Author's word: Hello there people! This is my attempt at writing a story, it will not get updated often, at most a chapter a week since the chapters are so long and school is demanding it's attention....but summer break is nearing so that's that. Anyway, thank you for reading!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sigh as I lightly loosen my very tight neck tie, recieving a slap on the back of my head from my medical assistant, Selena. She's been stuck at following me around ever since I took a flash bang grenade to save a whole squad of soldiers. Poor kids have been blaming themselves for that, even after I assured them that it wasn't their fault. It might have come off as a threat to them since I was trying to surpress my screams of agony.

My only name is Albert. Why only one name you ask? Well that's because I felt like it. I sigh again, regaining my attention to the situation at hand. Currently, I am in the headquarters of the UW (United World) which was established during the World War IV which basically crippled all other countries economy (Including China which miraculously escaped economy crisis during World War III) leaving everyone but UW in poverty and licking their wounds.

I, along with a squad of Spartans (the elite of the elite), almost singlehandedly turned the tides of the war when Russia was winning. You'd think that their generals would be more mindful of what kind of water they were drinking....

Ugh, my mind drifted off again. I need to focus, even though this is literally the most boring day of my life. I'd rather be back in the desert waiting 35 hours covered in sand for the target's convo to pass by.  Right now I was waiting for the leader of the UW to finish his speech about finally achieving world peace and congratulating generals for their achievements.

Of course, he will also congratulate me and my squad....or what's left of it. Pain flashes through my eyes when I remember the faces of my comrades dying.... I grip my fists tightly trying to combat the urge to smash something. Selena grabs my arm in concern. After all, she was there when I was screaming and crying in anger and regret while I was being haunted by my nightmares.

Alas, I digress yet again. My attention is forcefully brought back to the room as a round of applause resounds inside the big room and when I am pushed from behind to go up on stage. It seems that it's our turn to go up there and give a show to the civilians.

The claps get louder and louder as I make my way up the stairs, and when I finally get up on stage the claps get even more intense, some people were even chanting the name ''Spartans'' like a mantra. In the middle of the stage stood Neil Conner, the founder and leader of UW, with his forever present smile on his face. I seriously think that his facial muscles are unable to move from that expression.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my immense pleasure to present to you, the people who have made all of this possible, the one and only Spartans squad!!" (Neil) As soon as he finished that, everyone stood up clapping and Shouting our names while the cameras were fixated on our faces.

"Although to my outmost regret, some of them were unable to survive the extreme missions the Spartans went through, their names will forever be in our history as the people who made it possible to win the most brutal war in mankind's history and also made it possible to unite ALL countries under one flag." (Neil) As he said that, he spread his arms and looked up at the sky, as if thanking the ones he mentioned.

My FRIENDS and FAMILY. Emotions tried to surface yet again, but with my steel nerves that I developed under extreme conditions, I put a lid on the tunnel they were trying to rush through.

"It is my pleasure and honor, to reward our heroes with the golden World Savior star, the highest rank achievement that a human being can achieve in our army!" (Neil) When he finished saying all that, some well dressed women came up on the stage carrying some pillows with golden stars on them. They were really showy, I didn't like them.

Neil then procceded to pin the stars on our chests (5 men in total, originally 10, including women). And when I thought it was all over, the bastard pulled a big one on me.

"Now then, the moment I am sure most of you have waited for, a few words from the one and only legend, the captain of the Spartans squad, ALBERT!" (Neil) He shouted my name as he stepped aside, motioning me towards the microphones.

I was stunned for one brief second, which he didn't miss since I swear I saw his smile getting wider, but as a veteran I quickly came up with something and slowly made my way to the center of the stage.

"Ahem, good evening ladies and gentlemen." I try to not give to many emotions in my voice. "It is my honor to be able to stand here in front of you all, although the way I see it, I have just done my duty and that is to make a bright future for you, your family, your children and grand children and all of the generations after that. I admit, when we first started off, it's been harsh. We went through many battles and horrible situations, but we won in the end. And that is because we had faith, faith that we could change this world, and now, today, I am witnessing all our hopes and dreams becoming reality. And believe me, it will take a lot of hard work to stop us from making them reality after all we went through." (Albert) As I finish my quick speech, everyone stands up yet again clapping and shouting, some were even in tears.

As I was about to get back in line with my squad, Neil signalled me to wait. Confused, I just stared at him while he signalled the reporters that they could start asking. I sighed, knowing this will be a long night.

"Mister Albert, I have heard that you have been offered to serve as a guard captain for the headquarters of UW, how do you respond to that?" (Reporter A) A rather young reporter zealously asks me.

"Indeed, I have been invited to that. But I refused since, as the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I have been trained to kill, not protect." (Albert) I respond, and almost immediately I get bombarded with 10 other questions. I mentally sigh again.

-------6 hours later--------

I lean back in the backseat of the limo that was currently driving me to my house deep in the woods. Selena was sitting next to me, looking out the window at the scenery fly by. I reach for the glass of champagne, but Selena slaps my hand without even having to look at me.

"You've had enough alcohol for today. Remember what the doctors said." (Selena) She warns me, changing her attention from outside to me. Selena is a rather short (165-ish cm) with black wavy hair that's held on the left side of her shoulder, resting in the area between her chest and shoulder, with black glasses and a heart shaped face, a hourglass type build that makes most men look a little bit too long at her and her long slender legs. She would most likely win a modelling competition without having to put make up on. She's the type of cold beauty, and many tried to drag her in a dark alley only to recieve a few broken bones from me. And her black belt in JuJitsu.

"Bah, back in my day-" (Albert) I start saying but she interrupts me- "Yes yes, back in your day most doctors would try to lie to you to make you buy more medicine, but this isn't the 22nd century anymore. After the nuclear war, trying to cure the illnesses that came from the after effects made doctors to be looked up to, and anyone trying to rip off people would be imprisoned for life." (Selena) she explains to me patiently. She's been with me for over half a year, but ever since she first found me crying in self loathe and regret in my bed, she's been awfully nice to me.

I sigh and lean back in my seat, folding my arms. I'm still mad at Neil pulling that thing on me. That young one has always been poking me to get a reaction from me. Hmmm...maybe I should send some of my friends that specialize in infiltrating to teach him a lesson....hehehehe..... I grin thinking of all the possibilities.

"I know that you're still grumpy, but please don't make that face, I will start to feel sorry for Neil" Selena pokes my arm while looking at me amused.

"Huh, he deserves it." I grumble. For those interested, I am a 187 cm tall well built male with a long white beard and mustache and long hair with a receding hairline that flows down my back in a mane like style, with sharp (as I've been told) green eyes and a scar running down the right side of my face. The only reason I keep my facial hair so long is because I look too damn young without it. It annoys me when people confuse me for a 25 years old naive man.

"Eeeeh, you're no fun....you're always so serious" Selena pouts poking my arm again 2 times making me grumble and then leaning on my shoulder while casting her sleepy gaze back outside.

"Can't help it. There's no time to relax on a battlefield" I respond.

"Yea I know, but you're not on a battlefield anymore...." Selena sleepily says before dozing off.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Today has been a pretty tiring day for both me and her. Finally arriving at the house, I take Selena in a princess carry style and put my sunglasses on even though it's almost night. I don't need my walking stick since I have a 3d map in my head of the perimeters of the house. I made sure to memorize every nook and cranny, even the secret escape passage that leads deeper into the woods to an underground shelter. I also made sure to fill that up with canned food and water that won't expire for the next 400 years.

After thanking the driver, I get Selena in her room, yes she lives here, and then close her room's door. I go over to check my mailbox and suprisingly I find a single letter adressed to me. Being to tired to read it all (author being lazy) I only skimmed throught it, and found out the following:

It was a letter from the producers of the first ever MMORPG in a Virtual Reality and they asked me to play their game and give some feedback. I was quite confused since I know someone from Spartan squad that would rather have that, and I was about to ignore the letter until I read the last lines of the message, saying that Selena would get a copy of the game too, to be able to monitorize me.

It was quite well known that I have become half blind and I needed an assistant for walking and the like, so it didn't surprise me that they knew about her. After some thought I decided to accept it, since I didn't have anything better to do. And whenever I look back on that decision, I am not sure if I would choose something else.

The next day, as usual, I woke up before Selena and fixed some breakfast. She stopped complaining about my habit of sleeping only 5 hours after she first tasted my cooking. And as usual I see a sleepy looking Selena drawing closer to the kitchen, enticed by the smell of freshly cooked bacon. She gives me the same disapproving glare before sitting at the table waiting for me to finish.

"It's still surreal to see a blind old man dancing around the kitchen like a house wife" Selena pokes fun at me, one of her many ways of payback for me annoying her.

"I am only half blind." I lazily wave my hand with that short comment while scooping up the eggs and bacon from a frying pan. I hear her huff disappointed for failing to make me mad, and hear her stand up from the chair and going to the mailbox.

"Did you check the mailbox last night?" she shouts from the front door, closing back the mailbox she had just opened. I grunt in response.

"There was a letter, it's on top of the microwave if you're interested." I tell her who was by now back in the doorframe of the kitchen. I'd already placed the breakfast on the tables and now making some coffee. She goes to the microwave and takes up the letter, going back to her chair and grabbing the mug of coffee waiting for her.

"Huh, they're quite shameless aren't they? Not waiting even a day for you to enjoy your free life and already bothering you with offers... And all those compliments of your feats... Honestly it looks more like a love letter from a fangirl then a serious letter from a prestigious company... And not even sending a person to send the message, but a letter?" She frowns while sipping on some coffee. I shrug listlessly while devouring my food.

"I guess it would help aleviate some boredom.....and I'd be able to monitorize you.....I'll have to talk to your doctors about this, but what do you think?" She asks me, putting the letter down and starting eating her now colder food while looking at me.

"I don't really have much to do now, right? And I am quite interested in what you youngsters these days enjoy..." I rub my chin and grumble. Honestly I didn't want to let her know I was quite excited to try out the game. Before going to sleep I did some speed research on the game and I found some amazing things. First is that the world of the game, has 4 large continents that take up 70% of the land all together, the rest is just water. The next interesting thing is that over those 4 continents there are 3 huge factions that are constantly warring against each other for supremacy. Those factions are, The Reds, the Greens and the Blues. The reason those factions are warring against each other are ancient castle like buildings called Fortresses that once conquered makes you able to make a very tough to break bottleneck in the are it is in. A fortress is an ancient building, that once you conquer it will basically become alive, try to imagine it like this, in an advanced world, cities are dependand of electricity, so much that when the electricity runs out, it can't function properly anymore. That's basically a fortress, just that electricity is not there but magic, and conquering the fortress is like fliping the switch for the whole city to activate again.

And that's good for the one who conquered it, because at the time of activating a key appears at the core of the city, which is basically the place you have to reach in order to conquer it, and only the leader of the faction that conquered the Fortress is able to pick it up, and with it he can control basically everything in the fortress. Though, conquering is not only limited to factions. Which means that the leaders of the factions aren't some arrogant fat kings that stay safely in their capital while their armies fight.  The leader can also give some of these rights to other people for them to manage it, but only he can access a menu from which he can rebuild everything that the fortress once had. Why rebuild? Well that's because fortresses are but a ruin of what they once were and through that menu the leader of the faction can order to rebuild anything, from towers with turrets (if he's lucky) to decorational statues.

For example if you manage to conquer a fortress that once was a military city, or a colony if you will, that's close to a major highway, you could steal everything that goes through it and the people you stole from would need at least a 1000 strong army to even slightly shake your fortress.

Currently, all of the factions were at a stalemate, only until players come in that is. The game hasn't been released yet, but the producers have been giving bits and pieces of info to their fans, like a drug dealer giving some drugs to junkies. Anyway. What makes those factions so different between each other is the way they do things.

The Reds, as you would expect, are battle junkies, always throwing themselves to the front lines and only listening to orders from someone stronger than them. It is said that their leader is the strongest man on that planet. Though they have a strong dog eats weak dogs mentality, they frown upon strong people oppressing weak people, so much so that whenever someone tried to do that, even their leader himself would come to him to kill him on sight.

The Greens are folks that love nature, so much that they began developing magic revolving around it, and finally creating Nature Magic, that lets them talk with plants and animals alike, and bond with them through a special contract. They have perfected that magic so much that they can almost literally raise mighty walls of wood while throwing at you poisonous needles from plants.

And last but not least, the Blues are, well to put it simply, they are water people. They live IN the water, the seas that is, and are most of the time a mix of fish and humans. Fun fact, there's no discrimination between races in any of the factions, they just care about fortresses. But if you join their faction, you will get a costume which will let you stay underwater forever. Of course, they can live on land too, although their stamina is quite limited up there, since they have slight problems breathing.

And that's all I managed to research before sleepiness took me over. I am a human afterall.

I sigh as I gulp down the last mouths of coffee left in my mug. Today I am scheduled to go see a few doctors that are trying to fix my eyes. They have offered me to give me a new pair altogether, but I don't want to give them a chance to control any part of my body.

"What's the matter? If you sigh so much you'll scare your luck away" Selena pokes at me, with a little concern in her voice due to my odd behaviour.

"I was just thinking that I have to visit the doctors again....they just don't want to give up" I say grumpily.

"Awww, the big war hero is scared of some needles?" Selena smirks at me.

"I do not enjoy having metal things in my body. It's one too many times a bullet or a knife" I grumble, leaning back on my seat and folding my arms.

"What about the times it's not a knife or a bullet?" Selena asks, seemingly loosing interest in the conversation and going back to her food.

"Those times it was when my partners wanted to...''try something different''" I shudder at the last part. Selena begins chocking on the fork she had in her mouth, looking at me with wide eyes. I give her a toothy grin, she walked into that one herself. She turns red as she realizes her blunder, and the rest of the morning goes by quietly, with me listening to the calming sounds of the forest and Selena trying to seem mad at me by not talking to me.

-END OF CHAPTER ONE-