The temperature of the room quickly rose as the Ox-headed man sublty retreated from the woman. retreat, retreat! The man kept repeating to himself. He knew how dangerous she was. "How can I help you?" He managed to ask with a surprisingly level tone of voice.

"Oh it's very simple, Bis." The woman replied, using the man's nickname.

The ox-headed man furrowed his brows at the use of his nickname. He hated it. It wasn't even close to his name and it was short for a death god's name from a certain world's mythology. "ahem," he cleared his throat, "Please enlighten me."

"Well I'm sure you know of it, a few years ago a certain someone and I got into a fight. I'd like to know where he reincarnated to," the woman spoke slowly.

"That was 300 years ago and I do know. I must warn you though, if Yama didn't tell you, then I certainly shall not."

The woman paused for a moment before an even smile appeared on her face and the temperature in the room sky rocketed. Steam rolled off her body as she spoke, "Is that so 'Bis? Then you shall receive the same fate as Yama."

"hmph!" The Ox-headed man snorted, "Vile woman, I might not be as strong as you but that doesn't mean I'm not that far off from your strength either. You forget the plane I guard!" Divine power filled the room as the man's form started to change. He was indeed much stronger than Yama.

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"Freyd, please don't go!" Lynefra begged her older brother. Lynefra didn't speak much. The only times she ever spoke was when she was answering her parents or when she was in extreme emotional distress. Normally she revolved the mana inside her body to produce speech. Even with all the seals placed on her to repress her access to her own power, she still had the same amount of strength a normal high human would have.

"Lyn, you know I have to. I really wouldn't miss you going off to academy if I could help it but you know I have my orders," Freyd replied with a bittersweet smile, he then leaned in close to Lynefra and whispered, "blame father if you want, they're really his orders."

Freyd was dressed in dragonscale armor. Stronger than its heavy-metal counterparts and lighter than the leather armor often worn by hunters and archers. The Dragonscale armor represented Freyd status within the Dulsan Army as well as the status of the house of Nihili. It wasn't cheap as one had to either collect the scales of a still living dragon or directly fight and kill the dragon before harvesting the scales. Only families with wealth could afford the Dragonscale armor and only a high ranking officer in the military with incredible fighting ability would be allowed to wear it while on official duty. Why? Because dragonscale armor was the envy of all people on either sides of a war. If the enemy saw the armor, not only did they know that an officer was wearing it, but they also knew of its value and would stop at nothing to try and take the armor. Fortunately, Freyd was his father's son and very few things could hurt Freyd. 

He was talented with every kind of bladed weapon. His weapon of choice was two knives that were about 1/3 of a meter long (33cm). He was extremely adept at fighting with his bare hands as well - he could also imbue his strength and fighting styles with magic. If Freyd claimed to be the 3rd best fighter in the Dulsan Empire with his father being the 2nd best, then no one had the right to claim 1st.

Frey'd batallion was ordered to go investigate the Eastern border of the Empire. They had received reports that the Karom Clan had somehow managed to revive itself and wanted revenge on the Emperor, Traigar, and Cirwyn. Freyd had been ordered by Traigar to go investigate as Traigar himself was already busy dealing with skirmishes on the northern border. Altresca was already used to Freyd taking off on some scouting expedition or another from time to time so it wasn't such a big deal to her. To Lynefra it was a horrible affair. Her beloved big brother was going off to "war" as she was leaving home for the first time and going to the Royal Capital of Dulsa to the great Dulsan Academy. Even though Altresca was already a student at the academy, it didn't help Lynefra feel better. Altresca and Lynefra were relatively close in age as far as elves go. Lynefra matured amazingly quickly for an elf and a high human so she was to be attending academy while she was 15. Her sister was 30 but looked to be 15 because she was afterall, an immortal. The main reason Altresca's presense didn't help Lynefra feel better about being by herself at the academy was because Altresca was here rival. Altresca and Lynefra fought for affection from Freyd. 

Freyd would spoil Lynefra with candies and dresses. All sorts of gifts were thrown at Lynefra, spoiling her to no end. At first Cirwyn and Traigar were extremely concerned for the "special" care Freyd gave Lynefra but they soon realized it was because Lynefra was so much younger than Freyd he didn't view her as a sister. She was over a generation apart from Freyd in age, how could he view her as a sister. Freyd viewed Lynefra as a daughter of sorts to him, if not a daughter then certainly a niece.

Altresca was only a few years younger than Freyd but she never received any of the special affection from Freyd that Lynefra got. For 15 years, Altresca had been the baby of the family and Freyd never really paid her any kind of special attention. He gave her presents every now and then and he was nice to her but they didn't really have a special bond that most siblings do. He was always focused on becoming a warrior that could step out of Traigar's shadow and she was always focused on being a mage in her own right. 

(author's note: No seriously, my brother and are thick as thieves man. If you don't have a sibling it's important you know that good siblings will do anything for their brother/sister. It's like I can mess with him but no one else can, and if they do then they're going to burn.)

The Nihili family didn't get special status or respect because Cirwyn was the daughter of the then Imperial Emperor. They received hate from the general populace and the government instead. No one had the gall to actually try and pick on Traigar and Cirwyn but their kids were fair game when separated from their parents. The main reason why Freyd and Altresca were picked on was because they were half breeds. Even worse than a normal High Human in the High Elven country, they were a half breed. Abomination. They received nothing but scorn from people who didn't know their parents so they strived to become a pillar of support for the kingdom. Freyd walked the path of the warrior and his exploits were only slightly less than his father's even though his carrier had been markedly shorter thusfar. Altresca on the other hand was making great progress but because she studied concepts of magic that would make life more convenient for everyone, her fame was non-existent. This brings us to the other reason why Altresca had some ill feelings about Lynefra. 

Lynefra didn't receive any scorn what so ever. She matured quickly, but was extremely shy. A legitimate genius when it came to combat practice, music, history, mathematics, etc. You name it Lynefra was good at it. She was so powerful the court mages had to put the Divine Seal of the Seven Trumpets on her spiritual body to try and keep her mana from wreaking havoc and it didn't work. She would still use magic as easily as before and the Seal affected her like a slightly too tight shirt would affect someone trying to jog - not much at all. Lynefra was the epitomy of a genius and she was exceedingly beautiful. Now that she was 15 and starting to show some more feminine curves, she seemed like the goddess of beauty personified. Men would turn shameless and openly lust after her in the streets as she walked by. Her change from child to young woman was so drastic that it even affected her brother and father.

Lynefra was eleven when her father and brother had been sent out on a campaign to the western border of the country. They came back when Lynefra was 14 and both of them behaved like a virgin seeing a naked woman for the first time. The story was so embarassing that it was immediately immortalized by Cirwyn and told to her brother (who she was still very close with) and was then spread across the imperial court. The court ministers actually went to visit Lynefra to see if she was as beautiful as the current Emperor stated. So beautiful that even Traiger's one-track-mind was completely turned on its head. The Emperor, and in turn Cirwyn, turned out to have underestimated Lynefra's charm. The Imperial Ministers completely lost their wits in her presence and coupled with the fact that she would only reply either by nodding or shaking her head and magical voice transmission it only added to her appeal. She appeared like the Elven Goddess, Lysttal. This being the case, Lynefra never had to deal with any of the cruelties of being a half breed elf/human that her siblings had to endure. Freyd didn't mind and he actually loved that Lynefra had it better than he did. He only wanted the best for his siblings and all the fights Freyd had gotten into when he was younger was mostly because people would pick on Altresca. Altresca didn't realize it herself, but she resented Lynefra for it. Lynefra, being as talented as she was, noticed Altresca's disdain for her and avoided her whenever she could. 

"Freyd," Lynefra looked at him with her expressive eyes, "Big brother, please don't go. If you leave now- *hic*" her eyes watered up as she started to cry. 

"Lynny, it'll be fine. Big brother might not be as strong as Dad but i'll be fine, you'll see." Freyd tried to re-assure Lynefra.

"You don't understand." Lynefra's watered eyes had turned into full blown tears as she wrapped her arms around Freyd in an attempt to keep him with her. "If you leave now, if you leave now.." she turned her head into his chest and her words became nothing but muffled sobs, compeletely unintelligible. 

Lynefra was causing a scene at the family gates, causing Freyd much embarrassment. His entire Company was already assembled in formation watching Lynefra's little episode. Most of the men had never seen Lynefra before but knew she was Freyd's sister. They thought she was just being overly dramatic but were still quite envious. If I could get a beauty to cry like that over my deployment I could die a happy man, some of them thought. The few who had met Lynefra before understood something wasn't right. Lynefra didn't speak much, let alone show emotion to this extent. 

"Lt. Hazem," a Staff Sergeant who had met Lynefra before started, "I've never seen her talk so much before." His voice sounded hoarse, as if he was the one who was crying.

Lt. Hazem turned to look at the Staff Sergeant. What he saw alarmed him, the entire company had watered eyes, the weakest members of the Company were downright sobbing. What the.. Lt. Hazem thought as thunder sounded in the sky. It had been great weather until Lynefra had started crying and as her mood got worse so did the weather. It didn't take long until the weather turned into a severe rain storm. "Ahem...Captain."

Freyd turned to look at Lt. Hazem, "Yeah just a min-" he paused in surprise. He hadn't noticed the sudden downpour but he wasn't as surprised as his men were. He understood his sister's mood had caused the change in the weather. Such occurences weren't new to the members of the Nihili family and its staff. What surprised him was how his sister was slowly having an effect on the everyone's state of mind. Even Freyd, himself, was starting to feel depressed. At first he had thought it was because his sister was upset. Being the good brother that he is, Freyd naturally would be troubled if his sister was upset but he noticed that his slight depression was gradually getting heavier. The weaker members of his Company of just over 500 men were already in lost in the pits of despair. 

Lynefra's powers wouldn't seep out like this because of her mood unless she had some kind of horrible premonition. She wasn't a seer or an oracle but she had an intuition that defied the heavens. If Lynefra felt like something bad would happen, it wasn't just anxiety, something bad would really happen. The last time Lynefra caused an uproar in like this was when Traigar was injured two years prior. He had taken a powerful magic attack that was intented for the Emperor of Dulsa at a banquet to celebrate the years of peace Traigar had helped bring. To a normal person of his race the injury he sustained would have been debilitating. To a High Elf, it would have been downright deadly. The attack had managed to damage all the meridians, blocking his Qi and mana flow, disrupted his blood flow and ruptured several of his internal organs. It wasn't a serious injury to Traigar as he simply "flexed" his inner-force and forcefully unblocked his meridians allowing his natural healing abilities to fix the rest of the damage. Naturally the kind of power he "flexed" also caused his ribs to break and his muscles and skin to explode with such a force that it impaled the would be assassin. "Two birds with one stone!" He had simply laughed off the attack and the hideious injury (both the magic blast and his self destructive "healing"). Much to everyone's disgust, the clothes on his upper body had been destroyed in the attack and he was sporting a rather disturbing "skeletal" look with an explosed spinal cord and all. 

Freyd remembered the incident well, especially when his father said, "At least no one can ever say I don't have a backbone!" His attempt to dispel his family's and the Emperor's concern backfired because he promply collapsed into Cirwyn's lap after his statement. Lynefra hadn't been allowed to attend the banquet because she couldn't properly control her "charm" but Freyd remembered the fit she threw because of her intuition. Even so, the difference in severety between the Peace Banquet and Freyd's deployment were in the orders of magnitude. 

"Then, little sister, that's all the more reason I must go. If only to help me calm my own heart in knowing that I've done everything I can to keep my two beloved little sisters safe from all the danger that I can." Freyd smiled at Lynefra and Golden Lion. "Take care at the Academy and be sure to write me lots of letters," Freyd shouted as the lion roared and woke everyone from the trance Lynefra had inadvertenly put them in. 

Lynefra stood in place watching Freyd as he disappeared from view. She stayed like that for hours as if she had grown roots. On her face was a look of anxiety and sorrow. "Young miss," the head maid called out to Lynefra, "Young miss, I'll have some split-pea soup ready for you in a few minutes. Surely you'll feel better once you get something warm in your stomach."

A man put his hand on the maid's shoulder, "Cym, I doubt she'll move any time soon. It's best if we just watch. You know how long she can be like this." The man draped his heavy jacket over the maid's shoulders.

"Guard Captain Kets! I didn't notice you there," Cym spoke in a slightly hushed tone, as if she was now in the presence of a young child who was napping. "Would you mind just watching her and making sure she'll be okay. She rarely gets this emotional." Cym or Cymiril, was the head maid who had watched Lynefra since she was an infant.

"Of course Cym, now get inside before you get sick. You know we aren't as resistant to the young miss as her family is," Kets replied. He cared for the child too, but as a war hardened veteran who served under Traigar, he knew full well that to be able to alter the state of mind of so many soldiers at once, Lynefra had monstrous power. 

"The boys at the academy better be careful around her. Her smile will topple countries one day....and her tears could cause a mass suicide..." Cymiril mumbled to herself as she walked down the path to the Nihili family manor.

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Hello there young one! A mountain of a man greeted Lynefra, startling her. She looked around and found herself to be in a giant white space...not really a room but there weren't any defining features either. No sky, no walls, no ground. It was a white void with a grand total of three occupants as far as the eye could see. 

The man who had just greeted her was huge - standing at 3 meters tall and arms as big around as Traigar's waist. He was wearing what looked like military style fatiques of modern Earth, not that Lynefra recognized any of it or even knew of the existence of Earth. His hair looked like it was made of fire but radiated no heat and his eyes were a crimson red. Even though he was looking at Lynefra, she wasn't reflected in his eyes. If one looked close enough, his eyes seemed to reflect a massive battlefield, corpses stacked kilometers high. Contrary to his death depicting eyes, the man was full of vitality and exuded raw power. He was Syble, the creator of the High Humans. The battlefield in his eyes showed all the High Humans who had died in some battle or another. This meant that his eyes reflected every High Human that had ever died, as no high human died of natural causes or disease. 

Still as vigorous as ever a sultry voice came from the second occupant of the white void. Syble, you'll scare the child, hurry up and put those dark glasses on, the voice continued, as if amused. The voice belonged to a woman with long, pointed ears. Her hair was Silver and her eyes looked like they contained the stars of the universe. Her face was perfectly Symmetrical and her charm and appeal was no less than that of Lynefra's, though it was more mature and would certainly cause all the men of the world to lust after her. She was unnaturally tall, especially for a woman, standing at 2.5 meters with a perfectly proportioned body. Not one of her feminine curves were too large or too small and even though men would lust after her if they saw her. The woman's beauty was to be observed and admired, not to be touched and sullied. She was Lystall, the chosen Goddess of the High Elves, and the creator of the lesser Elves. 

Lystall was one of the few deities who could actually contend with Syble. Syble was THE first of the new gods that came into being when the Paradoxica systems were created. Not only was he the first, he was also the strongest - by far. Syble was so strong, in fact, that he could easily overpower the original gods in the entirety of the Universe. Lystall, on the other hand, was one of the youngest gods, period. She wasn't a god at first either, she was a very powerful divine entity without concrete form whose acts of benevolence inspired worship from the elves. Eventually Lystall's form concreted itself after years of worship and prayer from the elves. Their imaginations gave her form and after a few minute changes she made herself, she attained the appearance she has today. 

Apart from her appearance, a large portion of her power comes from elven worship and prayer. While her original power would allow her to compete with most of the major gods, the worship from the elves gave her a significant boost in ability. This boost in ability propelled her to becoming one of the most powerful Gods, even if she wasn't a creator god like Syble. This is also the main reason High Elves and lesser elves are considered to be Godlings themselves. Their creation was purely from nature and their developement wasn't exactly guided. Having no specific god who created the elven race, they would naturally adapt and grow in individual power over time.

(Author's Note: None of this information has anything to do with the plot as of yet, it's just more world-building crap)

Lynefra just stood there watching the Syble and Lystall talking to eachother. Her mind in a state of confusion. Now look at what you've done, Lystall admonished Syble. You've scared the poor thing.

Pfft, Syble remarked, Obviously your ugly looks have terrified her. It has nothing to do with me! Syble loved pushing peoples' buttons. While not overly concerned with wordly matters, he would often cause wars and riots out of boredom.

If I'm ugly, my dear Syble, then that must make you absolutely grotesque, Lystall replied, mischief in her eyes and amusement in her tone.

"um.." Lynefra hesistated to speak before continuing. While she didn't prefer to actually talk she was surprised to find that she couldn't project her voice with magical intent like normal. She could also feel the power eminating from the two Gods and was frightened by it. "It's not what he said that scared me. You're both releasing such a strong aura. I feel like an ant that's about to get stepped on by a boot." 

If you're an ant, child, I wonder what that would make us. Syble smirked. And yes, you've met us before but you don't remember because of the seal that Lystall's priests placed on your mind to keep your unbridled power from destroying the world in a temper tantrum.

"Syble and Lystall?" Lynefra thought to herself before asking in shock, "Wait....you two are Gods?"