Leaning against the ornately carved, bone-handled e, with the clipboard in his other hand.Did he he e? Not in a while, holy. But it looked good, gave him an air of severity, superiority. So he kept it, it kept people uimating him… at their peril.Tug the clipboard under his arm he ran a gloved hand through his short, brown, military-styled hair — it seemed his afternoon would be needlessly wasted standing in as proctor for another no-name nobody wanting to seek it big by being an Adventurer.
Looking over the ‘potential’, the figure frowned.He stood just over two strides tall, and fairly wide at the shoulder as well. A simple tail of a darker brown than his own hair with bright purple eyes. Oh… iing… He said, only really half-ied.As the obvious border bumpkin looked around the light of the room reflected off the small gold bands in his eye.Other than size he was not impressive in any remarkable way, he wasn’t impressive in any stand-out way either. He in, dull, better suited to pulling a plow behind him to till a field thahe title of Advehe fact his ‘on’ seemed to be a small tree banded in iron told him all he o know, sidering he had a sword hanging off his hip that he, apparently, wasn’t pnning on using.
He spared a somewhat less ptuous g the ‘potential’s’ sparring partner — he thought little of this person as well, but he was not proctor of that one’s exam so he had little say in it.Apparently, they had proven himself a somewhat petent Adventurer since joining.Well, as long as he pulls his weight, and doesn’t make the Guild look foolish. Really, though, if they allowed everyone on ‘skill’ aloo join the Guild then all we’d see are peasant-born bricks too dull to think beyond what to have for their meal. A true Adventurer needs a brain. Education. And only those who afford the best eduake the best Adventurers. It’s just obvious.
What the proctor hadn’t seen during his cursory evaluation of these before him… was the two figures following the applit.Unseen by all three iesting room was Glenawyn having snuto the room to watch from behind a pile of boxes. Unseen by all three iesting room… and Glenawyn… was the pixie who had snu with her, sent to watch the events of the bat assessment unfold.
“Ah…” Peter started, “Hello, I’m Peter Kharl… and—”The proctor raised his e, pointing the bone ha Peter, “I do not care.” He said coldly, “Only if you have been accepted into the Guild and you have proven your worth will your ter to a’s a waste of time otherwise.” He said, scratg a o the clipboard, “Waste my time further and your application will be rejected ht.” He poio the Adventurer set to be this potential’s sparring partner, “Begin. Make it quick.” He ordered.
Arg his eyebrows in a silent ‘okay~ then’, Peter looked to his partner. He stood, hand gripping the hilt of his kanabō he ring that he had taken to calling the ‘cross guard’, looking at his ‘sparring parthey looked to be about Peter’s age, slimmer thaer certainly, with long golden hair in a braided tail that e their waist, a simple thick-looking tunid pants with equally simple boots, and all in a uniform color. That’s a sparring uniform if I ever saw one. Somewhere between a gi and feng gear. Alright. “Don’t worry, it’s ented for endurahey said, drawing their on of choice, a two-handed sword, “And this is blunted… but I still wouldn’t get hit by it.” “Goodie for me.” Peter grumbled, having only his simple clothes from the Pilr’s Church — a gift given to him by Jhe’fuh after the priest found out that he had only the ofit from his time at the Church Luminous.
Slowly Peter began to walk towards his sparring partner as they started to advance quicker at Peter, sword out towards him in a long thrust. While he wasn’t a batant eveer knew not to telegraph that badly. Kig at his kanabō with his boot, a soft klung was heard as he ected with the metal cap on the end of the long mace, sending the ‘business end’ of the on oppo-ward and upwards. Peter timed it so that the metal bands and knobs ged against the steel of the bde his oppo wielded, knog it off-path.
Peter gripped the handle of his kanabō as it came into reach, his body twisting as he swung his on around to the side and across him — had his sparring partner not step-dodged backward it would have caught them in the ribs.The otherworlder followed through on his swing, letting the body of his o on the meat of where his neck met his shoulder. He gri the blond before him.He wasn’t sure but he might have heard his sparring partner gulp as he did that.
Off to their side, the prave a scoff, making a note on the clipboard that held Peter’s application.Off to their other side, behind the stack of boxes, Glenawyn covered her mouth with a gasp, her cheeks flushing.
“A lucky strike.” The blond nodded.Peter nodded in agreement, shrugging as well. The blond swung their two-hander again, the metal swishing through the air audibly.Metal rang against metal in a surprisingly beautiful sounding csh of their ons — Peter having swung to meet the Adventurer’s sword and now, crossing ons, it became a strength test.
However, as a Godchild, Peter had the advantage.
Flexing his arms, gripping the haft of his kanabō he shifted his weight, pushing the two-handed on aside and stepping forward with a quiess now. Stepping past them, catg the Adventurer’s back foot with his heel and hooking it, sending the young person off bance.He swung again. Even off bahe Adventurer was not so easily defeated, though it was a filing sort of ter, they twisted on their foot, rotating themselves and bringing their sword around to block the swing that would have nded squarely across their shoulders and likely sent them sprawling to the ground while they tried tain their footing.
Peter stepped back, away from his sparring parthis earned a scoff of pt from the test’s overseer, “Not pressing the advantage. Foolish.” He scribbled something on the application. Peter closed his eyes and inhaled, setting himself into a defeance, kanabō up and at the ready.The Adveood there as well, their sword held firmly in both hands, feet apart a heavily.
Not a word was said, the two just looking at the other, through them, trying to read the other. Waiting.Watg. Readying.
Three heartbeats.Four. Five heartbeats.Six.
Both twitched, both moved, both rushing forward with a grunt and growl, swinging their ons at their oppo, and, agaier’s advantage of enharength won out.A resounding csh filled the room such that the proctor winced, and the hidden Glenawyn had to cover her long, pointed ears, biting down on her lip to keep from yelping and giving herself away. After the csh came the scraping of metal oal as Peter used his strength to push — the two-handed bde sliding across one of the kanabō’s metal bands as Peter followed through once again on his swing, pushing the blunted sword to their sides and with a bit of extra effort from the otherworlder his sparring partner’s sword was wrenched from their grasp a flying across the room. Spinning like a discus through the air and catg the tip of that swainst the wall sinking about two inches into the thick wood, waggling up and down until the energy of its momentum died down. However, Peter did not wait for that to happen before tinuing.No — As soon as he felt the sword leave his oppo's hands he pressed forward.Shifting his weight by stepping forward and pnting his foot Peter brought the kanabō back across, heavily striking his test’s oppo in the shoulder while they were still rec from having the on near-ripped from their gloved hands. There was a solid crack from the impad the force of the blow did, this time, send the Adventurer not only off-ba sprawling to the floor, clutg at their shoulder.Rolling his shoulders he brought the kanabō over his head for a downward blow — fully expeg the proctor to call out.
Nothing.
Peter swung.Silently he prayed that he could stop the momentum at the st moment. Still nothing.His eyes met the Adventurer’s and he saw the uainty in them as they widened, sparing a gnce over to the proctor.
KRACK
The kanabō smmed into the heavy wooden floor o the Adventurer’s head, about a finger’s length from their nose.
“A poor showing overall.” The prhed, bored, barely sparing a go the Adventurer who was testier before speaking in the general dire of the applit iion, “You wasted time. You did not defeat your foe quickly enough, on top of that you backed away instead of being smart and pushing your advantage.” “It was a test.” Peter squawked in protest. “You are a fool, then, for thinking that a test of your bat skill would rate you on anything other than how you behave in bat.” He took the application from the clipboard and, making a show of it, gripped it between his two gloves hands, ‘carefully’ holding it between finger and thumb before ly ripping it in half, then in half again. “Needless to say you failed. Thank you ever so kindly for wasting my time.” The proctor snarled, sparing the Adventurer on the flnce, “And you will be put o for fooling around instead of taking this seriously.” “What?” The adventurer cried out, aghast. “Now wait a minute!” Peter spoke sharply.The proet his eyes with a gre, “I’d choose your words carefully, rabble. As of now, you have merely failed. Perhaps in a year or two when you scrap up another application fee, you try again. If you aren’t careful you’re like as not to find yourself bcklisted from joining the Adventurer’s Guild.” He sniffed, lookier up and down, “We’d be better for it but as I am not Guild Master I have little say iter.” “You’re being unreasohe Adventurer growled, sitting up, only to gasp as the proctor kicked the hand they were brag themselves up without from uhem. “Quiet! You’re already o, keep it up and I will add insubordination to it.” He shen smiled, “I think I will anyway. Rabble like you o be put in your pce.” “Okay.” Peter said, “That’s enough!”He didn’t know why he spat the words out. No, that was a lie. He did know — He was tired of seeing this sort of behavior even though he’d only been in this world for barely one of its weeks, and only been staying in one small part of oy in that entire world. He would not have had this been his old life — Now being a different person, a person with the ability, the power to hahemselves… he felt he could speak up against this sort of behavior. Even so, a pit in his stomach started to twist as it formed.Was he abusing his literal Goddess-given power?Was it his pbsp; He looked down at the Adventurer aheir eyes and he had his answer.
Reag out a hand he offered it to his sparring partner, “Up you go.” He said quietly. “What do you think you’re doing?” The proctor demanded, going to seter’s hand, “If they ’t get up by themselves—” “With a wretched shoulder? That I gave them?” Peter said, catg the proctor’s hand, “Firstly: Do not touch me without permission. Sedly: You best believe I’m helping them off the ground.” He said coldly, “Just because you’re passion-less doesn’t mean I have to be.” “Unhand me, Rabble.” The proctor squirmed ier’s grasp, trying to slip his hand free, “Do you know who you’re dealing with?!”Peter flicked his wrist, freeing the proctor from his grasp, “No, but I have a feeling yoing to tell me.” He again offered his hand to the Adventurer, who gripped it and stood with a groan. “My thanks.” They whispered.The Proctor fumed, “Such disrespect!” He gripped his e around the middle of its length in his free hand, switg his grip on the handle, and, with a soft click, revealed that it wasn’t just a e, “Know, peasant, that you face Lhorentso Havengard.”
“Oh.” Peter growled, thhly unimpressed by the annou as his test proctor leveled the thin, straight bde at him.
“I demand satisfa.” Lhorentso decred, “Your disrespectful behavior will not go unpunished.”
Still hidden by the boxes Glenawyn gasped and quickly made her way out into the hall — thankful that she hadn’t shut the door pletely, so opening it wouldn’t make a sound alerting them to her presence or departure.She o get help!
“And if I refuse?” Peter asked. “Dishonor!” Lhorentso barked. “And?”This caught the young man, about Peter’s age, perhaps a little older, off-guard, “What do you mean ‘and’?” “You sider it dishonor. Would they?” He pointed a thumb to the Adventurer who he’d hurt, “Would aher than people of a simir mio yourself?” He asked. “You’d risk branding yourself a coward?” Lhorentso gave a dry, twisted ugh. “Again, ‘coward’ by who’s standards.” Peter asked, shrugging, “You assume a lot about how much your opinion of me matters to me.” Peter grumbled, “I shouldn’t be surprised, however.”The tip of Havengard’s bde inched closer, “And what does that mean?” “I’ve met another Havengard.” Peter spat pinly, “His attitude and treatment of those of lower rank than he didn’t leave me very impressed either.” “The only other Havengard iy is… Oh.” The prave an annoyed grimace, “So you’re that rabble. Cousin Elbert went on about you at length.” He snarled, “Well. This is fortuitous theing you will satisfy myself and my cousin both.” “… Again. You assume I will be goaded into fighting you.” Peter hefted his kanabō and turned, “You already ‘failed’ me. And then threateo bcklist me.” He waved his hand dismissively, “My best course of a is to simply leave.” Not before I speak to someone in authority a you, of course.
?Peter! Watch out!!?
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