It was as though he was transported across billions of kilometers in the blink of an eye, as Quideos Audit's strongest ability, imbued into a zone the likes of which might just be the very first in existence, Loimos took the role of a spectator, like he was a fly on the wall as events unfolded before him, they weren't accelerated either, from his perspective, everything happened at the same pace as they had truly occurred.
Indeed, for at this instant, he was not caught in a vision of a possible future or of a past that could have been- It was the true past, events who had taken place an untold amount of time before his existence even began, before even the mad mage who had witnessed his birth was even born.
And before the undead empire even existed, how could Loimos know this? It was simple, even if he was currently robbed of his exceptional senses and was nothing more than a wraith lost through time and space, it would be hard for him to not recognise King Nitok, no matter how different he might look in this memory of the past.
The Nitok he was seeing would be difficult to imagine becoming Prince Of Death.
At this instant, the venerable monarch of the empire of death was still a living, and youthful one at that, no older than twenty, a fledgling at magic, that would be pressed to cast even the most basic of mana bullets without ample focus.
The future ruler of one of the world's greatest nations was sitting alone in a library, everything seemed strange, the materials used for the table and chair he sat at and upon- The covers of the books, the pages… Everything felt simpler, almost amateurish.
Right now, the skeleton king was in the process of trying to find out his magical affinity using a crystal, doing so under the cover of the night and in a secluded corner of this library, which probably belonged to some sort of academy, or perhaps it was part of his family home, hard to guess considering that despite being incredibly talkative, King Nitok barely, if ever, spoke of his past as a living.
Fire, water, wind, earth… The four basic elements responded nicely as he struggled to repeatedly activate the crystal, circulating his inner mana into it to test them one by one, clearly, talent was there, but none of them had appeared to be an incredible affinity.
But quickly enough, the crystal turned dim and dark, crumbling into dust, an unexpected event it seemed judging from the reaction this event roused in the young magic enthusiast.
He stared at the dust for a few moments, and then tentatively reached for another crystal, whispering something himself…
It was an ancient language that had not been in common usage for more than centuries, but thankfully, Loimos's study of ancient tomes and learning of tongues despite his access to the blessing of comprehension was coming in handy and he was able to understand that the young Nitok was muttering about hoping that it was shadow.
And indeed, when he tested for his affinity with the shadow element, the crystal showed a strong reaction, denoting an exceptional potential with that element.
The mageling seemed elated but curiosity was too strong, and he tested another element, the crystal instantly crumbling to dust again, incapable of even quantifying the level of this affinity.
As all knew in the present, King Nitok's greatest element was darkness, as it was said that he even possessed an energy trait that made of all his energies into the element of dark without requiring any attempt on his part of manifest it, which was most certainly why the first crystal had turned to dust despite testing for typical elements, darkness was simply a part of him.
This simple event, which Loimos had been made to bear witness to, on the surface inconsequential, was in fact, the catalyst from the first rise of the undead empire, for in that ancient era, darkness was deemed to be synonymous with evil, heresy and devil worship.
Indeed, it had been during the great silence, a time during which deities, be they lesser or great had a strong presence on Viridis, their divine blessings and curses were common, and considered what made someone strong.
The prevalence of the way of power that was the holy and divine was immense back then, and it was this golden age of the gods that Pontiff Pietrus sought to bring back by having the empire lay conquest upon the divine realm.
King Nitok was viewed as a reject and creature in need of absolution, and in time, the dark mage became exactly what he was once unjustly reviled as, dabbling in true forbidden ways of power and growing his strength until he casted his signature spell for the first time, still a living, he alone, by the sheer force of a single spell- Without any runes, sacrifices or incantations to empower it, he caused an eclipse.
Which lasted for so long that countless plants began to wither and die, indeed, although the nature of suns meant that this event was only happening for Viridis and its surroundings, safe for certain areas that inexplicably had suns of their own that didn't seem to exist unless you were within the territory they illuminated- Despite it all, that event threatened to put an end to the majority of life.
But the eclipse did not last long enough for that, as the caster was eventually found out and slain, King Nitok's body was left to rot, nailed upon wooden structure for years as the site became a place of pilgrimage for worshippers to throw curses at the loathsome mage of darkness.
Eventually however, it was forgotten, yet, mysteriously, even as all flesh wasted away, the bones stayed together, the wooden structure he was nailed on decayed away and the skeletal remains fell to the ground, casting a veil of dark over the area as energies of the dark attribute still lingering within Nitok's bones.
"Spurned child of life… You who dwell in the absence of light without fear- Embrace the unknown, become one with it… From Oblivion… From my womb, I bring back your soul, your mind, your spirit and all else that you shall need…"
"...Nitok, I crown you prince, become king, become emperor… Revel in this existence and forget the sins of life… They are naught but misguided…"
"Now… Rise, Nitok… For that is my blessing"
The spectator saw something most blinding appear before the skeletal remains, something not quite describable, and yet, every feature seemed crystal clear.
"As for you… I yearn to wish you luck… But I shall not, for you do not require something so elusive… Go and triumph, I will be waiting"