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To respond in kind, and to teach Vahn Kyonuske what depths of his own soul he would have to drudge to find the strength to win at this game; that was what Khai had said.

As Vahn's left hand grew bright with the intense flames that he was summoning, the large man's left hand began to focus a flame around it, as well. Not equalling the intensity and flare of the flame that Vahn was summoning, but still enough to-

"BURN, Vahn Kyonuske!" the large man shouted as Vahn's flaming fist collided with the flame that enveloped his own hand, and he cought Vahn's blow with one arm. "Burn and show me the fire of your soul!"

The force of the impact spun them both around, Vahn's fist held prisoner for a moment as the flames caught up with Vahn and engulfed them both. The large man swung his right hand upwards, as well, and drove a powerful fist into Vahn's stomach as they came around once more, which held so much force behind it that Vahn's body was thrown like a rag-doll through the air as a ball of flame.

The bone-spike claws on the back of the large man's forearm had raked across Vahn's stomach and chest, leaving two long streaks of barely broken skin where they had cut; and droplets of fire rained down upon the ground where Vahn passed overhead as he bled. However, this time his flight took him the other way, straight over the Fang...

As for the large man... he was nowhere to be seen amidst the flames that had followed Vahn in his charge.

From the wall of flames he appeared; stepping out of it as if it were nothing to him but a warm breeze. His clothes were burned, his skin covered in ash, and the slow drip of black blood fell from the fingertips of his left hand as the burned and cracked skin upon the palm of it bled. But he moved as if Vahn had never even touched him; walking to the edge of the flames and reaching his right hand up to the back of his neck, where it gripped to the edge of his now blazing cape and tore it from his shoulders.

"Vahn Kyonuske!"

The flames seemed almost to draw back in fear of his reach as his hand swept to cast the tattered fabric aside.

"Get up! Get up and fight! Gather your strength and fight!"

There, amidst the flame, the man looked what he truly was; a devil.

The man stepped forewards, ignoring the flames that he stepped through as he did. His own sadistic smile grew wider as Vahn's hand touched to the weapon's handle... something he had been told to prevent until the firey kid had proven himself. Though when the old itch starts up again, it is hard not to go ahead and scratch it right away.

"Then show me the power of your inheritance, Vahn Kyonuske..." he said, reaching his right hand across his body to the hilt of a rapier that hung in sheath from his left hip; a sharp contrast to the heavy blade that lay impaled into the ground beside the Fang.

The man kept his hand where it was, at the hilt of the weapon, but not drawing it from the sheath just yet. As Vahn charged forewards he took a few steps of his own; closing the gap even more quickly.

While Vahn's speed of hand and accuracy with the strike were as impeckable as centuries of fighting could have made them, his swordsmanship was still lacking. He swung that rapier like it was a club, and it would do him about as much good to weild it like that.

The man brought his right hand up to meet Vahn's swing, drawing his own rapier from the sheath in the same motion in which he raised it, tip still pointed downwards, against Vahn's oncoming strike. The two blades connected an inch from the guards, ruling out any leverage from the blade and simply making this clash a contest of arm strength... one that Vahn could not win.

The large man continued the upward sweep of his arm, not visibly showing any regard to the resistance that Vahn had to his arm being pushed skywards harmlessly. While at the same time the large man stepped to the side with his left foot.

"Don't make me laugh!"

The final word was announced with an impact as his left fist came careening towards Vahn's right cheekbone.

(( Okay, the placement of the kick confused me a bit. At first I thought it was a low kick to the leg, then for some reason I ended up picturing a higher kick to the chest, probably the 'flat on his back' thing. I think the interpretation I've finally decided upon was that Vahn spun 360* and swung at the back of the leg, calf area... Bah. I hate being unsure, but for some reason the sentence just got me. ))

The large man's fist impacted harshly upon Vahn's right cheekbonee; the tips of the claws upon the back of his hand diggin in slightly into the skin and leaving small gashes across the firey man's face. Another sudden burst of flame erupted in the air beside them as a spray of blood droplets flew from the wound and the claws, and erupted into flame when they met the air.

When Vahn spun wfrom the force of the blow, the large man's right arm dropped to his side with the rapier. His step forewards to punch had staggered his stance slightly, which allowed him enough stability that he only needed to shift his weight onto one leg when Vahn's leg swept around. With his larger body, the weight put onto the leg that Vahn's leg struck kept it rooted firmly in place, despite Vahn's best efforts.

The large man had taken a short step forewards after Vahn's kick had been stopped; turning his right hand a bit so that the blade edge of the rapier he held was facing outwards. He swung upwards quickly with it, aiming to slice through Vahn's left shoulder with the tip of the weapon as he brought it up, but Vahn had already rolled away by the time he swung. He hadn't expected the Kyonuske to be so nimble... it seemed Vahn was adapting quickly to having to change his tactics when an irresistable force met an immovable object.

The large man was already in mid-step when Vahn's defensive roll turned into an attack; the advantage of being mobile, but the disadvantage of not being able to choose the direction of mobility. His right arm was already raised from the failed strike he had just attempted, so bringing his own weapon across was out of the question, at least at this moment. What was left was to evade...

The man's weight was still mostly upon his left foot, and though his right was still in mid-step he shifted it there, anyways. The result was that his right foot came down hard upon the ground, and his left spun about on the heel; causing his body to turn almost 180 degrees to face Vahn as he lunged past. The Fang, however, did not lunge past so peacefully as the man who held it. It held true to its name and bit into the large man's side, just below where the breastplate failed to protect.

"Yes!" the man roared as the blade bit in; shouting enthusiastically, despite his injury, "Survival is nothing if you can't win!"

Yet at the same time that he encouraged Vahn's fury, his own right hand came down hard to drive the end of the rapier's hilt into the back of Vahn's neck.

"..."

The large man said nothing, simply looking down at Vahn as he lie upon the ground at his feet. The rapier was still in hand, though not held to strike, nor even held in a threatening way at all. He was not here to kill Vahn Kyonuske, he was here to test the man and his abilities.

...drops of black blood fell onto the ground beside Vahn. Remnants of that last strike that had cut open the large man's side. Not a fatal wound in the least, but as the adrenaline faded slowly, the sting of the Fang's bite began to work its way into the reality of the large man. He began to feel the pain of his wound, even if it meant little enough to him that he would not even stop to bandage the wound.

"Are you going to sleep forever, Vahn?"

Ferrex Valkova wasn't the only fighter in this strange and odd place. As luck would have it, Ryugi Kazamaru had, yet again, been transported to this realm of mystery.

He looked around and spied Ferrex, not knowing the man's name of course. But one thing Ryugi did know was how to leave this place. The two were supposed to fight, and once the fight was over, they would both be transported back to wherever they came from.

If you're looking to go home, we'll have to fight...