The next day, Ehtra woke up excited and tested her hypothesis, whether she really detected a lie.
It was the weekend, so her younger brother was present. So she directly asked Ehtan something that she was sure he would lie about. Ehtra always knew that whenever she gave her younger brother money to buy food for himself, he would always save it as much as he could, despite being hungry. Ehtra didn't want him to be like that; she deeply appreciated her brother's thoughtfulness towards her, but providing for him and her grandma was the whole point of her doing a job.
"Ehtan, did you use the money I gave you to buy food for yourself? Are you sure you did not get hungry during your time at school?" Ehtra asked kindly.
"Yes, sister!" Ehtan said truthfully, but there's another thought inside his mind that he didn't want his sister to know, but Ehtra clearly heard due to her lie detection powers.
I really did buy some food yesterday, but just enough not to make me pass out. I said most of the money yesterday, in case of an emergency in the future.
Hearing the thoughts of her younger brother, Ehtra nodded sadly in response to her younger brother. Her brother was always thoughtful towards their family's condition, not enjoying the joy of being a kid.
She also confirmed her hypothesis with this; she really had the power to detect lies.
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Continuing her work at the junk shop, Ehtra was currently scalping the metals she found at home and from their neighbors to make some extra income. After weighing the metals, it only cost 50 Lehr despite it being so heavy.
Sighing after getting the money into her hands, she silently put it into her pocket and did her work, which was to organize all the metals into their designated place and cast away all their useless parts.
An hour later, suddenly, there's a news update again, related to their government's current state, everyone immediately surrounded the television, deeply invested in the news. This is also because it's their only way to know such news, since everyone was poor and the junk shop was one of the few places in their area that had a television.
On the television, someone introduced himself as the House Speaker of the government. He then announced his desire to be the next president since their country needed an immediate substitute for the president because of the sudden death of the former president.
He then presented his platform and promised that the country would flourish under his lead, which is a total lie, and Ehtra could clearly detect it through the television screen. That House Speaker was actually one of the allies of the former president.
Heh! This guy was clearly lying without batting an eye. Should I try my second hypothesis on him? To confirm if I really have doomsday-tongue?
Ehtra thought while smirking and intently looking at the person on the television. She then made up her mind to do so since this person deserves to die anyway. Hence, she then said in her head, Die!
Lo and behold, the House Speaker, similarly to the former president, died on the spot. Confirming that Ehtra really had a doomsday-tongue that was able to put an end to anyone's life with just her one word.
Everything was in chaos again with the repetition of such an ordeal that shocks everyone except Ehtra herself, but she made sure not to be obvious about it and tried to gossip with others.
"What exactly was happening to these government officials? Don't you think this was not a coincidence but their karma?"
"Yes, you're right. These people were obviously the ones corrupting our public funds and making our country poorer and poorer."
"They kept lying to our faces without even batting an eye. Serves them right! Karma is a bi--h!"
"Hopefully, the next leader of our country will finally be a good one. Please!"
"Manifesting! Let's all pray that to happen!"
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Going back to her work and finishing her unfinished work earlier due to the news. Ehtra continues to work as if nothing happened. While organizing the pieces of junk metal, a shiny object suddenly flashed and caught her eye. She immediately picked it and hid it in her pocket, making sure that no one saw her.
Finally finishing her work, she sits on a huge tire and rests. Gasping for some air and wiping the sweat on her face using the inside of her clothes, since that was the only part of her clothes that seemed to be clean.
Having enough rest, her thoughts went back to the latter part of the people's gossip earlier.
Everyone wants and hopes for a good leader.
Is there something she can do using her powers to make it happen? Definitely YES!
But she needs to make a thorough plan.
She then remembered the shiny object in her pocket and smirked.
(Lehr was the currency of Lesthrea)
-------
The world was now nothing but chaos; corruption, poverty, war, and famine were everywhere.
One day, an 18-year-old girl woke up with a power.
Power to eradicate evilness: evil-doers, liars, and oppressors with just a word "Die".
Those individuals subjected to that would immediately 'drop dead'.
Having this power, she decisively decides to take up the task herself to end the injustices in the world and start a quest to eradicate those evil people around the world.
Sounds heroic, right? But to what costs?
It cost her loneliness, pain, and her life.
This is a quest to bring world peace again. Where no corruption, oppression, poverty, hunger/famine, and war exist.
Violence is inevitable.
This is pure fiction. Anything that coincides with real-life situations, places, or individuals was nothing but a coincidence.
Read at your own risk!
Threa is the name of the world where they are.
Back when there was still no human civilization, Threa was a beautiful, peaceful, and lustrous world.
The world was without any pollution. Just a beautiful world where living organisms coexist harmoniously.
Life was peaceful and with beautiful greenery. Animals enjoy their natural habitat without humans' destructive interventions and mere existence.
Nature was beautiful and lustrous beyond explanation.
Magical creatures were even an existence back then. Fairies, dragons, unicorns, Pegasus, mermaids, Griffins, Bunyips, and so on, existed. But as time passed, they disappeared and became extinct.
1,000 years later, with the occurrence of human civilization, everything changed.
Due to humans' survival instinct and greedy nature, the ecosystem eventually started to lose its beauty. Animals' natural habitat was destroyed to accommodate the human way of life, and even the animals themselves were killed to use their skins as clothing and protection from the extreme heat and cold.
As the years passed, greed prevailed and lands were conquered by these so-called humans as if the Threa was their playground to play and their wasteland to litter their garbage.
Threa was then separated into 8 continents, namely Arethrea, Nonthrea, Soethrea, Erethrea, Asethrea, Afelthrea, Usethrea, and Lesthrea.
These continents were known for their different and distinct elements that nurtured their land.
Arethrea was known for its ice elements. It was barely livable due to its cold climate. Ice empowered the whole continent. This continent's condition did not pique the other continents' interest, so they didn't really bother with it. But once the ice started to melt, it was a great sign that the Threa was about to end.
Nonthrea was known for its rock element. Rocks are fundamental to the structure and functioning of Threa. The rock element also had a crucial role in the ecological system. This continent was encompassed by rock elements protecting it from all sorts of danger and making it the richest continent in Threa, since they are the leading provider of gemstones all over the world.
Soethrea was known for its vines since they had the plant element. This continent was encompassed by vines, not just protecting the whole continent but also the source of its people's livelihood. They are the source of the finest wine in the world.
Erethrea was known for its water element. This continent was also known for its bodies of water. Their sea were rich and abundant with sea creatures and seafood. Their beaches were especially the best in the whole Threa. They are the second richest continent.
Asethrea was known for its fire element. Their continent is deeply involved in the production of armory, maximizing the use of fire. This continent was also the leading provider of weapons all over the world. They believe in the existence of Dragons and that they are the descendants of dragons.
Afelthrea was known for its sand element, but despite this, people live happily due to the abundance of oases in it. Sand and wind directly correlate and empower this continent. This continent was also known for its aircraft. They made the best aircraft ever made.
Usethrea was known for its zootic element. It is the only continent that was not completely civilized by humans. Humans and animals harmoniously coexist on this continent. Animals can freely roam around the continent without restrictions or dangers. People treat these animals as their pals.
Lesthrea has a little of those elements mentioned above. This continent has no definite element that protects and nurtures it; thus, the other continents treat this continent as their wasteland. It is also the smallest and poorest continent in the whole of Threa.
The continents seemed to be perfect as they are, but the leaders of the countries from different continents had endless greed.
They are not content with what they already have, so they plan and plan on how to conquer one another.
There's a total of 100 countries all over Threa's continents. Most of those countries are experiencing war, poverty, and famine due to greedy and corrupt leaders.
Innocent Civilians are the ones suffering, and their future is dim with no idea of how to even pass the present day.
Currently, it is fortunate that no one knows of the other significance of the said elements, or else the greedy would reach a new level of greediness, and the world would really come to an end.
Opening her eyes, Ehtra woke up because of the extreme heat, sweating profusely. Not noticing that a colorful light flash passed her eyes, which immediately disappeared. Wiping the sweat from her temple, she rose and sat in her small single bed while gasping for air and fanning herself to cool down, because if not, she might have heatstroke any moment.
Inside her room, the living conditions were awful. The room was very small, 2 by 2.4 meters in size, and it had no proper ventilation. The ceiling fan was barely providing any air to cool Ehtra down. There's a small window on the side through which the morning sunlight passes, giving the dark room some light.
Having cooled down a little, Ehtra tried to stand up to get herself some water from the kitchen, but she felt a little dizzy, so she found support using her left hand on the plywood wall surrounding her room while her right hand was holding her head.
A while later, she braced herself and opened the door to her room. She then slowly walked towards their kitchen to get herself some water.
Similarly, their kitchen was also small and simple. With no food readily available on their table. Their house's size in total was 12 by 12 meters. Ehtra lives with her grandmother and younger brother, Ehtan. Their house has a total of three small rooms: one for her grandma, one for her brother, and one for herself. All their rooms, similarly, encompass a 2 by 2.4-meter area each, equating to 6 by 7.2 meters in total. The remaining area from the house's total size of 12 by 12 meters was encompassed by their kitchen, living room, and comfort room.
After drinking the water, Ehtra checks her grandma's room and finds out she's already gone to find something for them to eat. On the other hand, her younger brother has just come out of his room, preparing to go to school. He's currently a grade 6 student.
"Are you going to school already?" Ehtra asked her brother curiously as she looked at the old clock on the wall and found out it was almost 7:30 in the morning.
"Yes, Sis, and I'm actually running late." Her brother said hurriedly as he put on his school shoes.
"Have you eaten?" Ehtra asked.
"Not yet, besides, there's no food." Her brother replied with a sad smile.
"Oh, wait for me, I have some money left in my room." Not wanting her brother to go to school hungry, Ehtra said hurriedly before her brother could decline, as she went back inside her room.
Taking out the money, mostly coins from her used, washed-out jeans hang on the back of the door, she immediately went out again to give the money to her younger brother.
"Here, buy something you can eat. If there's left, save it for the next day or for your projects, okay?"