Abyssal Village

An endless number of corpses were strewn about in the midst of a battlefield. Arya had found a weapon in the throne room attached to the thrones back. The original form of the equipment was a plain golden vambrace with transparent crystal shards. But, it could morph into whatever he desired. Currently he was using it as a spear to mow through the innumerable abyssal beasts charging at him.

It turned out that the monsters were organizing themselves under an intelligent beast. That was why he couldn't find any during his search.

After he was done perusing the information and everything in the throne room, he was transported to the base of the mountain again. As soon as he re entered the grotesque forest, the was assaulted by the army. Expecting something like this for a long time, he was prepared and willed his vambrace to transform into a 2 meter long spear. The basic knowledge on how to use a spear was also found in Gaia's memory fragment.

Gaia was the name of the Earth spirit. It had a record of all the skills of every life form of Earth throughout history. The spear knowledge and experience of every earthling throughout time to ever wield one was transferred to his subconscious. But this knowledge an experience was not his own. Arya had to practice the spear over and over to turn theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge he could use.

So, this was the perfect opportunity for him to hone his skills and become more familiar with the spear. But his objective was to escape. Every slash and every poke took a life. His stance was fluid and forceful. The beasts were only charging at him mindlessly without using any energy. They seemed to want to maul him and overwhelm him with sheer numbers and their body strength. This would work on most people. But Arya had the knowledge of every battle fought by every earthling since time immemorial from both the winning and the losing sides perspective. He could maneuver across the battle field easily.

The trees and other plant life were destroyed in the stampede along with the rocks and stones. Killing the beasts needed strength which he lacked. But he made up for that in technique. The simplest way was the best. No useless movements. That was the way to wield a weapon properly.

Arya sliced a multitude of beasts with a single stroke of his spear. The silver and gold spear was not damaged in the slightest despite the many battering it had taken.

Leaping from back to back of multiple beasts, killing any he could, Arya broke out of the enclosure panting. He was not free yet as more beasts approached from in front of him as the ones he left behind were turning around to attack him again.

He sprinted towards his side where there were few enemies. The persistent beasts didn't give up though. The two trains merged as they continued their chase.

Arya's stamina couldn't keep up with him as he fled. His tired body opened up its pores and began to continuously gulp the dimensional energy from the atmosphere. This replenished his reserves and gave him a burst of speed which he used to jump up a treetop and turned the spear back to a vambrace. The trees behind him had all fallen and the ones in his path obstructed him. It was a better idea to go over them than under.

He jumped from treetop to treetop with light steps. His bare feet stepping on the leaves and twigs were all that he needed as footholds to get to the next one. The direction he ran was not random.

Another function of the memory fragment he obtained was the globe he had seen. He could access the globe at anytime within his mind. It was possible to zoom in and view his location and surrounding terrain. It also showed all the life signatures within a 100 kilometer radius of his position from the weakest insect to the strongest behemoth. All plant life were also included. It could also differentiate every unique being along with their basic information. This ability drained his mental reserves and caused him an excruciating head ache with the influx of information. Thus, he couldn't use it too often or continuously. But, there was also a minimap like function he could use that used significantly less mental strength. This showed only the surrounding kilometer radius as well as terrain. It also showed any life signals significantly larger than his own.

Using this minimap, Arya found the best direction for his escape. This was, a deep gorge. The violet liquid running beneath it threw him off a bit. But he did not hesitate to pick this path.

Soon they reached the gorge. Despite how small it looked on the map, the gorge seemed to be very wide and deep in reality. But without hesitation, Arya jumped off the end. Many of the beasts following him fell to their death due to not being able to stop in time.

A moment later, Arya rose up from the depths of the gorge gliding with a golden hang glider. He was laughing with joy and was very happy that none of his pursuers had the ability to fly. Even more thrilled that his idea had worked and the tool could actually carry him up.

***

Arya landed in a clearing in the forest. The first place devoid of plants besides the base of the mountain. The soil was also red instead of black. The hang glider morphed back into into original form as he walked towards an area with multiple life signals. He had glanced at the globe and seen that they were abyssals.

This did not deter him though. Because, from what he understood, Abyssals were the same as humans. They were both dragged into a world changing event. None were inherently hostile to the other either. Its similar to being in a foreign country...In the 17th century anyway. They will only attack if you do.

Arya wasn't going to jump into the quest from Gaia. He didn't know anything about the opposition. Everything he did know were against them because Gaia was partial to Earthlings and wanted conquest. Arya thought that the Abyss's spirit Tartarus was stronger though. Even if it wasn't, he didn't want to make an enemy of an entity on par with Gaia.

So, he was going to give them the benefit of the doubt. The memory fragment Gaia gave him had many of their languages and all of Earth's languages recorded. This made it possible for Arya to communicate with most of the intelligent beings on the planet.

Arya walked to the abyssal village as they were having a ceremony or maybe a banquet. The red skinned men noticed him immediately. They were on their guard as this intruder strolled in nonchalantly. He also didn't seem too strong. But, they did not attack as it was against their law to assault guests unprovoked.

Arya saw male and female abyssals . There were quite a few children too. They wore various clothes made of soft beast hide. The village had huts made of the earth and stone. There seemed to be a hierarchy among them as the structures for the 'village chief' was easily recognizable with its larger size and various patterns and drawings. He found it fascinating that they were so much like humans.

In the center of the gathering was a large fire. It seemed that they too ate food cooked unlike uncivilized beasts. He remembered that he hadn't had cooked food since coming here. Smelling the meat, he felt hungry causing his stomach to rumble.

The Abyssals did not drop their guard. But a female abyssal brought over a large piece of meat in a leaf. Arya smiled and thanked her in the international language of the Abyss before sitting down on the sandy ground.

She did not reciprocate. Instead she went back to her spot as the group continued to stare at him in silence.

A tall abyssal came out of the chief's hut. He was identified by skull crown and leather cape. His topless body was carved with various patterns that seemed to glow a dull blue. He was followed by an entourage of 5 followers wearing leather armor and tooth necklaces. They had eyes that glinted with battle intent while the chief's were clearly filled with wisdom and experience.

The group halted in front of Arya who was busy eating his steak with his bare unwashed hands. They waited till he finished before the chief asked,

"Why have you come here, human?" in the international Abyssal language.

Arya replied while licking his lips clean after standing up,

"Food, clothing, shelter and information."

The frowning chief asked, "In return?"

"Information and hunt."

The chief pondered for a moment before nodding. Their conversation was very concise.

The chief and his group went back to the hut and Arya plopped back to the floor.

'It seems the chief has over estimated me', Arya thought with his heart beating rapidly.He glanced at his minimap and saw that the life signatures of every one of the warriors were greater than his by a large amount and the chief's aura dwarfed even theirs. 'That was very dangerous. Lets not do that again.'

Arya calmed himself down.'It seems that they don't have any means of identifying another's power level. I have to get stronger.' He increased the rate of his energy absorption.

Arya always had a cycle of dimensional energy running through him from the first bursts of it he absorbed during his escape.Taking in dimensional energy too rapidly was detrimental and would cause injuries. So, he had to control the rate of energy he took in. He could only slowly increase his pace as he makes progress.

The departure of the chief with no bloodshed allowed the abyssals to relax around Arya a bit. They brought him to engage in conversation and games.

The conversations were usually simple about what he does, his hobbies, his travels and where he came from. They weren't to the extent of invasiveness though. So, Arya answered them easily. He also asked them about their lifestyle and hobbies. As most abyssals didn't understand the international abyss language too well, they tried to communicate in their native tongue and were ecstatic when they heard Arya reply in kind. Without a language barrier, the villagers became even closer to Arya.

The children were especially enthusiastic at having a guest. They followed him about and chatted till night when their parents called them home.

Arya was led to a fine hut close to the edge of the settlement. It seemed that the people in charge did not yet trust him. Inside, Arya found a bed, a table, a chair, shelves of books bound by hide and a connecting room which served as a toilet. The stone furniture was of fine craftsmanship and the bed, big enough for two abyssals was covered by a thick wool mattress which looked very comfortable.

Despite not wanting to let his guard down in this unfamiliar village, Arya fell into a dead sleep upon contact with the softness of the bed after being deprived from one for so many days.

***

In the chief's hut after they returned after speaking with Arya, the chief sat with his advisers. These old men had not come out to greet Arya. They were not known for their prowess but for their cunning. They would be of no help in a fight. Instead, they would be burdens and liabilities.

The 5 old men sat on a round stone table placed beneath the chief's throne of bones. They were discussing animatedly about the new visitor.

Humans had not come this deep into the Ajeel forest before. Most battles were had in the borders and it was prohibited for them to attack abyssals inside. They abyssals and humans had a treaty which stated that they would allow civilians of the other race into their territory and wouldn't attack unless attacked first. The civilians were all under the same oath.

All battles of supremacy were to be held at the borders only. Any loss in the battle field could not be avenged outside. This treaty only extended to intelligent races of course. But it was also mandatory for all intelligent races in the planet Zion.

Zion was the new name of planet after the merger of Abyss and Earth. Gaia had not informed Arya of the new name as it had yet to accept that it had become one with another celestial body. The same was for Tartarus as well. Both spirits plotted to consume the other and become the sole spirit of the planet.

There was not much bad blood between abyssals and earthlings. A thousand years had washed away any differences they might have had. But they were still cautious against each other due to the instigation of their respective celestial spirits.

The elders of the abyssal tribe Arya had arrived at were split among each other on how to deal with Arya.

One party wanted to kick him out and cause him to act hostile so they may kill him. The other party wanted to compromise with him. Both wanted what they thought was best for the tribe.

The chief clapped once at that time drawing all attention to himself.

"We will watch him for some time. If he is a friend, we accept him. If he is a passerby, we ignore him after providing directions and transportation. But, if he is an enemy, we kill even if he is a powerful enemy. There is no need to heed the laws and wait for hostility. If I perceive him to be a threat, he is dead. Before that, no one is to touch him. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" came a resounding answer from all those present including the 5 hunting captains.

The reason the abyssals could not sense Arya's power level had to do with the time he was summoned. When the abyssals and earthlings were transported, they arrived with their original bodies which was native to their original world. With time, the beings evolved and became more suitable to Zion. This also made them more attuned to the power and life of their own. But, the original life forms were of different energy structure. Hence, they could not read Arya's power level.