Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Back in the Battle Maiden Sect, Maria started to make preparations for the upcoming Tournament. She knew that in terms of talent, she can't compare to people like Nisha or Celaine. If she wants to get stronger, the best way to do so is to find someone to teach her the correct way to use a sword. Of course, talent doesn't necessarily equal strength or experience, but it definitely shortens the gap.

The first person Maria thought of was Elder Bridget. She's supposed to be one of the top fighters in the Sect other than the Sect Master. Maria didn't have a problem with any of the other Elders, but Elder Bridget is the only one Maria knows. She took a day off from training to look for Elder Bridget. Maria walked around the Sect, asking some of the Elders where Elder Bridget was before finally finding her practicing in her courtyard.

"Elder Bridget! Hello! It's me, Maria! I'm here to ask you if you'll teach me how to properly use a sword!" Maria yelled at the Elder while she was practicing.

The Elder just froze in place when she heard this and looked at Maria with a weird look on her face.

"Can't you see I'm training?! Wait for a second!" Elder Bridget yelled back at her, but Maria just ignored her and walked up to the Elder.

"I'm sorry! But now that you aren't practicing, you can teach me how to properly use a sword! Hehe." Maria said sweetly as she avoided eye contact.

'What the fuck? I never even agreed to do that!' Elder Bridget cursed internally but found it hard to reject such an innocent little girl.

"Why should I teach you anything!? Especially since you just disturbed me! I just want to practice in peace; I don't have time for you!" Elder Bridget sized up Maria before she snorted.

"I'll work hard! I promise! I may not be talented with the sword, but I need to do something or I'll fall behind Mira. You lost to Mira a few months ago, maybe if you train me I'll be able to beat Mira and get your revenge! How about that?" Maria said as she tried to convince Elder Bridget. But the Elde just felt a few veins pop as her eyebrows twitched when she heard that.

'Dammit! These two are really nothing but trouble! This one even comes and brings up such a shameful loss!' The Elder screamed in her mind. It took her a few breaths to calm down before she could answer Maria calmly.

"Those reasons aren't good enough for me to teach you anything. Every disciple here wants me to teach them and they are all willing to work hard. Plus, I only feel like you'll bring me trouble all of the time! You don't even look like you enjoy fighting!" Elder Bridget tried to shoo her away nicely, but Maria just shook her head.

"That's no good, Elder Bridget. Mira always tells me that people grow more in the face of adversity. How can an Elder of your status not be willing to teach a lowly disciple such as myself just because you feel it might be troublesome? Maybe you'll also be able to grow, Elder. Hehe." Maria giggled as she kept trying to convince the Elder to teach her, but Elder Bridget didn't find it funny at all. She really wanted to watch this idiotic disciple across the Sect.

"AHH! Fine! I'll teach you some stuff! Just show up tomorrow morning! Get ready for some brutal training!" Elder Bridget was so frustrated with her that she just wanted to get this girl away from her right now.

"Yay!" Maria yelled as she skipped away.

The next morning, Elder Bridget walked back to her courtyard only to find Maria already waiting for her there.

"Elder! You're late! You even made me wait all this time! What were you doing?" Maria pouted as she brought out her sword getting ready to practice. The Elder just looked at Maria strangely. Why was she getting scolded by her disciple? She told her tomorrow morning, why was she here so early?

"When did you get here? And don't scold me! I'm your master!"

"I got here a few hours ago as you said, but you weren't here, stupid Master."

"A few hours ago?! I told you morning! Not in the middle of the night!"

"But that is morning? When Mira was teaching me, we'd always practice this early in the morning."

"I'm not Mira! Also, don't call me stupid! From now on, show up at this time."

"That's no good, Elder. My schedule is very busy and I need to get as much practice as possible. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come earlier. Don't you also want to see me as strong as possible, Master?"

"Wha-! I'm an Elder you know! My schedule isn't free all of the time either! I can't just teach you whenever!"

"Your schedule looked awfully free yesterday. Okay, enough of this! Let's get started!"

The two of them bickered back and forth until Elder Bridget felt so frustrated that her face was turning red. Why is this innocent little disciple so stubborn? She's never like this when she's around Mira!

"Fine…"

She then proceeded to show some proper techniques and moves for beginners to Maria. She tried to make it as difficult as possible for Maria, but she wasn't really sure how to do that. The Elder doesn't really take in disciples and just likes to fight.

After a few hours of teaching Elder Bridget decided to stop for today.

"That's it? This is much less painful than Mira's training! Are you sure it's okay to make it this easygoing? Whenever I train with Mira, she always beats the training into me… I feel like I didn't learn anything today…" Maria said slowly as she avoided eye contact with the Elder.

"Argh! Can't you just be happy with how I'm training you!? Like I said before. I'm! Not! Mira! Do you really need me to spar with you to learn? Can't you just figure it out after I demonstrate it to you?! Ahhh! Why'd I agree to this shit!?" The Elder seemed to be having a mini breakdown.

"Let's spar with what you've shown me today then!" Maria said and charged at the Elder with her sword. The two of them began sparring for a while against Elder Bridget's wishes.

After their spar, Maria left in high spirits while Elder Bridget looked depressed. She wasn't in the mood to train anymore so she just went to go find something or someone to cheer her up.

The next morning, Maria showed up at the same time she did before but didn't see Elder Bridget. So she went ahead and took the initiative to find her. After searching around for around 20 minutes, she found the Elder sleeping soundly. Maria was a bit annoyed that her Master dodged the training time again so she decided to wake her up.

"MAASSTTEER! Wake up!! It's time to train!!!" Maria yelled and Elder Bridget jumped out of bed and readied her sword. She then looked around and saw Maria standing near the doorway pouting.

"What are you doing here?! Why'd you wake me up?! It's too early to start training! Go away!" The Elder complained, but Maria just shook her head.

"How can you shoo away your own disciple when they are so eager to learn from you? It's never too early to train! Mira makes me stay up all night training so I don't miss a single hour! I'll never be able to catch up to Mira if you keep sleeping through our sessions! Let's go, Master!" Maria rushed the Elder to wake up and start training. Elder Bridget started gritting her teeth as she deeply regretted accepting this stupid child as her disciple. What the fuck did Mira turn this girl into?! There are other things to do other than training!

Maria just ran up to her, grabbed her hand, and dragged he to the courtyard to start training. Which basically just ended up being them sparring for hours as Elder Bridget kept correcting her or trying to show her new techniques.

Maria left in high spirits again and went back to her day that was full of more training. While Elder Bridget looked even more depressed than before. It's not that she doesn't like Maria, they just aren't compatible. Elder Bridget is talented with a sword, Maria isn't. Elder Bridget enjoys fighting tough opponents, Maria doesn't. Elder Bridget learns by example or is talented enough to have a deeper understanding in the way of the sword, while Maria learns from experience. Also, Elder Bridget likes to do things at her own pace, while Maria has a schedule set for everything. The two of them just aren't compatible. But Maria could not care less about compatibility nor is she thinking about that. She only wants someone to teach her, Elder Bridget accepted her, therefore she wants to be taught. Maria isn't thinking about anything else.

A week went by and the two of them finally started waking up and training at the same time, but Elder Bridget kept wishing that she never accepted this troublesome disciple. It always feels like she's the one getting scolded for things or being dragged around. Dammit! I'm the teacher! Aren't you supposed to listen to me?! This is what always goes through her mind. Maria also won't let her take a day off. She just said that she needs to make use of every minute of training so she can catch up to Mira. Elder Bridget also asked her why she's not like this with Mira, but Maria only replied by saying that Mira is scary. Even though you'll make good progress with Mira training you, you always feel like you're about to die. Avoiding her training is just a natural instinct.

One day after teaching Maria, Elder Bridget walked around to find some friends in the Sect.

"Hey, Bridget! I heard you got a disciple recently. How'd that happen? I thought you said you wouldn't teach a disciple unless they meet your criteria." An Elder came up to her and asked curiously.

"I don't want to talk about it. That girl drags me out of bed to train hours before dawn and even tells me how I should be teaching her! It's like she's a training maniac! I thought she didn't even like training seeing how she always tries to avoid Mira's training! Why me?!" Elder Bridget started getting upset just thinking about Maria.

"Why'd you accept her then? Can't you just tell her you won't be training her from now on saying that you two just aren't compatible? Usually, you're so direct with these things…"

"I didn't want to accept her! She just shamelessly said that I need to face adversity in order to grow and that's why I should accept troublesome people like her! I even tried to shoo her away after I started teaching her, but she just came back the next morning like nothing happened and said 'How can an esteemed Elder such as yourself go back on your word now? It's just some training.' Then dragged me out of bed and started sparring with me! I just wanted to practice in peace! I knew this girl would be nothing but trouble!" Elder Bridget complained while the other Elders turned silent for a while and looked at each other.

"Pfft! Hahaha! You can't even handle a new disciple!? It sounds like she's already got you by the ropes! Hahaha!"

"You lost to Mira a few months back and now her friend has you wrapped around her fingers! Hahaha! These two girls must really have it out for you!"

"Hahaha! Just accept your fate, Bridget! That Maria girl isn't so bad. She's incredibly sweet and innocent like a little child. She wants you to train her, you accepted, now she's only asking you to fulfill your duty! Haha! Good luck."

The other Elders just started laughing at her. They all knew what Maria was like. A happy-go-lucky child that always looks like she has no problem. She's probably incorporated some bad habits from Mira, but she's still a good kid.

Elder Bridget just left even more dejected and just resigned to her fate of teaching Maria. It's not that she doesn't like Maria, she just never wanted a disciple in the first place. She continued training Maria every morning from that point on without complaint and Maria greatly improved because of it. Elder Bridget was also slowly improving as well due to them sparring all of the time and her being able to come up with new and better techniques.