47 Trial of the trail.

'Nothing out of place.'

Verum had appeared in a forest, it was peak noon, and the temperature was between 32 to 34 degrees Celsius, from what he could feel.

'My chestplate is gone, and so are my boots, spear and throwing knives. The only weapon I have is this katana.' He was now dressed in brown clothes, with wooden sandals. 'I should get moving now.' He jumped onto a tree, and started navigating through the forest.

His target was a boar, a boar who was of the color blue to distinguish it from it's surroundings, and his hunters were lions, frost lions, with white fur and a blue mane.

There was nothing for the first minute, but then he heard a sound when surveying his surroundings, a sound that seemed like it was caused by something snapping a branch. He did not know whether it was good, or if it was bad for him.

He crept closer to the sound, and eventually reached the place where it had originated from. And there were a lot of broken branches around. It seemed like something had just plowed through the entire forest, taking down any trees in it's path. 'Yeah, that's not the work of a boar.' Verum decided against following the trail, and went in a different direction, and in doing so, came across a small stream of water, where he stopped to quench his thirst.

Then he continued.

He came across another trail of destruction soon enough, and this time, decided to go in the opposite direction, from where the trail came, and he walked till he saw the point where it started, from there, he climbed on top the tallest tree in the area, and continued to survey, he repeated this again and again, he had a few close encounters with the lions, but he just kept quiet and backed away whenever he saw one, this lead to him having no injuries or exhaustion when he did find the boar, and quickly moved to decapitate it.

[Trial completed, please wait a moment]

Again, in the darkness.

[Time taken: 21 minutes, 14 seconds]

[Damage taken: Nil]

[Times seen: None]

[Times chased: None]

[Prey alerted: No]

[Stealth grade: S]

[Hunting grade: B]

[Final grade: S]

[Congratulations! You have received an S grade!]

'Not bad.'

[Would you like to summon your champion now?]

'Sure, why not?'

[Please wait a moment]

Two white magic circles appeared in front of him, one on the ground and one floating above the other, and light started to appear from them. It increased till he had to avert his eyes from the light.

Then, as quickly as it came, the light disappeared, leaving behind a kneeling figure in it's place.

[Congratulations! You have summoned the champion: Thunderclap blade!]

'Thunderclap Blade?' Verum looked at the person in front of him, he had black hair, a sword on hips, and was dressed in a black and white robe, the only thing out of place were his eyes, which looked enchanting, even to him.

(Image)

"Greetings my lord, my name is Xunsu, but I am known to the people as thunderclap blade. How shall I refer to you?" The man's, Xunsu's voice was calm, he did not seem like the type of person who would be angered easily. "You can call me Verum." "Then, Lord Verum, I am honored to be in your service."

Verum and Xunsu had appeared back at the castle, and some people were looking at them curiously, wondering who this person was.

Verum saw them looking, and spoke. "Everyone, this man's name is Xunsu, he will be working with all of you from now on, so get acquainted with each other later."

They nodded, and looked at Xunsu, wondering where he came from.

"So," Verum said, turning back to him. "Why don't you show us what you are capable of?" And started walking toward the training hall.

Once inside, Xunsu asked them all to give him some space, and they did so, so he got into a stance. Sword at the back left, knees bent, head leaned forward, as he softly spoke. "Raging thunder: Flash"

*****

"Well that was quite a show, don't you think so?" Verum asked Jason, who was standing next to him. "Agreed, my lord. He seems quite capable of fighting on his own, but he seems to be lacking in the support and defense area, he is mostly focused on offense." Jason spoke his opinion on Xunsu's capabilities. "I saw that, but you have to take into account that he a champion, a one of a kind unit, you will not find many of them, so it makes sense for him to have only one area of expertise."

"Let's put that aside for now, how are the potions coming along?" Verum changed the subject.

"There have been only a few complications my lord, but they were mostly mistakes in the process of getting the ratios and timings right."

"What about the other complications?"

"The mana herb loses it's potency far too fast, even if we are being careful about it."

"I see, we'll have to find something to remedy it then, or maybe use another ingredient, but for now, keep going."

"As you wish." Jason left.

'So what should I do now?' Verum wondered.

'Magic? or alchemy?' He turned towards the roof of the castle, before shaking his head and going back into the training hall.

'Magic it is.'