Raph woke up to find Clark, Oakenpaw, and their carriage gone. They had said last night they would be leaving very early, Raph was a little sad to see them leave but it was for the best. He left the workshop early and decided to find somewhere else to eat breakfast this morning, The Lucky Pony didn’t feel as welcoming after yesterday. Raph walked around and eventually decided to go over to the noble quarter where he remembered there were a few shops and the like near the library. Walking down the street with the high end shops on it Raph eventually caught sight of a cafe that looked a little out of place on this particular road, it was called the Trembling Cup. Walking inside Raph found it almost empty this early in the morning except for one lady who was just sitting down, having arrived just before him. Much to Raph’s surprise he knew here.

“Good morning Major.” Raph said as he walked over to her table. “May I?” He pointed at the seat across from her.

Major Raycraft looked up from her menu a little shocked that there was anyone else in the cafe at this time, then she recognised Raph from yesterday.

“Umm. Yes, go ahead.” She said a little surprised.

“Thank you.” Raph said, as he took the seat.

“I am technically off duty, so you don’t have to refer to me as Major.” Major Raycraft said.

“Oh, well then. Umm Ms. Raycraft?” Raph said unsure.

“Leah is fine.” Leah Raycraft said.

“Ah. Well Leah, it’s nice to see you again.” Raph said stiffly.

“Likewise.” She nodded.

The waitress came over to take their order, Leah was straight to the point. She ordered herself some sort of eggs and tea, Raph on the other hand still hadn’t got used to the food here.

“What do you recommend?” Raph asked.

“Well the Wyvern waffles are excellent.” The waitress said happily.

“Alright, I will have those and some tea.” Raph said without thinking.

The waitress had left when he realized what he’d just ordered.

“Wait, do those have actual wyvern in them?” Raph said a little too loud.

“Pfft.” Leah giggled at Raph’s outburst. “No, it’s just what they’re called. They’re for kids.”

“Ohh.” Raph said relieved, then his face scrunched up. “OH.”

“Anyway.” Raph began again. “Can I ask you something Leah?”

“Go ahead.” She said politely.

“Yesterday, you were with a man who was a Commander, yet you are only a Major. Why?” Raph asked.

“What do you mean why?” Leah was confused.

“Well, you are stronger than him.” Raph said, matter-of-factly.

Leah paused as Raph said this. She looked at him harder, Raph was getting uncomfortable from her stare.

“Uuhh. Leah?” Raph said.

“How can you know that?” She said rather impatiently.

“Let’s just say it’s a hunch.” Raph said.

They were then interrupted by the waitress who brought their food and drinks, including Raph’s waffles that were in the shape of a cartoon dragon.

“Oh nice.” Raph said as he saw the food.

“Hmmm.” Leah was still giving Raph a questioning look.

“Yes?” Raph answered unsure.

“Why can’t I see your class?” She finally said.

“Ah.” Raph said as he pretended to take out his Id from his pocket, then placed it on the table.

“Huh.” Leah said as she inspected the Id. “You don’t look like a Paladin.”

“What does a Paladin look like?” Raph was confused as he imagined some kind of holier than thou warrior within an army of angels.

“Raph.” Leah said, snapping him out of his Paladin fantasy.

“What?” He asked.

“Were you serious about joining the Shepherds?” Leah asked.

“I don’t know, maybe. I still have a lot to learn.” He saids seriously.

“Well Raph, you wouldn't know but I am second in command of the Shepherds . If you do well on the tests then it is a possibility.” She said.

“What!?” Raph exclaimed. “You’re second in command? Commander Whitlock, is he your boss?”

“No, he’s just there for the regular squads. He has no jurisdiction over me.” Leah explained.

“Oh right.” Raph paused. “Soo couldn’t you just like, accept me now?”

Leah was not amused by that comment. “No.” she said bluntly, “I like my job, and I want to keep it.”

“Right, right. Worth a try I guess. I’ll just have to destroy everyone else in the tests.” Raph said with a smile.

“You’re that confident?” She asked.

“Eh. Not really, but I'll give it a good go.” Raph said, set on his decision to try out for the special squads.

“Anyway.” Leah said as she stood up. “I have to get going, lots to do this morning. I will see you later.” Then she left.

Raph’s eyes followed her out, then it struck him.’She didn’t pay. Damn her,’

He finished his breakfast, paid for both meals and then made his way over to the area in front of the castle where the recruitment was happening. The tents were still there and the tables with the officers but he couldn’t see Leah or Commander Whitlock anywhere. Walking over to one of the desks he asked the officer:

“So, I heard that there’s some test for the special squads. How do I sign up for that?” Raph asked him.

“The advanced test sign-up is this one,” he said as he handed Raph a form to fill out.

Raph glanced over the paperwork he was given, it was a contract basically waiving the right to press charges if you were injured during the test. He filled it in and signed at the bottom then passed it back to the officer. The officer checked it over and then told him to go over to the far side where a group of a hundred or so were waiting. He found a spot next to a shorter guy maybe a few years older than him, he was muscly, tanned and had dark brown hair.

“Hey,” Raph said, “Any idea what these tests are about?”

“I’ve got no idea.” The guy said.

“I'm Raph by the way.” Raph said as he offered his hand out.

“Carter.” He said as he shook Raph’s hand.

As they were talking a rather stern looking man in an officer's uniform began shouting over them.

“QUIET.” The man shouted.

“My name is Sergeant Ellis and you are to address me with: sir, yes sir.” Sergeant Ellis said.

He was met with the mumbling of a crowd.

“IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!” He screamed.

“Sir, yes sir!” The crowd replied, mostly in unison.

‘Pretty typical stuff so far.’ Raph thought as he went along with whatever the sergeant was planning.

Identify

Sgt. ??? Ellis -- Infiltrator Lv. 107

‘Ok, Infiltrator. That sounds neat.’

“Alright you worms, on your feet! We’re starting this off with a run.” As Sergeant Ellis spoke he began to jog on the spot. After a minute or so when everyone had clocked on to what was happening he set off towards the outer wall of the city at the north side.

“Up, up, up.” The sergeant shouted as they ran. “Legs up!”

Raph was keeping up quite happily with the current pace but he noticed a few people that weren’t so content, there was one group in particular that were very well dressed. The Noble group seemed wholly unprepared for this and were lagging behind.

“If you can’t keep up, you fail.” Sergeant Ellis shouted.

Sergeant Ellis took them along the north side of the wall then all the way to the front of the city, then they began heading south down the main stretch of the city limits. By this point a few of them had already dropped off, including the noble bunch who were lagging from the start. Carter looked to be keeping up pretty easily, so Raph decided to take a look at him.

Identify

Carter ??? -- Shieldbearer Lv.55

‘So I'm guessing high endurance as well.’

They continued running for much longer than Raph anticipated, not that it affected him with his massive stamina and endurance stats. They ran all the way down the front wall of the city, through the river, down to the slums near Raph’s old room, along the coast, through the docks, then a separate lap in the main city, and finally back to where they began. All in it took around two hours at a fast pace, only around half of the pack had kept up including Carter.

“Ok worms, you get five minutes then we start the next exercise!” Sergeant Ellis shouted, it didn’t even look like he’d broken a sweat.

Raph was fine so he just stood around and got a good look at the people who had managed to get through the first part. Overall the group was just above fifty, there were a few exceptions, one man was near seventy but that was the highest.

“That’s five minutes!” Ellis shouted as he led the group over to some sort of contraption that Raph couldn’t quite understand. It was around the size of him and made from metal with a leather target in the middle, one of the officers was standing beside it looking at the side of it.

“The next test is one of strength. To start you will need to be able to lift 500kg, next you will need to average a punch weight of 1000kg that is what the machine here is for.” Ellis explained.

“Now line up!” He shouted.

Everyone began to line up next to a large selection of weights that ranged from 100kg up to 1000kg and started taking turns lifting the heaviest possible.

‘It only goes up to 1000kg? That’s a shame, I would have liked to see what I can lift.’ Raph thought as he stood in line. Most of the people in front of him could lift 500kg, so far only one man was dismissed. It wasn’t long until it was his turn.

“Raphael Smith?” Ellis said as he was looking at Raph’s contract when he walked up to the weights.

“Proceed.” Ellis gave him the go ahead.

Raph didn’t want to hang around so he walked straight up to the 500kg weight and used one hand to lift it easily, he moved it above his head and then set it down silently.

Ellis looked on at Raph, his eye twitching at the sight of someone lifting the weight with ease and grace. He coughed once and grumbled. “Pass, go to the punch test.”

Raph walked over to the punch test and got in line, they were waiting for Ellis to be done with judging the weight lifting before they could begin.

‘Maybe I should have lifted the 1000kg weight?’ Raph thought to himself. ‘Would that have given me better chances? I could have launched it into the air…’ Raph’s musings were cut short, and the punch test began. There were a couple more that got dismissed before Raph was up again to punch.

“Raphael Smith.” Ellis said solemnly, clearly expecting something.

“Sir, I have a question!” Raph said promptly.

“What is it?” Ellis said sternly.

“Sir, how much force can the machine take, sir?” He asked.

“Don’t worry, you can’t break it.” Ellis said, and left it at that.

‘Ok then.’ Raph thought as he walked up to the machine. ‘Don’t break it.’

He drew his right arm back and dropped into a rudimentary stance, he decided to put a little more than half of his strength into the punch, just in case.

BANG.

Raph shook his hand, a little sore from the impact. The officer that was in charge of the machine walked over to Ellis and said something in a hush voice that made the Sergeant’s eye twice again.

“Pass, stand to the side.” Ellis said.

“Sir, how heavy was my punch?” Raph asked.

Ellis was clearly losing patience, but he managed a mumble. “2146kg.”

Raph froze. ‘Woah, that’s… more than I thought.’ He scratched the back of his head and walked over to the side where he saw Carter had also passed.

“Hey Raph, how’d you do?” Carter asked.

“Oh, you know. I just passed.” Raph said sheepishly.

“Ahh well, don’t let it get you down. I managed 1530kg with my best strike.” He said proudly.

“Good for you.” Raph added.

It was ten or so minutes before they finished the second test, and another five were dismissed.

“Maggots! Your final test is nigh.” Ellis smiled, which was concerning.

“Unarmed combat.” He said, smile growing wider.

‘Ah, of course.’ Raph thought as he watched the sergeant.

Ellis led the group around the corner to a large open park-like area with ten circles a few metres wide set out on it. Inside the circles were army officers, not wearing dress uniforms, this time they wore combat gear.

Raph thought it best if he got an idea of who he was going to be dealing with, so he could plan accordingly.

Identify.

??? -- Fencer Lv.82

??? -- Pathfinder Lv.90

??? -- Pugilist Lv.85

‘Aren’t they a little bit too strong?’ He himself could probably defeat them with his hammers but he wasn’t exactly average in this group.

“Alright, the aim of the challenge is to survive two minutes in the ring with your opponent.” Ellis explained with a hint of pity in his voice.

“Sir! I have a question, sir!” One of the other candidates raised his hand.

“Go ahead.” Ellis nodded.

“Sir! Can we use skills, sir?” He asked.

“Go for it, It won’t make any difference anyway.” Ellis laughed.

‘It won’t make any difference?’ Raph thought. ‘But they’re not that many levels above, are they that strong?’