Shepherd Wizard

Translator: Pai_

Long, long ago, there existed a world of those who were wholly complete.

A world composed solely of essence, where objects, power, and information were one, so that speaking something made it real.

Any intelligent being could wield the world freely like magic, needing neither food nor drink, having no lifespan nor death, thus living in a perpetually peaceful golden age with neither great joy nor great sorrow.

However, one day, the world was distorted by the arrival of intelligent beings from outer space.

Through the invasion of different species that followed different laws, the essence was divided into matter, power, and information, and humans lost their original status and fell to being prey.

Among the old powers, only the ability to manipulate information barely survived, and this is what became known as Soul Magic.

Thus began the second era, where humans, holding what could barely be called weapons, fell to the level of livestock for the alien species.

How long did humanity live as slaves to giants, great sea serpents, fairies, and dwarves?

Then, from another world connected by a small passageway, over a hundred players who had been enjoying a game arrived.

To those who had originally been nothing more than ordinary humans with no special abilities, an astonishing miracle occurred.

At the time, the world's barrier could not clearly distinguish between information and power and ended up misreading the data of the intruders.

It mistook character data, mere meaningless sequences of numbers such as stats, skills, and abilities, as actual, existing powers.

Even so, a power that doesn't exist cannot simply be created.

Ultimately, the world barrier, in an attempt to correct its error, sacrificed a large amount of its own essence and granted the players immense power corresponding to the value of their information, dropping them onto the surface.

In the process, overlaying a few in-game environments and laws was little more than a minor mistake.

Thus came the descent of the Preah God Tribe.

An event that marked the end of the second era and the beginning of the third, in which humanity would once again become the ruler of the world.......

“Sorry, but I don’t really get this ‘game’ thing.”

“Well-”

Though a few supplementary explanations were needed midway, the story continued on fairly smoothly.

That was thanks to Turan having consistently shared what he knew with the others, allowing them to acquire some foundational knowledge.

“But if it’s a story from a time that wasn’t even recorded, isn’t it impossible to find out about it?”

“That’s because Monarch has been collecting knowledge from the edge of the world since long, long ago.”

Turan answered Meisa’s question, recalling the memories of Monarch who slept within his consciousness.

Back in ancient times, when his other companions had fallen into despair at their ruined physical bodies, he had become obsessed with Soul Magic.

Naturally, such research led to the exploration of the Spirit Form Sea, the resting place of all souls.

After many trials and errors, he succeeded in creating a primitive ‘key’ by sacrificing a sacred relic he had often used when he still possessed the body of a player, and managed to make contact with the boundary.

However, he was unable to recognize the existence of the gods that were sleeping within the Spirit Form Sea at that time.

What he had accessed was not the true Spirit Form Sea nor the edge of the world, but merely one of the passageways leading there through the key.

Much like using a library key in any random place to reach a specific space.

“There, he spent a long time absorbing information and stacking up all kinds of knowledge. From the primeval history that would otherwise have been unknowable, to techniques for extracting keys using symbols as a medium through human blood and flesh.”

And after that long research, Monarch came to realize an astonishing truth.

That, based on a strong presence, one could possess the essence, the very foundation that maintains this world.

Having learned that, he sought to revert the entirety of this world back to essence and possess it, thus becoming a transcendent being.

“If he had succeeded.......”

“Then from this very land to the sea and the sky, everything would have been absorbed into him.”

And Monarch would have become a transcendent being who could unleash his desires as he pleased with that immense power.

Likely, the people living here wouldn’t have even registered in his awareness.

After that, Turan’s explanation continued.

With the descent of the Preah God Tribe, one of the things that astonished everyone was the revelation that the world's barrier had restricted humanity's creativity by blocking the exchange of information.

“I don’t really understand…”

“What I mean is, the things we usually think we invented or applied weren’t completely discovered by ourselves.”

In this world, “information” could be directly converted into matter and power, so inventing something new was essentially equivalent to the birth of a new power.

Therefore, the moment the world’s barrier refused to grant its stored information, humanity lost the ability to exercise creativity.

The only exceptions to this rule were beings like Turan, who had originally come from beyond the world, dwarves and the souls of the gods.

Now that Turan had gained control over the world’s barrier, it would become possible to expect some degree of technological advancement through his adjustments.

The explanation continued from there.

That Monarch had discovered a way to finally enter the world’s boundary about fifteen years ago, and that five years ago he had restored a passage to Earth.

And that Turan, having invaded the boundary, awakened and absorbed the sleeping gods within his soul, enabling him to contest the ownership of essence, none of these statements were interrupted.

What the listeners couldn’t stay silent about was when Turan revealed that he could now freely define the afterlife and that he had become aware of the existence of beings from beyond the world.

“At that level, he’s practically the god of gods…”

“And yet, there’s still an enemy he can’t defeat?”

“To be exact, we don’t really know if he can or can’t win. We still know way too little about the enemy.”

Currently, Turan was in a weakened state compared to when he had consumed a massive amount of essence to fight Monarch.

Of course, even in that condition, he could still handle a few Urukas without trouble, but if the true powerhouses of Phantom Beast Realm appeared, he wouldn’t be able to stand against them.

What he was hoping for now was a virtuous cycle in which the newly created afterlife would give birth to a vast amount of presence, which would then convert into essence.

The more intelligent beings thrived on this land, and the more diverse emotions they directed toward him, the greater the total amount of essence would become.

In short, the more he cultivated this world into a livable one, the stronger Turan himself would become.

“I see…”

“Is there any chance we could fight alongside you?”

Solif asked Turan with a serious expression.

The fire from the fireplace beside them cast an orange glow on his face.

“I know it might sound like I’m after your power, but I just thought, if we could also learn to handle this essence thing, wouldn’t that make us more helpful? Right now, the gap between us is too wide to stand shoulder to shoulder.”

“It’s not impossible. I was planning to bring that up soon anyway.”

However, the right to wield essence was not granted to just anyone.

Only those who possessed at least four bloodlines, that is, those who had a complete spirit form, could handle essence.

In game terms, a fourth job change was a prerequisite.

Given that, only Meisa among those present had the qualification to wield essence.

“That’s why Monarch kept seeking out Meisa. The deer magical beast he was using as his main body didn’t originally have any bloodline abilities, it was just a powerful beast. He was only faking it by forcibly using his own soul.”

Of course, if Turan wished, it wasn’t impossible for him to awaken a fourth bloodline, Healer, in Solif.

It would simply require editing some pieces of information.

But it was easier said than done. Granting a new qualification would consume an incomparably greater amount of essence than simply extending someone’s lifespan, and since it involved reconstructing the spirit form, there was no telling what effect it would have on one’s personality.

“As you already know, bloodline abilities are tied to the soul, so they influence personality too. I’m an example of that.”

Like the inherently cruel Chaser, the ruthless Hunter, the impulsive Pyromaniac, and the stubborn Guardian, bloodline abilities somewhat determined a person’s essence.

Because of this, Turan also understood why Haroon had once said it was fortunate that the Shadow bloodline had gone extinct.

A noble bloodline that derives pleasure from inflicting pain, if such a thing truly existed, it was obvious that even a "leash" wouldn’t be enough to control it.

Compared to that, something like the Alchemist, which intensified one’s curiosity, was relatively tame.

Though it was still under control because the ability to create poison could be used far too dangerously.

“Hmm…”

“Still, there is a way to make the evolution of spirit forms a bit gentler.”

“Job change.”

“Ah.”

The job change system of ‘SSMS’ had been implanted into this world alongside the descent of the Preah God Tribe.

However, most people weren’t qualified to be players in the first place, and the methods of job change had also become distorted due to inter-world compatibility issues or corrupted memories from the transmitted spirit fragments.

Turan expressed his intention to build a new system that would bring all of this under control.

“But you can’t input entirely inaccurate data values, that would go against reason. At the very least, if you want to gain the Pyromaniac ability, it has to involve something related to fire.”

This was similar to the principle of Causality, one of the laws of magic.

Rather than something happening out of nowhere, achieving a feat worthy of such a qualification would consume far less essence.

Naturally, it would be easier for someone with no bloodline abilities to gain one, and much harder for someone who already had three to gain a fourth.

Solif, for instance, would probably need to heal thousands or engage in widespread charity if he wanted to smoothly acquire the Healer bloodline.

“Oh.”

“And that’s not all.”

“What else?”

“From now on, you won’t be able to get magic power from magical beasts or fellow wizards.”

“You can do that?”

“In the end, laws are just another form of information. It’s just manipulating what was previously taken and overlaid from another place.”

"Hearing this, I'm newly realizing that we're really talking with a god."

Haram Berk, who had been sitting at a relatively distant table, said solemnly.

Turan gave a light nod of respect to his former martial arts teacher, then delivered the conclusion.

“From now on, the control of magic power will increase through training. The more familiar your spirit form becomes with handling magic power, the more you’ll be able to accumulate. Talent limits can’t be helped, but at least no one will be able to just slack off and suck in magic power to gain overwhelming strength.”

The existing system of magic power absorption, most likely a crude imitation of a game’s leveling-up system, had created countless bandit nobles and unnecessary rules.

It hardly needed to be said how magical beasts, having grown absurdly strong by devouring others, had caused massive destruction.

Additionally, considering how magic is closely related to techniques that manipulate essence, the logic was that this system would make it easier to cultivate individuals capable of handling essence more skillfully than before.

“So... for those who gain four bloodline abilities, we should grant them partial rights to wield essence.”

Everyone’s expressions changed when Turan added that among them, someone might eventually be tasked with overseeing the afterlife.

No matter how it was phrased, the power to handle essence was, in truth, no different from divine authority.

How many humans would refuse the chance to become a god?

“It’s best not to think of it as purely a good thing. In other words, those who can wield essence are also the ones who will have to fight the enemies from beyond this world.”

No one knew how powerful the enemies beyond this world might be.

In the extreme, there could be beings capable of crushing the current Turan like an insect with a single finger.

To this, Solif and a few others experienced in battle scoffed.

“You make it sound like things haven’t been dangerous until now.”

“Well, fair point.”

Even Ashiz, who was an Enchanter, and his brother Melo had once had an identity defined by fighting with their lives on the line.

Back then, they had nothing and endured much hardship.

Having given that warning, Turan continued to engage in deep discussion about the plans he had put in place.

At times, he accepted better suggestions. Other times, he rejected ideas he wasn’t fond of.

The conversation continued until dawn broke over the night in Kalamaf.

***

One of the things Turan had pondered on during his return was how to handle the dwarves now under his command.

Originally, they were little more than a kind of residue scattered by Monarch to hinder Turan, so at this point, there was no real need to integrate them.

After all, the problem of humanity’s creative blockage had now been resolved.

Even so, he chose to honor the original agreement.

Because, in the end, he acknowledged that the dwarves had also chosen to come under his protection.

“Besides, their technological system is actually quite interesting.”

“Better than Earth’s technology?”

Meisa asked as Turan explained the items the dwarves had submitted, and he shook his head in response.

“Not to that extent… but I think it’s fair to say they’ve evolved in a completely different direction. As far as I remember, humans on Earth abandoned steam-based civilization at a certain level.”

That was probably due in large part to the discovery of petroleum and electricity.

Unfortunately, since their world had no petroleum, they would have to consider developing in a different direction.

It might only be possible far in the future, but it wasn’t as though they could simply open the world’s barrier and create a permanent passage to import oil.

“I’ve actually thought about that someday, too.”

“A permanent passage to Earth… I’d like to go back. It was an interesting place, even if only briefly.”

“Someday, we’ll have to.”

Turan recalled the memories of the gods dwelling within him.

Among them were those who had loved ones left behind on Earth and wished to return, and others who had unresolved grudges.

In a way, as Turan was the reincarnation of them all, he intended to settle those matters as well, if time allowed.

It was just unfortunate that he wasn’t quite free enough to do so yet.

While they spoke, Turan gently stroked the baby who was sleeping soundly in Meisa’s arms.

“Luska is sleeping peacefully again today.”

“Rida-nim said before that he’s so quiet, he’s no fun to watch.”

“It’s not good to be too well-behaved either.”

His quietly murmured voice carried a faint hint of guilt.

At the time, modifying newborn Luska’s spirit form and bestowing upon him four symbols had seemed like the right thing to do, but now, looking back, he wondered if it hadn’t been too great a burden placed on him without even the right to choose.

Would a child who learned that, from the moment of birth, he was expected to carry the responsibilities of a divine being at his father's command, really be pleased with it?

Sensing his inner turmoil, Meisa lightly bopped Turan on the head with a hammer of light she had quietly conjured.

“I can see your head full of useless worries. Stop moping and get to work. I’m about to head to the Aravion region to deal with the birdmen anyway.”

“Yeah, I’d better.”

Beneath Kalamaf, where the original jade mirror had once been installed, seven smaller jade mirrors had now been placed.

Each one was a gateway to a different region in this world, from the western wastelands to the grassy plains.

These were the result of storing the jade mirror’s information, absorbing it, and then copying and distributing it.

Thanks to that, they could now freely travel not only to Helio but also to other regions.

Although it was a bit more inconvenient than having Turan transport them himself, considering the consumption and recovery of essence, and the difficulty of returning, this method was far more efficient.

“Is Armania back yet?”

“I could find him if I wanted to, but he probably wouldn’t like that.”

“Hope he comes back soon.”

Meisa also let out a small sigh, not entirely happy about that foolish merman boy being caught up in so much inner turmoil.

“Well then, I’ll be off.”

“See you in the evening.”

How had it even become possible to say something like “see you in the evening” before heading off to a completely different region?

With a laugh of disbelief, Turan updated his data values.

Just moments ago, he had been standing on the terrace of the Kalamaf mansion, and now, he was stepping onto the bright yellow sands of the desert.

"What a mess."

The place he had arrived at was none other than Axum.

Once the capital of House Zahar and a prosperous city, it had now become literal ruins.

Clearly visible throughout the city were traces of giants having trampled everything, and what was once a clear lake, always managed by wizards, was now polluted with corpses and filth.

“Let’s go, Bije.”

-Okay!

With a lively reply, Turan’s body instantly transformed into the massive form of a golden eagle, just as he had during the battle with Monarch.

A single enormous shadow now stretched across the desert.

Before the sun set today, his goal was to ensure not a single living giant remained in the Enril Desert.

*****

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