The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-237

Chapter 237: The Tale of Aerym

A similar, gargantuan World Gate stood in the deep void of space, but this World Gate was much, much quieter..

As the Petrachelys materialised, there were no other accompanying spacecrafts. It did seem like the ones that were beside them had been transported into other universes. The MDT then set the ship on cruising speed. After that, it displayed the view at the back of the ship, which was captured through the ship’s rear sensors and cameras. Hao Ren saw a slightly smaller but no less magnificent structure behind him, and not too far away was the “Sovereignity Hub”. However, there was only one in this area. It seemed like this part of the universe was much… poorer and desolate compared to where he came from.

The ship’s public channel was still open and capable of receiving any transmissions within one light year away. But, the channel in this area barely received any signals at all; some came from the local navigational facilities while some were from ships passing-by. No one knew what civilisation they were in, but for sure, these signals had nothing to do with with the objective Hao Ren and his group had.

“This area here sure is… empty.” Hao Ren quipped as he looked towards the surrounding space. There were a star cluster that he had never seen before, and in the middle of space, he saw a faint, brown light. The top left corner of the screen displayed another group of star clusters, and as he focused on them, the system automatically reported that the cluster were at least a million light years away. Such was the scale of things in space.

The MDT was confirming the next navigation route as it heard the announcement. “The Macro World has a lot of desolate or unhabited areas. They were part of the rapid sphere of expansion a hundred thousand years ago. That time, there was a calamity in the void and many worlds simply turned to dust. Only regions protected by the three great pantheons, the Xiling, the Galacticus and the Xylon had survived the calamity. We were forewarned of the situation and had sent out legions of scouting drones to look for new worlds, and to bring them into the Macro World’s network. Most of these new universes are simply just registered, and left there. Most of them were not even developed until today. Of course, some parts of the galaxy simply had no value to them. With the void this vast, no one had the time to totally claim it.”

Hilda was engrossed looking at the stars outside the ship. The star map in the region were however foreign to her. “How long more to my home?”

“…Quite the distance I’m afraid. I’m still trying to plot our course.” The MDT sounded a little unsure. “What sort of place did your kind lived in? The navigation map sent by the Space Administration is rather straightforward, but when I scanned the area, there’s nothing along the path, just the empty space.”

Hilda took a deep sigh. “That’s right, an empty space. That’s where my homeland lies.”

The MDT did not respond and activated the hyper lightspeed engine. The area outside distorted again as the hyperspace bubble formed. Hao Ren knew that they could only wait now. The next time the ship appears in real space, they will probably be at the doorstep of Hilda’s homeworld. Vivian noticed the constant change of expressions on Hilda’s face. It was a mix of excitement, unease, yearning and fear. To pull her attention away, Vivian broke the silence. “Hilda, tell us about your home. You never did tell us much about it.”

There were some hesitation in Hilda’s eyes, but she at last nodded. “My story can be rather long… I’ll start from the origins of the Aerym Elves. Hopefully I can cover that in this journey…

As the Elven Queen narrated the story of her people, Hao Ren came to know of the tale of life and fate in a galaxy far far away.

Aerym, in Hilda’s mother tongue, meant ‘bountiful land and plants’, and a more literal translation would mean be akin to a garden.

When her ancestors named the planet, they named her so to sing praises to her bountiful grace.

The begining of the story was a time of peace, a time of bountiful harvest, a time of gentle suns, fertile lands, lush forests and flowing rivers. A time of the Aerym Elves.

Long ago, the Aerym Elves lived in the forest, congregating around the various lakes as they set up home. Their lives were full and joyous. They were a peaceful, united, and intelligent race, equipped with the drive to better themselves. They were the first to explore the posibilities of knowledge, created tools and words, while co-existing with nature. Through this peaceful existance, they found a path to advance their civilisation.

Aerym’s forests held a bounty of food, and energies flowed freely in the air. The basis of their world were very conducive for basic spellcasting. Under ther guidance of the ‘Spirit of the Stars’, a animistic religion, the elves built cities using magic and arcane technologies, and rapidly advanced their civilisation. Most importantly, this rapidly advancing race still held reverence towards nature as they climbed the steps towards the stars. This trait was not found in many other races. It seemed that the elves knew from birth that everything they have, were from the grace of nature, and they put much focus into conservation and recycling. A trait that they kept till today.

While this impressive, beautiful race loved peace, they were no pushovers. They knew that in order to survive, they needed to know how to fight. The elves knew when to extend an olive branch, or to sound the horns of war to protect their home and their kin. There were another powerful race that had appeared in Aerym before, but the Aerym Elves reigned supreme.

The elves did not resort to the total annihilation of the race, but as the defeated race surrendered, they were slowly assimilated by the elves, and after generations of genetic engineering, they were full fledged members of the elven race.

Just like that, as they progressed and grew, the elves stepped out of the forest and into the plains, and over the mountains and rivers as they spread their civilisation throughout the planet and assimilated all of the intelligent races that they met. This lead to Aerym’s burst of growth as the flower of civilisation blossomed all over the planet.

It took the Aerym Elves a few milleniums to fully control their planet. From a humble race of wood-dwellers knowing only simple magic and tools they grew to a advanced race of that fully explored the power of knowledge. Using their one of a kind arcane technology to develop their home planet, they managed to keep the balance between development and preservation of nature. Flight trials dotted the skies as high speed rails sped through surface tracks. The whole planet was interconnected, and their signature free energy distribution relay network was a hallmark of their civilisation.

After completing the build up of their home planet, the elves knew that their future lays in the stars, like all other intelligent races. They started exploring the possibilities of space travel, another planet that could sustain the life that they live. As long as they are able to locate such a planet, they could build another Aerym, another paradise.

At that time, they were proud, rightly so too. And they were confident.

They believed that they had the brightest of minds, a bountiful planet, and a hoard of technology and knowledge needed to complete their dream of space exploration.

Yes, they believed that they were well-off, and the fact was that Aerym herself was blessed with bounties of the earth like never seen before, something most races would turn green with envy.

In fact, most by the sideline would have come to the same conclusion. This elven race were well-equipped to step into the stars. They were industrious, they were frugal, they were progressive and united. There were no other race as perfect as them, or more perfect to grace the space age.

Aside from one fact.

Aerym was the only planet within their system.

And the closest system to them, was six million light years away.

For six million light years, there were nothing but the void, and remnants of stars that went supernova.

If their world was created by a God, surely that God had a wicked sense of humour. He gave the elves gifts that made them beyond perfect to fellow mortals, flawless from flesh to soul. He gave them the gifts of industry, bravery, kindness, wisdom, perseverance and unity. He gave them a perfect planet to call home.

And threw everything into the middle of a desert.