Athan vs Ryugi

Oddly enough, things seemed...calm.

A veteran of the Heaven or Hell experience, Athan Cole was no stranger to the amount of energy that permeated throughout the entire tournament, whether it was during the preliminary rounds or the closing ceremonies, there was never a moment where Athan didn't have to compose himself for fear of getting caught up in the revelry. This moment, at this particular location, seemed far removed from that excitement.

Although Athan was not clad in the shadesteel armor he had grown used to wearing over the years, he had supplemented his lack of armor by carrying not only his signature Rook's Destroyer, the massive eighty pound greatsword that was every inch as tall as Athan's massive 6'8" frame, but also a "smaller" greatsword (relatively speaking), weighing about half as much as the Destroyer and standing about eight inches shorter. Along with those two was a standard-looking Claymore strapped over the top of the other two swords as though it were an afterthought. All three weapons were lashed to his back, with the hilts of the two greatswords being exposed over either shoulder and the Claymore running straight up and down across his back.

His attire was somewhat fitting for the terrain. His boots provided a decent amount of traction in the mud, his pants kept stray branches and thorns from scratching up his legs, and the jacket he had slipped on was going to come in handy if the threat of rain ever realized itself. Even now, clouds swept in to blot out the sunlight while flashes of lightning and the low rumble of thunder echoed off in the distance, providing a nice backdrop to the sounds of nature that reverberated all around the swordsman. A brook bubbled nearby, while all sorts of insects and birds called out for potential mates from all directions.

As for Athan, he took one step forward and planted his foot on an uprooted tree. Placing all of his weight on the fallen giant caused it to sink a full inch further into the mud it had partially buried itself in. When he hopped off, the log remained in its new position, one inch closer to being swallowed by the soil and forgotten forever.

On the other side of the tree, Athan had found himself in a small clearing, which he had every intention of passing directly through up until the point his FIGHTER began to beep at him. This, apparently, was where his opponent was supposed to be.

So he'd wait.

Athan hadn't been expecting his opponent to show up so soon, so he had taken to distracting himself by breaking off a small twig and using it as a toothpick when he was surprised by a voice coming from the woods. It was a relatively familiar voice, one that he had definitely heard before but not one that he had ever conversed with personally. His left hand reached up and plucked the small piece of wood from his mouth, tossing it to the side as though it were a burned-out cigarette.

"Do you have enough swords, 'Designated Hero?!'"

"Can never be too prepared."

Designated Hero? That was a new one. A little more flattering than titles that had been given to him in the past, but not exactly any more or less accurate than any of them.

As Athan's eyes adjusted to the shifting shadows, he finally made out the figure of his opponent appearing from the woods. Ryugi Kazamaru. Captain of Team Ryugin and one of the few people competing this year that had participated in more Heaven or Hells than Athan himself. It seemed that veterans were a dying breed, but judging by the enthusiasm Athan could hear in the silver-haired dragon's voice, this particular warrior wasn't ready to retire any time soon.

"Athan Cole, member of Team Bloody Pandas, and wielder of the mighty Rook's Destroyer... "

"Can't believe I'm teamed up with those guys. Stupid name...idiotic captain."

While Ryugi was quick to draw his weapon, Athan was a little more slow and deliberate in his actions. As his head shook at the realization that he truly was on the same team as Ebris Dhifi, Athan's right and left hands moved up to grab at the hilts of two separate swords. The claymore and smaller of the two greatswords were removed from their bindings and placed on a nearby rock. The sheaths themselves were then removed and placed alongside their swords, leaving Athan with just the Rook's Destroyer on his back. Following up, Athan reached down to his waist and removed a small black-colored bracer from a cloth binding at his belt. Rolling up the sleeve of his jacket, Athan calmly slipped the piece of armor on over his forearm and the back of his left hand before rolling the jacket sleeve back down.

"I, Ryugi Kazamaru, Vice-Captain of Team Ryugin, wielder of the legendary Ragnarok, hereby challenge you to a duel of blades."

Lifting his head up and bringing the stark black right hand of his up to grasp at the hilt of his Rook's Destroyer, Athan took one step towards Ryugi and turned his body so that his left shoulder was facing the fighter.

So then, what say you, Athan Cole?

Athan rolled his neck around his shoulders, hearing a faintly audible "pop" as his neck completed the rotation. His fingers tightened their grip on the hilt of the massive weapon upon his back, but he did not draw it from its resting place.

"I accept."

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

"I suggest you stand aside..."

Athan's right hand relaxed its grip on the hilt of his sword and he took a couple of steps to the side, providing a decent alley for whatever it was the other swordsman had planned. Had Athan been aware of Ryugi's intentions to "drain his energy" so that they'd be on a more level playing field, he would have been offended to say the very least. Instead, he wasn't quite sure what needed to be done, and so watched with curiosity as Ryugi unleashed his energy-filled slash, clearing away a large section of forest and creating a stage of sorts for the fight to take place on. Probably not the most stable of fighting surfaces, but definitely something that would provide more traction than the waterlogged forest floor.

As the energy wave passed by Athan's position, missing the large swordsman by no more than a few feet, he felt a strange sensation resonating from within the center of his right "prosthetic" forearm, as though whatever supernatural force powered the technique had awoken something deep within the Arm of the Dreamless Sleeper. Just as quickly as the sensation was experienced, it was gone, leaving Athan to wonder if it had something more to do with the attack than it did with the Anima artifact. Shaking his head to disregard the odd experience, Athan calmly stepped up onto one of the recently felled trees, standing opposite Ryugi and once more placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, turning his left shoulder to the swordsman once again.

Athan simply nodded his head as Ryugi bowed, then without much ceremony, drew the massive Rook's Destroyer from his back. By the time the sword was halfway out of its sheath, Ryugi had begun his charge. His right arm quickened its pace to fully free his weapon before he was caught unprepared, but at the same time, there was no look of panic or adrenaline-fueled rage on Athan's face. It was completely calm. For anyone that knew or had studied Athan's fights in the past, this was a new experience. And while Athan's rage was certainly something anyone in their right mind didn't want to experience, the eerie calm that Athan treated this first fight with was somehow worse.

Ryugi came in with a wide horizontal slash just as Athan had fully drawn his huge weapon from its holdings. Athan's sword immediately came down tip first, planting itself into the wood of the tree he was standing on and guiding his blade so that the flat of the sword would intercept the incoming slash at about a forty-five degree angle. Instead of stopping the slash in its tracks as Athan would have in the past, Athan angled his weapon so that while the Rook's Destroyer was in the path of the Ragnarok, it would instead redirect the horizontal strike about forty-five degrees upwards.

Now, normally redirecting a strike towards your head was a terrible idea, but the Rook's Destroyer was so large that it made it an easy matter for Athan to duck his head as the momentum from the Rangarok's swing caused it to spark along the entirety of the Destroyer's surface. The ridiculous thickness of the sword kept Athan's hand from being exposed to the Ragnarok's cutting edge when the sword completed its swing.

Meanwhile, knowing full well that Ryugi had wanted a sword duel, Athan pulled down on the hilt of the Rook's Destroyer as soon as his head was clear of the Ragnarok's swing. Still ducked down, Athan wasn't exactly in an ideal position and definitely open to attack if Ryugi was able to recover. Normally, the swordsman would have opted to use his free left hand at this point to get ahold of his opponent and overpower them with brute force from there. In this case, honoring their agreement, Athan instead sharply moved his right hand forward, aiming to jam the pommel of his sword directly underneath Ryugi's left arm. There wasn't enough space between the two for Athan to cause enough damage to break or even bruise a few ribs, but it was definitely enough to keep Ryugi from recovering and bringing the Ragnarok down upon Athan's head.

Once the pommel strike was completed, Athan stood to his full height and quickly swung his weapon so that its point was no longer facing behind him, his left had moving across his body to help support the massive weight of the Rook's Destroyer as it was brought to face his opponent, held at roughly a thirty degree angle. Now that introductions were over, it was time for the real duel to begin.

A single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

In spite of the calm expression on his face, the spark of battle had ignited something long forgotten within Athan's soul.

[1/10]

Given enough time to reset his sword, Athan bowed his head as Ryugi increased the distance between the two fighters, opening up the vast majority of Athan's repertoire in doing so. Were Ryugi's weapon any smaller, getting in close and tight to Athan was just the way to combat it. But then again, it seemed both fighters were wanting to get something more than a victory out of this fight.

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

Good reaction, Mister Cole. Ryugi smirked a grin. Let's see what else you've got!

"Hm."

Athan didn't need much more incentive than that to take the initiative. His mud-slicked left boot turned and slid backwards slightly, his weight shifting to the ball of his foot...testing the traction he had on the foliage-covered mud. His sword dropped to about waist-level, the blade eventually becoming parallel with the ground and the tip of the weapon eventually moving out to Athan's right side with the hilt of the sword tucked close to his hip.

The distance between the two fighters wasn't particularly great, and with Athan's natural height and the reach of his sword, he didn't need to get into a full sprint to close the distance between himself and Ryugi. Pressing off his left foot, Athan dashed in with two large steps all the while dragging the tip of the Rook's Destroyer along the foliage beneath him. The weapon's path was long and somewhat predictable, but as the tip of the sword finally lifted off the ground as Athan cut upwards in a right-to-left diagonal slash angled upwards, it was readily apparent that there was a hefty amount of momentum behind that sword. And as with any pendulum, the part of that weapon that was moving the fastest, the tip, was the same that was close enough to hit Ryugi.

Athan's dash would take him to about six feet within Ryugi's position, giving him plenty of reach to catch the silver-haired swordsman with the "tip" of his sword. Of course, given the massive length of the thing, the tip in this case was composed of nearly an entire foot's worth of metal. Athan's goal was two fold. First he'd test the swordsman's strength and reaction time against his own, and then he'd test Ragnarok against the Rook's Destroyer. Once introductions had been made, the fight could truly begin.

Cutting down the trees in the first place was just a formality. Given the size of the two weapons involved, it was likely they would have all been knocked over by the end of the fight anyway.

[2/10]

Both sword and swordsman met Athan's challenge head on and stood strong, leaving Athan little to doubt when it came to judging Ryugi's resilience. It was rare indeed that Athan met anyone that could stand up to one of his attacks, even if he wasn't putting everything he had into a swing. Considering Ryugi's somewhat lithe appearance, it was obvious that there was more to the swordsman than first met the eye.

As Athan tightened the grip of his left hand on the hilt of his sword, readjusting his wrist position to account for the bind that Ragnarok and the Rook's Destroyer were in. Sparks lifted off the edge where the two swords ground against one another, both weapons and weapon-owners seeking to tilt balance in their favor. Athan had the disadvantage of having to work against gravity given the nature of his slash, but for the moment the two fighters seemed deadlocked. A fact which his opponent also seemed to be aware of.

You and I are likely two of the last remaining veterans of this tournament, Mister Cole.

That was true. And as Ryugi pressed forward, Athan readjusted his grip, lifted his elbows, and applied an equal amount of pressure to prevent his sword being pushed back into his own face. Both men weren't applying their full amount of strength to eachother just yet, otherwise they would be there all day. There was more to swordfighting than just brute strength, in spite of what everyone thought about Athan's technique, the man knew how to wield a weapon.

I once had the opportunity to ask Vahn Fah what he was fighting for. He could not answer me. His will had been worn away with time, and even my attempt to rouse him seemed mostly unsuccessful.

Vahn.

Athan's eyes temporarily widened at the mention of the Murmillion. Athan had Vahn had been allies, but never friends. And while they were most certainly considered rivals by many, they were not truly enemies. The mere mention of Fah triggered something deep within Athan. A racial hatred that really could not be explained by even Athan himself. It was something he had learned to control when the two worked together to hunt down Alpha and Victor, but the desire to kill Vahn was always there, tucked away in the back of his mind like so many other lesser instincts. The Murmillion had felt the same way about Athan, of course, and the times they had clashed resulted in a begrudging respect between the two. Vahn had nearly dropped off the face of the planet, leaving Athan plenty of time to forget how to control that hate.

Temporarily distracted, Ryugi's new positioning allowed him to get a slight edge in the bind as he pressed for leverage, Athan's arms giving way slightly before he snapped back to the real world. Now was not the time for reflection.

So, Athan Cole... From one man, one fighter, to another, what is it that drives YOU to fight?

While Ryugi had been meeting Athan's gaze for the longest time, Athan hadn't realized that he was currently engaged in a staring contest. While his eyes had met Ryugi's, his thoughts were so far elsewhere that he might as well have been staring into space. But those last words of Ryugi's resonated within some long-forgotten part of his mind. Since Alpha disappeared Athan hadn't really known what he was fighting for. Revenge was nowhere near at hand and his time spent as a hired mercenary left him with the opinion that redemption was impossible. With no family to speak of and all of his friends scattered to the winds, Athan had few anchors to the world. For awhile, he fought to forget how lonely he was. Then, of course, there was that one fateful day at the Temple of Falis.

The look of anger that had taken over Athan's eyes when Vahn Fah was mentioned softened when he remembered a little girl's smiling face. Her head was covered with brown curls, her face when they first met was covered with mud and streaked with tears, but there was an innocence there that needed to be protected. With the child's only remaining family member dead, Athan, a complete stranger, was the only one she had left.

Granted strength through this newfound insight, Athan leaned forward, adding his body mass to the force that he was applying to his sword in order to stave off Ryugi's push. The bind once again came to a stalemate.

What gives your sword all this strength I feel coursing through it?

"Hope."

Hope for the future, preserved in the innocence of a child. Hope for a world free from the threat of the Forgotten One. Hope for a time when people like himself were no longer necessary.

That one word spurring him on, Athan reached down with his right hand, leaning forward so that the bind did not go into Ryugi's favor in that split second, and grasped the Rook's Destroyer by the blade.

Half-swording, they called it, and with the sudden change in hand position Athan suddenly had an important advantage in leverage, as he could apply force directly to where Ryugi's sword met his own. Athan shoved his weapon forward and upwards, all the while driving with his legs to deliver as much force as he could muster in as short a time as possible, attempting to break the bind and throw off Ryugi's footing. Then, continuing with his half-sword technique, Athan would pivot to his left and thrust the tip of his sword towards Ryugi's midsection.

The Rook's Destroyer wasn't an ideal weapon to half-sword with, as his arms needed to be fairly spread apart to even grasp a portion of the weapon that he could wrap his entire hand around, but for a surprise change of pace the technique was still quite effective.

[3/10]

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

Then let's see how far your hope takes you against my resolve!

This guy sure likes to talk.

There was a time in Athan's life when he was less tight-lipped. He was cocky back then, entering his first Heaven or Hell when he considered himself at the top of his game. He was an idiot, of course, but he didn't realize it until the consolation third/fourth place match that year. That was, of course, the same match that cost him his right arm and the exact moment he realized there were much stronger fighters in the world.

Now with much more experience under his belt, Athan had attempted to quell the berserker rage that was part of his identity as a competitor for so long. It was an ongoing struggle, but if his battle with Ryugi was any indication, he was at least winning that struggle for the moment.

Athan's sword had nearly missed its target, and Ryugi, a true professional, was ready to take advantage of the opening. In a similar fashion, while Athan had hoped that his push would have put Ryugi more off balance, he had prepared for a counter-attack simply by keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground. Since the stab didn't require much in the way of forward momentum, it was relatively easy for Athan to see the slash incoming, following both Ryugi's sword and sword arm the entire way allowed him to predict the incoming path of the weapon. Now it was a matter of forcing his body to react accordingly.

Easier said than done, considering the circumstances. With his right foot in front, Athan shifted his weight backwards and pushed off with both feet at the same time in an attempt to hop out of the way. Unfortunately, while the rubber soles of his boots were adequate for most people, attempting to move nearly five hundred pounds of man and sword required more than just adequate traction. Athan's right foot slipped, causing his jump backwards to be more akin to a single step and pivot, as well as his body to dip down as a result of his left knee buckled, the leg not being prepared to receive the entire brunt of his weight. Fast enough, but with not nearly enough distance to clear the path of the swing, Athan felt his entire upper right arm get caught by the flat of Ragnarok's blade as he failed to clear the path of the weapon. A jolt of pain shot up his arm and he lost his grip on the Destroyer's blade as his body was forced into a quarter-spin to his left, but oddly enough Athan did not notice any warm liquid running down his arm that would have been the result of blood running from a cut.

No time to consider how badly he was hurt, and putting more emphasis on keeping Ryugi off balance to prevent a follow-up attack, Athan used the weight of the swing he had been struck with to his advantage. Spinning with the hit in order to generate enough momentum to effectively wield the Rook's Destroyer with one hand. Halfway through his spin Athan's left arm flexed mightily, pulling the weapon upwards so that its tip was no longer scraping along the ground. The weapon ascended quickly, clearing Athan's own shoulder in less than a second before it then came crashing down in a vertical "slash" aimed directly towards Ryugi's right shoulder as he completed the spin.

After the attack, a cursory glance revealed that his arm wasn't bleeding, but the throbbing pain that persisted indicated he had been hit all the same. His jacket was intact, ruling out any and all possibility of a cut that should have nearly taken his arm off. Were it not for the fact that Athan's bone and muscle tissue were incredibly dense, he'd probably be looking at a broken and completely useless arm. As it was, the bone was definitely bruised and painful to move, but still functioning.

The flat of his sword?!

It was a technique that Athan used against opponents who had no way of defending against the cutting edge of his bigger greatswords. Even with the edges dulled, the sheer weight of the weapon was enough to cleave most things in twain. One wrong step on his opponent's end and Athan would have had an unnecessary death on his hands. So paranoid was Athan of this possibility that he actually rarely used his sword in his last appearance at Heaven or Hell.

But in this case, matched against an opponent that had not just the strength, but the weapon to match the Rook's Destroyer, Athan didn't feel such concern. Apparently Ryugi did not feel the same way.

"DON'T HOLD BACK!"

Thunder clapped almost in unison with Athan's first outburst of the match. The two fighters hadn't noticed it at first, but the cloudy skies had gotten awfully dark since their match had first begun. In the distance, as the thunder retreated back into the clouds, the familiar sound of a heavy rainstorm descending upon the treetops was becoming too loud to ignore.

[4/10]

His strike blocked, Athan was at least granted a brief reprieve in the form of being able to regain his footing as he issued his challenge towards Ryugi. Of course, just as he was able to re-plant his right foot on the log beneath him, a torrential downpour began. Were it not for his jacket, the swordsman would have immediately been soaked to the bone. Even so, the cold mountain rain didn't provide much relief for the swelling taking place along his upper right arm.

Athan's right hand moved to relieve his left of its awkward positioning in order to support the weight of the Rook's Destroyer, just as Ryugi suddenly burst forward in an attempt to create some space. Caught somewhat off guard, it took all Athan had to just keep his right hand holding onto his sword. His left arm meanwhile was thrown out to his side in an effort to keep his balance, which was made even more difficult considering the suddenly slick terrain. His boots caught purchase on the ground just as Ryugi's sword finished its upward climb, and while Athan could see the large sword being raised into the air, he couldn't do much to bring his own weapon in close enough for a block.

Hopping backwards was out of the question as he had tried that earlier with no success, so there was only really one thing Athan thought he could do. Against all sane judgment, Athan stepped forward with his left foot and raised his left forearm, bracer and all, to attempt to intercept Ryugi's sword before it could complete its descent. Slowed by being knocked off balance, Athan didn't make it there as soon as he would have liked.

When the Ragnarok was at about a 33 degree angle from the ground, well over midway through its descent, Athan's left forearm met the huge weapon about halfway down the length of the blade, where momentum hadn't quite built up as much as it had on the end. The shadesteel on Athan's forearm screeched and wrenched in on itself as the Ragnarok cut through it as though it were a piece of wood. Athan's flesh didn't stand much of a chance in comparison, but the bracer served its purpose in slowing down the weapon's speed just enough to prevent it from lopping off Athan's arm completely.

"HRNNNNNNNG!"

Even Athan couldn't keep himself from gasping out through clenched teeth in pain as the Ragnarok drove past the now shattered bracer and buried itself partially into Athan's left forearm, carving out a nice hunk of muscle and even chipping off a decent portion of Athan's ulna. Were it not for Athan's impossibly dense muscle tissue and bone, it would have been likely Athan would have been out another arm. As it was, Athan was now simply out half of a forearm and he was in a tremendous amount of pain. The energy lances, if fired on impact, would careen skyward at the same angle that Athan had intercepted the sword at.

"Fff-...Fff-....Fff-"

Quick breaths drawn in through clenched teeth as adrenaline coursed its way through Athan's system. The adrenaline, coupled with his sudden outburst of rage, triggered something that Athan, up until this point, had been able to control through sheer force of will. As Athan's blood freely bubbled up from the fresh wound, it began to take on a jet black appearance. The newly created Forgotten Matter quickly swept around the Ragnarok, avoiding the sword entirely as it moved to encompass Athan's entire left forearm in a manner similar to that of Athan's right. The pain was still there, the wound was still felt, but with his adrenaline fueling him Athan had the unique capacity to shunt that pain off to the side for the time being and, against all sane logic, use that same left arm of his to actually press against Ragnarok and prevent it from descending further. As the Forgotten Matter covered the last inch of normal flesh on Athan's lower arm, Ryugi would feel Ragnarok being pushed aside. Judgment had come in the form of Slaughter.

Quote:** Wrote:

Judgment

Trapped somewhere between the blessed ignorance of virtue and the cold delusion of vice, the Charge is under constant judgment as its path is a blur.

Slaughter: If the Charge has visions of violence when Judgment is activated, then an identical gauntlet will grow on the users other arm. These twin pieces of armor offer very little protection above the usual, but grant the user great strength and speed temporarily. The user could wield a massive weapon, or even two very large ones.

NOTE: Athan's strength quite nearly doubles (75% increase) when Slaughter is active.

It was hard to think that Athan's strength had another level, but through the power of the Arm of the Dreamless Sleeper that terrifying thought had been brought to life. Athan's head, which was previously bowed forward as he resisted the shock that accompanied the pain he was experiencing, slowly lifted upwards to meet Ryugi's eyes. Unlike the calm, focused gaze he met the man with earlier, Athan's eyes now seemed ablaze with a determined look that could have easily been misconstrued as rage.

"FFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

More Forgotten Matter bubbled up through the wound in his forearm as Athan resisted the Ragnarok, and then in a sudden show of strength that simply could not have been possible sooner, Athan shouted in defiance and, using only his left arm, shoved upwards in order to force Ragnarok into the air. Then, with his right hand only, Athan swung the Rook's Destroyer across his body in a wide horizontal arc, aiming to catch Ryugi's left side with the dulled edge of the Destroyer and literally lift him off his feet before sending him tumbling head over heels across the landscape he had created earlier.

[5/10]

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

It was a good thing Ryugi was cast aside as a result of the Rook's Destroyer's swing, as the sudden lack of traction at his feet made it extremely difficult for Athan to maintain his balance after a swing like that. After connecting and following through with the swing, Athan's body stumbled to his left, his feet finding it hard to find purchase on the extremely slick floor of the forest as he found himself following the momentum of his sword. The fingers of his left hand, now covered with Forgotten Matter, twitched slightly as he tested just how much sensation he had left in his arm after nearly having had it cut in half. His pinky, ring, and middle fingers were all numb to any sensation, but still had the capacity to move. His entire forearm wasn't so lucky, as the entire appendage continued to leak Forgotten Matter as though it were blood all Athan could think of was how much it hurt to try and move the arm to help steady the Rook's Destroyer.

It was around this time that Athan was finally able to relocate Ryugi, who had tumbled off to Athan's left not too long ago, had just regained his own footing. And then, as if in the blink of an eye, Ryugi suddenly wasn't to Athan's left, but now he was in the air and heading right towards him. Much faster than Athan imagined was capable considering the terrain and the laws of gravity.

Athan stood his ground, spreading his stance a little bit to spread his weight out over as wide an area as possible so as to better secure himself to what little ground he could be secured to. Even as he stood there, his boots sunk several inches into the mud and water quickly pooled in on top of them, creating a veritable swamp that wasn't going to be very conducive to any sort of movement whatsoever.

Ragnarok's size practically as Ryugi became a veritable human bullet aimed directly at the large swordsman. Athan did not flinch one bit, but as Ryugi's light manipulation technique took hold, Athan's right arm once again came to life with that same strange feeling, as though it were suddenly in tune with the attack coming in. Momentarily distracted, Athan glanced down towards his right arm only to notice faint white lines beginning to manifest themselves amidst the Forgotten Matter.

What th-

A quick glance was all Athan could afford, because in an instant Ryugi was upon him, driving Ragnarok point-first into his location.

s**t.

Throwing the Rook's Destroyer up so that the flat of the blade was in between himself and the Ragnarok's tip, Athan held tight to the sword's hilt with his right hand while he reinforced the block by placing the palm of his left hand against the flat of the sword. He pushed forward against the incoming strike just as Ryugi came in, but there was too much momentum for Athan, even with his enhanced strength, to just stop completely. First he slid backwards, digging himself deeper and deeper into the mud until he was literally knee-deep in it and COULDN'T move backwards any further. And just when he thought he had weathered the worst of it, Ryugi discharged all of that pent up energy directly on top of Athan.

Athan didn't budge an inch at first, his arms flexing all they could to just keep both energy and swordsman from breaking his guard and sending him flying. Of course, even for all his strength the only thing keeping Athan solidly locked in place was the sheer amount of mud he had found himself pushed into. When all of that was blown away from the force of the blast...well...

First Athan began to slide again, his flesh and clothing that wasn't behind the flat of his sword began to heat up to uncomfortable levels, the clothing being burned away in certain parts only to reveal reddened and blistering skin underneath. And then the pressure wave hit, sending even Athan and his massive sword flying off into the distance. The torrential downpour and the fact that he was getting whipped in the face with debris made it impossible for Athan to judge where he was as he careened through the air, skipped off the ground like a rock across the lake, and then slammed hard into a small tree, completely obliterating the poor thing and turning its relatively fresh trunk into little more than splinters. When Athan finally stopped it wasn't gracefully as he smashed up against a tree and then fell face first into the muck, where he was quickly greeted by a wave of displaced soil. Athan opened his eyes to see...

Darkness.

Then he opened his mouth to breathe and took in a big mouthful of mud and vegetation. A panicked clawing ensued, and it took a solid five seconds, which felt more like an hour to the swordsman, for him to get half of his upper body out of the muck of the forest that had been displaced by the energy wave. Gagging, coughing, and with steam rising off of his now half-naked body as a result of the intense heat he had been subjected to, Athan was not in a good place physically or mentally. Spitting out a loogie that was composed of water-drenched soil, Athan looked out across the field to try and pinpoint his opponent who had been propelled in the opposite direction.

Unable to find him right away, Athan set his sights on a nearby tree, roughly ten feet tall and leaning heavily on its side as a result of the force Athan had hit it with. His ribs aching with every breath, Athan had to figure that he must have slammed into the thing chest-first. Were the tree any bigger, or the ground more solid...

Athan didn't want to think how badly he could have hurt himself there.

"Tch."

Athan turned and spit onto the ground at his feet. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get the taste of earthworm out of his mouth.

[6/10]

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

Hey! Mister Cole! You feeling okay over there?

Okay was a relative term.

Athan was covered head to toe in mud. His left arm was "bleeding" profusely, and as soon as he was unable to hold his focus, the Forgotten Matter that was leaking from the wound would quickly turn back into blood. Half of his left hand simply had no feeling in it, while the rest of his forearm felt as though it was crawling with fire ants. His entire torso was bruised and lucky that it wasn't damaged much beyond that. Parts of his body were severely burned, others had small chunks of tree sticking out of them. As Athan swung his sword out in front of him to clean the blade of the muck that had gathered on top of it, nearly three pounds of mud went flying off the end of the blade.

Compared to the ideal? No, Athan was far from "okay". But as for being capable of continuing the fight? Well, he was plenty ready. What remained of the arena, however, probably didn't agree with that. What was once a forest clearing immediately surrounded on all sides by trees had somehow turned into a mud pit with a giant pond in the middle. The remains of felled trees were swept up in the current brought about by the monsoon raging overhead and quickly flowed downstream, being deposited without ceremony into the bottom of the crater Ryugi had created. Looking at the depth of the thing, Athan figured he had to count himself lucky that he wasn't buried underneath all of the debris.

"I'm fine."

In spite of the rain, the thunder, and the unpleasant sound of suction as Athan waded his way through the muck, Athan's voice still carried without the need to yell.

It seemed Athan wasn't the only one who was a little winded from the last attack. It seemed the two had found themselves at a bit of an impasse. There was still plenty of time left to duke things out, but both had tipped their hands before conventional wisdom had said it was time to do so. Then again, fighting with such large weapons almost guaranteed that any blow landed was going to be a detrimental one, and with such sloppy conditions it was only going to be more difficult for any sort of momentum to be gained by either party. It seemed, for all intents and purposes, that things had slowed to a crawl after such a quick start.

"Wouldn't be right to just sit and wait things out."

Athan had been slowly pacing around the perimeter of the crater Ryugi had created, but as soon as he had gotten within twenty feet his pace had picked up. He wasn't breaking into a run (at this point, any sort of quick action was impossible given Athan's weight and weapon), but there was no doubt that he intended to close the distance between himself and Ryugi.

And once he did, he'd take one heavy step with his right foot and, with both hands, bring that heavy sword of his in an extremely telegraphed, wide looping horizontal arc from right to left. Athan was banking on two things. That Ryugi's mobility was hampered just as much as his own, and that even a block on Ryugi's part would send him over the edge of the crater, where he'd be unable to keep himself from sliding down into the growing pool of water and lumber at the bottom.

[7/10]

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

As Athan closed and started to swing, Ragnarok would swing down from Ryugi's shoulder, energy glowing and crackling along the blade's length as he brought it down in a vertical slash just as he'd tried to do before on the wood platform...

> Quote: Wrote: > Energy Lance – > > > Ragnarok fires a burst of energy that streaks across the ground towards an opponent for damage. Adding an equivalent amount of energy into the strike can increase the number of these lances, but at a greater cost of Ryugi's stamina. A single Spear covers an approximate area of five feet across and five feet high, with an approximate maximum range of 30 feet in a line, while multiple Spears are of the same dimension, but fan out into a "20 Foot Cone or V-shaped" Area of Effect. ((10 Energy plus an additional 10 for each additional lance.))

Using some of the small energy he still had, Ryugi would fire off another attempt at his Energy Lance, using only 1 blast as opposed to 3. This time, he had some distance between he and Athan, making his attack that much more effective, but not so much that it would be something simple to avoid or block like before, especially with Athan's weapon already moving for a swing as the blade hit the muddy terrain.

The energy would surge over the muck, throwing debris, as well as muddy water through the air along with the strike. The attack would be enough to knock Athan off his feet, as well as deal the same lacerating and burning damage to him as it would have done before. There would be less debris, but far more mud, unfortunately, which might serve to lessen Athan's visibility if he could not block it from disrupting his vision. By attacking in this way, Ryugi would be able to force Athan to deal with the attack, and likely knock him off balance, while still maintaining a fairly solid position of his own, and not compromising his footing.

Energy Lance –

Ragnarok fires a burst of energy that streaks across the ground towards an opponent for damage. Adding an equivalent amount of energy into the strike can increase the number of these lances, but at a greater cost of Ryugi's stamina. A single Spear covers an approximate area of five feet across and five feet high, with an approximate maximum range of 30 feet in a line, while multiple Spears are of the same dimension, but fan out into a "20 Foot Cone or V-shaped" Area of Effect. ((10 Energy plus an additional 10 for each additional lance.))

Things weren't exactly ideal as Athan began his swing. His opponent saw him coming from a mile away, and even though Athan was more than capable of slogging his way through the mud at a decent clip, he was still hampered by his own weight and the amount of force required to get his sword moving compromised his footing.

It didn't come as any surprise to Athan when Ryugi swung the Ragnarok down in a vertical arc. Moving straight down was a little quicker than swinging from side to side, and since Ryugi's attack counted on it arriving before Athan's swing made contact, so Athan's sword was still en-route when the Energy Lance was released. The white lines that had appeared on Athan's right forearm prior to Ryugi's detonation flared bright in response to the Energy Lance's proximity. The strange feeling in his arm returned, accompanying the light show. Prior to this point, Athan couldn't quite comprehend what the feeling was. But now, near the end of the fight, he came to the conclusion that the Arm had somehow become charged with energy. Not necessarily the energy radiated from Ryugi's attacks, but something else, something even in excess of the power of Judgment.

Stuck in mid-swing, Athan could see the attack coming but had very little he could do to stop it. Athan bent his knees and tightened his grip on his sword, hoping that there was some way his sword could knock aside the attack. The improbability of the action was ridiculous even by Athan's estimate, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing he could do.

Athan's sword kept moving in its intended path, slowing only because Athan felt as though bracing himself for impact was more important than following through with a doomed attack. As the sword continued moving along the white light quickly shifted from his right arm and spread itself across the entire length of the Rook's Destroyer, lighting up the blade's black color.

"Shi-!"

The Rook's Destroyer and the Energy Lance crossed paths, and as soon as the sword's blade intercepted the path of the attack, there was a blinding flash of light as the energy transferred into the sword suddenly discharged itself into Ryugi's attack, dispelling the thing entirely.

Quote:** Wrote:

Shatter

Focusing his will, Athan is able to imbue anything composed of Forgotten Matter with Anima energy. This causes white lines to spread along the length of the item, enhancing the Forgotten Matter’s naturally magic-resistant properties by an exponential amount.

Shatter is a two-fold ability. While the enchantment is active Athan may attack magical/metaphysical abilities as if they had physical form. Upon contact with abilities or magical weapons, Athan may discharge the gathered energy into the incoming attack/weapon. In the case of the energy being discharged into an ability, Athan may be able to “cleave” the attack in half or, in the case of a weaker attack, cause it to dissipate entirely.

As the flash subsided, the Forgotten Matter on Athan's left arm slipped off as though it were water running off a sheet of glass. What was left in its place was a badly damaged forearm underneath a shattered bracer and the remains of a badly tattered jacket. Judgment had worn off as a result of the Shatter effect, leaving Athan feeling weaker than he had in the past few days.

As a result of the contact with Ryugi's Energy Lance, Athan's sword had lost its momentum before completing its arc, meaning Ryugi wasn't in danger of being swatted aside even if his counter attack had been "parried."

Athan, somewhat bewildered by this course of events, just kind of stood there, staring at his sword.

[8/10]

In spite of the rain pounding away at the mud at his feet, Athan's heavy breathing could be heard pretty easily. Judgment was a very taxing ability, something that tested even Athan's impressive endurance. That, coupled with whatever the hell had just happened, had made Athan relatively fatigued considering how much effort he had to put into simply navigating the terrain. Both fighters stood still, Ryugi just as perplexed as Athan as to whatever the hell had just happened.

It was something Athan had seen Alpha perform before. During an impromptu battle following the finals of Heaven or Hell, Alpha had somehow been able to channel the same energy and use it to displace a beam of energy with the swing of his sword. It was far more impressive when Alpha had done it, as the energy had been gathered and released in the blink of an eye. But for Athan to pull off such a feat was a miracle in and of itself. Athan had known, of course, what it was that powered the Arm of the Dreamless Sleeper. Was it possible that the two abilities were linked somehow?

Anima.

The ability to force one's will to affect the world around them. Magic had many different names, but Anima had died with Ezra. Or so Athan had thought.

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

Hey, Mister Cole

Ryugi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Still a little on edge after what had just happened, Athan instinctively brought his sword back, turning the flat of his blade so that it was facing Ryugi as he prepared to defend against what he thought was an incoming overhead swing. The swing didn't come, but instead, something else.

How about we call this finished for the moment, and head back to civilization? I'll buy you a drink and we can swap sword stories. Maybe after we take a break to dry off and get that arm of yours fixed up.

Athan cocked an eyebrow, obviously somewhat unsure if his opponent was being serious. Then again...this was still technically a preliminary match, Athan had already nearly lost his arm, and the beeping of his FIGHTER indicated that there was less than thirty seconds to go in the fight. Given the current state of the two combatants and the stage, there wasn't much else to prove. A KO would have only been capable if someone tripped, and considering the two swords at play that lucky hit would likely end up killing someone. Athan slowly lowered his sword to his side and turned to his left, surveying what remained of the battlefield.

What do you say?

Athan glanced skyward, shrugged his shoulders, and planted the Rook's Destroyer against his right shoulder. His left arm dropped to his side, fingers curled in towards his palm as he tried to deaden the pain radiating up from the wound.

"Alright."

At the very least, ending the fight a little earlier would give him more time to analyze just what the hell he had done earlier. More than likely he wouldn't have time to accurately decipher everything, but at the very least knowing what triggered the ability would give him a head start.

"Hotel bar usually has some stiff drinks."

[9/10]

Fight Called due to Weather

Shatter: Unlocked. One Round until the ability can be used. No new abilities can be unlocked at this time.