Orac heard Varioyn talk about the training field and thought to himself "Another challenge right up my street, I can't wait for this." He started to walk outside with the group trailing somewhere in the middle of the collection.

As soon as he reached the outside Orac was massively impressed with the facilities and structures surrounding him and he could clearly see he was going to have to put on a show or so he thought.

"Damn this is real nice, look at all these open spaces and the fields behind it just set it off perfectly, it isn't very often I am blown away but WOW!."

The huddle started forming in to something that looked like a line however a little crooked. You could tell there was an atmosphere of nervousness in the air.

The physical test, this was where people were quick to jump to conclusions. Amalay may have been unsure about the mental test until the questions were asked, but this was the challenge she had been through and failed before. Some would test on physical ability, thinking that strength, speed, and agility were the only factors to create a skilled warrior. These often came in an obstacle course, and she scored very well on. Others would target sheer lethal accuracy and the number of killing blows. They would grade on a curve usually in a series of sparring duels. These she almost always failed. Not that she was so easily defeated, but rarely did these tests accept climbing into the rafters and waiting for the opponent to got so bored that they quit to count as a victory. Most duel tests were timed and had imaginary boundaries that made it almost impossible for Amalay to shine.

One thing was for sure, this test was not about to be the classic guessing game of most recruiters. For one thing very few recruiters included a life lesson with much of anything. They were silent as to the success, failure, or true intent of the testing that they applied. The other reason was the fact that there were no arch mages screening applicants to protect merchant caravans (for some strange reason.) While a nervous knot began to well up, these unknowns were strangely comforting to Amalay, and the churning bowels settled down into peace. They did things differently here, and she was most certainly different.

Glancing around she sized up the opponents. A number of those who signed up the previous day were nowhere to be seen. Either they chickened out, were horridly late (by like half of a day) or were only doing it for some other reason than to join the Hunters. She really didn't understand the sort. Nevertheless, it was a rather large number of faces that could likely all be opponents. The memories of a fox-hunt ran through her mind... or at least that is what she called it when 200 raiders were frantically chasing only her through the forest. The memory brought a smile to her lips as she recalled the frustrated growls of anger as they boiled over in a foolhardy murderous rage. Good times.

Then a face stood out, well not exactly. It was a face connected to a head to a body with arms and legs and such, and it didn't really stand out, it blended in behind the others. However, it was familiar as the ground. Grol. Though muscular and tall, he could go unnoticed in a tavern full of children. He had a way of using chaos, architecture, and shadow to make your eye pass right past him. He had been doing so for so long that it was habit. Amalay had apparently had a habit too to search those places for the Etlock's familiar face, usually to make small talk with him. She raced over, her garments (normally earth tones) flipped and fluttered turning brilliant violets and purple that drew attention as they billowed in the wind and her movement. It captured the attention of all but the most introspective or least observant. No, it wasn't magic, simply the underside of the many layers that had been stitched together. As soon as she stopped, they flopped back to sedate.

"Grol, you old rug, looks like I've tripped over you again," she smiled, "I thought we agreed to go our separate ways?"

She scratched her wrist without a thought, but it was visible the shackle scars on her wrists were still healing.

Good, I can help him out.

Wait a minute... mind-reading magic ? If one was looking for someone intimidating and freaking strong, Grol was a very good choice. But magical proficiency was a no-no. It only helped boosting the plunge in sympathy that Volric now experienced. Mind-reading... if he had just known that before without them knowing that he knew! It would have been thinking Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! all the time and chuckling afterwards because they wouldn't have been able to blame him for what he was privately thinking about.

The Etlock really hoped that there would be a second, individual meeting to discuss the test's results. It would give him an opportunity to speak openly about certain things... The worst consequence of this revelation however was that his gleeful anticipation of the physical tests had been completely spoiled. If mind-reading was the first thing the hunter's guild confronted its recruits with, what would be the next ? Telling them to run in circles not in order to see who could go the longest distance, but who would be the first one to stand up and claim that the task was nonsense, thereby presenting another bit of mental superiority ?

Grol went out, slowly following the trail of people that tried to arrange itself in the shape of a line. And then there was the line breaker. A line breaker that looked damn familiar and was approaching him with her sails fluttering in the wind so to speak. A subtle smile started to conquer the Etlock's normally rather grim looking face.

"You can still bail out!" Grol raised his hand and stretched the thing out for her to grab and shake. "Aren't these garments horribly inadequate for this ?" He himself was wearing pretty much the same things he had worn the day before, and the day before that: Black fur and many patches of dark leather stitched together to form an intimidatingly large coat that went down to his knees. Beneath that, a thin layer of cloth was covering his skin, and thin, but still observeable was the flab that was bulging over his girdle. "How are you doing ?"

It was always like trying to shake the flank of a horse when greeting Grol. The span of time she spent in Human lands had made her forget just how massive the Etlock actually was. On long journeys, he seemed just about her size, sure a little taller and way WAY heavier, but for the most part just a person. Now he felt like a great pine was lowering a branch from its lofty height to welcome her.

"So, have you started your panic session yet? You're wondering if you don't make it then your entire life will be ruined. Where will you get money for food? You're going to have to go back to cleaning dishes. I mean, look at these people, sure they might not be as strong as you, but they could be fast or skilled or both, and it could make you look like an archery target on an Elvin marksmanship range. Maybe everybody here has magic, except for you Grol. I'm pretty sure that's it." Each phrase added to the intensity and doubts and amplified and amplified and amplified. Abruptly she sputtered out a massive raspberry at the concept of terrifying her counterpart, and burst out with a few laughs.

She was cut off by noticing Orac who stood nearby. "Oh my gosh, you are the last person I expected to see here! How have you been? Just look at how much you've grown." Amalay clapped a hand on Orac's shoulder "It's been forever! Literally, I have never seen you before, how have you been?"

Grol had witnessed this before. It was Amalay's way of getting to know other recruits. Usually people were so weirded out by her being... well... her, that they made sure to avoid the crazy lady the rest of the job. She never seemed to notice. However, to Grol there was a big pending, "hey why don't you crawl out of your shell" request waiting to be nagged into his ear.

To say that there was method to her madness was true... sort of... if you took out the whole "method" part. Perhaps she was blundering into it, or perhaps she was just a refreshing spirit. One way or another, she diffused the performance nerves of those dreading the pending judgement. It freed up brain power and allowed them to focus or be distracted. To Amalay, she did not fear testing at all, because she was raised without them... or I should say without the human approach to testing. Elves thought of testing as refining precious metals (which holds the same name), melting out all of the impurities. It was ALWAYS followed by revelation and tons of studies and practice as well as new material regardless of the outcome. Human testing came with a pass or fail, those who passed were glorified with greater knowledge while those who failed received scrutiny and almost as a punishment had to mill over their failures to get their affairs in order before they could be judged yet again. Though she had swirled around in different cultures for longer than most recruits had been alive, this preconception had never quite been bludgeoned out of her.

Hunter's Guild Courtyard

As the large crowd piled into the court yard they made a large circle formation and Varioyn and Volric stood in the middle.
"Now that I have tested your mind, I would like to test your might." Varioyn walked towards Volric and whispered something to him, they nodded and Volric looked out towards the crowd and spoke in a stern serious voice, as if talking to a king rather than a group of new blood hunters. "I have tested the strength of many new hunters through the years, but never have a gone so blindly into a assessment for new bloods. The hunters before you were trained, elites, they were sent here for a reason, not a mere open recruitment, so I apologize if I may underestimate some of you. He looked concerned if not embarrassed to what may be the outcome.
Varioyn cut in "The Arc mage will summon and command a familiar in which he believes will be fit as something that we would fight. You are to attack it alone and the tests will be conducted one by one. He waved his hand over to the mage who than spoke softly summoning a large sleeping Demorbear.

"This will be what you are fighting." Varioyn looked across from everyone. "Just always be aware of who and where you are fighting."

A young man came forward as the first person to fight. He looked ready, ready for bloodshed, which was good to a point. As he took a step forward, Volric waved his hand and the bear awoke. Growling from the sent of new blood it let a demonic roar take over the ears of everyone in a blocks radius in Drovia. The young man drew his sword and proceeded, drawing closer and closer to the bear. The small spark under the boys foot caused him to startle and before he could move his leg he knew what he had done. A small circular rune laid on the gravel just below his foot, it twisted and molded and small shadowy fiendish tentacles began to crawl up his armored leg. He struggled to pull his leg away but it held him in place. he began to panic as the bear got closer, but the purple ooz grew up into his abdomen and he could not move barely at all, he dropped his sword in a last attempt to pull himself free. The bear snarled and lunged at the boy, but just as the large teeth wrapped around his neck it vanished.
Varioyn walked over to the trapped boy, "You did not watch your surroundings, now you are dead." He waved his hand. "That's enough Kaylein." A young white haired woman came out from behind the large tree in which Javier rested.
"Now that you have your example new bloods. Who is next?" Varioyn laughed.

Stand back and observe.

The display of the beast so easily defeating the first contender put Kyik'thai a little bit on edge - magic was clearly a part of the test as well, and she didn't know much about it, although she could see the lingering heat and disturbed air of the trap rune all the way from where she stood in the back of the crowd. The familiar hadn't put forth anything even vaguely resembling effort in its first match. Curiosity pulled at her, and she felt the ghost of an urge to enter the challenge immediately, now aware that there was slightly more to it than it had seemed.

Satisfying her curiosity wasn't worth the (admittedly minimal) risk yet, though. She would wait for some others to go as well. Perhaps trying to meet someone and hear their thoughts would be a good idea as well, though the thought of trying to talk to somebody was a bit intimidating, after her verbal slipup at the initial sign-in. It would have to be someone relatively non-threatening.

Kyik'thai scanned the crowd. The enormous Etlock and the Elf seemed as though they would pass the physical test easily, but she wasn't certain if she felt up to the task of greeting an enormous brute. Then again, though, if she wanted to guarantee her success, she needed a variety of perspectives on her side. A short judgment on the worth of information vs. the value of dignity later, and she was shoving her way through the significantly thinner crowd towards Grol and Amalay...

...only to very trip over what was quite possibly the smallest grown person she had ever seen (or rather, in this case, failed to see). The thought that a person could be anything under 4'10" had never occurred to her, and Jameson Privy was almost a full foot beneath that. Her powers of observation had failed miserably in the blazing light of day, amidst the noise of the event, and it certainly didn't help that she was nearly twice his height. At least the mountain of mismatched cloaks and coats softened the impact.

"Kvecht! Sorry, sorry! I saw you not!"

She extended her long-fingered, nearly skeletal hand to the dwarf in apology, ears lying flat backwards as though she were a cat being admonished by its owner.

Well, it was a mind reading test so that makes more sense of the whole situation, the intellectual test seemed fairly easy, it was common knowledge. The room was full of new-bloods all trying to rack their brains around the questions. It did not take long for Nlossae to finish up the test, she did not waste her time on thinking to in depth on the questions. It did seem like an odd situation a bunch of fighters taking a test? Not to mention seeing some of their handwriting it was not going to end well for most. But now knowing that someone was reading their minds made much more sense than the paper test.

Well now everyone is headed outside for the physical test. This is probably one of the most exciting moments for Nlossae in a very long time. It was the perfect time to prove herself whether it be a test of agility, strength or skill, she was prepared for anything. Sure it required sparring, that may be a problem, she is not used to fighting nimble opponents it might be her Achilles heel. There were a lot of ways the test could go, and hopefully, the test would be something Nlossae could excel at.

The line was full of eager individuals all ready to prove themselves, each one carrying their weapon on hand prepared for the task. Each one seemed just as confident as the one next to them, confidence can be crippling in a fight. There was a conversation going on down the line but Nlossae was not interested in that right now, she was observing the training ground, trying to figure out the next test.

That was about the time that Varioyn began to speak, it seemed a little disappointing that there was not going to be a very tough challenge, at least as of what Volric seemed to be saying. Then the beast was summoned, a Demorbear! Nlossae got very excited at that moment, she spent all of her life hunting and fighting beasts. It is hard to outsmart most opponents but when the opponent is a monstrous creature it is easy to stay calm and wait for your strike.

Nlossae nearly ran up to fight right away, thinking that it would be such an easy fight! Then the young man beat her to the punch. He walked up just as confident as she was, but all of the sudden he stepped on the trap. That was the moment that the challenge changed for Nlossae, it was no longer just a simple fight with the Demorbear, but none the less she was still confident in herself.

Varioyn invited the next person to give it a try and Nlossae was ready to step up.

I’ll go next!

She chooses to follow down the same path that the young man before her took. While walking she pulled out her long sword and grasped it in both hands pointing directly at the large beast. As she made her way down, Volric waved his hand once again and the bear awoke, just like prior. The Demorbear got up to its feet and let out its demonic roar, but Nlossae did not shake. As she got close to where the trap was that the boy stepped on, she stopped moving. It was clear that she had no idea what dangers lurked past this point, and it might be the best choice not to blindly run into the minefield of traps while fighting a large bear. So instead she took a defensive stance and lifted her sword above her head while keeping the tip aimed at the bear.

The bear kept walking towards her, it was a very monstrous creation. Sure, Nlossae has hunted her whole life, but this creature was a sight to be seen. She kept calm breathing in and out, just waiting for the time to strike. The Demorbear seemed to grow tired of waiting for his opponent to do something, he scratched his dangerous claw into the dirt and began to charge. As the bear began to lunge at Nlossae she too jumped towards the beast. It was a very long beginning to a very short fight. As the beast opened its jaw to bite at the half-elf girl, she was able to shove her sword into his gaping maw. It was a very quick death for the impatient beast.
Nlossae pulled her sword out of the Demorbear as it disappeared from where it once laid slain. She looks up at Varioyn with a very large grin on her once serious face. Her personality and figure now had completely shifted, she seemed to be acting almost childlike, and very proud of what she had accomplished. After it seemed like her challenge was over she slowly exited the area and headed back to the group waiting in the line.

(Meshiro shoved his way to the front using his staff to bonk those in his way while using his free hand's index finger to pick his nose & then scratch his rumpus/ He'd then start thinking in his head the following.)

Let's see here... A demorbear. To be able to summon one is pretty impressive, signori. Distant from the hell hounds, and much more powerful, I learned all of this back in Penrith.

(Meshiro looked onward as the first young man was dispatched with haste, giggling gently as his devious and sadistic nature allowed him to. Such a demonic atrocity could surely lay waste to this entire rowdy bunch of people, and its battlecry was a deafening one which nearly melted his ear drums into a paste as soft as charlotte custard. What powerful taming strength.)

"Teehaha, what a fool!"

(Tsuekami continued to watch as the beast was then slain by a nimble half-blood like his self, noting the steps he should take to kill the Demorbear in his mind.)

She avoided the traps by not advancing ya ya... however I will be much moar evasive, and upfront. A demorbear could most definitely absorb flames so I'll brittle his flesh and decimate it with an intense spell of mine. Yes... I'll impress all of these primitive infid-

(Meshiro was suddenly knocked to the side by a random breeze, and hit the mud; face-first. The youngling lifted his head and cast a ray of water from his staff which sluiced his face of dirt.)

"ok."

Javier watched as everyone poured into the training yard. He had succeeded in this part of the test considering his nimbleness and keen eyesight. Besides, he was a mercenary. Trained to kill. Trained to succeed. There was always this misconception that mercenaries were just bloodthirsty savages who charge in without a plan. They were not like that. They plan each step carefully, keep their senses open and completely destroy the opponent in a short time. Or well, that was his job at least, being an assassin and all. One failed shot can change everything. And that's why he was able to simply snipe his opponent before it could even attack. One should know their opponent's weak points, and aim for that first.

As Varioyn and Volric took the center stage, Javier shifted his attention to them. Right, there they go. A demorbear this time hm? Interesting. He swore the previous times they were tested, it was something harder. Then again, this was an open invitation to every fighter out there and not a recommendation. As Volric did say earlier, he might've underestimated them considering that some might not have been well-trained individuals who spent almost their entire life fighting.

A man confidently stepped up, brandishing his sword at the beast. The demorbear woke up and let out a bone-chilling roar only it can make. Javier quickly scanned the surroundings. There were some who were shaken, but some stood firm, almost too eagerly awaiting their turn to dance with the demon. He felt like those who were shaken wouldn't get in. Not with that kind of attitude. He looked back at the battle. Javier already picked out the traps that were littered around the battlefield. It had been part of his training as a hunter to be honest. The man, however, did not see it and stepped into one of the traps, locking him in place. And so, he was defeated by the bear.

Javier shook his head. Overconfidence won't take you too far in life. Hearing the footsteps, he looked down to see Kaylein. Ah yes, she was the one who trained him with the traps. It was a nice trade-off. He only had to be her partner for the amount of time that he will train. Of course, he had expected that she would be the one in training. How nice. "Hello there Kaylein." He greeted with a nod. While he is a friendly guy, he doesn't really start conversations. There are very few he would actively talk to, Kaylein being one of them. Perhaps it was because of the long time he had been stuck with her. Not that he minded.

Before the female could respond, however, someone else had volunteered to take on the demorbear. She was an elf. No, half-elf. He eagerly watched her fight, partly because she was a new blood and the other because she was an elf. She had not advanced towards the demorbear. Wise choice. The field was filled with rune traps so it was best to stay put. But she did not pull out a bow, but kept her stance with her longsword. Interesting. In an unfamiliar setting, it would be best to put a defensive stance. The demorbear started charging at the half-elf and was quickly decapitated with one strike.

The white haired elf smiled as he saw this. Quite an impressive show after the humiliating defeat by the earlier boy. The others were getting ideas from the half-elf's performance. This wasn't really ideal, considering that they may just use her method again and again so they can win. However, he was sure Volric would at least change the demorbear's attack patterns ever so slightly to accommodate for this. He was, however, curious if they could pull something off without any inspiration from the half-elf's display.

As the beast was unleashed Orac's eye's widened he was expecting something small, fast and nimble. This was the opposite huge, strong and wild.

"Uhm OK this is new!"

And with that Orac looked around to see how his fellow entry's were looking and noticed Amalay trying to get his attention with a nod and an hello. Do I know you? I am pretty sure I don't but anyway good luck got a feeling we will need it!

Orac stood in what he called the ready to fight position and placed his hand behind his back with his index finger touching the end of one of his arrows.

Privy was knocked down by the tall woman, who quickly apologized after. "Don't worry, accidents happen right?" Keeping optimistic was the best way to go. He then proceeded to stand a good distance away from the demorbear as he removed his hat and began to cast a few spells. Hopefully one would work out okay.

Nevermind, this would do just fine.
"EVERYBODY! I'M GONNA HOLD IT DOWN!"
The only thing he moved on the field was the demorbear, and then Privy placed him near where a carcass that was succumbed to a trap was. Just as he predicted, another trap rose from the ground and restrained the demorbear, hopefully allowing for an easier fight for everyone else, even if it was for a few moments. Privy decided to cast one more spell before letting the fight continue.

A golden chain connected Privy to Cliff as the floating axe proceeded to stand in front of Privy.
"Just like last time?"
"Aye."

(Meshiro bounced towards the gathering fray with his staff waving in the air. The youngling struck the soil with his stave & a trickle of water soon begun to explode into a stream gushing down the golden body of Mizuken his beloved relic. Instantly, an enormous body of mana began to pool from his body and drill into the earth along with the water without moving the surface dirt itself.)

"Venite Huc!"

(Tsuekami's voice rung like the bells of a cathedral, and his eyes were as bright as new silver. Air itself thickened with the summoning of mana. The event settled with a quiet whirring which occurred beneath the ground. Meshiro ripped his stave from the earth and ambled to the side of the hole he made.)

Yes, yes.. A very basic conjuration spell. This is gonna make everyone acknowledge me, teehe...

The batlike Sviirog stood, frozen in place, completely bewildered by the dwarf. Not only was he short, but he was also the first person she had ever encountered who simply walked off mid-conversation. Her shock was interrupted by a magician, who seemed to think it wasn't extremely rude to cast magic in the middle of a crowd - prompting her to launch herself in the other direction, away from the magic. It was a very uncomfortable spell - some sort of summoning, and she had been standing right in the middle of one of the invisible streams of power emanating from the youngling's staff. She didn't know if he knew how magic worked, but it had felt like a ghost had thrust its hand through her chest and into her heart.

The six hidden bioluminescent stripes upon her face grew hot and gently glowed in anger - now almost visible in daylight. She had to release her stress right now, before one of the mages angered her further. A few short, angry strides brought her to the edge of the crowd, where she waited for an opening, impatiently tapping her foot all the while. The dwarf would do well to finish his fight quickly.

<edit: doubleposted, please ignore>

Do I know you? I am pretty sure I don't but anyway good luck got a feeling we will need it!

When Orac blew off Amalay’s attempt at camaraderie, she was not to be daunted. Either that or was completely oblivious to the fact that he had attempted to be as dull and uninteresting as possible. This wasn't the first, nor the last of his sort she would encounter. Someone not full of laughs, not full of conversation, not full of opinion. Orac probably was just looking for some action and spare glory, and would worry about friends and retirement and other things that made life life once all of his affairs were in order. In other words, a philosophy completely diametric to Amalay's perspective.

“Primal and simple creatures Elvin Archer’s are, completely focused on task.This one has matured into its killing season,” she spoke to Grol... well not really, more than anything she began yammering in order to annoy Orac. “At this stage in their lives, they are solely driven off of slaughter, and shed their vestigial personalities and sex drives in order to meet their simple instinct for bloodshed. See how he doesn’t get mad or worked up about anything? His entire existence from this point on, is violence. See how the drive is deafening him to my words? Why, in normal society, before the bloodening, he might blow off my narration as some sort of joke. He might even quip about something he finds deficit in me, or could even turn around and smile. Who knows, he might even introduce himself. But no, the creature is entirely consumed and blinded by this urge.”

She began smiling broadly and stifling laughter at her own humor.

(Meshiro glanced at the growling Demorbear whose eyes glistened like a ripe apple decorated in the morning's dew, and sunlight's glare.)

"So you're gonna be the canvas to my paintbrush, signori?"

(The youngling taunted. The boy needn't approach the beast or even move very much, for the spell has been set. A junction of waterways has been constructed beneath the Demorbear. This system of water had tunnels a good two feet thick. This mechanic was achieved by using the abrasive power of raw mana to chisel the earth, and allow his summoned water to fill in the gaps.)

"Mhm, Imma' genius everyone..."

(Meshiro glanced over his shoulder and looked around to see if anyone was watching before twirling his stave in the air. At once, three bright orbs of roaring fire materialized in front of the lad, each being evidently sentient and energetic. They were all three feet tall and two feet wide with featureless bodies. Meshiro dipped his golden wand towards the ground, and the docile golems each dived into the soil. )

(Beneath the surface, the three split apart and rushed through the nexus at greatspeeds making sure to evade any runic traps. Even with water splashing their burning anatomy the triplet infernos didn't waver in the slightest. However, the water begin to boil rapidly. Meanwhile, the Demorbear had at last begin to tense his muscles, and bore his jagged fangs.)

"Wait here, big fella.. Rejicio!"

(The golems self-destructed, releasing an intense burst of heat which coursed through the boiling canals instantaneously. By now, the soil beneath the Demorbear had grown soft, so when the beast decided to drag his claws against the ground, he was thrown off balance and sunk into the scorching pit. The grand finale, a phreatic explosion. A tremendous amount of scalding steam suddenly erupted from the soft dirt and devoured the snared demon.)

"Annnd.. Venite Huc..!"

(The heat from the steam cloud was suddenly drawn into the air by an unseen force and condensed into a spinning orb of pure red energy which formed above his victim. At the same time, the steam enveloping the Demorbear had become a solid carapace of thick, glossy ice. Inside, the beast was frozen without escape. Meshiro grinned and winked at the creature before slamming his staff into the ground, thus commanding the ball to plummet into the center ice prison and explode. The explosion tore apart the glaze with the creature inside, whose body had grown brittle and easily succumbed to the blast, leaving melted chunks of flesh, and burnt debris in a pool of still boiling water. Meshiro wiped his forehead and fell backwards, onto his butt.)

"How's that for a magic trick, ya bums.. Heh. Ha... Tehoo.."

(Into sopor the lad slipped. His narcolepsy usually intensifies after such a series of spells.)