Kirahunters B ==> A Exam

Anticipating things were about to get violent Simon shoved the pendant in his pocket to free his hands. However this was a point blank attack coming at 40 mph how could a person ever expect a mere child to evade such an attack? Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffy jk lolz. Simon could dodge attacks of that speed in his sleep. So as he prepared to dodge Simon decided not to dodge and instead headbutted the incoming fireball. Immediately before Simon coated his forehead in his phoenix flame and solidified it for extra cushioning to reduce damage. Between his badassery and this the fireball hit, exploded and did minimal damage. He was surprised by it exploding so his forehead flame cushion wasn't as useful as anticipated but it was still a pretty low level attack. The damage was quickly healed by Simon regenerating flames and as the dust settled he grinned at Chikane not a hair out of place "Sorry that might have been enough to faze me back in the day. But you are going to have to try a little harder next time around."

It was Simon's turn to attack but he felt he had show cased his phoenix flames enough so he decided to show the other side of his magic. He charged Chikane, his speed suddenly accelerated to the speed of sound and in a blur of movement he launched an uppercut of a kick at Chikane's jaw. "Falcon Heavenward!" The kick carried explosive force that could send the target flying into the air if it made contact. Knowing his foe was made of stern stuff he would jump into the air above her and try to stomp down on her face to send her plummeting to the ground. Assuming the first kick landed of course, if it didn't Simon would attempt a sparta-kick style thing to re-obtain personal space.

Simon was frustrated that his Falcon Heavenward had missed. Super sonic speeds just weren't good enough anymore. But he put that frustration into this second attack, which landed much more satisfactorily. But now he had a wave of fire soaring at him so he had to deal with that nuisance. He could just by looking at it that this spell was not something to screw around with, much. To avoid the attack Simon chose to jump up as high as he could while at the same time summoning his phoenix wings and flapping them to increase his speed of accent. These two movements combined gave Simon enough speed to completely avoid the attack, but he didn't stop there. He never stopped there. He kept  going up until  he was above the trees. He then crossed his flaming wings over his chest again the same way he did as when he fired his mega-flare but this time when he spread his wings again 6 mini-phoenix's shot out of his flames. "Sky Fire!" The six projectiles shot down at the forest and mind boggling speeds.

The flaming beasts passed harmlessly through the trees (PHOENIX LAW FTW!) but homed in on Chikane like blood hounds on an obvious scent. If Chikane let them hit she would be in for a world of explosive pain. Simon however chose to remain in the air using his phoenix wings to keep himself aloft. He had a massive advantage in aerial combat so if he could get the fight into the air he would be able to make a fool of her. Which was the plan, it had always been the plan. It was also a good plan as Chikane didn't have the luxury of being able to shoot fire through the forest canopy without starting a forest fire.

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MP: 80%

Falcon Heavenward: 1 post cooldown
Sky Fire: 6 post cooldown

Again his attack was brushed off by his foe. Simon didn't like it when his enemies walked off his attacks, didn't sit well with him. He could tell it wasn't going to get better as his sharp eyes saw he draw her sword. "Well time to make sure things don't get turned up a notch." Once more Simon crossed his wings, a motion that seemed to be his signature projectile casting thing, and when he swung them wide he invoked the name of another spell of his "Phoenix Flare!" A weaker version of his first giant fire blast shot earthward down at Chikane. Simon wasn't sure what he was hoping to achieve firing a weaker version of an attack that already proved ineffective but he had been waiting to put a few shots in Noriko for a while so just the satisfaction of trying was good enough at the moment. He would worry about the other details later.

Details like winning. Those could wait.

Simon blinked in confusion as Chikane began running away. He tried to work out in his head why she would do that. Thinking back Simon mentally face palmed, this exam wasn't a fight he was supposed to be keeping the pendant away from her, without using magic. The realization hit him like a wall, he questioned if he had already failed by using his phoenix flame. Refusing to allow his magic usage to continue a second longer he released the flames around his arms and allowed himself to drop to the ground. It was a long fall but Simon had survived worse. As he descended he intentionally landed in one of the trees and began darting off in the option direct that Noriko was running. Even if he had already failed by using magic Simon refused to let her anywhere near the pendant.

Now that he remembered his objective, that he forgot almost seconds after he heard it, he was going to stick to it. No more magic, just his abilities and skills. But really how could a boy his age remember that he wasn't supposed to be using magic when right off the bat he is hit with magic. It is like sending a kid into a candy store and told to buy something that isn't candy. It's just not right. Regardless he knew what he was doing now and he wasn't going to slip up again.

Simon noticed Chikane had changed directions and speed up. An interesting fact, Simon moved faster on foot then in the sky and in the trees he was at his absolute fastest. He was flying through the leafy forest roof like a super monkey or some other equally crazy thing unwillingly to let Noriko get an inch on him. Trying to shake his pursuit he veered a bit to the left hoping Chikane would lose track of him. He tried to do that magic aura suppressing thing but he was never that good at it. The effect as probably minimal. By now the phoenix was curious as to how long he had to keep this up, seeking an answer from the nearest possible source he inspected the pendant. After closely examining the runes on the pendant Simon reached a sudden realization: he can't read. With that shocking revelation out of the way(in truth it wasn't that shocking, he was already well aware) he put the pendant back in his pocket and carried on, they could be English letters for all he knew and he would still think they were magic runes.

Simon grimaced because in the time he wasted trying to remember he couldn't read he had slowed down. He didn't bother looking back to see where Noriko was because that would only slow him down more. So he just jumped faster through the trees returning to his full speed. Offering a silent prayer that Chikane wasn't right behind him.

Today just wasn't the day for prayers.

Chikane noticed that Simon had slowed down and continued on her route towards him, gaining on him quite quickly while he slowed for whatever reason. This allowed her to only be so far away when he eventually sped up again, probably realizing that Chikane was indeed going to be right behind him. And although he was in the trees, which would normally make it impossible for any type of legal fire mage to hit him without causing massive damage or a forest fire, Chikane had the edge of being able to switch from a blazing hot flame to a cold and freezing flame. This was especially useful for her blades ability.

Once she determined she was close enough to properly aim at him and not be short, she stopped and wound her right arm back with her blade in hand. The entire thing was engulfed in a icy blue flame, and as per usual she had to call out the name of her spell. More or less to give warning to Simon what was coming. "Hono no Bumeran! Throwing it with all of her might, Chikane managed to aim the blade near perfectly as it started to approach Simon. Maybe she would get lucky enough to hit him, but she knew this was practically her only shot.

Might as well give him the A-rank if he managed to avoid her again. He sure was a talent to have, not to mention one that would keep the proud nature of Fairy Tail alive.

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MP: 95%

Spells:
Ice cold: 3 post cooldown
Fire Flash Kick: 1 post cooldown

Weapon Spells:
Hono no Bumeran: 5 post cooldown

Simon heard Chikane yell what could only be the name of a spell. He sighed relief for a moment whew I thought I was the only person who did that but said relief was short lived. Because coming behind him was an ice coated buster sword. There were many reasonable and respectable ways to deal with this scenario. However in Simon's eyes he knew there was only one possible reaction that he would be happy with. Any sane man would have called him an idiot for trying. He spun around mid-jump as the blade neared him and he spread his arm's wide as the cold burning blade cut straight into his torso. Simon then hugged the blade tight to prevent it from flying back to Chikane. "I'm taking this!" He turned around and continued flying through the trees. When he felt the large sword stop resisting he pulled it out of himself and left his healing phoenix flames set to work on the large wound. It really hurt and was likely slowing Simon down but it was totally worth it in his eyes.

He fled laughing with both Chikane's sword and pendant in his possession. Simon held onto Hono no Uta in his right hand to keep it away from tree trunks. It was more of a hindrance then anything and slowed him down a bit. But to swipe it from Noriko was completely worth while. While jumping to another tree branch Simon felt the pain from his most recent injury suddenly intensify. He slipped off the branch he was supposed to land on and fell to the ground. He landed on his feet(not that off his game) and tried to keep running. He covered the injury with his free hand trying to slow the bleeding. As it turned out the attack was proving a bit much for his phoenix flame to casually patch up. It would prove more then a slight problem if the exam went on much longer. But even then Simon didn't regret swiping the buster sword for even a moment.

Chikane knew something bad had happened once she didn't see Hono no Uta come back to her immediately. Even if the blade didn't hit its target, it would have only spun in a circle and shot back towards her almost immediately. The only reason her blade would have not come back is if someone had managed to grab it while it was in mid flight.

And her fears were confirmed when she heard Simon yell out that he was taking something, which could only mean he had a hold of her blade. This was bad. Very bad.

"SIIIIIIIIIIIMOOOOOOOOON!" The guild master roared as she charged after him, worried for both his safety and her blade. He must have taken the blow in order to grab the blade, which meant he was probably bleeding or at the least, got hurt enough to slow down. Chikane didn't know what the frostbite effects might do to him, so she needed to get to him and her blade very quickly.

"Get back here!"

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MP: 95%

Spells:
Ice cold: 2 post cooldown

Weapon Spells:
Hono no Bumeran: 4 post cooldown

Simon had carried some heavy weapons in his time but this one took the cake. It didn't take long before Simon found himself slinging the large sword onto his back to better carry it's weight. For whatever reason it seemed a great bit heavier then even Leonard's great sword. The phoenix mage failed to understand how Noriko could swing it around so effortlessly. Simon heard Chikane yelling at him to stop and come back, he couldn't tell if she was just riled up about losing her sword or if there was really something wrong. He was going to just assume that this was a trick until he took into account the large gash covering the length of his chest that his phoenix flames were still struggling to mend to little avail. He turned around and started back peddling, relying on his peripheral vision to not crash into trees, he yelled back to Chikane "Yo! Since I am mildly concerned that this sword might explode if it gets too far away from you, I'm going to give you one chance to talk me into giving it back to you."

Considering what happened when the pendant was separated from Chikane Simon was a bit worried about what the sword would do.

Chikane sighed in relief when Simon said he would allow her to talk to him. She needed to make sure that her blade didn't break, or accidentally give him a life threatening injury. Thus, she slowed her pace and called out to him. "Simon, that blade is really important okay? And we need to take you to a doctor or somethin' so we can make sure you're not seriously hurt." There was general worry in her voice, but the flame mage knew that she would have to continue trying to convince him that she wasn't trying to trick him. "Look, that blade cannot be damaged at all okay? It's really important to me, and Ah would be in some big, big trouble if it got really badly damaged."

Of course it was never a good idea to have your ultimate weakness be something you often used in battle, but she never had a problem with it before. Plus, the blade seemed to have an incredible knack of not getting too badly damaged in any sword fight. Only problem being any pain the blade felt, she felt. She needed to make sure both it and Simon were alright, exam and consequences be damned.

Simon would have probably assumed it was a trick any other day of the week. He honestly doubted she was too terribly worried about his injury, seeing as she inflicted it not more then a minute ago. It seemed to him that she just really wanted her sword back. Simon knew a bit about treasuring an item and the crazy side effects magic weapons could have so he decided on plan "Aw what the heck," and slowed to a stop. "I'm throwing you and olive branch here. If this is some underhanded trick to swipe the pendant and make me fail the exam I will do everything in my power to get you out of Magnolia town on a one way train by tomorrow. I believe in honor and I'm hoping for your sake that you got some." He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and heaved it off his back to set it down in front of him. Before Chikane would have a chance to go for the weapon he put his foot on top of the sword and asked the most natural question in the world "Say my foot slipped and I accidentally stomped on this sword with enough force to shatter it to pieces. What would happen to you, Noriko-Kun?" The game had changed now Simon was testing her.

All sense of worry left Chikane's face and her expression became blank and emotionless. While Simon might have thought it was funny in some way, it was not like that for the Fairy Tail guild master. He was basically holding her life right there underneath his foot and asking what would happen if he broke it. Oh he would get the answer, Chikane would make sure of it. "Well first, Ah would lose all feelings in my limbs, rendering me unable to move. Then Ah would be unable to breathe, and probably lose consciousness in that time." Chikane's face grew slightly grim, knowing that the next part wasn't her favorite.

"And if Hono no Uta was broken for three days without anyone fixing it, Ah'd kick the bucket alright." It was a heavy weakness for her sword, but then again usually it was put off by the fact the blade would always be in her hands, even if it broke. "That is what happens if Hono no Uta was shattered. If it was utterly destroyed....well Ah'd not like to know what happens then." Chikane rubbed the back of her head nervously, her entire fate literally at the hands of the examinee at this moment.

When Simon heard Chikane explain the situation he felt a little bad. But at the same time he felt his actions were justified. After all if just for example both her and her sword were hanging off the edge of a volcano, normally Simon would save Chikane and not waste a moment getting her sword. But with that knowledge he knew that saving Chikane without saving her sword was useless and make an attempt to save both. Or if the sword was destroyed and Chikane failed to explain the weakness to anyone and she randomly fainted everyone would be rushing her to doctors and not giving a rat's ass about the blade which was the real issue. "Well that's an interesting weakness you got there." He picked the sword back up(with great effort and strain) and tried to hand it back to Chikane "Then in the future I don't recommend throwing it. Also while we are on the topic, say it gets broken and you drop like a corpse. We have 3 days to fix it right? Where do I need to take it in such a situation? Who can we trust to fix it." Simon himself was capable of fixing a broken sword no sweat but he didn't know the first thing about the magic on that blade. He didn't want to screw with it if he could avoid doing so.

Chikane carefully took Hono no Uta from Simon and took a quick look at both her blade and his chest. He didn't seem to be attending the injury, so as long as he didn't pass out completely on her then she wouldn't exactly worry. But his questions were needed to be answered, otherwise she might indeed be screwed later on if that situation ever occurred. "Well Simon, if that ever does occur while Hono no Uta is in my hands, then there won't be much to worry about. Mah own magical energy will flow through the blade and it will fix it. But if its not, then you'll need both a fire and an ice mage to pour some energy into Hono no Uta to copy my energy signature enough so the blade accepts it. Then just get someone to mend the broken pieces together and it should be fine." Chikane scratched the back of her head and sighed when she realized that she had forgotten about one small aspect.

"Course you could always just find mastah Akosh. But Ah have no clue where he could even be, so that's not a good option." Despite her admiration and respect for the man, it sure was irritating that he seemed to vanish into thin air after meeting with her. Of course she had a clue as to where he was going, but that was too far for even him to be able to travel back in forth in less than a month.

Just wasn't worth asking about though.

Simon tried to think back to any ice mages he knew for future reference. In Fairy Tail there was Yas and.... not anyone worth mentioning. He knew a few dark ice mages and he had heard about two mages in Blue Pegasus and in Lamia Scale who used ice magic to a significant degree. So with that all thought about Simon had an official "in case Chikane randomly faint/dies on us" plan. Despite not being a huge fan of the most resent guild master he had no intent of losing another. Seeing as they tended to get worse over time... However it was more likely true that all the guild masters of Fairy Tail were fine and it was Simon's daddy issues portraying a demonic image of them. But Simon didn't think too heavily on such things. He was an in the moment type guy. Anywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

Simon pulled out the pendant from his right jacket pocket and held it up "So are we done playing keep away with this?" He was ready to continue if need be, his healing phoenix flames had managed to stop the bleeding of his wound despite not having healed it near completely yet. But it wasn't going to get worse any time soon. Continue or finish he was fine either way.

Chikane sighed as she strapped the blade back onto her back, making a mental note to be even more careful if someone was willing to grab it out of the sky like that. "Well that depends on you hun." Chikane pointed to the wound on his chest from where her blade had struck. "Do you think you can keep going with that injury? Or should we stop and call it a day?" While most would think this was an honest question, the flame mage had thinly hid something behind her words. She was asking if he wanted to quit now, or continue on and try to prove why he was A-rank. The choice hinged on how much he wanted to be the next rank up, and closer to what Chikane knew was most likely his ultimate goal.

"Your choice darling."

"Oh in which case..." Simon jumped into the air, spun around, landed back in the trees and took of running with the pendant still in hand. "Smell yah later Noriko-Kun!" He laughed out loud as the game of keep away resumed. As long as he maintained his top god leg running speed Chikane would never catch him so he was eager to find out how she next tried to reclaim her pendant. Which Simon was not going to simply just give back.