Abi pretended she didn’t notice them and continued her stroll. After a while, they arrived at the edge of a forest composed of tall trees with dense blue leaves. The tallest trees were at least a hundred meters tall. Their trunks were so thick than even ten men wouldn’t be sufficient to surround a single tree. Bird songs could be heard from deep within the forest which only added to it mysteriousness. Abi stopped walking momentarily. She took a glance at the blue trees, pondering a moment before heading there. She had never seen a forest like this before. It was beautiful and mysterious at the same time which piqued her curiosity. However, the stalkers chose this moment to talk.

“What a coincidence! Is this young mistress Abigaël?” Yelled someone behind her.

 “What a pleasant surprise! It’s definitely her. The flower of the Lightning clan, the top beauty of the Spirit Mountain Kingdom, Abigaël herself.” Replied another voice full of scorn.

Abi sighed and turned back. There were three teenage girls in front of her. She recognized them the moment she heard their voices as this group of three had pestered her for years. The group leader was the girl in the middle, the one named Aerin. She was from the Fire clan, a great rival of the Lightning clan since a long time. They clashed at any time, each of them vying for the title of the strongest clan in the kingdom, strongest after the royal clan of course. As a member of the Fire Clan, Aerin was one of the few people who dared to bully Abi openly. After all, she belonged to a powerful noble clan as well. The two girls had the same status, thus she wasn’t afraid of beating Abi. The other two girls were Aerin’s underlings, Menelyn and Menelia. They were twin sisters and belonged to a vassal clan of Aerin’s clan. These twin sisters followed Aerin like her shadows.

Hearing the twins, Abi’s expression remained the same as ever, she didn’t respond nor did she greet them. From her memories, Aerin and her dogs only wanted to humiliate her. They were surely preparing something. Abi didn’t say anything and just stared at the three girls with a disdainful gaze. Who did they think they were? The original Abi was weak and vulnerable but not the new one. She had practiced magic for years and had tampered herself with countless life and death battles. Facing just three teenage girls was nothing for her. Noticing her disdain, Aerin frowned.

“What's with this look? We are here to greet you and you treat us like that! No greetings at all. We all know how trashy you are but I didn’t think you were so impolite.” Aerin was not happy. One of the sisters, Menelia continued.

 “Yes, young mistress Aerin gave you face and you didn’t greet her at all. You should know your place. Weaklings like you are just good to be a servant.”

Menelyn nodded and said. “Oh, I remember something. My brother is lacking a maidservant right now. What do you think about it Abigaël? Don’t you want to fill all my brother’s needs? With a body like yours, he won’t fail to reward you greatly.” She had obviously a hint of jealousy in her high-pitched voice.

Abi remained expressionless but inwardly she was displeased. She was resisting the urge to slap these fools. The former owner of her body had a poor reputation. Although, she belonged to a powerful noble clan, she had been too weak to defend her status. In this world, the strong crushed the weak, only force was respected. No one would respect a weak person like her. She could not rely on her clan every time for protection.

Aerin was laughing. Bullying this trash was one of her favourite hobbies. Their two clans had been rivals since the founding of the Spirit Mountain Kingdom. For the younger generation of the two clans to face each other from time to time was a normal thing. It was even one of the best sources of enjoyment in the royal capital. Some people gambled on who would win a or lose certain confrontations. But no one was interested in gambling for Abi, it was meaningless. She was a weakling too easy to bully. She hadn’t won any fight against Aerin in the past so that everybody became disinterested in her. Gambling on Abi’s two brothers was more satisfying.

Aerin’s loud and exuberant laughter died down the moment she saw Abi’s reaction. The trash just smiled brightly, which only accentuated her beauty. At a moment like this, she would normally cower in fear and apologize for something she didn’t even do. However, Abi was now just looking at them while smiling. What was with this girl today? She should already panic and beg for forgiveness. So, why was she so calm?

Abi looked at Menelyn and responded. “Becoming a servant doesn’t interest me but I have heard about your brother. The rumours said he is shaped like a god with strong muscles and a handsome face. To tell you the truth, I’m quite interested. Tell him to go to the Lightning manor when he has free time. I haven’t tasted a good man for a long time and … I miss it.”

What a crude comment! Aerin and the twins were struck dumb. They were even blushing. What girl from a good family would say something like that? Let alone Abi, she was so shy that she would scream if touched by a guy and it had already happened in the past. The Abi they knew would never say something like that. For a split second, Aerin thought about a possible sham. Maybe Abi had engaged someone to lure them away and while they were bothering the fake one, the true Abi would already be somewhere else, safe and sound. This thought crossed Aerin’s mind before being dismissed entirely. There were spells which could transform one’s body but they were not accessible to anyone. Those high-level spells required a high cultivation level to use. However, while sensing Abi’s aura, Aerin discovered that she was only at level 5. She was obviously the same Abi as before but with a strange behaviour. Aerin couldn’t help but feel that something strange was going on.

Stunned for a brief moment, Aerin recovered before shouting angrily. “Why are you acting so cocky today? Do you think you can escape my punishment while acting like crazy? I just wanted to discipline you a little but I have changed my mind. You need a good beating to remember your place.”

Abi’s bright smile was replaced by a disdainful one. A good beating? After she had been transported to another world, she had faced bitter struggles. With no ally, she had to rely on herself to survive. She had experienced so many life and death battles that, even now, she was wondering how she had survived. Her slyness had surely played a big role in her survival. Unlike so many prideful mages, she would flee without hesitation if faced with overwhelming odds. If she had the advantage though, she would kill without mercy. However, her current situation was not a life and death battle. She couldn’t kill those idiots as it would cause too much ruckus. She didn’t want to break her cover so soon. However, even if killing was not an option, she could still give them a good beating.

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She also thought that it was a good opportunity to train. She had just had a breakthrough this morning, a fight was the best way to consolidate her meridians. Moreover, it was an opportunity to witness what kind of magic was used in this world. Having made up her mind, Abi’s hands flashed with a hand seal. Mana burst out from her and spread on the surroundings. It modified the wind element streams around her body which formed a whirlpool with her at the center. She was like a blackhole, sucking wind element at an insane speed. Soon her body became weightless as she floated above the ground. Not wasting time, she flew towards the forest, wanting to attract those three in a quiet place, far from anyone who could interfere.

Seeing their prey fleeing into the forest, Aerin and the twins didn’t react at first, they were too flabbergasted for that. The trash had never dared to flee in front of them before, she had no such courage. She had never fought back but always stay there obediently when listening to them. But now, she was fleeing. In the end, Aerin reacted first as she yelled at the sisters.

“Quick, let’s chase after her!” The twins came back to reality and began to also chant a spell. It took them several seconds to cast [Wind Steps]. With wind element covering their entire bodies, the three pursuers became several times faster than before. They dashed towards the forest, running at high speed.

Three girls were chasing another one inside a dense forest. From time to time, sound of explosions could be heard. Aerin and her underlings were running behind Abi for a quarter of an hour already but couldn’t catch up. Aerin would have never imagined something like that would happen. What should have been a simple bullying session had become a speed-chase across a forest. Their prey was too slippery and held an absolute advantage as she was not running but flying which made Aerin furious.

Since when had the trash mastered a flying spell like that? She could use it for so long despite her cultivation level. A level 5 mage shouldn’t be able to maintain a spell like that for very long. “Wait! Level 5. Her cultivation was level 3 one week ago. How did she…?” Aerin’s mind was spinning. Had Abi gained two levels in less than a week? Such a high cultivation speed was impossible without using some heaven defying pills. Pills which were difficult to obtain even for the Lightning clan. And even if they had obtained some, wasting it on a trash was too much of waste. Those kinds of pills should be used to help a high-level mage to advance in cultivation but not someone who had not even reach level 10.

Maybe a master alchemist had given her something but who would be so wasteful? A mage like Abi was not worthy for such a treatment. Why not just give your pill to a dog? It could make it better use of it than Abi. This girl was despised by everyone. Relying on wealth and status to get a spot at the Royal Academy of Magic? Utterly despicable!  Furthermore, her cowardly behaviour made her even more disgusting. She never fought back when provoked, always lowering her head. How could a mage act like that?

Aerin was not the only one who bullied her in school. As no one had respect for Abi, she didn’t have a single friend. With no one to defend her, and no strength to defend herself, her life within the academy was like a living hell. Aerin understood that the trash had surely used an alchemic pill to advance in cultivation. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced. “Do you think you can fight back with a cultivation like that?” Aerin snorted coldly. “Stupid girl. I am level 13 right now. I can crush you like a bug.” She extended a hand and began chanting. A ball of fire formed befor surging forth towards the object of her wrath.

[Fireball]

A rank one spell like [Fireball] was normally not very impressive. However, it was totally different in the hands of a level 13 mage. Being one of the first spells she had learned, Aerin had mastered it completely. Just after her shout, a ball of fire one-meter wide surged forward and straight at Abi. The latter avoided it though. She had even evaded it with ease, like she had eyes behind her back. Like a bird, she suddenly changed direction and the fireball slammed onto a nearby tree. An explosion followed, causing a powerful gust of wind while burning trees at the same time. Wood splinters scattered everywhere. In the hands of a 13-level mage, [Fireball] displayed its full might. However, a powerful spell had no use if it didn’t touch the target.

Menelyn and Menelia were not left out. As good underlings, it was their responsibility to support Aerin in everything she did. They were chanting spells continuously, firing [Wind Blade] from time to time. Unfortunately, they didn’t have better result that their boss. Their [Wind Blade] were always dodged, all that they were good for was cutting tree trunks or branches. Their damages output was low as well as their attack speed, which couldn’t be blamed on them. As they came from a minor clan, their talents were lower, and the resources at their disposal were not at the level of what was accessible to Aerin. Even their spells were of lower quality, needing longer cast time or more mana to use. Although, they were just wasting their mana meaninglessly, the twins continued to shoot [Wind Blade]'s without fail.

Abi avoided everything thrown at her. She was flying deeper into the forest and she wasn’t flying very quickly. It was easy to see that she could have distanced her pursuers if she wanted to but she kept flying slowly for an unknown reason. This fact didn’t escape Aerin’s notice and made her even more furious. Abi was obviously taunting her. She shot fireball after fireball but the trash managed to avoid them without any difficulty.

Avoiding those kinds of spell was child's play for Abi. After all, she had reached a high cultivation level previously. She possessed extremely kin senses and a huge amount of battle experience. Kids like Aerin and the twins couldn’t compare. Abi could perceive the tiniest amount of mana fluctuation around her and predict the fireball trajectories. She was like a ghost as she crossed the forest.

“Abigaël! Stop immediately or I will kill you. If you come here and beg for forgiveness, I will let you go with only some broken bones.” Aerin yelled, angrier than ever. No matter how many time she attacked, she couldn’t land a single fireball on the trash. Considered a genius within her generation, Aerin was proud of her talent. How could she support such a shame? Abi’s response didn’t take very long.

“I’m sorry Aerin but I don’t like being chased by women.I prefer boys. Really, I don’t want you to have false hope about me. No matter what you’ll do, I can’t reciprocate your feelings. It’s best if we avoid each other in the future.” Abi said with a sorrowful tone. Aerin almost stumbled to the ground while running. What the nonsense was she spouting? Before Aerin could respond, Abi continued with her speech.

“You have bothered me since our childhood. I didn’t understand at first but now I do. You are in love and you do everything possible to catch my attention. What a pity, I don’t have this kind of sentiment toward women. Please leave me alone. I don’t want to be part of your harem. Those two dogs of yours should suffice, don’t be too greedy!

Aerin wanted to puke. How did she arrive at such a conclusion? As for the twins, their faces became unsightly. They were being treated as harem members. It was too much this time. Aerin suddenly stopped running. Abi noticed it and stopped as well, a hundred meters away, wondering what the three were going to do. As for Aerin, she was trembling with rage. She even emitted a strong killing intent. She had always been treated as a genius by everyone which made her feel proud of herself. She was among the best mage of her generation, her name known by everyone in the whole kingdom. She was so talented that even the royal family must be respectful when dealing with her. After all, even the royal clan must respect a possible future archmagus. But this Abigaël, a weakling and total failure, was not doing what she wanted her to do. She was even mocking Aerin, spouting all kinds of nonsense. It was too infuriating.

With grit teeth, Aerin whispered with icy cold tone.

“Girls, summon your spirits right now. We will make this trash pay for all those insults.”