Forania Kingdom

Shivaay contemplated his next steps. He decided to journey to the capital city of the Forania kingdom, where he could purchase skills related to speed. The admission tournament for the academy was scheduled to take place there in two months, and Shivaay needed to become stronger quickly to seek answers and confront those responsible for his past.

However, he also recognized the importance of earning money in this world. While becoming a hunter was an option, it was a dangerous and potentially unrewarding profession. Shivaay pondered the world's technological advancement, noting that long-distance communication tokens existed, but there were no mobile phones or internet. As a common man in his previous life, he lacked the knowledge to create such technologies.

He realized that this world had limited sources of entertainment, primarily consisting of brothels and novels, which he found dull compared to his previous world. An idea struck him – he could copy novels from his previous world, hoping that there were no authors in this world to accuse him of plagiarism.

Shivaay retrieved the notebook he carried with him, blessed by the gods to enhance not only his physical strength but also his mental capacity. He could remember things from his previous life, even though more than eight years had passed. This is how he recalled the documentary about the railgun.

Sitting down with his notebook, Shivaay began writing a novel. He chose to copy "Against the Gods" because it aligned well with the world's cultivation system. In a single day, he managed to write around 500 chapters by simply remembering the chapters and jolting down.

"Okay, that will do for today. I hope the people of this world enjoy the novel," Shivaay hoped.

The following day, he informed Grandpa and Aisha of his intention to leave for the capital. Grandpa was saddened by the parting but understood that their paths were diverging. Shivaay didn't want to bring disaster to their small family, he knew that his future battles would be with powerful individuals.

A few days later, Shivaay packed his bag, with a little lunchbox prepared by Aisha. He hugged Grandpa and Aisha one last time. Aisha couldn't stop crying, trying to dissuade him from leaving, but Shivaay was determined. He left without knowing if he would ever return.

After Shivaay departed, Grandpa cleaned his room and discovered a pouch hidden under a drawer. Inside were ten gold coins.

"This child " 

Grandpa realized that Shivaay had intentionally left the pouch. Ten gold coins could sustain a family for a year. As Grandpa was not very powerful and was already old, he decided to keep the gold coins safe for his granddaughter when she awakened next year. They could be used to purchase valuable resources for her.

With only one gold coin and a few silver coins in his possession, Shivaay began his journey to the capital city of the Kingdom. He took a bus, as the flight cost was too high, and he had given all his savings from hunting beasts in the forest to the duo.

"Hi there, my name is Arya," a young boy sitting nearby introduced himself to Shivaay.

"Hi, I am Shivaay," he replied.

"So, are you also going to the capital city for the sparing session hosted by Master Kai?"

"Sparing session? What is that?" Shivaay asked, as he had no idea.

"It's a session hosted by Master Kai. The main attraction of the event is the fighting spar between the geniuses four reputed clans. Freelancers like us would never qualify to win, but the top ten participants will receive some low-level skill books. The top three will get mid-level skill books, and the winner will receive a high-level skill book from Master Kai's personal collection."

Shivaay pondered and asked, "Who is this Master Kai?"

"You don't even know that? Master Kai was the mentor of the current emperor of the Peacock Empire. His status is even higher than the king of the Forania Kingdom."

Shivaay was astonished and bombarded Arya with questions about the competition. He learned that the spar was held among the newly blessed cultivators to learn from the spar and improve their performance in the Imperial Academy admission competition, which would take place in two months.

During the bus journey, Shivaay learned a lot about the world, where to buy skills, and where he could sell his novels regularly. The Black Merchant Guild seemed to be the best place for various transactions – one could buy and sell anything there.

After 2 days of travel, they finally reached the capital, and Shivaay's body was sore from sitting in the bus for such an extended period. He bid farewell to Arya and then checked into a nearby inexpensive inn.

"Hello, how can I help you?" a beautiful receptionist inquired.

"I need a room for five days, please."

"That will be one gold coin."

Shivaay found it quite costly, but he paid the fee nonetheless. When he reached his room, he realized it was far better than a 5-star hotel in his previous world. Even this cheap inn had a space array, making the room spacious and luxurious.

After taking a short bath, Shivaay made his way to the Black Merchant Guild.

"Hi there, how can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Hello, I have a novel I'd like to sell."

"Please head to the entertainment section," the receptionist directed him.

Shivaay arrived at the entertainment section and was astonished. There was a vast collection of novels, ranging from romantic to action genres, and even recording crystals that allowed people to watch fighting scenes, similar to CDs.

"Hi, sir, do you want to buy anything?" the receptionist in the entertainment section asked.

"Hi, I have a novel, and I'd like to sell it."

"Sure, sir. Would you like to do serialization or publish the complete book?"

"Could you please explain how it works?"

"Of course. Serialization is when you publish chapters at regular intervals. You can submit the chapters at any of our branches, or we can publish the entire book in one go."

"What are the costs for both options?"

"For serialization, we have a contract where we'll take a 15 percent commission from every sale, and for the complete book, it's a 20 percent commission. These commissions will cover all printing costs and labor charges."

Although the commission rates were on the higher side, Shivaay didn't have any objections. He decided to sign the simple chakra contract for daily chapter serialization costing 10 silver coins per chapter, with the clause stating that he couldn't sell the book elsewhere, and he agreed to the commission terms.

All the gold coins earned, after deductions, would be deposited into his merchant guild account, and he could withdraw them whenever he wanted.

Shivaay handed over the 500 chapters he had written, leaving the receptionist astonished. Most novels had around 200-300 chapters, so a 500-chapter novel was quite unusual.

"I'll start writing the next 500 chapters. For now, you can start with this one."

The receptionist was once again taken aback. She initially thought Shivaay had shared the entire book, but it was only half of it. Little did she know, this was not even half of the entire novel. The last time he had checked, the novel had almost 2000 chapters and was still ongoing. The 500 chapters would be enough to last an entire year.

The money would start coming into his account in two days when they would make the chapters available for purchase. Shivaay had no problem with that.

Once again, Shivaay inquired with the receptionist about where he could buy skills. She directed him to the second floor.

Upon reaching the second floor, Shivaay saw multiple skill books, including low-tier and middle-tier ones. After inquiring with the receptionist, he began perusing the skill books. There was a wide variety of them, including strength, speed, agility, stamina, mental skills, and elemental skills. However, there wasn't a single high-level skill book available. Most of them were low-level, and there were only 3-4 middle-level skill books, none of which were related to speed.

"Hello, excuse me, are there no high-level skill books available here?" Shivaay inquired with the receptionist.

"No, sir. All the high-level skill books are either with the royal family or are sold in the capital city of the empire," the receptionist replied with a mocking tone, as if to suggest that Shivaay lacked even basic knowledge. High-level skills were exceedingly rare, and even if someone possessed them, there was no reason for them to sell.

Shivaay ignored the receptionist's mockery and resumed his examination of the skill books. The low-level skills were priced between 100 and 300 gold coins, while mid-level ones ranged from 500 to 700 gold coins. It was all so expensive, and even if he were to find a high-level skill book, he knew he couldn't afford it.