New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 652 Revealing Their Origins

Phoenix was just as surprised to see Alena, as Alena was to see the broadcasts hadn't started yet. To her knowledge, the commander should have still been in combat against Astaroth, right about now.

But something told her it was better to not broach the subject yet.

As Phoenix was about to ask how Alena's day was going, the three screens lit up. Each screen showed a vastly unique landscape.

On the screen to the right, a vast blue sky, with clouds passing by lazily on the lower part of the screen, could be seen. And in the middle of the screen, a group of twenty Griffons, riders atop them, were flying in formation.

On the screen in the middle, a view from the top of Bastion City dominated the screen. And from that view, a clearing was visible from afar.

In this clearing, throngs of soldiers were getting ready, with a person floating in the air above them.

One glance from the side of her eye, and Phoenix could tell who that was, and why she was there so quickly.

On the last screen, to the left, a dense jungle came into view. In the middle of this dense jungle, a large group of soldiers in grey armour were escorting a palanquin with closed curtains.

At the head of this contingent, a large man was riding a white horse, on which some ornate battle harness reflected the little light piercing through the canopy.

Phoenix recognized Rodney Levine, sitting atop that horse, and smirked.

"Is that what his mount looks like? I haven't seen him ride it ever since we've come back. How ostentatious of him."

A flash of light caught Phoenix's attention, back on the middle screen, and she focused her gaze there. And when she saw what it was, she sighed heavily.

"He played like that… How ungentlemanly. He could have at least let your men get ready for him," she grumbled.

Alena eyed the queen with suspicious eyes.

"Did you know?" she asked.

"Hm? Know what?"

"That he was this strong?"

Phoenix giggled at the question.

"I understand how you haven't seen us in 10 years. But I ask you this, commander. We got this land and kingdom by beating the creatures that were controlling it. That includes Leon. And days later, we fell under siege by thousands, if not tens of thousands of players, or Abnormals, as you call us. Have you not understood by now that some of us are potentially much stronger than normal adventurers?"

Alena looked at the queen with conflicted eyes. It was normal for her to think the way she did.

After all, the Natives trained for years, only to gain a few levels and become slightly stronger.

Yet, ever since the king had come back, a few weeks back, he had already progressed leaps and bounds. She could say the same about Queen Phoenix, who had taken on the three commanders the day before.

Their fight might have been much more balanced, in a three versus one scenario, but that was far from flattering.

"Why do you need an army, if the abnormals under you can all become this strong?" she asked the queen.

Phoenix scoffed.

"My dear, if all the players in our guild could be remotely as strong as Astaroth, we wouldn't need an army. But the fighting level at which he combats isn't something so easy to achieve," Phoenix said.

She leaned into her seat, looking at the screens for the two other combats. The middle one had already lost its appeal, given it was now just Astaroth hunting down mice.

"Look at it this way. Most of us are still getting used to being this strong. You, the Natives, grow up and gain in power slowly. You get used to your power level, as you live with it constantly. It's not the same for us."

Alena looked at the queen with attention.

"The world we come from… It doesn't have mana. It's a world where humans are prevalent, but where power is determined by wealth and status. Not the strength of your body or magic. Even the strongest of men in our world wouldn't last a second against Astaroth in this one."

"You mean to say that everyone is just a regular person? No mage? No powerful fighter? But how did you tame the beasts that roam the land? How did you establish a civilization?"

Confusion was apparent on Alena's face.

But Phoenix smiled in response. She tapped the side of her head.

"By using our wits. The human race is very good at adapting to most situations. We are also great at imitating the things we see through technology. Maybe in a few millennia, the humans in this world will have done the same. Imitated magic through science."

Alena scoffed.

"They have been trying for centuries already. I doubt they could achieve any progress."

Phoenix clicked her tongue.

"Don't dismiss us so soon. The adaptability of humans on your side might be lower, given some of them can access magic. But where I'm from, our creativity knows no bounds. Just look at how we fight. The way we process information. It's nothing like the Natives."

The commander agreed with that statement. A lot of the tactics she had seen the Abnormal adventurers use were uncommon and esoteric. But she had seen nothing that defied a certain logic.

"I don't understand what you meant earlier. You said it wasn't the same for you. How so?"

Phoenix smiled again.

"Let me ask you something. Would you believe me if I told you that Astaroth only learned magic a few months ago, in our perception?"

"Hah! I wouldn't believe those as words of a sane person. He is using concepts far over his apparent age already."

"Then what about me?"

"I believe you are a prodigy of magic, my queen. Blessed by the world itself."

"Yet, it is the truth. We have to adapt to a curve of power much steeper than yours, in a much shorter time. And I believe we have only seen the start of it. Who knows when we will disappear again? Or when we'll come back. How many years, or decades, will have passed then?"

This gave food for thought to the commander, who fell into thought and ignored the two other combat screens altogether.

'If they grow this fast, how strong can they become?'