Angered at this sight, Finnessee approached the three, ready to destroy them. Sensing their power, Barone went to his subordinate, telling him,

“Be careful. I sense strong power within them.”, said Barone.

“Hmmm.”, grunted Finnessee.

The other bodyguards then jumped towards the sorcerers. A large man stepped forward, and another man holding two knives showed up. The two of them looked at the sorcerers and taunted them,

“I am Barbarone. My strength will crush you”

“I am Dravenn, do you fools think you can catch me”

“And I am Finnessee, my runeblade will crush you”

Morgana, Zidros and Fil’Gharn all aimed their staffs at the goons of Barone, when suddenly, another bandit appeared. Unlike the rest of the bandit commanders encountered so far, this one is a huge woman. Heavily protected with armor and armed with twin Sai Blades.

“No need to sully yourselves. Me and my men will take care of these young rascals”

“But we wanna crush them, Carlone.”

“Don’t waste your time commanders, we can handle them.”

The three sorcerers raised their staffs and yelled,

FIRE ORB LEVEL 2

Fire Orbs emerged from the staff, hitting the bandits in their sights. The bandits angered charged towards the sorcerers.

Raising their staffs, they made an incantation, when,

The rest of the group arrived to strike the bandits down. Vul’Kish, Grizelda and Lance were with them.

Vul’Kish and Grizelda talked to the sorcerers and told them,

“We’ll take care of Carlone and her men. You fight the commanders of Barone.”

“Sure”, said Morgana, Zidros and Fil’Gharn.

“I’ll take care of Dravenn”, said Zidros.

“Me and my friends will go after sword maniac”, said Fil’Gharn

“Me and Lance will go after Barbarone.”, said Morgana

“You’re not going after Barone?”, asked Lance.

“It’s Musa’s battle, not ours.”, said Morgana.

“Got it”, said Lance.

The arrival of the sorcerers reenergized Musa. Once again, he is ready to face Barone. Raising his runeblade, he charged towards his opponent, ready to fight once again.

On the other side of Toghasto, Zidros is chasing Dravenn, but is unable to catch him. His speed is astonishing, but it seems that he has endless stamina. Looking around, Dravenn appeared behind him.

BOOM

A blast was sent to Zidros, who managed to set up a wind barrier before any damage would be given to him. However, the speed of Dravenn meant that he was already inside of Zidros’ barrier. With a sly smile, he kicked the sorcerer, pushing him backwards.

“I thought you’re one of the good ones”, taunted Dravenn

Wind, burst forth. Provide me your fury. Give me your destruction. Go forth, winds of destiny

WIND SPIRAL

A spiral of wind appeared on the arms of Zidros. Closing his eyes, he began to strike in random directions, hoping to catch Dravenn. With each swing, he gets closer and closer to his opponent. After his 20th swing, Zidros finally managed to hit Dravenn.

The wind spiral enhanced attack managed to bruise Dravenn. The latter cannot believe that someone managed to hit him.

“How did you find out?”

“I’m a wind sorcerer. I should know.”

“Know what?”

“The magic you are using.”

Angered at this, Dravenn went on the attack. Now charging towards Zidros, Dravenn reached for his knife and went for the kill. But before he could connect with his attack, Zidros manage to dodge on time and mount a quick counterattack using his Wind Spiral enhanced punch.

Frustrated, Dravenn circled around Zidros, hoping to catch him off guard. However, the sorcerer already noticed this, and chanted,

Windy lights, windy environment, sweep my enemies aside.

WIND MAGIC: TORNADO LEVEL 1

A small tornado was formed around Zidros, causing strong winds to blow on his surrounding areas, lifting small rocks and other debris. Due to the force of the strong winds, Dravenn was unable to move as fast as he did a few moments ago.

What the heck is this? wondered Dravenn.

Eventually, the force of the winds halted Dravenn’s progress. Staring at Zidros, Dravenn saw his opponent’s eyes glow. With the staff pointed at him, Dravenn prepared for the worst.

Gaia, provider of life, give us your strength and force. Turn our opponents into dust

EARTH MAGIC: CRUSH

A huge block of earth emerged from the ground and hit Dravenn, pushing him a few meters away from Zidros. Now, completely adjusting to his opponent, Zidros prepared to finish his opponent. In complete desperation, Dravenn threw a smoke bomb in front of him, temporarily blinding him and his opponent.

Quickly, Dravenn went outside the growing smoke, and is relieved that Zidros was nowhere to be seen. However, there appeared to be a giant pillar on the place of the smoke. Looking above, he saw Zidros standing on top of it. Aiming his staff at Dravenn, Zidros is ready to strike. Sensing impending doom, Dravenn once again ran as fast as he can, hoping that Zidros won’t be able to catch him.

WIND ORB LEVEL 4

Suddenly, a powerful Wind Orb managed to hit Dravenn, knocking him down. Struggling to get up, he looked for the sorcerer who attacked him, but could not find anyone. Suddenly, he felt shivers and fear. Slowly turning around, he saw Zidros, smiling at him.

“You’re using wind magic to run, aren’t you?”

“How did you find out?”

“Because I can hear the wind whenever you move, and where the wind goes, you go.”

Angered at his opponent finding out the secret to his super speed in a quick fight, Dravenn decided to face him head on. Drawing out two knives, he positioned himself to attack Zidros, ready to kill him. Dashing towards his opponent, he stuck out the knife in his left hand, but Zidros managed to evade that attack quickly. Dravenn then threw the other knife towards his opponent, who simply dodged the attack by jumping above it although he wondered why Zidros pulled back his left arm as soon as he jumped.

When Zidros landed on his feet, Dravenn kicked him, making him flinch. Before he can defend himself, Dravenn stabbed Zidros on his abdomen, giving him wounds.

“Got yah.”, taunted Dravenn.

“You’re right. Someone has indeed fallen into a trap. But it isn’t me.”, said Zidros.

“What do you mean?”, asked Dravenn.

Suddenly, a large Wind Orb hit Dravenn on his back, knocking him down. Struggling to stand up, he wondered why he was hit with a Wind Orb attack, and then he realized one thing.

“Hmmm. I think you got it. You only saw me pull back my arm when I jumped. But I already summoned a Wind Orb when you attempted to stab me. The second attack gave me time to use a Wind Orb as a boomerang against your attack, and when the orb returned, you were in its way.”

“Damn it.”

Winds of change, heed my call. Give me your precision, strike every enemy of mine.

WIND BLADES

Summoning two blades in his hands, Zidros struck Dravenn with his attack, knocking him out.

DRAVENN DEFEATED

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Grizelda and Vul’Kish are going after Carlone. Her close combat skills are strong enough to give Grizelda and Vul’Kish a pause. Not helping matters is that her men would also join the fight, making it a lopsided affair. With Vul’Kish taking care of Carlone's bandits, it is up to Grizelda to face off against their leader.

“I don’t think you can beat me without the other guy.”, said Carlone

“He can take care of all your underlings.”, said Grizelda

“Are your sure, after all, I have around 500 men at my disposal. Is he really going to defeat all of them?”, taunted Carlone.

“Of course. In the years that I have known him, I rarely saw him with a scratch or a bruise after fighting multiple opponents.”, said Grizelda.

“Hahahahahahaha. My bandits are the best of the best. A mere thief won’t beat them.”, said Carlone.

“Well see about that.”, said Grizelda.

Carlone drew out her Twin Sai Blades and charged towards Grizelda. Making the first move, Carlone attempted to stab Grizelda, who managed to evade her initial attacks. Drawing a small knife, Grizelda, block the successive attacks of Carlone. Unimpressed, Carlone kicked Grizelda, knocking her down.

“Hahahahahaha. You sorcerers are always horrible at close combat.”, said Carlone.

Standing up, Grizelda prepared for another attack. Readying herself, she drew her knife and assumed a defensive stance. Meanwhile, Carlone simply smirked and dashed towards her opponent, ready to strike her down. Unlike her initial attack, Carlone was unable to find an opening against her opponent. When she attempted to kick Grizelda, the latter grabbed her foot. Sensing an opportunity to attack, Grizelda summoned,

WIND ORB Level 1

A Wind Orb hit Carlone, pushing her backwards. With a distance between her and her opponent, Grizelda chanted,

Winds of change, heed my call. Give me your precision, strike every enemy of mine.

WIND BLADES.

Now equipped with weapons she is familiar with, she charged towards Carlone. Her wind blades matched up well against Carlone’s Twin Sais. Neither one is giving an inch against the other, and it seems that they are evenly matched. But then, Carlone spun around and shouted,

TWIN SAI TECHNIQUE: TORNADO

Spinning around like a tornado, she got closer and closer to Grizelda, who was unable to match the speed of her Sai Blades. The speed of the blades overcame Grizelda’s defense and were able to leave scratches on her body.

With the Twin Sai Tornado managing to scratch her, Grizelda retreated. Opting for a more long-range attack, she aimed her staff at her opponent and chanted,

King of Winds, give me your breath, your attacks and your rampage

TWIN WIND BLASTS.

Two blasts of wind emerged from her staff, striking the spinning Carlone to no avail. The cutting motion of her blade attack managed to cut off the force of the wind directed towards her. Remembering her previous experiences, she realized that there is a weakness on Carlone’s attack.

Now with confidence, Grizelda aimed her staff towards the ground she is standing on.

Here goes nothing, she thought.

Grizelda then chanted,

Wind that gives me energy, wind the gives me breeze and wind that knocks down enemies. Give me your power

WIND ORB Level 2

Using the momentum to launch herself to the air, she then chanted,

Give me your breath, your flow and your fury. Let me be your vessel

BREATH OF THE WIND

From her mouth, Grizelda summoned a huge force of wind, directing it at the top of the spinning Sai Blade Attack. When the wind managed to hit Carlone, the spinning attack stopped, and she was knocked down. Standing up, Carlone is furious, angry at Grizelda. Quickly dashing towards her opponent, she went on the offensive, using speedy and timely strikes against her opponent.

Grizelda, who just landed on the ground was unable to do anything but evade every attack from her opponent. By dodging strike after strike, she was unable to conserve her energy, and had to exhaust herself by simply evading Carlone’s attacks. Realizing this, she created small pockets of wind in two of her fingers on her left hand. While looking for an opening, Carlone managed to stab, causing her to flinch.

With a wicked smile, Carlone pulled the said from Grizelda, who is now bleeding from the previous attack.

“What now, you pathetic sorcerer”, taunted Carlone.

While she was busy gloating, Grizelda launched the pockets of wind at her opponent which did nothing but give her pause. However, Grizelda smiled, knowing that the brief pause of her opponent, allowed her to attack Carlone. She shouted,

BREATH OF THE WIND

With enough force behind her attack, Carlone was knocked down. In desperation, Grizelda aimed her staff at her opponent, and shouted,

TWIN WIND BLASTS

Launching two wind strikes from both of her hands, she managed to struck a still downed Carlone, who is now coughing with blood. Sensing an opportunity, she chanted,

Wind, burst forth. Provide me your fury. Give me your destruction. Go forth, winds of destiny

WIND SPIRAL

With her arms covered in spinning winds, she dashed towards her opponent and punched her with the wind enhanced attacks, finally knocking her out. But at the same time, Carlone made one final move, once again stabbing Grizelda with both of her Twin Sais.

Clutching her abdomen, Grizelda is heavily wounded and unable to continue fighting, retreated towards a safe area. Looking at her opponent, she is relieved, for she was able to defeat Carlone in a single combat.

CARLONE DEFEATED.