Magnum Opus Of New York

The sun shone brightly through the small gaps within the curtain. Tina had purposely opened them in a way that would light up Nina's face.

Tina awoke always woke up before sunrise and went to do light exercises in her personal gym. The room didn't take much space as there was only the basic set of equipment such as a treadmill.

Tine woke up at 5:30 am and exercised for over an hour and then took a brisk shower.

She then took the initiative to prepare breakfast.

[September 4th, 2116 ], [ 7:15 AM] is what the clock read before it started to beep obnoxiously?

"fuck...." grunted Nina in a low voice. An ice spike appeared above the bed and then went straight towards the bedside table.

SCHWING!

The table along with the digital clock was turned into rubble.

"She has no control..." muttered Tina from her kitchen while mixing up some eggs.

If Nina had heard that, she would not disagree. Nina may have good control over her magic when she's focusing but it's not something that is fully natural to her.

She has only been using actual magic spells for 2 days now. She does have good control over her mana both subconsciously and when she's focusing but the same cannot be said for spells.

Only when she is fully aware of herself can she exert masterful control. That's why he just randomly chucked a spell at the alarm since she is both too short and unwilling to do it herself.

It did take the little girl some time to realize what she had done. She instantly regretted her foolishness when she remembered how strong Tina must be.

'Na... it should be fine. She didn't yell at me after I tossed 7 ice spikes at her breaking an alarm clock shouldn't be much.' She slowly sat up and looked towards the side and realized that the entire nightstand was in pieces.

'Maybe I should get someone to teach me restraint.' As Nina got off the bed and walked towards the living room, she saw a pair of pink bunny slippers that fit her tiny self perfectly.

'That's odd. These weren't here before.' Nina shrugged it off as she just assumed Tina had some spares.

What she didn't realize is why a full-grown woman who is as tall as Tina would have something that fitted a middle school girl.

Nina followed the smell of bacon and eggs out of the bedroom and onto the living room couch.

She plopped herself deeply into a pile of pillows she had made yesterday for extra comfort and then said "Open channel CNN."

The large TV mounted on the wall could be controlled by both view remote of voice activation. She had already read through the instruction menu that Tina always left on the table.

Tina did not use the TV often so she kept the guidebook on the table since she always forgot the commands or even misplaced the remote.

Nina stared at the TV while rubbing her eyes and yawning as she was feeling quite groggy. She is far from a morning person.

"Breaking News! The youngest son of Senator Mathew Davis was kidnapped last night while returning from a dungeon run.

In order to be prepared for his second semester at Vulcan Intermediate Academy, Johan Davis was sent to the Dungeon Sector in Albany and was ambushed on the way.

The government has identified the culprits to be the militant group known as Lucifer's Light.

The state of New York is now on a Level 3 Lockdown. The borders of the state have already been sealed off by the military and the coastline by the navy.

This will last for a maximum of 3 days and will not be extended even if no lead is found on Johan's locations."

Nina complimented the concise and well-spoken female anchor that had an elegant air around her. The news wasn't something shocking for Nina who was used to daily political turmoil on Soreibus.

Tina on the other hand had a dismayed expression towards this news as she walked out of the kitchen while wearing a black tracksuit and a plain apron on top. She had made two bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.

The sandwiches were colorful and hearty as they did not lack in size either. There was also a bowl of salad containing some mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced, red onions.

A pitcher of orange juice was so available but not the kind you would find in a store that was full of unhealthy sugar and additives.

It is fresh orange juice that Henry squeezed by hand this morning.

Henry may be a lazy gamer but he had no plans on becoming unhealthy and fat. If he did, his mom would fly back from Florida and beat him into a flat piece of cardboard on the street.

The system did give on strength but it didn't help them maintain their bodies.

The system counts unhealthy bodies as a debuff of sorts and will start cutting down your stats if you stay unhealthy. It would even give out bonuses to healthier people.

That is why it was harder to see unhealthy people after the system was introduced in the year 2023.

It's also the reason that unhealthy snack companies are not as large anymore. They exist for sure since not everyone could tolerate eating healthy stuff all the time and snacks were a way to take a break.

"Nina, come eat breakfast with me," Tina called out to Nina and the little girl did not reply as she was not in the mood after waking up so early in the morning.

She was hungry though and did not waste time getting off her pillow pit.

'I hope those girls are alright.' thought Tina as she waited for Nina by setting up the dining table.

The rectangular table isn't that large and consists of 2 chairs on each of the long sides and 1 one on the short sides.

She was worried about a group of 3 girls that's he had attended school with and currently worked in the government bureau that provided security for the 5 senators and their families in New York.

(If you are wondering why it's 5 instead of the usual 2, we will get to understand USA's political changes a bit later in the story.)

She also knew that her friends were assigned to the Davis family. She made mental note to check in on them later.

"Big sis, what are you thinking about? Are you worried about something?" Nina had climbed onto one of the seats and started gobbling down one of the sandwiches.

Nina had noticed in one day that when Tina had a cold expression as she did now, she was either thinking or worrying. Tina's facial expressions change way too often when she is around Nina and it would not go unnoticed.

Tina knew that this little girl was clever and didn't mind that she saw through her in one day. Indeed, Tina kept a cold expression whenever she was out working since she was always thinking about something.

She kept her mind occupied by work-related topics so she would not be bothered or distracted by extra matters.

"My friends work as guards for that guy on tv. I'm just worried about them." Tina may hide her feelings from her coworkers but Nina is now her little sister.

As unnatural as it should be, Tina felt that she didn't need to hide anything from her family. It always feels better to get things off her chest.

She had spent many years bottling in her feelings.

This made her feel quite heavy but she had no other choice. Nina was an exception though as she reminded Tina of her mother.

Nina and the exact, pure and crystalline blue eyes that she inherited from their mother. Even the hair and facial structures had some similarities here and there. While Tina was distinguished by the blonde hair she got from her German dad, Nina seemed to be a spitting image of her Japanese mother as a child.

Her mother had taught Tina to be open as possible with her family and to not lie unless necessary. She had kept those values for over 2 decades now.

She would always choose to pleade the 5th by keeping her right to remain silent.

It's not lying if they don't get an answer.

"Don't worry big sister. They will be fine as long as they're as scary as you," replied Nina. She was halfway through the first sandwich already.

"Yeah, big sis thinks they will be fine too," Tina said as she believed in her friend's strength but still had the right to worry about them.

'Uh, oh...I called her scary. Good thing she didn't hear correctly.' Nina thought she had gotten away with her sly little remark.

Unfortunately for Nina, Tina was not deaf nor was she an idiot. She happened to be just a little slow on the uptake since she wasn't expecting there to be a double meaning to Nina's words.

"Hahaha....So you consider what I've shown so far scary huh." Tina suddenly went cold and then let out the evilest grin that Nina had seen.

'Even the demon king didn't look so scary.' Nina was in pure regret.

"I haven't even said anything about breaking the entire nightstand. It seems as though you need some training. I'll take you to a place where I'll show you true scary."

"Cough, cough!" Nina shuddered and almost choked on the last morsels of her sandwich. Luckily, there was some refreshing orange juice for her to wash down the food with.

Sensing her impending doom, Nina rolled onto the ground and bowed before Tina.

"I sincerely ask for big sis Tina's, no no... for the Goddess Tina of Unbound beauty and Mercy for her forgiveness."

'Noooooooo! How dare you system! Just as I thought you gave me freedom, you took it away again. Is this how you treat a queen.' Tina had felt internally glad this morning as the system didn't take at all to start letting her act on her own again.

Unfortunately, it seem as if the system had bamboozled her. It was like giving your cat premium pet food and a large house to play in only to toss in a shack with normal food the next day.

Her freedom is a right and not a luxury, it was quite an egregious feeling.

[System has learned that the best way to teach humans is through the carrot and stick approach.]

"Fufufufu..." Tina started to laugh after seeing the little girls act and felt quite amused but this would not be enough to say her determination to set Nin on the correct path.

"I'm sorry. My little sister, but you need to be trained to control your magic spells. You need to learn a lot of stuff before you start school in a week. " Tina said.

She hoped that she could spend all her time with Nina but she had a job and leaving Nina by herself is unbearable.

Tina also feared that Nina might go on a rampage and tear apart the entire apartment if she was gone.

"School?" questioned Nina as she looked at her sister's face. She was totally confused.

"Let's finish breakfast first and then I'll tell you more. Do you want another sandwich?"

"Yes!" Nina said. She was confused but her somewhat insatiable hunger got in the way in made her accept the offer.

-------

An hour has passed and the pair of sisters had gotten off the humvee once again and were now in front of an even wider and taller skyscraper. One that puts the megastructure of [Stelluna Tower] to shame.

Shaped like a gigantic egg, the entire 395-floor building floated above the ground. The entire outside piece was made purely of black tinted glass and casts an ominous shadow over the area it was suspended above.

At the base of the building was a 300-meter pond that contained lily pads and lotuses all over the place. V

egetation seemed to be plenty but one could not see the depth of this lake even though the plants all gave off light.

The pond was like visiting a fantasy forest at night but it was literally daytime.

The entire pond was guarded by soldiers in black uniforms like Tina's.

Nina assumed they were guarding the small boulder with an ancient carving of an angel on it that was floating in the center of the pond.

That was not the only strange aspect of this building as the only way to get in is seems to be platforms made of mana that disappear and rapper in a blink of an eye.

Only people with a considerable stat in agility should be able to cross it.

"Hang on tight," said Tina as she grabbed Nina by the waist and secured the little girl in her arms.

Nina knew what was about to happen so she clung to Tina with dear life.

Tina let out an endearing smile after seeing the scared Nina and then she took off.