Mashyuu in: A rise to the top! (A Rank Exam!)

Job details:

The sun started to rise as Mashyuu and Itsu stepped into the neutral grounds. A land that was said to not have any sort of magical influence to it. Mashyuu had done his best to avoid this place for what he knew was the better part of his life. On his hip was Excalibur and his brown gi was wrapped around his body. "So what did Kite ask you to do? I assume I'm actually needed for this?" Itsu asked and brushed her pinkish hair out of her face to tuck behind her ear. Mashyuu frowned at her and happily nudged the woman. "Come on Itsu, you know I need you on my jobs. I'm nothing without you. Lets see... what was it he said? OH!" Mashyuu smiled happily and ran his hand through his brown hair then walked to a small tree and rested under it. "So. Kite asked me to do a strange thing I suppose. He wanted me to look into a cult that is hiding out around here. Apparently they are creating some sort of super weapon that can nullify magic all together. I don't know if it can actually work but in a world where demons and gods teach mortals magic I don't want to risk this being a real issue. So I figure lets check this shit out now and make sure we don't regret it later." Mashyuu explained and glanced at a cart that was rolling by on the dirt road. Itsu glanced over her shoulder and nodded. "I understand that fear. So lets be sure to get things started.... Do we have any leads?" Mashyuu thought for a moment and shrugged. "Nope,
but this cult has to get members from somewhere.. We should start in that town and see if anyone knows anything." Mashyuu nodded towards a small town that was a little while away. Mashyuu and Itsu half smiled when the God Slayers stomach started to rumble and he held it with a tired look on his face. "Maybe we should start with dinner.
I mean really... We haven't had food since we left for this place. I could really eat." Itsu chuckled under her breath and smiled wide. "Yeah I could eat too. Come on Stone Face, lets grab some breakfast." She helped Mashyuu up and the two traveled down the road. "I ever tell you about the time I was given a gauntlet to destroy evil Demons? That gauntlet was supposed to have orbs that could be locked into it to create special weapons. Turned out that was a false legend. The gauntlets were mass produced to create a sort of cult. I stopped it before it could get off the ground. But I never did find out what the cult was." Mashyuu mentioned while the duo walked into town. The two Wizards found themselves sitting in a small padded booth, one on each side of a small table with a plastic menu in their hands. Small photos of meals were placed on the plastic menu next to the meals name and a short description about the meal next to a price. "Hmmm everything looks so expensive." Mashyuu whispered and glanced at Itsu. She narrowed her eyes at him and pointed at the menu again. "Just pick something that isn't a rock." She shot back at him, making Mashyuu chuckle and sigh.

The pair had a quick meal and watched customers come and go. Something seemed off. Mashyuu watched a pair of men speak silently as if they were hiding something, in fact their speech was so silent that his enhanced hearing couldn't even pick up on what they said. Itsu turned to look over her shoulder at the men then back to Mashyuu, who's glowing blue eyes had locked on their backs at this point. Quickly he dug through his pocket and pulled out a few jewel to pay for their meals and waited for the men to get up. As the two men left the diner Mashyuu slid out of his booth while motioning with his left hand for Itsu to follow. Softly she crept behind Mashyuu and the pair followed the men down the street about twenty feet behind them at any given time. Mashyuu did his best to not let his heavy foot falls echo out on the paved street, luckily he hadn't been wearing shoes so his feet didn't create echos in the ground. The two men turned a corner and headed down a narrow alley, Mashyuu's hand went to his swords hilt and he rounded the corner a moment later. Itsu followed close, not drawing her weapon as she figured the two didn't need blood on their hands here. The blue eyes of the Slayer narrowed when they rounded the corner and saw that the men were gone. "Trap door somewhere..." Mashyuu reasoned and let his hands fall to his side. "Well, I guess we are gonna have to search the area and figure out where they went then huh?" Mashyuu turned back to the corner they rounded and pointed at the ground between the two walls that made the alley and lifted his elbow at a sharp angle. "Earth Gods Stone Wall." He muttered, creating a tall wall of stone to block off the area. "Mash! This place doesn't use magic, we should be careful about using it here." "Itsu, I am. Now if we use it only these guys will no. They are part of that cult. When they got outside they spoke a little louder. Some sort of meet up before they head to their home base is happening around here. So they must have a lacrima or a tunnel or something to take them to wherever it is they meet up." Mashyuu explained. Itsu sighed and nodded her head. "One day, I'm gonna develop those sharp senses too, then we will be on par when it comes to information gathering." She quipped while knocking on the stone walls, wondering what would set off Mashyuu's tremor senses.

WC: 1023

Itsu stomped to show her frustration when knocking on the walls didn't give them any results. However the stomp she gave the pavement sent Mashyuu's senses into over drive, his gently glowing blue eyes widened and seemingly shook while his lips curled into a twisted grin. Casually he walked over to where Itsu stood and grabbed her shoulders. "Excuse me, move over this way please." Mashyuu pulled Itsu to stand next to him and glanced down at the ground where the woman was once standing. Mashyuu dropped down to the ground and started to eat at the stone until the pair could see down into a deep pit that had a stair case that led to a landing with a ladder on it. "Ooooh, you think they went down here?" Itsu asked with a puzzled tone. There were lots of buildings around and the men could have gone anywhere but as the God Slayer always said: "I always trust my nose. Come on!" Mashyuu sprang down into the pit, passing the steps completely to touch down on the landing. His jaw set firmly and almost clattered together when he touched down, his body going ridged from the shock that went through him. Idiot, you are gonna get us both killed doing things without thinking them through! Mefitis, the Goddess that had once been keeping him alive chided. Itsu sauntered down the steps and passed the brown haired man while making her way to the ladder. "Come on, I'll take the lead on this one." Itsu giggled and started to climb down the ladder. Mashyuu sighed and shook his head, not wanting to admit that the fall was a bad idea. Slowly he stretched his body out and cracked his knuckles and spine. "Okay, right behind you." He added and waited for a minute to make sure there was some space between them and then made his way down the ladder. "Sure is dark down here, I hope that there is some light or something when we get to the bottom of this thing." "Yeah well if there isn't I'll light the place up so you can see, but I don't want to alert anyone to our presence if we can help it." The duo came to touch down on the ground and glance around the chamber they were in. A wall to their left held a long rack with seven robes of dull brown that held large hoods on them. Across from the ladder they came down, was a tall door of iron that rested in the center of the wall and a flaming torch was hanged in the corner of the walls. Mashyuu grabbed up two robes and slipped one on then tossed the other to Itsu. The pair, dressed in the robes looked at one another and nodded their heads then pushed the door open slowly. The duo pulled their hoods up and looked at the path before them. A man made tunnel that sloped down towards the center of the earth. Mashyuu could hear talks happening further away and he started to creep towards the sounds of voices his ears were picking up on.

Mashyuu and Itsu, the Sabertooth Wizards stopped their trek on a narrow platform and looked down on a large group of men and women who were crowded around a large round table with a map sprawled out on it held by candles sitting in tin dishes. Itsu squinted and shook her head side to side. "No good, I can't see what that is." She whispered. "It's a map of the city, and where they are going to put that weapon. It looks like the weapon is massive. This will be a good place to test things out for them. Only a few people in the village will be effected so most people wouldn't even notice this thing working." Mashyuu frowned and twisted around to leave. "Mashyuu... where are you going?" Itsu asked as Mashyuu stopped at the ladder. He turned around and started to run for the edge of the platform. "There is a cave outside the city, this is the advanced group. Find the cave!" Mashyuu ordered Itsu and jumped off the platform. Mashyuu folded his legs up to his chest and flipped through the air, rapidly falling and flipping as he drew closer to the table below. The table below Mashyuu shattered and flew into small pieces as Mashyuu crashed down into it and pointed his arms out to his sides and lifted his palms quickly. "Earth Gods Stone Walls!" He shouted, creating two stone walls that shot up out of the ground and threw men and women aside before they knew to react to Mashyuu's entrance. Up above Itsu placed her hand on her head and shook it then sighed. "Fine, just don't get yourself killed..." She muttered and headed back out of the deep basement to return to the surface to find the cave. With Itsu gone, Mashyuu could focus on the battle at hand, and that was exactly what he needed to do as the others who weren't hit with his stone walls brandished blades and blackjacks to attack with. "Hmmm? OH you wish to fight me eh? Light Dragons Domain: Transition!" He commanded, creating a large field of blue light around the room. He and a torch traded places, leaving a small group exposed from behind. Mashyuu pushed his left palm out towards the group while he drew Excalibur from its scabbard. "Earth Gods Combo: Part One!" Three pillars of stone shot up out of the ground and smashed into the small group of cult members, knocking them out on impact. Deciding it was time to take everyone else out, Mashyuu opened his left hand and let sand twist around in his palm. Quickly the small sand twister started to expand in size while Mashyuu pulled his hand back and tossed it forward to release the sand. "Secret Art: Earth Gods Sand Twister!" He shouted, creating a massive tornado of sand that swept the rest of the cult up and spun them around for what seemed like forever. Once the twister died down and dropped the members of the cult Mashyuu walked up to the one that was still awake but dazed and placed his bade to the mans neck. "You and I are going to have a nice long talk about this weapon of yours."

WC: 1087
Total: 2110

Itsu's long legs carried her as far as possible, past various citizens and out of the village's gates. She slid to a long stop and braced herself while removing the robe the cult was wearing to move around a little easier than she had been before. Quickly her purple eyes started to dart around. "Cave outside the city, has to be close if there are a lot of members that are going to be dragging around a big weapon that can fit into the heart of the village. Nothing this way, I should run around the town and see if something pops up." She muttered to herself out loud to ensure that her train of thought was on the correct path. She reached to the small of her back and grabbed her dagger from the hidden scabbard and flipped it around in her left hand while the cord wrapped around her wrist to allow her to fling the small weak blade and pull it back. Then with a quick burst of energy she vanished, taking off to the right to start her search for the cave. Itsu rushed to a small outcropping of stones that looked like it would serve as a suitable camp site but why would anyone want to camp out so close to the village, the walls of the town were only a couple meters away and within a stones toss from the camp site. Itsu stopped and started to look around at the area curiously. "This isn't normal, the stones are set to perfectly, like they are here for a reason..." Itsu whispered while she looked around the camp. As the sun hit its peak and started to set slowly in the afternoon light she noticed the way the shadows of the stones all pointed in the same direction. It was as if her gaze was pulled by some supernatural force towards the direction of the shadows. All the shadows pointed towards one massive tree that at first glance didn't stand out but upon further inspection was very different from the rest of the trees in the area as it was the only red wood among a sea of brown and green. This brought out the curious side of Itsu and she walked towards the tree with her dagger clutched tight and up in a defensive posture. Gently she knocked on the tree and listened close, hearing a soft echo that seemed to ring inside the tree and roll down to its deep roots. "Hollow?" She questioned and took a step back while pushing on the base of the tree to try to get the wood to crack or give. When she realized that was no good she placed the two pronged tip of her dagger to the tree and started to carve around the base until her weapon slipped into a faint crack in the tree. Her eyes lit up with self satisfaction. "Who needs a magical ability when you have old school detective work!" Itsu shouted and traced the outline of a door until she heard her dagger force a lock open and the door of the fake tree slowly opened on its own.

Itsu took a deep breath while keeping her dagger up for a defensive stance. Slowly she sank into the darkness of the hollowed tree and found that much like the small meeting place she and Mashyuu had found a while before, the tree had a ladder leading deeper under ground. She looked over her shoulder, wondering if she should wait for Mashyuu to show up or to go on ahead. The pink haired girl frowned and decided that she should go on ahead, Mashyuu would catch up and likely make some sort of amazing save like he always did when she seemed to be in real danger, that being said she had done the same time and time again for Mashyuu.  Itsu sighed and started to climb down the ladder, dagger placed in her mouth for quick use when she touched down again. At least she climbed until she noticed a massive shadow over her. Slowly Itsu lifted her head to look up only to see a large sheet of dirt slowly lowering towards her. Mashyuu had arrived on his flying carpet of earth. "Yo Itsu, good job. It would have taken me forever to find this place without you doing all the work. I owe you a beer or something when we get home. But for now we don't have time to go tell the other guild members. Hop on." Mashyuu lowered the dirt board to rest under Itsu and let her jump aboard. "Thanks Mash, you think next time you decide to jump head first into danger I can stick around. I've been on edge since I started looking for this place." Itsu complained. "Yeah well I learned something while you were looking for this place so we killed two birds with one stone as it were. Turns out this weapon can be broken down into five parts and moved easier that way, it will roughly be the size of a backpack and expands so that each part can connect in the shape of a star." Itsu shook her head and frowned. "Don't these guys get that we aren't all bad people? This really upsets me." Itsu admitted as the team touched down and raced down the first path they saw, leading deeper into the cave. The duo stopped when they got close to a door and saw that there two guards standing with long spears in the cramped hall. It was smart, they could jab without bumping into one another while keeping foes at a good distance. The guards spotted the Wizards and took a stance to set their weapons against a charge. "Too bad for you I have some real good magic for ranged strikes too! Earth Gods.." Mashyuu stopped his spell mid movement when he realized he had no magical power to draw from. Not that he was out of it, but that in the cave he couldn't seem to conjure it to any sort of power.

WC: 1031
Total: 3141

Mashyuu winced when nothing happened and tired again. "Earth Gods-" Nothing... Mashyuu took a half step back while reaching down for his sword, the only defense he really had at the moment while a pair of spears came lunging at his chest. Mashyuu's blue eyes went wide when he realized that he couldn't get Excalibur out of the scabbard in time to deflect the strikes. Just before the spears hit striking distance Itsu darted under the spears and threw her left arm, holding the dagger up and knocked the two spears up just high enough for the weapons to narrowly miss Mashyuu's chest and shoulders, ripping past his head while cutting air. In times past, Mashyuu had his magic harmed, its power reduced and his energy sapped by various things but never was he completely cut off from his magical energy before. It was strange, he could feel it in him, hut he just couldn't get it to conjure any sort of power. "Shit... Itsu! We are on our own!" Mashyuu called out and drew his blade. The silver would have normally exploded with magical energy but the weapon simply held its normal form of pure silver steel. "Not even magic in our gear. Okay..." Mashyuu spun around while ducking low and brought his blade up to catch the spears at the back of their heads in order to stop the guards from pulling their weapons back. He glanced at Itsu and in response she darted towards the guards, her dagger plunged deep into the shoulder of one man while her legs bent and she sprang up, driving one foot into the jaw of the other guard. Both men were tossed back from the force of Itsu's all out strike, knocking them into the wall behind them while they dropped their spears to the ground with a light clatter. Itsu hit the ground and pulled her weapon free from the shoulder of the guard and slammed the pommel up into each mans jaw, knocking them out. Mashyuu walked over to Itsu and offered her his hand to help her up. "Way to freeze up there Slayer. What happened with your charge head first into danger attitude?" Itsu asked while dusting herself off. "I've never been completely cut off from my magic before. It's not a feeling I would put on any other Wizard. I think its that weapon, they must have it set up here until they decide to move it. Come on, lets go." Mashyuu explained and walked over to the door. The pair looked at one another and readied their weapons, shortly after Itsu pulled the door open and Mashyuu lunged inside the next room, sword drawn and up while he scanned the area. Four men stood in the room surrounding a small wooden table. The four turned when Mashyuu and Itsu stormed in and each drew wicked looking daggers from inside their robes. Without a moments hesitation the four men charged at Mashyuu but this time he was ready for whatever they decided to throw his way.

Mashyuu made a lunge with his blade towards the four men, at the same time Itsu's dagger whipped past Mashyuu's head and caught one man in the chest, sticking in deep, but not deep enough to kill. Instead Itsu pulled on the cord attached to her dagger and pulled the man off balance to land him on his face while Mashyuu rapidly waved his blade from side to side to bat away the daggers the other men used. With their guards broken Mashyuu crossed his left fist past his right arm and caught a guard in the jaw then dropped down and swept his leg to take everyone's feet out from under them. All three men fell to their backs while Itsu ran up Mashyuu's back and jumped off his shoulders to make a break for the next door. Mashyuu in turn threw his right elbow forward to smack into the bridge of the first guard to falls nose. The bone crunched and broke just before the man passed out, allowing him to feel just a bit of the horrid pain. Mashyuu's left hand shot out and caught one man by the back of the head and drove him down, forcing the man to wince in pain as the energy he had left his body and he passed out like his friend. By then the other two had gotten up. One made his way to Itsu who was working on a large pad lock and grabbed her from behind, his blade swinging straight for her heart. Itsu slammed her head backwards into the chin of the man who held her, breaking his grip in time to allow Itsu to slip to the side to avoid the dagger strike. In turn she started to spin her dagger around in quick but small circles by the cable and twisted then let the dagger fly. It wrapped around the mans neck like a whip. Itsu grinned and stepped on her cable, dragging the man down from the sudden pressure of the cable. Quickly she slipped her foot along the cable to tighten it around the man's throat, cutting off his air supply while knocking him out. In the same frame of time, Mashyuu slashed his sword up not to attack but to keep his attacker off balance while the God Slayer stood up. Mashyuu growled and threw his weapon at the guard, forcing the man to duck in order to evade the heavy sword. The guard glanced over his shoulder, making a mistake when Mashyuu tackled the man to the ground and threw fist after fist into the man's jaw till the bone broke. The Two Sabertooth Wizards regrouped at the next door and Mashyuu listened closely. While his magic wasn't working he still had his slayer senses to fall back on. He listened to chanting happening from behind the door and lifted a brow. "This cult.... are freaking trying to sacrifice magical users to appease some sort of God. Okay now I have to stop them come on Itsu!"

WC: 1023
Total: 4164

With Itsu finishing unlocking the door, Mashyuu picked up Excalibur and placed it back in the scabbard. His eyes narrowed as he stepped behind the door. He had learned a rather extensive set of blade attacks from Kenna, and while he wasn't the best at them he did know how to use them under various situations. "Single Sword Style: Razors Edge!" With blinding speed Mashyuu drew his blade and cut along the wooden door in rapid and precise patterns then kicked the door, sending it shattering into pieces as it flew into the next room. Five men in red robes stood at even intervals to watch over the pieces of their weapon while chanting, but when the door flew into the room, the chanting stopped and the robed men all turned their gazes at the Earth Slayer and Itsu. "Kenna would have done that in a single attack and not needed to use the kick as well." Itsu taunted. Mashyuu glared at the woman but smiled anyway. "Yeah well. It's a shame you have me as a regular job partner isn't it. Sure she can fight with a sword but I'm a better fighter over all." Mashyuu glanced back at the men who had each drawn two swords and were now staring at the intruders. "Oh, hey guys. You were the ones chanting for a God right? Well...here I am. Mashyuu the Kami of Earth. Now bow." Mashyuu said in a dark tone while he took stock of the five men. Each of them were strong and well built. Even under the robes Mashyuu could tell. "Itsu I want you to take that weapon apart while I deal with these guys." Mashyuu ordered. "Take it apart with what exactly? My dagger?" "I don't care, just do something to it. Freaking break it for all I care." The two glared at one another, daggers shooting from their eyes. Relenting Itsu agreed with a nod and took a step back to wait for her opening to attack.

Mashyuu stepped into the large chamber and started to put his blade back into the scabbard then lifted his gloved fists. The silver metal on the gloves glinted in the dim torch light and reflected in Mashyuu's eyes. He couldn't hold the grin on his face back as the five men all charged. Mashyuu threw his left arm out and used his hand and forearm to catch all the strikes then lifted his arm, breaking the struggle the six fighters were currently in. Five blades were forced up while Mashyuu pulled his right hand back and attacked. "Dragon Fist!" His body, mostly his shoulders were tossed into the strike and he smashed the face of one man with his fist so hard that the cult leader flipped in the air where he stood and landed on his back with a sickening thud, cracking the ground under him. Mashyuu took a deep breath to steady himself as he put all his strength behind that strike but left himself open and two blades cut into his ribs, drawing deep wells of blood. Mashyuu seethed with the pain and stumbled back while holding his sides. The men chuckled and slashed their blades to remove the blood that ran down them. Mashyuu couldn't help but smile back at the men. "I assume this means you realize I'm gonna break all of your necks now." Mashyuu lifted his hands and started to bounce on his feet. He darted back into the middle of battle. His hands moved rapidly thanks to his slayer enhanced speed, his body was able to keep up with four normal men swinging two swords each at him. Mashyuu's fists sparked each time his hands met a blade to deflect the strikes. He couldn't keep up forever and he knew that but the entire fight was simply a matter of waiting for the right opening. After what seemed like an hour of strikes he found it, his foes all pulled back to catch their breath and Mashyuu didn't let up. He moved in to the right, driving a destructive left hook into the temple of one cult leader, batting him aside while Mashyuu's right hand came down to catch a sword and throw it downwards before he could get stabbed. Mashyuu bent his body while pulling both his arms back and then punched out, catching a third cult leader in the chest with both his fists knocking the man off to trip over the first that Mashyuu had knocked out. It was then that Itsu took her chance and darted past the fight to grab a piece of the weapon and scanned it. She pressed a button that folded up a small part of the weapon into a backpack then Itsu strapped it on over her shoulders and took off out of the cave figuring if it needed all five parts, simply getting rid of one would be enough to at least slow them down until they defeated the last two cult leaders. A scowl spread over the faces of the last standing cult leaders when they realized that they had gotten lucky in striking Mashyuu earlier. In fact if it wasn't for him having lost access to his magic they wouldn't have even gotten that far. Still they pressed on with a renewed vigor and in a rapid flurry of exchanges ended up cutting Masyuu's shoulders and the side of his neck with their blades. Mashyuu was used to healing but couldn't without his magic and was starting to lose blood faster than he cared to admit. Mashyuu needed to end the fight before he took any more hard hits. He swallowed a lump of nerves and let his foes come to him. Masyuu took a fake step forward and then darted back. Both men took the fake out step as a real one and tried to hit where they thought he would be, leaving themselves open. In the blink of an eye, Mashyuu's left hand grabbed the hilt of his sword while he charged and pulled his right fist back. "Single Sword Style: Shishi Sonson! Dragon Fist!" He called out and slashed his sword across the chest of one man while he punched the throat of the other, dropping them both in a single movement. He placed his blade back in the scabbard and turned to examine the rest of the weapon. He gathered the pieces of the weapon up after transforming them to backpacks and carried them back to the outside of the hollowed out tree where Itsu was trying to figure out what to do with the gear.

"Step aside I know what to do with these." Mashyuu ordered the woman as his scabbard started working to heal his wounds. He placed his hand towards the gear and willed his magic to activate. "Earth Gods Combo: Part Two!" The ground opened up under the backpacks and swallowed them then compressed, destroying the items in the process. Just to make sure they wouldn't be bothering him ever again Mashyuu slammed his fists to the ground, creating magma that melted what remained of the weapon. "Jobs done.. Lets get out of this hell hole."

WC: 1212
Total: 5376