Chapter 2

After the young man's body disappeared from the alley, it reappeared drifting through the absolute darkness of the void, slowly frosting over. When suddenly, a burst of light encompassed the body, dragging him in and dropping the young man's body in a field before a tall man wearing full plate armor. The man had long black hair, deep violet eyes carrying a steel shield on his back emblazoned with the image of a lions head and a broad sword on his side.

Once the body of the young man arrived, the armored man raised a gauntlet covered hand over the body and said, "Awaken" in a deep, reverberating voice. Energy swirled out of his hand, shooting directly into the young man's body, burrowing into his chest. Causing it to rise off the ground as the young man took a deep breath of air, quickly filling his lungs.

It took several minutes before the young man's breathing returned to normal and opened his eyes to look around. The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in the alley but instead was sitting in an empty field. As his vision got clearer, he saw the armored man standing next to him, causing him to jump to the side in surprise. The armored man only gave him a small smile as he watched the young man slowly and cautiously stand up.

Several more moments passed before the young man nervously asked, "Wh-wh-who are you? Where am I?"

Hearing the question of who he was, the armored mans' gaze got distant before saying, "Who am I? My name has long been lost to the sands of time and cast into the deepest parts of oblivion. But what I do know is that I am Honor, I am Glory. I am what rises in the chest of warriors on the eve of a great battle. That chases away all sense of dread. I am what fills them with resolve to charge into battle unhindered and unfettered by thoughts of the outcome of the clash." The armored man stopped with his eyes refocusing and looked at the young man before continuing, "And, most importantly, I am you."

The young man nervously stumbled backward, "W-w-w-w-what do you mean by that?"

The armored man chuckled and looked into the distance, saying, "It seems that we are out of time" before turning back to the young man saying, " But don't worry, you will understand in time."

The armored man raised a finger and tapped the young man on the head, sending him reeling, and everything went dark. The young man felt that he had been floating for an eternity when suddenly a blinding light shot out, pulling him towards it.

As he got closer, he started to feel a stinging pain, and the nearer he got, the worse it felt. The pain continued for several moments until the light was so bright he had to clench his eyes close and out a loud wail of pain. He screamed until his voice turned hoarse. All the air in his lungs was gone and started to burn. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to draw in a breath of much need air. Then, suddenly, he felt something hitting his butt that allowed him to gasp in a deep breath to fill his lungs.

Before he knew what was going on, heard a woman say, "It's a boy" as he felt a set of calloused hands clasp onto him, holding him close.

The young man finally managed to open his eyes, looking up, he saw that he seemed to be held by a giant with long black hair and crimson eyes, looking at him. The giant stared at him, then with a gentle smile, he said: " Nice to meet you son" as he carried him over to a woman lying in a bed covered in sweat.

The woman gave a weak smile as she accepted the young man, now newborn, saying, " Oh, Rexar, he's such a handsome young man. What should we name him?"

The man known as Rexar was looking at his newborn son with his eyes growing distant as he thought of the perfect name. Rexar looked at his son, seeing his deep golden eyes, turned to his wife, saying, "Azura, let his name be Tiberius."

The woman known as Azura nodded, looking at her son, saying, "Tiberius Dragonbane, what a good name" She continued holding onto him as she drifted off into a deep slumber.

Seeing that his 'mother' had fallen asleep, Tiberius glanced around the room. In the room, he noticed that the place was lightly decorated with only a handful of furniture. Although the room was mostly empty, the furniture that was there was opulent and seemed expensive. The bed is large, seemingly taking up an area of ten feet and covered in exquisite sheets and blankets made from a material he wasn't entirely sure of their nature.

The young man, now infant, closed his eyes in contemplation, trying to sort his thoughts and figure out what exactly. "The last thing I remember was a young woman was being assaulted in an alleyway, and I stepped in to save her but ended getting myself killed in the process. Then before I knew it, I was in a field with an armored man that didn't make any sense, and now I'm here, seemingly reborn." As Tiberius was thinking to himself, a surging pain welled up in his head as information poured in.

The pain lasted for several minutes before it finally subsided, and he was able to think again. As he came back to his senses, the new knowledge slowly surfaced in his mind and flowed as smoothly as if it was there all along. This new knowledge contained a cultivation method to train his body and mind.

The imparted training method seemed to be known as "7 Virtues, 5 Keys, 3 States," and according to it, it is a universal Qi Method. A universal method means that no matter what Qi affinity a person has, they can practice it. But the individual has to start practicing it and reach a certain level of attainment in it before the age of twelve; otherwise, it's effects are significantly decreased. The older the person, the lower the results to the point where the benefits become non-existent. But the younger the person, the more significant the effects.

Tiberius was silent as he slowly processed this new information for several minutes before thinking, "Well, that doesn't explain much about this new world or what to expect. So, it would seem that the only thing I can do is make it one step at a time and slowly learn about this world as I go. In the meantime, I can go ahead and start training the '7 Virtues, 5 Keys, 3 States'. With this method, combined with my knowledge of metallurgy and smithing from my past life, I should be able to..." When he thought up until this point, he knit his brow. "What exactly am I going to be aiming to accomplish? I didn't even have any direction in my past life, let alone this new one I know nothing about." With a deep sigh that sounded somewhat comical coming from an infant, he just continued with, "I suppose I can only use a 'wait and see' approach with this also. At least if I meet with some success with cultivation method, it won't do me any harm, and I may be able to t eke out a living."

With this final thought, Tiberius slowly closed his deep golden eyes before drifting off to sleep.

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Looking out in front of him, he saw a sea of corpses that caused the ground to be wet with the blood of the countless fallen. Not too far away, he noticed a woman wearing form-fitting leather armor coming towards him with tears in her eyes. As she got closer, the woman realized that the man is on his knees hanging onto his last strand of life. The woman knelt in front of him, gently caressing his face as the tears fell from her eyes like spring rain. She pulled him into a kiss before saying, "My dearest love Iyamoto Kasugi, you have fought hard and well. You were victorious bringing great honor and glory to our family and country, but I would trade all that if it would mean I could keep you by my side forever."

The man's vision started fading, and his hearing grew fuzzier as the entire world became dark. The last thing he heard was the woman say "Rest now my love, you deserve so much more" as she pulled him deeper into her arms.

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Tiberius's eyes shot open in confusion as he muttered: "What the hell was that?"