Ascension of the Goddess of Decay

Lia slowly raised her head to look at the girl who slammed her hand down on the desk.

The girl was dressed in a set of thin white leather armor. The straps and buckles connecting the leather were colored an icy, almost pale, blue. Her hair was tied back into a high pony tail and her bangs hung low on her head, nearly covering her left eye.

Lia's first thought was: 'She is sort of cute. Nowhere near as cute as Lacey though.'

Despite her thoughts, the girl had a familiar air about her. Lia narrowed her eyes.

"Quite a rude entrance. Do you have something you wish to say?" Her words came across even and cordial. Perhaps as a testament to her royal upbringing, she masked her incredibly deep annoyance behind her words. Though such a deep annoyance was impossible to mask completely.

Meanwhile, the girl just stared at Lia for almost a full minute before speaking.

"I do. Everyone believes you, Lia Darkova, to be the strongest out of our class. Why is it that you dropped out of the tournament, and why have you not formally challenged anyone to a duel?

If you are indeed the strongest, you should make that known!"

The girl seemed to almost be scolding Lia. The girl on the receiving end of this...verbal slap on the wrist...well, she was very clearly not pleased by the girl's words.

Lia's face flashed with a deep hatred, but it was rapidly replaced with a mask of indifference.

"I do not care about you or being the strongest. I am here to learn and that is the end of this...debate. If you are here in an attempt to scold me for minding my own business, perhaps you should take this chance to learn from me.

Minding your own business is an incredible skill, at which, you seem to be severely lacking. Someone might take offense to your words and crush your skull like a pumpkin next time."

Despite Lia's obviously cold words, the girl did not say anything more and simply scoffed before walking away. Lia was sure she did not possess friends. With an attitude like that, who would even want to speak with her?

.....

Lia, Lacey, and Sisha discussed for the remainder of the class what their course of action for this dungeon excursion would be. It was eventually decided that Lia and Lacey would pair up.

Sisha was the one to suggest it. The snake-featured girl apparently had a rather interesting teammate in mind. Supposedly, Sisha and her friend were studying Poison Magic together in their free-time.

.....

Lia moved slowly through the darkened corridor, she took only one step at a time. Her wings were nowhere to be seen, and she wore a darkened cloak-a hood covering her head.

Hysteria dripped with fresh blood. With each person she came across, another body would hit floor. Typically, it only took one or two slashes before her targets were dead.

She ducked an axe swing and immediately countered with a slash at her enemy's abdomen. He doubled over in pain and Lia immediately decapitated him.

She took one step forward, leaning down as her blade found purchase in an oncoming attacker's stomach. Mana swirled around the blade as she slashed it out, cutting a large portion of the enemy's torso.

She continued walking through the corridor, anyone she came across was swiftly transformed into a corpse on the floor, even the gods would not halt her in this gruesome quest. Before long, she stood before a closed door.

Her eyes hardened as she kicked outwards. The door buckled in response and collapsed onto the ground and she stepped inside.

Dozens of enemies were surrounding the door, as if they were awaiting her arrival. Her eyes flashed with a dull gray color and she began walking forward.

A dull gray beam of energy shot from her eyes and she continued walking as the beam collided with the first enemy. His body immediately began to melt upon contact with the strange magic.

Without even a hint of care, Lia began walking towards the throne as the beam bounced from target to target. Each one hit slowly melted into a pile of gore.

She stopped in front of the throne to see a dessicated corpse, her eyes flashing with an intense amount of hatred upon the sight.

She recognized her easily, but the hatred that surged from her didn't stem from the corpse itself, but rather what was done to it.

She only glanced away for a brief moment as the corpse was pulled into Lia's shadow. She turned around and slowly walked towards the exit, not bothering to look even once at the piles of melted humanoids.

.....

Lia's eyes snapped open in her bed, she was covered in sweat. The dream she had instantly melted from her mind as soon as she awoke, and her body swiftly pumped adrenaline through her-the intensity of her dream remained despite the fact that she could not remember it.

She took a couple long breaths before she started calming down. The rage that arose from within her body threatened to drown her mind.

It took Lia almost 10 full minutes to regain her bearings, but eventually, she stood up and headed towards the kitchen. According to her internal clock, she had approximately 2 hours before her first class.

Lia has had a few nightmares before, but none of them as strong as the one she just awoke from. Even as the memory of what it entailed left her mind, she still held the emotions.

The dark and all-consuming rage, the brutal quest for whatever task she was meant to be carry out. The sheer determination and unwavering pursuit filled her mind with thoughts: 'What could cause those kinds of feelings?'

She came up with only one answer: "Lia, Sisha." She spoke the words out loud and stood up, her eyes widening into shock.

She stood up and before anyone could blink, she was sprinting through the academy.