(Maia's Pov)
"Yo, birthday Girl. You done yet?"
I had just gotten far away enough for them to probably not even see my aura anymore at this point, so I just stopped midair when she contacted me.
"Yeah, as you said I didn't prolong it that much. Is it even 8 yet?"
"Close. But regardless, I'll open the portal for you now."
"Alright, thanks."
I'm not really sure where it would actually bring me to, but pretty much right afterwards, it opened next to me. Considering what would happen tomorrow, I guess the most logical location for her to want me to get to is the headquarters of the sentinels? Which, by the way, I'm not sure how accurate it is now since apparently all the books about them are fake according to Mio. But, I heard that they change residence depending on where the commander is from. So the current headquarters should be somewhere in our kingdom, probably near the capital I'd imagine.
Am I going to have to do paperwork or something?
I'd assume that she had already taken care of it, but honestly I don't actually have a guarantee for that. I wouldn't actually mind it even if that was the case, but I'd really prefer not to be stuck in an office on my birthday, working on paperwork… There was only one way to find out whether that was the case or not though, so after a sigh of acceptance, I stepped in, ready to take on anything she'd throw at me.
After my right foot, I slid in my upper body, head first… and that's where I felt as if time had stopped.
-what is going… on?!
My instincts were screaming at me. Every single one of them was telling me to move. Something was coming my way, and it was fast. Was this a prank? I doubt it, not even Mio would step so low as to assault me on my birthday. Was I actually in danger then? Again, unlikely because I could feel Mio's aura even though my eyes were locked on the ground.
In a split second decision, I enhanced my body's speed as much as I could in that instant, alongside my reaction speed. Alright then… Guess there's only one thing left to do. Passing through the portal fully. As I heard something speak, most likely what was coming towards me, I dashed towards my right as soon as I was fully in.
"Happy Nyanrthday!- ueeghh!"
I saw her. Dashing towards me with a stupid grin on her face, her arms long spread as if wanting to hug me, only to hit the ground on impact as I managed to evade fast enough. Now, I could definitely let my guard down, but that aside, the question was now…
Who the hell are you?!
"Tsk."
"Told ya! Heh, you better pay up you suckers!"
"Of course, I had no doubts that Maia would manage."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. I shouldn't have trusted mom that much…"
In front of me, there was a white, rectangle long marble table. Mio was sitting at the end which was closest to me, and I recognized The Queen of Nature at the other table's end, with another elf sitting next to her, but that was about it. The seat beside Mio was empty, so I assume that was mine, but that's the least of my concerns now. Looking to my left, where the woman who tried to jump me was now laying on the ground, face down and ass up, it only further confused me.
"Hehehe, I guess I lost, Nyan?"
"Nyan?"
But giving her a second look, it did make sense now… a young looking boy helped her get up. It was the same guy who had called her mom a few moments prior. but both of them had a common trait. They looked like, or I guess they were actually Cat Demi-Humans.
"Get a grip of yourself, Mom… you're supposed to be a captain, you know?"
He sighed, almost looking like her older brother in some way honestly. Was she really his mom? Her facial features were generally gentler, or rather she pretty much looked like a picture book airhead. Meanwhile her supposed son was fairly tall, and looked fairly serious and professional I guess? But who am I to judge people's relationships by their looks? I'm sure Cael would've done a better job than me at that either way.
So she's a captain? Then that means that these people are…
I looked at the table once again, while the boy helped his mom get up. There were 14 seats in total, and 11 occupied without us 3 sitting. Glancing over at Mio who for the record was in her grown body, I finally got a confirmation.
"Yep. They are the sentinels and their Lieutenants. Though it may not look like it…"
None of them were wearing any uniform so I guess that it would've made it extremely harder to tell that these people are in power if you just saw them on the street to be fair. Well, The Queen of Nature aside that is, since her face is well known across the whole continent.
"Right… So what was that? About winning and losing?"
"We bet on whether you'd be able to avoid her dashing towards you or not. Cat Demi humans are known for their speed and agility after all. Obviously, I knew you'd win but clearly a few people here were doubting you."
She gave a smug look to a few fellas sitting at the table, who were probably the ones betting on my loss, which kinda made me feel proud for winning, but also a little concerned that they were betting on my "survival" out of all things… but anyway I guess it wasn't that deep in the end.
"Why don't you take a seat for starters, Maia?"
I nodded, then sat next to her at the ridiculously expensive looking table. The 2 felines had also sat down quickly after at their respective spots which were next to each other on my left side, around the middle.
…This is pretty awkward…
Why was no one saying anything? Even the two from earlier were now silent, and looking at me like the rest of them. I'm not particularly shy or anything, but even I will get self conscious if everyone keeps staring at me like that! Alright, time to switch to plan B. Look at Mio with pleading eyes and hope that she saves me from this situation!
"Hm?"
Eh?… why are you also staring at me without saying anything?!!
Alright, this is getting a little concerning, what is going on here?
Plan B failed, so now I was stranded, trying to look anywhere but either of their eyes, but it was a lot easier said than done… These guys were the strongest people on the continent, you know? Although I'm supposed to be stronger than all of them, the pressure is still there!
"Pfft… hahahahahaha!"
The one who broke the silence, was none other than Mio. Bursting out laughing for some reason, which was followed by everyone else in the room, doing the exact same.
"Eh? Huh? Eh???"
I was so confused, I actually didn't even know what to do. I felt my cheeks getting redder as they all laughed cheerfully while looking at me for some mysterious reason, and I felt like I was the center of the attention even though I didn't do anything funny… I think.
"W-what's going on everyone? Why are you all looking at me and laughing??"
"Hahaha… s-so this…is our Mighty Mio's best friend… and the new Lieutenant, huh? Pfft…"
The Queen of Nature was the one to speak in between her laughter.
"D-don't word it like that, mom… hihihi, she's gonna get the wrong I-impression…!"
Yeah, I don't think there's any wrong impression to get here, there's only one way this situation could look like!
"S-stop it all… hahahaha, of you! Y-you're scaring her…"
"You're…right, Boss…"
Thankfully, after Mio told them to stop, although she was also laughing when saying it, they all calmed down relatively quickly.
"Are you going to tell me what this is all about now?!"
"Did you forget your brain at home or something, Maia?"
"Huh?"
Then the Queen of Nature was the one to continue.
"There's only one possible reason for why we'd call you here in the evening, instead of tomorrow morning. Did you not hear what our dear Orielle said when she tried to jump you?"
"…Ah. Now that you mention it!"
I slammed my fist onto my palm as I recalled it. Assuming that the cat woman was the Orielle she was talking about at least. It was uhm… something with Nyan. That much I remember for sure. But I was so focused on dodging that I couldn't actually hear much else.
Mio, who had probably realized I only remembered the Nyan part, let out a sigh.
"Not that, Maia… well, it doesn't really matter. It's faster if I just make you understand anyway."
Then, after snapping her fingers a bunch of food and drinks appeared on the table. They all seemed to be fairly delicious at first glance, but what got my attention above all was the massive cake at the center.
"You probably didn't hear her when she said it, so we'll say it together this time loud and clear and make sure that you hear us."
She then looked at the rest, who gave her a nod before they all spoke at the same time.
"Happy Birthday to our New Lieutenant, Maia"
Ohhh, that does make sense.
I thought they wouldn't be bothered with celebrating it, because they may be busy now that I was on board, but I guess I was wrong. Still though, before we all began feasting on all of this food, I wanted to know something. I got up from my seat, and spoke to all of them.
"Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it. But before we move on with anything else, could you please introduce yourselves? I know some of the names of the captains, but even then I can't tell who's who besides like 3 of you… sorry…."
They looked at each other for a few moments, with a slightly confused look on their faces, but ultimately just brushed it off with a smile. I sat down once again, and then they all began.
"Well, you of course already know me, but still. I'm The Commander of the Sentinels, Mio. And also your one and only best friend! (And future sister in law)."
She said while wrapping her arm around my shoulder. I'm going to ignore the last part since it's not actually false, and because she did organize this most likely to be fair.
"You probably also Already know me since I've been on the big screen fairly recently, but regardless I'm the captain of the Elfen Kingdom, Jolfar. Sylara Wynsorin, Otherwise known as the Queen of Nature."
Long Green and slightly wavy hair, paired with a nice pair of breasts and leaf-green eyes, it was pretty hard to not recognize her. Her current image seemed to be completely different from what she looked like when taking care of those wyverns though. She looked a lot more modest? Or rather, she kinda just looked like she was in the leisure of her own home from the way she was sitting with her elbow on the table, and smiling while looking at me… she kinda reminded me of a certain someone that's standing next to me and happens to also often sit like that. Is that why they get along so well?
"I'm Jolfar Kingdom's Lieutenant, Mivana Wynsorin. I've heard a lot about you from Mio, so I hope we'll get along well, Maia."
Her hair was around shoulder length, slightly shorter than the Queen of Nature's, but effectively the same color. Her eyes were also just slightly darker in color. Did she also introduce herself as a Wynsorin though? They were definitely similar so I wouldn't be surprised if they were related, but I couldn't help but stare at them curiously.
"Hm?"
"Ah, I think I get it. It's probably what you're thinking, Maia. She's my Daughter."
"Oh, I guess she isn't aware."
"Aware of what?"
"Maia, all of us Lieutenants besides you are the children of our Captains."
Now that I looked around at all of them, I could definitely see the resemblance in all of them. Especially since one of them had already called a captain Mom earlier too. That's one effective electing method I guess? If the parent is strong enough to be a captain, then the kid is probably going to be strong enough to be a Lieutenant. Seems fair to me at least. I think Cael would also agree with that, which automatically validated my thought process. Thank you, my dear little brother.
"That's right, it's a lot easier for us to choose our Lieutenants that way too. All of our kids are usually strong enough for the position anyway."
"Haha, that's definitely an efficient way to Address the matter."
Moving on, it was the same catwoman from earlier that spoke next.
"It sure is, Nyan. My name is Orielle Lynthar, and I'm the newly assigned captain for the Demi Human's kingdom Zirithia. And this is my Son and Lieutenant, Cedric Lynthar."
"Nice to meet you."
He didn't really seem that talkative, huh? But neither one of them was bad looking at least. The way the Demi human kingdom chose their captains apparently was generally just appointing the tribe leader that was either in turn or that felt like taking the position if a spot is free. Every tribe leader is supposedly at bare minimum captain level in strength after all.
They both had similar hair and eyes color, hers being a light brown with light red eyes, while his hair was a dark brown and a slightly darker red color for his eyes. They also both had cat ears as expected of cat Demi humans, and generally speaking, they seemed like polar opposites personality wise… but at least they did look like son and mother.
"We're next then? I'm the Captain of the Amphibian Kingdom Veridon. Zalhrik Veythos. Our commander talks about you so often that it almost feels sad if I already personally knew you before you even arrived, but nonetheless I pay my respects to you, as our new Lieutenant, and hope to get along with each other."
Blue ish skin, having not only a nose but gills on each side of his neck, he honestly looked pretty scary at first. Not because of his amphibian features, but because of his almost permanent stern expression, but that was a total 180 change from his actual personality. He spoke in a surprisingly gentle tone, and seemed like the type to spoil his grandkids. He didn't have any hair, but his eyes were a pretty bright shade of blue, I guess it's name would be something like aqua? Which was the exact same as his son's who did have hair unlike him. His hair was a pretty dark blue, which formed a pretty nice mix with his bright blue eyes I guess? Either way, he was the next who spoke.
"Rahz Veythos. Nice to meet you…"
He also didn't seem talkative…. Is what I would say if I hadn't noticed the blush on his ears as he turned his face around. It seems like we have a shy one here, don't we? That's another unexpected turn of events, since just like his father he has a pretty grumpy face almost at all times, but whoever said to not judge a book by its cover seemed to be right in the end.
"Hoho, then it's our turn to kick in and leave out a good impression on ourselves, isn't that right, son?"
"Indeed father, let's make sure our new Lieutenant doesn't think illy of us!"
"We're the Captain and Lieutenant of the Dwarf Kingdom Mithraldin! The best artifact and weapon craftsmen. The one and only Gimdrik and Nurin Thundrik!"
"That's right, No one can make better weapons than me on this whole continent! Swords, bows, lances, greatswords or even daggers, it doesn't matter! I, Nurin, swore my life to the art of weapon Craftship, in order to make sure that no one would ever lose their life in vain. After all, even a non-mana or magic user could defend themselves as long as they have a great weapon."
"And I, Gindrik, swore to make the finest artifacts to ever see the light of the day. Whether it's for battle, furniture or strictly for the purpose or convenience, I got it all for anyone, at affordable prices! You need a sword with mana already infused in it? We got you. You need a closet that automatically sorts out your clothes by type, color and even size? We got it. Or you just need a freezer capable of cooling anything down to -10 degrees in less than an hour? You don't even need to ask at this point. We got it."
"Ah… uhm, yeah. If I ever need any of those, I'll let you guys know…"
Looking at each other proudly, they shook their hands and exchanged a look of praise as if saying "nice one, son!" And "thanks, dad!" But it was honestly fairly impressive in its own way. They were both dwarfs obviously, but their bodies seemed to be the only small thing about them. Unmatched enthusiasm so far, and honestly also the loudest until now. I couldn't even act bothered by it though, since it was one heck of a marketing presentation.
The dad had a long braided beard, the same brown color as his long hair, and orange eyes. Meanwhile, his son had no beard, and his hair, while the same color was fairly short, didn't go lower than his ears. His eyes were a little closer to yellow than orange, but it was somewhere around there anyway.
"I greet you, our mighty Lieutenant, it is with the utmost respect that I wish you a happy birthday, and congratulate you on the rise of power. I am The Captain of the Sahareth Human Kingdom, Khalar Vashari."
He even added a small bow at the end of his insanely formal yet elegant and somehow easy going sounding introduction, all while having the calmest, most serene expression out of everyone besides a certain someone sitting next to me. If the dwarfs were amazing, he was outstanding. The contrast between his appearance, way of talking and overall message delivery was just insane. He has dark brown skin, and his hair was long, its color mix of black and grey, which was blended in here and there. His eyes were bright yellow so not quite the same as my golden eyes, but even if they were the same color it wouldn't have been weird.
The Ashford signature golden eyes were only really exclusive when it came to our kingdom alone. Outside of it, many people had them, and that was the same for our hair, albeit I don't have it… but you get the point. It may seem like tourists with those features would have issues if they came here, but that's also not the case since I'm pretty sure they're most common in the Sahareth kingdom, and the people from it have generally darker skin than anyone here. The confusion should be pretty easy to avoid.
"I'm the Lieutenant of Sahareth, Zahra Vashari. I am almost ashamed that I can not find words great enough to express my content with your rise to power, but I assure you that it is exclusively because my father beat me to it. I wish nothing but to be on good terms with you, Maia."
Her hair was black, but she did have the same eye color as him. Also, unlike her dad, she had an almost expressionless face but was talking in an even sweeter tone than him. Was this a family thing? Their face and tone never matched whatsoever, but both seemed to be generally cheerful people? More or less? I don't even know if I can say that for sure because of their expressions…
Well, that aside. With those 2 out of the way, that leaves these 2 as the last ones.
I looked at them before they started talking, and they glanced back at me with a fairly weird smile that was kinda screaming "it's finally OUR turn to shine!" Or something along those lines.
"My, oh my. It seems like we've been left out last, haven't we? I find myself quite sad about it, you know? We're the ones who paid for that massive Strawberry cake, commissioning it from the best patissier from the one and only Pelthion Kingdom…"
"I agree, mother. I share your sadness, and in fact I may even find myself unable to contain my tears if this drags on any longer!"
What's with the dramatic acting all of the sudden??
They were both so clearly acting, that it was almost painful. It seemed like they were trying to play the bratty rich damsels, but it didn't work one bit… I honestly didn't even know how to react to that, so I just looked at them with a little confusion on my face.
"…"
"…"
Both of them then composed themselves with scary synchrony, and closed their eyes for some reason, also putting on a clearly fake smile.
"Rosalie, it seems like your underperformance has gotten our new friend a little confused. You should know better, my dear daughter."
"Oh, but I disagree, My dear mother. After all, it was clearly you who couldn't perform well enough to trick our new friend as we planned."
No, no, no. You both suck…
There were a few moments of silent tension, before they grabbed each other's collars, all while still keeping that smile on their face.
"Would you mind repeating that, you spoiled brat?"
"Ah, yes. I absolutely don't mind, since I understand that your ears may be approaching the end of their lifespan, you old hag. Your performance was the one at fault, not mine."
Shouldn't someone stop them…? From the way things looked, they were this close to exploding into a fight… thankfully though, Mio seemed to think the same. Right as they dragged each other's face closer to the others, she appeared behind them, and gave both of them a small hit on the head.
"You two can save the mother-daughter time for later. Introduce yourselves already, will ya?"
"…yes mam…"
They replied in sync, looked towards me in sync and had the same puppy eyes… Are we sure these 2 aren't twins? Everyone here does look similar to each of their parents/kids, but these 2 specifically looked so similar that you would definitely mistake them for sisters. Both had long, luscious and wavy hair at its ends, and the only noticeable difference was their eyes color.
"I'm the Captain of the Pelthion Kingdom… Evelyne Valentis… nice to meet you."
Her eyes were a bright green, which was closer to that of an emerald unlike the Queen of Nature and her daughter's which was closer to the color of a leaf, or grass ? They're pretty similar so it doesn't really matter. She spoke like a kid who had been forced to apologize to someone's kid she just threw a rock at by her mom, but her beauty was still outstanding.
"I'm the Lieutenant… Rosalie Valentis… I'm sorry for the pitiful performance we pulled out, it wasn't supposed to be like that."
Hers on the other hand were a deep blue, making her look similar to a princess of some sorts. Their eyes difference aside, they were pretty much identical though
"It's alright you two, haha. No need to be sorry. I didn't really think of it as pitiful anyway, I'd say it was pretty entertaining."
More or less.
As their eyes lit up again, with insane synchrony, we all then just moved on and began our feast.
Around half an hour after the introduction phase was done, while everyone else was talking among each other and eating, Mio seemed to have finally noticed the glove on my hand.
"Is that this year's present from your parents?"
I lifted my hand, and brought it closer to her so she could take a look.
"Yeah, they said it's also enhanced so magic wouldn't affect it, so it shouldn't burn from my flames either."
"Hmmm… it's definitely a great glove, and honestly it's mana and heat resistance is generally top notch. But it may not be enough for your flames."
"I see…"
That kinda saddened me. I didn't want it to get ruined, but I didn't want to replace it either. It was the last gift I've gotten from them before moving on with my life after all, so I had already gotten attached to it. Mio however, clapped her hands once before smirking.
"Alright then, guess this will be my gift for you."
"What are you-"
But before I could finish my question, she had placed her hand above mine, and after her mana engulfed my glove for a few moments, it quickly dispersed with no trace of any change left behind. That was on the outside at least.
"I've enhanced it myself. Nothing will be able to damage that glove now. Not even your "flames" would be able to even scratch it."
"Haha, ain't that one heck of a gift? Getting something precious to you enhanced by none other than the "child Prodigy", the strongest human in history, Mio herself!"
"There's nothing here that would suggest luck, Sylara. Maia being my best friend aside, If either one of you asked me to do the same for something important to you, I would."
"Is that so? Are you saying you're not favoriting her just because she's your best friend then?"
"What are you implying?"
She then got up from her seat, and started walking around the room.
"Wait, mom, what are you-"
But she didn't listen, cutting Mivana off she continued.
"I mean, you aside who's strength we cannot question… how can we be sure that Maia is fit to be our Lieutenant?"
Mio didn't reply yet, so she continued.
"Sure, she may have dodged Orielle's dash, but it's not like she was actually going at full speed or anything."
Mio was still silent.
"The Commander's Lieutenant is supposed to be stronger than every single captain, whether it's individually or not… but can you guarantee that she's, let's say, Stronger than me?"
She was smirking. The others were all silent, clearly already understanding where this was going. As I looked at her. I felt it again. Ever since I had walked through the portal, I could feel a weird feeling whenever I looked at her, but I didn't pay it any mind until now. I couldn't ignore it anymore though, since I had realized what it was.
"You're definitely a better actor than the blondies at least, but you should learn to watch your mouth sometimes, you know? Sylara."
"I have no idea what you're talking about… but are you not just dodging the question?"
Mio let out a sigh.
"I'll return the question instead. How can they be sure that you are even strong enough to be the captain of your own kingdom? Fallen first Commander?"
By the looks on everyone's face, they all knew. She had already mentioned it to me as well in a painfully casual way, but it seems like it was true.
"Did you really have to word it like that?"
"I'm just matching your energy."
In her grown form, which is as I've previously mentioned just Mio's body after puberty, she was around 175cm tall. Even as she got up and walked towards Sylara who was around 181cm tall, she still stood her ground even with her presence alone.
"Fine by me then. I'll actually answer your question, instead of avoiding it."
"Go ahead."
Both of them were smiling, face to face.
"Even after my contract with the Spirit King of Nature was broken off back in the day, I still maintained any strength increase I got from it up until then. Although I did have to pass down the Commander title since I wasn't strong enough to hold it anymore. But now, I can assure everyone here that I'm as strong as I was back in my prime as the First Commander, after all our little prodigy here went to the spirit realm to "have a chat" with the spirit king of nature, and re-established my contract."
I see, that's why…
It all made sense now. The weird feeling I had because of her presence. She was the one the Spirit King of Nature had a contract with. She must've felt it as well I guess, huh? The spirit I have a contract with.
"My, it seems like at least you can be honest even while you're acting."
"I said I'd answer, so I did. That's all."
"Get to the point. You could probably tell the moment she stepped out of my portal, no? That Maia has a contract with the Spirit king of Fire."
"You sure catch on quickly."
"I could tell what you wanted from the moment you opened your mouth. I've already told you the truth about me and Maia after all, there's no way you'd doubt her strength. Get to the point, and say it yourself or I won't make it happen."
Her smile mutated into a smirk, then she finally flatly put out her request.
"I want to have a sparring fight with our new Lieutenant here, going all out."
The moment she let out those words, I could feel the competitive rush flowing through my veins as I looked at Mio, who was glancing at me as if to check if I was fine with it, but there clearly was no need for me to say it out loud.
"Maia seems to be fine with it, so I don't have a problem with it either. Next time ask more nicely though."
"Of course, of course. Next time I'll mind my manners with you, boss."
Her sarcasm was honestly pretty funny, but this wasn't the time to focus on her fairly based sense of humor. Snapping her fingers while turning around at the same spot where I came out of, a portal appeared once again.