The man collected the completed forms from the trio and scanned them with his tiny eyes. Once satisfied, he whipped out a rubber stamp and chopped on a seal of approval on each of the forms. From the desk of his workplace, he rummaged around until he got his hands on three plastic cards.

‘Alright, Hirei, Penelope and Cedric,’ he read slowly, handing out their personal identification cards to each of them. It light and bendy, a chipped slotted at the side and their names printed across the center of the card, otherwise it was blank. ‘We’ll be starting your test immediately. You can rest or prepare yourself if required. You guys do know that the test would last for a few days, right? You need enough food and other supplies for the practical part of the test before you begin. It can get pretty tough, you know.’

The three of them nodded in reply. ‘No problem man! We’ve prepared ourselves long before this!’ Hirei declared smugly. To prove his point, he threw his backpack on the floor, which landed heavily with a loud thump. There must have been a Bigfoot hiding in there, as the green backpack was almost tearing apart. ‘Let us at it!’

‘Whoa, that’s the spirit lad!’ the man chuckled, seemingly more enthusiastic than before. ‘Haven’t seen any participant as prepared as you are all day. Geez, I’ve been standing here, watching kids run into the Fabre Forest, and then crying their way to the infirmary because of some Picky peck. Kids these days, naïve and bigheaded for their own good. They have no idea what’s out there. Anyway, enough with that, let’s get you to the theory part of the test! Follow me!’

The man introduced himself as Sakda, speaking comically about his job at the Novice Training Grounds, his hometown in Ayothaya(‘That makes us pretty closely related, huh? Coming from off the coast of Alberta,’ said an excited Hirei) and life as a traveler. Soon, Sakda brought them into a large hall filled with other Novice candidates, sitting at individual chairs and desks, papers scattered on their table. They seem to be in the middle of their theory examination, an air of anxiety exuding from the participants. A stern woman stands at the front of the hall, peering down at the papers in her hand, marking them with a red pen. A boy with olive green hair stood in front of her, restlessly waiting for her response. The woman turned back to the boy and nodded, saying something to him(it looked like “I like cheese burgers”, but Cedric honestly couldn’t read lips) and returning him his identification card.

‘Oh yeah!’ yelled the boy as he punched the air. ‘On my way to becoming a Super Novice! The answer for question 11 is C!’ The boy raced out of the door, brushing against Cedric and giving him a wink before the woman could do anything to him. Now noticing Sakda’s presence, the woman beckoned Cedric, Hirei and Penelope to the left corner of the hall, where several desks lay vacant. Sakda gave three of them a thumbs-up(and even threw in a heart-warming pat on the back for Hirei) before leaving them to face the first part of the test. Cedric sat at the desk closest to the large window overlooking a garden with lovely vegetation, Hirei sitting at the desk beside him and Penelope in front. The woman distributed a pile of papers to each of them, containing the questions they need to answer on their own. After given the cue to start, Cedric turned his papers until he found question 11, analyzing it, and finally drawing a loopy circle around C.

***

‘So, how did it went?’ Sakda asked the trio after they returned to the main hall, concerned as Hirei seemed to be carrying a long face.

‘Well, she made it seem easy, she finished before any of the existing exam-takers did,’ Hirei frowned at Penelope, whose cheeks in turn fell into a darker shade of red. ‘The questions were soooo tricky! But the main point is… all three of us passed!’

Hirei could not hold his excitement inside any longer and burst into laughter of triumph. Sakda, glad for them as well, congratulated them. ‘Great! That means you’ll be heading off to the practical exam. It’s the second part of the test, and it’s also the final and hardest one.’

‘Are you kidding me? Bring it on!’ Hirei punched his chest bravely. ‘Ced and I have been waiting for this all year! Penny too, of course.’

‘Aite, I’ll bring you to the Fabre Forest then,’ Sakda lead his troop towards the extension hall and towards a steel arch that leads back outside. ‘This is the entrance to the Fabre Forest. There are many common critters you might find lurking around your town in there. Fabres, Pickies, Spores… just to name a few. Some of them are aggressive, some more dangerous than the other. I’m sure guys already received some briefing about field combat. Are you guys using your own weapons?’

Cedric brandished his sword he had sharpened the night before, Hirei flashed his stiletto while Penelope heaved a spiky mace into the air. She swung it over her shoulders when the boys looked at her uncertainly, proving that she was fully capable of handling a weapon.

‘Alright, if that’s that, you may go off into the forest!’ said Sakda happily. ‘Your objective is to find the exit, which is directly North from here. Expect to set up camp for the night. There are gears and potions you may like to help yourself to on the table there. Just take one set each, alright? Good luck!’

Upon entering the forest, Cedric was surprised by what he saw. Clumps of tree populated the area, providing more shade with their leafy barks than needed. The forest floor was filled with undergrowth, providing no specific path for them to thread on. Green, squishy Fabres could be spotted crawling in between the plants, doing what worms do. It was unbelievable that the Novice Training Grounds could house a forest of this scale.

‘Watch out!’ Penelope cried in warning. Hirei yelped in surprise, Penelope having sent a blow onto a Fabre which was creeping up Hirei’s shoe. The worm twisted and squirmed under the pressure of Penelope’s mace, a sickening liquid oozed out of it, clearly lifeless. Cedric face twitched and Hirei continued to fuss over his shoes, which was now covered in a revolting consistency of green goo. Penelope felt disgusted by the sight, sucked it in and managed to collect the loot from the dead Fabre, much to the boys’ amazement.

‘They are worth zennies you know, we need all the money we can get,’ Penelope explained as she stuffed the fluff into a clear, fresh plastic bag. Cedric and Hirei had a whole new impression and admiration for Penelope.

For the next few hours, they navigated their way through the forest with a compass provided, slashing their way through any Fabres that had the nerves to approach them(Hirei would occasionally challenge the Chon Chons because he enjoyed using his dagger) while Penelope continued to harvest the spoils.

‘Maaaan, how big is this place?’ said Hirei impatiently as he hacked his fifty second Willow. ‘It looks as if we haven’t made any progress, and it’s almost dusk already!’

‘We’re probably already half way through…’ exclaimed Cedric, half trying to comfort himself. ‘We are expected to camp for the night after all. Let’s keep going until the sunsets, alright?’

‘Fine,’ grumbled Hirei, trying to find something else he could fiddle his stiletto with. ‘I wished there was something more interesting in here though.’

‘Aaaaaaaah!!!’

The trio was alerted by a scream of distress nearby. Hirei started to find the source of the noise, excited that his “interesting thing” was happening. They ran down the trail and arrived in a glade, finding a Spore harassing a young girl who was crouched down on the floor, her dagger lying at the end of her feet. She was throwing her hands randomly in the air, attempting to shoo the mushroom-like creature.

‘G-go away… please!’ she murmured timidly, her face growing pale. Cedric felt the ground around them starting to shake, as if reacting to the girl’s uneasiness. Hirei stepped forward and skillfully, he aimed his stiletto and the Spore and hurled it at his target, his accuracy unquestionable. The Spore felled backwards onto the floor, its tongue sticking out of his small mouth as it wriggled to death.

‘Are you alright?’ asked Hirei, who extended his hand to the girl after retrieving his dagger from the carcass of the Spore.

‘Please, don’t come near me… don’t hurt me!’ the girl cried, still flustered from the Spore encounter. The ground started to shake more vigorously. It was not an earthquake; but it was not something natural either. It was extraordinary as the land and trees around them started to shake, little stones from the ground floated eerily into the air, no strings attached. There was no time for questions, as they had to shield themselves from the attacking stones which had flung themselves in their direction.

‘W-what the heck?’ Hirei dodged a large which threw itself at his knee. ‘What sort of magic is this?’

‘Please calm down! Listen, we’re just trying to help, we mean no harm,’ Penelope said gently as she slowly made her way towards the girl amidst all the floating twigs and branches, which had joined alongside the stones. Penelope managed to wrap her arms around the girl’s shoulders and brown, braided hair, seemingly calming her down. ‘You’re safe now, everything is alright.’

The stones, twigs and branches suspended in mid-air. The girl looked at Penelope with her teary ocean green eyes, lips quivering. After a few moments, she seemed convinced and the rubble fell back onto the ground, returning to their unanimated state. Penelope smiled sincerely and helped the girl wipe off her tears.

‘There you go… Could you tell us what happen there?’

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Current Word Count: 5,465

Labels: NaNoMadness, The Eminent Guardians