Raith snorted at Ferrus' vague response. "It is important to me if I've asked it; I was born in a world far from here that no longer exists, and raised on another even further still, so the concept of other worlds is hardly foreign to me," he added simply. It was curiosity that had urged the question, that and if Raith needed the information for the future it was better to know now rather than later. At least the man was honest, which immediately stood him in good stead with the Lord of Wrath. "Well, at least you have an intelligent head upon your shoulders to recognise true greatness when you come across it," Raith snorted. "You are welcome to make a home here, I am sure Syn will find your particular talents and put them to good use within my Court; if you are a man of learning, which you sound to be, then you may be of use to teach my daughter and this new girl at least. Education should never be sniffed at," he nodded.

A smile crossed the Blind God's face as his sharp hearing caught the click of Syn's fingers, followed by the sharp ring of the bell located in the Observatory above them in the Watchtower. The Seven would answer. All his Celestials came when called, but of them all, it was the Seven and Draconis who was probably the most loyal… not that any of them would have dared argue with Raith. "Come, Priest, you should understand the type of world you have stumbled upon here," Raith said as he let Syn lead the group outside where Jared would have a better arena to fight against those summoned to test him. The God made a mental note to build a proper training facility, especially now that Pilgrims were answering his call.

Raith settled upon a less ornate throne settled on the edge of the makeshift arena, it wasn't as though he could observe the fight in any conventional sense, but he would see plenty. The God smiled as he heard the thunder of the Seven's arrival, their feet pounding against the floor like a rolling wave, the crescendo of which was answered by their unified howls. Seven large wolves. "Jared, meet the Seven. Once they were the most prestigious leaders of the Allgarde Packs, nomadic tribes who harness the elements and bond with the gigantic Dire Wolves you see before you. The Allgarde no longer exist, the Packs having split into the seven elements represented before you," Raith explained before nodding to the Seven wolves to step forward as he called their names.
"Kai, father of the Flamegarde," the largest of the group stepped forward, sleek, muscled frame shrouded in a cloak of sleek, ebony fur, the tips of which were blood red. His flickering red eyes watched Jared as he stepped into the arena they would fight in, a huge katana upon his back.
"Bolivar, father of the Oceangarde,” the next to step forward was a deep grey wolf, far leaner than his brother, his fur tipped in a dark blue, his fur shifting like waves. His swirling blue eyes fixed on Jared as he took his place beside Kai, an Eku Bo, the ends of which were fixed with metal, upon his back.
”Silas, father of the Forestgarde,” the brown furred wolf was muscled and tall, his fur had an almost mossy sheen to it due to the green colouration to the ends of his fur. Green eyes shimmered and his jaws clenched tighter around the Kama he carried.
”Aither of the Skygarde,” the light grey coloured wolf with sand coloured tips strode forward, all but gliding, his small stature less imposing that his brothers, but the tumultuous storm in his grey eyes spoke of the danger within. Folded upon his back lay a steel Gunsen.
”Torsten father of the Stonegarde,” this hulking mass of a wolf kept his head low as he strode forward, his black fur not as sleek as Kai’s, edged in grey. His deep grey eyes seemed solid like stone, the Otsuchi strapped upon his shoulders larger than he was.
[b[“Yukio of the Frostgarde,” he was sleek like Aither, his fur of the purest white, tipped in a soft blue. His shimmering ice blue eyes barely registered that Jared was ever there, the Kusarigama wrapped around his neck clinking as he moved.
”Ramman of the Thundergarde.” the last wolf was sand coloured, his fur positively buzzing with static charge, tipped golden and flickering occasionally with the Lightening he was associated with. His golden eyes fixed on Jared and he snorted, shifting the Yumi and quiver upon his back.
”Show me what you can do against my most esteemed warriors.”

Jared gave Talia a quick pat on the shoulder, as if to give her some support before she went to Syn's side. This would be good for her. A proper education, training for the world's harshness, and a position. These were the best things he could offer her in life. They would have to work to the bone for these things but it was better than ending up as a miner or a barely paid farmer. But they weren't there yet. They hadn't been officially accepted yet. That carried on his shoulders. If he failed to impress them, the siblings would be tossed out. He couldn't focus on helping Talia at the moment. He had to focus on surviving this challenge and making an impression.

He followed Syn and Raith to the outside arena. The outside would be equally fine. There was more space but then again, a good fighter could adapt to any area. Syn suggested he stretched, which he would but first he had to strip off his shoes. He took the boots and socks off, tossing them to the side. Then he looked at Syn with a mischievous smile. First he stretched out his arms, then stretched his legs by touching his feet. Then he bent backwards, touching his heels. He maintained a good balance and it stretched his core. Then he spread into a split on the ground. His legs were perfectly stretched but he continued with more stretches on the ground. By the time he stood up, he smelled entirely like the ground.

Illusion magic and agility were his best two skills. His mind focused primarily on these skills while waiting for the challengers to arrive. It didn't take long before the thunder of the Seven's arrival made him look towards the seven large wolves. That meant pretending to be other people would be harder, since wolves have a keen sense of smell. His mind churned with strategies but his expression was pleasant, with a smile. Raith introduced the previous prestigious leaders of the Allgarde Packs. Once each of them were called by name, Jared politely bowed to all of them.

"It is an honor to be tested by the Seven." He said truthfully, "My presence is nothing before the greatness in front of me."

In a blink an eye, he was gone. An invisibility spell twisted into his words framed to look like a compliment. His fae and vampire heritage made these trickery spells simpler for him. His footsteps were silent, thanks to the removal of noisy shoes from earlier. His scent was the same as the ground. During his stretches, he had taken care to mix up his own scent with the ground. His breathing was controlled and ever movement was made with great care. All it would take was a single powerful attack to obliterate him. He had to avoid direct attacks at all cost. Jared's eyes targeted Kai, Aither, and Ramman as he prepared his next spell.

"If I toss a stick at these dogs, will they chase it?" He joked with an echoing voice.

It was a little party trick that he'd learned from his father. By making his voice bounce off of objects and walls, he could make the sound echo through the area. Even if they were outside, there were still plenty of walls and stones to use. The Seven would go all out with their attacks, regardless of any insults or jests he threw their way. His spell was finally ready. He targeted Kai, Aither, and Ramman with an illusion spell. This would make them see and smell their allies as Jared for a short time. He didn't know if all of the wolves would be affected, since he was still practicing this specific power.

Ferrus stood unmoving as Raith explained to him that, the sort of inter-dimensional travel, that brought the Tech-Priest here, was also the reason for why Raith was here too. Which was quite an interetsting piece of information to gain. This meant that one of the gods of this realm was an outsider. This promted a question within priest's mind, as to how exactly divinity worked here. Was Raith always always a Divine being? Mayhaps he was just avarage for the realm he came from but here his powers are so that he might as well be a God. Is this what Gods of this realm are? Beings that came to from higher dimensional planes unto the lower one and were worshiped? Questions, questions so many questions. Well he sadly did not have time to ponder them right now, for Raith seemingly assigned a role to him. To be tutor of his child and of Jared's sister. This was an interesting development but not one he was opposed to per se. He only hoped that mayhaps he could convince Raith, to be granted a laboratory/workshop to work at……but that is something to be disscused at a later date. What interested him more was that Raith had a child, he pondered this in some detail for a second. Did this child inherit divine powers of his father? How divine is the child, and by proxy, how much of a divine being Raith actualy is, that he needs a tutor for his offspring? It it his offspring? Mayhaps he adopted a mortal child? While Raith did not strike him as a type of God to do so, he nonthenless could not rule out this possibility seeing that he lacked key pieces of information.

All of the above was processed out in detail within Ferrus's brain in less than a second after he heard of his appointment, to which he replied to it in a manner he saw was best fit to weasel up to his would be patron.
- Oh I am incredibily grateful for this ocassion my Lord. To teach your very own daughter, a great, honour to one such as I. And yes, Education should never be sniffed at, for knowledge is power, and sometimes possesion of it in of itself makes a person far mightier than others.

But no sooner than Ferrus finished thanking Raith, when a bell rung out and God asked him to follow him outside, to see Jared's test, to see what kind of world this is. If Ferrus could he would furrow his brow for just  short momment. He very well understood Raith's intentions, to show off the might of his servants and by proxy his own. Maybe even to scare the priest, make something of an example of Jared if he would to fail his test, to what happens to those who do not meet his strict standards. He had seen this before, hundreds of times if not more, pretty common tactic, well played out and it's lost it's effects on Ferrus over time. He however was not stupid, he would not refuse his would be Patron right now, so he nodded and went along to see Jared's test unfold before him.

The Seven, Master of Elements bound to massive Wolves that reminded him of tales of Fenris, the barren cold world which serves as home for a very…..peculiar  group of Holy Warriors, Angels of Death that made him think less of angels and more of brutish tribes-people. Which ironicaly might have been what Seven were before being bound to Raith's service and before their tribes….dissapeared….yes that is the best word to use as of right now. Still it was clear that they were feroucious fighters, so much so that he doubted  that Raith intended for Jared to win. Or rather he suspected that the test was less about winning and more about making a good show of losing. He tightened the grip upon his axe and observed in utter silence as Jared darted, clearly taking on a strategy of trickery and illusions, aiming to whitle them down while avoidng their attacks. A Jester's or perhaps Magician's way to fight, he'd only hope that it would work out for him.

Ferrus was given an assignment, allowing the strange man to make a home in his temple. What surprised Talia the most in this response wasn’t that he was to be her tutor, but that he was to be Raith’s daughter’s tutor as well. Master Raith had a daughter. A million questions exploded into her mind. What was his daughter like? Was she young, or was she older? Was she blind like Master Raith? Would she like Talia? Syn’s voice addressing them snapped her out of the myriad of questions which would not be asked nor answered at this time.

They were officially titled “siblings”, and she was simply “child”. Talia gave Jared one final glance before giving him a smile for luck and hurried to Syn’s side, taking her hand. Lady Syn led them outside and gave Talia her directions to sit and control her emotions. She nimbly scrambled up to sit on the edge of the wall and watched her brother stretch. He was quite limber, but had taught her to stretch just as far as he could. Whether or not she remembered to do it was another story in and of itself. All that was left to do was wait for the trial to begin for her own test to start.

Just as Talia was silently begging for it to not be too difficult, thunder and a steady pounding of something was accompanied by howls loud enough she winced. Kurayo was never quite this loud unless some werewolf or vampire got into a scuffle near them. Master Raith introduced each wolf, and if she understood correctly, each wolf represented an element. What was curious, as well as a bit intimidating for her, was the fact that each of them carried a weapon on their backs or in their jaws. Even as Jared went invisible, Talia could not ease her sense of dread, nor push it away. How could her brother fight all seven wolves? Her small hands gripped the stone wall on either side of her till her knuckles were white. She couldn’t see him, couldn’t smell him and his voice was all over the place. Talia hoped that it would be enough to confuse them until he can get the edge on them.

”And I would like those newly bundled herbs to be taken to my mother as soon as possible. She is running on short supply lately, and the pregnancy is beginning to literally weigh on her body.” A gentle laugh rippled from Alairia as she walked beside her assistant, Chelsea. The green haired young woman responded with her own light laugh all while writing down notes in her notebook. Alairia and Chelsea walked through the throne room to the foyer only to stop short. The noise from in the throne room while the pair were been working in the Garden Realm had not gone unnoticed. Fiancée of the god felt it had been best to stay out of the way while everything was being sorted through. Seeing that the throne room had been emptied along with the clear summoning of the Seven. Biting her lower lip, Alairia had mischief in her hazel eyes. ”Let us go see what trouble has stirred up,” she said in a whispered tone. Chelsea had an expression of nervousness, but that did nothing to stop Ria from swiftly shuffling out of the Observatory.

Her attire of the day only seemed to accentuate the stark different between her personality and Raith’s. A light wind pulled at the layered white chiffon dress as she half jogged to her future husband’s side. He sat upon a throne on the edge of an arena that had been set up. There were quite a few new faces to be seen at the Orme Observatory. ”Good day, my love. Who are all these new people?” she asked with a sweet tone. Alairia smiled at Raith while moving to sit upon his lap with arms wrapped around his neck. She rested her head upon his shoulder to watch the fight. Alairia would never interfere with anything Raith was handling. It was her job to be at his side to support the momentous position lain at his feet.

Even so, her hazel gaze shifted to Syn. The red haired temptress was resting along a wall with a young girl to watch the fight between young man and the Seven. She saw the vampiress check the behind of the young man who was stretching in preparation of his sparring match. Alairia chuckled lightly when she witnessed the hunger in the woman’s golden eyes. ”Always on the hunt,” she whispered into Raith’s ear with another laugh.

Syn glanced over from Jared’s ass to the Master and Mistress of the Temple. A fanged genuine smile was made towards the couple. They were cute in the assistant’s eyes. She was going to protect them until her last day. Taking her regard away from the couple, she allowed herself to look at Talia. The girl was attempting to control her emotions from the start, but it was going to be a difficult task for her first test. It was clear that she had a deep connection with her brother, Jared, but it was going to lessen if they were to be successful within the Realm. Syn took a moment to pat the girl on the back of the head in encouragement.

Ferrus was going to use his odd magi intelligence to tutor Talia as well as Dala. This would be something interesting to discuss with Lady Alairia later. At least these Pilgrims were slowly working their way into the group. Hopefully, they would be proper additions that could move the plan of her Lord in the proper direction. This was merely step one.

A click of her tongue was made towards the large wolf with fur tipped in red. ”Let’s see what that muscled form of your’s can do, Kai,” she purred at the Flamegarde. The Seven members had once been men, which meant that Syn would have enjoyed flirting and moving with them. Even now, Syn had found enjoyment spending her time flirting with Kai whenever possible. ”Don’t get cocky…at least not right now, Jared. They are extremely powerful. I don’t want to see that nimble ass damaged too badly.”

A muffled giggle could be heard from Alairia as she nestled on Raith’s lap. Syn looked at Chelsea whom stood with notebook in grasp while looking at the Seven Celestials. The clergy girl was new to the temple, and was a good balance to help out the Mistress. Alairia took in a deep breath as she watched things continue forward with the match. It was going to be interesting.

The Seven spread themselves out, heads low as they began to circle Jared, their eyes never leaving their target. Raith could positively feel the power the great wolves gave off. Once they had been proud men, leaders of their respective tribes they had once called one another brother until the Packs had gone their own separate ways. Their valour and position had given them a place in the stars, had made them so much more than they had been as mortals, though it had robbed the Seven of their human forms, ironically turning them into the mirror image of the Dire Wolves they had Bonded within their life. 

Jared's words were lost on the Seven, such niceties would not sway them from the task their Master had given them - Raith had called upon their talents to truly test the boy, and they would not be gentle with him. As he vanished they growled in unison, they might not be able to see him - but that wouldn't entirely stop them from being able to find him. Their ears swivelled upon their heads, tracking the bouncing voice as he teased them, their lips pulled back to reveal their elongated fangs. Kai and Ramman, the most arrogant of all the Seven were immediately drawn into the ploy, but Aither was not so quick to be fooled. As Kai and Ramman turned, snarling, on their brothers, Aither leapt into the air and span, fangs gripping the edge of the Gunsen on his back, whipping it forward. The colossal metal fan unfolded with a deafening 'ZING'. Aither continued to spin, whipping the air around him, as he stopped he swung his head, using the Gunsen to throw the tornado he had created across the arena to gather up anyone in its vicinity… which was most of the arena. 

Kai and Ramman fell victim to the gust, alongside Torsten and Bolivar as the pair had been fending off their fooled brothers. Silas and Yukio stood together, heads down as they avoided the wind, the father of the Frostgarde leapt onto his brother's back and Silas called upon his own powers, slamming the Kama into the ground and calling forth the roots beneath his feet, propelling himself and his brother into the air. The pair worked together, Silas throwing his brother upward, Yukio using the leverage to gain height as he swung the Kusarigama around his neck - the chain hissing through the air and sending a cascade of sharp ice droplets from the scythe end of the weapon. They were going all out for Jared today. 

As Alairia came to join them in the arena, Raith smiled. Her scent immediately alerted him to her presence, and Raith felt calm at the very thought of his lover witnessing another aspect of his powers. It wasn't often that Raith got to use the Celestials at his disposal for what they were good at - Draconis and his Scouts tended to be the only ones he called upon regularly, the Seven and the Twins trained for him but more than that, he had yet to find a need for his ability to call upon the powers of the Heavens. As Ria sat in his lap, Raith let his hand rest against her leg, fingers caressing her skin as he smiled at her. "Pilgrims looking to join under my Patronage. Ferrus will be giving Dala and the girl there, Talia, an education under my roof as part of his occupation. Talia will learn from yourself and Syn in proper etiquette, she touched me without permission," he snarled under his breath. "but she will be useful given her innocence and age. She's Jared's little sister, I'm testing his usefulness with the help of the Seven. To be honest it's been a while since they've had anything of worth to do, I thought it was best to let them stretch their legs, and stretch my new Pilgrim to his limit," Raith grinned, growling softly in his fiancee's ear. 
He chuckled, holding Ria close. "If she wasn't I think I would be seriously concerned that she was ill," he sighed. 

Jared wasn't hearing any of the chatter from any of the others. His focus was entirely on the battle with the seven wolves, everybody else might as well be invisible to him. Luckily, it seemed his spell worked on two of the wolves, the ones who he assumed would be easier to trick than the others. But the third one wasn't as arrogant as his siblings. Jared had to cover his ears when the colossal metal fan opened with a deafening 'ZING'. The wolf threw the tornado across the arena and it caught Jared, sucking him into the tornado. His invisibility spell shattered as rocks slammed into his arms and back, causing him to bleed. Great. Now they could smell exactly where he was. For a moment, Jared wasn't sure what to do next. Was he really going to be defeated this easily? He closed his eyes and tried to think up a plan. The young man could remember the words his father once said.

-Never let them see your real tricks. Distract your enemy. Use their strengths against them.-

A smile formed on Jared's face as he teleported behind one of the wolves flying in the tornado. Taking out some of his daggers, he released them towards Torsten, using the fast winds of the tornado to make the attack deadly. He teleported behind Bolivar and did the same. The winds were a challenge to teleport in so he managed to teleport to a safe space in the arena, towards the edge. Jared placed his hands on a boulder to steady himself. His hands glowed for a second before he teleported again to avoid the icicles. He wasn't fast enough and some of the icicles scraped against his arms, causing them to bleed. Jared needed to buy himself more time.

Jared used some of his mana to create two mirror images of himself. Normally he would have done five or six, but his mana was being drained every second. The three Jareds split into different directions in an attempt to confuse the wolves. All it would take was a well-aimed attack from the wolves to reveal the fake Jareds, since his magic on them was weak. He didn't put a terrible amount of mana into that spell and yet his magical reserves were being drained massively for something else. The Jareds were teleporting around the room, trying to avoid attacks.

"You know what's funny?" One of them said, "I think these guys aren't actually siblings. They don't act like it."

"Yeah!" Another Jared agreed, "They are all fighting us individually. Even my baby sister knows siblings are stronger together."

"I bet they can't even combine their attacks into one. That's how pathetic they are." The third Jared said, "A bunch of weakling brothers."

He was hoping his plan would work, otherwise he was a goner. But that was how one lived life. There was a risk to every single thing. If he failed here, then he didn't deserve to make it any further. The real Jared teleported in front of the boulder he'd messed with earlier. The boulder was hot to the touch. It only needed one boost of mana to be triggered. He expected the other Jareds to have been caught and defeated by now. It wouldn't be hard. He prepared his magic for one last spell.

"Are you going to prove me wrong?" He asked.

The boulder behind him was an explosion waiting to happen. All it needed was a trigger.

Raith smiled as he watched the fight through Silence's eyes, the boy was quick and he was clever. Despite being up against seven opponents he wasn't allowing himself to become overwhelmed - choosing his targets wisely for his tricks and talents. Raith was actually quite impressed. The Seven would need to practice with this one regularly so that they weren't caught off guard by illusions anymore, he needed his warriors to be the best and he would not allow for any further mistakes from them. 

The scent of blood filled the arena, Raith and the Seven could pinpoint Jared's location easily now - they didn't need their eyes to know where he was. Caught in the tornado Torsten's head swung round at the scent, given his size he could not move as agilely as some of his brothers, and he snarled as the daggers embedded themselves in his thick fur and muscle - it wouldn't be enough to kill him, but they would cause enough pain to fuel his rage further, and you didn't anger the Mountain unless you were ready to be squashed. Bolivar was not as easy to catch, his lithe body twisting to avoid the daggers thrown in his direction. 

The winds dissipated and the Seven formed a line as they had before, heads lowered, teeth bared, their eyes following the mirror images as they tried to discern which of the three was the real one. At the insults, the Seven threw back their heads as one and let out their almighty, thunderous howls that boomed through the whole of Orme. As one they moved, bounding forward as they gathered their respective elements together… and then they released the energy all at once, straight towards the boulder Jared had created. 

With a smile Raith swiftly stood up, putting Ria in his seat and holding his hands in front of him. As the boulder shattered Raith called forth his Celestial Flames, shielding everyone from the blast (although he allowed the Seven the retribution of their loss as the shockwave hit them). As the magic vanished Raith began to clap. "Well done! I'm impressed boy, you're better than I was expecting, not many could have faced off against the Seven so effectively. You'll have to spend more time with my wolves and teach the Brothers some more of your tricks so that they do not fail me again."