Across the quiet expanse of the central guildhall, the assembled candidates observed Hajin and Juna settle onto the far western bench.
The surrounding silence among the fourteen applicants had grown oppressive across an hour of waiting, rendering every subtle glance fraught with suspicion.
Gorren leaned his massive bulk against the granite masonry near the entrance, his arms folded across a heavily dented iron breastplate.
He glared toward the high ceiling until a nervous young fighter seated beside him tapped his armored elbow with a gloved knuckle.
"That is the newcomer everyone was whispering about," the younger applicant murmured in a tense whisper, angling his chin toward the western colonnade.
Gorren rolled his eyes toward the far bench, scrutinizing the dark-haired youth who sat with one foot propped casually across his knee.
The young man was accompanied by a silver-haired beastkin whose piercing silver gaze swept across the chamber with unapologetic dominance.
