Alma's Skill

"No! I simply gave him a deserved punishment!"

"Please, Alma, listen to me. You are only one person, that man is nobility, which means he holds more power over you and me and has control over this entire village. It might not be much in the eyes of the empire, but for normal people like us it is too powerful!"

"Umm... I feel like it should be fine."

Olsen's face became more sullen as he kept trying to make Alma escape. Unfortunately, time was not on his side. Fitzpatrick's screams of pain attracted a small group of guards.

"Lord! What happened!"

"Olsen! Tell me what happened! We must punish the evildoers!"

"Arrghhh! Don't touch me! It was that child! That bitch and dumass Olsen teamed up on me!"

"YOU DARE!" As they spoke the small group of five all took out their swords and aimed it at the pair. Olsen knew he had no choice now and quickly pulled out his sword as well. Alma on the other hand looked at the guards in fear, but still stood up straighter.

"No matter what I received the knowledge of Great God Alex! I can beat these guys!" As she spoke her courage soared as she looked at the men pointing swords at her she suddenly felt like they were nothing.

"Put down the sword and come quietly Olsen! Let the gods judge you under the eyes of the law!"

Olsen gritted his teeth and strengthened his grip with his sword. He knew that this girl next to him would not be spared if he didn't fight. Taking a deep breath and looking ready to charge Olsen quickly put together his thoughts, 'I need them to think I will charge so they prepare to defend. Then I will just grab Alma and run! These idiots who only follow the Barron's son are fat and don't have as much stamina as I do. I should be able to escape...'

Just as he was preparing to start his plan Olsen saw a shadow charge at the men. "No wait! Alma what are you doing!" Before he could stop her she was already next to the first guard and lightly hit the back of his knee forcing him to kneel. It was obvious that the men had completely disregarded the girl at first and only viewed him as the only enemy. Now as the leading guard's head was pushed into the ground he clearly paid the price. 'So that is how she pushed me down.'

"I have Great Alex on my side! You jerks are nothing! Now what is the word... ah yes, Fuckers." Alma smiled sweetly as the guards were still in shock at the skill of the little girl, but just as she finished speaking they all quickly tried to attack. The leading guard quickly tried to get up, but quickly realized moving only caused him pain as if he would break a bone if he forcefully broke free.

Unfortunately for him, his subordinates didn't remember him when they attacked making it so when they attacked Alma it only landed on his chainmail or leather armor. As he was a pivotal guard of the Barron's son, it allowed him the chance to use the light chainmail he loved. Though the chainmail was only enough to cover his main body. His arms and legs and even head didn't have chainmail.

When the several attacks that aimed for Alma but missed when she dodged them hit him and left several cuts on his body wherever he didn't have enough protection. Even the sections that were covered by the mail still took his breath away as he felt like he was punched without any protection.

Still, as Alma moved away from him to escape the blows from the other soldiers the leading guard took this chance to stand back up despite his new aches and pains. "You idiots! You hit me!" Despite his grumbling about the quality of subordinates he quickly organized everyone, "Tomas! Terry! Keep an eye on Olsen! Everyone else! Defensive formations! Make sure to be wary, she is as slippery as an eel!"

"What is an eel?" Alma's cute voice sounded as she heard herself compared to something she had never seen before. She had only seen the rats she had been compared to, so this was new to her and she wasn't sure if it was an insult or not.

The guards on the other hand saw her not taking this seriously and quickly got annoyed. "I take back my order! Formation 3! Attack at will!" As soon as he spoke the group quickly formed a straight line with little space in between each other. "Ready~? March!"

Seeing that they weren't going to answer her and focused back on attacking she also prepared and started running at them. The group of men quickly slashed at her as she got close. Alma simply paused for a moment allowing her to dodge the swords as she then slipped in between their ranks this time hitting their genitals with all her strength.

The men quickly moved back in a line and regrouped to attack together except the one man who was kneeling in pain. This time as they were attacking Alma seemed to move faster and got right next to another man but not attacking him, instead she pulled him in a strange way forcing him to lose balance and fall into the sword swings of his companions. He had no real great armor and only some basic padding as he spent his money irresponsibly making it so the swords to easily cut into his neck deeply.

"AAGGGggg-" As blood filled his throat he could no longer scream making it so he was not only bleeding to death but also drowning in his own blood.

Seeing their friend holding their neck trying to survive shook the others as they had full confidence no one would suffer in this small scuffle in the beginning. Now with everything happening in front of them, two of the three still functional fighters dropped their swords in fear as they surrendered easily. The leader on the other hand only felt a wave of greater anger seeing one of his subordinates, one of his friends die. He quickly screamed and charged at Alma who was looking at everyone with a smile that seemed sadistic in the eyes of everyone else.

"FUCK YOU! AAAAHHHHH!"

As the last man carrying a sword charged Alma forced him to the ground all over again. In a few seconds, she was sitting on top of him holding in a way that made it hard to move. This time though going crazy with anger he ignored the pain and struggled to get out of the hold. Unfortunately, this struggle only lasted until a loud *crack* sounded. All struggle stopped as his screaming became louder.

"Why are you all so scared?" Alma asked with innocence even as she sat atop a screaming and crying man. "I have seen you all kill others in the same way. Why are you scared now?" As she tilted her head in a cute way genuinely asking her questions, the two men who had already dropped their swords in fear saw this as mockery. A child who wasn't even half their age was mocking two men in their twenties. Even as the other man who had recently stood up after didn't pick up his sword.

It was at this moment a voice yelled at the men, "What are you doing! What do I pay you for! Kill that Bitch! I want her DEAAARGG-" Fitzpatrick was interrupted by a sword stabbing through his chest.

"Just shut and die evil Lord." A voice filled with hatred sounded. Olsen seemed to let go all his stored resentment. "I am happy I didn't die before you. Someone who lives in corruption and causes pain wherever you pass."

As the three guards stood in silence their fear intensified as the looked at the dying Barron's son. "What! He was still a noble! What have you done Olsen?! His father will kill us! This village will be wiped from the map! I still have family here!"

"Shut up trash!" Olsen roared causing the man to become silent once again, "This village is now going to be the property of priestess Alma."

"What's a priestess?"

"It is a religious leader of the female gender. I assume you can still contact the Great God Alex you spoke about before again?"

"Yes? He said I can visit him once a week when I have time."

At that moment unbeknownst to Alma, Olsen decided that Alma would be the only person he would listen to from that point forward. She would be the one he would devote his entire life to.

***

"I wonder when people will visit again?" Alex was sitting in a chair bored as he wondered what was happening. He had spent three full days without any more visits. Originally he had expected many guests considering he had two guests during the first day he had just created his bookstore.

As he waited for another hour he could no longer take his boredom and left the bookstore and entered the library once again. This time he was heading to the second floor that had opened when he finished reading everything on the first floor. The second floor had a stone staircase that protruded from the wall. To call it a staircase would be an overstatement because it was really just some stone slabs that came out the wall that allowed someone to go up.

The stone seemed to be the theme of the second floor as Alex entered the second floor everything was made of stone. The first floor was made mostly of wood shelves and books filling every spare space. The only stone part of the first floor was the grey-colored tile floor.

The second floor had a black stone floor with grey stone bookshelves with the only real color coming from the books themselves. That said the most striking difference between floors was the size.

The first floor seemed endless, while the second seemed only massive. Once again Alex picked a book at random and began reading.

***

"Did Olsen really declare a random child a messenger of god? Even a new god that isn't part of the pantheon?"

"It's true! I have no idea the exact details, but from what I know the child was a regular orphan running on the streets when one day she challenged Olsen to prove a point. It was then that the Lord's son showed up and started berating Olsen and then tried to attack the child. The child then supposedly broke one of his bones which attracted a crowd.

I can guarantee it from this point forward since a large crowd saw it. Apperantly the young Lord got his guards to attack the pair, it was then that the girl forced the leader Jonathan to the ground where she manipulated everyone else to attack their own leader. It was then that they tried to regroup and kill her, but she avoided everything while making them kill each other! The guards were so scared they all dropped their weapons!"

"What fox is she?!... Wait that doesn't explain why Olsen would claim her a prophet of a new god."

"According to him she met a god who gave her some knowledge and she wanted his help for something. I think you can see what they are doing now as they took over the abandoned buildings in the south. Apperantly they want to build a church!"

"Wait what is the church of light doing? They only worship the god of light Prashka? What are they doing about it?"

"Apperantly they are condemning them and have sent a message out for the greater Pantheon churches for help. They keep saying this new god is a false god that doesn't exist and they claim it is all a trap set up by Olsen as a rebellion for the punishment he received."

"I know that the scars were a punishment, but what was he punished for?"

"I don't know. He never spoke about it."

"We are simple small merchants shouldn't think about this conspiracy... *sigh* I am heading out tomorrow to avoid the fallout of what is going to happen."

"I have my family here and can't leave. I always made fun of you for not getting married, but here I am facing the consequences of my marriage... *sigh*"

"It is not like there is much upside anyway, I would much prefer to have already married by now."

"Haha! Good luck on your journey then."

"Thanks, protect your family well. I know how much you love them."