His pulse raced like horses through the wild, beating so loudly he could hear it in his ears like a beat of a drum, pacing the fight for him.
He could feel his blood pumping, energizing every inch of his body, pushing himself forward with more and more effort as time wore on, despite the growing tired/soreness.
His adrenaline spiked! Increasing the amount of energy he had two fold, and bringing everything into sharper detail.
The everything looked about normal, just more clear to his eyes. He could see every shift of the leaves, hear every rustle of fabric, feel every thud of their movement.
This was what he lived for! This was what he loved! He never felt more alive in these moments! Add in the fact that he now knew he couldn’t die; it couldn’t have been anymore true. He was able to throw himself into the fight with a reckless abandon, that could have bordered on suicidal and feel no worry what so ever! It was incredible!
The fight to his point had been both incredible and memorable. It could even serve as a lesson. It had started off a little weird, what with all the running and lack of actual ambushing, but it had quickly escalated after that. She managed to lull him into a false sense of security, allowing him to believe in his skill so solidly, he never once stopped to question his dropping opinion of her. It never even occurred to him that he had even been suspicious of her trap before he fell for it! He just stepped right in like a lemming hopping off a cliff! Blindly following the bait she had been leaving like breadcrumbs.
Once he fell for her trap, which came at the cost of a few landed blows on her part, things shifted quickly. She suddenly spiked in skill level! Her body seemingly finding its rhythm in that instant, and she followed it fantastically. She ignored his blows like they were irrelevant, and even managed to hit him with one of her own attacks! Worse she drew blood! Yes, it seemed like that fact bothered her a little bit, but she didn’t stop fighting.
It was a little off putting to be honest. To imagine he was paired against someone of this exceptional level of skill. She had played him for a fool, and was now just playing with him like a cat would with its food. She dodged around him like she could read his mind! He would admit, that a part of him hated this fact. The idea there was someone who looked as soft and vulnerable as she did that was able to match him toe to toe? With the self-imposed handicap of deafness? It was almost enough to make him angry. Not because it was fact, but because he had bought into it. He felt almost simple for having fallen for such a trap! There was a lesson there, no matter how things look, don’t underestimate your opponent.
Yes, this is a lesson he had learned a decent period of time ago, but he had never needed to practice it. He was either fighting one of two kinds of people, his students or his teachers, and in both cases the outcomes were always the same. That, or he was fighting monsters, and those battles were always so terrifying, no matter how many people were there. The beasties were powerful, never let there be any doubt about that.
The reason it didn’t make him angry? The reason he didn’t give into his anger?
He was having a blast!
He was having fun for the first time in almost two weeks, and it felt good to unwind.
This was nothing like his fight with Acel, where he was bathed in rage, wearing it like a huge fur coat draped over his shoulders. There was none of the working out any issues on his opponent's face, which he was grateful for. He was happy to teach in that method, beating the lessons into his student, but he was not a fan of taking out his own personal issues on his future comrades. Plus! Without there being any real conversation between the two, she would not be able to hit his hot button by mentioning his village. Which, he imagined, was probably a huge factor in him still enjoying the fight. Sarah didn’t get kind of preachy in the middle of their fight.
Instead! He was going all out! Like a wild animal, but with a ridiculous amount of control. Displaying his combative nature, granted to him from birth, which he trained into the ground every night he wasn’t busy teaching or fighting for his village. Natural talent was great and all, but it was not a substitute for actual skill.
This skill made itself very present in these next moments.
How you might ask?
Well, to add some context, his attacks missed. Both of them dodged. His opponent moving as though she were made out of some incredibly flexible material, while she literally used his own body as a means of dodging his attack! He was much impressed than angry that she had enough of a judge on his movement to be able to use his momentum in such a fashion! This was followed by her jumping away from him, to put some distance between them, more than likely to give her some more room to use her weapons. That was when his next attack came in, and instead of dodging to the side, she went for another incredible display of flexibility. As his attack came in, she simply arched herself underneath the attack like some gymnast, with some precognitive ability. He almost had to laugh at that, given that in his previous fight, he was the one showing off like that.
Anyway! In answer to the question, he followed the flow of this fight like it was a flooding river, sweeping everything along with them. Except, instead of the wild ride one might expect for someone caught in the ravages of such a destructive force of nature, he seemed completely at home. As if the chaos that surrounded him was simply the natural order of things, a set of laws only warriors like himself could understand.
He didn’t even so much as flinch as the weapon removed itself from his arm, pulling out so quickly it pulled some blood with it. Despite how clean the removal had been, it still hurt. There was nothing like feeling something that cut going in and coming out, so it was not an easy thing for his brain to describe, let alone process beyond the fact that it was fairly painful. This did not stop him from using that arm to block the attack from the knife that had just tasted his blood, his wrist guard pushing the attack high so it would miss completely.
The following attack was registered, and then ignored. It was a well thrown attack, but the ting of it bouncing off his chest armor showed exactly why he didn’t care about it as much. His body armor was more than strong enough to deflect such an attack. It would take a lot more than that to even dent his armor, let alone pierce it.
He barely took a second to register where it landed, just glancing at its trajectory enough to have a general idea of where it would go. He was too focused on his opponent to care too much about where the weapon went at this moment, he saw an opening and he was going to take it. His body shifted forward, while dipping down towards the ground as he stepped towards her once more. Now, to some, this might seem like an odd move, but to a pugilist, it would make perfect sense. He dipped himself to add power to his next attack, which came with an unsurprising level of quickness, by this point at least, aiming to slam his closed fist into the center of the bottom of her chin.
The next attack followed just as quickly. Like lightning striking the ground, his other fist shot forward as his first pulled back, allowing him to twist his body to put more force behind the attack. This one was aimed at her temple, a favored location for Dal’Mori when he was in a fist fight. It was one of the few locations one had a high chance of knocking out their opponent, and that was his goal. He wanted to knock her out. He didn’t want to kill her, like he had tried so hard to do with Acel, he just wanted to win, as some of his old competitive nature came back to him.
Quote:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 67 Health: 350/420 Control Limit: 532
Skill: 50 [--] Strength: 48 [50] Defense: 35 [--]
Quote:
Tactical Advantages
Power House - Level 2 - Every time you deal damage to a foe, they lose 4 Defense for the duration of the fight.
Ooc:
Line Count: 1465
Zenko Kaze
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2015 2:03 pm
Aki watched the fights as both a grandmother and as a well trained fighter. She herself has had a personal hand in Akio's fighting for the past two years, and now seeing the fruits of her labor felt good, though she couldn't help but see all of the glaring faults of his style and his poor hand to hand combat. Her grandson was swift and calculating, moving with almost a cocky nature that frustrated Aki. Akio was skilled, yes, but Aki didn't feel that he was done yet. But he was swift, and he was clever. That, for now, made up well for what he lacked in trained skill. Two years... She still felt as if it wasn't enough.
Aki sighed, taking a glance over to the others, noting that the warrior and the small mousy girl he was fighting with. She seemed nervous, at first, but good. She was in the same boat as her grandson, though. Not as well trained as she should be. Her finesse with the throwing knives was remarkable, even managing to land a rather well placed hit on the warrior. She had already been hit more than a few times, and this seemed to anger her into fighting harder, but at the sight of blood she seemed to go pale. At this, Aki tilted her head to the left, a small bit of gray hair falling into her face as she looked onward. Her eyes had not faded in the slightest, she wasn't that old yet. Even if the images on the screen were small, she could tell that the girl's anger broke at the sight of the man being hit by her very own weapon. Aki squinted her dark eyes, letting her eyes flick back to the man. Dal'mori, was his name?
She recognised his style, his face, the way he held himself, the way he did things. Everything about him screamed at her that she knew him but she could not possibly know anything about the man. There had never been a Dal'mori in her life, nor had she ever seen a man quite like him... No, that couldn't be true. There had to be someone. Aki had gotten around as her time as a Baitr, and met many a person, she was sure that was it. Someone she had met in her travels... Yes. That had to be it.
Aki watched the glisten in the man's hair, and the distortion of anger on his face. His dark eyes focused but alive with the the idea of moving forward. So opposite of Akio's that she felt her heart flutter. Perhaps the man could teach a thing or two to her grandson about life, and, perhaps, death as well.
Then, she heard a deep sigh, one that pulled her from her thoughts that began to take her over. She turned, just as the blond man spoke, apologizing for the interruption. Aki nodded to him, then took a quick glance to her daughter-in-law noting that she paid no attention. Chen was wrapped up in her son's fight, and cared not for what the other man had to say. Perhaps this was a good thing, the woman wasn't suited for the life of fighters. Chen could barely cope with her son being one.
Aki looked back up to Acel, listening to the man speak about his swords and the use of them. She raised an eyebrow, careful not to speak until the man was done rambling. "Yes." She began, "The sword he is using is a katana, and I can see that yours are different, if only in length and the curve of the blade." Before she said yes or no to training the blond man, she began circling the man. He had a rather slender build, all of the muscle built on the man made out of practical use and years of hard work. His hands were calloused from the same long years of use, though he looked as if he had not even a day of training. Aki took out a Wakizashi, the shortsword in a simple black colored sheath with a glossy shine on it, and prodded his back with the sheath. There was beautiful calligraphic writing on the sheath in katekana, the writing gold plated, reading '川が流れて停止することはありません.' A family heirloom, one that Aki now carried with her everywhere.
She concluded that the man was fit for the style of sword he carried, as well as in an immense amount of pain. Really, anyone who had any sense could see that he was, but Aki saw this as a good thing, and put her Wakizashi back at her waist where it belonged. "I can train you, but I cannot guarantee that you will enjoy your time." Aki spoke, crossing her arms and moving back to look at the tournament. "My grandson is good because he's been doing Kendo and Tai Chi since his high school days, then I had a personal hand in his training. This is only after two years." She motioned, making a short gesture to the screen which held her grandsons fight against Faelan. "And there is still a long way to go." She gave a pause, looking back towards the man she decided to mentor, looking at the man's cold dead eyes, seeing a river that had stopped flowing. That was what had bothered her, words of wisdom in her years from long before her. A river must never stop flowing, after all.
"I will train you, and we will begin now. Follow me." She said, placing her hand on Chen's and whispering a goodbye before leaving, Chen merely watching as her mother in law left her alone in the room. Aki walked to the elevator to the training room like it was no big deal, and rode it down silently, hands clasped behind her back as she stood, her feet shoulder-width apart. She wasn't small in stature, standing roughly the height of Akio, and she still had muscled packed into her, though her clothing didn't show this fact very well. Her facial structure resembled Akio's strongly, with a more feminine touch, though her eyes had a wider, more open shape to them and her eyes lighter.
When they reached the training room, she wasted no time in beginning. "If I am going to teach you anything, you are going to have to listen to what I say. Everything." Her voice had grown deeper, and her pronunciation of words clearer than before. "Remember the words 'A river must never become stagnant.' reflect on it as you train." Aki pulled out a pillow from a small closet off to the side and sat on it, tucking her legs under her and sitting up straight. "First, activate the holo-trainer and show me what level you are at now. Five minuets."
Sarah breathed easily, her mind now open. With the thoughts of Dal trying to kill her now gone, she was back to her usual self. Her eyes were still going here and there, watching Dal, but she was able to have thoughts on the battle. Like how he was so much stronger than her when he didn't even flinch when she took her blade back, feeling sick when she watched a bit of blood follow the blade. God he must have thought she was some kind of sadist or something. Though if anyone looked at her face they would see she was not enjoying it one bit. She was drawing blood from someone that's suppose to be comrade, someone who she might be doing missions with. Though she was afraid of how she actually looked herself, with the blood down her face. She knew she was covered with it, but she couldn't do anything about it right now.
She grimaced when her throwing knife simply hit the armor protecting his mid-section, watching where it went before turning her eye back on Dal. How could she make such a stupid mistake and over look his armor? You were running for your life, at least that's what you thought. The Guard answered, causing her to make a face that spoke of irritation. It didn't last long when Dal came forward and threw a punch at her from a crouching position it seemed. It was so odd, Sarah side-stepped again, not wanting to test her luck with a backwards dodge again. It was too close last time and she didn't need to risk it again. She quickly ducked though, the punch flying over her head.
She knew it was amazing she was alive right now. She needed to be careful. She couldn't do anything risky anymore. But she was sure he would land an attack on her soon, every hit he made on her was stronger than the last, making her wonder what he was doing to her to make her become so weak. She wondered if it he was doing the same as what Kad had done to her. Only Dal hit harder than Kad ever did, in just three hits she felt she was close to giving up and one last hit she was sure would be her last, as well as his for this fight.
From her crouched position, Sarah stabbed her only throwing knife at hand toward Dal's leg, leaving it with him when he made to dodge it. She took that moment to roll away, grabbing the throwing knife from the ground, still crouched. She had one knee on the ground, the other bent, turning at the waist to throw her newly recovered knife at him.
۩…………………………………………………………………۩
Outfit:Outfit Headphones: Unattached: Can't Hear Line Count: 1513 OOC:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 63 Health: 124/460 Control Limit: 500
He was beginning to think she was some form of pacifist.
The way she seemed to hesitate, the way she fought so passively, running and or countering. She seemed very built for a support role, and that toughness would certainly work in her favor. However, there was also the fact that the blood that freely leaked from his wound seemed to bother her. Whether it was because she was worried for her future teammate or not, he wouldn't know, but it was clear as day she had no real place on the battle field.
He wondered how this became her life choice.
Even standing across from him, weapons at the ready she seemed ill fit for this life style. Her own blood covered herself! Draping across her like some twisted modern art painting. Yet, despite this fact, she still seemed vulnerable and scared.
It was weird.
Once more the warrior found himself thinking her timid and uncertain. Once more, his own brain couldn't think of her as a fighter. It was weird. He knew it to be wrong, he knew that idea was false! He had seen firsthand her capability of turning his own attacks against him. He had witnessed personally her dodging around like she stood on ice, and him sand. He still felt the sting of her blade having been buried in his shoulder! He knew she was more than she was letting on.
Yet for some reason, his gut was telling him she was not meant to be fighting against him. Not really meant to be here in the practically one sided war. It was messing with him something fierce, because his mind was telling him to go, she was an opponent, but the one thing that acted as his sort of sixth sense was telling him to lighten up and not go all out.
This resulted in an interesting occurrence.
The harmony in which his body normally acted upon was broken. Snapped like a pretzel in hand. It was almost weird watching the world at this point. His mind was processing information like crazy, but his body simply had no desire to move anymore. He was basically frozen in place, incapable of movement.
It wasn't that he wasn't able to move actually, more along the lines of the temporarily broken synergy between his mind and body cause him to lock up, as his body raced towards processing the new thought process. It was no long win, attack win. It was now, more along the lines of 'What should I do?'
Which, of course, is a bad thing to have happen on the battlefield.
The freeze up cost him, dearly actually. Her blade flashed forward with a stunning accuracy, piercing the upper portion of his leg, causing him to collapse from the shock of having a blade enter his leg. This time, he was prepared for the surprise, and viciously stomped it down as he seemed to fall in slow motion, to his mind at least.
In that moment though, he found himself incredibly grateful for the surprise the break in the link between his mind and body caused. For, as he was falling, he witnessed her second blade fly just shy of its mark, lightly scratching his cheek as it passed by, causing it to let loose a small amount of blood, falling with a sort of waterfall style effect.
As his back hit the ground with a dull thud, he stared up at the canopy, lifting his good arm to hold up a single finger, pointed right at the sky. It was completely reflex, he didn't even mean to do it, but he couldn't help it. Back home, this was how one asked for a moment. A breather if you will. It was out of respect for the fact that people are still learning their limits, even as they push them. Yes, pushing past your limits is good, but sometimes you can push yourself too far. One needed to know when this was occurring, so this method was encouraged during friendly spars.
The fight with Acel might not have been too friendly, but in the end of the day it was supposed to be a friendly spar, just like this one was. Yes, there was a prize at the end, but this was mostly just a measuring stick. See how you fared against others on the same rank as you. He imagined it was also designed to breed rivalries, because nothing pushing you further than having a reason to fight and a rival.
So yes, he exercised a right he hadn't needed to use in a very long time, given that it was usually the other person who was lying flat on the ground. He hoped she would understand its meaning and grant him the moment he needed, but if not he would understand. In a fight, one had to utilize everything they could.
He guessed though, that Sarah could use a breather as well, so even if she didn't understand his gesture, she would take advantage of the moment to rest.
Less than two brief moments later, Dal'Mori was rising to his feet. It seemed like way too short a period of time to rest, and at the same time way too long. Every moment to rest for yourself, was one your opponent got as well, but he needed that moment, and he didn't regret taking it. This was, after all, supposed to be friendly. No need to push yourself to ridiculous extents for something that's supposed to be friendly.
He ignored the part of his brain that pulled that stupid grinning face forward once more.
He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, enjoying the almost completely cloudless blue that bathed the area he was looking in, broken only by the natural beauty of leaves and branches. He turned his gaze back towards Sarah, and offered her a small smile. He couldn't help himself. She may have gotten on his nerves early on in the fight, but since then has proven to be one hell of a fighter. She deserved something, and since he could offer her no words, he offered her a gift none other had gotten since that terrible day.
A smile. It was small, barely perceivable, but true all the same. It softened his features in a way none would have imagined such a hardened face looking. He almost looked approachable in a friendly way.
He took one more breath and shifted into his fighting stance, offering her a short nod of both gratitude and notice. Gratitude for her patience, and notice of his imminent attack. It was the least he could go.
Ignoring the soreness that was currently growing in his arms and legs, he shot forward like he had practiced dozens of times, slowly his mind and body linking back up. She may not be meant for this style of life, but she had chosen it, and it would do no good to treat her any different. She was in for a world of hell ahead of her, and he felt some need to protect her from that.
So he did it the only way he knew how...
Expose her to the reality that was the life she chose.
With that thought in mind, everything seemed to click together once more, his slightly sloppy movement turned pristine, and he snapped forward in the time it would take one to make the noise. His eyes locked onto hers as he closed the distance, utilizing whatever tree or branch he might have to in order to do so.
His body moved like the world around him was placed around them in order to assist him in his pursuit. Once he was within distance, one of his tucked in arms shot out like a snake bite, trying to simply land a blow, not aiming at any one place in particular. That's what he had been doing these past few times, and it wasn't working.
So now, he chose to go with just doing damage to her. He might not succeed because of her ridiculous defense, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. This was made all the evident when his next fist shot out mere moment after his last attack was thrown, literally shooting out just as he began pulling back the second attack, his body twisting just enough to put force behind the blow, but not enough to throw himself off balance, giving her the chance to do more of her ridiculous acrobatics.
He would be ready for her dodgy nature this time.
Quote:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 67 Health: 280/420 Control Limit: 532
Skill: 50 [--] Strength: 48 [50] Defense: 35 [--]
Quote:
Tactical Advantages
Power House - Level 2 - Every time you deal damage to a foe, they lose 4 Defense for the duration of the fight.
Sarah felt her stomach clench as she felt the blade sink into Dal's leg. Throwing the knife and it hitting it's mark was completely different than actually stabbing it into the flesh itself. She could almost feel it through the knife as it sunk into his leg. She was glad she let go before any blood actually got onto her hands. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep the contents of her stomach down. It was hard enough already. She wondered if it bothered Dal at all with the blood he caused her to spill. But she was quick to answer that wonder with a no. He has fought real fights. She could tell. Nothing was shaking him. And he was use to seeing his own blood, he seemed surprised that she hit him, but the blood didn't bother him, nor the removal of the knife. She could never hope to be an equal to him, or anyone else in the building.
She watched as the knife missed it's target, just giving a very shallow cut on Dal's cheek, but nothing like the knife to the leg. That small cut wouldn't slow him down. She readied herself for his next attack, but was only surprised when he fell to the ground and held up a finger to signal her to wait. She knelt there, watching him as he just seemed to stare into space. She couldn't help but look up at the canopy of trees, seeing the different shades of green up in them. Did she do something to cause him to pause in their battle? She wasn't sure what she could have done though. Her breathing had become heavy but those few moments let her calm it though, her breathing now slow instead of quick. It also helped her calm her stomach, trying to get the thought of the blade in flesh out of her head. She wasn't suited for this. She knew that, they all told her she wasn't. But she had to be here, she needed to be here. She had to make up for the ignorance she committed. It caused a life and she needed to make up for it by saving them. She may be from a higher class, but she didn't want to give up, not when she came so far. Not when she put so many hours into this, so many hours of training to just give up? She wasn't that kind of person. She wouldn't be.
She saw Dal slowly raise from his spot, giving her yet another surprise. He smiled at her. It wasn't some twisted smile of evil like she had envisioned before, nor was it a cruel one. It was an actual kind one that made him look so much nicer, one would even say handsome. Sure stone faces could be attractive, but it's the evidence of feeling that really made someone attractive. Princess and Psycho man, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! The guard started singing, making Sarah snap out of her surprised state into utter shock. What in the world? No way, she wasn't falling for Dal. She was just stating that the smile made him look better, that's all. Honestly, the guard should know better, he was part of her, he should know everything.
Sarah watched Dal closely as he prepared himself to attack, standing ready, shaking the song out of her head. Honestly, what a ridiculous song to sing in the middle of battle. She would need to have a talk with the guard about proper battling. Perhaps because of this he lost his battle to her. Say that again you snotty princess! The guard demanded, sounding insulted by the very thought. She couldn't help but smile at the fact she was able to get to him again. The smile did go to Dal as well. While he was a mystery still to her, she now knew she had misjudged him. He didn't hate her, why would someone who hated another, smile at them. No, it wasn't hate. It was something else and perhaps she would find out, some day. She hoped anyways, she would need to first be able to talk to people.
Sarah watched as Dal quickly shortened the distance between them, dodging to the side from the first hit. She could see the second attack coming, she quickly moved, spinning as she went till she was directly behind Dal now, facing his back. She snapped her fingers before placing both her hands on his back, the knives now coming toward Dal head on toward his mid-section once again, planning to pierce through his body to get to their summoner.
۩…………………………………………………………………۩
Outfit:Outfit Headphones: Unattached: Can't Hear Line Count: 1755 OOC:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 63 Health: 124/460 Control Limit: 500
It wasn't quite enough to completely destroy his focus, but it was present and persistent. She had managed to hit two very active parts of his body, showing an impressive knowledge of anatomy, and practically pinpoint accuracy. Normally, wounds were easy to ignore for the experienced practitioner of combat. However, he was still on the move, pushing his wounded limbs to their maximum capable ability, all while ignoring the bleeding wound.
He felt a vague gratefulness to the woman who had made him this outfit, it was not staining. His armor might have to be cleaned up, but his clothing was not absorbing any of the blood.
It was yet another impressive showing of the magic of these people.
Either way, he noticed a few things in his constant pursuit of his opponent. The first of which being the pain that was slowly becoming harder and harder to ignore the more the fight went on. Too much longer and he might actually start losing use of those limbs.
The second was something was distracting her. It was brief, but for one moment she was not paying attention to combat. He wondered if perhaps she was having some problems with her core? It was a possibility. If that was the case, it would mean that Dal'Mori was actually very lucky with his level of control over the beastie, and that Kadiante was not even the slightest bit as weak as he thought. He shook off that thought quickly, since apparently that powerful old man would step in and take care of it, and since he hadn't showed up, he could only imagine she was fine.
He spent one moment longer wondering what had distracted her, but then brushed it aside when he saw her smile.
He knew, in that moment, they were on the same wavelength. She was proud of her attack. The pure determination in her gaze set her apart, much like Acel. She was ready and willing to pay the cost for whatever it was that drove her, and in these moments she came to realize that might include doing things she wasn't okay with.
How was he able to tell this?
Simply put, it radiated from her in her movement. Where before she seemed desperate, she now seemed driven and determined. Her movements so confident, so competent, he could only assume that finally she was going all out, because now she found her reason too.
He was amazed to have witnessed this metamorphosis.
It both awed and inspired him.
In this period of time she dodged both of his attacks. In the time it took for him to feel pleased with the idea he might have somehow helped her grow as a fighter, something he would have been able to do twice today, she was behind him.
The confusion cleared up rapidly as he saw the two blades coming at him, ready to impale him.
He would have laughed at his idea if he wasn't busy pulling it off.
He decided, on the fly, that he would show her she wasn't the only one who could move like that. Thus, he blurred into motion, leaping into the air with a powerful thrust of his legs, his body lifting up high enough for him to reach the think branch right above him. From there he grabbed on, and with a quick backwards jerk of his legs, he let go and landed on the ground right behind her.
Now, an ordinary gentleman might have found it a bit difficult to attack an opponent from behind, let alone a woman. However, Dal'Mori was not an ordinary gentleman. He grew in an environment that nurtured the idea 'Win at any cost.'
So, it was not really a surprise when he blurred into motion moments after landing, attempting to sweep her legs out from underneath her. If she fell, he would plant his fist firmly in her chest, a solid combo blow, designed to build momentum. Something, by the way, this versatile warrior was very good at.
If the sweep of his legs wasn't enough to knock her feet out from underneath her, his next attack would instead be aimed at her center mass, giving him a very wide area to strike should the attack land.
Like the past few times, if his attacks missed, he would stick to Sarah like glue.
Quote:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 67 Health: 280/420 Control Limit: 532
Skill: 50 [--] Strength: 48 [50] Defense: 35 [--]
Quote:
Tactical Advantages
Power House - Level 2 - Every time you deal damage to a foe, they lose 4 Defense for the duration of the fight.
Defeat. It wasn't something Sarah was foreign to. She knew it all to well many many times. While she never really was truly defeated in battle. She knew it from her every day life, defeat came at every turn when she tried to be part of her family. But all of it just involved her lose of hearing. Music was hard to be a part of when you couldn't hear it. Only feel it. And just like how she felt, it was an odd sensation. This was also an odd sensation. She only hoped that this defeat didn't determine her future as a baiter. If that was so, she had no hope in being helpful to them.
She watched as her knives came at her. She was quick to turn her hands since the knives were coming at her point first, her fingers sliding along the knives until they went into the small circles at the end of the handles, making them spin before grabbing them. Once she had grabbed them, she looked up to try and follow Dal when he had jumped up to dodge her attack. She turned around but she didn't get far, feeling her legs disappear from under her. She watched with wide eyes as Dal's fist came toward her, but she could only give him a small smile, as if to tell him that it was okay. She felt the pain as the first came to her chest, it bloomed from one spot and spread as the rib he had damaged at the beginning of the battle finally gave. Pain was soon coming from multiple places in her body. She lost her breath, soon losing consciousness. Though that didn't stop her body.
Her body was still moving, the force making her fly away from Dal. With her already falling, it was just relocating her now. Her body tumbled on the ground, her throwing knives falling from her limp arms not too far from her. Her body was soon still a few feet away from Dal, her pale, bloodied face now covered behind her hair, the broken port now slightly visible through the strands of dark brown. Her headphones laying not to far from her, having fallen off her neck through the tumble, no wire to keep it on her. Under skin, the broken rib had stabbed into her muscles, causing internal bleeding unknown to anyone that was trained to spot it. A few bruises would bloom under the stained blue shirt on her chest and mid-section.
Perhaps two moments passed before a large elevator opened, revealing doctors and nurses, rushing quickly forward with a stretcher. A few male nurses lifted Sarah, one female nurse with a few synergies in hand began to administer them into Sarah. “Keep a good amount on hand, the general anesthesia won't stay in her for long and we need to get the ports removed from her head. Last thing we need is to have another broken rib happen.” One doctor said, moving to the side of Sarah when she was lifted onto the stretcher, examining the side of her head where the broken port had pierced her head. Another nurse came to the other side and inserted a blood bag into her arm. He looked back and nodded at Dal. “Congratulations on winning sir.” He said before following the stretcher onto the elevator. The doctor meant it, while he wished the male fighter had at least left Sarah's ports alone, that alone would take almost thirty minutes to pull all the pieces out, then the risk of her waking up in the middle of it and punching them in fear was also there. She would be a lot stronger than them, possibly causing a few broken bones on accident in her fit of trying to get away from them through the haze of medication they would need put into her.
They could only give her a little of the healing medicine so she didn't accidentally heal around the bits of port, sealing them under her skin and it would a guessing game where those bits would be. So they had to keep her wounded just a little longer so they could help her get them all out of her. He knew a nurse or two would help the male warrior, but they needed a bigger team for the defeated. Though he was sure this small girl would be the only one that would need surgery ever after a fight. It was his first time to have to do surgury after a fight on a baiter, specially when it was something they already had surgery for. This was going to be extremely difficult.
۩…………………………………………………………………۩
Outfit:Outfit Headphones: Unattached: Can't Hear Line Count: 1917 OOC:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 63 Health: 124/460 Control Limit: 500
35 - 23 = 12 (12 - 100 = 88 - 15) 75% Chance It seemed that Fae didn't particularly mind the little game, as they let out a small chuckle at the proposition. Akio watched Fae sheath their sword, switching the hand it was in. He kept his eyes on the opponent, tilting his head slightly to the right, the corner of his lips turned up in amusement. However, this smirk fell fast when Fae outright ignored him, choosing to open a damned letter rather than answering him. Akio began to pace, watching his opponent open the rather fancy looking card. He didn't even know why that aggravated him so much, but it did. Akio lifted his left hand to check his watch, tapping it lightly to display the time. The tournament had began at about one, while now it was a couple hours later at 3. With a scowl on his face, he looked back up to the white haired .... fighter in front of him. Squinting his eyes a bit, he finally stopped to take a look at her. They were thin and agile, packed muscles wrapping their thin frame, and long white hair atop their head. As Akio watched, their expression, or what he could see of it, went from a rather blank one, to hints of anger. Granted, it was hard to tell under their mask, but it was obvious with the change of body language and the way she tossed the card off to the side.
Akio continued to pace the building, his eyes having changed from the rather amused glint to a frustrated anger, as he listened to the dumb requirements to the game he proposed. He didn't know why he was so upset about being ignored, but he was. It was disrespectful, annoying, boring... All of the above. Just something about it made him aggravated. However, this misplaced anger quickly dissipated when they removed the mask. He stopped pacing and stared, taking in the feminine features of Fae, and feeling the waves of bloodlust. If it weren't for the fact that Akio already knew how Baitrs lived their lives, and had already come to terms with the fact that Fae was thirsty, he would have felt a blow of crippling fear. Perhaps one strong enough to bring him down to his knees. He feared this woman earlier because of his knowledge that he wouldn't win combined with the bloodlust he already felt from her from when he was close to her. Thinking about it now, he had been stupid. The smirk reappeared on his face, but this time he shook his head with the idea that he had feared that small amount coming out of her. How ... How stupid of him! of course there was something way worse under it all!
Akio let out a chuckle, covering his eyes with his hand which pushed his glasses up, placing his thumb and middle finger on either temple as he continued to shake his head. How dumb. And there were people stronger than this person, stronger than him, stronger than his grandmother. She had told him herself... They could not die. He began to laugh, slow and steady, which built up to a full, yet oddly silent laugh which shook his shoulders. It baffled him that all of that bothered him. Instead of fear, something else grew in his chest as he laughed. Something else much more interesting than fear. Determination and desire. Determination to get stronger, and desire to see this person fail. So perfect in their fighting, so excellent in their graceful footwork. Akio swore to himself, right then, that he would see this person fail, even if it was the last thing he saw.
When he stopped laughing, Akio raised his head up slowly to let his dark eyes meet back up with Fae's, his eyes so full of a strange light and a smirk planted firmly on his face. This was right when he saw the two daggers fly towards him, both flying directly towards his chest. Swiftly, Akio drew his sword with his left hand and deflected both knives, sending one into the air, and the other into the roof at his feet. "Miryoku-tekina 〜 !" He said, sounding oh so pleased with the developments, drawing out some of the syllables longer than what was needed. Finally, they were getting somewhere. "Hai, hai, I can agree to those terms." Akio shrugged, lifting his hands so that they were palm up. As he let out another chuckle, the knife he had sent flying landed back into his right hand, and he allowed his had to close around the hilt. "Let the battle of wits... begin!" He said, rather over dramatically as he took another chance to toss the knife.
This, so it seemed, was going to be an interesting day.
Lines: 1042/125 Ooc: I actually assumed that you weren't posting because holidays. >< It's alright, dear.
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 34 Health: 460/460 Control Limit: 268
Fae watched his opponent with renewed vigor. The battle was definitely entering into round two. The fatigue was still within his body, but his mind was renewed. He suspected that Akio was not much different. The battle had been long and drawn out, but it was still far from over. A thin smile parted his lips beneath the mask. This time Fae did not stand around waiting for the knife to reach him, but instead shot forward towards Akio. As the knife neared Fae's head he once again reached his right hand out and snatched the knife from the air without worry and continued to follow the path that Akio had taken previously in almost the same exact manner if not a bit more quickly as the path was already tested. “Then, Word Master, please test your limits.” Fae cooed almost a bit too intimately than was really required.
As Fae drew closer he spun the throwing knife in his hand so that the blade was face down. He was now only two steps away from Akio with his next step he brought the knife up in a long sweeping arc so that the blade slash across his opponents chest from his left hip all the way to his chest. Once the strike was through Fae would use the momentum of the strike to spin the blade in his palm so the blade was now facing up. If Akio managed to dodge the attack Fae would throw the blade towards his fleeing opponent before drawing one of the four from his right thigh. However if Akio did not manage to dodge the attack Fae would send another sweeping slash across his opponents chest. These attacks were still not life threatening but a few more centimeters in either direction and they would be. Even though the game had changed there was no need to end it quickly, right? It was still a game after all.
▽▽▽Lines : 1078
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 42 Health: 400/400 Control Limit: 340
Skill: 30 [36] Strength: 30 [35] Defense: 25 [30]
Tactical Advantages
One Person Army: You believe the only benefit of the A.I. Cores is to supplement your body with additional power. You abhor summoning their physical forms. While fighting without summoning an A.I. Core, you gain an additional +5 to all stats. However, if you do summon an A.I. core, you will receive a -10 to all stats instead.
35 - 23 = 12 (12 - 100 = 88 - 15) 75% Chance 150 - 66 = 84 Just as he thought, his opponent dashed forward, catching the dagger mid flight as it soared towards her. This had stopped being rather impressive to him, so instead he kept his eyes on the prize. When she cooed at him, another amused smirk spread across his face. 'words master. I like that.' he thought, watching the fighter as she dashed forward and slashed upwards. Akio jumped backwards, launching himself into a back handspring which was faster and more calculated than his previous lazy one. Perhaps it was because he was interested?
However, he miscalculated a step, or his timing, and landed with a knife in his shoulder. With his already heavy momentum, this caused him to continue back falling onto his back on the ground. Of course, that was when exactly he had thought of a riddle, so his arm shot up, index finger pointing to the sky. "I have keys, but no locks." He began, starting to lift himself up from the ruined floor. He could feel the blood already oozing from the wound, and he placed a hand over it to help with the bleeding. He let out a gasp, looking back up towards Fae. "I have a space, but no room. You can enter, but cannot go outside." Akio pulled the knife from where it had hit him, moving slowly until the blade was out of his skin, then slashing down so the blood would splash off in an arc. "What am I?" The pain was nothing like he had felt before. It hurt, but he had felt worse, if he was going to be honest. That didn't stop the pain from being distracting, though. He needed to focus on the battle and the riddles, knowing that another riddle would be shot back at him at any moment.
Akio tilted his head, tossing the dagger. This time, however, it wasn't an attack. He dashed forward, drawing his weapon only moments before he needed to, drawing it out in an upward strike against his opponents chest, the blade possibly drawing across the torso towards the neck. He kept moving, keeping his mind off the pain for now. He knew what he needed to do, and that was keep his focus.
Lines: 1122/125 Ooc: Finally! A hit! x3
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 34 Health: 376/460 Control Limit: 268
A sigh escaped Fae's lips as the throwing knife found it's mark in Akio's shoulder, and with the sight of freshly spilled blood the need to see more rose up within him. Even the smell of iron hitting the hair caused his lips to dry and his heart to quicken. It was as if Fae was a shark and someone had just thrown chum in the water. Fae needed settled in and assert control, but it was like attempting to control the flow of an ocean in the middle of a storm. That was what the mask was for. Not only was it currently hiding the rather excited smile and twisted notion of Fae licking his lips at the site of freshly spilled blood, but it allowed him to assert a bit of control over the blood thirst will and focus on the actual task at hand, The Riddle.
When Akio spoke Fae mouthed the words along with him. It was how Fae was taught to memorize certain phrases when multitasking. One would be surprised how often such a technique came in handy. It was still a fight after all, meaning that not all his attention could be focused on simply solving the riddle. Each new sentence would now be engraved in Faelan's mind and allow him to build a construct around the ideas, and still manage to work out a counter attack if one was needed. He quickly admitted that this was much harder than he would have expected. Faelan was still ignorant to much of the outside world, but there was the countless ruins Fae was allowed to explore. Many of them held riddle books that he would often browse through to pass the time. It was obvious though that Akio was a critical thinker where Faelan often times relied upon instinct instead of thought, and that had definitely given Akio the upper hand in this situation. It was an interesting way to turn one's natural disadvantage of over thinking things around, but Fae suspected that Akio was doing this as a way to test him rather than win. Either way Fae didn't have much time to really think up an answer as his opponent rushed in the moment the riddle was given. It was the smart move, and if the opponent was anyone other than battle tested they would more than likely have cracked under the pressure and simply moved to attack or counter. Fae, however, did not move a single inch and instead locked eyes with Akio as he thought of the answer to the riddle. It wasn't that Fae was ignoring Akio's attack but more that he had to seriously think of the answer.
Just as Akio reached for his blade that Fae finally recalled what the answer to the riddle was. It was one he had read before. Fae quickly tossed the throwing knife in his right over into his left before sending out his right hand into a quick palm. The palm wasn't aimed for Akio, but instead its target was the hilt of Akio's sword. It wouldn't do any harm to his opponent, but it would successfully stop him from drawing the blade any further from the sheath. Fae did not counter attack right away and instead decided to answer the riddle. “A Keyboard.” Fae's voice was that of indifference and being his answer was given there was no need to hold back anymore. Fae lifted up his left hand and drew it back so that the knife's blade was facing his opponent and the hilt was pressing up against Fae's chest. With a quick thrust he aimed the tip of the blade towards Akio's chest. If Akio didn't dodge the attack Fae would leave the knife in the wound and pull another knife from his right thigh leaving only one other throwing knife on his person. There was still the hidden short blade, but he would quickly run out of weapons at the rate he was going. However if Akio did manage to dodge the attack Fae would quickly close the distance and sweep low bringing his left hand across his body so that the blade would be aimed to swipe across the mid section of Akio's abdomen. After each attack Fae would back up and put a few paces between him and his opponent before cooling calling out, “Next.”
▽▽▽Lines : 1198
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 42 Health: 400/400 Control Limit: 340
Skill: 30 [36] Strength: 30 [35] Defense: 25 [30]
Tactical Advantages
One Person Army: You believe the only benefit of the A.I. Cores is to supplement your body with additional power. You abhor summoning their physical forms. While fighting without summoning an A.I. Core, you gain an additional +5 to all stats. However, if you do summon an A.I. core, you will receive a -10 to all stats instead.
Ominous Noodles
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:10 am
Dal'Mori Cestrol Menne
Surprise.
Total shock even.
These were what was going through his mind right now as he watched her decent into unconsciousness.
He literally just frozen up in shock at the sight. It was such a surprise to him, so out of the blue. he simply had no idea what to do with the new information. This whole time it had seemed like she was operating on a different level than he did, dodging him so effortlessly, seemingly only letting him hit her, running away as if to ambush him. Ever since that ridiculous head-butt she started things with, he had assumed she was just playing with him.
Now? Now he wasn't so sure. Now he felt like a pile of something better left unsaid. As he watched her still form, having finally come to a strop just a few steps away, he couldn't help the guilt welling up inside of him like a overflowing pot, boiling it's water over the side. He waited, his surprise birthing inaction, for her to rise to her feet and reveal it to be the joke it was.
Surely this wasn't it? He had landed much harder blows earlier on in the fight and she took them with only mild issue! He literally blasted her face open with one of his power attacks, and something equal to an average blow was enough to drop her? Either he had severely overestimated her defensive capabilities, or had utterly underestimated his new strength.
This was all the thought he was able to get out before the healers came rushing in, rebooting his brain as the fact solidified in his mind. He had won. He had managed to beat someone he felt was leagues above him in skill and durability. This fact was bitter sweet. On the one hand he was happy he had managed to win, success almost never failed to bring a brief feeling of euphoria for this warrior.
However, this euphoria was stained by the fact that he had gone all out against someone who was clearly not completely meant for this life, let alone trained enough to earnestly stand toe to toe with him. Now her desperation made sense, she was terrified of him! He was coming at her like a raging bull as far as she must have been concerned! He felt awful as the healers came in, muttering their ridiculous mumbo jumbo, the only thing he managed to pick out of what they said was that she had broken ribs.
Once more he felt guilt froth at the surface, liking the edges of his conscious mind like flames would the edges of a piece of paper. If left too long they would slowly consume that which it was trying to eat.
A look flashed across his face though, as he recalled a detail that had been momentarily lost on him in his surprise.
She had smiled.
As his fist landed, and she was facing the darkness of unconsciousness, she offered him a smile, as if to tell him everything was okay. Once more that stupid grinning face entered his mind, his mind now flipping between the two images as they fought for dominance in his mind. He couldn't understand it. People didn't usually hold it against him when he won, that was true, but they never smiled at him as he landed the last blow.
The last two fights? Both his opponents granted him a smile, or in the farmers case a dumb grin, as his fist planted itself firmly on their body, sending them into the loser circle, and removing them from the world of the awake. It was very confusing. It was very out of place. Yet, he couldn't deny that he felt something at those smiles. A kindling of a flame that once resided within this currently hollow shell of the warrior he once was.
He allowed the feeling to leak away as he watched them take care of Sarah, attempting to undo the damage he had done. He felt a brief flash of anger come across his face at the idea that he was being congratulated due to his victory, which once more took a massive toll on his opponent. The idea of fighting another Baiter, even for such an interesting prize, was not one he wanted to contemplate anymore. He enjoyed sparring, which he would happily take part in hence forth, but the idea of inflicting this style of harm on yet another person who was meant to be his future comrade?
It did not sit well with the man, even in the twisted state of mind he was in.
So, he chose to ignore the person who congratulated him, and instead took one more moment to enjoy the nature based area he was in. This would probably be the last time he felt relaxed enough in a forest to enjoy it, so he would take advantage of this moment. The forest was his home for as long as he was alive, and now he had to leave it behind. It was a price he was willing to pay, but he wanted to enjoy this place one last time.
Once he was finished thoroughly taking in the environment, he started to walk towards the exit, his mind coming up with a way to make the next round of this tournament, the final round, interesting. Or, he supposed, a better term would be, shorter. He didn't want to go that deep into the fight, and even if he had to go against his normal style of doing things to ensure that no such harm on that level befell even one more of his future pawns... Er... Comrades, through his hand again.
A short flash of light blinked into existence right over his eye, causing him to turn and look. Shiny things in the forest? The was not normal.
His eyes immediately locked onto the daggers she used in this battle were laying on the ground just nearby. A small part of him felt some form of trepidation at picking them up. They were of an art he didn't understand, and magic was not something he really wanted to mess with. However, the idea that they were not with their owner bothered him more.
A weapon without a wielder was a tool whose purpose was unfulfilled.
Another part of him was worried at what might happen to them when the arenas had to go away, would they be reduced into nothing?
Either way, he wouldn't risk Sarah not having her weapons, and made moves towards picking them up. With a cautious motion of his hand, he grabbed them from the ground, holding them a safe distance from his body to ensure they didn't explode or something within his hands. When nothing occurred, he nodded and pulled them a little closer to inspect them as he walked towards the exit.
They were weird, that was for sure. Nol would have never made such a weird looking weapon. It looked like it was designed to fold in on itself, and if any of the number of things that made this happen went wrong, it would end badly for the user. He almost laughed as he imagined exactly what Nol's face would look like if he showed her these, and for one moment he forgot where he was. For one moment an old excitement came forth, and his steps sped up.
Only for reality, and gravity, to come crashing down around him.
As he was moving to go and show them to this person who no longer lived, his mind put him back in his home forest, within which he knew every nook and cranny. This forest? Not so much. So, his new found rush and his inability to maintain balance outside of combat, added into his lack of actual knowledge of this forest, found Dal'Mori falling forward and slamming the top of his head on the elevator door with a resounding thud.
The long time fighter lay on the ground for a moment, in shock for a completely different reason, groaning quietly at the explosion of pain in the back of his mind. As it turns out, if he had waited just one moment longer, he wouldn't have hit his head, for shortly after he landed on the ground, another set of healers showed up. Apparently they decided his wounds this time warranted more than just one person asking him if he was okay.
There was a short conversation, in which Dal'Mori rose to his feet and shook off the lingering effects of his memory's effect on him, as he was explained that they had heard about his brutalization of the wall, and after taking such damage in this fight, they wanted to heal him up. They were adamant that he come with them for care, he would need to be healed up, the damage to his body could have some lingering side effects.
A well placed glare took care of that. After all, he imagined, it had to be tough to look at someone like Dal'Mori, who already looked intimidating, glare at you like he did them. He would heal at his own rate. He glanced down at the weapons in his hands, and faced a conundrum.
Did he go get the weapons he wanted? Or did he take the weapons he had to their original owner? Both ideas had merit, on the one hand he would be better equipping himself for the trials ahead. On the other, he would solidify himself an ally to fight alongside him.
Now he just had to choose.
Quote:
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 67 Health: 322/420 Control Limit: 532
Skill: 50 [--] Strength: 48 [50] Defense: 35 [--]
Quote:
Tactical Advantages
Power House - Level 2 - Every time you deal damage to a foe, they lose 4 Defense for the duration of the fight.
35 - 23 = 12 (12 - 100 = 88 - 15x2) 60% Chance 150 - 66 = 84x2 = 168 The riddle was too easy, of course. Something that he remembered from a book he found in his college's library one day. And, of course, Fae had gotten into the battle by this point, them having seen the sight of blood that leaked out, sticking his shirt to his skin with the thick red liquid. Akio was sure that stirred up something inside the person before him. And of course, on top of that, he was no longer able to successfully dodge the attacks swung at him. With little to no effort, Fae stopped his attack, and pressed another knife into Akio's chest. Again, this tore his shirt, splashing even more blood onto it than before. Then. in quick succession, Fae slashed down the abdomen, further ruining his shirt. This time, Akio wasn't even frustrated that he had been hit twice. Instead, he was irritated that his shirt was ruined. With a sigh, he simply pulled out the knife and lifted his shirt over his head, pulling it off completely. What was the use of wearing it if it was just going to get torn and bloodied anyway. When the shirt cleared his head, he let out a sigh and looked at the opponent once again. "My favorite time is morning, my tone varies and I am warm to the touch." he said, his tone rich with distaste, and frustration. Didn't expect to win in the first place, but one thing he hated was a lack of care, and this person was only that. They really didn't seem to care about anything but the fight, and the blood shed during the fight. "I am a comfort to many, an irritant to some, but no matter what I am, I get the job done. What am I?"
Akio tossed the shirt and dashed back, this time. No, it was a bad idea to get closer to Fae, but he knew it was going to be over soon. A couple more hits and Akio was finished. Knowing this, he grabbed the knife that he had jabbed into the roof of the building, and jumped back up there. He expected her to dodge it, but He had given her the riddle, and he was curious how she would answer. Akio tossed the knife at Fae, running the numbers in his head like every time before. It was what he was good at, and he liked utilizing it in battle, even if it was impractical. He liked riddles, so it was fun to see how others answered them. Curiosity was what carried him through most things.
Lines: 1246/125 Ooc: //
Quote:
B.A.I.T.R Standing: 34 Health: 208/460 Control Limit: 268
