"We are here for thirty-four," the youngster who was adorned in gray robes of house warriors said to Edith,
"Why?" asked Edith,
The blonde-haired youngster smiled but behind his smile, there was a slight irritation. Obviously, he did not know Edith's identity. If he had known she was the little sister of Lailah Alden, he would have talked to her in a different tone.
"Brother twenty-nine asked for her"
Victoria put her wooden sword into the sheathe hanging on the side of her waist,
"Who is twenty nine and why is he asking for her?" Edith was annoyed by the group. They acted so smugly and she did not like their attitudes.
"If I am right, he must be a friend of the head prefect Elliot Watson" Victoria came to Edith's side tying her hair into a bun and putting on the warrior's long coat.
The young man nodded,
She had noticed a senior student following her since she joined the House of Warriors. She was quite annoyed by him and she decided to deal with them before they became trouble,
"You can stay here Edith. I'll go with them"
Edith immediately shook her head,
"If you are going, I'm coming with you"
Victoria sighed. Edith did not seem like she could be convinced otherwise. Food Edith, it was impossible to change Victoria's mind after she decided something. This time, she decided to go with these youngsters and Edith knew she could not be stopped. Since she wouldn't be able to change her mind, she decided to accompany Victoria.
"Lead the way, I have something special to give him" Victoria smiled,
The youngster's heart skipped a beat because of her alluring smile. The Cosmic energy running in her body was transforming her body as well as soul from inside. It had been turning her into an angelic beauty.
The arrays surrounding the castle prevented the students from using Arch energy. However, they were unable to do anything to the Cosmic energy in her body.
Hence, if she wanted, she could cast spells and the spells cast using the Cosmic energy would be devastatingly powerful.
"Wonderful" the young man grinned ear to ear before leading them to twenty-nine who was a lackey of head prefect Elliot Watson.
They strolled through the corridors and came to the grand staircase which was a massive stairway in Mazeroth Castle, the structure was mainly used to access each floor of the castle, including the dungeons. The concept of moving stairs was invented and built by the 6-star architect who built Mazeoth and Kargin Pavlovich, a 6-star blacksmith and one of the founders of Mazeroth.
The staircases led from platform to platform and went as high as the ninth floor, where they came to an end. The stairs also had a knack for moving around the staircase chamber, usually when a student was walking up one of them.
Like most walls in the castle, there were hundreds of portraits covering the walls surrounding the staircase, and it was considered an honor for the painted likeness of a cultivator to be mounted on the walls of the grand staircase. Some of these portraits concealed secret passages to other areas within the castle.
After climbing several steps, the youngster stood in front of a portrait of a laughing chubby old woman.
"Rishta"
"Password accepted," the lady smiled, waving her hand. Soon the portrait moved revealing a secret passage.
The passage was lit with torches rather than glowing orbs. Victoria silently followed the boys into the passage while Edith kept looking around nervously. She was not a warrior such as her sister or Victoria. In fact, she hated violence and killings but she was not naive to expect a world without both.
It took them exactly five minutes to reach the end of the passage. The passage opened up to a cozy room decorated with portraits, a fireplace, and exquisite vases containing ravishingly beautiful flowers. At the center of the room was a round table with two candles as well as various delicious foods.
"Welcome young miss"
A tall young man clad in golden robes walked out of the door on the other side with a bright smile on his face. The passage opening behind Victoria and Edith vanished into thin air. Edith was slightly panicked, unlike Victoria who remained as calm as the sea.
When he came closer to them, the five young men who led Victoria here stepped back. The young man bent his waist to give Victoria a royal bow,
"You look beautiful. I am-"
"Earl Decker" Victoria finished his sentence with a snicker. The young man was taken aback by surprise,
"The third son of the Decker family of Kingdom Marina of Awor" Victoria talked while gracefully walking around the room.
"Your family holds many mines including the second largest gold mine. Your family had been trying to expand your mining business to the Southern Continent"
Earl was having mixed feelings. On one hand, she looked so domineering and gorgeous, on the other hand, she looked kinda scary. He had no idea how the heck she figured out his identity as he had never revealed it to anyone except Elliot.
"For years, your family has been trying to leverage the senates using your identity as a student of Mazeroth. Fools, humph" Victoria snickered,
"The senates don't give a damn about Mazeroth. Hence, your family chose to go with the next big thing, marriage"
Earl frowned hearing the scorn in her tone. She just called her family fools in front of his lackeys,
"But your fiance disappeared the day before your marriage. Everyone believes she eloped with her mysterious lover but you know the truth, don't you Decker?"
"I don't know-"
"Don't bother" Yet again, Victoria interrupted his sentence.
She finished strolling around the hall and came before him,
" You were pretty high that night and when she told you no, you forced yourself on her and strangled her to death"
Decker's mind went blank. No one knew what happened that night yet somehow she knew exactly what happened. He started to have a bad feeling in his guts,
"Men like you are trash and I don't like being stalked by trash like you"
Plop!
Victoria slapped Decker, shocking everyone in the room. His face immediately turned red. Edith could see Victoria's palm prints on his face.
For a moment, the room fell silent. Then, Decker lost his gentleman composure as he gritted his teeth,
"bitch"
Plop!
She slapped him again. This time, her slap contained a sliver of Cosmic energy. He was thrown into the table with the food he prepared to impress Victoria.
The five young men behind them were in a stupor. They did not know what to do.
"Argh!"
Decker's world was spinning. His mind was in shambles due to the slap. He tried to pick himself up but he was unable to do so.
Victoria unsheathed the wooden practice sword. However, her target was not Decker but the five youngsters behind her. When she turned back with the sword in her hand, the five of them felt a chill,
"Miss"
"Pimps, humph" Victoria snickered, closing the gap between them. The five young men could not raise their hands to hit her. They had no idea about Decker's history like Victoria. They thought they were helping him confess his newborn love to Victoria. Simply, they were not as bad as Decker.
Pat!
Pat!
Pat!
However, Victoria gave no damn about their intention. She started to swing her sword, beating the crap out of the five youngsters.
"Hey" Edith tried to stop Victoria from beating them up. The youngster who led them here received more beatings than the rest of them. He had lost several teeth and was on the verge of losing consciousness,
"Watch out!"
Suddenly Edith noticed Decker rushing towards Victoria with a knife in his hand. Without even turning back, Victoria swung her sword back.
Plap!
The wooden sword hit Decker with enough force to make him stumble backward. The wooden sword almost cracked due to the force,
"Trash, did you think I'm as weak as your fiance?"
Victoria put her feet on Decker's neck,
She pressed his neck with her feet, squeezing the life out of him slowly.
"Stop!" Edith cried out loud.
She came running to Victoria and shook her shoulders,
"You're gonna kill him. We will report this to professor Steinmeyer, she will deal with them. If you killed him, we will be expelled" Edith pleaded with Victoria to knock some sense into her,
"I don't give a damn about this place. I am here for the" before finishing her sentence, Victoria stomped Decker's face, knocking him out cold.
"Primordial flame,"
Edith heard Victoria.
At this point, Victoria didn't know she just gave a reason for the Dark Lord to turn the Decker family against Thusia.
**********************************
The next day night, Gaya was waiting on the grass field near the black forest border with Gilrine by her side,
"I am gonna give him another detention for making me wait"
Gilrine scratched the back of his neck hearing her threaten the student.
"There they are"
Gaya couldn't help smiling seeing Michael. Her smile however immediately froze when she saw two girls behind him.
"Who the heck are you two? And what are you two doing here?"
Gaya asked the two girls. One girl seemed warm and friendly while the red-haired girl looked cold and proud. The two girls were none other than Victoria and Edith. Victoria's mask prevented Michael from recognizing her and she did not recognize him because of his beard and changed demeanor. Moreover, Victoria barely looked at him. For her, he was not even worth a look.
"We are here for the detention, Professor"
For a moment, Gaya looked at them blankly. She was planning to venture into the forest with Michael to find the secret that Gilrine's mountain troll was guarding.
"Who gave you detention girls?" asked Gilrine,
"Professor Lane," said Edith.
"Oh" Gilrine did not seem very surprised,
"Why?" asked Gaya in an annoyed tone of voice,
"He caught us outside our dorm after the curtain," Edith told Gaya.
After coming back from Decker's little secret room, Professor Lane, the head of House Alchemists caught the two girls and gave them detention for being late.
Edith was grateful that he only gave them detention and did not expel them. However, Decker wasn't so lucky. He was packing his bags as they were speaking.
"Gilrine, can't I give them something else to do instead of bringing them with us?"
"I don't think so, professor Steinmeyer"
"Professor, we won't give you any trouble," Edith said politely.
"We can protect ourselves professor" Victoria calmly said,
"We could use a warrior Professor in case we encountered a wild beast"
In the corner of her eyes, she could see Michael nod,
"Damn it, okay but you two must follow my orders no matter what without a question. Got it?"
"Yes Professor" Edith bobbed her head up and down while Victoria gave Gaya a small nod.
"Let's go"
Finally, in the middle of the night, the five of them ventured into the black forest with each having a plan of their own.