"The Training begins now, Ojer Liicht…"
'What? Ojer Liicht?'
If it wasn't already clear, I was completely lost.
One moment, I was staring at a translucent floating window shimmering in front of me—and the next, a man in gleaming silver armor kicked my door off its hinges, sending it flying across the room like it weighed nothing.
And then, as if that wasn't strange enough, he ordered me to begin some training.
What was even more absurd, was the fact that he didn't even call me by my name, but 'Ojer Liicht'
For a fact, I even knew what the word 'Liicht' meant.
In my original language, it meant light but I never expected it to be used in this world.
It was a small language from a small country in my previous world, one that most even there didn't know. The thought of hearing it here, felt like someone had reached into my memories and twisted reality.
"Why are you looking so lost? Come on, hurry up."
The man in armor nudged his head forward, seemingly annoyed that I still hadn't moved an inch since his entrance.
Cough
"Ehm…. who are you?"
I managed to ask, my voice confused.
Now that I thought about it, how had he even gotten in here without any resistance? The cult's security wasn't exactly lenient, and 'Father' also always seemed to be present like a shadow.
"Wait. That bastard didn't tell you anything?"
"You mean 'Father'? No, he didn't… I didn't even know about that trial before it started…"
I shook my head and pointed out the fact that I was as lost as any person could be.
It was ridiculous but sadly the truth.
"Tsk…. Dumb fuck…. I will explain while we walk, I don't have all day. No is not an option."
Gulp
"Okay..."
If refusing had been an option, I wouldn't have taken that risk. I wasn't brave—or stupid—enough to say it.
Who in their right mind would refuse a guy who just destroyed part of your room. Especially, when they are stronger than you in every aspect…
The man turned around and started walking down the corridor - not waiting for me anymore. I then quickly started following him as I had no choice but to follow him.
The hallway itself seemed different from the other times I went through it.
Gone were the silent white-cloaked individuals that normally stood along the walls like eerie statues. Now, it felt abandoned—dead, even. The air was heavier. The lights dimmer.
Overall, it seemed…
Empty
"So, to start off—you succeeded in clearing the trial. You took longer than usual, but everybody moves at their own pace."
He cast a sideways glance at me as we passed beneath a flickering torch sconce. For a moment, light pierced through the slit in his helmet, revealing eyes like frozen steel—sharp, cold, unfeeling.
Different from the coldness that I had when I saw 'Father', it somehow felt…. disturbing.
"Anyway, your body has…changed in a way. Normal people have mana flowing through their entire body and basically have Mana vessels which function the same way as blood vessels. When their depleted Mana reaches back to the Mana vault, it regenerates inside of it."
Listening to the man, I slowly got a more complete gist of how mana worked within the body. Interesting were the basics of how Pure Mana seemingly worked.
"Your body is different, as you don't have a Mana vault. But your body gained the ability to use Pure Mana. You absorb the Mana surrounding you and absorb it. It then is being transformed inside your very own heart, into Pure Mana."
Tap
He stopped and tapped me on my chest, making me stop midway as I looked down
"But that means, you also have to use it differently, which you have to learn, by yourself. Because if you don't you will die like your predecessors, after all having a Heder is-"
A shiver crawled down my spine. I remembered something I'd read—something from a book about Magic.
"A double-edged sword…"
"So you get the gist, at least there is some hope…"
The knight turned around and started walking again, his steps echoing through the halls.
I looked ahead and started to rush after the man in armor. Looking at him, you would think he was some glorious knight from a fairytale but his actions and demeanor really were quite the opposite.
"I am here to train your body and your weapon skills. Maybe also some life lessons, anyway for that we will go around the world for a bit. Being stuck in this place is equally depressing as it is useless."
In a way, he wasn't wrong. Living in a cultist bunker wouldn't help a child get better in understanding the world and how it works.
Nonetheless, the question of who that man was still was on my mind and why he called me Liicht.
"Ehm…sir, just so that I can know…who are you? And… why do you call me Ojer Liicht?"
The man stopped.
"Did he for real tell you nothing? Nothing at all?"
"Yes?"
Silence
"MOTHERF-!"
The man punched into the wall out of nowhere, making the entire building shake. However, there was one thing I had realized as the man had punched the wall.
He didn't touch it.
Not one inch.
Crack
Then, slowly cracks appeared from the point the man's fist was closest to. They spread out like a spider-web and suddenly more and more cracks appeared.
"Oh fuck!"
The knight quickly turned around, realizing what was happening and grabbed me by my sleeve, pulling me close. Then from one moment to another, everything started caving in.
Rocks tumbled from the ceiling. Walls groaned and gave in.
The very earth beneath our feat also started to shake even harder than before.
Then everything became dark.
Silence
It felt, like I had died again. But one thing was different, I still felt myself breathing.
"Tsk…there I go, always the same stuff happening…."
And I still heard the complains of the man clad in armor.
"No worries kid, you didn't die."
Suddenly, the rumbling started again but not due to the cave crashing down on. But because the knight started moving forward as if nothing stood in his path. Slowly the rumble around him moved aside, as if an invincible force pushed it away from us.
'Okay, calm down…. You have already seen more impossible things….'
If I thought about it, I really did see less believable stuff, however this was still one of the biggest ones.
He moved forward, unfazed of any objects in his way.
The debris and rubble around him shifted and rolled back, pushed away by an unseen force.
It was as if the world itself refused to touch him.
I slowly started following him, reluctantly watching my steps.
"Tsk…. lost my temper, anyway call me Damascus… and why I am calling you Liicht, well that is your title like Damascus is mine…"
Damascus talked in a calmer manner than earlier, seemingly having let a bit of his steam off by having destroyed the hallway.
"The head of each branch holds the title Ojer. That isn't important for now. What is important, is for me to get you into a state of power that is comparable to myself."
I slightly widened my eyes.
That was the last thing I expected to hear.
From what I had grasped, Damascus was on par with 'Father', a being that seemed out of normal logic, even compared to this world.
And I should become someone that has a power that is comparable to them?
Hearing it even seemed ridiculous.
As Damascus kept explaining, slowly the surroundings became brighter, as less rubble was around us.
The rubble gave way to dirt, then grass, then thick roots
Shirp
Then after only a few moments, no rubble was around us anymore.
Massive trees loomed over our heads, their trunks wide as houses.
The lush scent of trees and nature filled my nose.
Shafts of golden sunlight pierced the leaves, casting dancing patterns on the floor.
We stood inside a huge Redwood Forest.
"Now, where are we right now kid?"
Damascus turned around, looking down at me.
All I could see however, was his helmet and its dark insides.
It gave me a sinister feeling, nearly as if I saw into a dark gateway that whispered of things better left unseen.
"Ehm...Rydeon?"
Damascus then turned away and looked into the sky.
Sigh
"God help me…"
He shook his head and then turned back to me.
"Okay, you are right… We are in the continent of Rydeon, yes… But that doesn't really pinpoint where we are. But it is normal not to know when considering ██████ and his personality."
Somehow, I couldn't hear for a moment what Damascus was saying but simply brushed it off. If there was something I knew, then it was for the better not to know everything.
Just the reminder of what had happened to me in my original world gave me shivers as well as different feelings. The emotions however quickly disappeared like they never existed.
"Anyway, we are currently in the inner parts of the Camar Forest, a Monster Tomb."
I widened my eyes as I heard Damascus talk.
The fact that we were in a Monster Tomb was already shocking but being in the inner parts of one was even more abnormal.
A Monster Tomb?
And not just any part—the inner part?
These were cursed territories, overflowing with monsters. No cities, no nations, no order.
Each one ruled by a creature of Behemoth Rank or higher.
The inner regions? Crawling with Disasters and Anomalies.
These weren't enemies you fought. These were enemies you survived if you could.
To kill even one Disaster-class monster, you'd need 25 mages of the Argos Rank which weren't overflowing in the world.
There was a reason why these parts were closed off from the world and basically a restricted zone for no being to enter.
'Oh, hell no….'
That guy might be even worse than father….
I looked at Damascus—and I knew...
This was only the beginning.
And it was going to get much, much worse.