Freya went into the forest just as the sun disappeared into the horizon, the red glow from the sun hidden at the end of the earth highlighted her path.
She made her way through the bushes and soon found what she was looking for.
It was a tall sturdy tree, Freya clambered up the tree but not before making sure to clear any sign that had footsteps had led here.
She settled where she felt was the best spot, just on a branch a few meters below the top of the tree.
She hung her bag on a branch above her head and scanned the area to make sure no one had seen her climb.
Surely, no sane person would be in the forest at this text of the night, she found a comfortable spot on the branch and rested her back on the trunk.
Soon enough, she was fast asleep with one eye open.
The sound of a few leaves rustling woke Freya, she immediately realized she was on a tree before making any sudden moves.
It was almost daybreak. The crack of dawn slightly helped to dimly illuminate the environment.
There was a man close to the tree scanning the environment.
She could at once tell he had come after her.
He was twice her size, muscles as large as a tank bulged underneath his short sleeve black tee.
She could also see the handle of a dagger in a sheath in his pants.
From what she could see from atop The tree, he was just a tad taller than her, but all that didn't matter.
"Please come closer" she pleaded in her mind.
She had already released the latch in her bag that held her knife and slipped it out quietly.
She was going to take him down in one strike, if she missed she knew how fatal it could be.
She begged him mentally to just come a little bit closer, she flicked her knife in her hands and crouched.
It was just as she had predicted. If they were to come after her, they would have to split.
'I guess Droos was not joking when he said skillful' she said to herself.
Because, looking at this guy from up here, he didn't seem like someone who was a push over.
Freya doubted if she could win someone as large as he in a one vs one combat.
He had stopped at the spot where she had stopped to climb the tree, though she had done her best to cover her tracks.
"One, two, three…" he stopped again
"Damn" Freya almost screamed in frustration. 'Just two more steps'
He looked like he was calculating his next step "four… five"
Freya dropped from the tree like an Apex predator on an unsuspecting prey.
It was a blur of red and brown, his skull made a sickening cracking sound as Freya plunged the knife deep into the center of his head.
The unlucky soldier didn't get the chance to look at his killer as his eyes rolled backwards and he dropped to his knees.
The life instantly seeped out of him and he fell face first into the dirt.
How many were left? Freya had no way of telling but at least, this was one down, she pulled out the knife and wiped it on his clothes.
She had to discard the body, she quickly ascended the tree to retrieve her bag.
While there, she scanned the area. The sun had already risen in the east.
She saw a dark shadow, spread across the forest floor a little distance across.
Freya climbed down the tree and dragged the heavy man across the area to inspect the dark shadow across the floor.
It was a large ditch, she rolled him inside and went back to the tree to cover her tracks and remove any evidence that something had happened there before proceeding with her journey.
***
"The appearance of demons in the area is becoming more frequent, Headmaster. What is the council doing?" Argus asked
"They claim to be looking into it. How prepared are the first years for their next mission?"
"They seem ready enough, they've been training non stop since the past few months and there is significant improvement"
"Since reports show they did quite well against the level five demons I guess level four shouldn't be much of a problem for them"
"But-"
"But" the Headmaster cut him short, "I'll send a few second years to supervise the mission. Tell them to get prepared, they'll leave in two days.
"Phew, that was hectic" Percy said as he draped a towel over his shoulder.
"Percy that was just a two hour training, and we've trained for longer. You know that right?" Lisa scowled at him
"Three days ago, almost five hours" Jake chipped in.
"Did we?" Percy asked, looking sincerely lost. It was like he was losing bits and pieces of his memory "Today seemed to take forever though.
The discussion continued as they strolled back to the hostel.
They had been training almost everyday for more than five months since their last mission except for Jake, who didn't relent in his decision to train every day.
Their steps were a whole lot different from when they first got here.
There was an aura of confidence in their every step now
It was only after they had gotten beat by the gargoyle did they feel the need to get stronger.
Argus had made sure to give them total attention in their quest to get stronger.
"Tony, your glasses are on the floor" Percy called as they entered the hostel.
Tony immediately stopped and looked down to retrieve his glasses, the boys roared in laughter.
Tony raised his head and put a hand to his face where his glasses sat, he scowled at Percy and walked on ignoring the laughing bunch.
Percy hurried off into the bathrooms as they got to the room, he wanted to get rid of his dirt and satisfy his never-ending hunger.