Arzin, for the most part had healed from his wounds, whoever that girl had been she knew how to treat him and speed his recovery process by half. Good thing too because without her he wouldn't be able to compete in these trials. Though he was only doing so out of obligation of his bet, a bet he had lost. He walked into the large circle filled with people of all manner. There were people of all classes there, though the groups separated themselves, keeping space between them all.
Arzin himself would fall under a small group of ragged and rather scarred group of people. So he decided to ignore all social norms and stand in the middle of them all where he saw that girl he had met the day before. He said nothing, simply standing there and waited. When the girl noticed him she didn't seem scared, but instead walked up to him, grabbed him by the face, and started inspecting everywhere he had been injured. Arzin still wore bandages on his arms but other than that they where gone.
Arzin shrunk back at the sudden attention. "Gah!"
The girl had a very serious expression, along with eyes that could literally see into your soul, but when he withdrew, her expression and entire demeanor changed. She was now worried, "Are you still healing? Should you be here?"
Arzin was unsure of how to answer, he had threatened to kill her only days ago and now she was worried about his well being. He ultimately decided that he would be kind but reserved with his answers. "I'm fine."
To even Arzin's most simple the girl started grinning to her ears as she hugged him, "I so happy. I wasn't entirely confident in my ability as a healer and your soul was very strained at the time, so I wasn't one hundred percent sure supplementing my power would or wouldn't speed up your recovery seeing as I'm not a mage."
This girl confused Arzin on many levels, first of all her mood changed like the wind, and second she talked a lot. Most true eyes he had met where very reserved and based on the scars she tried to hid with her hair he thought she would be too. His guess was that she was much stronger willed than most people gave her credit for. However, her friendliness towards him still put him on edge.
Even while he thought all of this the girl continued to talk, "Well anyways, I've never seen a soul quite like yours. My name's Eephie, what's yours?"
"I'm-" Arzin was about to say before a booming voice overshadowed his own.
"Arzin! I'm honestly surprised to see you here. You aren't exactly the type of person to join any organization, much less one made my the city." Arzin turned around to see a man not much older than Arzin himself. He wore a raw leather jacket over a simple white shirt covered in stains. He had vibrant red-orange hair that curled up in a somewhat stylish mess. He wore goggles lopsided on his forehead that had probably never been over his amber eyes yet he wore them all the same.
Arzin knew him well and seriously regretted doing so, "Hello, Vedin." Arzin did not want to and would avoid actually starting a conversation with him or they would most likely start fighting in the square. It wasn't that Vedin would bet angry at Arzin, and Arzin didn't necessarily hate Vedin. Vedin just really liked to fight, and Arzin was seen as a rival in his eyes.
Vedin however didn't seem like he wanted to fight at the moment, "No need to be short with me, we'll have to wait till later to bash each others heads in."
"I'd rather not, I'm kind of on a leash here."
"Well that's a shame, is that why your here than. Did you get arrested or something."
"Or something. I lost a bet to a Sargent, and now I have to try out or she will throw me in jail."
"That really is a bad situated." His attention shifted to Eephie as he put on his most obnoxious smile possible. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Vedin Pan, current heir of the Pan family. May I ask your name?"
Eephie's response to hearing that she was now standing in front of one of the most influential people in the city didn't change her demeanor in the slightest "I am Eephie Hu, healer and assistant to the weaponsmith Halper Granch."
The two continued to exchange pleasantries while Arzin stood there awkwardly until a voice boomed over the constant chatter of the crowd. "HELLO CONTESTENTS!" Lieutenant Yelce Uelas was standing on top of the large building that was his new headquarters, not only yelling at the top of his lungs but also empowering his voice with the wind. "IT IS MY PLEASURE TO BOTH GREET YOU AND WORN YOU. TO ALL NOBLES THINKING I WILL GIVE YOU SPECIAL TREATMENT, I WILL NOT. EVERYONE HERE WILL GET EQUAL OPPERTUNITY, THOUGH NOT MANY WILL MEET MY EXPECTATIONS. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DIE, SIMPLY TO JOIN ME, THAN LEAVE NOW."
At his words many people started to shuffle their feet yet no one moved. Form his perch the Lieutenant said only one word, "Okay." With a rush of wind he disappeared, when he reappeared he stood in the same place only he had something hanging in one hand. It took a second before Arzin registered that it was a person.
"LET GO OF ME!" the man said as he continued to explain his lineage before Lieutenant interrupted him. "Can you survive this fall." He was clearly talking to the man he dangled 30 or so feet in the air but we clearly wanted to whole square to hear.
"NO, SO PUT ME DOWN AL-"
The Lieutenant interrupted him again as he said in an unpowered voice that everyone could still hear, "Than you have no use to me." Then he tossed the man off the tower.
At the sight of the Lieutenant throwing a man at a lethal height the crowd started to run away. However, Arzin charged forward, grabbing the air around him. He jumped high above the crowd of rushing people, towards the falling man. From behind him he heard Vedin's manic laughter as he followed him. Arzin caught the man by the hand and slowed their decent. The weight of both of them was a lot and when he reached the ground Arzin hit it with a painful thud.
Vedin landed in front of Arzin summoning flames in his hands. As he did so Eephie ran up behind inspecting the fallen man. Arzin moved to his feet and joined Vedin in the front, summoning his own flames.
Both Arzin and Vedin stood at the ready when the Lieutenant disappeared yet again and reappeared in front of their make-shift formation. "Good job, I must say all of your reaction time was phenomenal. Though, I'll have you know that Sargent Yeria was at the ready to save that man herself." As he said so the Sargent herself walked up to stand next to the Lieutenant.
"Not to mention that he himself is a volunteer and knew the risks beforehand." the Sargent piped in.
From the ground the man in question stood up unhurt. "You didn't say anything about the examinees trying to help me Yelce." He said this as he rolled his arm in it's socket. "I think you might just have to pay me a bit extra for that." The man's form changed, he thinned out and his hair grew as the man became a woman. She was rather short, with blonde hair and impish features.
"I perfectly agree Ivia." said the Lieutenant. He then turned to Sargent Yeria, "Would you please round up the remaining candidates and bring them inside?"
"Yes sir."
Only then did Arzin realized there where more people left in the square. Maybe two or three dozen left, many holding weapons in their hands and other stood at the ready like Arzin and Vedin still did. A handful even seemed to go to help the falling man like their small group did.
The Sargent now stood in front of the building, using the same method as the Lieutenant to enhance her voice, "Do not be alarmed, the scene you just witnessed was staged, no one was in any direct harm. If you do not believe that is the case you are free to leave. Besides that I please ask that you congregate inside of the building."
No one left, though not many put away their weapons away immediately. Arzin dispersed his fire and gestured for Vedin to do the same. When he didn't Arzin turned to him, "It's fine you can drop it."
The fire still didn't drop but started to intensified "I know."
Arzin sighed, "Are you sure you can do this test?"
"Yes," His face started to strain with the effort of keeping his power under control. "now help me."
With one final sigh Arzin unwrapped the bandages on his hand. Then with a flex of his soul, an arc starting between his pointer and middle finger as it spread across his hand and held it there. Then with a quick stroke of his hand the flames where cut off from their source as they died out.
Vedin tried to regain his composure but he was still shaky and panting from the effort. "See, I'm fine."
Arzin didn't believe a word of it, "No your not, I really don't think you can be an officer. Especially if you can't get through the tryouts."
"I can!" he face was determined, he would not back down now.
"Okay," Arzin said, "but if I see you start to slip I'm dragging you back to your family."
The corner of Vedin lip curled into a smile. "Is that a challenge?"
Vedin tried to walk towards the building but Arzin caught him by the arm. "Just tell me you'll use your sword. If something goes wrong I don't want to explain it to Ivan." Vedin's eye twitched but he continued on his way.
****
Eephie listened to the boys' conversation with interest. She didn't understand what they where talking about but it seemed fascinating. When the guy named Vedin walked away Arzin turned towards her. "Can you tell me how his soul is looking?"
Eephie looked towards Vedin, at the long red cloak of energy the flowed behind him. There was no blue or any other color. It was a very strong soul, if felt as though she could almost feel the heat without him even using his power. "It's strong."
"Look closer."
She did, as as she did so she saw what he was talking about. Throughout Vedin's soul, ripples shot through it. The power was restless and stained. She looked at Arzin in worry "There is no way he can make it the rest of the day."
"Yeah, I know. Please if you could, tell me if it gets any worse?"
"Sure, definitely."
"Thanks." Arzin bowed before running inside.
Eephie, even through the very serious situation, couldn't help but smile. She walked inside with her head held high. She had made a new friend!