It was a dark tunnel system and the air was musty. There were narrow pathways, and barely any light. If you think of it as an observer, it really isn't much of a test, going through a tunnel system with no danger inside. It was just a test of bravery. Of course, should you fall from the course, you'll be in a cave full of aggressive Fabre's and they will really lay down some hurt if you're not careful. It was tough so far for Qtronix, a novice wishing to pass the test and become a swordsman. Down in these tunnels, no one knew what was happening outside, in the town of Izlude. Izlude is renowned for the Swordsman Guild, where aspiring novices take the test to become a swordsman and see if they can pass it. Qtronix's torch flickered for a moment, before suddenly, the tunnels started shaking. He started running, keeping his eyes on his feet, avoiding any holes in the ground. Finally, when he saw the exit, he decided to slow down. He was wise in doing so, as the path was filled with pseudo-tiles, where it was actually a hole with an illusion of a tile covering it. The shaking stopped, and Qtronix did not want to know if what caused the trembling was behind him, so he proceeded.

Upon his exit of the tunnel system, he was greeted by a member of the guild.

"You made it through the Test of Bravery. Congratulations, swordsman. By far, you have the fastest completion time in the guild's history. Congratulations on that as well," said the guild member. Qtronix replied with a nod.

"Go back to the guild master and hand him this note of approval. After that, he'll tell you what to do."

Qtronix took the note of approval and properly disposed of his torch, then went to the guildmaster. The guildmaster was not hard to find. He was burly and huge, almost as if he was a giant. When Qtronix gave him the letter of approval, he said, "Alright, swordsman. Welcome to the guild! Go to the armory and get your uniform. You'll get the chance of picking one-handed or two-handed sword when you get to the quartermaster since you broke the fastest time of passing the Test of Bravery."

Qtronix, feeling like he's been running around too much, took his leave from the guildmaster's presence and went to the armory. He was suited with the basic armor and uniform of all swordsmen, but Qtronix picked a two-handed sword to maximize his damage. Qtronix wasn't one about shying away from combat. If he was going to fight, he was going to deal as much damage as he could. That was his strategy, and he carried it proudly. Finally, when he was done, he wandered about towards the exit of the building and overheard two swordsmen arguing which skill was better, Bash or Magnum Break. Either way, Qtronix didn't know what either of those skills were just yet, so he just passed by them and carried on to Izlude.

Izlude was not so much of a busy town, considering it is the satellite town of Prontera, the capital of the Kingdom. All the attention goes to Prontera while those who wishes to walk the path of the Swordsman goes to Izlude. Still, there were frequent strangers visiting Izlude. Having been born in Izlude, Qtronix has complete knowledge of the town and the people, so he could discern who was a stranger and who was not. Izlude attracted plenty of blacksmiths, who were hired to smith swords for the swordsmen in the guild, as well as make armor and repair items. But, before Azen went to the guild to take a test, he made good friends with a party. They were really helpful and taught him the basic skills, then he applied them on his own with their supervision. They waited patiently at his house for his return as a swordsman. Qtronix took a moment to get used to moving around in his uniform and then entered his house, where he was greeted by his party and family.

"Surprise!" they yelled.

Qtronix smiled and then thanked them all, then they had a small celebration of his recent job change. Qtronix took the time to enjoy this moment with his family, for it was his last night in the house before he starts adventuring with his party.

The members of the party were pretty balanced. There were two swordsmen, one of them was Qtronix, an acolyte, and an archer. There was one mage who supervised them all, and she was actually about to go and train as a wizard very soon. The other swordsman's name was Aldric. He was a blonde guy with a slightly muscular build, similar to Azen's build. He stood rather tall, and he was at least a few inches taller than Qtronix, which makes him about 6'2" considering Qtronix is 5'11". He had a one-handed sword and a shield to match, which made him the tank of the group. The acolyte's name was Lilitia. She had nice, long, white hair and blue eyes. She kept her silky, white hair tied back in a ponytail, and she had a really beautiful appearance. It was unknown to the mage who supervised their group, but Lilitia has three men contending for her heart. One was Aldric, another is Qtronix, while the third one was the archer of the group. His name was Satoshi. Like Aldric, he too, had blonde hair. However, he was of medium height, about 5'8". He was slim, and he had a keen eye, especially for the ladies.

When the next morning came along, Qtronix and the party left his home and started off venturing in the wild. Their first destination was Geffen. As they were travelling, they encountered a few monsters along the way, and Qtronix would take the lead in the attack, and most of it was to impress Lilitia. There was one time where he attacked a poporing, and he thought he got it on the first slash, so he turned to look at Lilitia to see if she was watching. Indeed, she was, but he was quickly sacked by the poporing right after. Aldric had to save him from the angry poporing and the mage, who's name was Glass, just facepalmed.

The party had ventured over to a maze in the Prontera Fields, and they spent their time fighting through the maze looking for an exit. It was then when they encountered a Vagabond Wolf, complete with it's five wolf slaves.

"Aldric, make sure you keep their attention!" yelled Satoshi, who was shooting arrows at the wolves but seemed to keep missing.

"It's not that easy you know!" Aldric replied back, casting provoke on every one of the wolves to grab their attention. Qtronix would find himself safeguarding Lilitia from wolf attacks, and there was an incident where he got bitten in the neck after being a tad late on slashing a wolf down. However, Lilitia casted Heal on him and he was alright.

Glass casted her elemental spells on the boss, seeking to weaken it. At that time, Lilitia casted Agi Up on Qtronix and he dashed forward to the boss monster. He slashed at the wolf and missed, and the wolf jumped back and bit Qtronix's leg. He fell down, and that's when Aldric entered and attacked the wolf. His shield proved to be useful against the wolf's attacks. Satoshi shot a few arrows that hit the wolf, and the wolf faltered a bit. Glass casted lightning bolt at the wolf and it finally fell.

As soon as the party had left the maze, they ended up right by Prontera.

"I guess we'll spend the night in Prontera and get a better map to get to Geffen," Glass said.

"Well, considering we'll be spending the time in Prontera, you want me to show you around, Lilitia?" asked Satoshi with a smooth voice.

"Naw, Lilitia will be spending some time with me, right, Lilitia?" butted in Aldric.

"You two seriously need to calm down... We're not even in Prontera yet," said Lilitia sternly. The two sighed, and the party made it's way to Prontera.

"Qtronix, I need to speak with you for a moment. The rest of you, have fun," Glass said.

Qtronix watched as Aldric and Satoshi take Lilitia away, then sighed as he looked at Glass, "What is it?"

"I've sensed that you've developed feelings for Lilitia. How come you're not joining the competition for her heart?"

"There's no need to. It obvious she doesn't see anything in me."

"Are you sure?" Glass questioned.

"I mean, all she ever pays attention to is Aldric or Satoshi. She pays attention to me if I'm the first one to attack, but other than that, there's nothing."

"Come, take a walk with me," Glass wrapped her arm around Qtronix's arm and started walking the streets of Prontera.

It was already night time, and the lights of the stores and buildings lit the surroundings. Qtronix blushed a bit. Glass was a pretty, mature woman, and he felt pretty lucky that she was holding onto him. The two spent most of the night walking around Prontera and looking at the items for sale, or checking out a few performances and duels. When the moon was high in the sky and Prontera's citizens went to sleep, the party met up at an inn and settled there. Glass made it so Qtronix and Lilitia were roomed together while Aldric, Satoshi and herself were in another room.

"So... Lilitia..." Azen started. He was staring at Lilitia's legs as she took off her boots.

"Hm?"

"Uh... It's nothing..."

"Alright then. Can you turn around for a second?" Lilitia asked meekly.

"Uh, sure..." Qtronix turned around.

Lilitia lifted her shirt and healed a wound she got near her chest, then after she finished, she said, "Alright, you can turn around now."

"So... do you like Aldric or Satoshi?"

"Well, I have to say being with Satoshi is surely fun. He knows how to make a girl smile, and Aldric is funny. All in all, I enjoy my time with them," Lilitia said, taking off her ponytail.

"Do you like them more than friends?"

"Hmm... Why do you want to know?"

"Ah... Eh... Just curious..." Qtronix scratched the back of his head and lay back down.

In the morning, Prontera was attacked by an army of thief bugs, and the party was awoken to the sounds of battle. Soon, Qtronix and Aldric were ready to go, seeing as they were trained to be the vanguard of Rune-Midgar's defenses against threats. The party gets out and starts fighting the thief bugs. Soon, they were surrounded, but Glass, Lilitia and Satoshi were taking it easy considering the two swordsmen were competing on who gets the most kills, mostly just to impress Lilitia.

"I remember when Qtronix was still a novice and he thought he could take on a poporing all by himself!" Glass said.

"Oh, I remember that! But to say the least, he still kind of can't take a poporing by himself..." Satoshi commented

Qtronix and Aldric swing their swords at some thief bugs, getting a bit tired.

"But remember when Lilitia got scared of a Fabre?" Glass mentioned.

"Don't talk about that... I get embarrassed when I remember..." Lilitia said.

"Can we get a heal...?" Aldric and Qtronix both say at the same time, however, they are ignored and the three continue chatting.

Qtronix gets tripped by three thief bugs and Aldric gets carried away by a swarm. Qtronix slices a few more bugs before using Magnum Break to save Aldric.

"Uraaaaah!" Aldric yells as he fights off some thief bugs. "These things don't seem to run out of supply!"

"Tell me about it! We've been fighting for an hour now! Where are these things coming from?" Qtronix retorted as he fought his own bunch of bugs. The two were then swarmed and covered in thief bugs, and remained immobile. They were like statues made out of thief bugs.

"Well, ladies, why don't we go out somewhere nice?" Satoshi suggested.

"Sure, I have no problem with that," Lilitia said.

"I guess I'll go too," Glass replied.

The three start walking off without noticing the two swordsmen stuck in a pile of thief bugs.