Ayero vs. Khalim

Ayero allowed herself a short rest from her battle with Vorgoth before signing herself up for another coliseum match. Aside from the feeling she got from the thrill of battle, the Fanalis woman saw all types of fighters duke it out in the arena. As someone who made her coin from fighting bandits and thieves with the usual weapons, she appreciated the different kinds of warriors that fought in the coliseum as it gave her a chance to practice her skills against more uncommon weapons and tactics.


Stepping out into the open air of the arena, Ayero inhales deeply and turns her face towards the crowds. Apparently she was recognized, if the cheering was any indication, and it made her a bit smug to think that people were pleased to see her step into the ring. Unsheathing her blade and holding it out to the side, the young woman assumes a battle ready stance as she casts her gaze on her opponent at the other end of the grounds. The man had a large build and was clad in armor fashioned to appear as a robe. Pursing her lips slightly, the warrior woman scans him up and down, trying to judge where he hid his weapon. He did not look like a barehanded fighter to her, but then again she had learned not to judge on appearance alone as she’d been fooled in the past.


A frown tilts her lips as she realizes that she can’t gather much information on what type of fighter the man was seeing as how his body was obscured by the armor. With no visible muscles to analyze, she couldn’t make a guess as to how he trained his body. Eager to see what sort of opponent this man would be, Ayero sprints towards him with her fanalis speed. It was at this time that the man drew a rather peculiar object from within his sleeves; a wand. With an experienced flick of his hand, his arm shot out and aimed the point towards Ayero just as she got within several meters of the man. He sent out a gout of flame towards the Fanalis Warrior, casting Torrent of Flame at Ayero.


”Tch…” Ayero’s eyes narrow as the man draw his wand, a bit taken aback that the man was a magician. While it wasn’t unheard of for mages to participate in the coliseum, the arena usually attracted those who used their body or steel as weapons, and not the rukh. Prepared for an impact, she raises her leg to clash with his spell, using Thighs of Steel II. The onslaught of flames rush against her armored arm as they clash, and to her surprise he speaks to her.


Khalim leaned in towards Ayero and whispered to her. ”Are you satisfied with the way things are in Reim? As they now stand?”


What came as even more of a surprise was that his words were not taunting as she expected. ”No, I’m not.” She states simply, grunting against the force of the flames. As the spell dies down the Fanalis woman darts quickly to the man’s left, lowering herself in an attempt to duck momentarily out of his field of vision as she did so. She knew enough about magicians to know that they were protected by some sort of force field that flared up when they were in danger. With this in mind, the young warrior makes haste to try and perform a Devil’s Graze to the man’s left, jabbing her blade towards his body.


As the Fanalis woman moved to the left the grizzled magician veteran flashed a smile. Khalim was interested to see what she could do, yet at the same time he did not want the fight to end too soon. If her words were to be believed, she was a likely candidate for participating in a rebellion. He would judge their strength based on her actions. Taking flight, the Magician narrowly avoided the blow to his body even as commended Ayero for her technique; he was a good judge of power, having been on the battlefield not too long ago during the short invasion attempt made by Kou. ”And? Do you plan on doing anything about it?” The Magician’s speed was just as fast as the Fanalis’, and any attempt at closing the distance would seem futile with the assistance of a dash. Yet he did not attempt to create more of a distance gap than ten or so meters.


[Trained Thighs of Steel II w/Amulet: 755/750]


Ayero growled in frustration as her blade hits neither the magician not his Borg, but rather struck nothing as the man took to the air. Jerking her head upwards, the woman narrowed her eyes, a bit put off by his words. What did this mage care of her feelings towards the Kou occupancy? ”Perhaps. What’s it to you?” Her wary look twists into a smirk as she brandishes her weapon to the side, reaffirming her grip on the scimitar. Digging her heels into the ground, the young woman pushes off and attempts to close in on the magician, her blade position for another strike and her eyes trained on the wand he held.


Khalim considered her words for a moment, getting ready to reply. Before he managed to do so, however, he noticed that Ayero had bursted towards him with a good headway of speed. Khalim gathered the magoi within him and gave new commands to the Rukh, infusing his will into his next spell even as he uttered the words. It was a fairly destructive spell, and not something very easily blocked. He spoke aloud. ”How will you, a warrior, react to this?” He had seen the woman’s sword, up close, and knew that it had a gem imbued with magical power upon it. Whether it had the ability to clash against his own spell, or whether the Fanalis Warrior would find another way to deal with it, was something Khalim watched closely for. A cone of ice shards shot out towards the Fanalis warrior as she got within range of his spell.


”Hnn..!” She wasn’t surprised by his attack, but rather by the scale and nature of it. So he could conjure both fire and ice? Realizing that she was too close to the whirlwind of ice to move out of the way without taking some damage, the Fanalis slows her pace and gathers magoi into her legs. Suddenly bursting to the side at 25 m/s with Fleetfoot, Ayero’s magoi manipulation technique allows her to dodge the Khalim’s spell. Attempting to make the most of her enhanced speed, Ayero does not take pause once she’s out of range of the attack. She instead moved as far around the man as she could before reeling back her fist and attempting to deliver a heavy blow.


Khalim realized, once she began running as fast as she did, that he would not have the ability to keep up. He whistled, impressed; a technique of that strength was reserved only for some of the strongest warriors. He turned in circles, trying to keep up with her speed but failing. Her ability and experience in battle allowed her to pick an exceptionally good timing to close the final bit of distance before he had the opportunity to fully face her. Ayero’s fist slammed into his Borg, causing a ripple of movement to appear, like a stone dropping upon the surface of a lake. The damage dealt to it was what one could expect from a well-seasoned veteran Fanalis, yet it seemed as if the Magician used his own battle experience to hide the timing of his own attack in a similar manner that she had used the timing of his turning to her advantage. This timing was taken advantage of and set up just as he saw her out of the corner of his eye. ”The floor is lava.” His only comment as the blow of her fist struck his Borg and his Magoi simultaneously channeled down towards the ground beneath his feet. He had cast Dry Ice. A spell that would devastate the body, if it came into contact with it.


A grin split across Ayero’s face at the satisfying impact of her fist against his borg. It felt like steel beneath her fist, and she could feel the force of her fist resonate against it. Now that she knew what she was up against, she would concentrate her efforts towards taking out the Borg that protected him. But he was quick in not only body but mind and had the Fanalis on her toes trying to dodge his attacks. Aware that the experienced magician would still pose a threat even without his defensive field, she reels back her sword hand in a motion to break that which protected him. Again, he spoke to her and his words did not make immediate sense to her. ”Lava?” She wondered aloud before noting that the man had his wand pointed downwards.



Cursing to herself, she grits her teeth and abandons her follow-up attack in favor of  pressing both feet firmly into the ground before springing upwards in a Great Leap. While airborne, she notices the haze forming below and wondered how it resembled lava. Very briefly, she mused on a memory of a game her family would play, finding that his words reminded her of a sweet memory of children shrieking with delight as the scrambled onto any furniture they could find before they succumbed to the dreaded floor lava. The thoughts put a smile on her face as she takes advantage of her airborne position above him and gathers magoi into her right arm, extending it along her outstretched blade. On her descent, she would lash out with the devastating blow of her Cross Slash. However, her blade would complete its motion before it would be able to pierce it’s way though his Borg.


The unique shield known to be owned by Magicians, the protection of the Rukh, shattered at her blow even as she continued to fall forward, towards the man. Keeping his wand grasped, firmly in his hand, the veteran Magician from Magnostadt caught her in his arms as she fell. ”Nice jump. You destroyed my Borg, and now you have me right where you want me.” He gave her a devilish grin as he spoke, gently carrying her with his arms held out so that she would be lying as comfortably as possible. ”I forfeit this match. You are quite the warrior; perhaps we could talk more about some of the things I was asking you earlier, elsewhere?” The mist that was generating from below kept the crowd from seeing what was happening between the two.


A bit of relief filled her as she felt the magician’s Borg shatter from the harsh impact of her blade. Now, all that remained was to take out—wait, what? Her train of thought was interrupted as she lands not on the cold ground, but rather in the arms of her opponent. ”Wh—“ She blinks, eyes wide as she stares down at his arms, to the sides of the obscured coliseum and finally up to his face. Her cheeks immediately blush beet red upon seeing his handsome grin. Disarmed for a few moments, Ayero finally regains her ability to speak and practically jumps out of his arms, her face almost the same shade of his hair. Judging that she was about ready to leave his arms, the Magician aimed his wand towards the floor and cast his flame spell once again, giving her a space to land upon. ”Wh-what do you mean you forfeit?!” The woman sputters, flustered. A pout sets on her face and she looks away in order to compose herself. ”Alright. A battle isn’t the best place for a serious conversation, I suppose.” She runs a hand through her hair, glancing around at the fog surrounding them. ”You’re not so bad yourself.”


The man chuckled, genially, before he spoke. ”If you’re interested in a fight for the sake of fighting, I would be more than happy to give you a better spar in a more private arena of your choosing. For now, what would you say for meeting at a local pub, or restaurant?”


The mention of a “private arena” causes a flush of pink on her cheeks, but she mutters in agreement. ”There’s a pub near the north side of the plaza I prefer.” She grunts her response, still trying to will the blush from her face. Though their fight, it was clear to her that she was being tested for her battle ability. Such a seasoned mage could have likely taken her out, and she was a little miffed that she earned a win from a forfeit without spilling some blood, but this stranger’s interest in her and Reim’s plight overshadowed that.



When it seemed that Ayero was willing to accept the win, the magician listened to her choice of outing. He dropped his wand to the ground before her feet and held up his arms in the air as the mist slowly disappeared from around them. Khalim got to both knees and looked up towards Ayero, making solid eye contact with the woman. ”I acknowledge my defeat! My Borg has been shattered, and I do not wish to fight further!” There was a mix of cheers and jeers amongst the crowd; Ayero had shown her skills in battle before the mist had come up, and had given a good show as well. Yet the Magician gave up as soon as there was any chance of harm befalling him? The crowd was slightly disappointed to not be able to see the final blow, but a chant of the woman’s name began to reverberate amongst the crowd. Ayero was declared the victor, and Khalim raised an eyebrow towards her with a half smile gently tugging at his face. ”I’ll see you later this evening, then?”


As the smoke cleared and the two fighters once again became visible to the arena spectators, Ayero has a genuine look of surprise from her face at Khalim’s surrender despite knowing the outcome beforehand. Straightening her shoulders she turns to face the cheering crowd, her chest swelling up with a mix of pride and excitement. However, to her this was not a true victory and it made her feel a bit more hollow than satisfied. But there were more important things at hand. Half-turning towards Khalim, she gives him a stern nod of her head with a slight flicker of a smile playing along her lips.

[Trained Fleetfoot w/ Amulet: 1310+/1125]


[Stamina: 110/250]

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