"Do you have any idea of who we are? Your company is doomed." Said one of the enraged platinum-badged students. His eyes were opened wide in shock, as he looked at the various gold-badged students crawling on the ground, crying over their broken limbs, or covering the injured parts with their hands.
Despite not being a chatty person, Jerigh was not stupid by any means. He was fully aware that each of these student's companies were more powerful than Daniel's, so, he had never planned to go all out and kill these students.
Unfortunately for them, Daniel had already made clear to him and the rest of his friends, that it was time for their company to enter the market.. And that they were not going to do it peacefully.
If the price for being noticed was to break a few bones, Daniel had made sure that his friends would not hold back, as he didn't want his company to appear like the soft underbelly of the beast. He wanted them to show character, and then, when the various other groups would start to fight back against the unruly rookie, they would shock them all.
It was now time to create the antidote for one of the most iconic poisons of the poisonous rose, and put the family who has created to shame. Therefore, the time to appear strong had finally came.
Naturally, there was a limit to what Daniel had allowed his friends to do. They could not create feuds that would ultimately lead with their impossibility of joining the poisonous rose, after all, that was their main objective.
After hearing the young man's words, Jerigh took a step towards him.
The platinum-badged student was not weak, as all students were close to being, or were past the fourth stage of cultivation. But being forcing to cultivate with high level crystals from a young age, and cultivating slowly while also increasing one's own battle prowess, were two different things.
When it came to fighting, these students could do nothing much than swing their fists to prove their worth, or if that didn't work, throw names around.
When matched against someone who couldn't care less about their backing powers, they felt like mices in front of a lion.
"What is going on here?" Said a young woman that had just entered the mess hall.
The moment Jerigh heard this girl's words, he turned to look at her, and what he saw, was a beautiful girl in warrior's attire.
Her dark grey short hair were swept back, with two locks that flowed down the sides of her sidebrows, and reached her jawline. Her naturally flushed lips gave a huge contrast to the much paler skin, on which various small scars could be seen. These scars weren't deep and unbearable to watch, instead, they were shallow, and could hardly be seen, showing that she had obtained them at a very young age. Her straight posture, along with her clenched fists and firm expression, were a clear indication of the girl's past military experiences.
Her rounded brows didn't flinch, as her hazel eyes scouted the surrounding mess with alertness. Her hands were always ready to grab the two daggers that she was carrying by her sides.
The attire that she was wearing was composed of a greyish leather armor, and a pair of crimson-red leather pants that tightly covered her legs, showing her athletic build. Her body shape did not differ much from Alesia's, with the only difference that the latter was slightly shorter.
When this girl spoke, everyone recognized her immediately, as despite the non-valuable bronze badge that she displayed on her chest, the platinum patch that was placed on her left shoulder reminded the platinum-badged students to treat her with respect.
"Cynna, this intruder entered the mess hall, and started to attack us. Help us to apprehend him, so that we can hand him over to the academy!" Said one of the platinum-badged students with newly found courage.
The girl called Cynna turned to look at the surroundings once again, and after noticing the two chopsticks in Jerigh's hands, she said "I understand that you held back.. And I am sure that there is more to the story than what he said.. But you can't go around injuring people in a place that you are not authorized to enter. You will have to come with me and answer to the chairman."
Alesia was about to interject, but before she could speak, Jerigh grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.
This was something that Alesia had never seen. Jerigh being cautious was a first for each and everyone who had known him for a long time.
That could only mean that he wasn't completely confident of being able to protect her against this girl, despite his immense talent.. This sheer thought forced a wave of alertness to flush through Alesia's body.
Noticing the lack of response from Jerigh, Cynna moved her hands on the leather band that was wrapped just above her waist, and over the hilts of the two daggers sheathed on it.
In response, Jerigh let go of the two chopsticks, and moved his hands on the two swords that he was carrying.
Cynna was nowhere less alerted by Jerigh's apparent martial prowess than he was about hers, causing the two of them to spend the next minute staring at each other, like a warrior hardened from battle, and a barely trained monster.. Ready to kill each other at a moment's notice.
That moment, was embodied by the sound of Cynna's daggers being unsheathed.
*shi-shing*
The sight of the girl's body became blurred in front of Jerigh's eyes, which could only look as she instantly dashed towards him, and tried to incapacitate his movements by piercing right above his knee. But alas, she was not the only battle-hardened warrior.
*swooosh* Jerigh's bent his right leg and lowered his entire body, causing the dagger to cut the empty air in between his knee and chest.
His left hand quickly grabbed Cynna's wrist, while his right hand unsheathed the sword, and tried to slash towards the girl's chest from up close.
*Shiiiiing* The blow was quickly blocked by the girl's second hand, which had moved it in front of her chest, and parried the slashing motion of Jerigh's sword.
The sheer power of the two fighters was equal, but Jerigh experience in dirty fighting was leaps and bounds above the girl's, which was used to fair and regular fights.
Despite the girl's fierce appearance, she was wearing a perfume which, due to the close proximity to her body, caused Jerigh's nose to curl, and his nostrils to burn. The fragrance was so powerful, that Jerigh could taste it on his tongue.
Cynna quickly noticed his distraction, and took the chance to lift her foot, and stomp heavily against the bridge of Jerigh's foot.
A powerful wave of pain made its way from Jerigh's foot all the way to the back of his neck, where his thin hair stood straight, but against the girl's expectations, Jerigh did not shout, or distracted himself further from the fight.
For everybody else an injury would be something debilitating, but for Jerigh.. It was something different. He grew up while fighting daily deathmatches against desperate slaves.. Where a moment of distraction would have meant an additional chance for a blade to pierce his body.
Instead of reeling back from the pain, Jerigh moved closer into Cynna's space with his foot still underneath hers, and charged against his own sword with his shoulder, causing it to push the girl's dagger against her own body armor, and for her to lose her balance.
Cynna lacked a proper footing due to the previous hit, and was now forced back by Jerigh's charge. Her right arm was waving aimlessly in the air, while her wrist was still tightly locked in Jerigh's grip.
She could feel his fingers strongly press around her smooth skin. Not unlikely a metallic morse from which she could not free herself.
Her reaction came quickly, but unfortunately, not quickly enough.
Instead of allowing her to react, Jerigh took action once again by stepping forward, and letting go of the sword he was holding in his left hand.
He then hit the girl's left shoulder with his left elbow, and with a twist of his hip and a pull of his right hand, he lifted her body from the ground, and threw her on the floor the very next moment.
The girl fell on her back heavily, causing a hint of pain to travel through her body, and to cause anger and unwillingness to grow in her mind.
She past experiences in fighting were suggesting to her that Jerigh would let her up to continue their fight, but Jerigh was no gentleman..
Before the girl called Cynna could even think of getting back up on her feet, Jerigh, which had fallen right next to her, rolled over her body.
He was now above her, with his knees pressed against the floor directly to the side of the girl's waist.
She quickly tried to punch or stab herself out of that situation, but Jerigh was in an advantaged position, which allowed him to rapidly grab her wrists, and fold her arms in front of her chest.. immobilizing her on the ground.
While all of this happened, the various injured students had taken the chance to ingest their healing pills, and had gone back to a fully healed state. Only the mental scars remained of their previous humiliation.
Unfortunately, they were no commoners. A humiliation was not something that they were willing to take easily.
Without even needing to make a plan, each cultivator previously injured by Jerigh dashed towards him in an attempt to hit him while he was busy holding down Cynna, but before they could approach the two of them..
"STOP!" Shouted Cynna from the ground, causing the various crazed students to regain their reason, and stop. "DO YOU DARE MAKE ME PART OF AN UNFAIR FIGHT?! Anyone that interferes will have to deal with me next!"
Serf and Alesia, which were getting ready to join the fight at any moment, immediately noticed how the various cultivators stopped their actions after the girl's threat. It was clear to them, that she was not bluffing, and the other students were aware of that.
"He was only defending me.. We came to get our friend but they were bothering him, and after I've arrived, they tried to bother me as well. That's what happened. He shouldn't be punished for it." Said Alesia hastily to Cynna. People could hear the deep frustration in her voice.
Despite whether what Alesia had just said was true or not, Cynna could do nothing. She was still lying powerlessly under Jerigh's body, which even though she seemed to have given up on fighting him, was still holding her as if they were in the middle of the battle, without releasing the grip even a tiny bit.
It was her turn now to feel exasperated. She was known to be a prodigious fighter, and no one of her age in the academy would dare to claim to be superior than her. But Jerigh had not only forced her to reconsider her power, but also forced her in an embarrassing situation.
"Is he going to keep me here for much longer?!" She barked out in anger while trying to fruitlessly free her own arms. "Get him off me!"
"I can't order him to do anything.." muttered Alesia in a low voice before turning to look at Jerigh's serious expression.
Serf, which had met Jerigh more than once in the past few weeks, finally said "Jerigh, didn't Daniel send you here to get me?.. Is the matter urgent?"
Like a shower of cold water, Serf's words woke Jerigh up from his focused state. He then noticed the lack of battling intent in Cynna's eyes, and quickly let go of her arms before getting up, and limping towards Serf.
"Let's go." he said in a low voice.
