Somewhere on the planet Terra;
Year 11, Third Age of Astron;
An injured pregnant woman was dragging her body at a slow pace towards the edge of a cliff.
Taking heavy breaths, she managed to reach the edge of a cliff that stood a hundred meters high above the surface of the water down below.
She took a glance behind her. Her vision might be blurry, but she could atleast see something. From far away, about half a dozen wolves were rushing towards him. The dust trails off in the air.
The young woman looked at her watch, which appeared to be broken. She grimaced and let out a bitter smile, "I should have listened to Amy and stayed at home. Just seven more weeks and my baby would be out. Due to my overconfidence, I now put my unborn child in danger."
Taking another glance behind her, she mumbled, "I don't have much mana left to use, and there is no way to run either. I can only see one way to protect my child." She caressed her stomach and shed her tears, "My baby, I'm sorry for not being around as you grow up. I'm sorry that…"
Using the last bit of her strength, she took a leap from the top of the cliff and dived into the sea while her entire mana gathered in her womb to form an energy shield around the undeveloped baby.
The wolves stopped at the edge of the cliff and stared at the sea for a while. Eventually, they returned to where they came from.
Roughly 7 minutes later, a helicopter arrived at the scene and two guys in black outfits dived into the sea.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Somewhere in a secret facility, the pregnant woman was found on a bed with medical equipment around.
"Poor girl… I heard that she is only 23 years old." The nurses appeared sad as they looked at this young woman who had gone into a comatose state.
Nineteen years later;
March 2018, Third Age of Astron;
A luxury passenger ship was seen sailing in the Strait of Kalae, which connects the Xynnar Ocean and the south Zephyr Sea.
After entering the Zephyr Sea, the passenger ship should have sailed toward Zephyria, a GDP powerhouse and a key ally of the Alsacian Federation.
However, the passengers didn't expect the Pirates to hijack the ship and take them as prisoners.
The passengers were dragged onto the deck and forced to kneel as the ship's direction changed toward the Zero City, a free city located in the nation of Xrusha.
Xrusha is a tiny nation with an area of 300 sq. km that is sanctioned by every major power in the world due to extreme violations of human rights, rules that are considered unlawful elsewhere, and illegal smuggling of magic weapons to villainous/terrorist organizations.
Out of 176 terrified passengers, a young couple, probably in their early twenties, was seen holding their hands tightly as they sat somewhere in the middle. The girl's busty figure attracted quite an amount of attention from the Leader of Pirates as soon as his eyes fell on her.
Amidst the screams of pleading from the man, the woman was dragged away from him and handed over to the burly-looking Pirate with a lecherous gaze.
"No, please don't…" The girl was crying out loud for help, but the rest of the passengers could only watch helplessly.
Just as he was about to grope her, a voice spoke, "Hey, leave her alone."
As the Pirate leader turned his head, he saw a girl in long black robes, her long black hair fluttering in the breeze, but her grip on the long scythe only tightened.
Before anyone took an action, her eyes turned pitch black, hand er pupils were gone. But a beam of concentrated blue flames escaped her eyes, striking him.
In the next second, the muscles from the burly-looking Pirate were gone. He turned into dried flesh without even knowing what happened to him. The woman in his grip screamed and scurried away in fear.
*Thud*
As the dried flesh of a body that seemed beyond recognition fell to the deck, she spoke coldly. "Your leader is gone. Now, will you surrender or die?"
The Pirates felt a chill down their spine, and the first thing that came to their mind was "run".
One brave/foolish Pirate shouted in response, "I don't know who you are, but you are gonna die." He cast a sidelong glance at his comrade, "What are you afraid of? We are high in numbers. There are also hosta…"
Before he finished the sentence, two beams of concentrated blue flame escaped the woman's eyes once again and burned him instantly.
"Oops, my bad…"
The girl's action forced some of them to immediately jump from the ship while the others were thinking about whether they should surrender, swim away, or counterattack.
However, she wasn't done yet.
Her eyes moved left and right as she stretched her arms widely.
Large tentacles made of water rose high from the water body, with the fleeing pirates getting caught by them at the same time.
*Thud* Thud* Thud*
One after another, the pirates dropped their mana weapons and fell to their knees, surrendering to the girl.
After a while, a large transport helicopter landed on the deck of the ship, and army personnel got out with handheld mana-cannons in their hands, taking away the pirates.
As they were getting in, the girl who was earlier captured came to her with a relieved expression on her face and praised, "I didn't expect you to be so strong. May I know your name?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders and spoke casually, "Arianna Black."
A few hours later;
Alsacian Federation's Special Forces (AFSF) HQ, Central City;
"Sir," The girl saluted the General in his office.
"At ease, Captain Silver," The General then placed a file on his desk and pushed it toward her, "Your next mission."
As the girl opened the file, she saw the photo of a tall and radiant young boy with a healthy wheat skin tone and a long ponytail, adorned in exquisite golden armor, with earrings shining like the sun.
Even from the image, one could feel his noble aura and bearing of a prince from medieval times.
"Uhhh… who is this cosplayer?" She couldn't help but joke around with a bit of surprise on her face. Armors like that are a thing of the past.
The General let out a sigh in response, "Ayush, the Crown Prince of Aryavarta, the mystical land of the Vedas. He was slated to become the next King, but his grandfather wanted him to learn more about the outside world before that. He will be joining your academy as a freshman, and it will be your responsibility to take care of him for a while, you know, in the shadows."
"Ugh… it is that bunch of righteous people… this mission is going to be troublesome…" Arianna suddenly felt a headache.