Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Brother Mourad! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!" A gentle voice of a girl called after knocking on the door.

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The man she called is currently lying on the bed and has already woken up for a while. However, he decided to stay on the bed as he doesn't like to move for the day. He knows that If he gets up now and finishes his breakfast, he would have to fix himself up and attend the training…

"Mhmm… I'll go now… Go ahead first."

Mourad answered.

Bam!

The door suddenly opened as the young girl forced herself in.

"What are you saying? There's no way you'll follow once I leave… Don't skip the training again!"

The young girl, or Mourad's sibling, knows him well. She has short brown hair and wears a black hairband over her head.

Her age is about 8 or 9 years old and wearing her loose training hall uniform. She's really eager to attend that class which is very surprising for a young girl.

Mourad still recalls that there wasn't anyone like that during his generation… Everyone one of them wanted to skip the training and just play around.

"Hey, I only skipped for about five or six times… How could you say that?!"

Mourad defended himself as he finally sits on his bed. Anyway, since his younger sister is already here, she'll definitely not stopping until he followed her to eat his breakfast…

"Heh… I think you're just scared of your instructor… But I heard that he's actually kind."

"Kind?! No way! He just wanted to beat up his students!" Mourad answered as he stood up to leave the room.

He just washed his face for a bit using a basin filled with cold water before sitting together with her younger sister to finally have their meal.

They were leftover food last night but still enough to fill their stomach. It's not easy to procure food in this place so they are not allowed to waste any of them.

"Where's dad?" Mourad asked after noticing that there's only the two of them in their house. Their father would normally leave after they left for the training hall.

"He said that they'll be catching some Melody Geese today…"

"Those birds… They can only be found somewhere at the Poison River. There's a lot of Golden Bears in that place, right?"

"Mhmm… I heard that it's a difficult task so one of the female instructors would be joining their hunt for today…"

"Whoa… I wish I could join them instead… I want to see her fight for real." Mourad muttered as he finishes their meal. It was a piece of wolf's meat seasoned with spices and some vegetables that they're growing outside their house.

He's afraid of the Evil Beasts outside their territory but being together with those female instructors is reassuring… They are really strong in combat, especially with the art of swords.

"Which instructor are you talking about?" He asked before gulping his water.

"It's Instructor Ayumi… Do you like her?" The young girl asked.

Mourad could only shake his head before answering…

"What kind of question is that? Who wouldn't like her? Haa~ You're lucky that your instructors are all beautiful… Urgh, why is Sir Ruthren so scary?"

"What? At least he's strong! I heard that he married Ayumi and the others and they were all living together…"

"Haha… That's where you're wrong, Saira… I already asked him about that! He said that they were not in a relationship… I still have a chance!" Mourad said filled with determination.

Saira, his little sister, was impressed by his brother's resolve. She can only pray that he wouldn't hurt himself too much once he got rejected.

They walked together going to the training hall at the center of their village. The village they're in is completely hidden and could never be found easily unless you have the ability to fly.

If their village is seen from afar, they will only see a forest and a plateau somewhere at the center…

The plateau is very steep and also difficult to climb due to the nature of the rocks it was made of.

On the other hand, if someone is flying, they will notice that the plateau doesn't have a flat surface above it and was hallowed.

This is where their village is located and someone can only enter and exit from this place if permitted by the people guarding the secret tunnels.

"Right, brother! Have you heard about the new students? I heard that they've transferred from another village…"

"Ohh… I heard that. They're similar to my age… About 19 to 20 years old as well. What about them?"

"Nothing, I just heard that Instructor Mio and Minami talking to each other. They seem to be planning to create another ranking test…"

Saira said after recalling the other two female instructors' words.

"What? Is that true? Isn't that a lot of work? Urgh…"

"Don't worry, brother. It's not like you'll reach the top 30 or 50… So you won't be tired in this ranking test."

Saira replied without any sarcasm… She's telling the truth so Maured can't answer back. However, he still felt a bit of pain after being told by his little sister like that.

'Hmph… It's not like I wanted to be on top.' He told to himself to raise his mood.

As soon as they've gotten near the training hall, they saw the other students coming in as well…

The gate to the training hall is opened and they saw the huge building made of the finest wood in the region. It wasn't as big as this before but after the appearance of the five guardians and currently sword instructors, the place was reconstructed to train the younger generation.

"Mourad! Mourad! I heard that the instructors are planning to redo the ranking test… The elites from the other villages have also arrived…"

"Mhmm… But why are you worrying about this? I'm sure that our elites would still take the top five in this." Mourad replied as he knows their strength… Those five were similar to his age but they were extremely good with the sword style being taught by the guardians…

These guardians were extremely strong as none of the finest Arcanists, Warriors, or Swordmasters were able to defeat them.

It is similar to all the other villages so everyone is acknowledging their strength.

The moment that they announced that they are willing to teach their sword style, everyone accepted them and their reliance on the Imp gods has greatly lessened after five more years had passed.

After all, the reason that the villages are worshipping the Nine Imp gods is to gain the power to protect themselves in this chaotic land. There is no debate that this land is extremely dangerous as not even the two strong countries from north and south are willing to conquer this place. Unfortunately, none of the two countries would accept them as well due to the actions that were done by their ancestors.

This made them unable to stop their need to sacrifice in order to gain the protection of the Imp gods and survive this land.

In truth, Mourad should be somewhere in the Chodora Kingdom right now to desperately look for sacrifice.

However, because of the appearance of the five guardians, they were now barely worrying about the Evil Beasts, Dark Elves, High-Orcs, and other races within this region.

Mourad still remembers what happened five years ago.

There was a time in every year where their village would always have to rely on the sacrifices they gathered for the whole year to fight against the beast wave filled with Berserk Gryphon.

The Gryphon was capable of sensing their presence even if they try to put a defensive array and close the plateau. Their houses that were made of clay and wood can easily tear apart by using their strong claws and bodies.

They were also unable to leave this place as, during that time, there would be an even more terrifying beast wave outside.

It is a beast wave filled with Primal Rats. Even the bones of their target would not be spared by these creatures…

They love eating the flesh and bones of any other creature they see and they are definitely a lot scarier than most of the Evil Beasts here… They may be weak alone but thousands of them crawling at you will surely be your last day…

Of course, aside from the appearance of the five guardians, there is also another concern in the two kingdoms sandwiching them. They could no longer get as many sacrifices as they can due to the current war and tightened security of the two kingdoms.

The five's timing was truly great as they managed to deal with the beast waves from all the three neighboring villages…

"Everyone, wear your training clothes if you're still not wearing them, and take your wooden swords in the crates! There will be another assessment today! Kekeke… This time, however, the one who will be ranked on top will be given a chance to summon their Arcana!" The unattractive instructor named Ruthren, who also looks like a bandit, announced to everyone in the Training Hall.