Double Quotation means the voices are coming from the TV or an adjacent scene depending on the scenario and context
----------------------------------------
Early Morning - Early Summer : Arlington, Virginia | United States
-----
- Alrek Occoro ~
"Good morning, wonderful citizens of Earth. More information about the destroyer suspect that appeared in Arlington yesterday has been revealed by the ISO, and more videos have surfaced of the perpetrator, named Evren Lestir." Looking over at the screen as I laid at the end of my bed trying to rest after a sleepless night, I watched the morning news run through everything that had happened before replaying Evren's announcements, and showing replays of her stopping Hakon in his tracks.
Thankfully, people didn't seem to be too panicked, even the news anchors seemed to be approaching the situation fairly calmly.
At least with the exception of one of the younger members they had speaking on the panel. ""This woman is certainly dangerous, and until the situation is confirmed, we must treat it like worst-case scenario. This is how disasters happen is it not? Why isn't the whole city being evacuated?""
""Because if it's true that she was the one to kill the monster that appeared in the Appalachian west of Richmond, it could easily be assumed that she is here with good intentions. After watching the countless videos of her sent in, I find it hard to believe someone like that could be a destroyer.""
""But it's not like destroyers can't act. If she turns out to be a destroyer, how is the US going to stop her?""
"Ugh..." -I know they're just blabbering but geez...- Letting out a groan, I looked back up at the ceiling with heavy eyelids, idly listening to the news while trying my best to get some shut-eye.
However, I couldn't keep them shut.
""Ah, it seemed we actually have some breaking news! The Queen of the Elves has just been spotted crossing into Virginia, and appears to be headed straight for Arlington.""
"WHAT?!" Springing up from my bed, I looked toward the screen with a look of fear.
""So the great Queen is going to be the one to deal with the destroyer? She must have been given a quest!""
""Yes, yes, yes! It seems we have nothing to worry about, after all!""
"NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?!" Bolting up from my bed, I threw on clothes as fast as I could before swiping my ID off the desk next to me and calling someone in a secured channel.
Ring It was a call to someone the ISO had stationed in Leyfa Askr, the elven kingdom to the North, encompassing all of Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, directly sharing a border with the continental United States.
Ring Because the ISO was unable to get permission to build or spread influence there, we had a few elven spies sent there in order to try and coerce the queen.
One of them was even a maid in the Queen's palace. Beep "Alrek?"
Finally answering, the voice of an older woman met my ears. "Ava, why did the queen leave?! Why haven't you reported anything?!"
"W-What?" Sounding flabbergasted, she continued somewhat hesitantly. "I-I don't know what you mean by leave. There has been nothing out of the norm. If she even left her room people would lose their minds around here."
Hastily tying my shoes, my panic started to ease. "Then why did the news just announce that she was spotted in Virginia?!"
There was an immediate, long silence that overtook the call.
"Shit..." Quickly putting myself together, I cleaned up my appearance before making my way out of my suite and into the elevator. "If anything happens, report directly to me, got it?"
"G-Got it!" Beep
Hanging up, my expression washed with stress. "Hooh..." Letting out a long breath to try and ease my nerves, I looked up to watch the floor number hastily decrease until it slowed and stopped at 1.
Ding Woosh Quickly walking out into a hallway, I made my way into the incredibly desolate lobby of the tower, before pushing open the front door and being greeted by the flashes of more cameras than I could count.
-Geez.. isn't this district on mandatory evacuation? How are there so many reporters...- Blocking the light with my hand as I tried to look around, I noticed several reporters speaking to people on a call in a panic before they all looked into the air, so I did the same.
But instead of seeing something specific, all I saw was a white blur drop from the sky straight in front of me. tap-WOOOOOSHHH
Nearly blowing me off my feet, an indescribably massive burst of air ripped past me before I opened my eyes to see the figure of a stunningly beautiful elf with white hair and skin of porcelain standing before me.
With bright green eyes, long pointed ears characteristic of a high-elf, and a crown of leaves and feathers, her appearance was nothing short of enchanting.
But.. while she was also known as the 'Ice Queen' because of her lack of emotion.. the woman standing in front of me, staring up the spire wore a look that belonged to a child on Christmas. "You," Her voice, overwhelmed with a mix of anxiety and joy, was like that of an angel. "Do you know where the woman claiming to be Evren is?" Lowering her gaze to me, her eyes glimmered like the canopy of a forest.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
I didn't even know how to respond. "U-Uh, yes!" -Fuck, what am I doing?!- In a complete panic, I spoke as fast as I could. "She is in the suite at the top of the spire, p-please allow me to bring you-"
"No need. I found her." WOOOOOSH Instantaneously disappearing, a colossal gust of wind nearly threw me into the air before I found my gaze aimed up toward the sky.
In the blink of an eye, she had leapt all the way to the top of the spire. -H..How...- She did it so casually that it was honestly scary.
But as her ascent slowed, and she pulled a golden orb out of her inventory, aiming it into one of the windows, the ground was lit by a golden glow, and it felt like time stopped.
The artifact she had was called The Eye of Odin, an artifact from a Rank 0 world that reads the details of the user it's aimed at, regardless of system security, exposing everything from birth name to inventory, stats, personality traits, and even habits.
It was one of the most powerful artifacts on Earth, rumored to even read the system details of gods, angels, and demons.
But as she used it, and a series of runes lit up around it, flooding the city with golden light, everything suddenly went dark, and the artifact exploded. -H..Huh?- It was a sight that made my brain short-circuit. -W..What just happened...-
-----
- Evren Lestir ~
VWOOM-FLASH -Hm?- As a presence from the base of the spire suddenly launched itself up next to my room, and the lobby was filled with golden light, I glanced over my shoulder to find a young-looking white-haired elf floating just outside my window. -I guess it was too quiet for too long...- Vwoop
Thinking it was trouble, I put Bella into my inventory and wove my aura into the window before shattering it completely, letting the forceful winds climbing the side of the spire into the room, and letting our voices reach each other.
But, as I turned to face her, tears welled in her eyes. "E..Evren?"
-What?- They weren't tears from fear or panic.
They were tears of joy and relief. "Auntie Evren is that really you?!" WOOSH Bolting up to me, she threw her arms around my waist before pressing her long ear into my stomach.
-Wait a second...- It was a motion that brought back old memories. "EVE?!" Looking down at her, her unique mana-lit forest green eyes locked on me, and I felt my own eyes go wide.
She was the daughter of a queen I was exceptionally good friends with, a kind and benevolent woman named Bree Altera, the crowned Queen of The Oak, the place believed to be the birthplace and paradise of all elves.
But regardless of her position, her daughter was as reckless and rambunctious as could be, and while I was in that world to complete a few missions given by the system, I had developed a sort of.. guardian-esque relationship with her.
In other words, I had become her aunt. "Mom said we would never see each other again! It's been almost three hundred years, how are you still alive?!"
"Hah," Feeling a wave of relief and nostalgia blow over me, I smiled. "You think time can kill me?"
"What about the system? I know you aren't the kind to linger in worlds after you finish the mission..." A bit of worry seeped into her voice as she continued. "If I'm right, shouldn't you have been a mercenary for a bit over five hundred years now?"
Gently nodding, I smiled somewhat warmly. "I kept going until the system had no more missions to give me..." Pat Setting my hand on her head out of habit, I opened my system. "When the system had no harder missions to give me, it let me return to wherever I wanted, so I chose Earth.. my old home..."
Seeing my expression darken, worry crept onto Eve's face. "Wait, it only let you return after you completed everything it could throw at you? I thought.. it was supposed to let you return after you ascend..."
-Hm?- "What do you mean? Like achieve that metamorphosis where you stop needing to eat, and stop aging?"
"Yes," Loosening her grip on my waist, she slowly pulled herself away. "It happens when your body starts to live off mana, as time passes your body will slowly improve itself until you essentially become a demigod, a god with mortal flesh... When that happens, you're supposed to get a message from the system saying something like 'Requirements Met', and have it open a panel that lets you travel back to live in a few specific worlds."
-Interesting...- "Yeah, that never happened for me. When I ascended, the only thing that changed was my system profile... If anything, the missions got harder after that."
"And you.. just kept going?" Horror instantly crept into her expression. "For hundreds of years?"
Nodding, I gently pushed her back. "184,214 missions, and 554 years. To top it all off, when I did finally return here, my System wiped itself. I lost all my items, my robotics, skills, and upgrades."
"Huh?" Her expression instantly washed with anger as she floated up to her feet. "After all that they wiped your system?!"
"Yeah, and as if it wasn't bad enough, after less than a day of being back here, an administrator appeared and dragged me back into the System, trying to kill me..." -I'm really lucky there wasn't a harder mission available...- But the fact one would eventually appear was inevitable. "It'll probably happen again, so before then, I need to learn about mana and magic. The mission they sent me on this time was the hardest the system had to offer again, and.. it tested my limits a bit."
"W-Wait, so what's your level now? Did it not get reset to 1?"
Quickly shaking my head, I motioned her to not worry. "My stats are all the same, but because all my upgrades are gone, I lost a lot of strength... The mission I just got back from was single target assassination and.. I struggled a bit. The saving grace is that me losing all my upgrades gave me access to the mana the system kept reserved for them, so I have more mana than I know what to do with, hence why I asked one of Earth's administrators to find a teacher for me."
"Ah!" Her expression instantly lit up with determination. "What about me, then?" Her eyes gleamed just like they did when she was young. "I'm the strongest mage in this world!" Puffing up her chest like a child, I wanted to laugh.
Her joy made me feel a warmth I thought I had forgotten. "Haha, alright." -Student becomes the teacher, huh...- Taking a step back and leaning up against the bar at the edge of the kitchen, I spoke smoothly. "Do you have a guild or something?"
"Haha!" Letting out a hardy laugh, she held her head up with confidence. "I am the daughter of the Monarch of the Oak! You think I would settle for a guild?" Smiling wide, she spoke incredibly pridefully. "We have a ways to run before we cross the border, but my kingdom is the largest in this world!"
-So that little princess really did follow in her Mother's footsteps...- Smiling warmly, I felt proud seeing how she turned out. -She really does remind me Bree.. even if she is a bit.. eccentric...- Looking her in the eyes as I got ready to let Bella out of my System to introduce them, I smiled. -I wonder if Bree acted like this when she was young too...-
-----
----------------------------------------
Read up to 5 weeks ahead of schedule, and get early access to artwork on My Patreon!
(In case Embedded Link doesn't work: https://www.patreon.com/TDOD )
-------------
Also, please feel free to check out our discord for all updates related to TSH releases! https://discord.gg/Dv7G5bQD4v
All are welcome!