I'm not entirely certain what happened next. It literally happened so quickly that I only saw the aftermath. A flash of light, a flickering flame, an explosion, and suddenly two people were feet from each other, blade against blade.

  I stared in disbelief at the newcomer. Because it was a newcomer. I hadn't even seen them enter. This newcomer was currently clashing blades with Tama, who, based on appearances, was actually struggling. I took a step back as worry began to flood me.

  Who was strong enough to fight Tama? No one I had ever met, that was for certain. I began to wonder if I should help Tama. Wait, why would I help her? I should run! The thought crossed my mind once before discarding it. I couldn't leave her... I just couldn't.

  I raised my hand, and the guild girl, still naked, stepped in my way. "Don't even try to get between the guild master and her prey. Even I know better than to try that, stupid girl!" The panic from earlier rose. Use me, erase them, do it. I paused. I knew the correct answer was no, but... I... My hand began to fill with void energy.

  Before it became substantive, though, there was another clash, and I watched as Tama and the old lady both suddenly stopped and looked at each other. The old lady, clearly the guild master, stood around 6'2" and was clearly large and muscular. She had what I could only describe as abs that would make a washboard jealous.

  She had long, flowing blonde hair, a pair of wolf ears sat on top of her head, and a tail wagging behind her. The look of hostility from only moments ago disappeared in place of interest. "I know that style of swordsmanship," the old woman said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, and yet I heard it like it was whispered in my ears.

  "Tama's sensei is the greatest ninja ever! He taught Tama everything Tama knows!" Tama said defiantly, sword in hand, combat stance ready. But based on the look on her face, she hadn't been doing so hot. She looked strained and was wincing. This guild master was no joke.

  The real detail here that caught me off guard, though, was the mention of Tama's master. I knew ninjas usually had a sensei or something, but I hadn't really correlated it until just now. She came from the same forest he lives in; she is also a ninja; she didn't remove the men's underwear.

  Each thought brought the picture more into focus as I began to realize something extremely important. Eyes shooting wide, I pointed at Tama and said in astonishment, "You're the great Ninja Swordsman's apprentice?! As in, the greatest swordsman to ever live?!"

  The guild master snorted. "Greatest swordsman my ass. When I knew that man, the only thing he cared about was his pigs. Everywhere he went, all he talked about was how they worked and acted." Tama's ears perked up at that, and with a giggle, she nodded. "Yeah! Sensei was always talking about Sensei's pigs! He treated them better than Tama sometimes!"

  "That doesn't shock me in the slightest. When I heard he picked himself up a child, I thought he was talking about another pig and dismissed it. But an actual little girl? What was that madman thinking?"

  "Tama doesn't know, but Tama has lived with Sensei for as long as Tama can remember!" Tama sounded excited as she spoke to the guild master. She was now rolling on the balls of her feet, her combat stance gone, the sword in her hand now at her side as she smiled up at the old wolf girl.

  At this point, I wasn't even shocked. Of course Tama would befriend the guild master. Would she have truly done anything else? I rolled my eyes and stepped forward past the girl who had tried to stop me earlier. She was too busy staring at the duo casually chatting, seemingly unable to think clearly enough to respond. "Hi, I am Saki!" I said, walking up to the guild master, who took one look at me and raised an eyebrow.

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  "A friend of yours, Tama?" she asked, her eyes never leaving me. "Yeah, that's Saki! She promised to help Tama get an adventurer's badge so Tama could do quests and help her!"

  "I see. Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Matriarch Talia, the Forge of Fire." My eyes grew round at the name. This old wolf girl was the Forge of Fire? How did I not know that? I prided myself on intel gathering!

  "Nya! Sensei mentioned you before! He called you an old coot who was too obsessed with your hammer to ever do real combat!" Tama said with a wide grin on her face. Since my face was already white as snow, it probably wasn't as obvious as it would've been normally, but my skin somehow became paler at Tama's comment. We are so dead right now, I thought as I panicked. Before I could do anything, though, Matriarch Talia just laughed... hard. Like, really hard. Like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard in her life. My tail, which had puffed up at the comment, simply relaxed, and I lost the tension in my body.

  "Okay, girls, come with me. I'll personally get the two of you set up with adventuring badges. As for your Sensei, you tell him when you see him again that I shouldn't hear that from the pig-fucker!"

  Tama apparently thought this was hilarious, as she fell to the floor laughing hysterically, like it was the world's funniest joke. I simply shook my head and thanked the elements we were both getting badges now. I had been hoping Tama would get one based on her power and strength. Now we both were!

  The old wolf lady was strong, like, very strong. I was reminded of Sensei; even in his old age, it had been a futile attempt to out-speed or overpower him. But Sensei was not as strong as this woman. Sensei was definitely faster and more skilled though. It was actually why I had moved as fast to block as I had. If I had even been a second too late, Saki would have been dead. Even then, the block alone sent us both flying backwards.

  Luckily, my wind righted me right as the wolf lady reached me. Our swords clashed; I was faster but not by much. But what she lacked in speed, she made up for in raw strength. I felt my arms turning to jelly as another hit sent me flying. I immediately bounced in midair, forcing a landing before sprinting back at the woman. She had already recovered and began to move forward. I sidestepped, dodging her swing easily before attempting an upward slash. Every muscle in my body ached; it reminded me of when Sensei would test me.

  She barely dodged my attack and swung down. By instinct, I dodged as my tail wrapped around her leg in an attempt to pull her off balance. Instead, she pulled hard and I went flying towards her. I cursed as I used a small burst of air to push myself to the right. Good thing too, because a ball of molten earth suddenly flew where I had been standing; it went out the hole I'd thrown the guild girl out of earlier. The crash caused the ground to shake for a moment, but I stayed steady as I twirled in midair going for a down slash at her back.

  I made contact! Only to realize she had grown molten earth over herself. Serenity cut into the molten earth, but she couldn't reach her skin. I tried to phase it, but it wouldn't go any deeper; instead, I phased Serenity towards me, pulling it out of the sticky hard substance. The water cleansed the blade as the woman turned and swung her weapon. I once again easily dodged, only to be caught by surprise when the lady dropped her weapon mid-swing and swung her fist. I still managed to partially dodge. But only partially. I was flung across the room.

  The pain was unimaginable, like a whole building had fallen on me. I stood shakily to my feet just in time to raise Serenity and block the blow. The ground crumbled beneath us, and I felt my body giving out, the edges of my mind going dark. My ears flattened and my water veil fell as the last of my energy slowly seeped out of me; even my hair started to look frazzled. I began to feel something I had not felt in a long time: fear.

  Still, I held my ground, even as I felt my feet digging into the stone floor, causing spiderweb cracks in the already shattered stone as I was pushed down. I flicked my tail, only to have a burst of fire lash towards it; I quickly moved my tail, but the tip still got burned. I glanced down at it, and a memory began to play. I forced myself to look back, shaking away the memory. Now is not the time! I thought with gritted teeth. I felt my gums begin to bleed, and I heard my bones beginning to make snapping sounds.