Life is cruel. Time isn't merciful. Just one day, no, just one second would be enough for life to completely turn around.
Just 5 days ago, I was having a great childhood. Maybe I was too impatient, but I knew it was my fault. If I had been a normal baby none of this would have happened. I had become an orphan just like in my first life, the only difference is that in this life, I was the indirect cause. Corbis wouldn't have been there, he wouldn't have stopped running to protect me. If I had known I possessed such powers, why didn't I try harder? Why didn't I save them?
After the fight with the demons, I knew they were demons since Simon had told me. Their levels were just stupid. The highest leveled demon was 190 and the lowest was 110. I had passed out for 4 full days after the demons. I had somehow miraculously woken up, the doctors thought I would remain sleeping for life, considering how I had strained every single bone and muscle in my body during the last fight that Simon re-told to me, it was a reasonable assumption.
They shouldn't have assumed so quickly though. The grief mother felt was unimaginable, I understood why she did what she did. Corbis had died and I was in an indefinite coma, she just felt too much pain. I can't blame Gatgas since he had suffered severe injuries, all his pets had been killed and the energy consumption was too harsh in his body. I couldn't blame Simon either since he and the other city guardians had been gathered to guard the door at all times, despite that, he visited every day. No one was allowed to go out from Dürandal, the city was hollow, the past coziness was nowhere to be found.
Just 5 days ago I couldn't imagine what I would be doing today. How had I come here? Why didn't I wake up? Is my fate to lose everything I love?
Today we were burying my dad and my mom, I definitely would remember them. For a long, long time. Differently to my past life, I could remember. I could remember them. It was just too painful, why couldn't they have a normal baby? Why did I have to appear and ruin their lives? Was this fate? Why are things like this?
I kept thinking philosophically throughout the whole farewell. Dwarven burials were quite sentimental, especially if such a loving and caring couple died.
- - - -
*Five days ago*
After healing Nýr with the health potion, I carried him in my shoulders, he had already turned back to his normal state, he was the small, innocent kid who had come to talk with us during the morning. The only trace remaining from what he did today was my memories and the small little horns in his forehead.
Too much had happened in one day, I quickly carried Nýr to our house and left him in the bed, then I headed towards Gatgas. The reinforcements were finally here, sadly, the battle was now over, I saw Gatgas being healed by Crakeon, a renowned gnomish healer, who specialized in potions.
I quickly went to the house and sounded the alarm that signaled the end of the battle, then I picked Nýr back up and carried him towards Crakeon.
"Check him, please."
"What happened, Simon? Are the other demons dead?"
"Yes."
"Where's Corbis? What's up with tha kid?"
"Corbis didn't manage to survive. The kid barely managed."
I answered in my usual cold voice, completely different from my messed up heart. Gatgas looked quite sad, after all, Corbis had been quite a good friend of us for over 20 years, he always supplied the city guardians with potions out of pure kindness.
"Fuckin' demons."
"Simon, I don't know what's the problem with the kid. He seems fine, should wake up in a couple of hours, just get him to a bed."
"Gatgas, Simon, what's the situation?" A fully geared dwarf, with a white beard and brownish eyes, came towards us. He was the Dwarven Emperor, Moradin, donning two powerful swords in his back and shining armor, he questioned us.
"Seven demons have attacked, sir." Gatgas submissively replied, no dwarf dared to be rude in front of the Emperor, after all.
"They were very strong, I couldn't detect them until they were right by the door. They managed to surpass the door, thankfully we managed to fight them off. Their lowest level was 110 and their strongest was in the 190s. One casualty and an injured, alchemist Corbis died protecting his son. The son fainted and hasn't woken up, sir." Simon quickly gave the most concise report there could've been.
"Hmmm, demons? Like the ones in the tower?" Moradin asked with a thoughtful look.
"Yes sir, they were many times stronger than those." Simon quickly replied.
Moradin immediately said to his servant,
"Hans, send a notice to the citizens, no one is allowed to come out until the situation has been cleared. I'll personally write a letter to the Gale Empire. Also, sent reparations to Corbis's family, don't dare be stingy."
"Yes, sir!"
"Simon, call for the rest of the city guards, all are to guard the city until further notice. Thanks for your service, I'll talk to Felbis about a reward. I'll leave you in charge of informing Corbis's family."
"Yes, sir."
After Moradin gave his orders, he quickly left and ordered several squads to stay on the nearby guard houses and guard the doors while they gathered the best smiths and craftsmen were called to fix it.
"Gatgas, go rest, I'll take care of stuff."
"Thanks, friend."
I picked Nýr in my hands and headed towards Fiona's home. I didn't know if Moradin had no clue or if he had become emotionless over the years, after all, Emperors had to take tough choices, but he handed me a task that hurt, it pained me so much, it might've been the hardest task I had done in my full 200 years of life.
I slowly knocked when I arrived at Fiona and Corbis's cozy house. I had been here many times in the past but had never felt like this before. Soon, I heard steps coming towards the door.
- - - -
I was in my new home, Fiona had willed in her suicide note for Simon and Gatgas to take care of me and train me if I ever woke up. She wrote how I should be sent to Eden at the age of 10, as her final wish. I cried for many days after that gloomy day.
I went to visit my past home every day, I didn't know what would happen to it but I just came to remember the old days. One day I had found Jorr passed out in front of the house, he was surrounded by beer bottles, it made me even sadder to see what had happened to him. I never saw Xoji, he didn't even come to say anything to me. Maybe he was too pained or maybe he didn't care, but I knew Xoji and that was probably not the case.
Many would dare to criticize me for my long grief, but they just wouldn't understand. They were the first parents I remembered. I summoned Manny every day from the tattoo in my chest and hugged him for hours. I read books to pass time and lived the life a baby should. Maybe I didn't want to accept reality but I knew if 5 days was all it took for my life to become shit, then 5 days was all it would take for my life to get back on track.
I didn't worry about that for now, I just griefed, I griefed until I couldn't grief anymore. Throughout my grieving and my daily meditation with the mountain, I learned one thing.
Nature is unkind; it treats all things impartially. Unless you were the Earth Emperor, Nature wasn't unkind towards me.
And so, seven years passed.
- - - -
Name: Nýr
Titles: Earth Emperor
Race: Demigod
Age: 8 years
SP: 100
Level: 2
XP: 0/200
Class Mastery: None
Class: Gaia's Warrior
Subclass: None
Professions:
[Tailoring Lvl 13][Cooking Lvl 17][Alchemy Lvl 12][Blacksmithing Lvl 4][Tinkering Lvl 5]
Passive Skills:
[Ganesha's Constitution] SSS+
Gain 5 Free Physical Stats per level
50% Stamina Recovery
Elephant Thermoregulation
Seismic Communication
Musth - Increase of Testosterone and Aggression
One with the earth - Godly Magical Affinity
[Gaia's Blessing] SSS+
One with nature - Titanic Magical Affinity
80% Resistance Against Elemental Magic
Complete form and mental stability
Increased affinity with elemental beasts
100% Increase in physical stats
[Sin of Wrath](Sealed)
[God Eyes] (Sealed)
Active Skills:
[Earth Emperor]SSS+
Freely manipulate earth, its form, constitution, energy, and characteristics depending on your will. By imbuing your body with earth energy, freely manipulate its constitution and characteristics.
[Bull God Elephant's Master] SS+
The Bull God Elephant combines with his master to create an upgraded Ganesha's Form. 100% boost in physical stats, upgrade in size, and bodily characteristics.
Stats:
HP: 790/790
MP:630/630
[Strength: 20->53][Agility: 17->44][Stamina: 20->64][Magic Power: 20->63]
Stat Points: 0
Free Physical Stat Points: 0
[Gaia's Warrior Stats]
[Strength: 106][Agility: 88][Stamina: 128][Magic Power: 126]
[Intelligence: 5/10][Perseverance: 10/10][Luck: 10/10][Charm: 7/10]
- - - -
Despite grieving for a long time, I had never abandoned my daily meditation and reading of books. I had learned everything I could learn in the dwarven kingdom about botany, cultivating plants, and alchemy, as it constantly reminded me of Corbis and Fiona. I had also become quite the tailor through the reading of many books and repetitive practice since it reminded me of Fiona. Blacksmithing reminded me of Jorr and tinkering made me think of Xoji. I don't know if I was more talented in Alchemy and Tailoring or I just tried harder because of my parents but they leveled much more than the other professions. I also learned how to cook, since Simon and Gatgas had been in their posts as city guardians ever since, I often took them some meals so they had something to eat.
Not to brag but my cooking was quite delicious, I could already make enough potions to live just by doing so and my tailoring was great. I made my clothes and made clothes for Manny so he would stay warm and look cute. We were quite big now, I was 160cm tall and Manny was already 4 meters tall. I usually kept him stored in my tattoo since his size was some-what inconvenient. I had also gained an active skill that drastically boosted my stats when I combined with Manny. It made me absurdly strong.
Despite not being present that much, Simon and Gatgas always sent soldiers to train me in combat, I had become quite proficient in utilizing my powers to the best since they sent a stronger soldier every time. Considering how I could be close to Gatgas in stats when combined with Manny I was happy with my strength. Gatgas often trained me and I learned many things from him, I still hadn't figured out what weapon I should use since Eden recommended not choosing any until enrollment. They also recommended not choosing a sub-class when entering Eden.
I had slowly accepted the fact Corbis and Fiona had passed and I was left alone. I knew I hadn't wasted the time because I was motivated. I was motivated to never let anything like that happen again and I was motivated to become the strongest so that anything like that would never be possible again. Simon and Gatgas didn't bother sending me to a school, they knew I learned more by myself, but even so, in one of my common walks to the prior house I had met with many dwarfs, they were more kind and knowledgeable than I expected so I often cooked for them as well, that would explain why my cooking level raised the most, as I had been reading about cooking and had cooked many times in a day for years. I was quite rich, having more than fifty thousand gold coins inherited from my family so money was never a problem. Corbis had quite the savings and the military had given me a generous reparation. 1 gold coin was 100 silver coins and 1 silver coin were 100 copper coins, so 10,000 copper coins were one gold. 2 silvers were more than enough to buy ingredients for a month, so you can make an idea about money.
The situation with the demons had only worsened over the years, more and more demons had attacked the different kingdoms and one could say the dwarven race had it easy. As gnomes and dwarves lived in Dürandal, they couldn't be underestimated, there were many city guardians over level 200 so there was never another casualty like Corbis.
Today marked the day the demons had stopped attacking for 2 years they had gathered and headed towards the Monster Territory, planning to take over it. They were quite intelligent and showed a human's wisdom, contrary to what the appearances suggested. Today Simon and Gatgas would get a 2-year vacation that they had promised to use on training me to the maximum, before sending me to Eden and the Tower. We were going on dungeons hunts and I had to level up towards 10 to enroll in Eden. They were planning on helping me develop new skills and get quite proficient with a weapon during these two years.
I was leaning greatly towards the greatsword since I knew I would grow to be quite big and that weapon had enough destructive power to fit my abnormal stats. So before heading out, I had prepared quite a bit, Simon and Gatgas both possessed large spatial bags that I had filled to the brim with ingredients, prepared rations, potions of all kinds, clothes, and tools necessary for survival. I had also chosen to take a trip to the auction and browse through several shops to see if I could get something exceptional for cheap with how I could see other's status.
I prepared quite well for the upcoming grind, the only thing left was the auction. I had yet to see what awaited me there.