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Chapter 2.

Graduation.

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Years passed. Lucy turned fourteen. She was easily the strongest in her group.

One of the trainers came and stopped their practice. He called Lucy's group and told them to come after him.

Forty minutes later, they stopped in front of a man in black and a Claymore. The trainer grunted something and left.

"Today is your graduation day," said the man in black, "... for one of you that is. Those of you who are fortunate enough to survive will go back to training. The task is simple. There is a yoma in the forest. Your mission is to kill it. Only one of you can graduate. Bring us the head and you pass. That is all. Go."

The trainees nodded and ran in the forest.

'So this is the new test,' said Riful.

Lucy knew the tone. 'What is it?'

'In my time, we had a graduation as well. We however, were not told that we would be facing a yoma.'

'That is good, isn't it?'

'Not really, little one. We were split into two teams. We were told that the winning team would graduate. We were not told that we also had a yoma to defeat. Usually, the two teams would fight each other and the yoma would kill the weakened trainees after one team lost. Sometimes all the trainees died. Sometimes one survived. But sometimes two or three trainees would fight as a team. These bonds - forged by battle survived a lifetime. What we have here ... is something else. Tell me your thoughts.'

Lucy thought for a minute, checking her surroundings at the same time, for any signs of yoki. 'Only one of us graduates. This will make the chance of a group working together much smaller. The first results will be more deaths than we would have if we all worked together as a team. They are culling us.'

'Very good. Next?'

'It might be possible that some will work as a group, but as only one of us will graduate, as soon as the yoma dies, the winners will fight each other.'

Riful gave Lucy a mental nod. 'Continue.'

'There is something else. The man in black said that we must bring back the head to graduate. It does not matter who kills the yoma. It only matters who brings the head. The others will try to defeat the winner and steal the head.'

'Very good. Our opponent is not only the yoma, but our comrades too. Some will bravely hunt the yoma. Others will stay back and steal the head just after the yoma dies. Others will stay near the man in black and try to ambush us. These are all immediate consequences. But what does this type of graduation mean in the long run? How does this affect the Claymores in the long run?'

'Well ... first, those bonds that are created between comrades fighting together are not formed. Even more, instead of friendship, trainees will hate each other. Most likely, this mentality will carry in the future. Claymores will not trust each other; they will not work well together. There is more...'

'Yes. Why are they doing this? Why do they not want Claymores that care for their companions?'

'Maybe they are afraid of tightly knit group of Claymores,' answered Lucy after a few seconds of deep thought. 'This test decreases the trust between trainees. If one of us rebels against the Organization, she will have less support from the trainees due to the loss of trust.'

'Excellent, little one. They may be trying to prevent any potential large-scale revolutions. There is something else. This would be a perfect opportunity of using an Eye and spy on us. What we do today, how we behave, our choices and tactics will show a lot about us. The way we behave in this battle will show them how we tick. It's a basic test done while we are young and gullible. They will know who the noble and brave ones are; or the cunning; or the cowards; or the insane;'

'Are you sure, Riful? Are we not over thinking it?'

'Perhaps, but this is something I would expect the old organization to do. It is better if we err on the side of caution.'

Lucy nodded absentmindedly, while checking her surroundings. She could feel the other nine trainees, but she did not feel the yoma.

'What is your plan, little one?'

'Straightforward. Try to find the yoma and kill it. Avoid the others and complete my mission. I have an advantage - I can feel their positions. If the yoma fights with one of them, he'll stop suppressing his yoki and I'll know... talking about the wolf...north.'

Lucy sped through the forests, towards the new yoki. She felt one of her comrades' fade from her awareness. She arrived in the clearing where the battle took place and looked at the broken body.

Riful sent her a mental caress. 'She is gone, little one. There is nothing we can do.'

'I never liked her, but...'

'I know. We trained with her for six years. Let's go.'

Lucy nodded sadly and sped towards the faint trace of the yoma. He was fighting two trainees. Suppressing her yoki as much as she could, she looked at the battle. The yoma was not fighting. He was playing. The two trainees were outclassed. They had multiple cuts, but they were still fighting.

'You could kill the yoma while he is not paying attention. It would be easy.'

'I could, but I won't.'

'Why is that, little one?'

'First, I would not want it known that I am capable of ... assassination. Second, I have never fought a yoma. It will be good practice.' Lucy stepped in the clearing where the yoma was fighting.

The yoma finally sensed her and jumped out of the way. Seeing there was no attack, he sneered. "Stupid little girl. You missed your chance. Had you attacked, you would have injured me."

Lucy drew her claymore and looked at the two trainees. "You two, get out of here. I said go!"

"How brave, it will be your undoing," said the yoma after the two girls left. Seeing that Lucy remained quiet, the yoma sped towards her, preparing to impale her with his right hand.

Lucy sidestepped the punch and cut down.

The yoma stared for a few moments at his detached arm, flying towards the forest. "You're going to pay for this, bitch," snarled the yoma while looking at the bleeding stump.

"No, I won't." Lucy's sword flashed again and the yoma's head fell down. 'Well, how did I do?' she asked Riful.

'It was acceptable.'

'Acceptable? I killed him in two strikes.'

'I could do it in one.'

'Oh.'

'Don't pout. You did great. I am proud of you. Now, grab the head and let's go.'

Lucy nodded, grabbed the head and sped towards the Claymores yoki, while avoiding the other trainees. Just before she reached her destination, she felt three yoki sources interposing between her and the claymore.

Lucy stepped into the clearing and saw the three. "What do you want?"

"The head."

"No, it's mine."

"Not any longer."

"Guys, do you really think you can take me on? You never managed to do that, even when you ganged up on me."

"It doesn't matter. We're fresh for battle. You're not."

"Hey, Mr. man-in-black, aren't you going to say anything about this?"

"No, not really," he responded in a bored tone.

"Very well," Lucy sighed. "Come and get me."

The three trainees surrounded Lucy and tried to hit her at the same time.

Lucy rushed forward, dodged the claymore and hit the first girl's stomach with the hilt of her sword. 'One down.' While the girl was in the process of falling down, Lucy turned around and parried two swords. Using her momentum, she gave a spinning kick to the head of the second girl. 'Two down.' She parried another swing with extra power, making the last girl loose her balance, stepped forward and hit her back with the flat of her sword. 'Three down.' Lucy glanced at the man in black and at his Claymore companion. They were both blank faced.

'What did you expect?'

'They could be a little impressed.'

'I don't see why. We are very powerful, but we still hid much of our power. What we did is something that even the weakest Claymore is capable.'

'Yeah.' Lucy sheathed her claymore, walked towards the man in black and threw the head of the yoma at their feet.

"You pass, follow me," he said and walked away. The claymore went after him and Lucy followed behind her.

'Riful, is she an Eye?'

'I do not think so. She appears to be a medium-ranked warrior. In my time, the Eye was a single digit. I wonder why she is here.'

'Maybe she is a bodyguard.'

'Perhaps ... we shall see.'

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Forty minutes later, they were in an administrative building. They arrived at an office. There was another claymore waiting.

"Stay here," said the man to Lucy and the new Claymore.

The hunter from the forest followed the man in his office. Lucy leaned on the wall, closed her eyes and opened her senses, listening on the conversation inside the office.

"Those two are your apprentices. The one that graduated today is Lucy. She's extremely fast, moderate strength, moderate stamina. Her yoki sensing abilities are very good. She can also hide her yoki to a certain extent. All in all, she has the ability to become a strong warrior. Not a single digit, but the next best thing - maybe a number twenty. She's calm and level-headed, reasonably intelligent, doesn't have any friends."

"I see. Why is she not an Eye?"

"As you know, an Eye needs certain qualities. Lucy is smart, but not smart enough. Also, she does not possess the necessary power."

"I see, she's good ... and the other one?"

"Lilith ... extremely strong and fast, large stamina. Good yoki sensing abilities. She has the ability to become a single digit. Maybe even a number one."

"Sounds promising."

"Not really. She's a bloodthirsty sociopath; insane, antisocial and paranoid. She and her previous master ran into a group of yoma. Only Lilith survived, but she almost Awakened ... she is a high risk."

"I see. Anything else?"

"Yes, there are reasons you got both of them together. We hope that Lucy will rub off on Lilith. But the most important one is that one year ago, one of Lucy's comrades tried to use her yoki. She was untrained and almost lost control, but Lucy knocked her out before she went over her limits."

"I see, you hope that Lucy can keep Lilith under control."

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Lucy opened her eyes and looked at Lilith. Lucy was small for her age. Riful called her petite. But the girl in front of her was even smaller. 'She looks so innocent ... so fragile, like a porcelain doll. It is hard to believe she is an insane killing machine.'

'Looks can be deceiving. I should know. After all, in my previous life, I was an Abyssal One and my human form was an innocent-looking girl.'

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Author's Notes: As you realize, this is a somewhat different world. I am ... reinventing it. We will see what happened after centuries; what happened to a continent dominated by the church in comparison to a continent dominated by the Organization.

We will see that the number of Claymores changed (it increased) and why.

Reviews are much appreciated (anonymous too).

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Published: October 26 2008.

Edited: February 07 2008.

-voider-

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