"You sure took your sweet time to get out of there." Disha was waiting for Ashton for more than a couple of hours, "For a second I thought you died or something. So which place did you get?"
Ashton was the last person to get scanned, and hence it took him some time to get out of the academy. Honestly, he was hoping he wouldn't see any of the mistress's disciples even though he knew it was nothing more than wishful thinking.
He was an asset to the mistress, why the hell would she leave him alone after all she had done 'for him'?
"First place," Ashton mumbled as if it was nothing special and kept walking.
It took a couple of seconds for Disha to realise what Ashton had just said. But even then, she had to confirm it for herself.
"First? Are you for real?"
"Yeah, why? Is there something wrong?"
"tell me everything that happened."
As they made their way towards where the mistress was staying, Ashton narrated everything he could remember to Disha. Who ended up being more and more surprised the more Ashton talked. By the time their tale was over, both of them had arrived at the rented cottage the mistress had booked.
It wasn't anything lavish, but it was much more comfortable than many other lodgings available there. To Ashton's surprise, the human slave couple whom the officers had been bullying, were being treated inside.
While half a dozen officers were standing in the middle of the room completely naked, on their knees and appeared as if they had been dragged back to earth from the edge of hell. Their blood was everywhere around the lodge.
Ashton didn't know what to make out of it. On one hand, he was happy that the humans were safe. But on the other hand, he was wondering what the hell was the mistress planning to do with the officers.
But the moment, he saw the mistress... he realised there was something wrong with the Mistress. She appeared to be stronger. Much stronger than Ashton could have even imagined. Obviously, it was just a hunch because the system still classified her as 'Extremely dangerous'.
The aura around her sent shivers down Ashton's spine. He was literally shaking there just by being around her. The bodyguards around the mistress weren't ferrying well either. They too were struggling to keep themselves together. But unlike Ashton, they were doing a pretty good job at controlling their fear.
"Calm down and breathe slowly... you have been holding it in for more than five minutes."
Suddenly Disha hissing voice brought him back to his senses and he started breathing again. But at that moment, his perception of the mistress had shattered completely. The levels he had presumed her to be on... no longer seemed valid.
'She had been hiding her real strength all this time?' Ashton thought as a bead of sweat trickled down his face, 'Is this even her real strength. or is she still holding back?'
The officers of Contingent were much stronger than any of the bodyguards. Even if all of them combined their strength, they would have only been able to take care of one or maybe two of them at most.
But there they were, six guards in a state so miserable that even Ashton got the creeps. It was clear that the mistress had done this to them herself. With that, came another realisation... a realisation about why the hell did no one bother her even though she was openly hostile towards the king of Lycania.
It was because they knew confronting her head-on would be a foolish move. to eliminate her, they would have to take heavy losses as well, which would then make it a perfect opportunity for the neighbouring kingdoms to try and invade them.
The King and the mistress were at a stalemate. That's why she needed a weapon to overcome the deadlock ensure her victory.
A moment later, mistress realised that Ashton was there and almost immediately the hostile aura around her dissipated. The look of rage was still evident on her face, but for some reason, Ashton felt a bit more comfortable now without the constant pressure of the Mistress's strength looming over his head like a guillotine.
'I wanted to kill her? I can't even harm a single strand of her hair as I am now.' Ashton could feel his dead heart beating inside his chest as if he had just finished a marathon.
"Ah, you're here." The mistress calmly walked over to them while her bodyguards dragged the officers and the slaves away, "It took a bit longer than I expected it would. So, how did he do?"
"Pretty good. I think the Director has taken an interest in him. That was the reason he was the last to walk out of the campus." Disha replied with a worrisome smile on her face, "Don't know whether it's a good thing or not. But she apparently handed the first position over to him."
The Mistress nodded her head before extending her hand towards Ashton, "Open your information tab. I want to see something."
Ashton knew better than to argue with her so he did as he was told. Unlike last time, Mistress was looking at the tab intently as if she knew there was something more hidden underneath what Ashton was showing her. Still, she had no way to uncover the secret of Ashton being a tribrid being.
"Wait a minute... since when did you have the [Aggravate] skill?" Mistress's eyes seemed to have caught on to something.
"I received it from the golden skill page I was awarded..." Ashton mumbled a reply.
Neither the Mistress nor Disha spoke a word for what seemed like minutes. They just stared at each other intently before the Mistress broke into maniacal laughter. Disha too was smiling but she had herself under control.
"it would appear you are really one lucky rascal Ashton!" The mistress managed to say between her fits of laughter and patted him on the head, "You ended up obtaining one of the five rarest skills a werewolf can have. That too at such a young age!"
Ashton was left even more perplexed after hearing the Mistress's words. What was such a big deal about this skill after all? But before he could ask her about it, the Mistress decided it was time to have dinner and call it a day.. Leaving Ashton with his word thoughts.