I watched Marcus carefully. From the way he was equipped, and after mentioning a combat test, I was fairly sure that this was about to be a three on one brawl. Without realizing it, my hand found itself on the hilt of the borrowed shortsword. To my sides I could see my two fellow trainees similarly tense. The humans feet shifted, repositioning his body weight in a manner that would allow him to react quickly to a sudden attack, while the half-elf took a miniscule step backwards, the shimmering aura of magic power around her peaking as she steadied the weave, preparing to begin spellcasting.

Marcus catches us offguard however. "Easy now trainees. It's not me against you. I'm a B+ ranked adventurer. It would be a massacre. No. Even though the dungeon has given us a fairly decent understanding of where your power levels lie at current, you didn't have classes then. This is a test to see how you handle a situation where you have no information. It's unfair, and meant to reward the strong while punishing the weak. See it as an opportunity to learn."

He made a motion with his hands, and we quickly moved away from each other. No one wanted to be caught by a surprise attack. Marcus grinned. "Lex is the northerner. Diane is the half-elf. Felix is other human. On my mark, you three will fight to submission. The reward for the winner is a rare weapon."

I nodded at Marcus's word, my eyes flicking between the two other trainees as we began to circle each other. Diane is clearly a caster focused class, while the only clue to what Lex might be is his longsword. My own class was a mystery, to myself as much as it was to my opponents. In a three on one like this, removing the unknown element would make the most sense, and that made me the first target. My grip on the hilt tightened as I waited for the signal from Marcus.

"Fight!"

His voiced echoed through the courtyard as the three of us came to life. My lunging thrust found only open air as Diane managed to duck out of its path, her words filled with arcane power as an imp materialized in front of me. Prompted by the sense of danger, I threw myself into a dive, feeling Lex's sword shear through the space I had been occupying just moments before. Even as I kicked myself back upright, I watched that powerful swing tear the summoned imp in half, only for another to take its place as Diane continues to chant incantation after incantation. Fending off a sudden hail of frenzied strikes, I guard against a raging Imp before finding the opening I need. A single slash through the throat is enough to end the threat it poses, but Diane is already summoning a replacement.

I feel the tinge of magic in the air, and turning reflexively I see Lex extend a hand towards Diane, an exclamation of surprise escaping her lips as an invisible force drags her towards him, his blade gleaming black as he cuts down summon after summon. Unable to escape Lex's grasp, Diane throws every creature available to her in a show of panicked desperation. Its as effective as a child against a hurricane. Imbued by dark power, Lex cuts through her bound creatures as if made of air, all while advancing on the desperate summoner. As he raises his sword to execute her, she cries out in surrender, banishing her summons. As Lex releases his grip on the mana in the air, even the sun seems to shine brighter.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. Diane was out. Moving to stand by Marcus, she shivers as she watches Lex and I begin to circle each other. I can't blame her. That was a terrifying display of power. A Dark Knight. A rare class to see. Master of direct combat, and with the skills to ensure complete dominance in a show of force. This would be difficult to overcome. Lex was smiling, no doubt thrilled with his victory. I could feel myself grinning. There was only one way out of this, and that was through Lex.

My shortsword was the better choice of weapon for our duel, given that I could get past Lex's extra reach. Once I was in effective range, I had the more manouverable and versatile weapon, which would turn this in my favor. I chose to ignore the fact that one of his skills had turned his weapon black, and capable of shearing through several summons at once. No point in defeatist thinking. I needed the initiative if I wanted to win this. Darting foward, I wanted to swear as I felt the mana in the air tinge black again. The wind felt cold, and the sun seemed less bright. Lex's sword gleamed black, the very air around it seeming to freeze.

The skills and magic came naturally to him. The crash of steel on steel should have been resounding, but even the sounds were dulled, and the sparks seemed unnaturally bright. I barely managed to reposition my sword, deflecting a blow that should have decapcitated me with. As it was, the blade had come close enough that I could feel the sting of a graze on my neck. Where Diane had a horde of summons to absorb the blows for her, I didn't. Lex was unnaturally fast, and every attack had the potential to be lethal. My eyes hardened. This was no longer a fight for first place. This was a fight to the death. Submission be damned.

*Flurry Activated*

The announcement inside my head indicated that my skills could be used without a thought, and as my sword moved, I could feel my body getting faster with each successive attack. Once, then twice, my sword almost managed to get past Lex's guard, the smile fading from his face as I began to overwhelm him, a sudden slash eliciting a grunt of pain as my shortsword drew blood on his shoulder. Flinging myself out of the way of a tremendous slash, I manged to angle the meeting of our blades in such a manner that I could push his out of the way, breaking his guard for a moment. As I lunged for the opening, his hand flew out as if to push me away, an etheral force flinging me back.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

*Flurry Chain Broken*

Regaining my feet, I could feel my body slow down, the chain of successive attacks ended. Lex circled me warily, his face sporting a dark grimace. My own face contorted into a snarl. Lex charged forward, my attention focused on defending from his powerful strikes. Twice he managed to get inside my guard, only to retract at the last second, seemingly wary of over-commiting. I growled at him, lunging forward, my own attacks failing to penetrate his guard as I began to build up speed. But just as my Flurry was about to activate, Lex would shove me away with his magic, preventing the skill from activating. He was testing me, playing with his food. I needed a way around his magic, or I was dead.

Darting forward again, I found my blade deflected, not by Lex's longsword, but rather by Marcus's greatsword. Springing back from the intrusion, I found my temper rising, as I began to demand explanation, only to notice that Lex had collapsed to the ground. When had that happened? I had yet to land a decisive blow on my opponent.

"What?" I finally managed to say, my throat suddenly dry, my body exhausted. I stumbled, before being steadied by Marcus.

"I'm surprised you're still standing. He's at Mind Zero. Out of mana. Maintaining that aura of his is taxing, even more so when he had to constantly devote resources to breaking your frenzy. Eventually it got too much, and he drew on more power than he had available." Marcus lowered me to the ground, letting me sit. Vashof was leaning over Lex, and after a moment, he called over to us as well. "He's fine. He only overstepped his bounds a small distance. Give it maybe fifteen minutes and he'll be up again."

Marcus laughed. "It's alright, let him rest. Mind Zero would have meant the end for an adventurer in a fight without proper support, so it counts as a loss." Marcus turned his gaze back to me, instensely studying me. "Diane was unlucky with this fight, having little time to prepare spells against two highly aggressive front-liners, despite that, she did well despite being a terrible match up for her class. D rank material for sure. But I'm more interested in the two of you if I have to be honest."

D rank as a total beginner was exceptional. There were storied adventurers out there that only had a ranking of C+. For Diane to already be near that powerlevel, she was truly talented. I found Marcus studying me intensely. "What?"

"You just outlasted a Dark Knight in an endurance match. Not hard to do in theory, but in practise, it's very rare to see. Usually it's caused by a large gap in experience and ability. Their entire make-up is meant to ensure their victory in one on one combat. Even three on one is a winnable situation for a skilled Dark Knight. That frenzy of yours was able to slowly overwhelm him, forcing him on the defensive when ever you closed distance." As I soaked in the words, I felt a familiar presence approaching us, my mouth opening in surprise.

"And yet, had the rookie had more mana he would have beaten Felix handedly." The rumbling voice carried with it inflections of power, and as I turned to look at its owner, I could hear Marcus gasp in shock. Midnight black armour, a sword made from metal so dark that it absorbed light, and towering over normal men, it was hard not to be in awe of the figure before us.

Marcus recovered first. "Lord Berik. It is an honor to meet you in person. I had thought you were in the far south, assisting in the war?" He had managed to kneel while speaking, prompting Diane, Lex, and the other instructors to follow suite. I shook my head at the sight, and regained my feet. Before I could speak, I was interrupted by Berik, a hearty laugh escaping his throat.

"Why do you kneel like peasents before a king. Am I not an adventurer like the rest of you? Last I checked, the guild works not on rank, but on merit of deeds." I smiled at the words, watching as the rest of the people stood, staring openly at Berik. Not that I could blame them. Lord Berik the Blackblade. A legendary adventurer, S- rank. In theory, a one man army. In practice, worth any three armies in the field. The absolute peak of the Dark Knight class, he had evolved his class from Dark Knight to Shadow Knight, gaining uncomparable power in combat.

"I merely came to investigate as a favor to the Sorceress." The rumbling voice offered no explanation of which Sorceress he meant. There was no need for elaboration. There was only one sorceress that held the type of power required to casually ask favors of legendary heroes such as Berik without issue. There was also only one sorceress that didn't need to be distinguished by name from others of the class. Illeane BrightStar.

"I beg your pardon?" Marcus managed to cough the words out, his face pale in shock. "What favor would Lady Illeane send you to an unimportant guild on the edge of the kingdom for?" Oh. He didn't know.

Berik's armoured hand came to rest on my shoulder, the armoured figure pausing for a moment. "My apologies Instructor. I had assumed you knew. This is Felix. Illeanes son. His health reached critical levels not too long ago, and as I was closest to the region, Illeane requested I investigate the cause." That had been hours ago, in the artificial dungeon.

"I'm fine. She doesn't need to send someone to check up on me after every scrape I take." I said with indignation. I finally managed to join the adventurers guild, and my mother sent a babysitter!

"I am aware of that. However, she also wanted to know if you had succeeded in your endeavor to join the guild. I apologise for the intrusion." Beriks voice was still even and carried no hints of placation. He was too straightforward for that. Still. I accepted it, but I didn't like it. Turning to see a stunned Marcus staring at me, I felt alone. They were going to be like everyone else. They heard the name BrightStar, and I stopped existing as a person, turning into an extension of their object of worship.

"Fuck it. I'm just a human. Don't stare at me like that." I managed to grumble out, stalking towards the guild.

"Wait." It was Vashof. What did he want. "Here, we've updated your card. Please visit the armoury for the aforementioned reward."

Name: Felix BrightStar Title: None Class: Paragon Level: 2 Group: Independent Rank: D+