7 4 – Changes

The very next day, Samael went to encounter Tarzan. And as if they had some prior order, all the thugs along the way let Samael pass through them without any obstruction.

The boy soon arrived at Tarzan's hideout and said to the thug at the door, '' I want to talk with the boss.''

'' ... It's you. You can enter.'' Again, it seems that Samael now has a free pass to the slums.

After entering the house/hideout, Samael didn't have to wait long, as Tarzan soon appeared, '' BOY! HAAAHAHAHA, did you receive the money?''

Samael nodded and said, '' Yes. I'm here to give you more... of the stuff.''

Tarzan's eyes shone, ''Sure! Follow me to my office!'' The man then leads the way to his office, passing some thugs who looked at Samel with a mix of surprise and a little respect.

As soon as they entered the office, Samael showed the man a hologram from his omni-tool and asked for the terrain that both he and Veronica trained yesterday night, '' I want this area for me. Can you give it to me?''

Tarzan looked at the place the hologram was showing and knew it was an empty lot, a rare place within the slums. But he didn't hesitate, as the kid in front of him was his golden nugget,'' Sure, but can I ask what for?''

'' I'll probably make a gym or something like that. But, at least for now, the gym will be only for my use. If want to use it, you'll have to talk with me first.''

'' No problem. Do you want anything to drink before we talk business?''

'' A beer would be good.'' Samael wouldn't lie, he liked someone who treated him as his actual age, over 200 (or an adult for that matter).

'' No problem. Boys, bring us a beer.'' Tarzan then looked at Samael expectantly. ''So, can I see the list?''

'' Sure.'' Samael passed the list with the basketball games for the day.

Tarzan looked at it for a second, then nodded.'' All in?''

Samael smiled widely and said, ''All in!''

If you're interested, they would end with 5.000.000 today. That was an absurd amount of money, as they started with only 10.000 credits yesterday.

Tarzan, even though this was their second meeting, found the boy more and more pleasing to the eye. ''Send the money to the same account?''

'' Yes. And here is my part for today's bet.'' Samael passed all the money that was in his account to Tarzan.

Tarzan nodded as he saw the money entering his account. ''So... do you need anything more?''

''At least for now, that's it.''

After drinking the beer, Samael left the place. ' Now, I just need to wait until I make enough money to buy the ingredients for the serum, for the AI, for the Med-Gel... Fuck, my money didn't even arrive, and it's already gone.'

Sighing about it, Samael returned home and found Veronica spralled on his bed. ''... What are you doing?''

'' You made me like this. Take responsibility!''

''... Do you even know what that means?''

'' No, but your mother and my mother told me to say this to you today!''

It seems Veronica told both about their training, and that was their reaction. It wasn't a secret, though, as yesterday Samael entered Veronica's house with her in his arms, and her family saw everything.

The weird thing is that they didn't even say anything about the situation at that moment. But now it makes sense, as it seems they left the response today.

Samael sighed, 'What both families are thinking?! What is even this situation?'

Veronica then got up from the bed and asked, ''What are we doing today?''

'' Train again. But less intense this time, we need to give time to the muscle to heal.''

While Med-Gel healed a lot of injuries, Samael didn't want to use it on every injury. Besides, the best healing for a tired body was rest.

'' We will train right now?'' Veronica asked with not-so-subtle tiredness.

''... Sigh. I guess we can go later. But let me do something for you in the meantime. Give me your omni-tool.'' Samael extended his hand out and waited for the goods.

Veronica did so without hesitation, and Samael started to meddle with it for a bit.

He will upgrade her omni-tool, not to the same level as the one on him, but more advanced than anyone else at the moment.

' I should also do this to mom. It might raise some questions, but I can deal with that.'

Again, omni-tools in the Mass Effect universe served as a lot of things, like weapons. So his mother would have another way of protecting herself. Samael hoped she would never use it, but who knows? Better safe than sorry.

After a few minutes of Samael doing his things, he finished the upgradee and passed the omni-tool back to Veronica. '' Here. There are some new functions, like this.''

A blade different from the one from normal omni-tools came out of Samael's omni-tool. It looked more dangerous.

Veronica was surprised, '' Can mine do that too?''

At Samael's nod, Veronica started to look at how to use it, and soon enough, a blade also popped out of her Omni-tool.

'' OHHHHH.'' Veronica's eyes shone, and she looked at her blade, which looked almost the same as Samael's.

'' Careful. It could kill you or hurt you.''

Veronica put the blade away, then looked at Samael with fire in her eyes. '' Could you teach me how to use it in a good way? Like, fight and stuff like that.''

' Ohh, look at that.' Samael's intention was just to upgrade her tool to pass the time until Veronica wanted to start training, but it seemed to have a good effect, as it ignited her passion.

'' Sure. Do you want to go now?''

Veronica nodded. It didn't even cross her mind that Samael might not know how to use the blade. The boy in front of her knew how to do almost everything she could think of, and she was right on the money again.

Samael was trained by so many people for so many years that it is safe to call him the best hand-to-hand combatant on Earth right now. Maybe even in the whole galaxy.

So, the duo once again went to train.

A MONTH LATER

'' NOT FAIR!'' Veronica fell to the ground, dead tired, after another session of training. Once more, she did not hit Samael a single time.

Samael helped himself to some water in their gym. Oh yeah, the empty place where they used to train was gone. Now, in its place, was a full set of buildings, a compound.

Of course, all with the best quality, even though it was in the slums. Money was not a problem anymore, as Samael now could be considered a multimillionaire, his fortune almost crossing the billions.

As the money they won increased, he and Tarzan had to slow down on their betting, as it could attract unwanted attention, so they limited themselves. That's why it's only millions, not billions, right now.

The empty space now had a gym, a range to train shooting, a food area, an arsenal, etc. Samael went all in at this place, as he thought of something a few weeks ago.

FLASHBACK TO WEEKS AGO

It was a normal day in the slums. People went on with their lives, and Samael went out to look around, as ordered by his mom after she found out what he did with her omni-tool.

Samael explained what the uses are, but his mom was not listening after she saw the blade coming out. But she didn't ground him and said for him to go out to grab some fresh air.

Sighing, Samael was glad his mom reacted that way and didn't throw the omni-tool away, as it meant more protection for her. Going out wasn't a punishment, and he didn't know what was on her mind when she said for him to go out. But he still listened and was strolling around in the slums, greeting a few people he knew along the way.

So, as Samael was going on with his life not paying attention to any kind of danger as he was safe, at least from the thugs, when he was in the area. But, today, a few people have different ideas.

Sighing once more after seeing the scene in front of him, Samael asked, just to be sure, ''You guys don't know who I am?''

The situation right now was that Samael was in an alley, surrounded by six people. They were not much older than him, maybe 15 years old, so they must not know his special situation. Heck, they might not even be involved with Tarzan and his thugs.

It seemed that Samael was correct, as the one at the front, who looked older than the rest, smirked, ''Should we know about it?''

Samael just shook his head and said, '' Nah, don't worry about it. So, what are you going to do now? Rob me or something like that?''

'' That's exactly what I'm doing. You're surrounded and on our turf. We isolated this place, so you can scream a lot, but no one will hear you.''

'... Tarzan, how are you taking care of this place? Those kids are acting like this in your area, my guy!'

Deciding to have a small conversation with Tarzan about this situation, Samael didn't look nervous.'' Let's get this over with. I'll not hand you any money, and you can try to make me do it. But let me tell you in advance before you do anything. You are going to regret it.''

The leader looked frustrated that the kid in front of him didn't listen. And, while it looked like the kid wasn't that old, the leader didn't mind giving him a beat.

'' Boys, kick his ass!''

MINUTES LATER

The five teenagers, along with the leader, were on the ground with varying kinds of injuries. Some had broken noses, while others had broken arms or legs.

Samael stood over the leader, who looked shocked. '' So, what should I do with you guys?''

If he reported to Tarzan about those kids, they would most likely be killed, and while he wasn't a saint, Samael didn't want to see kids, even those who tried to rob him would die for no reason.

' If they have to die, at least they could act like a meat shield against the Reapers or something like that ... Wait!'

Samael had an Eureka moment, 'In the battle against the Reapers, we need a lot of people to throw at them to stop the advance of their ground troops. Those kinds of people in front of me are perfect!... I have to thank Mom for making me take some fresh air.'

The Reapers were big, like kilometers big, but they also had ground troops, so there were various fronts in the war. And, using the people from the slums, who otherwise would have joined crime or died a meaningless death, to combat those troops was perfect.

' I will contact Tarzan after this and tell him to build a few buildings in the area where Veronica and I have a gym. It wouldn't take long, and money isn't a problem.'

Samael then looked at the leader on the ground and asked, ''How many people do you have?''

The leader, Josh, was trying really hard to understand the situation in front of him. They lured a kid, who looked somehow out of place and rich, to an alley to rob him.

The kid refused, and Josh tried to teach him a lesson, but he found himself on the ground with his nose broken and a few bruised ribs. 'How could a kid do this?'

Josh felt the hits, and they didn't hurt that much. The problem was that the kid was nimble and hit the same spot over and over, even while surrounded. He took the fast ones first, then focused on me.

It was a crap show, and now Josh is regretting it. But then he kind of heard the kid say something, but he didn't understand. ''W-what?''

''How many people do you have under you?''

Josh could see the madness and the fire in the kid eyes and regretted attacking him.

Left with no choice, the teenager led Samael toward the place where his gangs usually stay. Usually was a loose term, because they didn't really have a place of their own, so they just stayed in whatever area they were in at that moment.

When the gang saw their boss in that situation, broken nose and all that, they immediately reacted, '' Who did this to you!? Just say the word, and we will handle them!''

They said them because they could imagine a situation where their boss lost to a single person to such a degree.

Just as Josh wanted to tell them to shut up, Samael's voice came from behind him,'' It was me who did it. So, what are you going to do?''

When the group saw Samael, who didn't look older than 13, and his somewhat fancy clothes, they almost burst out laughing. They only didn't do so because Josh said in a hurry, '' I'm sorry guys, but run! Don't face him, you can't win!''

While the state Josh was in was enough to show them something was wrong, their minds were clouded after they saw Josh's state, so they were acting without much thought. '' No, we can handle him!''

Samael looked around the six kids or teenagers around him and nonchalantly asked Josh, '' You said you had 50 people under you. There are only six here.''

Josh gritted his teeth. '' The rest is out robbing people for us to eat!''

Samael sighed, '' To be honest, I don't really care about your motive, but you messed with the wrong people. Be grateful, as I have a good plan for you and your gang.''

What Samael was going to do was create a small army or something like a mercenary group, the latter was something normal in the Mass Effect Universe. He never did this in the other cycles, well, he tried to do that on the first one but the plan was put on hold in the second cycle and foward because he didn't have the people, the resources nor the pacience to manage it.

And in the point in time where he had it,  he had already realized he was trapped in a time loop, so he didn't think about creating an army because, well, it didn't make much sense, as all his hard work would turn to dust when he hit 28.

But now, with this possibility being his last life, he was going all in. He would never actually do something drastic, such as attack other people for no reason, but if they gave him one, he would not hesitate to use his future army.

' But I can't use them like this... I'll have to use my money to make something like a place for them to train and live.'

From the malnourished bodies of Josh and the other 11 people (6 were already down for the count, Josh and the thugs who tried to rob Samael), they clearly weren't eating much, so if he wanted then to be an army, he needed to make them strong.

'For now, let's deal with them and wait for the rest.'

While Samael's body was still 10 years old, he trained every day from the moment he could walk and coupled with the experience he had, if they fought once more, it would be a piece of cake.

Samael then looked at the kids in front of him, who were ready to attack. '' Come, let's end this. I have plans to put in motion, and you are wasting my time.''

Minutes later, all 11 kids were on the ground, and now Samael was waiting for the other 39. ' Well, if they all come back at the same time, even I would have trouble fighting them with this body.'

But, as Josh said before, they were robbing people, so, to make things more efficient, they usually stole in small groups. So, groups of five arrived at the place where Samael was, in intervals, and were quickly dealt with. After 2 hours or so, all 50 kids were on the ground.

Samael looked at all the kids in front of him and thought about how to make them useful, '' Now, listen up. I'll give you a one-in-a-trillion chance. Well, I say a choice, but you can't say no.''

The 50 people gritted their teeth at what Samael just said.

'' Continuing, in the future, I'll be going out of the slums to the faraway galaxy, doing a lot of things. And those things usuall- scratch that, always are trouble, with me being in danger all the time, so I need a team/ army/ mercenaries/allies, to fight alongside me. That's you guys, if that wasn't clear.''

Before they could protest, Samael continued, '' But I'm not a monster. You attacked me thinking I had money, and you were right, I'm rich. So, in exchange for your loyalty, I'll give you three meals a day, a place for you and your family to live, and a promise that I'll take care of them if you die on the job.''

At Samael's words, every kid stopped complaining. What he was saying was too good to be true, as they sometimes didn't eat once a day, and a roof over their heads was rare too.

After Josh exchanged glances with a few of his friends, who looked a little shocked by what the kid said. They were somehow moved, even Josh, so he asked Samael,'' How could we trust you?''

Samael smirked, used his omni-tool, and showed the balance on one of his many account, ''Here, do you trust me now?''

When the group saw the huge amount of credits in Samael's account, they forgot the pain they were in and just stared at the number. They were too stunned to even think.

Samael smirked when he saw that reaction, 'Gottem!'

END OF FLASHBACK

Remembering how this small 'army' came to be, Samael thought about how to use them, ' I'm not doing this as a charity, as they would most likely be cannon fodder in the war against the Reapers. But, if you look at it from another perspective, I'm giving those kids a chance to live a somehow better life, as they would usually turn to crime.'

The kids are being trained by some people Samael hired and are slowly changing to become loyal to him. Of course, it would take a long time to form an army, but Samael was going to expand the plan, as only 50 people was too little. The plan to make the army was made on a whim, but it seemed good.

He wasn't even thinking about doing this in his other 9 cycles, as he was just going with the flow and focusing on other things. In the ones where he was trying, he followed the plot of the game to a T and didn't focus much on anything else.

Besides, on the cycles that he did form a team, he learned it was hard to manage it. So, all this army montage was somehow new to him, and that made him excited a bit.

New things were the best things to Samael.

Samael helped Veronica get up. '' You have gotten better. You almost hit me today.''

Veronica pouted, ''Yeah, but I didn't hit.''

'' Give it a few years, and you'll be able to.'' Samael ruffled the girl hair.

'' Yeah, yeah. I'm hungry. Let's go eat. My house or yours?''

'' You chose.''

Samael then followed Veronica out of the gym. The duo passed the other kids training their aim and their combat skills. At first, Veronica was surprised by all of this, but Samael said it was some preparation for the future, and she accepted it with ease.

As they both passed the kids/army, the teacher suddenly saw them and coughed. The kids paused their training and did an awkward salute, '' Boss!''

Samael's eyes twitched, '' Don't call me that! Who taught you to say this?'

'

The kids hurried back to their training as Samael went to talk with the teacher. ''Why teach them something like that?''

'' They need discipline... And I kind of wanted to see your reaction. Let me tell you, it was nice, hahaha.'' Jaret, an ex-soldier who participated in the First Contact War but was discharged after losing an arm, was also a friend of Mason, Samael's father.

By the way, he has a robotic arm, and it was cool. 

So, when Samael saw he needed a teacher to train those kids, he knew he had to find someone trustworthy, and someone he knew. Jaret was the first choice, as the man was a constant in the other cycles.

Jaret was one of the people Mason saved, and he vowed to protect Valery and Samael, so he moved in secret to the slums and did so for 10 years until he was intercepted by Samael.

He was surprised by what the kid was doing and the scale of it all, but all he had in mind was, 'As expected of Mason's son.'

Samael made him promise not to tell this ' side' of him to Vallery, and the man accepted, as this wasn't something she should know. It was, according to the kid, a way to have another way of protection.

Against what or who, he didn't say, and Jared didn't ask.

Jaret didn't ask where the money was coming from because it didn't matter. He only asked if the kid was in trouble or doing something illegal, and when the answer was no to both questions, Jaret accepted the job. The pay was amazing too, so it was a win-win situation.

' Sigh, I'm surrounded by weirdos.' Samael calmed down, he just didn't like to be called the same way as Tarzan, '' I don't like being called boss, anything else is good.''

'' Sure things, leader!''

'' ... ''

Samael was almost regretting hiring Jaret, '' Listen, you are the veteran here, and I want them obedient and loyal to me, I don't mind how. Just do it.''

Jaret looked serious as he answered, '' Don't worry, when I'm finished with them they will jump in front of a train if you tell them to do so.''

'' Good. I'll go eat now and stay away for today, you are free to stop training earlier.'' The kids lived in the compound, which had almost everything, so they rested almost in the same place where they trained.

'' Sure. See you later, kiddo. ''

After that, Samael and Veronica went away to eat at one of their houses.