King slowly looked around like his head was a mechanized turret slowly surveying the carnage around him. Cooked bodies and the rubble of charred buildings laid under the grey ominous clouds above him, Lucas could feel the hatred like in his gut like rancid puke burning away at his innards. The slow crunch of a man walking towards him, his crow helmet came to a pointed beak as his black robe fluttered in the wind. The red crows emblem embedded on the side of the leather armor dotted in golden arrays gave off an eerie vibe. King could barely move as his ether was sucked from him and Lucas could feel that all to familiar sensation of a splitting headache with the thumping sensation in his chest. The crows helmet had rubies in each eyes socket glowing an ominous red glow. His shield on his back now as his staff with an embedded crow wrapping around the top swayed at his left side as he sauntered over. Kings grit teeth sounded over the stale silence floating in the air, the crunch of the mans boots approaching him were unforgettably loud. He came to a stop on front of Lucas and slowly looked over him, the crows mask tilting sideways as a slight ‘tsk’ rang out.

“I gotta say king I’m impressed you killed off a whole squad of elite sleep walkers and turned the remains of a city into ash.” The mans hoarse and mechanical voice echoed in his ears as he knelt down to get level with king as he looked around the charred city’s remains.

“Go fuck yourself *Pant*, I don’t know who you or your alliance is but I know you’ll be the last leader of them.” Kind said with a low raspy grumble and the crow masked man laughed in a slow rumbling laugh.

“You really think your in any position to make any threats. Your out of ether and are on your last leg.” The man said tilting his head as he tapped king with his cane making him fall back onto the charred dirt behind him. Lucas could feel the hopelessness in king and the anger swelling up by the second.

“See you can barely keep conscious. What are you gonna do to me?” The man said as the ruby eyes gleamed with a cold sinister shine. The hope in king slowly vanished as he could see a dark shadow pass overhead.

“Nothing, her however.” King said smiling as he nudged his head up, Lucas was shocked at what he was seeing. The masked man just as shocked as he stared at the enclosing figure that was something out of a fairytale, even for this crazy world.

A dragon clad in black scales dropped down with its front legs over Lucas/Kings body letting out a light roar that shook the earth. The crow masked man jumped back a couple yard slinging his shield into his right hand. The all black shield had red crows flying up to the right tip with golden runes splattered all over it. He held up his staff and the ruby red eyes of the crow on its tip shined as a golden shift circle appeared at its top as he swirled it around. Runes flowed out to form complex layers of arrays as the shield in his left hands runes lit up forming a red bubble around him while he worked to complete his shift. Just in time to as the black dragons chest loitering over kings barely conscious body swelled up, a mighty roar was let out before a loud clicking noise as a shift formed at the front of its mouth faster then anyone could fathom as the array formed in a split second. The shift was followed by a loud roar of a fire blue like a jet flame confined from the circle in front of the dragons mouth and a solid spike shape flame beat down on the shield before cracking sending the man flying into the distance. The man tumbling like a rag doll caught himself as he did a backflip planting his feet I got the charred soil coming to a skidding stop a few hundred yards away.

“Haha, now that’s something I haven’t seen before. They didn’t call you the supreme Walker for nothing now did they!” The masked man said, his crow mask now cracked down the middle as his cackled in his horse tone.

King didn’t have any strength to respond to the crazy bastards provocations, the dragon standing above him however definitely did. It reared its head back to the grey sky and let out a mighty roar, a shifting circle quickly appeared above his mouth again and within a split second arrays so complex it would boggle a normal humans mind formed. The masked crow man slammed his shield into the ground forming another red bubble around him as the skys rumbled. Waving his staff around he quickly formed another bubble around him in a golden shimmer. From the dragons giant golden shift came a mighty thunderbolt arching across from

It’s circle to the mana shield. It stretched across the ground like a tentacle reaching for its prey. Slapping into the golden shield it popped with next to no effort leaving behind the red bubble shield as the shift ended and the lighting receded. The man under however didn’t get away unscathed this time as the lighting tentacles of residual energy chiseled through the red bubble arching inside back and forth like a steel cage. He screamed as smoke rung off the man filling up the red bubble, the dragon let out a huff of annoyance. It glanced down to king its big white eyes and solid black pupils bearing into his soul. Gently it scooped up king with its front paws beating its mighty wings.

The charred dirt around it kicked up into a cloud as it shot into the sky carrying kings body. Lucas could smell the charred remains, he could feel kings emotions swirling inside him. From the air the dragon soared over the kingdom, the bells all over the kingdom rung out as forces headed for their capital that was now wiped off the map. King wanted to tell them what happened, he wanted to hunt the bastard alliance that was responsible for this tragedy but he could barely move. His body entrenched in the dragons paws as he watched hopelessly from the air as they soared over the kingdom. Occasionally someone would point up to the dragon and bolts would fly by or magi-guns letting out pot shots. A few flying ships would undock from posts trying to chase them only fail and give up. It was futile as the dragon was far quicker then anything they could muster together. As they grew close to the border of the kingdom kings gut dropped, on every kingdom or alliance territory surrounding them army’s were ready to march as if they knew the turmoil that was going on inside the kingdom. As planned as the march into the kingdom and plain as day to kin. In the tragedy and confusion they pushed from all sides, air ships, land ships and armies with royal sleep walkers at the front as they marched into his territory while the mayhem distracted its forces.

“Fuckkkk! I’ll kill them all!” King screamed muffled by the sound of the wind, the dragon above him simply looked at him with sympathy as it continued soaring through the sky dodging the occasional bolt or shift.

Lucas woke up in the white room of the ICU room drenched in sweat reaching up into the air. His black crescent moon on his left hand came into his sight as his panting slowly calmed down. The hatred king felt in his dreams still clinging to him as his teeth grit down running back and forth grinding them down. His right hand clutching the sheets slowly pried open as the feelings the past memory fostered slowly faded away. He slapped back into the bed as he stared at the tiled ceiling above him, just what the fuck happened to king. Why did they so badly want to bring him down, was the organization he was talking about eventually become the coalition? He had no clue as so many holes and gaps in his memory remained, it was all so vague. It frustrated him to no end but he had an idea of why he hated alliances now. It made sense, it was coming back slowly he just had to be patient. Something he was being forced to learn now a days, he sighed running his hand over his forehead wiping away the sweat.

Lucas swiped on the tablet at his right arm rest slowly raising the back of the chair as it inflated reforming to his body. He was told by the nurses and Dr. Naresh he shouldn’t walk yet but man he had to get up. He was growing restless and pulled down the left arm rest down, he grabbed his legs slinging them over the beds left side. He slowly slid off the bed onto his feet, the numbing sensation was off putting. It was like he had been sitting on the toilet for years and just now got up, under his white gown scars ran all up his left and right sides of his legs he had never known before . He guessed they came from the wreck as they looked like they had healed years ago. His numb movements like his legs was jello foreign objects he had never know before now. Only a few steps in and Lucas was worn out slowly stumbling back over to his bed and flopping onto the ruffled sheets.

“Well that was fucking weird…. I need a cigarette.” Lucas mumbled as his stress from six years pent up to an incredible degree.

The idea of having to sell of a kidney to afford the bills of staying in the damn hospital didn’t help much. He let out a sigh as the glass panel next to him was still beeping away. Lucas couldn’t help but wonder how it was monitoring him, he didn’t have any of those sticky things on him. He pulled back his gown and could see a slim shirt on his chest that was contoured to his body giving off a blue blinking light at the collar. Wow he was shocked, future tech was something he was still getting use to and this was one of those things he just didn’t expect. Although it seemed a little mundane in retrospect to growing kidneys and space cities. A thought hit him, did they even have phones anymore? He hadn’t seen anyone with a phone yet? Just odd future tablets and glad everywhere that had screens built into it. Something he would have to look up, he slung his feet back on the bed leaning back. He tapped the tablet on the right armrest and the glass rolled out from the bedside.

Turning the tablet sideways he clicked on the internet app and typed in ‘pear’ in the search bar. Info brought him up a list of sites, the first one was apples website. He clicked on the link and his brows rolled up at the product on the homepage. ‘Pear Band’ the world best phone the page claimed, it was a phone that would wrap around your wrist and with a button press flat out like a phone. He scrolled down and under it was the ‘Pear Glasses’ that had a AR heads up display that paired with the phone. Scrolling down further be seen the ‘Pear Desk’ which was a giant glass plate that was the most futuristic thing he seen so far. It was a hologram projecting device that would project a virtual object over the glass top they called ‘hard light projecting technology’. Well a lot sure as hell changed, they finally and holograms in a way. He slung the tablet back over the arm rest and put it in sleep mode, the glass tablet at the end of the bed rolled back down.

“Well I can’t even imagine what the rest of the world looks like.” Lucas mumbled to himself.

A quick knock of the door and it swung open as the blond haired nurse…Sarah, geez he was bad with names. Sarah came in with a tray of breakfast filled with grits, bacon and bread rolls and some type of folded clothes underneath. She sat the food down down on his lap and the clothes at this bed side table while grabbing his old tray. Lucas’s stomach grumbled as he looked at the food and Sarah giggled.

“Well I see someone hungry. When you are done get dressed. Those clothes should fit you if you need help putting them on or anything just tap that call button on the tablet.. I’ll be back

In ten minutes with a wheelchair and we can get physical therapy started.” Sarah said with a slight smile.

“Thanks Sarah.” • “No problem Mr. House. Oh keep that right shirt on top, it monitors your vitals.” • “Yes mam.”

Sarah gave a slight smile before vacating the room leaving Lucas alone. He grabbed some what he guessed was plastic utensils in some type of paper packaging. He shoved the spork into the grits taking a good shovel full to his mouth. It was.. alright but hey it was better then the microwave dinners he was use to, ironically. Once he was finished he grabbed the clothes off the table and sat down the tray. The top shirt was a simple T-top in all white with the slip on all white gym pants for the bottom. He leaned forward throwing on the top and wiggled into his gym pants. The clothes were super soft, almost like a cross between silk and cloth. Once he was done admiring his clothes he swung his legs over the bedside. Another try at walking today would do him some good, he didn’t want to go to PT in no fucking chair. He would walk there or he wouldn’t go, simple as that. His feet spread out like a baby dear he put weight onto the jello sticks taking a couple steps forward. Lucas leant back and smiled as he finally got his footing, he wasn’t no damn cripple and he would walk to therapy. The door slid open and he realized he had been standing there for quiet a while. Sarah rushed over and put her arm behind him helping hold his wobbly figure up.

“You are one stubborn person.” Sarah said holding him up, he watched a chair roll in the room automatically behind her.

“I don’t need a chair mam.” Lucas said and she slowly pushed him. Like a dead tree he fell backward with no resistance into the chair that positioned itself behind him.

“Uh uh. You can barely stand my little old self pushing you.” Sarah said with a slight grin.

“….fine.” Lucas said begrudgingly, to be honest he was intrigued by the wheelchair now. That would be a good enough excuse for himself, he was simply interested in the wheel chair. He could walk if he wanted to..

It had no visible electric motors and a small camera in each handrail, it was so slim it was hard for him to imagine it moving on its own power. But it sure as hell did, she walked out the door holding it open and it followed right behind her with out him having to do a thing. The hall way was on the edge of the building with glass windows across the door he just exited from. They lined the walls from floor to ceiling and were crystal clear, the outside world took his breath away. Tiny cars on the highway across the street from the hospital zoomed back and forth at a speed that was boggling to him. All moving in and out traffic like automated bee’s, funnily enough he could see a lane on the highways far right side where regular people were driving that looked like snails. Drones filled the blue sky’s moving back and forth in convoys, landing on buildings and warehouses in the downtown area and taking back off. The high rise of Jacksonville that he knew all to well was like nothing he had ever seen. Buildings stretched into the clouds like towers built to reach the gods, he was in one of them as the hospital seemed to be so high up he could barely see the cars below. It was all so disorienting, he just stared out the window as the chair remained for a while letting him soak up the view.

“Crazy ain’t it.” Sarah said putting their hand on the chairs handle behind him.

“Like something out my dreams.” Lucas said slowly as he touched the glass window just to make sure it was all real.

“Well the people in the slums of downtown would disagree.” Sarah said in a half depreciating tone as she pulled the chair from the window and pushed him down the hallway.

“Well some things never change. World ain’t made out of just love, there’s plenty of hate too.” Lucas said and Sarah simply hummed in agreement.

They came to the end of the hallway where a steel white door rolled open and she pushed them inside. A glass panel on the right of the all white steel box lit up and she pressed a button. The elevator took off and Lucas felt the familiar sensation his gut as it rolled down the buildings side. It was quick that’s for damn sure, the steel box come to a smooth stop not even a few moments later and opened back up. The hallway was much of the same with a glass wall on the right side and doors littering the left side with glass panels beside each one of them. They were now close to the ground floor and he could get a better view of the outside world. The buildings and high rises put into a better perspective from the ground, they seemed impossibly tall. Something from some sci-fi movie or something, it was a little disorienting. It put into perspective how fast that elevator moved though, his view was cut short as she yanked him back facing a large double door at the end of the hallway. Walking from behind him she came over to the door placing her hand on the glass panel. Some light passed over her hand and the door clicked, she pulled on the handle swinging it open and the chair rolled in. She followed behind him walking beside the chair, he could see all sorts of folks around.

Some with lost legs walking between these wooden planks using their hands to hold them up. Others were being guided by big robots that looked ripped straight out of I-Robot, it was both scary and exciting in the same breath. Most of them were wearing some sort of sport like glasses on their head with a thick set of glass lens’s that shines with all sorts of colors, maybe they were like the pear glasses he seen? It was all so much different then anything he had ever seen before, some people had prosthetic arms and legs so lifelike he had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing correct. A brunette haired woman in her thirties with deep greenish blue eyes stood in the middle of the madness directing the helper robots and recovering people walking about. They came to a stop in front of her, Sarah waited for her to stop her instructions with some robot helping a man that lost his arm getting use to it by throwing a ball back and forth. The woman get up from the chair and came over dusting off her hands from the chalk she had applied to them to help grip throwing ball. She smiled and looked him over for a second and Sarah gave him a slap on the shoulder.

“This is Mr. House, he is your newest therapy student Victoria.” Sarah said with a smile.

“Is that so. Well then Mr. House nice to meet you. I’m Victoria Astrid your therapy worker.” She said handing out a hand for a shake, Lucas took it noticing his shaking hand as it barely had the strength to grip her hand solidly.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Victoria.” Lucas said and she smiled with a little nod.

“Well I’ll leave you two alone so you can get to it. Mr. House I’ll be back at 11:30 to pick you up, we have a meeting with your brothers lawyer at 12:20 and we can get some lunch in you before then.” Sarah said with a smile, Lucas simply nodded in agreement.

Sarah left and the Lucas turned back to Victoria, they both stared at each other for a while before she pulled over a bouncy ball sitting down. She pulled a band off her shoulder and flattened it out, it was one of those pear phones he seen! She glanced back and forth between the phone and Lucas for a few silent moments. She hummed and cooed as she looked over what he could guess was his medical files. Victoria slapped the phone back around her wrist and looked Lucas over once more.

“How did you talk Dr. Naresh out of a mental wellness check up.” Victoria said with a raised brow in a tone somewhere between concerned and baffled.

“Perks of being funded by a super rich guy I guess. I’m sure he’s paying Dr. Naresh enough to not ask any more questions then necessary.” Lucas said while she hummed in response crossing her arms and drumming her right finger on her left arm.

“Have you tried walking already?” Victoria said and Lucas nodded.

“Ambitious aren’t we. Alright let’s start with walks around the room. Arthur come help him. I’ll get your glasses.” Victoria said calling out to one of the robots that hobbled over lifting Lucas out the chair like he was a toddler.

“Your called Arthur huh.” Lucas said and the robot mechanically nodded in response. Victoria walked over to a cabinet in the corner of the auditorium and came back handing over some glasses to him.

“He will listen to basic commands, Arthur’s an assistant bot after all. Do a few laps with him helping on the track I’ve set on your headset around the auditorium and work yourself up to doing it by yourself. No need to get to that point today but put in the effort please. I’ll keep an eye out for you through the glasses heads up system and as soon as we get them leg muscles down we will move on to the arms and core.” Victoria said and Lucas nodded stumbling off in Arthur’s care.

He placed the headset on his face and around him the world lit up into a digital world, the cold white washed walls of auditorium vanished, what was left was an outside blue skies and green rolling grass hills. A small track lined the hill he and everyone was on, he could see the glitches in the headset letting the outside world slip in. It was damn good though for a headset no bigger then a set of glasses. He got inside the track and the robot held him up from his right side as he walked around in a clockwise like fashion. Lucas struggled to move around but thankfully ‘Arthur’ had his back and was quite strong. He was impressed how the mechanical guy knew how to help him around but not be rough enough to just hurt him trying to hold him up. Robotics sure came a long damn way, something he had to admit was impressive as all hell. The strain of walking was both refreshing and annoying, it was a pain in the ass as he wasn’t even halfway around the track and was sweating like a whore in church. Their were benches spread out every couple yards around the track dressed in a wood texture from the headset and he came to a stop at one dropping down on his ass. The robot stood by silently and waited for him to get back up, it was a little unnerving how still it could remain. Something that would definitely take some getting used to as he was this wasn’t the last time he’d be dealing with a robot.

Lucas reached back up for Arthurs shoulder and they began back on their journey around the track, an occasional digital bird flew by overhead throwing a smile on his face. A hud in his right side of his vision showed his heart beat and vitals along with how far he was progressing around the track. It felt like forever but Lucas got around the virtual track lining the stadium for his first lap. He let go of Arthur and hobbled over to a fountain by himself working his leg muscles while getting some of that sweet H2O. Lucas let out a sigh of relief as he wiped his mouth and leaned up against the wall watching the people around him working on the grassy nolle. He felt a little pitiful, they all truly deserved to be here’s. He was just some fool that tried to kill himself and some how survived. These people didn’t self inflict the troubles they are afflicted by, he couldn’t help but chew on that reality. Letting out a sigh he got back to walking around the auditorium, a pity party would do him no good and he was tired of throwing excuses around. Something he did his whole life when things didn’t go his way, it got old even to the one making the excuses. One thing he did learn from all his troubles is if you want something to change, then simply to work and do one task after another. No one’s gonna change that bit of reality for you, that’s on you truly. He grabbed Arthur’s shoulder and got back to it even as his legs felt like they were on fire.

Lucas’s hard work payed off though if only a little, by the end of the session two hours in he could almost smoothly walk by himself. Even if it was wonky it was his basic motor skills back, something he was proud of. A little win in the long line of losses he was so accustomed to. Everyone else had long since left the PT auditorium room and he figured it was getting close to noon. He slapped his but back down in his fancy wheelchair taking off the glasses and the white walled auditorium returned, he let out a long sigh rubbing his eyes as they grew a little fatigued by the headset. He sure as hell couldn’t wear that thing all day, which explained why the world wasn’t digitized yet like all the predictions when he was last awake in 2022. His legs were stuck between being numb and on fire but it felt good, he knew another couple days of this and he would be back to his old self in no time. The wheel chair had a small little knob on the top right arm rear that would let him control where he wanted to move around to. He wheeled over to Victoria and she motioned for him to put his glasses back. He went over doing as she asked and closed the cabinet rolling back over to the middle of the auditorium, she was busy picking up training balls and mats putting them back where they belonged. He watched her for a while till she was done and glanced over to him, she checked her watch phone for the time.

“It’s 11:20 right now Mrs. Sarah should be here soon.” • “Actually that’s not what I wanted to ask.” • “Shoot then I’m open ears.” • “You mind if I have a smoke? Been stuck in this damn hospital for ages and I’m itching to smoke.” • “First off that would be a wild violation of my regulations. Secondly how do you know I even smoke?” • Lucas scoffed. • “Mam no offense but a smoker knows a smoker, I’m not gonna tattle. I know you got a good spot around here to sneak a smoke in.”

Victoria frowned and looked over Lucas with crossed arms while tapping her foot. Lucas held the best puppy dog face he could and she let out a large sigh like she was being held at gun point. She walked behind him grabbed his handles and pushed him towards the back of the auditorium. Lucas didn’t say a word as they came to a service door that led out to what looked like a small balcony for ladder access. She put her hand on the glass panel and the door popped open, she swung it open and gestured for him to go out. He moved the little knob forward rolling out into the warm sunlight. It hit him like a ten pound hammer as he came to a stop out on the patio squinting. Eventually his sight came back to him as the honks and sounds of drones passing over head filed into his ears. The cacophony of the cities mad symphony rang into his ears as he looked out the balcony rails with starry eyed wonder. He felt a hand tap his shoulder and he glanced over to see Victoria passing him a cigarette. It was a camel crush menthol which he hated but hey he beggars can’t be choosers. He gently took the cigarette rubbing it between his lips he truly felt like he was out that coma and back to reality. He took the lighter she handed him and slowly inhaled filling the smoke fill his lungs.

“Now I’m back.” Lucas mumbled as he let out a deep exhale of smoke. He passed the lighter back to her and rolled over to the balcony’s edge taking in another deep inhale of deaths embrace.

“So how long you been working here.” Lucas said taking another deep inhale of his sweat death stick glancing over to her.

“Well…*exhale* bout twelve years now, since was eighteen. Got a office girl gig in the appointment setting division straight out of high school. Got lucky you know, one of the few that came out of duval with a decent life ahead of me.” Victoria said letting the smoke roll out as she talked with a rueful and melancholy tone to her voice.

“Mm. I grew up in Baldwin, so I can relate to that somewhat. Wasn’t much to do out there but drugs and fucking.” Lucas said with a slight chuckle as he took another drag of the cigarette.

“Ahh to be young. So what did you do..before your big accident?” She said waving her hand around dancing around the subject of his failed suicide attempt.

“Ah I was a bails bond accountant. I actually graduated high school and went onto college…just some shit happened and I wasn’t able to get a proper job with my degree and was relegated to the trash heap of the graduate society. It paid..well it didn’t pay worth shit but it kept a roof over my head till it didn’t.” Lucas said recalling the incident as if it was yesterday of telling his boss to go fuck herself, something he still took pride in.

“Mmm” She hummed not quite sure what to say next and neither did he.

They both fell into a lull looking out over the balcony rails, the city below was peaceful in a chaotic way. They both silently sat watching the cars pass by on the highway and the drones in the air taking in the ambiance of the city’s sounds. The moment came and went with the cigarettes final puff of smoke marking the end of his little fun session. She took his butt and hers putting them in a giant bucket of sand on the back of the balcony littered with buds. They rolled back in and Sarah was waiting for him at the other end of the auditorium. She raised a brow as he rolled up no doubt smelling the cigarette but to his surprise she said nothing. Just shook her head and grabbed his chair pulling him to the door. With a swipe of her hand the door popped open and they were back in the hallway heading towards the elevator at the far end.The door slid open as they shuffled in Sarah slapped the glass panel and they whirled away. They came to a slow stop and the door opened up again revealing another white hallway. He always found the odd silence of the hospital a bit deafening. They came to his door and Sarah popped it open waving him inside. He rolled his chair back in to the familiar room and over to his bed. With a strained groan and help from Sarah he popped back onto the bed.

“I’ll go get your regeneron and some lunch for you. Just a reminder your brothers lawyers will be here at 12:20 so till then try and relax. Dr. Naresh and i will come to help set the appointment since you and him already have a time picked out we just need to finalize it so nothing to painful.” • “Thanks Sarah will do.”

She gave a slight smile shutting the door behind her and Lucas laid back on the bed letting out a sigh. He tapped on the tablet next to him and it lit up, the time was in the right hand corner displaying ‘11:42’. Seems he still had some time before the next sleep Walker journey, he could get in a good lunch and whatever this regeneron crap was in first. He didn’t even have any time to browse the internet before Sarah came back in with a tray of hot food. Crossed over her arms was an IV like bag that he assumed was some type of drip like he seen in movies. She sat down the tray on the table top and walked over to the other side of the bed pulling out IV and the needle. Walking over to the wall she pressed on a piece of it and it slid out. Lucas raised a brow at the hidden compartment, he would of never known it was there had she not shown him. She pulled out some needles and tore it from the paper packaging throwing it in the trash on the side of his bed. Slapping it on the end of the IV tube she gestured for his right arm. He handed over his arm and winced as the needle slid under his skin finding a vein.

She popped the bag she was carrying into a small basket that popped out from the top of his bed. Running a quick disconnect to the IV she connected the two and the purple liquid from the bag slowly diluted with the water from the IV. The cold water hitting his arm was welcoming, once the bluish purple regeneron hit his body he felt a small shock. It was amazing, he could feel his body pulling itself back together in real time as his body. It was like a thousand shots of adrenaline with some relaxing pain killers mixed in, some addicting shit that’s for sure. Sarah laughed as he shuttered, she grabbed the tray off the table and sat it down on his lap.

“Yeah there’s a reason regeneron is under strict hospital control and illegal in some states. I remember my first time breaking a bone and getting it. Wild ain’t it.” Sarah said and Lucas absently nodded as the cool liquid pulsed through his veins.

“Well Mr. house enjoy lunch. I’ll be back at 12:10 to get you washed up before the lawyers arrive.” • “Thanks Sarah.”

She gave a curt nod before filing out the room, Lucas’s let go of his eyes and they rolled back as the cool liquid rolled into his veins. He couldn’t help but think whoever invented this shit was madly rich, hell he felt like he could run a marathon right damn now if he had to. A maddening grumbled hit his belly as the liquid flowed and he knew why they served food with it. Jesus he was hungry, seemed today was a swish burger and some fries. He scarfed it down in no time at all, the fries were baked but still were damn good. The burger wasn’t as good but hey it was free food and he would take what he could get. Letting out a sigh as he was stuffed full he popped open his small cart of milk and washed away his dry mouth. He sat his tray to the side and a large burp marked the end of his five star hospital meal. He tapped his tablet and glanced at the time and smiled, it was time. Eleven fifty nine, he watched as the last minute flipped over to twelve and he could feel his body getting heavy. Closing his eyes he let the sweat embrace of the drift take him. Even with how horrible his last time went, Lucas couldn’t help but feel so damn excited.

There it was the black moon shining in with silver outline as pan sat on its inside hump smiling at him. Her familiar smile and giggle was so welcoming that he felt his sorrows and past drown away. She melted into the moon and it spun in circles till it was all his vision could see, the spinning stopped abruptly as the moon was now full and a triangle patterns wrung around its side coming to a stop. It looked like a stylized version of the sun with triangle around it now pulsing a bright yellow light as it grew larger and larger in his vision. He felt a warm embrace wrap around his body and his body being freed from a shell. Liberated so to speak floating aimlessly before getting sucked into the sun. His conscious shuttered once again and he felt his consciousness slip into a new body. His body slowly regained feeling as it was turning from a spirit ghostly body to one that was more real and had feeling once again and he could smell an odd smell of cherries and strawberries yet again. Clothes and weight donned on him as the weight of gravity pushed back onto him. A stone pad was below him of a crescent moon and sun on either side chasing each other just like last time. In the middle was a carving of pan and all her gorgeous details mesmerizing as she stared blankly upwards. The silver dome fluttered around the pad filling his vision before slowly peeling back towards the pad under his feet.

When the silver dome surround the pad finally crumbled away the world filled into his vision with the intense bright white light of public nest he started off in last time. The simple white walls with murals of great battles splashed in golden paint and the statue of pan at the entrance of the double doors gilded in gold. The moon and sun stone pad at his feet with pan at its center like a large version of the one that brought him here. His black cloak, black boots and gloves with his white onside underneath greeted him drenched in blood. The foul stench so thick and viscous he could almost taste it. Before Lucas had time to move silver rings formed around him on the giant pad for the walkers nest, inside the silver rings sprung up with a sun at its center. From the rings and the pad golden particles came up to his height and drowned out the area within the circle before peeling back. In the place of the the rings were men and women all people that he guessed were rogues like him as their onesies didn’t have a banner hanging from it. Not to mention they wouldn’t spawn at a public nest. Odd patch works of armor and weird weapons hung on their bodies. They immediately all turned to him with more then a few stepping away from the gore covered body of his. He payed them no mind and called up his status to see what his bounty was from all the kills of goblins he got before getting thrown out Oveipa;

[NN: Prince {+} | Dreams : 1 {+} | Tokens : 5,150 {+}]

Lucas brows shot up at the large amount of tokens, he must have killed a damn lot of them before getting kicked out. He instantly brought up his stats to see how much he filled out last time.

[NN\Stats\ Physical : 0.9/1 {+} | Mental : 0.6/1 {+} | Etherial : 1.6/2 {+} | Walker : 1/1 {+}]

He sure as hell leveled up a lot more then he thought he did last time. Lucas was surprised at how far his etherial and physical stat filled out, hell his mental stat even went up. How he had no clue. Now what to upgrade…Lucas figured he should upgrade Walker and his physical stat first. He had no clue what mental did still and would like to figure it out before he started throwing tokens at it. Two thousand tokens were sapped away just like that and his stats were upgraded as the golden light washed over him;

[NN\Stats\ Physical : 0.9/2 {+} | Mental : 0.6/1 {+} | Etherial : 1.6/2 {+} | Walker : 2 {+}]

Just like that he upgraded his stats with the snap of his wrist. He might have almost died for those points but it still felt a little too easy. Lucas shrugged it off and figure he should upgrade physical, etherial and Walker once more with the three thousand he had left over. A bit of a snag in his plans was found when he went to upgrade his physical stat;

[NN\Stats\Physical\ +1 : 2000 Tokens {+}]

Well now that was some horseshit Lucas thought as he let out a huff. Not only did he have to fill them out by working for it, they went up a thousand each time he upgraded them. Well he didn’t want to upgrade physical if he only had one more upgrade left, he switched off to etherial and it sure enough cost two thousand as well. He dumped his last bit of points into the etherial stat washing him over with a golden shine. He checked to see how much was left, his five thousand tokens had been zapped away to one thousand five hundred and fifty in minutes. He stared at his new stats with a mild annoyance at how many tokens it sucked away and so quickly;

[NN\Stats\ Physical : 0.9/2 {+} | Mental : 0.6/1 {+} | Etherial : 1.6/3 {+} | Walker : 2 {+}]

Well he was at the very least sure he was better then most people this early into exploring Oveipa. He would throw the last thousand into mental if he knew what in the hell it did. For now he would save it for a rainy day, god knows if he will end up getting dragged into another goblin cave on accident. He let down his status and glanced around noticing the few people left in the Walker nest was still standing in their spots staring at him. He forgot the golden light washed over you every time you upgraded a stat so they were likely shocked and amazed. It was still more then a little creepy so he decided to get out of there, he needn’t ask anyone to move as he walked through the sparse crowd they quickly moved for him like a parting sea not to get his stench on them. Pushing his way out the double doors and the previously bustling town was now empty like a ghost town spotted with few people. He could see those few forming up in groups of sorts around the ghost town, some gave him a side glance but most paid him no attention to pre occupied with their own situations. He could team up but honestly he didn’t trust anyone and sure as hell didn’t want to have to rely on strangers to have his back.

Lucas spotted a pump well by one of the empty stalls in the center of town and made his way over. He pumped the spigot and the water came gushing out, he stuck his head under the spigot washing off all the crud. He took off his coat and gloves washing them off and throwing them over the spigot standing out the dirt to dry. He washed off his onesie and shoes, the cold water was refreshing over his body. The heat from the sun beating down on him in the early morning was already crazy, he guessed this world was in its summer seasons. He sat down on a rock near the spigot waiting for his to clothes to dry. Sprawling out on the rock he let out a sign as the gentle breeze blew over him. The white fluffy clouds passing overhead he smiled, he was stronger and smarter now. He would hunt around the beginner town for a while before moving on to the next section. Lucas wanted to have physical and etherial at three an filled out at the very least before moving on. He would need to learn where his cap is on etherial shifting too lest he pass out again after one to many shifts. Maybe he could dig around in his memory and find a new arrays or runes for a new shift, it would be nice to not be a one trick pony but he wasn’t betting on it.

Lucas threw back on his clothes, they were still a little wet but clean and that was far better then being covered in dried gore. Time for him to get out of town, he didn’t want to be so close to so many people that could kill him. There wasn’t exactly a police force in the abandoned town, not like the coalition had much of one before but still. They kept most people at bay with their guards, he didn’t have any illusions that they would be the same with the coalition gone. He headed down the strip and on the way down he could hear a few groups talking about the dungeon in the beginner area. Would be a good place to go once he got his stats upgraded to where he wanted and felt confident enough in his abilities. Better yet after hunting today he should head to one of those halfway towns on the beginner borders and trade in some etherial cores for tokens or gold. He walked back through the open wood gates at the edge of the towns walls and kept on the tail to the split where it hung left, right and bungled on straight down the valley. Lucas was going to stay far away from wherever the fuck he was last time heading left today. He had no want to get knocked out and dragged into some goblin hell hole. He hadn’t explored out west anyways going east last time. Keeping to the trail he moved across the valley and into the woods with a light whistle churning out his lips.

“Time to go hunting.” Lucas said smiling as he entered the forest with a pep in his step.