I didn't bother sending for a carriage or waited for the driver to come and get me at the end of the day. I gave the guard a gold coin as I walked through the smaller personal side gate and then strode down the road. I was tired of standing around and waiting for things. I had enough of that and walked on and on, not really paying attention to where I was going or my surroundings.

I knew I would end up at the Sanctuary eventually, so I let my feet carry me and I walked. Most people don't realize the value of walking. It gave you a true measure of how far away things actually were. It put things into perspective and let you know that in the world, one person was almost insignificant. Well, a normal person.

I felt a laugh bubble up inside of me and I stopped it before it fully formed. Even before I was sold as a baby to the Hag, according to my sister, I was constantly sick and laughed about it. That wasn't normal. Or, better to say it was normal for me, because my life went on from that and became tougher, harder, and I became tougher and harder because of it.

I actually felt grateful to the Hag for everything she did for me and to me. If it wasn't for her constantly trying to tear me down and destroy me, I wouldn't have fought so hard to live. It was just too bad that her last attempt to get me out of the way and getting the mages to kill my family, actually worked in breaking me.

I could feel the dam crack as I walked. I didn't know why it continued to crumble. I was dealing with things as they happened and I thought I was doing so well. The monument alone let me vent so much; and yet, I could feel even more emotions trying to break free. I stopped walking and closed my eyes as I felt my churning magic while it stormed against the weakened barrier inside of me.

The cracks spread and the pressure didn't change. I thought that was odd, because I should be feeling more emotions right now, not less. I was calm and the magic seemed to think that was a good thing.

“HEY! Get out of the way!” A man's harsh voice shouted. “We're coming through!”

My vigilance technique told me there were three mages inside the carriage and the driver was nervous. I turned without opening my eyes and held a hand out to him and cast Barrier. The horses slammed into it nose first and their necks snapped as the weight of the carriage crushed them into the barrier. The driver flipped over and flew through the air past me and landed with a thud.

I opened my eyes and walked over to the carriage and the three people inside were on the floor, quite hurt from the sudden stop. I dosed them with truth serum and asked what crimes they did. After a minute, I used my sword to remove their heads and set the carriage on fire. I thought about butchering the horses for their meat, then changed my mind and tossed them onto the fire.

“Uhhh.” The driver groaned.

I walked over to him and dosed him with truth serum as well. When he was done talking, I left him alive and put some number ten potion on his back and tossed him into the fire with the horses. He screamed and screamed as the fire raged and I watched without emotion.

When he was down to just wheezing for breath, I cast fireball and it blew the carriage up and pushed the debris and remains off of the road. I couldn't leave the road blocked like that. It hadn't even occurred to me to loot them first. I shrugged. I didn't need the money and I knew a lot of the protective and offensive enchantments and potions that the mages used, anyway.

I walked on and let my magic guide me.

_______________

Montage mode engaged. Skipping time. Done.

_______________

It was the middle of the night before I arrived at the Sanctuary. I had found four more mages hiding out in different spots, made them confess, then killed them and the people hiding and protecting them. I also burned their hiding places down to the ground. It was very cathartic and calming.

“Welcome back, my lord.” One of the guards at the gate said and opened it for me. He didn't comment about my slightly blackened clothing, the extra blood splatters, or the slight smile on my face.

“Thank you.” I said and handed him a handful of gold. “Get your woman something nice from the shops in the high end district.”

“Yessir! Thank you, sir!” He said gratefully.

The other guard hadn't asked where I was or why I was gone so long, so I gave him a handful of gold as well and told him the same thing. Both men were happy and I walked into the compound as the gate closed behind me.

“He's the best captain and boss we've ever had.” One of the men said from behind us. “He's strong, ruthless when he needs to be, doesn't mind letting us have fun, and he doesn't let anyone walk over him. Not other pirates, not mages, and not even the royal family of a whole kingdom.”

“Yeah, if I was a woman, I'd offer myself up to him, just to let him have his way with me. He deserves it!” The other man said.

“HA! You'd be an ugly ass woman!” The first guard said with a bark of laughter.

“I'd have a great ass, though!” The second responded, then the both of them laughed and laughed.

I had to smile at their conversation. For some reason, even as a joke, it was ringing true within me. It was then that slave's offer came back to me. She had been sincere in her pledge. She didn't want a relationship and she didn't want to monopolize my time. She just wanted to thank me.

I turned away from entering the main building and went to the ship. I wasn't sure why I was, I just felt that I needed to go there. I climbed the stairs someone had made for easily getting to the deck and I greeted a few people there. I was greeted warmly back and I entered the ship's lower deck. I walked to the fourth cabin and knocked on the door.

The door opened almost immediately and there she was, barely wearing a slip of silk. “My lord!”

“I've decided your generous offer was too sincere to deny for another month.” I said and she clutched at her chest with both hands. “May I enter your cabin and fulfill your request?”

“P-please d-do, m-my l-lord. Please do.” She said and stepped back to let me pass. I entered and she closed the door. She followed me to her bed and I glanced around at her suite.

“You haven't found anyone?” I asked.

“No, my lord.” She responded. “I am only trying a little. My confidence is lacking, even as my body is restored.” She pulled off the slip and showed me that her body was a bit fuller than it had been.

“You are much more curvy than before.”

She blushed. “You remembered?”

“I thanked you for letting me see you then.” I said and stepped close to look into her eyes. “I never forget a promise, even if events and disasters destroy my chances to complete them.”

“My lord, I... I am so glad that... you accepted.” She whispered. “I was willing to wait for my fuly returned body for you.”

I looked over her face and saw she looked like the middle country's people. “How would you like to have tanned skin again and your pitch black hair once more?”

She gasped. “My lord! You can't... you... can you really reverse this travesty? I feel so inadequate before you!”

“There's no need to feel less than yourself.” I said and leaned in to kiss her.

“MMMM!” She moaned and seemed to melt in my arms.

When I broke the kiss, she looked down at my slightly ruined clothing.

“Battle has always suited you, my lord.” She said with pride, then slowly undressed me. Her hands were dirty and had blood on them, and she didn't care. She knelt to pull my underwear off and I let her. She smiled brightly at my prominent erection and licked it from the base to the tip. “Mmm, delicious.”

I raised my eyebrows at her and she laughed.

“Letting a strong man have me, pleases me more than just the sex, my lord.” She said and slipped her mouth over me. She wasn't performing the bath ritual, either. Her technique wasn't like that at all. She seemed to play with it, tease it, kissed and licked it all over, swirled her tongue around the tip, and she would sometimes have a very happy expression on her face and meet my eyes.

The oddest thing was that she didn't finish me off.

“Now that you are thoroughly hard, you may claim your reward, my lord.” She said and stood up, walked over to the bed, and locked her knees with her legs slightly spread apart, before she bent over at the waist and braced her hands on the bed.

I had seen similar things before and enjoyed the sight; and yet, this one made my manhood throb. I needed to enter it right now. I walked over to her and wasn't surprised that she had positioned herself at the perfect height for me to do so. I didn't deny the invitation and positioned myself at her opening, then grabbed her hips and thrust into her hard.

“OHH!” She gasped and liquid dripped out onto my thighs. “My... my lord... so powerful!”

“Do you want more like that?” I asked.

She shivered and looked back at me over her shoulder. “Y-yes, please.”

“Magic or no?” I asked and pulled nearly all the way out.

“You can share... even distracted... like this?” She asked with awe.

I smiled at her and my magic flowed out and covered her, then it entered her as forcefully as I did when I shoved myself back into her.

“MY LOOOOORRRRD!” She screamed and shook and shivered as her body gave itself over to the pleasure. Her magic was unlike any that I had felt before. It was like a starving animal that hadn't been fed food before. It swallowed my magic like she had swallowed my manhood earlier. It was deep inside of her and wasn't consumed, which meant it wasn't going to hurt me and only be pleasurable.

I suspected she was tested for magic as a child and it damaged her and crippled her magic to the point that she only reacted to the strongest magic being used around or on her. Or in her, in this case.

She collapsed onto the bed and rolled over to stare at me. “My... my... lord.” She whispered. “I felt... I felt...”

“Normal.” I whispered back and she nodded. “I will try to make sure you keep feeling that for the rest of the night.”

She gave me a brilliant smile that was so bright that it would make every other woman in the world jealous. I laid down on top of her and entered her again, making her yell her pleasure and my magic entered her and let her continue to feel as if she was a real mage and sharing magic like she should always have been able to.

We continued to have sex, magical and powerful sex, as I promised. I stayed there in her bed for the rest of the night. She told me the things she wanted, how she wanted them, and I learned more about what a 'normal' sex life was like for the common people when they enjoyed themselves. I had been missing out on a lot more than I had suspected.

We dressed in a normal set of clothing, one of which she had to get for me from the storage on the ship, and we went to breakfast in the ship's galley. No one commented about me being there or the woman talking to me like I was her best friend and telling me all about how commoners went on things called 'dates' to do various things.

She told me of taking walks for fun, tours of gardens, going to shows, going shopping for nothing specific (as that wasn't the point), boat rides of the harbour, eating out for meals, and even just going home to spend time with their date.

It was quite the revelation for me. I had known I was not getting the whole picture from my limited exposure before. Now I knew that there was such a fundamental difference between what the noble class thought of as appropriate and what the common people thought was acceptable.

By the time breakfast was over, my view of the world was so different from what it had been the day before, that I completely forgot about the emotional turmoil I was suffering through. My struggle with my own emotions seemed to pale when compared to what normal people had to deal with every day.

I stood up suddenly at the realization and looked down at her slightly startled face. “May I know your name?”

“Laura.” She whispered.

“Laura, I have important work to do. I will be busy for endless hours most days for the next three weeks.” I said and she nodded. “However, I now know that I cannot live without living. If it would be possible, I want to experience these 'dates' with you. Meals out, walks for fun, and the others.”

The entire room was deathly quiet.

“My... my lord, I... I would be honored to accept.”

“No, we are going to date, so I am only David. No lord title, no pompousness or circumstance. Just me, just you. Just us.”

Laura blushed. “Of c-course, my l... D-David.”

“Come retrieve me from the potions lab on the sixth floor at suppertime. We will start a date then.” I said and she nodded. “What do I wear?”

Laura looked shocked for a moment, then she smiled. “A shirt and pants. Not work clothes. If all you have are fancy suits and expensive clothes, leave off everything but the shirt and pants.”

“What about underwear?” I asked.

Laura blushed. “Yes, wear underwear. Your... ahem... needs the comfort and protection.”

I nodded to her and took her hand to kiss it, then realized my mistake. “I need more practice being normal.” I said and bent down to kiss her passionately. “See you tonight.”

“Y-y-yes, my lord... I mean, David.” Laura said and blushed again.

I nodded to her and walked out of the dining room.

The shouts of congratulations and cheers for Laura's good fortune followed me all the way down the hallway and up onto the deck. I didn't suspect that there was that strong of an echo effect inside the ship.

I left the ship and entered the Sanctuary, greeted the guards there, and went up to the potions lab set aside for my work. I needed to buckle down and get this restoring creme done. The problem was that it took time for experiments, revisions, and restructuring to get the right components to combine into a working product. It couldn't be rushed and steps couldn't be skipped, because the danger it wouldn't work was too high.

Just like when I worked on my regeneration potion, slow and steady experimentation was the key. I was really glad to have harvested lots of my old scarred skin for these experiments, the most dangerous part. I wouldn't accept volunteers for this, even if they were desperate to be cured. Some of the corrosive elements needed to be handled delicately and any mistake could scar or burn away the skin.

I would not take that chance.