One-Eyed Monster

The emergence of Wizards plunged the once stable Kayne Country into bustling chaos. This profession, birthed from desire, inherently craved power, and this craving agitated the once uniform Kayne Country.

This agitation stemmed from the inflation of inner desires. The advent of Wizards then ignited these bloated desires, triggering an explosive outbreak.

The pursuit of power is the most primal response in a world where the fittest survive. The explosion of desire caused once-weak individuals to reclaim their primal nature. They even forgot their original convictions, becoming arrogant and irrational.

”The strong live, the weak perish; ceaseless flight is like that of an orphaned child—no hope, no homeland—only through self-reliance can one become king.” This ballad echoed the ethos of Kayne Country at the time. Everyone had fallen into the strange loop of pursuing power.

At that time, Kayne Country seemed to be adhering to ancient edicts, with hatred and slaughter simmering beneath the surface. The slightest misstep could trigger a bloody uprising.

Chaos arrived with the explosion of desires, bringing slaughter and fear. The once seemingly peaceful Kayne Country suddenly became precarious and unstable.

Weaker individuals constantly challenged the strong, for the survival of the fittest is the law of this world. Old powers continuously fell, and new powers constantly rose, leading to endless cycles of retribution. The once vibrant Kayne Country suddenly became fraught with peril, even showing signs of impending annihilation.

The strong survived and the weak perished, but the strong were always in the minority. However, many who *considered* themselves strong, driven by desire, invariably overreached and challenged the truly strong. Their self-destructive tendencies overshadowed any pioneering spirit, and just like that, Kayne Country lost its original equilibrium.

The powerful minority could not form the foundation; the majority constituted the true foundation, although they often appeared vulnerable. This shaky foundation led the burgeoning Kayne Country into a developmental bottleneck.

The emerging Wizards, the protective Hunters, and Fighters could not change this situation. The problem once again fell to the Scholars.

The emergence of the first branch from the Scholars—the Wizards—had triggered this calamity, forcing the Scholars to stand on the precipice of anguish.

Endless suffering birthed new strength. This profound pain prompted some Scholars, known as Excavators, to begin new lines of thought.

Order was born from this contemplation. This principle, destined to maintain the peace of the world, arose from amidst the chaos.

The Scholars who crafted this Order successfully detached themselves from their purely scholarly identity. They became the second branch: Politicians.

Politicians championed Order, excelled at planning, integrated the chaos, and steered the aimlessly drifting Kayne Country back on course.

The emergence of Order changed Kayne Country’s rule of survival, where only the strong prevailed. The unruly majority were cowed by the powerful minority. They began to become orderly, shed their reckless confidence, and ceased their blind challenges.

The emergence of Order brought balance, giving most of the weak a sense of belonging. They no longer lived in constant fear, nor did they struggle merely to survive from one day to the next.

Order allowed the fear of the few to be concealed, and the threat posed by the majority gradually began to transform.

The rise of Politicians made everything orderly and systematic.

With Politicians came Order, transforming the vicious cycle of the strong preying on the weak into a virtuous one. This allowed Kayne Country to solidify its foundations, carving out the Empire’s borders on this turbulent continent.

A growing Empire needs to develop, and development demands vast resources. The principles previously discovered by Scholars were no longer sufficient to meet the burgeoning demands of the forward-galloping Empire.

Under the stable Order established by Politicians, Scholars embarked on new explorations. These explorations surpassed the Physique Techniques of Fighters, the stealth of Hunters, and the Natural Force of Wizards.

Turning stone into gold—this became the new research direction for Scholars, and this direction led them to form a third branch: Alchemists.

The birth of Alchemists was a response to pressing needs. The Empire’s expansion was relentless, and resources simply could not keep pace. The principles discovered by Scholars were gradually becoming obsolete, no longer able to be the primary force driving the Empire forward.

To continue advancing required power; power needed a driving force to sustain it, and that driving force, in turn, demanded substantial resource reserves.

The situation was urgent. The steps the Empire had taken could not be retracted, for expansion was also driven by an irresistible pressure: the pressure of reproduction.

Order brought balance, balance brought tranquility, and tranquility was the fertile ground that nurtured new life.

Rapid population growth suddenly impoverished Kayne Country. With limited territory and resources, they began to face hardship. To expand into new territories, they had to reclaim lands previously seized by the original tribes.

However, their current combat strength was barely enough for self-preservation, rendering them incapable of external aggression.

But survival brooked no hesitation. Without new principles, they could not maintain peace. Scholars had to exert their intellect once more to prevent a regression to the barbaric stage where the strong culled the weak.

Thus, the idea of turning stone into gold emerged.

Although the idea seemed somewhat fantastical, these Scholars still believed it was necessary to attempt it.

Before them lay a precipice, and overwhelming dangers pursued them from behind; only by venturing forward could they find a new hope for survival.

Of course, another reason these Scholars pressed forward without hesitation was the Wizards; the earlier endeavors of the Wizards had given them great inspiration.

Natural Force, something that had appeared utterly impossible to master, had its principles uncovered by those pioneering Scholars. Such an impossible feat had actually occurred! This made turning stone into gold, another seemingly unattainable goal, also seem to hold a possibility of success.

Who could say for certain when it came to possibilities? The group of Scholars who had initially hoped to turn stone into gold did not succeed in transmuting gold; instead, they refined incredibly hard diamonds.

The appearance of these diamonds ignited a new kind of exploratory fervor within them. This fervor successfully opened a great door for them.

This great door was Material Exchange.

The exchange of substance itself was not vastly different from ordinary exchanges; rather, it was the arduous process of discovering the true nature of ’substance’ that cost these Scholars so much effort.

This endeavor also set them apart, marking them with a unique distinction. They were no longer purely Scholars, nor could they be classified as Wizards, and they certainly were not Politicians.

Their initial purpose was the transmutation of gold, and so the fitting title of Alchemist was born.

Alchemists brought greater convenience, their methods appearing like shortcuts. Yet, as a branch of Scholars, Alchemists knew deep down that these were no mere shortcuts.

All these exchange principles, which seemed like shortcuts, were in fact manifestations of profound laws. These laws, hidden deep and appearing ordinary, nevertheless contained immense power.

This law is Equivalent Exchange.

It is now the most fundamental rule of survival for the entire Yowein Continent, and also the supreme law of this world.

The emergence of Alchemists allowed the six main professions to become mainstream, marking the Kayne Empire’s true ascent to power.

Following the establishment of the six main professions, various new professions developed in their wake. Adventurers, Twilight Messengers, Crows, Spiders, and many others emerged wave after wave upon this continent, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

And Equivalent Exchange, the supreme law discovered through the emergence of the six main professions, utterly transformed the original chaotic face of the Yowein Continent.