Blood spurted, tainting the grass red.
Apollo stared at the head that rolled to the side, his eyes unwavering. "That's what you deserve."
Shaking his head, he searched the body of the headless Bernie and found a scroll and a pouch filled with a few silver coins. Apollo didn't open it yet, even though he was curious about its contents. But if he were to guess, it was probably the technique Bernie used to send red whirlwinds. You said you stole something, right? This must be it.
This will be mine now, so your efforts won't be in vain, Apollo thought with a cunning smile on his face.
After putting the scroll inside his robe, Apollo took all the silver coins from the pouch before putting it back. Then he glanced around the training ground and started walking back. Although he didn't manage to use the other movements from the Simple Sword Technique, Apollo was more than satisfied knowing the capability of the technique.
Cutting people's skills and abilities sounds cool, though I still don't know its limitations, Apollo thought.
Soon, his figure disappeared into the streets.
The only thing that remained in the training ground was the headless body of Bernie and the broken scarecrows scattered across the ground.
Time passed, the moon descended into the horizon as the clouds changed positions and shapes. Then the sunlight peeked through from the east, adding warmth to the residue from the cold night.
"What the h*ll?!" a martial student shouted first thing in the morning when he arrived at the training ground. Seeing the headless body and smelling the scent of blood permeating the air, the martial student couldn't help but throw up his breakfast.
Soon, more people arrived and the news quickly spread.
"Let me through," someone said. Although the voice wasn't loud, the people in the area could still hear it clearly as it was imbued with Qi that helped the speaker to say it directly into the receivers' ears. This requires great control of Qi and isn't something a Foundation Building Cultivator could easily learn.
The martial students turned to the sound and saw a man wearing a dark grey robe with a bamboo hat on top of his head.
"Sir Guo is here, make way!"
Sir Guo walked towards the headless body, a frown appearing on his face when he recognized the person. "Bernie." He knelt on one knee, touched the cold body, and immediately estimated the time of death.
It happened last night, around the time I left, Sir Guo thought. He then began searching the thin man's body and only found an empty pouch. Shaking his head, he stood up and glanced at the half scarecrows. He walked towards the nearest and inspected the training dummy.
"A solid cut… such swordsmanship," Sir Guo's face turned dark. He couldn't detect a trace of Qi behind the slash. It's like the scarecrow was cut purely based on strength and swordsmanship. But that's impossible.
This scarecrow is Qi reinforced and only those who have reached Qi Condensation can damage this training dummy… unless the person who did this is solely focused on cultivating their body, a Physical Cultivator. And this person is also capable of using a sword.
No person came to his mind, causing the frown on Sir Guo's face to worsen.
"Yeah, that's what I heard. It happened this morning in the training ground," a woman wearing a white maid outfit that reached her legs whispered to another maid beside her.
"I know, right? The big event is coming soon and something happens. I think it's a bad omen."
"Shh, don't say things like that. What if it becomes true? Anyway, the world is dangerous. It's better if we behave and don't go out at night."
"You're right, and don't offend anyone!"
Suddenly, both of them stopped in their tracks and saw someone walking towards them. They immediately stood up straight and bowed simultaneously.
"Good morning, Miss Bel!" the two maids greeted the newcomer at the same time.
"Good morning," Bel greeted back, putting down a bucket of water before helping them up. "You don't have to bow when you see me. I'm a maid, remember?"
"B-but," the two looked at each other before staring back at Bel. Seeing her serious eyes, they let out a sigh of defeat. "Alright, Miss Bel."
"Good," Bel said with a chuckle. She was wearing the same outfit as them, a white maid attire that reached her legs. However, compared to them, her beauty and fair skin made it seem like her clothes were just sleeping attire, comforting and pleasing to the eyes.
Being a maid until the day before the Advancement Examination began was her punishment after her father found out that she had sneaked out of the mansion to find the missing heir of Leone.
Her injury was also healed around this time, leaving nothing but fair skin behind.
Furthermore, she had a talk with her father and some important family members. She personally requested this meeting, and at first, her father seemed reluctant, but in the end, he caved in.
She recounted to them what had happened in the forest. Bel also specifically described how her savior saved her, putting great emphasis on his good deeds. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to ask for his name. After that, Bel told them what she saw when she and her savior were about to escape from the forest. As she expected, the family members were shocked.
Nonetheless, she was still punished. Well, it's not like she was expecting to be absolved of her misdeed.
June, her personal bodyguard, was also punished, which greatly saddened Bel. She felt remorse for her actions, and no matter how much she pleaded, her father was still adamant about punishing June.
In the end, she was tasked with being a maid while June had to guard the front gate, alone.
"What are you guys talking about?" Bel asked, curious about their gossip.
"It's about what happened this morning in the training ground," one of the maids said.
"What about it?" Bel tilted her head.
"Someone died, beheaded."
"Woah? Really?" Bel raised an eyebrow. "Probably some egotistical scion did that."
"Yeah, that's what we think too. But rumors said that the person who died had stolen a cultivation technique."
They talked about the incident for a while before someone approached Bel.
"Miss Bel, your father is asking for your presence," a butler wearing a black suit bowed.
"Oh? Is that so? Then let's go," Bel said to the butler before she turned to the two maids. "Let's chat again sometime."
"Alright, take care, Miss Bel!"