The void was vast.

No.

It was without end. Eternal.

I drifted without any a concept of time, just observing the inky oblivion. Nothing weighed on my mind, as I existed in the tranquil solace of limbo. My worries, my dreams, my love. None of it mattered. I was one with nothing, and it was perfect.

………………………………………………………………

Lucas- Location New Athens Upper Pennsylvania. Rivan Estate. First of July

The song of the dawn birds woke me from the best rest I’d ever had, causing me to reminisce about the last time I even remotely slept this well before my parent's died.

The closest comparison that I could make was five years ago when Eva and I went to the spa for a day and had a professional powered masseuse to work out every ache and twist I didn’t expect my 13-year-old self to hold. And as to how a bunch of kids won a spa day worth a grand?

Well, I kinda cheated.

But it was because they cheated first!

The owner of the stall at the carnival had been using well-hidden magnets, that he could turn on whenever they thought someone was getting a little to close to winning the big prize.

Now I was a skeptic about carnival games ever since I was a kid and some pot-bellied ass cheated me out of a prize I really wanted.

So I grew to always be wary of playing such games. So when Eva decided she really wanted a particular plush toy the stall owners giving out as a prize because it was apparently ‘limited edition’ I said fuck it and gave it a shot.

I pitched the ball and lost.

I hurled the ball and lost.

I sent flying a throw with enough strength that I could have pulled my shoulder. Yet I still lost.

This cheat! There’s no way that toss wasn't strong enough! It was a direct hit for god's sake. I remember cursing at the con-man internally.

The game was a simple throw and knock down game, yet no matter how accurate or how strong my throw was it wasn't knocking more than a block or two down.

It had been my fifth attempt when I noticed a slight shuffle in the stall owners step, his foot making a strange twist in place.

When I realized what was going on my eyes gained a savage glint.

I was going to rob this con blind to the point where he’d have to close down for the night.

No that's too light of a punishment, let's make sure he loses his license.

After I had won all of his prizes that is of course.

I told the scammer Eva, and I were out of money and needed to get some more cash from our parents. Of course, that had been a lie since Eva, and I had come to the carnival on our own, but he didn’t need to know that.

Leading the confused Eva away, I told her in detail exactly what had happened. Her reaction? Well, let's just say that if I hadn’t calmed her down, we’d have had the cops and local Heros show up at a very unfortunate electrical accident.

So we devised a plan. This time we would both throw at the same time, but Eva would send an electrical current through the ball. The Only reason the plan worked though was because the ball was a weird plastic with these metallic grooves that allowed the shop owner to hook the balls to the side for contestants.

His ingenuity would lead to his downfall. How ironic.

Within minutes we had cleared him out of prizes since the magnets reacted badly to the charged orbs.

We were just about to leave after gathering all our prizes in a huge plastic bag when a rough hand grabbed down on Eva’s ember like hair.

“Ye little cheater! Think you can clean out ole Ruddy now don’t ye? I’ll have the carnival guard come down on you and make your parents pay ten times what ye ow me.”

Eva had been completely caught off-guard and released a shriek of fear at the sudden pain of having her scalp pulled upwards harshly.

As for me? Well, I had the crystal clear memory of pulling my phone out and bashing the scumbags teeth in with all the vigor my arm could muster. I was going to get a new phone in a month anyway.

Teeth and blood splattered over me as the man crumpled to the ground while screeching like a pig to the slaughterhouse.

Kicking his ankle hard enough that I heard a crunch, I reached for Eva’s hand and entwined my fingers with hers and ran as fast as we could.

From there, we went to the main ticket booth and told the manager at the time that the man with the stall had attacked us when I spotted him rigging his stall.

After that, everything was resolved, and we got to keep all our prizes.

As for Eva she wasn’t one for crying but she still gave me a very long embrace to show her thanks for saving her. Though I didn't see it that way if anything I’d saved that scumbag from getting fried.

Opening my eyes from the sweet memory I stared at my painted ceiling. It wasn't anything extraordinarily special, just something my parents had painted for me on my eighth birthday.

Still, nothing beats waking up to the image a T-rex in futuristic armor with gattling lazer guns fighting off a swarm of leprechauns riding raptors while he protects the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Yeah….. I requested these specifics from the professional.

Anyways strange childhood years aside it was time for me to get out of bed and deal with the pressing matters at hand. Most concerning of all though? Living with five girls on a budget of $1,500 a month.

I stretched out feeling the electric chill of a good nights rest when my hand touched something soft to my left.

I gave it a squeeze.

It wasn’t a pillow.

Lucia and her dam pranks!

Well, this was my bed, and I was going to let her know that I wasn't going to have any of this anime trope crap.

“What’s with this cliche bullshieeeeee, AHHHHHHH the fuck Lucia!!!!!

Like a cat seeing a snake, I flew off my bed as my legs sent me over the side at the horrific sight in front of me.

Everything from her legs to her neck was completely normal but once you reached her head? That's where the nightmare fuel started.

Smooth flesh gave no indication of any facial features besides this long curved mouth that had light blood seeping from its edges. It was like like a flesh-colored egg with a long ghastly grin.

“I HUNGER!” The mouth spits out with evident difficulty.

“Fuck this shit I'm out!” I was scrambling to get up and run when I felt someone grab me.

“Eiiiieeeeek.” I released the manliest scream I could manage to save some face when familiar giggling pulled me out of my fight or flight state controlling body.

“Recorded! I’ll be sure to archive this for potential blackmail favors!” The bubbly mess that was Lucia stood before me.

Although she could have used some more clothes.

Beauty that had been absent from her clone made itself know as cheeks rosy either from her laughter or the hot shower complementing the summer light blue eyes that glowed with mirth.

Her shoulder's a soft, tantalizing pink, had wet matted hair crawling over down her back. A tightly held towel was all that stood between her and the elements, yet it couldn't hide her curvaceous figure from the world.

Especially those hips!

I just didn't understand why she was so goddam hot. I’m confident on my looks to the point where if I could consider myself an 8 she still knocked it out of the park being a 15! It made no sense how our attractive meter could be so different when we were that same person with genders switched.

Now If she questions why my little guys awake I’ll just say it's his routinely morning stretch.

“Am I going to wake to your pranks every day?” Maybe I should just kick her out of the room and go without the promised medical care.

“Don’t be such a downer, its all in good fun hahaha!” Her laughter making her chest jiggle hypnotically.

“You call that monstrosity good fun?” I’d seen some gruesome things on the internet, but that clone of hers was near the top. It also made it worse since It was right in front of me.

“Hey! It might be a little off but that's still me, or are you calling me ugly?” Like a professional actor, crocodile tears appeared in the corners of her eye, a slight quiver in her voice making it extremely convincing to anyone that didn't know who they were dealing with.

“Naw, you look great, but that thing over there could make millions in the horror movie business.”

“Aww, thanks for the compliment. But poor me number 4, look at her you broke her heart.”

Behind us the clone was making exaggerated movements, her hand placed on her chest as though in suffering from heartache. Regrettably, with that faceless bloody grin, it just made me shiver instead of feeling sorry.

“So you going to explain why it looks the way it does?” Is this what happens when you fail to create a proper clone I wondered.

“No, it’s just part of my ability. I’m able to shift their features somewhat to enhance disguising. It’s not shapeshifting, but it’s good enough to look like really well-done plastic surgery. That’s just what happens when you shift all the skin over the face.”

“Just how extensive is your power?” The cloning and now minor shapeshifting? That's almost two powers right there, yet she still has more hidden.

“Extensive enough that I made all my peers eat my dust. You jealous or something Lucas?”

“Well kinda but not really considering my power technically beats yours.”

“Really how so.” A cheshire smile on her face as she waited expectantly for my answer.

“Since I summoned you that means you're one of my partners, so all your abilities will be of great help to me, and that doesn't even include whatever those other girls bring to the table.” The pact had been pretty obvious that working together was a must. They didn’t have to like me, but at least we could work something out to make everyone happy.

“You're a lot nicer than me, despite actually being me hahaha. If it had been my knee that was shattered, I would have broken both of that dragon's legs in response.”

Well, that was dark. Gotta make sure not to get on her bad side.

“Oh, that was a little heavy for you, sorry. From what I can tell you haven't had to deal with some of the crueler sections of the world.”

“And you have?” A little bit of worry laced my words. I’d only know Lucia for less than a day yet we were so alike at times it was like hanging out with an old friend who had all the same interests at you. I was loving the back and forth between us despite how flirty she seemed to get at times.

“Let's leave it at that, please. Why don’t you examine your abilities and titles? I learned a few things about my abilities that I never knew before by going through the menus.” Expertly diverting the conversation to something relevant I decided that she’d talk when she felt like it.

Lucia’s clone walked into her finally leaving and making me feel more at ease. Lucia was now wearing some of my older clothes because they fit her albeit somewhat loosely.

She now exuded a tomboyish charm making the missed ‘special time’ something had to be taken care of if I ever wanted to calm down the guy in my pants.

After a nice shower, and sweet release I returned to my room to find Lucia drying her hair with a blower. She was sitting on my bed scrolling through phone likely looking to see all the differences between our worlds.

Guess I might as well study this system more in-depth for now.

“Hey! Winstone, can you hear me?”

-(Sadly Yes Boy)-

“I don't have to use a keyword or something anymore?”

-(No, as the personality matrix that's been assigned to you, the moment you wish to open the system menu I get a signal from your brain.)-

Awesome, that makes things a lot more streamlined.

“Well can you explain everything you can about the system to me?”

-(Would it be so difficult to say please or ask with some more respect.)-

“Please forgive my insolence Elder, may this young one please receive the fruit of knowledge that comprises of your lessons?”

-(Your words would have more weight behind them if you actually meant them. Still, let's get this moving along I feel the other young ladies stirring from their sleep.)-

-(Let's begin with the obvious, your name. Unless you genuinely believe your name to be something else, the system will always show what the host believe to be its name.)-

“So if one day I marry a girl her last name would only change if she really wanted to change her name?”

-(A crude example but it works yes.)-

“So what about these titles what do they do?”

-(They provide you with very small perks, though the rarer and harder a title is to acquire the stronger said perk may be. Though you can only equip one title at a time, at least until the system allows you to don more.)-

“Interesting…. Can you show me what all of my titles are and what they do? Please, sir?”

-(An effort is better than nothing.)-

-(Title Summoner- One who brings forth. Summoning rituals are 25% easier to perform. Bonded summons are 60% easier to resummon.)-

-(Title Interdimensional Hero Summoner- Breaking through the Universal boundaries you bring forth beings with the potential to rise above all. Hero Summons are 15% easier to summon, but the summoner is limited at 5. Otherwise, other godlike entities may take notice and retrieve their Heros if they are from their domain. Bonded heroes cost 70% less to resummon.)-

-(Chaos Beast summoner- You seek the exotic, and what could be more exotic than a mythical Chaos beast. A being born within chaos. Chaotic beast summons are 5% easier. Resummoning a bonded Chaos beast cost 50% less.)-

-(Summoner of the Immortal- Outside the control of the system resides realms controlled by the entity known as the Heavens. To summon one from those realms is bravery and skill few hold. Immortal summons are 0.000000000000001% easier to perform. Resummoning a bonded Immortal costs 55% less. If the bonded Immortal returns to the domain of the heavens, resummoning costs 0.000000000001% less, but has a 99.9999999% chance of failing.)-

-(Summoner of the Doppelgänger- You look in the mirror and wonder. Which side of the mirror is the real side? Are they the reflection? Or are you? Doppelgänger summons are 80% easier. Resummoning a bonded Doppelgänger cost 95% less.)-’

-(Patient Zero- All change begins with one source. Alpha access to the system. You have 3 alpha tickets to share. Additional benefits will be awarded when the system fully initializes.)-

That's a big wall of text, though from what these titles are telling me I can resummon the girls from anywhere. Besides for Xue. Wherever the hell she comes from doesn’t seem to take kindly to my summoning.

-(You have quite a few interesting and rare ones Boy. Changing your title is easy but you can only do it once a day, so be careful.)-

“Can I see my abilities now?”

-(Minor Identify-(Type-Being)- At the cost of (currently 30%) of your Mana you can Identify the name and species of any being you target. Keep in mind this ability is Minor so it is easily susceptible to deception. Your targets will sense you when you activate this ability.)-

-(Enhanced Mind Very-Low- A mind is a powerful tool. Sharpen it, and it can be a powerful weapon as well. Reaction time as well as memory retention improved by 5 times the base capabilities of the host's mind. Passive ability)-

-(Doppelgänger-1 - Allows the creations of up to one perfect clone with the host's full capabilities. Lasts 10 minutes. A Less powerful clone can be created to last up to 1 hour (Costs 50 percent of your current mana, or from 10% to 50% depending on the weaker clone. The clone works like a parallel mind, sharing all information to the original.)-

-(Summon- Perform a ritual to bring forth new summons (Cost 99% of your current max mana), or return to your side a bonded summon for (60% of your current max mana).

-(Chaos Element 50% -(Active)- Manipulate the pure energy of chaos. It's capabilities determined by your determination.)-

-(It's not looking good for you boy. All of your combat abilities are pretty limited. Enhanced mind effects are common amongst all those above the C-Rank since most powers enhance the host's physiological functions as well as the mind while they improve. Your Doppelgänger is potentially a potent skill since it states your full capabilities, but with your current state, it might as well be useless with such a low time limit and high mana cost. Lastly, your Chaos Element is what you likely have to master how to control since it appears at least as powerful as an S rank ability, though the grim words warn that it might not be as pain-free as your other abilities.)-

-(You do have this information packet floating around in your head called Ruler Of the Nine Heavens, but the system is unable to decipher it for me to give you any information on how to use it, so you're stuck with your other powers for now)-

To most being told that their abilities were next to useless or extremely painful to use is a common occurrence across the world, but to me, they are what will allow me to achieve my dreams.

I was before a man with nothing but a decently smart head on his shoulders, but now that I’ve got something to work with? I’m not letting anything stop me from gaining the power to protect Eva and stand next to her proudly.

Even if my ideal dream was to be able to laze around and have Eva at the same time. But as that old hero movie once said the hardest choices require the greatest of sacrifices.

“It’s fine Winstone, I think I know exactly who I have to ask to use it.”

“Anyway, what's left?”

-(Well I could explain to you how Hp and M)-

The floor shook as dust was shaken from the ceiling and walls.

“WHERE ARE YOU WURMS!”

Glancing at Lucia who looked back at me sheepishly I realized our relaxing morning had come to an end.

Jumping up next to me and following me to the door Lucia laughed as she reminded me of an ancient movie we both enjoyed watching as children.

How to Tame your Dragon. Let's see if you're as accurate as you are funny.