"How is that possible?"
Mick had been repeating this for an hour. The problem was that we were now being held captive by a very powerful tribe. We reached the plains and began our journey, when we heard the sound of horses galloping. It turned out to be their horsemen. At first, we were winning, but after our victory, one of their commanders arrived and easily defeated us. Luckily, Katreya managed to escape, so I think we'll get out of here, but unfortunately, Mick doesn't share my point of view.
We are now sitting in different cells, waiting for our time to come. There are several dozen other prisoners here besides us. Sitting next to me is a man of about forty with a very angry face. However, he looked so exhausted and miserable. It feels like he is only holding on because of the anger boiling inside him.
"Uncle, why are you so angry?"
He looked at me and after a couple of minutes finally replied:
"The man who brought you here slaughtered my tribe, and now I want revenge. I'm also angry that he captured young children like you. Can you tell me why you were captured?"
"Well, I don't understand myself. My friends and I are travellers. We were walking along, minding our own business, when we heard the sound of horses galloping. We thought they wanted to say hello, but they immediately attacked us. Well, we didn't take any prisoners. We fought them and killed them. They weren't very strong, but then this big guy appeared. At first, everything was fine: we didn't use magic, he didn't use magic — everyone was happy. But then suddenly one of his men used some kind of curse spell, and we became twice as weak and lost. That's the story, now it's your turn to tell yours.
"Ha ha ha, you are an interesting bunch. Well, since you told me yours, I'll tell you mine. My tribe used to live in the centre of these plains and was the strongest, but there are always those who envy you. The other great tribes united and almost destroyed our tribe. They didn't destroy us completely because they were afraid of angering the gods. At first, we tried to regain our former glory, but a lot of time passed, generations came and went, and everyone decided that it would be better to live in peace. But a few months ago, they came to us, and everything collapsed: they slaughtered everyone they saw.
"Wait, even a madman can't kill without a reason. There has to be some reason for any action.
"You're right, they demanded that we teach them our tribe's fighting techniques. But how can you teach someone who can't understand it? The ancestors of all the great tribes that have family techniques were once priests of the gods. And as a gift, the gods gave them these methods, but so that no one would covet the gifts, only members of that tribe could learn them. But the chief of this tribe did not believe us and began to slaughter us. He spared me, as the head of the tribe, but not for long.
After his words, I became serious, and my voice turned icy, causing the warrior to even flinch.
"You know, uncle, you are very lucky. But before that, tell me: if someone helps you, how will you repay them?"
He turned to me and said in a determined voice:
"If there is, I will be his warrior until the end of my days.
Returning to my usual tone and voice:
"Wonderful, then I'll help you. Let's go, we're free.
"Young man, these shackles can't be...
He stopped mid-sentence when he saw how my brothers and I simply broke the shackles and smashed the cells.
-...break.
"Did you say something?"
"No, nothing.
Then everything went like something out of a novel, I swear. That's how it happened. We broke out of captivity, freed all the prisoners along the way, and went to fight the leader. We managed to break through, but then, as if on cue, one of the leaders turned out to be our hero's brother, who had come for revenge. Then there was a conversation between two psychologists, and the armies on both sides changed their positions very often, because the words of the two brothers were so heartfelt. Sometimes I wanted to go and beat him up myself. Note to self: don't go to war against combat psychiatrists — they're dangerous people. But we won in the end. You know that moment when the main character is being dragged through the mud, and then he miraculously kills his enemy with his last ounce of strength? The same thing happened to us: the main villain killed himself through his subordinate — he tripped over him and fell onto our hero's sword.
After that, there was a feast that lasted several days. Kirikhat, as the MC of that story is called, underwent the ritual and set off with us on a journey to the centre of the plains.
"Guys, let's make camp here.
"Okay.
Everyone agreed.
"Mick, Dick, Kat and Kir, I'm going to enter a state of meditation now, and I may be in a trance for a few minutes, or maybe even days, so keep an eye on my body.
"All right.
They agreed immediately without asking any questions, but I sensed anxiety in their emotions. After all, we were becoming, if not family, then very close friends, and now I had something to figure out.
Half an hour later, I fell into a trance and found myself in a space that looked so much like my mansion from my past life. A voice brought me out of my thoughts. It was deep, the kind of voice that made you want to believe and trust the person speaking. It seemed that a person with such a voice had seen a lot and knew everything. It was a strange feeling, to be honest. Turning around, I saw a young man, handsome by the standards of both worlds, standing before me.
"Well, hello, Miguel, you wanted to talk, so here I am — ask away.
"I wanted to ask you something.
He smiled kindly, as if we were relatives, and nodded. As if to say, go ahead, I'm listening.
"Recently, I've been thinking and have come to the conclusion that you, or you all, are somehow influencing my journey, and I'm meeting very talented people.
"Well, you're partly right, but not entirely. It seems you don't understand where your statement is correct and where it isn't. Let me explain. Your first companions, Mick and Dick, were two brothers with incredible talent, but you had another option.
"What do you mean?"
"Remember when you travelled, you had to decide where to go?"
I nodded and, deciding not to interrupt him, listened further.
"Well, if you had gone in any other direction, you would have met companions sooner or later, but your adventures with them would have been different. For example, what prevented you from simply going to the capital instead of wandering through the woods and meeting that witch? You see, now you've been given the opportunity to make a decision, but only you can decide who you want to share your adventures with. And your friend's last scenario was just to make you understand that we need to talk.
"Well, we've sorted out my questions, so what did you want from me?"
"You see, you'll learn more when you become a god. I won't tell you how to become one, but I'll give you a hint. To become a god, it's not enough to become stronger than him. Well, that was the preamble to the main advice. Much in this world will change, not right now, but in the near future. If you don't figure out the secret of ascension during this period of time, you won't be able to become one for another fifty thousand years, so good luck in this difficult endeavour. And here's a gift from me. I hope we meet again.
He placed his hand on my head, and I woke up in the real world. I learned that five days had passed, and his gift was a stage upgrade: I was now at the fifth stage of psionics.
Ninety years passed unnoticed.
During this time, much has changed, and our team has been joined by new people. After Kirihata, a young tamer named Rain joined us. After that, we got involved in a conflict between different tribes, and we had to help unite these lands. Although the idea was crazy, we still managed to do it. After that, we stayed for several years to study their knowledge.
Then we went to Japan, where we rescued a werewolf named Ken and helped him take revenge. But our noble deed was not appreciated, and we were hunted down. He joined us, and we travelled all over Japan, preventing attempts on our lives.
After Japan, we were faced with a choice: go to China or Australia. After a vote, we went to Australia. The people there were friendly, of course, but the land itself was not happy to see us. Every living creature on the island tried to kill us. Starting with predators and ending with ordinary ants with plants in their team. There we met another member of our team, a necromancer named Saulgran. He was a very talented death mage, but he didn't see eye to eye with his superiors. He was a creative and adventurous person. In history, it is people like him who drive science forward with their crazy ideas. Unfortunately, his teachers were very conservative. We also got involved in an investigation into why this island was trying to kill all its guests. We spent three years on this, but finally figured it out: it turned out that the island was half-alive and was simply defending itself from invaders. But we were able to come to an agreement with it.
Our next destination was China, where we took part in a real war. Not only ordinary people and superhumans participated, but also demons. The battles were thrilling, I can tell you. We were also joined by a depressed young man. He wanted a family and everything that goes with it, but he also wanted to become the strongest martial artist and create his own style. But he didn't have enough time. At first, no one wanted to take him on the team, but soon, after one incident, everyone agreed that he could be trusted with their backs. His name is Yang.
India is a beautiful place; at first we thought it was a harmless place, but how wrong we were. We changed our minds after we saw a monk with a staff defeat more than thirty bandits, but unfortunately, if it weren't for us, he would have lost. He couldn't or didn't want to hurt them badly, I don't know, but he was losing, and we helped him. After that, with nothing else to do, we helped him rescue his sister and take her to safety. In gratitude, he decided to help me until his death or until I renounced his help. So he came with us, and we called him Adjit.
I hate Africa — well, whatever. As you can guess, we went on to Africa. We got into a lot of trouble there. With the help of a shaman who joined us, we found several underground rivers and helped the people of those parts of the continent live without fear of dying from lack of water. The shaman himself was elderly and was called Jelani. He joined us because it was his destiny, and he would follow his path further.
In Europe, we got caught up in a vampire war, which gave me the opportunity to recruit one to my team. Everything was so confusing that we didn't understand what the problem was. But we also worked with a vampire who introduced himself as Ed. A short name, but very rare, and only aristocrats can bear it. We also worked with Sazex Gremory. I didn't like him very much at first, but then we became good friends. Of course, he uses people as expendable material, but his strength and determination to protect his family with all his might earn him respect.Then our friendly team went to America. It was fun there: on that continent, we were closest to death. Since then, I've been afraid of fanatics. They're crazy, willing to sacrifice themselves just to kill us. There we met two charming sorceresses who had been sent to the mortal world for training. All requests to show us where their academy was located failed. There are special academies for the otherworld, but there are also special ones for human magicians who may become archmages in the future or come close to this title. But no one knows where it is yet. Well, what can I say? During our travels in these lands, we learned to be alert and ready for battle at any moment. We also learned some things about these lands and explored the wildlife. Their names were Mira and Kira.
We also visited the two poles, and at one of them we met Alex, a mage of ice and water. At first, he didn't want to come with us, but after hearing about our travels, he became enthusiastic. We immediately asked him why he had changed his mind. He replied that he wanted a fun life, and that he wouldn't get bored with us.
But that was only seventy years of our journey; for the remaining twenty, we participated in various wars around the world as a mercenary squad. At first, they didn't really want to take us, but after five years, we were immediately made chief advisors and fighters in the armies.
Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about myself. Over the years, I've made a fortune. First, I broke through to the fifth stage of psionics and rose to the sixth.
Second, I assembled a team of very talented individuals.
And thirdly, I collected a ton of cards. I don't have enough time to tell you about all of them, but I'll tell you about some of the best ones.
I got several army cards similar to the Emperor's Wolf, but they differed only in that they had different creatures.
These are several human armies, the special feature of which was that I could change their weapons, so they would be useful in any era.
There were several huge flocks of other animals that lived in flocks.
And the main highlight of these cards is this:
The World of Small Creatures.
Legendary;
Level: 17/100;
List.
The list itself contains various creatures such as spiders, ants, bees, and they all live, so to speak, in the world. I had to travel across all the continents again and find countless similar creatures to get this card. It cannot kill those higher than the lowest demon, but they are perfect for gathering information. They can gather and pass it on to me from almost anywhere.
I also got my hands on five maps of the demigod class, but I don't have enough power to convince them to listen to me, so they're waiting for a better time.
Now we're heading to a place where magic congregates. After some time, we arrived.
"Here we are.
"Why are we here?"
"Everyone remembers that in fifty years we're participating in the trial of adulthood, right?"
"Well, yes, is that related?" suggested our two sorceresses.
"Yes, we are now stronger than many of the higher demons, but we are still middle-ranking demons, so we will stay here for the next forty years. We must advance to the next level. After all, we are stronger, but we have several dozen times less energy in our bodies than they do. Do you understand now?"
"Yes, now everything is clear.
So we began training ourselves and our cards.
Forty-five years later.
Everyone made it through, and I also made it to the seventh level. After breaking through this barrier, one's appearance often changes and remains that way until death.
The brothers Mick and Dick remained similar to each other, but they acquired features characteristic of Japanese people. They began to look about twenty years old, which gave them a masculine appearance. And the features of both their faces and bodies became more refined. In a word, they became the ideal for women.
The young witch became even more beautiful. If before she looked like a seventeen-year-old girl who had just begun to use her beauty and looked like a girl who had simply grown up quickly, now she was a completely different person. Now she exuded grandeur and charm. Her appearance itself became like a more mature version of herself. Looking at her, one could simply freeze in awe of her beautiful appearance.
The two sorceress sisters have become just as charming.
Everyone's appearance had changed. Some more, some less. However, what changed the most were our auras and outlook on life. Now, if what I see in my friends is also in me, then at competitions, we could all be considered heirs to noble houses.
It's time to go home. We need time to rest before the trials.
Using teleportation, I transported us to our family's territory.
The guards rushed over.
"Who are you? How dare you break into the Kunrat family's territory?"
"Listen, I'll explain everything...
But he wouldn't listen to me.
"You'll pay for this with your lives.
"Kirikhat, don't hurt him too badly.
"Alright.He quickly neutralised them and returned to us, and we waited to see what would happen next.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"Have you forgotten me, my first teacher, or have I changed so much?"
"I don't remember any such students. I only had one student, and that was you.
He hesitated, looking me in the eyes, and I waved my hand, telling him to continue.
"Mr. Miguel, is it really you?"
"Yes, am I really that different?"
"To be honest, you're completely different. Come in, only family members are allowed on your property. I should have guessed.
He led us to the apartments. Soon my parents arrived. After that, there were introductions and a feast in honour of my return. As expected, they were shocked when they found out that these were not my friends from high society, but my team for the trials.
A few years later, in one of the rooms of the castle.
"Miguel, you have to get married. What's wrong with these candidates?"
"Mother, I have already told you that I have sworn to only marry the woman I fall in love with. I once had someone like that, and I do not regret my choice, and I will choose the same way in this world. Do not argue with me, I have made up my mind.
"Very well, I won't force anyone on you, but if you don't find anyone in the next two thousand years, I'll take up my old role again.
"Oh, you're incorrigible.
At about the same time, but in a different place.
Two brunettes who looked very much alike were sitting in a room.
"My dear, you really need to get married. After the trials, the best ones will be taken.
"Mum, I've told you everything. I swore that I would only marry someone I fell in love with. I had someone like that once, and I don't regret my choice, and I will choose the same way in this world. Don't argue with me.
"What am I going to do with you?"
"Nothing, I'll manage on my own.
From MC.
The last days before the trials have passed. Now we are being teleported to the trial site, where the trials will last three hundred years.
***
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