Terror Within the Kingdom (Examination - Lance Knighthunter)

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose "The fighting...ugh..." he muttered under his breath as some guy yelled at the top of his voice. Lance slammed his hand down on the table and stood up "HEY GUYS KEEP IT THE FUCK DOWN!" he yelled out loud. He got some stares but the noise didn't stop so he got up and was about to cast a spell to shut the people up and finally get some quiet. Shadows started to gather around him but dispersed when his arm was pulled. The person who pulled his hand was a girl. Maybe it was one of his fan girls? He didn't know but he was used to girls dragging him away from places to get some place quite. He gave small smirks to the people whistling at him as he was dragged away.

Once they got out of the guild the girl let go and he let out a sigh "You want to go somewhere quiet eh?" he said with a small blush to his cheeks as he nodded "Y-Yah sure. I mean I am not the best at that kind of stuff but if you want to I can sure be of pleasure for you." he said with a nervous voice. He took her hand and shook it hesitantly as he listened to her explanation with his blush growing bigger "Oh uh excuse me for my mistake." he muttered as he gave a small bow. He placed his hands in his pockets and gave her a confused look "Shadow king? Where did you hear that name?" he asked his with his eyebrow raised.

He was eager to learn more about this girl and why the magic council wanted him to improve his magic. He wasn't a Rising star anymore so why would the council care about him of all people.

Lance blinked for a second before he was lifted onto the girls back "H-Hey now what are you-" he started to say but then the girl took off. It was fast, very fast and Lance made out what she was saying to him but only barely. He tried his best to nod at her answer even though the wind kind of held it back.

Once they arrived at the location he had to take a couple seconds to get back on his feet as he was dizzy. he stood up slowly and stared at her for a second once she asked if he had any last questions. He nodded his head "I have a few actually..." he said as he looked around the darkened area that he could see through and started his questions "Were exactly did you take me?" he muttered as he looked around at the unfamiliar place. "I am not a Rising star anymore so why would the Magic Council care enough to send someone for me to take my exam?" he asked her with a faint confusion in his voice.

Lance could sense the magic that Ayeseru had coming off of her and he came to respect that. He could tell that the woman had no problem with the overwhelming darkness and the only person who he knew didn't have a problem with this type of darkness was Rita, another shadow mage. His own magic was Shadow, more specifically it gave him the title of Shadow king.

Shadow king magic had been passed down through generation after Generation, each Generation giving themselves up to the darkness at some point in time. The Shadow Kings from each Generation seemingly faded from the world after they gave themselves up. This Generation of kings was a teenager named Lance Knighthunter. Lance had come close to the darkness many times before, this happened each time he entered his Shadow mode. The Shadow kings have always been taken over by their own Shadow and never made it back out. They had their own little world that they called the "Lost Realm", a realm taken over by demons and shadows.

Lance sighed as he waited for his tasks.

Ayeseru tapped her chin as she thought about what to tell Lance, simply shrugging after she concluded it'd be best to inform him of the truth; she knew he was bound to ask those questions, eventually.  "Well...  Regarding your first question, we're at a place called the Labyrinth Of Mystery.  They call it that because...  Well, I don't actually know, but it's definitely an enormous, DARK labyrinth."  Ayeseru made sure to exaggerate when she said dark, in order to send a signal towards Lance that she wasn't messing around.  "Regarding your second question, whilst you may not be a Rising Star anymore, you once were, and you still help Fiore today.  This is basically the Council's way of saying 'thank you' for your service - to be trained by the one who they consider to be their finest shadow mage."  Ayeseru awaited any more questions that the young man may have, though once she heard nothing, she grinned and then began pacing back and forth in front of him, explaining what she wanted him to do.

"Right!  This training will have two parts, possibly three, depending on how I'm feeling.  The first part of your training is to traverse through the labyrinth and reach the middle; easy, right?  Wrong.  While you're in there, because it's so dark, you won't be able to see, hear or even smell anything, as it clouds most of the senses.  You'll need to depend on a sixth sense which all shadow and or darkness mages should possess in order to even navigate through the large labyrinth."  Ayeseru stopped, though didn't turn to face Lance, only to move her eyes towards him and gave him a small grin, "And, of course, what's the point of the labyrinth being so...  Uneventful?"  At this moment, the Shadow Dragon Slayer turned towards the young man, and gave him a sarcastic smile.  "I'll tell you the second part if you reach the center..."

As soon as she finished saying that, she cocked up her foot, and kicked Lance in the groin, Sparta-style; she wondered how he'd survive the five hundred foot drop.  Either way, she walked towards the edge of where she kicked Lance off of, and looked down towards him; her hair covered one of her eyes, but if Lance looked up, he'd see Ayeseru waving towards him with an insane-like smile plastered upon her face as the visible eye glowed red, and the shadows enveloped behind her.

OOC:
Right, welcome to your exam, Lance.

Your goal is to navigate through the labyrinth, though you cannot use any of your senses due to the fact that they're blocked off; you'll need to do realistic IC development of a sixth sense which will allow you to maneuver through the labyrinth, and until you do that, which should take at least 3 posts, you will just run into stuff.  During this period, a strange creature of the dark will attack you, which you must somehow defend against while obtaining this sixth sense.  Keep in mind, you're a bit dizzy because of the kick my character gave you, so you cannot defeat the creature at this stage.

Once you obtain the sixth sense, you begin going through the maze.  Getting to the center should take you another 6 posts, and through the duration of this travel, -strange- things will happen to you, occasionally the creature coming in, but you cannot defeat it; I'll let you take care of this part.

Once you get to the center, you'll fight the creature of darkness, which is a mass of shadows put together.  It goes down in 4 B-Rank hits.  I'll let you be creative about this.  The item that you find in the center is also up to you. Once you defeat it, my character will come up and the second stage will commence, though it'll be relatively short.

300 words per post as a bare minimum, but you can combine it all into one post, just meet the word requirement for what would be a post (E.G you can cut down the post requirement by 2 if you make a 600 word post).

Good luck!

Lance nodded at Ayeseru and looked down into the labyrinth with a worried look on his face. He turned back to her, unaware of what was about to happen and opened his mouth "Uhm how exactly am I supposed to-" he was cut off by the hard kick to the groin and with that he fell down into the labyrinth. As he looked up he faintly saw her face and barely managed to stick the middle finger at her before closing his eyes to think. "Darkness, Darkness, Darkness..." he muttered as his eyes shot open "Shadows!" he exclaimed as he thought of what he could do with his magic. It was to dark to see anything and even then he was to dizzy from the kick to even make a precise shot. "I only have one shot at this...." he muttered to himself as little did he know he was nearing the ground. As put his palms out "Shadow ropes!" he exclaimed as black and purple ropes shot out of his hands and up into the darkness. He was not certain as he took a random shot but he hoped it caught onto a lingering rock or stone that was a bit off or even a branch. As he neared the ground he was starting to lose all hope until he stopped falling. his ropes had actually caught onto something! He reached down to see how far it was to the ground and let out a sigh of relief when he felt his palm hit the chill of the ground. He called back his ropes and chuckled "Now that that's over I just need to get through this easy-" he started as he peered out into darkness "Pitch black Labyrinth..." he sighed and hung his head low. This was something he had to get done and he wanted it done quickly.

He walked onward with determination and sang a little tune to himself as he marched "Here we go a marching towards being stronge- OW!" he yelled as he ran into a wall "The fuck man! You wanna fight?!" he said as he realized how stupid he was and turned around in another direction "Here we go a marching towards a bei- OW!" he yelled as he ran into yet another wall "Alright this place is starting to piss me the hell off!" he exclaimed as he turned around "Here we go a marching to rea-" he said as he bumped into something that he thought was a wall he yelled at the top of his lungs and thrust his fist forwards. What he hit was not a wall... it was something that growled when he hit it. He laughed nervously "N- Nice b- Beast thing." he said as he stroked the things skin and turned around to comically run. He let fear take over as he sang out "Here we go running from the weird beast thing I ju- OW!" He said as he ran into a wall. He could kind of start to see outlines of stuff although he couldn't make out the walls yet. He heard the beast let out a roar and he let out a cry of fear. He kept running for what seemed like ever through the winding maze "Ow fuck, Ow fuck Ow fuck!" he said as he bumped into walls and other things that lie on the floor in the labyrinth. He stopped for a breath and it sounded like he lost the best so he sunk down to the floor to regain his breath and to lose the dizziness he had in him. He leaned his head up against the wall and sighed "The darkness isn't as bad as before but... I cant really make out shit..." he muttered as he closed his eyes and rested for a while.

He fell asleep and dreamed that he was in a flowery meadow without any fear of a- His eyes snapped open at the feeling of hot breath breathing down on him. He stood up and stared at the beast "Listen man, you have a problem with me?" he asked with a concerned tone. The beast growled at him and Lance shook his head "I dont want to fight you so its best you just back off now..." he muttered as he felt the beast get closer to him. He laughed nervously with a sweat drop rolling down his face "I'm just gonna-" he started to say as he comically ran off with a comical cloud of dust. And so it began again, the running through the maze and the "Ow fucks!" that Lance gave off every time he ran into something. He could start to make out shapes on the floor now. He cried to himself as he ran "Lea were are you when I need company..." he cried as he ran faster, not paying any attention to the beast but just running for his life. He could start to make out stuff that was painted on the walls now but still couldn't make out were the walls were ending and were they started. He was still a bit dizzy and it caused him to run into wall and pots on the floor. Eventually he stopped running despite fear of the best "Hey uhm haven't I seen these paintings and jars before?" he asked himself as he blinked and watched as his sight came back and the room unfolded before him.

In this whole our of Lance trying to get his sight and him seemingly running forever he did not in fact leave the room he started in. He had been running in circles around that room for a whole hour. And the beast had gone from the room a good 15 minuets ago.

Lance muttered to himself as he walked through the maze like labyrinth "That girl really got on my nerves..." he muttered to himself as he walked "When I see her she is going to wish I had never reached the center..." he sighed as he shook his head "I guess if I want this promotion then I will do this maze..." he said as he turned a corner as soon as he turned the corner he heard a familiar voice "Hey buddy!" the voice said as a boy with white hair and red eyes walked over to him. Lance stared at him with disbelief for a second then clenched his fist "Griffon?! I thought you died when Mari-" Lance got cut of by Griffon's body getting hit by a huge fireball and dying. He had tears in his eyes as he had witnessed that scene again "If I was stronger then I wouldn't have to see things like this..." he muttered to himself as he walked onward in silence. He had hated Mari for doing that and he thought back to his first exam were they fought and he couldn't hit her because she was part of the guild. He had promised to be her anchor and keep her from doing anything bad but then she left without a word. He hated himself for not liking her... she was under the influence of Fredrick, a dark mage at the time. He was a fool back then but no longer! He would get through this maze with his mind still in tact and THIS was a promise he was going to keep. Tears rolled down his face as he walked "I'm... crying?" he asked himself as a tear fell to the floor. He punched the wall and clenched his teeth and kept walking.

He heard something coming down the labyrinth and looked back. Once he did however he saw a beast coming at him. He started to run and turned a corner were he was met with a wall. He pressed his back against the wall a feared for his life as the creature slowly turned the corner, growling as it walked. Lance looked around quickly for anything that he could use to get out of this situation. A Torch on the wall, A pot on the floor, pictures on the wall. He was about to give up hope when he saw an opening underneath the beast. He let out a fearsome yell and ran at the beast. When he did this the beast roared and charged at him. Once he got close enough, Lance slid underneath the beast and the momentum the beast had caused it to crash into the wall and fall to the floor knocked out. Lance nodded at the beast and smiled as he ran off back into the labyrinth. "That beast may be scary but I will find a way to beat it every time!" he stated as he walked along the labyrinth grounds. He looked up and saw darkness above, nothingness. He felt alone for the first time in forever and he hated it. He would be happy with anyone who could come and be by his side. Heero, who he was jealous about always getting girls and even his own daughter. Rita, who he liked but was to afraid to tell. And even Lea, who he would never take to a place like this in fear that he would lose her. He just wanted someone to be by his side right now because he didn't want to go through something like the things he had been witnessing alone again. If he though that Griffon and the beast were bad then he would have to be ready because the worst had yet to come.

Lance walked down the hall more conscious of his surroundings but what he didn't know was that he was about to run into something that even he could not handle. He turned a corner and was met with red all over the walls and once he put his finger on it the liquid came off on his finger. When he sniffed the liquid he almost threw up. It was blood. The metallic smell of it was a bit to much for him and although he knew that this was another trick of the mind it still felt so real. He was afraid to turn around and he did so hesitantly. When he turned around to face the other wall there were piles of bodies on the floor. He had shaky hands as he took a deep breath and gulped as he slowly backed away form the pile and took off running down the hallway. This labyrinth was messing with his head and he was going crazy. The metallic smell was leaving the farther down he went but the image was in his mind. He turned a few corners and was met with a dead end. He bangs his head on the wall and shook furiously "DAMN THIS PLACE!" he yelled as he punched the wall. He didn't care about the beast anymore. He just wanted out. He put his back out the wall and slid down until he was one the cold ground. He put his knees to his chest and placed his head on them "God dammit..." he muttered as he cried "What happened there..." he thought as he lift his head up and nodded, taking a deep breath "Never mind that. Its over now... I just need to reach the center of this place..." he said as he stood up and walked onward.

He walked on silently with his fists enclosed as he sauntered through the maze. He didn't care were he was anymore, he just wanted out. He heard the beast coming down the hallway again and stopped moving. He waited until the beast was behind him and saw blood running down its eye "That wall must have really hurt..." he muttered as he turned his head forward and walked onward. The beast roared and Lance didn't stop walking but he opened his mouth "Hey asshole, leave me alone you hear?" he said as he waved and kept walking. The beast was confused for a second and growled as it walked off, waiting for the perfect chance to attack. Now that that was over Lance stared at the ground as he walked "I wonder what he was like before he was put into this maze... maybe its like me and just wants a way out..." Lance muttered as he closed his eyes and peaceful walked "Its not like the beast has anywhere to go BUT this place." He thought to himself as he shook his head "I will free this beast from this place... I wonder if it likes being a beast." he muttered as his eyes widened "I wonder what if the beast wants to be a human!" he exclaimed as he nodded and clenched his fists "Next time that beast shows his face I will show him the power of humans and free him from that body!" he said as he marched onward. Little did he know lurking in the shadows was an even greater threat than the beast and although he wouldn't pick a fight with Lance, The beast had caught the mysterious persons eye and as the scene would fade to black the mysterious figure would lift its head and a large white, evil grin would appear from below the hood.

Lance marched down the hallway with a new goal in mind other than just reaching down the center when something made him stop and made his courage dissapear "Lance." a female voice in his head said. Lance winced a bit at the head ache he was getting "Y-Yeah? What do you want?" he growled as the voice laughed "Just wanted to have a chat with my favorite shadow mage!" the voice exclaimed as Lance fell to his knees. The whole world was spinning around him as he fell on all fours. "Griffon... if you were strong enough you could have saved him from that fire ball!" the voice said as Lance let out a breath "Sh- Shut up!" he yelled as his Ears started to ring and all he could hear was the voice and the loud and head splitting ringing in his ear from the head ache. "Those people? The ones on the ground... You killed them. That pile was all the people you killed because you wernt strong enough to overcome Lex." the voice urged as Lance closed his hands into fists "N- No!" he yelled as everything went black. Lance had killed many people before but things were different now as Lex had separated from Lance so that he could become his own person a long time ago. Lex used to be the voice in his head but it was a different voice now, a female voice, that was always urging him to give to the darkness or to kill someone or something. It had only worked a few times but the voice was always urging him to do something bad, to turn him evil. As Lance lay knocked out on the ground his glimpse of passing this exam started to fade from his grasp. He was knocked out cold and it seemed like nothing would get him to come up. Had they finally done it? Have they killed Lance?

After a good five minuets in silence Lance still lay face down in the ground but the silence was broken by a spoken sentence "I am not afraid of the darkness..." he muttered as the anger started to rise up in him. He started to glow with a feint black aura around him as he kept talking "I can control my awakened form..." he added as a red aura mixed in with the black. "I will become stronger..." he said as black, shadowy wisps started to fly around him. He slowly stood up "I will show them..." his voice was now more deeper and demonic now as he opened his eyes and revealed his left eye had turned red while the right stayed yellow. "The true power... He growled as horns made of shadow appeared on his head. "OF THE SHADOW KING!" he roared as he let out an evil laugh. Lance now with his new mode walked through the labyrinth and soon reached the center of the maze. He stood there without a word, taking it all in the HE had gotten through it. He felt powerful... Oh so powerful. He heard a roar behind him and smirked as he didn't even look back at the beast charging at him. A sword with a shadowy aura around it slowly appeared in his hand. Lance chuckled but didnt look back "Looks like the fun is about to begin..." he said as his head shot to a glance at the beast who had entered the room and was readying its first attack.

1831/1800 words

Lance smiled as he very loosely turned around "Your in the way..." he announced as he growled "Shadow Twister!" he announced as he flew into the air and was surrounded by a twister of shadows. He went at full speeds towards the monster who easily dodged it every time. Finally Lance was finished with the twister and got down on his feet again. He looked at the sword in his hand and closed his eyes "You really have been an annoying little bitch..." he muttered as he raised his sword to the sky. "Give me the power of your squad Shadow King! I call fourth the squad of shadows!" he yelled as the aura split and formed 6 men made of shadows. Three men had swords and the other three had bows.

Lance put the sword at his side and then used the blade to point at the monster "Alright soldiers, I can sense that this thing is weak so just give it your all!" he yelled As the swordsmen ran forward. Only one of them failed and back away. The two swords men that hit did a pretty good deal to the beast (2 C = 1 B ) and as the Archers pulled back their bows the beast roared in pain. The shot their arrows, all three hitting him in the side (3 C = 1 B and 1 C) The beast bit and tore at all of the men until they were dispersed.

The beast turned its head towards Lance and gave him three really fast claws to the face "Shit..." he muttered as he growled himself "You... scratched my royal face..." he growled as he ran to the back wall and ran up enough to do a high flip "FUCK YOU!" he yelled as he crossed his hands "SHADOW..." he started as four Blades appeared behind him "BLADES!" he cried as the blades shot towards the beast at quick speeds. The beast looked in fear and the swords hit him straight on (4 D = 2 C = 1 B) Lance straighten his body so that he flew right through the beast, cutting him straight through with the sword (1 C). Once he was through the beast hit Lance with one final smack and was met with Lance, blood pouring out of his eyes and mouth, yelling and screaming in demonic ways as he rammed the sword through the beast (1 C). He was not finished though as he cut multiple cuts into the beasts skin, laughing maniacally through the whole time.

The beast fell to the floor and was dead. Lance laughed a bit as he suddenly felt dizzy and as his eyes rolled, everything went black. The hooded figure came out of the shadows and took off their hood to reveal a young man with snow white hair "Poor soul..." he muttered as he shook his head and chuckled as he took out his knife. He knelt down next to the beast and put the knife to its neck "I could make your life better... make you into a human body... All you have to do is serve me as your king..." he said with an evil laugh as he sliced a small slit in the beasts neck and stood up straight. He cut his own hand and wrapped it around his wooden staff "To the shadow realm with you!" he yelled as the monster let out a roar and got sucked into a portal that was made by the small gem in the staff. He looked around to see if anyone was watching and then turned to the unconscious Lance "Soon we will meet for real my old little friend..." he muttered as he pulled out a cloth "You look ugly with those cuts though." he said as he whipped off Lances face and used his knife to cut a small diagonal cut between Lances eyes, going over his nose. He licked the blood off of his knife and giggled with pleasure "I miss you Lance... the fun we used to have..." he muttered as he ran back off into the shadows.

HP: 75% (Due to multiple hits and bleeding out)
MP: 80% Left

Slowly, from what appeared to be out of nowhere, Ayeseru was walking towards Lance, clapping slowly and in a mocking fashion. A light smiled was embed on her face as she did so; she was, in fact, quite impressed. From what she heard of Lance, she wasn't expecting anything too great, and was expecting for him to die with the fall alone, not to mention survive all of the ridiculous tasks that she had given him. Either way, she had smiled greatly upon his success, though there was still a final task to be given; Ayeseru was watching Lance the entire time from the distance, carefully watching over him, gazing on how he reacted to each situation and how he dealt with it. She thought that Lance was a bit... Odd, and loose, but she could accept that. Either way, it was time for his final test.

She pat his shoulder, with an even more sinister smile appearing on her face. "Bravo, bravo! You've conquered the labyrinth and unlocked the hidden power in the center! ...You did figure out that it was an unimaginable amount of power... Right...?" Ayeseru grinned, and looked up. "Buuut... We're not quite done yet; that'd be far too boring, wouldn't you agree?" Ayeseru began emitting an enormous amount of magical energy, so much so that if Lance hadn't obtained his new power, he would not be able to even come close to withstanding it. The energy that surrounded Ayeseru was so dark that it could actually be seen in the pitch black abyss that they were in, and after several moments of fluctuation, they were suddenly... Gone. One could see, but it was pitch black, yet at the same time, it was easily visible.

"Find a way out~" If Lance paid close enough attention, he could hear Ayeseru's voice faintly in the distance. Where Ayeseru had taken him was her own... "Personal universe", one could call it, but what would be the fun in telling him that?"

OOC:
Nice job Lance! We're almost done. This is the second part of your exam, and your final one. You've been transported into Ayeseru's own world; you're her bitch there, should she want you to be. Here... You'll be facing your characters worst nightmare. Literally. I dunno what that is, so, storywise, and everything, is how you get out. You also have to defy Ayeseru's will, and somehow escape, even though she has made it to what it should be impossible.

What the nightmare is, of course, is up to you. One thing is for certain, though, you cannot damage it with spells, and physical attacks do very little; it'll absorb the shadows you have and empower itself if you try. Now... I want you to give me a grand finale, which is why I'll let you decide how many posts it takes, but for every post you do make, it has to be 350 words minimum. Again, you can combine it all at once.

Once you finish, you can god mode my character and say that she came to congratulate you and take you back to Magnolia Town, or something, and then, you've had passed your exam!

Lance gripped onto the thing that he had found on the ground in a bag and placed it in his pocket "Ayeseru what are y-" he said as he saw the darkness emitting from her. The raven haired mans face turned from a confused face to a scowl in a couple of seconds as he was about to take out his sword. He was about to draw it but then he saw that Ayeseru had gone somewhere he growled when he heard her voice telling him to find a way out. He clenched his fist and shook his head "Honestly... I can barely see shit!" he called out at her as he took a step. Once he took that step however the shadowy figure formed in front of him and turned into a physical person. Lance saw this figure and stopped and had a darkened scowl on his face "Leave me alone..." he muttered as the figure shook its head and took complete form as his uncle "Why must you be so mean to me. I mean I am your uncle and all." The bearded man said with a laugh as he took a look around a clicked his tongue "This place is kind of dull Lance... Let me change that real quick..." he muttered as the darkness began to swirl around him and turn into a tower like scene.  

Lance saw weird shadow coming off his uncle and he knew is wasn't real but he was so lifelike. Lance looked at his uncle and shook his head "Why am I mean to you?" he asked as he shakily looked his uncle in the eye "You fucking killed my parents!" he yelled as the rage started to build up inside of him. He would have to suppress this anger because letting it out would be exactly what this nightmare and Ayeseru would want. So he would take a deep breath and just calm down "My parents died because of you..." he muttered as his uncle laughed "Yeah I did!" he said as with a wave of his hand dead bodies of everyone he loved appeared on the ground "And I killed these guys to!" he said happily as he grinned evilly. Lance stared at the bodies with tears in his eyes as he clenched his fists "Its not real..." he said as he walked up to his uncle and threw his fist at him. The bearded man grabbed his fist and knees Lance in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground in pain "This isn't real? I wouldn't be able to hurt you if it wasn't." he said as he looked down "I had hoped you were able to overcome these challenges boy... Seems I was wrong." He said disappointed as he turned his back "The truth is Lance... your too weak to ever become someone who can beat me in a battle..." he said quietly and darkly.

The knee to the stomach was causing things to swirl before him but he got up shakily "No... I may not be strong now... but I will become strong enough one day!" he said as got fully onto his feet and his eyes shot open with a new found determination "The fact of the matter is. You may be strong but I will always be stronger than you!" he yelled as the scene slowly dissipated and returned to the real world. Lance fell to his knees from tiredness and laughed a bit "I actually managed to get out..." he muttered under his breath as he heard clapping behind him. He turned around and smiled "I did it." he said.

After a long talk about how he did it Ayeseru congratulated him and informed him that he passed his exam. She would accompany him back to Magnolia and that was it. Lance was a stronger person now and he was happy.