"GRRRRRRRRRR!" the mountain troll roared before smashing the club on the ground to squash her. However, the girl threw the blade aiming at the troll's chest. The blade impaled the mountain troll. The chain attached to the blade grew shorter and shorter as she used the blade as a pulley to reach the mountain troll.
BOOM!
At this time, the mountain troll smashed the ground, creating a deep crater. The troll lifted off the tree to see there was no blood and felt the girl running on its shoulder.
"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" the mountain troll roared violently, slapping itself to catch the girl. She was fast. In frustration and anger, the troll raised its club once again. This time, however, the girl fired the two blades in her hand aiming at the tree in the troll's hand.
She jumped off from the troll's shoulder holding the two blades tight. She yanked the chains attached to her blades to bring down the tree on the troll's head. When she landed on the ground, the troll lost control of the tree in its hand.
"GGGGGRRRRRR!!!!!"
Bam!
With a final yank, the girl brought the tree hard on the troll's head. Wilkas realized the tree was heavier than it looked when it split opened the troll's head like an egg.
The girl did not even turn back to see the troll's body as it hit the ground with a loud booming sound. The blades reached her hand. She put the blades into the sheathes hanging on her back.
Michael had been fascinated by the girl. She was so badass. The battle with the troll ended before it even began. Only a battle-hardened warrior would be able to pull off what the girl just did. Moreover, she did not use any arch energy or spells, it was her raw strength.
After Noah, this girl seemed to be a tougher opponent. He had a feeling that if they battled, he might lose the battle.
"Mithak!" Gilrine cried out loud running towards the fallen troll,
The girl did not remain there but left the area. Several professors were running towards the mountain troll while the prefects came rushing out to escort the students to their dorms.
"Who is that?" asked Wilkas in shock,
Michael stared at the girl disappearing into the castle,
"I have a feeling we will meet soon," he said to himself before turning back to leave for their rooms.
Gilrine in the distance knelt beside the mountain troll with tears gushing out of his eyes. His sobbing sound was loud enough for everyone to hear.
**********************************
Back in the castle, a hunched old woman walking with the support of staff was walking from one end to another in a spacious room. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of weird little noises. Several gold instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old old men and women, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also a throne made of ice.
The old woman's pace came to a halt when she saw the door creak open,
"Holy Maiden" the old woman's back already looked like it was bowing down due to her hunched back still when she saw the girl, she bowed further down.
"Bai Ning" the girl nodded before making her way to the throne,
The air around the throne was chilly enough to freeze someone's bones still the girl sat comfortably on the throne without showing any signs of pain.
She seemed extremely comfortable and dominant,
"I told you you can address me as Rowena in private"
The girl who stunned Michael was none other than Noah's elder sister. He had no idea that she was his big sister. The position of Holy Maiden was only given to a cultivator with extremely rare yang energy in their body. The position was held by no one for the last three thousand years until Rowena. Her successor the previous Holy Maiden was said to have reached the Celestial stage and parted the world to the realm of Angels.
"That was an incredibly dangerous Holy Maiden" Bai Ning stomped the ground with her staff. In her voice, one could notice the anger but also care.
"I'm alive and the troll isn't," Rowena said with an expressionless face,
"Kayla should put a leash on her professors" the woman hunched her way towards the table, flicked her wrist to take out the teapot set, and began to brew tea for the Holy Maiden. The tea she brewed was radiating smoke. However, the tea was not hot, it was freezing to the bone.
If anyone else drank it instead of her, the weak would die in a matter of seconds while the strong might live only when they warm their body to an extreme temperature.
"Have you located the primordial flames?" asked Rowena taking sips of her bone-chilling tea,
"The spell has narrowed the search area but we still need some time"
"What about the demon?"
Bai Ning waved her hands as a large bowl full of glistening blue liquid appeared on the table. The old woman poured a red liquid into the bowl and stared at the red liquid fuse with the blue liquid
"Somehow the demon has been escaping my location spells"
"Then the devil is not alone. The sooner we find it the better" said Rowena,
"The world is not ready to accept the existence of higher realms. If they knew they had a demon walking among them, it would cause a massive panic wave. Demons, imposters, wars, famine, hunger, the great clans are supposed to fix these. They are becoming incompetent by the day"
Bai Ning was a straightforward person. She had never held back her thoughts. Hence, she called the Great Clans incompetent in front of Rowena whose brother is in one of the Great Clans, the Guardian Guild.
"And the other task" the air in the room became chillier. Bai Ning stopped looking at the bowl and turned her gaze towards Rowena,
"The Guardians should handle it Holy Maiden. The Skyhall shouldn't meddle with-"
Bai Ning was interrupted by the sudden coldness she felt in her body. Rowena crushed the teacup in her hand before standing up from her throne,
"Someone targeted my family, I made it clear you find them and bring them to me"
The old woman stepped backward in fear Although she had higher cultivation, Bai Ning was afraid of the Holy Maiden. They couldn't measure Rowena's power using just cultivation stages. She was a being in the making to become a goddess and Bai Ning did not want the wrath of a goddess to fall upon her.
Rowena's eyes flicked in blue like a pair of sapphires,
"My family is more important than Skyhall. You have three days to find the assassins"
Bai Ning could barely breathe. She just nodded her head in fear and waited for Rowena to leave the room.
"The elders need to know this" after Rowena left the room, Bai Ning mumbled under her breath.
**********************************
Meanwhile, Gaya and Gilrine were standing in a cozy room. The room had a large fireplace, windows overlooking the training grounds and the battle arena, and a sparse stone-floored bedroom behind a concealed door.
Headmistress Kayla was staring at both of them. Her eyes were like daggers cutting through Gaya and Gilrine,
" A mountain troll? What were you thinking, Gilrine?" Gilrine was shivering. He was swallowing a mouth full of saliva in nervousness.
"And you professor Steinmeyer" Kayla turned her focus onto Gaya,
"You should have been more careful"
"How the hell would I know this crazy brat was raising a bloody mountain troll in the black forest?"
"Mithak" Gilrine mumbled under his breath. His eyes were still teary due to the loss of his beloved mountain troll,
Kayla sighed,
"Explain yourself, Gilrine. Why were you keeping a mountain troll in the black forest?"
Gilrine looked awkward as he looked between Kayla and Gaya,
"Professor Steinmeyer" Seeing Gilrine hesitating to explain himself in front of Gaya, headmistress Kayla realized that he must be keeping the mountain troll for a reason. Hence, Kayla first wanted to deal with Gaya and sent her away,
"I am not going to tell you how to conduct your classes but please be more vigilant, lives could have been lost today"
"I'll be more careful, Professor Kayla" Gaya nodded as she did not want to argue with Kayla when she was a frickin imposter.
Gaya turned back showing her back to Kayla,
"Is that a peanut stuck in your beard?" asked Gaya. Before Gilrine could put his hands into his beard, Gaya helped him,
"Jeesh"
Gilrine awkwardly tried to smile after she helped remove the peanut. Little did he know that Gaya was not removing any peanuts but putting a Spyder into his bushy beard. It was indeed risky but she took the risk to know why Gilrine was keeping a mountain troll in the black forest. Since a lousy-mouth man like Gilrine was keeping it a secret, she knew whatever the reason he was keeping a mountain troll, it must be something very important.
"Oh Professor Steinmeyer" Gaya felt a chill running through her spine. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest cavity when she heard Kayla calling just after she placed a Spyder into Gilrine's beard to spy on them,
"Yes Professor Kayla" she turned back again controlling any signs of nervousness from showing up on her face,
"You are on detention duty today. If anyone received detention, take them to the black forest and make them harvest black foot mushrooms. Just do me a favor, don't let the students go past the red oaks "
"Human, get yourself a detention" after leaving Headmistress Kayla's room, she contacted Michael through the earpiece,
******************************
In the girl's dormitory of warrior house, Victoria was practicing her sword skills by slashing and dashing a dummy while Edith was laying on the bed complaining,
"You know we could have died. Most of us who are taking the combat class arent warriors. We want to learn about defending ourselves, not how to get yourself killed" Edith was pretty shaken up by the mountain troll. They were one of the few students who saw the mountain troll too close and barely escaped,
"We have to complain about professor Steinmeyer to someone"
"You're just overreacting" Victoria calmly said,
"She was right. You can't learn combat by reading books. If we can't survive a mountain troll, we don't deserve to be here. Think about it, the next time when you're being chased by a mountain troll, you would not be as scared as now"
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Their conversation was interrupted by someone who was knocking on the door outside,
"Who is there?" asked Edith with an irritated voice,
"Trouble" Victoria muttered.