Chapter 163 - Spec Ops Exam PT 2
With the first half of the Exam completed, IF and the remaining Applicants were allowed to leave the examination room and rejoin the rest who'd be located back at the main hallway. Once she had left that place, there wouldn't be any other time in her past where IF had heaved a heavier sigh of fulfilment, knowing that the Spec Ops Exam whilstprimarily meant for normal people, unlike herself, it still had ways of testing oneself in approaches one might not expect. It definitely felt like she had almost fallen off the edge a couple times back then, only to come out on top by the skin of her teeth. Though, she did have a few susupicions about the guy Ibiki, suspicions which she had since the first moment that Ibiki ad looked at her, since she had caught something behind his gaze, something which had only been there for a brief nanosecond, but with her perceptionary prowess IF had caught it. She didn't get a chance to confirm them with him though since she had to head out with the rest of the Applicants for their hour-long break. That aside, not everything was all deception and mystery with her right now.
If there was anything IF felt glad for aside from the lessons which Ibiki had provided them as well as te relief that the first test was finished, then it would be the MAJOR reality check that he had given to the Noble sons and Daughters that she has the previous misfortune to be put with. Throughout the whole journey back to the main area, IF noticed several key differences from them compared to how they had been originally. For one, the females of the group hardly acted ike any kind of fangirl at all, now they just remained quiet and immersed within their thoughts. Some even looked at one another as if they wanted to confirm something with just their eyes alone, something which they must have received since their visual targets gave them silent nods of confirmation. As for the guys, similar events could be seen with them, although a lot of them had already been showing signs of this since before the exam had begun. The guys looked like they were also jotting down notes on notepads, and from what IF managed to see through a quick use of the RYOKUGAN, it looked like they were jotting down specialized training methods and possible battle plans.
'Looks like what Ibiki said back there has inspired these guys… maybe there's hope yet for those Noble assholes.' The brunette thought to herself, before she heard a faint beeping from within her coat. An eyebrow arched in confusion at this, as she recognized the sound as a ringtone for one of her phones whenever someone texted her, but she didn't think anyone would be texting her at this time. Nico was nowhere to be found, Neptune and the others should be training still, and her two fellow Applicants might still be enjoying their break at this moment, so who could be texting her? Pulling out the ringing Phone whilst flipping it open, the brunette looked at the screen to see the identity of the sender, only for her eyes to widen in surprise when she saw said identifier. 'Helen? Why's she texting me? I know she has all my numbers since they're on my file, if Nico can glean it then so can she, but still…' she thought in suspicion, before opening the message and reading its contents under her breath:
To IF,
Just received word that you managed to pass Ibiki's little test of character there, congratulations. He's got a bit of a reputation within the Guild for being absolutey ruthless since he specializes in mental torture to extract information from criminals, but other than that he's a decent guy to have on your side. I should know, me and him go way back along with Nico's parents, plus we work together pretty often as heads of our own respective departments. If your wondering, then I'm the reason why he was selected for your test IF, I asked him to make it harder than the norm for you so you would be able to show other Agents that you can still overcome the trials ahead of you like any other Applicant. Now, I can't say more than this, but know that the Spec Ops Exam's trials aren't done yet, not by a long shot. Oh yeah, and you're not the only one this is being done for, since there's one other whose been recommended by yours truly. I'm looking forward to when you two finally meet, ufufufufu.
From Helena Dawson WDD Head
That was where the message had ended, plus there was a small smiley face at the end with a hand holding up two fingers in a V shape, V for victory. It honestly elected a small chuckle out of the Spec Ops Candidate, really that woman. She may be the head of an important department in the Spec Ops Program, but she may as well have the same level of immaturity as her adoptive son. Still made her a lot easier to communicate with if she were honest. Once IF finished reading the message, checking it over to see if she had missed anything, the brunette sighed through her nose whilst strapping her now closed phone to her waist. Now she understood what Ibiki had been doing back then, it had been a favour from Helen, to increase the difficulty of the Exam for her so she could better prove that she was worthwhile as a Spec Ops Agent, so people wouldn't belittle her for being recommended in unlike normally when one had to have proper experience to even CONSIDER it. Wonder how she managed to pull that off? 'Then again, the guy and her supposedly have known each other for a while, which makes sense given their age and occupations.' She thought to herself. 'Though, the fact that she said someone else in this Exam is in the same boat as me, has me curious. Who could Helen be talking about? MAGES. and Tekken applied the old-fashioned way, so it couldn't have been them, so…'
When it became clear to her that she wouldn't be getting anywhere with just thinking about it, IF shook her head and decided to put those thoughts to the back of her mind. If what Helen had implied was true, then she might as well be meeting this mystery person anyways, so she might as well not put too much thought into it for now. If she DID end up meeting that person, maybe then she could query with them on their circumstances, plus since it was HELEN whom had recommended this person, then it would imply that this person got her attention more than any other Applicant, which would be MORE than enough for IF to give this person a chance. Someone who had the codename VALKYRIE giving out her approval to someone would DEFINITELY count as a big deal in the entire community due to her reputation, one which was NOT undeserved in her opinion, as the potential Spec Ops Agent had looked up videos online of Helen in sparring matches with other Agents. She may have been younger back then, but from the few times she'd seen her IF didn't think her age would dim her skills all that much.
To that end, the brunette focused on keeping up with the other Applicants as they returned to the Quest taking section of the Guild Building, each of them eager as all hell to have a well-deserved break.
"Hi there, IF! You passed too!"
"Hmhmhmhm, as I expected of the bearer of the scourge to have passed this most trivial of trials. Something as minor as this must have been childsplay for someone under MY tutelage."
"Hah-Hah, you guys, very funny. Anyways, looks like the two of you did it alright then?"
About 5 minutes later, IF and her group of Applicants had returned to the now designated 'breakout room' by the Spec Ops and Guild Staff, as indicated by a few signs spread throughout. Upon arriving, the brunette had practically wasted NO time in making sure to track down her friends from their energy signatures with her RYOKUGAN so she could catch up with them since they had been separated for their respective first tests. It hadn't taken her long to find them, and when she had the brunette had deactived her ocular ability and made her way over, grinning broadly at the sight of her two friends who each had stood by a table which sported a couple glasses of punch. Made this whole place look like one of those parties' teenagers these days attended, but the livelihood of the atmosphere really cheered IF up from the sheer intensity she had experience before. It felt like a bunch of fresh air to her, like she could finally breathe again after having to hold it for so long.
Then the two started to converse like old war buddies having just gotten back from an intense battle where their lives had been put on the line… and for two of them, it might as well have been. According to what she had learned, it seemed that the nature of the written test IF had taken wasn't just limited to her group, but the other groups as well jus with other proctors. However, each proctor gave out different numbers of questions with a different number of Watchers for the Applicants, depending on the natures of each Applicant she ifigured. Also, all of them came from the TAI Department, IF realized, which meant that Department had to have been chosen to oversee this Exam. Well, that was what the brunette had felt when talking it out with her two friends, whom had each turned out to be in separate groups from the other. The one who had little trouble passing their exam test was, as expected, MAGES. herself whom just chuckled in amusement. "It is funny that you thought something as minor as memory alteration technology would work on someone as grand as myself." She proclaimed, placing a hand on her face and adopting a chuuni-like pose. "This Mad Magician has seen into the depths of the abyss, so no such technology will work on her." She declared, laughing afterwards like an evil overlord.
… Would it humiliate IF if she admitted that her inner woman-child found that behaviour awesome?
Yup, yup it would. She DID name some of her attacks like DEMON FLAMES and LA DELPHINUS after all.
"Heh, well I guess I should have figured YOU wouldn't, MAGES…." Tekken remarked whilst laughing with a slightly forced smile on her face at the Mad Magician's antics. She knew for a fact how smart her friend was, plus she had literally met with her 'master' once herself… she could see where she got the chuuni from as well as her craziness, though her Master far surpassed her there, and THAT frightened the life out of her. "Though unlike you, I thought I would have been done for. Those questions were hard, girl! You guys know how bad I am at written tests, you remember MAGES. right? Back when we were back in our home dimension and I had struggled getting into a decent college due to how bad I was under pressure!" Tekken whined, pretty much rambling on to them as if to get the worries she had went through off her chest. MAGES. looked at her with a gaze of sympathy, understanding the martial artist's plight whilst IF hummed thoughtfully at this new information. She could actually picture Tekken not doing all that good academically, as to her she was more on the wild and physical side… mentally pausing, IF quickly gave a mental groan at the unintentional sexual innuendo there. "I didn't even realize that these guys have such tech at their disposal! If they could alter or manipulate another's memories so easily then they could do a LOT of scary stuff!"
MAGES. nodded her head at this. "Why of course they do." She stated, drawing their attention whilst glancing down at her punch. She gazed into its liquidy form whilst twirlingthe glasss idly, the same arm hooking around her staff which leaned into it diagonally in front of her. "These Spec Ops aren't very common in their approaches to things, if anything they are the complete opposite to the Military of each Nation. Such is this overlord's opinion, anyways. For them to have their own technology which they keep under wraps shows us that they have a deep understanding of the power that they wield, thus know not to use it carelessly. Both of you, note how the effects of the mind wipe have faded by now, yes? By my reckoning, these people have already developed permanent mind wiping technology but have not disclosed it to the public." She remarked whilst putting her metaphorical thinking cap on. The Mad Magician firmly believed this to be the case judging from her own experiences with the written exam, plus she had been tipped off to the exam's nature mostly by chance, having recognized the functions of those sticks beforehand and thus protected her memories with a simple spell she had made. After that, it had been smooth sailing from there, but MAGES. had made a point to hide this fact from the other Applicants she had been with, as well as the Spec Ops Staff hosting the exam. "It only makes sense with the attention they get from the Governments as well as the stakes that they contend with on a daily basis."
"Now that you mention it, your right…" IF mumbled thoughtfully, glancing upwards at the ceiling when she remembered a few details she had heard a while back. "Nico once told me how he helped test prototype technology for the WDD and would be allowed to keep the prototypes in return should they prove functional enough. They can only do something like that if they have strong confidence in their Agents as well as the fact that they can develop stronger versions of the same tech. I wouldn't be surprised if those memory sticks were just prototypes, and the real thing is somewhere else for a different purpose." She mused, getting nods of agreement from the girls. But, inside her mind IF also had a different thought process, one which related to the most recent information she had heard about her object of affection from his mother. 'Though, this tech can also help in covering things up, depending on the scale of how its been developed…' She thought, a sense of ire bubbling inside her chest. Despite knowing the strength and efficiency of this sub-branch of the Guild, IF also remained aware of the darknesss hidden within it, their true nature as monsters especially when regarding people like Nico and the Half Ghoul children whom they butchered way back when. Technology like this could have been used to manipulate the memories of those involved in order to hide the fact that Nico still lived, or it could have been used to cover up disasters relating to him or people like him. She wasn't sure, but she wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the case.
All of a sudden, a thought popped into IF's mind, one which she hadn't really thought about until now as she looked around the vicinity. "Now that I think about it, I didn't see Nep or the others around, not until I and the rest of us went inside for the Spec Ops Exam. Wonder where that idiot galivanted off too…" she mused It was one thing to wonder where Neptune might have gone, andif it were just her then IF wouldn't be as curious/worried. However, she hadn't seen any of the girls they worked with, not Noire, Vert, Lucy, Raven, none of them. She would have thought they would have at least came to see her before her Exam started.
Hearing this, MAGES.' eyes widened slightly as she remembered something. "Ah, do not blame those souls for not seeing you, Gamindustri's Windwalker." The Mad Magician began, getting the brunette's attention. "You probably overlooked this fact, but on the day of the exam, Candidates aren't really allowed any visitors, mostly so they can fully focus on their Tests without distraction. As such, any who tried to disrupt the Exam in any way would be met with… well, not so light punishment from the Spec Ops involved. Its likely that they would have tried to see you but ran into those blockades called Spec Ops Agents."
"Huh, now that you mention it, I DID see a fair amount of security posted around the yard…"
"Well, let's not focus on that stuff now, alright ladies?" Tekken's voice then cut into the scene, breaking IF from her thoughts and directing her attention to the Martial Artist, who had a huge smile on her face with eyes practically brimming with positive energy. Looking at her, one wouldn't be able to tell that she had any connection to the Demonic World, but IF and MAGES. sure could, since they were well-versed in sensing Demonic Power. They'd known an avid user of it plus they'd fought against many such beings until now, after all. Holding out her glass whilst remaining unaware of their thoughts, Tekken beamed happily at them whilst speaking further. "Let's propose a toast, a toast to us surviving the first half of our Exam and making it 50% of the way to becoming official Spec Ops Agents!" a low shudder travelled down the girl's spine as she repressed giddy emotions building inside her chest. "Oh, I can't wait. To be able to officially go out and fight super powerful opponents, it'll be great…"
IF rolled her eyes at Tekken's words, especially the slightly dreamy expression which formed on her face whilst saying them. "Well, battle junkie tendencies aside I can see what you mean." She admitted as she too raised her glass, continuing on from where Tekken had left off. "Becoming a Spec Ops Agent means more freedom for me, and you know what I'm like, a Windwalker always loves her freedom." She remarked, chuckling whilst mentally adding the following. 'Plus, It'll give me an edge over the others whilst also assuring a better potential situation for my condition as a BOW…' In the end, that last one was pretty much the biggest reason IF had for becoming a Spec Ops Agent. If she hadn't become… what she was back in Lastation, then she doubted that she would have gotten the drive to continue up till this point, and thus would have remained as an ordinary Guild Agent. Perhaps there were more good things about becoming a living, walking viral apocalypse after all…
As for MAGES., she didn't raise her glass just yet as she had adopted a thinking pose. "Hmmm… I see… a celebration and a pick-me-up all at once…. I can understand the purpose of such a festivity." The Mad Magician commented, cupping her chin with her free hand and nodding in comprehension. Back in her home dimension when she had attended university there, MAGES. never really did do this kind of thing with the other students there, not even with her short-lived boyfriend back then, so this would count as a first for her. A nice change of pace one could say, since she'd be doing it with some people whom she could call friend for once, instead of just total strangers she had no idea on their trustworthiness. "… Very well, I, the Mad Magician, shall acquiest to your request, Tekken." She eventually decided with a firm nod of confirmation, the left corner of her lips twitching upwards before she finally raised her own glass as well.
"Cheers! X3"
CLANG!
Three voices cried out as their glasses linked together, providing an audible sound from their actions which echoed across the rest of the room, though nobody but them heard it due to how lively everyone had become. It didn't matter to them though, since as far as they were concerned, the only noteworthy individuals in their eyes were each other, after all the three of them could be considered to be just as 'abnormal' as the monsters that they fought, two of them more than one even if that one had talent to be considered such. IF, MAGES., and Tekken each shared a similar look of satisfaction and pride, their eyes glistening with matching emotions. Looking at the remaining liquid in their glasses, one could see their reflections which also showed how happy the trio felt at coming this far. Satisfaction coursed through them at their progress so far, with the knowledge that whilst they may not know what the next trial held for them, they'd face it just as they had with the previous one and come out victorious.
"Hmmm, how fine. Check it out boys, this one looks like a keeper."
"E-Eh? Um, b-by keeper, you mean…?"
"Heh, your right, man. This one looks like she gets around, if you know what I mean…"
"You and your fantasies, I swear."
Just then, their atmosphere shattered when several voices, most of them being male and one being female, rung out. IF's brow twitched in annoyance when the trio looked towards the source which turned out to be at one of the farthest corners of the room, so nobody else would have heard them. Unlucky for the males in question, whom looked to be adult men in their early 20's and Noble children who seem to have snuck in some alcohol somehow, IF had as she glowered at them. "Tch, should have expected some people like them to be around still…" Even though motivational speeches like Ibiki's, there remained those too steadfast in older generation methods, especially when it came to members of the opposite sex. Though, looking at them, she soon realized that they weren't members of her group, which made her realize the incorrect nature of her previous statement.
"Hmmm. Looks like those two misfortunate souls are harassing a young, innocent one." MAGES. commented thoughtfully when she noticed the female in question, looking like a fish out of water whilst struggling to keep herself from fidgeting awkwardly. Her expressions made the Mad Magician theorize that she hadn't had any prior experiences with people like those noble children before, causing her to nod to herself. Furthermore, she could sense some… interesting things from the girl, more specifically things originating from the thing strapped to her back and hidden from view by some sort of black leather case similar to those one would store away a Guitar or another such musical instrument. "A pure white flower born to bloom within a field of red… not something one could say they see every day."
As for the third member of their little trio, Tekken let out two puffs of air from her nose as her features morphed into angry ones… which looked to only make her even cuter in appearance if any self-respecting male were to look at her at that moment. "Girls lets help her! She looks like she's about to faint from those guys' advnces…" she proclaimed, as despite how bad she was around guys, especially strangers, seeing a girl getting assaulted like this wasn't something she could stand. Tekken saw how the girl looked to be VERY uncomfortable around those Noble Children, so she felt even more convinced to go and help her. It made her want to knock those blockheads' lights out on sheer principle alone, proof being how she held her fists up towards her chest like a boxer trying to defend herself.
With her friends nodding in agreement, the trio closed in on the bunch of boys with IF taking point, the other two knowing full well how she had experience in dealing with these kinds of people the most, growing up in this Dimension after all. When they were close enough for talking purposes, IF whistled by blowing out, catching their attention. "You know guys, if you want to pick up chicks, its best NOT to corner them like hungry wolves." She stated a hand on her hip.
"Huh? Who the hell are you?" The leader of the group, an unremarkable looking Noble nidely commented, turning to face them along with his buddies. The moment that he caught sight of her though, did the man quickly change his toon however, as his eyes looked her up and down. His eyes then glazed over and a 'pretty boy' smile formed on his lips, his mind completely disregarding the girl behind him for a much more 'worthy' prey to seduce into his service. "Well well, lookie here. Now THIS is what I can call a babe, alright. I was beginning to think that all these so-called female applicants were just plain and dumb." He remarked in a joking manner, though his eyes spoke otherwise through the snickers of his lackeys.
Mentally rolling her eyes at the mans' claims, IF resisted the urge to slug the guy, since it wasn't the best moment just yet. 'So, this is how Vert must feel if she is ever harassed by some unsavoury people… whenever she even DOES go outside since she stays mostly in her Basilicom…' she thought to herself, feelings of disgust welling up inside when she felt his gaze examining her like a sack of meat. So, she decided to get this over with as evident by the sigh she released along with the shaking of her forehead with one hand's fingers pressed against her temple with the other on her hip. "You know something, it amazes me how idiots like you are allowed into a place such as this. I know its not the fault of the staff since the Nobles like to shoehorn in their heir like they own everything but seeing this myself just makes me disappointed at the level of idiocy before me." She stated bluntly, her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at them. "Seriously, can you guys even contribute anything without using your backgrounds as weapons?"
"Huh?! What did you say, you bitch?" Hearing her words quickly made the leader showcase his true colours, his eyes becoming vicious as anger rolled off him in waves from the insults, she had launched at him like repeated gunfire. Stepping forwards with his chest puffed out as a means of intimidation, the boy tried to look down on IF, though her height was level with his own, so this didn't really work all that well. "Want me to ruin your freaking CAREER?! I can do so with just aflick of my finger, so don't test me! You should know your place like sluts like you-"
BONK!
"GUEEEEEE!"
Before the man could finish speaking, IF simply and silently launched her right boot forwards in a kick, landing it right up there in the space between his legs and impacting his groin. Poor guy hadn't been able to even PERCEIVE the attack, nor his buddies behind him, since IF had moved beyond the speed of a human without any magic enhancements in that one single moment, making the following scene all the more unavoidable for him. Furthermore, the moment that her heeled boot collided with the dude's manliness, IF held back the urge to snicker at the sounds provided by the hit, no small amount of sadistic joy blossoming within her chest at her action. Part of her once wondered when it had happened, but over time since her arrival in Leanbox, IF had begun to develop this sadistic tendency to crush the balls of those who'd dare tick her off, balls if they were guys, breasts if they were women. However, since most of her target as had been men who'd thought she'd be an easy catch, they'd came to call her by a rather... funny name:
IF, Gamindustri's Ball Crusher.
Of course, in this situation IF still retained some semblance of restraint when lashing out against this asshole, although she had been sorely tempted not to and just go full rising kick on those precious unmentionables, but her logical side held her back at the last second. There wasn't enough power to let's say, utterly shatter his ability to make kids in the future, something which had been intentional on IF's part, but still it was enough to get her message across. As soon as her boot landed in that precious place for any man, the boy before her turned orribly pale, her face scrunching up in a… rather cartoonish expression whilst tears built up in the corners of his eyes before he slumped down, covering his damaged groin.
"B-Boss! Bro!"
His lackeys stood there, absolutely dumbstruck at what had just happened, almost as if they were looking at an illusion or something. Reflexively, they covered their groins with their hands and legs, looking rather silly which caused both MAGES. and Tekken to snicker behind their hands. As much as they disliked these kinds of people and wanted a hand in making their lives miserable, seeing IF slam into their pride and crush it like she did felt more than a LITTLE vindicating.
Meanwhile, IF turned to the rest of them, her eyes cold like a blizzard as she held a hand before them in a claw-like position. "Now then, take your 'boss' and leg it, assholes. Or would you like me to ripyour balls off completely and turn you into an enouch?" she threatened, no, she PROMISED with her hand making clenching motions, and behind her both her friends noticed faint veins starting to bulge along her arm. This made them realize that IF had become a few steps closer to morphing her arm and making good on her promise if these guys didn't comply. That, and the killing intent mixed with the bloodlust she radiated helped a ton too which resulted in the lackeys losing any kind of drive they could have amassed in order to fight for their boss's pride. In the end, they quickly nodded, fast enough that I could have beenl possible that their heads could have snapped off, before quickly grabbing their leader and hauling their asses out of the scene as fast as their legs could possibly carry them.
Upon seeing them go, IF let a relieved exhale escape her lips as she pocketed her hands inside her coat, shaking her head afterwards. "Good grief, I nearly lost it there…" she mumbled as she retracted her powers from transforming her arms. The young BOW, throughout the entire scenario, had to restrain herself from unleashing herself on those assholes and snapping their necks like toothpicks, something which would be a piece of cake for her to accomplish. 'Though, if I did end up doing that, I doubt I'd be living for very long since the Spec Ops community would be on my ass as if there was an Abnormal around. What I did back at the Examination room was risky as all fuck, but it was the best thing I had to gather the info I needed to answer those questions… even if that wasn't the true aim of the Exam.' She thought, before deciding to glance over to the girl whom she had helped out. "You alright? Sorry bout that, guys like that aren't all that uncommon around here…"
"E-Eh? O-Oh, that's alright. Thanks for helping me, um, mrs…" the girl replied, lowering her head to the brunette in gratitude. This reminded the brunette to examine the girl ad take in her features, the girl herself being as tall as she had been before her transformation during the Gala inident. The girl had dirty blondish coloured hair which formed bangs around her face with a few over her forehead, and a ponytail behind her head which reached down to her upper back. Her eyes shone a dark blue colour, eyes which currently showcased uncertainty and confusion as she looked at her, IF quickly realizing that she didn't know anything about her at all.
Whelp, time to change that, the brunette thought. "The name's IF, and behind me are MAGES. and Tekken respectively." She said, not only introducing herself with a thumb pointed towards her chest, but also introducing the two girls beside her on her flanks whilst thumb gesturing to them respectively. When their introductions got made, both of them performed their own gestures alongside hers, with MAGES. nodding with a slight smirk on her lips whilst Tekken gave her a cheery wave and a bright 'hello' from her. Kind of showed how they were as people, if the brunette thought about it, but IF just continued instead. "We're candidates for the Spec Ops Exam, and judging by you being here, I guess your in the same boat as us." She explained, shifting her weight onto one foot whilst pocketing the hand she'd used for gestures back inside her coat.
"I-IF? Huh, I feel like I've heard that name before… Ah!" for a moment, the girl blinked at them upon hearing their introductions, but then after a few seconds she widened her eyes as realization dawned on her. Once it did, the girl immediately perked up as a surge of joy overtook her. "I remember now, you're the Windwalker of Gamindustri, whose been racking up Abnormal kill counts by the dozens on each assignment you take! Everywhere you go, you seem to leave behind defeated monsters and saved lives all at once!" she proclaimed, excitedly. Though, afterwards, she let out a sad and disappointed pouting expression as her shoulders slumped. "Though I had heard you were just as tall as me… guess one can't believe everything they hear…" she mumbled dejectedly.
Whilst she had been pondering, IF had also gauged the outfit the girl wore. To start, the girl wore a shoulder mounted cloak which reached down to her waist in length, being predominantly black but with silver and golden highlights. The shoulders had a silver circular symbol with a line going vertically down their centres, with gold lines running through both the vertical lines and the circles. The edges of the cloak also had silver as their colour with black lines going through them. Undernath her cloak, she wore a sleeveless black coat with silver designs on the high collar which also sported a matching tie, where as silver arrows curved around the coat and stopped on both sides of its front. The coat split down the centre, held together by some belts which could be seen stretching horizontally just below her chest and just above her crotch area. At these areas, the coat had golden lines running up these edges with circles where the belts could be seen. Beneath this coat, there was a white underdress which covered the majority of a black multi-layered skirt with each layer shaped like flower petals. Her arms were covered by a set of black gloves which reached her elbows and had gold lines tracing those ends. A similar getup covered her legs, as she wore black thigh high boots with golden lines going along their edges.
'That's-!'
But what caught IF's attention the most was the thing strapped to her back, something which QUICKLY sent her nerves into defensive mode and IF had to stop herself from instinctively morphing her arms to defend herself with. For strapped to her back diagonally, although it was mostly covered by bandages similar to a certain spike covered shark-like sword, IF could sense it. Whatever those bandages covered; they could NOT conceal the pulsating Demonic Power which resided within. The Demonic Power pulsed like a living heart, not making itself known to the outside world and staying within its confines, but there was a thin string of it entering the girl's body and connecting to her very Soul. The brunette knew what that was the moment she sensed it, as only one name came up which could match the sights she had been seeing:
Devil Arm.
A Demonic Weapon, one which was capable of generating great power and destructive ability based off the Demon which it had once been. IF had heard about it from Nico one time, whom had explained to her the basics behind it, but she had gotten a better idea of it the more they had fought together, this time being before the Hellverse incident. Devil Arms held great power, the power to absolutely wreck opponents in ways they could not even begin to imagine. Not to mention they were the exact anti-thesis for anything divine like the CPUs and Spirits. Chaos, violence and absolute savagery came with the Devil Arm package. To wield a Devil Arm was to have a deadly dance with the epitome of death itself, for if one proved unworthy of it or too weak willed, the Devil Arm could posess them and drive them to go to insane rampages until they were finally put down. 'This girl… does she even realize what had happened to her? Does she know what kind of power she holds, now? What of the potential risks and consequences of wielding one? Nico's been able to use multiple, but he's a rare case. Wait… didn't Helen say that she's looking forward to me meeting someone? She said it before, and now I meet someone like her…. It may be a long shot, but still it wouldn't hurt to ask…'
By the time she finished that thought, IF mentally frowned and made to query with the young girl, but before she could the brunette heard the last few words that the girl had said, causing her to stop. Glancing down at herself, then making a comparison to the two of them, she quicklyrealized that her 'current' body 'outshined' the other girl's, causing her to wince and feel a surge of sympathy for the poor thing. "O-Oh, yeah, well don't worry about that, I actually DID have that kind of body, but then I had a recent growth spurt, one could say…" she explained, whilst mentally she mused on how describing what had happened as a growth spurt would be a COLOSSAL understatement. She then shook her head and continued with her previous line of thought. "By the way, this may sound strange to you but do you know someone by the name of Helena Dawson, mrs…?"
"E-Eh?! You know her, too?!" the girl shouted in shock, unknowingly drawing several outside gazes to her. Something which she noticed a minutelater and blushes in embarrassment, especially under the light glares from MAGES. and IF, whilst Teken gave a smile which had the 'keep your voice down' feel to it. "ehehehe, sorry, I got a bit loud there…" she muttered in apology, lowering her head again before she continued. "My name's Cecil, and yeah I know her." She replied, her right hand cradling the bottom of the object strapped to her back. Her eyes flashed with a nostalgic light to them, though it only remained that way temporarily as she looked back to her. "How do you know her?"
Before IF could respond, MAGES. then cut into the conversation. "This topic seems like it would be best discussed elsewhere. Perhaps a change of location, like say somewhere isolated and away from prying eyes, should be in order?" she suggested, gesturing to the number of eyes on them at the moment. There was another reason why she had mentioned this action aside from isolating their conversation from prying eyes, too, for instant she heard that this girl, Cecil, mention the name Helen, MAGES. sensed some disgruntlement from many of the Applicants. Applicants who would hten make snide and rude remarks about her where they thought nobody would hear them, something which caused MAGES. to frown. It seemed to her that, like Nico, Helen herself wasn't exactly the most popular amongst these Applicants, which also implied that it was similarly the case for a majority of the Spec Ops Program. If there was a saying called like father like son, then there should be a like mother like son expression too, if this is any indication. Why these people didn't seem to have all that much fondness for Nico's mother did intrigue her, but there was a different problem the Mage felt needed to be tackled first. Should they talk more about this woman in public, then the Mad Magician worried about how things might escalate from there.
Glancing around and noticing the same things MAGES. had, IF quickly came to a similar conclusion as her friend. Not to mention she thought about the same points as the Mad Magician unbeknownst to herself, plus some of her own. For example, she quickly realized how it seemed that this place wasn't the best for confiding confidential information with all these eyes on them. These young Nobles looked like real chatterboxes, meaning that if they heard anything particularly 'juicy', then shit would go down FAST… and she respected the older woman far too much to let that happen. "Alright then, lets take this talk somewhere else, so some people don't try to eavesdrop on our asses." IF declared, getting nods from ther companions before she looked towards Cecil. "Mind if you come with us? What we need to discuss isn't something bozos like the ones looking at us should here."
"Hm!" Cecil replied, firmly nodding and positioning herself so that she had her fists pressed against her chest with her features showing a determined look to them. Whilst she may be new to the ways of the city, since coming here and passing the first test, Cecil had seen just how the Applicants acted, and thus understood fairly well just how they would be in terms of personality. She could easily imagine them as gossiping teenagers who'd spill out anything which they found interesting to hear and had NO desire to have them discover her secret weapon so soon. At least, not until she had passed the Spec Ops Exam and become an Agent, as at that point they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. "Right, lets go! I'll follow you guys, since, well…" pausing in her words, the blonde girl chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't know my way around yet, so I'd get us lost."
Tekken smiled at the look Cecil had, nodding her head in agreement. "Its ok, I understand how you feel, I'm not that good with places like this myself." She admitted, before IF turned on her heels and began heading off, MAGES., the Martial Artist and Cecil soon following her.
Later on, the four-woman squadron soon found themselves in one of the women's toilet rooms, one which had been pretty much deserted when they had arrived. This had been somewhere MAGES. had sensed a lack of prying eyes, so she believed that it would be the best place for them to talk in private. Although, as a precaution, and something which she had learned the hard way NOT to forget about doing, the Mad Magician also made a few complex Barriers with her Magic, concealing them inside whilst also separating them into a small pocket dimension. This would allow them to not only talk freely, but should anyone come inside they would inly see an empty woman's toilet room, allowing them to carry on unaware of the four other presences in the room. For good measure, MAGES. had cast several anti magic and perception barriers as well, to minimize the chance someone would discover them.
A bit excessive which Cecil had commented on, but to the three other girls absolutely necessary. Their own experiences had taught them that.
"Now that we have some privacy ladies..." IF began, moving to one of the sinks and sitting on the Bench there, crossing one leg over another. "Lets get this started. So Cecil, care to tell us how you know Helen?" She queried.
Tekken then added in a quickened manner something when she noticed the slightly caught off-guard look Cecil sported upon hearing that question. Well, it wasn't the question per say which surprised her, but perhaps the way it had come about. As long as she had known her, Tekken felt that IF wasn't the most indirect person around unless absolutely necessary. Her background as a childhood mercenary could be the reason for this, but anyways she was getting off track here. "I-Its okay, we'll tell you how we know her afterwards, ok?"
When hearing this, IF glanced towards Tekken and looked at her like she had grown a second head, wondering why the hell she would have to give up such information. However, instead of just verbally questioning her, the brunette, upon thinking about it some more, she decided to roll with it. It was proper etiquette to give and receive, equivalent exchange one could say, so she could handle this. Plus, if this girl had Helen's approval then she must be somewhat reliable, something which she felt the others considered the same way when she looked into their eyes and they shared a glance with one another.
"O-Okay then..." Cecil started off, gripping the hem of her Skirt nervously as she fidgeted in discomfort. Being around people like these three kind of unnerved her, but she quickly forced herself to keep calm. After all, she would be surrounded by such people often in the future should she pass, so she would have to get used to it at some point. Starting now sounded like an ideal time, so with a quick inhale and exhale, Cecil resumed her story. "I... I met Mrs Dawson a while back, actually. Just after my village had been burned to the ground. Over half of us got reduced to nothing thanks to those flames, and I myself was someone training to become a proper field agent in the future, so I was one of the few left who could fight off the cause. Tracking it down, I soon stood before something I had never seen before..."
"A Demon...?"
Upon hearing MAGES. question her, Cecil looked at her in stunned surprise, not having expected her to say what Cecil had been meaning to before stopping. After all, when she had told her fellow villagers after everything settled down and they were put as refugees in another one, they didn't believe a WORD she said, not even after showing them her secret weapon. So, why did these girls believe her so easily?
"H-How do you...?"
"Lets just say we here have some... personal experiences with these things, so when we heard the rumours about your village, we didn't dismiss them as fairy tails." The Mad Magician explained with IF and Tekken nodding to confirm her words. With how the existence of Demons wasn't as well-known as Abnormals, since upon seeing one a human would just identify them as an Abnormal instead, even Spec Ops Agents would though their assumptions wouldn't be too unfounded, since they pretty much had the same natures as Abnormals these days. "Please continue."
Nodding her head after blinking a few times, Cecil did indeed continue, this time with a bit more confidence than before. "W-Well then, yeah, a Demon. I know because no other Abnormal I'd heard of had the kind of... well, 'feeling' that this Demon had. Abnormals feel somewhat like normal monsters in that they have animalistic bloodlust, but this Demon? It felt like bloodlust and wrath incarnate, I'd never felt anything like it before. It called itself... Berial, and it didn't even give me the time of day till I rushed at it and tried to take it down. It was a hard, long fight, and I almost died at the end, but I instead managed to defeat it... or so I thought." Cecil explained, shuddering as memories she didn't want to think about returned to the forefront of her mind. Memories of blazing flames, burning houses, dying screams and worst of all, the furious roars of the Demon who caused it all whilst it tried to hack her to pieces. If it weren't for her training, then Cecil felt like she would have been butchered seconds into the battle, her first TRUE taste of the cold grip of death.
It wasn't a nice feeling, obviously.
After taking a gulp, Cecil trembled a bit more when she remembered the most VIVID part of the entire ordeal, and the part which changed her life forever. She gripped her right arm with her left, a tale which did not go unnoticed by the rest of them as she spoke. "Well... when I thought that the Demon had been defeated, I let my guard down, something which came back to bite me. It... It must have had some grudge against me for beating it, but when I let my guard down, it 'imploded' in on itself, becoming nothing but this massive ball of fire which shot forth towards me. I got caught by surprise by it, so I didn't react in time and it hit me, knocking me down. After that, I blacked out, but the last thing I saw before I did was nothing but searing fire covering everything. After that, its all a blur, but I do remember being in so much pain that I felt like I would die at any moment. It went on for almost an eternity during my unconscious state that it became the only thing I'd known."
Upon hearing this, IF winced in sympathy, whilst Tekken herself frowned in sadness and MAGES. furrowed her brows, each of them having their own thoughts and opinions on Cecil's story. Not only did it sound tragic as all hell, what with her village being burned to nothingness by a fire Demon with half of her village's people becoming ashes, but from what she had described there was only ONE possible explanation for it... one which they did NOT like at all. Looking back at the blonde girl, IF crossed her arms beneath her chest, deciding to voice her forming opinions when she sensed that neither of her comrades were going to do so. "Then let me guess... you woke up and shortly after you met Helen?" she questioned.
However, Cecil shook her head, surprising the brunette as she answered. "No, I didn't meet her for a few days, because before that I woke up with this..." she began, reaching behind her and pulling off the bandaged object from her back and holding it out in front of her. "On my back. I'll not show it off right now, cause whilst they might not look it, these Bandages have been imbued with sealing Spells for it since at the time this thing kept releasing an aura which kept people away from me lest they want to be turned into charcoal." Cecil explained, sighing afterwards before strapping the object back onto her back. Well, strapping wasn't the right word since IF sensed how it just reattached to her back, similar to a magnet connecting to a magnetic surface. "Those few days were the stuff of nightmares for me. I... I lost my home... a lot of friends, my aunt and uncle, and my parents nearly got burned alive trying to help me. Instead, they got put into comas and were it not for a few surviving relatives, they would have been left behind as Abnormal food..."
"Tch, heartless bastards..." IF cursed under her breath when she heard that last part, clenching her trembling fists which was the sole physical sign of how she currently felt at the moment. She could understand why the Villagers would do something like that, since with their status as refugees they would need to pull their weight in their temporary residence to help get their lives back. Having two comatose people would be like carrying dead weight as much as she loathed to admit it, but with how these villagers were so ready to just toss her parents aside like that... it really grinded her gears. Come on, this was a hurting girl's few remaining relatives! Take them away, and she'd have nothing left! IF definitely felt glad she wasn't human anymore with how despicable she had seen and heard of humanity being towards their own kind. First Nico, now this girl, heck even Noire and Vert in a sense.
Guess there was no limits to how low they could potentially sink, something which DISGUSTED her.
Cecil then concluded her tail, although the trio could tell there were still some details that she didn't inform them of, but none of them pressed on THAT front. After all, talking just this much had to have been a major toll on the girl. "Then, I met Mrs Dawson, not long after my most recent visit to my comatose parents. She'd heard of my situation and came on over to the village me and my comrades were resting at, and informed me of what... this thing, was. She answered my questions when she said she had answers to them, and also took me as one of her students." By this point, a smile shot forth onto her features, her sullen and depressed gaze from earlier throughout her tale vanishing into the wind. "She'd took to teaching me everything she knew about handling weapons like these, even recommended me as a last-minute Applicant for the Spec Ops Exam, reasoning that I would be able to quickly earn lots of cash for my village and comatose parents should I become a Spec Ops Agent. After that, I prepared myself as much as I could before this day, came here and afterwards is history." she finalized, sighing in relief with a hand on her chest. A low exhale escaped her afterwards as well. "Whew, never thought getting that off my chest would feel so good..." she mumbled, before looking to the rest of them.
"I see... well, that explains a few things." IF remarked, taking in her tale in its entirety. Sounded so much like the backstory of a tragic Shonen anime if she were honest, but then again tragedy seemed to be commonplace in Gamindustri. Though, despite that she couldn't help but commend the girl on her bravery in handling her situation. She may look like a rookie currently, since she kinda was, but IF bet that with time and training, Cecil could become a splendid Agent in her own right. Heck, from the looks of things IF bet that she would transcend the limits of humanity and go into the realm of monsters, just like herself and her companions. "Guess I'll tell you how I know Helen, then. Me, I knew Helen through meeting her alongside the Party I'm in. You could say me and her are... well, acquaintances, though we only met because I'd met her son. Afterwards, me and the Party occasionally heard from her, and she recommended me as a Spec Ops Agent after some... incidents which forced my hand."
"... By son, do you mean DEATHSTROKE?"
"?!"
When Cecil questioned IF on that, she didn't do so normally. No, in fact, IF practically jumped when Cecil stood in front of her instantly whilst leaning close to her, her eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. Kind of weird since her eyes were blue, but whatever. However, she also adopted a rather... fangirlish pose, something which slightly worried the brunette, but she decided to worry about that later. "Y-Yeah, what about him...?" she queried.
"I'm a HUGE fan of his! He's like my all time idol!" Cecil proclaimed, jumping up and down whilst squealing in excitement, completely catching the brunette, as well as the other two girls, completely off guard. "There's so many Spec Ops who seem more powerful, and so many of the girls in my village are fans of the more widely-known ones, but I can't help but like him the most! He's so much like an underdog character, and that's something I really admire about him! I've even followed every bit of news about him, no matter what he's done or how he's portrayed, he's the best in my eyes!" Cecil ranted, her eyes now LITERALLY stars as she had a massive, dopey smile on her face, looking like she would burst at any moment. "Of course, there's also the fact that he dresses right up my alley... I've always been a hidden fan of edgelord characters in games, when people talk about that blue hedgehog mascot from Planeptune, I think of his black and red counterpart. When playing games like Undersight, I tend to go for that hooded guy with the shotguns, so yeah, you get the picture."
'Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa, hold the phone here!' The brunette shouted in her mind, completely taken aback by the blonde girl's words as well as the intensity behind them, even MAGES. looked surprised as evident by the slight widening of her eyes and slight parting of her lips, whilst Tekken looked absolutely dumbfounded. It wasn't an unexpected reaction, since who would guess someone like this country girl from Leanbox turned out to be one of Nico's FANS?! They weren't stupid, Nico may be an underdog but there WERE a small amount of true fans behind him, aside from all the fangirls whom tried to hound him whenever they had an opportunity, so the fact that Cecil turned out to be someone who idolized him wasn't as surprising as the fact that she idolized NICO, not a more well-known and popular Agent. Still, this marked IF's, and by extension the others, first encounter with one of his fans, something which she had once envisioned it to become one big cat fight, but now... "Huh... so your a fan of his, then. Okay, I can take that." IF remarked, nodding to herself. 'Her being a fan of his surprised me, but at least she doesn't hate the guy like a lot of people do. Feels kind of refreshing, if I'm honest.' she thought afterwards.
"You said you're a fan of Nico's right?" Tekken questioned after she got over her shock, which had been the most intense out of the female trio, to which Cecil nodded in resolution. "Then I guess Helen must have REALLY taken to you, since your supporting her son of all people." IF blinked, and she soon realized the truth in the Martial Artist's words. Of course Helen would take a strong fancy to someone who liked her son, if there was any fast way to getting inside the Head of the WDD's good graces, it would be putting oneself on the supporting side of her one and only adoptive son.
Cecil nodded as well, a happy hum escaping her lips as she recalled THOSE particular memories. "I guess Mrs Dawson had been testing me, but the moment that she heard I was one of his fans and I passed a hidden test of hers, she quickly took a liking to me. Her husband, someone who I'd only met once, had to come over and pull her away from me lest she crushed me with how tight her hug had been. I almost saw the faces of all my dead friends in that moment..." she explained, a sheepish look forming on her features. She then looked back to IF, switching back to an excited fangirl posture as she relayed the following question to her. "Say, if you know him, can you tell me... what's DEATHSTROKE like? As in, what's he like as a person?"
Now, IF COULD have just stated her opinions on how Nico acted and potentially fulfilled or crushed Cecil's dreams and ideals about him. Heck, she even had to spend a moment to think about it, but in the end IF decided to go at this from another approach. Smirking at the rookie of the group, the brunette stepped away from the sink before responding to her. "Well, better ask him yourself, cause if I know him as well as I think we do, we might see him at the end of this Exam. I CAN say he'll be intrigued by you if his own mom approves of you, maybe enough for him to track you down himself." she told her whilst mentally adding on 'At least this way I won't make any potential obstacles for myself later on if I do this... Nep, Compa, I have a few rivals for his affection already. If I let her and Nico meet face to face, maybe then things could stay professional between them or she could become a proper devoted follower, heck if she does discover his Ghoul side and accepts it like we have all the better.' In essence, IF pretty much diverted the attention the blonde potential Agent had for answers towards something else, so she didn't have to deal with fangirlism… as well as possibly create problems for her later down the line.
"Mou, Mrs IF's just diverting the question..."
"Heh, I'll plead innocent here."
"With how things have turned out, I believe that it is no longer required that we converse in private." MAGES. suddenly cut into the scene, breaking the two from their short but silent staring contest. Directing the attention of the three others to her, the Mad Magician then tapped the ground with the butt end of her Staff, a feeling of waves crashing down on them washing over the three girls as the spells and Barriers she'd put up undid themselves. As a result, they were no longer in an isolated dimensional space, but properly within a girl's toilet room. Turning on her heeled boots, MAGES. proceeded to head towards the exit, glancing behind her and delivering her next line smoothly. "I have kept track of the time since we came here, and by now it is 15 minutes before the second half of the Spec Ops Exam. I suggest we all return post hasts, so that we do not miss it and end up potentially failing the Exam." she advised as she left the area.
Soon enough, after glancing to each other, IF, Tekken and Cecil nodded in unified agreement, as well as an unspoken agreement to have the new girl tag along with them for the time being as they left the toilet room to follow after their fourth comrade.
By the time that they returned to where the other Applicants were located, the four girls quickly noticed a change in the situation. If they HADN'T noticed the change in the atmosphere upon their arrival, then they would have been dubbed morons by other Agents, since the difference was SO clear even crystal couldn't compare.
"Hmmm, looks like people are waiting to get started..." IF commented to herself, though the rest of them heard her. Seeing as how all the Applicants weren't chatting any more and were patiently remaining silent whilst waiting for the next section to start. None of the Noble Children had started any commotion save from the ones whom they had run into previously, heck a lot of them seemed to have formed their own little packs like animals herding together for safety in numbers. Seeing this, IF couldn't help but let out her stated comment, causing her fellows to nod in agreement.
Looking at the various people, Tekken offered her own two cents into the matter. "Everyone seems to be REALLY pumped for the final stretch. They remind me of the participants of fighting tournaments I took part in back home." she remarked, remembering those battles fondly. Beside her, Cecil nodded her head in agreement, and like Tekken she too looked to be shaking from excitement at the prospects before them. Now, Tekken may have competed in martial arts tournaments back in the day, but she didn't do it all that often as she preferred sparring with her animal friends back within the warm embrace of the wilderness. If it hadn't been for her befriending MAGES. and a few others, then perhaps she could have become as socially awkward as Noire the goddess of awkwardness and anxiety herself. However, since she had come to this dimension, there hadn't been any kinds of such tournaments for her to partake in, even though Leanbox held a substantial amount of martial experts who practiced all kinds of different styles. She'd known this for a while thanks to meeting a couple dozen herself to get fighting experience, and in addition to that Tekken no longer felt as safe in the wilderness as she once had, thanks to the Abnormals.
MAGES. hummed in acknowledgement, looking around and practically scanning the Applicants with her calculating gaze. "Of course they are, and their intentions are as clear as night itself..." she stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest whilst positioning her Staff horizontally in front of her, trapping it within her chest's embrace. "With how intense the first part of the exam was, its not a surprise to assume that they are wary of how the second part of the exam will perform. They each have had a taste of what its like in the world of the Spec Ops Agents, so I would be able to assume that they can finally see it for what it really is, that their world is ENTIRELY different from normal people. Perhaps that's why there's so few cases of Spec Ops retiring, they truly can never return to having a normal life. The world they're in will follow them till their very deaths." she theorized, humming thoughtfully as she presented her own findings to the group, well, it wasn't anything physical but merely an amalgamation of what she had seen and her own deductions.
As a scientist, she'd rather have more data for this hypothesis, but this would be all she could amass currently.
"That makes sense... " IF began, before she glanced over at a nearby clock strung high up on one of the building's walls, noting down the time in her mind. "We got about 7 minutes before the exam starts... so we may get a visitor in the form of some staff member soon." she remarked whilst informing the rest of her comrades just like MAGES. had done before her.
No sooner had she said that, did something happen right before the front of the assembled Applicants. In front of them, at least 6 meters away from the closest person, a loud screech sound echoed throughout the building as suddenly the ground erupted into a spiralling vortex of searing, volatile infernal fire. The flames spiralled inwards and formed a cocoon, persisting for at least a couple minutes before they sunk back down into the ground. When it did this, it revealed two people standing in its place, and upon seeing them the brunette's eyes widened in recognition of one of them.
"That girl..."
Indeed, one of them turned out to be a very tall woman, one who looked to be in her early to mid twenties who had a very STERN look on her features. The woman had black hair which she tied into a low ponytail which fell back to her waist, with brown hard and cold feeling eyes. In terms of attire, one could DEFINITELY see the professionalism and formality which oozed off her frame, as she wore a formal white shirt, with a black business overcoat and matching skirt which hugged her slender, hourglass frame. If anyone of them thought that this woman wasn't someone who fought n the battlefield from this, IF would have called them an idiot since her eyes CLEARLY saw that her body had not a SINGLE trace of fat on it, instead it was all well-trained muscle, born from countless battles out there in the field. On her chest, she wore a green tie, with her legs covered in dark black stockings similar to the ones which MAGES. herself wore, and high heeled shoes. Whilst she didn't seem to carry any weaponry, IF had no doubt in her mind that she commanded the mastery of several including hand to hand combat.
However, beside her stood someone IF recognized. The girl in question stood with her arms crossed, looking over the Applicants with a mixture of annoyance and boredom on her face. he stood at a rather short height, probably the same height as Cecil, with black hair which ran down to her knees in length which had an ahoge in the centre, her eyes having a brown complexion to them. She sported an all black attire consisting of a trench coat, shirt, pants and boots with a Katana being strapped to her hip, though IF quickly became focused on the pendant around her neck. For some reason, the brunette could IMMEDIATELY tell this wasn't one of the 'normal' kind of girls.
"... I assume you are aware of that girl's identity, windwalker of Gamindustri?"
Looking over to MAGES. when the Mad Magician asked her that, the brunette gave a sharp nod in response. "Yeah, I do... her name's Shana, a Spec Ops Agent of the upper echelon in terms of power rankings, although she's one of the newest Agents there. I remember reading up about her and some of the other Agents, including the woman next to her, during my studies. With titles like the 'flame of heaven', 'Crimson haired, Burning Eyed Hunter' whilst bearing the Codename CRIMSON, her previous battles have identified her as at least Small City Class, if she pushes herself then it can be higher. As for Chifuyu, she's known only by her Codename BRYNHILDR but its rumoured that she has a connection to Helen herself, though these rumours haven't been confirmed since anyone who tried met with a... rather humiliating punishment by her hand. She may not be as destructive as other Agents, only in the Lower Echelon, but she's defeated quite the amount of Abnormals in her time, and she's even started unknowingly racking up a significant Demon kill count as well. If THOSE two are here for the Spec Ops Exam's second half... then a LOT of these people are going to be going home defeated." IF foretold, crossing her arms and clutching the upper halves of said limbs with her hands. Judging by seeing some of their veins bulging, MAGES. as well as Cecil and Tekken quickly noted that the brunette must have GOOD reason to be wary of these two. They trusted her judgement, even if Cecil didn't know her all that well, since for her to be someone whom her idol travelled with must mean that she had STRONG competency as an Agent.
"... Looks like Ibiki's gotten soft since I last saw him, if there are THIS many of you here still." The woman commented, her voice and tone as cold as ice as she cast her similarly feeling gaze across the rest of the group. Immediately, her body language allowed her to gain the attention of everyone present, even the minority of the noble children who had risked their hides by eyeing the younger black haired girl with a mix of fear and lust. The woman's eyes landed on IF and her group, and though she didn't change anything outwardly her gaze lingered on them for just a second longer. "No matter, by the time I'm done with the lot of you hopeless rejects, the number count shall be at least under 10." she stated, her tone darkening at the end, causing the Applicants to shudder in unison.
Even IF and the her party weren't an exception to this.
Having had enough scaring the crap out of the Applicants (part of her felt surprised by the amount of soiled crotches she saw), the woman flicked some of her hair behind her before placing her hand on her hip. "Alright you morons, listen up! I am Chifuyu Orimura, and I will be the proctor for your next and FINAL test!" she bellowed, her loud voice akin to a drill sergeant which echoed throughout the vicinity. "Its going to be my misfortunate job in overseeing your sorry asses to see who amongst you actually has some balls or not. Listen to what I will say, as like that TAI head I'll ONLY be saying this ONCE, with no questions! Understood?!"
"YES MA'AM!"
Instinctively, the entire room shouted that out when Chifuyu demanded their undivided attention almost like she had forced them to do so without any chance for them to question her methods. Seeing their silence and that she had all eyes on her, Chifuyu nodded to herself and crossed her arms underneath her... rather sizable bust line (if they weren't so terrified of her, some of the guys might have stared at those things all day long, even with the supposed hell they'd incur afterwards). "Alright then, I shall now explain the second half of the exam to you all, so listen up you morons! The second half is a mix of team battles and a battle royale! 8 teams priorly formed shall each be placed within simulated environments of our choosing, and shall fight each other till one team is left standing! The winning Teams have a higher chance of passing the exam at the end of the day, however if their performance is satisfactory, the losing teams can still pass! This applies in the opposite case as well, should the winning team perform to less than out current standards, then they will likely receive nothing from us at the end of the day, in which case they will FAIL and will have to wait 15 years before they can retake the Exam!"
Upon hearing her say that last part, stunned and downright mortified looks spread across the Applicants' faces, whilst a heavy and ominous pressure slammed down onto each of their shoulders brutally and without mercy. In essence, just like with the first half, the second half may have different functions and rules, being a more practical test and all, but in the end it had JUST as great a minefield-like feel to it. If they made any missteps and failed the Exam, the penalty of which would be JUST as bad, if not worse. If any of them had even the slightest feeling of being safer or thinking that this next test would be easier, it got erased completely out of their minds by this point. Applicants snuck glances towards one another, gauging their potential adversaries for any signs which could indicate their ability in battle. Only a select few of them, IF and her party counting amongst these, managed to do so in a subtle manner.
But it wasn't over yet, as the girls soon found out thanks to Chifuyu continuing her speech. "When its time for the exam to begin, you will each be sent a message on your devices, this message will not only include a link which will transport you to your simulated battlefield, but it will also show who your teammates are and the enemy! Nothing else about their abilities will be given, you'll have to fend for yourselves, you got that maggots?!" she yelled, getting a unified positive roar from the Applicants as they slowly but surely transformed themselves in terms of personality under her influence. "Furthermore, there will be a special element introduced halfway into the separate battles, and should you try to tackle that element then depending on how that is tackled it can either raise or plummet your chances of passing! I expect ALL of you to be fully prepared for whatever trials you may face in there, so no slacking off, you hear me?! Even if not, respond!"
"YES MA'AM!"
BEEP-BEEP!
A beeping sound came from her waist, causing IF to glance down and pull out one of her phones. She wasn't the only one, as beeping came from literally everywhere around her, prompting every one of the Applicants to reach for the sources, their mobile devices. Even Tekken and Cecil had one, though in hindsight that wasn't so surprising as they all looked at their main screens. On those screens, hey each showed message icons in their own ways, which prompted each of them to open their messages up. When they did, they saw a list of names, including their own, alongside several others and a Team number with the rules and regulations that Chifuyu had just explained written down on them.
'So... these are my teammates, huh...?' IF thought as she looked at the list:
Team Number X
Members:
Applicant Number 23: IF
Applicant Number 220: Tekken
Applicant Number 221: MAGES.
Applicant Number 236: Cecil
Upon seeing who she would be put on a team with, IF glanced to the others with a small smirk forming on her lips. "Heh, looks like we're buddies, then." she commented, to which they each responded with smiles and smirks of their own. MAGES. looked like she wanted to unleash some magic already as she instantly began making battle plans in her mind. Tekken's body trembled as she looked like she was holding herself back to do some shadowboxing, something the brunette had discovered was a habit for her whenever she got excited, although if the excitement levels were low she could usually repress it. As for Cecil... "You nervous, kiddo?" IF questioned knowingly, seeing the complicated expression on the blonde's face.
"...A little bit, if I'm honest..." she replied, after a pause in speech. She made to grip her right forearm but stopped herself, something which the other three noticed but again, didn't comment on just yet. There was a time and a place for everything, and if they were to bring it up now, each of them believed that some eavesdropper might hear them and cause a living hell for the poor girl. Heck, whilst IF called her a kiddo, in actuality she merely called her that due to their difference in experiences and mentality, cause in all honesty she was actually rather close to IF's own age, that being 20 years old. So yeah, IF definitely had reason to call Cecil a kid, cause that's what she saw before her. "Its just... you guys seem like such a close knit group, and me, well... I feel like just..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but none of them needed her to since they figured out her worries from the get go. "Now no need for that young one." MAGES. commented, drawing Cecil's attention. "We may look it, but in all truth this is our first time fighting alongside one another like this, though myself and Mrs Martial Artist here have fought alongside a Spec Ops Agent in the past." she explained, causing the blonde girl to become stunned, though she wasn't done there. "This will e a first for all of us, I am sure, especially since we ALL have our own hidden tricks up our sleeves." MAGES. commented, sneaking glances towards her teammates whom nodded in response, knowing where she had been going with that one. "So there's no need to feel like an outsider, if anything you'll fit right in with us."
"... Alright then. pat-pat!" Cecil eventually said, before she repeatedly smacked her cheeks with her hands. Afterwards, she pumped her fist with a face filled with resolve, no longer looking anything like the nervous and unsure one beforehand. "Yup! I'll do my very best, you guys! Count on it!"
IF nodded at that, a pleased smirk on her lips when she saw the girl's determination. "Good, now then... according to this message, we have a route to our designated battlefield simulation. Looks like we'd better prepare ourselves, cause we'll be fighting for our futures here." she remarked, and boy was she not joking about that, especially if one thinks about herself as well as Cecil, if her hunches were correct. Her case on its own was self-explanatory since its been stated many times at this point, but if her hunch about Cecil was right along with her desire to make money for her destroyed village and comatose parents... yeah, they had their fair share of stakes here.
"Then, what are we just standing around here for?! Lets go already!" Tekken bellowed excitedly as she rushed off down the pre-designated route her Phone had shown her. Glancing towards those who remained, IF rolled her eyes at the martial artist's excitement whilst a lopsided smirk formed on her lips. "That girl... anyways, lets go catch up, Tekken sometimes has tunnel vision so we'll need to stop her from getting lost." she commented, getting a nod from MAGES. and Cecil before they each dashed off after their friend... as well as their possible future.
