Next day...
The sun had barely begun to stretch across the rooftops when Crystal and Elyssia left their modest inn in Velnaira's southern quarter that was recommended By the Receptionist That registered them as adventurers.
The city was quiet, save for the distant creak of wooden wheels and the cries of gulls circling above.
Today's goal was simple: gather healing herbs from the outer fields for their quest that they have taken from the guild quest board. But for them, it was never just a gathering quest.
As they walked the cobbled streets, life stirred all around them—vendors arranging wares, apprentices sweeping storefronts, and sleepy guards yawning under shaded alcoves. The day had yet to bloom.
Yet beneath the mundane bustle, something sour lingered.
A side alley opened into a square where a cheap slave auction was in full swing. Chained beastkin stood in the morning light, their ears twitching, eyes empty. A portly auctioneer barked out prices, whip in hand, sweat clinging to his neck.
Crystal walked past without pause.
But her gaze flicked once toward the auction stage. Just once.
'How common is this here? So normalized that it feels unnatural meaning this could be one of two things, a recent development that they are afraid of and powerless to resist OR it has been like this for so long that people got used to it.... but judging by their expressions i have a feeling its the first option .'
Behind her, Elyssia's steps slowed. Her fingers twitched at her side. 'Despicable Humans.....'
But Crystal didn't speak. She didn't stop.
The moment passed in silence.
By the time they reached the fields, dew clung to the grass, and the scent of wildflowers danced in the air.
The terrain stretched for several kilometers—flat, open, and speckled with soft red blossoms.
Elyssia glanced around cautiously, her mana already scanning for disturbances.
Crystal walked a few steps forward and raised her hand. Light rippled outward in a wave, mapping the terrain down to every leaf and root.
"All herbs are within reachable perimeter," she said quietly.
They began collecting in tandem.
Minutes passed peacefully—until something shifted. Faint. Crystal froze.
Elyssia's hand went to her waist, where a fine obsidian blade hummed faintly with soul-bound energy.
A low growl rolled through the air like a warning drumbeat.
Goblins.
Seven of them. Filthy, ragged, feral. Crawling from the nearby thickets, their crude weapons gleaming in the sun. Yellow eyes fixed on the two girls with animalistic hunger.
Elyssia immediately moved forward, blade half-drawn.
But Crystal raised a hand and stepped forward, halting her without a word.
Elyssia blinked, surprised.
'She's… going to handle them herself?'
Crystal didn't raise a spell. Didn't prepare any obvious defense.
Instead, she simply stood still as the goblins howled and charged, their twisted mouths grinning with malice.
'Let's test something.' Her body relaxed. She let them come closer.
Closer.
Ten meters.
Six.
Three.
She didn't move.
The goblins roared, blades raised.
And then—the world Stopped.
To them, time was moving normally.
To Crystal, everything slowed to a standstill.
The wind seemed frozen mid-gust, caught between grass blades like glass threads. The goblins' snarls hung in the air, suspended mid-swing. Dust motes drifted like glittering stars across a still void.
The ambient mana bent to her perception.
Her breathing steady, Crystal stepped forward.
No flash. No acceleration.
Just walking.
Her footfalls didn't disturb the grass. Her dress didn't flutter. The only thing that moved in the world… was her. Because she was testing how extreme her perception and speed can go without using any mana to enhance her body.
She was only neutralizing the side effects of such speeds with magic like with Air displacement, sonic booms or destruction of the ground because this isn't a game with unbreakable terrain.
Her crystalline core pulsed softly—calm, measured, stable.
She approached the first goblin. A finger rose—slender, delicate, precise. She lightly tapped the center of its forehead. A ripple of invisible force surged through its skull like a detonation locked inside.
She turned, walked to the next one.
Tap.
Then the next.
Tap.
Seven goblins. Seven taps.
Seven pressure detonations waiting to resume time.
When she returned to her original position, the world remained in perfect stillness.
She tilted her head, thoughtful.
'Latency corrected. No residual drag on acceleration vectors. No neural lag.'
She raised her left hand and gently brushed dust off her sleeve.
Then time resumed.
In an instant— Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Seven goblin heads burst simultaneously, as if a divine hand had crushed them from within. Their bodies fell without grace, weapons clattering in the blood-stained grass.
Elyssia's eyes widened.
She hadn't even seen Crystal move. Only for the barest flicker—a shimmer in the air like heat above stone.
'What… did she just…?'
Crystal lowered her hand slowly.
"I used them so i could adjust to this body faster," she said calmly. "My movements were off before. This helped fix the latency."
Elyssia stared at the corpses, then back at her Sovereign.
'i couldn't follow her movements at all...' But instead of fear, she felt awe. Reverence.
And concern.
"i guess she needs time to adjust and figure out how much power she should use," Elyssia murmured aloud.
Crystal glanced back at her, the sun catching in her multicolored eyes.
"Did I cause concern?"
"No," Elyssia replied after a pause. "Just confirming what I already knew."
'This world has no idea what it's harboring.'
They resumed their gathering after the massacre, Crystal's expression unreadable as she walked past the remains.
The silence of the field had returned, but the blood soaking into the soil told a different story.
On their way back, as they passed through a narrow alley near Eastwater Street, low voices reached their ears—gravel and fear woven into whispered tones.
"Three more gone last night."
"No noise again?"
"None. Just blood trails in the slums."
"did the bastards sell them again?"
"They say some noble's paying real coin for fresh ones. You didn't hear it from me."
Crystal kept walking, but her eyes briefly flicked sideways.
'Slavery is public. Trafficking is hidden. And no one's doing anything.'
She didn't speak. Her fingers tightened around the pouch of herbs.
Elyssia didn't look at her, but she felt the shift.
'for a being lawful alignment to be witnessing all this.... this is bad... really bad..'
.
.
.
.
At the front desk, Cerys looked up as they entered. She offered a polite, practiced smile.
"You're back. Safe, I assume?"
Elyssia placed the herb pouch gently on the counter. "Intact. Task completed."
Cerys opened it, inspecting the contents.
"These are in perfect condition. I assume no complications?"
"There were goblins," Elyssia said plainly. "But we were able to deal with them."
Cerys blinked.
Her gaze slid to Crystal—who said nothing, simply watching a droplet of blood on her sleeve dry in the afternoon light.
'She's always silent. But her presence is... unnatural.'
"Understood," Cerys said quietly. "Here's your payment."
She slid a pouch across the desk.
Crystal took it without a word.
Cerys hesitated again, glancing between the two of them.
'What even are they? Neither of them feels real.'
Outside, under the spreading shade of an ironwood tree, Crystal stopped.
She caught a falling leaf in her hand.
It shimmered briefly, then crumbled to dust between her fingers.
"there are a lot of problems in the city," Elyssia said softly. "you want to intervene.. don't you?"
Crystal gave a faint nod.
Elyssia Sighed and folded her hands behind her back knowing that it was an inevitable outcome considering what she it like.
"You mentioned something earlier. That this world isn't… the one from before."
Crystal looked toward the horizon.
"The rules are different. But I'm not limited. Just... adapting."
There was a silence between them.
Then, Crystal spoke again.
"The goblins. I didn't feel anything."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Elyssia asked, cautious.
Crystal's gaze remained on the sky.
"I should have. Even if just a little."