Prologue 1: Matlock's Beginning
Earthrealm — The Fractured Market of Xiangshi, dusk before the storm
The stall was patched together from bamboo, tarp, and Komodo-threaded spider silk — sturdy enough to hold a handful of battered flasks and a chalkboard with half-erased writing:“Komodo Elixirs. Potent. Legal-ish.”
Behind the counter stood Matlock Komodo, braced on a prosthetic leg and thumbing a chipped bottle of red tonic. His dark hair was tied back with a strip of cloth, and his sharp eyes flicked between a small gathering of locals — farmers, elders, factory-tired hands.
Matlock Komodo: “Alright, listen close. This one,” he said, holding the vial high, “was brewed with jungle fangroot, powdered viper scales, and a splash of antler fungus milk. Sounds gross, but it’ll take the fever down in under ten minutes.”
Matlock: “It’s called Crimson Coil. Works best on heat rashes, mild infections, and minor hallucinations caused by swamp gas exposure. I don’t judge.”
A few people chuckled. A woman handed over a few coins.
Random customer: “How do we know this isn’t snake oil?”
Matlock chuckled slightly, amused by the joke, unaware that the customer was seriously
Matlock: “I assure you, This isn’t snake oil,” Matlock continued.
Matlock: “I don’t sell miracles. I sell calculated risk. There’s a difference.”
He handed over the vial with a calm nod. Another customer stepped up.
But someone else cut through the warm rhythm with a voice like shattered glass.
???: “You’re lying.”The stall quieted. All eyes turned toward a lean man at the edge of the crowd, his cloak damp from travel, eyes sunken and dark.
Matlock squinted. “My sincere apologies, Do I know you?”
???: “No. But I know you. You came to my village. Said you could help my father — blackroot fever. You sold me a blue vial, said to give him drops in tea. I did everything you said. But two nights later...”“He was gone.”
Matlock’s confident posture faltered. He searched the man’s eyes for a lie—but saw only grief.
Matlock: “I told you the symptoms were late-stage,” Matlock replied carefully. “I warned you.”
“You said you had hope.” The man stepped closer. “And what did your elixir do? Nothing.”
He pulled something from his pocket — a cracked vial with the remnants of dried blue liquid.
“We took this to a city chemist. You know what she found?”
He hurled the glass to the ground. It shattered between them.
“Just steeped borjang tea. Not even the good kind.”
Gasps spread. A couple of the onlookers took a step back. One looked down at the vial she’d just bought.
Matlock felt his pulse rise. His heart beating from the anxiety, his sensors being overwhelmed. His eyes widen from the shock.
Matlock: “What?! That’s not—no, that’s not right. I brewed that one myself. You must’ve—maybe it spoiled in the heat—”
“Liar!”“Fraud!”“How many people have you conned with jungle water?!”
A bottle flew past his head and smashed against a support beam. Matlock backed up, prosthetic clanking against wood. The table overturned. His flasks crashed to the cobblestone and bled elixir into the dirt.
Matlock: “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!”
But no one listened.
He ran — limping, breath ragged — down a narrow alley as the sky opened up and rain began to fall.
That Night — Xiangshi’s Rain-Slick Alleyways
A crumpled tarp half-covered Matlock as he sat slumped between crates, nursing a split lip and a deep bruise on his shoulder. The prosthetic hissed quietly, hydraulics whining with each twitch.
He held a half-smashed vial in one hand — the last of his Crimson Coil.
Matlock: “This was supposed to help people,” he muttered, voice shaking. “Not get me beat to hell in a gutter... I know I mixed the right ingredients.... What went wrong...”
Lightning flashed across the sky. Thunder followed as Matlock was pondering to himself what he had done wrong.
A second later, a voice cut through the downpour — calm, solemn, impossible.
???: “Not many in Earthrealm could brew a functioning fever reducer with jungle fangroot.”
Matlock looked up fast, startled. A tall figure in white robes stood just beyond the alley’s edge. A conical straw hat shaded his face, but the glow of his eyes pierced the rain like twin lanterns.
Matlock: “And pray tell, Who are you?”
Raiden: “I am Raiden. God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm.”
Matlock snorted. “Right. And I’m the Dragon King.”
Raiden stepped forward. The air buzzed with static where his boots touched stone.
Raiden: “I am assembling warriors to defend Earthrealm in the coming Mortal Kombat.”
Matlock rolled his eyes.
Matlock: “Then you definitely have the wrong guy.”
Raiden: “You are Komodo-born, Heir to alchemists who once walked in shadows. Ex-Special Forces. Decorated field operative.”
Matlock looked at the man with confusion in his eyes. He looked at Raiden with a confusion.
Matlock: “How do you...?”
Raiden: “I have known of your clan for many moons. They have brewed elixirs from various animals who possess poison. I know you are a descendant of that clan.”
Matlock looked away somberly.
Matlock: “Well, sorry to disappoint you, ‘God of Thunder,’ But I’m retired. Washed out. Half the brass couldn’t stand me — said I was too ‘impulsive.’ Too... different.”
Raiden: “Different does not mean weak.”
Raiden reached into his sleeve and held out a small amulet. It glowed faintly, shaped like a coiled dragon.
Raiden: “Earthrealm is in peril. I see potential in you. Potential you cannot yet see in yourself.”
Matlock stared at the amulet... and then at his battered prosthetic leg, his empty satchel, the broken vial still in his hand.
Matlock: “I’m not a warrior anymore,” he said quietly.
Matlock: “I’m a mistake waiting to happen.”
Raiden said nothing.
The rain softened. A moment passed.
Then — Matlock stood up. Limped forward. With a heavy sigh, He Took the amulet.
Matlock: “Fine. But if I get stabbed, electrocuted, or eaten by some Outworld freak, I’m blaming you.”
Raiden smiled faintly, turning to walk into the storm.
Raiden: “You may find your purpose before you find your end.”
Lightning cracked. The alley was empty.
Matlock stood alone in the dark, the amulet warm in his hand.
His shadow remained still.
For now.
This story will take some time to wrap my head around in order to fully write it all out, but I will be working on it. Just as long as I am not busy with other matters. In the meantime, I will share with you a Bible verse, one that aids me on my journey.
1 Corinthians 10:13King James Version13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
This verse tells us that, whenever we feel tempted by the lusts of the world, God will always make a way out for us. I know many people have struggled with the sins of lust. Because I also struggle with it. But freight not my friends, For God has gifted us the gift of Free will and freedom of choice. Whether we choose to sin is up to us.
Picture Lust as a battlefield. You want to win that battle right? Then you must put to death with lust and cut ties with it. Don’t take it literally. Well, literally but don’t kill anyone that you felt temptations for. Like quit watching that one site, don’t goon, as the new generation calls it. Don’t watch pornography at all.
Pray for God to aid you in temptation. It is not weakness to rely on others for help. It is a sign that you aren’t giving up the battle.
When you sin, I advise you to pray to God and with all your heart ask him to give you the strength to repent of it. You will fall, but it’s how many times you get back up that count. God doesn’t want you to try to be perfect, all he ask is your heart and trust in him.
Now, here are some questions I have for you.
1. Should I make a chapter with intro interactions?
2. Should I update the harem some more?
3. Who else should I add to the harem?
4... Actually I think that’s all the questions I have for now... uhh... What’s your favorite color?
And anyways, I will be waiting for some of your opinions and responses. I wish to know for sure before making a final decision. Also, I might just release a Chapter to update the harem.
Pray for the whole world to renounce it’s sins and turn to God, for he is our Father and we wants us with him in heaven.
I hope you all Read your scriptures, praise the lord, And As always, Have a blessed Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Night / Day / Week / Month / Year / even a second/ millisecond.
And don’t forget,
Jesus Loves you.
