Earth. 2018

"God damn it. Another fucking mosquito. Why have we not wiped these bloody things off the face of the earth yet? You know they are able to genetically modify females to make the males sterile after they mate, right?" An overweight, over dressed man said as he was trenching through the heavy brush of the forest floor.

"I heard the more you complain about the mosquitos the less likely they are to bite you," Arbor joked with Johnny, "Also that could potentially cause unforeseen damage to the ecosystem. Mosquitoes are essentially useless as they don't provide anything except that they are the prey of several animals. Causing them to go extinct on purpose would cause many other insects…Hey are you even listening to me?" Arbor gave a glance to his overweight employer. He couldn't help but think to himself, 'Its great and all that he funded this trip, but his lard ass should not have tagged along'.

Arbor is a twenty-four-year-old botanist. Growing up he spent every second exploring the woods and mountains behind his house. As he grew older, he started to hike the local mountain and researching anything he did not understand about plants, rocks, trees, insects, etc. In college he studied botany and would take martial arts classes and occasionally dabble in fantasy culture. He quickly made a name for himself by discovering three ancient civilizations and a new family of plants in the Amazon Rainforest before the age of twenty two.

Johnny was breathing heavily as he supported himself against a tree with his right arm. "What were you saying?" Johnny asked. "....Maybe I will just invest a couple hundred million into research to eliminate these fucking things once and for all.’ Johnny muttered to himself.

Johnny is the spoiled son of a billionaire, that had a childlike mindset, who had heard rumors about an ancient tree that would give fruit to a golden apple once every couple of thousands of years. Sadly these rumors slowly started to fade away with time. It has been said that this apple granted immortality and powers beyond any human ever thought possible.

This hoax started circulating around a thousand years ago when murals and ancient texts describing a human who was able to able to jump across rivers and out run the fastest horse were discovered deep in the same forest Arbor is currently navigating. It was said that this superhuman had the strength of ten men and had skin stronger than iron. The basis of this folktale disappeared as the person it is based off of, also disappeared soon after they displayed their superhuman abilities.

How did Arbor as one of the world's most renowned botanists and part time explorer, get dragged into searching for a golden apple that is based on a thousand year old folk tale? He has a desire for delving into explorations based on gossip that seemed out of this world. In addition, if someone else is going to fund the party, he will happily go along. Recently, Arbor started to regret his decision to go on this little adventure, because of the inflated, good-for-nothing that hired him.

After traveling for another ten minutes, Johnny could no longer cope with the excessive physical activity and demanded that the group set up camp. As the one who employed Arbor, and the small militia of men, everyone reluctantly listened.

The next couple of days consisted of the party voyaging deeper into the forest. As they started to trek towards the center Arbor started to notice that the vegetation and trees started to brim with more life than they should have.

"What the hell is going on here? Why are the...Is that story true? If so why would a single tree have such an effect on the rest of the plant life. What if the animals get affected also? How big would…" Arbor mumbled to himself as a horrified look started to surface on his face.

Arbor placed his right hand on his right hip, then signaled for Rollant, the commander of the private army, to have his men ready their weapons. Unknown to the troupe, the predators local to the area had moved out of the territory but were still keeping eyes on the intruders. Luckily, Johnny had brought plentiful of armed guards.

"Everybody, on guard. Accidents are unacc..." The commanding guard barked.

"Rollant, if you or any of your men let me die I have strict orders that all of your families will be killed," Johnny sternly interrupted Rollant.

"Whatever you say boss." Rollant mocked.

A couple of hours later.

"Holy mother nature. What kind of tree is that?" An insignificant guard inquired.

Following the guards stare, Arbor noticed a seemingly normal looking tree with one exception, the tree has a slight golden sparkle emanating from the chestnut coloured bark.

Without a second thought, Arbor started to disregard everything and make his way towards the magical tree. Arbor had estimated that the tree had been growing for around three thousand years.

Arbor walked around the tree and figured that it was thirty feet in circumference. Arbor tried to chip some bark off but failed. He failed to make the slightest scratch. Twenty-five minutes later Arbor was done inspecting the tree, he finally placed his hand on the tree a warm sensation entered his body, as if the tree was calling to him or making a connection with him. Without the slightest clue to him, a fraction of his soul escaped into a barren realm. Arbor felt a massive pain in his body, causing him to fall over in agony at the base of the trunk.

…

Divine Realm.

In a dark corner of the world. An ebon castle stood erect at the bottom of a valley. Thousands of hooded figures, black beasts, and aberrations of death scurry around the castle grounds. The absence of light in the valley is a direct representation that the light itself feared entering this area. This place is a painful reminder that the God of Death exists. This is not the underworld, but it is as close as one can get without dying.

In the grand hall stood a throne made of skulls of humans and different animals that emanated obsidian smoke through the eyes of each skull. Sitting on the throne was a man surrounded by the smoke. This man had the appearance of an early teen. The black hair, black eyes and a skinny face would scare off even the proudest cultivators.

"Hmm..what is that? This soul is exceptionally pure and powerful, capable of rivalarying us godly existences. Of course that is all depending upon he gets that chance to mature. I should count myself lucky that I was searching for disciples at this time and somehow stumbled upon this soul. I need to kill him before Haoshe finds him. " Veon said with a grimacing tone. A low distorted laugh echoed through the hall. "He won't have a chance. Hmm? It's not a complete soul. I found the tear in space that connects those two realms. Let's do this."

With that Veon reached out his hands and sent out two strands of essence. One to his subordinate and another to the Forgotten realms where he found the sliver of Arbors soul. Seconds after Veon blacked out from over using his power to scour the realms.

…

Obviously, Arbor was unknown to what was happening in the Divine Realm.

"FUUUUUUCK. AHHHHHH.." Arbor roared, alerting everybody in the surroundings.Causing worry and concern to the other adventurers. Concern, with a hidden excitement, entered Johnny’s eyes. A few of the men rushed over to check on Arbor.

Seconds later an invisible strand of essence escaped from the earth at the base of the tree. It found a tarantula in the area and entered it. The tarantula peaked up and began moving towards across the trees branches. Soon enough the tarantula began making its way towards Arbor across the branches of the trees. It found its way onto a branch directly above Arbor.

No one noticed that spider drop off of the branch, landed on Arbor’s shoulder. The spider bit Arbor’s neck before scurrying off into the forest.

He swiped at his neck at the feeling of the bite. He tried to get up but his body became under the effect of the venom. His body was starting to turn black as the venom circulated through his body. A black mist started to emanate from every pore on his body.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO HIM?" Questioned a guard with a horrified look on his face.

Blood started to poor out from Arbor's seven orifices.

Arbor was slowly losing consciousness as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The loss of his five senses told Arbor that his life is at its end. A strange feeling overcame Arbor as he somehow began to feel he felt a pulling sensation.

Johnny was standing in the back of the crowd looking at Arbor with a horrified look when he suddenly noticed a yellow glow coming from the top half of the tree.

Johnny was stuttering over his own words, until he finally said, "Isn't that…"