Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 36



Only Noblemtl

Episode 36. Perseverance. Exchange. Inheritance.

The period of regeneration that began after the period of stagnation lasted a little over 4,000 years. That’s an incredibly long time, which is a bit surprising considering that the Datons have long life spans, but their biological clocks are probably set to be shorter than those of other races.

Not much has changed. In some ways, it’s even worse than the recession.

This is also related to the silence of the Minnie Runs. Lapin and Laurent were exhausted by the terrible experience of the stagnation period. Lapin, who had gained eternal life, devoted himself to making art works that he wanted to do instead of practical work when the revival period began, and Laurent also turned his attention to the study of museums that he was interested in (but of little use) rather than great innovations and revolutions. Marechia only did what he could to help others.

The apathy of the All-Chan is even worse. What good is it when the country is rebuilt? It is nothing compared to the paradise of the past anyway. The All-Chan is now sick of progress and innovation, exploration and pioneering.

I just hope I don’t lose any more of my family······. And I just hope I can continue to enjoy the happiness I have now.

It is natural that there is no change when the leadership is in such a state of political apathy. Since it has been proven that new civilization and the changes it brings are not always good, they are reluctant to develop further from the already happy current situation.

Most civilizations go through this path. They seem to be developing endlessly, but then they reach a limit, whether it be resources or technology, and then they stop. Very slow growth, or decline.

However, this period of reconstruction has characteristics that clearly distinguish it from the period of stagnation.

This is because it is the time when Daton begins to interact with other races in earnest.

Here are ants and termites. Both are social insects, but they are fundamentally different. Ants are insects from the order Formicidae. Termites are insects from the order Formicidae.

Two social insects face each other. Two insects with similar evolutionary but fundamental differences. They have to go to a certain area, but their respective colonies block their way.

The two insects naturally create a path with their bodies to allow their groups to pass through and not mix with each other. These two completely different creatures are able to get along and interact with each other simply because they are social insects.

And the mainstream human population of this world, although quite different, all share the same ancestors. They are much closer than that.

In this world where there are many intelligent beings, the interaction between Daton and other races is inevitable. Daton has a very strong inclusiveness, especially when it comes to meeting other races, and wants to blend in and become one.

Even for the archaeologists of this world, the prehistoric era is literally an era without writing and only relics, so they can only make rough guesses. There are myths about what kind of culture and civilization the Erin and Tocha people had during this period, but there is no archaeological evidence.

Scholars who study the Datuns in reverse have been able to reconstruct the history of the Datuns almost exactly on a day-by-day basis based on the history experienced by All Chaun and remembered by Datang Oram. However, there are too many records to investigate in reverse, so they are buried.

Therefore, we can say that there is almost no way to prove the history of other tribes in this world other than what Ol Chaun reported and remembered. As you say, it is prehistoric. They could not even create a plausible country, so it is also historically meaningless.

When pursuing historically significant records, the first representatives to interact were the Bark people.

The exchange between the Bark tribe and the Daton tribe has deepened since the beginning of the Mythical Age. In particular, the Wolf tribe, including the Bark Maja, actively promoted Daton hybridization, so that by the beginning of the stagnation period, all the tribesmen were Daton mixed-bloods.

There, the majority of the Bark tribe, which has accepted the wolf spirit and is full of half-human, half-wolf people, enjoys great prosperity. No, the ‘Wolf Tribe’, a branch of that tribe, enjoys great prosperity.

“How about we, the ‘Wolf Tribe’, take all of Dator and the North, where they can’t live, instead of giving it to the ‘Sheep Tribe’ or the ‘Horse Tribe’ over there?”

“Hmm. Well, that’s what it is. We can’t go there anyway.”

All of this was a permission that was not a permission. An absurd amount of land was handed over in an absurd form.

The Wolf tribe, a branch of the Bark tribe, built the most powerful group in prehistoric times, excluding the Datang tribe. They continued to expand and came into contact with neighboring Bark tribes, but their symbolic animals were not wolves and they were not Daton hybrids.

“Either you join us or you give up your land and get out!”

Most had to merge. Some fought and were beaten and forced to merge because they couldn’t back down over pastures.

The wolf clan remained strong throughout the prosperity period. That’s why the entire tribe of those who command animal spirits became known as Bark (Wolf).

They start hunting more powerful winged lizards······. In other words, dragons, with the spirit stones provided by Daton. Although they may not know about winged dragons, they were able to catch many things that were like dinosaurs that moved around without wings. Then, they soon returned with a lot of meat, leather, bones, and spirit stones.

They left behind their own prehistoric sites, but they declined rapidly. The reason is simple. Datang was destroyed by the Hanju Tamal.

“You can’t trade?”

“There’s a terrible plague going around. If you don’t want to get it, you’d better not come to Datang.”

“No. There will be a great war soon. We cannot win without the spirit stones you give us.”

“The tea house is about to go out of business······. I’m sorry, but it’s a shame.”

The contemporary Bark Maza did not give up.

“What if we just sneak in and force the trade?”

All the wolf tribe members who entered like that died in one week. In the end, communication with Datang was cut off.

Eventually, the Wolf Clan, who had taken over a powerful territory with Datang as their backing, continued to retreat due to attacks from non-compatriots they had been fighting until then, and their territory was rapidly reduced to the plains north of Dator.

Meanwhile, other factions of the Bark tribe, such as the Horse Tribe, the So Tribe, and the Sheep Tribe, see the decline of the Wolf Tribe and think differently.

“By any chance. Could it be that your relationship with ‘Datang’, who interacts with the wolf tribe, has become strained?”

“Well, it makes no sense that those arrogant guys would have allies.”

“I heard that the chieftain of Datang, Ol Chaun, is an immortal who lives forever. He is said to be a wise god who brought fire to the world.”

“Does that make sense? But I have heard that he is the king of the plains, commanding thousands of pilgrims and merchants, and countless and powerful animals.”

“At least it’s true that you can make fire. All pointy-eared Datons can handle fire.”

“If there’s any way we can establish trade with Datang······.”

Ultimately, throughout the period of stagnation, the Bark tribe fought among themselves, in order to somehow maintain a connection with Datang.

After quite some time, it became known that Datang was devastated by a monstrous disease called Hanjutamal, but in any case, the population continued to grow steadily even during the long period of stagnation, and soon exchanges resumed. Here, “soon” refers to the historical standard of Datan, that is, about 1,000 years.

“Wolf Maja is the best!”

“Nonsense! The best thing to do is to just stop talking!”

“You guys are just messing around with weak animals! Look at the power of the great horned ox!”

“I have obtained the power of the lion. I am now the lion master!”

After thousands of years of fighting among their animal-symbolized brethren, the Bark finally compromised.

“If you look closely, we’re all the same tribe, so why are we fighting among ourselves? Let’s all gather together as tribal representatives and make something like a soup for ourselves!”

There are two main reasons for this decision.

First, the end of the stagnation period. Datang had almost recovered the national power of its heyday. No Bark tribe could stand up to Datang, and they were afraid of Datang invading Bark territory.

Secondly, even if it is not Datang, there are too many different races in this area. They don’t fight each other if they are of the same race, but if they fight each other because they have different beliefs, they will die.

However, the Wolf Tribe chose to remain as a part of the Datang because their ties to them were too deep. Eventually, the remaining Bark Tribe handed over Dator and the plains to the north to the Datang and the Wolf Tribe, and established a country with the isthmus connecting that continent to the eastern continent as the boundary.

It is the second civilization established in this recorded world. It is a prehistoric-oligarchy state where the pantheon of the Bark tribe is lined up with animal totems, and the chiefs of each tribe gather to vote and build important projects for the country.

Since this point roughly overlaps with the reconstruction period of Datang, it is said to be a country established during the reconstruction period. In other words, from the mythical era to the stagnation period, there was only one country in the world, Datang.

And here Datang encounters many nations and races.

To those who came looking for rumors about an ‘immortal monarch who can freely command fire and control nature and beasts’, Daton’s reply, ‘That is not a rumor, Ol Chaun is a living being’ was very impressive.

Unfortunately, however, none of these races seem to have established a civilization that could threaten Datang.

Even including the Bark tribe. Because in the records of Datang Oram, or in other words, in the memories of Ol Chaun, there are clear mentions of such people coming, and there are also quite a few people who actually met Ol Chaun, but there is no archaeological evidence of the country or civilization they created or any traces of it.

Archaeologists of this world who study the history of other races are somewhat aggrieved when studying the history of Daton. Racists in particular are even more aggrieved.

“What is this? It’s been almost 4,000 years since the country of Daton fell into ruin and stagnation, but our race only appeared in history 4,000 years ago? Did our ancestors still wield stone axes and go around doing Uga Uga 15,000 years after the founding of Mainilun?”

I want to insist that this is Daton’s manipulation, but All Chaun is still alive in the modern era, and there is absolutely no room for distortion in Datang Oram’s memories.

Because of this, whenever the later Datons talked about history, they would get a lethal dose of Daton-bong and just shrug their shoulders, and on the contrary, races whose recorded history was clearly short would distort history and manipulate relics, and chaos ensued.

It was a really good bait for racial supremacists in particular. Daton supremacists used this long history, while Erin and Vaccan supremacists tried to belittle that history in some way.

But what. History is just history. It’s absurd to boast about a long history when Daton is clearly in decline, and it’s also absurd to fabricate a short history when other races have become the mainstream of the world.

So if you ask why other races don’t have such a long history, the answer is simple: those countries also faced disasters.

It’s not just a disaster that happens once a week. If you kill people and destroy civilization, that’s a disaster.

In short, there is no archaeological evidence at all, but there is a ridiculous fact that some race built something that could be called a civilization, but unfortunately, a meteorite fell from the sky and destroyed the country without a trace. The people of this world did not know about this until the universe was destroyed, and only you and I knew about it.

Just like Datang, which developed a country and civilization with the powerful power of the spirit, but ended up being vulnerable to the Hanjutamal and fell into ruin, there are quite a few places where other countries were fascinated by the mystery they discovered and built civilizations based on that mystery, only to be literally scorched earth.

In short, the Erin tribe, who discovered God and started an agricultural civilization, believed in the words of God and devoted themselves to farming, but were slaughtered in large numbers due to a famine.

The Baekkan tribe, who used the power of the jewels, had their entire country destroyed by a group of giant dragons that came after smelling the jewels, and all the jewels and precious metals they had mined were stolen.

Believing that a preemptive strike is the key as their ancestors said, any Tocha who launches a preemptive strike is swept away by the tribe’s strong defenses and becomes a slave.

It’s not that people in the past were stupid and couldn’t develop. Development is difficult unless you’re extremely lucky.

Still, the world progresses and moves forward.

The Erin tribe believes that the gods’ words are not always right, and they decide to further develop their agricultural technology in order to take the gods’ words as advice.

The Baekkans know that dragons covet the gems, so they create weapons and tools to drive away the evil dragons.

The Tochas are defeated, but the dead become new ancestral spirits who propose new strategies, not just preemptive strikes.

The same goes for Daton. He believed that spiritism was the solution to all problems, but there was a devil in the world called Hanjutamal.

Daton, who has barely managed to rebuild his civilization after a long period of stagnation, now strives to advance his civilization through methods other than ‘spiritualism’.

First of all, that’s not farming. Seriously… Right now, Erin, Baekkan, Tocha. There’s no race that doesn’t farm, so how long does Daton plan on living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle?

But new technologies are born out of necessity. This is especially true in this age. Daton has reverted to the old ways of working harder than new ones. Stone spears, bows made of bone and sinew. Armed with such primitive tools, he becomes somewhat passive about elementalism.

Innovation may not be the solution to this stagnation.

With constant improvement and effort, and the moment you cross the threshold of that gradual change, the world can change.

Let’s check it out for yourself now.