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Arc stepped out from the waiting area, he had spent the last several weeks in preparation for this tournament and he was deeply satisfied to see the start of the first round. Today he wore a simple set of loose baggy cloth pants held up by a sash at the front of his waist. For a top he wore a loose fitting vest style hooded robe. The sleeveless nature of the garment freed his arms, as did the fingerless nature of the accompanying gloves. The outfit was done in a crème almost the color of white, with areas of gold and red decorating the otherwise plain garment. For the moment, the hood of the garment was up hiding the white blonde hair of the demi angel, and his unearthly blue and gold flecked irises. His opponent would be able to tell at a glance from the various japanese swords tied at his waist that he was probably a sword fighter.

On his left side he wore a katana, and a wakizashi, each weapon was part of his daisho, on his right he wore a nodachi a unique weapon by any standards of kenjutsu and one for which he was uniquely known. The practice of iajutsu with a nodachi is singularly unheard of, the weapon is considered to large, and too heavy to practice the art fluidly. At any rate the weapons were clearly on display, and meant to be used. Their intricate wooden sheathes with various pearl inlay designs shined in the subtle light of the day. As he moved across the open grassy area to the ring, it would become clear that he was supremely comfortable with the weapons he wore as they did not impede his movement in the least.

Upon reaching the stage upon which he hoped to display his skill he would place one hand on its edge and hoist himself up onto the stones moving to one corner in which he would choose to come to a full kneeling position sitting comfortably upon his lower legs prepared to move and react within an instant. In this position he would wait preparing for a battle he hoped would ignite his passion and the hunger of his blades. This was the opening minute, of the opening round, of his opening match in this sixth gaian tenkaichi budokai tournament.

Arc retained his kneeling position as his opponent entered, he was in something of a cross between a meditative and a contemplative state. His eyes would drift open slowly in response to the change of pitch and tempo that was the crowd, announcing the arrival of the second fighter. Yet through this and even his opponents act of mounting the stage he remained in the same position his hands folded comfortably upon his lap. His opponent opted to skip the formalities, Arc was indifferent to this choice, though it smacked tradition square in the jaw. Sharp, deep blue eyes flecked with and ringed in gold which caught the light traced the details of his opponents appearance and made certain assumptions based upon what he observed.

The mans boots were heavy, and provided grounding both in grappling and in high speed maneuvering, his pants were loose and baggy, but open at the knee, this prevented the garment from restricting his movements. Hands came next in his assessment, left hand unadorned but for a fingerless glove, a plate catching the light upon the back of it. The right hand told a different tale, the talon shod gauntlet offering a means of both offense and defense, the armor, weapon hybrid was adorned in runes and patterns, their carved images catching and twisting the light giving them away in the bright sun. Arc could not decide yet if the weapon was magical, enchanted by the runes, or if they were simply decorative.

The mans arms would bear closer inspection, for they seemed adorned in tattoos of a tribal nature. Such tattoos, although more often then not purely for adornment had been known to carry powerful magical spells and enchantments. Scars adorned the mans midsection, signs of battle experience, often negative, though that he has survived them was a mark of success of sorts. A patch covered the mans right eye, a possible weakness, for what obstructed the vision could be use to mask an attack from that side. Most of the other details which Arc observed, eye and hair color, skin tone, tail, these were all cosmetic to him. One obvious thing which stood out though was the mans clear lack of weapons.

By remaining upon his knees, Arc effectively hid his height, and his reach, given his proficiency with drawing and attacking with a weapon in one fluid motion the position was just as dangerous as a kendo masters relaxed stance. Arc let the hood of his outfit hide his white gold hair, just slightly to white for human tones. His own hands were much as his opponents his fingers unrestrained but his palms padded. All said and done he presented an appearance designed to be hard to judge for the opening of this round. Beneath and hidden by the shadow of his hood his lips parted and the voice which rang out from beneath was a deep and resonant baritone. ”If you are so eager then why don't you begin by attacking first.”

Arc reacted like an uncoiling spring, his left foot uncoiling underneath him, beginning to supply lift for his body, his right hand falling to touch the stone providing a point of balance as he pushed off to his own right side. The movement created a roll across his nodachi which stabilize the roll and brought him to his feet in a comfortable crouch while the hay maker sailed through the spot he should have occupied. He came up in a loose but unusual kendo stance his left side angled to his opponent revealing the katana and wakizashi upon that hip. His left hand came to rest upon the hilt of the nodachi upon his right hip as he began to shuffle backwards a few steps increasing the difference in space between them.

Arc took his opponent for a martial artist so far and as such kept comfortably outside the mans striking distance for now without attacking. The mans first attack had been an easy to read maneuver which had been telegraphed since before he had even planted his feet to throw the punch. Arc would take this opportunity to circle back towards the center of the arena keeping his opponent between himself and the corner he had started in. The opportunity to throw his opponent out of the ring at this point would pass as Arc choose the defensive and strategic position to begin this battle in.

Fake out or not, the roll set arc into position building momentum, his opponents foot falls to maintain striking contact could be heard clearly and as he rose he was already grasping the sheathe of his nodaichi which he would draw hard and fast but the point of the draw was not to free the blade. Instead he would counter the punch with the draw slamming the metal pommel cap into the mans crossing wrist before the point of contact with his face. The act would throw the punch up and prevent the other fighter from realigning it if he continued to extended it. The strike was probably minor, but if his opponent was unlucky a pinched nerve or cracked bone could occur from such a strike.

Arc would slam the blade back into its sheathe and continue to shuffle backwards, either his opponent had committed to the strike and would catch the pommel in the wrist, or it was another fake and the shot would vere and pose no threat anyway. With sword returned to its sheathe Arc managed to maintain his own ideal iaido stance and position in the battle. So far he had refrained from using any force but that necessary to interdict in his opponents attacks his motions comfortable and still relaxed as if this was any other practice session.

His mind noted and filed away the color of the eye as it began to glow and Arc would shift his grip, this time his right hand would come to rest on the pommel of the nodaichi sheathed on his right hip wrapping around the blade in a sturdy reverse grip. He had already demonstrated that his opponent should treat his sheathed weapons as drawn for all intents and purposes, and evidence of that point would only continue to mount as he drifted back.

Arc felt the blade strike and was already moving as the hand grazed the top of his head he was switching hands his right hand grabbing the hilt of his wakizashi between the two of them. Blue gold eyes flashed seeing the start of an incoming strike and he made his own in the flash of a blade being drawn well faster than the man should have any experience with. ”Rai” An intonation in japanese with the simple meaning of lightning. This was a draw spell with up to three levels of maturation. Arc intended to use the first level of maturation burning the spell to catch his opponent in a world of unfortunate position.

As the wakizashi slipped free of its sheathe he pivoted back on his left foot withdrawing his left shoulder down and back slightly. His opponents thrusted clawed punch would cause moderate lacerations as they ripped through the fabric of his robe much of the possible damage avoided thanks tot he slight shift in his own weight and position. As the claw slammed into and grazed his shoulder the wakizashi would be sliding free of its sheathe crackling with electricity. The strike would discharge on a successful hit, if in the same turn it is cast, it equated to being hit with a tazer.

The draw would pass at about half extension in a proper grip to intersect with the mans torso passing from the mans right to his left side. The spell and the draw were nearly simultaneously executed and timed so that the man would deliver his hit and take one in response. Given their close proximity and the fact that he was now leading with his right side also the side he was wielding the blade with it would be a shock if the man managed to dish this hit without taking one of his own.

Arc Pushed forward instead right into his opponents chest rotating his wrist to put the wakizashi in a line to pierce directly through the skin. As such he was out of position when the man went for a leg sweep which would strike far to high on the back of Arc's left leg to interfere with his balance. Each physical contact caused by his opponent carried a chill and the frosty tone of his opponents skin revealed much more of the mans talents. Since Arc wasnt backing up and chose instead to advance using his body and his opponents forward surge to strike with the wakizashi.

As thanks for his efforts he would take two contact points, but neither would work the way his opponent would want them too. His opponent had taken one stun gun shot and remained standing from a spell that attacked the nerves specifically intended to disrupt the bodies ability to communicate with itself. A second strike was immanent and would send another jolt within seconds of the first. The spell was effective even against opponents with experience being electricuted because it aimed at the muscles and the nerves intended to cause spasming and loss of physical control. This strike was aimed underneath his opponents reaching left arm and was aimed at causing the chest and heart muscles to spasm violently at the point of contact.

He didnt expect the weapon to cause his opponent to drop at this level of combat, but you dont just shrug off being Tazed if you have a human anatomy. The spell was designed to disrupt the central nervous system causing the body to shut down temporarily. Now if his opponent had resistance then that was one thing, or immunity was another, but otherwise by the moon in the sky he should be on his knees if this blade penetrated his skin and discharged into his body.