"What makes someone strong?"
A young girl wearing a tunic and possesing bountiful muscles for a child her age asked.
Replying her own question,she shouted
"Physical strength must be it.Have you seen the people from the eastern continent fight?Some of the greatest among them are known to slay dragons,though I have only heard about it....That's why I go with my dad to chop wood,so I can have big bodies just like them!"
"That's indeed what a muscle-brained freak would say...
You do know a vast majority of the world's strongest use mana and sorcery and not the internal arts of qi,right?
That's why I spend all day studying with my mother about mana and magic theory,though us....
'forsaken' folk can't exactly use it.
For now atleast.
I don't waste my time building muscles when I could demolish a giant with a flick of my wand "
A small boy with black hair,large eyebrows and thick,black glasses and a scar across his cheek said.
Just before the tunic-clad girl could retort,
A well-dressed and tall boy with scarlet hair and thin hands said
"It's obviously intelect,you can get as big as a boulder or become as skilled as a Contour knight from the central citadel,
But the ones ruling over you and leading you to wars would be the tacticians and ministers,The ones hiring you would be rich merchants and the ones supplying your weapons will be the intelluctal distributers.
We cannot utilize mana,master sorcery or circulate qi but we can work our brains to compete with those who can."
Suddenly the tunic-clad girl spoke up
"You do know we too can start to use magic,though only if Knight Kurt continu...''
"No,the answer is the ability to create or operate the world's greatest means of movement"
A young man with curled hair and tanned,brown skin stated with a great deal of finality,attracting the children's attention towards him.
"By the greatest,I mean public transport!
The ability to build great trams,metros and regional trains and integrate them into a world-class transport system to provide great,cheap and convinient logistics to citizens is what allows one to exert their influence upon the world!"
The young man's face lit up and his eyes beamed.He was clearly proud of his statement.
The children tried their best to ignore the young man.
It was quite common for people who signed up for the mana-enrichment program to display mental fatigue and bouts of unstability as side-effects.
It was a small price to pay,for people like them who were born forsaken-
The miracle drugs,simply called 'Miracle medicine'
-provided by the visiting Contour knight,Kurt Karlon,from the central citadel-
could build a mana core in a mana-deficient body.
The young man thankfully left without creating too much hassel.
Manav had better things to do.
The place where I first landed in this world was desolate and dry. It was only because [The System] had provided me with
{Elixer of health-Grade II}
as a level up reward,that I had managed to survive despite my grievous wounds from the battle-
if one could call it that...
with the Goblin duke.
Actually I hope no-one saw that fight or my encounter with the Behemoth.I had shamelessly run with my tail between my legs....twice but hey,I did almost die and face an unimaginably great horror within minutes of gaining sentience,while having to deal with a scattered sense of identity and a horrid headache.
...maybe I will erase this humiliation by ending that Behemoth one day...I could also fulfill his request...
Crap!I shouldn't remember it again and again.Its bad for my sanity!
Merely remembering something shouldn't be hazardous,but one can also never be too sure about common reasoning regarding eldritch horrors.
After the encounters,It was still increadibly unpleasant,The terrain was still terrible and desolate.It was only by luck,will and a tinge of...madness did I survive.
Luckily I did manage to find a small village and meet his new companion-Luster and gained some great insight into the world of mana thanks to 'elder'
It was also Manav's,my first time...killing another.
With Luster I traversed the treacherous terrain of the continent to reach the port city.
-Citadel of the lost-
'What an ominous name'
The city was very old and looked dated and unkempt,even for a medieval city.There were some brick houses on large streets but most were informal huttements which only gave basic shelter.I felt some nostalgia,but once again I chose to suppress some memories.
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So far I realised a few things:
-The new world was similar to a 'fantasy' manga or comic from my own world,eerily so in fact.
Like many things, it was simply called 'The World' by it's residents.
-I had luckily encountered another generic troupe,
[The system]
[The system] gave me detailed descriptions of items and materials I encountered and had a whole host of quality-of-life features
and was very similar to a video games's interface.
It gave me rewards whenever he leveled up,It allowed me to avoid particularly dangerous areas by issuing alerts whenever he came close to an abomination or abominations which were a threat to my-Oh so precious!-life,
It gave me a detailed account of my own physical state alongside many other massive benefits.
Infact,It even gave me a mini-map of the local surronding and allowed me to peer into the stats of other living beings.
Most conviniently,it translated the languages I encountered.
Though not perfectly,what it did manage was good enough,I have no right to complain.
After all,only by the system's grace had I survived so long.
-Despite the world's magical nature,The continent where I landed was dry and barren.
It's inhabitants were unable to use mana,many of them were much more clueless then even a newbie like me was.
In the village where I first arrived,most were unaware of even basic knowledge like the existence of mana or the continent where they lived.
Luckily,A knowledgeably elder gave me some basic instructions and requested Manav to take the old hunchback's pupil with him.Somehow the elder even knew that I was reincarnated from anothr world.
The elder's pupil was quite an oddity,actually he could even be called an impossibility.
He could use magic!
Despite being born forsaken he somehow could manipulate mana to an extent but...
He was a bit of a wimp.Increadibly cowardly and unconfident,he was a significant liability on my harrowing but manageable journey to the port city.On top of that his looks were...a bit eccentric.
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Soon a lot of the city's forsaken gathered around,Their eyes shone brightly as they gazed upon an unbelievely beautiful lady,who was glancing upon an assortment of basic souveniers in a slightly downtroden shop.
Most people of the continent were malnourished and stunted,It was not their fault though.
Food was just that difficult to access.
But the woman infront of them was different-
Her face looked like pure marble,her eyes were a captivating porcelain grey,her hair was cut short but shone with a dim white glow,despite hair's nature of being incandescent,she was quite short but it only served to make her figure more adorable.
She was a real beauty,even the nobles might have had a hard time encountering such an elegant and graceful woman.Forget the starved and unhealthy forsaken populace.
But Manav knew better.
The beautiful woman was infact the pupil that the elder had...dumped on him.
Yes,the elegant woman was actually a fourteen-year old boy.
'Never judge a book by it's cover'
Manav thought remembering all the peril the little bastard had put his caretaker through due to his pitifully weak will and absence of any bravery whatsoever.Well it wasn't exactly the petite boy's fault but still ...Manav was irritated at him.
The boy's name was Luster but Manav prefered calling him 'Little bastard' from now on.
The little bastard rushed towards his caretaker,who was standing in a back alley and tried his best to avoid attracting any attention.
"Mister...thanks a lot for the three coppers!
With this mask,atleast now my....looks wont attract any unwanted ...intreast!"
The little bastard said weakly.He was a lot more tired than Manav due to his face attracting lots of people,who he had to try his best to avoid.It was also the village boy's first time in a big city and he had to adjust quickly to the new life.
A large weight was lifted off the little bastard's shoulders though.
Using the three coppers his caretaker gave him he bought an artifact to cover his face.
It was quite an unique item,Three long indentations streached across the mask vertically.There were also three gaps in the mask for both eyes and the... nose,for some reason.
The little bastard quickly put on the strange mask adorned with wood,he was quite elated.
Manav was also relieved,the city had a significant slave trade problem.It wasn't too difficult to imagine what could happen to lil'bastard if he continued to stand out so much,he had some moral obligation to protect him too.
Manav quickly moved on to the next agenda-
I put my mind to work.I had to earn money,lots of it.
My great and amicable public transport-related ambitions required an increadible amount of resources.I could not just summon public transport from thin air as I had so increadibly done while in the palms of the Goblin duke.
Constructing something new required an increadible amount of mana,which I luckily did possess,to an extent atleast.
But it would still be needless effort.
It was just easier to assemble or manipulate existing resources to fit my transit-oriented needs.
My [Constructer] designation does allow for such an arrangement.I also have something very important to do...
I have to deal with whatever devious scheme the Cunt...Contour knight named Kurt is planning.
'Kurt karlon,was the name right?...How the hell did a knight from a fantasy world get ahold of crystal methe?!'