A Friendly Sparring [Social/Garret]

This was truly the best feeling that Tenma felt the moment he brought a spoonful of chicken curry to his mouth before chewing it slowly. He wanted to feel the amazing taste that was melting on his tongue at the moment, slowly chewing the juicy chicken cube before swallowing it all with a pleased smile formed on his face. There was no doubt about this curry stall, their curry was undefeated, simply amazing and it was perfect for his lunch after he done some daily training. His gaze would pause at the strange structure that seemed was made from glass while he still continue picking up another spoonful into his mouth. The black haired man was wondering what kind structure was that and if it was already at the direction of Desert Of The Forgotten Souls from the beginning or not, perhaps he should investigate it when he had time later. Today was slow and there was no clue to this rumor that had been a popular things amongst warriors and Heliohapt’s citizen nowadays, so Tenma was quiet bored and thinking what he should do to spend his day because most likely it was just a mere rumor.

They said some people lost their belonging after they bumped into someone and most of the victim was the wandering warrior who was not be on their guard too much to be able to lose their own weapon. There was something in Tenma’s mind that was justifying this, knowing this country of Heliohapt was not the wealthiest country in the world sometime it was hard for most families to live properly here. Good weapon, such as a Katana with fine steel, wand with fancy crystal or any weapon that seemed to look valuable to be sold could give them a nice amount of money which would be enough for them to live for several weeks. However this was a mission that was assigned to him and he just needed to keep an eye on this thief, so he waited again near the stall. He leaned against the wall just beside the stall  and didn’t really attempt to move to anywhere else because the area was where the thief’s act would occur.

Garret was focused, gauging the market and determining the prices of the goods similar to those that he would be selling. Inspecting the craftsmanship, as well as the variety, of the various weapons, tools and woodworks, Garret was able to imagine about where he would be safe in drawing a profit. The markets themselves went through a bartering system in which prices were negotiable and gold, although a staple, was not the only thing used to obtain goods. It was his third day doing this, planned to be his final day before he began to actually sell goods himself, and he began to walk away from one such stand where a man was selling blades. I'll grab something to bite here, and then return to my temporary lodging...

There was a food stall right next to the man selling weapons, and that was Garret's newest target. Suddenly, however, he heard a shout from the man hawking his wares. "Thief! Stop him, somebody!" Garret turned at that point and saw a man running with a sword in hand. Still in front of the food stand, Garret drew his own blade and barred the man's path forward. Most others got out of the thief's way, as he was waving the sword around threatening, but it did not concern the martial magician. With a deft movement, Garret sliced the thief's wrist even as the thief attempted to send the sword crashing into Garret's body. The strike caused blood to bloom from the man, who subsequently screamed and fell to the ground. Clearing his throat, Garret slid the weapon away with his foot, sheathing his own weapon and moving his foot to his opponent's chest in order to keep the thief in place.

He saw the owner of the shop approaching with a relieved look upon his face.

Tenma was just going to unsheathe his Katana when someone mentioned about the thief, he would quickly attack the thief and brought him to the city guard right after. However he was too late as another man already stopped the said thief and his movement was as fast as lightning strike, he skillfully sliced the thief’s wrist without actually wasting time to do useless movement. He had never seen a man like this, such swordsmanship skill was rare and the one eyed man knew this man was far stronger than him. A smile tugged from his lips when he decided to approach the man and crouching on the ground only to grip the thief’s wrist, wanting to stop the bleeding while waiting for the guards to come and take this guilty man.

“Ahh, thank you very much!” The shop owner would say with a huge smile while trying to shake Garret’s hands, grateful that this man could stop the thief from stealing his goods before excused himself. The city guard already arrived to take the thief into custody as well, so actually Tenma’s job was done even tough unfortunately it was not him who stopped the thief; it was this man who he took a great interest in. “Excuse me.” Tenma would start to call the martial magician before saying, “I apologize for suddenly asking you this, but I’ve seen your strength and I would like to ask if you can give me some of your time to join me in a friendly sparring.” The black haired man showed his faked smile and tilted his head while waiting for the man’s answer, hoping that he would at least grant Tenma’s request. If he agreed, then Tenma would guide him to an empty lot that has enough space for them to do the sparring. Hopefully he could learn a thing or two by sparring with this man.

Garret accepted the man's handshake, his sword sheathed, while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "No, no, don't mention it. Thievery should be stopped whenever possible." With the city guard coming to take the thief into their custody, Garret's hands were freed from having to find somebody to take the man in. There was a small group of people who had watched the exchange, but other than a brief congratulations and sense of short admiration, there was nothing extremely outstanding that occurred.

That is, at least, until he was approached by a man from within the food shop he was about to eat at. The man seemed to be nice enough, giving Garret pause. ... I don't really have time for this, though... Ah. That could work. His eyes glanced towards any weapons that Tenma could be holding at the time, taking into account what the weapons were before speaking up. "I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I must decline for today. If possible, could we meet tomorrow for the sparring match?" The man had a plan, one that had occurred to him as a flash of inspiration. If Tenma agreed, Garret would turn to the crowd and spoke up so all could hear. "I am a traveling blacksmith! Tomorrow, I will be sparring with blades I have forged. Please come and see their strength for yourself! Tell your friends, who may be interested! I'll have fliers posted!"

Garret nodded towards Tenma. "I hope you don't mind, but this is the best way to fit a sparring match into my schedule."

---

The preparation for the whole thing was fairly intense. While not revealing his talent towards magic, and having not been equipped with his staff for some time, Garret still made sure to promote the demonstration of his goods. There were a large assortment of weapons, modeled from both Reim and Kou type blades. Garret patiently awaited Tenma's arrival before nodding at the man. Speaking to the rest of the crowd, Garret began. "The products I sell are sturdy, reliable, and cut well! If you're interested in a Reim or Kou blade, you can find one here! I also take custom orders! Now, to the demonstration!" Garret readied a longquan blade, a meter in length. There was a ring made out in front of his stands, which were set up in a half-circle. The two would have 4 meters to maneuver in. Garret held the single blade in hand, offering Tenma the first strike. The weapon rested well in the Swordsman's hand, with the tip pointed towards his opponent's throat. The resting position was a simple stance that allowed Garret to respond to attacks aimed up and aimed down; less space to travel in order to defend.

“I don’t mind, although I feel bad to take some of your time, but I am grateful enough for your kindness to accept the sparring match.” The swordsman bowed deeply towards Garret, giving his respect to the fellow warrior in front of him. “Till tomorrow, then…” Tenma would wave his hand before walking away from the traveling blacksmith; smile was tugged on his lips as he couldn’t help but to feel amused because the man was using the sparring as a way to promote his goods. It seemed that the man did not only possess strength in swordsmanship but perhaps in business field as well, something that made Tenma felt nostalgic about.

When he arrived at the same place as yesterday, Tenma could see the man already preparing a ring for their sparring just in front of his stand. Without hesitation, the black haired man would enter the ring before greeted the fellow warrior, he couldn’t wait to start and he would make sure to learn from this sparring as well because it would surely help him in the future. He noticed a longquan was in the grip of Garret’s hand, noticing it was a Kou-style weapon and smiled before asking if he could use the weapon of his creation as well. If he was alright with it, Tenma would choose the weapon that had similar features like his own weapon, that weapon would be a 73 cm long Katana. Then, the moment Garret pointed the tip of the sword towards Tenma’s throat; the black haired man would use an offensive stance. He would grip the Katana with one hand and stared at the longquan to measure the length, he assumed it had 100cm length roughly so what he would try to do was to aim for the weapon first to see how Garret would react to it. The swordsman dashed towards the blacksmith until he was close enough to swing his Katana to hit the longquan from downwards to upwards.

Garret watched his opponent's movements, keeping an eye on the timing of his opponent's strike. Testing me, eh? With a longer weapon, Garret would have an advantage on his opponent if they decided to keep distance. The goal in a sword fight, after all, was to strike the opponent. As Tenma's blade began it's rise, Garret stepped to the left while dashing a short distance towards his opponent; his right foot ahead of the other, Garret swung the flat of his blade in an attempt to strike the back of Tenma's right hand.

The strike itself was not one backed with much power, as there was no windup to it, and it would not cut even if it struck. Garret's movement was meant to remind his opponent that preemptively aiming for the blade would not provide an incentive to clash swords. If his body was not in danger, he had no plans of striking blade against blade. A sword fight was a trade between individuals; what are you willing to trade a blow for? Each transaction was dealt with from a position of value. Could you take it, without losing anything? Then do so. If you take it, how hard will be your loss? Can you mitigate that loss? If the blade were aiming for my crotch, I would have defended against it, even if that meant dulling the edge of my blade.

This man was fast and the swordsman needed to really focus himself on Garret’s movement, if this was a real fight then he knew that he would lose one or two limbs or even dead. His body began to tremble but it was not fear that he felt, it was only excitement that made his blood boil. Using the short time that he had to block the attack, the black haired man would bring back his Katana to stop the strike by redirecting the longquan away from his right hand. He could feel the strike was not a powerful one and he understood what that travelling blacksmith meant with that strike. Tenma would choose to take a step after that and attempted to give another strike, now aimed towards Garret’s hand which was holding the longquan as it was the closest on to him.

Garret narrowed his eyes as he saw the movement of his opponent's sword arm. The tells in the beginning of a strike would be the factor that would give either of them the opportunity to determine what kind of angle and strike was moving their way. As such, he pulled his hand back so to allow their blades to clash, letting out a clang of steel upon steel.

Garret put some strength behind the blow, pushing the blade away from him. At the same time, his blade flowed back, aiming towards his opponent's temporary opening that the parry provided. Hmm. Lets see how he reacts to this... Garret wanted to start off slow and easy, if possible, but his opponent could quickly increase the pace depending on the flow of combat.

If that were the case, Garret would have to be careful to not be put at a severe disadvantage by being pushed on the defensive.

OOC:

Magoi/stam: 340/350

You can still block it easily, but you will need to use an ability ^_^. Feel free to ask me why if you need to.

Abilities Used:

The moment Garret clashed the attack that was aimed towards his longquan-holding arm, the black haired man already expected that he would be able to clash it. This man by far was the most skilled person in swordsmanship that he ever meet, so it wouldn’t hurt for him to play around some more so he could learn his movement for his own benefit later on. The way he moved and the way he swung his weapon was different from his mentor so far, while her mentor liked to corner her enemies by being a very aggressive fighter, Garret’s movement was calmer and precise.

Tenma would quickly send a quick sharp slash towards the attack and he would try to use the momentum to sent a horizontal slash from downward to upward, aimed at Garret’s chest. He could feel the man was getting more serious and probably demanding him to give more show as this fight was intended to be a friendly sparring that would help Garret to promote his stuffs. So far he felt comfortable with the weapon as it was perfect in his grip, but his feeling for the fight was not the same. Tenma knew he needed to be careful and not to be reckless at all, his opponent was kind of similar like the water flow in his opinion. He might all calm and precise but when provoked or got a chance, he might be fierce and swift as the coursing river.


Magoi: 280/300

Skills:

The slight reverberations shook to Garret's hand as the two struck blow for blow. Let us see how he reacts to a more frenzied pace... His sword continued to flow, but at a much faster rate. The strength behind the blow had not increased, and the swordsman continued to to press the attack after he struck his opponent's first blow away. Keeping an eye for further attacks, Garret's next two strikes would both be diagonal; right shoulder to left hip followed by left shoulder to right hip.

Of course, as the attacks moved onward, Garret would be capable of changing them based on the opponent's movements as well. His attacks, weak as they were, conveyed a sense of an increased ferocity. His return attack was about as strong as my original attack. Is he capable of more? The blades had not shown damage under both of their attacks. His opponent was skilled, but the question was whether or not Tenma had the capability to fight harder.

OOC:

Cool-down: Flowing Blade of Pursuit, First Stage (River Styx Style)

Abilities Used:

Tenma’s opponent became faster than before, easily clashed his attack and attempting to deal another attack. The swordsman was surely overwhelmed by the attacks that seemed stronger than the previous attack, he didn’t expected this but he would bring his Katana up, making it horizontally lifted in front of his shoulders to make sure that both of the attacks could be parried. If it was successful, the black haired man would try to do new thing that he learned in his previous training. He was not sure how Garret would react to this and was worried that the fight might be more intense because of this. He might make the sleeping dragon inside his opponent to be awakened after doing this, but he would still try it. Tenma held the Katana tighter, before putting his focus on it while pouring his magoi into the sword before delivering a slash towards Garret. I wonder what he will do to defend himself…

Magoi: 240/300

Ability Used:

The opposing swordsman had blocked both of Garret's strikes in a straightforward manner, keeping a strong grip upon their sword as the strikes landed one after another. It was at this moment that Tenma followed up with a sword strike of his own.

Garret blanched as the sword strike rushed towards him. Immediately following up with a Body Alleviating Technique, Garret forcibly dodged the strike while moving backwards. That sword strike... Garret immediately understood that his opponent was a fearsome swordsman. The quality and strength behind the magoi manipulation attack was on par with any one of his own.

Garret sheathed his blade, no longer backed by the speed of his technique. He had kept the burst of speed from it incredibly short, so as to make it look like a foot technique to the casual onlooker. With his blade as it was, Garret attempted to decipher his opponent's intentions while his hand hovered over the hilt. "That was beyond my expectations. A second attempt will not yield the same results. Come at me." Sweat had long since begun to drip from his forehead, though that was not just from the exertions of the two swordsman; the heat from the sun was a factor that could not be ignored.

Even so, Garret began to deliberately put on a facade of exhaustion, as if the battle so far had taken a toll on his strength. Again, this was for the benefit of those watching; a blacksmith who was also a swordsman on par with some of the strongest fighters of a nation? That was not something he wanted to casually reveal. So he stood there, hands at the ready, to defend one last time.



OOC:

Keep in mind that a non-ability parry wouldn't be able to be set up until .215 seconds after I start my attack; this means that technically speaking, you wouldn't have a chance to raise your sword up before one strike hits you.

However, also keep in mind that in matches with people who are willing to write a fight out are capable of letting their opponent's mistakes slide if they feel it would be interesting, or if they are uninterested in pursuing the mistake.

Magoi/Stam: 270/350

Abilities Used:

’His reflex is good… Tenma thought to himself the moment Garret dodged his attack by using an incredible speed that the swordsman found as an incredible one. The attack was surely consuming some of his stamina and his body temperature increased slightly due to the heat in the area and also the pressure from the battle itself. Even though the black haired man was not someone who would sweat easily, he was still human and he hoped that the sweat wouldn’t hinder him from doing any movement that he wanted to perform. He wanted to observe his opponent more and then he noticed that the man was exhausted, he even sheathed his blade back. So he would took around five seconds to breathe in and out while holding his Katana on a defensive position just in front of his body just in case the blacksmith wanted to attack him.

It was a very short rest but it was enough for his body to cool down a little bit, so he would try to continue the sparring. Perhaps his opponent would be overwhelmed by a lot of attack but he was not really sure because his strength was in fact far stronger than Tenma himself. It made him wanted to win but he wouldn’t force it, if he was meant to lose, he wouldn’t mind losing to such a great swordsman that could motivate him to be stronger even more. After putting some determination, the one eyed man attempted to send 4 surprise cuts that was aimed to Garret’s abdomen before delivering another 4 diagonal slashes starting from his abdomen to his pecks. Just like an endless lightning strike, the black haired man wanted to try the attack from previous again, so by using his stamina more, Tenma focused his magoi to the Katana one more time and deliver a strike towards Garret’s arms that was hovering above the sword’s hilt.

Magoi: 160/300

Abilities: