[h3][color=a2d39c]Guiles Marmor[/color][/h3]


As Guiles quickly found out, wearing his lumberjack shoes was a bad move. Before he even got into the elevator, he was stopped by bodyguards, and all of his weapons, or anything that could have been used as a weapon, was confiscated. His axe, and his climbing spikes. They wouldn't have taken the shoes, but Guiles cheerfully informed them that his shoes could be used as weapons too, as they were spiked, and used for kicking logs. So they took the shoes too, they considered taking his camera, as it could be used as a blunt weapon, but decided that if Guiles was going to use anything as a blunt weapon, it would likely be his fists, so they let him keep the camera.

So, Guiles spent the elevator ride up shifting from one foot to the other, because his socks were thin, and the floors were all marble, even inside the elevators. When he finally arrived at the 101st floor, he had no idea what a sight he was. An incredibly tall man with no shoes, who looked like he got into a street fight right outside the hotel, standing next to a small black haired girl who definitely did not look like she belonged in the exam. [color=a2d39c]"Y'can come sit with me, if y'want to. Oh! I nearly forgot to introduce m'self. I'm Guiles, nice to meet you."[/color] Guiles made sure the small black haired girl he took up to the 101st floor felt welcome, partially because it was good manners, and partially because he would take any company right now just to distract him from how nervous he was.

He made his way to a nearby seat, so he could get his feet off of the cold floor. He made sure that he took a table with at least three chairs, so that if anyone wanted, they could sit right down. Guiles certainly wouldn't mind any company, no matter how many people, he enjoyed talking to people, and he hoped people enjoyed talking to him. He drummed idly on the table, while letting his eyes drift across the room. There certainly seemed to be many imposing looking contestants. Guiles spotted the pretty girl from before, a shirtless man with jars on his belt, and a woman with what appeared to be scales on parts of her body all caught his eye rather quickly. But there were many more strange contestants, far more contestants than Guiles expected there to be.

After a few minutes, a waiter came by to take Guiles' order. [color=a2d39c]"A tall glass of apple juice, please! Gotta keep my vitamin C levels high, for the exam."[/color] To his credit, the waiter merely raised an eyebrow, nodded, and hurried off. After a few more minutes, the promised apple juice was delivered, ice cold, and sweeter than any apple juice Guiles had tasted before. He drank it slowly, to savor the taste.

Mere moments after he finished his drink, a tall woman made her way to the stage, and commanded everyone to return to their seats. Luckily, Guiles was already seated, but some people were not so lucky, and were too slow for the woman's liking, as she commanded them to leave. Guiles was already on edge, but this woman kicking people out because they took too long [i]really[/i] got him nervous. He tried to make himself scarce by slouching more in his seat, but he was a really big guy, with a red plaid shirt, and bright blonde hair. So he was anything but scarce.

One of the contestants, number 105, stood his ground, and refused to leave. Guiles admired his courage, but was glad he didn't share his courage when the tall woman stated that whoever brought her his badge, would get a free pass to the next round. Within seconds, people were lunging at him from every angle. He fought back well, clearly he was well disciplined, and trained in the ways of martial arts, but he was still vastly outnumbered. Guiles thought this was incredibly unfair, this guy worked just as hard as everyone else to get here, and he had to leave because he wasn't fast enough to get to his seat? Fear and outrage warred in his head, until they came to an agreement.

So, Guiles scooched around in his seat, so the tall woman couldn't get angry at him, picked up a nearby table with one hand, and lobbed it between #105 and some of the people attacking him, momentarily catching their attention. [color=a2d39c]"Now hold on! Don'tcha think that 105 here deserves just as much of a chance as the rest of us?"[/color] The answer, was a resounding no. They didn't even consider Guiles' words, and immediately returned to rushing #105. [color=a2d39c]"Oh. Okay then."[/color]

Guiles stood up, holding his chair against him with one hand, and charged into the fray. Not attacking 105, or the other contestants, but instead just pushing people apart, to break up fights. Of course Guiles was one guy, and there were tons of incredibly competent examiners, so his efforts were in vain.


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After the chaos died down, and 105 was sadly defeated. (Guiles had no idea who did it, he gave up the whole "peace keeper" thing when someone smashed him upside the head with a bottle of wine, and decided to save his strength for the actual exam.) The woman, who Guiles learned was named Aleksandra, explained the rules, And Guiles immediately realized that by defending 105, he had unintentionally painted a target on his back. 

He considered asking the small black haired girl he brought up to the 101st floor to team up with him, but realized that if she teamed up with him, they'd likely target her too. So, Guiles, out of politeness, and respect for the other contestants, didn't ask a single person to be on his team.

That wasn't to say he wouldn't accept anyone if they offered to join up with him, but he didn't want to rope anyone into partnering up with him, what if someone did it just to be polite, and then they got taken out of the running because of him? He'd feel terrible! Guiles suddenly wished he had more apple juice to steady his nerves.