The Discovery : Sci-fi meets Fantasy story

Chapter 3 (Rewrite)

The glass windows featured patterns of flowers, oceans, and animals, giving a sense of tranquility and beauty to the eyes of the beholder. Each building featured its little garden under the windows, housing flowers that covered the odor that came with the city. 

Overlooking the city was a gigantic stone palace that housed the royal family. Its walls were painted white while its roof was painted purple, to symbolize the wealth they possessed, and to distinguish it from buildings held by common men.

The girl traveled with her mother to a large stone building painted white.  They dismounted from their liras and separated from each other. The mother went to see the commander while the girl met up with her friends who had joined

"Alicia! You made it!" said one of her friends. He had short blue hair with ocean blue eyes. He wore a similar attire to Alica.

"Just as late as usual. You know, you should head to bed earlier." Said another. This time it was a blonde-haired woman who spoke. Alicia smiled at both of their comments. Her two friends went by the names Julius and Lorna. 

"I think I should. Anyways, what have you two been up to?" Alicia asks. The two looked at each other, before breaking the news.

"We have been selected for a group mission! The oracle detected some powerful demons to the east. So we have been selected to take care of them." 

"Wait what? Mother didn't tell me!"

"She sensed it just this morning, probably when you were still snoozing in your bed," Lorna said. 

 "I guess so. Anyways, where can I join?"

"Sorry, but the last position had just been taken. If you WERE to have come earlier, you could have joined." Julius replied. Alicia immediately fell to her knees, filled with regret. 

"Damn it!" she muttered under her breath. The two friends laughed it off, and help her get up. 

"Next time, get here on time. Alright?" Lorna said. Alicia nodded. Just then, they all heard a voice, calling for Julius, Lorna, and a bunch of others. They told their goodbyes, and Alicia went on her way. 

She made her way to a large wooden door. Inside the stone white building, was a floor made of polished stone, lit up by windows allowing light in, as well as magical crystals that glowed a yellow light. She walks up to the receptionist to ask her whether she has any unfulfilled requests.

The woman looked through the books. The exciting missions with big payouts were already taken. The ones that remained were either boring or too risky with small pay.  Alas, she decided to take a request, mentioning that some farmers had their farm wreaked by some boar demons who stole his snoglefests, a crop that helps increase magical power. 

Alicia hopped on her lira, Daisy, and rode out of the city and into the farmlands. The paved stone road soon turned into a dirt path as she left the city gates. She looked around, finding a beautiful terrain of yellow crops on the other side, stretching to the horizon. 

She continued to ride on Daisy until she arrived at her destination. There was a patch of empty farmland, with its wooden fence broken. Next to the broken fence was the farmer, an old bald man with yellow eyes. He wore blue overalls over a white shirt and a yellow hemp hat. Though old, his ears seemed to be in good shape as he turned the moment he heard the sound of Daisy coming through. 

"You there! Are you the one who came for the boar?" he asked.

"Yes sir! That is me. Could you please tell me where it is?" Alicia asks. The farmer pointed at the dense wooden forest.

"It went that way, ma'am! Please kill it!" he said.

"You got it, sir!" Alicia replied. After dismounting from Daisy, and keeping her in a pen, she walks toward the forest, sword unsheathed. As a somewhat experienced knight, Alica knew it was best to stay quiet. 

It had been a few minutes since she entered the forest. The trees provided her shade from the scorching sun. As she sneaked around the thick silent forest, her ear tries to pick up any sounds that would belong to a boar demon. From her left, she hears the corrupted growls of a boar. She quickly moved in the direction where the sound originated. 

Hiding behind a tree, she turned to see the large beast standing on all fours. It's dark-blue fur held a few white spots. Its eyes oozed red, symbolizing the corruption it was under. This one appeared to have a pitch-black nose, meaning it had a strong sense of smell. Thankfully, it appeared to be distracted by something else. Before Alicia could grab the chance to strike a killing blow, it ran deeper into the forest, prompting her to follow. 

She followed it deeper into the forest, where the trees got thicker, and the place darker. Alicia wondered where it was running off to. Maybe it sensed her presence? No, otherwise why would it run away? 

After a long time of Alicia following the demon, the beast finally made a stop. She hid behind another tree and turned to see what it was up to. Her red eyes spot it, sniffing something. Taking the opportunity, she moved into position. 

At a closer glance, the demonic boar sniffed around some metal shells lying all over the ground. In the center of it was a large impact crater with a broken metal ball. Alica however focused primarily on the demon in her sight. Taking the opportunity, she got closer and thrust herself forward. She jabbed right into the demon's heart with her pointy sword. It screeched in pain as the life soon left its body. As blood spilled out of the beast, it fell unconscious on the ground. 

As it covers itself in a pool of blood, Alicia walked over to its head, where its long white tusks remained. Using her sharp blade, she cut off parts of the demon's flesh and yanks the tusks off it. Each tusk would provide her with about 200 gold, enough to buy herself some luxurious food for a whole month!

After she collects any valuables, Alicia inspects the area more closely. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became of it. She picked up one of the chunks of metal lying around to inspect it. The metal was bluish-black. Although she tried hard to bend it with her hands, it did not yield. 

After failing to break the strange metal in half, she walks down the crater to the stage metal orb that appeared to have been broken. It seems to be made out of the same metal as the fragments. The inside appeared to be hollow as if to allow something to stay there. With all this information in mind, Alicia became ever more confused. 

She was about 45 minutes of walking distance from the outskirts of the city, away from any dirt road. 

'I should report this to the commander.' she thought to herself. Picking up a piece of the evidence, she headed back to the farm. The old man thanked Alicia and gave her a bag of snoglefests, a blue cotton-like plant that tastes sour. Alicia jumped on Daisy and went on her way.

'I wonder what the others are doing?' she thought to herself.

...

I originally wanted to release this at the start of the month. However, since I was under the weather while also suffering from writer's block, I wasn't able to finish this chapter until about 3 days ago. Since Christmas was coming near, I decided to delay this chapter's release until today.

So uh... Merry Christmas Everyone! And have a happy new year! 

I will see you all next month. (Hopefully with a longer chapter.)