Improvise. Adapt. Overflow [Rina Everglades' B-Ranked Exam Thread]

Oh well. It was the second time that Mura was tasked with this, but his confidence was so high that he looked as if he had done this type of proctoring for years on end. Exactly. Another one of Fairy Tail’s mercs were about to blossom with a huge B, and he was going to make sure that his little idea here would be sufficient in pushing this specific lady far beyond what she was used to, and let her taste the icing of a whole new rank in the magic world. Just like the shaman wizard did with Takumi about a year ago, he would make sure that Rina would come through this and, hopefully, surprise him in the meantime. It was always fun to make your proctor drop their jaw at the sheer potential in you, wasn’t it?

Surprisingly, he was waiting within the guild’s HQ. One who favored and treasured battle prowess would find it unsettling as the walls appeared, in their eyes, quite fragile to any type of magic. However, what had Mura in store for Rina today? Only he knew, and the mere thought of leading her through this caused a small giggle on his bright face. “I hope that she’s on her way…”

WC: 209

(once Rina enters, the exam info will be released ;) )

Rina was going to the guild because she received a notice about her exam. She saw that it was an aces name, Mura. She had never seen them before but she was sure they would likely impress her with the topic of the exam. She was questioning silently to herself what it would be on the way there. Would she have to fight him? Would she have to retrieve a dangerous item? She kept asking these sorts of questions until she entered the guild hall. In front of her, she saw the guild ace waiting there expectantly for her. She stood there taking in the tenseness of the area and preparing herself for what was to come. She then walked up to him and asked anticipatingly, "Hello there Mura. Nice to meet you and thank you for taking me on for my exam. Now can you please tell me what we're going to be doing." She stared at him with a questioning look on her face as she was shaking with excitement.

wc/173

She finally arrived. She didn’t take long, which was good, and she looked both materialistically and emotionally ready to face what was awaiting her. You see, they weren’t going to take the exam here, inside their own HQ. No no no no no… perhaps not even in this plane of existence.

“Hi there, Rinrin,” he greeted brightly, almost as if he was readying up for a party next door or something, “I’m happy that you’ve reached the point where you can take this exam. From now on, things will change for you and for your magic, so keep your parries up.”

Upon reaching out a hand to her, obviously prompting for a handshake, he would send them both off as soon as contact occurred. The entire space would change - a neat trick he learned from Kanix, just a little more extremified in his version - and Rina would find herself in a space that reflected the colors of her own spirit. She would be a soul herself there, with its characteristics that are directly tied to it, and in that space, Mura would test out her abilities and see if she was ready to advance.

At first, it appeared as if strange yet comfortable colors were surrounding the examinant, but Mura’s voice would quickly reach out: “What do you think? It took me a whole year to master this technique, but we should be able to test you properly and without interruptions like this.” In an instant, a sort of orb would manifest in front of Rina, along with a type of meter above the orb. “I’m going to measure quite a lot of things. Ranking up will take more than just magic power-“

“I wonder what you want to measure, Mura~”

“S-Shut up, you! I’m in the middle of proctoring-“

“Heheheh! Now now, I’m just joking! By the way, where’d you learn this stuff? Was it Alex that taught you to do this?”

“No, it was Kanix- wait, why are you here? I told you to wait for me back at the guild-“

“But I was still connected to your spirit, and I’m curious, damn it! I want to see our fellow guildmates grow up as well!”

“L-Look, you can watch and all, just let me do the talk-“

“And why in the Black Dragon’s butthole am I here? Meat blade, you cursed pile of fool meat-“

”H-Hey, hey! I couldn’t leave you alone back at the guild! We’ll see this together, you know, as equals-“

“As if I’m equal to a human like you?!”

The situation was going way overhand, so Mura would give out a loud cough to quiet down the two spirits, before they went on their daily rabbling. Although, with Kyuken and Zirconis around… that gave him an idea for later.

“… Okay. As I was about to say, we’ll examine all your capabilities from now on and to the end of your B-rank exam. Now, use your strongest spell on that orb there.”

WC: 502 + 209 = 711

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And from now on, your Exam has officially started! The word count for this is 2500 words! Mura will lead you through the exam with different tasks and challenges in order to bring forth your character's greatest strenghts and weaknesses... and then push you beyond what a C-Rank wizard is able to do!

Now show him what you've got, Rina![/b]

Rina saw Mura introduce her and began talking about the exam. He was talking really oddly compared to what Rina usually talked about. After his conversation with her was finished he reached out his hand and Rina shook it. Rina felt an odd sensation around her that felt nice and pleasant. It made her feel relaxed and comfortable as if the area was inflicted with the power to soothe. She also saw the area was green, the color of growth and harmony. These were the perfect qualities Rina needed to past her test and she was sure she would gain the power from it. Rina looked over to Mura where he was talking to himself. It seemed like he was trying to shoo away something, or some things. Rina watched confusingly as he seemed to become clear minded again. He then brought to her attention that there was an orb in the area. He told her she needed to prove her strength by attacking the orb with the strongest spell she had.

The problem was was that she didn't know which spell was her strongest. She seemed bewildered by the task at hand. She tried to think of it and put her hand on her heart. She tried to feel for the strongest weapon she had through the means of her heart. As she thought about it she pulled out a weapon with her eyes closed. When she opened them she looked down and saw the choice of her heart. It was her Gladiolus Sword and it was glistening with the power of the area. As she looked at the orb she concentrated and steadied her breath. With one big slash, a scythe of pollen went out and aimed straight towards the little orb. She saw the orb glow green as the poison from the ability flowed through it. She then saw as the orb absorbed the power of the poison and she waited to see what happened next.

She looked at Mura expectantly and was questioning if something was supposed to happen. After a bit, she felt the nudge of her little chipmunk, Chiki. She seemed wisp-like as she nudged Rina. Rina looked over at her and smiled as the chipmunk went to sleep and Rina made sure not to wake Chiki up again. She picked the little chipmunk up as she rocked her into an even deeper slumber so she would be very unlikely to wake up. So she stood there with eyes of hope from her test of strength. She really wanted to be strong enough for her guild and her family so she waited and tried not to be impatient.

wc/445
tc/618

After she got the message, Rina showcased a short sign of hesitation. Perhaps she was unsure of what her strongest spell was? It would be a privilege to know just what kind of spell that you know leaked finishing power and what spell that could be used to build up to it et cetera. Knowing your strongest performance and its exact sizes would signal a clear and vast knowledge of your own magic - for instance, Mura was more than aware of his strongest offensive spell, the Grand Halo Blade. It was always so suitable for finishing an opponent and ensuring victory, so it grew onto his soul like a seal.

However, knowing your best spell to cast also marked the limit that you wish to exceed. That was why he was mildly satisfied with the result; she appeared to be tapping deep within herself, a place in her heart that she may not have been in before. And would you look at that - a sword appeared, a large blade that emitted the power of nature itself in the very moment that she swung it.

The numbers shown on the orb were collected by Mura afterwards in form of the orb with its data turning into auric dust that flew towards his Oracle Bracer. The data would be saved for his later analysis, and now, they could move to the next part. “Now that you’ve assured yourself and your heart of what you find the strongest thing in your arsenal… please show me your weakest.” Although, the orb was gone, so what was the target now? The shaman moved a hand up to show Rina her next target that was, in fact, a manifestation of none other than the samurai spirit from before.

“H-Huh?!”

“Don’t worry, Kyuken; it’s just her smallest, most easiest spell that’ll be launched at ya. Besides, you can’t feel much, so you’ll be fine.”

WC: 319 + 711 = 1030

Rina watched as Mura was preparing the strip down the exam Rina just went through. She hoped Mura was impressed by her power and would allow her to succeed in her mission to grow stronger. When she looked over at Mura he took up the orb as it disintegrated right before her eyes. Rina was confused but didn't put herself in a questioning position. She just went with the flow of the exam and waited patiently for Mura to bring up her next exam. As she looked at Mura she saw him say that she needed to pick out her weakest spell. As he says this he formed some sort of spiritual being in front of him. It seemed to look fearful at the thought of being hurt. Right after he showed fear Mura seemed to comfort him and then Rina tried to right after. She said in a calming voice, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I promise you'll be fine so just smile and we will get through this together." After that, she closed her eyes and thought of all her weapons. She knew she would have to pick one but she thought of all the guardians of the weapons that fought her to test her strength. She pictured every one of them and a tear went down her face. She didn't want to choose especially since all the work the guardians of the weapons put in to keep their weapons safe. Even though she didn't want to she knew it would make her seem weaker, so she picked. As she pictured her weakest weapon a flower formed on her hand. It then began to expand more and more until it popped. Inside of it were 3 balloon flower buds. She remembered how she got this weapon clearly and smiled. It was the second weapon she ever received through trial. She remembered the funny little goblin that fought against her with these. She remembered the goblin intrusting her with the weapons he held so dearly. When she opened her eyes she saw streaks of tears down her face, not realizing she was crying the entire time. As she looked at Mura she wiped her eyes and said, "I'm ready." Just as she said this she picked up one of the buds and threw them at the little spirit. As the tiny bud hit, the bud exploded and sent pieces around the spirit.

wc/404
tc/1022

Apparently, this was tearing more on Rina’s spirit than Mura had anticipated. It was easy to notice the tears that ran down her cheek, and it felt his heart with compassion. Maybe he overlooked something sensitive in this second step? But what exactly was wrong about it? She just had to find her smallest spell and fire it at Kyuken… unless if she held her magic so dear that she couldn’t think less of it than ultimate.

At last, she managed to do the job, and Kyuken was assaulted by a flower bud. His nostrils were hurt more than his body as the samurai ghost began sneezing intensely. “*ACHOO* … phew, darn hay fever-“ he commented, “B-But… I’m still fine. That was… *ACHOO* a good move…” Mura held his chin with his right hand, thinking deeply about her reaction before. A wizard had to excel in non-magical aspects as well, didn’t they? Perhaps he should try this out as their third step into the B-Ranked sphere.

“… Now you’ve shown me an interval; your realized that?” he asked her cheerfully, “From your weakest to your strongest spell… I have a very good look at your magical prowess right now. It’s impressive… you’re surely worthy of B-Rank by the looks of it. However, magic is more than just the spells that you fire off.” With a single flick of his fingers, the atmosphere changed - a huge gravity began pulling them both down. He made sure that the force of the gravity was regulated throughout focusing one’s magic power inside your body, and that preventing magic from leaking would weaken the force proportionally.

“At hardship, find strength within yourself,” he commented, appearing almost unaffected by the gravity change, “The more that you can regulate and charge your magic power after your liking, the stronger your spells can become. However, it relies on your focus… so try and find out just what level of focus that you need in order to ignore the gravity.” He began jumping around, even, smiling as his magic power had completely disappeared from sight, all locked inside his katana without leaking even a single cubic centimeter of aura out. “It takes a while to find your focus point… but it’ll push you to levels unimaginable.”

WC: 378 + 1030 = 1408

As the spirit began sneezing Rina walked over to it and said, "Don't worry the sneezing should go away soon. I'm very sorry about that." She patted the little spirit as she looked over to Mura with wonder as to what the next test was. When he started talking he explained to her a tiny bit about what the last tests were for. Then he said something weird to Rina which made her tilt her head with a questioning look as he snapped his fingers. All of a sudden Rina could feel herself being pulled down by something. She didn't realize what it was until Mura told her that he had used gravity magic on both of them. He then talked about how she would be able to defeat the gravity magic. He said she needed to focus on the energy in order to ignore it. She complied as she closed her eyes and focused. She didn't focus on the gravity magic though, she instead focused on how, and why her magic is so important to her. She thought about all the creatures who have helped her along the way by being nice to her and helping her through her magic. She then smiled as she felt something warm in her chest. As she thought more about all the pain the creatures had to go through to finally ensure her strength made something in her feel even warmer than what it was like before. With one final thought about what it took for her to be here with her magic through all the tough and rough tests, she had been through made her chest feel as warm as ever. She put a determined look on her face as she told herself, "You are not going to fail this after all the awful things you have been through. You are not going to fail now, not when everything has been fine." As she opened her eyes she saw her heart glowing a brilliant pinkish green color. She put her heart on her hands as she felt the weight being lifted from her body. She felt like the aura of the light was affecting the magic somehow. She just felt herself feeling stronger as the energy of the gravity magic somehow dissipated into thin air. As she looked down she realized she was standing up completely straight as she looked over to Mura and asked, "How did I do? I hope I didn't screw up in some way."
wc/417
tc/1439