Chapter 340 - Realm Of Abezan.

"Wait, no Mana?!" Blaze, being the most sensitive to Mana, perked up on Ozul's words.

He was right! There was no Mana in the air!

Blaze looked around confused and a little embarrassed that he didn't even realize such a drastic change around him.

He wasn't alone in his embarrassment, those geniuses from all over the continent were also in the dark until Ozul mentioned it. It couldn't be helped, after all, they were so lost in the confusion of everything that was happening that they didn't even notice that the air did not have Mana anymore.

They all murmured in confusion and directed their eyes towards the only two people in the room who could clear their questions.

"Haha, don't be confused, everyone. We are here precisely to clear your confusion and introduce you to this new world," the young man spoke with excitement.

"So hurry up! Humans, don't waste my time!" The Sovereign, now in human form, could no longer bear it. She erupted in rage, hurling it at practically everything in her path. If she could, she would have already started burning everything to ashes!

Alas, there was a little problem. She wasn't able to use any of her powers, nor change back to her original form!

She was not only trapped in her human form, but she was also powerless. Her years as the ruler of all Beasts made it difficult for her to take this disgrace in stride.

"Calm down, girl. This attitude may not serve you well in the future," The old man, who had his eyes closed, spoke to her without turning his head. It was as if he was warning everyone in the room, not just her.

Resentment clouded her mind, but the Sovereign still didn't let that steer her actions and decided to let it slide for now. What could she even do? The once strongest being on the Continent of Egon was reduced to this powerless woman right now.

"Haha, Elder, you know how the Beastkin are at first..." The young man chimed in, bringing the mood back to life.

"Beastkin or not, none shall be allowed to be disrespectful. They must first earn it," His hands were still calmly resting on the wooden stick as he replied in a severe tone.

Meanwhile, Ozul tried to make sense of everything they said. Beastkin wasn't a thing back in their previous world. 'By his words, it means that there are many Beastkin like her,' he concluded.

Before returning to the main topic, the young man coughed, "Now, let's get back to the matter at hand. Yes, as you have all suspected. This isn't the same world you used to live in." He let those words sink in since his 'clarification' had left them with more questions than answers.

"What do you mean, it's not our world?! Are we really in heaven?" Zier couldn't help but question. 

"Heaven?" The young man smiled softly as he gazed at Zier "pfft! I can't say I blame you for thinking that way. That's what the majority of people believe when they first come here."

"Pay attention to what I'm saying. Except for the Holy Land of Providence, there is no Heaven!" Even the old man nodded earnestly when the young man spoke with such reverence in his voice "What exactly is this world? It's a land brimming with possibilities! It's called Abezan, and it's one of the numerous realms that exist in the worship of the Holy Land of Providence."

"The Howling Province is the name of this particular region. It's a crucial part of the Abezan realm since it's here that we link with the 'broken worlds' and bring exceptional people like you out of them."

"What do you mean by broken worlds? Was our previous world broken?" Raven came forward with a question. As she asked, others also eagerly awaited the young man's answer. Were all of them living in just a broken world before? 

"We don't call them broken because they aren't working correctly," he paused before responding, "but rather because they were once part of other worlds, such as the realm of Abezan."

"They were once merely fragments of land that fell out of the realms and established their own Realm Ego, according to history. These Realm Egos are powerful enough to support life on these newly constructed worlds, although being much weaker than genuine realms."

"Hence we call them broken worlds. The world where you came from is also a broken world."

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled, when the young man ended. They were all wary of this new knowledge, but given what had happened, it was most likely true. As for how much of it was true, they couldn't be sure.

Before Raven could ask about the mentioned Realm Ego, this time Ozul spoke up, "Why do you need to bring people out of the broken worlds?" 

"That... no one really knows," the elderly guy, who had been standing with his eyes closed the entire time, eventually opened them a little, stared at Ozul for a second, and sighed.

Even the young man gave a forced smile. Many people pulled out of the broken worlds would have this question at some point. Unfortunately, no one had an answer for them.

"What exactly do you mean?" Ozul squinted his eyes suspiciously for the first time. He couldn't see right through these individuals. He had no way of knowing if they were telling the truth or lying to him. Despite this, he didn't have any doubts regarding their earlier description of the world.

"These have always been orders from people above us. We might not know, but no one is stopping you to find the reason yourself, young man," the old man shrugged.

The young man took a step forward and said, "I realize you all have valid reasons to be skeptical of us. However, we can't really do anything about it. Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. We're simply carrying out our responsibilities."

Ozul clicked his tongue in displeasure. He despised the fact that he had suddenly lost his most valuable ability, the ability to see through all living beings.

"Anyway, there is no reason for us to lie. We, of the original realms, think of people from the broken worlds as dragon eggs," the young man paused and swept his gaze at everyone as if judging their worth, "Most of you die before you can even 'hatch'. But those who do, soar through the sky and become true powerhouses of the realms."

This boosted everyone's self-esteem. They had survived until now and made it here, did they not? They considered themselves to be the chosen ones. Except for Zier, who clearly recognized that the only reason he was living right now was a sheer stroke of fate that allowed him to meet Ozul.

Ozul, on the other hand, focused on the part where most of them died before hatching. It was then that he realized. 'There is no Mana... That means everyone will have to start over...' the thought made him widen his eyes.

If that was the case, he would have to train Raven and Blaze from scratch! That ultimately meant doing his own 'chores'! Not only was the Starlight here much more intense and annoying than before, now he wouldn't even have time to take 'small naps'!

"Would you mind explaining?" he asked, desperately hoping they wouldn't have to start over. Blaze could have sworn he saw him struggling to say that.

This time again, the old man focused on Ozul and slowly stroked his beard, "Just as you guessed, young man."

"This is a dog-eat-dog world, not much different to your previous one-"

"What's the big deal? I guess I'll just have to crush everyone in my path, right?" Berk cut off the Elder. The anguish and grief of losing Maura had not yet subsided in him.

Despite the fact that the Elder didn't seem pleased to be interrupted, he nodded quietly in agreement.

The young man noticed that the Elder wasn't going to explain now and sighed. He wasn't paid to teach these people basic manners. If Ozul could feel his emotions right now, he would know that this young man wanted nothing more than to get this over with as soon as possible.

"There is just a little problem in that," he spoke to Berk.

"What?"

"How will you trample over every opponent when you are even weaker than gatekeepers here?"

Except for Ozul's, his question raised many eyebrows. It was enough for him to realize that the days ahead were not going to be as easy as he had wanted. 

"Right now, all of you are pathetically weak. Mana, the energy you rely on, isn't even present in the air. How are you going to cultivate your bodies? As it stands right now, even a single guard outside can best you," the last sentence was directed towards Berk.

"No way! I still have Mana in my Core!" Berk shouted in disbelief.

"And how long will that last you? Though even with that, you can try fighting the guard outside. This happens every once in a while, the guards are used to it by now. Go ahead, try if you want to."

The young man stared at Berk with amusement. He knew they wouldn't believe him until they saw it with their own eyes.

Berk snorted and strode confidently out of the room. Although there was no Mana in the air, his reserves were more than sufficient to deal with a single guard!

While everyone hoped the young man was exaggerating, Ozul sat in his corner of the room, his fears about the future drowning him, his face as gloomy as it could get.