Arc of the Pirate Queen

Kismet remained focused as she recalled her and Medeia's duties as guild members of Errings Rising, the country's leading Dark Guild that revolted against the ruling elite's rules and selfish activities. She recalled putting the captain's head through the planks and witnessing Medeia use her magic to seemingly end the lives of others with little effort. She also remembered what happened after that in the shower. She was the first woman who had ever kept up with her physically, which made her happy, but Kismet wasn't one for attachments, at least not yet. At best they could just be close friends who connect from time to time. She had to admit that she did have a quality about her that made her wonder.

She'd get out of her apartment and go to the tattoo parlor. The man was well-known for his enchanted tattoos. His rates were normally out of her price range, but she had helped his sister, who was in financial trouble, and had liberated her from a life of servitude and domestic cruelty. Kismet despised the man she was with and had no intention of helping his sister, but she was overjoyed when it did by happenstance. It made her regret not doing more than crippling the man and running him out of the city.

Kismet would enter the shop and scribble down her ideas for what she wanted. To begin, she desired that her guild tattoo be changed to a circle around her navel in a soft green color. The man possessed a tool capable of moving and changing the colors of guild tattoos, but not of removing them. At least, that's what he claimed. He was probably concealing everything his tool could do for protection. She'd get various tattoos all over her body after that. One was on the top of her chest, while others were on her shoulder. That was all she needed for the time being. Her techniques would be far stronger than before with their enchantments.

In reality, she felt it was almost like cheating, but she didn't care. Even if you relied on more than just your personal skill, power was still power. What mattered most to her was becoming a pirate queen, a red cousair.  

Her chest was adorned with a sun. It was a defense or armor magic symbol. It guarded her heart and symbolized her passion, the fire that drove her actions. Nexe he placed a dolphin perched on her shoulder. It symbolized offense or weaponry and was the first combat art she learned from Zangan. The other tattoo on her shoulder was a ribbon that was meant to represent utility. It didn't really symbolize anything and she just liked the design, just the design piqued her interest. On her neck were angel wing in honor of her experience of Medeia. In all she'd get a total of 9 tattoos on her body. It was the most the man could do, but she was now enchanted by nine spells in total.

Finally, each tattoo could be moved around the body and its size, shape, and color could be changed. This allowed her to be more discrete with her tattoo if the situation called for it, but she wasn't sure it would ever be necessary. Why would she hide the fact that she was a member of the Erring's Rising guild? She wasn't a member of the guild who had been placed as a infiltrator. Actually, she had no idea what her role was. She had applied for a couple of positions but had received no responses. Most likely because she was only present on few occasions.

She'd stand up and throw a few technical punches. Her strikes were powerful enough to produce wind currents in the room and knock a few things over. She'd reach over and give the man a gentle kiss on the cheek, thanking him for his services once she was satisfied. He could have charged a lot for the tattoo work he did, and he could have increased their power, but anything beyond the initial laywork wouldn't be free despite what she had done for his family. In fact, increasing their enchantments would cost her a lot of Jewels, something she didn't have just now. Not when she was saving for a flying ship, at least!

Using her guild tattoo as a guide, she'd teleport back to the guild hall and go wherever there was a training room or open area. She'd make herself at home in a courtyard for the time being. It was snow-covered, and there were small marble benches strewn about. A few winter plants remained, one of which was blooming with a single flower. She didn't want to ruin its beauty, so she didn't dare to pluck it.

Kismet looked up as snow fell on her body and began to practice her combat maneuvers. Swirls of snow began to form around her as she moved in graceful, supple ways. There were a few skills she couldn't master before and she was determined to do so before her next assignment.

Part of her motivation, she admitted, was to show Medeia her progress. The woman was an angel, or at least had the abilities of one. She wasn't sure what she was doing with her magic. Thinking about herself, the guild, and her future motivated her to work harder. As she spun to kick, punch, elbow, or uppercut, the snow began to swirl and form a torrent around her. Her combat arts were palpable in the air as a form of magic but also not magic. Because she didn't use mana like others, those with magical sensory had a harder time figuring her out. On the other hand, it meant that many of the world's wonders would never be available to her.

She was punching again, attempting to fuse two of her combat arts into one and creating a fused technique. It wasn't one of the ones Zangan had shown her. He'd only told her it was possible and that one day she should try to combine techniques to create a one-of-a-kind move that she could only use. Anyone who practiced the Zangan Style martial arts had this as their ultimate goal. Final Haven was Kismet's name for her attack. The goal was to create a punch that was so powerful that it could punch through any defense and leave an explosion in its wake. She desired to strike with the ferocity of Jupiter, the fabled Magical Convergent Cannon. The idea of such a punch sent her into a frenzy and pushed her even harder to keep attacking.

Kismet's training would take several hours to complete. She sat on her knees and hands panting, trying to catch her breath. This day, she had made huge strides and broken through the metaphorical ceiling. Looking up, all of the snow in the courtyard had vanished, but it was being replaced by fresh snow, which was falling on her body and cooling her down. Due to the intense heat raiding from her training, steam rose from her. Today had been a great day.

Word Count: 1187 (B Rank Exam Post)

Kismet hadn't seen Zangan in over a year. She was depressed without him around. Her mind was consumed by sadness, emptiness, and loneliness. He had been a wonderful father figure, and she had grown into an even wilder child as a result of him being gone off training other children and young adults. She was calm, collected, and obedient around him for some reason; yet yeared to show off her new unique combat art she had created.

She'd get breakfast by walking down to the guild hall. She'd place her order to a adorable little grown-up boy who considered himself to be a manly man. Most likely, one of the members' children is working here for jewels. As she sat waiting she'd think more on her past and goals for her future. She wanted to learn a new type of combat arts to supplement her own. Something that could allow her to maybe take more of a beating or heal herself. As her consciousness resurfaced, she let out a quiet groan, breaking the seemingly eerie silence. Her body ached from her previous combat training, and her head throbbed to some extent, but she was otherwise fine. Medeia's healing had healed her of any scars, and her complexion, which was already beautiful, now had a nice glow to it. As her eyes opened, she was met with the sight of the child with her food. He'd been kneeling beside her still form, patiently waiting for her to awaken and deliver what she had ordered.

She found the kid endearing, but as he stared at her, he reminded her more of a puppy. Taking the food and patting him on the back, he'd stand up straight and flex as he walked away to impress her. She thought to herself that he was 10 years too young, but she thought the sentiment was cute. Looking at her food, she had a breakfast fit for a champion. A small barrel of ale, steak, eggs, and a variety of vegetables.

After eating she'd head to town to meet with someone that promised her the power she wished for. He was attempting to equalize her with other mages by augmenting her body with a powerful solution. The man fancied himself to be a professor named Professor Ojoh. The man was in the process of developing advanced super-soldiers with superhuman strength, speed, and agility. The idea of taking someone ordinary and making them extraordinary irritated her, but taking someone extraordinary and making them even more extraordinary piqued her interest. What Kismet wouldn't know is that the Professor was keeping a lot of things hidden from her. She wasn't just going to be exposed to injected with a solution that promised genetic reinforcement. Her body would be injected with celestial cells...... For better or worse, only the strong would survive his experiments. When she arrived at his house, she was led to an underground complex. She had no idea how the man had gotten away with having such a pristine complex so close to the Erring's Rising guild hall. She'd have to report it for possible investigation, as there might be others in town now as well.

Along with her, 50 other men and women arrived, all eager to undergo the Professor's enhancements. Others were present to train those on whom the test was performed. The most powerful would be taught the Sword of Doom technique and be given small round lacrima that held a holder magic.  Kismet however had no desire to learn the sword or use holder magic. She wanted to improve her combat arts so the Professor promised her to also provide her with the knowledge of another type of martial arts called Mako Warrior. According to the Professor with that marital arts one could even raise the dead with a loud war cry. She had her doubts about it be capable of that but everything else he mentioned about it sounded similar if not complementary to her own martial arts the Zangan Way.

She and many others would be submerged in their tanks after entering a chamber filled with a solution. Needles containing celestial cells were inserted into the solution. It would be several minutes before she noticed any real effects. She was more concerned about her breathing, but whatever solution they were all in was something they could all breathe once it entered their lungs. The sensation of drowning was terrifying, and she never wanted to experience it again. Kismet observed that, while many panicked and jerked around as they became accustomed to the solution, no effort was made to release or assist anyone. This led her to believe that the test was more important than the subjects, and she was beginning to regret her decisions. Instead of taking the easy way out, she should have found a mentor and trained with them. She wasn't the most wonderful person in the world, so why should she expect others to be?

The agony. As time passed, Kismet could only think about the pain. She'd never felt pain like this before. Not even when she was punching bricks to strengthen her hands, or when Zangan had her standing over a fire while holding weights. She screamed in terror, knowing that no one would be able to hear her while she was in the solution. She was paralyzed to the point where she couldn't even punch the tank and break free. She had no choice but to sit and suffer alongside the others, or she could activate her guild tattoo and teleport back to the guild hall. She considered the teleport for a moment, but she couldn't bear the humiliation of failure.

She wasn't sure when it happened, but she passed out and awoke when everyone else spilled out onto the ground. Coughing out all the liquid in her lungs, she looked around her. Several others were coughing up liquid and attempting to stand, but the majority of them were dead on the ground, having died as a result of the cells being injected into their bodies. Seven of them were still alive, according to her count.

They were given physicals and tested with a magical device after being helped up and cleaned off. They were divided into three groups. She was put in a category all by herself. Two others were assigned to another group, and the remaining four were assigned to a third.

According to their agreement, the other six were given weapons and magical lacrima to be inscripted into whatever army the man was forming. She, on the other hand, had the best results, and the Professor was overjoyed. The cells had been completely absorbed and bonded, with no rejection. In essence, she was now part celestial, possibly angelic or other. She did feel stronger, and after some experiments, she discovered she was unique. Her attacks were more powerful, and she was able to lift more than before. What surprised her the most was that she didn't feel sore or in pain afterwards. It wasn't so much that she didn't feel pain, but rather that her mental fortitude had increased to the point she could ignore it.

Kismet would spend the next few days training with the Professor and his team. They were using each other equally at this point. He was using her as a study subject to learn how to possibly make more soldiers of her caliber in the future, and she was using him to learn the new Combat Arts and make use of her new physiology. Little did she know this would be something she would have to deal with in the future.

Her punching forward would pierce the bag they had set up for her. Despite having worked out for hours, she was hardly sweating at all. She was ecstatic about her new body, and they were keeping their end of the bargain so far training her and teaching her. She had only learned two new Combat Arts that day. The first was called Mantra, and it drew energy from the body's chakra points in order to restore Health Points. The other was called Purification, and it allowed her to heal any negative effects she was having on herself. She was going to learn Aurablast today, which would allow her to use her martial spirit to strike a foe. It was faster and more powerful than her Chi Trap, but it only targeted one person. She didn't mind because it increased the versatility of her overall combat ability.

What Kismet was having difficulty with was bringing her new physiology to the surface so that she could temporarily take over with the celestial cells in her body. The Professor referred to it as a Transcendent Take Over, and it would allow her to physically transform into a being that more closely resembled whatever celestial being was imprinted in her. Unfortunately, it was not working. She didn't know if it was possible or not, but every time she tried, it failed. She did, however, activate a power known as Unbridled Strength, which created a swirl of red energy around her and propelled her to new heights.

It was the last day of her Professor training. It had been a week since the experiment, and she was making good progress. That was the intention of the experiment. Create a soldier, train him or her with the inherent knowledge in the cells, and presto, you have an army. She was one of only a few of his subjects who had a perfect bond with the cells, and he wanted to learn everything he could about her before she left.

The rules were simple. Stand three yards apart from one of his 1st class soldiers. Each of them held a dagger in the hand, and a longer, steel sword was dug into the ground in front of them. As long as one of them is seated, you cannot kill them with the dagger. Even if they don't move, you can kill them with the sword. Going for the sword requires you to take a stand and expose yourself. Your opponent can kill you with a knife blow, which is frequently thrown. The game is only over when one of the challengers defeats the other. It's a merciless bloodsport. It's a game of wits, a game of chance, and a game of fortune.

The game, of course, was designed to put one's willpower to the test. It was simply a matter of staying awake longer than the other and waiting for them to fall asleep. Kismet heard about two soldiers who sat awake for four days. Both dehydrated, one collapsed to the ground with a thud, waking up the other. The one who was awake crept up to the sword and thrust it into the other's neck before passing out himself. In this variation of the game they could use any of their techniques to aid them. With a smile she knew what she'd have to do.

Kismet's face was now filled with surprise and dismay. When her opponent noticed the glint in her eye, he stood up to forfeit the game. He'd seen her strength in the previous week and didn't want to risk a deathmatch with her. He was one of the Professor's best, and he would have been an excellent test of her abilities. In mage terms, he was C rank, and thus had already failed the battle of wits and mental fortitude. Dissatisfied, she'd shake his hand and finish her training with the Professor.

She'd teleport to the guild hall using her guild tattoo. After a week, she had only one desire: beer, and lots of it. She didn't seem to be drinking much lately for such an alcoholic. That was about to change as she took a short break to focus on rest and relaxation. Stripping most of her clothing off, except her underwear, she'd sprawl out on the couch half naked after liberating a barrel of beer from the back. She had the physical prowess now to easily lift the barrel of beer and drink straight from the source, a feat she much rather felt great joy and satisfaction in.

Word Count: 2032 (Combat Arts Training)