*******<br/><br/>The sun had finally risen, blanketing the ruined city in its warm glow.<span style="font-style: italic">It feels almost.. peaceful,</span>Ayl thought, sitting on the edge of one of the few buildings still standing tall. He hadn't slept a wink, though this was normal for him, and he didn't feel tired in the least. He munched on some type of prepackaged food, staring into the sky and watching its hue shift. "Well, guess I should get back to the hideout. Wonder if anybody's waiting there already," he mused, still going over plans for the day in his mind. Chances are he would be working with the newbies for as long as he could, getting them as ready as possible for the war.<br/><br/>He casually walked down the street, his hands resting against the back of his neck. Rounding the corner leading to the hideout, he found himself staring into a fairly large group of people - somewhere between 20 or 30 hunters had shown up, and each and every head turned to him in turn, the chatter dying down slowly as he approached. He stopped walking when he was within reasonable distance, his eyebrow arched; "Well this turned out better than expected," he said with a grin, looking over the group. There was a wide variety of expressions; some were scared, some seemed pumped up, some looked bored, and others lacked expression entirely. His own expression quickly shifted, no longer casual or friendly, instead taking up a serious demeanor.<br/><br/>"Well, since you're all here, I don't need to tell you what's at stake," he began, pacing back and forth as he spoke. "I'll give you each one last chance to back out - This training will<span style="font-style: italic">not</span>be easy. You will suffer injuries, both physically and to your egos.. But you will emerge stronger for it, possibly strong enough to survive what we're up against." He stopped moving, letting his eyes sweep over the crowd to observe the change in mood. "Now, before we get started, I need to know something from each of you. Your powers." He waited a moment, watching as one hunter stepped forward to speak, before cutting him off; "No no, not with words," he smirked, holding an arm out and forming an orb of darkness in his palm. "Any of you got the balls to take me on? Promise I won't kill you."