The air smelled like copper and iron.
Orson stood in the middle of a bloody wasteland, bodies and monsters scattered around him, and at the same time another memory flashed in his mind.
Orson.
He was Orson. At a young age, he had a father and a mother. When his mother was alive, the Mercer family was at the peak of power, and better still, Orson had two parents at rank five—the most powerful in the world. Orson’s life was beautiful enough.
In City Nine, when an Azure Eternal Breach opened and killed everyone inside the district of the city from one to twelve, there was nothing left.
That was when Orson lost his mother, and his father just turned cold. Worst of all, his father pushed Orson since he was going to be the next head of the family, but after the awakening ceremony, Orson became nothing but a useless person.
But the Mercer family still wanted an alliance with the Sloane, so both Orson’s life and memories flashed in his head. So did Xander’s life as War God and the deal he made with the devil for revenge, killing and destroying a whole kingdom to get his revenge. Everything was flashing in Orson’s mind all at once.
The memories were strange, but they felt different as well.
And the burning feeling Orson was having—he had killed someone. He wanted to start a new life, but it was just his second day and he had killed someone. Was this life going to meet the same fate as his previous one? Everything was just too much for Orson.
But it was not just the killing.
It was how easy it had been.
The man had attacked him and tried to kill him. Orson knew it was either him or the man. But there were other ways to stop him. He could have knocked him out. He could have broken his legs and left him. He could have run.
But he didn’t.
He snapped his neck like a twig.
And the worst part—the part that made his hands tremble and his stomach turn—was that it felt natural. It felt right and like something he had done a thousand times before. Because he had. Xander had killed thousands. He had destroyed a kingdom and had driven his sword through his own brother’s chest.
But Orson was not Xander. Orson was supposed to be different. He was supposed to start over and be better.
But he wasn’t.
He was still a killer.
Just as the thoughts and feelings and emotions were about to take him whole, words started to appear in front of him.
Congratulations. You have awakened your life gate.
Being synchronization.
Orson just watched as the words continued.
Just then, he felt it—something was being connected to his very being. He looked at the letters as they continued.
Connection complete. Welcome, host.
Synchronizing—a new power had been discovered, linking to status information. Information complete.
[Name: Orson]
[Astral being host: Not contacted]
[Astral Rank: Human]
Based on life gate flames, yours is white.
[Astral Class: White Hollow.]
[Astral Ability: Nothing yet.]
[Astral Burden: Not Contacted.]
New power source detected: Cultivation of the old world.
[Spiritual Root: White Hollow]
[Realm: Qi Gathering]
[Stage: Mid]
Orson looked at his new information. He was looking at it, and based on the new memories of this world, he understood most but not all.
For example, this was the system you gain access to when you pass the awakening exam and your life gate color is revealed. He had failed it before, but now he understood why. Or why this power had failed.
It was poisoned.
Based on his memory of the machine they use to check, they send energy into your body and out, but because of the poison, it was not coming out. The machine showed Orson had no life gate, which he did—but white. There was no white class in the system, so how was his class white?
He looked at the glowing letters in front of him and tried to tap it, but his hands just went through it.
Just then, another explosion rang out from the island floating above. Orson looked up before moving. He used Flash Step, a technique that looked like he teleported, but it was just him moving at the speed of light toward a direction. But at Qi Gathering stage, he could only do it once or twice, so he waited for the first opportunity to move fast toward the man’s side.
Thinking about the fight was a bit weird. And not to forget—he killed someone. Weird, because he was using techniques of another life in this new life, and not days after it, he killed someone. Orson felt angry at himself, and a lot he couldn’t put words to.
He reached the edge of the breach, and lightning was still raining down from District 2 before jumping down to the main island.
The world in the breach looked endless, but after hearing that the world had a core, Orson was more believing that the islands it said were illusions, and no matter how powerful it was, the island was not endless. He was sure about that.
But why was he even thinking about that? He had spent a long time away from home, so he had to get back home. And also, he looked at his hand, and as he walked, it was the ring the man had put his sword and core in.
And the second ring was maybe the man’s spoils of war, Orson thought as he looked at the ring. He placed both in his hands and walked toward the breach gate.
As he walked, he noticed that the mine guild looked to have gone home as well. Since there was no miner at the entrance, I mean, it is still shining inside the realm—how late can it be?
But Orson forgot that the breach was another realm, different from the real world. So as he stepped outside and left the brightness of the world behind, he was met by a starless night as the moon was going down and the hue was turning orange. It was morning.
But just as he was about to walk away, a man rushed forward toward Orson and punched him straight in the face.
"Fuck you, Orson," Corvin said as he looked at Orson, who was on the ground after his punch.