As Wrock's surroundings became clear to him he adjusted his clothes. There was a series of statues all placed at random positions. They all were designed like various soldiers, equipped with different weapons.
The statue closest to him moved slightly. Watching it Wrock reached forward and touched it. Its eyes flashed yellow and nothing else happened. After tapping it a few more times he shrugged, "Guess it doesn't feel like it."
Walking through the statues he gave every one he passed a faint touch. As none reacted he scrunched his face. A few seconds later he noticed another statue in the distance move. Walking towards it he reached forward, but as his hand got close the statue moved far quicker. As it thrust a spear forward Wrock leaned to the side, the stone edge scraped his cheek and created a rough wound. Yet after the single attack the statue immediately went back to not moving.
Wiping the arising blood away he frowned, "Rude."
A few seconds later he noticed another statue move. This time he kept his distance and watched it warily. A little bit of time passed and it moved at much faster speed than what Wrock expected. It seemingly flew across the room and thrust its sword forward. Wrock leapt to the side and dodged a fatal blow, but a wound formed at his side.
Reviewing his past actions he gained a bit of insight on what he had to do. With a scrunched face from the pain he complained, "What a way to go about it!"
As another statue moved Wrock dashed forward and reached out. His fingers touched the statue and its eyes flashed yellow. After a few moments more Wrock nodded, "Bingo."
This Trial seemed to test the one thing Pugilists might lack. Which would be situational awareness. Average Pugilists are more than aware that their skillset is based around one on one fights. Designed to combo enemies with low damage but consistent attacks. Because of this many fail to keep an eye on their surroundings. Instead they concentrate on eliminating a single target and pulling off their combo.
Stretching his body to get warmed up Wrock expanded his senses as far as possible. The goal of this Trial was simple, touch the statues that moved. If he didn't do it fast enough he would be attacked. Although his wounds ached it was well within his tolerance.
Another statue moved and Wrock dashed towards it and touched the stone. He repeated this process a few times before he noticed the timeframe between the movements was getting shorter. Within just two minutes he was now in a position to where he couldn't stop. Dashing through the statues he continued to tap the ones that moved. His speed left a series of poor afterimages, a result of his speed.
Another minute passed and a statue moved, an arrow flew across the room towards Wrock. Spinning midair he managed to get away with only a scratch. Yet as he landed he took off again. Reaching forward he touched the statue, but another attack came spiraling towards him. With a flip he once again got away with a thin scratch. Now the time had reached a point where his speed couldn't keep up, by the time he touched one another statue would attack. He summoned forth a bit of Spirit to boost his movement, but it quickly flickered out. Clicking his tongue he determined what needed to be done this time.
Since he couldn't stop all the attacks, he needed to prioritize the ones he could. The statues, while quick and deadly, made very predictable attacks. So as long as he kept his senses alert he could dodge the incoming statues attacks while stopping the others.
He immediately put this into practice. As his fingers grazed some statues he twisted his body and dodged other attacks. It only took a few tries before he adjusted and was able to completely dodge the attacks.
Within two more minutes he sighed, "This is too much!"
Two statues moved simultaneously towards him. Twisting his body he dodged the two attacks, but he couldn't reach his target in time. Thanks to this three statues began to move towards him. With his current position there was no way to dodge their incoming attacks. Grumbling he complained, "If I had spirit this would be so much easier!"
Three weapons hovered just at his neck. Wrock felt like time had stopped for just a second. Audibly gulping he asked, "Could you perhaps move your weapons?"
A voice echoed, "Trial completed."
Wrock nearly sighed, "Thank goodness-"
He then paused, looking to the sky he then smiled, "I mean, naturally."
~ ~ ~
Dwong~
Laying back Tilia watched as a wooden training dummy relentlessly smacked her War Sight. It moved with a simple down swing while holding a thick stick with both hands. Every time it made contact with the War Sight it bounced back. So the training dummy raised its arm again and swung downwards.
This process has been going on for the past two minutes. Tilia originally assumed she was doing something wrong. After all nothing had occurred after all this time. However she was able to tell that the attacks from the training dummy were growing slightly stronger. Each failed swing made it grow a little more powerful.
This Trial was to test a Defender's patience. To calmly receive attacks and wait for an opportunity for your allies to take action. No matter how long it took, no matter how many attacks you received, no matter how powerful the blows. A Defender stood still and made sure their allies were safe.
So Tilia rested while letting her War Sight take the blows. If anything it served as a test to see just how long her ability could last. Getting in a comfortable position she closed her eyes and rested.
~ ~ ~
Jarvis paused as he spotted Whitelash's figure in front of him. The white tiger was still and failed to move. As he took a step forward a voice entered his head, "What is their favorite food?"
With a slightly confused expression Jarvis answered, "The leg of an Anthen."
Ding~
Whitelash fizzled away into smoke. Then the smoke regathered and formed a new creature, this time it was Mantid. Like before the voice asked, "What is their favorite food?"
"What kind of question are these? Mantid doesn't have a favorite, they prefer whatever metal or stone can improve their armor. So, a better material?"
Ding~
This Trial was aimed towards a Summoner's knowledge of their summons. Many simply use them for battle and don't take the time to fully understand their capabilities. Jarvis was a bit special due to him not actually being a normal Summoner. These kind of questions were easy for him to answer anyway, due to him always studying the creatures that joined him.
The smoke formed into Seeth, the small snake lacking its salute that it normally greeted with. The voice asked, "What is its favorite foo-"
"Harnberries, Seeth is part of an herbivorous species. They choose to burrow and stock on various nuts and berries."
Ding~
It then change to Staff. This time the question changed, "What is the unique property of this creature?"
"Are you referring to the lightning it can gather at its horn?"
Nothing happened this time. Scratching his chin Jarvis tried, "The energy it gathers at its horn, Staff can only use lightning."
Ding~
Now the smoke took the shape of Guarton. The question was also asked, "What properties does this creature's scales hold?"
"It gathers heat, or rather it stores it. He can release it at will."
Ding~
Question after question, yet Jarvis answered easily. He knew all of his tames by heart. At every opportunity he would gather additional information. After all the whole reason he had them to begin with was to learn more, not for fighting.
A few minutes passed and suddenly Jarvis paused. For the creature that appeared now was none other than Kiro. This time the question was simple, "What is their favorite drink?"
"Alcohol."
As nothing happened Jarvis sighed. He actually didn't know very much of Kiro. Even during the past months he couldn't get her to tell him much. Scratching his head he then answered, "I don't know. Kiro is still a mysterious one to me."
Silence passed before a faint 'ding' sound formed. As Kiro fizzled into smoke Jarvis realized that it didn't form into another tame. A voice echoed, "Trial complete."
Shaking his head Jarvis watched as his surroundings crumbled. Fixing his posture he murmured, "Naturally."
~ ~ ~
Tilia opened her eyes, the number of wooden training dummies increased several fold. They all hit her War Sight ceaselessly. All using different forms of attacking. Their constant attacking had been progressing for far longer than Tilia had expected. Still she remained patient.
The lifespan of an elf was usually much larger than that of an ordinary human. For her a few months felt like just a few weeks. Now that she was transported into the body of a human, this sensation dwindled a bit. However her perception of time was only slightly altered, and time still seemed faster.
Fourteen hours, that was how long Tilia had been relaxing. Finally, at the fifteenth hour the wooden training dummies stopped their relentless attacks. And a faint voice echoed, "Trial complete."
"That was easier than expected."
Tilia looked upwards and smiled, "Well, it was natural."