What came before

Growing up with alcoholic parents makes you either mature quickly or stop growing. Luckily I was able to quickly understand my home life, was much easier if I avoided my parents, and the rage filled and booze enhanced fighting. I grew up spending a majority of my time outside climbing trees playing with friends and my two siblings.

I was a scrawny kid and got bullied quite a bit for being poor and having glasses and such. I always fought back but being under sized and my bullies being two years my senior made each  conflict leave me brusied and battered. my dad was an ex Army guy who saw me getting beat up as character development. He enrolled me in some free karate classes and whenever I would come home bruised as hell he would say "What does the other guy look like?" The fighting didn't stop until my freshman year of high school when I took a weight lifting class and my friend showed me the benefits of protein powder.

I played some sports in high school, made friends, and got slightly above-average grades without doing too much homework. After High School I knew I didn't have very many options and with only slightly above-average grades going to college without paying an arm and a leg would not be an option. My dad said if I was not enrolled in college or in the military I wouldn't be welcome after I turn 18. Figuring College was off the table entirely, I joined the army being shipped off to Missouri for training then Fort Drum New York for my first duty station. When I arrived at Fort Drum, during in-processing myself and the four other guys I went through basic and Advanced individual training with were told that we would be deploying within the year to Afghanistan.

Being the last of the new additions to the unit right before deployment was a rough position to be in. The hazing was intense to say the least. but I was in the best shape of my life I could do 80 push ups and 80 sit ups in 2 minutes each then run 2 miles in under 12 minutes, In the last PT test that I had before I deployed.

When I deployed I was selected to be the Gunner for my team. The half of the platoon that I was on was sent out to a tiny command outpost to win the hearts and minds of the people in the area and train the local Afghani police force. For the most part firefights were short a couple of pop shots from the local taliban then us unloading a thousand or so rounds in the direction it came from. At the time I didn't realize the amount of wear and tear I was putting on my body. when we finally got sent back to the States I had shrunk an inch from compressed discs in my spine carrying around all of my gear and the cartilage in my knees was practically gone.

I still had a couple of years left on my contract, when orders came down from command. I was going to be moved to Germany. The two years I spent there where the best that I had in the military, even though I still had to deal with everyday BS from the command in my unit. I made even more friends there, and got to hang out with my Uncle who was working for the TSA as an inspector in Frankfort. I learned a fair bit of German and had a lot of fun fooling around. A group of my friends got together and started playing Dungeons & Dragons regularly in the barracks. Those same friends got me into anime and even more fantasy novels and shows then I knew about beforehand.

I left the Army going back to my hometown after 5 years in the service as a sergeant with a fair amount of disability due to the damage in my back and knees. when I got back I moved in with some of my extended family and got a job I worked for a few years and then decided it was time to go to school and got a bachelor's degree in finance. I use the skills I learned there too work the stock market a bit adding that to my disability and I had enough to live a pretty care free life. I moved about quite a bit and traveled as much as I could in my free time I would binge read stories, light novels and watch anime. I wasn't the best looker but I had a confidence that was fairly attractive due to the hardships that I had faced rejection didn't really bother me too much honestly. Being able to tell stories about the crazy stuff I had done in my life and the travels I've been on let me clean up pretty well.

I was 30 living a pretty great life and I knew it so I felt shame about wanting more. I wanted to travel the stars and have those super powers that I read about. I knew that I liked having challenge in my life and I told myself I wouldn't even be overzealous with my wishes and demand to be OP or anything...