After walking for a while, Calvin Unknown finally understood why this place was called a "construction site." Indeed, it looked exactly like one. The entire small island was teeming with people. Countless individuals in tattered clothes were tirelessly working with various tools, creating a chaotic, bustling scene of activity.
All around them, guards wearing strange, circular masks and leading red demonic hounds were supervising the laborers with weapons. They constantly shouted orders or occasionally used magical tools to shock those who slowed down, urging them to work faster.
This sight utterly shocked Calvin to his core! He thought back to Earth, to the history books describing Black slaves. Countless Black slaves toiled endlessly under the oppression of colonists in brutal conditions until they died.
And now, what difference is there between this place and the Black slavery that existed during the age of colonial expansion on Earth?! Perhaps the only difference is that the people laboring on this so-called construction site aren't limited to just those with dark skin.
I never thought that something I only saw in historical documents, novels, or movies in my previous life would actually appear before my eyes now? Ha, should I feel lucky about this? Or should I feel depressed?
Despite the rhetorical question, Calvin certainly wasn't laughing. It was obvious that the purpose of bringing him and the others here was undoubtedly the same as those being brutally exploited. Unless something changed, it wouldn't be long before he, too, would become one of these "slaves."
What a bitterly ironic situation, Calvin thought to himself.
At that moment, a sudden commotion erupted in the crowd as everyone began whispering and chattering, clearly having arrived at the same grim conclusion.
"What's the racket?!" Tark immediately glared at them, then waved his hand. A massive circular magic array appeared above the crowd, and lines of crackling purple lightning immediately rained down.
"Aah-aah-aah—" Struck by the intense purple electric current, everyone screamed in agony.
"Bastard!!!" Feeling the intense pain of the purple electricity surging through him, Calvin barely avoided being completely knocked out. Even so, he was shocked onto his knees, his mind reeling with dizziness.
With a surge of desperation, he fiercely bit his tongue, using the self-inflicted pain to momentarily clear his head. Clenching his hands tightly onto the ground, Calvin venomously cursed the rough Mage, Tark, who had shocked him, thinking harshly: "I will kill you! I absolutely will!!!" Having lived a privileged and sheltered life on Earth, he had never been subjected to such agonizing torture. For the first time, the urge to kill was more intense than ever before!
In that instant, the rough man named Tark was placed directly onto Calvin's essential kill list! No, strictly speaking, in his mind, the man was already dead.
The sensation of being hit by the purple magic lightning was truly excruciating. This was despite Calvin's body possessing a small reserve of magical power to offer slight resistance. For the ordinary people without any magical power, the pain was even worse! The violent shock caused many to simply collapse and pass out.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Calvin immediately rolled his eyes, frothed at the mouth, and collapsed, pretending to be unconscious. Of course, it was an act.
"Hmph! You wouldn't behave yourselves without a little pain!" The sight of everyone passing out was exactly what Tark had intended. In fact, he had done it on purpose to deliver a harsh warning and intimidate the crowd! This was to prevent these wretches from constantly plotting resistance or escape!
Tark pulled out a circular mask identical to the ones the other guards wore and strapped it onto his forehead. He then summoned a group of lackeys to take the unconscious people to their respective holding areas before turning and walking away.
With his eyes tightly shut, Calvin naturally heard every word Tark gave to his subordinates. Feeling himself being lifted and quickly carried away, he cautiously opened his eyes just a slit, carefully observing everything outside and meticulously memorizing the route they were taking.
After being carried for about ten minutes, the soldier carrying Calvin tossed him into a dark dwelling? The question mark is necessary because the place was utterly dilapidated! It looked like a slum! No, strictly speaking, even a slum would be better than this place! It would be more accurate to call it a cage used to keep livestock than a place for people to live!
Calvin wasn't surprised by this, given that his current identity was "slave."
The soldier who brought Calvin simply threw him into the broken-down dwelling and then immediately left. After all, the soldier was tasked with guarding and supervising the construction of the Tower of Heaven; he had no time to waste here.
Calvin was naturally relieved by this. After the soldier was gone, he sat up, leaned against the dirty wall, and casually surveyed the broken dwelling before descending into thought.
For some reason, Calvin was the only person in this entire dwelling right now. He figured that such a large space wouldn't be completely empty, which was confirmed by the scattered personal belongings around. He didn't know where the others were, but he assumed they were working at the various "construction sites," which was the whole reason the Mages captured them!
What exactly are these bastards building? Based on what he saw while pretending to be unconscious, it seemed they were constructing something. But what are they building that requires them to risk violating the law and provoke public outrage by capturing so many citizens?! Isn't that too audacious?!! Aren't they afraid of being executed by the Magic Council? Anyone daring enough to commit such atrocities must be some unknown Dark Guild! Only those evil Mages who worship Black Magic would dare to disregard national law in this manner!
Drawing on the fully integrated memories and knowledge in his mind, Calvin deduced: Are they building an emitter or controller for some kind of terrifying Forbidden Magic? Judging by the scale of the construction, it must be an extremely terrifying and inhumane Forbidden Magic!
Relying solely on the knowledge fused in his mind and a few incomplete observations, Calvin managed to analyze a tremendous amount of information! It must be said that Calvin's deductive and analytical abilities were exceptionally formidable!
Well, perhaps this is the advantage of being an otaku? Having spent countless hours indoors "studying hard" on the computer, their brains were absolutely more developed and active than the average person. This powerful analytical and deductive ability was one manifestation of his highly active brain…
"However," Calvin muttered, frowning, "how am I going to escape? Undeniably, the security here is far tighter than I imagined! And the guards here are all Mages! It looks like this unknown Mage group is surprisingly powerful! But that makes sense; if their power wasn't strong enough, how could they attempt a large-scale project like building a Forbidden Magic System?" Shaking his head, Calvin sighed. Although the previous owner of this body, the useless kid Archille, had heard many interesting anecdotes about this magic world from his grandfather, the director, all he knew about Forbidden Magic was the term itself and its danger. He had no idea what specific Forbidden Magic existed.
He was only slightly stronger in analysis and deduction; he wasn't a god. Thus, he naturally couldn't guess that the structure being built on this island was the infamous R-System, also known as the Tower of Heaven, capable of invoking the legendary Forbidden Magic to revive the dead!
Meanwhile, deep within the Tower of Heaven, in a large hall, a huge magic crystal stood at the center of the dark space. Countless profound and complex magic arrays were carved around the crystal. Two Mages, one thin and one fat, both wearing small circular masks on their heads, were laughing loudly, talking about something.
"Creak—" Suddenly, the hall door was pushed open from the outside. With a few crisp footsteps, two middle-aged men in black robes and large circular hats walked in.
"Yo~ you guys are back?" The thin Mage greeted them with a smile. "How was the haul this time? Did you run into any trouble?"
"Mmm, average. It went smoothly," the black-robed man (Safi) said flatly, casually throwing his broad hat onto the floor.
"Heh-heh, you two must be tired after capturing the sacrifices this time? Come on, come on, let's go have a few drinks to welcome you back," the fat Mage suggested with a smile.
"What's tiring about it? Everything is for our great dream and pursuit!" The burly man (the unnamed companion of Safi) stepped forward, patting the fat Mage's stomach and laughing. "You, on the other hand, should just admit you're greedy for a drink. Why use such a cheap excuse? Do you really think I'm a three-year-old kid?"
"Hahaha—"
On the other side, Calvin, having almost entirely depleted the meager magic reserves in his body while resisting Tark's purple lightning, in addition to the injuries sustained from the shock, quickly fell into a deep sleep against the wall.
It must be noted here that transmigration is indeed powerful. Especially soul transmigration like Calvin's, where he not only fully received all the original owner's memories but also completely inherited their magic and magical power! Although this magical power seemed pitifully small, it was better than nothing. Compared to his previous situation on Earth where magic was just a mythical fantasy, this was a massive improvement!
Though this body's magical aptitude seemed rather poor, its effectiveness depended on the user, didn't it? Isn't it said that magic is a miracle born from the heart, from the soul? If so, the owner of this body is now him, not the idiot named Archille!
If it's me, things should turn out much better, right? Calvin thought hopefully. However, he couldn't be certain. Magical aptitude was unpredictable. God knows what my magical aptitude is like—maybe it's even worse than that idiot Archille's.
Thinking this, Calvin gradually drifted into slumber. In his dream, he not only possessed unparalleled powerful magical power but also possessed the world's only unique Requip Magic! Because in his dream, he could summon the powerful Zanpakutō from the Bleach world as his Requip weapons!
As he slept, he suddenly heard a distant noise, which startled Calvin awake. Cursing his own lack of crisis awareness, Calvin immediately opened his eyes.
What met his gaze was a handsome blue-haired young boy (shota), who had a strange marking tattooed on his right face. The dark brown marking ran straight from above his right eye down close to his jawline. The boy was staring at him with a look of sincere concern.
But those details weren't the main focus. What truly caught Calvin's attention was the boy's eyes! What a pure and righteous gaze, Calvin mused.
"Uh, is something the matter?" After a moment of thought, Calvin initiated the conversation.
"Are you alright? I couldn't wake you up earlier. You look new here, and you have injuries. Were you hurt by those despicable people too?!" After asking anxiously, the blue-haired boy immediately started murmuring bitterly to himself, clearly despising the cruel and inhumane Dark Guild.
"Uh, heh-heh-heh—" Calvin felt a bit awkward about having slept so soundly, especially since he was currently a 'slave.' He let out a dry laugh to hide his embarrassment.
"Phew—that's good." Hearing this, the blue-haired boy also sighed in relief. He then smiled and extended his right hand, introducing himself: "My name is Jellal! Jellal Fernandes. Since fate brought us together, even if it's in times of trouble, we're friends now! We must all get along well in the days to come!" As he spoke, he gestured to the others in the dwelling. Calvin had slept for a long time, and it was now completely dark, so the others who had been laboring outside had returned. They were all looking at the freshly awakened Calvin with friendly expressions.
"Uh, Calvin Unknown. You can just call me Calvin…" Extending his own right hand and lightly shaking hands with the boy named Jellal, Calvin introduced himself with a slight mental frustration.
He was indeed frustrated. He was an adult in his early twenties! Although his transmigrated body looked like a young kid, about the same age as Jellal, his soul was definitively an adult! Having a kid he considered a shota talk to him with such a world-weary tone felt absolutely infuriating…
I'm the adult here, okay? Little Brother Jellal…
Calvin rolled his eyes wordlessly, thinking with mild exasperation.