In the beginning there was nothing. Liu Jiaolong felt himself spin in what felt like aeons within this pit of inky blackness. No, to call it inky blackness would downplay what it truly felt like. Have you tried imagining what it would be like to see out of your elbow? An interesting thought experiment, because it is impossible to imagine such a feat. How can one see out of their elbow? You can’t. This was what it was like. He could see nothing, hear nothing, smell nothing, touch nothing, taste nothing. In this eternal abyss, the concept of darkness itself did not even exist. He was merely a floating consciousness awash in this Nothingness.

He remembered precious little of what happened before He woke up in this Nothingness. Flashes of his past life, scenes of training with bald headed warriors. The smell of sweat and leather. Breathy shouts and grunts from dozens of men. The taste of soy sauce and mala chilli oil on his tongue. These all flashed through his mind as he continued to spin aimlessly in Nothingness. There was nothing to do but think.

The man could only clearly remember my name and what he looked like. Vague flashes of a gold belt being fixed around my waist, oversized leather gloves covering my hands, the sound of a wooden staff being slapped on flesh, the smell of scented flowers mixed with sweat and the breathy whimpers of a woman. What was he doing here? Was he dead? These questions rolled through his mind like a boulder hurtling down a hill, rumbling and spinning as it went.

His thoughts rolled around in his mind, trying to find an answer, to which there was no avail. In this Nothingness all he could do was try and think, to comprehend, to understand. There was nothing to measure the time, nothing to count how long he had been here.

And out of the Nothingness came a voice, a whisper from beyond.

Wake up…Wake up

I tried to speak, but I had no mouth. I had no voice but I had to scream. Wordlessly, I screamed into the abyss, “WHERE AM I?”

To the mind that is still…the whole universe surrenders

He registered the voice. His mind had raced like a horse galloping through the plains, and it began to slow. To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders? He didn’t quite understand the meaning, but he tried to do what the voice said. Like a thunderstorm that gradually subsides, with the wind no longer howling and the rain no longer pouring. His thoughts stilled and his mind quietened, with this, a flash of light appeared in front of him. Light, for the first time in however long, had finally appeared.

A second flash appeared across his vision, then another and another. As they slowly blinked into existence, gradually 108 lights burst into sight. Each of them forming different constellations, all these 108 stars slowly began to rotate and move, more and more light slowly entered into where it was no longer just Nothingness, but a rushing night sky full of stars.

As his vision was overwhelmed with the rushing stars and the rotating heavens,heI could begin to smell. An earthy smell, as if dirt was shoved up his nostrils.He could breathe in and out, and as he started inhaling oxygen, he could touch. He could feel his hand run across stone, tapping on the hard surface with my fingers as he began to consciously feel his body, his limbs, his fingers and toes. And then, he heard a crack, the sound of stone being chipped away. The night sky cracked open as a bright light began to shine through the hole in the sky.

He lifted his hands to shield his sight from the blinding light, as more and more cracks could be heard as the night sky collapsed around him. He shut his eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter, overwhelming his vision and blinding him. As the sound of cracking grew louder and louder, he could feel my body being lifted through the hole in the sky, as he burst through it and was birthed into the new world.

*** ***

He heard the sound of shattering as he was ejected through the hole in the sky, the light gradually becoming less strong as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He slowly let down his hands, uncovering his eyes as the world slowly phased into being in front of him. All of a sudden, his head jolted upward and a bright light shot out from his eyes, piercing the clouds and through the blue sky into the beyond. The light lasted for a few seconds before gradually fading away.

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His head was ringing,the sound near deafening as he shook his head. He stepped forward and fell down flat on his face onto the grass. The ringing slowly subsided as he groaned, pushing himself off the ground and managing to roll onto his back. He looked up the passing clouds in the blue sky, flying birds above as he tilted his head up to look back at what he had came from.

It was a large boulder, a boulder shaped like an egg. Covered in sand, he quickly patted himself off, wiping his hands on what seemed to be orange robes. A memory flashed through his mind, a temple. It appeared these were the robes that the warrior monks wore back…his memory was fragmented, he didn’t know where the temple was, but it didn’t matter. All he knew was that he was wearing the robe of warrior monks, ones who trained in martial arts.

As Pangu was born out of the egg in the primordial chaos, so too he was born into this new world. More pieces of memory flashed through his head, causing the ringing sound to grow louder once more. As he tried to process all the information rushing through him at once, he clutched his head, standing up gingerly as he managed to stumble forward. Overlooking the edge of the cliff, the world rolled into view.

He had died, this was something he knew for sure. He had somehow died and come to this place, this new world. A large lush green valley, covered with rolling hills and plentiful forests. From the mouth of the valley, a waterfall could be seen, foaming deep blue water rolling over the edge and forming a large river. To which many humanoid creatures and animals could be seen drinking from it.

Suddenly he could hear his heartbeat, slow and loud. Pounding away at his ears, an energy that surged from the bottom of his stomach through his whole body coursed through his veins. It was simply electrifying, the burning sensation under his skin, behind his eyes, within his organs, caused him to sweat profusely. But even then that wasn’t enough.

He could hear the hissing of steam and felt sweat evaporate. The air around him shimmered with the heat, his skin tingling and his muscles filled with a newfound kind of strength. He gasped, feeling his saliva evaporate the moment it touched the air, steam lifting from his mouth.

As Qi began to surge through him, Liu felt a surge of energy unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was as if every cell in his body was being revitalised and invigorated, his own being burning like a raging inferno. It was in this moment that he felt a profound connection to his own body, no, his essence. It was like an overheating laptop, being stuffed full of electricity, with none of the energy having anywhere to go.

He suddenly let out an anguished roar, all the heat rushed from his skin, the shimmering air turned into wind, flowing out away from his body. From the tip of his toes to the crown of his head, this fire in his veins poured out into the world around him. This untapped power was finally unlocked.

He suddenly swung around and instinctively threw a punch, finding a need to move, to get rid of this stored up energy. As his body rotated, he twisted on the ball of his right foot, the energy surging up from the ground and through his foot, up his calf and all the way to his glutes. The stored up energy in his hips and waist rotated with the movement, the energy travelling up through his back and then through the shoulders. The force came out like a whip, a loud cracking noise could be heard as the power passed down his rotating shoulder, down his arm and out through his knuckles.

The rush of energy that tore from his fists crashed into the tree, leaving an indentation of a fist on the tree bark. The sound of wood being crushed resounding through the whole forest, birds immediately lifted up into the air, shrieking as they were terrified by the sudden loud noise.

Liu stood there, panting as he felt the energy slowly dissipating and the shimmering air around him gradually levelling off. He was left with many questions, many of which were regarding his own abilities. He could still remember fragments of his old life, he knew that of the martial arts he trained in. Crushing wood without touching it was impossible, it was something out of fantasy, things you imagine but are never able to do. So, how is it possible for this to happen?

He shook his head, he had to get water first. All that steam and sweat had left him thirsty. And he needed to drink, he was parched. He quickly sauntered off into the woods, looking to find a way to get to that large river coursing through the valley.

*** ***

In the deep caves within the Jurmassic forests, hungry eyes shone in the darkness. Every creature had seen the shining light erupting through the heavens. The sound of gnashing teeth and sharpening knives filled the cave. Their beastial forms casting grotesque shadows upon the damp stone walls. Their green, leathery skin glistened with sweat, as they whispered and snarled in their guttural language, plotting their sinister deeds.

A single goblin sat in the darkness within the heart of the goblin horde, on a throne of bones, formed from the corpses of dead humans and other goblins. His sinister visage curled into a sneering grin. From the burst of light in the sky and the loud crashing nearby, it was clear, a Struggler was born into this world.

He knew the dangers of having a struggler being born into this world, especially if they were a human or one of the none monstrous races. He had to find a way to nip this in the bud, and fast. The struggler was not allowed to grow in power, they should be killed before they could even become a large-scale threat.

He slowly rose up from his throne, brandishing his iron short sword. It was time to go hunting. As he stepped off of the seat, his other goblins turned to face him, all of them armed with a variety of clubs or iron weaponry. With wild gestures and in a raspy voice, the time for the hunt had begun once more. A Struggler! To feast on their heart would give them a great boon and perhaps sacrificing them to Pandar would give them a dark boon, winning favour with the deity.

Cheers and cries of violence rang out through the cave, the goblins ventured forth, out of the darkness and into the light of the wood. Slinking undetected through the undergrowth towards the source of the noise.

The Struggler would die.