When Tommy awoke, he found himself in a warm bed. His body still ached where the power had run through him earlier, but overall, he felt fine. Great actually. Shifting in the bed, he sat upright and glanced around. He appeared to be in a small, one room cabin. A fire blazed in the stone hearth across the room, and a table sat in front of it.

Pictures adorned the walls, several of them with the same man with various people. Bookshelves were scattered throughout the cabin, scrolls and books stacked on their shelves haphazardly. A large chandelier made of deer antlers hung above the table in the center of the room, the ends of the antlers alight with fire, providing light throughout the room.

Why is everything so, small? He couldn’t help but think to himself, noticing everything throughout the cabin was almost certainly smaller than it should be. The bookshelves looked as if they would only come up to his chest. The table and chairs sat slightly lower to the floor, and the windows had been set lower in the walls than what he was normally used to.

Standing up and making his way across the room, he looked through the windows to gather his bearings. Surrounding the cabin were the same ancient trees that he found himself in earlier.

So, this is really all part of the testing? The situation was growing more disorienting by the minute.

“Waking up in strange places seems to be a new hobby for you. Would you care to take a seat?” A deep and rich voice sounded from behind Tommy. Letting loose a high-pitched yell, he spun around looking for the source. Leaning down in front of the fire was a man of small stature. He was maybe five feet and a handful of inches tall and had a slight pudge to him. The salt and pepper hair that he wore down to his shoulders seemed to merge into a great, bushy beard that helped cover all but the man's eyes, nose, and spectacles.

“Where in the hell did you come from? And where am I?” Tommy responded, taking a few wary steps away from the man and the window, towards the door.

“It would really be best to have this discussion over dinner. Please, sit and we can talk.” The man gestured again to the table. Noticing for the first time all the food piled on the table, Tommy felt his stomach clench. It took everything he had in him to take another step towards the door.

“I wouldn’t advise leaving just yet.” The man said, looking away from him and towards the fire. A large pot was suspended above the flames in the hearth and the man stirred whatever lay within. “There’s a lot to discuss and we won’t have much more time in this place. Very soon, great events will be put in motion and you need to be ready for them. Sit, please. And we can talk.”

Hearing his words and not seeing many other options, Tommy stood there and watched the little man tend to the pot for a bit longer. Seeing his hesitation, the man smiled.

“Suspicion is good, but so is trust. From the way you’re acting, it would appear you’ve had little of the latter the past few days, hmm?” Failing to get a response, the man continued. “My name is Noru, and I can promise you one thing Tommy, you can trust in me.” The man smiled, “I also promise to eat without you if you’re not in this chair in the next sixty seconds.”

Standing by the door, completely caught off guard by how welcoming the man was, Tommy wasn’t sure what to do. On the one hand, he was sure if this man meant him harm, he would have done it before he had woken up. He also couldn’t ignore the fact that the man must have found him in the middle of the woods and brought him back.

Additionally, the food smelt good. Really good.

Tommy could feel his stomach respond, and almost unbidden, his feet carried him over to one of the small chairs by the fire. Looking across at Noru he wasn’t sure what to think. He watched as the old man ladled some stew into two bowls, handing one to Tommy as he took a seat.

“Salt and pepper to taste. It’s not the best stew, but I think it will do you wonders,” Noru said, making small conversation. Seeing Tommy sit, making no attempt to eat the food, he sighed. Taking a bite and swallowing he said, “It’s not poisoned. Eat,” he gestured to the food again, “and we can talk.”

Unable to fight back his hunger, Tommy dove into the bowl of food. As the first bite hit his lips, an instant shock of energy rushed throughout his body. Swallowing the bite, he went to take another but stopped when he felt the food hit his stomach.

It felt like a nuclear bomb had gone off in his abdomen.

A flood of energy washed throughout his entire body, spreading outwards from his stomach. Instant relief was delivered to each of his cells as the stew settled. Taking another bite and experiencing the same shock of relief and energy wash through him, he devoured the rest of his bowl. Seeing this, Noru sat back and offered another.

And then another.

Each bowl seemed to awaken cells his body didn’t know it had. He felt like the food was pumping steel into his bones and knitting carbon fiber into his skin. As the energy coursed its way through him the impurities were stripped away; aches he forgot he had were washed away and replaced with a buzzing energy.

He felt as if he was being reborn.

Tommy gorged on the meal, feeling as if he had been on a fast his entire life. Feeling the changes in his body come to a slow halt as he finished his last bowl, he thought the process might be done. Sitting back, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling for the first time in a while a sense of true peace and relaxation.

"This next part is going to hurt," Noru said out of the blue. Tommy didn't have a moment to ask what he meant before he felt it. Sudden, piercing pain engulfed his body, originating from the ball of light hovering over his stomach.

And then he started seizing.

“It’s not much, but I think that should take you up a peg or two,” Noru said as Tommy doubled over, falling from the table. His entire body writhing as all of the remaining energy in his body pooled up at the center of his being, condensing and pushing at the edges of the core.

“This process rebuilds the body, preparing you to take the first steps. Then, whatever energy is left merges in your core, amplifying any power you have built up there,” Noru explained in between mouthfuls of stew. “That doesn’t appear to be much for you, unfortunately. It looks like we’ve got a long road to walk.”

Tommy felt as another wave of power surged out of his core, running through the channels he had felt earlier. As the energy crept up his neck and into his skull, his entire perception rippled. Blacking out for a few seconds, he came to as another wave of energy coursed out of his core, drilling throughout his body and following channels down into his legs and feet.

“It opens your body’s channels, allowing you to pump that power through every inch of your skin. Normally that's a many years long process so consider yourself lucky," Noru said, wiping his mouth and glancing down at where Tommy lay. "Or maybe not," he continued, seeing the next round of seizures roll over the young man in front of him. "It should help increase your perception, allowing you to see a firmer grasp on the world around you.”

Tommy had never felt more pain in his entire life, including the time he was struck by lightning.

“Should be over soon,” Noru said, finishing off a roll he had been gnawing on throughout his supper. Another wave of powered rolled throughout Tommy's body, this time was noticeably different though. It was like a gentle breeze rippling across his entire body. Like a giant painkiller, it washed over him, soothing his aching muscles.

He lay there for a few minutes, completely disoriented, but feeling more alive than he ever had before, almost as if he could run a marathon without a break.

But it was more than that. His view on the world had completely shifted. On top of his normal vision, he felt as if he could sense everything around him within a certain radius. Using this new sense, he directed it inwards to examine his body.

He was able to see his core and channels much easier now. At least, that’s what he believed they were, after hearing Noru talk about them earlier. He hadn’t been able to think much through the pain, let alone listen to what the old man had to say. The ball of power that made up his core was brighter than ever but seemed almost denser now.

The stew did all of this?

Tommy stood and turned to face the old man, determined to get some clarity. And he immediately stopped as he truly felt his body for the first time. It felt as if his body flowed like water, responding to his actions like a hound eager to please its master.

Whatever was in that stew was marvelous.

“What is going on? And what just happened to me? Who are you, and where am I? And how do you know my name?” Tommy demanded from the old man, his tongue almost tripping over his words. Noru stood, ignoring his questions as he walked around the table to get a better look at Tommy.

“Hmm, all that power coursing through your body and you hardly take a step into the world of cultivation,” he mumbled to himself, walking around Tommy as if he were the prize hog at the county fair. “Undeveloped physique, no cultivation at all, and knowledge of the way of the world…” he paused as he looked over Tommy once more, “severely lacking. What has the state of the world fallen to?”

“I can hear you. Would you care to tell me what you’re doing?” Tommy asked, impatience and frustration growing by the minute.

“Do you know what cultivation is?” Noru asked looking him in the eye, somehow making Tommy feel as if the man towered over him.

Cultivation? Tommy thought to himself. He actually was familiar with the term. Stories of humans that could cultivate their bodies into immortal beings...in other words, myths and legends. Tommy actually rather enjoyed reading such novels, but being sucked into a world where it was real? I guess it’s not the craziest thing I’ve heard so far, he thought to himself.

Seeing Tommy lost in thought, Noru harrumphed.

“Fate is fickle indeed. Please take a seat and we can talk. I promise to answer all questions in due time,” he stated, cutting Tommy off as he started to protest. Gesturing back to the chair, the old man made his way around and sat, waiting on Tommy.

Seeing as how, technically, the old man hadn’t caused him any real harm, he couldn’t find a reason not to sit and hear the old man out. It’s not like he knew how to leave this place anyways. Distantly, he wondered how long had he been in the testing room.

Fleya must be getting irritated by now, he thought to himself. The thought didn’t bring him any comfort.

“Cultivation,” Noru stated, his rich voice breaking through Tommy’s scattered thoughts, “is taking in natural world aura, condensing it in your core, and then using it to reinforce your own body to defend against outside threats, or to attack others. Not everyone takes in world aura the same way and everyone processes it differently depending on their natural talent. You appear to be lacking in development. Did they not have cultivation on your plane?”

“No, I’d say this is definitely a first for me,” Tommy stated firmly.

“Well, that explains a lot.”

Seeing Tommy bristling at the constant remarks Noru smiled and tried to appease him. “Relax, please relax. I understand this is a lot, but until you fully grasp the situation you have found yourself in you need to trust in me.”

Nodding slowly, Tommy shoved the irritation down again and sat back to listen.

“Good, now let’s start with your story, leading up to now, and we can go from there.”

Taking a breath, Tommy dove into the story. He explained where he had come from, the details of his attack by the creature, and then being struck by lightning. From there, he brought Noru up to speed with his arrival to the Academy. Taking a few minutes to mull over the story, Noru eventually spoke.

“This creature that attacked you, do you know what happened to it?”

“I’ve had some dreams of it, and I saw it again earlier in the forest,” answered Tommy, “but nothing real after seeing it in the city. I mean, this is all just part of the testing room, right?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I might be a bit of an anomaly for you, but we can get to that later. This is a lot to take in and you're handling it well so far, so let's try not to let this next part overwhelm you.”

Taking a drink from his mug, Noru sat back and started.

“You may find this hard to believe, coming from the background that you come from, but you’re experiencing what many might call, reincarnation. No, please,” Noru stated, cutting off the questions he could already see spilling out to Tommy’s mouth. “Let me finish. A long time ago, there existed bridges across the realms, uniting the mortals on Earth with their cousins on Avedor, and last, but not least, there were bridges connecting them to their shadowy counterparts, Ixipia. More commonly known as hell, purgatory, so on and so forth.

“In my day, two of these two factions could get along. The third, not so much. Overtime, bloodshed had been spilt between the cultivators of Earth, the mages of Avedor, and the Demons of Ixipia. The wounds cut our races deep…the demons not so much. They seemed to thrive off of our pain, and our two races didn’t see a way to end it.

“And so I presented an insane idea, but the only one we could fathom as a true solution. I proposed to seal off the bridges, stopping travel from between the realms entirely. And while this would fix the demon issues, it would also prevent our two races from intermingling. No one could see a different alternative, and so we struck out to make it happen.”

Taking a break in his story, Noru took a sip from his cup and looked into the fire, collecting his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he looked to Tommy and continued in a somber tone. “I could not have predicted what would happen to the world though, after my actions were completed. Sealing off the bridges worked but it shattered the natural balance between the realms. Terrans found their ability to cultivate wither and die as the natural world aura throughout the universe slowly gathered to fuel the seal between realms. The people here on Avedor found an increasingly lower mage production rate. The kingdoms closer to the seal having more aura to work with being able to produce more mages than those further out.

“And throughout all of this, demon kind has festered, waiting in the dark for the seal to give way. And it surely will. With the natural aura in the world fading, the seal is bound to crack. When it does, the bridges can be reopened, and the natural order should find its balance.

“Overall, this decision has left our two peoples weak. If we aren’t prepared, a great bloodshed will await them when the seal fails. You have been chosen by fate to act in my stead. Where I once failed, you will need to succeed. Find a way to keep order and balance between the three factions and reinforce the seal, or our worlds will be plunged into another realm war.” Noru finished, his story settling on the room and smothering Tommy with discomfort.

“OK I’m definitely going insane,” Tommy said, standing up from his chair and pacing back and forth across the room. “Do you have any idea what you just said? How crazy this all is?” he questioned loudly, turning to look at the little man in the eye.

“I know, it’s a lot. I won’t lie to you though. This is the reality of your situation. Either step up now or watch it all burn around you. If you think this doesn’t affect you, you’re wrong. You have family back on Earth, yes? What happens when the bridges open and no one can step through to defend them?”

Tommy stood there, brain fried and unsure of his next steps. What was the reasonable reaction for when someone said you were the only hope for the universe? Seeing the stone-cold look on Noru’s face, he took a seat, a wave of exhaustion creeping up on him.

“Why me? There has to be someone else.”

An awkward moment of silence filled the room before Noru spoke again. "You were chosen by a higher power here Thomas. That spell only chooses the person it thinks will be the best fit for the job. Souls like ours are born once a millennium during times the universe is at a boiling point. We are born with a responsibility to the world to make it a better place. You didn’t ask for this power, but you have it. So, will you step up to the plate? Or is everything you know and love going to crash and burn around you?” Noru asked, driving the point home with his sonorous voice.

Sitting in silence for a while, Tommy thought over what Noru said. If this was all true and he wasn’t hallucinating, then he had to step up. He had a family back home and he knew they would be lost if this all came to fruition.

Unless, he took this seriously and got stronger.

“What do I do?” Tommy asked as he looked Noru in the eyes.

“We eat more soup,” the old man said, smiling as he ladled another bowl.