[IC] Pre-Christmas Tournament Round 1: Xavier Bloodbayne Vs Tristwich

Name: Eternal Battleground

Size: Practically unlimited but generally confined into a 100m wide circle

Properties:

• Fighters are confined into a distance of 100 m from each other before running into an invisible wall that kept them in that distance. Fighters can chase each other more than 100 m but they can't outrun or distance each other for more than 100 m[/*]
• Increased effectivity of all magical and physical ability that affects other. Exception to mind altering effects.[/*]
• Wounds would bleed regardless of size unless treated. Can be treated through magic or medical knowledge, but passive regeneration is generally slowed.[/*]
• Weapons are scattered throughout the arena, standing and laying around, old and new, mundane and magical, pristine and rusted, all waiting for an eager hand to grasp and use them. What they all share is, they're all melee or thrown weapons, spears, axe, sword, javelin, knives. Judge decision on whether you run into a magical weapon and how strong it is.[/*]
• Heightened gravity that affects ALL without discrimination. Gravity is at least twice of RL earth's gravity, increased further according to fighters agreement. In event of a different tier fight happening, decision of gravity multiplier is given to the lower tier fighter. Previous rule applies.[/*]

Player Capacity: Suggested 2 fighters. Can be more and the 100 m distance rule is changed to the most distance between 2 players is 100m.

Description :


Flavour Text: The playground of a warrior god, he often invited fighters, willingly and/or knowingly or not to either, into it to amuse him with their fight. The winner of these fights generally would gained a favor or a boon from him, which can be taken as soon as it was given by taking out a weapon in the arena back to their origin. Those who are in high enough tier might even entice his warrior blood further and subsequently received a challenge from a frenzied god.

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

@Tristwich - Entrances are the hardest part for me. The rest of the posts should be better than this one.

For but a moment, the red sky of the Warrior God’s playground was filled with a bright crimson flash; leaving a pitch black cloud now occupying the once empty air. For anyone in the immediate area there would be a palpable energy surge as an untold amount of red electrical arks fired off along it’s surface before a massive bolt of red lightning fired through the air and slammed into the crust of the planet. For a solid 3 seconds this bolt of lightning would twitch and jerk as an incredible amount of energy was transferred from the cloud unto the ground; several excess electrical arks slamming at random at the ground around, littering it with several glass streaks.

In the blink of an eye the lightning bolt and the black cloud would have vanished. Leaving a 2 inch deep, 3 feet across glass crater and only the faintest of electrical arks that danced along the jagged edges of the crater and the cracks in ground; all of them jumping and jolting towards a massive male figure that stood in the center. This man was Xavier Bloodbayne, with shoulder length Onyx black hair, he stood at an impressive 6 ft3 and had the body of an Olympic god; though it was a sickly grey color and covered in an innumerable amount of scars. What would appear to be an incredibly thick, dark crimson, dog would be pouring from every pore on Xavier’s body and falling to the floor in tufts. In only seconds, Xavier would have been lost within the confines of the fog and the ability to see him within it would have been reduced drastically; visibility taking large losses as more time went on and the fog began billowing throughout the surrounding area.

There had been the promise of a battle, and he was ready to answer it. With blood red eyes endlessly scanning the environment, he would await the arrival of his opponent.

Xavier came with no armor or clothing on his body at all; exposing an incredibly round, smooth and phallus free pubic area as well an incredibly thin, almost non-existent, posterior. As great a sign he could think of to show that he feared no being he may be matched with; entering a match entirely naked.

[Tristwich]

I couldn't honestly imagine anyplace more ghastly if I smashed a graveyard into a haunted church. Oh well, just the price one must pay in order to hunt these days it seems. Lord Rivet wasn't above getting his hands a little dirty in order to satisfy his desires to kill.

"Well now, this one seems rather...interesting." He said with interest as he appeared onto the field seconds after Xavier did about twenty five meters from the crater. A gentleman did not make a flashy entrance with lights and nonsense. He simply showed up and did his work without complaint. Of course there was plenty to complain about, but he was here to fight, not to talk!

The first thing he noticed while waiting for the fog to clear was all the strange weaponry just strewn about. It was absolutely abhorrent how cluttered the ground was, and was no way to have a presentable battleground for this occasion. No matter, he would simply have to make the most of it, though one did catch his eye.

A gladius with peculiar markings along the blade was sticking out of the ground in perfect condition. It looked to be something he might have seen during his travels, but he wouldn't know until he pulled it out of the ground. "Where the blazes is my opponent?"

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

By the time Rivet appeared on the battlefield, the fog would have already stretched to 40 ft from Xavier in any given direction; with little to no signs of stopping or thinning. As Rivet stood there, futilely awaiting a dispersion that would never come, and eyed the weapon near him the fog would have gained yet another 40 ft and was damn near to embracing the opponent.

Before they would reach him, there was an unseen problem he would have to face. The would-be fog that was presented before him was in fact a large mass of energy particles well over 1 million in number and these particles were transmitting key data about the surrounding area to their Master at the center; such as, but not limited to, minute changes in energy levels of the surrounding area and a mental image of the battlefield in his mind. So as they approached Rivet, they had a rough idea of his general location; more than enough to get the party started.

Without even the quiver of muscle Xavier withdrew 6 small droplets of liquid metal from within his body; they sat upon his right pectoral in two horizontal rows for but an instant before they were sent flying. As they tore through the fog, their forms were thinned to the width of a hair, squished into 2 inch circles and given a razor sharp edge. An unnatural acceleration would force them to bullet speed in just under a second. Leaving Rivet to deal with the impact of the blades just a second after the cloud would fill the area in which he may or may not still be standing in.

[Tristwich]

Lord Rivet was an experienced hunter of such forces of questionable nature that their tricks were all but known to him. Strange fog that is hurtling closer and closer to him at maddening speeds? Ha! Such parlor tricks were easily bested by the great hunter of the spawns of madness. All he needed was the right tool.

As the fog was almost upon him, Lord Rivet made his tactical retreat, making certain to grab that delightfully strange sword along the way. With that in one hand, he pulled out his cane whilst keeping his distance from the fog at a fair run. The sound of some strange disc hitting the dirt came forth and Rivet figured something was trying to kill him. Oh well, without truly accurate information trying to use such small things in this death trap with weapons littering the ground was nigh impossible. Fortunately enough Rivet was experienced in his footwork, able to dodge through the litter without much trouble.

Just as he expected, the sword was no ordinary sword at all, but it was of a magical nature. This particular weapon appears to control wind to a degree, which gave him an idea. Making certain to keep running away from the fog, which seemed unable to outplace him, he released the mechanism holding the sheath of his cane sword and freeing it. Now it was all a matter of releasing the second mechanism which activated the whip features of the blade and doing a bit of wrapping.

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

The blades slammed home against the ground with dull thuds; the Earth around them fracturing as they came to a momentary standstill before melting into the Earth. Fast as he was, Rivet was unable to put enough distance between himself and the fog so as to render its senses useless; when only working to fill a vague area the particles had been moving around 20ft/s. Now though, that Xavier knew his prey was fleeing the fog, he was forcing it to chase Rivet down at just over twice its original speed at 41 Ft/s; roughly 28 mph. With every move that he made the fog responded in kind, almost mirroring every action he made so as to stay right on top of him.

Xaviers body still hadn’t budged an inch as he stood at attention within the crater; analyzing the constant stream of information that the cloud of energy particles relayed back to him. By the time he was able to formulate a plan, Rivet had only been running for a few seconds.

While he could not tell exactly where his opponent would go, he could see a general path along which he would travel so as to better avoid the cloud of energy; the cloud was after all spreading in all directions to encompass a large area so the best idea would be to run away from it. A single quiver of movement came from Xaviers face as his eyes darted to his left and fell upon the dirt. In an instant, the glass of the crater was shattered as a plume of red dust billowed around Xavier; the earth off to his left undergoing a strange change of color that resembled a thick red line being drawn in the dirt. As this line was drawn through it left a horrible, seemingly unending, gouge in the crust as it took with it as much of the Earth and energy around it as it could.

With the information of Rivets location being constantly streamed to him, Xavier was able to constantly correct and guide this strange line into the front of Rivets path as it tore through the space occupied by his fog in a single second. Just an instant before it left the confines of the fog, the particles nearest the border suddenly relayed a vibration in the air as some sort of mechanism is released somewhere in the field. Then, as it breached the barrier of the fog, just 3 seconds after being created, there was a sudden quake in the earth as a massive, 10 ft tall 2 ft thick wall of red stone pulverized its way through the surface. This looked like, and moved as fast as, a stone freight train; breaking through the surface of the planet and gouging its way along the surface so as to create a 10 ft tall barrier in front of Rivet that may force him to change his direction. Even a momentary hesitation would allow his fog to gain those final crucial feet it needed to embrace him.

[Tristwich]

Ha! As if some silly wall of stone could stop the marvelous exploits of the great hunter Lord Rivet! Even as it was bursting through the ground, Rivet was ready for it, for he had just the tool he needed for his victory.

As he made a sudden stop, he swung his whip sword forward to the fog itself, the segments of blade having been wrapped around the magical gladius. His suspicions were indeed correct as a strong gust of wind blew back the fog with ease. Just as he had stopped his running, he began running to his left, his arm going in a continual motion to keep the blade spinning. A small twister was beginning to form around him, keeping the fog around him as winds were chopping up the dust and picking up local debris.

In order to keep his stamina up, Rivet had to do a little magic as he ran. Supercharging his blood cells allowed them to absorb more oxygen which allowed him to keep up this pace longer than any common peasant could. It wouldn't be long now before victory was in his grasp.

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

As Rivet launched his combination blade into the fog, Xavier was able to feel each razor sharp edge as though it had caressed his skin every so lightly. He could feel the energy that was building within it, before it was suddenly released and the details of the blade would fade away; leaving an unshrinking and mobile gap in the mental image that was being created within his mind that had a 10 ft circumference. No doubt his opponent had managed to hide himself within the strange disturbance that held his energy back; but he did not remove himself from harm entirely. Infact, the entirety of his next and would actually bring him closer to death then if he had continued to flee along the stone wall.

As Xavier stood within his crater, an exact location still being withheld from Lord Rivets eyes, he contemplated what of the possible choices before him he would settle on for his next attack. That's when the bigger picture started coming together with every step Rivet took; as his energy remapped the empty spaces through which he traveled, Xavier became aware that several chunks of stone had been removed from the ground and left small to large indentations in the dirt. Then, as the winds picked up in intensity and began to shift to a twister, Xavier could feel apart of him spinning as bits and pieces of the interior of the gap in his fog; with the nature of a twister, it would be neigh but impossible for it to avoid sucking in any excess particles of the fog. In just a Few seconds after the wind had gained power, Xavier was able to see and feel the debris inside the twister as his particles were slammed against them. One by one, the particles would settle into the stone and dust against which they smacked; shifting each and every piece to a dull red color tone. It would be an unfelt and possibly unseen change; one which Xavier would wait to capitalize on until the perfect moment presented itself.

That's not to say that he was done; what had been done already took but a mere thought to engage and left much more time for Xavier to act. With his mind tracking Rivets location, the first solid movement came from Xaviers body as his right hand tightened into a fist; hundreds of thousands of his particles surrounding the wind gap adding physical density to their form by joining particles before these larger pieces would pile atop one another so as to create what would look like a large fist looming in the air. Unless Rivet possessed some sort of sixth sense that would allow him to detect this coagulation of energy, he would be left with little warning before this massive fist was brought down upon him; a striking surface of 5 foot long and 4 foot wide aiming directly for the top of his skull. The winds would do practically nothing to slow or divert this fist; with each particle shoving against those ahead of it, there was an incredible amount of force pushing it down.

[Tristwich]

Such shenanigans are useless against the raw splendor of Lord Rivets talent! This mysterious fellow thought he could pull off some kind of trick to get the edge on him? If only it were so simple! Such genius tactics are not simply done on accident, though they do come with unexpected benefits.

Yes the twister had the strength to pick up stones from the ground, but that was not the only thing it was beginning to pick up. Loose dirt and discarded weapons were also being picked up by the force of his little tornado, and the tornado was only growing more powerful as he had both hands on his weapon, increasing the speed at which he made his rotations. Not only would the particles have difficulty getting into a vortex now reaching sixty miles per hour, but they would not so easily latch onto the loose stone as random weapons and mounds of dirt intercepted them at nearly every turn.

With his pesky little particles taken care of, his attack was now without the proper information needed to strike him proper. The area at which the particles were being rebuffed was growing, thus making his silly little fist more inaccurate than his drunken father when he got in his little "shooting" moods. A pair of old mauls would disperse the particles with gusto, the weapons themselves smashed apart, but the pieces still kept within the power of his twister.

Finally it was time to advance towards this demonstrable knave! Lord Rivet was fully aware of where the fog had been coming from, calculating its likely epicenter as well as his own position from it on the battlefield. As he had only gone two directions, and not even at the same time, it was one simple maneuver to start heading TOWARDS this creature with the full power of nature at his command.

[Dolerman]

From This Post Fight Will Be Reset

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

It's alittle choppy, but it will get the job done.

“Why in the hell did they send me here ?” A man's voice disturbed the otherwise eery silence that clung to the air. Me
The man who spoke was named Leo Maxim that stood around 6’4 and dawned a piece of thick, painted armor on almost every part of his body; save his head and forearms. As the wind lightly tousled the locks his brilliantly azure hair, a pair of glistening blue eyes darted frantically back and forth as they attempted to analyze the entirety of weapon clad area before him. The sight of the weapons paired with the faint taste of copper that filled his mouth with each breath led him to realize it was some sort of battle grounds. No doubt this was why he had been sent here; it wouldn’t be the first time he had been sent to fight someone and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
In Leo’s right hand was a 3 foot long, 6 inch thick and double sided broadsword; a strange light blue and circular stone on one side of the rain guard and a yellow one just barely able to be seen from round the back. There were two other of these colored stones upon his body that easily seen; a brown one placed upon the buckle of his waist and a red one placed within the large Pauldron on his shoulder. Hidden out of sight beneath the large hunk of metal, a leather strap was wrapped tightly around Leo’s left bicep which held 2 more stones; saving them for when the moment would require them most.

With one final and solid step, Leo would come to rest with both feet standing side by side one a other and just a few feet apart. To his left; he could see a bundle of throwing knives buried under a thin layer of dust; something about them called to him, as though they had been waiting for him to see them. In one quick motion Leo would bend down and snatch the knives from the dust; releasing a plume of dust in a thick trail through the air. While waiting for something to happen; Leo counted out 6 knives with 4 spaces missing and as he touched their surface, each blade gave off a light blue glow as they radiated the energy within him.

“Interesting…” he spoke softly.

[Tristwich]

It was a rather peculiar case of déjà vu, being back at this place once again, but sometimes things were best left unquestioned. Lord Rivet was here for a reason, and that purpose was to fight. Having appeared just twenty meters away from his opponent at the same time he appeared, he figured now was as good a time as any.

"Good day to you sir. I am Lord Rivet, and it appears we have been selected for battle in this...quaint little arena." So many weapons all over the place, maneuvering past every single one of them was going to be a pain. Of course one obstacle for him meant the same for his opponent, which meant he might just be able to turn this into an advantage.

"So then, shall we do this the way of gentleman or just get right into it, hmm?" The sky was clear, the sun was at midday, and there was hardly a breeze to be found. It was the perfect conditions for a battle, one which Rivet intended on being victorious. "Already got yourself a little toy I see? Quite interesting from the look of it." He would have to be careful, since that looked to be his only means of ranged attack.

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

Those azure eyes gave a bit of a wiggle as their gaze shifted to the man who spoke; identifying himself as a man named Rivet who bore the title of 'Lord'. As the man spoke, Leo allowed his gaze to snap this way and that; taking note of the man's tophat, mustache and the rather fanciful nature of his clothing. This man didn't seem as though he were ready for a battle of any sort, but sure enough he was not only read for battle; but ready to battle him. For someone who just announced he planned to fight, this 'Lord' Rivet was far too trusting a man to just stand there and talk. The battlefield was no place for jaunty Johnny's.

"So.. then.." Lord Rivet spoke. Allowing the tips of Leo's right index finger and thumb grasp the handle of one of the throwing knives; a light blue glow starting throughout the blade.

"Shall..we.." Leo's eyes fixed onto the the man's top hat; aiming just below the top of it. The man didn't seem aware of the opening he had presented, and while Leo didn't want to end the fight right there, he did want the man to feel some pressure from his mistake.

"Do..this.." the pressure Leo exerted with his finger and thumb increased exponentially whilst his arm tensed, preparing for the launch. "The...way.." Leo's eyes went from their blue tone as an ethereal breeze tousled hair hair as the tips became almost translucent. "Of... gentlemen.." with a swift and gentle motion the throwing knife was sent flying through the air like a bullet; a mystical force allowing it to cut through the air unabated so as to, hopefully, smack the still talking man's hat from his head in just a single second.

[Tristwich]

What kind of braggart doesn't even allow for a gentleman to finish his sentence?! Its absolutely unacceptable, a crime he just could not possibly forgive. It looked like there was only one way for this to go, and it would be for Rivet to end this little whelp.

When the motion was made to flick the dagger, Lord Rivet acted out of instinct. Years of fighting unimaginable lovecraftian horrors does that to a man, and so with a graceful twist he ducked well underneath the flying projectile, his hat fully intact. Simultaneously he drew his weapons and began to make a run to his left, with the intention of keeping a fair distance away from the warrior. As any hunter knows its foolish to attack their quarry head on, so he would put some space between himself and his rude opponent. With all the blasted weaponry about it seemed as if he would be tripped by a random weapon if he wasn't careful.

During that time his Bloodlock pistol went to work, the needles draining a small amount of blood and filling the reservoirs inside the weapon. Before it was filled however Lord Rivet would require some of that blood to augment his bullet with the power of explosive blood. Hopefully it would do well in insuring his victory, but his plans were always more complicated than simple attacks and such. No his victory would be assured through careful planning and meticulous design. This was no simple hunt in the eerie darkness of his homeland, this was something much more exciting.

This was a proper scuffle fit for a man like Lord Rivet!

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

Like a wisp of smoke, the missed throwing knife vanished into thin air until it would finally lose speed some hundreds of feet away; embedding itself within the dirt with a solid metallic thud. There was more to this Lord Rivet than the first look had told Leo; to be able to read the briefest of movements from his hands and act upon it appropriately would require an incredible attention to detail as well as fairly quick reaction speeds. These talents helped to explain the audacious plan of introducing himself at the beginning of the battle; there was more to this man than a first glance could show and he was obviously very penisy about his chances . (Family Guy joke, not just an idiot.)

Leos eyes never left Rivets body as he reacted to the thrown knife; their focus falling to his hands as they made a motion within the man’s coat; withdrawing a strange looking handgun with a broad mouthed barrel and a cane of sorts. The man had a firearm at his disposal, so why hadn’t he fired it the instant he was attacked? Whatever the reasoning, Leo accepted the man’s mistake and began planning out his next few moves.

While Rivet was running to the right (from Leo’s eyes) two stones came to life on his body; the brown one on his buckle and the blue one on his sword. In response, the ground around Leo began to fracture, the fractured pieces fracturing again and again and again until they were just specks of stone. The hunks of stone would glide through the air, fusing themselves to the different portions of Leo’s less armored body, which were his thighs, waist, arms, neck and head; adding flesh toned segments of hardened stone that would allow for good mobility. At the same time, the surface of his blade was overcome with a light layer of frost and left a frost aura in the air as it was cocked back; Leo’s eyes locked upon Lord Rivet as he awaited some sort of opening.

[Tristwich]

Rivet had already passed the point at which he was starting to gain distance from his opponent, every inch more time he needed in order to set up his victory. Distance was his friend, for he had to play the long game against this man, whose only means of attacking him at range with some paltry throwing knives. The very nerve! Only the most elegant of cutlery was worthy of piercing his perfectly bred skin.

Releasing the sheath from his cane, the blade glinted well in the light, solid and deadly as it was beautiful. During this time he would also begin adding a second augmentation to the bullet inside the chamber of his weapon. Now it would not only have explosive qualities to its inner layer, but a layer of acidic blood just over that. The little peasant will find this quite a delicious treat.

Finally he would stop, turn and aim his weapon towards the warrior. Aiming was a rather important part of using a gun well one might imagine. He would have to be careful, considering the extra gravity they were experiencing for some strange reason. Must have been a maddening part of this realm of battle, oh well, he could always compensate for it.

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

As the stone segments sank into place; Leo watched as the strange cane that Lord Rivet held had the greater majority of its wooden form stripped away to reveal a glistening blade within. A blade hidden within a mundane travel tool? Quite the clever ploy. Other than that, his top hatted opponent simply continued to run away; was he retreating? Had Leo scared him off? A little smirk touched Leo's lips as he realized that Rivet was trying to gain and maintain distance between them, no doubt looking to use his ranged weapons to his advantage. There was, afterall, no way he could know of Leo's extensive history of fighting enemies with fully automatic firearms and how confident he felt with the growing distance.

Even with this great distance between them; Leo could see the details of Lord Rivets positioning as clearly as if he was standing 10 feet away from him. This allowed him to see the instant that the momentum which carried Mr. Fancy-Pants suddenly vanish as he came to a standstill; eliciting a counter attack from Leo in that same moment. The charged blade was slashed through the air before him as quickly as his enhanced body would allow; cleaving through the air in a fraction of a second and leaving a steamy gash in the air before him as the energy from his blade was transferred to the surrounding air. Through this misty streak, Leo could see Lord Rivet turn his body and align himself for a shot; his eyes turning translucent once more as the muscles of both his legs and his left ankle began relaxing so as to allow flexing.

Before he would move an inch though, a gust of wind suddenly manifested itself from his body and blew towards Lord Rivet at nearly 60MPH; picking up and spreading out the Ice Materia that was hanging in the air. This would create what Leo had dubbed the 'Arctic Wind', a massive gust of wind capable of drasticslly dropping the temperature of any encompassed air to a bitter temperature of -400 Degrees Fahrenheit; coating all physical objects in it's grasp with thick blue ice crystals. The size of this blast would start out at 6 feet wide; as large as the stroke of Leo's blade that called it into being. By the time it reached his now stopped opponent just a second and a half later, it would encompass 12 feet across and 10 foot high; a proper freezing windstorm hard right for him.

[Tristwich]

Well isn't that just a smashing bit of hogwash to get the blood flowing? Any other knave without a single iota of skill would be slain on the spot, but not the stupendous Lord Rivet! Meager fancies were far beneath him to even warrant contempt, let alone worry. This attack will be dodged with the grace only an aristocrat such as he could muster.

At the exact moment he turned, Rivet saw the arctic wind howling towards him. Abandoning the time he was to give in aiming he instead allowed for his instincts to kick in. Before he even stopped his feet were back to running, continuing on his previous trajectory as he beat the wind with milliseconds to spare. During this little jog he was able to add the final augmentation towards his bullet, enhancing the speed at which the bullet would travel by double its normal ability.

Now was the time to attack, he thought to himself, and so he would finally launch his counter move. In the exact moment at which he cleared the arctic wall, he would use this forward momentum to pivot, aim towards Leo's center mass and fire his Bloodlock pistol, the force of which was so intense it pushed him back due to the blood enhancement he placed upon the powder. Thankfully the design of his pistol allowed for the increased power to be mitigated when it came to how it effected the accuracy of the shot.

What's even more delicious about this attack? How in the blazes would Leo even know which side Rivet was firing from? Judging by the temperature of the arctic wave it was leaving a thick cloud of ice particles behind, obscuring vision as it barreled through the field of battle. This coupled with his passive style would surely surprise him, since the fool had been standing in the same place the entire fight. Dodging a bullet with twice the speed would be a fantastic feat indeed to see!

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

Had Lord Rivet waited even a second after breaching the side of the Arctic blast, he may have been able to see just how far off his aim had ended up being. What he shot for was the last position he knew Leo to be standing in, when Leo had been readying to leave his position before the blast was ever created. A relaxation of his muscles prior to his freezing slash allowed him to dash forward with relative ease; diving into the stil thick cloud of ice particles and steam that had been created from his blast. The temperature was equalizing quickly, but the air still sent a bit of a chill down his spine.

As he entered the fog, the vibrations of a powerful gunshot tore through the air as the shot Rivet took at Leo's last know position missed his body by what may have been a mile. A smirk touched at Leo's lips again, but he focused on the task at hand; maneuvering between the large ice mounds until he finally reached what he felt was relatively close to the center. The air was chilling and his breath fogged in the air; but he was more than capable of dealing with this low temperature for the time being. This was his stage now.

A crack sounded out followed by a metallic slicing as Leo slammed his blade into the frozen earth; parting it like warm butter. The force of the impact seemed to dislodge the blue orb from the rainguard, causing it to begin to fall through the air. It was however snatched from the air by Leo's right hand, which moved to depress a metallic square upon the back of his left hand; opening a compartment in the gauntlet that held a perfectly spherical indentation inside. The light blue orb was placed into this socket and the compartment was closed; all he would need is the remaining few seconds it would take for the energy to return to the orb.

[Tristwich]

This was starting to become a bugger of a fight, and Rivet was feeling frustrated at his battlefield failures. A perfectly good bullet was wasted because he had made the assumption of believing he was just standing in the same place the entire time. It was a regrettable mistake that he would do well not to make again.

As he did not wish to feel the power of whatever magic hogwash was coming for him, he figured it was time for a little tactical retreat. In true grace that could only be achieved by a nobleman, he began to run opposite the direction of the trail of now steaming ice. Whatever his opponent was planning, he didn't want any part of it, and was hoping that perhaps he could simply keep moving and force him to attempt to combat him head on. At least there he could get a shot in.

During this moment of retreat he would start to ready his bullet once more, giving it all the necessary enhancements like increased speed, explosive and acidic qualities that would make it more lethal. This wasn't just any old enemy after all, this was some kind of wizard who believed himself capable of out edging him using such tricks. The very nerve of it all!

[Xavier Bloodbayne]

By this point, Leo was simply standing as still as a statue amongst the ice crystals; the light blue glow of the orb in his gauntlet now ebbing back into existence. As he began to ponder what his next move would be, he was suddenly aware of a heavy, crunching rhythm that was moving away from him with haste; it seemed that Rivet was trying to further the distance between them yet again. What he didn't know was that Leo's hearing was far superior to that of a normal man and as Rivet put boot to ground; Leo could hear it as though he were right next to it.

Leo's left hand tightened into a solid fist which caused the orb to glisten vibrantly whilst the ice crystals that clung to the weapons around him shattered into large, razor sharp chunks and hung in the air. Now, as Leo allowed his fist to lessen and his fingers to splay out, the ice spikes would flide through the air until at least two hundred razor sharp ice crystals 3 inches long and 2 inches thick covered the air around him. With a simple flick of the wrist these spikes were sent flying through the air at 50 mph; leaving only 3 seconds of silent flight time before these spikes would be upon their target.

It wasn't a tight area that the spikes were trying to cover but rather a broad, shotgun like coverage area that was designed to hit a broad area. In almost perfect fashion, the spikes aligned themselves so as to leave only 6 inches of space between them and their neighbors. Each of these razor sharp spikes would have been enough to cause fatal damage; so having the air filled with them could definitely be considered overkill. Their creation was practically silent and the same could be said of their flight; with only the sound of the wind distorting around the smooth spikes preceeding their arrival.