Mid Term Assessment

[Zao]

Concealed deep within the center of the academy ground inside the twisting, almost maze-like, hallways that made up the large institution was the aptitude testing ground. All the student when they first arrive to the school go through this testing, at least the first half of it, in order to judge their natural skills and abilities to ensure that this mixed together with their personality testing help to place them in the proper house to facilitate their growth as warriors that someday may help support and defend the Crescent Coalition. On their first crack at this obstacle course the entry level students are only required to traverse the first half of the course but today the fifth-year students were coming up on their mid-year exams and as part of those written exams were also a series of practical evaluations.

The obstacle course inside the massive gymnasium was just one of those practical tests, at this moment the first fifth-year class was being led down from the other side of the school grounds where their normal classes were given down to where a slender youth with shaggy white hair stood. His blue irises seemed to encompass the entire iris and pupil put together, giving them a look as deep as an ocean as Ziv glanced over the first series of obstacles as the second-year student awaited the arrival of the students. As a second year they only took classes with about a quarter of their time, half was spent either working under another professor or as a teacher's assistant, depending on the skill set of the student, while the remaining time was filled with missions from either the academy or the Coalition.

A simple looking clip board could be seen in the jade like hands of the young man, on it was a list of names with four different grading criteria to judge each of the students on as they attempted to maneuver through the large obstacles. Then to the far right was their scores from the initial attempt at the beginning of the school year, which would allow the proctor like himself to accurately assess the student's growth and in which areas to better focus on teaching the students at the individual level as they progressed to being a fourth year, giving they passed their other testing requirements. "This names seems familiar...?"

[Ruudwig]

Susen was approaching today's evaluation with a sense of confidence. He had been getting good grades. He had been paying attention in class. He had kept up with his training and even spent most of his free time practicing new maneuvres. He expected to breeze through this evaluation with minimal effort. This feeling showed in his gait. With his chest puffed up and chin held high, he followed the rest of his classmates to the gymnasium.

They took several turns, going from one far side of the academy to the other, until the gymnasium and the proctor came in sight. When he noticed the proctor, his confidunce sunk into his shoes like hard lead. He didn't remember the kid's name, but he sure remembered his face. Those blue eyes and that telltale white hair. He had seen him around the school a few times ever since their little encounter, but Susen had been able to avoid him. What with the Sky-reach being an enormous place and the two boys being in different years.

Right until now.

Susen considered shuffling behind some other students to prevent himself from being seen, but he realized that would be pointless. At some point Susen would take his turn in the physical course and the white-haired kid would obviously notice him as he would grade him.
No, the best move would probably be to just do his best and hope their previous encounter didn't influince his grade. If the kid chose to screw him over, maybe Susen could complain to the staff about the proctor of the exam being biased.

Or something like that.

OOC InformationShow

Word count: 265

[Zao]

The first class arrived right on time, led by their homeroom teacher. The man approached Ziv with a gentle smile before speaking. “All of Class 1A is here except for Jungo. He snapped his leg during physical training two days ago and is in the recovery ward. That leaves twenty-five students present for the midterm physical assessment.” Ziv’s solid blue eyes dropped to the clipboard in his hand. With a pen in his left hand, he flipped to the second page, jotting down a note about the injured student, then returned to the front page.

“Thank you, Mr. Honso. I’ll take it from here. This first part of the test should take about an hour to an hour and a half. Anyone who performs exceptionally well will also have the chance to try a section of the second half.” The second half of the obstacle course, which filled the massive gymnasium, was part of the final exam. Anyone testing it today would gain an edge for the end-of-year assessment that determined eligibility for the fourth-year classes. “Hmm, that gives me time to catch up on some grading. If they finish early, send for me.” Ziv gave a polite bow. Though both were teachers, Ziv was only a teaching assistant, while Mr. Honso had been a full-time instructor for over five years. The bow was a gesture of respect for his senior.

With that, Mr. Honso nodded and returned to his classroom, leaving Ziv alone with the students. Holding the clipboard in his right hand, Ziv stepped into the center of the group. His lean frame and composed demeanor drew the attention of the younger classmen. Ziv wore a white kimono-style robe with navy-blue trim, tied at the waist with a matching sash. Simple black cloth pants and wooden sandals completed the look. His deep, ocean-like blue eyes swept across the group, moving from left to right before settling at the center. When he spoke, his soft voice carried a calm authority that made it clear everyone could hear him.

“Good morning. My name is Ziv, and I will be your proctor and evaluator for today’s midterm assessment. Everyone here has already experienced the first half of the obstacle course during your initial evaluation. That test assessed your physical capabilities and decision-making skills, which helped place you into your current house and class.” The students stood quietly, listening as Ziv continued.

“Today, we’ll use the same scoring metric as before. Your results will be shared with your teachers to evaluate your improvement and identify areas where you can grow. This will allow them to tailor their lessons to your individual needs.” He paused, allowing his words to settle before continuing. “We’ll proceed in alphabetical order. Please form two lines. As before, you’ll compete against a partner to push yourselves further.” Ziv’s eyes scanned the group, noting a few familiar faces from passing interactions. One name, Susen, tugged at his memory, but no face came to mind. Whatever had happened months ago was distant and unimportant to him now.

“If there are no questions,” he said, “we’ll begin with the first pair.”

[Ruudwig]

As the white-haired kid, who introduced himself as Ziv, gave no hint of recognizing Susen, the young man bit his lip and clenched his fist ever so tightly. Either he was mocking him or he had forgotten about their encounter completely, the thought of both of which pissed him off. "Alright then.", Susen thought to himself. "I'll show you what I'm made of.." Of course, he had to wait first. Many other students took their turns before Susen. The boy hardly paid any attention to their performance as he considered none of them competition, instead he stood there stewing in whatever negative feeling he couldn't put his finger on and focussing on his own test. Slowly the line before Susen became shorter.. and shorter..

Until he stood there at the edge of the obstacle course. To his right, another kid named Teru Satsumou. Susen knew him by name, but had interacted with him a grand total of two times in this semester. One time to ask if he could borrow a pen and the other time because he...

Because... Susen had honestly forgotten. Teru hadn't registered as even a blip on Susen's radar and he wasn't going to start paying attention to him now. Instead, as the signal sounded Susen dashed past the boy and into the obstacle course. The first few obstacles proved no challange for the boy at all. He easily zigzagged past several rotating training dummies, not letting the wooden arms meant to symbolize the enemy's blades even so much as graze him.

Next, he had to scale a wall using the tree climbing technique, which was something a student of his year had to have mastered already. Despite this, there were still young shinobi who struggled with this bit, meaning they had slacked off on training an essential basic jutsu that they had probably learned years ago but forgot to apply. Finding no problem here, Susen arrived at the top of the wall and...

!

The last third of the course came with a nasty surprise. The pupils were supposed to leap across several platforms that were stacked to a height of ten feet. Easy enough, if not for several launchers hidden in the walls shooting rubber shuriken at the students as they crossed the last stretch. Nothing lethal, but painful enough that you didn't want to get hit. Plus, each time a shuriken would hit the student it would symbolize getting hit with an enemy projectile. Which meant losing points. Luckily, Susen was able to deflect the one coming right to his face with his spear. The young shinobi would begin weaving his trusty polearm around his body at high speed, fluently moving it between his arms and around his body, deflecting projectiles left and right as he hopped across the parkour. Landing confidently at the finish. Susen would turn around to see Teru still had just started his platform section.

Boink

A rubber shuriken bounced off the back of Teru's head. The boy winced in pain and embarassment. Susen followed the boy with his eyes, surpressing a smile. It felt good knowing he was ahead of most of his classmates. Hell, it even dulled the sting of Ziv humiliating him earlier.

OOC informationShow

Word count: 536

Jutsu usedShow

* Kushou・The Courtier Taps his Fan
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
This simple technique involves proper use of the pole of the user’s weapon to deflect blows. By properly angling and manoeuvring their spear or staff they can deflect other like weapons, hand to hand blows or even sword blows by striking the right place at the right time, even while in motion.

[Zao]

"Tategami Susen and Teru Satsumou, begin!" Several pairs came and went, most showing at least some improvement from their previous test scores from the initial assessment that the fifth-year students had done about six months ago and finally it came up to Susen's turn as the two young men walked up to the designated starting line that was a simple looking black line drawn across the ten meter section of the massive gymnasium. Ziv's eyes drifted up from the paper in his right hand, the left hand quickly finishing jotting down some short notes underneath the last two participant's names and scores for each as the former acquaintance from a few months back stood before him, a slight smirk appeared on the left corner of the teenagers thin lips as he discovered why the name seemed familiar earlier when he'd been reading through the participants for the mid-term assessment. It was the young man with the attitude from back then. Raising his left hand into the sky he nodded to bother, calling off each of their names before rapidly dropping the hand while telling the pair of fifth year students to begin.

The white-haired examiner became more interested in this particular run as his ocean blue eyes watched carefully, both moved with fluidity in their movements as they easily pushed through the first couple obstacles which were more or less warmups for what was to come. He took note of Susen pushing into the lead right off the bat, his speed and momentum seemed to stir from his desire to completely outperform his opponent, flashing through the osculating training dummies with their large arms, able to easily time when to squeeze by the short windows of openings created by the training bots. Flying up the near twenty-meter wall demonstrating his control over the basic tree climbing ability which reflected the level of chakra control he had managed to master over the last few months, Ziv's left hand jotted down a note on the paper despite never taking his view off the two students. While the one known as Susen was outstanding in his performance, that wasn't to say the other young lad wasn't doing well, simply a few seconds behind the boy, having trouble on the second obstacles as he had not yet fully mastered the tree climbing technique.

Sky Reach's obstacle course allowed for the students to demonstrate tactical patience, chakra control, stamina, and lastly combat prowess as they had to dodge and black the rubber projectiles that were being launched at random intervals and angels, which so far had been proving to be the toughest of the obstacles for this year's testing. Yet, much to Ziv's surprise the student Susen was able to utilize the large size of his bo staff in a defense posture for deflecting the shuriken style rubber weapons. Soon after he pushed rapidly through the last leg and leaped over the final wall landing at the finish line just in time to turn around and see the struggle of his fellow classmate who was too confident in his abilities get smacked by one of the rubbering throwing weapons. "So, it seems that his skills match his confidence level, good." The man nodded his head before finally pulling his eyes away from the two competitors and putting down a few notes under the two students' names on their test scores, making an extra note under Susen's name that he was ready for supervised missions.

This was something that the fifth-year student wouldn't find out till later that day or tomorrow, but it would eventually be briefed to him and three others from the 1A class that had scored high enough on the exam to qualify for a potential advanced promotion to a fourth-year student. Sky Reach understood that not everyone was created equal, and it was quick to assess and train those who showed more promise than their peers. These kinds of student needed to be challenged constantly in order to continue their growth. With a gentle smile on his face, he began to walk even before he finished writing the notes on the two as he approached the pair after the other student finally crossed the finished line. "Both of you did well, Susen..." He paused for a minute as if assessing the student. "...you'd done above many of your peer and qualify to make a run on the second part of the obstacle course, if you want to attempt it." Only two others had scored high enough to qualify for this treatment, Ziv seemed to show some invested interest in this youth.

[Ruudwig]

As Teru was still finishing up his final obstacle, Susen would already drop down to the ground in order to free up the finish area for the other kid. To his credit, Teru himself landed on the ground next to Susen not much later. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the boy avoiding eye contact, perhaps because of embarassment. He'd performed less well than Susen, after all. While this test wasn't nessecarily a competition between students, there was definitely an air of competition with many of the kids having the desire to prove themselves and outdo the other. Or maybe this was just Susen? He hadn't really bothered asking the other students because he honestly didn't care. He looked up at Ziv approaching them with his clipboard, eyeing the white-haired boy suspiciously. His hyperfocus on the task at hand had caused him to temporarily forget about the proctor and their previous encounter, but Ziv was all compliments and praise. Had he really just forgotten?

"Both of you did well, Susen.... you'd done above many of your peer and qualify to make a run on the second part of the obstacle course, if you want to attempt it." The boy's eyes widened a bit at this. Both at the guy's compliment, but also the opportunity to receive a second exam. "Uhm.... s...sure. I'd be honored to." Where did his confidence go? Why was this guy so nice to him? Susen knew he was good, but he wasn't used to people taking an interest in him like that.

If Ziv had nothing more to say, Susen and Teru would join the rest of the students who had taken the test. Teru would rejoin his friends, some of whom would give him pats on the back or offer him words of encouragement. Susen would take his place at the fringe of the group, not really taking to anyone. One boy offered a "Good job, man.", to Susen, which the responded to with a nod and a smile but nothing more.

---

OOC InformationShow

Word count: 341

[Zao]

The testing continued, Ziv returned to his duty as the proctor for this set of exams for the fifth years and the time slowly passed. With the remaining number of students from the large class finishing the first part of the exams within about thirty-five minutes after Susen had finished his own run. Soon all the students had completed the first part of the obstacle course and began to gather around the slender, white-haired youth as his deep blue eyes scanned over the last set of scores that he'd recorded before lifting to the crowd of young boy and girls from the beginner class. Many showed improvement from the initial assessment that occurred for them upon entering into the Sky Reach academy only about five months ago, which wasn't an unexpected event but a handful either had gotten worse or showed very little improvement in their times and scores.

While this was a bit concerning, the school also understood that not every individual was cut out to be a ninja or warrior, and there were in fact many different types of support work they could be funneled into that might better support their skills. The Crescent Coalition understood that a nation was only strong because of its people and their faith in the those that helped to lead and rule. Everyone was important in one way or another. One might be an excellent fighter, while another might have unique skills as a blacksmith, while another might be great farmer. Extra attention would be placed on the lower ranking students to determine their future course of action with them.

"Class 1-A, listen for your names. Susen, Tako, Jirin, and Sasi. If I called your name please step over here, " He paused and lifted his gaze as each of the four students he had called off began to move towards the front of the formation "Everyone else, your teacher is at the double doors where you entered into the training room, you may now return to your regularly scheduled classes for the rest of the day." It took a few minutes, but things once more became quiet as the large group of young men and women were escorted out of the training area by their homeroom teacher and it left Ziv alone with the remaining four.

"I suppose it goes without saying, but you four passed the first half of the training course with amazing times and scores, congratulations." A gentle smile was on the teen's lips as he scanned the three young men and the one young woman as his deep gaze moved from right to left before returning to a center point on the small group. "Today you four will have a chance to test out the second half of the course which is one of part of the final exams you will be taking in four months times. This course is a little bit different as I'm sure you can already tell." Ziv turned on his heel as his faced the other half of the massive training area, unlike the previous one it was boxed in on the side not allowing those outside of the course itself to see what was going on.

The walls were constructed out of some form of black material and stretched nearly thirty meters high on each side, above the course was a series of walkways that were designed for the instructors and evaluators to observe what was happening in each zone. "The course will be run one person at a time, and the course is divided up into different sections. One must advance forward until they fail to reach the next area. Inside each section will be a door that must be passed through or unlocked, only by passing through the exit point will you be allowed to continue." Pausing to allow the information to sink in, he wasn't allowed to speak in too much detail with the group as it was also a learning experience to test the young student's ability to problem solve and think on their feet.

"In total there is eight sections, today you will be allowed to experience up to three of the sections, if you have the skill to do so." Shuffling the papers around on his clipboard he turned to a fresh page that didn't have any names on them as he began to pen in the four names of the students standing in front of him. "Do I have any takers to go first?"

[Ruudwig]

The performance of the remaining students took another agonizing half hour. Susen would stoicly pretend to watch them while in actuality staring off into space. He tried his best to hide the impatience he felt, although he would still occasionally tap his foot rapidly on the ground. Whenever a student would take longer he would resist to urge the wince because he just wanted to get on with the next part.

When the final student completed the course, Susen piped up. His face remained a mask, but his more upright stance indicated his excitement. And so, when his name was called by Ziv he walked up to him before the white-haired youth had even finished his sentence. His previous anomosity to the kid was all but forgotten. Looking to his left, he looked his classmates Tako, Jirin and Sasi as if he just now noticed them. That there were other students who had also performed outstandingly hadn't crossed his mind.

As Ziv began explaining, Susen's eyes went towards the enclosed area. It loomed over the four; large and foreboding. Its pitch-black walls showing no hints of what waited inside, nor did Ziv give any hints other than how to advance. It as as much a dive into enemy territory as one could simulate within a gymnastics hall. For a moment, Susen actually felt fear rise to his chest. Not just anxiety about failing or bruising his ego or doubting his ability as a shinobi. But fear of bodily harm. Susen knew about the customs of some other villages where to reach the next rank students were forced to put themselves in actual danger. The chuunin exams practiced by some villages were a great example. But they wouldn't put something like that in a school environment, right?

Right?

As a shinobi, always expect the unexpected.

Ziv then asked if anyone wanted to go first. Susen usually never went first; he wanted to observe other students taking the test so he could form a strategy based around his observations. But the walls blocked his view and he wasn't sure if the students not taking the test would be allowed on the walkways. He also felt like just standing here waiting would only wrack up his nerves even more. So in an impulse, he replied.

"I'll go first."

The boy stepped forward, his eyes dead set on the entrance of the enclosure. He didn't look at any of his fellow students or even Ziv. Reaching the door to the inside, Susen stopped for a moment. He took a deep breath and tilted his body to the side while pushing the door open with his left hand. His right hand already rested on his kunai pouch. If an ambush waited on the other side, he would be as ready as he could.

Pushing the door open, Susen entered. Vanishing from sight for Ziv and the other kids.

OOC InformationShow

Word count: 483

[Zao]

As soon as the young man entered the room, he found himself inside a place that was different than what he might have expected, hidden on each corner of the formerly twenty meter by twenty-meter room was realm seal fuuin, placed by one of the headmaster's assistances. Instead of the same old obstacle course like the first part this room was much bigger on the inside, around sixty meters by sixty meters with what seemed like a similarly tall overhead, yet instead of seeing the normal overhead rafters and walkways it appeared to be a rust-colored sky as the interior of the room looked like a war ravaged building with six buildings that ran along either side of a main street and at the end of the street was a large wooden door.

The ground seemed to vibrate as three spots in the main road leading to what appeared to be the exit door, skeletal hands popped from the ground, a trio of skeleton-like zombies emerged from the ground, empty pitch-black eye sockets instantly locking onto the fifth year who had entered their domain. Each of the skeletons only had their boney hands for weapons but their speed and strength would be impressive (each at 10) and would fight in a barbaric style manner against any foe they encountered. These were random summons from the technique and had a relatively low intelligence but unlike other sparring partners these skeleton spirits wouldn't hold back and would relentlessly attack any target in their line of sight until destroyed or it escaped.

'Assessment one has started, let's see how the students this year stack up.' From above, the white haired instructor that was only around sixteen peered down through the crimson barrier that contained Susen. Beside him was a large figure around two meters tall and over a meter wide cloaked in black rags with what looked like a massive oval shield on its back. This was one of the man's puppets and was here just in case things got to out of hand down in the realm summoning. As they emerged the nearest zombie was the first to rush after Susen, swiping at him with its almost claw like hands, the other two were a bit further and hadn't yet noticed the boy.

[Ruudwig]

Susen entered the room, weapon raised halfway across his chest, expecting to get jumped right at the entrance. Only when he saw there was no immediate threat did he lower his weapon and take in his surroundings. Seeing the delapidated stage reminded him of what had happened to his home. Instantly, he could feel his breath straining as he clutched his weapon more firmly, wondering if this was done on purporse to throw him off-guard.

"Stupid. This is an orphanage. I'd bet more than half of these kids have seen something similar to this."

The ground then rumbled and Susen's spear was right up near his face again. His eyes quickly focussed on the three skeletons that seemed to rise from the earth. Things clicked in his mind as he realised it was going to be a fairly straightforward combat test. The edges of his mouth curled slightly upward in a cocky smile. Susen was uncertain about a lot of things, but his ability to fight wasn't one of them. The creatures began to stagger towards Susen at first, but then the one nearest to Susen began to dig its heels into the ground and lower its knees. The boy locked his eyes on the creature, anticipating a forward charge when suddenly...

"Assessment one has started, let's see how the students this year stack up."

It only took a quick glance upward from Susen to realize his mistake. The thing that distracted him was just the voice of Ziv. He vaguely registered a large shape standing behind him, perhaps another proctor, when he felt the hot breath of one of the zombies upon him. "Shit." In his short moment of distraction, one of the zombies had closed the gap between them and and went straight for Susen's face. Luckily for his eyes, the boy was able to raise his blade and block the swipe. The force of the swipe knocked Susen back a couple of feet, his back almost to the wall. By now all three skeletons were up in his face. Thinking quickly, Susen took another step back ward, and another. The skeletons looked to be backing Susen in a corner, but when his back was practically against the wall he placed the back of his right foot against it. He then used chakra to suction his foot to the wall and pulled himself up. He then placed his other foot there and hopped backwards, putting himself out of the immediate range of the claws and on the wall about two meters above them. From this positon, he would aim a broad swing with his spear at them, aiming to strike all three of their heads.

OOC informationShow

Word count: 447

[Zao]

The zombies grabbed at the young man, but their movements weren't any faster than his own but as he blocked one the man would notice that they were just a bit stronger than himself, but Ziv watched quietly from above but the large puppet that was concealed in the layers of black rags didn't move an inch and from its perspective and his own the proctor for this part of the exam continued to observe and make mental notes of the youth's actions. 'Not charging right in without gauging the strength of the enemy, seems this kid has built up some decent combat experience. I wonder if it was from the training that he was receiving in the weapons class or if this is more natural talent?' The student's actions were well thought out, continuous moving back in order to assess if there were any other targets that weren't inside his field of vision and understanding the terrain around him, even a good fighter would prefer not to be fighting in a three on one situation if they could instead find a method to make the odds more in their favor.

'Using the wall of the training room and the length of the weapon.' Another mental note was made of the combat decision to place himself out of reach of the basic tier zombies, while they had some power their fighting style was crude and nothing that would give a strong fighter to many problems. The only issue would have been the number of them, but Susen had used the wall to elevate himself into the high ground and the length of the weapon itself to stab the rather simple-minded spirits. The first two were dispersed as they fell apart and the third one had leaped up but was caught by the third downward stab directly in the chest before being knocked back down hard onto the ground where its body seemed to break apart into bones and decayed flesh. From the other side of the crimson harrier Ziv had a gentle smile on his face, impressed by the fifth-year student, it seems he will soon be moving up being a fourth year with that kind of skill with his spear and his thinking ability.

But the test itself wasn't over and now the mini boss was up next, across the room where a small mound with a single large gravestone was a massive boney hand broke through the dead ground that had a blackish hue and soon the rest of the skeletal knight could be seen. Standing around three meters in height a rusted shield about one meter in size was held in the left arm and a large sword in the others. Upon its body was broken pieces of arm with the helm being the only intact part as a pair of red obrs glowing from within could be seen. It stood between the young man and the exit door. This one was just as fast as the others but was even strong, also it had some memory of its former life and would be at the same skill level of a normal fighter. 'How will you deal with this one? Will he remember the goal of the test or...?' The second year simply paused his thoughts, excited to see what else the student had in store.

[Ruudwig]

The skeletons collapsed faster than Susen had thought. While they were at least close to the kid in terms of physical prowess, their technique left a lot to be desired. In their relentless attack they left themselves wide open, allowing the swing of Susen's spear to connect and take them down in one single attack, their brittle bones crumbling to the floor. Just as quickly as they sank to the ground, however, the next obstacle rose from the ground. This skeleton looked more challanging than the last three, but Susen wasn't intimidated. He jumped from the wall and landed on the ground with the skeletal remains a meter behind him, just in case any of them had any tricks left.

Not wanting to get pushed into a corner again, Susen decided to press the offense this time. The Kushou-Ryu's specialty was attacking after all, but there was a difference between a well-thought out offense and a reckless charge. With his spear held in his left hand, Susen would run towards his opponent, ready to react. His eyes were on his enemy, waiting for them to prepare for a block or counterattack. Then, he would thrust his spear forward at his enemy. The attack seemed a feint at first, with the distance in between the two enemies being just a bit too much for the strike to connect. But as Susen thrusted the spear forward, he loosened his grip across the handle, allowing the spear to travel further than estimated and hopefully strike the opponent in the chest.

OOC informationShow

Word count: 257

Justu usedShow

* Kushou ・ Monkey Reaches for the Fruit
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
The user thrusts their spear forward with one hand and loosens their grip on the shaft, allowing it to slide through their fingers before gripping it firmly at the last possible moment and quickly pulling it back. This results in the reach of the thrust suddenly increasing to almost the maximum length of the spear.

[Zao]

The strange bone like skeleton, which might have been better described as some type of bone golem brought from the underworld, didn't move as the student approached it with spear in hand. Its command was to protect the gate behind him as it remained directly in between Susen and the exit of the room that would allow the boy to potential advance further into the assessment's second stage. Almost as though it had no care for being injured, the three-meter-tall creature allowed for the sharp point of the spear to stab directly into its chest, slipping between the large gap in its ribcage as one of its hands reached up to grab hold of the spear's pole handle near the spear tip.

With a vice-like grip and showing no signs of pain from the attack that had just landed upon it, the large bone golem then took a step forward with its right foot as the conjecture of twisted bones that made up the large, bulky right arm drew back and was launched forward in a haymaker like style. Keeping hold of the spear, the creature attempted to pull the spear further into tis body and in turn the boy along with it if he couldn't find a way to overpower the spirit or break its grip. If he was dragged along to close, then the falling boney fist from the right-hand punch would land on the student's head with great force (15 strength/10 Speed).

What would Susen's next move be?!

[Ruudwig]

During Susen's attack, he could make two observations. One; the skeleton didn't seem to make any attempts to go on the offensive. Two; he was a lot sturdier than the previous ghouls. Susen had expected his attack to cruble the ghoul, but instead the creature tanked the hit and allowed the tip of the spear to lodge between its ribs. It then attempted to grab the spear to disarm or perhaps ensnare Susen, but thankfully the boy's superior speed (21) allowed him to react quickly and pull the spear back before the creature could grab it.

Hopping back to a distance of about three meters between him and the skeleton, Susen would assume a defensive stand with his spear raised diagonally before his chest, blade pointed outward to dissuade any sudden offense on the skeleton's part. He would take a few seconds to observe the skeleton, waiting to see if the creature would attack out of itself or not. If not, after a few seconds, Susen would begin taking slow steps towards the skeleton and then began circling it, edging around it and closer to the door to see when it would react. At any point, the kid's body was ready to react like a cat towards any sudden movements from the enemy.

OOC informationShow

Word count: 213[/color]

[Zao]

From above, Ziv continued to watch as the trial played out with an easy smile on his thin lips. the scene brought him back to his own first year here when he twi had fought against the second half of the obstacle course. But it wasn't the right word to call it that, instead the trials set up were there to help the teachers evaluate the actual combat prowess of each student against creatures that weren't human.

The spear slipped from the boney fingers that had been closing around its wooden shaft, it's movements not on the same level as the kid before it. 'The speed of a B ranker, not shabby at all for a Fifth Year Student' Ziv's ocean blue eyes didn't miss any of the details, taking a mental note for himself as he wrote down the letter B in one of the boxes by Susen's name on his clipboard. While the skeletal golem seemed slightly confused as it's hand missed grabbing the spear and it's burning red eyes flickered slight while it locked its gaze back onto its target.

Extending its hand in a grabbing motion a sliver of black aura radiated from its body, the create appeared to be able to use a form of dark energy similar to chakra. From behind Susen where the defeated bones from the skeletal warriors from earlier had been defeated a rattle of bone hitting against bone was briefly heart. Then from the three piles of bones, pieces of sharp bone shot out from the pile towards his back (15 speed and 15 strengrh). The golem like bone creature was not actually a skeletal soldier but instead a skeletal mage.

[Ruudwig]

The skeleton suddenly went on the offensive. Its bony hand made a grabbing motion as dark, foul chakra eminated from its body, yet Susen was still as a hawk or a buzzard conserving its energy and waiting for the perfect moment to take flight. A rattling sound near the bodies of the previous skeletons told him that this moment was drawing nearer. Gazing over his shoulder, while making sure to keep the skeleton visible in his periphary, he could see projectiles moving in quickly, aimed at his back. While an attack from behind was a solid tactic, the problem for the skeleton was that the projectiles, Susen and the skeleton all formed a direct line. So all the boy had to do was sidestep and the projectiles would fly past him and hit the skeleton instead.

Susen would do just this, stepping one meter to the right and allowing the projectiles to move past him. He would wait for them to pass and then dash behind them. His aim was to come in directly after the bone shards, using them as the initial strike and then launch a barrage of quick spear jabs at the skeleton. Each of these jabs were quick strikes that, assuming the skeleton's previous speed, would be too fast for the skeleton to properly react to. And each jab was aimed at a key point of the skeleton's structure. Its sinews, joints and other points keeping the construct from collapsing.

OOC informationShow

Word count: 244

Jutsu usedShow

* Kushou ・ Water Erodes the Rock
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
This technique aims to pressure the opponent through a quick series of jabs while advancing upon them. The user initiates this maneuver with a quick jab at the opponent's center in order to bait them into dodging. The user doesn't commit fully to the jab, limiting his own recovery and allowing for a quick follow-up jab aimed at the opponent's dodge, which is then repeated for the duration of the technique. Attempts of the opponent to move out of the technique's range are mirrored by the user. If done correctly, the opponent is essentially trapped in a series of narrow dodges where they aren't allowed the time to form hand seals or take action break free from the jab. The fatigue of this process results in the opponent's endurance being lowered by 3 for each post that this technique is in effect. After two posts of continued use, the user's own endurance will begin to decrease by 1 per post. If the opponents' speed is higher than the user's by at least five, this technique will not work.