Shackles of Wealth [Training]

Zadi attempted to return to the cavern from which he obtained the golden sword, but the ruins proved difficult to traverse. The collapse caused by Zadi certainly didn't help the already small area become less narrow. Zadi doubted that anything other than an insect could now traverse the ruined area and search for clues as to how the golden sword worked. The magic circle was just that right now, a circle that looked magical, decoration on an already beautiful sword, but truly frustrating, too. Granted, if Zadi didn't noticed anything before the collapse of the cave, why would he notice anything upon returning? Anyway, Zadi still couldn't figure out how his new magic weapon worked or find out if the golden sword was actually a magic weapon.

"Seems like a genuine magic circle, but is that enough to make something magical? There are rumors near Magnostadt indicating a magic tool requires internal...things...to work, whatever that means. Though, if even Magnostadt can't figure out and create magic tools, who will? Never mind, kinda off topic at this point."

To clear his head, Zadi felt like sparing on of the camp's finest warriors who's name Zadi couldn't remember. Many fine warriors in his camp of which none Zadi could remember by name. His pristine memory was certainly not what as powerful anymore. Maybe the intricate web of ideas, plots, and techniques Zadi had built up have caused his head to become less able to remember minor details? No telling, especially if Zadi couldn't clear his head with a sparing match. Searching through the camp, Zadi eventually found, greeted, and challenged an individual who goes by the name Bao. A strong looking human of Kou decent seemingly capable of crushing a boulder with his bare hands! Bao accepted Zadi's sparing challenge while the rest of the camp became excited; today was a slow day, to say the least.

~300/1,000 - Fool's Gold's Gold Cloud's Shackles of Wealth's Training

The soldier Zadi challenged was just about about as tall as Zadi, but Bao's muscles were noticably bulkier than the blonde warrior's muscles. Granted, body build was most likely different than Bao's; if not then Zadi would be outmatched in terms of physical strength. However, would Zadi therefore be faster than Bao? Maybe, maybe not. Aerodynamics weren't all too important as long as you had the strength to push through air despite your body build. Anyway, Zadi and Bao were probably similar physically, but there was absolutely no way to tell if the two soldiers were mentally equal without having a sparing match...to the death. Since this sparing match wouldn't be to the death, perhaps Bao or Zadi wouldn't give all their mental capabilities to this battle. Zadi was simply trying to clear his head, so he most likely wouldn't try to think too hard about any given situation during this spar. Bao loved fighting, so perhaps the Kou solider would try harder than Zadi? Still no way or knowing for certain.

"One weapon each! The weapon can be sharp, but no lethal blows! I'll be using this weapon."

Zadi held up Fool's Gold, proudly displaying the quality of his weapon. Bao wordlessly agreed, holding up a Bao-sized club in return. The club looked to be made of wood with metal studs lining the sides; essentially what could be called a kanabo. A simple yet fierce weapon in almost any hands, unlike a sword which has shorter reach, skilled-based movements, and more maintenance requirements. To be honest, Zadi has thought about making himself a small club for tight skirmishes, but being as he is, Zadi is still undecided on the matter. Zadi's golden sword was of great quality, no doubt about that in Zadi's train mind. However, the sword was also magical which meant more versatility...maybe.

Zadi wanted originally clear his mind of the sword's supposed magic capabilities, but now Zadi wants to try and force those capabilities out into the open during this spar. That is why Zadi wasn't against Bao using his massive death-club in the spar rather than a simple, non-fatal club. Anyway, Bao started the match off by swinging the kanabo towards Zadi in a windmill motion so as not to lose momentum. Zadi didn't want to directly block such a strong force with a simple sword, so all he could was let the club graze the flat side of the sword's blade, aka parrying.

"Come on, blondie! Fight back!"

Bao's antagonizing started shortly after Zadi started parrying. Zadi wanted to find a way to stop the momentum of the windmill without hurting himself or the sword, but that's definitely easier said than done. Not only that, but if Zadi failed to parry even once during any of those violent swings of the club, then the blondie would be crushed. This may just be a spar, but Bao was taking this very seriously.

In an attempt to stop the momentum of Bao's club, Zadi let the club graze Zadi's sword a little more than usual in order to kinda catch the club. The extra friction gave Zadi time to push up on the club using his sword and extraordinary strength, flipping the trajectory of the kanabo upwards. This flip temporarily disturbed the kanabo's windmill action, but only for a second or so. Granted, one second felt like a lifetime during a fight, allowing Zadi to maneuver his right leg behind Bao's right leg. Zadi then pushed Bao's chest and simultaneously swept Bao's right leg in an attempt to knock the Kou soldier on the ground!

"Ah shi-!"

Bao was caught off guard during the fall, but knew defending would be quicker than recovering. Bao let the fall happen, landing backside first. The kanabo was recovered quickly in order to guard against any incoming strike from Zadi; Zadi used the blunt side of Fool's Gold in order to try and strike Bao's head for a knockout, but the kanabo was in the way, shattering the golden blade of the pristine sword-

"Wait what!?"

"Uh?"

Both Bao and Zadi gasped in shock at the sight of the sword shattering into a cloud of golden dust. Quite the surprise, to say the least, but there was obviously something more to the situation; Zadi had been feeding a tiny bit of his magoi into the sword since the beginning of the battle, eventually activating Fool's Gold's ability! At least, that is how Zadi rationalized the situation. The truth was, Zadi was feeding magoi but probably not enough to use magic...right? Strangely enough, the Golden Cloud didn't drop to the ground or get blown away by the small breeze. Instead, Zadi felt his magoi still being drained from the hand still gripping Fool's Gold's hilt.

Meanwhile, Bao got up and readied a strike against Zadi in an attempt to catch the blonde off guard. Zadi wasn't completely ready, especially considering his sword's blade was now a cloud of gold dust. In response to Bao's swing with the kanabo, Zadi feed more magoi into the sword hilt and thought about shackles to keep Bao in line.

Out of the golden cloud around Bao's wrists and ankles came forth exactly what Zadi wished for; four golden shackles to keep Bao from attacking Zadi any further. Zadi could feel a pull on the shackles as Bao struggles to move even an inch. If Zadi could feel a pull on the shackles, then perhaps against weaker opponents Zadi ought to be able to move the shackles around. How far around would require further testing, but for now, Zadi knew how his beautiful sword made magic!

1,000+/1,000 - Shackles of Wealth Trained

~200/2,000 - Vanity Insanity Training

Fool's Gold:

Trained Ability:

Zadi only briefly observed Bao's struggle to move his wrists and ankles from their seemingly fixed position. Further tests would probably indicate the shackles can be moved either by a strong enough individual or by Zadi himself. However, seeing as this is a genuine sparing match, Zadi released the shackles from Bao. The Kou soldier was a bit out of breath, probably because Zadi was attempting to move the shackles within the confines of the golden cloud. Bao had to use all muscles available to the solider in order to not be moved around like a rag doll. Anyway, Bao recovered and attempted to retaliate against Zadi; Bao was a bit enraged considering Zadi's use of magic during a legitimate sparing match between two soldiers of Gao Yuan Zu's army. Zadi understood Bao's feelings, but didn't feel like ending his experimentation with Fool's Gold's power.

"You little shit! I'll actually kill you if you try to use magic during this honorable battle again!"

"Woah woah woah! An accident on that time...but...this is on purpose."

In an attempt to test the materialization properties of Fool's Gold, Zadi formed a golden, statuesque figure in the shape of a woman in front of Bao. The womanly creation was no more than 2.5 meters tall with arms and legs stretched out. The very feminine figure, as expected, truly enraged Bao; the Kou solider used swing the kanabo with all feasible might in an attempt to shatter the golden figure. However, the figure was quite sturdy, taking the hit head on.  Zadi was impressed by the versatility of Fool's Gold. Not only could the gold within the cloud be shaped to something complex like the human form, but also be moved as if alive. All that was left to understand was the source of this magical power, specifically the magic type being used to move the gold around.

"RAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

"If I'm able to survive long enough, will I be able to figure out this sword's magic type? I could guess based on what I've been able to do so far, but guessing could be fatal right now..."

~500/2,000 - Vanity Insanity

Zadi continued to experiment during the not-so-honorable spar. Fool's Gold was just too valuable of a research subject to stop testing during this pristine opportunity; Bao's rage could be felt from miles away as the Kou soldier continued to swing at the golden woman created by Zadi's sword's magic function. However, Zadi had enough fun testing the creation abilities of the golden sword, so he decided to attempt moving towards something more specific; the magic function was powered by the sword hilt, but what magic type was powering the magic function through the sword hilt? Zadi wasn't a magician, so he couldn't say for sure. All he had on his side was logic, reasoning, and Bao's rage! If Bao couldn't give Zadi motivation to think of the sword's magic type quicker, then only certain death would!

"From what I've seen so far, Strength Magic seems like the most obvious magic being used here."

"I'm literally going to kill you!"

Zadi had to use his speed to dodge Bao's next kanabo swing. Not only that, but Zadi was being jeered by the other Kou soldiers watching the spar. Insults were flying left and right about the use of magic during this spar. Zadi had to actively down them out while staying on his toes so as not to die to Bao's kanabo. A welcome challenge if there ever was one! Anyway, Zadi continued to think about what Fool's Gold's magic function's magic type could be. Strength magic was put onto the table immediately, but maybe another magic could be the culprit? Off the top of his head, Zadi started to cross out possibilities left and right while literally dodging kanabo strikes left and right, "Wind magic is too weak for precise movement."

"Raaaar!"

"Heat magic would melt the sword."

"Ora!"

"Water magic would rust the sword."

"Stop moving!"

"Light and Life magic don't make sense."

"What are you mumbling about!?"

"Lightning magic?"

"HIYAH!"

"I can't think of a reason sound would work."

"MUDAAAAH!"

After dancing around Bao's strikes, Zadi finally came to two possible magic types; lightning and strength magic made the most sense to Zadi considering their versatility. Sure the other magic types could make sense given enough thought, but with his life on the line, Zadi couldn't think of why Light, Water, Sound, Heat, Light, and Life magic had anything to do with gold. Granted, all Zadi would actually have to do in order to figure out if Fool's Gold used one or more of the magic types would be to feed magic into the hilt and think about amplifying the magic within...maybe. Zadi had never really put this much thought into magic types before. He just knew they existed and their basic capabilities of which strength seemed the most versatile.

After some more contemplation and Bao dodging, Zadi came to the conclusion that Strength magic had to be the source of Fool's Gold's power! In order to test the theory, Zadi fed more magoi into the hilt and attempted to increase the size of the gold woman he materialized earlier from the particles within the gold cloud. However, to Zadi's dismay, the gold woman didn't grow whatsoever. Nothing 'strengthened' about the gold woman either, "Damn, must be lightning magic. Hmmm...if that's true, then maybe..."

Zadi continued to feed more magoi into the sword's hilt in an attempt to force the lightning magic to become visible. Bao's swings didn't get any easier to avoid, so draining his own magoi just for testing purposes was kinda dumb of Zadi. But hey! A man that's avoided death so often felt cocky enough to try avoiding death again! Nothing new, sort of. Regardless of Zadi's death wish, sparks of lighting eventually appeared within the golden cloud's area.

~1,200/2,000 - Vanity Insanity

"Lightning magic it is~"

"SHUT UP, STOP USING MAGIC, AND DIIIIIE!"

At this point during the spar, Zadi was more shocked by Bao's rage's resilience. Normally a quite soldier who boasts every now and again after a successful battle, the current Bao was nothing more than a screaming, flailing, and screaming ball of screaming filled with screaming rage. Bao's yelling couldn't be more emphasized. Just about the whole camp showed up to see the spectacle of the spar unfolding before their curious eyes. If only Bao had the power to strengthen and quicken with ever jeer sent towards the dancing Zadi.

All Zadi could do was continue experimenting with Fool's Gold and attaining a higher level of sadism in doing so; the jeers only served to mentally strengthen Zadi. A normal person would eventually get tired of all the screaming and jeering, but Zadi, for whatever reason, felt empowered by all the negativity. Something strange started to well up inside the blonde warrior as he pranced around Bao's kanabo strikes and swings. The jeers were fuel for the growing fire that is Zadi's passion. Zadi stopped for a second, took a deep breathe, and grinned the cheekiest grin a face of Zadi's caliber could muster.

"I'm enjoying this weapon too much."

Literally shaking his head, clearing the thoughts of enjoyment from his mind, Zadi reinstated himself into this spar, sort of. He didn't change what he wanted to try out, a new ability for Fool's Gold. This ability would use the lightning magic directly rather than manipulating the magnetism of the gold particles. With purpose this time, Zadi channeled his magoi into the hilt of Fool's Gold and willed the lightning magic to slap the brains of everything other than himself within the gold cloud. Ten meters of Zadi danced with sparks of lightning around the heads of everything within said meters, Bao most certainly included. Zadi wondered what a jolt of lightning could do to the human brain when administered carefully. The intent wasn't to kill, but instead to disorient...maybe. Zadi didn't know what would happen, but he knew something already happened upon inspecting the eyes of everyone within ten meters of himself.

"They look confused, disoriented, and most of all...distracted. Their eyes keep moving as if they don't know what they are seeing. Bao's swings have stopped, too."

Further observation allowed Zadi to understand disorientation to be the cause of everyone's distraction, but something about this disorientation seemed different than simple delayed reaction timing, "Wha- what's goin' on!? Zadi! Zadi, you blonde bastard! What did you do to my body!?" Bao seemed most affected, probably because the kanabo wielder had the ability to move more freely than the audience. Bao's sense of movement was off, but Zadi couldn't quite understand what about Bao's sense of direction was different.

"Come get me, Bao! I'm right in front of you!"

"Graaagh! Zadi, stop moving further way!"

Bao seemed to be attempting to get closer, but for whatever reason, Bao was moving backwards. The jolt of lightning must have reversed the victims' sense of direction and movement; forward is backward, up is down, left is right. An interesting turn of events, to say the least. Zadi was rather satisfied with the result. His grin wasn't as maniacal as earlier, just a simple smile now, but still a little sadistic considering the situation.

"Hm, neat. And I probably don't have to sustain the golden cloud in order to keep everyone's sense of direction reversed."

Zadi stopped feeding magoi into Fool's Gold and walked towards the truly disorientated Bao. Clever a fighter as Bao is, the Kou soldier attempted to go beyond direction and simply twirled the kanabo like a spinning top. However, Bao left enough openings for Zadi to exploit; Bao couldn't see things clearly during this spinning action alone, so Zadi slipped underneath the kanabo's path of destruction and slashed at Bao's legs. Nothing fatal, just a couple cuts to temporarily cripple the spinning top.

"Aagh!"

Bao fell to the ground, exhausted and defeated due to Zadi's antics. The Kou soldier's pride was hurt for being defeated by such a wimpy warrior using magic during an honorable spar. Bao attempted to speak an opinion on the matter, but Zadi knocked the poor sap out cold with a heavy kick to the head. Those within ten meters of Zadi's pre-walking position were still direction-impaired, stumbling around and lightly bumping into each other. Those unaffected were pretty much just as confused as much as those affected.

Zadi continued to smile, though this time at the beauty of Fool's Gold, "A magnificent weapon; beautiful on the inside as much as it is on the outside. Maybe even more so, hahaha!"

"I'll take command over this camp now."

2,000+/2,000 - Vanity Insanity Training

Trained Ability: