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Nara and Sev approached the combat guild, hidden deep within the woods towards the west of Gordain. The Pathfinders guild was a simple structure with only four, wide, low-built walls and no roof to protect them from bad weather.

Together, the two forced open the guilds heavy, wooden gates, where the guilds overseer normally stood to greet them as he waited for all of his students to arrive before beginning their training lessons.

But today would be their last day at the guild and the beginning of their final challenge. This time, the Overseer was waiting inside for them before making his announcements.

Nara forced his way through the clumsy gate that creaked on its rusted hinges. At the center of the guild were the rest of the Pathfinders, all standing in a single row and all in discussion with those around them. Standing in front of the row was Priam Pendiggal, the guilds Overseer, who spoke with the Finders in front of him. Nara couldn't pick up on their conversation but he could see the Overseer throw his head back in laughter.

As Sev carelessly slammed the creaky, old gate behind them, everyone broke from their conversation and turned to look at them. Nara stood their in awkward silence with a multitude of eyes focused on him and Sev. He always hated when this happened. Despite personally knowing and liking the majority of the Finders, he had always felt uncomfortable when everyone was staring at him with a blank, expressionless face. Luckily for him, the Overseer spoke up and broke the silence.

"There you are," he called, "We've been waiting for you," he said still with a smile. The Overseer was a jolly wolf with light, grey fur and bright, blue eyes. He had rarely ever lost his temper. Over the years of combat training, he had came to be more of a friend to all of the young Finders rather than a teacher.

As the two approached the row, Nara counted twenty-three pathfinders, which meant that he and Sev were the last to arrive. They took their spot at the nearest end of the row, next to Zeowyr and Tilian.

Nara had met Zeowyr on one of the first days of combat training. It was Nara's first sword fighting match and they had all been using wooden sticks rather than actual swords for their duals. Nara had been paired up with Zeowyr who had defeated him without much effort and within a short period of time. Zeowyr had knocked away Nara's "sword" with his own just after five moves. But as Zeowyr had turned away, Nara had heard the cheetah cackling at his demise. Nara had then picked up his stick and whacked Zeowyr in the back of the head. Since then, the two had became bitter rivals. The tension had lasted between them until a few months later. By this time, they had worked their way up from sticks and were now fighting with wooden swords. They had been sparing in teams when Nara, who had paired with Sev, were faced up against Zeowyr and Tilian, who had been friends since before they had both moved to Gordain from a small town near lake Renn. They were about to begin the dual when the Overseer stepped in and had made Zeowyr and Sev switch teams. This time, both the eagle and the cheetah were taken down easily by the arctic fox and the stallion. They were defeated so effortlessly that they couldn't help but laugh at themselves.

"You're late," Zeowyr muttered to the Eagle under his breath, "again," he added with a smile.

"Sorry, my Da always takes a while with his good-byes. And Sevs brothers wouldn't let go of her when she tried to leave," Nara muttered back.

The cheetah smirked. Nara assumed that he was thinking now of Sevs brothers who he had only met once. With their mother being a White Fox and their father being a Wolf, they had never seen a feline before in their short lives. They kept trying to pull at Zeowyrs thin tail and tugged at his small, round ears.

"So. Now that he are all here, let's begin," Priam exclaimed suddenly. The conversations among the pathfinders had very quickly died down as they listened intently to what the Overseer had to say, "I assume you have all formed your teams?" He said.

Nara nodded and glanced over to his left at Sev who smiled at him clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"All right then," the wolf continued as he put his paws together, "There are a few things that I'd like to discuss with you all before you set out. The first thing... You will be able to form alliances with other teams."

Before he could continue, a commotion began among the Finders. This time, Nara looked to his right at Zaowyr and Tilian. They both met his gaze and nodded.

"However, for those who choose to ally with another team, you will not be able to leave the city together. You will have to meet somewhere along your way to the mountain," said the Overseer, "And, as you already know, if you defeat a team in combat on your journey, then you are free to take some of their things for yourselves. Be aware that I have positioned trained warriors along the way to the mountain. These fighters will not hesitate to attack you... You can try to avoid them, but it will be a lot harder to slip past the fifty warriors that are patrolling the mountains base."

Another commotion began as many of the Finders began to voice their complaint.

"Do not worry, they will not attack you in great numbers. There will be two paired together at most. Also, the majority of them are humans, so you all will have an advantage on them. Some will have more of an advantage than others," The wolf glanced at Nara and Erem, a Raven, who were both avians and were given the gift of flight which all the rest of the pathfinders lacked.

Nara caught himself wondering as he often did about why all the pathfinders were Anthromorphs. At times he would search for a reason in one of his fathers Various books, but the answer always eluded him.

"Any way, Priam announced, "be prepared to fight at a moments notice."

"Also, even if you never encounter anyone else during this challenge, you will be passing through the forests to the east. Be advised that the woods will always have dangers of its own. Do not be surprised if you encounter a wild animal who is hungry for its next meal. Either be prepared to fight it or be prepared to run. As you also know, you have only a week to get to the mountain and back. So, be careful, stay strong, and watch each others backs... Your weapons are along the back wall. Take whichever you prefer..." Priam sighed and looked around at his students with what Nara could only assumed was pride before he continued, "Well, I guess this is it," the wolf said as he clapped his paws together, "All I can really say now is... It has been an honour to have taught you all... Now if you're ready," the Overseer paused for suspension. The Finders tensed up as they prepared for a short sprint to their weapons situated along the back wall. Nara felt his blood rush and his heart pound inside his chest. After many years of combat training, he was finally going to earn his powers. He looked towards Sev with a grin and she returned it. "This is it," she said eagerly. They looked back towards the Overseer who was still paused in the middle of his sentence. The wolf took one last glance at all his students and shouted, "Go."