The Skeleton somehow grinned, and Fo correspondingly laughed.
"Well said."
And with that response the Skeleton arched back with more agility that he apparently possessed and used the space and leverage to issue a kick to Sol's mid-section. The blinding speed of the kick was hampered by the fact that the strength behind it wasn't up to par; it was just meant to push Sol back.
"You will forgive me, Sol. I haven't been upfront with you - I wanted to test your character. You look and act like a warrior, but such character is only skin deep; it tells me nothing about how you really are. Now I know that you will face me even with the odds stacked so heavily against you."
Suddenly, all around them, the skeleton crowd began crumbling into piles of dust. The thousands of bones disappeared in mere seconds, and at the same time, blood pooled by the gallons out of the Skeleton's axe, and then, in place of the Skeleton, stood a Man.
Looming over Sol was a fair-haired man - no, to call him a man was like calling a tiger a cat. He was resplendent in every way. Noble features graced his powerful body in every way. His red eyes held a kind of violent wisdom and undisguised his countless years of experience on the field of battle.
"The truth is, while my army stood on the field of battle, you would not be able to kill me. Earlier, you were facing an army and its unkillable Lord. Now, you face a lone man, powerful beyond your imagination, but one capable of death. So come, Sol the Windblade."
He hefted his mighty axe, propping it on his shoulder, before flicking two fingers at Sol in invitation.
"Prove to me your strength."
@The ghost in black Meruin fell on the bed right next to Aleksandra's, still passed out. She mumbled a bit, with her arms flailing about - somehow, she managed to draw an energy rune, which created a none lethal but blinding flash of light. All the while, Meruin was sporting a little, seemingly eager, smile on her face.
As Sol anticipated, so he was barely able to bring his sheath up in time to block the kick, saving his body from injury but the raw power behind it still sent him sliding back across the field. Sol watched in puzzlement as the army vanished and a human appeared where the skeleton had once stood. It seemed his guess was right again, the flowing blood had been the begins of his body reconstructing. He allowed himself a brief grin of triumph at both his guesses being correct, then re-evaluated his foe once more.
This was the character he'd sensed behind those bones. The warrior in front of him seemed as though he had fought in a thousand wars. The axe propped on his shoulder meant he could propel it with incredible force in a downward chop, or he use the same method in a diagonal or horizontal swing. It would be best to attack on the side the axe was held so as to limit the options for attack. "Only my very best sir." Sol said cordially. Then with sheath in his right hand and sword in the other Sol launched forward attacking without even bothering to stop his momentum.
For if this was to work he would have to make the most of his speed and lighter weaponry, launching an unceasing flurry of attacks. In a seemingly stupid move Sol had gone for the most forward approach, a single stab aimed directly at the center of his opponent's chest with his sheath still held at his side. If the axe came down Sol would slide forward, between his opponent's legs and slashing upwards and striking his foe straight up the middle. If the man was as fast as Sol dreaded and there was no time to execute the slide he would bring his sword and sheath together in an X to attempt to block the fearsome axe. There was no time for second guessing or dancing around in a prolonged duel when a single mistake would doubtless result in his down fall. He had to end this quickly, one way or the other.
@TheHangedMan Aleksandra was maybe sitting on her bed for a solid minute before another girl was dropped through a hole in the ceiling onto the bed next to hers. "Uuumm... hel-" was all she was able to get out before she saw the rune and quickly ducked behind the bed; When the flash went off and went away Aleksa peeked up over the bed and just stared at her roommate for a moment before she began to causously make her way over to her. In a moment Aleksandra was next to Meruin lightly shaking her in an attempt to wake her up.
Kieran headed out to the dorm room he'd been assigned shortly after the announcement from the speaker. He took a few minutes to explore it a bit, getting an idea of the layout and what it had, before finding the bedroom and sitting on one of the beds. His schedule was there but he didn't look at it, instead he was waiting for his roommate, whoever it was. He wanted to at least meet them before he passed out again.
Sandra listened to the intercoms announcement carefully "Sol... thats the guy who is fighting." She muttered outloud watching the fight with renewed interest once more. "I will just wait for his fight to finish and ill head back to the room with him, he probably knows where he is going since I was late." The girl thought and took a final sip of her glass finishing it off and sliding it back down the bar towards the barkeeper only to have overshot it off the bar and smashing into the ground "Ahhh shoot." She mumbled wondering if she was going to have to clean that up.
The Man grunted and raised his hand. Sol's blade cut right through it, its tip flowing with blood. Clenching the blade in his hand, the Man's ironclad grip prevent it from sliding out. While he did so, adjusted the grip of his axe, holding it closer to the head.
"Just to prove that you can hurt me," he said neutrally, before bringing it down on Sol's shoulders with all the speed of booming thunder.
Meruin snorted inelegantly as she floundered about, startled by the sudden attempts to wake her. "Whu - buh - huh?" she babbled, looking around her. "Huh . . . so the exam's over. A pity."
Sighing with a disappointed air, she took stock of the room around her. It was rather nice, really. She assumed they would be brought to the entrance of the school itself, but judging from the fact that her luggage was just laying in the corner over there, it seemed that they had opted to deliver her straight to her dormitory room. The bed was also fluffy, she noticed.
Thinking back on her previous battle, Meruin shivered a little, suddenly eager to do it again . . . but no, not right now; her body felt like lead. There was no way she would be able to enjoy 'battle' so-called if this was the state she was in. It would also be rude to her opponent; if battle needed two or more people to commence, such that it was impossible to achieve alone, then the logic followed that it was a social construct that required that all participants be reciprocal of each others strength and ability, if they were to enjoy it.
At least, that was her current hypothesis on why she had found it so suprisingly enjoyable.
Then she noticed she wasn't alone.
". . . Excuse me, but this is my room. You're currently trespassing, so unless you have business with me, please vacate the premises," said Meruin to the only other occupant in the room. She had no idea how she got here, but she would honestly like to rest without having to be wary of intruders. @Dash375 & @floodtalon
As the glass shattered, the bartender snapped her fingers. Slowly, as if a video moving played in reverse, the glass righted itself on top of the table. Picking it up, she deposited the now clean glass back in its casing.
"No problem, no problem," she said airily. "Broken glasses happen all the time here, what with the bar fights. I'd say you'd still have to pay for it though, but seeing as the money Mr. Chen gave out still covers it, you're safe for now; speaking of which, I think he's talking to you."
She gave Chen a wink. "Don't mind it so, she's pretty engrossed in the battle; can't win all the women's favor with a charming smile and wads of cash, after all. Sometimes they just like strong men," said the bartender in a purely joking manner.
"oh." Sandra spoke embarrassed when she realized she had completely ignored Chen before in favor of the battle which had taken over her mind for the past minute "Nice to meet you, Chen." She spoke still having somehow picked up his name without even listening though it may of been because she heard the bartender say it. "I am Sandra Blight, I am new to all this magical stuff so I get pretty interested when I see something new and it kinda distracts me." She bowed her head in an apology "And thank you for paying for my drink, I will return the favor when you wish." The girl offered and raised her head glancing an eye at the person she was talking to while keeping the fight in her vision as well in an attempt to multitask both.
Chen waved Sandra off and continued watching the fight with Sol. "I get the feeling. A new concept always captures my attention, so I understand completely. In regards to the money, I don't particularly care." He turned his head to Sandra and smiled sweetly. "The only thing you owe me..." The smile turned vicious as a thirst for battle entered his eyes. "Is an amazing battle. You think you can do that?" A second passed and his charming smile and kind eyes reappeared. Chen turned his attention back to the bartender. "I can respect strength."
Agatha woke up in a room in complete surprise. The last thing she remembered she was hanging in another room but it was very foggy in her mind. She heard the announcement but did not quite comprehend it. She got up and walked out the door to see a bedroom with two beds. As Agatha looked around the room she noticed someone else in the room. She smiled as she spoke.
@Floodtalon "Oooh what a menacing look to give a fair lady." Sandra grinned and matched it with a glare "When the time comes I will look forward to cutting you up and then you can buy me another drink." She dropped the looked and laughed "Though I might need a bit of training before I try anything as extreme as taking on someone who seems as strong as you, especially before I know what kind of magic you use. I will watch next time you fight with great interest so show me everything you have got!"
Kieran was waiting a bit anxiously and almost started when Agatha entered the room and said hello. He stood up from the bed and faced her so that he could introduce himself, taking only a moment to look her over.
"Kieran Altaaya" He bowed lightly "you're my roommate then? hmm, A pleasure" He held out a hand. He probably came off a little awkward as he tried to follow human formalities.
Agatha held out her hand as she tried to hide her surprise. "I am happy to meet you as well. I didn't realize that this is a co-ed academy. Not that it really matters." Agatha blushed deeply as she spoke. She became a bit nervous knowing that she would be rooming with a male. She also noticed that he was good looking in her eyes.
Kieran gave a smile as he shook Agatha's hand, but he tilted his head curiously as she blushed, he didn't quite understand it's meaning. regardless, the friendly smile returned to his face and he gestured at the beds "pick whichever you would like, I'll take the other" he wondered whether the classes started immediately or the next morning, his thoughts were punctuated by a long yawn.
@Zetsuko "If you don't mind, I'll take the one by the window. I tend to wake early and do meditations as the sun rises." Agatha spoke as she looked for her belongings. She wondered what her new roommate will think about her aura problems for there was a definite increase of temperature surrounding her body. If one would hold a thermometer close to her body, it would register around 80 degrees. "I see that the folder with our class schedule have arrived. I hope that I got all of the classes I wanted. What classes did you choose?" she finished speaking as she started to unpack her belongings.
Kieran found himself getting strangely warmer, the feeling wasn't unpleasant and he soon found that the heat was coming from his new roommate. He unconsciously took a step closer to her as he picked up his schedule to look it over. "I've got: artifacts, rituals, general education, then a free period followed by combat training, summoning, enchanting, and finally sealing" he looked from his schedule to Agatha "what classes have you picked?"
Powerful beyond imagining eh, this guy didn't play games. Even if you knew it wouldn't kill you or probably even seriously hurt you, it took guts to grab a sword barehanded. Unfortunately if Sol didn't do something quickly the man would be taking his guts as well. Sol'd anticipated the axe coming at him one way or the other but not in such an unfortunate predicament. Sol briefly considered letting go of the sword to better position but decided against it as fighting this man without a weapon was equal to suicide. Still even in this awkward position he could fulfill his plan. As soon as the man moved Sol did also, moving forward and twisting his body so his back was facing the man with the axe until he was hiding under his sword as he brought his sheath up at the same time to from his originally planned X block. The axe hit dead center on the locked blades and Sol let out a large gasp as he was slammed to his knees by the force of the blow and the flat of his sword colliding with his back roughly. Good heavens he hadn't been hit this hard since he'd taken that cannon shot a few years back.
Unable to breath and quite possibly with a broken bone or two Sol was still able to formulate his next action, the axe had been stopped and his opponent would have to spend several seconds putting the time into moving it again with enough force to strike him again. Or so Sol hoped. His sword was still trapped, which left his sheath and his body as his only weapons. Technically he could use magic but that would betray the rules of the bout, however unspoken they were. With his body still reeling from the blow Sol forced it into movement, twisting his body, shoving off the axe and turning the motion a spin that gave power to his swing with the sheath held in his right hand at the axe man's face. It was little more than a bar of metal, but hopefully it would be enough to at least make him flinch. At least enough to make him let release his hold on Sol's sword, at which point Sol would continue spinning, putting the force of the second spin into a swing identical to that of his previous attack, only this time the bar of metal held in his left hand had an edge.
@TheHangedMan Aleksandra had to take a small breath before responding after hearing Meruin call her a trespasser. "*sigh*... First off your the one who dropped in on me," she started and stood up "Second hi nice to meet you I'm your roommate Aleksandra so this is my room too". Aleksandra gave a small smile before walking over to her closet and grabbing a skirt and shirt similar to her clothing that she was currently wearing. "If you don't mind I'm going to go take a shower because my test left me dusty, sweaty, and tired" she said and gestured to her skirt that was a bit torn and her shirt was dirty before she walked over to her bathroom and turned on the hot water after marveling at how clean and pristine it was. After letting the water run for a second Aleksandra stepped into it.
Sol's sword did found itself released from the Man's grip, but that was mostly due to he himself letting it go. Sensing the attack of Sol, the Man slid backwards and let the blade slide out of his cut palm to avoid the blow. In return, when Sol's second swing, the one meant to mimic the previous one, came at him, he had managed gain safe distance against Sol. Now, with the distance mostly safe, the Man disappeared once more in a burst of speed, his huge, over-sized axe trailing behind him.
He appeared to Sol's side, axe raised above him like a guillotine blotting out the sun, and brought it down towards his shoulders, aiming to chop the whole arm right off.
"A mishap at a bar, a charming, rich young man to pay for it, and bonding over mutual lust . . . of battle! Oh I can see the sparks flying already!" swooned the bartender suddenly. With a playful grin, she pulled out a glass of wine - suspiciously branded 'Amore~' and emptied its contents into a fine crystal wineglass.
"Love is in the air~" With an exaggerated sigh, raised the glass of wine in the air and downed it with a large amount of theatrics. "I swear ya battle aficionado's take this attitude of 'fight me for fun and friendship!' everywhere you go, up to and especially the bedroom," she added with a fox-like snicker, completely unabashed by the implications she was making.
Her snickers settling down, she said in a more serious - though that was not much more serious, by any means - tone: "In any case, strength is strength - I doubt people find it hard to respect it. Kinda separates people, let's 'em know who's more important - on a social level, anyway." @The ghost in black
Meruin took a moment to process what Aleksandra had said. Huh, so it appears that she had to share the room with her. Not quite something she had envisioned doing, but okay.
"Oh, then apologize for the misunderstanding, and it's good to meet you, Aleksandra," said Meruin conversationally. "I'm Meruin, your roommate, in case you needed confirmation."
Nodding in understanding, Meruin watched as Aleksandra stepped into the bath; it was true, she was fairly dirty. She wondered how she had reached that filthy state of dress. Shrugging, she concluded it must have been something to do with her exam. Speaking of which . . .
Meruin looked down on her own attire, which wasn't much cleaner itself. It had holes where she was stabbed, slight burns from where her shields hadn't reached, and was covered in soot, gravel and just earth in general. Deciding it would be best if she got herself cleaned as well, Meruin took of her clothing and dumped them on top of her bags, reminding herself to get them mended and cleaned later.
Having yet to notice that there were, in fact, two bathrooms Meruin stepped into the shower right after Aleksanrda.
"Hm, looks like I forgot to bring out my soap and shampoo. Are there any spare ones there, Aleksandra?" said Meruin, nonchalantly using a tub to wash herself next to the girl.
Didn't this man know that large weapons were slow? Still as he regained his footing and the man already attacked once more Sol found he could work with this. As the axe chopped down, Sol's shoulder fell at nearly the same rate, however it had began earlier. The axe blade whistled through the air attempted to sever the limb and Sol kept dropping his shoulder turning the motion into a cartwheel. Now in the air over the axe and fully upside down to the man in front of him Sol did a half spin to power his swing with his sword at the man.
If everything went as planned Sol would have scored a hit and landed on his feet on the other-side on the axe, ready to dodge the next attack. However it occurred to him mid maneuver that the man could probably kick him out of the air and also that that would be rather bad. In addition if the man was strong enough to entirely reverse his swing then his situation would be ever worse than before he tried this. Already committed to the action Sol would simply have to hope for the best and once again use his sheath to guard himself from major damage if the man was able to attack him before Sol completed his action.
Charles looked around to notice to his knowledge he was still alone, he shrugs and puts his bag on a bed humming slightly to himself as he begun to unpack his books, he would look to find his schedule and looked at it "...looks nice..." he says looking at it, then puts it away so he knows where to go when it becomes time for class. he would stretch and sit on his bed now picking up one of his books and looking at the mythical creatures in it. "So many creatures.... to think I could turn into any of them.. as soon as I get use to the strain from shapeshifting.." he says to himself "...and that's just one part.." he says as he looks to his hand as a finger changes color to a metallic color before changing back "...to think something unnatural like that is a lot easier than turning into a creature." he sighs. "a lot of work ahead of me.. not that matters to much for my family though means more to me..." he lays back looking at his hand as he practices some, changing his hand into claws then back to normal.
