Chapter 3:Awakening

Name:Walker Of The Worlds Author:
Millions of kilometers away in the space a grey orb of light is traveling at a great speed, feeling as if it was fading in and out from reality itself, passing through obstacles like asteroids as if they were air.

After an unknown amount of time, it is nearing a blue planet, eventually falling into its atmosphere. The ground getting closer and closer, small continents expanding to a vast length, mountains rising to a great height. In the end, the grey orb collides with an insignificant tree making it shake, the orb fading away leaving behind a rusty grey ring embedded halfway through in the trunk.

In his sleep Lin Mu found himself in a dark place, he could not see anything at all, he could feel his arms and legs, even touch them but he still could not see them at all.

"Where am I? Is this a dream, I've never had a dream like this ever before"

He walked around in the darkness for what could be a few minutes or days; He had no method to measure the time by there. Eventually, he woke up because of sharp pain at the top of his head. Looking around, he found himself lying below a familiar apple tree, a small apple fallen beside him. The sky was slowly getting brighter, and the sun hidden below the horizon had not risen yet.

"Huh, looks like this apple fell on my head and woke me up, that's strange though this apple is still unripe why did it fall?"

Standing up, Lin Mu stretched his arms and looked up at the sky and estimated that it's around 5 am most likely. He went up to the small stream to drink some water and quenched his thirst. After drinking some water, he felt his stomach groan with hunger.

"I have to find something to eat, it would be no use going back to the town as I don't have any money left, the guards took away the last of which I had left, guess I'll head back to the apple tree and get some apples."

Walking back to the apple tree Lin Mu looked for a ripe apple to eat, spotting a few with his eyes Lin Mu began to climb the tree. Pulling himself up on a branch, Lin Mu plucked some apples.

While getting down Lin Mu spotted a glint on the trunk of the tree. Getting closer to inspect what it was, he found a curved rusty metallic piece stuck to the bark; he tried pulling it out but was stuck very hard. He put his whole strength into pulling it out and finally pulled it out as he fell to the ground, as he lost his balance.

Looking at the object in his hands, he found that it was actually a rusty grey ring like one could find in a flea market. The ring had a peculiar design having five small spurs equidistant from each other rising from one side of the ring.

"I don't think I've ever seen this before here on the tree. Did someone put it there? I may as well keep it, maybe I can sell it in the town later on."

Lin Mu decided to put the ring on his right middle finger. As soon as he put on the ring a chill went through his body and then a warmth started to spread from the ring to all over his body. As the warmth spread Lin Mu felt energized and every cell in his body filled with strength. The process lasted for 10 minutes, after which Lin Mu opened his eyes and analyzed his body.

"What was that, I feel stronger much more than ever before, did I break through to the 3rd stage of body tempering realm"

Wanting to test out his strength, Lin Mu found a rock the size of two fists. He put down the rock, and punched it with all his strength. Only a slight chip fell off the rock, leaving some cuts on Lin Mu's fist.

"DAMMM, it hurts like hell, why did I think this would be a good idea to test out my strength. But how did I break through and increase my strength, is it due to the ring? Could it be a treasure?"

Observing the ring, Lim Mu thought that it looked the same as before, having a rusty grey colour except that the ring now fitted him more snugly as if it was made for him.

Lin Mu's stomach grumbled again, reminding him of his hunger. He had already plucked the apples from the tree, so he got some dried twigs and branches to cook the apples knowing that eating them straight as they are even if they are ripe is not an option as they were very tart to eat and it would just leave him with his teeth hurting.

Still, to cook the apples, Lin Mu required a pot, so he decided to go to his father's old hunting shack to find one. Perhaps he could also use it to solve his current homeless situation. He could not always sleep under a tree in the open sky, could he? Winter would be arriving in a month, thus he would definitely need a roof over his head and some warm clothes.

Walking a few hundred meters towards the forest, Lin Mu found the old abandoned hunting shack. The shack was small and looked old and damaged by the elements.

Walking in Lin Mu saw a few pieces of furniture, a couple of planks used to sit and also used as a bed, a small table, and a shelf. At the edge, he saw a small stove built with stone, and besides it was a small pot. He placed the branches and twigs that he collected and started a fire. He added water to the pot and placed the apples in it, which he broke into chunks, after which he let it cook.

10 minutes later the apples were cooked and palatable, no longer as tart as before. Lin Mu let the pot cool down before eating the cooked apples. After he filled his belly, Lin Mu felt satisfied and focused his thoughts back on the mysterious ring.

As Lin Mu focused on the ring, he felt a similar chill going through his body again and found his vision fading into darkness.