My legs! Ohh... My legs! I have never run so much in my life. I was woken up early this morning with thundering bangs on my door; not long after, I was shuffled down into a courtyard along with Marcus and 3 others. I haven't caught their names yet. Marcus is shockingly tall. He must be at least a head taller than me; his back must be in agony after bending over to talk through our door holes. The 3 didn't speak much apart from panting, desperately trying to catch their breath. But the 5 of us are number 1-5. Identified by the number on our clothing I am number 4, and Marcus is 5. Number 1, he is missing an eye; only noticed that when he pulled back his long brown hair that covered his missing eye. He is a slim man, scrawny to the bone, with facial features that say he hasn't eaten a good meal in a long time and sunken eyes devoid of hope.
Number 2 was overweight and slumped along the ground eventually throwing himself to the floor in a heap, taking deep breaths. I think he came from money; no one's beard is that well taken care of if they don't have money, and his weight is a dead giveaway. Number 3 has braided hair down to his shoulders, a brushy black full beard, and a watchful eye quick to pick up on the slightest movement; he must be asleep as tall as I am, as muscular too; he is staring at me now, sipping water.

"5-minute break" called out a soldier in all blue. And then he came out, the guy in charge; why is it when you give a guy a whistle and a bit of power, he turns into an angry arsehole. What type of guy wears a Moss green tracksuit that tight and wants to wake people up early and then make them run? All day! Psychopath!

"That's it; The break is over," he said, his nasal voice making my balls itch. I want to slap his paper-thin moustache off. A Man shouldn't of his only a bit of hair on the head by a paper-thin moustache. "Now everybody is good and warmed up" he grinned, "we have a few tests to do, follow me"

He blew his whistle, and then 10 soldiers appeared and ushered the others and me along. We walked around the building towards a different courtyard.

"Line up in your numerical order" he clicked his fingers gestured to the number 1, then pointed to the floor and flicked it across. We all lined up and faced forward. "You will complete some tests and then be given a grade at the end of the day, this grade is very important because the better the grade, the better treatment you can expect in the future because we will have more use for you, understand? That means try your hardest your life depends on it"

Hoping there aren't any magical tests I will fail them without crystals to help me.

The first test was a simple 100-metre sprint. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to watch the other take their tests; we were separated to take them; surprisingly, I felt more at ease this way.

Second test. I hit a boulder with a sledgehammer, guessing that was a strength test; eventually, I broke after many, many swings.

Third test. Carrying heavy bags, one in either hand, for 100 metres and back wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

For the fourth test, I was given 5 items: 5 soldiers and 3 large planks of wood. There were 4 stands from start to finish, and I wasn't allowed to walk in the grass. Once someone has walked across a plank, they can not go backwards. Half an hour later I successfully got everyone and items to the very end.

The fifth and final test, I magical that of course it would be why wouldn't it? Hit the floating sphere with a dark cloud swirling around as hard as you can with magic, any magic dealer choice, unfortunately I can't do magic.

"Hi, yeah?" I said nervously "I can't do magic"

"What" growled a soldier. "We were under the impression you were once in a guild"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked but the eyes narrowed eyes of all the soldiers meant they won't tell me. "Nevermind, I used a crystal to help, that's how I used magic, it's kind of stuck inside, the magic I mean"

If his eyes narrow anymore they might crash into his nose, then morph and form into one giant eye.
"Don't move", he stormed off in a hurry, leaving me with two soldiers standing awkwardly together.

"So... Come here often?" I tried to make ideal chit-chat, but unfortunately, that was met with a snort. Soon after, the soldier that ran off before came sprinting back with a crystal in hand and 10 soldiers behind him.

"Here", he barked at me, throwing the crystal at me; I caught it in my hand and felt the familiar tug of the crystal's power pulling out my magic; I had missed this. "Complete the test and then give me back the crystal, and don't get any funny ideas or you will regret it" he pulled out his sword and Let sparks fly from his other hand, and then the other did the same with alternative colours, speaks and puffs of magic from their hands.

"Alright fine... Damn" my body wanted to let Loose, and there before me was a sphere as dark as the night sky, begging to hit, around me, soldiers thinking they will get the chance to do me in if I put up a fight but I need to play smart and the first step, make an impression make them scared of me, yes it is only because of the crystal but I want them to be wary of me. I readied myself, focused my mind and power into my hand, then my arm and my body; with all my body and all strength I could manage, I hit the sphere clean with a punch. Suddenly, the sphere rippled and let out a boom, like a canon, before hurtling away.

I turned around, pulled the crystal out with my other hand and tossed it to the nearest soldier. "That's it right now more tests?" I grinned, looking around at the sunken shoulders of the men around me. Dishevelled looks, eyes like they have seen a ghost, mouths open catching a fly. "Shall we go? I would like to know my grade"