1 chapter 1

I would like to begin by stating I'm just a regular person. I'm just over twenty years old. I will be or should I say I would have been turning 22 in 23 days. I served a term in the army after the draft in 2029. Luckily I had a pretty high score on the tests and was not forced to be infantry. However the choices I was given was not long and I ended up being a medic. Though in the end it did not matter much, I still ended up being shot at, and shooting back in return.

My tour was coming to an end, and was scheduled to fly back in four days. I was going to be home for my birthday, after 2 years in this god forsaken place. Life doesn't always go as planned though. My squad was called out for an emergency rescue mission. Another squad was pinned down by the enemy, and we were ordered to extract them. The good news is the mission was a success. The bad news is I lost my life protecting a wounded soldier. His name was Kyle, Kyle Anderson.

This is how my life on earth ended. February 8th, 2031 7:02 PM, cause of death: a bullet through the back of the head. If this was normal my story would end there. I would be six feet under, and if I was lucky my friends and family would come to my funeral, mourn for a while, and then move on with their lives.

However, it wasn't normal. As I felt the bullet pass through my head, my body started falling forward, time seemed to slow down and the ground rapidly approached my falling body. I braced myself for the impact. But it never came. I passed through the ground, but instead of being met with dirt and gravel as expected I was surrounded by a world of stars.

I found myself standing on a transparent platform. Stars and galaxies surrounded me. In front of me was a young lady sitting at a desk that reminded me of the one my principle had. It was massive and dominated the space. It gave the impression that she was in charge, and her words were law.

The only sound I could hear was the sound of her quill against parchment. She did not even look up as I approached. It struck me as odd that my footsteps made no sound, but the thought was fleeting. The girl appeared to rather young. She had blonde hair, and slightly pointed ears. Her eyes reflected the endless stary expanses around me.

Her eyes were fixed on me, and yet her hands were still occupied writing whatever it was that she was working on. Her starry eyes seemed to penetrate my soul as she stared at me. I do not know how long I stood there, it could have been seconds or millennia. She did not blink and her hand kept moving. Whatever she was writing was in a language I did not understand, and the words would disappear almost immediately after they appeared.

The quill never stopped, and she never spoke a word, and yet her thoughts were conveyed to my very soul. "Sergeant John Enders. 21 years old, 5'10, 160 lbs. Green eyes and light brown hair. Lives saved 231: lives taken 44. Candidate for lost one project accepted. Esper status granted. Goodbye sergeant Enders.

My body suddenly flickered, and the space around me began to spin. I shut my eyes to try to block out the sight, but it only made the nausea worse. The contents of my stomache surged up my throat, looking for the only exit it could find. I hunched over, the entire contents of my stomache littering the floor.

The floor, it was different, the once clear platform was gone, it had suddenly become stone. I cautiously lifted my head. The endless stars were gone, and I was in a stone room. There were no windows, and only a single door. In front of the door stood a guard who appeared to be rather annoyed. His low gravelly voice greeted my ears. "Another one huh? We just cleaned up after the last one. Well hurry up kid, if you hurry you will be able to join the others. Let's go, I dont want to baby sit you while we wait for another batch. It could take months"

The guard grabbed me by the shoulder half dragging, half carrying me through the doorway. I was greeted by a long stone hallway lit by torches. We walked, well I was half dragged, down the hallway, taking a left before we hit the end. What followed was a blur of turns, stairs, and hallways. We ended up in a courtyard. There were four teens, three girls, one boy sitting on the lush green grass.

The guard stopped and spoke to me before turning to leave. "We made it in time. These four will be your squad in the upcoming test".

I turned back to ask the retreating guard a question and he was already gone. Great. Well maybe one of these four knows what's going on.

I approached the four teens, they eyed my bloody BDU's and turned away. "New arrival? The only other boy asked. He was a few inches shorrter than me, and his hair had a tint of red. I don't think he had seen an ounce of physical labor based on the weight he carried on his body.

I nodded as I sized him up. "My name is John, 21. I was shot in combat. Some lady in space sent me here"

"Tough break" the short blonde girl said. "I'm Jasmine, 26. The lady sent me here after a stabbing on the subway"

The short boy replied "Daniel 23; it was a fire for me"

The tall brunette "the names Sandy, 20 and I died in a hit and run accident. I was out for a jog"

The red haired girl bitterly smiled "kayla I was 21; I killed myself, for all the good that did"

I paused for a moment. "If you're in your twenties why do you look 16?"

They shook their heads. They obviously did not know either. Our conversation was cut short by the arrival of two people. A man and a woman, they appeared to be in their thirties.

The man was neither tall or short. His dark brown hair was losing the battle, about to forever recede into nothingness. He was rather thin his black robe seemed several sizes too big for him. He seemed to be using a staff to help him walk.

The woman was tall with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and her beautiful face was marred by a long scar going front her right eye to the left side of her chin. Across her back was a large axe.

The two were an odd pair to say the least, the woman laughing occasionally as the man spoke excitedly. What they were talking about however was a mystery, because as they approached they both became quite solemn.

The womans eyes passed over us, before they landed on me. "You must be the new arrival" she nodded as she spoke. "You are lucky to have made it in time, or you would have had a boring few months."

The lady brought out an object, a round ball seemingly made of transparent crystal. This is called an attribute stone. It will test which of the four attributes you belong to. All I need is a drop of blood from each of you.

The lady did not move, and yet each of us felt a prick on our hand. A drop of blood flowed from each of us. Floating in the air. The drops of blood floated over the ball, circling slowly. The lady began to speak again.

"There are four attributes, you lost ones each have a major and a minor attribute that will grow as you train. These attributes are strength, agility, vitality, and mind. Your main attribute will start at 2 and your minor at 1. Their progression will be at that pace. To put it into perspective a regular person's attributes are 0, which is what your other two attributes will be at. You have a major advantage over the natives here as they have to work hard for each advancement in attributes, but these two attributes will slowly grow for you guys even if you do nothing. You can however train and raise your attributes, all four of them."

The man next to her began to speak once she was done "the way a person raises their attributes is through cultivation and battle. Both are required to advance. Battles can be found everywhere. This world is overtaken by monsters. Cultivation resources and methods however are strictly controlled. The only way to get access to them is to earn them. You will get a free basic cultivation method once your attributes have been determined as well as a weapon. However this is all you will get for free, everything else you must earn through your own merit and hard work. This includes weapons, cultivation methods, housing and food. Everything must be earned."

The first drop of blood slowly circled it's way to the ball, however before it touched the ball it dissipated into the air, it was replaced by an aura of two colors. The major color was red, the secondary color being yellow.

The woman pointed at the tall brunette, his voice loud "major strength, minor vitality, code name Bear"

The second drop circled. Approaching the ball. This time the colors were blue and red. The man pointed at the short chubby boy and said "major speed, minor strength, code name jester"

The third drop produced only a single color, yellow. However it was much brighter and larger than the rest. "Double vitality, code name undying" he looked at the red haired girl before moving on.

The blonde girls result was red and blue, major strength, minor speed. A reverse of the short boy. She was given the code name Knight.

Finally it was my turn. I watched as much drop of blood slowly descended towards the ball. My blood disapaited just like the others. However a color did not appear. Instead an image of a humanoid skull with bloody fangs appeared. The man was stunned. He did not speak for a long time. The women's voice eventually rang out. Attribute mind, code name Death.

The man eventually gathered the four others and took a long look at me before he left. Leaving me with the woman. She looked at me and grinned. Congratulations kid, only 1% of you guys can awaken the mind attribute. A double mind attribute is even rarer. The symbol you awakened is your power. Unlike those who who only awaken a single mind attribute your mind attribute has a trait attached. Yours is a rare variation of the death trait, vampirism. This is both a blessing and a curse. You will find that elements, even the death element will have nothing to do with you. Leaving you only a single path to walk. You are destined to become a telekinetic master.

The path is hard. And you will be weak to begin with. I just so happen to have a telekinesis basic manual that you will be gifted. However its cost far exceeds an ordinary beginning manual, so you will be in my debt. the test you 5 are about to receive is harsh, and you have a low chance of survival, if you survive I will take you as my apprentice and you can attempt to pay off your debt. You will receive the manual upon completion of the test, as it will be useless to you now."

"I can tell from your attire that you were military in your previous life. This is good, you will find life in our sect similar to this. We do not have the firearms that your previous world had. Previous lost ones have tried to reproduce them, however the worlds laws do not work the same as yours and the guns simply do not work."

"However they did redesign the crossbow, making it work much the same, with a magazine, and an auto loading feature. The crossbow is fast and powerful. The only drawback, which is not really one for you, is that its strength and firing speed are fixed, however as your gift gets stronger telekinesis can affect this bolts."

"As my future apprentice I strongly suggest that you choose this weapon, however the choice is ultimately yours"

I of course had no qualms about using a crossbow. I was in a new world with different rules. A crossbow might not be the same as my trusty m16 but it was a lot closer than a sword or axe. I quickly nodded in agreement, and my new teacher handed my a crossbow that strangely resembled an assault rifle. She also handed my two magazines. You have a total of 30 bolts. You will need every one. I suggest conserving them, as well as retrieving those that can be retrieved."

A loud siren suddenly sounded in the distance. It reminded me of the type of siren that earned of a tornado, but not quite. My teacher looked at me.

"Times up. Let's go. We will meet up up with your teammates before your test begins."