---

Stepping out of a warped area of space, Raelis positioned himself on the platform with open space behind him. As he did so the naturally occurring light, which emanated from his form, quickly heated his immediate vicinity (2 meters radius) to a comfortable 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Wasting no time, Raelis stretched, limbering his muscles up before he drew his blade from his right hip. Now ready, he awaited the arrival of his opponent.

He would let this take as long as required, but hopefully he could finish it quickly and so conserve energy.

The vampire opened his eyes to find that he was transported elsewhere. It was different from the normal form of extra dimensional travel he was used to, and definitely much more comfortable. The place he arrived to, however, was far less so.

"Man, it's fucking cold balls here" Jordan remarked. Though he was a vampire, human sensations didn't completely leave him. Without warm blood flowing through his veins, Jordan was even more so at a disadvantage. Jordan was quick though, to examine his surroundings. On either side of him, rather tall statues. In front of him, a man who looked much more comfortable. Jordan was actually a bit jealous at that point, but not enough that he really wanted to be in the other man's shoes, if it even was a man underneath all the armor.

Marshaling his thoughts, Jordan prepared for battle. "Ain't much fuckin' different from my usual job." the vampire muttered as he cracked his neck and knuckles.

"So, you're the fucker whose ass I have to kick right?" Jordan didn't wait for his opponent to respond "Well, I've got plenty of fuckin' time. It's not like I can fuckin' die of old fuckin' age anymore, or have a fuckin' sale I want to go to."

---

It seemed he'd been quite unfortunately matched against the one person in the Hall who he found detestable, how annoying. As his translator notified him of the man's rather...crude language once more, Raelis responded, "No, I am the one who you'll be fighting. Whether you can...defeat me or not is another question in and of itself." With that Raelis sent a spike of Rhay's light through his blade. It would soon jump to 80 degrees. Meanwhile his surroundings continued to raise steadily by 10 degrees. Whether it would remain at that rate was questionable.

"Let us get this underway," he stated and then his wings swept the air downwards, sending him several feet into the air before he hit the ground on the other side of the fence on his platform. He approached slowly, Maelstrom gathering air around his wings, and the heat of his surroundings rising incrementally as time passed. From his opponent's standpoint the heat difference would not be at all apparent, but nonetheless it was there.

Jordan felt around his body as he casually stepped forward and off his platform. As he moved, he felt that his body was slightly heavier. In fact, it was. While Jordan only carried two magazines on him normally, he was left with ten. Assuming they were all fully loaded, he had a total of sixty rounds at his disposal. It was definitely worth carrying the extra weight, if that really were the case.

As soon as he reached the last step, Jordan stopped. He felt for his pistol, and pulled it out. The metal shone brightly as Jordan pulled the slide back and the hammer down. "Aw, and I thought we would be able to talk. Maybe cuddle a little, or even some light foreplay. If you want it that desperately though, you can come and take it. I'm ready when you are big boy!" Jordan insulted.

He wa cautious, taking care for his opponent. Jordan had fought several opponents that were similar in appearance, but he knew better than to underestimate what stood before him. He looked to either side of him, wondering if he could use the stone lions to his advantage.

---

Raelis grit his teeth as the man mocked him, he was truly annoying. However, he made an effort and did not respond, the heat around him and channeling through his blade rising with each passing moment. The man had withdrawn some kind of weapon, by its make it was projectile based, but not an energy weapon surely. It simply did not look like the type of weapon that could release such a thing, then again it could be. His armor would harden as needed, though it might dent if the caliber was considerable enough. He wouldn't take any chances.

Still, the man's behavior was grating. He would have said something, but Raelis was not one to give his enemy anything to use against him if he could. Slowly he continued his advance, seemingly in no rush at all.

Jordan ran forward, his finger on the trigger. It was bad trigger discipline to keep the finger on the trigger, as it was to point at something that wasn't going to be shot at. Jordan didn't give a fuck about trigger discipline. Jordan pointed his rifle forward, and shouted. "LET'S GO MOTHER FUCKER!" he said as he stopped just two feet in front of Raelis.

The vampire didn't wait a second to pull the trigger, and as soon as he did the hammer fell forward with a click. His pistol did not fire a round- there was no magazine inside.

---

Waiting till the man had come within 2 meters, Raelis reacted only as the weapon raised and in that single moment two things transpired. First among those things was the movement of his wings, which had been at the ready before. Thrusting down at an angle, the wings sent air buffeting into the barrel of the gun, strong enough to impede it from aiming at him at all. However, the purpose of this was not singular, no as instead of remain stationary, the wind pushed him to the right (Jordan's left) and around to the man's side. As he half hovered and half slid around to the man's left flank, Raelis' blade, held in his left hand, moved to slash diagonally at the man's shoulder.

The blade had already reached 240 degrees whereas his surroundings had reached 90 degrees. It wouldn't stop there.

"Whoo!" Jordan shouted "shit's getting hot! Or is that just me? I am a sexy motherfucker, just so you know." Jordan crouched down, and with his left hand, unsheathed the blade on the left side of his hip. Jordan then twisted his lower body, putting his left knee on the ground. The blade not even fully out of its sheathe collided with that of Raelis.

"Kadokukokacock..." Jordan mumbled, as if trying to explain something he couldn't quite understand. He dropped his pistol, freeing his right hand, and used it to grab the hilt of his blade. With both hands on the handle, Jordan stood up and maintained a stance with his feet shoulder's distance from eachother, with his knees slightly bent. "Fuck, I can't pronounce this shit." Jordan explained. "Whatever. My sword's got a retarded name and has cool supernatural powers. I'm pretty sure yours does too, amirite?"

---

As his opponent moved his hand to draw one of the blades at his side, Raelis' completed his feint by altering the position of his blade mid strike, and then drawing back from him with a tiny flick of his wings. Once again he released a blast of air, but this time it was additionally infused with 100 degrees of heat. Raelis was not done gauging the man however and so stopped only 4 meters from the man.

As he landed his glowing orbs briefly glanced at his blade, which had already risen to 280 degrees. He could feel the heat slowly begin to infuse the core of the weapon. As such he sent nanobots onto it, tiny automatons that dwelled in his armor and the air around him as well. The tiny robots began diffusing heat in a small aura around the blade. As such the Relic gained an aura of orange-yellow light. "Why does it matter," the knight asked rhetorically even as the nimbus of light about his blade reached 140 degrees. The nanobots had effectively split the heat absorption of his blade in half, though at his whim they could send the heat energy either way.

As such, just by being hit by the small blast of air, he had been exposed to them. Unless he miraculously dodged a seemingly harmless wave of warm air he would have nanobots on his person. The robots were additionally far too small to be noticed by the naked eye, and Raelis didn't see any sort of sensory system on the man's person.

As such, he waited for him to move once more. The man's violent nature would likely cause him to do so.

Jordan felt himself being blown away again, but positioned a leg back for leverage, keeping himself stable. "Whoo!" Jordan sighed. "Pretty warm for a place where it's snowing huh? That snow's even starting to melt..." Jordan stopped himself for a second. "Those wings of yours aren't going to help much when your ass is all up in that wall back there" Jordan nodded his head to gesture to the wall with it.

It seemed that as long as Raelis stood there, Jordan didn't have to worry about anything freezing up. Jordan looked up to the sky, seeing the cloud cover. The sun was "up", but it lacked sunlight just enough that Jordan wasn't completely impeded. With his left hand, Jordan pulled a flap of his trench coat over himself, and with it, Jordan disappeared. He was invisible, but realized that his footsteps still appeared in the snow.

Still, Jordan grasped his katana in both hands and held it with the blade facing outward toward his opponent. "To be honest... I don't fuckin' care. Most fuckers like you like to talk about your fancy ass swords though" Jordan explained, as he came up behind Raelis, coming down with a vertical slash, intent on simply cutting off some of the man's feathers.

---

Noting Jordan's glance at the sky, Raelis wondered why the man had done so. After all, it was not wise to look away from your opponent whilst in the midst of battle. Nonetheless, Raelis did nothing 'cept watch him and wonder when he would notice that he wasn't proactively attacking him as of yet. Then, as Jordan put his hood up Raelis noted him vanish. At first his eyes darted about, then he turned his head to make the motion visible to Jordan. However, a smile rested on his face as he did so, for he could detect him just fine. While the man moved Raelis' nanobots did some measurements and told him the strength of the man's mask and clothing. The clothes were normal 'cept the one that was causing the invisibility. However, the mask was durable to take a few high speed projectiles it seemed.

Not durable enough for what he intended however. With his plan formulated Raelis called out, "Show yourself...". Even as he did he knew the man had begun his attack maneuver from behind him. Thus it was in the second before the blade would have struck and cut his armor, that Raelis shifted his foot so his back became parallel to the blade. In the same motion his wing whipped back and, if unimpeded, slammed into the man's head, hitting the mask in the process. If it hit the mask would shatter as the force behind his blow was well beyond that given out by whatever the face-piece had been designed to sustain.

If the man were to raise his other blade to block then Raelis would respond accordingly.

The area around him had reached a piping hot 110 degrees whereas the Relic's aura had reached 200 degrees and the Relic itself had reached 300. Raelis made sure to divert the heat to the cutting edges of his weapon. This would keep it from easily saturating the weapon's core and subsequently its handle and his gauntlet.

As soon as Jordan so much as noticed his opponent move, Jordan ran backwards and eventually got in a prone position, ducking just beneath the wings. "Fuck your shit" Jordan shouted, as he low-crawled beyond the reach of Raelis's wings. Once there, he stood up and revealed himself. "Surprise bitch" Jordan announced. He stood in a neutral stance, sword in his left hand. His right hand was free.

The more he fought, the more difficult it seemed. "So what'cha got there? Is that really armor, or is it just a fuckin' space heater?" Jordan teased.

---

Entirely aware of his opponent's method of dodging, Raelis nonetheless chose not to exploit his position. Instead he finished the strike and then exhaled sharply. The sound was clear in the hot air around him, but it was not for stress relief. No, the huff was to reaffirm that he could not detect the man with as great ease as his maneuver might have made one think. It was a ruse.

He turned to face the man as he reappeared, "I am not obligated to tell you anything, whelp," the Asaran spat in response. It was not how he truly felt, but he was familiar with this sort of tactic. The only thing about the man's behavior that bothered him was the fact that not once had he attacked and followed all the way through. It was odd.

It made him think that he was being tested as much as he was testing his opponent.

"Why do you run?" Raelis asked, channeling the annoyance he felt towards his opponent's troublesome existence. He was not angry or upset, but it surely made him sound as such.

Meanwhile his blade had 340 degrees, its aura 240 and his surroundings 120. It was not taking a terribly great amount of his stamina to fuel the effect, especially given that his sword required the same effort that he was exerting on his surroundings. This of course was by virtue of its ability to amplify energies therein, which was why it increased in temperature so quickly. It likely had something to do with the mysterious material from which it had been wrought.

In response to Raelis's question the vampire only chuckled. He veiled himself again, turning invisible once more. In that state, he used his speed to trace within Raelis where the snow had melted, attempting not to stay too close. Weaving back between the two platforms, Jordan reached into his left pants pocket to pull out a magazine. As he saw his Deagle, Jordan quickly bent over, grabbed it, loaded the magazine, and revealed himself once more.

"What the fuck kinda question is that?" Jordan asked, quite rhetorically. He continued then, with a mocking: "You ever look in a mirror?" Without waiting for Raelis to respond, Jordan picked up his pistol and pointed it at Raelis. There was no second thought. Jordan pulled the slide of his pistol and the hammer back, ready to fire.

Jordan took no time to square up- he had fired six rounds in one go, all in Raelis's general direction.

---

While the man moved to retrieve his gun, which the Asaran noticed disappear, and heard as the man loaded it, Raelis did not remain stationary when his opponent vanished and retreated. Instead he flapped once, sending himself sideways and behind one of the statues before the man even managed to fire his gun. 'Fool,' he thought even as the heat around him increased to 130 degrees. Now concealed behind the statue, Raelis plunged his blade into it several times, nicking it in other places, before slamming into it thus causing it to shatter. The rock and debris began whirling around him, making a clear shot a thing of the past. "You waited too long," the knight said matter of factly. As the words left his mouth the light around him expanded in a flash, causing a blinding brightness to surround an 8 meter radius with Raelis at its center. The flash did not only constitute a blinding measure, but heated all the snow surrounding the perimeter of the 8 meter area, creating thick steam in the process.

Cumulatively the light, debris, and steam made it exceptionally difficult to get any sort of shot through. As if this were not bad enough the snow that continued to fall only increased the amount of steam within the area. The effect would only worsen with time. Not to mention that unlike his opponent, Raelis would be able to see through it flawlessly, not to mention detect the man's movements.

With the nanobots on his person, Jordan's movements and location were crystal clear to him. His parascopic vision and adaptation to the Light of Devene also effectively made the brightness a boon rather than a bane. In fact, it allowed him to cut through the steam, whereas the light would only hinder his opponent's attempts to.

With these measures in place he began to move towards Jordan. As he did so Maelstrom's winds picked up dust, dirt, and pebbles, flinging them about within the light. Perhaps they would be useful later. He made sure to push the steam forwards with his advance, thickening it at the perimeter as he continued forth.

"First this man, then the others," Raelis said to himself quietly.

Meanwhile the aura of his blade had decreased from 240 degrees to a mere 180 whereas the blade itself had reached 360 degrees.

However as such the temperature of his surroundings had gone from 130 degrees to 250 in a matter of moments.

He had been named the Champion of Rhay for a reason.

A frustrated and angry groan escaped Jordan's mouth as he not only saw, but felt his opponent power up. The vampire was unsure how to strike back, limited slightly on resources. It seemed that the vampire was at a clear disadvantage. Brute force had always served the vampire well, and so he reached into his other pocket, pulling from it another magazine.

The first magazine dropped from the vampire's slide and onto the ground. Jordan then raised his food to stomp the magazine, the small contraption breaking with a crunching noise. He loaded the magazine and pulled the slide. Jordan grimaced at Raelis as the armored "champion" slowly approached, not that Jordan could tell. The light was far too bright compared to what the vampire was normally accustomed to. Jordan's only option was to run around and hope he wouldn't be caught.

“Oh, look at me. I'm a big fuckin' space heater.” Jordan spat as he pulled down the hammer with his thumb. Jordan really had no idea where his opponent was, but he didn't want his opponent to know that. With his left index finger, Jordan fired another six rounds.

---

He could hear the annoyance in his opponent's voice and it made him smile. As planned, he had turned the tables and so it was time to seal the deal. Noting his opponent's running about and continuous pull of the firing mechanism of his gun, Raelis sighed and shook his head. Feeling the temperature around him rise to 260 degrees, the knight felt the heat of his armor begin to rise above normal room temperature. Even while diffusing heat with Maelstrom, the system wasn't perfect.

Taking precautionary measures, Raelis activated the ventilation and cooling systems in his armor.

With that in place, he tracked his opponent's movement and then raised his blade before stabbing it into the ground. The aura of heat around it and that which was within conducted through the blade and into the ground. Immediately the heat energy traveled just beneath the surface of the stone, transferring through it effortlessly with his will in control.

The attack would reach where Jordan was moving, branch out into a spider web pattern, and then emerge from the ground. The light and heat were dense enough that they were effectively precision lasers with a heat of 620 degrees. The spider web pattern spread out over a circle with a 3 meter radius though it was 4 meters tall. This made it a cylinder in terms of overall shape. Each thread, of light was 2 inches thick and there was roughly 8 inches of space between each thread. Movement was going to be difficult for anything vaguely human.

"Turn to dust," Raelis uttered.

The steam continued to form. The light blazed brilliantly, and the storm of stone whirled around him.

He wondered how long the whelp would last.

At the drip of a hat, Jordan removed his mask and placed it in his coat. As soon as he did, he realized his skin was burning. "Oh. So that's your power." Jordan mumbled. He had ten minutes to escape, morphing his ears to those of a bat in order to get a sonic picture.

Jordan whipped out several magazine, throughing them only to notice that five out if the eiggt he threw were cut cleanly in half, the rounds within them cooking. Jordan reasoned that his only way out was up. He shape shifted completely into a bat. In his tiny form, Jordan slid through the webbing with relative comfort. Up in the air, he flew about a mile. The light still made it difficult to see, but it was not enough to burn him. The bat squeeled, using his echolocation to find his opponent still on the ground.

---

The blazing points of his eyes lighting up momentarily as he saw his opponent not just get trapped, but take off his mask and throw his ammo into the lasers, rendering them useless. Eyes narrowing again, Raelis bounded forwards, covering 17 of the 20 meters between them in barely over a second. In the same moment he noted the man shift into some kind of animal form, small in its size, and escape from his trap. However, he was already within the breadth of his area by then. Not wasting a single moment, Raelis lunged into the air, wings thrusting downwards and generating tremendous force. He accelerated to 25 mph in seconds, then surpassed it as he climbed towards Jordan. As he rose he took the heat web with him, pulling it back into his blade even as the heat rose within it. The blade's heat had reached 700 degrees by this point and it would only continue to rise.

As Raelis followed, the creature that his adversary had become would be bathed with light and 270 degrees of heat energy continuously unless he found a way to pull away from the Asaran. Unfortunately for him, Raelis was faster not just on the ground, but in the air as well, so the moment he had cahnged form and taken wing he had lost his advantage of maneuverability and range respectively.

"Give in!" Raelis bellowed even as wind condensed under and around his wings via Maelstrom continuously gathering it.

It seemed that he was building up to something.

In his bat form, Jordan could not respond- his voice box could not allow him to, and changing any part of his body to that of a human would simply impede him. In that time of the day, Jordan was unable to enter his beast form- not to mention, he hadn't tasted any blood recently. Out of options, Jordan was only capable of flying even further.

Jordan was clearly out-classed, but he didn't wish to give up the fight as his opponent wished for. Jordan was far too stubborn. Though his blood was cold and his senses faded from undeath, Jordan was capable of feeling the intense heat his opponent was giving off. He had to fly further away- use the environment somehow.

The tiger statues! Jordan realized that there must have been enough shade there- plus it was just large enough to hide. Releasing his call, Jordan located the statues and began flying toward the one closer to the east.