1. Awakening

Snap!

Alan felt a jolting pain deep inside his body that woke him up from his sleep. He didn't understand what this snap meant at that moment, although he had an inclination as to what it might mean.

He closed his eyes and looked into his body. To his surprise, he saw an orb glowing. He had done this exercise countless times, in oder to train his mind and soul yet this was the first time he saw this orb. Beside the orb, was a chain that looked like it had snapped recently. Alan was curious, excited yet frightened at the same time. He knew that all cultivators had an orb within them which was as small as a marble and grew in size as cultivators increased their level and rank.

Right now, his orb was the size of a basketball ball and was black and white in color.

His curiosity got the better of him and he reached out to touch the orb. Upon contact, the orb glowed and a surge of power rushed into Alan. The rush of power was so intense, he felt like his insides were burning, like his blood vessels were tearing apart and forcefully expanding. He felt pain like his skin, his organs, his insides were undergoing some sort of maintenance, as if this power was doing some sort of clean up to a certain standard that would be acceptable for it to live in. Five minutes seemed like an eternity to Alan as the pain slowly began to recede allowing him to catch his breath. Once he calmed down, memories that were not his flashed before him. Memories of a battle from a time long ago. Alan watched as monsters, humans, elves, dwarfs and other races fought together against an ancient beast and its horde. The leader of this dark army rode this beast that had a wingspan of thirty meters, had an exoskeleton, a ten meter long tail, the body of a small mountain, and had light green smoke for its breath. It soared above its army giving support to the five million strong monster army under its control that was engaged In a ferocious battle against all races. While this was going on, the ancient beast and its rider seemed to notice Alan's presence and immediately shot a green acidic like liquid towards him, which shook Alan out his trance.

Alan immediately ceased his meditation and woke up. When he stood up, he felt lighter, stronger, and felt power flowing through his meridians. His senses seemed to have heightened as well, as he realized he could see, feel and hear as far as a kilometer. His hair had also changed color from its original brown, to a silver white. His body also had some dramatic changes as his muscles looked and felt stronger. He circulated this power in his body over and over to make sure that this was real and noticed that his major organs had also undergone major transformations with each having a glow around them as if the glow was a protective barrier.

Suddenly a white light descended from the sky and fell where Alan was standing. A figure of a man stood five meters away from Alan, who was curious how someone found him deep inside a forest where he had been for five days. Alan took a step back, even though he didn't feel any sort of danger or malicious intent from the man. As the light receded completely, Alan finally saw a man in his mid forties, had black hair, and wore a rose that perfectly fit his five foot nine figure.

"My name is Fred, I am the guardian of the orb that has chosen you as its new master." the man smiled as he slightly bowed to Alan.

"Master? guardian?" Alan asked in a confused tone.

"The power you now wield is a power from ancient times. Many have sought it over the centuries. There are those who wished to wield it for their own interest and there are those who wanted to claim it to use it for good. Right now, you have unexpectedly become a target for these super powers. I pray you use this power wisely, as quite frankly, I don't know why my former Master chose you seeing as you were not even a cultivator till a few hours ago," Fred snorted as he eyed Alan up and down.

"What does this mean? Why have i been chosen? as you clearly observed and stated I'm no cultivator. I don't even know how to fight! I'm simply a gatherer and hunter." Alan

stated facts that were all very true. He was terrified at after Fred explained to him, he even wished to give back the orb to Fred so someone else could have it as he neither sought power nor glory for himself or his family.

Fred was obviously irritated and snorted but still had to endure seeing how his master had chosen to bestow his power on Alan. {Master really has lost his mind to choose such a weak willed and weak minded man}, Fred thought. Still, he had o choice.

"Be that as it may, the power that runs though you is a power that powerful cultivators only dream of. Master has chosen you for a reason, so I have no choice but to oblige. To further understand, follow me, we have to visit a place where some things may make sense to you"