NOLAN@Silver Fox@Caits@YipeeXD@Joshua TamashiiNolan sat with his teammates while he waited for the event to start. The only in the team that he knew the most was Karn, who speaking of which was sleeping on his friend's head and the rest he seldom knew. He knew that they were powerful mages, that much was for certain or else they wouldn't even be there. Sasha did make him feel uncomfortable simply because she was a woman and his fear of them simply made it hard for him, but in a situation like this he would manage it. As a teammate he would offer his support in and out of combat, even if Sasha did make his hide shiver.
So the preliminaries were test made of riddles. He could only guess that these riddles maybe tough if it was enough to whittle down seventy seven teams to six There was no nervousness of them losing before the games could even start. He was confident with his mental ability that had become even stronger after having to deal with Karn's mind tricks for two months. Speaking of Karn, Nolan tapped him on the head.
"Oi, get ready. The event is soon."FRENZY PLANT A MONTH AGO
ENMAWith one out of the way, it was time for the second series of tests to begin. The receptionist's opinion of the oni was mixed. He seemed like a force to be reckoned with, judging by his aura and bearing alone. Such a warrior would require stiff challenges. She examined the sparse selection of mages available and made her selection.
"Private Leixia Wuiwomi, it is time to demonstrate your mastery of Bow Magic."The hooded
girl, almost hidden in a corner of the room, breathed a heavy sigh. Never would she greet a call to action that put her in the limelight as a friend. She pulled out her bow as she took a position opposite Enma. Her eyes swept over him quickly, and her gaze hardened.
"Fine then. Even if you're better, you're going to look like a pincushion before I'm through. You ready?"Was this guild filled to the brim with beautiful women? By the gods he must've died and gone to paradise! This however wasn't the time to be admiring beauties; this was a time of action because Leixia certainly wasn't fawning over him. He swung his kanabo for a brief warm up and just from that swing alone came great air pressure from his own physical strength. This woman had spunk, he liked that in his opponents.
"You can say that if you can hurt me. Come at me with your worst." He grinned devilishly like a battle loving behemoth and swung down his club against the floor.
Though inaudible, Leixia gulped.
The receptionist didn't seem worried. Her outward demeanor had changed little.
"Begin!"Leixia wasted no time. With a club like that, the frightening stranger would be wanting to get into melee range, no bones about it. One swing of that thing and Frenzy Plant's prettiest archeress would be a pretty pudding. In a swift, fluid motion, she drew an nocked an arrow, starting to move backward in the process. She shouted, just a little too loudly, "Hyper Toxic Arrow!" and shot it at him, then started to knock a second arrow immediately afterward.
Enma could only assume that Leixia was going to keep her distance from him due to her archery magic as well as the fact if he gets within range of her with that club of his, she was going to be left as a blood smear along the floor. Just like he predicted, at the start of the spar the archeress knocked an arrow and shot an aptly named poisonous arrow that whizzed through the air and just as quickly knocked her second arrow. The oni shifted his stance, turning it into a side stance with his left side face open and leaded backwards slightly, hearing the wind whistle from the passing arrow.
Beneath her breath, Leixia swore vehemently. Dodging a well-aimed arrow, particularly at the speeds she fired, was no easy feat. Clearly this man possessed supernatural reflex as well as strength. The expression on his face, as if he would have been happy seeing her on a platter, would have unnerved a less self-sure woman, but Leixia kept up a straight face.
That same vicious grin was pasted on his face. It seemed like it was his turn to attack. While he had dodged the arrow he concentrated vibrations in his throat and he leaned forward shouting,
"Ogre's War Cry!" Using the air as a medium for his vibrations and his voice as a catalyst for the attack, he roared and sent a continues forward force towards Leixia. The force of the vibration induced attack typically inflicted both blunt damage and a sensation akin to vertigo, and Enma expected this to be no different.
Deducing from the incantation that a sound attack was incoming, Leixa prepared to roll for the side. When the bellow came, her head rattled and her vision swam, but she managed to evade the brunt of the attack. At this point, she was glad enough that Enma hadn't seen fit to close the distance just yet. Leixia resharpened her vision, and palmed three arrows.
"Wuiwomi Volley!" she belted out, and with great speed, shot all four arrows consecutively. Their tips were blunted, as most weapons were in the training hall, but would deliver almost the exact same amount of hurt on contact. Without any sort of magic to aid her, Leixia shot her arrows faster than normal by moving her bow forward while drawing the string backward, thus halving draw time, and transferring arrows directly from her hand rather than the quiver.
Not bad, not bad at all. Despite the difference in both power and skill she still was physically capable to at least dodge his War Cry enough to avoid the full impact. She added three more arrows to her quiver and then shot four arrows consecutively. He respected her as an opponent for her talent as an archeress, but alas, he had bigger fish to fry. Enma dashed forward as she shot the arrows at him and swung his club upwards, breaking the arrows on contact and continued charging forward. The distance between them was now closed, leaving Leixia vulnerable to Enma's attacks. He clenched both hands around the handle of the spiked club. With a sharp twist of his waist to shift his weight forward, he swung the blunt weapon horizontally to the right side of her torso. He still held back enough of his strength to keep himself from splatting her against the wall.
The sight of a charging Enma breaking her arrows caused Leixia to freeze,
"Shit," was all she managed, in a remarkably deadpan tone as well, before the impact of the oni's club smashed the wind from her lungs. She tumbled to the floor, gasping, her bow and arrows completely forgotten. Her chocolate-brown eyes were scrwed shut, as if by cutting off her senses she could shut off the pain.
Morimato Tsubano, the healer eternally on call at the Frenzy Fort, rushed in. A few moments and a quick examination later, she hauled Leixa off with a miniature horde of animated dolls. Holding back was clearly not something Enma had much practice doing, though to do him credit Tsubano hadn't found any fractured ribs.
Enma felt her body mold along the club as it slammed the right side of her ribs. Leixia could've been easily killed by Enma if he didn't hold himself back enough, but thankfully he had the sense to keep himself from turning her insides into mush. Before he could go and help her, a masked person dressed in furs rushed in and shipped the poor woman off for treatment. The guild seemed to be buzzing now that one of their own was possibly seriously injured. Thankfully her ribs were simply bruised so there was no need to worry.
After the commotion died down, and her fear for Leixia's ribcage laid to rest, Indigo selected a new challenger. As much as she wished Kilo was there, the huge axeman was part of a siege crew gone north and wouldn't be helping out this time. The blonde receptionist found among the Lieutenants the most physically-brutal one she could. To be sure, without magic Arivaderci Salvay was nothing special, but her specific practice could match Kilo blow for blow.
When called for, the
naga slithered slowly and humbly to the mark. She knew why she'd been selected, and hoped herself equal to the task, but said nothing. Once in her spot, she raised her hands into her stance and waiting for the signal to come.
His next opponent was unexpected. Who would've known that this guild would have a naga as a member? Guilds were much stranger than he originally thought. He figured that since long range attacks like arrows were ineffective then it was most likely the case that this naga was someone that he could trade blows with. It looked like he was going to be a bit more serious than the last match. He held the spiked weapon with only one hand with ease so that he had a free hand to use. Now all he had to do was just wait for Indigo to give them the okay to fight.
It wasn't long at all before Indigo obliged.
"Begin."A suspicious lack of vocal accompanyment arose as Arivaderci thrust her palms against the floor. The double impact caused the entire training room to rumble, but all the reverberations attuned themselves to one spot: Enma's. There, they all met and collided with one another, creating a violent shaking beneath Enma's feet intense enough to knock a full-grown man to the floor. The cursed naga then surged forward, using her winding body to move far faster than possible for a normal woman her size, and bore down on the oni with a grim, mute determination.
At Indigo's signal the Naga mutely thrusted her palms against the floor, causing the entire room to tremor from the sheer force. The vibrations had homed in on Enma and once they collided together they created a small scale earthquake that would've been enough to bring a lesser man to his knees. Enma however was not a lesser man. Only did his knees slightly buckle from the initial impact and that was the extent of the Naga's attack. Once he felt the initial tremor beneath him he had created vibrations that were of equal strength of said tremor. Any effect of the tremor was neutralized and the oni was ready for the next attack.
She rocketed towards him with speed that he wouldn't have expected of a woman of her size with a steely determination. Enma had to respect her will and desire to beat him, but this time he wasn't going to play games. This was going to end with one strike. The spiked club glowed red from his Warrior's Magic, increasing its durability and hardness to give more damage. Vibrations erupted from the soles of his feet and created a powerful concussive force that made Enma dart towards the Naga at high speeds. When he was in range he swung his blunt weapon straight down towards her head.
A small smile, the kind born of a fulfilled expectation rather than any inkling of happiness, skipped over Arivaderci's face. Now in an ideal range, she stopped moving, and held a single, small, pale hand in the path of the crushing maul. No words passed her lips, but there was a subtle change in the air--an ill wind. The club came within an inch of her skin and then, with neither flare nor ceremony, shot upward. The incredible force at which it rebounded away from her palm tore at Enma's grasp. Even if the thing wasn't wrenched from his grip, its path of movement had been totally reversed, and the oni was forced to use his strength to bring it back under his control. Arivaderci then pivoted, coiling her snaketail slightly and springing off of it, and laid two hands sideways on the bare part of Enma's chest, one above the other. For a split second there was nothing but a meeting between their eyes. Then enough raw power flowed through Arivaderci's hands to carve a rhino-sized hole in a castle wall.
His attack was going to land and she seemed just so calm with her hand out as if it would be able to block that attack. He could tell something was off just with the ominous wind. Then he understood why; that head smashing maul was sent flying upwards towards his own face. He let go of the club and tilted his head to hear the whoosh of his weapon flying by his ear to avoid breaking his own skull into bits. Arivaderci's hands were soon on his exposed chest after she sprung off her coiled snake tail and within a moment after their eyes locked a blast of power blasted against his chest. Enma grabbed onto her wrists with both hands and gritted his teeth from the pain, but there wasn't any blood. His skin was a vivid red like the skin of a demon's. His Warrior's Magic had coated his chest and cut the damage that he would've received from her in half.
His grip on her wrists was so great that he probably had broken her wrists and spheres of vibrations appeared around his hands. Enma's demon grin stretched back on his face and the vibrations exploded with an over whleming force that tore the ground beneath them into deep, spherical crater.
Arivaderci gritted her teeth at the immediate pain, knowing that it would only increase in the coming seconds. With what remaining control she could muster over her hands, she delivered another, less concentrated dual palm blast that allowed her to ride Enma's vibration overload rather than be torn apart by it, and she landed in a coil some distance away. She flexed her wrists experimentally, revealing that the bones were intact. Some satisfaction budded in her grave heart, imperceptible to the world as always, that she had weathered such an attack. Those hands were the foci of her power; they would not be so easily destroyed. Still, her head rang with a brutal, high-frequency pounding that had yet to depart.
Enma gritted his teeth from the second dual palms blast as he tried to overload her with his vibrations, using the force of the attack to propel herself away from him to avoid the constant barrage. It looked like his grip didn't break her wrists like he hoped for though it looked like the shock waves did enough damage to her that he at least had the upper hand for now. The beauty of vibrations is that it can cause internal damage even if it is blocked physically along with the destructive force it is capable of.
"Penalty: challenger!" Came a call from the sidelines. Indigo had stood up, arms crossed beneath her chest. [color=0007FFF]"To be a soldier means to have discipline. To have discipline means to control oneself. Frenzy Plant, unlike other guilds, does not tolerate collateral damage."[/color]
Enma was about to follow up and attack, but stopped hearing Indigo call out penalty. He turned to look at her and arched his brow.
"Penalty? What kind of bullshit is this? If you got rules then tell them before the god damn fight princess." Enma glared at her with annoyance. He couldn't help it if his magic was destructive. This is how he was taught how to use it and this was the fighting style that he had used in war to defeat his foes. This mage says that they are soldiers, but how many of them had actually gone to war? There was no such thing as avoiding collateral simply because they were too focused on surviving for another day.
Penalty Command, Challenger: Hardlight Snare." The training room floor flashed, small particles of green light tracing lines across the ground and surrounding Enma. They converged on him and crawled up his legs, until a glowing, angular pattern covered his whole body. The oni couldn't move.
The sound of dry scales sliding over hardwood paneling heralded Arivaderci's approach. When the oni looked up, he saw the naga at the top of the crater, but she made no move to approach or attack. She just sat there, waiting, as the ten seconds ticked down. A moment later, the snare vanished, and Enma was free to move again.
The next thing he knew there was a bright flash of light from the floor followed by traces of green light surrounded Enma from every corner. Whether he liked it or not he accepted the penalty. The light covered his body and forced his body to be as still as a statue. He was helpless to whatever attack the naga may throw at him. Instead she stood at the top of the crater waiting patiently for the snare to vanish. It was clear that she was a very honorable person for wanting to fight him without restrictions.
Arivaderci did not wait for him to thank her. She lunged from the crater top toward him, snaking around to his backside. Twice, she darted into melee range to deliver a palm strike before dashing back out. Having been punished for delaying previously, she attacked too quickly for him to grab her, but sacrificed some power for it. Her alacrity was, however, dulled slightly by the vibration-induced headache.
Once the snare faded away Arivaderci sprung a him and bounced around, hitting him with two palm strikes that were swift, yet lacking in power to do any actual damage to him. This fight was starting to drag out much too long to his liking. He wanted to get to the A-Class round already.
Enma had leaped high back to the top of the crater to get out of a disadvantageous position. The next moment, Arivaderci followed. Vibrations emitted from both of his hands, their frequencies increased to an unbearably loud high pitched screech and then swung them wildly yet precise. The result were ten minature vibration blades flying at her. They were like buzz saws; they vibrated so that they were able to cut whatever it is they are to cut.
Eyes widened as the bladelike constructs flew toward Arivaderci. The naga became acutely aware of how little she wanted to leave this room in a crumpled, unconscious heap like Leixia, but couldn't bring herself to give up outright. Instead, she returned to the attack, not against Enma, but against his projectiles. A focused Shotgun Palm could rupture the acutely shaped vibrations keeping the saws intact, but they came too quickly for her to be comfortable. With a practiced aim, she whirled around, spinning this way and that and destroying the blades, but as she turned to meet the final one it met her first. The sawblade sheared into the flesh of her shoulder, sharp enough to part the nerves without fraying them and give the opportunity to convey pain. Along with skin, the blade cut cloth, and the shoulder of Arivaderic's outfit dropped off. She clapped a hand to her shoulder to stop the bleeding and keep her bodice from falling down, and shot Enma a glare that managed to be severely irritated yet ironically cute, like a puppy trying to look fierce. She held up the arm of the injured hand in a sign of surrender.
Indigo looked disappointed.
"Looks like Ari's giving in. What a pity...I thought I saw chemistry between you two for a second there. The Monster Pair: Enmaderci! Oh, well. Our challenger advances to rank B. Better get that wound looked after, Ari. Looks like a rough one."Oh if looks could kill then Enma would be killed by a swarm of adorable puppies. He chuckled and said with a wide grin,
"I'll be here whenever you want to challenge me again." The oni would've done a spit take if he was drinking anything. What the hell was going through Indigo's mind?! Well, at least he made it to rank B.
The receptionist's eyes fell on a tall man leaning against one of the supporting columns. Up til now he had seemed content chewing on a stalk of wheat, though very watchful when it came to the challenger's abilities, but his demeanor had changed somewhat. He nodded to Indigo, who said,
"We've got only one A-rank soldier on call right now. Owen Whately, go ahead and step forward."The red-haired man spat out his wheat and stepped to the line. He quickly tilted his head upward, and then back to normal, a common country greeting.
"Howdy there. Yer a powerful stranger, all right. Gonna be a heck of a soldier too, I think. There ain't much more penalties ya can git, jus' so ya know. There's property damage, an' cheatin', an' almost killin' your opponent, fo' which you'd be almost kilt. Not fun at all." He drew from a long, thin scabbard a fine, silver blade, like a giant needle, before removing a small, circular shield from his belt. Instead of on his forearm, he gripped the handle with his hand. He did not smile as he said, in a casual tone,
"I ain't gonna kill ya, but I'm gonna push ya hard. A-rank ain't the kind-a people ya mess around with."Was nodding ones head a form of greeting between the humans? And why did he talk funny? To be frank he had a hard time understanding what Owen was trying freaking say. The accent was just too god damn thick! Enma walked over to his club, which was lodged into a wall, and pulled it right out before walking back to the battlefield. Enma nodded his head and pretended to understand what he just said. All he could gather was that this guy was going to be a tough one to fight.
This time, Indigo's voice held something akin to excitement.
"Attack!"At Indigo's call Enma covered the spiked blunt weapon with a bubble of vibrations and then swung it straight down, sending one large version of the vibrating blades from before. This time as it travelled down to Owen, the ground was being left with one large scar in the attacks wake. The oni wasn't expecting this attack to meet its mark. This was simply testing the southener's strength.
Without giving off much in the way of anxiety or enthusiasm, Owen sidled a couple of feet to his right, and watched the vibroblade pass him by. He cast a dubious glance Enma's was as if to say,
what was that? That wasn't ever going to hit me. The southerner placed his rapier in the mouth of the lionhead adorning his minute shield and employed his free hand in the removal of the wheat stalk from his mouth.
"You a bettin' kinda man? How 'bout this: you break my chew toy, you win. I cut off that fancy ponytail, I win." He replaced the stalk between his teeth, and detached the rapier. He executed a horizontal cut with the weapon, though from this distance there was no chance it would hit. Instead, a carpet of saucer-sized, silver magic circles appeared all over the training room floor, but that was all.
As he expected, Owen was able to dodge the flying vibroblade with ease. It was a simple attack though it was very fast so to dodge it easily is still an impressive feet. He watched he odd southerner place the rapier in the mouth of the lionhead on his shield and pulled his wheat stalk out from between his teeth. This time he understood what Owen said despite his heavy accent.
"Heh, this makes it much more interesting!" From that distance Owen still swiped at Enma, but only cut air. There wasn't much time to question him due to the sudden magic glyphs appearing all over the floor. Whatever magic this guy used certainly was going to make this much harder. At any rate Enma wasn't to get anywhere in this fight if he kept his distance. The oni dashed towards his opponent with one hand gripped on the chain of the spiked club, spinning it around with deadly force. Once in range he swung the club by its chain as if it was like a whip.
When Enma attacked, Omen did not displace himself. Fights were just as much about territory as they were about damage. Control meant everything, and this southerner felt quite comfortably in control. Instead of striking back or giving any ground, he turned his rapier upside-down and knelt, pushing the needle-like blade into a tiny magic circle. All around him, from the circles on the floor, giant versions of the rapier blade sprang up, forming a wall of spikes that took the brunt of Enma's strike. Rather than staying firm and breaking, the flexible blades bent slightly, then rebounded to their original positions, flinging the club the other way. When held by its chain, such a heavy weapon could hardly be controlled, and was totally at the mercy of the laws of inertia.
Owen removed his sword, and the blades around him sank back into the circles. After a moment, he repeated the move, and this time every circle beneath and around Enma for several meters sprouted a keen-tipped facsimile instead. Though each of the pointy blades threatened to pierce Enma's skin, one in particular was headed right toward his ponytail, from an unseen ngle directly behind him.
So this was the nature of Owen's magic. That sword of his is able to create glyphs that are able to summon different versions of his rapier and in this case he used them to create giant versions of his weapon to block the incoming attack. The blades bent back and then flung his club straight back at him, but Enma yanked the chain to change its direction and used his free hand to grab onto the handle of the weapon. There wasn't any time to think after that. More swords had been summoned through the glyphs all around him and flew to turn him into a pin cushion. To protect himself Enma vibrated the air around him in the form of a dome, making the oni look distorted. As the blade enter the dome they began to shatter into many pieces. The frequencies of each blade were being matched by the vibrations, which in turn destroyed the incoming weapons.
With vibrations concentraing around his right foot he stomped the ground and released a powerful shock wave that cracked the floor beneath both of them, causing the floor to shake violently. It was exactly like what the Naga had tried to do to Enma before, but this was a much stronger version compared to hers.
Three blades stabbed into Enma's back, though not very deep. The oni turned to see the magic circles that his shockwave had been meant to destroy instead floating through the air, knocked there by the tremor. They lofted with the grace and effortlessness of bubbles, spinning around lethergically, but carrying with them a dire promise. Through any of them Owen could cast his rapier, and just now, he had done so. A lock of hair drifted to the ground, but the ponytail was still firmly attached.
The shockwave sent by Enma before the attack hadn't fazed Owen nearly enough. Though powerful, it didn't quite match Arivaderci's control, which had been made possible by her knowledge of the room's structure. Plus, with the various craters and cracks in the floor, the resonances had been disturbed. Plainly, Enma wouldn't be able to end this match with a single blow--unless he could control himself enough to target Owen's stalk. Now, the southerner retaliated. He moved forward, light on his feet despite a sturdy physique, and executed a blindly fast, conic series of stabs while he waited, not willing to give Enma the chance to shatter his own blade. As many targeted Enma's weapon and armor as they did his body, trying to keep man and club alike pinned down. Owen knew that if he could force Enma onto the defensive, he'd have the advantage.
Enma grimaced slightly from the shallow stabs and saw that his efforts were indeed fruitless when it came to destroying the seals. Even his attack meant was mitigated by the cracks and craters from his own destructive attacks. His situation wasn't getting any better and he had to find a chance to take the piece of straw in that guys mouth out or else he's gonna lose his pony tail and not become an A Class mage.
Owen charged at him and sent a flurry of thrusts to keep Enma down and force him on the defense. He knew this strategy from many fights back in his own village though Owen executed it much better than most of the soldiers he had fought before. If Enma went on the defense he would lose ground and eventually lose to the swordsman. Destructive, wide spread power wasn't going to help him in this fight. His next move had to be precise and focused power to win. Enma threw his club behind him since it wasn't a weapon made for precision. He was dodging and dodging continuously until he figured out Owen's attack pattern. As his blade came towards him the oni stepped to the side and then stepped forward quickly, grabbing onto Owen's sword arm with his right hand. His grip on Owen's arm was one that told that no matter what Enma wasn't going to let go of him. Enma's left hand vibrated like his vibroblades and at close range he swung down his hand, letting loose one slash.
"Tch," Owen remarked to the oni's grip. He knew that trying to end with a big thrust would leave him open afterward, though he hadn't expected Enma to stop relying on brute strength and actually dodge. Rather than waste energy trying to wrench free, he nimbly bent backward, leaning out of the path of Enma's chop. When he straightened up, a half dozen magic circles had appeared behind his opponents head. Checkmate. Just before he went to activate them, however, he became aware of something.
He spat his stalk onto Enma's forehead. Now that he could see it, all that was left was a tiny nub. Evidently, his evasive maneuver hadn't worked out so well for his cargo.
"Aw, hell." He unentangled himself from Enma and replaced his rapier in the lion's mouth, then hooked the shield onto his belt. Every silver circle shone briefly and then faded from existence. A hand was offered for Enma to shake.
"Nice one, partner. Guess yer not all muscle after all. Yer magic's real unique, guess I'll be waitin' fer the rematch to face off again. Now yer A-rank, a Corporal. Welcome to the club."Dammit Owen dodged the attack! The next thing he knew he had blades behind his head. It was over, he was going to lose and fall short of A Class. So why weren't they being activated? Well his answer arrived in the form of a stubby spit covered stump on his forehead. Spitting on someone in his culture was a great disrespect, but he kept his wits about him. It looked like that his attack had met its mark after all. A proud grin spread along his face and he shook the man's hand, this time not crushing it like he did with the other guy.
"I'll accept the challenge any time."A bright smile was on Indigo's face as she called,
"Excellent job, Enma! Not many get into A-rank on their first try. Owen's a very good sport. Do you think you're up to try and beat the final challenge, and earn the highest rank in the guild on your first day? You'd set a Frenzy Plant record."Enma laughed and shook his head with a wide grin.
"I'm only up for whatever food you humans eat. I've got a long way to go before I can think of taking on that challenge." The oni smirked and continued to speak.
"Besides, I'm waiting for my rival to be at that level. Now where can I get some food?"Indigo gave a respectful nod. Though it might have excited her, it wouldn't have behooved her to give Enma a firm lesson about S-rank power levels had he taken the challenge.
"Mess hall is on the second floor. Help yourself freely, ally." With that she returned to her post at the desk in the entry room.
