One man, the one with a red crystal on his staff, took one step closer with a grin and said, “I don’t mind being the first. Are you ready, Meryda?”

“Lyzy, get in front of me and get your fire ready! That man is going to shoot Fire Magic against us!”

The bright orange Salamander stood in front of Meryda, smoke coming from the sides of its mouth, and looking ready to fight. Meryda squeezed her shield’s handle and hid behind it, increasing the grip on her staff, and the gelatinous Slime moved from Meryda’s shoulder to her neck, wrapping her gently like a scarf.

The Mage pointed his staff at Meryda, and shouted, “Quietest power of fiery stone surges into my mind!”

Before he could continue, Meryda shouted, “Lyzy! Blast him!”

A barrage of fireballs went straight to the Mage, interrupting his chanting and making him jump to the side, next, he had to run to get behind a tree because the angry Salamander was still shooting as if he wanted to crisp to smithereens the fool who dared to attack his owner.

Another Mage went forward, the one with a white Crystal, and began chanting, “Spray of the chilling wind, witness my direction of proudest control! Shiniest energy of crushing enchantment crackles through my ears! Obey my command! Slash Breeze!”

Meryda reacted by quickly shouting, “Coldest forces of spiralling sand from the ground! Unfold the ultimate plea! Obey my command! Wall of Rock!”

A massive wall made of granite appeared in front of Meryda, stopping the sharp blow the Mage tried to hit her with. The Wind Mage began chanting again but couldn’t finish because the glowing Salamander ran against him with incredible speed and hit him with a headbutt straight to his face before he could even finish the first sentence.

The female Mage with a blue Crystal shouted, “The shiniest ashen water crackles into my feet! Deadliest leviathan of burning tides! Obey my command! Whirlpool of Water!”

A wave of water enveloped Meryda’s wall and twirled around it, making it crumble. Before the Salamander could hit the female Mage with a fire blast, she ran straight at Meryda, skilfully avoiding the angry Salamander that stood in her path.

At a mere three metres, she pointed her staff but then was sent flying backwards, hit by the Slime that jumped to her face, getting knocked out even before her head touched the floor.

The last Mage, another woman that had a brown crystal, started to run the moment the other Mage destroyed Meryda’s wall, and using the Slime’s attack as a distraction, she went straight to Meryda with a fist ready.

To everyone else’s surprise, Meryda dropped the shield and the staff, avoided the punch, grabbed the Mage’s wrist, moved her body to the left, and pulled, using the woman’s momentum against her and sending her flying straight to the hard floor.

A loud bang resonated in the backyard, and Craydon smiled. He clapped while shouting, “That’s my girl!”

The Guild Master rubbed his face with both hands and screamed, “What are you doing, moron? Use Spells! Or defend with the shield! A Mage never drops his staff to fight unarmed! You have two Monsters with you, so why didn’t you order them to stop her? You just need to use the shield and tell your Monsters to help you!”

“I… didn’t even think about that… My body just moved…”

“Again! Everyone get ready and now attack in pairs! Teach that brat how to fight as a Mage! Darn moron, fighting unarmed! I want to kill you right now! Why have I been teaching you for all these past few months?”

Meryda picked up her shield and staff and complained, “I just have two Monsters and they are four! And my pretty Salamander is just a baby!”

“A baby that can easily kill everyone here! Stop being a fool and get ready! And tell your Slime to get off your neck and to be in front of you, ready to protect you!” He then turned to the four Mages who were getting ready and warned them, “The next one I see trying to punch or kick Meryda instead of using Spells is going to have to deal with me! Darn fools! Bunch of morons!”

One of the female Mages said with a serious face, “You told us to fight her but not kill her Monsters. Either I punch her or I kill one of those two Monsters so that I can get her. You can’t ask for two conflicting things and expect us to comply in the heat of the battle. So, you either shut up and let us do this, or you can take my place and be the one getting knocked out!”

Surprisingly, the Guild Master turned to Craydon and said, “Go get your crossbow, grab a shield, and get in front of Meryda. Let’s see if they complain with a different target! Why are you looking at me like that? Didn’t you say you wanted to protect Meryda? Then, protect her!”

Craydon quickly went to the kitchen and returned with his crossbow, a belt quiver full of feathered darts, grabbed a shield that was near the Guild’s wall, right next to a bunch of weapons and other shields, and rushed to Meryda. He stood in front of her, right behind the serious Salamander, pulled the string of the crossbow, placed a dart in its place, and pointed the crossbow to the group of Mages while hiding behind his shield and using it to keep the crossbow steady.

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Before the Guild Master raised his arm to warn them to get ready, Meryda asked, “Can I use another Monster? We are in the minority here!”

“You could, if you had any!” said Dralro Jic.

With a whistle, Meryda called out the small dark fog that was hiding behind the shadow of the tree in one corner of the backyard.

The fog flew to her and stood by her side. It was smaller than her but not less menacing than the other Monsters that Meryda had, making Dralro Jic, the strong Guild Master, ask, “Meryda, what is that? Is that a small Emptiness?”

“Yes. The one I have at my farm split when I said I was going to train at the Guild in the afternoon. I guess he got worried. I am not sure if this little fog is a part of him, or if it is his son or daughter.”

“Now this is going to be interesting!” He then turned to the puzzled group of Mages and said, “Perhaps tomorrow we should change our training place. We need more Mages, a few guys and girls that use swords and bows, and we will go have a big spar at Meryda’s farm tomorrow afternoon! Meryda, you may use one of each Monster you have there! That should make things interesting, and you and your Monsters will get used to fighting as a team.”

The Mage that had a red Crystal complained, “How are we supposed to fight that thing? If she tells him to attack, he will try to melt our heads! We will be dead in two seconds!”

“One more reason for you to be careful. Just pretend you are dealing with two criminals, and one of them has those three Monsters ready to kill you and the ones next to you for them to escape!”

One woman, the one who tried to punch Meryda, asked, “Can we at least use deadly Spells? Because if we fight while trying not to kill those Monsters, we won’t survive this training!”

“I suppose we can do that.” The Guild Master then faced the worried Meryda and said, “It is up to you to be sure your Monsters don’t die. You know what I think about Monsters, so if some of them or all of them die, I won’t be sad. Wait a minute, I just thought of something to make things even more interesting!”

He rushed to the Guild’s back door, and minutes later, the sound of voices alerted Craydon that something weird was about to happen.

All the Adventurers and Explorers that were still at the Guild, including a few that had returned just moments ago, were exiting through the back door and gathering against the Guild’s wall.

Dralro Jic raised his hand and shouted, “Everyone, let’s start some bets! I also need people ready with Healing Potions, just in case! The Guild is going to pay for any Potion that is used! We are going to have a huge fight here, and some of them will definitely get hurt! Probably even die! So, on that side, we have Meryda and her father, our very own cook, and three Monsters. On the other side, those guys and girls! So, who wants to start the bets?”

Rusha Banei, the Guild’s receptionist, asked in an angry tone, “Are you crazy? How can you expect that Craydon will fight them? He is just a cook, and he has no experience whatsoever fighting Mages or Adventurers!”

“Not my problem! He was the one who said he was going with Meryda whenever she went on a dangerous Quest to protect her! For that, he requires experience! Unless you want to join them, shut up and get your money ready to bet!”

“And what about keeping secret Meryda’s Magic? You already forgot about that?”

“It’s just us here, you darn woman! Now shut up and show me your coins!” said the Guild Master with an open palm, waiting for money.

With a frown, Rusha went for the pile of weapons and grabbed a bow, a quiver full of arrows, and a long shield with a sharp tip. She walked to Meryda, stopped at her right side, stuck the sharp tip of the shield on the ground, and hid behind it while placing an arrow on the bow.

She then looked at the curious Craydon and said, “What? I am way better with this than you will ever be with that toy of yours! Now it’s four against four! Start this already, Dralro! I have a floor to clean! And you are going to clean the blood of those dumb Mages over there!”

A woman on the team of Mages grinned and shouted, “You are the one that is going to lose blood, Rusha! You are no match for me and my Magic!”

“Yeah, right! Keep saying that to yourself, and you might believe it! I am so going to rub the floor with you, dumbass!”

The Guild Master collected the bet money, noted down the names and the money of everyone who joined the betting, raised his arm, and said, “Let’s start this! Get ready! Fight!”

…

Fifteen minutes later, Meryda was seated on the floor, panting; Craydon was lying on his back and trying to recover his breath; the four Mage women were completely knocked out; there were holes on the ground everywhere; scorched walls all around the backyard; drops of blood all over; and Rusha Banei was giving one last kick to the head of the female Mage that mocked her in the beginning to be sure she was out.

All the Adventurers and Explorers were in silence, staring at the tired Meryda and her three Monsters. The Guild Master rubbed his chin and said with an awkward smile, “Now that was unexpected… I thought those Mages were going to put on a fight, but it was more like one-sided carnage! What the heck happened here?”

One Adventurer said after looking around, “Was it just me, or did Meryda and Craydon just do some crazy things? That weird bow of his is outstanding! And Meryda’s Magic is surprisingly powerful! Wasn’t she supposed to only be a Monster Tamer? Now she is also an Earth Mage? And a very powerful one? And why did I just find out that our always-angry receptionist is a sharpshooter with a bow? She even used her bow to hit some of those guys!”

Dralro Jic answered with a smile, “Rusha used to be an Adventurer a few years ago, but she stopped going on Quests because I was looking for a receptionist, and she was tired of camping out during Quests and eating bad food. This was dangerous, but it also ended some of my worries. So, let me pay up, and let’s do this tomorrow afternoon at Meryda’s farm, but tomorrow, I want there to be every available Adventurer and Explorer! And bring a lot of Healing Potions, because tomorrow it will be even more dangerous!”

Meryda raised her arm and said with a smile, “Can I invite my friends? I am sure they would like to train as well!”

“I don’t see why not, but warn them it will be a very dangerous training session!”

“Sure! This was kind of fun! Scary, but fun!”

Craydon spoke without even opening his eyes. “Fun? This was absurd! They were trying to kill us! I am way safer in my kitchen! Are you sure you want to do this again tomorrow?”

Meryda laughed and thanked her Monsters for all the help, almost forgetting she couldn’t put her hand inside the small dark fog that was hovering next to her.