Once the Brotherhood Sword is drawn, all brotherhood is severed forever!

Arriving at the entrance to the Rebellious Withered Treant dungeon, Morning Wind first planted a spatial transfer flag, marking the spot to make coming back much easier next time. In truth, he wasn’t in the mood for a Heroic difficulty run just now; he would have preferred to bring his Shapeshifter alt for a bit of fun. Unfortunately, he had promised earlier to help Zhang Xinting clear the dungeon.

“Sorry, I’m late!” As the main tank for this run, Morning Wind’s tardiness should have been inconsequential. Yet the four members from the Heavenly Slash Team were all professional players, and patience was wearing thin. For pros to wait on a casual player—such a thing was unheard of. Were it not for the chance of acquiring the rare purple weapon, the Brotherhood Sword, they would have never waited.

None of them greeted Morning Wind with a friendly face, except for Heavenly Slash Earth, the team’s captain, who managed a smile. “It’s fine, Morning Wind. We just got here ourselves,” he said.

“Let’s begin. Who’s sitting out?” Morning Wind glanced at the group: Zhang Xinting the Hunter, Heavenly Slash Earth the Weapon Warrior, Heavenly Slash Ant the Shield Warrior, Heavenly Slash Train the Berserker, and Heavenly Slash Xiao Yun the Holy Paladin. Without Morning Wind, this was already a full, standard dungeon team.

“The final boss needs burst damage—I’ll step out. You guys go ahead.” Heavenly Slash Earth withdrew, handing command over to Xiao Yun. Normally, Ant the tank would have been the one to leave, but this time Earth wanted Ant to learn more about aggro management.

“Heroic mode is easy now!” Morning Wind boasted, his main-hand equipped with the Brotherhood Sword. Clearing Heroic difficulty was hardly a challenge; he could do it solo with a regular group, let alone with professionals.

Morning Wind entered the dungeon, and the others followed.

“The tardy expert—how should we kill?” Shield Warrior Ant eyed the purple weapon at Morning Wind’s waist, wishing he could slay him and loot it for himself. If he had such a weapon, the Burning Withered Treant boss would have been dead already. Clearly, Ant resented Morning Wind for stealing the main tank role.

“He’s a tardy expert—no need for strategy, just charge all the way!” Berserker Train, wielding two one-handed swords, was equally fixated on Morning Wind’s purple blade. As a pure Berserker, a purple one-handed weapon was the ultimate status symbol. Zhang Xinting had mentioned Morning Wind had dual talents in Shield and Berserker, and Train lamented not possessing a talent stone himself.

“All right, you two—enough sarcasm. So he’s late, big deal.” Zhang Xinting was a bit annoyed. These two seemed unaware that, if not for her, Morning Wind wouldn’t even be here. What she didn’t know was that both men liked her, and Morning Wind’s sudden display of prowess had stolen their thunder, making them bristle.

“Good brothers? Ha, as if! How close are you two really?” Morning Wind wasn’t in a hurry to start the dungeon, finding these two amusing. He hadn’t realized before that the Brotherhood Sword originated from the Withered Treant dungeon, but he had heard the classic tales surrounding it. He wondered if those stories would play out between these so-called “brothers.”

In “Savior,” the game they played, two people choosing Warrior was tough for duo runs; typically, it’d be a Warrior and a Holy Paladin. To Morning Wind, their career choices seemed to foreshadow the end of their partnership.

“Heavenly Slash Team’s best duo—strongest pair in the league! Fans call us the Unlucky Brothers!” Ant and Train, sensing Morning Wind’s disdain, gave him a crash course in their celebrity status. Indeed, they were the team’s signature duo, and that’s why Earth let them both join today.

Watching them shout their slogan in unison, Morning Wind felt as if he were watching a comedy sketch. What was there to be proud of? No matter how impressive, they still needed him to carry them through the dungeon. The Brotherhood Sword would soon test their bond—especially since both used one-handed swords. He hoped the sword would drop.

“Let’s start! Tank grabs aggro, then we kill. With our strength, no need for breaks—just push through!” Xiao Yun, the healer, felt the pair were taking themselves too seriously. This newcomer had managed dual talents and obtained the Brotherhood Sword early on—surely a peerless expert, possibly even matching the pros.

Morning Wind didn’t bother switching to his shield. He charged ahead, slammed a Thunder Strike into the ground, triggered Bloodlust, and unleashed Whirlwind. He preferred Berserker skills for aggro: high burst, stable threat, no risk of others stealing aggro.

Intercept!

Morning Wind finished pulling a wave of monsters, intercepted to the other side, pulling more with a thrown spear, then leapt heroically to add a fourth wave. Xiao Yun tried to protest, warning these Treants were elite monsters, but before he could, Morning Wind had already aggroed them all.

The Withered Treant dungeon was meant as an entry-level challenge, each wave consisting of three Treants, but as level 19 elites, they were formidable. Ant, a pro at level 16, could only pull two waves at most. Morning Wind, however, was pulling four, and Ant and Train expected him to wipe the party.

He ran back with the mobs, grouped them up, and unleashed a whirlwind slash followed by a sweeping strike for massive AoE damage. After the initial burst, he finally switched to his shield, and when his HP dropped to fifty percent, he used a protective skill near Zhang Xinting.

“Ready to kill!”

Hearing this, Xiao Yun said nothing. Morning Wind’s pulling technique was superb, but whether he could survive was the real question. Xiao Yun focused on healing him.

The wooden bridge could accommodate only two Treants at once; twelve lined up in six rows, blocked by Morning Wind in the middle, unable to cross, while he quickly spammed skills for DPS.

Seeing the Treants trapped, Ant and Train finally realized what was happening. Ant moved to help block, preventing more from crossing, while Zhang Xinting unleashed multishot into the horde.

With Morning Wind’s purple weapon, the first two Treants went down swiftly, replaced by the next pair, and so on. Despite only killing two at a time, Morning Wind’s single-target damage was overwhelming, and he slaughtered all twelve in short order.

“Let’s go!”

Morning Wind pressed forward, not wanting to waste time, eager to finish quickly and swap to his alt. Xiao Yun now understood how Morning Wind could solo Heroic Withered Treant: part of it was his dual talents, but the main factor was his exceptional skill. He maintained parries and blocks throughout, never taking full damage. At such a low level, even Ant couldn’t match this technique.

They sped ahead at full pace. Ant and Train, who had planned to mock Morning Wind, now found their script obsolete—his strength far outstripped theirs. Still, they refused to attribute it to skill, blaming his talent stone and the Brotherhood Sword. Train, who loved to boast about topping the DPS charts, was silent now; his output lagged far behind Morning Wind, even below Zhang Xinting, and only slightly above Ant.

“The final boss—we…”

Xiao Yun was about to suggest a break, but Morning Wind had already charged in, unleashing Bloodlust and a devastating strike to shred armor, then attacking madly.

“Brother, why rush? We could strategize!” Xiao Yun felt obliged to remind him; otherwise, Morning Wind might think the final boss was a pushover.

“No time—kill fast!”

Shield Warrior Ant watched Morning Wind’s dramatic bat-winged cloak absorb fireballs, reducing damage, and felt envious, wishing he could snatch the cloak for himself. How could a casual player have so much top-tier gear, while the pros had none?

“I’d love to kill him and loot that Brotherhood Sword and bat cloak…” Train saw the Burning Withered Treant’s HP dip below thirty percent and triggered Recklessness, but his damage was barely a fifth of Morning Wind’s. Ashamed, he coveted Morning Wind’s equipment.

When Train messaged privately, Ant sighed, “If only I had his gear!”

Xiao Yun ignored their exchange, marveling at how easy Morning Wind made this dungeon. Why couldn’t they manage it? With the Brotherhood Sword, Heroic Withered Treant was trivial.

“A legendary drop!” After the Burning Withered Treant died, Xiao Yun, as party leader, handled the loot. With leader distribution enabled, the others let him open the corpse.

He held up a sword identical to Morning Wind’s Brotherhood Sword, though its purple glow was slightly dimmer. Train, the Berserker, cared nothing for his DPS performance now. “A legendary drop—a purple weapon! I finally have one!” he exclaimed.

Ant was stunned that the Brotherhood Sword had dropped on their first run. Seeing Train approach, he protested, “Train, as tank, I need the Brotherhood Sword. That’s how I can keep aggro, and we’ll clear dungeons easily. We won’t have to worry about the Brotherhood Sword anymore!”

To Ant, possessing the Brotherhood Sword meant he could clear Heroic dungeons as effortlessly as Morning Wind. In the early days of the game, such rare, limited purple weapons were symbols of power and honor.

“Ant, tanks don’t need top-tier weapons. Berserkers rely on weapon DPS. Most casuals think Berserker tactics are weak because their gear is lacking. If I get the Brotherhood Sword, my DPS will be insane—on the final boss, I could out-damage the whole party!” Train argued, unwilling to let the tank claim the weapon.

“Train, you can’t say that. Tanks are the guild’s pride! As the team’s chief tank, I should have the Brotherhood Sword, so I can lead us through more dungeons and earn better gear!” Ant retorted. This rare, overpowered purple weapon had to be his—who knew if it would ever drop again?

…

With the Brotherhood Sword obtained, brothers no more.

Morning Wind watched the pair who had just called themselves the “Unlucky Brothers,” now arguing furiously over the rare purple Brotherhood Sword, and found it laughable.

“Let’s roll for it. Morning Wind carried us—he deserves a chance at the sword. He’s a Berserker, needs two one-handed swords,” Zhang Xinting spoke up. Though Morning Wind sat aside watching the drama, she had invited him, and would not let him miss out on the Brotherhood Sword—he could clear any dungeon with anyone.

“He already has a Brotherhood Sword! Does he want another?” Train suddenly realized: if Morning Wind obtained a second Brotherhood Sword, what would he become?