Walking further into the guild I realise I am inside the building next to it. A herbalist and greengrocer if I was not mistaken. He probably benefits greatly from the rare or unusual plants brought back from the forest by rangers wanting to earn a small amount on the side. As I approach the room I was assigned I hear some small sobs through the door. This was it I would meet my first companion or competition. Taking a deep breath, I open the door.

On the other side, I see a man who is obviously no ranger. He looks more like a mating bird in their brightest plumage. If he weren’t here I would never have expected him to be taking the test. I may as well talk to him. Looks can be deceiving after all. “Hi” I say quietly, feeling a little nervous. He looks up, wiping the tears from his eyes. “will you talk to me?” he asks in a pleading voice. “ok.” I reply.

After that he bursts into a rendition of his life story. As it turns out, looks weren’t deceiving. The man was the unwanted third son of a merchant and liked to think of himself as a poet, actor and playwright. He was not bad at it. It was just he had little to no support in those endeavours. In the end his father had forced him into trying other paths of life, none he had shown any talent or enthusiasm for, so here he was. As it turns out, he found rangers gave little in the way of conversation and he had been there for a week, so he was bored to literal tears. I enjoyed the conversation. He was witty and likeable, adding additional emotion and drama to spice up even the most boring parts of the story and tales the most mundane occasions. I also found it fascinating. I had no idea that merchants and nobles were so complex. I had never even heard of a promotion ball or knighting ceremony but now I wanted to visit one, just for the experience.

“So that is the story of Macias (may-see-ass)!” he exclaims finally, giving a quick bow. “what about you?”

“My life is pretty simple.” I begin. “I grew up in a cabin deep in the great eastern forest. We lived off the land and I was trained as a ranger by my parents. We had a few rough times and a few interesting ones, but mostly it was just a constant repetition of the routine.”

“what!” he shouted seeming shocked “I heard it was impossible to live in the great eastern forest and that even this close is dangerous. Tell. Me. Everything.” His voice was taking on the screeching quality I had learned to associate with excitement so I decided to tell him more. We talked until almost an hour after nightfall before going to sleep and I made sure to set a trap or two, as well as a cordon of arrows linked to a few scattered stones. I hadn’t forgotten the thin man’s warning as I fell asleep.

BANG! “SCUP!” a man’s voice echoes through the room, jolting me from sleep. The man had called out one of the worse swearwords that I am aware of. It seems he didn’t like the traps I had set. I see him dangling at the foot of my bed, a wooden knife is on the floor and he is covered in both red marks from the stones as well as water that was leaking from the big hide water bottle on his waste.

Macias was shuffling around, slowly entering wakefulness whilst I was already up and armed with the knife in my boot. I got dressed quickly and walked up to the man. “What were you doing here?” I asked him. “This was the first test.” He replied. “And you are the only pair I can say have passed with a top score the first time around, in all my memory. Now let me down. I must give the others a prank and jab. That is, if they don’t wake up or, set traps like you did.” I untie his ankles and look closer at the man. He was old, but not so much that you could not see his youth. His eyes, in particular held a mischievous glint. His clothes held quite a few pockets and hooks. The equipment contained in them made me realise the consequences that failing the test would have been unpleasant to say the least. “Go and continue your testing” I told him.

“Good,” he replied. “Go to the breakfast hall in ten minutes. Any later and you will have forfeited the trials. You only have to succeed in two more of these and the final trial to pass now. This may give you an edge against those other first timers. Good luck!”

I am already up, dressed and ready to go but my new friend is still asleep in those ridiculously thin clothes he insisted on sleeping in. I shake him awake violently and tell him with urgency “get dressed and out of the room immediately because we need to get down stairs in 10 minutes!” I found it amazing what that man did with those ten minutes. He got dressed in his ridiculous clothes, styled his hair, washed his hands and face and still found time to neatly reorganise his bag before leaving and appearing with me in the hall just on time.

Another group consisting of two obvious city people. Approaches the room not 20 seconds after us. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!” shouts the ranger in charge of the next trial. Despite his huge muscle bound body and voice the man moves with an unnatural grace and silence. He seems to be just as skilled as the one that got past the door traps in our room but of a very different personality. “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE 15 SECONDS AGO! BOTH OF YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED AND ARE TO LEAVE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” The two scramble away towards the exit. They both look a little ashamed.

“AS FOR THE REST OF YOU!” the ranger continues. “YOU ALL MAY HAVE PASSED THE LAST TEST OR FAILED IT” his eyes fall on those who are manically scratching and wet around the groin “BUT ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! TAKE PRETTY BOY HERE! LOOKS LIKE HE HAD A MAKEOVER AND CATNAP IN THE TIME YOU WERE SCRAMBLING OUT OF BED! AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THE NEW BOY WAS RUNNING ALL DAY YESTERDAY AND STILL TURNED UP MORE PERKY THAN YOU LAYABOUTS!” this is bad. It is never good to have an instructor like you especially when others are irritable like now. Even my minimal interactions with humanity has taught me that. I noticed at least a few glares in my direction.

“NOW, YOUR NEXT TEST WILL BE TO MAKE BREAKFAST TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE DAY! BEHIND ME ARE YOUR INGREDIENTS! TO PASS, THE MEAL MUST BE EDIBLE AND FILLING! BUT I EXPECT GORMET WITH ENOUGH LEFT OVER FOR ME!” he pauses. “WELL! YOUR INGREDIENTS ARE ON THE TABLE! BEGIN!” with that the everyone starts towards the table. There is a small fight over some of the simpler ingredients as there is not nearly enough of them for even a quarter of us. I have now finally realised what Camron was talking about yesterday. Only a few showed any talent as a ranger by the wat they moved or acted. I also noticed that among the simple layout of the test in a bare room filled with ample firewood, cooking utensils and pits alongside a single table stacked with plants and foods there was a lot of well-planned complications. Immediately I noticed that a few of the ingredients were those that contained weak poisons and horrible tastes. No one would die, but some may end up with stomach cramps later or an inedible meal now. It was no accident that this test was one of the first.

I approach the already looted table and pick up all I would need for a decent stew. It would not be as good as my dad’s but it should be respectable enough to complete the challenge with reasonable merit. Turning back to the room I notice that all the fires had been taken so I head towards the only one who looks willing to share. Macias. As I come closer I see he is just about to light his fire. Something is wrong with the wood though. I stop his hand and whisper forcefully “that’s oleander. It produces poisonous smoke if burnt.” I then switch the offending log with a more innocent counterpart. This was no simple task. “Thanks,” he responds. I grab a cooking pot and knife then we begin to cook.

As it turns out he was far better at this than me. He claims it is because he had just been kicked out of the apprentice position in the lord’s kitchen for insubordination and idling before this. I passed. My stew was certainly edible, healthy and filling but Macias aced the test. He is not even close to being called a ranger but is doing better than me so far. I secretly hoped that wasn’t the case by the end. Only five of the 24 participants failed and only one had failed so badly he had to leave. Two more had failed both tests so were also out. However, I expect that the last two and some successful cooks would be suffering the effects of sub-par cooking and oleander smoke as the day went on.

The third trial is one of stealth. We were guided through a door and down a rope ladder to the outside of the city to a small farm. From distant shouted instructions, we had to get a scroll each from the farmhouse in the centre of the field, without being caught and move it back to the wall. If we were tagged or did not get the scroll we would fail. I had done this type of training with my parents many times. I should be able to succeed.

Crouching in the tall grass I stalk towards the structure, staying low and silent. Almost everyone else had gone for the same approach but without any precision or real stealth. Suddenly one of the noisiest ones cry out and stand up straight above the grass. He was clearly caught. The instructor was in the grass with us. It was then I noticed Macias. He is casually walking along the path ignoring all pretence of stealth. I could tell from his confident posture that he had come up with a plan but I thought this was a stealth game so I couldn’t think what his plan may be. By the time I got close to the house a nice line of over half the competitors were out. Not Macias though. He had turned and is still just strolling casually down the path towards the house. The grass had become far quieter now.

Looking at the house I thought about how I could get inside unnoticed. There was a chimney, a door and two open shutters as the obvious points of entry. From peering through the shutters, I notice the two rooms inside. One contains a bed and the other a fire and some chairs. I know there to be a third room because there is a spare door and space unaccounted for. There is also someone inside the house just out of sight.

The first brave soul crept towards the house. He was accompanied by another. They had passed both other tests and looked like they knew what to expect. Nodding to each other they simultaneously began to climb through the shutters. One of the two with black hair and simple clothing immediately dashed away, chased by an angry looking old woman. Despite her age and small stature, she was fast; faster than the young man anyway. He was caught. Meanwhile, the other was on his way back out, cloaked in green and hidden by the grass with a scroll in hand. He had succeeded. I see the woman return and realise that the person in the grass is no longer a threat. It is time to make my own move. I creep around the house to the back and climb up onto the roof. I position myself in a place where I can quickly enter any of the entrances if needed. I would wait for my chance. Seeing the previous success another group tries the same but the woman is closer to the window this time and tags the first boy immediately with the second leaving through the door with an embarrassed expression. There should be about 6 left in the grass and Macias.

Macias is the one to make the next move. He knocks politely on the door and is answered by the old woman. I hold my breath thinking he would be caught but he isn’t. “hello dear,” the woman begins holding out her hand for a more eastern handshake. “Good morning. Sorry, but it would be disrespectful to shake the hand of my elder” Macias responds holding out one of the filled buns he had made that morning. I said that his cooking was incredible. “please have this. You look like you haven’t eaten this morning” he speaks with a bow. Soon the old woman and clearly ex-ranger ushers him in. He had not been touched yet so he was still in the game and they had given me my opportunity.

I crept down off the roof and through the bed room window. The sounds of conversation masking the minute creak of my weight shifting between floorboards. I quickly moved into the final room. Inside there was a single desk and chair. The desk was covered in scrolls. Which one should I take, I thought to myself. The scrolls were all marked with insignia that varied from one to another and a few were labelled. Sifting through them I found most were boring personal letters but one or two seemed important. Suddenly one caught my eye. It was among some messages sent to the cities crier. A letter with two crests upon it. One of the king and the other of Faireblot academy. Another smaller scroll, slipped out of it. It had the same insignia and was labelled “To give as proof of recommendation.” It was addressed to the lord.

Brimming with excitement he grabbed the two. One on display and the other tucked deep inside his safest pouch.