The collapse of the Profinens government left behind a power vacuum, one quickly filled by the clans. The Four Great Clans grew at such an astonishing pace, recruiting so many magi into their ranks, that nearly a quarter of the world's sorcerers were gathered around Profinens alone.
By 956 B.C., war erupted between two of the great clans—Hare and Groyi. The conflict drew in nearly fifteen hundred magi and six hundred samurai, plunging the land into utter chaos. At the war's opening, Hare marched his army from the plains of Nyxia, only to clash head-on with Groyi's forces waiting just beyond the ridge.
The battlefield became a storm of wildly different and terrifying powers. Towns crumbled, nature itself was scarred. Among the fallen were three hundred cursed magi whose deaths released a strange miasma—a gas so deadly it could kill anyone who inhaled it within a minute.
Exhaustion began to take its toll on both sides, yet neither army yielded. The battle raged on, day after day, week after week, for nothing but the throne. At last, Groyi emerged victorious—but the victory came with devastating losses. So much so that the Groyi Clan fractured, splintering into small village clans.
Two of the great clans had now faded into the dust of history. Only Simspa and Cryfall remained. In a bid for survival, they forged a pact of peace, coexisting in relative harmony for nearly six hundred years.
During this era, both clans discovered new magics and, among their greatest achievements, unlocked the powers of the elements themselves. One of these was the Shadow Element. Though it had no solid, liquid, or gaseous form of its own, it was acknowledged as an element because it could influence the structure of others.
Yet, no matter how they tried, they could not mold shadow into true spells. At best, it appeared briefly as a mist before vanishing entirely. Centuries of fruitless research forced them to abandon their efforts.
By 227 B.C., another great war broke out—this time between Cryfall and Simspa. Unlike the chaotic clashes of the past, this war was far more calculated, strategic, and devastating. Magi rained down bombardments that leveled towns, ignited roads with fire, and struck terror into the hearts of civilians.
At the forefront of the battle were the elite students of Grande Academia, the world's most prestigious school for sorcerers. Their presence tipped the scales entirely. A single student of Grande Academia was said to rival fifteen to twenty ordinary sorcerers. With such overwhelming force, Cryfall crushed Simspa after two bloody years, erasing them from existence.
But the true disaster was still two centuries away.
In the years that followed, Cryfall expanded rapidly, conquering vast territories from the Pre-Pre Islands to the continent of Legion. It was then that they made a groundbreaking discovery: the Shadow Element resonated with the soil of the Pre-Pre Islands—the oldest landmass in existence. Unlike the young lands of Nyxia and Profinens, this primordial earth allowed shadow magic to take root.
At first, shadow spells were primitive—mere tricks that allowed faster movement or the ability to pass through certain objects. But it was only the beginning.
By 23 B.C., Cryfall launched one of the largest operations in recorded history: the invasion of Sugoa. With fifteen thousand magi at their command, they struck in the height of their power. Massive warships sailed to the cursed continent. Yet as soon as they landed, the giants slumbering beneath Sugoa awoke, transforming into nightmarish beasts.
The clash was catastrophic. Though the magi fought relentlessly, their numbers dwindled. In the end, only fifteen hundred survived—the rest slaughtered. Cryfall had suffered a grievous blow, but what they uncovered would forever change the fate of the world.
Those who pierced into the giants' flesh found that even these titans resonated with the Shadow Element. Seizing the chance, they imprisoned the giants and experimented on them, discovering that shadow maintained the balance between Heaven and Hell.
Meanwhile, on the Pre-Pre Islands, other scholars experimenting with shadow committed a terrible blunder. The element accidentally intertwined with Heaven's aura, unleashing a shockwave so vast it was felt all the way to the heart of Nyxia.
Dark mist spread across the islands. Some researchers survived. Others vanished, never to be found. Sugoa, too, was tainted by the wave, though to a lesser extent. While not lethal, the mist warped the human mind, twisting emotions and spirit. Plants withered, ecosystems collapsed. The event was so world-altering that mankind marked it as the First Era—the true Dawn of History.
In the aftermath, desperate to understand the connection between shadow and the mask it had formed, scientists crafted masks from over three hundred materials. At last, in 150 A.D., they succeeded: the Shadow Element could be contained within an Amethyst Mask.
Every giant they had captured carried a different power, and those powers were sealed into masks. Masks combined with other masks, giving rise to countless variations—some powerful, some fragile, some holding multiple spells, while others shattered too easily. The number of masks only grew, multiplying into a complex and fearsome collection.
By the year 257 A.D., scholars had perfected the process of merging masks with the human body. Sorcerers wielding these masks became living weapons. Thus began a new era in human history—
The Age of Masks.