Chapter 4 - People From Meteor City

Meteor City, Star Plain, Dawn...

Another day had come when the sun had just begun to rise, and the morning breeze would smooth one. Even though the day had just begun, the sound of anxiety and anticipation echoed from the people around. As these voices continued to fill the entire Plain, a young man from inside of an unpretentious residence, 170-175 cm tall, wearing old clothes, who, despite his ordinary appearance, had a strange and mysterious vibe opened his eyes. The young man's long hair was a mess because he had just woken up. This young man was Asil Mirza.

Asil Mirza looked around as if he had had a dream but could not exactly remember what it was after he woke up, told to himself.: "Same dream again...I feel like this dream has a lot to do with me, but I still don't know what it really means...Is this about my real family? Is it even real? What am I thinking, I already have a real family..."

Asil Mirza did not know his biological parents. Even though this was important to him at first, by the day, this importance had disappeared. He learned that he was adopted when he was only 4 to 5 years old and asked Cem Mirza who his real family was, but Cem Mirza said he did not know. Although he asked the same question again, Cem Mirza always gave the same answer. As time went on, Asil Mirza's desire of finding out who his biological parents are had gradually disappeared just like all the other things that fade away with time. Because Asil Mirza now thinks that his only real family is Cem Mirza.

He often had the same dream when he slept. In his dream, there was a pitch-black world, and this in this pitch darkness; there was a giant door, surrounded by lava, blocked by 8 different chains, and a big book on a rectangular rock about a meter long, which was in front of this door, which emitted a deadly aura. Asil came here in his dream and looked at the giant chained door as if there was something in it that he longed for. Then he went in front of the book to read what was written in it, and he tried to open it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open it.

Although he did not know exactly what it had to do with it, Asil Mirza thought that this dream had a connection to his own birth and his biological family. His birth was quite a mystery. In fact, he himself was a mystery. In the end, he was able to enter the Lake of Life without providing any of the three conditions that are necessary to do so. He couldn't provide the first condition because he knew he did not carry the blood of the Mirza Clan. The second condition was even more impossible because due to a problem in his Profound Veins, he was a person that could not enter the Elementary Profound Realm. As for the third condition, there was nothing to say about it. Because, let alone an extremely rare and valuable artifact, he didn't even have anything normal that could be considered valuable.

But despite everything, it made the Asil Mirza understand something. Cem Mirza certainly knew the identity of his biological family or where Asil Mirza actually came from. Because despite knowing these three conditions, Cem Mirza told him to go to the Lake of Life. It was clear that he knew that Asil Mirza could enter to the Lake of Life without any trouble. Although he knew the truth, Asil thought that his 'father' had a reason for not telling him the truth and decided not to bring it up until he told him.

Asil Mirza straightened his clothes and hair when he comes out of his residence, first looked at the sky then forward and told himself: "Today is a beautiful day. I wonder what kind of people will come from Meteor City. I hope they're not as arrogant and selfish as my brother Yekta. If their personalities are alike my brother, even if they know how to fix my Profound Vein, I do not think they would tell me. There is no need to think about this anymore, it will happen anyway if it is in my destiny."

After talking to himself, Asil Mirza began walking towards the Star Plain and the surrounding area where people would gather to meet those who are from Meteor City.

After a ten-minute walk, a crowd of people divided into different groups came into view. Each of the different groups in this crowd belonged to different clans or families in and around the Star Plain.

Asil Mirza slowly approached the people and after looking around and seeing where the Mirza Clan was, proceeded towards them. He heard some derogatory words as he passed through people.

"What clan is this shabby boy in? Isn't he ashamed to come here dressed like this on a day like this? Didn't his parents teach him anything? Tsk, Tsk, Tsk..."

"Hush, be quiet. He's from the Mirza Clan. And he's not just any clan member. He is the son of the leader of the Mirza Clan. I think because he's the son of the clan leader, he thinks he's superior to the ones from Meteor City. That's why he didn't even notice what he was wearing. Pity how ignorant he is."

"The leader of the Mirza clan must be ashamed to have a son like this."

"What don't you know? He's not the real son of the leader of the Mirza clan, he's just adopted. The true son of the leader of the Mirza clan is quite powerful among the younger generation. Compared to the clan leader's two sons, one is like an angel and the other is like a turd."

Even though Asil Mirza heard these conversations, it was no longer effective on him since he was used to such things. He went there where the Mirza Clan was gathered without paying attention to the talks, and when he got there, he heard humiliating conversations about his clothes, his weaknesses, him being adopted.

It wasn't very important for others to talk like that, but it was really humiliating for those of his own clan to talk like that. Fortunately, there was Cem Mirza among the clan. If not for him, these things would be unbearable.

Asil Mirza went to the left rear cross of Cem Mirza that was at the front of the clans and started waiting for people from Meteor City with his father and Yekta Mirza who was at the right rear cross of Cem Mirza.

The atmosphere was very different, as the people around were quite excited and curious. In the end, people who would come were from Meteor City, the most powerful city in the eastern part of the Empire, even the weakest clan in Meteor city was probably stronger than their own clan.

As time went on, people's excitement and curiosity grew. After about fifteen minutes, whispers began to be heard inside some of the groups. But those voices were quickly silenced by the leaders of those groups. Twenty minutes later, people started to get restless. It's been an hour and a half since we've been waiting, and there's still no one around, and its ruined people's hopes. Another hour passed and people began to think that people from the Meteor City are not coming. What was expected happened after about three hours later a group of people from far away came into view.

There were five people in this group of people, all walking quite slowly. This group of five consisted of one young man, one young girl, two middle-aged men, and one older man.

The young male appeared to be about 22-24 years old and 170-175 cm tall. He had auburn skin, blue eyes, medium-length blonde hair, an upright nose, and glowing lips as if he had put on a lip-gloss This young man, with above-average good looks, was at the front of the male group.

The young girl, aged 16-18, who was on the right-left side of the young man, had about 170cm of height, a long and wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, pink lips, a wheat-colored complexion, and a noble aura. But the burn mark that completely covered the half of this young girl's face completely overshadowed that beauty.

The middle-aged man on the right rear cross of the young man had a rather molded body, a black flattop hair, brown eyes, a face with battle scars on it, and about two meters of height.

The other middle-aged man was on the left rear cross to the young girl in front. He was weaker, though slightly taller, compared to the other middle-aged man. He had similar hair, eyes, and a face with a similar battle scar on it.

The last of the group, the old man, was in the middle of two middle-aged men. The old man's long white hair was done like the Kung Fu masters in Chinese movies. Looking at his wrinkled face and slightly hunched body, it was clear that he was quite old. Their facial features were quite similar to the young man in front of them, and they looked as if they were grandfathers and grandsons. But the aura around this old man was too intense to compare with the other four.

The group of five approached those in the Star Plain with slow steps and stopped when the distance between them was about ten meters.

The people on the Star Plain were looking at the young girl who was the most attention-grabbing among the group of five, trying not to make it obvious. But they didn't say anything disrespectful or anything to offend her. Because the young girl who had a burn on her face was a very high-ranking compared to them.

The young male in the group glanced at the crowd of people in the Star Plain with his eyes and then spoke with an arrogant manner: "So this is the Star plain that everyone praises. It is really a beautiful place, as rumored, and the people who really live in this beautiful place are pretty weak. Lucky for you, senior people like us do not want this place to be so weak anymore. So, we decided to come here to pick out talented young people and take them with us to Meteor City. "The young man glanced at the crowd with his eyes again, then turned to the middle-aged man on his right cross and spoke: "Uncle Toraman, there are so many people here. If we test them all, we will spend a lot of time. There is no point in spending so much time in such a weak place. How do we do the test?"

The tone of voice the young man used when talking to the man on his right rear cross was not low at all. Thus, all the people there had clearly heard what they were talking about. Although the young man's speech, tone, and behavior humiliated everyone there, almost all of the people there were happy as if they had a child because of what the young man said. Because the young man said they really came here to test the younger generation and take the chosen ones to Meteor City. If the children or grandchildren of the people here were among the chosen ones, it would grant them an enormous amount of respect.

The middle-aged man, whose name is Toraman, looked carefully at the crowd and turned to the young man and spoke: "Hmm, as you say, Young Master, it is really very crowded and if we put everyone to the test it will take a very long time. Hmm, here is the deal then. From what I just looked at, there are ten different groups in this crowd. Each group should send three of the younger generation to take the test. That way we can test the young people they see as capable. And if there are young people who get enough results, we'll take them with us on the way back."

The middle-aged man named Toraman was clearly superior to the young man in age and strength. But apparently, where they came from, the young male had a much higher status than himself. Because the attitude of a middle-aged man named Toraman when he spoke to a young man was very respectful.

The young man approved with his head then looked back at the crowd and spoke "You have heard the number of people who can take the Test. Each group will send three young people of their choice and we will put them to a test of their innate ability." The young man stroked the green ring on his hand and suddenly a small square piece of iron appeared in front of the young man, with a white, transparent sphere on it.

The crowd was very surprised to see this. Because they knew what the ring was in the young man's hand.

The ring on the young man's hand was a Spatial Ring. Spatial Rings were very valuable things with certain storage areas inside them. Of course, like most things on earth, their Spatial Rings had their differences. The value and rarity of Spatial Rings were determined by these differences. Among these rings, the most common were white-colored Spatial Rings. White-colored Spatial Rings had 1x1 meter storage areas and even if those were the most common and cheap ones, the prices were about 100.000 white Profound Coins and considering that the annual income of the Mirza Clan was approximately 75.000, price of this Spatial Ring was quite high.

[ Author's Note: There are four different coins used on the continent in which the Mirza Clan resides. These are White Profound Coins, Green Profound Coins, Blue Profound Coins, and lastly Red Profound Coins. In terms of value, 1 Red Profound Coin = 100 Blue Profound Coin = 10.000 Green Profound Coins = 1.000.000 White Profound Coins. So basically, 1 Spatial Ring is worth 100.000 White Profound Coins or 1000 Green Profound Coins or 10 Blue Profound Coins ]

The Green Ring on the young man's hand was more valuable and rarer than the white one, and it had more storage. The Green Spatial Rings had 10x10 meters of storage area and these rings were valuable pieces of treasure that were approximately about 30 Blue Profound Coins. Of course, the white and green rings were not the only ones. There were also different Spatial Rings which were far rarer and more valuable than them. For example, there were Blue Spatial Rings with a storage area of 100x100 meters, which cost about 5 Red Profound Coins, and Red Spatial Rings with a storage area of 1000x1000 meters, which cost about 100 Red Profound Coins.

Seeing a treasure like a Green Spatial Ring on the young man's hand surprised the people in and around the Star Plain and made them understand the difference between themselves and the people in front of them. But this bewilderment did not last long, and all the people in and around from The Star Plain were looking at the piece of iron that had a transparent sphere on top that appeared in front of the young man.

When the young man saw people looking at him with disoriented expressions, his shoulders widened and his chest rose and then spoke arrogantly: "It's normal for you to be surprised when you see my ring. Let alone a Green Spatial Ring, I think it's rare to get even a White Spatial Ring in a place like this. I'm going to have to make some statements to help people like you understand the situation you're in right now. You know we're from Meteor City. But I think people like you know things about our city only through rumors. Three sects are leading in Meteor City in terms of power and status. We come from one of these clans, the Burning Meteor Sect. And I am the son of the leader of the Burning Meteor Sect. And people with me are my sister and the elders of our Sect."

The hearts of those who had previously involuntarily looked at the young girl's face after the young man's words were filled with fear, along with the thought of whether they had done anything to disrespect her.

The young man looked proudly at the crowd went on to speak in a sardonic tone "I will explain what this is because people like you have never seen a Test Sphere like the one in front of me before. The name of this sphere is the Profound Imaging Sphere used to test people's innate ability of Profound Power. In a way that you can understand, this sphere shows one's potential. We will use this sphere to test the potentials of the three people you select from within your group, and if those who are tested are higher than certain standards, we will take them with us to the Burning Meteor Sect. Now let each group pick three youngsters quickly and let's start the test. I don't want to stay in a place like this too long!"

After the young man's humiliating speech, the people who gathered around, feeling grateful as if the youngster had done them a great favor, quickly began to choose among them who would take the test.

It wasn't really hard to choose. Although everyone wanted their own child or grandchild to take the test, only three of each group would be selected, so people decided to choose the three people they considered most capable by disregarding their wishes. But there was an unexpected exception in a group. This group was the Mirza Clan.

And the reason why the Mirza Clan became an exception was what Yekta Mirza told.

He had come up with an unexpected idea while talking about who should be chosen from the Mirza Clan. According to him, two people were guaranteed to take the test for the clan, and these were himself and Ugur Mirza. Everything was going nicely, and everyone was listening carefully to his words up until this point. However, it was Asil Mirza who Yekta Mirza thought should be the third person to take the test! The entire clan was surprised at his suggestion. After all, Asil Mirza was a person without Profound Power and could not even be considered as weak. But Yekta Mirza, unexpectedly said that, while his brother has no Profound Power, he himself believed in his potential, and that if elected, perhaps he could elevate the clan's power to the skies by correcting the problem in his Profound Veins. Because of his words, his father Cem Mirza was happy in his heart, and after speaking with the clan elders he decided that the three people who would attend the test would be Yekta Mirza, Ugur Mirza, and Asil Mirza.

But there was someone in the entire Mirza clan who could understand what Yekta Mirza was really thinking when he said these words. That person was Yekta Mirza's stepbrother Asil Mirza.

Asil Mirza looked at Yekta Mirza with his fist clenched and spoke from his heart when the attendees of the were selected:

"Brother, everyone here, including my father, could not understand what you were really thinking when you said those words because they trusted you. You're trying to put me on this test to disgrace me, brother. That way you can drive my father into the corner to give up on me. Also, because the test makers are from Meteor City, they will know for sure that I have no Profound Power when I take the test, and when that happens, if they perceive my participation in the test as an insult to them, no matter what my father does, he won't be able to save me, so you will eventually be rid of me. ''

Asil Mirza was completely right in his opinion. Yekta Mirza had asked his stepbrother to take the test in the hope of getting rid of him. But no one, including his father Cem Mirza, understood this reason.

The Mirza Clan and nine other groups determined three people to take the test, and the test began with the possibility that a total of thirty people could enter the Burning Meteor Sect.