Prologue

Some time ago, legends were born into the world of Azahla.

Azahla is a world on its own, virgin vegetation covers most of its ground, pristine water runs through its rivers and oceans. Human beings coexists with different creatures in this world. One day calamity strikes, a warrior uncovers the tomb of the most fearsome warlock Azahla has ever seen born, upon removing the lid of his casket he liberates evil spirits that were trapped inside the warlock's decomposing body.

The malignant spirits roamed the world, luring people into giving their body as a dwelling for the spirits. Some people gave their body voluntarily, the spirits would live in them, consuming their pure, immortal soul. In exchange the spirits granted them supernatural abilities. These people became very dangerous and a threat to Azahla. They lived among the "commons", a dark mark upon their face was distinct and clear, telling them apart from those having a pure soul. They soon discovered and mastered their abilities, thus forming an alliance among themselves, but against the "commons".

War erupted between the two sides, the unholy and the pure. The dark souls had a clear advantage over the pure because they could do unimaginable things, in other words, they were death machines.With abilities surpassing those of a person and thirst for death and bloodshed.

A group of warriors, both men and women, escaped from a battle at Cirdetre, the main state of Azahla. The battle at Cirdetre would become another victory for the unholy. They fled from the battlefield, into the mountains seeking hiding. In that mountain, they prayed every night for the battle to end, when finally a winged spirit with bright aura appeared and granted them the power to defeat their enemies. The being gave them the knowledge to channelize their spirit's energy into a weapon, making the weapon strong and an extension of themselves.

These warriors returned to the battlefield and defeated the unholy with their newly attained powers, casting them to an island, confining them in a prison. The dark spirits left them and disappeared into oblivion, and mere human beings were left to rot in their solitary cell.
After the war, this group of warriors decided to maintain the secret of their abilities and knowledge. It was not until the last stages of their life that they decided to share their secret with the rest of the world, in fear that Azahla might be thrown into darkness once again.

Each of them shared the secret with a selected few from the villages in which they lived.
This group of warriors taught their apprentices to duel and fight, because you must train body and mind before training soul, but not everybody could achieved the spiritual state required to be able to channelize their energy to a weapon. Some of the apprentices were able to channelize, whilst some failed completely. The practice was whispered across the oceans and many came to Cirdetre to try their luck at channeling their energy to a weapon. Only a few could boast about it.

Five years after their victory, a terrible earthquake shook Azahla, destroying the fortress created to confine the convicts and criminals who were formerly possessed by dark spirits. These criminals, who learned the abilities from the dark spirits once within them, soon terrorized the world; killing, slaughtering, thieving. They hid around the world, humans and monsters alike, creating chaos and causing destruction.

The group of warriors, who received the name of Elders, were too tired and out of shape to fight and capture the criminals. As a result, they sent their successful apprentices in search of the convicts, becoming hunters. The best hunters survived the terrible assassins, but others died.

With almost all of the convicts caught and/or dead, Azahla soon recognized these hunters and they became part of the higher echelons of society. The Elders could depart from this world in peace, knowing that Azahla will never be hurl into shadows again. But before doing so they created a Hunting Alliance. This alliance comprised of hunters, was in charge of qualifying hunters to protect and insure harmony throughout Azahla.

The Allience began with the Elders who were still alive and a few hunters. Many seeking fame and fortune joined the alliance after proving their ability to channelize energy, but even after being named hunters they weren’t good enough. Killing hunters had became a favoured hobby for underground assassins and criminals. Finally the Elders decided to create Hunting Examinations, a series of challenges the future to-be hunters have to perform and succeed in order to become rightful hunters.

With almost half of the Elders dead, they were able to set forth the examinations. These examinations tested them in their logical reasoning of problem solving, strength, stamina, and ability to duel, and most importantly their skills with their weapon. The Elders were very interested in the ability their weapon could possessed once it was furnished with spiritual energy.

The examination was long, extensive, ruthless, and demanding. It takes place every three years with a duration of three days, and the maximum times you could repeat the exam was three. Once they fulfill all the tests they were names "Black soul Hunters."

Fifty years later, one Elder remained, he was now over 80 years old, but still had energy to live, his hunting expertise and abilities were unbeatable. His love for teaching was so great that he decided to open an academy and invite the younger generations who wished to become hunters to attend this institution. Before the academy even existed, hunting was a craft passed from one generation to another, only the successful children of hunters knew the knowledge.

And thus the academy was created, only accepting those with high spiritual abilities. The only requisite to enroll was to demonstrate their skills. If they succeeded, the academy welcomes them.

RATE THIS CHAPTER!

Author guidance for This exercise

Hello :)

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."
-Ernest Hemingway

Topic: http://www.protagonize.com/group/planning-brainstorming/topic/2654/2

BOOK ONE IS FINISHED. BOOK TWO IS ON ITS WAY.

Azahla- name of the world
Cirdetre- main state of Azahla
Battle of Cirdetre- appearance of the beings and birth of the wielding of spiritual energy.

Characters

Aldrest Wilcaust
*Age: 17
*Appearance: 5'10", fit and built body (not way too muscular), ruffled black hair and deep black eyes. Quite handsome.
*Personality: Quiet, observant, solitary, disciplined, sometimes insolent, great warrior and hunter. He underestimates everybody else (due to his dark past).
*Specific abilities: dexterous, marksmanship, light foot, stamina, silent shadow.
*Weapon: twin reverse-blade swords (katanas)
~~~LuneXian

Axel Chaos
Age: 16
*appearance: 5 ' 10 , hugely muscular, Blood red hair which is brought back and spiked, his hair reaching down to his shoulders. orange eyes, His skin is slightly tanned. Would be considered handsome if not for his reputation of being a loser.
*Personality:Loud, obnoxious, fearless. Strives to be noticed by everyone, and does not give up whenever he says he is going to do something. Has a short temper, and hate how mostly everyone views him as a loser.
*Specific abilities: Super strong, Strong skin and bones (sorta invincible but not really.) Agile, and lots of energy.
*Weapon: An oversize sword which is about 4 feet long and six inches between each blade. He calls it the blade Maelstrom. It is capable of falling apart into 4 different blade each having different shapes, and sharpness as well as weight.
~~~chimerakiller2

Albert White
Age:22
*Appearance: Five foot eleven, uses daggers in combat
*Personality: Furious, Snaps quickly
*Abilities: Shifts light to cloak himself, quick in combat, can track anything, extremely creative in combat
*Weapon:Short sword and a knife
~~~Dyerz

Shizuma (no one knows her last name)
Age: 17
*Appearance: 5'6, pale skin, long grey/silver hair which flows down to her hips. Crystal blue eyes and long dark lashes, making her incredibly beautiful. Slender and toned. Wears high trousers and shirts or dresses, but mostly all in the colours black or blue.
*Personality: Cold to those she does not like, charming to those she likes or wishes to please. A bit of an outsider, but high up in the class and respected by almost everyone. She trusts no one, but underneath her layers of rigid mistrust is a loving kind woman just waiting for someone she can actually trust with her life.
*Specific abilities: Flexible and well versed in theft techniques which she learned in her childhood.
*Weapon: Whip and throwing discs
~~~Stargazer

Kyre Lenai
*Age: 15
*Appearance: very pale skin, Pink eyes and white hair that is in an emo cut. He wears black clothes (black jean jacket, Black skinny jeans, Black Arm gloves and Black and Purple striped socks that go over his pants, Black converse shoes) He wears black eyeliner and black nail polish. Also has snake bites and a tongue piercing. two piercings on the lobe of his right ear and three on the top of his left ear. Very skinny. Albino.
*Personality: used to keep to himself when he was little which lead to him being a loner. Has only a few friends but he doesn't mind meeting new people. He is also very shy. Since he has very little friends they can't distract him in school so he is very smart, and he has good athletic skills he just doesn't show them. He wants to so badly to be a Black Soul Hunter.
*Specific Abilities: Intense reflexes (very fast), Very good with technology, Very good senses. Can steal very well just doesn't like too.
*Weapon: Dual Daggers.
~~~Hikaru101

Joanne Raine
*Age: 15
*Appearance: 5'7, tanned skin, long wavy auburn hair tied into a bushy ponytail or long braid. Piercing green eyes which make her seem a bit foreboding and mysterious. Tall and lanky. Wears shorts and a shirt with boots but also likes to go barefoot.
*Personality: Has a bad temper but is usually quite cheery. She seems immature but is serious when she needs to be.
*Specific abilities: Nimble and good at sneaking around. Has good aim and is a good climber. She usually shoots people from afar and/or catches them by surprise
*Weapon:Birch long bow. She also has a silver dagger for close combat but usually relies on the long bow. When she channels energy into the long bow it shoots energy. She can't channel into the dagger so she avoids close combat.
~~~iamkathybrown13

Koemi Adachi
*Age: 17
*Appearance: 5'7, pale skin, athletic body, elegant limbs, dark blue eyes and long jet black hair, which is usually tied back into one long plait down her back to her hips.
*Personality: Incredibly driven and will stop at nothing to get what she wants, black soul hunter status. She makes friends fairly easily and is loyal to them, willing to do anything for those she trusts. Can be seen as quite shy but should not be underestimated, she can be pretty feisty when she needs to be.
*Specific abilities: Incredibly agile and can squeeze through shockingly small spaces.
*Weapon: Katana Sword
~~~dottylotti

Candravar
*Age: unknown
*Appearance: upright figure, sky color eyes bright as the moon, pale and smooth skin, has white hair that reaches past his shoulders and a white beard that extends to his chest.
*Personality: Pacifist, wise, caring
*Specific ability: an Elder, despite his age he is still strong and agile but not as before.
*Weapon: chains
*******************************************
Bad guy

Salazar Dreix
*Age: Unknown
*Appearance: Tall and muscular man, a deadly pallour gives him a ghastly appearance, he has a shaved head with an enourmous dark mark of a snake that starts on his temples and runs along his spine. He wears long dark cloaks, beneath it he hides his true hunting garment. His eyes are bloodshot and pitch black colour and his lips cover bone-white teeth.
*Personality: cold, greedy, has no compassion nor humbleness, bloodthirsty, his only joy is the sound of murder in his own bare hands.
*Specific abilities: well-trained and very strong with superhuman strength, agility, and velocity. He can sustain a fight without using his spiritual
energy.
*Weapon: a cross between a whip and a sword

updated Sep 18 '11 by LuneXian