《You're a God, go.》 Reality, or lack thereof The world ended. It wasn¡¯t nukes. Or Global Warming. It was way more exciting than that. We managed to pull the Moon into the Earth. It didn¡¯t wipe out all of humanity, only most of it. But I died at the impact along with countless others. Chapter 1 Jason woke up on a cold floor. It was black everywhere, well, everywhere except in front of him. In front of him was Death. ¡°Wow.¡± said Jason Death looked much liked you expected it. A skeleton in a black robe with a scythe. The robe tattered, and the scythe wicked sharp. ¡°Hello Jason.¡± Death said. His voice was wispy, as if the wind came from somewhere else. While his teeth clacked along with the emphasized vowels. ¡°Umm¡­ Hi.¡± Jason replied. Death stood motionless, not moving, not speaking. It was entirely too unnerving. ¡°So¡­ What happens now?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Now?¡± Death asked back. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t you weigh my soul or something? You know, to determine whether I go to heaven or hell?¡± said Jason. ¡°Do I?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Neither do I.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re, you know¡­¡± ¡°Death?¡± ¡°Well, yeah¡± There was an awkward silence for a minute. ¡°Listen, Death, sir, will something happen?¡± ¡°Do you want something to happen?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then something will happen.¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°What you want to happen.¡± Jason was frustrated; this isn¡¯t what he expected at all. ¡°Well I don¡¯t want to be dead!¡± ¡°No? Then what do you want to be?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, alive?¡± ¡°Then be alive.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°What? How do I do that?¡± ¡°By willing it to happen.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m now alive.¡± Silence. ¡°See?¡± Jason frustratedly kicked at the floor. ¡°You are now alive¡± ¡°What? Then why are you still here?¡± ¡°Because, you haven¡¯t willed me away.¡± ¡°¡±Okay, go away.¡± Death disappeared instantly. ¡°Oh..¡± Jason looked around, he was really alone. Too alone. ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± said Jason. ¡°Come back!¡± Death reappeared. ¡°Wah!¡± Jason fell down onto the stone floor again. ¡°I am here.¡± Death reported. ¡°God I hate that!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You, how you¡¯re so, empty!¡± ¡°Empty?¡± ¡°Yeah, I just made you disappear and you don¡¯t even care!¡± ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Well, I was scared for my lack of presence.¡± ¡°But not like that, give yourself more personality.¡± ¡°Personality?¡± ¡°Yeah! You¡¯re Death right? Shouldn¡¯t you be this evil monstrosity that gains joy from reaping the souls of mortals?¡± ¡°Am I?¡± ¡°Well, yes.¡± ¡°And you want me to be this evil monstrosity that gains joy from reaping the souls of mortals?¡± ¡°Oh, God no.¡± ¡°Then what do you want me to be?¡± ¡°Someone who is normal.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Death sat down on a chair that appeared under him and took out a pipe and began stuffing full of tobacco. ¡°Woah, how did you do that?¡± ¡°By willing it.¡± ¡°Can I do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Jason thought about a nice soft chair appearing behind him. A nice soft chair appeared behind him. He sat down. Death meanwhile finished stuffing his pipe and took out a match from his ropes, he gazed at it and a blue flame burst forth from nowhere. He lit his pipe and began puffing away for a while before turning his attention back to Jason. ¡°Well kid, thanks to you, I feel forty years old, have a nicotine addiction and the understanding of what you finally want.¡± Jason blinked. ¡°You see kid, you gave me a personality, and that is basically a state of mind right, one where I have habits, likes and dislikes and other things.¡± ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Yeah, even though you gave me a higher state of consciousness I won¡¯t say I¡¯m particularly happy with it.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Well I was like a fish, and fish don¡¯t feel, now you come along and turn me into a man, and now I can feel.¡± ¡°And why is that a bad thing?¡± ¡°I can feel pain and annoyance, among other things. And in a mortal¡¯s sense, the cons far outweigh the pros.¡± ¡°Wait, so I did that?¡± ¡°Jeez, what have I been telling you? You do everything! Well I do too now, because you gave me consciousness to use to do it with.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Kid, do you read a lot of books?¡± ¡°Yeah why?¡± ¡°Like those fantasy ones.¡± ¡°Yeah, my favorite book is Lord of the Rings.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a trilogy but anyway, you know how in those you have things like magic? How your will directly correlates with the physical world?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, it¡¯s usually after strict training and disciplining the mind for years a mage is able to alter the fabric of reality.¡± ¡°Right, well that¡¯s total bullshit.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me, rubbish, crap, drivel, hogwash.¡± ¡°Wha-¡° ¡°You can¡¯t alter reality when there is no reality to begin with.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If you say ¡®what¡¯ one more time I¡¯ll brain you, just shut up and listen for now.¡± Death took another drag before continuing. ¡°As I said, how can you alter reality when there is no reality there to begin with? Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s a trick question, the real question is how can you be sure there is a reality at all. The only thing you can be sure about is what¡¯s inside you, and that¡¯s what you have connected to your five senses, which tell you about the outside world which, let¡¯s not forget, you can¡¯t be sure is there at all. ¡° ¡°Basically when you willed that chair underneath you, you just convinced your eyes and ass that you¡¯re sitting on it. Or when you didn¡¯t like how I was acting you changed what your ears listened to. And really who¡¯s gonna contradict you? Me? I could be nothing more than a figment of your imagination.¡± Jason looked stunned. ¡°Yeah, mind boggling stuff, really makes your rethink your view on life, assuming there is life to begin with. When you said you¡¯re alive, who was there to say otherwise?¡± ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. Anyway, don¡¯t let it depress you, in reality, get it? Reality? There¡¯s no limit outside, only inside, what happens is what you want to happen. And when we¡¯re there the sky is the limit, well not really, there is no limit.¡± Death took another drag and looked over to Jason. Who was completely motionless. ¡°How come I didn¡¯t know this before?¡± ¡°Maybe you went insane and wanted to forget, so you started over.¡± ¡°What? Why would I do that?¡± Death shrugged. ¡°Infinity is a long time kid; everyone needs a start over once in a while.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°So, what now, eat yourself silly? Drown yourself in women? Make everyone you ever envied suffer? Or show them how you are better? You could literally paint the most beautiful paintings, compose the best songs. Become Mozart, Galileo and Confucius all at once.¡± Jason looked up, his eyes burning. ¡°First, I¡¯ll become a God.¡± Creating a playground Chap 2 ¡°Ahh, all of the above, I like it. Where do you start?¡± said Death. ¡°First let¡¯s create some space.¡± Jason replied. The floor fell away and Jason and Death floated in space on their chairs. ¡°This should be good.¡± Death commented. His chair formed into a recliner and his tobacco into popcorn. His scythe turning to ash and disappearing. ¡°Next, let¡¯s have some light.¡± Jason said. A miniature sun appeared in his hand, he let it gently float away a few feet from him. ¡°We¡¯ll need to zoom in a bit for the next part.¡± Jason said. The sun suddenly expanded enormously until the thing filled up the space entirely on Jason¡¯s right. ¡°Before you continue.¡± Death interrupted. ¡°Could you make a few suns in the distance? You know, so that it gives off that lost in space effect?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Jason smiled. A beautiful arrangement of suns in the distance appeared. So far away that the looked like tiny little points, like stars. ¡°Next. We¡¯ll create a planet.¡± Jason said. A mass of dirt appeared, cracked through molten lava. It was about as big as the first sun was. ¡°You should move the sun to our left here a bit further away, or baby earth there won¡¯t cool down.¡± Death nodded. The Sun suddenly shrank a quarter of its¡¯ size. ¡°This won¡¯t be Earth by the way.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°No, it will be much, much bigger than Earth.¡± ¡°How big?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m thinking about Jupiter size, I want the whole world exploration to last longer.¡± Water appeared on the surface of the planet. ¡°I¡¯m also planning to have much more land, and we won¡¯t have the traditional ice caps hanging around the north and south poles, we¡¯ll have it dotted around. We¡¯ll have deserts, mountains, oceans with mountains in them, jungles, you name it, it¡¯s all in there.¡± ¡°Impressive, it will make scientists scratch their heads for millennia¡± ¡°Oh there¡¯s a reason for it.¡± ¡°Really and what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Magic¡±. As Jason said that a glob appeared in his hand, like a floating sphere of jelly which he passed onto the little planet. Once done so the little ball turned vibrant as the land lost its black contour and color appeared, green, yellow, white and even black. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Death leaned forward in his chair ¡°Is that? Oh my. Life?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Jason grinned happily. ¡°They will turn into magical beasts more and more powerful until they become gods and titans.¡± Ripples in the little cloud around the planet started appearing, swirls of energies convulsed and strained while the harmonious colors of green and blue slowly turned into purple and red. ¡°Right about now there should be a war on between the beasts of nature and those who found my little pockets of dark energy I hid underground.¡± The colors slowly broke up into smaller and smaller sections with greater variety until every part of the rainbow could be seen. But the overall scheme was bright and vibrant, like an enthusiastic child¡¯s drawing. ¡°Great, it seems they¡¯ve all settled in. But before we go on, can I trust you Death?¡± Death took his eyes of the planet to look up at Jason. ¡°Huh, you figured it out?¡± ¡°Yeah, while we we¡¯re talking I matured my brain a few years.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Well, I mean there¡¯s really no reason to do anything against you, kid. I mean you have given me the gift that is yours as well and if I was pissed at you and didn¡¯t like you, I could just move to a different reality and do my own thing there.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°But just in case I made something that will remake me in case I should die or something.¡± ¡°See? Problem solved.¡± ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s change my appearance.¡± Jason suddenly became taller, his shoulders wider, his belly became a six pack while his jawline became more pronounced. His facial features became better too, his nose smaller, his eyes bluer, no pimples or mono brow, his hair brown and short. ¡°What do you think?¡± Death grinned ¡°You look like you just popped out of a fashion magazine. But what about your clothes?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what they developed but I¡¯m hoping for some good fantasy sword and scroll armor.¡± And suddenly Jason was in a simple tunic and garb, everything about him looked peasant. ¡°That¡¯s not very impressive.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a fashion statement.¡± ¡°Well whatever floats your boat.¡± ¡°Are you changing?¡± ¡°Na, I wanna be silent and intimidating.¡± ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go.¡± And with that the scenery changed around them. ¡°Woah,¡± Death and Jason stood a good 1000 meters above the ground. A thick jungle was everywhere and a bunch of wooden huts squatted in a small clearing. ¡°Let¡¯s speed the world up a bit.¡± The world abruptly transformed, a day and night cycle changed continuously, like someone switching an on/off switch constantly, the forest was cleared and the huts popped up. A quarry appeared along with a stream. The village grew as more and more people whizzed by at the speed of sound. A wall was erected around the perimeter one time but the huts quickly out grew it, fires appeared and extinguished, drizzles of rain flashed by and the town still grew, a little fort appeared which grew into a castle. Roads slowly formed from the trodden feet and yet the town still grew. The houses turned to stone two or three stories high. The thatch roofs were replaced by tiles one by one. There were brief moments when the entire village burned and the little colors of the flags on the castle would change, yet the city grew. The stream turned muddy and was swallowed by the city until all that could be seen was the city all around. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough don¡¯t you?¡± Jason said. ¡°Yep, let¡¯s go Bruh.¡± Jason raised an eyebrow. ¡°Bruh?¡± ¡°I made myself younger. I¡¯m now mentally twenty¡± ¡°Well, whatever floats your boat.¡± ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s go,¡± And the two floated down onto a street. It was a bustling avenue full of bystanders. Men in straw hats upon wagons. Women selling flowers to travelers, but humans weren¡¯t the only race here, dwarfs with strange machinations about them, with their flowing red beards. Elves, pretty and graceful stepped lightly through the street. The smell of perfume and sweat was thick in the air. ¡°Well this is nice.¡± Death said Jason looked over to see Death in similar clothes as him, equally handsome but a tad taller and his features starker. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get walking¡± They ambled through the street looking at people, buildings and stores. ¡°Hmmm, I wish they invented donuts,¡± Jason said. They turned a corner and a baker shop appeared in front of them, the shelves through the glass were filled row upon row with delicious looking pastry. ¡°Well would you look at that.¡± Jason grinned. They walked into the shop and the noise of the city was left at the door to the silence of baking bread. A fat man stood behind a counter counting little copper pennies in his hand. His apron was greased and his sleeves were rolled up. He looked up and scowled at Death and Jason. Jason calmly walked up to him, placed a pouch of coins attached to his belt on it and smiled. ¡°Two of your most finest and deliciously glazed chocolate donuts sir.¡± At the jingle of the coins the man¡¯s scowl immediately changed into a smile as sugary as his wares around him. ¡°But of course!¡± He quickly swiped the coins away from his two customers. Got out a brown paper bag, placed two donuts in it with exaggerated care and, still smiling, handed them the two delicacies. Jason graciously accepted the package and left with Death on his heels. ¡°Wow, didn¡¯t even check the coins or anything.¡± He commented. ¡°Well, people like him can probably tell by the weight and the jingle.¡± ¡°What did you fill it up with anyway?¡± ¡°Oh, the same coins I saw him fingering before he saw us.¡± ¡°Strange how he treated us don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Oh that was just the money speaking. I probably gave him about twenty donuts worth.¡± The donuts by now were out of their packages and Jason and Death gobbled them down with quiet cheerfulness. Their hands full of grease, which at a brief scowl disappeared from their hands. A street later they found less noise, they looked about to see all the citizens looking with silent solemnity further up. ¡°What¡¯s all this then?¡± Jason questioned loudly. A few citizens gave him an irritated scowl but otherwise no one talked to him. They kept walking until they saw four fully armored elves. Two male, two female walking around another female elf. They passed silently and the people nearest to them bowed their heads. They walked onward without acknowledging them. ¡°Damn that¡¯s a mighty fine ass!¡± Jason cried. People around him froze and openly stared at him in horror. Death next to him merely grinned. The elves heard it too and stared at him with intense focus. The elf nearest to Jason (a male) drew his sword and approached Jason at an alarming rate. Jason merely took a step and in that step he was gone, only a puff of wind marked his absence. ¡°It would be a real shame if someone didn¡¯t grab it!¡± The voice came from behind the head elf, her face was plastered with shock and horror. Jason was behind her, happily kneading he backside with both hands. It only lasted for a second or two before anyone came to their senses and then a series of things happened. The elf whose ass was being grabbed swiped her hand behind herself, her nails trailing green light where they were a second ago. Jason magically stepped in front of the elf and gave her a big kiss then disappeared again before the she-elf could even react only to reappear next to Death whom no one was paying attention to. He grinned as all about him the people reeling in confusion looked about wildly, trying to see what he will do next. Jason smirked at Death before shouting at the top of his lungs. ¡°HEY SQUINTERS! I¡¯M OVER HERE!¡± And with that he took off. How to obtain enlightenment, the easy way. Chapter 3 ¡°Damn mate, that was ballsy.¡± Said Death He was jogging next to Jason, they were both running down an alley at the speed of a jaguar, and didn¡¯t even break a sweat. ¡°Figured I¡¯ll make some noise, but you¡¯ve got to admit it. Her ass was really damn fine.¡± ¡°Yep, no doubt about it.¡± Death agreed. ¡°And her face! Bet no one treated her like that ever since she was born¡± Jason looked behind them. ¡°They¡¯re still chasing us.¡± After the incident the elves gave chase, running at full speed, trying to keep up to Death and Jason. As they ran through the city, elves started calling out to other elves in foreign tongues. Causing those of their race to take up the hunt. They skipped over barrels, slid over buildings and did some cool parkour. But none of them could catch Jason and Death. They were hurtling through the streets at tremendous speed, like dancers. As swift and graceful as a river current. ¡°Fine, if they want to catch us, let¡¯s make them work for it.¡± With that Jason ran with a burst of speed and suddenly stopped. They were in the middle of an alley, Walls 5 meters high stood all about them, they were trapped. A second later the first elf (one of the guards) came into the alley with them, he stopped rested his hands on his knees for a second and said between lungful¡¯s of air. ¡°You¡¯re tapped¡­. Now heavens¡­.. You¡¯ll pay¡­ for what you¡­. Did.¡± ¡°Easy there bud.¡± Jason smiled good naturedly, ¡°Take a few deep breaths and start over, no need to rush.¡± The elf simply snarled. But by then the other elves arrived as well, so he stood up straight and said. ¡°Silence human, you have violated an ambassador of the high elves, you will pay for you crimes!¡± Jason slapped his cheeks with both hands and cried ¡°Oh No! Whatever will I do now?¡± Before smiling he said ¡°I know! How about this!¡± And with that he ran up the wall. The elf was struck dumbfounded, his brethren about him paralyzed in the same way. Numbly their heads slowly turned towards Death in comical unison, who in turned laughed, made a shooing motion with his hands before running after Jason. Jason hooted, he was having the time of his life as he hurtled over the tiles, his feet barely skimming the ground, thieves and assassins stumbled out of the way while the human comet passed by them, taking their balance and lives in the process. At some point Death caught up and they flew over the streets and alleys. Never slowing, never stopping, they were wind in the air, mere fabrics pushed along by gusts, on and on. Once, a human on a griffin tried to subdue them, throwing a net over the two bullets. Who in turn merely snickered and increased their speed. At one point they left the city behind and simply ran over the plains and trees that passed them, they kept going as the world slowly began to incline, a mountain ranged appeared on the horizon and they made their way to it. At this point they didn¡¯t see the ground below them, just the blur of green, grey and blue. They reached the base of the mountains and up they went, rocks and boulders trembling in their wake while snow fell and avalanches formed from the shockwaves Death and Jason caused in their passing. When they reached the tip of the tallest mountain they stopped. Dust stirred in their wake and the boom of sound could be heard slowly coming towards them. Jason chuckled,Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Looks like we broke the sound barrier.¡± He looked around, what he saw froze him in his tracks. The entire world could be perceived in all its ever expanding beauty, the edges of the horizon rounding off, Jason could see, above and below, clouds wafting past. From soft lamb wool to drift streaks all about them, and everything was constantly assaulted by the wind. The wind, my god, it was so strong it could tear the head off a normal man. ¡°Who goes there?¡± Jason and Death turn around to see a frail and knobbly old man looking at them. His skin was brown and parched, and a wispy beard trailed down to the ground. He had nothing on save for a loincloth which didn¡¯t even cover his warted little member. He was sitting on a single stick, about a meter tall, perfectly upright and at ease. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Jason, this is Death!¡± Jason pronounced jovially. ¡°Why have you disturbed me Jason and¡­ Death.¡± The stranger¡¯s voice was parched and gravelly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry could you repeat that? I can¡¯t hear you over all the water you¡¯re drinking.¡± The stranger grunted in annoyance. ¡°Don¡¯t mock me, I can see you are no ordinary humans by the fact that you even got up here, but I will not tolerate arrogance.¡± ¡°Yeah sure, sure.¡± Jason yawned ¡°So what are you doing up here?¡± ¡°I am the great Alkza¡¯rah, First Priest of the Holy Wind and last disciple of the Stormgale School.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great Alex! But what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Arrgh! If I could move from this spot you would be dead already!¡± ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry to hear that, unfortunately because all you seem to be able to do is diddly squat. You seem to be at our mercy, so, what are you doing up here?¡± Alkza¡¯rah let out a defeated sigh ¡°I climbed up here five decades ago in order to achieve enlightenment in the hopes of understanding the universe, day and night I have been constantly thinking about the workings of our world and the nature of our existence. While constantly nourishing my body with elemental mana, I have been trying to become one with this universe and finding the answers to the questions not yet-¡± ¡°And have you done it yet?¡± Jason interrupted ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You know, find what you were looking for.¡± ¡°Err¡­ No, it¡¯s a continuous thing, what I must strive for every day.¡± Alkza¡¯rah replied. ¡°Well it¡¯s a shit deal if you ask me. Tell you what, I¡¯ll give you all the answers if you stroke your beard.¡± Alkza¡¯rah stared at Jason like he was mental. Then he suddenly barked out a viscous laughter that rolled out into the air for a good ten seconds before ending just as abruptly. Then he said. ¡°Fuck off.¡± ¡°Aww.¡± Jason pouted. ¡°Okay, new deal, I give you all the answers in life and then you have to stroke your beard not once, but THREE TIMES!¡± ¡°I told you, fuck off.¡± Alkza¡¯rah replied before closing his eyes. Jason looked at Death and winked, mouthing the words ¡®Watch me¡¯ before bounding over to Alkza¡¯rah and lightly placing his pinky on his forehead. Alkza¡¯rah¡¯s eyes snapped open, ¡°Wha-¡± was all he could utter before he lost his balance and fell to the ground, but he didn¡¯t even realize. Alkza¡¯rah simply stared into space, and expression of awe and wander on his face as knowledge of the entire world was crammed into his head while understanding more fundamental and detailed then any book was pressed into his brain. He lied motionless for almost a minute, slightly salivating before he managed to tear his eyes away from the sky and whispered at Jason. ¡°Who are you?¡± Jason put on his best noble expression before continuing, in a deep and commanding voice. ¡°I am not important, now go child, spread your knowledge to those less fortunate.¡± Alkza¡¯rah looked at him with a mix of reverence and admiration before crying ¡°Thank you my Lord! I won¡¯t waste this gift you¡¯ve given me!¡± And with that Alkza¡¯rah picked himself up, ran to the edge and jumped off the mountain. Death walked up to the lip of the stone and whistled. ¡°Long drop, did he make it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he found some way to fly through the stuff that I gave him.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°What did you give him anyway?¡± Death asked. ¡°Fuck knows, but it must be good shit, all I thought was ¡®give this man what he wants.¡¯¡± ¡°How decent of you.¡± Death snorted ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m just a nice guy.¡± Jason replied amiably. ¡°So¡­ What now?¡± Death said looking around. Two levitating snowboards appeared. ¡°Race you down the mountain.¡± Jason shouted before jumping up a board and speeding off. Boundaries and where to find them Chapter 4 ¡°WOOOHOOOO!¡± cried Jason. They were hurtling down the mountain at incredible speed. All around them trees and boulders raced past, massive chasms and ravines opening up before the two daredevils. And an ordinary mortal would have crashed a long time ago if the poor soul descended with the same velocity as these two, but Jason and Death attacked these slaloms with as much gusto as a child eating chocolate. The rocks were never in the way exactly, more like close enough to be threatening but never posing any actual danger, the sudden openings of caves which would swallow any climber always had convenient ramps just large enough to clear the gap and big enough to do a few tricks while being airborne. Fallen trees, while to others would turn into dangerous obstacles that were difficult and time consuming to traverse, Jason and Death just used them as cool ramps to do grinds on. And all the while making sure to look totally badass while doing it. The dangers soon passed however as the snow turned to grass and the trees thinned out to plains. Eventually the snowboards stopped, refusing to move even after the convincing of Jason, because he wanted to make snowboards, not hover boards. ¡°Well that was fun!¡± Jason said. ¡°Tell me about it, we just needed cool sunglasses and some explosions in the background and we would have been set.¡± Death commented. ¡°So? Uh¡­ What now?¡± Jason asked. They were trudging along a dirt path with open plains everywhere around them, the mountain range was behind them and quickly fading to the distance, it looked like the snowboards carried them off quite far. ¡°By the way, a snowboard? Really?¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to do that. Besides who¡¯s gonna complain? You?¡± Death laughed. ¡°Of course not! But it doesn¡¯t really fit the theme.¡± Suddenly a space gun appeared in Jason¡¯s hand. It looked like it came straight out of a corny space cartoon. It was purple and green with random cylinders and gizmos on it that seemed to have no purpose whatsoever. ¡°See, this is my world. So why should I be limited to the laws I have placed on it?¡± Jason said drily. Suddenly a dinosaur came out of hiding behind a tree. It was one of those herbivores, with the long necks and massive size. It seemed to be calmly minding its own business as if it was there the whole time. Without a second thought Jason fired the gun at the tame beast, straight at the head. The poor creature didn¡¯t even have time to cry out as his head exploded from a fluorescent green beam, blood splattered everywhere as the entire head exploded and the creature fell down. Its severed neck fell about 3 meters away from the duo and blood audibly gushed in a quickly growing pool around the fallen creature. ¡°I can reverse time.¡± Jason said. The dinosaur¡¯s blood quickly receded as it was sucked back into to the neck. The dinosaur stood up and bits of flesh spattered on the leaves around him flew up as the exploded head began remake itself. Sinews were remade and the ash of the incinerated bones turned back to their original states. ¡°I can resurrect the dead.¡± Jason continued. The dinosaurs head exploded again and fell to the exact same position as before. This time though, the earth pushed the corpse up and the dinosaurs head was remade from earth and its eyes glowed with a greenish tinge. It looked around a bit confused but otherwise seemed perfectly fine. ¡°Hell, I can make people at a thought.¡± Jason finished. And suddenly an army appeared in front of the two. Row upon row of soldiers with gleaming armor, each more fabulous and ornate then the last, banners proclaiming proud beasts could be seen throughout the ranks. And the faces of the soldiers weren¡¯t uniform either. Each expression told of experienced campaigns and grizzled veteranship. Not a hint of green anywhere. Jason and Death approached a random soldier at the front ranks and Jason asked.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°What¡¯s your name man?¡± ¡°Roland milord.¡± The soldier answered. ¡°How did you get here Roland?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Through a hard track along the Porter Road.¡± Roland answered again. ¡°And for what reason?¡± Jason asked again, totally emotionless. ¡°To answer the call of milord.¡± Roland replied, as stony as the voice that talked to him. Jason nodded. ¡°You are dismissed.¡± And just like that the soldiers disappeared. No theatrics, no fizzles, no portal opened, no voice said cryptic words. They were there, then they weren¡¯t. ¡°Mmm, I am impressed. And you have satisfied my curiosity, let me offer a ride for milord as an apology for speaking out of line.¡± Death made a mocking bow. ¡°Oh Pish,¡± Jason waved ¡°I just did that because I wanted to stroke my ego a bit, being omnipotent is very good for self-confidence you know.¡± While Jason was speaking, a giant glass sphere materialized before them, intricate carvings were etched into it. From certain viewpoints one could see, through it might have been a trick of the light, several spheres within the sphere of glass. What was apparent however were two seats, right in the middle of the sphere, splendidly covered in luxurious brown leather, they looked like they were ripped straight out from the upholstery of a Rolls Royce. A pair of steps cut out of the same glass as the walls of the sphere led up to the two chairs which were on a platform of the same substance. A small section of the sphere between the stairs and the chairs disappeared and Death said. ¡°You¡¯re carriage awaits sire.¡± Jason stepped into the carriage with mocking graciousness. The carriage from the inside looked trippy to say the least, the wall disappeared and it looked like the two chairs were floating in midair, but the stiff breeze that could be felt outside disappeared. Jason whistled. ¡°Nice.¡± Death walked up the steps behind him and the two took their seats. The steps disappeared and the wall was replaced. The glass orb began to move and soon they were eating up the road at a leisurely pace. The plains were left behind and soon they were traversing through a picturesque forest, complete with little woodland creatures and groveling bandits that gaped as the orb rolled on by. Once they went through a village, the peasantry stared as the strange machination ground a clear path through the mud of the main road. With a thought, Jason replaced the road with cobblestone and the duo continued on their merry way. ¡°Do you know what we need?¡± Jason asked. ¡°What?¡± Death responded. ¡°A third person, someone from this world that we could constantly amaze so we could feel even better about ourselves!¡± Jason grinned. ¡°That¡¯s a bit petty don¡¯t you think?¡± Death cautioned. ¡°Yes, and I have no problem with being petty whatsoever.¡± Jason replied smugly. ¡°And where will we find someone like that?¡± Death asked. ¡°Dunno.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°Where are we anyway?¡± Death added. They looked around only to find themselves outside of a city. The walls were high and there were a stream of people coming and going through a gate. Chimney smoke rose over the parapet and the shouts of joy and anger could be heard even through the orb they were sitting in. ¡°Well lets go.¡± Jason said and jumped out the orb, straight through its wall. ¡°Halt! No admittance without letters of safe conduct.¡± The guard said sternly. Death and Jason have been standing in line for an hour to gain entrance to the city. To amuse themselves they conjured two feral cats to fight each other, shortly other travelers came over to watch and pretty soon everyone was betting which one would kill each other first. They were both pretty bloody, with one missing its tail and eye, while the other¡¯s back and belly was crisscrossed with bleeding gashes. Unfortunately neither seemed to be able to do any serious damage that would end the fight. And they never strayed too far from their owners either, conveniently advancing along the line without being too much of a hindrance. It was almost a shame when it was Jason¡¯s and Death¡¯s turn to speak with the guards. Jason waved a hand and said in an authoritative voice ¡°These are not the drones you are looking for.¡± The guard said, in the same stern voice. ¡°These are not the drones we¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°We do not need letters of safe conduct.¡± Jason continued. ¡°You do not need letters of safe conduct.¡± The guard echoed. ¡°We can go.¡± Jason said. ¡°You can go.¡± The guard said, quickly he turned to the rest of his men and said ¡°They can go.¡± And like that, they were through. ¡°Right, where to next?¡± Death asked. ¡°All good adventures start at the local watering hole.¡± Jason responded. They made their way through the street, there clothes quite dirty from the previous sprint they did to get out of the last one they were in. The part of the city they were in was densely packed, clothes lines were hanging just above the head, people, with both good and evil intentions, jostled past through the damp streets, merchants sold their wares and shops were full of curiosities, most of them scientific while others perverse. As Jason and Death ambled their way along the alleys, they came to a rough and dirty looking Tavern. The stench of booze and bile wafted through the air in a heavy and noxious cloud. ¡°The Olde Oyster.¡± Death said ¡°Charming little thing.¡± They pushed open the door to find the nose to be assaulted even further. Round tables surrounded by rough men with blades at their sides were dotted around, a lazy bartender cleaned the glasses behind the bar while a trio of muscled women were playing darts in the corner, with knives. All heads turned to look at the newcomers, some sneered, others fingered their weapons while some looked for hidden bulges that could be hiding treasure but none made a move. Jason, without a care in the world waltzed straight up to the bar and shouted at the rooms occupants. ¡°WHO¡¯S THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER AROUND HERE!¡± The Baddest MotherFucker Chapter 5 Silence descended upon the bar. Not a single thing moved and Death, just for the occasion materialized a pin and let it fall to the ground. The tiny clink was painfully loud as the patrons of The Olde Oyster refused to move even after the comedic trigger. The expressions of the patrons weren¡¯t that unexpected, shock to surprise and every shade between. However these faces weren¡¯t befitting of the toughest members of the city and soon rage took over. The most volatile part of the group, which was to say, nearly all, grabbed the nearest thing they could wield and charged straight at Jason. Whether it was a sword, a dagger, a bottle or even bar stool. Jason meanwhile cheerily waited until the first of the mob managed to get to him. A bull of a man, you could see steam coming out of his nose and red glinting in his eyes as he swung a massive club at him. The tree limb must have weighed more than its victim however Jason simply grabbed it. ¡°I AM THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER AROUND HERE!¡± Jason roared the words and the foundations of the building shuddered at the force. But Jason didn¡¯t let up, he tore the giant¡¯s club out of his grasp and, using the momentum of the pull, did a complete turn before caving the mountain¡¯s head in, letting of the makeshift blackjack fly out of his hands in the process. Blood and brains rained down on the crooks that happened to be close to the big man, but if they were disturbed by the scene they hid it very well. A barrage of daggers and broken bottles assaulted Jason, Jason himself though was a hurricane, his palms redirected every object that tried to harm him. And the men that weren¡¯t cut by their own knives received a punch instead, whether temple, stomach or groin, none were spared. The first wave of attackers were quickly reduced to mincemeat, leaving a clear view for Jason to survey his surroundings. It wasn¡¯t a pretty sight. Upturned chairs and tables, shattered glasses, their precious liquids mixing with the dirt and shit that flowed off the corpses around Jason. Beyond this there were the stragglers, the cowards who didn¡¯t have the spine to attack. And the predators, those who weren¡¯t dumb enough to join the initial rush, who instead watched and waited, ready for an opening. These included the trio of women earlier, now that Jason could observe them he saw some sort of tribal armor and feathers in their hair. They were standing in a tightly packed defensive position. The others were a vagabond with a crossbow aimed squarely Jason¡¯s chest, a hooded figure in the corner and lanky man right in the middle between Jason and the others, his sword hanging limply by his side, uncertain what to do. ¡°Go home mate.¡± Jason said to the man ¡°You¡¯re out of your depth here.¡± The man relieved, ran straight out the door. ¡°Well, ladies and gentlemen. I have proposition for you all, if anyone of you fine, upstanding citizens of the city can land a single hit on me I¡¯ll give you a bag of gold and a job offer.¡± Jason said clasping his hands together. The others of the bar looked uncertainly at each other. The man with the Arbalest asked. ¡°Where is the gold?¡± Before he could finish a giant backpack appeared on the floor, it was filled to the brim with shining gold coins. Jason went over to the pile, grabbed a coin and flipped it over to the man. Although astonished by the sudden feat, the vagabond caught the coin, inspected it, bit into it before saying. ¡°It¡¯s real alright¡± He threw it to the girls, one verified its authenticity while the other asked ¡°How do we know this isn¡¯t just magic? What if you¡¯re tricking us and the gold will turn to stone?¡± Jason shrugged ¡°You have nothing other than my good word. If you don¡¯t want it, you can leave. You¡¯ve earned that much by proving to me you¡¯re not stupid.¡± Without warning the vagabond pulled the trigger to his crossbow. The arrow would have smashed apart the ribcage of Jason had he not redirected it at the women running towards him. They skillfully dodged the oncoming missile before engaging in a close combat melee. They worked in perfect harmony, each aiming for vital spots, Jason naturally parried it all but nevertheless he had little room for breathing space. The encounter didn¡¯t last long before they heard the vagabond yelling ¡°Get clear!¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The three didn¡¯t need encouragement, as soon they were away from Jason an arrow zoomed straight into him, or where he should have been. Instead the bolt smashed into the wood behind the bar. ¡°Very good, but not good enough.¡± Jason said. He appeared behind the vagabond who was furiously trying to reload the mechanism. The poor man froze at the sound coming from behind him. Without further warning Jason punched the victim in the back. The vagabond flew like a bowling ball at the trio of women still looking for where Jason had gone. The resulting pile of tangled limbs was quite funny. ¡°Argh!¡± sudden pain hit Jason in the abdomen, he saw, to his great surprise, a knife sticking out from his hip. The knife was attached to a grubby hand, and that grubby hand was attached to a grinning face, the cloaked stranger in fact turned out to be a boy, he was young enough to have acne. ¡°You little shit!¡± Jason said. He grabbed the knife and yanked it out before healing the wound. ¡°You lose guys, the little boy here is the winner, go home.¡± He said to the groaning heap of flesh. ¡°Now then,¡± Jason scooped up the bag off the ground and handed it to the boy. ¡°What your name boy?¡± ¡°Boy? I ain¡¯t much older then you mister!¡± The boy scowled. ¡°Age comes with wisdom boy, so what¡¯s your name?¡± Jason asked ¡°Peyton.¡± The boy said, still scowling. ¡°Well Peyton, my name is Jason and the man drinking at the bar over there is Death.¡± Death raised a lazy hand towards Peyton before going back to a drink he found behind the bar. ¡°Death? Is that his real name?¡± Peyton asked as he looked at Death. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t let it bother you, he¡¯s a good friend, known him all my life.¡± Death snorted into his drink. ¡°Anyway what are you going to do with the money Peyton?¡± Jason asked as they left The Olde Oyster. ¡°Well I¡¯m gonna buy my mum and sisters a big house to live in and fancy dresses and a carriage and enough food to never go hungry again!¡± Peyton exclaimed. ¡°Very noble.¡± Jason nodded along before asking ¡°I take it your family is poor then?¡± Peyton shrugged. ¡°Ever since Pa left us we¡¯ve been scraping by, but the debt to the Thief King has been getting bigger and bigger. They¡¯ve been to our house and said the next time they¡¯ll come they¡¯ll be taking one of my sisters.¡± Jason whistled. ¡°I suggest you use the money to clear the debt then.¡± Peyton laughed ¡°There¡¯s plenty of money in here for that!¡± suddenly Peyton stopped in his tracks. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna take this back are you? I saw you how you handled those people.¡± Peyton hugged the gold close to his chest.¡± Jason patted Peyton on the shoulder in a friendly fashion. ¡°Don¡¯t worry mate, if I wanted the gold I wouldn¡¯t have given it away in the first place.¡± Peyton nodded. ¡°That sounds about right, no one would part with money willingly.¡± ¡°So Peyton.¡± Jason continued. ¡°How good is your knowledge? How much do you know about the city?¡± Peyton thought a while before continuing. ¡°A fair bit.¡± ¡°Wonderful! Allow me to ask a few questions then¡± Jason said. Peyton shrugged ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Jason said ¡°Here¡¯s a doozy, where am I?¡± Peyton frowned ¡°Do you mean the district or¡­?¡± ¡°As in what do you call the Planet.¡± Jason said in the most offhanded manner possible. ¡°Oh.¡± Peyton seemed a bit worried now. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what a planet is but the name of the world is Rea.¡± ¡°Right, let¡¯s start there and work our way inwards. Continents.¡± Jason said. ¡°Well, there¡¯s Queren in the East, Yellige to the West, Rothfur to the North and Sat-hir to the South. We¡¯re right in the middle in Uruba. They say there are more continents further out but nobody really believes it.¡± ¡°Okay what about countries?¡± ¡°Well in Uruba there are three nations, Dwarves to the north, Elves to the east and humans to the West. There¡¯s a mountain range between the Dwarves and the rest of us called the Jagged Mountains, it¡¯s nearly impassible and the ways that are accessible are heavily guarded, few are allowed to leave and enter.¡± ¡°And what about the Elves and Humans?¡± ¡°Well we have a sort of alliance with each other, lots of politics but the gist is we send important people there and in exchange they send important people to us. And if one of us does something like start a war then the other side is free to do whatever it wants with the hostages.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Jason mused ¡°And where is this city?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in the capital of the human race. Just south of the Jagged Mountains, there are a number of villages around us that provide the city with important stuff, like food.¡± ¡°You know much more than I thought you would.¡± Jason commented. Peyton shrugged. ¡°I used to go to school.¡± ¡°Well then tell me about the city.¡± Jason said. ¡°There are the Slums, Harbor, Trade Ward, Dwarf Quarter, Elf Quarter, Noble District and the Palace.¡± ¡°And where are we?¡± Jason asked. ¡°We¡¯re just leaving the Harbor and entering the Slums.¡± The streets around them started to look more ragged, shit lined the pavement, hobos in the alleys, gangs on street corners and rats running along drain pipes. But no one attacked them, someone even waved at Peyton. Eventually they arrived at a rundown building, the windows were boarded up, door slammed shut, the roof seemed to have collapsed onto the second floor at some point, making only the first floor useful. ¡°Here we are then.¡± Peyton said. Peytons Family Chapter 6 Peyton rapped his hand on the wooden door several times. ¡°Ma! It¡¯s me! Peyton!¡± Peyton shouted. They were greeted by silence. Jason looked around, giving off discrete coughs to point out how awkward the situation was. Suddenly Peyton snapped out from his thoughts as he shouted. ¡°Put the pan down Ma! Jason here is my friend!¡± The door immediately opened to reveal Ma, she was old, at least fifty and looked incredibly tired. She looked so thin that her collarbones were sticking out like some sort of celtic necklace, her clothes grey and somber looked surprisingly neat and clean for someone so poor. But her eyes told a different story, they showed hardness and fierceness like no other. Her expression was as stony as her eyes, ¡°Peyton Leek! Where have you been! You were supposed to be home an hour ago! If I wouldn¡¯t know any better I would have thought you dead! Now run inside and clean up!¡± Ma spewed thunder down on his son while Peyton did what any sensible man would have done, shoulders hunched, eyes down, he silently hurried past her mother. Ma, after making sure Peyton was far enough inside, turned back to address Jason. ¡°Thank you for bringing my son home safe, I was really worried that something happened to him. Please, come inside, we just had lunch.¡± Her gaze showed honest gratitude towards Jason and what could he do? Without further ado he entered the house. It was quite tidy inside, a kitchen and dining room, with three bedrooms to the side. Jason could just make out Peyton running behind the kitchen to another room. ¡°Please sit down.¡± Ma said, walking past him. Jason took a seat along the table, a pretty cloth with little patterns covered the thing while beautifully painted clay plates were placed on display above on a shelf. Peyton rushed back in to the room, clutching the gold to his chest. ¡°Ma! Ma! Look what I have!¡± Peyton exclaimed as he dumped the contents of the bag on the table. Ma¡¯s eyes went wide as she saw the pile, she was drying at a wooden sink when she saw the treasure on the dining table, she dried her hands in a dishtowel before quickly running over to Peyton and Jason. The coins glittered with an unearthly beauty, enchanting everyone as they sat there. Tears formed on Ma¡¯s eyes as she slowly took one from the pile before biting on it with her teeth, only then did she let the tears flow. ¡°Girls come quick!¡± Ma cried out. Three beautiful girls rushed out from the bedrooms, all wore simple clothes but their beauty was still obvious. Blonde hair for all three, they looked quite similar to each other. Upon seeing the gold they immediately rushed over to the table and stared stupefied at the coins. They started to cry as well next to their mother and soon all four of them were sobbing and hugging each other. Finally the eldest (Jason assumed the eldest because she was the tallest) managed to ask. ¡°Where did you get it Ma?¡± Ma shook her head ¡°Peyton over here just brought it a minute ago.¡± All eyes turned to Peyton asking the same answer. Peyton grinned proudly ¡°I won it!¡± ¡°You won it?¡± her Ma asked incredulously ¡°But how?¡± Peyton pointed at Jason, who was smiling quite fiercely, and said ¡°From him!¡± All eyes in the room turned towards Jason, curious about the strange man who walked into their abode. ¡°Well you see ladies.¡± Jason said ¡°I was at a fine establishment, The Olde Oyster I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of it, being rich and bored. I thought to myself, why not have a wager with the patrons of the bar? So I announced to them whoever could scratch me may take this bag of gold as their reward.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He was really getting used to these stares by now. Ma was the first to recover. ¡°Did you really go to The Olde Oyster?¡± she cried, outraged. ¡°Aghh no!¡± Peyton scrammed as her mother ran after him, waving her hands in the air threateningly. This snapped the girls out of their stupor and they all burst out laughing, it was a rather pretty sound, Jason thought. The eldest, (tallest whatever) spoke up, ¡°Thank you for giving us such an amazing gift.¡± She smiled. Jason nodded ¡°My pleasure.¡± The other two sisters were a bit shy but nevertheless introduced themselves as Illios and Gwandere, as for the older sister, ¡°My name is Nasha. Pleased to meet you, what is your name?¡± Nasha said By now all three of them have taken a seat, it ruined the effect of a friendly conversation as there was a mountain of gold in the way but nevertheless they managed. ¡°My name is Jason, it¡¯s nice to meet Peyton¡¯s family.¡± Jason said ¡°Did you really challenge everyone at The Olde Oyster?¡± Gwandere asked Jason chuckled ¡°Unfortunately yes, money does things to a man I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°It must have been awfully scary.¡± Illios said. ¡°Yes it was.¡± Jason replied. Just then an angry looking Ma came in with a dejected looking Peyton being dragged by the ear behind her. Ma pushed Peyton in front before glaring at him. Peyton mumbled under his breath ¡°I¡¯m sorry for stealing your gold.¡± A look of confusion passed between the girls however Jason simply said. ¡°Ma¡¯am, Peyton did not cheat in the duel, he won the gold fair and square. He just used his brain instead of his muscles.¡± Ma was surprised at this ¡°But surely my son didn¡¯t conduct himself properly and attacked you while you were busy fighting others.¡± Jason sighed ¡°No ma¡¯am, he did what any smart man would have done and I¡¯m more than happy to give this to him.¡± The girls let out a collective breath, they didn¡¯t want to see a chance to a better life sail away from their grasp when it was right in front of them. ¡°On the contrary, I believe you need this money more than I do, Peyton told me about your current situation with the Thief King.¡± The mood in the house immediately darkened. The girls fidgeted in their seats while Ma said, with all previous kindness gone. ¡°Sir, if you¡¯re here to loan this money to us then I¡¯m afraid we must refuse, please take it and show yourself out the door.¡± Jason was truly exasperated now, was it really that hard to give money away freely? Nevertheless he forged ahead. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I know that you¡¯ve had a hard life and believe that anything that is too good to be true is, I tell you that this money,¡± he pointed theatrically ¡°Right here, is given by me,¡± more pointing ¡°To your family¡± even more pointing ¡°With no strings attached.¡± Jason finished. Ma however was still suspicious. ¡°Fine!¡± Jason snapped. Around the family mountains upon mountains of gold coins appeared everywhere. On the floor, on the bench top, on the seats, there was even gold sticking out of the other rooms. ¡°If I wanted gold I would only have to wish for it!¡± Jason cried. However Ma didn¡¯t hear him. She was too busy fainting. ¡°Ma!¡± Nasha cried hurrying over to her fallen mother. Jason sighed. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry for my behavior.¡± And all the gold vanished except the original stack. While the sisters tried to wake Ma up, Jason said to Peyton. ¡°Get the gold you need and put it back in the bag, we¡¯re going to visit the Thief King.¡± Peyton nodded, counted out a handful of gold coins, placed it into the now severely deflated bag and walked out the door with Jason. They walked in uncomfortable silence for a while before Jason sighed and stopped. ¡°Look kid, I¡¯m sorry for blowing up back there, it wasn¡¯t right of me.¡± Peyton simply shrugged his shoulders ¡°I¡¯m not that worried, I think it¡¯s okay considering what you¡¯re doing for us.¡± ¡°Thanks kid, means a lot to me.¡± Jason replied. They continued in silence, however the silence now was sort of companionable. They walked down worse and worse streets as Peyton led them towards the Thief King. More and more people started to appear as well, but judging from their appearance, they didn¡¯t get the memo stating what you need to be considered human. Drunkards with hideous diseases were passed out everywhere, hobos with mushrooms growing behind their ears stared at the duo with glass eyes while thieves missing fingers and teeth sized them up, while stroking all manner of sharp implements. Rats moved about in swarms, devouring dead bodies in minutes, but they stayed well away from the main streets, or what could be passed off as streets. The buildings grew taller and narrower, hiding the grey sky almost completely, giving everything a damp and dark atmosphere. Eventually they arrived to the outskirts of the town, there was a half sunken shipwreck in a nearby swamp, at first it seemingly looked deserted however Jason noticed a couple of figures near a hole in the hull. ¡°Okay.¡± Peyton said, ¡°The King lives in that ship over there, you should wait here, he doesn¡¯t like strangers.¡± Jason simply smiled while his appearance changed. He now looked twenty years older and as hard as leather, his eyes piss yellow, his hair thin and straggly, knives decorated the entirety of his back. His smile turned into something horrifying as his teeth turned black and yellow, some even disappeared completely. Peyton looked upon the transformation in fear, who was this strange man that summoned money and changed his appearance on command? He was getting ready to bolt when the same voice told him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s me kid. I just turned into someone a Thief King would be best friends with. Now let¡¯s meet that son of a bitch.¡± The Thief King Chapter 7 Jason and Peyton approached the land locked shipwreck, the possible guards that were stationed outside glanced up from their card game but didn¡¯t bother speaking until the duo were within hailing distance. Only then did one of the three bandits start talking. ¡°What¡¯cha want Peyt? The Boss is busy.¡± The speaker looked as disgusting as Jason, covered in leather with a short sword at his side. He also had a soggy red bandana covering his head complete with a gold earring. It seemed the man had a twisted sort of fashion sense. ¡°I have the money.¡± Peyton answered. The caused all three of them to look up from their game of cards, ¡°Well why didn¡¯t you say? Head right in.¡± Red bandana answered. Jason and Peyton continued into the ship without further interruption. The inside of the vessel was seemingly deserted, with moldy crates and boxes strewn about everywhere. Weeds grew between the planks below the feet and vines drooped down from the ceiling, if Jason didn¡¯t know any better, he could have sworn the place hasn¡¯t been touched since it ran ashore. ¡°This way¡± Peyton led Jason through the seeming maze of boxes to the back of the ship where a solitary wooden door gazed back forlornly from its place. With a slight struggle, Peyton managed to wrestle the door open, contrary to what Jason believed, it didn¡¯t creak. Wordlessly Peyton walked down a set of steps (which did creak) into a dim room. It seemed to be an office of sort, with books lining shelves on both sides and a large oak desk in the middle taking up half the room. The place was surprisingly well maintained considering the conditions of the ship above it. Behind the desk sat an elderly man, he looked almost scholarly, complete with little half-moon spectacles, were it not for the fact that a massive tattoo dominated the entire dome of his head. He looked up from a ledger he was writing in and addressed Peyton. ¡°Ahh, Peyton. What brings you here?¡± The Thief King¡¯s voice was as crackly as the parchment around him. He stood up to reveal a massive frame of a man, only slightly smaller than the bull back at The Olde Oyster but nonetheless a mountain. ¡°Hello sir, I have the money.¡± Peyton answered respectfully At this the King gave a surprised smile. ¡°Well done! I knew you¡¯d be able to do it.¡± Peyton put the sack onto the table and took out a handful of gold coins which glinted in the candlelight. ¡°Hmm.¡± The King gazed at the coins before picking one up and scrutinizing it ¡°These are quite well made.¡± He bit into the coin ¡°Pure as well! Coins that bend this easily can only be found in a Lord¡¯s treasury.¡± He grinned at Peyton. ¡°And you even lived to tell the tale. I¡¯m impressed! Tell me, who did you steal it from?¡± ¡°Well sir¡­ I didn¡¯t steal it.¡± Peyton fidgeted awkwardly. ¡°Oh? Do share.¡± The King was analyzing everything Peyton did. ¡°Well you see sir, I was given this gold.¡± Peyton was really nervous at the sudden scrutiny of his employer. ¡°Given? By whom might I ask?¡± By now The King lost his entire playful demeanor and focused entirely on Jason, like a snake hypnotizing a mouse with its eyes. ¡°By me¡± Jason stepped in. The King shifted his eyes onto Jason for the first time ¡°Well, well. The plot thickens.¡± He sat back down and steepled his fingers. ¡°You see sir¡± Peyton gabbled. ¡°I won a competition at The Olde Oyster and that was the prize money.¡± ¡°The Olde Oyster?¡± The King frowned. ¡°And I assume our benefactor here was the sponsor of this competition?¡± Peyton nodded fervently. ¡°My good man,¡± The King addressed Jason directly. ¡°Might I ask the nature of this competition that my employee partook in?¡± Jason smiled. ¡°I challenged everyone in The Olde Oyster, anyone who could hit me got a bag of gold.¡± The King raised his eyebrows ¡°And Peyton managed?¡± Jason nodded ¡°It was a magnificent performance.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m impressed Peyton¡± The King said turning to Peyton ¡°The debt is cleared and you¡¯re free to leave my services. You may go right now and never look back.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Peyton was elated, ¡°Thank you sir!¡± he gave a quick bow before running up the stairs. ¡°Now then, I have no doubt that a man like you wouldn¡¯t come to the Thief King just to see a little boy step into a better life.¡± The King said, once again shifting his attention back onto Jason. ¡°That¡¯s right, I have a proposal for you. But before we get to that, let¡¯s start again. My name is Jason.¡± said Jason The King grinned ¡°Well then Jason, call me Ecluse,¡± ¡°Very well Ecluse here is my proposition. I want to gather a team of influential individuals with a primary objective in mind.¡± Jason said. ¡°And what would this objective be?¡± Ecluse asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to start a revolution.¡± Jason said. If Ecluse was surprised he didn¡¯t show it. ¡°And how exactly would we do that?¡± ¡°Simple, we turn all major powerhouses of the human race on our side. And when we have everything under our control we attempt a coup.¡± Jason said matter of factly. Ecluse simply stared at Jason for a second before reaching down into a drawer and bringing out a bottle with two glasses. He filled both, took one of them and drank. ¡°Assuming we can get the Church, Mage¡¯s Guild, Alchemist¡¯s Guild, the Army, all the big league Noble houses, influential merchants and other major parties on our side. Assuming we have enough money to buy the country, not to mention that some people cannot be brought and assuming we could assassinate, blackmail, intimidate, torture or persuade those people before we could even get this project of the ground, not to mention doing that without the Empire finding out about us. How are you planning on still keeping the relationships with the surrounding races to not let them invade when we¡¯re in a moment of weakness?¡± Jason smiled and took the other glass ¡°With ingenuity, creativity and my good looks.¡± Ecluse burst out laughing, and it wasn¡¯t a fake laugh but a full on gut wrenching monster of a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re crazy but tell me, how are you expecting me to agree to something that will most definitely get us killed?¡± Jason just put the drink down and started walking away. ¡°You don¡¯t need to do a single thing, just make sure that when the time comes, you do what you need to without any questions.¡± Ecluse chuckled before calling out ¡°And what about the collateral?¡± But Jason simply walked up the stairs without replying. Still chuckling Ecluse turned back to his desk only to have his jaw dropped. On the desk was a massive amount of gold in neat stacks, it covered every inch of the desk¡¯s surface, there were even piles balanced on top of his quill.
Jason walked up to see Peyton waiting for him while sitting on one of the crates that was in the damaged boat. Jason ¡°Why are you still here?¡± Peyton shrugged ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s because you turned my ENTIRE FRICKIN¡¯ LIFE AROUND!¡± Peyton was positively jumping up and down with joy as he skipped around the crates ¡°I¡¯m gonna eat roast turkey then I¡¯m gonna get a fancy carriage and drive by really fast so that I¡¯ll look really important and I¡¯m gonna buy a massive dog and teach it-¡± ¡°Woah calm down!¡± Jason said. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to your home and then you can plan it out with your family.¡± But Peyton was too giddy with excitement as he jumped around Jason blabbering on and on. As they walked out the hull of the wreckage the three guards looked up at the commotion, thinking it was strange that Peyton was in such a good mood. ¡°My debt is cleared losers!¡± Peyton cried as he ran past them, dancing along the marsh as he sped towards the first building. The guards turned their curious gazes towards Jason who grinned ¡°You heard him!¡± All three of them now were smiling as well, they honestly didn¡¯t expect a young boy like Peyton to manage to pull himself out of the dark goo that was the underbelly of the city. As Jason and Peyton made their way back into the city, with Jason already transformed back to his previous state, Peyton started talking. ¡°Why did you do this?¡± ¡°Hmm? You mean the money?¡± Jason asked ¡°Yes! The money!¡± Peyton cried as he jumped from a barrel onto the street. ¡°Well, no reason really, I¡¯m really just quite bored.¡± Jason said Peyton abruptly stopped ¡°Are you a god?¡± Jason was taken aback by the sudden question but nevertheless laughed it off. ¡°A god? Don¡¯t be silly, I am indeed powerful, but that doesn¡¯t justify me as a god.¡± They made their way back to Peyton¡¯s house in a good mood and as they entered the small abode a scent of meat caressed their senses. Upon the dinner table sat a giant chicken, steaming. Around the table, plates and eating utensils were already out, ready to be used. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± Ilios shouted as Jason and Peyton came inside. The rest of the family rushed out to greet the two. ¡°Look! Ma just brought this from Uzzie¡¯s kitchen! Isn¡¯t it amazing?¡± Gwandere shouted. ¡°Now, now girls. Behave yourselves and let the menfolk talk, so? How did it go?¡± Ma said ¡°It was amazing! Oh Ma you should¡¯ve seen it!¡± Peyton exclaimed. ¡°I just showed him the gold and bam! We¡¯re free!¡± Everyone erupted in cheers and whoops as the news was revealed. ¡°Well done!¡± Ma said proudly while hugging Peyton. ¡°No let¡¯s eat!¡± Everyone rushed over to the kitchen table and sat down. ¡°You too Jason! After all, you¡¯re the one we owe you for all you¡¯ve given us!¡± Jason smiled and joined them, the night was spent well as everyone laughed, argued and had a good time, at one point Ma even brought out some wine and gave a bit to everyone, it was very enjoyable. ¡°Alright you lot! Go wash yourselves and off to bed. It¡¯s gonna be a big day tomorrow.¡± ¡°But Ma! What about Jason?¡± Peyton said. ¡°I have to talk to him now go before I give you a beating!¡± Ma threatened Peyton. As the children headed out the back to the other portion of the house Ma sighed and turned towards Jason. ¡°I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, it¡¯s been so long since they laughed like that.¡± ¡°No, it was my pleasure.¡± Jason replied kindly. ¡°The truth is, I have a favor to ask you.¡± Ma continued. ¡°I want you to stay with us.¡± Jason was surprised, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, Peyton looks up to you, he never had a father figure to look up to and look what sort of crowd he got into on his own.¡± Jason silently considered this before replying ¡°I have no problem with the idea but I have only just met everyone. Wouldn¡¯t it rattle the girls?¡± Ma scoffed ¡°Pffft. The girls, they¡¯ve been over the moon for you ever since you came in here. Someone as handsome as you comes along and solves all their problems in a matter of seconds? Please. Any womanwould fall for you.¡± Jason laughed ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll stay, and tomorrow Peyton and I can go find us a nice house to move into.¡± Ma nodded ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad that¡¯s settled. But I will come as well, after all I can¡¯t just let you pick out a house that isn¡¯t to my satisfaction. Now off you go! Behind the kitchen are the stairs to the attic, Peyton sleeps there but I¡¯m sure you can figure out something.¡± Jason said goodbye before getting up and walking past the kitchen. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your name? It would hardly be appropriate for me to keep calling you Ma.¡± Jason spoke. Ma laughed ¡°You¡¯re right, my name is Tilda.¡± Buying a house Chapter 8 Jason opened his eyes to the sound of Peyton snoring loudly. They were currently sleeping in the attic of the house when the big party was finished, after the discussion with Tilda, Jason went up to Peyton, and much to the latter¡¯s grumbling, created a bed to sleep on. Well, he actually created a hammock because he always wanted to sleep in one of those and the two drifted off to sleep. The next morning was signaled by the cry of a rooster. Jason who was already up, watched Peyton, from the comfort of his hammock, with interested eyes as Peyton turned, yawned, got up from the straw mattress, scratched his bum, and walked down the stairs. Only then did Jason hear, ¡°Holy shit! We¡¯re rich!¡± Jason chuckled as Peyton rushed up the stairs at full speed before staring at Jason, ¡°Thank god, I thought I was dreaming!¡± Suddenly a racket could be heard from downstairs. ¡°Shut up Peyt! We¡¯re trying to sleep!¡± But Peyton was having none of it as he rushed down whooping like a schoolboy on Friday. ¡°Everyone get up! It¡¯s a new day and we have things to do!¡± Much groaning and grumbling later, Gwandere, Ilios and Nasha all walked out of their rooms, their hair a mess and their eyes screaming bloody murder. ¡°We know you twit! But that doesn¡¯t mean we have to lose sleep over it!¡± growled Ilios. Just then Tilda burst through the door with two bags in each hand, ¡°Get up girls! It¡¯s time to make breakfast!¡± Nasha groaned ¡°We¡¯re up already Ma.¡± ¡°Good, then go clean up and come to the kitchen, we¡¯ve got things to do!¡± Even though the girls didn¡¯t seem happy, they quickly got washed and soon the house was a hurricane of activity. A hurricane with Tilda in the middle. ¡°Stir it properly! You call that cutting? What are you doing with the eggs!¡± she shouted commands like a sergeant with a stick up his bum. Even Jason wasn¡¯t spared from the onslaught as he had to cut up all sorts of vegetables, from ones he recognized, to ones he didn¡¯t, to some that even glowed! But soon the storm passed and everyone was sitting at the table with a mountain of food. Sausages, eggs, vegetables of all sorts, and even some bread. But Tilda brought that from the bakery. ¡°Well? Let¡¯s dig in!¡± Tilda shouted. And they did, everything was picked clean, not a single scrap of food was left on the table, after the feast everyone sat back with a satisfied sigh. ¡°Alright,¡± Tilda said ¡°Here¡¯s the plan for today. You girls pack up the house, move everything that isn¡¯t nailed down to out here, Peyt you too, no one should have to clean up your room after you, Jason and I will go and talk with the local Barrister and see what¡¯s on offer around the city.¡± ¡°But Ma! You said I could come along as well!¡± Peyton whined ¡°I changed my mind. Now go and get ready.¡± Tilda replied. When everyone was gone Tilda grabbed the bag of gold from behind her chair and headed towards the door, motioning Jason to follow her. As they left the house Jason could see workers already going about their business, shops were running at full swing, congestions were everywhere and the church bells were already dinging nine past. ¡°Follow me, we¡¯ll have to go quite far into the city to find Brokers dealing with high end housing.¡± Tilda said. They threaded through the throngs of the public, going past tanneries, slaughterhouses, warehouses, guild halls, boarding houses, fountains, you name it and it was there. The architecture was quite unique as there seemed to be a renaissance feel to the place that was often interrupted by streets straight out of the industrial revolution. Jason even spotted a square with lights that resembled lamp posts. And the people were amazing, every culture you could possibly imagine was scattered throughout the city, from Turkish coffee houses to Wild West saloons. Jason spotted a man walking around with claymore and red hair while an American Indian seeming tribesman with a head dress bigger than his entire body was kissing a blond chick with two axes strapped to each side. And there weren¡¯t only humans, the two other races that Jason noticed were the elves and dwarfs, however he noticed something else as well. ¡°What are those?¡± Jason pointed towards a giant tree buying a plant pot from a dwarf vendor in what looked like an apothecary. ¡°Oh those? They could be nature elementals, or a mage who shapeshifted, but they might be Ents.¡± Tilda replied. ¡°Ents? As in tree people?¡± ¡°Yep, elves love them.¡± Tilda said, shrugging it off. Ent¡¯s weren¡¯t the strangest thing either. There were elementals like Sylphs and Undines, even small salamanders seemed to have integrated into the society, heating up forges and ovens. And Gnomes, Jason thought that the jolly little people would be the welcoming kind. But he was wrong, he didn¡¯t see a single gnome that wasn¡¯t bickering, fighting or just seemingly in a bad mood. ¡°Why are they all so angry?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Oh it¡¯s the height difference. You see they are very paranoid, they always think you¡¯re making fun of their height, one funny look and they¡¯d take you down, pronto.¡± replied Tilda. Eventually they arrived at a shop that seemed to be made from some weird stone, it was a mash between an apartment block and a mini castle, nevertheless it was hideous. ¡°Here we are! Bates and Co., the best in the business.¡± Tilda said. ¡°Before we go in I¡¯d like to change our appearances.¡± Jason commented Tilda blinked ¡°I¡¯m sorry what?¡± Jason clicked his hand and suddenly they were both engulfed in white light. When the light faded Tilda looked down to see her previous plain garb turn into a wonderful maroon dress, it had laces everywhere but the clothing was surprisingly appropriate.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Jason did you do thi-¡± Tilda abruptly stopped to notice that Jason wasn¡¯t next to her. Instead, a thirty year old man in a dark green waistcoat, his breeches were fine and the sun glistened off the polish from his boots. He sported a beard and mustache with a top hat and a slim walking stick tucked under one arm. This man reeked of wealth. ¡°Jason? Is that you?¡± Tilda stared, dumbfounded. Jason smiled a wonderful smile, his crow feet all but evident below his eyes. Then he said, ¡°May I take your bag my lady?¡± With gracious movements Jason took a suitcase from next to Tilda that appeared next to her. ¡°I! Wha! Wha! Wha?¡± blabbered Tilda ¡°Just go with the flow, you are now a noble with his brother who would like to buy a house.¡± Said Jason in a soothing tone as he hooked his arm around Tilda¡¯s, and together they stepped inside. Inside the building the place was alive with activity, people rushed from one end to the other while carrying pieces of parchment under their arms. Desks placed in neat rows were cluttered with paper while workers were furiously scratching away with their quills. Someone could be heard shouting away in the distance. ¡°May I be of assistance my Lord?¡± someone asked behind them. Jason and Tilda turned around to see a portly gentleman looking back at them, he looked round and harmless, and his mannerisms contained the very essence of servitude. He wore thick big glasses and was furiously twisting a piece of rag in his hand, trying to clean his fingers from the ink stains but it was futile. ¡°My good man! My sister and I have just arrived at the city and we would like to buy a house for our family.¡± Jason said, his voice changed as he spoke, his accent twisted and the tone became deeper and friendlier. As if you were talking with your favorite boss who just gave you a raise. ¡°Oh! In that case please follow me. I will direct you to Mr Bates, he handles our clients.¡± The man waddled of further into the building, followed by Jason and Tilda. They arrived at a door at the very back of the work area, it was big and wooden, with a golden placard reading ¡®MR ALLAN BATES¡¯ The man knocked on the door before a voice as honeyed as a bee¡¯s nest answered ¡°Come in.¡± The man opened the door a fraction and humbly said ¡°Mr Bates, there are some clients that would like to meet you.¡± ¡°Oh let them in!¡± Mr Bates said in an enthusiastic manner. The man nodded and opened the door fully, holding it open for the couple before respectfully closing it behind them and taking his leave. The office was very much like the Ecluse¡¯s, except this one was much more airy and had plants in it. Bookshelves lined the walls while a fireplace with a landscape painting above it could be seen to the side. The picture depicted a majestic ship cruising through the vast ocean with no land in sight. The middle of the office was like a living room, with couches on each end and a coffee table in the middle with a bunch of apples in a ceramic bowl, behind these couches was a giant glass desk. The desk was designed very much like it was supposed to be made out of wood, with decorations and adornments everywhere, it was very thick as well, so thick that the glass distorted the view, not letting anyone see through into the shelves (also made of glass) built into the desk on the other side. ¡°Good morning my Lord, my Lady.¡± Mr Bates spoke up. Mr Bates could have been only described with one word. Sharp. From the creases of his trousers, to the gaze of his eyes, everything radiated punctuality at its finest. He wasn¡¯t thin, nor fat, he wasn¡¯t old, or young, he was a business man. And a good one at that. Mr Bates stood up to greet the two and approached them stopping at the couches. ¡°Please take a seat, make yourself comfortable, we have much to discuss.¡± As everyone took a place among the couches Mr Bates started, ¡°Now are you looking for land or moving into a house?¡± ¡°A house, preferably the sooner we move in, the better.¡± Tilda replied. ¡°I see, well we have several on offer, may I ask your price range?¡± Mr Bates inquired. At this Jason grinned ¡°Money is no issue.¡± Mr Bates merely nodded before going to his shelves and pulling out a book. It was a ledger of sorts, setting down the book on the coffee table he continued ¡°There are several manors along the East Riverside that might suit your tastes. The first one is the Laruse mansion, owned by the Laruse household for generations it has been recently sold to the bank due to some financial problems of in the family. It has five rooms, two master bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room at the bottom floor with a library opening up into a solarium behind the mansion. The land itself comes with a five acre front lawn and the back has a private pier that can be accessed via a servant entrance and solarium. Overall the cost is 50 000 zin¡¯s¡± ¡°The next house is a tower made by the mage Reece, who was last seen falling into Mt Usav. The tower has a spiral staircase running through the middle, with each floor as one room, the bottom floor is a general loading zone, with servants quarters and the kitchen above it. After that there seven floors for general use, with a bath house at the top. There is also a basement that was used as a laboratory by the late wizard. The price of the tower is 150 000 zin¡¯s¡± ¡°The third and final house is brand new estate, it was built for the Duchess of Mel, a powerful Undine. She was about to move in but unfortunately she was called to the elven lands as an ambassador, the Duchess has since sold the house. The estate itself is an interesting design, with waterways running throughout the entire house, but those can be blocked up for an expense, the estate has a style of architecture similar to the Laruse manor although this one, instead of one building, has three wings that branch in a T shape, as you can see from the schematics here. Due to the Duchess¡¯ love for water the driveway has quite an impressive water fountain at the front as well as one at the back garden. At the end of the house, here at the bottom of the T, the entire wall is made from glass, providing an unparalleled view of the waterfront, pier included of course. The building itself has three floors, with a stairway leading up to them in the foyer. There is the servant¡¯s quarters, with kitchen and storage along the basement off to the left wing. Every bedroom has an ensuite and while the attic and other two basements are completely empty to be used however the master wished. All in all this estate is by far the biggest and most expensive out of the three, being only smaller then the royal palace. The area it is located in also inflames the price, due to being in the heart of the noble district. You can find the estates of the Bellagio and the Montefeltro families next to them. All in all the estate and surrounding land, bear in mind that the house has no furnishings, is 600 000 zin¡¯s.¡± Tilda was stunned at the price, they only had around 5000 gold coins! Jason leaned over and whispered in Tilda¡¯s ear ¡°How much is a zin?¡± ¡°Three¡­ three hundred gold coins.¡± Tilda gulped. However Jason only clapped his hands and loudly proclaimed ¡°Wonderful! We¡¯ll buy the Duchess¡¯ estate!¡± Mr Bate¡¯s who¡¯s expression was quite stony, said ¡°In that case my Lord we¡¯ll need you to pay half the money upfront before we can hand you the keys. Jason nodded ¡°But of course! Come down to our carriage, we have the money right here. And I hope you don¡¯t mind, but we¡¯ll pay the money up front.¡± Only now did Mr Bates show any surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t you not wish to tour the estate first?¡± Jason waved his hand ¡°No, no, I¡¯m quite sure it¡¯s adequate now please, let us head to our carriage.¡± As Jason headed out the door Tilda whispered to him ¡°We don¡¯t have a carriage with 600 000 zin¡¯s!¡± Jason grinned at her but said nothing, they walked out from the crowded office only to find the most spectacular site their eyes ever beheld. A beautiful carriage, in gilded gold stood on the street, it looked fit for a king, with pristine red curtains and wheels with gold rims. The two horses were magnificently groomed and the carriage driver looked clean and smart, with a black over coat and a tricorne hat. The man gave a nod towards the group before going back to surveying their surroundings, one hand resting upon a rifle next to him. Jason was smiling, Mr Bales was surprised while Tilda was dragging her jaw on the ground as they approached the carriage. ¡°Fletcher, open the hatch please.¡± Jason commanded the driver. Worldlessly, the driver named Fletcher pressed a hidden button under his seat, opening a hidden compartment on the side of the carriage, located under the passenger seats, revealing two giant chests. ¡°Would you please fetch some workers to carry these inside Mr Bales?¡± Mr Bales, who was by now white with shock, hurriedly ran back inside shouting ¡°Morris! Morris! Get over here right now!¡± A minute later Mr Bales returned with the man who previously escorted them into the office, along with four burly young men. Mr Bales snapped ¡°Grab the chests and bring them to my office.¡± Morris nodded before clicking his fingers, and the young men sprang into action, dragging the chests out into daylight. When the chests were more than halfway out they thumped onto the ground. It took two workers working together to carry one chest inside, all the while wheezing and gasping for air as their backs strained against the massive weight. ¡°Now then.¡± Jason said, closing the compartment hatches ¡°Shall we discuss terms?¡± Fire in the Hole! Chapter 9 Back inside the trio headed into Mr Bates¡¯ office, followed by the two coffers carried by the struggling labourers. The workers dumped down the chests at the front of the room gasping and massaging their sore backs. ¡°Careful you dimwits! I¡¯ll dock your pay for that!¡± Mr Bates barked. Grumbling, the procession left the office, leaving the original occupants to their devices. ¡°Now then my Lord, before we continue may I take a look at the investment? Only to check the authenticity of course.¡± Mr Bates continued humbly. Jason, who has been grinning from ear to ear ever since they entered inside, ¡°Of course! Who am I to impede your good work sir!¡± Mr Bates nodded and lifted the lid to one of the chests, inside, there were thousands upon thousands of tiny green cubes, placed symmetrically on top of one another. The cubes themselves had little white streaks running through them, like veins, while a tiny insignia of a head posing sideways was imprinted into the top of each square. By now Mr Bates¡¯ hands were shaking, never in his life has he seen so much value at the same time, nothing he ever had to sell was worth this much and the money was certainly never exchanged so casually, who could be so stupid as to simply carry this with himself to buy a house? Armoured carriages would take money from bank to bank, transferring the coinage from one account to the other, that¡¯s how business was conducted, this was¡­ Well, unheard of! Taking one zin he got out a monocle from his pocket, inspecting the insignia and veins, looking for anything out of place. He did this several times, reaching down layers at random, upsetting the perfectly placed blocks in the process. After five or so minutes, Mr Bates finally said. ¡°How much is in each chest my Lord?¡± ¡°Approximately 500 000 zins.¡± ¡°Both?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll send the chests back with the remaining zins in it my lord.¡± Mr Bates replied ¡°Yes, I¡¯d appreciate that.¡± Jason smiled good naturedly ¡°Well, all seems to be in order, so let me get the deed for the land.¡± Mr Bates stood up and went to a different shelf, this time pulling out a roll of parchment. Walking back he said ¡°Here are several documents, one is the acknowledgement of the king that you are the rightful owner of this estate and the surrounding land, bear in mind the title of ¡®owner¡¯ can only be assigned to a single person at a time. The second one is changing the name of the Estate, previously known as the Springwell Estate, this is important for the previous document as the name of the land has to be written down on that as well. The third document is a citizenship document, once a citizen, you have to abide to the laws of Iona, a city of the humans. Along with the citizenship you get a copy of the laws and regulations which will be sent to you by post, you should also note that only the landowner has to be a citizen.¡± ¡°Very well I¡¯ll be the owner.¡± Jason said Mr Bates nodded, ¡°Please sign here then. And what shall the name of the Estate be?¡± ¡°Hmm, Tilda tell me. What¡¯s our family name again?¡± Jason frowned. ¡°Uhm, its Fyr.¡± Tilda muttered while inspecting a zin. ¡°Then it shall be called the Fyr Manor.¡± Jason grinned. ¡°Please write down the name here¡­ And here¡­ Very good my Lord, and finally the citizenship.¡± Mr Bates cleared his throat ¡°Please state your full name here then repeat after me.¡± ¡°I Allan Bates swear,¡± ¡°I Jason Fyr swear,¡± ¡°That I will uphold the law,¡± ¡°Will uphold the Law,¡± ¡°Keep the peace,¡± ¡°Keep the peace,¡± ¡°And will be Loyal to his Majesty and all who bear the title.¡± ¡°And I will be Loyal to his Majesty and all who bear the title.¡± ¡°Congratulations Lord Fyr, you are now a member of Iona, the capital and center of humanity.¡± ¡°Wonderful, anything else?¡± ¡°Ahh yes, here¡¯s the key.¡± Mr Bates handed over a slim silver key with a teardrop shaped end.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Now please allow me to escort my Lord and my Lady to the carriage.¡± ¡°No need, my sister and I have things to discuss that cannot be left until we reach the privacy of our transport.¡± Jason said, waving his hand. ¡°Well then, I hope you enjoy your life here at Iona my Lord.¡± ¡°Oh I shall, I shall, goodbye Mr Bates. May we conduct business again.¡± Jason said holding out his hand. Mr Bates took it and shook it ¡°I hope so too my Lord.¡± Jason and Tilda left the office, with Tilda in a daze. Once outside Jason started walking, his appearance already reverted. ¡°Who are you?¡± Tilda asked in a small voice behind her back as she saw her simple garb again. Jason stopped and looked at her ¡°Think of me as a man with no limit, no matter how far you¡¯ll look into me you won¡¯t find where I end.¡± ¡°DON¡¯T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!¡± Tilda suddenly shouted. A moment pf silence passed before Jason turned around sighed, ¡°Look, you are probably thinking that a man this powerful could drag your children into something horrible, but listen to me, and I mean listen because I will only say this once. I will never, place you, or your family, in danger.¡± Tilda was relieved, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome, now, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°We need to move belongings from our old house into the new one.¡± Tilda said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. ¡°Fabulous, let¡¯s go then¡± Jason said. As they made their way back to their old home the bells rang noon. ¡°Do we need to notify anyone we¡¯re leaving the house?¡± Jason asked ¡°No, my parents brought it, I doubt even the man who sold it to us remembers it exists.¡± ¡°Great! Then could I use it for my own nefarious purposes?¡± Tilda shrugged, ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± ¡°By the way Tilda, how old are you?¡± Tilda glanced suspiciously at Jason before saying, as off handed as possible ¡°Thirty seven.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only asking because there¡¯ll be a lot of suitors going for you after the world finds out we¡¯re the richest family in the city.¡± Tilda stopped, Jason turning around was wondering what the problem was before Tilda burst out laughing. ¡°Let them come! I¡¯ll test each and every one of them! Let¡¯see who can win my hand and heart!¡± Jason was surprised ¡°So you¡¯re not against remarrying?¡± ¡°Me? Of course not, I intend to use as much as I can of my remaining years. I don¡¯t need to be faithful! Besides I never even married. We were too poor to fund the ceremony.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jason said ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be, my family was never big on religion anyway, those who struggle in life either turn their back against the gods, or become fanatics.¡± Tilda said. As they made their away along the streets they slowly reached their house in the slums. ¡°Haa, I never imagined I¡¯d be able to rid myself of this cursed place, I¡¯m really grateful you know, we all are.¡± ¡°Well don¡¯t think life is going to get any easier¡± Jason warned ¡°There¡¯s gonna a be a lot of work from now on, we¡¯ll have to hire servants, set up a business, we can¡¯t just rely on me to make money every time when there¡¯s a problem. And of course since we¡¯re a family, we¡¯ll have to attend parties, go to meetings, perhaps we¡¯ll even have audiences even with the king. Your children might have marry without love.¡± ¡°Come what may, we¡¯ll weather through it. But at least we¡¯ll have warm beds and food on the table.¡± Tilda said sagely. Jason and Tilda entered the house to the sound of shouting. The place was turned upside down as furniture was thrown haphazardly into the little dining room, from beds to baskets filled with clothes to even a small doll sitting on a wardrobe, it was chaos incarnate. ¡°Give it back it¡¯s mine!¡± Ilios shouted. ¡°Shut up! No it¡¯s not!¡± Gwandere shouted back. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tilda barked as she ran to one of the bedrooms, Peyton chose this exact moment to come running down the steps, shouting ¡°Fire in the hole!¡± There was a tremendous crash and dust flew down from the attic. It was a truly terrifying sound, the top steps even seemed to have been even covered in a mysterious blue slime. ¡°TELL ME WHAT¡¯S GOING ON OR I¡¯LL HAVE YOUR HEADS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!¡± Tilda roared as she charged towards Peyton, who was shaking at the sudden arrival of his fearsome mother. ¡°Weeeell, you see uhh, I found this uhh, thing aaaaand Gwandere and Ilios seemed to be busy and Nasha was doing something as well and we¡¯re moving out you see so I thought that maybe I could perhaps¡­¡± ¡°Perhaps what?¡± Tilda asked with barely contained anger. ¡°Well¡­¡± Peyton said in a really tiny voice while poking his fingers. ¡°Explode something?¡± ¡°WHAT? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?¡± Tilda shouted, there was spittle coming out of her mouth by now. ¡°I just ripped my pillow apart that¡¯s all! I swear it wasn¡¯t much!¡± Peyton shot back, suddenly offended. Ilios chose this moment to storm out of Gwandere¡¯s bedroom looking angry and pissed. ¡°Ma! Gwandere says that you made that blanket for her!¡± Gwandere came rushing out after Ilios clutching a red, threadbare blanket ¡°That¡¯s because she did! I remember she promised to make it for my seventh birthday!¡± ¡°No! She made it for me saying that you and Nasha already hav-¡± ¡°BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!¡± Tilda snarled, she was becoming more and more feral by the second. ¡°PEYTON NEARLY KILLED YOU BOTH AND YOU¡¯RE ARGUEING ABOUT A BLOODY CLOTH! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I KILL YOU MYSELF!¡± The two girls were stunned, they dared not utter a single word that could cause their mother to be angered further, quietly, the exited the house. Tilda turned back to Peyton and smacked him on the back of the head, hard. ¡°That¡¯s for nearly killing your sisters.¡± Then she sat down on a chair and sighed, ¡°Tell me, what did you do upstairs?¡± Peyton, who was staring at the floor mutely after his punishment looked up, ¡°I got some Sanguine powder, put it in my pillow and poured water in to it.¡± He mumbled ¡°And why would you do that?¡± Tilda asked ¡°Why? Well Ahh¡­ Why not?¡± Peyton said, nervous. Tilda let out another exasperated sigh, ¡°Did you at least empty your room before you did it?¡± Peyton nodded vigorously ¡°I got everything out, Nasha did as well so she went off to get a wagon to put the stuff in.¡± Tilda smiled, ¡°At least one of you has a head. Tell the other two to come back inside.¡± Peyton did so and the two girls shuffled in, nervously looking everywhere except Tilda. Tilda on the other hand simply said ¡°How much have you done?¡± Gwandere started ¡°We, um, got the beds out,¡± ¡°And the cabinets¡± Ilios put in helpfully ¡°It was only Gwandere¡¯s wardrobe where we had, um, issues.¡± Gwandere finished lamely. Tilda just shook her head sadly, ¡°I don¡¯t even understand why you made such a big fuss, neither of you even wanted it that¡¯s why I put it there.¡± The girls looked like they wanted to argue but just then they heard the clop of hooves outside, Jason went over to the door and opened it, finding Nasha riding up to the door with a mule drawing a rickety wooden carriage. ¡°It isn¡¯t the best thing out there but the owner didn¡¯t want the mule anymore.¡± Nasha called over from behind the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°It¡¯ll do, now then. I think it¡¯s time to get this show on the road.¡± Jason said, turning back to the pile of stuff in the house. With a click of his fingers, every single object slowly lifted off the ground and levitated on to the cart. Everyone was dumbstruck except Tilda who said ¡°Yeah, yeah, we know. He¡¯s amazing, let¡¯s go everyone! I wanna get to the new place before third bell.¡± ¡°Where are we going anyway?¡± Peyton asked, climbing on top of the pile on the carriage. ¡°That¡¯s a surprise.¡± Jason winked. The Mermaids wink. Chapter 10 ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re in the right place?¡± Nasha asked nervously. Jason merely laughed ¡°Of course!¡± They were currently heading through the noble district, after asking for some directions from some old apothecarist selling tinctures in a side street, they stumbled on to the place. Glorious mansions stood side by side, vying for attention. While street carriages rolled by on well paved cobblestones with sigils so opulent, one might have mistaken it for graffiti. But it wasn¡¯t all jeweled harnesses and gold trimming. There was quite a number of poor folk about as well, some walked on the street paths, while others rode about on wagons much like the family¡¯s. It seemed the wealthy couldn¡¯t live off their posturing alone. ¡°Are you absolutely certain we¡¯re in the right place?¡± Nasha said, tugging on the reins to stop the mule from running in to a speeding stage coach. ¡°Don¡¯t worry we¡¯re nearly there.¡± Jason crooned. Eventually they got to the heartland of the district. The mansions couldn¡¯t be seen as much as they were further and further hidden behind larger and larger gardens, but the glimpses they did catch were draw dropping, they were the same as the houses before only much, much bigger. And they would have funny protrusions as well, like an abnormally tall bastion, or a giant floating glowing glass ball, thingy. It was impressive as heck. By now all the children were visibly scared, they knew that being hailed by a guard in a place like this could only mean trouble, after all, what business do commoners have being here without having official, well, business. But they survived, in fact, it went smoother than expected, there were a few close calls of course, but the guard always seemed to get distracted by something of greater importance in the last minute. Like a stray dog, a burglar, or a fly on the wall, it was as if they were looking for an excuse to not look in their direction. ¡°Here we are then!¡± Jason said cheerfully, hopping off their transport. He more like leaped over Peyton but he made it look like it was as easy as pie. In front of the group was a foreboding looking gate, the bars were long and thin while the tips were capped off with razor sharp spikes. It was several meters tall and the walls on each side even taller. The middle of the gate had a single tear shaped out of the surrounding bars, making it quite easy for a really small thief to get in, were it not for the fact that there were spikes on that as well. ¡°Oh no, no, no, no, no and no. I don¡¯t know what sort of deal with the devil you have made but I will not be part of this.¡± Gwandere said, trying to wrestle the reigns away from Nasha in a desperate attempt to ride away. ¡°Relax, relax. It looks better on the inside I promise.¡± Jason said, fiddling with the padlock. ¡°This is quite stupid actually, why would you have one key to open both the gate and the house?¡± Once opened, the gates swung inward with an ominous creak, showing a little park. A gravel path led off into the distance, its destination hidden by the trees, the trees themselves were fabulous, with oak and ash and fir? Jason laughed to himself, how ironic. The wagon slowly trundled onto the property, its wheels grinding grooves into the white, pristine rocks. The sun was slowly setting as the church bells rang in the distance. They¡¯re really quite handy those bells, Jason thought as he walked beside the carriage. Peyton hopped off too, inspecting the trees, picking up sticks and rocks, attacking invisible enemies along the road. Gwandere and Ilios came down as well, nervous to leave the company of Tilda first, but their unfounded fears were soon dispersed as one of them shouted. ¡°Look! Daisies!¡± The two hurried over, giggling all the way, to a patch of vibrant blue flowers. They were beautiful as the sun illuminated their presence, shooting little beams of light between the thick trunks of the trees. Ilios and Gwandere picked a couple before hurrying back to the cart contentedly, weaving the new resource into a type of ring and putting it on their heads. The entire family was quite happy, Peyton trying to occasionally climb a tree, Ilios and Gwandere oohing and aahing at the surrounding flora, while Tilda gave suggestions to Nasha on how to handle the steering. They walked for about ten minutes before the trees parted to reveal the Fyr Manor. ¡°Wow.¡± Peyton said. They all stood there, staring, and with good reason, the place was freaking huge! Bigger than any building Jason had seen. The front of it looked like the White house with the dome of the Vatican on top of it. The windows and their curious indentations and embellishments made it look like Buckingham palace, with both sides extending ever outwards. And this thing was built in a T shape? It looked a bit like a clusterfuck made by a painter who thought ¡®Eh, fuck it, let¡¯s cut off an ear.¡¯The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But was it beautiful? Eh, in a way, but it radiated something other than beauty. Power, it oozed out of it like fat from a skewered pig. It was so think in the atmosphere that if one wasn¡¯t born with blue blood they might have choked on it. A giant fountain splashed in front of the driveway, this was huge as well. With a mermaid holding a amphora over her head, water softly splashed out of it, sliding down around the figure and trickling into the grooves that channeled the water downwards and outwards in a spiral fashion. Jason grinned before flicking a silver coin into the fountain. This snapped the family out of their stupor as they watched, wordlessly, as the coin travelled in an arc before hitting the water with a slight ¡®plop¡¯ and sinking to the bottom of the fountain. ¡°Holy Shit!¡± Gwandere shouted. Tilda absentmindedly slapped Gwandere on the back of the head, all the while gazing at the house. Peyton rushed forward and dived into the fountain, spurting and laughing while he sat, the water reaching up his neck. Ilios laughing, joined him, followed by Gwandere, the three splashed in the fountain, Peyton even climbed up the little mountain the mermaid sat on, sticking his hand through the hole where the water came from. Smiling Jason asked Nasha ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna join them?¡± Nasha merely shook his head ¡°I¡¯m the one that gets the towels.¡± She said, smiling wistfully. ¡°Oh boo.¡± Jason said before picking her up and throwing her into the fountain. Nasha let out a surprised yelp before she too was submerged in water. She burst up gasping for air only to have Peyton throw another cupful into her open mouth from atop his little throne, making Nasha gulp, before she said, coughing. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you for that Peyt!¡± The four of them then laughed and played, the setting sun illuminating them and the little mermaid, which was suspiciously smiling down at them with motherly eyes. Jason and Tilda hung back, looking the children, Tilda was letting silent tears down her check. ¡°You never cease to amaze me Jason, please, never leave us.¡± Jason laughed ¡°Oh really? What about when they want to leave? They¡¯re growing up you know.¡± Tilda shook her head ¡°I won¡¯t let them, they¡¯ll stay by me, even if they marry. I¡¯ll think we¡¯ll have enough room.¡± Jason laughed again but said nothing. Slowly the girls and Peyt climbed out of their newfound playground. Surprisingly dry, the water slid of them like jell, Jason frowned, now that he looked closer the water was much clearer than he expected, it was nearly perfectly transparent. With the light hardly refracting through it. Jason looked at the mermaid again, he could have sworn it winked! Shaking off the thought Jason approached the door, it was massive, like everything else was. If Jason didn¡¯t know any better, he would have thought the previous owner was trying to show off the length of her metaphorical penis. Grinning at the thought, Jason placed the slim key inside the lock. The twist of the key was the heaviest and most satisfying thing Jason ever heard. Grabbing both handles, which were beautiful works of art by the way, and threw open the door. Jason was a bit disappointed. The place foyer was indeed grand, however cobwebs stuck to the stairs and dust covered the ground. The place was surprisingly hollow, no furniture, no paintings, no armor stands, no plant pots, Jason shook his head, this simply won¡¯t do, but he didn¡¯t want to just fill it up immediately with a thought. After all, that would take the joy of shopping away from the girls. Speaking of girls, they all rushed past him, even Nasha who was out of her shell temporarily, shouting in joy as they ran up the stairs. But of course they weren¡¯t faster than Peyton. Who rushed passed everyone. Speeding like a bullet. ¡°It will be much harder to keep track of them now.¡± Tilda grumbled. Jason laughed with a wicked glint in his eye ¡°Well, we shall have remedy that now won¡¯t we?¡± Then he clicked his fingers and a map appeared next to him floating off the ground. It showed the entire mansion from front view, side view and top down. Well it wasn¡¯t really the entire mansion, it only drew the guiding lines in black ink on the yellow parchment, like the floor plans they studied back at Mr. Bates¡¯ office. Jason made it so it still looked kind of authentic in this place of sword of sorcery. After all, what was ever lasting power without style? Six different colored dots were placed in the manor, while a key showed which color belonged to whom. ¡°There you go.¡± Jason said happily. Tilda was now grinning as she picked the parchment out of the air and rolling it up like a painting. With another click of his fingers, Jason levitated everything out of the cart, startling the mule as the objects floated over the poor beast¡¯s head. The contents of their previous home were so abysmally small that they took up about 1/8 of the foyer. ¡°And now let¡¯s explore!¡± Jason said, rubbing his hand together. Jason went to one of the first doorways on the left, (they were all double handled) and opened it, bowing towards Tilda holding the door for her. ¡°My Lady¡± Tilda smiled before, with exaggerated pompousness, walked towards the door, her nose held high. When she arrived next Jason, she looked around, conspicuously leaned down and whispered ¡°I could get used to this.¡± Jason laughed and together they set off into the new room. It was a hallway, a hallway so long that the end could hardly be seen, the left side was window after window while on the right side was door after door after door (One handled this time). Both stretched up quite high as the ceiling was at least four meters above the ground. ¡°Isn¡¯t there supposed to be a second floor above this?¡± Tilda asked. ¡°And third¡± Jason replied¡± They approached the first door and opened it, it was quite spacious. With a fireplace and a stair leading downward at the far end of the room. There was also a window that you could see the main wing from, it was pretty awe inspiring as it stretched even further then the wing they were currently in. Descending down the steps they arrived in the kitchen, needless to say it was huge, with steel tables, black and white tiles and weird stoves made out of a strange metal. Four giant fireplaces were placed in each corner of the room. Searching among the tables and racks, they found yet another door, it was the pantry, which was, once again, a long corridor that stretched for miles, with wings that led off into other rooms, like the meat locker, and freezer. Jason was sensing a pattern here. Walking there and back, they found no other door so they returned to the kitchen, where they discovered another door, which led out into the basement proper. A New Day Chapter 11 The basement was, well, Jason didn¡¯t know how to describe it other than. ¡°Fucking huge.¡± It was a floor, a floor that spanned the entire manor with no walls, no obstacles, not even support beams, just a floor that stretched on for miles, like some sort of grid you¡¯d see when you think about physics. The walls were made out of cobblestone with torches spaced at intervals, as if you were in a dungeon. When Jason and Tilda walked to the intersection, where the foyer was supposed to be above them, they looked down the main wing, and looked, and looked. ¡°Does it end?¡± Tilda asked. ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± Jason replied. So they set off, walking down the middle of the, now newly christened in Jason¡¯s mind as, ¡®the long bit¡¯, corridor. They would occasionally see steps that would lead up to other portions of the house, or mild depressions in the floor made of smooth stone, which could be used for anything, from magic circles to sculpture platforms, Jason even noticed a deep well hidden in shadow that could lead to who knows where. They walked for a while, a good fifteen minutes before they found the end, and when they did they weren¡¯t disappointed. It was a giant wall of glass which opened up to the river on the other side; it must have had some sort of magic on it because it made water unnaturally bright and clear, and pretty. Jason and Tilda slowly watched as strange fish floated past serenely, casting shadows on the floor about them, they gazed at the scene for a while before Jason finally said ¡°Let¡¯s head back¡± Turning around they walked back down ¡®the long bit¡¯ and went up the first set of stairs they found. It led to a door, which when opened took them up to the first floor, a first floor bigger than anything they¡¯ve seen so far. Wider than the basement and taller than the East Wing, as Jason and Tilda started walking towards the end again, there footsteps rang off the marble and bounced around them on the empty walls, it was as if they were in a cave. At last they arrived at a set of massive double doors, it loomed ominously as Jason tried to push it open, when they stepped inside, once again, their minds were blown to bits. If you thought the rest of the house was massive then you thought wrong, standing in, what now Jason thought of as ¡®the ballroom¡¯ was like a standing in a giant¡¯s house, it was so big in fact that the other two floors of the house also opened onto balconies within this room, which could be accessed by yet more stairs. But that wasn¡¯t all, the far side of the wall was like it was ripped straight out of the crystal palace, pane upon pane of nearly transparent glass was stacked on top of each other, letting the viewer see the city in an unparalleled view, it reached up towards a ceiling then curved slightly to provide the a glimpse of the sky for the audience who might stand a bit farther inside. Out on another balcony beyond the glass door all staring dumbfounded, were Peyton, Gwandere, Ilios and Nasha. Jason and Tilda approached them but none of them turned their heads to the clomping of their shoes, and when the two newcomers walked outside, they two stopped as well. The sight was beautiful, the city rose up like sea moss, glowing with strange luminescence like some sort of choral at the bottom of a seabed, the water between them was smooth as a pearl, and stars dotted the tranquil scene, like little fishes floating through the thick treacle of space. ¡°Jason?¡± Gwandere said, ¡°Yes?¡± Jason looked down, ¡°Thanks.¡± The family all gathered around giant fireplace in the ballroom, the fire was actually bigger then the entire family combined so it provided adequate warmth to the otherwise cold room. Jason levitated all their belongings through the door and the beds were set up in resemblance of a semicircle, with Jason in a hammock above the fireplace. ¡°Alright let¡¯s discuss the plan of attack for tomorrow.¡± Tilda begun, ¡°I wanna decorate my bedroom!¡± Peyton said enthusiastically, ¡°You¡¯re going to school.¡± Jason declared, Peyton looked at him in horror, as if Jason had unleashed the very devil from the pits of hell. ¡°Ha Ha! Looks like someone is too dumb to even help out!¡± Gwandere crowedThis content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°In fact, you¡¯re all going to school¡± Jason said, That shut everybody up. ¡°That¡¯s right! Guess what? I¡¯m now part of your Family, with a capital F, so I¡¯m going to enroll you first thing tomorrow, I¡¯m sure Tilda won¡¯t mind.¡± The girls and Peyt, who looked at Jason like a lunatic, looked at their mother to talk some sense into this new, deranged Jason, unfortunately they found no sanity in there. ¡°My little children!¡± Tilda sniffed tearfully ¡°They¡¯re finally going to get the education I never had! I¡¯m so happy!¡± ¡°But! But why?¡± Ilios cried, ¡°Why? Look around! We¡¯re practically nobility now! You didn¡¯t seriously expect you were going to carry on in life with the amount of knowledge in your head right now? We¡¯re gonna make businesses! Build an economic powerhouse! Second only to the Imperial family themselves! You think you can achieve that without maths?¡± Everyone stared at Jason before Peyt muttered ¡°Being rich sucks.¡± Jason shrugged ¡°You get used to it, now go to bed!¡± The next morning started off with Peyton waking up, and that woke everybody up. ¡°WOHOOO!¡± Peyt yelled as he ran out the room, ¡°Shut up Peyt.¡± Nasha grumbled as she pulled the pillow over her head. The other two mumbled in agreement but Tilda was already out of bed. ¡°Get up you lazy pansies! We¡¯ve got things to do!¡± And with that a new day started. ¡°Okay everybody we¡¯ve got things to do so I can¡¯t be bothered to make breakfast, here eat these sandwhiches.¡± Jason said as a basket of the stuff appeared in his hand. ¡°I also can¡¯t be bothered to find the bathroom.¡± He said, clicking his fingers, the grime disappearing, the girls gasped as their faces felt like they were splashed with cold water, and their bladder, well, felt emptied. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to the bank and open a bank account, Tilda, we need servants, furniture, food, and find a school to occupy the children. Now, I don¡¯t know where anything is, so what¡¯s the most influential and well known bank in the city?¡± ¡°Well, um, The Iona Financial Vault. I believe is where higher classes place their money.¡± ¡°Wonderful! I¡¯ll get going immediately. I¡¯ll be home by noon.¡± Jason said as he out of the ball room. Jason was whistling a happy tune, quite eager to do things without having to worry about other people. He would make ribbons of light emit from his fingers and draw weird patterns, making the color change regularly. All of a sudden he stopped. ¡°No way, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve never done this.¡± With a thought he created a hover board, jumped on it and sped down the corridor, hooting into the distance. Jason sped along doing tricks and grinding down the stairs into the foyer before launching into a backflip and landing gracefully. Once outside he made a stream of heavily armored carriages, they were all elegantly black, with the horses well-groomed and the drivers all wearing fine coats with polished shoes. Jason ran up to the very first carriage and said, ¡°Fletcher, we¡¯re going to the head building of the Iona Financial Vault.¡± Fletcher silently nodded, before setting off, with Jason levitating into the carriage door, once inside he turned back into the bearded stranger but this time with a less flamboyant appearance, a crimson coat and silk pants, but he kept the walking stick, he thought made him look quiet dashing. While the carriage rode out through the front gates, Jason made a white cat appear in his lap, and started stroking it, while putting shadows around his face, making him feel like Dr. Claw, or Dr. Evil, all in all, it was a good feeling. Jason watched broodingly as the people stared at his passing, looking in awe as the sleek black carriages glided almost silently down the street, the horses being the only ones who made light clomping sounds down the streets. There were even other nobles staring at Jason¡¯s clompy centipede, it seemed they didn¡¯t care that their jaws were hanging open, one was about to fall out of his carriage as he leaned out the window. Yep, it definitely felt good to be the rich evil villain. The carriages sped along the roads, and no one dared to stop them, Jason was like a king, not having to answer any guard call, there was a moment where the party had to cross a bridge but the guards quickly jumped out of the way, too scared to stop them. After a while they arrived at a massive building, it was like a roman temple, with pillars of marble and that triangular roof that always had something carved into it, and this was no exception. Fletcher got down from his seat and opened the door to the compartment for him, with Jason¡¯s face still being in shadow, he watched in amusement as the staff of the bank rushed out to greet him, hurriedly stopping ten feet away from Jason¡¯s carriage, straitening their ties and slicking back their hair. After about three seconds Jason decided to rise and get out of the carriage, almost daintily he walked down the steps and looked around the place, making sure that he looked as imitating as hell. The man closest to him gulped before nervously starting. ¡°Good morning my Lord, my name is Lukas, head treasurer of the Iona Vault, how may I be of assistance.¡± Jason gazed at the man just long enough for him to think he offended him somehow before answering. ¡°I¡¯d like open an account.¡± The man was surprised but, being a professional, continued the conversation smoothly, ¡°Of course, right this way sir.¡± The man bowed low, his colleagues following suit while Jason walked past them, yep being rich and evil was definitely awesome. Jason entered the building with an entire consort following him now. If someone where to look at Jason now they would¡¯ve seen something akin to an anthill spurting out of the ground as the bank officials scraped their noses on the floor around him. The Bank was like a mall, there was a foyer with skylight on the first floor, then all the other floors were on the side, and there was a lot of red, red carpets, red curtains, even the wood looked sort of reddish. ¡°This way,¡± Lukas said, The entourage headed up a discretely hidden set of steps and arrived on the second floor, then the third and fourth and so on until they were just above the last floor. There were very few people here, and the ones that were looked rich, so Jason wasn¡¯t really bothered anymore, well not by even more people anyway. Jason actually had no idea why everyone was following him, no one really talked to him except Lucas, maybe they were supposed to be meat shields in case of an assassin? Or they just hoped that just by being near him, they¡¯ll be richer? Jason shrugged inwardly, time will tell. ¡°If you would kindly step this way.¡± Lukas motioned, Jason once again found himself in another office, face to face with the most hideous man in the world. Madam Chapter 12 The man was Robert Zenekiss, entrepreneur of the wealthy, manager of eighty percent of Iona¡¯s money and the greasiest slob on the block. The man was a sentient penguin, he waddled instead of walked, his hands were like fins, with his chops of fat running down them, almost hiding his small pudgy hands, and a suit of black velvet covered his bulbous protrusions. So when Jason saw him, he burst out laughing. Robert was about to smile one of his charming smiles but instead frowned, ¡°Might I ask the cause of such happiness my Lord?¡± Jason, still laughing, pointed his walking stick at Robert¡¯s belly and said ¡°You sir, are the fattest thing I¡¯ve ever seen!¡± Roberts scowl turned into outrage as he shouted ¡°How dare you!¡± Jason was now howling with laughter as he gasped for air. ¡°Stop! Please! You look like a turnip now!¡± Mr Zenekiss, his jowls now shaking in fury screamed at the top of his lungs ¡°GUARDS!¡± That shut Jason up. He pointed his cane down onto the ground and struck the floor with it once, sparks flew out of the bottom and a ring like the clearest church bell rang throughout the room, Zenekiss heedless of this, continued to scream shrilly. ¡°You can stop now, no one can hear you.¡± Jason said. Mr Zenekiss continued to scream until he ran out of breath, even then he took a few lungful¡¯s of air before continuing. Jason meanwhile went to a leather couch at the side of the room, plonked himself down, imagined some Fanta and a Comic magazine into his hands and waited till Robert finished. After a few minutes the scream petered out and Zenekiss fell to the ground gasping for breath. Jason looked over and asked nonchalantly ¡°Are you finished?¡± ¡°What¡­ Do you¡­ Want.¡± Robert said, changing from speaking to looking for oxygen in the atmosphere. Jason closed the magazine and sat up, dissolving the never ending glass of soft drink. ¡°Okay here¡¯s the gist, I wanna open a bank account and put several billion zin things into it.¡± ¡°Ha¡­¡± Robert said heavily breathing ¡°No matter what you¡¯ll do I¡¯ll never let you steal a single penny form here.¡± Jason sighed ¡°No you misunderstand. I want to open a bank account, in my name, and put my money in it. The keyword here is my.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡± Robert huffed. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take a leap of faith, I¡¯ll start time again and we¡¯ll reintroduce ourselves. Deal?¡± Jason asked ¡°Deal. Wait, you stopped time?¡± Robert looked at the frozen faces of his employees, bewildered. ¡°Obviously.¡± Jason rolled his eyes ¡°So do we have a deal?¡± ¡°Yes, you have it.¡± Jason once again struck his cane on the floor, the second he did it the world resumed. Zenekiss started screaming again ¡°GUA-¡° Jason struck his cane onto the floor once more, sighing. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna do this all day mate, make your mind up, get stuck in time, or open a bank account. Your call.¡± Robert, finally getting off the floor, pointed a shaky finger at Jason. ¡°You¡¯ll regret this.¡± He whispered. ¡°No I won¡¯t.¡± Jason said, reading his magazine. Robert just stood there, holding out his finger before the strain made him put his arm down, he waddled behind his desk and sat down, the chair creaked under his weight but held and Robert put his hand down, as if in prayer, collecting his thoughts. Finally he said ¡°Very well, how can I help you.¡± Jason grinned and struck the floor once more, the frozen clerks and accountants started moving again, exclaiming and shouting as Zenekiss and Jason seemingly teleported. ¡°Gentlemen! Gentlemen! No need to raise your voices please, calm down.¡± Jason spoke over them. The clerks looked at him, confused before someone in the back shouted ¡°What happened? Do we call the guards?¡± Robert hurriedly shook his hands ¡°No! No! We¡¯re all fine now, you can all go back to your work boys!¡± Muttering and grumbling in disbelief, the employees left, leaving Jason and Robert to themselves. ¡°So then, let me introduce myself, my name is Jason Fyr, head of house Fyr, I came to open an account and deposit in it an unimaginable amount of money into it.¡± Jason said, manspreading on the couch.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Robert listened calmly before answering. ¡°My name is Robert Zenekiss, head Chairman and treasurer of the Iona Financial Vault, in order to open a bank account, a minimum of three hundred gold coins are required as your first deposit. Jason clicked his fingers and suddenly twelve burly men came through the door, carry similar chests as the one in Jason¡¯s fist carriage between two of them. With brisk proficiency they placed the chests in neat rows before heading out the door again without a word. Jason stood up and walked over to one of the chests, he banged his cane against the lock, breaking it before pushing the chest open with his leg, like some sort of pirate. He scooped up a handful of the green, jade like cubes and threw them in the general direction of Robert¡¯s desk. Most missed but one managed to land in front Zenekiss. ¡°S¡¯that enough?¡± Jason said, laughing. If Zenekiss was surprised, he hid it well, merely picking up a cube and inspecting it under an adjustable magnifying glass attached to the side of his desk. Wordlessly he produced a hundred pages of fine print from a cabinet behind him, handed it to Jason before mumbling ¡°Sign at the end.¡± Jason happily swiped through the pages before just turning the whole thing over, picking up the last page and read the seemingly only sentence on it. ¡®-Agree under the threat of death.¡¯ Signed _________________ Jason wrote in a beautiful and flowing running writing, after admiring his handiwork, he promptly shoved it back to Robert. ¡°Anything else?¡± Jason asked jovially. ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll get a key to your own vault delivered to you, it will be magically attuned to you so that when you request transactions, we can verify you are indeed the owner.¡± Jason frowned ¡°So I have to come in personally every time I want some money?¡± ¡°You can write a cheque, but we will need a signet ring imprint to verify the authenticity when a third party is requesting to be payed from your account, other means are possible such as written transactions but we generally do that within the bank where a clerk validates both parties and does the transaction manually.¡± Robert explained. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been a pleasure Mr. Zenekiss, I hope we can work together in the future.¡± Jason said, extending his hand ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Robert said but nevertheless shook Jason¡¯s hand. Closing the door behind him, Jason walked outside to a strange sight. A guard was trying to argue with Fletcher. ¡°For the last time you can¡¯t just park here-¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid he is deaf and mute, please excuse my servant. My name is Lord Fyr, the owner of the transportation you see before you, is there anything I can help you with?¡± Jason interrupted with a friendly smile. The guard seemingly mollified said ¡°My Lord, you cannot just park in a public plaza.¡± ¡°Dully noted.¡± Jason said, hopping into the carriage. ¡°Won¡¯t happen again friend.¡± The guard was left standing there awkwardly as the entire caravan rumbled off. After all, you can¡¯t just arrest a Lord just because he was parking in the wrong spot. Jason steepled his fingers as he considered what to do next. With a thought he dissipated the other carriages while his trundled along the streets. As he looked outside he saw another carriage being robbed in an alley, Jason could hear the obvious demands and shouts a bandit would say all the way from here. ¡°Get out of the carriage or else!¡± Jason curiously stopped his own carriage before teleporting over to see how this was going to play out, leaning against the wall he noticed the emblem on the new coach was almost competent, lacking half the scrolls and decorations you¡¯d see on others, you could almost make out the picture of something vaguely military and warlike. Better watch out! We got a badass over here! Jason thought. The door of the carriage suddenly banged open before a woman charged out, a saber in each hand and white hair down her back. She looked on the ripe side of forty yelling out a fearsome battle cry before attacking her attackers with reckless abandon. The bandits, seemingly expecting this already had swords drawn. The fighting was intense as death was avoided at every corner, the two sabered tiger was definitely more skilled, however final blows were always avoided as another would always stop the blade just in time. Huh, waddaya know, she is a badass. Eventually there was a breaking point where the bandits retreated, carrying there wounded away, the lady made no move to follow them but sheathed her blades before preparing to step back into her coach. A sound interrupted her thought as Jason started clapping in a most mocking fashion. ¡°Bravo Madame, Bravo.¡± Jason said, almost sneering. The Lady looked at him and made a disgusted face ¡°Were they yours? I suppose I must congratulate you for having the balls to turn up here to watch the fight happen in person.¡± ¡°I assure you Madam, they were not mine.¡± Jason said unperturbed. ¡°Then what business do you have with me?¡± Madam asked. ¡°A question answered is all I need. Tell me, what do you think the best school within the city is?¡± ¡°Is this a joke? Don¡¯t ask me stupid questions.¡± Madam said as she turned away from Jason. She stepped into the carriage and instructed the driver to continue their journey, when she turned her head back inside Jason was sitting in front of her. Without a thought Madam took out a dagger and threw it at Jason, however Jason simply caught it, opting to just not bleed when the blade hit his palm. ¡°A question Madam, a question and I¡¯ll be gone.¡± Jason said still smiling as he held the blade out hilt forward towards Madam. ¡°Begone!¡± Madam shouted as she ripped the dagger out of his hand and slashed him. Jason stopped the blade once again and repeated ¡°A question, no need to be objective about it, your opinion will suffice. Madam sat back ¡°Okay, the best schools are the Magician¡¯s Academy, the Military¡¯s Institute and the Noble¡¯s Private School.¡± Jason nodded ¡°Which one do you recommend?¡± ¡°Military.¡± Madam said automatically, ¡°Magic¡¯s for the pansies that can¡¯t stand the sight of blood. While the Noble is for the inbred sons of bitches who can¡¯t even put their pants on without a servant.¡± ¡°Thank you, you¡¯ve been most gracious.¡± Jason smiled and bowed while still sitting. ¡°Get out.¡± Madam replied flatly. Without needing further encouragement Jason leapt out of the coach. The woman¡¯s carriage has travelled quite a distance already so Jason reimagined Fletcher and rode back to the Fyr Manor. As he cruised up his street he saw a nervous looking courier standing by his gate. Jason addressed him ¡°How long have you been standing here lad?¡± The messenger jumped before replying ¡°Just a few minutes my Lord, I¡¯m here to deliver a package from Bates and Co.¡± ¡°Give it here then.¡± Jason reached his hand out. ¡°And here¡¯s a coin, for your troubles.¡± The messenger took the coin and handed the book to Jason, who promptly tossed it onto his seat. ¡°Fletcher! Open the gate!¡± Jason shouted as the coach started moving again. The path up to the house was uneventful but before Fletcher arrived Jason dissipated him and walked into view of the manor afoot. Looking at the mermaid on top of the fountain he flicked a coin into the pond ¡°Morning.¡± The statue merely smiled at him. Reaching the steps he opened the door, which was unlocked, to be greeted by a surprise. ¡°Hi!¡± Tilda said as she noticed Jason, around her were group of middle aged men with clipboards and measuring tapes, also sporting glorious mustaches, and a dwarf. Anything? Chap 13 Jason looked at the entourage, they were an odd sort, dressed well enough to handle administrative work, but crude enough to not be afraid of physical labour. ¡°Gentlemen this is Jason Fyr, my brother.¡± Stepping forward, Jason was already reaching his hand out towards the group ¡°A pleasure to meet you all.¡± The first to reach his hand was a well-muscled man, sporting brown mutton chops and a pony tail ¡°Yvar, carpenter.¡± His grip was firm but made no attempt to crush Jason¡¯s hand. The second was a blond man, not as big but still taller then Jason, his moustache was a thin pencil line, almost whiskery. ¡°Nor, Clothier.¡± The other two were Ulfric and Tween, glassblower and a magician. At last was the Dwarf, he was short (naturally) and fat (surprisingly) and Jason saw a certain measure of distaste directed towards him, but like all respectable businessmen. The Dwarf swallowed his racism and shook Jason¡¯s hand. ¡°Harald Uzkhaztuz. Owner of Uzka¡¯s Sons, we have been hired Lady Fyr here to furnish and decorate the Fyr Manor, we were part of the original contract when the house was built so we already have designs prepared in anticipation of the Duchess¡¯ needs, with a few minor changes we¡¯ll have everything ready.¡± The dwarf said Jason nodded as if he knew this was the plan all along ¡°And what do you have prepared?¡± Yvar stepped in, ¡°We were planning to make the furniture styled from the Septic Era There¡¯ll be cupboards, tables and display cases within the foyer and hallways. As for drawing rooms we have couches, coffee tables and an assortment of chairs. Bedrooms will have cots and bunkbeds, guests and the family beds will be four poster beds.¡± ¡°Impressive.¡± Jason bobbed his head along, like the droning of the man was music to his ears. ¡°Anything else?¡± Nor stepped up next to Yvar, ¡°Since the furniture is going to be rosewood, we have opted to go with a warm colour scheme, the curtains and carpets will be created with maroon cloth and gold threads coupled with the finest cotton, we¡¯ll have tapestries imported for certain parts of the house as well as supplying the house with an extra amount of cloth in case repairs need to be made.¡± Then Ulfric and Tween showed up ¡°We will be in charge of lighting, since this is a noble mansion we thought it would be appropriate to use magical lamps.¡± Ulfric started ¡°The basic design will be pipes and spheres enchanted with magical lights that can be turned on and off with switches, connecting them will take some time to ensure the magical connections don¡¯t trail across the rooms to spare the more arcane inclined guests from getting headaches.¡± Then Tween followed up with saying ¡°The shape of the lanterns can be changed and the master may select where he wants the lights.¡± Jason whistled. ¡°As expected of master craftsmen. Well, I¡¯ll leave you and Miss Tilda to work out the details. Speaking of which, I hope you gentlemen don¡¯t mind if I have a few words with my sister.¡± Jason led Tilda to the side. ¡°What is it?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯ve opened an account, here¡¯s the key.¡± Jason handed her a small golden key. ¡°There should be enough funds in there to pay for the services of furnishing. What should I do now?¡± he asked. Tilda thought for a second before asking ¡°Have you gained any information about schools for the kids?¡± ¡°Yeah, the source was a bit biased but I¡¯ve got three to investigate, the army¡¯s, a magic one and a normal one.¡± ¡°Go collect the kids and take a tour with them, see what strikes their fancy.¡± Tilda nodded ¡°On it.¡± Jason said before whisking himself deeper into the house. ¡°Good day gentlemen!¡± he called back. Once he was out of sight he created another map of the house and checked where the kids were. Nasha was apparently right in the foyer. Ilios and Gwandere were somewhere in the East Wing while Peyton¡­ ¡°The hell.¡± Jason created another hover board and sped through the corridors. Peyton sat in the back garden watching the river flow past as he gazed at the city. Sitting under a tree he threw a rock into the river, which skidded three times before plonking and sinking to the bottom. Jason approached on foot and gazed at the river next to Peyt, both stared out into the great city across on the other side, silently enjoying the scene. Peyton picked up another stone and threw it, this time it skidded four times before dropping to the bottom. Jason created his own stone, perfectly flat and smooth, more like a disk, and threw it with great force. The thing bounced halfway across the river before losing momentum and sliding under the water.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Jason grinned, ¡°I win.¡± Peyt scowled at him, ¡°You cheated.¡± ¡°So?¡± Jason asked. ¡°When you cheat it doesn¡¯t count.¡± Peyt replied. ¡°Yes it does.¡± Jason laughed ¡°If a man cheats someone out of his money, it¡¯s his money.¡± ¡°Yes but then the guards arrest him.¡± Peyt argued back. ¡°Really? What if they¡¯re bribed with the money the man gained.¡± Jason replied. Peyton said nothing. ¡°Peyt, everything is allowed, law is simply a thing enforced by someone with power.¡± Jason said ¡°It isn¡¯t omnipotent, nothing is, not money, not power, not the law, not the gods. It can all be defied.¡± Peyt looked up ¡°Then-¡± Jason held up his finger ¡°But only if you¡¯re prepared to deal with the consequences. It all comes with down whether you can weather the aftermath. I could go into the palace, take the kings crown and decree myself as the new ruler. IF I am prepared to face the consequences, never forget that Peyt. You can do anything if you¡¯re strong enough, wise enough, smart enough or fast enough.¡± Peyton stared into the distance. ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Anything¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°What if I run away?¡± Peyton asked. Jason smiled, ¡°Then you¡¯ve dealt with the consequences, yes, some might think that¡¯s a cowards way out but who has the right to impose themselves on you? You¡¯ve dealt with it how you could because that is the only way you saw how to deal with it at the time. Of course you then have to think about the consequences that this will cause. Can you live with the shame? The self-doubt? The constant agonizing whether you¡¯ve done the right thing? At this point in life many question themselves, some vow to become stronger, while others kill themselves to escape the self-inflicted torture such questions cause.¡± Peyton looked ever onwards, ¡°So it¡¯s okay?¡± Jason sighed, ¡°Yes, it is if you can live with yourself later.¡± ¡°What if I don¡¯t know?¡± Peyt asked. ¡°Then do something and hope for the best, you¡¯d be surprised often that works.¡± Peyton nodded, lost in thought. ¡°Come to the front of the house in about fifteen minutes.¡± Jason said heading off. It was actually quite hard to navigate the back gardens, apart from the main path that led to the waterfront, the garden was a maze of trees and shrubbery. You could stumble around for hours without finding the manor. Statues, ponds, benches, one couldn¡¯t walk fifty meters without stumbling on to some sort of garden decoration. Jason sped back to the mansion on a pink hover board that green Tron trails, it was pretty cool, Jason thought. He soon reached the house again and found Gwandere and Ilios in one of the rooms on the East Wing, it was a spacious room, located on the second floor, completely empty except for two stools and a giant canvas leaning against the wall. ¡°What¡¯s this then? Jason said, strolling into the room. The sisters looked up and smiled. ¡°We¡¯re painting!¡± Ilios ginned. ¡°Painting what?¡± Jason asked ¡°Mountain range!¡± Gwandere said enthusiastically. The giant canvas was indeed the beginning of a mountain range, with a greyish pink sky taking shape in each corner of the top half of the soon to be landscape art. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look half bad actually. Have you two done this before?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Nope!¡± Ilios said. ¡°We used to get charcoal and parchment and do sketches with those, but we could never afford paint.¡± Gwandere explained. ¡°So now we went out with Nasha and brought some with the money from the backpack.¡± Ilios added. Jason blinked. ¡°Where is that anyway?¡± ¡°In the cart¡± Ilios said. ¡°And where¡¯s that?¡± Jason asked, incredulous. ¡°With Snuffles¡± Gwandere said. ¡°Snuffles?¡± Jason was confused now. ¡°The mule¡± Ilios supplied. ¡°And where¡¯s Snuffles?¡± Jason asked exasperatedly. ¡°In the stable¡± Gwandere answered. ¡°Stable?¡± Jason questioned. Gwandere nodded ¡°Stable¡± Jason sighed ¡°Right, in the stable. Anyway, come to the front in ten minutes.¡± He then left the two to their own devices. ¡®One left¡¯ he thought as he went back to the Foyer. Once he got there he turned transparent and dropped through the floor and looked around the basement, he looked around, confused, only to discover Nasha wasn¡¯t here. He once again took out a map and looked at dot that indicated Nasha, yep, she was apparently right in front of him. Jason frowned for a minute before it clicked. He floated up through the floor, into the foyer, into the second floor, then the third floor, then stopped. How does that work? Jason rushed back down as he looked at the foyer. If the foyer had stairs that led up to the second floor, and he just went through the floor of the second floor, then does that mean he actually went through the third, and in that case, the fourth floor? He rushed back up and went through the third, fourth and fifth floor before he found himself where he wanted to be. Jason found himself in a massive dome, it was three times as big as the ballroom, small rectangular openings, half windows, half skylights provided sunlight into the place, it was a bit dusty and Jason saw scaffolding along the wall, with leftover ladders and tools. And in front of him was Nasha. She stared at Jason before saying ¡°You just came out of the floor.¡± She mumbled ¡°Yeah. I know, it¡¯s pretty cool.¡± Jason smiled ¡°What are you doing up here anyway?¡± ¡°Reading.¡± Nasha said still staring at Jason. ¡°What? Oh yeah.¡± Jason turned opaque once more and fell to the ground. ¡°I couldn¡¯t be bothered to find out how to get here. How did you find the entrance?¡± ¡°I saw the dome when we were outside and figured if I look around I¡¯ll eventually find the stairs that lead up to it, it was really hard actually, the hatch to this place was nearly invisible against the ceiling.¡± ¡°Well done then.¡± But we have to meet up with your siblings cause we¡¯re going.¡± Jason said ¡°Going? Going where?¡± Nasha asked. ¡°That¡¯s a surprise¡± Jason smiled before Jason grabbed Nasha¡¯s hand and dragged her through the floor. She squealed as the floor went through her face before coming out on the other side. But the adventure didn¡¯t stop as they went even further down. They reached the foyer and Jason levitated them a bit before turning them back and dropping them to the ground. ¡°That was cool!¡± Nasha exclaimed. Jason chuckled, ¡°Glad you liked it.¡± They headed outside and found the others waiting for them. ¡°Right!¡± Jason exclaimed, he clicked his fingers and Fletcher once more appeared. He still looked imposing but the cart itself looked tamer now, bit more open, with less black and more brown and red. ¡°Hop in kids.¡± Jason said and the family happily obliged. The inside was still cushiony and the book Jason received was right where he left it. Jason was the last to get in, closing the door behind him, he motioned to Fletcher and the carriage rolled out, into the city. Reeva Collegium Chap 14 ¡°So where are we going?¡± Ilios asked. ¡°School¡± Jason said, They all let out a collective groan as Jason laughed at their misery. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re just checking them out today.¡± He continued. ¡°And it¡¯s not like school¡¯s the end of the world.¡± ¡°Ha! You don¡¯t know that, we¡¯ve been to a school! Do you know what they make us do?¡± Peyton proclaimed. ¡°What?¡± Jason looked at him, amused. ¡°Math¡± Peyton whispered before shuddering at the thought. ¡°And letters¡± ¡°Those are important things which we all have to learn if we¡¯re gonna make it somewhere in life. I don¡¯t care if you hate them Peyt, you¡¯re gonna learn them.¡± Jason said, still smiling. ¡°Who¡¯s the driver by the way?¡± Nasha suddenly asked. ¡°Eh? Oh, he¡¯s Fletcher.¡± Jason was caught unawares by the sudden change in the direction of the conversation. Nasha sighed ¡°I know that, but who is he? What does he do, how does he appear and disappear?¡± Jason looked around the rest of the cabin to see everyone looking at him intently. Even Ilios who was sticking her head out the window looked at Jason questioningly. Jason sighed ¡°Well I don¡¯t know what to tell you, he¡¯s a mysterious man that keeps to himself, I met him on my travels in the city of Lamarr, it was a foggy night and I was making my way back to the inn when I saw a figure surrounded by strange hooded apparitions. The group fought in an animalistic way but the figure fended them off without breaking a sweat. I rushed to the stranger¡¯s aid without heed for my own welfare, but it turned out that the provocateurs weren¡¯t that ordinary to begin with, my blade did nothing against them as they tore at me instead. But it gave the man I was trying to save an opening. Taking out an eerily green blunderbuss, he shot them all in the back without reloading, it was quite the sight. The man, who turned out to be Fletcher, has helped me ever since.¡± Jason saw that all the children were looking at him wide eyed with their mouths hanging open. ¡°Is that true?¡± Gwandere asked. Jason snorted ¡°No.¡± They all let out a collective groan once more. ¡°Don¡¯t tease us like that.¡± Peyt said. ¡°Why? It was fun.¡± Jason smiled at him. The cobblestones clattered under the hooves of the two horses that pulled the party further into the city and group soon lapsed into silence. Or at least as close to silence as you could get with four teenagers in the same space. Ilios and Gwandere kept pointing at things and giggled to each other as the sight of the city passed by, while Nasha asked questions about Fletcher, determined to figure out something about him. At one point Peyt stood up and opened leaned out the window. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯m climbing up to the roof.¡± Peyt said as he tried to pull himself and out onto the roof. ¡°Are you gonna try and stop me?¡± Jason laughed ¡°Remember what I said?¡± ¡°Yeah I accepted the consequences.¡± Peyt said. ¡°Good¡± Jason chuckled before yanking Peyton back inside hard. He fell on his butt and cried out. ¡°What was that for?¡± Jason looked at him and smiled ¡°That¡¯s what the consequences are for trying to climb out of the train.¡± The he slapped Peyton ¡°And that¡¯s for talking back to me.¡± Not once did Jason raise his voice, in fact he smiled right through the whole ordeal. Everyone looked at the scene uncomfortably while Peyton glared daggers back at Jason. ¡°Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?¡± Peyton shot back. ¡°You¡¯re not my dad!¡± Jason smiled at him ¡°I might not be but I¡¯ll be damned if you do something stupid while under my charge.¡± Peyton, still smouldering, tried to attack Jason from the ground, he lunged forward and took a swing at him with his fists. They didn¡¯t do much to Jason, they just glanced of his chest. But Jason didn¡¯t just take it, he swung back and Peyton flew to the other side like a sack of grain tossed into the mill. ¡°Stop it! Don¡¯t hurt him!¡± Gwandere cried out as she scooted over to Peyton and covered him with her body. Jason raised an eyebrow. ¡°Gwandere I have no intention of hurting him, I¡¯m teaching him.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°The hell you are! You knocked him out cold!¡± Ilios shouted from her seat. ¡°Yes I am. I taught him that every action has a consequence.¡± Jason replied mildly. ¡°And you had to punch him for that?¡± Gwandere said, incredulous. Jason looked at the two girls for a moment before answering. ¡°Tell me, if Peyton walked down the street and someone knocked him aside, and he chose to punch him. What do you think would have happened?¡± ¡°He would¡¯ve been beaten to a pulp.¡± Nasha replied. ¡°Exactly. Gwandere, Ilios, I didn¡¯t punch Peyt because he insulted my pride, but because he tried to punch me first. I want him to realise that everything he does, no matter how small or how insignificant, could hurt him and those he cares about in some way.¡± ¡°But you still didn¡¯t have to punch him.¡± Ilios said, mollified. Jason was getting annoyed now. ¡°Listen here missy. Just because I came into your life doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s all sunshine and buttercups. Everything you have right now could vanish into nothingness in a second, I¡¯m taking you to school so that you¡¯ll learn something that you can use to survive with on your own.¡± Everyone sat quietly as the carriage rolled by the city, but no one looked outside at the wondrous scenes. ¡°Argh¡­¡± Peyton groaned as he slowly sat up. ¡°Peyt! Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up.¡± Gwandere bent over him. ¡°I¡¯m fine, leave me alone.¡± Peyt sat up, noticed Jason and scowled. Jason grinned ¡°You call yourself a man when you go unconscious from a love tap?¡± Peyton scowl deepened but he said nothing. Jason nodded, ¡°Good, you¡¯re learning. Remember that feeling, it will become a lifesaving asset one day. Now let¡¯s go.¡± Peyton blinked, and then looked outside. The carriage has stopped and they were in front of yet another giant building, this one was a full out Roman style place, with aqueducts and everything. Jason opened the door, hopped out, and motion for the others to follow. As they got out they were once again awed by the majesty of money. The place they stopped at was definitely Roman, the grass was trimmed, the trees were narrow and tall, and the pathways were white gravel, and everything was made of marble, from the columns to the floors to the fountains to the walls. All marble, it was very pretty. ¡°Woah¡± Gwandere said. ¡°I know¡± Ilios commented. ¡°Ahem¡± They turned around to see a man standing just a bit to the side where the carriage stopped, he was old and bald, dressed in a bright yellow and green patterned shirt with embroidered pants, a thin ruby danced on a silver chain from his neck. ¡°Good Morning, my name is Elturrus Pastus, a teacher of the Reeva Collegium. Is there anything I can help you with?¡± The man asked politely. Jason stepped forward with a big smile plastered all over his face, ¡°Jason Fyr, it is a pleasure to meet a teacher of the academy. I¡¯m here with my nephew and nieces, my sister and I just moved to the city and are currently looking for a place to enrol the kids into, so we¡¯d like to take a tour around the place if it isn¡¯t too much trouble.¡± ¡°Ah, we¡¯re in the middle of the term currently but I¡¯m sure we can make some arrangements, please follow me.¡± Elturrus said. ¡°The Reeva Collegium has been around for centuries and is therefore one of the most trusted and influential places of learning. Dating back to the Platonic era, it¡¯s been renovated countless times but the original style never changed.¡± Pastus said as they walked past a basketball court. ¡°However there have been a few upgrades in the name of progress.¡± They walked into a building that looked completely different yet exactly the same as the last one. ¡°This is the Laboratory. It is the place where the sciences are taught.¡± Pastus said as they walked passed classrooms, they could see children in grand oaken desks sitting in pairs and writing notes while a teacher would point at diagrams and explain things. Even though elves and humans made up the bulk of the students and staff, there was a surprising amount of diversity in the clothing, from turbans to tricorne hats. ¡°Hold on,¡± Jason stopped. ¡°Is that a pirate?¡± Pastus frowned. ¡°That¡¯s Neville sir, bright lad, very talented poet. We try not to judge others by their background here.¡± Jason shook his head ¡°Well I¡¯ll be.¡± They left the building and headed to what looked like an actual restaurant. ¡°This is the cafeteria, where students meet at breaks, we serve food from dawn till dusk.¡± Wooden benches sat side by side with little umbrellas on top of them, a thin wall covered in vines surrounded the entire thing and there were lamps hung at intervals but were unlit. ¡°As you can see, the cafeteria was one of the more recent changes.¡± Pastus coughed into his hand. ¡°Very nice¡± Jason commented. They continued their tour to yet another different-yet -same building. Jason shook his head ¡°I don¡¯t get it, how can you tell the difference apart?¡± ¡°Safety feature¡± Pastus replied. ¡°You cannot find what you¡¯re looking for unless you¡¯re a student, staff member or accompanied by one of the two.¡± ¡°Safety precaution?¡± Jason asked. ¡°There have been a few incidents of overzealous parents.¡± Pastus answered. They entered the building, which turned out to be the Library. It was nice and cozy, and sported quite the collection. ¡°We have a library on campus for most things a student needs but we allow seniors to leave during the day to peruse the public one for projects that need deeper research.¡± Pastus informed the group. Jason turned to the kids ¡°You¡¯ve all been awfully quiet, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing, we¡¯re just a bit overwhelmed that¡¯s all.¡± Gwandere said. ¡°Really?¡± They nodded in unison. Jason shrugged, ¡°Carry on then Elturrus.¡± The teacher nodded and they headed past another building, ¡°These are the girls¡¯ dormitories, the boys¡¯ can be located on the other side of the school.¡± Pastus said, Jason raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? I take it it¡¯s another precaution?¡± he stated. Pastus nodded but said nothing as they continued. ¡°And this here is the administration Block.¡± They arrived back at the main building where they left the coach, Fletcher was still sitting there motionless. ¡°Well thank you for the tour, we appreciated it¡± Jason started. ¡°My pleasure Lord Fyr, if you choose to enrol at the school, just come in here and speak with the administration.¡± Pastus bowed before leaving them at the steps of the Administration. ¡°Well that was pleasant don¡¯t you think?¡± Jason asked as he turned back to his group. ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice?¡± Peyton asked, incredulous. ¡°Notice what?¡± Jason said. ¡°He was a vampire!¡± Gwandere nearly shouted. Jason took a step back ¡°Woah, hold your horses! So what if he was?¡± Ilios took the stage, ¡°You really don¡¯t get it? Bloodsucking monstrosity? Killer of men and eater of children?¡± Jason looked at them ¡°Now listen here, just because he¡¯s a vampire doesn¡¯t mean we have to be prejudiced against him, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s more than qualified to be a teacher of this school and any urges he might have are more than under control.¡± They all stared at him in horror, ¡°But he¡¯s a vampire!¡± Gwandere said again. Jason snorted ¡°Kids these days. Right I don¡¯t want to hang around, let¡¯s go to the next one.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not finished?¡± Ilios asked as she got into the coach. ¡°Nope. Next up is item number two.¡± Jason hollered as he jumped in after them. ¡°Where are we going next?¡± Peyton asked. ¡°You should know me better by now.¡± Jason laughed. Reception Chapter 15 This time when they stepped out of the coach they were greeted by the strangest sight. A skyscraper that was round, or that¡¯s what Jason would have called it, it was in fact the University of Magic and Science, a mash of stone bricks, cement and glass, oh and there was also a giant fucking dragon at the top. ¡°We¡¯ve got to stop being amazed by everything.¡± Peyton said. Jason snorted ¡°Speak for yourself, I¡¯ve only been amazed once so far.¡± They left the coach outside and entered the building, the steps leading up to them were rock? Metal? Jason wasn¡¯t sure but he was quite amused by the sight of a ramp zig zagging next to the set of steps. Once inside the family was greeted by a casino like foyer. Rich red carpet covered the entire floor, brown wooden panels decorated with magical lights that emitted a pasty yellowish glow. In the middle of the place was a giant globe with a spaceship circling around it, except the globe was more like chunks of rock held together by some strange blue light, and the spaceship was in fact a beetle that seemed to be propelling itself forward by shooting fire out of its anus. ¡°Thoughts?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Is that a cockroach?¡± Ilios asked. ¡°Na it¡¯s more like a grasshopper.¡± Gwandere replied. ¡°Why?¡± Ilios looked at Gwandere questioningly. ¡°It isn¡¯t brown.¡± Gwandere nodded to herself. They walked around the strange structure and found the receptionist¡¯s desk, the person behind was a young woman, she was currently manicuring her nails with her feet up in the air. ¡°Fees and Inquires first floor on right, Wards and Enchantments third floor second door, Dark Dysmals and their Defence fifth floor two turns left on the right and The Boiler is in the basement.¡± Jason just stood there, entertained by the receptionist¡¯s attitude, while the others around him just shuffled their feet uncomfortably. About a minute or so later the woman looked up again and started speaking ¡°Fees and Inquirees-¡± ¡°Yes yes I heard you the first time¡± Jason waved his hand. ¡°I thought this was a university.¡± The woman frowned ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir but I will have to ask you to leave the premises or I will be forced to call the guards.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The children all looked at Jason uncertainly, he however simply smiled and oozed some calm and confidence into the atmosphere. ¡°I really only want to validate if this is the correct building we are in, no need for something so rash.¡± The woman was really getting angry now. ¡°Security!¡± Two burly men in tuxedos came out from a hidden door that was previously camouflaged into the wall. Without further prompting they walked straight up to Jason and were about to grab him when they walked into an invisible barrier. The barrier extended all the way around the group, who were in turn getting quite scared. ¡°What¡¯s going on Jason?¡± Nasha asked uncertainly. ¡°Calm¡± Jason drew the word out, like letting out a breath, and the world fell away. The guards, the receptionist, the fire shitting bug, everything turned to dust, leaving only a pristine white that stretched on forever. ¡°There seemed to be a dangerous situation boiling out of control so I took you guys out of there pronto.¡± Jason said and made a chair for everyone to sit in. ¡°Welcome to MySpace, it is another dimension I created for myself for just such an eventuality. I¡¯ll leave you guys in here until I sort out the mess on the other side. Please enjoy the food.¡± Jason waved his hand and an all you can eat buffet appeared. ¡°See ya!¡± Jason grinned before disappearing, leaving his stunned, foster nephew and nieces with shocked expressions in an alternate dimension. ¡°Now then¡± Jason reappeared in the foyer of this supposed university ¡°Could someone please tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± he called out. ¡°He¡¯s back! Get him!¡± The receptionist was still there and upon noticing Jason she pointed to him like an all evil overlord and her too goons bull rushed Jason. Jason in turn smiled his trademark smile and froze the two security guards to stone. They stopped in mid stride with one feet in the air, causing them to lose their balance in their static state. The solid henchmen crashed to the floor revealing the woman behind them, apparently she deemed it safe enough to come out from behind the counter and was now a few meters from Jason with nothing between her and her aggressor. Still smiling Jason asked once more, ¡°Is. This. The University?¡± The woman stumbled back, screaming at the top of her lungs, throwing accusations at Jason, from assault to rape and calling desperately for more security. Jason calmly waited and stayed right where he was, meanwhile the woman was crawling further and further away from him, sobbing now as she kept calling out for anyone to help her. After a while Jason got bored and looked around, behind the reception desk was a makeup kit, a ledger about who entered and exited the building, and a strange pink object. ¡°Really?¡± Jason said as he picked up the thing, it started vibrating in his hand. ¡°A magical dildo, un-fucking believable.¡± By now Jason had enough and went back to the woman wallowing in her own tears. ¡°All right you pansy assed bitch, I tried being nice but now I simply don¡¯t care, either you tell me what I want to know or I¡¯ll shove this thing so far up your ass you won¡¯t shit for a month.¡± At this the woman bawled even harder but started talking, ¡°You pig¡­ ¡°*sniff* ¡°Men are all pigs that treat us like objects! You monster! Haven¡¯t you tortured me enough? Fine! Do your worst!¡± Jason let out an exasperated sigh. ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t want to hear about twisted feministic ideals and hidden insecurities. Just tell me, is this the University?¡± Still sniffling the woman pointed to another wall panel and said ¡°Thirteenth floor.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Jason said, he dropped the dildo on the floor and went to the elevator. Food Fight Chapter 15 Jason went back inside his pocket realm to find himself in the middle of a food fight, mush was flying left and right as delicacies of every type of food imaginable were carelessly grouped together with the cheapest of junk foods. ¡°YARGH!¡± Peyton yelled as he threw a pie, the food flew through the air, trailing yellow smoke before exploding upon impact, showering all those nearby in apple and custard. Gwandere and Ilios seemed to be the main targets for they screamed behind the makeshift barricade of chairs as the scraps pasted themselves against their clothes and skin. Now that Jason could look closer he noticed that the kids seemed to be in two teams, with Ilios and Gwandere behind the chairs Jason made, and Nasha teaming up with Peyton behind the upturned table. The fight was looking really one sided as all the food was on the table, thankfully, team NashPeyt had the brilliant idea of flipping the table towards themselves, giving themselves convenient access to the ammunition, while also covering themselves with the food. Jason watched in amusement as team IlGwan was peppered with yet another volley of exploding food before going over to the table to see what was happening. Reaching it, he looked behind to see the two huddled figures of Peyton and Nasha desperately sprinkling a strange yellow powder on a seemingly inexhaustible amount of pies. They had a good team going on with Nasha dropping a few drops on the pie which in turn would quickly start smoking, the pie would then be handed down the production line and into the hands of the Peyton-o-matic. A machine that fires a continuous stream pies at the enemy. ¡°Damn, I¡¯m impressed¡± Jason nodded appreciatively as a melting salad bowl was thrown past him, hitting Ilios and Gwandere yet again. Team NashPeyt didn¡¯t seem to have noticed him so Jason walked over to the opposition. ¡°Having fun?¡± he asked the two girls. ¡°We¡¯re out of Kiwi fruit! The Nachos are the only thing we have left but at this distance it¡¯s not gonna be effective!¡± Ilios cried desperately. Jason thought for a second before saying ¡°Alright, I think I can help.¡± He clicked his fingers and a pile of giant caviar appeared next to the girls. The caviar was oozing a sort of purplish goop and had the strange smell of watermelon, nevertheless it was ammo and the IlGwans needed everything they could get their hands on in these dark times. ¡°Thanks Jace!¡± Gwandere smiled happily with just a twinge of evil. Jace? Jason chuckled at the name but left them to their own devices, settling back to watch the chaos unfold. It was spectacular to say the least, yellow and purple mixed through the battlefield, their blood of juice and innards of fruit flowed freely in the name of victory, but the outcome was never in question. With the superior artillery provided by Jason, the NashPeyts were quickly driven back and forced to raise the white flag (table cloth) in surrender. The decider, Jason reflected, was the fact that Gwandere and Ilios didn¡¯t have to prepare anything beforehand, they just took aim and fired. While Nasha and Peyt had to sprinkle theirs before firing, a single step was all that it took to decide the battle, and the fact that Jason¡¯s ammo was better in every possible way. ¡°Did you guys have fun?¡± Jason stood there, amused as the four approached him. ¡°We sure did!¡± Peyton exclaimed, even though every single one of them was covered in food from head to toe, it did little to wipe of the massive grin that adorned their grimy little faces. ¡°I¡¯m glad. What was that yellow potion by the way?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Groot tails mashed with blistering sunflower petals. My own invention.¡± Peyton proclaimed loudly. ¡°Well done, the results were spectacular.¡± Jason smiled warmly at him, ¡°Now let¡¯s clean you all up.¡± With a click of his fingers, Peyt and the girls were immediately cleaned, their clothes in pristine order once more. ¡°Now I did leave a bit of a mess while you guys were in there but we¡¯re in the elevator now so it should be alright.¡± Jason said as he transported everyone back to the real world. ¡°What¡¯s an elevator?¡± Nasha asked? ¡°A thing that lifts people from somewhere low to somewhere high.¡± Jason replied. Nasha looked confused, ¡°But how?¡± Jason shrugged, ¡°Dunno, magic I guess.¡± Inside the elevator the group was once again amazed at the strange decorum, it was just so out of place with what you would imagine from a mage. There was a mirror, buttons to the side and even a little meter that showed what floor they were on, Jason pressed the button labelled number thirteen and they waited in silence, staring at their own reflection as the elevator slowly made its way up the tower. After an unknown amount of time the lift dinged, revealing something totally unexpected. A penthouse like office, (Jason was really getting tired of offices by now) and a giant one at that, it also had a bar of to the left, a giant window covering the entirety of the back wall, giving an unparalleled view of the entire city, a desk so big you couldn¡¯t even reach across it and a luxurious leather chair.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Death was sitting in that chair. ¡°Jason!¡± Death cried as he stood up. ¡°It¡¯s so good to see you man!¡± Jason grinned ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you in a place like this. You look older.¡± Death raised his eyebrows. He had indeed changed his appearance, giving himself something more accommodating for his new job, but nothing as drastic as Jason. ¡°I should say the same to you, what¡¯s with the beard?¡± Jason laughed. ¡°I always wanted to have one.¡± ¡°And who¡¯s hiding behind you?¡± Death asked, motioning to the kids behind Jason. ¡°Oh these? My adopted nephew and nieces. Kids? Say high to Mister Death.¡± A chorus of hello¡¯s greeted Death. ¡°But where are my manners? Come! Sit, sit.¡± Death motioned to the couches in the middle of the room, he himself plopping down on one of them. ¡°Now what happened?¡± he said as he made a drink appear in hand. ¡°Well after I left with Peyton here to go to their house I had a brain wave, what if I made one of the poorest families into the richest and most influential noble house? Slowly expanding their influence before taking over the entire kingdom?¡± ¡°City-state¡± Death replied. ¡°What?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in a city state, there are kingdoms but we¡¯re not one of them.¡± Death continued. ¡°Huh¡± Jason thought about that for a moment. ¡°Do we have that Japan thing going on with the elves?¡± ¡°The Feudalism exchange of hostages? Yeah, pretty big deal.¡± Death replied. ¡°What about the Dwarfs?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Tighter than a virgin¡± Death replied. The girls around the room went red but didn¡¯t gasp. Jason frowned. ¡°Come on man. Not in front of the kids.¡± ¡°Getting soft are we?¡± Death chuckled, but nevertheless he took a sip from his drink. ¡°There, if we swear now it will just convert the sound to something more pleasing for their ears.¡± ¡°Thanks, so what happened to you?¡± Jason asked as he motioned with his hand at the room. ¡°Well, after you left me I drank myself to oblivion before leaving to go to the red light district, I fucked so many bitches you wouldn¡¯t believe.¡± Death chuckled ¡°I passed out, later finding myself press ganged into some sort of cult, I was gonna be a sacrifice but I was woken up as they wanted me to be awake when they were about to carve my organs out, for the pain and stuff. Well I ripped apart the chains and went on a murderous rampage, turns out they¡¯re really into that stuff so I was kind of looked upon as if I was their god or something.¡± Death chuckled to himself ¡°After that I hung around, turns out they¡¯re great guys who knew how to run parties. They¡¯re all obscenely rich as well, with most of them being quite high up the power ladder, no Royalty unfortunately.¡± Jason let out a long whistle. ¡°I¡¯m impressed¡± Death shrugged modestly ¡°What can I say, I¡¯m amazing.¡± Jason laughed at that ¡°Yes you are, but that isn¡¯t the reason we came to visit you.¡± Death nodded along ¡°Of course, what can I help you with?¡± ¡°Is this really a Magic Academy?¡± ¡°Yeah, my friends gave me the position of Arch-Mage, kind of like the principal. But I get to do whatever I want as long as I keep making high quality mages. The actual campus is out in the country, you know, magical discharge and all that.¡± Jason thought a bit ¡°How bad is the indoctrination?¡± ¡°Not that bad, aside from unswerving loyalty to the City they¡¯re left alone, mostly.¡± ¡°What about the students?¡± Jason asked. Death snorted ¡°A bunch of self-entitled pricks with gold coming out of their ass, they always bully the scholarship students.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop it?¡± ¡°Those that survive it are the only really capable mages we actually make, they have balls of steel and are the ones we send out at war times.¡± ¡°What about those that don¡¯t?¡± Jason asked quite seriously now. ¡°They turn into slobbering dogs that follow their tormentors as loyal servants for the rest of their life.¡± Death commented casually. Jason sat back thinking for a moment. ¡°I was planning to enrol Nasha to your school you know.¡± Death shrugged ¡°I don¡¯t think you should.¡± ¡°What should I do now?¡± Jason asked, more rhetorically than anything. ¡°Get a private tutor.¡± Jason blinked at that ¡°That¡¯s a great idea actually.¡± Death took a sip from his drink ¡°I know, I came up with it.¡± ¡°Any recommendations?¡± Jason asked. Death put down the drink on the coffee table. ¡°Do you want morality or power?¡± ¡°Morality¡± Jason said immediately. ¡°I know a guy, handsome fella, fresh from graduation, he¡¯d probably sweep your girl off her feet.¡± Death grinned. ¡°Would he grope?¡± Jason looked at Death suspiciously. ¡°Not without your permission.¡± Death said, trying to hold in a laugh. ¡°How good is he?¡± Jason said letting the topic slide for now. ¡°Magic wise? He¡¯s alright, won a few tournaments, finished top three in the cohort. How progressive is he? Light years ahead of the entire magic community.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t think women are only useful as breeding cattle.¡± ¡°Wow, we¡¯re that far behind?¡± Jason looked stunned. Death shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s your world man, you made it.¡± ¡°Touch¨¦¡± Jason smiled. ¡°What do you know of the army¡¯s and noble¡¯s schools?¡± ¡°They¡¯re basically the same, except they provide different extra-curricular activities.¡± Death replied. ¡°Like?¡± Jason asked ¡°One lets you learn music, the other trains you how to crawl through mud and shit undetected.¡± Jason chuckled at that. ¡°No but seriously.¡± Death nodded, ¡°The Noble one is excellent, great staff, great students, the principal is part of our cult but we make sure to only sacrifice people from the poorer districts.¡± Jason smiled ¡°I¡¯ll take it, and the other?¡± ¡°It¡¯s literally army training, lots of physical stuff and grunt work, but they don¡¯t leave out the theory, they won¡¯t teach you the intricacies of quantum physics but you¡¯ll be able to count the number of corpses on the battlefield.¡± ¡°How old do you have to be in enrol the school?¡± ¡°Sixteen.¡± Death replied. Jason suddenly turned to Peyton, ¡°Peyt how old are you.¡± ¡°Eleven and a half¡± Peyton replied promptly. ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°I suggest another tutor,¡± Death added, ¡°Who?¡± Jason asked ¡°Woman, twenty five, I take it you want the kid to be strong?¡± Death asked. Jason nodded, ¡°She can teach letters and numbers, basic science, she can also teach swordsmanship and survival.¡± ¡°Elaborate on survival.¡± Jason said. ¡°Imagine a training montage as the kid becomes more and more badass until he becomes an ultimate warrior of herculean strength.¡± Jason was impressed. ¡°Anything else?¡± Death grinned ¡°She got a nice ass.¡± Jason laughed, ¡°Thanks man, send me a message when you get the details ironed out.¡± Jason said, standing up. ¡°Alright kids, let¡¯s get going.¡± Everyone got up and headed to the elevator. ¡°Thanks Mister Death, sir.¡± Peyton called back. Death chuckled ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet kid, I¡¯ll be seeing you around.¡± A furious guard Chapter 16 ¡°What now?¡± Gwandere asked. After they left the lift, with the receptionist for some weird reason missing, they found themselves on the steps of the Mage¡¯s Tower/Academy/Dragon¡¯s nest. Jason looked from left, then right, before plopping down on the steps. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.¡± He sighed ¡°This is usually the moment where something drastic hap-¡± BOOM A giant explosion interrupted their conversation as the ear shattering sound rocked the very foundations of the street they were standing on. ¡°Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Come on!¡± Jason grinned before sprinting towards the source of the sound. ¡°I¡¯m getting really tired of all his crap.¡± Ilios grumbled as the rest ran after Jason. ¡°But we can¡¯t really do anything about it can we? We can¡¯t just say no to the guy that made our life ten times better.¡± Nasha said reprimandingly. ¡°Well we should!¡± Ilios shot back. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± Peyton chimed in. Ilios scoffed ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. You¡¯re enjoying this aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Peyton smiled a manic smile as he pumped his fist in the air. The group jogged around the building and came in sight of the catastrophe of what occurred. A warehouse was ablaze, even though the explosion happened only a few seconds ago, nearly the entire thing was covered by the fire. People screamed as a supporting beam collapsed inside, letting the flames roar even higher, cows and sheep charged out of the open doorway as a few desperate farmers tried to hold the archway intact. And among the chaos of sparks and ash, grinning like a madman, was Jason. His arms were turned to literal pillars of water as he directed the massive amounts of liquid onto the surrounding walls and roof, he flailed about left and right, extinguishing the fires while looking as happy as a schoolboy playing in a puddle. The fire was quickly beaten back by Jason¡¯s fire hose like arms, in his over enthusiasm, he probably did more harm than good, destroying wooden supports and whatnot with the force of the water. Nevertheless, the people were grateful ¡°Thank you sir!¡± One bedraggled farmer said as hecame up to Jason. The man was covered from head to toe in soot, his beard had still hot embers in them and his shirt was puckered full of holes. ¡°Without you, we would have lost three months¡¯ worth of harvest.¡± The man continued, clasping Jason¡¯s hand. ¡°Do not worry my man, helping those who can¡¯t help themselves is what my responsibility is.¡± Jason replied giving the man a friendly pat on the back. ¡°Halt!¡± Someone cried out from behind them, prompting Jason to immediately change his clothes to something simple and peasant like. A troop of armed guards with spears and halberds approached the duo, they wore a strangely pompous uniform, with a bright red plume stuck into the top of their helmet while wearing sandals, making them look like a cross between Roman legionnaires and Greek spearmen. ¡°We¡¯ve seen there¡¯s a fire, what happened?¡± The guard with a slightly bigger feather asked. ¡°It was quenched.¡± Jason replied jovially. The watchman glanced at Jason suspiciously before turning over to the man with the still smoking beard. ¡°How was the fire put out?¡± He asked. The smoking farmer merely pointed at Jason, ¡°It was him sir, all him.¡± The captain once more turned to Jason, ¡°It seems I owe you a thank you, without you, the fire would have probably burned down the entire district.¡± It was obvious he wasn¡¯t happy to keep talking to Jason but the man in question happily ignored his attitude, opting to say instead, ¡°Of course captain, it was least I could do as an upstanding citizen.¡± The plumed captain¡¯s scowl deepened in response. He was not liking this arrogant man in front of him, saviour or not. ¡°And how, might I ask, did you manage to douse an entire warehouse with water in the space of a few minutes without any assistance and equipment?¡± ¡°Oh that?¡± Jason waved his hand. ¡°I just used magic.¡± As a demonstration Jason once again turned his hands into water, two torrents of liquid the power of a water spout spurted on to the cobblestones seemingly coming out of Jason¡¯s wrists. The audience gasped in awe at the sight, but the captain¡¯s face contorted into something much darker. ¡°Sir may I see your licence?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Licence?¡± Jason parroted back as he made a trick with the water. ¡°Your magic licence¡± The man stepped closer to Jason, grasping the hilt of his sword. Jason smiled as he made a figurine out of the water, it was a depiction of the guard captain doing cartwheels in the air. ¡°I assure you sir, I have no such thing.¡± That was all the invitation the captain needed. ¡°Men! Arrest this man!¡± Much to everyone¡¯s mounting horror, Jason happily held his hands out as the guards shackled him with some sort of magical handcuffs, it was surprisingly heavy. ¡°I, Kurtis Tanner, Captain of the City Guard, arrest you for the unlawful practise of magic in public, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your deference if you do not mention when questioned with something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do or say may be given in evidence.¡± ¡°No! You can¡¯t do that.¡± Ilios cried out. The kids rushed over to the commotion only to be stopped by the guards surrounding Jason. ¡°Girl, do you know this man?¡± The captain asked Ilios. Ilios was about to respond when a strange voice entered her thoughts. Don¡¯t worry about me, go home to your mother and tell her what happened, I expect to see you guys by the end of the day. Before you ask, yes I¡¯ll be alright. ¡°Girl? I ask again, do you know this man?¡± The captain was getting very annoyed at the whole ordeal now. Ilios was gaping at Jason, trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. Fortunately for her, Nasha was there to intervene. ¡°No we don¡¯t officer, in fact, we¡¯ll be leaving now, come on Ilios.¡± Nasha grabbed her arm and smoothly led her away, followed by Peyton and Gwandere. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Ilios asked once they were out of earshot. ¡°Because Jason asked us to.¡± Nasha responded calmly, leading them back to the mage tower. ¡°But he just got arrested by the City Guard!¡± Ilios cried, desperately trying to claw back towards Jason. Nasha stopped and looked Ilios in the eye. ¡°You do understand this is Jason we¡¯re talking about?¡± She asked, ¡°Do you think that a group of guards can stop him? After all you¡¯ve seen him say and do? He is practically best friends with an Arch Mage!¡± She said waving her hands towards the dragon still resting on the top of the nearby skyscraper. ¡°Well¡­ I guess that¡¯s true.¡± Ilios hazarded, still reluctant to let the matter go. At that moment Fletcher on the back of the carriage came up to them and motioned for them to get in. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Nasha asked. The chauffeur remained silent however, taking them ever onward into the city. Jason watched the group walk back the way they came, prompting him to send Fletcher a command to pick them up with a thought. The captain followed his gaze and asked ¡°Do you know them?¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°Na, but it was nice to see someone standing up for me.¡± Kurtis scowled at Jason and began marching away, motioning to two guards, they grabbed Jason by the forearms and hauled him forward, Jason, content to let the guards do the hard work, dragged his feet on the ground behind him, forcing his carriers pull his entire body weight, which Jason increased a bit just for good measure. They seemed to be heading to another wagon, but this one had none of the elegance his did, opting to have spikes and bars instead of comfortable seats. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s for me?¡± Jason asked. The guards ignored him and kept dragging him towards the iron monstrosity, one of them opened the door and together they shoved Jason into the behemoth of steel. ¡°I guess it is.¡± Jason continued, ¡°And I¡¯m guessing we¡¯re gonna go to the barracks where I¡¯ll spend a day in the hold before you release me with a spank and a warning.¡± The cart started moving, they trundled along at a snail pace through the streets but no one paid them any mind, actually, there wasn¡¯t anyone there to pay them any mind, it was past noon and the streets were deserted. Jason made a stone and threw it at one of the guards, it clanged against the helmet before bouncing harmlessly onto the street. The furious guard whipped around at Jason and looked like he was about to beat the shit out of him but Jason started speaking before he could even take a step forward. ¡°Hey tin can! Why are the streets empty?¡± The man went over to the cage and unlocked it, dragged Jason out of the coach and threw him onto the ground. ¡°Listen here roach! You don¡¯t get to do that here! I don¡¯t care what hole you sprang from but I¡¯ll beat you so hard that a punching bag will feel sorry for you!¡± The entire squad stopped to watch what the commotion was on about, no one really bothered to try and stop them though, even the guard captain was just sitting behind the reins, grinning slightly. The guard tried to follow up with his previous threat, and he tried really, really hard. But for some reason his foot never managed to land on Jason, always missing by the tiniest of margins. Jason on the other hand was spewing with laughter, rolling from left to right in the grime and dust, moving just enough for the bystanders to think their fellow was truly missing by accident. ¡°So anyway¡­ *stomp* you don¡¯t happen to know¡­ *stomp* why there¡¯s no one around¡­ *stomp* would you?¡± A few of the guards were sniggering at the spectacle, but none volunteered any information except Kurtis. ¡°There¡¯s a festival on, it¡¯s the birthday of one of the daughters of the king.¡± He said, chuckling. ¡°Oh really? Which one?¡± Jason asked still on the ground. ¡°Dunno, there¡¯s so many of them, really makes you feel sorry for the old bastard.¡± The captain replied. ¡°How so?¡± Jason wasn¡¯t even rolling now, just sitting there, ignoring the man whose stamps and kicks were getting more and more frantic. ¡°You see, he¡¯s got all these daughters, but not a single son! Makes a man think if he¡¯s cursed or somethin¡¯.¡± Kurtis replied, scratching his chin. Jason hummed to himself, ¡°That sounds interesting I¡¯ll go have a look.¡± And without further ado, he jumped up and sprinted away into an alley. ¡°Sto-¡± the guard who was still standing with his foot in the air cried but it was already too late. ¡°Why¡¯d you let him just leave like that.¡± He cried in outrage, turning towards his captain, desperate to be angry at someone. ¡°Because, you idiot, he was using a spell that stopped you from hitting him, now I don¡¯t know much about magic but I think it would have been way easier for him to just zap you and be done with it, he probably could have killed you but refrained from doing so, and that speaks volumes in my book. We¡¯ll let him off this time.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± The indignant guard gaped at his commanding officer. ¡°That¡¯s not our decision to make!¡± Tanner looked around the rest of the company, some of his men were grinning, others whistling and looking away, while others were just plain bored. ¡°Men, does anyone remember capturing a rouge mage?¡± His question was answered by a modicum of snorts and wha?¡¯s. Satisfied he turned back to the guard and said, ¡°No one saw anything. I guess we¡¯ll just have to go back to the watch house empty handed.¡± ¡°No! I refuse!¡± The guard by now was frothing at the mouth. He was the one who asked the questions! He was the one that beat the criminals! The scum are supposed to beg and grovel at his feet! His! Kurtis growled at that, ¡°If you don¡¯t stand down I¡¯ll arrest you myself for insubordination and for the attempted assault of a civilian, understand?¡± Against all odds, the furious watchman managed to get himself under control, thinking it would be very bad if his career had such an ignoble end. ¡°I understand sir, no one saw nothing.¡± A gritted through clenched teeth. Tanner grunted and patted the man on the shoulder, ¡°Good, you¡¯re learning. Now form up and lock that bloody door!¡± he gestured towards the still open prison door the man opened to get Jason out of his makeshift cell. ¡°Yes sir.¡± The man said sighing. A party and a friend Chapter 17 Jason sped through the streets, glad to be on the move again. It was nice hanging out with the kids but he thought it was time to do something cool without having to worry about things like responsibility. What should he do when he gets to this so called royal family? Well he still hasn¡¯t fucked someone, and his balls were slowly turning blue, impressing some hot princesses would be fun, then turning them all into his personal harem would be even better. A commotion up ahead caused Jason to slow down, the empty streets were being slowly filled up by more and more people until he got to a nearly impassable ¡®wall¡¯ of tightly packed flesh, and they were all cheering. Which was odd, Jason never thought that the general public would support the people who ruled over them so much. When Jason got close enough he couldn¡¯t see anything over the crowd so opted to fly instead, he floated up and over the first few rows, got past the buildings that were covering his view and dropped his jaw. He was at the edge of a square so big, that the entire population of the city fit snugly inside. It was kind of like the Vatican plaza except there weren¡¯t as many silly statues in the way. But the people! My god the people! There were an insurmountable number of them. Pressed together so tightly Jason was surprised they haven¡¯t set each other on fire. Air spirits whooshed through the air above them, Ents and Giants were solitary mounds among the sea of bodies, like boulders in a field of grass, and little craters with single figures in them that no one wanted to approach, usually because they were either on fire or the oozed green or purple goop. Jason flew over them all and his amazement only grew, weirder and weirder things started appearing, a Tauren family there, with a child grasping his dad¡¯s horns and exclaiming giddily. A group of mages flying in a V formation in spectacularly coloured robes trailed rainbow coloured smoke behind them with the smoke staying there and actually changing colours long after they¡¯ve been dispersed into the air. And even a Unicorn, a motherfucking rainbow shitting Unicorn was prancing just above the heads of the crowd. It was beautiful. The castle was there as well, if you were to compare it with the height of Death¡¯s tower of Magic¡¯n¡¯Shit it¡¯d be like comparing an elephant to a bird. A behemoth of stone, it was like a mountain and pyramid¡¯s love child, first there was a wall with towers and bastions on it, then another wall, with more bastions and towers but the second wall was higher, then there was another wall that was even higher, then another, then another until you get to this small pinprick of a castle at the very top. Jason immediately zoomed several thousand meters up in the air to check just how much space the entire thing took up, yep, quite a lot. So there was the city, sprawling around him, and the castle right in the centre, like a pupil of an eye, except the eye was made up of mud, stone and shit while the pupil was a spike protruding out of it, as if someone stabbed the thing right in the middle from the inside out. There was also a river behind the castle which Jason suspected was where his house was, huh, it must have been pretty damn dark if he didn¡¯t notice just a giant castle splat bam right there in front of his nose. Coming back down he looked around once more, he was pretty sure being in the air was kinda illegal since he could kill the life of the party. Jason sniggered, life right? ¡®Cause if he killed the royal family then the party would end! Where were they anyway? Jason frowned as he couldn¡¯t spot the family, shrugging his shoulders he just flew over to a mage setting off fireworks with a wand. ¡°Hey man, where¡¯s the party girl?¡± Jason said as he swaggered up to the mage. The wizard frowned, he was quite busy trying to not kill himself by prematurely exploding the fireworks too close to him while not too far as to not be seen clearly by the crowd. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know who you are and I don¡¯t care, but there¡¯s to be no unauthorized personnel in the air while the celebration is ongoing.¡± Jason rolled his eyes ¡°Yeah, yeah I figured but still, where are they?¡± The fireworks conjurer thought for a minute before shrugging his shoulders and pointing to the castle. ¡°See the outer wall? There¡¯s a kind of balcony there set up so the entire family could sit and be admired by the people. They used to go around in a carriage until one of them got assassinated way back when, now they just sit behind the keep¡¯s wards.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Cool, see you around.¡± Jason waved as he sped off towards the place the guy indicated. As he got closer to the place Jason noticed that it was in fact, quite a bit bigger then he imagined, the so called royal family was spread all over the battlements, which was about as wide as the width of a soccer stadium. Weird couches were put on thick rugs under a big red tent to provide the occupants with comfort from the heat of the afternoon sun. A buffet table occupied with delicious fruit and other bite sized delicacies sat in the corner to be indulged upon by the occasional blue blood. The people themselves were all fancily dressed in robes of all kinds of magnanimous. From tropical yellow to royal purple, it was quite a sight. The style of the clothes were also very diverse, with some in pure white nightgowns, others in silk shirts and tight pants, and one woman was in really nothing more than lingerie. Everyone was relaxing on a couch and eating while a few would occasionally go to the edge and wave down at the crowd. Funny though it may be, it was quite depressing to see how little these people actually cared about the common folk. On a whim, Jason decided to look at himself in a mirror, he still had the beard but he should enforce his age a bit, after that he gave himself a more pronounced six pack and a twelve inch circumcised dick just in case he got lucky, which he planned to. He also changed his clothes and shaved his beard, now he looked like a male gigolo, actually, if he was going for the boy toy look he should look younger, so once again he changed his age. Now though, whew, Jason was surprised he wasn¡¯t getting a hard-on from just looking at himself. He smirked, time to answer a booty call. So he descended from the skies and quickly blended into the crowd, fortunately no one seemed to notice him, Jason frowned at that, shouldn¡¯t there be some sort of guard for just this very reason? Oh well, now that he was here he was going to enjoy himself, looking around he spied a couple of girls but they were all standing around in groups, gossiping about something so Jason prowled about, looking for prey that has been disengaged from the pack. And then he noticed just a swish of green out of the corner of his eyes, he immediately zoned in on the target only to stop in shock. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jason muttered. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, perfect in every way, the cloth was struggling to cover the curves but failed miserably as it poked out. A lacy piece of underwear protected the air the cloth couldn¡¯t but it hided nothing from the imagination. The spread between the thighs was clearly noticeable but the slip of fabric was just thick enough to hide the outline of the lips that were trying to burst free and reveal their magnificence. Jason drooled as he looked upwards from the wonderful buttocks, his eyes trailed the silver shift which split open to reveal the fairest back he ever saw, so pristine and soft. Luscious green hair flowed past her shoulders, so thick and fluffy, hiding her face but revealing just the tips of her elven ears. Jason smacked his lips, oh goody! Jason didn¡¯t need further encouragement, with a few confident strides he got to the green haired beauty. ¡°Hello, I haven¡¯t believed we¡¯ve- Oh!¡± Standing in front of him was the very same elf that he groped last time, her hair must have been hidden in her helmet for him not to recognise her at first, in fact he hadn¡¯t really seen her face before clearly either. Thin wispy green eyebrows arched themselves in surprise, rosy cheeks accentuated her high cheekbones while her delicate lips formed a little ¡®o¡¯ of surprise, but her eyes was what caught Jason, her deep green eyes. He peered down them, losing himself in a forest of green, captured by the myriad of shades that were hidden layer under layer of those pupils of hers. SMACK Jason caught himself, he felt a slight tingle in his cheek, ever so slowly he reached his hand up to feel the stinging sensation and the red of his blood, something has happened, but what? He looked back at the woman in front of him to see her glaring angrily at him with her hands raised as if she just slapped someone, she was also saying something but Jason couldn¡¯t hear because of a slight ringing in his ears. Oh. Jason immediately got down on one knee and bowed his head in front of her, ¡°My Lady, I apologize for my conduct on our previous meeting, please accept this gift as my most humble apology.¡± He said, before reaching his hand out and making a crystal rose. The gift had no colour, beside the shifting spectrum that filled it when the light hit the rose. It floated in Jason¡¯s hand, slowly rotating as the crystals seemingly shifted within the shape of the glass ornament. It looked wicked sharp as every part of the flower tapered off to a paper thin edge, from the spikes at the stem to the crown of petals at the top, it was a truly magnificent gift. Everyone else seemed to think so too since the entire pavilion was silent, sneaking a peek off to the side, Jason noticed that quite a large crowd have gathered around them, all gazing in wonderment at the flower, some with greed while others with jealousy, and only a single girl in honest awe, too innocent yet to do anything besides admire the rose. The elf however merely sneered. ¡°You might think that precious gifts will get you everything but material wealth is nothing to our people, scum like you who think money is everything should just die.¡± With a huff she marched away, the crowd hurrying to part before her anger lest they suffer her rage. With a sigh Jason stood up and crushed the gem in his hands, the shards disappearing in a shower of light and colour, looking soft and gentle, not at all the sharp, like you would imagine it to be. ¡°Aww no fair! I wanted it.¡± Someone behind Jason whined, the voice sounded childish and female. When Jason turned around his eyes, once again, widened in shock. ¡°Fuck me you¡¯re ugly.¡± Healing Chapter 18 Princess Cecilia Beatrice the Second, member of House Lardoss was having a wonderful day. She woke up to the sweet sounds of a Malidor bird chirping outside her bedroom window, the animal was known for heralding the start of summer, a good omen, also her birthday. The arrangements have been in the making for weeks, invitations were sent, decorations put up and her father even ordered a few magicians from the academy to provide fireworks for the ceremony! She couldn¡¯t wait. The celebration was wonderful, all her friends from school gave her presents but mother¡¯s was the best of course, a unicorn of all things! Cecilia bragged to her playmates how awesome the horse was and how expensive it was trying to capture it, it was so beautiful, the unicorn¡¯s flanks would produce magical glow dust in a pretty rainbow pattern as it ran over the crowds below the wall. It was a shame her oldest sister wasn¡¯t here, she was away on some mission or other, claiming she was too busy to attend Cecilia¡¯s birthday, hmph! Cecilia knew who wasn¡¯t going to ride her unicorn! Looking around the pavilion something caught her eye, a little sparkle glinting in the sun, it was annoying at first but ten she saw what it actually was, a crystal rose, floating in the air like a divine gift from the gods, every curve a pristine gem, as if the sun itself wanted to make sure everyone in the whole world was aware of its magnificence. It was the perfect gift. And just like that, it was crushed, it¡¯s beauty shattered by a fist which grabbed on to flower and crumpled it within the palm of its hand, snapping Cecilia out of her reverie. ¡°Aww no fair, I wanted it!¡± She cried out, distraught as her present disappeared. But then she noticed the owner of the hands which crushed her precious rose. A man, a very strange man, his features were striking to say the least, but he somehow just seemed so¡­ wrong. As if the parts of his face were grown individually before being stuck on his head, each aspect was definitely handsome on its own, but they failed to meld together giving the man a strange unearthly appearance, the rest of his body was strange as well, thin yet quite buff, going against the laws of physics as those legs shouldn¡¯t be able to support that amount of mass, his posture was off too, leaning back in a permanent pelvic thrust as if he couldn¡¯t lean forward, and then he spoke, his voice a bit nasal and slightly too high to be a man¡¯s. ¡°Fuck me you¡¯re ugly.¡± Cecilia was confused, who was he talking to? All nobles were beautiful, that¡¯s how the world worked, was he perhaps mad? Talking to himself like an imbecile? And rude too, swearing in public like that, only servants and beast master Josef would curse like that, and they always made sure to never be in public when they did it too, but Cecilia caught them doing it occasionally when she tried to sneak up on them, she was quite proud of how silent and lithe she was on her feet, like a panther stalking its prey, she mused. But Cecilia was snapped out of her musing when the strange man started walking her way. Jason was flabbergasted. The girl was like a meat patty from McDonalds, squashed and rotund. Flabber stuck out of her from more places than Jason thought was possible, and her face was disgusting, imagine Jabba the hut¡¯s head imprinted on a massive plate and that plate then pressed into the girl¡¯s face, it was horrendous, well, Jason might have been exaggerating a bit but she was still fat, he almost felt sorry for her. He approached the Lovecraftian monstrosity and kneeled down in front of her, placing a gentle hand on one of her shoulders and calmly looked at her beady little eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry little girl, your life must have been horrible.¡± Cecilia¡¯s face was quite red, whether from the sudden confrontation or just trying to breath, an older, blinder, family member might have called it cute, if they were very far away, looking through the dark, while looking on from behind. ¡°Unhand me you dirty peasant! Don¡¯t you know who I am?¡± She blubbered. Jason frowned at that before stepping away, ¡°I have an idea now.¡± He muttered. Just then the tranquil discussion was broken as a man barged through the still awed crowd. ¡°Who dares interrupt my daughter¡¯s special day?¡± He cried, outraged. Jason looked at the newcomer, male? Check, old? Check, bearded? Check, wearing a crown? Check. Well it seemed he just introduced himself to the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me of the nobility. The situation was spiralling quite spectacularly out of control, from trying to get lucky, to apologizing, to calling a princess ugly, well why not ride the wave all the way?If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Good afternoon your majesty, my name is Professor Sullivan McGrory, I came on behalf of Baroness Felicity to give the princess here a present.¡± ¡°What? Who? I¡¯ve never heard of a Baroness Felicity! How did you get in here?¡± the king huffed. According to Jason¡¯s deducting skills, his imperial majesty was a bit angry, it seemed no one was really buying his story either, so with a sigh Jason waved his hand and said. ¡°It¡¯s all true my liege, I came here because you asked the Baroness to give a present to your daughter here.¡± The king furrowed his brows at that, ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Yes your majesty, I was hired by Baroness Felicity to heal the condition your daughter has.¡± The king was really confused now, ¡°Condition? My daughter doesn¡¯t-¡± ¡°Oh but she does. And you would do anything if it meant curing your daughter.¡± ¡°Wait a minute! You have no right-¡± Someone cried out from the crowd. With a growl Jason froze every single onlooker in place, he was getting quite annoyed at all the effort he had to go to achieve this little scheme of his. The noble who spoke out of line would have no doubt created an even bigger commotion, and might have snapped the other bystanders out of their stunned silence. ¡°Father what¡¯s happening?¡± Princess Cecilia whined. ¡°Hush Cecilia, don¡¯t worry, this man is going to heal you, just listen to him and you¡¯ll be fine¡± Her father said as he hugged her tightly. ¡°That¡¯s right, so if you would please step this way, we should get going.¡± Jason said, creating a blue portal behind himself and walking through the glowing vortex. ¡°Father I¡¯m scared.¡± Princess said as she cried quietly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be healed.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry my love, it will all be over soon.¡± The king said, tugging on the little girl¡¯s hand slightly but firmly. And together, hand in hand, they stepped through the portal, leaving the rest of the royal family in paralysed silence. ¡°Glad of you to join us,¡± Jason said to them, ¡°Cecilia please go over to that bench.¡± The room the two nobles found themselves in was like a dungeon. The place itself was circular with a single window, which was more like an arrow slit, it was dark outside and the sound of thunder and lightning could be heard clearly. The room was made of stone and filled to the brim with alchemical equipment, beakers and notes filled the desks that were strewn about the room, but in the middle was a single slab of metal, a table of cold hard steel with nothing surrounding it. Leather straps were attached to it, like the shackles of evil, ready to hold something, or someone down. Jason was there, standing in a labcoat and goggles, just in the process of putting a pair of rubber gloves on. ¡°Igor, ready the amputator.¡± He called out. ¡°Yeth masther.¡± A strange blob extracted himself from the corner and made its way to the metal table, to Cecilia¡¯s horror, the thing was actually human, albeit a really deformed one. Igor was a hunchback, a limping, lisping, eye twitching hunchback. By now Cecilia was truly crying. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here! Please, can¡¯t we just go home dad?¡± The king frowned at that, then he kneeled in front of his daughter and put his hands on her face. ¡°Listen honey, I know this is hard, and I¡¯m asking you to trust me on this.¡± He said as he wiped tears off her fat, blubbery cheeks. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Still crying, Cecilia shakily nodded. ¡°Thank you, now be a good girl and go over to the professor over there.¡± The king said as he kissed her forehead. Cecilia, steeling herself walked over to Jason, every step a challenge as she made her way to the waiting man and his disfigured companion. ¡°Alright Cecilia, please get on the table.¡± Jason said, his face stony and impassive as Cecilia walked past him. She got up on the cold bench and Igor came over to tie her down. ¡°Will this hurt?¡± she whispered to the foul creature. The monstrosity blinked at hers sadly before moving away. Jason snapped his fingers. ¡°Igor, get the tray please.¡± he said as he approached the sniffling Cecilia. The room deathly still, the only sound was the clanking of the wheels as Igor dumbly pushed a trolley across the room. Jason, looking surprisingly impatient as if eager to start whatever procedure they were about to begin. Cecilia¡¯s father stood in the corner where the portal guzzled them out, his expression vacant and his eyes glazed backwards into his skull, not blinking. Jason looked over Cecilia with a critical eye, his goggles gleaming in the strange lamps above them. Suddenly he thrust his hand out towards Igor, ¡°Carver.¡± Mutely, Igor handed Jason a meat cleaver. Jason grasped the hilt and fingered the sharpness of the blade. Cecilia was shaking and sobbing, trying to free herself from the bonds holding her down, ¡°Please¡­ Don¡¯t do this.¡± She cried. In response Jason placed the Cleaver on her thigh, and pushed. Cecilia screamed, it was as if someone set her on fire, her nerves drowned all coherent thought except the registering of pain, the cleaver went further and further into her flesh, biting down and injecting her body with the venomous acid of agony. She screamed and cried and begged for it to stop but her pleas fell on deaf ears as the meat carver was slowly dragged down her thigh, minutely curving back outwards before coming out with a wet squelch. Cecilia looked at Jason to see him grinning like a maniac. He grabbed the torn of chunk and lifted it for her to see, red blood oozed down from the exposed cut, dripping and soaking his pristine white coat with the crimson liquid. Cecilia howled for her life and all things good as Jason threw the cut off meat away and slowly reached down to tear then next batch off. In desperation Cecilia tried to look for comfort with her father, hoping against hope that he¡¯d intervene, to take her away from this place and make the pain go away, but to no avail. His dad just stood there dumbly, slightly grinning as drool pooled out of his open moth, nothing more than an animal, calmly ignoring her own daughter as she was cut up. Cecilia was angry. Confused, scared and in pain but angry. Angry at her weakness, at her tormentor and her prison, but most of all she was angry at her father for abandoning her like this, standing there without moving to aid her, and in her last lucid moments before she fell into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, all she could see were the goggles that hid the eyes of the devil her father gave her to. Repercussions Chapter 19 ¡°Dude, what the fuck?¡± Jason and Death were both squatting on a street corner sharing a cigarette between them. ¡°Yeah I know, I surprised myself as well actually.¡± Jason said as he drew on the cig. ¡°But how? I mean, how did you do it without throwing up? Or questioning your sanity? Or realize what a fucked up thing you¡¯re doing?¡± Death exclaimed, incredulous. ¡°Really?¡± Jason gave him an amused look. ¡°You ask me, of all people, a question beginning with how?¡± Death merely kept staring at him silently. Jason sighed. ¡°Look, I just took a pill that turned my brain into Hannibal Lecter okay? And I healed her anyway after, she should be grateful in fact, she¡¯ll be way prettier than her sister.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you mean sisters?¡± Death asked. Jason waved his hand. ¡°Sister, singular, the others are decoys, cousins, or bastards. Turns out Richie gets around.¡± ¡°Richie?¡± Death was surprised. ¡°The king, a real swinger that one.¡± Jason said, taking another whiff. Death shook his head, ¡°But couldn¡¯t you have just turned her pretty? Say the magic words and cut out the horrible part where you rip her literal skin of her body?¡± ¡°No.¡± Jason said, ¡°This way she¡¯ll get a glimpse of the outside world. I expect her to be shocked when she wakes up, constantly mumbling to herself or waking up screaming with nightmares, followed by severe depression as she realizes she is living in a bird cage. No one will know what to do, thinking she¡¯s gone mad, they¡¯ll hide her somewhere far and out of the way. This will further alienate her from her family, her confusion will slowly fester into anger, hating her father for abandoning her, hating her sister and brothers for ignoring her and not coming to her rescue in her time of need. At this point she will have two options, kill herself or reject all she knew, train herself to be the ultimate assassin, swearing sweet revenge on her father, sister and most importantly me. Her quest will lead her on an epic journey as she becomes a certified badass before finally meeting me where we¡¯re going have an awesome boss battle.¡± Death whistled ¡°And who¡¯s going to win?¡± ¡°Cecilia obviously¡± Jason said ¡°It would be too cruel if I didn¡¯t let her win after all that.¡± Death mused over that for a minute ¡°Wait I thought she only had sisters.¡± ¡°Nope, her memories show she has three brothers, of course her father¡¯s shows five. Every single one of them meatheads, they¡¯re actually going to that army school.¡± Jason said. ¡°Huh,¡± Death said. ¡°Speaking of school I arranged the tutors, they¡¯ll turn up at your estate tomorrow at eight, I also got one for the other two.¡± ¡°Ilios and Gwandere? What kind?¡± ¡°A woman I know, she¡¯ll teach them how to be a lady and all that.¡± Death said, waving it away.¡±You know, you have a lot of schemes for a guy that¡¯s supposed to be in the middle of puberty. How do you change yourself from a responsible adult to a stupid horny teenager in a matter of seconds?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a thing called faces, I change them to interact with different people. I figured a strong dependable male figure is needed to raise those kids properly, these little lashes of craziness is how I cut loose, I¡¯ve been a step father for two days and let me tell you it¡¯s hard having to control your attitude and not swearing , really I opening actually.¡± Death nodded before stubbing out the cigarette ¡°Funny thing, cigarettes, I don¡¯t actually like them anymore, I just change it so that it tastes like I¡¯m drinking gaseous apple juice.¡± ¡°Really? I changed mine to oranges after the first draw.¡± Jason commented. Death stood up, stretching to his tiptoes. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go now, stuff to do and all that.¡± He frowned, ¡°And get rid of that fucking monster dick, it¡¯s nearly ripping your pants apart.¡± Jason grinned. ¡°Yeah, I bet its real eye catching.¡± Death snorted ¡°I bet it also chafes every time you move.¡± Jason scowled. ¡°Shut up.¡± With a wave, Death turned into a blue phoenix and flew away, the glow of the city lights outmatched by his azure brilliance. Jason sighed as he stood up and started walking home, he really didn¡¯t want to face the berating that Tilda will give him, hell he wasn¡¯t even sure she trusted him anymore, they¡¯re literally at his mercy really, makes one kind of antsy when they realize that there are people who could do whatever they want to their life and the person in question could do nothing to stop it.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Where the hell have you been?¡± Tilda shouted. She was visibly furious when he showed himself in, she was like a bull, with steam coming out of her nose as she stared daggers at Jason. She was standing in the foyer with her hands crossed in front of her, tapping her foot impatiently as Jason warily approached her. ¡°Look I¡¯m sorr-¡± Slap ¡°Okay I deserved th-¡± Slap ¡°Alright that¡¯s enou-¡± Slap ¡°NEVER AGAIN!¡± Tilda shouted, ¡°NEVER AGAIN WILL YOU HARM MY CHILDREN!¡± Jason was stunned as Tilda punched him over and over again. ¡°They could have died!¡± Tilda was furious, rage coursed through her like lightning through a block of gold ¡°Okay, OKAY! I get it! Calm down, tell why you¡¯re angry.¡± Jason said as he tried to avoid the punches, She kept fighting, but eventually the spirit left her, Tilda collapsed into Jason¡¯s shoulders while Jason, playing the role of the loving father, embraced her. She looked surprisingly small and vulnerable as Jason looked down at her, almost a head shorter than him. ¡°They told me you hit Peyton.¡± Tilda said, struggling to muster anger into her words. Jason thought for a moment, ¡°Yes, I did do that. Did they explain why I did it?¡± Tilda shook her head. ¡°No.¡± ¡°It was a lesson.¡± Jason replied. ¡°A lesson?¡± Tilda snorted. ¡°In what?¡± ¡°Life,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Your children will one day be the heads of the greatest household the city has ever known, I won¡¯t be able to shelter them forever. As soon as people find out that someone brought this estate, they will stop at nothing to bring about our downfall, from blackmail to assassination. Whether you like it or not, we have entered the noble¡¯s game and they don¡¯t like new players.¡± ¡°So? Why does that justify hitting my son?¡± Tilda asked. ¡°An example, I told him he can do whatever he wants as long as he can face the consequences. Peyton wanted to climb on to the roof of the carriage, I denied him the pleasure.¡± Jason said. Tilda pondered for a moment as she disengaged from the hug, ¡°Well, there was no harm done, and it will do him good if he gets a bit of discipline.¡± She mused. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll forgive you this time but if I find out you¡¯ve done anything more¡­¡± Tilda looked deadly serious for a second, ¡°I will not have my children be cruelly abused.¡± Jason bobbed his head. ¡°Of course, do not worry. I promise your children will never come to harm.¡± Tilda sighed before walking off deeper into the mansion, ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be much I could do anyway, I have seen little evidence that there is a limit to you magic, but thank you anyway.¡± Jason raised his eyebrow as he walked after her. ¡°Is that what you think it is? Magic?¡± ¡°Of course, or am I wrong?¡± Tilda asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Jason said simply, content to let the matter rest. ¡°By the way,¡± he continued. ¡°I have ordered private tutors for the kids, they¡¯ll show up tomorrow at eight.¡± ¡°Tutors? And where are they going to have lessons?¡± Tilda said over her shoulder. Jason shrugged, ¡°They¡¯ll find a place. By the way, how goes the furnishing?¡± ¡°Slowly, we¡¯ll get the essentials tomorrow, the order is large and we¡¯ve got money but because it¡¯s a custom job it will take at least a month, most likely two for the glassware and lighting.¡± Tilda replied. ¡°By the way could you turn back to your previous form?¡± She asked. Jason looked on in confusion. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you look weird¡± Tilda replied. ¡°Oh? In what way?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Your features are off, your eyes are too big, nose too long and your chin too pronounced, uncomfortably so.¡± Tilda mentioned offhandedly. ¡°Huh,¡± Jason turned back to the bearded man he was before and thought nothing of it. The two of them entered the ballroom to find everyone surrounding the fireplace once more, Peyton was whittling a stick, Nasha was reading a book while Ilios and Gwandere were braiding each other¡¯s hair. There was a small table set up right in the middle of the beds with dinner on it, most of the stuff was covered by tablecloth to stop it from losing too much heat, it was quite modest but the cutlery was already set. ¡°Grab a seat everyone, Jason is here!¡± Tilda called out. Peyton scrambled over to the food, while Nasha lazily put down the book and calmly walked over, Gwandere and Ilios completely ignored them. ¡°Did you wash up?¡± Tilda asked the children. Nasha nodded, Peyton looked down uncomfortably and the other two still ignored them. Tilda scowled. ¡°Peyton, go and clean yourself,¡± she said. ¡°And you two,¡± she turned to the girls.¡± Stop playing with each other¡¯s hair and go wash your hands.¡± ¡°We¡¯re nearly done.¡± Ilios called out. ¡°There we go.¡± She said as she laid the final touch to Gwandere¡¯s hair. Gwandere¡¯s hair had one plated ponytail that reached to her shoulder blades, while Ilios¡¯ a hair had a single bit of plated hair sticking trailing back and curling around a bun. The two girls walked out the hall to wash their hands, but Jason had no idea where. ¡°Where do they wash their hands?¡± he asked as Peyton scurried into the room. ¡°There¡¯s a bunch of restrooms everywhere. The mansion¡¯s layout is not as linear as I imagined.¡± Tilda replied. ¡°The main hallway only takes up about one third of the place and the rooms on either side seem to have been designed with no logic to them, you could get lost if you didn¡¯t know which way the main hall was.¡± ¡°I found a secret tunnel as well.¡± Peyton added in helpfully. ¡°Really? And where did it lead.¡± Jason asked him. ¡°A giant machine, there were pipes sticking out everywhere and it would make strange sounds occasionally, it was kinda cool.¡± Peyton said. ¡°Yes, it was probably the boiler.¡± Jason thought to himself. ¡°Well, I suggest you don¡¯t touch it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Peyton asked, with a hint of rebellion sparking in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll probably get burned.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°Oh,¡± Peyton¡¯s ego burst with an audible pop. By now Ilios and Gwandere have returned from the mysterious land of the ¡®rest room¡¯ and Jason thought now would be a good time to tell them about tomorrow¡¯s plans. ¡°Alright, I have organized tutors for you all to attend, they¡¯ll be here at eight tomorrow.¡± Jason started. Cries of outrage followed this declaration, mostly by Peyton but he was quickly shushed by his mother. ¡°We¡¯ll need someone who knows everything about being a noble because besides hiring servants and buying furniture. I¡¯m not really sure what we¡¯re supposed to do.¡± Tilda said. ¡°Alright I¡¯ll look around when I have time. I¡¯ll also look for someone to mind the gate, so that we can have someone nearby when the neighbors come a¡¯knockin.¡± Jason replied. ¡°But I thought I would go to school!¡± Peyton whined. ¡°I changed my mind, besides, I thought you hated school.¡± Jason said. ¡°Yeah, but a teacher that only looks at you is much worse than a teacher that is distracted by others.¡± Peyton complained. ¡°I¡¯ll guess you¡¯ll just have to get better at not getting caught.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°Now let¡¯s eat, I¡¯m starving.¡± Without further ado, the Fyr family dug in to the delicious food that adorned the table. ¡°How did you get the kitchen working?¡± Jason asked between bites. ¡°I didn¡¯t, I went out and brought it.¡± Tilda replied between sips of wine. Notice Alright, well here''s the deal. I''ve been writing a really long chapter which I accidentally overwrote with a previous save so it''s all gone. Yeah. Dont expect anything soon. Also I''m going away for seven weeks over the holidays and I''m not gonna post starting november 27th.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Now I know some of you might complain that I''ve lost interest in writing, and you''re kinda right, it''s becoming a chore now. I kinda fucked up character progression, gave no problems for the mc to overcome and just butchered his character, making him too many things at once. Shame too, I was most excited about turning Peyton into something like the Man-at-arms form darkest dungeon but with bombs. Oh well, bottom line is I haven''t given up just don''t expect more than one or two chapters before next year. And the chapters might take even longer to release then they already are Curtains Chapter 20 The following morning Jason was waiting at the entrance to his estate with four bleary eyed and very grumbly children. The morning mist clung heavily to the ground, like a slug too reluctant to leave its branch. Dawn was breaking as the sun slowly peaked over the city of Iona, its lazy eye illuminating the bedraggled company. The reluctant band stood in front of the gate. Peyton, crouching and drawing something in the shit and dirt that adorned the cobblestones. Nasha, staring off into the distance, a picture of patience and fortitude if you discount the sound of ripping leaves emanating from her hands. Illios and Gwandere, quickly trying to redo their hair after it came undone in bed and Jason, playing on a Gameboy, the 8-bit sounds of death and destruction all but audible to the rest of the group. ¡°Jason?¡± Nasha asked. ¡°Yo.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked. ¡°Conducting an experiment. ¡° Jason said, lazily mashing the buttons. ¡°What kind of experiment?¡± Jason sighed. ¡°An experiment to see who asked me first what I¡¯m doing.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± was all that Nasha said. The silence stretched on for uncomfortably long time, well, uncomfortable for Nasha, everybody else was wrapped up doing their own things. ¡°Jason?¡± Nasha asked. ¡°Yeeeees?¡± ¡°What are our tutors like?¡± She asked. ¡°Dunno.¡± Jason responded, content to put minimal effort into the conversation. Nasha sighed but refrained from asking further questions. Suddenly a giant grandfather clock appeared in front of the group and started dinging. The immediate reaction of everyone there (barring Jason of course) was to scream as loudly as possible while scrambling back from the wooden monstrosity that lay in front of them. Jason looked up from his game, ¡°Oh, looks like its eight o¡¯clock.¡± He said as the Gameboy disappeared from his hands, he looked down at the shell shocked children. ¡°From now on I have an excuse to be mean to them when they get here Jason said, grinning evilly, as the clock disappeared. Confusion was evident on everyone¡¯s faces, and then the questions started. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have picked a less obnoxious wakeup call?¡± Ilios snapped, annoyed. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just get a pocket watch or something?¡± Gwandere huffed imitating her sister. ¡°How do you keep doing that!¡± Nasha said in awe, meanwhile Peyton just grumbled and said. ¡°We should have killed it, killed it with fire.¡± Savoring the reactions of the children, Jason turned his attention back to the road, only to see three figures calmly walking towards them. They looked like something out of a comic book, with the rising sun behind them, cloaking their faces in shadow. They made a strange bunch. The first one was a man, blonde, hair slicked back, eyes as blue as the morning sky, he wore a confident grin and strode with purpose, robes flapping around regally around him. The second was a woman, covered in black like a funeral dress and wore her hair in a tight bun, her face showed age and she wore a serious, almost scowling expression. The third was a dwarf, his expression was vacant and his ginger beard covered most of his clothes but what set him apart from the other two the most is that he wore a sword at his side. All three stopped in front of Jason and gave him a formal bow. The robed one started speaking ¡°Lord Fyr, it is a pleasure to meet you. We are to be the instructors of your children.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Jason merely sniffed disdainfully. ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± He said. The speaker merely hung his head. ¡°We apologize for our tardiness.¡± The two parties stood there in silence, Jason with his head held high, looking down at his new servants. While the trio made no move, content to keep bowing until Jason told them otherwise. Finally Jason broke the silence with a grin. ¡°Alright, you can look up now. Do you know which one of these kids are your charges?¡± Their headsman, yet again, inclined his head. ¡°Indeed we do my Lord. I am to be young Nasha¡¯s tutor, Madam Hough is to be Gwandere and Ilios¡¯ while Ruck is to be Peytons.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± Jason said, clapping his hands. ¡°Well, don¡¯t let me keep you, I¡¯ve got things to do. Oh, one more thing. I don¡¯t want you showing lack of discipline just because they¡¯re nobles, they¡¯re in your charge and I want to see them grow up into responsible adults.¡± The leader once more bowed. ¡°Of course my Lord.¡± With that Jason turned back to the bewildered children. ¡°Oh stop being so scared you lot, let me tell you what¡¯s been happening. All this-¡± Jason gestured to their surroundings ¡°Wasn¡¯t done for any grand plan, I wasn¡¯t trying to fill a hole in my heart by surrounding myself with a fake family. I wasn¡¯t doing it for you guys out of the kindness of my heart either. I did it because I was bored, understand? I have set this up so that you could be something other than beggars, but I am going now. I gave you a step but it¡¯s all up to you from here on out, you will hardly see me anymore. You might hate me but I honestly don¡¯t care, now goodbye.¡± And with that Jason levitated himself over the gate and back to the Manor, leaving everyone in various stages of shock. ¡°Err¡­ I think we should start the lessons then.¡± Robey began hesitantly. Jason flew to the door and opened a bit more forcefully then intended. ¡°Tilda!¡± he shouted, walking briskly through the halls of the mansion. ¡°Over here!¡± Came another shout off into the distance. Jason whipped his head towards the noise and ran through the corridors, nearly bursting into one of the rooms. ¡°Hey Til- What are you doing?¡± Jason looked at Tilda who was currently hanging upside down , tangled into a curtain without sign of getting free any time soon. ¡°I¡¯m trying to-¡± She began but Jason cut him off. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, just wanted to tell you I¡¯m leaving.¡± ¡°What? For how long?¡± Tilda asked. ¡°Indefinitely.¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°WHAT! But you can¡¯t just leave like that!¡± Tilda said, if she wasn¡¯t tangled up. Jason was pretty sure she would have strangled him. ¡°Oh but I can, you¡¯ve got the money, you¡¯ve got the keys, It¡¯s all taken care of.¡± Jason replied calmly. ¡°But Jason!¡± Tilda sputtered, outraged. ¡°What about the children?¡± ¡°Just met their tutors this morning.¡± ¡°But! But-¡± ¡°Goodbye Tilda.¡± Jason said before walking away. ¡°JASOOOOOOON!¡± Tilda shouted after him but Jason was already bounding away to the door. Once outside he summoned a horse, jumped on its back and rode away, he cleared the gates in one jump and sped away into the city, whooping all the way. Jason rode through the streets, dodging some and riding down others, those who didn¡¯t jump out of his way fast enough were trampled, leading to quite a few deaths. At one point an Ent tried stop him by swinging one of his branches at him but missed and smashed a storefront¡¯s window, needless to say where ever Jason went chaos followed in his wake. Eventually he came to stop at the Mages¡¯ Tower. Running up the stairs he flipped the secretary off before proceeding up the elevator. The bell dinged and Jason found Death sitting behind his desk jacking off with a laptop in front of him. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jason said. Death jumped up, ¡°Wait, what?¡± he asked as he hurriedly stuffed his dick back into his pants. ¡°I¡¯ll explain on the way.¡± Jason replied as he went over to the window and gave a whistle, suddenly the entire tower shook as the dragon flew down to hover just a few meters away from the glass pane. With a click of his fingers Jason made the glass disappear and, using superhuman strength, he jumped on to the back of the ferocious beast. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Death asked as he jumped after Jason, the duo quickly sat down between the ridges of the dragon¡¯s spine as the monster slowly lumbered upwards, gaining altitude with each flap of the wings. ¡°I had a brainwave.¡± Jason said as he created a barrier to shield them from the wind. ¡°Oh yeah? And what was it?¡± Death asked. ¡°I realized that I don¡¯t want to do this, why should I take care of children when there is so much else to do!¡± Jason laughed out loud. ¡°Wait, the kids? You¡¯re just gonna leave them?¡± Death asked, incredulous. ¡°Yep! Why shouldn¡¯t I? I finally understand what you said, that it literally doesn¡¯t matter what happens. Look!¡± With a click of the fingers, Peyton appeared next to them, looking momentarily confused before he fell, the wind ripping the scream from his mouth as he plummeted to his death. ¡°Dude!¡± Death cried, ¡°What the fuck? You just killed him!¡± ¡°Ah but I didn¡¯t.¡± Jason smiled. ¡°I created a carbon copy of him. Exactly the same but different.¡± ¡°Jesus Christ! Are you mad!¡± Death cried! ¡°Mad? MAD? No! but I¡¯ll be fucked if I will live by constraints that don¡¯t even apply to me! In fact, you should be asking me why I haven¡¯t realized this sooner! But don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re really going to start now!¡± As Jason finished speaking he stood up and started running up the dragon¡¯s neck, skillfully avoiding the spikes and weird runic symbols carved into its back. At the head he didn¡¯t stop but instead jumped, freefalling all the while screaming with joy at the top of his lungs. ¡°WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¡± He fell faster and faster until he saw a speck of something else falling along with him, going closer he realized it was a still screaming Peyton. Snot and tears whipped past his head as he bawled for dear life. ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!¡± he cried between gasps of air. Jason grinned maniacally ¡°NOT ENOUGH!¡± And with a click of his fingers Jason visage turned blurry as he turned himself in to a bird. Quickly stopping his descent and watching as Peyton splattered along the rooftops just a few meters below Jason, with a grin Jason flew back up to the dragon and settled back in to his human form. ¡°Alright, where to next?¡± Death asked belatedly. ¡°West.¡± Jason said with a grin as they rode off into the sunset. Brass and Fire Chapter 21 BOOM The dingy cabin shook as the cannonball broke through the hull and whistled straight through the middle of the tiny compartment before embedding itself right in to the other side of the wall, waking Cody from his slumber. ¡°ALL HANDS ON DECK!¡± Cody shook himself, groggily rolling out of bed and stumbling towards the door in only a shirt and breeches. Opening the door the crew surged passed him as they rushed up the ladder, joining the tide he climbed up the vertical stairway and stopped for a second to survey the scene. The clouds roiled around them as the rain thundered down from the heavens, with flashes of lightning occasionally illuminating the darkness of night. Men ran from position to position, fastening rigging and securing ropes. ¡°TO BATTLE STATIONS!¡± Cody was suddenly pushed to the side as the next person came up the Companionway, prompting him to rush down another ladder and down to the Gunner¡¯s Passage, sprinting along the narrow corridor he arrived at the powder magazine. Grabbing two cartridges he started his routine of running along the walkway to the guns on the portside of the ship. On arriving at the first one he a passed the first magazine to the gunner, who gave him a firm nod, before continuing to the next one, once he gave it to that one as well a second explosion rocked the ship causing him to stumble right into Quartermaster Henry. ¡°Cody! Where¡¯s your pack boy? We¡¯ll need it for this one!¡± Cody merely nodded before going back to the magazine store and grabbing a backpack designed to hold six cartridges. Dashing back towards the cannons the shouting began, but Cody ignored it and ran up and down the walkway, handing out cartridges to the smoke coughing monsters as they fired wave after wave of bullets on their squeaky axels. Streams of lead balls, designed to break through even the toughest armor ricocheted along the rusty walkway, one managing to burst open a pressure valve causing the engine next to Cody to start stuttering. ¡°Engineer!¡± Cody shouted as he refueled his pack. Almost immediately a stocky Arishian man slid down the ladder and pushed past Cody, he inspecting the damage for a second before grabbing a rerouting tube from his belt, fixing it to each end of the broken pipe, and welding it with a chemical sealant. Then, he proceeded to cut off the pipe where the hole was with an electric saw and putting away the scrap metal for later use. Cody continued to feed the Artillery guns under his charge the black powder, eventually being forced to grab another pack and strap it along his chest for bullets as well as the stores of each gun were slowly emptied, pushing Cody to dip into the ship¡¯s ammo reserve. He was sweating profusely from the heat of the engines even though the strong winds from the open sky blasted him with cold air every time he moved away from the engine¡¯s protective armor. From what he could gather, the battle wasn¡¯t going well. Henry belayed orders every so often down to the Gunners but mostly left them alone, the Gunners were a tightly knit group and it wasn¡¯t often that they needed outside communication to tell them when to shoot and how to shoot. But even professionals can¡¯t do miracles. Cody would occasionally catch glimpses of the opposition through the storm clouds and what he saw wasn¡¯t good, glints of rigging and metal, once he even saw a balloon with the crest of the Fjord Baronies! Not good. Then came the fire, one of the enemy ships managed to get too close and apparently they had a flame thrower. The screams and crackling of splintered wood emanated from the deck and the sickly orange light illuminated the dank Gunner¡¯s Passage. ¡°WEBB! GET UP HERE!¡± Cody rushed to obey as he grabbed an extinguisher from the wall and run up the ladder, only to be greeted by utter annihilation. Blood and smoke rose in fumes of pink as the flames licked at the bullet riddled deck, sailors lay about, screaming as liquid life oozed from their wounds, soon to be joining the accumulating number of corpses which were slowly being eaten by the fire. ¡°WEBB! THE CABLES!¡± The order came and Cody moved on autopilot if the flames ate away the cables, however unlikely that may be, the Balloon might come undone, potentially spelling their doom. So Cody ran, grabbing the can and smearing the green acid over the steel wires, coating them in its heat resistant gel. The flames licked at his feet but he ignored it. His boots would hold, for now. Moving from cable to cable, he had to move Sailors, both dead and alive, out of the way as he and others rushed around the deck with their can of fire proof solution. And all the while the orders came, unending, unfaltering commands that kept the men from dissolving into panic.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Just when it looked like the fire was contained another gout came. With a tremendous roar that shook Cody¡¯s very being, the clouds parted to reveal its terrifying visage. Wings extended, its scales gleamed from the water that struck to its still warm body, its eyes an emerald green, the glare like a Captain¡¯s telescope, ready to order death and destruction with a wave of its arm. And on top of his back, a figure, riding the tempest of nature, like some parasite, latching on to a being greater than him. A truly horrifying sight that once again, rooted Cody to the spot. ¡°GUNNERS! TO STARBOARD!¡± Broken. The cry of the Captain once again shattered the spell, prompting action. And Cody ran, a robot, designed to do what was ordered, embracing the calm of not having to make a decision, just following someone else¡¯s. Once more, he was in the Gunner¡¯s Passage, filling the mechanical beasts which battled with the organic one. But it was not to be. The enemy ships, taking advantage of the situation, closed in on Cody and the crew, barraging them with their close up scatter rounds from the other side. The ship rocked as it was attacked by fire and brass from each side. However she wouldn¡¯t go down that easy. ¡°LOOSE THE ENGINES! OPEN THE HATCHES! ALL THE GUNS YOU CAN MUSTER! WE¡¯RE GOING IN A BLAZE OF GLORY!¡± Finally, the order, Blaze of Glory. A tactic for only the desperate, when the engines are overfed, giving the ship a huge burst of speed at the cost of destroying them, it also meant that the state of the ship didn¡¯t matter anymore and every sailor must focus on firepower, from the Pilots to the Engineers, the sole objective was to make enemy suffer as much as possible before the ship went down, and Cody wasn¡¯t going to waste this opportunity. He ran to the front of the deck and jumped on Big Bertha. The ship¡¯s biggest, baddest, and only cannon. It consisted of a pilot¡¯s seat surrounded by twelve rockets in a fuse box on each side and one gargantuan mass of steel and iron in the shape of a snarling gargoyle. The fiend¡¯s mouth opened up to reveal a massive hole in which a single, solitary cannonball resided. It would usually take a minute and three fully fledged Gunners to reload it in ideal conditions, needless to say, Cody was getting one shot at this. Grabbing the two handles on each side of the gargoyle, he swiveled the gun around and took aim. The dragon wasn¡¯t moving much but the winds this high up would cause even the largest rounds to be buffeted by some tempest. Reading the dials behind the gargoyle¡¯s ears, he adjusted Bertha with millimeter precision until the iron sights lined up perfectly with the readings. Then he fired. Nothing happened at first, and then a dull thump followed by a whoosh was heard, like a corkscrew popping off a particularly fine champagne. Cody took a deep breath, breathing in the smog around him, yes, very fine indeed. The ball was made up of condensed Iridium, the heaviest metal in all the Isles. Simply the amount of firepower needed to get a bullet version moving is extraordinary, not to mention a cannon sized projectile. A merchant ship like this one would need to make a profit of a couple hundred Florins to justify firing it just once, but Cody thought that the situation would allow it in this case. The ball arced through the air, having to make them be fired at a higher angle on account of the massive drop off. With everlasting slowness, it neared the winged creature before impacting it straight in the chest, crumpling it, sending the monster flying, causing the wings to flop forward and cover the wound like a mother protecting its newborn son. ¡°Yes.¡± Cody cried, but his triumph was short lived as he heard pop, a pop that every mariner feared. It seemed the constant barrage of pellets have finally breached the balloon¡¯s protective metal layering, exposing it and allowing a knuckle-puncher to penetrate the thick hide of the ship¡¯s life preserver. With alarming velocity the ship descended, no longer being under fire by the enemy, for why waste the bullets? The deck was strangely silent as the clouds enveloped the Blue Wattle save for the groaning of the wounded. Through the fog, three rings were sounded from the ship¡¯s bell. The sign for a roll call. With aching joints, only now realizing how tired he was, Cody made his way to the middle of the deck and joined the line of men standing stiff backed, waiting for an order. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± The captain said, a rusty man, with rings embedded into his leather skin around his eyes from countless years of wearing the goggles. ¡°It seems the hour is upon us.¡± He said as he descended the stairs from the Quarterdeck, the chain and metal screeching under his weight. ¡°I want you to know how proud I am of you, every single one of you. I couldn¡¯t have asked for a finer crew.¡± He said as he stopped in front of Cody, patting him in the shoulder before moving on. ¡°And here I give the final order.¡± He said, stopping at the end of the line and facing the scarred, wind bitten Aeronauts. He grinned. ¡°You are given leave of all duties and responsibilities on the Blue Wattle. We have-¡± he checked his pocket watch. ¡°Seven minutes and fort-nine seconds until impact. It has been an honor gentlemen, dismissed.¡± Everyone sagged, while a few went to ease the pain of others. Most, like Cody, went to the side to look at the sky one last time. The blue ever vastness of the great Air-sea that captured many a young boy¡¯s heart, promising adventure and glory for the daring. The clouds parted to reveal all its infinite beauty in dawning sun, blinding the sailors yet none looked away, not now. Cody sighed, he had dreams, aspirations, goals like every sailor on this boat. To own a ship of his very own, with sixteen Artillery guns and a golden figurehead, to be the greatest Aeronaut the world had ever seen. But it seems it was not to be, Cody let out a single tear before the ship descended into the Depths. The Depths Chapter 22 ¡°Is he dead?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I dunno, maybe?¡± Death hazarded. ¡°Dude, you¡¯re Death, shouldn¡¯t you know these things?¡± Jason rounded on him. ¡°Wow, blame it on me why don¡¯t you?¡± Death glared back at Jason. ¡°It¡¯s not like it matters anyway.¡± Jason shrugged, then kicked Cody in the ribs. ¡°Yo kid, dude, wake up man.¡± Cody¡¯s suddenly regained consciousness. He felt like his body was on fire, every fiber of his being hurt, it was as if someone pulled all his organs out then stuffed them back in using a spatula. He tried to take a breath but instead all he managed to inhale ash and dust, leading him into a coughing fit. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s alive, good.¡± Jason said. Cody cracked his eyes open to a bright light that nearly seared his eyeballs. Quickly shutting them he tried to get up but something heavy seemed to be stopping him from moving. ¡°Yeah be careful, there¡¯s a like a gazillion tonnes of metal on you.¡± Cody stopped, wait, where was he? The last thing he remembered was the sky and then¡­ ¡°Did-¡± Cody tried to swallow to get some moisture between his cracked lips. ¡°Did I die?¡± ¡°Yeah good question. Did he?¡± Jason asked Death. ¡°Weeeell¡­¡± Death began uncertainly. ¡°Was he breathing?¡± ¡°Were you breathing?¡± Jason asked Cody. ¡°I-¡± Cody had another fit of coughs. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t know.¡± Jason reported.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Then I guess not.¡± Death concluded. ¡°Alright, well, get up kid.¡± Jason said. ¡°I can¡¯t, I¡¯m stuck.¡± Cody rasped. It was really hard to talk with no water and dust all around. Suddenly the pressure that Cody felt on the rest of his body eased up, a weight he didn¡¯t notice before gone, but still he refused to open his eyes in case the blinding light was still there. Grasping the ground under him, he scrambled to his feet. ¡°Okay, now, allow me to co- hey kid, open your eyes.¡± Jason said. Slowly, ever so slowly, Cody opened his eyes. The light was gone and instead he found himself facing two men, one dark haired and gloomy, like a skeleton, while the other was the very essence of vitality, with a beard and a flamboyant, green waist coat, which was in stark contrast to his surroundings. Speaking of surroundings, Cody just noticed that he could hardly see, not because of his eyes, but because everywhere he looked was smog and soot. It was so thick in the air that it was like a fog, blanketing everything and reducing vision to only a few meters. It was also extremely dark, with the only light coming from a lantern that was attached to the end of Green Jacket¡¯s cane, it wasn¡¯t trained at Cody but he was pretty sure that was what made him temporarily blind, as it burned with such intensity that it could have rivalled even the strongest floodlights of a Battle Crusier. ¡°Oh my God.¡± Cody said, furiously trying to cover his mouth with his shirt. ¡°What is it?¡± Jason asked. ¡°We¡¯re in The Depths!¡± Cody said agitatedly. ¡°The Depths? With a capital T?¡± Death asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem that impressive if you ask me.¡± Jason said as he looked around with renewed interest. ¡°You don¡¯t understand! We have to get out of here!¡± Cody muffled, trying to make himself coherent through his makeshift bandana. ¡°Now hold on a minute, as a free man I have no obligation to do anything anyone askes of me.¡± Jason said with a serious tone. ¡°We just saved your life and you¡¯re gonna ask me to do something for you without even thanking me? You could get a lot farther in life if you were a bit more polite you know.¡± ¡°No! Look, if we don¡¯t get out of here we¡¯ll die!¡± Cody cried. ¡°Oh and that makes it all right does it?¡± Jason rolled his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t care what kind of acidic cloud you think we¡¯re in but that does not give you the excuse to bully me around.¡± A distant roar could be heard in the distance. ¡°In fact I believe I am more than in my right to discuss this with you now whether you want to or not as I can be just as rude as you.¡± Jason continued, unperturbed. But Cody wasn¡¯t listening any more, if these two idiots want to die here, fine, not his problem. But he¡¯ll get out of here while he still has the chance. ¡°I¡¯m not done talking to you!¡± Jason cried after Cody. Cody swept through the wreckage like a snake in the jungle, slithering over any obstacle and slowly putting distance between him and the Monolith. Maybe if he managed to get away from the other two¡­ After all they are attracted to light.