After waking up, the trio ate their breakfast meals. Still hungry due to their training yesterday, they gulped up every food served to them.

The trio rested for a while until they heard a commotion in the village. Approaching the guards, they asked on what had happened.

“Rogue guilds have attacked again”, said one guard.

“Rogue guilds?”, asked Morgana

“These are guilds that are not part of the Wizarding Alliance. The rogue guilds range from benevolent to disruptors.”, explained Lance.

“So not every guild is registered to the Alliance?”, asked Morgana

“Yes. Technically, there are more unregistered guilds that registered ones.”, said Lance.

“Are they trouble?”, asked Morgana.

“Not as much. Most of them would just try to function normally without the protection and benefits given by the Alliance.”, said Lance.

“I know one, the Alliance would ensure that the guilds registered can travel freely across their territories.”, said Morgana

“I’m surprised you know this.”, said Lance.

“My big sister would always tell me the reasons why I should register with the Alliance, so I had to register, otherwise, she would hunt me down.”, said Morgana.

“You’re scared of your sister?”, asked Lance.

“Of course.”, said Morgana.

“Hahahahahaha. Younger siblings are always scared of us older siblings.”, said Musa.

I sometimes forget that this guy has a younger sibling, Lance thought.

“As I was saying, a registered guild would be advantageous, since we are authorized to hunt rogue sorcerers and to punish wrongdoers without any consequences. If we aren’t registered, we might get in trouble for simply attacking random hooligans.”, said Lance

In processing this information, Morgana simply nodded at Lance’s statement. With that out of the way, the trio followed the guards. One of the guards told the group that,

“This has been the third attack by this group.”

“What group?”, asked Musa.

“Triple Swords.”, said the guard.

“Using that name. Amateurs.”, said Musa.

“What do you mean by amateurs?”, asked Morgana.

“That name is a common name by three rogue swordsmen.”, said Musa.

“Usually, names of legendary groups are considered as tributes, but nowadays, most people consider it a parody, since other lesser-known adventures would use the names of the legendary groups to charge more for their services.”, said Lance.

“Oh, so that is why grandpa told me to never use existing guild names when I make my own.”, said Morgana.

Curious about the name Triple Swords, Morgana asked Musa on what he meant by the word amateurs.

“Oh, they are amateurs since the Triple Swords is a former legendary group of three swordsmen, not under the jurisdiction of the Wizard Alliance or any of the other great powers. They were dissolved ages ago, but more and more impostors have taken up the mantle to fool people.”, said Musa.

“Alright. I’m raring to crush these impostors.”, said Morgana.

“Me too.”, said Musa.

“Tarnishing a legendary group’s name. This will not pass.”, said Lance.

These three really really wants to fight huh, thought one of the guards.

Rushing towards the gates, the trio ran alongside the guards. Just at the gates, Brayno is there, waiting for them.

“Let’s go. Follow me, so you don’t get lost.”, said Brayno.

The three, alongside some guards followed Brayno to the Amarino Forest. Once inside the forest, they saw a bunch of dead animals. Some small, some large, with each of them sliced by swords. Furthermore, some of the trees were cut by swords. Upon seeing this, Morgana is angered. She yelled,

“Such senseless killing. The perpetrators must be destroyed!”

With a quickened pace, Brayno and the trio followed the trail of the dead animals and the sliced trees to find the ones responsible for the destruction of some parts of the Amarino Forest. Upon reaching the end of the trail, they found three swordsmen, with their swords drawn towards them. The largest of the trio, yelled,

“Try to beat us. We are the rightful holders of the title ‘Triple Swords’. You cannot defeat us.”

Silently, Brayno drew his wooden sword and charged towards the swordsmen. With one swing he yelled,

WOOD SWORD: SLICER

With a spill of blood, one of the swordsmen got knocked down. Angered, the other two attacked the trio. To counter the attack, Musa drew his sword and yelled,

RUNE MAGIC: SHADOW STRIKE v1

With his attack, Musa knocked out the other swordsman. In desperation, the leader of the trio used magic to add spikes to his sword. Raring to attack, he charged towards Morgana.

“Alright, let’s destroy him.”, said Lance

“Let’s have a contest.”, said Morgana

“A contest?”, asked Lance.

“The one who takes him down wins”, said Morgana

“Deal. What will happen to the loser?”, asked Lance.

“The loser will treat the winner.”, said Morgana

“Alright. I’m game.”, said Lance.

“You kids just treat this as a contest? How dare you! Don’t underestimate me! I’m going to crush you!”, yelled the swordsman

Lance raised his mace, and Morgana raised his staff, both of which are aimed at the swordsman. Angered, he dashed towards the two, and yelled,

SWORD ATTACK: SLICE AND DICE

Lance raised his wand and with his magical energy, he enchanted his mace. With the wish to win the bet, Lance charged towards the swordsman, ready to crush him.

MACE OF LIGHT: SRIKE LEVEL 2

Morgana channeled her spell from Ashure’s spellbook. With magic flowing in her eyes, she yelled,

DRAGON BREATH LEVEL 2

Unable to dodge, the swordsman was instantly knocked out by Morgana and Lance’s attack. Remembering their bet, the two asked Musa on whose attack was responsible for the downfall of the swordsman.

After careful thinking, Musa saw scorched marks on the swordsman. With that clue and with his observation of the skirmish, he concluded that,

“I’m sorry Lance, but Morgana’s attack was faster than yours.”, said Musa

With the win, Morgana celebrated and told Lance that,

“You are going to treat me with food and other things later.”

“Damn it.”, said Lance.

After the three swordsmen were easily destroyed, Brayno realized the potential of the guild named “FULL POTENTIAL”. With how easy the swordsmen were dispatched, he wondered if this attack is simply a random one or if the attack is part of something larger.

While he is thinking on what their next step will be, another guard ran towards their direction. Tired and exhausted, Brayno asked the guard on what happened. Panicking the guard replied to Brayno,

“They… Took… Vivien…”

“What? What do you mean by they?”, said Brayno

“Raiders… in… this… forest...”

“That could be anybody.”, said Brayno

“I… took… this…”, said the guard

The guard took out a red bandana with a mark mentioned “Ringorne”. Upon seeing the name, Brayno’s eyes widened. Tightly clutching the bandana, anger and rage came upon Brayno.

“Mr. Brayno…”, said Morgana

“This guy used to be my mentor. This person also tried to destroy the village at one point. But even I don’t know why he decided to take Vivien.”, said Brayno.

“We can go after him.”, said Lance.

“We should try to rescue Viven at the very least.”, said Musa

“Let’s go after him.”, said Morgana.

“This one won’t be easy”, said Brayno.

Brayno called upon the other guards, and told them to prepare a small squad, ready to chase after Ringorne. He instructed them to prepare weapons to go after the forces of Ringorne. After the guards armed themselves, Brayno instructed them to get ready and attack.

“How do you even know Ringorne’s hideout?”, asked Lance.

“Because I was his former right hand.”, said Brayno.

“What do you mean former right hand?”, asked Lance.

“I used to work under him. I raided the towns and villages found in this area. We were partners in crime. The two of us were considered terrors in these parts.”, said Brayno

“Let me guess, your group is the Fang of the Sabres, am I right?”, said Musa.

“How did you know?”, asked Brayno.

“I used to be a hunter.”, said Musa.

“So, how were we perceived?”, asked a curious Brayno

“Well, you are considered as a C Class threat.”, said Musa.

“Figures”, said Brayno

Ever curious, Morgana asked Musa,

“What is a C Class threat?”, asked Morgana.

“Hunters usually hunt threats based on their threat level. The strongest rogue fighters are considered Upper S Class threat, this is followed by a Lower S Class threat, A Class threat, B Class threat, C Class threat, D Class threat and finally, E Class threat.”, said Musa.

Even after hearing the explanation, Morgana got even more confused, seeing this Musa further explained what he meant by Class threats.

“An E Class threat can easily be taken down by a rookie hunter or a rookie sorcerer. D Class threat meanwhile needs a group of adventurers to take them down. Finally, a C Class threat needs a strong team or a more experienced group of adventurers to take them down.”, said Musa.

“I still don’t know how one determines a Class threat.”, said Morgana

“To further explain this, Barone is merely a C Class threat, while some of his henchmen like I’shil is merely a D Class threat.”, said Musa.

“So, this one is as strong as Barone?”, asked Morgana.

“According to the threat level, he is.”, said Musa.

Upon hearing this, Morgana shook with excitement. Smiling, she is raring to go, wanting to go after Ringorne as soon as possible.

“Calm down, Morgana. I know you beat Barone, but we need to be more careful this time. We don’t have other adventurer guilds to help us this time.”, said Lance.

“But you want to go after him, am I right?”, asked Morgana

“Of course, I do.”, said Lance

“Let’s go then.”, said Morgana

Hearing their resolve, Brayno smiled, knowing that they can recover Vivien from his former group.

Why go after Vivien, Ringorne? She just lost her guardian

“Follow me.”, said Brayno

The trio followed Brayno and some of his guards towards the hideout of the Fang of the Sabres. Getting deeper and deeper into the forest, they heard loud noises, and large footsteps of animals. Soon, they went into a swamy part of the forest. There, they encountered a group of men. The men shouted,

“You shall not intrude upon our swamp. Run now before you die.”

Morgana, wanting to practice a different type of magic, chanted,

Water dragon, give me your life. Destroy all those who stand in my way, burst forth

Aiming her staff towards the men, she yelled,

WATER JETSTREAM

A stream of water emerged from the swamp and attacked the men. Although powerful, the attack failed to knock out the men in the swamp. Still, the attack was enough to give the men pause, leaving them open to attacks.

WOOD SWORD: DASH AND STRIKE

With his speed, Brayno slashed and sliced the men, knocking all of them out.

“Don’t fret. I do not want you three to waste your energies against mere henchmen.”, said Brayno.

The three continued on their path until they heard a muffled voice. Rushing towards the voice, Morgana saw that it was Vivien, tied up and gagged. She keeps shaking her head, but Morgana would not leave, and simply untied her. As soon as Vivien’s ropes and bindings were untied, a cage lowered upon them, trapping both Vivien and Morgana.

“I tried to warn you”, said Vivien

“I can destroy this cage.”, said Morgana.

“I wouldn’t advise using magic if I were you. The lock is protected by an anti-magic barrier.”, said Vivien

Upon hearing this, Morgana grabbed the bars and pushed them away from each other, exerting as much force as she can. Seeing this determination, Vivien’s eyes widened. She has encountered another person who has an unyielding drive.

Deciding to help her, Vivien’s eyes glowed, and spoke an incantation,

Spirit of the trees, give me your strength, assist this person. Give them strength

DRUIDIC MAGIC: NATURE’S REJUVENATION

With her magic, Vivien gave additional strength to Morgana, enabling her to push the bars in their cage, eventually managing to bend this using her physical strength. With a newfound resolve, Vivien reminisced about her past.

X--------------------------X

Years ago, a young baby was abandoned in the village of Caltron. The druids living there took pity on the baby. Although they wanted to take care of the baby, no one is sure on who will be the one who would raise the baby.

Without hesitation, one of them volunteered. She told them,

“I’ll raise this kid.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am. Every child needs a parent or a guardian who will take care of them and nurture them.”

“But you’re one of our best guardians. We’re just not sure if you can take care of the child.”

“I can handle one kid. She will be loved.”

“Good luck Luuriya.”

Looking at the child, Luuriya named her Vivien, she told the baby,

“I’m going to be your big sister from now on.”

Years went by and Vivien grew up into a young druidess-in-training. Under the guidance of Luuriya, Vivien grew in strength and became a healer. In addition to her healer trainings, Vivien also had combat training to improve her physical attributes. One day, Vivien questioned Luuriya on why she also needs to get physically stronger.

“Big sis, why do I need to have physical training. I’m a healer, I’m going to have a group who will protect me and ensure I don’t get destroyed.”, said Vivien

“Vivien, even if you have a guild who will help you and aid you, there will be a time that you need to step up for your guild. Simply healing won’t help them. You need to be strong enough to take down other fighters. The survival of your guild ultimately depends on you.”, said Luuriya.

With this understanding, Vivien trained herself to become stronger and tougher. The two sisters got closer and closer. For them, life is peaceful in the village of Caltron. However, as she was growing up, she began to wonder on why she does not have a mother or a father like other children.

Luuriya, seeing the sadness crept towards the face of her little sister, approached her.

“What’s the problem, Vivien?”

“Big sis, why don’t we have parents like other families.”

“But you do have a parent, Vivien.”

“What do you mean, big sis?”

“I am your parent. I raised you, I gave you food, and I made sure that we have a house.”

“I’m confused.”

“Don’t mind it for now. Take a rest Vivien, you have a long day ahead of you.”

“Alright big sis.”

After Vivien went to sleep, Luuriya went to Gobren and asked her if she should tell Vivien the truth. She wants some advice from the old sorcerer and how she will approach the topic to Vivien.

“Just tell her the truth.”, said Gobren

“But I’m not sure if she is going to take it well.”, said Luuriya

“She adores you. I don’t think she will hate you.”, said Gobren.

“Alright. I’m going to tell her everything.”, said Luuriya

Luuriya then went home and slept next to her sister. In her thoughts, she wondered on how she will inform Vivien about her origins without making her sad. Whispering to the sleeping girl, she said.

“Vivien, as your big sister, I will always be there for you. I love you.”