The world and the "light"

Leon felt exhausted when he woke up the next day. The fact that time passed differently in the Soul war plane, and humans didn't need as much sleep here, didn't really help him. After she agreed to help him, Leon spent the rest of the day absorbing new information from Mackenzie about the Soul war plane and its inhabitants.

This place was enormous, but it still resembled a planet that revolves around the star. It was estimated that the size was at least 20 times bigger than Earth. Depending on the situation on many battlefields, there were around 5 to 10 billion people here and that is just from the Earth realm. The most astonishing fact was that despite all the destruction that occurred, and all the collateral damage, this place had the ability to regenerate itself or even change only in a few weeks. Other than fortified cities, maps of every other place had to be constantly updated because something that was a mountain today could as easily be a flat barren wasteland tomorrow.

The existence of wildlife gave Leon a slight surprise. Apparently different realms had different wildlife around their fortified city, mostly coming from their own mortal world. Around Earth realm's fortified city of Artelien, there were many animals that came from Earth, and most of them humans used for food. There was a restriction on killing them though, only those humans that had "hunter" as their job could get karmic points, but the numbers were extremely low that very few bothered to acquire it. It was an important job in the early stages of the Soul war, when humans that were present at that time came from the Middle ages, now with the introduction of animal farms and modern technology it became obsolete. Animals were affected by Mana as well, most of them just became sturdier and healthier, but some of them developed sharper instincts and bloodthirsty nature, making them a nuisance for unsuspecting passengers.

Leon was also intrigued by the city of Artelien. This city was as huge as a country back on Earth, and could house over 1 billion people comfortably behind the barrier that fortified it. The transparent barrier that surrounded Artelien could withstand an incredible amount of damage and had the ability to regenerate itself. To put it into perspective Mackenzie compared the city to a snow globe.

The infrastructure was a completely different story. The city consisted of 3 districts.

First was the Main district, the same one Leon was currently at. It was the place where all the shops and important buildings such as the headquarters of different associations, adventurer guilds, armies, and magic academies were located. The gate that transported him to Soul war plane was also in this district.

Next was the Combat district, a place where the 'War room' stood. The 'War room' as it was called, was in fact an enormous skyscraper, and it was the place where all of the army generals and officers, guild and association leaders, basically all the big shots discussed war tactics for different battlefields and defense of the outside villages and fortifications. It was also the place where training facilities of all the organizations were located.

The last district, even though the largest of them, was in fact the least important one, the Housing district. The reason for that laid in the fact that it was almost barren of human life. Barely anyone came here after the big emigration outside the city. The houses and buildings are mostly dated and the only people who use them are the newcomers and those without a foothold in the Main district. The only way that they would have a proper use once again would be in case of a siege by an enemy army that destroyed every other line of the defense around the Artelien, the feat that hadn't happen for almost a hundred years. All of the districts were connected by the teleportation arrays, which made traveling around the city a lot easier, as it was the only thing that could be used without paying any karmic points. These arrays proved incredibly useful when defending the city, otherwise transporting the army from one end to the other would take a lot of time.

While Leon was still lying in his bed recapping yesterday's general information, he realized that Mackenzie didn't mention anything about his potential adversaries and enemies on the battlefield. She only took out a small transparent screen with the size of a common smart phone from her inventory, and handed it to Leon, explaining its use as a communication device. She then gave him a key card to one of the rooms in the Auxiliary Association's building, that her previous trainees used and told him to meet her in that same kitchen they were in, the next morning.

He got up, and went to the bathroom in order to get ready for the meeting. It was then that he first saw his youthful appearance in the mirror and proceeded to wash his face in bewilderment, as if to check whether it was real or not. His gaze then fell onto the rest of his body. It was hard for him to get used to this change, because only yesterday he was an old man in his late seventies.

'I need to get some new clothes' Was the next thought that came to his mind.

Leon then took out the communication screen and sent a message to Mackenzie indicating that he was on his way. Mackenzie never told him what type of training was coming his way, so basically he didn't know what to expect. He didn't get the chance to reveal any of his stats to her other than his cooking proficiency, and wasn't really sure whether he should just yet. Over the course of his life, he learned that trusting people brought a lot of risks, but something about Mackenzie seemed different to him, as if she genuinely wanted to help, and not just him, but everyone that came to her for any sort of advice.

When he finally entered the kitchen on the fifth floor of the Auxiliary Association building, Mackenzie was already there, sorting though a bunch of ingredients on the main kitchen counter. The only difference from yesterday, was that there was another woman next to her, dressed in what you'd usually call magician robes, suspiciously staring at him. Since only her head could be seen, Leon noticed her dark skin, black hair almost completely covered by a pointy hat, and a small scar on the side of her cheek. Even though she seemed immature at first glance, her strong gaze made Leon feel a little bit uncomfortable.

When she was done inspecting him, se then turned her eyes towards Mackenzie and inquired:

"Mack, you said that he was a chef looking to advance his cooking proficiency to Expert, so why does he look like a newbie that walked into the kitchen for the first time. When you said that you were cashing in the favor I owed you, I was not expecting this."

"I'm sorry Les, but he is paranoid for some reason and walks around dressed like that in order to avoid whoever he thinks is after him, but don't let his appearance fool you, he is a genuine Advanced chef, who could make a B+ quality meal without using Mana, and you know that even Rein struggled with that." Mackenzie mediated.

"Are you kidding me? You are comparing this guy to Reinhardt!? Then I can't wait to see what he is made of" The woman nicknamed Les exclaimed in surprise

"Ah, Leon, this delicate little flower here is Lesedi, we used to adventure together, and I trust her with my life. In fact she saved it on many occasions" Mack started introducing her to Leon when,

"76 occasions to be precise!" Lesedi interrupted her with a proud look plastered all over her face, She was a little bit annoyed by the 'delicate little flower' comparison but didn't address it.

"Ok, fine, she saved my life on 76 previous occasions. But that is not the point here, what is important, is that I trust her." Mackenzie playfully corrected herself

Leon felt a little bit confused. Even though Mackenzie told him that he should't focus on cooking, apparently she didn't explain the same to Lesedi. Something didn't really add up. Before he could ask anything, Mackenzie quckily blurted:

"I called her here in order to help you learn how to wield Mana"