Divinity

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

Lol s'all good.

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

I'm ready if you are~

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

As she was now, Shin seemed quite sluggish by comparison. From her perspective, the gears of the world had considerably slowed, such that the birds in the sky seemed to be swimming through molases. She was quite ready for an assault on any front, especially if it was coming at her from her, er... front. In terms of relative time, the claw was only going slightly above the speed limit.

With the benefit of a dual-mind system so too came the boons of a body tailored for two. One of her parents happened to be a Guardian Edge, a being exercising total control over its material form. That included her own momentum, which may have helped explain some of Ishtalle's non-newtonian feats. She'd slow just enough to properly align herself. With a solid somersault off her air-highway she'd flip over the incoming claw. Her locks trailing behind her would become a barrier between whatever she left exposed in the meneuver and the claw-staff, flash-hardening into a rigidly solid singular mass. With a powerful kick off an air barrier she'd close the distance with a speed that gravity simply wouldn't allow.

Oh that's right. She had a few swords to retrieve, didn't she? Just as they were enveloped, the entire family would sublimate into a gas and naturally effuse through the liquid medium as gases were wont to do. Given Ishtalle's proactive nature, it would be quite close to an instantaneous process. All would rejoin Crystalle in her inhumanly fast descent by the same means; rapidly re-solidifying outside the spears.

Lead by the needle-thin point of her sword, she discharged sky blue ethereal lightning through contact as she ground it into his shield with such strength that she would be juggled several inches into the air if it did not break. Given the staffs spiritual nature, it acted as a superb (super)naturally conducting material. This was hand tailored, cooked up by Ishtalle after having deduced the spiritual component of it through physical engagements. With the speed of a bolt it would course through the entirety of the Hydra, dissolving whatever metaphysical bonds held it together, and even Shin if he insisted on maintaining his grasp of it.

With his weapon hopefully out of order, the Hydra would subsequently collapse or dissipate, logic withstanding. This would leave both of them free-falling to the earth. However, only one of them would be positioned above the other, and only one of them would be poised to run the other through with her divine blade.

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

Crystalle did not in fact speak to him as though they were equals. This was not Crystal but Crystalle, and she did not have the slightest doubt that she was his superior. Confidence was a good trait, though. It was fully obvious to her at this point how things were going to end; How they'd always end. With her standing and her opponent lying flat on his back. She did not fear Shin for she had no reason to.

As the beast moved forward, she brandished her blade like an oversized kitchen knife. Glowing crimson lines like circuitry etched into its face and split along them into eight more copies, each possessed by the sword spirit. As Shin would launch his assault Crystalle would level her primary weapon at her side as though preparing to unsheathe it. Violet eyes met Shin's for a brief moment. Simultaneously, her sister blades would orbit her in reactive and uneven rotations, meeting the spires tip-first in a shower of sparks to intercept them. If they rapidly changed direction, the blades would follow suit and appropriate their trajectory. It would make for quite a hellish scene.

Meanwhile, Crystalle would focus on taking the path of least resistance to her target; the straight line. In her iado stance, she would disappear like a lost memory, and then reappear just a fraction of a second later a little past his left side in that exact same position. In that short time, she would have 'unsheathed' her blade, bisected him at the waist, and returned it to its resting place all in a single, masterfully executed motion. Ishtalle would be honed to chop through his defense as well, honed specifically for this weapon through repeated blows. Throughout her entire flight, whatever flechettes he could send at her would be met by her Blade Barrier, which now orbited her waist to become a Blade Skirt.

It was a novel technique she'd invented called the slide step. By creating a thin, solid panel of air beneath her feet and manipulating the current, she had invented a true, much cheaper version of super speed. It had the benefit of being abominably fast, even moreso now that she was unchained by her mortal coil. Shin had also closed the gap between them, so the short distance would be travelled even quicker. The room for response was incredibly limited.

Would her uses of air ever end!?

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

I wouldnt know if that in fact makes them automatically more intimate. The relationship shared between Corban and Ishtalle is not just master and weapon. It encapsulates most man-woman relationships. It is a motherly-son intimacy at the same time as being a love shared between master and student. Ishtalle is not just a weapon, but a living weapon. I for one am certainly more intimate with my wife than myself.... most days.

Anyway, Crystalle, if you noticed the name change is in fact a full body transformation. All of her common factors have been doubled appropriately.

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

As the ground was destroyed and uprooted at her feet Crystal would take a measured leap backward, landing a distance of ten feet from the nearest spire, and perhaps triple that from Shin. Since he was clearly in no rush to be close to her, nor attack, she'd use this free time to analyze the logistics of her predicament.

-Hmm, a field saturation technique. Material analysis?-

<Its the same material used by his weapon. Highly polymorohic, durable, and flexible.>

-I sense a bluff. This looks far more like a reactive defense than an offensive. Can you best it?-

<It will take another taste to separate the finer elements, and more time still to create a proper counter-material. But it can be done.>

-So we'll have to get up close.-

<What's your plan?>

-Hmm. I have one, but I'll need your strength beyond a sword.-

In a jetstream of prismatic blue fire, Crystal would become the heart of a magnificent diamond chrysalis. It was quite thick, shimmering in the sun with a faint, unnatural glow. Whatever proccesses were going on inside would be invisible save for the shadow sillhouettes.

Lightning flickered across its many faces, and the air convected tightly around it. The shadow within shrunk marginally as a black fabric stretched up and over her body before tightening and contouring to her frame. Bands of sillhouette locks bursted from her bun in a rampant outgrowth. Finally, the complex process complete, the steaming shell split down the center with a symmetry only seen in crystalline solids to reveal what lay within.

From a crystal bed of rising smoke, Crystalle emerged. An unnatural wind lifted chocolatey hair, opening her ornamental rose like a sunflower and revealing purple iris'. Her skin shewn an icy blue. If Shin could touch her he might notice she was also dangerously cold. Whatever bond Shin shared with his weapon, she doubted it could compare to this.

One body. Two minds. Twice the efficiency.

Her ice sword was used as raw material in the chrysalis formation, so she'd need a new one. More importantly, she needed it to hurt. The space around her came alive as she held her hands up in front of her chest as though in offering. A ten foot navy blue claymore set with a ruby jewel in the cross-guard formed out of a frosty mist in her palms, seemingly out of thin air. In truth, it was a deeply practiced joint discipline, which allowed her to summon copies of Ishtalle anywhere so long as it was within two meters of herself. Its edge caused the air to smell of ozone, the intoxicating scent of aligning astral circuits.

Each would be as sharp and deadly as the original. With a deep breath she reset her stance, this time a low center of mass finestra.

"Come."

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

I've regained some composure and I will restart it sometime tonight. If we're lucky I'll have it done by tonight as well.

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

Ive lost my post twice in a row. For my sanity, i am not sure if I can provide a date I'll be able to post

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

Oh no I understood what you meant. No problem, dude.

A Change of Pace. A Challenge for Once. Shincoco Vs Corban.

Her boots left 3/16 inch trenches in the ground as she came to a sliding stop, some 15 feet from Shin. As the dust settled and her opponent came back into view, clearly not dead, she immedately began to crunch the damage numbers like an rpg in her mind.

--Begin Report--

Assessment:

--The concussive wave was comparable to a small explosion or a 12-gauge going off as close to instantly and point-blank as any human could register. He made a point to wear no armor, not that even that would help him given the laws of vibro waves. The meteoric strike has rent entire sets of plate mail in the past, so whatever extrahuman physicality his human form bellied would do little to protect him.

--Likely to be suffering frrom several broken or dislocted bones in the face. The iron mask would in fact cause the wave to travel faster through the material and to the soft tissue underneath easier.

-- A concussion was certainly on the palette this evening, given pressure waves' knack for rattling the brain around inside the skull. The surface area of the damage would be spread as well, given his entire body was subject to the blast with no shielding.

Results: Crystal and her familiar were thinking two broken ribs and a mild concussion were the order of the day at the very least.

--End Report--

Damage Report

Even if he was laughing, Crystal was no fool. She knew that her attack was no laughing matter, and that he was more than likely trying to unhinge her sense of progress. It then dawned on her that it was entirely probable he suffered from a congenital pain indifference as well. That was a common trait she discovered over a long life of war. Despite the case, she realized what she would need to do.

A single, unfocused strike would not be enough to finish this man. He may have disliked being grouped into the monk archetype, but the more time passed, the more she was convinced. Now he even shared their ungodly resilience. With a better understanding of his disposition, she could lay out a plan to ultimately end him. Wide attacks wouldn't be as effective, but all she'd need is a precise, critical strike.

"Very well. I'll rest easy knowing I gave you the opportunity to walk away."

Taking an alber stance with the tip of her straight sword pointed to the earth, she readied herself. The blade would be virtually invisible, given it was held vertically, the only sign that she wielded anything at all being the awkward position of her sword hand. She would not be the first to strike again. She offered him her hand once and he failed to impress her.

This was his chance at redemption.