"Oh, Thank god. He is still alive.
He must have been stuck in the storm last night. I wonder whose kid is this."
Viswa heard the voice of a relatively older man. He was still unable to open his eyes, he is way too tired, but he could feel being lifted off the ground and carried away from the seashore.
After over ten minutes, he felt his back hit a soft and warm bed.
"What do you think, doctor? Is his condition alright?"
The voice of the older man sounded.
"His vitals are weak, but his life is not in danger. Looking at his body, he hasn't eaten anything properly in the last few days. He is suffering from malnutrition and a lot of his body is covered in scar tissue.
It seems like he is being abused. He must have been deliberately left outside to die. Did you find out whose kid this is?"
Another voice, that's different from the last one sounded.
"Malnutrition? Abused? Is this sort of thing still happening in this village? Doctor please take care of the kid, I will go and report to the authorities."
"Alright. Be careful."
Those are the last words Viswa heard before he fell into sleep.
He doesn't know when but when he came back to himself, he felt a lot better. He opened his eyes and saw a stone ceiling. Even his pain subsided a lot and he could move his arms and legs freely. They are still a bit stiff, but he could feel that he is a lot better.
Only after that did he realize how unnaturally familiar he is with this new body of his. He was born and brought up in this body. The only problem is that he has this weird burning sensation on the back of his neck.
He raised his hand to touch it, but he didn't feel anything there.
As he was wondering if it was some kind of internal injury or muscle inflammation, a floodgate seemed to have opened in his mind. All the memories of the slave boy infiltrated his mind and a very painful one floated among the rest.
He widened his eyes as he understood the reason for the brand on his neck.
At this moment, he heard some footsteps as well as the two voices he is slightly familiar with.
"I informed everyone in the village, but no one recognized this kid. I went to inform the orphanage. If no one comes to take him back after he wakes up, he can stay in the orphanage for a while before his guardians come back." One of the voices said in a low voice.
"I doubt anyone would come. Looking at the boy's appearance, he was not even wearing proper clothes when I found him. His hair is messy, he has over a hundred whip marks and there are even some wounds, the guardians must have left him to die there and wouldn't come back for him.
After all, no ordinary person would be able to survive that storm."
The second voice replied and soon two middle-aged men arrived inside the room. When they saw Viswa sitting up and looking at them, they are both surprised and delighted at the same time.
"You are awake? That is great news. I thought it would take a long time before you can wake up. After all, you were injured and exhausted way too much."
One of them walked up to him and checked his pulse. One look and Viswa could tell that he is the doctor. He is dressed well and he also had that dignified aura of a healer.
The other man looked at Viswa and said with a wide smile.
"I found you at the seashore when I went there to get some fish. I am glad you are alright."
"Thank you so much for saving me. I don't know how to repay you."
Viswa said sincerely in a hoarse voice.
"It's fine. It's fine.
The only problem is we are unable to find your parents of guardians, do you know where they are?"
Viswa's face turned a bit cold and sad as he replied softly.
"They are no more."
Both the doctor and the fisherman froze and they didn't know how to react for a moment.
After doing some tests and placing a hot meal in front of Viswa the doctor said that his condition is alright now and all he has to do is eat and replenish his energy. He also said that since he doesn't have anywhere to go, someone from the Village orphanage will come and talk to him.
Viswa nodded and focused on the food he was given.
It is a fragrant bowl of soup with some shredded meat in there.. The stone bowl gave him an exotic feel. His stomach grumbled as he took in the fragrance and scooped a spoonful of soup.
He blew on it gently and put it in his mouth. He wanted to taste the fragrant and delicate flavor, but…
"Argh..*cough* *cough* What the fuck is this?"
He widened his eyes in disbelief. The soup tasted awful. He has been a soldier in his past life and he went through a lot of missions where tasty food is nothing but an imaginary thing. He lived on rations, barely cooked stinky wild game, and even animal blood sometimes.
But none of it tasted as bad as this.
This is way too bad. He almost wished that his taste buds are dead at that moment.
[Stop complaining and eat, you idiot. They are kind enough to give you some food. Stop putting on airs and just eat it.]
"Oh my god!"
Viswa almost jumped off his bed as he saw Mr. Guide floating in front of him.
The doctor hurriedly came in and looked at him.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
Viswa smiled awkwardly and said.
"Sorry, nothing happened. The food…"
"Oh, is that too hot? My wife made it. You must not have eaten such delicious food before. Just take your time and savor it. It is her specialty and all my patients really like to eat it."
The doctor cut off Viswa before he could finish his sentence and Viswa heard Doctor's statement, his expression became a mixture of sadness and politeness.
He could only swallow the awful soup bit by bit.
By the time he finished his meal, the doctor came back with a young man. This person seemed to be in his early twenties and the doctor is very respectful to him.
"Sir Warden, this is the person that I told you about. He just woke up this morning and his body seemed to be alright now."
Viswa looked at the young man who the doctor called Sir Warden. He felt that the aura of this young man is different. He certainly killed before, but still, his aura doesn't feel like it was tainted by that killing, rather it felt refined by that.
Sir Warden is tall, a bit over six feet and he has a lean build. Every step of his exuded confidence and his posture gave off an aura of a strong wall or a mountain that couldn't be shaken no matter what hit him.
While Viswa is sizing up this Sir Warden, the other party is doing the same with Viswa. He walked towards the bed and checked Viswa's pulse, and then the injuries, both old and new, and finally his hand reached Viswa's nape.
Viswa felt a very cool stream entering his neck. He couldn't understand what that is, but it has an ethereal feel to it. But the cool feeling is immediately replaced by soul-searing pain.
"Argh…"
He groaned a bit and gritted his teeth as he tried to swallow it.
The young man looked at Viswa with a shocked expression. He proceeded to check his wrists and ankles before he sighed.
He looked melancholic. Genuinely sad and depressed as he looked at Viswa.
"Poor Child. You have suffered too much."
For some reason, Viswa felt naked for a moment when he met Sir Warden's gaze.
He felt seen through. He understood one thing at that moment, this Warden knew his past, or rather the past of the slave boy to whom this body originally belonged.
Sir Warden looked at the doctor and said.
"I will take him away. From today onwards he will be part of the orphanage. He can get his education there and I will take care of him for the next few months.
He seems to be around fourteen years old so he would be eligible for the next academy entrance. So, he can participate in that and if he gets in he can live a life of his own."
"But what is his guardians come looking for him." The doctor asked hesitantly, he knew that is less likely to happen, but according to their laws, the guardians do have the right to take kids away before they are fifteen.
"They won't come. Or they won't be able to. And you won't be able to find them in the entire Teardrop continent."
The Doctor was dumbfounded.
Sir Warden took a deep breath and said.
"He came from the other side of the sea and he was a slave."
Viswa's body tensed up a bit and he started shivering slightly.
Sir Warden patted his back before saying.
"As I said, you were a slave. You are not anymore. This is the start of your new life. Let's go."
Viswa didn't know what to say. Anyway, he doesn't have any direction here and Mr. Guide also said that he can do whatever he wanted for a while, so he decided to follow the young man.
Anyway, he cannot stay in the doctor's place anymore. An orphanage seemed to be a good enough place.
It didn't take long for Viswa to get settled in the Orphanage, on their way there Sir Warden bought him a bunch of clothes as well as some other necessities.
Viswa took in the sights of the village. It looked like any other village from Earth, except there is no modern flare. There are only mud roads and the hygiene is questionable. There are a bunch of houses and most of them are thatched and some have tiled roofs. There are only a few brick houses and stone houses.
Everyone is busy with their daily lives.
He was in awe of everything, the only distraction is a sharp pain that he felt on the back of his neck. It is increasing bit by bit as he moved deeper into the village. But he tried to ignore it and observe the village.
Out of all of them, three buildings caught his attention.
One of them is the administrative office. Every government employee works there to handle the village administration. The second one is the mansion of the Village head. The final one is more like an estate rather than a building.
Black Sand Rural Academy.
It is the largest building in the village and Sir Warden actually took Viswa to that campus. They went past the large academy building and some other buildings that belonged to the academy and finally went to one of the corners of the estate.
There is a small brick building with a board.
'Black Sand Orphanage'
"This place is where all the orphans of the Black Sand Village gather. Once they reached fifteen years of age, they will take the test of the academy to start their cultivation journey.
If they have good enough talent and pass the exam, they will become pure cultivators, but if they don't they will learn some basic cultivation before picking up a trade with which they can survive in society.
This place will be the start of your new life.
You might have already known this, but there is a slave mark on the back of your neck and if my guess is right, it must be hurting. And the farther you move from the sea, the more it might hurt, am I right?"
Viswa nodded subconsciously.
"Your Slave Brand is infused with Demonic energy. The Demon that enslaved you must have been noble. And if you are not in the vicinity of a noble demon, your brand will start to hurt and in fact, it will hurt more if you inject spiritual energy in your body.
So, you are going to face a lot of trouble from it in the near future.
The only way to get rid of that brand is to get stronger than the demon that is imprinted on it. So, for you to get rid of your slave identity once and for all, you must preserve it.
And I have that you will. After all, you managed to cross that sea. There are few things in this world that could stump you."
With those words, Viswa was taken to his dorm.
It is a small room with a single bed and a cupboard. There are some books in it. Viswa placed his newly acquired clothes there and sat on the bed.
"Dinner will be served an hour after the sunset, you can meet others at that time."
Sir Warden left after those words.
Viswa sighed and finally spoke.
"Mr. Guide."
[You are a really lucky kid. You not only managed to find such a good person, you even managed to land your residence in such a good place to train. But I kind of feel like its wasted on a dumb guy like you.]
Viswa didn't even know what to say. This guy just started insulting him as soon as he arrived.
"Can I check my status screen please, Mr. Guide?"
[*snap*]
With a snap, the status screen appeared.
[NAME: VISWA
CULTIVATION LEVEL: NONE
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE: NONE
ATTRIBUTES
SKILLS{LOCKED}
MISSIONS
ACHIEVEMENTS {LOCKED}
SHOP{LOCKED}
KARMA POINTS: + 56
TICKETS: 0]
There is not much change in the screen, except for three sections.
The first one is the Attributes, then the missions, and finally the Karma Points.
The last one attracted his attention first because it is also glowing.
"Mr. Guide, how come I have Karma Points?"
[That's also another one of the gifts from the god that has been wasted on you. Those are the Karma points the original owner of your body obtained by killing some demons before he died. Those are also added to your account.]
"And why is it glowing?"
[*snap*] *BUZZ*
[Click on it and you will understand you, idiot. What do you think I am? Your personal assistant?]
Viswa felt the electric shock in his head. He is sure that his body is not exactly injured, but his senses seemed to have felt the shock still.
He clicked the Karma points with a sullen face and the screen changed.
[CURRENT POINTS +56. TRIGGERED A SPECIAL CONDITION. NATURAL RECOVERY OF THE HOST'S BODY WILL INCREASE BY 56%]
Viswa is pleasantly surprised.
"Does that mean, if I get injured my recovery speed will be 1.5 times faster than it should actually be?"
[Yes. *Yawn*]
Mr. Guide answered lazily.
It is a good thing to have. Viswa went back to the status screen and then clicked on the mission section.
He is not surprised by the contents inside. It is the same mission screen that he got before he was sent here. It is to choose a path. When he looked at the Guide's recommendation, he felt chills run down his spine.
He hurriedly went back to the status screen and clicked on Attributes.
[ ATTRIBUTES
STRENGTH: 10
AGILITY: 12
STAMINA: 15
COMPREHENSION: 27
WILL: 45]
Viswa was surprised to look at the stats. Based on what Mr. Guide said, an average healthy and fit human being will have around 10 points in an attribute. But the slave boy was not even fifteen years old and his stats already hit and some even crossed that of an average adult human.
If his growth was just like this, he would have become a beast of a man by the time he became an adult.
But what surprised him, even more, are the comprehension and will stats.
[Hmm, guess that you do have some redeeming qualities. The physical attributes are given by this body, but the comprehension and will are yours from the soul. With that comprehension level, you are still pretty dumb, but it can be improved with time and some shock treats… training.
Will is something harder to train. You have a proper base here. At least it will help you grit through the training tonight and wouldn't make you quit on the first day.]
"Training tonight?"
Viswa ignored the rest of the insults and focused on this part only.
[Duh, do you think you are here on a vacation? No matter what path you are going to choose, you have to have the strength and in a few months, you will hit fifteen and will be eligible for cultivation, so we need to build a strong foundation before that.
Even though this body is strong enough without training, it just means that it has way too much potential that is still untapped. Let's see what is the maximum that we can get.]
"What kind of training would that be?"
As soon as he asked the question he regretted it, because Mr. Guide's expression turned sinister all of a sudden.
[Nothing much. Just some basics. You will see.]
Mr. Guide rubbed his hands with that wicked grin.
On the first night at this new place and Viswa is sure to have some nightmares.