Rank Up

Once I passed out I woke right back up immediately and I hear yelling and see chaos occurring around me. Enhanced people were fighting the mercenaries and were attempting an escape. I pulled on the chains and they snapped immediately, this surprised me because I never had this strength. I then rushed to find my brother in the infirmary, I looked and looked until I came across his empty body. I walked to it and broke down once I had a clear sight of him. I thought to myself that it was my fault that he died and I don't deserve to be his brother. A mercenary rushed in and tried to shoot me with an assault rightful and some round aura of light, shielded me and my hand was forced to lift him off the ground and push him into the air.

A flat spiral wall of energy appeared in front of me and my body was pushed in. I was free-falling from the sky above a lake in an unfamiliar area. The time was nightfall and I fell into the lake and it was a painful experience. When I was underwater I experienced a phenomenon, something was speaking to me and it wanted to know if I was from here. Once I saw a bright light something pulled me out of the water. It was a girl and she told me to follow her into the forest of harmony. To be honest, I don't think I had a choice, I was not from here and I didn't know what was going on or what was going to happen to me.

We made it far into the forest before she stopped and built a fire and said, "Take your clothes off." I hesitated to that command and she said once more, "Cmon just take your shirt and pants off, you'll freeze." I didn't like the idea of dying from freezing so I followed her orders. She laid my clothes next to the fire to dry them and I sat next to the flame to warm up. I didn't like this feeling of being this exposed to a complete stranger but she seemed to not be phased by any of this. "What's your name?" I didn't say anything for a moment because of that weird feeling and she said, "You hungry, I have food to eat." I remained quiet and she said, "You know, this might be weird and all but I have brothers and I see them like this all the time." I turned away and said, "Where am I?" She quickly replied, "You are in Pansen, this is the land of Pansen, or what's left of it." I remained quiet and leaned away from the fire and she said, "Well my name is Mai and I know this might seem weird but I think you absorbed something called a Yang."

She handed me some cooked meat and told me to eat it to refuel myself. She walked over to her bag and pulled out some dry clothes. They included a brown shirt and some high knee shorts. Even though it was uncomfortable to wear I had to put something on to cover myself. She then handed me some old-looking shoes and I put them on. I then asked, "What's Yang?" She seemed shocked and said that I really wasn't from here. She sat on the opposite side of the fire and began answering my question.

"Long ago, the land of Pansen was full of nothing but balance, we called it the land of the YinYang and this land was peaceful for hundreds of years. Eventually, people of the land began to wonder what drove balance in this land and the quest period began. By this time people began searching for the YinYang spirits. Only two people have experienced the power of the Yin and Yang. People went mad over the nearly unlimited power and war broke out to find the YinYang prowess. However, no one had found it, and the current time host and spirits had vanished without a trace. And without our balance, this place had been left a barren wasteland."

I sat crisscross with my hand on both of my legs and I said, "So what makes you think that I have Yang?" She replied, "For one, you came through a white rift from the sky, your eyes were illuminated with white patterns, and when your clothes were off you had the Yang mark on the left side of your back." I said it wasn't true and she stood up and aimed her palm at me and shot some wooden chips at me and a white shield of aura surrounded me and blocked her attack. I was totally caught off guard and flinched at that display.

The shield dropped and she said, "Yeah, I think you have the Yang, anyway, get some sleep we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She leaned against a tree and looked up at the sky and focused on it. I looked around and had no choice but to sleep, I laid on the grass and fell asleep.

I was awoken by her and she gave me something to eat before we left. I ate the food and was replenished and was ready to move. I was still struggling to wear these clothes, she gave me the smallest shorts and the smelliest shirt. She saw me struggling and said, "Get used to it, the guys back at my home wear small clothes to have better movement, and of course you'll be doing work. I dreaded the sound of that painful statement, she began walking and I followed behind her.

The sun came out as we broke from the forest and began a journey to her village I assumed. We walked through rocky terrain, muddy slopes, tall grass, heavy rain, and swam down a riverbank. Eventually, we found ourselves coming towards a grassland terrain. She said her home was nearby and we were close. Sweat was all over my body from when we left the riverbank till we came upon a meadow. I had my hands on my knees as I bend over while being out of breath. She scolded me for being a weak boy and I taunted her back for calling me a boy.

We would finally reach her destination and it was a semi-huge village within the meadow. Other guys and girls were walking towards us shouting her name and being all happy to see her. She ran to them and they started talking to one another. Her people noticed me and one of them said, "Who's the boy?" I stopped walking and Mai said, "Come and meet everybody." I started walking slowly and finally walked onto the land. She introduced me to them but she didn't know my name so she told everyone who I was. I initially told them my name was Goshi but never said my last name. She walked me into the village and took me to her father who was the head of the village.

When I met him he came off as the male alpha type, I say this because he lacked any real emotions and was very assertive. When Mai told him I was the new Yang holder he had to see it for himself. So he challenged me to a combat battle, I couldn't back out either, I didn't know what would happen if I did. We stood in the middle of the village and he pulled a spear out of thin air. I looked at my ring and it was not just gold anymore but white. He ran at me and threw the spear and it multiplied as well as him. His clones caught the spears and they attacked me all at once.

I was trying to evade all of them but I had no combat training and I was being beaten by clones. This carried on for some time and her father said, "Your fighting skills bring shame upon your family." I thought, "Family." Then I thought about my brother and my adrenaline rushed and I formed an X with my arms and released it and a wave of white energy disassembled his clones and he fell to the ground. Everyone looked at me with both surprise and disbelief, I had my hands down and I fell to my butt.

I looked at Mai and she was being observant of the whole situation. Her father stood up and said, "Everyone, clean yourselves up at the streams and prepare for night's meal. When he said that I completely forgot the journey was almost half a day long, I couldn't believe nightfall was coming. Mai's father walked away while giving me the side-eye and Mai called me to follow them to the streams.

I turned away and followed the bulk of the group and while we journeyed through the meadow. As we walked we came upon some light but moderate woods, they consisted of medium grass height, really tall trees, and medium to large stones. As we continued forward I felt as if the life around me was speaking to me, it wasn't in a language I understood but it was giving me the feeling that the woods knew me or know of me. This went on until we met the riverbank and the girls and guys split up due to privacy issues. Lucky for me el guys had to only take their shirts and shoes off because I have no idea who any of these people are.

Mai told me to follow her brothers Hal, Maeun, and Poe downstream to the boy's section. I did so and no matter the weird feeling I had I was not going with the other group.

*End Of Chapter*