Aaron stepped into the school compound.  The school along the old road had been there since forever and now as he looked at the tall, looming building, he could see the great toll age had taken on it. Paint was peeling off the building, revealing the many layers painted on it over the years. Now, against the dark, black night sky, the old school towered huge over him, casting off a shadow that was able to envelope him many times over. The dark compound gave off an eerie, gloomy feeling that made its way deep into Aaron's heart. Under normal circumstances, such surroundings would not have so viciously torn away at his bravery. But this was not a normal circumstance. Somehow, his surroundings ate away at his bravery mercilessly, and he felt vulnerable and fearful. He shivered and a certain fear gripped his heart so tight he could not seem to breathe. Then, he remembered what Xiao Yu had told him before. Xiao Yu had told him that this was one of the effects of a place that beheld a portal to his dimension. No wonder this old school had been abandoned for years. No wonder none dared to tear it down. Because whoever entered would get this feeling of indescribable fear, terror that few had the will to overcome. But Aaron knew he had to overcome this fear. He had to find the portal. He had to save Charlene and help Xiao Yu and Ah Sa. His determination set in place, he took a deep breath in and took a second step into the horrifying place. Suddenly, he felt something escape him and he felt as if he was missing something. That feeling was unexplainable. It was an feeling of emptiness that allowed him to feel slightly depressed. But his determination overrode it all. Just as he was puzzling over that feeling, Xiao Yu spoke to him.

'Its your powers. Your powers have located the portal and have exited you to lead you to it.  Follow them.'

Aaron looked around but did not see anything out of the ordinary. 'Where is it?' 

'Close your eyes. The portal can't be seen by the human eye. You have to use your senses and allow your powers to lead you to it,' Xiao Yu instructed.  Aaron did as he was told. Closing his eyes, he immediately became more aware of his surroundings through his other senses. A sudden strong urge took to him to go to the school garden. With the school garden in mind,  Aaron d blindly around even as he walked, careful step by careful step, feeling his way around obstacles. As Aaron reached the school garden, somehow he could see it all in his mind's eye. The school pond, the trees, the bushes... Then he knew that it was his powers feeling around and sending this information back to him. He made his way around the pond, threading carefully, still not fully trusting himself not to fall in the mosquito-infested waters. Clearing his way of the pond, his fingers came in contact with the many leaves of a bush and as he fumbled blindly, he bumped head first into something hard, something round. He opened his eyes and saw...trees, shrubs. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen nor anything to explain what he had felt. But yet when he reached out, he could still feel the same round, hard barrier that prevented him from going further. The force-field. This had to be it. He placed his entire palm on the force-field and without warning, his powers surged out of him, forcing the force-field apart. Aaron was propelled through the portal and the next thing he knew, he was in Xiao Yu's dimension. He dropped to his knees in exhaustion, sweat dripping off his forehead in an never ending torrent. He felt exhausted and as fatigue overwhelmed him, he fell into a deep, deep sleep.

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'Aaron! Aaron! Wake up!' Xiao Yu was shaking him, shaking him hard. 'Wake up! You've already been sleeping for 8 hours! You can't sleep for more than that!' Aaron, wide awake from Xiao Yu's rough handling, immediately sat up and was instantly hit by a wave of overwhelming pain and dizziness. Holding his head in his hands, he asked,' Why can't I sleep for more than 8 hours?' 

'Because you will die. The toll time difference across the dimensions will be too much for your body to handle,' Xiao Yu explained. 'You must be feeling weak and your head must be pounding like crazy right?' 

'How...How did you know?' Aaron asked, lifting his head to look at his friend and confidant. Even the simple act of lifting his head ever so slightly made his head pound more, made the pain even harder to bear.

'That's part of the effects of using your powers. This is how all who use their powers for the first time will feel. All will feel in pain, have dizzy spells and feel nauseous. I too felt like that when I first trained. However, the more one uses his or her powers, the more these effects will slowly wear off. Eventually, you will not feel these effects any longer. However, since you are from the other dimension, the effects have been amplified by 10 times. Therefore, you will have to work 10 times as hard as others to get rid of the effects and be able to freely use your powers. But...due to the time constrain....Come on we have to start now,' Xiao Yu said hurriedly.

'But I'm so weak!' Aaron protested.

'If I leave you alone, you will definitely go back to sleep! Do you want to end up dead? How do you save Charlene then? Besides, I'm sure you want to meet Ah Sa.'

'Oh. Yeah,' Aaron said, rising, a grin on his face. He had been wanting to meet the legendary Ah Sa for a long time and now with such a chance at him, who was he not to accept it?  Following Xiao Yu, Aaron caught a glimpse of a slender figure at a distance. It was Ah Sa. She was tending to the fire and as Aaron and Xiao Yu neared her, Aaron saw that she really was the total likeness of Charlene. 'Of course,' he told himself. 'Don't be silly. You've seen her through mind connection many times already.' But seeing the real person just wasn't the same as seeing an image of them. Simply seeing the image of Ah Sa could not bring  the out of the effects that the real person had on Aaron. He was struck by her beauty and the awe that she gave off.  Mummified, he could only stare at her in awe before he recovered from his embarrassing act. 

'Ah Sa!' Xiao Yu called. Ah Sa turned from tending to the fire and rose from her sitting position. Walking over to them, she smiled at Aaron before placing a hand in Xiao yu's. 

'Hello, Aaron. Xiao Yu has been telling me alot about you,' she greeted.

'Hello, Ah Sa,' Aaron greeted back awkwardly.  Smiling she turned and led the way back to the fire. Looking at Ah Sa's lovely, black hair only made Aaron think of  the one who looked so much like her more...

'Come, lets start.' 

They were at a plain which was to be the venue where Aaron would train in his martial arts. 

'What are we going to do?' Aaron asked, looking around in confusion.  Studying his surroundings, his attention strayed from Xiao Yu until the sound of Xiao Yu's palms coming in contact sounded loudly and directly by his ear. 

'Huh? Huh? What?' a shocked Aaron asked.

'Pay attention,' Xiao Yu snapped. Finally getting Aaron's attention back, Xiao Yu continued. 'This is the place where you will be training from today onwards. You will have to work extremely hard to rid yourself of the nasty effects of  first using your powers until they eventually wear off.  It will be a painful process but it is one that is necessary,' Xiao Yu sternly told him.

'But what about Charlene?' Aaron asked. A dark cloud passed over Xiao Yu's face.

'We have been searching and the news that we have received is not good.'

'What do you mean?' Aaron asked, worry for his friend rising to the utmost.

'It is confirmed that she has been abducted by demons. These demons are not normal-the green slime they left behind is not that of a typical demon. Moreover, these demons seem to be the same type of demons as the one of fought with me. We are afraid that these demons are his followers and that she has been abducted as a measure to foil our plan. In this way, we have less chances of defeating him. But don't worry, we are searching for her so now you just need to concetrate on overwhelming the effects posed by your powers. You must train so that when we find her, you will be able to help save her.' Ah Sa had spoken and this was the second time that Aaron heard her melodic voice ring. It sounded through the plains, loud and clear, firm in every word spoken.

'She really is the same as Charlene-even their voices are the same.' Aaron thought in amazement to himself.

'Come, lets start properly now,' Xiao yu said, breaking his line of thought. Aaron nodded gravely and he allowed all thoughts of Charlene disappear as he focused purely on what lay before him-training hard, if not for Charlene, for the dimension.

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