Chapter 1


    I had a premonition of the end, but the next day came anyway.


    “It was New Year’s Eve and I swear I was sober. I was at my parents house as usual, celebrating the passing of another year. Midnight came late and I promptly excused myself to sleep once my obligation was fulfilled. I’m not one of those people who miraculously fall asleep the moment their head touches the pillow, but I was out cold within seconds.”


    “Dreams? Yeah I had those regularly, but this wasn’t one of those. If I had a better word I would use it, I’ve tried trance or vision but those don’t feel right. Perhaps a premonition or prophecy but those words scared people so I avoided them. Whatever the case, when I awoke I saw a world filled with terrors that stained my soul and made me a believer. That is, a believer of the end. Notably, there was a voice in the midst of the chaos; a vaguely female voice that lacked emotion or concern. The voice rang in my mind as if I was wearing high-end headphones.” Noah paused before continuing in his best authoritative soprano.


    “If only you had been a stronger, less primitive people, perhaps you would have stood a chance. Your lack of cultivation and knowledge of the gates will not be held against you but your judgment remains. From the dust you came, and dust you remained.” Noah cleared his throat and continued in a notably less feminine voice.


    “I floated above the earth and watched as civilization crumbled and fell to the hordes. Ah the hordes, yes that is simply my name for them. They appeared to be monsters, vicious beasts of ridiculous size and variety. Like floodwaters, they surged into the cities and feasted.”


    “I saw others who managed to repel the beasts, fighting valiantly with swords and axes as if they were from another era. Perhaps they were. They certainly weren’t human. Their eyes were intelligent, and they clearly communicated with one another, but the differences were stark. These “others” were larger, the smallest no less than seven feet. And they had horns. Yes real horns, black and shiny protruding from their skulls. I admired them, they were the only ones who seemed capable of repelling the hordes. Though in the end they too fell”


    “Other non-sensical images flashed in my eyes before I woke up but the message was clear. We are in imminent danger and must prepare. We must discard our old ways of life and embrace the new!” Noah finished.


    “Did you believe right away?” A young child from his captive audience asked. Noah smiled at her and shook his head in shame.


    “Regretfully the truth was too much for me to grasp at the beginning and it wasn’t until the third day of the repeated dream that I believed.”


    The mother of the child stared at Noah in horror as she quickly snatched her child away upon realizing that her daughter was listening to his message. Noah watched as the woman chastised her curious child and strictly warned her not to believe his raving words. He sighed at the familiar titles of “crazy” and “lunatic” that were assigned to him. He shook his head again, this time in sadness. As much as he had tried, no one believed his message. These days few would even bother to listen before they scoffed and turned their heads.


    It was compassion and his sense of duty that led Noah to preach on the street corner every few days. It was truly a sacrifice to give up such precious time that could be used to grow stronger, but he wasn’t one to live for himself. No, such selfishness was not part of his path. To forsake others would only doom yourself. He thought, nodding in satisfaction as he made his way home from the humble post.


    Noah lived on the south end of Seattle in a rented warehouse. He had considered moving to an isolated mountain peak to train in high elevations like the monks but chose instead to spread the message. It was the beginning of July now and six months had passed since he received the premonition. He hadn’t wasted a moment of it. Selling his house and possessions had been surprisingly simple. Convincing his family… well that didn’t happen.


    Noah was alone now. The initial ache of it faded months ago, and now he could recognize it for the blessing it was. After all, the best way to help them would be to focus on preparing. He pulled on the large metal doors and stepped inside the wide-open space. With a click and a low hum, the lights came on, revealing what looked like a vigilante’s bachelor pad. A myriad of steel weapons laid on racks, from typical spears and swords to halberds and war axes. Fighting dummies were spread across a padded floor and were marred by heavy use. In a corner, a mattress lay on the concrete floor near a wall of emergency rations and protein shakes. Most of the space was dominated by an adult’s version of a jungle gym, or as Noah saw it, the perfect obstacle course. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Noah smiled as he gazed lovingly across the room. In six months He had blown half a million dollars on personal trainers and martial arts instruction, making use of every spare minute to refine himself. He was no master but he knew that he had only himself to blame. It was only thanks to the premonition, after all, that he had any preparation to speak of. Realizing that he was wasting time staring off into space, Noah moved toward the meditation mat. The voice had specifically mentioned cultivation and the gates, two foreign concepts to Noah. In fact they were foreign concepts to his whole species according to the voice. In the past months, He had sought every single resource he could find on the topics, ranging from engineering manuals to hand-written notes passed down in monasteries. He eventually gave up on the idea that they were a type of physical gate and focused on the more metaphysical concepts. The most promising resources spoke of enlightenment and greater revelation of the world, but according to the voice, they were completely lacking.


    Calming his mind in a now familiar manner he sat down, crossed his legs, and shut his eyes. He didn’t hum or recite sutras, as these methods were debunked, but instead, he became still, allowing himself to become small in the face of the world’s vastness. On the edge of his consciousness, he felt a familiar sensation. A presence. Noah smiled ever so slightly, careful not to break concentration. He felt an attraction to this presence as if every cell in his body was starved for whatever it carried. Yet it remained just out of reach. So it had gone for these past several months. Noah attempted to communicate, prod, or even attack this sensation but remained clueless as to an appropriate method. He considered it to be a presence because he occasionally felt something akin to a will pulse from it. Nothing truly discernible but he couldn''t ignore it.


    As Noah sat, he once again sought to connect with the presence. Feeling particularly vulnerable from today’s failures he tried a new method.


    “Great one, are you there?” Noah called out into the recesses of his mind.


    “I am becoming desperate. The end is drawing near.”


    “I am helpless and lost but I know something must be done! If you could only help me, perhaps I could rescue this hopeless people.” He called out before settling into a long silence.


    Time passed and eventually, his body began to urge him to get up and stretch out his limbs. He, of course, denied himself such weakness.


    “It is time.”


    Noah sat in silence as he considered that. Time…time for what? Realization dawned on him and his heart leapt into his chest. It responded…


    “Yes. Certaintly it is time, Great One.” Noah got out, unsure of what more to say.


    “Well child, out with it. What is it that you want?” The deep voice echoed into his mind.


    “Ahem. Great One, I desire to cultivate and learn of the gates” He managed.


    “That much is obvious child, this is the first gate, why else would we be speaking?” It or he replied.


    Noah raked his mind in an attempt to understand. He didn’t though. The first gate? What did that mean?


    “Right the first gate, I am afraid I do not know how this typically works. Could you enlighten me, O Great One?” he risked. A warm laugh boomed in his mind as the being responded.


    “Oh-ho! You truly no nothing of the path? Hmm, perhaps I can bend the rules for such an interesting one as yourself. Yes, I think I will, they are my rules afterall.” Noah grinned in anticipation at the words, finally some guidance!


    “You are already cultivating if you have reached the first door. It seems you simply lack the mana to actually open the door. That is quite strange, perhaps even a first. Are you a manaless creature?” The voice asked.


    “Mana? I don’t think I have mana, or rather, how would I know if I did?” Noah asked, now dreading the possibility of an impassible barrier.


    “Truly remarkable, it has been so long since I have spoken to one such as yourself. Mana or life-energy as some call it is something that nearly all creatures possess. It is what enables them to grow and change and become something more.” The voice mused.


    “Hold on, could it be? Are you uninitiated?” The voice inquired.


    “I am afraid that I don’t know. Initiated into what?” Noah replied. Laughter erupted again and Noah struggled to maintain his calm demeanor.


    “It seems that you are indeed uninitiated. Child, you have a very bright future ahead of you, I cannot even remember the last time that the first door was reached before a world was flooded with mana. That is, initiated. You will certainly achieve much if you live to see your world’s initiation. To honor your achievement, I will supply the mana to let you pass.”


    The presence left then, and Noah’s mind was once more a vast emptiness. he searched the dark expanse for another sign of being, now deciding that he must indeed be a person of sorts. But he did not find him, not even a trace of him. It was almost like the first time Noah had meditated–nothingness.


    Something about that thought struck a chord in him and he analyzed his inner world once again. Something must have changed. Perhaps related to this “gate” business that the voice had mentioned. Scouring his mind he found nothing, that is until he turned inward. There was a dark outline of an entryway that stood in his mental expanse. The first door. Noah peered in only to find that he could not stick his head through the door. He tried his hand and still nothing. It was as if gravity repelled any attempts to enter.


    Noah sat there for a moment, rubbing the now-deeper crease between his brows. His mind was jumping in too many directions at once. On the one hand, he was thrilled at his encounter with the new voice and his apparent success. On the other, he had the morbid realization that the lady who spoke in his vision knew full well that she was addressing uninitiated people. She came to murder us. Noah thought as his heart throbbed. It''s not as if he had praised the mysterious lady whose voice had shattered his world, no he wasn’t that naive–but he also hadn''t imagined this. He knew she had no real love for his world or its people. To act as if it was their own fault though? That irked him.


    Noah got up from his mat then, too frazzled to continue meditating, and made his way to the weapon rack. He hefted a two-handed long sword and turned toward a practice dummy. She may have no love for Earth’s people but he did.