First of all, I wanted to personally apologize to everyone that Battle Task 5 has taken so long. First, we had two late entries, which I will post their scores and all their information below (and their scores and stuff have all been updated on the rankings chapter, just FYI). Then, I had received my book Shifter from my editor, so I have spent the past several days rewriting/editing Shifter. Last week, it was Hunter. Now, Shifter, the first round of edits is done, so I should have A LOT more free time. I am SO SORRY that this has taken so long; I take partial responsibility. Before we get to the entries and their scores and stuff, I have a question:

DOES EVERYONE WANT TO CONTINUE THE TASKS AS NORMAL? After this, we will have Battle Task 5, Task 6, Battle Task 6, Task 7, Task 8, Task 9 and Magi Games is over. It isn't too much longer and I think the next few tasks are exciting. I wanted to take a vote and make sure you guys all wanted to continue as normal (or skip Battle Task 5, Task 6, or Battle Task 6 or something). Anyway, just let me know (but Task 6 is exciting, I hope). 

Without further ado, here are the two entries:

Katie387750

I'M SORRY EVERYONE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE THAT I BROUGHT YOU THROUGH. I TOOK AGES TO MAKE THIS ENTRY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN BUSY. IT'S SHORT, IT'S TERRIBLE, BUT IT'S DONE. ONCE AGAIN, I'M SORRY TO EVERYONE, BUT WE'VE WAITED LONGER THAN THIS BEFORE. ENJOY MY SHORT 900 WORD ENTRY. (NOT ALL REQUIREMENTS WERE DONE TO MAKE OUR TIME SHORTER. I'M TRULY SORRY.)

Diane's POV.

I was on the boat that was heading to Serpent Island. A lot of guild representatives were sitting on the boat, staring at each other awkwardly.

Meanwhile, I was just thinking. Thinking about everything that didn't make any since. I can come up with at least 2, Brandon liked me back, and I got picked once again for a task. I get picked for like, every task! Why me? Why not Crystal, Ethan, Brandon, or even little Opal? Why is it always the dark magi?

Whatever, everyone has something going on in their life right now. Opal has Benjo, Crystal has Ethan, and I have Brandon. I think Opal hasn't even talked to Benjo in a day or two. They don't have much time to talk I guess.

"Land ahoy!" The captain, a merman, called out. He steered the boat with a wheel on the bottom of the ship, where it's underwater. There was a wheel underwater and on the boat for all the races, which I found amazing.

I smiled as I got up from my seat. I went to the docks to look at the ocean and watch the island get bigger and bigger. Two male representatives were standing outside as well.

I really hate the sound of this task. Craftsmanship. You pick the most impatient person in the guild for craftsmanship. How stupid are you?

I sighed as the boat got to the island. We were here. All I had to do now was step outside of the boat, and listen to Thulok's speech before we start the task. Hopefully, I'll do okay.

***

"On your marks, get set, go!" Evina chirped.

Sitting in my desk planted in the middle of a plain, I started getting to work. A magicam made a picture behind the desk but visible enough to see it. The magicam showed a picture of a wooden bow with green sparkles coming out of it.

I looked around to find the wood and string for the object. I found the wood sitting in the bottom left drawer of the desk. I took it out, and realized that there was more than just one log of wood. There were about 10 different types of wood, and I didn't know which one to choose from. Which one was the right wood? Tila would've been so good at this!

Whatever, calm down. The second log looked the most like the picture of the magical bow, so I took that one, and put the rest of the logs back in their assigned drawer.

Now, how do I cut this into an actual bow? I don't even know what the part I'm making is called. I don't even know what type of wood this is, I don't even know anything! Ugh, another member of our guild will do this way easier than I could.

I got up from my seat, and left the stupid task. I'm done with this.

Opal's POV.

"What the heck? Why did she leave like that?" Crystal asked.

"We can't waste any time. It's a good thing that we're all on the island together. I'll take her spot, I know a lot about different materials from being out in nature all the time."

"Okay, go, Opal!" Ethan demanded.

I nodded in acceptance, and left our table in the little cafe by the task area.

***

Running through all of the desks lined up for everyone's guild's representative, I finally found Diane's seat. I sat down, and found out that Diane was using pine wood for an ash bow. To be more descriptive on what part, it was the arrow rests and limbs. I quickly picked up the knife on the table, and cut the bow perfectly for the shape I needed.

"Perfect, now I just need the right string," I told myself.

After opening several drawers, I finally found the string. There were many different types supplied. There was sinew, silk, and rawhide strings. The string in the picture looked very skinny and not hard to pull back, so it couldn't be rawhide. I picked the silk string because the color matched really well.

Aligning the string with the bow, I finally finished making it. Now, the enchantment step. I looked around to find a forest green colored enchantment bottle. I found it in the top middle drawer of the desk. I saw many different berries, a pocket knife, and some glitter sitting in the drawer. There was one row dedicated to each enchantment. This bow has a healing enchantment. The magic made it sparkle a green color.

I took out the green row of objects, and I had no clue what I had to do.

"Maybe I just need to cut the berry and put the juice in the bowl, and then add some glitter then pour it on the bow," I said. "It's the only thing that seems reasonable, except the whole entire berry could have to go in, but then what would the pocket knife be for?"

I cut the berry and poured the glitter in to see a dark green mixture.

"Perfect! Now, I just need to put it on the bow." I smiled.

After sprinkling the newly-made mixture on, the bow formed perfectly. I put it in the basket on the right of the desk, and then another item appeared on the screen.

I kept on making the items until time was out.

D-Willy45

(Praeter Dissolvisset)

Past unraveled

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can- unknown

"I'm sorry about that. Reliable men are so hard to come by these days."

Odinson carefully caresses Emilia's cheek with his bloodstained hand. She flinches back ever so slightly. I too am startled at what just happened. One of Odinson's henchmen must have beaten Emilia whilst dragging her here. Odinson did not hesitate to force the man to kill himself.

"Why are you doing this?" One of the captives asks.

"Do not take this personally. I am from one of your many rival kingdoms. I have been a spy from the beginning."

He chuckles to himself for a quick second. He nods his head to one of his men and they start executing all the hostages. Within the second, all who are left were Emilia and I.

"Thorson, I'm scared," Emilia looks to me with horrified eyes. Tears stream down her swollen face.

"I-I know," I say. "Just look at me. I will get you out of here."

I try to struggle out of my bindings, to no prevail. Odinson walks to Emilia, a smile plastered on his face. Again he kneels down to meet her eyes. For a while, he just sits there and stares at her. He then grabs her hair and forces his lips onto hers. He lets go and steps back, he looks so proud of himself.

"Mmm, like gooseberry pie."

He reaches to his hip and quickly grabs a knife.

"Thor please!"

He slits her throat before she can say anything else. Her body hits the ground hard, blood spills onto the marble floor like a river. At first, I just stand there, petrified. Then rage builds up into my gut, it fills my very being. With an anger filled scream, I get to my feet. The guard behind me bashes the back of my head with the hilt of his sword, sending me to the floor.

"How dare you, she was pregnant!"

He turns around and steps towards me. He looks as if I had said nothing.

"Oh yes, I had forgotten that you were here. Guards, take him away to the surface, I have a feeling that Holic will welcome a prospect like him."

He starts walking away nonchalantly as if nothing happened. Again I rise to my feet, tears well up in my eyes. The man behind me tries to bring me down with his hilt again. He tries again and again yet I continue. I do not stop until I am on top of Emilia's body. Kneeling by her side, I lift her head up to mine. I finally give up and let myself go.

I wake up with a start, the third time this week. It's the same every time; cold sweat, tears, shaking, short of breath, I as well need to remind myself of who I am.

Thorson. I, am, Thorson.

Braith is usually by my side in these situations, but not this time. She wanted some time to think, so she asked Erza to let her represent our guild in the new task. Despite Arthur's strong objections, she let her. Braith had been shaken to the core by her parents, she deserves time by herself. I, on the other hand, had taken no time to fall asleep.

My mind drifts to Silva and Conan. It has been what feels like days since I last saw them. I have been too busy to think about visiting anyone.

But he is my friend.

An intense feeling of dread washes over me. I miss the days where Conan and I would spar together. I miss the days that all had to worry about was how busy night patrol would be, or how good my baking would be. Now I am stuck wondering what is real and what is not. I would do anything to get those days back, to stop the paranoia.

*************************************************************************************************************

Kean was fast to leave yesterday. He had said that Evena called him, via telecom crystals. I was the same way once the nurses found out Conan was awake. They had almost physically thrown me out... almost. Conan convinced me to go back to the hotel and sleep, which I did. In fact, I slept for hours past my usual waking time. I make haste to get myself presentable and walk to the infirmary.

Conan is awake when I enter his room. He is looking at the palms of his hands while he stimulates his muscles.. He looks up and flashes me a warm, genuine smile. Looking at him now, I can see how skinny he is becoming. His bones are becoming more and more defined with every passing day. His straight hair has been left untouched for a long time and is now covering his eyes.

"Hello, Silva. I thought you would be in bed right now."

"I slept long enough, thank you."

I sit down on a chair by his side. At first, we do not say anything, we just stare at each other. In his hand, he fiddles with an amulet of Eir, the Divine of healing. He uses his other hand to tuck his hair behind his ears.

"I heard that you wouldn't leave my side during my surgery. I also heard that you took care of me while I was unconscious," His voice sounds raspy, or perhaps it is just fatigue.

"I suppose I did. I couldn't sleep, even if I tried."

"Thank you," He reaches over with his hand and interlocks it with mine. "Thank you for saving me from the mansion as well."

I am surprised that he is talking about that so soon. Thorson has yet to come forward with his own problems. Then again, I do not know the full story.

"I am just thankful that you were able to hold onto life."

He lets go of my hand and instead touches my arm.

"It wasn't by my own merits that I survived," he pauses for a second. "But that is not what I really wanted to talk to you about."

*************************************************************************************************************

It started with us traveling to an island near the mainland. In front of us is a line of tables, with a variety of equipment laid out on them. We each have our own tables which have equipment special for us, though there are no rules against thievery. We have already been informed of what to build so whatever is on our tables should be enough to make whatever we need. Erza chose me for my knowledge on enchanting. For once I find myself agreeing with her judgment. I have studied enchanting for the better part of my life. The only problem is that there are many forms of enchanting, and not all are created equal. Most will use some form of power enchanting. Power enchanting is considered the easiest, and the weakest.

For power enchanting, all one needs is the item, a magic crystal, and a medium reserve of mathanos. All you do is force mathanos through the crystal and into the item. You think of what enchantment you want and before you know it, you are an enchanter. Though that is not the only way of doing it, it is the most popular.

I prefer a more complex system. Lexicon enchanting is one of the hardest and most rewarding method. Only a few people know of its existence, and even less can master it. It requires the caster to solve mathematical problems, crack codes in multiple dialects.

We all get ready to start building, some even snap various joints in their fingers, neck, and other extremities. I breathe in deep and clear my mind. I force mathanos into my right arm to awaken it. The outer metal plates first separate, revealing the inside of the arm. They close back up, and with the sound of many wires spooling, my hand clenched in a tight fist.

A couple seconds later and a horn goes off. Nobody is in much of a hurry to get to the tables, nobody except me. On my table is simply a stick, a knife, string, and a magic crystal. The game maker must have had sympathy for us, for the item, I must build is a bow.

Everyone instantly gets consumed in their work. I start by shedding the bark off the stick, as well as cutting off the branches. After that is cutting notches into each end of the stick, this is where the string will hook onto. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a person from another guild sneaking up to my side. Without diverting my eyes from my work I unholster one of my revolvers and fire at his feet. With a surprised scream, he retreats. Using the string, I tie two knots inside each of the two notches in the stick. I test the draw strength of the bow my pulling the string back.

It is crude, but it will do.

Using the knife on the table, I cut open my left hand. Blood drips down onto the magical crystal until it starts to glow. Using my mechanical hand, I grip down onto the crystal, I shadders easily. Dark red light seeps through my fingers. I bring my hand to the table and open my fingers. A small orb floats in the air, one of extreme power. I grip the ends with my hands a extend my arms to enlarge the shape. What get is an Icosahedron around twice the size of my face, runes make of the faces of the shape. With a deep breath, I start to get to work.

I use my hands to move the runes in their respective places. The biggest problem that I face is the one cannot just move singular symbols. It is almost as if they are linked, for if you move one, you also drag an entire line along with it. I work carefully in order to not get the order wrong. Eventually, I am trying to create sentences out of many, many different tongues.

I double, triple, even quadruple check before I am willing to move on. From within the shape is another glowing orb. I grab it and stretch it out like I did the last one. Suddenly, a dodecahedron appears, similar runes make the sides.

Lexicon enchanting is very tedious work and requires amazing focus. It can be very deadly if I get this wrong.

How did I even get here?

I ask myself.

How did I get mixed up with all of this magic crap?

Thoughts travel in and out of my mind as fast as light itself, before finally, I get a grip on myself.

This is not the time Braith.

Seeing that it is good, I compress the shapes back into an orb once again. I touch the orb to the bow and pray it works. At first, it was stable, a pulsing light indicated its integrity. Then out of nowhere, it explodes. Luckily for me, it wasn't big, just annoying. Wiping the soot from my face, I look around.

I guess I am going to have to steal one from someone else.

I stare down the person beside me. He seems very distracted at the moment, talking to a girl that works beside him. The girl is being very patient with him, yet he still pursues. I first check to see if anyone else is looking before taking out one of my pistols and fire at one of the legs on his table. It falls over instantaneously, and him along with it. Quickly as his back is turned I run over and snatch one of his crystals from the ground. When I look up I can see the woman looking right at me with a blank expression. Moving my finger to my lips, I signal for her to keep silent. She doesn't do anything except return to her work.

I start again, this time slower. The runes appear again, same as last time. My eyes look over the shapes, my brain works to decipher them. I can hear other people finishing their work, they seem very happy about their work.

Stercore! I suppose there was never a hope for first.

Inside my chest is a pulling sensation; it is almost as if the enchantment is calling to me. Whatever I am feeling, it does not do anything to help me through this process. I can hear people whisper about me behind my back. They have most like have never seen this form of enchanting, so it is understandable. Suddenly, all of the pressure is turned to me. Many more eyes are on me, and they expect perfection.

Now I must succeed.

As I fight for concentration, I can feel myself slowly slipping. I move on to the next level in the enchantment. Even though there are fewer symbols, it is harder. The pulling inside my chest turns into a violent tear. I can feel the enchantment feeding on my mathanos, It feels like it is starving for sustenance, and I am the main course. What started in my sternum transfers to my entire body, even my face feels as if it is being ripped apart. Whatever it's grasping at, it's right beneath my skin.

Sweat rolls down my face like rain and my body starts shaking. When I finally finish the second shape I move on to a third, a cube. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the language presented on the faces of the shape. It does look fairly similar to another dialect I know, but it's not perfect. I am forced to do what can with what I have.

Holy Devine Shai, please help me.

I collapse the enchantment and grab the bow. Its surface is covered in soot and ash from the last explosion. I can still feel the pain inside my body, though it's to be stated that it is weaker. With one last calming breath, I connect the two objects and pray that it works.

*************************************************************************************************************

I don't know how it looks to other people, but I can tell that she is slipping. She looks like she is in pain, it hurts to look at her like this. She is so close to finishing, she can't stop now.

"How does it look now, Thorson?"

The woman wipes the exes ink from my neck and hands me a mirror. A portrait of the guild flag in printed around my throat. I look it over for a second, then place the mirror back into her hands.

"Is it better than I could have ever imagined, thank you Charlett."

She nods her head respectfully as I pay her the due amount of money. Charlett used to be apart of the guild a long time ago. She decided that it wasn't the life for her, so she moved here. She contacted me the instant we arrived, though I've never the time to visit. I saw this time as my only chance to see her again, so I came.

Now that I am home, I take the liberty to keep watching Braith. She Is even closer now to finishing, she is also even less stable. People have gathered around to watch her. They all murmur to each other unnervingly. She works even fast now that all eyes are on her. I can tell that she only has a couple more adjustment to go. Finally, she finishes her work.

And now, the moment of truth.

She presses the bow and the enchantment together slowly. They both glow with heavenly light until it all calms down. She picks up the bow, now enchanted. People clap softly, so as not to show their excitement, but it's still there. The look of happiness on her face is priceless, one that I will never forget.

Thank the divines.

SCORES AND FEEDBACK:

D-Willy45

-1.1 for punctuation

-0.8 for grammar

-0.3 for spelling

-1 for being late

1.5 on the writing maturity scale, resulting in a 0.5 point deduction

Since you have a perk, the 1.1 point deduction for punctuation is now zero.

SCORE:9.4

You won the awards: Enchanter, Creative One, Details. You also completed your tiebreaker

Okay, you really had me with that dream there. I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY HAPPENING. *Gasp* Awww Sliva and Conan are SO ADORABLE. EEE. Holy cow. I love the Enchanting building you did - adding so much more to the magic system and developing two different types. How unique and IMPRESSIVE. Hahaha, she shoots a guy at his feet as he tries to steal something - HILARIOUS. Really intense task! You did have some syntax errors, but less than usual so great job. Thanks for handing in. I enjoyed reading it!

Katie387750

-1 for being late

-0.1 for spelling

-0.2 for punctuation

With the perk, your -1 point deduction is now zero

1.4 on the writing maturity scale, resulting in a 0.7 point deduction

SCORE: 11

You have won the awards: Details, Creative One.

OOH creative with the boat; I love it. Also, it was nice to be filled in on what's going on lately. Still making me love your guild and characters. Even though your entry was short, it wasn't filled with quite as many mistakes as usual, which is odd. I could totally tell you rushed it, though, but it just means so much that you didn't give up and you didn't hand in, so thank you so much for that! I did enjoy reading it and it was cute; I loved the struggle and how Opal took her place. Great job!