Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance-Novel

"We will now move onto Group 2. Will the winner of Group 2, Nisha and Maria come up to the stage?!"

Nisha and Maria then got up from their seats and went towards the stage. The audience didn't really notice Maria before, but now that they got a good look at her they realized how beautiful Maria really is. She was like a beautiful golden light that descended from the heavens. It was easy to guess that Maria had a light elemental affinity.

"Heavens! Look how beautiful she is! How did she get so pretty?!"

"I wish I was that pretty! Maybe I'd be able to land a man if I looked like her!"

"Both beautiful and strong! How envious!"

Most of the women in the audience looked at Maria with admiration and envy, while the men were drooling over how beautiful she is. Maria didn't pay any mind to the audience and just looked at Nisha.

"I'm sorry, Nisha. I'm going to have to win or else I only foresee hell in my future days. I don't even want to think about what Mira will do if I lose to you, she might actually kill me only to bring me back to life and repeat. No hard feelings okay? Let's be friends afterward!" Maria forced out a smile when she said this because she didn't really want to fight with Nisha. They were part of a group for a week and Maria liked Nisha. Nisha just nodded.

"I understand. I'd also like to be friends with you after this as well, but I do have a question. Why would Mira care whether you won or lost? Losing here isn't necessarily bad." Nisha asked curiously, but Maria just shook her head.

"She's the one that has been training me since before I reached the Qi Condensation Realm. We spar and train for hours every day, sometimes the whole day. She also forces me to fight stronger and stronger magical beasts to get used to fighting in life or death battles. Sometimes she will even spar with me, but every time she tried to hit me it was with the intent to kill. She spends so much time training me and doesn't want it to be a waste of her time. She could spend that time making herself stronger, but she chooses to spend it with me to make me stronger so we can reach the peak together." Maria explained which surprised not only Nisha but everyone else who heard her as well. Nisha just nodded and readied her dual daggers. Maria took out her sword and waited for the Judge to start the battle.

"Fight!"

Maria dashed towards Nisha as fast as she could so she could attack her before she is able to coat herself in darkness. Honestly, it didn't matter to Maria if she was covered in her dark element or not as she could still see her perfectly fine. But this is also a great chance to attack her.

Maria got it right because Nisha wasn't expecting her to charge nor did she expect Maria to be so fast. She reached Nisha before she could finish preparing and started to attack with her sword.

Nisha defended the attacks, but every hit from Maria was like a boulder came crashing down onto her. She tried to sneak in another attack from the side using her free arm, but it was like Maria could sense where the attack was coming from as soon as she moved and always blocked, parried, or dodged it.

Nisha didn't think Maria would be this strong and skilled at fighting. After fighting for a couple of minutes, Nisha could actually tell that Maria didn't seem to be professionally taught. Her movements were too rigid and she didn't do anything that normal sword users who were taught to use a sword do. It was just Maria had fought so many battles that her sword skills increased along with her battle sense. If she was professionally taught on top of this then she will definitely turn into someone terrifying.

After fighting for around 3 minutes, Nisha knew that she was about to lose any second now as Maria was just wearing her down and pushing her back. It also seemed that Maria was holding back quite a bit. And she was right, a few seconds later she couldn't keep up with Maria's movements and felt a blade pressed against her neck. Nisha put her hands up to signal that she lost.

"Winner, Maria!"

Maria removed her sword and bowed towards Nisha. Nisha also did the same.

"You're definitely good at fighting. I wouldn't have even been able to last a second with you even with my strength if Mira hadn't trained me. You should be proud of yourself! Also, now that this is over we can be friends!" Maria said with a large smile on her face. This smile seemed to enrapture everyone around her as the arena went silent for a few seconds before a loud cheer and applause from the audience shook the arena a bit.

"Sure. I will be in your care." Nisha said and this only made Maria smile brighter. They both left the stage and the announcer came out to announce the final fight.

"Mira and Maria are truly worthy of being called the strongest out of this year's new disciples! We will now be moving onto the final battle between the two of them! So get ready for a fight between the 2 strongest in this year's Battle Maiden Sect Tournament! We will make sure both parties are ready to fight then move onto the final match!"

One of the Elders went over to talk with Mira and Maria a bit before the fight as well as ask them if they are ready.

"Are you two ready? It doesn't seem you used much energy in the last fight you two had." The Elder asked both of them and Mira just nodded her head, but Maria seemed hesitant.

"Can I just surrender? I know I'm going to lose before the match even starts. I've sparred against Mira countless times and have never once come close to winning. She doesn't even need to use her weapon to beat me, plus she already knows all of my moves." Maria begged but the Elder just shook her head.

"I'd appreciate it if you fought a little bit up there. Just try to make it a little interesting for the people watching. We will be satisfied if you guys spar for around 10 minutes or so." The Elder explained, but this caused Maria to pale. She has to be in an arena and fight with her for 10 minutes? Look what happened to Audra within 10 Seconds!

"Interesting huh? I don't really know how to make something interesting, but I guess if you wanted this battle to last a bit longer then I can handicap myself a bit. How about I'll only use my legs for the first 5 minutes and if Maria even touches me then I'll surrender? That should make it interesting." Mira thought out loud, but this stunned both the Elder and Maria. Now Maria felt her soul starting to leave her body. Whenever Mira does something crazy like this, it only means pain and suffering for her. Because Mira fights with more ferocity when she's handicapped like this.

"We're ready. Let's get on with this." Mira said to both of them as they just nodded and went towards the stage. The announcer on stage then started introducing Mira and Maria.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! It seems that Mira and Maria are both ready for the final fight! I've also been told that they both spar together quite frequently and to make the fight a bit more entertaining, Mira told us that she will fight while only using her legs and if Maria even hits her one time then she will surrender! So be sure to watch closely as it should be an interesting match! Are both of you ready?" The announcer said as both Mira and Maria nodded their heads, but Maria just wanted to get this over with. She took out her sword and got ready while Mira just put her hands behind her back.

"Fight!"

Neither of them moved. Maria did not want to just charge at Mira because if she does that then it's pretty much just an instant loss. Mira knew this as well and wanted to test her a bit, but it seems that Maria learned this much from their sparring.

Mira decided she would be the first one to make a move since Maria clearly isn't going to move. She quickly dashed at Maria, but Maria wasn't going to just stand there and get kicked. So she immediately sidestepped preemptively to position herself better and waited for an opening to swing. If she is only using her legs then the best time to swing is when she is about to go for a kick since she can't send both feet in the air at the same time.

Mira got into range and made a move like she was about to roundhouse kick Maria in the upper thigh. Maria decided now would be a good time to swing, but immediately regretted that decision. Mira only faked the kick and dodged out of the trajectory of the swing and went for an axe kick towards her chin(An Axe Kick is a type of kick that uses a straight leg to kick upwards, attacking the chin or head with your heel.) Maria nearly stumbled away to dodge that kick as she was mid-swing, but she managed to dodge it and quickly regained her balance. Mira didn't let up and using the momentum from her leg coming down, she spun around and did a back kick. This time she was able to make contact and hit Maria's chest.

*Cough**Cough*

Maria coughed a couple of times, but she didn't let go of her sword and just restabilized herself. Mira started to circle around to Maria as she also did the same so she could remain face to face with Mira.

Maria then decided to take the initiative and try to attack Mira. This is what Mira wanted. The blade of a sword is generally around 60-80 centimetres in the cultivation world. Mira's legs are around 75-80 centimetres long. Maria's arm length is around 45 centimetres. All Mira has to do is move slightly towards Maria to get a kick in and a powerful kick usually uses some forward momentum. So all Mira has to do is step forward then kick to land an easy kick.

Maria charged towards Mira in hopes to get a good hit in, but she quickly stopped since she felt something was wrong. She noticed that there was danger within 1 meter of Mira. She wanted to get a good strike in though so she decided to try and bait Mira like how she baited her. She raised her sword like she was going for a downward slash and did a quick dash towards Mira. She was just faking this slash as she was actually going to switch hands and do a backward slash. So when she dashed, she was prepared to pull off this move, but Mira just swiftly kicked her shin once then her liver and repositioned herself. Maria gritted her teeth in pain.

"Come on Mira! You know getting kicked in the shin hurts! I might not be able to walk for a few hours after this fight if you keep kicking me there!" Maria tried to complain, but it didn't phase Mira.

"I've told you countless times, that martial artists need to train and strengthen their shins. Just think of this as a tempering session. Until I stop training you in unarmed combat, I will keep kicking your shin. You should also do the same." Mira said as she kicked the same spot on Maria's shin again. This is why Maria hated whenever Mira only used her legs. She'd have to direct all of her attention to dodging or defending her legs or else Mira will just destroy them. Maria just groaned and continued on with the fight.

The fight went on for another 6 or 7 minutes like this. Every time Maria went in for a strike, Mira would either kick her shin or dodge. If Mira ever got within 20 centimetres of Maria, she would axe kick her in the chin, and if they ever got into an extended battle Mira would kick her shin, liver, and finish it with a reverse roundhouse kick in quick succession before Maria could do anything. If Maria was a bit better at fighting against this type of opponent then she would use 1 arm to block the incoming kicks and swing her sword at the same time while Mira is in the middle of a kick, but Maria always took a long time to learn these types of things and Mira hasn't taught Maria this is as well. So she just started to get her ass beat because she couldn't even stay at the proper distance to cleanly attack Mira.

Mira was starting to get bored of this and didn't really want all of these people to see her using all of her moves so she decided to end this now. Maria was having a hard time standing on one of her legs since Mira kept kicking the same spot on her shin over and over again. Mira would obviously use this against her. Mira slowly circled over to Maria's weak leg and started to set up her finishing move. She kept baiting Maria in as she wanted her to get closer and after around 20 seconds, Maria took the bait. She stepped up and Mira went for a kick to Maria's side, Maria tried to block this while still holding onto her sword, but at the last second Mira switched targets and aimed for Maria's head. She kicked her temple and followed up that kick with a knee to the chin. This knocked Maria out cold and she fell to the ground as she went unconscious.

"Winner, Mira!!"

The crowd was silent for a few seconds as that was one of the most stunning battles they have ever seen. There were tons of close calls as Mira almost got hit by Maria, but she never would. It was like Mira knew Maria's moves before she even knew them herself. It took them a couple of seconds to real in their minds from the shock of such an impressive battle!

*ROAR**WOO*

The crowd went wild! They couldn't contain themselves! This is by far the most impressive fight they have ever witnessed. It might not be the most spectacular, but as far as skill goes there is nothing that even comes close to the level of skill that was shown today. The announcer let the crowd roar and cheer for a while before talking.

"This ends this year's Battle Maiden Sect New Disciple Tournament! We thank you all for coming and watching this year's new Disciples in action! Please start to exit the arena as we have nothing more here to show! We will hand out the rewards to the winners when during their introduction into the sect! Be sure to come back in 3 more years! Thank You!" The announcer said as people started to get up and trickle out of the arena. Mira walked over to Maria and just slapped her in the face to wake up. This caused Maria to shoot up, but soon felt a wave of pain in her head and leg. Mira then started to walk away before she noticed a little girl that couldn't be older than 7 or 8 come running towards her. She had royal blue hair and looked extremely skinny. She was wearing basically rags as clothes as well. She ran up to Mira and immediately bowed at a 90-degree angle.

"Miss, my name is Dominique! Please teach me to be strong like you!"