2 Mantra's Key

(Fifthteen Years Ago. Post-Gods Program.)

"Take a look around at the other young and vibrant children!" Mr. Colin barked out his two eyes staring over everyone. Jack did as he was told and looked around at the other kids. All of them were young. At least younger than ten. "All of you are trash." Mr. Colin said as he walked up and down between them all. "And statically more than half of you will die before you get your Mantra Spirit." He yelled. "If you think you can make the cut than step forward. Those who don't wish to please step back and you will be escorted to the kitchen where you will work for Gods Organization in other ways. Think careful children. The life of a soldier or the life of a slave.

Mr. Colin walked back and forth starting at them all. Every now and then he would let off a strange growl.

"What's he doing?" One of the people who ran Gods asked as they watched Mr. Colin curiously.

"He's judging there character." Another member responded. "Mr. Colin is our greatest general not because of his skill but because of his ability to judge a character. His Mantra spirt allows him to judge people on a very personal level." They said.

"Mantra is a weapon." Mr. Colin said as he stopped in front of all the children. "And remember. Like a weapon, it can be improved through one's skill." He lifted his right hand up slowly as a blue like glow poured off his body slightly. "Mantra is our gift. There are five states of Mantra. The first starts out harmless." He said as the glow got slightly brighter. "The next gives it a physical form." He said. The Mantra passed over everyone like a weight causing them all to stager. A few kids fell down but some managed to stay up. "The third allows us to be affected by." The Mantra seemed to be absorbed into Mr. Colin for a brief second. "The fourth allows us to conduct it." The Mantra surrounded his left arm disappearing except for his arm. It then seemed to move throughout his body. "And the final stage is not one we can reach by ourselves. In order to reach the fifth state of Mantra, you must make a pact with a Mantra Spirit." He lifted his arm as his Mantra changed colors into a dark black. Closing his hand the Mantra vanished. "It will be up to each and every one of you to survive and figure out your Mantra yourself. For now, you will train until you are all ready to receive your own Mantra Spirit." He said.

Jack gulped slightly but still held his head up high as he stepped forward. Even as Mr. Colin walked past them all looking at the kids that stepped forward. He struggled with the urge not to throw up since him and all the other kids were exhausted after being forced to run three miles. Many of them had collapsed before they made it very far.

"You!" Mr. Colin said point at a kid. "Tell me your name." He ordered.

"Jason Argonauts sir!" Jason said standing up as tall as he could which wasn't much since he was a kid.

"And why do you think you will be able to survive?" Mr. Colin questioned staring the young Jason down.

"Because I work hard and I know I am strong sir!" Jason said not flinching away.

Mr. Colin hummed slightly before walking away. He walked over to another boy nodding slightly. "And you. What is your name?" He asked the boy?

"Lin Falcon sir..." The boy said standing tall. He looked as if he was confident and talked in a very cool manner. He ran a hand through his messy red hair his pitch blue eyes staring up at Mr. Colin. "And for your next question, I want to fight to protect people." He stated.

Mr. Colin nodded and walked off finally reaching Jack. "And you lad?" He questioned Jack.

"Jack." Was all Jack said? "No last name. My parents never told me." He said.

Mr. Colin seemed taken aback for a second. "I see... Well, what was your district?"

"Nine sir!" Jack responded.

"Well then Jack. From this day onward you can be called Jack Nine." Mr. Colin said. "Why do you want to become a member of Gods?" He questioned like he did everyone else.

Jack opened his mouth about to say something but stopped. 'So how do we do the technique, Mr. Nine?' Jack briefly thought about what his answer would be. 'Umm, sir?' Finally, he decided. 'I think he's asleep?' Jack looked up a slight glint in his eye. 'Hang I'll wake him up.' "Well, sir. I can sleep more if I'm a soldier." 'Slap!'

(Present day. In the Junior Training room.)

"Owe!" Jack yelled jumping up and rubbing his cheek. "Oww!" He glared at the kids who slapped him. Van stood there smirking slightly. "What!" Jack finally said in an angry growl.

"Hey don't get mad at us!" Van said putting his hands behind his back as he leaned back. "You're the one who fell asleep. You should be taking this more seriously. We go on a mission in a little while and we should know how to use Mantra by then!" Van complained. "And you realize that we are expected to rate how good you were after the mission right. You don't want a bad rating do you?" He said smugly.

Jack muttered a few words that weren't very nice under his breath. "I can't force you guys to be able to use Mantra!" He said. "You have to figure it out on your own." He stretched his body causing his joints to ache.

Brave crossed her arms pouting slightly. "Well can you at least give us an idea about the key to using Mantra?" She asked. "Right now I can just barely get it to do anything." To prove her point she closed her eyes as a blue glow surrounded her flashing off and on barely able to stay activated before fizzling out. Brave fell forward almost landing flat on her face but Fate managed to catch her.

"Yeah!" Sera said. "At least give us some clue she whined slightly. " You had to go through what we went through as well right!" She questioned. "So what did you do to figure it out?" She asked.

Jack hummed slightly as he put his finger under his chin.

(Flashback. Seven years ago. Training in Mantra.)

"Hey, loser check it out!" Jack yelled sliding into Lin and Jason's view. Jack held his hand out as a blue glow covered him. "Suck it losers I got Mantra!" He said.

"How!" Both Lin and Jason yelled!

Jack smirked. "Never gonna tell!" He yelled. He turned to sprint off. "Good luck losers I'm gonna go nap." He ran off.

(Present day.)

Jack shrugged back in present day. "It just comes to you?" He said. "You just have to keep training over and over again until it comes naturally. Honestly, there isn't a secret." He said laughing slightly as he shrugged sheepishly.

The kids just glared at him. "Well-" Brave stopped humming slightly. "You- Just tell us something to help." She screamed waving her arms. "I'm never going to be the best at this rate.

"I agree." Fate said finally speaking. She talked quietly barely above a whisper. "My brother once told me you-"

"I don't care what your brother said about me," Jack said cutting her off. He sighed suddenly. "Well. Look. I don't really know what to do other than tell you what I was told on how Mantra worked." He finally said running a hand through his black hair.

"And what was that?" Van questioned raising an eyebrow.

Jack raised his hand slowly. "Well, Mantra works like a weapon. It can be improved with one's own skill." A blue glow surrounded him as he used his Mantra. "You focus your own breathing and skill turning it into Mantra." The glowing got bright as it spilled out letting out a warm glow. "There are five states of Mantra. Stage one allows you to control it and bring it forth. As you work on this stage it will get stronger and stronger." The Mantra grew even larger. "Stage two gives our Mantra a physical form." The Mantra lightly blew over the kids lifting them up. "Stage three allows it to be absorbed by us enhancing us." He moved his arms slightly causing them to almost fade into a blur as he brought his left arm up and right arm down. "Stage four lets us conduct it." The Mantra became smaller and smaller as it became condensed in his right hand. It moved throughout his body. "And lastly stage five. Mantra Spirit. It lets us make a bond with a Spirit from the fade gaining newfound abilities." His Mantra spilled out again becoming a shining white aura. Then it vanished.

Jack finally finished opening his eyes. All the kids were looking at him. "Cool..." Was all Brave said? "When do we get our Mantra Spirit!" She asked.

Jack stretched slightly. "When you are ready and when you are signed off by a teacher." He said. "You get to make a pact." He said. "But you don't really get to pick your own? It comes to you. I happen to have gotten lucky and got a decently good Spirit. All of them have there own unique abilities and all of them have their own weaknesses." His Mantra flashed white again for a brief second again.

"You have the nine-tailed fox Spirit right?" Fate questioned. "A Divine level Spirit." She said. She spoke in a bored monotone still not showing off any emotions. Jack decided he really didn't like her.

"Yes..." He said finally. "I do." He brushed a hand through his black hair again. "How about this." He looked down smirking slightly. "Mantra is tied with someone's physical abilities so it might come more naturally in a fight!" He said walking over to the blue mat at the center of the room. It was around six meters by six meters allowing for a decent amount of room for all of them to stand on it and still have room. "We're doing this tournament style so the rules are simple. If you get knocked out of the ring you're out. Pick a partner. And think carefully. You'll be fighting me." He said.

Fate and Brave picked a team while the other three being Sera, Van and, Finn was on a team. Van's team went up first while Brave and Fate chose to watch.

"You better not go easy on us just cause we're kids," Van announced raising his fist forward. Very briefly Mantra flashed across him before going out as he fell forward unconscious from using his Mantra wrong.

"Okay and just like that it has become a two on one," Jack said casually pushing Van over the edge of the mat. "Okay Sera and Finn give me your best shot." He said smirking as he held his arms out as hid Mantra surrounded him. "I heard you all have been studying martial arts so show me." Martial Arts were important when using Mantra. Mantra being spiritual energy that flowed with Martial Arts nicely. Usually, a person's skills in a certain style would determine someone's way of using Mantra.

Finn breathed in deeply before stepping forward. He threw out a left hook that Jack easily caught. He twisted it painfully and kicked him in the shins knocking him flat on the ground. As he hit the ground Jack twisted the kid's wrist and threw him at Sera knocking her straight out of the arena.

Finn tried to quickly get to his feet but a quick kick to the chest by Jack caused him to stumble backward and fall out of the arena also. "I win!" Jack said turning around. He put his hand son his heads as he walked off. "Well, none of you used Mantra so you still need to work on that..." He trailed off. "Brave, Fate. You two are up now." He said.

Brave and Fate entered the mat standing opposite from Jack. Brace stretched slightly for a moment smiling slightly. "Unlike Van, I actually have some control." She said as a very, very faint blue glow came off of her. It flicked on and off clearly struggling as droplets of sweat fell down her face. "See!" Sue croaked out. She eagerly jumped forward completely ignoring the two on one aspect and, unfortunately focusing on her Mantra was her down said as Jack just slightly stepped off to the side as she tumbled out of the arena unable to catch herself.

"Anti-climatic..." Jack said facing away from her. "Alright, Fate. Your turn."

"Wait a minute that doesn't count!" Brave said but Jack ignored her. She pouted walking over to the others while she prepared to watch Fate lose.

Fate closed her eyes for a second as the blue color of Mantra covered her body. Jack frowned when he saw it. The Mantra was extremely thin. Barely a centimeter long but, it wasn't going out. "I'm ready." Fate finally spoke going into a battle stance that Jack had seen Jason go into many times before.

"You're pretty smart aren't you?" Jack said eyeing her. "Instead of trying to fully activate your Mantra all at once you're letting only a little bit of it pour out so you don't have to do is on it as much." He said. "I'll admit I'm impressed." He said laughing slightly. "But it's still not good enough." He held his arms out in a very cocky manner.

Fate ignored his goading keeping calm as she stepped forward. She almost seemed to vanish for a brief moment before reappearing and throwing a kick out. Jack's right hand shot up catching her leg. Her Mantra grew for a second ingulfing her as she let more of it out. This cause it to get heated up slightly burning Jacks hand and causing him to let go on reflex. Fate took the chance to jump back as her Mantra faded back away so as to reserve energy.

Once her Mantra settled down she jumped forward once again throwing out another kick that Jack blocked this time. His Mantra came out briefly flashing in order to block the heat. He twisted his hand around her wrist this time not letting go when she grew her Mantra and instead spun slightly before letting go and causing her to tumble out of the ring.

"And that's that," Jack said stretching again. "You did well..." He walked over towards the bleachers sitting down finally after a small workout. "Well... I guess you should..." He shrugged slightly unsure of what to do next since the had never been a teacher before. "I dunno have Fate show you what she did I'm gonna take a nap." He closed his eyes before anyone could object.

"That was really cool Fate!" Brave said.

"Not really..." Fate said slightly embarrassed. "I am sure Mr. Nine was holding back..." She said shrugging. "He has gotten a few more years of experience than us after all. Plus he only used one arm during our fight and it really wasn't that long..."

"It was still cool though! Hey, can you show me how you controlled your Mantra!" Brave asked.

"Me too!" Finn said.

It wasn't long before all the kids were asking Fate questions as they all helplessly surrounded the shy silent girl. "How did I get into this mess..." She sighed out as they all asked her various questions. In the end, though she smiled slightly happy to know she was reliable.