A Not So Simple Exam [Exam/Speculo]

Her head tilted to the side, platinum locks shifting with the motion, ruby eyes showing clear confusion. "Can you not handle it?" She teased clearly to motivate him or perhaps push his buttons a bit. Still, when he bent down to one knee allowing her access to his back she gave him a childish grin. Dashing around him and jumping onto his back, arms laced about his neck careful to not cut of oxygen, and legs squeezing his sides firmly so as not to fall, Venir could basically support herself on his back so that all he had to do was simply move up the grand staircase.

"Thank you!" She replied in turn to his cute comment, and of course somewhat thankful that he said the exam thus far was hard. Venir was known amongst her guild mates for giving incredibly easy exams and that wasn't something she wanted to be remembered for. Though, she didn't want to completely break Speculo by having him carry her in her adult form up the remaining portion of the mountain, that was just cruel. Besides her younger form felt more natural and just as Speculo said it was a rather cute form. This she had learned after getting her way more than once because of her childish charm, it had earned her numerous pats on the head even from her previous scary guild master, and current guild master alike. "It's quite a bit of a walk," Venir explained, "In this form I weight about 70 pounds or so. I don't wanna be cruel and make you carry more than necessary. Besides I'm tired." She yawned, but clearly had enough energy to tease him. After all, throughout the course of the exam Speculo had done nothing but carry more than necessary.


About halfway up the mount Venir would tap Speculo upon the shoulder, her grip upon his neck tightening out of instinct but not enough to cut off oxygen. "Stop." It was a quiet whisper, her childish features growing serious. "It would appear that we're not alone on this mountain." She muttered quietly, sending a glance towards the tree's on either side of the stone stair case, the forest was unusually quiet devoid of any of the sound produced by wildlife, and the darkness between the tree's was thicker than normal.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

Slipping off of Speculo's back with silent ease, Venir continued to watch the tree line. She could only take Speculo's word and hope to hear his reason as to why they were being attacked by these men whom did not appear to be strangers to the wandering mage. "I'll hold you to that." She warned; her own promise to him that they would both make it through whatever strange ordeal they had found themselves in. Repeating her earlier process Venir yanked upon her curious bracelet once more but this time not only did the charm come off but a light surrounded the little mage. A moment or two later she was no longer bundled up in her coat but rather a frilly dress, one that was entirely composed of her own mana. The same staff from before was in her white gloved hands.

As the hooded man threw the daggers, Venir took a step forward to intervene to somehow stop them because she knew how to but it appeared Speculo was faster. With the knives sent back towards the man whose name seemed to be Ros, Venir turned around to face the other side of the tree line. There were more hooded men appearing from the cracks between the tree's all of them wielding weapons or some form of magic. Her small back pressed against Speculo's, her staff raised in an offensive manner in order to warn her approaching enemies, "I'll see what I can do." She muttered, no teasing anymore. When it came to humans and their poor choices, Venir was always serious. Not to mention she had to focus and make sure she didn't accidentally kill one of the men.


In the blink of an eye Venir had slipped a few curious cards from her a frilly holster upon one of her thighs. The worn out looking cards had magic circles on the back of them and a various different pictures on the front side. She slipped the cards upon her staff each in a quick succession. All of them seemingly absorbed into her staff but there seemed to be little to no change until she moved forward towards the hooded men. In a flash like move she had dashed behind one of the men, staff having slammed into the back of his head with a surprising amount of force. Before he had even crumpled to the ground Venir moved onto the next man who had just begun to react by moving towards her. "Shoot!" Spinning on her heel, Venir managed to angle the staff just right in order to shoot a pink bubble of energy at the man. The next one had almost taken the platinum haired child by surprise; his arms wrapped about her midsection trying to hold her still but Venir still had one trick up her sleeve. "Now!" A bolt of electricity erupted from her staff of tricks, putting more than a few volts in him, and releasing his grip upon her.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

With the flow of enemies seemingly endless Venir didn't acknowledge Speculo's statement. She'd do her best to help him once she dealt with her own swarm of goons but for now she trusted Speculo would be fine on his own. Slipping another card out of her holster and placing it upon her staff, the cute object morphed into a silver blade that glistened in the light. These enemies were tough enough to draw out even her strongest of cards.



Still shielding his eyes from Speculo's trick and simultaneously backing away, Ros created another plethora of knives to fly at Speculo. One of his palms had already found the hilt of his red blades, grasping it so hard that his knuckles turned white from the pressure. Speculo had gotten stronger but so had he. With cloak still pulled over his eyes to prevent him from seeing anymore of Speculo's tricks; Ros had to rely on mostly his hearing. Which helped him notice a certain sharp, crisp sound in the air. It was the sound of another blade, one that was not his own. Ros couldn't help but grin while muttering a simple spell and tossing a few more knives to distract his current opponent. With spell complete a gleaming silver blade flew out of the childs hands and right into his own. A blade constructed out of nothing but the young aces magical power. The metal was far more potent than even his own blades. "Let's see how you like this. First, I'll finish you with this sword and then I'll kill her with her own weapon." He pulled the cloak further down his face to shield his eyes, his nose still throbbing but the bleeding slowed some. With the longsword clasped in both hands he dashed forward, another set of knives flying towards the mirror mage.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

One moment her sword was in her hands and the next it was gone. "Eh?" She blinked in surprise looking at her now empty hands. There was no way she dropped it right? She looked between her hands and the enemies that had gathered around her. "Hehehe do you mind waiting a minute?" It was worth a shot right? Apparently, they did not want to oblige the young girl seeing as she was attacked by a myriad of things from weapons to basic spells. Luckily, Venir did have one thing on her side and that happened to her petite size. Diving between a gap between two of the mages, her body hit the snow causing her to slide a few feet away from the men. Which was just in time to see a silver blade flying her way again.


Her hand grasped the hilt of the blade as it neared her, she pointed the gleaming metal at the conveniently gathered enemies whom had just realize that she was not in between them anymore. "Shoot!" Another barrage of the pink orb of energy hit them, this time much it was more effective seeing as they were all so close together. With the group of enemies somewhat dealt with it was time that Venir repaid Speculo.


She rushed into Ros with all of her might, slamming into his back shoulder first. She may not have weighed much but at the least the young girl was stronger than she looked thanks to her magical training. She hit him hard enough to send him stumbling forward.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

It was being taken away right before her eyes. It wasn't the first time that a life had been stolen in front of her, and she knew it wouldn't be the last but there was something wrong about it. The other times she had seen the end of a human life was typically at her guild members hands, but all of those times it was justified and she understood the situation. This time though, Venir didn't really understand the situation save for what she heard during the battle.


Her hands were gentle upon Speculo's arms hoping to have the mirror mage at least loosen his grip upon the other man's throat. She glanced warily at the now unconscious wizard, who was out from more than a simple lack of oxygen. "He was your friend wasn't he?" She inquired with worry, it was the only reason that she stepped in. She herself didn't believe in the killing of others, she only hurt them when necessary, but never killed. Her guild mates didn't really follow that guideline but she knew in her heart that they wouldn't have tried to kill one another, at least not willingly. "I'm not sure why you two are in conflict." Speculo had promised to tell her of it later but she simply couldn't wait till later, "But if you two were once friends or even guild mates I want you to think about this before you do anything rash." She urged, "I won't stop you but please just consider what you're about to do." To match her words she let go of his arm, and even took a small step back, and firmly planted her blade into the ground.


It was a lesson taught to her by a guild mate that had long since disappeared, but she held the words close to her heart. They were words that she lived by, and words that she preached to the other members of Eclipse Soul.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

Venir bit her lip as Speculo explained the situation to her. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the idea of such a ruthless guild with little to no camaraderie. Other dark guilds she knew at least held some sort of bond but to be in a guild filled with such ruthlessness was unimaginable. Despite being unable to understand it, Venir did at least respect his wishes. "To choose between saving one life or many lives." She supposed that Ros' death wouldn't be much of a loss if it meant that others lives would be spared but that felt like a poor solution instead of getting to the real root of the problem. Not to mention Venir refused to bloody her own hands but if Speculo so wished to finish Ros then she made no move to stop him.

Taking one last glance at the unconscious mages Venir followed after Speculo, more than a little worried. The wind was picking up, the first bits of snow already falling through the air. The icy wind nipped at her nose, and made her cheeks flush to keep the cold at bay. Yet her mind flickered back to the guild of mages who knew nothing of friendship. Her gaze flickered over to Speculo, silently observing the mirror mage who seemed to be fine or at least acted like nothing of any significance had happened. If his old guild was filled with such devoted members, who knew of nothing but killing and money, then why was it that Speculo was still not with them. The others seemed so devoted, ready to die for their guild, and bring down an old member without a second thought. "He still seems to hold their ruthlessness. He didn't think twice about cutting down any of them but-" Why wasn't he devoted to the guild, why did he leave?

As she pondered over her questions, Venir fell silent. Not a single word escaped her lips at least not until they reached the top of the stone steps. The stormy skies did not diminish the view of the pheonix mountains in the slightest, the sight was still something to be remembered. "Last question and then you're free." Venir promised, her young visage donning a serious expression, "Why is it that you left your guild?" She may not have completely understood his circumstances but there were people within Eclipse Soul who might, but of course that all depended on just what Speculo was after, what it was that motivated him.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS

Venir couldn't help but get choked up as well at Speculo's story. She sniffled and when she caught sight of a tear, she finally gave him a hug struggling to wrap her small arms about his waist. She didn't say much just gave him a firm squeeze, while trying to hide her own tears. She was an overly emotional being but that was what made her one of the most approachable members in her guild. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and always tried to understand others even if it was hard for her considering her lack of memory. It made her hesitant to try and recover her own memory, if something like this was awaiting her. Yet she shook the thought out of her head as quickly as it came, and instead gave Speculo one last squeeze before releasing him from her vice like grip.

She wiped away any stray tears from her ruby gems before finally managing to give him a smile. "We sure look worse for ware." She mused aloud at both of their red eyes, and noses to match. "The logs were just for a physical challenge though a fire might be nice with this weather." Though, a fire wouldn't do either of them much good if it was anything like the blizzards that often hit the Phoenix mountains. "Well, Speculo." The mage still in the form of a child turned her attention from the view to the mirror mage, "I hereby declare you a C-Rank mage. I trust that you can make it down the mountain on your own." He had proven himself to be more than capable on the journey up, and surely his old guild wouldn't be lurking around for another fight not after such a defeat.

Do you feel my heart beating?

made by Wolf of GS