And I left the chieftains place with his daughter following after me, not really knowing much more about the whole trial thing, just knowing that freaking Vegter was supposed to fill me in. Ugh. I am just hoping that going for the citizenship was a smart move on my part. As I start paying more attention to my surroundings I start to notice Vegter walking in circles looking a little worried. “Vegter!” I yell, startling him. “I’m going to apply for citizenship, and the chief said that you were going to have to tell me about the trials” I say. “oh also, the chieftains daughter is here to observe so that everything goes fairly” I add. Vegter stops for a couple seconds, looking like he’s absorbing what I just told him. “well boy, you ain’t got nothing to worry ‘bout cause I am a perfect instructor on the trials” Vegter shouts back, almost beaming with pride. I really am starting to rethink all this. “now boy I can’t really teach you everything there is to know about the trials right here” Vegter says. “everything he’s supposed to know, right Vegter. Because telling him everything about the trials would be breaking the rules Vegter, and you know that” the chieftains daughter says, her voice sounding just the littlest bit hostile. “oh also before I forget, Dad asked me to inform you that the trials starts now” she says, adding an ominous note to her words. Vegter’s eyes open wide for a second, looking just the tiniest bit stunned. “well now, guess we don’t have much time at all, you and I, boy” Vegter says.

“take note young blood, because this is gonna be on the final exam. The trials for citizenship are divided into four parts, the combat trial, the worth trial, the survival trial, and finally the oral and written test. The order in which you perform the trials is decided by the person taking them. For you I would recommend-” Vegter said before he got interrupted. “uh, uh Vegter. Can’t go around giving recommendations” the chieftains daughter says. “of course, princess” Vegter says somewhat jokingly. She starts pouting slightly before saying “don’t. call me. that” trying (and kinda failing at) being threatening. Guess she doesn’t like being called princess. Noted. “Vegter, back on track, what do all the trials entail and when will I have to actually do them” I ask. “oh. Yeah. Crap, okay well the combat trial is obviously just fighting something, or, someone, can’t really be much more specific than that without breaking the rules. The survival trial is usually just surviving in the forest for a set amount of time. The worth trial is just you showing that you can give back to the community in some way, either by being able to make something, or having a useful talent or so on. The oral and written test is just a test on how well you know the ork language. I assume you don’t know how to read and write so I don’t know how well you’ll be able to do on that. Oh and before I forget, the trials come one by one, with the first one taking place tomorrow, the second one three days after that, the third trial five days after that, and the final one seven days after that.” Vegter lectures. I try to pay attention to every word that comes out of Vegter’s mouth, and so when he says that the first trial is coming up tomorrow I can’t help but go into a temporary state of shock. “wha, wha, wha’ da ya mean by first trial tomorrow, Vegter” I stutter. “I mean tomorrow, idiot. what’s not clear about that?” Vegter says. “the princess said that the trial begins now, meaning the first trial’s gonna be a day from now. Not very conventional, but still pretty normal. You just don’t have as much time to prepare, but you should be fine” Vegter replies. “you need to pick which trial you’re going to do by the end of today, so that whatever it is, it can be set up” Vegter adds.

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Well crap, guess I have to choose the trial pretty soon. I’ll go through them by process of elimination. I obviously can’t do the combat trial since I don’t actually have any experience fighting so that’s out. I can’t read or write but that should be solvable with my fast-learning ability, though I still need some time to actually study, so that’s out. That only leaves the survival trial and the worth trial, both pretty good options. For the survival trial I can just use my magic, and for the worth trial I can just forge something. I end up settling on the survival trial, because it actually gives me some time to actually think of what I am going to do for the next trial. “okay Vegter, I think I’ll do the survival trial tomorrow” I say, sounding oh so sure of myself. “well boy, good choice” Vegter says, sounding pretty proud.

The next couple of hours are spent with Vegter teaching me a bunch of survival tricks, ranging from the obvious, like don’t eat anything purple, to the not so obvious, like don’t walk under flaky trees, because their probably full of cimex (a type of bug that Vegter tells me is basically just a living splinter), to the really weird, like don’t step on weirdly shaped pinecones. Vegter won’t even explain that one to me. After a while Vegter tells me that we’re done, and that I should go rest for the big day tomorrow. “really Vegter? That’s it, some survival advice and that’s it” I ask, kind of annoyed. “well boy, if we had more time then maybe we could talk more but we don’t. also, didn’t you survive all your life in the forest? I am sure you’ll do fine” Vegter says.