"So we split the eras of the first Cycle into numbered Kingdoms, as vaguely throughout each area of the 1st Cycle, there was a kingdom, country, or empire that reigned above all the others.
The 1st Kingdom was a country said to be in Molstoria, located on a great tree known as Yggdrasil, the sole artefact of the country that had existed until around 1000 years ago. It seems the Kingdom was ruled by the Nephilim, as they called Yggdrasil their homeland for generations, and passed down a large amount of information we have about it.
It was a land that many speculate to have been lived in by the King of the Nephilim, and the Queen of the Seers told us in creation myths, as this is said to have been the First Kingdom spawn after the end of the former world order, and amongst the races that are recorded to have lived around such an area, it could've only been them or the Dragons, yet the Dragons were locked in a war against their own, making the possibility of it being them small.
Overall, very little is actually known about said period, though what we can maintain is that, during this period, Yugaku and humans were working together, focusing on rebuilding, while the Seraphs had started their isolationist ways under shame for siding with the six gods during the Great War. Another key aspect is that many different races all existed in this kingdom at the same time, leading to the creation of Demi's, or what we called mixed-race species. Powerful creatures who have a chance to be born from the union of 2 races; it was something that happened before but apparently was looked down upon heavily before this generation.
A commonality you will notice going forward is that the Beastkin movements in these stories are rather unknown, and that's because in the post-Charles Era, when a lot of this was discovered, the hatred of Beastkin was still so palpable you could breathe it in; many still felt it was perfectly okay to write them out of history. There have been efforts to push against this, yet the details from ancient texts and accepted information have been sparse.
Next we move on to the 2nd Kingdom. Caused by the fall of the 1st Kingdom, it's unknown to many what happened, but it seems an unknown death befell the Queen of Seers, and Madness befell the King of Nephilim, causing a rampage unlike anyone has ever seen against the humans, and the only race capable of standing up against the Nephilim at such a time was the Yugaku, who engaged in a war of spirit versus flesh.
Yet the Nephilim, who were more experienced in warfare and aided by their citizens who were Demi's, outdid the Yugaku, but it is said that through their despair a being was born, one of immense strength and power that could overta-."
Orb freezes for a moment and grabs his mouth as the rest of the class looks on at him in confusion, causing Suzuka to say, "Is everything okay, Orb?"
His hair turns from lime to grey, to green to white, as he shakes his head from side to side rapidly, saying, "Everything is perfectly fine!"
Continuing on, he says, "The great warrior, a hero they said defeated and toppled the 1st Kingdom, went on to establish the 2nd Kingdom with the Yugaku at the heart, in the same land the 1st had fallen, using the massive spiritual energy Yggdrasil had to push the spiritual abilities of its citizens to the limit, and an age of a type of Ancient Spirit Art Development was started.
It is said that during this period, people wielded Spirit Energy so freely that even fighting styles like Holistic Battle Arts were just common usage. An era where they were able to integrate countless technologies with Spirit Energy, advancing all life of Theophila forward more so than any generation before or after could've ever hoped for.
Yet the era was also said to be plagued with spiritual attacks. It is said that when life connects deeper with their soul, they also open gateways for things to come and attack them through it, and such was the case for those who herald this generation as their greatest.
Eventually leading to its fall, as the great hero said to have been corrupted by demons went on a rampage that none of the six races could stop, but one race stood above it all: those who called themselves closest to the Messiah, and incapable of defeat. The humans.
Using what they had gained from the other Races over the last two generations, their skills and strength had grown tremendously to the point where they could even rival the other races in power.
And together, as one united body that struck down the great hero, yet the great hero left a curse on the land, sending standing storms everywhere through the human continents, destabilising their economies and causing mass suffering.
Yet they persevered and began the 3rd Kingdom, the first human-led one, known as Ancient Jedidiah. The predecessor to the one that still exists to this day. Though unlike the one today Jedidah had more land mass and even was considered to be many of the countries east of it.
It was considered the centre of humanity's thoughts, and a collection of the struggle humanity had gone through to dominate all the other races, making a history for themselves known could've thought possible.
They also kept the traditions of the 1st Kingdom in allowing all races to join, and the tradition of the 2nd focusing on Spiritual progress. Many legends and Legacies that we know come from this era, as humans, unlike the other races, find great joy in writing about themselves.
The stories that could go on about this generation are endless, but overall key aspects are that the 1st Seraphs in history broke some degree of isolationism, the great Lotus of Enotita appeared, the Yugaku were driven almost to extinction, the beastkin seemingly thrived in this generation becoming a key part of every kingdom, the Dragons were the closet race to that of Jedidah, many of the Hugr Nephilim stories were born, and the Seers were building up a nation in what was the 6th Continent Nitztzedek
Though eventually things came to a head as Jedidah and the Dragons went to war after an unknown series of events, it was said that the Dragons felt betrayed by humanity at large, and a fury that could never be quenched was born into each of their souls.
And thus, from the ashes of the 3rd Kingdom, the 4th Kingdom was born, though it was said that there was a good bit of difference between the 3rd and 4th Kingdoms. However, the exactness of events that took place during this era is difficult, because many events are either given to the 3rd or 4th Kingdom, called the blank period.
Yet still, the 4th Kingdom was born on the sixth continent, Nitztzedek, where the seers created their new kingdom. Another aspect to keep in mind is that while I have been talking about the different races as a monolith, many of the races were split up into different areas throughout history. The Seers who founded the 4th Kingdom are a different tribe, unconnected from the Seers who served under the Queen of the Seers.
The 4th Kingdom was known to be one of the most religious kingdoms. Seeing the fall of the 3rd Kingdom, they thought it happened due to the ever-growing arrogance of humans, falling into the same sort of superiority the other races held against them, and thought that the true guidance of strength lay in following the principles of Telonism.
And so a great age of religious worship was born, and an age where most of the other races, in many different instances, were converted to Telonism, and it was during this era that most of the religious items we have today were formed, as well as many of the stories were said to have been compiled, though the stories in this case were only passed down to us by word of mouth.
Another aspect of this generation was the removal of many of the six god's memorabilia, essentially erasing the marks they left on the world from our planet, the damages and rewards given to us.
The final aspect of this was in many cases were the relations between the races were extremely contentious. To be considered a lover of all races was to be considered a Telonist, and the more Telonist you were, the more united you were, leading to a couple of struggles between the identities of the races.
This wasn't aided by the fact that both the Seers who founded the 4th Kingdom, along with the giant number of Seraphs who came to live there, had been all but untouched by the squabbles of the previous 3 kingdoms, granting them far greater power than the other groups which had been ravaged by ruinous war.
Still, it all came to an end one day, as a madman took over the kingdom; many do not know where he came from or who he was, but one thing was certain: those who lived revered him. Even the title of madman is something present day historian gave him due to his actions, according to every person, story, text, or Legacy which has described such a period one thing has been certain, and that was he was seen as no different than the Messiah himself.
Yet his actions forced the country into an endless, brutal war, yet each word that was ever used to depict the horrors was that of praise and righteous judgement. He was the first man to completely conquer all the human continents and made the sole known invasion of the Dragon Continent that was successful.
Yet, like all the others, his efforts came to a head, as heroes rose up guided by a goddess sent from the heavens by the Messiah, to cut him down, leading to the beginning of the Last Kingdom. And in terms of what we know of the Kingdom, that is all."
The class stares forward in amazement, yet Dumnorix, in the moment, says, "Didn't the 6th Continent explode at the end of the 1st Cycle?"
"Correct! It seems someone has been listening. But overall, we have no idea what happened. Surprising things from the Last Kingdom are the rarest of all; even Legacies attached to such an era are essentially unheard of, the only ones we have are by people killed when rumours of the Heroes were just beginning to circulate the different battlefronts against the 4th Kingdom. Still figuring out what happened is one of the greatest tasks historians to this day try and make sense of."
Atalanta says, "How wonderful, maybe I should try and get that title. Won't you try and help me, my dear Orb?"
"NO, GO AWAY! Now, getting back to the topic at hand, let us move into the 2nd Cycle. Though, as many of already know, there isn't much to discuss. The destruction of Nitztzedek caused most of the world to become unlivable for millennia. All kingdoms forged were destroyed within years, and none had persisted longer than that. Many people burrowed underground, creating settlements that are known as dungeons today.
Another aspect of this generation is that most of the knowledge lost to man was kept and remembered by the Seers, who used a variety of methods to pass it down to the present day.
Yet you all know the rest: the Beastkins Empire of Louernia formed, only to be replaced by the King Charles Empire of Nero; the Ancient Kingdom of Dá also existed during this time, as well as the descendants of the Nephilim, who lived in Molstoria.
They competed, warred, and fought with each other in incredibly well-documented events, only for it all to come to an end as Victoria froze over forming Fimbulwinter, and from that we enter into the 3rd Cycle.