1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On a dark and stormy night, lightning flashed in the clouds. Every time this year on the Mook continent, it always stormed every night for a month straight. Great floods would come washing into towns and villages. Fortunately the weary villagers and townsmen were already used to such an occasion after having spent their whole lives in Mook. Unfortunately this wasn't the case for Ash Greycloak. "Ahhhh. How long is it going to keep raining? It's been at it for days." Seven days ago, the real Ash Greycloak had died from a common cold. The poor unlucky fellow. Luckily for James who had also died on Earth the same day due to falling off his bed and hitting his head, when he woke up he was in the body of the just deceased Ash Greycloak. Both of them were the same age but that's where the similarities end. They were almost polar opposites. Ash had long, pitch black hair with striking different colored eyes. His left iris was colored purple, while his right iris was colored red. This wasn't odd though. Everyone born on the Mook continent was born with two different colored eyes. This year they were both 10 years old. All the children who turn 10 every year are required to go to the mayor's house for the annual talent discovery test. Every year once the storms end, hundreds of children from the other nearby and smaller towns would flock to the town of Chow where Ash lived. Being the biggest town around with about 10,000 people, they were the only one who had the capability to do the test since the testing materials were all very expensive. Ash sat alone in his room while looking out of the window. His room wasn't very big being only a few square meters. It was also very plain, containing only a small bed, a bedside table, and a chair near the only window. "Stupid rain." He said aloud. His first day in this new world was full of excitement. Unlike the concrete jungle he had previously lived in on Earth, this world was full of vibrant life. Enormous untouched jungles and forests, not robbed of life due to humanities greed, and no science or advanced technology keeping you away from nature and your roots. He was happy. Then the rain started. Even though he had the memories of the previous owners body, he still didn't believe it could rain for exactly a month straight. For seven days though he spent most of his time in his room alone looking out of the same window every day and watching the rain. He was starting to believe in the foreign memories he has taken hold of. "Ash, dinners ready!" he could hear Ash's mom outside of his room calling him. Not yet having adjusted to his new life and his new parents he still didn't consider them his family yet, although they were nice. James (aka) Ash now, didn't have parents. He was in orphan. It wasn't impossible for him to consider them his parents, he just wasn't ready. "Coming mother." He replied. Then he got up and left his room. Outside of his room was a small hallway with another door containing his parents room. Leaving the hallway he entered into the kitchen/living room where his new mother and father were talking to each other quietly. They sat at a plain wooden table just big enough for the three of them. Laid out on the table was tonight's dinner, consisting of a clear porridge and a piece of rough bread. It wasn't much but even the most staple foods here were filled with all the nutrients you need to be healthy. Noticing Ash walk in, his father looked down to start eating while his mother turned and gave him a smile before starting to eat as well. He walked over to the table and sat down, joining them in eating. After a few minutes of silence, his father who held similar features yet a green and a blue eye, spoke, "Soon will be the day of the talent test. Your mother and I aren't very talented, being only blessed with a second and third grade talent respectively. Hopefully you'll be more talented than the both of us and be able to go to a school in Goan City." All of the towns and villages around were just subsidiary powers of Goan City which is a part of the empire. Even Chow which is big enough to hold it's own talent test and contained 10,000 people wasn't even considered to be part of the empire. Goan City on the other hand had around 500,000 people being much larger. These were all things that were in the previous Ash's memories. Told to him by his parents. "Yes father, I know. I'll try and make you both proud." His mother who also shared similar features but had two eyes of the same color, that color being blue, said, "We have something for you. Your father and I have saved up since you were born and were able to get a breathing technique for you. There isn't much time left before the talent test but this manual should still give you a head start over someone who doesn't have one." His mother walked over to the only cabinet in the kitchen and brought out a thin book wrapped in cloth. Ash had a very excited expression on his face. At the same time, his heart was filled with warmth for his new family. For the first time since coming to this new world he considered them his real family. From the previous Ash's memories he knew just how expensive these breathing technique manuals were. Even the lowest quality manual would cost 100 gold. That's 1,000 silver or 10,000 copper pieces. Ash's family brought in just over three gold a year, meaning after 10 years they just barely had enough to afford a lowest quality manual right before the talent test. "Here. You must go and practice now. You need every second you can get so you can make us proud." Wiping a tear from the corner of his eyes he received the cloth covered book with trembling hands and a solemn expression. "Mother… Father… I wont let you down." In his heart he swore that no matter what it takes he would make the hopes of his parents come true and see that they never have to struggle to save money again. With those thought he quickly took off to his room.