The situation in the room was as expected. Everyone was shocked not just because of the soldier's attitude, but also because of the words "a name ancient". The generals, of course, are among the few who know about the ancient language.
It took a few seconds, but the generals eventually recovered when Lan walked into the room. The generals all stood up and greeted Lan individually. Lan cared not for most of them, but a few gave him a strange feeling he could not ignore. It felt like lifeforce, strong lifeforce, which touched the karma even though none of these generals have a destiny ranking; they touched karma.
There is only one explanation for this: someone granted them this power. Lan thought this interesting, but not enough to fully catch his attention. Instead, he turned his attention to the room, which the generals noticed. The room looked like a medieval fantasy war room, banners of different factions lined the walls, the floor and walls were made of strong wood, and from the roof in the middle of the room dangled a small chandelier directly above a large table.
"Say what you needed to say quickly; my time is valuable." The generals were taken aback. They could tell that they were stronger right now, and they knew the human knew it too. But they quickly recovered once they realised that his arrogance is warranted with not only his natural right but also his name.
After the generals exchanged a few glances, a single one of them stepped forward. It was a general from a race called Firak, a race with features similar to humans, with the addition of having a single horn on their forehead. "I greet thee, Destined Lord with a name great. I am Tordain of the Aerdent Tower."
Hearing this, Lan finally turned his full attention to them. "Aerdent Tower, you say? Alright, now I'm interested, speak." Hearing this, Tordain felt a bit proud of himself; after all, he was the only one who got a reaction.
Tordain, clearly a lot more confident, started talking. "Once we heard of you, we couldn't help but ask for your presence, and possibly even ask for your assistance with a task we have wanted to accomplish for 150 years now." 150 is a long time for a human, but Lan knew better than to be shocked at this. After all, even just those in the Karmic Child realm can live for 280 years, not counting the lifespan one gains from their race.
"I see, speak of this task." They're all beings of authority, and those who have a high position are always tired of the schemes of those below them. It was easier to communicate if one was direct.
The generals were clearly overjoyed that Lan was willing to hear them out. And so Tordain explained the situation in full. It turns out that they have their own schemes. Some Destined Lords have gone rogue and started forcing mortals to do as they please, not caring for them at all and killing those who refuse their orders.
The generals wanted to help Lan grow in power with the knowledge and resources they held in exchange for Lan helping them get rid of these few Destined Lords. Lan asked why the other Destined Lords don't do anything, and Tordain just shook his head. "They don't care as long as those Destined Lords keep providing them with soldiers for the wall's defence."
Lan thought about the deal and came to a decision quite easily. He still clung to the morals he held in his previous life. So he chose to help. "Alright, I'll help you, but I will only interact with the Aerdent Tower." He still had to keep his pride, so only interacting with the faction which shares name with him makes sense.
The generals were overjoyed at the revelation. They quickly came up with training plans and stuff to help Lan achieve the best training he could in the shortest amount of time possible.
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Two days have passed since the agreement, and the generals kept their word. It was the best training they could manage. The news of Lan's appearance has been suppressed very easily since the generals were the highest rank at the wall.
Lan's talent with the sword was quite literally divine. He absorbed everything like a sponge. Combined with the best instructors of the Aerdent tower, the Farik general Tordain had procured, Lan was flying through the training.
With all that combined, Lan has accumulated enough karma that he could start absorbing it with no drawbacks. Thanks to this, he is on the threshold of the Karmic child realm faster than even he expected, not that he would admit it.
He had not yet broken through to the Karmic Child realm, as that requires a story. a story that anchors his very existence to karma. He plans to have the most magnificent story he can achieve, which obviously means it will be very grand.
Right now, Lan is at the training grounds honing his sword skills. "498... 499... 500." He swung a 50 KG sword repeatedly. His strength was already beyond human by the standards of his previous world. As he finished, a Firak woman walked up to him.
"Lord Lan, our preparations are complete for next week." Lan nodded and spoke. "The rogue Destined Lords are more stupid than I expected. Dahnar, fetch my gear. I'm going hunting beyond the wall. I've felt a strange trace of Karma, possibly a hidden treasure."
Dahnar the Firak woman nodded. All the people assigned to Lan grew used to his powerful sensing capabilities, and thus she went to fetch his gear without asking any questions, as she knew he was guaranteed to be right once again.
Lan watched as Dahnar went to fetch his gear and thought that it was a shame she had not managed to gain a Destiny Ranking. Dahnar was extremely talented with the sword; even the current Aerdent tower's general cannot beat her in pure skill. The only reason she is not the general is that the current one wants to keep her away from the Destined Lord of the Aerdent tower.
Lan had not asked why; they wished to keep it a secret so he wouldn't force them to tell him. Why bother with mortals who will never touch upon even a fraction of the strength he will gain soon? His excellence will soon overwhelm this whole nation.
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Lan stood before the great wall, planning his story of karmic origin. Soon, he locked onto the trace he felt and quickly ran in the direction of the trace. His speed, already superhuman, continued to increase at an alarming rate. Besides the actual Karmic realms, there exist the karmic professions. He stepped onto the Swordsman path and reached the first level a day ago.
Karmic professions are not exclusive to people with Destiny Ranking, but it's nearly impossible to step onto the paths unless one can feel Karma and therefore anchor their achievements with the profession onto the path.
Three hours of running later, Lan has reached the trace. He arrived before a ruined tower; by reading the Karma, he can discern that it has collapsed only recently, approximately two days ago. It's a tower of Horlun craftsmanship.
Horlun are a race that once also bore Destiny Ranking at birth, but they were betrayed by the son of their leader 200 years ago, and everyone except the leader and his son lost their Destiny Ranking. This tower, judging by the karmic traces, is an inheritance that one of the Horlun left in this place around 937 years ago.
As for how Lan knows all this? He hasn't only trained he has also studied ancient and current races and factions, hierarchy and history of the walled nation, which is called Rahenlev.
Upon closer inspection, Lan also found out that this specific Horlun has either ascended to a higher realm or died based on the karmic ties. Karmic ties refer to a connection between two beings or things that share Karma. For example, he shares karmic ties with Tordain and the rest of the generals and Dahnar.
Lan is sure that the Horlun has died. Why is he so sure? Because no one can ascend from this realm. The barrier around it is too powerful to break through for a mere Karmic Child realm practitioner. You may ask: Why is Lan so calm about the fact that the barrier is standing in his way to greatness? The answer is easy, He can bypass it. How, you may ask? Just read further, this is a book, not an info dump.
Once Lan was done examining the tower from the outside, he entered. The door opened easily, but Lan knew that if he had not been someone with a Destiny Ranking, the door wouldn't budge. There were multiple techniques woven into the door that made sure that only Destined Lords could open it.
Upon opening the door, the first thing he noticed was how clean and not at all damaged the inside of the tower was. The tower had walls made of white stone called ritz, the only thing inside were spiral stairs that led both up and down. The stairs were slightly inclined down towards the back. Lan guessed this was just the Horlun's who made this design choice, as he hadn't read about this anywhere.
The stairs were so attention-catching that Lan activated his Karmic vision. He noticed that the stairs were made that way because they bore karmic pressure that he hadn't noticed till now because of how weak it was. He guessed this was a measure placed in case a mortal managed to get past the door.
He decided to continue with his karmic vision activated; he could learn a lot more from an actual practitioner than mortals. Once he arrived upstairs, he noticed a hole in the wall. This is the first sign of damage since he entered, even though from the outside, the tower was almost completely collapsed. He examined the hole and found that he couldn't see outside.
Lan easily concluded that the inside of this tower is in a separate space, and the outside is just for appearances. He stopped examining the hole and turned his attention to the only other thing in the room, a desk with only a book on it; the book was open. Lan read the first line he could see 'Karmic Intent theory, a concept most think nonexistent, but I know it is real.' "This Horlun guy wasn't all that bad for someone of this realm." The Karmic intent theory was something someone of this realm theorised.
The theory is about a concept that Karmic professions can evolve if someone is extremely suited and dedicated to their path. And it's true, it was in the knowledge Lan had received when he first appeared here.
"Maybe seeing the whole thing will be worth it." Lan smirked finally something interesting in this tiny realm. "I'm honoured you think so, child." A voice was heard resounding throughout the tower; it was raspy and weak. "You must be the Horlun who built this tower." Lan concluded.
"Yes, and no, I am only a remnant that I left behind tied to my dead karma." Replied the remnant. "I see, to think someone this talented was born in this realm. What a waste of talent." Lan said, slightly interested. "Fate has not been kind to me indeed." Said the remnant, and, after a pause, continued. "Could you please descend into the basement? I have a few questions, and talking to you when you're so far from me is draining."
Lan sensed no hostility, so he agreed and descended after taking the book with him. Once he got down the stairs, there was a door. Lan opened it with no problems, and once he saw what was inside, he grew excited. A massive grin showed on his face.
Before him lay a skeleton, and above it floated a golden dead Karma, the Karma of miracles.