Disclaimer: I do not own GC, KoG, SG Interactive, yadda yadda.

Chapter 1: The First Impossible Test

In a start, Arme Glenstid almost jumped off her soft bed with shock and dismay. She completely forgot! Today was the day to test and join the Grand Chase, the mighty guild sponsored by both the Queen of Serdin and the Queen of Kanavan, and she almost overslept it. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up all night working on that Black spell, Arme mentally grumbled as she took a quick shower and got dressed. When she emerged from her room, she was wearing a violet blouse and skirt. Purple gloves, shoes with gold decorations, and white stockings completed her outfit, the general outfit of a female Violet Mage guild member.

Arme decided to poke around and see what the other guild members were doing. She was going to be late, so why not look around first? As she descended the spiral staircase, she took note of all the new members practicing White or Black magic. Those practicing White magic were attempting to heal small injured animals, and those manipulating Black magic were willing fireballs under the careful supervision of an expert. It was with no small amount of pride when Arme saw that a majority of those practicing were her age or older, and she had pretty much mastered both subjects with ease years ago.

As she continued to walk down, a few alchemist apprentices rushed pass her, late for their master's lessons. With a bright smile, Arme greeted the alchemists, and they responded in kind. Curious as to what they were learning, Arme poked her head just as an explosion rang through the alchemist lab. She had yet to learn alchemy as it was more advanced that normal magic, and it was considered a shady art at best. Nearly every alchemist in the Five Year War had resigned from the practice, with so much blood indirectly in their hands, and more directly in the weaponry they created. The alchemists here, though, were merely trying to mix ingredients to make potions of healing and amplitude when a brash apprentice slipped an extra crystal into the mix, causing the mixture to grow unstable.

Soon finished inspecting all the guild activities, Arme just opened the door to outside when she heard a voice behind her say, "Just leaving? I assumed you were gone minutes ago." She turned around to see an old man with white hair and beard in white robes and purple cloak. He clutched a wooden staff with a giant blue-green gem on its tip, and was looking at Arme with a surprised look.

"Grandpa!" Arme ran to the old mage's outstretched arms and embraced him. The man she was hugging and being hugged by with such affection was her adoptive grandfather and the guild master, the Grand Mage. The greatest mage in Serdin and adviser to the former Queen of Serdin, the bearded man was also her teacher in the more advanced techniques of magic.

The Grand Mage chuckled, his face wrinkling as it creased into a smile backed by warm eyes. "You were going to leave without saying good-bye to your old grandpa? I hope you also said farewells to your friends here at the guild."

"I couldn't find you anywhere, Grandpa," Arme pouted. "Besides, I don't even know if I'll make it into the guild. I heard that only the best of the best are accepted and that the entrance tests are hell on Aernas."

The old man knelt so he could look Arme at her eye level. "Arme," he whispered gently, "When you think you are abandoned by the world of magic, just look around you quietly. Your will and creativity shall awaken the people around you, and everything in the world will lend you its strength. Besides, I have absolute faith that you will pass the tests with little to no trouble. Your potential is so great, and you have already learned so much. You should have no trouble making friends in the Chase either. You're such a cheerful, friendly girl, it would take the hardest man or woman to not like you."

Slightly embarrassed by these compliments, Arme puffed her cheeks and yelled, "Don't do that! It'll be humiliating if I don't make it now that you said all that nice stuff~"

The old mage laughed,"Well, I've kept you here long enough. Don't you have to go now?"

"Ack! I'm totally late now!" In a mad dash out the door, Arme said farewell, took one last look back at the Violet Mage guild building, and sprinted towards the Serdin Castle. In the back of her frantic mind, she was glad to be in such a famous and warm guild.

As Arme inspected the town beneath the castle, she was glad to find almost all damage dealt in the Five Year War had been repaired. Since the Outer Walls were the first to be rebuilt, damages to the village were fixed last, but the only traces of damage were the occasional destroyed house or massive crater in the walkway. It's been two years, Arme grimly thought. It surprised her how five years of carnage between once friendly kingdoms were caused by one witch, and how no one realized it until it was almost too late. Now, two years later, cooperation between the two kingdoms was at an all-time high, as if the war was only a nightmare. They had worked together in rebuilding, and recently, the Serdin and Kanavan general military had joined to form the Bermesian Army.

No attacks were made against Kaze'aze since the deployment and disappearance of the Kanavan Trackers. It became obvious that an elite team was needed to fight her, so the two queens of Bermesiah made the Grand Chase, a guild dedicated solely to the defeat of the Queen of Darkness. It was this guild that Arme desired to join, both for its cause and her personal reasons.

Now, however, she was not too sure.

Upon reaching the castle, she noticed she was the last of a small line of people waiting to be tested. Those waiting in line were of all ages, both male and female. This would have been fine if there wasn't a massive field hospital in the castle courtyard that was packed with wounded soldiers. The groans and screams of injured men, along with their bitter complaints, could be heard even from the castle gate.

"Man, you saw how they tested us! I swear it's impossible!"

"I know. How are we supposed to fight something that durable and powerful? The small fry were small fry, but the test monster was just insane. That's just the first test too!"

"Makes me almost pity those who managed to get in the guild. I swear, they're asking for monsters and magicians. No way that we simple swordsmen could make it into such a high expectation guild..."

At least I'm a magician, Arme nervously thought as she saw two medics bring out a man with a broken leg on a stretcher, babbling and crying "NO MORE!" repeatedly at the top of his lungs. She took note that she was not the only one affected, as she noticed a redhead quite ahead of her tense up. From fear or annoyance, she was not sure, but she was certainly worried about this test. Was it really that difficult? Should she have prepared a bit more? Such thoughts danced in her frantic mind until she found herself in front of the entrance desk.

The woman sitting in front of her held an air of dignity and pride. She wore steel armor embellished with red and gold decorations. Her blond hair was flowing out of the equally decorated helmet resting upon her head. Critical red eyes examined Arme with a frightening intensity while her left hand was rested upon her rapier. When she spoke, it came with a commanding tone, similar to how a superior officer addresses their subordinates.

"You are?"

"Arme Glenstid, uh... ma'am! I'm here for-"

"Call me the Knight Master. I'm well aware what you're here for. You don't need to tell one of the founders of the Chase what you're here for when this is specifically a test to join the Chase." The woman handed a slip of paper to Arme. "Fill this form, return it to me, then proceed towards the portal." She gave directions to the portal and shooed Arme away.

Such a scary countenance, Arme thought as she did as she was told. Before she walked away, she heard the Knight Master call, "Arme Glenstid!"

She jumped, voice quavering and ready for another scolding, squeaked, "Y-yes!"

Arme turned around and found the Knight Master faintly smiling at her. The older woman nodded slightly and said, "Good luck."

Maybe she isn't as scary as I thought, Arme thought as she continued walking to the portal's location. With a giggle of excitement and fear of what is to come, she stepped into the portal.

The first thing Arme noticed was that she had landed in a forest. The second thing she noticed was how there was a bat-like familiar floating near her. From it, she heard the Knight Master as she started explaining the test. "Alright, this is the first testing ground, Chaser! Your mission is to bring back an apple."

Did she hear that right? "...What?"

"Are you hard of hearing? Bring back an apple."

"No, I heard you, but... that's it? Just bring back an apple? This is a forest! There's bound to be apple trees everywhere!"

The Knight Master chuckled lightly before responding. "You are not the only one to think that. Let me assure you that the apple trees here are... special. When you have completed your task or have given up, touch the eye of the familiar. It is there for us to observe your test and to pull you out of danger, however unlikely it is. Good luck, may your magic strike true, and may you bring tranquility to Serdin." On that cryptic note, the familiar went silent.

Suddenly, Arme heard a rustling in a nearby bush. Letting out a surprised yelp, she turned to face the sound, staff clutched and fireball ready. From the bush, a creature emerged. Its large eyes glittered with hatred as it stared at the nervous magician. Its hands swayed back in forth as its tiny legs carried it forward. With its chitin armor and claws, the mushmon slowly waddled towards the now gawking Arme, preparing itself for its mighty headbutt.

"It...it's so..."

Satisfied that it had left its victim speechless, the mushmon jumped forward, attempting to smash into the mage's abdomen and crumple her. However, the mushmon failed to properly guage the distance, instead awkwardly falling onto its face a couple inches from Arme's feet.

"IT'S SOOOOO CUTE~!"

"What...is the meaning...of THIS?!" The Knight Master slammed her palm onto the observation table, clearly irked that this mushroom was one of the monsters sent to test the mage candidate. Her subordinates suddenly took an interest in everything but her, staring at their feet, the walls, or the image of Arme squeezing the mushmon so hard in childish glee that she... broke it. "We send mushmon to train children! Five year old children! What happened to the goblins or slimes we were supposed to have?"

A nervous subordinate tried to placate her anger and explain their reasoning. "M-m-ma'am, the slimes are s-still in the forest. A-also, with the complaints of how the t-t-test was... impossible... we replaced the goblins with mushmon. The main test monster is still there, but-"

"Replace the mushmon with goblins next time, or I'll see to it you all have your pay halved. Understood?!"

"Y-yes, ma'am. On the note of goblins, something disturbing has come up." The Knight Master gestured the man to continue. "The goblins that resided in Trial Forest have vanished. The ones outside of the walls of Serdin are also getting increasingly aggressive. It's no longer unusual for even farmers to have guards protecting them and their lands."

"Hrmm...it seems Kaze'aze's influence over the monsters is spreading faster."

"That, or they're planning on an invasion of some sorts."

The Knight Master casually brushed off that thought with a wave of her hand. "Goblins lack the firepower to break through our walls. They could seige us for months and our magicians could help us with food and clearing them out. However, that is still a valid threat." She turned to a figure in the corner, hidden in the shadows. "Although I find it hard to believe you're still alive... will you assist us just in case?"

The figure smirked and leaned against the wall. "Don't you worry about it. I'll take care of the pests on the opposite side 'til the Chase arrives. You just stay focused on your area. I gotta leave soon, regardless, so I hope this 'invasion' happens sooner than later."

"Will you be fine by yourself? I would hate to find you dead because you couldn't live up to what you claim to be."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. You're dealing with a legend here."

After the little incident with the mushmon, Arme was disappointed that the rest of them stayed away from her. In fact, if they so much as caught a glimpse of her violet hair, they fled the vicinity like a man being chased by orcs. All I did was hug it, Arme pouted. How was I supposed to know they would be so fragile? At least the slimes were putting up a valiant fight. Although ashamed to admit it, one of them caught her by surprise and managed to land a clean tackle on her. She did not expect to get flying back a couple feet and have the wind knocked out of her lungs. She had then returned the favor by setting the animated gelatin ablaze with a well-aimed fireball. The rest were easily discovered and beaten by a magic circle or a few good whacks from her staff. However, she still had no luck in finding this special apple tree, and she was almost at the end of the clearing. If it was not here, then she would have to backtrack.

It came with relief and joy when Arme reached the clearing. There, in the center of the clearing, was a massive tree among trunks with apples hanging on its branches. Finally! That wasn't so bad after all. Now to grab that stupid apple and I'll be in the Chase. Arme walked towards the tree and began climbing it. Right when she was about to pluck the largest one in her reach, the tree swayed and she fell off.

"Ow!" Arme exclaimed as she landed on her bottom. She brushed her skirt and proceeded to give the tree a piece of her mind, kicking it and smacking it with her staff. "Stupid tree! Give me my apple!" Had she been more attentive, she might have realized that such a wide tree could not sway that far, or that the tree was slowly rising out of the ground, or that a nearby trunk was flying at her. Arme narrowly dodged the tree trunk in time, surprised and noticing how all the tree trunks seemed to be connected. The tree monster turned, revealing a face of bark and arms and legs made of stumps.

A treant! Arme had never seen one in real life before, and it was just her luck to have infuriated it by hitting it. The treant grabbed a boulder and chucked it at Arme. Luckily, the treant was slow, and Arme had more than enough time to teleport out of the boulder's path. She launched three fireballs at the tree, which did little more than to infuriate it more. It charged, arms outstretched to grab the magician. She simply teleported behind it and, during the treant's confusion, threw three spears of lightning at it with little effect. It doesn't seem to take a lot of damage from low-tier spells, and I don't know any mid-tier fire ones. At least it's so slow, I can just teleport around it. Just then, the treant howled and plunged its arms into the ground. Vines erupted beneath Arme's feet and entangled her, stopping all movement. By the time she managed to struggle out of their grasp, the treant had had more than enough time to ready a swing at her.

The resulting blow felt like someone had thrown the Violet Mage guildquarters at her. Arme flew back a dozen feet, colliding with a nonanimated tree. She coughed and gasped for air, the wind having been knocked out of her. She was certain that attack had broken a rib or two as well. Shakily, she got back to her feet, trembling from the effort. I'll have to try that new spell I was working on yesterday night, she thought. Arme stood still for as long as she could, gathering as much mana as possible before the treant next attacked. Just before the next swing collided with her head, she teleported behind the treant once more. Flying into the air to avoid being grasped by vines again, she began to chant.

"Roar, conflagration, and send this soul to its ashen end!" The tip of her staff began to glow as an immense fireball started to appear.

"Satellite Bomb!"

Releasing the fireball, it collided with the treant at high velocity. The resulting explosion engulfed the entire clearing in a massive inferno, blowing Arme back once more. This time, however, she managed to land on a grassy area, cushioning the impact. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blast to subside. When it seemed to, she inspected the damage that her spell had wrought while clutching her wounded side.

I guess it was worth the night learning that spell. The charred remains of a treant among bare dirt was all that remained of the clearing. It seemed that the fire had also incinerated every apple on its head. This destruction, sadly, did not seem to reach the familiar, who observed from a safe distance, as the Knight Master's voice soon rang from it.

"You destroyed every apple on that treant."

Arme indignantly retorted, "It was the only option I had under the circumstances! Besides, you didn't tell me that the apple tree was a monster!"

"You were supposed to figure that out on your own. Although you didn't succeed in bringing an apple, you did manage to completely destroy the treant with one spell... Congratulations, you pass."

"Fine, I didn't want to be in some stupid apple tree monster-making gui- what?" Arme continued her rant, and only the congratulations managed to stop her from finishing her sentence.

"You really seem to be hard of hearing. I said you pass."

Suddenly, Arme was whisked back in front of the Knight Master, who offered her a broad grin and a pat on the shoulder. "Congratulations on passing the first test. Go to the healers- they will tend to your injuries. The second test will begin shortly."

MWAHAHA I'm back from Shangri-La! After days of dryness-induced injuries, climbing two (and a half) mountains, and being uber mad at how humid this current place is, I can finally type again!

Please R&R~