Prologue: The Beginning

"*a***e *h* f******ts."

"*****er *h* f******ts."

"g****r t**m"

"qu****y g*"

"y** m**t g**her t**m"

A string of obscure sentences was the first thing Azra heard as his consciousness cleared. He was tackled by a strange of unease, the reason of which he could not identify. He tried to move only to terrified at the fact that he could not feel his limbs.

"What happened to me?" he muttered, or so he tried to do but the only thing that came out was a low hissing sound. It was then that memories came flooding in. He was a sophomore; a biology major. It was a mid-semester break and he was spending a leisurely afternoon in his apartment then...

RUMBLE!

BOOOOOOOOM!

A bright golden light illuminated his room. He hardly had time to understand what was going on when he was hurled back by a great force. His awareness was blurring but he was awake enough to recognize golden arcs dancing about his apartment.

He would die, he instinctively knew it but as though it was not satisfied the rumbling continued then once again...

BOOM

Another golden flash, then everything was clad in darkness. The last thing he remembered was hearing the voice of his neighbor calling out his name.

**th** **e w**** f***me***

The weird unintelligible sentences brought him back to the present. "So I'm not dead? Did the lightning mess with my CNS* permanently paralyzing me? Or am I in a coma?" A train of panicked thoughts quickly ran through his mind.

"Well, this...." he paused as he realized there was something wrong with the set of thoughts he just had. "Wait, LIGHTNING?! How the hell was I struck by lightning?! I was indoors. This... THIS is FUC*ING RIDICULOUS" He mentally cursed.

Azra was no stranger to unlucky events. As far back as he could remember he was plagued by a series of mishaps. When he was 4 he was in a car accident which he managed to survive but unfortunately, his parents didn't. At 10 he went on a class field trip and was forgotten and left behind when the bus departed while he was in the bathroom. It wasn't until the teachers got back to school grounds that they realized he was missing 3 hours later.

At age 14 his grand-aunt the only relative kind enough to take care of him died of old age which led to him being sent to an orphanage. He spent time in a total of 8 orphanages each of which closed down shortly after his arrival. 18 years old, he was arrested and sent to prison because he resembled a thief that was active in the area, only to be released a week later when the police caught the actual culprit. And these were just the few that stood out.

"Yup these 20 years were hard but... isn't indoor lightning a bit too much?"

*****er *h* f******ts."

"g****r t**m"

"qu****y g*"

"y** m**t g**her t**m"

Once again his thoughts were interrupted by the weird sentences. "Which bastard keeps interrupting me?" He grumbled mentally. He focused his mind in an attempt to ascertain what the voice was saying an action he soon came to regret.

Agony. Agony the likes that he had never known ravaged through his body. He felt as though a million scorching hot needles slowly pierced his very soul. Every fiber of his being trembled in response to the soul-rending anguish. With every wave of pain, the mumbling voice became increasingly clearer until finally, he could hear it properly.

GATHER THE WORLD FRAGMENTS!

YOU MUST GATHER THEM!

LEST THE @#$%& BRING THE REALMS TO RUIN

GROW STRONGER MY CHOSEN

Each sentence seemed to reverberate through his head a thousand times. It was a solemn, authoritative voice one that demanded absolute obedience. A voice like that of a magistrate passing judgment on a guilty soul... He felt a strong sense of suppression closing in on him and everything went blank again. Azra did not know it yet but this was to be his welcome, the first chapter to a legend that had yet to begin.

*CNS- Central Nervous System