《From the Dark, Comes Life》 Reboot: Chapter 1 I woke up from my nap with a killer headache. It was like drinking past your limit and waking up to the neighbors throwing a party on the front lawn with loud music. I grabbed my head, standing up from where I was laying down. I looked around with squinty eyes. This place was unfamiliar to me. Trees circle this bright green grassy area. The sky above was clear but the heat bearable. This did not help me understand where I was. I gave a slow spin to take in the shadows cast by the trees. I remember some information that moss grew on the north side of trees and shadows were usually directly north or south in the southern or northern hemisphere. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to tell the direction of the sun base of the shadows of the tree.¡± a female voice sounded out. I spun around and grabbed my head, wishing I didn¡¯t move so fast. The lady before me was beautiful but looked unrealistic. The kind of look you would see in games with the bust too big and round, the hips to waist to narrow then flared out, and the ass. Let¡¯s just say, if she had appeared before me as a slender woman with a small firm ass, hand holdable breast, and cocky smile. I might be drooling at this moment. ¡°And you are?¡± I ask politely. The woman frowned while looking at me. That really half scowling-frown women do when they ask if they look fat in this dress and your reactionary response is yes. ¡°Yes, you will get to know me well. For I am the one that brought you here.¡± She had this funny lilt. I wanted to ask where was here, but she kept speaking. Like a stage performer that you wanted to shut up so the real performers could come on stage. ¡°You are in another world, surprised?¡± She said it with a kind of mocking smile. However, it turned really stale, really fast. I guess she was expecting to see a surprise? Some kind of conflicting emotion that could get her little dumbass some amusement. Sadly, I was waiting for the shoe to drop before I figured out if I should choke this bitch now or later. ¡°Aren¡¯t you just no fun.¡± She stared at me for a second before stomping. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get right into it. There is a competition going on between the Gods, people like myself. Each of us has our own champions and you are mine. If you compare yourself to a game, then you would be an NPC. My champion can only be an NPC and I¡¯m more in line with Mysticism so I picked out a host for you instead of allowing you to learn and train from ground up. There are players from your world, I¡¯m sure you played a game, right? Well same concept but only one life.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I tilted my head, processing this information. ¡°This is the gist of what I can tell you. Build up a force, I¡¯ll come back when the fun starts.¡± She disappeared and I spun slowly. Looking around before sighing. I picked a random direction, took one step, and collapsed. Memories flooded into my brain. Disturbing things that caused such unnecessary pain. Reminded me of being forced to watch a documentary on how something was made. I rolled onto my back, covering my eyes. I breathed in and out, letting the various memories play like a slideshow. It took what felt like hours for it to end. I acquired a basic understanding of my body¡¯s past, but that was only a drop of his knowledge. The guy is a genius and was given the best resources to become a prodigy. I am sure that if he had actual combat ability, his adopted-father would have actually cared more. Sadly, this guy''s abilities were basically useless for combat. A support character. A Mystic sounded powerful, even I would be confused upon hearing a description of it for the first time. Mysticism is an untainted form of magic that can be used to create, manipulate slash mimic objects, spirits and powers. This is like saying, hey, this guy can copy other people powers. Create cool gear, summon badass spirits, toss really deadly storms that can wipe out cities. In reality, this guy was only adept in learning really useless stuff. Like Dream Magic, which he mastered to the level of entering anybody''s dreams within thousands of miles. Pretty cool, right? He only used it during the training phase. Then only after that to pull weapons out of a dream. Ignoring the fact he had absolute control over a dream and could theoretically teach his own force within their dreams at a much faster pace than they normally would train. In short, he could have made a deadly team of fighters that could do what he could not. Pacifists are scary. Next he learned Energy-to-matter manipulation magic. Which is basically turning any form of energy into matter and vice-versa. This he learned to better control his ability to create items in dreams and dragged them out. Sort of an A plus, I guess. A mage has to get up close and personal to kill his enemies. Wow. What a dumbass. Third, he learned the bread and butter of Mysticism for Druids. Animancy magic, which revolves around manipulating the living, life, the life-force, and all lifeforms. Another very cool sounding knowledge but he learned it to assist with applications of restoration magic. Simple healing and defensive spells. Purification magic, which was all about bettering the environment. In such form, this guy was the opposite of what his father trained him to be. Over empathetic and cared way too much about nature in all its beauty. However, he had some high points. He learned how to shapeshift which is a transmutation magic. He mastered Cosmic Awareness from the divination category, which would allow him to be away from anything that might affect him on a universal scale. Well the textbooks say that but since processing my abilities, I only saw an image of someone talking about me with threatening intent. However, they were thousands of miles away. The good news is that while the previous host was a shitbag and his knowledge preferred wasn¡¯t the best suited for combat. His adopted father did force him to learn a lot about everything. Thus I knew that Animancy could be considered soul and life magic. Which could have some very powerful implications, I also picked up a cheat code for training. Closing my eyes, entering a dreamworld, I am capable of extending the time to whatever I want. This would allow me to spend all of today practicing spells and learning how to manipulate souls and life energy to better help me. Reboot: Chapter 2 After a year inside a dream and a month in the real world, I was flying around my surroundings. Trying to understand how and where I could go to theoretically build a force. Did I have all that high of hopes of being capable of building a powerful force without much to go on? Of course not, however, I had nothing better to do than sight see. Plus I was an elf, I would live for a long time. I am pretty sure I can find a way to go back home, where there are still people I want to chop into tiny little pieces. It quickly grew dark as I flew as a raven. Enjoying the feeling of the wind through my sensitive feathers, however, it was time to land. I picked a roadside and landed on a branch. There was a covered wagon incoming and I was curious what their dress standard was. Though seconds after landing an image of someone considering cooking me appeared in my mind. I flew back before shapeshifting into a panther, sneaking around to watch a bunch of half quiet humans stalk the wagon at a pretty decent clip. ¡°I thought you said their hideout wasn¡¯t that far away?¡± A girl in white robes complained. ¡°Bridget stop whining so much or we will start leaving you behind.¡± A tall man in silver armor spoke in a gruff tone. ¡°I was just trying to pass the time.¡± She mumbled. ¡°It isn¡¯t far away, I see them looking at their map constantly while checking the woodline.¡± The one who thought he was going to cook me. They were silent and I noticed the wagon in the distance took a turn into a semi opened path between two thick trees. The five man party got off their horses and followed close behind the slow moving wagon. I was curious how the bandits didn¡¯t know about them with the racket the two armored men were making. Not to mention the curses from the priest. I was curious about the wagon and its contents. Something about it screamed at my senses that I wanted to check it out. So I ran on padded feet, quickly slipping into the back. My eyes were shocked with the fact that there were bundles of unconscious girls piled on top of each other. What made it worse was that few of them didn¡¯t even look old enough to be my younger sister''s age and she was fourteen. None of them look elven but they were still underage girls. I shifted into my elfen form and ripped the souls out of the two drivers. I floated out of the wagon and jumped up, shifting mid-air. My wings easily sent me soaring into the air, towards poorly concealed magical aura. I dropped down and snatched the life from the two sentries. Tearing down the magical veil revealing majestic cave entry. I heard pounding of feet as I walked in. Holding out my hands, I sent a river of flames rushing to meet them. Screams resounded louder than my boots hitting the ground. Really useless scum kidnapping little girls. I was a criminal but at least I had basic human standards.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I walked past the crispy corpses and fresh smell of bacon. Walking into a large cavern that had a barricade set up and people with crossbows pointing at me. ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are but you best turn around and leave.¡± Someone spoke out. I wonder if he was an imbecile, the correct method would be to shoot first, ask questions later. Thus I threw up a barrier and shifted into a dragon. Slamming my scaled talons through the barricade and into the useless crossbowman. I swiped an infidel with an enchant sword aside with my tail. Breathing fire over the rest of survivors. I felt a dense pack of life further back into a tunnel. I guess the mage they hired wasn¡¯t paid to die with them. I shifted back and began walking down the tunnel, barrier up. I stopped at the bend of the tunnel, the other side was densely packed and there wasn¡¯t any real need for me to poke my head around. ¡°Gents, I¡¯ll make it easy for you. I only want gold and you can live.¡± I yelled. ¡°How do we know you would honor your words?¡± Someone smart countered. ¡°You don¡¯t but trust me. Your life is worth a hundred gold coins. If you don¡¯t have that, gems will do.¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting them to have that. Though I heard rapid footsteps followed by heavier footsteps of at least two men. They came around the corner, dropped the chest and shambled back. I floated it to me and to my surprise it was full of gold. ¡°Nice doing business with you.¡± I was a man of my word. I turned around and left. Outside, I was greeted by the five from earlier. Two shields pointed at me as if that would stop me. I noticed the ninja off in the shadows, was he looking for an opportunity to ambush? ¡°Drop the chest and we will let you live.¡± One of the dumb shield warriors said. I waved my hand and their shields flew out their hands. Colliding with the ninja boy, curving back around to knock the two shield warriors into the woodline. I turned to the mage with a fireball hovering over her hand. ¡°Do you want to go flying as well?¡± I asked politely. She shook her head, dropping the spell quickly. ¡°Good, answer a question for me. How long have you been in this world?¡± I was curious, I didn¡¯t see any tangible link to them and some other dimension. However, they had lines of divine power looping through their souls. The blonde hair that I figured out earlier was Bridget, spoke out. ¡°About a year and a few months.¡± Interesting. They were here years before me but was only at this level? ¡°How come you are so weak?¡± The mage girl blushed but Bridget put her hands upon her hips. ¡°We are actually quite strong. One of the top Mercenary companies and our Guild has its own town. You won¡¯t find anybody else half as talented as we are.¡± I scratched my head and looked at the two men walking out of the forest with their shields. The ninja guy was still down and out. ¡°Oh, the bandits might be running away but feel free to search for anything else.¡± Bridget was about to speak up when one of the knights butted in. ¡°How do we know you aren¡¯t a¡­¡± The dumb knight was slapped on the back of his head by the black hair older knight. Guess brains don¡¯t run in the family. ¡°Sorry about that and thanks for not killing us. We will double check due to the mission not being completed but if you don¡¯t mind watching Miss Larson. Then we will rush through.¡± The leader spoke in a grave tone. I glanced at the thick blonde and shrugged. ¡°No problem.¡± I said. Waving my hand forming two chairs, I gestured for her to take a seat. Roboot: Chapter 3 She looked at me as she took a seat and then I understood. She was using a spell to identify me. A blue screen appeared in her vision, I could feel her shock through the vision playing in my mind.
NPC:Valerian Laliashili Class: Mystic Sub Class: Dream Sage Level: 50
Race: Elf Title: Elven Court Mystic, Princess Consort, Legendary paragon Gender: Male
Str: [10]25 Int: [10] 260 Hp: 250 M. Atk:3900
Agi:[10] 30 Wis: [10] (210 Mp: 4200 M. Def
Con:[10] 25 Cha:[4] P. Atk:125 Mana Reg: 591.5Mp/s
Luck: [2] P. Def:
Her mouth opened and she stuttered out. We sat like that for a while, me surfing her memories while she was too stupefied to get up a basic defense around her soul. Her, gaping like a fish. I could hear the thoughts running through her head. I sigh and close my eyes. ¡°Hey, is there any chance that you would be willing to teach me a spell?¡± Her voice filled with excitement. She had a nervous tick to her. Like she was all but ready to tackle me. I glanced at the cave and the guys barely started with the clearing. Must be looking for something specific. They only mention me once or twice but focused on their task like professions.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Sure, I can teach you a spell if you are¡ª,¡± my eyes traveled down her body. She blushed and glanced around before pointing at the woodline. I wasn¡¯t expecting her to really offer herself for a spell. Bridget grabbed my hand and tugged. ¡°I¡¯m serious, come on.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but follow. To be honest, I hadn¡¯t had a woman companion for four months. I was on a cleaning up project when I was abducted out of my plane. Then I spent time in that pasture, I wasn¡¯t the type of person to turn down gifts from beautiful women. I had this feeling that even though she was naive, she was a decent person. She pulled me into the treeline deep enough we wouldn¡¯t be seen but not so far as we couldn¡¯t see the cave. She bunched up her fabric and turned around, leaning a shoulder against a tree. ¡°Help me pull down my stockings?¡± She asked with a cute smile on her lips. I wonder how many men she asked this to before. I checked to see if I could make condoms. It appeared in my hand upon dragging it out the dream. I put it in between my teeth as I dropped my breeches and then pulled down her stockings after an intense stare. I unwrapped the condom and slid it on. ¡°You don¡¯t need that. I haven¡¯t slept with anyone since college. I graduated when I was twenty-five. I am thirty-eight now.¡± She sounded wounded. I didn¡¯t want to ruin my first lay in a while, so I bullshit. ¡°My apologies, I would have thought you wanted some form of protection against me.¡± She bit her lips and wiggle her bare ass. I slid in and by god was she tight. I gripped the edge of impressionable ass. It was like playing with clay. She was so soft and just watching my hips slammed into her ass was a sight. I would have stopped after the first but she was more aggressive than I was. I made a root and sat down. She walked her ass back until she was sitting in my lap. Bouncing with a passion that look like a starved lion, I glanced at the cave and noticed they were checking the area past where I collapsed. Bridget''s head snapped back and I had to tilt to dodge it. Her body shuddered and I laughed. ¡°Hey, do you have a place to stay?¡± She didn¡¯t move to get off my lap. To be honest, her ass was spilling off mine but the feeling of her constantly going through aftershocks with that kind of vise grip was a bit distracting. ¡°Hey! Did you hear me?¡± She asked again. I rubbed my brow. ¡°Yes, I think you ask something about the place to stay right?¡± She nodded. ¡°I know it kind of feels like I am whoring myself out and you probably think less of me, right? But the truth is that you give off this really good feeling and I never felt an urge to do this since I came here. I was mostly scared or hiding from doing any field missions like this. As a healer, I had ample excuses no to do anything dangerous.¡± I ran my hand through my hair, letting it fall back to cover my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s fine. If you have room, I¡¯ll stay. I can pay by teaching you more in depth healing and protective spells. Deal?¡± I most said it to keep her within touch. She felt amazing plus wasn¡¯t a huge threat. She gave an attractive smile before slowly standing up. Almost falling had I not caught her, the girl was really strange. We dressed and I burnt the condom. We walked back to the front just as the crew was walking out of the cave with two chests but a quick look showed that it wasn¡¯t all that valuable. The older knight looked at Bridget standing close to me with a slowly fading flush face but a bright smile. ¡°We only found some trinkets and a bunch of low grade magic books. You two want to see if anything is worth keeping for yourselves?¡± I shook my head. I had enough memories of shit that I probably would never utilize. I wouldn¡¯t even use half the knowledge I possessed. Bridget glanced at me before shaking her head. I noticed the other knight jaw was clenching but I ignored it. Wasn¡¯t my issue if he liked the girl or not. Reboot: Chapter 4 I placed a tracker on Bridget¡¯s soul and shifted into a dragon, flying into the sky with my chest. I didn¡¯t go to the city that they said wasn¡¯t far away. Even though she had a pretty smile, I felt a bit of ill intentions from her. I flew towards an Elven entourage that had been thinking of me constantly since they passed the border between the human and Elf nations. They looked up at me as I circled them twice. I felt some of them ready magic as I climbed lower and lower. It was interesting that they were ready to fire upon me without knowing if I had hostile intentions or not. I shifted back to my elven form, floating down in elven robe dictating the rank of a druid. ¡°Stand down!¡± a man in silver armor shouted. He bowed before me. ¡°My lord!¡± The rest followed suit except one lass who stepped out of a tent. She was dressed in a bright green robe. Her green hair almost blended in perfect with her clothes. She had a scowl on her face as she looked at me. ¡°Prince Valerian, how good it is to see you.¡± she said, without a hint of pleasantry. She tossed a scroll at me. I grabbed it and shoved it into the chest. I already knew what it said, I saw it the moment he wrote it. ¡°Let¡¯s return.¡± I said, plainly. The lass opened the portal scroll and gestured for me to step in. She really didn¡¯t like me. I wondered why she felt so. Well I didn¡¯t truly care. I stepped into the portal and stared up at the vaulted ceiling lined with gems and gold. It was an intricate pattern that upon closer look, resembled people. ¡°Good job on such a speedy progress.¡± a voice sounded as ancient as two paper scratching together. Up ahead was a throne and a wizen old man resting upon it. He looked as if his days were numbered but I felt power that rivals my own. Everybody bowed but me. Not that it was surprising, he would never let his kids bow before him. However, the lass standing beside him was giving me a look that made me feel like this was a setup. She had love in her eyes and body gestures shifted towards me. Like she couldn¡¯t wait to slide into my arms.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I skimmed the former body¡¯s memories and made sense of this. She was the Princess and she loved him but he didn¡¯t love her. No wonder he did not show what he was truly capable of. ¡°Now that my son is back we can hold a war meeting first thing tomorrow. Lads, I am tired.¡± the King declared, standing up with assistance and trotting off. The lass took a step towards me but I turned around. Following my memories through the arched ceiling hallway. I glanced back to see the woman who brought me back following. Her eyes held a kind of emotion that annoyed me. I walked out of the hall and turned to her. Surfing my memories for her face but nothing pops up. I was confused as to the kind of enemy my previous body made me. The unknown enemies were usually the worst kind of enemy. ¡°Why are you following me?¡± I asked. She held up a medallion like that meant something to me. Still, I searched the memories for such information and came upon one. An elf that was young, little immature Vale saved her life but failed to save her parents. He felt guilty and treated her like his daughter but left her behind when he was subtly exiled. ¡°Little cub, that doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± I said with a gentle smile. Her eyes widened but she looked down instead of replying right away. I sigh, I wanted to scope out his tower and figure out a plan. I heard her footsteps following me and I sighed. I shifted into a large raven and scooped her up. Carrying her to the tower on the cliff edge. Dense growth of trees surrounded it and the only way up was the balcony in which I landed. I dropped her and transformed back. Walking through the halls that lit up upon sensing my presences. I felt an comfortable feeling that left me trembling in joy. No wonder he was trying to recreate this with that grove. I couldn¡¯t feel any movement inside. I glanced at my companion and headed to the bedroom. She followed like a little dutiful wife. It was irking. Tsk, she might have been nothing more than his daughter but she was decent enough for me. I was just about to tell her to prepare a meal when a memory flashed to the front of my mind. I usually prepared the food. I turned from the bedroom and headed towards the dining room. With a wave of my hand, food decorated the long table. I sat down and floated dishes to load my plate. She sat down in a chair to my right. She watched me as we ate. However, I ignored her. This tower was big enough to host a small army. Sadly, people weren¡¯t so trustworthy. Definitely people I built up no connections with. From the memories, this guy definitely did nothing to establish a network and Elves were already so petty to family. Imagine someone not your family. To make it worse, the Crown Princess was only Crown Princess because of ole boy being her primary backer. She wasn¡¯t even strong enough to hold the position. Nor was she wise enough, the king only picked her because he favored her over his other children. Which wasn¡¯t saying much. Imagine being spoiled and only one person could inherit millions of dollars but the rest had to fend for themselves, once pop dies. This was the same situation. I clicked my tongue and looked around upon finishing my food. There were statues of all kinds of animals. A quick search through my memory showed that there was all kinds of beast within the forest nearby. We were also right on the edge of a cliff, meaning there was plenty of sea life. I took a drink with a plan forming. Reboot: Chapter 5 I jumped up and ran out of the tower, diving off the balcony landing pad, shifting into a bird the next few instances. Without even looking all that hard, a creature shot out of the dense leaves below. Mouth extended out. A snake, useless. I swatted it aside with my paw, as I transitioned into a dragon. What I wanted was some mammal with four legs, prefer something that could be transformed into something cute and fuckable. At the minimum, it had to look good while working for me. I transitioned into a feline upon hitting a branch. Effortless jumping from one to the next like I did this all my life. My hunt was not as long as I had hope. I found wolf dens seconds later. I shifted to my elven form and landed before them. Yanking on their souls to drop their hostile behavior of growling at me. Some still snarled but I had a thought to utilize a sleep spell. It came to my mind before I thought of it myself. I smirked and waved my hand, a formless energy spreaded out. Rushing into the minds of the wolves, jerking control of their body. They dropped down into an easily slumbered and I began levivating them upwards, towards my balcony. The little cub was awaiting. I smiled at her while walking by. I still didn¡¯t understand why she stuck around with that scowl on her face. However, tonight if she didn¡¯t wise up. She would be serving my bed. I had none of that fatherly feelings for her. I walked my pets down to an experimenting room. I had to conjure cages to hold them but it was fine. I added some food so they wouldn¡¯t starve. Also a bowl of water. Haha, I¡¯m a good owner. I went to the library and picked up all the books on soul magic and a few empty books the old Vale kept for research purposes. I marched back down to the room and set it up for prolonged study. I pulled out a wolf''s body and dropped it on an exam table. I tapped my chin as I began casting a transmutation magic similar to shapeshifting that druids do. I wanted to see if it was at all possible first and foremost. To change a wolf into a humanoid species, then I would delve into how to give them the ability to do so on their own. I concentrated on its paw, thinking of how a humanoid hand would look. Trying to force the change met with resistances. Like the mind was fighting against change. I had to change its mind, huh? Changing approach, I delved into its mind. Casting a dream in which I replayed a scene of it changing from wolf to humanoid figure. Depicting the level of ability it should have at that level. I was hoping it would willingly accept that change. Instead of me having to learn some kind of magic to enforce the change.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Now that I thought of it, there were many rituals that would work. However, some of the side effects weren¡¯t what I wanted. So I would have to make my own version. I wanted to bind these guys to me but at the same time. I needed them to be as powerful as they could be. ¡°Little friend, we are going to have an interesting session.¡± I chuckled, reattempting to transform it arm. It failed but I subjected it to replaying the transformation of humans. Adding more and more abilities as I thought about it. Did I expect any of that to happen? Of course not, but it would be cool either way. ¡°Subjecting subject to brainwashing has failed. Next phase, blank slate.¡± I wrote down my failed attempts in the notebook. Proceeding right after, to wipe its memories of what it used to be. Haha, this time it was easier to control its body without its consent. It didn¡¯t have an established image of itself since it was still asleep and being subjected to my brainwashing. I stared at the dark brown elf in the size of a linebacker from a pro football team. Interesting specimen. I tried a new dream to see what its fighting ability was like. Sadly, right away as I pit it against a nondescript enemy, it showed low quality ability. Taking what could be considered an aggressive style of paw swiping. It was killed off by my barely trained non-descript clone in seconds. Tsk, it would take hours, maybe years to correct the bad behavior. All well, I had time. I moved onto the next wolf, dropping this finished product into a cage. I started with wiping its mind then changing its form, after that. I slipped some memories I created of it fighting and doing urban battle in more medieval time. ¡°At first, it was a success. Almost perfectly able to utilize the abilities I grafted into its memory. Sadly, when doing specific missions, it became dumber than donkey. Test subject two took the most direct route to solve the mission. Dying very quickly.¡± I wrote down, while musing. Tsk, what if I create a backstory for it? Sounds like a plan. I began diving into dream and spirit magic. Recreating memories but the first trial showed that it had some issues. Not being able to do some of the things I place in its memory caused it some stress. Which led me to running a test on its physical capabilities. It was stronger than a guy who could lift 450 pounds ten reps. It could do twenty without breaking a sweat. It ran a mile in under two minutes and the reaction speed was excellent. It would serve as the basis of a knight unit with these capabilities. I just had to put in the correct skills and decision making algorithms. Hope it would understand what I wanted. Thus began my second attempt of programming a behavior that I wanted. This time I utilized an image of myself. I gave them the background of an orphan. I slowly trained them up. Tactics, language, scenario based training, understanding how to utilize enchanted items, and even group movement. I was so engrossed that I didn¡¯t even notice the sun rising, not that I could tell in the room I was in. If someone wasn¡¯t thinking about me so intently, I wouldn¡¯t have bothered with the other folks. Clicking my tongue, I closed up my notebook and put away my test subjects. I whipped up a simple ward to alert me to someone trying to bypass it and left. I walked to the balcony to see a little cub waiting for me. She stared at my clothes and I looked down to see I was in an all white lab coat which covered an all-white scrubs. I didn¡¯t even realize I settled for this look. It was so comfortable that I probably ignored it. I transformed into a large bird, grabbing her in my talons and flying back to the Palace. It seemed they had been waiting for me as I walked in. I didn¡¯t say much but as I took a seat behind the Princess. Enjoying the stares while I flipped open my notebook and continued noting down the changes in personality of my subjects. I could still watch them interact in the dreamworld I created, from here. It was truly astounding how starting from the ground up could create such a huge development in the subjects. Reboot: Chapter 6 ¡°Let us begin the meeting now that everybody is here. General Rotris, please tell us what you found out.¡± the king''s ancient voice sounded out. A green beard elf in dark green armor rose, saluting with one fist to over his heart. ¡°As you request, your majesty.¡± He turned to us. ¡°A few days ago, we spotted traces of demons at our borders. Even though we were quick to eradicate them, the numbers have reached a level to indicate another demon invasion. Reports have flooded in from the human lands of them having many more sightings.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the humans are the ones summoning the demons?¡± Duke Ravamoira asked, his eyebrows relaxing from the scrunch up worry he held before. General Rotris shook his head. ¡°Not the humans in general, but yes. Some humans might have been enticed by the offers as it was in the past. Ignoring the humans on our border to the west, the dark elves are and have always had a very close relationship with the demons. I have reports that they have been sighted more than once in human cities stirring up trouble.¡± Another General stood up. ¡°On top of that, they have been increasing their war equipment. My naval troops have encountered an increase in dark elves'' galleys and briggs. I think at this point it is safe to say, they are intending to mount a war after the demons are repelled.¡± Back and forth talk about such reports when on for another hour to half hour. It was very unappealing. Princess Elora stood up and everybody hushed down. ¡°The best option as of now is to close down our borders. Start recruiting troops and monitoring all routes to our cities. If we have to, destroy some roads or build a fort at those positions.¡± This started a heated conversation. The idea was kind of naive. The dark elves could attack from the sea route. There was a long stretch of land they could land on and it would spread out the elves who hadn¡¯t recuperated after the last demon invasion, ten thousand years ago. With them only being able to give birth on average once every century or less. It wasn¡¯t surprising they lacked the means to pursue war.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The king grew bored and called the meeting to an end. He stood up with assistants and beckoned me over. I was kind of not wanting to have to bother with this. But if I went off to handle my own situation and neglect these guys, I figured the Goddess would seek me out. She already showed she was capable of taking my soul out of my body and placing it wherever she felt like. I didn¡¯t want to see what a pissed off goddess was capable of. We walked down a long hallway, and opened to a beautiful garden. The king looked as if he was going to pass away at any second. Or at least to my eyes, who were seeing his dying wisp of life-force. I could probably boost it with plant life. They had plenty of vitality to give him easily another thousand years of lifespan without destroying the life in the garden itself. ¡°What do you think of Elora becoming Queen of the Elves?¡± he asked after a while. I decided to boost him up a bit. He seemed more like a capable leader than Elora plus it would allow me to pursue my goals without much interference. So I began gathering the vitality of the plants around us. Siphon off just enough to add up but not enough to endanger them. ¡°Pretty but useless. It would be better to just allow one of your warmongering sons to take over. At least, the worst he can do is make war plans that will never be carried out. That isn''t a bad way to keep those pesky greedy bastards on their feet and thinking of benefits rather than trying to assassinate a Queen who thinks too much.¡± I finished gathering the life force and began injecting into his body. He stopped and closed his eyes, breathing in deep. He was enjoying the feeling too much but it was shocking and interesting to watch the wrinkles on his face disappear as he gained vigor. While he didn¡¯t revert back to a completely young and handsome him, he was more impressive to look at. Not like he would trip and croak right there. His green eyes seemed to have the most impact, they opened to stare at me with such intensity that I felt my soul trembling. However, I almost overlooked the powerful feeling he was enamanting. I once thought we were on the same level but that was his dying self. His not so dying self eclipsed me by a few football fields. Sitting area included. He clenched his fist and released it, patting me on the shoulder. ¡°New magic theory you have been practicing?¡± I smiled but didn¡¯t reply. How could I tell him that old Vale knew this magic for about fifty years but was utterly happy with letting the old elf die. As a mystic anything evolving life was his domain. We might not be able to recreate it from scratch but altering it isn¡¯t so hard. Reboot: Chapter 7 The King took my silence for an answer. We continued walking out of the garden into a highly guarded area. Guards were stationed at every exit and enchanted golems stood dressed in armor that had anti-spell enchants. If I were to try to break in with my ability now, I would surely end up dead. While these warriors and mages were weaker. As a collective whole they were strong enough to hinder me. Plus their equipment is really expensive. ¡°One of the reasons I called you back is because I was going to make you King. Now such means aren¡¯t needed.¡± The King looked at me with piercing eyes. ¡°This demon war will decrease our population even more and the female population has always been higher than males to begin with. Plus our reproduction isn¡¯t as strong as the humans. Thus I have decided that all nobles will take additional wives, half breeds will be given more status. What do you think so far?¡± I am slightly curious why he was including me into this discussion but I could think farsight. ¡°That sounds wise but you should include your soldiers into that picture as well. They will have a lot more stress than nobles and thus mate more. I would add magic academies to teach commoners basic defense magic. Magic towers can be set up in an array, like the one around the palace but covering a large area. If we bring all the commoners within this area, we can save a lot more resources in the short term.¡± The king frowned, ¡°In the long term, it would eat up a lot of peacetime resources. What would you suggest then, when the dark elves are ready to invade? Send them back out to live in the area torn by war?¡± I tilted my head and stared at the sky. ¡°Have you never dreamed of holding the clouds within your hand?¡± He glanced up, confusion left his face slightly flushed. ¡°No, I can reach up and bring down the stars if I so desire. Why would I have such a mundane dream?¡± I looked at him to see that he was serious. I cleared my throat in embarrassment. ¡°True. However, if the land is too small, then why not take to the air. I have seen some magical floating ships but if we had magical floating forts, then our troops would be partially invincible. We would hardly have to worry about these pets of the Demon race biting our ankles.¡± The King stopped in front of a door and pondered for a moment. His eyes distance and his face relaxed. He looked as if he had regressed even younger than before. He snapped back to attention and smiled at me. ¡°That idea could work. The floating fortress, not the whole ankle biting thing.¡± he chuckled and opened the door. Allowing me to see a room full of about half a dozen scantily dressed women. I looked at him in confusion. A, why is such an old man on his deathbed having a bunny room. B, is that really the best way he can spend his time? C, I hope he wasn¡¯t into show and tell. I am straight. Sharp shooter. Only aim in one direction. He gave me a funny look when I took a step back involuntarily. His large paw landed on my shoulder and pushed me into the room. ¡°At least three of them. Make sure you shoot inside of them. I¡¯ll come for you tomorrow.¡± he smiled, slamming the door in my face. I turned to the women and bowed. ¡°Hi there. I¡¯m picky. Small breast that can fit in my hand, small ass that¡¯s round, and a seeable curvy body.¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting two to really step out. This wasn¡¯t practical common sense in the modern world, but sometimes I forget that old century women weren¡¯t exactly thought of fondly. Beyond practical benefits. The more intelligent women were basically rarities that were trump cards. One of these women must have been a next level courtesan in her previous life. She sat down by the window looking forlorn, like the world couldn¡¯t understand her. Her black hair is uncommon among elves but I noticed a certain lack of sharpness and length of her ear lobe. Half elf.Stolen novel; please report. There is also a degree of regret and sadness in her eyes that I felt was very familiar. It wasn¡¯t anything compared to what I face when looking in a mirror. Well, when I used to look in a mirror. It has been what five? Six years since I last put on a professional suit with the intentions of wow¡¯ing my wife? Ha, look at me now. Standing in front of what could be considered an Imperial harem. Being forced to mate with a bunch of females for the embetterment of my species. You couldn¡¯t even find such logic even if it dropped from the sky. I felt disgusted with myself but looking into her eyes. Which only said she missed home, ha. I felt more disgusted at her pretentious ways. Did she think anybody was stupid enough to believe she didn¡¯t sign up for this? You telling me a King forced a bunch of cheap women to do what they didn¡¯t want to do? You telling me he doesn¡¯t just have to clap his hands and throw gold at the ground? You telling me he can¡¯t pass a decree granting protection to women''s family and they won¡¯t come running to sign up to be used and abused? Are you saying all this power at this guy''s fingertips and he has to kidnap pretty women? I don¡¯t believe it is so. So why was she pretending to be filled with sorrow? Does she think this is some kind of disney movie and she possessed the ultimate plot armor? Ha, even more importantly. Does she think I cannot read her mind and know that she is trying to stand out. Using something from a tv drama? Does she not realize that her player status allows her to use insight ability to see who the fuck she dealing with? What if I cut her open? Could I understand the aspects of her ability to revive? Tsk, let¡¯s enjoy the gift the King so gracefully bestowed me. I grabbed her head and dragged her ass over to the bed. She would be the first just because I wanted to study her soul. I¡¯ll think about the other two who resemble my wife''s body frame in a way. Actually, I shouldn¡¯t show weakness that the King can exploit. I¡¯ll pick those opposite of my taste so I don¡¯t slip up. *** I duck my head into the scalding water, holding my breath long past the point of my chest burning for freedom. Water rain down from my head exploding out the water. My lungs gasped through that burning pain that suggested I was still living. I felt something thinking about me. An ant. I noticed that half breed staring at me, her feet dangling in the waters. She was staring off into space like she had lost her friend but I could read her thoughts as if they were my own. Her face was even more obvious. She would turn her head slightly to catch a glimpse of me. Before hurrying back to stare off at the animal statues on the other side of the room. Or the waterfall with its pretty green flora that made this room feel unreal. I had to keep asking myself, while listening to her thoughts. Are players that foolish? Do they really believe that nothing can happen to them because they are considered chosen ones by the natives? Undying but that only accounts for a specific duration. Five times in a day. Forty times in a week, a week consisting of eight days. ¡°Can you stop pretending? You have mentioned your plans numerous times now. Your plans to get into my good graces, but just sensing my negative emotions doesn¡¯t mean you can understand what I went through.¡± Her face showed shocked and I felt her reaching for her little ability. Trying to understand the emotions that were registering in my aura but the only thing I felt right now was annoyance. Which was quickly budding into anger. However, that slowly ebb away at the thought of my pets having passed a mission which I had labeled with beginner level difficulty. I strode out of the bath. ¡°Follow me,¡± I commanded. She jumped, rushing after me with her head down. Her light-pink skin looks tantalizing in the lowlights of the floating lanterns in the hallway. With a flick of my wrist, a robe wrapped around my body. She had to rush forward to grab a towel. Doing a quick dry off, wrapping a robe loosely around her, as she rushed after me with wet footsteps against the warm tile floor. ¡°You will be my secretary. Your job is simply to listen and do.¡± I said, pushing through double doors towards my research lab.
Quest: You have received promotion in rank above what you could have achieved on your own. Due to having a pretty face and nice body, A Paragon has bestowed you with beginner knowledge in the Art of Mysticism. As long as you are loyal, you will rise far above your peers and stand high among the other consorts. Details: Use your brain and body to provide relief to the Prince. Meet any and all his demands without a single thought of betrayal. Rewards: Spells and knowledge about the Legendary Class Mystic and Dream Sage. You have a choice between becoming a Mystic, a support class, or a Dream Sage, a Support Class.
I paused in step as I caught her quest message. Did I intend to offer her the option to pick up my knowledge? I don¡¯t think I did. I didn¡¯t even have such thoughts other than studying her soul. Maybe this was a way the system offset the disadvantages? Tsk, how cozy. She was innerwardly complaining about support magic not being cool enough? Wanting combat magic? How I wish I could have pure combat magic? Wouldn''t I be able to take over the world? Instead of relying on others to help me achieve my goals? Reboot: Chapter 8 ¡°What the fuck? I dropped two levels? Oh, it resetted my levels.¡± her eyes danced as she muttered. ¡°Wait, thirty-six points? Didn¡¯t I only have twenty before? Why did I gain sixteen more?¡± She scratched her head as I watched her out the corner of my eye. It¡¯s interesting watching a moron at work. ¡°Wait, a rare class? Mystic is legendary? Wait, but it''s only a support class. It can¡¯t be that good can it?¡± she complained yet again. ¡°Since it is a support class, I guess wisdom is used more so I¡¯ll put the majority of points into that. The rest into intellect.¡±
Player: Elaine Title: Prince''s Concubine Race: Half-Elf/ Half-Human Gender: Female
Class: (Rare) Mystic Sub Class: Concubine Level: 4
Str: [8] Int: [8] 23 Hp: 100 M. Atk: 345
Agi: [9] Wis: [9] 30 Mp: 300
Con: [10] Cha: [4] P. Atk: 40 Mana Reg: 3 Mp/s
Luck: [3]
She looked at her character sheet and her mind flashed to Prince¡¯s Concubine. Right after she flashed to Concubine. ¡°It¡¯s actually a class? I wonder what skills I will¡­ Oh, nevermind. All bedwarming passives, what a joke.¡± she thought fiercely. I changed out of the simple robe into comfortable wear and threw open my lab doors. Walking before the cages, I checked into their dreams to see that they were adapting quickly to the new training method. Guess mind wipe and brainwashing is the correct method. However, there are only sixteen of them and only three women in the mix. I will need more. Hm, wonder what a fox lady would turn into? Aren¡¯t all foxes sly anyway? I can turn them into spies. Wait, I need equipment and such for these guys. My level of enchanting is nowhere near the former Vale¡¯s. I have to practice as well. I turned to Elaine and was about to speak when I caught a mission box popping into her head. So annoying, that thing.
Quest: Your most Handsome Prince needs materials to begin enchanting. Run down to the storage room and bring back supplies. Map: Click to pull up the map of the Druid Tower. Rewards: Learning beginner level enchantments.
Elaine ran off without a moment of thought. Not even realizing that I had not even spoken out. This system is a huge cheat, speaking of which Bridget seemed to have made it to her house. I¡¯ll repay her to continue our contact, I may have need of her later.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I created a dream world with a training ground facility and classrooms. Then tag her spirit to enter upon falling asleep. I assign a clone spirit to guide her in revamping one of her healing spells, Healing Rain. I felt it could be used as both an attack and healing spell. If the rain turned into frozen needles, it could injure an opponent. As for the healing aspect, the original is too wide spread. Meaning a lot of mana is wasted upon not hitting the targets. It is a large aoe spell design for large battlefields. Thus the wastage is forgivable, but in a small team setting, it is disgusting. I played around with it for a few hours until Elaine dragged in a sheet full of materials. Sweat drenching her forehead as she breathed out heavily through flared nostrils. She dropped the grip she had and wiped her forehead, smiling as if she just achieved a life long goal. With a wave of my hand, the materials flew up onto the exam table that turned into a large U shaped desk.
Quest: Now your task is to go to the Library and grab a few books labeled Enchanting for minors. Because you did such a good job, the big man is happy and rewarded you with a Grade Zero spell, telekinesis. Map: Click to pull up the map of the Druid Tower. Rewards: You have received a level Zero Spell and been given permission to enter a Sacred place. However, with your IQ, it is best to just relax and be given everything. After all, EQ is much better than IQ when you are that good looking.
What a snarky system. I turned back to the desk and organized the materials by attributes, plant types, metals to gems. I didn¡¯t have to wait nearly an hour and half for her to come back. With the spell, she made quick time with twenty-nine minutes and forty-two seconds. I snatched the books from her control and flipped them open. After quick skim, I had a basic understanding. Enchanting had two different means of the same goal. One is by utilizing materials such as what is in front of me. Which is a much less risky task, but required money and the materials. However, they could have a certain amount of permanency. The second method would be using your mana to enchant directly. Turning your mana into whatever attribute to inscribe the runes directly onto an object. The pros, it is faster, cheaper, and more powerful to do the unity of your own personal mana. The cons, it is a much more difficult challenge and needs to be done all at once. Which meant even if you had the mental power to do it but not the mana to. You couldn¡¯t rest and recover or vice versa. ¡°We will begin with a low level temperature enchantment.¡± I said, with a wave of my hand the diagram floated above us in brightly green color to pale white background. I began scrapping storm crystal and mixing two supplement herbs to create the ink. Elaine watched me like an obedient pet. Her eyes shined as she paid close attention to my hand movements. As we began inscribing on paper, I noticed that the runes were quite hard to draw perfectly. It was like an american trying to do chinese characters after they added a bunch of accent changes. Day one.. Failure. Day two¡­ utter failure. Day three.. Success Day three, I set aside the materials and focused on watching Elaine who had a gift for calligraphy apparently. She succeeded four out of five compared to my one out of five but the effects of our products vastly differ. I was like a toddler learning how to walk. Wobbling back and forth on chubbly little legs. Arms flailing about as I tried to stabilize myself. Making it a short distance of two steps before I go, plop, onto my tail end. She was like that little genius kid who is doing complex puzzles and speaking compound sentences. The difference is startling and quite depressing. After taking my frustration out on one of the other concubines, I went back to my pet project. Wait, I needed to gear them. I left Elaine alone as I flew out to the city. I walked down the snow covered pave streets. Watched as little urchins pushed the snow to the sides of the road. They danced between incoming carriages and horses with great skill. I clicked my tongue and walked into a well known store. It was like they had an enchantment or something that said big shot incoming because a well dressed man was waiting for me. ¡°I need sixteen light armor.¡± I said, while conjuring up an illusion of what wolves look like in their human form. The man''s eyes scanned the illusion and he nodded. ¡°We can create custom designs if your Highness wishes to put your personal seal on them.¡± He said it as a statement but I felt there is a question intermixed. ¡°Mm, let¡¯s do it as you said.¡± I created a willow tree with the sun looking down as my emblem. ¡°Sixteen light armor will be forty-six gold. If you want additional enchantments to link them together so they provided a bigger strength to the group. Then two hundred and fifty rounds, your highness.¡± The man calculated it all so quickly. I clicked my tongue and realized I didn¡¯t bring enough gold with me. I only grabbed a handful before leaving. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll return in ten days for them.¡± I turned around and left. I walked around thinking of what to do. There is nothing to do. I didn¡¯t very much care for these elves one way or another. I am only doing what I was told, simply due to fear. But past that, what should I do? If I was still on Earth, I probably would be enjoying some cold beers. Laughing up with my subordinates, probably enjoying company of some willing lass. As a hitman, I really didn¡¯t have much to do other than kill and come home. I mean, ignoring the once a week gathering of friends. I actually really sat at home before fireplace, reading a book my wife would have liked, while enjoying the company of her pictures and the sound of crackling fire. Even on a good day, I would be cleaning the house, visiting her grave to keep it clean, or reading or watching things she liked. Tsk, what could I do here? Should I make a grave for her? How about I turned some animals into her appearances? She always likes cats and foxes. I think she wouldn¡¯t mind being a catgirl or foxgirl. We always wanted a child.. I should buy one of those. Hm, maybe it would be better just to make a child in her imagination. This way, I won¡¯t dishonor her memory by sleeping with replicas? Wait, I should try it out anyway. Just to confirm if I would still feel the same way. Chapter 9 Over the week, I worked on becoming the next Dr. Frankenstein. Turning these ordinary wild animals into works of art, works of beauty. Putting their hostile nature to good use. I rubbed my eyes as I watched them tear through a small pack of elite Elven warriors. They weren¡¯t on a hunt to kill, but an exercise to allow me to know the differences in my creation versus traditional training. And while the side effects of my magic is beyond what I had hoped. It wasn¡¯t exactly a bad problem. For example, they would shift into this half beast half elf form that increases their physique all around. This wasn¡¯t my intended idea but it was an okay trade off. Another example would be how the wolves formed a pecking order via strength. Even though I could shapeshift into similar form, it was a slight struggle to beat the alpha. Which led me to realize that they may overcome me if I didn¡¯t maintain the top position. Which had me training myself during my sleep time. What a discomfort. The fight was entirely one sided in the woods, in urban landscape, on the plains. They were trained according to special ops standards. Well if I truly understood how specials op were trained then we could say that in full confidence. However, I felt like if there were special ops here, they would be it. Luther approached me after they patched up the minor wounds they received from blunt weapons. ¡°What do you think, Alpha?¡± He asked. I gave him an expressionless face. ¡°Good. Return to the logging.¡± I faded away and reappeared in my lab. A yawn escaped me as I looked over the wild animals baring their fangs at me. I might not be a great enchanter, but I wonder if I could train them to be by watching other crafters? First, let¡¯s begin shifting them into the correct state. ** ¡°When we get out of here, we should head over to my sister¡¯s and spend some time with my nephews and nieces. I really feel like I failed to live up to the image of an elder sister.¡± Chloe said, while pulling on her pants. I merely nodded while yawning, packing up the rest of her things. We were getting ready to leave the hospital after a week of treatment. Just one of the many. ¡°Family overrated.¡± I muttered. Chlloe smacked me with the soft ass pillow. ¡°Just because you don¡¯t want to reconcile with your brother doesn¡¯t mean I want to be castrated from my family. Anyway, when we have kids, how will they feel when they find out they have uncles and aunts you don¡¯t even talk to?¡± She began her old lecture. I rolled my eyes but that didn¡¯t stop a smile from spreading across my face. ¡°I¡¯ll just teach them that people only believe in self-interest. It¡¯s best to cut ties with such selfish people beforehand. Anyway, who is to say they will even be alive by the time our kids turn fifteen?¡± I jest.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She scoffed and refuted. We laughed and sat down on the bed, facing each other while caressing each other¡¯s hands. The Doctor took so long to return, but to us it just felt like he was gone for piss break and came right back with the paperwork. After doing all the useless reminders, I finally got her out of the hospital and into the warm summer air. I cleared my throat upon sweating before I even reached the car. ¡°Maybe, we should go back in. I think I¡¯m sick. Cough cough.¡± I chuckled as she punched me. ¡°I can make you sick if you don¡¯t get into the car now.¡± She fanned herself as she glanced around with a smile blooming. I could picture what she was seeing, the life in people''s eyes as they brought their loved ones in and out of the hospital. The worry, the concern, the laughter in some of their eyes as they focused entirely on their handhelds. The beautiful smell of the toxic city air, the humid conditions that already made my shirt collar darkening. Haha, I would have plenty of time to help her remember what it was like before she was sick. I could even start those cringy ass dates we went on as a kid. Ha! She slammed the car door as I cranked the engine and put the a/c on full blast.

** The light pounded my eyelids. Somehow it managed to weave past my curtains, to punish me. I pushed the leg off my body and climbed out of bed. Creeping to the window and tossing the curtains open, ignoring a blast of window that made me want to turn to the side. I stare out over the vast sea of green and at the great white wall. I had things I wanted done but first off. I need to ask for forgiveness for what I am about to do. I spun around and ignored the look of the concubine that sat up with the silk sheets around her bosom. With a wave of my hands I was dressed and headed out the tower. Transforming into a dragon and soaring through the morning breeze. The summer heat felt comforting and reminded me of my dream. I sneezed out smoke tendrils that thread behind me like ribbons on a pole. I dropped down before a mountain of white stone and cut out a large ten-foot rectangle piece, lifting it with my claws but careful not to indent it. I flew back to my tower, landing before the cliff edge. Shifting back, I began strengthening the cliff face before I got to grizzly work of carving the into the massive stone block. I felt my eyes blur as I finished the rough contour and rushed into the details. I didn¡¯t need eyes to remember how she looked though. I could feel her soft skin under the pads of my fingertips, the rough texture of the scar on her left shoulder from when she protected a child from a fallen pane of glass. Or the scars on her calf from fallen down hilly terrain when we went hiking.

** I hadn¡¯t realized how slow I went or the fact that I ignored night and day when picking out the posture and expressions. When I had fixed on the minute details that I had so often ignored during our time together. I shook my head through useless thoughts. She wasn¡¯t here in person but I felt like she is here in my heart and spirit. That¡¯s all that mattered right? I brushed away the film that existed over my eyes and took a look at the work of art that I created. However, it wasn¡¯t yet done. There¡¯s a reason I wanted enchanters and other crafters. I am going to immortalize her within my heart and in the minds of everybody who came up and witnessed her glory. I spun around and flew back to the Capitol. Searching out the best and the worst crafters as I studied their technique beside them. Listening clearly to their instructions, feeling their passions for their crafts. This took me months but it was fine. The war could start and end but it wouldn¡¯t necessarily stop me from doing what I wanted at this moment. I returned back to the tower and began brainwashing these former animals. Though I was previously jesting about making a bunch of cat girls and fox girls in the image of my wife. I did play with the idea for a bit before casting it aside. They wouldn¡¯t have the spirit of my wife even if I did imprint the projection of her onto them. My mental view of her is flawed and I did not want an imperfect projection of her, I wanted the perfect imperfect her. The woman who joked and chastised me, the woman that never allowed me to think less of myself. With her, I became a man who saved lives. Without her, I became a thug who stole lives. What will I become the longer she is not by my side?