Breaking the Bull

**Date Started:** July 30th, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play:** The Right Day
**Users Involved:** User:GoldenPiece, User:Shouri01, User:HoloArc, User:Blackdagger01, User:Great Achlus
**Setting:** Clover Kingdom, Black Mansion
**Characters Involved**: Zahir Fubushi, Hansef Ahmed, Hund Jaeger, Sora Greer, Osmund Bryce, Tyalla Lapis

## Black Calves

**4 AM**
A loud alarm rang throughout the entire base of the Black Bulls as the Lead Bull Zahir himself sat in one of the large chairs that was situated in the Common Room of the base. In his left hand he held a device with a large button which he was currently pressing, while holding up a mic with his right hand.

"Alright you useless lot Front and center." Zahir’s voice echoed out throughout the Black Bull hidden base at the crack of Dawn. "It’s time for the annual Black Bull make or break mission." He continued as he waited for everyone to show up.

Stumbling out his room with a deal tired look on his face, Hansef Ahmed one of the newer members who was personally recruited by Zahir outside of the Magic Exams, sluggishly made his way towards his Captain while holding his ears. "Ahhh Captain whys with all the noise!!!" He tired to yelled over the aloud alarm but was drowned out.

Feeling his ears starting to hurt, Hansef forcibly made his way towards his Captain before swimming his hand forwards causing a burst of sand to shoot towards his hand knocking the button free and stopping the loud alarm. "Goddamnit Captain, what’s the meaning of all this!!?" He cried out after the alarm went silent and he could finally hear himself think.

Glancing at his hand then down to the floor where his remote was currently located, Zahir glanced back towards Hansef with a raised brow before answering his question. "Just sit your ass down and wait for the rest." He ordered before glancing back at his possibly broken remote. "By the way that is coming out your first paycheck."

Grumbling in annoyance and still feeling the ringing in his ear, Hansef threw himself down on the nearest couch and promptly fell back to sleep while he waited for whatever the hell was going on to start.

Coming from the corridor that led to the dormitories, walking while groggy with sleep and growling like an angry animal, wearing only shorts, exposing his muscles covered with scars from years of training and several battles, Hund Jaeger entered the common room.

Abruptly pulling out a chair, Hund sat on it facing everyone with a tired expression, looking at the window ,noticing that the sky was still dark outside, Hund grumbled after a yawn:

" What the hell Zahir the day hasn't even dawned properly , why the fuck did the alarm sound so early ?, in case we are being invaded or something like that ?"

"Not an invasion, today is the Make or Break for the newbies." Zahir replied as he turned to Hund with a bland look. "Just because they were selected to join our squad and were stupid enough to do so, doesn’t mean that I have fully accepted them." He explained as he glanced down the hall for the rest.

"Today we will find out who will stay and who will be kicked from the squad."

Hund soon tried to stretch his arms, legs and body, stretching his muscles and chasing away some of the sleep that tormented him, Hund smiled mischievously facing Hansef said, "Yes, today is the day to separate the fearful calves from those with the potential to become real bulls, see who has the guts to stay and who will die trying.

"So captain, what have you prepared this time? I'm sure something that will make even the butt hairs of these brats stand on end." Hund asked Zahir facing him with a mean look, doing his best to intimidate and frighten the young man who shared the environment with them.

"Someone from the Purple Orca’s owes me a favor, which I plan to cash in." Zahir responded as he stared at the sleeping Hansef. "I plan to dump them in a simulated event from one of the missions I myself went into when I was a junior mage".

Sora had just walked into the room when she heard what they all had to say. She started to panic immediately. *Hold on... I just joined the other day and I am already at risk of being thrown out! I... I can't let that happen.* Sora frantically thought to herself. Not wanting to appear weak or fearful to her superior, she clutched her hands behind her back, straightening herself in succession, and spoke up: "Sir, what kind of event would this be?"

"You will see soon enough, I just need to wait for the rest of you lot to show up."Zahir replied as he glanced towards the clock impatiently. "While we may only posses a few rookies I expect a few 1st or Second year veterans to accompany you on this little escapade."

Narrowing his eyes in through Zahir began wondering which mission from his haunted past should he used to break in the new members.

With a loud crash as though one was hitting pots and pans against the wall with every step down the corridor Osmund came flying into the room, his outfit and armor disheveled but on. Seeing the captain in the room he stopped and threw his hand across his chest in the Magic Knight's three-fingered salute. "Goodmorning, Captain! Osmund reporting for duty!" Though he spoke with pride his words and actions seemed rehearsed, like a well trained dog just going through the motions.

Walking right behind Osmund with his hands over his ears, Hund who taking advantage of the waiting time had briefly left the room to dress a little more appropriately returned to the room, now with his well defined chest covered in his usual green shirt, also wearing a pair of pants as well as putting on a pair of boots on his feet, Stopping beside his noisy companion and with an angry expression and a fierce look on his face he barked, "Damn tinhead, next time you intend to promote a damn scandal like this let me know beforehand, so I can help you by banging your damn hollow head against one of these pans! *"*

Then growling, showing all his usual bad mood that said sleep no longer haunted him, he went over to where he had been sitting for a few minutes, and turning to Zahir said in a slightly less rude tone, "So Captain, have you decided what these brats are going to do? I can't wait to see who will piss themselves and who will stand up like a real fighting bull."

Not just a few minutes later, a small blue wisp appeared as it giggled with another one appearing behind it as it danced in a jolly manner. Behind them was Asteria Faye who appeared to be sleepwalking but still looked as if she was half asleep but fully aware of her surroundings. She opened her pale green eyes as she gave a sleepy smile to Osmund and Zahir before nodding back off but managed to catch herself with her eyes still closed. "H-hiiiii barely heard anyone cause I was saving up energy to come up with ideas, what's the latest," Asteria asked in a sleepy tone as she softly yawned.

"Alright that should be everyone I think." Zahir mumbled looking blandly after his assembled squad, mentally he questioned himself feeling that he was forgetting a few other members but for some odd reason Coi fly remember exactly who was missing.

"Alright I’ll keep it simple and clear, You all will probably die a painful death in this little mission." Zahir began feeling that beating around the bush was simply stupid. "This mission is to show me your true capabilities, Some if you have already proven your worth but a lot of you simply haven’t." He continued as he glanced over the assembled group with a calculative stare. "The mission is simple, go into the dungeon marked on the map I will be providing and retrieving the treasure which is located somewhere in there."

Turning towards the more senior members of the squad with a hidden look. "You will be over seen by some of the veteran members of the squad, although they will be instructed to not interfere in the mission beyond overseeing your actions." He stated more towards the veterans than the entire group.

"Any questions?"

"I heard you fought in a dungeon during the exam, if this is going to be one of Captain Zahir's past missions it will make your experience seem like child's play." Said Hund with a cruel smile on his face swallowing his displeasure with Osmundao realizing that he would be punished in a way , also being happy to be presented with an escape valve for the stress he had recently gone through dealing with Ohdove Heartslamb, staring at the newbies one by one with a mean look, before barking out after a laugh, "Hahahaha, I think it's good that you've said goodbye to your loved ones and asked forgiveness for your sin, because today you're all going to die , one way or another."

What was even the appropriate reaction meant to be? Horror? Anger? There was a lot which coursed through the mind of Sora. They keep mentioning the risk of death. Are they truly that mad? To send youngsters to their deaths? This early in the stages? Sora still stood straight as she decided to pose another question. "What kind of enemies are we likely to face in there? I can only assume that it won't be as simple as facing the exam monsters in the maze?"

Her breakneck pace hadn't failed the knight as the brutal, intimidating structure that was the Black Bulls base rose in front of her. Coming directly from one of the many missions her Captain passed off to the Vice Captain and/or her, Tyalla knew she had probably missed the Exams in its entirety. She had planned to return in time to see selections, but the mission Yalla believed would be short quickly turned more involved. Now all she could hope for was arriving before the new calves were sent off on their first mission.

Tyalla focused, slowing down her pace for something more refined, her broom gliding through the air as she closed in on the base. As eager as she was to see the new recruits, it wouldn't do to be hasty and sloppy.

While still recovering from his fit of spiteful laughter, without disposing of his evil smile that reflected the satisfaction of seeing the despair and fear in the eyes of the novices, when thanks to his keen magical detection he felt a powerful and familiar presence approaching the mansion, immediately recognizing the identity of the bearer of that magical power not only by the amount of Mana emanated but by the magical attribute that she radiated.

Saying to the rookies without losing the excitement of earlier but taking on a somewhat more respectful tone, " Hey you brats take a good look at the entrance door, if you want to be real Magic Knights, aspire to the strength of this woman who will enter now."

Watching Tyalla's entrance, without getting up Hund waved her off and greeted her from afar saying again with a tone that mixed malice and relaxation, "Welcome back Big-sis, if you delayed any longer you would end up missing the show that Zahir prepared and you would end up not knowing some of these brats, at least you wouldn't know them with all pieces in place"

So she had made it in time to meet them. Good. Tyalla waved back before frowning, her purple-gold gaze taking in the atmosphere and reactions of those present. "Thank you Hund. The mission took longer than I would have liked. But it's finished. Also, please don't say such mean spirited things. These children worked diligently to reach this point. It's important to support them so they can grow further," Tya responded.

"Anywho," the magic knight turned her attention to the assembled recruits, "Welcome to the Black Bull squad. I am Tyalla Lapis of House Lapis. As this is my first time meeting you, please kindly introduce yourselves."

"Sis, don't put your hand on the heads of these brats, they are like raw metal, if we don't refine them with hard blows they will become weak metals and consequently weak and low quality tools, in other words, useless soldiers..." said Hund without getting rid of his wicked smile wicked smile, facing Tyalla, replying..." And we don't need dead weight or cowards, in the end I have nothing personal to tell them they are really very nice, I just don't want calves with small horns and weak legs to tarnish the name of the Squadron, and my way of encouraging them to show their strength is by treating them like my bitches, if they want to be treated as my companions only prove themselves worthy."

Then, smiling mischievously, he looked at Sora and Hansef, realizing that he didn't know their names either, leading him to snore, "Come answer Sis's question, I want to hear the names of my little bitches, after all I still don't know the names of some of you, and I have to know what to write on your lapids."

Sora appeared all but unimpressed. This Hund fellow seemed to try and appear scary and speak in an intimidating fashion. She couldn't help but find it lackluster at best. "Sora. Sora Greer. And if you want to call me a bitch, feel free. But do not presume to be calling me 'yours' in any way shape or form."

Hund stood up and walked over to the young, fiery-tongued aspirant, staring at her with a fulminating stare, usually this would be the moment when he would get angry and probably treat her rudely and in the end resort to violence, but that's not how things happened, the comment as well as the disdainful look in Sora's eyes were not even enough to make him cheer up, On the contrary, he faced her with an animated look, without taking his eyes off her, waiting for them to give some sign of hesitation, without noticing anything he laughed and said without taking the smile from his face, even applauding "Hahaha you really are brave, challenging me like that didn't end well for some. And that's good, at least you have the courage, it's name is Sora right ? in respect to that courage I will call you by name, I just hope you have a strength as sharp as your tongue, but if you disappoint me you will see me "

Keeping his good humor, eschewing his usual wild behavior, a change most likely caused by his time with Ohdove that may have taught him to respect the courage of others with his behavior or just made him a little more tolerant by forcing him to resist all his provocations and bravado, the fact was that that reaction barely resembled Hund's of a month ago, something that was even more evident when he sat down next to Hansef and gave a light punch to one of the tanned-skinned boy's well-built arms and teased him grumbler, "And you brat, are you going to say your name and show that you've got balls like Miss Sora, or are you going to stand there like a scaredy-cat. "

Jumping awake at the sudden strike, Hansef glanced around in a panic before realizing he wasn’t in any immediate danger beyond what his squad mates could possibly inflict. "Err s-sorry c-could you repeat that?" He questioned in between a yawn before glancing towards Hund.

Smiling ever so discreetly at the response of Hansef, Zahir raised a amused brow at the young man whom he had personally sought out and recruited. While he valued his abilities and magical prowess, his main reason for recruiting him was his wild and floppy personality.

"Introduce yourself before we set off Hansef." Zahir casually ordered in amusement. "That was what Hund was inquiring about as your the last one to do so."

Blinking and rubbing the sleep from his eyes Hansef stretched a bit before letting out another yawn. "Names Hansef Ahmed, I u-use Sand Magic." He responded in between yawns and his sluggish movements.

"I-I was personally recruited by the big man himself for whatever reason." He continued as he pointed towards Zahir before once again slumping down, albeit awake at this point.

"Good now that everyone knows everyone, it’s time we I explained what we will be doing." Zhair started with a serious look on his face as he pulled a map from his pocket and tossed it on the table i from of him.

"Before I start any other questions?” He asked his squad. "Because once I start the explanation I don’t want any interruptions until I’m finished."

"HAHAHAHAHA! so name the scaredy cat is Hansef, if you afford to nap like that at initiation time you sure won't live to dawn again tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled..." Hund barked as he realized Hansef was dozing , laughing heavily at the boy's startled reaction, getting up he approached the boy again, crossing his under his shoulders, and with a wicked sarcastic smile amended playfully , "Hum Sand Magic, so the scaredy cat gets to create his own sandbox, beats right. I don't blame you for filling your mouth to boast that you were recruited by the captain of the Black Bulls, but if you want to keep doing this show, that you have balls and aren't a weak legged fearful little calf."

While waiting for Sora or Hansef to say something to Zahir, to raise some doubt or confirm that they had none, looking at the rookies' faces for a brief moment as his expression became a little milder and his smile a little more serene, he huffed and thought to himself, "*Zahir, it looks like you've picked promising boys this time, they'll make things more interesting around here, of course if they pass the initiation...*"

Seeing that no one else had any questions Zahir nodded and gestures towards the map. "I’ll keep it simple the objective is to survive and find three chests located somewhere in a randomly generated and artificially created dungeon. You will have exactly 24 hours to accomplish this." He began as a hologram of the the dungeon structure appeared before him.

"Pay no attention to this hologram as it reflects the dungeon in its current state, one which will be shifted once you enter it." He warned once more as he a picture of three different colored chests appeared. One gold, one Silver and One Bronze. "Each chest you find will posses a required item needed to get to the other, with the final chest posses the required items needed to escape said dungeon, and before you ask No I will not tell you what each item is or does beyond what I stated. Glaring at the assembled members of the squad with a hard look, one that promised pain if anyone nagged him about it.

"Let me state that even if The dungeon is artificially created, the creatures and monsters you face within will be one hundred percent REAL, meaning you can and possibly WILL die if you are stupid. " Zahir warned with a nasty look on his face as he recalled one of the newer missions he had to undertake as a Junior Mage. "As I stated before this is MY rookie exams to weed out any potential wasted choices, albeit seeing as you in my squad via personal pick or recommendation, I expect the lot of you to survive without any lasting damage. Well besides a few lost limbs and permanent mental scarring."

Pausing to make sure he summed it all up for a bit He turned towards his squad with a raised brow. "So any questions?"

Osmund raised his hand, "Uh, Sir... Do I have to participate in this again or is there something else I'll be doing?" He asked, hesitating a bit before continuing to speak. "Ya know, since I'm not a rookie n'all."