[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[Jensoman]

"Well, I hope I won't dissapoint ya!" Jenso shouted back, and dashed at Ross. He aimed a punch at Ross's stomach with his left fist while moving past his blade.

[tex]

Ross watched as Jenso approached, but simply swung his blade to the side and swatted him away before he could get within range. Although Ross appeared to be slower, his blade was massive, giving him extensive reach.

[Jensoman]

Jenso slid back by Ross's push and began gathering flames in his hands. 'To be expected from a Gaian...if he's as strong as Dacer or even stronger, holding back might be dangerous..' He thought. He launched two fireballs with both hands at him.

[tex]

Ross pulled his greatsword back and blocked the two fireballs. The flames exploded against the flat edge of his blade, and left burn marks, but Ross lowered his and stared at Jenso for a moment before raising his blade high above his body with one hand, and aiming the palm of his other, the left, towards Jenso. From 20 feet away, Ross summoned a stone spike from in front of Jenso and aimed it to pierce his chest. This was getting serious really quickly.

[Jensoman]

Jenso dashed to the right in an attempt to avoid the incoming stone spike. He launched a flame ball at the hand that held Ross's blade as a surge of power rushed through him. He hoped the fireball would keep Ross distracted. He dashed at him at top speeds, aiming a kick with his left foot at Ross's left knee.

[tex]

Ross saw the fireball coming and clenched his open hand, raising another spike in front of him to block the fireball. The stone then crumbled, and behind it, Jenso was already on the move. But Ross didn't try to dodge. Jenso's foot struck against Ross's knee with tremendous force, but the titanic man didn't budge. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that, despite his knee appearing to be unprotected, there was actually some kind of physical barrier that halted Jenso's attack.

"Stone skin," Ross mumbled, swinging his massive sword at Jenso. Ross' physical attacks were sluggish, and his blade seemed to more of a defensive weapon than one made for offense, considering its side and length.

[Jensoman]

Jenso attempted to move out of the way of the incoming blade by quickly jumping further to the left. 'Man...he's not even injured...what a guy!' He thought, with a wide grin on his face. Despite that Ross seemed un injured, Jenso was enjoying the battle. He ran at Ross and thrusted his left fist upwards as a surge of power rushed through him, aiming to uppercut Ross in the chin.

[tex]

Ross' sword crashed against the white tiles and send shrapnel flying in all directions. The power behind his blow was real even if his speed wasn't all that great. Despite that, Ross kept an eye on Jenso, waiting for his next move. His uppercut was too fast for him to dodge, but once again, Jenso's fist met the durability of stone, crashing against Ross' chin to no avail. His head didn't even wobble, but he smiled and looked Jenso right in the eyes.

"I think I felt that one," He mused, twisting his blade and swinging it around his body in a 90 degree arc in an attempt to strike Jenso.

[Jensoman]

"Don't lie!" Jenso replied in a cheerful tone, returning Ross's smile with a confident grin of his own. He ducked in order to avoid the incoming blade, making sure to move low enough. 'I need to make sure I don't get hit by any of his sword attacks, or I'll probably die..' He thought. He lunged forward at Ross's stomach as a surge of power rushed through him. Flames bursted out of his left arm as he punched. The flames around his fist took the shape of a dragon's head as he attacked. "FLAME DRAGON PUNCH!!"

[tex]

Ross's blade swung overhead, and he spun towards him, exposing his stomach, but preparing to cast another stone spell in his direction, but Jenso's attack that followed hit first. The force of the blow struck powerfully against his stomach. Flames whirled and lashed out as Jenso's fist pushed against Ross' defense. It didn't seem to do anything at first, but as the seconds passed, Ross began to slide back. His heels dug into the white paneling, and after the attack resolved, Ross found himself sliding several feet back, away from Jenso. When he stopped, Ross fell forwards onto one knee and coughed. The area where Jenso had struck seemed to crack and tear, like Ross' skin was made of stone, revealing his abs behind the parts of his shirt that were burned away. His skin beneath the initial layer was slightly lighter, and now, there was a hole in his defense. Ross looked up at Jenso and grit his teeth into a huge smile.

"Oh-kay! That's what I was looking for!" Ross shouted, standing up straight. "That's. What. I. Was. Looking for!!"

[Jensoman]

Jenso was taking deep breaths as he stared at Ross. 'No way...He's still standing..?!' He thought. The flame dragon punch took a good chunk of energy out of him, so he needed to be cautious. But now he had an opening that he could attack. "Wow, you're one tough dude.." Jenso responded, and got in a defensive stance. Ross seemed fired up now, and he couldn't be careless. "Come on, bring it!"

[tex]

Ross wiped his stomach clean and the cracks began to seal. There was still a gaping hole, about two feet in diameter, where his inner skin layer was visible, but it was closing slowly. "Now that I know you can hurt me," He shouted, wielding his blade with both hands, "The real fun can begin!" Ross charged Jenso and swung his sword overhead with both hands from a few feet away. When it struck the ground just inches in front of him, rocks flew up from the impact point towards Jenso.

[Jensoman]

Jenso smirked as Ross attacked. It seemed like Ross was getting serious now. Jenso tried to dash to the left to avoid the first incoming rocks, and tried to weave through them in order to reach his foe, occasionally punching left and right to destroy any rocks that got too close. He slammed his left heel onto the ground. Where he struck the ground, a flame wave erupted and headed for Ross's knees and stomach.

[tex]

Ross pulled his blade back and slashed as the ground in front of him, rising a wall of stone to block Jenso's flames. The result was a wide explosion of smoke. Ross jumped through the smoke quickly though, and swung his blade at Jenso horizontally with both hands, while stomping the ground with both feet during his spin, and rising stones around his ankles. Every point of ground that his feet touched seemed to jut upwards, protecting his feet ever so slightly.

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as Ross attacked. He needed to act fast, before Ross's wound healed fully. He launched a fire ball at Ross's face with his left hand, as a surge of power rushed through him. He dove towards the ground at top speeds, to avoid and move under Ross's horizontal slash while aiming to ram both fists into the bottom of Ross's right foot. He hoped that the smoke and fireball would blind and distract Ross enough, and his forward momentum to slash, along with Jenso possibly striking his right foot would be enough to knock him off-balance and make Ross stagger right into him. "FLAME DRAGON PUNCH!" He shouted, aiming another punch at the weak point at Ross's stomach.

[tex]

Ross closed his eyes as the fireball exploded against his face, creating a plume of smoke that trailed past his head, but didn't make him flinch or stagger. Jenso's strike against his foot, similarly, did nothing to upset his balance. But this time, Ross knew to avoid taking another one of those punches. As Jenso launched his signature technique, Ross dispelled his sword and attempted to block it with both of his hands, catching Jenso's fist mid-swing. The power of the plow however, pushed Ross off the ground slightly. The skin around his palms cracked and tore, revealing the layer underneath, but right afterwards, he pulled Jenso by his arm, and smirked, throwing him across the Arena with a spinning toss.

[Jensoman]

Jenso spun around in mid-air as he flew, landing on his feet again. He slammed his left heel on the ground to launch another flame wave at him, and dashed closely behind it as cover to get close to Ross.

[tex]

"Hah! I'm not letting that-" Ross paused as flames bathed his shins, singing his rocky armor, "-Hit me again!" Ross didn't notice Jenso right away, but he summoned his sword immediately, to his right, and swung it towards Jenso, sweeping it low and aiming for his ankles.

[Jensoman]

Jenso jumped into the air to the left in order to jump over Ross's incoming blade and to be able to land on the ground again as quickly as possible. As he did so, he aimed the palms of both hands downwards at Ross's hands. He launched a torrent of flames at them.

[tex]

Ross's hands twitched as the flames burned away at his skin. Without his protective layer of stone-flesh, he felt the full brunt of Jenso's attack, which burned his palms severely. He dropped his blade, which disappeared before hitting the ground, and stepped back, but as he did so, he swung his hands up, surrounding Jenso with four small walls of stone.