founded the kingdom of Pargon."
The professor walked slowly along the front of the hall.
"At first, Pargon appeared to be little more than farmland between two larger powers."
"But geography often determines the fate of kingdoms."
Halvorsen began drawing a rough map across the board.
"A massive river, known as the Vareth, forms the natural border between the Duchy of Zethe and the territory of Pargon, and that river is Astrians only access into Pargon."
"The plains surrounding that river became some of the most fertile farmland on the continent."
He continued speaking as the map grew.
"At the south of Pargon, beneath the Haste Mountains lay vast deposits of Arcana crystals, the largest natural mines known outside Ashkar."
"And at the west a large body of water which is shared between the three kingdoms called Lake Moren is the only connection of Eldris to Pargon."
"But those resources alone did not make Pargon powerful."
Halvorsen added a coastline to the map.
"Unlike Astria and Eldris, Pargon was not landlocked."
"Both empires were surrounded by mountains and rivers that prevented direct access to the sea."
"Pargon, however, possessed a deep natural port along the northern coast."
He tapped the edge of the map.
"For centuries, it was the only major gateway through which Astria and Eldris and other states could trade with the outer kingdoms."
The room remained silent.
"To the north of those waters lies the Verth Archipelago."
"A chain of islands where a rare substance is harvested from beneath the ocean floor."
Halvorsen paused before continuing.
"It is known as Aetherion oil."
"When refined through Arcana, it produces enormous energy."
"It powers arcane engines, naval fleets, and military forges."
He looked back toward the students.
"In simple terms, Pargon controlled the sea."
"And whoever controlled Pargon controlled the trade of two empires."
Halvorsen erased a portion of the map slowly.
"For centuries, Astria, Eldris, and Pargon maintained a fragile pact."
"No invasion."
"No interference."
"No expansion."
He set the chalk down.
"That peace ended fifty years ago."
"Astria feared Eldris would attempt to seize Pargon and gain control of its ports."
"The Vaynes advised the emperor to act first."
"So the Astrian Empire invaded."
Several students frowned.
"The king of Pargon resisted and sought aid from Eldris."
"Eldris answered the call."
"But the Pantheon supported Astria."
"And the Deicida refused to intervene, despite the pleas from the Pargon royal family."
Halvorsen's voice grew quiet.
"The war lasted five years."
"When it ended, Pargon ceased to exist as an independent kingdom."
"It was absorbed into the Duchy of Zethe."
"The royal family was shattered. Some fled to Eldris. Some were executed."
"And some…"
His eyes passed slowly across the class.
"…were absorbed into the Vayne bloodline."
The room remained silent.
Halvorsen closed the book on his desk.
"That is the world you now live in."
"A world shaped by a kingdom that no longer exists."
The bell rang.
Students slowly began to move.
Taren leaned slightly toward Modred.
"So that's why everyone wanted Pargon."
Modred didn't respond immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the board.
On one name that had already begun to fade beneath the chalk dust.
Darian Hazo.
The brother history had forgotten.
And somewhere beyond the academy walls, the echoes of a kingdom long buried beneath war were beginning to stir once again.