*Authors Note: You could say this story is finished, all chapters have key pieces of a story I wanted to write, although I was not satisfied about how it came as a whole so I decided to give it more content, do some changing of events, and some character development. I found no easier way to do it than updating the existing chapters with longer ones, so chapters will become much longer, that's how it is. I'm determined to keep this going, but since chapters are going to be much longer, updates will probably be too, so yeah. Feel free to read the rest of what's here and thanks to those who followed and favorite the story.

You could smell blood in the air, there was no mistake as the mage walked past the amazing number of corpses in the now barren and putrid land that once was full of life and color. Not many men could be able withstand the sight as he continued to survey the area. On his feet now hundreds of purple corpses mixed with weapons and varied armors. Silence and death, the sensation of nothingness filled his ears as he continued to walk past the field. There's no fear in his body nor angst in his soul, as he continues to walk trying to reach what's calling him. "Nothing should be left" he thinks as he slowly but steadily advances towards a faint magical force near the center of the field. "This is wrong" he says to himself as he begins to see a faint light on the horizon. Covering its identity, fog and dust permeated with a putrid stench. Ryze readies his tome and begins to focus his mind in case of need, he can hear it, he can yet still can't understand it. He puts away his spell book and looks at the creature in front of him. "A Baby?!" he yells in his mind as the anguished cries of the baby bring him back to reality. He's the faint source of magic he detected, and on top of his head there is a strip of light, bright enough to give his position from a considerable distance. "This is just ridiculous" he yells as he picks up the baby, which isn't done crying, "Ok, you, shut up" said Ryze as he shook the baby, producing the exact opposite of his intention. "Aaaaarrrggg! I'm not cut out for this!" He yelled to the baby as he chanted a sleeping spell on him. "That should do it" he thinks just to witness the light emitted from the baby's short hair dim itself, well at least he found what I came searching for, "Of all the things I had to be in charge" he sighed as he turned around on route to his previous path. "You better be ready, in not an easy person to be around", those where his final words as he readied himself for what was about to come.

Somewhere on Runeterra 12 years later

"Aaaaaa" a shout could be heard through the forest, once, then again, and again, all with the same ferocity as one could listen the unmistakable roar of wood being torn with great force.

"You are missing your target!" a much older voice shouted in clear reprimand of what he expected and clearly didn't get. "We'll do ten more until they come out perfectly!" he shouted once again.

"But my hands hurt so much and I'm really tired, please, can we rest?" the young boy exclaimed as he still tried to recover his breath with his knees on the ground.

"No, you can still move and you've withstood more pain than this, now on your feet and start cutting! I want ten perfect logs!"

Anger burned in his heart, but he, at his young age had learned to comply or to trust, either way that blue man was the only one he knew, and had known, as his world from the moment he could grab a special hilt given to him, became nothing but training and battle. Slowly getting up he began to cut again, five perfect incisions on the already fallen logs were his duty he had to do it, and so he did, by the end of the ten logs, he practically dropped on all four as sweat dropped from his chin to the ground, large breaths escaping from his mouth.

"There! All done" he said, now visibly angry.

"These are not perfect! Get up and give me my ten perfect logs!" The mage commanded now with a scowl on his face.

"What! No! I won't do more! I'm tired!" the boy shouted.

"I said get up!"

"No! I'm too tired" he shouted once more only to widen his eyes at the sight that appeared before him, the mage had now a magic orb on his hand and with only a second of delay launched it against him.

Instincts kicked in as he jumped away just in time to avoid the missile but still got propelled a few feet into the air by the blast making him roll a few times before stopping and lifting himself up.

"Dad! What are you doing!" he screamed as tears began to form in his eyes. He got nothing but another orb launched at his direction before moving again to evade the attack. "Dad please I'm sorry I'll do it just please...!" and again he got nothing more than another orb launched at him before Ryze began to move as now his attacks became more constant aiming always towards him.

Evading his attacks was proving to be increasingly more difficult as for everyone he evaded two more seemed to be coming for him.

It wasn't until Ryze made him jump closer to him that true terror struck his heart, for a second he could run but now was completely rooted in place by the mage's magic. He couldn't believe what was in front of him, as the person that raised and took care of him all this years held another orb at his hand watching him closely. Tears flowed freely from the boy's cheeks.

"Dad please…" he pleaded one more time as the mage stood there seemingly unfazed for a second later he launched the orbs of energy straight at his chest.

Throughout his childhood at his limited understanding you could say that he hadn't the best experiences. Ever since he could remember, he had to withstand constant exercise, commands, never got a chance to fully rest, never a birthday present or one of those vacations he had read on all those books Ryze had. Even so there was something that always pushed him forward and made him endure all the pain. His will to live was strong, that hope, that things would get better had never left his side, seeing all that which he had read about, making friends, he wanted all of that. As such he wasn't going to die here, not if he could prevent it. So, when the orb was almost reaching him, and with every ounce of power his body could muster he swung his blade, slicing the orb in half and dissipating it before it could struck him.

His victory although relieving was cut short, as another orb was shot in his direction, that one was also sliced, then the next one, and so on. The amount of concentration the boy was exerting was admirable, his head hurt, his muscles were cramping, and his power was beginning to diminish as the sword he held, made entirely of electricity, was ever so slightly getting shorter the more energy he used. He didn't realize that the cage where he was confined was no longer there as he just focused on the orbs being launched at him.

He stood there as long as he could until his hair stopped glowing and his sword could not show itself on the hilt he was holding. Now essentially defenseless and exhausted to the point of fainting, he dropped on his knees as he could only see through teary eyes the mage coming close to him.

Once he reached his position and having him at his mercy the mage quickly extended his arms and took him setting the boy on his back as he started to walk to the house.

"Listen here Dom there will be a time to sleep but I need you to focus on my voice, can you do that?"

Dom was clearly surprised by the sudden turn of events, this was the first time he could remember the mage did something more than pet his head so he just dryly agreed as he gathered his remaining energy to focus on Ryze.

"I know I haven't been the most caring person but there's nothing more important to me than your safety. I know that may sound like a lie considering what I just did but this is a dangerous world Dom, and danger is not going to stop even if you beg for it, you have to withstand pain, and exhaustion if you want to survive, so I ask you to forgive me for what I just did, I just had to make sure you could be fine on your own even at your age" Ryze took a moment before continuing as he could feel his head nod at his shoulder. "Good, now there is also other reason why I did this today, although it should serve as confirmation that your training was well worth it, we will be leaving this forest the day after tomorrow, I've made a deal with a long time friend of mine and we will continue our training on a city".

At that comment Dom couldn't help but using what energy left he had to get a big smile on his face, "Really!? Awesome!" Was all he could muster before surrendering to exhaustion at Ryze's back.

The mage only continued advancing forward as a smile crept on his face, "This is interesting" he muttered as he held ever so slightly firmer, the boy on his back.

Piltover 3 days later

Finally after three days of traveling and getting a much needed and deserved rest Dom and Ryze were walking the path toward the entrance of the city. The ride from the forest to the entrance had been fun for Dom as he finally had the chance to see and talk with other people rather than Ryze, he was, to the surprise of the mage, not shy at all with those who he wanted to speak, and now seemed more and more ecstatic to enter the city as he was constantly getting ahead of him, constantly trying to make him walk faster.

"Come on dad! We are almost there!" the kid said enthusiastically.

"I'm not your dad, and just stick to my side you have to be careful" the mage growled, as with a now visibly diminishing excitement, Dom began to walk by his side, keeping his head low. "Ahhh" the mage exhaled, "Ok listen here Dom, once we reach the city I have to talk to a friend of mine, in the meantime, I'll let you walk through the city, for a few blocks, alright? I trust that you know how to defend yourself and won't hurt anyone right? Remember, don't trust any adult and don't cause any problems, got it?" Ryze ended, successfully lifting the young boy's spirit as he nodded a few times regaining his smile.

After entering the city Dom sticked with Ryze through the pathways and alleys until they reached an apartment, they left their things there and proceeded to exit the building. This was going to be their home Ryze told him, as he then excused himself to see his friend giving Dom permission to wander around for a while as long as he didn't stray of too far from there and didn't talk to strangers.

After getting his approval, Dom didn't think it twice and began to walk through the city streets, taking in all he could see, carefully ignoring many of the vendors and homeless persons on the streets. Dom made sure to memorize the path he was taking and the general location of his new home. Throughout his training Rye made sure he could orient himself and navigate through different environments without losing a sense of direction, something that was proving to be really helpful right now.

After two hours of walking and checking every street he could on that time Dom decided to begin the walk back to his home, he had strayed by now somehow farther than what he had intended, and the surrounding buildings and general atmosphere there seemed to be somewhat tenser than the previous sector where his home was located.

Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a girl shouting to a device on his hand, which passed right beside him.

"They found me!" the girl yelled loud enough for Dom to hear and again just before she got out of reach, "I need help there are too many!" she yelled as she turned the corner.

Dom couldn't really say if he got that tense because of the girls worried screams or because right after she turned the corner a mob of what appeared to be thugs, bigger than her passed also besides him while shouting and screaming insults, clearly directed at the girl.

"Don't cause problems" Ryze's words sounded in his head, this was his first day here and there was no reason for him to cause a scene, yeah there's no reason he thought as he began running behind the angry mob.

It didn't took much to catch up to them and realize they had entered what he could see was a dead end alley, without delay Dom climbed to the roof of one of the neighboring buildings, to assess the situation and decide how to act from there, Ryze's tactics were really useful he thought all the while he climbed up.

Once on the roof Dom was surprised to say the least, at what he was witnessing, he apparently didn't catch well enough the girl's appearance, she was taller than him, although young. What really struck home though was her impressive strength and agility, as she had already dispatched three thugs and laid an uppercut to another one once Dom laid his eyes on the scene.

"Come on! I can do this all day!" the girls roared furiously, Dom could tell that she was hurt as one of her eyes was shut closed and blood dripped from her nose. Then after someone else tried to pin her down and received another facial reconstruction by the girl's fist, a thug presumably the one in charge there stepped up as he began clapping.

"Impressive punch if I do say so myself, that's why you were one of the best of us" he remarked as the girl smiled.

"You mean the best" he retorted while blowing a strand of pink hair out of her vision.

At that comment the smile on his face disappeared as rage appeared on his eyes, and wrinkles began showing in his forehead. "We could had it all you snitch! Everything was perfect, no one will ever find out those were fake, we could have made millions! We could have bought our way out of this shit hole! What were a couple of sacrifices for the cause Vi? Did they ever helped you with something, I sure think that the hospital couldn't do something for your family, then why help them? Why rat us with the police! We trusted you! Now the boss will cut my head!" the guy ended in a shaking rage.

"Yeah well, I'm not a murderer, those kids didn't do anything wrong, as for your head, I think it would be an improvement considering how ugly your face is." the girl taunted once more.

The girl was clearly outnumbered but still refused to show any signs of fear, it was amazing Dom thought that a girl and someone not much older than him, he supposed, was that strong, but is confidence left her face as the leader took out a yellow gun out of his jacket and without a delay shot it at her. A painful scream escaped the girl's mouth as the two cables now lodged in her chest gave her a powerful shock of electricity. Although she initially resisted the power, after a couple of seconds her body collapsed to the floor as the shock continued for just a while longer before stopping.

"You weren't prepared for that were you now?" the leader asked with a smirk as he got rid of the gun and approached the girl slowly.

"F*ck you" the girl said while panthing, clearly without the strength to get on her feet.

"Listen I was going to end it quickly but I'm really mad right now, so I'll take my sweet time and punch you to death kid. I mean I'm dead anyway so I'll have to enjoy my revenge while it lasts" the thug said as he and all remaining standing men began approaching the girl.

Vi was clenching her teeth in anger, she had to get up, she had to fight she had to buy time, but her muscles were not responding her head hurt, and she could now sense that emotion which for some time had learned to control; fear. Fear surging up her stomach to her heart making it beat incredibly fast, as her pupils dilated and sweat ran through her body. This was it, but she will go out as a good person, she saved those kids and that was enough. Just as the leader was cracking his knuckles and preparing his first punch a shadow crossed over them and as both looked up to see, a boy came down between them, then punched the thug on the stomach and proceeded to spin kick him on the head sending him stumbling for a couple of meters before landing at the feet of the rest of the gang.

"Who the f*ck are you!" he shouted as he began to lift himself up. "Another kid!" he shouted now with the biggest scowl his face could muster. "Get him!" he shouted to his thugs as two of them approached Dom one with a pipe and one with a knife.

His fighting style was different from that of the girl, while she used her endurance and physic to her advantage to block and counter, he used his speed and reflexes to evade and strike when an opening presented itself. It was a shock to the rest of the thugs as the two first attackers got destroyed, the first one by a well placed punch to the liver and the second one got floored by a spinning kick to the temple.

"Nice kick" The girl said as she got enough strength to lift herself of the floor with difficulty.

"Thanks" Dom said as he was still focusing on the five remaining men in front of him.

"What is wrong with kids these days! You are supposed to play with dolls not learning how to fight!" he shouted once more before picking up his stun gun again, changing the cartridge and firing it again hitting Dom on his chest. "Take this you brat!" he shouted once more as he pressed the trigger sending electricity through the cables.

Silence reigned on the alley as the boy stood there seemingly unfazed by the charge as he quickly ripped the cables of his body and shouted. "That's it, now leave before you get injured"

It was a bold claim, and he knew it, there was no way he could fight all five of them without moving back, and that will mean leaving the girl out of his protection.

"Hahahahaha" the thug laughed as he took a step forward, "Nice job, I'll give you that but you think you can handle five of us?" he smiled as he took a knife from a holster on his back.

"Shit! I knew it, I don't want to hurt anyone but if necessary I'll have to use my sword. Ohh Ryze is going to kill me!" he thought as he got into a fighting stance ready to unleash his power.

Just then before the thugs were about to jump a loud snap was heard at the entrance of the alley and just after that one of the thugs fell to the floor unconscious. Immediately after that and as they turned around another snap roared through the air and another thug fell unconscious as a rubber bullet slammed straight at his jaw knocking him out.

Dom was again surprised to look at the figure standing in the alley, another girl no taller than him, wearing a tophat, visibly angry holding what appeared to be a modified slingshot and various rubber bullets on his hand.

"On behalf of the police! You are under arrest, any resistance will not be tolerated, now get on your knees and put your hands in the air!" the girl shouted with determination, although her high pitch voice took out some of the seriousness.

"You again?!" the leader yelled I'm tired of this he said while waving his knife on the air. "What are you waiting?!" he yelled at the remaining of his squad, "Get her!" he yelled once again.

Their run for her was short as three meters after they had traveled their bodies fell unconscious thanks to the precise shots taken from that more than strong slingshot.

Dom took quick notice at how now the leader of the thugs had now turned around completely ignoring him, "This is my chance" he thought as Ryze teachings to take advantage of opportunities and take decisions became now really helpful. So, without hesitating he got running traveled to the wall and with an enormous force kicked the man on the side of his jaw, knocking him out cold.

"Nice kick" sounded again now coming from the girl with the top hat as he walked past him to aid the other girl giving her a big hug first.

"I was so worried! Are you ok Vi?" the girl in the tophat asked with clear concern.

"I'll be fine Cait, nothing a good sleep can't cure!" she said flashing a smile, "I have to say that someone else saved me today" Vi said now looking at the boy. "Err thanks for that, my pretty face would look like mashed potatoes if you didn't help me there, my name is Vi" she declared as she extended a hand towards the boy.

"No problem, I'm Dom, nice to meet you" he said as he grabbed her hand in a firm handshake.

"Hey don't let me out!" the girl whined as she also stretched her hand. "The name is Caitlyn, but since you saved my best friend you can call me Cait" she finished as her hand, smaller than Vi's was waving in front of him.

Dom found it kind of amusing and funny to see such a demonstration that couldn't help to follow suit. "The name is Dominick, but since I just saved your best friend you can call me Dom" he said grinning as she shook hands with her, as now they all were sharing a smile on their face.

Just then after they let go of their handshake the three of them heard a noise and quickly turned around to see the thug leader lifting himself up the ground stumbling and clearly disoriented as he pointed a finger towards the kids.

"You'll get what's coming for you! I'll come back and kill you three with my own hands, I promise" he yelled.

"Don't make promises that you can't fulfill Jack" a deep voice said at his back, only giving him a chance for terror to strike his eyes as a gunshot was fired and his head exploded in front of the three kids. "You are not a man if you can't keep your promises" he said, now more smoothly as he took another hit of his cigarette. The man was big yet not very muscular and at his side were two more guards wearing suits as they followed him without making a noise "Now what do we have here? Ohh if it isn't the chief's daughter, damn so you finally made a friend?! Do you think helping the chief of police will help you in some way? Is that why you ratted us out? We gave you a home insolent brat! We put food on your stomach and gave you a purpose! Do you think they were going to help you?! That you could live happily ever after!? There is no such thing as that!" The man finished as he began loading his gun, getting three bullets into the chamber.

"Leave her alone!" Caitlyn shouted as Vi had now tears on her eyes "As the daughter of the chief of police I order you to surrender". Finishing her sentence she quickly shot a rubber bullet with the slingshot only to be stopped by one of the guards before reaching its target.

"I don't have much time now that a shot was heard Vi, but you know what's next, I mean I couldn't possibly run the gang if I allowed a snitch to live, you know how this goes, so I'll kill her first so you can watch her die before I put you to sleep too" he ended, then aimed quickly at Cait's head and pulled the trigger.

Vi's heart sank as she heard the gunshot for a brief moment a flash of light blinded her and a loud noise sounded beside her. She didn't want to look, tears were flowing from her eyes as she could only imagine what happened. Then gathering all his courage turned to her right and there was Cait, completely unscratched but with a look of complete surprise on her face. She then looked up front and saw Dom, his hair and eyes were completely engulfed in white light as he held what seemed to be a sword made of electricity in front of him, but more importantly, in front of Caitlyn.

"Hhhmm" two more shots were fired one after the other aimed directly at the boys head only for them to be deflected, or sliced in half there was no way of telling.

Just after the last shot Dom entered what Ryze had mentioned a crucial state, decisions had to be made once your life was at stake and they had to be fast, in this world either you decide your fate or you let others decide it for you, and he was having none of that, so when the faint movement of the guards suggested they will take their arms he sprinted to action.

The scene that unfolded before both of the girls eyes took their breath away as before the guards could even point their guns at him, two slashes were made, chopping off their hands, making them drop to the ground screaming before turning around and doing the same with the leader.

"AAAAAAAA" a deep scream followed by two more shot through the air as the three men agonized in pain on the ground.

Dom stood there quite shocked himself for a minute not knowing what to do next, as the girls also were quite astonished.

"Woooaaahhh" was all Vi muttered as Caitlyn was still quite shocked by her near-death experience, but reason came back to her once sirens were sounding at the entrance of the alley and a familiar voice rang through her ears.

"You! Drop your weapon and put your hands where I can see them!" the officer shouted as behind him a whole squadron began to point their guns at Dom, who, at the moment was just watching as he then retracted his sword and lifted his hands.

"On your knees now!" the officer commanded again but just before Dom could move a voice raised behind him.

"Wait! Dad! He is the good guy! He saved my friend!" Caitlyn yelled gathering the attention of the chief as he quickly instructed his troops to lower their guns, but clearly anger was shown in his face.

"Awesome! It's Caitlyn's dad, maybe I'll be able to get home before dad finds ou…." Dom was beginning to think just before a familiar mage appeared to the officer's side.

"Dominick" was the only word directed at the boy, enough to send a shiver up to his spine, letting him know this was not going to go without a proper lesson.

"You know him?" the officer asked as Ryze nodded his head still looking at the boy. "Okay everyone, you know the drill, take care of this the chief instructed his staff, as for you three, you have a long explaining to do.

So for the next hour the kids began explaining what happened to the chief of police, how Vi had stopped a batch of fake medicine to reach the sick children of the hospital, how she told Cait so she could message the hospital in time. How the thugs came chasing Vi after they found out and Dom's entrance and help being told now quite excitingly by Vi.

"It was awesome, he really split a bullet in half! Then he shot forward so fast that the baddies had no chance to react and, slash! He sliced his hands holding the weapons!" Vi ended before the chief interjected before deciding he had enough.

"Alright that's it for today. Young man hearing that you aided us to capture the leader of one of the worst gangs on the city and that you saved my daughter I'll let you leave unpunished, this time understand? I don't want any more problems, so you stay away from trouble and listen to your dad!"

"I'm not his dad" Ryze interjected dryly.

"Yeah sure, as you wish" he said while rolling his eyes. "As for you young lady" the chief began to talk straight to Caitlyn, which seemed to know something bad was about to happen. "Hand in your weapon" the chief commanded as he showed the palm of his hand straight to her. Cait couldn't do anything else than to comply with as sad face while his precious slingshot was confiscated. "You are grounded for two months without a possibility of parole understand?" Caitlyn winced once she heard the number but could only nod her head as she accepted her punishment. "As for you young girl, where are your parents?" the chief asked but quickly regretted as Vi's eyes fell to the ground and sadness invaded her face.

"They are not here" she said without lifting her face.

Just before the chief could continue Caitlyn ran up to him and began whispering in his ear, something no one heard but you could see the chief thinking carefully.

"Please!" Cait begged him with both hands tied together as the chief lifted himself up and took a long exhale.

"Vi is it right? Your name?" the chief asked, while Vi quite intrigued nodded in agreement. "Are you staying somewhere right now?" he asked as Vi just shook her head. "Ok then that settles it, I know things havn't been easy for you, so if you would like Cait and I would like you to come with us.

Those words reached the pink haired girl to her core as she could only nod in agreement while Caitlyn latched herself to her side in a big hug.

"That settles it then, well Ryze I'll see that you are given permission to use the academy's training ground once Dom here has learned his lesson". Ryze showed a sly smile at that comment and nodded in agreement at his decision. "Now Vi, I would love you to welcome you to our house in other circumstances but rules are rules so, you are also grounded" he said finishing his sentence with a wide smile as the three of them braced themselves for what was about to come.

Two days later

Vi had just finished mopping the floor, laying the mop against the wall she approached the open window while cleaning the sweat of her face with a towel. "This is gruesome" she told Cait who had just finished dusting off the walls, who also, thanks to the intense heat was resting against the window hoping to catch a slight breeze.

"Nothing to do about it" one spec of dust when dad comes home and he'll add another day" she said as she slumped against the window, Vi following her example, as they both looked down from their apartment across the street to the roof of a building.

"Could be worse" Vi said.

"Indeed it could" Cait answered

"What do you think he's reading?" Vi asked again as she took a sip of water.

"Dunno, maybe some kind to torture technique book, he gives me the creeps" Cait said.

"Word"

"498, 499, 500!" the boy shouted as he slumped against the ground sweat covering his whole body, and breathing heavily.

"Good you are halfway there" the mage said calmly as he turned a page from his book, sitting comfortably in a chair below the shade of an umbrella. "If you persevere maybe you'll end before noon" he said as he took a sip from his drink.

This was going to be a gruesome lesson.

Piltover, 12 years later

"SECURE THE PERIMETER" said the voice through the device few possessed but allowed them to communicate at a distance. "Vi do not engage just follow them" said Caitlyn with a worried tone as she overlooked the scene unfolding in the streets from above. Distress calls were heard through the city as the robbers ran as fast as they could, their plan was simple, rob a bank with bombs attached to their bodies, and threaten police to back away or they will blow up an entire block, they got nothing to lose, but desperation was growing more and more by the second, as they grew tired and heard sirens reaching closer by the second, until the three ended in a dead-end alley. Their leader stood frozen, eyes wide open as he held the detonator in one hand and stepped to confront the group of police and their leader as they appeared before them.

"Back off! You got no power over us! Either you go back or I'll blow this entire block… in…. into the sky!" said the thug with a breaking voice.

"Let's calm down alright" said the pink haired official, "Believe me you would not like what's about to happen, but I can assure you, if you don't give up, only pain and suffering awaits you three" there wasn't a single hint of hesitation in her voice only giving more nervousness to the three thieves in front of her.

"You don't scare us!" said thieve number two, as he too raised his own detonator, "We all have one, at the first gunshot we hear we would all click it, you understand!? Now, step away!" To their surprise Vi didn't move a single inch, but a smile crept into her face.

"UUUOOOO scary! I'll give you points for intimidation, but you see, it's not my turn to stop you, it's his, and don't forget I didn't warned you about it hurting" Said Vi as she posed with both hands upon her hips.

"Don't play with us!" Shouted one of the thieves, all of them visibly shaken by Vi's comment raised the detonators on top of their heads. "Don't you dare move!"

It all was in an instant, a bright light passed through their eyes taking away their vision for a second but they didn't hesitate as all three of them decided to press the button, but they only felt an immense heat emanating from their wrist. It… wasn't the finest slash to his standards but it did the job as he stood behind the now agonizing criminals with a sword, which seemed to be made of light and a black hilt handle to which the light was slowly retreating. Hair dark except for that single white stripe glowing on his head the moment his powers were used. On the floor were three severed hands and their owners almost fainting from pain, a sight which perturbed him but had been common for his job.

"Yo, Dom!" he heard as he snapped out of the disgusting sight before him to find Vi and her team already apprehending and disarming the bombs from the criminals. "I see you are quick as always" said Vi in a teasing tone and a smirk on her face as she poked his ribs.

"Shut up!, as if you would know" responding as quick as he could with a face full of embarrassment.

"Ohoho, little brother, but I was talking about your reflexes you know" said Vi with a wider smile.

"Ahhh it's never easy with you is it, you know I'm not good with this!" Dom remarked feeling slightly irritated that he always had to endure Vi's innuendos right after every mission.

"Enough of your chatter, good work Dom I'll get your payment ready and also Ryze has some urgent business to discuss with you given the big day is coming, I advise you go see him as soon as possible, and don't worry Vi will fill the paperwork for you" said Caitlyn as she cut the transmission.

"Awww come on, that's not fair, we were supposed to go see the new movie!" yelled Vi at the already turned off transmitter.

"Heh, it's not so bad considering it's the only work you'll do this time" Dom replied as he started running following his usual exit routine while avoiding Vi's first aimed at his body.

"One day I'll get you coward!" he heard Vi's scream already at a distance. Now focusing in reaching his destination.

Dom's house

Dom knew what was coming and of course was expecting this to take some time, so he decided to buy some tea and a freshly baked bread before arriving to his home. It wasn't so big actually, two bedrooms, a kitchen a single complete bathroom and a study room which was half of the house was all there was for the two people leaving there, setting the groceries of on the kitchen table Dom stirred his nerves and entered the study.

Inside the blue mage was sitting in one of the couches of the study carefully examining a new novel that had just arrived from a recognized author across all Runeterra. His feet were crossed in front of him and he had a look of deep concentration which for a moment made him doubt for a second if it was a good moment.

"Good afternoon Dad" said Dom with a serious tone as he lowered his head in respect awaiting his response.

"I don't know if I'll ever come to terms with that title you know" said Ryze as he took a big sip of his tea lying on a table beside him.

"Did you wanted to speak to me about something important?"

"Yes it's about your trip" Ryze said as que continued reading, this will be a test of your abilities.

"Come on Ryze I got it I've been training my whole life, I'm sure I'm strong enough to beat anyone don't worry" Dom said, but Ryze seemed to get angry at his words.

"This is not about proving you are the best fighter there is much more at stake here" he growled finally taking his sight of the book and looking at him. "Dom it's time for you to know why is it that you ended up with me" he said clearly getting Dom's attention. "There's a mage, I know him well, or I used to before, he's able to see far ahead and back in time. I was instructed by him to find a source of power left after the battle of the void, to take care of it and make it stronger, but if I'm honest I never thought it would be a child" Ryze smiled a while before focusing again on his message. "Dom I've taught you everything I know, I've seen that you were able to train and grow as stronger as you could but it's time to say goodbye for now. I've got nothing else and you'll have to find yourself a way to keep improving so that's why you are going there"

Dom was clearly shocked at the moment, he found it difficult to digest but he had learned to trust Ryze and will continue to do so, still there were some questions he needed answered. "Why did this mage sent you for me?" came out of his mouth as Ryze took a second to answer.

"There will be a time where you would be needed I don't know when or for what, all I can tell you is that, you need to be strong, to become strong so you and everyone else can face whatever threat falls upon this realm." Ryze took this chance to get up and approach Dom and for the first time drapped an arm around his shoulders in a light hug, quickly separating himself. "I'm proud of you, so do me a favor, I know it would be difficult but try to have fun, think of it as your first vacation".

Dom was completely frozen in place clearly thinking about what to say but failing to find his voice. Ryze took this opportunity to say his goodbye, he had to take a trip down to a nearby city and will not be for Dom's departure. So after Ryze went out of the door and he collected his tought's decided to let off some steam by going to her second favorite place on the city.

Heimerdinger's Lab

"I'll guess I'll just think about it later" said as he sighed and approached the door. Nothing fazed him as he entered the building being careful not to trip with all the junk lying on the floor, tools, metal components, plans, projections. Everything arranged in a specific place not new to him as he came to love and admire this lab since he was allowed to.

"Seeing that you are not all over the place I suppose you finally finished placing those things" said Dom as a second later he intercepted a wrench flying towards his face, from a hairy creature behind a chair facing a big screen.

"Those things have a name!" Shouted the tiny yordle from the chair turning his attention to the young boy. "And they may prove useful in saving lives of many people, have a little respect for those who are not alive now that they are working."

"Sorry about that… it was insensitive on my part" said Dom on an apologetic voice as the yordle turned around again at the screen. Years ago when he was little an earthquake shook Piltover destroying many buildings and killing many residents. Since then Heimerdinger decided to focus on a way to detect this events and study them to save lives by using technological advancement as his medium. At the time everyone was surprised when every city state allowed the scientist to place sensors in their territory, a task which apparently finished and everything was set in place and working.

"Are they working?"

"Of course they are working! I'm the one who build them!" explained even more irritated the little creature. Heimerdinger then took a deep breath and faced Dom one more time "You seem a little lost boy"

"Just a bit, Ryze told me something quite confusing before leaving" Dom jokingly said.

"I swear never have I understood that old mage, but have never denied his intellect, … or yours"

"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment, thanks, so how is my baby?" said Dom as casual as possible expecting good news.

"Do not pressure me, you know something like that requires a lot of work and materials, but if you want to see its progress you know where the garage is." Said Heimerdinger as he pointed the back door returning his attention to the screen.

Dom never bothered with the main lab's mess but he appreciated that at least his work space was kept relatively clean. The garage was full vehicles and pieces of them but there was one in which he had been working on for the past 4 years. It looked like a box, three meters high and 2 wide, painted deep red, no wheels were attached yet but you could see they were going to be big, and the front part was still missing entirely, which at plain sight you could see a hole running inside the box as big as a cheese wheel made from all of Vi's ego. The back, on the contrary was fully equipped with two engine thrusters fitted together one on top of the other, both as tall as him, and black like his hair. A perfect drill some would say, a machine capable of burrowing a hole through a mountain without much problems.

"They say you don't need this and call me speed maniac, but I know you need power, and one day you'll end my suffering" He said as he patted the side of the machine with a happy smile on his face. "Well I guess I'll distract myself for a bit" said Dom as he got to work on the machine.

It was getting late as Dom arrived to his home, no light was turned on as he figured, Ryze tended to disappear from time to time so this was not something new to him. Thoughts lingered in his head as he prepared his things for the trip, oh yes, the trip. He remembered Ryze's talk and figured that this was the cause of it all. How could it not? He thought as this will be the first time he will be out almost on his own. But the option was to good to be passed as he would be allowed to fight at his maximum power without worrying of hurting someone, and that one idea fueled his mind and body with excitement. If anything, riding in that thing for three days was what scared him the most, Dom has always said that he belongs in the ground, but flying was the only way to reach its destination in time, so he had to prepare himself.

He woke up nervous, almost to the point of throwing up but he contained himself, he knew it wasn't because his life appeared to change from one day to another and he was unsure of what was coming, but remembering his ride.

"No point in delaying this" he said quietly, "Your actions are your will." That frase stuck to him so he had to keep moving, he'll prove himself and Ryze he had a future.

"There you are!" shouted Caitlyn as he saw the familiar face of Dom approaching the hangar where the ships were stationed. "I was beginning to worry you know, knowing you I was about to send my forces into your house" Caitlyn stopped for a second to examine his state, "Hmm, you look like a ghost", "More like shit!" VI added in a laughing manner.

"What's this!? Little Dom is scared of heights? What a surprise." Said Vi as she crossed one of her arms around Dom's neck without her enormous gloves. "You are not going to faint now are you little slug?" said Vi still joking and pulling one of his cheeks with his other hand.

"Maybe I'll arrive on time by horse if the weather is good" said Dom with a week smile as his gaze shifted to his feet.

"Hahahahaha" was the only response he got from his pink haired friend as she moved him with her arm still around him. "You'll be fine! Besides you have Mr. Might coming with you he'll take care of you.

"Well just in case, you might want to take this" said Caitlyn as she presented him with a whole stack of disposable bags.

Dom was getting sicker by the second and that smirk in Cait's face wasn't making things better. "Thanks" was the only thing he could muster as he took the bags and hold them firmly on his side.

"You better be" she said as she exhaled deeply. "We'll catch you later if we have a chance, maybe a short vacation we'll do us good" said Cait with a smile.

Maybe it was his imagination but those words seemed to make him feel better. "Yeah I'll see you later" he spoke correcting his posture and lifting completely his face, and just as he was almost completely free of his worries he felt a sharp pain and a loud thud on his back.

"Hello there Dom! Man, nothing like going on a flight for three days don't you think! JUST IMAGINE THOSE BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, AND YOU, HIGH ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE, DEFYING GRAVITY, CHALLENGING THE GODS WITH A PIECE CLOTH FILLED WITH GAS AND YOUR DISPOSITION FOR ADVENTURE! HE HE HE, I LOVE THIS! Hmm? Dom you alright?"

"HUUUURGGEHH"

"Ewww, good one Jayce, subtle as always" Caitlyn exclaimed as she backed away a few meters.

"I'm ok, I'm ok, I just need some air…" said Dom with week knees and a pale face as he staggered to move away from the group. "You know maybe the horse wasn't a bad... idea." *Thud* Dom suddenly collapsed on the floor a few feet away from them.

"Thank god, you gave him the bags" Vi exclaimed as she began carrying his body on top of the aircraft. "He is ready to go" shouted as she gave thumbs up to Jayce and Cait.

"Take care of him would you" Cait told Jayce in a serious manner.

"Leave it to me!" Jayce shouted as he climbed on board and positioned itself on the nose of the aircraft pointing at the horizon. "NEXT STOP, THE INSTITUTE OF WAR!" exclaimed as the ship started to sail leaving Cait and Vi standing there as the ship sailed away from their view.

(Ps)

* After the ship sailed

"I have always thought of you as the big sister you know, maybe it' time for YOU to show it" Vi said in a calm and soft voice.

"What are you talking about, obviously he likes YOU better, you got to set an example" Cait responded to the sudden comment, neither of them removing their eyes from the aircraft.

"Hmm, maybe law doesn't need to be so uptight at all moments Cupcake"

"Maybe not" said Cait as she and Vi started walking away, carefully avoiding the disposable bag on the floor as they made their way back to their office.