2 Chapter 2: My Fate

Ali stared at this blinking screen in his vision with bewilderment, it said,

"System Integrating…"

Ali poked his head, rubbed his eyes, and then looked again; it was gone.

He then shook his head,

'Maybe I'm reading too many novels'

And continued on his way as if nothing happened. He lived in the suburbs of Capital Gree in Emerald Nation. It was a bustling place, filled with activities. Ali grew up here and survived on his own.

He headed for a broken house and walking up the staircase, knocked. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a delicate young lady.

Her eyes glistened with joy as she jumped into Ali's embrace and hugged him tightly,

"You're back!"

Ali felt shocked, "What's with the sudden surprise?"

Lily's excited expression changed to a pouting one, "Happy birthday…"

It suddenly struck Ali, today was Sep 4; his birthday. He was lazy enough to forget his birthday…

Lily looked away with her arms crossed, Ali scratched the back of his head while chuckling embarrassingly, "Sorry, I was too worked up I guess."

She immediately lightened up and grabbed his arm, dragging him inside.

Ali gasped, the whole house was decorated. It didn't look like the on-brink-of-collapse place he left. There were colorful stripes of ribbons and drawing on the walls. Many tables were set, people chatting happily.

They laughed heartily and exchanged cheerful talks, raising the environment to the peak. Ali was astonished…

His birthdays only involved him and Lily but this…was shocking.

David stood up,

"Happy birthday, Ali!"

His greeting attracted the attention of everyone there as they all stood up. Ali looked at these familiar faces, they were his classmates and teachers.

"Happy birthday, Ali! Thanks for the invite!"

"Haha, happy birthday!"

"Cheers!"

Ali was still shocked as Lily dragged him into the party…

***

Nighttime,

Ali lay on his bed and stared at the roof with a smile on his face. He couldn't stop that mushy feeling from taking over him.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

That notification screen was again flashing in his sight, but it said something different.

'System integrated…initiating activation.'

Ali suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness overwhelm him and his eyes felt heavier than mountains. After a few moments, he snored and slept like a little girl.

Right the instant his eyes closed, there seemed to be something wriggling in the dark.

Ali's consciousness entered a strange place,

He opened his eyes and saw a door…

It was sturdy, stood erect with a mysterious aura erupting from it. Many sigils were engraved on it as they were not understandable for him.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in this vacant dark place. Nine keys floated in front of him, glittering like rubies.

He stared at them with wonder and a desire to possess them started overwhelming him.

Ding!

The host may choose one key.

Choose wisely, each key resembles the host's fate.

Letters flickered over those keys, each one of them having different labels.

Ali stared at them with surprise, what kind of dream was this?

'Hehe, I am indeed reading too many novels. Well, let's just go along with it.'

He stared at the nine floating keys keenly, studying them.

Currently, he could not make out the names. They seemed to be of some language he didn't understand but he had a vague idea of them.

'This one says Life and Death. Hmm…I should choose this, it may extend my life. So I can take the other keys with a guarantee.'

He reached out for the specified key and grabbed it, the moment he did so; the rest vanished.

Looking at the door, there were now several keyholes there, all of them flashing. Ali began to think,

'So this determines my fate, that means I have to choose carefully. This may doom me for eternity…'

He stretched out his hand and pointed at one of them,

'Eeny, meany, miny, mo'

His shuffling hand stopped at one of them, and he inserted the key.

The moment the key touched the door, it swung open violently.

Ali's consciousness was ejected out.

A bright flash erupted as the room lit up, a rip opened in the air as it grew wider. It fluctuated with unfathomable power as chains erupted from it.

Several of them started surrounding Ali, one by one; all his limbs were clutched as strange energy entered his body.

It collected at his chest and started taking a shape. Every time they flashed, a horrible amount of energy burst.

A round core was formed, it's center completely black. A thin blue ring surrounded it as the rest formed feathery black wings on either side.

His chest was engraved with this sigil as the energy started converging in it slowly…

***

"Yaw! What a sleep!"

Ali scratched his back and stretched those lazy limbs. He was feeling really hungry, there was a lot of food from yesterday; this is gonna be a feast.

But, somehow he felt the surroundings were different. His room was really clean, clean like a baldy's head. He narrowed his eyes and his hands rose in a defending posture,

'Something is up…'

He opened the door with caution and as he expected, a stick swung at him. He stepped back hurriedly as it grazed past his face, the stick touched the ground and he stepped on it while delivering a punch.

The boy standing at the door stumbled back but recovered surprisingly fast.

Ali could not tell, but something was wrong here…

Suddenly, the boy clenched his fist. An aura surrounded it as he shouted with anger,

"Trash! How dare you hit me?!"

Ali felt an immense danger from that punch as he stepped back. The boy had a maddened look as he screamed,

"Flaming Punch!"

Ali's eyes widened as he saw the boy's hand light up on fire! This was impossible!

"No!" A feminine voice sounded as a girl blacked Ali, aiming to take the hit for him.

Ali saw her and gasped,

'This was…Lily? What happened to her?'

She was dressed in a light robe and her appearance like she was someone from ancient times.

"Young Master! Run!"

'Run?'

Ali saw that fist move; the punch came with a destructive momentum, tearing apart the air. He hurriedly shoved Lily aside and stepped forward.

He would not let anything happen to her, even if it meant dying.

The boy's eyes shined with a crazy expression as he punched with all his strength.

Ali felt the air heat up and closed his eyes, awaiting the horrible pain.

BAM!

The punch hit dead center on his chest, the boy smirked,

TICK!

TICK!

TICK!

Bone cracking noises sounded from his arm,

BOOM!

A shockwave burst from Ali's chest and the boy was thrown away with a powerful shock, slamming on the wall. A horrible scream escaped his mouth as he clutched his completely shattered arm.

Ali opened his eyes and was stupefied.

'I was about to die…what happened?'

He looked at the boy on the ground screaming with an agonizing expression and his eyes glinted.

A saintly aura surrounded him, "And that's what you get for messing with me, filthy shit. I didn't even need to move a muscle."

The boy looked at him with a horrified expression and yelled, "Please forgive me, Young Master! This one was blind!"

Ali snorted, "Humph, a hundred whips would put you into shape…"

His eyes widened as he screamed and sprinted away.

Ali smirked with satisfaction…

Lily looked at Ali standing with a domineering aura, protecting her again, and felt her heart tighten. She stuttered,

"Y-young master, a-are you okay?"

Ali turned around and was again flabbergasted, the surroundings were…different.

He stood in a huge mansion, the roof was like the heavens, and the ground was polished till it glittered. Many objects sparkled like diamonds engraved into the pillars and walls. Many artifacts were placed around, it was a wondrous sight.

He wondered if someone kidnapped him and drugged him with hallucinogens. This was just way too bizarre.

"Lily…where is this?"

'Ding!

Complete cultivation foundation in three days or die...'