Lying down on one of the most comfortable beds of his life, situated in a luxury bedroom of the highest quality.
Alex was contemplating what had happend to him over the previous days.
He was struggling to come to terms with his newfound life and powers even it was something he had always dreamed.
The situation is such a big shift from normal reality that Alex was having trouble adjusting.
"Is this really what I want? Could I have kids? A Wife? What about my sister, will she be safe?" These where just some of the questions going through Alex's head at this point in time.
Having an existential crisis after Awakening wasn't exactly unusual, but having no contact what's so ever with the supernatural beforehand was without a dought making Alex's experience worse.
"Maybe I should speak to Jasper tomorrow, he Might be able to help."
.
The next day Alex was having his daily training session with Jasper. After explaining to Jasper about the issues he was experiencing, Jasper was trying to console him.
"I understand how you feel, I went through a similar thing as well," said Jasper with a smile.
Although my experience doesn't seem to be as bad as yours, I trained for a year before awakening.
"How did you get over it?" Asked Alex.
"Time!!"
"Time heals all wounds. At least most emotional ones" Said jasper trying to console him
After trying to console him Jasper and Alex continued with their training session as normal. Alex's mood becoming a bit more cheerful.
---
Just like that months Passed by with Alex barely noticing, his days occupied with training and trying to learn as much as possible about his powers.
While Alex trained and tried to control his power his sister stuck to her normal life, going to University and seeing friends as she normally would while visiting Alex on the weekends.
Just like their first Spar, Alex was again able to use his strange power to hit Jasper even when it shouldn't be possible. Unfortunately, he could only pull it off about 50% of the time even after six months of training, not being able to completely master it as of yet.
Because of the nature of the Technique, and the nature of Alex's Path, Jasper and Alex both agreed on a name for the technique.
FATE PATH: Fated Strike!! Was the name they agreed upon.
After months of practise Alex's skill with his Spear dramatically increased. Someone watching Alex use his Spear would feel an unfounded sense of grace in his movements finding them hard to defend against.
One day Alex and Jasper were having their daily sparring session when a Staff member walked in.
The staff member informed Alex he was to report to Cain when he was done with his training.
After getting a quick a shower and changing into clean clothes, Alex set off to Cain's office nervously. This was the first time he had seen him since waking up in the medical centre six months ago.
Walking down a white corridor, Alex was admiring the oil paintings of all the different people littered on the walls.
Walking into Cain's office, he saw Cain sitting in a leather chair in front of him lay an exquisite wooden desk with paperwork everywhere. Looking around the room he could see more oil paintings of people he didn't recognise.
"These are people who have achieved the title of master," said Cain seeing Alex's curiosity. "The further one gets down their Path the more Power they hold." Said Cain offering Alex a seat.
"Depending on how far down a Path a person has tread decides on his title, yours, for example, would still be initiate, though that might be changing soon," said Cain with a wink.
"What titles are they?" asked Alex curiously.
"The titles are as follows when one first awakens they are given the title 'Initiate'. They hold this title until they manage to master a technique belonging to their Path."
After Mastering a technique one is given the title of Novice. A Novice will keep his title In till he experiences the 'Gate'.
A frown appeared on Alex's face never hearing a mention of any 'Gates' before.
"Don't worry I'll explain?" said Cain understanding Alex's confusion. When one follows a Path of Power long enough he will eventually hit a bottleneck."
"This bottleneck stops one from gaining any more power than they currently possess. The only way to continue is to open the gate."
Opening the gate was the point most awakended got stuck on their Path Of Power.
"After opening your 'Gate' you get a significant jump in power and life expectancy but most importantly you can continue your Path. Jasper, for example, has only recently opened his gate to 50% and you can see his power.
"How many gates are they?" Asked Alex curiously.
"Three on the path to master but no one knows for sure."
"Enough of that for now, you still have a long way to go before worrying about your first gate," said Cain. Feeling he was getting sidetracked.
"After unlocking your first gate you get the title of 'Wanderer'. After the next Gate is 'Path Treader' and finally 'Master Path Treader."
"Now," said Cain handing Alex a folder. Inside had profiles on five different people. Some he recognised some he didn't." Looking confused Alex looked back at Cain for Clarity.
"This Alex will be the team I'm assigning you to, it's job is to find clues and the whereabouts of this mysterious organization. We have named them Umbra!"