The ocean stretched endlessly beside them as waves calmly rolled onto the shoreline, disappearing into wet sand before retreating back into the sea again. Thirty years had passed since Veneri first arrived in Regnum Musicae and somehow, time had begun to feel strangely meaningless to him.
His body had adjusted to the pace of this realm and his immortal nature only made the passing years feel lighter, softer and easier to endure. Beside him, Melody walked barefoot through the water while her long hair moved behind her.
Veneri had changed during those years in ways even he did not fully notice anymore. His white curls now reached all the way past his ankles. It was soft and absurdly long despite how well-maintained they somehow remained. His body had matured even further after his Stellar awakening and his presence felt calmer now. The peony tattoo that stretched across his back and prosthetic arms seemed more alive than before.
Melody glanced at him while walking and folded her arms behind her back.
"You know Veneri, there are moments when I forget that you're technically still young by immortal standards. You learn too quickly, you adapt too quickly and, frankly speaking, you are talented in ways that make people like me feel obsolete."
Veneri sighed softly.
"You have said that at least fifty times already and every single time I still feel like you're exaggerating.nYou literally trained generations of Musica, wielded the Orchestral Violex and became one of the strongest mages in Spheraphasian history, so forgive me if I refuse to believe I somehow surpassed your expectations."
Melody smiled before kicking shallow seawater toward him.
"You absolutely did surpass them. I expected a genius, not… whatever terrifying thing you are becoming."
He gave her a deadpan look.
"That sounded unnecessarily ominous."
"It was meant to."
She laughed softly before her expression relaxed again, becoming strangely thoughtful as she stared toward the horizon.
"You should know something important by now. You have been in Regnum Musicae for thirty years and yet there are still things about Spheraphase that you do not fully understand. If you are going to survive what comes next, then there are truths you need to know."
"That sounds serious."
"It is serious. The world you know did not simply appear overnight. Spheraphase has gone through hundreds of thousands of years of development, war, betrayal and collapse. History did not happen once. It happened over and over again until the world became what it is today."
The two continued walking slowly while the cloudy sky above them remained peaceful. For once, there was no rain, no thunder and no heavy atmosphere surrounding them. Only waves and wind accompanied their conversation. Melody looked ahead before beginning.
"The history of Spheraphase is classified into five major eras. Every historian, every deity and every civilization worthy of remembering history recognizes them because they define how the world changed."
She raised one finger. Even though Veneri knew this from Annierouge and he told Adela and his beloveds about their conversation, hearing her part had more details.
"The first era is called the Beginnia Era. This is the oldest known era and marks the foundational age of the world itself. It was the time when Supreme Entities rose and shaped reality into what it would eventually become."
Veneri listened quietly.
"The strongest of these Supreme Entities were beings you already know. There was Spheraphase herself, who represented the world. There was Mintherenia, who embodied nature and growth. There was Vasreveilder, who brought knowledge and impossible creation. And there was the Omniscient, who stood beside him and acted as the architect of wisdom. There were many other Supreme Entities across existence, but none of them ever matched those four in influence or power. They were the pillars of the world itself."
Veneri frowned.
"So this was before races existed?"
Melody nodded.
"Far before. The world back then was wild and incomplete. Oceans existed, mountains existed and primitive energy existed but there was no civilization and no true sentience. Spheraphase itself was already ancient long before Vasreveilder arrived. When Vasreveilder entered Spheraphase and became recognized as one of its Supreme Entities, that happened approximately five hundred thousand years ago. And before he even arrived, Spheraphase had already existed for nearly three eons."
Veneri nearly stopped walking.
"Three eons?"
"Yes. Your grandfather joined a world that was already unimaginably old."
He stared at her.
"You people really throw horrifying numbers around like they mean nothing."
Melody shrugged.
"When you live long enough, numbers stop feeling intimidating. Anyway, The Beginnia Era essentially began with Vasreveilder's arrival because that marked the beginning of structured creation. It was the age when Supreme Entities actively shaped reality, stabilized natural laws and laid the foundation for what civilization could eventually become."
She raised another finger.
"Then came the second era, The Organisa Era. This was the era when the First Generation Deities came into existence. These were the direct children or creations of the Supreme Entities. Unlike later gods, they were born specifically to govern reality."
Veneri crossed his arms.
"So this was when races started appearing?"
"Exactly. The First Generation Deities worked together with the Supreme Entities to create sentience and populate the world."
She pointed toward the sea.
"The earliest races were the Hydroborn, who ruled the oceans, and the Elves, who inherited the lands. Those two races are older than nearly every other civilization in the world. Eventually, other Supreme Entities and First Generation Deities began creating more races. Humans emerged, Therianthropes emerged and many forgotten races came into being as well. This was an age of expansion, discovery and development. But even paradise eventually decays."
She raised a third finger.
"Then came the Generation Era. This is where everything began falling apart. The Supreme Entities eventually handed control of the world over to the First Generation Deities completely. They believed their children could govern the world better than they could."
She sighed.
"They were wrong. The Generation Era lasted for approximately three hundred and eighty-eight thousand years and during that time, cruelty became normal. The First Generation Deities ruled through fear, arrogance and entitlement. Races were treated like possessions instead of people. Entire civilizations were erased on whims. And this is also when your family problems began."
Veneri groaned immediately.
"I already hate where this is going."
"Vasreveilder's Omniscient betrayed him during this era. She cheated on him with the world itself and gave birth to Axia."
"That sentence somehow gets worse every time I hear it."
Melody replied without shame.
"I know. The Krepsuna War also happened during this period. The First Generation Deities eventually turned against their Supreme Entity parents. Many of them killed their creators and abandoned the Hidden Citadel, which had originally been their primary home. They fled to Mopheria, the unstable realm Vasreveilder created."
"They stole it?"
Melody smiled faintly.
"They believed they did. In reality, Vasreveilder simply allowed them to take it because fighting them would have destroyed more than just races. The First Krepsuna War happened during that era too. And it was during this time that Vasreveilder staged his own death."
Veneri rubbed his forehead.
"That old man solves problems in the most dramatic ways possible."
"You inherited that tendency you know."
"I absolutely did not."
"You really did."
Before he could argue further, Melody raised a fourth finger.
"Then came the Destras Era. This was the age of divine war. The world descended into conflict on a scale so catastrophic that even immortals feared extinction. All races fought for supremacy. Deities fought deities. Deities fought empires. Entire races vanished from existence. And eventually, everything culminated in the Destras Cataclysm which lasted for four thousand years. It was four millennia of uninterrupted war."
Her voice lowered.
"Billions died. Continents changed shape. Divine blood stained oceans and civilizations collapsed faster than anyone could rebuild them. That war is the reason why so many ancient races no longer exist."
The waves continued crashing quietly..Finally, Melody raised her final finger.
"And then, came the Post-Apocalyptica Era, which is the one you currently live in. This era began after the Destras Cataclysm ended. The surviving races rebuilt themselves and formed the current world order. This is when the Dynasties rose to power. Systems were created to stabilize civilization, borders were established and the world slowly began healing. In Spheraphase, the Post-Apocalyptica Era has lasted approximately more than eight thousand years. But inside the Hidden Citadel, far more time has passed."
Veneri exhaled slowly.
"So basically, the entire history of existence is just people making terrible decisions and grandfather somehow being involved in ninety percent of them."
Melody burst into laughter.
"That is the most accurate summary of Spheraphasian history I have ever heard. I suppose that is true."