Our resident goddess met with a girl with an anxiety problem, Most of their encounter was discussing the circumstances of the meeting and how the girl lost her life. After several moments of them bickering with each other the girl finally got something from her heart. A protective armor that absorbs damage and expels it into power. But how much power could the user withstand?

The girl would find herself reappearing in the middle of a small temple like place. On the ground is a glowing blue circle which slowly dulls as she appears.
@Ryougu

Jaded Wilds Town

The forest town is filled with life this time of year and everyone is celebrating the festival of the hero. The main prize would be the trust of the town. Although there seemed to be something more at work.

A semi-long line was leading into a small building and a sign reads "Sign up here for the trial of the hero". A large section of the town was cut off besides those who have already signed up for the trial of the hero. People from the local tavern were walking around selling alcohol and other beverages.

Looking around, Jasmyn found herself in some strange ritual circle. She was relieved to see the lack of cultists around it, but was a little worried regardless. She tried to get up, but found that moving was a surprising lot heavier than before. Looking down to determine the cause, she quickly realized she was now wearing armor. Somewhat pleased, she recalled the wish. "So if this armor works..." She mumbled, pondering the possibilities. Her mind started to wander and eventually came back to why she'd chosen it. Jasmyn felt nauseous.

Deciding to step outside for a breath of fresh air, Jasmyn was greeted by the sight of a bustling little town. She walked around a little, eventually coming across the sign; "Sign up here for the trial of the Hero". Considering this a golden opportunity to test her new equipment, she joined the line and asked the person in front of her "Excuse me. Could you tell me a little more about this trial?"

”’Ere, pour me anotha!” A big boisterous fellow shouted as he had another rather burly man in a headlock. Over at the adventurer’s guild was another day of merriment and fun, at least for Yaj. He rose up early that morning, caught himself breakfast, and came straight over to hang out with fellows and friends. Was hardly even noon and he was already red-faced and brawling with his chums. While Yaj was distracted with his roughhousing a blow to the back of his head caused him to stagger out of the fight as the others continued to slug it out with cries of joy and fury.

As he was recovering from the blow Yaj ended up near an armored hottie. She seemed pretty high level considering how top-notch her equipment was, and Yaj has never seen her before. Thus he deduced that she must be a top-level adventurer who no longer gets jobs at the adventurer’s guild, but directly from royalty themselves! So of course Yaj would make a fool of himself by trying to get on her good side. ”Heeeeeey dar purdy lady. Got some nice knockers on ya. Wha chu doin here?” Just looking to the side Yaj noticed that she was standing in front of sign about the “Trial of a Hero”.

”Oh heeeeey, I was about ta sign up fer dis myself! What a coininkidink, neh? What are the chances of two heroes meet each other like this, neh?” The orc smiled, revealing his tusks and oddly white teeth.

Rex munched on the little bit of food he'd ordered (barbequed chicken… on a steeck) as he got in line for this "Trial of a Hero" thing he'd heard about. He kept his wings wrapped around his shoulders like a cloak, the vestigial wing-claws hooking together to form a sort of clasp. He got weird enough stares for having horns and a tail, but would rather not give people another reason to gawk. As he waited he noticed the person ahead of him: a girl.

She's cute, he thought, glancing away. His cheeks turned a bit red; his social anxiety with girls was that bad. The Half-Dragon noted her armor. It looked high-tier. So why was she here? Rex jumped a bit when an orc (apparently drunk) raised his voice and began talking with the girl.

It was barely sunrise when a lone figure rose from her bed. With quick precision and efficiency she left her bed and laid her sleeping garments into a hamper. Into her personal washroom, it only took her ten minutes to wash up and relieve herself. Steam escaping the bath chambers, the womanly figure went to her closet to don her holy raiments; cloth blessed by the church to battle the forces of evil.



Solemnly the woman donned her garbs, the scent of blood and death still lingering despite being clean. No... The scent isn't on the clothes. It was on the woman's own hands. How long as she been fighting last night? How many has she'd destroyed, that even now she could still smell the vile stench of those heretical monsters? But she could not surrender now. She cannot give up, even if this fight seems endless and victory unattainable. That is now her way.



Placing her hat on her head the warrior woman then turned to her armory. Opening the door inside revealed rows upon rows of weapons, from swords, axes, maces, spears, to bows, knives, and firearms. She walked towards one box sealed with a lock. Taking a key off around her neck, the woman opened the box to reveal an exquisite pistol. It was twelve inches in length, with an ornate barrel inscribed with holy scripts. Underneath the gun was twenty silver bullets; the perfect tool to slay demons and undead.



Holstering her pistol and putting the bullets into a pouch on her hip, the holy warrior continued to walk down her armory until she reached her final destination: A sword resting on a mantle, basking in the sun's light. Grasping the handle of this sword she raised it to her eyes, looking at her reflection in the blade. Next to her reflection was the complicated mechanism that also acted as a gun: a new addition added by her wise father. With this blade of mythic steel and her father's craft, the woman sheathed the blade into it's sheath and attached it to her belt. It was time to go.



Tossing her cape over her shoulders the holy warrior, Aimee the Inquisitor, left her family's manor and went to the city. Today she would try and take on the Trial of the Hero. Normally she wouldn't bother herself with such pointless competitions, and she'd rather focus her efforts on slaying evil, however this would be a good way to test her skills. Not to mention possibly making new allies, which Aimee was slowly starting to learn to accept. But it hasn't been easy: everyone she's met so far has been a fool, incompetent, and arrogant. These adventurers were better off being thugs and robbing storefronts then calling themselves adventurers and playing hero. The only thing they're a danger to is herself. But hopefully, Aimee might be wrong.

As she approached the sign up board for the Trial of the Heroes, she was immediately disappointed. She saw an impressively armored woman, a meek looking half-dragon, and a green skinned drunkard. Of the three, only one seemed like someone who could hold their own, and Aimee has never seen the armored woman before. But not wanting a potential ally to be soiled by some drunk, Aimee walked up to the two and stood between the orc and the stranger. "You reek and look filthy. What sort of a hero carries himself like this? Go wash up before you spread a disease here."

Jasmyn jumped a little as the orc adressed her, but she was immediately repulsed by the comment about her 'knockers'. She was about to slap the orc in the face, as a new person approached and told him to go bathe. She felt grateful to the woman, but at the same time a little sorry for the orc. Sizing up the newcomer, Jasmyn was not disappointed. The woman semed to be well armed, carried herself well, and was also kind of pretty. This is what Jasmyn imagined a hero looked like.

Jasmyn felt intimidated by all the odd species around, only adding to the feeling of relief when seeing the human woman. She stuttered a little as she spoke, inconfident about what to say. "T-thanks, miss. This s-scroundrel made a comment about.--" her voice hushed into a whisper, barely audible over the noise of the people around. Her face reddened as she said it. "A comment about my b-breasts." Jasmyn, eager as she was to impress this woman she deemed a rolemodel, soon blurted out "I was about to say something myself, but I felt sorry for him." She froze a moment after this, not even believing she just said that, but remembered she'd forgotten to thank the woman. "T-thanks, anyway. Would you tell me your name?"

Rex listened silently. He had been about to jump in himself when the other young lady interrupted. The Half-Dragon watched the orc, and took his hand away from the collapsed scythe at his waist. He couldn't help noticing the first girl, namely how she stuttered. It was kinda cute.

"Aaaaaaah? Dat's awfully rude ta say to a complete stranger, ya daft bi-" Yaj turned to give the voice a thrashing until he noticed who it was. Yaj may be a drunk and doesn't care for education, but he knew who this woman was. Aimee Reiterpallasch; a noble, Inqusitor, and worse, AN AXIS CULTIST. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Yaj could probably take Aimee in a fight, but he feared her church more than the woman herself. Those people were crazy. Yaj would rather strike a deal with demons then those fanatics. So instead Yaj turned around and ran outside of the guild hall, hopping into a river and swimming to freedom.

Yaj eventually climbed out of the river and onto a dock, rolling his body over to be dried in the sun. "Oh god... Pity on dem sods... Dey don't know wot dey got demselves into..." Rolling onto his feet Yaj looked around and tried to get his barrings. Maybe if he was lucky that cultist would be gone by the time he gets back to the guild...

"Hmm..."

Lupa was in an alleyway looking at a broken glass bottle. The way the sun reflects off the shards made a pretty light against the wall! She poked some of the shards around to try and make new patterns in the light. Lupa had been doing this for about an hour now, to the point that her legs started to hurt from squatting the entire time. Eventually she decided that she likes these glass shards, so she gathered them up and put them into a bag. Inside this bag was a slug, a chicken bone, a dried piece of fish scales, and a lizard tail. "Heh. So much treasure today! I wonder what else I'll find."

Wandering the city streets aimlessly, Lupa picked up things off the street to add to her treasure bag. She round a rusty copper coin in the same of a star, a cherry with a tumor, and even an spoon! Today was a good day so far. As she traveled Lupa found herself in front of the adventurer guild hall. This place made her a bit uncomfortable since there were so many people, but she's learned that as long as she didn't talk to anyone she'd be fine. But just before she entered, an orc came screaming out and jumped into the river. That reminded her that she could go for a nice swim. But first, she had to see if there was anything going on at the guild.

Pulling her hood over her head to hide her wolf ears walked right up to the notice board and searched for something that looked interesting. She actually didn't know how to read, so she just chose which ever flyer had a pretty or interesting picture. "Hmm..."

Aimee remained stoic as the orc wisely fled for his life. She wouldn't have killed him or anything, but she would have given him a beating if he persisted. "Filthy barbarian." After that incident was dealt with the girl that Aimee had protected spoke up. She seemed meek, which rubbed Aimee the wrong way. Though perhaps she was being a bit too harsh, Aimee did step in before the girl had gotten a chance to stand up for herself. "Don't pity fools like him. They need a harsh lesson about etiquette and respect. At least he knows fear." Aimee reached into one of her pouches and spread some salt in the last area that orc was at. It was a purifying salt used to ward demons, as well as to cover up strong scents. Aimee would sometimes cover a cloth with it if she goes to a particularly rancid or toxic place.

Looking over the girl carefully, Aimee gave her a slight smile and bowed her head. "I am Aimee the Inquisitor, of House Reiterpallasch. Adventurer and devout member of Her Holy order. Your armor looks quite impressive, certainly not the cheap iron and leather that most adventurers afford. But I've never seen you around the city before... May I have your name, m'lady?" Aimee then extended her hand out to the girl. She would give the stranger a chance to prove herself.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Jasmyn said to awkwardly accept the odd compliment on her armor. "I'm new around these parts, it makes sense you wouldn't recognize me. My name is Jasmyn, without a house. I...travel a lot, you see? Jasmyn lied. She couldn't really tell the woman she'd just died. "Just to confirm I reached the right place, what's the name of this town?"

Jasmyn prayed the woman wouldn't pry, but that in turn made her realize something fairly awkward. Whom should she pray to? She did notice Aimee mention some holy order, but due to Jasmyn's general dislike of religion, she opted not to ask and simply prayed the goddess she met earlier would look out for her.

Rex listened to the two young women. What was "Her Holy Order"? Some kind of cult who smoked too much fireweed, saw visions, and got hungry? Judging by that orc, that probably wasn't the case.

Rex abruptly swore out loud. Some idiot had stepped on his tail! The Half-Dragon whirled, searching for whoever had stepped on his tail. However he didn't quite pay attention where he was swinging it… especially the flaming tip.

Lupa didn't really find any interesting pictures on the bounty board. A lot of it she's already seen, and the few new ones didn't look too appeasing. More frogs, more zombies, bleh. Dejected Lupa was about to leave the guild hall when she noticed a person with a tail. Lupa didn't find the tail itself to be strange because she had one and she's seen others with tails, but this one had fire on it! Fire was always a curiosity to Lupa. So hot, yet so pleasant. She wondered how people made fire as she's never been able to start a fire herself. The boy with the tail didn't seem to be paying too much attention, so Lupa sneaked behind him to look at his tail. It was black and shiny, like obsidian. The fire looked strange yet still felt warm. She reached out and pressed her hand against the tail to see how tough it was, which caused the boy to suddenly jump. When he turned around Lupa just barely dodged the flaming tip, feeling the heat singe her hood a bit.

"Aw. I wasn't finished..."

Aimee put her hand to her mouth as this girl, Jasmyn, said that she was a traveler. While it's not unusual for people to travel, she didn't look like a merchant, and surely if she was a caravan guard she wouldn't be at the adventurer's guild. Unless she just lost her job? Too many questions for Aimee to ask. But what was especially odd was that this girl didn't even know what the name of the city was. How do you go to a city you don't even know what it's called? "This is Ami City. It was originally settled by the elves, but after a particularly brutal war with the dark elves nearby, races from all around came to support the elves and the city. Afterwards they simply settled in the city and flourished ever since." Aimee said seamlessly, lying through her teeth. Jasmyn seemed to be hiding something and Aimee wanted to know what that was. Because what Aimee worried most was that Jasmyn wasn't actually a warrior, but possibly a criminal. That armor may have been scavenged from a more worthy warrior and she's just trying to lay low for a while. Aimee's seen many adventurers do things like that, and try to find asylum by joining the adventurer's guild. But Aimee wasn't going to tolerate that, not for one second.

Jasmyn was about to respond to Aimee, when a large tail suddenly came flying at her. Even worse; it was om fire. Jasmyn managed to avoid the tail, but by doing so stepped on Aimee's foot. She failed to noticed due to how different metal boots feel from normal shoes, as well as the panic that follows from burning tails. Jasmyn looked around for a bucket of water, or something comparable. Settling on an abandoned tub of dishwater, she picked it up and spinned towards the dragonoid. Rather than see him panic about a flaming tail however, he seemed to be berating some girl.

With the action yet in motion, and the inertia too much to simply stop, Jasmyn failed to prevent the dishwater from pouring all over the two. Ironically, the burning tail was about the only part of the dragonoid that was still dry, and the fire happily flickered on. Jasmyn's mouth dropped wide open when she realized what she'd just done. "My god...I am so sorry!"

Rex had been about to scold the person, but then he saw that it was yet another cute girl. "I… uh…" The Half-Dragon yelped in surprise at the sudden assault of soapy water. He held still for a moment, and slowly, slowly turned. His eyes blazed, and before he realized who was holding the offending bucket, he flared his wings in an instinctive threat display.

However, his face flushed bright red when he saw who had doused him with water. He was soaking wet, except for where his wings had covered him. "Umm… I, uh…" Damn my anxiety!

Metel could only shake her head and sigh at the display of stupidity in front of her. It was almost comical, if not for the fact that she had barely any sense of humor at all. She had always been like this as far as she remembered, even when she was just a little kid.

Oh well, a rowdiness like this was to be expected in an Adventurer's Guild building, even if she didn't like it. No matter where she went, there would always be a loud and rowdy bunch of adventurers at every branch of the guild.

She turned back to the notice board after her concentration was interrupted by the noise they made. Most of the notices seemed to be about monster slaying, something she could do but she didn't really like doing. There was also a notice for the trial of the Hero, but she had no reason to participate. After all, she had no plans to be one. But then, she noticed one of the rewards for the trial; a rare plant that she had never had the opportunity to get her hands upon. She sighed once again. It seemed she had to join after all.

And so she went into the line where the rowdy bunch was. She just hoped that this trial thing would be a solo quest. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cooperate with people like them. She had always been a lone traveller after all.

Yuji sat next to the window, with her armor laid out next to her on the floor. As she lazily stared outside of the window, she dragged a whetstone across her large blade, slowly bringing the stone across the edges of the sword, the blacksmith's words still lingered in her head of how to maintain the blade's edge and the centaur ended up speaking it out loud. " Sharpen at the first sign of being dull, but keep up maintenance by sharpening every couple days to get full use of the blade."

Once Yuji finished the first side and moved to the other, she overheard to humans speaking about a trial of a hero near her window and said that it was happening at the adventurer's guild. The centaur jumped to her hooves in excitement she felt that this could be the jump start she needed to become a great knight like the ones in the stories she read. Yuji rushed to put on every piece of her armor and put her sword on her waist then charged outside the centaur woman began galloping towards the guild remembering it's exact location from the first time she arrived here.

When Yuji arrived at, the first thing she quickly noticed was the massive line of people then she saw the group of civilians or heroes being rowdy with one another, the ones that stood out the most were the dragon guy and the Orc. She walked by the small elf and looked down on the boisterous bunch," What is going on here?" Yuji spoke as if she was an authority figure and certainly looked like one with her armor. "Is something wrong?"

Yaj eventually made it back to the adventurer's guild, and instead of that crazy lady leaving and letting the guild return to some normalcy, more freakshows arrived and the place was going even more bananas. That half-dragon and some hooded girl was wet, that shapely main heroine dame was freaking out and had an empty bucket, a centaur was here, and there was a lot more people gathered around watching. A bar maid passed by and Yaj swiped a drink from her tray, downing it in one gulp before approaching. May as well get involved with this nonsense.

He approached with a casual swagger right up next to the centaur, leaning against her large, sturdy body. "Looks ta me dat we got ourselves a gathin' of heroes. Look at em! Bunch a quirky crazy adventurer's wif mor guts than glory. Bunch a nameless nobodies wantin' a slice o fame an fortune. Bunch of grave robbas and tomb raiders lookin' fer an easy score." Grabbing another mug of ale from a passing wrench Yaj looked up at the centaur and smiled. "Perfect company fer the likes of us, aye?"

Rex turned to see a centaur woman towering over him. His wings tucked back against his body, the claws hooking against each other at his collar. "Just a small misunderstanding," he assured. However, thanks to his social anxiety, his face was flushed red. "I-I always forget about my tail flame." His tail curled around his waist to show the centaur the flickering blue fire emanating from the tip.