Chapter 05: Master of the distant dream.

*Koho* *Koho*

Her throat released that involuntary sound and she moved her hands against her chest, trying to alleviate the pain even if only a little, but it was all in vain. She then clenched her hands and tightened her lips, wondering not for the first time just how much time she will have to endure until the world show her a little mercy and allowed her to finally die.

After all, for her, living was just so hard, so painful; and, if she died, then maybe she could meet her parents once again.

*Clakom*

A sound was heard when the door next to where she was imprisoned opened, the voice of the slave trader sounding a little too happy while chatting with someone, surely some customers. Raphtalia pay this not mind at all, as this was an regular occurrence in the shop. People will come and go many times at day, buying slaves or selling them back after their owners had their fun with them or broke them beyond salvation.

It was due to this that her mind didn't focus in whatever was happening around her until the moment the sheet covering her cage was removed, allowing some of the light from the nearest candles to reach her. Raphtalia blinked a little, her eyes too accustomed to the darkness that even that tiny amount of light was enough to blind her for some seconds. Once the blindness was over, she finally was able to see the person that had removed the sheet.

It was a young girl, one that was dressed in a very cute yet strange set of clothes; so Raphtalia could not help but think she was the daughter of some human noble or someone with a lot of money. The girl was looking at her with eyes full of pity, yet there was some intensity in them as well, making Raphtalia feel nervous and scared.

"This girl..."

A male voice sounded next to the rich girl, so Raphtalia turned to see who this new person was.

It was a adult man (in her eyes, at least), one with dark, short hair and dressed in fine clothes that looked like some kind of uniform. The man looked shocked for some reason, but soon his face turned serious while muttering something, then he looked to the rich girl and nodded.

"How much for this girl?"

The man said and the shopkeeper looked confused for a moment but responded nonetheless.

"Thirty silver coins. She is one of my cheapest wares, but I have to say this to you, dear customer, she is cheap due to how weak she is. She es only Level 1 and of her race is not that interesting, bedsides, this one face is not that pretty and she tends to scream in the nights for some reason. I really think you should get a better one."

Raphtalia could only lower her head, shame and impotence flowing through her at the harsh and diminishing words that were used to describe her, treating her like an object. The young man released a little grunt and the rich girl released a sighed too.

"It's all right."

The man said, and Raphtalia noticed his shadow coming close to the cage. Raising her head, she watched the moment his hand passed through the bars of her cage, moving towards his head.

"Ugh!"

She exclaimed, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the hit or whatever pain she was about to feel.

Instead, she felt the hand touching her head softly, and then it began to caress his hair.

"Don't worry. Things are about to change."

The man said, his voice sounding soft yet firm. Raphtalia could not help but felt confused for a moment, opening her eyes to try and understand what was happening.

That's when she watched those warm, blue eyes for the first time. Even if his face was a little bit darkened by the poor light of the place, his eyes were something that she could clearly see, as if they had some light of their own.

The man removed his hand and turned back to the salve trader, who was looking all this with a confused face.

"I will take her with me. It's there some procedure we may need to do?"

He asked and the shopkeeper looked uncertain and a little disappointed.

"Are you sure? I still think that Hero-sama could get something better..."

"It's all right. She is what we were searching for."

Looking from the man to the young girl, the slave trader could see that both of them were decided already. Raphtalia could not be sure, but she had the feeling the shady man was not happy with this. Maybe it was due to her position so close to the floor but she watched as the man right hand began to move to his back and inside his clothes...

"Also, all the slaves in this room... They look really unhealthy unlike the one from before. Are they cheap due to them having some kind of trouble?"

"Yes, that's the reason. I see that Hero-sama could understand that really fast..."

The shopkeeper moved a little, placing himself now looking at the back of his customer. He then pulled what looked like a dagger of some kind, one that she was almost sure to having seen before...

"Ah!"

Raphtalia exclaimed, her mind finally remembering what this dagger was. It was one of the tools the slave trader used to do the slave contract work. She tried to warn the man, even if she had no obligation to do so, but his slave crest impede her to talk if she had not been given permission, so she could only watch as the shopkeeper launched himself at the unprotected back of that man with clear blue eyes...

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Ritsuka knew the attack was coming just from the little exclamation of the Tanuki girl and the fast steps of the man behind him. He did not worried nor panicked at this, because it was something he was waiting for.

Just like that over protective red archer will do, Ritsuka had showed the slave trader a weak spot that he could exploit and the man had bit the bait without hesitation.

"Skill: Emergency Evasion."

"Uh?!"

The shady man could not help but exclaim when the target of his attack disappeared in thin air and then the world turned around. He fell hard on his back, the air escaping his lungs harshly and leaving him paralyzed for a second.

*Swiin*

The man felt something pointy touch his neck and he froze when he understood that it was a weapon. He looked around without moving too much and discovered the young girl companion of the Shield Hero pointing at him with his own dagger.

"Ara, this weapon looks interesting. I wonder what it does."

Da Vinci said, her face looking amused and non in the less shocked due to him being attacked so suddenly. Ritsuka moved next to her, his face showing that, even if he was not shocked about the shopkeeper attack, he found the situation troublesome at the least.

"I'm not really sure, but I don't think it was meant to hurt me. It looks like this guy had been following us for a while after all, so he must be aware that my defense is really high."

He remembered the way the shopkeeper talked like he knew about Ritsuka, that's it, the Shield Hero, for some time now; so it was obvious the man had been investigating him for some time. Da Vinci just nodded, looking at the dagger for some seconds before speaking again.

"There is mana flowing through it, the same kind of mana that this man had. Seeing as he is a slave trader, I'm pretty sure this is one of the tools needed to implant the slave geass upon his target."

"So he really was trying to capture me, uh?"

The slave trader began to sweat a lot after hearing them talk. He was really good in his chosen field, that's it, slavery magic. That being said, he had not that much physical power. If he had to fight against one of the Heroes, then he would need to use one of his strongest slaves, but that supposed two big problems. One was the fact that he might lose that slave in the battle, which will meant a big lose for his business; the other was that the battle could grow so big that the imperial guards will come and search for the cause of the trouble. Even if he was confident that he could just put all the blame in the Shield Hero, that will put an end to his opportunity to gain the favor of the Queen, something that he really didn't want to happen.

Worse of all, maybe that terrifying Queen discovers that he tried to slave the Shield Hero and decided to put an end to his business.

Feeling really nervous, the man began to try and talk his way out of this mess.

"De... Dear Customer, this is just a misunderstanding..."

"Now, now. You did not really believe we will fall for that, do you?"

The girl said, still looking amused, but then she moved away, allowing the man to stood up again.

"It's clear that you tried to capture a Hero, one of the people in charge of protecting this kingdom. Even if Fujimaru-kun reputation is not that good right now, I still believe some kind of punishment will fall upon you if we report this."

Da Vinci moved the dagger a little in a 'no-no' gesture. The man bit his lips, looking really vexed at her words, even so, Da Vinci just continued without paying this any attention.

"That said, we really want to get this girl with us but if this is really a legal business in this kingdom, just taking her with us will be not different than stealing. Even if we denounce you, there is no way to tell if they will give us this girl or send her away, seeing how the kingdom is doing its best to obstruct us from getting stronger."

"So you want me to give her for free, then?"

He asked, relaxing his posture a little. He wasn't happy about having to give free merch to anyone, but if all the troubles could be avoided with it, he was more than willing to lose a couple of silver coins.

To his surprise, the girl in front of him shook her head before looking at the Shield Hero, who began to explain.

"We will pay the full price for her, and of course, in the future we will also pay the full price of any other slave that we purchase from this shop. What we want from you is a little promise."

"A promise?"

"Yes. All the slaves here... and all those back there..."

The Shield Hero looked at the end of the room, where the worse of his wares were placed. Those slaves were just one step away from the death, after all, he being unable to sell them for one reason or another.

"You have to promise to do your best to kept them alive until I buy them."

The slave trader eyes shot open, the white of them being visible behind his round glasses. Raphtalia could just stare in surprise too, wondering what was this man thinking when saying that. The slave came out of his astonishment, talking again with some haste.

"Surely, Hero-sama must be jesting. It will be hard to kept them alive, and it will cost so much money..."

The man tried to explain but Ritsuka just walked to another of the cages, the one were a man with bunny ears and a broken arm was.

"I know that this is not an easy task, but you really owe us a big favor if you want us to keep quiet about your attempt to enslave me. That said, I believe this will be beneficial to you as well."

Ritsuka stuck his hand through the cage, trying to reach the person inside. The rabbit man looked uncertain but most than everything he looked resigned. He did not tried to move away from him nor tried to attack him. His only reaction was just the tiniest look of confusion in his eyes and the way his ears twitched a little. Softly, Ritsuka hand touched his broken arm.

"Skill: First Aid."

He chanted and his hand emitted a warm, green light that moved to the man in front of him, wrapping itself around him. His broken arm shined with the same green light and readjusted itself little by little.

*Ding*

With a sound similar to that of a little bell, the light disappeared and the arm was completely healed. More than that, the rabbit man looked a little more healthier than before.

"...Eh?"

The rabbit man released that exclamation, looking shocked and confused about what had just happened to him. With some fear and nervousness, he moved his arm little by little, hoping against hope that this was not a cruel illusion and that his arm, so long broken by his last Master, was really cured. When he felt non of the pain he had been force to accustom himself with, the rabbit man turned to look at the person in front of him, his eyes asking the question that was in his heart.

Why? Why did this person went out of his way to help someone like him?

His answer was only a smile, one that looked resigned yet at the same time was trying to give him courage.

"Just resist a little more."

Ritsuka said, before turning around, looking at each of the cages in that place. All the slaves eyes were on him, all of them confused and amazed with the miracle(magic) they have witnessed. Ritsuka made sure to watch every person in there, before saying again.

"Just resist a little more. Soon everything will be fine."

The slaves just looked at him, non of them saying anything, most of them not believing a single word of what this person was saying. How many times had life screw them? giving them hope and then crushing all they loved and lived for without a second though?

Even so, a little seed of doubt was planted in them at that moment, one that felt more like a cruel poison than a benevolent cure. Should they believe his words? Could they believe them?

And so, even against their wishes and past experiences, a little part of them began to hope for this little miracle.

Ritsuka knew this, of course, but there was not much that he could do at the moment to help all this people. He could only give them hope so they fight to live another day, while doing his best to help all of them even if he could only save one at a time.

To wait and hope. Such a cruel thing to do, but if even someone like him could cross through that kind of despair, he wanted to believe other people could do the same.

The slave trader had watched all this scene while feeling confused, but then shook his head and talked again.

"What do you meant that this will benefit me too, Hero-sama?"

He asked, looking at the now healed rabbit man, his price raising a lot in his mind.

"You could not sell the slaves here due to all of them having some kind of physical or mental problem, right? I'm thinking of buying them all. Of course, right now I do not have the money to do that, but if you kept them alive, I could purchase them one at time. Of course, you are free to raise their price to match whatever money you put in keeping them alive."

"Fujimaru-kun, are you sure about this?"

Da Vinci asked while looking a little exasperated. She understood the feeling her ex master has about trying to save all the people he could, but this was not a promise he could do lightly. They had just so much money right now and the next Wave was really close, so they needed to prepare many things before it began or they will be really in trouble.

On the other hand, even if they could purchase them all, this will only encourage the slave trader to find more slaves to sell, or to ask his acquaintances to give him the slaves they can't sell, and then soon there will be so much people they will need to save that there will be no end to it. Of course, that's without talking about the money needed to fulfill their most basic necessities, which will be a big amount.

In summary, even if she though his idea was noble, it was foolish nonetheless.

Ritsuka just smiled at her, feeling a little sheepish. He knew Da Vinci was lot smarter than he was, so if she was having doubts about this plan of him, then he should rethink the whole thing carefully. Even so, something inside him was telling him to do this, because this was the right thing to do.

"It's all right, Da Vinci-chan. I know it will be hard, but I really want to help all this people... Can I?"

He said softly at the end, like a little kid asking for some unreasonable request to his parents. Da Vinci just looked at him some seconds and then released a sigh.

'Well I guess he deserves to be a little selfish after everything he has done... But to think that he will only be selfish for the sake of others...'

Da Vinci knew it, of course, that his master was just that kind of person. Even so, she wondered not for the first time if this was Fujimaru Ritsuka true personality or if it was something created due to him being so close to many of the Heroes from Myths and Legends. Each Servant had his own unique personality, after all, and even if there were many Anti-Heroes in Chaldea, it was a fact that many Heroes had a noble and chivalrous disposition. People like Altria or Kintoki who will no hesitate to help a person in distress were always a good examples for him, but maybe too much of it was a problem in its own.

The little girl shook her head, there was no point in thinking about it. Her ex Master was an exception over exceptions after all. A mass of irregularities that accomplished sometime that should had been impossible in the first place. Trying to analyze him like any normal human or Magus will give her only headaches.

"If you are sure of this, then I guess its OK. Even so, Master-kun will have to work hard to give me my workshop!"

She finally said, accepting his decision. Fujimaru just nodded his head, happy that they had reached an accord. Turning to watch again the slave trader, the Shield Hero extended his open hand to him.

"Then, what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

The shopkeeper just looked at him while thinking hard about the pros and cons of this proposal, before nodding his head slowly.

"Fufufu~ To think I will find such an opportunity like this."

He said, looking amused about something. Yes, this could work, he though. It will cost him a little of money and he will have to believe in the good will of another person (something that he rarely do) but if everything went right, then he could sell all those slaves that he had already considered the same as lost money, gaining the favor of the Queen all the same.

"I believe we had a deal, Hero of the Shield-sama. I'm really happy to have you as my customer."

He smiled that wicked smile again and Ritsuka could only show a wry smile on his own.

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Da Vinci could not help but observe with interest the Ritual taking place in front of her.

The process to engrave the Slave Geass in the raccoon girl was, in Da Vinci worlds, something really close to the way the Command Seals were engraved in the Servants, yet at the same time it was very different.

The Command Seals were very powerful Orders that could be used only one time by a Master over a Servant he had a contract on. Due to its holy nature, they were really hard for the Servant to resist, impossible in some cases. Even so, it was the power of the Holy Grial and the fact that they were implanted in the Servant during the creation of their physical body that made the Command Seals so powerful.

In the other hand, it seemed like the slave ritual engraved Geass in the chest of the target, where it rooted itself to the heart, spine and nervous system. The Geass were really weak, so weak that a creature with a little of innate magical resistant could easily broke them. That said, they had the same particular nature of this world: they can grow stronger with the target, so it was really hard for the slave to resist an order no matter its level or magical power. Da Vinci was not sure how this worked, but she had the feeling that whoever created this ritual used the same theory that was behind the creation of the Hero System.

"Can you tell me how this ritual works?"

She had asked the slave trader, but he had refused completely, telling her that this was a family secret and that he will not reveal it even if it cost him his life, so Da Vinci could only bit her lips in frustration.

That said, the ritual had a lot of similarities with the Summoning Ritual of the Holy Grial. The circle where the girl, where Raphtalia was placed had the purpose of creating a path between her soul and the soul of her 'Master', who was identified by mixing his blood to the paint used to make the circle and the seal in Raphtalia chest. Then, the Slave Trader activated the circle with the help of a chant and the Geass implanted themselves in the target. Sadly, it looked like a really painfull process, but this could not be helped due to how much the Geass rooted themselves to the body. Finally, the link between Servant, no, between slave and Master was forged, giving Fujimaru the control over the Geass.

"Ahh... Ahh..."

The little girl collapsed over the circle, the strain of having the Geass implanted being too much to her frail body. Da Vinci moved close to her, caressing her head a little trying to ease her pain.

"Uh?"

Fujimaru then exclaimed, looking in front of him with some confusion in his face. His eyes were facing something invisible in front of him, something that Da Vinci deduced must be a info window telling him about his new status as a Master. Da Vinci wished to be able to watch that info too, but sadly the world did not recognize her as part of its system, so she will had to wait until Fujimaru could tell her was this new info was about.

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[You have obtained a slave.

Do you want to see all related information about it?

Yes/No]

Ritsuka looked at the window that had appeared in front of him. It had a lot of information about slaves and conditions that can be put over the slaves, but this was something that he skimmed over quickly due to something else having picked his interest.

[Do you want to set 'Slave 1' as a companion?

Yes/No]

One of the conditions said, so Ritsuka began to read all the information available about companions. That was a term he often heard the King and Mein said, but he thought it was only a word to call a party member without any deeper meaning. Now he was beginning to understand just how little information he had been really given about anything.

"Congratulations, Hero-sama. Now this slave if yours. Will you be so kind to complete your purchase?"

The slave trader said, apparently tired of waiting for the Shield Hero to finish whatever he was doing. Ritsuka closed the info window and pulled 35 silver coins from his bag, giving them to the shady man.

"You gave me 5 extra coins, Hero-sama."

The man said, confused about if this was intentional or not. Ritsuka just nodded his head, explaining them.

"Take them for all the trouble we caused you. Bedsides, there are some things that I will like to ask you, if you are all right with it."

"If this is about the Slave Ritual, then I'm afraid I will have to refuse it..."

"No, is not about that."

The Shield Hero said, much to Da Vinci disappointment.

"Then, how can I be of help to you, Hero-sama?"

Ritsuka opened the slave menu and change the name of 'Slave 1' to Raphtalia, then he set her as companion.

"Do you know how the Companion System of the Heroes works?"

He asked and even Ritsuka could tell that the shady man looked perplex about the question.

"I don't know all the details, but if I recall correctly, if one of the advantages any member of the Hero's Party posses. It allow the member to share and maximize the Experience obtained when defeating monsters. It's said that one of the biggest reasons for people joining a Hero's Party is the chance to grow stronger in a short period of time, regardless of how dangerous it is."

The man said, trying to remember all the knowledge he had about the subject. Ritsuka nodded, this much was explained in the info window he was watching right now.

"Can any person or creature can be set as a 'companion'?"

"I believe there are some exceptions, but I had heard than even horses can benefit from this system..."

Ritsuka tried to set Da Vinci as a companion too, but the system just showed an 'Error: Undefined subject.' message.

"Is there a limit as to how many companions a Hero could have?"

"I do not think so. After all, all the other Heroes had around five companion each, I believe."

"I see. Then let me change the question a little. What about slaves? Can any person or creature can be made a 'slave'?"

Again, the shady man looked confused at the question, but responded nonetheless.

"As with the last question, there are some exceptions, but I believe that, with the right procedure, any living creature could be turned into a slave."

He said, looking a little proud about having the chance to boast about his profession. Ritskua nodded at this, a little idea forming in his head.

"Is something in your mind, Fujimaru-kun?"

Da Vinci asked, still kneeling close to Raphtalia, who was now sleeping in the floor due to exhaustion.

"Maybe?"

He responded, looking at her. This was just an idea, he had no enough information to prove it right, but at the same time there was nothing telling him he was wrong, so he decided to consult it with the genius girl.

"Da Vinci-chan."

He said, looking a little excited. Da Vinci just tilted her head a little, curiosity visible in her eyes. The Shield Hero moved close to her an put a hand in her shoulder, saying it loud and clear.

"Why don't you try and become my slave?"

That's how the slap came.

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"Seriously, Fujimaru-kun. You really need to think before saying whatever cross your mind. Your reputation is bad enough around the kingdom, you know?"

"I'm really sorry."

Around 10 minutes later, Fujimaru was kneeling in the Seiza position on the floor while Da Vinci was rubbing her temple, looking annoyed. It was not that she felt offended by the proposition nor she was feeling ashamed. She was, after all, the Genius inventor Leonardo Da Vinci in a borrowed body. Even if her heart right now was maidenly, she understood the desires of men better than most people! She could attest that the Shield Hero had not unsavory intentions when he asked for her to be his slave.

That said, it does not changed the fact that Da Vinci at that very moment had the body of a really young girl and that the way he asked it was a little too happy, making her shiver and fear for her safety for a moment!

Maybe her Master really had spent too much time around certain Servants that he should have been better not to know.

"So? What was your reason for asking such a foolish thing?"

Da Vinci asked, making sure all the people around her could hear the conversation. All the good will Fujimaru had gained with the slaves around had now plummeted a lot so it was better is they cleared the misunderstanding fast.

"Well, you know how, no matter what you do your level did not raise up?"

He said and Da Vinci just nodded. The shady man looked puzzled about this, but decided to remain silent, half amused and half intrigued about the situation.

"I just discovered that I can set some people as my Companion. I tried it with Raphtalia-chan and it worked, but when I tried it With Da Vinci-chan, an error message showed up."

Ritsuka explained and Da Vinci just nodded, understanding the rest.

"So you though that maybe if we do it in a round about way and I become your slave first then maybe the System could identify me?"

The Shield Hero nodded, happy that his friend could understand his reason so easily. Da Vinci just remained silent while thinking about it. It could work. After all, the reason she could not level up was due to her being a foreign entity to that world. If she forced her way into the System in some way, then maybe that restriction will be finally removed.

There was the fact that she also felt really curious about the inner workings of the slave ritual that she had witnessed, so maybe if she experienced the Geass upon herself she will be able to understand more about it.

Eh? Fearing about allowing Fujimaru to have so much control over her? Command Seals were more scary in that sense yet Fujimaru never misused them, so she had nothing to fear about just this much.

"I understand. I think it's worth the try."

Da Vinci finally said, and Ritsuka just nodded, turning around to where the slave trader was.

"How much will you charge us to engrave the seal in her?"

"Well, if its only the seal, I will charge you 5 silver coins only."

The man said and after some quick math to remember how much money he had left, the Shield Hero nodded his head.

"Please do it, then."

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"Uuh... It really hurts a lot..."

Da Vinci moaned with some tears in the corner of her eyes. The girl rearranged her clothes while looking how the slave seal shined dimly over her chest. Once the glow dispersed completely, she turned around to watch her, now again, Master. Ritsuka just nodded, opening the slave menu and watching Da Vinci information.

[Leonardo Da Vinci

Female(?): 14 years old(?)

Slave LV: 1

Caster LV: 1

Equipment: Da Vinci Fashionable Armor.

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: D+

Magic: B++

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: Uomo Universale (The Universal Man) Rank: A

Possessions: Iron Dagger (Not equipped)

Skills: Natural Born Genius EX 1/10 Territory Creation B+++ (Passive) Item Construction B+++ (Passive)

Magic: None]

'Woah, she was not joking when she said she had to abandon a good portion of her Spirit Origin. It was almost a miracle that she could still exist with how little she had right now.'

He though, looking how diminished her stats were from what he could recall. It was even lower than before they make a contract and began to train together to strength her to her full potential. Letting those thoughts aside, he then changed her name form 'Slave 2' to 'Da Vinci-chan and tried to set her as companion.

"Oh! It worked!"

Ritsuka exclaimed, his right hand involuntarily making a victory fist. Da Vinci just smiled at the success of their plan and then tried to call for the info window to see her own stats.

"Eh~? Nothing appears?"

She exclaimed, feeling disappointed, but the slave trader came to their rescue.

"Maybe if Hero-sama modify the settings to allow his party members to see all the information?"

He suggested. Normally, he would not recommend any Master to give so much freedom to their slaves, but this was a very rare exception so he decided to not to think to hard about it. Idly he wondered if this was due to Fujimaru being a chosen Hero or if it was due to his carefree personality, but decided that, as long as he get his money, then it don't really mattered.

"Oh, it appeared now!"

Da Vinci exclaimed once Ritsuka adjusted the settings and the info window finally appeared in front of her. She then began to try many things to see just how much information she was able to obtain from it.

"Then, I believe this end our business for the moment. Hero-sama."

The slave trader said, receiving now 20 silver coins, the young Hero once again putting a little extra for him to take, something that the slave trader could appreciate. Even so, as interesting as his encounter with the Shield Hero resulted, the slave trader had others things to do, so he wanted to make sure everything was in order before going to the rest of his work scheduled for the day.

Or better say, the rest of his work for the night. Alas, being a business man was not an easy job and many times he found himself overworking to the point of near collapse. Such a hard worker he was.

Fujimaru just nodded his head, taking the still sleeping Raphtalia with him and carrying her in his back.

"I will try and come again soon. Maybe after the next Wave if over I can finally settle myself and began to gather more companions."

"I hope you the best of luck, Hero-sama. You have proved to be an interesting customer."

The man said, looking sincere this time. Saying his good byes, the now again Master and his two companions began to walk in the lonely streets of that fortress city. They had been out for a lot of time and Fou must be feeling impatient by now after having been left alone for so long.

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She was dreaming.

It was curious how she was so certain about it. Maybe it was due to how different this dream was from her usual ones, or maybe it was due to how foreign the images of the dream were to her that she became aware this world was something 'impossible', and her mind decided that it could only be a dream.

Whatever the reason, she was now dreaming of a world without boundaries, without end.

In front of her was a person, a young man of black hair and soft smile. He was an average person, she had such feeling. That this man was someone you could find almost everywhere, even if she had never meet one like him before. There was nothing special about his physique, nothing special about his intelligence, even his aptitude was the habitual for the average people of his country.

Yes, he was in every sense just an average human being.

Yet, he was assigned with an absurd mission, an almost impossible Order.

The order to save the world, to save humanity from demise.

He was afraid, of course he was, because the enemies he had to fight were of such power and skill that just being in their presence was enough to make a simple man faint. Even so, he pushed forwards.

He was angry, of course he was, because of the many injustices and atrocities he was forced to face. Forced to watch and regret. Even so, he pushed forwards.

He was sad, of course he was, because he had to lose so many precious things, so many precious friends. Even if there were many happy meetings, in the end there were just as many sad farewells. Even so, he pushed forwards.

Why? She wondered. What reason a person like him could have to kept pushing himself far beyond the limits of his body, beyond the limits of his soul.

The answer was something simple, really. So simple it felt it should be foolish to ask the question.

It because he wanted to live, but more than everything else, he wanted to live together with all his precious family and friends. Such a simple reason, such a childish wish was enough to push him beyond what even the Gods though was possible for any human to reach.

And so, he kept wishing for it, wishing for a time, wishing for a place or even just for a ephemeral dream where all of them could live and laugh together.

Yes, for a place like that one, where, for as little as a year, many people gathered and formed a big, happy family.

In her sleep, the girl cried many tears, feeling envy for what they have and she could not have again, and sadness for what she had forever lost.

Even so, having watched such scene, she could not help but raise her hand, trying to reach that place too, wishing to find that place where all her precious people could be reunited again, even if it was only a impossible dream.

End Of chapter 05.

Next Chapter Title: Rise.

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Here it is! A lot shorter than what I desired it to be, but I guess it could not be helped. This chapter was really, reaaaaaally hard for me to write. I had in my mind what I wanted to show, but no matter how I write it it just wont come out as I desired, so after trying many things I decided to write it in Spanish first and once I was satisfied with a portion of it I translated it to English and began to put all the parts together. This is mostly the reason for the delay and for the chapter to have so many scene changes. Also, expect a lot of mistakes! Maybe more than the previous chapters!

I apologize for how the chapter resulted, but again, I just could not write what was in my mind no matter what I tried.

That said, I will put this fic in a semi-hiatus, but don't worry, this just mean that it will be one chapter each two weeks instead of one chapter a week until I finished some things first. What things? Well, sit down that here comes the list:

First I will try and fix all the errors in the previous chapters. For this I will write the fic in Spanish and once I'm satisfied with the result, translate it to English little by little and replace the chapters. I doubt there will be any major change, but if I decided to change something, I will put a note at the beginning of the chapter.

'Why not give a chance to a Beta Tester then? Some people had offered themselves, right?'

Well, this is a little embarrassing to say, but I don't want to have a Beta because I know myself all to well. I know the moment delegate even the tiniest of my... could we call it work? Well, once I delegate a task to someone I began to relax a little too much and my work speed began to suffer for it until I delayed things even for months, so I decided to do things as fast as I can and with the best quality I could provide so to not allow myself to grow complacent and began to fall behind my own schedules (Even now I'm falling a lot behind, what with me being unable to respond all the reviews nor releasing the chapters in time).

And that's it. You can complaint now! *Hides under the bed*.

Even so, like I said, I will try to raise the quality of the fic by my own way by writing all in Spanish and them translating it to English (something that I should had done from the very beginning now that I think about it), so yorokobe, Spanish speakers!

Second, I had been receiving a lot of feedback for my game (mostly of my family and friends, but eh, something is something) so I can now began to fix all the bugs it have (It have a lot of them, figures!). If you have the game, feel free to send me your opinion of it in my fanfiction forum:

myforums/TheRebirth/6682642/

There is a post dedicated to the game there.

If you don't have it, please don't try to download it right now because I will be fixing bugs and probably will remove the link and replace it with the new version soon, so wait a little more, please!

What more? Umm... I'm not sure, its 2 AM and I'm feeling really sleepy, so forgive me if I forgot to say anything! I will try to put the answers to the review of the last two chapter tomorrow night!

Till the next time!