The Unbreakable Bow

It was morning and the sun had barely risen. Aefrine hastily ate his breakfast and told Larry to hide the keys if doesn't come back. He isn't expecting to die in this test but the man at the town hall did say it was dangerous. He took all his enchanted tools and left his pricey processions in the safe hands of Larry. Çetin was outside waiting. He was there to give some professional tips to Aefrine on the way before the test.

"Good morning, beginner. Are you nervous about the test ?"

"Oh, no. I am not."

"Oh, you should be. A friend died in our first test."

"What ?"

"Just kidding. But on a serious note, you better be careful. The test isn't something that wouldn't harm you, you need to know that because at the end of the day, the profession of a raider is full of danger in every step and the test is supposed to demonstrate that. Everything in this test wants to harm you, from nature itself and even your comrades that are with you in this test."

"What really? But why?"

"If there is an advantage in harming you, they will take that advantage and you should do the same ."

"I don't think there is a need for that ."

"You never know what was the thing that made you

get a C rank instead of a B rank. Remember, I have no place for any raiders below B. "

"Yes, I know. What will the test be like ?"

"Well, first there is the searching task. They would probably tell you to find a hidden item. They will give some hints of course but you need to be smart, creative and fast. "

"I suppose that won't be too hard..."

"Yeah, that is the only task where I didn't succeed in the best way possible. It was only because I got tricked, that is why you better not be fooled."

"I won't, trust me."

"We will see about that. You can't afford to lose a single chance. The second task is a team fight. The only time you will need depends on your allies."

"Why?"

"Obviously since it is a team fight. You will make a team with maybe 3 other people and you fight an experienced raider. In this task, they will observe not only how you fight but also how good are you at working in a group, so you need to be great at fighting and helping others as well."

"That sounds good. Then-"

"But you shouldn't use all of your special abilities in that task because the third task is 1v1."

"What ?!"

"Yes, you will all be in a 1v1. You win, you get qualified to the next round until only two raiders are rest and they fight each other to point out the best fighter. That is why you shouldn't show too much in the second task or else your enemies will get an advantage over you."

"I mean, I don't suppose they will be too strong, I went toe-to-toe with Ry-"

"With who ?"

"The two T.rexes..."

That was a close one.

"Trust me, it is not easy. I mean for me it was, I don't see much in you, to be honest..."

"Well, what if I get an A rank ?"

"Hahahha, nice joke, I would give you my place. You better get going. There your wagon."

He pointed at a huge wagon that had the letters R.T.T on it.

"Goodbye. "

"Good luck, you are going to need it. "

"Thanks!"

He jogged a bit until he reached the wooden office where the same grumpy man from yesterday with his same grumpy mood was sitting.

"Hello, I am here for the raider tryout test."

"Name?"

"Er, Aefrine Svin?"

He checked his notebook and said :

-Welcome. How many enchanted tools do you have?

"Er, five oh wait four ..."

"Show them."

He put all of them on the table and waited. The man pulled out a similar device to that of the guards and he saw all the ranks of his tools. Aefrine was just confused if he should ask about his bow or not...

"Er, sir, does this count as an enchanted tool?"

He summoned his bow.

"And what the fuck is that ?"

He put the device on the bow and neither of the gems glowed.

"The fuck?"

The man stood up and started scanning Aefrine's entire body. The gems didn't glow.

"Is this natural magic?"

"Yes..."

"Then why didn't you speak from the start? Take your tools, and get in the wagon, we will be leaving in a few moments. "

"Thanks"

He took all his stuff and went to the back of the wagon. The inside was very vast or maybe it looked that way because there were only two people in it. There were two benches. On the left one was a young man with black hair and he didn't look too friendly. He was wearing two silver gauntlets on his hands decorated with small gems. The gauntlets had two big short thorns on each. And the man was a common black cloth but under it was chain mail.

On the right one was a woman with long sky-blue hair holding a blue metal staff that had at one end a magical orb. She was also wearing common dark green and blue clothes. However, she seemed very friendly as she greeted him.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning..."

Despite that, he had the urge to sit next to the man for the woman had very weird eyes. She had no pupils, no sclera, just thick water with a black dot in the middle and a very hard-to-see circle around that black dot.

"Hi, I am Sophia. You must be another contestant. I wish you good luck."

"Thanks, I am Aefrine. Nice to meet you, Sophia."

"Nice to meet you too ."

She looked at the other man next to him.

"And what about you? Since he came here you have been quiet. If you don't mind, can we know your name?"

"Moreno..."

The wagon suddenly started to move.

"So, there are only three contestants? " Asked Moreno.

"Apparently..." Answered Sophia.

"Is that bucket enchanted?"

Aefrine realised thanks to Moreno's observation that there was an iron bucket next to Sophia. It was full of water.

"Oh, no. It is just a bucket of water. "

"So, your power is water-related?"

"Yeah...you can say that... So, anyway, do you know anything about the test?"

"Not really, this is my first time..."

"I heard it contains three tasks. " Replied Aefrine

"Really ?"

"How do you know?"

"A friend told me. The first task is about searching for an item, the second is about teamwork and the third task is a 1v1 ."

"Is this your first time on the Raider tryout test?" Asked Sophia

"Yes."

"Me too. I am a bit nervous..."

"Don't worry, it will be fine. " Aefrine tried to comfort her even though he himself was also nervous...

"Did the friend of yours tell you anything more about the first task? " Questioned Moreno without looking at him.

"Well, he said that they would give us hints and it is like a race, I think..."

"A race, so..."

Well, looking at his gauntlets and chain mail, he looks like someone who wouldn't be concerned about the 1v1...

The wagon stopped and moments later, the grumpy man appeared and told them to hop off. He was now wearing a set of armour. When they hopped off, they found three armoured people standing next to each other. They were in a forest. In the middle was a woman and next to her were two men. On the right, was the grumpy man and on the left was a tall man who didn't seem too much happier than the other.

"Good morning, future raiders, we will be the judges for your raider tryout test. I am Miss Clara and this is Mister Elmo and Mister Fillo. You are lucky that the Republic has allowed for an R.T.T. outside of the capital city because of the war. I must say I was expecting more people but there is nothing wrong. This will just change the way we conduct the test a little bit "

So, the tall man is Fillo and the grumpy one is Elmo. Also, I guess Ryuji's war has a benefit after all...

"Your test will contain three primary tasks where we judge your performance and after all three we will give you your rank that matches your performance. I would like to point out that making quick smart decisions in life-threatening situations as well as good use of mana and magic are very essential to a raider. "

"Your first task is where we will be testing your knowledge and agility. As a raider, entering unknown places is a normal thing, so you must know how to act on your own with very limited information. "

"We have hidden an item. We won't tell you what is this item, but trust me when you find it you will know it. You only have three hints to find out their location. Your goal is that get the item as fast as possible and bring it here. Of course, the fastest will get a better score. "

"You have until midday to complete the task." Interrupted Fillo

"And beware of any wild creatures, they are also a part of this test. Don't expect any help if you encounter a big dinosaur. Also, you are allowed to do anything to get there first. But don't hurt each other too much or you will be disqualified. "

Finished Elmo

"Follow the guide, named Polaris,

Fixed in the sky, forever careless.

Beyond the cliffs, you hear the roar,

A silver veil that tumbles o'er.

Through shadows deep, where waters creep,

A chamber hides in silent sleep.

Look for the jewels that shimmer high,

Where dampened stone meets the vaulted sky"

Everyone was now looking at Clara, not a pleasant look...

"What? Some dungeons have riddles that need solving... go on the task has begun"

"You don't expect them to remember what you said, right ?"

Asked Fillo.

"Just write it down, already." Finished Elmo again.

After some awkward moments, they all had a piece of parchment that had the riddle on it.

"Now go, your task begins now!"

Each of the players looked at the riddle for some time before looking at each other...

What does "Follow the guide, named Polaris, Fixed in the sky, forever careless." mean? I am supposed to follow Polaris which is fixed in the sky, right? But I don't know what Polaris is? It can't be the sun, right?

"Polaris is the north star, dumb heads!" Explained Fillo with a very frustrated expression.

"Oh..."

"Oh..."

"Oh..."

Each one of them went flying. For Sophia that was literal. She floated away like she was flying and water also went out of the bucket and floated in the air with her. While Moreno started to run and jump in a similar manner to Duke Rudolf he still could not be compared to him. His phys magic was apparent.

Aefrine quickly followed suit. Swinging, and swinging through the trees until he stopped.

Where is the North again? I mean the others went this way, so this must be the north right? But what if they are tricking me? Sophia doesn't seem like the type to trick, right? But what if she is? Not really... Plus, they didn't have much time to think about it, so probably not ... But what if ?! Damn, I wasting too much time!!!

He climbed the tallest tree where you could see a nice view of the forest. He looked in all directions searching for a clue. Behind him, he saw the endless horizon of blue which was the sea. He was travelling towards it when he first came here so it is the south,which means the opposite direction is the north. And that made perfect sense since there was a huge cliff far away which seemed to be a big waterfall.

"Beyond the cliffs, you hear the roar,

A silver veil that tumbles o'er."

That is what his parchment read meaning that the cliff is where he needs to go.

After some swings, Aefrine could hear a roar not far ahead. Not long after, he saw the source of said roar, Moreno was running for his life from what seemed at first a T.rex but it was different. It was smaller and had no feathers. And when it opened its mouth, it would spit a small amount of liquid which would explode upon touch. Fortunately, Moreno was faster for now. He was barely dodging any obstacles and the predator's attacks. However, it was impressive how he out-running a huge beast. His body was emitting the crimson aura but he still looked faster than Aefrine would ever be, at least on the ground. In this situation, there was obviously one question for Aefrine.

Should I help?