*3rd person POV*

Tifa, tired and defeated, slowly stumbled her way back to her kingdom in the deepest parts of the forest. The Elven Kingdom is a small kingdom that was surrounded by a unique magical barrier. The purpose of this barrier is to deter any strangers who may have accidentally entered the place.

The barrier was placed by the mighty dryads who once protected the land. The dryads loved the elves, combine it with the fact that elves had an astronomical amount of mana compared to the other races and their nature of being one with nature, this only made them loved by dryads even more.

After a few hours of walking and stumbling through the forest, Tifa finally managed to reach the barrier. She noticed the lack of patrolling guards but it wasn’t unexpected due to how busy everyone was for the festival that would happen soon, and the lack of patrols won’t affect the security of the kingdom either because of how powerful the barrier is.

Tifa finally passed through the invisible barrier and it was as if the world changed. The forest became more vibrant, the critters felt more energetic, even the trees looked more greenish and seemed like they were dancing in the breeze. Tifa slowly walked through the wilderness for a couple of minutes until finally, the Elven Kingdom is in sight.

This is the home of the elves. The trees here are different than the ones in the forest; the trees here are thicker than houses and larger than 5-story buildings. The elves used the thick trees as houses, hollowing them and living inside it. Some trees have a circular wooden door at the base of the tree and some others had it near the top. All of the tree houses were joined with vines and bridges made out of wooden planks.

But that isn’t to say there weren’t normal houses or buildings in this place. There are wooden buildings here but they served other important roles such as shops, research institutes, schools, etc. The small houses were atop trees and the large buildings are built on the ground. Some of the buildings had peculiar wooden planks hanging on the entrance with drawings on it to describe what you will find inside.

Tifa would normally find trouble here, either being stopped by other elves or being the centre of gossip. However, nothing much is happening. In fact, there is only a handful of people walking the grass filled streets. Tifa knew this was because of the festival which is why she isn’t worried about walking here in broad daylight.

She made her way towards a certain building which had the drawing of a quill and paper beside it. Inside the wooden building, there are chairs lined up across the wall on one side, a ladder on one corner which lead to the upper floor and a large desk near the middle of the room. Currently, there are only two people present in the building.

One scared little girl behind the desk with light green braided hair and blackish eyes, while on the other side of the desk was Sarah, who is filled with rage. Her blonde twin tails were fluttering everywhere as her body was spasming with anger.

Sarah slammed her hands on the desk with so much force that cracks formed on the thick oak wooden desk. Every single action of Sarah terrified the little girl who is behind the desk.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HASN'T RETURNED HERE YET!” Sarah screamed out with such ferocity to scare even a war time veteran.

The child behind the desk looked like she was about to cry any second but she can’t afford to do it. If she cried, Sarah will get angrier and she can’t let that happen. She cursed her luck to be alone in a room with her. While this place is usually bustling with people, it was empty now because everyone is focusing on the festival.

The child elf did her best to hold back her tears and grew some courage to talk to the mad beast in front of her. “I-I’m sorry! I-I’m really s-sorry!” She started stuttering as she also started sobbing in between her words. “But, it’s t-true! Tifa hasn’t c-checked in here yet!” After forcing out the words stuck in her throat, she breathed a sigh of relief for finally giving out the information the other party needed.

All should have been well now since she did what she was supposed to be her job. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to quell the monster’s rage.

Hearing her words, Sarah slammed the desk again with even more force. This time however, the thick wooden desk couldn’t bear any more of Sarah’s beating and broke down in half. The elven child yelped in fear as she fell down on her bottom. She looked at Sarah whilst crying and Sarah looked like a predator who was playing with its prey before eating it. She wanted to scream out for help but no words came out of her mouth.

Sarah figured it out by now that no matter how much she tried, she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted, so the only thing left to do is to back down now and search someplace else. She stood tall as if she was a tyrant king looking down on his subject before saying, “If I found out that this is another prank from those bastards then I swear I'll kill them!”

Sarah finally turned around towards the exit and this slight action brought light back into the elven child’s eyes. However, she has no energy left and sat still on the wooden floor. Sarah only walked a few steps away in anger before suddenly turning back towards the elven girl and saying, “If I found out that you're a part of this, then expect a world of pain.”

When getting glared at by the eyes of a large angry monster, anyone will run away. But the elven girl held her ground and did her very best to clear her name. “I-I swear I d-didn't do anything! I-I'm really j-just trying to do my j-job! I s-swear!”

By now, the tears she held back started flowing out as she closed her eyes then started crying and breaking down on the cold wooden floor. Sarah felt no regret on what she’d done. She knows the hidden contempt everyone in the Elven Kingdom had for Tifa which was why she had to be brutal whenever it involved her sister.

Just then, the door serving as the entrance slowly opened up. Sarah quickly looked towards the person who entered and became ecstatic. It was the person both the elven girl and Sarah was looking for, Tifa. Tifa is not in her best condition, as she slowly limped inside looking sleep deprived.

However, Sarah did not notice this. “Tifa!” She screamed out happily as she forgot all her anger and ran up to give her little sister a big hug.

“I. Was. So. Worried! Where were you!?” Sarah said while looking at Tifa. She suddenly noticed the lifeless eyes Tifa had while covered in sweat, her breathing ragged, her hair all over the place and the large golden pin that she always wore was dangling down, desperately holding on to her hair.

Before Sarah could say anything, Tifa answered her, “Hello sis, I'm back.” Tifa said in such a monotonous voice that even the elven girl crying in the corner could tell that something was wrong.

Sarah quickly questioned her, voice filled with worry, “W-What happened to you? Were you Ambushed!?”

Tifa looked at her sister with dead eyes like she does not care what happens to her anymore. She started blabbering in a quiet voice which Sarah could barely hear, “Turns out the boy didn't need my help after all. He kept killing the zombies for the entire night. I stayed away from him but I wanted to help him so I also started killing zombies while remaining hidden but that wasn't necessary since he kept killing and killing and-” Tifa did not stop talking but it was in such a hushed voice that the only thing Sarah could pick up was the killing part.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Sarah felt like she was going to lose her sister if she didn’t do anything so she started shaking her shoulders and yelled out, “Tifa! Snap out of it!”

Tifa felt a jolt as life slowly came back into her eyes. “Ah... yes.” She said quietly.

“Are you okay?” Sarah asked while still holding onto Tifa’s shoulders.

Tifa looked down on her body before responding, “...I think so?”

“Okay, that’s it!” Sarah screamed out. “You’re coming with me to the medic. We’ll talk after that.”

“But-” Tifa tried to stop her but Sarah won’t listen.

“No buts! You’re coming with me whether you like it or not!”

Tifa didn’t have any energy left in her body, so she could only reply helplessly with a hint of fatigue in her voice. “But, the attendance.” She pointed at the wreckage Sarah had left her victim in. A completely ruined desk and an elven girl scarred for life hiding behind the wrecked desk.

“O-oh yeah. The attendance.” Even Sarah knew that the attendance is important. If anyone from the Elven Kingdom went missing then it would cause a huge uproar as the kingdom’s location would be at risk.

Sarah gave a sidelong glance towards the wreckage she made and even she realized that she had gone too far. The figure of the elven child crying and hiding behind the broken desk made her feel guilty. “Um… I’ll wait outside.”

Tifa nodded. She knows that Sarah is untameable when she’s angry which would sometimes lead to situations like these. Sarah quickly left the place and Tifa slowly wobbled towards the crying child who was holding her knees as she sat down behind the wreckage.

“Lily?” Tifa called out to the crying child who is sobbing quietly. “I'm really sorry about her.”

Tifa wanted to console the elven girl, Lily, but didn’t because of two reasons. One being that Tifa is too exhausted to do anything, and secondly was that Lily is actually older than Tifa. Elves age slowly so their appearances are often deceiving.

“It’s fine!” The crying child, Lily, forced the words out of her mouth in between her sobs. “I have to get used to these t-things r-right? S-She's just really scary when she's mad.”

“...I'm sorry again Lily.” Tifa apologized once more.

Lily wiped her tears before searching the wreckage for a book. After she found it, Lily patted it out to remove the dust then wrote about when Tifa returned along with the completion of the mission she and Sarah had originally started in the book before handing it to Tifa. The only thing Tifa has to do left is sign it.

“Alright, it’s done.” Tifa said unenthusiastically, to which Lily responded by nodding and hugging the book that Tifa signed.

“T-Thank you for your work!” Lily tried to appear strong by standing straight and responding confidently but it looked awkward with snot drooping down her nose.

Tifa slowly stumbled her way out of the administration office and was then captured by Sarah. At this point, she is out of energy and resigned herself to her fate. At some point, Tifa closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep while being dragged by her older sister.

A few hours later, Tifa woke up in a small room. She was laying down on a hard bed with white sheets. The smell of medicine wafted the air. She looked around and she was in a small enclosed wooden room with Sarah sitting on a chair next to her reading some book.

“What happened?” Tifa asked Sarah.

Sarah was surprised to see Tifa wake up so soon so she closed the book in her hands and smiled. “Oh, you’re awake. How’re you feeling?”

Tifa stood up and sat on the bed before saying, “Mm, a lot better than before.”

Sarah’s usual smug face revealed itself as soon as she realised her decision to help her sister was correct. “Heh, see? The doctors know what they’re doing.” After saying that, her mood got serious. “Your diagnosis is weird though. The doctor said that you were dead tired and had some mental damage. Can you explain to me exactly what happened after I left you?”

Tifa nodded and started telling her story from the beginning. On how the boy had single-handedly killed more zombies than her, took the entire brunt of an elite zombie attack while getting beaten down the whole night, and after the sun broke the horizon he casually builds himself a house as if it was a normal thing to do.

Sarah was shocked but Tifa’s story but is also intriguing. “Everything you’ve said just now… It’s all just too crazy to believe. To be honest, I want to know more about this boy now.”

“Sadly,” Tifa responded, “I’ve already told you everything that happened”

Sarah nodded and started explaining why she was curious. “You do know which race he is from right?”

Tifa responded by nodding her head. “Yes, but I don’t know much about them.”

“Oh yeah, you've never visited the Grand Hall, right?” The Grand Hall was a bit of a sacred place for the elves. It was where their king, queen, and the dryad made decisions, which means that any demi human that visit them would go straight towards the Grand Hall.

“Well, the Silver Daemons are a pretty special kind of race, if I remember correctly.” Sarah said after thinking things through.

“You've been to the Grand Hall?” Tifa couldn’t hold back her curiosity. To be able to go to the Grand Hall, you had to be in a really high-ranking job and a trustworthy person recognized by either the king or queen.

“O-Oh, Y-Yeah!” Sarah stuttered, a bit shaken up by the question. “It was an important job and I happened to have made some frequent visits!” Sarah said hurriedly as if trying to dodge her question. “But, that's enough about me. Those guys with white hair and blue eyes are known as the Silver Daemons. The type of magic they use is far different from ours, to the point that you can categorize their magic in a whole separate category.”

“Silver Daemons…” Tifa said curiously. Were they mythical beings? Were they really strong? Thoughts like these started circulating her mind.

Sarah pondered for a bit before a sinister smile crept up on her face. “Listen Tifa, those guys are a very passive race and overprotective of themselves. It's actually quite rare to see a single Silver Daemon since they always stay at their own place.”

Tifa nodded and Sarah continued, “Do you see where I'm going with this?”

Tifa tilted her head in confusion, “Umm… I don’t?”

“Just think about this for a moment. What if… he works with us?”

Tifa’s eyes narrowed as she stared back at Sarah with her sharp eyes. “D-Don’t look at me like that! I'm serious!” Sarah blurted out, trying to desperately protect herself from her sister’s fierce gaze.

Tifa sighed, “Why do you think he'll want to work with us?”

Sarah made the same annoying grin again. “Like I said, they never leave their place... alone. So why would such a skilled warrior like that, leave their place? The answer is, he won't. Even his family won't let him.”

Tifa finally realized what Sarah was trying to say, “Do you think-”

Tifa was going to say something but Sarah interrupted her. “He was either cast out or left willingly. Probably cast out but I can’t say for sure.”

Tifa was actually a little bit shocked about the information on the boy's life. She felt jealous of his skills in the sword, bow and also magic, things she always wanted to have but for a young boy like him to be cast out…

{Author note: Remember, elves have a huge life span. Someone of 20 years is like a kid to them.}

“I forgot to mention but he's also good with the bow and magic too.”

“Well he can't be that good?” Sarah replied but Tifa shook her head.

“The wooden sword wasn't even damaged even if it’s imbued with fire the whole night until the morning came. And he was using the bow at close range… Against crowds of zombies.”

“WHAT!” Sarah screamed out as she almost stood up from the chair. Sarah’s outburst didn’t go unnoticed as someone scolded her to be quiet from outside the room.

“Uhh, ahem! Sorry about that!” Sarah apologized and lowered her voice. “That's impossible right?”

“That's what I wanted to believe too.” Tifa replied as she still can’t believe what she saw.

Sarah spoke with excitement in her voice. “Do you know what that means! It means that his mana capacity is almost on par with our queen!”

Elves valued those with high mana concentration in them, which is why it was quite normal for Sarah to be excited. Sarah’s words were like a bombshell to Tifa.

The queen of the elves right now has an insane amount of mana that any mage would kill to get. Tifa almost screamed too but controlled herself. “That!... It should be impossible, right?”

Sarah raised her hands, “You're telling me what he did, I wasn't there.”

Tifa got serious, as she knew what they were talking about were going to become confidential information. “Then what do we do now?” Tifa asked.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders and said with confidence, “It's obvious isn't it? We have to recruit him no matter what happens.”

Elves had always kept secrecy with whatever they did, but it is not uncommon to work with other races they deemed worthy of, as long as it will not land them in any trouble or make them stand out.

Tifa contemplated for a while before finally saying, “Do you think he will join us?”

Sarah couldn’t help but grin widely. “Leave that part to me!” She said whilst giving a thumbs up.