Somewhere in the Northern Woodlands

“ROAR!!!!”

As the demonic bear’s paw swept towards us we quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding an almost certain fatal blow. I offered a quick prayer to the heavens offering thanks that despite the brute strength of this creature, it was slow. Recovering quickly I pulled up Selena and continued to run.

[Solder] “Boss! There’s a problem!!!”

[Captain Smithles] “Tsk. For a tier 5 demonic bear to appear now of all times! Everyone take formation 2 and take it out! Hurry before the demonic children escape!”

The branches sticking out from all sides scratch me and tear at my clothes, but I must continue on or else both of us will die. The pain and fatigue continued on for minutes, and those minutes slowly trickled into hours until finally we arrive at a small town. Despite it being a small town it was still probably ten times larger than our village.

I instantly start heading towards the closest house with Selena in tow. I pull up my hood to cover my distinct features that act as a dead giveaway that I am a Blood Elf. Then I walk over to the door and knock a couple times.

[Old man] “Yes? Who is it?”

He seemed to be quite annoyed until he looked down and noticed two children covered in scrapes and bruises.

[Old man] “Holy… are you two okay?!?”

[Me] “Please sir, take care of her.”

Saying that phrase, I hand over Selena to the old man and run off. I hear him yelling at me from a distance to come back, as I am injured as well, but I could not put Selena’s life in danger. If it was found out that I was a Blood Elf we would both be killed, no questions asked no matter our age.

I have to trust that the old man is kind enough that he’ll take care of a random human child. My two-year-old body is quite clumsy, and I gain more scrapes and my clothes begin to turn a deep red, dyed by my own blood. After a few more hours of this I fall down, and my eyes grow heavy. Before my eyes completely lose focus I notice a small white flower that contains seven petals. I don’t completely recognize it as my mind is losing focus, so instead I get as close as I can to it and my vision grows dark.

“Ugh…”

I open my eyes and notice that I, in fact, did not die. I am more surprised that no demonic beasts attacked me while I was passed out. That’s when I notice a white gleam in the corner of my eye. Of course! It was the Morning Flower that kept the beasts away! The Morning Flower was quite rare, and it possessed the ability to keep all demonic beasts tier 15 and below away. My luck to have quite literally stumble upon this flower must have been high.

Despite my amazing luck I knew it was still relatively easy to die in the Northern Woods. The strong prey on the weak here, and to survive I must get stronger… much stronger than I am now. There’s only one way to become strong enough to take on the army… and that was to open my mana streams. Normally if one wishes to tread down the dangerous path of becoming a mana user then they would have their pores opened at the earliest age of five. However, I have knowledge beyond the understanding of even top notch scholars, so I know of a way to open one’s mana pores even earlier than age five safely.

Once a person’s mana pores are open they struggle to achieve higher and higher tiers. There are a total of six different stages, and the first five stages each have five different tiers. The sixth stage only has one tier, and if you reach that stage then you achieve immortality. Only one person has ever reached this stage, and it is rumored that he killed himself after his sect was destroyed while he was in closed door meditation.

I look around and find a suitable place to open my mana pores. I also make sure I remember to bring the Morning Flower with me.

[Me] “Okay, this should do it.”

I sit down in a small clearing, and plant the Morning Flower a little ways in front of me. I close my eye and connect my mind to the earth, the air, and every noise that the forest produces. I start focusing even deeper at every detail, and a slight hum could be both heard and felt. That’s it! I start pulling out that hum, and drag it towards me. I feel my body beginning to reject the energy; however I force the energy into my pores, completely ignoring the pain that accompanies the energy. My body suddenly felt like a fire was raging through it, and instantly what’s left of my clothes become soaked in sweat. Disregarding the pain and sweat, I focus more on the energy, and start to cultivate it into my very soul. Blood Elves were well known for their faster cultivation process, however it still took about half an hour before my mana pores were completely open.

With my shaky legs, I stand up and head to the river flowing only a few steps away. I wash myself off, and grimace when I see exactly what had befallen my clothing. I decide it must make-do for now, and start to make a house. I shall stay here in order to get stronger. Only when I become a second-stage cultivator will I leave and look for a sect. Standing up, I stretch and begin my work.