1 THIS IS NOT THE MAGIC WORLD THAT HE WAS PROMISED.

Daniel awoke breathing heavily and deep. Not only that, he felt cold and clammy. He looked around and found himself naked in a small room dimly lit by what seems to be a lamp.

He looked around and saw shelves full of crystal balls. In the center of each were symbols flashing and changing that he could not understand. As he looked on he saw one that showed images of animals, plants and text familiar to him and touched it.

A surge of information rushed through his head. He could see various texts in his head. They were quite obviously from Earth. Most of them were archaic text that he had seen before but did not learn. The perk of basic language comprehension allowed him to offset the major and minor difference in language structure. It did not take long before he pieced together information that he could understand.

First was the most important stuff. Information about the new world. It is called Azkaz. Humans were assigned to this world by the guardians. They used to be called gods but the later people protested in a big way. Theology was at conflict with the wisdom that arrived with the coming of age. After a great debate, they were re-established as guardians.

Coming of age is the time where children awaken their gifts. It is also the time where most humans would awaken their memories of their past life or lives. Only a minority like him would just appear suddenly into this world with their gifts and memories of past lives awakened. There was much to be learned. He did not have enough understanding of the culture of this world yet. It is his sole advantage and greatest disadvantage at the same time.

As per the information he gained,he went to the room on the right dressed himself appropriately.

Thankfully he had gone to enough costume parties to know how to dress in historic attires. He prepared himself to go to the offworlder guild. It was the tallest building he could see in the distance when he stepped out of the building. He kept his clothes that he wore when he arrived in a satchel he found in the room. As a businessman, there was a saying, there is always someone who needs it more.

He stepped out of the place that housed him since he arrived and thought to himself... time to make some money...

THIS IS NOT THE MAGIC WORLD THAT HE WAS PROMISED.

All the excitement that he had in him, all the confidence in him all of it flowed out of him like a leaking sponge.

He stood there white as bleached parchment as the occasional people rushed by him. To the people, he was THE uncommon sight. They would glance at him from the corner of their eye, whispering to themselves in a language he could barely understand. Snippets of archaic language with nuances that he had never heard of.

Everyone around him knows about that structure. They heard stories about it. It is a structure that everyone knows but ignores it like it is just a backdrop. There were many stories of people that step out from that place but would stand there and be motionless for a long period of time. They were told to leave them alone. The ones coming out of that place are supposed to be given time to adapt to their world. However, words still spread about this newcomer. It did not take long for kids to hear about it. They swarmed in on him. They would poke their heads out from the corners of buildings with the occasional few being pushed out. Those pushed out would quickly rush back into hiding and attempt to continue peeking.

It was a while later before Daniel finally snapped out of it. He moved towards that tall tower that is visible in the distance. People would look at him and some would continue to point fingers at him while speaking the language that he does not know as he walks. Some would shake their head while doing so. The kids would dart from corner to corner following him as he went by.

Daniel looked around seeing people going about their daily life attempting to live life to their fullest. Rushing here and there like busy bees in a semi orderly fashion. He paid no heed to the kids tailing him. It reminded him of the paparazzi and puppy squad as the chinese would call it. They were really like puppies following him as he headed towards the building. Unlike the buildings around him, this one lone structure stood out quite literally. It was 5 stories higher and wider than the mansion that he stayed on Gaia.

As he stood outside the building he checked his attire to make sure it was a prime and proper and entered the building.

Looking around he found a counter with languages he could recognize above it and he headed for it.

Hello? Can you help me? Can you understand me?

The man behind the counter looked up at him.

He spoke slowly in broken english.

You born here? New? What year you come? Me english not good. Long no new guy. Gaia many languages. English little know.

He looked back at the guy sitting at the counter and sighed. This will be hard. He shook his head a little and cleared his head. Simple words. Just the bare information. It took him a moment to formulate his words.

New. crystal ball tells me to come here. Need to learn language.

The man looks at him for a moment and smiles. He replies with perfect english.

You seem like a person who will adapt to this world easily. I am Gorrak the guile. You have much to learn in this world. There are a few things you need to learn before anything else.

Lesson number 1. Do not trust anyone other than yourself. This world is more ruthless than the harshest places on Gaia.

Lesson number 2. Trust is earned not given.

Lesson number 3. Life is cheap.

Gorrak looked and waited for Daniel to absorb this information before continuing.

Now come with me, you have much to learn.

He steps up and walks towards a doorway, beaconing to Daniel as he walks by.

This world is a post-apocalyptic magic world.

Humans here live in a magic dome for protection against nature. Ever since the 9th Great war, humans can no longer stay outside the dome for long periods of time. As you can see when you first arrived, the sky has a coat of thick dark clouds and a blue net of lightning is cast on top of it. You will learn about it when you read about the great wars.

By the holy law, you are under protection for 1 Azkaz week. During this week, you will have 2 basic meals provided to you for free each day. You may rest in the common dormitory until you find a place to stay.

The currency of this world is calculated in Quids and Quartz. Here is a rough price for you to know and understand their value. A basic meal cost 2 Quids. purchasing a simple set of clothes cost 5 Quids to 1 Quartz. Protective gear cost 2 Quartz and up.

After passing a short corridor He paused in his tracks and turned towards Daniel to check whether he was still listening or not. Seeing that Daniel seemed to be still paying attention, he continued on, leading him to a chamber full of shelves holding crystals.

He waves his hands around.

This chamber holds all the knowledge recalled by the people after their coming of age in this town. It is shared through the engraved memory crystals. There are also the records from those that came to this world like you. It is required by law that you are to share what you know within one Azkaz year. You may choose not to but I would recommend not to do so. The inquisitors know many ways to get what they want and most of them hurt. You do not want to cross them. It is better off to die than cross them. Many of us learned the hard way.

Back to the main topic, you are allotted 5 days to learn in this chamber. Should you stay beyond 5 days in this chamber, it would cost you 10 quartz for each day beyond that.

There is much more for you to understand and it would be easier for you to learn from the memory crystals. To start you off, here is 50 quartz and your meal pass. The meal pass guarantees food for 40 meals. The dining area is down the hallway to the left 3 doors down and the resting area is the room next to it. The reading corners are spaced 10 shelves apart should you want to seat down while using the crystals. This is the basics that I will tell you to get you around. You will learn the rest here. I recommend reading the local map and the local guidebook. Also, read up on Azkaz as much as you can as there is much to learn for you about this world.

With that he left. Daniel was mildly surprised by how swiftly Gorrak left. He never even gave him his name.

Looking around the area, he could see endless rows of crystals.

He looked around wondering how he should start. Right by the door a lone crystal and so he placed his hand on it… But nothing happened… it looked the same as the crystal that he had touched back in the room but it did not act like it. Not knowing what to do, he went back to find Gorrak.

Gorrak knitted his brows as he heard the question.

How to use the crystals? Just put your hand on it and channel mana into it. It is as simple as that.

But how do I use mana?

Gorrak gave him an incredulous look.

If you cannot use mana how did you use the memory crystal in that room that you arrived in?

That room? I just touched it and the information poured into me.

Gorrak pondered for a moment and then took out a small crystal. He held it to the head and closed his eyes. The crystal glowed with a tint of blue. A slight burst of sound could be heard from the crystal inconsistently.

A few moments later, the glow died down and Gorrak put the crystal back into his pocket and looked back at Daniel.

The crystal in that room was a really old design. Touch activated with inbuilt mana capacity.

I have arranged a person with gift in mana manipulation to assist you in learning how to control your mana. For now what do you want to know? There is nothing else we can do but wait.

Can you tell me what are the things that can be done to earn a living here. The simple stuff that anyone can do.

Simple is a broad term. Hunting is simple, foraging is simple, blacksmithing is simple. So many things are simple. It all depends on your gift. What is your gift by the way. I am unable to give you a proper suggestion if I do not know what your gift is.

My gift is called Amalgamate.

Amalmamate? What is this? Never hear that one before

Amalgamate. It is the ability to see an item's potential and make new stuff with it. I intend to make charms with it.

Charms? It rings a bell but since you can name it, do tell me what they do it will save me the effort to think of a job for you.

Charms are supposed to be items that will create a certain effect when you insert mana into it.

Hmm… Those trinkets? There is no use for them. Why would anyone even want to make them? You should just stick to the normal stuff and not do something as worthless as that. Either way, based on what you just said, I would want to recommend blacksmithing but you lack the muscles. Blacksmiths start young and you are not that young. Hunting would not be advised unless you fought back on Gaia as you do not have a combat oriented gift. I suggest scavenging.

Scavenging?

A light history for you then. This settlement is set up near a dump zone. Unwanted stuff by the Pegasi race. They are highly advanced magic tools users and so they produce all kinds of magic tools. Stuff that has become not as useful or damaged becomes trashed as they find it easier and cheaper to just dump it and get new ones. At these dump sites, we have people scavenging for usable items to sell and make a living. It is not much but it works out for most of us. However, u will need to either pay a tribute or join a group that is in charge of the area you scavenge in.

A lady walks in from the side.

Gorrak, is he the one?

Yes. he is all yours once I tell him everything he needs to know.

Not going to happen. If I let you keep talking, it will be tomorrow. We left you here so that we would not hear you talk all day.

She turns towards Daniel.

Follow me. I am a very busy person but I am obligated by law to help you understand the flow of mana.

Then, she stepped out not even waiting for Daniel.

Seeing that Daniel still stood there Gorrak rapped his knuckles on the table to jolt Daniel to attention.

What are you standing there for? Go on and chase after Arlin. There are not many mana manipulators available that can speak fluent english. Be thankful it just so happens that she is free and willing to help. She is one of our top researchers and her time is precious.

Hearing that, Daniel rushed off chasing after Arlin. In another room, Daniel sat opposite Arlin, unsure of what to do next.

Mana is energy that is all around us. It exists in the air we breathe and things that we see. It also exists in you and me. Mana flows differently for each person but the pathway it flows through is generally the same. My gift is mana manipulation. It means that I can manipulate mana as long as it is within the reach of the mana within my body. Unlike most others, I do not have a specific type of mana within my body. If I need fire mana I just draw it from my surroundings by infusing it with my personal mana. Same goes for water, air and the other elements. I can cast spells only if there is the suitable mana near me. In your case, as you do not understand the flow of mana, I am going to send my mana into you to aggravate your mana. It will hurt at the beginning but once you can gain control it will be easier and less painful.

Now, lend me your hands, I will send multiple waves of mana to travel from your left palm to your right palm and back. I will repeat this until the pain is too unbearable or until you can feel your mana and that you are able to resist the flow of my mana.

After many painful tries and multiple sweat filled towels Daniel finally could feel and manipulate the mana flowing within the path that Arlin kept using.

That should do it. You should be able to access the memory crystals by doing what we just did. Just do the same but this time round send it out of your palm instead. you should be able to figure out the rest by yourself.

With that she left.

Some time later in the chamber of records...

Daniel stood before a shelf with his hand hovering over a crystal that explained what this world is about in various languages.

According to the records, before the guardians' intervention on repairing the multitude of worlds, there were multiple species in this world. They were called originals by the guardians. One of the originals had a unique way of passing down knowledge. They accumulated wisdom across aeons. Bringing them to be the wisest of the species living here. They never truly prospered. They lived like nomads and never settled down or created a prospering empire. Their civilization never came to be. All that wisdom but living such a simple content life. Not a single sense of creativity and all practicality. The guardians saw it as a waste.

The guardians intervened and attempted to help push their next stage of evolution The species they chose did not have a proper sense of self. They were a kind of hive mind.

Like drops of water rippling through a lake, the change corrupted the originals way more than intended. Certain traits propagated across every soul over the course of years. A small desire to have better life for themselves and their families quickly turned into an outbreak of war in a few generations. The nomadic society collapsed. What advances that the guardians envisioned did not come to fruition. The world that used to be teeming with life had become ravaged by their war. Sparse communities were all that was left of a once great civilization. Lost in the ravages of war was their shared heritage and memory as each community evolved in a different direction from those traits.

After much discussion, the guardians then decided to bring in various species from across the multitude of worlds to repopulate this world that they destroyed. They realised that to advance the world they needed a different kind of change.

As a part of a greater scheme, they divided the world into various biomes.

They selected living beings that were smarter in their native world and threw them into this world known as Azkaz. They brought in lizardfolks, the merfolks, the avians, the forest dwellers, the cave dwellers, various beastkins and species that had a certain level of intelligence. They left the plains untouched to the originals. The one place they thrived in.

Azkaz stands unique among the worlds. It had an intrinsic law of the world.

Every living being that died and were brought over from other worlds would awaken their past life's memory on their coming of age.

Everything went great. With memories of their past life, the world rapidly advanced.

Then they discovered the world called Gaia.

It was one of the rare worlds that had no magic. However it still had sentient life. Humans. On their own they were weaker than another species. But they innovated. Much more than the other species. It was a new experience for the guardians. In all the worlds that they saw which held no magic, life did not exist. Just barren worlds that held no interest to the guardians.

They took a liking and 'harvested' many inhabitants of Gaia into each of their worlds. They were the cause of a large amount of deaths in a short span of time in their actions.

Most humans did not survive long after the transfer, but for those that did, they adapted and some even managed to thrive in these new worlds. Humans became known as all rounders could do a little of everything. They were the jack of all trades. It was not that they could not be better than those races, it was just that the talented are always nipped at the bud when noticed. Only the rare few survived. It was those rare few that allowed humans to escape enslavement.

Azkaz people use the vigesimal system. It is a Base 20 system where everything goes by 20. 20 seconds in a minute, 20 minutes in an hour, 20 hours in a day, 20 days in a week, 20 weeks in a month and 20 months in a year.

As he further read through, he began to understand how different it is between him and the others. There is an additional time gap of 200 years between him and someone who died the same moment as him but reincarnated in this world.

The people here would have experienced 6 azkaz years of this world and would have been better adapted to this world. He could now clearly understand why it was an advantage and disadvantage at the same time.

He lacked the common sense of this world but he has the highly advanced knowledge of the 22th century.

This world is technologically behind but magically advanced. Runes work in place of machines. Anything you need to do, magic is the answer. Everything is magic oriented.

It took many figurative pages down the record before it talked about the dystopian world it now is. The war of gods as the people would say it. Multiple Ammagadon class magic were cast in a 10 year war between the races. It devastated the lands and brought about abrupt changes to the climate. Humans in this world were weak and were forced into active participation in the war. Humans were used as cannon fodder during the long years. Humans could not use magic other than those derived from their gifts. The gift allowed them to have very specific combat abilities.

Each of them could excel at only 1 task. Just 1 skill that allows them to use magic. That made them mostly useless to most other races. Only those with the right gifts were sought after. Humanity barely survived thanks to that as the bottom feeders.

To the other races, a smart monkey is still just a monkey. Give it food and it will dance for you. Give it and it's family food and it will dance for you forever.

After absorbing the information in the record, he readily understood the common language in Azkaz. Named after the world itself since this world never had any language in the 1st place. It was a language born from words and sounds from all the races combined.

After learning the language, he picked up the books about nature. The ecology, the flora and fauna. The small little things to learn about. The more he read the more his face darkened.

Humans really struggled in azkaz. They survive off the scraps of the other civilizations. Eating off their scrap and learning from their scraps. Human settlements gather around 2 types of places. Trading settlements of the other civilizations and their dump sites.

The settlement he arrived in is built near a dump site just as Gorrak mentioned. Other than the weekly trading caravan, there was no other contact with the other settlements.

He understood that there was something that he could do about it. Something needed to improve for things to get better. Something that only he, as a 'modern' man can do.

The records showed the fatal problem that he recognized and needed to be fixed. It has been ingrained in the people that they were the weaker race.

Back on Gaia, humans were the dominant race. Here, they are slaves. The forgotten people. In a certain sense, he was the lucky one. He may have died from old age back on Gaia but the so-called flames of resistance had not died out in him. He had fought a different kind of war. A war against nature. He had lived through a time of environmental collapse and revitalization. As one of the more successful businessmen of his time, he had played a rather vital role in facilitating Gaia's recovery. He felt it as his duty to make humanity great again.

During his endless reading over the course of 2 days, he understood something rather significant. The gap in knowledge between him and the others were critical in many regards. Humanity on Gaia truly advanced in the last 150 year. Unlike this world which has evolved to use magic for everything, humanity did everything without magic. TV, cars and trains. All these exist in this world but are operated with magic and are highly inefficient. With most humans unable to sustain the required type of magic over a long period of time. It meant only a limited number of humans could use them. For what it is worth, humans simply cannot afford those luxuries that are common for other races.

Humanity on Azkaz had become different from Gaia. Race was less of a problem. The only issue was the caste.

Civilized as they may be, humans were still in the dark ages of the caste system. People are sorted into caste at their coming of age based on their lineage and on their Gifts.

The Nobles, the combat class, the production class, the support class and the tushark.

From what he had read, the nobles were descendants of the few that were able to stand on even ground with the other races and managed to break free of their servitude. They in turn, form the human Aristocracy.

The combat class stands above everyone below the nobles. They protect the community and hunt. They either work with the Aristocracy or as mercenaries. Those that work with the aristocracy join the military and become public servants. They enforce the law as they see fit and are the judge and jury in the community. Their authority is second only to those who have the gift of governing which is a rank SS gift and the orders of the nobles.

The production class are those whose gifts make it extremely favourable to become craftsmen. With the appropriate gift, they would progress much further and must fast than those who do not. From cooking to clothing, from swords to shields, their gift dictates it all.

The support class are the ones with the most versatility. The non combat support are mainly gifted in administrative matters while the combat support classes are usually those well versed in healing magic.

However that may not be always the case. Rumor has it that a person was gifted with proficiency in needle use stood out of this stereotype. It was said that she saw a rapier as a giant needle and went with the mercenaries to hunt using rapier as her weapon. She became a fairly advanced rapier user but no one is really sure if this story is true.

The tushark are forgotten people. Humans were already at the bottom of the food chain among the sentient ones. Tusharks are those whose gifts are seen to be of little to no value. With gifts ranging from rank SSS to G, tusharks are those who commonly carry rank F and G gifts. For that, they are seen as magicless and are seen as the bottom feeders of bottom feeders. These people are sent to be the scavengers in dump sites. They are shunned by the community itself and are left forgotten. They were similar to the homeless people of the streets that we used to have on Gaia.

Daniel could only sigh in disappointment. Here on Azkaz, humans had been enslaved by their gifts.

At first Daniel was worried but the 2 days of reading gave him much needed insight to basic survival. He took another day reading up and brushing up on the other cultures of Azkaz. He is afterall, lacking in over 200 years of experience.

In the records about Gifts. It described the difference between humans and the other races on Azkaz. The human body worked differently from the other races as it can only obtain mana through the food they consume and the air they breathe but lack the organ that processes mana. They also lack the ability to expel mana from their body without assistance. This resulted in humans-only incurable sickness known as Mana poisoning.

As he looked further he took note of all the gifts that were useful to what he intended to do and those that felt important.

From the record he read about the gift he got from God, Amalgamate.

Amalgamate.

Rank E-

The gift user must first understand the material and its property before he can see the possible futures that the object can become and make it happen.

It was different from what he read when he met God.

The gift of discerning eyes to see a material's potential and the ability to synthesize them.

He thought about the difference between the two. It gave him another line of thought that he did not consider. Maybe his knowledge of science and technology is also applicable in this world as well. The "modern" conveniences that he used to have and enjoy.

To make money, get rich and have a comfortable life. That was his goal and what he had achieved back on Gaia. Starting from scratch did not suit what he had in mind but he was willing to make do with it.

Putting his old soul to work, he worked out his next course of action. He understood that the best course of action that he could have was to do as Gorrak had said. To go and become a scavenger. He understood that his ability could place him in the production caste, get a job and lead a simple life just as anyone else. Old as he may be inside, he was not easily content. He had failed 3 times but he came back each time.

Coming here simply meant that he had to start over again. It was just another chapter in his books.