Time moves on

It's been 62 years since the insident that happened to Nina. Much has changed. Nina has gained some ability to trust men again, but still strugless a bit with strangers. She is now turning 90 and in terms of growth, she is now 27 years of age. She has helped Mary quite a bit and she has become a really resourceful person. As the things have changed a bit in the world, she has created couple of laws conserning these changes.

When we visited Lóng back then with Nina, she was still terrified of men, but tolerated me to some degree. Because of that, Lóng asked Ryū to come to this meeting. The end result of that meeting was that if Nina became magically talented, she would have no problem calling herself Los. Because of this, I asked Stella to help her study magic. I considered Lex at first, but Nina's fear of men made it an easy choise. Stella was quite bussy at the time, since she was about to train the next southpoint. She managed to do both because she is "genius." Thankfully the next southpoint was a girl, so there weren't much difficulty. Those three became quite close and called themself a family for each other during the 24 years of training. When Nina came back, she clearly had changed to a great magician. She even got herself a "tatoo" during her time there.

Stella is now over 100 years old, which is rare for a point to live that long. She said to me once, and I quote, "I'm not going to leave this world just yet you damn gods. If you don't like it, then come and take me you bunch of twats." She has gotten a bit less elegant over the years, that's for sure, but it's not like she doesn't act high class anymore. She just has broadened her vocabulary. She is now the oldest point to ever live. Her former desciple has already got themselfs their own desciple. Stella has mostly left the southpoint duties to her desciple and spends her time doing research. Her desciple has learned much, but still ask her predecessor some tips every now and then.

Dell and Revon have both died during this time. Both of them got to train a new points to their region, though Revon was a stuborn bastard and almost didn't get one himself. Revon got a mach with Aktor again and apparently he actually managed to get Aktor in a pinch. Aktor still won, but the fact that Revon could put Aktor to that point is quite remarkable.

And before we get to Crimson Ruby and Cole, we have to talk about what progress has happened during these 62 years. The information network has grown up to the point we can instantly communicate our thoughts to the world. The thing that we use is called an internet. Calling someone has become quite simple by using things called phones. We even have things called cars to travel to some places. However, teleportation has become as simple as walking to a platform and be teleported to another platform on the world. They have specialiced them that makes different platforms be personal and others public. People can now fly without magic with things called planes. Food storage has become quite easy to handle. Many machines use magic but some use electricity to operate. Many cities have been built because many people have moved in to them. Medicine is also something that also has become as usable as healing magic. We can now grow organs to be given to people who need them. Science has also progressed quite a bit. For example, we now know that things consist of things called atoms. These scientific discoveries have made the use of magic change quite a bit. There is now a ocupation called magic scientist.

And how does these things matter to Crimson Ruby and Cole? Well many discoveries were made by using the funds from Hiék. Those funds were sent to Toros and there people made all kinds of discoveries. Some discoveries came from Hiék itself. And where did these funds come from? Well the mines left by the golems proved that the land was rich in resources. They had all kinds of metals, gas and anchient ruins to discover. The mining itself wasn't cheap, but the return proved it to be worth it. This all has made the country Hiék very rich and prosperous. Crimson Ruby still coverns the country, but Cole has become someone with authority close to his grandmother. Cole himself is trying to prove Crimson Ruby that she can leave the country to his hands. Cole also has become quite popular on social media. Maybe because he is a pretty boy with good body. He also has four wifes already and what I can hear, another is coming up. This also means that he has a lot of kids. Nine to be exact. I suppose he inherited something from his father. Speaking of his father, I hear that he still doesn't like him and prefers to not talk to him. But nonetheless he can talk to Aktor politely.

And Aktor himself, well he is always somewhere, taking contracts to make his living. Xorin has tried to find him for quite a while, since Eilish has come to look for Aktor. It has been like that for over ten years and no sign of Aktor anywhere. You would think that it would be easy to find a man in this kind of environment, but he somehow manages to do so again. I personally think that he is avoiding contact on purpose since he is worried of how it would affect him or something. I figure this is the case, because it's a common knowledge that a reincarnation of Eilish is looking for her husband. Either he is dead or just running away from all this. I can't immagine what Eilish will do when she finds out he has been running away.

My relationship with my kids from Akhekh is mostly profesional. Alkek and Rontikh have followed their mother's footsteps and become part of the police force around Ehstos. Akhekh herself is an vigilante that is respected around the sands of Hiék. She hasn't taken any official jobs, but she has become popular in social media, though not by her own accord. Ijbib works as an investigator in Tian and she has made some remarks to my work as a freelancer around the world. She has told me that I should find an more stable job than that, but in my opinion freelance work is quite stable work. Not all magical beasts can be taken care of by the local police force or military.

My kids with Teno have increased. She said around 40 years ago that she wanted more to make sure her bloodline won't fade. And since it was an order rather than a request, I submited to her whim. Low and behold, now I have three more kids and their names are Skutkarth, Terratrimtas and Aktonypter. All of our children have found jobs for themselfs. Art will become the next priest when Teno resigns or dies, Tino has become an famous artist, Skutka became part of the military in Teteocan, Terra has become a herbalist and Akton has found himself a path of music. Teteocan has become mostly modern, but some of the famous landmarks still stand tall.

As for the laws that had to be made, some magic spells have been prohibited to use. Necromancy is still practiced, but it isn't exactly legal in most places. Earth type magic is prohibited in cities if they use pre-existing materials. In most places magical use is monitored to warrying degrees. Homunculi are prohibited to be made in some coutries and some accept the making of them with sertain conditions. Homunculi have also gained rights in most places. The racism in Arutos has dimmened down a bit, but it's not completely gone.

There have rosen an religion where having the ability to cast spells is seen as something only few should possess. Their head priest, an elf named Shane Decon, has the ability to take away people's ability to cast spells of any kind permanently. They see the ability to cast spells as something that temptates them to commit wrongdoings. In their eyes, only those who give up the ability to cast spells are the purest people around. This believe has become a bit of a problem, since the fact that our ability to use magic via machines has made people believe their cause so much that they even go against some magic institutes. They fully believe that the spells that heal people are the only spells that are acceptable to be cast. Everything else is unacceptable. It doesn't help that people who have given their ability to cast spells have seemingly better luck than others that haven't done so. They even make people lose their ability to cast spells by force. This is technically illegal in any place, but it is changing the legal system by factoring the act as infringement on people's rights. Lex is quite worried about this organisation's movement. I wonder how Cantio feels about this?

There is also some development on an actual space travel. We have managed to put a person on the moon. They even built up a teleportation platforms to the moon and they have made a base there by using them. They even talk about traveling to other planets at this point, but since they are so far away, most people don't support it at the moment. They have put some observation devices near the nearest planet, but since the surface of that planet is much hotter than our planet's surface, they don't know if their equipment can handle the heat. Lex told me that most of the planets can house life to some extent, but not without serious preparation. Apparently Aktor was the one who made all the planets, so he knows more details about them. Lex also said that "I won't be surprised if he put some actual life in one of those six planets." I asked him about the fact that "since the planets are all anchors to gods, why is there a sixth?" He just said that "One of the planets doesn't have a god anchored to them. I don't know why he put the sixth there." Well, perhaps one day when I see Aktor again, I can ask about this.

They have also made couple new types of weaponry. One of them is guns or firearms. They are seperated to five seperate groups: a normal firearm that uses gunpowder, hybrid firearm that uses magic as it's way of firing the physical projectile, magic firearm that uses magic as it's ammunition , crystal firearm that makes use of magic stored in crystals to fire a magical bullet and plasma firearm that shoots plasma at high velocity. They all shoot some type of projectile to a person in high velocity. Crystal guns are the most rare of these five since the crystals that are used are quite rare. There is couple of more, but they are highly specialised, so they aren't classified any other group than specialiced firearms.

Even I had to change my style of fighting a bit. I took upon myself to learn how to use pistols and SMGs to some extent. I prefer quite light guns since I already carry a weapon that I have used for many years and it's ability to go back time is something that cannot be toped. I have been shot many times all over my body and thanks to that, I have gained some piercing resistance on myself. Now I can stand to take on calibers that are used in assault rifles.

I heard that guns have made quite an impact to people around the world. For example, once dragons were seen as something that only professionals can handle, but with the guns in the picture, now normal people can take down a dragon. Though not all calibers can pierce dragon's scales easily.

What I heard is that guns were inspired by the canons created by Aktor back in the golem war and with some shady dealers schematics. The first firearm was created in Toros, as you would expect. The magic firearm was created in Taican and hybrid was created in Hiék. Many people have taken up the guns as their profession and I have seen quite a few skilled crafters and shooters. Though I hope I won't run in to another gun nut in near future. The first one gave me quite a headache when I talked to them.

Low has become some sort of selebrity. She does all kinds of things like singing, dancing, acting, hosting and that kind of stuff. I even heard some people talking that she is an idol or something. But her willingness to go on hunts with me hasn't stoped, though it has become less frequent.

Low still lives in my house though back in Atlas. Yes, I still have that same house, but I have paid Mary more than she lend me. I personally would like to live in an apartment, but both Lóng and Rey are against this idea, so I have to live in a manor. Nina still lives in the same house, but she is worried to bring her friends in sometimes, for some reason. I heard that she might have a boyfriend, but I haven't been able to confirm this. In any case, I don't plan on making Nina move out. She is even paying me to live there, so I don't mind.

Atlas has also changed quite a bit to a very populated city. There are lot of places that haven't been changed, but most of the city has changed. Mostly it's size. New artificial islands have been made to support the growing population. The church of the five still has an important presence, but the governent has been changed to a republic. Officially the county is now called the republic of Aeternus.

Nina's official job is to help people in the church and the goverment. I believe her official title is consultant of the house of governing body. She mainly handles paperworks that are important to the governing body. She does some other stuff as well. For example, she can play a violin and cello. She also has made quite an impression on social media together with Rey. Both of them are cosidered influencers.

Rey has continued to do her job as a servant of house Los, but she also has become famous. Her beaty and skill have impressed people of the internet. I still get bit of hate from people, since I get to hear Rey call me master. Rey has become famous in the martial arts tournament as well. She went there together with Low once, and they managed to get to the finals. Rey won, but it was a close match.

I have to admit that I have only went along with the technology that has come and I'm considered a bit challenged when it comes to devices. I'm not bad, but I just have a habit of breaking things by accident. I haven't gotten into the trend on posting my status on social media since I don't fully get it. I look around the social media, but I just barely post anything. And I'm not that popular by myself anyways. Rey and Nina have made sure that I'm not fully out.

Anyways, today I have found that bastard Aktor walking around the city, so I take him to a restaurant and ask him couple of questions.

- So, where have you been all for ten years?

- I... well...

- Don't tell me you have been running away from your wife.

- Well... that too.

- I knew it. What else?

- I... have been busy inventing things.

- Inventing things? What have you created?

- Nothing much, only a nanobots that can kill cancer cells and other illnesses, a spacestation of my own and a base up in Inanis.

- You have done what now? You just made nanomachines again? Something that no one else can do?

- Yes. It is only doable with my powers though.

- And you just made an spacestation?

- Yes.

- What about the other countries? What do you think they think.

- They probably think it's some alien ship that they can't enter.

- You even made it look like an alien spaceship.

- I don't know. They migh perceive it that way since they can't identify it.

- Why did you built it?

- For... experiments.

- Experiments?

- Yyyeeesss...

- You have done something dangerous again, haven't you?

- You... aren't completely wrong.

- Can you tell me what is that experiment about?

- Well... have you heard of what happens if you move faster than light?

- You go backwards in time?

- That is the theory, but not the entire truth.

- You can move faster than light now with something on that station.

- It's one of the things I have created.

- What else does it hold?

- That's a secret.

- A secret experiment that might contain a speed of light. How charming. What about the base in Inanis? A planet that doesn't anchor any god.

- Yes, it also is part of that experiment and more.

- And you won't tell me what they are about.

- Not yet anyways. Maybe someday.

- And you have been preocupied by those things for ten years and up?

- Essentially.

- Are you going to meet up with your wife?

- Well...

- She has done all this for you. Don't make her regret her decisions. Do you want another case where your child comes after your life and hates you?

- That seems to be what I'm good at.

- Aktor.

- I get it. It's just... what if I don't feel the same when I meet her again?

- You're worried about that? What difference does it make? She is the person you fell in love with back then. Are you so obsessed on her appearance?

- It's just... time changes things.

- But you still think you are in love with her right?

- Yes.

- Then what's the issue? Just go and meet her. She was happy to see you back then when we met in the afterlife.

- She was wasn't she.

- Let's go.

- Okay. Let's just eat first.

- Right.

- Damn this is good! I might want seconds.

- You will be paying then.

- On a second thought, I might pass.

And so we ate and left to Gamide. We only needed to pay a fee on using teleportation device. We didn't want to bother Lex, since he made it very clear that now that these things are in place, he won't teleport us around like some service. He does give me some lifts every now and then when I ask.

We made it to the capital and we started to head to a place where we Aktor can declare who he is. We find the an palace and go inside. We are of course questioned, and we are then escorted in with some doubting looks on their faces. They didn't seem to like the idea of Aktor holding a spear when entering the palace, but they let us in anyways. We get to the hall, which is empty. a fifteen minutes later we see a woman who sat to on throne and started asking questions.

- So... which of you claim to be Aktor?

- It's me your highness.

- Hmmm... you seem to have the spear that we expected. What is your purpose here?

- I am looking for reincarnation of Eilish. My past life's wife.

- I see...

She gets a call from someone on the phone after taking a picture and sending it to someone. I hear a woman's voice coming from the phone, but I can't make out what they say. When she closes her phone, she tells us.

- She will be here any minute.

And after a couple of minutes, we hear the door open with force and someone running. We turn around and a small girl shouting "Titus!" who jumps to hug Aktor with a force that makes him fall down. They are on the ground for a while, while the girl is rubbing her face against Aktor's chest.

- Titus... Titus.

- Hi... Eilish.

- Aaah, I missed this feeling.

She then grabs Aktor's collar and starts whispering to his ear quite menacingly but yet with a kind tone.

- Where have you been for ten years? Have you been chasing other people's pleasure times? You don't smell like you have. But how can I be sure you haven't?

- I haven't done anything like that with people after I last saw you.

- So not with people you say?

- Don't twist my words.

- Then where have you beem dear Titus?

- I have been building stuff.

- Building stuff?

- Yes.

- Hmmm... fine, I believe you. But for ten years? You must had some big project going on.

- Yes.

- Care to tell me what it is?

- Not... Not now at least.

- Hmmm... fine, I let you go.

She starts to sit on top of Aktor and starts speaking to the person on the trone.

- You have done me a great service Ilian. I won't forget this.

- Th- thanks.

- Now then Titus, let us go to meet with your kids.

She rose and started dragging Aktor around while he was still on the ground.

- I can walk you know.

- Can you now? You seemed quite weak on your knees when I embraced you.

- You just came with a great force.

- Did I now?

- Yes, now let me stand up.

- Okay dear.

He rose up and we started walking. I figured I follow them while I'm here. I'm sure she will tell me to leave if she doesn't want me there.

We went to a Eilish's house to see two of Aktor's kids in there. Eilish shouted when we got there.

- Hey kids! I have brought your dad home!

We saw two people coming from upstairs. One was a demon child and one was an small elf. The demon kid said first.

- Hi dad? I assume it's you since mom is holding you. Almost like an hostage, I might ad.

- Yes, and don't worry about your mom. She is a bit...

- Annoyed that you haven't come sooner?

- Yes. And which are you?

- I'm Ailmish. That one is Hien.

- I see. So you reincarneted quite soon after you died.

- Well, it's been over 60 years.

- I see. Hi Hien.

The elf says.

- How are you, you old bastard?

- As sharp with your tongue as ever.

- You took your sweet time coming here. Let me quess, you had another kid?

- Don't joke around like that. And Eilish, can you stop holding me like that?

Eilish stoped grabing and said.

- Sorry, just worried you might run of again.

- What am I, a dog?

- Do you want to play like you were one in later time.

- LET'S... Let's talk about that later when the kids aren't around.

Hien says.

- Oh, don't mind us. I'm quite intriqued about how you talk about that stuff.

- Maybe later dear. Momy and dady have to first get the ball rolling.

Aktor says.

- Please stop.

- Why so?

- Okay, you want to talk about it? Fine. You are a kid in that body, we won't be having that kind of thing for a while.

- But I wouldn't mind.

- I have god damn standards.

- Perhaps I should find a growth serum or something.

- You *breathes* you don't have to.

- Then later this night.

- No.

- Then lower your standards.

- I'm not lowering them to the point where I'd fuck a kid!

- But I'm not a kid on the inside.

- That doesn't make it better!

- If we do it tonight, I will forgive your over ten years of absence.

- You... *deep sigh* you really are holding on to this?

- What is it Titus my dear? Have you fell in love with someone else?

- And now you are... fine, let's do it tonight.

- What is it? I couldn't quite hear you.

- You... can... can we have sex tonight.

- Oh, if you insist.

- I can't believe I will do this.

- Loving your wife?

- Fucking someone who has a body of a child.

- To be more clear, my age is 82 and in my growth I'm about 15 years old. This means that I don't have a body of a child.

- You still look like someone who is 13 and just happens to have medium sized chest.

- Still, I'm not a child.

- Are you still growing?

- A bit, yes.

- Then you are a child.

- I'm just short in this life!

- I suppose I can live with this.

- Meanie.

Hien says.

- It's fun watching you two acting like a couple.

- Isn't it? I have so much fun doing this with your father.

A door opens and we see two old faces. One belonged to Xorim and the other... Rufus? Xorim starts.

- So you finally showed up. I almost feel like cutting your neck.

- I don't blame you at this point. I was pretty preoccupied.

- So you were.

- And this fellow here?

- He's Brutus.

- Brutus... you sure have bigger body than in your last life.

Brutus answers.

- Actually this is my fourth life.

- It is? Well, it's been quite long, so I shouldn't be surprised. How is your work at the military these days?

- I mainly command people around. Had some adjustments to do when firearms came about though.

- Perhaps I should have trained you with them in your first life.

- You knew about them back then?

- I invented a lot of stuff that you see nowdays. Though I didn't actually publish them at all.

- I'd like to see the firearms you have invented yourself.

- I will show couple of my creations later.

- That's a promise.

We talk a bunch with Aktor's family. About an hour later the door opens and two new faces come busting from the door. Both seem a bit energetic. The elf then starts speaks.

- Helloo dad! Reaish here!

Then a lizard folk says.

- Hi dad! Liyish here!

Eilish then said.

- Hello Rea and Liy. Didn't expect to see both of you so soon. Didn't you have a job to do during this time Rea?

- I couldn't wait to see dad again. Which one is it? Oh, probably the one with a spear.

- That's right.

Reaish hugs Aktor from the back while he is still siting on the sofa. Then he says.

- Glad to see you haven't changed much.

- How rude to say that. I have changed plenty over the years. Look, I'm an elf with decent knockers.

- I can see that. How about you Liy?

Liyish then huged Aktor from the front while Reaish is still doing so from the back.

- I have been around for a while. I have learned many things during my time.

- Is that so? What new discoveries have you found out.

- Well I was helping to gather crystals for the crystal firearms tests. Did you know that magic crystal's age can be determined by the amount of mana that has built up inside the crystal?

- I do know. I was the one who created them, remember?

- Oh right. Damn, what discoveries would surprise you then?

- I'm always happy to hear when people find about the properties on the things that I have created.

- Is that so?

- It is. Now could you two stop huging me for now.

Liyish stops but Reaish didn't.

- Rea?

- What?

- Can you stop?

- No.

- Why is it?

- I don't want to lose you.

- I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I will come and visit if I do.

- But...

- Trust me.

- Okay.

Reaish stops huging Aktor. Then we all start talking about what has happened in our lives up to this point. We ended up sitting there for hours, until some demon child comes from the door. He says.

- Father.

- Olersh.

- So you showed up.

- Yes I have. You seem quite young.

- Well I've reincarnated again short while ago.

- I see.

- ...

- ...

Eilish starts talking to Olersh.

- What's wrong Olersh? Can't you be more kind? Or is it...?

- Don't worry about it. It's good that I can see father again, but I have other conserns about this.

- So you are still on that. Why don't you ask your father then?

- I... Hmmm

Aktor says.

- Spit it out.

- Are you cabable of love?

- I am. What makes you say that?

- You are something that created life out of nothing. You are god among gods. How can you love some of your creations more than others if they all started from you.

- Each individual has potential to do many things. Different people seize their future different ways. There is no one that is completely the same. There might be similarities, but no one is exactly the same. I have fallen in love with many people on my time, yet only I only could tell Eilish my secret.

- Then are others that you don't like unworthy of life?

- Of course not. Everyone deserves to be alive at some point. But sometimes people do things that make them more undeserving.

- Then if you feel that life is important, how can you kill your enemies?

- All will return to the cycle. One way or another. No one is never truly lost.

- Then... what do you think of us as your creations?

- Depending what you mean. If you mean the decendants of people that I created long time ago, then I would say you all have been great thing for me to witness. If you mean as my actual child, then I only feel the love that father should have for their children.

- Then... Do you regret your choise of creating life?

- Never.

- I see. Then... where will you go after death?

- That's... To be honest, it's a bit unknown to me as well. I believe that I will return to the cycle once I let go of origin. Perhaps then... I will truly understand the perspective of mortals.

- Will you ever let go?

- Who knows. Perhaps, perhaps not. All depends on how the world will turn out.

- I see. Then if we did some horrible things, would you still love us?

- You remember the Felix who was the cause of the golem wars?

- I remember on my last life that I was killed back then.

- Well, he is also my son.

- He was? Well... I kind of felt that was the case anyways. What happened to him?

- He serves the world as a servant for many years to come.

- So you didn't have the heart to kill him.

- Oh I was definetly going to kill him back then. Nor can vouch for that. I was persuaded by the rest of that family that I shouldn't kill him.

- Do you still love them like you do us?

- Of course I care for them deeply.

- But no one tops mother?

- No one tops your mother.

Eilish gives us a smug face. Olersh continues.

- Then... I'm satisfied for now.

- I'm sure you still have more questions to come.

- Perhaps.

- Perhaps, huh.

At this point, all the Deroths have gathered and I felt like I was an outsider. Because of that, I decided to leave them in peace. I later found out that Aktor became a selebrity as Titus Deroth when he joined the rest of his family. He looks like he doesn't like the fame. The Deroth family is officially an selebrity family. I hope Aktor doesn't disappear so easily.