"Nnnngh?" Her thoughts felt blurry—As if she just woke up from a very long dream.
*Rustle
She wakes up finding herself in her usual outfit , a striped white and black shirt , with a white jacket tucked into her skirt with a black belt. Her green eyes looked around. It was a scene she had never seen in her long life.
There were buildings made entirely out of glass that looked ruined , broken shards that seemed to expand everywhere she went , the ground looked. Different. There were no grass
Replacing it what seems to be bricks? Yet they have none of the signature gaps that bricks would have.
*Rustle *Rustle *Rustle
"Hm?" her aloof voice murmured , her hands steady gripping her trusty staff. Red in color with a gold , crescent shaped tip that holds a red jeweled orb. Her instincts or perhaps experience were telling her to stay alert.
*SCREEECH
A shrieking voice could be heard , in front of one of the ruins one could see a type of creature , red in color with a deformed body that seems to be an amalgamation of countless human beings.
SCP fans would be able to instantly tell , it was SCP-610 , a keter class Object , better known as "The Flesh that Hates." Unfortunately She isn't from our world thus she has no knowledge of such a being.
*Whoosh
A slight breeze could be heard as the girl took flight , in her long life she had never seen such a being before , perhaps it was her experience , perhaps it was her instincts that led her to instantly make distance.
"Demon?" She murmured to herself as she levitated in the air , her green eyes scanning her surroundings , there were countless of those creatures , a closer look reveals that that red color was of flesh.
While it was something she has never seen before , her experience as an adventurer and perhaps her instincts are telling her to be careful.
*SCREECHH *GROWLLLL
The creatures continued to look at her while emitting noises—However as a seasoned mage , one that has lived over 1000 years , her first instinct was rather simple and a natural reaction coming from her
—!!!!
A sharp high-pitched sound could be heard as countless mana beams were fired piercing the creatures and leaving a gaping hole in their bodies—yet they were still standing as if nothing happened. If anything they just got more aggresive.
"HRGGRHSARG" it went making such a noise that did not have any resemblance to a creature with intelligence , as she ponders what to do—
"HEYYY THE ELF OVER THERE , IT'S WEAK TO FIRE" A male voice could be heard , it sounded young , like that of an adolescent. But that information was all she needed as the second it entered her ears
"Vollzanbel"
—
Thud* "Grrggh…"
As the last scream from the creature subsided, the environment that was already ravaged was now even more broken , with many of the previous structures now colored jet black from the heat of the flames.
Thud*
As she stopped her flight and landed in a relatively clean patch of grass , in front of her a boy. Approximately 170cm in height , with brown hair styled in a way that reminds her of a certain hero she once knew.
"That was such an amazing spell" The boy said his eyes gleamed with excitement , one could see he was wearing a dilapidated breastplate that doesn't seem to fit his size
"Thank you , and you are?" She answered back still with an aloof and rather indifferent tone
"My name's Aurelion Vireth. Tho most people call me Vireth , and you are-?"
"Frieren. You can call me Frieren." she said while waiting for a reply
"So who were you before The change?" He replied almost instantaneously with a rather innocent and curious tone
"Hmm?" She said , her ears seemed to perk up as confusion could be seen on her face. She closed her eyes and was seemingly lost in thought before replying.
"I was resting in an inn when I woke up and here I am."
"Wait- Wait Wait Wait- So You're Frieren." He asked in a frantic voice to which she nodded.
"Frieren the Slayer , The Legendary Frieren , The Last Great Mage , Frieren the Mage. Those are all you?"
"Mmm." She said in a rather calm manner
"So." "You know Stark , Fern , Himmel , Eisen , Heiter?" He asked , his tone filled with interest.
—Aurelion's POV—
"They were my party members at some point but yes I do know them" The elf girl said , her tone that was once stoic was now filled with a sense of. Nostalgia
"No way…" I murmured to myself , "I thought you were a Paradox or Echo of her…"
"Paradox? Echo?" She asked me still with her stoic tone but her ears perked up filled with curiosity.
Ah that's right. If she came from that world, she wouldn't understand a single thing I said.
"Uhm… Think of it this way. I thought you were someone who inherited wait no. turned to. Wait, that sounds weird…" I thought how my answer was just confusing
"In this world. There are countless stories telling the tales of Hero's Demon lords and the such but they aren't real"
"Is that so-?" She said , Ah wait God damn it , those tales are real for her though…
"Fairytales wait no Folklore , Folklores that were just stories were suddenly brought to life"
Ah. She's looking at me with her ":3" face. WAIT I NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS FIRST.
—
:3… Ah she's still showing that face of hers. What am I supposed to do…
*Cough "You can think of Paradoxes as beings from folklore brought to the world and Echoes as fragments- No pieces of those beings brought to the world"
"Anyhow would you like to travel with me?" I asked without much expectations. I'm used to it after all , but maybe just maybe—It'll be different this time?
"What can you offer?" Frieren said—Her nature remains the same , though I don't know which version of Frieren this is , it seems this part of her remains the same.
"I-"
—
"Nnnngh-?" Frieren murmured as her eyes opened , however instead of standing back up she closed her eyes again intending to fall asleep
*Sigh "Really now? Again? You've been asleep for 4 hours now…" Gaby said with a sigh. Her red eyes gleamed with a vampiric glow. She was a Paradox of Crim or Mitsuki Kou from the series "Destiny Unchain Online".
"Hey at least she didn't attack you instantly just because you're a demon"
Vireth replied in a relaxed tone , they were resting in a traditional Ryokan in Okinawa.
"I was annoyed but then again you've lived for 1000 and more years believing every demon deceives others it's not easy to change your perspective."
"Are you calling me an old hag again?" Her voice sounded annoyed but resigned. Ah she was making that :3 face again…
"Anyhow—Where we heading next?" Gaby changed the topic to avoid upsetting this old- well this young elf , She didn't want to wait and pay for an extra 3 days.
"Si-Hyun's out cold , she drank a little too much soju after all" Nicole chimed in , her silver hair drooped down as she just returned from the Onsen , wearing a white night dress , her figure might be petite but the proportions are just right.
On one of the futons one could see Si-Hyun , her face red with alcohol as she slept rather peacefully , she was also a Paradox coming from the world of "I've never seen a Saintess use magic so well".
Normally she'd look rather gorgeous with a mature like beauty as her golden eyes shined , unfortunately she's out cold—Nicole on the other hand from the world of Hero's Daughter. Her heterochromatic eyes , one blue one red, were drooping—
—They were tired , then again how could they not be , they had just killed the "King Slime" from the game Terraria. Sure it's an easy boss in the game , but when brought to the real world , it's rather massive size gives a headache.
Especially considering the line up of their party , where only Frieren and Si-Hyun could even damage it.
"We'll teleport to Seoul later on and maybe Nanjing after" Nicole said before she laid on her back not caring about her hair or anything and fell asleep just like that.
Gaby made a wry smile as she looked at Vireth who nodded as they both left the room , letting the 3 girls sleep in peace.
—
"Y'know when I think back on the simpler times I'd never expect You'd be the one to turn to a- OOF." I said in a joking manner as I received a straight uppercut to my guts.
He now a she was a friend of mine before everything changed. Before Fiction Bled to Reality. He loved talking about femboys to me especially considering the fact I was one in the past.
"Funny how I'm so much taller no- OOF" again I received a rather painful jab to my gut. Back then I was around 150cm now 170cm and she was 175cm now merely 146cm. Oh the Irony.
"I'm more amazed how you're not trying to seduce one of us in a party of a guy and 4 girls" She replied to me in a seductive manner , ah this guy.
"You're my bro there's no way I'm dating you. Frieren's… probably not interested , You'd kill me for dating Nicole. Si-Hyun I dunno." I said in an exasperated tone.
"Pfft—Si-Hyun and Nicole were once guys too y'know " She said while breaking into a small laughter. It was ironic indeed.
"Those envious glares the males give you are always so funny to watch" "You know the saying , some drown while others die of thirst and Cake is still cake even with a lever. Wait no the levers gone now tho.."
She said with a calm expression, she looked like a wise person as she leaned to the balcony—If not for the words she just said and fact she had to stand on her tippy toes-
"Pffft—" I tried my best to suppress my laughter but it was too funny.
"I'm gonna cut off your friend if you make fun of my height one more time." Gaby said in a flat tone her eyes seemed to lose light as she looked at me with a dead panned expression.
"My bad My bad." I said while slowly backing off from her , It seems like that's the limit for today.
—
"Are we all set?" I asked my party once again , they were all ready. Frieren in her signature outfit , Si-Hyun wearing a conservative nun outfit , Nicole wearing a typical assassins outfit all black in color.
Gaby on the other hand… , as always she wears a cloak covering herself from sunlight. Her mortal enemy.
"To Seoul we go then." I said , my tone confident , wearing my breastplate and cloak as a portal appeared in front of our eyes black in color with an orange almost golden like glow on the edge and center.
"That's our cue" Gaby said as she stepped in the portal like it's the most natural thing to do.