"Will one of you tell me why this academy is named the Third Grace specifically, and not the First or Second?" asked the instructor.
Several cadets raised their hands while some shrank back, trying to disappear. The hatred of history lessons ran in everyone's blood, after all.
'This isn't a history subject, though…' I thought with amusement.
"You. Participate in the lessons and I might give you some merit points," the instructor said, pointing at Evette.
The keyword 'might' caused the girl to tense up and try to suppress the hysterical scream that threatened to escape her throat.
Evette stood from her seat.
"Y-Yes. That's because there were already two Graces before the Academy. The First Grace, which was in the form of the Miracs Stones, and the Second Grace, which is Miracs itself."
"Excellent." The instructor clapped lightly before adding fuel to the fire. "That was unexpected."
"Forgive me if I appeared ignorant and uneducated," she said as she sat back down.
As Evette just said, two graces had fallen upon the world.
The first grace was four decades before our current time.
Out of nowhere, a type of stone began to form in random areas of the world. From flat lands to the depths of the ocean, and even volcanoes.
It was utterly magical. It was possible to see the colors of the spectrum swimming on its surface, which held every color.
The sudden appearance of this stone began to cause a huge stir. People began to hope for a new energy source, while others began to develop conspiracy theories.
A full decade passed, and humans used the new energy source to advance technology and invent many new things.
Once the decade passed, the truly strange events began to emerge.
Initially, they were in the form of supernatural phenomena, and they also occurred in random locations. Humans were unable to predict them, not even the most advanced sensors and reading devices.
Naturally, humans were afraid of these phenomena at first, as they were the unknown. The most terrifying thing in human nature. But then humans began to draw a clearer picture of these phenomena.
It was true that some of them were inexplicable and seemed utterly malevolent, but besides these, two other types emerged: Dungeons and Trials.
Naturally, the Dungeons received most of humanity's attention.
For one very simple reason: the threat of extinction.
Monsters were spawning non-stop, causing disasters that started from the national and continental levels, to the global level. With the potential of an event that would cause the extinction of humanity from the face of the Earth.
However, just as quickly as the threat of demise, salvation came.
New human species appeared from mysterious gates. They possessed abnormal powers that surpassed logic.
Still, the crisis was not resolved; that was almost impossible. But the threat of extinction was greatly reduced, and humans even got a chance to rest while facing the crisis.
The protective human species were: Giants, Elves, Dwarves, and Vampires. What were once myths and legends became a very real reality.
And because of these species alone, humans learned the true value of the mysterious stones, which were then named Miracs Stones.
These stones contained energy that was consumable by humans!
Superpowers. Magic. Abracadabra.
Yes, logic went on a long trip up north.
In fact, it hasn't returned yet.
It got lost.
To say Miracs was a miracle is an understatement of what it truly was.
A single connection with this energy changes your entity from the inside and awakens what was dormant, or what we call today – Gifts, which made every person granted one connected to the world.
With this, Miracs energy became the Second Grace. And some people began to worship… the world. Literally.
In any case, the help of the previous species to humanity did not pass unnoticed. There was a price for it.
And this price was not just lands, but entire continents.
Fundamentally, only fools would think they saved humans out of pity or because of a sense of duty and protection. No, it wasn't mentioned to us, but it's clear they lost their homeland. For whatever reason.
Perhaps Earth was their only option…
Because of their assistance, and because only 500 million humans remained after the crisis out of 10 billion, each species was given a continent to settle on.
Australia and Asia fell under the rule of the Elves.
Europe to the Vampires.
North America to the Dwarves.
Africa to the Giants.
And South America and Antarctica to the Humans.
The only good thing in all this is that no conflict has erupted throughout these three decades. There were disagreements between most, if not all, of the species, but overall, things were calm.
With all this, it was natural for relationships of mutual benefit to arise among us.
The arrogant Elves provided their legendary healing potions, in addition to Magic, which was something new to all the species.
Magic was simply the conversion of Miracs energy into another form, branching into several elements. It was something complex and could not be used easily, almost exclusively to the Elves only.
The bad-breathed Dwarves provided enchanted weapons and armor, and to a limited extent, some technologically advanced tools.
The filthy Vampires did not offer much, but there was the "Red Food Agreement" between us, which was the legitimate provision of blood to them in exchange for their mystical arts.
As for the Giants, these recluses isolated themselves. Fortunately, their numbers were small… because these big heads are considered the strongest among the five species.
This is what happened in a nutshell over the last four decades…
I lifted my head from the table after pretending to sleep the whole time.
"Alright, class is over for today."
Getting back to the lesson, it was finally over.
The young instructor pointed his pen at the class and clarified.
"Also, for all who think this is a history subject, I'd advise you to run back to your mother's embrace. This isn't history; this is Advanced Racial Diplomacy. This is the only basic theoretical subject, excluding other elective theoretical subjects. Don't forget that."
As he said, it was time to make some moves.