Chapter 2 - Basis of the World
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As Jia Chin went through the memories of the now-deceased Leon, he couldn't help but lament how bad his luck had been. In comparison, Jia Chin felt like his own previous life was full of roses instead.
His remaining family suffered a lot on the route to this place, as using any high leveled magic would make them appear to be very suspicious instead. They traveled from Village to Village and rid caravans full of goods to somehow escape undetected. If they had been discovered somehow... Jia Chin knew that their fates would have been very cruel.
After escaping far and wide, his Aunt, who happened to be an identical twin to his own mother, discovered this place and judged it to be inconspicuous enough to go under the radar.
The place she chose as her new residence happened to be in a small nation, far east on the continent. The nation was ruled by a council, which a King headed. The King, however, was chosen by merit instead and every 20 years, the King had to prove his might to the council and fend off the challengers.
Only the Noble houses could challenge and contest to obtain the throne for themselves, and this system of governance prevented needless conflict among the members of the Royal Family and also between the Throne and the Nobles.
The commoners too had some influence, as the Council was constituted of Commoners only and the ground administration was done by them. They also had the right to give suggestions to the King and to hold any new Decision for discussion for up to 6 months.
The Commoners in the Council were also the auditors of the Throne Succession and were the force counterbalancing the Nobles in the Nation.
It was no surprise that this Nation was also often referred to as the Nation of Commoners, as the residents here were the most content living in comparison to the others.
The Nation was called the 'Nation of Urraca' and this was the place that Jia Chin was in currently.
Even if the Nation was very big when compared to the surrounding countries, it still dwarfed in comparison to his previous Empire.
As Jia Chin observed the memories, he felt relief for one reason only. That the deceased Leon was a huge fan of collecting books and had big pride in his wealth of knowledge. Even his family members paled in comparison to this aspect of his.
This world was referred to as Terra and consisted of 3 Major Continents and 8 Minor Continents. There were huge oceans separating the Continents from each other. The Ocean was a terrible place due to the presence of fierce sea monsters and only high leveled Mages capable of flight could safely travel between them.
Common people refrained from going near the Ocean and no trade was possible between the Continents. They often discussed and created tales about the world beyond the Ocean, but for the majority of them, it was more of a thing about fiction than reality.
Having been a cultivator before, Jia Chin knew that some Sword Arts helped the practitioner to soar into the skies and easily travel beyond anything. Unfortunately, he could never join a sect, and obtaining such a technique was beyond his reach.
The power system of this world was more abstract and less quantified than in his previous world. They simply categorized humans to the ranks obtained by them through the Guilds.
The power levels recognized by the Guilds across the countries were G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS & Mythical Rank in the increasing order of fame.
The Legendary beings of the past and some historical monsters were termed to be Mythical, as their power levels were unimaginable by the current standards. They were only a thing of Legends until some evidence pertaining to their powers and existence was discovered by the Researchers.
Humans were generally known to be able to ascend to A rank, with those of S Rank being considered to be Heros and the children of heaven. The G rank could be obtained by anyone registered with the Guilds irrespective of their fame or contribution.
The most powerful human of the Nation of Urraca was a C-rank Mage and was very famed across the surrounding nations.
About the basic force driving this world, Mana was said to be powering the applied Magic and was classified into many categories as per the application and study, such as Fire Magic, Water Magic, Earth Magic, Elemental Magic, Spirit Magic, Soul Magic, Dark Magic, Blood Magic, Light Magic, among many other branches of study.
The Researchers and Mages in training pursued their preferred path and achieved success according to their Aptitude. There was one drawback though, that it took a lot of time for such study and proper Mages were known to be well in their sixties.
Though, offensive Magic and Mage weren't the only things here, as Archers, Hunters, Paladin, Blacksmith, and many such professions existed for the practitioners.
Leon's father was an A-rank Berserker and had inherited the Empire from his father early on in his life. He was known to be a battle freak and often defeated Mages before they could even read the spells. His strength was well deserving of his title of Emperor. Alas, the politics and scheme knew no Ranks and became the thing to end his reign.
Even the families were given importance according to the highest ranking family member in it. Those that didn't even have an F rank member were termed as Lower Commoner Families and were often the ones that suffered the most in any kind of dispute.
Similarly, families having an E rank member were very well respected among the others and had many followers hoping to bask in their fame too.
Unfortunately, to Jia Chin, it all meant nothing. When he compared the power levels between the two worlds, his previous might could easily land him to be a C rank immediately. Alas, he was in a new body now and couldn't even think of cultivating since there was no Qi here.
It was said that the beings of the other continents even achieved S rank and had Heroes protecting them. But, the continent Jia Chin resided in had a few A rankers at best. Dangerous beasts could easily ravage cities and were at the mercy of the monsters.
There were some worse Continents too, but they had their own fair share of troubles too.
The Magic and Strengthening weren't really restricted to humans though. Monsters could learn to manipulate Mana too, either by genetic trait or by coincidence and their strengths could easily rival those of the humans.
The Monsters were ranked on the same power scale and were determined by the lowest-ranking Human required to subjugate it, either alone or with a team.
Unfortunately for the humans, some monsters easily reached far beyond human capabilities, as S Rank monsters were the bane of the existence around them.
The desolate mountains, forests, and oceans were often home to terrible beasts like Dragons, Phoenixes, and Sea monsters whose strength could even surpass the S Rank.
Beyond just the humans and the monsters, even nonliving things were sometimes affected by the Mana and gave birth to things like Demon Trees, Magic Herbs, and Mana Crystals. The secondary occupations often utilized these things and resulted in Occupations like Alchemist, Pharmacist, Artifact Blacksmiths, and many more.
These secondary occupations were also very famed worldwide and anyone who could achieve mastery in any one of them became the most popular and respected because of their products and their strengthening capabilities.
Top-level Alchemists could refine special potions that could be used by almost anyone and their effects ranged from healing, Mana Strengthening, Regeneration... their miraculous effects were almost endless.
Similarly, the top tier Pharmacist could prepare pills and medicines that had the same effects, just to a much lower capacity.
The Artifact Blacksmiths were similar to weapon smiths, but their work involved using runes and arrays to empower the product to have great effects. Products such as Shields, Armor, etc. were in huge demand and the need for quality products was endless.
They were made from special ores that were rich in Mana density and could produce weapons that could enhance the attacking power. There were also some Artifacts Blacksmith that specialized in creating massive battle chambers that could power the User indefinitely, as long as the source of Rich and Pure Mana could be obtained.
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A/N: Thanks for being here, everyone! Sorry for the info-dump chapter. There won't be another anytime soon.