*Whip*
The sharp sound of a whip charging through the air was heard. Adria already had his hands in a cross above his face. But after waiting for some time, he did not feel the impact his muscles had become so taut to receive.
He peeped through his hands and was surprised to see the fist glowing in a bright red hue just above his crossed hands.
However, Snowbottle could not move his hand. Not because he did not want to, but rather, because he couldn't.
His wrist was held in place by a whip made entirely of hair. The eyes of the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight traced the source of the whip to a woman that stood far above at the short flight of stairs.
The wind blew slightly, and even though it was nighttime, the street lights around could not help but speak volumes of the deep red of her long hair dancing in the wind.
She had a pair of rectangular-shaped glasses on her nose bridge. She was apparently young and was dressed like a businesswoman with long fitted skirt and a pair of moderately high heels. And even though she was not all that apparent in particular places, everything about her displayed the charm and charisma of a mature woman.
At the moment, her long hair was what was stopping Snowbottle's fist in place. The moment snowbottle and Adria turned to see who it was, both of them visibly swallowed hard. "Shit!"Adria cursed.
"It is over! we are dead." Snowbottle added.
As if in agreement, both men immediately had their hands around each other's shoulders with obviously fake smiles on their faces.
Snowbottle even waved to her with his hand still bound by her hair.
"Hey! Sasha. How are you doing this fine night. Didn't see you there. I Was busy having fun with Adria my pal. You know, I haven't seen him in a long time and all. Haha!" he gave a fake laugh that slowly died down awkwardly.
Sasha did not say anything but both of her blue-colored eyes that formed a nice contrast with her hair remained on him and as they did, he could feel drops of cold sweat sliding down his back.
Just as the mood was getting tense and Snowbottle was on the verge of kneeling on the ground to beg for forgiveness, a nice voice broke the cold look on her face.
"Sister!" Emilia waved in greeting as she ran over.
"Oh! Babyface. Come here! big sister has missed you so much." Sasha spread her arms to hug her.
Sasha's hair around Snowbottle's wrist eased into a release and he and Adria sighed a breath of relief.
"Sister! No! you can't still be calling me Babyface. I told you many times already, that I'm no longer a child. Also, wasn't I here only yesterday." She complained as Sasha pinched her cheeks till they turned red.
"You can't say that now. You know big sister misses you every second even though you still come visit, unlike some ungrateful idiots." As she spoke, the corner of her eyes caught sight of Adria and Snowbottle trying to sneak away.
"And where do you think you are going?"
The both of them instantly froze in their steps.
"How many times have I warned you about fighting in public!?"
"Fighting?! How could you say that?" Adria kept a straight justifiable look on his face.
"Snowbottle was just about to give me a high five before you came along. Am I right!?" Adria turned to Snowbottle with a look in his eyes that screamed for confirmation.
It was a windy night but Snowbottle could feel sweat gather around his forehead. "Yes!... of ... Of cause. Like I said earlier on. You know I just came back in town. I had truly, dearly missed him."
"Really!?" She asked. Looking around, she could clearly see that a small crowd of people had formed and in a corner, some of the staff were already placing bets. The moment they saw her eyes on them, they immediately dispersed like locusts on a farm.
She brought her gaze back to both of them. It was like she was trying to peep into their souls.
At the moment, Adria and Snowbottle felt like they were under the mid-day sun in a dry desert.
After a few seconds, she looked away from them. "Adria!"
"Yes, Ma'am! erm... I mean Sasha."
"Come with me. Mummy wants to see you now. And Snowbottle, welcome home."
"Yes, Ma'am!" They both replied simultaneously.
As she walked into the big building, Adria immediately ran up to follow her. But not before giving Snowbottle a look that said "We will finish this later."
Snowbottle also gave a smug look. Just then, both of them felt the aura of death above their heads. Their faces instantly adopted smiles.
Sasha adjusted her glasses as she removed her eyes from them once more.
Snowbottle immediately grabbed his apprentice by the wrist and pulled him as he fled for his life.
Adria caught up to Sasha and Emilia and walked behind the sister pair. His eyes could not help but make an obvious comparison with their waists. Emilia instantly felt something was wrong and looked at Adria with a frown. Unfortunately, she missed the flustered look on her sister's face.
Adria lifted his hands in surrender and gave a smile like he was innocent.
The doors that led into the Avalon building were wide and unlike most expected military facilities. There were no guards at the entrance. After all, it was less than necessary.
The place was crawling with Darklings and military personnel going about their businesses. It was obvious that any intruder in a place like this, would definitely not be left unscathed. However, as they entered, an automatic scan confirmed their identities.
This was the ground floor. It was large and spacious and the lighting was just great. There were little flower pots in different places that added an extra layer of natural beauty to the place.
High up above their heads were two large Ladder boards that had the current rankings of Darklings. These Ladder boards had the top hundred and the bottom hundred of all Darklings both within and outside the country.
Adria took a quick glance at the rankings on the first board. First place on the Ladder board for the top hundred was Sasha. Emilia ranked amongst the top twenty. However, as much as he searched, he just could not find his name.
And then Emilia helped him by shifting his jaw to the other Ladder board. And there it was in red at the bottom of the board.
*cough* "At least, I am still on the board!"
Emilia had to bite down really hard on her lower lip for the grace of the heavens not to give him a beating right here and now.
Meanwhile, Snowbottle had fled to a safe place. Hiding behind a building, he kept on nervously checking to see if Sasha had decided to come for him.
He sighed in relief.
"Teacher!"
Snowbottle nearly jumped out of his boots before he remembered that it was the voice of his colt.
*cough* "Yes!"
"I have a question. I hope you don't mind me asking."
"Go on!" Snowbottle put up the demeanor of a teacher.
"How many of you survived your baptism?"
"Hmm!" Snowbottle thought for a second. "Well as you know, my batch was the very first. I think we were about a thousand that had the baptism. But only a little over two hundred survived. If I remember correctly, Two hundred and three."
"Seriously?" Cupfill could not believe what he was hearing. That was a very far distance from the full number. And there he was thinking his batch had it bad.
Snowbottle sighed, "It's been ten years since then. We are barely over fifty now." Snowbottle shook his head as his thoughts drifted to the memories of his comrades he had lost.
Cupfill could see that the question he asked had damped his teachers mood and sought to make amends. "Teacher! can I ask another question?"
"Of cause lad. Shoot away." Snowbottle encouraged.
"Who was that lady with the red hair? You looked all flustered when you saw her. Do you have a crush on her?"
Snowbottle looked at the innocent look on his colt's face and could not help but swallow hard at his words.
Deep down in his heart. He knew that even if Sasha was the last woman on earth, he was probably safer being impotent...