Am I The Villain?

19. Solipsism and Exposition

Another year have passed without me even stepping foot outside the city walls. I've been mostly locking myself inside a library the human built here. Just passing time reading. Yorheim himself never built a library here because according to Norn, Yorheim simply teleported himself to the Grand Archive if he wants to read. Yes, the same Grand Archive where my memories are kept. Unfortunately, none of the palace spirits actually know where this supposed Grand Archive is located. Apparently it's a closely guarded secret by the giants.

Reading all the books here, this world is actually pretty interesting for a dream. 

Yes, a dream. I've decided that this world is all just a bad dream and nothing is real. One day I'll definitely wake up in the morning as if nothing is wrong and carry on with my mundane daily life. It's an unhealthy worldview but it keeps me sane. The outside world is a fabrication of my mind and there is nothing anybody can do to convince me otherwise. I reject the notion that other creature within this world is anything more than figments of my imagination.

What's that? I shouldn't think like this and face reality? 

Hah, what reality? This isn't my reality, that's for sure. I can't even die here, what other conclusion can you arrive at other than that none of this real?

I just don't care anymore. I'll do whatever I want. This is my dream. Leave me alone.

There are a lot of books about history and magic. Chronologically, long time ago there were the Age of Giants where these titular giants walked upon the earth. The gods didn't like how the giants are living arrogantly without paying respect to them and decided to bring divine punishment. To the gods surprise, the war that ensued were much more devastating and difficult than they ever imagined. By the time the war is over, the world is scorched and broken beyond recognition. The gods, feeling responsible, then descended from Heaven and ruled the world directly. Thus begin the Age of Gods.

One day, without any warning the world was plunged into darkness. The sky was blotted out by an unspeakable opaque shadow. For the following hours, panic ensued as not even a fire created by the most powerful god can illuminate the darkness. Just like how the darkness came, it also dissipated on its own suddenly. Left behind by the darkness is a new world where the gods are nowhere to be found. This unbelievable event was named by historians as the Silent Hours. Lost by this sudden turn of event, the world march into a new Age of Silence. Named as such in reference to how the gods never made anymore contacts with the world.

...and that's basically it. It's been 15 centuries since the Silent Hours and the world is surprisingly doing well without the gods guidance. Humanity erected the great Kleinistic Empire. The Elves claimed the Equatorial Realm which consists mostly of jungles. Dwarves are living nomadically inside mountain ranges around the world. Other races have also rebuilt their civilization and even advanced it beyond what they were during the Age of Gods.

Regarding magic.... it's confusing. There are a lot of books which contradicts each others. Some books claim Sorceries are just lesser version of Miracles, granted by the gods; while others believe Sorceries are the intrinsic characteristic of all living being that are beyond the gods control. As far as anybody knows, mana has existed since the Primordial Age. The age before giants. It's no surprise to me when I read that some civilizations have religions based around the worship of mana.

There is one thing all books agreed on. The evocation of Sorceries. It's like how Allie explained. The world works on the law of mana exchange. You need to input the appropriate amount of mana to alter the physical world. The more alteration you create, the more mana is required. Following the mana input is the conceptualization of spells. People with great amount of mana and willpower can simply think about what they want and it will be done, but for most people with average amount of mana, the study of grimoires are necessary. These grimoires are magical texts written by great mages and within these texts are knowledge about a specific spell. There are some grimoires in this library and I've read them all. Reading them felt odd, as if the information suddenly emerges from within my own mind instead of coming in from the texts.