"Greetings, Young Lord Julian. Please, take a look at this batch of goods. They are all exceptional! You won't find another like them across a thousand Regions."
The one speaking was a tall man with red skin and four eyes that gleamed like polished glass. He wore a robe stitched from the silk of flame worms, his long fingers clutching a tablet filled with data. He was a Slave Merchant.
"These people are from the Raivorn Tribe," he continued eagerly. "They come from a newly discovered tribe that is said to have the bloodline of mythical thunder beast, Raion. This tribe was living in a secluded zone of the Thunder Region, and surprisingly, they have never before made contact with the outer world."
"Many of their people reached Six Stars and even Seven Stars in their cultivation. Moreover, their leader even broke through to Nine Stars by himself. This tribe's potential is extraordinary, especially in handling thunder and lightning."
"Given that your domain controls dozens of Thunderblast Stone Mines, they'll serve perfectly as laborers. After all, the people of this tribe has an extremely strong natural resistance to thunder and lightning."
Young Lord Julian, a handsome youth wearing sky-blue armor etched with runes, rested his chin on his palm. His expression was calm, even lazy, but his bright amber eyes flickered with interest.
"Oh? A tribe with the bloodline of mythical Thunder Beast, Raion. That does sound useful."
He glanced at the display, where hundreds of unconscious humanoid figures floated in containment pods.
Nodding, Julian said, "Name your price. If it's reasonable, I'll take them all."
The merchant's four eyes sparkled with delight. "Hahaha! Young Lord Julian is truly decisive! Don't worry, I'll give you the best price!"
Soon after, a massive silver-black transport ship lifted off, their engines roaring as it ascended into the air. Within it, hundreds of Raivorn Tribe members were sleeping in metal capsules.
---
Inside one of those dim alloy compartments, a young man's eyes slowly opened.
His head throbbed as a storm of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind. He clutched his temples, gasping softly. At the same time, flashes of strange lives and creatures flickered through his thoughts. His mind was overwhelmed with a lot of memories that were clearly not his.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally managed to breathe properly again.
"...Where... where am I?"
His name was Cedric Veyra. Or rather, that was the name he remembered from his previous life on Earth. But even in this life, his name remained the same.
As he sorted through the chaotic flood of memories, realization struck like thunder.
"Wait a second... Cultivation... Starships... Raivorn Tribe... Oh no… I transmigrated!?"
His breathing quickened all of a sudden. He immediately looked around at the metallic walls around him and the strange symbols glowing along the ceiling. He can also hear the faint hum of the ship's engines.
At that moment, he knew he wasn't dreaming. He really was inside a spaceship, inside the body of a captured person.
"I actually became a Slave after transmigration?" he muttered silently, but anyone looking at his eyes can tell he was horrified.
After piecing together the original owner's memories, Cedric finally understood the situation.
The Raivorn Tribe had lived peacefully for countless generations inside a secluded zone of the Thunder Region. That secluded zone was very suitable for the people of this tribe because it was filled with thunder element. It was a place where lightning strikes the land daily, where countless lightning-type beasts roamed.
Every member of Raivorn Tribe has the bloodline of a mythical beast, Raion. Unfortunately, for generations, no one was able to awaken this bloodline successfully. Perhaps, this is the reason why no one from this tribe was able to cultivate past the Seven Stars in the past.
However, in this generation, a genius was born among them. This genius was Cedric Veyra. He was the strongest prodigy in the tribe's history. At the age of just over twenty, he had already cultivated to the Seven Stars. By the time he became 26-year-old, his strength reached Nine Stars.
With his strength, he first united all the tribe members, defeated the beasts that threatened them, and led his people into an age of hope.
The entire tribe believed he would guide them to greatness, and so they chose him to become their leader.
But before that dream could even begin, tragedy struck.
A fleet of slave ship descended from the sky. They came with overwhelming force. Among those people, dozens of Nine Stars warriors were also present. They were enough to crush all resistance in moments. The Raivorn Tribe fought desperately, but their battle was nothing more than children fight in the eyes of those foreign people.
Cedric was gravely wounded in battle. His people were captured, bound by strange rune that made them unable to resist, and sold as slaves. Thousands of tribe members reduced to a few hundred in just three days.
Perhaps, the original owner was unable to bear the shame of being captured as a slave, his soul shattered in despair.
And at that moment, Cedric's soul from Earth took his place.
Now, as Cedric clenched his fists, he could feel the leftover fury and sorrow from the original owner burning within him.
His eyes hardened. Taking a deep breath, he murmured softly. "Don't worry. Since I've taken your body, I'll take your vengeance too. I'll find those who did this to your tribe and burn them to ash."
Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything for the time being. He was now a slave, and only if he can gain freedom can he have an opportunity to avenge the fallen tribe members.
There was a reason why people of Raivorn Tribe never connected to the outer world, and why they remained hidden in the secluded zone of Thunder Region for generations.
Cedric recalled a part of the original owner's memories where the old Tribe Leader told him that the bloodline flowing within their bodies can only be awakened in this secluded zone.
Once they leave the zone, they'll be unable to ever awaken the mythical beast bloodline. Moreover, if they leave without awakening the bloodline, the bloodline would disappear from their bodies automatically for some unknown reason.
This is the sole reason why no tribe member ever left the secluded zone, and why they never contacted the outer world.
Although no one was able to awaken their bloodline even after several generations, there was still hope.
But now, because of those slave merchants, even this hope was lost forever.
"Damn that truck!"
Cedric cursed silently.
Back on earth, he was a successful businessman, owning assets worth over a hundred million dollars.
One peaceful morning, he was taking a walk in the park when a speeding truck suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The driver had lost control, and before he could even react, the vehicle hit him head-on, sending him flying straight into another world.
"Wait... don't tell me this is that famous thing they call getting isekai'd by Truck-kun?" he muttered in disbelief.
Cedric breathed deeply and sighed at the fact that even parks are no longer safe from trucks nowadays.
Now that he was in this world, he has no choice but to adapt to the life here.
Talking about this world, it was called Midnight Land.
Actually, Midnight Land was a universe of its own. In this universe, there was no concept of planets, solar systems, galaxies, and more.
No, Midnight Land was a huge land, stretching infinitely. But of course, there were oceans, desert, forest, and other such landscapes. Of course, above it all stretched an endless sky filled with countless stars, glowing moons, and other celestial bodies that bathed the land in a mysterious, dreamlike light. But all these were nothing more than a part of Midnight Land itself.
As far as Cedric could gather information from the memories of the original owner, just like states, countries, and continents back on Earth, the land here was divided into zones, regions, and domains.
Every zone, region, and domain, of course, has its own name.
Midnight Land is a "universe" where every person can cultivate.
The original owner's information was limited. He only knew that people can absorb Cosmic Energy to enhance their strength. Initial cultivation was divided into nine stages — One Star being the weakest and Nine Stars being the strongest. Above Nine Stars was Awakening Realm, where warriors has to awaken a special ability. And above the Awakening Realm was Earthen Soul Realm.