Mariel: The Goddess of War

The next day, Deric and Mariel finished eating breakfast and got dressed to leave for their father's friend's sword bureau on the outskirts of the village, which was about 10 kilometers away, not too far from Deric's house.

The father and daughter drove to the sword bureau and looked at the people whose came out to clean up in front of the house, then they waved a friendly greeting to them.

After nearly 15 minutes, they arrived at the sword bureau. The sign above the front door reads: "Kehal Sword Bureau."

The vehicle shuts off the engine completely and immediately turns on the system to absorb energy from the sun for use as fuel on the return trip. Deric then led Mariel into the open courtyard of the Sword Bureau.

In this wide square, there were about 10 boys, with an average age ranging from 7 to 10 years old, all of them were practicing their Qi as a warm-up before starting their swordsmanship practice in the morning.

"Oh, how are you doing here? Deric, my friend." A middle-aged man, about 40 years old, pushed open the door of the sword bureau and greeted them; father and daughter with his smile.

"Hello, Kehal. Haven't seen you in a long time," Deric greeted in return, hugging me tightly as friends.

"Greetings to my father's friend, Mariel. He is the owner of this sword bureau, named Kehal, and was also the party leader when me and Claudia went on quests together when we were teenagers," Deric said.

"Hello, I'm Mariel," the girl greeted immediately and bowed to the other person.

(In my mind, I felt quite frightened. This middle-aged man seemed kind-hearted, but his face looked solemn. In addition, the aura around his body was hidden with a lot of Qi and magic power. No wonder he was the leader of her father and mother's team. Mariel could know Kehal's abilities because of the technique which comes from the subject "Looking at the Enemy", another basic subject that Deric taught her in their free time. This would make it possible to consider the other people's Qi to a certain extent but if someone had enormous strength, they would not be able to use this technique to their fullest potential because the other side would suppress our power with superior power. She could only predict the other party's Qi at a preliminary level.) (Chai thinking)

"Hi, your daughter is cute, Deric. Her eyes are like Claudia's, the hair color is the same as yours. But...what business do you have here today?" Kehal praised Mariel and immediately asked questions back to Deric.

"So... Would you like to bring our daughter Mariel to practice swordsmanship with you? Kehal" Derik asked pleadingly.

Kehal had no smile on his face. He stared at Mariel for a moment and then looked at Deric again. Then he shook his head slightly and sighed heavily.

"Deric, you know the rules, don't you? That my Sword Bureau would not accept a female disciple to train as a swordsman. A woman's body couldn't compete with a man. In the long run, it will be detrimental to her in the future as well," Kehal warned them.

"We understand that, but our daughter Mariel is determined to become a swordswoman. In addition to learning magic quickly, she also can use her magic power to connect with swordsmanship. Can you at least let our daughter test first? If she doesn't pass, we are happy to withdraw immediately," Deric said pleadingly again.

"No, you guys go back. It's a waste of time. I told you so. After all, a female swordsman would not be able to compete with a male swordsman. We've seen each other a lot in the past, haven't we? Female swordsmen who dare to fight demons and lead the party often fail miserably. And some of them are a burden to the team." Kehal waved his hand in denial. Then he turned around and ordered all 10 children to prepare to continue practicing swordsmanship without paying any attention to Deric and Mariel anymore.

(I heard that I couldn't stand it anymore. What's the fuss? Can't fight with men. Swordswoman is a burden. Many reasons were cited and then turned away. The more I want to prove my skills to him even more)

"Just asking for the preparation test is not enough. It's not fair at all. How did you open the Sword Bureau?" Mariel said angrily.

"Mariel! Why did you say that?" Deric was shocked that his own daughter would say such inappropriate words to his best friend.

"What did you say? Say that again!" Kehal turned around and scolded.

"It's true. Is it too restrictive? I just want to be a female swordsman. It's my dream. If you give me a chance, I will prove that women can fight as well as men!" Mariel said defiantly, not looking at herself as a beginner to the swordsmanship genre because she still has no basis at all about this.

"Haha! So brave, Mariel. As expected, she was Deric's daughter. My former right-hand man from my youth. Come on! I'll give you a chance to prove yourself, Segal! come out and have a sword fight with Mariel," Kehal said as he turned to look at Segal. A boy who looked the oldest in the group, probably around 10 years old, was a young boy, about 120 centimeters tall, with brown eyes and red hair, and his body looked the strongest of his pupils.

"Understood, Master Kehal," Segal said as he stepped out into the middle of the sword fighting arena with a sword.

"As for Mariel, you can use this sword." Kehal tossed a great sword to Mariel. When the girl lifted it up, she realized that it was so heavy that she had to use both hands to hold it firmly.

"What? Just holding a sword makes your hands shake? So how do you become a female swordsman?" Kehal said as he laughed along with the rest of his pupils.

("Huh! Then I'll prove it to you." I thought to myself. Let's just allow myself to be insulted.) (Chai thinking)

"I'm counting on you, Mariel," Deric said, worryingly encouraging his own daughter.

"Yes, Dad." Mariel turned around and smiled. She also used the power she had to raise her sword and prepare for battle.

"Take the sword!" Segal said, then grabbed a sword with both hands and rushed towards Mariel immediately.

Clunk!

The sound of 2 swords colliding with each other was so powerful that a loud sound resounded throughout the Sword Bureau.

Mariel could barely handle a sword. Being much smaller than Segal and she must carry a big sword to fight. When 2 swords collided with each other's force, her hand shook until the sword almost fell out of her hand.

"You are too weak!" Segal slammed his sword, both left and right, alternating back and forth. Mariel could only receive a sword left and right, not having a chance to respond at all.

Ouch!!! The sound of a sword's hilt slamming into Marielle's right cheek. It's like slapping and teaching. The girl's body rolled nearly a meter away and a sword slipped from her hand and fell next to the body.

Mariel touched her right cheek and found that it was red with a sword mark and felt quite a bit of pain.

"Can you accept it or not? You're just too weak, don't even bother fighting with me. Go home and be a female wizard. Don't get your hopes up too high!" Segal said sneeringly as he placed his sword over his right shoulder and stood looking at her with pity in his eyes.

"Alright, that's enough for now," Kehal said, preparing to call off the sword fight.

"Don't do it yet!" Mariel shouted back. She slowly stood up and picked up her sword with both hands again.

"Are you still going to fight? Don't make yourself any more pathetic." Segal looked down on the girl.

Mariel's eyes suddenly were fierce. 

(Since childhood in the past world, I always had my toys taken away by bigger kids. Sue anyone and no one will listen. Moreover, I was teased behind my back and got hurt many times. An orphan's life consists of having to endure being looked down upon and it always been teased. Even during working hours, there is still a reduction in wages. Being used for heavy labor but they do not have the right to make the request demands for increased wages. Many feelings were repressed and almost bursting out.) (Chai thinking)

"Wait and see!" Mariel said as her eyes turned dark red from grey.

"Hey! Those red eyes..." Segal trembled slightly.

Mariel gathered her energy and charged to Segal. She slashed to him with her sword tirelessly and looked crazy.

Even if Segal can receive every blow thrown from Mariel but he was quite shocked that a girl who was only 5 years old would have such strength.

"You are... crazy!" Segal said.

Even Sword-Shield Master Kehal stood silently glaring at the two sides while pondering in his heart.

"The red eyes indicate the anger in her heart. The urge to win, whether at the cost of all her power or even her life, Good! Good! this girl is quite interesting." Kehal muttered softly with a slight smile on his face.

Mariel and Segal exchanged their sword moves with each other until more than 10 minutes had passed and Mariel was beginning to run out of energy. Her Qi power was not as great as Segal, so she began to be at a disadvantage again.

"Huh, you can give up now!" Segal said as he slammed his sword with full force at Mariel, who received the resistance of the sword's flow until she stumbled back several steps.

"Ouch! Whatever! I must measure my luck!" Mariel said softly, almost at her peak of exhaustion.

Mariel slowly closed her eyes, she tried to think of fire magic and focused on the sword that she held with both hands. When the two things are connected to each other, Miraculous things happened without anyone having to teach her.

A sword gradually became surrounded by flames. Much to the shock of many people.

"Where did you learn this stuff?" Segal said with a little apprehension.

"Wow, you learned it yourself? Normally it takes some time to teach. Because you must use your mind and magic power to connect with a sword together, which is admirable." Kehal smiled.

"Then I was inconsiderate!" Segal said, then concentrated and suddenly Thae sword also had flames surrounding it and seemed even greater than Mariel's.

(Use all my power and slam it away!) Mariel thought to herself.

Mariel shouting!! She charged and jumped over Segal's head. Then she slammed her flame sword at Segal who was on the defensive.

"Come in!" Segal said, fully prepared.

Clang!!!!!!

The sound of the sword flames colliding was so violent that it caused dust to spread throughout the surrounding area. The remaining people almost had to close their eyes for a moment to prevent dust from entering their eyes.

When the dust began to clear and the scene in front of everyone was stunned for a moment.

Segal was sitting on the ground, leaning backwards. A sword received such a strong impact that it fell out of his hand nearly a meter away. He was breathless and couldn't believe what he had just experienced. His hands supporting the ground trembled non-stop.

As for Mariel, Standing still in front of him with a calm expression on her face. There was no response, both hands were still holding a sword tightly, but...

A sword suddenly fell from her hand, then she fell face down in front of Segal and this made other people forget to breathe for a moment.

"Mariel!" Deric rushed over and scooped his daughter up in an embrace. Then check her pulse immediately.

"Used up all her Qi and magic power... then it made her unconscious." Kehal also walked in to check on the condition.

"Finally, it was decided that Segal is the winner! Because Mariel felt unconscious and unable to stand up and fight again. This is the end of the battle," Kehal said loudly.

Segal got up and picked up his own sword, then turned his face to look at 2 people, Deric, and Mariel for a moment. After that, he turned and walked back to join the other pupils without saying another word.

"You' re won, Brother Segal!" someone praised.

"Who can compete with our brother Segal? There is none." another person immediately added.

But Segal sat still, not feeling happy at all, and was thinking quietly.

Deric carried his unconscious daughter back to the car. Along with saying goodbye to everyone but before getting ready to start the car and preparing to go home.

Kehal then walked up to the driver's door. His gaze fell on the girl who was still asleep and unconscious. Her body was ragged with dust.

"When will your daughter be 7 years old?" Kehal asked Deric.

"About a year and 11 months," Deric replied.

Kehal closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then slowly opened his eyes.

"When Mariel reaches 7 years old, you can bring her to my sword bureau again. I will take your daughter to be 1 of my pupils. Mariel will be the first female pupil at this sword bureau. But I warned you about the training, testing, and fighting will be on par with men. There is no mercy, do you understand?" Kehal said.

"Yes, we accept the offer. Thank you very much, Kehal," Deric thanked with a smile.

"Huh, see you soon friend. And..see you later, Mariel. You are very good today. I sincerely admire you." Kehal finished, praising Mariel who was still fast asleep from exhaustion in the seat next to her father.

"Good luck, see you later." Deric said farewell and immediately drove out of Kehal Sword Bureau.

As for Kehal, he stood and watched until the car slowly disappeared from his view.

"I will train you to be a great swordswoman, Mariel!" Kehal said, feeling a sudden crush on this girl.