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Ryugi's eye caught the pulse of icy energy as the blade sent it through his body and into the legs. Of course, he could feel it too, but he'd gotten a nice close look at the source of her power, and he knew exactly what he was going to do next... It was time to turn up the heat.

Ryugi had been gathering energy up by not expending it from his buffer, and utilizing Ragnarok's energy rather than his own, which meant that he had a rather large amount of fire energy stored within his body as the Coldsnap washed over him. His kick still connected, though not nearly as powerful as he'd originally intended. However, it would still likely do enough damage to knock the wind out of his opponent.

But that was simply a minor detail compared to what happened next. Ryugi was in close quarters with an opponent who had just frozen herself to the ground. She wasn't going anywhere, which meant Ryugi was free to unleash his attack without much fear of her moving out of the way.

With a mighty burst, Ryugi's body erupted into a firestorm as the ice that held him in place was shattered by the intense outward force of the energy. However, as soon as the blast occurred, Ryugi shot forward, his left hand pinning Alexa's blade to her chest as the collision would tear Alexa from her icy foothold and likely send the both of them careening down the field, where Ryugi would aim to plant Alexa firmly into the ground.

Then, he'd press his left hand, and Ragnarok's handle in his right, into her midsection and release her sword, performing a single-handed handspring off of her using his right fist as his left shot down to his left side, gripping the handle of Sol Blade as he let loose a powerful negation with the remaining energy he'd stored up, effectively neutralizing her sword's ability to pull in energy.

After his handspring and negation, Ryugi would twist midair and land about five feet away from her, Ragnarok back on his shoulder as he waited to see what Alexa's reaction would be, ever observant, ever learning. Luckily for her, the heat from Ryugi's flames would not cause serious injury, as it was more used for propulsion and the negation, though it was likely to cause heavy discomfort, especially for one who used ice energy...

The firestorm caught Alexa by complete surprise, the extreme shift in temperature causing more than just an uncomfortable shift. Being her natural 'opposite', Alexa hated fire magic more than anything else. That goes without mentioning the heat issue, seeing as Sol Blade effectively turned off her air conditioning.

Speaking of which:

Anti-Magic was something she's never experienced before. Needless to say, she wasn't in any hurry to try it again. She didn't know the mechanism behind it, but she'd have to wait for the area to saturate with mana or until Ryugi started drawing energy and using abilities again to leech of the after-effects. Whichever came first.

"Uggh!"

While the firestorm softened the holy-ice up a considerably, forcing her legs through her braces was painful endeavor. Wincing, the Paladin was slammed to the ground with considerable force as she was pinned by her own blade.

Winded with a wounded midsection and sore feet, Alexa quickly assessed the situation as she recovered from Ryugi's assault. Quickly rising to her feet, she brought her sword behind her and charged in for another overhead strike.

Or so it seemed.

In reality, Alexa bailed out on the strike, instead moving in to body-check Ryugi in an attempt to knock him over. Despite the strength difference, she had momentum on her side, which should be more than enough leverage to take him down. Unless he made a swing at her with Ragnarok or something, in which case she'd probably take evasive actions appropriately.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Now that they were starting to loosen up a bit, Ryuma and Ra'Fiig were beginning to enjoy the spectacle fully.

"Not bad. The dragon's got some pretty good moves."

"Yeah they're effective, but he doesn't have any style."

"Since when did you care about style? All you do is throw bombs and nets at people."

"Since I'm not the one with magic. And what's wrong with the way I fight?"

Lynn, having significantly less interest in the fight than the menz, tried to steal a glance over Tilly's shoulder when she wasn't looking.

It was time to showcase something completely different. Ryugi watched as Alexa picked herself up and charged towards him, but what he did next would likely dumbfound her completely... As she charged, Ryugi would swing his left hand across in front of him, a thin wall of energy springing up between the both of them before a pulse of energy sent Ryugi jumping up and backwards, his right hand tossing Ragnarok high into the air, the weapon glittering in the sun as it spun.

As Ryugi soared through the air, a flash of light pulsed as his right hand was held out in front, a large white bow of brilliant holy energy forming up in front of it as his left moved, as if to pull the glittering string as white energy formed up around the hand before the energy unleashed in a hail of lighting fast projectiles that would rain down all around Alexa's form, exploding with blinding light... It was possible she would dodge one, but it was unlikely she'd be able to dodge the six blinding arrows that flew towards her from multiple angles...

ADAMANT'S ARROW STORM!!

As the attack finished, Ryugi would land with his right hand up, the bow of light dissipating, its energy being used to replenish some of the stamina lost during its creation...

And then, in a flash, Ryugi dropped his hand, his voice ringing out as the paladin shielded her eyes from the blinding attack.



One might believe that he was calling out to his opponent, challenging her pride or weakness and giving her his position after blinding her, but in truth, it was a distraction to what was really happening. Up above, Ragnarok suddenly stopped spinning, its tip centering on the paladin like a compass needle on true north, before the sword shot towards the ground, spinning around like a sort of drill as white energy flared up around it just before impact...

In that same instant, Ryugi would draw Sol Blade from its sheath and begin to charge directly towards the young woman and his weapon...

Ragnarok slammed into the ground, still burning with white hot energy as Ryugi called out to his foe.



As Ryugi called out, the weapon sitting next to Alexa erupted with a burst of energy, sending a torrent of light high into the air with terrible force, the ground cracking from the power released. Even as the strike finished, Ryugi continued to move in, leaping into the air to follow Alexa into the air, Sol Blade in his right hand...

Truth be told, there was little Ryugi could do. Ice was a frustrating element. It was more solid than energy, and a massive trail of it bearing down on an airborne Ryugi would still do a considerable level of damage. Negation wouldn't do much at this range without expending more energy than Ryugi would really have time for. Thus, Alexa scored her first real hit of the fight...

Ryugi barely had enough time to block against the massive force of the strike to prevent it from hitting his body. Sol Blade clashed against the strike, the transfer of force sending Ryugi plummeting to the ground where he landed on his feet, stunned by the shock before a creeping flow of ice formed up over his body. Oddly enough, Ryugi's clothing was thick and tough, as well as insulated against the cold, his draconic nature resisting temperatures at any extreme anyway. The cold did little damage in and of itself.

For a moment, Ryugi was completely frozen solid. A draconic Popsicle. And then...



The whole mess exploded around him, casting his form across the battle area and rolling across the ground where he lay motionless, only his hair blowing gently in the wind crossing the plains...

As she stood some distance away lightly complimenting Ryugi's skill, something would catch her ears. It wasn't a groan, or a cry of pain. No, it was laughter. Ryugi was laughing as he picked himself off the ground and brushed a hand through his hair, sheathing Sol Blade with the other.

Hahahahahaha! Haaa... You sure do like to underestimate your opponents...

Ryugi grinned and held out his right hand, Ragnarok suddenly pulling itself from the ground and spinning through the air to land in his grasp where he lifted it to his shoulder. Other than some debris in his hair, Ryugi looked relatively unharmed.

...and their weapons for that matter.

He cast his glance at her and raised an eyebrow. It was a bit cocky, but at this point, Ryugi felt that the young woman was in way over her head.

Trust me when I say that if I were fighting at the fullest of my ability, it would be highly unlikely that you would defeat me. You're quite skilled, but if you truly wish to become better at combat, you will need to open your mind to all the different possibilities of energy and ability. Right now, I don't believe there is anything more to gain for you by fighting me.

He chuckled.

However, I'm sure there is much you could gain from discussing yourself and your abilities with me. The choice is yours.

As Ryugi finished, he'd stand there, hand still on Ragnarok, the blade resting patiently on its partner's shoulder. And as the wind moved across the plains, one would swear he really did look like a paladin of light.