The Ice Countess Sheila.
In the blue wolf mercenary group, there were twelve excellent individuals, each one of them leading a party. As mercenaries, this composition allowed them to take on greater missions than what they could handle individually, thus increasing their influence in the world and most importantly, their revenue.
Ice Countess Sheila was a battle-hungry ice elemental mage who had killed hundreds of soldiers, including some knights. She had fought in territorial battles, earned favour, and grew. Her first battle happened when she was twelve, and fifteen years later, she had reached her current position as an elite beginner rank acolyte, a party leader and she aimed at becoming an intermediate rank acolyte in the near future. With her grade 3 talent, she was among the most talented in the Magical Court.
Days ago, she was assigned a mission to kill one of the Crimson Clan's party, as well as an arcane faction golem master. She knew that it was going to be a tough mission, but she shuddered when Jason, their scout, reported their successful subjugation of a steel scorpion. Even with her skills, and her party to support her, she was only confident in running away from such a gigantic beast. As for killing it, it would take much more than that.
Just like blue wolf mercenary group specialized in killing humans and fighting in wars, the Crimson Clan was very good at finding resources, which was part of their growing influence in the Magical Court. Among the small-sized faction, its growth was unprecedented, and showed no sign of stopping.
"Their luck ran out when they fell in the linesight of Darius", she thought, remembering the greedy eyes of her leader in the Blue Wolf Mercenary Group council
Using her spell Icicle, one of the most potent spells in her arsenal, she managed to swiftly eliminate the second sturdiest member of their team, or so she thought. The green-haired girl looked possessed weird eyes, but she did not look very dangerous from her point of view, and Jack wore an impressive outfit, befitting the highest-rank imperial knights. She naturally thought of him as one of their core members.
As for the arcane faction golem master, she knew those acolytes to be useless in battle, always making experiments in fields unrelated to combat. Their golems being their main fighting power and being easily distanced by regular humans, they posed little to no threats to acolytes.
As for the boy, she thought nothing about him.
*SPLASH*
She had successfully killed one of them.
Smiling, she gave the order to charge.
Immediately, her three subordinates charged...
But she soon realized, with her magical artefact [Dark Monocle], which allowed her to see in the dark and allowed her to accurately hit her target, the corpse of her subordinate Jason, their scout and most experienced member.
"What...", she thought, fearful
Although she was the ice countess, a reputed party leader and incredible acolyte, her success had only been made possible thanks to one of her subordinate and mentor, Jason Gloat, a man with sixty years of experience in the Magical Court, his only defect being his lower grade 1 magical talent, preventing him from growing his spirit to match his experience.
Still, the man knew two spells, and mastered them.
To think he would die.
Sheila immediately wanted to retreat, her instincts screaming at her. The steel scorpion corpse was evidence of their strength, but she thought they would be injured and easy to kill. It was a golden opportunity to land a harsh blow to the crimson clan.
However, now that one of her subordinates was dead...She could not tell anymore. Perhaps they were the ones in danger. It was already too late, unfortunately, to retreat.