The Married Life Of Immortals

Bane pulled his arm back slightly, looking at Lysia. "Do you really think that I will become an immortal?"

Lysia stiffened at this, but then let out a sigh. "I almost have no doubt."

Bane nodded. "Cool, but what about you? Why do you only get to live to be 50000? If you taught me this, or forced it on me, you must know how to do it, right? I am sure that someone as strong as you has absorbed enough mana to replace all the blood in your veins, right?"

Lysia nodded. "A long time ago I reached my peak, but elves can do this almost naturally. We have to put in very little effort, and it mostly is just a matter of time. That being said... no race is born immortal. Elves cannot form a mana core, thus, our life span is limited to 50000 years."

A tightness formed in Bane's chest, and Lysia looked away from him. After Morgana had told him about basically becoming an immortal, Lysia's age limit had bothered him, but he had pushed it down. Now, Bane was starting to think about it more, and why Lysia helped him learn how to use mana veins.

"I am sorry."

Bane looked over at Lysia with a frown. "For what?"

"What I did was selfish, and some might even consider it a crime. I might have been able to get away with it if I could spend eternity with you, but I made the choice knowing you would be left alone-"

Bane sat up and put his hand over Lysia's mouth. It felt so strange for them, both in the bodies of kids to be talking so seriously like this, but Bane understood now why Lysia was feeling sad. She had basically admitted that she did this so she would have someone to spend the rest of her life with, even though that she would die one day, and leave Bane alone to wander for eternity.

"Don't worry about it. Unless you only have a few years left before you die, I have time to try and figure something out. You can't form a core, or is it just that no elf has ever figured out how to do it? Have you and your people tried everything? And I mean everything? Don't think that something like the impossible is enough to get in my way!" Bane declared, still holding Lysia's mouth, but tears were coming out of her eyes now.

Lysia's eyes softened as she listened to Bane's impassioned words. She gently removed his hand from her mouth and wiped away the tears that had escaped. "Bane, you truly are something else," she said softly, her voice tinged with a mix of admiration and sadness.

Bane looked at her earnestly. "Tell me everything. If there's a chance, any chance at all, that we can find a way to extend your life, I want to pursue it. I won't let you face this alone."

Lysia sighed, her gaze turning towards the Nexus Tree in the center of the clearing. "It's not for lack of trying, Bane. Elves have sought ways to extend our lives for millennia. We've delved into every aspect of magic, explored ancient texts, and consulted with other races, but to no avail. Our inability to form a mana core seems to be a fundamental limitation of our race."

Bane frowned thoughtfully. "What if we could somehow create a mana core for you? Something artificial, maybe?"

Lysia shook her head gently. "Creating a mana core is not something that can be easily done, let alone for an elf. It requires a deep connection to mana and a natural affinity that elves simply lack."

Bane only shrugged. "I am not even 100 years old yet, and I will have to assume that you aren't super old yet either, right?"

"I am 12,223," Lysia said without blinking, and Bane could only stare at her for a moment, before holding up his hand to do some rough calculations.

"Damn, you have been around the block, girl!" Bane laughed, but then choked on the deadly look Lysia gave him. "I mean, you have really seen it all! Still, if you can live to be around 50000, then I have tons of time to figure this out."

After smoothing her features, Lysia gave Bane a meek look. "So you are not mad about me making you an immortal?"

Bane frowned. "Maybe other people might not like the idea of living forever, but I have a goal, and god knows how long it will take. Plus, you will be there with me, right? No matter what life throws at me, I will just come home when it gets tough, then go back to kicking ass. I mean, you don't really know a ton about me, so you might actually be the victim in all of this."

"Me? The victim? How do you figure?" Lysia asked with a confused look, and Bane lightly flicked her forehead.

"Because I am a criminal; I didn’t try to steal that sack at the start because I am bad at talking to people, or asking for help, it’s just my goto thing. I have even been doing it by accident lately! I promise to be as good as I can in the village, but I can’t guarantee anything. Also, when I come back to this world, I plan to do some pretty dastardly things. I have to get everyone on my side, but the honorable way is slow, and not really my style. I will probably rob more than half of each realm I visit, and I am likely to wipe countless people off the face of the map. I told you, I am not a hero, nor do I want people to think of me as one."

In response, to his surprise, Lysia moved closer to him, leaning on his shoulder. "If you told me the entire world had to burn in order to make it better, and you could promise me that it was true, then I would stand with you. Even if you told me there was a simpler way, but it would take longer, I would still stand by your choice. I have never liked anyone, nor had someone so able to accept me for who I am. What right do I have to complain when I knew full well what helping you achieve mana veins meant? I knew that you weren't pure, but that is not what this world needs. It needs a rogue that will do what must be done, no matter the cost."

Bane put an arm around Lysia, and watched Wei Nam Lee and Mizuage finish the final array. It was still early in the journey, but Bane had finally found himself a goal that was all his own. Since coming to this world, everything had been training and preparing for the war that would come and to unite the world. These were all things that he had been asked to do.

Now, Lysia had made a selfish choice to make him an immortal because she didn't want to be alone after 12000 years. Bane couldn't deny that it was not the ideal way to go about things, but he was not mad. Lysia had picked him, and asked Bane without asking him to spend some 35000 years with her, and then live forever.

To a mortal, this should seem like a long time, but just how long was eternity? one million years? A billion? Would it ever end? When Bane thought about it like that, 35000 years was only a few years compared to his current view on time. Yet, the idea didn't bother Bane for a few reasons, but the main one was now his goal, and reason to fight and win.

As long as he pushed to his goal, Bane knew that somewhere along the way, he would find a way to enjoy infinity.

"You don't know it, but you might have just saved this world we live in," Bane chuckled, and Lysia lifted her head up from his shoulder to give him a strange look.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and Bane smiled without looking at her, not saying anything as they waited for the other two to finish.