I stood in my magic workshop on the top floor of one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York. The room was covered in complex inscriptions that illuminated it even with lights turned off. It was a perfect place to gather all Mana within three hundred miles. Other mages present in the city would be pissed off, but it wouldn't matter if my experiment worked. I'd be too strong to care about their complaints.

Out of twenty-four years of my life, I'd spent fifteen in pursuit of Arcane knowledge. The Arcane Ascension Grimoire left by my parents sure was a help, but my aspirations would never be fulfilled on this failure of a planet. Throughout their long lives, none of my ancestors had ever reached the level of an Expert Arcanist while on Earth. I myself had been stuck at the peak of an Initiate for five years already, struggling to step into the Adept Rank despite my aptitude for magic.

Behind the scenes, mages ruled Earth, and we, Arcanists, stood at the top of the food chain. If I wanted, I could live a life of prosperity that even billionaires couldn't dream of. But my appetite was way greater than this. I wanted to know the secrets of the Universe. I wanted to read my Grimoire to the completion and to absorb all the knowledge it had in store for me. Unfortunately, it was designed to restrict its owner to read only as far as their Arcanist Rank goes. 

Among the secret society of mages circulated a rumor, a legend even, that the first Arcanists came to Earth from another world. I knew that it wasn't a fairy tale but the actual truth. And I placed my hopes into returning to this world, no matter the cost. 

I gathered my Mana and guided it through the magic circle inscribed on the floor. This action only required a thought from me, but it could have been quite a challenge to a lesser mage. My Magic Circuits of pure Arcane element brought my control over Mana to unprecedented heights. 

The whole room trembled as the Mana Stream Formation activated. It had taken me two years and almost a hundred million dollars to create it, and the results weren't guaranteed at all. There was an eighty percent chance that everything would go alright and I advance to the Adept Rank, fifteen percent that the formation fails, but I'd be left unharmed, and a five percent chance that something unexpected and possibly dangerous would happen. In the end, these were chances worth betting. 

I stood at the center of the formation when Arcane Mana started to flow towards me, filling up my Magic Circuit and Mana Meridians. At this point, I knew that my success was almost guaranteed. Even at the first step, an Adept Arcanist was already a peak of magical power on Earth. At this Rank, I'd have way more freedom in searching for a way to travel to the home of my ancestors. 

My optimistic thoughts got interrupted when I felt something extremely hot stuck to my chest. It took me only a second to realize that the feeling came from the medallion that was a legacy left to me by my grandfather. It was just an ordinary item, nothing magical about it, and yet, at this moment, it hungrily absorbed the Mana of the Formation. 

What the heck is going on? That was my last thought before when the medallion radiated a bright light that swallowed me whole. 

When the light disappeared, and I could see everything clearly again, I found myself standing at the center of some sort of training platform. The place reminded me of the Shaolin monk temple, and hundreds of eyes were watching me with astonishment. 

All people around me were in their mid-to-late teens and wore simple silk robes of similar design and the same blue color pallet. What caught my attention, though, was that each of them held a weapon in their hands and, surprisingly, gave me a feeling of a mage Neophyte, the lowest Rank. Since when did mages become so common? 

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The young mages started to shout loudly at me, and most of them took a battle stance. They spoke in an unfamiliar language that reminded me of a severely altered Chinese—which I, obviously, knew—and their facial features were Asian as well. 

I'd failed to advance to an Adept, but I still was a fifth-step Arcanist Initiate. I had enough power to defeat them all with a couple of spells, but the whole situation astounded me beyond a reason. Something like this shouldn't have happened. I took my grandfather's medallion in my hand and carefully scrutinized it. It was no longer hot and, just as usual, didn't seem to hold any special power. 

Attracted by the commotion, a dozen of people in green robes arrived at the scene. Their faces were wary but without a sign of fear. Each of the newcomers radiated Mana of an Initiate mage, two of them even at the fifth step as me. 

As an Arcanist, I was stronger than other mages at the same Rank. With my current power, I could even compete to an Adept at the second step. But it would be really troublesome dealing with so many opponents. And more than this—meaningless. I had nothing to win from fighting with these people. And communication didn't seem to be a choice as I couldn't speak their language and very much doubted that they would understand me. I already had a vague guess as to what exactly had happened, but it was too crazy to believe. 

Before anyone could attack me, I shifted a part of my Arcane Mana to Dark and Light elements, then further fused them into a Mirage element. Then I murmured an incantation for Minor Invisibility Spell. My body got covered in a veil of magic that hid my presence from prying eyes. 

The onlookers gaped in surprise at my sudden disappearance. With a self-satisfied grin, I hurried to leave the scene. I avoided getting too close to any of the Initiates and jumped off from the training platform. The whole place was surrounded by a wall around fifty feet tall, but I could see already opened gates further ahead. 

I was about to leave this strange Shaolin temple full of mages when a figure in lavishly decorated yellow robes blocked my way. It was a middle-aged man with a stern expression and a sword in his hands. The fact that he was a second-step Adept made me frown. No wonder he wasn't tricked by my Mirage spell. 

The man shouted something at me with a furious expression. I assumed that it was his way of saying "you shall not pass". I really didn't want to waste my precious time on a fight that I had a chance of losing, especially when there could be even stronger opponents nearby. So I shifted a part of my Mana into Lightning element and prepared one of the strongest spells available to me. 

"Thunder Spear," I proclaimed as I raised my hand at the yellow-robed man. He, on the other hand, was in the mid of executing some sort of clumsy battle technique with his sword as he rushed towards me. 

The Lightning Mana left my body in a stream of violet electricity and hit the Adept almost instantly. He had no time to block or avoid it. I used this spell mostly because it applied a dazing effect on its victims, which would last for a while unless they were attacked again. In this way, I'd have time to safely escape before he recovered. This was the plan, at least. Reality proved to be a bit different. 

Usually, a mage at an Adept Rank wouldn't have lost even half of his Barrier after being hit with such a spell, moreover from someone who only was an Initiate. This battlemage, though. . . 

The man tried to block the electric current with his sword, but of course, it was meaningless. As if meeting no resistance at all, the Thunder Spear pierced his body, electrifying it in the process. A charred corpse of the Adept fell down on the ground just a few seconds later. 

I watched the whole scene in shock. Was I mistaken about this man's Rank? No, it couldn't be the case. . . But why the heck was he so. . .weak? 

I took a deep breath and channeled my meditation technique to recover a bit of my Mana. Defying my expectations, a significant chunk of my Mana was recovered in just a moment. I concentrated my still not fully formed Mana Sense around me and almost gasped. The Mana Concentration of this place was beyond anything I'd ever dreamed. Mana around me was so dense, so rich in Elements, and so varied in Laws that I almost cried from joy. 

At that point, I could only accept the truth before me. I was no longer on Earth.