Glory Road

[On the horizon - Bikers.]

There is such a thing in this world that is known as an 'act of God'. Such a thing is when unexplainable circumstances lead to an unlikely outcome, but people these days are not the type to stop and think of praise or prayer when they a fortunate circumstance befalls them; it is only when their luck changes for the worse do these people think to turn their eyes towards heaven and cast the blame upon the steady hand that guides them down a road of His own choosing.

In what could easily be called the middle of nowhere, smack dab in the exact center point between nothing and jack-squat, three sets of transport trucks were waylaid by a group of misguided brigands. The people inside, two teams of fighters and ring staff as well as the event coordinators, were all forced to get out and the trucks themselves were taken by the highwaymen. Now they stood there, nowhere, under the baking sun, surrounded by the dregs of humanity and for whatever reason... they had been told not to fight back. That this would be the new site for the match due to 'unavoidable circumstances'.

At times like this the desperate man turns his eyes to heaven and asks of God: 'why have you done this to me'.

At times like this the pious man turns his eyes to the world around him and asks of himself: 'for what purpose has my God brought me here'.

Anson Brent sat quietly on one knee on the side of the road as he waited for instruction from the match coordinator. With the tip of his sheathed sword dug into the loose desert soil beside him he leaned upon it to provide him with support as the time dragged on; grating on both his nerves and his patience. Even out here... no, especially out here in the middle of nowhere where there were miles and miles between the sight of civilization evil still managed to find root within the heart of man. These rogues and ruffians thrived on lawlessness and justified what they did to others with the thought that if they showed weakness it would happen to them instead.

"Detestable conduct."

He could not leave it merely at that though... there was far more to this situation than met the eye. Though some of them might have been meta, this gang of bikers was not much more than a group of thugs who were used to taking what they pleased from those who would not fight back. The transports that they had stopped had been marked with the Heaven or Hell logo, and filled with incredibly dangerous men from the start. It was not the type of convoy that one would call an easy target, and yet despite that they were still stopped and surrounded. Despite that between the eight fighters on those transports several dozen of their brothers might have been taken down there was absolutely no resistance because the teams had been instructed not to hurt them.

Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, the young paladin cast his blue-eyed gaze towards the gleaming figure of the armor-clad Judge that stood silently in the center of the road; shining in the sun like some kind of immaculate god.

If only that were true.

He couldn't trust them, not after what he'd seen.

With the power that had been displayed by a Judge at the banquet it would have been child's play to take back the transports from these brigands and continue on their way, but nothing was done to stop them. Absolutely nothing. The orders they had been given were to get out of the transports and to not fight with the bandits; orders that had been given to them by the Judges themselves. A few minutes later, they were informed that the match schedule had changed and they would be fighting on the highway instead.

An act of God is an unlikely circumstance that presents an unforeseen complication. At times like this the pious man looks for an opportunity to do God's work because he would not be put through this trial if not to prove himself. However, Anson was not entirely convinced that this was God's work.

It was all too suspicious.

The boy thumbed the chain of the Falician rosary in his left hand as his eyes finally broke away from the form of the Judge. Looping the chain with his finger he pulled the Falician medallion up into his hand and pressed it lightly to his brow. Closing his eyes, the paladin slowed his breathing and calmed himself. "Father, what do you ask of me?" Here he sat, surrounded by misguided men he had been commanded not to touch by the servant of a man who had most likely brought this upon them... and yet for the time being he was bound to obey those words. A warrior of justice such as he served as the fist of his church, bringing God's will to the world through their works and granting His protection to those who could not protect themselves.

To leave misguided men to their own means, when they would no doubt continue this lifestyle of robbery was...

"Tch."

Bracing himself on his sword the young paladin stood and removed the sheathed weapon from the ground to hold it firmly at his side; dry earth clung to the scabbard and to the knees of his white jeans and sweat coaxed by the sun above them dotted his brow, but in the face of the trial placed before him how could a righteous heart dare waver even for an instant.

With intensity in his eyes and his Aura of Good dispelling any doubts to the contrary, his hands spread wide and the young paladin strode out into the street; shouting over the roar of the engines that surrounded them.

"God watches you. God sees your acts."

"You will be judged in this life or the next for your sins, so think of today as an opportunity."

"Think of today as a warning."

"There is no man who is beyond forgiveness if that is what he truly desires. Look upon yourselves and ask..."

"What is my worth? Am I a man of faith? Am I a man of HONOR?"

"Make no mistake, God will not save you. He has sent you a messenger, so that you may be given another chance to turn away from the path of darkness and to walk with the light."

"Salvation comes at one's own hand. He helps those who help themselves."

"Do you have sons? Do you have daughters? Do you have brothers, sisters, and mothers? When they look upon you, do they look with pride?"

The boy lowered his hands to his sides, he no longer singled out members of the crowd as he spoke of righteousness and judgment, and though sweat soaked his collar and his breathing was unsteady the young paladin was... calm.

"Today, I plead to you - live a life worthy of respect. For tomorrow, it may be too late."

With his final word, Anson tucked the sword in hand close to his side and turned back towards the side of the highway that Team Excalibur had been moved to when the trucks were taken.

He had appealed to their good nature, if these men had any left. Now and until this trial had passed his focus would have to be upon his team and their opponents.

This was not a Sunday mass.

This was Heaven or Hell.

Meanwhile, an elderly man sat in a bathroom stall somewhere, looking around impatiently and tapping his foot.

Tap, tap

Pause.

Tap, tap

Pause.

Eventually, he glanced at his watch, then pulled an HoH flyer out of his pocket. Carefully, his eyes scanned the bold text upon it.

"Oh, Glory Road! Ha! Well, don't I just feel foolish."

He left to go watch the fight.

The bard was standing behind both of his steel laden comrades as he considered his opponents carefully. No one really saw the musician approach and if one did they would notice he didn't make any grand appearance.

He simply followed his teammates, not saying a word, his mask faced left nothing to be studied about how the bard was feeling. Though one could surmise from his black regalia and hidden visage that he didn't want others knowing who he was...but that would only be an assumption at best. With his fancy white gloves he could just be a traveling performer or maybe the man just enjoyed fancy clothing. In the great words of Jack Black he was reminded that...

"Sometimes men wear stretchy pants...just for fun..."

But maybe these were the thoughts of a child with ADD somewhere in the crowd.

Maybe the bard was just the silent type...maybe he was pensive for the battle to come...maybe he was constructing plans or considering who would fight who but in reality the only thing he was doing was...

Listening...

Now Playing: Hide and Seek Remix

The bard could hear music from the world around him as he stood behind Anson, the music growing faster and stronger in pace and power as Adrinai challenged someone....he didn't really care who.

The bard's left hand hung at his side, gripping the neck of his precious violin, as the sounds of revving engines and gang related taunts faded away. The thumping, driving force of the music in his mind steeled his focus, sharpening his resolve to prove to his team and his opponents just who he was.

These paladins didn't have to take him aboard in this most vicious sporting event but they saw potential in him where others may not have. They would learn just how far this Concert Master would go to discover who he was through combat.

Saphen was no longer in a Concerto..oh no!

Now that he was on a team he had people relying on his abilities and resolve to push further and higher into the octaves until finally...

But that was neither here nor there.

Saphen's right hand tapped the bow he held gently on his right shoulder, keeping beat to the music only he heard. His right foot seemed to tap a different rhythm, looking almost like a Spanish dance of some sort but both beats appeared to work in harmony with each other. Saphen's hidden eyes looked at the ground, his body moving with every tap of his foot and movement of his arm...he was ready.

In many tournaments before fighters saw a man with an instrument and chuckled. They told Saphen that this was no place for a musician...that...music had no place on the battle field...

But they would learn that this Deceptive Cadence would teach them differently.

Music had everything to do with battle

Timing- To strike or play at the right moment

Rhythm- The ability to flow with music as well as combat

Speed- To do all of this with swiftness and grace

Precision- Dexterity to hit the right note or right area.

Passion- The drive to put feeling and power in battle as well as song!

How could anyone be so foolish to believe otherwise?

From the drummer boys, who marched stoically onto the field of combat to rally their armies to the sounds of trumpets to alert kingdoms of invading forces music had every right to be in battle.

I will show them...and if necessary...I will write an Elegy for all of them...

((I'll be using this picture as a reference for naming to help better with visual imagery for this fight when I use the tonfa.))

Chen switched his mental focus from the case to the fight at hand. Though there was work to do, he first had to fight. And fight he did, as he last showed his prowess at a sports tournament called Bloodbath for the sake of getting some inside information. Only the fighters who were deep in the network of the underground fighting world would recognize Chen as the previous winner of that brutal competition, but out here, in the exposure of the public eye...he was just this new guy. Despite that, he knew his way around the ring, around whatever venue he was thrown into. Though his opponent had the better advantage in terms of equipment, that will only have to be a challenge for the inspector to overcome if he wanted to proceed closer to his goal.

Adrinai, the name his opponent gladly informed Chen of, moved forward. Chen, on reaction, started to peddle back. Not as fast as the hammer-wielder was approaching, but enough so he could have an initiative against an inevitable attack from that weapon. His hands kept moving up and down in contrast to one another, Adrinai getting closer and closer until the very air in front of him sung with the sound of a missed strike, the inspector just barely keeping out of the range of the hammer's swing as he did a quick jump back. The fact that the weapon was one handed meant it wasn't as heavy as one of those warhammers he saw being used in the more primitive fights. That was good. It meant he'll have an easier time dealing with it in terms of his tonfa blocking it from time to time. For now, Chen retreated as Adrinai advanced. The inspector clearly understood the threat of his opponent. But despite such a worrying situation, his expression of calm was not broken. His eyes just...stared.

1

Notice:

(( Contrary to the thread description the ring size is 70 feet across rather than 70 yards.

This is a courtesy post to let everyone know of the clarification. 70 yards is a feckin' long distance after all. ))

The swing had missed, which wasn't a surprise for Adrinai in the least. What did surprise him was that there was no follow up, no exploitation of the whiff by his opponent. He knew that he hadn't scared the other fighter, so he put it down to healthy caution. The paladin assumed his opponent was either observing him, to gauge the speed and reach of his weapon, or trying to tire him out. Although Chen had given up a fair bit of distance in letting Adrinai do all of the forward motion and even backpedaling a bit for good measure, the bikers and their impenetrable circle of steel and exhaust fumes were a long way off. The edge of the highway, though, was another matter. If the fight progressed linearly any further, they would be moving into the dirt and rough desert grass that lined the side of the road.

"Fight me!"

As a part of Adrinai's recovery from his swing, he twisted his body to absorb the momentum of the strike. Then, stepping forward on his right foot and turning his hand over to aim the striking head of his battle hammer back toward Chen, he shifted his weight forward, leaving his right side turned toward his opponent, and extended his arm, aiming the weapon for Chen's right shoulder. Because he wasn't giving it a full swing, it wouldn't have the strength and follow through of his previous attack. He was largely relying on the heft of the weapon to do damage to an unarmored opponent.

As his weapon arm extended, he also began to raise and turn the arm that carried his shield, rotating the bottom of the shield away from himself.

He's watching. He'll judge this attack, or the next, and exploit it. I'll have to be ready.

[2/17]

(( This post says that Glory Road is allowed to have multiple simultaneous fights (by means of TIME PARADOX).

So feel free to begin if you're itching to go. It'd be nice to actually get to the end of some fights. ))

Chen stepped his right foot forward as if he was about to exploit an opening, but the foot retreated back into its rear positioning. That hammer was coming back at full swing and Chen knew well he couldn't throw himself into its path just yet. Adrinai was standing there, swinging his weapon and wanting him to reply back with an equal show of force. If only if it was that easy. The second swing came back around, having him pick up speed to get away even faster as Adrinai's approach was closing the distance to striking range with ease. He once more dodged the weapon's swing by a hair, a breeze of hair shooting against his abdomen. It was clear that Adrinai wasn't going to stop his approach and Chen knew well Glory Road wasn't going to last long the way he was retreating. Already he could hear the increasing roar of the circling motorcycles creating the barricade around their fight as the defined boundary, the bikers turning the throttles of their bikes to give the atmosphere a booming shout of their engines revving.

Nevertheless, from just two swings alone, he managed to analyze just how fast the weighted weapon swung and how much recovery time was needed to deliver another swing. It reminded him the way someone swung around your common bat or crowbar. He knew enough of that from having to fend off thugs out in the more corrupt areas of Durem. You should never underestimate the speed of these weapons despite their higher weight, but those with a higher awareness of time could see just the tiny sliver of time difference between how you attack with a knife and how you attack with a sledgehammer.

Gradually, Chen's facial expression changed, from one of conservation to one of anxiousness. Maybe the hammer fighter was actually getting to the Resolution team member, destroying whatever confidence that the inspector once had. The conclusion was further given proof by his left hand reaching behind his back and grabbing his second tonfa by its handle to bring it into action. His mouth twisted a bit at the edge, a thought surfacing to his mind on how he would finally tackle this perplexing issue. Clearly, he hadn't already laid out an elaborate plan on how he was going to triumph against this type of opponent. Not enough time had passed just yet for that to come into play.

Just when the second swing passed, Chen's left foot suddenly became the forward and his right foot switched to the rear, changing his lead stance. Holding his left arm high at head level, his right arm dipped low at the abdomen as he finally decided to move forward fast. The inspector had saw the trajectory of that swing. He knew that gravity was going to give just the smallest factor in just how fast the hammer would come back. Adrinai's body movements, the way they worked with putting some force into that swing, did not lie. Chen knew well he wasn't going to get close enough without suffering one more swing of that weapon. But that's why he created the body formation that he did.

Even if the paladin managed to bring the weapon back around in time, Chen had two defenses set up to lessen the impact.

One: his left arm was was ready on guard, placed between himself and the weapon's length. If it came back around, the rod of the hammer would impact into the tonfa's blade that was parallel with his forearm. The Glass Fiber Reinforced Fiber makeup of this weapon would serve well to hold against the force, especially considering the weapon was a heavier variant of a normal tonfa. It was going to send quite a force through his arm, but you didn't use a tonfa unless you had built up the capability to send a blunt force through your limb without destroying your bones.

Oh, then there was reason two: the closer you are within striking range, the lesser the power. Chen would avoid the weighted end of the hammer to take less force, while giving him the benefit of getting right up close to the paladin.

At this point, the only obstacle left was that raised shield. Chen's right hand changed the grip of the tonfa, letting go of its handle to throw it around and hold it by its back head instead. His right hand was still at the abdomen, so the action was well out of the vision scope of Adrinai due to the shield's position. He had a good feeling that he was going to get pushed a bit to the side if Adrinai used a follow up attack, but his feet would do as best as they could to keep him from falling if that happened. You didn't use a spaced stance like this unless you knew you were going to be knocked around quite a bit by a stronger power.

2

Pause: The intense music faded from the bard's mind as he looked at this...ring master thoughtfully. Out of all the fighters on her team she seemed to be the most entertaining of the lot...perfect for the likes of the musician. They both shared the same style! a sense of amusement and playful combat that the bard loved so very much.

Yes...this will be my opponent! Though I hope our fight will have something exciting in it as well...like when Adrinai- the sound of a sputtering motorcycle crashing wrenched Saphen's train of thought off it's rails but it was probably for the better...

There was work to be done!

Saphen looked over at Anson for a moment and smiled beneath the stone wall that covered his face.

"Let me battle the lady...I have a feeling someone as pious as you may have...well...less experience with such a thing."

The bard was just teasing of course, but he took the battle at hand very seriously. After all not only did he have to fight a lady, who was obviously of decent strength for having entered this tournament, but he had to be respectful and show her courtesy during the hazards of combat...a most challenging affair.

But one he was up to facing regardless...

"My lady I will be your rival this day...Let us see what we learn about ourselves in combat shall we?"

The bard smiled once more but such expressions would be lost on anyone else. It was possible to hear the sincerity in his voice, the sort of courtly tone that a knight would use with a princess. But more to the point, it meant that the bard would be her opponent. Information that would be further proven as Saphen stepped past the roaring machines, entirely focused on this woman's...face?

Wrong, in fact if one didn't know any better it would appear that the bard was staring at her...chest??

How rude a man he must be?! the thought of a nun would have been...(though the questions of why such a lady was in a bad biker area were irrelevant)

But alas this was not the case, Saphen suffered from face blindness, a disease that caused those who had it to not be able to recognize who's face they were looking at. This being the case the musician did not often focus on the face but instead the torso to remember who someone was.

Ironically this was also useful in combat, because it meant that the bard would be studying the woman's physical movements more closely and not the ever changing expressions that tortured the human soul.

Taking a note from one of his holy friends the bard decided to introduce himself.

"I am Saphen," he said calmly "A poet, a musician, an entertainer...a bard if you will." Taking a moment to raise his instrument to playing position, Saphen began to play long notes, the blade that adorned the bow glinting as he listened and tuned it by turning the knobs of each string accordingly.

"It is an honor to face you in combat...but with that honor comes the responsibility that I must pour every ounce of my being into defeating you. I expect nothing less of you."

With that the bard simply bowed, his right arm with bow in hand crossing his body as he did. The left arm would rest at his side for a moment before quickly returning to playing position, standing completely still before he spoke one final time.

"To honor a lady I give you the first action."

And with that the pleasantries were all gone...and his mind...began calculating every detail of her attire, weapons he could see and most importantly...the arena.

"Oh, hells."

It wasn't a very paladiny thing to say, but the man had thwarted the worst of Adrinai's attack, and was winding up for a far more painful response. What was worse, in Adrinai's mind, was that Chen had a hold on his shield, limiting the utility of his greatest asset. He would have none of that.

You dare defile the shield of a paladin with your touch!?

He would have said it, if he'd had the time. The righteous fury behind the thought, though, was evident on his face. For the first time during the fight, he fully opened his connection to the stored divine energy he kept, the Light. On each arm, a pearly glowing symbol appeared.

Paladin Seal Wrote:

Divine Might:

2 points.

A seal appears on the paladin's left and right bicep that persist for two seconds. During that time, he is given great physical strength throughout his entire body. The divine essence reinforces his muscles and bones to protect him from the strain of using that strength. The divine might granted allows him to perform such feats as flipping a car or overpowering an ogre, albeit generally for only a single action.

He used the brief moment of strength beyond superhuman to swing the shield back the way it had come, out and around. The movement would have diverted Chen, as a physical barrier to the shield's movement, and thus his strike in the same direction, redirecting it to his shoulder where it would land before Adrinai finished his swing. He grimaced in pain, but carried on for the moment. With that much power behind the paladin's swing, it would be a miracle if Chen was able to hold on to the shield rather than being flung back or off to the side, depending on how long he rode out the arc of the shield. Even if he released it immediately rather than being carried at all, he would receive a truly epic shield bash to the chest. Adrinai followed up the removal of his opponent from his personal space by tossing the hammer end-over-end at his opponent's chest, using the momentum of his shield swing as a means to twist his body back around and bring the weapon to bare in a single motion. As the power of the Seal faded, he drew his sword from the sheath and began stalking toward his opponent.

"Don't. Touch. The shield."

Adrinai held his shield a little lower on his body than before. The pain and bruising in his shoulder were making the arm feel stiff.

(DE: 6)

[4/17]

By the Light, that was stupid.

Adrinai regretted tossing his hammer even while it was still in the air. He wouldn't be able to fight the same with the bladed weapon. In fact, the only way that he could justify using the implement at all was through the use of one of his most cherished Light-granted powers. A continuous drain on his power, though, was something he'd been hoping to avoid, and the use of the Seal he was intended precluded using any other Seal, such as the one that had given him the prior burst of strength. It was not an ideal situation, but he was willing to adapt.

As he caught up to his opponent, Adrinai saw that the man was using a stance that focused more on mobility.

Speed versus power.

It was a battle he had seen many times, lived many times, and while he believed that his approach to combat was the better, he remembered well the advantages of the former. He had, after all, been an Elf for much longer than he'd been a paladin. That unencumbered grace and speed was a natural aspect of his species, one that he now limited with his armed-and-armored approach to battle.

Just before getting into striking range, he saw Chen glance at something, and fought back the instinct to look himself. He knew it couldn't be a striker, that they weren't going to make it through the ring of motorcycles. The two fighters were alone, relying solely on their own skills and wits to come away the victor. So, a possible danger ignored, Adrinai took the final step into range.

"May mercy guide my hand."

He lashed out with the shield first this time, expecting that a sword thrust would be parried all too easily. As he stepped forward with his left foot, he arced his left arm up and then back down while whipping it outward so that it was the top right corner of the shield that was quickly approaching Chen's face. Even as that danger passed, Adrinai followed by thrusting at Chen's gut with the sword. His earlier words about mercy seemed to ring false with that attack, but even as he started the thrust, he was also once again opening his connection to the Light.

Seal of Lawbringer's Weapon Wrote:

Lawbringer's Weapon:

2 Points.

A seal appears on the paladin's weapon that persists for twenty seconds and enhances his ability to bring a target to justice. During that time, his weapon will not cause lasting physical harm to an opponent struck by it, instead sapping their strength and consciousness in an amount proportional to the damage that would've been done. In this way, the paladin can fight without holding back and still avoid hurting or killing an opponent.

If he struck true, Chen would find himself feeling weaker without being injured. The blade would pierce or cut and leave no wound behind, but Chen's essence would still be harmed. It was an extraordinary power, but it had its cost. He had already used a quarter of his stored power on the Seal of Righteous Might, and the use of the Lawbringer's Weapon would both drain his power at a slow but constant rate and prevent him from using other Seals while it was active.

(DE: 4)

[5/17]

The teams had been moved out to opposite sides of the highway and separated by a ring of bikers that circled on their motorcycles, creating a din of noise and kicked up dirt that made the situation at hand all the more unbearable because of it. Tensions were rising, and not just between the two teams that knew they would inevitably come to arms even without this added aggravation; it was only a matter of time before someone got tired of playing the waiting game.

Adrinai Telasai Wrote:

"Anson, I'm getting restless. With your permission, I'm going to begin this."

"You have it, Sir Adrinai. Light be with you."

The elven paladin was a competent warrior in all regards and Anson could not have had more confidence in him. If there was one member among their team that he expected to prove a formidable adversary for any opponent they might come across, it was Adrinai Telasai. Though the elf was a little eccentric at times the wisdom of his years and his devotion to the good fight were strengths that could not be overcome with power alone.

"Sir Adrinai!" the young paladin called after the elf as he crossed through the ring of highwaymen. "I'll not pray for your victory. I trust you shall earn it through your own merit."

Later...

Saphen Wrote:

Saphen looked over at Anson for a moment and smiled beneath the stone wall that covered his face.

"Let me battle the lady...I have a feeling someone as pious as you may have...well...less experience with such a thing."

The bard was just teasing of course, but he took the battle at hand very seriously.

The bard was just teasing of course, as he often did. In the short time that Anson had known the strange man known as Saphen he had come to understand little about him other than that he had a muse that was always with him and that he earnestly wished to test himself in battle. Both were qualities that the young Captain could find no fault in - a man with an adventurous heart and gregarious disposition is a man you should not hesitate to call a friend.

"At your request, Sir Saphen. I trust you shall not hold back because your opponent is a woman," the paladin reminded him, "it would be a disrespectful thing to do."

The boy placed his hands at his sides and bowed respectfully to the bard. He had chosen the members of this team for two reasons after all: a heart that possessed compassion and virtue and prowess as a warrior. Though he was not a paladin, the boy saw many admirable traits within Saphen.

"I leave her to you."

Even later...

I guess it's about time...

The young Captain of Team Excalibur dusted off his knees and the rest of his clothing that had been gathering dirt from the dust cloud kicked up by the biker gang that had been circling the area for a while now. Even though he had not been the one fighting up until now the boy looked as if he had just taken a roll in the desert and his disposition was in a similar state.

He was proud of his team. Sir Adrinai and Sir Saphen had performed admirably and Anson only hoped that he would be able to fight as well. Watching the elven paladin in combat had taught him a few things even from just a few minutes of observing; it seemed that there was no end to the wisdom that his senior could impart even without trying. After watching his companions battle his resolve had hardened - he would fight with all he had and not look back.

With the sheathed b*****d sword held in his right hand just below the crossguard and his left hand at his side thumbing the chain of the Falician rosary that was wrapped around his wrist, the paladin strode past the circling brigands and to the center of the road where he would be meeting with his opponent.

He raised up his right hand, thrusting the sword hilt-first into the air as he stood at the center of their impromptu arena.

"I am Anson Brent, Paladin of the Falician Order and Captain of Team Excalibur! Let your representative step forward to engage in honorable combat!"

With that his arm lowered again, bringing the sword down to his side held by habit as if it were sheathed at his hip rather than simply held freely in his hand. Though his lips moved silently as the boy went over a calming hymn in his mind to ease his tension the paladin did not utter a prayer. He had come to Heaven or Hell to test himself, not to pray for a victory that was not earned.

Who will be my opponent?

Chen's right lead foot raised itself from the ground and stomped itself against the shield when Adrinai attempted to hit him with it. His arms were raised higher and his back was straight, giving perfect balance to keep himself from falling from standing on just his left leg. This stomp was more for stability and to avoid the attack rather than for attacking himself. He couldn't knock the guy over with just a kick into his shield, after all.

This was becoming a fortunate situation, though. The paladin was trying harder to protect the areas that he couldn't always protect, showing that Chen's dexterity was finally acknowledged. He couldn't be overwhelmed by confidence, however, since that sword could come back at any moment. Matter of fact, he had a very good feeling that Adrinai was going to respond with that sword in the way it was held back, causing him to kick off and back away a little. He'll just have to catch him agaaaii---wwwwoooaAAAOOOH!

OOF!

Chen stumbled and suddenly fell backwards onto the blacktop, barely catching himself with his arms baring against the ground. Looking down at his feet, he suddenly saw that he had tripped over the hammer that the paladin threw at the inspector a few moments ago! Talk about an unlucky dilemma.

"s**t!"

His eyes returned to the paladin. He knew his opponent wasn't going to give up this kind of opportunity. Though the distance wasn't much, that sword could still strike him if it wanted to, assuming the guy attacked.

6

Adrinai's sudden advance to take advantage of this opportunity had Chen slide his right foot underneath the hammer's handle, keeping his left foot anchored on the top. Even if he was down, he was not out. He was going to use that fallen hammer to his advantage. Just then, his opponent said:

"Return to your feet."

What? The inspector got to a stand in haste. That type of mercy surely caught Chen off guard. These guys really were praisers of the Lord. They reminded him remarkably of his own teammate, Tenkai, a monk who held a strict code that sometimes caused him to hold back his blade against advances. It was an annoying quality of the swordsman, but the inspector understood. They all, in some way or another, were upkeepers of the law, each on their own terms. It was good to see such good doers out here in a tournament where violence was the way you competed...

But this wasn't the time to be glorifying the Almighty. Chen was going to repay the favor for letting him get up in some form, but that didn't mean he was going to hold back any aggression. Work came first. Morals later.

"Thanks, I suppose," he replied.

He was already back in stance, flipping the holding position of each of his tonfa this time into that hammer grip that he had once before, both hands gripping the blades of each weapon rather than their handles, up close to the handle bar.

"But we still have a fight to do!"

The last part of his sentence rose in volume, Chen moving quickly toward Adrinai as his arms started to rotate at a rapid speed in front of him. They were focused mainly toward the left, but all his opponent would see is a blur of black. Maybe that fall messed up the inspector's head, but he was clearly advancing without care at this point. At least he looked that way.

7

The wild movement wasn't really an attempt at attacking. He had a more subtle motive behind his action, though he was surprised that his opponent was retreating. As Adrinai held his shield up in guard, Chen moved himself toward the paladin's right once again. The speed at which his arms were spinning slowed down to a halt, returning him once more to that anticipating position of his arms. There still was that sword to worry about, after all. But that didn't stop him from closing in.

He shifted immediately to move toward the paladin's right side like before, only this time he was dashing in that direction. Think the stepping-to-the-side action done in the typical 3D fighting games consisting of the following command:

In unison, Chen feinted a low left kick at the paladin's right leg.

8

Yare, yare...

Things were certainly beginning to heat up around here. The crowds of bikers, both on and off of their bikes, where hollering like a crowd of mad men. He could pick out individual remarks here and there. There were the usual derogatory terms thrown at his teammate and his opponent. Tenkai was well aware that both Asians and elves were targets or defamation, but he tried to do his best to tune it out. A few of them were making cat-calls at Lottie, as well.

Shameful, thought the monk as he shook his head, Simply shameful.

Unless these men were in league with Noah, Tenkai was fairly sure they wouldn't get away with this little transgression of theirs once the fights were over.

Speaking of Lottie, it seemed that someone had their eyes set on her for a battle. More interestingly, it was a familiar face...

Hey now...that's the bard I encountered in the GTB!

Still wearing the same mask as always, as well. This would surely be an interesting battle. Tenkai wondered what sort of story he wished to create by fighting Lottie. It was a shame he wouldn't be able to watch while he himself was fighting, unless he and his opponent decided to wait while their allies finished doing battle. Though, that did seem to bring up the question...who would Tenkai be fighting?

themightyjello Wrote:

"I am Anson Brent, Paladin of the Falician Order and Captain of Team Excalibur! Let your representative step forward to engage in honorable combat!"

"My, my..."

Tenkai spoke as he stepped out from in between the bikers separating him from combat all the way over on the other side of the ring from Anson. He didn't walk too far into the ring to signal any start of a battle, though. He wanted to get to know his unique opponents a little more before getting down to things. The monk didn't even look like he was suited for fighting, if Anson were able to tell he were a monk. Tenkai didn't know very much about the Falicians, and it was hard to say whether Anson knew much about Buddhism. With the robe and scapular he wore, one wouldn't think Tenkai was here for any sort of battle.

If there was any sort of indication of Tenkai being somewhat of a holy man, it was the large rosary around his neck. It was rather large, and the beads were about the size of baseballs. It didn't seem normal to have a rosary that big, but there were always uses.

"You're quite a spirited person," said Tenkai amiably, bringing his left hand up to rub his chin. His left hand and forearm had asmaller rosary wrapped around it, but this one was much different. There was some sort of cross hanging from the end of the chain. Why Tenkai would carry two different kinds of rosary was a strange thing indeed.

"I find it equally unfortunate as it is favorable to fight one such as you in this tournament. Although it is unfortunate to raise one's sword against someone who is just, I am very thankful to have the opportunity to meet an honorable man in honorable combat."

It was an odd kind of paradox for Tenkai. When faced with a truly malicious sort, it was unfortunate to see how bloodthirsty or insidious someone could truly be. On the other hand, it was refreshing enough when it gave the monk no scruples when drawing his blade.

"I heard your words from earlier," the monk continued, "and I must say I agree with you. It is deplorable that we must put on such a performance in front of those who only thrive on chaos and disorder. Then again..."

Tenkai turned his head over to the Heaven or Hell staff transport, the Judge leering out over the fights with his intimidating gaze. Thoughts of the previous night ran through the monks head. Sighing, he closed his eyes and said.

"It's not that different anywhere else in this tournament, isn't it?"

No matter where any of them went in Heaven or Hell, throngs of people from all over the lands bought tickets and tuned in to see people like Chen Ning and Adrinai tear each other apart. They delighted in the blood shed by the fighters who fought their way to what they felt was "glory" and sought out reputations and titles that were nothing more than words. And on top of it all, there were those who profited from the violence, in more ways than simply monetary gain.

Slowly, but noticeably, Tenkai's eyes opened, shifting from his calm and amiable gaze into that of seriousness and severity, his eyes turning back to the paladin.

"You've felt it too, have you not?"

The monk could only hope Anson knew what the monk was referring to. Surely someone who could speak such just words bravely in front of the wicked could sense what was amiss behind the tournament. Even if he didn't understand, Tenkai could not afford to spell it out in front of a camera, as well as under the watchful eyes and ears of a Judge.

"Ohhh." The Ringmaster brought her left hand to her cheek and touched it there. "Aren't you a sweetheart! What a gentleman!" she gushed before throwing a glance over her shoulder at Roran still in the car with his book.

"Hey Rory! You could learn a thing or two from this one!" She called out in a sing song voice.

Her right hand still clutched her whip and she dragged the hand back as she introduced herself.

"Name's Carlotta Marchesi. Ringmaster of the Marchesi Family Circus. But y'know. Lottie works just fine. Can I call you Saph?" She asked. Of couse, she didn't wait for his response, instead she arched the whip up over her head. Her thumb pressed against the bright red jewel in its hilt and instantly the brown leather was wreathed in crackling flames. Just at the same moment that she sent the whip careening into Saphen's left shoulder.

Firecracker Wrote:

Firecracker – Lottie can use her whip to deafen foes. This move only works when she is activating the fire enchantment upon her whip and making an upper body attack, if she chooses to make an attack any area above the ribs of her opponent during the act of activating her whip’s flames it will result in a loud crack similar to what one would hear when a firecracker is set off, however much louder. Lottie herself is used to this noise and so is not affected; however opponents are deafened and disorientated for one post.

"Saph's got a nice ring to it!" She added over the deafening clap. Not that her opponent would hear it.

[1]

"Grgh!"

Even though the underhook was secured, his opponent was still reacting, just as he figured he would. And sure enough, it was with the sword arm. This did interrupt the chokehold takedown, deciding to remove his right arm and move it back to the outside of the once-captured limb. His right hand gripped tight onto Adrinai's right wrist, holding more toward the back of the hand so he could gain some control over it. That way, it was like they were both wielding the weapon together, innuendo jokes aside. The sword's blade hung just a few inches above his head, pointing at an upwards angle.

Chen compensated for this mishap by having his left arm hug around the paladin's neck as he planned. Though it wasn't as effective as a two arm chokehold, it still was capable of cutting off blood and air supply, though at a much slower rate than before. At the moment, he had Adrinai in a neckhold, not a chokehold, while both of their hands were struggling over control for that sword. Chen's hold was orientated to right, so his head was next to the right shoulder. This made it a lot harder for him to try to stab backwards without first tucking his arm downward and then stabbing back due to the limited angles the paladin had available.

The position was still favorable, nevertheless. All Chen did at this point was perform a teep kick with his left foot at the back of Adrinai's rear right leg to send the guy falling to his knee. This was as simple as kicking the back of the calf behind the knee, causing the joint to give and send the paladin to a kneel. That way, with this loss of balance, Chen would just fall down onto his posterior.

It was going to be pretty hard to try to hold that sword arm at bay, especially after seeing the strength this paladin possessed from throwing the inspector earlier with just one arm. But since he was in a sitting position by the time he fell to the ground, Chen bent in his right leg, and then moved it in the space between his own right arm and Adrinai's right arm. Looping his leg through this opening, he made use of his lower leg muscles to add more weight and power to the apprehension of the right arm, enough to where it would slam Adrinai's elbow straight onto the rough ground. If that elbow wasn't armored, it was going to feel a bit painful having his arm strike concrete. Hopefully, it would cause him to relinquish the grip of his sword.

"Hahaha!"

"Wooohoo!"

"Yeeeeah, now that's roughhousing for you!"

Shouts came from the bikers as they watched this scuffle become a strenuous ground battle. For guys who were use to smashing people over the heads with glass bottles and rolling around in the dirt trying to punch their enemies' lights out, this scene was a delight. Provided, Chen didn't like their little cheers, choosing to ignore it. He wasn't doing this out of pleasure. He was just doing this because it was a means to an end. It was all just business and nothing more. He had a liking for fighting like any other person who trains in combat. But he didn't live that type of world. He rather use words to get him out of conflicts rather than fists any other day. That was what separated a detective from a vigilante. It was just...this world was not as polite as you could be. And sometimes, you had to defend your life if you wanted to live on for the good of justice.

Aside from that, Chen's right leg would keep that arm pinned to the ground as he had his right arm rejoin in the neckhold and return to his designated submission. The only difference was that he was now sitting up instead of lying down.

"Sorry for this," was all Chen could say.

10

Striker : Judge Ruling!

themightyjello Wrote:

For the sake of gettin' s**t done I'm wondering if Glory Road is allowed to time paradox freely or if we should wait.

Since Strikers aren't allowed in that arena anyways and we weren't planning to have any character fight multiple times it wouldn't really affect anything.

The Darth Vizzle Wrote:

Well, since Time Paradox is assuming (to me, anyways) that the fights happen at different times IC but done at the same time OOC for convenience.. yes, you could do multiple fights at once as long as they were ICly supposed to be going on at different times.

If you mean multiple IC fights at the same time, it could probably happen for the sake of convenience, if people were/are pressed for time due to scheduling issues.

themightyjello Wrote:

Excellent. I shall inform the men.

(( Don't worry about it Chen, I raised the question earlier and got it cleared. Since none of us can Striker anyway we've been allowed to TIME PARADOX our fights and get them done. ))

Adrinai didn't get the satisfaction of dropping his opponent with a single strike, but he did briefly interrupt his plans as Chen grappled with the renewed threat from the paladin's sword arm, preventing his adversary from getting to the point where he could wrap his legs around and truly lock in the hold. Although the neckhold was painful, cutting off much needed oxygen, he still had the strength to struggle.

"Grrrrk!"

With his right arm once again in lockdown, it was up to his shield arm to save the day. Before Chen could kick the back of his knee, Adrinai shifted his weight backward, driving his rear into Chen's midsection. He then planted his left foot slightly forward even as he reached up and clasped Chen's choking left arm with his own left gauntlet, the bar of the shield grip pressed between gauntlet and arm. Finally, he executed his judo-style throw, leaning forward to exploit the shifting of Chen's center of gravity forward from the previous hip thrust and dragging the arm away from his neck and toward the ground. His opponent's body would naturally follow after, rolled across his back. If Chen made the unfortunate mistake of trying to get the leaping leg-lock after Adrinai began the maneuver, it would only mean that he was making the task easier as his feet left the ground of their own accord so that Adrinai could literally toss him over his shoulder instead.

If all went as planned, Chen would be lying on his back, slightly dazed, head toward Adrinai. Adrinai knew that there was a time for mercy, and a time for a well-placed smite. Dropping to a knee and putting the force of his whole body behind the blow, he would bring the pommel of his sword smashing down into Chen's jaw.

(DE: 2)

[11/17]

Saphen was studying the whip with great interest as the woman spoke, her kind demeanor partly lost in the calculating computer known as the bard's mind. Though a few key words did manage to make it onto his train of thought. Ringer master and Circus in particular, these were extremely important words when it came to battle for it told Saphen many things.

The whip means she may prefer range. Ring Master and Circus could mean she is agile. Like an acrobat...thought the musician as she continued speaking.

Her arm began to move and Saphen already knew what was coming, she was going to strike him with her superior range.

The bard didn't want to waste any time, he had to close the distance before she could strike, whips couldn't gain momentum when someone was too close or tied up...at least that was Saphen's plan.

As soon as her arm began to lift the bard's bow was wrenched along the strings of his violin. The violent pull would break the instrument's silence with a loud and powerful flurry of notes.

Now Playing: Canon Rock (42 seconds in)

Saphen's right arm jerked back and forth, notes racing out of the f-holes or openings on the face of the violin. The feeling of magic enveloped him quickly as the bard transformed into his caster form. The music pounded in his mind, fury spewing forth from the wooden beast, attempting to consume the area and regain dominance over the realm of sound that the bikers currently held with out contest. The song was normally played in a very classical form but with power behind every note there was a pushing drive that turned the once peaceful song into a driving force to be reckoned with. High notes cut through the air as the bard attempted to do the same in a more...physical sense.

Beneath his clothing a dagger shook itself loose from the right side of his belt. A flash of metal gleamed, the weapon lifting the bard's shirt up ever so slightly before surging forward. The dagger was aimed for whipping arm for two reasons, try and force the arm to withdraw it's action or get in the way of the whip (which could possibly stop the weapon from cracking.)

Equipment Wrote:

Throwing Daggers: (25)

Each dagger was 8 inches in length and rested in a belt that was hidden beneath his shirt which rests over his waist slightly. The daggers were layered in special holders that rested on both sides of his body.

The blade would fly, end over end, after the initial surge of magic physics would handle the rest. It would fly no differently then if he had simply thrown it himself but using his ability to move metal solved two issues.

It allowed the strike to be slightly hidden, forcing his new found friend to react to the surprising events but it also allowed the bard to continue playing as he rushed her.

There was also a unique mental game that doing such an action instilled into his opponent as well, Tenkai was one of her team mates after all. Someone who the bard had fought in a previous tournament, who surely would have told her about Saphen's fighting style. While Tenkai was a most worthy adversary as far as the bard was concerned he knew that changing up tactics would prove useful regardless of what the samurai had told her (if anything at all.)

Saphen's hidden eyes watched the arm that held the whip as he attempted to bring things into a much closer form of combat. All the while the hairs of the bow slid across metal, the music growing louder to the woman as he drew closer...and closer to the Ring Master...like a beast starving for a meal.

Let us see what happens when Concert Master meets Ring Master shall we?

Legato: Tied Together "Let the Earth Tear you Asunder!"

Plant Locations Wrote:

Agave- Right arm, Fly Trap-Left arm, Water Vine- Torso, Sundew- Right leg

{1}

themightyjello Wrote:

"Your praise is undeserved but much appreciated," said the boy in response to the man across from him. "And your words give me pause as well, Sir. I hope that you have no code that keeps you from fighting earnestly against a virtuous opponent."

"On the contrary," replied the monk, "My code of honor obligates me to give my opponents my best, especially the virtuous ones. I wouldn't want to show some sort of disrespect."

Tenkai took off the cloth-wrapped cylindrical object slung on his back, holding it in his left arm. He still kept his spade in his gauntlet-clad right hand, holding it like some sort of walking staff.

"Besides, I don't suppose you expect to lightly tap me with that weapon of yours," Tenkai smiled in a friendly manner. "If you have no scruples about making me bleed, it'd be wrong of me to hold myself back."

Although there were other ways to strike someone with a sword, Tenkai wasn't that naive. Sword fights were known for being messy like that, and it was too wishful a thought to hope for a sword fight without bloodshed. He wouldn't disrespect his opponent with misplaced pacifism.

themightyjello Wrote:

"In the face of those who would use violence against the innocent, steal from others, and bully the weak in order to control them what other recourse do we have than to remind them?" The young paladin moved his fingers over the cross-guard of his weapon and pulled it back down to his hip, "...that the weak are not without protection."

"That is true..." said Tenkai as he stuck his spade into the ground to his side, the rings on its head jingling together from displacement. Carefully, the monk opened up the package. "And yet..."

Wrapped in the carrying cloth were two sheathed Japanese swords. They didn't look too different from each other at a distance, save that their pommels were black and white respectfully. Tenkai took the sword with the black pommel out of the cloth as he laid the other one down on the ground by his staff.

"In the end, all they see is the fighting," said the monk with a bit of a sad tone. "Its what they came here to see. Our messages of justice only reach so many...but it is still good."

It would be faint, but if Anson had the spiritual senses of most paladins, he would sense something...off about Tenkai's swords. The one he had put down was calm and rather peaceful in its aura, while the one he held in his hand felt somewhat eerie. It wasn't evil, but there was some sort of bloodthirst emanating from the blade. A suppressed bloodthirst, as if Tenkai was holding a tamed beast rather than a sword.

Perhaps it was something in Tenkai that kept whatever it was in its place.

As it seemed, Tenkai had no intention of handicapping himself nor his opponent. He knew he would have to fight with what he had when he signed himself up, so he was ready to do what was needed to give his opponent a proper challenge.

Anson began to bow, and for a moment Tenkai's calm nature faltered. He became somewhat sheepish, hastily bowing in return as he gave a little nervous laugh. It was as if he had just remembered something and was rather embarrassed for it.

"Heheheh, oh yes," he said as he bowed, "How rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself properly."

Tenkai had a habit of getting lost in conversation, so much so that he forgot to give out his own name. Even though Anson hadn't given his name specifically to Tenkai, he did announce it to his entire team. An introduction was an introduction, no matter how big or small. Returning from his bow, the monk spoke to the paladin once more.

"My name is Tenkai Matsumoto..."

And with a deft grasp of his right hand, Tenkai pulled off his robe like some sort of pull-away cloak...

The wave of his robe hid the actions of straps pulling previously-hidden Japanese shoulder armor into place from his back to his shoulder as the rosary necklace on his neck detached at a link. The monk was left in some sort of half-worn kosode (hakama) top that covered all but his left side, which was relatively exposed save for the gauze wrapped around the length of his left arm. Anson would be able to tell by the scars on the visible parts of his torso's skin that Tenkai wasn't some ordinary monk. Below that were a pair of hakama pant cut off at the shin by metal shin and knee guards, much like those worn by samurai in armor. Without the robe to keep out the light, Anson would also see the insteps of Tenkai's sandal-clad feet were covered by armor plates.

Across his waist as a white rope belt, where a tattered gray cloth hung off the back to drape behind him. It was in this belt that Tenkai slid his sword into the left side at his hip, as his robe and scapular fell onto the head of his spade, hanging there like some improvised coat rack. With that out of the way, Tenkai rejoined his broken rosary link across his body over his left shoulder like some sort of bandolier.

As Anson smirked and spoke, Tenkai couldn't help but return by widening his smile. He could tell when a word got through to someone, and it was obvious by the paladin's remark that he was in the right state of mind.

"Very well then," said Tenkai as he walked forward a few steps to 'enter the ring', "When this fight is over...whether one of us wins or loses..."

He stopped, stepping back with his left leg and bending his knees slightly as he kept his left hand on the scabbard of his sword near the guard. His right hand lightly gripped the blade's hilt.

"We'll put an end to their corruption."

HEAVEN OR HELL

いざ尋常に

Iza jinjou ni...

一本目

Ippon me

勝負!

...shoubu!

One little dagger was not that much of a match for 2.5 feet of flaming leather. The tip of Lottie's whip lashed at the steel and sent it careening harmlessly to the ground below. The sound of the crack still resonated in the air, although not nearly as disorientating to the bard as if it had sounded right next to his ear drum as Lottie had intended.

"Nice tunes." She said, in response to the symphony which Saphen was playing.

Carlotta was not one for close combat. In fact, she loathed it, being as petite as she was and with no real weapons designed for use in close quarters.

"Y'know we only just met Saph. Personal space is important in the beginnings of a relationship. It helps to build trust!"

Carlotta twirled her whip in the air, drawing it back toward her before flicking it out again, this time aiming a trip attack at the bard's advancing feet. More specifically the left one where the keen eyed Ring Master noted there was no plant hanging about. With a show of bravado one would expect to see in a performers movements Lottie sent the whip snaking across the dirt to attempt to coil about that left ankle. Her arm movement was followed swiftly by a hop from her own feet as she jumped onto her stool to gain some height advantage.

[2]

Tenkai did not take advantage of Anson turning his back on him to prepare himself for battle. It was never a good thing to turn one's back on someone, so this went to show how much trust the paladin had already put into him. It was a honorable feeling...one Tenkai was not about to betray.

Amidst the sea of chaos and violence, a fight between honorable men did show that there was more to battle than simply glory and conquest. Men of virtue didn't need to succumb to desires of killing and bloodshed in order to be effective. Some were, in fact, quite brutally effective. It often didn't make sense why anyone peace-loving could be an effective fighter, and the answer was just as strange.

They hated to fight.

Not that people like Tenkai or Anson couldn't enjoy a good battle, of course. But when good men who hate unnecessary violence are faced with moments where they must act against the dark, they didn't waste any time. They didn't relish in pain and bloodshed as they slew whatever manner of evil creature they faced. They ended the bloodshed as quickly as they could, and that made them effective fighters.

Tenkai could only hope that his display could inspire newer generations to follow that path. To fight with purpose, and good purpose at that.

Tenkai did nothing to disturb Anson's moment of reflection and preparation, not moving an inch from where he was standing. His gauntlet-clad right hand neither tightened nor loosened, keeping relaxed on the hilt of his sword. As Anson listened to the music on his gPod, a strange little conversation was going on inside Tenkai's mind...

Facing another holy man? Hmhmhm...how unfortunate for you...

I will not let my scruples get in the way of providing an effective challenge.

So you will fight, then? Wonderful...I have not felt the sensation of cutting human flesh in too long a time.

Behave, Muramasa.

The bloodthirst in the sword subsided, overcome by Tenkai's calm and benevolence. Rather than vanishing outright, the sword's hunger refined from the constraints of the monk's own power, like pounding the impurities out of the very steel it was forged from. This was Tenkai's way of focusing himself, as he would need it in order to keep up with the paladin. He could see the unwavering concentration in his eyes, and the monk would face this with an unfettered mind.

When Anson turned around, he would see that Tenkai had held to his honor and not taken a step. He wouldn't dare betray the trust between who honorable men. With the two of them well aware that something bad was going on behind the scenes, it was only natural for them to find trust in like-minded warriors.

In a way, this fight would be their handshake.

Tenkai would have tried to mention that Anson should remove his headphones before beginning the fight, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to hear him. Besides, if Anson had such ability to fight while listening to music, then he was probably very good with his eyes and other senses. Tenkai had no qualms about leaving people to their own devices.

Though it seemed that Tenkai wasn't the only one waiting for missed bits of preparation to be dealt with.

themightyjello Wrote:

"Draw your sword, Sir Matsumoto."

Tenkai amiably grinned.

"Kakugo!" (Prepare yourself!)

And he pushed off from his front right foot, bringing him into an advance as he headed straight for the paladin, his sword still sheathed in his hip. He hoped that Anson would see that not unsheathing his blade did not mean he wasn't ready to fight.

一本!

[1/17]

Renewed? More like painful back renewed. The inspector was practically holding his lower back as he stood himself up back to his feet. A look of agony was shown on his face, his eyes opening and closing tight as he endured the temporary pain. This was happening around the same time that the paladin was reacting to his busted nose, the scene rather comical for the time being as it showed both fighters tending to their damage.

When he finally got himself back into stance, he realized that he had only one tonfa left in his possession, which was the one in his left hand. The other one was lying near the paladin, but he didn't feel like it was worth the risk recovering it. One tonfa will have to do.

With a shake of his head, he managed to get back his wits, ready to go back to fighting. He was hearing his opponent talking nervously over something until he realized that the paladin's nose was bleeding. Finally, it seemed like he was penetrating the defense of sword and shield. It cost him a few slams, but it was worth giving his opponent a blow or two to worry about.

"Um...sorry?" Chen really couldn't make up for what he did. He was fighting here. Maybe after this fight they could all go out and get something to eat. He'll love to show them a treat of some Sesame Chicken down at Mr. Muso's Kitchen.

Other than that, Chen's morale was boosting back up. At the start of the fight, he was nothing but a man with a tonfa fighting against a warrior who was equipped to take on a unit of knights. But now, it seemed like the tides of battle were turning. A bloody nose wasn't that serious of a injury, but many fighters understood that having your breathing interrupted made it harder to function physically. It would be harder to focus and tougher to concentrate. Moreso, if he accidentally clogged his own nose up with his blood. Just the edge he needs to bring this battle into his favor. He was going to have to exploit one opening, just one, and he could overwhelm him just like he did with the neckhold. Speed was about to become his weapon once again.

Chen stomped his left foot down hard to the ground as he slid his right foot in a quarter-circle to the right, having it face forty-five degrees to the right. He switched his tonfa into his right hand, holding it by the backhead, before holding it up and close to the right side of his head. His left hand moved forward and dropped itself around the stomach level, but the fist was loosely open, palm facing the ground.

And then, Chen moved forward. He crossed the distance relentlessly this time, ready to take on Adrinai in one final struggle in combat. He didn't think about it for now, but he was actually having fun for once in a fight. His stance kept relatively the same as he quickly moved at the paladin, neither foot ever going past the other in the opposite direction. That shield was waiting for him as he arrived, but he didn't feel afraid any longer about confronting that metal plate. The sword was still a threat, but Chen knew exactly how he was going to deal with it.

When he got up close, Chen started to extend his left hand toward Adrinai's shield, open wide and ready to grab the top part of it. At the same time, he held his right hand across his stomach to the left, the handle of the tonfa pointing downward.

12

Reaching for that shield was like tempting fate: he was doing it to see just how Adrinai was going to react. This was mainly just another one of his feints, which, as was learned before, was his method of checking his distance to get himself closer as safely as possible. When Adrinai went into movement, Chen's planned reflexes had him pull back his hand and quickly swing the tonfa upwards, twisting the handle upwards so he could catch the weapon of his opponent behind the tonfa's arm. He was expecting a sword to be the thing heading over that shield, but instead it was surprisingly a fist. If it was a blade, the palm of his hand would have been cut already due to not getting the hand away fast enough.

So the paladin was adapting, too. Adrinai probably understood just how fearsome Chen was and decided to make use of more appropriate measures to combat the cop. Ironically, Chen had no idea he threw away his sword for the sake of not harming him too much.

The inspector was a bit surprised to see that his tonfa was holding back against an iron fist rather than a sword. However, this was good. That meant that he didn't need to worry about getting cut if he got up close once again. The only thing left to worry about was that shield, but with the proper technique, even it wouldn't be able to hold back Chen any longer. This was turning into a fight on the martial artist's terms. With the fist parried, Chen went for his next attack.

His left foot raised up and kicked with the shin at the right side of Adrinai's hip with an outside arcing kick. It was quick and traveled the shortest distance from floor to body, so it would be difficult to defend against in time. That was one of the few places not armored on the paladin's body, in addition to being exposed momentarily due to the whiffed punch that was thrown. Following that kick, Chen kept his left leg chambered off the ground, keeping balance on his right leg, and sent a high kick this time toward the side of Adrinai's head.

13

Adrinai's fist was parried, which indicated that Chen had known the attack was coming.

He taunted me, and I took the bait. How foolish of me!

Still, that hadn't been the end of Adrinai's intended onslaught. So it was that two things happened simultaneously: Chen launched a quick kick to Adrinai's hip, and Adrinai withdrew his fist from the punch, sliding it out of the tonfa's guard. As he pulled his hand back, he allowed his fingers to hook the top of the shield. Although Chen had withdrawn far enough to avoid the punch, a quick step forward with his left foot coupled with a hard pull back on the top of his shield would send the tip of the shield arcing up at Chen's gut.

"Argh!"

It was a quick kick that struck the paladin, and individually it didn't cause much damage. Had he not shifted to throw the shield stab, he might've been offbalanced by the shot to the side, but instead his left leg flexed and distributed the force of the blow even as he continued the attack. If Chen couldn't avoid taking the upward-rotating shield to the gut, Adrinai would step again, with his sore right leg, to nigh-point blank range and drive his fist forward once again, expected his opponent to be doubled-over so that the armored fist would catch him clean in the face.

If, on the other hand, Chen was able to get off the second high kick, Adrinai's arm would leave the top of the shield and catch Chen's foot on the bracer as Adrinai instead used his whole left arm to slam the face of his shield into Chen's entire upper body. In such a pose, still in the middle of or recovering from the high kick, the shot would likely send him sprawling.

(DE: 2)

[14/17]

As Tenkai neared, he watched as Anson lowered the tip of his blade. From that angle, it felt like he was about to go for a thrust. With Tenkai advancing forward, it would be the easiest way to score a hit. Tenkai knew about people who practically ran into blades, impaling themselves in their charges of blind rage.

Luckily for him, he was not one of them.

KSHHHHHHHH~!

Anson thrust, and Tenkai stepped into it with his left foot forward, turning his torso clockwise slightly as if to move his right shoulder away from the tip. The tip struck and slid across the piece of armor on his right shoulder as the monk moved forward, sparks flying as the blade scathed across the metal. Now Tenkai's armored right shoulder was against the blade at around halfway, having wasted the opportunity to draw his blade and strike Anson's opening. Why would he do that?

He did it in order to get closer.

As he stepped into the thrust, Tenkai pulled his entire sword out of his belt, sheath an all. It'd look like the motion to draw a sword, but the monk had something different in mind. With his momentum stopped on his left foot, Tenkai pivoted to his right, following along the outside of Anson's blade and arm. During the pivot, he pulled his right arm back towards his right side and pushed his left arm forward, swinging the bokken from his belt in a swift, fluid motion in a strike towards Anson's right arm at the elbow.

It'd come at the speed of a draw, but the way it was executed gave it a more practical range from Tenkai's position since he didn't need to extend his right arm. It was the left arm that drove in the strike, and once it made contact the monk would use the impact and leverage of both his arms against Anson's right arm to put him off balance, pushing the arm towards the paladin's left to hold him off as he turned towards the right.

Of course, the paladin wouldn't simply just remain there for Tenkai to do anything further. Once he regained himself from the strike to the arm he'd probably try to move away towards the side he evaded towards.

But Tenkai's follow up would come in very quickly.

Tenkai's scabbard swing against Anson's arm was lined up such so that it was just past parallel with the arm, the tip of his scabbard moving over the arm and towards the paladin's inside upon impact. The strike was meant to hurt, but the off-balancing was more important. An instant after the strike would connect...

SHHHK--!

...Tenkai pushed the sheath off of his blade a few inches, thrusting the end of the scabbard into the paladin's face, preferably aiming for the nose. There wouldn't be much distance to cover, but the thrust would be strong enough that a softer target like the face would take a good deal from it.

If this was a fight for his life, Tenkai would probably have aimed for the throat. However, cutting off someone's air supply didn't seem to be the honorable choice, especially with how dangerous a target like that would be. The nose was the next best target.

二本!

[2/17]

The inspector's vision went from seeing the face of the elf to seeing white emit itself from that shield. Quickly, he closed his eyes, but already the light had entered and caused the damage of blinding him for a few seconds. He felt the tonfa hit soundly against his opponent, but by then, he was too stunned to realize that he was being pushed backwards.

The two were broken apart, Chen waving his hands in front of his face to ward off any possible follow ups. This unfortunately caused him to fall onto his rear due to losing sense of his balance. Vision had a way of doing that to you. A couple of blinks, and he could see his eyesight returning, though with the side effect of sunspots here and there. Fortunately, Adrinai wasn't over him trying to beat the heck out of him, which meant his tonfa strike must have did some damage itself.

He returned to his feet, holding both of his arms in front of himself up in guard, watching as the paladin recovered. His words of praise were acknowledged with a nod of his own, but Chen knew that he didn't have time to be playing the role of the gentleman. This time, it was the paladin who charged at the inspector. Quite surprising to see that he was actually using this type of attack for the first time in the fight. With that shield, he could have did a shield charge a long time ago and make Chen suffer some serious oppositions. But he probably didn't want to do that because he had a feeling Chen wasn't your average opponent.

Adrinai charged, and Chen did the same. The inspector was stupid to be doing this because there was no way he could try to have his body beat out a well placed shield. However, he wasn't going for the shield. Thanks to one little action by his opponent, Chen finally had a chance to deliver a well placed move of his own. The shield rose up, ready to slam into the cop's body. The bikers looked on in anticipation, knowing full well that this was probably the last clash, much like what you saw when two knights were charging at one another ready to joust the other off their horse. Either one of them was going to fall after this, or the clock will beat them to it.

The shield was moving swiftly, until it suddenly swung through the air. If the elf was watching, he probably would see Chen lower out of his view to the ground just a half a second before the shield made it to him. The inspector crouched low to the ground, both arms open and out. His right shoulder charged into the paladin's abdomen as he performed a slight tackle into his body, slinging his legs around to Adrinai's right so he could pivot himself to his back.

Using the muscles in his legs, already bent, and the strength of his arms, Chen uprighted his body to lift his opponent right off the ground and lean himself back, performing a well-executed German Suplex.

HEAVE!

The inspector was going to hold on aaaall the way until Adrinai struck the blacktop head-first before releasing him. Of course, after this is done, his lower back, which had already tasted the ground itself, was going to be crying out yet again in pain.

15

One of the biggest weaknesses that Chen had been able to exploit throughout the fight was the way that Adrinai's shield obscured his view. For once, though, it wasn't going to hamper him. The paladin had been leaning forward and thrusting upward, which meant that only the tapered bottom of the shield was blocking a much smaller portion of his vision than he had been dealing with previously. He couldn't see Chen's face, but he could see the man's legs and torso, which meant that he could see that Chen had dropped low. When the shield struck air, it became apparent just how low he had gone.

Adrinai removed his gauntlet from the bottom of the shield and began swinging the shield away to his left, giving him a clear view of Chen as the inspector brought his shoulder forward to disrupt Adrinai's charge and begin the suplex. With Chen's arms out to his sides in readiness for the maneuver, he had no way of preventing the paladin from thrusting his arm forward and wrapping his now-free gauntlet around the inspector's throat. The paladin, though, had no way of stopping his own momentum, so he simply kept pushing with his arm as he ran. Chen was in the more stable position of the two, but Adrinai was applying considerable force well above the center of gravity. If he could topple his opponent over backward with the shove to the throat, he would release and finally stop his charge, only to turn and leap shield-first on top of his prone opponent. If he failed to bowl Chen over and the man held firm, Adrinai would still be stopped at an arm's length away; too far to finish the suplex, but more than close enough to continue the fight for the remaining seconds.

(DE: 1)

[16/17]

The loud cracking of the whip caused a sharp pain to shoot through the bard's head, but while not enough to wrench his focus off the glowing spectacle that was her whip it did teach him something about her. The initial shock caused the bard to twitch for a moment, slowing his advance only slightly when he realized what had happened.

Like the speaker at a rock concert her attempt had been to rupture his ear drum...a musician knows all too well what can happen when exceedingly high decibels of sound enter the ear. Because of the distance between himself and the sound the damage instead was minimal, a ringing sound chiming through his mind as he cataloged the event somewhere within the depths of his brain.

Dually noted...thought the bard as he surged forward, despite the pain that was now thumping to the beat of his solo turned duet.

An invisible smile traced the face of the musician, listening to her playful banter as the bard continued his pursuit.

"And to think I thought you wanted to dance!" the musician replied as his right arm slid the bow once more, another high note resonating a command as the road they were battling on cracked.

A small stone slab, about the size of your average dictionary (Not quite Websters but it will do), launched off the ground only a few feet in front of her stool. The aim was for the center of her torso but due to the angle it would most likely be slightly higher. This occurred right around the moment that the woman had leaped into the air and because of this he could very well hit her stomach or even legs with the flying obstacle. More precisely, the lady should be starting her descent when the rock collides with her.

That of course, was based on the notion that nothing went wrong...and in these tournaments...something usually goes wrong.

A rock of that size though could easily weigh twenty pounds, which would be more than enough to knock her back but there were a few problems with this.

Saphen was counting on the hit interrupting her second attack, if this did not occur he would most likely be ensnared by the coiling weapon. Secondly, the woman was amazingly agile and it isn't out of the realm of possibilities for her to be extremely comfortable in the air.

Regardless the musician took a strained breath as the earthly object attempted to seek solace in her midsection.

If nothing else the musician would learn just how agile the woman was...and information to the bard was worth any hit.

Legato: Tied Together "Let the Earth Tear you Asunder!"

Cool Down Count: 1

{2}

Carlotta clearly hadn't been counting on a piece of stone flying at her.

The circus performer didn't notice the projectile until it crashed into her lower torso. Her attack with her whip fell just short of her opponents feet, the flames licking at the dirt with a dry hissing sound.

"Uhhf." She gasped as it hot her, the tip of one leather boot just scraping against the top edge of her stool. For an ordinary person with ordinary boots, this would probably prove problematic. But Carlotta was not an ordinary person, she was an acrobat, and her boots were not ordinary boots. They were enchanted.

It was just as if her cousin had dropped her from the trapeze, the moment her right toe connected with the edge of her stool she was as taut as a spring, the right knee bent and her waist and then shoulders followed as Lottie tumbled over the top of the rectangular piece of stone. The fingers of her right hand slid the hilt of her whip upward, their tips just keeping it within their grip as her palm made contact with the flat base of her lion tamers stool. For a second she wobbled precariously there, balanced on one hand, legs in the air. Then quick as a flash her left hand was at her belt and her right hand was pushing off the stool as she flipped again to land upon her feet infront of the stool.

But not before that left hand flung three flaming chakrams directly at Saphen's upper torso and face.

Quote:

Three Ring Circus - Lottie can throw all three of her Chakrams in quick succession (in one post) while doing any sort of acrobatic move, be it back flip, cartwheel or tumble.

"I'm not much of a ballerina." She confessed candidly rubbing at her hip and the left side of her stomach. That was going to be one nasty bruise.

[3]

themightyjello Wrote:

"May Eternal Light empower my hand!" shouted the paladin drew back the sword between himself and the swordsman, turning the flat of the blade forward in doing so; and with a surge forward Anson laid his shoulder into the backside of the sword's blade to drive the forward-facing flat into the monk's right side. Because the attack was not made with the blade's edge any cuts that either the boy or the monk received would be superficial at best, but the first step to taking back control of the fight's pace relied upon breaking the opponent's rhythm.

--!

Anson's evasion was a good move. Keeping up with the direction he was moving in made it harder for Tenkai to go with a follow-through after the strike to the face. By saving his nose, he kept himself from an opening the monk had full intention to exploit.

But now the monk was on the defensive, and Anson was sending his left shoulder into his blade to rush into the monk. Tenkai couldn't see those specifics, but he knew his right side was open. He'd need to think fast in order to keep on his toes.

Thankfully, Tenkai's original plan for a follow-through gave him just what he needed.

KSHH!

As Anson moved, Tenkai turned his sheath vertical and drew his blade a few more inches, bringing the flat of the blade down just enough to clash against the flat of Anson's b*****d sword. In the moment Tenkai noticed this, he was glad he reacted to it. If he had taken the flat to his side, not only would he be put off balance, but Anson could easily have turned the blade to press into a devastating strike.

Unfortunately, this didn't stop the whole unbalancing part...

"OOF!"

The force of Anson pushing into him with his shoulder against the blade sent Tenkai back, creating distance between them. The monk knew that if he tried to regain his ground by trying to remain standing, he'd be wide open for attack. It seemed the paladin was trying to throw off his rhythm.

But Tenkai couldn't afford to lose that. Rather than trying to regain his ground, he went with the force of the shoulder-check, falling back into an ukemi to extend the distance even further between the two of them. Typically one would expect Tenkai to just stop on a knee and regain himself after the roll, but he knew Anson would be on top of him quickly if he tarried. The extra distance was just to buy enough space, as the end of the roll followed into Tenkai's next attack.

Not giving up the flow of battle, Tenkai's evasive roll stopped as he rolled back onto his feet in a kneel. Using the momentum of his roll, Tenkai finally drew his blade in a slightly-diagonal vertical slash from left to right...

風神斬

Fuujinzan!

(Wind God Slash)

The strength of the swing combined with Tenkai's ki would send a blade of displaced air towards the paladin, who may or may not have been heading right towards him. Regardless, he'd be aiming the attack at Anson's location once the roll finished. With the draw being close to the ground, the wave of sharpened ki would cleave along the earth, kicking up dust and leaving a scar in its wake.

If it struck, it would bite into Anson's flesh and dissipate, leaving a shallow gash. Tenkai didn't have enough time and focus to go for more than that, nor would he want to deal anything too deep if it managed to hit. If it missed, it would travel a few yards before dissipating so that it wouldn't hit any of the bikers.

三本!

[3/17]

FWOOOM!

Tenkai hadn't even noticed the build up of holy power until the end of the incantation. He should have figured there was a reason behind speaking those words in battle. Anson didn't feel like the type to speak something so long in the heat of battle unless there was a use to it.

And the monk smiled.

He was truly impressed. He could feel the sheer power of the paladin's holy strike as it collided with his Fuujinzan. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen a similar attack. Surely there would be much to talk about after all of this was over.

But it was not over yet.

Tenkai quickly slid his sheath back into his belt in a deft motion with his left hand, just as the paladin came charging through the dust towards Tenkai. With Tenkai's sword up above him, he would quickly start to raise to his feet and bring his left hand to the pommel of his sword in order to put his blade between himself and his opponent.

That was when the paladin's blind strike came through.

KSHING!

Sparks flew as the b*****d sword struck into the flat side of Tenkai's katana as he rose up. It was surprising, but there was just enough time for the monk to put pressure against the blade to keep it from pressing through and into his right arm. Even if he was armored on his right side, it was simply a reflex, especially if the swing was strong enough to cause damage regardless.

He pushed up into his rise, using the upward force to push his tsuba (guard) upward and into the flat of Anson's b*****d sword, sparks flying from the scraping metal. He used the guard to push the blade upward and off to the side, trying to offbalance the paladin with a parry as the monk stepped and pivoted onto his left foot, moving to the outside of Anson's right shoulder. Following the motion of his parry, Tenkai swiftly brought Muramasa over his head in a swift and fluid half-circle motion before bringing the blade down over his left shoulder in a diagonal strike towards his right. He pulled back on the pommel with his left as his right hand's grip tightened and pushed forward, putting leverage into the cut as he aimed to leave a painful gash in Anson's right shoulder and arm.

四本!

[4/17]

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

KSHING!

Sparks flew as the b*****d sword struck into the flat side of Tenkai's katana as he rose up.

Anson burst through the momentary cloud of dust that had divided the two fighters with a fierce strike to where he had thought the opponent would be; though he had no wish to seriously hurt the monk, Tenkai's skill with a blade had already been proven to Anson and he knew that if he were to have any chance of staying afloat in this duel he would need to strike without hesitation.

He saw the sparks and felt the jarring impact of steel against steel before he saw the silhouette of his opponent behind the crossed swords. The blinding effect of their attacks' collision had lasted only a moment but in that time they had already locked blades. There weren't words to be spoken between them at this point. There would be time enough for that later, for now they needed to remain completely focused upon the battle because in a duel of swords a single mistake could determine the outcome of the battle.

Tenkai stepped forward and pushed his guard against the flat of Anson's weapon; Anson stepped in and hooked the his guard against the back of Tenkai's weapon. For a moment they would retain that pose as the monk attempted to force away the boy's blade and the paladin fought against it; but in the end the older man's advantage of height and strength won out, forcing the b*****d sword to the side as he quickly sidestepped once again to Anson's right side.

'Again.'

It was a similar situation as before. Similar, but not the same. The moment that the monk brought Muramasa away from the b*****d sword Anson switched his left hand's grip and released the sword with his right. He dropped back his right foot to turn and brace himself, and with another clash of steel he intercepted the downward strike with the bracer on his right arm.

'You're open... HERE!'

The boy didn't have time to turn his sword to make a clean slash; he saw an opening after Tenkai's strike and moved on it with whatever means he had available. The reversed b*****d sword held in his left hand swung up from below, aiming to slam the solid pommel of the hilt into Tenkai's ribs just under his right arm. If he managed to break one or two with the impact it would hinder the movement of the monk's sword arm.

[ 3.50 ]

[ 4/17 ]

The Hammer of God Wrote:

The window rolled down.

"Sir?" Roran said, looking up at Chen's face.

Chen responded: "You have some explaining to do. You're absent for first few days of this tournament and you finally decide to show up during our first round?"

He folded his arms, raising an eyebrow to emphasize how disappointed he was.

"I hope you have a good reason for that. I'm listening."

Chen wasn't really a bossy kind of person. In fact, he was mostly just bothering Roran to give him a little punishment since the inspector has really needed to sit down and talk with the guy over the case they were currently on.

He could tell Roran was talking about Lottie, the fourth member of their team who he hasn't gotten enough time to investigate himself yet to see how competent she was. Hopefully he could see her in action soon. He accepted Roran's offer, stepping into the vehicle and sitting himself down, his body relieved to get some time to rest.

"Well, I'm just lucky I didn't get myself cut up by that sword or my head bashed in by that hammer. Let's just hope you and Tenkai can get through your fights alright."

He had no idea that Lottie was outside taking her turn to fight now. And he probably wouldn't be very happy about it if he did find out.

A hit!

A mild one, just as Tenkai had hoped for. Going any further would be too deep than the monk wanted. The small amount of blood drawn from Muramasa's kissaki seemed to be a bit of a wake-up call for the sword, relishing in the taste of blood...even if it was a small amount. Such was the nature of a youtou.

But Tenkai refused to let the sword run the battle. Tenkai was calling the shots regarding how much blood to go for. If Muramasa was fussy later he'd just give it some of his own blood instead. It'd only help to ween the blade anyway.

That'd all need to be taken care of later, because Anson wasn't letting up his momentum either.

themightyjello Wrote:

His left hand looped the rosary around his wrist between two fingers but his right stretched out, grasping for something intangible...

!

What's that!?

Tenkai could feel the swift gathering of holy energy as Anson reached up towards the heavens. Was he planning on using another one of his holy arts? With the distance he was creating, it was reminiscent of what Tenkai had tried earlier with his Fuujinzan, though this time there was no incantation being spoken. He must have been preparing a swift counter.

And swift it was.

Tenkai watched as the spear of holy power formed for Anson's hand to grasp. As the made the motion to throw upon his descent to the ground, Tenkai slid his left foot out and turned his torso clockwise with the motion of his previous swing...

SCHHHHKKKRSSHHH!!!

...barely avoiding getting nailed in the chest with the spear.

The moment of evasion was only enough to avoid a direct hit, but being shaken by the pommel strike only left him with enough speed to do just that. Instead, the spear grazed the right side of his chest and shoulder armor, leaving a small bleeding gash where the graze hit. Part of his shoulder armor was blown off from the spear's impact. Although he had just had his armor repaired recently, it was a worthy price to pay in order to protect his right arm.

The display of bloodshed on both parties garnered cries of excitement from the crowd of bikers, each one more vile than the next. The sight of blood excited them, but they wanted to see more...even far more than either the monk or paladin wanted to give within the bounds of honorable combat. Then again, how were a bunch of thugs supposed to care about the tournament rules? They probably didn't mind a team getting disqualified if it meant seeing someone die horribly in battle.

But neither of the fighters were about to give them that pleasure. They aimed at a different, more hopeful audience.

The monk winced in pain, but did nothing to grasp at the wound. It would be painful to move, but at least the mechanics still worked. Like his opponent, he would need to press on through the pain. If one puts his mind in his injuries, he will be taken by his injuries.

With the attack finished, Tenkai looked over to his grounded opponent. Even though there was a bit of distance between them, the last exchange had left Tenkai with an advantage. Although both of them were injured, Anson was on the ground and Tenkai was holding his b*****d sword. As such, the monk could think of only one plausible strategy.

He threw the sword back to the paladin.

No, not in the violent sort of way. Tenkai wasn't trying to sling the sword at him like some sort of overgrown throwing dagger. He tossed it back with a wave of his left hand so that it'd land between the fighters horizontally on the ground.

Even with all Tenkai could have done with that opening, this was an honorable fight. He would accept no handicap by cutting a swordsman without a sword.

As soon as he let go, his left hand returned to the pommel of Muramasa, holding the blade down and pointed behind him to his right in a migi waki-gamae (right side posture) position.

FWSHSHSHHHHH!

As he did this, Muramasa began to wreath in a burning blue aura of spirit energy. However, unlike the inherent bloodthirst of the blade, this energy was undoubtedly Tenkai's. Rather than the force of ki that came from his breath, this was the fire of his righteous spirit. Although there were some differences between it and the holy spiritual power the paladin wielded, its intent was the same.

The aura licked off the blade like fire, a similar yet faint aura emanating from the monk's own body. He made no initial movement to charge or strike, but stayed calm and focused as his spirit energy took visible form. The paladin had shown him great holy power, and it was only fitting that Tenkai return the favor.

This battle was their handshake. It was here that they'd show each other what they hoped to bring against the darkness that awaited them.

Quote: "Lend me your brilliance, Eternal Light!"

Now the paladin spoke again, most likely another incantation just as before. He was no doubt planning a follow up to his last move, and all Tenkai had to clue him in on what was coming were the words themselves.

The grip of his left hand on his sword eased for a moment, but the building focus of his spirit energy would not subside.

六本!

[6/17]

themightyjello Wrote:

"...no. You earned that, it wouldn't be right."

Anson's refusal to take up his sword again was a paradoxical mix of both

surprising and expected. He remembered fighting others in the past who fought confidently with their fists even against an armed opponent, so it wasn't a foreign concept to him. What surprised him was that he had figured Anson would want to take that opportunity to pick up his sword again and not be disadvantaged.

That was when it hit him.

How could he have forgotten something so simple?

Would not taking advantage of a successful disarm be just as much giving Anson a handicap as it would be giving one to Tenkai for having been armed? Tenkai knew more than anyone that it wasn't the sword that made the warrior, no matter how much of an advantage a weapon gave someone. Their swords were nothing more than an extension of themselves...an embodiment of their own fighting spirit. A sword is nothing if not wielded by a truly capable warrior.

In truth, Tenkai meant no disrespect by it. He knew well about how someone could use their own bodies and abilities to face armed opponents. But Tenkai had enjoyed the paladin's display of skill in swordplay, and wished to see more. He didn't want to let an opening ruin that feeling, even if he had earned it.

Although Tenkai's actions were a misplaced show of honor, in the end they had some benefit. The paladin had stopped his incantation at the action, and had the monk decided to brashly charge at his unarmed opponent, who knew what he would be walking into? In a way, his unnatural kindness had inadvertently served as an impromptu battle tactic. Still, it was not how he wished the battle to go. If he wished to take Anson at his best with honor, Tenkai had to accept when he successfully disarmed his opponent and not try to give them a handicap by helping him out.

"I apologize," said the monk, "I did not mean any disrespect. You possess much skill with your sword, and I did not wish to see that display end because you let go of your weapon. However..."

And then he smiled.

"...you never really dropped it, did you?"

Swords were definitely not the only weapon in Anson's arsenal. That much was evident by the attack he had launched previously, and no doubt he'd use that holy power again in this fight. With the paladin's last incantation, he had once again brought out his spear of light. Although he had seen how it was used the first time, there was no telling what other things it was capable of.

themightyjello Wrote:

"Sir Matsumoto! Prepare yourself!"

"Ikuzo! Sir Anson Brent!"

As Anson charged, so would Tenkai, the blazing aura of Muramasa trailing behind him as he kept his stance through his advance. Both fighters had resigned themselves to close the distance between each other, but who knew what either of them planned to do once in range? As much of a mystery the paladin's abilities were, the feeling of fighting another holy warrior in honorable competition brought back very fond memories of his past...

七本!

[7/17]

At this point Saphen had nearly closed the distance between the two combatants. Initially being in whipping range from the start it wouldn't take long to close the gap, only several feet away as the lady performed her flip.

She is graceful...and at this point obviously does not want a close confron-

Saphen's thoughts were cut off by an ominous glow behind her, all the bard could see is what appeared to be fire balls about to assault him.

Unable to stop his forward momentum the bard leaped forward, aiming his body low, and pulling his instrument into his stomach to protect it as he flew beneath the chakrams. The feeling of intense heat crawled down his back as the weapons whistled past, most likely cursing him in their own special language as he narrowly escaped their grasp.

Saphen's right arm pressed against his side, the bow trailing behind his body as he lead his improtu tackle with his left shoulder.

This would most likely occur right as she landed, striking her shins but giving the bard a nasty shock as the left side of his body crashed into her and then the ground right afterwards.

Despite popular belief, the ground was no kinder to earth users than anyone else when it came to gravity. In fact, if Saphen didn't know any better, it would almost seem like the ground was enjoying the spectacle that was the musician's incoming pain.

On top of that the musician was in mage mode and the tackle was awkward at best, being more of a defensive dodge than a cleverly devised strike. Though that would hardly stop the bard from bragging about it later...unless it all went terribly wrong.

But there was nothing Saphen could do either way.

For now the music would be silenced, leaving the roaring of metal beasts to regain control of the region. Something his instrument despised, a fury that was hidden within the depths of it's wooden cage.

The pain shot through his shoulder as he skid across the asphalt, leaving a few minor cuts on his left arm...but more importantly...tearing his sleeve. It was hardly becoming of a performer to appear in rags before his audience but for now Saphen would have to make do.

If one had sharp enough eyes they may see some green beneath the black clothing...but what that could be was mere speculation.

As the musician finally halted after his crash, the left side of his body twitching slightly as he attempted to regain some composure, one thought crossed his mind.

I should have written a Refrain there...before that percussion.

Legato: Tied Together "Let the Earth Tear you Asunder!"

Cool Down Count: 2

{3}

The burning aura of Muramasa continued to rage as the two fighters began to close the distance. The fight's pace had shifted now with Anson's sudden change in weaponry. It wouldn't be the easiest thing to adapt to, especially when these spears came from Anson's own holy power. But if the paladin wished to fight with his spirit, it'd be an insult if Tenkai didn't return the favor.

No sooner than the two of them began their charge would Anson toss the spear he had pointed towards the monk in his left hand. This time he wasn't aiming for Tenkai's chest, but his legs instead.

There--!

It was a very plausible strategy. With the two of them wounded in such a way that made their strikes hampered, the next step would be to reduce his opponent's mobility. If that spear hit him, his advance would--

FSSSH!

"Agh!"

In the midst of Tenkai's postulating, he had forgotten to complete the movement of his leg in order to safely evade the spear. It grazed the left side of his left thigh, tearing through the cloth and leaving a small gash along the side of it. The pain caused the monk to stumble to his right knee, which would have been injured by the stumble if it weren't for the monk's knee guards.

Careless...

If you put your mind the your opponent's weapon, you will be taken by your opponent's weapon.

With the flow of battle changing, had Tenkai forgotten to keep his mind unfettered? Even with the unexpected factor of Anson's abilities, occupying himself with thoughts of what he might do with the weapon would only lead to hesitation. It wasn't how Tenkai should be fighting. The enemy that Tenkai and Anson faced wasn't the kind to pass up advantages like they had been doing. Hesitation would only strengthen the Foundation, and there was too much at stake for him to let that to happen. Even if Tenkai were to lose by judgement, he had to show he would be able to stop them.

With Tenkai on his left knee, Anson moved in to take advantage of the opening he created. His hand poised, it appeared as if he was preparing for a low thrust. With the way the paladin held his spears, it was truly the better position. Tenkai's arms were in a position that moving his sword to defend his left side would be difficult, and Anson's front spear was positioned to defend against the obvious angle of attack Tenkai's position implied. Even if his two-handed grip would be stronger, Tenkai's arms wouldn't be fast enough to pull off an upward diagonal strike from his right in that manner.

Was there anything he'd be able to do?

It was a gamble, but it was worth the try. Reversing his grip on his sword with his right hand, Tenkai swung as Anson's spear came within range to thrust...

Tenkai wasn't sure if Anson would expect what would happen next.

Tenkai's sword dragged along the ground from his right side to his left in a three-quarter's circle, leaving a burning trail of blue spirit fire in its wake. It was fast, but not because of his arms. Rather than using his arms to control the speed of his sword, Tenkai pushed up with his right leg and turned his hips counterclockwise as he swung. His hips still worked fine, and they accounted for the speed and torque of his strike. The turn would also bring the left side of his hip narrowly out of the path of the incoming spear thrust. The reverse grip put Tenkai's stronger muscles in control of the strength of his swing so even if Anson lowered his spear to defend, the monk would be able to put adequate leverage against it.

Only problem was, Anson wasn't in range of the swing. The blade wasn't swinging upward into the paladin where the spear could hold it back. It dragged along the ground in front of Tenkai, just a foot or so away from Anson's legs. Why would Tenkai swing his sword in such a way and not even aim to strike the paladin with the tip of his blade.

The answer was simple. Tenkai wasn't hitting Anson with the blade.

FFFWWWWWWWSSSHHHHH!!

As the blade swung, Tenkai released his built-up spirit energy from Muramasa's blade along the path it traveled. Combined with the motion he put on the blade, it would surge and spiral into Anson as he charged into it...

因果応報神剣流荻 - 燃焼旋風斬

Inga Ouhou Shinken-ryu Ougi - Nenshou Senpuuzan!

(True Sword of Retribution Style Special Technique - Burning Cyclone Slash)

...raging into a burning hurricane of spirit energy.

The attack would come up from under Anson's guard, pushing upward with a powerful spiral impact that would carry him up in the air like a powerful uppercut. The blue "flames" of Tenkai's spirit energy would not burn someone like Anson like actual fire would, as Anson was not of evil nature. Far from it, actually. Instead, the only burning would come from the sheer intensity of Tenkai's spirit energy, whereas the real problem would come from the spiraling gale force and rising impact from the hurricane. It would simultaneously strike and tear into him, although not in the manner of deep sword wounds. From that angle, they would be small abrasions and gashes, with the impact being the hard-hitter of the technique.

It'd send him spinning into the air, though not so high as it'd be anything fatal. Seeing the way Anson took a fall before, Tenkai was confident in the paladin's resilience to survive such a display of force. The monk wouldn't disgrace his opponent by holding back.

八本!

[8/17]

[Battle Music ]

His gambit had paid off when Tenkai stumbled and fell to his knee. The sacrifice of one of his spears had been well worth it and if there had been time for it he would have gladly given another. The advantage that the stumble had afforded him was enough to fill Anson with confidence about his next strike; with his mobility sapped the monk should not be able to avoid his spear -

The paladin closed the distance left between himself and the downed fighter quickly; with a single well placed strike he could put an end to this duel entirely without endangering the other man's life and Anson aimed to take it. His aim had been for the monk's hip if they would have still been rushing at one another, but because Matsumoto had gone to the ground he had presented another target to the boy: his unarmored left shoulder.

'I have you now, samura- !!!'

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

Tenkai's sword dragged along the ground from his right side to his left in a three-quarter's circle, leaving a burning trail of blue spirit fire in its wake. It was fast, but not because of his arms.

Anson saw the swordsman's body tense for a strike; but what kind would it be? The right hand had changed position, the elbow was cocking outward but his left arm did not press down to indicate a rising strike which meant... low!

Already halfway through a charging step the young paladin shoved away from the ground with his back leg and tucked his knees up underneath him. For all that he knew the monk was trying to leg him before he could strike in order to bring both of them to the ground but he would not give his opponent that chance, as the swordsman's katana cut a swath into the asphalt beneath him the boy sailed over it with a vault to cover the remaining distance between them; tucking down the spear held in his left hand beside his shins in caution for if the low strike of the monk suddenly shot upwards. A snap thrust with the right spear would be enough to disable the monk's left arm and bring an end to this duel.

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

Rather than using his arms to control the speed of his sword, Tenkai pushed up with his right leg and turned his hips counterclockwise as he swung. His hips still worked fine, and they accounted for the speed and torque of his strike.

All the confidence that the young paladin had held drained away in an instant as the lance's tip shaved by, narrowly avoiding the monk thanks to his body motion. His 'sure kill' strike had failed to bring a close to the fight and now he was left sailing through the air over his enemy's strike...

!

...and his guard.

'I'm not done yet!'

There is a saying that God never closes a door without opening a window; it meant that though one opportunity might be denied there will always be another somewhere. And if there was a window then he would enter it... dynamicly!

With only a few inches left to go the young paladin tucked his left leg tighter, turned his hip forward, and brought up his knee in order to give the monk a last-ditch bloody nose and drive him forcefully into the

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

因果応報神剣流荻 - 燃焼旋風斬

Inga Ouhou Shinken-ryu Ougi - Nenshou Senpuuzan!

(True Sword of Retribution Style Special Technique - Burning Cyclone Slash)

...raging into a burning hurricane of spirit energy.

The wall of swirling energy slammed into him like a tidal wave; bursting forth from the monk's attack with enough driving force to throw Anson up into the air like a rag doll, and far more than was necessary to stop him completely dead in his tracks just shy of making contact with the grounded monk.

"NO!"

The force of the spiritual winds pushed him back and on instinct the boy covered his face with crossed arms, pressing his eyes shut against the heated gusts of the Burning Cyclone Slash. He could feel the spiritual wave lashing out at his body as it drove him back away from the monk; striking and pushing and hitting a hundred times and a hundred more, each individual strike against him was nothing but there were so many that together it was like being struck with a sandstorm.

'It can't happen like this! I won't let it end this way, I - '

Already he had been twice denied. Two times had his attack been thwarted and left him in a worse position than before, but to lay down and die leaving it at merely that... it was an insult to both of them if he did not fight to the very end. What would his team think of its Captain now, if they saw him covering himself for fear of injury and considering giving up just because of a few setbacks?

' - I'll not give up that easily!'

Two times? If his attacks were stopped two times then he would simply have to throw a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. And he would continue until his arms would no longer move and his legs would no longer hold him. This was no time to be looking away from the enemy and thinking of protecting himself; there would be far more unforgiving challenges to face him if he continued down this path and he could not afford to shrink away from the true enemy if he wished for any chance at victory.

"Don't count me out yet!"

Abandoning his defense, the paladin threw his arms out wide and cocked back his hand; brandishing the holy lance that he had been granted through the power of his faith. Where before he had shut his eyes to protect himself from the heated wind carrying his body with it now he could not take his eyes away from the adversary in front of him. His opponent was right there in front of him, all he had to do was strike - and strike - and strike.

There was no tree that wouldn't fall if you chopped at it long enough.

"MA!"

Anson launched his lance at the monk; not able to aim through the maelstrom of raging spiritual force that he was caught up in but still fighting against it enough to move his arms. The thin shard of holy energy would not meet the same resistance in this wind as his body did and though it might have been pushed around a little by the monk's spiritual currents it should pierce through them like the a bolt of lightning cast from Olympus.

"TSU!"

Not hesitating, the paladin hurled the lance from his other hand; already a second had appeared in the absence of the first that he had thrown so without reservation he hurled that as well. One after the other he fought against the driving force pushing against him in order to cast another spear down upon his adversary even as he was pushed higher and higher into the air by the burning currents.

"MO!"

It was not without cost. The waves of spirit power lashed against his body like dull knives; not cutting but tearing at his clothes and his skin with tiny abrasions and lacerations. He was spared the brunt of the attack's heat because it was designed to be used against Evil but each blow that the monk's spirit struck against him still burned like a splash of boiling water onto his body. Small and many, the scrapes and abrasions ripped into his tunic and shredded his clothing; leaving dark colored stains to soak into the white fabric even as the young paladin fought against the current with each desperate surge of his arm.

"TO!"

Nenshou Senpuuzan had sent him back by a few feet but when the cyclone began to subside he was already a dozen feet into the air above the road's surface and during the ascent he had cast down nine spears at his opponent as the distance between them widened after each whipping strike of his arm. With his left hand raised up over his head and his right dripping with red from the many cuts his fingers had felt, another lance crystallized within his trembling grip.

He finally managed to separate his stare from the swordsman when he noticed something that hadn't been an issue before... gravity.

'Oh... shamrocks.'

[ Spears - 11/12 ]

[ 2.75 ]

[ 8/17 ]

Spears of light rained down from above as the young paladin fought tenaciously against the burning winds keeping him aloft in order to deliver one after another after another to his opponent. The torrent of spiritual energy swirling outward from the monk beneath him skewed the trajectory of each projectile and the way that he was tossed about in the air did not help his aim, but even if it were an impossible task he would not give in until the fight was over.

A lance missed terribly to the side.

Again!

Another was deflected by a strike of Tenkai's blade.

Again!

This time the monk wasn't so lucky, but to give pause here would be a folly. Anson had much more pain to repay him for than that alone.

Again! Again! Again!

More lances appeared in his grip as if he were pulling rays from the sun itself and hurling them towards the earth. He would not let up the assault until he could not throw another and then... then he would find some other way to attack. For the good of his team, for the sake of putting the fear of God into any man with evil in his heart, and to protect the honor of this man that was his opponent Anson must not give up while he could still fight.

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

"ORIYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

天破剛掌波

Tenha Goushou Ha!

(Heaven-Breaking Rigid Palm Wave)

The monk knocked the spears away with a wave of his hand and then thrust his palm skyward with a terrific shout; the undeniable force of Tenkai's spirit that had thrown Anson into the sky was now being used to throw the lances aside. But there was no stopping now - if a wall appeared before him then all he had to do was break through it!

Again! Again! Again!

The paladin hurled three more spears as the wave shot upward, to no avail. Like strands of straw thrown against an armored opponent they were brushed aside like nothing. His arm reached back once more to prepare another lance, but the wave was upon him too fast. It struck... with a DON!

The force of this wave was unlike the spiritual torrent he had endured before; it was hard and it was focused, a driving attack directed at the paladin's midsection and not a forceful wave pushing him back. Anson knew that if it struck him he wouldn't be able to escape without a serious injury; he already stood to suffer a heavy hit from the road surface when he returned to the ground but to take another hit would cost him his ribs. The only thing that the boy could do to stop it was to stretch out his right hand in front of him and brace for the inevitable impact.

"COME NO CLOSER!"

With a brilliant flash the palm wave collided with the paladin's hand - resounding with a heavy impact that altered the course of both bodies. Tenkai's Heaven-Breaking Rigid Palm Wave veered straight up after colliding with the Radiant Turning ritual; continuing unhindered into the heavens in order to break them. The boy felt the difference between them; the impact sending him careening straight back like he'd just been struck by a heavy blow, arcing backwards through the air with no control over his direction whatsoever. The lance he held in his left hand slipped through his fingers and fell, unhurried to the street below as Anson flew much further.

But... it was not over. Not yet.

His head looked 'up', and he saw the earth coming towards him after their long separation like an old friend rushing to embrace him. The boy had many injuries, cuts, bruises and abrasions that had been caused by the monk during their duel but with the way that he saw the ground right now he knew that this would be the worst of them. And in a situation like this, the only thing a man of faith could do was pray.

"Amen."

CRUNCH!

KRA-KOW!

With the sick sound of sharp impact the boy collided with the road surface on his right shoulder; he felt something break within it but he did not know what and at the moment he had no time to think about it.

With the sound of shattering glass the light lances that had buried themselves into the road surface around the monk, and the one that had buried itself into the monk himself, burst. Each of them broke into countless tiny pieces and scattered the shrapnel across a small area; scarring the asphalt around them with lacerations and tears for a few feet before the shrapnel dissipated entirely into nothing, just as the spears had come from.

The boy rolled over several times as his momentum died down, leaving scrapes of brushed skin and smudges of red across the street before he finally came to a stop against a dry shrub in the soft dirt at the edge of the road. Laying somewhere in the street his headphones sat apart from him, separated from the gPod in his pocket and completely lifeless. He'd never felt any sort of ache like this in his life before, it felt like his entire body had been beaten with hammers and then left in the sun to burn. And yet...

"...haa... haa... haa... Im... pressive attack... Sir... Matsu... moto..."

He still had one good arm left. He still had two good legs. They objected to being ordered around right now but they were still his and they would do as they were told. With dirt and dust cached upon his body, soaking with blood over his wounds and smearing into dripping perspiration, the young paladin dug his fingers into the earth and clawed his way back up. First to his knees, then to his feet. One hand pressed down upon a quaking knee to force himself up and the other hanging limply beside him, the boy staggered forward step after step back to the fight.

Paladin Rituals Wrote:

Name: Radiant Turning

Type: Holy, Light, Protection

Required: V, F, A

Requires a general focus. Requires outstretching one or both hands to intercept an attack. Requires recitation of "come no closer".

Optional: V

Declaring the attack type being guarded against increases the effectiveness. Declaring the name of the attack being guarded against greatly increases the effectiveness.

Effect: Intercepts an attack with a burst of holy radiance. Magical or energy-based attacks are negated or deflected depending upon the caster's ability to resist the attack. Physical attacks are guarded against, and the force behind the attack is redirected in the opposite direction.

Requires level - 3

Name: Shards of Heaven

Type: Light

Required: A, V

Requires raising both hands to the heavens. Requires recitation of "in the service of Eternal Light heaven itself shall become my weapon".

Optional: -

Effect: A spear of light appears in the caster's hand. When it is used another appears in the caster's hand, and so on until a dozen spears have been produced if so desired by the caster. The caster may trigger the spears to shatter as an at-will action, each spear bursting into shrapnel that covers a small radius (roughly 3' effective area) around the spear. Doing this ends the ritual.

Required level - 2

[ 1.75 ]

[ 9/17 ]

Anson could still walk. He could still move.

His right arm hung beside him lifeless, something in his shoulder had broken in the impact and he couldn't seem to muster the strength to raise it anymore. If he tried, he was able to move the blood-soaked and lacerated fingers on that hand but they would do him no good in this condition. Though he stumbled forward with each step, drawing painful breaths as his aching body was forced to go on, he had not taken a serious injury to his legs. It was simply the combined pain of a hundred wounds that made his left leg heavy, and the searing throb of a hundred more on his right that caused it to drag the ground as he advanced one foot after the other at a steady but slow pace.

Tenkai Matsumoto Wrote:

Breathing heavily, the monk's smile started to grow wider. Soon his strained breathing turned into a whole-hearted laugh as he pushed himself up with his left arm.

"Haahh...haahah...impressive? I should...ngh...be saying the same to you..."

Despite it all... he couldn't help but to smile. His lip wet itself with diluted red as the blood pooling in the back of his mouth dripped out across the boy's chin, but the pain of it all was nothing in the face of such praise from an honorable opponent. After what they had shared, the boy had no doubt in his mind that Matsumoto meant every word of it.

He would have to show his respect as well.

"May..."

His hand was shaking as he lifted it up, reaching across to the bracer on his right arm and grasping a hold of a small handle on the inside. With his fingers wrapped around the silver hilt of a ceremonial dagger Anson drew the weapon from the sheath set into the side of his bracer.

"Eternal Light..."

For the first time since their battle began the boy could hear him. The sound-canceling headphones lay in the middle of the road far from the boy that had been wearing them up until now, deaf to everything but his music in an attempt to remain focused on the battle at hand. Without them the pain of his injuries and the noise of the bikes circling around them was filling his head with so much... clutter. He couldn't Concentrate. He couldn't focus his spirit. But his determination was not so easily broken as his concentration.

"...empower my hand -"

The knife drew back to his left, and as it did the blade's edge seemed to harvest the light of the sun; the area around them, both the paladin and the monk, dimmed as if a cloud had covered the sky but above them everything was clear. It encircled and enwrapped the blade of the silver knife like a shroud of holy energy until finally, with a flick of his wrist -

"...that I may cleanse the world of darkness."

• the light cast off from the blade like a wave crashing through the space between them. It did not take a powerful swing to unleash the attack, and he was no longer capable of something like that; but if the monk could no longer raise his sword then he would not be able to unleash a strike like last time in order to defend himself.

Anson stumbled, but remained standing. The pain was slowly draining away, but it had nothing to do with his body and everything to do with his soul. His reserves were growing thin; without the ability to concentrate on controlling the power of his ritual Anson had burned through his stamina twice as fast as the last time he used this technique. The cost of divine power coursing through his body was placing a strain upon his own spirit, it was growing tired and disconnected to him. It wasn't that he was no longer feeling the pain of his injuries but that his entire body was slowly becoming numb.

But still he moved forward. If Tenkai still stood there was no other choice for him while his legs would still move. This was the only way he knew how to show his respect for what the other fighter had shown him; he would fight until one of them fell, and then he would pray.

"May Eternal Light..."

Paladin Rituals Wrote:

Name: Cascade of Light

Type: Holy, Good, Light

Required: V, F

Requires a weapon in hand to empower with holy energy. Requires recitation of "may Eternal Light empower my hand that I may cleanse the world of darkness".

Optional: A

Draw back the weapon in order to gather more light around it.

Effect: The weapon is wreathed in holy light that can be flung off of the weapon in a wave of light and energy that sweeps across a small area with significant knockback (optional - searing damage).

Required level - 2

[ 0.75 ]

[ 10/17 ]

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

The wave he had cast off at the monk was split by his hand. What tremendous spiritual presence he must have had to be able to do such a thing without a weapon. Anson had heard of refined warriors who were capable of great feats even when unarmed but it was truly an honor to face one of them in combat.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

"...empower my hand that I may cleanse..." the young paladin continued. He was too tired to think of anything else right now. There were other rituals that he could perform but none of them could be done easily with only one arm and with the amount of pain that he was in. His tongue repeated the words that he had recited so many times in training and his righteous heart did not waver even though he knew he didn't have it in him to perform the attack another time if this failed. He would invest his everything into this attack.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"...the world... of darkness." The recitation completed again, the dagger pulled back to his side away from the monk, and the light gathered around it once more. Tenkai was reaching for his rosary, no doubt he had something that he would use against the boy in these final moments of their duel... but it mattered little. If he raised his hand to defend himself from an attack he wasn't sure would come Anson wouldn't have the stamina to continue the fight. It was all he could do now to bring the knife forward yet again with those final words of prayer parting from his lips.

What may come may come, but one cannot say that Anson Brent gave less than 110%. No matter the kind of attack Tenkai presented him with the boy would not flinch and he would not hesitate. After the Cascade of Light launched from his weapon he would stumble and he would fall to his knees upon the ground whether he was hit or not.

His legs had finally gone with that last expenditure of divine power.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

[ -0.25 ]

[ 11/17 ]

HONOR AND JUSTICE:

HOH 2010 - PERFECT FUTURE EDITION

[ 12/17 ]