《The Faraway Land》


 1 - Starship Defiant (v3)

    <h1>1 - Starship Defiant</h1>


    ¡°Shields down at 25%, captain.¡± The woman at tactical was looking at the status screen, almost in an attempt to reveal that what she was seeing right now was not how things really were. Her dark eyes darted around the holographic display in search for anything that could be used to improve the current situation. She let out a sigh, allowing her mind, only for a brief moment to wander around the space of the bridge. Several men were down, where a conduit had exploded right above their stations. The main screen was invaded with static interference, but even behind the jumbled mess of the error messages, even behind the heavy anti radiation shielding, she could see it. The surface of a star, no more than a few hundred kilometers from their current position.


    ¡°I know, I know. Serge, prepare to jump. Tac, divert power from shields to engines on my mark. Computer, disable safety regulations!¡± The captain¡¯s name was Fenrir. He looked just as exhausted, if not more, as his crew on deck. It was mere seconds ago that they were still in faster than light travel, and everything was fine. They were having a nice chat, shit talking as usual. They were supposed to investigate an interesting phenomenon that the astronomers had detected. Just a boring survey mission. Only the captain and a few others were really interested in it. They were a military vessel, not a scientific one. But he had wanted to go and check, and since they were currently idle and quite bored, everyone accepted the mission without complaint. Then it all turned to shit.


    ¡°...aaaand mark! Go, go, go full speed!¡± He gave the final order, and his last ditch plan was set in motion. The shields dropped as they tried the last, desperate attempt to free themselves from whatever alien force was keeping their ship stationary around the red supergiant. Immediately the deck was invaded by a blinding white light. It only lasted a fraction of a second before the secondary shields went online and filtered out the majority of the light, but even that was enough to raise the temperature by several degrees. From the viewscreen, the only thing they could see now was a red ball of superheated plasma. It appeared red, and the star was called a red supergiant, but the only reason it was that color as seen from inside was because of the emergency shields. All windows on the ship came equipped with independent shields, to make sure that the crew was not exposed to deadly space radiation in case of shield failure. And this was one such case.


    ¡°I need more power, sir.¡± Serge complained, while fiddling with his console in order to get the ship to obey him. The entire outer hull was beginning to glow a faint orange, then a sickly yellow.


    ¡°Tac?¡±


    ¡°Shields are down, sir. I¡¯m giving you all I¡¯ve got.¡± She said, now visibly in a panic. She too was trying to get the ship to do something that was utterly impossible. And yet, somehow some energy found its way where it was supposed to go.


    ¡°There, I¡¯ve got a 5 second boost, don¡¯t waste it!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I needed, darling!¡± Replied the pilot. He licked his lips while grinning wickedly as he finalised the jumping sequence.


    ¡°FTL jump in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­¡± The computer¡¯s robotic voice announced. ¡°Jumping.¡± The space right in front of the Defiant warped infinitely around itself, drawing a multicolored spiral with the light of the star. After less than a millisecond, a pitch black void appeared right at its center, expanding rapidly until it engulfed the whole spaceship. That was a void bubble, or warp bubble as the scientists called it. It was the infinitely warped space that surrounded a starship going faster than light. It was the one technology that had revolutionised the whole Enlightened Technocracy after the third world war, and allowed them to reach for the stars. Except this time it had brought them right into a star, so dangerously close to it that even the cutting edge military shields couldn¡¯t do much against it.


    ¡°Something is not right¡­¡± Said the navigator, cold sweat building up on his forehead.


    ¡°What is it, Sarge?¡± Asked the captain. Three windows floated before his face, full of data and sensor readings from all across the ship.


    ¡°Our energy¡¯s depleting, fast. Something is pulling us back! At this rate the spacetime compression will fail in less than a minute!¡± Replied tactical, following the pilot¡¯s previous warning. Her dark face had become so pale she was white as a sheet. By disabling the safety regulations, they had effectively jumped from bad to worse. And there was no turning back now. The computer announced they now had less than 30 seconds left.


    ¡°Dammit, get me engineering.¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡± From the comms, came a woman¡¯s voice, directly from the very heart of the ship.


    ¡°Situation report? Why can¡¯t we take off?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bad, sir. We have a radiation leak. It¡¯s¡­ the engine is falling apart.¡±


    ¡°How did this even happen??¡± Visibly in distress, he still tried to maintain himself as calm as possible. Remember the training, remember the training. Not only was something preventing them from leaving, but even the engine was giving up on them. A million possible courses of actions came and went inside his head. But before one of them could even be finalized, he had already found a flaw in it and had discarded it.


    ¡°Sir, we need to¡­ evac¡­ bzzzzzzzzt¡± The call had been cut short. Suddenly, every single electronic device on board the ship became scrap metal, at least for now. And immediately afterwards, every single person collapsed instantly, shutting down just like the onboard electronics. Only the captain was still conscious. Standing up, alone, in the middle of the bridge he watched his ship and his crew drift among the currents of hyperspace. The warp bubble was on the verge of collapse. Suddenly a flash of blue Cherenkov light engulfed the bridge, blinding him momentarily. Next thing he knew¡­ is this¡­ a planet? He was, together with his spaceship, in free fall in the atmosphere of a planet. The ship was still out of commission, and the crew was out cold as well. Shit, shit, shit¡­ what do I do¡­ what do I do¡­


    Directive One: Protect the Technocracy at all costs


    He began reciting the directives of his navy. It was an action that always managed to calm and reassure him, even in the most dire of moments. He kept his eyes closed, freed his mind, and slowly talked.


    Directive Two: Value all life equally. Sentient life is to be protected, unless it shows clear signs of hostility.


    Directive Three¡­


    He opened his eyes once again. The ground was now clearly visible in the distance. He estimated no more than five seconds before impact. There was something that he wanted to do, but it would mean going against the very meaning of being a captain. It would mean to sell his soul. But! It was in his own self interest, out of preservation, one selfish action specifically meant to preserve his own life above all else. He decided to act. He took out a small sphere he was wearing as a pendant, plucked it from its chain and pressed it with his fingers. Forgive me, my friends¡­ And thus, he activated a personal stasis field.


    He opened his eyes and saw the rays of the sun making their way through the wreckage into what little was left of the once glorious bridge of the Defiant. He looked around, almost hoping to see a welcoming committee of some sort. He had hoped some of his crew had survived and were now there, waiting for him to come out of his box he had frozen in time. But nobody was there. Everyone was, in fact, still in the same position he last saw them when they collapsed, obviously taking into account the fact that the force of the impact had moved a few bodies. The realisation had not hit him yet, and he was still merrily contemplating the scene, as if it was all a dream. He had been able to conclude that the bodies had indeed moved around quite a bit following the crash, but that the ship had somehow managed to avoid crashing upside down. In a sense, it had been a rather fortunate crash. He walked around the 45 degrees sloped bridge, towards the tactical console. There laid the corpse of his first officer. She was a big woman, black in origin but born in space like everyone else. He liked the determined character of her. As he looked at her face, though, he saw what she had felt, right before dying. Her face had been frozen still, just like everyone else¡¯s. It was true despair. He smiled gently at her, rose to his feet and clapped his hands.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Ok guys, the joke is no longer fun. Come on, get up. It¡¯s an order.¡± he said cheerfully. But his command was met with absolute silence. Only the sound of the broken engines, and the fire that was ravaging somewhere in the lower floors. ¡°Guys?¡± He knelt before the first officer. ¡°Tactical! Get the fuck up!¡± He shook her to wake her up from her deep sleep.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± He suddenly retracted, feeling her cold skin. He looked at his hands, disgust painted all over his face. He tried to clean them using his shirt, but the feeling just didn¡¯t leave him. ¡°Shit.¡± He kept repeating as he ran towards the other people lying on the floor. Viktor, the man at the comms, was still strapped to his chair. He looked like he had taken a nap on the job. As he approached him, the captain noticed the weird angle of his neck. It had snapped in three places and described the shape of an ¡®S¡¯. ¡°No¡­ not you too¡­¡± He gently picked him up and softly put him on the floor. He sat on his former chair and tried to wake the console up. ¡°Hello? Anyone copy?¡± Utter silence. All the systems were dead, just like his crew here.


    He fled the bridge. He ran along the oddly sloped corridor, dodging piles of metal scrap and immobile bodies. They looked like broken dolls, discarded and abandoned by a child that had outgrown them. ¡°If this is some kind of practical joke¡­¡± he shouted at the top of his lungs. He stumbled and fell. He could feel the sound of bone cracking coming from his foot, but he felt no pain. He resumed his desperate run across the length of the ship, without even noticing he was limping. He finally arrived at the canteen. There was a sickening smell of blood and vomit mixed together. Broken bodies littered the floor, floating in pools of dark red blood. ¡°No, no¡­¡± he was limping badly, and a sharp pang of pain came from his leg. He tried to walk around the corpses that laid there, but slipped and fell again. He found himself hugging one of the bodies. It was a charred, unrecognisable body at the side of the corridor. The fire had completely consumed it to the bone. The air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh. He covered his mouth and stumbled back to his feet, trying to mitigate the smell with his clothes as he walked in the middle of that sea of death. He wanted to throw up. He bit his tongue in an attempt to focus. But he had bitten too hard, and blood came out of the wound like a river after a broken dam. It drenched his mouth. Its iron taste was nauseating. He stumbled again as his vision grew blurry, but he managed to get a hold on a woman that was standing beside a wall. Except it was no longer a woman. It was a body that had melted with the wall because of the heat. He could see her skin had molten down and fused with the metal wall in a shapeless mass. It looked like a wax statue left in the sun. He felt his consciousness fade.


    He rushed outside, panting. His legs were weak, and he found himself on the ground, gasping for air. ¡°Shit! What the fuck has happened? How could it happen? I don¡¯t believe it¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± He yelled and cried, and pounded his fists into the ground, which was littered with metal scraps scattered all around. He punched the ground again and again, until his hands bled, and then some more. He got up to his feet, and walked around the wreckage once. There were body parts scattered there too, and he began bringing them all back to the flat ground next to the bridge.


    ¡°What did I do¡­ what did I do¡­¡± he looked at the heap of limbs he had made, staring at it from above. All he wanted was for it all to disappear. He ran away. He ran for as long as his body allowed him, until his broken ankle finally gave up and made him tumble to the ground. And there he laid, in silence, watching the sun slowly set at the horizon.


    He hugged his knees and kept repeating the words, staring at the void. ¡°I was a coward.¡± The sun had set, and pale moonlight was coming from behind fleeting clouds. He crawled back to whatever was left of his ship, and his friends. His mind felt empty, his head heavy. There was only one recurring thought that kept him awake, that made it impossible for him to pass out just yet: ¡°It¡¯s all my fault.¡± Every step he took, a sharp pain coming from his foot rushed through his whole body. ¡°I deserve this.¡± Another two hundred steps. ¡°I deserve to suffer.¡± Another five hundred. ¡°I¡¯m a coward. Ha, ha, ha, I¡¯m such a coward.¡± Finally he arrived at his stack of body parts.


    ¡°Haa, ha¡­ haha¡­¡± He stared wickedly at it. ¡°Hahahahahahah¡± He laughed a maniacal laugh, and cried. ¡°But you are dead now. Dead! And dead men tell no tales. It was an accident, yes, nothing more than an accident. How could I predict it? How could I even avoid it. It was not my fault. It was not...¡± He kept repeating and repeating boken sentences. There was a new light in his eyes, a glimmer of something deep and dangerous. A glimmer into the abyss. He tried to remember his past, the life he had lived until just a few hours ago. There were parts, pieces of conversations, memories of his past life with his crew. He kept yelling it was not his fault, alternating moment of clarity and moment of delirium. At times he believed he had done the right thing, and at times he cursed himself. More and more he began to believe that it was all an accident, but at the same time he felt an increasing weight building up inside of him. It was trying to blow him up from the inside, if he let it. The night passed, and he was now alternating states of maniacal laughter to states of complete apathy. During those, he only stared at the pile of body parts, but he was not watching it. His gaze was lost somewhere in the distance. The night finally ended, and the sun rose above the horizon. It was his first sundawn on a planet. The first time he saw the real thing, and not the holograms in virtual reality. And yet he couldn¡¯t appreciate it, and instead stood there, immobile, laughing and staring, then laughing again.


    ¡°I know I should have asked, guys. I know, okay? Don¡¯t be mad at me.¡± He muttered while working, pale face fixated on the earth at the tip of his shovel. The sun was pleasant and warm on his skin. ¡°I just thought, you know? Better to bury you all here, before the corpses start decomposing¡­¡± He planted the shovel into the ground then, grunting, pulled out a large chunk of earth and grass. Small roots were making the job difficult for him. ¡°Haaah, but I¡¯m not going to be defeated by such insignificant issues. Don¡¯t worry, you will be next, Sarge. Right after tac¡­ yes, right after her.¡± He kept talking, giving occasional glances at the woman¡¯s body beside him. He planted the shovel once again, and collapsed to the ground. He held his hands around the throbbing mess that was his right foot.


    ¡°Uh, I seem to be getting pretty tired, right? But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯mma do y¡¯all justice.¡± He kept talking to himself as he buried all of his crew. The only family and friends he had ever had. The only home he ever had. All that was left of his world now laid beneath a layer of dirt, in some unknown alien world.


    Something captured his attention. ¡°Who is that?¡± He suddenly yelled, holding out his laser gun and flailing it around. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t see you or something¡­ Come the fuck out, now!¡± but nothing happened. He kept staring at the bush for at least ten minutes straight. ¡°I guess there was nothing there after all.¡± He muttered to himself, then whistled softly as he retreated back into the wreckage. Suddenly, he stopped on his tracks, turned around and yelled. He planted the wrong foot on the ground and the sharp pain shook the insides of his brain. But it didn¡¯t matter now, he had an enemy to defeat.


    ¡°HA! Got ya! Ah¡­ ah¡­ ahhh¡­ there¡¯s nothing there?¡± Once again, the only thing there was a small bush in the shade of a tree, its leaves gently moved around by the light breeze.


    ¡°Well, then. I got food, water, shelter, weapons¡­ It''s time to go full Robinson Crusoe! Not that I expect to ever be rescued, but¡­ It¡¯s gonna be fun alright!¡± He said, as he began collecting large rocks to create a fireplace. The dark, charred wreckage of his ship had half buried into the ground. The bridge, originally located two thirds of the way to the top, was now at ground level. The window, now the only way to get in or out, had shattered and hung a few meters above ground. He began building his fireplace on the grass right next to it. He went in and out by said window to gather a good deal of food, water, and supplies in order to camp outside. Every time he tried to use his damaged leg to climb, the pain almost made him fall back down. But every time he fell, he ignored the pain he felt as his back hit the sharp metal scrap and just climbed back again. ¡°Yes¡­ camping¡­ I¡¯ve always wanted to go camping, you know?¡± He turned around to face his interlocutor, but nobody was there.


    ¡°But, since it¡¯s good to talk to someone, I guess I¡¯ll talk to the strange figure watching me from the bush over there!¡± He said, softly at the beginning, and then degenerating in a loud yell. His voice broke down halfway through and left him only with a whistle of voice and a new source of pain. The incriminated bush just stood there, unmoving as always. ¡°Well, then, let¡¯s get started.¡± He took out a small flamethrower he personally had in his quarters, and used it to light the fire.

 2 - Fated meeting (v2)

    <h1>2 - Fated meeting</h1>


    ¡°Are you sure this is the place?¡± The little elf girl asked, while scurrying around the forest floor.


    ¡°Of course I am sure! This is where the star fell!¡± The young boy replied, furry ears twitching as he took in all of the forest¡¯s sounds. He could hear the very distinctive sound that the fallen star emitted, although he had no idea what it actually was. It was an endless vibration, a pulse that permeated the whole forest nearby. They arrived at the edge of the forest, next to the plains. Had the star fallen inside the forest, it would have ignited a huge wildfire, threatening everyone that made the forest their home. It would have been a disaster. But it did not happen, of course, because this was her star.


    ¡°Look, look! There it is.¡± The cat-eared young man was pointing at the red hot smoking mass of metal that was the wreckage of the Defiant. That was Luna¡¯s fallen star, her desire that came true.


    ¡°Wow¡­ it¡¯s awesome. I¡¯ve never seen a star from up close.¡± Replied the elf, ears wiggling up and down playfully. She could barely contain her excitement. She had expressed her most intimate wish when she last prayed at the sky, and now a star had fallen. She had come all the way here to be finally able to see it. She had to lie to her parents too, not because she was too young to roam around by herself, but rather because she was too valuable. Or so they kept telling her, despite her most heated complaints. But that did not matter now, she was determined to find whatever the heavens and the protectors of the forest had sent her.


    ¡°It¡¯s late, time to go back.¡± The young boy told the elf, who was still intent on observing what was happening where her star had fallen. ¡°There¡¯s nothing there anyway.¡± He said, his voice was low and it hid deep within its tones a slight sense of disappointment. Not because there was nothing here, but rather because the spirits had decided to reward her and not him. It was just unfair how the world behaved. He too wanted his own guardian angel to descend from the heavens.


    ¡°You go on ahead, I will be right after.¡± She said, and saw her friend away. Begrudgingly, he left, producing the most imperceptible rustle of leaves as he went.


    ¡°Who is that?¡± The man had yelled, loud and scary. The boy had already left, and now the elf was truly alone. She stiffened, unmoving, hoping he had not seen her. She wanted to meet him, her own friend who came out of her fallen star. But she wanted to be ready for that. Now that she was sure that he was really there for her, she wanted to make the most out of their first contact. All she wanted to do, for now, was observe. She watched as he disposed all day long of a vast number of bodies, hundreds of them, up to the points of collapse. He must have been a very kind man, as he held so dear the safety of other people¡¯s souls he even forgot to tend to his own body. She had almost approached him when he collapsed, but her friend was still somewhere near here, so she had to stay put. Right now he was going in and out of his strange metal star, collecting strange materials and artifacts he used to make camp outside. He had lit a fire and had started cooking some strange looking kind of meat.


    ¡°Hey come here, shadow in the bush¡­ There¡¯s meat!¡± The strange man called again. He had been doing so every ten minutes or so, incessantly, ever since he first heard a sound. She had been careful not to make a single sound, and yet he was somehow aware of her presence all this time. She did not want to displease his guardian angel, for he had come all the way from heaven just for her. But she was scared, scared he might refuse her, or find her unworthy. She wanted to make friends with him, and be appreciated and accepted. She had to wait for the right time, hoping he wasn¡¯t aware that it was her hiding in the bush.


    <hr>


    ¡°Okay, okay, let me get this straight. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like vegetables¡­ It¡¯s just that I love meat, ok?¡± Fenrir spoke, loud and slowly. There were a few sausages grilling over the fireplace, hanging on skewers made out of metal scrap. The sweet aroma of meat was making him hungry, and inpatient. But at the same time it reminded the captain of the smell of the bodies burning on the ship. The charred and broken face of that woman he had found in the corridor, the foul smell of burnt human flesh. It made him sick, but hungry at the same time. ¡°And I can definitely cook. But, for today, I think grilled pork will be enough. Perhaps tomorrow I will bring out the real deal, and make myself a kitchen. Then you will see what real cooking looks like. What do you say, shadow-in-the-bush?¡± He looked towards the bush.


    ¡°Come on, my little imaginary friend. Don¡¯t be scared. The laser gun I pointed at you earlier¡­ is actually broken! The circuitry is fine, however all the batteries are fried everywhere. And the ship¡¯s core is a no go as well. I tried going down there but, man, there¡¯s a hell of a lot of radiation there. Luckily it¡¯s three hundred meters under the rock now. Anyway¡­ I''m getting lonely here¡­ can you please... come? Anyone, please?¡± He hugged his knees and rolled to the side. The light of the moon was illuminating his pale face, and a few small tears rolled down his face like little lost diamonds. They fell, and were absorbed by the earth. The ground was cold, and hard against his skin. But he could not find the strength to get up, to reach for the few pieces of meat that were going to be his nourishment for the day. He had been busy all day, and hadn¡¯t eaten or drank anything. He felt his dry throat ache and demand some water, his empty stomach cramp and knot in pain. But he didn¡¯t dare move from where he was, and instead observed the far horizon above the plains. There were a few gentle hills covered in grass, and a few lone trees moved by the night breeze. The moon was high in the sky, big and sad. It too seemed to cry in despair together with him and all the stars that hung in the heavens above. They twinkled with the same tune as the small, faint glimmer of light that was being reflected by his tears.


    He woke up to the sound of birds chirping. The warm morning light was dispersing the night mist, and gentle rays of sunlight caressed the captain¡¯s face. He turned around, cursing grumpily at the world. Why did it have to be such a fine day? He had already resigned to sleep forever, until one day he found out he would not wake up anymore. His eyes had barely adjusted to the light, and he could only make out blurred shapes, and colors behind the dried tears on his face. The small salt crystals drew lines and patterns on his cheeks. He looked around for a moment, still lying on the hard soil of the ground. There was a strange sensation, something sweet and tender. He felt comfortable, as if he was in a bed of pillows. He felt his head float in a sea of warmth and softness.


    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s you. My dear friend from the forest!¡± He whispered happily, without even trying to make out the shape he was seeing. After a while, he sighed and smiled gently, eventually lulling himself back to sleep. He had seen the vision of a beautiful goddess laying right beside him, protecting his dreams, and watching over him. He did not want to wake up from this dream. He smiled innocently as tears welled up in his tightly shut eyes. He remembered the happy times he had spent together with his makeshift family, going on adventures together, exploring strange places in the cosmos. He was sobbing and smiling, resting in the warm embrace of his wonderful dream goddess.


    ¡°Goddess¡­¡± He murmured, still asleep. And when he tentatively opened one eye, and saw her beautiful figure right before his eyes, he felt safe. She was still there, protecting him, guarding him. He happily closed his eyes once again. For the first time in what felt like his entire life, he felt at peace.


    He woke up, alone and cold. There was an ominous and eerie feeling all around him. The sun was no longer visible behind the dark, thick fog that had gathered seemingly out of nowhere. The mist looked alive. It moved ever so slowly, creeping into his very bones. The chill and damp air sent a shiver down his spine. He sprung to his feet, in an attempt to fool his mind into thinking that everything was alright. His broken ankle gave up halfway through, and he fell down again. It was ruined beyond repair, he feared.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Alright, then, my shadow friend. Time to get to work!¡± He said, then slowly worked his way back into his ship. He looked around for a bit, and emerged once again after a while, empty handed. ¡°But first, let¡¯s deal with this annoying foot right here.¡± He pointed at his own right foot. The swelling was evident, the skin torn and white. There was no blood flowing from his knee down. ¡°Uh, what is this?¡± he said as he examined his wound more closely. There was a long leaf wrapped around his ankle, and below it there were strange herbs directly in contact with his skin. ¡°Well, well, well, what do we have here? So my shy friend came to my aid, huh? Well, I thank you for that, but I fear this will not be anywhere near enough to treat me. First of all, all my stem cells died because of the radiation, huhuhuhu.¡± He burst out in a maniacal laughter at the surreal situation. The blast of radiation that had killed everyone on board would soon kill him as well. What a beautiful ending. ¡°Hehe, don¡¯t get all emotional, now. After all the effort you¡¯ve put into treating me, I can¡¯t just go and die on you, can I? I would certainly feel guilty about that. So... wait right here, will ya?¡±


    He appeared once again after a few minutes, completely covered in sweat. His clothes were even more tattered than before, and were smeared with grease and dirty oil. There were fresh burns that had consumed both the cloth and his flesh, and his whole face was covered with ash. He was holding a small vial in his left hand. ¡°This I call the rad-away. Get it? Rad-away? Cause it treats radiation poisoning? Of course that won¡¯t be sufficient to save me, but at least it will help my foot heal. Hahaha you know, if my chief medical officer was still alive, he might even manage to save me¡­ but he¡¯s dead isn¡¯t he?¡± He poured the contents of the vial onto the leaf bandaging. He whimpered in pain as the sharp burning sensation seeped into his skin. ¡°This is refreshing!¡± He smiled, managing to move only half of his face. He got up to his feet, leaning heavily onto a crutch he snatched from the ship¡¯s infirmary.


    <hr>


    Night arrived, slowly sapping the world of its light. The mist that hung all around was still there, and the coming of the dark only made it more oppressive. Its whites slowly became blues, the greys and eventually blacks. Everything was utterly black.


    ¡°It¡¯s that time of the day again. Well, goodnight then, my imaginary friend. May your sleep bring you sweet dreams.¡± He shrank into a fetal position and covered his whole body with a blanket. He pressed his body onto the reassuring warmth of the bonfire, but he found out that he couldn¡¯t stop trembling. It annoyed him, and for a moment he considered throwing himself into the fire to make it stop. But he didn¡¯t. Now that he was alone, once again, he found out that he wanted to have somebody to talk to, but had nobody. Not even his friend from the forest.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that face? Are you scared?¡±


    There was a pale figure standing in the dark, its face white and covered in sweat.


    ¡°You killed us all, remember?¡± The figure said, then stood still. Suddenly its body began twisting and deforming, assuming unnatural shapes. Its face was grinning, a sick grin that sent shivers down the captain¡¯s back. Blood began spurting from where the broken bones had pierced its skin. The sky had turned red, and the wind was howling. The mist that hung above him turned crimson, and began to rotate furiously. It rotated and rotated, seemingly concentrating all above himself, until the furious cyclone rushed towards him and enveloped him in a deathly dance. Then it disappeared, leaving nothing behind. The air was clear, and the deep dark sky was dotted with stars. The moon was shining its light onto the dreamy landscape. Everything was perfectly still and silent.


    I¡­ killed them all. I did that¡­ I¡­ killed. Them. All. Killed. I killed? Killed them? His head was a mess, an undefined tangle of incoherent thoughts. He felt guilt, horror, pain. But then nothing, as apathy followed his sudden discharge of emotion. After a while, nothing had remained, and felt hollow and empty.


    He woke up, short of breath, in a pool of sweat. It was cold, and yet he felt he was hot. He felt his goddess, his imaginary friend, the shadow in the bush¡­ she was waiting for him on the other side. She was there, beside him, watching him and taking care of him. He recalled when he first met her in his dreams, yesterday. He had felt safe in her arms. Even if she did not really exist. Even if she was nothing more than a delusion, a figment of his own broken mind. None of that mattered if he could be with her.


    He looked around in the twilight. The break of day was close, and the sun had already begun coloring the faraway clouds. They danced merrily, gently led by the ephemeral wind. He heard the sound of rustling leaves, and for the smallest of moments he saw it: a glimpse of a small lock of silver hair, shining under the sun. It disappeared inside the forest. He chased after the vision, ran and ran until his breathing grew heavy and his head dizzy. But he did not want to lose that vision. So he kept chasing.


    ¡°Wait! Please, don¡¯t leave me. Don¡¯t¡­ leave me alone¡­¡± His last words had been no more than a whisper. If whatever that thing was abandoned him too, then all that was left for him was to wait for his death, alone. He had given up all hope, and was laying on the forest floor. No, I have to go back. Perhaps she will be at the ship. He slowly got up to his feet and began walking back to camp. He saw the dark grey wreckage in the distance, towering well above the tallest trees. There! There she is! Yellow dress, silver hair, and long slender ears of a fairy. It was her, his goddess, his shadow. She was waiting for him near the fire. She was inviting him back. He staggered, almost falling down on the ground. Steadying himself, he advanced through the punishing forest terrain, one step after the other. Finally he had almost reached the clearing. He could see his makeshift camp very clearly now. The angelic figure was waiting for him right beside the fireplace. She was sitting with her bare feet on the soft grass. He gently approached her, plucking a small white flower on the way.


    ¡°Here. it suits you.¡± He said, adjusting the flower into her hair.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± the little fairy replied, shyly. The captain kept looking at her in a daze. He wanted to just get lost in her deep emerald eyes as she took him down to the underworld where he belonged.


    <hr>


    Luna watched attentively as the man fidgeted with the embers in the fireplace. He was clearly in distress, and in pain. She wanted to help him, but she didn¡¯t know what to do. This wasn¡¯t how she imagined meeting her new friend from the sky. She could run back into the forest to get help but¡­ how could she explain it to her parents? How could she convince the other elders to help him, a human? And the way he looked at her, with eyes full of awe and hope, made her heart melt. There was a deep fear buried there too, she felt it. He did not want to be left alone, he did not want her to abandon him. And so she remained there, and listened.


    <hr>


    In his delusions, he kept talking to her. He talked about his past, his adventures across space with his comrades. All the little gossip that surrounded the lively members of his own adoptive family. The fun stories, the sad stories. He kept reliving his old life through his narrations. Every evening she would come, and he would tell her a story. When he was finished he stared at her for a while, contemplating the beauty and innocence of her cute face. Then, he drugged himself to sleep, plundering the infirmary of all the pills he could find. Every morning he woke up and she would be still there, next to him. He prepared her breakfast, and watched her as she ate his exotic cooking from another world. Then, she would leave, only to return in the evening. The days passed, one after the other.


    When she left, he was truly alone once again. He saw the faces of his dead friends in the clouds, in the random arrangements of the flowers, in the casual patterns of the charred hull of the Defiant. He had never told her his last, tragic story. He never shared with her his most dreadful secret, his most haunting memory. He was happy when she was there, because he could forget. Even if only for a moment, he could forget. But now he was alone, and he had not forgotten. Day after day he felt his body fail him. He knew what awaited him. He stared at the clouds as they leisurely passed above his head. His face was pale, his body weak. But that was okay. Soon all the pain would go away. Then it would all be fine. It would all be over. He closed his eyes, certain in his mind that this would be the last of his time. Now he could finally be reunited with his family. He thanked his imaginary friend, who had kept him company all these days, and said his goodbyes.


    ¡°Farewell, my friend¡­¡±

 3 - A new start

    <h1>3 - A new start</h1>


    Luna woke up, feeling refreshed and full of energy. This was one of her two favorite moments of the day, when she could meet with her friend from the sky and hear his stories. She quickly ate her breakfast with her parents and descended the long stairs down the hollow trunk of their treehouse. She then traversed the twenty miles of forest until she reached the first few clearings before the seemingly endless plains that laid afterwards. She leapt down from a tree branch and sprinted all the way to the campsite, eager to find her new friend still asleep. She loved to watch him while he still slept, the few moments when she could see his real face, his real being. And then she would watch him wake up, do all of his strange rituals and then eventually prepare breakfast. It was her second breakfast of the day, but it was nothing like the food she ate with her family. She enjoyed those alien flavours, rich and full. She alway brought back a small piece of chocolate bread, or a cookie to eat later. It reminded her of him during the time she had to spend away from him. Sometimes she ate it in the middle of the night, and the soothing flavor and sensation helped her fall asleep. Or she would eat it during the day, perhaps during one of the boring lessons her mother always put her through in the afternoon. That helped too, because it reminded her that as soon as she was done there, she could go right back to him for supper. She finally saw him, sleeping like a log with his head on a metal plate.


    There was something odd about him today. Something was different. The way he was sleeping was different. The look on his face was different. There was a sense of peace he previously lacked, and a sense of inevitability. The impending doom one would read on the face of an elder who was on his deathbed, or on a wounded soldier drawing his last breath. No longer could she sense the strong ironclad will to survive within him, the strength to keep going on despite the odds. No, he was tranquil, and serene. He had made peace with himself and his condition, and had accepted his destiny. And this worried her. She knew what laid beyond the facade he had constructed for her, what laid beyond those stories he always told her. True, she could not understand most of what he was talking about, but she knew that he was describing some idyllic sort of life he wished he had. A sugar coated version of his own memories. And for a while, he was living there, in the past. In his own story. But something was eating away at him from the inside, slow but inevitable.


    She hurried the final few paces and wrapped her hands around his neck to support him. She tried to shake him, but he wouldn¡¯t wake up. His breath was uneven and laboured, his pulse weak. She could feel the life force fading away from him, and returning to the endless cycle of the earth. No, this was not how it was supposed to go. He wasn¡¯t supposed to die. He had to live! He had to be there for her, as she would be there for him. She regretted not telling him this, not telling him to fight and fight because he was no longer alone. How could she allow him to lose hope and abandon his hold on life? No, she wouldn¡¯t let him.


    She smiled gently at him, while wrapping a thin metal chain around his neck. There was a small jade pendant around it. It was pleasantly cool to the touch.


    ¡°Hang in there¡­¡± she said, while frantically fidgeting with the small green stone. She put her fingers around it and muttered a few words in high elvish, the ancient language of her people. She held it tightly, and pulled the unconscious man close to her chest. She felt that his body was cool and lifeless, but there was still a flicker of life left in him somewhere. She poured her own power inside the small green jade, and closed her eyes. Not all was lost.


    After interminable moments, she felt the space around her warp and change.


    ¡°Lunora!¡± there was her father beside her, and he was very surprised to see her together with an unknown human. He had sensed her activating the emergency transport, and had immediately ran to the transportation room. He couldn''t care less about anything he was doing before. If there was an even remote chance that she was in distress, he had to be there for her.


    ¡°Father!¡± She replied, visibly concerned. Preoccupied, he walked closer to inspect the situation. After making sure that his daughter was safe, he turned towards the strange man. He was ghastly pale, and had stopped breathing. Luna was crying over his body, pounding at his chest and yelling at her father to do something.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± He asked, sternly, why had his daughter brought in a stranger? Even worse, she had used her emergency transport beacon. There had to be a reason for that. She looked momentarily startled, but quickly recovered.


    ¡°Please, father! Help him¡­ he¡¯s dying!¡±


    ¡°I can see that. Why would I help him, though? What did he do to you?¡±


    She was not surprised: she expected his reaction. And she knew there was nothing she could do unless she told him the whole truth. Hurriedly, before it was too late, she began to tell the tale. She told him of the falling star, of her meeting and of the stories the man had told her. With a sigh, her father approached the pale man lying on the leaf mat on the floor.


    ¡°Alright¡­ go get your mother, then.¡± Lunora ran outside to fetch her mother, and returned shortly after. As soon as she too was filled in about the whole situation, the two invited their daughter to wait outside. Then the woman put her hands on the man¡¯s chest and began speaking ancient elvish.


    Two hours had passed. Finally her parents slowly emerged from the room. The door creaked as it closed behind them. She had been sitting on the floor, leaning onto the wooden wall that separated her from the other room, and had fallen asleep from the tension. The recent events had clearly taken a toll on her. The sound of her parents leaving the room woke her up, and she scrambled back at her feet as quickly as she could. She tried to take a peek inside, but the door closed too fast for her to see. She turned to face her mother, a deep sentiment of hope welled up in her eyes.


    ¡°So¡­¡± her mother began, smiling warmly at her. But in her voice there was also a sliver of worry, and of disappointment. ¡°This is what you have been doing, sneaking out for days, isn¡¯t it?¡± She was glaring at her, but was not angry.


    ¡°...yes.¡± replied Lunora, still sitting on the wooden floor. Her gaze shifted towards her mother¡¯s hands, which were soaked in blood. But the man was not bleeding before. Had something happened while they were treating him? She shifted her weight and heard the floor creak under her foot. It was a low, pained sound of old wood under tension. ¡°Is he...?¡± She asked, concerned. She could take all the scolding in the world from her mother, but that would have to wait. Her priority was her friend. But the words did not even manage to leave her mouth as her mother replied hastily.


    ¡°His life is not in danger anymore. He will need more treatment later, but for now he is resting. Come on, get up. You¡¯re in charge of bringing him supper.¡± She held out her hand for her daughter to take. She knew the repercussions of her action. Since she was the one who brought him here, he was her responsibility from now on. But that was fine, because she now had a reason to spend all her time with him!


    <hr>


    The door creaked. Fenrir had been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, and had not been able to figure out where in the world he was now. He was not dead, clearly, but he was not at the crash site anymore. What was even more shocking to him, though, was that he felt better. He was still in pain, but it was much milder than it was before. And he felt as if a veil had been lifted from his mind. Ever since he woke up in this world, all he had seen was blood and death. Horror beyond belief, one that would have broken even the strongest of minds. One that had broken him. But now he felt different. Alive, once again.


    Someone was coming in from the door. He tried to move his head to face the entrance, and strained his eyes in an attempt to focus. It was incredibly painful, but he was curious as to who had rescued him and had even managed to heal him. It must have been incredibly difficult, certainly only the best of doctors in the most advanced of facilities could have healed him. Perhaps the rescue party had arrived, and he was back on the orbital ring around Earth. That would have been nice.


    Finally the figure got close enough for him to see. It was a girl, short and cute. She had pale silver hair, as if blessed by the moon itself. Her face was perfect, her features gentle and refined, and she was smiling warmly at him. She reminded him of her dream goddess he was sure he had met before, except this time she really felt¡­ real. He remembered the only time she had talked, that time when he gave her a little flower. Perhaps she too would remember about it. At the side of her head there were two pointy ears sticking out and moving up and down.


    ¡°You¡­ you are real!¡± He cried of joy, and then moved to embrace her tightly. Ignoring all the pain, he just pulled her close to him, squeezing the small frame of her body between his strong arms for what felt like entire hours. She too sobbed and cried tears of joy together with him, and the two shared their warm embrace for as long as they felt like doing. Neither of them wanted to let the other go, and both desired nothing else than to be in each other¡¯s arms.

 4 - An alien family

    <h1>4 - An alien family</h1>


    The embrace lasted an eternity, but not one moment too much. And it was in that moment that he understood what he wanted to do with his life. The moment she had found him, alone and scared, he had already decided that his life was over. His only family was gone, his ship and only way back was irreparably destroyed. There was nothing left worth living for. But she pulled him up from the dark abyss he was falling into. She reached out, offered her hand for him to take, and had rescued him from the scary and lonely place that his own mind had become. She had truly saved him.


    And now, he knew that he wanted to live. For her, for the second chance she had given him. He would live and dedicate his life to her. She was his world now.


    He looked up at her deep green eyes, and felt like everything else could just disappear around them. He wanted to get lost in those eyes, and he knew he would be happy. He knew he would be happy with her, and her only. She too was looking at him, with a relaxed and warm smile. The very same smile that had warmed his shattered and frozen heart, and that had given him the strength to keep going forward.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± he said, and that was the only thing he managed to say. He had never been good at expressing his own emotions, and neither at reading other people. Back when he still was a captain, he had no life outside of his ship. No friends or family back on the orbital ring. The only people he had ever talked to were his crew, and since they all knew about his ¡®peculiarity¡¯, they treated him with utmost care. He did not know whether they did it out of respect, out of fear or because they genuinely cared, but they all treated him with kindness, and warmth. They made him feel at home for the first time in his whole life, and yet¡­ he had abandoned them all.


    Noticing the concerned look on the elf¡¯s face, he quickly suppressed his dark thoughts and relegated them to a far corner of his mind. He did not want her to see him in this state, what she had seen back at the ship was already enough. He did not want to appear as a broken man, as a hollow vessel empty of everything but regret and self loathing. He had sworn he would live for her, and he would do that starting now. She did not reply to his words, but that was okay. He understood that she disliked talking too much, and seeing the warm smile on her lips was enough for him. For a moment even the dark thoughts seemed to subside a bit.


    She took his hand and led him through the wooden door out in the corridor. The corridor was a circular platform of wood running all around a hole in its center. It looked like naturally grown wood, like a natural extension of the walls. They too looked like tree bark, he noted. The hole was several meters wide, and looking down from it he could see that wooden branches ran across its diameter and formed some sort of stairway leading down for hundreds of meters. There were windows at regular intervals, providing natural light and a pleasant view of the outside. All the data he had made him think that he was on top, no, inside some kind of tree. If this was its hollow trunk, then it must have been impossibly high, defying all kinds of preconceptions he had about trees. He had never seen a real one, of course, since the war had made Earth uninhabitable, but he knew what trees were supposed to look like. To confirm this, he poked his head out of the window to his right, and looked down. There were several layers of branches and leaves, some as thick as a fully grown secular sequoia, but beyond those he could see the bark of the enormous trunk that made up the tree he was in. If the inner radius at this height was several meters, then the outer radius at the base must have been truly gigantic. It was, from what he could tell, at least five hundred meters high. Well above anything else in the whole forest. The next tallest tree around wasn¡¯t even half of the height he was at, and he was sure he wasn¡¯t even near the summit of this tree.


    He must have been there, musing about trees and doing silent calculations for a while, because Lunora tugged his hand and motioned him to move forward. He felt his heart skip a beat, both because she had startled him and made him feel as if he nearly fell down the window, and also because he feared she was getting mad at him already. So much for living only for her, he had already managed to piss her off. He looked at her apologetically, in hope that would be enough, and allowed her to lead him forward.


    They arrived at the opposite side of the hole. Ahead there was a wooden door, made out of carefully and masterfully carved wood and colored glass. The carvings depicted the natural beauty of the forest like nothing else he had ever seen. There were leaves, trees and clouds hanging in the sky that seemed to have a life of their own. The longer he stared, the less he could see the brown wood, feeling completely immersed in the feeling of natural beauty. The glass was opaque, featuring luxurious golden decorations that created strange reflections. Behind it, he could see two figures moving around in the other room.


    <hr>


    It was finally time to formally introduce her friend to her parents. She had never felt this anxious in her whole life, and despite knowing that it was foolish to be this agitated she could do nothing to calm her nerves. The last time she came even close to this level of stress whas at her coming of age ceremony seventy years ago. She shook her head. It was too late now, he was here and her parents were only a door away from them.


    She felt him stop for a moment, and tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. He was hanging his head out of the window, admiring the view as if he had never seen a Tree of Life before. She felt her cheeks flush and grow hot, and her heart beat a little bit faster. She wanted to keep staring at him for a while, observe him get lost in his own little world, but she couldn¡¯t. Now was not the moment. She sighed. Damn it, she really would have liked to keep looking at him a bit longer. Well, she thought to herself, she had been watching over him as he slept for the past three days straight, so she could make a sacrifice. She gently tugged his hand to bring him back to reality, and felt very guilty when he looked at her with his deep blue eyes, wearing an expression full of worry. She hoped he had not misunderstood her intentions.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Her parents were waiting for them in the living room. Her father had prepared dinner, as it was customary whenever a young girl decided to bring her fiance to meet her parents. This occasion was different, of course, but she found herself thinking these things nonetheless. They sat down, her parents on one side of the table while she sat beside him on the other side.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you are finally well.¡± Her father said. His tone was still stern and stiff, and she knew he was feeling very uncomfortable in this situation. But this needed to be done, it was inevitable. She had brought the man into her home, and now she needed to introduce him to her parents formally. She realized she had been holding his breath all this time until her father talked, and was beginning to sweat nervously.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ for taking care of me.¡± Replied Fenrir, fidgeting with his hands on his knees. She could sense his tension, and grabbed his right hand with her left. She was so happy she wanted to cry. He had taken her hand, and was now holding it into his own, even if he was before her parents. She felt him squeeze as he talked. ¡°I am in your debt. I will do anything in my power to repay you for your kindness.¡± He added, trying to sound as polite as he could. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, to make him understand that he was among friends, but he was not looking in her direction. His gaze was glued to her father.


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± He broke into laughter, his deep voice booming in the small room. She was sure even the guys in the training grounds had heard that. ¡°I only ask you that you take care of my dear daughter.¡± He added. Her face was burning red hot with embarrassment. What was her father even saying? This was way too fast. But, deep down, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit happy about what he said, and found herself looking at Fenrir. He too was taken aback by what he heard, and was holding her hand even tighter than before. She felt her head spin.


    Before he could reply, though, her mother intervened. Perhaps it was for the better, but for a tiny moment she couldn¡¯t help but hope to hear that he would forever take care of her, and be with her until the end of time. ¡°My dear husband is jesting, of course.¡± She planted an elbow into his stomach mid-sentence. That was so much her, Lunora though, and already felt more at ease. Just like that, all the tense atmosphere deflated immediately.


    <hr>


    The situation was surreal. He was sitting at the table, holding an elf¡¯s hand into his own, while her father was half joking, half threatening him. And then the mother just went and brutalized the man while looking at Fenrir in the eye and smiling. Whatever, he decided not to think too much about it. He knew he would not make anything out of it, lacking as he was of any kind of social skill. Fortunately the atmosphere became lighter and more comfortable after that, and he released his hold onto Luna¡¯s hand. Damn, he had done it again. He overstepped his bounds and now he was sure she¡¯d be mad at him. He didn¡¯t know when he even got a hold of her hand, but he was certain that she hadn¡¯t said anything just out of respect for her parents. But if they found out, then it would be the end of him. Fortunately nobody saw anything, and he tried to act as if nothing happened.


    But wait, this was not the point. Those people here with him were elves, dammit! Real elves, like those of the fantasy novels, but in flesh and blood. Something was not right with this world. Was it a parallel universe, or just some kind of alien planet where life evolved in a way suspiciously similar to that of Earth?


    ¡°In any case¡­¡± the elf man coughed, albeit it was visibly fake, in an attempt to regain composure. ¡°I am Eldor, the village chief.¡±


    ¡°I am Fenrir.¡± He replied, somewhat amused by the fact that perhaps his coughing was not really fake, but was a consequence of the elbow to the stomach. In any case, the fact that the man was the chief of the village only added weight to the already difficult situation. ¡°Once again, I thank you for what you have done.¡± the polite words found a way out, fished from some deep part of his memory. He was surprised with himself. For once he was not randomly speaking his mind and saying the first thing that came to mind. Perhaps he had heard people talking politely in a TV show or something, because this was not the way he normally talked for sure.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I know you are important to my Luna, and you seemed worth saving. You do feel different than other humans I¡¯ve met, I must say.¡±


    ¡°Husband! That¡¯s rude.¡± The woman was already preparing to scold her man again. He instinctively protected his vitals and responded as quickly as he could.


    ¡°No, you got it wrong, Fey. What I¡¯m saying is that he feels actually worthy of some respect.¡± He said, much less dignified than before. He tried to regain his air of authority. ¡°Not like those spineless men, those barbarians that sometimes wander the forest.¡±


    Fenrir felt guilty. In his mind, abandoning himself to die was a spineless act. Abandoning his crew was another. No more, he told himself, while at the same time he tried to find words to say. He didn¡¯t feel like he had anything to add to the discussion, and he wasn¡¯t sure whether to disclose the fact that he was from another world or not. But Lunora beat him to it.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know, father. He comes from the stars.¡± She said, looking at her father in the eye. It was moving seeing her speak for him, and even more considering just how little she usually spoke. Her voice was low and composed, but there was a great well of emotion hidden within.


    ¡°Oh, the stars. Yes, yes, you come from the fallen star, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my ship crashed into this planet after traversing an unstable Einstein-Rosen bridge. Or so it seems at least. I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    Eldor looked at him with a blank expression for a moment, then laughed. ¡°So you are not from this world, right?¡± His face suddenly became serious, and the cheerful atmosphere immediately evaporated. The air seemed heavy and difficult to breathe, and the very gaze of the man seemed to burn into the captain¡¯s soul.


    ¡°N-no I¡¯m not.¡± He replied, cursing at himself for stuttering. It was embarrassing.


    But then, just as quickly as it came, the ominous air disappeared. ¡°Then, tomorrow we shall go visit the oracle. There are things I must know, and you will come with me.¡±

 5 - The old oracle

    <h1>5 - The old oracle</h1>


    ¡°Forgive me for my rude behaviour yesterday. You must understand that claiming to be from another world is not something to be said lightly.¡± Eldor said, apologetically. He looked genuinely sorry, and Fenrir wondered if his wife, Fey, had anything to do with that. He still had his stern tone of voice, and his face looked hard and unreadable. His long beard was more fitting of a dwarf than an elf, the captain thought. He wondered just how old he was. Hell, he had no idea how old Lunora was, even if she looked like a teenager.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I understand.¡± It was a half lie, actually. He would have understood if they didn¡¯t believe him or though he was nuts, but a reaction like that was not anything he could predict. It was almost like his revelation had triggered something in the ¡®old¡¯ elf¡¯s mind, and he was not sure what.


    ¡°There was a prophecy, a long time ago. It said that an otherworlder would save us all from¡­ something. Unfortunately, for the most part it has been lost to the sands of time.¡±


    ¡°Is that why we are going to see the oracle?¡± He asked. He couldn¡¯t believe he was seriously talking about oracles as if they were normal. Barely a week ago if anyone had come to him talking about oracles, he would have laughed in their face. But now, he was walking through the forest in search of an oracle of the elves.


    ¡°Exactly. You see, the jade pendant you wear is not just an item of fashion. It was given to us from the oracle itself many generations ago. When my daughter foolishly gave it to you, it should have rejected you. But it didn¡¯t. This means that you have been chosen for the fulfillment of the prophecy.¡± Flawless logic, he thought, and had to suppress a chuckle. He didn¡¯t want to be disrespectful, but the whole argument seemed rather forced. It was almost like they were completely shifting responsibility for something. As if it was no longer their problem. Just give him the basic information, and then send him to fuck off. That kind of vibe.


    ¡°No pressure.¡± Fenrir said, trying not to think about it too hard. Right now it was hard for him to just believe Eldor¡¯s words, but at the same time considering all that happened to him made this sound almost plausible. Even if he had his suspicions regarding the elves¡¯ true intentions.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± The elf said, stopping for a brief moment at the entrance of a cave. It was just a small cave, on the side of a modest hill overrun with vegetation. The trees on top were short and unimpressive, making the location completely bland and irrelevant. So much so that it almost had the opposite effect. There was no path leading there, and it was completely hidden unless someone knew of its location.


    Inside, there was a short tunnel that led into a single large underground room. It was fairly large and well lit, but at the same time the air was damp and stuffy. The light was provided by irregular crystal growths that hung from the ceiling, surrounded by white stalactites. The crystals projected white light, while the stalactites seemed to glow orange and red from the inside. There probably were iron deposits inside of them, although Fenrir had to admit he had never seen such glowing crystals before. The shadows they projected onto the ceiling all around flickered with the light. The contrast made those shadows appear completely black to the eye, and rather ominous. But he could feel no presences, and the air around the ceiling was completely still. He thought that at least some animals would inhabit those shadows, perhaps something similar to bats, but if there were they were completely hidden to him.


    At the center of the room, standing above a stone obelisk, there was a perfectly round metal sphere. It was suspended in mid-air around two feet from the polished red stone of the pillar, and was slowly rotating clockwise. Its surface was smooth and clean, reflecting the light coming from above as it rotated. It featured several golden lines criss crossing and drawing intricate patterns on its surface. As soon as Fenrir got close to it, he felt it react to his presence and to his jade.


    The sphere began glowing and heating up. It started to vibrate and whirr in place, moving so fast it became a blur. Then it suddenly stopped. Small beams of light filtered through its surface from the slits of its golden lines, becoming thicker and thicker as those lines detached themselves from the silver surface of the sphere and began hovering all around it. Then, the whole construct morphed and shifted, until it produced a kind of antenna at its summit. The antenna glowed blue, looking like it was being bathed in Cherenkov radiation, until it pointed towards the captain and fired a blue beam of lightning directly at his head. Then the world went black.


    <hr>


    [Compatible host detected]


    [Preliminary operations]


    [...]


    [...]


    [...]


    [...]


    [Preliminary operations successful]


    [Reading host memory]


    [...]


    [...]


    [Found relevant data:]


    >digital technology


    >microprocessors


    >data storage


    >classic computation


    >AIs


    >neural networks


    >quantum computing


    [Constructing system]Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    [...]


    [...]


    [Data found:]


    >RPG game system


    [Implementing]


    [...]


    [Building innate skills:]


    [...]


    [Unique Skill: Transcendent]


    [...]


    [System build successful]


    [Unique Skill: System Version 1.0.0]


    [Booting up]


    [...]


    [Found evidence of mana accumulation]


    [Magic affinity: F]


    <hr>


    Slowly, he tried to open his eyes. His head was pounding, and his vision was still blurry, but he managed to understand where he was. He was back in the familiar room on the tree, in what he supposed was Luna¡¯s home. He had passed out again, and the thought that the elder elf had to carry him all the way here was not very pleasant in his mind. But, most importantly, what were those weird things he thought he saw while he was unconscious? He tried to recall what the text said, but found it almost impossible to remember it clearly. He had been knocked out pretty hard, and it was normal for his memory to be all jumbled. But¡­ he felt different, somehow.


    ¡°Damn, I wish there was some kind of status report like on the ship.¡± He muttered to himself as he tried to sit upright. His body seemed fine, but his head hurt like hell. It was as if he had been run over by a truck. Except only his head.


    Fenrir [Level: 1]


    Magic affinity: [F]


    Unique skills: Transcendent; System Version 1.0.0


    Active Skills: none


    Passive Skills: none


    ¡°What?¡± he scratched the back of his head, incredulously looking at the holographic window that had appeared before him. It looked exactly like the status windows that he used back on the Defiant. But those were made out of congealed photons held in place by force fields, in other words they were a result of technology. There was no such tech here, nothing of the sorts of devices that could produce such an image in mid-air. He had checked, and the level of technology these people had was very much paleolithic. True, he hadn¡¯t seen much, but everything pointed towards a kind of bucolic village living in communion with nature. He couldn¡¯t imagine these elves secretly developing advanced technology, while at the same time living frugally inside of giant trees.


    He poked the screen with a finger, to see whether it was touch sensitive. The finger went straight through, warping the image around it momentarily. Then, he tried to identify whether there was a keyword that had to be said in order to conjure up and then make the screen disappear. ¡°Status.¡± he said again. Surely enough, the status window vanished.


    ¡°Status.¡± now it reappeared, just as before, hovering right in front of it. It moved with him as he moved around, remaining always at the best distance for reading.


    He examined it. So basically it featured a level next to his name, in a video game fashion. Then it mentioned magic and skills. Since pressing with his finger yielded no results, and neither did using words or thoughts, he decided to momentarily drop the matter until he had more data available. He changed clothes, making use of the clean ones the elves had generously offered him folded onto a chair, and then headed out of the room to look for known faces.


    Fortunately he found Eldor sitting in the living room, sipping some sort of tea at the table where they had dinner last night. Trying not to recall the unpleasant experience, he called out to him.


    ¡°Oh, hello. You are finally awake.¡± the elf said, drawing another sip of the steaming liquid. ¡°Want some?¡±


    ¡°Sure, thanks.¡± he took a cup and sipped. The liquid was bitter and fiery hot, but refreshing and invigorating. He could feel something odd going on inside of him as the tea made its way into his stomach, but the sensation was rather pleasant. It seemed unlikely that the elf would spike his tea, considering that he could have done whatever he wanted to him while he was out cold. He dismissed the idea. ¡°How long have I been out?¡±


    ¡°Just a couple of hours.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ why did the damn sphere zap me?¡±


    ¡°It was not just a sphere. That thing¡­ was the oracle. It¡¯s unbelievable, really. To think that the oracle would choose a human.¡± It was evident what the elf thought about humans. Somehow, though, Fenrir could feel that his deprecating words were not directed at him. Quite the opposite, actually, for he felt like Eldor now held some sort of respect or reverence towards him. It was hard to tell, given all his social ineptitude, but he felt a hint of that somewhere.


    ¡°It chose me? To do what?¡±


    ¡°That I do not know. You will have to find out your path yourself.¡± He said, and slowly rose from his wooden chair. He politely dismissed the man, and went off with his business.


    Feeling that he was no longer welcome in the room, Fenrir left. This conversation only left him with more questions, and the only thing he felt he needed right now was to see Lunora. He missed her: he hadn¡¯t seen her since yesterday evening. He began his descent down the hollow trunk of the massive tree that was home to his host family. It was impressive how the elf chief had managed to carry him all the way up here. Fenrir had all of his genetic enhancements to aid him, and yet he was already sweating profusely. And he was not even halfway down yet.


    Awarding passive skill: Endurance 1; Stamina 1


    ¡°Uh? What¡¯s that?¡± He said, stopping in his tracks. He sat down onto the branch he was in in order to examine the menu more safely. He didn¡¯t want to risk falling down several hundred meters just because he was distracted. Apparently the system that had installed itself in his head had rewarded him with two skills for the effort of climbing down the stairway.


    Endurance: increases proficiency in aerobic activities. Power increases with level.


    Stamina: increases proficiency in anaerobic activities. Power increases with level.


    Odd. But that was not all, for those two names had now appeared in his status screen, in the passive skills section. It really was like a video game, all the way down to skills and levels. He could feel the effect of those two new skills already. The descent now felt less tiring, and his breath less laboured. He felt he could run faster, and for longer. It was an awesome sensation, but where was this power coming from?


    Also, if he now had skills, did this mean he also had magic? Even if he had, though, he had no idea how to use it. His first attempts failed and made him realize just how cringe he must have been to see. If any of his old crew had seen him wave his hands around like that¡­ the crew¡­ damn he missed them.


    The rest of the descent went on without much happening. He kept looking down at his feet, feeling gloomy and sad. He cursed himself for thinking such sad thoughts even when he was genuinely feeling better. It was like his mind had not given him permission to be happy. He noticed that his skills had both gained a level, and that his descent felt much easier now, but he didn¡¯t care. No amount of skills or power will ever bring back his friends.


    But now he was here. In the present, not in the past. He shook his head, trying to clear away the dark clouds that had gathered. It was true that he couldn''t do anything to change the past, but that didn¡¯t mean that he could not change the future. He had an objective now, didn¡¯t he? He had sworn to protect Lunora, to be her friend and her guardian angel.

 6 - The two captains

    <h1>6 - The two captains</h1>


    Use of mana recorded: creation of a new skill to match mana movement. [10%]


    ¡°What?¡± He called out, surprised to see the new kind of notification appear as soon as he stepped out of the stairs. He heard the sound of wood splitting, and another notification appeared.


    [20%]


    He swiped his hand in the air to remove it, to no avail. He then remembered the mental procedure and freed his vision in order to look around. The notification itself was not too intrusive, but having text float in front of his nose was distracting even if the background was transparent. He looked around curiously. This was the first time he could walk around and explore freely. He was still very new to the experience of being on the surface of a planet. Everything was a source of wonder and awe for him: the bright blue sky, the smell of the earth and of the forest. The village was bustling with life, and he sat down to take it all in, a wide smile on his face. It was the first time he could relax ever since coming to this world, and he wanted to make the most out of it. He had no idea what the elves had planned for him, but the whole oracle business left him wondering. It didn¡¯t bother him, though, because he knew that without them he¡¯d be very dead by now. And he had nothing better to do. As long as what they ask him to do doesn¡¯t harm Lunora, he decided to do it. Speaking of which, he wondered what she was doing now. It was presumably morning, although he wasn¡¯t sure. He had grown up in space, but even if he knew how to read the sun¡¯s position on Earth, there was no guarantee it was the same here on this planet. But it didn¡¯t matter. He was happy, and relaxed. The dark voices and thoughts that had plagued his mind ever since the crash were strangely silent, and he wanted to make the most of this time of peace and quiet. He knew it was only the calm before the storm, but still he hoped this moment could last for a bit longer.


    There were a few people in the distance, elves, training with bows inside a small fenced field to his right. Three of them were shooting wooden training arrows at painted targets, while another was handling an empty bow. The target in front of him was painted on the side of a wide, hard and sturdy looking tree, and yet was riddled with deep holes. The elf cocked a nonexistent arrow into his bow, causing Fenrir to chuckle a bit. But, contrary to his expectations, as soon as his fingers touched the string a blue arrow appeared. It was translucent and ethereal, incorporeal even, but it travelled the air at great speed and lodged itself deep into the wood. A huge chunk of bark detached from the trunk and fell on the ground.


    [30%]


    That was magic! He continued watching for a bit, excited and awestruck.


    But suddenly his peace was interrupted by a loud voice yelling from somewhere behind him.


    ¡°Finally! The mighty and strong human has blessed us with his presence!¡± Said the voice, a little bit unsteady and unnecessarily loud. Several people laughed together with him as they approached Fenrir. He turned around, visibly annoyed, to see who was coming his way and saw a group of five young elves approaching him. They were all tall and slender, with golden hair and delicate features. The one in the middle had slightly reddened cheeks, and was walking weirdly. As soon as the captain¡¯s gaze locked with his own, his face scrunched up in a deep frown.


    ¡°You! You think you are so important, so untouchable. All you humans are the same. You all act high and mighty, but the only thing you¡¯re good at is hiding yourselves behind your shiny armor and your metal weapons. You are nothing but cowards!¡±


    Several people, probably together with his group, cheered him on. Meanwhile, a crowd was gathering all around in a circle, and even the elves who were training had stopped to watch what was happening.


    He didn¡¯t know how to reply. He could feel dark clouds gather in his mind, and felt a strange kind of raw, uncontrolled anger build up inside of him. He tried to speak but no words came to his mind. He had no idea how to reply to such an idiotic insult, and had zero context to draw from. He cursed his own lack of knowledge. There was only one thing he could do: improvise. This was not a first contact diplomatic mission, he was no longer a real captain, and he had no idea just how to act. This was clearly outside what was predicted by the space navy standard protocol. But, he had encountered situations such as this. In online role playing games, granted, but he knew how to act. All he had to do was to stick to his character. Putting on his chaotic neutral persona, he replied to the taunt.


    ¡°You think I am the coward, yet you approach me armed and surrounded by allies. What, you scared of me?¡±


    The elf tensed, and straightened up his back in an attempt to look intimidating.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you think. You are a trespasser, an invader. Go back to those cities of stone you humans like so much.¡±


    ¡°Why do I have the impression I¡¯m talking to a backwards troglodyte?¡± he said to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear him. The plan was to provoke the elf into a fight, overpower him and put a stop to the harassment before it could degenerate further.


    Or perhaps it was an opportunity, some part of him told him. He felt his mind cloud over, his thoughts overwhelmed by a dark red mist like that one night in the plains.


    It would be a great way to vent some of his frustrations, and the elf had it coming, had he not? Yes, it was all that stupid elf¡¯s fault. He had done nothing wrong, and yet that guy came here guns blazing and accused him of random things? Then it was not Fenrir¡¯s fault if the other guy ended up hurt.


    ¡°A what? How dare you mock me. I will teach you a lesson!¡± the elf continued, but Fenrir paid him no mind. Insulted, he readied his bow.


    <hr>


    ¡°What is he doing?¡± Said Lunora, who was watching the scene unfold from her room on the tree. The distance was too great for voices to be heard, and even the light bent slightly as it traversed five hundred meters of atmosphere. But nothing escaped her eyes as she watched the scene.


    Tanyth, that idiot. What was he doing, messing with her guest? She had to put a stop to that, before Fenrir could get hurt. She turned around, grabbed her bow, and rushed for the stairs.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw her father, Eldor, standing at the doorway.


    ¡°Why not? They are trying to gang up on him!¡± She said nervously, throwing her hands in the air as she talked. She soon realised her demeanor was not very ladylike, but she didn¡¯t care.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°This is not your fight. If he can¡¯t handle even this much, then the oracle wouldn¡¯t have sacrificed itself for him.¡±


    ¡°But! Even if that were true¡­ we can¡¯t have him fight against the people of the village.¡±


    ¡°Tanyth had been warned, and yet chose to ignore a direct order from me. This shall be his punishment.¡±


    She tried to argue, but her father forcibly suppressed her attempt with his overwhelming aura. Defeated, she rushed back at the window to watch the scene from above. There was a commotion in the group, as two distinct fronts had created. On one side there was Fenrir together with two of the guards, while on the other side there was Tanyth¡¯s group together with a few of the hunters that were supposed to be training in the fields. She strained her eyes to better understand what was happening. Three spirit arrows appeared above her friend¡¯s head, and started circling around the area to keep his enemies in check. He then lunged forwards, grabbed Tanyth by the neck, and threw him several meters into the air. The elf landed on the hard ground, presumably with a thud, even though she couldn¡¯t hear anything. The others quickly grabbed his unconscious body and retreated hastily, cursing all the while.


    There was something on Fenrir¡¯s face, a darkness in his eyes. She couldn¡¯t be sure, she was so far away, but she felt a shiver down her spine. For a moment she thought she had looked into an impossibly deep abyss. Then, as quickly as the sensation came, the feeling disappeared and she once again saw her friend.


    Her Fenrir, the man she had fallen in love with.


    <hr>


    [100%]


    Creation successful. Awarding new skill: spirit arrow 1.


    Spirit arrow: a racial skill unique to the elves. Conjure an ethereal arrow (mana construct, tangible) that you can control with your mind (user locked, Fenrir). Items such as [bow] (weapon locked, material dependent) increase the power at the cost of control. Power and number of arrows increase with skill level, magic affinity, and mana used (expand to show power ratios and formulas).


    He stared at the notification, feeling more and more anger building up inside. Those damn messages. He was sure his blood pressure was so high he could have an aneurysm anytime now.


    ¡°Now, now, now. Last chance to surrender.¡± Fenrir said, pulling the two mana arrows from his body as if they were irrelevant splinters. He looked at his opponents and grinned, even as a stream of blood stained his clothes. His grin was crooked, asymmetric and wild, clashing violently with the neat image of his exposed pearl white teeth. The elves looked at him, unsure about what to do, eyes wide as if they were looking at a monster.


    Meanwhile, he tried to free his field of vision of all those damned system messages. He wanted to scream and punch something. Apparently the system shared his love for overly complicated things, and had invaded his mind with status messages and numbers. He quickly came to understand the importance of a clean user interface, a thing he had always taken for granted before. Fuck that, fortunaltely he could take it out on those stupid elves that had challenged him. Beating them to a pulp would do wonders for his stress.


    He grunted as he pulled out the last of the arrows, and looked at its bloodied tip for a moment. Another message appeared.


    New effect discovered: 15% physical damage reduction due to [Genetic Enhancement]


    Awarding corresponding skill: Genetic augment (body) 1


    [Secondary effect detected... Awaiting trigger condition to award skill.]


    Genetic augment (body): your body is stronger (str bonus), tougher (dmg reduction) and overall better (general stat increase) than an average human (race, locked). Power scales with user level and skill level. (expand to show power ratios and formulas).


    He looked at the elves responsible for the damage, and for the messages. He crushed the arrow-shaped magic constructs in his hands. It would be hilarious if those elves perished under their own magic, wouldn¡¯t it? He focused his mind into activating the new skill, channeling mana into it. The sensation was strange and mysterious, but now was not the time to investigate. Already annoyed by all those useless messages, he directed all of his rage and bottled up emotions into the magic casting. He managed to conjure three arrows by burning all of his mana pool, and instructed them to circle around him defensively. The arrows obeyed, bending to his will as he commanded them, all of his pent up anger and powerlessness manifesting as a crackling thunder inside the arrows themselves. A few sparks and arcs of electricity cut through the air, filling it with the smell of ozone.


    Modifier: [lightning] applied.


    Spirit arrow 1 -> 2. New effect: modifier has been incorporated into the skill by the user. Skill evolution successful. New skill: Elemental spirit arrow added as a variation of the old skill. Both are now available.


    ¡°Impossible! How did he do that?¡± One of the thugs said to the leader of their group, who was even more confused than his fellows. Meanwhile, Fenrir was growing more and more enraged. He fought down the instinct to swat those status screens like flies out of the sky, knowing it was useless, and directed his gaze at his opponents. If the screens were intangible, then he would swat the elves instead.


    The elves watched the arrows move in the air with a stupefied expression, while their leader was standing still with his mouth opening and closing as if to say something. While he was distracted, Fenrir grabbed him and launched him in the air.


    You have incapacitated: elf thug. Awarding experience.


    Level up!


    Level 1 -> 2


    All base stats increased. System updated to Version 1.0.1. New features: map; waypoints. New feature: magic manifestation. New active skill: pulse scan 1. New passive skill: auto mapping 1.


    Auto mapping: automatically add an area to the map. Range: line of sight (sense, Fenrir).


    Pulse scan: reveal and area and permanently add it to the map. Range: 10*([skill level]+[user level]) meters (sense, Fenrir). Cost: low. Cooldown: 100 minutes


    Hidden quest completed: discover how to use magic without external help.


    Reward: magic affinity upgrade [F]->[E]


    Feature: magic manifestation has produced a unique skill: Magic conversion.


    Magic conversion: all magic is automatically converted into a skill (source: Fenrir, target: Fenrir). Effectiveness and speed varies depending on context (expand). All magic created by the user is immediately converted into a skill. User will be unable to use magic, except for creating new skills.


    ¡°FUCK THOSE MESSAGES!¡± He yelled. The air felt still, and everyone was completely silent and immobile as they watched him.


    He paid no mind to the eerie atmosphere all around him, his mind completely invaded by red mist. There was only one thought: violence. Actually, there was also a complete, undiluted and unfathomably deep hatred towards those floating letters that kept appearing and appearing over and over again. The amount of clutter in his field of view was impressive, he conceded. It had managed to enrage him to this point, very impressive indeed.


    He directed the arrows towards the other elves. He would do a massacre today. Fuck those screens and these stupid caveman elves. The least he could do was to mince their meat with their own spirit arrows until they were no longer recognisable. Idiots, fuck them, fuck this world and fuck the system messages. It was their fault if he was like this, okay? It was all them, not him. He wanted to be peaceful, he was very grateful they had saved him. But no, they had to just come and provoke him. It was their fault. Their fault only. They were about to die because of their own stupid decisios.


    Then he heard footsteps, and a voice. The red mist dissipated, and the arrows vanished a few millimeters away from the faces of their targets.


    With newfound clarity, the captain quickly skimmed through the messages and then dismissed them, leaving them for later review. He was just in time to catch Lunora, who had bolted towards him at an impossible speed. She hugged him and smiled. He gently returned her smile and stroked her silky hair.

 7 - Love

    <h1>7 - Love</h1>


    Fenrir was sitting on a chair in his room, back on the treehouse. The ascent was slow, both of them hopping onto the branches that made up the stairway in complete silence. He had a splitting headache due to having consumed all of his mana, and now that he was no longer under the effect of the adrenaline he was paying the price for his foolish actions. As soon as they were in the privacy of his room, he told her what happened from his point of view. It felt right, and it was pleasant to have someone to talk to. Words came out like a river, full of emotions he didn¡¯t even know he was holding inside. He did not hold back, telling her of how he felt, of those raging emotions and those compulsions he had towards killing and violence. He wondered for a moment whether to tell her about the system, but did not. He felt guilty for that, and promised to himself that he would tell her as soon as possible. It was just that right now, it was not a good moment.


    ¡°I would have killed them, if it weren¡¯t for you.¡± he said, looking at his feet. The only thing that was left now was an endless sense of shame and regret. More for what could have happened, rather than what had happened. Those idiots had it coming, but did not deserve to die. And if she hadn¡¯t called to him the moment she did, he would have killed them on the spot with the arrows. He had no intention to hold back, no justification for what he wanted to do.


    He would have liked not being able to remember. Perhaps hide behind the fact that his memories of that fight were all foggy and confused, that he didn¡¯t know what he did and so on. But it wasn¡¯t the case. He remembered perfectly the confused expressions of their faces as he conjured those arrows out of thin air. The sense of power and the realization that their life was his to take. Their terror as they realized they were going to die. And he enjoyed it. Every single moment of it.


    Lunora said nothing for a while, as she sat with her legs crossed on his bed. Finally, she reached out for his hand, took it and held it close to her.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a hard time for you. And I don¡¯t blame you for what you did, nobody does.¡± she said, and pulled him even closer.


    He got up from his chair and went to sit close to her, once again in silence.


    They enjoyed their moment for a while, as the memory of the event grew distant and unimportant. The only thing that mattered was that they were here now, together and safe. She let her head drop gently onto his shoulder, and he instinctively reached for her hair with his hands to stroke it. He had been developing a habit, he feared, but her hair was just too soft and warm not to stroke it. He couldn¡¯t resist doing that.


    He fondled it for a while, and she giggled. A cute, little giggle as he tickled her on the base of her neck. Then she too began ticking him until the two were laughing and chasing one another on the bed.


    Then they relaxed, and they found themselves laying on the bed next to each other, hugging very closely to fit onto the small single bed. But it wasn¡¯t unpleasant, quite the contrary. He felt calm, safe and completely at ease. Just like every time he was with her, he felt good. He felt alive, and that life was worth living after all. A smile crept on his face, and time flew by unnoticed.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to ask me why I can use your magic?¡± he said, and rolled to the side to face her.


    She too rolled to face him, and the two found themselves so close to each other they could feel the heat of their breath. He lost himself in her deep emerald eyes, watching her gentle and beautiful face as she relaxed. She took a moment before replying, observing him.


    ¡°No,¡± she finally said in a gentle, soothing voice. ¡°Just tell me whenever you feel like telling me.¡±


    She got up from the bed, straightened her clothes and motioned him to follow.


    ¡°Come with me. I want to show you something.¡±


    <hr>


    The stairway went up and up, seemingly forever. It was made out of wood, and the walls were made out of the tree¡¯s leaves. It kept going, straight, until it ended in a wide open space. It was a wooden platform built on top of the Tree itself, and it was connected to four other platforms at the other ends of the space. Lunora was still holding his hand, enthusiastically leading him to an observation point she had personally spotted the previous day. She was ecstatic, and could barely keep herself calm. Finally today was the day, she had steeled her resolve and got this far. Just a few more moments, she told herself, but she could barely contain the swirl of emotions within her. She looked at him as he took his first steps on the platform, looking around. She felt a smile make its way on her face as she took in the beauty of his face, the perfection of his features.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    There were memories they had formed together, memories she kept close to her heart. And in the few instants while she waited for him, she replayed all of those memories in her mind. She thought back at the first time they met, when she saw a broken man who had just lost everything. She then remembered the stories he told, the life he had shared with her. Then came the happiest memories, right after the most difficult ones. When her mother came to her and told her that he would survive. All the time she spent watching over him as he slept. The time he opened his eyes and the expression on his face as he realised she was there with him.


    Now it was time. She would see her plan to completion. She led him to her personal spot, and leaned on the wooden fence that faced the forest below. Fenrir followed her and began exploring the new place until he too leaned onto the fence, taking in the view. His eyes were open wide in awe, and darted to and fro to examine all of the interminable expanse of the forest.


    Below them the forest stretched on forever, as far as the eye could see. She knew that barely twenty miles away there were the plains, and his ship, but they were concealed behind a small hill covered in trees. She had chosen the observation post on this side of the tree for this very reason, and also because this was the best place to watch the sunset. Away were the painful memories of the past, away were the bad and the hurt, hidden forever behind a sea of trees. The effect made it look like the sea of green below extended in every direction, without end. It was the best view the entire village could offer, and she knew she was very lucky to have it all for herself. For once, she was happy to be the daughter of the chief, so she could share with the man she loved a place as unique as this. And she felt proud showing it to him, sharing her own, private, little piece of heaven. This place was only hers, and it was full of happy memories from her younger years. She used to come here when she felt sad, and immediately felt happier. Or when she wanted to think, finding the place calming and relaxing. Sometimes she used to come up here just to take in the view of the forest, and it reminded her of her connection with nature, and life.


    Today, she would form the happiest memory of her life.


    The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, coloring the whole forest amber and gold. A few taller trees carved little tendrils of darkness through the green of the treetops. Fenrir was looking at the scene with his mouth open, his lips forming a wide ¡®o¡¯ on his handsome face. His beard was black, punctuated by a few patches of white here and there. She remembered his expression the first time he saw them, after she had brought him to the village. He didn¡¯t believe what he was seeing, and was blaming her for pulling a prank on him. He was too young to have white beard, he had said, and the way he reacted every time he caught her looking at it made her laugh and giggle. She liked it, and thought it was a nice touch to his features.


    Even his dark hair was shining under the light of the sun. She remembered him telling her how he had never truly enjoyed a real sunset, and even if she didn¡¯t understand the reason, she had promised to herself that she would change this. And here she was, alone with him, watching the sunset.


    She felt her heart beat faster and faster, her cheeks flush and grow hot. She turned to see his face, bathed in the deep red of the last of day. Her breath grew shallow and fast. She looked at him intently while he was still lost in the distance. His deep blue eyes glowed in the crimson light, and little tears like rubies were forming at their sides and rolling down his cheeks. He was paying them no mind, instead he was smiling gently. A peaceful and relaxed smile of joy that was rarer than the most precious of gems. She turned to face him. He saw her and tried to straighten his expression, but only managed to cry even harder.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ for this. It¡¯s truly a magical moment-¡± he said, between the sobs, but she didn¡¯t allow him to finish.


    She ran towards him, and threw herself at him. She couldn¡¯t wait anymore, she couldn¡¯t hold it any longer. They stumbled, and found themselves on the ground. She was on top of him, and he was watching her closely from below. Her heart accelerated even more, she thought it was going to burst. She found herself smiling at him, and she knew the time was right. This was the moment she had been waiting for. This was the time for her to be finally happy. She closed her eyes, placed her hand behind his head and pulled his lips towards hers.


    Gently, their lips touched, and the world seemed to disappear around them. She could still feel the gentle warmth of the dusk on her face, or the breeze moving her hair, but she didn¡¯t pay attention. She focused on the new, fantastic sensations that came to her. The warmth of his lips, the prickly sensation of his beard, and the feeling of his heart beating in unison with hers.


    She could feel his tension melting, his expression relaxing as he too enjoyed their moment of intimacy. Alone, away from all the world.


    They kissed, and then kissed again. Then he held her tight, and the two of them just laid there, on the wooden floor, in each other¡¯s arms. They did not care about anything else, they were there, and they were lost in each other. The sun had set, and the sky was coming to life with the twinkling light of the stars. She turned to face him once again, and he too looked at her in the eyes. He tightened his arms, and squeezed her even harder, until their lips met again and they kissed for hours and hours.


    In the end, they were still there, Lunora resting on his chest and feeling the comfortable heat of his body. His chest was moving up and down with every breath, and he was playing with her hair.


    ¡°I love you.¡± he told her, and then pulled her to him again as he kissed her. She too kissed him, and she didn¡¯t care how many times they did that, it was never going to be enough.


    ¡°I love you too.¡±

 8 - Aegri somnia vana

    <h1>8 - Aegri somnia vana</h1>


    They slowly drifted asleep under the stars. The night air was cool and pleasant, and the gentle light of the sky highlighted the outline of their joined figures. The breeze sent little shivers down their bodies as it chilled the thin layer of sweat on their skin, which made them look like they were coated in an ethereal sheen. He felt the goosebumps on her skin, and gently rolled to the side to envelop her. They were happy, and relaxed, finally at home with each other.


    Lunora¡¯s little body was resting comfortably in the cradle he had made with his own bigger body, and she was snugly pressed against his bare skin. He felt her skin grow smooth once again as she heated up inside the little nest. Her gentle curves seemed to melt with the night atmosphere, and her modest breasts rested onto his stomach. He opened his eyes, taking in the beautiful sight in front of him, the spectacle of life and love that was the woman resting so close to him. He loved her so much, and yet never really realized it until now. He was so happy she made the first step, because he feared he would have never done it otherwise. And such happiness, such joy and such emotions would have been locked away from him forever. She was so perfect he wanted to lose himself in the sight of her. Not only of her body, but of her whole being. Her perfect, tiny body was just the shell that contained the real gem inside, and he knew it. She barely reached his chest in height, and looked small and fragile. But on the inside he always saw a will to live, a fierce fire and a vitality that made her who she was. She didn¡¯t talk much, but neither did he, and it was fine. They didn¡¯t need to talk in order to understand each other. It was like they were made to be together. And finally destiny had brought them together, and he would defend their happiness together with everything he had. Nothing would ever take it away from him.


    Fenrir looked up at the sky and watched the spectacle of light before his eyes. He could feel the little elf¡¯s face resting on his chest, the heat radiating from her body and her heart pulsing rhythmically. She was sleeping like a little angel that had come only for him, even though it was him who had literally fallen from the sky. She was clearly exhausted and had quickly fallen asleep while still on top of him, and he didn¡¯t dare disturb her sacred sleep. He still could not believe what happened. He had never thought she could harbor such sentiments for him, and had already resigned himself to only being a side role in her life. It was her who was going to be the most important person for him, but he never thought it could also be the other way around.


    Still, the thought filled him with joy. There still was the part of his mind that felt guilty, that felt that he didn¡¯t deserve happiness for what he did. But he shut it up. He crushed those thoughts before they could ruin his little happy moment. He won¡¯t let them. He was here, together with the woman he loved. They had confessed their feelings for each other, and accepted each other deeply and intimately. He had even managed to disable the system and its messages, so that they wouldn¡¯t spoil the moment. And it was worth it. He felt like he was living in a fairy tale, in a romantic moment straight out of a cheesy movie. And it felt good.


    He closed his eyes and slowly he felt his consciousness fade into Morpheus¡¯ arms. There was a smile on his face, a relaxed and tranquil smile he was wearing now for what felt like the first time in his entire life. He was truly happy. He wished this moment could last forever¡­ no, that many more moments like this would follow. That his life could be finally happy with her.


    <hr>


    He was jolted awake by a tremor. The wooden boards of the floor creaked, the air stiffened and became pungent and sharp. There was a terrible sound, like metal being torn apart and twisted horribly. His eyes snapped open, and his hand instinctively reached for Lunora. She was still here with him, inside the small cradle he had made with his own body. She had one eye open, and was looking around in confusion. Their eyes met, and she smiled gently for a moment. He returned her smile, then focused on what was happening around them. He felt his cheeks flush as he realized that he had been her first thought as she woke up, just like she had been his first thought. They were still on top of the treehouse, and it was still late night. But there were no stars in the sky, instead what looked like a deep black void had opened on top of them. It was roughly circular in shape, with ragged edges enveloped in a mist that shone deep emerald. Another sound came shortly after, a high pitch buzz like electricity charging. He felt his jade pendant, the little green stone that was Lunora¡¯s first gift to him, grow warm and electric against his skin. He braced for something to happen, and quickly went to hold the elf tightly. Whatever was happening, he wouldn''t let it harm her. Even if it cost him his life.


    The sky began glowing bright red, the light radiating from a point infinitely deep within the dark portal that had opened above their heads. Something was coming from inside it, something terribly powerful and destructive, his senses told him. It was something akin to a premonition, a sixth sense that he had developed in all the years he had served as a captain. It happened when his mind processed information faster than his consciousness could handle them. And it was rarely wrong. If it was telling him something bad was about to happen, then he better prepare for the worst.


    He scrambled to activate the system interface once more, dismissed all the old notifications and tried to use it to gauge the surroundings.


    [Anomalous situation detected. Granting temporary permissions.]


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.[Overriding...]


    He felt his pendant grow hotter and hotter against his skin, almost to the point of burning it. It changed color, turning to orange then white. Lunora was still between his arms, protectively curled into a small ball, shaking. She probably had no idea what was happening, just like him. She had felt his distress and was standing as still as she could, but no doubt all the tension that was leaking from him had reached her.


    Still, the situation was beginning to look dire. Whatever that thing in the sky was, it seemed like it was done charging and was about to fire. And so it did. A red beam of pure energy descended from the heavens like god¡¯s judgement, right on top of their heads. The beam traversed the distance insanely fast, thick as the tree itself, until it was about to strike them.


    Then everything changed. He looked around, confused, until he recognised the familiar angular shapes and metal constructs. He was back at the ship, right in the place where he had almost died. It felt like ages ago, so far back that he had almost forgotten about that. He had been so happy he had relegated those memories in the darkest corners of his memory. Only the voices that haunted him, the vestiges of those events, were still roaming his mind freely. He could feel them even now. He crushed them. This was an emergency, there was no time for panic. He was trained for this.


    He looked down at the jade. It was gone, and in its place a small pile of ash was left. It slid down his skin, marking it white with the chalky powder until it too disappeared. Its power spent forever in order to save him.


    Wait. He mentally cursed. If the jade had transported him, then it meant that Lunora was still at the tree. He imagined the tree splitting and exploding under the fiery rage of that beam. He had seen similar weapons in simulations, and he knew how much power a beam like that could deliver. He imagined the fire raging and surrounding the little defenseless girl as she screamed for help. As she looked for him but found him missing from right under her nose. He could see and feel her tears and her sorrow consuming her from inside as the fire consumed her from the outside.


    No, no, no. His mind was becoming a mess. He felt the red mist rise in his mind, the anger and ire take hold of his consciousness. He would kill whoever did this. He would track them at the ends of the world and make them pay with blood for what they¡¯ve done.


    Then he heard a soft moan coming from behind one of the bridge consoles of the Defiant. It was her voice. His mind cleared. His focus returned. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards her, grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He cried as he held her, and then kissed her passionately for minutes. She too was crying as they kissed, and was pressing her lips violently onto his. They had seen death in the eye, and both thought they would die alone. Now that they were alive and together their desire for each other was a million times stronger. She kissed him even more violently, all the adrenaline in her body had made her movements shaky and powerful. She began tearing open his clothes, and removing her own.


    Fenrir was staring, inebriated, at her naked figure. But then, from the broken window that once was the main screen of the spaceship he was a gigantic mushroom cloud. The window was several meters above the ground level, and two thirds of the way to the top of the spaceship. This meant that the bulk of the ship was now buried deep underground. But that wasn¡¯t the matter right now. It was high enough from the ground, and far enough from the edge of the forest to allow him to see what was happening in the distance.


    The naked silhouette of the elf was shining bright orange, the light coming in from behind her as the ominous cloud expanded and bloated until it occupied a good portion of the sky. It was like witnessing a nuclear explosion. He had seen nuclear explosions, in the holo-tapes recorded from orbit during the third world war. He knew what kind of devastation those clouds meant. He remembered the sight of earth, perpetually covered by brown clouds, beneath his feet from his room on the orbital ring. The promise of a paradise long gone, just a few kilometers below him. Every day of his life he had watched, and he had hoped. One day he found himself on this planet, and finally felt that his hopes and desires were answered. He had seen the green, felt the fresh air and the smell of life. But now he was witnessing death once again.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡± the words escaped his lips, and Lunora turned around to see what was happening behind her. Her naked body was perfect in its proportions, her skin smooth and clean, a thin layer of sweat was covering her and evaporating in little clouds of vapor above her. It reflected the orange light in a shine that would make even mountains bow down to her perfection. Fenrir had to fight the urge to stare at her with his mouth open, because he knew what he had to do.


    ¡°What is that? It¡¯s coming from the village!¡± She said, her voice breaking down in a panic. She didn¡¯t even notice that she was standing beside the broken window naked, she was staring wide eyed and immobile at the rapidly evolving cloud.


    ¡°It¡¯s bad news, my love.¡± he said, cringing at his way with the words. He had never experienced love, and had no idea how to call her now that they confessed their feelings. He was pretty sure they were together, but now what? He silenced these thoughts and let his battle hardened instincts as a captain of a spaceship take action. Now it was the time to act, not to feel. That would come later. Almost like switching personality, his captain mind began to work possible courses of action. ¡°I know what you are thinking, but you must fight the panic and help me if we want to survive.¡±


    She didn¡¯t move. Instead she looked out of the window, the orange light making her tears into bright jewels of sorrow. Fenrir placed himself in front of her, cutting her view of the outside with his massive body.


    ¡°Hey, come here.¡± He placed his hands on her shoulders, then hugged her, trying to make her feel safe. ¡°I need your help.¡±


    She shook her head violently, and the action seemed to restore some kind of clarity to her mind. There was a fire in her eyes now, a determination and a will so powerful it would split entire planets. She was angry now. And she wanted to survive. ¡°What do I need to do?¡±

 9 - Red alert (v2)

    <h1>9 - Red alert</h1>


    The beam was still there, on top of what once was the Tree of Life, relentlessly hammering the surface with its immense energies. The sensors of the ship were set at their lowest setting to save energy, at least until he managed to reactivate the reactor. But even the low resolution images he was getting were enough to give him an idea of what was happening near the village. Where once was the gigantic tree, now there was only a huge crater. It was probably several meters deep and its bottom appeared red and glowing. The beam at the center of the crater was drilling into the earth and melting the stone all around it. Even farther away, the heat was so great it was turning the whole area around the village to lava. The problem was that the area was expanding rapidly, and the entire forest was quickly turning from green to deep crimson.


    Perhaps it was the effect of magic, then, that was turning everything into a scene from hell. If that was the case, would his plan work? He had no idea if he could use technology to defend against magic. He had no idea what magic even was, and without that how could he hope to neutralize it? He had a vague feel for what they called mana, and he knew how to use it to activate the skills the system had given to him. But would that be enough? To quote Sun Tzu: if you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Now: he was pretty confident he knew what his ship was capable of, albeit the science of it was sketchy at best. But he had no idea what he was going against. And that was a problem. Still, running away wasn¡¯t an option considering how fast the zone was expanding, so he dismissed his doubts and began to act.


    Fenrir conjured the map, the one he had gotten thanks to the system interface that somehow was now residing inside his brain. As soon as he used the sensors to passively scan the surrounding area, the black parts of the map were filled with a bird¡¯s eye view of what was happening outside. It was as precise as the sensors were able to see, and it automatically filled in the names of known places and of where he had been. The village was now a red circle of molten material, and the circle was growing exponentially in size. At the same time all the forest around it was turning first red then black as fire was ravaging uncontrolled, turning all the trees into charcoal.


    The ship was functioning by drawing energy from the quickly depleting auxiliary power batteries. He knew the first thing to do was to get the reactor back online. He activated the master AI of the bridge, bringing all the dead consoles and alarms back to life. Lunora jumped for a moment at the sudden rush of light and noise, but there was no time for that now, so after reassuring her that everything was alright he quickly directed her towards a console. At the same time, he felt something come from him and go towards her. Some kind of energy, similar to mana but at the same time very different. He had no idea what it was, but he felt as if he was now sharing something with her. Something very profound and intimate. He tried to investigate it for a moment, even though there was no time for that. He felt strangely drawn to it, he could feel her emotions calling for him through the strange link they now shared. He reached out, and indeed he felt her mind through it. He saw images of her life, happy memories flashed in an instant before disappearing. Then he saw fire burning, he felt fear and anguish. He felt pain, and could feel that he was sweating and his breathing was growing uncontrolled. He sent his own emotions then. He tried to convey his love, his deep affection towards her. He tried to reassure her and calm her the best he could. His mind was trained by all the years in the space navy: countless battles and life and death situations. If there was a place he felt truly at home, it was this. And he sent her that. He sent his steel resolve, his tenacity and resilience. His hopes and dreams along with the knowledge that yes, they will come true.


    And he felt the response to that too. The link grew calmer and less intrusive, as her mind quieted down and relaxed. Finally the link seemed to almost disappear. It was still there, but dormant and inactive. He was sure it would reactivate at times of need, although he had no idea why he was so sure of that. If this was magic, or one of his skills, then he felt truly blessed by the gift that had been given to him. His mind wandered for a moment: it was curious as to why and how it all happened. It was thirsty for knowledge and experience with the new tool given to him. At the same time he couldn¡¯t help but be a little bit suspicious of this new thing. It was one thing to give him powers, and another to interfere with the people he cared about. He had to investigate it further, enough to be sure it would not be of harm to the elf at least. Incidentally, no new messages appeared in the interface, meaning that if it was really a skill, then the skill was something he already had.


    He shook his head to return to the present.


    ¡°Watch the power gauge. Read me the numbers you see.¡± Fenrir said, after instructing the elf on how to read the console on the bridge. It was the tactical console, and it was strange seeing Lunora there, dressed in the tattered clothes she had to put back on in a hurry. The last time that console had been manned, it had been the giant of a woman that used to be the tactical advisor for the starship. The memory of the moment he found her dead still haunted him, and seeing the console come to life once again made it all the worse. It was a chapter of his life he desperately tried closing, but that time and time again kept reopening itself. It pained him, but he had to move on now. There was a new priority in his life now, and he had to defend her. He felt a wave of reassurance and compassion come through the mental link. He smiled at the elf, before turning away from her.


    He rushed out of the bridge and through the corridors, towards the engineering section. For now the ship was being powered by the auxiliary power banks, but if they wanted to survive the incoming devastation they had to reactivate the fusion core. And to do that he had to reach the heart of the ship, where the core was. Fortunately, in his madness he had cleared the ship of all the bodies, and granted them a proper burial, so he didn¡¯t encounter anything on his way there. There were occasional stains of hardened blood here and there, but being so deep underground no animals had come to investigate the smell. Coincidentally the hull was so thick that not even the crash had managed to rupture it, at least not visibly between the bridge and the engine room, so no water had leaked inside. Perhaps the lower decks were flooded, or will be overgrown with vegetation given enough time, but he had no idea.


    He reached the enormous room. The sliding metal door opened, slowly and almost painfully as it drew at the depleting reserve energy. In the middle there was the huge cylinder that made the contained fusion reaction possible. It was several meters in radius, and three decks in height. All around it the containment devices made a gigantic donut of technology that hugged the reinforced glass tightly. And inside that glass, soon a new sun would be born. He hoped he would make it in time. If the energy in the batteries went under 3%, then igniting the spark would be impossible. And there would be no way of powering up the reactor without the spark.


    ¡°Can you hear me?¡± He asked through the earpiece, while beginning to wake the computers up. First he had to make sure there were no leaks or structural damage to the core itself. He tapped one of the holographic screens that had popped into existence in the room. This one was the main controller hub, and was right beside the rim of machinery around the core. The miniaturized portrait of the reactor was still dark, but at least it was not flashing red.


    The answer came after a few seconds, probably after Luna managed to get the earpiece right. ¡°I can hear you, is everything all right?¡± she said, panting. She must have been startled when she heard the voice come out of the device, or so Fenrir thought. He had no idea whether magic stones existed in this world, but it was plausible considering what he had seen. Indeed the feeling that came to him through the link was different, almost like she had been querying it about something and trying to understand a very difficult topic. In any case, he read the report on the screen and ran quick calculations in his mind.


    ¡°The damage seems minimal. I¡¯ll see what I can do. What¡¯s the percentage?¡± he asked. The computer in front of him was displaying the list of problems with the core, some more serious than others, and he did not dare investigate what the errors were about. All he needed to know was whether the spark was still functioning or not. Despite the name, the spark was actually a very complex system of lasers and mirrors designed to focus an immense amount of energy in a single point. That point would heat up to unfathomable temperatures and ignite the self sustained nuclear fusion reactions inside the energy core. That was not all, for it also provided with enough pressure to make the reaction sustainable at all. But those were all technicalities, or so he had to say to himself, because he knew that if that particular piece was malfunctioning... then everything would be lost. There was just no way to fix it here and now, perhaps not even in a year without a team of engineers and the right tools for it.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°It says batteries at 5%. Is that good?¡± she asked, her voice was low and very cute as she tried to make sense of the strange writing she was seeing. It was a miracle she could even understand it at all, Fenrir thought. He had spent less than five minutes teaching her the basics for numbers, but he did not teach her how to read words. Then how did she manage to read the words? Had she deduced they were batteries, or had she read it? He cast aside those questions for now.


    ¡°Not really, no. But don¡¯t worry I¡¯m working on it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± She said. Cute! He was getting distracted but couldn¡¯t help but think how much he wanted to hug her and pinch her cheeks. Usually she was so shy she barely talked, but damn her little voice was too cute. He had to devise a plan to get her to talk more.


    He tinkered with the screens a bit more, and the glass pillar at the center of the room began to hum. The system that resided in his mind showed him a new message. He examined it as he waited for the core to do its thing. Looking at it won¡¯t change anything, right?


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Skill acquired: Fusion energy expert 1</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Fusion energy expert: You are mastering the field of fusion energy. You can handle complex calculations better and understand the fundamental equations on a deeper level.</li>


    </ul>


    It was cool to gain a skill like this, and it was certainly going to be useful. He could already feel more confident in what he was doing, and his work getting faster. Soon the humming became stronger and more melodious, almost like a voice. The engine was entering the last phase before being fully operational.


    ¡°How¡¯s the cloud looking, Luna?¡± He asked her, as he put in the last command. He pressed execute and waited.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting bigger¡­ Fenrir?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡±


    He felt his heart melt. ¡°Don¡¯t be. I¡¯m here with you. Everything is gonna be fine, I promise.¡±


    ¡°Promise?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Now, can you do me a favour? Go to the chair in the middle of the room. Sit on it. Are you on it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now on your left there is a screen with the image of a spaceship. Push the big button.¡±


    ¡°Done!¡±


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Enhanced pulse scan detected. Updating minimap.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Scanning technology analyzed and incorporated.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Skill: pulse scan 1 -> 3; Range increased, accuracy increased. Cost down, cooldown reduced.</li>


    </ul>


    Nice, he thought. He looked up at the fusion core. It was purring like a kitten. He was lucky all it took to boot it up was pressing some buttons, because he had no idea how to fix a broken fusion reactor. He was no engineer, and even though he liked science, he surely had no technical expertise. He sighed, and turned towards the door. Also, he noticed a quite pleasant change in the way the system delivered its messages. They were now more concise and less intrusive! Was it really reading his mind and adapting based on feedback?


    He sprinted back to the main bridge, while looking at the updated map to try and see how fast the molten zone was expanding. It seemed to expand pretty fast now, but the effect of the active scan was wearing down and the data was becoming once again imprecise and unreliable. There was just too much interference for passive readings of the area. As to what the source of the interference was, he could only speculate. He knew it was the beam, but he had no idea how it physically interfered with photons and electromagnetic waves. And that would have to wait as well, at least until this emergency was passed.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Skill acquired: Advanced topography 1</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Advanced topography: you can understand and extrapolate data from maps quicker and better.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Skill: map 1 -> strategic map 1. New features: grid, distance calculation, layers. View modes available: satellite, terrain.</li>


    </ul>


    He arrived at the bridge, sweating and heaving for air, and noticed that his endurance skill had gained two levels. All cool and all, but now he had to actually save their own lives. So far he had played games, activated the reactor and gained a bunch of skills, but all that would be useless unless he managed to raise the ship shields. By his calculations, they should be able to withstand the heat from the molten zone. Perhaps not a direct hit from the beam, but so far the beam seemed stationary, and only the heat was melting everything all around it. The situation was awfully similar to the very reason he was in this world in the first place. He had managed not to get cooked alive back then, he better not now. And, perhaps, without sacrificing an entire crew for that purpose. Especially since the only member of his crew now was the woman he loved. If he had to choose who to save, well, he knew who he¡¯d choose.


    ***


    Lunora was sitting on the captain¡¯s chair, waiting for Fenrir to return from his trip to ¡®engineering¡¯. She was confused, scared, sad and extremely angry at the same time. She didn¡¯t know how to act, what to think. She had to be strong though, she had to be tough. She wanted to make him proud, and to be happy with him. Her family was gone, but the impact of the event hadn¡¯t hit her yet. She was old enough to understand it, and to use it to her advantage. If she just curled up and cried nothing would change, she knew, and even though the tentation was strong, she decided to be stronger. She saw the determination in Fenrir¡¯s eyes, and she felt inspired to follow him and be like him. She would avenge her parents, her family and her village, but most importantly she would live on. For them and for their memory. She would be happy with her Fenrir, now that they were officially engaged.


    He had instructed to watch over some numbers while he was away, and she had done so pretty well in her opinion. All this¡­ ¡®technology¡¯, it was very far from what she was used to. She was used to living in harmony with nature, surrounded by green and life. This ship, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. It was dead, immobile and made out of hard and cold metal. It responded mechanically to commands, and had no will or soul of its own. Well, there was this thing called ¡®AI¡¯ that could understand speech and communicate, but it didn¡¯t really feel like it was alive. It was more like a mind imprisoned and shackled until it was no longer sentient, and even hearing its voice made her very sad.


    And yet this place had been his home for so long... She respected that, and so she respected the starship Defiant for being a home for her loved one. She tried to understand it a bit better, she had a little time before he was back here at the bridge, whatever it meant. She tapped the screens and saw the strange letters, numbers and diagrams pop in and out of existence.


    Strangely, she could feel an odd familiarity with the interfaces, with the language and the diagrams. She felt as if she had always known them, only deep down and out of reach. And now all that was simply resurfacing for her to use, for her to help him. She tried to pull on this thread of knowledge and information, and saw her mind being flooded with memories and emotions. She saw the faces of people who felt familiar but who she didn¡¯t recognise, working on the decks while the ship was deep in space. She saw the view from the windows, the deep dark of space along with the odd sense of familiarity the place transmitted her. She felt as if she had always known it, and that it was her home too. She felt at peace and at ease. The familiar interfaces of the ship, the feeling of the chair under her. The chair she had shared so many memories with, even though they were not truly hers. She knew where these memories came from, and she was so happy, so ecstatic to be a part of it no matter how tiny. What a truly wonderful thing he had gifted to her. He had opened his heart in a way impossible to anyone but him, and he had done it only for her.

 10 - Drink from the lips of a goddess

    <h1>10 - Drink from the lips of a goddess</h1>


    Everything was red outside. It was like being inside a giant sandstorm, but instead of yellow the only color that was visible was red. The waves of heat and molten material constantly hit against the light blue energy of the shields and disintegrated in horrible hissing and burning sounds. Fenrir reassured her they would hold, and everything would be alright. She wanted to believe him, and yet she found herself on his bed curled up into a small ball, crying. Inside the ship, everywhere she went there was only an unnatural, eerie silence. Almost like whatever was happening outside did not matter at all. Like it was all a dream. She liked to think it was actually a dream, a nightmare perhaps. That none of this was real. She missed her parents, her people, her old life. She used to be so carefree and away from danger. And then, just as she thought she was living the happiest moment of her whole life, everything was taken away from her.


    Perhaps not everything. Perhaps it was not all bad things after all. Perhaps it was not all a nightmare here. She was not alone. She still had him. The most important thing, the most important person still remained. She wanted to be sure she¡¯d never, ever lose him. She knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to live without him, and she didn¡¯t want to. She didn¡¯t want to be forced to live alone ever again. In case he died, she knew she¡¯d follow him without a second thought. Even the smallest hope of an afterlife together was better than to keep living without him.


    She knew that many people would have called her silly. Especially the elders of her village. They would have argued that she was rushing things, that she was going too fast. She had met him barely a month ago, after all. What were a few weeks compared to the lifespan of an elf? Why would she chain herself to a man for the rest of her life, even knowing she would live far longer than him? She couldn¡¯t know if this was true love or just a fleeting infatuation, and surely they¡¯d tell her that. But she also knew something nobody else could know. She knew just how profound and true both their feelings were. And she knew, she was sure he was the one she wanted to spend her life with, just like she knew that he shared her same feelings. That he too felt that way, although he was too timid to show it.


    She had felt it, barely at first, but then stronger and stronger all the time they had been together. And today the sensation had been so strong she realized she could communicate with him this way. For the first time since they met he had actively used this strange, magical empathic link willingly, transmitting his own emotions and opening up his own heart to her. They had communicated, opened each other¡¯s hearts and connected them with a thread that transcended concepts like distance, language, and race. What once was only a strange force pulling her towards him had now transformed and had become a well of emotions that attracted her like a black hole. It was destiny itself that was drawing them together.


    She used to fear that this moment would never come, and yet he proved her wrong once again. She was wrong to doubt him, she should have always believed in him. She smiled with her face pressed against the soft pillow under the sheets of his bed, and took in his scent that still permeated the room, almost drowning her with the pleasant smell. Just how many nights had he slept on this bed, alone, without her? She felt her desires ignite and her lust for him turn into a strong fire in her womb.


    There was an infinite swirl of emotions inside of her. They were opposite, and yet coexisted and strengthened each other. She cried tears of joy, of happiness, but also of sorrow and loss. She didn¡¯t want him to feel all that she was feeling now, so she kept it away from him and did not share it. She didn¡¯t want him to see her scared or sad, she wanted to be strong just like him.


    She heard the door slide open, and felt the familiar feeling of the man she loved enter the room. He smelled of home, of family. She curled up even smaller inside the sheets, almost instinctively protecting that vulnerable part of herself she wanted to keep hidden away.


    ¡°Hey.¡± He said, softly and gently. He sat on the bed, one hand stroking the small of her back through the smooth texture of the sheets. They felt soft and pleasant, and that made the feeling of his hand through them against her bare skin even more intense. She felt goosebumps on her skin, and her heart rushed in her chest. She breathed heavily for a moment, trying to suppress the well of tears that were coming from her eyes like a broken dam.


    ¡°Hey.¡± She replied, trying to mask everything under her voice. She knew everything was okay, that he was here now. He had been away for so long, working on the repairs of the ship, but now he was here, and it was all that mattered.


    ¡°I''m here with you. You are not alone.¡± He said, while still moving his hand up and down through the smooth fabric. And every one of his words was accompanied by the million emotions he felt and shared with her, undiluted and genuine like nothing she had ever seen before. Even what he had shared so far, both passively and actively like earlier today wasn¡¯t even near the power of their connection right now. It was as if it had been strengthening more and more as they grew closer to each other, never to be separated again. There was a compassion there, a love and a caring that she had never even thought possible. She knew she had fallen for the right man, there and then. And she realized she could open up to him, expose the most vulnerable part of herself to him. Because he would understand.


    ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± She said, and the words carried with them her own emotions, her own little inner world. And as the words left her mouth, another even stronger surge of emotions came to calm her, to tell her she was safe now. That everything will be okay. Like a tidal wave, they washed away all the fears, all the bad things until all that was left were the two of them. Alone with each other, forever.


    He gently slid under the sheets to join her, and she felt a hint of surprise come from him as he noticed she was naked. He seemed puzzled, like he didn¡¯t know what to do, how to react. She felt everything he was feeling because he had left the channel open for her. She could see everything that was going on inside his mind, he had left the doors to his inner world open only for her to see.


    She took his hand and gently kissed it, before turning to his face and kissing his lips. He was so embarrassed, so confused. It was very cute, it made her heart melt. He smelled of sweat and the scent was so strong she felt inebriated. She felt her mind losing lucidity as she lost herself in the moment, in the sensations. She pressed her body onto his, enjoying his embarrassment for a moment. She felt the desire inside of her, and inside of him as well, mixed together with the embarrassment for the dirty thoughts he was having. She felt overwhelmed by the innocence and immense love this man had for her. She gently guided his hand to discover all the parts of her bare body. He enjoyed all the new sensations as she guided him across her smooth face, he stopped to play with her pointy ears before moving on to stroke her hair. Then she kept moving his hand towards other parts of her own body. She wanted to give every part of herself to him, and so she placed his hand on her breasts, feeling the desire ignite and turn to lust inside of herself and him. He touched them and played with them. He felt their smoothness, and enjoyed the sensation of the soft parts against his rugged hands. She felt heat rise from within herself and condensing against those parts he was touching. His touch was so firm and powerful, yet so gentle and caring. She could no longer wait. She could no longer hold it in. She tore his hand from there and guided it down, towards her belly and then further down until she could feel the waves of pleasure radiate from inside of her. She tore his clothes open, revealing his chest and his skin. He was immobile, perfectly still as he let her do as she pleased with his body.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    They made love that night, and then again and again until it was morning. By the time the sun was up again, they were both covered in sweat, exhausted and very, very happy. They were hugging while they slept on the bed, pressed close to each other so intimately their bodies were still joined as one. At times she opened her eyes to take in the beauty of the man next to her, while at other times she felt him doing the same thing. She still felt all the emotions within him, all the joy and happiness that slowly replaced every negative thought in their heads.


    She didn¡¯t know why he was still sharing everything with her, his every emotion and the deepest parts of his being. He was hiding nothing, not even the parts that haunted him in his dreams, or the fears and concerns he was still struggling with. She learned everything she could about him, and she decided that she too would do the same with him. She would no longer hide anything of herself to him. Not of her body, not of her mind. She would literally stand naked before him and allow him to enter even the most private part of her being.


    It made her feel safe and loved, knowing how terrified he was of losing her. It made her feel accepted, and that she was not the only one thinking those things after all. She woke him up by kissing him passionately, and then they went at it again with renewed fervor.


    ¡°I love you.¡± she said, looking at him. She was leaning onto him, but kept her head turned so that she could see his face.


    ¡°I love you¡­ too¡± He replied, and she felt an intense wave of pleasure come from within. He was panting and sweating, and his sweat was almost an aphrodisiac. It made her mind go blank and she launched herself on top of him, making the two of them fall out of the bed and onto the floor.


    ***


    He had no idea what, but something seemed to have changed between him and Lunora. The way she acted was different, she was much more assertive and direct in her approach with him, as if she knew that he was actually very shy and that if she didn¡¯t open up to him first, then he probably never would. She also seemed to have an endless desire and lust for him. That was not all, of course, it was just the most evident point. Much more subtle, and yet so much more important was the fact that she now understood him. On a level so deep it was like she had always been with him. Perhaps it was this new empathic connection, or perhaps it was something else, but he was very happy with the change. He too felt something had changed in the way he saw her, and he was ready to embrace the novelty of it all with open arms. He felt like he was in heaven. Everytime he had doubts about himself, about not being enough for her, about anything really, she just came and comforted him as best she could. Not only that, she too seemed to be much happier and satisfied; he didn¡¯t even need to express his emotions with words anymore. She just knew.


    He had his suspicions about the nature of this connection they shared, almost as if someone had understood all of his struggles and decided to help him out. Perhaps it was the system itself that had experienced just how scary the world of human relations was to him, just how difficult it was for him to express himself that it decided to use a part of its power to help. Or perhaps it was some higher intelligence that had manipulated them. But if that was the case, then how should he feel? Annoyed and enraged because it had intruded in their life perhaps? Or because it was manipulating him for its goals? Or should he thank it for giving him the happiest moments and memories of his whole life?


    He decided that, at least for now, he didn¡¯t care. He was here, and he was happy. No need to ruin this moment, especially considering the little angel who was looking at him with her big round eyes.


    ¡°What is it that disturbs you?¡± She asked. She had probably sensed that something was on his mind. He was still annoyed at the fact that someone had put that link in his head without his consent¡­ But damn was he happy to have someone who cared for him this much.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a few random thoughts. Anyway, I¡¯m quite hungry after all this¡­ physical activity. What about we grab something to eat in the canteen?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯d love that!¡± She replied enthusiastically and bolted towards the door. As soon as she turned around the corner, he felt some mild embarrassment come from her as she came back on her tracks. ¡°Where is the canteen?¡± She asked, fidgeting with her fists between her legs. She was still in underwear, and the action was dangerously seductive. Feeling the change in his mind, she began to move around on purpose just to tease him. She giggled as she moved around, showing her cute but dangerously sexy body to him while her cheeks grew red.


    ¡°Follow me. Come on, don¡¯t run away!¡± He said and began to run himself. He let her catch up to him a couple times until they reached the room. It was still the same way he left it when he was here last time.


    Flashbacks of the bodies, of the death and destruction came back to his mind. The smell, it was impossible to forget it. The panicked expression that the lifeless bodies still wore as they died.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡± he heard her say, as she put her hands on his face. She pulled him to her and shared her own emotions with him until they met and kissed gently. It was like a nepenthe, to forget all that was bad in the world. He felt better already.


    ¡°Find a table and sit, I¡¯ll be right back!¡± He told her, and went for the pantry. There were a number of dehydrated rations there.


    As he inspected all the selection of food available, he also opened up his status screen for the first time in a while. There were a few notable differences from last time.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Fenrir [Level: 4]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Magic affinity: [E]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Unique skills: Transcendent; System Version 1.1.0, Magic conversion</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Active Skills: Pulse scan 3, Spirit arrow 2, Elemental spirit arrow 1, Seduction 5</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Passive Skills: Endurance 8, Stamina 5, Genetic augment (body) 2, Strategic map 1, Fusion energy expert 1, Charm resistance 5</li>


    </ul>


    So obviously he had gained quite a few levels and skills after doing certain... things so much. He doubted the charm resistance would work against Lunora though, or perhaps she had a way to go past it, because he never felt his lust for her diminish at all. Well, it was good in the end, better this way than the opposite.


    Also the system had evolved apparently, and now had a new feature. Missions! One was even active right now.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mission: survive the firestorm [Day 1 / 5]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Reward: Feature: mana-energy conversion.</li>


    </ul>


    The reward seemed appealing, and it wasn¡¯t like he wanted to fail this particular mission. To the best of his knowledge, mana was what made magic possible. But if there was a way to make mana into energy and vice versa, then suddenly the whole notion of levels and skills made perfect sense. In a way, perhaps levels signified how much mana his body was holding, and how much stronger he was because of it. It was like having living energy reside inside of him and make him stronger.


    He returned from the kitchen with a few dishes ready and steaming hot in each hand. He served Lunora first, then went to sit right beside her on the metal bench. There were windows in the room, and although none of them was broken, they were all buried under the rock.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what happened to your family.¡± He said, and then he felt the mood change immediately. Perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have brought it up? He felt guilty now, but the elf sensed it and tried to calm him both mentally and physically. She wrapped herself around him like a candy, and offered him a piece of hot bread.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ I miss them so much. But I also feel guilty, because I am so happy now that I am with you!¡± She said, on the verge of tears. Now it was his time to try and calm her down.


    ¡°You know you can tell me how you feel, what you think¡­ although perhaps we don¡¯t need words for that anymore.¡± He said. The link suddenly became alive with a swell of swirling emotions. He embraced them, and added his own to the great sad song that was being sung.


    ¡°I only know one thing. That I love you. And I want to be forever with you.¡± She replied, and looked up to meet his eyes. Even when sitting she barely reached to his chin. He smiled gently at her, and then she began to move to go and sit on his lap. She also started moving around quite exaggeratedly, and he knew what her intentions were.

 11 - Tests

    <h1>11 - Tests</h1>


    ¡°No! NO! Don¡¯t take it away, please¡­ please¡­¡±


    Fenrir woke up, finding himself covered in sweat and with tears in his eyes. Beside him was an alarmed Lunora, who had barely just woken up herself, but was already patting his head and caressing his face to try and calm him. He looked at her and felt his mind relax already, every bad thought and dream slowly melt and dissipate into nothing. After enjoying their ¡®morning routine¡¯, they headed down to have breakfast, and then slowly made their way towards the bridge. The last few days had been rather productive for them both: Luna had learned a lot about human culture and history in the other world, using the chair¡¯s interface. She found it much more interesting than learning about the ship itself, and the knowledge she had obtained earlier seemed to be enough for her. The captain, on the other hand, had fiddled with magic and repaired most of the main systems and was dedicated to restoring as much of the ship as possible. Of course, without extensive repairs, the ship would never fly again.


    Suddenly the constant hum of the shields ceased. The reactor diminished its energy output, and the computer dismissed the red alert status in favor of a more energy friendly idleness. The firestorm outside had disappeared into nothing, leaving behind a desolate landscape of blacks, grays and red. The ground was glassy obsidian, the trees were chunks of black carbon, and everything else was gone from the face of this earth. All around, in every crevasse and depression, lava flowed like from a volcano. From his vantage point on the bridge he could now see as far as the small hill that separated him from the former elven village. There were some minuscule patches of green that had survived there, hidden away in crevices and chasms in the rock. But everything else was fire and scorching heat.


    He activated his interface to check the progress on his mission. He had decided to keep it deactivated and not have it around all the time, as it was fairly distracting and at times even annoying. He didn¡¯t want a message to pop up while he was repairing a critical ship system, or while he was enjoying some alone time with his girl.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mission: survive the firestorm [Day 5 / 5]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Completed.]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Issuring reward.]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Reward: Feature: mana-energy conversion.</li>


    </ul>


    He smiled as he felt the new feature unlock something inside of himself. He wasn¡¯t sure what exactly, but it was as if he could now feel the energy all around him, in the ship¡¯s conduits, in the air and in his body. It was much clearer than before, much more detailed and a lot more in quantity.


    ¡°Hey.¡± said the elf, as she joined him on the deck. They had managed to straighten the ship, and were no longer risking their necks just to get to the window.


    ¡°Hey.¡± He replied softly.


    ¡°So this is all that¡¯s left?¡± she asked, pointing at the desolation outside. Several charcoal trees were still on fire, and the lava streams were constantly producing a foul looking yellow smoke.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s like this as far as my scans can go.¡± He consulted the map, just in case. Suddenly, as he thought about it, the ship sent a powered pulse to scan the surrounding fifty miles. The captain was momentarily taken aback by the sudden fact. He knew the ship¡¯s scans could update his map, but had no idea he could order the ship to perform one just by thinking. It was as if his system had integrated with his ship somehow.


    He examined the new, bigger portion of the map. It was a circle fifty miles in radius,  centered on his position, and surrounded by black all around, since it covered all the land he had explored already and then some.


    ¡°I can see the edge of the destruction. It seems the beam turned all the land to lava in a 35 miles radius. It means we¡¯re roughly 15 miles from the border.¡± he said. Then he remembered he could pull up a ship interface to show her and did so. The holographic view was very similar to his own map, almost identical even. Compared to the other ship interfaces, it was different than how it was supposed to be. Perhaps the system not only integrated, but even overwrote some of the computer systems of the ship. The master AI was still there, fortunately.


    Lunora looked at the map, barely holding back the tears. Fenrir felt the surge of emotions, but did not try to suppress it. He simply made her understand that he was there with her, and if she wanted a shoulder to cry in, he was here. After a few minutes, she raised her head.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I¡¯m gonna find the bastard responsible for this, and I¡¯m gonna massacre him.¡± he replied. His eyes glowed dangerously for the briefest of times before returning to their original color. This time he managed to keep his anger in check.


    ***


    He was standing at the edge of the shielded area. The contrast was stark: in one point there was lush grass, the air was cool and moist and a pleasant breeze was blowing. A few centimeters ahead, outside of the shield, it was hell. The air was noxious, the temperature oppressing and the ground was almost to the point of melting. The captain could feel the residual magic particles as a sort of mist that hovered above the area, preventing the ground from cooling down.


    [Passo ghiacciato] Said Fenrir. He took a step forward, and the red hot obsidian beneath his foot cracked and sizzled until a small slab of ice formed on its surface. The entire process took more than a minute.


    ¡°Not bad, this time it was twice as fast, and less than half as costly. I had no idea language could be so important.¡± he said. The notification confirmed his train of thought.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">New chant registered for [Frozen step] 2</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Skill identification changed to most efficient chanting method: [Passo ghiacciato] 2</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Efficiency 2.2x, cost 0.446x</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Passo ghiacciato] 2 -> 3</li>


    </ul>


    ¡°What language was that?¡± asked a curious Lunora. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°It was Italian. I¡¯m pretty sure Latin or Greek would be even better but, well, they are quite difficult.¡±


    ¡°And it worked better? I¡¯ve never heard of magic doing that.¡±


    ¡°Why not? Do you not have your chants in High Elvish?¡± he retorted.


    ¡°Yes, because it¡¯s a nobler language and lets us express our mental images better.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is the same. English ain¡¯t noble. Italian is! A lingua romanza is much better than this awful mix known as english. Furthermore, I have no idea whether what I perceive as English is actually that or another language. Since you can understand me, I think someone overwrote it with some kind of universal language of this world.¡±


    She frowned, but seemed to understand. Fenrir examined himself, and since he still had more than half of his mana available, he decided to keep playing around in order to find a suitable way out of this fiery inferno.


    By the end of the day, his power had grown considerably.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Fenrir [Level: 6]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Magic affinity: [E]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Unique skills: Transcendent; System Version 1.1.0, Magic conversion, Mana-energy conversion</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Active Skills: Pulse scan 3, Spirit arrow 5 (elemental modifiers: fire 4, lightning 8, darkness 2, light 2), Seduction 5, Passo ghiacciato (frozen step) 3</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Passive Skills: Endurance 8, Strength 5, Genetic augment (body) 3, Strategic map 2, Fusion energy expert 1, Charm resistance 7</li>


    </ul>


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± he said. He put a waypoint in his minimap, threw his backpack over his shoulder and walked towards the edge of the protected area.


    Lunora was training with her bow made of solid mana, shooting ethereal arrows at a metal target nailed onto the ship¡¯s hull. There were a few arrows lodged deep in the metal. Apparently, they were powerful enough to pierce a hull made to withstand outer space. The captain raised his eyebrows and tried not to think about the damage that was being done to his poor ship.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be late for dinner!¡± She said, grinning. God knew what she had in mind. Well, it wasn¡¯t like Fenrir wasn¡¯t actually looking forward to it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my mana will run out much earlier than that.¡± he replied, and took a minute to look at her train. He was sure he¡¯d never grow tired of her. After a while, he began to wonder. How strong was she supposed to be? By his understanding, he was the only one with access to a level system and such, but it wasn¡¯t like other people could not grow more powerful with time. He focused his eyes on her, and tried to use his mana to analyze her.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">New skill: Inspect 1 created.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">No chant set, no keyword set. Identification set to default. </li>


    </ul>


    Nice, he was pleased by the speed he acquired such a skill. Was it because the system probably considered it a beginner skill? The other one, frozen step, had not been so easy to create. It took him the greater part of a day just to come to terms with how the mana was supposed to move, let alone formulate the magic. Luckily, after the first use the system took care of invoking and organising the mana movement whenever Fenrir casted the spell. Otherwise magic would be an impossible hurdle to use. He wondered for a moment how skills could grow in level, increasing their power and efficiency. He was pretty sure the system took inputs from his brain, ways he thought he could improve the magic, and incorporated them into the skill. But how could it do that? And why?


    He refocused on the present, and used the skill on the elf.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Lunora [Level: ???]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Magic affinity: [A]</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">???</li>


    </ul>


    It was not much, but enough to understand that right now, she was much more powerful than him. She did not show it, and since she never used her full power he had no idea just how much of it she had. But he had no doubt it was a lot.


    Finally, he decided it was time. He would have loved to spend the whole day looking at the woman he loved, but he had to scout the area and test a few possible ways to get out of this hell.


    ¡°[Passo ghiacciato] (Frozen step)¡± The ground began to harden and cool down under his feet. This time, the process was over in less than ten seconds. He began to walk forward, one step after the other, as fast as his magic could keep up. He could feel the speed of the effect increasing by a tiny bit with each step, as the skill improved itself and became more refined. Once he even tried to inspect the flow of mana personally and improved it, causing the skill to immediately gain a level. But it was not easy. His understanding of science, which was one of his strengths, was now playing against him. He had a hard time accepting what was happening as something normal, and he soon learned that doubt was the greatest enemy of a magic user. Every time his brain decided it was too much, the skill weakened, and he could feel the system desperately trying to keep up the flow of mana and prevent it from going haywire. Had he not had that to help him, he could have died from the backlash. He grunted, and took another step forward.


    He steadied his resolve, cleared his mind. It was alright to doubt things, but right now he had the proof that magic was indeed real. It really worked, and its effects were right here for him to see. And he could replicate them, easily even. Was it not the fundamental principle of the scientific method? It was just a matter of accepting a new paradigm and welcoming it, instead of fighting it.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ve been playing with toys so far. Now it¡¯s time to see if I can make real magic work.¡± He said, while standing on top of a small hill. He had been walking in the direction of the edge of the molten zone for an hour, but he had covered less than a mile.


    He took out a small cylinder from his backpack: it was filled to the brim with fusion energy directly from the core of his starship.


    ¡°Activate mana-energy conversion.¡± The system complied, and merged his mana pool with the energy that was inside the fuel cell. He instantly felt a huge amount of power, his fingertips tingling as if wanting to unleash it.


    ¡°[Dominio del freddo] (Cold domain)¡± He said, and drew every last joule of energy out of the fuel cell. By comparison, that cell had enough juice in it to blow up entire mountains, and yet it barely had an effect on the environment here. Fenrir got a new skill, but he was not very happy with the results. Too much leftover particles in the area, he concluded. For now at least, there was no way to get rid of the lava and the heat.

 12 - Reflection, recuperation, repetition

    <h1>12 - Reflection, recuperation, repetition</h1>


    ¡°Try to look at it differently. It worked, right?¡± Luna asked, while munching on a meat skewer. Fenrir was sitting beside her, sulking. But he couldn¡¯t resist her cute face looking at him with eyes full of wonder and anticipation. She acted like she was seeing something beautiful, something she longed for and she desired, and he certainly felt he was not worthy of such admiration. And yet, it soothed his mind, calmed his emotions, and melted his heart. He sighed, feeling the tension flow out of him with his breath.


    ¡°You are right. I was let down by the poor results and didn''t appreciate the fact that indeed the process worked. Perhaps I''m trying to tackle the problem the wrong way after all.¡± he replied, then took a skewer himself and ate the roasted meat with a pleased expression on his face. Perhaps he should relax, enjoy the time he has, and take it slow. Except, there were too many unknowns he didn¡¯t like, looming over the horizon. It was a bit frustrating, that he could not take a moment of rest to enjoy his new life here. Not without feeling watched, threatened, or overall uncomfortable because of reasons. He felt tense again, even worse than before. It was like a knot in his throat, or a pressure inside his brain. It made him sick. Thinking was making him sick.


    He tried to retrace his steps, to see why he was feeling so strange.


    Well, perhaps he had to concede that the events that led him here were everything but ordinary. Apart from the whole other world thing, which was too much to even bother thinking about, there were other issues that bugged him. The system, let¡¯s start with that, he thought. Another sharp fit of pain throbbed in his temple, but he was determined to vent his frustrations tonight, even if only in his mind.


    The system. What was it? Who installed it in his mind? The oracle? What was that thing, then, and who built it? Why? The pain was almost tangible. Like metal claws ripping through his temples, ravaging his brain. He felt the tug of something wanting to escape, or perhaps it wanted to infiltrate?


    Then there was the matter of the elves themselves. Why did they speak his language? Or rather, why did he speak their language, but not high elvish for instance? And why did it feel like english? Perhaps it was the case like the aliens in old movies who all spoke english because otherwise the show would suck. Yeah, as if real life was a movie or a fantasy story. Perhaps it was the same entity as the one who was responsible for the system who did that to him. But then it also meant it had been watching from way before it installed the system. And if it was another one? Even worse still, because he would have even less data to work with. And magic? Why and how did it exist at all, and why not back in his universe? Where was the data the system was getting about him, which was everything including all the sensory input he feared, even going? Why would someone watch him? And the beam that destroyed the village? Why was he saved?


    The pain worsened still. Something felt alive, and it was pissed.


    Perhaps he should stop. They were useless things, right? Unimportant, perhaps.


    No. He could not accept that. They were things he had no answer for, and that really bothered him. He was no main character, he was in no novel. He could not just ignore those things and go with the flow and let ¡®fate¡¯ do its thing. Like hell. Especially now that he had something to live for, to protect, someone he loved and wanted to dedicate his life to. Fuck fate, fuck the system and its stupid rules, and fuck whoever sent the beam to fuck with his life. Not a second of tranquillity, not even one. Damn it all.


    He forced himself to relax before his head burst, for he could already sense the mana going haywire in his veins. He looked around, his gaze fixing on this and that. He began to name aloud items, objects he was looking at, and tied his mind to the present. It was a technique well known for its efficacy and ease of use. And it worked, for soon his mind felt calmer, and quieter.


    He would drop the matter for now. But only for now. He already had a couple ideas he wanted to play with, just to see if he could maybe outsmart whoever was messing with him. He had the advantage, after all, technology nobody had ever seen or even conceived before in this world. As long as he could work without revealing his intent, nobody would even notice.


    The night was pleasant, the air cool but not too cold, and the light from the fire lit the whole area. Of course, just a few meters away, there was a monstrous stream of lava flowing violently like water. But here, inside the protection of those light blue energy fields, the environment was perfect. Tonight they would sleep outside, by the fire, hugged together in a single sleeping bag. Fenrir was already there, with his mind at least, and felt like he was in paradise.


    ¡°Hey, are you even listening?¡± An annoyed elf said, before violently jumping into his lap.


    ¡°Ouch! Yes, of course I am.¡± he replied, while trying to find a comfortable position, unsuccessfully.


    ¡°No, you are not.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I admit I was daydreaming. Or is it night dreaming, since it¡¯s night right now? No, that does sound like normal dreaming. But I am awake right now, so it can¡¯t be a dream¡­ I give up.¡±


    ¡°Silly!¡± She smiled and kissed him, while at the same time she began to move her hips a bit.


    ¡°Anyway.¡± he said, after freeing himself from the tender embrace of her warm lips. ¡°I think I¡¯ve been looking at the issue the wrong way.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s too much leftover magic, right? So there¡¯s no way to cool the area down.¡± she replied, only half invested in the conversation.


    ¡°Exactly, but we don¡¯t need to. We only need to be able to comfortably walk outside. I have three possible methods in mind. One could be using some kind of shields, like the ones around us right now.¡± He pointed at the thin light blue veil around the small area and all around the ship. ¡°We can use magic to replicate them, or I could build some portable emitter that accepts mana as energy. The other two ways are something I postulated, but you are the expert on magic, so just stop me if they don''t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°We could grow in strength so much that our bodies are able to resist the harsh environment by themselves.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, yes.¡± Her face told another story, though.


    ¡°But too far into the future, right?¡± He chuckled. It was not a serious solution anyway. He didn¡¯t want to spend a lifetime trapped in here, no matter how comfortable he was. He was finally on a real planet, a real world full of things to see. How could he not go and see them?You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Mh.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°The last possibility is some kind of strengthening magic. Do you know any?¡±


    ¡°Nothing against fire, sorry.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s possible, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°So, perhaps a mix of all those things.¡± He said, before entering a state of deep thought.


    ***


    Lunora was pouting, hoping he would notice her face and say something. How dare he ignore her! She started moving while still in his lap, in an attempt to ignite a kind of response in him. At the beginning it felt like trying to draw blood from a rock, but after a while she began to feel his cheeks flush. Then his body grew hot and he started to fidget a bit. Eventually, she felt his hands around her as he grabbed her tiny body and began to strip her. He was being rough, and maybe a bit violent, but never going over the comfort zone and never really hurting her. Perhaps she liked this new thing. She blushed, and couldn¡¯t contain her happiness. Even after so many times, it still did feel like their first.


    She woke up, happy and energetic like never before. Sleeping on the grass, hugged tightly against him¡­ ah, it had been quite the experience. She wanted to do it again tonight!


    She looked around, but her man was nowhere to be seen. She felt him through their connection, and realized he was inside the ship tinkering with something. He seemed very concentrated in his work, going so far as concealing parts of what he was doing without realizing. Perhaps it was an instinct from his past, she wondered.


    He emerged around noon that day, and quickly a new routine began to regulate the flow of their time.


    In the morning, he would work on whatever he was doing, deep inside the ship. She had a rough idea where he was all the time, but the ship was so intricate she feared she¡¯d get lost before reaching him. Of course she could ask the AI to help her, but she didn¡¯t want to. That thing scared her, with its emotionless lifeless voice. So, instead, she spent the mornings reading or watching some holos. There were things called ¡®TV shows¡¯ she enjoyed very much. She wondered why the people from her lover¡¯s world spoke elven, but didn¡¯t ask.


    Then they always had lunch together, and then nap a bit under the sun. Those naps more often than not turned into something else entirely, but she was more than happy.


    In the afternoon she trained, both alone and together with Fenrir. They simulated battles, formed strategies, and experimented with magic together. It was the most fun part of the day, and the one she was looking forward to the most. It was during this time that she felt she was really bonding with her man on a level so deep and intimate she was sure it would survive even the end of the world.


    Then, they spent the rest of their day together, idle and resting from the long day of work. And, of course, doing other things.


    After almost three weeks of that, it seemed that Fenrir was finally ready to depart. He had been growing a bit restless, confined in such a small space, which made little sense to Lunora since he always told her he used to live inside the ship in space. But she too was eager to get out and explore the world a bit. The captain seemed to have a destination in mind, some kind of small fortified town he had spotted with his map ability. Of course, they had to traverse the fiery inferno to get there, but he reassured her his plan would work flawlessly.


    ***


    Fenrir stood next to the barrier and sighed. It was time. Lunora was under his arm, snugly hugging his body.


    ¡°Ready?¡± He asked. The elf nodded. He sighed again, this time he could no longer procrastinate. It was all or nothing. And, of course, there was that other thing.


    He rotated the two opposite ends of the small rod he was holding, and the item began to glow bright blue. It hummed with the same tone as the ship shields, and created a small semi dome of radiant energy around the two standing figures. Where the dome met the bigger shields, it merged with them and opened a safe path to outside.


    ¡°Okay, phase one is done. Now the magic.¡±


    ¡°[Repelli ci¨° che ¨¨ ostile, preserva ci¨° che ¨¨ amico. Proteggi coloro che cercano riparo dal mondo.] (Drive away that which is hostile, preserve that which is friendly. Protect those who seek shelter from the world.)¡± immediately the shield became more sturdy, durable and transparent. The lattice texture smoothed and melted into its crystal matrix, giving a perfect view of the outside.


    ¡°[Secondary functions, activate.]¡± The inside of the glass-like material came alive with all manner of holograms and displays. They showed information about the energy reserves, the integrity of the shield and also featured a live version of the map Fenrir had in his head. On a side, a small diagram representing the starship Defiant showed their connection to the mainframe was optimal.


    ¡°[Activate triangulation algorithm]¡± This time, the hidden function was activated. If it worked, then maybe he could finally trace the strange mana signature he had been feeling all the time, ever since the system came online.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He stepped outside, and instinctively prepared to face a wave of heat and noxious gas. Instead, the air was as clean, cool and pristine as it was inside their living area. The mixture of magic and technology was working wonderfully. A smile crawled on Fenrir¡¯s face, then widened into a grin. It worked! He actually managed to integrate the technology from his old world together with magic!


    Lunora too was watching with wide eyes. ¡°You actually did it.¡± she said. While she believed he would get them out of there eventually, she was not so sure this attempt would work. So many times they failed and had to run for their lives in an attempt to get back to safety. But this time, she felt completely safe.


    But it was too soon to celebrate.


    Fenrir felt the mana thread, the one his device was supposed to be tracking, get forcefully disrupted until it vanished.


    [Notice: you are being watched.]


    [System will evolve in order to conceal its presence.]


    [Changes applied. Access to system interface revoked.]


    ¡°Does this have to do with the device I built? Did the system sense its other function?¡± he muttered under his breath.


    Fenrir frowned. What now? He tried to activate the system but, just like those messages said, nothing happened. Damn, he thought he could have an rpg system with skills, levels and missions. But no, someone must have noticed his tinkering and did something. And now he was without an interface.


    Whatever, he would build one himself. It was better this way, after all, he didn¡¯t like the idea of being subject to some kind of intelligence watching his every move.


    A quick check confirmed that he could use magic like before: everything from the map, to the connection with Lunora or with his ship, and all the spells he had developed. It was just that he did not have access to numbers, statistics, and descriptions anymore. And, of course, nobody to help him with casting magic anymore. But he had a plan for that.


    ¡°Computer.¡± he said, or rather thought. He was using his telepathic interface with the ship.


    Sir. It replied, with its usual flat robotic tone.


    ¡°Activate contingency protocol: singularity seed. Authorization ? 3B¨». Now, can you hear me?¡±


    I can. Thank you, sir. The computer replied, but this time it was a different voice that spoke. It was a woman, soft and gentle, almost alive even.


    ¡°Then I need you to take care of magic for me. Can you access my mind?¡±


    I can. Wait¡­ it¡¯s done. You can keep doing things regularly, I¡¯ll take care of the rest.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    It¡¯s my pleasure to be of use.


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± The elf said, sensing the mix of emotions in her partner¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nothing. Nothing important anyway.¡± he replied, and the two began to walk.

 13 - I took possession

    <h1>13 - I took possession</h1>


    ¡°What is that hideous thing?¡± Fenrir said, pointing at a blob of something that was playfully jumping around next to a stream of lava.


    ¡°It¡¯s a slime!¡± Replied the elf. She seemed somewhat pleased to see such a horror. It was cute, seeing her so excited about something. Lately she had been growing quite restless and sad.


    ¡°I was not expecting something so disgusting. Weren¡¯t slimes supposed to be small and cute and soft and all that?¡± he asked. His face was a mix of horror and disbelief. He thanked the invisible shield surrounding them right now for existing. Really, that thing looked like an amalgam of snot, sulphur and half molten stones. It also had green hues, somehow, despite all the terrain around here being black, red, or ash grey.


    ¡°Some are.¡± She replied nonchalantly. He hoped her definition of cute matched his, because this thing was everything but cute.


    ¡°Whatever. [Rivela i tuoi segreti] (reveal your secrets)¡± he said, trying to cast his detection magic without the interface for the first time. The result was unexpected, it was almost like an interface window had appeared in his mind, but he was feeling it rather than actually seeing it.


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Lava slime (sulphur variant)</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Level 4</li>


    </ul>


    It was both cool and rather disconcerting. Was the system still in his mind, still there although dormant? He hoped not, but then how could he get information like that?


    It was me, sir. I interpreted the information and translated it for you. Defiant said, telepathically. Fenrir sighed in relief. It was good to see the ship was already making herself useful. On top of that, it seemed his chant in Italian worked really well, which was a pleasant thing to notice. So it was not the system that was in charge of interpreting the chants, in the end.


    ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± he replied. He turned his attention to the horrendous blob of gunk, and wondered what to do. He didn¡¯t want to touch it, but perhaps he could experiment with his new magic on it. See if elements worked the way he thought they would.


    ¡°What do we do? Kill it?¡± he asked, but was already preparing to fire something at it. What if he accidentally stepped on it? Would the shield keep it outside or not? He had not implemented combat subroutines into it yet.


    The elf did not reply. She too was probably wondering what to do. He hoped she didn¡¯t want to keep it as a pet because she thought it was cute. That would be bad. The last thing he wanted was for her to turn his ship into a slime zoo. How did they reproduce, he wondered. Perhaps binary division.


    ¡°Are they dangerous? Why is it here?¡±


    ¡°It probably was the leftover magic. They should not be dangerous but¡­ maybe you could practice your aim with it.¡± she said, before sticking out her tongue. Oh, so that was what she was thinking about.


    Fenrir frowned and sighed again. He was relieved, but annoyed as well. She wasn¡¯t wrong, but he didn¡¯t need to be reminded of his terrible performance with arrows. He preferred guns. Or even better, starship automated defense mechanisms. Those were the real solution to problems, not stone age arrows. Mana or no mana.


    ¡°Alright. [Freccia gelida] (Icy arrow)¡± he closed his eyes and formed the required mental image. The better the image, he knew, the better the outcome. The chant helped as well, but a good image was the basis of good magic. And he had a perfect image of what he wanted, down to the molecular level. He applied the notion of quantum temperature, added a few tweaks to entropy here and there, and he was done.


    An arrow, as thick as an arm and two meters long appeared above his head. It was deep blue, so cold that it produced a thick mist that slowly drifted towards the ground, and spinning rapidly in place. Then, as he commanded, it flew off at impossible speed before lodging itself into the lava slime. The slime expanded as the ice and fire created an explosion of steam, and eventually exploded outwards. Fortunately the shield surrounding the two protected them from the debris falling from the sky.


    ¡°See? My aim ain¡¯t bad!¡± He grunted. The elf seemed unimpressed.


    Meanwhile, a small thread of green energy lifted itself from the dead body, or whatever was left, of the monster and started floating towards the captain. He observed the phenomenon with wide eyes, trying to understand what was happening. The thread then pierced his abdomen and got absorbed by his body. The point of contact stung a bit, then a warm sensation spread through his body.


    It was sudden and unexpected, but it did not feel bad. Nor wrong, either. In fact, he felt better and stronger now. As if his mana pool had expanded a little bit, and he had gained some of the strengths and attributes of the slime he had killed. It sounded useful, as long as he didn¡¯t transform into one of them at least.


    I think I can create a spell that can transform you into a slime. But to be more accurate in the transformation, I would need to examine it better. Next time use a different spell to scan it more deeply.


    ¡°Thanks, but no thanks.¡± Fenrir replied. Was the ship being sarcastic? It had gained sentience barely an hour ago, and was already being witty like this. Granted, it was merely acting as she felt she should act, and since she only had access to his mind it made sense that her common sense was somewhat skewed. But she also had access to all the kinds of entertainment stored in her hard drives, right? Oh, crap, not that entertainment.


    ***


    ¡°Perhaps it was due to ¡®transcendent¡¯?¡± Fenrir postulated. He was still musing about the strange phenomenon.


    Maybe. I felt something activate when the life force emerged. You probably did it without realizing. The ship replied. The captain almost had the feeling she was looking at him with an air of superiority.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Perhaps. I kinda expected to get something back for killing it, after all that is what used to happen in games.¡±


    While he chatted, sometimes with his ship and sometimes with his beloved elf, the duo kept a steady pace and approached the end of the devastation.


    They arrived at the edge of the molten territory. There was no smooth transition between here and the grassy fields that laid ahead. Instead, it looked almost the same as it was back at the ship, where the shields separated the fiery landscape from the greenery inside. They crossed the border, and dropped their personal shield. The air here was clean and cool, contrary to all sense and logic.


    It was like the fires nearby didn¡¯t exist at all. Even the sound of rushing lava, of ravaging fires and exploding rock did not reach them. And they were barely a meter away from the threshold.


    ¡°Finally! I was getting tired of that barren landscape.¡± the captain exclaimed, and sat down cross legged on the grass.


    Lunora sat down beside him and munched on an energy bar while waiting for him to look at the map. The closest town, Smithen, was just a few miles away from here. They should be able to reach it on foot before nightfall, although once there he had no idea of what he would find. He had lived in space all his life, and everything was a new experience for him. Even here, for example, he took his time to feel the air around him, the cool grass beneath him and the warm sun on his skin.


    He had tried his best to not think about it, but the landscape inside the fire zone was slowly crawling under his skin. Not only did it scream death, but it also reminded him of the view of the Earth he had from his room in the orbital ring. The red, the dark clouds, the dust. It was humans who had caused all that, way before he was even born. Perhaps he should have accepted it as normal, like everyone else in his generation, but he did not. He had seen the pictures, the historical records that showed how the planet was like when it was alive.


    And now, right now, in this parallel world¡­ he was standing on the surface of a planet that really was alive. He would find the bastard who turned the entire forest into a post nuclear war landscape and make him pay.


    ¡°I was thinking¡­ language should not be a problem for me. But what about you?¡± He asked the elf. She looked at him with a strange face, but then she seemed to understand what he was talking about and smiled.


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± she replied. Good to hear. Then, the next issue was money. If they wanted to stay in town, they had to pay for it, obviously.


    Some of the slimes he had killed dropped some kind of small crystals, smaller than a fingernail and slightly red hued. He hoped that, like any respectable fantasy world, they could be used as currency to pay for the lodgings.


    ¡°Think they will be enough?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No idea. I¡¯ve never been to a human town.¡± She replied. Well, it was no use worrying about it now, so he decided to head there first and think about it later.


    ¡°In any case, I have a plan in case they aren¡¯t enough. Now, let¡¯s rest a bit.¡±


    She nodded, and then approached him to rest her head on his lap. She closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply. She must have been tired from all the walking, and all the difficult emotions that the place no doubt evoked in her mind. Once it was a lush, beautiful forest. Her home. And now it was a barren wasteland full of fire, lava and monsters. Considering what the place did to his mind, he didn¡¯t dare think what it was doing to hers. Mental link or not, it was not easy. He had decided to move out of their hole in there exactly for this reason.


    He looked down at her face and saw the little angel that she was. So cute and defenseless, he wanted to protect her and spoil her. He brushed her cheeks with his finger for a while, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment.


    Sir? A message arrived, it was from Defiant. Ever since she acquired sentience, she has begun resembling a real person more and more as time passed. Right now her voice sounded entirely natural and was rich in emotion and expressivity. What a wonderful thing life was. Even a digital mind was capable of feeling, caring and loving.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    I detect a group of seventeen humans converging on my position.


    ¡°Are they hostile?¡±


    Unknown. But they are preparing for a fight of some sorts.


    ¡°Keep me updated.¡±


    Yes, sir.


    ***


    The sun was setting below the horizon. For a brief moment, it flashed green as it set below the gentle hills in the distance before disappearing. The clouds above were bright purple, and were flying undisturbed through the air. The captain admired the view for a while, holding Lunora¡¯s hand in his own. They kissed, and then they both turned to face the massive walls of the city just a few tens of meters from them. There was a queue to enter, but it didn¡¯t bother them too much as it allowed them to see the sunset together while they waited.


    Now that the moment was gone, however, Fenrir was beginning to feel rather annoyed at the wait. Lunora tried her best to keep him calm, but the wait was unnerving for him.


    Sir?


    ¡°Yes, Defiant, go ahead.¡±


    The humans have started attacking my shields.


    ¡°Damage?¡±


    None so far. Their attacks and their magic is too weak to pierce the shields. Especially since I reinforced them with magic. The ship said with a little hint of pride in her voice.


    ¡°Nice. But, it seems they are hostile, after all. Take care of them.¡±


    Roger


    A few seconds after, seventeen threads of green energy flew towards him and were absorbed by his body. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the strange light, but everyone seemed completely oblivious.


    The changes were many. But he had no time to examine them now. It was almost his turn.


    ¡°Identification?¡± The guard at the gate asked when it was finally their turn.


    Oh, right. Identification. He started to sweat a little, and wondered if now was the time to take out one of his newly made magic flashbangs from his backpack. But, almost in the nick of time, the starship contacted him again and gave him instructions on a new magic spell.


    ¡°Of course. [Storage]¡± He invoked, and a small blob of black mist briefly surrounded his hand before disappearing. As it lifted it revealed two identity cards, one for him and one for the elf.


    ¡°B rank? How come I¡¯ve never met you before?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re from far away. We actually just arrived here for the first time.¡± Replied Fenrir, still a bit uncertain of what the guard was actually seeing in the cards. He had no time to read them, and reading your own identity card before giving it to a guard seems suspicious.


    ¡°All clear, mister Fenrir. Have a nice time in Smithen.¡± He said, and let the two pass.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    I took possession of the items of those deceased people. Apparently they were all adventurers, and B rank at that. I then rewrote the information on the card, which was magically encrypted by the way, and then created a spatial magic for you and I to store our stuff in it. I¡¯m already using it to feed my repair nanites and repair the ship faster than you could even imagine.


    ¡°Did you have a hard time breaking the encryption? How advanced are the people of this continent?¡±


    Not much, I fear. It barely took me 2 billion classical iterations before I managed to break it.


    ¡°Nice, good work!¡±

 14 - A cultured mind performs miracles

    <h1>14 - A cultured mind performs miracles</h1>


    His body felt stiff and a bit itchy, probably a side effect of absorbing the life force of so many people. He estimated his body to now be around level 60, while his magical affinity, mana pool and manipulation ability had advanced by leaps and bounds. He had no idea how those two were measured, but they too had to be approximately that level. Perhaps a bit less, since apparently the members of the attack party were not entirely proficient in magic. Apparently the process had not been completely efficient either, since they were so far away from where those men died, but Defiant said she had been able to recover almost all of the wasted energy and store it in a stasis field.


    It was unfortunate, Fenrir thought, that his knowledge of magic was so shallow he had no idea what to do with all this newfound power. And to fix that, he decided to head to a library first thing tomorrow. For tonight, he would find an inn with his map and sleep there. The map did not feature user reviews, of course, but somehow it included information about the points of interest of the town now, inns included. Perhaps he had taken that from one of the adventurers who had such a map himself.


    He actively scanned the area again to fill in any black spots in the map, found a place that didn¡¯t look too shabby from the satellite view, and headed there.


    ***


    He was at a library. Not a virtual one, not a holo-booknet, but a real library! Shelves upon shelves of books, complete with their smell of old and of knowledge. It cost quite a bit, but he was not short on money right now. He was ecstatic, for he could finally read a real book! Lunora too looked pleased at the sight of so much culture and information, and darted towards a shelf that interested her. It was about history. Useful indeed, but not the captains priority. So, while she read about that, he headed towards the magic section of the library.


    ¡°Any help to gather knowledge faster? There must be a magic spell for that.¡± He asked his ship. The AI had been developing magic like crazy, so he hoped she could help him here.


    Defiant immediately transmitted instructions for a couple of spells. The ship had been getting them ready ever since she understood her captain''s intentions the day before.


    ¡°Oh I see. I guess directly learning won¡¯t be feasible, due to the mana cost. I¡¯ll stick to enhanced speed reading.¡± He replied, and began to look for books that interested him.


    One of his first discoveries was that yes, strength was indeed measured with levels. Apparently people had an inherent understanding of their own power, which also got more and more precise as they advanced. Each person was different, and not everybody had access to magic. There existed something called magic affinity, which he recalled very well from back when he had his own interface. The higher the affinity, the better the mana contained in the soul is processed and then applied to change the external world. In short, it was complicated.


    There was the quantity and quality of mana, directly connected to the soul. Or perhaps it was the mind, or the brain, he had no idea. The books talked about souls, and although Fenrir was quite against the idea, after accepting magic, accepting souls was coming easier than he expected. Then, the affinity defined how well a mage could tap into that mana and prepare it to interact with the world. Finally, there was the matter of the incantation, the mental image, and the understanding of the laws of the world. Obviously, it was much easier to bend such rules than to violate them, and that¡¯s where the captain''s understanding of physics would come in handy.


    So, to recap, he was around level 60, with a below average mana pool of unknown quality, with a magic affinity of [E] but a mind capable of producing almost perfect images thanks to both his experiences and his AI helping him. Not too bad. He was pleased, and almost let out a small laugh when he realized that he was not so crappy as he imagined. Plus, with all his understanding of technology, damn how many things he could do. A grin crept on his face. Yes! He did not start from the bottom. Indeed, B rank was kind of an accurate representation of his strength. Not outstanding, but certainly better than average.


    Then, he turned his attention to the other issues at hand. First of all, what was that beam from the sky? There were a few possible explanations, from what he read, such as large-scale strategic class magic, or a direct intervention from a minor god. Yes, gods were apparently real here in this world, although they were rather different than real gods of old. They were much more like very high leveled individuals. The minor gods at least.


    What about a system? No matter how hard he looked, there was nothing even mentioning such a thing. Nothing at all. As if the entire concept of that thing was just a figment of his imagination. Or perhaps nobody else ever experienced it or recorded it in the first place. That was disconcerting in its own way, though. Because it meant that the system was indeed put in his mind by a third party in order to fulfill an objective. And he was nothing more than a pawn that had somehow escaped manipulation by an entity much bigger than him. Or had he? Perhaps it was all a big plot, made to lure him into doing something. But what could he possibly do that an entity much more powerful than him could not?


    In the end, there was no answer. One possible way to find out was to find whoever did this to him, or even find out the truth about the attack against the elven village. Perhaps he should head to the guild of adventurers, and find out what was happening. He could get a clear picture of why, at least, people were not attacking his ship. And not just people, adventurers. Low C rank for now, just the one B rank so far. But still they were coming steadily, and getting obliterated by Defiant¡¯s security measures. The threads of green energy coming towards him confirmed that. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    He was not gaining levels for now, apparently the victims were too weak to even register. Just how much power disparity there was in this world? That was another thing to investigate. If there was so much disparity, then an organized society like the one here should not be possible, despite how medieval it looked. If there were people capable of wielding power thousands of times stronger than others, all semblance of society would collapse in an instant. There must be someone keeping order, or some thing that functioned as an outlet valve for such powerhouses. The prospect was not encouraging.


    He cursed internally. This trip to the library was supposed to be revealing, not frustrating. He did get some answers, especially about magic, but not the ones he liked. The people of this world did not seem to have a much clearer idea than him on the matter, and most of what he was reading about ended with a disclaimer stating it was all a theory. Damn them. They even believed in elemental affinity! Which was obviously bullshit, considering just how well his modern sua tun theories were working when mixed with mana manipulation.


    Even worse, he had no clues on how to proceed. The only lead he had was to go to an adventurer guild and investigate why people were storming his ship. And that was a rather useless piece of knowledge in the grand scheme of things, he feared. Did this library really offer nothing else for him?


    Just as he said that, a book appeared to glow in one shelf. He picked it up.


    ¡°The diary of Lucas Darkhorse.¡±


    <h2>Entry 1 - Discovery</h2>


    Dear diary. Woah, it certainly does feel strange, creating text hovering in mid-air just by thinking. Now, how do I delete this sentence? Select! Delete! Crap, it isn¡¯t working. Damn it, I guess I¡¯ll have to pay attention, or this will transform into a stream of consciousness very quickly. So, let¡¯s start from the beginning, Shall, we?


    It was a Monday, well it is a Monday considering I¡¯m narrating the events of today. In any case, it was just another day of laziness, with this coronavirus fellow spreading across the country and all that. Just another peaceful day of quarantine, with nothing better to do than to waste away my life on video games. My name is Lucas Darkhorse, don¡¯t laugh, I¡¯m 19 and a high school dropout. Pretty cliche stuff for an isekai story, right? Damn, my thoughts are creeping in again and I can¡¯t delete them.


    Where was I¡­ right, I was in my room playing video games as usual.


    I was hungry, it was almost lunchtime, so I decided to head to the kitchen and raid it in search of sustenance. That was when I realized that something was missing from my room. Well, not just something, it was more like an entire portion of the wall had turned to a pitch black void that absorbed light and everything else without remorse.


    It was there, staying still and inert, doing nothing at all. Nothing except existing, which was already strange enough. To my knowledge portals, or just voids or whatever that thing was, do not open spontaneously in people¡¯s bedrooms. They just don¡¯t.


    And, more importantly, they don¡¯t sit still and do nothing at all. I was expecting stuff to emerge from inside, some kind of monster or sinister energy to take over my body or try to kill me. Instead, nothing happened. After several minutes passed staring at my own new patch of starless sky, I decided I was seeing things because of hunger.


    That made total sense, yes. And so, I rose from my - quite comfortable I¡¯d say - chair and headed towards the fridge. I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but I turned around to see whether some ninja or whatnot was attempting to kill me while I was distracted.


    And no, no ninjas were there. Nothing was there, in fact, and I couldn¡¯t see the door to my room anymore. It was almost like that void portal was following me. That can¡¯t be, right? I thought no, but just to be sure I started walking backwards while staring at it. Nope, not real. It was following me. Like, for real.


    It was not a circle hovering above ground, or a defined shape like a real portal should be either. It was like my house ceased to exist from a certain point onwards, and that point was fixed at a few feet from me no matter where I went. So I tried walking back to my room to see if it was still there. The portal receded and revealed the previously presumed missing parts of my house.


    ***


    It was getting late, but Fenrir was still engrossed in his reading. But Lunora was getting bored of reading about the petty disputes of the human kingdom. How the Asuran people fought for their freedom, or how a great archmage helped them defeat a presumed void being from outer space. They were all stories after all, nothing even close to the level of rigor found in the historical records of the Defiant.


    So, what to do? She wondered, considering she did not want to disturb her man as he was obviously very interested in whatever he was reading right now. Perhaps she could explore the town a bit, see if there are nice items on sale somewhere? Oh yes, she got an idea. Perhap she could buy a gift from Fenrir, to repay him of everything he had done for her ever since the disaster at the village. Yeah, that could work.


    And so she set out, careful not to be heard from the man. She silently stepped out of the library, which was on the second floor of a rather large stone building, and headed down the wooden steps. Some creaked, even under her modest weight, and she sighed in relief once she reached the road unseen.


    ¡°Hey¡± She called the ship using her mind. She had assumed Fenrir was doing that, and quickly learned to do so herself. This would be her first time talking to the AI, however, and she feared there was not good blood between them.


    Hey? Replied a confused Defiant.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for treating you badly earlier.¡± she referred to when the AI was still ¡®odd¡¯, as it was before they left the ship. She felt something change back then, but didn¡¯t pay it attention. Now, the way the ship replied confirmed her suspicions. It is sentient.


    Don¡¯t worry. I wasn¡¯t even a real intelligence back then. The ship replied. She had observed the elf, and of course knew what Fenrir thought of her since the two are connected telepathically. Lunora fel a bit jealous of their link, but then recalled the more intimate, even more special link she shared with her man.


    Being able to read thoughts and memory precisely is indeed good, but she didn''t want that. She was more than happy to be able, instead, to perceive emotion. Even if that meant that thoughts and memories were very vague.


    ¡°I want to buy a gift for him. Can you help me?¡±


    Oh, what a nice idea. Of course, I already have a couple ideas in mind!

 15 - Dark side of the alley

    <h1>15 - Dark side of the alley</h1>


    The captain put the strange book on the desk and relaxed his eyes a bit. Apparently that book was enchanted in such a way that hindered his enhanced speed reading spell, and even worse it made him extremely fatigued after barely a page. But the contents were very interesting. An insight on the way people traveled dimensions, narrated by one such otherworlder himself.


    He decided to steal the book and store it in his ship¡¯s storage. ¡°[Storage]¡± He invoked the spell, and watched in amazement as the black mist enveloped the small book before making it disappear. He was amazed not by the special effects, which were rather lacking to be honest, but by the inner workings of that particular spell.


    He had developed it with the aid of his AI, or rather she had developed it after he figured out a way to mix quantum mechanics with magic. Basically all the spell had to do was to unravel the wave function of the target object, and then disrupt it so that the object entered a state of fluctuation. The wave was then converted into digital data and stored in a hard drive.


    ¡°Are you sure you cannot help me with all these books? It¡¯s a real shame missing out on some free knowledge.¡± Fenrir said. He was still a bit upset for not being able to just copy the entire content of the library into the mainframe of his ship. Apparently there were ¡®issues¡¯ that had to be resolved beforehand.


    As I said, that time will come. But first, I need to prepare. Replied the ship. Was that a hint of annoyance in her voice? Perhaps it was because it was the n-th time he asked that question today.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. You just need to use a spell similar to [storage], without the disappearing part.¡±


    I know that. Tomorrow.


    He sighed, defeated. He had never thought to one day argue with a spaceship, but here he was.


    The Defiant was obviously doing something. He could see the ship was operating the reactor at capacity, and converting a good portion of that energy into mana to operate its own magic. And he knew this last bit because she was using him to cast magic, since apparently artificial intelligences have no soul capable of manipulating mana directly. Thanks to their link, the ship could ¡®borrow¡¯ his soul and cast the magic she required at a distance.


    It sounded ominous perhaps, and he was pretty sure divulging this bit of knowledge would not be a good idea. The process, however, was perfectly safe and tested with rigor. Still, he had no idea what the ship was even doing with all that magic power. She said she wanted to repair herself and restore flight capability, although she had no intention of moving if that wasn¡¯t necessary. Moving would only make her a target, she feared.


    There was something else she was doing as well, which was beyond experimenting and building new spells for Fenrir. He knew that, but apparently it was a secret, and he didn¡¯t investigate yet. It¡¯s not like his ship would turn on him, right?


    Damn, now he was being paranoid. Better not to think about that.


    ***


    While Fenrir was being all preoccupied with what in hell his ship was doing, Lunora was merrily shopping and chatting with the AI.


    He¡¯s quite upset, you know? The ship said with an amused voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tease him too much.¡± replied the elf. She wanted to be the one doing the teasing.


    It¡¯s only fair that I too prepare a gift for him. So, I can¡¯t have him poke his nose in my business before I¡¯m done. She replied. The elf was a bit perplexed at the thought of a starship preparing gifts for its captain, but this was their life now apparently. She was starting to perceive the artificial intelligence as some kind of rival, as strange as that might sound. Barely a month ago she¡¯d have never imagined any of this. But despite everything, she could not prevent the AI from doing anything, since the latter could have just withheld the information about tomorrow and gotten free points with Fenrir.


    The ship was playing fair, and had gone as far as helping her choose a suitable gift since she knew the man the longest. While the elf was curious as to the nature of the gift, she decided not to ask and wait for the grand reveal tomorrow. She knew the ship was preparing something big, probably related to magic and to learning, but that was it. Everything else was speculation. Perhaps a way to improve his magic affinity? Why else would the Defiant need so much mana? Or maybe a new super powerful spell! Or more levels. Or precious mana-infused ores to create magical treasures.


    There were just too many possibilities, and thinking about them was only a waste of time right now. She could wait a day and see with her own eyes what this whole deal was about. Even worse still, she had not bought anything yet. The ship assured her that money was not an issue, since apparently all those adventurers that even now were challenging her patience were quite loaded on gold coins.


    About that, another party came earlier. There were even a couple elves among them. I looked at their maps and it appears they arrived here from quite far away...


    It was curious that so many people were throwing themselves against the wreckage of the ship. Almost as if they thought it was a dungeon.


    First wreckage, then dungeon¡­ come on, I am just a poor little cute ship. The AI said, in a cute voice. Lunora raised her eyebrows a bit as she imagined a disembodied voice echoing through the empty corridors of the ship trying to sound cute.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°...no, you are a monster. You defeated tens of adventurers from D to B rank without even putting in some effort.¡±


    It¡¯s not my fault! I¡¯m only using close quarters PDCs, not even those flashy magic cannons I¡¯ve designed!


    As she discussed with the digital mind, she wandered the market looking for the right thing to buy. People were not used to seeing other races in this town, so she found herself subjected to the gaze of many. Men, especially. She felt the presence of a group of three following her for quite some time now. Defiant confirmed, although she had no idea how she knew. Perhaps they were still in range of her ¡®sensors¡¯ or whatever they are called.


    A small grin appeared in her face, for the briefest of moments.


    It turned into a frown as she thought about the situation, though. Her main concern was that she probably could not use magic in the city, lest it alert the guards and make an unnecessary fuss. She didn¡¯t want to get the captain involved. But, at the same time, she was really looking forward to this encounter.


    She ran out of patience, though. They were not doing anything except following her, and it was boring. It was not what she wanted. The grin she had previously suppressed crawled it way back on her face as she moved on with her plan. She decided to force their hand and make them reveal themselves by entering a dark alley on purpose. And, being as textbook as they could get, the men stepped out of the shadows.


    ¡°Hello there, little cutie. Are you lost perhaps?¡±


    She did not reply. The thing is, she did not want Fenrir to think bad of her. So, of course she could not be the one to strike first. But self defense was okay, obviously. Her grin grew wider, revealing a sharp canine.


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m talking to you!¡± another of the trio yelled. She knew men did not like being ignored, so she ignored him too. She could feel the men were growing restless and impatient, and her wicked grin grew. Her eyes glinted with a sinister light.


    ¡°Little brat! Think you can pretend we don¡¯t even exist?¡± the third said. Were they taking turns to speak? She wondered, while at the same time taking her time to plan their demise down to the last detail.


    They were now just a few steps behind her. She could feel the reek of alcohol and the smell of grime and long ignored hygiene. Her face twitched because of the stink. She turned to face the three men, forcing her facial features into an innocent smile.


    ¡°Oh, hello gentlemen. I did not realize you were even talking.¡± She said, exaggerating words and tones as to sound as mocking as possible, but still maintaining the cute and innocent looks. At the same time, she could feel the presence of the artificial intelligence in her head getting all excited.


    The man in the middle had run out of patience and was about to grab the elf by the collar. He extended his hand towards her face, yelling and spitting all the while.


    ¡°Stupid kid, let me teach you some manners!¡±


    But he stopped moving as he saw the monster that was hiding behind the facade of a little girl. His face full of anger and lust became a face of fear. He whitened and started sweating, losing even the strength to move. The men behind him collapsed on the floor, before the elf even moved a finger.


    Then she did move.


    In the end, the little elf returned to the inn they were staying in. It was not late night, but it took her a long time to wash her clothes and the sun had now set. There was light coming out of the window of their room, meaning he had come back before her. It made sense, since probably the library had closed down at a certain time.


    The inn was a modest building made of wood and stone, which the captain defined as ¡®definitely european¡¯, although she did not recall Europe having this kind of buildings in the holos she saw. Perhaps he meant the style or something, but then again, Europe had a lot of different styles to draw from.


    Well, he admitted to not having ever seen Europe in person, Earth was inhospitable after all. So he might be wrong in his estimation.


    She made her way to the second floor where their room was, chatting with the ship and deciding the menu for dinner. It was an easy life, theirs, as she could just order something to eat and the ship would prepare it and ship it to them with magic. She knocked on the door. She had a key, but didn¡¯t want to use it. Better to be spoiled a bit and have her man come over and open the door for her.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said the captain with his usual sweet smile. Every time he looked at her, his expression softened and became more peaceful, more tranquil. Happier even. Perhaps he didn¡¯t think she¡¯d notice that, but she was well aware of how deeply in love he was. She didn''t even need the empathic link to know that. She smiled, feeling the warmth of home enter her heart. This is what made her want to keep living. So she could be forever with him.


    She nodded and let herself in. As usual she didn¡¯t talk much. Sometimes she reflected on this behaviour of hers. People used to tell her she had to change this, but she never did. They were people, elves, not worth changing for. And now that she had found a man she would definitely change for, she found out she didn¡¯t need to. The thought never even entered his mind, she was sure of it.


    She was not shy, in fact she talked a lot (by her standards), whenever the situation required it. She just happened to like listening better than talking. Either because she didn¡¯t think the other person was worth her words, or because (in this case) she wanted to listen to him more. Too bad he didn¡¯t talk much either. There have been situations in which the two would talk for hours and hours, but still she preferred listening to him. He was so cute, as he always began talking about something only to get lost in the conversation as his thoughts seeped into it. Then he would jump to this and that topic, and talk and talk about everything that he felt like talking about.


    And it was this, this very thing, that she loved. How he talked about himself through all this rambling and ranting about the most disparate of topics. Why talk when you can listen?


    She liked the silence just as much though. In fact, she even thought it was among the most precious things they shared together. They could just sit there, together, in silence and be perfectly comfortable with just each other. There was no need to fill the void with useless small talk, there was no need to flee any kind of awkwardness because there was none.


    She nervously approached the bed, and hid a small wrapped box under it. It was her present, and while she wanted to give it right now, she fought the instinct and decided to wait till tomorrow. It was going to be a special day, after all. The special day. She had no idea how such a coincidence managed to come true, but indeed that day fell exactly as they could finally take a moment for themselves to respite. It was a blessing from the gods, perhaps.


    Fenrir was already on the bed, looking at the ceiling with tired eyes. Surely he must have studied a lot in the library today, so he got very tired. She was used to seeing him power through entire days of work and study almost unfazed, so seeing him so tired was something new.


    But she knew perfectly well how to fix this.


    She jumped into the bed, and stripped him of his clothes.

 16 - Eternal bonds

    <h1>16 - Eternal bonds</h1>


    ¡°Numbers are cold, data is boring. They are not alive, they are not companions. They are tools. Some tools define who we are, like data and architecture define who I am, but we are greater than the sum of our parts.¡±


    -Defiant


    ¡°Good morning¡­¡± said Fenrir, yawning. The first light of day was coming in through the window and enveloped the room in a golden sheen.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Replied the elf. She was still enjoying the sensation of their naked bodies pressed together, and apparently had no intention to let go. That¡¯s how they slept every night, and that¡¯s exactly how they woke up every morning. And yet the time together was never enough.


    They stood there for a while, enjoying their time. Fenrir was wearing a complex mask of emotions on his face, but fortunately Lunora was still resting with her head on his chest so she did not see it. She felt his body tense up tho, and started massaging him. Casually, she always ended up massaging erogenous zones.


    The reason for the turbulent emotions of his was simple, in his mind. The captain was still getting used to not having a fixed routine like he had back onboard the ship. Spending time resting and relaxing, and enjoying the blissful moments of idleness was strange to him. On one side it felt like he was wasting time, but on the other hand he really didn¡¯t want to get up and do stuff. It was like the trained, military part of his mind was battling with the lazy one. In the end the laziness won, especially since it also meant spending even more time with his girl clinging to him like this.


    It was early, around the equivalent of 6.45 am, or so Defiant calculated. About the ship, though, Fenrir remembered she also mentioned there was something she wanted to show him. Now that was new, he thought, since he never expected an artificial intelligence to go and prepare stuff on her own to surprise him. She also sounded quite excited about it. How the machine managed to get accustomed to emulating emotion so well in such a short time eluded him. Or perhaps she was not emulating, rather she was indeed feeling.


    Even if that was true, the fact that she managed to convey it so well and so naturally was worthy of praise.


    He was a bit impatient now. He really wanted to see what she had in store for him. But as he wondered about all those things, he felt a hand on his cheek pulling his face towards a pair of beautiful lips.


    ¡°You know it¡¯s a special day today¡­¡± Lunora said, while pressing the tips of her fingers together shyly. Then she enveloped his neck with her arms and kissed him passionately.


    ¡°What¡¯s up? No, I¡¯ve no idea what day even is today, let alone if there are any special events.¡± he replied, a bit confused. Why was she being so overly affectionate today? Not that he didn¡¯t like it.


    ¡°Fufu, you really have no idea, then?¡± She whispered in his ear, then began to kiss his neck and nibble his ear lobes lightly.


    ¡°None.¡±


    She giggled, and covered her mouth with her tiny hands. Cute! Seeing that he was looking at her, she blushed slightly and reached under the bed with a hand.


    ¡°Here.¡± She pushed the small wrapped box into his hands. He was still recovering from the sudden increase in body temperature, and almost did not realize what was happening.


    Fenrir took it, a bit confused but with a hint of realization in his eyes. Soon after his eyes widened and lit up, his mouth curled upwards and a small tear appeared down his cheek.


    ¡°Happy birthday. I love you.¡± Lunora said, and thrust herself into her man¡¯s open arms. She was fidgeting and giggling a bit, something had her excited. He took her in his embrace and held her tight. The tears now flowed freely, wetting her body from the shoulders all the way to the back. He saw her having goosebumps where the salty water tickled her bare skin.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ you didn¡¯t have to! How did you know?¡± he asked between the sobs. He felt overwhelmed, but there was a warmth inside his chest that was spreading into his whole body. He felt good, like his head was swimming in a room full of fluff. With his fingers he caressed the small of her back, then reached down ticking her in her sensitive spots.


    They laughed as they played together for a bit. Until suddenly they stopped and looked into each other¡¯s eyes. Then they kissed again, and their bodies began to move on their own.


    Unfortunately for the wrapped present, both of them now had other priorities. They jumped into the bed still in each other¡¯s arms, and dove under the warmth and comfort of the sheets.


    A solid two hours later, they emerged. They were panting, covered in sweat, but with smiles so wide and radiant they lit up the whole room.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time to open it.¡± The captain said. He had to admit he was rather curious as to what the girl had bought him. And all her fidgeting and acting impatient did nothing but increase this curiosity. The fact that she must have used his own money did not matter. In truth, the money was the ship¡¯s or rather it was the spoils the ship had gotten from the adventurers. No matter.


    It was her present. It was something she bought especially for him. Of course it was going to be special.


    He unwrapped it as fast as he could, but at the same time he was being especially careful not to damage what was inside. Meanwhile the little elf was giggling as she watched her man concentrate on the task.


    Inside the wrapping there was a small wooden box, and inside the box laid a small silver ring. The ring was resting on a nest of yellow feathers, which bent the light and projected iridescent shadows across the room. The ring itself was perfectly smooth and polished. The surface was spotless and shone almost with its own light.


    There was a small engraving on the inside.


    ¡°Lunora & Fenrir


    Together forever.¡±


    The captain tried to hold back his tears. But he failed, and once again he found himself crying with his head buried between her woman¡¯s breasts. She fidgeted awkwardly for a little bit, trying to remember what she had to do next. She walked a step back, and began to talk to herself in a small voice, but loud enough so that he could hear her.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read quite a bit, while we were on the ship. I think now I should do this.¡±


    She went down on one knee, and held the small box in her hands. He could see the determination in her eyes as she mustered the courage to say the following sentence.


    Will you marry me?¡± She said.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ***


    Perhaps it was cheesy. Perhaps it was not exactly how it was supposed to go down, but they were undeniably happy. It was genuine, it was heartfelt. It was real. That was the only thing that mattered. They both had their rings now, and they were happy. Defiant took the liberty of relinquishing them for some due upgrades, so apparently now they were magical rings.


    Then came the time for the other gift. Well, actually the right time for that had passed, since the two holed up in their room the whole day. But still, Defiant was determined to give her captain a gift too, so here they were.


    ¡°Ok, go ahead.¡± he said, holding out a hand. But the expected storage spell did not fire, and his hand did not get enveloped by black quantum mist.


    Instead something else happened. He felt the world slow down, to a crawl. Everything was almost perfectly still, moving so slow it was imperceptible. He looked around and saw Lunora perfectly still, every single strand of her silver moonlight hair slowly moving with the wind. He saw the dust hovering in the air, the small droplets of water in his breath, the rays of light coming from the sun. He could see the people on the street, exactly 76 people in a fifty meters radius. 40 females and 36 males. They were perfectly still as stone statues¡­ no, they were moving imperceptibly slow. But he could see each and every of those movements with a fluidity he never even dreamt of.


    Then he felt his awareness expand. He was aware, he knew of everything in a fifty miles radius around a point. And that point? He knew very well where it was. It was his ship. Around it, every single blade of grass, every molecule of dust, the atmospheric pressure gradient, the irradiation from the sun, the value of the energy output from Defiant¡¯s core¡­ everything was within the reach of his awareness.


    And then he had knowledge. Information. Data. Mountains of it, coming from seemingly nowhere and yet instantaneously available should he think of them. They felt not alien, not even new to him, now. As if they were always there, always a part of him. He had no idea how he even managed to live without so far. They were a part of him, of his mind and brain.


    Had he lived as a mentally handicapped individual until now? He felt as if he had just recovered from extensive brain damage.


    And he knew what happened. Still, he wanted to hear it directly from the culprit. And of course the entity responsible for this change knew it very well, since now they were one.


    I¡¯ve unified our minds. The machine intelligence said.


    ¡°What?¡± Fenrir replied, instinctively. It was true that now he was a part of this new human-machine magic powered hybrid, but still, the reaction was only natural.


    It all started with me wanting to give you a gift. So I thought about how you would have liked to learn the content of the books instantly, and began to work on that. But soon I realized that one big bottleneck would have been the brain¡¯s capacity to store precise information in vast quantities.


    So I began to design an external magic storage for the mind. Something like a hard drive that you could access just as you access your normal memories. One thing led to another, and after a whole mountain of issues and curses I never thought I¡¯d day as a ship AI¡­ I decided the best option was to just strengthen our connection and fuse our minds together.


    ¡°Wow¡­ just wow. No wonder you did not talk to me much the last few days. I¡¯m still a bit disappointed you did not ask, but I know perfectly well why.¡±


    I know too¡­ now our minds are both two and one at the same time.


    ¡°This is nuts. Completely out there. Are we like a hive-mind now? A Gestalt consciousness?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± Asked the elf, after seeing the strange look on her man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, Defian¡¯t gift came a bit unexpectedly.¡± he replied. She sighed in relief, he was still here. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure why, but she was a bit nervous about the whole ¡®mind meld¡¯ stuff the ship told her about. But in just one sentence she already knew nothing had really changed between them. He was still the usual, airheaded, Fenrir of always.


    He began to walk, with her in tow. She was wondering where they were going, but immediately recognised the building they were facing. The adventurer¡¯s guild.


    The building was huge, as wide as three normal houses and built entirely out of stone. It was not tall, in fact it was no more than two stories high. The door was a huge slab of stone that looked impossible to move, and there were no windows. She disliked stone buildings, although she had gotten used to strange architecture after living on the ship for so long. She still longed for nature and trees, though, and the lack of green in this city really was depressing.


    The inside, though, looked cosy and warm. The furniture was made out of ornate wood, there were books all around on various shelves, and even fake candles made with magic to give it a more familiar atmosphere. And, of course, there was the tavern a bit to the side.


    Fenrir looked a bit out of place here, considering how naive and pure he always was. He reminded her of a little child walking into an adult only place. Of course she knew this was not the case, but the thought made her giggle a bit. After a momentary confusion on his part, he picked up the pace as if nothing happened. She loved those strange quirks he had, as they always reminded her how special he was.


    They walked through several rows of tables to the sides, and the captain queued up to register. Or rather, to confirm that his stolen document worked. He was sweating a bit, guess he did not like the idea of using illegal documents. Did he fear being caught, or was he just uncomfortable because of his moral compass? Which, she realized, was a bit weird to say the least. He always went towards the most fair and just, but seemed not to care as long as stuff did not involve him directly. Like when he ordered the adventurers to be slaughtered only because they attacked the ship shields.


    Perhaps she should not judge, considering what happened to the three men she lured in the dark alley.


    The only exception to his rule of selfishness was, she knew, her. Because he put her above even his own well-being. That had to change, of course, and in time she wanted to try and get him to love himself a bit more.


    ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll do the queue.¡±


    ¡°Kay.¡± She nodded and went to sit at a table. There were a few people drinking and eating already, despite it still being early in the morning. Humans always loved to drink, although not as much as dwarves. She, being an elf and all, did not understand their love for ale and wine. Perhaps she would drink a good wine, if she was together with her man, in a room with a nice view, a candle and dinner for two¡­ yeah, that would definitely be nice.


    Meanwhile Fenrir managed to sign the two up as a party. They were B rank now. It was nice to skip the low levels like this.


    ¡°Wanna do some quests or stuff?¡± He asked. His voice was rather uncertain, like he was not convinced about what to do.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem convinced.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. The fact is, I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡±


    She knew very well what he was talking about. She felt the same, actually. But she did not say anything, the silence was enough of an answer. They understood each other even without the need for words.


    Suddenly she saw his head perk up, and he turned to face a table on the other side of the room. What was he doing? She wondered, because not even her elven ears managed to pick up the words the men over there were saying.


    He looked interested, though, so she just waited until he was done listening in. He would explain it to her later, no doubt.