Year One of the Empire!

At dawn on the following day, brilliant sunlight spilled over the floating city, while dazzlingly white floating clouds drifted past both sides of its flanks and cascaded over the tips of the soaring towers.

Passing through the firmament, birds swept by just outside the railings of the floating city, chirping at intervals as they praised the beauty of the dawn.

At the imperial council, Elian proposed instituting a brand-new calendar belonging exclusively to the empire.

Unsurprisingly, this motion received the unanimous consent of all chief councilors.

Within the current eight-member imperial council, as Elian had successfully brought over the four dissenters—Gutt, Helen, Cadel, and Cassandra—while commanding the absolute loyalty of General Thor and leaning on the two remaining chief councilors whose factional strength was the weakest and who had already naturally inclined toward Elian, the Eldoran Imperial Council and the entire floating city were now, in essence, completely under Elian's control.

Coupled with the improvements in the relationship between the surface and the city in the sky over the past year, along with the shaping of a national identity, the human kingdom of Eldoran had never been so unified since its inception.

"From this day forth, we humans, we Eldorans, possess a new calendar of our own!"

At the far end of the black wood longtable, Elian announced in a ringing voice:

"This year shall be recorded as the First Year of Eldoran!"

...

Late in the twelfth month of the First Year of the Empire.

Southern Eldoran.

Over a hundred undead creatures, gathered from multiple villages, were hacking through thorns and clearing wasteland across the wild terrain.

Zombies split bushes and crushed briars with wood-chopping knives and axes, feeling not the slightest pain even as sharp thorns pierced their skin.

Skeletons followed closely behind, turning the soil with wooden spades and clearing weeds with stone hoes, opening up fresh, arable land upon the desolate wilderness.

Viewed from the high heavens, one would surely have seen these hundred-odd undead forming a single line at the boundary where civilization met the wild, advancing step by step to reclaim the wasteland—a perfect and wondrous fusion of death and life brought to life as a unique landscape.

This wilderness had once been the territory of the orc clans, a place where weak humans dared not even approach.

Yet now, with the departure of the orcs, the humans of the various surface villages could finally set their sights here.

Unlike the various orc tribes whose lives centered on hunting, nomadism, and pillaging, the philosophy of human life was to sow, to labor, to harvest, and to guard a patch of land while quietly awaiting the growth of seeds.

"Well done, undead!"

"These things can genuinely work twenty-four hours a day without needing any rest at all; it's simply incredible!"

"Moreover, the undead aren't afraid of the venomous insects and snakes in the grass."

"That's right, earlier I saw an orc zombie bitten by a black demonic viper, and it didn't affect it in the least. It just turned around and crushed that black demonic viper, which was thicker than an arm, right to death."

"Well, obviously! Didn't the mage lords mention when introducing the undead that they are completely immune to toxins?"

"Haha, once this land-reclamation wave is over, the area of our family's farmland will multiply several times over. By then, we'll be able to feed even more children!"

"..."

Behind them, the humans looked upon the undead clearing the thickets and reclaiming the wasteland, smiling with deep gratification.

This was a gift of magic bestowed from the high heavens.

And the gifts of magic did not stop there!

"Mage apprentices, the work ahead is entrusted to you all."

As those words fell, children stepped forward one by one from the crowd. Among them was Gert's older sister, Sylca.

These children chanted incantations in low voices, causing blazing flames to burst from their fingertips.

Zero-circle trick, "Flame Arrow"!

Having undergone nearly a year of study, the brightest batch of children in many villages had successfully cast cantrips and become mage apprentices.

Although they still had a considerable distance to travel before becoming official mages, they were already genuine spellcasters!

The actions of the mage apprentices varied; some were practiced, while others were clumsy.

Some had to chant the incantation many times over before a few sparks finally burst from their fingertips, growing so flustered as smoke practically curled from their heads when they saw their companions succeed; others were familiar with the process and succeeded in their spellcasting on the very first try.

Gerth's sister, Sylca, belonged to the latter group.

Under the young girl's control, clusters of scorching flames landed upon the grassland, igniting the wild weeds across the wasteland.

This was a crucial step in reclaiming wasteland: using fire to burn away the weeds along with their seeds and root systems.

"Well done, Sylca! You truly live up to being the cleverest student under my command."

Watching the young girl's practiced movements in controlling the flames to burn away the weeds, Teacher Joseph beside her also encouraged her with excitement.

Over the past year or so, Joseph had long since regarded himself as a member of Rolling Stone Village.

Now that Rolling Stone Village was cooperating with several surrounding villages to jointly reclaim the wasteland, of course he had to tag along for such an important endeavor!

"Well done, mage apprentices. You are already far more impressive than I was back when I was your age."

Joseph looked with profound gratification at these apprentices—whether hailing from his own tutelage or that of other teachers—as they chanted the cantrip incantations over and over again.

Some cast "Flame Arrow" to scorch the grass and aid in land reclamation; others cast "Minor Illusion" and "Dancing Lights" to frighten away troublesome beasts; while still others cast "Prestidigitation" to move objects from a distance and clear weed seeds from the soil...

In less than a year, Eldoran had already spawned so many new spellcasters...

Joseph felt deeply gratified.

What Joseph did not know was that in the distant future thousands or tens of thousands of years later, in an era when humans ruled the continent, the birth of new mages would actually be far more difficult than in this era.

By that time, the Common Tongue spoken by humans would have undergone numerous transformations, becoming completely distinct from the ancient Common Tongue of this era—which originated from the Draconic and Elven languages—and would no longer possess the capability to serve directly as magical incantations capable of wielding the great forces of nature.

This meant that an ordinary human wishing to learn arcane magic generally had to spend many years learning the languages of supernatural races such as Elven and Draconic entirely from scratch.

This was precisely one of the reasons behind the image of the later-generation mage as "learned" and "proficient in multiple languages."

Unless one possessed extraordinary talent, no matter how one studied, proficiency in Elven and Draconic was unlikely to reach the level of a native tongue.

This immense linguistic threshold directly barred many clever individuals with magical potential from the path of magecraft.

This was also one of the reasons why, in later eras, despite humanity's far superior learning talent compared to other races, the number of mage practitioners remained scarce.

In contrast, during this ancient era of early Eldoran, the language spoken by humans themselves was the ancient Common Tongue derived from Elven and Draconic.

This was equivalent to taking a shortcut, bypassing the most difficult prerequisite steps and allowing them to proceed directly to the study of arcane spells!

This was the primordial year when magical education was at its most efficient, and human mages were born with the greatest ease!

Just as Joseph was reveling in the achievements of Eldoran's magical education, a startled cry suddenly rang out from ahead:

"Whoa, a monster has appeared up ahead!"

They saw that the newly tilled earth had suddenly bulged upward in a massive lump.

With a loud thud, a giant worm-like monster standing a full two meters tall burst forth from the mud, baring its ferocious mouthparts at the crowd.

Drops of corrosive acid dripped from the monster's maw, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound the moment they touched the ground.

Clearly, the heavy labor of land reclamation had disturbed this monster's nest.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

"What kind of creature is this?"

"What should we do? It looks like we've provoked some terrifying creature!"

Panicked shouts rose from the crowd.

On this fantastical continent, compared to the Earth of Elian's previous life, human ancestors had a far harder time surviving.

This was because terrifying fantasy monsters were everywhere across this land!

Whenever human ancestors attempted to reclaim wasteland and expand their territory, those horrific creatures would block their path.

Yet this time, humans had a new weapon!

"Everyone, do not be afraid; there is no need to be afraid."

Joseph waved his hand to soothe the people from various villages.

"This monster is called a bulette. Its individual combat power is roughly equivalent to a low-tier second-circle mage."

"Let us destroy it together!"

"Mage apprentices, follow my instructions and attack together!"

Joseph commanded the panicked mage apprentices, and they unleashed their spells in unison.

Corrosive acid, freezing rays, scorching flame arrows...

Magic after magic slammed into the bulette's carapace, forcing it to emit a painful shriek while its movements grew extremely sluggish under the effects of the frost.

Pummeled until its flesh was torn and its carapace shattered, the monster wheeled around, attempting to burrow back into the soil to ambush isolated targets.

However, at that very moment, a pack of zombies and skeletons came charging from all directions.

Raising their wood-chopping knives and stone axes, they swarmed over the monster, and within mere moments, they had hacked the wounded bulette into fragments.

"Hooray!"

"We took down the big monster!"

"And here I thought it was some terrifying monster; it was dealt with in a flash."

"That's right! With the knowledgeable Mr. Joseph commanding us, with the mage apprentices, and with these tireless, fearless undead, no matter how many monsters are hidden in this wilderness, we aren't afraid of them!"

The villagers cheered collectively, celebrating the victory of the battle.

Under Joseph's direction, everyone stripped off the bulette's carapace.

"This carapace is fine stuff. It can be crafted into high-quality armor."

"Oh, right, the bulette's acid gland is also an important alchemical material; don't forget to harvest it. We can make a huge profit selling it to the high-tier mages up in the floating city!"

Guided by such a mage, the villagers increasingly came to feel that the terrifying monsters lurking in the wilderness weren't scary at all; rather, they were a rich source of resources and materials.

"So that's how it is. As long as we are strong enough, the things that once threatened us will instead become resources we can utilize."

Watching the villagers harvest the acid gland from the bulette, Sylca felt a profound sense of realization.

"Very well, everyone, keep moving forward."

"No matter how many monsters come, they will all turn into our materials!"

The village chief encouraged the crowd, and the teenagers raised their farming tools in loud response.

The undead and the humans continued to hack their way forward, clearing the wasteland.

Spreading knowledge across the earth, toiling the undead in the fields, driving the orcs beyond the borders, and letting all the people know the name of the nation.

Through brambles and thorns, they opened up the mountain forests.

This was the First Year of the Empire.

(End of Volume One)