This Is Me! [Xierak's Rank Up Exam; C ---> B]

Ayeseru sighed deeply, his terrible habit.  The young mage of Blue Pegasus was sitting in the middle of Mount Helicon, the mythical island of Blue Pegasus.  He was in a meditive state, concentrating for the task ahead of him; he was about to give his first real examination to another member of Blue Pegasus.  The time had finally come for him to pass down his knowledge and strength to other members, and whilst he was very young, the very thought made him feel old.  The Fallen God Slayer sighed once more, and shook his head.  He wasn't worried, but he had never met the member whom he was supposed to examine before.  He heard a few rumours; the guy was apparently some sort of towering monster, capable of amazing feats.  Ayeseru doubted he'd be a monster; probably a term used to describe someone insanely strong...  Right?

Either way, Ayeseru shrugged it off.  He had nothing to do but wait in the center of the island as he awaited for the Blue Pegasus mage.  By now, his messenger should've delivered the message to the man named Xierak; Xierak was the name of this mage, or so Ayeseru was told.  If his messenger was on time, he'd let Xierak know that he somehow had to get to Mount Helicon...  On his own.  Ayeseru would provide no assistance with the endevour, and he could not ask for any help from any other guild members.  After all, if he couldn't even get somewhere by himself...  What would be the use training him?

OOC:
Alright Xierak, welcome to your exam!

The examination will be made up of 3 parts, each significantly more difficult than the last one.  The first part of the examination is to get to Mount Helicon with your own strength and intelligence; you may not recieve any help from Ayeseru or any other Blue Pegasus member.  The only "help" you'll recieve is the message from the messenger Ayeseru sent.

I want you to be creative with how you do this, but, since this is only the first part of the examination, it won't be too difficult.  It should take you at least 3 posts, each with 300 words at least to find a way to get to Mount Helicon.  There, you'll find Ayeseru waiting for you in the middle.

The rest of the parts will be explained when you get to them.

Good luck!

Xierak sat in his cave, it was located not too far off from clover town where the Blue Pegasus Guild hall was located, giving him plenty of privacy as well as being close enough to the Guild hall when he felt like going. He sat on a stone stool he had molded out of a boulder infront of the fire he had used to help keep him warm during last nights sleep. He had his upper body exposed, with his robes on a stone table not too far from his bed. His grey hide was lit by the fire, and his triangular head looking down at a small scrap of paper that had been given to him yesterday while he was at the Guild hall. The graviton mage heaved a heavy sigh, his orange eyes examining the paper with a hint of sadness and annoyance, after months of being a legal mage he was no closer to finding who he is, or more importantly, what he is. The piece of paper was from Ayeseru, instructing him to meet him somewhere called Mount Helicon, at this Xierak stood up and walked over to a jar that held numerous scrolls and picked out the longest one.

He opened it up to show that it was a map of Fiore and he himself began to scan it for the mountain, however he saw no mention of it anywhere. He gritted his teeth and looked back at the note, “How am I supposed to find a place that isn’t on the map!” That’s when an idea struck him, taking the piece of paper he put it to his nose and took a long deep breathe, memorizing the smell of the writer. After a long moment Xierak nodded, and stuffed the piece of paper into the pocket of his lower robe piece. He then walked over and put on the rest of his robes completely covering up every inch of his grey hide. He then stomped out the fire and walked to the front of his cave, rolling the boulder out of the way and then took flight.

Xierak had flown over to the Guild hall and managed to pick up a trail of the writer of the note and flew north by northwest. He flew in silence for a while following the scent as closely as possible After about an hour, he arrived above the Phoenix Mountain range. He stopped in the air and tried to turn his head, the scent had stopped here. Xierak growled in frustration and then descended down to the cliffs below, he landed on the rocky ground with a slight thud, and he looked around once more. Seeing nothing but fog and smelling nothing but the humid air he ripped off his hood and roared in frustration.

He spun around and punched the cliff wall creating a deep impression into it and causing cracks to form along the wall. “Oh this is just great, I am probably going to fail at this rate, unable to find this stupid Helicon island!” He then punched the cliff wall a few more times causing a rock slide to start to fall on top of him, he tilted his head and glared at the rocks and then waved with his right claw, causing all of the rocks to suddenly collide together and then fly deep into the mountain Range.

Suddenly however, he caught a whiff of something that started to get stronger and stronger, as if the source was getting closer, it didn’t smell human. Xierak however took cover as the sound of hooves approached his location. After about ten minutes passed he looked around the boulder he was using as cover to see what came up to the cliff side. What he saw made his eyes grow wide, there stood in all of its majesty was a magnificent grey colored Pegasus, it was old, that much he could sense, and it knew Xierak was there.

The winged steed looked straight into Xierak’s very core for a long moment before speaking directly into his mind, “This is most unexpected, most unexpected indeed, never thought I would see one of your kind again.” Xierak’s eyes widened and stepped out to face the steed in full, “What do you mean??” The steed narrowed his eyes and studied Xierak, “What do you mean what do I mean? You are a Child of the Zorkak’s don’t you know…” The Pegasus thought for a moment, and then snorted when Xierak started to speak, “Never mind young one, don’t pay a old Pegasus’s ramblings any heed. So tell me boy, what brings you to my own hiding hole and destroy one of its cliffs?” Xierak swallowed wanting to press on what he said but got the hint, “I have gotten lost on my way to a place called Helicon, I am supposed to meet a member of the… Guild I am in there.” The horse laughed almost, “A member a Blue Pegasus Eh, hop on my back I will take you to their sacred grounds,” Xierak’s jaw dropped when he heard this, and nodded in thanks and got onto his back, the winged steed grunted for a bit and then took off. For the next few hours they flew over the clouds, Xierak himself lost all sense of where they were going. That’s when they suddenly went into a large cloud, and when they came out a large floating Island could be seen in the distance, “That’s Helicon my boy, I don’t know what awaits you but I wish you the best of luck Child of Zorkak” After a few more minutes they touched down onto the floating island and Xierak dismounted, without another word the Pegasus took off and disappeared over the edge, “I wonder… what did he mean…”


618 words ready for stage 2

Xierak snapped back into reality when he caught the smell of what seemed to be a human, however the smell of the magical power coming along side it sent a shiver down the large mages spine. He then spun around and saw a man of average height with long black hair walking over to him. Xierak looked at the man slightly unnerved, the man looked up and tried to fix his eyes onto Xierak’s. He then said a few things, Xierak had simply nodded in response to his first question and simply took in the complement. However what the man did next disturbed the lumbering mage, he circled Xierak several times over and eventually stopped once again in front of Xierak. I am guessing this is the man who wrote the note… Xierak let out a sigh.

However what was said next caused his entire body to tense, he then looked at, no glared at Ayeseru with extreme annoyance yet he maintained his temper, “I never ask for trust, I never ask to be taught, all I ask for is privacy, what is a face? Something that says one thing and can be something completely different. Whats the need to see a face when you don’t even know what lies within its expressions, so no, I won’t take off my hood, even for you. The only two things I take this hood off for in public is one, to eat, and two if it gets too damaged to keep wearing!” Xierak then nodded and then walked past the man his feet shaking the ground with each consecutive step shaking the ground from his present mood. He then turned around feeling his bubble was no longer being invaded and said, “So your Ayeseru, the one who sent me this note? Why did you want me to come here?”

Xierak narrowed his eyes at Ayeseru’s attempt to intimidate him, it didn’t work, not in the slightest despite the magical pressure he could feel from the mage. That’s when Ayeseru threatened him slightly, which caused Xierak to tightened both of his hands into fists ready to defend with every inch of his strength, the kind of strength that defeated numerous demons from Sin, a strength that was far beyond that of any human.  A low growl escaped his throat, as he waited for what came next and was prepared to fight for his dignity, however what happened next caught the 528 pound mage completely off guard.

He started to ramble on how it was a real shame that he was going to reveal the location of… the following words only managed to get translated into a few words, a rare, delectable piece of…. Candy… His stomach growled a bit, and he frowned, for he knew he just couldn’t resist. “If that is the case…” Xierak then suddenly moved faster than one might expect he punched the ground with both of his fists, and manipulated the gravity to help create a giant dust cloud that had various plants wafting around inside disguising Xieraks smell.

Within a second He discarded all of his robes and quickly used the cloak of the cloud to hover around and behind Ayeseru, his orange eyes burning brightly he went to try and grab Ayeseru by the back of his shirt, “I expect you to make good of that sword… Human…” As the Dust cloud settled it would reveal Xierak only wearing a pair of tight black shorts, with his tail unraveled and resting on the ground, his grey skin shown dully with the numerous obsidian nubs standing out clearly. He glared at Ayeseru, his sharp serrated teeth locked together and his orange colored eyes glowing brightly.

(OOC note, Xierak's "hands" are four fingered claws, the portrayed fith finger was an extended spike to fill the thumb sleeve of the glove)

Picture:

Ayeseru was surprised.  He was caught off guard by how quick Xierak actually was, and while he was able to keep track of the hulking mage's movements, he was simply surprised.  When Xierak got behind him, he instantly spun around, and grabbed the wrist of the mage that had attempted to grab him, a sly smile plastered across the face of the Fallen God Slayer.  Scaled, gray skin, with strange dark black bumps on his skin, bright, orange eyes; Xierak was, indeed, something other than human, as Ayeseru expected.  So, I suppose this is why those rumours are what they are...  He sighed when he heard the words that followed after, but he had somewhat expected them at this point.

"I don't actually need to guide you.  I lied about that."  Ayeseru extended his arm out, and after a brief delay, shadows appeared and coming from them, came a dark black sword; its hilt slightly grey, with a red gem in the center of it.  Ayeseru stuck it to the ground, its hilt still visible.  It was very obvious that was the weapon Ayeseru spoke of, because it was putting off an incredible amount of magical power.  "...Because I could just bring it to you."

Ayeseru simply looked at Xierak with his grin still in tact, releasing the hold he hand on the wrist of the giant beast.  "I do realize that I promised you something, however, I would appreciate if you would only collect the sword till after I complete what needs doing with you here,"  Ayeseru sighed and rubbed the side of his head, "You don't think I brought you all the way here just to get you to reveal your true self and get a sword, did you?"  Ayeseru was still surprised by Xierak.  He honestly had to admit that he wasn't expecting the mage to be as he was.

"Anyways, back to the topic.  Recently, there has been a significant increase in your power - it's there.  We've noticed it.  However, you do not yet have a proper control of it yet; that's where I come in.  I'm going to give you a small series of tests; you actually already passed the first one.  If you're successful, you should feel the ability to summon more power at will.  Sounds interesting, right?"

Ayeseru turned his back on Xierak and pointed straight ahead from where he stood.  "If you keep on walking towards the direction I'm pointing out, you'll find the entrance to a cave.  Go in as deep as you can to that cave.  When you're there, you'll know exactly the reason why I sent you there.  Report back to me with what you discover."

OOC:

Right, here is the second part of your examination. It must be completed in 5 posts, each containing 350 words per post - you can write it in less posts should you desire, but you must have the correct word count in that single post for it to cover more than one post (E.G a 700 word post will count as 2 posts, if you'd like).

In this part, what you must do is reach the center of the cave which Ayeseru has instructed you to go to. Once you get to the center, you'll have continous visions of what your character fears most. The way to get there, and the visuals are up to you. In order to stop the visions, you must find the first real joy of your character's life within those visions.

Good luck!

Xierak was most certainly caught off guard when Ayeseru managed to keep track of Xierak’s movements and managed to catch Xieraks massive wrist and hold his entire hand at bay, at this Xierak growled baring some of his sharp teeth. When he heard what he was supposed to do to get the sword he frowned as his stomach growled instead. He then coughed a bit to disguise the noise and then glared at the mage, He then lifted up his arm a bit to try and pull Ayeseru up to his own eye level, “Did you not listen to a word I said, Don’t you dare judge me for what I appear to be…” Xierak then lowered his arm as it was released from its hold, he then started walking towards the direction Ayeseru had pointed out to him to walk, each step shaking the ground as he went.

He trekked for a few minutes until he reached a cliff wall with a large gaping cavern heading into it. There were pillars carved out of either side giving it a rather mysterious and elegant look to the mouth of the cave. After a moment he sighed, What in this world have I gotten myself into… what is in this cave that I am supposed to find out… why… do I have that strange feeling again… He stood there for a long moment then shook his head, he then let out a defiant growl, he then started to walk forward into the cave, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground with every step.

Xierak continued venturing deeper into the cave, the stale humid air aggravating his nostrils. How long is it until I reach the center of this cave... He continued on, when for some reason a wave of emotion hit him like a wall making him read out and grab the cave wall with his claw. All of his memories were quickly cycling through his mind, His time at Blue Pegasus, when he first arrived at Eclipse Soul and almost tore down the Guild hall, his trek from the border destroying multiple guild halls in his wake, his many years as a slave to a monstrous man who resides in Sin, the time in Bellum which he had at first cherished and then feared, and along with that the many years as a pet to the very same man who had enslaved him all after his first memory waking to that man. Xierak was the forced down to a knee, from some unseen force clawing and prying in his mind, clawing at something it couldn't reach and Xierak couldn't feel, almost as if an entire portion of his mind was walled off.

After a moment this feeling ceased, and Xierak was left their kneeling in a state of cold sweat, "what was... That just now... That took alot out of me that sword better be worth it..." Xierak then got up and punched the wall of the cave, causing numerous cracks and fractures to form from the crater of the punch.

He then continued walking along the caves path, going through numerous earthen formations the grew more and more ancient the deeper he traversed into the cave. Xierak then noticed a brighter area up ahead and when he turned the corner he saw large circular cavern with an opening at the top where light was filtering through from outside. Xierak stood at the entrance of this new area of the cave being incredibly cautious, he felt like someone, or something else was here, yet he wasn't able to see or smell for that matter anything that was living within the cave.
Xierak then tool a step forward, his four toed feet spread to their widest, to give him the most stability. He then continued walking a few more feet until he reached the edge of the circle of light that was at the center of the cavern. He stood there for a long moment, at the edge of light and darkness, the large hulking figure stood there, listening intently, his orange eyes scanning the room, "some thing is off here...." Xierak then stepped forward into the shaft of light, however when he got to the center of it something happened.

A spasm of pain coursed through his body, originating from his head he grabbed in frustration when a second spasm of pain coursed through him, this one so sever it made him drop to one knee, "What... What is...." His iris's then started to thin and his spikes started to extend on their own, a low growl had started in his throat and slowly got louder... And more bestial... Xierak then let out a howl like roar and started to thrash around the area within the light shaft,

However,

As Chaotic as things were on the outside m, within his mind he had entered into a open state where visions of the past started to enter into his mind....

The first was of a bright sunny day of Running on top of a stone wall in a city, Normally one might find this enjoyable, however for the three feet tall beast child it was an exciting experience. For he had just managed to escape the combines of his magical cage on this Expedition to Bellum. The master is going to be furious, but I don't care, I am escaping from his clutches forever.

Xierak then leapt off the wall and into a nearby tree as a small scouting demon rounded the bend hunting for the little guy. Xierak however huddled against the trunk of the tree, keeping his breathing low and his magic signature even lower. The scouting demon stopped and turned back and forth trying to scan for Xierak but to no avail. Then there was the sound of voices about to round the corner which then made the demon jump a bit and then fly off quickly the opposite direction. At this Xierak nodded and carefully crawled over the branches to the opposite side of the tree, using his tail for balance and ignoring any pain coming from his bruises. He then spied another tree not to far from the one he was currently in, he then waited, making sure nothing was nearby. Once he was sure, he then tensed his already strong leg and arm muscles and then leapt the gap between the two trees with unusual speeds. He then landed on the branches them shaking unsteadily, Cursed this darn Weight I have gained, makes going undetected even harder… Xierak then gripped down hard on the trunk and branches and then briskly moved across the branches to the other side and spied another tree yet again. He bent down low and swayed his tail to the left, adjusting his balance ever so slightly. He then stood there for a moment making sure nothing was nearby to sense his presence or see his leap. Xierak then nodded and leapt across this next gap, what he viewed as another step towards freedom.

His foot managed to land on a branch of the next tree, followed shortly with his second foot, however that’s when everything went wrong. The branches Xierak had landed on gave way from his weight, and he then fell to the ground behind a few pushes with a loud crash in his wake.

A Noble woman was caught off guard from tending her own garden, She then quickly got up and outstretched both of her hands with sparks of electricity arcing off of them, “Come on out or else you will regret venturing into the grounds that I tend to!” Xierak was frozen in the spot, he knew he was spotted, and furthermore he knew exactly what was going to happen, Humans from Bellum treat non-human sentient creatures like wild game… he was going to be killed he was certain… “I said Come on out-… what the…?” At that moment a Scouting demon appeared above the wall and looked over the garden with his red eyes ablaze seeing it was spotted by a human, it roared and bared its fangs as it then dove at the woman, “Supreme Lightning Cannon!” Suddenly a large beam of electricity was shot from the womans hands and hit the demon head on, evaporating it. She then refocused her hands on the bush and said, “Come out or else you will be met with the same fate!” Xierak grunted as he shift his position into a kneeling stance, “Just save us both the trouble and end my existence right now woman… I am not worth such trouble…” The woman furrowed her brow and lowered her arms, “Who are you Young… Man…?” There was a long silence in that grounds for a moment, “I am nothing but a monster…”

The woman then dropped her hands and tilted her head inquisitively, “Are you certain? Is that what people call you or…” Xierak swallowed at these words and shifted uncomfortably causing the bush to rustle. “For if you were a Monster, I don’t think we would be talking still hm?” Xierak fumbled with his tongue a bit and then responded, “That’s what everyone… well all of your kind call me… oh wait I didn’t-“ At this fumbling of words the woman raised her eyebrow, “My Kind hmm? Come out young one, I will not harm you, I am one of the few who don’t hold the idea of hunting non-human sentients in high esteem here in Bellum, You are safe here with me, as long as you don’t attack me that is.” At this the woman laughed and then motioned for him to come out. After a long moment of hesitation Xierak finally crawled out from the cover of the bushes, his dark grey skin seemingly absorbing the light as it hit him, at this the womans eyebrows raised, “My my… you are most certainly unique aren’t you young one?....Can you use magic? And More importantly do you have a name?” Xierak quickly took cover in the shadow of a tree, “I… I… I am Called Xierak… as for my powers…” Xierak then gestured towards a set of lawn furniture and lifted his claw up a bit. The Gravity around them sudden reversed and they slowly levitated off the ground. The woman was elated and clasped her hands together, “Gravity Magic! And Such excellent control to! My goodness you are truly one of a kind, I wo-“ She was suddenly cut off when Xierak spoke up again, “Why are you not scared of me… or are trying to kill me…” At these words the womans faced softened and she turned to the young creature and elegantly walked over to him, and then she knelt down infront of him and extended out her right hand, “My name… is Elegantia… a Noble from a family who has heralded a long line of archmages… We Magi have seen many things and recorded them… and one thing we have learned…. When it comes to magic…. Keep an open mind and heart…” She then paused as she studied Xierak, “Xierak, Do not judge yourself by your appearance, or by what others tell you what you are, especially if it is negative, but judge who you are by what I judge you by, and what I see for who you truly are, for ones most truest identity is found in their heart and spirit…”

The next few days were divinely peaceful compared to his life, he was taught and given so much, however all of that came to an abrupt end when the Man who wasn’t Conquered by Sin, rather he was accepted into its dark confines, Volordara, the Man who works with demons, he sent a horde of demons to Eleganatia’s house and set it ablaze, killing her and her family in front of Xierak and then took him back to Sin after being dubbed a enemy of the state.

Suddenly Xierak was pulled back into the present however in a dimension and he couldn’t tell where he was, on one side was a mixture of light and darkness shap-shifting into familiar shapes, and the other… was a giant and massive wall… a dank, dark poisonous wall that seemed to have no end, it was built with bones of numerous species and had no entrance… “What lies on the other side of this wall?...” Suddenly he was pulled back into the cave.

He opened his eyes, and Xierak found himself on his knees, he was still in the shaft of light but the entire cave seemed like it was barely holding together from the massive damage from Xieraks rampage. “What…just…happened…?”

"Wow you really did a number on this cave." a voice said with a chuckle as a man garbed in black walked out of the shadows. He paused briefly and snapped his fingers generating several glowing orbs of light to illuminate the room. "Ayeseru asked me to give you the final bit of the test if you managed to get past this little cave test. See anything interesting in your head?" He shook his head. "Not important. Let's get this thing going shall we." With a flare of magic power the crumbling cave was blasted away revealing they were in a rather beautiful clearing with a white path going down it. Where this path had come from was not clear. However, it was there. "Follow this path and you'll find the sword that Ayeseru promised you."

-----------------
Simple enough just to a little post of you going to the sword down the path.




When you get to the sword you will find with it a stone pedestal with some debriefing terms on it. Feel free to fill these in yourself.

350 ish words ought to do it

Xierak jumped when a man appeared behind him, his smell be highly unfamiliar Xierak had let out a low growl and tensed his muscles and readied a varied array of spikes to shoot out at the slightest move, however he was caught off guard, when he blew up the cave and spoke what he did. Xierak et out a low deep growl and then nodded and followed the stark white path, his dark grey hide standing out like a sore thumb and his tail dragging behind him. In a few minutes Xierak arrived at the pedestal and saw the sword in its pedestal and saw another pedestal with the word debriefing on the top of it, Xierak sighed and extended out five spikes and started to chisel away at the rock, writing the report of his vision. The memory back in Bellum, in accurate detail, the joy and the sadness of that time, and the horror of Gloria being Killed right in front of his eyes, and then being carted away back to Sin… Xierak then paused for a moment, Should I include that…. Wall?... After a long moment he nodded and started to add detail into the report about the gigantic ominous wall that his vision had ended with, but he himself had absolutely no memory of.

After a moment he nodded and then stared at the pedestal, “it doesn’t do much good leaving it here…” Xierak then swiftly swung a spike at the column of the debriefing Pedestal and caught it in the spike, he then nodded. “And now for my prize…” Xierak then got up and grabbed the sword with his massive right hand and pulled it out of its pedestal and looked at the black blade. He could feel the immense magic power of the blade and was certain it would provide victories over many battles….

Crunch

Xierak then sat down with a giant thud as he had started to eat the sword, chewing the metal and swallowing, he then took another bite of the blade and continued to do so until the entire thing was completely devoured. Xierak then let out a burp, “That was a good snack…."

I'm pretty happy with this as it is.

So congrats on B rank hood