31 Chapter 31: World Stage (I)

It had been a week since Kane had arrived in the world of Agurea. And not much had happened during that time.

Agurea was a world that was still stuck in the Bronze age. There was not much going around for the people here. Stone piled houses, hunting and farming, painting and crafting and similar such activities occupied the people for most of the time. But there was one major difference between Agurea and other ancient civilizations back on earth and that was martial arts.

The people in this world had discovered and developed techniques that could utilize the physical body to its maximal potential. From various breathing exercises to specific stretches and movements, there was a big history behind the development of martial techniques that allowed the humans of this world to achieve superhuman feats without being enhanced like Kane was. He had seen a lot of such feats in the past week, giving him a shock, but also raising his expectations of what to look forward to in his time here.

It was also not without reason that the humans here had developed such techniques to grow stronger. The animals and even the plants in this world were special, much more ferocious and intelligent. Humans were no longer the top predators here. Weapons and traps alone were incapable of holding back the onslaught on the monsters, since the beasts here were all magical in nature.

Capable of breathing fire or freezing enemies, the animals had evolved much like the beasts in wuxia stories. Hence, the humans had been forced to learn, adapt and evolve to face such threats. Their martial techniques allowed them to break boulders with their bare fists, cut trees with their hands and move faster than the eyes could track. It was all magical. The limits of what was achievable by the human body was insane when tested.

And Kane had observed just about everything in his time here.

The GUIDE had not given him an objective after he woke up to the purple sky with two suns shining brightly. He had only been given the basics of the world and then had been forced to survive in this new environment all by himself. The days here were very long, while the nights were short, with no moon shining in the sky. Kane had spent a week wandering about, learning about the city he was in, about the world and the differences that existed.

Most of the new knowledge he had gained was from people in the tavern or from the older grandpas sitting around under the tree at the city center. And so he had survived a week full of scavenging bare minimum food and shelter by doing physical labor at farms and other places, which offered him a chance. But after the experience, Kane was coming to understand how the World stage differed from the Dream stage. And the specialties which Eli had mentioned for him to keep an eye on.

The World stage was a completely new world for him to experience. He could not take anything he found in this world out with him. But the knowledge and experiences he gained would be his. It was the benefit of these stages. If you were lucky, you could land in a world with magic, maybe even inside an academy, and get to experience and learn about that world's magic from scratch. Such was the World stage, where you could learn and explore the world itself to take what you believed was fit for the path you sought.

And what was Kane seeking?

He had thought he wanted to be a mage, a support mage that had access to all sorts of skills and magic to help his friends in their battles. He did not wish to engage the enemy directly, instead he wanted to create opportunities for his teammates to finish off the enemy.

But that was a mindset created from playing too many RPGs and MOBAs. There wouldn't always be a team to fight around with. And neither would the enemies choose to play according to his plans. His talk with Eli from before and his experience from the fight before had given him some insights. But he was not sure yet what path he had to walk.

But at least one thing that he at least needed to learn and practice was to make use of his super enhanced physique that could punch a boulder to smithereens even without any technique. Since he already had an advantage with his physique, he had to learn to use his body to its max potential. And this world was the best place that could teach him exactly that.

He had not yet been given a scenario objective, but Kane had no complaints. Because right now he had other things to do in this world. He could also understand why the time difference existed in these stages. If a challenger wanted to experience and explore an entire world, it would take months at the least. Which is why the time spent here was only an instant in the outside world. He had all the time to learn and achieve mastery of his body here.

....

Andhera City, Land of Bhrigu Tribe 

The largest and the strongest tribe in the city was called the Bhrigu Tribe. And today they were recruiting member to join their circle. The Bhrigus were a group that excelled in techniques that focused on conditioning the body to become an unmovable fortress, capable of absorbing any attack and redirect the impact back. Their fights revolved around using their body to be like a mountain. 

Kane had watched some of their members fight in the city arena, and felt that their style was something that appealed to him. Now he did not know what exactly suited him or not, but unless he started somewhere, he would never know. So when he learnt of the opportunity to join the Tribe, he had arrived at the location at the earliest possible. 

But even still, there was already a crowd forming outside the gates of the Land of Bhrigu. There were around more than a thousand people gathered here, he estimated. A lot of them looked like jacked dudes on steroids. Big muscles but no strength.

But Kane immediately berated himself for judging, remembering that he was in an unfamiliar environment. He should not dismiss them quickly, because he would not know their real strength until he tested them himself. For all he knew, these people were the ones with the most explosive force. The methods of training were going to be different here from earth, so he had to change his casual mindset and treat everyone as competition.

The crowd waited for around thirty minutes. When both the suns had risen, a stout man appeared on top of the Gates of Bhrigu. In comparison, he looked much tamer than some guys in the crowd. But the lively atmosphere died once he appeared atop the gates. Everyone turned their attention to the man with a large beard. He wore a single tunic, covering his body from the waist down. Scanning the crowd, he waited till everyone was silent. After letting another second pass, he finally spoke.

"The Bhrigu Tribe invites all able-bodied and strong-willed people to join us. Clear our tests and you will be welcomed and trained according to the traditions of our tribe, becoming a pillar for the tribe.

The first test begins right now. Make your way through the gates and prove your strength. First hundred to finish will move to the next round."

The words immediately set off a chain reaction as the people in the front hurried to enter the gates. Kane watched from the behind, as the area devolved into chaos, as people grabbed and shoved each other, not ready to let another person be the first one to secure a spot. But there was something else he noticed as well.

The man who stood atop the gates had dropped from his place and was now standing directly in front of them.

His position was obvious for the challengers, as he was inviting them himself. The real challenge was not to overcome the thousand people here, but to make it past that man, who was a pillar from the Tribe of Bhrigu.

Kane grinned as he started making his way forward. He had no intentions of keeping a low profile. The more he shined, the more resources and training he could obtain. He was here to grind and improve. So there was no point in lying low.

He was going to enter the Tribe of Bhrigu in the most overbearing way, and he would make it quick. With a wide grin on his face, Kane spread his hands and dove right into the crowd of thousands, shoving the two in front of him away easily. This was going to be fun, he thought.