Three black werecat orphan brothers are trying their best to find a home when they are finally adopted. Everything goes great with their new family until tragedy strikes and they are left with an unexpected guardian.

hello it's me...well you don't know me and I you so uh...yeah

I'll be honest this will probably suck a load of dick as this is the first story I've ever written so...yay for that. Also I have no clue of the update schedule I'm totally improvising this as I go so it will undoubtedly suck. uh I hope you at least get a little enjoyment either out of the story or my horrible writing so have fun.

p.s I'm writing this in my phone so there will also be a lot of Grammer and word mistakes. you have been warned.

When we die our bodies and souls are recycled to create new life, and that goes for both the mortal races and the deities of the divine circle. When a mortal dies their bodies return to nature and their souls are collected to be reborn as little babies. But when a deity dies they just...fade away. Leaving nothing behind except memories made with their peers. 

"How can a deity die?" You might ask yourself. Well, it's simple, Deities gather their power from their followers, but when there are none, they cease to exist. I only have a few hundred years left and I want to leave a mark on the mortal world...I've heard stories from my peers about choosing a champion to fight in their name and ignite great change in the world...hmmm maybe....just maybe.

The word which had been glowing with purple light slowly turned into...a real small fire. The word 'fire' on the paper disappear living only a real burning fire on the paper!

The fire was small so Li Shi Ying didn't notice it at first but when the fire burn the rest of the paper, onlth then Li Shi Ying noticed it.

???? How could there be a fire on the table? 

Li Shi Ying quickly put out the fire while thinking in her heart. She didn't lit a candle or anything right? So how could this fire suddenly appeared? 

Li Shi Ying look at her burnt pieces of paper and when she was collecting the burnt paper, she found a blank small paper among the burnt papers.

The burnt papers she collected were all those pieces she wrote a word on it. The word were still could be seen but now there weren't any purple light on it.

Li Shi Ying took the blank paper and thought again. Shouldn't there be a word 'fire' on this paper? Why it became blank? 

Li Shi Ying was confused and puzzled by this situation so she decided to conduct another experiment. Her instinct told her that there must be something she didn't know about this matter.

Li Shi Ying wrote again a word 'fire' on a new small paper and carefully observe it. As like before, the word glowed in purple light after a second. 

What Li Shi Ying didn't expect was that after the word stopped glowing, suddenly the word disappear and changed into a small fire burning on top of the now blank paper.

!!!! What is this??? The word 'fire' turn into a real fire?? 

Li Shi Ying was surprised as well as excited. How could this happen? Did she gain another cheat?? 

Li Shi Ying of course didn't know that the so-called cheat was only because she is a unique existence even among translator.

Li Shi Ying didn't know that actually there are 3 types of translator exist in this world. The first type is the most common one which are really well-known among people in lower realm

Normal people only know that translator are people who can translate God Language into a local language. Well they aren't completely right! 

The translator they know is only the first type of translator that are the one who can translate the original script into a local language. This type of translator is called 'reader'. They understand God languange but they can't write it or speak in it. 

'Reader' type can only understand the language and change it into the language normal people know.

As for the phenomenon Li Shi Ying experienced just now, it was all because she is not only a 'reader' type but also a 'writer' type.

The second type of translator is called 'writer' . These people exist only in middle realm so it is normal for people in lower realm to not knowing their existence. 

The 'writer' type can write a God Language. The word they write then will became a reality. But... those words are limited to only abstract word such as element, feeling, action, technique and so on.

The 'writer' type can't make gold coin from the word they write or make a house out of it. Among 'writer' type, God choose 2 people and made them write the original script. So the one who made all those original scripts are in fact a 'writer' type of translator choosen by God! 

It's no wonder that all those scripts contain something which couldn't be seen except from element (fire, water, etc).

For the third type, this type is very mysterious and only 2 people throughout the world belong to this type . Both of them are serving the God directly as his loyal servant.

Li Shi Ying didn't know whatsoever about translator type so she thought that she must be gaining another cheat! 

Yuhuuu!! Thanks God of Transmigration!! Finally she was given another cheat which seems more useful than her previous cheat.

Discovering something awesome like this, Li Shi Ying began to conduct another experiment. She wrote so many words to see which word will become reality and which one will not.

1 hour later, Li Shi Ying had completely grasp the rules of her new cheat. She can't turn a material word into reality so forget about creating dozen gold coins or crystal coins out of a word.

The word she write will take effect immediately after she write it but if she want to delay the effect, she could just write an uncomplete word. 

So far, Li Shi Ying could wrote 2 words in one paper to make them turn into reality or having an effect. More than 2 words even if it wasn't a material word, the words wouldn't change.

Li Shi Ying conduct her experiment with Jiu Wei as well. She put the word 'anger' on Jiu Wei body and second after, Jiu Wei said that he felt irritated and angry.

Well even if the effect only last for a few minutes, for Li Shi Ying the discovery of her new cheat was something amazing!She could protect herself with this cheat and so on.

COMPLETED SERIES

I'll find you even if we are worlds apart -Long Ao Zhen 

---------
Transmigrated into a trash body of general's daughter as female lead? Peh! Too mainstream! Transmigrated to be a villainess? Common! What about transmigrating and ending up as cannon fodder? Have read it before! 

From that many options to transmigrate how could she, Li Shi Ying a very ordinary English department college student, suddenly wake up in the crippled body of the female lead's ex-maidservant?! Heaven, this is too unfair! 

In this world where only the strong are respected, she can't cultivate? No problem! Dozens of high-rank spiritual beasts fight over protecting her! 

Beast Tamers are rare? Hmph! The beast language is her hometown language! 

Can't be an alchemist or array master? Who cares? She could just become a translator! Without a translator, all those rare jobs wouldn't even exist! 

Watch how she rules over the world without having a single bit of cultivation energy in her body! 

But, can someone please tell her how she suddenly became the Dragon Prince's wife? Momma, she wanna cry!!! 

This is a perfect story for those who are bored with the usual cultivation novel. 

Warning: Smut scene in chapters 7-9!! If you don't want to read it, just skip those chapters. 

If you like to read perfect grammar then this book might not be your cup of tea, but I'm still learning. So, it will become better in later chapters. 

Other project:
1. The CEO's Office Boy is a Girl (completed) 
2. I Become Baby Mafia Boss (on-going)

Follow my Instagram: @zehell2218 for Q & A and other fun information! 

Join me in discord for suggestion and fun chat: https://discord.gg/BWyWDJ7

For support: https://www.paypal.me/Zehell2218

*This cover isn't mine, credit to the.
artist.* 

Big thanks to my editors: Overlord_venus, Kuma, DarkAngel84

Proofreader: Lilian

[Word] denotes Words in Bold/Louder Emphasis/Loud Noises

*Word* denotes Onomatopoeia/Sound Effects

/Word/ denotes Words in Italic/Inner Voices/Thoughts/Soft Noises/Softer Emphasis

* before the word or sentence denotes an Author's Note at the end of the Chapter


Time moves forward. And while this tale slowly comes to an end, their story continues to unfold behind the scenes....


⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛


It's been a month and a half since that fateful day. A month and a half since that unassuming maintenance guy saved her from her own demise. Ever since then, Aletheia has begun to acclimatize once more to a rather, lavish lifestyle than the year and a half that she spent on the run.


/Not only have you acclimatized, you've already excelled~/


Oh shut up. She can still live off of instant ramen and chump change just fine should the need arise.


/Says the girl that now spends over a thousand drachma a day on food alone~/


The novelist chuckled to herself at the thought as she saved another word document in her laptop. Well, she was quite a hefty spender back then no? 


/You blew a whole talent for every arcade session. You're more than a hefty spender~/


Come now.. Well, she did do that back in the day huh.


/You're clearly cut out for a lavish lifestyle~/


She stifled a yawn as she closed the laptop for the evening, having finished a new chapter for her book. It was quite a novel experience, being back in her old room.


/Still as immaculate as ever./


The room still had the same white, frilly drapes covering her windows, the same wooden desk that she remembered doing schoolwork in, hell, her bed was just the way she left it back then; large, soft, and can threaten to swallow her whole should she not get up in time.


/Quite the colorful description about a mundane room./


It might've been her metaphorical cell back then, but it was also the only place where she had any semblance of privacy to herself. At least Mother eased up on some of her former rules.


*BZZZZT BZZZZT*


Sound of vibration on wood made itself heard as the novelist looked back towards her nightstand. The pyjama wearing woman blearily approached the offending phone, stifling another yawn before answering the call.


"Aletheia speaking." Who was the calling her at such an ungodly hour?


/"Yo 'Theia."/ A familiar voice echoed from the speakers as her heart jumped in response. /"Why're you still up?"/


"You called, dumbass." The soft embrace of her mattress engulfed her as she let herself plop onto her bed. This was the highlight of the day in her opinion. "What did you expect Eremes?~" Getting the chance to talk to the man himself every single day.


/"You never slept early."/ Aletheia chuckled at his accusing tone, the same banter that they always shared. /"A few weeks in and you still refuse to get a normal sleeping schedule."/


"Hehe.. Well, old habits die hard." Her novels weren't gonna write themselves after all. "Speaking of which, why'd you call this late?" 


/"Well, the job went longer than expected."/ She heard him sigh as his tone took on a tired tone. /"Can't leave a job unfinished. What with your mom requesting it."/


Aletheia found herself nodding in shared understanding. The former repairman was now under Mother's employ, meaning that he had to do everything that she said down to a tee.


/Especially since he fucked up on his half of the deal~/


She winced at the thought. While the recording that Eremes used as a bargaining chip got deleted, he actually failed to mention his other fail-safe, which he apparently set up in case he got himself killed for her. What was he thinking back then?


/Well, it is Mother that we're talking about./


Fair play.


/"I honestly can't even believe it even now.."/ The man confessed through the line. /"That I'm still working under, clearly the most powerful woman in Midas."/


The fallout of his half baked fail safe grated on her mother to the core, what with her reputation as Midas's caring mother going down the drain. Thankfully, it was easily swept under the rug using a few favors from Arbiter.


/Favors that come with a price./


The price which came at Eremes's expense. The novelist could still recall her nervous breakdown the day it happened; she actually thought he's done for.


/Mother is all, if not honorable./


While they still met from time to time, usually whenever he drove her off to school, the two haven't really spent a lot of time with each other, usually due to college work on her end or the exorbitant number of odd jobs on his end. The last time they ever spent a significant amount of time hanging out was way back during the A3's ending ceremony. 


/Yearning for him now?~/


She was not. 


"Well you asked for it didn't you?" The laid back novelist replied as she put a pillow under her head. "Plus, you said you're willing to learn."


/"Doing.. unsavory jobs wasn't exactly what I had in mind 'Theia."/ His voice exasperated, a chuckling tone still present. /"But if it helps me get closer to you, I'll do whatever it takes."/


Hngggggg.. Her heart. With the strong conviction too?


/Still convinced you're not in love with him?~/


Maybe.... But she knew better than to think that he's doing it on purpose. Eremes was an earnest man, if not partially oblivious, he's still too responsible to take advantage of her. 


"Careful with the wording there casanova," The novelist teased, knowing full well in her heart that his words actually made her take emotional damage. "I might take that as a sign that you're in to me~"


/"Hah! As if that'll happen~"/ Eremes laughed as the faint sound of a speeding car revved through his background. /"You're so far out of my league, we're literally two whole social classes apart from each other!"/


/Ooof~/


Clutching her aching heart, Aletheia cursed under her breath at his friend's oblivious nature. Well, can't fault him for that.


/Yeah, you fell for him after all~/


Shut up.


/"You say something 'Theia?"/


"Oh, it's nothing." Fucking moron. Glancing over to her wall clock, the sleepy novelist noted the time, before turning back to her conversational partner. "Hey, I gonna have to sleep, I still have class tomorrow and it's already one in the morning."


/"Oh, well, good night 'Theia. I'll see you tomorrow."/


"Good night Eremes."


Tossing the phone over to the other side of the bed, Aletheia killed the lights before smothering her face underneath her blankets. Another day of fending off reporters and paparazzi, such was the life of someone with some social status in this city. 


/"At least your name wasn't smeared to the dirt by that Ossa chick~"/


Yeah, at least Eremes's reporter friend had the decency to leave her out of the recordings. 


The night went on as the tired novelist drifted off into another bout of dreamless sleep. It was comforting at least. The nightmares haven't completely stopped, but they came fewer and farther in between nowadays. She found herself smiling to herself, yet another debt she owed to that idiot.


/The same idiot that you came to love?~/


All right fine.. The same idiot that she fell in love with. 


⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛


Thus end this tale...

True Title: Tales from Midas: The Runaway

Struggling novelist Athena Morrison once thought life had nothing left to offer her. Living a reclusive lifestyle and trying to make ends meet while trying to make a name for herself as an author, she certainly had it hard enough. Coupled with extreme bouts of depression and constant threats with running from her dark past however, one can only go so far before something snaps. So in one stormy evening, plagued by the demons of her own making, she planned on ending it all.


Before she was stopped by some unsuspecting maintenance crew.


A fateful encounter, if she were to describe it. Change was coming to her life. Perhaps it was time to stop running, to try and take hold of her own destiny. 


A lot of things were happening in this city, money changing hands, deals being made; politics were being played and power constantly in flux. And while change is something to be feared, it was also something to be excited about. Athena only hoped that it was for the better.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

Bug me on Discord: https://discord.gg/NZA6Jun

Bug me on Twitter: @FriedMokou

He's handsome. And he's a teacher at Shrek Academy! He couldn't be any more perfect! 

"Shrek Academy? Amazing!" Yan Feng suddenly batted her eyelashes at Wu Zhangkong. "Years ago, I really wanted to be a student there, and I even took the exams! But as you can see, I didn't make it in. It's a pity I didn't, I might have been able to study under you." 

"No," Wu Zhangkong said. "When you were still in school, I was a student as well. You're not young enough to be my student."

"Jeez!" Yan Feng pouted. "Is that how you always talk to a girl? Don't you know how to make small talk?" 

Wu Zhangkong didn't utter another word. He simply ate in silence. 

This guy! Yan Feng pursed her lips and glared at him, but after a while, she couldn't bear the silence. "Since you're a teacher at Shrek Academy, you should be a battle armor master, right? Are you a one-word or two-word battle armor master?"

"Two-word," Wu Zhangkong answered. 

Yan Feng's eyes went wide. He's only thirty-three and he's a two-word battle armor master! He's incredible! No wonder I couldn't tell how strong he was. 

"Oh," she responded, trying to come off as nonchalant. "I just became a one-word battle armor master myself. For my first word, I chose 'Phoenix.' To tell you the truth, it isn't a great fit for me. My martial soul is the fire gourd, and battle armor is usually named after a soul master's a martial soul or spirit soul. But I couldn't have possibly used 'Gourd', so instead I used the meaning of my own name. What about you? What did you name your armor?" 

"Sky Ice." 

"Oh! That's so cool!" Yan Feng exclaimed. "Why did you pick that? Is it because you have an ice-attribute martial soul?" 

Wu Zhangkong finally looked up from his food and looked her straight in the eye. "'Sky' is the first part of my martial soul. 'Ice' comes from the meaning of my wife's name. Don't talk while eating. Just eat." 

His wife? Yan Feng was dumbstruck. He has a wife! Of course he has a wife! There's no way a man as great as him wouldn't! 

A feeling of loss hit her like a truck, and her appetite disappeared. 

The two ate in silence. Wu Zhangkong didn't eat much, and he ate as slowly as ever, his mind wandering off to another time. 

☀ 

"Wow! Zhangkong, those candied yellow vegetables were amazing! The eggs were so delicious too! I can't imagine how he cooked them so well. Just you wait. I'll go learn how to make them and then cook the for you too, okay?" 

"Hey, leave some tofu for me too! I heard tofu is good for the skin. My skin might be nicer than yours, but I still have to put in the effort!" 

"These fishy stir-fried pork strips are delicious! Do you think I should eat another half-bowl of rice? I won't get fat, right?" 

"You dummy! Look at you. You have some rice stuck to your face. I'm not gonna kiss you while you're like that. Ah! Don't rub it on me!"

☀ 

By the time Wu Zhangkong and Yan Feng finished eating and left the restaurant, the sun had reached its zenith.

Yan Feng flashed a smile at Wu Zhangkong. "Thank you for lunch." 

Wu Zhangkong shook his head. "I'm going then." 

"Can you give me your number? I'm gonna go back to the Spirit Pagoda now and ask them to revoke the investigation request I made. I'll call you once it's done."

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Zhangkong gave in and handed her his number. 

"Next time I'm in Shrek City, I'll go find you and we can have dinner, okay?" Yan Feng beamed. 

Wu Zhangkong eyed her coldly. "I'm going. Goodbye." Without another word, he turned and left. 

As she watched his departing figure, Yan Feng let out a gloomy sigh. "All the good men are always taken. Really! When am I going to find a good man of my own! Heaven Spirit City is too small for me. Maybe I should head to Shrek City. I am a one-word battle armor master now, after well. Yeah. I'll go ask the Spirit Pagoda to transfer me there." 

☀ 

After their defeat in Heaven Spirit City, Tang Wulin and his friends had no choice but to change their plans. They ended up taking a detour, promptly piling into their soul car and heading straight for the next city. 

Although they thought long and hard about it, they couldn't come up with a plan more efficient than raiding someone at the Spirit Pagoda to draw out the enforcers. They had no other option but to go with the old plan. Fortunately for them, things went quite well. They cleared the next few cities without issue. No one questioned their supposed identity as supervisors, and a couple days later, they were halfway done with their exam. 

"We're on day four now," Tang Wulin said as he studied their map. They were once again in their soul car, heading for the next city on their route. "We need to speed up a bit. We'll do two cities today and another two tomorrow. Then, the day after that, we'll arrive at Bright City. It has a lot of strong people, so we shouldn't have to raid the Spirit Pagoda there. It's the capital city of the Federation after all. Though we will need to be more careful once we arrive." 

At first they were anxious as they travelled from city to city, but their nerves had calmed down along the way. The challenges they had faced over the course of their travels were profound, and as they overcame them one by one, they grew more confident. The greatest challenge they had faced was Yan Feng, and from it, they came to understand the kind of might a battle armor master wielded. 

As students of Shrek Academy, it was easy for them to take down a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor when they ganged up on one. However, when it came to battle armor, they couldn't even penetrate its defenses! 

"Wulin, I know a place in Bright City where we can find some opponents," Ye Xinglan said abruptly.

"Huh? Where?" Tang Wulin's interest was piqued.

"Ten thousand years ago, we were rivals with an academy in Bright City, and even today, our rivalry continues. Their students are some of the best. They can't compare with Shrek, of course, but they can still be counted as one of the best academies on the continent. We should go pay them a visit." 

Gu Yue's eyes lit up with understanding. "You're referring to the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy? The one that has already been renowned as one of the great academies for ten thousand years?" 

"Precisely." Ye Xinglan's eyes glimmered with excitement. "I heard both academies still harbor grudges against each other. Imagine how awesome it would be if we beat them!"

Tang Wulin nodded. "That makes sense. I think it's a good idea. Let's do it." 

"Alright. It's settled then." Ye Xinglan clenched her fists. 

"Talk about that later," Xie Xie said, his voice trembling slightly. "First we need to deal with the problem in front of us."

Everyone looked out the window to see what was ahead of them. What they saw left them stunned.  

Twenty mechas lined the highway in the distance. Five were purple-grade and the rest were yellow. They had just arrived and formed a checkpoint. They wore the emblem of the Spirit Pagoda on their chest armor. 

Tang Wulin and his group had cleared five cities, and the Spirit Pagoda had finally come to judge them. 

"Wulin, what do we do?" Xie Xie asked as he slowed their car to a crawl.

Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes. Those familiar with him knew that whenever he made this face, something bad was about to happen. 

"Stop the car!" he shouted. Without even waiting for the car to stop, Tang Wulin punched the car door and sent it flying. Then he grabbed the roof tore it open. 

All six of them knew that they couldn't afford to be captured. Although they would only be fined and forced to apologize if they were caught, there was a possibility that they could be sent back to Shrek Academy! Not only would that be shameful, they would fail their exam as well. Never in all of Shrek Academy's history had a class president been expelled. 

Tang Wulin refused to be the first. He didn't want to drag his friends down with him either. 

Xie Xie slammed his foot on the brakes, causing the car to swerve to the side. All of them had sturdy bodies. Even Xu Lizhi, with the defensive Tang Sect secret arts he learned, was just as resilient as the others. They were all unfazed when the car crashed into the highway divider and inertia sent them flying out of the roof in every direction. 

Gu Yue grabbed onto Xu Xiaoyan the moment they landed. She promptly shouted, "Blizzard!" 

On Gu Yue's command, Xu Xiaoyan's third soul ring lit up as she used Blizzard. She had already summoned her martial soul before they had been thrown out of the car. Combined with Gu Yue's Elemental Tide, the blizzard rapidly grew until it swallowed the highway and the surrounding forest on either side. 

"Into the forest! Quickly!" Tang Wulin commanded his companions. 

Yet he, himself, stood still as he faced the approaching mechas. 

Following the advancement of soul technology, the humans of Douluo Continent conquered the ocean and discovered two new continents. After being hunted by spirit masters excessively, the soul beasts are nearly extinct. After countless years of lying dormant, the King of the Soul Beasts has awakened in the Great Star Dou Forest. It will lead its remaining clansmen in taking vengeance against humanity! 

Tang Wulin is determined to become a powerful Soul Master. However, when he awakened his martial soul, it was actually a…

Incomparable talent. The battle of the Dragon King. The Legend of our Dragon King hereby begins.

With Huang Jialong's decision having been made, Sheng Feilong and the others began to set their course of action in stone. They prepared for everything they could, talking and planning for the time they would start to work on their Two Word Battle Armours.

By the time they split up and Sheng Feilong was able to return to his room, it was already late into the night. With no more time, he opted to directly go to bed; He simply didn't dare to remain awake for too long, especially since they would enter another, more dangerous part of the Spirit Ascension Platform tomorrow.

The next few days went by fast. With Yuanen Yehui having gained more confidence in her own strength, their teams cooperation and combat standards increased explosively; With each passing day, each of them become more content and accustomed to their respective role.

The day after having talked about creating Two Word Battle Armour amongst themselves, Sheng Feilong informed Song Weihan and She Meixiao about their decision. With their plans coming together quite well, Song Weihan cut their training down by quite a notch, allowing them to use most of their time to further their work, other than going to the Spirit ascension Platform.

Huang Jialong asked for She Meixiao assistance with the most crucial part for his own Battle Armour – The Selection of the right Spirit Alloy to reforge his Battle Armour with, as well as choosing a Blacksmith who would provide this metal. He insisted on using his own merit points to pay for the metal, thus turning down She Meixiao's offer to have Old Tang create the metal.

After a while of discussions as well as asking a few blacksmiths for their opinions, Huang Jialong decided for one of the Saint Blacksmiths, who's prowess was only below Old Tang, though much more affordable. With She Meixiao backing Huang Jialong up, the blacksmith even gave him a great discount.

Huang Jialong spent quite a long time with the blacksmith, to get to know him better and to be able to wholly entrust his Battle Armour to the latter. With it being made from an inferior metal than the one they decided to use, the whole One Word Battle Armour had to be reforged to make it into a Two Word Battle Armour.

This process had to be done by a blacksmith, who would use the old Battle Armour as the base to create the new one. Not only did this require a great deal of skill; It also required a great amount of trust. A Battle Armour master's Battle Armour, even if just a one word variant, was considered their second life.

Letting someone repair the armour was one thing, but for the whole armour to be reforged; None dared to hand it to someone they don't wholeheartedly trust; It meant that Huang Jialong would expose of all his Battle Armour's secrets to the blacksmith, something that, if the two of them ever became enemies, would be Huang Jialong's demise.

For the next few weeks, as soon as their joint training in the Spirit Ascension Platform ended, Huang Jialong would be at the blacksmith's workshop, nowhere to be seen otherwise. Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui didn't question him, trusting his decision and waiting for him to tell them about the completed reforging.

Another few days later, Huang Jialong informed them of the successful reforging process, asking for Sheng Felong's help to recreate his Battle Armour and elevate it to a two word variant. Afterwards, Sheng Feilong began working on the Two Word Battle Armour according to Huang Jialong's blueprint, while the latter concentrated on the blueprint for Sheng Feilong's Two Word Battle Armour.

As the one who originally designed Sheng Feilong's Battle Armour was even more skilled then he was, he regularly went to ask the senior for advice. Eventually, he completed the design, much to the satisfaction of the senior Mecha Designer, after which he corrected a few details together with Sheng Feilong.

Over three months, halve the set time their were allowed to spent in the Spirit Ascension Platform, had passed by now and Sheng Feilong had managed to reach the first half of the goal Song Weihan set for him; His Ancient Hypnotic Toad Spirit Soul had reached a cultivation of 14.800-years-old.

The reason this took him so long was that the rate of improvement dropped significantly after the Ancient Hypnotic Toad reached 10.000 years of age; Absorbing the remnant energy of 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts only netted him an increase in the Spirit Souls cultivation of less that 20 percent of what it used to be, despite absorbing the same amount of energy.

He had asked Song Weihan about this, as Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui were also oblivious to the answer, but were struck with the same problem. The only answer they received was an incentive to hunt 10.000-years-old Soul Beast from a smiling Song Weihan.

Still, this proved to be less of a problem then expected. With all three of them having advanced all of their Soul Rings to the 10.000-years-old level, their Soul Skills evolved as well, to a level where their strength was incomparable to before. This was especially true for Sheng Feilong's illusion abilities as the Ancient Hypnotic Toad's strength mainly came from its age.

With the usage of the same strength of Spirit power, his illusions' strength increased by more than fivefold, enabling him to trap even 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts in his illusions without much trouble. Still, with the slowed down increase in strength, the time it took him to advance it to the level Song Weihan required was even longer than the time it took to advance it to the 10.000-years-old boundary, despite hunting 10.000-years-old Soul beasts most of the time.

Yuanen Yehui and Huang Jialong faced the same problem, though still managed to reach the first of two goals Song Weihan set for them by roughly the same time as Sheng Feilong. Still, this left them even more distressed. All of them possessed another Spirit Soul that was already at the 10.000-years-old boundary to begin with, yet they had to advance it by leaps and bounds with only half of the initial time remaining.

Thankfully, as Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong finished their Two Word Battle Armours in time, their team's strength experienced another huge jump, which caused them to be able to hunt even mid ranked 10.000-years-old Beasts with only a moderate amount of trouble.

There was only a single time where they completely failed a hunt, causing Huang Jialong to be killed inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, while Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui had to flee for their lives before bailing out in a last ditch effort.

That day, they had encountered one of the Guardians of the Spirit Ascension Platfform – an over 15.000-years-old Soul Beast recreated from the Soul Bone of a real Molten Earth Armadillo. They invaded its territory without noticing it and stepped into one of its traps, notifying the beast of their arrival.

Afterwards, they were ambushed from beneath the ground, causing great injuries to Huang Jialong before he finally fell after a few minutes of intense combat. Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui managed to flee out of its territory, but with the Soul Beastsof the nearby territories being much weaker, the Molten Earth Armadillo continued to pursue them without rest, forcing them to bail out.

This was the first time Sheng Feilong and the others become truly aware of the danger inside the simulated Great Star Dou Forest, leading to them being much more careful afterwards.

During the following, last three months, Sheng Feilong, Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui fully concentrated on their training inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, only cultivating in the evening after their usual training was over.

By the time the six months deadline was over, all of their strengths had increased by leaps and bounds while their cultivation level remained roughly the same; Sheng Feilong managed to break through to rank 62, taking a whole six months just to advance a single rank. However, his Spirit Souls had gone through a major evolution; The Ancient Hypnotic Toad had reached an age of 14.880 years, while the Purple Forest Witch exceeded Song Weihan's goal, becoming a staggering 29.000-years-old Spirit Soul.

Huang Jialong's Spirit Souls went through similar changes; His first Spirit Soul, the Ironhide Flood Dragon, reaching an age of 10.990 years, becoming a 10.000-years-old Spirit Soul as well, while his Coiled Blackblooded Snake Spirit Soul evolved into a 20.700-years-old Spirit Soul. His own cultivation level also only increased lightly, reaching rank 64 after their training.

Compared to them, Yuanen Yehui made the greatest improvements; After becoming a Battle Armour master, she trained her fighting techniques according to Song weihan's training regime, reaching a level of hand-to-hand combat similar to Sheng Feilong, while her cultivation increased from rank 52 to 55 – a total of three ranks.

Her Spirit Souls were the weakest to begin with, reaching a little over 2.000-years-old and 3.000-years-old, respectively. By now, both of those becoming 10.000-years-old Spirit Souls, the Diamond Baboon Spirit Soul even becoming 16.500-years-old.

All of them met – and partially exceeded – the goals Song Weihan had set for them. Moreover, with the addition to their new Battle Armours, familiarity to act like a team and individual fighting capabilities, Song Weihan and She Meixiao were more than pleased with them.

The six of them, including Sheng Lingtian, met in Song Weihan's office, exactly six months after their training first began. Sheng Feilong, Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui stood in front of the seated She Meixiao and Song Weihan, visibly relaxed and confident in their strength, while the two Titled Douluo's smiled at them. "Congratulations, you three. With this, your training has concluded."

Song Weihan chimed in after She Meixao congratulated them, his tone equally stern as it was proud. "The three of you have exceeded my expectations, all things concerned. When I created the training plans for you, I thought the Spirit Soul's ages were the maximum you would be able to achieve, yet in a short six months you became able to exceed this limit."

He paused a moment and looked at the three of them. "Two Soul Emperor ranked Soul Master with full sets of Two Word Battle Armour and a Soul King ranked Soul Master with a One Word Battle Armour; All of which possess full sets of black, 10.000-years-old Soul Rings. With this, you a ready to head for the real Great Star Dou Forest."

[DROPPED]
A Douluo Dalu Fanfiction in the timeline of DD3 (The Legend of the Dragon King).

Follow Sheng Feilong, a young boy from the Sheng Clan, on his way to become a powerful Soul Master.

Watch him grow up, train, make friends and enemies alike, in, arguably, one of the most interesting worlds of chinese webnovels.

Will the outcast of a small Clan be able to break through humanity's limit and ascend to become a god?

---
This is my first time trying to write something with more than like 1.000 words, so please bear with me!

Release schedule: 1 chapter/day


 
Episode 105 - Dark Speculation 'Secrets of Promissum'
Last chapter: A homeless-looking man tried to warn people about the forbidden room but was instead beaten in public.   Everyone seems to know who this man is. Commander Kal quickly arrested the man and he was brought into the Royal Palace. 
.
.
Day 3…
The moment Eugene woke up, she sighed yet again…
'Two days left' As if she was stuck in a wheel of deja vu cycle, her back wanted nothing but to stay plastered to her bed.  It has been 3 days since she stepped foot into Zene yet it felt as if she has been living here for over 3 months. For the first time in a long time, everything felt heavy and chaotic.
Turning her face away from the light shining through thin sets of curtains, her eyes laid upon a peaceful face of a sleeping Euria. For the past 2 days, Euria went from a cheerful little child to a child nervous at everything. Sure, she was still smiling, but sometimes when an unexpected situation occurs, she was first to get anxious. Any negative deemed event will leave Euria feeling nervous and scared which was not exactly in her 'naive- I-don't-see-anything' character.
Eugene watched attentively as Euria's blanket slowly rose up and down. She watched her for a while before rolling out of bed to get ready for the day.
-
"I see. So, it's been found." Serious but quiet mutterings belonging to Louis could be heard through the door to the dining room.
Eugene paused for a moment before knocking on the big door. It was then that the discussions inside the dining room paused and permitted the person who knocked on the door to enter.
Eugene entered the silent dining room and carefully greeted, "Good morning." She mumbled, greeting Duke Rodriguez, Louis, and Ron before walking directly to an empty seat.
Her eyes shifted briefly to Duke Marleigh who went missing after yesterday's archery assessment before averting her eyes. Though it has only been half a day and one full night, to Eugene, it felt as if she was meeting Duke Marleigh after a long time.
"Good morning." She nodded her head to Duke Marleigh and climbed up her seat.
Duke Marleigh nodded, "Good morning."
Eugene glimpsed at Duke Rodriguez who looked at Duke Marleigh in warry and poured herself a cup of warm water.
'What is it? Why does everyone look so serious?' Just as Eugene was about to take her first sip of warm water, Duke Marleigh spoke.
"We found it." His voice was low and serious as he stared at Eugene.
'Found it?' Eugene's eyes met with Duke Marleigh's.
Seeing her puzzled reaction, Duke Marleigh chuckled. "You hid that quite deep. Truthfully, we almost couldn't find it."
Eugene blinked before moving her eyes to her cup, "...oh." she muttered, her lips forming a thin line.
"Though it has yet to be examined by an expert, you are most likely right. It's a real hand. Judging from the hand's size, it should belong to a female." He continued.
Eugene nodded lightly, "I see." she whispered emotionlessly.
The reason why she went out of character yesterday was that she had left her guard down. Her mindset was filled with money and treasures that coming across a hand was too shocking! However, because it's a new day, her emotions are as stable as they can be. Even if she was to encounter a decapitated hand she doubts she would blink twice.
But, that didn't mean she wanted for the hands to be real. She had hoped to be wrong...
Duke Marleigh continued, "You made the right decision to stay quiet and go straight to Louis. " He commended Eugene with a complicated expression.
Duke Rodriguez sighed, "Zene isn't as peaceful as everyone thought it would be. Not only are Zene's internal relations a mess, but Zene's citizens also aren't as magnanimous and harmonious as everyone thought they'd be. How bad must it have been before if citizens say that today's Zene is peaceful? Why are the reports on Zene different from the actual situation?" He lamented whilst frowning.
Not only was Xenperia fooled into believing that Zene was doing well and was one of the most peaceful countries, it was most likely that every country in the United West Liasel was also fooled to believe these so-called 'facts'. But how?
To have successfully hidden away these matters from United West Liasel's higher up and envoys from many powerful countries was absurdly impossible and odd. Not only that, the borders between every country in United West Liasel are opened to enter and exit. Everyone in United West Liasel was free to move around as they pleased, yet, why was it that no one realized Zene's actual situation?
Eugene sipped on her warm water and thought quietly, 'The situation yesterday with the Nameless Musician is also suspicious. Yes, he acted insanely, however his eyes showed sanity. But after he was dragged outside, his eyes somewhat changed…' the more she thought, the more her smooth forehead started forming creases.
Duke Marleigh noticed this and asked, "What's wrong?" His voice immediately brought everyone's attention to a frowning Eugene.
"Yesterday.." she trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"Yesterday?" Duke Rodriguez repeated, "Was there anything else?" his voice sounded jumpy, worried that there was something he had missed.
Eugene pursed her lips, "The Nameless Musician." she dragged again as she was still unsure.
Louis frowned, "What's with him?"
Eugene tilted her head. "Well..."
Seeing her frowning and hesitating unlike her usual character reminded Ron of Eugene's unusual behavior yesterday. He couldn't help but snort and interrupt Eugene's train of thoughts, "You know, I didn't realize this until yesterday, but now I am truly convinced." he cut in.
Eugene glanced at a serious Ron.
"Eugeneia. When you are scared, you become cute and innocent." he nodded to himself as his voice sounded full of seriousness and conviction.
"....." Eugene's lips twitched.
"....." Duke Rodriguez who was thinking of all the odd situations he encountered these past three days almost slipped off from his chair. '.... Now? Must you say this now?' He stared flabbergasted at Ron.
Duke Marleigh and Louis too, blanked out.
The room turned cold as the gale-force wind hit their frozen bodies.
Nevertheless, Ron continued, "You got scared and ran to your brother didn't you? Your usual straight face and nonchalant behavior are to cover up your true face right? Right? I'm right, right?! You love your brother, right?!" the more he spoke, the more excited he got.
Bombarded with his so-called 'facts', Eugene became speechless and unable to mutter a single word back.
It was Louis who sighed, "Ron…" he shook his head. 'You're digging your grave…' he thought quietly.
Ron eyed Louis and smirked, "Why? Am I not right? Didn't you say that every night Eugene will without a fail, check under the bed and closets to chase away supernatural beings?" his eyes looked at Louis up and down as if keeping him in check.
"....." Louis stared blankly. 'You forgot to add the word 'being forced'. Being forced by Euria!' he thought quietly.
Eugene's lips twitched, her eyes couldn't help but narrow. 'Childish. Don't play into it, me.' she sighed, shook her head, and turned to Duke Rodriguez.
"Will we still train today?" she asked.
"About that…" Duke Rodriguez looks at Duke Marleigh.
Duke Marleigh nodded, "Yes. Although Zene is suspicious, it's impossible for Zene to touch us. If they do… it'll put them at a high risk." he affirmed.
Eugene couldn't help but frown as she listened to Duke Marleigh speaking with seriousness. She understood why Duke Marleigh said that 'It'll put them at a high risk.', but him adding the word impossible to the sentence sounded wrong and suspicious. Why couldn't they touch them? If they wanted to, they could!
Eugene hesitated but asked anyway, "Why is it impossible?" No matter how much she thought about it, using the word impossible in this context was a bit ambiguous.
Duke Marleigh turned to Eugene and asked, "Have you heard of the book 'Promissum?"
Eugene frowned again, 'Promissum?... Promise? Book of promise?' The word somewhat rang in her ears as if she has heard of it before. No. More than hearing of it before, as if she had seen the word physically? A word that sounded close to her and very familiar to her.
Eugene pressed her thumb into her index finger as she thought quietly. 'Book.' She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. 'Book.' she repeated.
"Eugeneia?"
A voice snapped Eugene out of her thoughts. She paused before shaking her head, "I don't know." she replied hesitantly.
Louis raised a brow, "Didn't you buy the book?" he asked.
"Book?" Eugene turned towards Louis.
"'The binding promise of United West Liasel', you bought that book." he reminded Eugene.
Eugene's eyes slightly widened, 'Ah. The binding promise of United West Liasel? Isn't that what I bought the last time I went to the capital?' she nodded.
Eugene turned to Duke Marleigh and said, "I didn't have time to read it." Suddenly, she frowned, 'Wait. Somethings wrong.' before Eugene could pinpoint what felt wrong Duke Rodriguez interrupted.
"You can already read those books?" he asked as he stared at Eugene in awe.
"....." Eugene blinked but nodded.
Ron scratched his head and sigh, "Even I have a hard time reading those books…"
Duke Marleigh shook his head, "No matter." turning to Eugene, he asked, "Do you know what promissum means?"
Eugene nodded. 'Promise.'
Duke Marleigh nodded, "It's a long story but, Promissum is a book that was discovered in World War II."
Eugene blinked and carefully listened.
"Because of the aftermath of World war I, countries began to attack West Liasel. Back then United West Liasel wasn't united. We were one continent, but we didn't work together. Hence the name was without the word 'United'." He explained.
The 1st World War devastated many nations and destroyed the countries that lost the war. Because of this, people who were no longer able to live in their scurried to West Liasel, the continent that won the war. Because of the pouring amount of people coming into the country, West Liasel soon became depleted of money and food. Before World War I, West Liasel would have mini spats with one another, however after settling down from World War I, nations in West Liasels began seriously fighting one another for resources to support their nation.
The devastated countries who lost World War I noticed the internal fight in West Liasel, and united. Together they attacked West Liasel who didn't think much of them. Yet, what they thought were futile retorts became bigger and bigger until it led to World War II. It was West Liasel against 4 continents that were located far away from the West. The 4 continents risked their lives for one another and attacked as if they were one united force.
When West Leisel was at its tipping point of losing everything, nations in West Liasel united and fought back the 4 continents with all they had. West Liasel's few hundred years of discord suddenly disappeared and their strong teamwork suddenly appeared to fight against the world. Through many deaths and sacrifices, West Liasel won. Through World War II, West Liasel united together from fear and defeated the world.
"..." Eugene listened seriously to Duke Marleigh. She couldn't help but wonder why he was giving her history lesson out of nowhere when he suddenly questioned her.
"Nations from all over the world lost World War I. Yet, instead of fighting and stealing resources from one another, why do you think they chose to unite and attack West Liasel? More importantly, how were they able to trust each other to the point where they could show their backs to their allies without worrying that their allies won't betray them? After all, their allies are from other nations and other continents. How were they so confident?" he asked.
Eugene carefully listened to Duke Mareligh and frowned when she realized something was amiss. 'That's true. How could they trust each other to that point? It should be hard to even trust your comrade from your nation, but they trusted their allies from another nation without a worry?' she thought deeply as her frown deepened.
Eugene hesitated, "Maybe... they held something against each other?" she guessed.
"There must be something holding them together, making them unable to betray each other... " She mumbled as she rubbed her thumb and index finger together.
Duke Marleigh breathed in loudly and nodded. "There was indeed something that held them together," he confirmed Eugene's words.
Eugene mumbled, "Held together… a true cooperation."
"Hm." Duke Marleigh nodded.
Eugene bit her inner lips and thought quietly to herself.
'What can hold them together to unite as one and travel to another continent? Their resources should be depleted in World War I. In wars, winners take all. And why join together after World War I and not during?'
She tilted her head, 'They'd have a better chance at winning during World War I when their resources were still high than World War II when they had almost nothing.' she sighed as she hit the end of her intelligent wall. A wall that she can't overcome with basic knowledge.
Jokingly, Eugene shrugged, "God must've been helping them." she said in an 'I-give-up' kind of way.
Duke Rodriguez laughed hearing Eugene joke for the first time, "That's probably what our ancestors thought."
Louis sipped on his tea, "Tables were flipped when it should have been impossible for the table to be flipped." he said quietly.
"Yes," Duke Marleigh chuckled. " Like you, people thought god was helping them." he shrugged his shoulders and continued.
"In the beginning and middle of World War II,  other continents, as well as West Liasel wondered how the 4 continents were able to play ally so well. They wondered how they were able to fight alongside each other well enough to almost destroy West Liasel. Then, just before West Liasel was about to lose everything, they discovered the power behind the 4 continents.
That which made West Liasel and West Liasel allies tremble with fear was a book called Promissum. An essential element that bound the 4 continents to one another, temporarily united, unable to betray one another until West Liasel was destroyed.
The reason why they fought well with each other, why they fully trusted one another. It was because they were temporarily bound and unable to break free until West Liasel was destroyed. Therefore, their united front was carried out without any setbacks."
".... What?" Eugene frowned as she stared at Duke Marleigh's serious eyes. 'A book?'
Duke Marleigh nodded, "The 4 continents were bound together. They weren't allied because they threatened each other. They were simply just bound together as one." He broke the truth.
Eugene couldn't help but raise her voice slightly, "How's that possible?!"
Duke Rodriguez sighed, "It just happened out of nowhere, after World War I."
Eugene frowned, 'But? Wouldn't that be magic or some sort? What sort of otherworldly thing is that?!' she bit her inner lips hard.
Just as her brain was hit with this surprise, she suddenly realized something, "Was this how West Liasel united? Because of this book?"

On her last breath, she thought, "it wouldn't matter if I died." But when her eyes opened again, a baby clinged onto her out of nowhere. They said it was her twin sister!?-Cross that- She became a baby? -Cross that- A whole bunch of clingy family members popped out of nowhere! After her brain started functioning as- per-normal she realised….

‘My career is useless in this world.’
‘What nation’s most beloved actress?’

USELESS USELESS USELESSSS!
She’ll be killed if she doesn’t fight!

But as the years went by…

‘CAPTAIN! Your younger sister got caught in a minefield!’
‘WHATTTTTTTT!!!!!!’

‘COLONEL! Your brother’s hair is caught on fire!!’
‘WATER! WATER! GET WATER!’

But why…
Can they not leave her alone!?!
_________
Disclaimer: This novel starts with the MC as a baby. A fluffy start you may say. Age progresses every book!
________
A heart warming yet bloody story about an alexithymia actress (A person incapable of feeling emotions) reincarnating into another world to restart her life all over again. Unbeknownst to her, there was something else seriously wrong with her body plus this world wasn't peaceful like her former world! What can, she, an actress, do but grit her teeth to become stronger! She can't just die again!

Calgary march 1st in a construction trailer…
 
"Hey Seb how's it going?" the usual cheery greeting welcomed him.  Sebastion's apprentice was a young guy just out of high school who as far as he could tell was super religious, while normally this would bother Seb quite a bit, in this instance he didn't mind as he seemed to be a stand up kid who wasn't pushy with his faith and just wanted to do his own thing, well it was kinda annoying that he couldn't convince him to come drinking with him that is. His name was Josiah Feller and Seb actually liked this apprentice enough to not be a dick to him most of the time. The kid was honest, if not a little naive, but honest none the less, and he was just nice to be around as well as to poke a little fun at now and then.
 
"hung over Josie," Seb sighed as he looked down at his form and started to fill it out, he could feel the familiar stare and could hear Josiah sigh like he usually did, "you really should cut down on that man, that stuff can't be freaking good for you." Josiah made his usual complaint. Seb on the other hand couldn't help but grin slightly as Josiah came as close as he ever did to swearing, no matter how many times Seb tried to tell him that no matter what word you sub out for a curse word it still ends up being a word of curse he just couldn't bring himself to actually say the word "f*ck". Seb found it cute and liked to razz him about it, but never pushed it too far as he knew it was his own thing and that in itself was respectable, Seb on the other hand was a very vulgar person and enjoyed other people's discomfort at the fact he didn't care for social verbal norms.
 
To be fair there were a lot of things about Seb that went against social norms, he was covered in tattoos from his knuckles being covered in the words, "bad wolf" and "bombeezy", a portrait of his mother in day of the dead makeup on his forearm, both of his ribs done up with a coat of arms and a conan poem respectively, a Deadpool tattoo on his upper arm that he was very fond of, a few macabre tattoos making fun of the fact he's missing his left leg, and an assortment of small random tattoos all over for flavor including a tattoo his late sister came up with as a joke on his forearm. Tattoos aren't that big of a thing nowadays, but specifically getting tattoos on your hands is usually the line too far for most respectable vocations, and he jumped across it as soon as he could. Aside from tattoos he also had face piercings known as snake bites, 2 lower lip piercings that were small black spikes, both ears pierced, and an eyebrow piercing. And to top everything off he also had a shaved head, not for any nefarious reason or to be edgy, but just because he started to bald a bit and decided he didn't want to deal with that shit anymore, thankfully it actually looked good on him and he didn't have a weird shaped head either. 
 
Looking up and at Josiah Seb looked him in the eyes and began with, "Josie we've been over this I-", Josiah cut him off, "yes, yes you have things inside you that you want to kill and to do it you need poison, seriously couldn't you get another reason?". Putting his pen down Seb thought for a moment before stating, "well I'm also a depressed wreck who half hates life, has trouble sleeping, I'm also a person who actively avoids relationships, and sees life as a joke?" so stating he grinned at the young kid in front of him. 
 
"Ya ok let's keep with the stupid poison thing, its less depressing holy freak. Seriously you should come with me to church one of these days." Josiah said leaning back into his seat while folding his arms and scrunching up his face.
 
"Hard pass, now sign this sh!t so we can get going. Come on Bob lets get going while Josie lags behind." Seb said as he stood up throwing a wink at his apprentice and waving towards his metallic friend.
 
Another day in a weird world just like any other he thought as he stopped in front of the door to look in the little pocket sized mirror hung on it to peer at himself. Besides being bald Seb had what could be called resting @sshole face that made him look just less than approachable, his eyebrows bent inward naturally making him look like he's scowling almost all the time, especially if he's thinking, he had a pronounced jaw and chin, a nose a little bigger than average, deep green perpetually bloodshot eyes, a black goatee on his chin he had kept ever since high school, and a very slightly tan complexion. Admiring himself in the reflective surface, he came to the conclusion he definitely needed a shave when he got home later today, running the back of his fingers across the stubble on his cheeks.
 
Well that money wasn't going to make itself he thought as he swung the door open and resolved himself to another exhausted start to the day.

From the deep dark void comes a threat that doesn't want to destroy or conquer, but to bring you into their empire and protect you, the only catch is that you have to join their great show that entertains and streams content out to their whole empire. This show isn't like a regular game show, but filled with brain eating parasites, alien beasts, cannibals, bandits and only 1 rule, keep it entertaining. These aliens have taken over certain cities around the globe and turned them into gaming areas where they give out objective like quests with the promise of rewards including but not limiting alien tech, human augmentation, worldly delights and anything else you can ask for. Follow Sebastion Denning, a broken human being, both mentally and physically, as he tries to blunder through every new horror and disaster that comes his way trying to erode him piece by piece. He has to make his way through with all of the random skills he's picked up through his life along with a massive dose of luck, both good and bad in spades.

this is my first time writing so its rough and probably filled with writing errors, but I wanted to give this a shot so if you don't mind don't ripp me too bad for butchering the English language. thanks and I hope you enjoy it.

Quinn sighed and dropped her arm, "Gwen you know better."
    "Yeah," Gwen replied, "but you always overreact, even with all your…" Gwen struggled to find the word, "...ah, senses," Gwen frowned not liking the word she used, "you didn't know it was me?"
    Quinn's expression did not change. He sat in the empty chair next to the woman. Their relationship was, well, what was it? Both had been married before however, their spouses died for very different reasons. Quinn's died from external circumstances. Gwen had outrightly poisoned hers. It had been an arranged marriage by her father, Arophon, King of Tirvinyiir to a very ugly king of Milvorth. That action had left Arophon with no choice but to banish his daughter from the palace. Gwen was gone before the sentence could even be passed. 
Their jobs caused them to travel but that didn't matter. Someone had asked them both if they loved each other. They both were confused by the question. They did love one another, or love? Well, that's a weird word. Quinn loved his close friends and that included Gwen, but that also included Winick and Roan. So from one sense of the word yes, Quinn did love her.
Had they ever used that overused word? Love. Love is like a four-letter word nobody wants to use it but when you do you can't stop using it. So it's best to not use it at all, right? Well at least in most cases. Or most cases? Maybe just in some cases. Either way, both were disgusted by the word. Why place limits on your life when you had none to begin with?
Quinn had felt love for his first wife, dead, ambush. And his second wife, dead, disease. He still felt love, for his horse and his dog. But love for a person only insofar as one loves his close friends. His job was intense, a high rate of death, gone for long periods, and he generally distrusted and disliked other people. There were exceptions to people he liked. Those being: Gwen, Winick, Roan, and a few others but only a few. 
    "How long has it been?" Gwen asked, and lowered her hood. Her red hair fell past her shoulders and almost touched the tabletop. A round ear broke through the red ocean of hair- wait- a round ear?
    Quinn's frowns was barely noticeable as he reached for her hair and pulled it away from her ear, "what happened?" He asked, his voice maintaining its low unchanging tone.
Gwen was an elf, elves had pointed ears. Gwen did not. She had pointed ears the last time he saw her. Now she did not.
"It's fine." Gwen stared at the tabletop.
 Quinn traced the outline of a scar on her ear, "who did this?" His voice deepened and the room seemed to darken, "I will kill every last one."
"Shhh," Gwen took his hand, she could not remember the last time his voice had changed other than to yell over the sounds of battle, "The man is dead and so are the men he was with. I found some new friends. I partnered with a man for a job, it was stupid. I was- it was a stupid decision. Anyways it ended with me getting captured and worse things happened to the woman I was with."
Quinn nodded slightly, he understood. Nimh was a cruel place.
"Thankfully he only took the tips of my ears off before my partners freed me."
"I will have to meet these partners."
"I'm sure you will cross paths with them at some point, besides the ear is not as bad as my other scar." Gwen laughed half heartedly.
"That's for sure." Quinn replied.
Gwen remembered that scar, it would still give her phantom pains. Maybe they were real pains, they felt real. She had been ordered to stay put, but Quinn was ambushed so she somewhat blamed him for the situation although he would never admit any of it was his fault. It was a narrow passageway between two rock faces, men seemed to crawl out of the rocks as they attacked. Quinn cast a few signs but soon became overwhelmed. He had his own scars from that day.
In truth, she saved Quinn's life that day. Only soon after he saved hers. The scar came from only wearing a light amount of armor and mostly made from leather. Gwen had just killed one of the mercenaries, her weapon became jammed in armor that it had pierced. That moment of delay where she tried to free it gave another enough time to cut her. The scar ran from halfway down her neck to her left collarbone down along the outside of the chest just before the armpit and across all her ribs, ending halfway down the outside of her left thigh. 
She had been split open. She did not remember it but Quinn said her scream was what helped him get the upper hand both in stunning the mercenaries for a few seconds and fueling his rage. She had a few scars but none as ghastly as that one. Quinn had her beat on the scars though. She had seen his scars that covered his entire body like tattoos. But that is what accompanied hundreds of years of battle. 
Gwen looked back to Quinn and studied his face, no there were no new scars there. Quinn's face had not suffered like the rest of his body had. It couldn't have, you could only suffer so many head wounds until you received one that was fatal.  The first head wound he had received was from a bandit gang that had attempted to rob him on the road. A sword struck Quinn in the back of the head, the scar ran from the back of his head down to the middle of his back. However most of the time it was covered by both his armor and his hair. Another scar received from a wyvern shot jaggedly up just in front of his right ear then halfway down that side of his neck. The final scar on his face was given to him by a spriggian that had surprised him in the woods. The foul beast had managed to get two claws at the base of Quinn's right jaw and then pulled them through his flesh until just before his mouth where Quinn had managed to turn away. Spriggians claws were sharp but small thus the wounds although visible were clean and straight, hardly as offensive as the others.
Gwen only had a few others one gash across her stomach from a spear. A sword struck through her left thigh across from where the other one ended that one healed well.
"So," Gwen picked up the conversation where they had left it before it trailed off, "how long has it been?"
    "A while," Quinn said staring into her dark green eyes.
    "Yeah. Two years about?
    "Ah yeah, around a year and a half."
    Gwen's smile was barely detectable. Quinn probably knew to the exact day how long it had been.
    "How was the hunt?"
    "Fine, I tracked the werewolf to its lair and killed it. It got a claw right above my belt and cut me pretty good."
    "Another scar added to the collection." Gwen grinned, "You heal it properly?"
    Quinn scoffed, "I'm not an amateur Gwen. I know how to heal wounds probably better than you. I mean I healed that mammoth of a wound on you right?"
    "Yes but the scar is still as ugly as ever."
    "I'm not a healer I know combat medicine. It leaves scars and heals crudely but it keeps them alive. Besides that scar has got to be a conversation starter especially at a ball or banquet or something where you're wearing a dress.
    "Ha! Yeah," Gwen shook her head, "I've got so sick of people asking about it that I just make a story up now. Sometimes its a bear or a dragon or something of the like. Not a lowly mercenary.
    "Okay well those were not just any mercenaries, they are or were the Highland light infantry division. The Highland mercenaries charge top coin. Someone with a lot of money paid them and I am still trying to find out who." 
Quinn frowned, he was frustrated that he didn't know who had wanted him dead. Many people did but they were all petty, whoever had enough money to hire Highlanders was someone of great influence.
    "You and me both," Gwen said also unhappy that she did not know.
    They sat there for only a few more moments before the horrible noise of the party caused them to seek solitude.

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