Chapter 2: New identity!
To be more exact, Gale was actually his surname. His given name was Damien, so his full name would be Damien Gale. Gale was a surname that everyone in the clan had, as they were all supposed to be one big family after all, but in reality, it was quite different. Even though a new soul was in control of this body now, the young boy's memories had already merged with Damien's, and from here on out, they would be one person.
In this new world he had arrived in, family clans were quite usual. The Gale clan consisted of two types of members. The core family members, and the collateral members. Damien was a collateral family member, which meant that he didn't actually have the bloodline of the family running through his veins. His parents had just been powerful hired warriors for the family, and when they ultimately passed away, Damien ended up in this clan.
The difference between core family members and collateral family members was huge, and unless one experienced it for themselves, then it would hard to imagine. It wasn't just because the core family members got more resources, they also held more value as people. Their existences were far more important than some random collateral member.
Even though he was originally an outsider that was just looking back on Damien's memories, they were now one and the same, and the grief he felt for his parents passing was real. It was an odd feeling for sure, but Damien quickly grew accustomed to his new memories, and his new self. As for why this new world was so easy for him to accept? He had no idea himself, but the tear that was full of warmth that had once streamed down his face wasn't actually his own.
Not only had that single tear given him a new shot at life, but it had also changed him. As for the extent of these changes, who knew what they amounted to? His memories naturally contained more than just information about his name, but he also managed to find out what cultivation was, and the information was a lot to take in for someone who had no idea what it was prior to this.
Apparently, to cultivate was essentially to strengthen oneself by absorbing an energy called qi. This energy existed all around the world, as well as in all living things. The first stage of cultivation, as well as the only stage that Damien knew the name of, was called the martialist stage. In this stage, the practitioner absorbed qi into his body, which he then refined with the help of said qi. The martialist stage had 10 grades, ranging from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
As Damien processed this information, he felt like he had truly ended up in some fantasy world. Gaining inhuman strength and becoming a hero? Who wouldn't want to at least try it out? Naturally, as Damien had the original soul's memories, he knew that it wasn't that easy. In this world, there were strict restrictions on who was able to cultivate. One simply needed talent to be able to do it, but if you didn't have the talent, then you couldn't even try.
To absorb qi, you needed to awaken a martial spirit. Without a martial spirit, there was simply no way to absorb qi, which meant that if you didn't have one, there was no way for you to even try and become even the worst of cultivators. Damien quickly grew excited at the thought of having a martial spirit, but as the thought entered his mind, he realised one crucial fact, he didn't have one. He was a little distraught at first, but when he probed his memories a little more, he could feel a sense of relief.
The earliest age one could awaken their martial spirit at was ten years old, and from there on, it became progressively harder each year. If they didn't awaken their martial spirit by the time they were fifteen, then it meant that they simply didn't have one. Even though he was already thirteen years old, Damien was still excited. He believed that his life in this world wouldn't be ordinary, what would've been the point of getting reborn otherwise?
It had already been a day since he took control of this body, yet not a single person had come to look for him. It was quite apparent that no one cared about someone such as Damien in this clan. With no friends or family, it wasn't that odd. After all, he was already thirteen, and he still hadn't awakened. Even if he awakened in the future, his martial spirit would probably be bad, which was why no one bothered with him.
The pain that he had been enduring was beginning to slowly ease up, and Damien could soon even sit up. As he did, he checked out this little house of his, and quickly felt like dying again. This house of his could barely be considered a shack, and all that could be found in it were some clothes, as well as the "bed" he was currently lying on. Even though it was supposedly a bed, it felt like it was harder than concrete.
Damien estimated that he would be able to stand up soon, maybe even the next day, but he reckoned the pain would stay for quite a while. As he recalled what had caused all this pain, Damien felt like he wasn't that different from this worlds Damien, as they had both died in such random ways. The original Damien had been walking down the street, where he had been suddenly run over by a horse drawing a carriage, that was it. That was how he had died. In such a magical and mysterious world, he had been run over by a horse and died.
Since the clan didn't want to lose face, they had just carried him to his little shack, and thrown him on his bed. No doctor was called to see if he was okay, nor did they give him anything to heal his broken body, it was too expensive after all. A doctor's time was more precious than his life. This was the harsh reality for Damien right now. He had only been here for a little over a day, yet he had already learnt something new about human nature.
Considering the values of this world, Damien quickly realised that awakening a good martial spirit would be essential if he wanted to succeed in life, especially if he wanted to be respected to even the slightest degree. Luckily for him, his opportunity was just around the corner. Every year, the clan would hold a ceremony to help the clan members awaken their martial spirits. Every clan around the world held this ceremony, as it was basically a tradition around the world, and one of the only ways you could awaken a martial spirit. Everyone knew what destiny awaited them if they didn't manage to awaken a martial spirit, which was why they attached such great importance to the event.
The martial spirit awakening ceremony was just around the corner!
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