The soldiers arrived on the only to see a thousand dead bodies there.
They were at loss for words, they could even see that their king has also died here and they could guess that the future of this kingdom isn't looking good.
...
As Vishnu gets sucked into that spatial hole he couldn't see anything around him. he didn't know what is going on and where he is. Suddenly he felt some sort of energy invade his body.
'ugh' he groaned in pain. His body is already in bad shape due to the fight and now this. He almost lost consciousness when he felt something hit his chest lightly, he looked down and could see it was shining in silver. He didn't know where it appeared but when that ring touched his body for a moment he felt that invading power diminish so he didn't hesitate and grabbed the ring swiftly and wear it on the index finger of his right hand.
Instantly he felt relieved, Although he could still feel that weird energy entering his body but he didn't feel pain anymore on the contrary his wounds started to heal also.
All of this just happened in the span of 3 to 5 seconds.
Then as it appeared the weird energy vanished and Vishnu could also now see his surroundings. He is currently in a forest and he is not alone.
In front of him, a man is standing with blood on his face, and just there lying on the ground is the body of another man. Just from this one could conclude that this man has killed the other one and as he didn't have a single visible injury on his body it was probably a sneak attack.
"Who are you?" the man asked visibly shocked at how can one appear out of nowhere, and the sensation he felt when the man appeared was like he is an ant in front of a giant.
But Vishnu couldn't understand him.
Vishnu looked at the scene, he could guess what happened. Probably this man is a thief or something, but he didn't care about all that. What he needs to know now is where he is.
"What is this place and where am I?"
Vishnu asked in his language but it seemed the man couldn't understand him.
"Hey, F*ck answer me you bastard, I asked Who are you?" The thief spat out. If he could he'd just kill this man but it didn't seem that easy and the man is also ready so he needs to think this through.
"Well, I guess we'll go with the hard way then"
Vishnu loosened his body, he is already healed by that weird energy so he is at his full power now so he didn't fear anyone.
...
Vishnu just killed the guy, The language barrier was too big of a hurdle to surpass. He buried both him and the other dead guy together after looting both of them.
'First, I have to get out of here.' All he could see is trees, but from exchanging gestures with the thief, he now knows the general direction toward the exit.
After wondering for almost 3 hours he could finally see some people. He didn't talk to any of them as he knew nothing about this new language.
He simply followed the general path people are taking then after running for almost 30km more he could see a wall. A wall with about 20 meters in height and is spread in a circle for 80km.
There is a long line at the city gate. Vishnu waited for his turn, then passed a violet blackish stone to the guard. He had looted this from that thief as he lost his bag during the fight with the soldiers and then got transported here.
The guard simply glanced at him once then let him enter.
After entering the city the first thing Vishnu searched for is a bookstore. He had to learn the language first.
After strolling for about 20 minutes he finally found a store with lots of books. Vishnu entered the store and saw an old man sitting behind the counter.
" Where is the book to learn the common language?" Vishnu asked hoping that as a bookstore owner, the old man may be well-versed in many different languages and just might understand him.
But that didn't happen. The old man looked at him puzzled, But after Vishnu pointed his fingers at the books then at his mouth he understood that this young man in front of him don't know how to read and write.
'An illiterate young man, How sad he couldn't even communicate with people.' these are the old man's thoughts.
He gestured Vishnu to wait then went deeper into his store and a minute later brought a finger-sized black crystal with him.
Vishnu held the crystal not knowing what to do.
The old man gestured to him by releasing a bit of his energy then pointing to the crystal. Vishnu understood and poured some of his energy into the crystal.
As he did a wave of information entered his mind, All the knowledge about this language entered his mind and he took only 10 seconds to process it.
Vishnu slowly opened his silver eyes. The shock he felt couldn't be hidden in his eyes.
The old man just smiled seeing this. It was understandable to him that this boy knew nothing about memory crystals. These aren't that common in the lower class of people and as the young man in front of him looked dirt poor he just took pity on him.
" Thank you, sir. I am Vishnu and how much is the fee for this thing I just used?" said Vishnu in a polite manner. After all, if no one showed him this goodwill who knows how much time it'd have taken him just to normally talk to people.
" No need for money young man, I just helped you cause I felt like it. It must've been hard for you till now."
Vishnu felt like the old man must've misunderstood something but didn't mind it. He looked around and could see that there are tons of books there.
"Mind if I take a look around?"
"sure, go ahead"
After about 15 minutes Vishnu walked out of the bookstore. He looked around then turned right then walked for 10 minutes when he finally arrived at his destination.
Everland inn. It is the place, the old man suggested.
Vishnu Booked a room for a week which cost 1 energy stone.
That whole night Vishnu spent his time reading the books he had bought, It is about this place, Its history.
This continent is called Triton. There are a total of 3 Empires and 2 Kingdom Alliances. There are also 2 great forests, One of which almost divides the whole land and it also separates the Empires and the alliances.
Vishnu is currently in the Asrac city of Orion Empire. It is one of the biggest cities of the Empire and is under the control of the Elemental Heaven Sect.
It is one of the top three sects on the Continent and the best in Orion Empire. Vishnu learned that there is more to cultivation than he had thought so he decided to join this sect as it is only 20km away from this city.
The next Entrance test is in two months so decided to stay in this city to learn more about this world. He has enough energy stones as he has looted them from that thief.
2 months passed by quickly most of the time Vishnu spent in that old man's bookstore reading a variety of books ranging from history to poetry.
Finally, the day came as Vishnu left the Inn before sunrise, said goodbye to the old man then left the city for the sect.
...
20km away from Asrac city there is a mountain, The mountain is surrounded by forest from 3 sides. This mountain is one of the tallest mountains on the continent and is known as Elemental Mountain and is home to Elemental Heaven Sect.
Today is the Entrance Test for the sect which happens twice every year. There are thousands of people at the foot of this mountain range waiting.
Vishnu arrived just when the sun started rising, Looking around he could see the people there ranging from 15y/o to 60y/o. The parents are there with their children hoping that this event could turn their lives around. There are also young boys and girls from different clans standing proud like they're looking at ants then there are people like Vishnu lone cultivators but this group is small as most people would make their children enter a sect at the age of 15 as that is the suitable age to start cultivation.
This was the same age to start cultivation from where Vishnu came from so he thought there shouldn't be any differences in cultivation and he was right.
After waiting for more than two hours 7 people came down from the mountain. All wearing the same black-colored robe with slight differences.
The Old man leading this group looked around, then said in a calm voice but every single one could hear his word "The Entrance test will start now those who are not participating step back and watch without making any noise."
Then he gestured to the people behind him then the 6 people divide into two groups and placed a head-sized Transparent crystal in front of them.
Vishnu now is not a country bumpkin. After reading all those books he knew that these 2 crystals are Aptitude and affinity crystals to measure the Aptitude of a person and which element he has an affinity to.
All who are going to take part in the test created a single line. Then one by one the test started.
When the First boy placed his hand on the Affinity Crystal it lit up green.
"Elemental Affinity Wind Low-level disqualified."
The Man behind the Crystal shouted.
The boy disappointed stood there, he had never thought that he'd be disqualified even before taking the aptitude test. The clan he comes from is a renowned one in a small city but as he couldn't even cultivate his hopes for the future are now smashed.
"Next" The old man shouted then the boy unwillingly left.
The test continued and the first 11 participants all had low-level Affinity so none qualified.
"Next"
A petite girl walked up to the crystal and placed her hand on it. The crystal Lit up in Blue color and the guy behind looked at the crystal then shouted "Elemental Affinity Water mid-level qualified."
The girl jumped in joy. Then went to the next crystal and placed her hand on it then a white light burst out from the crystal then entered her body like it is searching for something. It spread everywhere inside her body and then retreated.
Then 3 white rings appeared inside the crystal.
"3-star aptitude pass," the guy next to aptitude crystal said smiling at the girl.
The girl burst out crying. Even though she knew that she had just barely passed the threshold to enter the sect and will likely be at the bottom of the ring there but at least she's a cultivator now.
"Wait there, after this is done we'll then go up the mountain," the old man said.
The test continued, more people are being disqualified and the ratio is on average is almost 15:1. There are sometimes those with high-level affinity and 4 or even 5-star aptitude. At the end of the day, the highest is a boy from some clan with high-level fire attributes and 5-star aptitude.
As the Sunset the old man from the sect said this is it for the day they'll come again in the morning next day.
The test usually takes 3-5 days so everyone came prepared. Those who qualified today left the people from the sect looking at their faces Vishnu could see that they were looking forward to their future. Vishnu also held some sort of anticipation. All the people who came down the mountain Vishnu could feel tremendous power from them. Even if he didn't know exactly how powerful they are he still felt that he was no match for a single of them.
From where he came he had become so powerful that no one was his match but here he felt like he still has room for improvement, even the environment here is almost 100 times better than on earth.
He couldn't sleep at night thinking about all this stuff and then remembering his sister. He missed her, her food, her smile everything so he resolved himself that he'd become so powerful that no one will even dare to mess with his people.
The next day came and the test started as usual. Then Vishnu's turn came.