"Stand in attention, recruits!"

It was an stern and big man in full body armor standing in front of a group of hopeful recruits, young or not.

The man seemed slender, but his figure was defnitely imposing, despite his old age. His armor too, was quite imposing, despite lacking a helmet.

The meeting in question was taking place in the castle's grounds.

There was a nearby fountain with crystilline water and even a bench nearby. The birds were chirping and some other animals could be seen running around.

It was hard to picture this place as one where a military meeting would take place.

The man in front of the recruits then cleared his throat and put both hands behind his back, "Now, don't get all tense. I just need you to stay quiet and listen to me. I shall not repeat myself, after all. You can call me Ace Glauco." The elderly man introduced himself. "I am a paladin, perhaps the only paladin, at the service of milord Alexandro and, as you can see, I am already an old man."

He brushes his mustache with a single hand and closes one of his eyes as he eyes all of the recruits.

"I will not be able to linger by his majesty's side for much longer. As much as I am powerful, I am also old. These old bones are not what they used to be, no, no." The man closes both eyes and turns his gaze to the sky.

He was an imposing figure until just now, but as he started talking about his age, it was easy to see him shaking and his knees shaking too.

What Ace said was certainly right. No matter how much training he had, it was useless with an old body like his.

"So, I will have you undergo a harsh training and other tests in order to see if you are qualified to become the next Royal Guard, or at the very least capable knights for Jotenvarr. I sorely doubt king Alexandro would risk going to war at any time, but it never hurts to be prepared. Ho ho ho!" The man let out a slight and hoarse laugh.

"Now, please step forward once you hear your names." He produced a list from his back and started reading it. "Lemme see here...."

"Squad..."

---

The meeting went on as the man announced the names of the several recruits that arrived, along with the place they should head to and their instructor.

When it was time to announce the fifth squad, Ace's face suddenly went pale. He adjusted the armor surrounding his neck and pulled it apart some.

"Squad Quinque: Hiro Anu. Diana. Pauline Bloem. Itazu. Hyakuya. Tybalt." He cleared his throat yet again and seemed more nervous with each passing second. "Please, head to the forest just behind the castle. There, you will find a woman named Hirotsuka, who shall be your instructor. A word of advice, young ones... whatever you do, don't get on her nerves."

The man gave them a slight smile that arched his mustache upwards.

---

@Lauder@Eklispe@Redstring(you can wait until you finish your sheet to post)@GypsyDangerZone(same to you as Redstring)@Polaris North@NeutralNexus

---

Squad Quinque left for their own training grounds and Ace continued until he arrived to squad number thirty, when his face turned pale again.

"Ehem!" He coughed loudly. "Squad Trignita and last squad: Aika. Claude. Victor Mortem. Mikhail. Maximillian Velmaar. Azi Lukotta." The man turned his head to the castle. "You need to head inside the castle and to the mausoleum. There, the woman named Illian will be waiting for you... Another word of advice. Do not insult Lord Straizo or anything similar while in her presence, unless you want to become part of the mausoleum."

---

@Light@Bornlucky@Sarcelle Renard@Sagittarius@Leos Klien

---

The forest was incredibly thick. There was only green and brown in that area, and it would be easy to hit your head against some kind of branch standing on their way.

The battle maid was leaning against a single tree, throwing a sharp kunai and catching it back with just two fingers.

When she heard the steps of her new disciples coming, a simple smirk appeared on her face.

She'd throw the kunai in her hand at the head of the group to make them stop in place, "Stop right there."

She then would turn to them, without allowing them to speak or heeding any of their complaints at the sudden attack.

"I was getting tired of waiting. All right, quick! Your names! On the double! I need to memorize them but I probably won't if you die or resign after this."

She then would point at herself and continue her speech, "Sorry, but you drew the short strew with me on this one. There hasn't been a single person able to withstand my training, and I don't plan on breaking that record with you punks. Get ready to go through some real exruciating training! You will either go home for your moms or stay here and be knights worthy of serving Lord Alexandro!"

The woman actually seemed serious, and the fact that the elderly knight from before advised the aspiring knights of their temper, it actually seemed that they shouldn't cross her unless they wanted problems.

---

Instructor Illian. The Corpses Talk... But Don't Answer Them

When the group of knights arrive to the mausoleum, they'd just find the room empty.

The trembling girl, Illian, would just be waiting behind some structure or other for the group of knights to come.

However, she really did not expect the man that came in trashing about.

---

"Why the hell did they even send us here?! Is this some kind of idiotic joke? 'Cause I'm not laughing, lemme tell ya, sir instructor, yo!"

The man with sharp teeth, a pair of sunglasses, a long brown coat and a skull tattoo in his chest had kicked the door of the mausoleum open and was just shouting at random, try and see if someone would really come out if he made enough of a fuss.

He was quite tall and seemingly did not use a shirt just to show off his muscles and intimidate others, as if the skull in his chest wasn't enough.

Illian went further in the back, scared of the man that had just came in.

Sadly, Claude could see her as she moved.

"Who's hiding there!" He kicked the tomb that Illian was hiding behind.

The girl fell back on her rear and then looked up at the man, looking as if she were about to cry.

"Who are ya, shrimp?" Claude approached her and bent down to look at her in the eyes.

"I-I am I-Illian. L-Lieutenant Commander a-and your instructor. I-I... I think it is a p-pleasure to m-meet you?" The girl stuttered and she seemed ot be at the verge of tears.

"What?" Was the single thing that Claude uttered, before he took Illian by her head and lifted her up with a single hand. "Who the hell do they think they are? Making a child our instructor? Are you fuckin' with me here, huh?!"

He started shouting, and the pressure on the girl's head was getting stronger.

"Stop!" The girl struggled. "You are hurting me! And if you keep hurting me...."

The girl's eyes turned cold and she started glaring at Claude, "I'll hurt you even worse."

Claude flinched for a moment but then returned the glare with one of his own, "Love to see ya try, brat."

"Bolganone!" The floor below Claude turned red, and a geiser of lava suddenly appeared from there, throwing Claude back and crashing into some of the tombs of the mausoleum.

Claude was seemingly out after that.

Illian fell to the floor as gracefully as ever and then turned her now crazed eyes to the other recruits.

"Hello, I am Illian. I feel better after hitting that guy. Don't worry, he isn't dead. The attack didn't hit him head on, so he should recover in a bit." The girl laughed a bit. "I will be your instructor at this time. If you have any doubts of my capabilities as an instructor, you can ask that guy over there."

She pointed at Claude, who was just then recovering from that crazy attack.

"Now, I need your names... um, please?" Slowly returning to her original self, the girl started shrinking.

The steel of the kunai brushed against Tybalt’s face as he barely ducked the kunai thrown in his direction. He had been at the forefront of the group, trying to unsuccessfully get anyone to talk to him. Of course, that was to be understood, this was a walk to start training, and everyone seemed preoccupied preparing for the task at hand.

Stifling a small yelp, Tybalt whirled about to address the lady who attacked him. His immediate panic of the surprise strike decayed quickly, returning back into a smooth calm as he ran his fingers through his air, recollecting himself to try and keep some sort of dignity in front of his peers.

“You know, you could have just said ‘stop’ and I think that would’ve had the same effe--” He began to quip before the woman cut him off abruptly. As much as he wanted to interject, this woman very clearly meant business despite sitting out in the woods in a maid’s outfit. He knew better than to get on the bad side of the Royal Maid of the Royal House of Varr, especially so early in the training process.

She was quick to get them in a line, barking orders as if it was second nature. She had done this several times, Tybalt was sure of it by the confidence in her voice. He could only guess that they had not been the first squad who had lined up at her feet to be torn apart by her training regimen.

Hopefully they would at least be the last.

When it came to addressing their names, Tybalt was once more thrown into the fray first, having to explain himself rather quickly.

“Tybalt Argyris, at your service.” He replied confidently, knowing full well the stigma his last name carried. If he was going to be training with these fine men and women at his side, the least he could do was be honest about his full name.

Once the names were given, the young lady was quick to explain the situation, making it clear this was going to be nothing more than the most severe training session he had ever participated in.

“Well, if that wasn’t a sincere motivational pep-talk, I’m not sure what is.” He whispered to the person next to him with a wry, enthusiatic grin. Turning his attention back to Hirotsuka, who had now finished her speech, the mage was quite quick to reply. “Sounds like a pretty severe challenge...when do we start?”

A rather dark man followed behind when the kunai had came out of no where. His hood had been fully as he watched the even unfold with his red eyes. It was certainly an opening to make anyone be concerned with their own lives. The little speech didn't help with Hiro's growing concern over his own safety.

Hiro had been off to left of the group just a tad bit, keeping his eyes forwards and waiting to see if his instructor would come off a very nice person. Unfortunately, she didn't quite make the best impression on him or, assuming, the rest of the squad. Luckily the kunai was not heading for him so Anu let out a sight of relief as the instructor did not throw anything else, though he needed to stay prepared.

The sniper watched the conversation between Tybalt and Hirostuka momentarily before introducing himself. "I am Hiro Anu," he said bluntly, not bothering to add in anything else in an attempt to heed the old man's advice on how this woman was with new recruits. It was not that he was afraid of her, more or less that he did not wish to anger her with what she has already done by them just walking to the forest.

His eyes studying the maiden before he just looked forwards with near blank eyes, other than worry. Sorry for what Tybalt would become after the statement that he had just put out, with the whole 'motivational speech' statement. Needless to say, Hiro did not hold high hopes for his survival at the moment, but he would help Tybalt if he needed it.

The forest that they were in was quite thick - even too thick for Pauline's liking, perhaps. These trees could reduce her agility, and this was something she definitely did not want... Though, hiding here might be easier. Again, due to its thickness. What a double-sided situation.

A kunai flew past the head of swordsman who was leading the group. Pauline carefully walked, nearly crawled forward to look at the person they'd be training with. A beautiful maid, smirking and making herself clear that this training is not going to be a joke. "She's mastered kunai throwing... So graceful" - Pauline muttered to herself before standing straight and clenching tightly onto her kunai. An iron one, unlike the maid's, which was a carefully crafted silver. "Pauline Bloem!" - she exclaimed, perhaps a little too loud. Oh, she was far too excited and scared for this... The maid mentioned that nobody has been able to pass her training yet, and while that honestly terrified Pauline, she was far too dedicated to go back now. Still, she needed to be ready to hide and attack from a longer range...

During the quiet descent into the mausoleum, Mikhail didn’t know what to expect from their instructor, especially after the old man’s warning. He had of course heard of the Straizo’s right hand, but he had never met, much less seen, the girl himself. The cavalier ran a hand through his emerald hair, finding the musty smell of their surroundings to be stifling. Rollo, his horse, had obviously not been allowed to join them. Part of him was relieved, as the damn thing managed to be a nuisance wherever it went, but another part of him was missing the horsey stench that he was starting to find strangely comforting as each day passed.

With an ever so slight shake of his head, Mikhail refocused on the matter at hand. They had just reached the entrance to the mausoleum, but before anyone in the group had a chance to say or do anything, the shirtless brute, Claude, kicked open the door. He then proceeded to live up to every unfortunate expectation Mikhail had made for the man. Mikhail could only hope that his boisterous attitude would be matched by his prowess with a sword, but seeing him knocked out on the floor, he knew better than to hold his breath.

With that said, the Lieutenant Commander was turning out to be nothing like Mikhail had expected. Having served in Jotenvarr’s military, the cavalier had of course heard about Illian’s shy and odd nature, but never had he anticipated the odd child before him. As she explained her role as their instructor, Mikhail took a quick second to size up the rest of his squad mates. A small sigh of exasperation escaped him as it dawned on him that he had ended up in a truly rag tag group. ’Could be worse I guess’, he told himself, ’I could be surrounded by braindead greenhorns’. This uncharacteristic “optimism” caused a little grin to creep into his expression.

”Mikhail Faust”, he offered indifferently, ready to see how this all would turn out.

She wasn't sure what was worse, going into the forest with all the dirt and sticks and such or the mausoleum, with all its dirt and dead people. Probably better that she'd gone to the forest. Though not by much, she though as she picked another stick out of her hair. Diana had been about to ask how much further they were going before they were all halted by the sudden appearance of a flying weapon, causing the person in front to scream, and barked orders. It reminded her of home. "Diana!" She said loudly and precisely, but not as loud as their instructor.

The guy that had screamed decided for some reason that doing other than exactly what was ordered was a good idea. Apparently they were going to be in for the training of a lifetime and not following orders to the T was probably going to make it worse. Nothing new there. Though she was interested if the knife lady's training would be as intense as her father's. Maybe even more so if that was possible. The other one was looking forward to the challenge. Diana of course was simply hoping she wouldn't get too sweaty and ruin her clothes.

"Damn! I missed it!" Long silver hair and wide sapphire eyes poked out from behind the emerald knight's forward step as room was finally made for this vertically challenged adventurer to step through the fence of taller men in front of her. She took center stage between the instructor and the other soldiers, glancing left and right as she scanned the room. From behind, the others could only see the grey cloak that covered her body, resting on her shoulders but under her impressively long snowy hair. From the front, the instructor could see a thin but not childishly small young woman adorned in light armor underneath the magician's cloak and over common adventurer's outfitting. Her left hand rested across her torso on the pommel of her sword, which was strapped to the right side of her waist as she poised ready for another explosion. After several seconds of waiting, she relaxed into an eased position with her arms down and stared confused at the instructor. After a long blink, her gaze passed over the incapacitated mercenary as she turned to look over her shoulder at the remaining soldiers.

"Um..." She quickly turned her head back and forth between her companions and Illian before continuing. "Oh! My name's Aika!" she blurted out, as if finally remembering that their names were requested. She rested her hands on her hips triumphantly as she announced her presence.

Azi flinched slightly from Claude's loud entrance into the mausoleum. "He should be more respectful in a tomb," he sighed aloud, continuing his walk up to the entrance. He found it somewhat remarkable how, in the short time it took for the rest of them to reach the door, Claude had already managed to incite the wrath of their group's instructor. The petite girl who had launched him back over proceeded to introduce herself as Illian.

Seemingly unfazed by her unhinged expression and laughter, Azi introduced himself with a warm smile. "My name is Azi Lukotta," He said as he attempted to help the injured Claude up. "Please excuse our friend's actions... Though, I don't believe you had to go as far as to do this to him." Azi was somewhat upset by the fact that they were fighting in a holy place, but was slightly more concerned with whether Claude could survive another spell.

Maximillian was back at the capital, it had been quite a long time since he had visited here, and a visit was exactly what it had been; specifically visiting one of his cousins, namely the one without a crown.
It was that man who had gave him the heads up about his parents unfortunate plans for his future.

That being said, maybe his visit here again could rectify the news of the past into a future more promising for himself.

Max was stood inside the castles courtyard with a liturgy of other adventures, knights, aspiring knights, mercenaries and really anyone who wanted to make something capable and worthy out of their likely decadent lives, Max didn't really have anything against those without noble blood, and if they wished to make something good out of themselves here, today, they would hopefully do just that.

It was clearly evident when the man addressing the group that the King had a fondness of bestowing military positions upon those whom deserved it through merit - he referred to the King as "milord" a premise used by the commoners, any real man of nobility would have had their tongue cut out by their parents if they dared refer to their king in such a base manner; well at least that's what his parents would have done, being the traditionalist that they are.
It would take some time worming these types of thoughts out here, as it would certainly not make his life any easier.

Max and 4 others were placed in one group and separated from the rest; they were to head to the mauslaeum; which at first Max found very odd, until their instructor; Ace gave them a warning.
..."There, the woman named Illian will be waiting for you... Another word of advice. Do not insult Lord Straizo or anything similar while in her presence, unless you want to become part of the mausoleum."

Figures he'd be in the same room as that girl, Max has; fortunately, never had the displeasure to meet her for quite some time, but today that would be no longer the same...
In his opinion that girl was bad for his cousin, but Ace was correct saying that to her would only make Max a new addition to the mausoleum.

The groups separated and one headed towards the forest whilst they ventured deeper into the castle, some of it was familiar but he had never been to the mausoleum itself. Their group began off with a nice opening, all things considered, a man; with clearly the the same level of respect as a necromancer kicked open the doors to the mausoleum.
Admittedly Max felt that on the field of battle this one may be of some use, if he can be tempered, but outside of combat, there may be no hope for someone as base as he, first impressions are paramount when meting new people, so he could actually be doing this as a bluff from nerves, making some sort of an attempt to appear powerful.
Max had his money on him being an idiot though.

And it didn't take too long before his bet became something he wished he had put money on, the one who took it would be of significantly lighter pocket.
He had the gall to pick their commander up by the head because she was small, and his price was a mere beating that would likely leave him with nothing more than a few burns.
If that brash, abrasive fool had made such an attempt on Max he'd have made sure that this man named... Claude; if he had remembered rightly from earlier, would be down one limb.
And that would be a kindness.

After this the rest of the people introduced themselves, merely leaving himself with his own introduction, before he did, he took the time to contemplate the rest of his companions, the one who spoke after fool got his just desserts was a man named Mikhail Faust; he looked like he could handle himself in a ifght, and based on how he held himself, posture wise he probably had some form of military training under his belt.
Next was girl named Aika; she withheld her family name for some reason, however.
She looked nervous, which is probably the correct mentality to adapt here.

Finally the man named Azi Lukotta spoke, and his words were incorrect to say the least, a fine way to speak his own name off a correction.

"I disagree, Azi, if I had been in our commanders position he'd have received far worse than a mere burnt behind."

Straightening his posture as if there was a string holding his spine straight; a commonly held posture for anyone in the royal guard, Max spoke his name; and title.

"Lord Maximillian Velmaar, a cousin of our Lord and King Alexandro; I am a member of the royal vanguards and its pleasure to serve his Lordship once again."

Victor silently followed the rest of the group down to the Mausoleum, Victor hovered his hand over his the staves tied to waist to make sure they were in good enough condition to be used for training. Victor was in the back of the group, the spot he is often sent to in training during his time the clergy he hated not being in the front lines where the hurt often stood, at least he has a Rescue staff to bring the hurt to him if need be. But soon enough they reached the entrence of the Mausoleum. Their first day of training quickly went to shit.

Before the group could do anything before they enter the mausoleum. A brutish sharp-teeth man kicked open the door and phyically assulted their instructor a young girl that looked to be a mage if her Tome was any indictaion. Suddenly before anybody could help the young woman the floor ruptured into a lava plume launching the man into a wall leaving the mage free from his grasp and back to safety on the ground. Victor liked the Instructor already.

The instructor introduced herself as LIlian, and she asked the group to introduced themselves, a green haired Cavalier introduced himself as Mikhail was first to be introduced, who looked slightly unnerving with that grin on his face. The next one was a young woman, or to be correct the only woman of the group introduced herself as Aika after a few moments of looking confused, looks like her heads are in the clouds, hopefully she is not so spacey in combat. The one after Aika was a blue haired man carrying a quarterstaff and a book in tow, introduced himself the most gracefully as of yet, with his name bing Azi. Although he seemed nice he does try to excuse others actions which is a big no-no to Victor even if it well-meaning. "Well he's not my friend... or anybody elses to be frank, but I think that he got off way to easy..." Victor replied bluntly before the next person spoke and seemed to carry the same opionion on the matter, which casued him to nod in agreement. The man in question was cousin to the King, Lord Maximillian Velmaar, also a member of the royal Vanguards, which surprised Victor, that such a high ranking noble would walk, talk and work with the lower classes like them. But it was a pleasent surprise to say the least.

Finally, it was his turn to introduce himself. Victor stood up stright with his legs and feet together and and put his hand on his forehead and spoke.

"My name is Victor Mortem, I am an Ex-priest of the clergy, I am also an ex-wanderer and I'm now here as a Royal guard trainee to make sure nobody here dies by their wounds...or die trying."

Hyakuya followed behind their small group as they proceeded into the forest. He had been within the castle walls for quite a while now so he managed to know who Hirotsuka was. Seeing her wasn't quite a pleasure for him. He knew what he was getting into and now he was going to train under her. He watched as the kunai was thrown towards them and the one in front was surprised at it. Well, who wouldn't be? Yes, he wouldn't say that he didn't like where this was going. Training with her might be hard but it would harden everyone.

"Hyakuya." The manakete said as he raised his hand. "Never thought I'd train under you of all people Hirotsuka." He said with a small chuckle. He then just watched as Tybalt started to speak. Hyakuya was pleased to see this. He didn't know how Hirotsuka would actually react to what he did. She had a sharp tongue and she would probably use that. As for everything else she said, he just shrugged at it. It seems the manakete wasn't all that bothered. He then smirked. "Well, well, this is going to be interesting." He muttered to himself, a little excited for the whole thing.

Now, he was sure most people were fearing for their lives right now. That was an expected reaction from new people who haven't even met the maid. Even he was mistaken when he first saw Hirotsuka. He remembered it like yesterday; waltzing out of the room he stayed in and then bumping into her. Sadly for him, he didn't manage to say anything quickly and he found himself getting an earful despite being way older than the young maid.

Claude, even though he seemed hurt and that Azi rushed to help him, stood back up and pushed the gentle blue haired man aside.

"What the hell, brat?!" The man stood up as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Though, of course, it was obvious that he was lightly hurt after he passed out for a few seconds.

Illian turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Any normal man would've been dead from the sheer force of beign thrown against a rock structure like that, and a normal mercenary would've passed out for several hours after that. Yet, this man was able to wake up just after a few seconds.

It seems that calling someone rockhead wouldn't be more accurate ever again.

"Y-You are more resiliant than I thought." Illian said with a slight smile, showing some of her fake pointy teeth. "I-I need your name too, please."

Claude arched an eyebrow as well. Seeing the sharp and pointy teeth, though they were obviously fake, made him feel slightly at home. It ran in the family to have pointy teeth like his.

Claude relaxed his stance and let out a sigh.

"Claude. Claude Aster. Merc. Or well, ex-merc now." He noticed that everyone else was definitely judging him by his recent actions, but he merely growled at the others like some kind of wild animal.

"G-Great. We have Mikhail, Aika, Azi, Lord Maximillian, Victor and Claude. I will make sure to remember those names." The girl started sneering.

Her smile was sinister and Aika would probably feel the sudden surge of magical energy coming from her, and even those without magical talent would be able to feel it.

It was terrifying. It was scary. It was a warning of their inevitable death.

"If you can survive this, that is. Rise...!" She lifted both hands.

The tombs started moving, and suddenly, their lids started falling down and crashed against the ground. There were only pieces left of them, and when that happened, a purple arm, or a set of arms, appeared from the tombs.

They started impulsing themselves outside the tombs and then fell to the ground with a loud thud. At first, they seemed like simple corpses that suddenly started moving.

An act of necromancy, to move the corpses in order to frighten the recruits. So Claude thought at first.

Then, the corpses slowly started standing up, before standing straight before the group of young recruits.

"These are Risen. Extremely dangerous and extremely volatile." Illian explained. "We tend not to keep corpses here in the mausoleum lately so that a dark mage like myself can't use them against us. The Risen played a big part of the previous king's assassination, after all. I procured these for my test, however."

The girl said, before throwing some weapons at the feet of the Risen, who slowly bent down to pick them up.

There were seven of them in total, and all of them looked human enough. There were two myrmidons, two mercenaries, a bowman and an axe fighter as the vanguard and small fries, while a Sorcerer stood at the back of them all, wielding a tome that Illian lent it.

"I have no control over these Risen, I simply brought them back to life and because of that they will not attack me. They do not think, they only destroy." Illian continue, before lifting three fingers. "You have three options at this time. One. Slay them all. Two. Slay me and they will go back to sleep. Three. Escape and I will clean them up. With options one and two you approve. Option three will be considered as forfeiting the exam."

With that done, the Risen seemed to finally wake up from their slumber and turned their heads to the group of knights.

"Your ability, wit and courage will all be proved in here. Do not hesitate to do this. They were all scoundrels that died during the war. They deserve no pity, as they have all killed, deceived, stolen and this one over here," Illian pointed at the Sorcerer beside her, "was the one that killed our previous king with corpses reanimated like these. With that said and done,"

The first Risen, the myrmidon, threw itself against Claude with its blade up.

Illian raises her hand, "The exam has now started! Fight for your lives, or die!" and then brings it back down as she said that.

Claude reached for his sword and brought it out just as the attack was about to land.

"What the hell!?" Claude kicked the Risen's stomach, but since it felt no pain at all, his tactic failed. "These guys don't feel pain?! Get careful, everyone!"

Claude shouted.

The other Risen started attacking as well, while the bowman and sorcerer stood at the back while shooting arrows and slinging curses. The physical fighters threw themselves at the other knights.

Illian smiled all the while while she remained behind the sorcerer and bowman.

Her plan was not to attack them at all, even if they entered her range, but would certainly defend herself if they came at her, but one thing was for sure.

No one in the room could handle her. The sorcerer she had lifted was not nearly as powerful as herself, and she would show no mercy even if Maximillian came charging against her.

The physical fighters would also go after everyone trying to fell the bowman or sorcerer.

Being much closer to Illian and Claude than the rest of the troop, Aika became a clear target for the first risen in the approach. The agile myrmidon dashed past the heavy blade wielding mercenaries, ducking as it drew its blade low for a slash at her.

"Waah!"

Aika almost fell onto her back as the very obvious attack came completely as a surprise against her distracted demeanor. Just barely avoiding a highly incapacitating slice, it took a long moment for Aika to regain her composure. However, within that moment, the ditsy butterfly that introduced herself to the group vanished, and in her place was the expression of blood pumping focus, the realization that a duel was upon her. She quickly darted her left hand to the sword, and unleashed the silver blade from its scabbard. The dim candlelight of the area glistened off of the razor edge as she ran her free hand across the flat of the weapon, her palm glowing blue and white with electricity as she did so.

In a flash, the blade of this longsword was coated in a sheet of sapphire lightning, which arced up and down the metal, sparking off the edges and giving the weapon a bright blue glow. "All right you eldritch horror, lets dance!" The static from her palm coursed through her body as she burst into action. She assaulted the risen swordsman with a flurry of slashes, dancing forward and pushing it back as it deftly struck her blade with its own to block every attack with similar velocity. Once the myrmidon was backed against the coffin it crawled out of, Aika lunged in for a kill thrust.

"Take THIS!"

"What the-"

In the moment just before her final strike would fell the monster, the crash of a greatsword drove a schism between Aika and her opponent. With her lightning reflexes, she managed to parry the strike and slide back, looking up to see a corpse towering over her with an equally large blade. The mercenary risen rose its sword in unison with the myrmidon, and both of the zombies lunged forward, directing their attacks towards the young spell-blade.

"Ah," Azi said as Claude pushed him aside. He still felt a bit uncomfortable with the fact that the spell probably would have killed anyone else, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden chill that filled the room as Illian summoned a group of Risen. As soon as they broke from their torpor, Azi saw the Risen myrmidons immediately fling themselves at Claude and Aika. Seeing that they held themselves against that sudden attack, Azi took a few moments to absorb the state of the battlefield; though he hadn't been in such a situation before, he felt that it was important for him to try and figure out what song he should sing.

Before he could do that, however, a resounding clang drew his attention. A Risen mercenary had teamed up against Aika. He quickly dashed towards her as the Risen lunged, sweeping aside their blades with his quarterstaff before completely diverting them with a fluid strike. Azi would have pitied them; the nature of dark magic, particularly this kind, unsettled him. However, that was the cost of their sins, even had they changed later on.

"Are you alright?" Azi asked Aika, taking a breath as the two Risen tumbled into the ground. "Sorry to ask this of you, but could you protect me for a moment?" Though he had asked, he wouldn't really have the chance to confirm it at the time. Azi pulled out his song book and quickly flipped to the one he'd decided on. "I haven't practiced this one as much, but Vigor will do." Though the language it was in couldn't be understood, Azi's gentle, yet powerful voice began to rise over the sound of battle, filling the area around him with oddly inspired energy.

"Of course." She replied to the bard, not taking her eyes off the enemy. She took this time to begin casting a spell of her own as the other Risen began to make their way towards the squad. "A blast of my electricity should be enough for them," she stated reassuringly as the static began to pulse in her hand.

Itazu moved through forest with a practiced ease coming from a lifetime of living away from civilization, a light jingle in the air bringing a smile to his face. He doubted he'd see most of those recruits again, seeing as they couldn't even catch a common cutpurse right under their noses...well maybe common was under selling. The Fox Spirit's ears we're on a constant swivel following the cacophony of noises in the forest, the years of hunting letting him unconsciously mark various possible prey.

The sudden sound of the maid following the unexpected attack snapped him back to his surrondings, eyes widening in panic as the knife sliced through the air, barely missing one of his squadmates and continuing through the air past him, lodging in a tree behind the group. His interest in the girl waned as she revealed a rather brusque personality. 'Shame, cute girls should have cute personalities,' his ears pressing against his head as he pouted, before coming back up as he eyed the kunia she'd thrown, Tail wagging slightly as he noticed it. He had to admit it was excellently designed, looked to have a good weight and balance, and silver was always a nice touch, but really it'd be easier to examine if it wasn't buried in that tree.

Itazu slowly backed off from the rest of the group as she continued on, absentmindedly keeping track as she gave off her spiel, trying to keep one of his squadmates between him and her as he neared the weapon. While she started to finish her first bit, he frowned as he tried to pull the weighted knife, ears flattening as he redoubled his efforts, putting both hands on the handle and yanking on it, tail whipping frustratedly at the strain.

With a stifled gasp, he stumbled back from the tree as the kunai came free, grinning as he examined his prize, before his ears shot up in attention as he heard something ominous. Rather what he didn't hear, the others apparently having gone through the introductions, leaving him the last to respond.

Turning to face the others, he gave a half hearted salute to the primly dressed drill sergeant, trying to use the motion to discreetly slip the blade in his sack. "Pleasure to be here ma'am, Itazu, just Itazu these days."

Hirotsuka nodded.

"I see. Well, it seems you have a little more promise than other recruits before you. More spunk too. The old man should've told you I don't take well to people barking back at me, right?" Hirotsuka said in a matter-of-fact tone, turning to the head of the group Tybalt.

After that, she turned to Hyakuya, "And I never thougth you'd be one of the trainees, Hyakuya. In any case, you were asking when do we start, right? Well, right," She turns her finger upwards.

The rustling of the leaves becomes wild and Hirotsuka suddenly jumps away to get herself on one of the branches near the top of one of the trees.

"NOW!"

Finally, the leaves stops rustling and the trainees would then be able to see, well, not much because of the leaves covering the sky. One thing was for certain, though.

There were wings. Both white and some others red.

It was not clear until one of them swooped in and tried to get Tybalt with its lance. It was a pegasus knight, wielding a lance and travelling at an incredible speed. She failed to get Tybalt right on his stomach by just centimeters, and the surprise of the attack would've made it impossible for him to even react.

It was a warning.

Just like the one that Hiro Anu would receive.

It was sudden, but not as fast as the pegasus knight from before. There was something enormous behind Hiro. They would then sweep just above his head with an axe, cutting one or two hair that were out of place.

Afterwards, the wyvern rider would fly back into the sky and beyond the leaves that were covering it.

"You will be facing pegasus knights and wyvern riders, as well as a single Falcon Knight. They are 7 in total, 3 pegasus knights and 3 wyvern riders." Hirotsuka explains from the top of the tree.

"You are allowed to incapacitate or knock them off their mounts. Once that happens, they won't continue the fight. However, you cannot kill them. If you do, you will be disqualified. In turn, however, they can and will kill you if you let your guard down. To win, you need to incapacitate all 7 of them or get to the ruins with the big tree in them and it will be considered as your win too.

Hirotsuka explained the two ways to get through her own exam. The ruins in question were well known for being a stronghold of Jotenvarr that was destroyed by a single and powerful tree that sprouted from there. It is said that it was Goddess Ishtakk that made such a thing possible and it is a well known place for tourists and the followers of the religion.

In other words, for anyone to have been in Jotenvarr before, it should be an easy place to find, and Hirotsuka sure hoped that one of them knew where it was, because she was not going to say anything.

"Pegasus knights are extremely susceptible to arrows, and wyvern riders are susceptible to magic. Meaning, Tybalt and Hiro Anu might be able to deal with them. However, they cannot take aim inside these woods, but your opponents can aim at you and attack you in turn thanks to their mounts." After that, Hirotsuka turns the other way before pointing that way.

"There is a clearing back there from where you can take better aim, but the same applies to your opponents. If you wish to fell them all, then you will need cunning and bravery in equal measure to make sure that the two guys who can make your lives easier survive this. Also, all of the surviving team members need to be in the ruins if you decide to go that way, or it won't be considered as your win."

"Then, what will it be? Every second after I'm done explaining counts and they are no idiots either. They aren't Jotenvarr's last remaining flying squad for nothing."

The riders above them seemed to just be waiting until Hirotsuka was finished explaining, before they came crashing down again.

Their objective was to take Tybalt and Hiro Anu first, and make sure they can't hinder them, and also get Hyakuya, so that he can't fly over to them and take them out in the sky. Afterwards, getting the other physical fighters shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Mounted units? Ugh... At times like these, I wish I'd become a mage" - Pauline muttered, clearly wary of the flying units ready to assault them. Taking a long breath, she rushed to the nearest tree and climbed on it, hiding inside it branches. "The ruins, huh..." - she thought, trying to decide what do to - "I'm so lucky that my parents are historians".

A pegasus knight rushed past, shaking the branches. Clenching tightly onto the tree, Pauline grabbed a kunai. None of the mounts seem to be stopping unless they're above, aiming for someone. But then, maybe getting the ruins might be easier and the riders would probably die if they fall from such heights. Still, might be worth a go...

Pauline climbed as far as she could without revealing herself and threw a kunai above, aiming for one of the pegasi flying above. Quickly, without paying attention to whether the kunai hit or no, she jumped down. Pauline looked around the area where they stood, searching for her companions. Aha - there was one who looked quite familiar with the forerst.
"Itazu, right? It seems you know this forest well, do you want to try and get to the ru--"

As she spoke, the war cry of a wyvern came from above. Gasping, the ninja dashed aside and threw another kunai - this time aiming for the wing of the beast. Yes, a hit! Yet the gale created by the rider's dive swept her away, slamming her into the nearest tree. Groaning, Pauline got up and glanced at the Fox. "Ruins. As soon as possible. Are you with me?"

Hiro felt the back of his hood rip as the axe came upon, how did this man come out of no where without the Archer noticing? However, this was not the time for questions and the Sniper rolled forward to avoid another blow if the person had decided to attack once more. Instantly, he drew his bow and took aim at the looming figure that attempted to hit him, as well as listen to the instructions that he was give. Unfortunately it was true, Hiro would not be able to take proper aim in the forest but it would also hinder the movements of the knight, given that they are paying attention to where they fly.

He fired off a shot at the left leg of the knight that attempted to hit him, planning to get him incapable of attacking before he had the chance. However, Hiro was being targeted by the a the Pegasus knights so he quickly began to run, wanting to avoid being caught by the mounted Knights. He ran towards the main group so he could have someone act as a distraction so he could do something.

"Guys, help!," Hiro called out as he ran to the main group, rolling forward and dodging a Pegasus Knight's sword swing. This was not what he imagined was going to happen on his first day of recruitment, especially with the possibility of death. Relying on instinct, he fired of a shot at the Pegasus knight that had tried to decapite him, a snap shot bound to miss. However, he did make it to the main group.

Tybalt felt his breath be drained from his body as he felt the lance brush past him, the weight of the situation coming strikingly clear as the wind off of the pegasus' wings flutter his coat back. He recoiled quickly, reaching for his shirt to feel the tear in the cloth that the lance had made as the Pegasus knight returned to the sky to reel around for another strike.

"That was Alistafan silk, you clod!" He joked, letting his mouth bely the obvious terror he had felt evidenced by the color lost in his face. The maid want ahead and explained the situation as Tybalt managed to once more regain composure, citing the rules for this original training and the stakes for failure. Tybalt's eyes widened as she mentioned that death was a very real ending, these winged knights would be more than glad to put the whole squad down of they did not perform. Was the nation of Jotenvarr really so cavalier with their trainee’s lives? He knew training would be brutal, but threatening death upon their volunteers? It seemed tactically insane.

However, a smile crossed his face as the exercise began, his cunning mind beginning to relish the idea of such an opportunity. This was not some recruiting for the main army, nor for the reserves, this was for the best of the best. The Royal Guard, the men and women who would serve the highest power in the land, the Lord of Jotenvarr. Of course the training would be lethal for such a position, the very position they were being considered for would be to protect the most powerful man in the country, and Tybalt relished in the opportunity. If not for his honor, than for the challenge alone was this task worth pursuing, as a task is only worth completing if it one has to work for it. He needed this, his family needed this, and if he was going to be sent home, it would be in a body bag or not at all.

Another pegasus knight made an advance, but the mage was ready for it at this point. With a well-timed leap, he avoided the second strike, a tome of arcwind coming to his hand from his belt as he once more touched ground. With a twist of his waist and a flick of his wrist he managed to whirl about and fire off a crescent of wind rippling through the air after the retreating knight, intending to clear her of her mount in one fell swoop. Unfortunately the knight was more than prepared for his retaliation and easily maneuvered out of the way, the wind blade slashing into a tree and bisecting the tree from its trunk.

Cursing under his breath, he was quick to get a bearing on his surroundings as the situation unfolded. Visually, the wyvern knights and Pegasus knights were moving too fast to get a bead on and take them down on his own, and trying to take them down as they came for him was far too risky. He darted for the forest, barely scraping by a wyvern knight's swooping axe strike as he maneuvered deeper into the trees. They brush would provide cover for now, enough cover so the flying mounts could not maneuver to them and give him time to think, though he clearly could not stay there.

He had to come up with a plan, and luckily for him, he was within earshot of the others, especially the archer known as Hiro.

“Ah! Mister Hiro! Perfect timing!” He called out to the Archer, regrouping with the others at least in earshot. “We need to discuss a plan if we’re going to pass this test!”

He glanced up as he spoke, still trying to lock on to the patrolling squad.

“Those mounted bastards will skewer any one of us who tries to make it through the clearing to the ruins, so I’d suggest we try to work together to take them down. If you fine folks are willing to listen, I may just have an idea to fight back.” He said, trying to get a read on the group’s respective professions were before trying to come up with something. “Itazu, Pauline, if you think you two can get by the riders unnoticed, then the ruins are probably where you should head, they can’t stab you if they can’t see you, and Miss Hirotsuka didn’t say all of us had to get to the ruins to pass the test.” He turned to Hyakuya and Diana, though he had to take a double take at Hyakuya. “Okay, in all honesty, I have zero idea what you are capable of, but if Miss Hirotsuka knows you personally, then chances are you’re stronger than all of us, and probably a good choice to help equalize the playing field. Diana, I can only guess that you are a ground unit, but with that fancy lance you are toting around, I can imagine they will have a hard time swooping past that spear point for a clean hit. Hiro and I can take those winged scoundrels down, but we have to be out in the open to do so. If we’re going to do so, we’ll need the two of you covering us. The range on Diana’s spear point and your...uh...whatever you do should be able to prevent swooping assaults, which gives us opportunity to strike back.”

Finally, he whirled around to Hiro, a confident and enthusiastic grin beaming from his face. “Which means it comes down to us to actually take them down. Neither one of us is going to be able to reliably strike down a mounted unit on our own, so it may be within our best interest to target the same unit, take them down one at a time. If I can guide them with my wind magic, do you think you’ll be able to land a clean shot?”