"Alright, Tytos! Here's the first trial. We'll be testing your brute strength. I assume this activity looks familiar?"

"Aren't these striking targets like the ones from the other training grounds?" Ginger asked, looking over the rows of wooden slabs painted with targets. The wood surfaces were larger here, though, and the targets painted a darker red.

"Yes, they are. However, these are the STANDARD training targets, used by fulltime soldiers. They're thicker and stronger than the ones in the youth training grounds, so if you want to break through them, you'll have to put just a bit more 'umph' into it that what you might be used to. Now, who's first?"

They all exchanged glances, and then, finally, Kludd gave Phillip a subtle shove with his wing, his reaction to which was to step forward some.

"Ah, I see we have a volunteer," Nyra interpreted of the Sooty Owl.

"Oh, wh-Me? I-I beg your-"

"Just do the same as what you normally do, Phillip," she instructed him, not taking no for an answer. "And give it everything you've got. I want to see some destruction here."

He sighed, then stretched his wings and began running at the target slab. When he came within just five feet of the mark, he jumped up off the ground, flapped forward and let his talons open and smash into the wood. The first obstacle in the column was quickly broken through, and Phillip kept his legs outstretched for the next one. Then, there was a crack, but not a crash. Phillip pushed himself back onto the ground; if he'd attacked just a tad bit harder, he might have gotten through it.

"Not bad, soldier, not bad," Nyra graded as he got back in line. "Especially considering the durability of the wood here. But don't be surprised if you get topped. Who's next?"

"Erm...Permission to go?" Uklah requested. She knew she was going to fail horribly at this, so she figured she might as well get it out of the way.

"Uklah, yes, step forward."

"Alright..." the young owl huffed, shaking her entire form and spreading out each and every feather. Then she backed away from her target, pushed off the ground and began flying straight away. She wanted to have enough momentum to at LEAST make a mark.

Finally, Uklah drew near, and she extended her talons just a split second before she collided with the bullseye.

Completely.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, wings stretched and a sore pain coursing throughout her lower half. Expecting the worse, Uklah looked up at the damage she'd been able to cause; there were two holes in the slab where her talons had been able to smash through, and crack lines webbed out from the points of impact...She had actually been expecting less than that, seeing how strong the wood was here. But it was still definitely nothing to write home about.

"I won't lie; I saw that coming," the Ablah General remarked as Uklah returned to her position. "Uklah, you've been training with us longer than Kludd, yet you've still barely improved at all in the strength department. I'm starting to think this has more to do with genes and less to do with effort. Perhaps, for when I assign all of you your helms and claws, I should arm you with ankle blades instead of battleclaws; I think those would suit you far better, don't you agree?"

"Ankle blades, your Pureness?" she repeated.

"Like swords, you might say, fastened onto the feet by a leather sock similar to battleclaws. They cut quite cleanly, too, might I add; you might enjoy using them."

"That sounds...promising, your Pureness."

"Alright, next up, how about you, Kludd? You can pack quite the punch, no?"

"That I can, your Pureness," he confirmed.

"Well, then, how about we put that to the test?" she smirked, leading him over with an assuring wing on his back. "Go straight for the target and don't hold anything back."

The young buff backed right into the wall across from his target and vigorously shook himself before the attack, rearing and ready to strike. Then with one powerful sweep, he lifted himself off the ground and began flying at the crimson bullseye at full force. He turned out to be a surprisingly noisy flyer, even for an owl, but his impressive speed and power served as reparation for this.

When he extended his huge claws, the two loud crashes that followed were a sure indicator that he'd made his mark a prominent one. Another loud crack followed, and when everything was said and done. Kludd had broken through a good two of the target slabs, and the third one in the column was almost ready to fall apart on its own, it was so badly splintered.

However, Kludd scowled at the sight of his work. Maybe he'd been aiming to get through three of them, only to just barely fail the mark. One thing was for sure, though; he'd really put all of his effort into this one. He normally got similar results with the trainee boards.

"Excellent, Kludd!" Nyra praised him as he slumped back into his position. "I'd like to see the other two participants top that!"

"Could have been three," he scolded himself.

"I dunno. I thought it was pretty good," Ginger added to complement Nyra's high grade.

"...You think so?" he asked her, not sure if he'd heard right.

"Well, yeah. If you can do that, I'd be scared to see what you could do to a beaver."

"...Well...I suppose I do have a knack for this line of business," he smirked, flexing his talons some, now feeling a lot more satisfied with himself.

"Well, since you find this an interesting discussion topic, young Ginger, perhaps you'd like to be the next in line?"

"Oh...Yes, your Pureness."

"Now, you saw how Kludd handled that last one; try to do what he did and shift into power flight. Since you're going right into level flight, it should be easy enough. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Well, then, let's see just what you're made of, newcomer."

Ginger nodded, then backed away from the row of wooden slabs until she was nearly up against the wall. She opened her wings in preparation, but instead of flapping right away, she instead opted to run along the ground for a few meters before pushing off and letting actual flight commence. She flapped harder once she was airborne, and her flight grew louder, and faster, and more powerful. Then, she drew near the crimson target, and out came her talons.

There was one breakthrough, and the owlet had to shield her eyes to keep from being blinded by the scattering splinters. Then, there came the second, and she withdrew her left leg to put all of the force of the impact right into the center of the target. This time, the wood split more evenly as she barreled through it. However, she failed to realize how much her foot now stung until it met the third.

And when it did, Ginger was stopped dead in her tracks. Her knee gave in, and her other foot steadied her collision, along with the wings that she had now folded back and pointed forward to brace herself. Her impact with the third slab was not what one would call graceful, but definitely made for a lighter crash, and she was able to push herself back onto the ground right away, limping back to the line.

"Risky move there, Tyto," Nyra reprimanded lightly. "Do yourself a favor and don't resort to using just one foot again until you've strengthened some more. In fact, I'd rather none of you try it until further notice; broken bones are a pain to deal with around here. Quite literally...That goes for you too, Kludd, understood?"

"Yes, your Pureness," he answered.

"However, young Ginger, you did do a decent enough job for one so new to the force. Alright, Vaygar, you're up."

Vaygar was the last to go, and his results were roughly the same as Ginger's, if not slightly stronger. Kludd had everyone beat in this department, however.

"Alright. That wraps up the first event," Nyra announced, having retrieved a piece of parchment and a quill from another section of the training arena. She wrote on it, tallying up the owlets' scores thus far, corresponding with the number of owls and their performance.

-Kludd: 5
-Vaygar: 4
-Ginger: 3
-Phillip: 2
-Uklah: 1

So, Kludd had the lead for now. But this was only the first event, so the Ablah General kept in mind that his rank might very well change.

"First round's complete, soldiers, back into flight formation! For the next regiment, we'll be taking this outside."

They all obeyed, and Ginger whispered to the other leia of the group.

"What's it like outside?"

"Rock spires are scattered all across the landscape; that's how this Kingdom got its name, because they look almost like giant stone beaks poking up out of the ground. Not much greenery 'round here, but on a night like tonight when it's clear, you get the absolute best view of the stars. You have to see it."

"Well, it looks like we're about to, anyway," she responded.

"Alright, owlets! Takeoff!"