Kari's Rank Up

150 exp was obtained from trading in Cosmic Coins with the help of Zeno

Alright then, I'll approve ya!

YOUR EXAM BEGINS!

Zuo strolled around the Hargeon Graveyard. A large field filled with headstones, the place had been largely expanded by the "Night of Light" when the first Lamia Scale had fallen and the rest of the city with it. The memory still hurt Zuo Cii, at the time the earth had bellowed in pain and by consequence Zuo did as well. His soul was bound to the earth and the pain it was suffering at the time was unreal. However he had been able to heal the damage and from the ashes formed the new Lamia Scale. Now at present day he had an important job to do for the purpose of continuing Hargeon and Lamia Scale.

A guild member of his would be coming soon, for an important task. A task that could shape their future for better or for worse. So Zuo would wait walking among the field of graves for the arrival of Kari.

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Sorry for short post, I'm not a big fan of exams. I'll try to make this a fast paced but quality exam if at all possible.

She kicked up leaves off of the ground, the area around her seemed soooo, gloomy. Though this place was in Hargeon, a bright and sunny city, this place had a lingering feel to it. She was asked to meet Zuo here for something special. What was it about this graveyard? Kariline just looked ahead and looked for her master.

She stopped in her tracks as she seen her master waiting there for her. She walked up to him and nodded her head, " Master." She said simply. Her mind wandered about what she was to do here? Why would he summon her, and her alone to this place? What secret did it hold?

Zuo nodded at Kariline as she approached him "Ah hello Kariline I've been waiting for you. I will make this straight forward, frank and simple." He glared at her and frowned "While I appreciate all that you do for the guild and you have without a doubt become a pillar of sorts for our guild." He began pacing around her his gaze unfaltering and his frown unchanged, "However you present a bit of a problem. That problem is that you do not seem to value your life." After walking around Kariline twice Zuo stopped in front of her "I've been around the block a few million times, I recognize your demons, I have seen them before, fought them before, I know the cost of using them. I will not accept the suicidal path you have set yourself on. You are a young person with great potential and great magic inside of you, you should not die young.

Zuo's face relaxed and he let out a sigh "Please consider what I am offering you. I can help you escape your contracts with minimal injury and help you learn a new greater and safer power." He sat down on a headstone behind him "Please I've seen enough death for a hundred life times. I will not force you to give up your demons but I have to insist." Worried he had asked too much of Kariline "I'm sorry. I am pressuring you. I will not demand you to decide here or now but please just consider this for your future. Regardless of that, this is not what I have called you here for." Zuo stood and gestured at all the graves around them "What I really want from you is for you to learn what Lamia Scale is truly about. For that I must ask, what do you know about the "Night of Light," as historians have opted to call it."

Her master seemed, off. If that was a good way to say it. His greeting was indeed warm, but behind it she felt like he wasn't happy to see her. Giving a bit of a wave, she let him continue on with what he had to say, yet his face changed, he was...frowning? "While I appreciate all that you do for the guild and you have without a doubt become a pillar of sorts for our guild." He paced around her, and she clenched her fist, what was he trying to say? Was he kicking her out? "However you present a bit of a problem. That problem is that you do not seem to value your life." Her eyes opened wide and she nearly did a double take as he walked around her? What did he know? He wasn't there, he didn't know how she thought. Kariline gritted her teeth and kept quiet, letting the master finish. "I've been around the block a few million times, I recognize your demons, I have seen them before, fought them before, I know the cost of using them. I will not accept the suicidal path you have set yourself on. You are a young person with great potential and great magic inside of you, you should not die young."

It took everything she had no to snap at her master. Apparently he didn't know everything about her and her contracts. In the end, they would only come back on her, if she failed. Which that wasn't an option at this point. Zuo sighed heavily and she snapped back to reality and looked at him. "Please consider what I am offering you. I can help you escape your contracts with minimal injury and help you learn a new greater and safer power." Zuo planted himself on top of a headstone, and she nearly gasped, that was a rather rude gesture, and unorthodox. But she kept quiet still, for it was rude to cut someone off. "Please I've seen enough death for a hundred life times. I will not force you to give up your demons but I have to insist." Her anger inside had started to flare, he was asking her to release her contract? It was funny, because if she released her contract without fulfilling her promise, then and only then would she be haunted. "I'm sorry. I am pressuring you. I will not demand you to decide here or now but please just consider this for your future. Regardless of that, this is not what I have called you here for." She raised an eyebrow, what else could he want with her? "What I really want from you is for you to learn what Lamia Scale is truly about. For that I must ask, what do you know about the "Night of Light," as historians have opted to call it."

She closed her eyes, she had heard the term before, but had never learned about it's secret. She looked at the master and crossed her arms, " No i have not master." She said while turning away. " And also, You have it all wrong, I'm not like that, i'm not throwing my life away...." She said. Her eyes flared and she clenched her fist by her side, " My contracts all depend on me getting stronger, if i can do that, then..." she trailed off and her face fell. Staring at the leaf covered ground. A feeling of determination came over her. This was something she had to do, he had to pay the price for his... Betrayal.

" I assure you, it is not my life that these demons want. " She said before grazing her hand over a headstone gently. This place, he had to have called her here for a reason, is this what he meant by ' I have seen enough death already'?

" Tell me master, this 'Night of Light', does it have something to do with this graveyard?" She asked, some what blunt. She hoped she didn't trigger some weak point in him. Kariline turned to face Zuo, to not only hear, but see what he had to say.

Zuo's usual grin returned as Kariline mentioned that it was not her life that the demons had asked of her  "Well then Kariline I must apologize for jumping to conclusions. I will trust you know what you are doing with your demons, but if you ever feel your life is in danger or you risk failing your contracts please come to me. Once again I have dealt with demons of all sorts before, I can help if you need it." At this Zuo stooped to the ground and stared at the sky "Now about the Night of Light, it was a catastrophe that struck this town. A disaster that filled many of the graves here and sent the last guild who called themselves Lamia Scale to their early grave. A demon wearing the guise of an angel assaulted the town with horrible magics that ravaged the land and killed many. Hargeon was almost completely leveled to the ground."

Zuo gestured at the inscription of the tomb stone he had previously sat on. The stone read

The tombstone then carried into a shrunken list of all the members of Lamia Scale present when it was destroyed.

Still low to the ground Zuo looked up at Kariline "We were not the first to call ourselves Lamia Scale oh far from it. It was the end of a long history the night of light was. When the Harbinger of Famine burnt Hargeon to the ground it was everything I could do to make the land healthy enough to support life again. It took me an entire year to heal the land so that the survivors would have a place to call home. However with that done I could of left Hargeon to it's own devises and went on my way. But I didn't, I stayed and created the Lamia Scale that we know today. Can you guess why?"

Kariline's eyes widened as he apologized for what he had said, he truly cared for her existence. Worrying about the end, if she completed her contracts or not. There was some points in her life where she doubted her ability to complete her contracts, but her determination wouldn't let her give up. Even if she was to fail in the end, she wouldn't give up. She wasn't a coward.

"Now about the Night of Light, it was a catastrophe that struck this town. A disaster that filled many of the graves here and sent the last guild who called themselves Lamia Scale to their early grave. A demon wearing the guise of an angel assaulted the town with horrible magics that ravaged the land and killed many. Hargeon was almost completely leveled to the ground."

He gestured to the stone he recently sat on. It said,

"R.I.P.
Lamia Scale
Here on this spot we remember those caught in the destruction of Lamia Scale.
While many died and each received their own tomb this stone was set for the purpose of honoring their memory as a whole.

They were our last defense in the night that became day and died fighting for us.
Of the few survivors all accredit their survival to the sacrifices of this brave wizards guild.
Here we remember them, the proud, the brave, those of Lamia Scale."


Then the words faded to a small typed list of names. She nearly gasped at the amount of names. There were so many.

He was still crouching close to the ground when he looked at her "We were not the first to call ourselves Lamia Scale oh far from it. It was the end of a long history the night of light was. When the Harbinger of Famine burnt Hargeon to the ground it was everything I could do to make the land healthy enough to support life again. It took me an entire year to heal the land so that the survivors would have a place to call home. However with that done I could of left Hargeon to it's own devises and went on my way. But I didn't, I stayed and created the Lamia Scale that we know today. Can you guess why?"

Her eyes fell to the ground, she could tell he had a connection to the previous Lamia Scale. But what was it exactly? Was he a member of the previous Lamia Scale? She thought for a moment and bit her lip.

" You wanted to preserve the memory of the fallen guild, by not only giving them a memorial, but living their legacy." she said outright, she hoped that was the answer he wanted, cause that is what she would have done in his situation.

Kariline ran her hand down the long list of names, she ached for all of them. A demon.. Was that why he had a soft spot about her contracts, does he think that she cant control them? Is he afraid she will go too far?

Zuo stared at Kariline and with a straight face said "Nope wrong." He snapped and the ground underneath her would give way and drop her into a cylinder shaped hole in the ground only a meter in diameter and easily 15 meters deep. "I made it because the world needed us. Now climb out of that hole and claim the title of c-rank. Also you had best have a good answer as to why the world needs us when you get up here, or I am sending you back down."

Gasping at her fall, Kari tried to latch on to anything she could, But to no avail. Her feet landed on the firm surface and she opened her eyes. She was in a hole, tall hole but not very wide. Her eyes furrowed and she started to get angry. " Zuo!" She screamed. Looking around she tried to find a way to get up. The hole was not wide enough to fly up on the back of Zuuricai....

She cursed herself and reached into her bag. She pulled out her gauntlets and slipped them on, she was trying to save these for when it's necessary, seeing as Fire Lacrima bullets were not cheap.

She slipped the string around her finger and readied herself. She pulled the string on both hands, expending two explosions, one in each hand. She was propelled to the side of the wall, it wasn't high enough so she slipped her feet under her and pushed off the wall and let another two bullets explode behind her, pushing her the rest of the distance she needed to go. She landed on the ground and turned to face Zuo, " The world needs us, like it needs heroes. Because in the end we give the people Hope..." She stood up straight, " Hope is was keeps the world from falling apart, hope is what keeps Hargeon standing. "

" The world needs us, like it needs heroes. Because in the end we give the people Hope..." Zuo grinned at her "Correction I keep Hargeon standing. But close enough. The world does need heroes and I created Lamia Scale as a place for heroes to be born." His eyes narrowed as he continued "So that should once again the night become day this town can protect itself." Zuo stood up and with the wave of his finger sealed the hole before starting to walk back towards the guild hall "By the way you pass."

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OOC: sorry if this was underwhelming but C-Rank exams aren't too important in my eyes, B-Rank exams are when things get real.