The Nebula’s Civilization

Garudas were a rare species that lived in the northwestern end of the third continent.

Unlike the northern coast that had shorter mountains, the Garudas lived in the tallest mountain range of the third continent, known as the Sky Mountain Range. And even after the players appeared, they hadn’t remained undiscovered for quite a while.

The first to discover the Garudas was Wisdom and the Troll tribe called Stone Mask, whose territory covered the Sky Mountain Range. Back then, Wisdom had wondered what he should do about the rare species.

Garudas were a bird-like species. Their faces looked like those of hawks, and they had sharp beaks. Apart from their arms and legs, they also had large wings. Both their physical abilities and intelligence were on the higher side when compared to other species, which made them valuable.

And because they were a rare species, it was unlikely for there to be another Garuda tribe on the continent, so Wisdom had the chance to take exclusive control over the Garudas. However, Wisdom did not make the Garudas his second or third tribe.

“They are a bird-like species, but what is the point of having wings if they can’t fly with them?”

That was what Wisdom had thought.

A Garuda’s wings were big enough to cover their whole body, but they couldn’t fly, so their nickname in The Lost World was ‘chicken.’ A bird that couldn’t fly despite having wings.

But of course, Sung-Woon’s opinion was a little different.

“Even though they can’t fly, the wings are very useful. They could help keep them warm in the earlier stages of development where the quality of clothes was lacking, and they could also be used to attack and defend in battle.”

But even if Sung-Woon had started in the northwest, he still wouldn’t have made many different choices from Wisdom.

“Isn’t there no need to choose a rare species on purpose?”

Although Garudas were competent, their rareness posed a disadvantage in that they would have less chance to reproduce.

Looking at the data, Garudas didn’t differ much from Humans in terms of abilities. And because Humans had a higher fertility rate, their population would grow much faster.

In the beginning stage of a tribal society, Garudas would seem more competent than the average species, but as Human population grew, the number of Humans as competent or smart in battle as the Garudas would increase. And numbers were important when forming a group. Even if Humans were incompetent, three of them would be able to face off one Garuda with enough training.

Of course, apart from Wisdom’s belief that the Garudas’ wings were useless, there were enough other reasons for him to not choose them as his species. At the time he discovered them, the Stone Mask Tribe had already developed to a point that they would be able to completely defeat the whole Garuda tribe, and without the use of God’s power at that.

The Garuda tribe had been divided into two factions. One wished to surrender and gave the Stone Mask Tribe whatever they desired in exchange for protection, while the other believed they should resist and fight back until the last Garuda standing had fallen.

Wisdom expected the Stone Mask Tribe to undergo some damage if a battle broke out, so he used divine power to coax the Garudas who argued for surrendering in exchange for protection. Later, the traitors amid the Garuda tribe killed their chief, Ahuran, who insisted on fighting back until the end, as well as all his bloodline. Then the Garudas surrendered to the Stone Mask Tribe.

Before Ahuran, the Garuda tribal chief, died, he had said in remorse, “We have been abandoned by the gods again.”

After that, the Garudas cooperated with the Stone Mask Tribe. The Stone Mask Tribe asked for Garuda warriors, who would take the most dangerous positions in battle, and the Garudas accepted it as an honorable position.

As the Stone Mask Tribe continued to expand their territory, the young Garudas would die or return home disabled. And around the time when most of the young Garudas had been used and discarded, the Stone Mask Tribe established a king and declared their country as Asbestos. However, the Trolls didn’t treat the Garudas with any kindness.

The Garudas realized that they had been tricked by the Stone Mask Tribe, but it was already too late to have any regrets. Garudas valued honor, but they were already too weak to rebel against Asbestos and too wretched to seek honor from Asbestos. Many Garudas couldn’t help but reflect on the words of their former tribal chief, Ahuran, who said that they had been abandoned again.

There was a story that had been passed down by many species in The Lost World, a story about the Ancient Evil. The different versions were either fragmented or contained no valuable information, so the players didn’t really care about it. However, certain species had their own stories about the Ancient Evil.

The tale told by the Garudas said that they had once been called the ‘Emperor's Species’ in the past, and rather than being a burden, their wings had once been strong enough to take them to the sky. When an Ancient Evil appeared, the Garudas fought at the forefront even though they had noble blood. However, as the coming defeat became apparent, they lost their ability to fly. Perhaps because the gods had lost their godly power and run away, or because the Ancient Evil had put a curse on them.

After they faced the so-called end of the world that no one knew the reason for, the Garudas aimlessly wandered about with wings that couldn’t fly on their backs. That was the story of Garudas’ origin. Ahuran’s words thus meant that the Garudas hadn’t been chosen by the new emerging gods and were abandoned again.

Of course, the Garudas didn’t just vanish like that. Like Black Scale, as Asbestos stabilized as a nation, they tried to integrate the numerous tribes that they had exploited or kicked out in the past. The now weak Garudas thus formed a tribal village and moved into the mountains northwest of the continent, which was part of Asbestos’ territory.

Wisdom thought he had dealt with the rare species in his territory well, which could become a problem like the Garudas.

***

“But I don’t believe in gods now.”

The Garuda named Mazdari, who was also called ‘Rotten Hand’, was walking down the mountain covered with snow. Rotten Hand was a nickname that even someone who didn’t know Mazdari would think of as soon as they saw him.

Mazdari’s left arm was black. As a Garuda, his hand should have been covered with feathers, but his left hand and left arm were featherless, thin, and black. That had been the case since his birth, so his fellow tribesmen feared him and said he was cursed. Even his parents refused to raise him themselves and instead left him to an old Garuda, who lived alone after being banished from the village. If civilization had been a little less advanced, Mazdari would have been abandoned and died.

But Mazdari didn’t resent his parents, who did what they did because it was obvious he was cursed.

-Oh, but is that poor fate coming to an end now.

‘Shut up, evil spirit.’

-Mazdari, I’m not an evil spirit. I’m just a normal spirit.

‘According to my studies, it makes no difference whether you’re a spirit or an evil spirit if you serve the Ancient Evil.’

-Well, you can think whatever you want.

Mazdari tried not to pay attention to his inner voice, or the voice coming from his left arm to be more exact. However, the harder he tried, the more noisy the voice became.

-But it’ll probably be hard to shake off the tracking team. It seems that you have a tendency of overestimating your physical abilities. You can’t move faster than Elks in the snow.

‘I know that much.’

Mazdari was being chased. The average height of a Garuda was two meters and fifty centimeters, while Mazdari was two meters and seventy centimeters tall, a good margin above the average. That meant physically, he could rival an Ogre, a species akin to a natural disaster.

Even so, the Elk Knights chasing after Mazdari were the most elite fighters that Asbestos took pride in. All those Trolls possessed advanced battle techniques, and the War Elks that the Trolls rode were no different from monsters.

‘Past this forest is a river. I’m almost there.’

-The frozen river? Elk Knights can also cross frozen rivers.

‘I’m going to melt the river.’

-Your strength alone won’t be enough.

‘.....’

Mazradi pushed aside his thoughts and focused on running. However, when the river was just around the corner, a giant beast shoved its head through the trees. It was an Elk with antlers big and thick enough to cover a Garuda’s head, and it also had a long snout and a large nose. Sitting on top of the Elk’s back was a Troll wearing a breastplate and helmet. And the knight had a friend.

One of the Elk Knights shouted, “Hey you, Garuda! Stop.”

“That’s the right Garuda. His left hand is rotten.”

“Is it? Are you Rotten Hand Mazdari?”

Mazdari’s inner voice laughed.

-Not only are they chasing you from behind, there are some in the front as well.

‘But they aren’t my pursuers. They aren’t certain who I am yet.’

-Then they wouldn’t know what the glass vials around your waist are.

Mazdari showed both his hands and said, “Mazdari? I’ve never been called that. My name is Ahuran, and I was born and raised in the Garuda village.”

“And your left arm?”

“I got burned when I was young, so it turned black.”

“It doesn’t look burnt.”

“Just as Trolls and Garudas look different, we burn differently.”

“Hm.”

“Are you searching for a Garuda named Mazdari?”

The Elk Knight nodded.

“Yes. You know the Alchemist Tower, right?”

“What? Yes. You’re talking about the tower behind the Sky Mountain Range, aren’t you? Where the eccentric people called alchemists live.”

“The tower behind the mountain range? It would now be the tower that used to be behind the Sky Mountain Range. Anyway, the knights of Asbestos have completely conquered the tower, but some of the alchemists ran away. We have been ordered by the king to stop them from spreading forbidden knowledge.”

“A Garuda alchemist? Haha. There aren’t many Garudas, so you’ll be able to find them easily. If I find a Garuda with that name…”

The Elk Knight cut Mazdari off, “I don’t believe what you say. Come here.”

“I’m not an alchemist, but a herbalist. There is a patient with lung disease in the neighboring town, so…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll send you off if it’s proven that you don’t have anything to do with them.”

“...Alright.”

Mazdari raised both his arms and slowly walked up to the knights.

“First, give your bag to m…”

The moment Mazdari got close enough, he moved. He unfurled his large wings just like what his ancestors would do when they were still able to fly. And as he did, the cape he had been wearing rose into the air and blocked the knights’ views.

“Hey you!”

A sword pierced through the cape, but Mazdari had already stepped back. He took a glass vial from his waist and, as soon as the cape fell, allowing the knights to see, he threw the vial at one of the knights.

“Aaack!”

The knight grabbed their face as white smoke rose from their skin. Inside the glass vial was sulfuric acid.

The knight’s face was melting.

“You damn alchemist!”

The second knight pulled the reins around their Elk and charged. However, the Garuda was born with quite decent speed. Mazdari tumbled on the ground to avoid the attack and unsheathed the sword on his waist. Avoiding the Elk’s antlers and front feet, he crossed swords with the knight several times, but time was not on Mazdari’s side.

“Over there!”

“Rotten Hand is over there!”

It was his pursuers this time. They were no different than the Elk Knights he just fought, but they were more wary since they had crossed paths with Mazdari already. Things were getting trickier for him. There were a total of six pursuers.

-What else is left around your waist?

‘One sulfuric acid, one smoke screen, and two oils.’

-Isn't it about time to borrow my powers?

‘...Darn it.’

-Weren’t you going to borrow my powers to melt the river anyway?

‘I guess I have no choice.’

Mazdari took out two vials from the inside of his chest pocket.

“He took out a vial! Defend yourselves with your shields!”

With excellent physical ability, Mazdari hit the knights’ shields with his vials precisely. And as the knights checked their shields, they figured out what the vials contained by the smell.

“...Oil?”

Mazdari lifted his left hand toward the knights. It wasn’t holding anything, so the knights approached him without any concern. The heat concentrated to his palm was not visible to them.

Fwoosh!

A cone of fire shot out at the knights with Mazdari’s palm being the vertex.

All the air in their lungs wheezed out, and the Troll knights shrieked weakly after a squeal.

‘Stop!’

When Mazdari lowered his hand, the Elks and Troll knights were all lying on the burnt ground. Watching everything unfold, the Elk Knight who had fought Mazdari and survived began to run towards the river.

‘I need to kill them.’

-Unfortunately, my flame won’t reach that far. If you relied on me more, I would have been able to grow…

However, Mazdari realized his regrets were of no use once he reached the river. Over three hundred soldiers were already waiting at the riverside to catch him.

The Elk Knight at the very front yelled, “Mazdari! Archers are aiming at you! Take off your belt and put it down!”

“Shit.”