To seek out eternal life, to be able to fly like the birds and cross over to other realms or worlds, to become a true immortal, it all must start somewhere. One must transform and prepare the body to become a vessel that can withstand the test of time. A body that can harness power greater then most could ever imagine.

If the body is not prepared to take in the mysterious energies of the universe, then like a bomb, you will just blow up. It did not just happen out of thin air, it was created by someone or something. With all creations, there must be a starting point, a beginning of sorts. Anyone can start their world off into the age of cultivation.

Maybe in some other worlds, or in other dimensions, people had the mindset and cultivated from the start of their creation, but in this world, in its beginnings, the path to cultivation is in its infancy and has only just begun to sprout the starting line to the path of immortality. Cultivation is only primitive at best. They did not know that there was energy all around them that could be used to cultivate.

This large, flat like world is only known as Azurine to its inhabitants. Azurine has five large bodies of land and massive expanses of water surrounding them. In the middle of this world sits a large continent known as Petros. This piece of land is roughly 20 million square miles and is ruled over by 12 large kingdoms. In the Traherne Kingdom lies a small town known as White Rock, about 7 miles from the town of White Rock, a mile from the edge of the Grand Sea Forest, lies the village of Forest Shadow, surrounded by wooden staked walls.

In a horse stable, slightly on the outskirts of the inner walls of Forest Shadow Village, stood an 13 year old boy named Ezhno Stone.

Ezhno had rough, tanned skin from being outdoors most of his life. His black shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail. Eyes that glistened with a light blue color, that was considered uncommon for the people of the area. With your average height for a 13 year old at around 4 1/2 feet tall, he did not find himself to be handsome. Even though his parents said he would be a handsome man when he grew up, he just shrugged it off thinking his parents were just saying kind words to him. He weighed roughly 80 pounds. While slightly emaciated looking, he still had the look of a healthy growing child. He could stand to eat more, but he is limited to what your average 13 year old can find or earn on his own.

He was given enough to survive on from what the stable master rationed out to him each week. His household share was a lot less every since his parents died, when he was around 9 years old. He did not know what happened to them on that dreadful day, because nobody would tell him the details of the event.

On that morning, Ezhno abruptly woke up. He looked around the room and saw that he was lying there alone. Ezhno got out of bed and loudly said,

"Mom...? Dad...? Where are you? Why did you not wake me up?"

He did not understand why his parents left before waking him up. Usually they would wake him up to eat before they headed to the stable to start their daily duties.

Maybe they wanted to let me get a little more sleep today? Yesterday was a lot hotter and it really tired me out more than usual.

No point in continuing to wonder he thought to himself. I will just ask them when I see them in a few minutes.

He grabbed a piece of bread from the table, walked to the door and put on his shoes. He opened the door and headed out to the stable.

When he got to the stable, he looked around to see that everything was the same as it was the day before.

Ezhno walked through the stable and yelled,

"Mom...? Dad...? Are you around?...Where are you?"

After walking around the area for about 10 minutes, he did not see any sign of them.

Maybe they needed to head to town? He thought to himself. I will have to ask them later when they return. Regardless of what is gong on, the stables must be attended to. If nothing gets finished the stable master would not be very pleased.

Confusion lingered on his mind as he continued on with his work for the day.

While Ezhno was in the middle of mending a broken fence post, a messenger with a disdained look came to him with a message from the stable master. He slowly walked over to Ezhno, and with a mocking tone said,

"Boy, Your parents are dead. If you want to work here than work here. If you do not wish to work for Master Redfield Then get the fuck out and leave the village immediately".

"We already have plenty of horse shit littering up the streets as it is. We do not need a walking pile of shit stinking up our beautiful village."

After saying what needed to be said, the messenger gave Ezhno a big smirk and with a loud mocking laugh he turned around and left. Stunned at the news, Ezhno had many more questions he wanted to ask and went chasing after the messenger.

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With red, puffy eyes and tear stained face Ezhno finally caught up to the messenger. He tugged on the back of the messengers shirt and yelled for him to stop. Not but a moment after, even before Ezhno could speak another word, he saw a large calloused hand, it seemed to be growing larger and larger, coming towards his face. With a swoosh and a pop of skin making contact with one another, the downward swinging hand hit so hard, it made a loud ringing noise that resonated in Ezhno's ears. He was blinded instantly. His head spinning and throbbing, twinkling bright dots replaced the scenery before his eyes. With a loud thud and dust swirling in the air, the agonizing groan of a youth was heard.

A minute later Ezhno opened his eyes. The foggy, hazy scenery slowly lifted up, back to one of sharper images. His erratic breath was slowly returning to normal. While rolling his glazed over eyes around, he noticed the side of his face was lying in a pool of bright red liquid and clumps of dark brownish red dirt. The sweet metallic taste lingered in every inch of his mouth. The loud ringing in his ears slowly faded away. His head was throbbing and pulsating constantly. He reached for his head slowly rubbing, hoping that it would alleviate this feeling.

A loud reverberating laughter stopped abruptly. The messengers voice became more agitated. While bringing his hand back as if he was ready to give Ezhno another smack, he yelled,

"You...you...Just shut the fuck up! I will not repeat myself again! You will either return back to the stables and finish up your duties or you can leave this damn village immediately!"

The messenger turned around and slowly walked away. He snorted, spit, and mumbled annoyingly with each step.

After laying there for roughly an hour, not knowing what he should do, Ezhno slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and gently caressed his swollen face.

He grabbed the edge of his shirt and blew his nose a few times into it. He wiped the dried blood off his face the best he could, and slowly staggered back to the stables to finish up his duties for the day.

After a long, agonizing day, he finally finished up and closed the doors to the large entrance of the stable. While feeling dead inside, he slowly dragged his feet in the direction of his home. If anyone saw this scene, they would not see a young boy, but instead a walking corpse.

He entered his home, and without even taking his shoes or dirty clothes off, got down on his knees, crawled under the bed and silently cried himself to sleep the remainder of the night.

Ezhno's parents had worked at the stables most of their lives. He was born in the village and had basically followed in his parents footsteps.His father Ebed and his Mother Caria, were born into slavery. The neighboring kingdom invaded the Traherne borders for one of their rich mining settlements, a few miles passed the border. After news of the invasion spread, a long campaign was fought to win back their settlement.

The armies of Traherne finally reached the settlement, and after a hard battle, they won, After freeing all the enslaved people they were given a choice to continue mining in the camp, with wages or they could be set free to do whatever they wanted within the kingdom. If they chose to leave, they would have to register a name with the local magistrate.

If they did not have a first and last name they were to choose one upon registering. After they were registered, Ebed and Caria, along with approximately 100 other people, took off towards the middle of the kingdom. Ebed was not the smartest man and when having to pick a last name, like many other slaves, He chose one of the few words he knew how to spell, and that was stone, and this is how the Stone surname was created.

While traversing thousands of miles, within the group's travels, Ebed and Caria formed a relationship and eventually got married. After many miles of travel they stumbled upon the village of Forest Shadow. They entered the village and while walking around they found a job opening within the village head's stable.

Ezhno had worked in the stables every since he was able to walk and carry things. Stable work was all he knew how to do. He learned how to clean the stables and take care of the horses. Even though others his age were attending school or learning a craft from their parents, or from other artisans in the village. All he knew was how to feed, run the horses, and pick up there droppings. He was all alone doing the work at the stable.

He was just happy to not be dead in a ditch somewhere or wondering where to sleep and what he would eat day to day. He was happy knowing he had a place to call home and food on the table.

The other villagers shunned Ezhno and he could not understand why. No one would ever come by to say hello, or see how he was doing. While others in the village would give each other a helping hand or help feed those in there time of need, he has never received any of this kindness.

Maybe they see him as a cursed child, maybe they disliked his parents. All he could do was keep to himself and live life day to day.

While brushing the horses, Ezhno was reminiscing about the previous year, That moment in time was the most alive he had felt since his parents died. While in his stupor, a noise startled him out of his daydream. He looked over to see what the fuss was about and was shocked for a moment to see who it was.

He put the brush down and walked over, gave a bow and said,

"Hello Miss Odilia."

Startled at his actions after a slight pause she said,

"Ezhno, my grandfather is on his way, have you prepared the horses? You know how my grandfather can get when everything is not ready to go when he is."

Ezhno had not seen Odilia since she left for the city almost a year ago to attend one of the top schools in the Traherne Kingdom. She still looked almost the same, only slightly different than what he remembered. The top of her head stood eye level with him now versus last year when she was around his nose. Her light silver bluish hair grew a few more inches passed her shoulders. Her skin used to have a light bronze tan color, but now it was whiter and paler.

Ezhno thought to himself..

She must not get out much anymore and just stays indoors studying, it seems.

Her vibrant sparkling light green eyes were not as kind as he remembered. They looked a little tired and very sad. She looked like she lost a few pounds. Her clothes looked like they fit a little looser on her .

Ezhno rarely remembered much about people, he did not have any friends or family, but with Odilia he remembered everything. She was considered someone he held close to his heart.

After the initial shock of seeing Odilia, he started reminiscing about the time before she left. Before that incident happened that changed his world, That put any form of happiness to a halt.