Trial of the Blizzard [Private; Exam; Ryo]

Zenshin stood on top of the tallest pillar on snowfall island, waiting for Ryo, the mage whose strength was recently increased through a job given to them by the Magic Council. Because of this, Zen believed it was time for a B rank examination, to make it official. The first task was to get to him through the everlasting raging blizzard and climb the massive pillar that was so large that the top of the plateau was above the clouds. Hopefully Ryo doesn't die on the way here, that would definitely be a problem. Well, he doesn't have too much time now. If he does, he doesn't deserve the strength granted to him Zen thought as he looked at the sun. He had also given Ryo a time limit to reach him, as if he didn't then he might have to wait an incredibly long amount of time, and if Ryo DID die on the way there, he'd be left waiting for even longer. Zenshin sat at the center of the pillar on a stone throne he created from cut stone. Because of his background and mastery of ice make, he didn't really feel cold and his body was perfectly adjusted to deal with what others would see as "extreme" temperatures which was useful whenever he wanted to set up examinations to passively test his members while seeming like he was "super human" at the same time. Unless they knew what he was before a recreationist, they would be left in awe at his unbelievable resistance to cold. Any minute now Ryo...

Ryo walked through the blizzard that was on the island of Snowfall. Ryo hated the cold more than anything, but he was very grateful that he wasn’t alone this time. With him he had Gora this time. He had left him behind once before, but he wasn’t going to do that this time. Not when Gora was so well suited to this type of environment. Ryo was dressed in his usual clothes, but they were made of a warmer wool material. Even his coat inside and out had fur to keep him warm. His boots were replaced with snow shoes, and boots so he could keep his pace steady. Also on his hands were thick winter gloves. He had dressed for the occasion, but he still had the ability to move freely.

With this new outfit and Gora next to him Ryo was able to trek through the gigantic winter wasteland. He remembered that Zen had said that he had been an ice-make mage at one point, but this was far too much for Ryo to understand. He was not nearly built to last in this type of environment. Still he would not let himself be beaten by this and he would continue to trek onward.After a few hours the sun was now at its highest point and Ryo stood at the base of the pillar that he had been told to find. He looked to Gora and nodded his head at him “Well boy. Help me find a way up.” Gora barked once and leapt up onto the pillar finding purchase rather quickly.

As soon as his wolf found purchase Ryo jumped up and pulled himself onto the same ledge as his partner. As Gora leapt up to another ledge and Ryo jumped after him he slipped and started to fall, but Gora was faster and caught him in his powerful jaws pulling him by his coat back to steady ground. Ryo hit the floor with his knees trembling “T-thank you Gora...Let’s keep going.” The pair continued to ascend the great pillar in this fashion. Gora would find the sturdy location and Ryo would climb up after him. It took them a long time, but Ryo finally reached the top with Gora and looked to see Zenshin in his throne. He walked closer to his guild master panting through a handkerchief to keep himself from getting ice in his lungs. He looked up at his guild master waiting for further details or instructions. Gora standing next to him panting.

Ryo made it in time, barely... now let's see what it is that he can do Zenshin thought as he looked on his guild member who was barely keeping it together. "Welcome to your B rank examination Ryo! I'm glad you could make it without freezing to death. Now I want you to take off your coat, your boots, and your gloves. I only want you in pants for the next part of the test, which is to hit me with everything you've got, magic, pets, or other. I want you to throw everything you have at me and try to take me down as if I was some kind of enemy on a job" he said while standing up from his stone throne and staring at the giant wolf that accompanied Ryo followed by looking at the mage himself whose breathing was ragged. Ryo was never in any real danger, none of his members were when he put them through examinations. They wouldn't permanently die, though they would be roughed up a little, thus was the nature of these tests. It was important to keep the illusion that they could die at any minute though, so they would take the examinations as seriously as they would a legitimate job or trial that had their lives on the line.

Ryo blinked in surprise as he heard what Zenshin wanted him to do, and this was truly beyond imagination. Still he was obedient and knew that Zenshin had something in mind for him, and that was hopefully good enough for him. As he shed his coat he looked up at Zenshin his gaze stone serious, but as he spoke it wasn’t to Zen it was to Gora “Don’t get involved Gora. I don’t want you to get hurt. So you just stand back, and keep yourself safe.” Gora nodded and backed away as far as he deemed necessary. Ryo was soon in just his pants although his body was trembling from the cold he looked serious, but the one thing he kept on was his hat that was strapped to his head.

He then drew a number of cards smirking “Well Master Zenshin as you’ve said I won’t hold back. So let’s get this started.” he pulled up a Tarot card and looked at it with a smirk. He slowly drew a black card, but sighed when it wasn’t the one he wanted. With deep concentration he changed it to the enhancement card he wanted smiling as he filled both his hands with playing cards “It’s time for you to see what i’ve now gained. Card Creation: Animal Bear!” he dropped the cards and above and below them formed two spell circles that began to morph the cards into the form of a grizzly bear. Ryo smiled as he stroked the bear’s head “Attack.” he said simply.

This was more than enough and the bear roared loudly and launched himself at Zenshin his right paw swiping towards him the claws looking large and dangerous. While the bear attacked however Ryo leapt back filling his hand with his usual set up he had a good number of tricks up his sleeve and he was ready to fight now.

Wild Card Used
Card Creation Animal used (B-Rank spell 15% mana consumption. 3 post Duration)
80/100% mana left

"Oh, that's new. But if a big bear is your trump card, you're going to have a more difficult time here than I thought" Zenshin said aloud before thinking a spell name of which he hadn't used in quite a while, angel trigger. Egia was kind enough to hear his call and initiated the transformation, causing large cracks to form in the ground underneath him and a large beam of darkness that gave off a red aura. The Reaper was immediately cast with the activation of angel trigger and when Zenshin emerged from the field, the bear would have been blasted back ten meters. He was taller than before and was covered head to toe in a long, torn cloak that covered his head. Zenshin's hands were the only visible part of his body and they were made of just bone. His scythe also made a radical transformation as he activated his angel trigger, turning into a much smaller looking, but fiercer weapon.

Bony wings protruded from his back as the air around him and his opponent got even colder than it already was as he brought his weapon up and slowly walked over to Ryo. The bear wasn't too happy that he had been blasted away from his master, and thought that it would be wise to try a full frontal attack on Zenshin, but that wasn't a very smart move. When it jumped and tried pouncing on him, Zen simply phased out into a separate plane of reality for a quick moment before returning to his own, causing the bear to just pass through and eat the snow behind him. While within a meter of Ryo, he made no hesitation in bringing his scythe up and swinging the blade down so that it would cut his guild member's chest vertically should he not block or dodge it.

Ryo nodded his head lightly as he agreed with Zenshin. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that something as simple as a grizzly bear would ever be enough to stop, or really harm Zenshin, but what he didn't expect was the very, very terrifying transformation that his guild master would adorn, or the simple power of the transformation being enough to knock the bear away. He was thankful however because no physical damage had been done to the beast it was still at full power.

As Zenshin neared Ryo he was quick to pick up two cards from his hand and get ready for the attack. Ryo was sure this scythe was powerful, and that was all he needed to know in order to make sure he avoided it. As Zenshin raised his scythe Ryo made his move "Defense combo: lightning shield!" he held up the cards in front of him allowing them to form into a shield made of the element he said. Ryo wasn't stupid however he didn't know what the spell his master was using could do and so as the shield formed to try and block the strike Ryo leapt backwards putting distance between him and Zenshin.

He wasn't finished however and he pulled up two more cards throwing them towards Zenshin. It didn't take long for the cards to reach where Ryo wanted and he snapped his fingers. This caused the cards to explode in a firey exlosion. Despite the explosion Ryo didn't stop moving and kept backpeddling until he was safely away from the blast. The Bear made of cards however roared in its anger and charged towards the explosion and would attack Zenshin once it saw him.

Explosion Card (C Rank spell. Blast Radius is maximum allowed for its rank)
Defense Combo: B Rank now 15%
Wild Card CD begin 1/3
Card Creation Animal used (B-Rank spell 15% mana consumption. 3 post Duration) 1/3
65/100% mana left

Ryo sent flying cards at him after blocking his attack, which wasn't completely unexpected. He was a card user, after all. Zen held out his bony hand and casted his spell 'Vector', which created a large, invisible box of force that would reverse the cards so that they'd fly back at Ryo before exploding. One less attack to worry about... now that bear he thought as he looked to see the massive animal made from playing cards run towards him. All it took was a single linkstep to end up behind Ryo, his weapon already swinging downward onto the boy's shoulder. Should it land, the entire blade of his scythe would lodge itself in the card mage's shoulder and really limit his ability to move around quite a bit. Should Ryo block or dodge again, however, Zenshin would dispel his current transformation and take his scythe to the next level, The Hope. He would deal with the bear later, but for now, his primary target was the mage who believed that a bear would stop his assault. I was a creation mage... I know how they operate, and in the end, they have limits just like everything else

Vector (Free)
The Hope (Potentially -5%)
Linkstep (Free)

Ryo watched as Zenshin redirected the spell that had come at him. This was proving to be far more difficult than Ryo had expected. True he never imagined in his wildest dream that he would be able to beat a ten wizard saint, but he didn't think his guild master was going to pull out all the stops just to beat him. In Ryo's mind it was no longer about passing or failing, it was about living or dying. He couldn't let himself be killed.

He needed to stop Zenshin from moving around so much so that the bear and him could cause him some pain. He then got the perfect Idea and smirked as he reached into his deck boxes pulling up the cards needed. It took him only a split second but he noticed that Zenshin wasn't acting very normal. When he vanished and Ryo couldn't see him he leapt forward as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. While Zenshin's blade didn't fully stick into him it did slice him from his shoulder down to his waist. Ryo let out a shout of pain but he still wasn't going to be beaten so easily. He turned and threw nine cards at Zenshin with one card in his mouth. The nine cards suddenly exploded and turned into 14 sexy women dressed in bikinis and they all sought to latch onto him and hold him in place. One of them seeking to wrap her arms around his head and press his face into her chest.

This created an opportunity for Ryo however and he threw the card in his mouth the card becoming a bolt of dark magic. If the girls succeeded in holding Zenshin down then the bear would have plenty of time to arrive and attack Zenshin with its powerful claws. As Ryo watched events unfold however he would back up further panting now due to the effort and pain. His blood trickling slowly as he was starting to become hypothermic due to the cold. He would also draw a new hand getting ready for the next bout.

Sexy Ladies Begin (5% mana used)
Explosion Card CD Begin
Defense Combo CD 1/3
Wild Card CD begin 2/3
Card Creation Animal used (B-Rank spell 15% mana consumption. 3 post Duration) 2/3
60/100% mana left

Women, women everywhere. It was a sleaze's wet dream, and a dirty card trick that Ryo pulled after feeling the force of Zenshin's scythe across his body. Ouch, that one's gonna leave a mark he thought after inflicting the wound. And all these women, wow. What a little magic can do, it's wonderful... but I already have Iana and all of these women pale in comparison he thought as he resisted the one in front trying to pull his head down. "You're learning Ryo. You see mobility is a key aspect and you try to hold me down, good observation. But I developed a spell for situations like this that I may or may not have taken from Aegis" he said with a grin before phasing out of this plane of reality and into another, essentially becoming ethereal. The girls all passed through him as the bear came up and swung its tree trunk of a paw at the man who wasn't there. Just like last time, he moved his position instantly, ending up right in front of Ryo and casting "Breaker" on his scythe so that the end of the shaft would pack much more of a punch before going and rapidly striking his chest a total of eight times before jumping back to a defensive position.

magic:

Ryo listened to what Master Zenshin had to say and he wasn't exactly thrilled to have someone lecture him while in the midst of battle. Still his heavy breathing was starting to take it's toll on him. He could feel his lungs ache, and he tasted blood in his mouth showing that the cold was taking effect on him. The wound on his back wasn't life threatening as of yet, but it would be as he continued to become hypothermic.

He watched as Zenshin faded out of existance and he swore under his breath backpeddling already expecting to be attacked. He wasn't disappointed when Zenshin came at him with the shaft of his scythe. While he was grateful it wasn't the blade Ryo knew that if he was struck by the shaft it would hurt. He dodged, and evaded the best he could but suffered from half of the strikes that found their marks. As Zenshin jumped back Ryo coughed up blood standing there. He was clearly taking a beating, but he wasn't about to fall. As he readied his hand he dropped a green card to the ground that was quickly covered by the snow.

Now he focused on Zenshin. What Zenshin might not have noticed was that the girls were still around and they all latched onto him yet again holding his legs and arms this time cooing, and swooning all around him. Ryo acted at this point pulling up two cards "Attack combo: Dark cannon!" from the cards in his hand shot a beam of dark elemental magic heading straight for Zenshin. The Card bear at being out foxed once more turned and rushed towards Zenshin with his powerful claw in his final attempt to damage the mage his body already starting to fall apart as he attacked. Ryo wasn't finished however as he pulled up two hands full of cards. These he threw at Zenshin "Projectile cards" he said softer as he let them fly. After a few seconds the ten cards doubled into twenty and formed a wall of cards.

Ryo began to move in a great arch around Zenshin ready to be on the defensive should none of this hit his guild master yet again.

Magic:

Zenshin was glad that Ryo was still kicking despite his wounds and the current barrage of blows that had met with his body, though was annoyed at the same time when the women from earlier came up from behind him and began to attach themselves back onto his limbs to stop him from moving around. While the card mage set up a final attack of sorts, Zen put up his strongest defense spell within B-Rank, Refuse; a spell that, once activated, caused a sphere to blue energy to surround him and absorb any one spell B-Rank and below before firing off a linear beam that dealt as much damage as what it absorbed. The beam of shadow stopped a few feet from the recreator's face and dissipated all around him as the energy and power was transferred into his own spell.

The bear that just wouldn't give up roared at him as it circled around the woman and attacked him from the front. Just as it got up on its hind legs and winded up for a powerful attack with its right claws, the Zenshin's shield's second effect activated and blasted the bear back with as much energy as was put into the shadow beam. "You've done well Ryo. If you can survive this next attack, you have earned your place among my most loyal. If not, well, I have faith in you" he said before a grin came across his face and he thought of the next, and final, spell he would activate. Mana Angel And in that very instant, a surge of mana rushed through his body before he began to emanate a glow and wings made from light blue energy emerged from his back. A halo made from the same energy was formed right over him before the ladies were thrown back by the sudden pressure he gave off. In a single flap of his wings, he was ten feet in the air, looking down at Ryo before launching all ten feathers, five from each wing, down at the card mage who had put up a worthy defense.

Spells Used
Mana Angel (-10%)

Ryo looked up at Zenshin who now looked like an angel. He couldn't believe what he was watching. He also couldn't believe that he was actually still alive to see this to begin with. He was running out of moves now and he quickly pulled up the next few cards he wanted. He quickly cast his spell "Playing Combo: Card wall!" in front of him appeared a wall made entirely of playing cards. This wall was weak and it wasn't meant to last. As the first of the feather's punched through it Ryo placed his green card to his forehead and winked.

His body shattered into dozens of playing cards and they surged out from behind the wall. Zenshin would just see the cards flying as the wall was taken out by the feathers. They flew to where the last green card had been placed in the snow and Ryo reformed peforming his last spell "Icicle!" from six cards in a line in front of him shot six different shafts of sharpened Ice flying towards Zenshin. This proved to be his last spell however as Ryo knelt down onto one knee panting and coughing his body now completely blue.

It was also at this point that Gora rushed over and stood between Ryo and Zenshin growling low in his throat his fur standing on end as he stared down Zenshin.

Magic: