Even though the day was already filled with twists and turns, it was still early in the morning, three kids were sort of running funnily towards the open hut.

When they reached, the priest and the young lady were sitting opposite each other. They silently sat behind the young lady, and the priest did not bother with them.

Aachman still wondered about the rain dance ceremony and how the priest's presence was so different from everyday classes, the priest going back to being boring again was such a disappointment.

The priest community was the most dominant caste in India followed by the warrior caste. Aachman and lackeys belong to the farmer caste and the young lady belongs to the warrior caste.

The priest usually teaches the young lady dharma, history, science and politics. Today it seems the priest wants to teach history and Aachman sighed in relief because, in the last few classes, the priest taught Dharma which grated on his modern-day sensibilities.

"We the Aryans named this land as Ulagam because Goddess Ula dwells in these lands. Ulagam is encircled by seas on three sides, and the northern side is covered by a sea of grass.

When Aryans migrated to this land, it was already unified under the rule of the Kondan empire and their royal family called Indran, but due to corruption and internal conflict, the empire weakened severely and a hundred years ago fractured into several city-states, tribes, clans, towns and villages."

Aachman thought it was funny how the priest underplayed the effect of the Aryans migration into the empire. It might even be the major reason which destabilised the empire as a minor thing.

He looked around the lackeys and the young lady were listening intently to what the priest was saying. It seems it captured their imagination.

"... What ensued was the age of chaos where every noble, warlord, clan and tribal leader fought fiercely against each other for supremacy and territories. The blood of commoners and noble alike split and flowed freely like a river during this era.

This age only ended after nearly fifty years of constant blood-shedding of people of Ulagam when one small city-state Vaishali managed to conquer a bunch of villages, towns and cities.

Vaishali, a small city-state transformed into a juggernaut, nothing could stand against them, they conquered anyone who stood against them through blood and iron. At one point they were poised to be the inheritors of the fallen Kondan empire.

This situation changed when the remaining tribes from the northern part of Ulagam feared they would be the next one to be destroyed, so they banded together to form a coalition to resist the Vaishali.

When Vaishali's king, Visaka Varman, heard about a coalition of tribes, he was enraged and vowed to kill the last man, women and children who stood against him.

He raised a huge army of eighty thousand soldiers and marched against the coalition. They met the enemy army at Kapi, a small town situated at the border of Vaishali.

The war fought for fourteen days, but both sides were at a stalemate and could not get a decisive advantage. This enraged the Visaka Varman, he personally led the charge against the coalition army, unfortunately, an errant arrow struck him in the eye. He died on the battlefield which made the Vaishali's army retreat.

On that day the coalition army stopped the Vaishali on its track. The death of the King of Vaishali soon caused internal conflict and a war of succession. When Vaishali managed to stabilise the condition, the coalition of the tribes who started as a mere patchwork of tribes, clans, villages, towns and cities, invigorated by their victory forged themselves into one nation named the Garuda federation.

The next thirty years were considered by sages to be the cold war era. No major war fought between the two countries but countless skirmishes, raids and counter raids conducted by both countries.

Tension was at an all-time high between the two countries. Vaishali meanwhile tried to conquer the southern part of Ulagam, but expansion ground to a halt after a few minor successes because most of the resources needed to be diverted to keep the Garuda federation at bay.

At this time in the south, the remnant of the Indran family quietly gained the allegiance of all the remaining tribes through diplomacy and the prestige of being the former royal family that once ruled the Ulagam.

The legendary king Indrajit who united the Ulagam under his rule still ruled the hearts of the people. There are so many legends and stories about this man that made men's blood boil with valour and women's hearts flutter with love.

Twenty years ago Shaku, the last descendant of king Indrajit, consolidated his position in the south, proclaimed himself as king and established the country Indrapur.

The coronation of Shaku as the king had a far-reaching effect, this ushered the Ulagam into the age of three kingdoms."

Aachman did not know the history, he always considered he was reincarnated in ancient India, but still some things nagged him like a supernatural event at a rain dance ceremony and out of the world martial arts.

Lackeys and the young lady were excited about the history. Their eyes sparkled and were eager to learn more.

"Sir priest, can you tell us which country is the strongest?" Akalya enquired eagerly.

"The past twenty years were tumultuous, but the borders of countries settled after a few skirmishes. The most affected country is Vaishali, now tucked between the Garuda federation and Indrapur. The strongest country is also Vaishali."

This made the young lady and her lackeys disappointed, they could not believe their country was not the strongest.

"How could this be why our country is not the strongest?" Fatty questioned the priest without propriety.

"Yeah, we are descendants of the great king Indrajit" baldy also echoed his dissatisfaction.

The priest usually ignored the lackeys and Aachman, but he seemed to be happy to answer today.

"Aah, you guys, what do you know? So Ignorant, Actually, Indrapur is the weakest country in Ulagam.

" What?!" The young lady spoke involuntarily because of shocking information.

The Priest revelled in their confusion and disappointment.

"Indrapur was established only twenty years ago. For a country to be strong, many variables need to be considered.

Let's take Vaishali, it is situated in fertile plains. It also has several natural harbours, so they can trade with foreigners as, for the indrapur concerned, the land is barely useful for agriculture. For Garuda federation, their lands are even worse than the Indrapur—their whole country is full of rocky mountains"

Aachman understood there would always be someone stronger, but the young lady and lackeys looked downhearted. Aachman thought of distracting the young lady.

"Sir priest, did you visit these countries personally?" Aachman enquired to change the topic. He hoped the priest would show off his superiority, and the priest did not disappoint him.

"Haha, unlike you lower caste members, priests are allowed to enter all three countries. In my youth, I even visited the Vaishali's court. The palace was so grand. You would not even understand even if I tried to explain to you.

Not only that, priests are required to travel widely and learn about various places. One time I even travelled from the north edge of Ulagam to the southern edge on horseback and that too within thirty days..."

"Thirty days!" Aachman was shocked this was too small. He said to himself. THIS WORLD IS TOO SMALL!!! These are the words repeated in his head again and again.

Aachman thought he was mistaken or made some mistake.

"Sir priest, is the horse you travelled on a special beast?"

"Hmph, ignorant commoner. It is a normal beast. Do you think anyone can own a spiritual beast? The young lady is lucky to own Jaa. Spirit beasts are very rare and powerful entities."

Priest ranted about the ignorance of the lower caste and how stupid they were, but the Aachman ignored the priest's pompous speech.

Aachman always considered knowledge acquiring would be the best way to solve the mystery surrounding his transmigration.

Aachman always considered he went back in time and possessed a five-year-old child, but this new information made him think he probably went to a different world and possessed a child.

But what or who caused this? Aachman was bewildered.

"Hey, Aacha, why are you staring blankly," fatty asked.

"Heh, where is the priest? Class is over"

"What happened to you?" the young lady inquired.

Aachman was not in the right mind, and he felt sad that he needed to get off his chest.

"I think I am an alien," Aachman blurted. He did not feel threatened by these kids. The pressure and longing made him confess.

"Alien?" The young lady asked curiously.

"Is it food!" fatty started his conspiracy theory.

"I mean, I don't belong here"

"Aiyo, you are our friend. We are here for you," the young lady said to her depressed friend.

Aachman moved to tears because of his friends willing to stand with him.

"Hey, what do you think Aachman is?" Fatty asked curiously.

"Not a demon, he is not scary enough. What about the evil spirit?" baldy threw his two pence to the conversation.

"He cannot be an evil spirit. See, he has two solid legs. What about Aachman being a cursed person?" The young lady casually stomped Aachman's legs to prove they were real.

"aaahhh" Aachman shouted in pain.

"The young lady is right. Except for Jaa, all other animals are afraid of Aacha" baldy readily accepted the young lady's views on Aachman.

"Even Jaa issued a blood feud on Aacha after knowing he secretly craved for mutton biryani"

When the perspective changes, even unsolvable problems look trivial but still some things do not change in life. It should not change that would suck the joy out of life.

Map # 1 Kondan Empire (before it's fall)

MAP # 2 Aryan migration to kondan empire from the sea of grass

Map # 3 Three kingdoms (current era)

Author note: Tada... It is a surprise. Haha, I learnt how to post a picture. It is needlessly convoluted but I managed to learn.