Chapter 52

**Merianna**

I stared blankly at the scene in front of me. To say all of us on the opposite side of the room already knew the outcome of this duel was an understatement. On the other hand, everyone else on Kayle’s side were flabbergasted. Well … flabbergasted, stunned, shellshocked, scared stiff and terrified were all very accurate descriptions of what was written on all their faces. Some of them even looked like they were on the verge of fainting.

“Are all the witches in this room youngins?” I asked Ferina curiously.

Ferina was staring at the spectacle equally blankly, barely even giving the fight her full attention as she answered. “Hmmm, pretty much. Some of them are a little older and do remember the Order days, but they’ve never been in or around the Order and its members. Most only heard the stories and read the reports that flitted through the Council.”

“Makes sense I guess.” Thyrion yawned. “The world is big after all, and acceptance into the training regimen of the Order was very rigorous. Many barely even made it through the first phase of testing before being accepted.”

I groaned as I remembered. “Not like all the tests after finishing training were any easier.” Oh the good old days when Raska and Noch had all the trainees run through the living nightmare of a maze with all of Raska’s pets as a final trial.

A blast of energy sent my hair flying backwards as Thyrion chuckled. Looking at the spectacle in front of us, I wondered when Noch would put an end to poor Kayle’s suffering.

In the beginning Noch had played around with Kayle to see what he had to offer. Letting him finish his incantations and getting some body shots in. Things quickly took a turn when Noch started getting bored though, and realised that Kayle had already thrown the best spells he had at him.

From then on it’s been a brutal cycle of physical combat, repeated healing mixed in, and small high impact magical bursts that made Kayle fly through the air only for Noch to forcefully pull him back again with magic.

“I guess we can be thankful that Noch doesn’t have any weapons on him.” I muttered.

Thyrion and Ferina hummed in agreement while Jernok rubbed his temples in exasperation.

“Merianna, can I ask for you to please stop Noch already?” Jernok almost pleaded. “I’m sure you all have better things to get to. Did you all manage to find what you were looking for in the basement?”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot about that.”

Looking at Noch pummeling and re-healing Kayle every time he hit him with a new attack was starting to get boring. “Noch!” I yelled.

“What is it Demon Spawn?” He asked without missing a beat as he started hitting Kayle with a series of punches.

“We need to get back to Fog, report back to everyone and see what they were able to find out too! And I’m tired, I want food and to go to bed!” And I wasn't lying. I really was tired. My body wasn’t all too used to my magic yet, even the little I had used against Kayle’s student made my body feel like it was recovering from a previous day’s exercise.

“Guess you do have a point.” Noch suddenly stopped his onslaught and caught a wobbling Kayle by the shoulders, only to unceremoniously let go and have him crumple to the floor like a used rag. Funnily enough he had absolutely no viable signs of having had the crap beat out of him.

Jernok heaved a sigh. “I’ll show you all to the Gate we have. It’ll be easier to reach The Order that way.”

“Lead the way, we’re all ready to leave this place.” Thyrion yawned as we all started following Jernok to the exit.

I noticed something funny as we started walking past all the onlookers though. Noch was at the back end of the group but for some reason it seemed like everyone was looking at me with more trepidation than him. I didn’t even go overboard like he did during my match, so why did they all look at me like I was a living breathing monster?

“Why is everyone looking at me like that?” I asked Ferina.

“Hmmm well, even though you went missing and everyone thought you had died, your exploits on the battlefields before the ambush on The Order happened, didn’t stop being told.” She shrugged.

“So,” Thyrion mused, “you essentially became the boogeyman of the witch world.”

“Huh?! Seriously?!”

“If I recall correctly, everyone called you the Bloody Reaper behind your back.” Noch chuckled and ruffled my hair from behind.

Urgh, I didn’t like it, but I knew where they got the inspiration for that nickname from. It wasn’t my fault that the scythe’s blade was so big that my enemies' blood just happened to splatter all over the place when I hit them. The fact that their blood mostly ended up on me during the fights probably also didn’t help much.

I mulled over the new information as Jernok led us through the Council’s halls and into the room they had their own gateway set up. Frowning at the construction, I noticed that it looked suspiciously similar to the one we had in the Atrium. “Did Fog create this gate for you guys?”

Ferina cringed. “Not exactly. Fog did have a hand in its creation but when we begged he merely sold the blueprint and mechanism to us.”

Jernok snorted. “At a price of crazy proportions that is.”

“More than an arm and a leg?” Thyrion teased.

“Substantially more.” Jernok groaned.

“And that’s why I still respect the old coot.” Noch chuckled gleefully.

I’d bet he respected Fog for much more than just the ability to rake large amounts of money out of the people that got on the wrong side of The Order, but even I had to admit that it made me a bit happy inside to know that Fog pulled that off.

“Now then. Shall we get out of here?” Noch asked as he stepped up to the gate and placed his hand on the archway of the gate to activate the magic and set our destination. 

“Yes please. I’d like to get all the information shared then collapse onto my bed.” I pleaded.

“Hmmm, a bed really does sound nice right about now.” Thyrion hummed happily as he snaked his arm around my waist. It took a second or two for my tired brain to click onto what he was hinting at, and the previous comments before we started digging into the archives rang through my head again. The fact that he knew I was still a virgin in this lifetime made me blush so hard that it felt like my face might combust.

I covered my face with my one hand while I reflexively elbowed him with the other. “Oemf!” He wheezed, doubling over and clutching the ribs I had just jabbed into without checking my strength.

“Whoops sorry, sorry!” I quickly apologized.

“Oh how I missed you.” Thyrion wheezed. “I’ll have to practice my dodging skills again.”

“I swear I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry!” I felt so bad, who knew that my reflexive habit of hitting first and asking later would also be revived along with my memories.

“I know my love, and that’s why I need to brush up on my skills again.” He straightened up and pulled me into a hug while kissing my cheek. “It would take a whole lot more than your impulsive habit to chase me away.”

“If you lovebirds are done with your courtship ritual, it’d be nice to get a move on.” Noch rolled his eyes at us as he held the portal open.

I spluttered and started stomping over to Noch. “Fine, fine, let's go!”