Sparring Amongst Stone (Imass)

[Eridanus]

Eridanus raised his brow in surprise at the knight's sudden offer. The hand placed on his shoulder was warm and assuring, and it made the ethaefal feel bad for rejecting him.

"I am... not as good a person as you may think, Ser Imass. It is only through my dedication to faith, to many Gods of Goodness - Priskil, Yahal, Wysar - that I find my code of conduct that I may live comfortably to my conscious."

Shaking his head regrettably, he continued, "I am afraid I must decline your generous offer, my good knight, though your honorable intentions are appreciated and well-received. I already have duties elsewhere, for I am the leader of a fledgling mage guild known as the Order of Transcendence based on the opposite side of the Suvan Sea. If the Knights are willing to form an amiable relationship with our guild, however, I will be more than happy to negotiate."

[Imass]

"You follow the will of Priskil, Yahal, Wysar, and Leth. You are making an effort to do the right thing and that’s all that matters," Imass was sincere in his rebuttal to the scholar’s words, "We are alike Eridanus, Son of Leth, we both struggle to live with our own conscious ," Imass was referring to his own dark side of course. He took a few steps away from the ethereal, then spun back around to face him. He paused for a minute. The Knight needed a new angle to try to convince this man to join the knights. If Eridanus joined then maybe the prophecy of his companion could be explained. The Akalak would not push now. He would mention it later to Eridanus when he felt the time was right.

Eridanus continued with words of a mage guild known as the Order of Transcendence. It would be interesting to see a whole mage guild aiding the Knights in time of need, but this was not up for Imass to decide. This was up to the grandmaster or even yet the Windoak. Therefore, there was nothing to say on the subject, "I am not the one to negotiate with you, fair Leader of the Order of Transcendence. I could introduce you to my superior however, as he can direct you to the appropriate rank."

The Knight paused for a moment then broke the awkward tension in the air. He unsheathed his broadsword and stared at the gleaming blade for a moment. The first rays of sunlight entered the horizon and began to illuminate his finely polished piece of art. He looked at Eridanus in the eyes then spoke, "What talents and skills do you bring with you to the quest? I bring a fast sword and a strong shield. I bring my faith and conviction. I will do anything to be successful on this mission,"

Imass swung with his sword and smiled, "What say you?"

[Eridanus]

The akalak rebutted his words, but was not pushy, and for that the ethaefal's respect for the unranked knight was pushed up several more notches. Eridanus did not like pushy people, and he was beginning to like the man's personality. It was a good thing that they were on the same side.

"Perhaps you could direct me to a superior," Eridanus agreed, for he knew that the Knights operated strictly on a heirarchy basis. There was little that he could negotiate with an unranked knight.

He paused for a moment as well, surprise in his eyes at the knight's sudden decision. Then he smiled, for day was beginning to break and his limbs felt that there were in need of an exercise.

"I am a jack of many trades, and I bring my holistic understanding and experience to the quest. Combat-wise, I will not be a burden, and together with my konti companion we form a protection-and-healing defensive support pair."

Shrugging at his long swords, he did not pick them up, instead muttering off-handedly, "These swords make great intimidation tools, anyway."

Walking forward to the akalak in a calm manner, he continued, "Before we continue, Ser Imass, let me weave some magic to make our practice session a little safer. I will be creating a magical surface to dull the edge of your sword and soften the impact of your shield, do not be alarmed."

When he gained the appropriate permission, he signalled for the akalak to stand still. Pulling from the pool of djed within him, he thickly lathed a layer of djed on the sword, covering the steel part evenly and completely. He then proceeded to do the same with the shield, though only covering the parts where there were sharp or rough edges that might cause cuts or lacerations.

Shaping the djed on the sword, he then programmed it to shield against sharp edges from the inside, in effect dulling the blade. He proceeded to do the same for the shield.

Pulling out djed again, he covered the eight combat points of his body with djed. His fists, feet, kneecaps and elbows. Covering these tender fleshy points, he programmed them to protect against sharp edges - just in case - and also to absorb energy so that when the shields would absorb the impact from blows to prevent him from hurting himself should he punch the shield.

Next, using the very arcane structure of the shields, he weaved glyphs into the djed constructs, signalling for the shields to shimmer brightly should they reach half-strength. It was a conservative number, but safety was paramount especially in a practice session like this during peacetime.

Finally, he was ready, and he adopted the mixed martial arts style that he developed from experience from a variety of unarmed styles that he learned. His legs slightly bent and a calm distance apart, his arms gently raised in front of him. His right arm was closer to his chest while his left was further outstretched, with his fingers relaxed and not balled in a fist.

Mentally, he began to grasp at the flow of djed within him, but not quite yet grasping it. He would only utilize it in effective moments.

"Let's go," He whispered, his heart beginning to beat fast from the thought of clashing against an esteemed Knight.

[Imass]

Imass raised an eyebrow at Eridanus when the word practice session was mentioned. We raised the other eyebrow when he heard Eridanus say the word magic. This man really meant to cast sorcery on his sword to make it safe to strike. This guy was serious. The moment Imass proclaimed he was a warrior this man challenged him to a duel. The Akalak remembered his younger days in the Kendoka Sasaran. Yes this man was the true scholar: a martial artist. He knew where it was at. They needed to test their combat readiness.

The Knight would accept this challenge gratefully. Also, he was extremely intrigued with this man's magic. What would it feel like to wield such enchanted weapons? Would he be able to return the sharpness of his blade to normal? What would this strange creature choose as a weapon? How strong was he? All these questions ran through the blue man's mind.

"Very well. We are both true warriors, so, let us compete then!" Imass strapped on his shield and stood still as Eridanus enchanted his shield and sword. The Akalak had no idea what the gestures meant, but he watched Eridanus none the less. He couldn't help, but wander at what the Ethereal was doing. He could not fathom anything like the concept of djed though.

After watching patiently for a while, Eridanus finished his spell. Imass looked at his blade and touched it with his thumb. It was dull and soft. His shield felt the same weight but to the tough it felt strange. Shrugging his shoulders, Imass got into his stance in front of his new training opponent.

"Will you fight with no weapon good ser?" Imass asked. Eridanus responded by beckoning the Knight to fight.

Holding his sword in hand and clasping the shield close to his heart, the Knight edged towards Eridanus. The thick broadsword was pointing right at the Ethereal's heart. The shield was at least 90 inches in diameter and covered the Akalak's whole left side (including head/neck down to the hips. The broadsword had a thick steel hand guard that looked like a metal basket. It was thick and heavy and mainly used for hacking slashes. Imass was going to bring the heat in the duel.

Imass lunged out with his right leg, and swung with his shield. His goal was to Eridanus with the rim of the weapon. He aimed right at the scholar's right shoulder and neck area. When he swung he lunged into it with the opposite leg (right leg) and used the momentum in his hips to make the strike as hard as possible. His secondary goal was to knock the opponent out with this strike. Imass kept his sword hand at his side though. If the magician tried to strike, he would try to guard with his sword.

The Knight only hoped that this creature of Leth would actually be able to put up a fight without any weapons. He was confident he wouldn't kill the man, but the blunt force of his weapons would surely hurt the wizard no matter how much incantations he put on them.

[Eridanus]

"My mind and my body is my weapon," Eridanus replied simply to the knight. He had no real wish to use his long swords, for he was confident that the battle would be over too quickly. There was few in the world who could rival his prowess and talent in that combat form, and he wished to test both himself and the akalak sufficiently instead.

The knight was game and he first attacked with a powerful thrust, aided by the momentum of a hip rotation. The ethaefal was gradually slipping into combat mode, where his adrenaline fuelled both his energy and his attention for detail. He could see the muscles in the man's neck tense, and he could see the momentum in his movement such that he could estimate the resulting velocity.

With a light push off the ground, he leaped further to his right, avoiding the initial attack. Nimbly, he strafed the knight rightwards, which made him circling the akalak on his left. Since the blue warrior was wearing armour, there was little chance he had of being able to best the ethaefal's carefully trained agility, combined with the lack of hindering from his cloth tunic and robe.

As he strafed, Eridanus swept his left hand leftwards, lightly touching whatever weapon wielding hand nearest to his body while striking forward with a palm strike at the upper torso. The strike would not cause much damage, for it was performed with only the strength of an elbow-charge, but it also meant that there was minimal investment.

His method was to continually strike and deflect until he found a suitable opening, upon which he would unleash his trademark flurry of lightning fast precision blows to defeat his opponent.

[Imass]

Eridanus dodged the rim of his shield with precision and Imass found himself lunging forward into thin air. The Akalak's eyes widened in disbelief as the Ethereal were able to fly towards the left without losing a step. It was as if he disappeared entirely. There was no time to think or analyze though.

The Akalak opened his hips to the left and pivoted on his right foot. Shifting his feet a few inches he got back into a solid stance. He bent his knees slightly, pointed the broadsword at his opponent, and held his shield close to his heart. Imass continued to pivot on his right foot as Eridanus circled him.

With very fast hands, the Son of Leth swept with his left hand then attacked with a strike at the upper torso. Imass tried to step into the blow and catch it with his shield, but he was too slow. He felt he chest getting smashed, but due to his armor and Eridanus' magic it didn't faze him a single moment.

The Akalak's natural response was the hack with his broadsword again. He brought the blade down on Eridanus' left shoulder, hoping to land a hit. Regardless if he was successful with the counter attack or not, Imass shifted forward and tried to press closer to Eridanus. The Knight threw another shield bash, this time aiming to the left shoulder. He held his broadsword near his body ready to parry any attack.

The Knight's mind was racing now.

[Eridanus]

The ethaefal's palms strike succeeded, but it was not to celebrate for he detected a movement from the corner of his eyes. He raised his left arm quickly, his muscle memory working to use his forearm to parry the blade, for his body was too used to assume that whenever he used unarmed combat his opponent was also similarly unarmed. If that was an arm he would have been fine, but it was a sword - albeit a blunt one - and it was like getting his forearm swung at by a metal pole.

It hurt.

Eridanus grimaced, but the adrenaline rushing through his body dampened the pain. A small part of his mind knew that the real pain would set in later when the adrenaline ran out, but he also knew that he could just find Nira'lia to heal it for him.

Immediately, the shield smashed towards him, and he only had split-seconds to spare before jumping up with both feet, kicking the shield as he flipped into the air backwards at a forty-five degree angle, his body arching gracefully in the air as he created space between the two of them with his tumble.

It looked like it truly is difficult fighting someone with a sword and shield only using his fists.

"You are a capable warrior," Eridanus acknowledged, bringing his hand up to touch the divine mark behind his neck. "Lend me your strength, Wysar," He intoned, feeling the rush of power invade his body. The feeling was similar to Auristics, but yet it was much smoother, and much more refined.

It was the divine power of Evantia.

He expanded the aura of the gnosis to encompass their fighting ground, and his mind began receiving and processing information quickly, courtesy of the mark, so as to access the akalak's intention when fighting. Hopefully that should give him enough of an edge to counter the weapon imbalance.

"Let's go," He remarked. Edging forward, he let the sight and the senses from his gnosis wash over him, preparing himself for an attack. It was difficult for him to attack one entrenched with a shield, and the only hope he had of even touching the knight's body was through a counter-attack.

[Imass]

Imass' hack was successful. He felt the vibrations of his sword hitting Eridanus' bone spread from his hand up his own arm. A grin spread across his face. Of course he did not cut through his opponent's arm because of the shielding present.

The shield bash was ineffective though. Eridanus the Nimble kicked the shield and used the momentum of the attack to flip out of Imass' range. He gracefully arched in the air and landed on the floor without any trouble at all.

Imass frowned and raised an eyebrow at Eridanus. This man was something else; he fought completely different from anything he had ever seen. In his whole life in Riverfall and Syliras Imass had yet to see a warrior leave his feet in combat. In fact, the idea of leaving your stance in combat was sacrilege to the Knight. His whole entire life, the Akalak was taught to never do anything as such. The knight was utterly confused as he was used to fighting much disciplined men. Eridanus was a different type of monster. Regardless of his amazing acrobatic skills, Imass decided he would take advantage of the next time Eridanus used an aerial move.

The Knight slowly circled Eridanus as he prepared the divine power of Evantia. His opponent acknowledged Imass was a capable warrior, but the Akalak did not respond. He was still in fighting mode. When the Ethereal was finally ready, Imass advanced.

Stabbing forward with his blade, the Knight did not wait to see if his attack was successful or not. After aiming a trust at Eridanus' heart, he brought the weapon back and spun it in full circle leading into an overhead strike. Then the Akalak threw another shield bash, this time aiming the rim of the weapon right at Eridanus' face.

Imass would not stop his flurry of attacks.

[Eridanus]

The ethaefal was not completely at home with Evantia, and as such required more time to synchronize with the ability. Information flooded his mind as the aura took in the intentions of his opponent, and his body jerked as he narrowly dodged the first thrust with the sword. It still seemed too good to be true to fully trust the aura, though it was a matter of being familiar with it so that his subconscious could trust it sufficiently for him to take greater advantage of it.

The next attack was too obvious in its execution, and even Evantia confirmed his physical observations and experience. Ducking as he sped forward, he brought his body even closer to the akalak to prevent him from executing his intended long-reach swing. Using the momentum from his body, he forced a palm strike at the knight. However, the zealot was already replying with a shield bash, but he was already forewarned.

Strafing to the side of the akalak as quickly as he could, he swiped his shielded palms away, shoving the side of the shield as the knight prepared the attack, attempting to open a path to the knight's body like peeling an oyster. The force of the shield jarred against his palms, and the shields on both the shield and his palm shimmered briefly before returning to its invisible state after absorbing the impact.

He proceeded with a shockingly quick combo of strikes, cycling his arms from the elbow in a rapid series of strikes while continuing to swipe and redirect any further counter attacks. It was up to his opponent to 'waste' as many strikes as he could, for not doing so would mean absorbing an attack.

[Imass]

The previous two seconds had not even registered in the Akalak's mind yet. Eridanus was striking him so fast his mind went blank. He felt a punch smash his torso before he saw Son of Leth's hand even move. It was not that Eridanus was moving his arms at impossible speeds, but rather his movements had guided quick precision from Evantia's hand.

Imass staggered backwards after receiving three solid blows. One landed him in the face. His eyes began to water and blood dripped down his brow. Imass reacted the only way he knew how: counterattack. Sliding backwards, Imass began suddenly to swing his broadsword. He sliced in an upper cut towards Eridanus's face, then regained his footwork.

Imass raised his blade across his chest at his left ear. He edged back into the barrage of elbows and fists. The blurry eyed warrior swung from his ear in an overhead strike. He even went on his tippy toes and used the kinetic energy in his hips to bring the blade down. His goal was to chop his opponent in one or two well-placed hacked. Although a good portion of his attacks are not fatal, his purpose was to fight not kill. He was a warrior not an assassin. Imass used all his power. Eridanus could not endure safely with these strikes; dodging was the only option.

Imass lunged forward as he combined the slash with a forward thrust of his sword. Imass grunted loudly. Sucking in his stomach, he released the power in his hips as he drove the weapon as hard as he could. The Knight fought as if Eridanus was a heavily armored foe; every hit counted.

The Knight was tired of getting punched. Already his body was sweltering in pain. With a failed double-strike, Imass needed to bring this fight to the floor.

The super quick, six-foot-six, nearly 300 pound Akalak fought through the barrage and attempted to grab Eridanus chest (right under the armpits). If Imass was successful, he would run his hips through, dropping the Ethereal to the floor bringing the fight into his own territory.