Yggdrasil

So I have the power of the first branch of Yggdrasil, huh? That is pretty cool; I'm not gonna lie. That means I'm pretty much OP, right?

Well, I guess I've already been pretty OP relatively standing, huh?

I mean, I'm nowhere near as strong as someone like Chiron, but he is the literal King of a country and has been for thousands of years.

I wouldn't expect to be as strong as those practically immortal monsters, but I am pretty impressed by my strength. Other than people like Chiron and Osiris, who have I met who is stronger than me?

That makes a lot of sense now; part of my power comes from Yggdrasil. That is pretty darn cool.

I wonder why, though? Does it have something to do with the Shift? Did gaining the power of the first branch cause me to never lose my memories?

That is a real possibility. But it could also be that I gained the power of the first branch because I never lost my memories. There is no proof of either one.

I need to keep working to discover more of this. The more I find out, the less all of this makes sense. It feels like more questions are being created than being answered.

For example, why did Yggdrasil lose three branches? What are the powers of the other two branches? And who has the power of the other two branches?

Also, if the branches of Yggdrasil are told to have taught people how to use magic, that means that all magic, at least here in the EUT, came from the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Why aren't people taught this in school?

For that matter, why don't people know about the branches at all? They seem to be kept a secret for some reason. Is there something dangerous about that knowledge?

Anyhow, I think I'm done with defending the diplomats, which is a good thing. Now I can stop stressing over almost getting killed while defending strangers.

Now I just got to worry about the Magic Liberators coming after me personally because they need me for some weird ritual. Great…

Well, for now, I should just prepare for when they try to disable my magic. There aren't many things I can do to prepare for that, though.

I guess the best thing to do would be to work out and learn how to fight. But that would be a lot of work.

That costs money too, so I'd have to get a job or ask my parents. I could also work, but I don't necessarily want to get a job because that could put my coworkers in danger the moment I get attacked. I guess I could say the same thing about school, but with my school's track record of getting attacked for reasons unrelated to me, I don't think it really makes a difference. My school will get attacked anyway.

That is a depressing fact… well whatever. No one has died because of it.

I guess I should check on my friends, I haven't seen William and Sophia in a while because of my work protecting the diplomats.

===

"Hey, guys! Sorry, I've been busy," I say, running toward where we discussed meeting in the park.

William responds, "It's fine; besides, I'm used to you disappearing for random reasons at this point."

"Yeah, even before the Shift, you did have a weird habit of disappearing at random intervals," Sophia so rudely mentions. Don't you have anything nice to say?!?

"Jeez, thanks for the support, guys."

"So, what do you guys want to do?" I ask them, "I didn't really plan anything."

"Well, we could go to an arcade?" William replies.

Sophia scowls, saying, "Does anyone go to an arcade anymore?"

"Why are you so angry about an arcade recommendation?" William sounds almost offended. I should probably defuse this. What happened to these two while I was gone? Jeez.

"The first time you two go to an arcade, it should be just you two. I don't want to be a third wheel!" Sophia whispers off to the side.

What did she say? I didn't catch that. Also, why am I getting the feeling that she has the wrong idea about something?

"Why not an arcade?" William rebukes.

Sophia looks so close to facepalming, saying, "Just not with me, okay?"

"I've read enough manga to know where that leads to." She whispers under her breath.

Okay, I heard that one. And first of all, seriously? Manga? Are you going to base what would happen in the real world on a manga? And second, she definitely thinks something is going on.

William leans over to me, asking quietly, "Does she not like arcades?"

For some reason, my face feels a little hot with him being so close. Whatever.

"I think it's something else. Just back up a little," I whisper back.

"Why don't we go see Yggdrasil? It's not too far from here. Maybe around thirty minutes away?" I ask. I think that I could get some information about the three branches if I head there, and it would be fun to go there with friends.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Both William and Sophia say that at the same time. They can be weirdly on the same exact page at the strangest times.

===

After thirty minutes of walking, we arrive! Just kidding, I flew us there with Gravity magic. It was pretty quick too. It was probably weird for onlookers to see three high schoolers flying through the air, but it's probably not TOO unusual in a world of magic.

The tree is actually open for all to see. With how important it is to our country, you'd think that it would be highly secure, but even the strongest magicians in the world wouldn't be able to take the thing down, so no one bothers.

Also, I heard that it will retaliate if people try to attack it, so not even the pettiest thieves would touch it.

Walking up to the tree, I feel a strange connection to it. The place almost feels homely. That probably has something to do with the first branch.

I've seen the thing from afar; heck, it's so big that I can see it from home even though it's a thirty-minute walk away, but never this close.

With the glistening leaves, the soft winds blowing through, and the solidity of the bark, the tree really is a wonder.

Huh? I feel something weird in my hand. Lifting it up, I see I'm holding a silver branch with gold accents. I wonder where it came from?

Well, it's cool and all, but I don't really need it. While I'm thinking about what to do with it, the thing melts into my hand, and a golden-ringed marking appears around my wrist.

AHHH! What the heck! Why did this happen? Get it out of me!

On cue, the branch leaves my body, the golden marking disappears, and the branch exits through my hand.

What in the world! Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick.

I guess I can control this branch, though. Thinking of putting it away will make it enter my body, and thinking of pulling it out will make it appear.

The question still remains, though, where did the branch come from? Well, I don't want to keep holding it, so I guess I'll put it away for now.

Wait, where did William and Sophia go? I should go look for them.

Walking around for a couple of minutes, I finally find the two. Somehow, I'm the one who disappeared, not them. Apparently, we were walking, and I suddenly disappeared.

I show them the golden marking on my wrist, and Sophia seems to have no clue what it is.

However, William says, "You manifested your soul item?"

"What in the world is a soul item?" Both Sophia and I ask.

William explains that "People with excessive amounts of MP can sometimes manifest items. These items can be weapons and armor. Other times they can be tools. There are times when they are just miscellaneous objects as well. All we know is that they represent some core aspect of the person that manifests them."

"That's sick!" Sophia chimes in, "What did you do to manifest it, Jess?"

"I don't know, I was staring at the tree, and it was there in my hand," I respond.

William ponders, "Hmm, maybe if we get a closer look at the tree, we'll better understand it."

All three of us walk to get a closer look at the tree, and the silver-golden branch in my hand starts to glow a soft yellow, as well as Yggdrasil.

The branch flies out of my hand into the tree, and a crooked old wooden door appears where my branch disappeared.

"Well, ladies first?" William says sarcastically.

All three of us enter the door to find ourselves in a giant room in the trunk of Yggdrasil. What in the world is this place?

Suddenly the walls start to glow a similar yellow, and the giant room shifts into an elaborate library.

A lady who looks like a librarian with sheep horns and glasses walks out of a door into the room and seems shocked to see us.

"Who are you three? What are you doing here?!?"

Is this gonna end well?