Arnis stood quietly for a moment after speaking. The small flame hovering above his palm flickered gently, its light moving across the massive mural.
Reige continued staring at the battlefield painted across the wall. The more he looked at it, the more familiar it felt. But he forced himself to remain still, saying nothing.
Arnis finally began.
"Six hundred years ago," he said slowly, "this continent was already full of life."
His hand moved slightly, the flame drifting toward the mural as if guiding the story.
"Humans lived across many kingdoms. But humans were not alone."
He pointed at several figures painted among the soldiers.
"There were many races."
Some figures in the mural had taller bodies and pale silver skin. Others had horns growing from their heads. Some had elongated ears. A few looked almost human but carried scales along their necks or arms.
"Different races… different cultures… different beliefs," Arnis continued. "Each believed they were superior to the others."
Reige's eyes followed the shapes.
He had never seen such beings before. They looked like humans… but not quite.
Arnis's voice grew heavier.
"When different people believe they are better than everyone else… cruelty begins."
He pointed toward another part of the mural.
"There were cities where certain races were not allowed to enter. Entire regions where some people were born only to serve others."
Reige tilted his head slightly.
"Serve?"
Arnis nodded.
"Work. Obey. Never question."
He paused, then added quietly,
"And sometimes die for their masters."
Reige felt something shift inside his chest.
It was a strange sensation. Not pain. Not hunger. Something else. His body reacted slightly, though he could not explain why.
His face tightened just a little.
Arnis noticed but continued speaking.
"In some places, people were sold like animals."
Reige looked back at him.
"Sold?"
"Bought and owned," Arnis replied. "They had no freedom. No choice in their lives. Their existence belonged to someone else."
The words lingered in the air.
Reige could not fully grasp the idea.
But the feeling inside his chest grew stronger.
Arnis continued, his tone steady but cold.
"Other kingdoms believed strength was everything."
He gestured toward soldiers in the mural wearing heavy armor.
"In those lands, children were trained for war from the moment they could walk. Weakness was punished. Failure meant death."
Reige's eyes moved back to the battlefield in the mural.
He could see small figures among the soldiers young ones, smaller than the rest.
Something about that image made his jaw tighten slightly.
Arnis kept speaking.
"There were also cultures that believed certain bloodlines were divine… chosen by the world itself."
His flame drifted upward toward the sky portion of the mural.
"Those were the kings."
Reige looked again at the figures sitting at the long table above the battlefield.
They wore elegant clothing and drank from golden cups while smiling.
Arnis's voice turned sharper.
"They ruled entire nations."
"And unlike the people below… they were not equal."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The kings carried a special bloodline. Something ancient that gave them power far beyond ordinary humans."
Reige's eyes narrowed slightly.
Power.
That word he understood.
But Arnis did not explain further.
"That bloodline made them the strongest beings in the human world," Arnis said. "So their decisions shaped everything."
The flame flickered again.
"For centuries the continent lived like this."
Different races.
Different societies.
Oppression.
Slavery.
War.
But eventually something strange happened.
Arnis looked back at the mural.
"Peace."
Reige blinked.
Arnis continued.
"For nearly two hundred years, the great kingdoms stopped fighting each other. Trade grew. Cities expanded. Roads connected the continent."
The mural showed large cities and caravans moving between them.
"Life became… easy."
Arnis's voice carried faint bitterness now.
"And that is when the kings became bored."
Reige looked at him.
Bored?
Arnis nodded slowly.
"When rulers grow powerful enough… sometimes they forget what suffering looks like."
He pointed again toward the sky portion of the mural.
"They began treating the world like a game."
Reige stared at the painting again.
Arnis continued.
"One day, during a gathering between several kings, a trivial dispute occurred."
"A minor argument."
"A matter so small that no one remembers what it was about."
Reige frowned slightly.
If it was so small… why remember it at all?
Arnis continued.
"One of the kings lost his temper."
The flame above his palm burned slightly brighter.
"He declared something ridiculous."
Arnis pointed toward the battlefield in the mural.
"A game."
Reige remained silent.
Arnis spoke the words slowly.
"A battlefield would be created."
"Armies from every kingdom would be sent."
"And the war would not end until only one soldier remained alive."
The cave fell quiet.
Reige felt the strange sensation in his chest again.
Stronger this time.
Arnis's eyes hardened.
"They called it a contest."
"A grand game between kings."
"But in truth…"
He looked back at the mural.
"It was slaughter."
The flame trembled slightly.
"Billions of lives were thrown into a single battlefield."
"Humans."
"Beasts."
"Dragons."
"Entire races."
"Everything was dragged into the war."
Reige's breathing slowed.
The mural in front of him suddenly felt heavier.
Too familiar.
Arnis spoke quietly.
"And that battlefield…"
He pointed directly toward the painted land covered in red.
"…is the place you came from."
The firelight flickered across the wall.
Arnis continued calmly.
"That was the beginning of the greatest massacre in the history of this continent."