Chương 21: Learning About The World

The morning sunlight streamed through the curtains rousing the figure on the bed. With a groan, Kael slowly rose up, stretching his limbs before heading to the bathroom. Minutes later, refreshed and fully dressed, he prepared himself for the day.

"First of all, I need to find out more about the world and all." Kael muttered, quickly finishing the meal, which was placed on the table by the maid assigned to him.

Walking out of the room, his destination was the large library which he had spotted days ago. Preparing himself for the task ahead, he slowly made his way to the library. Finally, after a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the library, slowly pushing the door open, and was about to enter when he heard his name being called out.

"Kael! Kael!!" Behind him, the queen sat atop a horse staring at him. "I have something for you, follow me." She said, causing him to let out a frown.

"What is it again?" He thought, climbing down the steps and walking towards her direction.

"No greetings to the one who spared your life, huh?" The queen said with a strange expression.

"Greetings?" Kael felt disdain within his heart, hearing those words coming from her. "I only pay respect to those worthy of..." he paused in his statement, quite puzzled.

"Hahaha," the Queen laughed. "Go on." Queen Otrera said, yet Kael could feel a chill in his nape. The atmosphere had become heavy with a strange force pulling him down.

"You're... the one doing this... right?" He asked in a strained voice as he felt his legs trembling. Gritting his teeth, Kael stood his ground, staring at the queen with fierce eyes. Kael's eyes suddenly released a crimson glow as he felt his consciousness being drawn back. He found himself in an empty space and was able to see everything happening outside.

He watched his lips move but was shocked it wasn't by his command.

"Know your place." His voice echoed softly. Just three words were uttered yet were filled with power enough to knock the horse unconscious and cause a slight headache to the queen.

Queen Otrera stared with disbelief as she felt her fingers trembling just from the force that accompanied the words. She unconsciously shuddered while quickly jumping off the horse that collapsed to the ground.

The Crimson glow disappeared instantly, with Kael gaining control back. He had watched everything that had happened with wide eyes and couldn't help but feel a bit tired after taking control.

"Can it really be?" Queen Oretra muttered, still finding it difficult to comprehend what had happened moments ago. Feeling the scary aura had disappeared, she quickly regained herself.

"C'mon, let's go," she said to Kael, who stood with an expressionless face.

"What just happened just now?" He thought, trying to think of a plausible explanation. "Was that the previous owner of the body? I thought he was dead? No, it can't be him? This is quite different from those transmigrated novels I read," he thought. "And those words… they felt strange yet… familiar."

"Kael!!"

The words of the queen finally brought him back from his thoughts. "Huh?"

She didn't bother repeating her words as she held him by the hands and dragged him across the street. "You should be grateful you're being held by me," she said with a chuckle.

Kael felt the wind hitting his face as he followed behind. They finally halted before a large stream, its waters churning and releasing tendrils of steam into the air. The stream was encircled by large ancient-like rocks, their rugged surfaces embedded with dark glowing crystals that seemed to absorb the faint light around them. Queen Otrera settled on one of the rocks while staring at Kael.

"I was about to head for the library, y'know," Kael muttered, settling beside her.

"The library?" She asked with a chuckle. "All the knowledge you need is right here," she said, tapping her chest softly.

"There?" Kael asked with a raised brow. His eyes were fixed on the two large mounds on her chest.

"Not that idiot!" She said with a light slap to the back of his head. "I mean, you can ask me whatever you want. I'll gladly answer."

"Well..." Kael muttered with a red face. "I... you might find it strange, but..." Breathing deeply, he finally gathered the courage before uttering his next words out with boldness.

"I need to know everything about this current world."

Queen Otrera couldn't help but shake her head in amazement, staring at him. "Is he truly one of them?" She thought.

"Wait! You are kidding, right?" She asked with wide eyes. "If he's serious, then there's a possibility..."

"The world, or do you mean this realm? Let's start with that. There are five realms in this universe... or more, maybe those we don't know about yet. But, we're currently in the supernatural realm, called Tenria."

Kael listened attentively as the queen began talking about the realm.

"So Tenria is the supernatural realm, huh? What about the others? I'll have to ask her after she finishes with her explanation."

Tenria is a wide and diverse realm inhabited by a wide array of mythical races. Majestic dragons and fearsome monsters roaming about, the fairies living in seclusion, the satyrs and nymphs inhabiting a portion of the land, the followers of the Greek Pantheon gods and also other gods spread across the world.

Tenria is thrice the size of the human realm, which is considered the lowest of all the realms. Tenria is further divided into five distinct regions.

In the north lies the dragon kingdom, a land filled with dragons and other fearsome beasts. The dragons are the supreme rulers in the north, controlling the other monsters littered across the region.

The western region is inhabited by a reclusive sect that worships a forgotten deity, shunning the Greek pantheon of gods and forging their own path. It also houses devotees of other minor gods which had decided to settle within the region.

The eastern region filled with mountainous

terrains is inhabited by diverse races; the dwarves, winged harpies, fairies and elves alike.

The southern region is inhabited by the Amazon Kingdom, alongside the Satyrs, guardians of the wild and nymphs.

Finally at the heart of Tenria lies the central Dominion, the largest and most populous region, inhabited by the followers of the Greek pantheon gods.

"This is truly amazing! There is so much to explore," Kael thought in excitement. He didn't forget another important piece of information mentioned by the queen. 'The human realm, I guess that's the realm I came from, but I'm not so sure.'

As kael listened to the queen, he felt a piece of the puzzle in his mind falling into place, which led to the release of information.

"The power system is quite simple. Everyone makes use of a simple grading rank: F-, F+, F --> E-, E+ E --> D-, D+, D --> C-, C+, C -->B-, B+, B --> A-, A+, A --> S-, S+, S --> SS-, SS+, SS --> SSS-, SSS+, SSS. There's more, but it's best if you focus on getting to the top of this rank before anything else."

"I know that," Kael muttered in thought. "So I was right. The ranking is just like the system, and it seems they are more to it."

"I guess I should get going," Queen Otrera rose, standing before Kael. Walking a few steps, she stopped in her tracks. "What's your goal? What do you plan on doing now that you're back?"

"My goal?" Kael repeated. "That's true... my one thought since coming here was to grow stronger. But I never thought of anything else. This is quite a worry," he thought, scratching his head.

"I don't have any plans for now, but... my main goal is to grow stronger!" Kael said, staring at her.

"Good. This competition will serve as a test. I don't have to remind you to do your best," her voice echoed as her figure slowly faded.

"Of course! After all, I have a quest to complete." With the recent information gained, becoming stronger was truly the right choice. "But…" Kael muttered, staring at the empty area. "I guess I'll ask her when we next meet."