The Mark of Mastery I

Gad

Gad was looking for the timing to cast his spell, but the group did not make it easy. However, the opportunity came when Komori came close to Bastion. “Burden of Guilt!” Gad casted, but it did not stop Komori from launching his attack at Bastion.

Luckily, other person come in and saved him. Komori should be feeling his body being pulled to the ground, and hopefully it gives others to attack.

Gad then rushed with his Bicorn, getting out of the vision once more.

Vanguard Training Hall

Amira

“It will be a hardship to avert my eyes from such beauty, but if that’s what you wish.”

Amira was speechless, literally, she couldn't say a word due to how ridiculous the situation was, she even forgot she was in an exam while at it.

"Return to your senses child."

Haita commanded as he noticed Komori approaching FAST. Of course Amira couldn't react, there's no way her current state of mind would allow her to react. So instead Haita pushed her away as he lifted his staff in the way to block Komori attack.

*crack*

Haita's staff broke on contact and Haita was sent flying.

"Most troublesome."

But he didn't seem panicked, instead of crashing on the floor or on some wall, his body became nothing but particles and returned inside Amira's body. To think the staff would break this easily. Truly we are at a disadvantage.

What was even going on?! Komori keeps jumping around striking them when they least expected. Perhaps he feels obligated to punish slackers. Did that made her a slacker?! No! I think?

Target lock. Komori.

But should she even try that? Even he jumps at him, he'll just run away. She has no good ranged attack either. She doesn't even have a good ability for support! Amira got up and looked around her to see if there was something she could do, something she could actually be useful at. As far as she could tell she was by herself. Everybody else was either on the ground or striking at Komori. If she slacks he'll definitely come for her again, to teach her her place.

She decided, if she can't do anything here, then she could help those who can... Maybe. She ran towards Cleo who was on the ground. "Are you ok?" She asked, one hand grabbing onto her pants to make sure they don't fall again and the other hand onto Cleo's shoulder to check on him. Of course, her back was turned to Komori.

Scarlet

"Equipment failure?! What-" Scarlet's rant turned into an exclamation of surprise as Cleo shoved her, falling backwards. It was only after she saw Cleo and Komori switch, and Komori's blade swinging in a wide arc that she realised what he had done.

Concentrate, Scarlet! Get your head back in the fight! Shaking her head, Scarlet picked herself up and made her way to Cleo and Amira.

"Umm, thanks, I guess. And sorry for shouting at you..." she apologised. She looked back at Komori. "We need to slow him down. I can hit him with my Sapping Shot..."

-----------------------------

Meanwhile, Neko had seen Komori going for the trio and had ran after him. Seeing the other Nekomata launching a fireball at Komori, she decided to join in, adding a Flameflick of her own.

- Vayu -

Not bad. Komori’s brow creased as he tested his leg. That would make things more difficult, even if it wasn’t a game ender. He should have known better than to think Bastion of all people would pull off something as sloppy as an area attack spell with his comrades in the way.

He’s shrewd. Maybe a little too shrewd to be using his teammates as collateral like that. But that was an issue for another time.

Cleo’s Nekomata and Scarlet’s Nekomata had fireballs hot on his heels, and Zephyr’s volley of crossbow bolts followed in its wake. Not surprising. They’d have seen Bastion’s opening, and now they wanted to take advantage of it.

Not that he’d make it so easy.

Ducking the fireball spells were easy enough, but he only had a moment to swing around and bat aside Zephyr’s bolts with his sword.

Wait. It was weak, but he felt a sudden shift around him, a pull of gravity toward the ground. Between his leg injury and this spell, aerial acrobatics were probably not in the cards.

Good. Seemed like they finally had some syngergy going.

Gad rushed in with his Bicorn from one side, and Vayu’s Zen was swooping in for another divebomb from the other. Both Nekomatas streaked inward, quick and sleek, and Zephyr followed in their wake.

Komori braced his sword. Time to buy a little breathing room.

“Brightroar!” he cried, smacking his palm against the flat of his blade. The flash of light and shockwave knocked back everyone closing in, and Komori’s eyes flitted around the room.

Time for the sudden death round.

—————————————

- Bastion -

Bastion heard his name a moment before he was swept into the air, the baselards sinking into the wood of the pillar. The sudden movement of being swung onto the Bicorn made his head swim, and he sank forward onto its neck with a groan.

“Thank you...” he murmured.

Samael seemed to be calling for a healer, but Bastion was more preoccupied looking for Komori.

There! This was it! Komori used Brightroar for crowd control as expected. This was Vayu’s opening.

He wanted to yell for Vayu to make sure he knew, but he reined himself in. He couldn’t ruin the surprise. He just had to trust Vayu to pull off the plan.

Vanguard Training Hall

- Vayu -

Vayu looked around, but didn't move in to attack.

Ferox, his Zhen demon had been knocked away by Komori. No surprise there. He gave the demon a slight pat when it returned to him and then sent it back into his gauntlet with the snap of his fingers.

He kept his eyes on Bastion.

Yes! He managed to hit Komori, even though that put Bastion in a hazardous situation. Vayu turned his attention to Komori. He couldn't afford to get distracted now.

Almost immediately a flurry of attacks was unleashed on Komori.

This was it.

As predicted Komori pulled out his blade to use his Brightroar spell to counter everything.

"Synchro Gift," he cast on himself to boost his agility and started running, heading straight for Komori.

He snapped his fingers.

"Catequil, use Power Bind!"

There was a crackling of Thunder as the demon appeared.

Komori released his spell just as Vayu was within reach. He grabbed on to Komori. The Power Bind spell would hopefully keep Komori rooted in place just long enough for Vayu to survive the Brightroar.

At the same time, the Power Bind spell also kept Vayu from being blasted back, he had no choice but to take the attack head-on.

Pain. Blinding Light.

Just endure.

His body felt like it was being ripped apart. Just as he felt the initial shockwave subside, he managed to say one word.

"Release."

The Power Bind disappeared and Vayu straightened his legs right into Komori's chest, hopefully with enough force to knock them both over.


----------------------


Vayu crashed into the ground, unable to catch his momentum, since he was still blinded from the Brightroar spell. Closing his eyes against the light had not really been effective.

For a few seconds he was just trying to not pass out. He stared up at the sky, trying to get his sight back.

Then he tried to sit up, winced and sunk back onto the ground. Yep, those ribs were broken. In addition he had several cuts and probably more bruises than he could count. There was a longer, bleeding gash in his arm. Apparently he had made contact with Komori's blade while toppling him over.

Zephyr Arc - Training Hall

He studied Komori as everyone rushed in for a final hurrah. He'd fought the instructor enough time to realize what he was about to do. He also noted Vayu rushing in at that moment, and deduced Bastion likely waited for this moment as well. Before the Brightroar came, he stabbed his spear into the ground where he stood, and expanded his Kerambit and held it out in front of him as a shield, barely withstanding the force with his weapons and buffs. He was pretty sure that did in his left hand, which he held the Kerambit in. He'd feel that later, but could ignore it well enough now. Long as it still moved.

He waited for the moment the Brightroar ended to drop the Kerambit and charge to Vayu's side, wasting no time picking him up by the scruff and slamming his spear on the ground. Thunderfoot. With the Brightroar knocking everyone back, he was sure no one else would be in the line of fire.

Cherry, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at being commanded. She did still cast her Fairy Folk's Dance, doing a little dance in the process, to heal Bastion of his light wounds before hanging back with him.

Gad

Gad was not rushing to Komori, but rather out of his vision. "Brightroar!" was shout, that was the moment, he had a feeling of relieved as he ran for the cover in time, and after experiencing its effect at that time he knew it would blind him if he had his eyes opened.

As the effect subsided, Gad was pretty sure some of his colleagues had done Komori good, but Gad was not going to leave it to the chance.

Gad quickly had Bicorn enhanced itself with speed, riding out of the cover. Then Gad jumped off from Bicorn as high as he could. "Force Bolts!" He shouted, sending three maga energy straight down to where Komori should be, hoping it would help other's spell to hit, limiting jumping maneuver of Komori.

Gad landed, pretty well considering how that movement was forceful, his eyes looked where Komori was. Tension with him still being there.

He could see Vayu and the guy who was with the pixie. 'Speaking of' thought Gad, 'I should really start to learn names....' Gad sighed.

- Komori -

What the-?

Vayu moved right into the blast radius of Brightroar! The binding spell from his demon rooted them to the spot for an instant, long enough for him to tank Komori's attack and then counter.

Komori winced as Vayu's feet planted into his chest, knocking them both back. Vayu hit the ground, but Komori twisted in the air, trying to right himself in the split second he had.

An arrow from Scarlet whizzed past. Force Bolts rained at him. He could only just dodge the arrow, taking the Force Bolts as he tried to plant his feet beneath him. Dammit! He winced as he favored his injured leg, his knee giving out. He fell back, throwing out his to try to catch himself an inch above the ground.

Till the electric shockwave swept under him. His arm gave out, and he crashed to the floor, swept a few feet away by the force.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Bastion -

Bastion watched with baited breath as Vayu went in for the attack.

What? No no no! He was supposed to go in after the shockwave subsided! That was too reckless!

Still, he managed to pull it off. Brilliant! Komori went down, thanks to his brilliant strategy and setup, and Vayu's final execution.... with a little help from some of the others. Somewhat. Even Zephyr's contribution was firing off one of his own spells. Hah!

As soon as Zephyr's Pixie had cast heal over him, he vaulted off the Bicorn that Samael had provided and raced over to Vayu.

"We did it!" he cried, grasping Vayu's hand. "We pulled my strategy off!"

"That you did."

Komori twisted off the floor and vaulted into a standing position, hands on his hips. He grinned at them, nodding.

"Congratulations. You've successfully completed your final battle as trainees. Well done."

Bastion turned to Vayu, beaming. This was it! He was finally going to be a Vanguard. His father would be pleased, and he'd have access to all the Vanguard's knowledge.

Komori headed to the back of the training hall where Ose still stood, having surveyed the battle. On the pedestal back there, Komori retrieved an ornate wooden box and turned to face them all.

"You've all shown great promise in your time as trainees," he said. "And you continued to show that promise today, as well as some inspired teamwork and synergy... some more than others."

Bastion nodded his head in agreement, his eyes darting between Komori and the box... the box holding the Mark of Mastery for each of them.

"That is the dilemma, isn't it?" Komori stroked his goatee. "If the contributions were unequal, should the reward be equal?"

His sharp eyes moved over each of them in turn, scrutinizing them. Bastion frowned. He had a point...

"What do you all think? Should you all pass?" Komori's fingers glossed over the embossed wooden cover of the box. "Or only those who contributed the most to this victory?"

[A: Only those who did the most should pass.
B: Everyone should pass.
C: My opinion doesn't matter. The rules were clear.]

Zephyr Arc - B) Everyone should pass

Seeing Komori hit the ground, Zephyr immediately crumpled to the floor. Overdrive came undone, and with it also came the wave of pain he hadn't been feeling. Several cracked ribs, swollen arms, one most likely also cracked. His legs were way worse off than he'd realized too. While he managed to not show it on his face, he really couldn't move anymore.

Cherry rushed over to him as he grinned like the idiot he was, dancing over him and healing him for all she was worth. "Congrats, Bastion, your plan worked." for the most part he left out, even he knew when to enjoy a moment.

Zephyr was healed enough to sit up by the time Komori returned with the box, fixing his hair that was dishrivelled from the fight. Komori then asked whether they should all pass, or only those that contributed most.

While Zephyr felt he'd been one of the higher level contributors, having been the one keeping Komori occupied the longest and the one to deal the final blow, he felt that line of thinking was somehow... wrong. At least, as far as Vanguard thinking went. The Master spent hours droning on about teamwork, and that seemed starkly un-team-like.

"Everyone being here helped a lot at the end of the day, so shouldn't we all pass?" At least, he'd probably have several more broken bones and torn muscles if the others weren't here.

Vanguard Training Hall

- Vayu -
[C: My opinion doesn't matter. The rules were clear.]

Vayu looked at Zephyr, when the other guy released him

"Thanks for not leaving me in the wake of that spell."

He heared steps approach. Catequil.

"You look like crap," the demon said and picked Vayu up, supporting him into a standing position. Vayu groaned when pain shot through his body. "And you could've died."

Vayu shrugged and winced. Not a good idea.

"It was worth it, if it worked. Besides," he added with a grin, "I had my Synchro Gift cast, and banked on those 10% that the spell wouldn't kill me."

Catequil shook his head. "Still crazy," he said and then nodded towards Bastion, who was running up to them, beaming excitedly.

"You're so touchy," Vayu grumbled and pulled his hands away. "But good job on finding Komori's weak spot.

Komori then posed the question whether everyone should pass independently of their actual contribution or not.

Vayu shook his head and then shrugged.

"I don't care what measuring scale you apply, as long as I pass," he said to Komori.

Their teamwork had been sloppy at best. How had Bastion phrased it...right, acceptable losses...

As long as he reached his goal, what happened to the rest, didn't quite faze him. And he wasn't about to enter into a discussion with Komori how to measure individual contributions.

Vanguard Training Hall

Amira

(C- My opinion doesn't matter. The rules were clear.)

Amira watched as Komori fell to the combined efforts of the others. She had failed... So this was teamwork? They succeeded together where she failed alone. She had tried a sneak attack because she knew that was her only chance. She doesn't have any amazing attacks nor any amazing support nor even an amazing defense. She was simply mediocre at best...

Had she been mistaken? Had she played along with them, would she had done any better? She doubted. It's not that she thought her decision was the best, but the chances they would put her in the sideline was extremely likely due to her inificiences.

But why was Komori making that question? It made no sense at all.
How do you measure "those who contributed the most"? Those who landed the hit? Those who buffed and healed the others? Or perhaps those who did something opposed to those who didn't. She didn't understand at all. She could only hope that her sneak attack had been enough to impress.

Samael - (B - Everyone should pass)

"Crazy, but it worked." Samael stated with a smile, as he quickly snapped his fingers and the bicorn he was riding on faded away, then snapped his fingers again and the other bicorn flowed back into his gauntlet as he gave an approving nod to the bicorn.

"Good job, your spells were on point." He mumbled, as he walked over to the rest of the group listening to the conversation going on. Only ones who contributed the most should pass? That doesn't seem very fair considering the instructions that had been laid out, but he only might be acting out of self-interest because he would probably be the one of the chopping block.

Whatever the case....

"We all learned something to better ourselves and improve our coordination in this exam, so I do believe we should all pass." Samael stated firmly, but he was hiding a ping a guilt lurking inside of him like he shouldn't be passing considering he did next to no damage to Komori... he was only an annoying bug to him... But, he needed to stay a vanguard so he could get stronger... it doesn't matter how he becomes one.

Scarlet

[B - Everyone should pass]

Scarlet gave a sigh of relief at the sight of Komori falling to the floor. She looked around and gave her companions a small smile.

That smile disappeared when Komori addressed the group. That didn't seem right...

"But that wasn't part of the rules at the start, was it?" Scarlet wondered aloud, a worried expression on her face. "We all entered the Mark under that assumption, so shouldn't we all be allowed to graduate?"

She hadn't really done much compared to the other students... would Komori single her out?

Gad - Choice B

Gad looked at Komori; Gad understood what Komori meant. However, it did not sit with him right. "You said it yourself before the exam, everyone has a role to play." Said Gad, "I think it's safe to say everyone played their role; some intentionally and some unintentionally."

Then Gad sighed, "And this is as you said, it's supposed to be a stepping stone. In future, we all may be stronger than this, and perhaps be more focused on the task at hand."

'However, one could never gurantee how long they would survive in the real field...' thought Gad, and looked at others who got things to say.

C: The rules were clear.

- Cleo -

Cleo chuckled as Amira leaned over him to ask if he was ok. “There’s no need to worry over me, sweet Amira. How did you fare though?”

Before she could answer, Scarlet appeared to thank him and apologize for her earlier accusations. That just wouldn’t do. “No need for apologies, Spitfire. And you’re most welcome… For defending you and for making you scream.”

Changing topics without missing a beat, Cleo continued. “I’m sorry that I had to push you ladies aside, but the alternative seemed far less optimal.”

“Of course, I had to pick the chivalrous one…” Nekomata complained as she held out a hand to help him up. When Cleo reached for it, the space around them warped, and instead it was Cleo pulling a wide-eyed Nekomata to her feet.

“Not to worry, Kitten. I’m more than capable of taking care of you.”

Her claws extended and then retracted from his wrist, leaving tiny scrapes as she released his hand.. “I seem to recall the situation differently, but perhaps we can discuss all the ways you can take care of me later, instead.”

“After the exam is over.” Cleo responded, turning towards Komori. Of course he was just in time to eat another face full of light, and when he’d blinked away the lights again, the exam did (as a matter of fact) appear to be over. Even so, Komori’s question irked him. The rules had been clear at the start, and it was unlike Komori to change them on the fly.

“Do all team members always contribute equally to the missions they take on?” Cleo responded, his face serious for the first time since they had begun. “Does that imbalance make any of the team members any less of a Vanguard?”

Alignment Check:

Spoiler:

Who should pass? Bastion frowned, his eyes drifting to the others. Truthfully, a part of him felt it would be fair if only some of them passed. Some of them hadn't provided much, if anything, to the fight compared to what he had.

Still... "The rules stated that a trainee would only fail if rendered unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. It would be unfair to do anything else."

Komori nodded, stroking his goatee as he weighed out their opinions.

"Besides," Bastion added, reflecting on some words his father had told him. "Being a Vanguard is about duty, not personal glory. It doesn't matter who did what. Accomplishing our task is what matters." Although he certainly wouldn't begrudge some credit.

"Well said," Komori replied, surveying them all, "all of you. No contribution is inconsequential, big or small, and no one person is more important than the group as a whole. What none of you could have done on your own you accomplished by working together, each and every one of you. Two in harmony surpass one in perfection. Let that be a lesson to you... my final lesson to you."

Spoiler:

He opened the box in his hands, revealing the badges within.

"The Mark of Mastery," he said as they all looked on in breathless anticipation. "The sign of a Vanguard. Step forward and claim your place among us."

One by one they approached and retrieved their Marks, fixing them onto their clothes. Bastion added his to the right shoulder of his jacket and examined it proudly.

"Congratulations." Komori grinned. "I'm proud of you all. Go forward, serve with duty and honor, preserve the peace and protect the innocent, and be a shining light in the darkness of this world - Vanguards of Chaldea!"

"YES, SIR!" they answered in unison.

Komori beamed. "Now then, I suggest we celebrate properly! Drinks at the Devil's Cocktail for everyone!"

A cheer went up from the group, who followed after Komori from the Hall. Their greatest challenge as trainees was over, but their challenges as Vanguards were just beginning. Even so, the trials of the future could wait, even for just one more day.

[The story continues...]

Spoiler: