"Huh. This is the Elder Guild's south-western base, cool." Reliot thought as he blankly looked up at the giant building before him. He released a deep sigh, and entered the base. When he walked in, a man in full Flourin armor escorted him to the designated area for new Hunters.
Hunters are members of the Elder Guilds, they are assigned missions given from the managers of the building they are a part of. But most of the time, secretaries and such are to give missions to the hunters, due to the managers immense amount of work.
The new Hunters are lined up in no order, in an enormous room. At the north side of the room, is a stage. The hunters are lined up 56 by width, and 206 by length. Reliot was placed close to the end, still with a blank stare, he looked around the room. He saw no one that he recognized. Then, a tall rather muscular elderly man walks onto the stage and clears his throat, that man was the admiral of the South-western base.
"Attention new Hunters, You all will be put in a series of tests. Just know, these tests are supposed to drain you. They are built to break you down, and crush you physically, and mentally. So, if anyone wants to back out now, let no one judge you on your decision."
Around 20 people raise their hands, the hunters who did not raise their hands, move to form a path for the ones who did. Nobody judged them, everyone respected each other's choices. Except for a select few, who chose to bad mouth and tease the hunters about "Chickening" out.
"Ok, now that that's over, I will now list the tests y'all will be participating in. First, is a stamina test. You will run around a 300 meter dirt track, and then you will be rated on how long you lasted. Next is the endurance test, You will be hit with multiple sticks from all angles. And once you collapse, that test is over. You will be rated the same way as the first test. Next is the speed test, you will run 100 meters, and the ratings are based on the past two tests too. And the last of the physical tests is how much you are able to carry. There are rocks that weigh up to 600 kilograms, you'll be ranked on how much we are able to stack on you until your body gives out."
"Huh, that's neat." Still with a blank stare, Reliot thinks of ways to make the tests easier for him.
"The first sociological test is about how much you can endure uncomfortable weather, heat, and various other components in nature. Next is a hallucination test, you will be hypnotized and put into a traumatic event. And next, is how you act in an intense situation. For instance, your squad mate is about to be impaled with a claw from a lightning wyvern, what do you do? Do you act in a way to save him, yourself, or in a way that both of you make it out alive. All of these tests will be performed over the span of a week. I wish you all the best! And I hope the green plains do not turn crimson in your adventures."
A week goes by, Reliot completes the test with flying colors. He easily beats both rounds of testing, and is placed as an S rank hunter. After all of the tests are over, all of the hunters are to make parties in the cafeteria. Everyone bombarded Reliot with requests to join their party, but he took no interest in any of them.
"I am a dual blade user!" Reliot yelled out in a fit of frustration, knowing that dual blade users were looked down opon.
He took note of one party though, it was a party mainly consisting of C to A class hunters. They were sitting by themselves, and all of them looked nervous or anxious. Reliot got up, and started walking towards them. The party had 4 members. A female archer, a female knight, a male axe/sword hybrid user, and a female bowgun user.
"Umm, hey. May I join your group?" Reliot awkwardly asked them. The party looked back in confusion.
"Oh, if you don't want a dual blade user in your party then, it's fine." The knight began to speak, she was probably the leader of their party. "Oh no! We would love to have you in our party. But why us?" Reliot couldn't think of a good answer, but what Reliot said, was what felt right to him. "You guys seem like genuinely good people, the other guys probably just wanted me for clout. And I also wanted to make some friends."
The entire party's faces lit up with joy.
"Bro, you can definitely join us!"
"Oh thank you, may I sit here."
"Well of course! You've joined our party after all!"
Reliot spent a bit more time with his new party. They discussed the matter of whether they should live together, or live in separate buildings. Everyone chose to live together, but with one exception. The boys would be separated from the girls because the girls didn't trust the boys yet. They looked over good places to live in, and settled on one in the outskirts of the city, it was actually in a town that was protected by the bigger city.
Their living space had all the essentials, it had 2 bedrooms one for the girls, and one for the boys. It had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living area for other stuff. Once everyone had gotten settled in, they agreed to go on a hunt for a large berserker class wyvern known as a Glagivous. They all got into their beds, "So this is what having friends and allies are like, I like this."