Sybil ran through the barracks courtyard with an armful of papers. She had been doing a lot o this today. With Archive permanently down, the interviews had to be written down by hand. These were collected and delivered to Till’s office, and they would be notified if they passed or not the next morning.

She stuffed the interviews into a box outside Till’s office, banged on the door, then ran away to collect more. In the process, she nearly ran face-first into Mila and a group of applicants. They were on their way out of the library, and Mila was letting them know where their assigned camping spot was.

“Sorry!” Mila waved her hands about.

“No, it's my fault.” Sybil waved her hands back. “The last group is in testing now, right?”

“Almost. We’re cutting off testing in the next hour. Anyone who isn’t in line by then automatically fails.”

“Thank the core, we’re almost done. We’ve been assigning groups during the written exams, but do we have arrangements for how we’re going to divide up after we announce the pass and fail tomorrow?”

Mila tensed up. “Apparently there were more applicants than we anticipated. Alton said that he was going to scrap the plans for the obstacle courses tomorrow until after he’s talked with Sir Grimhawk about cutting down the numbers even further.”

“I have a plan already for that,” replied Sybil. “I’ll tell them to get started now.” She then shook her head. “Alton doesn’t want to do the obstacle courses anymore?”

“We only have six of them and we had to change the field where they were going to be set up. We would have to get up before dawn in order to have them ready by testing time.”

Sybil buried her face into her hands. She knew she was supposed to help out for the exams, but she wasn’t supposed to be working this hard. “Stupid war,” she muttered. “Why can’t I be out on a mission instead of this?”

Mila frowned. “You do know that this is the amount of work that Bronzescale is expected to do every year, right?” She received a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Sybil. “It would be better if there were more hands to help, but what can we do?”

Sybil looked over to the gate. Duxton was happily waving another group in. “... I'll go talk to that idiot. We'll work something out.”

But she got called away before she could plead with the prince to help her out. By the time she had a free moment, Duxton had already ascended to the top of the rampart. Beat and Shaw stood on one side of him, while Alton and Veximarl stood on the other.

“Attention citizens. of Lustro, I am Prince Duxton Fogbloom. I serve as the squire commander of the barracks. Tests will continue one hour after dawn. Show up at the door below me dressed in your full armor and weapons. A demonstration and speech will be given by second year commander, Alton Toval.” He made a brief gesture at Alton.

“... I'm doing what now?” Alton leaned back and noticed that Sybil’s head peeking just above the stairs.

“Are we going with plan B?” She asked the group.

“Yes,” hollered Duxton through the cone.

“Okay! I’ll make sure everything is prepared.” She gave them all a thumbs up.

Duxton continued. “Best of luck in your exams tomorrow. I look forward to speaking with those who pass.” He lowered his cone and glanced Sybil. “And I look forward to seeing how many you destroy with this plan of yours.”

Though they were told that the exam was to continue an hour after dawn, the true test started a few minutes beforehand. Rowan, Lady Till’s son, and Hayden, a squire from Dogfall, stood out in the center of the training field. Each held one arm in the air. They dropped their arms simultaneously and charged at one another.

Scimitars met against quarterstaff as Rowan brought his swords down on Hayden. Static started to build around Hayden's legs. Once enough of a charge had built up enough of a charge, she sought to electrocute him with a swift kick. The air cracked between them as Rowan leaped back. He was forced to play defense while Hayden came after him.

Sybil had taken a page out of Stonetoe's book. Make students drop out of the exams by terrifying them. Rowan had no magical abilities, which made his skills relatable to many of the applicants. However, that was the problem. Even without magic, he was horrifying to duel against. Hayden also had no magic, but her golem legs were enough to bridge the gap between their skill levels.

She had snuck them pendants last night. There were only two rules. Go at it as hard as you could, and stop when Alton told her to. A grin appeared on her lips as Hayden kicked Rowan in the side of the ribs and sent him flying halfway across the field. She was worried when Chickadee insisted on doubling the power output, but her legs didn't explode. Things were going well.

Sybil and Chickadee had worked their asses off to complete Hayden’s new legs on time. They had started planning them while Chickadee had been kidnapped by Tyrtain. While Sybil got the original plans from her father, Chickadee worked on mastering how to forge Tyrtain’s claw. The new material had not only worked out for revisions on Entomb, but was perfect to use for Hayden’s legs.

Rowan sprung up and immediately leaned back to avoid a throwing knife, showing excellent flexibility in the process. A low whistle escaped Irving. He was watching the display while standing next to Sybil. Dalkirk had expressed an early interest in Hayden’s application and Beat had already stated that he was going to put her in Bronzescale if she passed the exams. Irving completely understood why.

“Nah, I think Rowan has this,” muttered Zaniyah. She kicked her legs back and forth. There were a couple of them aside from Irving and Sybil. All of them were standing up on the rampart in order to watch the fight.

The more they fought, the more Rowan was about to adjust to Hayden’s unique fighting style. Her legs offered plenty of lower defense, but she was forced to use a quarterstaff to fight. Hayden’s legs simply weren’t as flexible as a human set, and she needed the staff in order to keep herself balanced. Throwing knives were a good range offense, but she couldn’t use them at close range. It also took time for her legs to charge in between each of her lightning attacks. There were plenty of weaknesses he could exploit.

Just as it looked like Rowan was about to go on the offensive, his arm was caught up by black webbing. Rite bit down on her webbing and yanked him back as Alex tackled Hayden. He growled at her threateningly in order to keep her on the ground. Their ears twitched as Veximarl let out a high pitched whistle. They abandoned their targets and ran over to him, then chased each other around his legs.

A sigh of relief escaped Veximarl's lips. He was half afraid that Alex would attempt to set Hayden on fire rather than get her attention. “Apologies for the interruption. There will be plenty of time to duel later.”

“Is everyone here?” Alton looked up at the nearby hill. Just as they had planned, the fight was enough to make the majority of them gather near.

They already whispering with each other. The duel may not have been as impressive as when Zaniyah destroyed an obstacle course last year, but it was enough to gain their attention. Their whispers only grew louder when Foggy bounded over to Alton and Veximarl. She began to wrestle with Alex and Rite while Veximarl’s embarrassment grew.

“Please calm down,” Veximarl muttered at the three. “We need to appear professional.”

Alton raised a cone to his lips. “All applicants gather around and sit over on the hill! There is a topic that I’m certain that all of you would like to know more about.” He waited for them to organize themselves and then nodded at Veximarl. “This is Veximarl Tuton. He will be lecturing you today about the nature of tainted beasts.

For this demonstration, I will need you to ignore the stoney lizard. That's our resident golem, Foggy. She is mostly harmless, but for the purposes of education, I'd also like to inform you that Vex is a crazy swamp man. Do as he says and not what he does.”

Veximarl frowned. “... I'm not certain that's the best introduction. I wish to command a certain amount of respect from them, as I will be their survivalist teacher next year.”

“One of your foxes is chewing on its own tail,” replied Alton.

Alex was indeed rocking back and forth on his back while suckling on his tail. Being out here was making Veximarl nervous, and Alex was acting like a baby because of it. “Oh, please stop that,” whispered Vex. He knelt down and patted Alex’s head to reassure him. “Rite, if you would please step forward.” The fox took a few steps forward and tilted her head up in a preening fashion, as if to show off how pretty she was.

This made Veximarl grimace all the more. “Ah… Well, yes...” He cleared his throat. “The beasts you see before you are not true tainted beasts. They were created via arcane magic and are wholly obedient to me. Do not let their demeanor mislead you. Tainted beasts are vicious creatures who would not hesitate to attack or kill anyone of you.

They are creatures who were exposed to miasma while still in the womb. This is Rite. She is a fox, and she is considered to be a weaker and common variety of tainted beast. As you can see, she is quite larger than a normal fox. She is also quite dangerous. Her webs are made of an oily substance that she can set on fire.

There are also such things as greater tainted beasts.” He held out his spear to the side and summoned Martyr. Gasps of horror escaped the crowd. “Despite the fact that I called her a greater beast, they are not exactly uncommon. The truly uncommon tainted beast, the would-be, is something that I would wish on no enemy of mine. They are capable of obliterating entire villages in order to sate their hunger.

Now, if you would all note- Martyr... Martyr, please stop that.” She was trying to hide her massive frame behind Veximarl. Martyr absolutely hated crowds. “I am only asking you to sit here. You needn't be afraid of them.” He started to pet her cheek and the mist cat buried her face against his shoulder.

Alton let out an annoyed sigh. “I will stress that these are incredibly dangerous creatures. My squad, along with several of the third years, were at Carapace when a would-be led an attack against the city. There were easily a hundred or more, and all of them-” He grimaced when Martyr began to purr loudly.

One of the applicants had snuck behind the pair and was scrubbing some sort of plant along Martyr's cheeks. The mist cat had rolled onto her back he began to rub it against her chin and neck as she purred loudly. Veximarl would have voiced a complaint, but he was shocked by the way Martyr was acting.

“Is that hapless vine?” Veximarl felt his excitement grow as the boy nodded. “That only grows naturally along the southern coastline of the Violet Region! I haven't been able to get any samples of it.”

Cats were known to be drawn to hapless vine. Veximarl had been wanting to try some on Martyr, but he hadn’t been able to get his hands on any. He had so many questions, mostly having to do with if it was possible to cultivate out here in the Gilded region. Though he was unable to ask anything, as he had gotten distracted by a lynx that had started to rub against his legs. Out of instinct, Veximarl knelt down and began to pet her.

“That's Lady Featherby,” replied the applicant. “She's my hunting partner. You said that this one is named Martyr?”

“Yes, it is.” Veximarl started to scratch at Lady Featherby's newly exposed belly. “I must apologize, but I love cats.”

Alton glared at the pair. “And I hate you.” He pointed at the applicant. “I don't know who you are, but I hate you too.”

The boy gave the vine to Martyr, who began to happily chew on it, and held out a hand for Alton to shake. “Tycho Hemlock. I'm from Sea Foam Landing, in the southmost point of the Violet Region.”

“I don't care! Go sit down with the others!” Alton pointed to where the group of applicants were. “Vex! Stop playing with his cat and go back to work!”

Veximarl continued to pet the lynx. “It is insulting to refer to such a majestic creature as a regular house cat. Aside from that, I do not have much else to add,” he replied in a distracted manner. This lynx had the softest ears. He wanted to scrunch them up for as long as he could.

“Then answer any questions they have!” Alton cried back.

From his spot on the rampart, Chickadee had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Sybil was snickering, and Zaniyah was giggling loudly. This was a mess. Everything about these exams had been a complete mess and they had no choice but to press on. The three immediately fell silent as Lady Till stepped up on the rampart.

She nodded at the group. “I'm thankful that you set up this display for the applicants. Many of them chose to come here without fully understanding the situation in the north.” Her eyes narrowed as Alton continued to yell at Veximarl. “I would have preferred it if you had chosen to do it in a more professional manner.”

“It was a last-minute decision and Vex didn't have much time to prepare.” Sybil attempted to smile, but Till wasn't amused. “We're going to have them do a forced march around the field, then we'll arrange for them to duel against each other and call it a day.”

She nodded approvingly. “Grimhawk and I will oversee the forced march. It will be easiest for us to judge who and who isn’t capable of making the cut,” she said coldly. “Take that time to finish your plans for tomorrow's group tests.” She took a moment to watch the group. Many of them were already taking off their armor. “... Put all of your planning into one group test. Expect twelve participants, though I doubt there will be that many left.”

Sybil scrunched up her nose. She had counted. There were over seventy applicants who were still in the exams. “We’re going to be losing that many?”

Till pointed at the group. They had started to ask Veximarl questions and he was giving detailed answers. The more answers he gave, the more curious their questions became. With each statement Veximarl made, more and more of the applicants were beginning to look uncertain about their life choices. Once the first one had walked away, (it was Millie, who had been ordered to do so by Sybil), others realized that they could just get up and quit at any time.

The group was already thinned out by the time the run had started. Grimhawk and Till would point to someone and tell them it was time to leave. Their callous treatment was flooding the remaining applicants with despair. Despite already having a place as a squire, the situation made Millie nervous. The tense air wasn't doing her any favors. However, the occasional glance of Elm's refreshing face made the effort worth it. Elm was such a pretty face, and Millie wanted all that pretty to herself,

Rowan had requested that she and Elm participate in the exams. He felt that this would be an excellent way to see the applicants up close and build a commerdery while he was at it. Millie viewed it as an opportunity to get closer to Elm.

“Miss Millie!” Bryn caught up with her. “I've been meaning to tell you that mother gave me permission to apply as well!”

“... Go away!” The last thing she needed was that creepy cleric around. Not after he and his mother ran the elementalists through those experiments last spring.

“May I assist you with anything? Are your legs doing alright?”

“I’m fine! I can keep going for a while longer, so please go away.” As long as he was here, she couldn’t ask Elm to heal away her weariness. Bryn needed to go away quickly if she was going to make any progress today.

“Do you think they will let us make requests for the group testing tomorrow? Would you want to pair together if they do?” He had ignored her request to leave because he was used to her telling him that. Bryn found it easier if he just kept talking until she relented and did what he asked.

“I'm already a squire here. Rowan only wanted us to do the tests involving agility and stamina. We’re not going to be doing any of the dueling or the group tests.” His dismayed expression did wonders to lighten her mood. “You're probably not going to make it past this phase anyways, so bye-bye, Bryn!” She started to run faster so she could get away from him.

Veximarl was sitting with Lady Blu and Chickadee along the edge of the field. Blu waa there in the event of a medical emergency and Veximarl had been assigned to be her assistant. Chickadee was curious to see what sort of weapons and armor the applicants had brought with them.

“My, your sister certainly is cold. You would think she would be warmer to others considering her skill with fire magic,” muttered Veximarl.

Millie began to cackle as Bryn struggled to catch up with her. It was all too funny. Seeing him try this hard, it was actually kind of hilarious.

“If I do get accepted, do you think you could arrange for me to go on a date with your friend?!” The cleric called out from behind her. Millie turned around and punched him squarely in the face.

Chickadee pointed to Millie. “That's the fire.”

Blood flowed freely from Bryn's face. Hayden, who had just started to catch up, stopped to see if he was alright. Millie grabbed her by the hand and began to run away with her.

“Don't pay any attention to him! He deserved it!” Millie cried out.

Bryn quickly healed his wound and started to run after them again. “You shouldn't run so fast! This is an endurance test! You'll only wear yourself out quickly!”

Sipping from a cup of water, Lady Blu was amused. “This year's group is also interesting. Shame we won't be able to take more of them in.”

Veximarl sighed. He was more frustrated that Paladin Buttonweed refused to help with the exams. The paladin hadn’t seen any applicants that he liked, thus had no interest in any of them. Now that Veximarl thought about it, he hadn’t seen much of Marjoram either, but from his understanding, she had been trapped under a mountain of paperwork alongside Till.

“It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to fail as many as possible and only keep the three that had already been accepted,” he muttered.

“Maybe so, but… Ah! She punched him again,” said Blu as she pointed at Bryn. This time, there was twice as much blood as there was before. He had abandoned the run so that he could go to Blu for help.

He bowed towards the trio. “I'm thorry for the intruthion, but can one of you thet my nothe thtraight?”

“Of course.” Blu set down her cup and stood up. A sickening crack came from Bryn's face as she adjusted his broken nose. She set a finger on each side and held it straight as she healed it. At least he didn’t seem to have a concussion. “Maybe try not to antagonize her as much.”

“I simply don't want there to be a misunderstanding between us. What is wrong with wanting to ask her friend out on a date? I don’t believe he is seeing anyone at the moment,” Bryn muttered. As Blu let him go, he gave another bow towards Veximarl. “That was an interesting lecture you gave earlier. When I'm accepted as a squire here, I will want to speak to you at length about the subject. But for now, I must continue on with the exams.” He ran off and rejoined the group.

Veximarl blinked. “I am beginning to see why so many people avoided me during last years exams.”

“You still owe me a date.” Chickadee looked over with a frown.

“You have a boyfriend.” replied Veximarl.

Oh, right. Emery. Chickadee slowly nodded to himself. “Yes.”

As though the thought of him was enough to make him show up, Emery jogged over with a set of baskets in each hand. Next to him, Tish landed on the ground. She set down her basket and twirled her hammer to tuck away its wings.

“It took longer than expected to fetch the supplies,” said Tish with a smile.

Veximarl stood up and began to help Emery set up the tent covering over the group. The weather had been particularly hot today, and none of them wanted to be out in the sun for long hours. Many of the applicants hadn’t realized they were in for a long march, thus hadn’t thought to bring food or water. Now the first aide station had plenty to drink, along with dried fruit and nut bars, and fresh honeydew melon.

“I need to set up a tent for Lady Till as well,” said Emery.

Chickadee stretched up his arms and made a grabby hand motion. “Kiss.”

Emery smiled to himself. He knelt down and gave Chickadee a quick peck. A heavy thud made him straighten up again. Gideon was so shocked by the public display of affection that he had tripped over his own feet.

“Sorry! I-I'll keep running!” He then let out a heavy cough because his voice had become so dry.

Blu held up a hand. “Hold on, aren’t you Alton’s brother?”

Gideon leaned forward with his hands on his knees, thankful to be taking a break from running for a moment. He quickly bobbled his head up and down several times as he fought to regain his breath. “Yes I-I am.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t give you any food or water unless you choose to exit the examine. Did you happen to notice the cleric who was punched in the face.” She pointed down the path as Gideon nodded again. “His name is Bryn Saxifrage. He has extra water on him, so do try to make friends.” He thanked her and redoubled his efforts. “My… I don’t doubt that he would’ve been accepted last year, but all of you have been so strict.”

Veximarl smiled nervously. That was the agreement that he and his squad had made amongst themselves. Last year wasn’t easy on any of them, and with the war, matters were only going to get worse. They decided that they were only going to let the best and bravest in and to give a fair demonstration of what tainted beasts were capable of.

Sure, they were harsh, but they were also protecting them. Conscription was a threat that loomed over all their heads. If the tainted beasts managed to push past the borders of the Crimson Region, even the first years wouldn’t be safe from the war. All of them would be needed to fight, and Veximarl prayed that if that time came, they would all be ready for it.