Chapter 5: Sister

A voice from behind yelled "Hey, you three!"

When Windle, Lia and Teo heard the loud voice, the three of them turned around and looked where the source of the voice was.

They saw two students in uniform approaching them. They both each had an armband on their left sleeve. One with a number 3 and the other a number 2 on their sleeves. Besides the number was a small silvered colored sword badges.

"You guys are new students right?" A student with the number 3 on his sleeves asked.

This student had a bulky body, with black hair and dark aggressive eyes.

The other student with the number 2 on his sleeves had was tall and slim. He had brown air and sketchy looking eyes.

These two were already certain that Teo, Windle and Lia were new students because they did not wear uniforms. The only ones who did not wear uniforms in the day and explored this area were new students.

Before they could answer, the slim student asked

"Are any of you elementalists?"

Teo was slightly cautious, he was not used to this kind of aggressive approach by older kids. Windle on the other had was not fazed at all. He had nothing to hide so he answered:

"I'm an elementalist"

The two students' eyes shone

'JACK POT!' they both thought

Both students looked at each other's eyes as if they were conveying something to each other. Then quickly turned back to Windle.

One of them grabbed hold of Windle's shoulder and asked

"Have you joined a faction yet? Our Silver Sword Association is looking for new students as well as elementalists. There are many great benefits you can get if you decide to join our association"

The other followed up

"Any student who wants a comfortable life in the academy will have to join a faction. Our Silver Sword Association is one of the largest and most powerful within the academy"

Teo and Lia stayed quiet. Lia was earnestly trying to understand the two students' proposal while Teo did not want to join a faction.

All he wanted in his free time was to read books from the library. That was what his comfortable life in the academy looked like. Why would he need to join a faction?

Windle turned around and looked at both Teo and Lia.

Teo remained quiet even though he was also an elementalist. He knew that Windle did not want to join a faction by himself, so Windle looked towards them as if asking to come with him.

Teo signaled Windle that he did not want to join. Lia was unsure as well so she remained quiet.

Seeing that Teo was not interested, Windle was not comfortable joining a faction by himself so he hesitated.

"Umm.. I don't.."

Seeing their prey hesitating, the bulky student quickly interrupted

"Don't be too quick to decline our offer. One of the main benefits of being a member of our faction is that we have protection against other factions. Anyone who dares to offend our members will have to pay a price"

On the surface, it was as if he was tempting them with benefits, but in reality he was giving them a warning.

"That's right! No one dares to offend us"

Noticing what his partner was doing, the tall student helped to threaten the three new students.

Windle became more hesitant.

At first he did not understand the bulky student's threat, but when the tall student spoke, he noticed the threat he was saying in between his words

The two students also looked towards Teo and Lia. They knew that if they can rope the friends of this elementalist, then the elementalist would have no choice but to join as well.

Suddenly, a soft voice rang out from the distance

"Little Teo is that you?"

Teo and his friends heard the voice and turned towards the source of it.

The students who were invite them also followed suit and looked.

A silhouette of a tall young woman with reddish brown hair that was tied up in a bun. She had a smile like the sun and sweet dimples on her cheeks.

"Big sister Rowen!"

"Little Teo! it really is you! I almost didn't recognize you. Its been 6 years and you have grown so much!"

Teo immediately recognized his sister. Even though she looked more mature, she still had the same features.

It was truly lucky that she found Teo.

The academy was large but new students often explored the areas close to the eastern district.

Rowen gave Teo a huge hug

"You finally came. How was everything at home?", Rowen asked

Both of them started chatting as if nothing else mattered

Lia and Windle stood behind Teo

The two recruiters of the Silver Sword Associations were completely ignored!

After a few moments, they realized what had happened and became irritated. They were ignored by these new students just because of some woman!

"Hey! So do you want to join our faction?", the irritated bulky student raised his voice, completely interrupting the siblings' conversation

Rowen turned and finally noticed the other 4 people.

"Little Teo, what's going on?"

"They are from the Silver Sword Association, they were asking us to join their faction"

Listening to Teo's explanation, Rowen instantly understood what was happening.

'They are poaching new students again!', she thought

"Don't join any faction for now. Let's go somewhere else so we can talk more privately", Rowen said to Teo and his friends

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The four of them started to turn away from the two recruiters.

Both recruiters heard what Rowen said and became a little angry

'No one steals our prey', the bulky youth said in his head

He approached Rowen from behind and grabbed her shoulder as he shouted "Hey!"

But as soon as Rowen turned around, the bulky youth saw that on Rowen's sleeve was the number 7. He was even more surprised that besides the number was a tiny bronze fist pin.

The numbers on each students' sleeves represented which school year they were currently at. The highest number within the academy was 8 because the ninth and tenth year students left the academy to explore the northern wilderness.

Being a seventh year meant that she was their senior. Normally, the bulky recruiter from the Silver Sword Association would not be scared too much, but the broze fist pin was another matter.

He quickly retracted his hand and gave an apologetic smile.

The Silver Sword Association was the third more powerful faction in the academy. They were respected and feared by most students who were from smaller factions.

They would always try to poach new students into their faction; especially students who were elementalists. Their strength grew because of the many elementalists they have poached and eventually became a powerhouse within the academy.

Among the top four factions within the academy, the Rizon faction was considered to be the number one. The Rizon faction was comprised of people from the Rizon family, their servants, their allies and talented individuals they had recruited before enrolling into the academy. They seldom recruit students who had already enrolled in the academy so there were not as many members in the Rizon faction compared to other major factions.

The Rizon faction's position as number one was due to the backing of the Rizon family. The Rizon family was one of the prestigious clan within the empire. They held quite a bit of power and was on friendly terms with the Imperial family. The current headmaster, or even the previous headmasters of the academy was from the Rizon family. Although just a branch family, they were still connected to the Rizon family.

As for the second strongest faction, the Martial faction, were mostly comprised of martial artists and warriors. They were established by a few elders within the academy as well as some cultivators outside.   Their goal was to teach youths on how to cultivate their minds and bodies.

The majority of their members were non-elementalists who wanted to learn how to fight. The Martial faction facilitate the students' desire to become strong and taught students how to become strong through training and meditation. This was the starting point of all cultivators.

Cultivators were people who cultivated their bodies in order to become strong. In the past, cultivators reigned supreme until the era of elementalists came forth. But even so, peak cultivators could still match the power of peak elementalists, so even people who were not blessed still had a chance to compete.

The fourth strongest faction was strong in a different sense. Although they did not have strong members in terms of pure strength, they had the strongest resources. Their connections reached far and wide. They were a merchant faction that sold and purchased merchandise as well as information. If they caught any sensitive information, it could cause the rise or fall of other factions or individuals.

The bulky recruiter recognized the badge on Rowen's shoulder. It was the badge of the Martial faction, a faction they could not easily mess with.

"Oh senior, I apologize for my mistake. I thought you were someone I knew"

His face became awkward and quickly left, dragging away the tall recruiter

Rowen was irritated from being disrespected by a junior, but since she had just reunited with her beloved little brother, she let the incident pass.

She donted on her little brother mainly because as a little girl, Teo was like her first toy doll that she had to take care of. She saw herself as responsible for Teo, just like a mother; protecting her vulnerable little brother.

After dragging Teo and his friends far away she suddenly spoke

"You guys shouldn't join a faction so easily. The Silver Sword Association earlier was one of the worst faction in the academy. Although they are the third strongest faction, only certain members would reap the benefits.

Once you agree to join, they will force you to sign a contract. You would have to end up paying a monthly fee for being a member! And if you want to leave, you would have to pay an even bigger fee! If you are a non-elementalist, you would only be used as a gopher to run errands. Luckily I found you guys before you accepted"

The only ones that had benefits within the Silver Sword Associations were strong people and elementalists. The rest were bound to suffer.

"There are many factions within the academy that are much better. You should take time to learn all the other factions before choosing one.

I, myself, is from the Martial faction. Although we don't actively recruit members, we allow anyone to join as long as you can keep up our practice"

Rowen then explained the details of several well known factions while she guided them around the academy.

[Author's Note: Second Revision]