Tsuyoshi's POV:
My name is Tsuyoshi and I am so screwed right now.
Long ago, I used to be a very successful warlord. For the longest time, the 2nd martial continent has been in a state of near constant upheaval with whole empires rising and falling in a matter of years. In such conditions, it might not be much of a surprise that warlords and the like were popping up all over the continent by the dozens. However, though I might be tooting my own horn here, I'd say I was rather famous during my time. Had I continued my efforts back then, I may have eventually ended up the emperor of my own empire one day, but unlike the many fools before and after me, by a stroke of luck, I ended up stumbling over the truth behind the state of our continent.
Within this world, there are countless unfathomable monsters, some of which are so powerful they could singlehandedly end the world, most of which currently reside on the 3rd martial continent. Gods, demons, mythical beasts and heavenly immortals, these things exist and their power boggles the imagination. However, with such great power, when the mere collateral of a direct clash could destroy the world, how should they conduct themselves when two world ending calamities come into conflict? The answer is the 2nd martial continent. Rather than clashing directly, they go through proxies on a far away land, puppet nations led by their representatives in a continental-sized game of chess. In the eyes of those monsters, even an emperor would be nothing more than a pawn on the board that could be discarded at any time.
The 2nd martial continent, the nations, the sects, the wars and conflicts, it's all meaningless. For victory is reserved for the player, not the pawns. Even if you fight on the winning-side and survive the first game, it is only a matter of time until the board resets and you are left with nothing but ruin and a fleeting memory of a victory that no longer belongs to you.
Upon realizing this truth, I chose to become a hermit, relinquishing my land and position before I caught the eye of the players, and the privilege I held became shackles that tethered me to the grim fate of a mere game piece. Instead of wasting my life living and dying as another's pawn, I spent the next century focusing my efforts on cultivating my own personal strength in silence while avoiding conflict to whatever extent possible. The idea was by withdrawing myself from the center stage and not ruffling any feathers, I would be able to avoid being drawn into the games of the almighty raging across the continent until the day when I have accumulated enough power to remove myself from the board entirely.
Unfortunately, before I could achieve this, it would seem that I have been dragged back into the world stage once more.
"Be grateful, for you have all been given an opportunity of a lifetime!"
Though I mostly live in seclusion these days, I occasionally pay a visit to certain human settlements. As much as I'd like to simply cultivate in isolation for the next century, there are at least three issues that prevent this.
Firstly, advances in cultivation often require certain resources, like magic stones, alchemy pills, special herbs, or even certain types of artifacts, many of which can often be bartered for inside a city.
Secondly, there is the matter of acquiring information. You'd think living in isolation would mean having no interactions with the outside world but sadly, it is not that simple. When you live in a land where the average person can bench-press a building and all the maps have to be changed on the regular due to the near constant rise and fall of entire nations, you will need at least some awareness if you do not wish to wake up the sound of your residence exploding because you happened to be within a mile's radius of the nearest warzone. Fortunately for me, most of what I wish to know is usually either public knowledge or something I can gleamed from widely discussed topics, like changes to the map's boarders, war and/or propaganda that might hint towards it, and pretty much any big event involving ten or more people happening near me.
Finally, there is the matter of rations. Though I can survive a relatively long period without it, I am not at a stage where I can forgo the consumption of food entirely. I could of course procure it myself through hunting and foraging, but that is not always an option due to the occasional drought and such. Also, it's a lot of work and I'm a terrible cook, so it's much easier to just buy the food instead.
Unfortunately, it was during one of those food runs when it happened.
"What the hell is that?"
It happened during one of my food runs. I had just finished pawning off some magical beast pelts from my last hunt and was on my way to purchase the dry rations I'd be living on for the next year and maybe a quick stop at a restaurant if there is anything left over, when suddenly, the sky was tinted in a purple hue as some kind of barrier encompassed the whole settlement. After which, a man clad in flashy enchanted armor descended into the middle of town.
"All the men in this city are hereby conscripted to serve as soldiers of our army! As for the women and children, they will be relocated to a safe location until the war's end! Refusal to comply will not be permitted!"
"Hey, who the hell-! GET OFF ME!!!"
"Mommy! I'm scared!"
Soon after the announcement, a number of golems started emerging from the barrier which proceeded to "relocate" or kidnap the women and children.
"HEY, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO MY FAMILY?!"
"Citizens are advised to remain calm! For your own safety, none-combatants are to comply with the security golems! Citizens are advised to remain calm!..." The golems repeated on loop as they grabbed the women and children off the street.
"GET THE HELL OFF MY WOMAN!" Shouted a man as he formed an ice-spike around his fist and attempted to pierce the golem's head.
*Smash*
Unfortunately for him, it would seem the golems were made from rather sturdy materials as the ice shattered against it's head without making as much as a scratch.
"None-compliance recognized! Threat detected!"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY WIFE YOU-!"
*Swish*
Suddenly, one of the golems hands retracted into its arm and was replaced by a blade which it proceeded to swing vertically towards the man before quickly swapping back to it's normal hand.
"Threat eliminated!"
*Trickle**Trickle*
Soon after, a red line appeared on the man's body, oozing with ever growing amounts of blood as his body began splitting in two, leaving his cultivation core floating in place.
*Scream*
Normally, this would be the part where the man would utilize the perk of being a nascent soul to return as an energy ghost, however…
*Crack**Shatter*
Just like the rest of his body, the core also had a line down it's center, and shortly after the two halves of his body hit the ground, his cultivation core began to crack before shattering. Whether by luck or by design, the golem had precisely sliced both the body and core in one swift slash.
Similar events to this began unfolding all over the city. As for me, I have remained hidden inside my own shadow, listening in on things while searching for a way out. The barrier seems to interfere with the space around the city, only allowing those who fulfill some kind of condition to enter or leave at will. As for what that condition is, I am not entirely certain.
I decided to pull a golem into my shadow to restrain it since they seemed to be able to leave even with another person in tow, but when I pushed it up against the barrier to try and leave, the barrier twisted it into scrap metal. Based on this, what I require is likely something like an artifact that can be turned on or off. The golem likely do not activate the artifact unless it's carrying either a woman or a child, neither of which applies to myself, which explains why the barrier tore it to pieces.
Seeing this, I was left with the options of staying hidden until everything blows over, or attempt to steal one of the artifacts I need. Unfortunately, by the time I came to this realization, most of the golems were already gone, while the ones that were still here were all grouped together. Though I would not go as far as to say I would fail to capture one, even in a group, doing so runs the risk of alerting the other side to my presence. Hence, I decided to move back to the city center where I watched someone try to target the one controlling these enchanted automatons.
"YOU! THIS IS YOUR DOING! YOU BASTARDS! HOW DARE YO-!"
*Thud*
However, one of the armored fellows lifted one hand while activating the enchantments on his gauntlet, resulting in the other party experiencing an increase in gravity, pinning him to the ground.
"Mind your manners scum! My master was so kind as to offer you low-life's his mercy by protecting your loved ones, and you ungrateful wretches still dare to show me such disrespect?! I should crush you like the bug you are!"
*Cough**Bleurgh*
Based on the amount of blood he started coughing up, it would appear that the armored man was planning to crush him to death. However, out of nowhere, a dwarf with an impressively long beard suddenly dropped down from the sky, and swatted the armored fellow over the head.
"STOP THAT YOU FOOL!"
*Smack*
"M-Master? What are you doing here?"
"Funny! I was about to inquire about the same thing, Jol! I believe I told you to go conscript any able man you could and send the rest to the shelter!"
"Y-Yes! And as you can see, I have almost completed my mission!"
"YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!"
"Huh?"
"I rushed over after receiving a report about which golem unit you deployed for this task! How many times do I have to tell you! Do NOT deploy the combat-golems outside of combat you thickheaded child! Relocation of civilians is what the escort golems are for!"
"B-but, someone else had already deployed the escort unit before me, so in the interest of efficiency I substituted using whatever was available!"
"Of all the-! *Sigh* Why do I even bother? You always do this! I instruct you to do something, then you look for any excuse to push things to the extreme! If the escort unit was preoccupied, then you should have just waited until they were available!"
"B-but, efficiency-!"
"It is not about efficiency this time, it's about results, and using the combat unit to bisect half a city's population just because you cannot muster the patience to wait will only reduce our results! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!" the dwarf scolded.
"Yes master Gladstone, I won't do it again. Anyways, it is too late now!" Jol said in a very superficial tone before looking out at the blood-stained streets he was responsible for.
The majority of the city's population had either been dismembered by the combat golems or kidnapped to somewhere beyond the barrier, leaving only a scant few survivors consisting of those who did not resist or intervene during this ordeal.
"It really vexes me how often mad and genius go hand in hand! *Sigh* I suppose it could be worse!" the dwarf spoke while rubbing his temples.
Anyways, I should probably move a bit farther away just in case. It's doubtful, but assuming this barrier was created by that armored man, Jol, then the expert he calls master should not be underesti- Wait a second, did he call that dwarf Gladstone?!
"It is not often one sees people of this caliber on the 2nd continent! Even if it is just a human immortal!" The dwarf said as he put on a gauntlet capable of invading my shadow and pulled me out by the back of my neck.
The dwarf Olaf Gladstone, the sage of runes. I recall hearing of him a hundred years ago. A grandmaster craftsman capable of creating artifacts of mythical proportions and one of the three mortal monsters who clawed their way to the top of this world.
The sages are a unique existence of mortals whom has acquired power comparable to the gods and immortals. A century ago, I scoffed at the idea that mere mortals could take a seat amongst the almighties, but after a century of reflection and contemplation I have started to lose some of the preconceptions I once held. It does not matter whether it be magic or cultivation, power is power, regardless of which road one takes to get it, and right now, I have just been captured by someone comparable to the monsters that scared me into retirement.
"I just wanted to eat something nice, why is this happening to me!"