[Flashback, Solo] The Initiation

[Jeram]

Timestamp: 30th of Spring, 505 AV Location: The Vitrax It was an average spring day. The weather was starting to get warmer from the winter that had just passed. The citizens of Ravok were mostly enjoying their day but they might see a strange sight near the Temple of the Black Sun. There was a row of about ten men and women, all in a straight line and following an Ebonstryfe commander. It was their first day of actual training and they would get to see the Vitrax for the first time. Citizens of Ravok who saw them would stand aside and let them through as it was unwise to mess with the affaris of the Stryfe. Among in row of people was Jeram. He was anxious to start his training as he would be the first step in becoming a full fledged Ebonstryfe soldier. He couldn't help but be a little nervous. Most of the normal citizens didn't know what really happened within the Stryfe but Jeram had heard things from his fellow recruits along with members of the Ebonstryfe that he had met along the way. Soon enough that had gone through the entrance of the temple and through the door that led to the courtyard with the giant statue in it. Jeram was only fifteen at this time and all of his fellow recruits were around his general age, if not a little younger. The recruits had been completely silent during the walk as they didn't want to risk angering the commander. If they would disrespect him in any way they knew that they would probably get beat or at least thrown out back onto the streats with no hope of joining the order. The Vitrax was definitely an amazing sight. From the courtyard they could see the entire building along with the large statue that was in the middle of the courtyard itself. Jeram along with the other recruits were now wondering why they were just standing still at the beginning of the courtyard. Before anyone could speak up and ask a question the commander had turned around and looked like he was about to say something. "Alright recuits." The commander said while staring sternly at them all. "Today is your first official training to become a true member of the Ebonstryfe. This will be the day that shows who the has the potential to stay and who will be sent home, or worse. Before we get to the real training we'll have a little test right outside in the courtyard. You recruits will have the pleasure of doing ten laps around the statue of Ebonlord Gru'tral. Consider this our way of showing your first respects to the highest ranking member of the Stryfe, now go!" he shouted at the end of his speech which startled the recruits in which they scrambled for a moment before getting back in line and began to jog around the large area in the courtyard that surrounded the statue.

[Jeram]

They didn't waste anytime getting to work. Even with all of the running they would have to do it was still better then what could happen to them if they didn't finish doing what they were told. Luckily for Jeram he was in the older age groups in the recruits as the most common age when recruited by the Stryfe is around age twelve. He was a little more physically fit that the younger one's so he was able to keep up better. It wasn't really that bad at first. Running a lap or two is pretty simple but if you're not accustomed to running this much it turns out to be a very dreadful experience. Once they were about five laps in Jeram could really start feeling his legs starting to become weaker. He had never really had to run this much at one time before, at least without a break. The muscles were now starting to burn in his legs as they had reached the seventh, then eight lap. About three of the recruits had already given up and escorted out rather forcibly and Jeram knew that he would not become like them. It was a moment of joy when all ten laps had been finished. Only about half of them had actually made it but before they could celebrate the commander was already walking back up to them. "Alright recruits!" he yelled which instantly startled them into another line, their arm laying stiffly at their sides. "You have passed the first step into becoming an apprentice but you still have a lot of work, sweat, and most likely blood to come out of you." All of the recruits, including Jeram were very happy when they finally were able to walk into the Vitrax itself. They had been stuck in the courtyard this whole time and could only look at the entrance of the building until now. As they now entered the building into the main hall they were surprised to be greeted by yet another statue of Gru'tral. It wasn't really what most of them were expecting but he was the most powerful member of the Ebonstryfe at the moment so he did deserve great respect from all of them. There were many soldiers about in the hall. The lower rank ones were standing guard at the entrance while very heavy armored and higher rank members were guarding the stairs to the upper levels. The commander quietly led the recruits through another hallway on the side which led to a room with a lot of training equipment. "I guess this is where all of the training goes down." Jeram thought to himself as they walked in, knowing it was unwise to speak up. They proceeded to walk to the center of the room. They were no other members in the room doing any training except for guards at the entrance to the room, probably for if any of them got out of line. The commander paced in front of the line of recruits as he was about to start speaking again.

[Jeram]

They were all standing at attention while waiting for the commander to tell them what to do next and it was pretty tense. The only thing the commander actually did for the next minute was pace slowly in front of the line and examine each of them closely, probably looking for any sign of weakness that he could find. Jeram couldn't help but notice the large rack of weapons that was sitting nearby. One of the recruits made the mistake of relaxing when the commander had finished pacing up the line. Do you guys think that all that running you did was the hard part? Well it wasn't! I want everyone to get a weapon of their choice and get a sparring partner." The first thing that Jeram noticed is that there was only five of them. That meant that there was not enough of them to dual each other without one of them being left out. "Sir?" Jeram announced as the commander turned and stared at him. "It seems like there isn't enough of us recruits to all fight each other." to which the commander proceeded to look around the room. "That's a eye recruit." the commander had said while he walked over to Jeram. "So as a reward for you keen eye you're going to get to spar me instead." he said as he put his hand on Jeram's shoulder. He couldn't help but make a small gulp as he was commanded to go grab a weapon and shield so they could prepare to battle. The other recruits had already paired up and were in the middle of their spars. Jeram had chosen a heavy flail as it was his weapon of choice along with a large metal shield. The commander himself was using a mace and a shield similar to his own and was pretty heavily armored. Before Jeram was even ready the commander had swung his mace at him already, which he was barely able to dodge but still manage as it was a pretty slow swing. "Don't tell that's all you've got!" the commander had said as he swung his mace yet again, to which Jeram blocked but with a heavy knock back effect. Jeram had managed to block the mace several more times now but the commander was relentless and it was hard to counterattack. The shield was starting to develop a few dents so he had to eventually dodge the mace again instead of blocking in fear that the shield itself would shatter. Jeram was tired of playing the defensive and when he dodged the mace he proceeded with a quick but strong bash with his shield to the commanders torso. It didn't do any damage but it made him stumble enough to where Jeram could attack with his flail. The commander was able to get back in his fighting stance by the time the flail had reached him and he managed to block it. But Jeram's flail was stronger than the commanders mace and proceeded to knock him back again. He didn't have as much power behind his swings but a heavy flail was still a formidable weapon. Jeram then spun his flail a couple times before swinging it at the commander once more. It had been a direct his to his torso but the armor still took most of the blow, but not without leaving a large dent. Though Jeram had managed to land a hit on the commander the fight was not over. He still had far more battle experience than Jeram and was able to stand a hit or two. Before he knew it the commander was already unleashing another force of hits from his mace to which Jeram was back on the defensive. Jeram manage to block the hits from the mace but each time he did it would make him stumble more and more. After three or four hits on his shield his arm gave out and he fell to the ground. All Jeram could see after that was the commander holding his mace above himself then swing it down towards him. He could do nothing but close his eyes as the mace had lodged itself in the floor beside him. "Welcome to the Ebonstryfe, apprentice." the commander said as he picked up his mace and walked toward the middle of the room. Only one recruit from each fight would was able to stay that day, two of them were sent home. Alright apprentices!" the commander shouted at the three of them as they stood at attention. "You three have passed the initiation into this organization and from today onward the real training will begin. You will be worked until your bodies give out and we will drill the teaching of Rhysol into your heads. You have have passed for now but if I see any of you slip up within the next three years don't think I won't hesitate to kick your pathetic selves back intro the street. Meet back in here tomorrow and you will experience the true torture of our training. those were the last words the commander said as he silently walked out of the room. Jeram had done it, he made made it intro apprenticeship with the Ebonstryfe and he would finally begin his real training.

[Verilian]

Name +1 Running +1 Shield +1 Heavy Flail You Question My Logic? : I think the XP is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions, feel free to PM me. Lores: First Day of Ebonstryfe Training, Becoming an Apprentice Notes: Good job, can't wait to read more! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.