After entering the abandoned realm Pragna got notifications,

You have entered the abandoned garden of old man green. All creatures here have high resistance towards higher temperatures. One of your soul weapons is feeling a deep resonance with this place.

While looking at the notifications he felt the Yigg’s excitement. He could barely hold it back from attacking the trees around her.

He seemed to be teleported to a dense forest with barely any sunshine. He climbed the nearest tree to its top and looked around.

The sight is truly breath taking. He truly seemed to be at the outskirts of the realm. At centre of the realm there seemed a humungous mountain. But he could only see peak of the mountain, because most of the view is blocked by trees that are almost as tall as the mountain!

After getting down Pragna decided how he should hunt. There are good chances of native species attacking them. If he uses James and his fire skill it will be as easy as it can get. But his goal this time is to strengthen yigg. To do that he needs the plants and trees less damaged.

He summoned and yigg and James. James turned into the black sabre. After giving the signal to yigg it laid its hands and feet on the floor. Roots started spreading from her hand and feet into the ground. After few minutes yigg seems have send its roots deep enough.

Pragna got a notification,

Yigg is using its unique hunger. In radius of 10 kms will completely absorb all the flora and fungi.

As he got the notification, there was a slight tremble from the ground and after that trees and grass near yigg started wilting. Even the moist earth started becoming dry and slowly started turning into sand.

As yigg is absorbing non-stop Pragna started hearing loud noises of something coming close. As he thought, native species started running towards him.

Before he left Agarthala gave him a small description of this place. Along with flora and fungi there were other wildly aggressive species in this place.

But what Surprised Pragna is that the creatures approaching all had an aura of half-immortals. Especially with his flame radar skill they all looked more blue than yellow. He is at the outskirts of the realm near a safe zone. Yet the starting level itself seems to be half-immortal. Which means by the time he reaches the centre, there will immortals and maybe even divine soul stage creatures?

In the tit bit of information Agarthala told him most of the precious materials are near the mountain.

So if he wants to strengthen yigg he needs go to near the mountain, which means he has to clear all the enemies he is going to face.

As the creatures got close he got a clear view of them. There 8 of them total, all pale white and as tall as 4 meters. They all looked bulgy even for that height. They had big faces with sharp fangs for teeth. But the notable point is that all of them are wearing clothes, though made out of assortment of different pieces of leather and what seemed to be cloth, they are actually dressed.

The one in command of the other 7 trolls is holding a club made out of wood and is wearing a helmet made out of some dark material. Rest were using make shift weapons of stone and thick logs.

While they were running towards them, it felt like earth itself is trembling. As they got close to him he could hear their loud grunting voices.

Then he got notifications,

Understood troll language. Poly linguistic lvl2. Int +1 The albino trolls are known for pillaging and looting. Though some of their tribes prefer peace, most of them are a murderous bunch. All trolls are excellent forages. Due to this skill many have high aptitude for alchemy. Very low tolerance towards Sun rays.

As he got these notifications Pragna understood what they were saying.

The one in command said, “A human? Quick! go back and inform the base. It seems we have a chance to get out of this wretched place.”

The one at far end of the group started running back.

But before it could go any further, it was impaled by a flaming spear. Before it could scream it was incinerated on spot.

The trolls looked back in shock not knowing what happened. The one holding the club understood that it was Pragna’s doing. He immediately ordered the rest of its men to attack Pragna.

As they surrounded him, Pragna flexed his arms. If he wants he can end the battle in few seconds. But the problem is, one of the ingredients for yigg is troll’s blood. He must try his level best to not burn them.

The only one who has high level is the one is command, its level is at 15. While the rest are all are less than 10.

He jumped towards the one wielding the club, came at the exact height to cut it in its kidneys. But he was only able to make a shallow cut.

It got surprised by the sudden speed displayed by Pragna. No it is not speed, but rather he got into its blind spot with ease. Because of that it looked like a fast attack.

It swung its club to hit Pragna, but Pragna avoided it by jumping back. The club wielding one is surprised by the sneaky and fast attack. But looking at Pragna’s attack power, it decided that he is not much of a threat as long as he can keep Pragna from using his magic.

Looking at shallow attack, even the other 6 slightly relaxed. But before they can gang up on Pragna, again he leaped and this time appeared near a different troll’s blind spot. He appeared near troll’s left blind side and swung his sword from down to up in diagonal direction. The sabre expanded during the swing and sliced of the upper torso from its body in diagonal fashion. But Pragna seemed to have applied to much of force, the bones and organs that were cut at the body mashed up. The torso after getting cut flew and fell few metres away from the group.

Pragna muttered, “Too much force.”

He looked at the other trolls. They are stunned by what happened.

The one wielding the club understood what Pragna was trying to do. He is trying to fine tune his strikes so he can use the bare minimum of energy to kill them. The thought itself sent a shiver down its spine. It knew it cannot run way so it barked orders to cover for it.

Considering the last two attacks, it forced its subordinates to surround it. It is expecting the attack to come from the sides.

But this Pragna neither jumped nor ran towards them. He simply walked towards the trolls up front.

The trolls thought this is the chance and rushed towards him. But as they got close to him they felt this sudden coldness descend upon them. Usually Albino trolls can survive in very cold temperatures. But the cold they are feeling right now is something else. Their strength literally started slipping out of them. Before they could adjust to this new development Pragna is already in front of them. They all raised their weapons to strike with their weapons.

Pragna moved his sword. This time it is neither fast nor slow. Just like last time the blade extended and in-fact its width expanded as he wished. The strike went at a slight slant angle from right to left covering three trolls. This time also, the torsos are cleanly cut from their bodies. But unlike last time they did not fly. They simply fell down.

Seeing this Pragna had satisfied smile on his face. He said, “So third time’s the charm.”

He looked at the other two trolls who are standing just slightly away from him in utter fear.

Pragna swung his blade and the blood and small pieces of flesh and bone fragments stuck to it fell off the sabre.

He steadily walked towards the others…..

It did not even take him one minute to kill the remaining three. But one of the trolls panicked and tried to run away. So Pragna was forced to burn it to death.

Though he killed the 8 trolls he did not get any level up. It only progressed by 20%. He knew that from here onwards he has to kill creatures of higher level to get any decent level up.

As he was collecting the bodies, he got notifications,

You have attained sword-amateur You have attained sword-novice You have attained sword-apprentice. You have unlocked new attribute, perception. Right time and right place always make the best attack. Current stat 50. You have attained sword-practitioner. You have gained title martial artist. [email protected]@@@&%% Title absorbed.

Pragna did not get surprised by the last update. This happened before and as long as did not decrease his current strength, he did not care.

He hung the bodies with the rope he brought before in hand. He hanged and let the blood drain into the ground.

Yigg’s roots spread wherever the blood dripped and it completely absorbed them.

Pragna calmly dissected the body parts, trying to see which part of trolls is much denser and which part has more bones.

After dissecting everything and cleaning up he kept the body parts inside his ring.

Then he sat down and calmly meditated. After waiting for one hour he got notifications that woke him up,

Yigg absorbed Bark tree yigg absorbed timber

.

.

.

Like this many notifications were shown. After that a final notification is shown,

Yigg reached level 20 world tree sapling. By absorbing trolls blood, yigg has become highly sensitive to precious flora and fungi

After getting those notifications Yigg retracted back all her roots. With yigg as epicentre for 10kms radius there are no trees or anything. Only hard sand is left. Even there is no moisture. The sun which was not visible few hours ago, is shining brightly in this place.

Pragna calculated an estimate. From what he has seen the mountain should be at least 5,000kms from his current location. So, at the pace he is going it will take him minimum 4 months. Of course, this is excluding any hostile encounters.

POV CHANGE

There is a cave on the mountain top. There is a cliff protruding out from it. Inside if you walk for few minutes one will come across stairs. After descending those stairs, there is a black pond at base. But what is interesting is that this black pond has been churning and bubbling out thick viscus black liquid in hope of getting out of the lake. On the top of the lake there is a small medium size plant standing on it. Its roots are extended into the lake. Whenever the churning becomes intense the plant leaves simply waves and all the churning and frothing dies.

This lake has been peaceful and did not even produce ripples in long time. But the moment Pragna set foot in this realm; it has been acting out like this.

The black pond after being suppressed by the plant few times, calmed down. It is waiting for an opportunity.

POV CHANGE

There is a golden flying ship lying near a mountain, it is considerably large. The vestiges of time could be seen on it. There were tree roots and creepers spread all over it. The ship which looked like a protruding ellipsoidal sphere had its front smashed. But despites its wreckage the ship is still being used.

There were trolls standing guard to the entrance of the ship. Unlike the trolls Pragna encountered, these trolls are wearing proper armour and had weapons that emitted immortal aura. All the trolls near the ship are immortals. Some were even emitted divine-soul stage aura.

The inside of the ship is much bigger than it is outside. Inside it there is a giant room. In it there is a grandiose throne. On it sat an albino troll, its body seemed to have been burned. Its entire body is wrapped in many bandages. From the gapes left in between the bandages its body looked more like charcoal than a living tissue. It looked barely alive.

Despite such a horrible state it still emanated power that is much higher than divine soul stage. The trolls, who had been guarding this room, did not see their king move in a long time. The only time he awakes is when the doctor’s visits to change his bandages and apply salve. If it was any other troll who is injured like this, they would have been dead on spot. But he is king of trolls. True monarch of the planet, trazbin.

Suddenly Troll king on the throne started stirring. The guards who have been guarding the room ran to him.

Troll king’s vocal chords have been severely damaged. With lot of effort he said, “Call the oracle.”

POV CHANGE

Naga queen sat in the cave. Her followers made this cave after they were forced to settle here. She has been trying to build back her powers, but has been much slower. It’s like this realm itself is stopping her gaining her power at an accelerated rate. Yet without her power at its peak she cannot leave this place.

She sat on a rug encrusted with many small diamonds. The slight sun-rays coming into the room would form a beautiful vibgyor pattern on the cave walls.

At the other end of the cave another woman walked in. She said, “My queen, I have message from Troll king.”

Naga queen opened her eyes. She looked at her sub-ordinate.

The sub-ordinate explained, “The trolls found an outsider in this realm. They confirmed with their oracle that this creature is carrying a teleportation item that can take us out of here.”

Naga queen’s mood immediately elevated when she heard this. If what the trolls said is true, then this definitely a heaven-sent gift to them.

She can finally get out of this place. She sighed at how stupid she was back then. Then again her flared remembering whose fault it was.

It was the Green man’s student Samba’s fault. He convinced them that if they could help him ambush his teacher, he would share green man’s legacy with them.

Though all of them had doubts about it, all of them were tempted by green man’s legacy. There were many legends about green man, that he could bring back dead to life without any side effects. There is even a rumour, that he saw the truth of the battlefront. Despite being such powerful entity, he never attacked anyone in his life. He healed anyone who came to him. They all assumed that he had no offensive techniques. And so, they gambled.

All of them covertly arrived on this realm, waiting for the signal to attack. But no signal came, instead the green man walked outside to edge of cliff from the cave on mountain. He produced a long-withered tree branch in his hand. He tapped in on the cliff three times.

That’s it. That is all it took him to utterly destroy them!

They who were Gods in their worlds went from most powerful beings on the battlefront to wretched creatures they are now.

The troll king burst into flames, before he could do anything. He barely survived the attack. All of his powerful sub-ordinates were killed on spot by fire.

The alchemist of the Oblerth, were killed by their own poisons.

Even she was attacked, it completely wrecked her. But naga queen has always been a smart one. Before any damage could be done to her she immediately begged the green man.

Green man has always been a kind being. After seeing her beg, the attack withdrew from naga queen and her sub-ordinates. He looked back at cave once. He shook his head in disappointment and then opened a rift and disappeared from this realm.

After that he never came back. All these thousands of years they have been trying to build back their powers. But the progress they made is extremely small. Naga queen assumed that it has something to do with Green man’s attack. Even though he stopped his attack, somehow they are still effected by the after-effects.

They who once were Gods of their own, are now nothing more than prisoners of this realm. They have none but themselves to blame. In fact, if there is anyone they despise more it is Samba.

To make matters worse, those damn alchemists brought ferocious creatures with them. After the Alchemist demise, those creatures with no one to control them, have spread everywhere. After the attack, not only leaders but also the sub-ordinates were affected. All the creatures whose strength is above the divine soul realm stage fell down. Even the weapons of higher strength were destroyed. The only ones who could still muster strength above divine soul stage is naga queen and troll king.

These beasts which were nothing more than ants to them in the past, now have become truly a pain in their necks. These creatures attack them whenever they get a chance.

It’s not just them. This realm is garden created by the green name. Though he called it a garden, it has many bizarre and extremely dangerous plants here. They could not venture out much deeper into the realm, without getting killed themselves.

Relatively nagas came out with less damage. Even though nagas lost their, strength and many of their powerful treasures, at-least they were able to keep their intelligence.

The trolls not only lost their strength and items but many of them became dumb. They were creatures who once exceled in warfare. Now many of them became so dumb that they are actually wearing leaves and animal skin like primitive creatures.

But to Naga queen now none of those things mattered. As long as they can get the human, they can get out of this place. It’s been long time since someone got into this realm.

Last time someone got here almost 5000 years back. It was a humanoid creature that had wings on it back.

Both naga queen and Troll king tried to capture that creature for themselves. But in their squabble for monopoly, that creature escaped from them and this realm. Their salvation was so close and yet in their avarice, they screwed themselves again.

That is why this time troll king sent the message to her. This time both of them are going to co-operate and capture this creature.

She knew that the moment they step out of this realm, they strength will be restored in matter of days. All they should do is carefully plan and capture it.