Chapter 2

Correcting herself midair, Ordria landed on her feet a few meters in front of her house, a look of indifference on her face as she stared at Tryggr who was now standing in front of Grid, his right hand holding his broken left arm which he had used to block Ordria's attack, a look of shock on his face as he stared at her. Making her way to him and Grid, Guðrun squatted on the floor as she checked Grid's body for injuries, a look of worry on her face. Finding none, she sighed in relief and went to check on Tryggr who was currently moving his formerly broken arm in different motions, the fading green glow around it telling her that he had used magic to fix it.

"Nice job saving Grid" Guðrun praised him before her voice became sterner "But you didn't have to hold back against her, I gave the order to kill" she quickly chastised as Grid got up from the ground, her body shivering slightly from her near-death experience at the hands of Ordria.

"Understood Guðrun" Tryggr answered as he walked towards Ordria who had torn off the rest of her dress to reveal a fur and animal hide crop top which stopped above her navel, Grid's staff gripped firmly in her hands as her cold, dull blue eyes stared at the trio from the Temple who had come after her.

Glancing back to her son who had been diligently watching the fight with his spare dagger clenched tightly in his right hand, his pitch-black worry filled eyes watching the movements of Guðrun and her associates in an attempt to spot an opening just like his mother and father had taught him, she grinned at him before returning her gaze back to her opponents, specifically Tryggr who had moved towards her until only a distance of five meters was between them.

"I, Tryggr of The Temple hereby challenge Ordria to unarmed combat" he declared in a loud and clear voice, causing the bound villagers to look at him with surprise and indignation on their faces while Guðrun had a tired and annoyed look on her face which conveyed that this wasn't the first time that Tryggr had done something like this.

"Tryggr we've been over this several times" Guðrun said with an exasperated tone and a look on her face that said this wasn't the first time that he had done something like this, "You know what'll happen if she wins" she warned, her eyes focused Ordria remembering how her face was used as a springboard moments ago. "One of these days, you'll come across an opponent you won't be able to defeat in single combat and Grid and I won't be able to help you out" Guðrun stated while sheathing her weapons before taking several steps back along with Grid.

"Don't worry Guðrun, that day will never come" Tryggr chuckled before taking off his cloak, revealing his bare upper body which was riddled with scars and tattoos. Feeling the bite of the cold on his body, he took a deep breath to clear his mind before undoing the magical restraints that bound the villagers, knowing fully well that they would do nothing to interfere with their fight.

"I accept the challenge" Ordria responded with a bloodthirsty light in her eyes as she threw Grid's staff aside before unsheathing her dagger and throwing it at Ozymandias who deftly caught it by its hilt with his left hand and placed it on the floor next to him "And when I win, not only will you leave me and mine alone, but you and your companions will neither reveal my location or my skillset"

"Agreed, but we both know that you'll never win" Tryggr retorted, chalking up the beating he had received earlier as him simply being caught off guard by Ordria. The onlookers withdrew and spread out until they formed a semicircle around the two, giving them a twenty-meter gap in order to avoid any unnecessary casualties. "Earlier you took one of my punches and walked away unscathed" he said while taking slow and steady steps towards Ordria, a grin slowly growing on his face as he imagined beating his opponent into submission, breaking her body and most importantly; her fighting spirit.

His legs explode with power, instantly projecting him across the five-meter gap between them as he lowered his upper body and stretched out his hands towards her as he planned to tackle her to the ground. "She's frozen in fear" he sneered mentally as he wrapped his arms around her waist, his body slamming into hers with full force. However, instead of sending her to the ground like intended, he only managed to push her back a few feet before Ordria shocked everyone by wrapping her arms around Tryggr's upper body and in a shocking display of strength lifted him over her head, breaking the hold he had on her waist.

The onlookers watched with equal parts of awe, shock and fear as Ordria effortlessly slammed Tryggr into the floor, knocking the air out of him and stunning him. Walking over to his stunned body, Ordria straddled his chest and began to deliver a series of punches to his face, each one causing his body to twitch and sink deeper into the floor, each blow rattling his brain and stunning him. After a minute or so of pulverizing his face, Tryggr manages to collect himself and launch a fist at Ordria's chest, launching her off his body and several feet into the air.

Getting up from the floor, Tryggr used his forearm to wipe the blood off his eyes before spitting out a mouthful of blood along with several teeth on the floor. Enraged and humiliated by the beating he had received, he turned his gaze to where he had sent Ordria flying, only for his bloodshot eyes to widen as her boots slammed into his face with enough force to lift him off his feet and send him flying towards Ordria's cottage. Staring into the bleak snowy sky with a dazed look on his face a few meters away from Ordria's cottage where he landed, Tryggr came to a single but very important realization "If I don't take this seriously, I will end up losing".

Just as he came to this realization, he saw a fur boot descending on his face and with speed that didn't suit his frame rolled his body to the left, narrowly avoiding having his head caved in by Ordria. He continued rolling in order to avoid the woman hellbent on giving him a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

Rolling into a tree after narrowly avoiding another head caving stomp from Ordria, Tryggr found himself with nowhere to maneuver while Ordria's foot descended on his face. Crossing his hands above his face, he caught the descending foot, grunting as the force behind the foot caused the bones in his hands to rattle, but the descending appendage was stopped several inches away from his face.

Tightening his grip on her foot, Tryggr threw Ordria across the clearing and into the onlooking crowd who quickly got out of the way and let the thrown woman sail past them and into a tree. "I can't afford to let this go on" Tryggr thought to himself as he shakily got up, taking rapid deep breaths as his mind ran through the possible ways he could use to defeat his opponent.

His thinking was interrupted by his instincts screaming at him to get out of the way which he immediately did by rolling out of the way, only to hear a loud boom emitted from the space he previously occupied. Looking back, his eyes widened as the space he was in was now occupied by Ordria's fist which now had steam rising from it as the falling snow was evaporated by the heat generated by her fist. "Tch" Ordria hissed in annoyance as she lowered her fist "Looks liked I missed" she muttered under her breath quietly, but the entire crowd that had been stunned into silence by her punch heard her.

"What in Odin's name was that?!!" he half asked, half yelled at Ordria and those present, his eyes widening in shock and fear. In all his years, he had never faced someone who punched like that. His instincts warned him that if he got hit by one of those punches in his current condition, it might just prove fatal. Tightening his fist and gritting his teeth to quell the fear that was slowly creeping through his body, he threw a punch with his right hand at Ordria who was blankly staring at her fist with all his might, a cone of displaced air forming around his fist.

Just as his fist was about to connect to her face, Ordria grabbed the incoming appendage with her right hand while still staring at her left hand which was still clenched in a fist. "Its been so long since I used this move" she muttered, tightening her grip on Tryggr's fist, filling the air with the sound of his bones breaking. Unable to break free of her iron grip which was grinding his bones to dust, he tried to retaliate with his other fist, only for his foot to be kicked out from under him before his fist could reach her, sending the giant of a man down to one knee.

Stretching out the arm that was gripped in her right hand with a distant look in her eyes as she reminisced about her fighting days, she raised her left hand and stared at it intently. "Ah yes" she remarked "It went something like this" she brought her fist down on his elbow. A few inches away from his elbow, her fist accelerated to the point where another sonic boom was heard and her fist was instantly covered with a purplish substance just before it collided with Tryggr's elbow. Under normal circumstances her fist would have broken a few bones, but these weren't normal circumstances.

Her fist cleaved through Tryggr's elbow, severing his forearm from his upper arm, the heat from the purplish substance around her fist not only cauterizing his wound, but also flooding his body with a surge of cold as the heat from her fist turned the flesh and bone she struck to ash.

"Agghhh" Tryggr's scream rang across the area, carving fear into the hearts of the watching villagers as Ordria tossed his severed arm at Guðrun's foot, boredom on her face as she stared at his trembling, kneeling form. "What's wrong boy?" she asked, a hint of mockery in her voice as she formed a fist with her right hand, extinguishing the remainder of the purplish substance that had coated her fist, "You were sounding really confident about your chances of winning few seconds ago" she continued mocking as she toughed his right shoulder softly with her fist before pulling it back. "Where did all that spirit go!" she brought the fist down on his shoulder, accelerating her fist just before it impacted with his shoulder, breaking the sound barrier and covering her fist with the same purplish substance as before. Slamming her fist into his shoulder, she effortlessly severed it from the rest of his body, the heat cauterizing the wound and nearly sending Tryggr into shock as the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, causing several of the onlookers to empty the contents of their stomach on the floor.

"M.m.magic!" a voice yelled out from the crowd, breaking the onlookers out of their reverie. "She's using magic in unarmed combat" another voice yelled, causing murmurs to rise from the crowd which then grew into roars of outrage "She's desecrating the sanctity of unarmed combat" another voice cried out, causing the villagers to look at Guðrun and Grid, their eyes conveying the unspoken message that they should interfere with the duel.

"Stop the fight!" Guðrun yelled, causing Ordria to send an annoyed glance at her direction before planting her right foot firmly in Tryggr's face, sending him tumbling backwards a few feet before she turned around to face Guðrun who despite her trembling hands, had both of her weapons drawn.

"Why did you interrupt my fun?" Ordria asked while plunging her left hand in the snow-covered ground, the heat from the purplish substance instantly evaporating the snow and releasing steam into the air. Nervously swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Guðrun did her best to conceal the fear which was creeping all over her body before speaking.

"We have reason to suspect that you're making use of magic, thus violating the laws of unarmed combat. What do you have to say in your defense?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ordria retorted, pulling out her right hand from the ground which was now devoid of snow and any form of moisture. Brushing the dirt off her hand, she glanced at the burn marks which now littered her hand "Looks like I've really let myself go" she thought to herself before shrugging and turning her attention back to Guðrun who seemed to be saying something. "Sorry, did you say something?" she asked as she made and unmade a fist with her left hand, "I wasn't paying attention."

Gritting her teeth in indignation at the lack of respect being shown to her by Ordria, Guðrun sheathed her serrated curved weapon and pointed the two-pronged short sword in her right hand at Ordria, sparks of blue and crimson lightning dancing across the blades while the marble in the center of the sword began to dance around erratically while violently changing its shape. "I said explain yourself!!!" she yelled as she fired a bolt of crimson lightning from her weapon at the ground a few feet from Ordria who had a bored look on her face. "What was that purple thing around your hand and how did you do it?!" she screamed, her former composure and admiration for Ordria vanishing under rage, fear and concern for Tryggr.

"Oh, that?" Ordria responded nonchalantly as she walked over to Tryggr who was lying on his stomach and clutching his severed arm with his other hand, his body shivering not only because of the cold, but also due to the shock he was going through from having his arm severed due to heat.

Placing her foot under his stomach, she flipped him over on his back and then placed her foot on his left knee. "Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there was a little girl who dreamt of being the strongest in the world" she started, a faraway look in her eyes as she told the story. "She trained day and night for years in order to accomplish her dream, even going as far as leaving her hometown to grow as a warrior"

"What does that have to do with anything!!" Guðrun erupted with anger, firing a bolt of crimson lightning from the sword in her hand at Ordria. Despite it being created from a weapon, the crimson bolt of lightning moved as fast as one created by natural means, covering the twenty-meter gap between them in an instant. "So what if this breaks the laws of single combat?" Guðrun thought to herself "She can't be allowed to win, no matter what"

The bolt of crimson lightning met its mark and filled the area with a red light that caused those watching to look away due to its intensity as the area shook and copious amounts of dust ad snow were kicked into the air. "Mom!" Ozymandias cried out from the porch of the house, tightly gripping his mother's dagger in his hand as tears ran down his face. Unseen to him nor anyone else was the slight change that occurred in his eyes; his black orbs slowly taking on a reddish hue with tints of deep purple. Silence reigned in the clearing as the villagers were stunned by the display of power from Guðrun who was now panting heavily. "Is she dead?" one of the villagers asked tentatively as they couldn't believe how today's events had progressed. They had frowned on the involvement of the Temple before they left the village and were confident that they alone were capable of handling Ordria. However, all that confidence died after they watched Ordria manhandle that giant of a man.

"Yes, I believe so" Grid responded with confidence in her voice, basking in the awe and admiration of the villagers, "After all, that attack has reduced many a mountain to dust" she bragged on Guðrun's behalf and as outlandish as it may seem, Grid was indeed telling the truth. She remembered vividly the first time her teammate had made use of the crimson lightning. It was roughly twenty years ago and they had been tasked with exterminating a cult that had dedicated themselves to worshipping Hel; the goddess of death. The cult had made a nearby mountain their hideout and were fully prepared to stay up there as long as necessary. In a fit of rage, Guðrun leveled the entire mountain with a single blast from her weapon. She rarely used it, but each time she did, Grid would always feel a tingle run down her spine.

"If its so powerful, then how are we still alive?" one of the villagers asked, disbelief written all over his face.

Not even bothering to look at the lowly villager who dared to question her, she opened her mouth to berate the lesser individual while her eyes were locked firmly on Guðrun's panting form when all of a sudden, the air was knocked out of her lungs as something slammed into her stomach and a sharp pain tore through her body as she fell to the ground. "Die!!" came Ozymandias's enraged voice from on top of her as he pulled out the knife he had stabbed her with out of her body and tried to cut open her neck, only to be tackled off her by a villager. "I'll kill you all!!" he roared as he managed to free one of his hands and punched the villager in the face. Under normal circumstances, the punch of a boy that hadn't yet experienced his thirteenth winter would have been easily shrugged off, however, this was no ordinary boy.

Ozymandias's fist collided with the man's face and to the shock of everyone present, blew the man's head to smithereens. Unbothered by neither the fact that he had just killed a man, nor the fact that he was still covered in bone fragments and brain matter, Ozymandias scrambled to his feet and charged at the villagers who had formed a protective barrier between him and Grid.

Just as he was about to reach them, he was sent flying by a kick to the face from Guðrun. Trying to get up, Ozymandias soon found his head pressed to the ground by Guðrun's foot. "Let me go, you withered hag!" he roared as he tried his best to get up. As if in accordance to his wish, Guðrun took her foot off the back of his head and allowed him to get up, only to grab his hair and slam him face first into the ground, creating a spiderweb of cracks. Letting go of his hair, Guðrun allowed him to raise his head again, only to repeat the same action over and over again for the next five minutes.

"Now, what did you say?" she asked with a deceptively sweet voice as she raised his bloodied face from the floor, "I said, what did you say to me you little piece of shit!" she roared before slamming his face into the ground one more time. It was common knowledge that magic users were able to not only increase their lifespan via magical means, but also use magic to maintain their looks. It was a taboo to mention age to a magic user, especially a female one.

"He said, let him go you withered hag" a rage filled voice rang out from where the bolt of lightning had stuck Ordria. Staring in disbelief and fear, everyone watched as Ordria walked out of the cloud of dust and snow, smoke rising from her body which was now covered with minor burns. "I'm impressed by the way" she said while walking towards Guðrun and the villagers who were now shivering out of fear, "You compressed such a powerful attack into such a small space, increasing the power to levels that you normally wouldn't be able to achieve" she then paused to wipe off some blood that was leaking from her mouth "However, attacks of this level are nowhere near enough to finish me off" she then licked the blood off her hand, a savage grin forming on her face.

"Stay back!" Guðrun shouted, placing her sword against Ozymandias's neck, the blue edge of the weapon pressed against his neck, drawing a thin line of blood and sending currents of electricity through his body, "Or I'll slit your little shit's throat". Her threat caused Ordria to halt her steps. Feeling her fear begin to abate as Ordria was forced to listen to her, Guðrun increased the pressure of the blade on Ozymandias's neck to intimidate Ordria even further, only for her to hear laughter.

"You made three mistakes you withered hag" Ordria held up three fingers after catching her breath. "First off, you failed to make sure that I was dead. Your attack didn't do much damage, but it was able to stun me for five minutes" she put down one finger, leaving only two in the air "Your second mistake was interrupting my story. I hate it when people do that" she put the second finger down, leaving only one in the air, stealthily placing one foot behind the other while tensing her muscles, her crimson eyes locking onto Guðrun. "And finally, your biggest mistake was hurting my son" and with that, she launched herself forward, vanishing from sight everyone's sight, only to reappear in front of Guðrun, her palm outstretched and rushing towards the unprepared opponent.

In the silence, the sound of a palm landing on flesh could be heard as Ordria landed a resounding slap on Guðrun's cheek, sending her flying away from Ozymandias and into a random unsuspecting female villager, the force of their collision shattering the bones of the poor woman.

Picking up the body of her son, Ordria vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared on her porch where she gently placed her son on the floor. "You did good" she whispered in his ear as she ran her hand over his face, the swelling on his face vanishing while the various cuts on his face vanished, his labored breathing returning to normal while his sobs grew quieter. Letting out a sigh of relief, she spotted her dagger on the porch floor where her son had left it and picked it up.

Placing the dagger in his hand, she turned to face those who had caused her so much trouble; Grid who was now being treated by a villager while surrounded by seven more villagers-the rest having fled for their lives, one lay dead by her son's hands, and the last one lay on the floor, their body crippled by their collision with Guðrun. Tryggr was laying on the floor somewhere, his body tossed by the force of the explosion created by the crimson lightning Guðrun had shot at her.

Speaking of Guðrun, she was doing her best to recover from the slap she had received from Ordria, blood leaking from her mouth while her cheek sported a handprint mark that would probably be passed on to her descendants-if she ever has them. Her crimson eyes scanned the area, but to her disappointment he was nowhere to be found. "Grid and the villagers are yours" she told Ozymandias as she got up, her mood changing as her crimson eyes darkening with unrestrained bloodlust "I and your father have trained you well" she took a step forward before turning her head to look at her son one more time, "Don't disappoint me" she warned with steel in her voice as she took off towards Guðrun.

Guðrun was panicking. Panicking was putting it lightly. Guðrun was falling apart at the seams. Things weren't going as she had expected and she was honestly considering retreating. When she and her team were assigned this mission, she thought that it would be an excellent opportunity for her to snag another member for their team.

However, things didn't go the way she had planned. Now here they were, Grid had been stabbed and none of them had bothered to learn healing magic since Tryggr was always there to patch them up, Tryggr had his arm severed by that monster in single combat with her bare hands and she was barely able to stand, her face stinging from the slap that the crazed monster in human flesh called Ordria had given her. As if summoned by the mere thought of her, Ordria appeared before her, her crimson eyes glowing a darker shade with bloodlust.

Faster than she could react, Guðrun was grabbed by her collar by the demon in human flesh and thrown to the spot where she had shot Ordria with lightning moments ago. Unable to right herself or maneuver, she found herself hitting the floor hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs. Looking up at the bleak grey sky, the thought of retreat crossed her mind, but it was quickly quelled by her rage, her fear of what her superiors would do to her and most importantly, her pure undiluted hate for Ordria.

However those emotions were replaced by pure terror as a voice she had come to hate asked a question "Now where was I?" A boot was suddenly brought down on her face, filling her vision with bright spots as blood flowed profusely from her nose. "Ah yes" Ordria increased the pressure of her foot on Guðrun's face, grinding her nose slowly "Years passed and the girl grew into a formidable warrior, leaving a trail of death in her wake as she sought greater heights of power" Ordria stopped her recollection as she felt Guðrun's hands wrap around her foot.

Pulling her foot out of Guðrun's weak grasp, Ordria stomped down on her pitiful opponent's face. "What did I say about interrupting my story?" she asked before taking her foot off Guðrun's face and straddling her chest, her knees pinning Guðrun's arms to the ground. Cracking her knuckles, Ordria began to rain down blows on her face, each one slow yet heavy enough to stun her opponent, but not heavy enough to knock her out. "As I was saying" she continued between punches "The girl grew into a dangerous woman and sought out even stronger foes until one day, she hit a wall" Ordria delivered another slap to Guðrun's face, marking her other cheek. "No matter how much she trained, she couldn't overcome that wall. Until one day, she saw a falling star crash into a nearby village" her glowing crimson eyes taking on a lighter shade as her voice took on a happier tone "She didn't know why, but it made her heart skip a beat. Making her way to the village where she saw the star fall, she felt ecstatic as she saw the destruction it had brought" Ordria chuckled as she continued to tell her story "It was beautiful. She was so mesmerized by it that she decided there and then to become as beautiful as that falling star" she then proceeded to form a fist with her right hand which she then placed on Guðrun's forehead "By hitting hard enough and fast enough, she discovered that she could recreate the heat and destruction of that star. Just like so" she pulled her fist back and punched, only to be swatted like a fly off her opponent by something large and powerful.