"AHHHHH!!!"

"BAM"

"POW"

"RIPP"

Samuel could only watch in horror as his friends were being brutally murdered right in front of him, in the middle of the arcade, in broad daylight.

Blood splattered onto his face as his best friend, Tommy, was torn in half.

Samuel couldn't even run or scream, he was so scared that he found himself petrified. Pee dripped down his trousers as he saw the b.l.o.o.d.y scene in front of him.

All his friends and everyone in the arcade that had interfered were dead. Others had ran out in terror.

But Samuel knew he couldn't escape this murderer. He wouldn't be allowed to easily run out like those other people.

That was because it was Jake Finn. The boy Samuel and his friends had been kicking around in an alleyway only 30 minutes ago.

Slowly Samuel said "Jake y-y-you've lost your G.o.dd.a.m.n mind."

Jake walked up to him, his body covered in the blood of his victims. He smiled, a cold smile, that sent s.h.i.+vers up Samuel's spine.

"EEEOOOOEEEEOOOOOEEEEOOO!!!" The sound of sirens could be heard loudly in the distance coming closer and closer.

Samuel felt a bit relieved and backed further away from Jake.

"The Police are coming for you! You should stop this now!" he yelled.

That was the last thing he yelled, as Jake's hand had punched right through his chest. It was like Jake's fist was made of steel and his stomach was made of paper.

It went right through.

Samuel spat out blood.

Jake pulled his fist all the way up his chest, grabbing his heart and ripping it out.

Samuel collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Dead.

Jake stared soullessly at the beating heart in his hands. As he did this his cold and cloudy eyes became clear.

"Huh, what am I doing here? What's going on? What the f.u.c.k?"

He looked at the dead bodies around him and trembled. What had happened here?

In terror he ran out of the arcade. The moment he exited the building he saw a large amount of police officers surrounding the entrance.

They had guns and riot s.h.i.+elds.

"What is going on!" he thought. "The police were probably here to help right?"

He ran up to the officers in desperation. Unaware that in his hands he was still gripping Samuel's heart.

The officer he was running up to, suddenly had a change in expression. His eyes became cold and a malicious smile wrapped around his face as he shot the boy several times.

Jake didn't understand what was happening. One minute he was being bullied in an alleyway, the next second he'd been in an arcade filled with corpses and now he was being shot.

"What is going on?" was the last thing he thought before he dropped to the ground dead.

As the officer stopped shooting, the Irregularity that had possessed him smiled to itself.

"That was fun, and I've grown because of it. Should I make my way to find the Gatekeeper now hehe."

_____________________________

CHINA, BEIJING, CHAOYANG, MAO LU'S RESIDENCE

Gates was confused, in all its billions of years of being a companion for the Gatekeeper of Realm 145, it had never been left out of a conversation before. Yet now it had. Did that mean it wasn't trusted anymore?

But that made no sense, for what reason would Mao Lu not trust it. It had been loyal, obedient and had given him all its honest advice.

Unless there was something wrong. Perhaps it needed to ask the other Gates.

"When I have the chance I'll go to the dimension of Gates and ask the others... Now that I think about it I haven't gone back there in the last 6 billion years. I wonder if it's changed?" Gates mused.

The Dimension of Gates was a separate s.p.a.ce, that existed alongside but hidden, from the rest of the 400 realms. It was where the Gates had been created. And there were many secrets that One had hidden inside that dimension. What secrets these were, Gates didn't know.

When the Gatekeeper Books wished to converse with the other Gatekeeper Books they could go meet there and chat.

"I'll go there later." Gates decided.

…........

Mao Lu was inside his room, his legs crossed as he sat on the wooden floor.

"It is time for you to complete the merging stage." Gates said as it flew around Mao Lu in its keychain form. "You could have completed it a few days ago but you were exhausted from getting rid of that irregularity, so I allowed you to rest."

"Thank you for the rest. But doesn't that go against the fourth rule. Shouldn't I train everyday?"

"You learnt the spells Seal and Expel. And resting your body after learning a new technique is also training. It doesn't go against the rule for just a bit of rest." Gates explained, "There are many times when you've slept for over a week, that rest also counts as training. As long as you are practicing diligently then you are keeping to the fourth rule. Don't worry."

Mao Lu nodded.

"So you have mastered Sensing the Realm, now to complete the Merging stage you must Control the Realm. You must see the Realm as an extension of your body. Now that you can sense it, try to move it." Gates instructed.

Mao Lu nodded, listening to Gates obediently.

He closed his eyes and he saw the entire Realm before him.

In his mind's eye it was like the Realm had become a large game board.

He could control everything on this game board.

"I'm in control." He told himself.

The ability to Control the Realm was almost like telekinesis. He began to move small things at first, like rocks.

Then he was moving people.

As a giant wave swept a child under the sea at a beach, he gently pulled the child above the waves and towards the sh.o.r.e.

As a car lost control and was about to crash into a family on a bridge, he swerved that car and it narrowly missed them.

As a bomb exploded in a market, he moved the people out of the way.

This was the first time Mao Lu truly felt powerful. "So this was controlling the Realm."

With this power imagine how many lives he could save. But just as that thought entered his brain he saw the countless tragedies occurring in the vast universe.

When he tried to move the people or the objects it ended up being ultimately impossible. It was impossible to save everyone.

The more he tried and overexerted himself, the more his head began to ache. His veins bulged around his neck, and his heart rate quickened exponentially.

It was like he was training a muscle he'd never used before. He felt sore all over.

"Don't over do it." Gates cautioned.

Mao Lu calmed himself down.

For a second there he had thought he could play G.o.d with this power. But he realised it was unrealistic. Even superman couldn't save them all and he'd only been protecting Earth.

There was just too many lives in his realm.

Death, tragedy, and disease were all inevitable on the course of life.

No matter how he controlled the Realm he wouldn't be able to stop it all. He wouldn't be able to save then all. He was just one person.

As Mao Lu came to this realisation he felt like his mind had broken through a boundary. He felt like he was having an epiphany all of a sudden.

His heart rate slowed and his pulsing blood calmed down.

Death was natural, tragedy was natural, it wasn't something that was meant to be prevented. Controlling the Realm also meant being a bystander in the greater processes within the Realm.

The Realm belonged to him but at the same time it was alive with its own processes. He was just one person who had no right to interfere with it.

He felt his mind break through yet another boundary.

The playing board of the Realm in his head had changed. The board was now 3D. The pieces were moving about on their own. And he was at the centre of all these revolving pieces.

He felt the power at his fingertips. If he wanted he could move planets, he could change the entire structure of this realm. This power was at the very tips of his fingertips, but the point was that despite having all this power he wasn't supposed to interfere in this larger process.

As a Gatekeeper his role was to view the bigger picture, not to interfere with the bigger picture. He wasn't a G.o.d, and he wasn't One.

He felt all the essences of the Realm swimming around him. He was aware of their existence and they were aware of him, but he didn't interfere with them.

The only ones he had the right to freely control were the time essences.

"Ah I understand." He sighed as he opened his eyes.

As his eyelids lifted the air around him rumbled. Symbols of time swam underneath the surface of his pale skin and faded into it.

He felt the power of the Realm surrounding him. He felt powerful.

"Congratulations Mao Lu, you have now completed the Merging stage and you are now ready to step into the Weildng stage. To be able to reach this stage in less than 6 months you are truly the most talented Gatekeeper I have ever taught." Gates felt proud.

Mao Lu was silent. He didn't respond as he opened the door of his room and felt the cold air wash over him.

Today was the 24th of December. It was Christmas eve now.

Time always pa.s.sed quickly when he was training.

He casually controlled the air around himself and floated towards Chàng Bo who was meditating in the courtyard.

As Mao Lu pa.s.sed by the now wilted flowers in the yard, he controlled the time essence and made the flowers bloom.

He casually pulled Chàng Bo towards him with a twist of his hand.

Chàng Bo was surprised as he felt himself being pulled upwards. It wasn't a magic technique. It just felt like some type of force was moving him.

He opened his eyes to see Mao Lu's brown eyes.

"It's Christmas eve." Mao Lu smiled, "On this planet its a rather special day. Do you want to go out for a walk?"

Chàng Bo was surprised, he felt like there was something different about Mao Lu he felt more powerful. What had changed?

"A walk. Now?" he asked

"Yes now." Mao Lu smiled.

Chàng Bo laughed a little, "You're being forward. Is this apart of your strategy to make me fall madly in love with you."

Mao Lu smiled, "Is it working?"

Chàng Bo laughed loudly. He didn't respond to that question as he went to his room and came out in normal earth clothes. He wore black slim jeans and a puffy long black bomber jacket.

"Shall we go." Chàng Bo said.

Mao Lu smiled as he ran to put on his jacket and trainers. He looped arms with Chàng Bo happily.

And they strolled out of the entrance together.

Gates followed behind them in the air. If it had eyes it would have rolled them. "Typical Mao Lu, is his mind just filled with Chàng Bo? He completes the Merging stage and instead of asking about the Wielding stage or anything else important he just goes straight to Chàng Bo."

Gates sighed but it didn't say anything as it latched itself to Mao Lu's belt and followed the pair.

_________________

BEIJING CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Emerging from the airport was a woman with a cold expression. The corners of her pale lips twitched into a freaky smile.

"So this is Beijing." The Irregularity laughed. It was so much closer to the Gatekeeper.

It laughed to itself and got into a taxi.

"Where to?" asked the driver.

The woman didn't respond.

"Errr where…. " The driver trailed off as his eyes became cold and his expression more sinister.

The woman in the back seat of the taxi blinked a little bit. "Huh where am I?" she said confusedly.

She got out of the taxi in a daze and wandered into the road.

The next second she was flying through the air, as a truck hit her and sent her flinging across the street.

Bystanders screamed.

The driver got out of the truck. His head in his hands. "She came out of nowhere I swear." he yelled.

In the panic no one noticed a taxi driving away.