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[Megell]

((Congrats, this is the very first time I?ve been stumped on more then 2 minutes in a RP fight. You might of not realized this, but the stone thing, combined with preparing my finisher, left me in a corner for a bit.))

Hakishi watched as the stone man reached out with his arm to strike at him. The problem was that he did it a few seconds at least after he left that area. ?So slow,? he thought to himself. He, after he had finished his dash, he launched himself back to the other side of the arena, farthest from the clone. The dash technique was starting to tired him, and he would not be able to maintain it further.

The hulk, charged at the clone, but because of his new weight, the clone managed to run back into the fog and hide for the time being. He would need that clone still, he realized, so he decided to keep it safe. The man landed and Hakishi could feel the arena make a huge thud in response, however, he was in no mood to pay attention to it.

His personal view of time sped up again, and the world returned to the way it was supposed to be. Hakishi at the same time came crashing to the ground face first. That was the problem with the dash technique, or so he had rapidly discovered, any version of it over level one would leave the user exhausted to the point of paralysis for a few seconds at least. Hakishi lied on the ground, his face in the mud thinking.

?The rock skin is a huge advantage in this kind of fight,? he thought, ?also, the effects of the mist leave me in a position in which I can?t use light aura attacks. This means I have to rely completely on shadow, and the elemental brands. However, this is also limited because fire and air are unusable because it would dispel the cover granted by the mist. The fire would evaporate further sections of the air, and large-scale fire attacks might dispel my own ice aura maintaining the field. Further more, air is useless because it?s my worse element and it might clear away the mist.?

His analytical mind then stopped for a minute while his strategic part of his mind caught up. ?This means,? he continued, ?that earth or shadow styles are all that remain. Now normally I would animate a stone golem and get it too fight this foe. However, earth style was impossible to use properly at the moment because I have pushed too many different auras into one area already and the effects of adding another without knowing the out come would be too dangerous. Thus, all I have left in my arsenal are pure shadow auras.?

He swore under his breath, even when his physical power returned to him, he would not be able to match that attack directly. Thus, another strategy was in the mix. He had seen now how the tattoos worked, and could replicate the effects if he recreated the runes, but that also would be a useless move none the less, since his opponent was still physically stronger then him.

He could use ?that? to penetrate the rock defence, but if he missed the fight would not bold to well for him. Rock man here couldn?t recover from a move like that anyways, but he would rather wait till it was all or nothing before gambling in that manner. In the mean time, he would simply have to rely on shadow elemental attacks. He needed a few seconds more to compose himself however.


[Dash, level 2 (Time seems to go at 1/100): 1/4 round left to reuse else more damage, speed reduced to 1/8th for 1/1 rounds after dash. Physical Effects: Very slight muscle tearing/exhaustion.]

[Technique mastery: Basics: 100% Mastery: 50%]

[Queztatlapoca]

((Thanks))

As Teyld landed his foe was nowhere in sight. He had to think up a way to locate him. And he had the perfect plan. He understood the virbrations that stone makes and "echos" back. Assuming the arena was flat he could locate any object or person standing on the ground. He just needed to send out a massive shockwave through the ground. Kneeling to one knee he raised his massive stone arms and slammed them against the solid earth. "two?" he thought. the one he was persuing happened to be not far out of sight but the other the one that was the blur was impossibly far from where he had attacked Teyld.

Instinct told him to crush the being ahead of him. He decided to turn around and run to this newest find. "let's hope i don't regret this"

[Runic Magick: Stoneskin, Moves 1/3 regular speed, Superficial healing, 1/3 rounds]

[Megell]

Slowly, and surely Hakishi got to his feat. His legs felt like rubber, and his arms wouldn?t immediately respond to any of the signals he sent to them. Keeping his focus in on his foe who had now landed, Hakishi watched as the bethmont slammed his hands into the ground to send out a rumbling thud along the ground. Hakishi chuckled a bit in respect for a clever improvised tactic, though in a second, it would do him little to no good. Because Hakishi was now relying solely on shadow auras, his feet would soon be rarely touching the ground. He watched as the barbarian, now aware of his position began to run towards his position. Hakishi felt, because of the reduced speed of this foe, he could take his time.

As he moved towards the nearest wall, he began to focus in on moving the shadow auras around his body to come out of his body, and surround the outside of his body. He would use this in his next little trick. Walking closer to the wall, he took note that because of how the lamps in the arena were cast, the outer ring would always have a shadow surrounding it. Even if the shadow was a thin one he could make good use of it.

This one, he had copied from a little girl who had wandered into one of his fights quite a while ago. A very young, and very talented shadow illusionist that girl turned out to be. He had of course taken no pleasure in ending her life, but he did take a little joy in knowing that he would put her carefully developed tricks into good use.

Hakishi, focused now on the wall shadows, endowing them with more shadow aura until they began to turn as black as night. To everyone but a few, the walls would just appear to look a little weird. In essence, he was turning the arena wall into a sort of door and receiving door. He could now enter at one point in the shadow, and then reappear in another. Another advantage is that someone skilled in this, style of technique could use the shadows to launch themselves into the enemy at high speeds. This, in essence would allow him to observe a ?hit and run? tactic until the defending shell began to crack.

He stepped into the shadows and disappeared. Too Hakishi, it looked as if he were looking out through a foggy window to the world beyond. He saw he now hapless prey still bearing down on his prior position. To test thing ability, he would need to draw his opponent closer to the walls, but how?

Giving a final instruction to the clone, he ordered it to move close to the edge of the arena. Then wait, when his foe noticed that he was no longer in the arena, he would assume most likely that the clone was the real-deal and attack it. Or so he hoped. When this happened, another surprise would be waiting.

[Technique mastery: Basics: 100% Mastery: 55%]
[?Shadow Jump? in effect, -20% strength, -15% visuals, +20% speed.] ((I still need to confirm the attacks actual name, but for now I?ll refer to it as such.))

[Queztatlapoca]

Teyld zeroed in on the position where his prey should be. But he was not in plain sight. So like using a radar system he wailed on the ground again. He was suprised at what he found. "one?" he thought. And back where the other being was. He didn't understand why, if the suddenly vanished body double he was headed towards was a fake, the caster would let it vanish. "the worst that could have happened is it being destroyed without a fight" Since this was the only detectable foe left he would move to within 10 feet of him and wait for his prey to attack Teyld.

"I've been tricked one too many times" he said to himself. And with that headed back across the arena to square of with this trickster

[Runic Magick: Stoneskin, Moves 1/3 regular speed, Superficial healing, 2/3 rounds]

[Megell]

?Well at least he?s using his head now.? Hakishi thought as he watched his target attempt to locate him now. He would have no success however, seeing on how Hakishi was in the shadows. He had never been forced to replicate this attack until this point, and despised the idea of having to use it again. He had no problem with hiding from a stronger foe until he could get an easy hit, but this technique used a massive amount of his precious shadow auras, and also took them away faster then he could regenerate them, all in all, it was inefficient.

Sitting in the shadows, Hakishi turned his attention for the first time to his own injuries. He decided that if his lumbering prey was going to take his time to lick his own wounds, Hakishi would do the same. Hakishi turned his attention to his broken bones, and in his almost inhuman manner snapped them back under his skin, adjusted them, and used a small amount of cloth to wrap the wrist and keep it all in place. It was no piece of art, but functional.

?This is going to slowly now for my tastes,? Hakishi mumbled under his breath as he watched his foe come to a several meters in fount of his clone. He realized his foe, being cautious because of the earlier tricks, was likely waiting to see what would happen. Hakishi was now going to prepare his finally for when the stone skin wore off.

Reaching out of the shadows, he moved his torso outside the protective barrier, and placed his hand to the ground. Using a small amount of shadow aura, he sent the message to his prepared attack to begin. All at once, there was a very auditable splashing sound from around the arena. Even with the fog blocking out the sounds, one could still over hear a very distinct crackling sound, like a large plain of glass shattering in slow motion. The attack was in it final setting now, and as soon as the stone skin wore off, the attack would be launched.

The clone spoke to the foe once more.

?You realize that as soon as your protection here ends, you will die.? The clone, without hesitation upon finishing this sentence launched itself at the foe once more. It drew another one of its ice knives and ran in a direct line at Telyd. It was attempting to strike at his waist.

[Technique mastery: Basics: 100% Mastery: 65%]
[?Shadow Jump? in effect, -20% strength, -15% visuals, +20% speed.]

[Queztatlapoca]

Teyld snarled at the advancing rival. And tilted his head back. As soon as he felt the dagger hit his stone skin Teyld swung his head and shoulders foward to obliterate Hakishi's skull. On contact though he was greeted by cold water and ice.

A confused look crossed Teyld's face and he shoved the thing away from him. His stoneskin started cracking and falling to the floor leaving behind a more defeatable Teyld. But Teyld noticed something as he looked around. The mist was thinning.
but where was his real foe?

[Runic Magick: Stoneskin, Moves 1/3 regular speed, Superficial healing, 3/3 rounds---ended]

((it has been 15 rounds since the mist has set in ))

[Megell]

((Err, Just as a side note, I would of allowed the hit on the clone to begin with, as its fate doesn?t matter anymore, but that strike you make on it was a ?autohit?. You can?t say, I punch ?XXXX? and it dies. Even if it is a clone, you can make successful grapples, but that?s different. But its cool, I would have posted its death anyways. So no sweat.))

((Yes, I know about the mist. Though its use is over.))

Hakishi stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the arena; he cancelled his shadow jump technique as well. He spoke now, in a clear and precise tone.

?This fight is over. You have no choice but to surrender.?

With the fading mist, Hakishi walked in a direct line towards his prey, always keeping his focus locked on his eyes. Hakishi also formed his hands into another hand sign and spoke again,

?This fight ended the second your rock skin was dispelled, arguably before. I could have launched my attack before hand, but I wanted to be sure that you were in your weakest defence form. And seeing how earth is the strongest of all the casters elements, I reasoned it would be a logical choice for it too be your highest degree of resistance.?

The mist began to clear faster now, Hakishi walked towards his foe non-gallantly. Never rushing himself at all. Hakishi spoke again.

?Look around you, into the sky.?

The mist was clearing now, Hakishi remained keeping his hand sign, and stood a good ten meters away from his foe. They both could make out each other?s outlines. So Hakishi took another strap of cloth and tied it around his eyes, making sure to hide his obvious condition. He then raised his hand to the sky, and pointed through the mist.

It took a few seconds for the fog to disperse to the point to show what he was pointing at; it first appeared to be nothing more then an odd area of the fog. But as time passed by, long, thin shapes began to come into view. They were each, long thin needles that were suspended in the air. Their were at least a few thousand of them.

?Those,? he whispered audibly, ?are one of my own, personal attacks. Each of the needles you see was formed out of ice in the same manner the wall of ice in the start of this match was formed. Also these needles, much like the clones, are animated. Much in the same way the clones were, however, due to the fact that they are lighter, the shadow auras can actually keep them hovering in the air. Also, like the wall of ice, they have the added benefit of being the same tensile strength as steel.?

He continued, ?It would only take the slightest movement of my hands to send the aura to get all these needles to launch at you? You will be cut to ribbons.?

Never taking his eyes of his foe, Hakishi thought back to how he had set up the attack. Getting enough water in the arena with the ice wall, mist and clones. All the while using the time bought to stock up his Shadow and Light auras. Then launching them into the ground. And finally reaching out of the shadows and starting the attack. He had been waiting a long time for this to come around, so he had decided to wait until after the rock wall defence had come down to launch his finale.

He thought about what would have happened. The shadow and ice auras would have entered the water around the arena, and then the light aura would of come rushing in. The light aura, reacting violently to the shadow aura would have repelled the easily manipulated water into the sky. That was the splashing sound. Then the ice auras and the seventy percent of shadow auras would have modeled each puddle into several long needles. These needles would then use the remaining shadow aura to become hard like steel and hover till Hakishi gave the command for them to fly at his foe like bullets.

This was end game.

?Give it up,? Hakishi spoke. The mist, now fully cleared revealed a unimaginable mass of these daggers pointed at his foe.

[Queztatlapoca]

((sorry about that but i didn't know how to word it and continue with what the character was doing))

Teyld snarled in hate and took a step foward. But then he looked again at those icy daggers of death. Even a berserk knows when he is beat. His face calmed and he stopped his advance.

"You win" he said. The words tasted like dirt in his mouth.
"Congratulations on your victory"
"Maybe we will meet in the pit again another time"

Telyd then turned and headed towards the nearest wall to pulled himself out and headed towards the infirmary to treat those few broken ribs. After that he would return to the bleachers to watch any potential foes in action.

((edited to return him to the bleachers))

[Megell]

((No problem, I?ve done similar things before, and like I said, it was going to be a hit anyways. I was just giving you a friendly heads up reminder for future fights.))

?Perhaps,? Hakishi spoke the word slowly, not liking the taste it left in his mouth much either. He had not liked how this fight had gone, and was unhappy that he had taken so long to achieve a victory. Next time, he would start will all guns blazing at the beginning. But in the mean time, he was going to sit and observe the upcoming fight.

He climbed out of the pit, and walked towards the bleachers, here he grabbed a seat. He would deal with his wounds later, but for now, he wanted to get a good view at the other competitors in the arena.

((All right, the arena is cleared for the next battle; it?s all yours. At the start of a new fight, everything is reset BTW. So the conditions the last fight made are no longer in effect.))

[Mizukage]

Montresor turns to his partner with a gesture to the cleaned ring "so how about it? do you want to, mess around? I hope you can present a challenge to these old bones"

[Rytiko]

The fight had gone in the general direction Kobushi had foreseen - though he could tell that it had taken the man much longer than he'd have liked to spent to end it. As the behemoth trudged off to the infirmary, his Hisakada blood began to thrash violently in his veins. A part of him was filled with a thirst - no, that was too soft a word - a need for battle. And his hopes were satiated at the older man's challenge.

"I will fight you. But there shall be no messing around; I fight to win," he said, staring through his purple eyes, almost as if looking into the very soul of the man standing before him. 'He's strong, for sure... But with Tsukuyomi on my side, there is no way I can lose...' he thought, as his fists began to shine a pale silver in anticipation and, even if only Kobushi could hear it, the wolves of the surface world bellowed their terrifying battle cry.

"Are there any special rules you'd care to request?"

[Mizukage]

With a simple look Montresor could see the mysticism that swirled around this strange being, but knew for a fact that intelligence outwieghed aged religions and superstitions. " Special rules eh? hmm, setting 3 type two, shall we then?" and with that Montresor props himself up with his trident, grabs his razored net and hobbles towards the ring.

[Rytiko]

((x_x ... Suppose I shouldn't have put the offer on the table. Oh well, I'll manage.))

Cursing himself for allowing his opponent to put him at such a disadvantage so early in the match, Kobushi reached for something in his thoughts to change the battle type. He could say nothing, though, that would not make him look like a coward... Thanks to the recognized battle setting, however, he was not completely out of luck.

The two combatants entered the ring, his opponent doing so with notably less grace, hobbling along quite slowly ... 'What is with this man...? I can sense that he is a great fighter with a great mind, but how can he expect to keep up with my speed? He must have something up his sleeves,' Kobushi thought, not willing to let his guard down even for a second. Whatever types of attacks this man used, Kobushi would be ready... Or at least he hoped.

Suddenly, there was a large quake and a blinding flash that lingered for several seconds. Kobushi could feel the seals constricting his flow of lunar energy, taking away his ability to sense the arena's drastic change. It was almost painful to have these seals within him - Naturally so, considering the true purpose of the energy in the Hisakada bloodline. However, Kobushi had fought in this setting once before, and knew it to prevent him from recklessly harming himself. Once again, he muttered his realization of many events and powers in his life - "My curse is my gift..."

When the light dispelled and all was visible again, they were in the sandy pit of a massive battlefield. Flags of unknown origin surrounded them. The number of bleachers increased exponentially. The walls all around them seemed much higher, and were adorned with countless variations of weapons. His eyes immediately caught the ones he wanted, though he did not move immediately. Instead, he gave a quick bow to his trident-wielding foe and positioned himself in a stance of varied purposes, though his primary goal was, as it has always is, speed. Speed for what would be decided by his enemies first attack.

((Oh, just so you know, my character is a bit of a combo user. I'll make sure to include the contents of the combo, which usually only consists of 2-4 attacks, however I hope that you note that there is realistically little that you can dodge once you get hit directly by a strike within a combo.))

[Caseyweederman]

High in the seats was a lone man quietly musing while watching the battles.
He might have been six feet standing tall, and had brown hair, green eyes, pale skin. He wore a brown tunic based vaguely on several nationalities and ages. His pants were brown slacks. On the whole he was average. Nothing in specific stood out about him, except maybe the glimmer in his eyes.

He had a slight slouch. His jaw wasn't grim-set. His nose didn't stick out too far - or not far enough.
In a crowd you'd never notice him, and perhaps this was planned.

He made gestures from time to time - scratched his nose, shifted his weight on the cold hard seats, pulled some crackers out of an unnoticed pocket and munched on them.

But he never took his eyes off the fight. Everything was experience. Fighting, winning, watching, losing. Strategetizing. He yearned for this information. Shadow magic. Healing runes. Stoneskin. Shifting sand. Charges. Parries. Animal viciousness. Inhuman mercy. Shallow victories, crushing defeats, schemes failing, plots succeeding, metal on metal, adrenaline rushes, candied pretzels. The arena.

This man had no chiseled abs, no deep scars, no limp, no calloused hands.

So why was he here at all?

[Queztatlapoca]

Teyld returned to the arena feeling good as new and ready to sit back a watch a fight unfold. He took a seat closest to the pit that he now saw was lined with weapons of all sorts. He watched with great intent as the rivals squared off.

[Mizukage]

when he reached the centre of the pit Montresor turned to his wiry opponent and said with a shrug "the forms must be obeyed" then, turning to the newly created 'Emperor's Seat" ((casey, if you would assume the role?)) and shouted, "we who are about to die salute you!" then throwing down his feeble guise Montresor showed his true agility and rushed to close the distance with his opponent yelling "you should have thought this out more, you seem to be at a great disadvantage!"


(( show me on the field, I don't think the combos will suffice in cracking my cunning.))

[Rytiko]

His opponent moved forward, making sure to point out the obvious disadvantage he had put Kobushi in already. Although he was annoyed by this, it could not be denied ? He should not have offered his opponent the choice of battle type when it was so obvious that he used some form of spiritual energy. But still?

?Too slow!? he uttered, displaying a rather reckless charge at a speed almost twice that of the elderly man?s rush. He did not, however, charge towards the man, but rather straight to his left towards a section of the wall containing several daggers.

?First,? Kobushi thought, ?I need to see what his defense is like ? recklessly charging in could be a bad move.? In one fluent motion, he slid to a stop and did a complete 360. In his turn, he managed to scoop two daggers from their place on the wall (three if you count the one he was unable to get a grip on), and before he even stopped his turning motion, they left his hands and cut their way through the air towards his opponent. The aim was rather reckless, and probably wouldn?t hit any vital areas. However, that was not his aim ? rather, he hoped to see just how quick his clearly deceitful foe really was.

[Mizukage]

Upon seeing his opponent run for the knives on the wall Montresor calculated a trajectory, 'he's testing me' he thought to himself, 'I'll play along.' Montresor took a half step and tumbled under the one knife that seemed closest to him. He got up in a flash and dropped into a more defensive position, low to the ground with his left hand holding the trident in the middle and his plated right arm grasping his net by an edge sweeping the ground in front of him, now he slowly approached his opponent. "Run or fight, you have no other option spellshaper, I'll make this easy for you. come, face me like a real man."

[Rytiko]

'So I was right. He's much quicker than he lets on... Or did he just predict what I was going to do...? Either way, there's no backing down.The weapon I need is positioned as such that I have no choice but to go through him...' And so it finally came to a point where, although significantly disadvantaged by the arena, he could truly show that the Hisakada powers need not be so heavily relied upon. With a smirk, he leaned into his next few steps and then pushed himself from the ground, shooting towards his opponent in a defensive stance. The momentum would leave his prey defenseless, if you could deflect the strikes that would come from the trident and the net.

A razor net. He'd take a small bit of damage, but could deflect the blunt of the strike and avoid being entangled if he could manage to strike one of the weights along the edge. If the swing or toss of the net didn't come, his advantage would only increase, as his plan was to deflect both weapons with his arms and lead his knee directly into the chest of his opponent. Stunned by the damage, he would be open for a hard right straight. If he still stood after that, which was doubtful, the years of intensive martial arts training told him to use a simple and basic Judo maneuver.

[Caseyweederman]

This battle made Casey sit upright in bemusement. It could turn out to be interesting.
He scanned the colosseum-style architecture for a seat with a better view.
The Emperor's position was, surprisingly, available.
Casey stood and stretched, and started to make his way to that once-coveted spot.