Another day passed on the otherworld; the current Greg was living in.
Currently, he was in a pinch. He looked at his decreasing stocks and pressed his temple in worry.
He then looked at the sleeping Tiger, which hasn't woken up since it brought him here. He kept his cooking minimal as possible to not let the beast wake up.
But unknown to him, the white tiger has been watching his every action. It wanted to ask the human to cook for him but stopped after noticing his varying expressions.
It wasn't stupid as it knows that the human was worrying about his stocks getting used up and thinking about its future actions. It quietly watched his next move.
Greg started going through his stuff while the cellphone slid and dropped on the ground. He picked it up and sighed, knowing he cannot charge the battery while he was in this world.
Accidentally, he pressed the button, and the phone started playing its startup sound.
In a panic, he pressed the off button continuously, not wanting the beast to notice.
But it was futile, the white tiger at the size of a dinosaur was already behind him.
While the hot breath from the Tiger gave him the creeps, he slowly turned his head. The humungous eyes were looking at him with an expression of curiosity.
"Human, tell me, what is it that you have in your hand?" the white tiger asked.
"Th...This is a device.... umm..." Greg blurted out in fear.
"Device?"
Greg corrected himself, "An Artifact!"
"Artifact?" the tiger asked again in confusion. It has some knowledge about artifacts found in Ancient ruins and some used by humans.
Typically, the artifacts human used are weapons or miscellaneous tools. But it never has seen Artifacts making sounds before. And it had a screen with unknown symbols and language.
As a Tiger, it had the curiosity like a cat, as it looked at Greg for more answers while Greg was frantically calling the other Greg for help.
Greg2 was currently in front of his laptop, checking through various information, as suggested by the other Greg.
Feeling his fanatic calling, Greg2 closed his eyes in meditating pose and went into the consciousness of the other.
After finding that it wasn't serious, he replied, "Take care of it yourself!" and returned to do what he was doing.
Greg felt angry but quickly cooled off, knowing that the matter wasn't dangerous at all. He could say that he found the artifact on the ground.
"I found the artifact on the ground. Lord king could keep the artifact if you want." he tried to get off the situation by sacrificing his phone.
"Human, do you take me for a fool. You can fool the humans with your lies, but you cannot fool this lord's nose."
"I can smell that thing on your hand has the same smell as you. If I am not wrong, you must've had the thing for more than a year." the tiger said with an indifferent expression on its face.
"This....." Greg now felt he was stuck.
"Humph! Just say if you don't want to. Don't try to lie in front of me again." the tiger looked at him with a threatening glare and walked away from the cave.
"Fuew..." Greg let out a deep breath and wiped his sweat off his face.
"You idiot. Why didn't you help me?" Greg shouted in his mind.
"Well, as you can see, I am swamped. And don't disturb me for simple things like this." Greg2 shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Greg couldn't rebuke after listening to his nonchalant reaction.
"First, get off my laptop and tell me how to escape from this situation," Greg asked.
"Look, there is the only way for you to escape."
"First, kill that beast. Which is impossible."
"Second, only if he throws you out after he deems you useless," Greg2 said.
Greg2 added after some thought, "But, I prefer you to stay here. The world outside is a wild place, unlike your world, which has things like police and military, to protect the weak. Even the simplest of troubles can get you killed."
"While you can live here with the protection of one of the top powerful beings I know of. While you satisfying him with your cuisine." Greg2 felt it was the best choice.
Greg scratched his head in worry, "There is no other way." he asked again.
Greg didn't want to be stuck here playing house with a non-human being, even if the outside world is full of surprises and dangers.
"Well, there is a way, but I don't know if it works," Greg2 said after some consideration.
"What? Tell me." Greg asked.
"The only way to escape is by getting stronger."
Greg asked in confusion, "Like magic or something?"
"No, Let me explain from the first to let you gain an overview of how this world works," Greg2 said.
"Ok! I am all ears!" Greg replied.
"First, the place you're in belongs to the Chiwa continent residing in the southern part of this world. The continent itself is numerous times larger than your whole earth. I googled it. Your world is microscopic compared to the world you are residing in."
"There are a large number of kingdoms and numerous Empire ruling over this continent for thousands of years. While small factions are living independently but they cannot afford to mess with the larger Empires."
"Aside from the Empire, there are some Gains that even mighty Emperors will not offend. Of those Giants, the Centurion Palace is the most famous and well-liked one."
"You had seen before how the White Tiger picked you up without touching. That is something called Spirit Aura. And the people in this world can wake their Spirit Aura sleeping inside them via Rituals performed respecting the heavens."
"For the rituals, Altars made of specific stones and runic symbols are necessary. And the most important one is Spirit stones. While the rich can afford, the poor cannot."
"And here comes the Centurion Palace. This might Giants holds monthly rituals for the common people for free of cost. People of all kinds are accepted without discrimination."
"They might sound like a righteous group, but their main interest held in unearthing hidden gems. Still compared to other factions, they are way better."
"So you're saying, If I went to the ritual, I can awaken my Spirit Aura and become powerful," Greg asked.
"Not quite. It's just the first step to becoming strong." Greg2 replied.
"And how do you think I can go to the Ritual? Do I have to inform the tiger that I want two days' leave and assure him that I will return?" Greg added.
"You can try, but the simplest way is to ask the Tiger for materials. As far as I can see, the Lord Tiger is showing some interest in you. So if you ask, he will probably give you the materials. And with my knowledge, Ritual preparation is a child's play." Greg2 finished and waited for his reply.
"I think it's plausible to try," Greg2 added again, seeing his silence.
"OK, I'll try asking him for the materials. First, list out the names of the materials you need. I'll memorize it." Greg said.
********
Far from him, the White Tiger was spying on him. At first glance, it looked like Greg was meditating, but the White Tiger had doubts noticing his change in expressions and occasional sigh.
After some consideration, the white tiger returned to its cave.
It casually sat on its usual position and closed its eyes.
Surprisingly, the human who would generally shake in fear every time it went near. Now he was standing in front of it.
"What do you want?" the White Tiger asked.
"This…...I want to ask for a favor from the Lord King." Greg nervously asked.
"Speak." the Tiger said with eyes full of interest.
Greg quickly laid out his request in one breath.
"Hmm… So you want to walk the path of the strong. Didn't you already pass the best age? I thought you wanted to live the life of a mortal." the white tiger said.
Greg stood there, not knowing what to reply.
"Follow me."
The White Tiger said and brought him further into the cave. After a minute of walking, there was a humongous rock blocking the path.
*creak*
*Gulp*
Greg gulped, looking at the massive boulder getting treated as a pebble by the tiger.
He quickly followed the tiger, fearing the rock might accidentally roll over him.
After passing the entrance, the scene in front of him made his mouth hung open enough for a watermelon to fit.
There was a mountain of weapons, glowing stones, and other miscellaneous items laid around like garbage. Even as a person never touched Swords and Spears before felt the weapons were of exquisite quality.
"The glowing stones must be the Spirit stones." Greg thought.
The white Tiger swiped his claws where a large amount of Spirit stones and Space stones fell in front of Greg. Greg smiled looking at the items while he was excited inside.
Since you are the first human to enter my treasure room, I'll allow you to take one of the space ring left behind by some arrogant humans. Greg2 knew left behind meant killed by the tiger, but he kept quiet.
The tiger pointed at a large wooden box at the corner of the room.
Greg smilingly went after confirming what a space ring was from Greg2. He was excited to unbox the magical item.
Inside the box laid 1000+ space ring looked pitch black like the empty outer space, he saw in NASA video.
He went through the design of the Space Ring to select the most aesthetically pleasing one.
"Wait! Pick the plain-looking Spacing ring." Greg2 said in an excited voice.
"Why? It doesn't look new and has a plain design. It's not to my taste." Greg replied.
"Pick this one. Otherwise, you will regret it later." Greg2 added.
Greg thought for a bit and went with Greg2's choice. He knew there might be good things inside the ring.
"I'll choose this one." Greg looked at the white tiger and said.
"Fine choice kid, that one I remember belongs to a king from your race. The ring should have much wealth compared to the other ones." the White said.
"Thank you, Lord king, for your benevolence," Greg said happily, knowing he has a wealth of a previous king of some kingdom.
************
Thunder Nation, the Royal Palace.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
An Old lady wearing head maid uniform was tapping on the door filled with nervousness. Her name is Celia Grey, she is the current head maid of the Thunder nation's Royal Family. The Room where she was standing was the King's private Cultivation chamber. It's been more than 3 years since the King last showed his face outside.
"Come in." a deep voice resounded in her ears.
She pushed opened the door and peeked inside. The place was full of dust and spider webs all around. She pinched her nose and looked at the figure sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. There was a 1cm thick dust on top of his body. It showed that this person never moved an inch all these years. The head maid sighed and thought about his past.
The figure sitting on the floor is Arthur Bluelight, the King of the Thunder Nation. The Reason he is in closed-door cultivation is because of his wife. Unlike other Kings, he only has one wife. But the sad news is that during her time of delivery, she found out that the still unborn child inside her belly had naturally awakened the Spirit Aura. Although there are cases of kids naturally awakening Spirit aura at age 10 or 12. But an unborn child was never heard of.
It was supposed to be a good news but the mother found out that the Spirit Aura inside the unborn baby was going rampage wrecking the Spirit veins of the baby. To save the baby's life the mother chose to forcefully remove the Spirit and save the baby.
Finally the baby was safely born but the mother fell into come since. There is no news of her waking since.
The husband thought she must had used her life force in excess. So from on then, he closed himself in cultivation inorder to breakthrough to next realm and save his wife. Everyone knew how much he loved his wife, so they can only sigh from the sides. While the baby grew without any parental love or valued as a prince.
The cause of head maid anxiety is because the queen who slept for more than two decades has woken up by herself. And the child whom she nearly sacrificed her life is now on the run.