been a while! sorry for the wait. i'll try and get the next one out a bit sooner, but i can't promise anything.

anyway, let me know if you like it, and maybe give me a review so i know what i'm doing wrong/right?

thanks in advance!

CHAPTER 8 --- A WHOLE NEW WORLD!

Today was the big day, they would finally arrive at the city. Ren had enjoyed the trip so far, although he had mostly remained quiet, only answering if people talked to him, he himself didn’t really ask much. He asked what he needed to know, but didn’t really hold any conversations and stayed with the people from his carriage. He didn’t really know what to talk about anyway, it had been so long he had a normal conversation after all. And he could hardly start discussing tv shows or parties with them.

He didn’t know anything about this world, so his conversation topics were almost non-existent! So he just listened, and looked outside. Looking outside was a pleasure in itself, this world seemed like his own world, exactly like it actually, but the people were different, and the world seemed… more colorful.

Everything seemed more… ‘clean’ somehow, plants and trees were full of life, and there was color everywhere. There were trees with green leaves, red leaves, purple leaves, and he even saw some with black leaves! The flowers were in all kind of colors, and the other plats as well, even the bushes!

And then there were the animals, when he was running he hadn’t come across any of them, apparently they could feel the huge amount of killing intent from fighting the cultivators, but if he had, he wouldn’t have come out of the encounter with just a scratch!

There were huge bears, deers, and other weirder animals, like a horned snake, or a red bearlike dog with 2 heads. They didn’t encounter that much of those animals though, and most of them ran when they arrived.

But along the way Ren had mostly seen beautiful things, the long road with the breathtaking forest on both sides gave him a magnificent view of everything. The whole forest was filled with majestic trees that gave off a feeling of ancientness. And the depth of the forest gave off the feeling of endless mystery and danger.

One of the few times he did ask a question, was when he came upon a pretty important piece of information. They were telling him a story about their commander, Lothar… 300 years ago?! This shocked Ren, but he did think he was in another world or dimension, so, why not? Of course, he had not been shocked enough to miss the most important part.

He had lived that long because his cultivation was high!

Cultivating could give you a longer lifespan!

According to legend, you could even become immortal!

This was incredible! If this was true, then Ren might really get a chance to get back home! If he could extend his life by cultivating, he could extend the time he had to look for a way home.

Who knows? Maybe time flowed different here or something?

Anyway, he refused to believe it was impossible! There had to be a way!

And he would find it, and the start of his search would be in that academy. He had no high hopes for it, but even then, he could become stonger and then travel somewhere else to look. He needed strength right now, that was the most important for now. He couldn’t let others decide his fate. Never again!

As the city came into view, all he saw was a wall stretching out on a part of the horizon. They came closer and closer, and the wall towered above them. He wanted to ask why they would need it, but was too busy staring wide-eyed. As they continued, the wall only became more imposing, it had a large tower every 500m, and there were 5 towers! This meant the wall was about 2.5km long!

When they neared, he could see that the wall was actually round. There were 3 gates they could see from afar, and they were headed for the southern one.

As they arrived in front of the city, Ren could see that the walls were actually a whole 100m tall! The gate itself was made up of a large 50m door, with a smaller 5m door to the side. The 50m door was currently closed, and was secured with large chains.

As they arrived, they got priority passage, as they were the forces of the ruling clan. The soldiers had begun clearing the way as soon as they saw the banner. As they passed the soldiers were saluting, and the crowd waiting for entry was staring at the trail of people and carriages entering the city.

Once they got inside, Ren’s carriage was stopped, and he was called out by Lothar. This was the first time since that night that he had seen the commander. The man hadn’t bothered with Ren after assigning him a carriage, he had troops to lead and better things to do.

“well, boy, I’m going to take you to see one of my friends to see about getting you in an academy. I’m guessing you’d rather not go back to a sect?”

Ren shuddered at the question, his time in the Blackblood sect had been more than enough, thank you very much!

Seeing Ren’s reaction, the elder didn’t ask any further, and just motioned him to follow.

Once they walked past the gates, they entered inside a huge city. The city was beautiful! The treets were really wide, and the houses were large, but homely. The houses were orange-beige in color, and had tiled roofs, the windows were covered with wooden window-covers that could be opened or closed, and had all kinds of different, bright colors! Some were yellow, some light-blue, some pure white, in short, it gave a colorful, almost festive atmosphere.

As they walked through these streets, Ren had the feeling he was vacationing in a tropical resort. People walked about, there were food stalls, clothes stalls, people yelling to advertise stores… it was incredibly lively, unlike anything Ren had ever seen. He had to wonder if this was how people sold things before radio, tv, and internet was used…

As they walked on in silence, they arrived at a large gate. After Lothar talked with the guards, they were immediately let in. Once inside, they arrived at a large field, with trees and plants in nice arrangements. There were paths crisscrossing and going to several buildings in the distance. They headed for one of the bigger buildings, which had a large gate at the entrance, and two wings, the eastern and western wings, the eastern one holding the teacher’s dorms, and the western one the offices.

This was nicely marked on the wall, with indications where to go and where not to go. Ren was a bit amazed at this, and even Lothar started laughing upon seeing it. They quickly went west, up some stairs, and arrived at the largest door in the hall.

Lothar immediately barged in, and a loud *swoosh* could be heard, as black smoke spread everywhere! And someone’s curses started spreading just as much.

*cough cough* “F@u%c=k# who is it? Can’t you knock? heavens be damned! wait till i get my hands on you!!”

“Hahahaha still making strange stuff I see, Ruk’kar?” Lothar greeted

“YOU?! You’re back already? Oh heavens, why do you forsake me? There goes my peace and quiet! What are you doing here this time you old invalid?” Ruk’kar groaned, but he was clearly joking.

“Hahaha I come bearing gifts! Gifted gifts!”

Lothar motioned towards Ren, who was looking at both men somewhat strangely.

“Ooh? Gifted you say? He’s too good-looking to be one of yours though! Hahaha”

Ruk’kar laughed as he looked Ren over. He stopped a while at his eyes, but was otherwise unimpressed.

“Doesn’t even cultivate! What, you want him to start now? Although it’s never too late, my academy has a reputation to uphold.”

“Hahaha you’re getting old you bald duck! The kid’s got a unique body! That and as an elder of your academy, you should allow me this much! The kid’s name is Ren, just register him and give him a room would you?” Lothar said, annoyed.

“Yeah, yeah” Ruk’kar said. “Now kid, what’s your name and cultivation? Try being honest with me, that way you’ll be taught what you need to know.”

Ren looked at the man, and said. “Ren, beginning stages of elemental integration.”

He knew he wouldn’t get out of this, and if they really were going to teach him according to his cultivation, he’d better at least be a bit honest. He didn’t tell them the whole truth though, just in case he needed an edge to escape this place.

Hearing the short response, Ruk’kar looked at him a bit strangely.

“You’re going to be calling me headmaster from now on, or just head for short. Go wait outside, I’ll send someone to show you around campus and get you to your dorm.” He said.

“Yes, head” Ren answered, and left the room.

Once Ren was outside, Ruk’kar turned to Lothar.

“So what’s really up with the kid? He’s clearly not your regular happy-go-lucky twelve-year-old! “ He said, giving Lothar a sharp look.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Hehe, so you noticed!” Lothar laughed.

“Hmph, I might be old, but I’m not demented! The kid hides it well, but don’t tell me you didn’t notice his killing intent! Don’t tell me he’s a battle-slave you picked up?” Ruk’kar asked.

“Tsk, no hiding things from you huh? Well, yeah, he is, though his training was clearly not completed, he killed his owner himself!“ Lothar said, with a smirk.

“Oh? He managed to kill his owner? Do you think I’m stupid? There’s no way for a battle-slave to kill his owner just like that! What happened? He came across him when he was half-dead?” Ru’kar while glaring at Lothar, not believing a word.

“Pfh, really, can’t you let me hide a few things from you? Okok, don’t give me that look! He killed an elder from the Blackblood sect who had crippled his cultivation to give a fatal blow to one of the commanders… still, even without cultivation, him killing that elder was quite the achievement! So? What do you think? I know the kid’s not bad, I had him watched by a few trusted subordinates, and although the kid’s quiet, he’s smart and learns quickly.”Lothar quickly explained upon seeing Ruk’kar’s glare.

“Hmph, you should know better by now! Really, how senile do you think I am! Now about the kid… I’ll keep him, for now, doesn’t really matter anyway, we’ve got quite a few empty dorms.” Ruk’kar sighed.

“What?! It doesn’t matter? Why’d you ask all those questions then?” Lothar asked, with an incredulous look on his face.

“Hehe, just to mess with you, and it’s handy if I know where my students come from.” Ruk’kar said with an amazingly smug grin on his face.

Lothar just stared at him, mouth wide open, not knowing what to say. He wanted to scold, insult, just yell! But in the end, he just let out an exasperated sigh, knowing that whatever he did would just further amuse Ruk’kar. He left the room in a bad mood, telling Ren that he had to wait and wishing him good luck before he left.

Ren sat there waiting for 2 hours before the door suddenly opened and the headmaster left his room.

“Oh, you’re still here? Oops, I kind of forgot about you… urhuum, I mean, I was just about to go get someone to show you around! Follow me!” Ruk’kar said, a bit embarrassed. He had been in such a great mood after screwing with Lothar, and had immediately restarted his experiment! Ren just kinda… slipped his mind?

Ren frowned, but didn’t say anything. If anything, this was good! If they didn’t put much importace in him, it was less likely he would have trouble getting away if need be.

As they arrived downstairs, the headmaster quickly yelled at a person at the reception. “Hey, Marinda! Could you go get the student council president of the first years for me?”

Not long after a girl walked in the door, a bit stunned upon seeing the headmaster there.

“Ah,.. uh… i.. uh.. I was called here? Uhmm, sorry, I mean, what can I help you with Headmaster?” she asked, while stuttering, her face completely red.

“Hahaha, no need to be so flustered, euh, well, just show this new student around and bring him to the first year dorms. Just like you he’s a special case and can move in early!” The headmaster said, hesitating a bit before giving up on remembering her name, subtly glossing over it.

Only now did she notice Ren, and looking him over, she was quite astonished when she saw his eyes.

‘So pretty!’ She tought.

As Ren looked at her he was just as astonished! She had green eyes, which was already quite special, but they were cat’s eyes! He had seen a few people with strange eyes before, but most were a lot too big to get a clear view.

Not only that, now that he could look up close he could almost be sure it weren’t just lenses. Quite a few people had them before all this happened to him, though most just used them for parties to make an impression, who knows how different things are here? It could’ve been some fad or something.

But now that the girl was staring at his eyes a bit absentmindedly, he could stare into hers as well. She was about as big as him, around 1m60, though Ren himself didn’t really know, he had never measured his height.

As the girl noticed him staring back at her, she became a bit red, after which she turned around with a *hmph*. “Follow me, I’ll show you around.” She said, and walked off without turning around.

Ren quickly followed after the girl as she showed him around the campus. He had already seen the wall surrounding it, but hadn’t payed much attention to the surrounding scenery. Mainly because he was looking for ways to escape.

But the campus was incredibly beautiful. Large paths made with round white rocks, grass growing everywhere with blue flowers blooming and some trees standing alone between them. The trees were white, with red flowers blooming all over them. The scenery was incredible, and Ren couldn’t believe he had missed that in his anxiousness to look for an escape.

As they walked on, the girl showed him around, introducing each building they encountered. The first building they encountered was a large wooden building with several large rooms for indoor training. Inside were wooden floors and racks filled with wooden weapons for training. the building only had 1 floor.

The building behind that one was where the theoretical classes took place, it was about as big as the teacher’s building, and had 2 floors, the building had actual stone walls, but still a wooden roof. All the buildings reminded Ren of buildings you’d see in japan or china, but without the decorations you’d expect. The pillars were more like what you’d see in Rome, and there were tapestries on the wall depicting battles between men, between men and giant beasts, and a large one of a white tiger kept coming back.

Ren didn’t actually get to see much, the girl, seemingly annoyed, kept walking after introducing the buildings, causing Ren to always have to catch up to her.

As they finally arrived at the dorms, a place where 4 buildings were standing in a circle, with a large fountain in the middle, she finally stopped.

“These are the dorms for the first to the fourth years. You’ll stay in the northern building that’s the one for the first years this year. There may be a few fourth years that still have to move out, so don’t cause trouble. Don’t forget that you cannot enter the left side, those are the girl’s dorms! If you need me, just ask at the desk in front.”

After that she moved to the desk to get his key, which she then handed to him while they both thanked the attendant.

“You’re lucky, you got a room in the back away from most noise, and with a good view! Make sure not to lose your key, it’s expensive to replace.”

After saying so she quickly left to her room, leaving Ren to find his way on his own. She hadn’t once looked straight at him since they left the teacher’s building.

Ren quickly asked the attendant at the desk where his room was, after which he quickly found it. It was on the second floor, the room in the corner of the building. This made the room slightly larger than the others, and gave him a view on two sides. And what a view! He could see a whole field filled with flowers and the occasional tree. There was always a lot of space between the trees, making it so that he could see the walls that were about 20m away, but even so, the view was quite amazing.

As he entered his room, he was amazed to see a real bed! Not one of those small beds with a hard, disgusting mattress, but a bed that could fit 2, with an incomparably soft mattress! He couldn’t help but sigh deeply when he saw that. What luxury!

He looked around, enjoying the view from the windows, and then looked at the rest of his room. He had a bathroom, but it was a lot better than before, with a large tub, and hot and cold water. They actually had warm water! Ren immediately washed himself, dried off, and jumped straight into bed.

Lying there, he couldn’t help but hope things would stay this good. But still, he was prepared for the worst! He couldn’t help it, when he was in the Blackblood sect, he had his hopes crushed so many times, hoping for something was something he couldn’t afford. He wouldn’t have survived if he had kept getting his hopes crushed. So he stopped hoping altogether, it was just another of those feelings he had learned to suppress.

After enjoying the feeling for a while, he slowly fell asleep, only to jump up again soon afterwards. Sweat rained down his back, and he almost screamed out, only stopping himself at the last moment. He had dreamt about his time in the sect, a dream he had been having since he escaped. At first he would jump up and run out of his tent, only calming down when he saw the trees alongside the road. By now he was used to it, used to that dream that always ended with that wounded elder attacking or surprising him in some way or another.