[Common Region] Kikka

[Apollymi]

It seemed that she still wouldn't be given an answer about his state of nudity not that it seemed to matter much to him. In fact, the more pressing issue of her day was his rather sudden approach with two ice swords in hand which he held while traversing his original iceberg enroute to her. His spin came with swiftness and without the hesitation that bouncing between different forms of magic had initially shown in him. 'Of course,' she thought as she was left to deal with the coming slash from his once injured arm. This made contact, but the one that came next she moved with managing to take several steps back to clear it with a bit of a frown on her face. "Yare yare, you're a bit of a hard counter for me... those swords are freezing," she stated. Soon after though something strange would occur as she turned the pages of her book to a different place. Upon reaching it she cast a spell, "Mizu Sōsei Mahō : Kairyū no Su," Upon doing this the girl released a massive bit of water around herself, aiming to create a giant dome of water with spiraling whirlpools shifting around it. Feeling relatively safe within it, she went on to turn the page of her book preparing something else entirely for Gray potentially. She'd gone on the defensive, but this was mostly due to being unable to combat the young man on the basis of his advantage to the kind of fighting she normally did.

[Bloodedge]

"That's good for me. The whole point is to put on a show, right?" asked Gray, who would have no complaints about a chance advantage in a battle meant to showcase his magical abilities and decision-making. After taking one of two strikes, his opponent went on the defensive with a barrier of whirlpools from her grimoire. Gray was no expert on barriers and the like, but he could easily tell this was not something he would be able to easily overcome with his frozen swords. Even so, he had to press onward. His left arm had already been weakened, so he chose to press the sword that hand held against the barrier, reducing the sword to a tool aiming to freeze an opening into the barrier over time.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Gray had to say that this bad match up was the point, putting on a show would make it good for him. She couldn't agree more. "I suppose, that is very true, still... I guess I am doing more than my part, showing how I deal with something like this," she said with a small smile forming on her face while turning the pages of her Grimoire. "Though to be honest, at this point I think we'd make a better team than pair of enemies~" she chimed as she watched her barrier weaken from the outside. It was going to take about thirty or so seconds, but it was all the time she needed to unleash her next attack from its safety. "Mizu Mahō: Sājingu Weibusu," she said as she placed her palms against the ground. This would lead to a giant surge of water which built up before her and aimed to completely overcome this lad should he break into her space. Even if he didn't the water would have a much easier time surging outward than he would have breaking in. She seemed to have quite a bit of magic power to spare in using such wide attacks choosing to overcome her physical disadvantages against the lad with sheer force.

[Bloodedge]

Gray couldn't argue that he could see more teamwork coming out of this match-up than aggressiveness, but now was not the time to be bothered by that. The fact of the matter was, they were now fighting to earn a place among the Magic Knights, where life would only begin for many who sought the title. If they both made it to be Magic Knights, perhaps this notion would see the light of day, but not now. For now, Gray had to deal with an attack being mounted while he continued his attempt to break through the barrier. Just when he was beginning to think some progress could be made to break the barrier, he was struck by a surge of water from the other side of the barrier itself. He was washed away without much of a chance to even fight back, but the ice sword in his right hand being stabbed into the ground allowed him to at least prevent being blasted too far from his opponent. At the end of it all, he pulled himself against the current from about 13 meters away. "Woah... chill out! This is a little bit much..."

[Apollymi]

"Chill out? Now who is making puns?" she laughed from within her barrier as the young man stuggled his way back from several meters away. She had to give him an extreme amount of credit, people with weaker bodies would have been completely blasted away by that. She couldn't help but be in awe of him whether he also made bad puns or not. Be that as it may there was still the problem of having to deal with the lad potentially breaking through her barrier and it was sort of disadvantageous to be a sitting duck in these kinds of situations. She seemed to be exceedingly safe in this moment, still there wasn't much else she could do without having to deal with the problems of a direct confrontation. 'I still can't deal with him directly, if I take down this barrier I am kinda screwed...' she thought to herself. At this point she had no choice but to wait and see what he would do and try to counter from within the safety of her barrier appropriately.

[Bloodedge]

"That wasn't even on purpose!" spoke the male who was presently pushing against the torrent, continuously clawing at the ground with his sword to keep as much leverage as possible. Tooth and nail, he fought. Many stabs of his sword into the ground later, he was finally close enough to be within striking range of his opponent's barrier. Once there, he readied the sword in his right hand by raising it until its tip pointed at the girl inside her barrier. "I..." he said menacingly before his hand opened, and the sword in it washed away. "... I've got nothin'. I quit!"

[Apollymi]

Juvia found herself standing within her barrier and watching in amazement as Gray made his way back to her barrier. Once he was there he stood with swords drawn and she smiled at him wondering what his newfound stance would bring. Surprisingly enough though, his words were ones of surrender. Her eyes widened and she giggled at the moment. "I... didn't expect that~" she chimed, as she cancelled the magic which she'd created around herself and approached Gray directly from a few paces away. "That was pretty fun, arigatou gozaimasu," she said staring at the lad for a bit too long and noticing he was still in his underwear, her entire face soon went red and she turned. "Maybe next time keep your clothes on," she said turning her gaze away and covering her face with both of her hands to help with the redness. And with that she was finished at least for now. To her knowledge this would be the final test and she didn't think any other matches needed to take place. Once the center of the arena was clear a voice would come out and from the upper area but it wasn't any of the Captains.

"Arigatou Gozaimasu, all of you. At this point, your numbers will be called and you will step forward, and any Captain who wants you in their squad will raise their hands," the speaker stated. "If more than one Captain raises their hands, you may choose where you would rather go, based on whatever criteria you deem fit, but..." there was a stern silence inserted. "If none raises their hand for you, you didn't make the cut for the Magic Knights. Of course, you are free to try again if you don't make it, but you won't be accepted this year," the voice called out, murmurs would ensue as this was stated but the same voice that had been speaking began calling numbers starting at one. Whether Captains raised or lowered their hands for people they'd began separating themselves. Several who didn't make the cut found themselves running from the area without any real consequences for them. But soon a number would be called which belonged to one white haired male who'd had the first battle seen today. "Number 361!"

[Bloodedge]

The white-haired boy given the number 361 stepped forward after a long and gruesome wait for his number. He had seen many participants of the exam be turned away by the Captains, but regardless of this, he stepped up with absolute confidence in his own acceptance. His eyes were closed as his number was spoken. A wide grin spread across his face before he opened his eyes to see how many hands were raised by the Captains, only to find...

Nothing. There were nine Captains seated above, one of them being his own brother, and not a single hand was raised by one who would accept him into their squadron. "Bakana..." he mumbled. There was no way he, just shy of being a noble by association to a powerful Captain, could be turned down so openly by so many. This was obviously the fault of that girl. With a sigh and a grimace, Itama Senju turned tail and walked away.

[Apollymi]

The numbers approaching the ones known by some of the more standout candidates were approaching. The call of 361 caused the boy known as Itama to step forward, and surprisingly enough to him, he went without chosen by any, including his own brother. Hikage felt nothing about this though deep inside she could honestly say the boy had gotten what he deserved for acting out in the way he had previously. Soon enough he sauntered off and Hikage herself had her number called. "Number 362!" this caused the green haired young woman to step forward and wait to see if any wanted her given her 'war-mongering,' She watched for movements and knew the leader of Blue Rose was now raising her hand. But she wanted to see if any others wanted her before she spoke.

[Bloodedge]

The numbers being called out seemed to be becoming interesting all in one group. First there was the brother of Tobirama, whom a few of the Captains figured would end up a member of the Azure Deer by virtue of relation. Next up though, was a much more interesting prospect who'd even managed to defeat Itama and his inflated ego. Number 362 was an interesting prospect, to say the least. A few other Captains understood exactly why the leader of Blue Rose wanted this individual for her squad, but the other Captain to raise their hand was one who had no clue whatsoever. The black-clad male with spiky orange hair raised his hand as well, representing the squad known as the Black Bulls. This Captain was known for possessing no magic whatsoever, but from what he saw of the girl named Hikage, her personality 'flaw' would make her fit right into the type of rag-tag group he put together.

[Apollymi]

Hikage looked up at the Captains above and found that two of them wanted her to join them. One of them a female with purple hair and golden eyes, at the other at the end of the line, an orange haired male. She didn't expect to get a choice and as such found herself taking a moment to actually consider things before she said anything aloud. When her gaze found the leader of Blue Rose and saw the excitement in her eyes and practically vibrating off her person, she got an annoyed feeling. But when she averted her gaze and looked towards the leader of the Black Bulls she didn't feel anything at all. That was a curious occurrence, a wide grin spread across the girl's face. "I'll join the Black Bulls," she said while making eye contact with the orange haired male. "Thanks for pickin' me..." she said to the leader of the Blue Rose who snapped her fingers as if she'd lost a bet. even she didn't assume the leader of the Black Bulls would think to take a girl with such an obvious personality flaw.

Hikage moved to the side and this allowed the next numbers to be called. One for the boy who'd been with Itama when he'd been talking trash to her, didn't get picked either. Irrespective of this, the numbers kept going after he also had his ego crushed. "Number 364!" this made the girl who'd so recently been fighting. Her hair blue as she stepped up to see if and where she'd be accepted. She didn't know what qualifications she had nor what to think about the group at large.

[Bloodedge]

Two options were given to the green-haired girl, and the one she ultimately chose was the Black Bulls. Heero Yuy, the Captain of said squad, looked toward the tanned woman who rivaled him for this recruit with a grin on his face. "Tough luck this time," he said. Moving right along, another number was called without receiving a single offer by the nine squads. After that, though, was one of the two most recent participants. She was on the list of interesting prospects, and her stepping forward resulted in the immediate rise of at least two hands. One hand to rise was that of Tobirama Senju, who'd rejected his own brother only a few calls ago. Another was the male with crimson hair and a mask on the right half of his face, who headed the Crimson Lions.

[Apollymi]

Another hand was the leader of the Blue Rose, for Juvia leaving her with three total offers. Of course she found herself looking at the group and then thinking about it a bit she looked to the man with the mask on and the Crimson hair. She found herself looking at the group at large and a small frown came over her face. She hadn't expected to get more than one offer, but she had in mind places she'd wanted to go. "I'll join the Azure Deer, arigatou gozaimasu," she said. Making this choice based on the fact that Tobirama hadn't simply given his brother a spot and actually apparently valued hard work among his group. She could respect him and as such she could join him. After making this decision it would make the leader of Blue Rose 0-2 on choices she had contested. But another number would soon be up. A call would ring out soon after Juvia made her decision. "Number 365!" This was the number belonging to the boy known as Leonis Vermillion. One female hand would enter the air, and it belonged to a woman whose face was hidden behind a deep hat. She had a somewhat sinister grin on her face as light blue locks escaped her hood.

[Bloodedge]

It was time for number 365. One of the more interesting battles of the day had taken place with this particular male and one other person who'd already been taken into a squad. This boy was given a sight he hadn't expected to see, that being the raised hand of a more sinister-looking Captain of the Magic Knights. Beyond this hand, though, was the return of the Crimson Lions' offer, as well as the Black Bulls. Leonis was slightly perturbed by the choice he was being given, but his choice was ultimately one of power lust he already understood. "Heh! I'll take the Bulls!"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Leonis would be joining the Black Bulls as well, and with that taken care of the hands of the Captain of the Purple Orca lowered once more. She always felt slightly rejected at these things, and she was beginning to think she might scare people from time to time. Regardless of her insecurities, the next number would be called as well. "Number 366!"

This shout would lead to the emergence of Kirsa, the girl with the glass magic who wore glasses. In addition her exceedingly high levels of control, she'd also sparred against the boy with the Four Leaf Clover book. As such she was held in reasonably high esteem. As she made her way forward, the Leader of the Blue Rose raised her hand again, this was added to by the leader of Green Mantis the red head whose body seemed to have living vines draped over it.