Tim slowly opened his eyes, and started examining his new surroundings. Almost immediately, he noticed the huge, awe-inspiring medieval structure that obscured half of his vision. It appeared to be made out of some sort of greyish-white material that had a weak glow to it. At a casual glance, it seemed to be designed for defence, a rectangular structure with four towers affixed to each corner, to provide visibility from each side and respond with ranged attacks in case of an attack.
It wasn't the height of the structure that astounded Tim, it was the length. It stretched out for a few kilometers easily, probably able to accommodate thousands of people at a time. For such a vast construction, there was only one visible entrance which was minuscule in comparison. Probably to make the job harder for any would be invaders, he ventured a guess.
The arched gateway was open, as if welcoming his arrival. He found that the mini-map had been updated, he was in what the system called Citadel 701, a.k.a, The Trial Taker's citadel. Inside the citadel were two marked locations, the System Store and the Citadel Governer's room.
Before entering though, he looked around at the small two storey buildings that were packed closely around the citadel. There had to be thousands of these houses made of the same material as the citadel, constructed as standalone structures. Each floor had one window, made of some sort of glass alternative that had a purplish tint to it, while the upper floor had a balcony of sorts, one without a railing, and looked each house had enough space to easily accommodate a family of 4. Instead of some fancy mini-apartment though, they felt more like quaint,humble homes with a rustic charm of their own.
One thing he found interesting was that there were no defences around the city, the citadel was the only walled fortress in the region. A point which he found very interesting.
"As expected, nothing the system offers is so simple" he intoned with a sigh.
Done admiring the scenery, he pulled his rapier out and entered the citadel, wondering what awaited him this time.
The inside.... was more like a shopping mall than a military installation. There were loads of empty stalls with glass windows along both sides of the walkway, and when he looked up he was met with a ceiling instead of open air, coming to the conclusion that this was only the ground floor. Well, except one store. In some weird language, 'Daoist Indranath's Grand Emporium' was scribbled over a golden banner that was hung on the entrance to a shop to his immediate left, and a...... human appeared to be sitting inside.
With more haste than he'd like, Tim barged through the door. If the system wanted to ambush him, this was not the way it did things, that much he was sure of. And it even gave him this handy translation tool, without which his future in the multiverse would presumably be quite grim.
The seated man hurriedly rose to greet him, though Tim saw that he appeared to be frowning initially, quickly changing his expressions to a disarming smile the moment he saw he had guests. The man was dressed in elegant green robes, embroidered with golden threads in the shape of various fantastical flying creatures, definitely looking the part of a very impressive shopkeeper.
The man himself appeared to be much like a regular human, a man of Asian descent, with a modest height of 5 feet 7 inches or thereabouts, of lighter complexion, having brown hair tied in a top-knot that was held together by a light green pin that had small characters etched onto it. The only thing that made him stand out from any random person on the streets was his dark orange eyes that would easily get him a second glance.
"Welcome, welcome! I hope this humble store of mine is not to your dissatisfaction. I am known as Daoist Indranath, very pleased to make the acquaintance of a Trial Taker such as yourself, it is truly my good fortune that I have gotten an opportunity to meet you." said Indranath, in a deferential tone that reminded Tim of his own when he was a grocery store clerk, while cupping his hands together and giving him a light bow.
Tim was stupefied by this sequence of events. " You... are an alien? The multiverse that incorporates whole universes into it, and the first form of contact with foreign sentient life is another human? Are you shitting me?" He asked in a tone that was both amused and fatigued.
As if expecting such a reaction, Indranath replied " Your surprise is indeed, not unwarranted. However, if you knew more about the multiverse you would only find it logical. I shall use an example to explain.
Let me ask you this, if at birth you were presented with two options: To be born with a lower potential, but have scales that could easily resist low initiate grade weapons since birth, or to be born with the highest potential but have no natural defences nor offensive means, which will you choose?" asked Indranath, in a dramatic tone.
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It would be a lie if Tim said that he wasn't taken aback by this sudden teaching session, but he had gone through far more mind bending experiences compared to this in the past 72 hours.
The answer, after having gone through the ordeal the system called a trial and realizing how lucky he had been to survive, came to Tim easily and he said "The first option, the one with scales, of course."
Daoist Indranath nodded, and replied, "That is indeed the logical choice. Which makes me wonder how such a prudent man as yourself ended up selecting the system's trial, but we shall leave that question for later".
Tim's face reddened slightly at this remark, but he chose to stay silent.
"The edicts of all creation maintain a cycle of balance, humans are the weakest in the begining, but also have the greatest potential. We have no natural boons to fall back onto in our moment of peril, but that also means we have no distractions on the path of the grand dao. Our bodies are a clean slate, so to speak, allowing us to grasp the various aspects of the spiritual energies of all creation with the greatest affinity." Indranath continued on.
"However, potential is only a possibility unfortunately. From initiate level planets, very few actually manage to gain affinity with the daos, and even then it is usually one from the four major elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air, merely common minor daos. Why would one stake his life over a possiblity of becoming a supreme expert if he starts his life at a level worse than cannon fodder? At the same time though, a large portion of all super forces belong to the human race, with us having sired some of the most terrifying experts to ever grace the multiverse." stated Indranath solemnly.
"Why is that the case? If what you mention is true, the other races should easily be able to subdue humans if they ever clashed, each one of these armoured creatures you talk about would be impossible for average, uhhhh, human cultivators to kill if it's so hard to get access to the daos." said Tim, now very curious at what Indranath's reply would be.
"Well, ahem, the answer isn't as glorious as what you'd expect, like I mentioned earlier, the spiritual energies of all creation act in a delicate balance. The more naturally powerful a race is, the harder it gets to sire offspring, while conversely the weaker the race is, the easier it is to reproduce. Humans are the most populous race in the multiverse, and with our superior potential it is no surprise that we have produced many peak geniuses and super forces." Indranath explained in a rather detached manner.
"But what does that have to do with me? Sure, there are human cultivators out there that can probably lift mountains as if they were mere pebbles, but what is the probability of reaching such a level? From what I read about your planet, those with the greatest amount of money were regarded as powerhouses in your world. Truly, what a pity I wasn't born there. My point is, the odds of reaching that level is far smaller than being a billionaire on Earth, and far tougher a journey. Most would prefer to be born to rich parents and happily be a millionaire since birth, born with natural defences that would ensure safety or offensive weapons such that few would dare to pick a fight against them. Alas, we are not given the option to choose." explained Indranath, very passionately with a hint of resignation.
After listening to Indranath's explanations, Tim had a wry smile on his face, as if he were personally getting called out by the multiverse for being a spoilt brat. But Indranath's explanations made logical sense to him, it would be truly arrogant to assume Earth was the only planet where humans existed, but it was still a jarring experience to come across one this sooon though.
"So, can you tell me anything about the invaders, Mr. Indranath." asked Tim in a grave, slightly threatening tone.
"Friend, in the multiverse other cultivators are referred to by Daoist as a common greeting and a form of respect. I understand you are new to the multiverse, thus I see fit to explain lest it cause you some embarrassment down the line. And as for the invaders, I'm afraid that I cannot reveal anything, that would be against the rules. I can assure you though, I have no relation with the invaders in any form or manner, if that's what you are concerned about." explained Indranath.
"How can I trust you then, Daoist Indranath. Forgive me for my caution, but as you can imagine, the system hasn't been too kind to me so far and I assume that the denizens of the multiverse won't be paragons of justice either" said Tim, his voice an octave higher than he wanted it to be.
With a wolfish grin, knowing his facade of a warm and welcoming shopkeeper had been busted, he replied " Very well, fellow Daoist. It is indeed as you say, the multiverse is a far cry from a land of flowers and pleasant scenery. I swear an oath by the system that I am not related to Earth's invaders in any manner or form. If this oath turns out to be false, let my cultivation base be crippled".
[Daoist Indranath has voluntarily sworn an oath to you. Price of violation: Crippled cultivation base, reduced to Level 0]
Tim was shocked at the punishment that Indranath himself set, but if the man wasn't lying there was no reason to fear the consequences. With the system acting as a mediator, there really wasn't any reason to doubt him further though, Tim was just a bit high strung from everything that had gone down recently.
"So then, fellow daoist, now that we have an initial level of trust between us, would you like to take a glance at my wares and perhaps get rid of some items you do not need?" said Indranath, his amiable smile now back.
"Aren't you afraid I'll just kill you and take your wares? Or conversely, should I be afraid of you?" this was more of a confirmation than anything else, he knew the system wouldn't allow him to be killed in such a deceptive and pointless manner.
"There is no need to worry, the system will not let me interfere with Earth, neither will it allow you to kill me. Plus, though I may be higher level than you, I do not have a combat class" Indranath calmly replied.