A pre ordered dying wish

Me and Craig walked into a fancy restaurant. It had large glass chandeliers silk carpets and tables enclosed by embroidered wooden boxes. It was the height of luxury.

There was even an awkward looking waiter at the entryway of the restaurant waiting to greet us.

Craig looked at the waiter

"I want sixty pounds of steak for me and my friend here." Said Craig while throwing his thumb back in my direction

I gave the waiter an awkward smile.

"And how will you be paying?" Asked the waiter seemingly unperturbed by the massive order

Craig turned his arm into a pulsing mass of muscle.

"I'm the weakest man alive."

The waiter face paled

"We'll get you your food right away sir."

He turned around and sprinted into the kitchen.

Me and Craig walked to the nearest table, opened the door to the box and sat down.

"So. How have the last few years been?" I asked Craig stiltedly. I'd only known him for about a week before the accident happened. It felt a little strange to be speaking to him again.

"Busy." Craig answered.

I couldn't relate. I'd been sleeping.

We sat in silence for about thirty minutes before the waiter brought us our food.

We got two heaping piles of steak. I dug in with great gusto.

After a few minutes of steak consumption Craig spoke.

"Your probably wondering why I helped you." Said Greg.

"That and why everyone is reacting so much to you being the weakest man alive." I answered

Craig smiled "I'll answer your question first. The weakest man alive is an old nickname I had. Back when I went on my war path." He said

I looked at him with curiosity

"And what was this warpath exactly?" I asked him

Craig reached down and ate a handful of steak.

"Do you know about Garen?" Craig asked.

I nodded

"I've heard the name." I said.

Craig nodded back.

"Okay. To put it simply. Garen is a type of steroid. It burns away your life force in exchange for superhuman muscular potential. After someone takes Garen their life is put on a time limit of fifteen years. Doesn't matter if they were a deathly ill beforehand. After taking Garen you will live for roughly fifteen years. It can vary by a few seconds."

Craig sighed a look of deep fatigue in his eyes.

"Haaaaa. That's how I know that I only have a year and a half left to live"

I spit my steak out of my mouth.

That's why Craig looked so old. But what exactly is life force?

"What is this life force you speak of?" I asked Craig

"It's an energy of living beings. It's only able to be manipulated by things from beyond the sea wall." Said Craig

~Even more questions~

"The sea wall?" I asked

"A wall of mist at the end of the ocean people have come from the mist to our land. But we can't go to theirs." Said Craig.

I nodded. I was still slightly confused about how a wall of mist can even exist.

"So then. Why did you take the Garen?" I asked Craig.

Craig shovelled another handful of meat in his mouth and stopped for a minute to chew.

After he had swallowed his food he spoke.

"Okay. So I was a weak young boy. And the kingdom I lived in had just been ravaged by every tragedy know to man simultaneously. War, famine, plague, rebellion, cults sacrificing children. Every evil you could name was assailing this kingdom."

Tears shined in Craig's eyes

"Too put it simply. It was hell on earth. Everyone I loved died in front of me. And I was too weak to do anything. Back then I had more your build."

I looked down at myself. I lacked both muscle and fat. I was mostly skeleton.

"By happenstance I found some Garen. I had always studied ways to get stronger. So I didn't hesitate to inject it into my blood. Then came my warpath. I destroyed any evil I could find. If a kingdom was corrupt I'd grind it into dust. I met every sin with death and destruction."

I furrowed my brows. I had encountered at least one other person who used Garen. And they were in service to that king. It had to be at least semi acessable. And that minor had instantly pegged Craig as a Garen user. So people had to know about it. If kingdom destroying power was that accessible then how was society not destroyed.

"Does Garen really make you that strong?" I asked Craig.

"It can. It all depends on how well you respond to it. And I responded very well." Said Craig

I nodded. It made some sense.

"Okay. But you still haven't answered the question. Why did you help me?"

Craig smiled again.

"See. At the end of my warpath I looked back at this world. And nothing had changed except for that the world had more dead people than it had before. I tried as hard as I could after that. I stole your stupid business idea and used it to jumpstart a company. Hoping that it's power would influence lawmakers and bring about a world without evil. But even then I could never grow strong enough to change anything. Not enough people wanted to follow me. So evil promoting laws were still passed."

Craig grabbed the whole plate of steak and poured it down his throat. Without even chewing he swallowed.

"That's where you come in. In this next year and a half of life I want you to make something for me. I want you to make a paradise."

I furrowed my brows. The only way I could make the world perfect is if I ruled it.

That's how I did it the last time.

World conquest in a year and a half? It shouldn't be possible. And on top of that we would need not only a conquered world but a refined world to make a paradise.

In all circumstances that should be impossible.

But….. Craig seemed to be strong enough to rip this continent a new one. He was so strong that after a war path the world was noticeably more dead than it was before.

With that kind of power it might be doable.

"Will you help me?" I asked Craig.

His grin grew so wide I swear I could see the very back of his molars.

"Of course." He responded