CLAANGG!
A sound of a breaking metal weapon echoed in the corridor of the glorious temple of War. It was a common thing in this War temple - the home of hundreds warrior-priests.
In a small bedroom on the East side of the grand temple, a priestess quickly sat up on her bed, like she had just escaped a nightmare.
“Where the fuck am I?”
The priestess covered her face by both hands, trying to figure out the current situation.
“I was sleeping on my bed, and then...”
She walked up inside this strange room. Her soul had possessed a body living in a fantasy world!
Unfamiliar memory flowed into her head like a waterfall pouring into a small pot. Her head felt like it would crack any moment while heavy memories were smashing her thin mentality. The name of this body was Eithne Noceur. The last name Noceur indicated her position as a priestess belonged to Chaos faction in the temple of War god.
The disciples of the War God were divided into four factions: Chaos, Warriors, Dread, Wrath. Each faction took the name of the holy beasts that served the War God as their last name, respectively: Noceur, Moros, Tuhka, Ragnar. In Eithne’s case, it was the holy serpent Noceur.
The new soul that took over the priestess’s body realized a serious fact. This priestess was not a random stranger, Eithne Noceur was a side character in a comic that she had read the night before.
“M*****F******! I’m screwed!”
She could not help but to blurt out some coarse words. It could have been a great advantage if she remembered the plot, but the comic mainly focused on romantic moments of the main couple, while many side characters were thrown aside with no major development so she couldn't care less about them. After scanning through a few chapters to kill some time, she deemed the story to be a waste of time and paid little attention to the plot. Despite that, she still remembered the tragic fate of this character.
Eithne Noceur was a distant relative of the male lead, who would commit a grave sin and receive punishment from the High Priest of the War temple. It seemed that even the War God had abandoned her for her terrible deed, she could not use her holy power properly and fail to protect herself against the High Priest, which led to Eithne’s demise.
“Horrible…” – She thought.
As for the detail of her grave sin… Eithne squeezed her forehead, she did not remember the detail.
Luckily, the current 'Eithne Noceur' had not done something terrible, at least that was what recorded in the memory she received.
The original 'Eithne Noceur' had already sensed the dwindling of her power. Perhaps the original priestess's resentment after knowing God abandoned her contributed to her later transgression in the original story. Regardless, everything was just a wild guess. The comic did not even bother to explain the actual reason of her losing power.
Having read countless fantasy novels where the main characters were transported to another worlds, Eithne knew there was not a single character that could easily go back to their home world. She had better live as Eithne Noceur from now on, at least in couples of years before she could find a way to go back home.
“Okay, I just need to stay still and make sure not to do something stupid…”
Eithne took a deep breath and calmed herself down, thinking that she could lay low to avoid any attention from everyone, especially the scary High Priest.
"I will not get into trouble..."
Woefully, the previous priestess was the type of person seeking for trouble. Eithne who took on her body naturally would take on the mess that 'she' left behind.
Bang! Bang!
Someone slammed her bedroom’s door loudly. He shouted:
“Hey little punk! Quit pretending to be sick and come fight me!”
What the fuck? Eithne startled.
“…”
After a few minutes, the stranger outside heard no response from the priestess, he said:
“I’m at the sparring ground waiting for you, coward. This time, I will definitely beat you up.”
Beat… who? Me?? Her eyes dilated with fear.
Eithne did what she did when she was a little kid at home alone, pretending to be invisible when there was a stranger knocking on the door. She heard his footstep going far and scratched her head in frustration.
How was she going to deal with this?
No other option, Eithne had to step out of this room eventually, because the kitchen providing food and the bathroom was far from her room.
The previous owner of this body had a rival, his name was Hesata Ragnar. Their fighting abilities used to be on the same level, but since the god decided to abandon his daughter, Eithne were losing her holy power and had almost lost in her last sparring match.
“This is scary…”
She thought, knowing that she was not good at fighting in her home world. She had the memory of Eithne Noceur, but there was no way that she could fight like the real priestess of War.
Eithne decided to ignore the duel challenge from that priest. She would stay in her room a few more hours, then Hesata Ragnar might give up.
She walked toward the large mirror in her room. This priestess looked like a person who was inapproachable. Her figure was tall and elegant. Her hair, bore the resemblance of dried straw, was cut to shoulder length. Her golden eyes which were cold like the holy serpent that 'she' worshipped, they judged herself in the mirror. No expression could be seen on her face, as if it was the original priestess's habit to hide her true feelings.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Eithne touched her black uniform. The priestess had a vigorous body, a six-pack belly that Eithne could never achieve back in her home world. The original Eithne Noceur was a strong fighter, even if she had been lazy in her room for weeks, she still gave off a dangerous aura.
Hah.… Eithne sighed.
She looked out the window. It was midday. There was nothing that she could do for now, so Eithne decided to take a nap.
--
Five hours later.
--
Eithne sneakily got out of her room.
“Hey! You finally got out of your den.”
A man's voice startled her.
What the heck? Eithne frowned.
She saw the same priest who had asked for a duel. He hopped out from who knew where and obstructed her path. Had he been waiting since the afternoon? It was evening now.
They were standing in a long corridor of the priests’ accommodation area in the temple. Eithne were planning to go to the kitchen when she encountered Hesata Ragnar.
Eithne tried to speak calmly, while her heart was racing like a motor.
“I’m not going to fight you today. I have other business to do.” Other business such as eating and pooping.
Eithne walked past him.
However, Hesata Ragnar would never let go of his opponent. He was a proud priest of Warriors faction in the temple of War. His opponent was a person carrying the last name of Noceur from Chaos faction, which was the strongest faction despite its tiny number of members. There were only two members of Chaos faction in this temple of War god and entire kingdom: the High Priest and Eithne Noceur. There was no slightest chance that Hesata could fight against the High Priest, so if he could defeat Eithne, his position and reputation would be raised much higher in this temple and entire country.
The imagination of achieving victory against such a priestess had fully excited Hesata Ragnar.
“Where are you going? What an unsightly scene that a War priest run away from a battle.” – He tried to provoke Eithne.
The original Eithne Noceur would react fiercely, but she did not bat an eye this time. Eithne just wanted to avoid fighting at all costs, because she was not confident in her defending skill at all, let alone fighting to win. Eithne ignored Hesata and walked faster.
"Hmm…"
Hesata Ragnar looked at Eithne’s back and rubbed his chin. If she did not want to go to the sparring ground with him, they could not fight outside. The temple's rule forbid them from fighting outside the designated area.
However, Hesata and Eithne were usually the troublemakers that never fully obeyed the rules of the temple. Hesata checked the surroundings. There were very few people around this place at this time.
As long as the High Priest did not leave his office on the second floor, he would not care if they caused small ruckus.
“Alright then.”
Hesata smirked, he cracked his knuckles. The priest quickly caught up with Eithne and launched a sudden attack.
Eithne flinched and dodged the punch that slipped past her cheek. She stepped back and looked at Hesata in shock. Was it the difference in culture that people acted this way? They fought without a reason and prior notice like that all the time?
Hesata Ragnar did not stop there, he kicked at Eithne’s side. The priestess dodged the kick and other consecutive leg attacks from Hesata. The War priest’s attacks were extremely fast and steady, since he had practiced fighting for his whole life. His fighting was something that could only be seen in animated movies, yet it was happening right before her eyes and even more skillful than what she could imagine!
At the same time, it was also surprising that Eithne could really keep up with his speed without a single drop of sweat, solely relying on this body former experience. She only focused on dodging.
"Amazing…" - Eithne thought.
Were her old body to fight against Hesata, she could have been minced from the first punch. But now she had possessed Eithne Noceur’s good physique, so things might be much different than her expectation.
Eithne tried to fight back for the first time.
“What’s the matter? Why don’t you fight back?”
Hesata said provokingly, but he was cautiously checking if Eithne had something up her sleeves. He decided to attack faster, throwing punches and kicks at faster speed so Eithne had no spare time to think.
Eithne swiftly looked at the weak spot on Hesata’s neck. She parried his kick with her knee, dodged the punch passing her shoulder, and grasped his right arm to pull him closer. Hesata flinched, bended his body to escape her grasp, but Eithne’s arm swing was faster. She stepped one step closer and aimed for his neck.
In that crucial moment, Eithne did not realize that she unconsciously activated the holy power within her body, which concentrate on her hand like a sharp knife that was ready to stab her opponent’s neck.
Hesata Ragnar felt his life threatened by Eithne Noceur for the first time of his life. Goosebumps appeared on his neck along with cold sweat. Right before the knife made of Chaos holy power could touch his neck, Hesata Ragnar's holy power expanded from his body to destroy the knife and force Eithne to step back.
He concentrated the power in his hand, it immediately turned into a bright flame spear.
“Ha! Vicious like a snake, aren’t you?”
Hesata smirked, but he was shocked inside. He realized Eithne’s fighting style was changed. She used to fight him in a straightforward manner, swinging her large sword to clash against his spear and barely dodged. Even though they fought a lot, they never actually aimed at each other's lives. But today, Hesata sensed the wicked intent in Eithne's movement.
"Eithne Noceur..." - Hesata murmured.
She was ominous as a poisonous snake waiting for the right moment to bite, which truly matched the crest of a serpent on her chest.
Eithne did not show any emotion on her face, but her thoughts were a mess. She had used the holy power somehow, but it was faint and easy to be broken by Hesata’s power. Then, this crazy guy summoned a big, frightening fire spear that seemed ready to burn anything touched it. Eithne did not have enough power to stop this attack!
Run. She decided.
Hesata Ragnar felt his blood boiling. He was really excited that his opponent did not let things go easily. He would rather lose than having to fight an easy target. It was the spirit of Warriors faction of the temple of War.
Seeing Eithne ran away, Hesata threw his spear without further thinking.
BAAANG !!!
The spear struck the ground where Eithne had just stood. She managed to roll over to avoid the damage from the destructive fire.
A large hole appeared on the marble floor of the temple. Eithne flopped on the ground next to the large sink hole, she mumbled.
“Crazy…”
She did not dare to think what would happen if she were hit by that fire spear. How could a human possess such destructive power?
“Huh?”
The person who caused that sink hole raised his eyebrows. How odd it was that Eithne Noceur did not fend off just a simple fire spear. However, Hesata did not have much time to think. Many other priests gathered around the fighting scene, some of them had already ran off to report to the High Priest as soon as they saw Hesata Ragnar used his power.
“What are you doing?”
An angry voice stopped the fighting instantly. A woman in her late thirties walked in the path that other priests made for her. Her long chestnut hair was tied up neatly in a low bun, and her eyes shone an aura of a mountain tiger that easily inflicted fear to anyone had the guts to challenge her authority. It was the Vice High Priestess, who was in charged of the Dread faction of the temple of War.
Hesata Ragnar and Eithne Noceur lowered their heads as low as possible. While Hesata were trying to make up an excuse, Eithne cursed him endlessly in her head.
Whose fault was it that they had to face the wrath of the Vice High Priestess?
He started the fight!