Zev'jul stepped to the side to evade your shockwave attack. "Ayav dya bitis!" He chanted his spell, flame-colored magic formed on his arms and he stretched them out to launch a sizable fireball at you.

It was not very fast so it was easily evaded or reflected but Zev'jul closed the distance in the meantime and started close quarter combat with you. The fighting was quick, you manage to evade and block his first moves but your opponent opened you up with an elbow to the rib which was followed with a backhand to the face and then a solid kick that sent you some feet away.

'Ohhh...' The crowd gasped.

Magic formed in his arms again and then he made a rising motion with them. A moment later, you felt the floor you stood on become hotter and hotter. It was time to get out of there and launch a counterattack.



Your card proved to superior to Primera's arrow but the latter was not deterred nor startled. Yet, there was a look of surprise on her face when your elastic spell hit her on the leg. She was in your grasp.

Primera was sent to the floor by your pull but she was not going down without a fight. As she was pulled, the Wood Elf pulled more arrows from her quiver and fired them at you in an attempt to derail your battle plans somewhat.

"Well, quite the cheer sir stuffs-his-face, I hope that big armor of yours isn't just for show...so try not to loose too badly, hmm?"

The knight laughed heartily. "Is that how Dark Elves are nowadays?" He replied. "Are their usual calm and polite demeanors a thing of the past?"

Your fat opponent did not move as you charged him, merely bringing his axe back to his shoulders. But once you got close, the fat knight raised his right foot and brought it down with heavy force.

*SLAM*

The floor shook violently for a brief moment. You may be prepared to dodge but there was no evading that little move. You lost your footing and stumbled into the floor on your back.

The first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was Sir Eats-A-Lot, ready to bring his large axe unto you.

Fortunately, you were collected enough to move out of there and perhaps form a counterattack.



The two of you stared down at each other as you cast your blessing spells on yourself. But after a few more steps, Galmore suddenly zipped across the field, surrounded with dark green energy, and hit you with his entire body, knocking you to the ground.

Galmore towered over you with one foot raised. Everyone in the hall knew he was going to bring it down your face and everyone knew you needed to get out of there if the fight was to continue.



"Whoa!" Ecthel bended his body downwards to evade your lupine fireball and giving you enough to get close and personal with the student.

But Ecthel rose with an arrow nocked on his bow, aimed at your face and ready to be shot in a moment's notice. You barely moved your head out of the way as the arrow whizzed past you. Ecthel continued shooting arrows at you, his speed at pulling and nocking arrows almost a blur.

Still, you were at your desired distance from him and he made no effort to change it. Though, that might also mean that he was ready for any close quarter combat.



Hellia blocked your thrown knife with a quick shift of her halberd. She was about to make one big swing at you but you moved out and so she did not follow through.

What followed though was she roared. A roar so loud and powerful, it stunned you for a brief moment. Being unable to react, a heavy swing from the broad side of the halberd sent you flying to the wall. Instead of hitting the wall though, you hit some sort of invisible barrier that glowed once you crashed into it. It was the magical barrier that protected the audience from anything dangerous from the fight.

But now was not the time to ponder about that, Hellia leaped to the air with her halberd on high, aiming for a heavy vertical strike against you. You were in a position not shone by light, you can use that to your advantage.



The left Tozen was startled at your lightning-fast transfer of position but he was undeterred. This Tozen swung his first swings at you, they were not very fast but they had quite the force on them. It was likely they were just attacks meant to measure and gauge you. Expect that he would have something up his sleeve should you decide to counterattack.

Meanwhile, the middle Tozen blocked Maldur before the tiger could reunite with his master. Tozen also begun swinging with his blade but these were faster and meant to actually hurt the animal. Or perhaps provoke a sort of response for him to take advantage of. Perhaps both?

The right Tozen had begun moving towards the left one, planning to overwhelm you with combined combat prowess.



"Cute." Rielle remarked at your spell and began hurling projectiles at you. Green-flaming skulls and magical explosions but you knew these were coming. You dodged Rielle's attacks and closed the distance on her successfully.

Now that combat became close quarters, green-colored magic appeared in Rielle's right hand which formed into a jade-colored scimitar. You could see that Rielle was not at all amused that you managed to slip through her earlier onslaught though you notice that she was not moving away from the magic circle that she created.

She twirled her blade and prepared to do battle with you but you still didn't know what that circle did or will do.

---

"To what or who are these allegations directed towards Professor Athos? Is there any form of time frame from when the Arcknights first voice their suspicions to now?"

"I would also like to question these Arcknights. Surely, for them to have suspicions, there are people they actually suspect of doing so. Or at least some clues."

"I can think of one person who fits the bill perfectly... One of the competitors in your tournament happens to be a professional thief and a sociopathic killer. And she was able to lie and sneak her way in without a hitch."

"I'm... afraid it is not your target, Mister Fuyu. Though perhaps she might be a potential accomplice in this matter judging from your description." Athos replied. "Most of the Arcknights all point their fingers at one suspect: The Caldeyrons." The court mage revealed. "If you are not up to speed, the Caldeyrons was once a minor house but rose through the ranks over the years. They may be polite and courteous, kind even, but they never stopped yearning for more. Never content in being where they are." Athos followed it with one last remark. "While that may sound admirable, that means that they do not like losing and will do anything to prevent it. If they do lose, someone must be blamed."

"Anyway, we do not have any substantive evidence that the Caldeyrons are up to something or if they are actually up to something at all." Athos continued. "That is why we are called here to properly investigate this matter. Anyone else like the Arcknights would attract attention and alert the conspirators if there are any."

"If we have no more questions, I'd like to share with you the leads I have found." Athos waved his hand in the table formed a magical cloud that took the shape of Zauberheim. "Firstly, there is a warehouse over here..." He pointed to the town adjacent to the Eastern Gates. "...that sounds suspicious from the reports. Officially, they are a storage of food and other goods but some locals report they could feel magical energies coming from it. One Arcknight has confirmed this."

"Then we have this gentleman." Athos waved his hand again and the cloud formed into a shape of a sharp-dressed man with slightly darker skin with combed black hair and refined posture. "This is Sir Juan de la Cruz. A noble here but lately he has been gathering inordinate sums of money which disappears with no recorded transactions." He introduced the suspect. "We are talking about an extraordinary amount of money here. Almost enough to buy anything in Zauberheim save the capital itself."

"And yes, Miss Nisval. You are allowed to go to the tournament grounds though I am curious as to what you intend to do there." Athos addressed Faye. "Oh and, Sir Fuyu. We do not mind paying extra but I am interested in how you will go with dealing with your particular matter now that she is in the tournament."

---

---

It was just as he expected, she had a strong form of ranged magic, it was her go to, however, the summoned scimitar was interesting, he had seen a few mages while he traveled with his mentor that used similar magic, no matter that though, he was a trained swordsman, what bothered him was the circle on the ground. "Home field advantage takes on new meaning with mages boy." he recalled the bit of advice from his mentor, he needed the girl out of the circle. Vincent closed in seeing the scimitar form, he chose a risky plan but one he hoped would keep him close and force movement, he began to throw the blades into the ground around her feet, pulling more from the armory, if she wants to fight him from within her circle, she will have to deal with the blades all around her legs.

The energy it takes to pull as many blades as he was was more than he wanted to spend on the first fight, but his desire to win, his will to survive was all consuming in the heat of combat, he summoned one final weapon, a greatsword, a gift left to him from his mentor, the plan was to apply pressure from outside the circle, until either she leaves it, or the blade at her feet cut her enough to drop the spell. Vincent gripped the hilt of his favored greatsword and began the assault.

@PaulHaynek

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek

---

Ah -

Seleth's back hit the ground, stumbling and unable to regain her footing. What force! Being hit with that would be the end of her for certain! Not fat then, likely muscle. Perhaps earth magic? Not enough to decide. Either way, in terms of sheer physical strength she wasn't going to be matching him so she'd have to rely on her other strengths, then.

Rolling over, likely causing his axe to smash into the ground, she quickly got to her feet and placed some distance between them while at the same time firing a few of the dark javelins at her target. She'd need to get a little creative, and make it so he couldn't fight so she could subdue him - but she'd see what his next move would be first before utilizing her illusions to their full effect.

Thessir

Ordinarily being struck with the broadside of a halberd would be rough for most people to receive. Thessir wasn't most people.

As the weapon hit him the homogeneous jelly that was now his body was thoroughly wobbled but that was about it. He flew and impacted the barrier that contained their antics, his soft back padding the impact. The worst he had suffered in that attack was a bit of a bump on his still solid head from the impact against the barrier.

He had correctly expected there to be something keeping their attacks from spilling into the audience. There was little need to ponder what was proven true. What he did ponder was the state that attack had left his alchemical concoctions in. He swore he heard something crunch when he hit the barrier but nothing had burned a hole through his coat yet so he figured it must of not been too important. He suddenly wondered if there was something else calling for his attention?

Oh yes, the woman bearing down on him with a halberd.

Rather than pull out any of his more elaborate tricks he decided against being showy this battle and decided to stick to that notion. Acting quick he dove for her feet in an attempt to clear the blade at the end of her handle. Thanks to his slick coat as he landed he slid right between her feet. Taking this as an opportunity to counterattack he reared his amorphous torso up, pulling two daggers from his coat pockets at the same time. Twisting his body right around with ease he used the motion to slash at the back of her knees with both daggers, aiming to slice the tendons that supported her legs there.

And all the while his hat managed to stay atop his head, a most impressive feat given the circumstances.

One moment Raviel was looking at the guy, the next he was on the ground. And he couldn't figure out what had happened. If it was a burst of speed from magic or something else, he wouldn't know. But he was already down and he knew along everybody that he was about to get defeated if this continued.

As Galmore stared down at him with one foot raised, Rav gave him a wink and disappeared from beneath him. He reappeared and then pressed his hands together and came out with a bo staff covered in purple light. He then prepared to strike Galmore on the head with it but kept in mind to teleport out of the way if Galmore would counter.

Faye sat there, weighing her options. The Caldeyrons. She knew little about them aside from their rise to power which put them on her list of people to know. There was also Varjan - the Caldeyron boy who she heard to be promising in terms of magical capabilities. To think that they might be the ones behind this was certainly... well, honestly it didn't surprise her all that much. They had to keep up these appearances of power and if that meant having to win the Tournament, then she was pretty sure they'd do everything to do so.

There were two places they could start the investigation at. The warehouse or the man named Juan de la Cruz. Faye's eyes darted from the architect to the other man, Fuyu, and wondered if they would want to stick together or to fan out. Divide and conquer. Surely with their age, they'd be able to handle themselves. But still, if these were people who were conspiring to win the Tournament, they were sure to be rather powerful.

"Planting runes there." She replied, moving her finger in a circle in the air. "Think of it is a way to listen in to conversations without them knowing. I assure you that I only intend to see... or rather hear if there are any competitors who are talking about this. I'll get to planting them later." While she could only plant three max without giving her a splitting headache while hearing all sides, she figured that this may give her a chance to find a clue.

She then turned back to Tibrus and Fuyu. "What do you two plan on doing? Do you want to stick together?"

The Lot Knight's axe did hit the ground and did not raise it by the time your dark javelins fired at him. He recoiled as the projectiles hit him but he still stood with axe in hand. Despite being visibly hit, it appeared that the dark javelins had little to no effect. Or maybe the damage just was not apparent.

Regardless, Sir Eats-A-Lot then began a slow jog towards you to close the distance. From the looks of it, he was a sitting duck, vulnerable to any sort of projectile. But as you found out earlier, he could shrug those off so you needed another way to take him down or maybe just increase the power of your spells and hopefully that would be too much for him to absorb.

And that's not counting the remaining tricks that you don't know about.



Galmore missed his mark went you suddenly disappeared and just when he found you again, you had already had your bo staff and you successfully land the swing to his head.

The muscular sorcerer recoiled but rose back again and you feel you had just made him angry. He started throwing punches which you easily evade. Thankfully so since you notice that his hooks had plenty of weight behind them. It culminated in him slamming both his fists into the floor which made a shockwave that blew you off your feet.

But Galmore was not done. He somehow leaped several meters into the air with you as his landing position. There was no way you could block that. Then again, blocking attacks was not your forte in the first place.



Hellia screamed in pain when her legs were slashed. She was forced to lean on her halberd to keep herself standing. But then she yelled her war cry again in defiance. Power seeped into her, reinvigorating and revitalizing her. Perhaps such was her magic?

With newfound strength, Hellia rushed at you with nothing but her bare hands though you feel those hands have the capability to tear you apart. Fortunately, your powers allowed your body to be amorphous and fluid. Her hands may have trouble ripping apart such material.

But were you really going to take that chance? She was rushing at you quickly so you only had moments to make a decision.



Rielle giggled as she danced around the blades that you have thrown upon her feet. Then she leaped to the air and stood at the hilt of one of your thrown weapons, perfectly balanced. She stood completely still as you swung your greatsword at your opponent.

Upon hitting Rielle, however, she glowed and your attack was bounced back, throwing you off. Your enemy used this opportunity to jump behind you and sharply kick you at the back, sending you towards one of your thrown weapons. A maneuver to be admired if you were not on the receiving end.

At the very least, you caught a glimpse that the circle's light dimmed when you hit Rielle.

---

"Planting runes there. Think of it is a way to listen in to conversations without them knowing. I assure you that I only intend to see... or rather hear if there are any competitors who are talking about this. I'll get to planting them later."

"I see. Very well, Miss Nisval." Athos replied to Faye's course of action. "Oh, do be careful though. If they catch a hint that someone's after them, they will be out of there before anyone knows." The court mage warned the Beastkin. "Also, it goes without saying that you yourself must not be detected. I'm sure you know the reasons why."

"One more thing to add, I may recruit additional members of this investigation." Athos added. "Would you like me to send some your way, Miss Nisval?"

---

---

The assault did exactly what he had wanted, she was out of the circle, though he wasn't sure if that meant the magic no longer had an effect, she didn't seem desperate to get back in to the circle, so little so that she leap out to get a kick in on his back. The hardened leather of his armor absorbed quite a bit of the blow however, but to be thrown off so easily didn't sit well with him. He took note of what he could, she was quite acrobatic, as well as prepared to handle a melee opponent, the Academy doesn't let in just any fighter he supposed, he knew that now that he had landed a blow, her guardian circle was fading, her acrobatics would keep her likely from being struck again from the greatsword, it was back to plan A then.

Vincent repositioned as he fell, driving the greatsword into the ground stopping him before landing on the blades on the ground, he grabbed two and heaved them directly toward the opponent, and then rushed her with two more retrieved from the ground, the only option was to remain in her melee, while landing blows to weaken the spell, now that he knows what the spell does, getting caught off guard and off balance wouldn't happen again.

@PaulHaynek

Thessir

Worked like a charm

The scream let him know that he had struck true although she let loose yet another war cry. It had a much less disruptive effect this time around, something he could work around. He noted that while before the cry she required the halberd for support just to stand but after it she was able to turn around and reach for him with less than ideal hindrance.

Nothing too disruptive. What drew his interest more was that she let go of her halberd to try and reach down to grab him. He was quick to come to a decision as to what he wanted to do. Sparing little time his upper body quickly bent away from her hands and around her foremost leg, winding past her leg like some sort of large serpent. His body and arms began to stretch, growing longer and thinner as he reached for the halberd. People in the crowd could see his sleeves starting to reach farther and farther away from his hands while his ink-black torso slowly became visible past the edges of his coat tail.

As he went he brought his legs around her front leg, kicking one of his feet out to try and buckle her back leg out from under her with a well placed swing of his boot. Once out from between her legs he swung his legs back behind him like they were part of a large tail at the end of his body. Using the turning motion he scooped up the halberd she had released from her grip with his long ropey arms and swung the pole-arm in a wide arc roughly knee height off the floor.

_
He was swinging to try and remove her legs with a larger, heftier blade than those sported by his daggers. While he might not of possessed her sheer physical might he certainly possessed considerable speed and reach given this improvement he's made on his natural form. Despite lacking a skeleton in the parts of his body effected by the spell he was no less capable of exerting his physical strength through these portions of himself, even if he lacked the firmness and stability such bones could bring to the table. He was no slouch either. Climbing built him to be fairly muscular despite his relatively diminutive size. As it stood the blade of her halberd was racing towards her knees with both considerable speed and a decent amount of strength backing it.

All the while two small tendrils had slithered their way up past his collar. They inserted their noodly little ends into each of his ears, breaking the ends off and retreating back into the safety of his coat. The little ends of these tendrils wriggled into his ears until they were firmly set. He now found that he could hear very little with the darkness plugging his ears which was the intent. Given the volume of the cry she used to stun him he hoped to circumvent this by blocking out the sound of her voice or at least dampening it to a reasonable level. It was careless enough to be caught out with such a trick the first time, he was definitely not keen on getting caught by that same trick at a more crucial moment.

---Meeting Room---

The Caldeyrons. Why was it always the Caldeyrons? Tibrus pinched the bridge of his nose to starve off an oncoming headache. That family had been a thorn on more than one occasion thanks to their desire for higher standing and the various powers in the kingdom. Even he wasn't exempt from their stubborn drive. Tibrus had vied for his current position on the Citadel's Judgement Council against one Kalmor of the Caldeyrons House years ago. That was an ordeal Tibrus wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, Kalmor still sends his heated glares whenever they cross paths. He shook his head to come pack to the fore.

"Since we're only in the investigating stages now, smaller numbers work to our advantage. Splitting up we can cover both leads. However, if we try speaking with Sir Juan de la Cruz out of nowhere then he may tip off those he is in connection with. Rather-" His face scrunched as if he had tasted something foul. "-we need to have him followed, see if we can learn just who exactly these funds are going towards first." He looked to Faye.

"Your runes would be most apt in this case, Miss Nisval. By chance, how small can you make your runes without putting a negative impact on their function? Also, is it possible to place your runes on small, moveable pieces of material?"

---Practice Halls---

Maldur quickly leapt back with a growl, eyes aglow as it landed. The Tozen it faced would find his feet frozen solid to the floor in large blocks of ice. Before the man could act Maldur slammed a paw on the ground, causing a pillar of ice to shoot forward into the stuck Tozen's gut. At the same time Maldur released the frozen hold on the man's feet which would cause this Tozen to be launched through the air into the wall on the other side of the room.

Meanwhile Kazudain parried a few strikes from the left Tozen, noting that the General still had some power despite his age. Before the third Tozen could intercept Kazudain flashed away again with a crack of thunder, appearing a few meters away from the pair. Sword aloft , various runes began to light up along the core of the blade, sparks of static jumping across the blade. When the blade began to hum Kazudain swung the blade down, sending an arc of light towards the Tozen pair.

Should either one not halt it, the pair would be flung from the floor to the same wall as the middle Tozen.

As Vuldur approached his target he summoned flames to each of his hands, but allowed them to remain their, the sensation became gradually more unpleasant but did not burn his hands as the flames whirled around his clawed fingers. Next after making some attempt to weave and duck around the arrows being fired towards him the beastkin leaped forwards and attempted to maul Ecthel with his now flaming claws,specifically trying to hit and break his bow before anywhere else.

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek

---

As her spears clinked off the knights armor seeming to little effect, Sel inwardly grimaced. Those should have been able to at least cause most people to pause, or give reason to hesitate. She'd need to step things up a bit then. That was fine too. She could handle this big guy easily enough, couldn't she? Of course she could.

"Charging in like a brute..." Sel mused to herself as the knight began to slowly jog towards her. "I'll give you credit, knight. You certainly have a few tricks up your sleeve, but you're not winning this." She confidently retorted, and in one swift motion, waved her spear over her head. For an instant, her body became wreathed in a shadowy veil, obscuring her appearance from any looking. In the next instant, what looked to be several copies of Sel emerged from the cloak.

Each of her clones had a different 'effect' woven into its magic. They couldn't cast spells, of course, and they couldn't really interact with anything, but if the Lot knight attacked the wrong one, he'd get a face full of a dark spell.

--Practice Hall--

As the princess struggled to regain her stride, she could feel the heat from Zev'jul's next attack. She now realized that this man shouldn't be taken lightly. That's ok though, because neither should she!

"Lightning come forth!", shouted Lisia as she quickly placed some distance between her and the mage. Her heirloom sword began to swirl with electricity as she pointed the blade to the sky; moments later powerful bolts began to rain down.

Lisia's hope was that the bolts would disrupt Zev'jul's next magical attack. As she called forth the lightning, she began moving very rapidly around the field. The second part of her plan was to use flash step in order to confound her foe with blazing speed and catch him with a heavy slash.

Hopefully her plan worked, getting kicked across the field wasn't fun... And she can't disappoint her brother who was watching from the stands.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



--Practice Hall--

Hisana began to chuckle as she watched the elf struggle to release herself from Elastic Love. To her it was like watching prey fight for that last bit of life before the kill. Though, she doubted she'd get away with murder here. This was, after all, an educational facility. Plus, if she's able to keep from killing, it would serve to make a certain Taoist mercenary's case even harder.~

Nevertheless, Hisana was determined to have some fun here. So, she decided to use her free hand in order to utilize a second band of energy. Her plan was to gracefully dodge the arrows being fired at her, then she would use the other sticky band to snatch the bow from archer.

Due to the stimulation she was feeling, she decided to attack a kick strong enough to break the elf's ribs in addition to the punch to the face she mentioned to herself earlier. That is, of course, provided that everything goes as planned...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



--Meeting Room--

How would Enishi deal with Hisana, getting close to her now may prove even more difficult. He supposed he could confront her in-between matches. Unsure how to answer, he then listened to Faye explain her way of doing things.

"I usually work alone, but if you find yourself in need of my skills my blade is yours for the time being." Replied Enishi to Faye. Enishi began to ponder for a moment at Faye's plan; she could actually be of great help to him.

"Nisval-san, I would like to know more about your runes as well. Your skills may assist me in capturing my target, if you don't mind lending me a hand in my hunt that is." He then turned to Athos.

"Athos-san, I believe if I work alongside Nivsal-san, we may be able to capture my target through our combined cooperation."

@PaulHaynek

Raviel wasn't sure how tough this guy was but damn he could take a hit. And that was even to the head. He quickly jumped back and then began evading the punches this guy was trying to give. Each one looked like it was powerful and getting hit by that would hurt. Wouldn't knock him out, but that would hurt like hell. But he was being pushed to the defensive. He couldn't attack even if he wanted since it would risk opening himself to getting hit.

Too late, Galmore had punched the ground which sent him skyrocketing up. "Oh dear Aylama help me." He muttered to himself as he shook his head, trying to think of a plan to actually beat Galmore somehow. And in a snap, he was somehow already there. It wasn't teleportation though, that much he could tell. He threw his conjurated staff at him and then disappeared back on the ground before creating a sword.

"Of course." Faye said with a small nod of her head. However, when Athos continued to say that he may recruit some more people, she laced her fingers together. "As a matter of fact, if you ever get anyone who's already part of the tournament, please do. That way, it would be less suspicious to plant some runes." She could just put it on a talisman or something and then hand it over to be planted somewhere. What a perfect idea.

"You have a good point there, Sir Heatherman. But if he is a big shot in this country, don't you think he would catch on to being followed?" Faye pointed out. He might have bodyguards and the likes. They weren't exactly your assassins and spies, or at least, she assumed these people were. Faye was private investigator and shadowing people was part of the job, but that wasn't her forte.

Faye nodded as she was asked to explain the runes. "I can make them as small as a pebble, if you would. Hardly noticeable when placed on the correct medium. I can disguise it's magical energy if I am close, perhaps around ten feet. But in a place where magic is used frequently, I would imagine there is no need for that." She smiled to herself. Her ear twitched for a moment. "Ah, yes. I can place them on moving objects. Oftentimes, I use talismans." She reached into her inner pocket and took out a rectangular piece of paper.

"Perhaps you are more familiar with these kinds of things, Mister Fuyu." She said, waving the piece of paper in front of her. She then placed it down on the table and tapped it, the black runes activating - turning blue. "Pre-made runes. Can be activated by any magic user so long as they can concentrate their magic power onto it." The runes turned back to black.

"Of course, Mister Fuyu. Let's wrap this case up first and I will see about helping you out." She said with a kind smile.

Zev'jul's spell was not interrupted but fortunately, you had already moved away from your previous position where a fireball shot up from the floor. Meanwhile, the sorcerer was forced to take cover from the lightning strikes that you summoned, not seeing that you had already began moving across the field with your flash step.

With you almost a blur, Zev'jul could not follow you until it was too late. He could only look in surprise as you delivered your attack, a heavy slash across his body. "Argh!" He almost fell to the floor but he managed to keep standing still.

The sorcerer retaliated with a right hook that was easily evaded. But that was just a feint, Zev'jul immediately followed it up with a spell. His arms glowed with magic and he made a pulling motion at you. You felt your magical essence was being sucked out, your physical body also reacting a bit to the pull.

At that moment, Zev'jul was covered in orange light and once it dissipated, you saw... yourself. Zev'jul now assumed your form, down to the last detail. This garnered an 'Ooohh...' from the audience. Even your brother looked impressed at what happened. Their eyes could not be more focused at the fight.

"Let's see you take this!" Zev'jul said in your voice before shooting a lightning bolt at you from his (her?) palm.



You dodge her arrows and also snatch away her bow. Things have been going well for you so far.

But that ended when you attempted a kick to her gut. Primera caught your foot and with surprising strength, she threw you over her shoulder. With you on the ground and some distance away, the Wood Elf used this opportunity to pick up her bow and aim another arrow at you. You were back to square one.

But you see light green magic gathering in Primera's arrow. This shot was not going to be ordinary.



"Hmmm..." Sir Eats-A-Lot was unsure as to how to deal with your current tactic. With a shrug of resignation, he swung his axe at the multiple Seleths and hitting, not one, but two of the clones.

Having hit two, the traps he activated were twofold: Dark Javelins flew at him, making him recoil from the point-blank attack. With him distracted, Shadow Weights stuck to him and began doing their job. Namely, pulling him down and preventing him from moving. Despite the Lot Knight's strength, he could barely move the dark orbs with him.

He was open to attack. Give him everything you've got. And hope it will do at least something.



The staff you threw missed Galmore but at least you were not there when he landed with the force of a meteor.

Seeing that you were some distance from him, Galmore did not rush you this time. Instead, green magic enveloped his right hand. A ball of magical energy was soon in his hand which he then threw at you.

You probably don't want to be hit by it. Although, now that you have seen Galmore fight, you notice he moves kind of slow barring some short bursts.



Having evaded Ecthel's arrows, you used your burning claws to try and do damage to the student.

But Ecthel dodged and evaded your swipes and slashes. He was nimble, being out of the way before your claw was even halfway towards him. It all culminated when he crouched to evade a horizontal slash and did a sweeping kick that knocked you off your feet.

Ecthel then stood towering over you, his bow in his hands and an arrow at the ready and pointed at you. Poised to be shot at point-blank range. "Looks like checkmate to me, Mister Wolfman." He said to you with a slight grin on his face, believing he had won and had you cornered. The audience cheered loudly at Ecthel's apparent victory.

But was it checkmate? Will you accept that?



You swung Hellia's halberd mightily but she proved to be mightier, catching the pole and stopping the halberd with one hand. She then followed it up by one solid punch to your face. Whether this hurt you or not, it did make you let go of her halberd and maybe stagger back a little bit.

With her weapon back in her hands, Hellia raised her halberd and yelled her war cry again but this one was not to stun you nor to empower herself. That one was dedicated to the battle itself. 'Let battle be joined!' was practically what her war cry meant.

Hellia charged at you again with her halberd at the fore, ready to be thrusted into you.



While the Tozen facing Maldur got his feet frozen, he still managed to stop the ice pillar with one powerful slash from his blade. The ice exploded into obscuring snow which was used by Tozen to deliver an unavoidable slash at Maldur.

When the snow cleared, it revealed that the Tozen that attacked Maldur was different one. The one whose feet was frozen was now chipping away the ice with his sword. It appeared that one of the Tozens left his fight with Kazudain and tranferred over.

Meanwhile, the Tozen facing Kazudain could not stop the lightning attack and was hit, sending him flying to the wall. That Tozen then disappeares in a poof of smoke. An indicator that the clone was defeated.

There were two left. The numbers were even now.



Rielle dodged the two greatswords hurled at her but was unprepared when you rushed at her with dual swords. You scored a hit on her shoulder and another one when you managed to knock her scimitar off her hands.

Rielle rolled across you to evade an attack and was back at her magic circle. The dimming circle then waxed, it grew bright again. Rielle saw this and grinned, picking up one of your swords then motioning to you to come at her.

Since you now knew the effects of the now-active magic circle, your approach must take these into account.

---

(I'm a let y'all continue talking)

---Meeting Room---

Fingers drummed on the table. "Good, if you require a number of items or materials to graft your runes to, create for me a list and I shall see to it. About catching on it is possible. The man would undoubtedly have guards and other servants of which we don't know at this time." His eyes darted about the table, gears turning within his mind.

"We need to be inconspicuous but also unexpected. We nee-" He paused, a sudden idea striking him. "-a way to hide in plain sight." His voice was quiet before reaching into as pouch beside his chair, taking out a roll of parchment and a quill.

He immediately began writing small shapes, glyphs and runes on the paper, muttering to himself. After a moment he took a deep breath before putting the quill down. He looked to Faye.

"Is it at all possible to place the runes on living animals? Such as a small cat or mouse? If not-" He looked about the room. "Would anyone have a means or know of one who can control such animals?"

---Practice Halls---

As soon as Maldur saw Tozen strike the ice pillar it leapt back, eyes aglow. It couldn't dodge the blow that came through but Maldur mitigated the damage. Pieces of hastily made ice armor fell to the ground as Maldur was thrown back. Landing it slammed another paw to the ground, summoning another ice pillar directly under the Tozen that struck it.

Seeing as the Tozen he struck turned to smoke Kazudain instantly looked to Maldur's fight. Seeing one Tozen still chipping away at his icy shackles Kazudain charged forth, reappearing only to slam his shoulder hard into the stuck Tozen. It would break him out of his binds, so as an added measure Kazudain launched another arc of lightning before flashing to Maldur's side.

Thessir

"Ow."

That was pretty much the most reaction she got out him from that.

The bop to the nose did effect him As his head rolled back, slapping against the back of his coat before rocking back up like a weeble-wobble. Now the halberd was back in her hand and she was yelling some gibberish again. He couldn't even hear it but it didn't shake him like the first time so it had to be something else. He hadn't delivered any new injuries so she wasn't recovering herself either it seemed.

Standing up as she faffed about he got back on his two feet in time to see her brace her polearm and... charge at him point first.

Wait, really? He quirked an eyebrow with the realization this was her next plan of attack. Either she's dumber than I thought or there's some magic trick up hir sleeve.
Either which way it's foolish to believe I'd simply lit her hit me.

As she approached he struck a stance not unlike a fencer. His main foot forward he led with his dominant hand, the left, which clutched a dagger aimed point first towards his target. As she neared him he feinted a stab along the right channel of attack and watched her body language closely to see if she fell for it or not. Right at the moment her weapon was to meet with his inky semi-flesh a couple actions occurred simultaneously.

_
The first of two concurrent events was that firstly he opened up his body at the point the halberd was about to pierce. The hole expanded instantly, leaving his body in a large O shape with the head of the halberd smack dab in the middle of it. Her weapon passed through without touching a single millimeter of his strange mass, perforating naught but the backside of his jet black coat.

The second action taken was a deadly stab of his own. Coming directly in from the left channel of attack he thrust his dagger with a forward lunge, countering her own aggression with his own as he drove straight for her throat. This strike was predicated on the idea that she'd be so consumed with finishing him with her blow so close to fruition that she'd forsake any measure of defense against his counter attack. He didn't have to worry about suffering mortal injury since her blade wasn't even going to touch him so he had all the freedom to claim this blow with impunity. Even the advantage of reach that her weapon afforded her meant little since he extended his arm, borrowing mass from his free arm, to close the extra distance between his dagger and her neck.

Since she loved to cry all the time he planned to take her very voice away, deprive her of the means to her magic. As the dagger neared her sweat moistened skin his plan neared it's fruition.

---

---

Vincent, now aware that the guardian circle will knock him back if he attempts to strike her, had to plan around it. The first major boon was that his opponent thinks that she can wield his blade for as long as she wants, however getting her out of the circle had to be the priority. Vincent knew that the circle stopped him from dealing a massive blow but perhaps if he could get her into a position he could force her to yield. He gripped the dual blades tighter and rushed toward his foe, as he approached he began to activate his magic and just as he reaches the circle and thrusts his blades to entrap the girls throat, he lets all but the blades he holds fall back to the armory, all of them vanishing from the field, if he is lucky, the field protects from large impacts, not the slight movements of a edge along the neckline, and if he were luckier still, the fear of it would give him the match.

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek

---

Hah!

Success!

As the Lot Knight swung at not one, but two of her clones, he was felled. The viscous black substance of the weighty darkness began dragging, pulling him down as he was distracted by defending himself from the javelins. Despite his impressive strength, it seemed her strategy had won off in the end! Now she just had to deliver the final blow, indeed! She just needed to figure out how to get past that armor...a show of overwhelming magical force?

Just in case -

One of her clones dashed at him from the front, giving the impression she was going for a head-on attack similar to what she had done earlier. Of course - it was nothing but a clone built to deliver a 'Misleading Dazzle' curse should he suddenly have another trick up his sleeve and try to attack her. By now he had already probably pinpointed where she was - standing behind her clones a little off to the side as she prepped for a spell. She needed to finish this in a both flashy and fitting way, no? But how to do so... that armor of his was thick and difficult to get around. Physically, she was no match for him. Magically? She might just be if she attacked with everything she had.

"Oh gentle Goddess," Seleth began, twirling her staff before slamming the butt of it on the ground. Really, a pray wasn't necessary, but she needed to focus. "Mother of the forlorn and protector of the home," A spark of magic ignited in her right hand, growing into a javelin as she twirled her spear in her left. "Give me the power to end those who would scorn, shun, and harm others!" Spinning her staff in her left hand, Seleth gathered all of her magical ability into her right a large shadowy javelin formed in her grip. It began to grow, enlarging until it was almost twice the size of Reflection before being seemingly done.

"TWILIGHT LANCE!" She spun, launching the large spear at the Lot Knight, magic crackling off of it as it sped towards him. Ooh, that took a lot out of her. A shadow Javelin of that size? Mixed with a few more curses for safety measures? Ahhh, and such a wonderful name with she came up with on the spot!

Ahahaha, she was a genius, yes. A genius!

Vuldur growled at Ecthel before bowing his head for a moment, perhaps this was taken as a sign of submission but the beastkin was not yet done, slamming both of his hands onto the ground Vuldur unleashed an explosion of fire directly in front of him, assuming this unbalanced Ecthel as he intended it to he leaped at his opponent with the intent of incapacitating them,fury burning in his eyes.

Practice Halls

The young princess was taken aback by the sudden change in the sorcerer's appearance. She had heard of magic where the user can make themselves into an exact copy of the foe, but she never thought she'd be fighting against it in this tournament!

If he can copy my appearance so perfectly, it stands to reason that he can accomplish the same for my moves as well... Thought the princess to herself. Right on cue, Zev'jul shot a bolt of lightning right toward Lisia (in her voice no less). Wasting no time, the princess quickly dodged to the side, hoping to avoid the attack.

Lisia was already aware that fighting an exact replica of herself wouldn't get her anywhere. The best outcome from that would be a stalemate. Perhaps it would be more effective to observe the true nature of the technique. Does it have a time limit? Will it dissipate if he takes damage? The most she could hope for was that the slash she delivered earlier would have a negative effect on his spellcasting and offensive options.

If the princess managed to dodge the attack, she would follow up by appearing behind the copy and attacking it with a quick slash attack. She made sure to cast buff spells to increase her defense to be on the safe side.

---

Practice Halls

Hisana was somewhat surprised that the elf was strong enough to block her kick, and even throw her some feet away. "Oh my..", she said as the elf prepared another arrow to fire at her. This one, however, seemed to be more powerful than the previous one - evident by the aura surrounding it.

Quickly flipping off the ground, Hisana decided on her next plan of attack. Something a little more flashy with a hint of misdirection. She began to throw numerous cards at the elf's body. At first glance, it would appear that the dame was doing nothing more than disrupting the charge of the elf's attack. However, her true motives where hidden under the flurry of cards.

Instead of making the cards hard as steel, the cards were transmuted to mimic gum. Upon impact, they would cover the elf and the small patch of floor she was standing on in a super-sticky substance. Hisana's hope was that the arrow, however powerful, would be wasted on some of the dozens of cards being thrown. Then, she would be bound by the substance and unable to move a muscle and therefore unable to defend.

If this plan worked, Hisana would deliver an entire combination of bone-breaking punches and kicks to her pointy-ear opponent. This girl was playing hard to get, which only drew even more excitement out of the crazed dame. If her plan didn't work, she hoped to use the gum in hopes of being able to at least dodge the arrow.

---

Meeting Room

Enishi looked with curiosity at Faye's demonstration of her rune magic. Useful that anyone can activate it with only a little magical energy, and that she could make it any size she wanted.

"If you've need of materials, I can spare some. I use similar items to cast my Onmyodo spells." He began to pull out some sutras and talismans from his robe.

"Heatherman-san, was it? I can't control animals or know anyone readily available who can, however..." One of the talismans held by the young man began to glow a faint while light. At that moment, a small bird appeared on the table. At first glance, this bird looked like the genuine article. However, this animal was but a mere copy, proven by Enishi when he made it disappear by poking it.

"I can make illusions and copies using my magics. I usually just make copies of myself when casting it, but I figure with some minor adjustments I can make replicas of simple things like small creatures. They disappear when touched, but they look real enough to fool just about anyone. Will that do?" Said Enishi, as he looked towards the architect.

@PaulHaynek