The Record of Unusual Creatures

Trekking in the wilderness was arduous, but the journey did not take long. The physique of humans in Collow was far stronger than humans on Earth. The professional soldiers, especially, were almost superhumans. The knights, lightly armored, could march forward quickly and barely needed any rest. A few days later, Hao Ren learned from Veronica that the border of the plain was near.

No one, including Hao Ren, could see the shadowy forest from here. But the traveler’s amulet in Veronica’s hands had begun to glow steadily, which was a sign that they were nearing the edge of the forest. If all went well, they would see the iconic landmark between the two regions: the Mound of the Unknown Soldier.

It had been an uneventful journey. The atmosphere in the realm of Chaos was depressive, but the sacred items that Hao Ren lent to the knights had worked like a charm. Veronica had never seen anything in the army with a long-lasting protective effect. The glow of the lightweight white plate did not dim even by a bit even though the chaotic energy was at its strongest. The sacred item required no recharge and circular purification. That thing was like the incarnation of divine power, which continued to protect everyone in the Chaos and to maintain its potency.

It made the princess wonder: if the army of the kingdom could have more of such sacred objects, how many lives of brave soldiers they could save? The Chaos Expeditionary Forces of the Kingdom would be extremely safe outside the border of Order. If they could get even more of these sacred items to form a defense on the perimeter, then the forces of Chaos would never be able to threaten the safety of the people.

But the thoughts just came and went quickly. After all, Veronica knew that every piece of sacred article from the ancient times was as precious as gold, and only in the holy places like the Cassouin Grand Temple did a few pieces remain. And Hao Ren, the Ancient Guardian, would undoubtedly have a limited number of these sacred objects only. She should not be too greedy, she thought to herself.

For the past few days, other than acting as a ‘guard’ following the knights, Hao Ren would spend the rest of his time studying the way of thinking in this world. He would usually chat with Veronica and Morian, trying to see this world through their perspective, and some other times, he would study the strange phenomena he found on the road.

Compared with talking with the old knight, he preferred to talk with Princess Veronica more, who was more straightforward. It was not because the princess was pretty, but the old knight was overly cautious and suspicious of him. Morian often asked him some common-knowledge questions to test him. Meanwhile, the princess was more approachable than the old knight. Though Veronica did have some doubts about Hao Ren’s competence in common knowledge, she did not say it openly. On the contrary, for curiosity or other reasons, the princess even approached and talked with him.

They were now chatting about ancient myths. The conversation made the journey seemed less dreary.

“The ancient book tells that ancient Collow was a single continent. All the kingdoms of today used to connect with water forming the ocean and the rivers flowing between the kingdoms,” Veronica excitedly told the story she heard from her scholarly teacher. “But an evil giant was being held in the deepest part of Collow. This giant is called Lockmarton, a prisoner of the Goddess of Creation sealed in the earth forever. As the years passed, the chain that bound Lockmarton lost its strength due to the reversal of the universe and the evil giant escaped. He pounded the earth angrily and the Collow Continent broke apart. There were five larger pieces, which are today’s Ansu mainland, the Radiant Continent, the Kingdom of Fimbulvinter, the Kanaan mysterious realm, and the Theocracy. Except for the mysterious realm of Kanaan, the other four continents are ruled by the Kingdom of Order.”

Listening to Veronica’s explanation about these ancient legends, Hao Ren secretly associated Lockmarton to the First Borns in his mind. But he had doubts: the First Born was a giant tentacle-like creature living inside a planet. They looked nothing like humans. Why did humans in this world call it the ‘evil giant’ in mythology?

He thought about it but did not delve further. There could be many missing and distorted pieces of ancient myths and such flaw was usual.

Hao Ren casually picked up where Veronica left off. “What I know is similar to that of yours. Well, the world was torn apart and then drifted in the Sea of Carnos, right?”

“Yes, the continents floated in the void while there were many smaller islands in between these continents. The suspended rivers and the magical waves were constantly flowing between the cracks after the world fell apart. But I have never seen a hanging river. I heard that they are very spectacular, but they are not in the territory of the Kingdom of Taros. There are only two suspended rivers in the entire Ansu Continent; one above the Kingdom of Torch, the other in the void outside the northern border of Ansu Continent. Only the most daring wizards built mage towers near the suspended river.”

The straight-spoken princess waved her hand while saying, “I had always wanted to see it. Unfortunately, the War of Chaos broke out. Now there is no time for this.”

Hao Ren simply nodded as a sign of acknowledgment. At this moment, a blurry image of a mound began to appear in his vision.

“Is that the Mound of the Unnamed Soldier?” Hao Ren asked, pointing into the distance.

Veronica immediately looked in the direction Hao Ren was pointing. Of course, she did not see anything, even when she rubbed her eyes and squinted hard. The mortal could not see far in the fog of Chaos.

However, after going farther ahead, the Mound of the Unnamed Soldier was in sight.

The well-known local landscape appeared before Hao Ren. Compared to its fame, this hillock was just an ordinary mound in the wilderness, with rocks scattered in the surroundings. But on this little hillock stood a stone statue.

It was a sculpture of a warrior, carved in solid gray-black stone, the facial features were almost indistinguishable. The warrior wore heavy armor and appeared stately with a sword in his hands. The statue overlooked the wilderness as if he was looking at the battlefield.

It was the famous Mound of the Unnamed Soldier or Mound of the Unnamed Knight in the ancient Dehla language.

“There is such a sculpture here.” Hao Ren could not help but mutter when he saw the lone sculpture in the wilderness.

But Veronica glanced at him with a weird look and whispered, “Didn’t you know? Did the people of the last generation not hear the story of The Last Elf Empire?”

Hao Ren immediately froze, knowing that he had blown it again. Making an excuse to cover his track now would seem too obvious, so he might as well admit his ignorance. “I don’t know about it, or even if I did, it could be known in another name, after all, it has been ten centuries. Many things have changed. Even many of our vocabulary is different from what you are using now. The Last Elf Empire? It could be in a different name in our time.”

His reasoning was logical. Veronica was less suspicious than before. “That is an ancient legend. It is said that 6,000 years ago, there was a mighty elf empire in the wilderness, Sukhoma. This empire had a great and ambitious emperor who unified all the kingdoms on the plains and almost ruled the entire Ansu Continent. He wanted to build the greatest kingdom and almost succeeded. But when he was about to be sworn in as the King of all the other rulers in the Ansu Continent, the tide of Chaos broke out.

“It is said that it was the strongest tide of Chaos in the millennium. Darkness broke out from the hinterland of the elf empire and spread rapidly across the continent along the magic veins in the wilderness. The empire experienced thirty days and nights of hell-like heat, and then thirty days and nights of cold that turned steel into powder, followed by plagues, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. At last, eight-tenths of the land of Order on the continent of Ansu began to turn into desert. The forces of Chaos broke all the defenses almost in the blink of an eye.

“The dream of the elven king burst, but he still led his last remaining soldiers to resist the tide. They fought and at last retreated. The last battle scene was in front of the king’s throne in the royal capital of the elves—right here. This place was the capital of the empire.”

Hao Ren looked around and saw only the wilderness.

“So this is the elven king?” he asked, pointing to the statue on the hillock.

“A lot of people think so. The elven king stood and died in front of his throne. When all his guards fell, he leaned his body on the sword, looked at the burning capital and said: I will stand here, watch my kingdom sink into the darkness. It will rise one day, and then only will I fall. Then the elven king’s vows came true: he has been standing ever since. Six thousand years of storms and sun have not brought down the stone statue. It is said that he will stand here forever until the elves become the master of this continent, or the world of Collow comes to an end.”

After listening to the story, Hao Ren remained silent for a long while. At last, he broke the silence. “Then that should be called the Mound of the Unnamed King.”

Veronica shook her head. “The elven king was holding a sword and standing here until he breathed his last. He left the world in the image of a warrior, so it should be called the Mound of the Unnamed Soldier.”