“Good. Why don’t you start off by telling me a little more about this Battle Maiden Sect? What do they teach there? Is it only fighting? How strong is everyone there? How does one enter the sect? Why should I join the Battle Maiden Sect over the other sects?” Mira started to bombard Ellie with questions and this caused Ellie to finally wake up and realize what was going on.

“Eh? What’s going on? I thought you were going to kill Diana!” Ellie started to scream and Maria was the one to talk first.

“She wasn’t going to kill you as she figured it’d bring too much trouble towards herself. But it seems my friend here insists on you answering her questions as… payment for keeping you alive.” Maria said that last part in a low voice as it sounded extremely domineering. Mira just nodded and repeated her questions. Ellie was a bit surprised that this is all she wanted to know.

“Well, most of the answers to those questions aren’t exactly a secret, but I can give you a bit more information than what you might find elsewhere. Like the name of the sect suggests, we only accept women at the Battle Maiden Sect. The sect was made to prevent guys from going too far with their lust on girls in the sect, but it’s also proof that even though there may be fewer female cultivators, that doesn’t mean they are any weaker. They teach a lot of stuff at the Battle Maiden Sect. Fighting, alchemy, inscriptions, some arrays but not much, how to train and refine your body even at later cultivations, and also teach you a little about magical beasts. If the right person takes you in as a disciple, they can also teach you about Daos as well. I know that there are 4 other sects in the city and the Battle Maiden Sect seems like it’s able to do what the other 4 sects do, but the other sects know a bit more regarding the specific areas that they teach. Like the Immortal Sword Sect knows a lot more about fighting with the sword and has better Sword Art Manuals. The Divine Beast Sect knows and trains people how to train and fight with their magical beasts. They also have the most information regarding magical beasts and people from this sect are very annoying to deal with. The 8 Profound Elements Sect mainly deals with understanding elemental Daos and how to best utilize and fight with their Dao. And the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect is basically an alchemy sect, but almost nobody touches them because good alchemists are rather rare. Each Sect has a specialty but still teaches them how to fight as well. Just maybe not as good as some of the battle-oriented Sects.” Ellie stopped for a second before continuing.

“The Battle Maiden Sect specializes in accepting only women and teach everything that the other sects teach, but maybe not as good in some areas. Like our Alchemy teachings aren’t as good as the Heaven-Defying Pill Sect and our Elders don’t know as much about Magical Beasts as the Divine Beast Sect. Even though the Battle Maiden Sect doesn’t necessarily specialize in a single thing, that doesn’t mean they are weak. In terms of fighting power, we can be ranked 2nd among the 5. The Immortal Sword Sect is number one as fighting is the only thing they do there. But in terms of the Sect as a whole, it should be classified as the number 1 Sect. But we only accept women. As far as the strength of everyone there. Most are in the Qi Condensation Realm. Core Disciples are generally in the Foundation Realm and the Elders there are in the Core Formation Realm. It’s not confirmed, but there are rumors that the Ancestor at this branch Sect is at the realm above Core Formation, the Nascent Soul Realm, but this is only a rumor. Like I just mentioned, this is only a branch Sect and the Main Sect is located near the Center Continent. We hold an Entrance Examination every 3 years for those who want to enter the Sect. The next one starts in about 6 months and all you have to do is pass the exam. I don’t know the details of the exam though as it changes every year. The main reason for you to join this Sect is that you are a female. Though the other reasons are that the teachings for the other jobs and subjects are top notch and just a step below those that specialize in their respective fields. That’s the general idea of the Sect as a whole, if you want to know more then you just have to join the sect.” Ellie finished talking about the Battle Maiden Sect.

“I see. That’s very interesting. It’s true that the biggest appeal to joining this sect is that it is strictly female. Though the other aspects of the Sect also seem good as well, so there is really no downside to joining the sect. This might be a sect worth considering since I lack a lot of information regarding the cultivation world and I’m only good at fighting. For now, I will put this aside as it’s still 6 months away.” Mira muttered as joining a Sect like this seemed much better than being a rogue cultivator that is scrounging the world for any benefit she can find.

“Maybe I’ll be able to find something I’m good at there! Mira, we should think about joining this Sect! Six months is plenty of time to prepare too!” Maria started to get excited as ever since Mira mentioned joining a Sect, that’s what she wanted to do. Mira just nodded her head. Mira got what she needed here and stood up and immediately picked up Rhydian.

“Let’s go, Maria. There’s no reason for us to stay here anymore.” Mira said as she turned around to leave. But Ellie stopped her.

“Wait! At least stay until Diana wakes up! You’re the one that did that to her, at least stay and help me keep guard until she wakes up.” Ellie pleaded as Maria also stated that she was going to stay. Mira just sighed and started to feel a headache coming on. Mira hated people like that Diana girl, people who just charge in without even knowing what’s going on. This reminded her of Maria, but Maria didn’t enjoy fighting and only did it when it was necessary or whenever Mira forced her to fight.

“No. Maria can stay with you if she wants to, but I have no reason to guard someone who should be thankful she’s still alive right now. Have Vulcan lead you to me when you are done here, Maria.” Mira said as she ran off with Rhydian to continue their training.

***

Maria stayed with Ellie to wait for Diana to wake up. Ellie also felt a bit relieved that Mira didn’t stay with her and only Maria did. Ellie gets stressed out just trying to have a conversation with Mira.

“Is she your friend? Is she always like that? I don’t know how you can be friends with her.” Ellie started talking to Maria normally because Maria just gave off an innocent aura and always had a smile on her face.

“I guess you could call us friends. I consider her my friend, but I don’t know what she thinks. And I’d say yes, she is always like that. Though, I’m still a little surprised that she didn’t kill you. But she did have a valid reason not to. But I stick with her because I enjoy her company and how she always acts with 100% confidence. But I wouldn’t point your weapon at her again as she will definitely kill you on the spot.” Maria said as she also gave her piece of advice. Ellie gulped when she heard this. She remembered back to when Diana got incapacitated in a split second. Mira didn’t even use a weapon to do that. What was she like with a weapon? Ellie shook her head at these thoughts as she wasn’t even confident that she could fight Mira when she wasn’t even using a weapon.

“Does she use a weapon by chance?” Ellie asked a little nervously.

“Eh? Yeah, she uses a scythe. Though she proclaims that she is at the Grand Master level in unarmed combat. I think she might be more skilled without a weapon, but I’ve never seen anyone last longer than 3 moves with her in unarmed combat. But she is extremely terrifying to fight when she uses her scythe though.” If Mira heard what Maria was saying about her to some random person, she would also knock Maria out.

“Anyways, are you thinking about wanting to join the Battle Maiden Sect?” Ellie asked and Maria nodded.

The two kept talking about different things and waited until Diana woke up. It took a couple of hours before Diana started to open her eyes.

Maria and Ellie stopped talking and walked over to Diana.

“Ahhh. OUCH! My neck! What happened?!” Diana took in a deep breath when she woke up but soon felt pain in her neck as she wondered what happened to her.

p “You were knocked out by my friend. I apologize on her behalf.” Maria said to her as she checked to make sure she was alright.

“Ah! It’s you! You were the one that Ellie was pointing her spear at!” Diana exclaimed as she recognized Maria’s face. Diana then tried to take out her sword before Ellie stopped her.

“Stop, Diana. They meant us no harm. I was just asking them some questions when you attacked them out of nowhere. You should apologize for your recklessness, Diana! You always do this! One day it will get you killed.” Ellie scolded Diana as this time was way too close. They were completely at the mercy of Mira. Diana put her head down a bit in shame as she realized that she almost died, and she didn’t even know how it happened. She then looked around for Mira as she wanted to apologize, but wasn’t able to find her.

“Where is she? I don’t see her.” Diana asked.

“She left a while ago. She said that you should be thankful you are still alive right now and that she had no reason to stay.” Ellie said and Diana got a bit agitated from that comment, but couldn’t say anything.

“Well, now that you are awake it’s time for me to leave and go find her. Maybe we will see you two at the Entrance Examination.” Maria said as she got up to leave with Vulcan, but both Diana and Ellie stopped her.

“Wait! If you are going deeper into the forest, can we go with you? We were sent here on a mission for the sect and we still haven’t completed it.” Ellie asked nervously and Maria just scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

“Well, I don’t mind. But I don’t know how Mira will react. She already doesn’t like you. I think as long as you don’t bother her too much, then she won’t mind as long as it’s only for a short while. But please don’t bother her too much and definitely don’t point your weapons at her.” Maria pleaded as both of them nodded their heads in understanding.

“Let’s go then. Vulcan, lead me to Mira!” Maria said to Vulcan as the little fox nodded his head in understanding. The 4 of them set off to find Mira.