Yasil watched quietly for the most part. The Tachikawan man fought with a skill she might have felt pride in had she any true love for her land, but he seemed to have a tick. On the outside he looked as fresh and kept as before the fight had even started, which was strange to say the least. Still, she shelved the thought as the next challenger approached.

She'd be lying if she didn't find the presence of another woman comforting. The men here, they were brutes for the most part. Brutes under contract and oath, but there was plenty of ale here, and honor didn't mix well with alcohol.

Still, the woman had a mouth on her. Bravado, cockiness perhaps? Yasil could respect respecting oneself, but if this lady planned to go up against a troll then she'd have no use for words. Part of her wanted to bark up and take the challenge for herself, but no, she had another plan, something sneakier. There was more than just this phase of the test, and whatever it was that awaited them in the forest next, she was keeping it well in mind. So, she stood back, waiting. She'd raise her hand after the troll-challenger was either victorious, dead, or worse, humiliated.

-

Hikisaka responded to Silus. "Thank you sir." He then proceeded to sit down for a minute. He breathed deeply to calm himself. Any danger of unleashing the danger had passed. Still Hikisaka decided it he would sit and watch the next fight then proceed on to the next phase of the test. This woman believed she could fight a troll. He decided he would like to see whether she was foolishly arrogant or actually up to the task. If things get out of hand he could always personally step in. As Hikisaka waited for the fight to start he removed his sword from it's sheath and took out a piece of cloth and began to clean the blood off of it. The sword had been passed down for generations in the Rita family. It would be downright disrespectful to let it stay as messy as it was.

Shinon went into the arena carefully watching the Troll as it was pulled up. The thing was massive and looked to be heavily armored on the outside; however the underside of its body appeared to be fleshy. As the Troll was released Shinon quickly nocked two arrows and let them fly piercing the troll through both of its eyes and killing it; at least that’s what she had hoped would happen. The Troll instead brought its arms up deflecting the arrows of off its scaly armor while charging at her.

While the Troll had its face covered it was far too big to protect its entire fleshy stomach area. As Shinon let fly another arrow at the Troll’s stomach to her surprise once again it displayed an uncanny amount of cunning and jumped towards her with its back to her aiming to crush her. Surprised by its effective use of its armor she barely managed slide under it before it crashed into the ground where she used to be. However she had nocked an arrow while as she slid on the ground and as she got back up she let it fly, hitting the Troll for the first time, ripping out part of its torso and causing it to begin bleeding, however to her surprise as she watched it the wound closed barely leaving a mark.

Shinon frowned as the troll began lumbering towards her again, obviously it had experience with its weak points being targeted and had powerful regeneration, perhaps this would be more difficult then she thought.

Shinon turned around and waved to the people outside with the intent of aggravating the troll while carefully paying attention behind her; as she expected for all its cunning it still wasn’t very intelligent and seemed to be enraged by the action. She launched herself backwards as it attempted to smash her with both of its meaty hands and slashed at the back of its legs with her blades; hamstringing it. She stood up behind it satisfied, however it showed no trouble regenerating from this wound as well as it simply stood up and started to come towards her again.

It appeared she would have to give it a fatal wound in order to kill it, as whittling it down seemed to do nothing. That meant she would most likely have to hit either its heart or its head, both of which were difficult prospects, however given her surroundings… Shinon quickly jumped away as the troll attempted to smash her again. She yelled, “Your mother was a penguin!” at it and given the glint in its eyes even if it hadn’t understood the words it understood the message, it roared and charged at her, exactly as she wanted.

She shouldered her bow and ran towards the edge of the arena, Shinon quickly scaled the cage as the Troll come closer and as it attempted to smash her off the wall. When the Troll’s fists came close enough that Shinon could reach out and touch them she lifted herself up with her arms, muscles burning, and kicked off backwards flipping over the incoming strike. Shinon pulled out her blade bow in midair; shot an arrow at the Trolls foot apparently hitting something painful given the Troll bending over holding his toe. Falling through the air Shinon landed on his left shoulder and hooked one blade around its throat and pulled with all her might. Her blade ripped through its throat to the neck bone where it slid around and slipped out causing Shinon to fall off the troll as it’s moved its hands from its face to its no longer functioning throat.

Shinon rolled away as the Troll fell backwards nearly crushing her. Shinon jumped onto the Trolls chest and shot a point-blank arrow into its heart and then stabbed it, ensuring the creature’s demise. In its death throes however its flailing arms managed to slam into Shinon’s side knocking her into the nearby wall. She sat there for a moment gasping for breath and filled with adrenaline.

After she finished recovering she stood up and briefly checked over her torso to, luckily, find no apparent permanent damage. Shinon looked out at the watching group somewhat shakily, “I dare say I pass this test, where to next captain?” she asked pleased with her performance, except for of course letting the cursed beast hit her at the end.

Silus watched as the young hunter boldly took on the Troll. She was smart and quick as she danced around the arena taunting and playing the beast, but she got cocky when she though victory was hers. That was painfully obvious as she got swatted as the beast died. She came out of the arena still pleased. "Well, you won this time, but your lucky you weren't hurt badly. Taking such a risk really wasn't necessary. A monster like a troll should be taken down as a team, showing off and taking a beast like that on your own will get you killed one day." Silus said hoping that not only Shinon but his entire team would learn the lesson that he was trying to convey. "As for whats next, follow that path into the forest some of the hunters will start the next portion of your test." He instructed lowering his bow and motioning for the other hunters to do the same. "Alright with that done, who is going to be next?" Silus asked looking back at his hunters.

Yay double posts

Hikisaka sheathed his sword and put away the rag. It was quite impressive how that woman handled the troll. Still she was in fact quite arrogant and that is a weakness. Hopefully it was just a factor of her youth. Some more combat experience would hopefully remedy that foolishness. Hikisaka got onto his feet and began walking down the path in the woods. He pondered what Captain Silus had in store for him next.

Shinon quickly shouldered her bow and left the arena and began to follow the path into the forest, cockiness eh? Something to keep in mind for the future

The road into the forest was quiet and unsettling. there was always a feeling of something watching you, yet nothing ever came out at those who walked the path. Things just felt weird, but you could never put your finger on exactly what it was.

As Hikisaka walked the path the Forest slowly started to clear away and in front of him stood a burning town under attack by orcs. "Now your test will be a simple one" Claimed a Voice that seemed to come from nowhere. "proceed into the city, your mission is to kill the War Chief." the voice said. As he went into the city he could see an ongoing battle, and things were going well for the Hunters as many Orcs lay littering the town streets. And with their defeat clear a horn was sounded calling for the Orcs' retreat. Hikisaka was able to see the Orc War Chief and gave pursuit, while in his chase Hikisaka saw the orc ram a pillar of a building bringing burning rubble down over an entryway of a building. "Now what do you do? You could easily catch that Orc now, but in doing so you leave the civilians to die. But on the other hand if you save the civilians the Orc will get away and will eventually attack another town which could result in more deaths. the choice is yours" The voice said as things seemed to slow down a bit allowing Hikisaka more time to think.

Shinon's journey was quite different, soon after heading down the path she was headed into a damp dark cave with her only light coming from a torch in the distance. She was soon able to reach the torch and saw Silus and the other hunters standing winded with a dead sea serpent laying ahead of them. "Good job everyone, but our job isn't done yet, We have to find the Siverleaf herb in order to make the cure for the villagers. Everyone split up and search the side caves. We only have three minutes until the tide comes back and we need to be out of this cave before then." He said before each hunter agreed and went on their own way. Shinon too went to searching and time went by quickly. She searched and searched until she came across a small side cave. Inside she saw a pile of jewels, as well some of the Silverleaf. Just as she found the cave a horn echoed through the cave sounding the retreat and this meant she only had time to grab one the jewels or the herb. What would the young hunter do?

Shinon cursed to herself, leaving the jewels would be a waste of money, yet if she didn't take the Silverleaf she might has well have killed the villagers herself. She quickly grabbed the Silverleaf barely resisting the temptation of the gleaming gems nearby, cocky perhaps, but greedy to the point of killing innocents she was not. Shinon ran back to the group calling out as she did so, "I got the Silverleaf, I have it!"

Hikisaka thought for a moment. Was this whole place an illusion created by magic? It wouldn't be the first time he had encountered such a thing. Still the decision was obvious. Killing a war chief would be pointless. He would be quickly replaced and it would serve to save no one. These people needed his help now and could be saved. Hikisaka quickly cleared the rubble in front of the crumbling building and rushed in to carry out anyone who couldn't make it out on their own.

As soon as the Hunters finished had made their decision things started to slowly fade and before they knew it they both were laying in a clearing of the forest not far from the entrance. A mage sat on a nearby rock "Welcome back I trust you enjoyed your naps" The mage said with a grin "Your captain is still back at the arena go ahead and head back to watch the others in their fights." The mage said not moving waiting for the next hunter to come down the path and be sent to the land of dreams.

(ignore)

Hikisaka began walking back to the arena. He scolded himself for allowing the mage to cast a spell on him. He was a seasoned warrior. How could he allow some mage to catch him off guard? He felt that the real test must have been seeing if he would fall victim to such a trap and he failed horribly. In future he would have to be more alert. He was furious at himself for allowing this to happen. Suddenly Hikisaka felt a deep pain in his chest. He peaked under his armor to see the seal on his chest was glowing. His veins had turned from blue to red. Hikisaka quickly calmed himself down by sitting and beginning to meditate. The seal stopped glowing and his veins turned back to normal. Still this was too close for comfort. Ragnos must not be released. After calming himself down thoroughly he returned to the arena and sat to watch the next fight.

Yasil had taken her bow from her shoulder when the next match had begun, stringing up the small composite bow and giving it a few testing plucks. She had her plan in mind already, thinking ahead was something her master had taught her to do well. Whatever was in that forest was the real test, and so far one girl had run back breathless, and the Tachikawan man looked upset.

She stepped forward once the other man had finished, hardly giving him time to clear the space. There were corpses inside but she paid them little mind, simply looking to Silus for a moment. Here she was after wandering so long, finally among hunters and warriors. She'd felt the eyes on her, she wasn't much to look at, thin, none too tall and always hidden under a hood, a scarf, or a helmet. Now was her chance to prove herself, and yet...

It almost made her smile.

"A goblin, please, unarmed,"

There was a moment of hesitation, either by the beast master or the gate. But within a few moments, a goblin was waddling into the ring. It was short, its skin a sickly green like it hadn't eaten in weeks, and its eyes wandered off in different directions. Perhaps for a moment it managed to focus on her, but she stood so still and so quiet that before long its attention had moved to the ruckus that was the rest of the camp. For a moment it might have thought about scampering out and making an attempt at escaping back into the wilderness. But that was only for a moment.

Quick as the wind itself, Yasil's arm shot back, snatched an arrow from the quiver resting at her hip, knocked it against the string, and released. It was in the air for the entirety of a moment, maybe half, then it planted itself into the throat of the goblin with a hollow thunk. The little creature crumpled to the ground, gurgling, convulsing, but it was in its last moments of life. She strode over, yanked the arrow from its flesh, and then stomped its neck with her boot to finish the job. For a moment she looked down at it, the ugly little thing, and grimaced. Of course, it was meant to be easy, but even still, the potential. She hoped what came next would be worth the energy she'd conserved and the pride she'd sacrificed.

Spinning on her heel, she made her way out of the ring. She covered her quiver and shouldered her bow again, coming to a stop before Silus. Part of her couldn't quite look up to meet his eyes after her display, but she had confidence that after phase two, she'd be able to hold her head higher.

"To the forest, sir?"

Silus watched as Yasil fought a goblin. The whole ordeal wasn't all that extraordinary but she had good enough aim to hit vital points of the monster. With the goblin's death Yasil came out of the arena. "Yes please proceed to the forest the next part of your test will be there." Silus answered. As Yasil walked down the path the forest seemed to open up and a battle opened up in front of her. She knew she was here to protect a shipment as it made its way through monster infested territory and that the caravan had been attacked by a group of Gnolls. Before her she saw two things, the first was a fellow hunter loosing a fight and about to be brought down by one Gnoll, but at the same time there was also a Gnoll about to attack the defenseless caravan workers. With only a split second to react Yasil had to choose save her fellow Hunter and let the Gnoll attack the civilians letting it possibly kill some before she could let loose another arrow. Or she could save the caravan workers and leave her fellow hunter to be killed by the Gnoll. With only a split second to decide she was left the decision.

"I guess that's my queue to go then."

Atticus stepped into the arena while he thought about which one he'd want to fight. Obviously, we really didn't want to give too much away to anyone. On the other hand, he didn't want to be thought of as a weak link. He reached for the two knives on his waist and asked for a couple imps to be released. In all honesty, he didn't really enjoy this whole part of the test. Nobody, regardless of their crimes, really deserved to die through a test of skill or example of "might". It was a barbaric activity performed by some fairly egoistic warriors. His expression might make others think that he was in the "zone" when in reality, he was somewhat disgusted by the event.

It seemed he didn't have much of a choice, however. Swallowing his opinion, Atticus readied himself for the incoming threat. Both the imps hovered as they fanned around Atticus and gained altitude. Atticus backed up in response and kept the two creatures in his vision. Eventually, he couldn't keep them both in his peripherals and turned his back to one quickly. The two imps seemed to charge towards him almost simultaneously as soon as he turned his back. Atticus knew that as soon as he exposed himself, that imp would "jump the gun" instantly. This knowledge gave him the slight edge to win the very brief exchange. Atticus quickly threw his right knife towards the imp at his back. and rolled to the left. The knife, guided by Atticus' mind, lodged itself into the torso of the unknowing imp. To those watching, it seemed that he merely launched the knife with his arm. The imp with a blade in it's chest hit the ground while the untouched one flew past it. Atticus quickly threw his second knife at the injured imp. It sailed right into the skull of the grounded devil, ending it's currently miserable life.

With the threat of the last imp still in play. Atticus' attention shifted towards it. It was spitting out unintelligible words in it's language. Whatever it was saying, it sure as hell wasn't nice things. The imp's face was contorted into what could only be classified as pure contempt. In a blind rage, it darted at Atticus, it's claws extended and it's fangs barred. As the imp neared, Atticus fell to his back and brought his right knee up to his chest to unsheathe his last knife. The imp's momentum sent it's limp body onto Atticus. Shoving the imp off him, Atticus stood to show the knife buried in the imp's heart.

After collecting his effects, Atticus nodded to Silus as he followed suit through the forest.

Atticus walked through the forest. As he walked it seemed to get darker and darker. Eventually he realized he wasn't a forest at all any more but a cave. He could barely see but there was a light in the distance. Atticus found himself drawn to it. A voice called to him. He soon found the glowing came from a staff. It was a very carefully carved staff and it had crystal on the top. This crystal is what created the light he had seen. It didn't have a definitive color. It constantly changed and created a spectacle of an effect. It was clearly a very powerful magic artifact. Atticus moved further toward the staff and fell on what appeared to be ice. His amulet and knives flew off his person. The room lit up and Atticus's surroundings became more clear. The staff and his equipment sat on small platforms in the cave above what appeared to be lava. Atticus got to his feet. All of a sudden the ground around the platforms began to crack. They were going to cave in and fall into the lava. Atticus only had time to get to one platform. Would he try to get his equipment or the mysterious artifact that seemed to possess great power.?

Atticus wondered how he ended up in a cave. He kept trying to go back in his mind and mentally retrace his steps, but for the life of him, he couldn't do it. It was at this moment that a ridiculous urge overcame him. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to find what was calling for him so strongly. Then he saw it: a beautiful piece of craft. The light emanating from it mesmerized him, but he was soon snapped out of it when he seemed to slip on ice. His personal effects slid from him and the situation became far worse with the lava and whatnot. When the cracking began, his instincts kicked in and he ran for his own belongings. Regardless of whatever the staff held for him, he knew he could trust his own equipment.

However, once Atticus had his bearings and his things, he turned quickly to the staff. He reached out with his mind as well as his hands as if to catch it through his telekinesis.

Atticus couldn't hold staff and it fell into the lava. Suddenly he lost all his energy and found himself falling into the lava. Right before he landed in it he woke up on the grass in the forest. A mage stood in front of him and welcomed him back to the world of consciousness. He then directed Atticus back to the arena where everyone else was.