Life Giver

The Heldan straight is a large body of water, ranging from 100-10 miles in width and nearly 700 miles in length. Stretching from east to west, it is the only sea passage connecting the two main oceans of this world in the southern hemisphere.

To the north of the straight is the large continent of Pangu that stretches far into every direction, its scale unmatched, it is home to the largest amount of countries and some of the most prosperous countries.

To the south is the far smaller Helios continent that connects to the Barren Icelands of the South Pole. The Helios continent is a fraction the size of the Pangu continent, around 1/20 the size, it is home to the Free states of Helios, a collective of small countries and City states of varying Creeds and Races.

The land bordering the Heldan straight on the Pangu continent is the Heldan Republic, controlled by the Elemental race. At the point of the straight in which the distance between continents is shortest, lays an incredibly prosperous trade area, goods flow through this area from all corners of the region and many inland cities rely on this prosperous flow of trade.

One of the small cities in the Heldan Republic, barely 40 miles from the coast, is called Ellaris.

A prosperous city that relies on Its Industrial connections and geographical safety to maintain it's status as an upper class city. It is home to many Colleges and Institutions as well as a branch of the United Nations Council (UNC), who's work shelters the world from many known and unknown dangers.

=========

In the Northern District of Ellaris there is a large park full of trees, stretches of grass and ponds that many people from different walks of life come to enjoy. On the periphery of this park are many large houses, mansions and the occasional quaint cottage.

These homes are well made and decorated, clearly belonging to the upper class of the city. One of the mansions near this park is owned by the Sing family, a dozen people live here with most of them working in the scientific field of biology.

Due to the importance of biology in the current climate the Sing family is quite well off, especially as this is the home of a Class 2 Elemental Biologist, Gloria Sing. Gloria is a 3rd stage Qi Scholar studying the Elemental Race, which makes up most of the population here, in relation to the UNC's study of the Lifeless plague.

Qi energy is a strange class of energy, people can collect Qi energy into their bodies to then use it for a variety of purposes. It can be used to strengthen the body, it can be emitted like light from their bodies in order to manipulate objects around them and most importantly it can be used to fight.

People with the ability to manipulate Qi are graded from 1-10 and have different Class's depending on how they use Qi energy. For example, Qi Scholars pursue knowledge and the applications of qi energy, Qi Warriors use Qi energy to fight and strengthen themselves.

There are many other Class's of Qi users however most fall under the classification of Warrior or Scholar, some Class's are even unique to special races such as Elemental's.

Elemental's are a strange race originally birthed in special locations of Naturally occurring Qi energy. They are beings of pure energy that upon birth appear as blob's of liquid Qi energy, as they grow and learn they often take the form of other living beings to give themselves a form of personal identity, due to their natural forms they can change their appearance with some effort.

The name of their race comes from the fact that the Qi energy that they are born from is always a form of Qi energy that is imbued with an elemental attribute such as fire or water.

Elemental's unique form of life has gained attention in recent years, Gloria Sing has become successful due to her observation and cooperative experimentation of the race in regards to the Lifeless plague. Her success has lead to her families current situation, however she is but one of many scientist's studying the plague.

At this moment, something is occurring in the Sing household that would change the world in an unpredictable manner....

============

A handsome yet innocent young man, perhaps 16 or 17, is walking topless down a corridor in the Sing mansion, a bouquet of bright red flowers in one hand and a wooden box full of sweet pastries in the other.

He has short bushy brown hair, a handsome yet still childish face with blue eyes and fairly tanned skin. Even though young girls would find him handsome, m.a.t.u.r.e woman would find his appearance cute and ruffle his bushy hair.

Due to the hot climate of this region and the culture of Elementals it is common for men to walk topless, even in public, however normally this young man would not do so.

He is topless because he wants to show off his slightly muscular and quite fit body, as to whom he wants to show off to, that would be the lady who's room is at the end of the corridor.

*knock* *knock* "Elena are you awake?." The young man says slightly nervously.

From the other side of the door comes a young lady's voice, "Just a moment Casmir...".

After a moment the door opens to reveal a lady around 20 years old wearing a simple white dress, she has long black hair, long legs, a modest pair of b.r.e.a.s.ts that although small, certainly add to her figure.

Elena looks at Casmir with a questioning face.

As Casmir looks at her beautiful face he can't help but admire her features, an oval face, supple white skin, gem like black eyes and soft red lips.

Elena is Casmir's personal maid, she cleans his room and clothes, acts as a teaching assistant when Casmir is being home schooled and other minor tasks. She has been his maid for nearly 8 years and before that they would play together as children, Elena has always been very protective over Casmir sometimes to his annoyance, but he would always enjoy her company.

Today she is 20 years old, the prime of her life.

Casmir clears his throat before he speaks ".. Ahem.. Elena... I've brought you a couple of gifts because it's your birthday tomorrow, can I come in? " he ends with a broad smile.

"Oh, yes yes, of course, I thought you might not remember my birthday." Elena says with a smile as she lets him in, not realising that he is nervous.

Casmir and Elena decide to sit on her bed next to each other as Casmir tells her about her gifts, "These are some wildflowers I picked this morning... I...I know that you like Redmouse flowers..."

Elena smiles, "Yes I love them, I hope you didn't get any red pollen on your clothes. It takes forever to wash it out..." she says with concern.

"Haha, don't worry I remembered... by the way, you're not busy tomorrow are you?" Casmir says nervously.

Elena looks pleased that he hasn't ruined any of his clothes as she replies "I'm not too busy tomorow... Gloria wanted to see me.. probably just to give me a present but apart from that I'm free. Do you want to go to the park with me tomorrow... or is there a surprise for me!" Elena smiles as she looks at Casmir happily.

She has been very happy recently and seeing that is was her birthday, she couldn't help but act spoilt.

Casmir is taken back a bit by her smile as he stutters, "...Y-yes... there's a surprise..."

Elena nods and smiles knowingly "I knew it, you look strange today, you must have been hiding something from me."

Elena then grabs the box of pastries from Casmir as she eats one happily while Casmir also eats a pastry while staring at her trying to summon the courage to ask her something...

Elena and Casmir gradually eat the box of pastries as they talk about various things until eventually, Casmir plucks up the courage to ask her out.

"Elena..." Casmir takes the box from her hand and then holds her hand

"...Y-yes...?" Elena says confused.

"I-I want to go on a date with you tomorrow!" Casmir says nervously as he stares into her eyes.

Elena is stupefied, as if she could never have predicted his question. Silence is all that pervades the room for a few moments until Casmir calls her name once again.

"Elena...?"

Elena snaps out of her stupor as she quickly stands up and starts nervously pacing about her small room occasionally glancing at Casmir's face.

Casmir's eyes seem to droop as he looks at her face, his mind already creating those dreadful words of rejection.

"*sigh*... Sorry Elena... I thought you might have...." Casmir's says in a sad, disappointed tone as he places the flowers in his hand on the bed and gets up to leave.

Elena's face is frozen unsure of what to do but before she can think of something to say, Casmir is standing at the door looking at her as he says with an awkward smile "Stop being so nervous... I asked, I was rejected, just act like nothing happened...".

When he sees that her face remains awkward he wrongly believes she must be worried about this situation harming her position or him forcing her from the mansion. While Casmir would never do that, such practises were not uncommon, especially when concerning large differences in social classes.

In an attempt to comfort her he says "Nothing needs to change, you'll still be a maid here... Remember, I like my milk with one teaspoon of honey!" he smiles jokingly, trying to defuse the tension.

Elena, seeing his smile, calms down a bit as she stutters "I-I'm sorry... I just wasn't expecting this... but I..."

"Say no more... It's fine.." Casmir smiles as he quickly leaves and nearly runs down the corridor out of embarrassment.

Soon enough, Elena closes the door and sits back down on her bed, frustration and confusion written all over her face.

"Stupid!...how am I suppose to deal with this... He didn't even let me answer..." She says to herself while blushing.

"I'll ask Gloria... How am I suppose to... *sigh*" she says as she gets up not realising her bed cover and dress are stained with red pollen.

As Elena walks through the mansion towards Gloria's work room a few other servants and family members notice her condition.

Red stains on her white dress and her flushed but concerned face lead to some people asking if she's alright, out of concern. It also results in rumours being spread through the mansion.

===============

In a room on the second floor of the mansion, Casmir is gloomily laying down on his bed, brows furrowed and arms crossed trying to understand why Elena would reject him.

He's been told he's a very handsome young man, girls have sometimes tried to flirt with him, he has even been asked out a few times, his looks couldn't be the problem.

'Perhaps she was in love with someone?' he thought.

Impossible, he knows her well and he's never seen her acting intimately with another man and she rarely leaves the mansion except for chores and special occasions.

Suddenly Casmir stops in realisation.

'Is it because I'm younger than her?' he thinks.

He suddenly remembered what all of his mothers friends would say when they saw him.

"Oh what a handsome little boy..."

"Come here little boy.... ahh such nice hair..."

They would always see him as a boy, not a man.

"Damn... I'm inexperienced.... I'm just a child to her..." Casmir says in frustration.

Casmir sits up on his bed.

'Calm down... she's not going anywhere... even if she does.....' Casmir thinks to himself.

*sigh*

"I don't want to wait... she might be gone or taken by then... She's smart, pretty and kind... none of those idiotic women are half as decent as she is..." Casmir says unwillingly

Suddenly an idea crosses his mind... '.. maybe... maybe I could seduce her? If she want's a man, then I'll give her a man...'

He quickly recalls something his mother gave him when he was 16 a few weeks ago. A recommendation of sorts which is also what prompted Casmir's confession. He reaches into his bedside table draw and searches through it finding a red card with gold writing on it.

'The Golden Flower House' is what was written at the top of the card, a very high end.. expensive... Brothel....

His mother recommended that he go there now that he was of age to learn about the matters between men and women. This event led Casmir to realise that he was now a man, the only person he thought to share 'that' experience with was Elena, yet apparently it was not to be.

'I'll learn how to seduce her there... then maybe...' Casmir thought optimistically.

If only he could see how childish and narrow-minded he was being he might have reacted differently, Casmir would soon come to regret his actions...