Volume 1, Chapter 26 – The World Tree Continent and Forbidden Magic

When people mention the World Tree, they usually envision a colossal banyan tree, towering like a pillar of heaven, its canopy blotting out the sky. Then comes the endless expanse of lush forests and the fairies and elves who live beneath the World Tree, guarding it.

—At least, that was how most fantasy stories Fia had read were set up.

However, to Fia’s surprise, according to Anastasia, the World Tree in this world was not simply a tree—it was the entire continent.

Since there were no pursuers along the way, Anastasia could leisurely explain the common knowledge of this world to Fia as they walked.

First, this was a continent inhabited by humans, elves, beastmen, fairies, the Frost Crystal Clan, the Netherfolk, vampires, and dragons. It was called the World Tree Continent.

Legend had it that thousands of years ago, all living beings dwelled on a far vaster land under the protection of the gods. But one day, the Darkborn—consisting of  dragons, the Netherfolk, and giants—rose to challenge the gods. The prolonged war devastated the world, and in the final divine battle, both the gods and the Darkborn were left severely wounded. The world was filled with the resentment of the fallen gods and the blood spilled by the Darkborn, which merged together to form an all-devouring black Chaos.

Chaos not only consumed the living but also stripped away death itself. Neither gods nor the undead could resist its encroachment.

To survive, the remaining gods relocated all living beings to this land, which was then regarded as a place of exile. However, because it jutted far above the normal ground, it inadvertently remained untouched by Chaos. Thus, the World Tree Continent became their refuge.

From then on, the surviving races took root here, multiplied, and gradually formed the current order. As for the gods, Anastasia explained that they had expended too much power in the divine war and had been in deep slumber ever since. They only descended divine revelations to guide their followers in times of extreme peril.

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Moreover, the Darkborn, who had once stood against the gods, also fled to the World Tree Continent during their escape.

The Darkborn were not a single race but the name of a faction, which included dragons, giants, and the Netherfolk. Just as the gods were not a monolithic bloc, the Darkborn were also divided among themselves. However, because the divisions were too complex and involved too many names, Fia decided to learn more about them later when she had time.

Compared to the continent’s history, Fia was more interested in matters closely related to herself.

Such as the war between humans and elves.

Unlike humans, who were divided into multiple nations, the elves had only one unified empire, occupying the northeastern corner of the continent. The place where Fia now found herself belonged to a human nation called the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis.

The Holy Kingdom of Milcandis was a theocratic state. Because the gods worshipped by the elves differed from those revered by the Holy Kingdom, and because the elf kingdom, Silvar, bordered Milcandis, conflicts frequently arose between them, culminating in a full-scale war two years ago.

The death of the elf princess on the battlefield was also a result of this war.

Interestingly, when Fia asked Anastasia why the two sides dared to wage war despite the existence of magic capable of annihilating entire cities in an instant, Anastasia replied that while such magic did exist, not every magic caster could use it.

As recorded in The Secret History of Witches, on the World Tree Continent, those who wielded magic were called magic casters, and the magic they used was divided into ten tiers. The higher the tier, the greater the power.

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Magic capable of destroying a city in an instant was at least of the seventh tier or above.

From the seventh tier onward, magic entered the realm of forbidden spells. With the exception of a few unique forbidden spells, using them invariably came at a cost. Some required vast amounts of magic crystals, others demanded the caster’s life force, and some even necessitated life sacrifices. Thus, not every magic caster was willing to employ forbidden spells.

Moreover, magic casters themselves were rare, a scarce resource requiring immense time and money to cultivate. Even with sufficient resources, individual talent determined whether one could become a top-tier magic caster.

Those capable of wielding forbidden spells invariably stood at the pinnacle of their nations. Taking the elven kingdom as an example, the entire country could barely muster four such individuals. Given their scarcity, no nation was willing to treat magic casters as disposable tools.

Even more intriguing was the discrepancy between Anastasia’s description and The Secret History of Witches. The book stated that magic capable of annihilating a city in an instant was at least of the ninth tier, whereas Anastasia claimed that seventh-tier magic could achieve the same. Fia couldn’t help but relay the book’s contents to Anastasia and ask for clarification.

Anastasia’s response was that their understandings of the word “city” differed.

The cities Anastasia referred to were very small by Fia’s standards. In this world, smaller cities typically had populations of around 10,000, while the average ranged between 30,000 to 80,000. Only major hub cities exceeded this, with populations in the hundreds of thousands. Even the most populous capitals rarely surpassed three million—a staggering number for this world’s production levels without magical assistance. The capital of the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis, for instance, had a population of only 800,000.

This disparity in city sizes explained the discrepancy between the book’s records and Anastasia’s account. Under normal circumstances, a seventh-tier wide-area spell could destroy a small city of 10,000. A hub city like Aurora City would require an eighth-tier spell. As for the ninth-tier magic described in The Secret History of Witches, it could obliterate a capital with a population of a million.

“Destroying a city of a million people is only a ninth-tier spell…”

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Fia couldn’t help but murmur.

In Fia’s impression, a “city” had always meant a population of tens of millions. Or rather, in her era, any settlement with fewer than ten million people wouldn’t even dare call itself a city—it’d be a county or a town at best.

So she had assumed The Secret History of Witches was referring to cities of that scale, which was why she had classified her Nebula Magic as ninth-tier. Now, it seemed the power of Nebula Magic was ten times greater than a ninth-tier spell—if not more.

“Only?!”

Hearing Fia’s murmur, Anastasia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Your Highness, those capable of casting ninth-tier magic are heroes among heroes! There have been fewer ninth-tier spells in history than shooting stars I’ve seen! In the four hundred years since our elven kingdom, Silvar, was founded, aside from our ancestor casting one ninth-tier spell, no one has ever achieved it again!”

Her voice was filled with disbelief, clearly treating Fia’s words as the naive ramblings of a child.

“No…”

Fia wanted to argue but held back. Without letting Anastasia witness it firsthand, she would never believe her. She’d have to wait for an opportunity to demonstrate her power in an uninhabited area.

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Otherwise, if she told Anastasia she could cast spells stronger than ninth-tier magic without incantations, it would sound as absurd as rivers flowing backward or rice eating people.

Fia decided to change the subject.

“By the way, Anastasia, do magic casters in this world not need to expend something like mana when using magic?”

When she had recklessly cast spells in the desert, Fia had never felt any depletion of mana. Moreover, The Secret History of Witches hadn’t mentioned any mana consumption either, so she had no choice but to ask Anastasia.

Anastasia’s expression instantly turned peculiar.

“Of course mana is consumed, Your Highness. Without mana, there is no magic— Ah, we’ve arrived. This should be the clinic you mentioned.”

As she spoke, a two-story building no different from the surrounding houses came into view before Fia.