A Magician's Uncertainty

The man approached the Coliseum for the first time since he had defeated Decimus. This time he did not hide his face, and went under the name 'Garret'. The change in the equipment he used was a factor that hid his prior experience in the arena, allowing a 'fresh slate' to be ran by. His blade was in a different scabbard, and hadn't been used enough to be easily recognizable once he drew it. The 'wand' was no longer, and in its place was a short staff.

He wore light clothing, though it was cold outside. The heat of the impending battle would give Garret all he needed in order to move on with the fight. He recalled, several days back, speaking to Azix who suggested the battle. He mentioned something about wanting to try his hand in a somewhat serious combat situation while running under some rules; plus, the two of them could place bets on who would win and see who came out on top. It was an interesting wager, and Garret's first opportunity to truly see how far Azix had advanced since they had last seriously practiced against each other.

Walking down the hallway, Garret noted the familiar scene of the indentations upon the walls. I thought I was finished with this place... Garret paused, looking out towards the shouting crowd beyond the doors. He was still out of their sight, as the shadows of the hallway kept him well hidden, but their voices reached him easily, and the light illuminated their figures. Clenching his fist, he lightly punched the wall before making his way out into the arena. The announcer explained that Garret was entering his debut match as a challenger against a man who the crowd knew...

While Azix waited for his name to be called, doubt began nibbling at his thoughts. As soon as he noticed his nervousness, Azix took a few deep breaths to clear his mind. With a tranquil vision held in his mind's eye, he continued his breathing exercises to ease into a meditative state. Worry had no place in this coming match, he couldn't allow fear to find a foothold. If it surfaced during the fight, he could hesitate and that could cost him.

With his mind settled, Azix focused on mentally preparing for his match against Garret. For as long as Azix knew Garret, the blue magician always seemed to be light years ahead of him in skill. It hadn't bothered Azix when he was subordinate to Garret, however now the orange magician was a King Candidate and he had people who counted on him. If he wasn't strong enough to give Garret a challenge, how could Azix expect to protect anyone?

He was pulled from his thoughts abrutly when he heard someone call his name. Azix stood up, idly checking to make sure he had his weapons and magical tools, and walked to the gate. When it opened, Azix stepped out onto the tiled floor and waited for his vision to adjust to the afternoon light pouring into the arena. When his vision was clear, Azix glanced up to see Garret waiting for him and gave him a subtle nod.

Azix came to a stop fifty meters away from the blue magician and bowed in his direction. Standing straight, Azix let his wand slide out of his sleeve and into his hand. With his focus on Garret, Azix let out a deep breath and got into position, while he waited for the bell to ring, signaling the start of the match.

Garret noticed Azix walking into the arena across from him. He smiled, nodding to the man nearly imperceptibly. When the light magician started to walk forward, Garret brought out his staff that he had received from Adamus and set it down into the ground, leaning on it slightly. Azix made it to the start line, and Garret lifted the staff so as to return the bow Azix performed.

The match began, and Garret watched Azix closely. He walked forward, not trying too hard to close the distance at this point in time. He pricked his finger with the edge of a metal part of the staff during the second second of his walking forward, calling forth a creation of water, sound and life; Rithux, The Water Dragon. It formed beside him, fifteen meters in length and three meters in diameter. The creature gave off a roar of anger, and Garret gave it its commands. "Fly up into the air, and bite that man's arms as hard as you can on my command, but do not stray farther than thirty meters of me!" The beast roared, flying 25 meters into the air as Garret continued to advance forward. The creature advanced at the same pace.

Those who took their time to look at the creature would see a mass of water that looked very similar to a Kou dragon. It's body was well defined, as if it held scales of ice, yet its movements were as fluid as water. Garret leveled the staff in his left hand towards Azix, advancing forward and awaiting the time the light magician was within range. If Azix began to ran, Garret would follow suit in order to cut the orange magician off from passing by the blue magician. There was only twenty meters on either side of him, after all. If there was a time when there was only 18 meters between the light magician and Garret, the blue magician would give his shout to the living creature he had called upon. "RITHUX! NOW!" The dragon would fly down upon his command to strike out at Azix; Garret waited for the moment Azix would begin chanting his spell to counter it...


OOC:

Magoi/Stamina: 320/350

Abilities Used:

Azix stood still while Garret approached and watched as the blue magician conjured a dragon of ice. It as a spell that Azix briefly remembered being used at Lagi's coronation ceremony to put out a fire. His heart thumped in his chest as the orange magician considered what he should do. He didn't particularly want Garret to get close, the man was skilled in close-combat, but the closer he was, the more accurate Azix's spells would be.

His eyes never left Garret as he reached under his shirt to grasp his God's Necklace. He waited till the blue magician was nearly twenty meters away before activating Il Ilah's Wrath. Light and life magic would form a twenty-five meter diameter circle on the ground, the outer edge a meter in front of Azix. The magic would erupt upwards in an effort to catch not only Garret, but the dragon construct as well. Azix knew the first step to winning was removing the Borg, but he didn't expect the first strike to do it. He took a few steps back with his wand at the ready, waiting for Garret's counter attack.

[290/330]

Spoiler:

Garret watched as the Light and Life rukh rushed forward; the strength behind it was equal to the strongest spells he knew how to use. He had begun casting it before Garret was in his predetermined distance of having Rithux attack, and he therefore chose to instead counter the spell that was advancing towards the blue magician. Garret bespoke the incantation for the Prison of Water and Ice, engulfing his body with a body of water that shortly thereafter froze into an icy tomb.

The spell Azix had cast, Il Ilah's Wrath, melted the very Ice Garret covered himself in. To his credit, Rithux was just out of range of Garret's spell, which soaked the entirety of the firey blow from the orange magician. Garret wasted no time, running forward and calling out to Rithux to attack Azix; the man had a Borg, so Garret felt secure in letting the beast go wild at its own discretion. He prepared himself to casting another spell if necessary, running another 5 meters towards Azix over the course of a second and a half.

OOC:

Magoi/Stamina: 265/350

Abilities Used:

The blue magician wrapped himself in a conjured sea that quickly froze over. While the icy prison melted from the eruption of Holy magic, Garret remained unscathed. Azix grunted, remembering the time he had been trapped inside that same spell during their last spar. He had no desire to experience that again. Magoi was directed through Azix's legs, manipulating the elasticity of his muscles, allowing him to run faster, with Sakeru.

Using his God's necklace as a medium, Azix conjured Il Ilah's Wrath once more. This time, however, the ray of Holy light, twenty-five meters in length and width, formed on a vertical axis, a meter in front of the orange magician. The spell was centered on the blue magician as it burst forward with an intense heat. Once he cast the spell, Azix utilized his rapid speed to move back fifteen meters in the span of a second, keeping the gap between the King Candidate and his Household member.

[250/330]

Abilities:

Garret frowned as Azix recast the same spell as before, but this time straight at him. Taking an alternate route from before, Garret sustained his casting of the spell and generated it directly in front of him. The second Prison of Water and Ice was melted once again as Rithux flew forward in an attempt to strike Azix. Unfortunately for the blue magician, the beast was unable to reach Azix before the orange magician managed to get out of range of the beast. Rithux lost its strength and went back to the Rukh. Once the water completely dissipated from the collision of the Prison of Water and Ice against Il Ilah's Wrath, Garret took note that Azix had somehow increased the gap of distance between the two to a great degree. He recalled how the man had gotten off the carpet to run into the warehouse when Ariella was in danger.

While Garret easily caught up with him and then passed him by, he knew that the man was capable of moving at incredible speeds in a similar manner as Yua. Taking this into account, Garret was of the belief that Azix had used something like Magoi Manipulation in order to improve his speed. Knowing that this speed could make things difficult, Garret kept a close eye on Azix's movements to determine his next step. The light magician was now 35 meters away from his entrance, and 35 meters away from Garret. The distance would make it impossible to attack from before the opponent reacted; that was simple Math City at work. Rithux was one of his faster spells, and Azix had managed to outpace it before it could reach him, though Garret didn't manage to view that part.

The blue magician continued walking forward, watching Azix's movements. It was his desire to get within 15 meters of the man, but if Azix attempted to run to either side of him, Garret would also react appropriately.

OOC:

Magoi/Stamina: 245/350

Perk Used: Math City: The study and practice of engineering requires the student to have a good grasp on math. The construction of cities, waterworks, buildings; all of these things require great detail backed by math in order to create them effectively. An Engineer is able to estimate a close figure in mathematical terms for things that they see in the world.

Abilities Used:

The dragon-construct chased Azix, quickly closing in, as he ran. Luckily, its jaws failed to snap around the orange magician in time before it dissipated into streams of magoi. Azix let out a relieved breath and focused on Garret, who had begun his slow advance once again. Judging by the amount of water the pooled around the tiled floor, the orange magician assumed the frozen tomb had been conjured as a counter.

Azix noticed he was breathing a little heavy and gauged that he had consumed nearly a third of his magoi thus far in the fight. As Iatsu continued to approach, Azix became conscious of the fact that he couldn't afford to keep putting distance between them. Perhaps, putting his back closer against a wall hadn't been the best idea. The more the orange magician thought about it, he had only ever been able to use Il Ilah's Wrath twice in a row. Iatsu's icy tomb appeared to be of equal quality, so by the same logic, he could only use it twice. Believing this to be true, Azix realized that using Sakeru had been a poor choice, since he had no need to worry about being frozen.

Secure in this knowledge, he let the seconds tick by, observing Garret's slow footsteps forward. Azix released his grip around the God's Necklace with his right hand and placed it in his pocket. His Rod Of Pestilence was held tightly in his left hand and raised towards the blue magician. He held back from casting anything just yet, waiting instead to counter the former Spymaster.

Garret took note that the light magician refrained from moving this time around, and raised an eyebrow. It was true that Azix would not be able to run forever, considering the means he had available to him, he did not imagine that orange magician would consider that and stand his ground. They quickly approached a distance in which simply dodging abilities became extremely difficult; the 15 meter mark. Garret was of the belief that only the greatest of martial masters had the movement capabilities to effectively escape stronger abilities at this distance, and knew that Azix's primary focus had always been on magic. Straining his expertise in the use of magic in order to sustain Prison of Water and Ice one more time, Garret sent forward a newly summoned orb of water at 25 m/s towards the light magician. This creation was 25 meters in diameter, and would engulf the magician inside of its vast expanse should the man sit by and do nothing.

Garret expected the laser-like beam of light to appear once more, believing Azix's command of the Rukh equaled or exceeded his own. His expectations high, Garret watched Azix's response carefully as his spell began to form.

OOC:

Magoi/Stamina: 225/350

Abilities Used:

The blue magician continued forward at a slow pace, shrinking the gap between the two contestants. As he got within twenty meters of Azix, the orange magician sent part of his magoi into his hair, encouraging it's growth. He directed his hair down his back, down his leg, and into the ground behind his foot. The twenty-five long growth of hair would burrow a meter under the ground to wait below Garret, directing it to follow any movement made by the man.

While Azix did his best to conceal Crazy Horse from his opponent, he pulled his hand out of his pocket, clutching a magical tool in the palm of his hand. He noticed a flutter of Rukh and an orb of water began to form in the air, near the blue magician. The Marquis fed a stream of magoi into the Fiery Pendant, creating a whip of fire that he sent into the orb. At the same time, he directed his hair to pierce out of the ground, beneath Garret, to strike at his Borg. Water hissed as it met fire, the two spells fizzling out in a cloud of steam as they dissolved into magoi.

Azix cursed silently, realizing that Garret had been able to cast the icy prison three times. The blue magician was definitely on a different level than the Marquis.

[190/330]

Spoiler:

The movement of the hair was not something Garret could readily see behind a distorted volume of water which was created by his spell. The clashing of their spells created a cloud of steam, the heat of which caused Garret to step back as the light magician's hair came rushing up from the ground. The hair struck Garret's Borg, shattering it before flopping down to the ground, lacking any following power. He recalled the attack having been used in the past, and knew that this hair was actually from Azix himself.

The Magician looked down at the hair, which seemed lifeless, and wondered if Azix would be able to retract it. He looked at the steam and noted he couldn't see beyond it. Just for the sake of it, Garret tied a complex knot in a matter of seconds which was too big to go back through the hole thanks to his experience on a ship. If Azix was unable to get his hair retracted, he would be tied in place and at the mercy of Garret's choice. The blue Magician back peddled until he was 37.5 meters away from where Azix was originally standing, waiting for the steam to die down and watching out for any movements; from both the hair, and from the giant cloud of steam.

Of course, the man could choose to use some sort of weapon of some sort, or even a technique, in order to cut the hair. Garret kept this in mind as he made his movements, ready to react as soon as he made note of something.

OOC:

[225/350]

The reduced visibility caused by the fog would pose a problem if any projectiles were sent Azix's way. With that in mind, Azix cast Makihige to create two shadowy swords, followed up by Kage Youshiki to create two shadow tentacles. The shadow constructs were positioned in front of Azix as he sent magoi into his legs with Sakeru. Directing his spells to stay within one meter of himself, Azix charged towards the last location he had seen Garret--fifteen meters in front of him.

Before he could get eight meters away, a strange thing happened. Azix felt something tug on his hair and he ended up on his back. Azix grabbed his hair and tugged, realizing that he hadn't retracted his hair. 'Bastard...,' Azix assumed that Garret had taken advantage of that and directed one of the shadow swords to give him a hair cut. He quickly regained his footing and continued his charge, with the speed of a Fanalis, out of the steam. He fed magoi into his Fiery Pendant, creating the fifteen-meter long whip of fire.

If the blue magician tried to attack him at a distance, Azix would determine the strength of the spell before deciding to either use the fire whip or use the shadow constructs to protect against an attack. If Garret did nothing, Azix aim to get within fourteen meters of him and attack with the fire-whip. Meanwhile, he would direct the shadow constructs to split their assault between the blue magician's left and right side, while one attacked from above.

Azix could feel a wave of exhaustion with the constant drain of magoi, but he ignored it. He wanted to give it his all, wanted to prove that he was just as strong as Garret. Deep down, Azix knew he was outmatched, but he still had to try.

[90/330]

Spoiler:

Garret took note of Azix's exit from the cloud of steam, immediately casting a Ice Explosion to strike out at the Magician. Once more, Azix was moving at an incredible speed, much faster than that of a normal human. His spell only served as a minor distraction; though he aimed it to float slightly behind Azix by some meters in order to keep himself from the attack, the light Magician never allowed it to reach that point. The spell collided with Azix's flame whip, slicing Garret's magic cleanly in two.

He kept his grasp firmly upon his Exuro Staff, using the inherent magic within it to create a serpentine creature that consumed Azix's shadow magic as it wrapped its body around Garret without actually touching the Magician. The force of the collision resounded as the haze from the leftover heat died down, yet Garret did not pause at that point; he cast Ice Fist, generating a fist about a quarter the size of the magician and sending it forward to strike him in the body. Azix had covered a great deal of distance in a short amount of time, Garret had only managed to get 8 meters away from his initial position before all of this took place. The fist would only need to traverse those 8 meters to strike out at Azix. Sweat was beginning to form on the Magician's brow, a mixture between the sudden heat from the staff and the exertion Azix was forcing him to expend in this battle.



OOC:
[135/350]

Spoiler:

Garret conjured a small ball of ice, compared to the icy tomb previously cast, that was cut neatly in two from the heat of Azix's fire whip. Before the shadow constructs could touch the blue magician, he summoned a large snake of fire which coiled around his body protectively. The heat from the blue magician's spells reduced the shadows into streams of harmless magoi. Utilizing the water in the air, Iatsu created a fist of ice, sending it towards the King Candidate.

With the speed from his Sakeru technique, Azix moved a few meters to his left to avoid the icy assault. While doing so, he conjured Makihige and Kage Youshiki once again. Four shadowy tentacles moved to attack the blue magician from every side. Azix continued running, trying to put himself to the side of Iatsu, while maintaining the distance between them. During this time, Azix muttered a command to the Rukh, creating a fluttering flock of black butterflies. A fifteen meter diameter sphere of strength magic would form with Garret at its center. The edge of the Gravity Crush was less than two feet from catching Azix within it.

Azix's vision went dark, either from the copious amounts of blood pouring from his eyes or from using the majority of his magoi during this fight. He dropped to the ground, unable to move, leaving him vulnerable to any further attacks. His mind screamed for him to get up, to continue fighting, but his body was unable to listen. Azix had given it his all, but it had yet to be seen if it had helped him achieve victory...

[10/330]

Spoiler:

Garret took note of the incoming attacks; there were quite a few. Four shadow tentacles moved forward. The blue magician did not know how Azix planned to position them at that point in time, but knew that if he allowed them to get too close it would cause him trouble by splitting his attention. Before they could make it all the way towards him, Garret used Jet Stream, striking down the man's Makihige with a pair of highly pressurized streams of water. The second spell wasn't far beyond the first, and Garret had to work fast to defeat that one as well.

For this, Garret used Iron Maiden. The ice spikes appeared from above and clamped down upon Azix's Kage Youshiki. The piercing and crushing force of the spell caught Azix's last two shadow tentacles in a bind. The sweat glistened off of Garret's brow as he watched Azix draw upon a large amount of power. His hand, firmly grasping the Exuro Staff, followed suit by sending an equally large amount of magoi into the conduit. He was quickly running out of breath. As the two Magicians cast their individual spells, Garret sent his towards the incoming energy so as to burn the power, the magoi, from the opposing Magician's spell. The collision caused a small shockwave of light and energy as the destructive spells disappeared back into the Rukh.


Garret pulled out his sword, Desceld, and steadily walked over to Azix. The exhaustion was getting to him, and the blue magician was certainly dragging his feet while breathing heavily. Aiming his blade down towards Azix, Garret tilted his head back and let out a heavy breath. "Do you forfeit?" He ignored the crowd, and waited for Azix' response, on the ready for any untoward movements in case the man was somehow acting exhausted; he was, after all, a skillful illusionist.


OOC:
[35/350]

Spoiler:

Azix lay on the ground, still blinded from the blood pouring out of his eyes. While he could hear the roar of the crowd, the orange magician didn't know if his attacks had been successful. He didn't hear any pained sounds come from Garret, so he assumed they hadn't. Disappointment filled Azix, even after he had given it his all, he still could not beat Iatsu. Those thoughts were swept away as exhaustion tugged at his consciousness, beckoning him to sleep.

Azix hardly noticed the sound of Garret's approaching footsteps, so he was startled by the question. The orange magician gave a weary nod, "I...yield..." With his reply spoken, Azix slipped into a dreamless sleep.

---

Azix woke up and looked around, recognizing the room as the infirmary for injured gladiators. The orange magician sighed, 'Guess I still have a ways to go before I can be on Iatsu's level.' He waited till he felt a bit better before making his way out of the Coliseum and headed home.

[exit]

[OOC: Congrats on your win Garegare! Nice fight!]

Garret heard the Yield, and signaled to the officials that the match was over. The physicians brought the man a stretcher, getting him set up so they could get him healed. Garret waved to the crowd, not used to the cheers that were showering down from the duel the two had. It was likely just as rare for them to watch a clash of magical powers, as that was far more common in Magnostadt than the Reim Coliseum.

Garret looked back towards Azix. He wanted to follow the man out, but it was normal for contestants to be asked to leave via their own entrances, so as to avoid after-battle conflicts in the event of any bad blood. Once the battle was over, and Garret had left, he managed to get to the infirmary wing, where he inquired as to the constitution of the light magician.

After being told that it was simply overexertion from the battle, Garret nodded. He could certainly discuss pointers with the King Candidate at a later date.

[Exit]