As Victor had taken Alexandria for a flip, she had taken hold of his arm like he had of her, draining him of his Qi. While it had not affected his attack, it had left him nearly devoid of energy. Victor had been there many times, at the cusp of spiritual exhaustion. It wasn't alike the body that would shut down before injury. If all his Qi were to be taken, his body could cease to function. While he could have crushed Alexandria under his fist, it seemed that she could have also beat him with a simple hold. He ability was not of the deadliest, especially against fighters but this time, it seemed that it worked. As he crouched over her, he could see her smile and he knew why. Alexandria had noted his exhaustion and it was harder to hide now as his body trembled in weakness. Victor looked at himself trembled before looking back at Alexandria and smiling. They were close for a moment and Victor was taking longer than usual to move on. He took hold of her arm and gently lifted her to feet. “That's one hell of a technique you have there.” Victor said, smiling. While Victor knew that his strength could have overbearing for her, he felt that she had done quite well. He wouldn't have done anything to truly hurt her no matter if that was his primary specialty. “I guess it's a draw.” Victor said, stretching his arm, looking at Alex. “That means we have to eat lunch together now.” He said, a grin forming at the end. “Are you alright?” he asked, stepping back to take a look at Alexandria top to bottom with a questioning expression. He had been quite violent in some of his throws but the most that he could have induced was a sprained arm.
Post Word Count:311 Total Word Count: 311 Mobility: 22/27 Qi Level: 2 600/4,700 -1000
Alexandria watched as the boy above her trembled with weakness- she had managed to absorb quite a bit of his qi and effectively weakened him. Even through the small shakes and larger tremors he looked back into her olive eyes with a happy-go-lucky smile. He took his time standing over her like a predator guarding its meal. Either because of the weakness he likely felt or for other… reasons. He stretched his hand out towards her, and helped pull her up from the ground. She smiled at his words, “Just another tool.” She said, blowing off the qi absorption technique as anything more.
Alexandria watched as he seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, it was hard to say what crossed his mind. He soon began speak, about their fight and its results. A draw, no one would be forced into the servitude of making lunch every day for the school year- yet. The young fighter began to stretch as his dark eyes met her own. He mentioned getting lunch together and if she was alright- one of his goofy grins crossed his face as he asked about her condition. He took a step back from her to look her over as if to expect she might have a broken bone or blood gushing out. She turned away from him for a moment and just laughed, “I’m fine. A few bruises and perhaps a few pulled muscles won’t kill me. It could have been worse.” Alexandria retorted as she too took a few steps away towards her agile blade that lay on the floor of the dojo. Picking it up she held it up to the light as if to examine it for something before swiftly placing it with in its scabbard. She walked off towards the far wall to retrieve the light white jacket she had left there previously.
A few subtle green discolorations could be seen along her arm, obviously the start of the bruises that would only get worse throughout the day. The young doctor leaned over for a moment to pick the light white jacket from the ground, standing up she merely hung it over her arm. Having decided it would be a bit too warm to wear it right now. Looking back towards Victor she questioned, “You going to be able to stand? I’ll have to stop by the Almedha house to drop off Avarice. And I definitely don’t need you falling while I do it..!”
Victor ha asked Alexandria if she had been hurt but she turned and laughed as if it had been a joke. Victor couldn't help but admire her strength of character. She's tough girl. I'd better not to screw this up. He thought to himself. She took a few steps away to find her rapier. Victor watched her but didn't move from where he was. He had tried to move too quickly and felt a bit nauseous so he stayed still for a moment. It wasn't as if he hadn't been hurt worse but to lose Qi so quickly and without going through the usual channels, was exhausting, almost violating. It set off the flow of his Qi off, not something he was used to but Victor was adept at refocusing his Qi and making it move to his will. After a few moments, he would be just fine. After Alexandria had gone to retrieve her jacket she spoke of having to stop by her dorm house and if he was fit to follow. Victor had his eyes closed when she spoke but opened them to see her getting ready to go. A half smile came from the corner of his mouth. “Are you kidding? I've been through worse.” He said, looking away and placing his hand on the three scars he had under his shirt. Victor then began to walk towards Alexandria, tall and proud until he tried to step up on the higher deck that outlined the dojo. He almost tripped stepping up, misjudging how heavy his foot would feel. Scratching the back of his head he began to walk ahead of Alexandria offering her a glance as he passed by. “Well, let's get going.” He said seriously. Victor went ahead and exited the dojo and passed by one of the bleachers where he had left his gym bag. It had his clean uniform and several other things like toiletries and keys. He turned to wait for Alex and while he waited, Victor secretly performed breathing exercises, helping him regain his Qi flow. By the time they would reach the doors, he would be leaving with nothing but the feeling of a good workout and a good time.
Post Word Count:369 Total Word Count: 680 Mobility: 27/27 Qi Level: 4,700/4,700
The young Austrian girl listened to the fighters tough words about having worse happened but didn’t offer an argument- after all they both had gone through worse. Much worse. She watched as he began to walk towards the doorway, not unlike a peacock, puffing up its feathers to look impressive. He looked almost fully recovered until he had approached the edge of the Dojo, it had a slight lip that made him trip a little bit. The young doctor could only giggle at the boy’s pride and smile about how hard he was trying to seem alright. Recovered. ‘Only a matter of time, Victor. Don’t need to puff up your feathers yet.’ She thought to herself as she followed him out of the Dojo.
Her companion had stopped to pick up his gym bag from a nearby bleacher. He had mentioned something about getting a move on and the young doctor responded with a simple nod of her head. Alexandria led the duo out through a pair of metal doors to the grounds outside the gymnasium. Not much changed from her last pass through as it hadn’t quite been an hour since she arrived. But still the morning breezes where shifting towards the afternoon stillness and warmth. The sun began to tower overhead signaling that noon had arrived- or it would shortly.
Alexandria took the pair back up the winding concrete steps she had traversed previously that morning. It was the main pathway and the one that would take the least amount of time to reach the Almedha House. It wasn’t a long walk down the cobblestone roads, and ancient trees that the tall prestine outer wall of the House of Almedha could be seen.
┗ Titus Fulbright ┓ ► Son of Satan ◄ Exwire || Knight || Berserker || Kurthnaga ||
╔══════════════════════╗
Titus yawned as he reached the Training Hall. Despite his nonchalant exterior, he was being very cautious of where he stepped. If he let his guard down for even a minute, he could easily get his life taken away by one of the hundreds of traps set for unsuspecting Cram school Students. He almost died his during one of the Page exercises, and has since then been more aware of his surroundings. He can sense qi signatures to an extent, so no one is able to sneak up on him unless he's not paying attention; Which is common. The boy heard an arrow being loosed from its string, and sighed. He evaded the arrow by simply ducking his head. Still needing to get to the sparring room, he complained as he walked through the death trap. "Don't they ever take these traps out? They get annoying..." The boy shook his head, as he hopped over a quicksand pit. He had made it to the entrance of the training hall, unscathed and not amused. He opened the doors, and headed toward the sparing room. "Never taking that route here again.. Why'd I even go out there in the first place?" He took off his shoes, blazer, and tie as he stepped onto the sparing room floor. He looked at the teacher in the room, waved, and left his belongings near him. The teacher's brow rose, and his arms were crossed in a serious, and professional-like fashion. Titus walked away, and got one of the wooden blades that was around the same size as Kurikara, if not heavier and longer . He didn't want to reveal his identity quite yet, so a wooden blade was the closest thing he was planning on getting Looking quite serious, the boy began to swing the blade, trying to get accustomed to it. Feeling comfortable, he got one of the practice dummies, and started combos with his blade. It was usually a bunch of slashes followed by a kick, as he liked to incorporate his martial arts into his fighting style. What's the point of learning something if you're not going to use it?
The young man began to increase the speed of his strikes, still hitting the dummy with the same force. The faster he went, the more the sound of the dummy being hit could be heard. He still wasn't hitting it at full speed, or full force just yet. He wanted to get used to his swordplay a little more, before attempting to go "all out". After a number of rapid combos, the boy spun and thrust kicked the bag, causing a dent in the dummy. It fell as well, making Titus scratch his head. "I think that's enough for me until tonight. Eh?" Looking at the sword, he noticed that a few cracks had formed from his combo training. He sighed, but put the sword and dummy back where they belonged. He had built up a sweat, and unbuttoned his collared shirt. He sighed, now in need of a quick shower and change of clothes. He rushed over to his belongings, and left the sparring room after gathering everything. Now jogging to the Kurthnaga house, memories of his dream popped up in his head, including the silver haired woman named Rin. She had said to believe in himself, and to accept himself in full. What did that mean? He wondered what the woman had meant by "accepting himself". Did it have to do with what he saw behind the door? That led to yet another question he had to ask himself. "Who's the guy behind the door... and why did he look like me?..." The young man had frustrated and confused expression on his face, as he increased the pace of his jog back to the Kurthnaga house.
[ENTER] [EXIT]
Wearing: True Cross Uniform Mood: Confused, Frustrated With : No one Post Word Count: 635 Total Word Count:7823 Number of Stat Points: 76 ---> 152 [Double Points] Mobility: 54/55 Qi: 4,800/4,800 OOC:
The sun’s warm glow had begun to fade into darkness, but the heat of summer still hung in the air. The sky was painted dark red and orange, it wouldn’t be long before it faded into the dull green, blue and black of night. Alexandria rested her right palm along the dark leather hilt of her rapier, cautious of what lay around the corners. It had become a habit after she was tall enough to swing a sword. Some had mocked her for such cautious action, especially when prowling around True Cross- they said nothing of concern could break through the barrier. But she had heard the growls and noises around the biology department. It wasn’t terribly far from the room where she took anti-demon pharmacology with Professor Blacklace. Most said the sounds were figments of the imagination- or hungry cats. Alexandria didn’t believe herself to be crazy nor had she seen any cats running around near that area of the school. She brushed off the thoughts of mysteries, and monsters as she approached the staircase that would lead towards the gymnasium.
It was sparsely lit, the warm inviting glow of the light posts diluted by the trees growing around them. But it hadn’t made the path feel like some shady alley, it wasn’t any more spooky to her for she had become accustomed to the sight, ‘So close..’ She thought to herself. As she began her descent down the concrete steps, listening to the crickets chip and bugs buzz around the light in the warm night air. Once reaching the bottom of the steps she took a turn off towards a different path, her course directing her out by the bleachers and off towards an open dusty field. It was the same field that she and Victor had battled Ignazio’s frustrating bird and fiery fiend perhaps only a few months before. The near side of the field had a few buildings, some having been rebuilt after the same battle. One of the buildings lit up the darkness of the extensive field, its lights were faded and the paint chipped off the building. The outside was just a mask for what hid within.
Alexandria walked down a second set of stairs, memories of the ridiculous battle playing in her mind. Perhaps it what the similarities of night air that made the old stories come back like it were yesterday night. A small smile crossing her lips as she remembered the adrenaline and chaos that instigated, her show of agility and Victor’s show of brawn and some tactical planning. She knew many saw him for his instinctual fighting practices that were often a show of insanity- but he had his moments of brilliance. That much could be said for his battle tactics. She opened the door with a simple turn of the handle.
Inside, laid all kinds of contraptions- some considerably more advanced than others. On the far side of the room, a metal fence had been put up and a machine stood on the opposite side of the “lane” created. The machine would shoot balls towards the person on the opposite side not unlike the ones used by tennis players. Once difference was this machine was designed to shoot balls out towards the person at a much higher frequency. Someone could be seen training in the far lane- although the sound was more telling of how much work they were putting in. Alexandria’s olive gaze shifted away from the furry of gun fire from the far end of the building. Her gaze falling on a machine she’d used only once before. It was a simple mask worn over the head to practice combat through simulation. A game of sorts. The “targets” were made of orange light, and would deteriorate into nothingness once a fatal wound was detected. It worked within the limits of a black circle- ten feet in diameter. The man who operated it slumped back into his chair, lazily staring up at the ceiling. Clearly bored out of his mind.
The young Austrian girl approached him, “I’d like to train.” She said softly to him.
A faint smile came to the withered man’s face, his pale eyes glowing with a hint of excitement. ”Think you can do better this time, do you?” The older man asked her. Alexandria offered her own faint smile towards the senior exorcist. She knew he was a pervert and wasn’t below offering low blows, but it wasn’t him she would be fighting, just the intentions he manifested through the simulator. The blonde haired girl nodded her head, “I’m not afraid of what you can dish out. Bring it on~” She answered as she threw her white jacket from her shoulders and towards the wall.
The young doctor took her next steps in a confident stride, towards the small pedestal that held the helmet she was to wear. The older man began to speak as she slipped the device over her head, gently pulling her pony tail out through a hole in the top of helmet. “Quite a bruise you’ve got there.” he said to her, although his words didn’t convey any real emotion. “I’m surprised you noticed. They say you only bother to look at a woman’s a**.” Alexandria commented, her voice was cold and emotionless. She walked into the center of the platform, her right hand gripping Avarice’s hilt as she waited, “Are we going to get this started? Or are you going to gawk all night..?” Alexandria asked the older exorcist. “My, aren’t you feisty tonight.” he commented as his gaze shifted from the young girl towards the computer at the desk, tapping away to begin the simulation.
Orange forms began to form on the far corners of the ring, but only three. Each had a faint qi signature attached to it; extended periods of training were taxing for the practitioner as well. Either that or the man was busy doing other things… Alexandria let out a deep sigh, pushing out the vile thoughts of the man as she focused her breathe. She didn’t have much time to mentally prepare. Slowly the orange figures moved towards her, she shook her head. Feeling the older exorcist was still messing with her.
Alexandria rapidly lifted her right hand up into the air, pulled out the long, thin blade of Avarice. She then lunged toward towards the nearest figure, the blade piercing through the orange light, towards the bottom of the chest- about where one’s liver would be. The figure burst violently into small orange partials before fading away. She turned sharply on her heel, slashing out towards the other two figures. The blade catching the oncoming swings of their weapons, jarring to the wrist, but it halted the attacks. She didn’t wait but a moment before lunging forward towards one of the figures, her blade puncturing through the figure’s stomach. She didn’t wait for the light to begin to dissipate, twisted towards the final figure, striking from a strange angle below it so that her blade would pierce the figure from abdomen towards the neck. As the final figure began to fade, Alexandria stood unmoving, “Was that all..? Your making this too easy. Get your hands out of your pants and give me a real challenge.” Alexandria growled at the man. “Just a warm up my dear. Wouldn’t want to give you too much a challenge.” The man taunted her, as he began to tap away at his keyboard once more, preparing the next 'challenge'.
Alexandria was growing increasingly impatient the longer this practitioner made her wait, tapping her left foot lazily as she loitered near the center of the circle. The older exorcist seemed to take great pleasure in taking his time. A while longer passed, the building only had echoes of the shots fired on the far end of the building and the cannon barrage of balls bouncing around. It was quite amazing they had kept at it so long, seemed like there hadn’t been even a pause.
The young girl shook her head, ‘How long is this going to take?’ She wondered. Her own question was soon answered as she began to pick up on an aura. From the corner of her eye she could see orange particles forming in the air and binding together to form a human figure. The phantom didn’t stand still like before, instead leaping out towards her- it wielded a similar blade to her own. The older exorcist was toying with her, having created a doppelganger to mimic her own abilities. Alexandria quickly dove to her right, rolling on to her feet and quickly lunging for the orange phantom. It simply took a step back, leaning on to its heels for a brief moment as it evaded the strike. The phantom began a slow sober half-moon waltz towards her side. But there was another aura, appearing just behind her. Or so it would seem. She didn’t have time to check her suspicions, deciding instead to act as if she had two adversaries.
“Prêt.. Allez.” Alexandria muttered softly to herself as she lifted the toe of her right boot upwards before leaping towards the first phantom, her blade lunging out towards the orange phantom. The phantom responded by lifting its blade of light to counter to strike- a successful parry. The newly formed phantom was soon approaching. However, the older exorcist didn’t think like a fencer. He hadn’t yet realized the mistake he had made, most certainly having underestimated the prowess of a defensive combat style. Subtle moves, delicate to watch- a major ones as deadly as any other.
Alexandria flicked her wrist away towards the phantom’s chest, the blade quivering with the momentum as she drove it into the orange phantom’s ‘heart’. The phantom began to fade, falling back on to the ground only to disintegrate into nothingness once more. Alexandria swung her right arm behind her, as the second phantom made its approach. It’s blade catching on the girl’s rapier. She twirled away for a brief moment. Keeping the long edges of her sword in connection to that of the phantoms. Taking a few small foot steps towards her left she began to tap along the phantom’s blade edge. Taunting the shade to lunge towards her. A smile crossed her lips, visible to the exorcist who observed as the helmet only covered the upper half of her face. She couldn’t help but wonder if the exorcist would make another mistake. Or if she would be forced to show him how one plays with swords.
The shade, copied the girl’s movements, following the slow pace, cautiously tapping the blade tip. A soft noise broke the young girl’s concentration as she heard her phone vibrating against the concrete floor, she turned her head for only a moment. Her adversary made its move in her lapse of concentration- lunging towards her chest with its blade of pale orange light. Alexandria dropped almost immediately towards the ground; if the shade’s blade were real she may have lost a few hairs. She then lunged upwards, not unlike how she had done in the previous session. Avarice’s thin edge would of punctured numerous vital organs- the stomach, possibly the pancreas and either a lung or heart. The shade burst into nothingness as Alexandria pulled her right arm back towards her body, letting the limb fall limp against her side. With her left hand she pulled the helmet free from her face, holding the device firm as it fell towards her left side.
“You’ll have to work harder than that.” Alexandria commented as she looked over towards the older exorcist, her expression blank and her voice sounding almost a bit bored. “I didn’t even break a sweat!” She said aloud. The man rolled his eyes, slouching back into his chair lazily clapping his hands together to mockingly congratulate her. “Very well done. You’ve progressed to the next level. And you look like you are about done!” He mocked, a smirk crossing his withered face. ‘We will see.’ Alexandria told herself as she placed the helmet on top of a pedestal that stood outside the platform and slid Avarice back into its scabbard. She walked off towards where she had thrown her jacket; it held the phone that had gone off only a few minutes before.
She held her index finger firmly against the black screen as it read for her finger print. Confirming her identity the phone unlocked, a vibrant picture of a sunset- overlooking her home town. The picture had been taken from the top of one of the outer walls of Hohensalzburg Castle. It brought back bitter sweet memories. However, her attention was drawn towards the corner of the phone. Where the icon for messages lay, a small one in its corner. Tapping on the icon she pulled up the menu of names, clicking on the most recent conversation. It was from Victor, ‘What could you need at this hour..?’ Alexandria asked herself as she pulled up their past conversations. The new message simply reading: Need your help. I’ll be at the courtyard. Come quick.
Alexandria pressed the palm of her hand into her temple, her fingers rubbing the nearby skin. Obviously her friend had found himself in quite some trouble to bother contacting her with such a short message- with even more shady reasoning. She could only deduce the boy had injured himself somehow, and likely doing something illegal or involved in something that made him shy away from the likes of a hospital or even the clinic. ‘What the hell did you get yourself into..?’ Alexandria questioned, her left hand dropping to her side once more as she blankly looked upwards towards the ceiling. Taking a deep breathe, she held it for a moment before letting out a loud sigh. Compressing the air out from her lungs.
She leaned down to pick up the jacket before her olive gaze returned to the older exorcist who had been watching her intently like some creepy stalker. “A change of plans. I no longer am in need of your assistance.” Alexandria said with a faint smirk as she stood up, throwing the jacket lazily over her shoulder. Turning away from the old man she didn’t look back, taking a slow even pace towards the door.
