The sunlight filtered gently through the grass as Crystal stepped forward, her bare feet light against the earth.
She walked in silence, gaze fixed on the distant horizon where the mana currents bent slightly—just enough to hint at the presence of people. Buildings. Roads.
Behind her, Elyssia matched her pace without a word, her long robes whispering against the wind. She didn't ask questions. She didn't act unless needed. She simply followed—graceful, silent, attentive.
Their auras were fully sealed, not to hide weakness, but because revealing their presence served no purpose. And in truth, they had nothing to prove.
Crystal took in the open plains with a calm gaze. Despite how unfamiliar the world was, there was no tension in her stride. Her body moved with mechanical grace, but her expression remained soft, thoughtful. Almost childlike.
Her face—framed by shimmering silver-white hair—glowed in the morning light. Big eyes, crystalline and deep, mirrored the sky with unnatural clarity. Every movement she made seemed crafted for elegance.
The kind of beauty that made people stop in their tracks.
But she paid it no mind.
This was simply the body she had created—crafted to be her ideal. Years spent tweaking every detail in the character editor until it reached perfection. Ethereal, delicate, mesmerizing.
A quiet breeze lifted her hair slightly.
She exhaled slowly.
Then lifted a hand.
A faint glyph of light flickered into existence above her palm—one only she could see. A circular array of arcane patterns bloomed outward in mid-air, refracting like glass. From it, glowing text shimmered into view.
Elyssia — Personal Status.
A clean, elegantly designed character sheet unfolded in her mind's eye, the result of a command instinctively cast with light-aligned ether.
---
Name: Elyssia
Race: Primordial Soulweaver (Unique)
Level: 957
Status: Bound Attendant of the Crystal Sovereign
Titles:
— Hand of the Sovereign
— The Lattice-Born
— Absolute Devotion
— Warden of the Eternal Archive
— The Last Whisper
Attributes:
Strength: Undefined
Agility: Undefined
Endurance: Undefined
Intelligence: Undefined
Mana Core: High-Order Infinite Spiral Core (Stabilized)
Core Traits:
— Soulweaving: Can manipulate soul threads for binding, memory anchoring, restoration, or deletion.
— Dimensional Inventory: Storage of both physical and conceptual objects in spatial folds.
— Perfect Obedience: Unshakable loyalty to Crystal; incapable of betrayal or defiance.
— Emotion Matrix (Awakened): Capable of independent emotional reasoning, while prioritizing Crystal's will.
— Chrono-Locking: Immune to temporal distortion or time-based attacks.
Combat Skills:
— Astral Severance
— Echo Reversal
— Weaver's Cage
— Void Threading
— Domain of Stillness (Passive)
---
Crystal blinked the panel away.
Elyssia was operating flawlessly. Her systems—if they could still be called that—had transitioned into something far more organic.
Yet still loyal. Still hers.
"Functionality intact," Crystal muttered.
"Yes, my lady," Elyssia replied, tone serene. "I remain fully operational."
They walked.
A few kilometers later, the terrain shifted.
The grass thinned, and a dirt path emerged from between the hills—worn by years of travel. Wheel grooves. Hoofprints. Boot prints.
Signs of civilization.
Crystal paused.
Her pupils contracted slightly as she extended her sensory field outward—subtly. Even while sealed, she could stretch her perception far beyond ordinary means.
Movement. Up ahead.
A caravan. Thirty bodies. Horses. Wagons. The sharp rhythm of iron against stone. A voice giving orders. And faint mana signatures—human, likely.
She gestured faintly, and Elyssia moved to her side.
"They'll pass by soon," Elyssia said, already analyzing the flow. "Non-combatants mixed with guards. No magical surveillance. Average equipment."
Crystal nodded, stepping into a cluster of trees beside the path. She crouched beneath the cover of leaves and knelt, almost daintily. Elyssia joined her without a sound.
They waited.
Some time later The caravan rolled into view.
Four wagons. Marked with a green-and-gold crest: a twin-headed griffin surrounded by stars. Each wagon carried goods—barrels, sacks, crates bound in leather and rope. Mercenary guards walked alongside, lazily watching the road.
Humans. Dressed in Kingdom tabards. Casual, tired, ordinary.
But important.
Crystal studied them. Their armor was iron-forged, reinforced with leather. Magic detection was minimal. The guards carried steel-tipped spears and short swords.
Nothing particularly dangerous.
The flag was unfamiliar.
No such faction existed in the game.
Which meant—
This wasn't just a modified version of Fantasy Life.
This was a different world entirely.
The words came unbidden to her lips, almost like a whisper.
"Aldenria."
She didn't know where the name came from. It echoed faintly in her thoughts, like a ghost of intuition.
Elyssia tilted her head. "A kingdom, perhaps. There may be libraries."
Crystal nodded once.
They waited until the caravan passed, disappearing into the distance.
No one noticed them.
Even the horses that briefly twitched in their direction soon calmed again. Elyssia had maintained their concealment perfectly.
When the silence returned, Crystal stood.
She resumed walking—this time northwest, toward where the caravan had come from.
"Let's find that city," she said softly.
Elyssia followed without a word.
---
As the sun rose higher, the road gradually shifted—widening, becoming smoother. Stone pillars began to line the path at regular intervals. Waymarkers. Magic-infused, though weak and old.
The mana density thickened. Infrastructure. Civilization.
And perhaps more.
Crystal didn't speak as they walked. There was no need. She observed the world with quiet intensity—absorbing everything. Wind patterns. Tree distribution. Soil composition. Etheric flow.
She wasn't just a wanderer.
She was a student.
And this world was her first textbook.