340 Sophia’s Indignation

"Retreat!"

Giselle's order thundered across the battlefield, disturbing the established tempo that had been set by the combatants.

Her words cut through the chaos of battle, landing with a force that only a commander's order could possess.

Sophia's eyes widened in disbelief, her brows furrowing in a mixture of frustration and humiliation. The realization that she had failed to overpower her opponent hit her like a physical blow. But loyalty and respect for Giselle compelled her to obey the order, much to her own growing chagrin.

With a clenched jaw and a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, Sophia relented. She cast a final glance at Will, her gaze filled with equal parts resentment and determination.

'I haven't even used my class skills or my best spells. Don't worry swordsman, I'm not done with you yet.'

And then, with a swift motion, she turned on her heels, retreating from the battlefield, her energy coursing with unresolved rage. Of course, she failed to consider the fact that Will also had not used his strongest skills as well. But that did not matter, because as far as she was concerned, no one under level 99 could live after making an enemy out of 4 Valkyrie Candidates.

Giselle's gaze lingered on Sophia's retreating figure, her expression pained yet resolute. She knew the importance of strategic retreat, the need to regroup and reassess. And so, despite the immense frustration that weighed heavily upon her, she followed in Sophia's footsteps, leaving Will to stand triumphant upon the frozen riverbank.

As silence once again enveloped the battlefield, Will took a moment to reflect on his victorious encounter. His gaze drifted towards the retreating figures of Giselle and Sophia, a mix of satisfaction and respect in his eyes. He had proven his strength, but he knew the battle was far from over.

Alison's figure materialized next to Giselle, "Palmer has almost finished his teleportation circle. According to my estimates, we only have ten minutes before Mercedes and her friends are here.

Alison's words caused the others to frown deeply. Mercedes Spectralia and Ulysses Rijkaard had reputations that boomed like lightning from the nine heavens. Ulysses Rijkaard was someone the girls wanted to avoid as much as possible.

"We haven't even located the corpse of the beast, so we haven't completed our mission yet." Said Sophia. Her gaze was laced with resentment as she eyed Will. It was clear that she was against leaving things as they were.

"Natasha and Gianluigi are no joke. The fact that neither of them has gotten serious but the four of us are in such a sorry state speaks volumes." Added Alison.

Giselle sighed, "Alison is right. We underestimated that swordsman. I've seen many True Strikes by swordsmen, but I haven't seen one capable of permanently clearing Fafnir's Poison."

The other maidens looked up at the light leaking through the slit above them. They had expected the gap to close itself after a while, but it remained open, causing the maidens to feel a sense of foreboding.

"There are many abilities that can permanently clear Fafnir's Poison, but few can be applied by a swordsman at level 99 along with a True Strike. There are even fewer that can be launched mid-battle with 2 open Doors in such a manner. I have battled many types of swordsmen, but I still can't identify what type of power he used."

Lisa was the most battle-crazed of the maidens and had the most experience fighting warriors. The fact that she had failed to identify the ability Will had used made Giselle uncomfortable.

"Opening Doors increases power and output, but it also weakens control. Truth needs you to be in a perfect state of mind. Your control of energy must also be at its peak. The fact that he can apply a unique power to a True Strike with 2 open Doors means he must have quite the Mental Power."

Giselle was the smartest, but no one understood martial cultivation better than Lisa, so her words were instantly taken as fact.

As the Mind, Soul and Body were the Three Vessels of cultivation, they could represent three categories. A Cultivator can choose to cultivate all three, but only prodigies dared to do such a thing. Most cultivators focused on their strongest vessel. Of the 3, Mental Cultivators were the fewest and had the strangest method. They were not necessarily the strongest as all vessels had their own unique methods, but they had a unique advantage. This advantage was summarized in a simple explanation passed on among cultivators.

'Every physical creature has a soul. Every soul has a mind. But in reverse, not every mind requires a soul and not every soul needs a body.' 

Body cultivators had few methods to harm soul creatures, while soul cultivators had few methods to harm mental beings. Mental cultivators on the other hand could harm every creature in existence as every being had a mind. Soul cultivators could harm every physical creature because every creature with a body had a soul.

Thus Mental Cultivators were greatly feared. Thankfully, they were few and far between and their methods were difficult to cultivate. Resources for improving the mind were few and far between while knowledge of the mind was the rarest.

"That Peerless Dao Master used an odd Mental Skill to dominate Gianluigi. According to Michael, it was some sort of mental skill that allowed him to manipulate Gianluigi's Killing Intent in some way. Forcing Gianluigi to focus only on Peerless, allowing the latter to dominate the former in the quarter-final. That means Peerless himself was a mental cultivator as well. So it would make sense that some of his subordinates would be the same."

After the defeat of Ulysses Rijkaard, the name Peerless Dao Master spread like wildfire. Cultivators from all corners of the cosmos were interested in learning about the Male Frozen Asgard Mage. Everyone knew that The Frozen Asgard Sect only accepted females and claimed autonomy over Frozen Asgard Arts. But Peerless Dao Master's mastery of the Frozen Asgard arts gave rise to many questions about the young cultivator's origin.

All they knew was that he came from a small weak planet and was its most talented cultivator. There was also a great possibility that he was a mortal favoured by Odin. Earth was under protection, thus few could trace Peerless Dao Master's connection to planet Earth. Thus the lack of origin made him even more of an enigma.

As the Winner of the tournament gained the right to lead the expedition exploring Fafnir's Grave, they would have the right to bring along their own troops. After observing Will, Giselle and the other Frozen Asgard Maidens were confident that he was a subordinate of Peerless Dao Master.

Will had managed to overwhelm Sophia's water spells with incredibly agile swordsmanship coupled with superb elemental control. Although the ladies still believed Sophia to be stronger, they accepted that Will had greater mastery over the water element. This coupled with Will's display of mental energy control made the Frozen Asgard Maidens furious.

Knowing that Will was the servant of a Male Frozen Asgard cultivator infuriated the maidens and stoked their desire to kill him. The hatred Frozen Asgard Maidens had for men, especially Male Practitioners of the art was deep in their bones.

The ladies were having this discussion via telepathy, capable of delivering multiple thoughts in a fraction of a second. Hence even though this took time to describe, this exchange had only taken place in a couple of seconds.

Natasha and the others did not attack. Instead, they also regrouped and had their own conversation. But they didn't need to have it via intent and instead spoke out loud. "Brother, how long until your friend is done?" Gianluigi used his chin to gesture at Lyra. Will smiled and replied, "You know, you have a good sense of timing."

Before Gianluigi and Natasha could process Will's words, Lyra's voice was heard by everyone present.

"Call of the Forest!"