2 Trial

On the vibrant green planet Latis, an immense forest could be seen expanding across over half of its massive surface. No ocean could be found on this planet, but a massive river stretched around the planets equator like a blue belt.

In the distance, a yellow star basked the planet in its warm radiance.

From behind one of the many Latis moons, a jet black spaceship could be seen moving through space. The metallic surface of the ship seemed to slightly ripple as the light from the system's star bent around it. The rippling of the light waves began to distort space more and more until finally, the spaceship seemed to punch through a piece of fabric and move beneath its surface.

The rippling waves flew towards the planet Latis at an astonishing speed before submerging beneath the fabric like a shark and disappearing beneath the waves altogether.

______

Ancestral Forest, Planet Latis.

Gaelin Reynan was awoken by his father early in the morning.

"Come on son you're going to be late."

Gaelin rolled out of the bed groggily.

"Here is your uniform. Quickly get ready, we will set out on the trial hunt very soon. You must make yourself stand out if you want to be an elite ranger like your mother and I."

Gaelin nodded and took the green uniform from his father with a grin. It could be seen that he was really excited about today.

Gaelin's father, Vaeril Reynan, placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"I don't need to remind you of the importance of this ceremony, but I will anyway. The harvest collected by each young wood elf will be used to determine the career they are assigned within the dynasty. Even if you get a good position this time, every wood elf is required to enter retrial every five years so that they can reaffirm their position, but this is also good because if you fail you can redeem yourself later. Do you understand?"

Gaelin nodded, "I will live up to your expectations, father."

"Very good. Now get ready and meet me outside."

A few minutes later Gaelin emerged from his room and headed outside to meet his father. Gaelin's family lived in a complex community of treehouses, and the only way to leave or enter these treehouses was via a thick vine reinforced with nature magic.

With practiced ease, Gaelin extended his hand and a vine magically moved to enter his grasp, and then he jumped from the treehouse, which was over a hundred feet in the air. A fall from this height would probably kill him, or at the least, severely injure him. However, wood elves were well-known for their agility and dexterity, on top of that, they were extremely comfortable when dealing with nature.

As Gaelin descended the vine, he caught sight of his fathers long golden hair, he was waiting for him at the base of the tree. He landed smoothly on the ground and turned to his father.

"The clothes of a ranger fit you well. After today, you'll be swarmed by beautiful young ladies just like your old man! Just make sure you choose a wife who gives you a lot of freedom!" After saying so, Vaeril patted Gaelin's back and laughed.

Suddenly, Vaeril felt a penetrating gaze on his back and his survival instincts, honed from years of combat, kicked in. He swiftly turned around prepared to engage in mortal combat only to see his lovely wife walking towards him.

'Why is she here already? Surely Lensa didn't hear what I said just now...' Vaeril thought.

"Yes, I heard what you said."

'Dammit!'

"Do you think my long pointed ears are only for decoration?"

Seeing the two about to quarrel, Gaelin couldn't help but sigh. Apparently, something happened between his parents when they were younger which frequently created turmoil between them.

"Cough, cough. Father, there will be plenty of time for you to make it up to mom later, but right now we need to go." Somehow Gaelin ended up being the one who needed to manage them.

Lensa gave Vaeril a mysterious look before walking up to Gaelin and giving him a hug. Being hugged by his beautiful mother, Gaelin couldn't help but blush, he found it quite embarrassing how she still doted on him like he was a child in public.

"You are right, Gaelin. We can just leave this perverted guy here, lets go."

Then, she took Gaelin's hand and walked away with him.

Meanwhile, Vaeril was still in a daze.

He knew the look Lensa gave him all too well, whenever that look appeared he was bound to suffer, but there was nothing he could do about it. He thought about seeking help from his friends, as a victim of domestic abuse, but he knew he would become a laughing stock if he did so. Right now, he could only hope his son came back home soon so that he wouldn't have to suffer very long.

Suddenly, he realized that the duo was about to leave his sight so he quickly hurried after them.

___________

Soon the trio reached their destination.

Before Gaelin was a large crowd of wood elves. Most of the elves sported golden hair, which was common among their race, but brown and silver hair could also be seen, among other colors.

It was uncommon to see so many wood elves in one place, as his people preferred to live in small communities of around fifty families. As a result, the wood elf civilization was vastly spread out across the Ancestral Forest.

"Most of these elves must be the family of the trial challengers," Gaelin said.

"Yes, many elves participate in the trial every five years, but the number has never exceeded two hundred. This is because many trials are held across the Ancestral Forest at the same time and our community is still rather small. Even so, the Ancestral Forest's size is more than sufficient to accommodate the massive influx of challengers," Lensa explained.

Of course, Lensa didn't need to mention that their community, Vestea, was also extremely close to the border of the wood elven territory. As a result, many elves preferred to live in the safer regions near the center of the territory.

Gaelin looked around at the other trial challengers and found that many others were sizing him up as well. Most of the people here he recognized, but didn't personally know. So, he ignored the gazes cast on him. He didn't think any of them would interfere with his plans.

After a while, his parents wished him good luck and went to the spectator section.

Gaelin decided to kill the last few minutes by mentally evaluating the route he would take when the trial started. After all, everyone would be competing for resources on this hunt and it was important that each hunter have several predetermined routes memorized. Otherwise, getting lost in the forest was a real possibility because aside from key landmarks, the forest was a living organism that could move.

A few minutes later, loud drum beats signaled that the participants should gather in the center of the field so that the overseers could go over the rules.

As Gaelin was entering the crowd he felt someone tap his shoulder from behind.

Turning he saw a familiar figure, it was a girl about his age, who he had known for years and could be called his closest friend because they had experienced many dangerous adventures in the forest together. She had long silver hair, which was now braided into a single thick braid that hung down to her rear.

The young girl gave a bright smile and said, "Hi Gaelin, I'm glad I found you before the hunt began. The ranger outfit fits you quite well, hehe."

Scratching his head Gaelin replied, "Thanks Selussa, your ranger uniform fits you t-" the words stuck in his throat as his eyes moved to her chest. He suddenly felt sorry for the uniform as it was clearly struggling to contain her.

Seeing his expression Selussa couldn't help but laugh.

"I know what you want to say. I went to get a size that fit properly, but the lady said they were out of uniforms. What a coincidence, right?"

She had a bright smile on her face, but Gaelin understood her personality very well and knew the story wasn't so simple.

He knew that being too outstanding could draw unwanted trouble and Selussa was a prime example. She was actually incredibly intelligent, she only acted innocent and naive to trick people into a false sense of security.

"Don't worry. It won't hinder my performance. When I get out into the wilderness I will just hunt in the nude."

She gave a mischievous laugh and peeked at Gaelin from the corner of her eyes.

"No, you can't do that!"

"Relax, I'm just joking!" Selussa said as she hid her smile behind her hand.

The pair intended to continue their conversation but at this moment they were interrupted by an amplified voice.

"Participants listen closely! We are about to go over the rules. Any violation of the rules during the trial will result in an immediate forfeit!"