29 Matilda and Julia's Origin
Damian, who had returned to Milo's side, sat down cross-legged and attempted to absorb energy and cultivate, didn't hear the announcement of the next round and had no idea what the next battle was, as he focused on himself.
Meanwhile, Matilda had a nervous expression remembering Trevor's ruthless and powerful performance against Milo and was beginning to doubt whether she would be able to defeat him.
Even Julia who usually had a cold and angry expression, was obviously quite worried for Matilda's safety and it wasn't the question of ability, but whether she would be able to handle the pressure and defeat the cruel and ruthless Trevor when it came to combat prowess and experience.
"Matilda and Trevor, please come onto the stage"
Matilda was nervous but remembering the hardship she had been through she wasn't willing to give up and stop during the newbie competition in Akegria Academy.
Matilda was born in a family that wasn't rich, but also wasn't poor and it was her, her sister and her mother. Her mother had a small bakery that was enough for them to live and had a small cosy home for them to live in and life was great until she was 10.
A burly drunken man with a beard came into the bakery but as soon as she saw him, Matilda's mother's face dropped.
"Is that you Elizabeth" he growled in his drunken state.
Grabbing her shoulders with his large hands and with his strength as a cultivator easily lifted her up.
"Tod, leave me alone, we have already split up" she wailed.
"You bitch, you ran away with Susan, took my money and I never heard from you for 9 years" he roared furiously as he threw her into the bakery counter.
Matilda who stood behind the counter and saw her mother being beaten, was frightened.
As a 10-year-old girl that had lived her entire life joyfully under the care and protection of her mother, she had no idea how to react and lost consciousness due to shock.
With no idea how much time had passed, she woke up to find her mother's dead and beaten body lying there.
"Susan, Susan" she called out to her sister, turning to her hoping that she could help their mother.
Rushing into the back of the bakery she found her sister, older than her by a year, crushed with a large foot mark on her chest.
It was a gruesome and horrible scene to behold as both her relatives lay in puddles of blood and the poor girl began to uncontrollably vomit.
Unknowingly the man known as Tod spared his other daughter who he didn't know was his daughter as Elizabeth, Matilda's mother, had run away while she was pregnant and he was unaware.
He was mercenary for hire and lived a very dangerous life where he would also do atrocious things to others for a reward.
Most of his money would go on alcohol to numb the pain in his mind and in the beginning, he took the job for his loved ones and because of his decent talent for cultivation, but his low status and average talent made it so that he was never provided resources or allowed to join any large powers or organisations and joined a criminal gang.
The original love that Elizabeth had for him disappeared after she found out about what he did to provide for them, but by then she had already had a daughter with him.
They began to argue and he became very physical with her and would hit her, until she had had enough and left leaving behind nothing but a note.
One day that he had left for a few days, when he returned he had found that his wife and daughter had already left and reading the note Elizabeth left him he was furious.
He searched far and wide for a few months but never found a single trace, and eventually gave up and without someone to provide for, all his money would be spent on even more alcohol as his life spiralled downhill over the years.
Meanwhile, Matilda's mother had formed a small bakery that sold all kinds of bread and pastries, that she knew how to make, in a small area with the money that she had taken from their savings.
After a month or so she realised she was beginning to vomit and feeling slightly unwell and when she visited the medic in the small village she was in he revealed to her that she was pregnant.
Initially, she had thoughts about abortion, but she was too kind-hearted and despite everything Tod did to her, it was still her daughter as well and she had to give birth to it.
Then Matilda was born.
Her mother gave her and her older sister Susan the happiest life she could and Matilda had never known hardship or sadness with the care of her mother and her sister.
Nearly 11 years later the drunken and homeless Tod was looking for work by threatening shops in a small village and walked into a bakery, but surprisingly recognised the woman there.
In a drunken state, he couldn't control his rage and after killing his wife and daughter he ran out and left the village, leaving Matilda.
"Nooooo" screamed Matilda.
As she screamed she felt a weird sensation within her body as something within her was awakened and fused with her soul and voicebox.
She had awakened a Soul Spirit without an awakening pillar.
In rare occasions of extreme emotion or energy, even without an awakening pillar, youths that hadn't awoken a Soul Spirit, could awaken one that was dormant or hidden within the body.
As she screamed the sonic sound emitted from her mouth shook the small bakery wildly and caused it to collapse.
She had no choice but to leave her mother and sister's bodies buried under the rubble.
She entered an orphanage in the small village place they were in and she found somebody else who had a similar origin to her and both their expressions were blank and lifeless.
It was Julia.
After a few weeks, Matilda was returning to her usual joyful self as she did so to make Julia feel better and felt as though Julia was a sister and a replacement to Susan, but she didn't get rid of the hatred within her heart.
Both of them filled a void for each other and formed an unbreakable sisterhood as they swore on their lives and vowed to always help and support each other and get strong enough to get their revenge.
Julia also had a unique ability that she found out she had after a traumatising past and her being thrown to drown by her cruel stepmother who wanted to take her father for her own after her mother's death.
She lived in a much larger and richer mountain village and her father was the chief of the village.
Her mother had sadly died when giving birth to her and her father had always given her everything she wanted.
Julia was from a young age very spoiled and had everything she wanted, but her father was always busy looking after the village and hunting for food as the strongest cultivator so didn't have time for Julia.
She had everything apart from a mother and a father that had time for her, until a beautiful woman became married to her father.
Initially, she was a threat to Julia who was very protective of what was hers, but seeing the beautiful and talented woman that was very kind, gentle and caring towards her, as a child she couldn't help but see her as her true mother.
Julia was happier then she had ever been with a new motherly figure in her life until one day her new mother took her out to play and look at the views on the edge of the mountain.
With a single push from who she saw as a mother, she was launched off the cliff and fell straight down into the deep and wide river bellow.
There was no doubt in her mind that Julia would die from such a fall as she prepared to make up a story.
Meanwhile, a miracle occurred where, as the child hit the water, she felt the water was a part of her and had a connection with her as she felt as though she could wield it to do her bidding.
As she began to drown, she subconsciously used the connection she felt with the water and formed a bubble to bring her back to the top.
Julia was heartbroken, enraged and full of hate.
Despite the impact being reduced by the water that she felt a connection with, it was still more than enough to kill her and she was only able to survive with her powerful will to get revenge on the woman that took her father and tried to kill her.
Her father as a wealthy and quite powerful cultivator gave her a medallion that had healing effects that would automatically activate when she was on the verge of death and when she awoke she was in the small home of the village medic that Matilda was in.
The medic helped her recover with some herbs and Julia was luckily found by some kind villagers who were fishing and rushed her back to the village.
Both of them had unique abilities and from the education, in the orphanage, they were taught about Soul Spirits.
After a few more weeks, Julia suddenly decided that they should escape from the orphanage and go to Akegria Academy ,that they heard was the best opportunity for cultivators or those who wanted to be cultivators, that were or low status and weren't wealthy.
Both in agreement one night they escaped from the orphanage and jumped into the back of a carriage they heard was going to central Aria city.
When it reached a halt the men that were leading the carriage found them before they reached central aria city and kicked them off in the slums.
Matilda and Julia stole food, scavenged and had to survive by themselves and make their way to the academy alone and went through more hardship and hunger than anybody should have to experience throughout their entire life.
Luckily as they reached central aria city they saw a worried woman who when saw them bought them clothes and a meal, who coincidentally was Damian's mother who had left him sleeping in the inn when he fell unconscious while on the flying beast.
"What is our vow," whispered Julia to Matilda.
"To always support and help each other, get our revenge and live a good life" whispered back Matilda who was reinvigorated by the remembrance of her past.
"Time to show off my ability" she mumbled to herself in her usual energetic and joyful state, yet within her eyes was determination and hate.
