In a scorching hot desert, a young boy walked, his face dried up and flaky, his lips cracked, with nothing to quench his thirst he could only suffer in silence. He could only hold on to his last bit of hope of finding a road. As he ventured further into the desert under a clear sky, all he could hear was his stomach growling..
"Is this the end for me?" Vez Nok muttered to himself. He could only walk forward and keep moving. When he was first left in this desert, he had a road to follow, but then strong winds came, blowing sand and covering the road completely. When that happened, he felt hopeless but still continued moving forward.
It wasn't long before he fell exhausted and dehydrated from the heat. Feeling drowsy he sat down preparing himself for his end. As his vision slowly started to blur, he saw something gradually approaching him from a distance, accompanied by the sound of thunder rumbling. He rubbed his eyes thinking he was hallucinating. As it came closer he could finally see it properly. It was a cloud of red and black smoke. Feeling the last of his energy draining he slowly closed his eyes. Vez Nok felt death was inevitable.
The cloud dissipated before Vez Nok as it entered his body through the nose and ears. He didn't notice or feel anything at all. All you could hear was thunder rumbling as the cloud entered his body completely. Slowly his hair turned blood red as small gray scales started to emerge on his body but before the process could complete, a deep black hole stretched across the sky and a huge bolt of lightning erupted from the depths hitting Vez straight on the head, it was fierce and devastating.
Like waking up from a deep slumber, Vez Nok yawned and stretched his body. He felt revitalized, brimming with energy, and the feeling of exhaustion disappeared. There wasn't a scratch on his body, and he looked healthy again, with his dried-up skin returning to normal.
"Did I die?" Vez Nok thought to himself. As he stood up, he felt a sharp pain in his head, a sudden flood of memories started to fill his mind. After the pain subsided, Vez Nok stared up into the sky and then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He felt like he wasn't himself, but living as someone else.
If one had eyes to see the energy of all living things, they would see that Vez Nok was drawing in the energy of the world with that one breath, without realizing it.
Vez Nok opened his eyes and the only thing on his mind at that moment was to keep moving forward.
After walking for quite a while Vez heard the sound of a helicopter. The helicopter passed over his head and landed in front of him. "Nobody should know where I am right now," Vez Nok thought.
After the helicopter landed, a middle aged man wearing a brown suit got off and ran over to Vez.
"Vez I'm so glad I found you" Shaun Heaton said with relief as he looked at Vez Nok with a reproachful gaze.
Shaun Heaton manages a weapon shop his Vez Nok father owns in Cape Point City.
"Greyson, how did you find me?" Vez asked.
"The watch your father gave you has a tracking device in it, only me and your father can access the watch tracking data" Shaun Heaton said.
"Quickly remove it. It's not safe to wear it given the circumstances."
Looking at Shaun Heaton's anxious expression, Vez Nok looked at the watch on his left arm and proceeded to remove it.
Vez Nok wasn't worried about being tracked by his father, however after seeing Shaun Heaton's expression he knew something was up.
Shaun Heaton snatched it quickly from Vez's hands and hurled it onto the barren sand. Then, he stomped his foot down on it, crushing the watch.
"Let's go" Shaun Heaton said
When they got on the helicopter Vez Nok thought about the memories he got while being in the desert. It was an entirely different life, one he thought would have never existed. People could use magic and all sorts of strange creatures and beasts were found within the lands of those mythical places.
Myrefall Town is located just outside Cape Point City. It's a beautiful town, surrounded by trees and situated on a mountain. When they landed, Shaun Heaton got a car and drove Vez back home. Vez's east-side apartment awaited them. Stepping into the familiar lobby of the aging brick building, they waited for the elevator to arrive
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, revealing a dimly lit interior. Inside was a young woman with a ruddy-looking face. She wore a white pea coat with black boots and pants, and a silver necklace around her neck. She greeted Vez and Shaun with a smile as she left the elevator. Vez and Shaun greeted her back and entered the elevator, noticing the pleasantly fresh smell she left behind.
After they arrived inside the apartment, they went to the living room and took a seat. Shaun Heaton had a grief-stricken look on his face when he faced Vez Nok. He took out his phone and played a video for Vez Nok.
"It took me great lengths to get this video." Shaun Heaton said with helplessness.
When the video started playing you could see five people wearing marine clothing, they were in a jungle-like area with trees the size of titans, the sun could hardly pass through the leaves of the trees.
The person recording was at the back of the group and in front Vez Nok could see his father back as he led the group forward.
Vez Nok's father Fayin Nok was keeping aware of his surroundings as they explored. The crew found many strange plants and small insects. Not to touch anything unknown to them right now they just documented their journey.
After about a two hour journey they came to a stop. "Okay let's set camp here" said Fayin Nok after one of the crew checked out the surroundings.
With an unexpected sudden change in the video footage, Vez saw the guy holding the camera running and you could just see the ground. That person fell into the dirt and when he looked back while holding the camera, Vez saw a beast in the video which he recognized from the memories he just recently received earlier.
It was a Ghost Flame Tiger, the tiger tail had a white flame burning from it. Its movement was swift as it caught one of the crew members unaware with a quick attack, it's tail moved like a snake piercing through the body. After the attack landed, the body erupted in flames.
"Aaaah." The crew mate screamed in pain.
After that one quick movement the tiger jumped forward and its entire mouth bit off the head of another crewmate.
Vez Nok started to worry after he saw his father in this predicament.
Another crewmate took out his gun and shot the beast but not a slightest mark could be seen. "What the fuck" he looked terrified. The Ghost Tiger was annoyed and whipped out its tail again heading straight to him
All of sudden Fayin Nok pushed his subordinate side and shock could be seen in the crewmate's eyes. The flame on the tip of the tail just missed them however they still got hit by the side of tail and they got sent flying back.
Vez saw his father cough out blood and looked pale as he landed against a tree. Vez noticed small cracks on the ground started surrounding his father and then a white light appeared in-between those cracks. Vez recognized this from his memories too, this was a Passage.
Passages were used to cross into different worlds, they are a path. Vez's father just happened to step into one.
The crewmate that got hit wasn't so lucky after he got sent flying, his head got smashed into a rock. He was knocked unconscious after the beast attack.
Fayin Nok took out a grenade and hurled it toward the beast. Boom!
After all the events took place, the person holding the camera began to run away after the explosion, he was terrified of everything that just happened. He didn't look back at all.
The video ended and Shaun Heaton placed the phone back into his pocket. He took a look at Vez but there was nothing, he couldn't see any type of emotion coming from him. "I thought he would be sad seeing his father die" thought Shaun.
Vez knew his father had time to escape the predicament by going through the passage. Vez could only hope that wherever his father went, he would be safe.
"There will be a military service for your father tomorrow and the crew he led, I'll come by and pick you up" Shaun Heaton said as he got up ready to leave.
"Are you alright Vez? Shaun Heaton asked with concern since he thought Vez Nok would be sad since he lost his father. Vez Nok couldn't tell Shaun Heaton about his memories and that his father isn't dead.
"I'm fine. Where is this place my father went to?" Vez Nok asked curiously, eager to leave immediately and find his father. Shaun Heaton noticed Vez sweating a bit, with small beads of sweat forming on his forehead and trickling down his face. He thought Vez wasn't feeling well and needed some rest.
"Are you alright?" Shaun Heaton asked.
"Yes, I'm just a bit overwhelmed," Vez replied.
Shaun Heaton, oblivious to Vez Nok's motives, responded, "Let's uncover the truth tomorrow. For now, rest well. See you in the morning." With those words, he departed.
Vez Nok thought of the beast his father fought, and with the memories he received, he knew he was no match for it unless he put those memories to use. He calmed his mind and followed a method called One Heart. This basic method, he knew, will have a great payoff in the future
Although he has inherited the memories from a another person and was foreign to cultivating, he is still quite excited at the thought of growing stronger. No matter where you go, strength reigns supreme.
Vez Nok relaxed his body and started to concentrate, gathering chi refers to the action of pulling and gathering in the spirit particles in the air and suppressing them together. He started build a connection with those particles like threads and it started to form a river. At first, this flow seemed gentle and relaxing but as he continued prompting, the chi began to stir and turned into a surging river.
"Each of my pores is a lifeform in itself, breathing on its own." This was the most crucial point if he lost control of the surging chi and fail the absorption he would have no choice bit to start accumulating chi from scratch. Giving up at this point was not an option for Vez Nok he wanted to see this through.
As the chi surged even stronger, it started to become more uncontrollable for Vez Nok. It grew more berserk as time passed, but he held on. This was going to be a turning point in his life a new beginning.
Time seemed to slow down for him at this moment and the world around him blurred into the background. His senses heightened, becoming acutely aware of every beat of his heart and every breath he took. The intensity of the chi coursing through his body made each sensation more vivid, and he could feel it pulsing through his veins. As he struggled to maintain control, he realized that this was a pivotal moment, one that would define his future path but as time passed he started to feel his concentration slipping as his body felt like it was on fire, and his mind felt like it was being poked by needles.
The berserk chi started to go rampant in his body and then chi whirlpool suddenly let out a popping sound, like that of a bubble, and collapsed from the pressure of the eruption.
Failure
The once swirling energy dissipated into the air. Vez Nok felt his nose bleed and then he fainted.