Knowledge is power

As daylight slowly banished the night and revealed the dreadful looking forest around the guild, Frederick was standing behind the window of his office. Staring at the vast landscape that was a mixture between a forest and marshes. But even though it was a grim and dark place, it had some sort of serenity hanging over it.
But Frederick knew better, he knew that the forest held some of the most terrifying and treacherous creatures of Fiore. It was certainly not a place to tread lightly. And that was something that every mage of the guild knew, after all they had traveled through it to reach this forsaken place.

And so had Alexander Faust, a young mage whom Frederick didn't had the pleasure yet to meet. But according to his Keeper, the man was here only for a short time but had risen among the ranks with ease. Gaining the respect of the few soldiers that were left at the guild.
The man had proven himself without a doubt, and was now ready to gain the power he longed for.

For Faust to prove him self to him, Frederick had a rather simple looking task laid out for the man. But nothing was less true. It may look simple but the purpose wasn't, most would think that locating a forgotten ruin in the forest and reading an old encryption on a wall. Was something relatively easy. But nothing was further from the truth then that.
Not only did the ruin lay in one of the most dangerous places of Fiore, it was also protected by unknown beings that had the ability to possess armors. Nobody knew what they are, apparitions, an entity that was existed out of energy. Or something entirely else. But one thing was sure, as long as there was something that the being could use as a shell it would be an endless battle.

Faust stood in the parlor room staring at the game of pool that was before him. He had just gotten word from one of the butlers that the master of the guild wished to speak with Faust in his office. He had just returned back from his short travels across Fiore. He had gone out to make a bit of cash for himself but always to gain a bit of strength and power. He snapped out of his trance and walked over to the table. He lined up the stick with the ball and took shot. The cue and the ball clicked making a small impact sound. The ball went flying down the table crashing into several other balls, launching one even into a pocket. He dropped the stick on the table in mid game and walked down the hall heading towards his master’s office.

Faust was wearing blue jeans, a dull gold and red shirt, with a black hoodie, and black tennis shoes. As he approached the door his steps slowed down and his heart beat slowly sped up. The last few steps towards the door were the worst. He stood before the door for a brief moment before knocking on the door. He then opened it up causing a slight creaking sound to occur. “You wanted to see me sir?” His tone was stable, his heart beat was under control now, and his breathing was normal. He quickly threw on the charade of confidence and strength while on the inside he was actually slightly nervous about what the master would need from him.

Frederick as enigmatic as he always was turned away from the window. And focussed his attention towards Alexander. He pried the man from under the hood of his cloak, and the first thing he noticed was the mage's attire. It was nothing to fancy, just a plain and normal look. Not unlike Frederick himself. Who's entire body and face was being concealed by a dark purple cloak. So dark that it was almost black, only when the light fell on it a glimpse of purple was to be seen.
People mostly found him a rather eerie appearance which only got increased when he started to speak. It was a cold and empty voice, depraved of any joy that the world could offer.

'Yes, I did. I have a rather peculiar task for you. A task that may prove your worth among us.'
Frederick slowly grabbed a map and rolled it out over the table as he spoke. On which he pointed at a location that was just a few miles away from the guild hall.
'There is this ruins I want you to visit, and on it's broken walls lingers a question. I want you to go over there and bring me the answer to that question. And if you succeed you may place yourself among those of greater power.'

Frederick didn't speak after that anymore, hinting that he was done with speaking and that Alexander may now go on his mission. It could be dangerous, and answering a question while fending off creatures could be quite a task. But if he truly was a seeker of knowledge then he would keep fighting until he had reached the answer.


OOC:
allright.
For you to succeed and pass this exam there are a few criteria that have to be met.
First off, I give you a word count of at least 1500 words. You may put it all in one post, or decide to divide over several. That is all up to you.

But you need to reach the ruins, and once there you have to fend off two living armors that protect that place. All while you are trying to answer this riddle.
We love it more than life. We fear it more than death. The wealthy want for it. The poor have it in plenty.

After that you have to bring the answer back to me, and I will end your exam.

A task for him, hmm it sounded too easy. ‘Walk a few miles into the woods, find the ruins, and get him the answer to the walls question.’ This was something else entirely. But what would one else expect from a Dark Guild. Faust did a small bow. “I shall return shortly with your answer.” After that he turned around and left the room. He quickly walked down the hallway of the guild to the stairwell. His decent down the stairs were quick and light footed, as he reached the bottom two he went ahead and took the small jump down. As he landed he kept moving at a steady but fast pace. He headed straight for the door of the building into the dark woods that surrounded the guild. The creatures and beast that were out there in the forest and swamp were mainly aggressive beast but if one trend carefully they were rather easy to avoid and with Faust’ nose, ears, and eyes nothing was going to sneak up on him out here. He had preconized the area that the ruins were located in on the map but had never been there himself. He had studied the maps of Fiore a bit while staying at the guild, he focused mainly on a few areas, those being; the lands around Savage Skull, the mountain range by Mount Hakobe and Crocus, and the area around Era. He had looked at a few other areas maps but had not really studied the areas in depth. As he walked through the forest the light of day seemed to be slipping away into nothing, soon night would take over completely and the beast would roam freely. Faust was already about half a mile from the guild but still had awhile to go, it would take at least another twenty minutes of walking at this pace to get there. He expected an ambush or something in the forest but nothing came, he planned on at least an extra twenty minute encounter to stand before him along with a thirty or forty minute walk back would put him arriving back to the guild within an hour and a half to two hours of departure.

As he walked through the woods he took note of markers and scents that would help him locate his path back to the guild that would be the last thing he needed was to get lost on his return and be stuck out here until day break. Branches and leafs constantly cracked as he walked giving away his location to whatever was sneaking around out there. He kept moving never breaking stride. As he continued he felt a slight change in the humidity in the air around him, he was nearing a more wet part of the swamp/ forest. His steps went from leafs and sticks to sloppy and sticky mud that kept trying to suck his shoes right off of his foot. He almost was about to travel through the tree tops if this got any worse. A sudden rustle of branches and leafs in a nearby bush caused Faust’s ears and eyes to perk up. He kept moving but made sure that he was even more aware of his surroundings then he was before. As he moved swiftly through the forest the thing that caused the rustle seemed to follow him, whatever was out there was tracking Faust and keeping up with him in the dark and at a steady pace. He started to move even faster through the forest now nearly a mile away from the location the ruins should have been in. If this thing that was following was still there by the time he got to the half mile mark he would have to handle it. As his speed picked up the chaser seemed to be having a hard time keeping up which was odd if it was a predator out here he would not see why it could not keep up with him. The way it was acting was unlike a snake or alligator in the swamp nor a wolf or tiger. What was this following him, a human that seemed like the most logical target. The half mile marker was approaching fast, he did not hear anything around him anymore, nor did he really smell anything following him. He slowed down his pace to let whatever was following him to catch up if it was still following him, if not he would be on his way and return on his path. After waiting for a few moments with nothing seeming to be following him still Faust went ahead and started on his journey once again. He did a small stretch leaning down to touch his toes, he leaned from side to side and then was off.

He had half a mile to go to the ruins, half a mile of forest and swamp for an ambush. Faust pace was a bit slower approaching the ruins just in case there was something up ahead. The ruin’s bricks glistened in the moon light up ahead, down in a little valley among the forest. From this distance Faust saw very little of the ruins minus a few bricks and a large broken tower. As of right now he did not see any broken wall like his master spoke of, he would have to scout it out down below. He jumped down the hill sliding for a brief moment before getting on solid land again. The ruins were a few hundred feet in front of him though he still stood on the outskirts looking around the ruins for the wall that his master spoke of. He kept out of sight of the moon light and lurked in the shadows or the trees. He scanned the building and the surrounding area but no sign of movement or life seemed to be present. He could not catch a whiff of any scent nor could he hear the beat of any hearts around them. After a few minutes of scouting and being assured that the area was indeed safe Faust made for the ruins. He ran around the outer walls until he saw a large opening in them, he scanned the inside courtyard of the ruins for a moment before making a cautious step inside of its borders. The air inside was still, silent, and unnerving. Faust knew that something lurked in the shadows of the walls but what and where a mystery to him was for now. As he took his first full step into the ruins he felt a tingle of magical energy run through the area. Soon after a creaking of metal sound was heard echoing throughout the ruins, somewhere from the shadows of actually inside the building. Faust activated his Arctic aura while at the same time cupping his hands causing a small blizzard to form in the surrounding area causing a white out. Whatever was there had emerged to the area Faust was in and the area the storm was hitting. He heard their footsteps slow down slightly, mostly likely due to the extreme cold that was being generated by the two spells. He heard the clanking footsteps of armor. Was whatever out there in the blizzard just a normal human in armor? If so Faust was about to stop them in their tracks.

From the sound of it there seemed to be two entities there in the blizzard. Faust was hidden from the guards but they were to him as well. Lucky for him he had his Demon Slayer senses and was able to judge their distance based off the sound of their movements. This was not the first nor was it going to be the last time Faust had to fight in a total White Out snow storm. After standing still for a few moments to make sure the armor was where he thought it was Faust was ready to strike. His hands became covered in an icy substance, this would cause whatever he touched with them to be frozen for a few moments. After his preps were ready and he had their locations down Faust started his assault. He took a few steps running for the two armors direction, the armors hearing him began to move as well. Instantly he jumped. His body teleported itself right behind one of the metal men and with all his might he pushed the creature with both hands shoving it across the grounds causing it to stumble right into its ally. Faust did not let up as the two were standing back up Faust jumped to the one that he had not pushed, now doing the same to it. The two fell back over once more, both of their arms and torso’s were covered in a thin sheet of ice making them unmovable. “Come on boys this is too easy.” He said with a sinister tone. He teleported again above the two collapse armors. He appeared in mid air and fell upon them both with all his might causing both armors to crack and break from the weight of the attack plus the cold weakening their armor. Once the armors broke he released the storm and the aura. The ruins were now covered in a thin layer of snow and ice. The moonlight shone bright into the inner area of the ruins, beaming directly on Faust. He was breathing slightly hard now but it was not too much.

He kicked the helmets of the armor smashing them into the wall to assure their deaths before turning his back on them. He knew that there would be a test of some form but two armors that could move and attack on their own would not be enough to stand between Faust and his goals. He quickly read the wall’s riddle. We love it more than life. We fear it more than death. The wealthy want for it. The poor have it in plenty. He stood there thinking for a few moments, what did a poor person have that a rich did not? What did he value over his own life? He could not think of anything. Poor have nothing so they would have nothing that the rich would want. Faust valued nothing over his own life, not even his father’s. Hmmm. He tapped his foot thinking on that and his answers. It seemed that the thing in common with each sentence was a lack of real substance, there was nothing that he valued more than life, rich want nothing because they have everything, the poor want everything but have nothing, and when a person dies they fear the nothing that is the abyss of death. Faust snapped his fingers he thought he figured it out and that would have been his answer to the master. He ran back as fast as he could with his answer in his mind playing out over and over again making sure that it was the correct choice. Once he got to the guild hall he quickly bolted for the master’s quarters and knocked on the door slightly before entering. As he walked in he had once again controlled his breathing, whipped the sweat from his brow, and brushed the snow and dirt from his cloths, he nearly appeared the exact same as he had before leaving on the task nearly two hours ago. “Master, I have returned from the ruins with your answer. The poor have nothing to give, the rich have nothing to want, nothing is above a person’s own life, and the void of nothing is what we all fear follows this life. The answer to the wall’s riddle is simply nothing.” He stood there with his icy blue eyes piercing the dark room staring at his master waiting for the reply, hoping that he had indeed solved the riddle and passed the exam.

Spells used: Side Step [D], Snow Globe [D], Arctic Demon [D], and Demon’s Touch [D]

Frederick looked up from the several scrolls on his desk, only to see the young mage who he had send on a mission earlier to stand before him. And before Frederick had even the chance to react to his excitement, Alexander already told him the answer.
To this Frederick nodded as an acknowledgement of the achievement. After all, the young mage did manage to answer the question correctly.
'Indeed' replied Frederick emotionless while he pried at Alexander from under his hood.
'Well, you have succeeded the task, and with it shown me that you are ready for the path that lays ahead of you. Because what you just have learned is what truly lays behind the curtain of darkness. It is not vile nor evil. Just empty. And if you pursue the path of knowledge and power, you will come to understand if that those can only come together when you embrace the emptiness inside you.'
Frederick's head bowed back down towards his desk. Clearly ready to continue his work.
'Now leave me, I have work to do'


OOC:
Consider yourself passed. I'll see you at your next exam

As Faust stood there after announcing his return. His master only looked up slightly to acknowledge Faust's presence but what could he expect from a man so strong. He listened to his master explain the reasoning behind the task. There is in truth nothing that was the essence of them, just a force of miscellaneous people all working towards a goal that will ultimately mean nothing. Faust waited for Lord Fred to dismiss him before he left the room. He headed down the hallway back towards the parlor room to finish his game of pool. When he opened the door a small black envelope that was addressed to him. When he opened the black package all that was inside was a large black C. It seemed that Faust was promoted in the guild after all, time for him to get to the next step!

-Exit-