Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 144: Dark History

[Author's Foreword]

[I am the survivor of the accursed disease that spread throughout <Lucidus> and the whole <Peridus> continent. It was known as the "Death Plague" to most people outside of the magical community. The name was a bit misleading, yet I understand the reason behind its name. While the disease itself wasn't deadly, it could turn a mere person into a horrendous monster in mere hours after their infection. No one knew how it happened or if it was contagious to all ancestries.

But I was one of the magicians who was once graced as prodigies of <Crystal Academy>. I knew better as I was struck by the very plague they feared. Despite my confidence that I would avoid their sad fate, I learned too late that it didn't discriminate against the nobles and prodigies. Because in reality, it targets anyone who has [Mana] and corrupts it with pure dark energy. In other words, all the living beings in this kingdom were unsafe.

Because of this, we gave it a proper name. A name that resonates with us to our very core to this day.

[Mana Corruption].]

Huh... I didn't expect the beginning to be dramatic. But judging by this, this so-called disease must be serious if they describe it like that. The book is pretty wordy, though. So it might take a while for me to complete it. Thank god I've finished making some notes from the previous books beforehand. Plus, I've read some wordy books before. AKA Seraph and other fantasy novels. I doubt I can't handle a book that's their version of non-fiction in this universe.

But back to the memoir in question, the first chapter is basically an introduction of the author and how they were once a star pupil in <Crystal Academy>. They sound like they were one of those arrogant know-it-alls like in some novels I read. Yet when they describe their past self, it seems like they were regretting their behavior after they recovered from the disease. The second chapter isn't all special as well, but it does detail his connections with some key players in the epidemic. They mention a few names I've never heard before such as <Evan Elintio>, <Alcora Oztar>, and <Alphaeus Tazoru>.

"Oztar"... Now that I think about it, Dalhia's last name is the same as Alcora's. Maybe she's a relative of hers? If so, is she still alive to this day? Regardless, I should take note of that just in case.

The third chapter is where I start to learn how the corruption disease came into being. There were a few cases affecting [Elves] and [Insignis] with only [Feles] and [Beast Folk] being in the minority. According to the author, the beast-type ancestry patients were affected because they were the ones who possessed large [Mana Reserves] compared to their brethren. Plus, they worked as magicians or used magic as some sort of a sidearm in their skills as adventurers. I would have thought that was the only thing the chapter would say. But the last words haunt me with the patients' fates.

[I hung onto hope that my colleagues afflicted with this accursed disease would recover. Some had great Mana Control and Reserves and some had the best doctors and healers working on their diagnosis.

I thought they were enough to deal with this strange epidemic.

But I was wrong.

Because a day later, most of my colleagues were now replaced by monsters from an unknown origin.]

People replaced by monsters? From an unknown origin...