The Beginning (V)

Lord opened the toothpaste cap, inside revealed the white purplish coloured paste.

Lord looked at the paste in silence for a few seconds before taking up his toothbrush and pressing the paste on it.

As he watched the paste come out on top of the toothbrush in silence, Lord stood calmly as he took up the toothbrush with toothpaste up to his nose.

Smelling the fresh mint, Lord felt his nostrils burn and his head clearing instantly.

"That's…. A strong smell!" Lord pulled away from the toothbrush as he whispered, he had smelt all kinds of things but mint was not one. Lord had felt childish curiosity at the strangely coloured paste which was supposed to clean his teeth.

Getting back on track, Lord quickly put the brush on teeth, though awkwardly, he looked towards himself in the mirror.

As he saw himself, Lord frowned as he felt that he wasn't properly using the brush, afterwards trying several positions and ways of angling a toothbrush, Lord had found an effective position.

Scrubb~

Scrub~

The familiar sound of someone brushing their teeth was being heard alongside the water from the shower head. As for why the water was running, it was because of Lord's petty revenge.

'If you bastards are going to scam with your absurd prices, then don't expect me to be delicate with your shit.' the petty thoughts of a child who was upset rang in Lord's mind.

It's quite laughable as whatever 'damage' and 'waste' Lord was doing was so insignificant that not even the employees of the building would pay attention. In their minds, even if the water ran for an entire week, it would only get a glance from the owner.

Lord didn't really care if he did damage or not, he was petty when he felt he had been scammed, so even if minimal, Lord would do something, anything to satisfy his urges of complaint.

Lord scrubbed his teeth as he felt a sour and acidic feeling in his mouth, almost immediately Lord threw up instinctively.

In the wilderness of the wastelands, having something sour or acidic in your mouth usually meant that you got poisoned, Lord was unfortunate enough to experience that, so his reaction to throwing up from the acidic paste was habitual.

"Cough! Cough! Ah! What the fuck! Gah! Hahh!"Lord hyperventilated as the surprise from the acidic feel of toothpaste nearly sent him to an early grave.

Cough!

It took Lord several minutes to get himself back to a calm state, normally it didn't take so long for Lord to get out of surprises but this was the time Lord had ever been so caught off guard in his life.

5 minutes later, as he recomposed himself, Lord took a look at the mirror that showed his trembling body with eyes red and veins neatly popping out.

"Shit, shit, shit! Hahh!! I can't believe this!" Lord looked at his trembling body, feeling shame. He was going around, thinking that he could save and protect humanity when a bit of toothpaste and some habits nearly scared him to death.

Shame.

Lord only felt shame after recomposing himself, he thought he had the mental fortitude and maturity to be a savior and all he needed was Awakening and he would be set up for his goal. But he had clearly overestimated himself and underestimated what it would take to achieve his goal.

For someone who wasn't like him, choking and throwing up toothpaste would be a bit embarrassing but nothing too much to worry about. However for someone who had survived scavenging and staying in the wastelands for long durations of time, what Lord had done was absolutely taboo.

Just because of momentary comfort and safety he had almost forgotten the most important thing he had learned in his years of living; NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN.

To say that it was his first time using these strange hygiene products and him making mistakes would be normal would only be excuses, no excuse could change the fact that Lord had nearly forgotten the most important rule that he should have had put into his instincts, into his bones, and into his subconscious.

In the apocalyptic world where monsters ravage, human traffickers roam and death was constantly looming, being on guard was the most basic yet important lesson anyone who wanted even a slither of chance surviving their first night in the wilderness could have learned.

As someone who travels the apocalypse, you must be aware when you travel, aware when you eat, and on guard when you sleep. These kinds of rules are essential to even have a slither of chance surviving in a land where monsters like a Thousand Meter Dark Golem could crush you while sleeping.

Extremely frustrated with himself, Lord had felt that he had just now only seen the very beginning of just how far his goal was and the countless difficulties he would have to conquer to reach it.

Lord didn't feel down about this though, he had instead heard a pang of anticipation ringing in his heart. Although he didn't know why, Lord had a feeling that his journey would change and mold him into something. He didn't know what, but he knew that it would change and mold him.

Lord got back to reality as he looked at the nearly empty packet of toothpaste.

"The first step of my journey will be with this." Lord looked at the packet of toothpaste. Although a small step, it was nonetheless a step forward in the right direction.

.....

Author note: This chapter is way shorter than normal and that's for two things, my author friends said I need to tone down the words per chapter or else I will get burned out, and because this is kinda how I wanted it to be.

This chapter was made so that I could set up my mc Lord Wan to the story and it was also a bit of character building as you could see many times the mc showing his personality and inner consciousness.

We are still waiting in the stages of this story being set up, I can't make a tower of blocks with no foundation, same concept as that.

If you feel that you're going to like this novel, give me a comment, a review, a critique, or just a good ol' power stone. These things give me motivation to write as they make me feel like I'm actually doing something.

P.S I am going to start stockpile chapters so updates probably won't be as frequent for a period of time.