Scene 1 - The Armory

Saren awoke surrounded by books, covered by a thick quilted blanket. A piece of paper attached to his face blocked his vision. Annoyed at his sibling’s passive-aggressiveness, Saren ripped the note off of his face and read, “Big bro, come downstairs to eat when you wake up!”

Chuckling, Saren escaped his tomb of books and stretched out his sore body, ‘Why do they keep putting notes on me when I sleep in the library? Can’t they just wake me up or carry me to our room? Not my fault that my brain won’t shut off when learning.’

Fixing his robe to appear presentable, Saren walked out of the library to be greeted by Skinny, who had been standing outside to receive him for an unknown amount of time, “Hey senior-apprentice brother Skinny. What time is it?”

Skinny gave a faint smile, “It’s not that late in the day. You’ll make it in time for lunch if we move quickly.”

The black robed Skinny led Saren down the hall towards the dining room where Saren's siblings had been waiting for him. Master Mo and his daughter Marley were also seated at the table, and when Saren arrived they were in the middle of telling wondrous tales to the children.

Saren walked in quietly and sat by Ren, expecting to be yelled at by Master Mo for being late only to be greeted with a warm smile from his Master, “Ah, Saren. Since you're all here now, I’ll tell you the practical training I have assigned for you all these next few days.”

Master Mo waited until he had everyone's attention before he began to speak, “To solidify your cultivation bases, it needs to be in the purest possible state before you break though. Therefore we shall temper you nine through trials. You will be fighting against golems I personally created. We will begin the test in four hours. Any questions?”

Xue spoke up, her eyes glittering with a strange light, “What weapons will we be using?”

Sol enthusiastically chimed in, “Thank you Master Mo for this chance to test my strength!”

Marley smiled,“I’m quite interested in the weapons the nine of you will choose. After our meal, I'll take you to the armory.”

While the siblings eagerly talked about their upcoming trial, Saren and Len were wondering what weapon they should pick. Saren and Len were thoughtfully thinking about what to use in the fight.

Saren’s thoughts went wild, his normally calm brown eyes taking on a deadly feeling for only an instant, ‘It’s been awhile since I let loose... I hope these things called Golems will give me a good fight.’

Smiling to himself he remembered how his adoptive Mother had found him fighting against three wild dogs for a slab of meat. He had been bitten all over his body, but with a crazed glint in his eyes, he had beaten the dogs to death with a stone.

His mother and his siblings included could only imagine what his life was like before she found him. Thinking of the past caused him to recall how Ren's constant lectures had helped Saren tame his wild nature and sharpen his wordplay. Yet even with all the help Ren and the rest had given him, Saren knew his mindset was always that of a predator treading the thin line between human and beast.

Master Mo had supplied him with a library full of books, but his calculative nature had easily swallowed the knowledge like a vast desert being moistened by a single drop of water. One library would never be enough.

After filling their bellies, the nine followed after Master Mo and Marley and entered a wing on the third floor. Various weapons filled the walls, giving off a unique energy that made the nine gasp in amazement.

Master Mo wore a smile upon his face, “Choose wisely, this decision it is very important for your future growth.”

The nine spread out and started looking through the vast amount of weapons. Saren went down to one of the rooms and found it was filled with tens of thousands of knives. For a long while Saren shifted through the room, but eventually, he picked up two tattered knives.

They were clearly old, their sheaths covered in a thick layer of dust, but something about these two knives had drawn Saren to them. In fact, when he tried to pick up any other blade, these two knives had cried out fiercely, like angry children.

Intrigued by the situation, he went into the other halls to see if he felt anything else call out to him. In one of the rooms, he saw Xue holding a giant black and gold hammer covered in tribal marks, her eyes shining in a way that made him unconsciously back away.

The giant hammer made his blades seem dull in comparison, but he shook his head and moved on as nothing there called out to him.

Saren visited the sword section next, only to see Ren fawning over a purple, green and black longsword half his size. Saren warily backed out slowly as Ren was caressing the sword and whispering sweet nothings to it.

Finally, he entered the bow section and was delighted to find something that spoke to him, or rather outright called for him as it immediately shot straight towards him.

Saren was stunned and stared stupidly at the bow in awe. It was unadorned with the exception of a tear on the top side. The rest of it was completely black, to point that light seemed to sink into it only to vanish without a trace, its curves were smooth and slender, and a blood red string connected its two sides.

Without thinking much about it Saren grabbed hold of the bow. A thunderous yell instantly filled his head, as if a divine dragon had descended upon the mortal world only to whisper to him the bow's true name, “>>God Slayer, Night Thorn.”

With a bow and two blades in hand, Saren felt he didn’t need any other weapon. He walked out and waited next to Master Mo and Marley. The two seemed unfazed by his choices, but inside their minds were reeling with shock! Saren walked out and waited by Master Mo and Marley Mo who kept the composure, but inside they were thoroughly shocked with mind reeling!

‘How could he have pulled out a God Slayer weapon?!’