A long time ago the Angelic race waged war across the cosmos, there were humans, demons, devils, and a myriad of other races spanning our known universe. Until one day our universe and another collided, now this should have made the inhabitants of each universe extinct, fortunately by some miracle only half of all living creatures were destroyed and our new known universe has grown at an explosive rate and has only now begun to slow its expansion.
Letting out a sigh, I closed the textbook on my desk, the next several pages discussed the various types of planets and how the war impacted both the old and new worlds. Placing the book on the far side of his desk and pulling a pamphlet from my inner robe pocket for the nearest adventurers guild.
According to the latest news on the cloud, there was going to be mass recruitment of all the guilds, who could say no to a horde of cannon fodder willing to explore and handle all that menial work? The guilds might employ you for work on your own planet or even within the same solar system but only the adventurers who had enough merits or had a high rank could journey to foreign and hostile systems.
Being a cherub of the angelic race was usually a cause for celebration, being a class two cherub at the age of fifteen though was a little less impressive. My healing skills were decent, though my hand to hand combat skills were mediocre at best so I had a decent shot of joining as a healer for the guild.
'I may not be a sword-wielding maniac, but at least I can still join the guild.' This was the best option he had at living life my way. Setting down the pamphlet I decided to take a shower and head to the guild office before my parents found out I was gone.
Walking into his bathroom the sound of metal on stone could be heard with every step, I pulled my robe away. Leaving only my white short-sleeve shirt and black pants. I peeled the shirt from my body revealing lean muscle and scar tissue that covered my torso.
Tossing my shirt and pants on the floor before I made my way to the sink, looking up into the mirror I looked at my reflection, and there I was. Alioth, the white-blond haired and golden-eyed angel staring back at me. I looked much like a young girl.
A divine little goddess is what the maids had teased me with, I hated the fact that I was so 'pretty' if I had looked more normal than I would still have my arms and legs.
From both of my shoulders down I had sleek black metal arms etched with golden runes, the same was for his legs from the waist down, it was a very expensive procedure that had brought in several doctors and alchemists from several planets away.
My parents were extraordinarily wealthy and spent several fortunes to make sure he could live an ordinary life after the incident, even if he couldn't pass on the family bloodline.
I shakily moved away from the mirror while trying to suppress the emotions I had kept bottled up since he had woken up from a drug-induced coma. It had taken months of physical therapy to walk again and he still found it troublesome to hold cups with his metallic fingers.
I turned the faucet and stepped into the shower letting the frigid water soak me before it quickly turned hot. I washed my hair and body and tried to relax, but the sound of water hitting the floor gave him flashbacks of that nightmare.
I had gone off with his friends on a one-night camping trip, just to get away from their parents and to take a break from cultivating and graduating early from the academy, everything was fine Keel had even snuck a small cask of whiskey from his parents' stash.
After we had all passed out, I had woken up and went to take a leak in the nearby river, I proceeded to fall into the river and get knocked unconscious, the river dragged me hundreds of miles away from the city and spat me out on a sandy beach. I wasn't too worried that I would be out here forever, I carried a location talisman my mom gave me so they would find me eventually. I pulled myself up and got to work, I made a shelter, caught some fish with my bare hands, and created a fire to stay warm.
That was where my good luck ran dry, the fire and smell of cooked fish had made a nearby pseudo dragon aware of my presence. That fucking bitch said I would be a delicious snack, and ate me one limb at a time!
The next four days were an unbearable nightmare as she ate my arms and legs and used my body as a chew toy, on the fifth day my parents found me leaning against the dragons' hoard of random shit. They had hired a small army to accompany them and the beast ran further into the wilderness to save its own hide.
After that, I cried with my parents until I nearly passed out from hunger and exhaustion. Before I lost consciousness I asked my mom if I could keep something from the hoard.
Being the loving and doting mother that she agreed and asked what it was that I wanted, about a foot to my left, was a tiny black gem, its estimated value would have been a few hundred gold coins.
Seeing gold, enchanted weapons, and several gems worth much more she asked if I was sure. At this point, I could only nod, she pocketed the gem and said it would be on my desk once we were home, and my lights went out.
A few days later I woke up in the hospital, prepped for surgery, and placed in a coma so I wouldn't thrash about as they cutaway diseased flesh, removed shattered bones, and grafted on my new limbs.
The damage done to my body had crippled my cultivation, which was impressive for my age. I was a seventh class cherub close to breaking through to the eighth class, but that bitch broke my wings!
I clenched my fists at the thought of her throwing me around the room saying she didn't want me flying away before she stepped on them, I could still hear the nauseating crunch before I passed out from the pain.
Luckily the doctors said even though my wings had been broken, that the break was clean enough that I could resume cultivating after they were reset and healed. I had to start my cultivation over from scratch, luckily she hadn't ripped them off and ate them as well or I wouldn't have lived past the age of thirty.
I spent the next six months in the hospital recovering, the alchemist who designed my new limbs left me a letter on the day of my discharge, it didn't say much, other than that the living metal was experimental and that even he didn't know everything it was capable of. That I should be able to use it as a normal body after I got used to it, and that I shouldn't worry if things get a little crazy. Not sure if that is a good omen or a bad one honestly.
Taking a deep breath of the steam to calm down before I turned off the faucet, 'It's fine, I survived and one day I am going to kill that overgrown lizard.' I left the shower and dried off before slipping into another pair of black pants and a white shirt.
Moving to my desk what grabbed my attention was that pretty black gem, it seemed I was the owner of this odd inheritance, as my mother had not reacted to it nor had the rest of the party felt the energy it gave off. I guess they all thought it was a normal gemstone I kept as a small token of my survival.