Chapter 36

The Heart of the Earth.

The sound of heated iron being hammered resembled the heartbeat of the earth, hence its name. This hammer, forged from pure black iron—adamantium—is coveted by all dwarves and symbolizes the Dwarf Grandmaster. Made from the world’s hardest metal, pure black iron (adamantium), this hammer can refine any metal. Every five years, dwarves gather to compete in a grand crafting competition for the chance to wield it. The winner earns the title of Dwarf Grandmaster and the right to use the Hammer of the Earth for five years.

Of course, along with that comes the duty of representing all dwarves, but the honor of being the greatest dwarf artisan and possessing the Heart of the Earth makes such responsibilities worth enduring.

In short, it’s akin to a crown ruling over all dwarves.

However, despite being crafted by master artisans, its power cannot be underestimated. Since it’s made from the unbreakable adamantium, there is no object this hammer cannot shatter. Legends say it could even break dragon scales.

Though, whether those scales were truly from a real dragon remains unclear.

– Encyclopedia of Legendary Weapons.

—

The world began developing at an alarming rate.

Humans combined their strength to form small and large villages. With primitive clothing and surprisingly successful agriculture, humans achieved living conditions far superior to before. What remained was another explosive population growth.

Previously, population growth outpaced food supply, causing humans to spread across the world. Now, with sufficient food available, human settlements grew larger.

Let’s pause the story of humans here and move on to other races. Dwarves tunneled deep into mountains, mining new metals.

Wait! That hammer was given to refine metal, not smash rocks! They’re using it to carve caves? There really isn’t anything that hammer can’t break… But still, that’s not what it’s meant for!

Ahem. Let’s ignore the dwarves for now. It’s hard to keep track of them as they delve deeper underground. We tried creating a divination spell to peer into the earth, but it gets harder the deeper we go. Still, seeing them use the gifted hammer to dig tunnels left me speechless.

Next, the elves. They lived quietly around Yggdrasil, hunting animals with bows and arrows crafted from the World Tree, roasting meat with elemental spirits’ help, and striving to connect with nature spirits. Except for their strict carnivorous diet, they’re your typical fantasy elves. Under the shade of Yggdrasil, their numbers slowly increased.

Interestingly, fewer humans are becoming elves lately. Perhaps because word has spread about their lack of vegetarian options. Humans were half-carnivore, half-vegetarian after all.

Now, lizardmen. As always, they lived peacefully. Using elemental magic and campfires, they expanded their territories. Not particularly greedy, they rarely clashed with others.

Though, anyone facing their formidable physiques would likely lose the desire to fight altogether.

Anyway, lizardmen manage themselves well, so there’s no need to worry too much about them.

Beastmen integrated seamlessly among humans. Despite their animalistic traits, they embraced humanity fully, leveraging their unique skills to blend into human society.

Lastly, giants continued battling beasts in harsh environments. Their sheer size and weight served as natural weapons, making them apex predators within their territories.

Thus, various races and humans formed communities, competing and cooperating to grow together. Eventually, cities emerged, and in the largest one…

…the owner of the crown I bestowed reigned supreme. With overwhelming charisma, they led the most prosperous city.

Perhaps the first nation will soon arise…

—

I quietly observed the progress of civilization.

Without interfering, I watched how humans evolved. It felt like watching a simulation game filled with advanced AI.

Or maybe like watching a strategy game broadcast. Even without intervening, just observing kept me entertained.

As I observed, humans started creating something new: writing systems to record language.

Thanks to the language I taught dragons and lizardmen, many races could communicate verbally, but there was no way to record it. Primitive writing systems began emerging among humans.

Pictographic writing started by drawing objects. Naturally, this originated from the lizardmen, who carved images onto stone tablets to convey messages. These carvings gradually transformed into early logographic writing under human hands.

However, while these primitive logograms symbolized the birth of writing, they weren’t widely adopted.

Each character represented a single concept, so understanding wasn’t difficult, but the sheer number of characters made learning cumbersome. Writing felt more like drawing than actual inscription.

If I hadn’t anonymously introduced alphabetic writing combining consonants and vowels, humans might have suffered learning logograms for centuries.

Thus, writing spread among the races, and civilizations underwent significant changes.

The most noticeable change? Primitive religions.

Created to explain natural phenomena humans couldn’t understand, these religions gave rise to bizarre deities who slowly gained form powered by human faith.

Still, these “gods” were barely stronger than low-level spirits.

For instance, the thunder god revered by giants emerged from their fear of lightning. Giants, taller than trees, often died from lightning strikes. When storms approached, they believed a terrifying father giant was yelling and crouched down to avoid his wrath. After adopting this behavior, lightning-related deaths dramatically decreased.

Thus, a colossal father figure with booming voice was born from their fears.

And me? I was already considered a god.

When writing spread, lost lizardman devotion redirected toward me.

As if spreading writing was a prerequisite for a deity’s existence.

This realization came when…

✉️

A small envelope icon appeared in my peripheral vision.

—

What is a god?

What is faith?

Lizardmen claim the Creator Dragon God is the most magnificent creator of this world.

Elves say the Great Mother Yggdrasil is the guardian of nature.

Dwarves declare the holy mountain Sagarmatha supports the world as a pillar.

Even beastmen who admire the First Beast, giants who respect the Father Giant, and mermaids who worship great flows…

The Church of Life venerating the Goddess of Life…

Everyone calls upon gods while remaining ignorant—or deliberately ignoring—the truth: gods originated as explanations for phenomena beyond intelligent beings’ comprehension.

I write this book to correct such misconceptions. Though I anticipate the shock it will bring, I won’t stop writing.

Human intelligence cannot further develop until the illusion of gods is dispelled.

– The Illusion Named God.

This book was banned in the Kingdom. Reading it alone warrants a Declaration of Heresy from the Divine Hall.