Welcome to Gaia! ::

Marius' eyes flicked to the fires in thought and disappointment before he said, " Then you only have one remaining use." His sword blade slowly tilted so it pointed diagonally down and to the left before he slashed it towards some of the fire between him and the other man as he spoke softly in a confusion of sounds and completed the symbol once more. A shift of ash and dirt was the only warning as the flame was lifted up by an invisible force and flung at the man in a fast crescent of flame and smoke. Regardless of if the man was caught by the attack or not, Marius ran perpendicular of it in the stream to gain better tactical advantage by standing downwind of the man so that smoke would be blown towards him. He would then wait in the water to see the man's reactions or powers.

(Be back shortly.) Marius responded in kind by blocking by running the tip of his blade through the water and moving the blade as near the hilt of the other man's weapon as possible. His eyes were a gentle blue as he stomped his right foot in the water to send up a splash of water to obscure the others vision as he leaned to his left beforesliding his blade towards the tip of the other man's and sending his elbow over the other man's hilt in a shot at his face. He was also gathering his energy for a new magical attack as he watched to see what other tricks might be presented.

With such short notice, Marius had no chance to prepare the spell with a gesture and was forced to simply speak as he spun his sword in a quick circle. The wind created by the blade hardened and formed a shield that lasted through the first four hits before crumbling. The final blade slammed into his torso with a loud clinking sound that sent him sliding back nearly three feet. His left arm covered the cut in his shirt but not the combination of blood and water that dripped into the stream. He stood slowly revealing an armor of ice beneath his shirt that had kept the damage to a deep scratch instead of leaving him disembowled. His eyes were a brilliant blue as he dropped to his knees and pressed his hands into the stream before releasing the spell he'd been drawing energy for. The water in front of him rapidly became ice spreading forward in a blur as he pushed his magic to overtake the other man's position and trap his feet. His right hand still held his sword and whether the man was caught or not he would stand once more with water now streaming from the blade to fall onto the ice where his hands had touched.

Once he saw his opponent trapped, Marius swung his blade forcefully, sending water into the air above his opponent. At first it would seem as though only droplets had been sent flying, but as his hand reached it's peak near the height of his left shoulder, he swung it down again and the water on the blade and in the air crystalised into ice as he called. "Ice slash." His katana was effectively twenty feet long as it slashed down towards his opponents left shoulder in a diagonal slash. Even if the ice was broken the momentum would cause the rest to continue falling though more as a club than a blade.

Marius twisted the hilt of his sword and as he did the ice became water once more and fell away leaving his actual blade free to block the attack in a basic vertical guard. His eyes ceased glowing blue as he did so, once blocked he would slide his sword along the other man's and step forward to lock the blades and attempt to turn it into a contest of strength. After all, his sole purpose in life was to become stronger and fight strong opponents. At least that would be his purpose until the return. He smiled slowly as he attempted to force the man back with brute strength.

Marius did not speak as he focused on pushing though his smile remained in place. He knew instinctively that his power would be limited until he regained what was lost, but he did not remember reasons. His teeth gritted as he exerted himself more and more in an effort to overcome this opponent. It seemed the man may be stronger than him which would be perfect, he laughed as he said at last, " Don't hold back on my account, being beaten by those stronger is the only way I can grow now and until I overcome the strongest opponents they won't speak so show me what you can do." As he spoke he flung his full weight into the blades and his toes dug into the muddy stream bed as he pushed with every last ounce of his strength.

Marius shook his head in disappointment as he began sliding backwards, he was sure there had to be more. He shifted slightly as he was pushed and placed his right shoulder against the back of his blade and shifted his weight slightly to the right to press on the sword as his left hand released it's grip and slid up the back of the blade to rest three inches below his shoulder. "Very well then, you win." he grunted before waiting for another push from his opponent and using the force to shift his stance so that his right side was pushed back even as he allowed his left to twist his blade breaking the lock and hopefully leaving the other man's blade descending to where he had been as he spun so that he stood beside his opponent facing the same direction and yanked his sword down and out aiming the hilt towards the man's wrist. If he missed he would attempt to hip check the man before trying to step on his right foot and then shifting his weight back and away to rotate his body into a slash at the man's knee. It would seem his new focus was in breaking the man down at the joints.

Dawn growled as the man gave up too readily, only to try and attack him once more. This man appeared to be lacking in honor. Ah well, he could deal with that. As he fell forward he smiled, nodding to the man as he spun as well, so he fell sideways instead of the man had predicted. The attack aimed for his wrist went wide as Dawn hit the ground rolling, pulling off to the side where he used his momentum to roll into a crouch, bringing his blade around at the man's head. Though he didn't want to go all out against this kind of opponent, he also had no desire to fight any longer than necessary. He would end this soon, one way or another.....