"Is something wrong ? You look depressed, Mariel." Beatrix asked worriedly.
"Sometimes it's like you're not listening to what we're talking about." Mania asked, she was also curious.
"I was just thinking about something, I'm sorry." Mariel replied.
"Maybe you practiced too hard and became blurred. Don't overdo it." said Beatrix.
"Your body will be seriously injured. You need to find time to rest and recovery." Mania further advised.
"Thank you very much, both of you." Mariel said with a smile.
At the market in the center of the city, people came out to shop as usual. Parents holding hands with their sons and daughters for coming out to buy various kinds of sweets, candies, and cakes which included various toys that attract children want to buy. Vendors shouted out to people to come and buy various kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.
"I haven't been here in a long time. It's still as lively as ever." A large young man's voice said in a good mood. It was as if he had gone far from his city and had returned home to his old, very familiar place.
"That's Brother Segal!" Another young man shouted happily and pointed his finger at him.
Segal quickly turned around to look at the owner of this voice and saw a group of three people who were very familiar because they had studied swordsmanship together at the Kehal Sword Bureau School.
"Kees, Carl, and Kale! We haven't seen each other for a long time, bros." Segal hugged the three twins with care. A few tears flowed from each side. The friendship that men have for each other will never fade.
"So what are you doing in the capital? Brother Segal." Carl asked.
"Oh, I just had a day off, so I came to visit my younger sister Mariel today." Segal said.
"Is Mariel studying here? What ranking school is this?" Kees asked further.
"It's the First Ranking school, Terios." Segal replied.
"As expected of the youngest sister of our sword bureau. She's really good at it." Kale said with admiration.
"So what are you guys doing here?" Segal asked.
"We came to do a document delivery quest, brother. So, we stopped by to buy some supplies after finishing our quest." Kees said.
"By the way, we have a free time all day. Would you like to stop by and visit our little sister Mariel?" Carl asked the other two twins for their opinions.
"We definitely won't deny it, bro." Kees and Kale answered in unison.
"Okay, then let's hurry and go there. I'm going to miss my little sister a lot." Segal said, he immediately walking ahead of the three twins to the school where Mariel was studying.
At the girls' dormitory, Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania had just finished their homework reports. They took a break from the exhaustion until their stomachs began to growl with hunger.
The sounds of the 3 girls' stomachs growling at the same time.
"It's time for lunch. What should we have to eat?" Mariel asked the other two friends' opinions.
"How's about a beef steak? Fruit and vegetable salad would be nice too." Beatrix suggested.
"I prefer mushroom soup too." Mania said, her eyes sparkling.
"Alright, let's make some hot baked potatoes and some additional side dishes as well." Mariel said.
Knock! Knock! There was a knock at the door.
"Hello." Beatrix said after realizing that the person knocking on the door was the big lady who was a keeper of the dormitory.
"Please tell Mariel. There are people waiting in front of the dormitory." the dormitory keeper said.
"Yes, Mariel! There are people waiting for you in front of the dormitory." Beatrix told Mariel who was preparing the equipment for lunch.
"Who are they?" Mariel said as she left the kitchen and walked out to the front of the dormitory with her friends.
When the three girls came down to the front of the dormitory, they realized who they were waiting to meet. Mariel's heart fluttered with utter joy.
"Oh, Brother Segal! Kees, Carl, and Kale! Twin brothers!" Mariel cried out with joy and hugged her older brothers tightly.
"How are you? Our sister." the three twins said, embracing tightly and stroking Mariel's head affectionately.
"I'm fine. I miss all you guys so much." Mariel said with a smile. Then she hugged her brother and kissed Segal's cheek lightly.
"I really miss your too. Have you gotten better at practicing?" Segal said as he kissed his younger sister on her cheek.
"It's been almost a full year since we haven't seen each other. I train very hard all the time," Mariel said.
"Then we'll have to do some practicing!" the three twin brothers said in unison with excitement.
"But at first...Have you eaten lunch yet? All of you." Beatrix asked as her stomach began to growl again.
The stomachs of the four men rumbled together until the whole group laughed.
"That's it. Then all of you wait for me to cook our lunch for a while. Anyway, let's sit and wait on the bench over there first." Mariel said, pointing at the marble-patterned bench next to the girls' dormitory which was for reading books or making temporary reports.
"Alright, let's sit and talk about our stories." Segal said, inviting the three twins to sit and wait for the girls again.
"Then please wait a moment, I'll be back." Marielle said, leading the other two friends back into the dormitory to prepare lunch for everyone.
Mariel, Beatrix and Mania brought out a delicious lunch to eat together with the four brothers. They all ate it with gusto and talked about many miscellaneous stories, especially the three twins who shared their mischievous stories in another sword bureau at another city that caused laughter all around. Finally, Mariel and her friends had put their dishes back and washed them until they were clean, they came out to talk with them again.
"Today we have a free time until the evening, so we'd like to duel with Mariel and Senior Segal a bit. How advanced your Primary Mind Coordination partner is." Karl said with doubt.
Mariel and Segal looked at each other and smiled. How long didn't the two of them fought together. When the three twins challenge them, how can they refuse it?
"Then I would like to invite you to the swordsman club's arena. I will ask the club to borrow one practice field." Mariel invited everyone and immediately led the way to the Swordsman Club. As for Beatrix and Mania, today they would like to take a day off from practice because they don't want to miss a good show that's about to happen.
Arriving at the Swordsman Club, Mariel immediately requested to borrow a small practice field in the left corner. Senior Ken came to help her about preparing the arena along with greeting and getting to know Segal, the three twin brothers, right away.
"You look very strong. There must be a chance for a one-on-one match with you soon." Segal said, admiring Senior Ken's muscular mass.
"You also seem to have a lot of energy. Let's find that opportunity next time." Senior Ken said, shaking the other's hand in agreement.
Mariel walked ahead of everyone to the arena. She didn't use the system which closed the curtain that prevented others from seeing the battle inside. It was as if she wanted everyone in the club to be able to watch the fierce fighting without charging any fees. Beatrix and Mania were watching from the chairs. On the left side of the field were Mariel and Segal. On the right side, the three twins, Kees, Carl, and Kale, were all fully prepared.
Segal summons his own large sword and shield in both hands. The silver sword and large silver shield are different from the originals. It looks even stronger than before. As for Mariel, she summons the Dragon Slayer Sword and is ready to fight as well.
As for the three twins, they all conjured up their own swords at the same time. Then they stood in the shape of a triangle with Kees in the front row. As for Carl and Kale, they stood behind him on either side.
"Let's Begin! Triangle Formation!" Kale shouted. The three twins immediately soared above the heads of Mariel and Segal as they performed a fierce attack of the Ice Sword.
"Iron Wall!" Segal raised his physical energy and slammed the large silver shield onto the arena floor. Then, a silver aura appeared that spread on Segal and Mariel's bodies. The aura gradually transformed into a faint silver armor covering the two of them. As for Mariel, she cast her ice magic power to fight the waves of swords attacking from all directions.
Scorching, scorching, scorching!
The sound of sword and magic collided violently several times in a row. The three twins' sword powers were stronger than before. This made Segal's shield magic protecting the two of them almost unbearable, but the two of them refused to become defensive and even tried to thrust their swords back several times.
"Brother ! Circle without resistance!" Mariel ordered as soon as they had the opportunity.
"Understood, sis!" Segal responded immediately.
The two of them ran in a small circle and were able to catch the twins' swords and made others were shocking about this.
"I've never seen a defense like this before." Kees praised after he hit the target, but Mariel blocked his ice sword's power just in time.
"They are truly extraordinary." Kale and Carl said after being stabbed back by Segal with a large sword that caused them to retreat.
"Running in circles can keep their sides from worrying about each other. It is also able to see attacks on the opposing side with almost without weak point. Even at the cost of losing more magic power, it will reduce the wound from the attack to another level." Beatrix analyzed it with precision.
"It closes the gaps of weak point in teamwork." Mania said.
"Yes, in our team. Mariel will be the vanguard of the battle, which will be different from the pairing with Segal. As they were both a swordsman and a shield-swordsman. Therefore, attacks will be more limited in the short range. This makes them to being attacked from long range. If they can close this, it will be beneficial to the battle in the long term." Beatrix said.
"Wicked! Take this!" Kees said as he slammed his ultimate Ice Sword at Mariel.
"Give me all you got, Brother Kees!" Mariel said, slamming her ice sword back at her opponent as well.
Clang!!!!!!!
The sound was so loud that ice spread in all directions. Kees could only jump and spin in the air and try to boost his strength to get ready to fight again, but...
Instead, Mariel soared closer and cast a windstorm until he was sucked into the storm. Then she immediately slammed her fire sword at Kees.
"It won't work!" Kees accelerated his strength to his own feet and pushed upwards, barely out of the windstorm. Mariel's fire sword magic almost collided with the storm, causing them to be destroyed.
Kees and Mariel both stood there panting from exhaustion. As for Segal, he was able to defend against all attacks of the twin brothers: Carl and Kale.
"You are really strong, brother Segal. You have been hit by more than 10 swords, and you are still standing!" Kale said with admiration.
"Normally, others would be defeated by our proud Triangle Formation Technique but with two of you, both of you are no signs of losing to us at all." Carl said.
"I come to help you, brother." Mariel said, rushing to join Segal.
"Two Swords in Harmony!" Segal shouted and immediately slammed a large flaming sword at the twin brothers. Mariel slammed the same type of flaming sword until it merged into one and attacked the opponent without mercy.
Scorching!
Carl and Kale were in defensive mode so that they almost stumbled back several steps. Until Kees, who had regained his strength just in time, had to rush in to help protect his twin brothers.
The power of the two sides' flaming swords collided with each other, causing a small tremor. This made other people who were practicing swordsmanship turn to look at each other with interest.
The two sides stood and looked at each other with admiration. The skills of the three twins, Mariel and Segal, have advanced so far. Even though no words came out of either side's mouths, the sparkling eyes that spoke of it all spoke of their admiration for the opponent so much that it was difficult to say.
"Kees, Carl and Kale have advanced a lot. Let's continue practicing and then let's fight together again next time." Segal said, lowering his sword and shield.
"The three twin brothers are still stronger than me." Mariel said, narrowing her eyes.
"Little Mariel and Brother Segal as well. Your Primary Mind Coordination skills are truly extraordinary. If we don't give all our strengths, it will be difficult to take down both of you." Kees said.
"This is all we got now. Any more than this would mean that taking all my life to sacrifice." Karl said.
Mariel thought about something in her mind. Then she turned to look at Beatrix and Mania who were watching them. The eyes that looked at their friend seemed to have meant that made them fear immediately.
"Please create a battle barrier." Mariel said.
"Yes, as your wish." Beatrix responded, immediately casting a spell at the pillar at the edge of the arena.
Suddenly, a large clear white magic barrier appeared, covering them all. Others who stood outside this barrier would not be able to see any movement in it.
"Why did they cast the barrier?" a second-year swordsman from the club asked curiously.
"I guess they want to duel in private fight." another person replied.
"Little Mariel, is there a reason for setting up this barrier to prevent others from seeing us?" Kees asked curiously. But inside his mind, he felt as excited as the two twins standing next to him.
"I will ask for a duel with three of you, while Segal and others sit and watch our fight next of the arena." Mariel said with confidence.
"Mariel, are you sure?" Segal asked with concern because he didn't think his sister would go crazy like this. She even dared the three twins to attack her, who was fighting alone.
"Don't worry, I have something good to show to you guys. Do you want to see it? My dear." Mariel said, giving her brother a quick look.
"If you have something good and you want to show it for me. I'm always ready to watch it." Segal said as he keeps his sword and shield. Then he walks out of the arena and sits next to Beatrix and Mania.
"Please take a good look at this, Brother Segal. This is the show that how hard she has trained in the past." Beatrix said.
"The more I want to see it, Lol." Segal laughed, crossing his arms over his chest and watching intently.
Immediately, the three twins surrounded Mariel in a triangle formation as before, accelerating their sword power to its maximum.
"Let's us gang up on you. You're brave, Mariel." Carl said and he doesn't believe that Mariel would dare to take on such a challenge like this.
"No one dares to fight to our triangle formation technique, you are the first person." Kale said, praising the youngest sister of the Sword Bureau they had trained with.
"If you lose, please don't be angry at us." Kees said jokingly.
"I'll show you the real thing now, brothers." Mariel said, closing her eyes. Then the atmosphere around everyone became even more uncomfortable. There appeared to be some kind of power surrounding Mariel that made the three twin brothers realize the danger that this battle was probably serious.
Mariel slowly raised her sword. Then, a change occurred around her.
Wink!!!!
Mariel's eyes shone brightly and transformed into the eyes of a serpent, ready to hunt down these three delicious preys.
"What!!!" The three twins exclaimed in utter shock.
Even Segal turned pale at the situation in front of him because he didn't expect his sister to have such this skill.
"My turn!!!!" Mariel shouted, then charged at the three twins immediately.
.
.
.
.
.
Over 10 minutes had passed, and the results were in front of Segal's eyes, Beatrix and Mania are shocking too. Kees, Carl and Kale all crouched on the ground with wounds all over their bodies. Each of them gasped from exhaustion. The swords of the three people fell out of their hands and scattered on the ground. Everyone was unable to fight any longer as all their eyes watched Mariel who stood with only a few wounds on her body.
"Thank you to the three twin brothers for holding back." Mariel said, bowing her head.
"We didn't holding back at all. It was your truly skills who defeated us clearly." Carl teased.
"This specific skill is really extraordinary. I've never seen it before in my life." Kale admired.
"We must go back and train harder. Our younger sister's skills have come more advanced than us now." Kees said with enthusiasm.
Everyone walked to the front of the school after recovering their strength from the fight. Mariel hugged the three twin brothers for goodbye with an emotional hug.
"Thank you so much for coming to see me. You guys have given me a lot of encouragement. At least it makes me know that there are always older brothers by my side." Mariel said with a few tears streaming down her face.
"It's a pleasure for our lovely sister." the three twin brothers said in unison.
"For my older brother, thank you for visiting. I will always miss you." Mariel said, hugging Segal tightly.
"I always miss you too my dear sister. We'll have a chance to meet again. I have to go back and practice more, so I can be the same level as you." Segal said.
"You can do it, brother." Mariel said, kissing his brother gently on the cheek. As for Segal, he kissed his sister's forehead in return with affection.
"Do you kiss us on the cheek too?" The three twin brothers begged.
"Alright." Mariel said, feeling a little shy, but she kissed all three twins' cheeks.
"We got an encouragement now, see you again. If we have a chance, we'll join the team together." the three twin brothers said before bidding farewell to Mariel and their friends, then they walked away with Segal.
This reunion was a great boost to Mariel's morale. Her mentality was ready for the big battle in the next few days. No matter how difficult it is, at least she has brothers who are always by her side.
"Let's go back to our rooms. I need to rest; I feel so tired." Mariel said, walking ahead of the other two friends.
"You 're tired from fighting or you tired because of kissing all four brothers on their cheeks?" Beatrix asked.
"Probably the second one." Mania said with a smile.
"You guys…" Mariel turned to look at them, slightly embarrassed.
Then the three girls went back to the girls' dormitory together with happy expressions on their faces.