Shio had received a message from Kasmi on her phone, a text message, that had taken a moment for her to decipher. The raw text of the message was strange, reading 'd u wnt 2 fite - trn sqr'. Initially, she had thought it was a code and tried utilizing a few simple anagrams, but none of them made much sense. Then she tried vocalizing it before stumbling upon the phonetics of the message - from there deciphering the shorthand was much simpler.

She responded with a yes before heading to the square quickly stopping off at a small vendor, she purchased some vitamins to invigorate her Ocalia. It only took her a few minutes to arrive, even with her detour. She kept her eyes out for Kasumi, quickly setting herself up on one side of the large square, eighty feet by eighty feet by her estimation. It was one of the remnants from the old time when Natrelmon tournaments were more frequent. The faint inscriptions could be seen on the walls, protecting the buildings from the destruction that had once often ensued within them. Clapping her hands together, she let some of the magic she had flow through her to activate those inscriptions. It was an indication to the few stragglers in the midday square that a battle was about to begin. They quickly exited while Shio waited for Kasumi.

The square itself was mostly a cobblestone ground with a fountain off to the eastern most corner, Shio in the southern, which pointed directly south. There were a few stone benches in the square as well, with an aged tree at the western side. It stood about thirty feet, at least from Shio's judgment. There were a few patches of missing cobblestones around the tree as well as the fountain. The rest of it was in appropriate condition.

[Rank IV Ghost Knives; Rank III Serrated Blades; Rank II Pike; Rank I Mace]

Kasumi began the battle in a similar position to Shio - the fountain was used a centerpoint to put the total distance between them at 60 feet, 30 feet between each of them and the fountain. The diminutive form of Gen was stood directly behind the fountain, five feet in front of Kasumi. Both she and the Gen were prepared to make the first move, and as an initial precaution to allow them a higher area of offense and defence, Kasumi created a Veil of Mists around herself. She could use her Pyromancy or her Invocation magic later - for now, she had to allow the battle to progress slowly. She was confident in her Gen's ability to take out a melee target, given that she had a spiritual bond with it, but she knew that Shio was very adept at physical combat herself, as well as fairly skilled in Magic. She did not know whether or not Shio possessed the Enyo family's signature school of magic, and assumed that she did to be safe. Her Gishiki would be very powerful if she managed to use it effectively - and Kasumi had no doubt that she would - so she simply bided her time and waited. Shio would be forced to make the first move.

Kasumi's aneurysm seem to have past, magically restored. The fountain was now properly in its location on the eastern corner. It was a good explanation for Kasumi's earlier texting, which may mean she should see a doctor urgently.

The significant distance between the two meant that Shio would be forced to close the gap. However, at the range they were, neither of them would be effective with their spells. With her Ocalia slightly ahead of her. Shio began to move forward at a moderate run, wary of Kasumi's potential abilities. Kasumi had an entirely different style of magic usage from herself, which made battling her potentially quite difficult. It would likely be usage of these spells that would decide this battle. It was an instance that Shio regretted having not brought a set of throwing knives from home.

Shio would not, however, enter Kasumi's mist, knowing far better than that. A Hydromancer was most dangerous when both parties were within their mist. She needed to stay at least twenty feet from the bounds of the mist to ensure safety for both herself and her Ocalia.

After Kasumi's brief mental lapse, she felt much better. Her earlier hallucinations about the fountain's location were likely indicative of her not having stolen anything within the past hour - she made a mental note to steal Caelyn's wallet and make him undress to get it back. That sounded like it would be fun.

Now, fully focused on the battle, Kasumi did two things - first, she created a Mirror Image and had it use two Deceptive Bolts to begin charging illusory Pyromancy spells as it did so. It would strafe out of the mist along a simple arc, keeping its eyes on Shio and her Ocalia, while visibly charging two spells - a Cinders of Kyokujitsu and a Lesser Fireball. It would probably be obvious to an observant opponent like Shio that immediately moving out of the mist that Kasumi had just created would be a bad idea - but it was also known that Kasumi's use of magic was very aggressive - perhaps unwisely so. It would be up to Shio whether or not to think of the mirror image as a real threat. Kasumi herself was also charging two Pyromancy spells of her own - a Lesser Fireball and a Pyroclastic Torrent. She would be able to use the significant zone control abilities of her spells to manipulate the battlefield to her advantage if Shio did not adequately counter her abilities. She was confident in her own skills, but Shio had sacrificed many of her social skills for intellectual and battle skills. It would be challenging to beat her - that much was certain.

Simultaneously to this occurring, Kasumi's Gen made a set of five Ghost Knives, and though it did not initially move, it was prepared to move at any point. Kasumi was preparing to enter into melee combat with her Gen, and to provide enough offence and defensive cover in order to allow her Gen - which had significantly better chances in melee combat than most equivalent Natrelmon - to do what it did best: Pound enemies into dust.

Shio backed off of the mist immediately after seeing Kasumi's Mirror Image. She couldn't be absolutely certain if it was the real Kasumi or not. It would be unlikely given that Hydromancers operate more effectively within the mist, but she could not take the chance Kasumi was trying to make an aggressive play. Shio made sure she moved back, in a methodical backpedal style move, to keep track of both the core of the mist and the strafing illusion. By also angling away from both of them, moving opposite of the illusion, she could keep a wide scope of her vision free, as well as react to the both of the attacks from them effectively. She had an idea to combat Kasumi's tact of staying within the mist, but it needed time to be executed.

Shio's Ocalia stayed with her, although quickly turning completely around and beginning to make a quick, wider movement to allow Shio to cover it while they both moved away.

[6 Patience]

Kasumi's usage of Pyromancy was not without its drawbacks. Normally, she would be quite content to sit back within the mist and wait for her opponent to simply make a mistake but Shio was not the kind of opponent who acted without strong reasoning. Shio would primarily react to whatever Kasumi threw at her, which left her very little room to outplay her. It was simple enough to prepare her initial assault, however easy it may be for Shio to use the situation to her advantage.

Producing another Mirror Image, Kasumi and her clone moved out of the mist simultaneously, the Mirror Image mimicking the path of the prior Mirror Image at a sharper angle in order to get closer to Shio, while Kasumi moved out of the left of the mist in order to prepare to unleash her own spells. The pair of images moved at a relatively quick pace, ten feet per second, and moved in exact reflection of each other. Kasumi was very capable of moving a great distance towards Shio quickly, but she would have to be certain that she could create a situation in which a deathblow was possible immediately, else her Gishiki and veritable close-range combat skills allow her to best the assassin. She did best when taking out targets in a single fell swoop, after all.

Simultaneously to the emergence of Kasumi and the Mirror Image, the Gen began moving at a moderate pace of ten feet per second towards the Ocalia, Ghost Knives in hand and ready to be used. It was a risky manoeuvre, but Kasumi's offensive chances would be very limited. If Gen could get into close range of the Ocalia, it could very quickly end the fight of its own accord. Shio's magic was primarily defensive, so it was easy to assume that she would not attack the Gen without strong reasoning - her being offensive would leave her more vulnerable to the oncoming pyromantic assault (which was something Kasumi was confident could end the battle) and her being defensive would allow her multiple windows of attack to create a new assault.

Kasumi also had the added benefit of being able to create a new zone of control with her Hydromancy at any point, but that was going to be a tactic best left for emergencies.

[20 Ingots; 4 Battle Trance]

Shio had rarely been in this kind of situation - unarmed and matched with a strong stylistic counter. Sensing the Gen still within the mists, biding its time created a complex problem. She was unable to enter the mist to deal with the Natrelmon without giving Kasumi an opportunity to strike out at her. Alternatively, she had two versions of Kasumi on one side and a singular one on the other. Invocation mages were noted for their deception, which made determining which was real quite difficult. Shio had only one option to deal with Kasumi's threat which was to quickly pivot and run, angling towards the southwestern side of the square (more south than west). She needed to bide enough time to create a threat herself. Kasumi was faster than her, but Shio had more endurance and if she could manage to avoid being picked off long enough, she would be able to retaliate in kind.

Shio's Ocalia ran along with her, keeping up with its trainer easily.

[Patience 10, Conviction 1, Inspiration 1]

Kasumi's onslaught could hold back no longer at this point. She would be forced to act viciously and attempt to wear down Shio's defences in order to move in for the kill, or her attacks would greatly reduce in efficiency. At this point, Kasumi's higher terminal velocity and already existing speed would allow her to at least try to catch up to Shio, though she could not run for as long as Shio could, and as she and her two Mirror Images began their full-speed sprint towards Shio, Kasumi and her images launched their fiery spells.

Three fireballs, two of which were six feet wide and one of which was three feet wide would be launched at various positions around Shio, the two from the illusions travelling to cut off her west-bound path without an extremely sharp turn or a translocation ability - and Kasumi was not aware that Shio had any translocation abilities. They were spaced far enough apart that their explosions would blockade off any westbound movement without damage or proccing Shio's Unyielding Defence. If she was to create Earth Walls to block the Fireballs, it would block off her route for escaping, and being southbound would be her only option. The real Kasumi would unleash her Fireball simultaneously, beginning to charge Cinders of Kyokujitsu as she did, barrelling it directly towards Shio. The explosion would catch the Ocalia if it hit, and Shio would certainly not be able to endure the damage without pain - enough pain for Kasumi to react and end the battle.

Kasumi's greater initial speed and higher maximum would allow her to catch up to Shio relatively quickly, pegging the distance between them at 20 feet after a second, and she prepared herself for her next barrage of spells. In order for her next plan to work, she would have to goad Shio into using her defensive spells now before her true onslaught began. Gen continued to chase after the Ocalia in a single line, keeping its pace moderate and ready to change at any point.

[30 Ingots; 4 Battle Trance]