Ch. 3 - First Parallel Quest

Lyra groaned as she rolled over in bed, her unmade sheets tangled around her limbs. Sunlight filtered through her cutesy star-patterned curtains, casting warm golden streaks across the room. She lazily flicked her tail as she stretched, a yawn escaping her lips.

Yesterday had been eventful—her first big mission, the tour of Conton City, Sarion's hologram—but the exhaustion that had weighed her down before was nowhere to be found.

She grabbed her scouter from the bedside table. As she clipped it onto her ear, a notification popped up.

New Training Available: Parallel Quests

Lyra tilted her head. 'Huh. Took them long enough to give me access.'

She blinked at the ceiling, a small smile forming.

'Alright, time to get back to work,' she thought, a surge of anticipation bubbling in her chest. The sooner she mastered these Parallel Quests, the sooner she could prove herself to Chronoa and Elder Kai. Prove that she was worthy of being the next Sarion.

Kicking off her blankets, she leapt out of bed and did a quick stretch, chasing away the last vestiges of sleep.

She had heard about Parallel Quests before, but, for whatever reason, she had never tried one herself. They were meant to be extra training, recreations of past battles for skill improvement. The Supreme Kai of Time had even mentioned them yesterday.

Now, it seemed like she was being formally introduced to the system.

Then her stomach growled. Loudly.

'Right. A Saiyan body needs fuel before anything else.'

She grabbed her gloves from the counter and stepped outside.

Conton City's marketplace was already bustling with patrollers and merchants, the scent of freshly prepared meals wafting through the air. Lyra made her way toward her usual food stall, run by a short, round Majin with a comically oversized chef's hat, almost bigger than his head.

The stall's sign read "Majin Bun's Energy Feast!" and, judging by the line, business was booming.

When she reached the front, the Majin chef grinned. "Ah! Hungry Saiyan girl back again! What can I get ya?"

"The usual," Lyra said, already pulling out her zeni. "Oh, with extra meat today."

Majin Bun, a chef whose name was somewhat ironic considering his decidedly pudgy form, moved with impressive speed behind the counter. His hands danced across the various ingredients and cooking implements. He knew the regulars' orders by heart, and even for new customers, he possessed an uncanny ability to intuit their desires.

Today, he was assembling her order with practiced efficiency. First, he scooped two generous helpings of steaming rice into large, wooden bowls. The rice, perfectly cooked and fluffy, formed a fragrant foundation for the rest of the meal.

Then came the star of the show: a blue-green meat of some kind. She still didn't recognize the ingredients, even now, but the aroma alone was enough to make her mouth water.

It smelled incredibly good, a complex blend of spices and umami that hinted at a depth of flavor she couldn't resist. She didn't question it. Some things were best left a mystery, especially when they were mystery meats that smelled this divine.

Finally, with a flourish, he added a side of fruit for balance. A colorful assortment of sliced mangoes, juicy strawberries, and sweet melon provided a refreshing counterpoint to the savory richness of the main course, ensuring a well-rounded and satisfying meal.

He always believed in the importance of a balanced diet, even when indulging in the more adventurous dishes. Well, maybe not. More like balanced diets for his customers. By his very round outline, he clearly didn't adhere to that personally. Still, his meals tasted good, were healthy, and were filling, so who was she to judge?

He slid the tray toward her. "That'll be—"

Lyra interrupted him with a smile. "Yeah, yeah, I know, Bun." She had already transferred the zeni. "Thanks. And keep the change."

She carried her food to a communal eating area and dug in without hesitation. Within minutes, the entire meal was gone. She wiped her mouth with the back of her glove, leaned back, and let out a content sigh.

'Alright, now I'm ready.'

With a final stretch, she stood and made her way to the Parallel Quest Terminal.

There were hundreds of Parallel quests, separated into multiple difficulty ratings, from one to seven stars. Only one quest was available—"Being a Time Patroller," a 1-star tutorial. That name alone made it obvious this wasn't a real mission, just a formality. But hey, she had to start somewhere.

The terminal hummed as she activated the quest. A flash of light, and suddenly, she found herself standing in an unfamiliar landscape.

The icy winds bit at her exposed arms as Lyra landed in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Snow-capped mountains loomed in the distance, and jagged ice formations jutted from the ground like frozen teeth.

She shivered immediately. "Oh, great. My first Parallel Quest, and I get dumped into a freezer."

"Welcome to your first Parallel Quest!" Chronoa's cheerful voice rang in her earpiece. "And good news—you get to learn a valuable skill today!"

Elder Kai grumbled. "Valuable is a strong word…"

Lyra resisted the urge to sigh. 'Of course, they would be watching.'

She had nothing against the Supreme Kai of Time. In fact, she was quite fond of her, with her bubbly personality and her almost bratty demeanor. You'd think that such a personality would be ill suited for her tasks, but she obviously managed to pull it off, earning her Lyra's respect. It's just that, fondness and respect or not, having your boss constantly whining in your ear on a mission could get annoying real fast.

Though, the less she said about the old geezer, the better… That one seemed to tick all the boxes of the dirty old man stereotype. Old? Check. Likes to ramble? Check. Is a pervert? Double check. Really, it would be a great service to the multiverse if someone made him permanently retire. From natural causes, of course. Like falling up and down the stairs. Eight times. Onto a pile of knives. And then buried in a shallow grave. On an asteroid bound for a black hole.

Chronoa's voice suddenly interrupted her daydreaming. "The Elder Kai and I will be guiding you through the basics."

Elder Kai's gruff voice followed. "Basics she should already know. Honestly, I don't see why we need this tutorial at all—"

Chronoa huffed. "Oh, now you don't care about traditions? You're usually the first one grumbling when people skip them."

"That's different!" Elder Kai snapped. "This is just an excuse to waste time—"

Chronoa cut him off with a smug lilt. "Ohhh, so you're just looking for something to complain about. Got it."

Lyra sighed, already bracing for some kind of combat challenge. "Alright, what's the lesson?"

"Your scouter!" Chronoa said. "This place has some useful items hidden around. Time Patrollers need to be able to track things, so let's start with a scan."

Lyra blinked, waited a few seconds, then blinked again. "Wait, so my first challenge is a… glorified fetch quest?"

She would swear she was not pouting. "What, are we saving the universe from bad item placement now?"

Elder Kai snorted. "Finally, someone gets it."

Chronoa giggled. "Oh, don't be like that! Think of it as a relaxing treasure hunt."

Lyra crossed her arms. "Yeah, nothing says 'fun' like frostbite."

Still, she pressed a finger to her scouter, activating the scan. The HUD flickered to life, and a soft beeping signaled the detection of nearby objects.

Scanning…
Target Identified: Recovery Item (Small) – 100 Meters
Target Identified: Zeni Pouch – 175 Meters
Target Identified: ? – 250 Meters

Lyra tilted her head. 'Okay, fine, that's kinda neat.'

She jogged over and plucked a small capsule from the ice, holding it up. "Alright, found one."

"Not bad," Elder Kai muttered. "That'll restore some stamina in battle if you ever need it."

Next, she found the pouch of zeni half-buried in the snow. She perked up. "Wait, I can just find money lying around? Can I keep it?"

Chronoa laughed. "Yup! Treasure hunting can be profitable, huh?"

When they talked about rewards the previous day, Lyra had assumed the Supreme Kai meant something metaphorical—gaining experience, improving skills, becoming a stronger, more reliable Time Patroller. But this? This was tangible.

Lyra smirked, flipping the pouch in her hand before pocketing it. 'Maybe this isn't a total waste of time after all.'

Her scouter pinged one more time. The last object—marked with '?'—was further out, nestled in the snow near a glowing distortion of energy.

"Oh! Looks like your next phase is ready!" Chronoa said brightly.

Lyra walked toward the swirling rift in space, studying its crackling edges. "So… what exactly is this thing?"

"A portal!" Chronoa chirped.

Lyra deadpanned. "Wow, that tells me everything."

Elder Kai huffed. "These Parallel Quests only pull part of a timeline's events into a stable zone. The rest of the scenario is still out there, outside of what you can immediately reach. That portal? It's a link to another segment of the timeline we stabilized for this quest."

Lyra nodded along like she understood, but really, she was just focused on how cool the portal looked.

She powered up, floating toward it—but then stopped, grinning.

"Sooo… what happens if I miss and just fly past it?"

"You won't," Chronoa assured her.

Lyra's smirk widened. "But what if I do?"

"You won't."

"…Bet." She purposefully avoided the portal and boosted ahead, but she suddenly slammed headfirst into an invisible wall, much to the Supreme Kai of Time's amusement.

Elder Kai groaned. "Just go through the damn portal already!"

With a playful salute, Lyra launched herself back towards the portal.

The moment she landed, Lyra knew she wasn't in the glaciers anymore.

The sun was blindingly bright, and the heat was a complete reversal from the freezing cold she'd just left. The air smelled of salt and sea spray, and small islands dotted the endless ocean in every direction.

She took a moment to appreciate the warmth.

"Alright," she muttered, activating her scouter again. "What's next?"

The HUD flickered, marking multiple energy signatures ahead.

Scanning…
Target Identified: Enemy Signatures – Saibamen
Target Identified: Friendly Signature – Critical Condition

Lyra's brows rose. "Huh?"

A blue marker appeared on her display, highlighting a downed figure on the beach below.

She flew down, landing near the unconscious Krillin and blasting the nearby Saibamen away in the process. His ki flickered weakly, his body half-buried in the sand.

"Welp, that's not good." Lyra crouched beside him, pressing two fingers to his back, feeling for his ki. It was there, but flickering. Weak.

"Ah! Looks like it's time to try a different skill!" Chronoa said. "Time Patrollers can share their energy with allies to get them back on their feet!"

Lyra tilted her head. "Wait, that's a thing?"

Elder Kai huffed. "Of course it is! Did no one teach you this?"

"I dunno, maybe it got lost between 'don't break important people' and 'don't mess with time' at the Academy," Lyra quipped.

"Ugh. Just focus and channel some ki into him," Elder Kai grumbled. "It's not hard."

Lyra frowned, placing her hands over Krillin's back. "Alright, so I just…?"

She concentrated, willing her energy to flow into him. Nothing happened.

She squinted harder. Still nothing.

"Uh." She blasted an approaching Saibaman, then tapped Krillin's shoulder, as if that might jumpstart the process. "Is there, like, a button I'm supposed to press or…?"

"Ugh, you're overthinking it! Just push more ki into him already!" Elder Kai snapped.

Lyra grumbled but tried again—this time, actively forcing some of her energy out of her body and into Krillin.

A faint, sickly green glow surrounded him. His fingers twitched. Then, with a sharp inhale, his eyes snapped open.

"…Ugh, what…?" Krillin groaned, slowly sitting up. "Did I just…?"

Lyra grinned. "I did it!"

Then Krillin wobbled.

Lyra's smile faltered.

Krillin braced himself on his knees, grimacing. "Ugh. I don't feel… too… good."

Then, maybe he thought the ground was starving, because he proceeded to donate his already half-digested lunch directly from his stomach.

'Ew! Gross, gross, gross!'

Her scouter pinged again, recalculating his vitals.

Status: Partial Recovery
Energy Stabilized, Physical Stamina Compromised

Lyra blinked. "Huh. I thought he'd be back to normal."

Chronoa's voice crackled in. "Hmm. That is weird. Usually, shared energy is enough to get someone back into the fight…"

Krillin groaned. "Whatever you did, thanks, it helped a little. But I don't think I can fight like this."

Lyra stood, rolling her shoulders. "That's fine. I'll handle them myself."

The remaining Saibamen shrieked, recognizing the renewed threat. They lunged forward—only to be met with a devastating ki blast that wiped out their front line instantly.

The fight lasted maybe two minutes. The Saibamen were fast, but weak. A few well-placed ki blasts took out the first wave. The second group tried rushing her all at once—bad move. She flipped over them, charging energy in her palms before unleashing a purple energy beam point-blank.

The area exploded in purple light.

When the smoke cleared, nothing remained but scorched ground.

Krillin whistled weakly from the sidelines. "Uh… remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Alright," she said, dusting herself off. "What's next?"

"Since you handled that so easily," Chronoa said, "let's move on to something more challenging!"

Lyra expected more enemies, but instead, her scouter pinged with new energy signatures approaching.

Two figures landed a few meters away—Tien and Yamcha. Tien studied Lyra for a moment before nodding. "You handled those Saibamen well. But let's see how you do against real fighters."

Yamcha smirked. "Yeah, don't expect us to go easy on ya."

Lyra tilted her head, anticipation evident in her eyes. "So, is challenging your world's savior a local custom, or am I just special?"

Tien smirked slightly. "Let's just say we want to know whether you're strong or if Krillin skipped training again."

Krillin let out a weak "Hey!" in protest at the jab.

Yamcha chuckled. "Besides, you looked like you were getting bored."

Lyra grinned. "Fair enough."

Tien moved first, dashing forward with precise strikes. Lyra blocked, feeling out his rhythm before slipping past his defenses and landing a sharp kick to his ribs. He staggered but recovered quickly, countering with a burst of ki.

Yamcha flanked from the side, trying to catch her off guard. She twisted mid-air, deflecting his attack and returning fire. He yelped as he barely dodged the blast.

"Whoa! She's fast!"

Lyra smirked. "You've seen nothing yet."

After a few minutes of exchanging blows—or a one-sided beatdown, depending on who you asked—the Earthlings lay on the ground, panting heavily.

Lyra rolled her shoulders, feeling the residual heat of the battle settle in her limbs. That was fun. They had put up a good fight, all things considered.

As she glanced down at them—Tien on one knee, Yamcha cradling his arm—a strange feeling settled in her chest.

It wasn't pride, nor was it satisfaction.

It was colder.

Detached.

Like she had stood in this position before—not in a sparring match, but on a battlefield.

'They're lucky I'm not an enemy.' The thought came unbidden, creeping in from a place she didn't recognize. 'The weak don't get second chances.'

Something about it made her frown.

There was a weight behind those words, like the distant echo of something half-remembered. A shadow of a thought, just out of reach.

Then Chronoa's voice chimed in again, snapping her back.

"Alright, that's enough for now! Well done, Lyra."

She blinked, shaking off the odd feeling, and forced a smirk. "That was easy."

But as she turned away from Tien and Yamcha, she flexed her fingers absently.

For a moment, just a split second, they felt coated in something thick and warm. A deep red.

But as she glanced down, she saw only her black, fingerless gloves.

Her scouter beeped with a mission completion notice. Lyra glanced at the screen—and her eyes widened slightly.

Mission Complete!
Rewards Earned:
- Energy Capsule (S) 1
- 500 Zeni

'Yay! More rewards!'

This was a whole new level of motivation.

She turned off the notification after recomposing herself. "Guess the Time Patrol really wants us to keep training."

Then she frowned slightly. 'Wait… with all these rewards, why don't all patrollers use Parallel Quests to train?'

The answer clicked a moment later. 'They must limit access.' It made sense. If anyone could enter Parallel Quests whenever they wanted, they could just keep farming rewards without doing real missions. The Time Patrol probably didn't have infinite resources to hand out.

'Even the great, awesome me wasn't authorized before today, after all. Not that I ever checked before.'

She smirked, dismissing the thought. 'Guess that means I'm in the important ranks now.'

With that, the quest faded, and she was pulled back into Conton City.

That had been ridiculously easy.

Still, she had to admit—with these kinds of rewards, maybe they were worth looking into.

With a final stretch, she headed off.

Lyra had planned to head straight home, but instead, she found herself perched atop one of Conton City's tallest skyscrapers, sprawled out on the warm domed roof with her hands behind her head.

The sky stretched endlessly above her, soft clouds drifting lazily against the deep blue.

She let out a slow breath, her tail flicking against the rooftop.

It felt good to relax like this.

Her mind wandered, drifting over the past few days. Training. Mundane assignments. Her first real mission. The Conton City tour. Sarion's hologram.

And now, her first Parallel Quest.

She smirked. If every mission was that easy, she'd reach the top in no time.

The Time Patrol had been everything she hoped for—good fights, purpose, the chance to reach her idol's level and go even further. She was advancing, becoming stronger with every assignment.

She could see herself rising through the ranks, becoming one of the elites. Maybe even the strongest patroller one day.

A cool breeze swept over her, and she closed her eyes, basking in it.

Then her stomach let out a loud, impatient growl.

Lyra cracked one eye open and groaned. "Oh, come on. Not again!"

Her peaceful moment, completely ruined by her own Saiyan biology.

'Guess that's my cue.'

She sat up, stretching her arms over her head before launching off the rooftop, heading straight for Majin Bun's stall.

Her feet carried her back toward Majin Bun's food stall on autopilot. The plump Majin chef waved as she approached.

"Back so soon?" He chuckled, already pulling out another bowl of food. "Must've been a light workout."

Lyra grinned. "Gotta keep the energy up. Can't have my muscles starving, you know?"

Majin Bun handed over a smaller portion than her morning feast—a plate of skewered grilled meat, still sizzling, with a thick, red sauce that she found very alluring. "On the house," he said, winking. "For my best customer."

She took a bite, savoring the burst of flavor. "If you keep feeding me like this, I'll never leave."

Bun chuckled, but there was truth in her words. Conton City was her home. The sights, the people, the routine…

It was comfortable.

Would she ever want to leave?

Before she could think too hard about it, her scouter beeped. A new mission notification flashed across her screen.

New Assignment: Saiyan Saga - Distortion Detected.

Lyra swallowed her last bite, licking the dripping red sauce off her fingers. "Looks like it's time for the real deal."