"Earth, huh?"
Syalt looked through the mental images one of the gods had sent to him. They contained various information about the world that would be his home.
According to the images, Earth was a rather small blue planet that circled a similarly small star the universe's inhabitants otherwise called as the Sun.
It also contained many other trivial facts that would help him get acclimated to the huge cultural difference it had with his home. Though Syalt wasn't too confident of being able to replicate them to the T.
In a few hours, he would soon find himself in a world completely different from his home. One that had chosen to work on the path of technology, rather than harnessing the hidden Aether around them.
Syalt couldn't exactly blame them. The Aether wasn't something that could be perceived with the five basic human senses, and instead required another, more hidden sense.
This was where he would spend the last remaining year of his life, before he would permanently kill his soul, and move on to the afterlife.
He was also given a choice by Tresroot. He could pick from any of the 195 countries that occupied the planet to be where he would start his new life.
Syalt sifted through the vast number of countries, picking out the ones that seemed like they could entertain him the most during his short stay.
The difference between each and every country surprised him. How could something so small have so much influence on the world?
Size didn't seem to matter here, unlike how he was taught.
The almost crippling amount of information took even Syalt, who prided himself on being a quick learner, more than an hour to grasp.
And that didn't even account for all of their unique aspects, such as their cuisine or their principal religions.
He mostly just skimmed their histories, along with a short overview of their general lives and the situation their country was in.
Still, the time that Mortissus had allotted for Syalt to research on the blue planet was running out. If he didn't pick one, there was a chance that he would be sent into an unfavorable country, and then spend a great deal of time actually heading to the one he wanted to go to.
And with the clock's hand soon reaching the hour, Syalt let out a faint and muted call of the country he would head to.
Hearing this, Mortissus stood up from his throne.
"I see you have made your decision. Are you truly satisfied with this, Syalt?"
"I am."
"In that case, may you enjoy your next life. Have a great time on Earth."
Mortissus snapped his fingers, and with that, Syalt's body began disintegrating.
The next time he woke up, he would be in a completely different world.
***
"Urkk…"
His eyes opened gradually. It was like he had two pairs of weights on them, both that were tremendously out of his weight range.
But still, he struggled to just about bring his right eye half-open. He was in a bed, lying on his left side, and as such could only raise one of his eyelids. He would have to get up if he wanted the other eye open.
Groaning, Syalt subconsciously reached out his free arm. The one that was buried underneath his body felt like it was disconnected from his torso.
His hands slowly made contact with a thin layer of glass. Feeling the object, Syalt noticed it was in the shape of a somewhat wider U.
"Ah, these must be my glasses. If I remember correctly, they're used to enhance a person's vision. The person I must've replaced was probably almost blind, because this thing felt like it magnified my vision by twice."
After a few minutes forcing his body to move beyond a few inches, Syalt was finally able to get a good view on what he was working with.
Simply put, it didn't look too good. The room was small, the walls were decaying, and the roof looked like it would collapse at any moment.
The interior didn't seem too good either. The only piece of furniture was a small table, but it wasn't any better. It was somehow standing on three legs.
This pitiful excuse of a room couldn't even be compared to the worst the inns in Syalt's old world could offer.
His "bed", was actually a pathetic combination of a plastic bag and a tattered piece of unrecognizable cloth. Was this from a blanket, or a shirt? Syalt didn't want to know.
He still tidied it up the way he was showed to, but there was a feeling that welled up inside him, telling him to just leave it like that.
But after finally getting up, Syalt decided to search through the room for any signs that may help him remember what kind of person he was before.
After a bit of examining, Syalt had picked up a small brown object made of leather. It could be opened up, and inside were some paper bills and a few coins.
The money system back in Syalt's old world was different. Unlike on Earth where people primarily used paper bills as currency, his solely relied on metallic coins to trade, with the occasional bartering.
And the object in his hands was later identified as a wallet, something that people in this world had used a long time ago to store their valuables.
Seeing as how the wallet was basically empty, other than for a few bills that probably didn't amount to much, Syalt decided to put the wallet back, but not before taking out a small plastic card.
Looking into it, Syalt analyzed the card.
"Finally. Something to help me figure out who this person was."
[AKUZU, SYALT]
[27, M]
The first two lines were the most important. It seemed like this person shared the same name as him. Which was weird, since Syalt wasn't a common name at all.
He was 27 years old, which Syalt had heard was somewhere in the prime of a normal human's life.
But then he looked around. And then he scoffed.
"Prime? Give me a break."
He then spent a bit reading through the whole card. By the end of it, he was able to obtain some useful information.
He was Akuzu Syalt, with Akuzu being his surname. He currently resided in [*** ****** ******], and was single.
And judging from the short flashback he had received after reading the card, Syalt was a poor man. Both figuratively and literally.
He was recently fired from his job because of some allegations of sexual harrassment, though Syalt himself couldn't remember if he actually did it or not.
But still, this confirmed his thoughts. He was reincarnated in Japan, one of Earth's most influential countries.
He remembered reading somewhere that the competition for work here was supposedly very harsh. Along with many unspoken rules that the general populace followed, Syalt felt like he would stick out like a sore thumb.
"It's not good to just sit here. I need to quickly think up a plan to get myself back on my feet, if I really want to enjoy this year."
"And to help with that… I should still have them with me, right?"
Syalt began concentrating. Sweat began pouring out from his pores, and his hand was visibly trembling.
But after a few seconds, a ball of fire ignited in his palm, lighting up the room in an orange glow.
"I knew it. They allowed me to keep my powers."
Syalt had questioned the gods' decision on this. He was known as the world's strongest man, and he could most likely take this world down if he wanted to.
Maybe there were some restrictions on it? Syalt didn't really plan on using them to fight, but instead to make his life easier.
He then concentrated his mind again. And soon, water began bubbling up from his other hand. The same went with Earth, Wind, and many of the other elements.
But then, he hit a wall.
"I knew it. There is a restriction. I can't cast Second Realm spells."
The Stages of Power back in Syalt's world were otherwise known as the Realms. There were Nine in total, but Syalt believed there was one more.
The power levels would shift dramatically the higher on the Realm charts you were. For example, a First Realmer could cast a small water ball, but then a Second Realmer would be able to conjure a rapidly flowing stream from their hand.
"I don't mind though. First Realm spells should be enough to get me by."
Soon, the fire in his hand was put out, and the water in his other evaporated into thin air.
What replaced the fire was a wind current that flowed along his body, much like water.
"Now then. I should do some cleaning."
