《0Z》 Chapter 1: Prologue 1/4: My New Life Well I have just died yesterday, from a complete misunderstanding that could have been clearly avoided, and in turn was given a chance to gamble for life after death. With the lotto machine,"Life after Death!" Yes, I know, and yes really, there was in fact a lotto machine game called, "Life after Death." Though first back to yesterday, my mind is still reeling, so please be patient with me here! So here it is... I was just your typical, average, everyday, bottom of the fast food chain employee. Barely making anything to get by in life, no love life, all I do is stay at home playing video games. After a long night of slaving away in a hot kitchen, I was on my way home early in the morning. The light of the sun was barely even touching the morning sky. It was such a cold morning and I remember it perfectly, I was wearing my black pull over hoodie to make sure I wouldn''t freeze to death on the half mile walk from work. Unfortunately I had to take a detour from the original path I would walk. The original route was blocked off for a approximately a couple of blocks by the city officers. There was a emergency news broadcast from the local News Station about someone escaping from a mental institute, and being extremely dangerous, the whole town was on high alert so everyone was anxious and hidden indoors. I guess I thought I would of been safe because they had blocked off the area where they last located him. Though little did I know, not everyone had gotten the memo, an old man was standing by his front gate was watching for anyone looking suspicious. Then me, walking a completely different route from my original, never before seen in the neighborhood, not suspicious at all! I was the unlucky one that morning, after receiving 2 shots to the chest. It wasn''t until after I had just gotten shot, that they had found who they were looking for.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Oh no, my computer.... Well I don''t remember much after that, as per I blacked out from the blood loss, and inevitable death. Shortly thereafter I was conscious, but I couldn''t see anything. I had been floating in an endless black abyss for quite some time. I had lost track of how long I had been suspended in this eternal darkness for.... But I know that it was quite some time.... At first it was uncomfortable, but after a while I had grown accustomed to it, and it felt like some kind of energy had been seeping into my being, filling me with energy... Like this, I continued to float in the darkness.... Suddenly a bright light shone down behind me illuminating that exact lotto machine I was telling you about, the, "Life after Death," lotto machine. For however long I had been floating there, if finally showed itself. I couldn''t say exactly how long, but I was sure to find out later.... After sitting in front of the slot machine, I saw the plaque on it, explaining the lotto machine. So I pull the lever once, and my next life is at random. There are 3 wheels with different pictures on each of them. Each on is labeled as: 1st: Type of rebirth 2nd:Race 3rd: Power Definitely interesting! From the sound of everything after all rolls everything is set in stone, well lets see what we get? As soon as I pulled the lever, the wheels start spinning. As the wheels start to slow down, I can feel my hairs standing on end. It stops... Results!: Reborn!, Homunculus!, True Augmentation! No shit, that''s some pretty slick shit if you ask me. What happens now? I pulled the lever of the lotto machine again and to my surprise nothing happened. A few moments of waiting then the lotto machine went crazy, and I hurried to hold my head after a loud voice boomed through my mind, causing a tremendous amount of pain to shoot throughout my entire body. I could barely keep my self from falling unconscious, my body was trembling, and swaying back and forth on the stool. The voice presumed.... [Loading.....] [Loading.....] [Loading.....] [Hello User, please call me System.....] [Warning: User''s mind is currently unable to access System Functions...] [Operation Initiated: Status Check....] [Status] [Name:] Subject 0Z (Oz) [Mana:] 863 [Age:] ??? [Race:] Homunculus/ Elf [Elemental Affinity:] Lightning/??? [Abilities:] True Augmentation [Override Initiated: User Hibernation Activated.....] OI!!! DON''T YOU DA- Then I blacked out... Fucking Systems... Computers... Fuck.... Chapter 2: Prologue 2/4: Finally Conscious I remember waking up suddenly from a shock to my entire system. The strange liquid that had kept me suspended shifted just ever so slightly, then suddenly a pressure valve released, quickly draining all of the fluids in the incubation chamber. Heavily dropping my body to the floor. I wasn''t able to open my eyes, but I could definitely hear some foot steps coming closer. I tried to move my body in any form that I could, I even tried to speak. Nada... But I wasn''t about to give up without a fight dammit, if my video game days ever taught me anything, there was always a way! Truth be told, at this point there was a single thought that did cross my mind. What if... This world is one that is supposedly ruled by the strong? This sent a sharp cold chill throughout my being... Then with everything I could muster into my body, I slowly pulled my arms in close, and pressed them to the floor, ever so slightly I was pushing myself up. Straining with everything my little arms could. But I don''t think anything could have prepared me for the first words that I had just heard. "Aww, look at my little man, already so strong, he really is too adorable!!!..."..... I know for a fact, the expression on my face mirrored what I was just thinking right then and there. "Wh-what?..." Confusion from hell, I couldn''t even speak properly god dammit! After saying my first word, the woman looked over my way and smiled so innocently as if everything was perfect. She walked over to me picking me up out of nowhere; appeared as if she was a beautiful goddess. That woman was in fact my mother, a tall and slender woman, with gorgeous light purple hair, that would dropped down to her waist, but was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a smokey-brown tan and the very notable elf ears with violet purple ornate earrings, and her eyes an light amethyst. She was wearing from my point of view what looked like modern day clothes. A simple but elegant button-up long-sleeved shirt, skin tight blue jeans and a pair of white and black tennis-shoes.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. As she started to walk, she said to me ever so sweetly, "Hush now my little Oz, everything will be clear when you wake up. For now, rest." She then touched her forehead to mine, my sight whited out, and I fell asleep.... God Dammit!!! Can I please, please, for the love of my sanity at least stay awake for something?... Several Hours Later.... After a while I had finally start to wake up again, I slowly blinked my eyes a couple of times. Everything was blurry at first, but after I had rubbed my eyes, and let them focus. I saw my hands, and feet, after briefly looking around. The room I had woken up in was empty. There was a mirror off to the right side of the bed, let''s see what I look like now. My body is still far from being used to moving, but practice makes perfect right? My muscles were a bit tight when I first started moving around, gradually it became easier and easier to move. After making it to the mirror I was caught in awe. Paying more attention to how I look, the only thing I had on was a pair of underwear, and a T-shirt, well at least it doesn''t look like I have any abnormalities on my body, the pointy ears are only because I am an elf..... I look like a perfectly healthy 4 year old, well except for one thing... I have a Tattoo under my left eye. "0Z" (Zero-Zee) I guess this is the reason why my mother called me Oz. I can live with that. I have a dark ash gray skin tone, dark obelisk gray irises, with flecks of amethyst purple. Looking at my hair, it had just recently been cut, I had no idea what it looked like before hand. It was medium spiked black hair that was softly swept back as if it was recently brushed. If cuteness could kill, I''m afraid I''d already be dead again, heh.... After spending sometime, eye goggling myself in the mirror. I wanted to try to see if I could sense mana, being that half of me is an Elf. So I closed my eyes, focused my breathing, and focused my entire being into the image in my mind. Out of nowhere I felt this surge of pure static energy through my body, my eyes shot open,as I stared at myself in the mirror. Only to be astonished, Dark/Purple almost black sparks and electrical arcs danced around my body, straightening the hair on top of my head. Making me look as if I was an electrified porcupine. Trapped in awe over the electrical current coursing around and through my body, I couldn''t help but smile from ear to ear happily. So this is mana?... I honestly could not describe the feeling, it felt as if all my nerves were sparking ever so lightly causing my whole body to tingle. I didn''t feel any pain, only comfort..... It feels so natural.... After looking at myself in the mirror, and playing with Lightning. I had suddenly remembered the very first time I was conscious, there was a Status screen! Then I remembered the System... Yo, System! Status! *Blip* Oh, well there it is. [Status] [Name:] Subject 0Z (Oz) [Mana:] 863 [Age:] 8 months [Race:] Homunculus/ Elf [Elemental Affinity:] Lightning [Abilities:] True Augmentation I spent a good minute looking at my status, but something felt off. I couldn''t figure out exactly what it was that was disturbing me. It dawned on me, this is basically cheating, and I really don''t want a computer interfering with my life... For other beings this world isn''t a game, so why give me a handicap, and a leash? I don''t want it. I''ll accept what I have already been given, but is there anyway to remove this? *Blip* A new window popped up, what''s this? [System Message: Would user like to Disable the Status System?... Yes/ No] [Warning: After Disabling the Status System this cannot be undone, Continue?...] My answer was simple, the last window to appear before completely vanishing, was only filled with 3 dots. [...] Wait, was it upset that I didn''t want it? Chapter 3: Prologue 3/4: The First Couple of Years I woke up just like any other day, got up from bed, and walked over to the mirror just off to the side. "How much have I grown today?" We lived on an island that was about 3 hour boat ride from the main land. It wasn''t that big of an island, if I had to estimate.... About 2/3rds the size of Ice land. We lived in a little cottage towards the center of the island next to a lake. It was about a 3 years ago now, when mother had brought me home. In this world they don''t celebrate birthdays, in my old life I have never celebrated a birthday once, so it didn''t effect me. Mother had told me about my birth and that I was born in an Incubator, and that my body was still experiencing side effects of the nutrients they had been feeding me, and that there would be other changes that would show later as well. I should start growing at the normal rate when I hit the age of 16, we decided when that time comes, that''s how old I will be. Besides with the rate my body is growing it''s unprecedented to say that I am a year a little over a couple of years old when someone asks my age... So I am quite thankful for this. After that there wasn''t much else to be said, she did tell me that I had Elf heritage, but she didn''t say anything about me having a father, and left the fact that I was also a Humonculus hidden from me for some time. Every couple of months since I have lived there, Uncle Brow and Aunt Marina would come to visit us. Uncle Brow was a Dwarf, we all called him this because of his big bushy eye brows, he was shorter than my mom by a good couple of feet, but he was a burly man. To give you an example, Elves are quite tall and slim, fully grown male elves are about 6''5" in height. While females stop growing around 6''. Uncle Brow was 4''8", while he was much bigger standing next to other dwarves, he hailed in comparison to my mothers height. As for Aunt Marina, she was a Demon with very light pink skin, and would always be wearing very revealing clothing underneath a lab coat. Today it was a stylish black button dress shirt, that was revealing an insane amount of cleavage, a beige khaki skirt, and black heals. She had blonde hair, ruby red irises, horns curling off the sides of her head, in the shape of a set of ram''s horns. When I first saw her, I thought she was a Succubus... Uncle Brow would play with me, and tell me all sorts of stories. While Aunt Marina was, I guess you could say my doctor, mom had asked her to monitor my growth and development, after leaving the incubator. She would hook me up to this weird looking computer that had a crystal suspended in a glass tube, connected to it and me through wires. Over the course of a couple of minutes, a couple of beeps could be heard, and the crystal would light up brightly then dim back down. Inside the crystal you could visibly see some kind of energy floating around. Aunt Marina would tell me I was done and have Uncle Brow come and get me to play. While Mom and Aunt Marina had a serious conversation. I was curious as to what they were doing, and talking about, but didn''t think much of it. I figured they will tell me when I am ready to know.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Like that, my new life carried on. Now my body looks to be about 12 or 13, the muscles on my body had started to develop from my mother''s rather spontaneous training courses, she never said why I had to train. All she would tell me was, that it was for my own good. Never asking her what I was training for, or why, I knew she had the best intentions for me. I mean, after every training session we would cook a nice hearty meal together by campfire. If I had ever gotten a scrape or injury, she would come running over immediately to make sure I was okay. Seeing this honestly made me feel something I haven''t felt in a long time; it was a mother''s love... In my previous life I was born to an unwed highschool drop out who decided to give me up for adoption after keeping me for 2 years, because her new boyfriend didn''t want kids... That''s where we will leave that.. Thankfully as for the accidental self inflicted injuries I would get, they would be healed almost immediately as the injury had occurred. Mother was a bit relieved, but had her worries as well. I had also noticed that after growing my skin''s tone had also changed from the dark ash gray it was when I had come out of the incubation chamber. Now it''s a smokey brown just like mother''s. The "Zero-Zee" Tattoo under my left eye is still prominent as ever. Being my Mother, she had also noticed the changes, but quickly dismissed it as a side effect. Mother had started teaching me about Manacules, Elemental Essence, as well as Cultivation. Yes, you heard right. There is a "Form" of Cultivation in this world. Manacules are another name for the raw Energy that flows throughout the cells in all of existence. They empower all life forms with the ability to channel and store Essence. She had me do meditation first, to understand and get a feel for my body and Manacules. I had to imagine a blank empty space, next I have to try to manifest my Manacules. This was a bit hard at first without an exact mental image of what to do, mother had said to imagine a flower. Without realizing it I had burst out into laughter in front of her. Unfortunately for me she had a quick temper, she had punched me in the back of the head, and made me cook dinner that night... After a week I had finally found a method of visualization that had worked for me. My growth was incredible, mother had said that my Manacule density had surpassed her''s. I had doubts about this honestly. Elves have a long life span, no matter what world or story, it''s always the same. Elves can live for hundred of years. So there was no telling how old she was, nor was I going to ask, but if I had a higher density than her only after a year of being in this world, something is wrong. It''s not as though she had never had any intention on never telling me. Now was just not the right time I guess... Elemental Essence are the purest form of Manacules that have received an attribute from retrospective areas in natural environments. According to mother, through Cultivation one can store Elemental Essence in their body by channeling it through their body''s Manacules, increasing their affinity with a specific element. Also increasing their Manacules retrospectively. Again, I needed to meditate for this one, but this one was a lot easier to focus. She had given me what was known as an Scope Crystal, this crystal is able to show you the density of Manacules as well as your attribute. This must be like that crystal that was suspended in the glass tube like Aunt Marina uses. After injecting Manacules into the crystal, exactly the way she had explained, the cells in my body had faintly become electrified. Soon after, arcs of beautiful neon streams had shot from the crystal, covering my body in a purple and a faded black electrified aura. She stood there and just stared at me for a few minutes, she looked like she had something she wanted to say, but I had asked her what the crystal results were breaking her out of her trance. She walked over and stared intently looking at the crystal, she had muttered something, then began to speak prominently. I have the Lightning Essence Manacules, no surprise there. Before I had gotten rid of that cheat system I was able to at least discern that much with the information it had provided. Inside the crystal there were to 2 defined colors, a dark amethyst purple electrical current was circulating the crystal, that was my Lightning Essence. Though in the middle of the amethyst electrical current there was a black circular sphere emitting a black fog like aura. The more you looked into the sphere, the feeling of being sucked into an endless black void would immediately send the body into a fight or flight response. When mother had seen the second Essence and its properties, her eyes watering, and her expression was pained. She couldn''t tell me the name of the Essence, but that it was a one of a kind Essence, and that I should keep it hidden. Remembering it now, after Aunt Marina would perform her test, she would go and have a discussion with mom, then after she left with Uncle Brow. Mom would lock herself in her study.... Something is itching me wrong here, but I can''t do anything if they won''t tell me... At this point all I can do is get stronger... A couple of months later, I had started training and cultivating Essence on my own. Maybe it''s time I experiment... Chapter 4: Prologue 4/4: True Augmentation Having been training on my own for the past couple of months, I decided it was finally time to use my Ability, True Augmentation, but before hand... Regarding my Elemental Essences, I know I have the Lightning Essence, and a black Essence. The only 3 people that I knew, even couldn''t tell me the name of what it was, or who else had it. All of the information they knew they had kept pretty tight lipped. Not much I can really do about them, but I sure as hell can figure out what it is on my own. I pulled out a Scope Crystal, after injecting Manacules the density of the the 2 Essences had increased dramatically. When looking at the to distinct colors in the crystal, a singular thought had crossed my mind. Their auras are completely separate, but when I release my Manacules their fused in an aura around my body? I had focused on just the Lightning Essence. Shortly after, the crystal was surging with pure Lightning Essence. I must have been subconsciously using both essences. Let''s try doing it with the black essence now. I closed my eyes and focused my manacules, when I opened my eyes the crystal had turned solid black, Void of all light, you couldn''t even see the edges of the crystal anymore. Looking into the crystal, I had the sudden feeling that something was staring back at me... I quickly retracted my manacules from the crystal and left it alone.... After that I had decided to keep that black essence sealed until I have a better idea of what it is. Now when ever I ignite my manacules it should just be the color of the Lightning Essence. Now it''s time for True Augmentation. Let''s simplify the ability real quick; To Augment is to Modify, Add, Enhance, Multiply, and Increase, already existing Matter, Emotions, or Concepts. Now the meaning of true is absolute, and undeniable. The application in which I can use it sounds pretty open, so I guess Imagination is the limit huh? Thankfully Mom had let me into her private study around this time, and luckily for me she had books on the general knowledge of this world. Races, Cultivation, and Magic. There were 5 different books for the races, Humans, Demons, Dwarves, Elves, and Homunculi. I only wanted the 2 on Homunculi and Elves, so I could better understand my physiology. Mainly my strengths and weaknesses. There still isn''t anything on how a Homunculus is made, but there is definitely a lot about them. Homunculi have a unique physiology that gives them what we would already call an Augmented Body, meaning that the body of a Homunculus'' is several times stronger than that of a human''s, and a hundred times stronger when fueled with Manacules. Humonculi are unable to Cultivate any Manacules within themselves, but they can store them through Empty Essence Crystals, that have been modified into their body. In order to produce Manacules they have to assimilate an Organ or the crystallized essence of another being. Most notable traits even after assimilation are : Gray in the iris of the eyes, graying skin tone, assimilated body parts and modifications. Elves, can naturally produce Manacules, and have a high cultivation rate, but their physique is severely lacking. The Elves even if Prideful, and arrogant, were true Elementalists. Training, Cultivating, and breathing, the very essence of the element they were cultivating. Known traits: Long pointed ears, and youthful appearance.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She had looked at me puzzled and noticed the books I was carrying, having a slight shocked expression after seeing the Homunculi book, she had quickly changed the subject to the Magic book that I was also carrying. She was confused as to why I had chosen to grab it out of all the books she had in her private study, surely there was plenty of other books that would be best suited for my cultivation, and attention. Back when Cultivation had been founded, magic was no longer necessary. The power of cultivating Elemental Essence was 10x stronger than regular magic, because instead of channeling essence through incantation and magic seals, one would use their own body to store essence and purify their cells through manacules. Thus it was no longer pursued, leaving the world of what was an old system of Magic behind, and coming into a world of Elemental Cultivation. So I had left the rest of the knowledge back in my mothers study. Going back to True Augmentation, as long as whatever it is, it has to be already "Existing," or at least a "Concept" of. Then it can be augmented. So let''s use my Visualization method for cultivating essence real quick. Imagine a simple square circuit board from any piece of technology. The Board it''self is the body, Processor is the Soul Essence, and all of the extra components relate to one''s capabilities, all of them are named of course. Such as, Physical Attributes, Abilities and Essences. We''ll just call this the Cultivation Circuit. Imagining this in my mind, it looked just like a small technologically advanced city! Everything was completely scattered, and disorganized. I could see basic Physical Attributes scattered all over the place, in the upper right corner was strength, while in the lower left corner, was intelligence. I couldn''t bare looking at it any longer, this has to change... Let''s use it here, so this is the concept of my being, everything I am is in the form of a circuit board. With this image in my mind I had started to enhance the Cultivation Board, rearranging everything. Picking up similar components, from body components, to cultivation components. I organized everything accordingly, I even combined a few of the components just because I didn''t like the clutter.... It was a little strange but every time I had removed a component from the board, I would twitch as if I had gotten shocked. I thought that it was just my Lightning essence growing restless inside my body, so I didn''t think anything of it. The Cultivation Circuit was coming together! In the center sat the processor, making it''s existence known. Above it sat the Race Component, not really thinking anything of it I had combined the Elf and Homunculus Components together. The entire left side of the Cultivation Circuit was dedicated to my entire body, while the entirety of the left is dedicated to Cultivation. Left side: Senses Component, Muscles Component, Reflexes Component, and the Mind Component. Right side has 2 done like crystals embedded into the board filled with Elemental Essence, One being my Lightning Essence, and the other black essence. But there is on problem, where is the True Augmentation ability? I was sure that I created my visualization correctly... I looked all over the front of the board but found nothing... Then I realized the thickness of the circuit board and turned it over, sure enough there it was. This giant flat component that had incorporated it''self into the entire back of the Cultivation Circuit, written in bold letters. "True Augmentation" When they say that something is apart of you they really mean it... Shortly after rearranging everything the way I had wanted it on the Cultivation Circuit, I had finally applied it... Suddenly my body had dropped to its knees and all of the energy in my body had left. The light I could see with my eyes had begun to fade, and I had genuinely thought that I had screwed the pooch. Messing with something that I shouldn''t have... Then it started... Pain had shot through my body, and I had started screaming. My skin had started to tear itself apart, stretching it''self to the highest tension it can then suddenly tearing and ripping it''self to ribbons. I had started vomiting blood from my organs rupturing themselves. Laying face down in a puddle of my own blood from the constant destruction and restoration of my body, I could only pray for death. A sudden influx of manacules had surged into and through my body. My body was still in the process of being destroyed and restored, but my manacules had subsided the pain. I could still very much feel the tearing, and ripping of my skin, as well as the rupturing of my organs. The manacules had begun to form a dark shadowed dome, with purple lightning arcs dancing around it, emitting large waves of manacules in pulsations, that had even stirred the ocean around the island. Mother had come running from the tree line, because the pulsations had alerted her to her very core. The horror she must of felt from the scene that she from the scene that she was met with. I could hear her screams as she cried out my name, but my consciousness had faded shortly afterwards... Little did I know that from augmenting my entire being, I had gathered unwanted attention.... Chapter 5: The Dark History PT:1 Oz: "Nnngh, what? Where am I?" Oz had said with a groggy voice as he began to sit up, rubbing his eyes. "My body is all stiff." ???:"Well you have been growing in the incubator for a long time Oz." Sounded a female robotic voice from across the room, as if it was coming out of a speaker. "It''s going to take quite sometime for your body to get used to it''self." Oz: "What are you talki-" He couldn''t finish his sentence as he got up out of bed and collapsed to the floor from his legs collapsing out from under him. ???: "I warned you, you know. You should listen to your mother when she tells you something!" The voice had loudly spoke out. Oz: "What are you talking about?! My body was just fine befo-" He had suddenly remembered after applying the finishing changes to his Cultivation Circuit, his entire body had gone through a horrific scene. After recalling everything, he struggled to stand up. Then it had hit him.... Oz: "Mother?..." His eyes widened as he looked over to see a laptop sitting on a desk, with what looked like a Lightning Essence Crystal in a glass tube attached to it through wires. His voice quivered when he spoke, "Mom, that''s not you right?..." Kara: "Unfortunately it is.... My son, I am so sorry...." The voice that was being transmitted from the Essence Crystal and through the Laptop, was trembling. Oz: "Mom, what is going on? You have to tell me everything...." Oz''s tone had turned somber, he could feel his eyes beginning to water. "This is all a dream right? This isn''t real...." Surely enough it was... Oz could tell just by feeling the surrounding air, this wasn''t the island. That crystal that is hooked to that laptop was in fact his mother, he could tell by the aura it had emitted. Loving and nurturing, he would never be able to forget this feeling of his mother''s aura. He became frantic and started asking questions. Uncle Brow and Aunt Marina had walked in a few minutes later, stopping Oz in his tracks. Their appearance was completely different from before. Their aura and personalities were the same, but nothing like what they were. Aun''t Marina''s horns were still there, but her hair had turned to a grayish blonde. Her skin that had been a bright pink had turned grayish with a pink tint. The irises of her eyes were grey with flecks of Ruby Red flares. Sporting a white lab coat and the usual stylish black button dress shirt, that was revealing an insane amount of cleavage, a beige khaki skirt, and black heals. Uncle Brow, standing about 6''3, still had a burly body, his skin had become an off pasty white. His hair is short, and a dark shade of gray. In his eyes there were flecks of bright red, and silver colored flares. He was wearing some type of odd looking Military Engineering outfit. Oz: "Uncle Brow? Aunt Marina? Why do you look so different?! What the actual fuck is going on!?!?" For the first time since his reincarnation Oz had felt a panic attack. He had only felt minor ones in his previous life, like if he had a review at work and was worried he was going to get fired. His mind had entered a complete meltdown, with his mind unstable his entire body had started to shift and alter right in front of everyone present in the room. His mother couldn''t see what was happening but could feel, his heart trembling from its core. Brow standing there with his arms crossed and lost his temper watching this pitiful view before his eyes and took matters into his own hands. *Crash* Brow had instantly moved from the spot he was standing, uppercutting Oz in the gut with a tremendous amount of force. Lifting him into the air.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Oz had puked up nothing but stomach acid over Brow''s arm. In Oz''s eyes he could clearly see Brow''s moments as if they were in slow motion. Brow had retracted his arm while Oz was still airborne and cocked it back, letting him hit the floor. Brow: "You are such a whiny little bastard you know! You know nothing! Do you even realize how luck you are?!" Brow had started yelling loudly at Oz, snapping him from his spell. Oz, had stood back up hunched over and holding his gut. Oz: "Tell m- *Cough* Tell me everything..." He looked up with a determined look in his eyes. From here, there were no more secrets.... He lives in the same world that he had prior, only 500 years into the future. Around 50 years after his death, Scientists had found a way to connect to another plane of existence, known as the plane of Magic. After having connected to this new plane of existence and a new type of power, Humanity was ecstatic. They created an entire new organization, A.S.E.R.O. (Against Supernatural Encounters Response Ordinance) to investigate and utilize this new Resource. The first contact was with the Elves. The Elves provided Essence Crystals, in turn with humanities technology. Even Humans could attain magic, and channel it through Essence Crystals. But then there was the small clan of Elves that had split from the main family, they received a permit from ASERO, and traveled the earth. In doing so they had found information on Cultivation, and Martial Arts. Having practiced these methods the elves had decided to take the cultivation into seclusion on a mountain with an ever raging storm. By this time Humanity had crossed over to their plane, Dwarves greeted them with open arms. The technological advancements between the two races were astronomical, the Dwarves had already incorporated the Essence Crystals into their own technology that had a more fundamental view on using the energy of the crystal to power their their homes and cities, as well as military power. The Organization ASERO had taken over a small island in the Philippines to construct their base of operations, which had later turned into a giant Metropolis of all races prospering, and coinciding. Even the demons had at least made a civil rights pact with the other races. It was a peaceful time. After 10 years, the Elves had revealed the power of Cultivation with Manacules, and then everything changed. Fueled by the hunger for power, it was a blood stained mess. Wars had broken out among the 3 races, Dwarves, Elves, and Demons. Humans didn''t have the physical capability of competing... The Human body was unable to produce Manacules like the other races that had been born and raised in the Plane of Magic. Leaving them inept and in the dust on terms of power. ASERO didn''t like this and wasn''t going to have it, so they had put all of their resources into experimenting and and research. 300 years later, the wars had subsided and the losses were catastrophic to all races, except the humans, who had stayed out of the conflict. The island and the economy grew, what had been just a small organization had erupted into it''s own city, there were at least a few thousand of people from each race living there. Having chose to abstain from the wars. The City of Asero, governed by the organization it''self. After several hundred years of attempts, failures, and reworks, the ASERO Science&Magic Division had found the answer. With all of the resources from the Plane of Magic, and the assistance of the Demon''s knowledge of Alchemy. They were able to create the very first Homunculus, using one of the soldiers from the Military Branch of ASERO. Naturally being the First Homuculus he was perfect, super human abilities, every bit of his body and mind had been enhanced at least 10x fold, and that wasn''t the only thing either! He was generating Manacules in his body naturally. Having achieved their goal, they didn''t stop there... They had been studying his blood and his physiology for the next 50 years. Until... He broke out, while in the means of doing so, destroyed all of their research, and ran into the Plane of Magic to never be seen again... From what samples they were able to save from the destruction of the lab they were able to create the H-Virus. The H-Virus was incomplete, and highly unstable. The first experimental subject died immediately in excruciating pain, so they went back and reworked it. This time it worked, but in the wrong way... After the reworked batch was injected into the subject, his body had started to spasm. After 5 minutes, the subject had become stable. His skin turned to an ash gray with what looks like cracks in clay all over his body, hair had turned white, and his irises, had turned a flat gray and looked completely lifeless. They had succeeded, or at least they thought they had. After turning themselves into Homunculi, the higher ups of the ASERO Organization were furious, while the Humonulus did have the inhuman capabilities, it couldn''t produce and Manacules. Cursing their luck and not being able to recreate the first Homunculus in themselves, they continued their experiments. For the last several hundred years, the ASERO Organization had been collecting samples from wars, but only the samples from the strongest of each race. Then they experimented on themselves, incorporating the DNA from the samples they had collected, turning themselves into Homunculi Hybrids.... Afterwards they had gained the ability to produce Manacules in themselves... Changing the food chain completely.... That was only the tip of the ice berg..... With the thought of finally obtaining power freshly burnt into their minds, another appeared. "Can''t we get stronger?" And surely they did. The H-Virus had adapted and gone airborne, infecting every human that was in the City of Asero. Everything had turned to chaos, with every Human in the city becoming Homunculi one after another, everyone was confused. Then an announcement had been broadcast over the entire city. Loud Speaker: "Humanity has evolved, we need no longer live in the fear of these beings from the Plane of Magic. For we can now cultivate!" After the announcement, had finished explaining the method. The blood bath ensued. Left and right, Demons, Dwarves, and Elves, had fallen at the hands of the Homunculi. After everything had settled down, they gathered all of the dead in a giant pile. Ready to be cut up and distributed among the newly born Humonculi, so they may "Evolve," and further satisfy their lust for power. After news of this incident reached they other races, they had scattered among other realms to hide from the newly born race. Leaving the Plane of Magic to only be inhabited by the Essence Beast that live their naturally... After the Plane of Magic had been left by the other races. The Organization known as ASERO, transported their entire city, leaving the rest of Humanity behind. To this new world that is now known as.... Terra Mortis "Land of Death...." Chapter 6: The Dark History PT:2 Oz and Brow had taken a trip into the City of Asero. After walking for quite sometime Oz had been pondering on all of the information that had been quite literally thrown in his face. Everything that had happened on that island was all just a virtual reality, His body had a complication from the first time that he was released from the incubator and so they suspended him back in the incubator for those next few years while his body grew. But shortly there after was an accident and his mother had wound up in the state she is currently in. They had managed to make a virtual world while he was being suspended, making it so he was completely conscious while his body was asleep. Also allowing his mother to take up a tangible form in the Virtual World, and to give him a sense of being "Raised," as well as to train him. When he asked them if he had finished growing, that all paused for a brief moment, before saying yes in unison... They still weren''t being direct on specific details that he had wanted to know, but he lived with it. Brow: " You seem to be accustoming just fine to your body, that virtual world must have really helped! I really wish I could still have my old body..." He said with a spiteful tone in his voice. After a brief flash back of the hospital room. Brow and Marina had told Oz their story and how they had acquired their bodies. When they were still primarily conducting experiments on their own bodies, the Homunculi had found a way to crystallize the Essence of a living being. In hopes they would be able to modify the crystal into their own body, and further increase their power. Around this time they had been caught and were the primary specimens for the next test... Fortunately for Brow and Marina, they hadn''t found out how to extract Soul Essence. The defining Essence of someone''s entire being. Oz, didn''t ask them any further questions regarding the topic, he could clearly see the pain they had still clearly felt from that time. When they had awoken in their new bodies they could control it to any extent. Their Essence that had been extracted from their bodies and placed into crystals where then modified into the female and male Homunculi. Their Essence had completely wiped out the souls that had previously inhabited their bodies completely taking over it, but retaining the memories of the individuals altering their personalities only slightly. Explaining why Brow had punched Oz in the gut. They had both continued to walk through the city for sometime, seeing all of the different stores, shops, and new technology, and all of the Homunculi. All of them had shaded tones of hair varying from white to black, but their eyes had different colors along with the gray in their eyes. Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Brown, the further you went into the city the more the colors varied. But that wasn''t the only thing that had caught Oz''s attention. After reaching the central area of the the city, everyone was modified.... Brow: "Oz listen carefully, in this world. Elves, Dwarves, and Demons no longer exist. So they have named these new Humonculi Hybrids respectively..." Brow had a fire in his eyes when he started to speak. Their skin tones did deviate from the gray, Elves, having more of a dark skin tone, as if resembling Dark Elves. So they took to the name respectively. The Dwarves DNA, had actually had a mutation after being assimilated, skin turning into many different shades of green. Males had bulked up and become more muscular standing anywhere from 7'' to 8'' as adults. While females only grew slightly in size and became more agile. Growing sharp teeth and 2 tusks from their newly shaped cleft jaw. Unwillingly named Orcs.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Thankfully this was not the case for Brow, he had decided to stay as a regular Humonculi. After his Soul Essence was transferred into the Humonculus'' body. While Marina had wanted to still be a demon, she had gotten the modification done.... With parts from her old body.... Demon''s are just Demon''s, no matter how you try to word it. Oz: "That explai-" Oz was having a hard time trying not to puke here.... "Why she looks so similar..." He finally said after swallowing the rising stomach acid. Then Oz had looked over at his Uncle Brow to see him deep in thought with a lewd smile on his face. Oz: "I knew it!" Brow: "Ww-w-what?!" Snapping out of his fantasy and embarrassed. Oz: "Oooooooohh, nothing." He smiled and turned away whistling with his hands in his pockets. But after turning back towards the crowd he could see furry ears and tails, some had fins, and feathers. Oz: "Beast people?" Oz tilted his head in confusion. Brow: "No, very far from it. Disgusting monsters...." The last part Brow had said with a very low tone so only Oz could hear it. "Because the other races ran to hiding the Homunculi didn''t have enough DNA to let everyone be a Demon, Dwarf or Elf. So they could either choose to be modified with an empty essence crystal to cultivate, or they were provided with another option. Essence Beasts... While those 3 races had stayed within the higher-ups of the ASERO Organization, the rest of the populace had become Beastmen. Modifying their bodies with the different creatures of Terra Morte, Mammals, Aquatics, and Birds. Everything they could get their hands on. All so they could try to satisfy their never ending hunger for power, to be able to harness Essence within themselves, and cultivate... The Homunculi that look almost human, but with the usual tone of hair and skin. Their eyes did have color as well, but they didn''t have any racial features. They had chosen to not Modify their bodies with another living creatures genes, and had instead chose to modify Essence Crystals into their body. After seeing that there were still people with good morals in the world, he could only sigh with relief. Brow: "Hey kid, let''s get you some new clothes." Brow had placed his hand on Oz''s shoulder and pointed to a clothing store just off to the right of them. Oz: "*huff* E-tek? What kind of store name is that?" He had left out a huff of air from the weight of Brow''s hand dropping on his shoulder. Brow: "It''s the last set of clothes you''ll ever need thanks to the technology of the Science&Magic Division of Asero!" He had triumphantly yelled while beating his hand to his chest proudly. Oz: He raised one eyebrow and looked at him, "That''s great! Now are you going to tell me what they are?" He chuckled as he said sarcastically Brow: "Okay, okay, you don''t have to be a little asshole now." He said embarrassingly, after recollectiong himself he continued. Brow works in the Science&Magic Division of Asero, being that he has the soul of a Dwarf he would be naturally drawn to technology and magic. He was apart of the team that had designed "E-Tek" clothing. After being put on the clothes will sync to the host''s body, and scan their brain waves and determine the look best suited for them. After walking into the store that was filled to the brim with all different types and sizes of body suits. There were the low cost suits that would only have the function for one preset outfit after syncing with it''s user. As well as the higher end costing suits that had the look of elegance gleaming off of them. They were able to store up to at 10 preset outfits of the user''s choice, and varying ones ranging in between. Brow: "Hurry kid, take this one and go put it on! I ain''t getting any younger here!" Brow said with a big laugh while throwing a suit into his hands. Oz: "Fine..." Oz huffed with an agitated look, grabbing the suit he makes his way back to the dressing room. After taking off the sweat pants and t-shirt that brow had given him earlier. He starts to put on the suit. After finally getting it on he stands in front of the mirror looking at himself, now looking to be about 16-17 years of age, his height 6''3". Broad and wide chest, His elf ears were short, under his left eye, the black "0Z (Zero-Zee) tattoo. Smokey brown skin, and defining pitch black hair. A stern and smooth jawline, with a small triangular soul patch under his bottom lip. His eyes from the pupil, blooming an amethyst purple into an obelisk gray. He had covered his genitalia with his hands, because the suit was way to skin tight. Even the muscles on his body were totally defined through the suit. Oz: "How the hell do I close up the back?" He asked as he tried to foolishly struggle to close the back of his suit. Looking down he saw that there was a crystal that was embedded into the center of the chest. Putting his hand on the crystal he instinctively injected Manacules into the crystal. Purple and black light has started to stream into the crystal, after noticing the black essence had begun to pour into the crystal as well he retracted it. What looked like LED lights had appeared across the suit, illuminating the suit, and the entire room. After being blinded by his suit, the light had faded, and he looked in the mirror to see his new outfit. A black short sleeved t shirt underneath a gray and white hooded cargo vest, beige and black cargo shorts, and black and white converse with gray socks. Oz: "This is totally wicked!" After looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed that the crystal was no longer in the chest area and had moved. He looked all over himself and couldn''t find it. Slumping his head, he felt a weight tug on his left ear. Reaching up he felt an earring, in confusion he hurriedly looked in the mirror to see that the crystal had turned into an earring. Oz: "Apparently the materials of the suit use the manacules of the user to change shape. Technology and Magic have definitely come a long way!" Once finished admiring himself he returned back to the main lobby to his Uncle Brow having a conversation with an Orc who, I would have to guess was a friend. ???: "Greg, it was great to see you again! But I gotta be heading back to the Soldier Academy, we will definitely have to catch up!" The giant male orc said before he hurriedly made his exit. Oz: After walking up to Brow, he looked at his uncle with an eyebrow lifted and a smirk on his face. "So Greg, tell me about this Soldier Academy on our way home!" Oz calling him by the name he was just referred to as sarcastically. Brow: "Come here you litt-" After just barely missing Oz from his attempt at grabbing him. Brow had chased Oz all the way back to their home just on the outside of the city. Chapter 7: Family After a couple of months of Oz being out of the Incubator, it was time for his check up with his Aunt Marina. Their home was an old medium sized 2 story lab, that had a giant subbasement that was used for technological experiments. Being that his Uncle Brow was the lead designer for the "E-Tek" suits, he was able to pull some strings to buy this building. Now seeing that his Uncle is rich, and has the best technology at his disposal was completely ecstatic. The space was quit huge, having an area of at least an entire school gymnasium, the height was at least 2 stories below ground. And an office in the far corner of the room, from the looks of it, it was primarily used for blue prints. This was where Oz had decided to make his room. Mainly for the big space that had been available to him just outside his door, and the ability to train his body. Along with practicing with his uncle in cultivation. Marina and Brow had modified the entire first floor of the building into a home for themselves, having naturally offered a room to Oz. He had declined respectively having made his decision to stay in the little office space with a cot. He would get up every morning to do a morning routine of workouts, stretches, and meditations. Everything that he had learned over the years while in the virtual world with his mother still worked, but the feeling this time around had been completely different from before. Little did Oz know that while he was still actually in the incubator, his body was subconsciously cultivating the manacules and vitamins that were provided. Strengthening and Enhancing his body leaps and bounds ahead of normal cultivation means. Wondering how strong he was Oz had asked his Uncle if there was a way to measure his strength, or power. Being that most every being related to magic had a natural limiter, he was curious. Brow: "Ahh, you want to see how strong you are? If you think you are anywhere close to me, you shall surely be mistaken! Buahahaha!" He burst out laughing after sarcastically condescending Oz. Continuing to talk,"Of course there is kiddo! But first let me tell ye'' about Soldier Academy first!" He says with a hard voice before going into a drawn out explanation... Soldier Academy was created by the Military side of ASERO for recruiting young Homunculi for Military purposes, as well as experiments. Oz: "Real quick, are there naturally born Homunculi?" Oz had stopped in the middle of Brow''s explanation. Brow: "Yes there are, but after the genetic modifications they had mutated into separate species. Naturally making them unable to mate with another race, tearing some a few couples apart." He had paused for a moment before continuing. " Anyways, after the age of 6, all children are forced to go to school like modern day children from the Human Realm. At the age of 13, all children are placed through an examination by the S&M Dept. to determine if they have an Elemental Essence, and their Manacule density." After taking another brief pause he had brought out a laptop with a bunch of wires. After about a minute of setting up the laptop and connecting it to Oz, the computer when silent. A few moments later the readings. [Subject:] 0Z (Oz) [Race:] Dark Elf [Cell Stability:] N/AUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. [Element Essence:] Lightning/ Shadow [Essence Form:] Void [Manacule Density:] Undetectable Due to Essence Form. Brow had re done the reading several times over on Oz, thinking it was a mistake. Surely enough it wasn''t, having disappeared for a moment and leaving Oz alone to the results, Oz could only think of the endless possibilities. Oz: "So it was shadow huh? I guess that would make sense after floating in that darkness for some time." Then with a sudden smile on his face, "Imagination is the limit, and man do I have some ideas!" He blurts out as he snaps his arms out putting them behind his head. "But what is the Essence form? Moments later, "Totally killing the vibe," Brow walks back in, while marina pushes a cart with Kara''s crystal and a laptop on it, following behind him. Looking at all of them Oz was confused, obviously there was no expression from his mother either. On her computer screen read "[...]." Oz: Slouching back with an eyebrow up. "Really? Ya''ll are gonna make me ask yeah?" He taps his right foot a couple of times on the ground. "Okay! Why the look of, "Fuuuuuuuck....."? Cause I genuinely know nothing!" Oz was furious at this point, seemingly coming closer to losing his temper. Aunt Marina: "Oz.... From the readings of your body you have they perfect genetic makeup... The Elf and Homunculus DNA have fused completely, there are no signs of them individually." Said Marina with a exhilarated voice as she looked over the results. "Not only does he have 2 Essences, his Physiology is absolutely perfect. The highest melding point we could achieve with fusing the DNA was only 76%! Was this because of that?... Kara?.." Marina looked over to Kara (The computer.) Oz: "Because of what? Marina? Mother? Mom what aren''t you telling me? Tell me everything I need to know. That''s all I ask." Oz looked over at his mother''s Essence Crystal and spoke with a stern voice. Kara: The crystal was beginning to pulsate as she spoke through the laptop. "Oz, from ASERO''s point of view, your physiology has always been a hypothesis, and a dream." She had suddenly stopped speaking. "But you need to know the truth about who you are as a whole and a being." The words she spoke suddenly jolted Oz''s heart. Kara had explained to Oz that she was very much his mother, she had one of her own eggs surgically removed and injected with Homunculus DNA, but still wouldn''t tell him about his father. His body was originally a back up for his mother to inhabit, like with his Uncle Brow and Aunt Marina. Before the process of transferring her Soul Essence there was a complication, 2 hours prior Brow had brought back a solid black Essence Crystal that the mining team of the S&M Dep. found. Hoping to study it after the transferal, but just as the process had began the stone had disappeared just 10 minutes before hand. Brow had been searching frantically for it, when Marina and Kara came up to ask him about his pacing. Brow: "The stone is gone! The Black Essence Crystal! I can''t find it anywhere!" Brow had already tore the entire lab apart trying to find the crystal. Blue prints and paper had been thrown all over. Marina: "Is that it in the incubator with the Subject OZ?" Marina had pointed to the incubator with a small embryo floating in the middle the crystal had been floating right above it. They had all began to panic after seeing the crystal inside of the incubator, it began to dissolve into a black mist and began to flow into the embryo breathing life into it. Marina: She walks over to the computer on the incubator. "From the readings it has a soul! That Essence Crystal had a soul in it Brow! Now we have to work on removing the soul! God dammit!" Marina slammed her fist down on the monitor angrily. "Kara doesn''t have the time, they could find her here any minute now!" Brow: "Shut up, I know!" Brow runs over to the computer and looks through all of the data, seeing if there was something he could do to stop the crystal from completely fusing. "No good... It''s integrated completely..." *Blip* An indicator popped up on the monitor in front of brow. [Life form Essence:] Lightning, Shadow Marina: "It has Shadow Essence!?! We can''t allow this thing to live. We have to kill it now, or everything with end!" Marina screamed out in panic as she hurried to input the kill code on the incubator. Suddenly being stopped by Kara. "Why Kara? You and I both know where the Shadow Essence comes from, its chaotic and can''t be controlled!" Kara: "When a soul fights for its existence who are we to deny it''s chance? And who would I be if I were to deny my child to be a chance at life?" Kara spoke softly as she walked over to the incubator and put her hand on the glass next to a plaque that says, "Subject 0Z." From this day forward, you''ll be known as Oz." Marina had cancelled the protocol after tapping a button on the keyboard and sighed heavily. A couple of weeks after Oz''s "Birth," his mother''s misfortune had come to pass. Kara had still traveled the rest of Terra Mortis, while Oz was still in the incubator, but she was cornered by the a squad from Soldier Academy, and captured. They had crystallized her Essence, leaving her body lifeless. Brow and Marina had gotten her Crystal, but were unable to recover her body leaving her in her current state. After listening to everything, Oz got up from his chair and looked everyone dead in the eye. Oz: "You all already knew that I was a conscious soul from the beginning didn''t you?" He asked with wide eyes. Kara: Her robotic voice played through the laptop quietly, "Yes, we did, from the moment you first spoke. We still never loved you any less. You will always be my child as I, your mother. Nor is it any different with your uncle and aunt." Brow: "I look at''cha as if you were my own boy!" Brow bellowed with a smile. Marina: "We will always be here for you deary." She said with a tilt in her hip and a glimmer in her eye. He stood there eyes wide open looking at the family he had in front of him, tears streaming from his face, and a smile from ear to ear. The only words he could utter were: "Thank you." "18th" Birthday Today is Oz''s "18th" birthday, declared by his mother, and Family. Have thrown him a Birthday party, the first one since his birth. Oz was in the sub basement working on an experimental E-Tek Suit, that him and his uncle had been designing together. Oz: "Nnnnn.... hmmmmm... Ah! Alright, awesome! It''s finished!" He holds up the gray metallic suit in front of him. It looked just like the others, but the gray had become a lot darker from the usual suits. "Well, time to try it out." He quickly puts on the suit and places his hand over the crystal, The lines of lights over the suit, and the crystal glowed brilliantly. Illuminating the entire room, then suddenly fading back into the suit. Standing there wearing black and gray combat boots, with black Cargo pants. White wife beater and black finger-less gloves. Oz had shaved the sides and back of his head, his hair in a faux hawk, and the E-tek crystal as an earring in his left ear. Oz: "Alright, first Lightning Essence." He closed is eyes, focusing the on purely the lightning inside him charging his suit. The soles of his boots emitted a dark purple light with arcs of lightning, and sparks zipping off as his body had begun to levitate off of the ground. "Awesome, if I break down the capabilities of lighting to its minimum I can even manipulate Electromagnetic Waves in all sorts of varieties!" He began to float higher from the ground before he was interrupted by his uncle. Brow: "Hey ki-" Brow had just started speaking as he saw Oz floating mid air in the middle of the sub basement. "You never cease to amaze me kid. Come on down, it''s your birthday! Let''s Celebrate!" Oz: "Birthday?" As Oz drew his attention towards Brow he had let go of all of his focus and dropped straight to the floor and right on his ass. "Oww..." Brow: "Yea kid, it''s your 18th birthday! Well the final growth period for your body anyway. For a Elf your looking pretty bulky now ain''tcha?" He said laughingly as he slapped Oz''s shoulder. Oz: "Heh, yea I guess so..." Oz chuckled a bit realizing that for an elf he was abnormally muscular, most Elves have fair skin all around, with slight toning. While Oz, himself has a Grecian god bod, in a sense. He recollected himself and turned to Brow. "Now what''s this about my birthday?" He asked utterly confused. Brow: "Of course, your now an adult, and its time for your decision. Would you like to go into the Soldier Academy, or the S&M Dept.? Even though I already know the answer to that just from what I have seen." Brow said with a prideful tone, as he crossed his arms. Oz: Having sat there on the ground for a moment. "Soldier Academy." Oz said with a stern tone. Brow: Looking at Oz puzzled by his answer, he couldn''t help but ask. "Why? There is so much you can achieve at the S&M Dept.! So much that you could do!" Brow was a bit frantic, but was more astonished by his answer. Oz: "I have " Oz said looking into Brow''s eyes. Brow: "Okay... If you''ve made up your mind, I won''t dig any further..." Brow started walked back up the stairs and yelled back down to Oz, "If you don''t hurry I''m going to eat all of your cake you little bastard!" He yelled as he sprinted up the stairs.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Oz stared at the stairs for a second, then he smiled with a slight chuckle. He closed his eyes focusing on Brow''s presence in the house, just as brow was about to take a plate of cake, Oz appeared out of his shadow from underneath and took the plate before he could. Oz: He picks up the cake with his fingers and takes a giant bite out of it in front of Brow. "Heh, too slow old man!" He said laughingly with a mouth full of food. Brow: Picking up a plate of cake and placing his hand under the plate, he begins to speak, "You really think that your funny don''tcha brat? Well how about this!" Launching the plate towards Oz he unintentionally hit Marina with the cake splattering it all over her face making her drop the palate of drinks onto the floor. Oz: After patting Brow on the shoulder he whispered into his ear, "It''s ye, who cast the first stone, that is burnt by fire." Before trotting off in the other direction. Marina: The plate and cake slowly slid off of her face, when the plate hit the floor brow twitched in horror. "Honey, since when was throwing food, ANY PART OF FOOD ETIQUETTE!?!?" Marina had gone into a full blown rage mode all over brow. Oz: Shortly after the the brutal beating Uncle Brow had received, Aunt Marina stood up straight and brushed off her clothes. "So why a birthday? We never even did it in the virtual world, so why now?" He asked Marina. Marina: "Honey, can you go get Kara, it''s best to let her explain." Brow nodded his head after hearing Marina and left. Not even 2 minutes later a large explosion had taken place on the right side of the lab shaking the entire building, and filling Oz with this tiny inkling of dread in his heart. Rushing to where the explosion had happened, Oz had found Brow lying under a rubble unconscious, and the laptop that his mother''s crystal had been hooked up to completely destroyed and in pieces. But his mother was no where to be found. Oz: Running over to Brow in a panic he started to yell and shake him. "Brow!? What happened!? Where is Mom and who did this!?" With a vengeance in his tone, his attention was caught by a blue spark out of the corner of his eyes. Turning to look in the direction the spark had come from he could see a blue flame off in the distance slowly fading away. With in a fraction of a second, his Lightning Essence had enveloped his body from head to toe. Oz stood up and began to walk towards the blue flame. Arcs of dark purple lightning emanating off of his body electrifying the air. In a flash he was gone from the scene, leaving sparks behind. Before Marina had made it into the room, and made it to Brow''s side. Looking around she could see the electrical scorch marks left by Oz''s feet. She could only stare blankly at the scorch marks, then having her attention attracted by Brow, who had just started waking up. Brow: *cough, cough* Barely able to open his eyes, brow had regained consciousness. "They found us Marina.... Gahhh!" Brow placing his hand over his stomach as blood began to seep through his clothes. Marina: Walking over and looking at Brow''s injuries, she spoke with a cold tone. "I am honestly quite shocked that you had managed to survive, Brormund." Seeing how much pain Brow was in she finally couldn''t hold back her sorrow that she had kept hidden and looked away. Brow: Noticing Marina''s actions, he could only assume she was up to something. "Marina... Di-did you do t-th-this?" *Vomits blood* Having been able to hardly speak that sentence, he had began to vomit blood all over himself. "W-h-why Marina? Why?" Marina: Turning around, she walked to the whole in the wall and stood in the entry. "It''s always been survival of the fittest. If your weak, you die, and if your strong, you survive." Speaking with a dark solemn tone, she turned back around to look Brow in the eyes. Marina: Brow looking back at her, he could see that Marina had streams of tears flowing down her rosey pink cheeks. "I am so sorry.... This was the only way..." She walked back over and knelt down by his side and gave him a long lasting kiss. As she kissed him, she stabbed her hand into his chest and ripped out his Essence Crystal, finally ending his life. As she held his crystal up to her chest, she screamed and cried out in agony. After her scream she looked down at the Essence Crystal filled with red and a metallic silver energy. She spoke her last words before leaving with the crystal in hand. "I love you Brormund...."