Writer Eternal: My best friend, Christian, saw this prologue and chapter 1 in my journal. He claimed it felt more like a novel and would rather read this one instead of my other story. I agreed and decided to post it. Enjoy.

Prologue and Chapter 1: The Black Sea

Vast mountains and ancient forests.

Old buildings covered with moss and giant steel walls surrounding the city.

This is a version of Earth that survived a calamity. Whose people were strong and endured the great changes.

Humans and magical beasts , in constant strife.

The threat of demons and slumbering undead.

Legend has it that a rip in dimensions brought forth the great many changes.

An old grandmother sat by a lake, cradling a newborn baby as her rocking chair swayed.

The night was dark. Even the bugs were silent. The birds nested and the beasts were stilled.

Suddenly, a crack tore open in the sky. Oxygen grows sparse, the air difficult to breath.

The sky turned gold and crimson. Half the world could see the tear in the sky, the other's night as dark as the void of space.

Tiny drops of golden liquid sprinkled from the tear. Humans embraced in their homes with fear as the beasts howled in the air. The demons grew listless as the undead awoke.

Fanatics left their homes, praying to the tear in the sky in worship. Armies readied what little modern weaponry remained in fear of another calamity.

It was while the gold rain fell, the grandmother cackled and lifted her grandson into the air. The baby giggled as it was bathed in the golden drops. None noticed a grey liquid drop enter the baby's body.

For centuries, the golden rain would be remembered in history.

The tear in the sky was not a miracle. It was not a coincidence.

It was the harbinger of another calamity. One that would take years to bear fruit.

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'That which is black during the day is neon green at night. None can predict the dangers of the Black Sea.'

The fishermen of Black Coral City learned the saying as soon as they could read and write. Sailing past sunset was forbidden and none returned alive save two people.

One was an old woman wearing a red hooded cloak. The other, a newborn baby with ominous gray eyes. No fishermen could ever forget the black ship that sailed the waters of the Black Sea without aid of a crew.

As soon as the ship hit the sand bed, the ship shrunk to the size of a fist and disappeared within the grandmother's cloak.

Such magical acts could only be possible by those few humans capable of harnessing the magical energy vibrant around the world ever since five hundred years ago. Those rare humans walked the path to immortality and were called cultivators.

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"Grandma! I'm back," a seventeen year old boy with short black hair and gray eyes shouted as he entered the cabin. "Old Wu got quite the harvest and I was able to exchange some deer meat for loaves of bread. The butcher paid me seven silver two-thirds of the meat and the leather crafter gave me two wolf fur cloaks for the deer hide and two silvers."

"Good job Wei. Your mother would be proud," his grandmother smiled, still wearing the red cloak he had always seen her wear. "Been keeping up with your lessons?"

"Yes grandmother. I spent the last two days on the hunt with my hunting bow. I practiced with my Han Dynasty modeled jian (Chinese straight sword) with the local weapon smith before that," Wei nodded. "I can control the grey talisman and shape its energy into a flying sword. I am proficient with the Lightning Arrow spell, and have a high comprehension of the Concept of Thunder. I've proven I can survive out there."

"No. You haven't. The talisman is the only one you have and not a true flying sword. Your weapons are not magical and you only know one spell. You haven't even awakened your spirit essence. You also have no backing as your father has not included you in his family registry. You only this bag of bones and I am not enough. As I said before, the day you assimilate the stone stamp of your ancestor is the day we depart this place. Now go set the fire," his grandmother waved.

She watched as her grandson silently lit the firewood with a tiny spark of lightning as he flicked his wrist. He was a talented child, able to discern the Concept of Thunder so easily. He was able to have such a high comprehension due to hundreds of hours spent mastering the Lightning Arrow spell.

Still, the boy did not have the weapons and enough cultivator skills to survive. Concepts only integrated elements. Wei could not create or control them. She could only sacrifice herself to buy some time knowing he'll die later.

"I hope he has affinity to another element soon. Just having one is not enough. Not with the limited resources we have," the grandmother thought and sighed helplessly.

She felt disappointed with Wei's parents. They were the source of her headache and Wei's heartache. She could only attempt to keep their image bright until the day Wei learned the truth. Their image and hers. One day, Wei might forgive her for doing the right thing. At least, she hoped he would.

"The fire is set. I'm going to go the cliff at the beach to watch sunset," Wei murmured, leaving the fireplace as the fire stabilized.

"Alright. Be careful to not be at sea after dark. If you're going hunting, be sure to bring more deer and boar to trade. We need to stock up for winter," his grandmother called, Wei nodding as he left the silver coins on the table before he left.

Wei stared silently at the sea from atop the edge of a grassy cliff, his legs dangling over the edge. On his lap was a gray talisman with white inscriptions constantly shifting. With a single intent, a gray energy expanded from the talisman to form a gray sword. Wei watched as he made the flying sword talisman fly about in random directions.

Wei stood up and walked off the cliff, a black cloud forming under his feet. The cloud was the result of a simple flying technique Wei picked up from one of his dives beneath the Black Sea.

For an unknown reason, every person who entered the Black Sea at night had their life wither away magical items to safeguard them. Wei was different as he was not affected in the slightest and actually felt empowered by the neon green water.

Over the years, Wei found many treasures as he could travel farther and deeper than the people on the island. Of course, he told no one of his adventures. Not even his grandmother.

He also found an ink black jade ring which happened to be a 5x5x5 meter space inside. It was a storage ring! A rare item even mortals could use to carry their items up to maximum capacity.

However, it paled in comparison to the 15x15x15 meter space inside his own body. He never knew how it happened, but noticed its existence once he turned ten. His grandmother knew about the ring, but he kept his spoils inside the mysterious space in his body.

Wei stopped flying on his black cloud as he noticed his raft he anchored a few miles south of the island. There was nothing but the arctic lands to the south and no humans were known to live there. Thus, it was the perfect place to explore and keep secret.

A few days ago, Wei had found a sunken ruin at the bottom of the sea. He did not have the equipment to breathe underwater and had to spend quite a few of his savings to buy a magical underwater breathing mask. The mask let him breathe as easily as if he were on land and lessened the water pressure around him.

Wei put on the breathing mask and dived into the water after he put his flying sword talisman away.

The water grew colder as he swam through an icy tunnel of a glacier. Wei circulated his spirit energy throughout his body, using his spirit energy to keep his body warm as he swam deeper into the tunnel.

He paused as he arrived before a large stone ruin with a pair of large stone doors. The doors looked like it hadn't aged at all, the metal and hinges as shiny and strong as the day they were made.

Wei noticed the water turn from black to neon green. He gasped as dark green runes appeared on the door. It was as if it was a sign indicating the doors could only be opened at night.

Wei nervously held the grip of his jian at his left side before swimming toward the doors.

As soon as he touched the doors, a dark green light shined from the runes and the doors opened. Wei looked around in awe as he swam in only to have his feet land on the floor.

Water dripped onto the floor as Wei realized he was no longer underwater. He removed his breathing mask and changed into dry clothes before taking out a torch from his storage ring.

"Wow. This place must be enchanted. There's got to be some treasure in here. I might finally prove myself to grandma and leave the island," Wei laughed and ventured deeper into the ruins.