When Mercy finished telling us the story of his battle with the king's army all of us were dumbfounded.

I immediately commanded the to go back to the fighting side and to the place where the scouts had fought the apprentices to go look for clues about these wizards. ?Fang, Claw..." the village chief said

?yes, Chief?" the two answered in unison.

?Accompany them....you are ready."

Everyone present could clearly see their frightened faces lighting up when they heard these words they have wanted to hear for so long. Theresa said ?I will go with them, too"

They immediately started running to catch up with the elites who had already departed after receiving their order.

When they arrived at the place of the scouts' deaths they were shocked. They have been sliced down with seemingly no sign of defending themselves.

As they continued walking towards the battlefield the odor of blood intensified with every further step. When they finally saw the lands beyond the forbidden forest they could already see the vultures deciding which body parts they should devour. The landscape was completely dyed red and one could see the hill of corpses which was the deed of Mercy standing amidst this sea of blood.

They didn't feel anything for the fallen and simply looked for things of value like high quality weapons or armour or even pouches the deceased had carried before their death.

They could use these things if they went to a market which they did once in a while.

While the were still looting the corpses on the battlefield I prepared as well. I definitely couldn't learn a mighty spell in the short time I had left until the wizard apprentices would find the night serpent clan's village. Therefore I decided to put away to into the ring along with the orb the chief has given me earlier.

The preparations started for the whole clan. Except for the best warriors who trained under Gabriel, my humble self, Theresa's father everyone else was supposed to hide in the village hall. Even Natalie and the young Racer Lizards were stationed there.

This battle against the aggressors would consist of Gabriel, the village chief two strong warriors and last but not least I would also participate alongside Liz and Little Racer.

It was a pity that it was high noon right now and the onyx twin daggers has yet to be forged. With my current equipment I was still a very good fighter but if they had better stuff my sabreteeth daggers might be broken and since the fight would probably happen in bright daylight it would be harder for me to employ assassination attacks that would surprise them. As a warrior I was also proficient but if I went up against an enemy who focused on close combat I would have problems if they were as strong as Max and Moritz had described them.

However, I didn't know exactly how they would fight and I hoped I could use one of the tactics I came up with as the ace in my sleeve.

While we where waiting for them to arrive at the village we set up our formation strategy. The three warriors including Gabriel should pull the enemy aggro to allow the chief's and my own familiars to close in on them to rip them apart. My role was to find an opportunity in which the enemy seemed distracted to launch surprise attacks if possible but if that wouldn't work I could simply use my high agility to create openings for the warriors. If they didn't have any familiars our numbers would be nine of us against two of them.

It sounded like we could achieve this feat easily compared to the night at hunter's creek where the numbers were stacked against me but weirdly enough I felt that this would be my hardest fight so far.

Around an hour later we heard some noises coming from the forbidden forest surrounding us. Two people, cloaked in white, walked towards us. They didn't care the slightest about their obvious arrival.

?They are either dumb, arrogant or powerful enough not to hide their arrival here. And I fear it is indeed the last possibility." Gabriel said.

They looked at Gabriel and were surprised. The existence of the Naga in these times was only a legend to many people or a nightmare which was told to children if they didn't behave.

?Could it be that you are the infamous Night Serpent?" the young men inquired.

He and his female companion had very similar equipment. The only difference was their weapon. She had a rapier while he used a long staff. I had only just stared reading but there was one footnote that such a staff could improve spells of one element it was mostly used by apprentices or official wizards who were most proficient in a single element.

The girl on the other hand had a rapier equipped. This clearly meant that she was one of the magic swordsmen or swordswoman in this case about which the chief had told me previously. Although she had a quite slender physique she appeared to be a warrior.

When I focused a little more I found out that the staff wasn't as simple as it looked at first glance. ?Be careful the staff has a hidden blade. It might be used as a spear" I told the others. This information might have changed the course of the upcoming battle by a lot.

When the fight started all the warriors including the girl in the white cloak rushed forward while the man in white stood back and mumbled something under his breath. The girl in white was a superb magic swordswoman. Almost in an instant she had taken out Gabriel's two disciples. One was beheaded right before her rapier struck the chainsmail of the other one and to his bad luck it was a piercing weapon and it did exactly this it pierced through the chainmail and his body like a hot knife through butter.

In the first couple seconds the woman had already shown her powers. All of us were quite fearful what the man in white might be able to do.

During these first moments of chaos I had successfully managed not to let myself be seen. Now I was creeping from behind towards the man in white. It didn't seem like he had taken notice of me. When I was close enough to deal a killing blow he had already finished his mumbling. It was a spell and it was aimed at the village chief who was oblivious to this attack. If he died right now then the alpha direwolf and his sabreteeth black bear might not help us in the fighting for a while which could mean our demise. Right know they took care of the woman alongside Gabriel. If the two of them quit the fight it might very well be too much for Gabriel to handle. Therefore I dropped my previous attempt to murder him silently and shouted ?TAKE THIS!!" while I swung my daggers towards his vital points. When he heard this he turned around, just in time because right then a bolt of lightning was released from his staff and hit the floor not even half a metre away from the chief. He was knocked away but his familiars continued fighting.

It was now six against two. Gabriel and I were both accompanied by two familiars each.

Gabriel fought very hard but that fight wouldn't conclude soon. Meanwhile it seemed that my fight was going to end soon. The lightning magician could hardly keep up with our speed and was very defensive.

It thought now would be the right timing to activate my ace up my sleeve. I approached him together with Liz and Little Racer and when he looked at me my eyes were shining like a silver sun. He seemed to have fallen to my hypnotic ability. I jumped at him together with my familiars but when their teeth and my daggers were only millimetres away from his body. I could hear him mumbling again. This time I was close enough to hear what he said:

?Lightning shield". I was dumbfounded when Liz, Little Racer and myself were flung away and paralyzed by an invisible kind of shield.

My familiars landed far away from the battle and I landed at the feet of the man's companion. Before he started mumbling again he laughed and said ?hahaha, you tried to mess with the mind of a wizard why don't you try to evaporate a sea with a candle? The results would be the same. Haha"

I could barely move and Gabriel and the chief's familiars were to far away. I had dropped my daggers but nonetheless I raised my left arm as good as I good and when the woman aimed to plunge her rapier into my heart I closed my eyes.

...

I had to concentrate. I only had one chance. My mind focused very hard and I stopped moving. Then it happened. The ring started glowing. I opened my eyes again and saw the blinded woman. Before she could react I activated the storage function of the ring and reversed it with all my might. There wasn't only books and the orb in their. I had also put my spare daggers in that storage.

A few of them missed but one sliced at her throat. She stumbled backwards. She had yet to die but she could definitively not continue fighting be it as a swordswoman or by casting spells. Her fighting abilities were disabled.

I was still inflicted with the lightning paralysis as were my familiars but I stayed conscious. I wanted to see how Gabriel would end this battle. He walked towards the male magician alongside with the chief's familiars. The alpha direwolf bit the girl's throat completely to ensure her death.

The other magician was angry and shouted: ?I will slaughter every last one of you." before regaining his composure. This time he didn't mumble. His spellcasting was like a war cry. ?Lightning come and creatures fall who dare to mess with the storm's wall." He finished his casting right before the three arrived at his position and with an evil smile he whispered:

?Lighting wave"

Indeed, it was a wave of lighting that rolled ten fifty metres forward in an instant. Fortunately Gabriel and the chief's familiars were all strong creatures and this lighting wave's major strength was to make enemies not able to fight any longer. All of them were now unconscious. If they were humans they would have been killed on the spot.

I was shocked how strong magic could be. This sole wizard apprentice took care of seven strong adversaries with only three spells. Together with his female friend as a tank it was quite the challenge to fight against.

?Val, should we survive this...

Then I allow you to learn magic. The past is the past and I don't want us to lose ever again. If magic is the only way to do so then we will become a wizard. The strongest wizard of all.'

I was happy, happy because Drake let go of the past.

The only thing that bothered me was the question weather we could survive because the male apprentice walked in my direction.

Suddenly he stopped and I could see the anger dwelling within him as he looked at the alpha direwolf that layd there on the ground, unconscious. He used his hidden blade in the staff but when it was about to hit te wolf's head there was a shining barrier guarding him.

He was just as confused as I was when we heard the words that reached our ears. ?Guarding light"

It was the chief. He pointed at the wolf with his fingers before he coughed up blood.

It seemed like the previous lighting did more than just knock him out.

?Valentinus" he said. ?This is the end for me. I tried to use the on myself but the injuries are too severe.

The enemy wizard was clearly enraged and came running towards the chief while shouting curses.

?Valentinus, this is the end for me" the chief said before coughing up blood once again ?I leave my home my clan and Theresa in your care. Go to the school in the north and take them with you. My master's father might still be alive. *cough* because wizards live a long life. I can't help you anymore but I can get rid of this weakling for you." he smiled while saying the last part.

?Who are you calling weak?!?" the wizard exclaimed. ?Lightning magic is a thousand times stronger than your weak light magic."

He started casting again ?lightning among the swords, sword imbued with lightning "

The chief smiled and talked to me: ?Val don't let anybody ever tell you that your magic is weaker than theirs. If an element is mastered it will rule supreme. These were my master's last words and they shall be part of my last words as well. Goodbye Valentinus. Become the wizard you are destined to be." with these last words he looked at the incoming enemy who shouted ?" as he threw his arm forward in an attempt to pierce the chief and burn him to charcoal.

When the lightning blade had almost reached him he smiled, looked at me and said the two words that will forever be deep in my memory:

?"