Alexander walked down a marble corridor shuffling his feet along slowly. "I can't believe my father would force me to participate in the test of strength. He knows I never win any karate or arm wrestling matches with my brothers." he sighed to himself. At the end of the long corridor was a wooden door as thick as a mans leg and adorned with brass and copper beveling. As he approaches Alexander can hear the low sound of metal on metal, shouts of triumph and at the same time the crying of the men who had trained for several years to fail again.
During the test, one would be expected to display the ability of their body to contain the wild mana in the air and complete one full circle of refinement. The second portion of the test is of a mans mental strength. Most tests involve complex riddles, puzzles or to recite knowledge learned in battle classes. The final portion that many fail to pass would be for the individual to compete in unarmed combat with two competitors armed with medium length thin wooden rods similar to a sword. The goal is to disarm at least one of them and to last five minutes in open combat without being hit directly.
In the history of the Varian Kingdom only one man had ever received a perfect score. That man was none other than Alexius, Alexanders very own father and the King of Varian. He swept through the challenges without a second thought. On the first challenge he cycled wild mana 3 times. In the second challenge he recited the warriors code word for word. During the final challenge he leapt forward as soon as the overseer started the match. He briskly grabbed the hilt of one of the wooden training weapons and twisted forcefully. The man screamed out in agony as he held his limp snapped wrist. He then turned to the other challenger and raised his sword high above his head. As he brought his sword down crisply it began to pick up speed at an alarming rate. When his weapon collided with that of his opponent, his opponent attempted to block his strike. However, he was caught off guard by the sheer speed and power behind the strike, causing his to go down on one knee. Alexius brought his wooden blade quickly to the mans throat, the man dropped his sword and conceded defeat.
Alexander continued walking down the long marble hall, dragging his finger tips along the stones as he has done since he was a child. "This is my third time taking this stupid test, my father needs to give up already I'll never be able to live up to his expectations." Suddenly he heard giggling like that of a teenage girl behind him. "I knew you'd be dragging your feet again Alex!" the voice of his childhood friend Bella rang out.
"Yeah, well I'm just tired of this whole charade, I'll never be able to complete the test even if my opponents were blindfolded and had one leg!" Alexander dryly said to her. He looked down at the ground in embarrassment and shame, Bella ran up behind him and threw her arms around him from behind, hugging him with everything she had. "I know you'll do it! Whether it's today or 10 years from now, I have faith in you." Bella gently said to him with a smile. "If not you can always learn to cook and come work in my fathers kitchen. I'll be there." she said with a wink. She quickly kissed his cheek, her face burning red from shyness and excitement at having kissed Alexander.
After she kissed his cheek she made up an excuse to leave and hurried off. Alexander still had about 20 paces before he reached the door. His heart thundering in his chest and his palms becoming clammy and covered in sweat. He had finally reached the door, as is the custom for entering the challenge chamber, he gave 3 crisp knocks on the door. The sound of his knocks were larger than he expected as three loud booms resounded.
"Enter."