Holy Crystals (Mao's C-B rank exam)

B-rank exam request:

The blonde nun stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing out into the expansive horizon as the wind fluttered by with a gentle breeze. The grass behind her moved with the breeze, mimicing the waves below of the sea. Another of Sabertooth's guild members had reached the stage where the time had come to test them. Kiersa sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Either Hikari's slacking off and deliberately sending them all to me, or this is Raven's idea of a prank." she mused to herself before going over what little she knew of this mage.

It wasn't surprising that she didn't know who everybody was. It seemed these days that Sabertooth had exploded with members and were quite possibly the largest guild in Fiore, maybe all of Earthland right now. Which did raise a question in her mind though... with so many members, how come more of them hadn't reached this stage yet? The blonde nun sighed and gave herself a gentle slap to refocus her to the task at hand.

She was here to proctor the exam for one Mao Nakiri... the only information she could locate on this mage was that she used crystals in her magic. The nun recalled the last time she'd faced against Crystal wielding mages and frowned slightly. That had not gone well for her last time, then again that was against treasure hunters, so maybe this girl would be different. But, suffice to say, this was going to be an... interesting exam. She just hoped this Mao didn't go into an existential mental breakdown like Pein had done in the last exam she'd proctored... and then again, a tiny small part of her wished that she did... if only to get Hikari to take a share of the workload.

A couple of new faces awoke Mao that morning, informing the girl the location of her exam. ’There’s been so many new presences lately…perhaps a duty someone shirked off onto a newbie?’ It was a nice day outside, even on the ground level when she left the sky high castle of a guild hall so perhaps someone wanted to spend it elsewhere rather than finding one of their resident shut-ins and telling her where to trot off to next. It was hard to say given what little time she spent socializing with her actual guild mates between reading, traveling, and shuffling between jobs.

’Kiersa…Kiersa…’ The woman chanted the name over and over as she traveled towards the cliffs. Eventually she’d given up, sifting through some of the few memory crystals she possessed of the Sabertooth guild, stopping in her tracks with a small hint of surprise. They’d interacted…very little to the point Mao doubted she had the right person. To be fair, at the time she’d been more concerned with staying away from the exuberant and newly welcomed Haretsa than who she hid behind after being tossed into the air, ’Even then, I’m not sure I saw her face. With any luck she won’t recall that.’

A sudden gust of wind stopped the mage in her tracks, the tail ends of her scarf whipping about as she braced against the momentary fury. Ears swiveled away from it, instinctively preventing dust and debris from irritating the sensitive insides. Once it passed she lightly patted herself down, going so far as to brush the top of her long tail and flick off a random sprig of grass or two. A constant breeze continued until a certain point where everything merely calmed, stunning the girl: it was like finding the edge of a rainstorm.

’What a curious phenomenon…’ she thought as she continued onwards. Spying someone in the distance who loosely matched the description she’d been given, Mao kept a comfortable distance from the woman. Green eyes regarded the figure curiously even as the rest of her face remained calm, and rather than bombard her with a flurry of questions Mao settled for a simple greeting, ”It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Kiersa. I am Mao.” She finished with a small bow of her head to the other woman, unsure what to make of her.

Kiersa heard the voice behind her and turned around to look at her, recognition slowly coming to her. "Ah, it's good to see you again Miss Mao, and under better circumstances." she said, recalling vaguely how they'd last met... and ironically first met as well.

She walked towards the girl, her mind going through the steps of this exam that she had planned. She came across a tree-trunk and sat down on it, patting a portion by her side. "So, let's take a seat and talk hmm?" asked the blonde nun.

She waited till Mao took her seat before she began. "So Miss Mao, what led you to joining Sabertooth in particular if I may ask?" she asked of the young lady. And so the "inquisition" began.

’How strange this might be,’ the girl thought as she silently nodded and moved to take her spot on the same trunk. Normally she enjoyed questioning others, some people more willing to boast or speak of themselves, and only occasionally needed to speak of herself. Somehow though Mao doubted she’d get to do the same with the ace, and wasn’t quite sure how she felt being in the hot seat.

The opening question was easy enough, at least to most as Mao looked away with a frown. Surely she’d given it some thought, the vaguest notion that the woman went so far as to discuss the various guild options with someone else sounding familiar and yet…she failed to so much as fathom a face. Even as the woman imagined the scenario the familiarity began to ebb away until it sounded silly: who would she have talked it over with? She didn’t know a soul until she joined the guild…right? It didn’t sound right, but her foggy memory only allowed such a truth.

Had there been a reason?

”Do I need a reason?” she murmured more to herself than Kiersa, a hand holding her chin in thought. Nothing in particular came to mind, not even the sillier of answers she’d given the forgotten friend. Slight frown in place green met with green as she admitted, ”I’m…not entirely sure what drew me initially. The instance is gone so it could’ve been anything really, from enjoying the mascot to perhaps merely wanting some sort of…home?” Though if the latter was the case why had she spent so much time away from everyone? Hmm…perhaps she couldn’t help acting more like an aloof pet feline for some reason, skittish out of instinct. ”The closest I can really come to is that it felt right somehow.” Rather than end up rambling or asking if they planned to kick her out Mao merely shut her mouth, silently awaiting the next one.

The blonde nun sat in silence as she listened to the girl's words, weighing each of them carefully, almost as much as she seemed to be. This... is going to be trickier than the last exam. thought Kiersa to herself before she thought over her exam plan, adapting it slightly. "So joining Sabertooth felt right... has that feeling been vindicated? Have you enjoyed your time here so far? Anyone in particular you've felt close to, like friends and such?" the nun asked, deciding to go this route, trying to get a better sense of who Mao was so she could adjust this exam for her accordingly.

Mao actively flinched at the word “Friends,” a pang hitting her at the recent recollection. The rest kept her in a growing state of unease, unsure where this line of questioning might go. ”I’m…not sure…” she continued to hum, testing her words mentally to try and properly explain everything, ”I admit I haven’t been the model guild member when it comes to interacting with the other mages of Sabertooth…I was more wary or Haretsa…though to be fair I don’t exactly expect anyone and everyone to toss me into the air. I sort of tried to save the guy with the tattoos from Fred’s complete ire…but, well….it is Fred so it’s not so simple a task.”

“But I admit I’ve still barely spoken with most of our guild, some not more than a few minutes at best.” Her ears drooped, feeling more like a child admitting to a mistake or wrong doing than anything else. Worse than that someone went so far as to change guilds, claiming to be her friend and wanting to help her with this issue….yet Mao couldn’t very well express the same sentiments. Sure she wanted to fix her memories, she just couldn’t claim this stranger to be her friend without it feeling so strange. History of completed jobs decreed they’d worked together more than the rabbit-eared mage initially believed, but not a single recollection of many of those jobs came to her.

”I’m…not sure if I have any friends or not,” she mumbled out, eyes cast down at the ground, ”I mean I have Nocshanks, but as far as actual mages or other people go….I just don’t know right now.” Breathing deep, Mao released a large sigh as if to try and blow the thought and it’s troublesome emotions away, clearing her mind and soul with the healing aura of crystals. If nothing else in all her time using them, they’d been wonderful at calming her nerves and preventing the woman from becoming too emotional. When she next spoke her visage returned to a calmer state as she stared out at the ocean, ”But I have enjoyed it. Plenty of times when I’m reading in my room I can hear the others becoming a little raucous over one thing or another. It’s a comforting noise though, merely knowing they’re there….though I suppose I shouldn’t live there forever, better to give a newer member a room n’ all, right?”

Though the idea of moving out held little to no appeal. The woman was rather fond of the noise and proximity to everyone even if she barely ducked her head out of the room for more than to leave for a job or visit another town. She felt safe there even though the idea of finding some apartment or little house nearby shouldn’t have sounded scary. What was there to be afraid of away from the guild hall?

Kiersa chuckled a little. "I don't have many friends either myself in the guild." she admitted to Mao. "And... I still live in the guild hall as well. Have done since I came here." the blonde nun confided with the girl. "And I think the guild master Raven still does as well." she told the girl, finding... a resemblance in this girl to how she was when she had first joined the guild... and at times, still was.

"The fun thing with the guild hall is that the rooms are always being expanded on... so, in theory we could house all the guild members in it if need be. So, you don't have to worry about moving out if you don't want to. And friends will come slowly over time." she told her.

Deciding that this avenue of conversation wasn't going to work out, least not without upsetting the woman further, Kiersa decided to change tact. "So... what made you decide to take this exam? Any particular goals in mind?" she asked, deciding to have this exam be treated as more of an interview. For the time being... it may descend into the Zenshin style of exam in the near future though. Words could only go so far.

Okay so she hadn’t broken some kind of rule, code, or at least hadn’t failed to meet some sort of criteria it sounded like. The fact that most others lived in the guild and had yet to be booted from the premises also relieved her immensely because she’d made quite a comfy bed in the closet and to have to dismantle that would’ve been heartbreaking even if in a silly way. Plus having to lug the various books she’d accumulated over time would be a pain without some magical devices, let alone setting them back up elsewhere. ’Though I really do need to organize the newer ones into the collection…oh well, in time.’

Why did she wish to take the exam? It was a complicated answer, one that anybody could easily rebut with something silly like “everyone’s doing it” or that “it’s expected after a certain time.” Those answers lacked a certain essence to them, and while maybe a very small portion of why they were footnotes more than anything. ”No, not a particular one: more like an amalgamation really. There are things I wish to protect,” such as her remaining memories, but divulging that particular problem seemed a bit much and more private, ”but in order to do so I’d need to broaden my horizons and understanding. I’ve learned a large variety of things since joining the guild already, and even if I haven’t made any friends I have met some interesting people…but there’s more I’d like to see and do, as well as more people out there to meet. I find each new person as fascinating as the last as well as everything I experience, and would like the chance to broaden those possibilities. Things will only get more dangerous…”

Most of her jobs had been relatively calm, helping the more common folk with their tinier issues from delivering letters to riding chickens back into their pens, but a few jobs came to mind where things became tricky. While they were a little hazy in some regards Mao could very much recall the dangers, from the demonic presence that wanted to steal her soul to the crystal user who outclassed her on creation abilities yet fell to one of his spells in a fit of anger and rage. ’But I can’t live between pages forever either, especially common ones. If there are answers for my problems, they won’t be something I can buy for a mere few jewels or find at any book store.’

“Though it’ll be more dangerous,” she spoke after a moment of contemplation, a more firm note to her tone, ”I want access to those new roads. I may not like everything that comes with them, but life isn’t always a pleasant thing. Not every lesson comes wrapped in simple words or minor bumps and bruises.”

Kiersa nodded at the girl's words before she pulled out one of her Silver Keys from her robes. "Well said... shall we put those words to the test?" she asked with a smile before holding the key before her. "Open the Gate of the Eagle! Aquilla!" she invoked, a loud chiming sound following before a robed woman with long brown hair stepped forth from an orb of light, looking down at the two girls.

"And what is today's Lesson then hmm?" the woman asked. "Mao, this is Aquilla. Aquilla, I want you to defeat Mao as part of her exam. Don't hold back. Mao, you're to try and defeat Aquilla before she returns to the Celestial Realm. Don't hold back." she said to the girl taking the exam.

The Eagle Spirit raised an eyebrow before sighing and heading towards a more open part of the field. "Well then? Shall we begin this Lesson?" called over the Spirit, taking up a stance to indicate her readiness. As soon as Mao declared she was ready, the Spirit would sprint towards her, her hands and feet wreathed in Lightning magic as she sought to strike the girl down.

Aquilla:

Duration = Dice Roll

The member 'JaffaArchfiend' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Normal Dice' :

Oh dear, well she’d opened her mouth and would have to eat those words it seemed as the woman summoned a beautiful woman. As much as Mao enjoyed her choice of clothing now wasn’t the time to admire her apparent opponent’s wardrobe as she stood, managing to keep the sigh internal as she donned her favorite pair of gauntlets. Flexing each joint, she watched the claws curl inwards and back out, the things seeing her through some interesting times – marks scoring each of them as if little reminders. Despite manipulating the form of her magic the woman couldn’t help keeping things on a more personal level when it came to combat, throwing herself into the thick of things.

Signaling that she was ready, bringing both loose fists in front of her, the woman’s eyes widened slightly as the other charged. ’Lightning-‘ There wasn’t even time to complete the thought as she sought to block most of the blow, bringing both arm and clawed gauntlet up. It was a bit of both win and lose, the metal now burning against her skin even as the physical side only pushed her back some.

A few possibilities came to mind, but she nixed each one for one reason or another. Using the explosive form of rubies felt like too much, even if in close proximity it’d be a pain to dodge the spells’ force would be weakened by the woman’s affinity and quite honestly Mao didn’t want to accidentally drag Kiersa into it. If some of the shards flew towards her because of a mistake in projection, well, it wasn’t an option. Blood Diamonds was another she wanted to avoid, though more so because of how sometimes the tainted gem left her a little mindless. While the usual armored spell was another interesting option, it’d be pointless in Mao’s eyes given how quickly it’d be eaten away by the lightning’s power.

’Even Sapphire’s pointless outside of a blinder. Tempting as that effect is alone…’ No, perhaps it’d be better to attempt this without her magic given its glaring weakness, a possible test in of itself. Rather than summoning any of the crystals for aid Mao sought to grab the summon’s arm. A risky maneuver given her likelihood in simply being shocked instead, but if she could wrap her entire body around – tail included – then it’d probably be easier to pull something off rather than fending off blows the entire time. But just because she wanted to grapple didn’t mean it was guaranteed her opponent wanted too.

Kiersa raised an eyebrow as Mao seemed to go for a physical assault rather than a magical based one... Aquilla likewise raised a brow, and allowed the girl to put her into the grapple, curious to see where this girl was going with this plan of hers. The nun bit her lip as she watched, wondering if Mao would make the deadline she'd set for her. The Eagle Spirit didn't tend to stick around for very long sometimes, and it looked like she was about ready to hit her limit for remaining in the human world for the time being...

Aquilla Duration:

It happened in one quick motion once the girl had her hold. She turned into something of a second skin, or a serpent ensnaring prey as limbs hooked around the Celestial Spirit’s body. The non-gauntlet clad arm slipped beneath the spirit’s right arm, looking to hold onto her shoulder even as the other tried to bind her arm, the claws splayed over her stomach as if in a threat. Legs locked around her middle even as the tail curled around a leg, seemingly ready to yank it out from under her at a moment’s notice. Then she mumbled into the dancer’s shoulder, ”And this is the part where either I get shocked horribly or manage to wrench something fiercely.”

Rather than execute any such maneuver however she calmly and slowly dislodged herself, legs and tail freeing themselves before she fully let go and walked a few paces back. A sigh escaped as she faced Kiersa, directing most of the words towards her though they were somewhat meant for Aquilla as well, ”I’m sorry, I do understand the point, and I understand that by not ‘defeating her’ might mean failure….but I’m not keen on fighting needlessly either.” A little abashed she scratched the back of her head, eyes darting to the side, ”I prefer to fight when needed as it’s not something I enjoy. I may not understand how Celestial Spirits function compared to humans, but I don’t feel compelled or comfortable harming her over something like a mere rank as I’m sure they still feel pain. I’m sorry if I caused any damage.” Mao couldn’t work up the drive to attack Aquilla, not with true intent as it felt utterly pointless. She didn’t want to demand some sort of proper stake such as the nun (somehow) being in danger, but even faking the idea felt too strange and silly. Not long ago she’d forgone the simpler option of killing a Vulcan and goblin in favor of dramatically scaring them away from Clover’s train tracks because it struck her as over-the-top.

Slowly her eyes slid back to Kiersa, her expression apologetic, ”I’m not even fond of my few offensive spells since they could harm others if I’m not careful. I’ll perform a different task though if that is acceptable, but if not then I’ll accept my failure as well.”

Kiersa listened to what Mao had to say concerning the situation at hand, nodding at her words... right up until Aquilla had her turn to speak. "Foolish." said the Eagle Spirit as she looked at the girl undertaking the exam. "You showed yourself to be capable physically during our bout, but if you cannot even find yourself capable of using your magic for something as simple as a sparring match due to this dread of harming others..." the Spirit said brusquely as she walked around the girl, acting as if she were the one giving the exam and not Kiersa.

The blonde nun remained silent as Aquilla spoke, knowing from first hand experience what sort of speech the Eagle Spirit was giving. "People will get hurt yes if you use your magic. They may get caught in the crossfire perhaps... but will you allow yourself to shirk from your responsibilties as a mage of Earthland, never mind a mage of Sabertooth, and do nothing?" asked the Spirit.

"What if I had been a Dark Mage or some monster attacking you? Imagine this serene cliff is a town or city... would you still hold back your powers then? Your enemy will not be so lenient. The tasks ahead of you should you climb the ladder of ranks you humans have constructed, they will not be kind to you. They will push you, and test you far greater than this exam will have." said the Spirit as she began to depart for the Celestial Realm.

Aquilla looked at Mao dead in the eyes as she spoke her final words before disappearing. "For the good of those you want to protect, sometimes we must do things we are not fond of, things we do not enjoy. Will you be able to do this?" she asked, her voice drifting on the wind as she left this realm, her question hanging in the air.

Kiersa allowed it to sink in for a minute, sitting there in silence before she stood up. "Not all those we face will back down from a sight that scares them... there are times when the only recourse is to fight them, and take them down..." the nun said as she approached Mao. "The fact that you don't enjoy fighting is a good one, and one that you should hold onto with all your heart... if you did enjoy it, and enjoyed inflicting pain unto others, then you'd be no better than the Dark Mages we strive to defeat." she said, reassuringly.

"When the time comes though... will you be able to fight back? Regardless if you enjoy it or not... there will be moments... when your enemy will not back down... when they will not see reason, when they will not surrender, when they will not stop coming for you, or your team mates... When the only choice left..." she said, hanging her head a little as she recalled the situation herself had been in a while ago. The blonde nun looked back at Mao. "And if you pass into this next tier of magic, you will be faced with moments like this, hopefully far and few... but there will come a time like this... Do you think you can do this Mao Nakiri?" asked Kiersa as she looked into the girl's eyes.

Mao waited until the spirit disappeared before she sighed, ’If she wanted me to think of or treat her as a dark mage then she could’ve acted the part…and not been summoned in front of me either.’ Well it had been a rather weak reason, not wanting to harm someone by accident as the woman pointed out she wouldn’t always have the luxury of the option. ’Still I’ve felt what the heat can do to the crystals…if it needn’t happen then I don’t see a reason to harm someone that way.’ The experience of the gems melting on one’s skin was highly unpleasant, like dipping one’s arm into a vat of liquidized sugar meant for candy.

Besides she really didn’t want to rely on the crystals for…darker purposes. Call it what one may, the fact she could more or less let them drain away her emotions could lead to other circumstances, ones that Mao preferred to avoid entirely. Some might find killing all too easy, but the girl wanted to retain some sense of the sanctity of life rather than locking that belief up in some beautiful surface and then using that same creation to end someone’s time.

”There have been times I’ve fought back because there were no other options,” the mage stated flatly, ”I’ve readily socked people because they would have it no other way, used my gems to inflict pain upon kidnappers, thieves, demonic entities…but I can use them to defend, to trick, to heal, and to entertain even…I suppose I simply prefer those avenues, but yes I can harm for the sake of others. From monster to human…” ’And if need be I will become the wall between the weak or allies against my greatest weaknesses, even if it’d burn my existence away in the process.’ “But I see no reason to harm someone or something for the simple sake of this test: I suppose it would’ve been better of me to simply defend against her blows if only to prove I can take a beating.” Mao scratched the tip of one of her ears, a little embarrassed by how weird and silly that sounded, but in hindsight it seemed like a far better plan than trying to grapple the spirit. At least it would’ve shown better resolve.

Kiersa listened to Mao's words and nodded at them. "I must admit to making an error there... this is only the third time I've held an exam, so I'm still getting the hang of it as part of my duties." the blonde nun admitted. She looked out towards the distant horizon, the wind wafting gently around them as she sat in silent contemplation.

"Each person is different, and so I try to tailor each exam to that person... to try and push them, some physically, some mentally..." she explained before looking to Mao. "With yours... I've tried to go a middle ground. Personally I don't like the idea of harming others for a test either, and when I consider your words..." the blonde nun chuckled softly.

"Well, it's like I'm looking and hearing myself a little." Kiersa said before sighing and running a hand through her hair. What was she going to do... this exam was not going the way she'd thought... she rubbed her chin in thought. "We've established that you are aware of the consequences of ranking up in the magical world. We've established that you can hold your own against an enemy using magic, without using your own magic, so magical based combat would be pointless at this stage..." mused the blonde nun, going over the previous events in her mind at the same time as she spoke.

The nun looked to Mao. "I can find no reason to not let you pass this exam. Unless you felt this exam was not enough to warrant it?" she asked Mao with a smile.

’Then at least some good came of all this,’ Mao thought to herself. Even if the exam was as awkward as she tended to be interacting with others there’d been a bit of learning on both their parts. ’Then again, it’s not likely that every exam goes the same way.’ An intriguing thought considering she hadn’t taken one when she’d proven some small worth in raising to C-rank, and made her wonder a bit how others of her guild did and what they went through to achieve their ranks.

Maybe one of these days she’d work up the courage to ask.

A tiny blush tinted Mao’s cheeks, managing to hold back any retorts against words she felt too kind. Whether or not it was meant as a compliment it felt like one, so she settled for watching as the woman considered everything aloud. It was a bit of an odd question, one she wasn’t entirely sure how to answer. Scratching behind one of her ears, Mao stared at the ground, ”It is my first exam so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. My resolve has been tested…and I’ve been lectured by a spirit strictly yet fairly…” ’If nothing else it’s been an interesting day.’ “I still feel ready to be B-rank,” her eyes met Kiersa’s, green locking onto green as her tone remained unwavering at the end. Call it an instinct, but she felt ready and would prove herself time and time again as she had when the powers above allowed her to become C-rank.

Kiersa sat and listened to Mao's words before rubbing the back of her head a little, an embaressed look on her face. "Eh heh... yeah, Aquilla can be a bit of a stern taskmaster..." the blonde nun admitted before coughing gently to compose herself. "Regardless, allow me to be the first to welcome you then to your new B-Rank status... be prepared for some madness ahead. Some of our members at this stage are a little... out there." congratulated and forewarned Kiersa as she offered either a hand-shake or a hug to the girl, whichever one she preferred.