USA, New York 2009.
My name is John Fernandes, my father was Brazilian and my mother was American, they died a few months after I was born and I have been in orphanages for all my 17 years of life, next month I will be 18 and I will no longer be able to stay in the orphanage.
I woke up feeling different, the air felt like it had something new in it, breathing made me feel refreshed. I looked around on my bed and noticed a book with a note taped to it.
On it was written "you were chosen at random to receive the gift of cultivation, absorb the qi of the universe to temper yourself and break the limits of body, soul and mind".
When I finished reading the note it broke up into particles of light that entered my head and I felt new information popping into my head as if it had always been there.
I immediately understood why my body felt different and also how great a gift I was given. I was given the opportunity to forge my own path in this world.
I look at the book and on the cover it says "Primordial Qi Breathing Technique", a cultivation technique that will allow me to cultivate throughout all cultivation realms.
"John, come have breakfast" I hear the voice of the orphanage coordinator calling me.
"I'll be right there" I say and I look back at the book that crumbles into particles of light in my hands and enters my mind.
Pushing the information that popped to the back of my mind, I got up and went to the kitchen where the other kids and the coordinator were and sat at the table with everyone.
We're not very close to each other so after eating I went back to my room and started analyzing the knowledge in my mind.
The cultivation realms are Body Refinement, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Emptiness Refinement, Immortal Ascension, and finally True Immortal.
I am currently just a mortal, the realm of body refinement has 5 stages, each one will refine and remove toxins from the body. Skin, muscles, bones, internal organs and marrow, each realm increasing my strength by 200 kilograms.
I followed the instructions in my mind and started moving my body following the shapes of the technique, I felt my body heating up as I moved and I lost track of time.
When I finally came to myself I noticed that the sun was already high in the sky, it was 11 am, almost lunchtime, a putrid smell invaded my nose and I noticed that it came from a black goo sticking to my body and clothes.
I immediately ran to the bathroom and took a shower, despite having few clothes I had no choice but to burn the ones I was wearing, god knows it was better this way, that was not a worthy way to exist, I will remember you my beloved clothes when I'm at the top as a sacrifice I had to make on this journey.
After lunch, I left the orphanage and went looking for a job, I searched on my cell phone and found a security agency that was hiring.
The building was average, I spoke to the receptionist and she asked me to sit down, after some time a man came and called me to a room with several other people.
"Hi everyone, my name is Matthew, you who want to become security must pass the physical and written tests, if you pass both, you must sign a contract and participate in a month of basic training" said the man who brought me here.
The tests were pretty easy, the written test was a psychological test with a few basic knowledge questions, the physical test was even easier due to my new body, by the time we finished everything it was almost night and they said to come back early tomorrow for basic training.
I went back to the orphanage and after dinner I went to my room to cultivate, spent all night cultivating and felt refreshed, apparently cultivation can replace sleep, I can feel that I'm about to break through to the next stage, my body expelled some toxins , but they were very few, almost confused with sweat, after a shower and breakfast, I said goodbye to the others and went to the agency.
Arriving there, I was told to go to the second floor and when I got there I was surprised to see that the entire floor was a huge gym, with several exercise machines and two fighting rings, I saw Matthew and another man talking and I went towards to them.
"You mustn't slack off on these rookies, our company has a reputation to uphold and so we must make sure they are qualified to ensure the safety of customers" Matthew was telling the man when mine noticed.
"Oh, here's one of the rookies, he did exceptionally well on the physical test, what was your name again?" said Matthew.
"my name is John and thanks for the compliment" I said.
"very well. John, this is Tyler, he will be your combat and basic security instructor," said Matthew.
"Hi John, it will be a pleasure to teach you and the others, but you must take the training seriously, we will not accept incompetents here" Tyler said.
"don't worry, i really need the job so i'll make sure to take it seriously" i said.
"Okay, let's wait for the others to arrive and then I'll start the safety lecture and then we'll move on to basic combat," Tyler said.