Rejuvenation Trial B3-06

As Drake rushed back to the third floor, Ari and his team followed behind him. His sister took a moment to study the girls that he had chosen.

"So... you think these girls have potential to be at least B-Rank?" She asked.

"I think they have qualities of C-Rank Students as of what I've seen them do... which is admittedly not much... but I'm willing to put my paycheck on them." He said.

She slowed slightly, looking over the girls once again.

"Look, it is your choice... your team I mean... but you need to make sure that they can ABSOLUTELY make B-Rank at the least." She said.

"Yeah, I know, I think they'll do just fine. They kind of remind me of Kayne... speak of the Devil... KAYNE!" He shouted down the hall.

A young blonde haired man turned towards him, then shot his arm into the air in an excited wave.

"Yo! Greymoor, looking as bored as ever! And is that a TEAM I see behind you?! No fucking way!" The young man laughed.

Drake laughed in kind, taking his friend's outstretched hand.

"Yeah. Funnily enough... I didn't even submit an application to be a teacher... but I got orders from The Headmistress." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Speaking of teams... Where're Kai and Kayla? Shouldn't you all be together? Or more specifically, shouldn't you three be with Yui?" He asked.

"Hey... if you're going to use my name and not my title, at least use the honorific that comes after it." Came a husky laugh from the class room next to Kayne."

A raven haired woman's head poked through the doorframe, leering at Drake.

"Oh! Hey there Yui... eh... Yui-senpai." Drake laughed.

The rest of the woman followed behind her head. Clad in an all black student uniform, it was more than apparent that she was a Fifth Year.

"Hey there, Drake. It's only been a month, but I guess things have changed, eh?" She asked.

She was TALL, clearing six feet with ease, and her rather muscular body helped her strike a rather intimidating figure.

She smiled at Drake's students, who in turn gave polite bows to their senior.

"Everyone, this is Asahina Yui, up until last month, she was MY instructor." He said.

"Nice to see that ONE of my students decided to take my path... the other three just got their acceptance papers from the Firms." Yui said, accentuating her words with mock sobbing.

"Aw... cmon, Sensei! You know we all have different aspirations! Cut us some slack." Came another voice from the classroom.

Two, identical blonde girls bounced through the doorway. With their long hair and green eyes, a simple look at them was enough to confirm that they were twins. The only difference between the two were their hairstyles.

No... a second look confirmed that they were definitely triplets, and the sisters of Kayne.

"Kayla! Kai! Nice to see you two as always. So, I'm guessing you three applied to a Firm?" He asked.

"Yep! We start with Licht Hunt tomorrow." The two girls laughed in unison.

"Licht Hunt, eh? So I guess you three will be in Germany by tomorrow evening?" Drake said. "What about you, Yui?"

"I've gotten a number of requests from Chryslus... I'm not really interested in joining up with them till the end of this school year..." Yui said.

"So what are your plans for the time being?" He continued.

"I'm going to talk to Allicity about getting attached to an existing team as a secondary mentor... better than imprinting on my own mistakes through constant training." She shrugged.

"But for right now, I'm gonna watch your Rejuvation Trial, since these three already finished theirs."

"Eh, that's fine with me, I doubt the homeroom teacher will have any problem with it either. Let's get in there before I'm late." He said.

The group of nine funneled in behind Drake. The classroom was fortunately able to comfortably hold them, as only twenty or so students were currently present.

The teacher waiting at a small podium in the back of the room clapped her hands as Drake and his group entered.

"That seems to be everyone! Welcome, if only for a short time, to what will serve as your homeroom and examination site. I'm obligated to ask, by school rules, are there any students looking to duel one on one?" She asked.

One of the men in the back of the class threw his hand up.

"Yes ma'am! I want to challenge Greymoor!" He said.

A roar of ooh's and ah's rolled across the classroom, one of which belonged to Colette. Her new teammates looked to her in shock.

"What? This man is going to be our teacher, I am intrigued as to what we may be learning in the next two years, and this will be an excellent opportunity to see how strong HE is." She said.

"Sure, I'll take you on! Mister David Blythe." Drake said. "But... don't hold your breath... you aren't going to be doing much fighting... not when I have so much to teach my new students." He said.

"Heh, we'll see, almost every student in my class has been gunning for you for a while now, guess I'm the one who got lucky enough to get a shot." The red haired man said.

"Well, that okay with you, Teacher? If so, could you set a barrier up for us? I'd like to get this over and done with as soon as possible." Drake said.

"Of course. Everyone, if you'd please, clear a space for the barrier." She said.

As the students cleared the way, Drake stepped back.

"EVERYONE! GET OUT HERE, NOW! Cthulhu, you can stay, I know you aren't interested in this." He shouted.

Four large plumes of colored mist slowly formed before him.

The first, a light green mist, condensed quickly, gaining humanoid features one after another until finally, she WAS human.

A young, brown haired woman stood before him. Clad in a only a small bit of taut cloth that covered her front, and a pair of what looked like lacy panties, she was hardly dressed modestly.

She didn't seem to care much, throwing her arms around Drake and nuzzling her face against his.

"Gaia, you're the oldest Goddess that I have a Contract with, please act like it." Drake said.

Gaia pulled away, holding her hand against her chest and bowing.

"Forgive me, Drake... I was incensed by your words, and found myself vying for your attention alongside the others." She said.

He sighed looking to the other bodies forming from the mist.

From the light red mist came a white haired woman, whose clothing consisted of a plain, floor length white robe.

"Pandora. You were my first Contract, you should understand how I work. Why did you let yourself get worked up?" He asked.

"I have no excuse... I simply lacked the fortitude to prevent myself from falling for Khione's tricks." She said.

"Khione?" Drake asked.

The third, blue plume solidified, revealing another white haired woman, this one covered from the neck down in an solid blue, ornate armor.

She dropped to her knee, holding her hand against her breast in some sort of salute.

"My Lord, I was simply having a bit of fun with her, I wasn't intending to get her upset." She explained.

Drake sighed, placing his hand on top of her head.

"I'll say it again... please act like adults. I hear EVERYTHING that you do... and it can be overwhelming... that being said... Gullveig... I'll be using your power do this." He said.

The final plume of mist condensed, this one more slowly than the others. The small girl who formed through it stood at only about four feet, and was wearing an outfit made entirely of furs.

She grabbed Drake's outstretched hand, and disappeared in a plume of mist once more.

This mist seemed more focused on becoming a thing rather than a person, and quickly changed from the tiny girl into a long, heavy spear with rather sinister looking barbs.

Twirling it above his head with surprising skill, he slammed the base against the floor, hooking his arm around the shaft.

"Hey, Valeria, Xeria, stand outside for just a second. Gaia, Khione, do me a favor and step out with them, they need to be healed, but it should only take a few seconds." He said.

The girls took a few steps forward, helping the Goddesses pick them out from their other teammates.

They quickly moved outside of the room, closing the door behind them.

"Uh... I think that's it. I think you can put the barrier up now, teacher. I'll just have to take it easy until they get back in here." Drake said.

"Understood!" She said

With a snap of her fingers, a light blue cube materialized in the center of the room.

"Can you two step inside of the barrier, you know these things don't always work perfectly, so I'd appreciate it if you'd make this a little easier for me." She asked.

The inside of the cube was only a few square meters, meaning that Drake and David were quite close to one another.

With another snap, the cube expanded, quickly taking up a huge portion of the room. With only a few feet on each side of the outside of the barrier, the students were slightly cramped.

"Belatucadros!" David shouted.

A bright red light emanated from his hand, hardening over his arms as heavy, iron gauntlets. With two, long pointed claws, his armaments looked ready and willing to kill.

"Belatucadros? That's one of the Celtic Gods of War... right? Eh, doesn't change much... I'll decimate you without using a War Spirit like Khione or Pandora." Drake said.

He looked to the teacher, waiting for her signal to begin.

"Wait! I can't get S-Rank from this, right?" He asked.

"As with all students, Mr. Greymoor, unlike F through B-Rank, you will have to gain A and S-Rank individually. So, no, you will not be able to skip past A-Rank." She explained.

Drake's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Yeah... I know, a guy can hope though." He laughed. "That's it... I'm ready." He finished.

He brandished the spear with a flourish, twirling it around his head and switching his grip from the shaft to the head, the barbs digging into his skin.

"Annnnnnd, BEGIN!" The teacher said.

Drake moved at the very utterance of the word jumping forward and slamming the butt of his spear against David's chest.

The singular strike was enough to send David rag-dolling into the barrier.

David dropped to the ground with a crunching THUD.

"Man... that looked like it hurt! "Get a shot at me" eh? That's ridiculous!" Drake laughed.

The door to the classroom opened back up, with the two Russians and the Goddesses funneling back into the room.

"Hey! There you all are, you two look a lot better now, that's good. HEY! My students! Line up at the edge of the barrier, it's time for a Quiz." He said.

The girls did as commanded, standing a few inches from the barrier, awaiting their new instructors questions.

Drake was busy dodging the flurry of strikes that David was sending his way.

Dipping under and around his claws, Drake grinned with relative ease. His eyes turned to the girls.

"Good, I want each of you to answer at least one question. Question ONE: What is a Spirit Hunter?" He asked.

As they watched their teacher continue to breeze around his opponent's strikes, Colette answered.

"A Spirit Hunter is a Gifted, a human that is capable of being a vessel for a Contract." She said.

"Atta girl! Next question: What is a Contract?" He asked.

Hibiki shot up, replying first.

"A Contract is an agreement between a God or Goddess that grants the human a portion of that Deity's essence, in return for their compliance in neutralizing harmful Spirits." She said.

"Well done... now: What about me? I can hold the ENTIRETY of a God or Goddess' essence... so what am I?" He continued.

"You're an Exception, a human with a body that can handle the expansive pressure that a Deity's full presence brings." Xeria explained.

"No credit for half answers! Obviously I'm not JUST an Exception." He said.

"Then... you're an Exception of the Exceptions." Valeria added.

Drake grinned, turning to the girls once more.

"Eh... I'll give you both credit for that." He laughed.

He turned back to David, who was panting heavily, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

"Hey, you done yet? You haven't hit me once, and if you're sitting there out of breath... I don't think things are going to get better for you." Drake said.

"Stop... stop... FUCKING WITH ME! Belatucadros! EQUALIZER: FURY!" His angry bellow came.

As his breath left his lips, it condensed into a red mist, that lazily rolled down his arms to his gauntlets.

"Oh-ho! You're gonna use it? I guess you girls aren't done yet, next question: What is an Equalizer?" He asked.

When none of the girls attempted to answer, Drake looked at them in mock disappointment.

"Really? None of you? Cmon, I'll even take vague answers on this one." He said.

Colette answered again.

"An Equalizer is the full embodiment of a the bond between a Deity and their human partner in a Contract. Equalizers are unique to the human, but can have certain aspects of it that are uniform across the partners of that Deity." She explained.

"My my... well done Miss Villiger. Pretty impressive from the rest of you as well... but there is one last question..." He said.

He grasped David's wrist, catching him at the apex of his strike. Yanking him hard, he used David's momentum to spin him around. With a single push against his back, David stumbled into the barrier.

Drake flipped the spear around once more, holding it by the center of the shaft, and leveling the tip at David.

"For an Exception like myself, I'm already quite a bit more powerful than most Spirit Hunters, but... what does that mean for my Equalizers?" He asked.

Hibiki answered this time.

"That would mean... that your Equalizer would be... like the very embodiment of the Goddess Gullveig's own power." She said.

With a laugh, he nodded to David.

"She said it, not me. I'm holding back quite a bit here, so uh... try not to die. I'd hate to end up in prison with such incredibly smart students ready to be molded by my instruction. Not to mention the giant fucking paycheck." He said.

"Gullveig... Equalizer: Brilliance."

A bright golden light burst into being at the back of the spear. It crawled along the shaft, before coming to a stop at the head.

Now holding a spear of pure light, Drake took aim at David, then launched the spear.

There was no lag between his release and the impact. With the spear slamming against David's chest, he careened through the air and straight back into the barrier.

With the force of Drake's power, the barrier shattered, with David going right through it along with the spear.

With a snap, Drake called the spear back to him. David laid on the ground, unconscious and unmoving.

One of the students checked his injuries.

"Umm, he seems alright, the barrier did its job. He just fainted." She exclaimed.

"Well teacher, that's that... if you'll give me my rank, I'll head out so the rest of the class can move on." He said.

"Oh, of course. Drake Greymoor, as the administrator of this class' Rejuvenation Trial, it's my pleasure to award you with an A-Ranking... good luck with your future endeavors." She said.

Rushing back to his former teammates, he was smothered with heartfelt congratulations. When he finally separated from them, he turned to his sister.

"Looks like you have some paperwork to fill out, eh?" He laughed.

She sighed, resting her hands on her hips.

"It seems so... I have to admit, seeing you be serious, even if only for a moment, can be rather intimidating. Please use a measure of restraint when dealing with your students, alright, little brother?" She asked.

"I will... Ladies! We need to head up to the Headmistress' office, it's time to get our Designation." He said.

So, a little thing about this chapter. I had finished this chapter last night, but I had been working with both the Wifi and Cell Data turned off, and when I went to publish it, the page cut to the "safari couldn't connect to the site" page and THE ENTIRE FUCKING CHAPTER WAS LOST. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy, and nearly dropped this story entirely.

Obviously I didn't, but I definitely wasn't thrilled about having to rewrite the whole thing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Mad love to all of you who commented on this story. This, unlike Ovihile, was a spur of the moment idea, and I was worried that it wasn't very good. <3