A massive man with a neatly trimmed beard and short messy brown hair stood over the dead bodies of three rookie hunters. He was the leader of the rookie hunters.

There were ten fellow rookie hunters around him, their faces scrunched up from anger and sadness that overtook their bodies after seeing the corpses.

The three corpses were their brothers. Now they lay cold on the muddy forest floor.

“Who could have done this!” Reese, one of the 3 vice leaders of the rookie hunters snarled. “I'm gonna rip their body into pieces once I find them!”

The rest nodded at his aggressive words, they too felt his anger and pain.

Dax, the leader, squatted down and inspected the fresh wounds on his dead brothers, looking for clues as to who might have killed them.

‘Ax wounds’ An easy tell for someone at his caliber.

The battle looked quick. Looking at the wounds and footprints on the ground, Dax could infer it was a single enemy who was highly skilled and extremely dangerous. They had butchered three 2 star crossers who he had trained personally.

Dax closed his eyes and gave them a silent prayer before standing back up and announcing, “Take the bodies back home, we’ll hold a funeral for them.”

“But what about the killer!? We need to take revenge.” Reese shouted but got a slap to the back of his head almost sending him flying.

“Don't yell at the boss!” Mady, another vice leader, warned him.

If Bo saw her, he would recognize her as the blonde lady that had led the rookie hunters when they attacked them. She wore a similar outfit from back then and had the same glowing green eyes like the rest of the rookie hunters.

“Don't slap me!” Reese yelled back but got another kick to the back of the knees.

“Who do you think you're yelling at!?” Mady growled. ”Calm down already, everyone here is just as upset as you, you're just more vocal about it.”

She brushed past Reese and stood behind Dax. “So what's the plan boss?”

Dax paused in thought. What was he going to do?

Obviously, revenge was necessary. Whoever did this would get their due part, but in a vast and hard to navigate section, it would be hard to pinpoint the murderer.

Considering the Lost Forest was 200 km long and 50 km wide, their sphere of influence was petite on a section wide scale. Even the sanctuary was only a tiny building in the grand scheme of the Lost Forest. Realistically the number of people in this section was probably in the thousands.

“Does anyone have any clues or ideas as to who did this?” Dax asked his fellow brothers and sisters.

They all shook their heads— except for Mady, who was deep in thought.

“Mady?”

“I think…I might know… It's a stretch but family history would indicate such a reaction.” Mady said.

“What are you talking about?” Dax wasn't sure what she was going on about.

“Well, we ran into Sera Might, as in the daughter of Madeline Might, and robbed her and her crew.” Mady explained.

“Madeline Might’s daughter?”

“Yep, she looked exactly like her mother… and maybe she has a thing for revenge just like her as well. Also, these wounds look like ax wounds and Sera’s badge weapon was a battle ax.”

“You really think it's her?”

“Hmmm, maybe like 30% confident it's her.”

“Mm… Do you know where we can find her?” Dax asked.

“We found her just outside the sanctuary’s territory so my best guess is the sanctuary.”

“That makes it easy.” Dax said and turned to face the rest.

His expression changed for the first time, anger was plastered all over. “From now on, every person you see, interrogate them, I don't care how, I just want answers. Mady, Reese and I will confront a possible murderer in the meantime.”

“Go now, let's make sure our fallen brothers can rest in peace!” The rest of the rookie hunters cheered and took off.

“Even if it's not Sera Might herself, the murderer could be hiding in the sanctuary. Whatever the case, we'll find the culprit. Let's go!” Dax sprinted off, followed by Mady and Reese. Their destination was the sanctuary.

***

Day 26

It has been roughly three weeks since their training began. Currently, Bo and Sera were sparring against the Keeper with the focus on using the things they had learned.

Sera was being conscious of her ember but that made her reaction speed a little slower while Bo was using actual knife techniques and not swinging wildly.

He did learn a few techniques back in Gladesdale but not enough or well enough to use them, but now he got the hang of the basics. This should be enough to get him by for now.

He would continue to train everyday to make sure he was always growing.

There were really three types of fighters you could find on the Bridge. Those who exclusively master their ember to a high degree and don't learn other forms of combat. This works if you have embers that are very powerful in combat, but for most it's a dead end.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Then there are those who train only their combat capabilities, in this case they usually only have artifacts, companions or non-combative embers.

Then there was Bo and Sera. They were training and learning both. Sera was more heavily leaning in the combat only side because her ember is really just a strength boost.

Learning both ember and fighting combat was what most did, which had its pros and cons compared to being exclusive to one extreme end of the spectrum.

This could change in the future depending on what their future trial rewards are, but for now, they all focused on learning both.

The Keeper, still not using her katana to battle them, kept them at bay with a few kicks and punches. They hadn't gotten close to even touching the Keeper.

After getting a kick to the chest, Bo was exhausted and lay on the wooden floor of the training room. Sera similarly got a punch to the side and flopped down panting for breath.

“Okay that's enough for today. You’ve progressed a lot in these past three weeks, more than I thought you guys would.” The Keeper smiled at them and helped them stand up.

“We still can't even touch you though.” Bo complained with a tired sigh.

“Hah, train for another decade and maybe you'll get close.” The Keeper jokingly laughed and patted Bo on the back. “Your days are over so relax and come back tomorrow with the same vigor.”

He nodded then left with Sera to go meet up with Iris who was in the garden pavilion training her ember.

They arrived at the beautiful garden pavilion. Colorful flowers bloomed here unlike the dull colors of the outside forest. It was a calming atmosphere. The fresh air and smell of vegetation cleared their thoughts and relaxed their muscles.

They walked past a stream of water that ran through the entire garden area and gazed at the tiny fishes swimming along.

Iris was inside the open doors to the pavilion, in her hands and all around her were plants of all sorts. She was testing them to see if she could make new potions.

Iris’s ember worked in a strange way. She needs two materials, small in volume, and then by activating her ember, it will turn the two materials into a potion. The ember would even create a glass vial for the potion to rest in.

According to Iris’s tests, 95% of the time the two materials won't actually combine and wont make a potion. Only roughly 5% of the time will a new combination make a potion.

Once she knew the recipe for a potion, she could make it again using the same materials. On the other hand, The effects of the potions were random, but once it was made she would know what it was able to do.

She also has some control over the potions. For example her exploding potion will explode when the vial cracks or when she activates it herself. A pretty useful feature.

Lastly, she has two main restrictions. One being that the items used to make her potions have to be small and a singular type of item, (She can't combine a complex item made of many materials) and the other is that she can only make 3 potions a day. The latter restriction could increase as it had already gone up from 1 potion a day according to Iris.

“Hey Iris.” Bo tiredly greeted her and sat down beside her, getting a small wave in return.

She was concentrating on her notebook in which she scribbled down her findings of the day. After another 10 minutes, Iris closed her notebook and sat down with Sera and Bo.

“Whew, my day is over.” Iris leaned against Sera. “How was your guys training?”

“Rough as always.” Sera replied. “What about you?”

“I tested around a hundred combinations and surprisingly made a new potion.”

“Oh! What's the new potion?”

“Well… it's kinda useless. It can make someone burpy.”

“Burpy?” Bo asked.

“You'll feel like burping for roughly an hour.”

“That's weird.”

After a few more minutes of chatting, they left the garden and went to the kitchen for dinner.

Unfortunately as they walked into the main room a loud commotion coming from the front entrance drew their attention. The front door was open and the Keeper stood there with her arms crossed.

Bo looked past the Keeper and saw three individuals, all with glowing green eyes. ‘Rookie hunters!’ He shouted in his head, wondering what they were doing here.

“We just need to ask her a few questions.” Dax said to the Keeper in a calm tone.

“Like I've said, you can't just barge into the sanctuary and demand someone to answer your questions.” The Keeper had an annoyed expression as she talked to the three rookie hunters.

“I'm not leaving. Not until I ask Sera Might some questions.” Dax’s tone changed into a heavy tone.

“I. Said. Leave!” The Keeper went to draw her katana but a voice from behind stopped her.

“What do you guys want?” Sera stomped through the entrance and stood beside the Keeper.

“You must be Sera Might, good. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Dax's voice relaxed and he pointed to the other man with him. “My vice leader Reese here is able to tell the truth from lies, not as well as your mothers famous Sword of Judgment, but it still works.”

“Sure! I have nothing to hide.” Sera announced and went to walk down but the Keeper put her arm out to stop her.

“Don't trust this slimy rat. Whatever he’s here for doesn't matter, he's infringing on our contract and I'd be happy to do the same if he doesn't leave.” The Keeper said.

“It's just one question, then we will leave.” Dax explained. “She already said she would do it, why do you get to make her decisions for her?”

The Keeper scowled and looked at Sera with a raised eyebrow, silently asking her if she’s okay with that.

Sera nodded.

“Fine, one question, then you leave.”

Dax smiled and then his face darkened and he asked the question. “Have you ever killed a rookie hunter?”

“I'll answer if you give us back our stuff you stole from us.”

Dax's face twitched in annoyance, “But you just said… Fine. I'll return one wild artifact we stole.”

“Hmmm, no deal. All or nothing.” Sera said, causing Dax’s face to darken even more. The Keeper smiled seeing her students' devious negotiating method.

“Let's just capture her when she leaves the sanctuary.” Reese suggested. “It's either she tells us, or she’ll be stuck in the sanctuary forever.”

“Ah good idea.” Dax smiled. “We can negotiate then. If you don't answer, we will make sure you, nor your comrades ever leave the lost forest. You'll be stuck here the rest of your lives.”

“Or, you just answer, THE DAMN QUESTION!!!” Dax angrily roared after being teased by Sera.

Sera paused for a moment. “Can he do that?” She asked the Keeper.

“It technically doesn't break the contract, but neither does me escorting you back to Gladesdale.” The Keeper explained with a smirk.

Dax gritted his teeth.

“Same offer then, all or nothing.” Sera copied her teacher and smirked.

“You fucking b… Deal.” Dax finally complied, it wasn't worth getting this frustrated over. If Sera turned out to be the murderer, then the deal doesn't even matter anyways.

“I'll ask again. Have you ever killed a rookie hunter?”

“Hmmmm, nope. Never killed a person before.” Sera said nonchalantly.

Dax looked at Reese who gave him a thumbs up, meaning she was telling the truth. He sighed and left without saying another word. He was exhausted from that one conversation.

He had been played with. Even though she was telling the truth, she made one mistake— pissing him off. He would make sure her time here was anything but pleasant.

But for now, he needed to find out who the killer was.