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Rolent

Chapter 2: A Bracer's Test

A.N.: Job A: Kat and Gin

Job B: Jay and Tsui

From this point onward the primary bonding scenes will be between Jay and Tsui. Yes the main four do have bonding time and will have Combination Crafts (I'm basing this around Zero no Kiseki more or less) But Jay and Tsui will be stuck with each other now. It's what you've decided and what it shall be. I may go around and add Kat/Gin moments later down the line.

Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned are owned by Nihon Falcom. All OCs and the plot belong to me and my friends.

After the two pairs split up they rode in separate elevators. Jay and Tsui riding down to the lower levels while Kat and Gin would investigate the upper levels. The higher levels of the remodeled to represent the Geo-Front in Crossbell, whilst the lower levels represented the mines that were common to the Rolent region. After parting with the two from Group A, Jay and Tsui made their way to the lower levels of the Rolent Sewers. It was remodeled very differently from it's state 25 years ago. For safety reasons, the sewers were sealed off with a large mechanical door. Monsters made their dwellings beneath the city, but it was well maintained with the help of the Bracer Guild. Before departing, the groups were given the following: a bag of supplies (particularly for injuries and stamina), a battle Orbment each primed to fit their strongest aspects (for example, Jay would have a 2-lined Orbment set up while Tsui would have a 4-lined. More lines means less magic, relying heavily on physical strength), and a Master Quartz to load into the Orbment. These Orbments were handed out to all Bracers' who didn't have high enough aptitude for the ARCUS. These were known as ENIGMA II units. Unfortunately, none of them had the affinity for combat linking. The people most common to have high affinity for linking are those with interest in the military.

After entering the sewers, Tsui looked on in amazement and nodded to herself. "The structure of the renovations is truly exceptional. It must've taken some odd years to complete."

"Yeah. I heard that the Zeiss Central Factory had a partnership with the Epstein Foundation and Reinford Company to make this a reality. I think there were other projects they did together well before this too..." Jay pointed out.

"Really? It's incredible to think what creative minds can accomplish." Tsui said with a bit of amazement apparent in her voice. "Anyway, we should focus on the task at hand. That's first and foremost."

"Yeah. What was our job again...?" Jay asked, slightly embarrassed that he forgot.

"We're in search of a suspicious individual. Keep your wits about you, they could be dangerous."

"R-right." Jay nodded. The duo went ahead, deeper into the sewers. For a sewer system, it was surprisingly well kept and clean. The water traveled through large clear pipes overhead, guiding them to the purifier in the upper levels to be reused. While the waste was deposited into a restricted area elsewhere. Aside from those features, it resembled a mine in every which way, even being illuminated by Orbal Lamps rather than overhead lights like in the upper levels.

"This place does make for ideal training grounds." Tsui said as they explored deeper.

"Yeah..." Jay agreed, slightly confused by her comment. 'What is this girl thinking sometimes?' He asked himself. Jay then noticed a tough looking monster ahead. "Hey, there's a monster up there."

"Indeed." Tsui acknowledged. "I recommend a tactical approach if we are to engage it. Would a preemptive strike suit your liking?"

"Sounds good to me." Jay said. "We'll just engage it when it's not looking and get the jump on it." So carefully, Jay and Tsui crept up on the large monster. It resembled a large alligator because of its U-shaped snout. It was much larger than your average alligator and definitely scarier. There was bound to be a request to fend this monster off eventually, so they decided to kill it now.

"Fall!" Tsui cried as she took her Two-handed Rune sword and swung it downward. The blade had started to glow a pale blue light as it made it's descent downward. It made direct contact with the monster's back but it barely left a dent. Before the monster had a chance to counterstrike, Tsui leaped out of the way and rolled to the side. "That's a very dense layer of scales..." She said.

"Let me try something." Jay stated. He took his ENIGMA in one hand and concentrated. Beneath his feet a blue magic circle formed as he resonated with the device. "ENIGMA activate. Needle Shoot!" He outstretched his hand and the magical energy was released. Small shards of stone began to form together to shape a larger and sharper mass. It launched itself at a high velocity towards the monster, however it simply swatted it's long tail and broke the projectile. "That didn't work..."

"Jay!" Tsui cried out in warning to her comrade. However, it was too late as Jay was knocked back by the flailing tail and hit the ground like a rag doll. The air escaped his lungs for a brief moment upon impact and he had difficulty recovering. Tsui quickly retaliated for Jay by using her sword similar to more of a paddle and swatted the beast in the face, knocking a tooth out in the process. The monster was dazed for a moment but Tsui didn't relent as she swung her blade downward with both hands. It barely dented the scales again but it seemed more effective than last time. "Jay!" She then called out, checking her friend.

"Ugh..." He groaned. "I'll be okay..." He got himself back up for a moment and shook his head. "I think I'll be okay."

"Let's retreat for now. Discretion is the better part of valor." Tsui advised.

"That... seems smart right now..." He said as Tsui helped Jay escape from the monster's line of vision and escape deeper into the Sewers. Once they were safe enough the two sat back against a wall and panted. Jay let out a breath of relief. "Thanks for saving me like that..." He said.

"Hah... hah... Anytime." Tsui rasped. "That monster didn't want to go down easy..."

"I feel like... it was my fault we almost got maimed." Jay admitted. Tsui looked to her male companion and couldn't help but crack a smile before bursting into full on laughter. Jay was taken aback at her outburst and became flustered. "W-what did I say that was so funny?" He asked, crossing his arms and blushing.

Tsui sighed mid chuckle and stood up. "Hold your head high, Jay. You don't need to feel guilty about something out of your control. Besides, I was just as reckless."

Jay realized what she meant when she said that. He let loose a sigh and stood up. "Y'know it's weird how you motivate people..." Jay said. "You just bring it all into perspective. We have a job to do, so let's get going!"

"Understood!" Tsui nodded. 'You're something else too Jay...'

After the bitter defeat the two worked through the almost puzzle like sewer system of the lower levels until they reached a locked door. It was large much like the entrance door but it was glowing an alarming red. "Huh? Why's it locked?" Jay asked.

"Probably to keep out unauthorized personnel... or maybe..." Tsui trailed off.

"Do you have an idea?" Jay asked.

"Let's try finding a way to unlock the door first." She replied, taking off in the other direction with Jay. They found a small access room not too far off, but of course it was another puzzle. "Intriguing. It's almost as if the layout of this area is meant to be disorienting..."

"I mean, I can see why it'd be. We are training after all." The boy explained. "Hey, is that...?" The two stood in front of a computer with a large button on it. "Does this unlock the gate?"

"One way to know for certain." Tsui precariously pressed the button. The button went from an alarming red to a relaxing blue and a ker-chunk resonated within the corridors. "...I believe that did it." After working their way back out of the access room, they found that the locked door had switched to unlocked by having a different color. "All right. We should be almost done if my theory is correct."

"Yeah..." Jay nodded. He looked to Tsui and debated speaking up or not.

"...Basically, I think beyond this door is a final trial for our Exam. In case you're curious."

'H-how does she do that...!?' Jay thought, shocked by her clairvoyance.

"It's written all over your face." The girl in the hat stated once more without anything being said. It was just something she was naturally good at. Her deductive reasoning skills were on par with several senior bracers. "Shall we?"

"S-sure..." Jay said, scratching the back of his head. The two opened the door and were greeted to a long staircase. After climbing up to the wide platform that rested between a door on a higher platform and the door they just entered from they noticed a rather large box. "Huh?" Jay asked.

"What is this?" Tsui asked curiously.

"There it is!" A familiar voice called out. Kat came running down in a hurry and noticed Jay and Tsui had made it there before them. "Wait, what?"

Gin came down the stairs in a relaxed fashion, hands in his hooded shirt's pockets. "I thought you two were looking for that creepy person? Guess you found em?"

"Not even close..." The two groups exchanged information and experience.

"Whoa, it's not like you to drop the ball like that." Gin commented. The two looked down in shame felt bleak at their reminder of how they screwed up.

"Don't feel too bad!" Kat chimed in. "Gin and I were struggling without using our Arts. I don't even wanna think what could've happened if we didn't have these ENIGMA II units..."

"Kat, I thought we said we weren't gonna talk about it..." Gin grumbled through his grinding teeth.

"Talk about what, I wonder..." Jay teased.

"N-nothing!" Gin gasped. "Just let us open the box already and we'll help you look for that creepy person, got it!?" He more or less demanded from the two rather than suggested. Jay and Tsui gave a cheeky smile and nodded. Gin stood in front of the box, pausing for a moment.

"...Gin?" Jay asked, concerned for his friend. He suddenly picked up on a strange wind from somewhere but wasn't sure if it was his imagination.

"Relax, I got it..." He said, trying to maintain his cool. He opened the box and found... another box. "Seriously!?"

"This must be a package of sorts to deliver to our client. In this case, it being Ms. Schera." Tsui deduced. "So I recommend NOT sneaking a peek." She stated sternly to Gin, who was close to opening the box.

"Aw man..." He sighed. The others only gave an exasperated look.

Kat shook it off and clasped her hands together. "Alright, with that out of the way nothing should stop us from finding that target. So let's get-"

"-Wait!" Jay cried out as he whipped out his Bo Staff. "Everyone, something's coming!" Sure enough he was right. The four teenagers were surrounded by gelatinous green globs with a strange swirl as an eye. The globby monsters has surrounded them and their must've been about 8 or 9. "Ugh..." Jay groaned in disgust.

"We stayed here too long." Tsui stated.

"Looks like we've found ourselves to be caught up in a 'sticky' situation!" Gin quipped as he readied his weapon, which was a long whip.

"Nobody has time for your stupid jokes..." Kat sighed as she drew forth her golden scythe. Tsui readied her Rune Blade and everyone stood back to back.

"Focus everyone. Or else we all end up monster food." Tsui stated calmly. Everyone stood around tensely, but not one wavered for even a moment. Standing together made them feel more confident somehow. The globs began worming their way closer as everyone had a defensive stance. It seemed they were also locked into a stalemate. Jay was quickly fed up at the lack of development.

"Let's go everybody!" Jay shouted in encouragement. This seemed to jump kick everybody's attention into high gear and they charged forward into battle. Jay tried whacking at one of the gelatinous foes and it seemed their bodies were pretty fluid but held together. It simply bounced off the attack like it was nothing. Jay grimaced as the gooey body wiggled and he felt it through his staff. "That's just gross..." He groaned.

Tsui let out a battle cry as her ENIGMA began to glow a red light. Her Master Quartz was resonating with her blade, giving it a dull red glow to it. "Break!" She cried as she swung the glowing blade horizontally against two monsters. Their bodies were ripped apart, but thanks to their malleable nature they were able to reassemble with ease. Tsui simply smirked at the added challenge.

These monsters are special as they can use the sepith in their bodies to cast arts. One was trying to channel up Arts, but Gin was faster to react. While he may have been lax about a bunch of other things, Gin seemed very quick to react when it came to casting Arts. "Chew on this! Sparkle!" He cried. A green bolt of lightning shot straight down on one of the monsters. It's body couldn't handle the sudden jolt and it burst in a mere flash. "It looks like Arts are the way to go, guys!" Gin alerted his teammates.

"Alright, let me try." Kat said. "Thanks to that Quartz we found this should be easier... ENIGMA activate!" She raised her scythe, almost like a magic staff and called for the power of her Orbment. "Soul Blur!" Small pale discs formed and sliced another monster in an instant.

"Let me try..." Jay said. "ENIGMA activate...! Needle Shoot!" Once more, a sharp projectile made of stone fired and pierced the monsters. This time actually killing it.

"I may not be proficient with arts, but I refuse to go down!" Tsui cried. Rather than casting an Art, she charged forward once more with her blade. This time a blue light enveloped the sword as she dashed in front of three more monsters. "My Blade is ready!" She shouted as she held her Rune Sword in both hands. She made swift hacks and slashes at the monsters, each time leaving behind a blue slash. Once she was ready for her final slash she held the sword high above her head and let out a fierce battle cry. The sword became even more vibrant as she did so. "Fall! Raging Blade!" Tsui swung her sword downward and the impact engulfed the monsters in a blue light, slicing them up.

"Well, if we're not holding back..." Gin smirked as he cracked his whip. "Ain't you fellas naughty~." He cooed rather playfully, but yet there was a tone of sadistic malice dripping from his words. He gave an unusual grin as he sauntered seductively towards his target, the final two monsters. He smacked them with his whip once and laughed. "Oh please. I'm hardly trying, so don't cry yet 'kay?" With astounding speed for someone of his caliber he began to slash his whip across the monsters repeatedly and on the final strike he used his ENIGMA to wrap his whip in a gust of wind and when it hit, the wind ruptured into a tornado. "Sadist's Whip: Hurricane!" He exclaimed as he did so. Gin breathed a sigh of relief as the threat had past. He then revealed a bit of a grin. "Aww, done already?"

"Crisis averted." Kat sighed. Jay and Kat looked to their two friends in amazement.

"I didn't know you guys could do that." Jay stated. "Tsui, I imagine you've been practicing that technique for a while?"

"Correct." She replied. "Though, I would've liked to use it when I perfected it. But I suppose it saved us in the end."

"About me, that was a more on the fly kinda thing." Gin stated coolly while scratching the back of his head. "I just did it without thinking..."

"As usual..." Jay quipped with an un-amused look on his face. The young Bracer-in-training put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"I think I'm gonna trademark that attack! Seriously!" Gin exclaimed with glee. "That might be a cool nickname for when I reach A-rank status..."

"If you ever become a Senior Bracer." Tsui said. "You still have to go beyond Junior Rank."

Gin grimaced and grumbled. "I know I know..."

"Now, with one less thing to worry about I say we finish what we came here to do-" Kat was saying before Jay noticed something else was amiss.

"-Damn...! Get back everyone!" Everyone let out a gasp in shock and leaped out of the way as a giant version of the monsters they had just slain dropped from a higher floor. "I didn't even realize monsters of this caliber lurked down here!" Jay cried.

"It's enormous!" Kat gaped in horror and awe.

"Ngh...! That's what she said..." Gin stated, trying to get a bit of a laugh out in their bleak situation. No one laughed and they just disregarded his immature comment.

"There's no way we're able to defeat a monster of this size as we are now..." Tsui added.

Jay had decided to make a split second decision. "You guys run past it! I can at least buy you the time necessary to get out of here!"

"Wait, what!?" Tsui gasped. "Jay, you mustn't think so recklessly!"

"If we don't do something we'll die!"

"Y-yeah, but..." Kat stammered as the monster began to charge an art. "Uh-oh..."

"This isn't gonna end well, is it?" Gin asked, concern evident in his tone.

"Guys, just leave me-"

"-That won't be necessary." A cool voice cut in. Before anyone had time to react or say anything a woman with two long pigtails and black hair swooped in and used a long curved blade to hack through the monster. She emerged on the other side unscathed and closed her blade back into its sheath. "Autumn Leaf Cutter..." She muttered as the slashes finally showed impact and the monster fell apart. She wore a short sleeved coat with a popped collar and a battle dress underneath said coat. Her black combat boots were heeled and she had black knee socks. Her expression was a rather serious one and her light blue eyes gave her an intense aura.

"Who's she...?" Jay muttered, confused at the situation.

"I have no idea." Tsui replied, rather perplexed by the situation. "But she did save us, so I imagine she must be a Bracer too..."

"Whoever she is, she's pretty hot." Gin explicitly stated.

"G-Gin!" Kat said rather worried. "You shouldn't just say those things...!"

"Finding you kids was rather challenging, but I'm relieved I was able to." The woman said. "We were originally supposed to face one another as part of your Exam, but I suppose seeing you handle yourselves against those monsters serves as an excellent substitute."

"Wait, then you're-"

"-Part of your practice requests." She explained. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Chidori Yukimura, a Bracer such as yourselves. I'm relieved none of you are injured."

"...We're in your debt." Tsui said, once her initial surprise passed.

From the distance, someone had been watching with intrigue and distaste at the same time. "Damn, I hate getting these missions..." They said. "Especially when someone worth my time shows up." The person eyed up Chidori like an animal. "She's the one who trained under the Divine Blade. I wonder how she actually holds up in a fight..." The person chuckled to themselves with excitement. "Easy now..." They told themselves. "The kids are still alive, so I guess this was a wasted attempt. Oh well, they at least put on a bit of a good show." With that, the person simply left, like they were never there in the first place.

A.N.: And that wraps up this long awaited chapter! I'm so very sorry it took this long to write something so short! I was having a bit of writer's block for a while but after actually playing through Sen 2 and SC I'm back better than ever! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and what is to come. With that said, have a nice day!