Epic of Caterpillar

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"Ah, of course. The Primordial Essence Fluctuations were the streams of energy that ran across Genesis in the past. I only recall seeing them when I was a baby… Such Streams of energy ran across the world, nurturing it and changing the landscape and the living beings inside…" said Gaia.

Answering my question to enlighten us, Gaia proceeded to reveal something that no one of us present here knew. I instinctively called Agatheina through her artifact, letting her and the Gods listen to what Gaia was speaking about, it was as if everyone gathered around a grandma that was about to tell a story that she experienced in her long life.

"The streams of energy? Wait, what? Did those streams changed how the world used to be?" asked Zehe.

"I did not see how the world used to be before the energy appeared, sadly. As I've not lived for a million years, but about five hundred thousand years… However, my mother used to tell me tales of such things within the past… The past where things were not exactly as they were now… Although my mother might not have seemed like it in the past, she must have experienced the 'changes' brought by this energy that began to stream across the world of Genesis," said Gaia.

Wait… does she means that Genesis was not filled with fantastical things such as magic, monsters, and other races before?!

Wait, what?

I am just as surprised as Zehe, to be honest.

What does this mean?

And just how old is Gaia's mother to be honest?

"So it is as I had thought, huh? Although I was born very late in the history of Genesis, the stories that your mother told you, just how old is the Supreme Goddess of Life and Origin, Gaia?" asked Agatheina.

"I… I do not have the exact estimate of my mother's age, but she seems to come from ancient millennia. And even then, the tales she knew about were told by her mother, which we're told by her grandmother and so on…" said Gaia.

"A world before… Even the previous Genesis?! Just how long has the history of this world had gone through? Even we don't know the complete picture!" said Agatheina.

It seemed that not even the Gods knew the complete history of Genesis, something that was kept as a secret as the years went by and as many civilizations raised and were destroyed.

"We just knew that the world was like that when we were born and raised in strength, not even our families had all of history registered within their books…" said Hodhyl.

"It was a world where we sued the three primordial energies to slowly break through the Life Walls of our existences and raise in power… We knew that something else was before. Some of us attributed it to the True Spirits, the children of the World's Will… but there was something else even before that?" asked Agatheina.

"It is not the origin of the world, although my mother must know it, as she possesses the Divinity of Origin. However, such secrets were not even revealed to us her children. But I do know a bit of what had unfolded before, and perhaps, the reason why everything is like it is, to begin with… Mostly because we were born with all of this, it is not hard to find it all 'normal' is it? But for someone like Kireina-sama, who came from a world where magic, monsters, nor Gods existed, it would have been more surprising, is it?" asked Gaia.

"That's right… Although the clear resemblances with various fiction works made me get accustomed to this quite quickly," I said. Although it all felt like a fever dream for the first week.

"Yeah, for all of us, everything is normal in here, levels, skills, magic, gods, and so on… But I suppose that for Kireina-sama, even though there were things that resembled those in here, they were mere fiction for her, not reality. Facing a world where such fiction became reality must have been greatly impactful for her… I wish I could have been with you back then, Kireina-sama…" said Agatheina.

"I appreciate your gesture, Agatheina… But you might have killed me back then…" I said.

"Anyways, all those things that we consider normal as of now we're not the norm back then. According to my mother. The world of old was simple and rustic. There was no magic. No powers of any kind. There was no Mana, nor Ki, nor Soul Energy to an extent. It was a pure world where only life on its most basic state existed, such as the most lesser of chickens, cows, and cats… And well, to an extent, the only intelligent race back then, Humans," said Gaia.

"Humans?!" asked mostly everyone in my family… Because most were not even humans, they were a bit bewildered by this.

"But didn't our ancestors existed as well? Like the Dragons, Titans, Feathermen, Scalemen, Firemen, Watermen, Feathermen… and all of those?! I am sure that most Gods were once some of that demi-human, the most ancient ones!" said Zehe.

"According to my mother, and the tales that were told to her by her mother, which we're told by her grandmother and so on, only Humans existed. And my mother herself was also a Human… a descendant of the humans of old, before Genesis was to become the Genesis we knew back then…" said Gaia.

"It was… a world like Earth then? A world where monsters, magic, nor anything of the sort existed? Was there a technology of some sort? How advanced were the human civilizations? Do you know how their continents were?" I asked.

"I retain part of your memories, Kireina-sama. And I can immediately tell that according to my mother's tales, there were clear differences between the Genesis of old and the Earth where you come from… however, there were also many similarities. Could this be, as 'The One said, a Parallel World? It does make sense now, more than before…." Said Gaia.

"Unbelievable… So Genesis is really a parallel world of Earth, or well, one similar to Earth. But what was the 'change' that brought the energies of Primordial Essence to cover the world? As you said, you once saw them, right? How long did they last? I assumed that by what you're saying, a millennia or more, right?" I asked Gaia.

"Indeed, they lasted very long, and just as they had suddenly appeared, they disappeared… The Primordial Energy change the entire world of Genesis. It brought forth monsters, new races, magic, and more. It also brought changes within the landscape, the mountains and their minerals changed, even the plants became different… According to my mother's tales, the world went from simple and rustic to vibrant and filled with color and power… But amidst such things, it also came the dangerousness of a new world, hostile to the humans of old who could not get used to such apocalyptic changes… However, amongst such old humans, some of them learned how to use these primordial energies to cultivate their bodies and souls… and the first 'Cultivators' were born, who fought against the monsters and the threats presented in this new and changing world, leading a new era that slowly led to the past Genesis before it was to be split into Realms…" said Gaia.

"So it was really like… an apocalypse where the normal world suddenly underwent catastrophic changes that forcefully transformed the world into something else, the people had to survive and adapt, or die miserably…" I said.

This whole thing just adds an even bigger layer of depth to this world… but even then, according to Gaia, there is not any clear origin to this energy at all! Just from where did it came from?

There are still many mysteries that we need to unfold from all of this, and even after such knowledge, even Gaia does not know everything.

However, it leaves me fascinated that this world was once like Earth…

"Amazing… So this world was once similar, even more, similar to Kireina-sama's world?" asked Agatheina with curiosity.

"It might be, Agatheina," said Gaia.

"Interesting… Though it makes my mind ache a bit, it's hard to understand everything, guuu…" said Rimuru.

"Yeah, I didn't understand half of it aside from humans being before everyone, and then boom! Magic," said Oga.

"Haha, I guess you could resume it in that way, Oga," said Gaia with a gentle chuckle.

"So if we add this 'Era of Old' where everything was rustic and simpler. Wouldn't there be like three Eras? This Era, then the Era where Genesis became a world of cultivators and gods, and then the Era of Realms, where Genesis was split into pieces by the Ragnarök…" I said.

"Indeed. It could be said that the Genesis of now does not resemble at all the one of old… The number of changes that our world has undergone is simply enormous and almost overwhelming…" said Gaia.

"That's right, Kireina-sama! This New Era is one that you will lead! The changes are already happening, the hierarchies of old are being torn apart, the world is trembling, and the System is becoming more and more part of everything! This is a New Era, an Ere of revolution, evolution, and change!" said Agatheina with a fanatic tone on her voice, behind her voice, I was able to hear the murmurs of all the Gods that were inside of her Divine Realm hearing all of this.

"This is pretty interesting to hear, to be honest… And now, the world is changing even more… I am glad to be on the side of Kireina-sama!" said Hydros.

"Talking about the Primordial Essence Streams that you talked about before, Gaia. When did they exactly stop?" I asked.

"Hmm… They topped a few hundreds of years before the Ragnarök started… Since those streams of energy stopped, the world's resources began to become scarce and scarcer… Due to such lack of resources, lands became more precious, and only the strongest Pantheons held authority over them. However, due to the ever-growing population of Gods, such resources were more and more desired, which in the end, began the Ragnarök because the Gods wanted to steal the lands filled with the last resources from each Pantheon… it was a battle of supremacy," said Gaia.

"I wonder if the Gates of Hell had any resources in them. Wouldn't they had been able to bring resources from that other plane?" I asked.

"It seems that it wasn't possible for some unforeseen circumstances. The Supreme God of Space and Creation never showed the Gates of Hell to the public, and it remained in secrecy for a long time until the Ragnarök finally started… Now, within the Supreme Gods and most of the Great Gods, it is vastly known that the Gates of Hell are located near the Realm of Helheim," said Gaia.

"Also, perhaps because the Gates of Hell was a completely different plane of existence, the resources located in there might have been completely different in quality and power compared to ours, perhaps completely incompatible with our methods of resource refinery and other things…" said Agatheina.

"There is truth in Agatheina's words," said Gaia.

"Even if we might be connected to another world or plane such as the Gates of Hell, what lays there might be not even beneficial for us… Although I believe that Kireina-sama might have the ability to acquire power from within that place… Although for now, it is too far away to even fathom going there to do such tasks," said Gaia.

"That's right, for now, it would be for the best if we remain in this Realm and we do as we had planned… Kireina-sama, such as the Dark Steppes and the gods with there, I am sure that you might be able to harbor and find new strength through doing them a bit of favor and then adding them to our Pantheon… alongside the sealed god there, which might be compatible with your power," said Agatheina.

"You're right, we'll get moving there in a few more days… Perhaps a week from now could be good, as long as there are no other interruptions within our plans… Sigh, after such a big infodump, I cannot help but feel a bit tired… Very well, let's enjoy breakfast for now and think later, okay? I said.

"Alright~," said everyone, as Rimuru brought me a pie she had recently baked.

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