Starlight Necromancer

Octer and Lynol finished signing the Martial Alliance\'s documents, and were soon led into a large open room. Compared to the rest of the building, it was rather empty here, which was a nice change of pace.

"So, now, we want to test out your guys\' strength." The employee that was guiding them around said casually, "It\'s nothing big, we just need to make sure you can actually handle yourselves. We can\'t have random, regular people sign up with us. You get how it is, right?"

"Right. It\'s a normal test. So how does this work here? Are we simply showing off our martial skills, or do we have to fight someone?" Lynol asked, and the employee grinned broadly, as if he was already excited for what he was going to see soon, "You\'re going to have to fight someone. You know, you\'re hella lucky. You can fight one of the alliance grandmasters."

"...Doesn\'t everyone do that? So we wouldn\'t really be lucky." Octer pointed out, and the employee scoffed, "Not you, big guy. You\'re just getting one of our regular trainers. You\'re a shield bearer anyway, so your test isn\'t going to be a proper fight. But you, red. You\'re the lucky one." The employee explained, but before he could say anything more, Lynol and Octer were already too annoyed to keep listening to him. He didn\'t make any attempts at being actually helpful and professional, so the two of them didn\'t want to treat him as a proper employee either.

Either way, it didn\'t take long for both of them to realize why exactly everyone had been staring at Lynol like that. They recognized him from somewhere. Well, not him specifically, but rather his race. Out of the door on the other side of the room stepped a tall, muscular man. His hands were covered in thick rock-like formations, creating something like gauntlets. The two horns on his forehead stuck out through his thick, long burgundy colored hair. The color of his skin as well, was the same as Lynol\'s, even if maybe a bit darker. Or maybe it was correct to say that Lynol was pale compared to this man. It was another Lesser Lorgran.

As Lynol and this fellow member of his race looked at each other, they both couldn\'t believe their eyes. But immediately, they felt a sort of excitement, as if they had just met their long-lost brother.

"Heh... there aren\'t many of us around here." The other Lorgran said, and Lynol nodded his head without a moment\'s hesitation, "I noticed that too. How long have you been here?"

"Five, maybe six years. If you\'re here to sign up, that means you just got here?"

"About a week ago, yes." Lynol replied immediately, and the man in front of him slowly stretched his rock-covered hand forward, trying to shake Lynol\'s, "The name\'s Liam."

"Lynol." He replied, before Liam looked down at the hands of the man in front of him, "Haven\'t achieved the higher level of the teachings yet, huh? I\'d hoped that I\'d be able to have a good fight for once."

"About that." Lynol said, slowly walking over to the wall, where a bunch of different weapons for training were hung. He walked over to one of the largest swords, one that was even larger than he himself, and slowly took it from the wall. Casually, he swung the sword around as if it was nothing to him. In that moment, Liam\'s excited smile disappeared without a trace that it even existed, "A swordsman? You\'re a fuckin\' swordsman?"

"I am." Lynol replied, already knowing where this was going. Liam ground his teeth together annoyed, "How dare you? You are practically spitting on your existence as a proud Lorgran!"

Now, Lynol was the one that was insulted, "Proud? What do you mean, \'proud\'? The only reason we exist is to be slaves. I reject such an existence." He replied without hesitation. Liam yelled out, "Then overcome the boundaries given to us! But don\'t throw everything away!"

Lynol ground his teeth. It\'s been a while since he\'s felt this way, "For a moment, I thought this might be some sort of trick. But no, you really are a Lorgran. At least you sound like everyone else back there."

"I\'ll teach you to speak about your own in disrespect like that!" Liam yelled out, slamming his fists together. The moment that the two masses of rock hit each other, a loud sound echoed out, sounding as if the earth was ripping apart right in front of everyone.

With slow, heavy steps, Liam was now steadily approaching Lynol. He, on the other hand, readily held the sword in his hands, prepared to fight against this man that was clearly much stronger than him. Lynol ran forward until he was in range, before stopping and sliding his feet over the ground, pushing his own momentum completely into the sword while leaning into the opposite direction to counteract the weight.

The sword swung at Liam, but the martial artist simply raised his hand and caught the attack. Lynol\'s attacks were rather fast despite the heavy sword he was using, but even though Liam was lacking any sort of speed, he still managed to catch the attack easily. And the rocks covering his hands didn\'t even crack.

"...You\'ve reached the seventh level..?" Lynol asked, as Liam ground his teeth as he swung his arm to the side, pushing the blade away, "Seventh? I\'m at the ninth." 

Lynol stared at the man in front of him, and took a few cautious steps back, "Ninth..? You\'re... an elder?"

"I would be, if I hadn\'t left that place. But what do you care? You\'re nothing but a child who threw away everything!"

Lynol glared back at the man in front of him, who continued steadily approaching him. A ninth level grandmaster wasn\'t someone that he could face. Lynol barely just entered the road of the swordsman, there was no way that he could win this. But even so, faced with this impossible challenge, he couldn\'t help but feel excited about it.

Once more, he pushed his whole body forward, slashing at Liam\'s body, but he simply tried to swat the blade away. And right before his eyes, the sword changed its trajectory. Instead of aiming at his body vertically, Lynol swung the blade in a triangle form and soon slashed at him horizontally. Liam reacted. The blade was already slightly buried into his flesh by the time he managed to grab it, stopping it in an instant.

"How did you-"

"Just because I\'m not using those martial arts doesn\'t mean I never used them." Lynol pointed out, slightly glancing at the scars that covered his hands all over. Liam realized that they were not from battle, but rather, from something else.

"You tore them off? Why would you-"

"Because, as you said, I reject my existence. I\'m not going to play along with the rules of the ones that simply submit to others without a fight." Lynol said, angrily, "I\'m walking my own path now."

Liam slowly pulled the blade out of his body, and once more pushed it away. But instead of engaging in further battle, he turned around, pressing onto the wound on the side of his body to slow down the bleeding, "You\'ve passed, obviously." He said emotionlessly. Lynol stared at the back of his fellow Lorgran, letting go of the handle of the borrowed sword in overwhelming anger. Octer quickly approached him, trying to help him calm down, while an employee ran up to Liam to help treat his wound.

"How did that happen? You\'ve never been injured by a rookie like that." The employee pointed out, following Liam as he left the room. Slowly, he turned around, looking at Lynol leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, emotionally overwhelmed, "That kid... we should make sure to watch him. He\'s a prodigy. But rather than pursue his talent, he follows his passion. Someone like that might be worth keeping an eye on, no matter how much he infuriates me."

"Eh?" The employee let out, "You sure you\'re not saying that \'cause you\'re being sentimental?"

With a scoff, Liam shook his head, "When have I ever been sentimental in that way? Now shut up and get me treated."

"...Right away, Sir.." The employee said, quickly rushing off to go get one of the in-house healers, while Liam lingered slightly behind, still staring at Lynol through the hallway.