The arena was not grand at all. It was barely an arena. Old, crumbling, seemingly bursting at the seams, the construction had once been great and mighty, but at this very moment it was just a remnant of a time past. Vines had slowly grown along the walls of the building, and were now cozily sleeping in the cracks, formed by the sandstone to accommodate them. This had once been a grand coliseum, visited by hundreds, maybe even thousands, to observe battles with magnitudes far greater than that of the fight which would take place here today.

The arena was framed by a thin, artificial river, about three feet in width, which made an oval spiral on the inner side of the walls, framing the once perfectly plain, now somewhat uneven floor, upon which battle occurred. Beyond the small river, which was crossed by a pair of bridges, ten feet in width respectively, rose the massive walls of the old coliseum. Even if ancient and rickety, it still instilled a sense of dread within those who entered, those who remained and those who died.

The field upon which battle took place was different, when compared to what it had been years ago. The once sandy surface had been watered by rains to the point where plants freely grew upon it. Even though it had been changed into a healthy environment for nature to regrow, it was still somewhat controlled. Most of the field was barren of any biological lifeforms, safe for short grass. The only exception was a tall, mighty oak which had grown into the easternmost wall, cracking it even more, obstructing the field of battle with a few roots, bleaching underneath the scorching sun.

Karaulish slowly made his first step into the field of battle. Not exactly. He had not crossed the bridge, but leaving the shadow of the grand coliseum's innards was somewhat of an entrance into a whole different realm. His snowy hair was ruffled by the soft winds as they seemed to greet his careful approach. The waters around him, as still as a picture, remained littered with old leaves, new leaves, and maybe many bones.

With heavy steps he walked onto the bridge, and stopped at its center. At this very moment he was as far away as he was as near to the arena, at one foot and a half. His spear was strapped to his back, his swords - to his belt, and he felt ready to face the opponent who would come out of the door opposite of his. He had come in through the northern entrance, so his adversary would enter through the southern one. To his right was situated the mighty oaken tree, which had carved a path through the stone. To his left was situated a field, prime for battle.

He made one more step and stood in wait.

“Uninterested.” He uttered for the the incountable time. The raven haired idol was growing bored. What exactly was he not interested in? Opponents that could not challenge him. Tojiko, the spirit banished from his master's side, pushined to never walk the earth again unless through a doll. His physical form stripped away, now appearing as no more than a ball of light when outside his vessel.

“Toji, you haven’t done anything in the last hundred years. Usually you are more, I don’t know..productive.” Voiced a pumpkin colored harpy. She mounted the air just above his head as he walked to the coliseum. Tojiko definitely had been taking a break from fighting, although not out of want, just a lack of interest. He has been alive for countless years, unable to surely die. Even if his vessel is destroyed he will return to the spirit realm where he will craft a new. A phoenix cycle he has grown tired of. Just like fighting opponents who had nothing to offer him. There wasn’t much he had not seen, techniques he hadn't known. He was walking history book in the martial arts, so those who caught his eye were rare, but today was the day he would meet that individual.

A prophecy foretold by the Rune Of Fortune, he would soon come to meet a worthy adversary in swordsmanship. A very strict prophecy, someone who may just best him in the arts of weaponry, he could always resort to using his runes, but he enjoyed handicapping himself to truly test his own abilities. “Are you even listening to me? Helllloooo!?” The beast positioned itself next to his ear screaming into it as it i was a vast cave with echoing layers. Tojiko sighed finally giving her the attention she so desperately wanted.

“Garuda, you are starting to annoy me, Im starting to like Harper more than you at this point. She knows when to shut up.” His words lacked volume as if he was whispering,, naturally he was soft spoken unless irritated. Although these words were jestered, Garuda took them to heart. She motioned her wings heavily to propell Tojiko forward suddenly with such force it was comparable to someone being ejected from a car seat through the front windshield. His body crashing through the western entrance of the coliseum, as the gust of tornado like winds carried him brutally to the arena center. He lied face down letting out a long sigh. It was never good to piss off a demon from the World Of Emptiness.

He turned his head too look in her direction, to no surprise she had vanished, not back to her home realm but possibly somewhere far away. It happened often, she would get upset with him and fly off and he would literally spend a year searching for here when he could easily make her return with his abilities, but it was a respectful way to say sorry and find her naturally by following that scattered feathers she left behind.

He stood up, his back to the man who was already present, Tojiko may not be who this man was looking for, but he could not say the same. “I’ve come here everyday for the past year…” His words paused as the wind curved effortlessly to his will, removing the dirt from his garments. Appearing unarmed as he turned to face his potential adversary. “A prophecy in stone foretold of me crossing quite the gifted warrior here. Although every time I come here, no one is here, or they are already fighting. May I ask...are you a gifted warrior?” From Tojiko appearance alone it was easy to tell he was not of this time and inhumane. The horns that perturbed from his head was comparable to Satan.

"First and foremost, a warrior is not gifted, he has earned what he has..." Stated Karaulish and moved his head in such a way that the narrow connector between it and the rest of his body cracked loudly. He did it again, this time bobbing his head to the other side and recreating the noise in one more instance of time. The old warrior moved his hands in circular motions, effectively warming up for the upcoming battle.

"Second and unknown, a warrior cannot state how skilled he is. His mettle must be tested by others, and those who have faced him shall praise his ability accordingly, in the event he is, in fact, skillful..." Continued the wizened by age man and placed the fist of his right hand into the palm of his left, squeezing to create another crack which echoed through the empty location. Karaulish repeated this process for the other grasping extremity he possessed, resulting in a fourth crack.

"Third and final, no words can ever convey the true skill of any warrior, as they are but dancing air..." Added the battle-hardened individual and had his right hand go behind his back, wrap around the steel reinforced handle of the spear and pull at it. A click silently signaled that the leather strap had been undone, and the weapon was free from its sheath. His left hand moved to hold onto the middle of the handle, while his right arm wrapped around it further down the wooden beam. He now took a stance, slightly hunched over the spear, bodily facing the oaken tree, while facially observing the inhuman adversary.

"What say you?" He finished his claim and narrowed his eyes, indicating a challenge.

The man was definitely full of brass, he exuded confidence. So much that it made Tojiko laugh, humans were entertaining to a degree, weather it be intentional or not. He found that they were able to fulfill his need of communication that were not beat from the Emptiness. He wouldn’t mind carving this man’s ego down a bit, but the warrior spoke with honor. It was something Tojiko could respect, the others words carried weight. Not only that, but was a representation of himself. He spoke of warriors not being gifted, but skilled. Through dirt and mud, hard work and relentless effort. The means to be resilient was there greatest ability. Tojiko could relate, he himself trained for many years to obtain his plato. Maybe gifted was the wrong term, assuming one was born someway or just given talent.

“I’ve never heard bone pop so naturally, usually you human fall over dead after dislocating the neck. You seem to be a tier above the rest.” He responded to the man’s proposal. It’s been years since he has got to use his black sword, from his foes equipment he appeared to be not just spearman, but a swordsman. A crossed classed individual, much like himself. He never thought he would be sharing similarities with a mortal, to show his respect he intended not participate in the affair. Gentle he lifted his right hand to eye level, just below his brow. His fingered extended out, Tojiko finger’s slowly curled forming a grip around the hilt of a ebony blade that materialized seemingly from nothingness.

His free hand gently followed from the guard to the point of the blade, in its wake the shade of the blade shifted into a silver sheen. Timing the blade slightly the sun reflected off his blade, his ocean colored iris being just as bright. Lowering his blade to take a traditional stance with his katana. His right hand the lead and his left the following support, the stance common in the eastern seas as Seigan No Kamae . His right foot the lead and his left the support with short spacing for quick movement.The tip of the blade angled just at his opponents throat, held out a fist length away from his own hip, allowing for him to use the blades effectively. A more so defensive stance, a calming one that requires focus and for the blade to always return to its starting point with haste. He rotated the blade slight to his own right, ready to receive his foe. In terms of range, Tojiko was lacking his blade only being 27 inches. "Well than, are you gonna sand there or are you going to show me the skill you worked to hard to master?"

"Very well." Retorted the older, in appearance, man and started slowly walking forth.

His eyes were steeled, locked on the opponent facing him. From the middle of the three foot bridge, he would need about twenty six feet and a half to reach the center of the arena, currently occupied by the inhuman adversary. The fact that a blade had been materialized out of thin air concerned Karaulish, to an extent, but he deemed it not as frightening as it would appear to others. Simply shrugging it off would have been too much, but taking note of it was as much as he was going to do about it, for now. A blade that had not been there before could, probably, disappear again, resulting in some unpleasant surprises.

Feet moving at a measured pace, left, right, left, right, they always stayed in position, reimbursing the stance he had taken. He closed in. He was planing on making his way to a point where he would be at around ten feet distance from his opponent, that way he would be able to force him to initiate an attack, rather than be the defender for the duration of the fight, during which Karaulish still held onto his spear. That would not be a very long lasting moment, he figured.

How annoying, the man had some form of wits, with a polearm it was best to play a ranged game. Allowing for Tojiko to get close would be troublesome considering he did not know much about his skill. Tojiko found this to be a good breakdown of the current situation.

“Well guess he isn’t all shoulders, he may have a mind in that cranium of his. I don’t wanna kill him, I share no malice, but I do intend to show him the gap between skill. I would be surprised if he proved me wrong.”This thought echoed in the confines of his mind.

He decided to feed into his opponents game for now, Tojiko didn’t mind if they just stared at each other for hours on end, but he was hoping for some form entertainment. Yet he inches forward, heel than toe shuffled on the surface, his back foot followed, never actually putting one foot in front of the other. He slowly closed the distance while keeping the Integrity of his form. He stood just outside of the polearms range. If the other would have extended his arm it was possible to hit Tojiko. Now this close he held his bearing, two warrior who had the calmest of minds when in combat. They were both patient, the wind became still and the leaves that flowed upon its current dropped.

He closed his eyes, his foe now drawn onto the inside of his eyelids, no one else matter but Tojiko and this advisory. He had purposely put himself in his opponents range, if his foe didn’t take this chance he may just regret it. Tojiko, only needed to effectively dodge or parry this man’s spear one time in order to meet his advisory at his weakest point, up close and personal. Again, Tojiko waited, although now more ready than ever.

Karaulish observed his opponent's movements, taking note of the precision with which they were executed. He sighed.

With a surprisingly quick maneuver, the old warrior feinted an upwards attack with the spear, while making a small step forwards, in the process raising the weapon a little higher than it had been before, and performed a swing, from right to left, which started out at the level of his adversary's chest and would end at the level of his stomach. The arc of the attack could be incredibly wide, due to the size of the weapon, but Karaulish had control over the tool, and could correct any unwanted movements. By performing this attack, however, he let go of the spear with his left hand, which went to the side of his body.

It seems his opponents finally would take the chance given to him, this made Tojiko smile. He usually took the initiative in fight, but he wanted to test his own defenses. Focused allowed for his senses to be instep with his enemy. At the moment his foe took the forward motion to initiate his feint, Tojiko would not hesitate to take a well paced step forward, also timing the completion of his step just as the spear reached a certain height. By insteping with his opponents, this would affect the end point of where the head of the spear would end. Tojiko was ready to counter, completing his instep after the false action in order to be pass the head of the spear. This place the spear head on his left side leveled with his shoulder, but what connected with him would be the shaft of his opponents weapon. Simultaneously while stepping forward he moved his own sword in a fashion where he needed to lift his shoulders and rotate his wrist. His left shoulder being the support , the flat side of his blade pressed against it as he held it in a downward diagonal fashion, the tip of his blade now pointed at the ground as he now rushed forward, bring his opponents actually attack to stop. His left elbow locked close to his body and his right horizontally faced outward. The enemy would still have both hands on the weapon at this point.

Tojiko positioned himself lower as he closed the distance. He raised the blade up and over his head and with it the spear would follow through. A single fluid transition placing it on his right side and leaving it pinned under his blade and between his body with hope that head of the spear would be forced to the ground. Now in striking range; his blade ascended once more, attacking front his right to left in a diagonal motion. The swift slashed aimed to sever both arms of his foe at the center of the forearm. The entire assault was comparable to waves crashing than rising them over the mountain head and bringing it back down, only to rise again. Tojiko often flowed his defense with offence, he was like water.

It turned out his feint was not as good as he had thought it would be. Karaulish saw the movements of his adversary and was unpleasantly surprised when during his initial attempt to block the feint Tojiko managed to place his weapon in such a way that it actually prevented him from completing his actual attack. He had, however, managed to lower his left arm to his belt. Upon witnessing the ongoing maneuver, the old warrior realized he would be unable to do anything to keep the spear in his hands, or his hands on the spear, so he dropped it.

His right arm went flying out of the way, while his left arm wrapped around the sword at his left side, swinging from his belt up, towards Tojiko's chest, with a reverse grip on the weapon. His left arm would avoid the attack launched by Tojiko, but he was not sure his right arm would get out unscathed. The attack Karaulish was performing would reach his adversary's stomach and had the potential to cut through him and deal a lot of damage, if the opponent did not avoid the attack or block it.

Taking control of his opponent’s spear and simultaneously closing the distance forced his foe to abandon his weapon. This was a good sign to Tojiko, it again showed the man had some form of wits. Tojiko still on the offensive, continued his rush forward in order to sever the man’s arm, although too slow. His prey successfully maneuvered its hand out the way all while motioning to attack with his left hand reaching for his sword. It would appear that Tojiko would be defenseless, but he led with his right foot when performing his own attack. It would be unusual to slash diagonally right to left while leading with his left foot—very uncomfortable. In order to defend himself once more and to put an end to this; Tojiko’s current motion would be performed fluidly, after failing to sever his opponents arms. The blade ascension climaxed at the solar plexus of his foe; he carried that momentum into a continuous motion.

He angled his blade to where the point faced the ground, leaning in closer so that his right shoulder hugged the flat side of the blade -the blade now carried over his shoulder much like someone carrying a sack - , rotating his right hip toward the opponent while spinning on the ball of his right foot. The blade running along his right side in the path of his opponents incoming attack effectively blocking and his body being the support he needed. His left foot already his supporting ground also motioned, dragging it along the ground as he rotated his right, his left heel leading as he dragged it now to be diagonal with his right . (180 block, putting the blade in blocking position)

Tojiko brought both wrist over his head, lifting his blade to push away his opponent’s weapon, turning his katana as it ascended to place it at the foes neck; all while he spinned on the ball of his left foot, bringing his right foot widely over with the toe being the lead. He insured he made eye contact with his foe by looking over his left shoulder. Once his blade leveled with his own left shoulder when bringing it over his head during the rotation -still at the right side of his opponent’s neck- Tojiko pull back on the blade, slicing in order to sever a major artery in the neck. This entire motion was simply a 360 where he blocked and attempted to attack in one continuous spin. Returning him to a modified form of his original stance with his left leading, more of his weight on his back foot and his blade closer in guard.

As priory mentions Seigan No Kamae was a common stance that allowed for the blade to return to the starting point with haste. It was also is favorite stance.