The Druids are able to dominate the battlefield by virtue of their large reserves of magic. Being the creatures who are closest to the nature, they are perfectly able to sense and manipulate the magic in the atmosphere and use it for their own means. That is why in a battle against a druid one would find themselves gradually empty from Profound Energy while watching their opponent hardly sweating.

But that is not the most frightening part about them, it is their mysterious weapons ! Some of their weapons have various strange abilities, like changing weather or bringing forth lightning from the sky, while some are able to store a huge amount of magic. It is said that these weapons are created using certain rituals, and are known as legendary weapons ! These weapons are extremely few in number and are of strategic importance, hence it is not easy to have them.

*****

Makara Dynasty, Human Continent.

Mad Saber smiled at the bandit leader as he said.

"Not yet, pal. My disciple will fight you."

Ananya's face twitched as she heard the comment from her careless 'master' and struggled to keep her face straight. Her opponent was a Vicious Teeth who was as tall as a two storey building, plus the elite Tiger beast-men who was sitting at the top who held a large blade in his hands.

She stood still and didn't know how to approach the two.

"Don't worry, I'll create you an opportunity." Mad Saber's voice came from behind. She strengthened her grip over her sword and dashed forward. She moved using her toes instead of the base of the feet, and her movement looked like she was as if gliding over the lands.

The bandit leader saw this and was surprised.

"The Seven Lotus Comprehensive Art ?"

Vicious Teeth watched the puny human get closer to him and he immediately clawed at the human. Ananya felt a little frightened but trusted the person behind her. Although Sura was lazy, loud and a little lecherous, she felt unconditional trust towards him and felt that he would never harm her.

Mad Saber watched the girl get close to the beast and shouted.

"Here's your opportunity !"

He kicked a rock which was near his feet and it flew and hit Vicious Teeth's eye. The rock distracted it and the path of it's claw changed a bit. Ananya quickly used this opportunity to jump on the beast's foreleg. The bandit leader saw her coming and slashed at her with his large blade. She quickly jumped and landed on the beast's back. The beast was huge and there was enough space for two people to engage in close quarters. The beast tried to jiggled it's body to shake off the newcomer but was not successful.

"Stay still."

The bandit leader tapped it's foot a few times and ordered the beast to calm down. Then he looked at Ananya, who was holding the beast's fur tightly so that she wouldn't fall off and the space on the beast, and finally glanced at his large blade. Then as if arriving at a conclusion, he stabbed the blade into the ground and knuckled his fists.

"Where did you learn the Seven Lotus Comprehensive Art ?"

The bandit leader asked her. Ananya stared at him with a straight face, clearly not intending to provide an answer for him. The bandit leader shrugged, but because of the stiff leather armor that he wore it seemed as if his armor magically went up and down.

Ananya moved, and this time she seemed to use only the sides of the base of her feet, and she was able to move quickly diagonally. She held her hands up as the sword pointed downwards, like the tail of a scorpion. However the bandit leader seemed experienced as he was able to perfectly counter her movements.

"Do you know the weakness of this technique ?" the bandit leader suddenly asked her. Then, as if he'd gone crazy, he started attacking the blunt side of the sword using his hands. The shock-waves traveled along the sword into her body. Ananya tightened the grip over the sword, but the stress over various body parts increased. She wouldn't be able to hold the sword for a long time.

The bandit leader was patient all this while as he explained.

"Although this art has many variations to cope with different situations, it assumes that you are always in your peak condition. So the more you get injured, the less options you have to deal with the situation."

Ananya realized that her body was indeed weakened and backed off a little near the head of the beast.

"Give up, little girl. Come with me, and I will treat you well." the bandit leader said with a serious face. He didn't seemed to be joking.

Ananya stared at him for a while while she took deep breaths. The bandit leader crossed his hands again as he looked at her, as if everything was under his control. Suddenly, Ananya did a back flip and hung onto the face of Vicious Teeth, and before it could react stabbed it in the eye. He sword reached the beast's brain and easily killed him.

The bandit leader was startled at her actions.

'So her target never was me. What a smart girl !'

He leaped from the beast's back and made a claw, aiming at her chest. She quickly kicked the beast's head and pulled the sword and went flying backwards. At the same time Mad Saber moved towards them. The bandit leader's claw struck the beauty making her spit blood as she flew backwards more rapidly. Mad Saber caught her, and at the same time the dead beast and the bandit leader made contact with the ground. The collapse of the beast created a cloud of dust behind the bandit leader, and even Mad Saber had to admit that at that moment he looked like an invincible expert.

"Okay. Now that you have hurt my beautiful disciple, I can't let you walk away."

Mad Saber made the girl rest and swaggered heroically towards the bandit leader with the heavy sword resting over his shoulder. He suddenly furrowed his brows, because he felt as if he heard a snort behind him.

Must be my imagination, he thought.

The bandit leader stared at him for a while, then shook his head as he crossed his hands again.

"You cannot defeat me. You are not proficient enough in your Vindhya Sword Art."

"Let's see if I can do it or not." Mad Saber said arrogantly. He had been training in this sword art since he was five, and was one of the best swordsman of his Dynasty. It was not an empty boast, his sparring partner was Bhaskar, the Human Saint !

The fight began, and like before the bandit leader fought only using his hands. Each punch was extremely heavy and was filled with incredible raw strength. As the fight prolonged, Mad Saber gradually understood something.

The Tiger Style !

He remembered his father had vaguely demonstrated him the Tiger Style, but even he could only show the form and not the essence, and told him that the characteristic of the Tiger Style was its explosive strength. Simply speaking, a person practicing the Tiger Style was a master at close quarter combat.

Slowly the strikes grew so fierce that even the heavy sword started chipping, and the sword in his hands almost flew because of the recoil from each punch. Eventually even the Mad Saber couldn't hold on, and his sword flew away from his hands. The bandit leader sent a palm to his chest, causing him to fly back and puke out blood multiple times.

At this moment the door to a carriage opened, and Ananya's teacher, Zhen Qi walked down with a sword in her hand. The bandit leader calmly looked at her, as if she was just yet another opponent to be defeated.

"You know the Seven Lotus Comprehensive Art ?" the druid softly asked. Her voice was always soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing others.

"Humph. I know it very well. The druids taught this art to the dwarfs, and somehow even the Goblins have learned some simpler versions of it, using which they had begun destroying the villages of the beast-men on the coast. This technique does not require much use of Profound Energy, so even the Goblins with their shitty talents can train in this."

Zhen Qi stared at the ground for a while, then looked at him and spoke.

"You know the previous Beast King..."

It sounded as a question as well as a declaration. This line irritated the bandit leader a little and he growled.

"Why so much talk ? Fight if you want to fight !"

He pulled out the large blade and got into an attacking stance. He was incensed and wanted to finish the fight as soon as he can.

Zhen Qi held her sword she carried with her. It was an extremely weird sword, and completely looked like a rod. It looked as if the base of a sword was stuck to a rod. The rod was plain and had no designs except for some occasional scratches.

She poured her Profound Energy and the sword immediately lit on fire. The fire was blue and small, yet extremely hot. The bandit leader was startled and immediately shifted into a defensive posture. Zhen Qi waved her sword lightly, and a curvaceous line of fire flew towards her enemy. It struck the large blade and immediately cut in half.

Half of the blade collapsed, and the melted edges could been seen. It was a crude cut, but it was deadly. He realized that the druid lady had not used her full power in her strike, or else he would be cut along with the sword.

The handle of the blade dropped from the bandit leader's hand as he pointed at her.

"This weapon.... this is a legendary weapon ! Who are you ?"

His eyes were filled with fear when he asked who are you. The druid simply raised her sword again, preparing another strike. The bandit leader ran crazily to escape behind the rocks and uneven terrain.

Another curved line of fire traveled quickly, and before the bandit leader could react, it was already close to him. He showed his agility and turned his body, trying to avoid the line of fire. However, he wasn't fast enough, and the line of fire cut his hand across his shoulder. His shoulder flew and landed a little distance away and gave off a smokey smell.

The bandit leader cried as he held his shoulder but immediately held himself up. Zhen Qi kept the sword away. Although she could still hit him from this distance, the energy consumption inside the weapon would be much greater. Sura propped Ananya up and the three watched the bandit leader stumbled and walk away. The bandit suddenly turned and shouted towards them.

"Remember my name, White Star. Remember it well !"