The Life of an Overpowered Elf

Bree glared at Argit, who was awkwardly rubbing his neck as she demanded he answer her simple question, "What part of that man was chill?"

"Well, I haven't really talked to him in 15 years," Argit laughed back nervously. "But after I fought you, I told everyone I could think of about you," Argit shook his head. "I was not prepared for old Thomas to have turned into such a…a drag; I mean, look at that!" Argit waved his hand up to the wall; Bree followed his motion to a decorative ornament hanging above the door.

The ornament in question was shaped like a W, with the center being much longer and the two sides being curved like an S, looping back in at the top.

"Alright, I don't know what my reaction here should be; I'm pretty sure I've never seen that thing before,"

"That's an insignia for the church of Salvo," Argit spat at the name. "Gods above, I hate them,"

"The Church of Salvo?" Bree frowned at the word Church and could only think of a single one she had ever heard of in the world she now called home. "Like that 'enslave all monsters because Humans are the best' Church?"

"No, that's the Church of the Humanitarian,"

That sounds right, albeit somewhat ironically. So, who's this Salvo guy?"

"Salvo was a King about three thousand years ago. His entire country was destroyed when he managed to open the Obsidian Pillar and released the Beast of a thousand eyes onto his nation,"

Argit was fuming as he spoke, and when it became clear he wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon, Bree pulled up a chair and gave him a drink from the table to help him calm himself before he continued the story.

"Over two hundred thousand died, including three Demon lords," Argit hit the table and cracked it as he spoke. "I was young back then, wasn't even through my first century as a Demon lord when it happened; my Sister, her husband, and my dear sweet friend Penny all died sealing that fucking thing away,"

"I'm…very sorry you have to go through all that," Bree patted him slightly before he jumped up and pointed at the curved w on the wall.

"No apologies necessary; you've lost comrades to that beast too," Argit replied; Bree didn't have the heart to tell him that everyone who died was revived at the end of the raid battle and that they had tried to use a cheap glitch in the system to cheat her out of her rewards right after the fight, "The Church of Salvo is a group of dumbasses who are trying to find and open that same fucking Pillar because they believe that the story is a lie and want to prove his innocence," Argit began spitting out literal flames as he spoke "But I was fucking there, save for one of the current nine demon lords, we where all there, but no, we're just lying for no reason because profits apparently,"

"And the worst part," Argit turned to Bree, clenching his fist, "If that beast is released again, we don't have enough Demon Lords to fend it off again,"

"My, I must say I do not like this place very much," Bree decided as she looked at the symbol of Salvo. "While I can see bits and pieces that seem alright to me, that, along with the number of times I have been called Bug-eyed, is really dragging my opinion of this place through the mud, but it has that one nice shop, maybe I could bribe that thing into coming to Green water?"

"And that's another thing," Argit suddenly flared back up as he kicked the chair the prince had been sitting at. "Insulting my friend, fine, she's her own woman, she can deal with her problems, but trying to arrest her, a visiting dignitary, for talking to the prince, and then he gets all uppity with me and tries to have me thrown out?" Argit snuffed out the fire in his mouth and blew steam. "Oh, this entire visit has exposed some serious issues in this nation, and It might be way past due time we renegotiated our treaty, "

Argit grabbed the chair he had kicked and pulled it towards the end of the table before taking a seat in it, "Bree, you've got my old seat; let's eat while we wait for old Thomas to return," Bree took a seat and together the two dined as they waited.

Both Argit and Bree had eaten their fill by the time Thomas and his wife returned; Thomas snapped and pointed to the wall. "Off the chair," He demanded of Bree.

"Being the king of a large nation does not entitle you to boss me around," Bree replied at once, "Especially seeing how there's no feasible way for you to make me move, maybe ask me to move instead of talking me like i'm a disobedient pup?" Thomas ground his teeth as he took his seat, his wife sitting next to him.

"As the ruling Monarch of Maragon, you will show me the respect I am due and obey my word, for in this nation, it is law. Now go stand by the wall until I decide what to do with you,"

"Big words," Argit cut in. "But you are aware you're trying to get someone stronger than me to obey you, right? And just a little f.y.i, rumors are true I am now the third strongest Demon Lord, making Bree comparable to Clementine, probably weaker than Mimzy but definitely equal to or greater than Clem,"

"Are you threatening me?" Thomas demanded.

"That was not a threat; it was a fact," Argit replied. "Nothing you do or say will make her or I move until we've had a nice long chat," Argit took a turkey leg and bit into it before continuing with food in his mouth. "So care to explain that shit?" Argit used the turkey leg to point at the Symbol of Salvo.

"The Church of Salvo seeks truth in a world where Demon Lords lie and scheme," Thomas shot back. "Salvo was a great man; you Demon Lords killed him and his nation to cover up the true use of the Obsidian Pillar and…" Argit finished chewing and cut him off.

"Wow, how the mighty have fallen," Argit laughed as he tossed his turkey leg aside, leaving it to tumble across the table messily, "Remember that week you and I spent with Demon Lord O'Brian? Hunting that feral Onikuma that had been ravaging your lands, Two demon lords stopped everything to help you out entirely because you asked us to, and yet you sit here not but two decades later calling us both murderous liars?" Argit shot smoke out of his nostrils. "You've let your Ego overtake the man you used to be; when was the last time you left this castle?"

"He hasn't been outside in 9 years," The Queen replied.

"Shut up," Thomas spat at her, "Now listen, We had a deal, and you lost,"

"Like hell I did," Argit shot back. "This here is a genuine Elf and I got the appraisal results to prove it, where's my whip!"

"Elves are tall and slender; they were said to have been beyond beautiful, had a deep-rooted connection to nature, and were known for their respect and wisdom," Thomas pointed to Bree. "This thing is short, bug-eyes, hideous, and was stupid enough to taunt my child,"

"Thomas, I will punch you," Argit's warning aimed towards Thomases liberal use of insults towards a woman he had already been told and vocally acknowledged was a Queen. "And her looks and personality don't matter; once more from the top, I have the appraisal results, and guess what!?" Argit leaned forward. "Go one guess,"

"I…"

"She's an Elf!" Argit practically screamed out, "Bam, boom, done deal, you owe me a whip,"

"This is just another example of Demon lords using their power to lie to the masses," Thomas declared. "You lost, and as per our arrangement, you are required on your honor to aid me in the war against the Demon Lord Mimzy," Argit simply laughed, his anger melting away into disbelief.

"Every Demon Lord could all gang up together, and we'd still get our asses handed to us by Mimzy," Argit declared. "That's so stupid that I would think you were joking if not for that Salvo crest up there," Argit got to his feet and took a deep breath before walking up to Thomas and took a moment to compose himself before smacking Thomas across the face with an open-palmed slap.

"Get your shit together," Argit said in a stern voice. "I don't care how great you think you are, you have no right to arrest people for 'talking to your son,' and you better believe this when I say, if I hear you take part in some 'holy war' against Mimzy I'll come down here and declare war on your nation, I'm sure you can imagine how many problems will rise should I offer citizenship to all who wish to relocate to Ozama,"

Argit turned away from Thomas and waved him away, "Now get the hell out of here; I'm gonna talk to your wife; she seems like the less stupid of the two of you," 

"You dare…" Thomas attempted, only for Argit to look back at him, silently daring him to stay in the room; after a moment, he turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door in his wake.

"That guy?" Bree asked the queen. "There must have been someone better,"

"It was an arranged marriage," The Queen assured her. "But ever since he came home with Charles, he's gone down a slippery path," She sighed as she shook her head. "I'm so sorry he made a scene in front of your elf friend,"

"Now, why is it you believe I'm an elf?" Bree questioned suspiciously.

"The guards informed me that a short woman holding Argit's Fan ax used Anti-magic to absorb the Anti-Magic barrier, and I have never heard of any creature having enough mana to casually absorb all that Anti-magic and still be casually walking around within minutes of doing it," The Queen smiled "Seeing as we know nothing about Elves I'm choosing to believe you must be one, at the very least you're not of a race I've encountered before, and I've met a lot of unique creatures in my time,"

"Oh yeah, Bree is like super mega old," Argit cut in. "She was around before the Lunar Sea was formed," Argit leaned in closer and whispered, "She's even seen the Beast with a thousand eyes,"

"Well then," The Queen stood up and offered her hand to Bree, who shook it politely. "I am Queen Milena,"

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Both Argit and Bree respond with the same polite tone.

"I'm interested to know, if you're as old as you say you are, do you know any kinds of magic that haven't survived the ages?"

"She can do Ice magic," Argit responded simply. "Although she claims her actual mastery is in the Botanical field of magic,"

"That's technically a half-truth," Bree thought nervously. "I only said that because that was what I went to college for. I was a master in the game, sure, but it was only used to get more raw material for crafting potions and items; there's only one combat viable spell attached to it,"

"That said, I've never actually seen her use it," Argit chuckled. "You can imagine how embarrassing it is to get beat by someone only to find out they never used any of their good stuff on you,"

"If I might be so bold, could I see some of this Botanical Magic?" Mila asked politely. "I know you probably think I'm just some old queen, but I'm also the head chairwoman for the Pandoran School of Magicraft; I'd be interested to see what we could learn from you,"

"Um, sure," Bree replied nervously. "I'll just need some soil,"

"The School has a Greenhouse," Mila replied instantly. "how about we go see what you can do there?"

"Yes!" Argit replied in Bree's stead "I have got to see this; let go immediately, Although I am still owed a magic whip,"

"I'll try to get my husband to see reason," Mila shook her head as she spoke, "But I can't promise anything," Mila walked to the door and waved for them to follow her, "Come along, the School is a fair distance away and can only be found by someone who already knows where it is. Otherwise, you could fly right above it and fail to see it,"

Argit and Bree followed Mila out of the dining area and out into the courtyard; Bree once again enjoyed the view of the well-kept grounds as they made their way to a carriage. Bree's interest was stolen from the grounds when she saw what was pulling the Carriage; a Large Griffin was harnessed to the front and was waiting for them without a movement.

Bree did her best to avoid its gaze; as Griffins had been a hostile mob in the game, she didn't want to test to see if it would attack her given the chance and instead chose to get inside the carriage with as little fuse as she could.

Once they were all sitting, Mila raised her hand, and a magic circle came to life; Bree frowned at it while the Carriage began moving.

"I see you're not a fan of Soul Bind," Mila noted as Bree looked at her hand. "But it was either that or killing the poor thing; Feral Griffins are a little too violent for their own good; this one tried to attack the castle a few years back for no reason other than it was flying past and randomly decided it wanted to live here,"

"Well, I'm no fan, but that's mainly because I've only really seen it be used to subjugate Monsters; taming a feral feels like an acceptable use of it," Bree looked out the window of the carriage and noted that they were not on the ground, "This is new, how is this Carriage keeping balance with the Griffin?"

"Simple levitation charm; it uses the Griffin like a magic battery to charge the spell, but no worries, it would pass out from exhaustion long before this charm could drain it of magic," Bree didn't respond as she looked out the window. Vosa was already lost to the horizon, and all she could see was a massive forest; she watched as they slowly began dropping in altitude.

Argit was looking out the other side of the carriage and frowned, "Say I don't see this school,"

"Just wait for us to land," Mila replied simply. Bree and Argit waited patiently as the Carriage came to a halt; upon it coming to a stop, Bree saw nothing but trees.

"Where in the!?" Argit suddenly cried out. Bree looked at him and saw him staring out her window; she looked back out, and what had looked like simply any other part of the forest was suddenly a large open field, a shimmering lake could be seen off in the distance, and hundreds of monsters and humans alike were casually walking about, all dressed up in matching uniforms.

"Welcome, "Mila declared proudly, "To the Pandoran school of Magicraft." Bree and Argit looked up and saw the school itself; it looked like someone had built three Castles and then decided to combine them after they were built.

Each Castle looked to have about 20 floors, with multiple Spiraling Towers built onto each one; several floors were randomly connected from castle to castle with bridges. 

"Where did all this come from?" Argit demanded as he looked out at the school. "How long has this been a thing? I'd have come to visit way more if I had known there was a magic school here,"

"Its full name is the Pandora Institute of Magicraft and Learning, usually simply called Pandora's Castle, and it has been a recognized school for well over two hundred years," Mila responded casually.

"Dammit, It must have happened during that 80-something-year staring contest I had with O'Brian!"

"Argit, you live a weirdly interesting lifestyle," Bree chuckled. "Did you win your little contest?"

"I sneezed and lost," Argit said tearfully before clapping. "Anyway, that's the story of how I lost my Fan Ax for the third time in my life,"

"What time am I?" Bree asked with mild concern.

"5th," Argit replied, "Don't get too attached to it; I'll win it back eventually, I always do,"

"Now then," Mila declared as she clapped her hands together, attempting to gain Bree and Argit's attention. "The Greenhouses are right behind the centermost castle," Mila began walking with Argit and Bree following after her.

"So, how does this School work?" Bree asked, "Do the students stay all year round? Do they come and go every day?"

"Students are required to live on campus, as are the staff, with the only exception being me; as I'm the queen of the nation, I have to swap living space every couple of weeks,"

As Mila was talking, Bree and Argit looked at the students on the grounds, realizing they were all heavily grouped up. They put together they were participating in some sort of after-class sport or something.

 "I wasn't expected to return for another two days, but I'll happily take your example of Botanical magic as an excuse to leave home early," Mila pointed to the towers before adding, "There are eight Towers in total that are used for the Students to Live in, and two for the staff, Each Tower is separated by Grade, with the Grade rising with the students every year, when the 8th years graduate their old Tower becomes the next first-year Tower,"

"Amazing," Bree looked up at the large school and wished she had been born into the world she now called home. "Wish I could have gone to a magical school; we didn't have any…back in the day,"

"Don't fret about it," Argit said, waving her words away, "They didn't exist when I was a kid either, all self-taught back in the day, although kids nowadays know more magic than I did by the time I became a Demon Lord, so gotta respect the system, if it works it works,"

Bree and Argit made casual conversation as they made their way around the outer layer of the castles and quickly found eight buildings of different sizes behind the castle.

"Each Greenhouse is for a specific year; the smallest one is for first years; as they get more experienced, they move on to the larger Greenhouses with more advanced magical plants; after their seventh year, their classes are split apart, and only those who have a history of excellence in their Enchanted Botany courses are allowed to participate in the year eight Botany class,"

Mila passed the smaller Greenhouses and brought them straight to the largest one. Bree's eyes sparked as the door was opened; there were Flowers the size of Trees, tiny trees with multiple types of fruit on them, a Flower with eyes, and Vines that had wrapped themselves together into hands that were waving at them in greeting.

"Amazing," Bree said as she walked in and looked at all the different breeds of plant, each one unique with no duplicates in the Greenhouse.

"Here we are," Mila said as she waved her hand, and a Large Pot slid towards them, filled with soil, "Alright then, Ms.Bree, whenever you're ready,"

Bree felt a spike of nervousness, having forgotten they were there to put her abilities to the test. She walked up and put her hand in the soil, silently trying to think of an impressive-looking plant from the game that she knew the spell would work on.

"Come on," Argit said as he put his hand in the soil. "I wanna see something Majestic,"

"Ah!" Bree smiled as Argit unintentionally reminded her of a spell. "I always said the most majestic plant was the Rainbow Flower," she realized. Both Argit and Mila looked at her in confusion for a moment, and her hand began glowing. 

"Lox Lotum '' She called out. The pot began shaking violently, and then a large mocha-colored flower steam burst to life. It grew to the size of a small tree before five large red petals grew around a stamen that took the shape of a long black horn. The Flower Petals spread out from one another and burst into blue flames.

"What in the name of the Creator is that?" Mila asked as she looked at the flaming flower. Bree looked at it with equal amounts of confusion before realizing why it looked vaguely familiar.

"Argit," She said, turning to the Demon Lord with a smile on her face. "Was your hand in the soil of the pot?" Argit blinked and looked at his hand, which was casually resting in the soil; he raised it and found a root touching his palm.

Bree began laughing, and he looked at her in confusion as she laughed.

"What?" he asked in confusion. "Did I do something?"

"Rainbow Flowers absorb magic from the air and can take on many different shapes, sizes, and colors," Bree replied as she laughed. "But since your hand was in the pot, it latched onto it!" She took a deep breath. "This flower is infused with your fire magic; It's an Argit Flower now,"

Argit looked at the Flower for a moment before gasping, "It's a Me, Flower? I need this in my garden immediately,"

"I've never heard of a Rainbow Flower before," Mila said as she inspected. "I'm not seeing where the Rainbow part of the name comes in,"

"That's because this isn't a Rainbow Flower," Bree informed her. "Since Argit touched it, it became an Argit Flower. Typically, a rainbow flower looks like a giant flower with rainbow petals," Bree pondered about their location. "They were only found around the Moutnian basin, so the Meteor definitely wiped them out,"

"Extinct Demon Flowers?" Argit gasped. "I claim Rights as a Demon Lord; this is mine. I'll fight a war over it if I don't get to keep it; it's infused with my Magic, so it's mine by right,"

"Yes, yes, fine," Mila said, waving him off. "Ms.Bree, would you be interested in staying here for a few days?" Mila grinned at Bree as she spoke, "If you can bring back an extinct flower I didn't even know used to exist, I'd love to see what else you can do,"

Bree looked around the Greenhouse and knew she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to spend some time around the school and learn a little more about the world.

"I'll have to appoint a temporary leader to my Kingdom," Bree muttered. "But I don't see why I can't. Just give me until tomorrow, and I can only stay a day or two; we can find a better window for me to stay a week or two in the future,"

"Sounds perfect to me," She replied with an excited look on her face, "I'll be waiting for you right outside this Greenhouse at 8 Am," She turned to Argit and found he was attempting to pick up the Flower, pot and all.

"You can have the Flower, but I'll be wanting that pot back in one piece; they're enchanted and very expensive," Bree turned away and turned her ring into a staff.

"Come on, Argit," Bree told him, "I'll open a doorway to the Courtyard we fought in, but after that, you're on your own with that Flowe; I have plans to make before tomorrow." 

Bree wished Argit luck before she closed the Doorway and found herself back on her front lawn.

"Mistress," Silver practically screamed from the edge of the bridge; Orion easily outpaced him and pounced on Bree, who withstood the cat's weight easily and let him rub up against her, purring like a motor boat as he did so.

"My Lady, I'm so happy you've returned," Silver eyes began glowing as he called out, "She's back," Bree barely had time to move away from Orion before her followers began surrounding her.

"Yes, I missed you too, Zoey. Who are you again? Oh yes, nice to see Beth. Daisy, leave my ears alone. Minerva, please get Inky off my back. No, Jaden, I can't spar with you right now, but maybe later. No, Manfred, I don't need any Coffee at the moment," After a few chaotic minutes, Bree managed to get her Followers to give her some breathing room.

"Alright, I have bad news and good news, in that order," All of her followers stood ready for the bad news, and Bree knew they weren't going to take it well, "I'll be leaving for most of tomorrow,"

"Again?" Winnie demanded in unison with the rest of her followers, "But my lady, you're a Queen now; surely we should begin developing your country,"

"That's exactly what I'm doing; I'll be visiting a large School and seeing if I can't learn a thing or two about this world while I am there; I'll also be starting up a good relationship with the Kingdom of Maragon, so while I'm away I'm leaving Belin in charge,"

"Me?" Belin demanded in confusion as panic started to set in on his face.

"Of the town," Bree amended; Belin calmed right down with a sigh, "Just do what you used to do; otherwise, Bella and Winnie are to remain in charge of the Mansion until my return," Bree waited until her Followers confirmed they understood before continuing.

"Now, the good news is I won't be going alone, and I'll only be gone for a day, two max. I've picked two of you to come with me," There was a moment of silence before Bree turned and pointed out who would be joining her.

"Olu and Annie,"

"Me?" Annie asked, looking like she would cry if she were able to, "I get to go with you?" 

Olu simply stroked his mustache and nodded, "Unexpected but not unwelcome," He decided with a smile, "Is there a reason for us two being picked?"

"Well, It would be rude of me to demand information and not provide anything in return, as such you will be acting as a visiting Sword instructor for the eighth-year students, I will be acting as the Botanical Teacher of the Eight Years, and Annie will simply be joining me as my maid and bodyguard, simply because something stupidly exciting things seem to happen everywhere I go, and I'd rather have been caution for no reason, then bring no one and get into trouble alone,"

"I am honored that you have chosen me for this job," Annie said with a bow. "I will not fail you, my lady,"

"Calm down," Bree said, patting her head. "Until trouble comes, you'll just be acting as my Maid; you'll stay in the room and watch me. Don't attack anyone unless they hit me or I call out to you. Understood?"

"Yes, my lady," Annie replied without hesitation.

"Well then, it seems I must get some rest," Olu noted as he looked up at the sky. "I'll have some serious work ahead of me tomorrow,"

"Indeed," Annie agreed. "Would you like to rest in our room, my lady?" Annie questioned, "We Promise to wake you up an hour in advance,"

"Well…it would help time go by quicker," Bree muttered. "Fine, but if you can't wake me up politely, Bella is to smack me in the face with her Kanabo, and that's an order; I'm a person who does as they promise, so being late is not an option, understood,"

"Yes, Mistress, we Understand," Everyone replied at once, giving her a salute as they did so.