The sky above the Atlantic ocean.

Cockpit of the American Airline en-route to Manhattan from London,

The flight was on auto pilot, and both the pilot and the co-pilot were having a little chit-chat about the last night's adventure that the co-pilot, Peter, had with his girlfriend.

“Hay Mac, you know she made me climb the whole damn stares of a four story shopping-mall three times before she found what she was looking for, can you imagine it?” said Peter with a sigh.

“Oh, I know that feeling all too well, you would be surprised to hear what I had to go through within the forty or so year I had spent with my wife, my boy. And you are not even married yet so stop complaining you've a long road ahead of you,” said Mac laughing good naturedly.

“Well at least, she did make it up to me last night though” said Peter and a sly grin crept up his face as he remembered the wild night he had with his girlfriend.

“Hey, I know that look on your face all too as well” said Mac as that same sly grin made an appearance on his face as well.

Suddenly some kind of distortion appeared in front of the flight and it blinked out of existence as soon as it appeared.

“Hey did you see that?” asked Mac

“Yeah like some kind of portal or something you see in those fantasy movies” said Peter.

Suddenly the plane started to jerk violently and all the controlling system started going crazy. Mac being the most senior of the duo and the main pilot acted immediately. He switched off the auto piloting system and tried to manually control the aircraft.

“What's happening?” asked a panic-stricken Peter

“I don't know for sure but, I think we have been hit by a microburst, “

“But the weather is all clear,” said Peter

“Yes I can see that, now stop arguing and contact the control room,” barked Mac

“Yes Sir, Control room come in this is Flight No #1734. We have been hit by a strong air current probably a microburst We need immediate assistance, I repeat we need immediate assistance,”

“This is control room....” but the replay was suddenly cut off

“Control Room come in, Control Room come in” Peter desperately said into his microphone but there was only static, meanwhile Mac was doing his best to bring the aircraft under control. “Sir we have lost connection to the control room, Sir. Sir”

Mac was hearing none of what Peter was telling him, his eyes were glued to something straight ahead of him and all the blood has been drained from his face. Peter followed his superior's line of sight to find a big black hole right in front of them

“What the hell...”  was all he could say before the whole aircraft got swallowed by the giant hole in the sky.

----------------------------------------

A Few minutes earlier....

Matt was deep in slumber when the flight started jerking violently, he woke up to the panicked cries of his fellow passengers. And before he could regain his senses and take in what was happening around him, it was all over. And then there was utter silence and the darkness.

When Matt regained consciousness, he found himself in some kind of a forest. Since he was sleeping just before the accident he didn't know where they were at that time. But he did remember getting a glimpse of the open sea bellow. And now he was in a forest and god knows where said forest was. He checked his surroundings for the wrecked aircraft or any of his fellow passengers, but couldn't find either. He thought he might have fallen way before the plane crashed. It was the only possible explanation for the situation.

Next Matt looked around, taking in his surroundings. The forest was filled with giant trees that were at least ten stories high and had the circumference of a small playground. The canopy above the forest was so thick that the sunlight could barely make it to the forest floor. Matt had never heard of any forest with such giant trees and he had never seen or heard of any of the other shrubs or plants he saw around him. He thought he might be dreaming or something but it felt all too real and detailed to be a dream. Staying put in an unknown place, a forest at that, was not good. You never know what might be lurking in the dense foliage. He had not seen any animals up till now, but it would be wise to find any sort of civilization before anything unpleasant finds him. So he decided to walk in a random direction.

Even after walking for about an hour, Matt has not encountered any wild animals, which was good, or any symbol of any human settlement, not even a road which might lead him to some kind of a small village or out of the forest altogether. He started to think that he might be walking in circles because nothing ever changed around him or he was moving deeper into the forest. Both the possibilities were not good for him. He decided to keep going in the same direction because, if he changed the direction now he might get more lost than he already has.

After another half an hour of walking, he decided to take a rest and sat down in the root of a nearby tree. He was dead tired after such a long walk. He had eaten nothing after breakfast and if he had to guess it was past mid-noon now and he was starving. All this exhaustion and hunger made his eyelids heavy and before he knew it he was asleep.

When Matt woke up, it was getting close to nightfall. He got up from where he had been sitting. He was still very hungry so he decided to look for something to eat. That's when he felt it, like someone was calling him. He was already lost in a forest from which he had no idea of how to get out of, so he decided to heed the call and moved towards it. After walking for fifteen or so minutes he came upon a dried river shore. From there he started walking upriver, how he knew it was up not down he didn't know nor did he care. He simply kept walking. After god knows how long he came to the foot of a small hill. The river, it seems came from above and the being or whatever was calling him was also at the top of the hill. So he started climbing the hill. After climbing for what seemed to be nearly two hours he made it to the top of the hill. What greeted him was a withered old tree which was small compared to all other trees he has seen thus far. The river originated from the foot of the said tree and it seemed that the calling he had been feeling has been from the tree.

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He went near the tree and placed his right hand on its trunk. And suddenly a pop-up window, you see in those video games, popped in front of his eyes and which made him jump backwards in surprise. The moment he removed his hand from the tree's trunk the window vanished into thin air. So he cautiously approached the tree and placed his palm against the tree again. The same window, or at least he thought it was the same, popped in front of him again.

Do you wish to be the Guardian of the World Tree?

Warning* Since you are not a Sprit Beast your race may get changed.

Warning* Since the World Tree is on the brink of death, binding your soul to the world tree might be very painful. Proceed only if you have a strong soul to withstand the backlash.

Do you wish to proceed? 

                                    Yes                                          No  

Matt was confused. It was no dream, that much was evident. Then was he hallucinating because of the exhaustion and hunger? No that can't be the case either, because, his gut was telling him it was real and whatever decision he takes now will have a greater impact on his future. The warning about the change in the race made no sense to him. But the warning about binding his soul to the world tree and the pain it will cause worried him, which caused him to consider rejecting the offer. But before he could make his choice he felt the tree pleading to him to accept the offer. It assured him that his soul was strong enough to withstand the pain. It begged him to save it from certain death.

Matt had taken the Hippocratic oath to save every life he could possibly save while passing out of the university and it becomes his duty as a doctor to put other's life before his. And the warning didn't mention him losing his life if the process fails. So he decided to accept the offer. The moment he made his choice, the dialogue box disappeared and something inside him got connected to the World Tree, something that he had never realized was inside of him. Then the pain started, a pain he has never felt before. It was so intense that he couldn't even think straight. He thought he was done for and his life would end in this godforsaken forest. The smiling face of his sister and other family members came rushing into his mind after which the darkness consumed him.