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 Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:57 am
Fas could not be surpised by even the fastest attacks.
Thankfully, the Mana from before had not dissapated, and had formed a cloud around Fas, like a modified aura.
As the orb shot up, Fas would counter.
First, the thermal and kinetic energy. Instead of completely blocking them, he formed a wedge-like shape with his aura, the explosion bending the blow to the left and right, away from Fas. Along with that, a pair of portals opened up, one into the Plane of Radiance, and one into the Plane of Vaccum.
The kinetic force traveled into the latter, and without gravity or...well, ANYTHING to slow it down, it picked up speed at an alarming rate, gaining force and power with each passing moment.
The thermal energy traveled through the plane of radiance, and when it traveled through, thermodynamics set in. Hot and Cold will always attempt to balence temperature, which is the phenomenon that occurs to cause a glass of ice water to become "room temperature". Therefore, the termal energy that Roy had combined with his attack would begin to rise to incredible temperatures, hotter than the Milky Way's sun after a bit.
Then, two portals would open on each side of roy. To his left was the Plane of Vaccum and the Kinetic energy, which came out with enough force to flip a planet's axis, let alone deadly force on Roy.
To his right was the Plane of Radiance and the Thermal Energy, which was now hot enough to vaporize/cauterize the blood on Roy, as well as on the ground.
Nevermind that, there was Ki to counter.
Fas' aura exploded off him with amazing "force", hitting the remaining Ki blast of Roy's. At the instant of Contact, the Ki blast was converted to Fas' energy signature. It hit Fas directly in the face, and was absorbed, the signature change keeping it from damaging him. However, if somehow the signature changed back/didn't change, the AoI that Fas had made would planes-transfer it, sending it somewhere deep in the omniverse, possibly in the middle of nowhere.
But Fas wasn't done. A bit of his aura broke off, going into a large pool of blood. The Mana let off electromagnetic pulses to distort Roy's psionics that linked him to his blood, keeping him from controlling it. The mana then created a sort of "virus" that infected the plasma and red blood cells of the blood. The virus made the White Blood Cells go crazy, eating the plasma and red blood cells, the entire structure of the blood starting to come apart. The virus began spreading very quickly through the blood, and the blood itself seemed to be vanishing as the whit eblood cells basically devoured their homes.
It would also be difficult to remove the virus, since it was magically-based as well as being biological. And since the means of destroying a biological virus were out of control, the white blood cells, it would be difficult to remove the virus. And plus, Roy's psionics had been disturbed at the point of..."Injection", so it was pretty much impossible to stop it from getting into the blood.
Fas would have added a Melee attack to this, but it would have been dangerous to get too close, especially with that much heat and kinetic force going everywhere.
So, he waited.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:58 pm
The portals would appear because of Fas and as such Roy would manipulate the frequencies that the tether would carry as it was the connection between Fas and the portal. Now what would occur would be an outburst of energy along the tether in which the frequencies repel eachother thus nulling out the connection between the two as negative mind energy is sent to Fas' mind to collapse it completely while negative mind energy would be sent to the portals to cause them to collapse and result in a massive distorted explosion. The explosion would be confined within the AoI as all of this would occur right around Fas in a frame of a second if not sooner. This would also combo-break his attack.
Roy would proceed to cause Fas' mana in the blood to convert due to the fact that the blood is infused with self sustaining magic in which is of Roy's signature and would instead convert the aura and repel the "infection" instantly. Also since the fact that all Fas would do is let off electromagnetic pulses, they would interefere with the aura and the mana in which produced them thus causing Fas' control over it to be haltered. Since the blood was an extension, so to speak, of Roy, he would weave the mana and cause it to enhance the blood as it would continue to form and circulate.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:12 pm
". . Damn.." The very means of his attacks, it seemed, were being cut dry.
The X-Slash, as shortly summarized, would result in a powerful ripple that did indeed tear through rock and ground like a knife through air. And sure enough, it combined with Snow himself, whom now had a chief opening at the mercenary, were both dangers.. too much so, for the mercenary to let be. What with the three serpents' paths and very existence destroyed.
However - the path of that negation, the accelerated particles themselves, only had a fixed area. And for Barsait to ignite oxygen, required such a little amount to produce a significantly larger flame.. well, let us just say, that was not the end of Snow's encounter with fire that night. No no, not by a long shot. The entire "sword" unraveled at a tensed finger of Omi's right hand; until thirty of these fierce lights began to swerve about. It was too difficult to pinpoint exactly where Snow had disrupted the air. At least, given the time Barsait had to react, anyway. So, basically, the mercenary decided to play a deadly guessing game - both for he, and his opponent. To be blunt: The plan was to fire off as many in as many directions as possible, in short a time as possible - and have them converge on Snow as their central axis. No doubt, even in the impressive counter the red-haired man had found for flames, there was a weakness in it; a gap in defense, if you will. And that, Barsait intended to hit, and hit hard.
Right shoulder blade becoming hot to the touch, more of these 'coils' seeped out of the rims of his gauntlets; flowing from his hands before emerging from their constraints. Furthermore, a number more flew through the fabric of his short, emerging from his torso in a fury; all clamoring at pockets of unaltered air, before roaring to life in the form of fire.
His hands quickly gestured out basic courses; above, front, right and left, diverting what number of the projectile flames he could to smother Snow. Then, letting them take their course and effect as they would, his right arm shot downward to grasp the handle of Caladbolg once more; letting his own spawned flames at least null out the ripping forces that would have otherwise wounded him in a lovely manner; left arm raising upward, gauntlet plate facing forward. The mercenary attempting a mixture of offensive and defensive stance.. Things went from favorably in Omi's direction, to a rather fast-paced skirmish of winds, absence of heat, and flames. And amidst the core of all this, would be Snow's dangerous katana(s) - able to expand thanks to his adaptation of ice, and Omi's own Caladbolg, ready to impale the spinning actions of Snow.
But, the one course of action he could devise would be emitted amongst the chaotic display of fire.. and his pupils were the ones moving now. Guiding a lone 'serpent' of red light, not having yet ignited into flames.
It went right into the strong, turbulent gales about Snow. Right at entering, the light itself distorted horribly; emitting left, right.. the air was distorted something fierce with the winds, after all. And that would, much so, effect light. So, when his right hand gripped the Caladbolg's handle tighter, and those flames spawned to their point of target.. well, the flames that would gush out there.. would gash out in such random directions. Flowing out, thanks to the unstable path of the crimson serpent prior.
The rest of the flames were just background noise, despite their temperature; that one, lone serpent was the true danger of this assault. It, seemingly without danger, bypassed the base defense of the circulated winds - and used them to it's advantage, causing a difficult to repel flow of amber.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 4:22 pm
So Omi's preferred stance was more on fiery projectile manipulation...
Fine with him.
He never said that he would stand still after the attack was dealt. And ever since he started the X-slash...
Snow was already on the run when Omi retaliated, skating along the Arena in long strides, ice forming along wherever his foot is placed. Using the slippery substance of ice as a mobility factor, he darted to and fro in a speed much smoother than running, saving his physical stamina while keeping a certain distance away from Barsait's fiery entity.
The halo-like rings on his bracers continued their low hum as Snow sped himself up with the skating, attempting to dodge the barrage of projectiles which rained down on him like a hail of bullets. The easiest way to counter would again be to use the turbulent flow of air in the arena as a gap against the fuel-consuming flames. But seeing how the opponent is determined to find a gap in the defense....
One word for Snow: Dodge.
So he skated, dodging this way and that as the hail of fire bombarded the ground where Snow occupied a second before, two seconds before, three seconds before...so on and so forth. Ice left by his wake began to melt under the intense heat left by those lights, producing large concentrations of moisture, and even so, Snow continued to skate, using mobility to his advantage...to the best of his abilities.
One lone serpent, unfortunately, managed to hit Snow hard on the left torso during the run. Giving a grunt, the scorching flames were quickly extinguished by a small block of ice which materialized on his body, trapping the flames inside the icy tomb before negating it off as cold water. A bruise appeared on where the flame burnt through his cloth, as the water then slowly hardened to keep the wound from bleeding --
Acting like a bandage, per se.
After a couple of seconds of skating a circle around Barsait's position, it was then that Snow eyed the current situation, planning his next assault.
There's enough moisture left by Barsait's flames for Snow to use. After all...
Barsait is standing on top of a large patch of icy ground, which Snow had painfully froze a few moments ago. The inbalance between the heated flames and the extreme cold on the bottom has produced much moisture that play an indirect role for Snow's attack this time.
For once he finish the circle around Barsait, he will flip his left blade into a dagger-like hold, finally bringing it crashing down on the icy field left by his first attack.
By then, things will get interesting for Barsait.
The rings on his bracers whirred ever so faster, the hum increasing at a sudden crescendo as the attack began.
As if something had happened beneath the field, the ice which Barsait stood on began to swell in size, showing signs of cracks on the ice. With the surface made smooth thanks to the opponent's flames, it is nearly impossible to not slip and fall on the shifting field, especially without support. And before the opponent can, if possible, stand or react to this sudden event, three seconds later.....
The entire icy field will explode upwards in a deafening explosion, expelling chunks of ice and the ground itself high into the air, along with Barsait in the process. With the ice mingled along with the ground, large concentrations of debris would be found within the ice if Barsait tried to melt it to avoid being impaled or strucked.
So even if the ice is gone, there would be the debris left by the explosion that Snow caused from the field itself.
Simply put, what Snow just did was turn the ice on the ground into a giant land mine.
Panting a bit by then, Snow would feel the stress begin to accumulate on his body as the pain on his torso isn't exactly treated properly. But even so, if the attack can work...
At least he has landed some serious injury on the opponent, more than enough to have an impact on the fight now...
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:16 pm
Movement. Natural, given Snow's situation. Omi gave a soft wince right as the flames managed to give Snow's torso a lovely wounding. However, it seemed this man held abilities which would make such minor wounds irrelevant for this course of action - that, Barsait had to acknowledge. Yet, it seemed the man was now focused more on maneuvering about the serpents than actually nullifying them in contact..
So, unaware of the swelling ice prior to the humming increasing, Omi did the most logical thing he could think of. If Snow was to try and escape the serpents, well.. the mercenary would try his best not to let him. This wave of flames hadn't been dealt with directly - and so, were not eradicated. They did not strike the ever freezing ground, and therefore, still existed quite vividly; thus, Omi merely drew his free, left hand back, drawing the entire horde back save a few that had met exceptional air resistance, and began to try and think of a counter-attack.
Of course, that didn't go as planned.. no, instead of pressing an offense - Barsait soon found himself amidst the Reaper's fury.
"What?!" His eyes peered down with annoyance at the odd feeling beneath his feet - before suddenly, his pupils dilated. A crack..? Immediately, his right hand - and - left hand both thrusted downward, one warding out new serpentry and igniting them before they'd hardly left his flesh, the other forcing down the old. A number managed to make it to the ice, a number were too late; thus, a mixed reception met that unconventional mine. Yet, at the last moment, his flesh began to glisten..
And then, all Hell broke loose.
A deafening roar, an explosion of great magnitude that expelled Earth & ice upward along with the mercenary.. the sheer chaos and upturned dirt caused all sight of the swordsman to vanish. And for several long, nauseating moments - this continued. Suspense mounting to the bothersome degree, until finally, a humanoid shape began to be made out. A good.. six feet above the ground?
Oh, but that was where one would be surprised. Omi was certainly in the air - but the dark-clad swordsman wasn't crumbling to the ground. Then, one would be met with a fiercesome sight.. ice melting away where it'd embedded itself in his chain mail, soil clustered over him - but most noticable, was a thin layer of fire about his body. In short: His body made a small veil of serpents erupt from his flesh at all possible points. Not even a centimeter out, likely - but, it along with the flames trying to buffer the blast below, and the fact his boots & mail were concentrated against the explosion - kept him from being in a dire strait. It looked, on further examination, that the clusters of Earth were merely melded through - the heat striking them, compacting them, and finally rendering them unto dust.. thus, the inability to view Barsait.
His body felt sore. Not overly so, but enough it hurt. Likely, at several spots, the ice nearly impaled him - but was stopped just short of succeeding. All the same, the serpents were suspending him; basically, the fires now coating the bottom of his feet was repelling the flames generated at the ground. Slowly, this faded, until he leapt backwards - outside the now destroyed, small crater beneath him - and then, stomping his feet down with powerful force, the treads cracked into nearby ice in a fury. Crystallites flying to and fro beneath him.
Both of his arms were somewhat-crossed over his face. Or, it appeared to be an attempted cross; it was too quick, that literal landmine, to raise a perfect guard. Still, his dark hair obscured his eyes, even wilder than before thanks to the ascended wind resulting from the blast. Slowly, his arms lowered in a shaking manner, the Caladbolg several feet away & uselessly laying in a blanket of dirt & backed by icy ground. As his arms lowered, his head began to shake in that same manner; this looked rather.. ominous. The flames upon his flesh already died down abruptly, yet suddenly, his head rose up swiftly- his eyes visible. They were still that same amber brown.. but they looked absolutely furious.
And his jaw was lowered a tad, teeth exposed as though he were ready to growl or, perhaps, roar like a beast. Ah, but instead, his mouth closed - and slowly, he regained his composure, inhaling, then exhaling once to try and steady his assuredly rising rate of breath. And his arms went to either side, palms facing Snow. The fact Barsait didn't immediately lunge at Snow after the blast was a sign of good sportsmanship; so the swordsman assumed, Snow wouldn't immediately attack after that barrage. Instead, calming himself considerably, he gave a friendly compliment - for he was impressed with how Snow handled the situation - "Very good. Make no mistake, you're skilled; I'll hand you that easily." Finally returning to a friendly demeanor, smirking at his opponent, he then added, "But, I say we step this up further. I'm starting to be entertained; sound interesting?" Cracking his neck casually to the left, then right, he continued the proposal - "Or would you prefer we continue things like we have thus far? I'm fine with either.." Just as he said this, the palms of his hands - gauntlets covering them still glistening in dry, dry soil - began to get extremely hot to the touch..
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:33 pm
Using the opportune chaotic moment to discard shards of ice into the serpent's path, most of it bled off into thick moisture as Snow watched his attack in process. The pain on his torso isn't fading off, leaving him to wince as he tried to do some quick healing with the large concentration of moisture in the air. Sealing the cracks on the bandage, he held his left torso for a while, judging the damage to be moderate, but not enough to really hamper his ability to fight. At least, not a serious wound.
A groan cursed itself out of his breath as Snow watched with a grim sigh, seeing the opponent relatively "unphased and unharmed" from his explosive surprise. Not knowing that the opponent suffered a bit of damage too, it was a moral shock to Snow's tactics, as it meant that he would need to amp up his techniques even further, perhaps to a level of his dislike...
He raised an eyebrow when Barsait complimented him.
Seriously?
He thought that the attack did nothing at all to the opponent's well-being. Even less against striking an effective blow at the....fiery armor. Listening somewhat to Barsait's proposal to step it up even further, Snow merely gave a shrug, a smirk breaking on his face. "Perhaps. I still haven't cracked through your armor, and amping up this fight even more might prove entertaining to both you and me....so why not?" He said, casually dropping his katanas. But, instead of the weapon hitting the ground as the law of gravity dictates, it floated in midair this time, swirling around Snow in a effortless manner. As if another entity is controlling the direction, the position of the katanas, it aligned itself to Snow's respective hands, twirling around itself just like the rings - revolving in a low, silent hum.
His cloak was torn and ragged - many thanks to the serpents burning some holes into it. With a simple shrug, putting himself into a moderate side stance with his left hand in front, back hand aiming away, soft trickles of ice were dragged right into his body, somewhat repairing the seared edges of his cloth, and also accumulating in concentration so Snow could at least match against Omi in firepower.
The huge concentration of moisture in the air helped Snow channel the necessary water around his armor and cloth, allowing him to calm his senses enough...
For Round III is about to start.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:13 am
"Oh..?" Spotting the two katana hit the ground - or rather, nearly hit the ground, before remaining suspended.. an intrigued grin was Snow's response. Though, words did follow: "I agree. But, let's not go too much farther.. the little trick I'm about to perform is nice to endure, but we don't want to die, respectively. So! This is even more unrefined than what I did earlier, forgive me on that.." Chuckling, his hands outstretched themselves. Body merely facing Snow, it seemed like for the longest moment, the swordsman was doing absolutely nothing save stand there with an odd shake coming to his limbs.
Then, as his teeth gritted together, "fangs" gnashing - a series of serpentry coursed over his body out of a split moment's time, engulfing him as a low growl coursed from his throat. And amidst it all, his amber brown eyes were glaring ahead numbly, before suddenly returning to life with a roar. But only then, did a pire of flames cascade from his right shoulder; his arms shaking furiously once again, as though trying to grasp at a horrifyingly fast current..
"Mmmm.." His bowed head rose, amber brown eyes now having the oddest element to them: a sickening, pale green flowing amidst the amber. Furthermore, his breath was more than caught - and about his boots, gauntlets, and in miscellaneous places that just barely managed to avoid burning through his own clothing, twere a number of flames. Serpents barely visible in them, though one could make out they channeling through the embers. And, slowly, his body stood erect; that same grin on his face. Albeit, Omi Barsait was now a tad lower to the ground.. for the solid ice once beneath him, was no longer burned smooth. It, melted in entirety & having the ensuing waters evaporated at a rapid pace, no longer existed; the swordsman's feet touched down on rather dry sand. Though ice did surround them.
Right hand outstretching, the offer was given once again - a more friendly voice outlining Barsait, which reaffirmed he intended no true harm to Snow. Yet.. obviously, things were about to become most hectic for the both of them, as he called, "Having invited me, it's only fair you receive the first blow once more." His right fist & suited side came forward a tad, feet burning through the ice about it as he assumed a right-handed, southpaw stance; flames gashing off his limbs, casting a red glow upon his body. With a glint in his eyes, he then shouted in a booming voice: "Come!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:05 am
Snow watched the transformation with slight distaste, seeing himself in, once more, another disadvantage. The previous attack was successful because Barsait hadn't realized the approach until it was too late. And now, with the opponent nearly on fire - the only areas which were perhaps not immune to his ice abilities are most likely the head, chest, and the back spine.
And given that the opponent isn't going to take things lightly like last time, it's going to be even harder for Snow to charge in and land an effective blow without revealing his weakness. The only thing that he can use, instead, is Barsait's sportsmanship and pride to his advantage...by letting himself have the time to prepare for this attack.
Snow took in a deep breath, exhaling it out slowly as the halo-rings on his bracers increased their notion, sliding off of his gear. With the katana hovering by themselves on their respective positions, both halos slid down to where the tsuba guard of the katana lays, taking position on their respective counterparts, that same low hum continuing into the silence of this arena.
....All right.
Attempting to try something he'd never really done before, Snow aimed his left hand high into the air, his left katana following the motion effortlessly without problems. Clenching his fist, that very same weapon - along with the newly added halo ring - launched itself high into the air before remaining there, a good few meters above ground where both of the fighters can't reach through common conventional means.
The lone weapon began to spin around itself, spinning exactly in the opposite rotation that the halo was spinning as moisture began to collect in the surrounding air, being dragged into the equipment itself.
Snow in the meantime bent his legs slightly, raising his right hand to the sides as his other identical katana performed the same thing; focusing any nearby water moisture into the weapon while the halo ring amplifies the power with increasing efficiency.
Then it began.
He took the first step, using the motion of that very action to then swing his right katana in a half circle around himself - towards his left side. A burst of wind blasted off from where he slashed, being directed right towards Barsait like the previous X-slash.
But something was different from last time. Instead of the wind cutting through the air like a sword last time, this blast froze the immediate ground into large chunks of ice. Pillars of ice portruded out of the ground, freezing the path it took, reflecting the brilliant radiance of light from the sun itself as the blast arched towards Barsait in a simple, direct attack.
It was then, a few seconds later, that the weapon in the air began to show signs of oddity, especially around its parameters. A slight shift in visual perception, as air around the levitating weapon seems to....
Implode inwards to the halo rings?
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:36 pm
"Such an interesting fellow. Ah, but I suppose he's not one I should give pity; this next one'll be a fun shot, I'll make sure of that." All Omi did, was watch with extreme anticipation. And sure enough, as flames hummed off his body - his eyes gazed over the opponent's every action, like a hunger-stricken hawk. Sure enough, the time Barsait gave his opponent would lead to greater hardships for the mercenary; but, to he, that suited him just fine. So, onward he gazed - right fist outstretched slightly, the forearm beginning to rumble..
"Blades spinning.. a humming.." Naming off random observations in his head, the mercenary's pupils continued to glisten over the course of events. His expression made him look like a man impatiently awaiting something - and that was more than fitting for this swordsman, as he drudged on the events that transpired. "Left hand risen . . one blade risen high in the air . ." First, Omi licked his lips; then gritted his teeth, carrying on diligently: "One hand on the remainder weapon. Odd collection of moisture in the air-" Pupils narrowing a tad as Snow took his first step, the observations did not end there: "Swing of the blade towards my right, wind - ice forming.. Here it comes than." Suddenly, his right fist thrust outward, like a boxer's right straight; body leaning into the blow..
Then his left thrust diagonally upward, palm gesturing outward at the risen katana in the air. A low roar bellowed from his lips as both limbs came forward - and at first, one would be horrendously confused, for obviously, he was far too away for either of these blows to be even mildly effective..
Then, the air in front of his hands distorted something fierce.
[Funnel Cascade]
Right as either hand reached the apex of their reach, a chorus of flames would gush from his skin. Screaming through the air this time, the heat of his out blown embers were full of serpentry; flowing through the flames and igniting more as they greedily ignited any scavenge bit of oxygen along their trail - the entire generated flame suddenly spinning. The serpents were coursing about in a distinct drill-like motion, causing the dry, hollow air to back it; flames growing even hotter. If this wasn't enough, not only was the air in front of the two thick projectiles scorching hot to such a degree, one had to wonder how hot the flames themselves were growing - easily some three hundred degrees past their previous limit - but, Omi seemed to be coursing more serpents into the flames long after they continued through the air..
He was reinforcing them. Generating new flames as gusts of air flew by, backing the rare flame that would go out with new ambers in their entirety; and that ripping, deadly force of the serpents was propelling them both. Spinning drills of flame, one could surmise. Albeit: One was being spun directly towards Snow, taking advantage of some of the discarded collections of moisture and igniting them into a ferocious flame - the other.. was churning straight towards the weapon in the air. What moisture hadn't reached that weapon, would find itself quickly evaporated, or, assimilated right into the ripping flame.
And yet, despite these sudden attacks, which caused both his arms to shake with maintaining them.. Omi began moving. Backwards, side to side, shuffling as his flame embroidered feet tore through ice like a scythe - the fire at his fleshline making his exact position harder and harder to pinpoint. He wasn't just launching an assault designed to penetrate Snow's own; Omi was minimizing the impending implosion & offenses mounted by Snow's power. Their potential of striking at full effect was dwindling..
Yet, watching all the time the best he could over his own generated flames - Barsait began maneuvering fingers this way & that once more. He was guiding tiny serpents, small pieces of the flames elsewhere.. around, around the chaos of the winds, nowhere near the risen weapon..
They were using the chaos of the winds & flames to mask their prescience. For those narrow serpents were being guided, relatively.. towards Snow's own body.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:06 pm
And still, the attacks seems to be more troublesome than ever.
Against those that can use the energy released from the fires itself, it was almost foolish of him to do such a direct assault on Barsait's defense, knowing full well of the consequences if he gets hit. But if he cannot find a means to disable or impair the damned fiery blast, he stands little to no chance on defending against the onslaught Barsait has thrown at him now.
So to find a means to fight back, he improvised on the spot.
Using the same basic principle that formulated his turbulent wind before, Snow dashed to the sides, using the slippery ground again as his mobile method to jump from one place to the next. He slashed again with his right sword, the halo rings amplifying the speed of the wind passing through the blade as it shot the violent turbulence throughout the arena once more, negating some of the flames within a matter of seconds.
Another dash, and Snow was elsewhere on the icy field, throwing yet again another slash at Barsait's position, not particularly aiming for his body - but more of where his general position is. On and on he continued that repetitive cycle of dashing and slashing, more ice freezing on where the slash passed through while he continued to hold that relative distance - approximately 4-5 meters in a simple glance - away from Barsait. Flames dispersed itself around Snow's general location as the air was too unstable to sustain its greedy need, like attempting to start a fire tens of thousands of feet above ground in a strong wind.
The levitating weapon, during the meantime - as the flames tore its way right towards the seemingly defenseless object - shifted its position in the air rather suddenly, darting to and fro like some independent object, avoiding the flames which passed by its course, the diamonds on the rings levitating itself a bit away from the halo.
The weapon shook for a sec before something equally horrendous to Barsait's flames happened.
It fired.
A brilliant blast of sky blue light fired out of the levitating katana as it cut through the ground like a pin-point laser. But instead of burning, as one might expect from seeing a laser in action - the ground where the beam came in contact with exploded, sending lethal shards of rock, ice and debris at anything nearby, a large patch of area frozen from the beam's resulting contact.
Again it fired like a gatling gun, aiming at the lethal flames - and some at Barsait's general position as it rained a hail of icy barrages from the air, obliterating anything that the beam came in contact with.
What's worse, is that Snow has no need to feed the weapon energy at all.
Reason being?
Both of his katanas were designed to focus anything arcane - in other words, magical or energetic - into pinpoint precision, allowing him the ability to slash and/or stab without the need to dump a bunch of his own stamina and concentration just to perform the same attack. The halo rings - with the diamonds still revolving around it - were an amplification tool, especially created with the purpose of accelerating and focusing magical entities, using the environment as its main fuel source.
Not to mention that Snow said the Halo rings serves more than two purposes before --
One as the amplification tool,
And the other, a third type weapon.
Perhaps Barsait is wondering how such an ability is possible for an ice beam. Well, thinking about it, it's a rather simple process -- even possible in everyday standards.
Take a metal container, and fill it up with heavy concentrations of water completely to the point that there's no air inside. Close the container so no air can escape nor enter the object, and freeze it completely. What happens?
The water inside the container expands when it freezes. But since there's no area to expand when frozen, pressure builds up within the container until to a certain point, the container's lid pops open, or - possibly - the entire thing ruptures or breaks open with a small bang.
Or, in another analogy, why cracks form on sidewalks or on grounds during winter.
The weapon is merely using the same principle; by focusing a large concentration of moisture around the blade itself and launching it off rapidly at the target in a confined area of space. As the beam hits the target, the disbalance of heat and temperature would incite the concentration to massively expand itself, clinging to whatever's nearby before tearing the object apart.
And that by itself is lethal enough to halt Barsait's flames, as it can incite an explosion within the fiery fire as it passes through the point. The explosion can then, in a large possibility, form a vacuumless state in the center flames, causing a sudden lack of oxygen that would extinguish the fire prematurely before it can continue on its path.
There is no need for Snow to worry by then the upcoming flames which were targeting his body. Since there was enough distability in the air, the flames fell short of coming in contact with himself, and even so, Snow can merely use the ice on his cloth as a means to "buffer" the heat, extinguishing it prematurely before it has a chance to scorch his skin or flesh.
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Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:31 pm
Like a brisk wind of ruin, did Snow nullify the basis of Omi's assault. Yet, Barsait continued vaulting back with a fury; moving to & fro in a hard to predict manner, in an attempt to make oncoming assaults flow towards him with instability. It became increasingly apparent to him: None of his attacks would find themselves potent in this given situation. Oh, but more issues were piled upon he. For that katana descended a beam upon the grounds near him, causing debris & ice to rain about like that of a Hellish storm. Flames emanating off Barsait's body were guided, hastily, to ward these bits off; though it was rapid. Enough, the mercenary was feeling.. troubled.
Getting seven meters away, the mercenary began circling Snow from the swordsman's own right. Something was bothering him..
Empty, void-like air was snuffing his fires out with ease. It was a chaotic scene, but Omi Barsait did surmise this: "At this rate, all of my attacks, regardless of their offensive capabilities, will prove useless.. He can obviously diffuse my flames before they ever reach his body." Spitting to the left, his eyes were focused upon the celestial weapon in the air - it was an ominous means of destruction, which assured he would, eventually, be crushed..
Oh, but Omi would not stand for that.
Shift of the wrist. One hand risen. A number of the flames at his flesh suddenly - and with great haste - rumbling like they were in a greed-filled frenzy . . Barsait rose his right hand, and from it, seven serpents coursed out. This seemed rather pointless; a great deal more had proven ineffective, and against that monstrous weapon in the air, as well as Snow's inevitable attacks of his own devise - what on Earth could these do?
Ah, but Omi did something a little different this time. His index & middle fingers of the left hand parted. And oddly enough.. one of the serpents branched out. A smaller 'serpent' spread out from it, stemming through the crimson light & outward. Then, another was formed like this, thicker than the tendril of light it flew from. Suddenly, and in quite the hurry, more and more of these branches were coursing from their being; than if it were not enough, more would branch from that. It was a frightening sight, yet the swordsman showed no sign of slowing down; what was one serpent originally, would suddenly have erupted into ninety, one-hundred extensions of itself in widely varying sizes of a few feet in diameter, to less than one millimeter.
His eyes were fiercely glinting at that blade. For three of those serpents had been coursing at it; the other four, directly towards Snow. This time, Omi did not move from his spot - his boots grounded themselves firmly.. and with a low growl, the swordsman began his newest attempt at an attack.
" In trying to guard one strike, you'll open yourself to another eventually.. no defense is flawless - if you're gales and frost have even one gap, one narrow space in them-" Gritting his teeth as both arms began trembling like a current coursed through them once again, the number of serpentine branches duplicated. This was now becoming a ferocious display; it was as though the air had just spawned an army of these serpents. And they showed no sign of stopping their branching - for they hadn't spawned into flames yet. By not doing so, the means of bidding away their existence Snow had used prior would prove.. Ineffective. This, was his means of keeping multiple opponents at bay, if surrounded. Normally, it wasn't suited for one-on-one combat; however, for Snow, who he himself was using unconventional techniques.. well, Barsait was quite fine with doing the same.  And thus, these roaring masses would begin - in the thin spaces of the snow below, in the air lower aligned with Snow's feet, at his eye level, high in the air, higher still towards the katana's destination - igniting. Erupting. Hurling their flames forward before they could be ripped away; the sheer blast force was what Omi was buying on. And yet still, he kept branching them out to the best of his ability, despite a noticeable sweat upon his brow.. Left arm was guiding the serpentry towards the risen weapon - the mass of flames a buffer between he and the deadly beam. The right hand guiding these destructive flames towards Snow - and on both, his hands kept, fingers nimbly moving to & fro, converging. Thus, the hordes were spinning around the two targets - ready to flow in with a rapid fury at their targets. True to his word: If there was a gap in those defenses, he intended to ram right through it.
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:14 pm
Impressive, and innovative in its own way. Even for Snow, who can only snuff out at most lesser degree type fires, he can't snuff out a huge barrage of them all at once.
It's a suicidal attempt even if he tried to in the first place.
However, Barsait was wrong about one thing when he thought of Snow having a defensive capability. In reality, Snow has been moving around and using his own attacks to nullify the opponent's flames as much as he could, without even trying to reveal the biggest conflict he has to himself --
He doesn't have a defense at all.
Because he doesn't have a defensive means - other than spawning out the slashes of distabilized wind and frost - Snow has been on the move ever since Barsait changed form, trying not to reveal the fact that just one strong hit on his body could be fatal...if struck.
So there it was, what Snow had feared the entire time -- an all out assault with a roaring fury of flames, eating away his ice and gale with explosive results. The weapon he had sent in the air is having its own trouble, trying to veer in its aerial ability as it fired at the massive blast, attempting to snuff out the source fueling the massive flames.
And, with despair, the celestial weapon - as Barsait has kindly named it - retreated further back, using the beam as a means to at least buffer some of the flames which reached for it.
Snow narrowed his eyes, seeing that he's being outnumbered on firepower. If this keeps up, sooner or later he'll be scorched by the fires itself....
Damn serpents!
In a last-ditch maneuver, Snow aimed his held katana at the flames coming his way, the celestial weapon in the air suddenly flying back to hover ten meters above ground - two meters in front of Snow.
Aiming straight towards the ground.
The ring on both blades began to generate a piercing tone - close to the sounds of a jet engine on full blast - hinting of some possible attempt to deflect the flames that will reach Snow soon. And as the blades shook from the surge of air being revolved around its material, the celestial weapon in the air finally fired - not at the flames, nor at Barsait controlling the flames.
But at the ground itself, where huge shards of ice formed from where the beam struck. As it continued to hold that long beam of ice down, the diamonds on the ring detached itself away from the parent device, pointing towards single point of contact where the beam is on the ground.
And without warning, the celestial weapon launched itself at full speed towards the ground itself, amplified by the speed of the halo ring guiding the weapon's trajectory. Crashing right into the very ice it made, what came out of that result wasn't a shattering explosion --
But a massive explosion of force that ejected those huge shards of ice into the air, coming into contact with those fiery flames. Immediate moisture poured out of the contact as it hissed and melted under the fiery might...
But the shockwave left from that explosion negated the eruption that came after Snow's body with its empty space and dampness in the air...with one side effect.
It also hurled Snow away from the blast, throwing him farther than he would've expect.
Crashing painfully to the ground, Snow winced in pain as the bandage he made for his left torso bled again, covering his left side with the soft color of blood, like his hair.
But not sure if the blast had cancelled out the eruptive force behind Barsait's attack, he quickly attempted to stand up, raising his weapon to at least put another nullifying tactic if it failed.
Blood was suddenly coughed out of Snow's mouth as he lurched, coughing on his left hand. The eyes begin to dilate unevenly as he realized --
"s**t....s**t! Not now!" He cursed under his breath, the 'thing' inside his body beginning to stir.
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:46 pm
His body was reeling from the force of procuring all those flames, even in the "[Inferior Release]" - yet, Barsait continued, branching out more & more in a furor. A genuine intent of striking his opponent whom, then, Omi thought untouchable, given the situation. Yet, little did he know just how effective his assaults would prove to be..
"D-damn.." The mercenary coughed quickly, his arms crossing this way & that to create the torrents of serpentry that even then, were emitting from his being. Left fingertip extending, right ring-finger retracting before twirling once in the air; it seemed the swordsman, to any extent possible, was Hellbent on not ending this barrage. Yet, the swordsman would soon find his flames, washing away his own sight, engulfed by a bright light . .
And there, soon after the airborne katana finished it's descent into the icy grounds below. Moments later, the force, the massive extinction of flames - it swallowed the eye's line of sight, and in the ensuing chaos, rendered Barsait flat upon his back. Some several feet farther back than where he'd began, steam streaming in the air & filling the arena grounds with a display like the sands themselves had been rained upon by sulfur and only just now were recovering.
Slowly forcing himself up into a sitting position, one could spot the swordsman Omi - breathing somewhat heavily, still giving off a weary cough here & there whilst his arms seemed to have a considerably larger amount of smoke ebb from them. Regardless of this sudden bout of fatigue, it seemed the swordsman was fine from any drastic harm; flames were still embroidering him. Enough, it seemed, he was not injured - though his massive horde of serpentry were all but eradicated. Yet, as his palms slid across the ice, forcing himself to a shaky stand - the mercenary, much to a mixture of dismay & annoyance - realized the effects of his assault. Far ahead of him, twas Snow; bleeding, that much Barsait could tell from there. And more seemed to emerge from the fellow's mouth, though that may've been a distortion of the eye; the airs were rather hard to make things out clearly through, what with the massive amount of steam present.
Regardless, Barsait rose his right hand, calling out across the frozen sands with genuine concern: "Ya' alright there?! Sorry if I got a little carried away, I didn't intend to wound you as I seem to've." His voice carried out, though both of his arms were at Omi's sides; fingertips extended loosely, as though resting to a partial extent. On one hand, the swordsman wasn't in any -dire- status - Hell, to all varying degrees, he wasn't even wounded to a gash's degree. Yet, he was getting a tad weary, given the situations prior; and, if his opponent was bleeding as badly as it appeared, pressuring the man was out of the question for Barsait.
Though, perhaps giving the developing situation, Omi's thoughts would be better placed elsewhere than on concern. Perhaps.
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:47 pm
A labored breath trembled out of Snow's lips as the 'thing' inside continued to lurk, awakening more and more against his will. Even if Barsait mistakenly assumed that Snow was injured from the fight - alas, it is not what Barsait would've liked in the beginning.
Blood pouring out of his mouth wasn't because of the fiery assault.
Something worse. Much worse.
Ba-dump.
The halo rings on both his katanas halted immediately, allowing the presence of a deathly silence to pervade the arena. Hands clenched, the steam which blanketed the entire area slowly fell towards Snow's own body, being sucked and absorbed by his flesh and armor - as if some vacuum state existed right in front of him.
Ba-dump.
The eyes continued to dilate, the usual red color of his hair beginning to glisten in a red aura, signalling a difference in the usual calm demeanor that people once knew as Snow. More blood was coughed out of his lips, followed by a low growl deep within his throat.
Ba-dump.
With a scream, the very essence of Snow's being erupted, pillars of white fire cascading throughout the arena as the ground itself froze immediately just by the contact of the sudden flames itself. Both of his katanas, in the meantime, again levitated into the air before the rings began to give a low hum in frequency, again increasing to the crescendo that once powered the celestial weapon in the air.
But not only that, the fires near the weapons took form into exact duplicates, mimicking the upcoming assault which will surprise Omi regardless.
The man finally stood, his head lowered and the bangs of his hair covering where his eyes should be. What can be deducted from it, is the killing intent that is clearly surrounding the man called Snow, as large fiery flames continued their expansion around his body, burning - by freezing - everything that it touches.
His red pupils disappeared, showing only nothing but an unconscious entity that has took over his body forcibly, exciting the change within.
For the 'thing' has awoken, and thus it shall rend the enemy asunder.
Barsait's voice cannot reach Snow's ears anymore. What was left of his reasoning is now under the control of that 'thing', the very essence of where his ability comes from. Perhaps it is because of overusing his ice ability to the extent that it triggered the dormant side within his mind. Once believing that he would be able to finish the spar before that time comes --
Alas, he was wrong on timing. It came prematurely, awakened prematurely...
And all it want now, is the feel of other's blood splashing his face when he tears them apart. Cutting them apart. Ripping out their organs till there is nothing left but the remains of the once fiery enemy that stood in his way.
He lusts for blood....
And now, his body wants Barsait to bleed. To bleed bad.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:36 pm
After his own shouts, the mercenary paused for a few moments; expecting a response, rationally. Yet, instead, something began to seize the mercenary's attention in a more intense matter: His right shoulder gave off a throb, then suddenly rocked into an agonizing, sharp pain; as though flames were, in fact, being set off beneath his flesh. Barsait's jaw dropped in silent pain, left palm quickly coming across his body to grasp it tightly - fingertips digging into his own skin sharply, as his eyes veered back at where he'd held sight of Snow last . .
"W-what the Hell!? I haven't felt like this since before this tournament began; that's wrong, there's nothi.." Slowly, his own train of thought trailed off whilst both of his pupils widened at the sight ahead of him.
The steam. It was, like a vanished wraith, all but gone; and in the distance, Barsait could swear he saw a red glow emitting from that man, if the duller color of crimson blood did not contrast. All at once, a sudden 'tuff of flames tore through the right sleeve of Omi's arm - not charring the clothing itself, they seemed to manifest just past the cloth; Barsait winced heavily, left hand retreating forcibly - the mesh beneath beaming with radiant heat. Beneath this, however.. was quite the unique display.
A slab. A staff. An eye. These three objects, the slab itself behind the latter two, was the marking one could distinctly make out beneath the mesh - if their eye served them past the sight of ever expanding flames. They were articulated markings, though they still held a level of simplicity; all in varying shades & hues of red. Right then, they were just shining in an unnatural accord - the flames barely dulling out their fierce light that tormented through Barsait's own attire visibly, as more & more fanned up. Fanning out like screaming banshees in his immediate proximity, this was only drowned out by Snow's sudden eruption of the white ambers.
It was obvious at this point, 'Snow' did not intend for a spar of any ilk as the two had been entertaining one another with prior. That.. that force in the distance made the very air the swordsman breathed felt haggard. There was no intent for life in that. "I.." Uncertainty ringing from he for moments facing the rising figure of his foe in the distance, Barsait's eyes shook for a moment.. then slowly narrowed. His resolve growing heavily in turn to the newly transpired events. His teeth then gnashed out in a warning tone of voice: "I don't know know what the Hell you're planning on, but I suggest you calm yourself immediately. In fact - I think I may take my leave.." His coughs were no longer evident; instead, standing straight in the path of those horrific bouts of cold dawning flames in his sight. Despite the horrific display present to Barsait, he continued with both arms, baffling to any viewer, coming to his sides casually. Then, the gauntlets gave way to two fists; teeth gritted ahead, the four 'fangs' glistening amidst the arena grounds.
Just running back was.. useless. He wasn't aware of what that red-haired man, in that state, could achieve.. something felt daftly ill in the air. It boded negative tidings towards the mercenary, and towards most anyone in the vicinity - the latter, was not tolerable. "If you don't comply with what I have presented you, than:" The serpentry coursing from his flesh at about .75" from his skin pores, giving off that inhuman glow - his voice suddenly boomed in a roar, regardless if they'd ever reach their target's ears:
"I'll crush you."
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