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 Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:31 pm
“Yet he still reeks of your parenting!” He let out a hardy laugh. Though the boy could not fight, Carl had witnessed a few of their prior exchanges from the background and there was no authority figure a boy could rebel against with such passion other then his father. Though no estimate on the passage of time was given, it was reassuring to know that it had been less then 19 years, assembly far less since he saw no proof of a chibi-Kenta running around, biting ankles.
“Right!” Carl snapped his fingers at the mention of the cameras. “I knew there was a reason I liked them” He shook his head as he laughed at himself. The request for these rings was the first relation he’d had with his old friends in almost literally longer then he could remember, so he had made sure to put the most effort into them that he could manage. The cameras themselves were replicas of Carls ocular sensor, and had tracking abilities far beyond anything these fighters seemed to be able to evade, which would make the watching and, if needed, slow motion instant replay a very enjoyable experience.
“How have the others been? Jade, User, Fierce?” Though the fights were entertaining, he was still more concerned about catching up with his old friend then he was commenting on the skillful execution prominent in many of the combatants’ respective arts.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:47 pm
"I see them about as often as you do..." he said regrettably, keeping his eyes on the screens. "I've my own problems and I can't keep babysitting them. Not like they ever needed me to anyway." He seemed a bit forlorn to admit as much, but he knew it was true. Jade had Deity, User had himself, and Carl never needed them to begin with. Keno was a man who fought and trained, and that was all he was good for; fighting and training.
"They are all more or less happy with their situation, so I can't complain." He shrugs the whole thing off, with little else to really talk about as far as that was concerned. Well all except, "I do wonder honestly when my second niece - or first nephew - will be born though."
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:57 pm
“Well that’s good at least.” Probably not the response Keno had been looking for, but to Carl it had meant that no immense being had come to destroy the planet, or the universe, or their reality. In time if they didn’t show up on their own then Carl would beckon them, but for now it was good to just catch up with Keno, who was by far his oldest friend on this plane.
“Niece, Nephew?” Carl was not aware that Keno had any brothers or sisters to speak of, though it was possible his future wife did and that is what Carl assumed he had meant.
After a moment of watching the still on-going combat, he finally moved back to the topic at hand.
“What do you know of the rest of these fighters? Any that should put on a promising battle?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:46 pm
"Mm." He mere grunted in response. It wasn't that he was bitter or anything necessarily, but it wasn't exactly a positive thought. But hey, that was no reason to ruin the reunion.
"Yeah. I'm not sure if you ever met Satomi or not. She's my sister as much as Jade is, though I see her a hell of a lot less. Ever since she and Taliman got together, she's been spending most of her time on Orion, as far as I know anyway. She had a daughter last year...or maybe the year before, but apparently where she lives, time moves a bit faster than on Earth. Little Princess Ren is 3 or 4 now." He explained it all without expressing much in the way of pleasure of disgust, though there was the noticeable hint of pride in his voice. Despite the fact that he knew relatively nothing about Ren, who spent most of her time on her own planet, he was as fond of her as he imagined most uncles were of their niece.
"It's funny really that I would become so closely connected to the Wesleys through childbirth. Never thought I'd be calling their children 'niece' or 'nephew.' Well..I figured after a while whoever Deity called 'child' I'd call 'family' as well, but never Taliman." He actually laughed at the thought of the Emperor being a father, though he figured all monarchs preferred to have an heir.
"The rest of these fighters?" He gave a low hum as he thought to himself about them, all five of him watching all five first round fights carefully while considering the remaining fighters outside. "Well I'm not nearly as familiar with most of them, but I can say enough about some to give you an idea of what to expect.
"The man with two swords but one arm - Konosuke - is a samurai. He comes from Japan, like me, but from a much earlier time than I. Apparently he's out to get someone and made a deal with a demon to keep him alive long enough to get his revenge.
"We also have a Jedi in our midst apparently by the name of Valin. Apparently his ship crashed and is in disrepair. I don't think he's in much a rush to fix it though anymore. His opponent, I believe, was the mage's tutor at a time. Allegedly he is basically Pith times ten or something being much older and proficient in battle, but I've never seen him fight.
"That red head down there with the fox ears goes by the name of Red. Funny huh? She's got it in for me because I killed her brothers...all ten of them. It was a more of a slaughter actually. They didn't stand a chance. She's a pretty good water mage and has boundless potential, but I try to steer clear of her. She's a real animal when I'm around. Fortunately she has made friends -or whatever she calls it - with User, Valin, and Konosuke since then.
"Kenta is a bit melodramatic, but otherwise he'd make a pretty good fighter with a bit more training. He's too much of a romantic for real life though, it seems.
"Christiania, I call her Chrissy, is the one with the blue hair and the horns. She's a bit of a mage herself and has these very nasty invisible hands that aid her in combat. There are about six of them, and worst of all they can slice through you like a hot knife through butter or crush your skull a moment's notice. She's generally very passive, but she can hold her own.
"The other four I know next to nothing about save their names. You'll just have to watch and see what they can do."
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:20 pm
(( ninja In truth, I have no idea who I’ve met IC hahaha, but Satomi is Syn, right? Where’d she disappear to? ninja ))
Carl nodded to Kenos satisfactory depiction of where his relatives had come from. He too considered Jade… some sort of relative, just as he did the relaxed man beside him. With no true relatives to compare them with, it was difficult to assign them real titles, but family is what they certainly were.
As Keno went on with his descriptions, Carls head moved to see each of the screens. A 1-armed Samurai against a man capable of summoning a war hammer, by the weapons it seemed to be one-sided, but it is rarely the case where weapons trump skill in this sort of competition.
Then to the next screen, a less-then-graceful Jedi up against Ms. Epithanys’ Sensei. That would be a battle to keep track of, though all it really brought to mind was the curious lack of Ms. Epithany herself. He made a mental note to stop in and say Hi the next time she showed her face around Orion.
“Killed her brothers?” Carl replied chuckling. “That doesn’t sound like you at all, Master KenoTao.” He was sure there was some reason, assumably that either they were evil or that he had been evil at the time (and the first seemed far more likely). As he looked at her screens, the woman she faced caught his eye much more quickly then she had. She looked like... an Amazon warrior or something; Should make for quite the cat fight.
Christiania against… some boy. With no energy readings or a description on the boy, Carl had no idea what to expect from this fight.
“Well now, lets see how these fights turn out…”
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:46 pm
The hiss and crackle of static preempted the mages appearence as her trademark spirally vortex came into existence. Stepping into view the green haired woman observed her new found surroundings with a degree of exasperation.
In her absence apparently she had missed an invitation to another tournment. Furthermore it seemed that her husband had some how gotten word of the event and made no attempt to let her know of its existence. Using a discarded invitation and her own mastery of time and space she had somehow found her way to the mysterious locale
"Now where hell..."
Catching sight of two mana signatures she had not seen in what appeared to be a life time she found herself side tracked.
"Oh fancy meeting you two here. Its definately been awhile. Especially you Carl. What have you been up to?"
Before anyone could answer she had already caught view of the monitors and the sprawling banquet.
"Ah I suspect this is your doing...chic."
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:05 pm
“Right on cue.” Carl let off a small applause at the entrance of another good friend. “I didn’t realize I was that good.” Turning around, he raised his right hand in a rather lazy wave, and then beckoned her over. He had a rather light air about him, not the menacing feel that he never seemed able to rid himself of, but a very relaxed one that left the air around him almost ‘fluffy’.
“Welcome Miss Epithany,” It would appear that he had been ill-informed of her marriage. “Oh you know, this and that. A few things that bear discussion, but they can wait until this tournament has come to a close.” He motioned to a spot on the floor between and behind where he and Keno sat, assuming she would conjure her own chair as it was needed.
“I think you may recognize a few more of these fighters then I. To me, they all seem to be new faces.” He turned back around, motioning first to the set of screens staring the man introduced as her master. Just as he’d brought his attention to it, the screen seemed to explode with lightning as two attacks clashed. Much to his own surprise, he found himself nodding in approval. “Very nice….”
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:39 pm
"You're right," Keno answered light heartedly, as though the memory didn't bother him the least. "I wasn't quite myself when I took them out, although they weren't the most noble bunch either. How she had so much affection for them and none for anyone else makes little sense to me." That was about all he could say about Red; that was about all he really knew about her.
It was about at that point that the resident mage made herself known. Inter-dimensional transportation certainly was convenient he had to admit, but he was glad nonetheless that she had arrived. It had been, after all, many months since he had last seen her.
"I'm happy to see you're well, mage," he said in greeting as she took in her surroundings. "Welcome to Tera," he continued as she expressed her satisfaction with the place, "or at least what I want you to see of it. It is a world of will...my will. A gift from Carl some time ago." As far as explanations, it left a lot unsaid, but so what? They had plenty of time to talk so he was in no rush to speak.
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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:22 am
Wrinkling her brow the mage gave the spot offered to her a dubious stare given the lack of seating. Shrugging she made her way over getting a better view of the monitors they were watching.
"Yeah I'll say. Apparently I'm the only one that didn't know of this event."
She was especially exasperated at the notion of both her husband (Whom at least wasn't fighting at the moment), surogate brother both here. To add insult upon injury her resident guest at the Soul Fountain had somehow found her way here.
Crouching at her designated spot the mage once again frowned at the lack of seating. It would have been nice if one of the two "gentlemen" would have offered her their seat. But chivalry was something lost on the crowds she often frequented.
Sighing she began to sift through the small component pouch she carried, and produced a handful of seeds. Quickly drawing a runar symbol on the bare floor she set a number seeds down. Depositing the rest back in her pouch she began to chant a spell. Stepping back she waited as the seeds began to instantly germinate. Within moments the seeds had sprouted into what appeared to be a living wicker chair.
"There we go, the mana flow in this area should keep them subsisted long enough to sustain my weight."
Remembering her company she settled down in her seat.
"Tera? It indeed seems to exist outside of usual temporal strand. I shall have to study the plane. Not very often I get to view pocket dimensions outside of the usual channels. It'll be fun."
Looking past the screens she smiled seeing the rest of the banquet hall as well as a the other constructions.
"I also see your use of matter-energy fragmentation devices. A harsh looking form of transport, but it gets the job done. I assume you've gotten around the inherent flaws. I assume theres been not complaints of missing body parts. Reminds me of the time when a colleague of mine constructed one of those as a project..."
Shaking her head she sighed.
"He had to get a new nose conjured up. Poor fellow."
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:23 pm
”Pocket Dimensions…” Carl thought to himself. ”Is she a UI as well?” Epithany had some how evaded his list of signatures to check for in each reality, but as he scanned his recent memory he realized that it was a valid possibility. After the tournament was over he would have to pay a visit to her place of study, perhaps it would have some research relevant to this… problem that Carl had fallen upon.
“But those are the best kind, my dear!” He commented on her mention of ‘pocket dimensions’, waving his hand gently toward the ceiling. Almost like a plant growing roots, a small chandelier grew down from the ceiling adorn with small wicked candles. With another motion of his hand, the lights in the room dimmed and the candles lit on their own to compensate. Strangest of all, it didn’t seem that Carl had expelled any energy in the process, nor had any been expelled or used by the new fixture (save the very real heat and light coming from the flames).
“You and I shall have much to discuss, Miss Epithany; but for now, let us enjoy the fights!” As he turned back around to the view screens, he paused; looking at his friend Keno he smiled and replied softly in jest.
“Well, mostly your will” The muscles on his left cheek twitched, the only visible indication of a wink given by the human eye hidden somewhere behind his hair.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:21 pm
Keno merely laughed at the mage's query. Perhaps it was her general knowledge of the flows of mana, or her ignorance of his many skills, or his ignorance of her understanding of time/space magic, but to him what seemed so simple was apparently to her more complex to explain.
"Well it did have its kinks to work out, but fortunately I practiced it privately for the Orion Tournament...from which I withdrew." He laughed again at the thought of working so hard on a technique just to remove himself from the tournament he was supposed to introduce it in. "The difficulty however came about because it combines my ki with my aeromancy. If you recall, I could always Disperse and Drift at will, and could carry along anyone in physical contact with me along with no trouble. After some time, I decided it might be convenient to try and contain that ability so that I could transport things other than small objects and myself. The rings that I decided to use seemed to be the better and easier choice."
Looking to Carl, he noted the chandelier that lit up the room. It was a bit of a relief on the eyes - staring at glowing monitors in the dark was never a good idea. Though off set, he made no physical reaction other than intrigue at the choice to use wax candles.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he said to his friend as he flicked his rest and held his left hand out palm up. Summoned to his hand, there appeared a plate of roasted chicken, a warm slice of sourdough bread, and a cool chunk of swiss cheese. "You two are welcome to go out and get some food, just be sure the remaining competitors stay out and lock the door on your way back in. We can't have them gaining the upper hand."
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:31 pm
Observing the spontaneous generation of chandelier overhead the mage smirked.
"Ah...Dimensional attenuation. An impressive skill regardless of the context it is utilized in. My colleagues and myself mainly use it to test out hypotheses as a control without doing anything dangerous to a primary dimension...but I digress."
Returning her attention to Keno she tilted her head an expression of dawning coming over her face.
"Oh yes, I remember that strange form of Geomancy you performed during sparring matches. Aeromancy and ki manipulation would not have been my first thought... "
Nodding as if agreeing with something unsaid she continued with her sentence.
"I had my ideas on what exactly you were doing, but I don't want to bore you with my analysis."
Biting her lower lip, the mage scrunched her nose at the veritable smörgåsbord data all around her. Were her company a group of her fellow mages she would have summoned forth a mana console and immediately been bouncing back different ideas. But this seemed to be hardly the place.
Taking a deep breath she shook her head.
"Auuugh this place is treasure trove that I would love to study..."
Seeing Keno conjure himself a plate she bit her tongue forcing herself to study the monitors.
"Oh yes the tournament...Wait isn't Unks participating. I don't see him on any of the screens..."
The mention of food made her think of the Saiya-jin appetite.
"It seems I side tracked myself on what I originally came here for."
Rising from her seat she bowed to the two men.
"I have a husband to harass, if you pardon me for the moment."
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