Kratos followed the Jalisa clan through the dense forest in silence. The farther they went, the denser the forest became, until they finally stopped in front ofa large curtain of ivy. Kratos's brow furrowed as he wondered why they simply did not go through. Then the person that had spoken stepped forward and whispered something Kratos could not hear, but assumed it was a password because the ivy parted and they walked through to find an enormous gate. Another whispered word and a grinding noise pronounced the lifting ofa latch and, the large wooden gates of Asilaj opened with an ominous creaking noise. Kratos stared as the expanse of the village came through the darkness. The houses were small, but cozy, crafted of wood with leaf roofs. The three tallest buildings were side by side on the northern side of the village. The buildings were headquarters, where Anna lived, the armory, and the infirmary, each of which had a balcony. A large clear space directly in front of the three buildings was the town square and it was around this area that the hooded assassins formed a large half circle. Two led Kratos to the very center then disappeared into the throng.

"Novitiate Kratos Aurion!" rang out a the same male voice. Kratos was getting very tired of that term. He looked up to see a hooded figure on the balcony in front of him, headquarters. He assumed it must be Ahmond, seeing as how the voice was vaguely familiar and he was of rank. "You are about to undergo the Trial of Jalisa. This is a test of strength, cunning, trust, and above all honor. Your battle skills as well as your determination and spirit will be evaluated. Should you come through alive, you will be an Jalisa Assassin. Do you accept this challenge?"

"Yes," Kratos stated.

"Very well. The objective is simple. You will face three warriors of Jalisa in non death combat. Each fight will continue until one combatant cannot continue, or until 6 hits have been landed on a combatant. Should you lose to the first two warriors, you will return to the hut outside of Asilaj and try again in three days time. Should you fail again after that, you will be killed. If you fail in the third battle, first or second try, you will be slain. If you kill an opponent, you shall be killed. If an opponent other than the triumphant final warrior should kill you, or if the final combatant kills you in spite of your victory, they shall be executed. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Then prepare yourself! For I, Sei, bow to no man!" cried a different voice from behind Kratos. "Tiger Blade"

Kratos unsheathed his sword while yelling, "Guardian!" He just managed to block the attack. One of the hooded figures had come up behind him and struck without warning before flipping over his head. Kratos spun around as the figure removed his robe to reveal a young man with spiky blond hair and a sword resembling the rippling of water.

Kratos didn't hesitate. "Beast"

"Fierce Demon Fang!"

The spells hit each other and ricocheted off. Sei dodged but Kratos was hit and shot backward. The blow was light and he sent a double demon fang before Sei could react. It hit Sei dead on and slammed him to the ground. Kratos then slammed him with a rising falcon, landing three hits in a single instant. A huge gash formed on Sei's chest, causing him to double over gasping. Kratos was sure he would not be able to go on,.

Sei looked up at Kratos and grinned. "First Aid!" The gash and blood vanished.

Damn it! He's a healer as well!

Sei took advantage of Kratos's distraction to thrust a stab and uppercut at him, but Kratos dodged and Sei parried a swift cut to his back. The swords clashed, odd sparks coming from Sei's. Sei went for his leg, but Kratos landed a gash on Sei's arm. Sei healed himself again.

"Tidal Wave!"

Kratos was propelled by a huge wave of water into the air. But rather than fall back to earth and take a third hit, he flipped in mid-air.

"Rising Beast!"

Kratos shot towards Sei and hit him with full force. Before he could recover, he was hit by a powerful blow, a beast attack, and flew thirty feet backward before crashing to the ground, where he lay motionless in defeat.

"Novitiate has defeated Assassin and Healer Sei!" said the voice. Kratos looked up. The voice came from directly behind him, but the hooded figure above hadn't moved. Another person was directly behind him and he faced this person sword drawn.

"Sonic Thrust!" Kratos drove a heavy stabbing attack at the figure, but he parried it easily. Kratos cursed his hesitation, for he knew who was under that robe and returned the sardonic smile Ahmond gave him as he disrobed.

"I've been waiting for this!" he hissed. Ahmond swung his sword at Kratos's head, who ducked and went for the belly. Yet to his surprise, Ahmond swung out a leg and swiped Kratos's feet from beneath him, causing Kratos to go face down in the dirt. A scrape of metal on metal pronounced the arrival of a log gash on his shoulder as Ahmond's blade went right through his armor. Kratos jumped to his feet and raised his sword just in time to block Ahmond's vicious uppercut. He kicked out with his leg and pushed Ahmond back.

"Fierce demon fang!" Kratos cried. Ahmond took the hit directly and skidded backward a few feet, grinning evilly.

"You're not bad!" he called. "But a Jalisa assassin has one thing going for him, or her, that you don't!" With that he flipped backward and landed among the crowd of hooded figures, causing Kratos to lose sight of him.

Damn it! Where did he go? Predictably, he's going to sneak attack me and, while it could be considered cowardly, it will pay off!

"An assassin uses his surroundings! And the most important element." Ahmond's voice came from where it had before, and Kratos spun around to look up at the balcony of headquarters, but it was the same person, he was sure, they hadn't moved…so how…

Wait a second, it was a trick! Ahmond was never up there! But he was nearby! How… Kratos looked up and around. Use my surroundings…Aha! Kratos finally realized how Ahmond was throwing his voice. The trees around head quarters stretched tall and some of the longer branches stretched slightly into the town square, one of which would have dropped someone right were Kratos stood when he defeated Sei.

"Hey Ahmond!" Kratos yelled. "Do you mean the element of surprise?" Kratos raised his sword. "Wind Blade!"

Ahmond let out a yell as he tumbled out of the tree and the attack landed three gashes on his left arm. Kratos didn't wait for an invitation.

"Double Demon fang!"

"Barrier!" Ahmond shouted. Rather than destroy the attacks however, Ahmond's shield reflected them back at Kratos, who flew twenty feet backward, not expecting the attack. Before he could get up, Ahmond shot him with a fireball, tying the score to four hits to four hits.

He's good! Kratos said, but not good enough. I'm holding back a lot and he's still not perfect. Then again, I'd kill him if I weren't holding back. I need to finish this quickly if I want to be able to take it easy on the last guy.

Kratos leapt up into the air, much higher than normal people could, and pointed his sword at Ahmond. "Fireball!"

"Barrier!"

"I was hoping you'd do that!" Kratos shouted as the fireball came back at him. Instead of putting up guardian, he threw his sword straight through the fireball and dove back to the ground. The sword, now enshrouded in flame, landing at Ahmond's feet sending up a wall of flames in front of him and obscuring his vision. Kratos raced towards his sword, wrenched it out of the ground and thrust it through the fire, satisfied to hear Ahmond cry out as the blade sliced his shoulder pad.

"Tidal Wave!" Kratos shouted, extinguishing the flames and rocketing Ahmond up into the air. Ahmond landed on his back, but jumped up anyway and was face to face with Kratos. They stared each other down eye to eye, triumph in Kratos's eyes, bitter resignation and rage in Ahmond's.

"You'll never be one of us!" Ahmond hissed. He gave a curt bow and walked to into headquarters. A minute later, he emerged on the balcony next to the still stationary assassin.

"Novitiate has defeated Assassin Ahmond!" Ahmond announced, the disgust evident in his voice. "He has passed the first two test. Novitiate, are you prepared for your final battle?"

"I am." Kratos said wiping his sword on his thigh. One more mindless assassin to defeat and this foolish game was complete.

Ahmond turned to the assassin next to him and muttered something. The assassin nodded and jumped off the balcony. Kratos lifted his sword as the assassin approached slowly with no weapon drawn. When he was less than two feet away, he struck out with a fist and caught Kratos in a fierce blow that sent him onto his back. The assassin made to stomp down on Kratos's chest, but Kratos rolled out of the way. Unfortunately, whoever this was expected it and dove sideways into a handspring, knocking Kratos in the face, sending him into the dust again. Rather than try to get up, Kratos lashed out with his sword.

THUNK! The assassin stopped the slice with his boot and landed another punch on Kratos face.

What the hell? Why doesn't he draw his sword? If this hand to hand continues, I'm finished! I've got to get his weapon drawn!

Kratos jumped up and swung heavily at his opponents head, who crouched as expected. Kratos brought up his knee, catching him in the gut. The assassin doubled over, backing up as Kratos swung at him with both sword and fist, landing a punch. The opponent swayed for a minute, slightly shell-shocked and Kratos saw his opening. He swung his sword up and slammed it down at his opponent.

CLANG!

Sparks flew as Kratos blade collided with two unfamiliar twin blade swords, the same weapon type that Anna used, and Kratos pushed his opponent back with all his strength. Suddenly a Beast attack shot at Kratos. What the hell! He conjured it silently!

"Guardian!"Kratos shouted. The attack pushed him back but did not hit him. He was through playing games with this guy, whoever he was.

"Photon!" Intense energy knocked his opponent backward, and down.

"Victory Light Spear!" Kratos hit him again before he could recover.

"I knew it! He's fine as long he doesn't take a full on hit. That explains why he distracts using hand to hand combat. But he leaves himself to vulnerable after the first hit.

Kratos hesitated debating whether to resume hand to hand as a distraction, to lure his opponent into a false sense of comfort, or to keep using magic. This hesitation resulted in a rising falcon straight to the chest.

Kratos looked at the deep gash in his chest and saw his opponent freeze. Kratos didn't know why he hesitated, but took advantage of it.

"Super Lightning Blade!"

His opponent flew backward and skidded across the ground a good two feet. He leapt up and charged wildly at Kratos, swinging heavily at Kratos's head. Kratos held up his sword and as he expected, his opponent launched it from his hand. In that brief moment of distraction Kratos caught his chin in a fierce uppercut. He let out a grunt as he landed on his back in defeat.

Kratos sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. Every assassin was silent.

Kratos looked back up to the balcony where Ahmond stood, glaring as he stood gripping the railing in rage.

"Novitiate Kratos Aurion," Ahmond said through clenched teeth as if it were causing him great pain to say the words. "You have passed the Trial of Jalisa. If you are prepared to take the oath, face your opponent and kneel."

Kratos did as he was told, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him as he pulled off his robe.

Kratos gasped. It was not a man at all, but a girl. A very familiar girl with long brown hair and brown eyes that gleamed in amusement.

"Sei Samos and Ahmond Senshi! Come forward!" Anna called over the crowd.

Sei came forward and stood on Anna's right side. Ahmond, glaring furiously, stood on her left.

"Lay your weapons at his your feet and bow to recognize your defeat." Sei immediately did as he was told, but Ahmond hesitated before dropping his sword unceremoniously at his feet and sinking into a low, sarcastic bow. Anna's eyes flashed in anger but she proceeded.

"Do you Kratos Aurion, swear to uphold the honor of the Jalisa Assassins?" she asked.

"I do." Kratos said.

"Do you swear to uphold the secrecy of this clan and show loyalty only unto the Jalisa?"

"I do."

"And above all, do you swear to do everything in your power to destroy injustice, evil, and fight for freedom and equality?"

"I do." Kratos said.

"Then rise, initiate Kratos, and take your place as one of us."

Ooh guess what! This chapter is a long one! Yay! Anyways, this is my first battle scene, so be kind! Read, review, and enjoy!