Capítulo 1: Chapter 1: The Sanctuary
"Trample upon all your brothers and sisters."
Those were the first unrecognisable sounds that reverberated in Yang Yichen's mind as his eyes fluttered open. A short instance after he had opened his eyes, a sharp pain rang throughout his head as if he had been violently struck by a hammer.
'Painful...'
After his mind slowly cleared, Yang Yichen surveyed his surroundings whilst adjusting to his migraine. He had quickly noticed how he had awoken while being stood up. Furthermore, there were many people around him, standing perfectly with their backs straight.
Yang Yichen then noticed how he seemed to be in a dimly lit space — with only candles that provided minimal light in what he presumed to be a stone room or cave.
In front of him was the only man who was speaking, standing above everyone present. He was wearing a black cloak embroidered with unique engravings and equipped with a dagger. His tall build mixed with the shadow that hid half of his face due to the hood of his cloak made him look very ominous.
'Did I get kidnapped by a cult? How'd I get here?' Yang Yichen thought, his eyes searching for information to give him any ideas or answers.
Looking around once more, he had managed to realise something.
Everyone around him was no older than 12!
They were all children!
Carefully looking at the boy next to him, it was undeniable.
His short, brown hair, frail body and immature face, alongside the rags he was wearing that did a poor job of hiding his thin build showed a young boy that was intently listening to the cloaked man.
Due to the dim light and how everyone had been the same height as him, he overlooked this fact.
Yang Yichen was an adult, so how could he be the same height as all of them? In fact, many of the kids were taller than him!
Feeling slightly anxious, he slowly raised his hands and immediately noticed how small and frail it was. His skin looked deathly pale, showing the terrible state he was in. He also noticed the terrible bruises all over his forearms.
'Did... I get transmigrated?'
Yang Yichen had remembered being on the space station, conducting experiments on a newly discovered lifeform. He was on the brink of a breakthrough that would have advanced humanity by many steps. However, while handling the strange lifeform, an accident occurred, causing his entire lab to explode.
Realistically, he had zero chance of surviving, however, after opening his eyes, he had somehow possessed the body of a child.
"Psst... Are you okay?" A girl that was next to him nudged him out of worry, breaking Yang Yichen from his daze.
He gave her a cursory glance.
Like him, she was also similarly skinny, with short brown hair and big brown eyes.
Judging from how she acted, it didn't feel as if they were close. It was more like someone reminding you to listen to the teacher in school. And the teacher being the sketchy man in front of them.
He gave her a simple nod.
The girl received the response with a smile as she continued listening to the shady man.
Deciding he should find out what his current situation is first, he placed his attention on the cloaked man.
"You children will be good–" The cloaked man paused, thinking about something before continuing, "Warriors, hihihi." He gave a smile and a creepy laugh.
"Tomorrow, we will have the aptitude ceremony that will highlight your value to me... For now my children, please get some rest." The cloaked man spoke kindly to the children, however, Yang Yichen only felt disgust and wariness towards his words. What idiot would trust this guy?
The cloaked man slowly limped away as all the children quickly dispersed, going through the various paths around them or going to their groups and chatting.
Yang Yichen stood motionless, soaking up the cloaked man's words. First of all, he had realised that the language that the cloaked man was using wasn't his. It didn't resemble any language that he'd heard of, yet what was baffling was that he could completely understand it.
A few seconds ago, he remembered how before the wave of pain had hit him, he definitely couldn't understand this language.
Secondly, this may not be his original world. The cloaked man spoke of raising warriors and testing everyone's aptitude, a concept that seemed strange at first. But it made more sense when he began to consider the new language and perhaps the medieval setting of this world.
Observing the children around him — all of them were dressed in plain, tattered clothes. The material was much worse compared to the modern clothes he was used to. Most of the children were wearing shabby linen clothes with laces that fastened their shirts instead of buttons.
The man himself, with a dagger at his waist, didn't quite mask the sinister intent that he tried to hide — his gentle smile only fooling the naive children. Yang Yichen began to piece things together. It wasn't definite, but he was starting to form a clearer picture.
All the kids here were probably orphans, abandoned children that aren't affiliated with anyone. They would be prime candidates for shady men to prey upon. Either they were going to be sold as slaves, or perhaps be used as test subjects.
Or perhaps he was overthinking things and the man was actually a saint — the best-case scenario.
Hopefully, the last one was the case, but Yang Yichen didn't get his hopes up.
However, he still had many questions that hadn't been answered. Yang Yichen decided he should go to one of the kids for information. Seeing how the girl that nudged him was still around, he walked over to her.
The girl noticed him, giving him an innocent look before speaking.
"Need anything?"
Yang Yichen gave a small nod.
"Sorry to trouble you, I just want to ask a few questions."
The girl had a thoughtful expression, contemplating something before nervously answering, "Okay, but... would it be fine if I get some of your food tomorrow? Y-you know, as a trade!"
'Some of my food?' Yang Yichen thought, slightly perplexed. But as he briefly examined her, he noticed how thin she was.
'It seems the kids here are not fed very well...'
Deciding that information was better than food currently, he agreed to their small transaction. He didn't even know he had any food, so he only went off of the fact the girl was sure he had some.
...
"Huh? How'd we get here? Did you already forget?" She was a bit speechless about his strange question. All the children had been inside this place for around 3 months. She had previously been an orphan who had been abandoned, on the verge of starvation, before being found by Lord Thel.
"Weren't you also saved by Lord Thel and brought here?" She asked.
"Lord Thel?" Yang Yichen pondered. "Is he the cloaked man who spoke to us a few minutes ago?"
The girl gave him a strange look before nodding. She thought she might be talking to an idiot with short-term memory loss. But she didn't complain as she was going to get some of his food later.
"Why did Lord Thel say that we'll become warriors?"
"Hmm, well..." The girl thought with a hint of fear before continuing, "I'm not exactly sure why he wants us to be warriors... When we first arrived here, everyone was given plenty of food and herbs! However, after some time, Lord Thel said how we all needed to repay his kindness by growing stronger.
"Eventually, everyone here had been forced to fight each other. Those that were the strongest were carefully looked after by Lord Thel, while the rest were given less food."
Seeing how skinny she was and how she had previously asked him for food, Yang Yichen guessed she wasn't that strong. He also realised that his strength wasn't much either, considering how heavily bruised he was, guessing it was from being beaten by other kids.
It didn't help that his body was so weak and frail.
Yang Yichen continued to speak with the girl.
"What is this place?"
Furrowing her eyebrows slightly as if in deep thought, she eventually said, "This place is called the Sanctuary. We live here. It's a very big place that Lord Thel has personally built.
"We used to have around 250 other kids here, but now there is only around 150 left after all the trials and the fighting between each other. Due to us being given less food, a few kids starved whilst others perished from the Trials and from fighting each other..." The girl finished, her expression seemingly fearful and melancholic.
'Personally built? How would that be possible?' Yang Yichen questioned, he had noticed how this place had various paths, probably leading to other areas of the Sanctuary. If someone had personally built this place, it would have taken many decades.
'What even is this guy's goal? He's forcing the kids to fight and kill each other? Is he perhaps raising elite soldiers?'
"I have a few questions left. What's an aptitude?" He asked.
"I'm also not too sure. We've been constantly reminded by Lord Thel how this is the most important thing in our lives, but that was about it." She answered.
Thinking about everything that the girl had said, Yang Yichen concluded that he was probably in some kind of experiment or cruel training facility to create loyal soldiers. Seeing how they were probably underground, and how the kids had to fight each other to be placed in a hierarchy. This definitely wouldn't be legal in his original world.
And how she spoke about the kindness of this Lord Thel guy that saved all the children here, Yang Yichen thought it was a load of sh*t.
After Yang Yichen asked about everything he needed to know — like where everyone gets food, goes to sleep, and the general direction and information of everything, he decided he had enough information. He also got some information about the world he was in.
The girl had told him how she used to have lived in a small village before coming here. She told him how a group of bandits had raided her village before being saved by Lord Thel, confirming his guess that this world was set in the medieval times.
"Okay, thanks. I'll be leaving." Yang Yichen spoke.
He first decided to explore the Sanctuary to familiarise himself with the area.
...
Hours trickled by as he slowly came to terms about his situation.
'I died and somehow transmigrated myself into what seems to be a medieval world. Not only that, I'm being used as an experiment where children have to fight each other to get the cloaked guy's recognition.' Yang Yichen mused silently.
As he was walking absentmindedly through a tunnel, he noticed some kids blocking his path.
"Luckwyrm! Do you think you can get away from what you've done!" The boy in the middle spoke whilst clenching his fist in anger.
'Luckwyrm? Is that the name of the previous owner of my body?' Yang Yichen pondered.
'It sounds ridiculous and childish...'
He didn't know what this body had done previously to evoke such a reaction from the child in front of him.
"Do I know you?" Yang Yichen asked, scratching his head with a bit of confusion.
However, that question seemed to make him even more furious.
"Bastard! You cheated in the Crucible! How else could you beat me!" The boy spoke whilst clenching his fists, his hatred evident in his expression.
The Crucible was the place all the children had to fight each other in. It was like an arena where the winner fights the other winner until only one remains.
There were other tests and Trials as well, but Lord Thel was mostly interested in the children that performed the best there.
Lord Thel was the sole supervisor in the Sanctuary, watching over all the children. Those that caught his eye would definitely be given plenty of food and herbs.
"Cheated? How could I possibly cheat when we were being carefully watched?" Yang Yichen tried to reason, using a bit of logic. He didn't know what occurred in that place for the boy to be so furious.
It seemed what he had said was like spreading salt on his wounds as he grinded his teeth even more.
"Damn you! I was beating you to a pulp, performing the techniques we were supposed to use until you used a dirty move on me!
"If you hadn't kicked my balls, I would have easily beaten you! Now I had lost in the first round!" The boy shouted in indignation. He had been thoroughly humiliated back then, losing to one of the weakest kids!
"Pu ~"
Yang Yichen almost bursted out laughing, however, he quickly composed himself. It seems the previous owner of his body had been quite cunning and... resourceful.
"I didn't get disqualified, no? So I won fairly."
"Tch. Hateful. I'll definitely teach you a lesson today!" The boy exclaimed before signalling to his two friends to surround him.
Yang Yichen panicked a little. He may be an adult, but he has the body of a child currently. Furthermore, there were three people in total that was targeting him. Based on their appearances, all of them looked healthier compared to Yang Yichen whilst the angry one was around a head taller than him.
He tried to be civil and talk his way out first, "Hey man, sorry about what happened, but resorting to violence isn't the way. Wouldn't Lord Thel be angry if you were attacking others without his knowledge?"
It seemed his words had worked as his two minions halted and shot a worried glance at their boss.
"Hmph! Why would Lord Thel care about you, don't you remember? In the Sanctuary, the strong is respected and the weak gets trampled on. No one would bat an eye if a dying piece of trash like you disappeared!" The boy shot a condescending gaze at him.
He had a malicious smile, probably planning on how to make him suffer.
'Dying? Does my body have a disease or maybe an illness? That could explain my unusually pale complexion and my weak physique.' Yang Yichen pondered.
The boy's words had reignited his underlings' courage as they quickly surrounded Yang Yichen once again.
Yang Yichen was immediately placed in a predicament.
"Just accept our boss's beating. He won't hurt you too badly." A boy with a lanky build snickered. He didn't look that strong, like a twig in Yang Yichen's opinion. He probably gains confidence from the fact that it was a three-on-one.
"Blame yourself for being a cheater!" The other underling spoke. He looked rather plump and had a round face that looked quite punchable.
Yang Yichen pleaded.
"Can't we talk it out?"
His demeanour was composed as he raised his hands up — a gesture of surrendering.
"Keke, I didn't think it'll be this easy. Boss was right, this guy is just a spineless cowar–"
Thwack!
Before the lanky boy could finish his sentence, a fist had come flying at him, landing directly on his face.
Yang Yichen waited until one of them was close enough before delivering a punch. If he was forced to fight three people, he decided it was best to take one down as quickly as possible.
Seeing how the lanky boy was the weakest, he decided to attack him first.
The impact of Yang Yichen's knuckle against flesh resounded as the boy fell backwards, his vision immediately turning blurry as blood leaked out of his broken nose.
"IVER!" The chubby boy shouted. Everything happened too fast. This guy was too cunning! He thought they were dealing with one of the weaker kids within the Sanctuary.
Luck was a nickname everyone called this boy in the Sanctuary. This was due to how he had survived thus far.
When everyone first arrived, Luck had been a no-name individual, the weakest looking one due to his pale skin and frail body — looking as if he was on the brink of death.
Rumours circulated how the boy probably had an illness so everyone had avoided him.
Lord Thel had provided all the kids with food and herbs that were supposed to strengthen their bodies. However, the boy never looked any better than he was yesterday. In fact, as each day passed, he seemed even worse!
Eventually, the trials began, placing many kids against each other whilst having to endure other dangers such as battling against hungry wolves.
Miraculously, whilst many died, the frail boy survived each trial as the sole survivor, eventually being given his nickname, Luckwyrm — a pesky creature that represents misfortune. Farmers occasionally discover them in their fields, believing their presence curses the land, reducing crop fertility.
Yang Yichen didn't waste any time and immediately went for the other underling.
Fatty saw how Yang Yichen was charging at him and immediately panicked, quickly crossing his arms as a punch impacted against him.
"Bastard!"
Their boss, who saw what had happened in the span of 5 seconds, had reacted, immediately charging at Yang Yichen before throwing a heavy punch at the back of his head.
Yang Yichen had managed to duck in time before quickly taking a few steps back to gain some distance.
"Do you only know how to resort to cheap tricks?" The boy snarled, his anger slowly reducing before swiftly being replaced with caution.
The frail boy he was fighting was like a cockroach and a serpent, extremely difficult to kill with cunningness that had helped him survive till now.
Perhaps him being defeated in the Crucible wasn't a fluke. But he won't back down now. He was someone that had pride and justified arrogance. He can easily squash the bug that had humiliated him. After all, he was a bronze practitioner!
Yang Yichen was silent as his eyes watched the two in front of him, calculating what course of action he should take. He even thought of running away as there were only two people right now.
He was sure they wouldn't want to cause a disturbance as they had only found trouble with him when he was far from all the other kids.
However, this would be the best time to beat them as they had underestimated him. If he runs now, they would probably prepare more next time. If they bring more people to gang up on him, he wasn't confident about being able to fight back or escape.
Kids were simple — thoroughly beat them up and they probably won't mess with you again.
Unbeknownst to Yang Yichen, his worries weren't necessary as this boy wasn't that strong within the Sanctuary. Although, his loss to the previous owner of this body was quite unexpected as he was a bronze practitioner when compared to Luck, who was worse than ordinary.
Yang Yichen wanted to cut the weeds from its roots, preventing further inconveniences from happening. So he stood in front of them, not backing away as his eyes coldly waited for their move.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder