Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 59: Five Against One

A few minutes prior...

Thalia walked down the staircase in a slothful manner, taking her time with each individual step.

She had a splitting headache that had plagued her since the moment she woke up, and now all she wanted to do was jump into bed and sleep for twelve hours, maybe then the headache would cease.

But she had other arrangements for today...

As she approached the door that led to the backyard, there was a little buzz in her pocket. Thalia dug out the phone from her joggers and stared at the contact.

’Is Natasha already here?’

The name she saw made her frown slightly.

—Commander

"Hello."

"Good morning Thalia. Update me on the situation."

"Straight to business huh? It went fine, he’s currently with us."

"Good good. Let’s not beat around the bush then, is he one of them?"

Thalia took a moment to organize her thoughts before speaking.

"I can’t tell... his spiritual energy... like mine, it is definitely different but it might be something else."

"You confirmed that he is showing a lot of the signs, did you not? The only reason a vice commander was sent as our representative instead of someone of a lower rank was because I trust your judgement in these things."

There was a short pause followed by the sound of flipping pages.

"Keep him on close observation, if he makes a move against the cadets, eliminate him on the spot. Letting a monster like that roam free can cause unprecedented damage."

"Ouch" Kiera leaned on the doorpost, a faint smile appearing on her face. "You’re hurting my feelings commander. If he is a monster, then what does that make me?"

The line went dead.

Thalia stared at the phone for a few more seconds, her crimson eyes displaying an unreadable emotion before she tucked the phone into her pocket and stepped outside.

Present time...

Thalia took a step back just as a sword whistled past her face, nearly taking her nose. Her phone almost flew out of her pocket from the sudden movement so she placed her left hand in her pocket, keeping it in place.

Boom!

Thalia’s eyes widened slightly as she lifted her sword once more to defend herself from another of Ark’s vicious attacks.

’He’s strong. For someone who is just starting out, his strength is impressive.’

But it was not enough.

She batted the sword to the side and moved past him with enchanting speed, meeting Elise with a forward slash.

Thalia had not asked the girl to join and yet she was acting on her own.

’She wants to be a newbie so much.’

Elise was moving with practiced grace, compared to the rest of them she at least had a little amount of experience.

The wooden rapier in her hand was dancing in the air, each strike aimed at her neck and above.

She thrusted in a dedicated swing, only to miss wildly. Thalia knocked the sword out of her hand and planted her knee in the girl’s gut, causing her to gasp as she staggered backward.

Whoosh!

Thalia’s hair was sent in a frenzy as she hurriedly jumped backward, just as an arrow whistled through the air, right past her head...

Some distance away from her, Emma was already notching the next arrow.

Multiple other arrows were let loose, but Thalia evaded each and every single one of them using the slightest motion.

She then stared at the girl who was a safe distance away.

No matter how many times she saw Emma, Thalia would always be amazed. Among all the examinees, one person had caught her eye the most, and that was this girl.

How was it possible that in a test that people struggled to pass, while some failed, a blind girl made it, and early at that...

From what she had told Thalia she could tell directions and shapes using sound waves, a feature of her curse, but it made it no less impressive.

A blind Archer... The First one she had ever seen.

Thalia smiled, just as another arrow whistled past her.

She held onto her sword tightly and was about to charge towards her when a figure cut right to her, from the left, catching Thalia by surprise.

The girl swung, her sword moments from hitting Thalia’s side when she pulled out her left hand from her pocket, switching the blade from her right to left instantaneously to defend herself.

Thump!

The wooden swords ricocheted against each other, and the girl swiftly moved to the side, searching for another opening.

"Kiera..."

The girl was so quiet that sometimes it was hard to remember when she was around.

She had been watching the fight for some time and had finally chosen this time to strike.

Luke was not far behind, wielding a long wooden polearm, he twirled the weapon in the air as he came dangerously close to Thalia.

Thalia charged straight at him, dodging an array of blows and stepping right next to him, her sword flashed, moments away from slamming against his chest when he managed to block just time.

Behind her, Ark and Kiera were already launching another strike at her exposed back but just as they neared her, she disappeared—

Only to appear behind Luke in a breeze. She shoved him forward, using his body as a human shield which momentarily shocked both Ark and Kiera, destroying their earlier coordination.

Luke was not going to go down that easy though, he turned around just as he was falling and in a last desperate attempt, swung wildly.

"Not bad, but not precise enough."

Thalia bent backward just as the staff came charging at her face and then using her forearm knocked the staff to the side.

Apart from testing the general strength of the newbies, Thalia was also planning to correct one viral error among curse bearers.

And that was the notion that Mages needed to focus solely on being mages, that notion would only get them killed in the near future.

Luke staggered but before she could take advantage of it, Kiera stabbed forward with her sword.

Their two swords made contact, both Thalia and Kiera locked in a futile test of strength. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Ark was about to join the battle so decided to lessen her burden.

Twisting her sword slightly, Kiera’s blade slid past hers while Thalia struck forward. Misinterpreting her attack, Kiera brought her sword back, switching to a defensive stance, but Thalia was already gone.

Charging right at Luke...