Chapter 166 - Spec Ops Exam PT 5

BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH- BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-!

The sounds of chaotic battle filled the ears of the blue haired Mad Magician, occurring al around her and practically embracing her entire being, making her a true central piece of this twisted, crazy battlefield. She described it as crazy, much more than what she herself was used to, due to how many times she had comeclose to death, had her leife flash before her eyes only for some last-minute actions to save her skin, and generally having to fight with every one of her senses operating at their maximum capacity. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest whilst madlypumping her blood through her bloodstream, causing her cheeks to take on a flushed, crimson hue whilst her breathing became wild and erratic. She could hardly find any moments to catch her breath due to the chaos happening around her forcing her to remain on the move, lest she end up losing a limb or perhaps something even worse than that.

Still, it was a fact that, at this moment in time, she wasn't just fighting as a Mage or the Mad Magician, but also as a fighter on the front lines, something which she hadn't really done before not even when she helped her friend and Nico during the whole Hellverse situation. Part of her often wondered if this was what it was like for people like Tekken, IF, Nico etc, basically those who relied on physical ability, whenever they fought one another, and if this was indeed the case MAGES. could certainly respect those kinds of people. She recalled a time in her childhood where she had looked down on those who fought as warriors on the front lines, finding it to be boring, barbaric and completely ugly to the point where it repulsed her. How naieve she had been back then but, in her defence, she had only been a child at the time with no battle experience of her own. Usually she kept a fair distance between her and her opponents so she can bombard them with Magic, as that had been a surefire way stay alive and survive the trials of life, especially when she got tossed into this Dimension which LITERALLY reminded her of an infernal hell due to everything going on inside it.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BURN! SMASH THEM TO BITS-YES! YES, YES, YESSS! RIP OUT THEIR ENTRAILS, FEAST ON THEIR GUTS, HANG THEM UP TO DRY LIKE NICE LITTLE DECORATIOOOOONNNNSSSSS!"

Soon those thoughts then left MAGES. mind when Eto, in her pure bat shit crazy psycho state which she'd fallen into, uquickly behgan wrecking the entire battlefield. She did so by growing dozens of appendages, some wih eyes and mouths on them which smashed about and destroyed their surroundings without mercy, pummelling them into dust. They moved about madly, wildly and without any semblance of tact to them, retty much like savage beasts yet even so, MAGES. and her comrade IF (whom hadn't taken much longer, just a couple minutes to clear about 40 minutes worth of distance) had to jump about like wild chickens if they didn't want to get obliterated.

Though, compared to herself, IF had a slightly easier time since she could just regenerate what she lost, something which the brunette took advantage of by letting some of the appendages hit her and sever pieces of her body, of which she would then form into Replicas and have them strike down the appendages from any blind spot they could reach. Of course, Eto had wised up quickly to how they worked and often targeted their heads to disable them, but in those cases IF just spread out Tendrils and assimilated what Biomass she could.

It… honestly made her wonder just who out fo the two was the real monster, here.

"Windwalker of Gamindustri… you've become quite the terrifying woman, you know that?"

Whilst forming an ice pillar with enough thickness to rival a skyscraper in front of her, MAGES. commented that as she saw her companion land beside her, sliting to a halt whilst her left arm had split into her Tentacles. Her Tentacles helped her deflect the Projectiles which Eto had launched at her into their immediate surroundings, though thanks to the repeated barrage being launched form her Plume at them it seemed that they moved so fast that they may as well be invisible to the naked eye. All the while, the brunette glanced over to her friend's direction, her eyes glowing poison green with slitted cat pupils. "What, me? Nah, if anything you're the greater monster out of us two, causing weather phenomenon for her attacks." IF retorted sarcastically… all the while a piece of her jaw got blown off by a stray projectile. She regenerated soon after, but the brunette acted like she didn't even realize it happened, since she had gotten used to having pieces of herself gone already.

MAGES. only sweat dropped at this.

"Let us… just meet on the middle and say we are both monstrous."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. So, you got any idea who we're dealing with?"

"Sure, you too?"

"Yup."

Both then spoke in unison, glancing towards the rapidly approaching monstrosity as it made to smash their icy defence. "Eto Yoshimura, the One-Eyed Owl."

Eto Yoshimura, codename CANNIBAL. It was a no brainer what this woman was aside from being a sadistic, crazy psychopath: a One-Eyed Ghoul, just like Nico was. However, jjuding by her reputation and how she was viewed by the media whenever reports came in about her deeds, nobody DARED to treat her the same was as they did their friend. Mostly due to how extremely vicious, volatile and utterly POWERFUL she had become ever since forcing herself into the Spec Ops Program. Like, she may not have taken any Exams like the rest of them, but she had the sheer ability to prove herself worthy of being one of them, eve if that sounded completely the opposite of what the relationship between them was. In actuality, Eto herself held the cards as a Spec Ops Agent, having got an unimaginable amount of incriminating material on the Program according to what they had researched about her, which she had threatened to expose to the public unless they were to let her into their ranks. Of course, they agreed whilst discreetly hiring assassins or covertly making quests which said Abnormals were where Eto was and hid her identity so the other Agents would see her as one of them and thus, try to kill her. However, eventually they had iven up on such things since al that had done was simply made Eto more powerful, since she ended up cannibalising Agents left and right, feeding them to her inner Ghoul. Aside from this stuff, they didn't have much info on her background or what her childhood had been like, but both MAGES. and IF could tell for certain that it wasn't necessarily… normal, one could say.

Still, Eto was regardless the same Species as Nico, a One-Eyed Ghoul, a Hybrid of Ghoul and human. Well, this was until the moment Nico lost what remained of his humanity after becoming a DPU, yet still tried to remain 'human' and even reerring to himself in a way which implied he still had SOME humanity left, when it was actually the opposite. Judging by how he acted after spending time with their friends, IF and MAGES. deduced that he had stopped doing such things, embracing the monstrosity inside of him. Backi to Eto though, as a Hybrid of these two species, she held GREAT power on the battlefield.

"HEHEHEHEHEHE, HOW FUN! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN, YES-YES-YES! RING AROUND THE ROSES!"

As one of the few half-Ghoul Hybrids still around due to the persecution of them all those

years ago, Eto inherited of the Ghoulish abilities, along with the enhanced prowess due to the hybrid vigor. From what they'd seen so far, IF and MAGES. could not dispute this fact much, if at all as Eto SMASHED through the icy defence and forced them to separate from one another, as Eto launched herself towards MAGES. to strike with her projectiles, hooting and howling wth maniacal laughter. It had already been shown from the strength those projectiles possessed, but her strength levels definitely surpassed the superhuman level, what with one time how when MAGES. managed to create a Fireball as large as a multi decker bus, she simply swatted it aside without any effort, reducing a large portion of the forest (as well as a bit of the circular barrier) to dust. Another example MAGES. could think of would be when she practically headbutted a Glacier she'd made the size, weight and thickness of a Skyscraper without issue, sending it flying right back towards her position and nearly trapping her had MAGES. not been trying to perfect a fire-based technique to compensate for her inability to fly.

It had already been established in their minds, but both IF and MAGES. found that her Kagune belonged to the Ukaky Variety, due to the fact that the Plume launched projectiles at them like a machine gun. Not to mention she seemed to be EXTREMELY good at controlling the damn thing, what with how she manipulated it into different forms whilst forming eyes and mouths when necessary to try and trap them so many times up until this point. Furthermore, as if her broken skill with it wasn't creepy enough, she just HAD to refine it to where the whole damn thing acted as if it were an extension of her own freaking consciousness, meaning that it didn't take her much effort to wield it in any way she chose. This made sense, since according to IF's studies, the Kagune's potential depended on one's mind and intelligence, the smarter one was then the greater its potency would become, aside form training it physically of course. In addition, Eto had shown them how she too could create detachments from her Kagune, similar to how IF had done with her Replicas by creating weapons, traps and other such things to keep her Replicas from getting too close or blocking them with fleshy walls whenever they tried going for ranged offensives.

"A POCKET FULL OF POSIES!"

However, that would end up being NOTHING in comparison to her ultimate weapon, one which they had caught a glimpse of when Nico had used his back at Halo Mountain, albeit unlike his this one seemed to be a completed version: her Ukaku-based Kakuja. With this thing, whilst her Kagune covered all kinds of ranged battles, her Ukaku seemed to be her solution to close quarters combat. Worse still, thanks to it being a completed version of itself, Eto kept her consciousness intact unlike when Nico unleashed his incomplete Kakuja and practically became a rambling mess unable to identify anything beyond simple enemies. Additionally, like her Kagune Eto showed how she could manipulate and evolve her Kakuja further by spawning more appendages, eyes, mouths etc, things which even spoke in incoherent sentences as if mimicking what she thought and felt at that one moment. If one were to doubts its potency, well, one-time MAGES tried to trap her in a crater that was several hundred feet deep by striking a suitable spot on the ground with Lightning and Force Manipulation, then when she had fallen, MAGES. had formed ice in place of the earth, meant to pin Eto down there until the exam would be over or that they passed… only thing was, the creature just damn blasted right through it and continued raining Projectiles onto her ass.

"A TISSUE-! A TISSUE! WE ALL FALL DOWN!"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

All this, alongside superhuman a durability (she remained unfazed from being viciously impaled by IF's blades and Axammers for one), superhuman regeneration (quickly repairing her Kakuja and Kagune in seconds after the two girls rarely managed to get the drop on her and sever pieces of it) and superhuman speed (in which th girls could barely track her movements due to being so fast despite her Kakuja's large size)… yeah, Eto was NOT someone they could afford to underestimate, especially MAGES. whom Eto seemed to almost be FIXATED on killing for some reason, something which MAGES. honestly wished she didn't have to go through to the point of being freaking traumatized by it (the things Eto said she would do to her pretty much mortified her beyond belief like licking the backs of her eyeballs whilst they were still in their sockets).

Poor MAGES., she just can't catch a break here…

"Say, how are things over on Tekken's side?" IF suddenly asked after 10 minutes worth of fighting where she managed to regroup with the Mad Magician, watching a small armyof 20 Replicas close in on Eto and make some complex moves to keep her in one place. All for IF to manifest her Tendrils to spew Eto's Kakuja blades with highly destructible acid, all the while she formed her Whip to slice through some area and inject Biomass particles through their Stingers, allowing the blades to explode as well as melt where the Biomass didn't reach. Despite this, IF knew for a fact that this wouldn't keep Eto down, proof being seen a few moments later where she regrew her blades nearly instantly and tore through her Replicas like they were swiss cheese.

Hearing her question, MAGES. glanced over in the direction of the place where she had last sensed Tekken's power flaring about, something which made her narrow her eyes in concern. "I've been… sensing some odd power readings in her direction, and I'm unable to contact her for some reason, likely she is so focused on battle that she's been ignoring my attempts…" she replied, mentally groaning at how tunnel-visioned Tekken could get whenever she's in an exciting fight. It was one thing with physical fighters which still annoyed her, despite the newfound acknowledgement she had for them as a Mage, their desire to fight so much that they ignored everything else. Of course, she knew those who fought like that but didn't let it give them tunnel vision, but it still nonetheless bugged her whenever she encountered the opposite kind. "Looks like Tekken may need some backup, soon." She stated ominously, causing IF to arch a brow at her which MAGES. responded to by shaking her head. Nothing against Cecil, but MAGES. wasn't aware of the scope of her power, plus she was just a new recruit in the whole fighting situation, practically an inexperienced greenhorn. That had been the foundation for IF's response, something which wasn't exactly difficult for the Mad Magician to figure out.

"Alrightie then, still think we shouldn't be underestimating Cecil, but we'll deal. Anyways, in that case you leave this gal to me then." IF eventually stated, nodding in the approaching Eto's direction since she'd just finished taking care of the Replicas. IF's arms shifted into her Blades as she also formed her Armour, her Tendrils readying themselves for battle. MAGES. made to respond negatively to that, but a look from IF stopped those words in their tracks. "Look, I'm the only one out of us two who can keep her at bay, and If I'm not mistaken you've been feeding your Devil Arm your power to keep up its own reserves, right? Well, you've only got enough for a one-way trip, so let me cover for you." She stated, to which MAGES. wanted to retort again, but this time she stopped herself. IF wasn't wrong after all, as between them she had the better power set to dealing with Eto who had strong magic resistance, so it only made sense for her to handle her herself.

"…Very wel. Good luck." MAGES. finally spoke, showing that she had conceded to IF's request. Well, it was more of a demand, but whatever, she didn't think of it like that as MAGES. aimed her Staff down below and shot a burst of repelling force towards it. This force contained a significant amount of power, enough to launch MAGES. up into the air, in which she then proceeded to fire off a steady stream of fire from the Staff's tip after angling it so the tip pointed behind her and she rode the Staff-shaped Devil Arm like a witch's broom, using Repelling Force to keep her balance on it lest she fall down in to the wilderness below. 'You better stay alive, Gaminduastri's Windwalker, otherwise a shadow of unavoidable doom shall be cast upon us all…' the blunette thought as she remembered the absolutely MURDEROUS look Nico sported when she met him in the Hellverse. Guy was just that damn protective of his comrades, so if one of them got hurt or worse…. She feared for Gamindustri's safety.

Meanwhile.

"HAHAHAHAHA! RUNNING AWAY, ARE WE?!" Screeched Eto, who made to launch a Projectile at the retreating Mad Magician fast enough to create a sonic boom upon its launch. However, IF didn't let that happen as one of her Tendrils shot forth and latched onto it, coiling around the projectile and instantly halting its motion, pulling it back to her waiting form and crushing it. "OH? YOU WANNA BE MY DANCE PARTNER? I'LL ADMIT, I'M INTRIGUED AT WHAT YOUR INNARDS LOOK LIKE, MRS SHAPESHIFTER CHAN!" The mad Ghoul bellowed, cackling with her voice echoing across their surroundings.

"Heh, see that's where you're mistaken about something…"

"OOOOOHHHH?"

Turning to look back at Eto with a smirk under her helmet, which if it could incite death it would have killed the Ghoul a thousand times over, IF rolled her shoulders as she saw Eto coming in for a lunge, her maw open wide. However, before she could clamp down on the brunette, IF aimed her Tendrils down at the ground between them and had all 12 proceed with spewing acid by the galons. 12 streams slammed into the ground, with their corrosion property like thousands of ravenous ants digging into their prey, which resulted in the ground being turned into a 30 feet deep and wide crater in a manner of seconds, much to Eto's surprise.

It wasn't hard to imagine what happened next, as the large Ghoul quickly fell into the pit which IF had made, and before she did so she had even tried to slice away at the brunette with some extra appendages she had generated. However, IF merely swatted them aside with her blades, then shifted them into duel Bio Cannons, slamming her Tendrils into the ground beside her (6 on either side) to propel her above the crater. Eto growled under her breath, her Kakuja's Plume of grotesque appendages elongating as a sign of her being about to fire Projectiles. She then did so, firing a heavy volley of large crystalline projectiles at her opponent… wholm just spewed them with acid to melt them into nothingness before they could even touch her.

"Your words implied that you even had a chance of touching me, now that it's a one-on-one fight."

Aiming her dual Bio Cannons down at the downed Kakuja, IF's smirk became downright NASTY as she prepped her next volley, before pretty much going to town.


CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG-!

Whilst riding her Staff-shaped Devil Arm like a broomstick, something which Wabbajack did NOT seem to like if the emotions of indignation and fury being sent through their link were any indication, MAGES. expected a lot of things when she would inevitably arrive at where Tekken was currently located. She expected to see her friend brutally battling it out like that one animation video she had once seen on youtube which referred to these drawnyellow and black stick figures duking it out as if they were a set of combat gods. That had been the biggest one out of the many she had within her mind, but MAGES. also anticipated seeing her friend struggling to keep herself in the fight like a mouse trying to avoid the pitchforks of humans or claws belonging to a cat, since according to her knowledge Shana codennamed CRIMSON wasn't someone whom the blackette could take on in the Mad Magician's eyes. If anything, that girl had a LOT of untapped potential, just like herself and Tekken, something which she had foreseen upon her first meeting with the Spec Ops Agent. She found it to be so due to how her senses informed her of the COLLOSSAL capacity to store her power which Shana possessed, heck she could practically describe it as looking into an entirely new dimension. She could possibly fill up the space with several world class Demons should she attempt the Ascension Ceremony and STILL have space left to spare. Furthermore, MAGES. had intimate knowledge of Tekken's power levels, including that of the demonic form, Tekken's own version of the Devil Trigger which she had seen Neptune and Noire develop on their own adventures through observing them via her crystal ball back at her apartment. As such, the Mad Magician feared that even with the level of power Tekken had reached, she would not be able to take Shana down.

So yeah, MAGES. expected a lot of things up till this point…

But when she finaly DID arrive, what she found completely SHATTERED those expectations.

Arriving at the battleground, something she could tell due to how charred and covered with flames it had been, MAGES. hopped into a front flip whilst retaining her grip on Wabbajack's staff. She then fell towards theground, pointing her Devil Arm downwards to shoot out small thrusters of fire to slow her descent until she could safely place her heeled boots on the charcoal-coloured dirt. Once she had done that, MAGES. looked up from her landing and expected to see what she had been thinking about before… but instead, a completely DIFFERENT sight greeted her.

"Hm? How curious…"

Instead of seeing Tekken fighting the good fight albeit on the defensive side of things, MAGES. saw her comrade lying on the ground stomach first, her body covered from head to toe in injuries of varying degree of danger-inducing. However, instead of looking towards MAGES. as she proceeded to walk on over, her heeled boots tapping against the charcoal dirt, Tekken held her gaze forwards, looking to the fighting between Shana and… Cecil? MAGES. arched a brow as she saw the two viciously duking it out, with Shana resorting to pure swordplay which the blonde rookie reciprocated, wielding a sword she had not seen on her person before. 'No, wait, I'm wrong, that sword must have been the object she had been carrying all this time…' the Mad Magician thought, nodding to herself at figuring it out only a few seconds after seeing it. Not only that, but from what her senses told her thatsword had a demonic origin due to the chaotic energy signature she detected from it. Perhaps it was a Devil Arm?

That seemed to be the most plausible explanation, MAGES. realized when she thought back to the backstory Cecil had given to them back when they first met. IF hadn't been the ONLY one whom had sensed the whole 'abnormal' situation surrounding the blonde rookie, as an expert in magical matters herself it would be stupid of her if MAGES. didn't notice anything, she just never brought the subject up until now. "I see that things have progressed down an unknown path, then…" MAGES. spoke as she stood over Tekken by her side, to which the blackette blinked as she snapped out of the reverie she had been in, so she could turn her head and look up to the Mad Magician.

"O-Oh, MAGES.!" She exclaimed, her eyes showing that she only realized she was here just now, something which got followed by a sheepish look and a matching chuckle accompanied by a strained chuckle from the Martial Artist as she rubbed the back of her head. MAGES. swore she saw her body shudder in slight 'pleasure' for a moment but didn't comment on it since there were more important matters to attend to. "Y-Yeah, you could say that… geez, you seeing me in this sorry state really doesn't make me feel so good…" she remarked, shuddering a bit more whilst biting back the moan which threatened to escape her. Afterwards, she glanced back towards the fight between Cecil and Shana as it took on a whole new form, completely unlike what the fight between the Spec Ops Agent and herself had been like. It… sort of humbled her, but if she were honest, Tekken also felt both confused and frustrated at the same time seeing this, despite knowing that she had forced Shana to unleash and, by extension, exhaust about half of her total power. "But, well, things have gotten quite… out of hand, I'd say." She stated. "Thing is, apparently Cecil's not only a Devil Arm wielder just like you and me, there's more to it than that."

Now THIS got the Mage's attention. "Oh? Please elaborate."

"Well…"


Once again, Shana and Cecil clasked together, the former holding her Katana in a two-handed style akin to Kendo, which could also be said about the latter. Their blades grinded away at one another, causing sparks to fly between them as the connection points for their weapons gradually gained an orange glow about them, the sounds of metals grinding away at one another filling their surroundings. However, neither of these things remained important enough to be given much thought to within their minds, instead all they focused on was each other. Breaking off their little deadlock, Shana struck first by going for a thrust towards Cecil's left eye to try and blind her, only for that attack to turn out to be a feint for a diagonal slash towards the girl's face. However, Cecil didn't fall for it as she stepped backwards to avoid the blade, then twirled into an overhead slam which Shana raised her Katana horizontallyt to block, before twisting the connected weapons over her head. Cecil then thrusted out with the sword's hilt, slamming it into Shana's gut and then kicking her away, for the young flaming haired warrior to only take a couple steps back.

Shana quickly recovered from this and twisted a full 360 degrees, going for a reverse slash to her neck which Cecil held the bassive blade vertically in front of her, blocking the strike so she could then bend backwards and angle her blade sideways, pushing the Katana away from her before going in for a wide swing towards Shana's chest. Something which the girl dodged by jumping into the air above her and then coming down in a forward front flip, bringing her Katana down on Cecil's head. Cecil responded by twirling around till she stood by the landing girl's rear flank, using her momentum for a diagonal swing towards her back, finally landing a blow onto Shana who gasped in surprise at the strike's force, feeling it tear through her coat, flesh and bone. This didn't last long however, as Shana launched herself up into a back flip, making it so that her head was paralleling Cecil's so she could constantly slash at her, something which Cecil responded in kind to till CRIMSON landed, then the two hopped away from one another, landing with a full 20 meters distance between them. Both girls held their breaths evenly, despite the wounds which they had sustained throughout the course of their sword fight, with Cecil looking like she'd taken much more damage than what Shana had. Said Spec Ops Agent, aside from the gash on her back, had only a few minor scratches on her cheeks, neck, and arms, whereas Cecil had more 'bloody' injuries on her neck, chest, shoulders, hips, legs, arms and face, each with their own level of depth to them.

"Let me guess, you've only recently gotten that sword, so you're not exactly used to it, are you?" Shana commented with an observing glint in her eye, as she pointed her Katana with her right hand at her opponent, her eyes narrowing into a fierce glare afterwards. Their fight had been going on for a fair while now, and whilst it looked like this battle was going in her favour, Shana still didn't let that influence her by making her grow all cocky and stuff, especially with what she had seen so far. In terms of swordsmanship, Shana could safely assume she was the superior one between them, which only made sense since this person had the movements of a rookie who hadn't truly experienced what it felt like going through life or death battles every day. If they were to talk powers, Shana would also say she was the superior one of the two, although she had little clue as to how those powers of hers worked. Whenever she tried to use her SHINPAN to determine that Sword's properties, Cecil would quickly switch from using her sword's abilities to some sword fighting techniques, making it so that she didn't find out the truth behind that weapon's secrets. So, whilst Cecil appeared to be a rookie, it DID seem like she had the potential to survive on the battlefield if her rapidly growing skills with the blade were anything to go by.

On the other side of things, Cecil chose not to respond, although that pretty much said everything which Shana needed to know. The blonde girl, meanwhile, mentally frowned to herself, knowing just how crucial her situation had become. Whilst she had sensed MAGES. arriving onto the scene without IF, something which made her guess she had stayed behind to keep that other person off their backs, Cecil knew for a FACT that MAGES. didn't have the necessary power left in her to combat Shana as weakened as she had been. Most of it had left her either to fuel that weapon's own reserves when they reached an undesirable level, something she had seen a few times during this whole battle royale, or she had used it to perform some of her own Magic Spells like those barriers. Her blue eyes hardened into a gaze made from stone, refusing to let any of these thoughts slip in so that Shana wouldn't be clued into her thought process. Even so, she evenly replied to her statement without much in the way of life in her tone. "Debatable." She said, levelling her sword in a two-handed kendo stance. "And stop calling him a 'sword', his name is Berial." She replied, sensing Berial's agitation for its identity not being paid the proper respect to.

"Whatever." Shana responded simply with a roll of her eyes at Cecil's claims, ignoring the looks of intensity which she sported which likely were supported by that Demonic Weapon, if the aura surrounding it flaring like a child being furious at being mocked was any indication. Instead, Shana just held her Katana at the ready to continue fighting, and with a mental calculation quickly done alongside a quick scan of her body using SHINPAN, Shana identified that she had about 40% power remaining since she had been using the last 10% to reinforce her blows against this opponent. She didn't always use her strength in large, over the top ways all the damn time, that to her wasn't something which defined the use of power. Nor did anyone ever truly 'deserve' her respect. In her opinion, respect was earned, not given, with a few RARE exceptions (a contradictory opinion, she knew, but she stuck with it regardless). Shana, as someone who had reached this level of power through effort and training, she only respected people who did the same, for only with that kind of path can one truly say they have 'EARNED' the right to wield power. To her, that was what it truly meant to be 'strong', and anything less than that would have no acknowledgement from her whatsoever.

The moment that Shana's Katana lit up in her flames of heaven, did Cecil launch her own attack, revving Berial up to the third level and making some white Flames coat the blade. She then swung it in an overarching motion in her left hand above her head, before bringing it down and launching a large wheel of flames at Shana. Said Spec Ops Agent raised her sword up into the air, and thus remained there whilst the attack got close. By the time it got within striking range, Shana let out a loud war cry as she brought her flaming Katana down, splitting the attack in half with ease whilst leaving two white fiery trails on either side of her. However, Shana didn't let her guard down as she quickly adopted her thrusting stance, then proceeded to thrust forwards.

Good thing too, cause Cecil, whom had followed after the fiery wheel attack, had already closed the distance between them, so if Shana's strike landed, she would have gained a TREMENDOUS advantage, since the tip of the Katana had gotten close to going through the girl's left eye. Fortunately for Cecil, she had come prepared for this to happen, and as such she raised her right arm's demonic looking limb and summoned its larger spectral arm, having it grab onto the fiery Katana with its larger palm. Shana's eyes widened at the sight of this, and when she tried to pull her Katana out the hand-held fast onto it, refusing to let her go. As a result, Cecil grinned triumphantly, launchin repeated thrusts towards Shana's unprotected sides and delivering quite a few gash wounds there, before she lifted the sword and by extension its wielder, up off the ground before smashing her right down into it. She didn't let the arm release here there though, as Cecil twirled a full 360 degrees, taking the redhead with her, before with a loud war cry Cecil tossed her opponent towards one of the craters which had been made prior to this.

Flipping through the air, Shana landed on the crater with a crouch, kneeling for a split second before she got back to her feet, glaring heatedly towards Cecil as she slashed horizontally and launched a DANZAI at her, causing the blonde to roll to the side to dodge it then use the momentum to get up and break into a sprint towards her position, revving Berial to the second level and forming orange flames instead. She then twirled around and allowed the flames to be used like propulsion thrusters, making her resemble a spinning top, the same move she had used previously, as she slammed into Shana's form… or rather, she slammed into and destroyed a wall of flames which the redhead had erected. 'Tch, just a bit too late, huh…?' the blonde thought as she summoned her spectral arm and crossed it in front of her, allowing its forearm to block a fire blast aimed to incinerate her into dust. Whilst she did so, Cecil glanced downwards at the space around her, seeing some growing circular shadows scattered throughout, and when she found a strong heat source above her shoulders her eyes shot open wide as she looked upwards, seeing a shower of fireballs coming down her way. 'Shoot! Gotta think fast!' Thought that, a course of action quickly forming inside her noggin.

Revving Berial to its third level, Cecil slammed the blade into the ground beside her, and hen she did so the flames along the blade combusted, creating an eruption which forcefully propelled her through the air and out of the shower's way. Just in time too, because a mere split second after she had escaped did the shower of fireballs hit the ground, causing all kinds of differently sized explosions with heat packed in them enough to utterly DECIMATE her defences. Whilst she flew through the air, Cecil thought that she would be safe to land… only to get a REAL wake up call when Shana's form shot through the air towards her from the flames, her back having formed those flaming bird wings she had used against Tekken in her battle with her. 'Crap, I forgot about those!' Cecil thought as a sense of panic took over her mental processes, reflexively bringing up Berial to her chest in some kind of defensive move.

A move…

Which ultimately failed in the end.

Case in point, when Shana's Katana got swung towards her, its form erupted with flames, and it slammed into Berial with immense force. Because of her lack of stance as she was still in the air Cecil cried out as she got sent flying across the battleground, bouncing more than a few times whilst flickering flames covered her form, remnants of Shana's attack no doubt, until she crashed and slid to a halt. Shana didn't stop there though, as she then launched a couple HIEN attacks her way, for Cecil to quickly call upon her demonic right arm's power and form its enlarged spectral version in front of her. The whole thing managed to withstand the flames behind the attacks, though the eruptions which happened on it caused Cecil to wince to herself, scattered embers sometimes landing on her flesh and charring it horribly.

Landing on the ground, Shanna stood over Cecil's prone form, having kicked away her demonic arm which had lost its spectral form when her attacks had ended. Her Katana wreathed in flames, Shana pointed it down towards the fallen girl's neck, causing her to gasp slightly as she then spoke. "Now then, looks like you've lost. Your power has been exhausted, you don't have the opportunity to use any of those abilities of yours since, as you may have noticed…" As if to accompany her words, the flaming Katana suddenly intensified, flickering embers flying off it and onto Cecil's body. "The moment you make any suggestive moves, I'll instantly incinerate you into dust. So, tell me, do you concede?" she questioned, although with the coldness Shana spoke with and the way se gazed downwards at her opponent, it seemed as though it was more of a demand than a question. In her mind, she felt that Cecil had no other options but to surrender, since through their fight she had noticed that Cecil had been using ONLY those strange abilities, nothing else. It made her assume that she didn't HAVE any other abilities than these, something which irritated her if she were frank.

To think, that there were STILL some people who thought that having such little ability considered them deserving to be part of their ranks still existed... people like that were the kind whom Shana absolutely LOATHED the most, more than even the pathetic excuses for human beings known as the Nobility. Her hand clutched her Katana tightly, enough to sport bulging veins as fury burned within her at the revelations she had about the blonde's power level. This girl, she reminded her just TOO much of how there were so many people who just thought their agency was nothing but a joke, a sham which could be used easily to fulfil their whims. This was one of the major things which ticked Shana off and made her want to incinerate every damn faker that she saw with a blaze of her flames. Though, whilst she hadn't been allowed to do that since, even with their tense nigh hostile relationship the Nobles were a major source of funds for the Agency, Shana DID have the pleasure of 'correcting' the assumptions that getting into the Spec Ops Agency was a piece of cake, even if that earned her some ire from the Nobles since some of them got promised an easy pass into the program due to their connections. She sometimes managed to get in the way of that arrangement, and as such she, along with some other Agents who felt the same way as her, had been the reasons why the Spec Ops still had SOME level of competency left.

To her, this girl seemed just like all the others, seeing this test as merely a game and not for what it really was, so she expected the girl to surrender at this point since her options had been limited from the very beginning…

"Heck no!"

… What?

Surprise briefly flickered across Shana's face as she heard Cecil's declaration, surprise which felt great enough that she didn't even have the ability to contain it as it practically blindsided her. That surprise quickly got suppressed though as Shana proceeded to glare down at the downed girl's form, her Katana slowly eding closer to said girl's throat yet… nothing. No change occurred in the defiant girl's features, not a single one. Shana bet that the girl felt goddamn TERRIFIED right now, so what the hell was with this emotional response? "... Come again?"

"You heard me! I'm not quitting and that's final!"

"Is that so? You do know-"

"Heh, and you think that'd stop me?!" Cecil yelled, cutting Shana off before she could continue her speech, something Shana found herself a little... impressed, if majorly irritated, at. Seemed like the audacity of this girl had a LOT of correcting to be done, but before she could do anything Cecil continued. "Isn't it a Spec Ops job to keep fighting till their last breath? Its meant to be so that no matter what, Spec Ops are considered 'monsters!' who never surrender and never run away from a challenge? Aren't they supposed to be prepared to die?" Cecil shouted, once again proceeding to stun Shana as well as Tekken and MAGES. with her words, having never seen Cecil so fired up before. "Well, that may to be what YOU think an Agent might be, but to me that's EXACTLY what I think an ideal agent should be, and that's the kind I will become! In life, the loser isn't the one whose defeated, the loser's the one who can't get back up afterwards! I don't care how long it takes, after every defeat I'll always come back swinging, no matter the circumstances!"

As she heard Cecil's proclamation, Shana just stood there, looking down at Cecil with her Katana inches away from slitting her throat, completely dumbfounded by what she had said. Not to mention the fierce intensity in her gaze, one which lacked any kind of fear or defeat as it held her own, a gaze which Shana had seen more than a dozen times on... herself, something which stunned her all the more. Those eyes... those eyes filled with blazing determination, unshakable desire to do what she had proclaimed to do despite the odds stacked against her. Shana honestly couldn't believe it, that she had encountered someone else who had such eyes, it had been so long that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to stare at such eyes other than when she looked in a mirror. Thinking back to her past, Shana could barely recall a time when she saw others have that same expression, with only a few exceptions, her previous apprentice being one of them. Those eyes... those eyes which flared with a passion unblemished, a desire unshakable...

Now that she thought about it, during their fight Tekken herself also had those eyes, even as Cecil intervened before she could strike Tekken down from the skies like she had intended to.

Some sounds caused her to glance to the side, her head facing towards the direction of which MAGES. had just arrived from at which point their eyes met. Shana, upon seeing that gaze MAGES. had, realized it to be the same as what she had seen from the previous members of their group, not to mention that the last one, the brunette she remembered being called IF, she had similar eyes whenever she had fought the other Applicants. Those gazes... back when she had been viewing the monitors by Chifuyu's side, Shana had seen them back then and that had been the cause for intrigue for her, not just their impressive display of tactics and abilities. The eyes which she believed every Spec Ops Agent should have... she now realized that they were present in this group of four, their drive to succeed and fight till the end, not caring about their possible deaths, it was the genuine article. It wasn't fake like so many others whom had taken this Exam before them...

The revelation of this nearly made her burst out laughing in relief, relief that she had finally found some actual DECENT potential in these four, and with a quick SHINPAN towards the space where Eto had been located (Shana's gaze had glanced up in that direction too), she discovered that IF and her were still fighting. Seemed like it would be a stalemate which could last a while, if her opinion was to be considered. Though, in her eyes... Looking down at Cecil once again, Shana's lips remained in a tight line, eyeing Cecil for a while with her gaze of smouldering embers...

Before a smirk gradually formed over it.

"A good answer, Applicant. No, your name was Cecil I recall..." Shana stated, much to Cecil's surprise as a similarly feeling 'eh?' escaped the Applicant's lips. Slowly stepping back and withdrawing her Katana, Shana turned away from her whilst her weapon vanished in a flash of flames. Glancing back at her whilst walking away, Shana looked to Cecil and her group who just looked confused with what her angle was, something which to be frank, amused her a little inside. "In any case, congratulates you two. The exam as I decide, is now over. The Simulation will end momentarily, and when you wake, you will be given a notification." she told them, before flames concealed her form and vanished, taking her along with them and leaving the three girls alone in the burning wasteland.

"Eh?... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"


A moment or two later...

IF, Tekken, Cecil and MAGES. all opened their eyes and found themselves out of the simulation, the pods containing them having been opened up whilst they had been slumbering, recently if the steam surrounding them had been any indicator. Groans of discomfort and irritation filled the air as the squad of girls managed to stumble out of the machines, nearly falling flat on their face against the metallic floors beneath them had they not used the pods as support for them.

"Ugh... my head, shoulders... my everything hurts..." Cecil whined, holding her side in one hand as she used the other to hold onto the pod, slowly getting to her feet whilst glancing over to the others. Part of her honestly felt a bit relieved to know she wasn't the only one under some form of pain or discomfort, but another part of her felt sorry that they were. With a sympathetic gaze hidden under a layer of twisted discomfort, Cecil spoke to the rest of them. "You guys alright?"

An answer came in the form of MAGES., whom held her Wabbajack up and proceeded to use its power. As a result, the four of them became surrounded by a lime green glow which came from a light shining from the Staff Devil Arm's tip. That glow soon vanished, but before it did each of them felt their pain and discomfort vanishing out of existence. "It is... good that we managed to... succeed... hopefully." MAGES. remarked whilst leaning on the Pod, just short of sitting on it. She let her Devil Arm vanish into her Inventory before she continued addressing the rest of them. "Whilst we fought those two... I managed to reach out with some detection spells, and it looked like we were the only ones who managed to get this far into the Exam. The rest must have perished as collateral damage..."

IF nodded in agreement, not saying anything yet since Tekken, whom had copied Cecil in falling flat onto her backside, beat her to it. "Speaking of those two... they were TOUGH!" She proclaimed, breaking into a fit of coughs afterwards before heaving a heavy sigh. Even as her body had been healed of its injuries, it didn't mean her stamina and Demonic Power reserves had the same luxury. She felt like they would need some time to rest and recuperate once this was all over. "Those two definitely were the genuine article, real Spec Ops Agents..." As a Martial Artist, being in this state after fighting against such powerful opponents could not be a better activity, she felt as Tekken looked towards their resident BOW. "Say, IF, how did the fight between you and that other Agent go?"

"Eto?" IF responded, getting a nod from MAGES. whom confirmed the name for the rest of them. "Well, like I though it was pretty much a stalemate. Whilst Eto had considerable fighting prowess and greater destructive power, I myself had my broken ass regeneration helping keep me in the fight. She couldn't find a way to really kill me. As much a freaking psycho as she was, I still got the feeling she was holding back and trying her hardest NOT to try and go for lethal blows." IF explained, sighing afterwards. "Lets save the talking for later, cause right now I just want to go home and fall asleep for a week... that is, if Nep lets me." she shuddered when she recalled some of the times Neptune tried to prank Nico with fog horns to wake him up, only to either find he had already awoken or accidentally used them on her instead. It was more of the latter to her though, no matter how many times Neptune protested otherwise. She'll NOT be letting Neptune live that one down.

The other three girls nodded their heads in agreement, with MAGES. then voicing their agreement. "I concur, a session of RnR sounds like just what we need as of tis moment. Mrs Demonic Arm wielder, would you like to join us?" MAGES. offered the blonde member of their little group, electing a surprised sound from said blonde. "It seems that ou have more of a story to tell, as do we all. Therefore, shall we converse it together as a sleepover? I do believe that will be of great use to us." she suggested at the end, although judging by the gazes she received, MAGES. pretty much figured it would be happening no matter what. Good thing that she had extra sleeping bags prepared just in case something like this were to happen, sometimes she loved her own foresight.

"S-Sure, if that's alright with you."

"Excellent. Now then, what's say we head out? resting on a bed sounds much comfier anyways."

"Got it." IF responded, before taking out one of her phones and proceeding to text the members of her Party, finishing after a few seconds. "Just let the others know I'll be joining you guys, so we'll save the reunion stuff for a couple more days. That'll give us time to sort things out." she stated, getting nods of acknowledgement from the rest of them. Having a suitable reunion with the rest of the gang sounded like something they would need ALL their energy for, so if they delayed it for a few more days then things will REALLY get interesting. Not to mention that they will have time to receive their notifications (something IF had also checked on Shana's recommendation to find that she had indeed received one, one which told her, and by extension the rest of them when they checked, that they would be notified any time from now till nightfall if they passed or not) and then prepare whatever would be necessary from then onwards.

As such, the group of girls then left the room after being escorted out by one of the Spec Ops Staff... although IF had to refuse the offer to take her commemorative photo along for the ride since she didn't want to EVER think about being that close to Nobles ever again.


BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

"Hm? Hmmm..."

'Interesting, looks like you have a message.'

'HAHAHAHAHAHA, WONDER IF ITS A STEAMY PHOTO OF ONE OF THOSE BICHES, EH?'

'One of these days dude, one of these days I'm so gonna... Oh? Looks like my timing was off, it seems here that HER Exam's done and she's going to be resting with Tekken, MAGES., and this 'Cecil' person. Probably a comrade of hers...'

'Apologies, then, I had thought I'd calculated the time right, but in the end even I can be wrong,'

'No worries there, we can just use this time to explore a bit... as well as confirm a few hunches I've had regarding Lowee. I'm a bit curious as to how that Exam went down, but I can keep that sated for a few days, though it'll just make me more excited for seeing the girls again.'

'HA! PUSSY WHIPPED ALREADY? DO I HAVE TO STRAIGHTEN YOU OUT AGAIN LIKE THE LAST FEW TIMES YOU DOZED OFF?'

'No, and fuck you I was the on who wiped the floor with YOU, as I recall. Anyways, time fuckery is a hard thing to keep a track of anyways, so its only natural that something like this happens. Besides, while we explore, we can give my newfound prowess some test drives on some nearby Demon Camps.'

'YEAH, NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT, AHAHAHA! LETS SHOW THESE FUCKWADS JUST WHOSE THE TOP DOG AROUND HERE!'

'For once I can concur to this strategy, but for now I believe it would be wise to set ourselves up with some accommodation, perhaps a camping spot or something. Since you want to surprise the others, that would be the ideal solution.'

'Yeah, I'll do that. Girls, Aiden, Ivan... Hope you've been doing alright, even if its not been that long for you guys.'


That afternoon...

"AHHHHHHHH!" A loud relieved sig of bliss escaped young Cecil's lips as she found herself snuggling into her sleeping back, a look of pure bliss forming on her features as she rubbed her face against it. Herself, along with MAGES. and co, had finally arrived at the Mad Magician's apartment which she had shared with Tekken, and safe to say, they could not be any more relieved. "This feels so goooooood! Its been a while since I last slept in one of these." she said, squealing afterwards with the urge to roll around from side to side though she resisted. Since the sleeping bag was quite bigger than her, Cecil had some wiggle room so she could have done so, but in that case she would have looked more like a child with her petite frame so she didn't.

She wasn't the only one enjoying her sleeping bag though, as a certain Martial Artist did the same as her, though she didn't mind rolling from side to side in hers. "Yeah. I can definitely relate... the warmth provided by these babies is the best...!" Tekken proclaimed happily, unashamed to act as childish as she pleased. Having spent so much time training in the wilderness kind of lowered her shame meter, if one got the meaning there, so she didn't mind acting younger than she actually was. "When the heck did you get these MAGES.? I can't recall you buying them from any nearby stores...?" She then questioned, pausing in her actions whilst looking backwards at MAGES. whilst laying on her back.

Said Mad Magician sat on the side of her bed, a single person sized one whilst crossing onto her legs. Speaking of legs, the girls had each discarded a few layers of their clothing as substitutes for PJ's, with the rack filled with their individual coats, whilst opposite the door to the bedroom they resided in had a wardrobe filled with racks, racks which they had put their footwear in. As such, Tekken didn't have that much to worry about save for her corset, and she'd switched out her pants for some dark purple shorts that matched the purple lacy bra. IF had discarded her coat and boots, taking off her top to reveal a black undershirt with some matching panties. Cecil had stripped down as well to reveal a pale blue bra/panty set (although she felt a bit inferior with all of the beautiful ladies surrounding her and their substantial chest sizes, MAGES. being the mental support she needed), whilst MAGES. herself wore only her stockings, black lacy bra and panties, once remarking that she liked her stockings so she preferred to keep them on when she slept.

MAGES. did NOT appreciate the sudden yell of STOCKINGS made by Tekken at her words, earning her an irritated glare for her troubles.

"You wouldn't have known, for I had departed on this urgent quest whilst you had been rendered comatose from training especially brutally." MAGES. replied, crossing her arms and glancing at the Martial Artist with one eye closed and the other sporting a deadpan look. "I understand you like indulging on your pain fetish, but please do try to keep it in moderation." Tekken quickly blushed crimson when she heard those words, whilst Cecil gave her a rather scandalized look which only made it even worse for her. When she'd asked her how the heck she could stand something like that and Tekken frantically tried to deny it (that flustered expression she got made IF and MAGES. smirk in amusement, in all honesty), the Mad Magician then looked at the rest of them with a knowing look in her eye. "To think, we would get this far... it seems that the hands of fate have been working us to the bone for this victory..."

Her words caused IF to roll her eyes, the BOW not being the biggest fan of fate, case in point being her condition. "Heh, speak for yourself girl, I've defied fate once before, remember?" She retorted, to which she got an understanding nod from the blunette. "Anyways, now that we're all here, shall we get some rest, or shall we do some talking first? I don't care which honestly." she stated, although if someone were to ask if she was nervous or not, then she would respond with a positive. IF had a LOT of pent up tension on her shoulders, worry about whether or not she had passed the Spec Ops Exam. After all, her safety pretty much relied on her passing the exam, since joining the Spec Ops allowed her some degree of freedom from the Guild, which would let her use her powers more freely and people wouldn't be as critical about it since it was widely known that Spec Ops Agents were generally more monstrous than even Abnormals. However, she kept a tight lid on it, since she knew how each of them felt the same way, just on different levels. She bet that out of the four of them, herself and Cecil had the biggest worries about passing the Exam, MAGES. and Tekken wouldn't be as affected by it in comparison.

"Well... Honestly I think i'd like to talk about a few things..." Cecil spoke, drawing their attention as she lay on the ground stomach first, the sleeping bag's warmth being one of the things which calmed her thumping heartbeat. A second passed as she gulped down her hesitation, as no matter how much she hesitated it wasn't like she could hide it any longer. Plus, she hadn't really been in this very long, and she had already revealed her greatest trump card, so perhaps she wasn't really that good at keeping secrets. In any case, the eyes of her comrades showed her they knew what she was talking about and wanted her to continue, so she did, placing both arms in front of her and resting her chin on them. "Well... as you saw back then, my right arm... its not exactly normal. I'd honestly hesitate to call it my own arm anymore." she remarked, glancing down at her right arm. Currently it was in its human state, but when she narrowed her eyes at the limb the whole thing became covered in crackling crimson electrical energy, transforming into its more... demonic form in a single second.

"That arm... let me guess, it came from that sword you wield?"

When IF questioned that, Tekken curiously blinked in her direction, wondering what she meant. However, MAGES quickly caught on to her intentions as evident by the slight widening of her eyes in disbelief, something which increased when Cecil meekly nodded her head, the sword she called Berial appearing in a flash of fire over her back. "Yeah... you see, when I first defeated that Demon, it did something to me and I wound up with this sword, a sword which had the name Berial. I don't know how I knew it, but I just did from the first moment I laid eyes on it when I awoke. However, that wasn't all... it happened a couple days later, but one day I heard of a couple Abnormals called 'Yian Kut-Ku' had been sighted advancing towards the village where my own's surviving population resided, so I went to stop them. During the ensuing battle..." Cecil paused as she held her demonic right arm up to her eyes, flexing its claw whilst a larger, spectral orange version manifested. "This thing took over my right arm all of a sudden, and whilst I had been shocked at the time, I had to quickly focus on my fight to take them out. As such I accidentally used this things' power to defeat them, and when I did so... something from one of the Kut-Ku's got absorbed inside it. No idea what that was, but I did feel some sort of 'wave' wash over me at the time."

"I see..." MAGES. commented, humming in thought as she processed this information about Cecil's arm. The Mad Magician pondered for a while, trying to come up with an idea as to what this could have been, though she soon recalled something she had discovered during her research into her Wabbajack. "Now that we're talking about this, I remembered something I found during my research into my Wabbajack one day." She said, getting their attention as she manifested the aforementioned weapon onto her lap. The long Staff lay there, looking seemingly dormant if the thin level of Demonic Power didn't prove the opposite to be the case. "I learned of the existence of 'Devil Arms' and how they tended to chose only the most capable of wielders. If they were to chose someone unworthy, they would possess them instead, however if your story is accurate then I would say that you went through something of a mix between the two outcomes..."

Cecil, after hearing that possible theory, looked down at the demonic arm as she willed it to return to its human form. "Yeah, that seems about right, cause before I blacked out after defeating that Demon, which now that I think about it also went by the name Berial, I felt something akin to thousands of bugs trying to eat away at my right arm, and it had hurt. A LOT. I would sometimes wake up briefly from the pain, then black out again, until I finally fully regained my consciousness with my sword, Berial and likely a Devil Arm, by my side. Ever since, I took to training the limb in secret, giving it the name 'Devil Bringer' since this arm has a versatile skillset." She explained whilst putting the arm back under her chin. "From what I've seen so far, this Devil Bringer of mine summons not just a Spectral Arm, but it also helps me detect when Demons are nearby, has its own source of Demonic Power which I can use, helps store my items, equipment and gear, along with packing quite the punch when I activate it. Since I got it, it can sometimes cause enough discomfort that it drives me nuts, but other times its quite the effective fighting weapon... though I still don't know the full extent of its power." she explained.

Thanks to her finishing her story, Tekken, IF and MAGES. mauled it over in their minds, committing the name 'Devil Bringer' to memory. The name kind of fit actually, as they bet Cecil named it that way due to its ability to summon that arm to bring her enemies close to her for an up close beatdown like she'd done to Shana a few times back when they fought. Still, despite the potential death which Cecil had narrowly avoided, it seemed that she had come out of it all the better, and with more than a few perks unique to her. One could say that she had just as much monster in her as the rest of them, something which the three of them shared an equal agreement with when they each met each other's gazes. If someone like her didn't pass the exam, each of the girls would call BS on it.

"And you still aim to be like the Agent you idolise..." IF remarked, a small chuckle escaping her lips which drew Cecil's gaze to her. "Honestly, as childish as it sounds, its also nice... and kind of inspiring in a way. You managed to keep your head on straight through all this relatively well. I know many who would just freak out without getting anything done in your shoes..." she complimented, the young blonde looking down meekly with her face sporting a flushed hue. "Hahahahaha! C'mon girl, you gotta relax here, we may end up being fellow Agents in the near future." she commented, chuckling.

"... You think we'll have passed?"

Just then, a question which had been on the backs of their minds suddenly got asked by Tekken, whom had taken to looking down at the ground beside her with a nervous, conflicted expression on her face. At once, the atmosphere which had once been lively and jovial, turned downright serious in an instant. The thought that one of them may not have passed whilst the rest did, or even none of them passing, still felt like a very real threat to them, one which they had tried to distract themselves from with small talk and some questioning about one of their member's backgrounds. None of them had gotten the idea that they would be passed as a group, although judging from how they usually conducted things none of them thought that individuality didn't have a major part to play, teamwork may be decent but individual ability was what REALLY saved lives in this current twisted world.

This horrible, ugly and downright disgusting Gamindustri.

"... To be honest." After a moment of tense silence in which each of the girls had been thinking about the possibility of failure, IF suddenly broke it, shifting onto her back as she placed her hands behind her head, looking up at the ceiling above. "I'm a bit apprehensive too, probably the same as the rest of you all. But, even so..." pausing after pretty much confirming what they all felt inside to some degree, IF allowed a small smirk to form on her lips. "Its been a blast regardless, eh? Who else but us could say that they fought against some top-tier Spec Ops Agents and lived, even better managed to make one of them approve of us if only slightly?" she questioned them. Even though she said that, IF wondered a bit about Eto, as whilst Shana had been the one who'd conducted the exam as the 'special element' whom apparently also had a say for when the Exam ended, Eto seemed like she had just been... well, there, and just for the thrill of it too. Made her wonder just what kind of purpose coming into their Exam possessed for her, but then again that psycho was a bag full of cats, one could SMELL crazy off her. "I'd say that even if we fail, we still had an experience none of us could ever truly forget, cause I sure as hell won't."

Hearing those words stunned the others for a moment, even MAGES. hadn't expected such a response. But, the more that they thought about it when they managed to regain their mental faculties, the more her words began to make sense. Even more so knowing that out of the Applicants that they had been sent in with, they had been the only ones to actually make it out of there in relatively one piece. Not like the others were dead or anything, but they DID make it much further than anyone else in their group. This revelation, it caused something to click into place within them, and when it did IF's amused smirk appeared onto their faces as well, even Cecil who arguably had the most on the line. "I see the truth in this logic you have proposed for us, Gamindustri's Windwalker. Perhaps this easy going wind of yours is what will end up giving us the wings necessary to soar into the heavens above." MAGES. proclaimed, getting looks from the rest of them.

"There you go with that chuuni talk, MAGES., what you never get tired of it or anything?"

"What a foolish question, even I as the Mad Magician would not fall to something as lowly as that."

"Yeah, I can see that. Oh yeah, IF, Cecil, get this: MAGES. here once attended a convention which had been held in Lastation, and presented a potion which caused people to enter laughing fits for several hours whilst calling it the... oh yeah, that's it 'the immortal elixir of the eternal cringe'."

"... You know, I can actually see that happening."

"Hmph, it was a rush job. That Elixir had been meant to sooth backpains, but it turned out beyond what I expected, which is only natural compared to the all-knowing knowledge that I seek."

"You mean Doc P supplies?"

"You hold your tongue! Just mentioning it will cause the organisation to learn of its existence in this holy land!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Pft!"

After staring each other down with a sharp, fiery intensity burning in their eyes, each of the girls couldn't help themselves and erupted into laughter. Their laughter filled the atmosphere, turning it into a more wholehearted version of itself, something which the others quickly learned to appreciate. How long had it been since they had been capable of laughter? As of recent times, things had been so bad that they hadn't really been able to have such happy moments, everything had been all doom, gloom and depressing things. In the end they decided to appreciate this moment for all that it was worth, since none of them knew how long they would have to wait before they would have another one like this. In essence, they felt like soldiers joking about with one another before going to a long-lasting world war, this moment of peace and happiness could only last so long, so why not enjoy it whilst they could? Sure as hell seemed like a SPLENDID idea to them.

VRMM-VRMM-VRMM-VRMM!

All of a sudden, their merriness practically froze, each of them tensing up when four vibrating phones reached their ears. Shock, disbelief and tension filled the air as the girls slowly turned in the directions the four buzzing sounds came from, their phones (well, one for IF since the rest had been put with her coat) which lay beside them. None of them had dared to put them out of arms reach, due to the importance behind their use this one night, so upon looking at them and discovering that they had messages, each of the four girls held their breaths which threatened to quickly leave them like partners breaking up after a long relationship, slowly reaching out and picking up their individual devices. They then proceeded to open them, and once they did each selected the message icons on their Phones...

What they saw would forever change their lives from hereon:


TO IF

CONGRATULATIONS

Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.

Your codename will be as follows: MAMMON

Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent


TO MAGES.

CONGRATULATIONS

Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.

Your codename will be as follows: HERMAEUS MORA

Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent


TO TEKKEN

CONGRATULATIONS

Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.

Your codename will be as follows: VAJRA

Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent


TO CECIL

CONGRATULATIONS

Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.

Your codename will be as follows: INFERNAL

Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent


Silence...

Pure silence...

The whole room remained silent as the girls read the messages, messages which had confirmed to them that they had done the very thing which they had been fretting over. It was done, they had completed the Spec Ops Exam and had managed to join their ranks. The fact that they had been designated Codenames proved it to them, if the message didn't prove it enough already. At first, none of them thought this was even real, that this was some sick joke or hallucination playing tricks on them. If it was, then it was a sick, twisted joke and they would go out to punish the one responsible, and yet... no matter how many different detection methods they tried, none of them found anything of the sort. This allowed them to finally process what had just befallen them, the fact that their hard work and painstaking preparation had all but certainly won out in the end. The silence remained deafening...

… Until a loud cheer escaped their lungs together which followed with a joyous celebration into the night, the thought of sleep no longer present in their minds.


Chapter end!

WHEW, THERE! We've finally done it, boys! The Spec Ops Exam is now finished, and things have gotten settled down for the four heroines if you count Cecil amongst the group, which you should considering what she had shown throughout this exam. Cecil's a character from a side story of Monster Girl Quest, a game about monster girls who do... things to men to suck out their life force and kill them. She seemed like a decent fit, plus she was recommended by a fanfiction person called Sandshrew Master, so shoutout to him. Anyways, Cecil's backstory's kind of unlike the rest in that A: she's a Leanbox native unlike most of the party, B: She's actually the one character who came the closest to being possessed by a Devil Arm yet still passed by the skin of her teeth, and C: is one of the more 'loyal' fans Nico has. One might call her a fangirl, but honestly I wanted to showcase something positive for a change, that there were those among his small fanclub that see him as a person rather than just a sex symbol.

Furthermore, Tekken's power set has been expanded, and don't worry THAT whole can of worms will be explained in later chapters, I can assure you of that. Her power set actually is inspired by multiple things, one of which is the series she personifies, the Tekken franchise, whilst the other is from Ninja Gaiden's series. I'll let anyone who gets it right be mentioned in the next author's note, so review this chapter if you can. In any case, that power set will also imply what I have planned for Tekken's power trip in the future, whereas MAGES. herself is set down a different path. Those two represent two opposing concepts: power, and knowledge. MAGES. is codenamed after a certain Daedric Prince if you catch my drift, and Tekken's been named after her lightning abilities too, whereas IF and Cecil got named from their powers as well. Hope you all like the Codenames I chose for them. Now, next few chapters will be some reunion and slice of life based, just so I can prepare for the next arc, and probably do some character development since some characters will need it more than others.

But before I do that, I just want to let you all know that II will be posting something new that I've started working on, something which I'm sure will surprise you. Its a fanfiction about a series called Senki Zesshou Symphogear, a series which I have recently gotten into and have bee developing ideas for a fanfic about since there are so few good ones out there. Hopefully I'll be able to write about it in a way which helps other writers do the same, cause this series is majorly underrated in my eyes. What with five seasons and it being an original series, its actually done quite well, and is filled to the brim with interesting songs. Hopefully you'll like the main series as well as my fanfic. You'll know which one it'll be cause it'll be on my profile soon after this chapter is released. So, go check it out and review if possible. I like hearing some feedback from my work, as you all will know.

Hope you're all doing well, and i'll see you next chapter.

Peace Out!