Completed [Bronze Woods] A Song Of Flame And Ashes (Aoren)

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The Bronze Woods, 10th of Bell, 32nd of Summer 507 A.V

It was a lovely day in the wilderness just outside of Syliras where a strange looking snake was slithering on the warm forest floor, relishing her cold-blooded body with the heat. Aka, the Viper Dhani, was in her snake form, red scales with constant black spots glistening under Syna's light. She had just finished warming up her body on a particular clearing, not far from the Fortress itself. Her clothes and backpack were located on top of a rather flat rock nearby. "Aaaah~" She hissed in contentment and curled up in the middle of the glade.

She loved Syliras, this place had the best stuffs since Eyktol. A Dhani Knight, bathhouse, good food, hotspring, and this well protected Woods. It was not uncommon for her to detect the sweaty smell of Knights patrolling the area, it made her feel safe. Aka wondered on where Galbern, her Nuit mentor, was. He was most likely be hanging out in the Undeniable Interests again, the bookshop owned by the cranky old coot, Dominac. Aka was sure she was older than him and she still looked like an early-teenage girl for the pass seven years, humans sure lived a short life.

I wonder what should I do now? Oh! Magic! She hadn't been casting for a while now and got the usual urge to manipulate her res. The Viper looked around, making careful observation to detect any hunters or knights wandering about, wouldn't want them to see a snake breathing fire. Reassuring herself, Aka raised her head and readied her res, it was forming in the form of reddish gas in her mouth. Then she opened her jaw, her hood flaring, and blew out her res in a high-speed stream, igniting the gas once it gained some distance from her, causing a jet of flame to stream out from her mouth. She literally became a fire-breathing snake.

As careful as she was, she still didn't notice every single living being around her... there might be just a curious person or two noticing her little display of fire reimancy.

[Aoren]

Aoren had decided to get out of the city. He had been feeling the need to get out from under the constant darkness of the Citadel for days. An urge that was becoming more and more frequent as of late. The moment he found the time he went back to his apartment, collected his things and set out for the main gates. It was always refreshing to get out from underneath the roof of the citadel. It was not that he wasn’t grateful for the protection it provided against the natural hazards of the world it was simply that the needed fresh air from time to time. The constant noise, smell and generally suffocating presence of thousands upon thousands of people in one massive structure could be a little overwhelming at times. So he mitigated that stifling sensation by getting out of the city traveling up the Kabrin Road for a little ways and venturing into the Bronze Woods to his usual clearing not far from the main road.

He took a deep breath once he was outside the main gates. The feel of Syna’s warmth gently radiating down upon his upturned face felt heavenly. The cool breeze that rustled the leaves in the trees and danced across the planes of Aoren’s face made him smile. He loved being outside. He made a mental note to start getting out of the city more and more. That also meant he would have to work even harder at the shop where he was employed. He didn’t care though. It was a fair trade off. Hard work made for equally well earned free time. Turning left away from the main gates of the citadel he began making his way up the road. He was wearing his loose fitting cotton trousers tucked into his boots along with just his leather vest. It was warm outside and he wanted to enjoy the warmth comfortably besides he also wanted to help his skin tan.

In his right hand was grasped his ever present quarterstaff. Aoren hardly went anywhere without it. The only time he didn’t have it was when he was working in the shop, Stormhold Salves. He always took it as well as his body-pack with him whenever he ventured outside of the main fortress. The woods within the immediate purview of the citadel were regularly patrolled and safely maintained throughout the season but that didn’t mean they were without their dangers. When he’d made his way up the Kabrin Road he deviated from the structured path going into the woods following a deer trail he’d stumbled upon several years ago.

From there it wasn’t long before he was making his way to the clearing that he’d dubbed his sanctuary. He knew very well that he wasn’t the only one who frequented this spot. Several times he’d come across other people having picnics or camping at the clearing as it was a reasonable distance within the forest but close enough to main road to make for easy access. Today it seemed he would be the only one frequenting the clearing though, a fact that pleased him. As he stepped across the threshold of the trees however Aoren was suddenly greeted by a stream of fire. Aoren’s eyes went wide his throat clenched and his heart skipped a beat. He did the only thing he could do. He called on his reimancy.

Dropping his quarterstaff he quickly summoned his Res allowing it to collect in his hands before he threw them up forming a wall of blue gaseous Res that he quickly transmuted into a fierce torrent of wind. Aoren made a stern gesture by crossing his wrists and slicing downward. The wall of wind cascaded forth slamming into the oncoming fire cutting through the flames causing them to flare briefly before the fire dispersed diverting outward and around Aoren rather than directly at him. When the immediate danger had passed Aoren focused on the scene before him.

There was a single red scaled snake perched in the grass with its hood flared and its head tilted to the side. Such a sight seemed strange to Aoren. While he had seen many snakes within the woods he’d never seen one quite like this one.

"Did that snake conjure the fire?"

It seemed like a ridiculous concept but Aoren had seen stranger things. He didn’t see anything or anyone else in the clearing unless there was a magic that enabled its user to become invisible.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

She felt so alive, casting her flames was always a good pass time for her. It might be seen as strange or even dangerous to literally be playing with fire, but Aka saw fire as part of herself. Fire was alive, it could one's friend or enemies depending on how one would use it. Without fire, there would be no life. She stopped breathing flames to watch the fire travelled through their air in all their glory.

Something unexpected happened though, the fire didn't went forward as expected and looked like it was suddenly cut by a blast of strong wind. Aka widened her eyes in surprise as the wind blew pass her flames and slammed into her. She only got a tick to briefly glance at the clearing's new arrival before her small body flung helplessly through the air. "Gahak! Sss!" She hissed in pain as her sinuous body slammed into a tree, she did her best by twisting her body to mitigate the force but it was still painful.

"Ssss! What the petch?!!" She hissed angrily at the man whom she suspected to be the culprit, there was no one here other than the man and herself, she focused her serpentine eyes to him. He was a tall man with short hair and blue eyes completely opposite of Aka's scarlet. What did he just do? The Viper immediately assumed it was the same branch of magic as hers, Reimancy. After all, Galbern told her a reimancer had the potential to master four elements, fire, earth, air, and water in addition to para-elements resulted in the mixing of the four main ones. This man must have used air, an element Aka had no control as of the moment.

"You ssswine!!!" She slithered to the man, using her Viper agility and speed to confuse him. What the man did was disrespectful and rude but it was not enough to warrant her killing him, he was a human too, she couldn't just go up and kill the man, knights would be swarming after her hide if they every found out. She stopped just a few feet before Aoren; raising her head, flaring her hood, and opening her jaw and showing off her long venomous fangs, trying to intimidate the tall man to leave the clearing. "Get away from here, baldy!!" She shouted in snake-tongue, the human would only hear hissings but as far as Aka knew, most humans seemed to regard snakes as dangerous especially the ones with long fangs.

Aka emitted her res once more, flowing them out of her mouth in the form of reddish gas. It gathered into a ball just in front of her, if the man tried something funny again, she would reward him with an exploding flaming ball to the face.

[Aoren]

Aoren watched as the snake was flung across the field and slammed into a tree. He flinched inwardly. It wasn’t in Aoren’s nature to intentionally harm anyone or anything unless it was out of self-defense. He didn’t mind snakes either. They were dangerous when not given the proper amount of respect and a wide berth to conduct their business but he hadn’t seen the serpent in the clearing. All he had seen was a wall of fire billowing out across the field in his direction. If he had not acted he would have been engulfed in flames and burn alive.

Aoren was prone to living.

He rather enjoyed being able to do thing like breathe, eat, work at the apothecary shop in Syliras and pursue his own interests. So when the snake seemed to recover and was obviously very, very angry at the fact that it had been flung across a field and into a tree Aoren did the only thing he could reasonably do at that moment in time. He brought his hand up conjuring a sphere of gaseous blue Res barely managing to complete summoning it just as the snake came to a stop flaring its hood. The hisses that proceeded to come from the snake were obviously of the threatening type. Aoren took note of the long, sharp fangs that he knew for certain were dripping with some unknown venom. He had no idea what manner of snake this was but he generally kept to the belief that all snakes were poisonous.

When the snake conjured what Aoren immediately recognized as Res the Drykas man’s eyes widened. He wasn’t particularly afraid so much as he was shocked. He had never known any sort of wild creature to be able to wield reimancy.

“Just my luck. Stumble upon a brand new species of snake and it just so happens that this particular snake can burn you to ashes. Isn’t that lovely?” He blinked at the wild serpent obviously not backing down but ready to release a burst of very strong wind the moment that snake transmuted its Res. He had no idea whether the snake was capable of manipulating any other elements. For all that Aoren knew the reddish gas being emitted from its mouth was nothing more than an elaborate distraction and the beast was really shifting the layers of earth beneath his feet.

Earth was an element beyond Aoren’s grasp. He had a firm handle on two elements those being Air and Fire. When he was feeling particularly adventurous he combined the two elements to bring about the creations of lightning. Lightning was a para-element and one that Aoren was only on the cusp of mastering. He did not often conjure it as it was currently the pinnacle of his magical craft. It was only in desperate times that he deemed it necessary to fling a bolt of lightning at an opponent. Weighing his options he considered that now just might be one of those times. He didn’t have the time to fuse the two elements together though.

The snake obviously moved fast. Incredibly fast. Aoren wasn’t even certain he would be able to conjure his own Res fast enough to try and counteract anything the snake threw at him.

“I really wish that I’d taken the time to master water. That would be immensely helpful right now.” It certainly would have. Summoning up a wall of water to extinguish the fire being blasted his way would have served as a direct counter to the snake’s apparent element. He had no such luck though. Aoren was a good ways away from commanding a third base element. He wasn’t far enough away that he hadn’t started trying to practice with it. He’d only ever managed to make natural water do a few ripples but nothing spectacular. As his mastery over manipulating the elements grew however so too did his understanding of how each one worked. Magic required a keen level of intelligence to master. There were very few people or things that Aoren knew of that could wield it without being able to go through the steps of higher thinking.

“I wonder…” Aoren looked a bit more closely at the snake. Thus far it had made no more threatening movements. Aoren hadn’t made any more movements either. It had been a stand-off with both of them waiting for the slightest inclination of hostility. Or rather, Aoren’s hostility. The snake was already being very unwelcoming. Going with his prevalent train of thought that magic denoted some form of intelligence he decided to try and communicate with it.

“I apologize. It was not my intention to…umm…fling you across the field.” This was madness. Then again most people considered all wizards mad to some degree or another so at this point the notion of madness was moot. “In truth, I did not even see you. All I saw was a wall of fire barreling toward me. I reacted out of a need to protect myself.”

Aoren had no idea if any of this was making any sense to the creature. For all he knew he was simply goading it on and the snake would sooner bite into his hand than carry out a conversation. It probably didn’t even have any intelligence. It was probably just a creature affected by the terrible storms that had wreaked havoc upon the world back in the Spring of 512.

“Tell you what…umm…snake. I will lower my defenses if you lower yours.” The reason Aoren hadn’t simply just turned and high tailed it out of there when faced with a fire breathing serpent was because he wasn’t entirely certain that would have placated the creature. It was better to face it head on and die fighting than to have turned and ran like a coward only to get struck by a blow from the back. That was not how Aoren was.

Bringing up his other hand in a gesture of submission and surrender he allowed the gaseous Res in the palm of his other hand to dissipate with a flick of his thoughts. He brought both hands up rotating his wrists to show his palms and the back of his hands in an attempt to calm whatever primal fears nagged at the snake. Aoren had no knowledge of Dhani. He’d heard stories of snake people but that didn’t seem a likelihood to him at the moment. He’d never encountered one before so he had no inclination to believe that he was dealing with one at the present time. In any case he hoped that he hadn’t just committed metaphorical suicide by extending the proverbial olive branch.

“I’m dead. Probably. Most likely. Well…life wasn’t so bad while it lasted. I wonder what death is like?” His own morbid humor helped to lighten his own mood.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The Viper kept up her threat display, her cobra-like red hood still flaring dangerously at the tall human. Aka noticed his height, if she was in human form, he would literally tower over her. She didn't like it, not at all, a tall man casually trotting into her clearing, disrupted her reimancy practice, and flung her into a tree. The man's reaction was not the one she wanted, he conjured his bluish res instead of backing away. "Hsss!! I mean it! Go.. away... NOW!! Aka was getting more and more annoyed, this puny human wasn't intimidated by her? Who in the name of Siku did he think he was? He may be a reimancer, but the Viper refused to even consider the possibility of the man being more skilled in magic than her.

The snake and the human's hue of res were opposite to each other, one red and the other one blue. Figurative sparks were crackling between their intense eye-contact. He was visibly surprised when Aka exhumed her res, good, that meant he had never seen a Dhani before, she assumed the man thought of her as an ordinary snake previously. Still, she couldn't just relax or turn her back to him, he was a reimancer. This also awakened a sense of rivalry within the Viper, she would prove to him that Dhani was better than a human in every single aspect, including magical talents. Reimancy was one of the few things about her she could truly be proud about. She was short with a child-like body totally lacking in endowment and combined with growing up in a matriarchal society where might means right didn't help her case at all.

Some part of her mind urged her to just transform to her human form and settle the confrontation peacefully, but petch that, Aka was sure he would kill her in fear the moment he saw a snake growing limbs, skin, and hair. This stand-off could only end in one of them backing away like a coward and that coward would be this human male. The Viper weighed her options should things ever went south, her survival instincts kicking in. At this distance, she would launch a lightning-fast strike with her fangs, the trademark ability of Vipers. Even if her Reimancy failed her, she could still injects her venom into his flesh, destroying his body from the inside. Aka just hoped the human didn't have reflexes that could beat a Viper, unlikely, but it was still a possibility, anything was possible with magic.

"Jussst go away already!" The stand-off was taking too long and frankly, it was getting more awkward than tense. "Sss, what the petch?! His sudden apology brought her to a pause, was this some kind of trick to let her guard down? Of course being a Dhani, Aka was familiar with the conniving back-stabbing attitude in some of her kin. The man didn't stop there, he went as far to explain himself in why he blasted her with that petching wind earlier. Aka didn't know why, but his tone suggested he was telling the truth.

"Right..." She flicked her tongue in a similar manner of rolling one's eyes. The tall male offered a truce, that was alright as long as he was the one who put down his res first. Surprisingly, the man lowered his guard, giving Aka the chance to blast his unguarded torso with her fireball. "...." She didn't do it though, the act of lowering one's res in front of a combat-ready reimancer was a definite plea for truce. The Viper closed her jaw herself then let her gaseous res dissipate into the air.

Now what? Aka wasn't sure if she would transform to her human form to communicate in Common, the thirty ticks it took was a very solid chance for the man to kill her in numerous ways. But first, she relaxed her stance, her hood unflaring, her jaws closed, and her head dropped down to the ground. She slowly slithered to the man, testing if he truly wanted peace, should he try anything funny, she would immediately inject her venom into him with her fangs. If Aoren let her, Aka would climb his body, to his shoulders then lick his cheek, tasting him.

"Alright, human, let'sss be friendsss." She knew he couldn't understand her, but it didn't really matter. Coiled around the man's shoulders, Aka raised her head and gestured to a particular location in the clearing. From there, Aoren would see a curious 'abandoned' clothes and backpack. "Take me there, prove to me that you are indeed sssorry." She kept gesturing for him to take her there. If he obliged, Aka would slither down to her clothes once they arrived, then she would carry her clothes with her mouth, heading to a tree to cover herself while she transformed to her human form. If he tried anything remotely hostile, she would bite his neck. right then and there.

[Aoren]

Aoren wasn’t afraid of snakes. There had never been a day in his life where he’d felt fear in the face of a serpent. They were simply creatures that the gods had made to give purpose and shape to the world just as everything else had some unfathomable reason behind it. As this particular snake slithered its way toward him he wasn’t quite sure that he had the fortitude to withstand being climbed like a tree. Withstand it he did though. It was a strange feeling. As the snake coiled around his arm and made its way around his shoulders he resisted the urge to shiver. That would likely only agitate the snake even more than it already seemingly was.

He had been a little surprised that he wasn’t blasted with a stream of flames and roasted like a pig. That was not to say he wasn’t relieved but now he was faced with the curious question of what exactly was he dealing with. When the snake licked his cheek he regarded it quietly with a heavy swallow. He noticed the sharp intelligence in the snake’s eyes. He took in the rather beautifully natural red pattern of its scales. The vibrancy of the serpent’s coloring was very pleasing to look at. He supposed that only added to the danger however. As the snake hissed and jerked its head in a particular direction he followed the creatures gaze.

“You want me to take you there?” Aoren arched an eyebrow looking from the apparently abandoned pile of clothing and belongings it was gesturing to. The Drykas nodded taking a step toward the gear being certain to move slowly enough that the snake could track his movements but not so slow as he didn’t reach the gear quickly. Once he was there he knelt down extending an arm so that the tips of his fingers rested on the folded black cloth of what appeared to be a dress. He watched closely as the snake slithered down his arm coiling around the gear for a moment before picking it up with its mouth.

“This is only getting stranger and stranger. I suppose there are stranger things that could happen.” What those stranger things were Aoren had no clue. In all of his life he had never encountered such a creature. A wild thing intelligent enough to give him direction and wield magic at the same time. For a moment he considered the snake might be one of the Beast-People, the Kelvics he had only recently learned about. It had not been long ago that he had encountered an elk in these very same woods that was both a man and not a man at the same time. That man had saved his life. He hadn’t used magic to become the animal it was simply part of who he was. He was the elk. The elk was him. They were one and the same.

As the snake slithered off into the cover of the trees Aoren considered leaving right then. The snake seemed to have been satisfied with his display of apologetic non-aggression. Aoren was not so proud a man that he couldn’t apologize for nearly snapping a creature’s neck…even if that creature had nearly burnt him to ashes and he’d only been acting in self-defense. All logic and philosophy aside, he’d taken the path that had managed to keep both of them from further conflict and that was something that the Drykas could be satisfied with. He wasn’t an aggressive man. Quite the contrary, Aoren was rather peaceful.

He wasn’t timid. He could fight. He could defend himself when the need arose he simply preferred to resolve the challenges that faced him on a daily basis in as balanced a manner as possible. Turning Aoren went back over to the opposite side of the clearing where he’d dropped his quarterstaff. He picked it up then returned to where he’d left the snake curious as to where it had gone. After a few moments of nothing but the sounds of the wilderness he shrugged his shoulders assuming it had gone off to be about its business unaware that the serpent was actually shifting into the form of a woman.

Taking a seat a little ways away from the tree line he folded his legs beneath him setting his staff next to himself on the grass. He folded his hands in his lap staring straight ahead assuming a highly meditative pose just as a young woman stepped through the foliage. The young man took her in carefully. She had very dark black hair. Her skin was as pale as the snow that Morwen often blanketed the ground with every winter. She was not very high in stature and seemed very thin and frail at first glance. Her eyes though were what Aoren took in the most.

They were a deep scarlet. He did not miss the fact that they were the same bright red that the serpent had not moments ago. He quirked his head slightly as he regarded her.

“Well I certainly wasn’t expecting that.” He did not move from his position on the grass
still maintaining a straight back with a level head once he righted it from its slanted angle.

“You are obviously a sorceress of some sort. The fact that you wield reimancy is very, very apparent. Again, I apologize for flinging you across the field. That had not been my intention. I was only reacting to what I saw in front of me and what I saw was a wall of fire headed straight for my face.” He took a deep breath almost sighing but it seemed more a relaxed intake than an exhale of exasperation.

“My name is Aoren. To whom do I owe the pleasure of not being burnt to a crisp by?” He cracked a slight smirk at his light hearted take on what was potentially a very tense introduction. Then again Aoren had never been very good at making jokes. He always missed the punch-line.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The man seemed intelligent and open-minded enough, usually, Aka would expect humans to freak out and give her a valid reason to bite them. The Viper figured a dead man or two wouldn't matter to the whole abundant human populace, they breed like rabbits and they grew like mayflies after all. Only about thirteen to fourteen springs and most of them were ready to mate whereas a Dhani required to be at least one hundred springs old. From the fact that he could wield magic, Aka expected him to be not like the usual Syliran. He let her perch on his shoulder, that act alone made the Viper gain some respect for him.

He shivered when she licked his cheek, Aka hissed happily as being a female Dhani, she always loved to be in charge. The very short-haired man was smart enough to follow her gesture, mages were always smart. She was a living testament of that, the Viper hissed smugly at somehow connecting the male human's understanding of her gesture to her own intelligence. "Yesss, take me there~" Being carried like this made her look like his mistress and Aka wouldn't have it any other way.

Once they arrived, Aka was slightly surprised when he made the gesture for her to slither off by putting his hand on the ground, specifically on her clothes. Not only this man was a mage, he was familiar in how to handle snakes as well, that was equivalent to being a 'gentleman' in Aka's eyes and a female Dhani always appreciated a gentleman. Aka hissed happily as her sinuous body slithered down his arm to her robe and sash. She picked it up with her mouth and dragged it all the way to behind a tree.

Once there, she made sure he wasn't looking and began the process of transforming to her human form. Sounds of muscles stretching and bones popping could be heard as her body grew, crimsons scales receding to reveal a pale skin, arms spawned from her sides, tail separating into a pair of legs, ebony hair grew from her head as her face turned from serpentine to humanoid. Thirty ticks later, a small pale girl with long black hair and scarlet slit pupils replaced the snake. Aka sighed in pleasure of the transformation act before putting on her simple clothes, it didn't take long as it was only a simple black robe tied with a red sash, no underwear or any extra accessories.

She peered from behind the tree to find the tall man sitting on the ground, doing one of the activities she found utterly useless, meditating. The Viper was an active female, bordering on hyperactivity, she loved to be on the move, letting her power flowed through her vines as she unleashed her magic while moving fast through open spaces. Her slender legs stepped back into the clearing, the man took notice of her and glanced at her direction. He was smart and keen, she could give him that. Her height in human form would literally make the tall man towered over her, but she didn't mind, he didn't look the sort to make a fuss over such physical trivialities.

"Hehe~ well, you never ssseen a Dhani before?" She spoke in Common this time, her human tongue allowed her to do so. He said he wasn't 'expecting' her but his tone and mannerisms made the impression that this man knew more than he let on. It directly contrasted with Aka's impulsive and emotional nature, she was like the fire she wielded. "Hmmm~" She liked this man to the point Aka dropped all hostility and hissed playfully at him. "I sssee that you wield reimancy asss well, human. Air to be ssspecific, right? I haven't learn that. Fire and earth isss what I have right now, but that'sss awesssome enough!" Reimancy was one of the few quirks of hers she could truly be proud about so she was rather arrogant about it.

"Oh, that'sss okay." She could understand his logic, if she was him, she would blast away the fire with her own fire as well. Better to do that than being burnt to a crisp. Aka walked closer to the man, the closer she got, the more she realized the toned body and muscles of him. He could overpower her in strength, but if there was one thing Aka noticed about humans was that their reaction time was noticeably slower than a Viper Dhani. If things went south, no matter how unlikely it might be, Aka must rely on her speed to outmatch him.

He introduced himself, that was already a sign of goodwill. Like most humans, his name was so short, so unsightly, but of course Aka wouldn't tell him that. "I'm Soshakuakamamushi, Aoren." She smirked for a bit, waiting to see his reaction at her name. For some reason, humans had difficulty of pronouncing her name right, they always ended up in calling her 'Sosh' or 'Mushi'. She didn't like that so it was better for her to provide their lesser mind with a short name they so fond of. "But you can call me 'Aka'." The Viper then sat down in front of him, looking up to his cobalt blue eyes. It was rather symbolic on how their eyes contrasted with each other, Aoren was calm and collected like the deep sea while Aka was brash and wild like flames.

"Ssso, what are you doing here? Practicing magic like me too?" She gave him a grin, a tint of rivalry coated it. "I wonder... do you want to... fig- I mean, ssspar? Hehe~ I'll kick your assss!" She was challenging him right off introduction, the Viper wanted to drive the home that she was a better reimancer than him. Not waiting for his reply, Aka stood up, walked away from him a bit, and took a stance. "Come on! Hehe~ I wasssn't ready lassst time, I'll fling you thisss time!" She wasn't all that concerned with being hurt and wasn't wise enough to not regard magic as a playtoy, but an exotic yet dangerous art.

[Aoren]

“No, actually. I’ve never met a Dhani before. I have heard stories of your people but I’ve never had the privilege of meeting one.” Aoren chose his words carefully. This woman, this Dhani was obviously fast. She was strong in the art of Reimancy if her nonchalant attitude toward its use was anything to go by. He didn’t want to risk offending her any further than he already had. It wasn’t that Aoren lacked pride, he had a great deal of it. He was, however, an honorable man and could recognize when conflict would only breed more conflict. He swallowed his pride that he could be more proud of defusing conflict instead of causing it.

“You are correct. I do wield Reimancy. Air is one of the elements I am familiar with. Fire is the other.” He didn’t let on to the fact that he could blend both of the elements together forming the para-element of lightning. There were several para-elements that Aoren often pondered but creating them was beyond his current scope of power. One day though he would explore the possibility of fusing the elements together to create elements outside of the norm of what common reimancers often used. That was a project for much later in the future however. Aoren was pulled from those thoughts as the Dhani introduced herself. He inclined his head when she did.

“Soshakuakamamushi.” He mulled over the name in his mind. It was foreign to him and he most definitely would have stumbled trying to pronounce it aloud. He was grateful when she offered a shortened version that was easier for him to use.

“Aka. It is a pleasure to meet you, Madame Aka.” He gave her a half-smile watching her as she plopped down in front of him. She was indeed a small woman. Her form was slight. She almost looked frail to him but he didn’t let that fool him into thinking she was weak. He’d already seen a small amount of what she was capable of. That alone made him wary. She seemed docile enough for the present time or at least what he was beginning to feel was her docile state. She fidgeted a great deal. He could see her obvious need to be in motion whereas Aoren was completely at ease in his still stance seated in his meditative posture.

“Actually, I was coming here to practice my magic. I enjoy this particular clearing. It helps me clear my head and that provides the focus I need to perform some of my more daring techniques.” He folded his hands in his lap looking carefully into those scarlet eyes. They were directly opposite of his own. The burning red reminiscent of the flames she seemed so happy to obsess over. His own cerulean irises reflected his usually calm and resolute demeanor.

“A sparring match? You mean a wizard’s duel?” Aoren blinked at her. He had never really been in a duel of magic with another wizard before though he knew they happened. It was never something to enter into lightly. The risk of being destroyed by the very magic you were trying to wield was high but it was also a good way to practice if done carefully. Aoren rubbed his chin as he thought this over. The decision though, it seemed, was already decided as Aka hopped up from where she sat taking up a stance not far from the young Drykas. He regarded her carefully in silence.

“Very well, Madame Aka. I will duel you.” Rising to his feet he immediately dropped into a semi-crouched stance reminiscent of the martial stances a disciplined fighter might assume. “If it is a test of skill you seek, then I shall oblige. I was going to practice anyways so this seems an effective way to increase my own skill as well.” He smirked at Aka, perhaps the first note of pride entering his visage. Aoren wasn’t an unskilled reimancer. He was powerful in his own right though he knew there were easily more powerful mages out there that could end him with a flick of their wrist. He gave Aka a slight bow before resuming his stance once more.

“Shall we?” Barely waiting for a response Aoren pivoted on the heel of his rear foot unleashing his hold on his Res emitting gaseous blue Res from his forward leg. As he turned he brought that leg down in a fierce swipe propelling the gaseous blue Res forward. Not wasting time with fancy antics of a more advanced user he opted for the notion of simplicity in this duel. As the Res gas flew forward he transmuted it into a sweeping zephyr that sped forward with all haste slicing through the air intent on blasting the Dhani sorceress. The wind screamed through the air rocketing forth with a harsh speed that flattened the grass in its wake and caused the leaves in the tress of the clearing to bend away from the magic.

Aoren’s foot landed on the ground easily enough. He watched, ready for whatever counter Aka might send his way. That had been a swift move on his part. He knew that she would have to act fast in order to either avoid it or to counter it entirely. This would also give him the opportunity to see if perhaps she commanded the powers of another type of magic that would boost her efficacy in this duel. A magic such as Shielding would be able to not only block his magical wind but if tasked correctly could absorb it. That much Aoren knew.

If he was going to be entirely honest, he was eager to participate in this duel. It had been a long time since he’d really been challenged to push the limits of his mastery over Reimancy. It seemed that his Goddess, though she remained ever silent, had guided him to the perfect place at the perfect time to afford him such an opportunity.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, Aka. I’m ready for you.”

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The tall man had accepted her challenge. Of course he would, any self-respecting wizard would do so. Aka bore a smug grin as her scarlet slits watched Aoren standing up, dropping himself into a disciplined stance. From here, one could see the stark contrast between the Viper and the human. Aka seemed to always be in motion, doing minor body movements while the human was still like calm wind but by no means he was weak. "Of courssse! Hehe!" Aka hunched down and extended her hands outward as if she was clawing the air. Reddish gas flowed out from the eye-shaped scar on both of her palms, gathering into a ball just in front of her. She then ignited it, creating a fireball then sent it flying towards Aoren. "Take th- WAAAH?!" She made a mistake, so concentrated in creating in fireball, Aka didn't notice the blast of wind charging at her. The denser concentration of her fiery res pierced through the wind, but Aoren's much wider attack still continued at the area where the fireball didn't clash.

"Ki?!" She didn't have time to dodge as the wind pushed her away, her small weight made her at a disadvantage, Aka went flinging. Her acrobat instinct tried to soften her imminent impact with a tree, she curled her body into a ball as her back crashed with an unforgiving bark. "HUK!" A loud groan and thud, then she fell to the ground. Petch! Aaaagh! I won't lose! She couldn't play games, this man proved to be a competent reimancer. Aka didn't get the chance to explode her fireball so she hoped the initial strike would hit him. Pounding her fist in annoyance, Aka stood up, wincing in pain. Bruises started forming on her back. She held her right palm upwards, res began hissing out again. She created another fireball, but didn't launch it this time. Instead, she brought floating in front of her right index finger then made a pointing motion as a small piece of the fireball launched itself to Aoren, creating a flaming bullet. She ran in a circling motion around Aoren, using her speed to confuse her opponent as she kept launching firebolts at him.

Whether it succeeded or not and if the situation allowed her, Aka would cover her left hand in her reddish slime-form of res then she would face him, stopping to gain a footing. The Viper would extend her left hand to Aoren, the slime launching from her as she transmuted them into flames, creating a flamethrower for a few ticks.

[Aoren]

Seeing his wind current slice through the air to slam into the fragile looking Dhani made Aoren wince slightly. He wasn’t partial to causing anyone pain but that was the nature of the magical duel they were participating in. Concerned though he might have been for her safety he didn’t have time to linger on such notions for long. The rampant fireball that Aka had set loose just before being tossed into the air was rocketing straight for Aoren. The young man barely had time to side-step the fireball as it hurtled past him splashing against the trunk of a tree.

The dry bark immediately caught fire which only escalated the danger of the duel in which they were both partaking. That single, momentary distraction was enough for Aoren to be struck in the shoulder by one of the small bolts of fire being pelted his way. He hissed jerking back as it burned through the cloth on his shoulder searing his flesh underneath. He was forced to bring his attention back to the sorceress before him.

“Pay attention, Aoren. Pay. Attention.” Dipping down, Aoren tumbled to the right rolling through the grass barely dodging a hail of firebolts. As he rolled he allowed his Res to gather in his mouth as a gaseous mist. Coming to a stop, Aoren planted himself rising into a low crouch. Three firebolts were speeding toward him. He took a deep breath then blew issuing forth a wall of wind to offset the course of the bolts just enough to veer past him. The magically conjured wind billowed out of his mouth cutting through the air slamming into the firebolts redirecting the path of two of them. Aoren was forced to roll out of the way of the third.

With the immediate threat of being burned to death out of the way, Aoren jumped to his feet. He wasted no time in widening his stance digging his heels into the ground. He glanced around the clearing. Several patches of grass were ablaze. Two trees were beginning to catch on fire. Aoren came to a realization then. A plan formulated in his head as he realized precisely how he could bring this duel to a satisfying conclusion. Aoren willed Res to form in the palms of his hands. He had learned two things about Aka in the brief course of their duel thus far:

She was incredibly fast.

She was also reckless.

Aka paid little heed to the status of her environment. The clearing was catching on fire all around them and Aoren intended for that to be her undoing. Exactly how? He merely needed to wait for her to present him with the opportunity. Then he would strike quickly and decisively. Weaving his arms in an arcane pattern he willed the Res in his hands to begin to gather in a ball. Seeing that Aka was building up for a more forceful attack he thought it wise to counter with one of his own. Aoren transmuted the outer most layer of the Res into wind whilst the inner attracted the air as it spun in a spiral pattern. The young man moved with the pattern he was weaving in the air with his hands swaying back and forth ever so slightly. Before long a large sphere of spiraling winds was hovering in front of him. As Aka released her stream of fire he stepped forward pushing the cyclone out giving it the silent command to intercept her flames.

As Aoren’s cyclone met Aka’s fire the young man felt as if he were suddenly punched in the gut. He could feel the flames pushing against his magically controlled wind. The fire whipped around the edges of the howling wind like a rampaging beast burning with all-consuming rage. Stray tongues of fire lapped at the grass setting the clearing even more ablaze. Before long Aoren was forced to tumble out of the way and release his hold on the wind he’d conjured.

The result was explosive.

As Aoren released his hold on the wind it went wild bursting outward as the stream of fire caused it to erupt in all directions. The young man was blown backward and slammed into the trunk of a tree. He gasped, hissing in pain as the impact jarred his whole body. Falling to the ground he managed to catch himself kneeling. Aoren’s breathing and heart rate were elevated. He could feel sweat beginning to bead on his brow. With a groan he rose to his feet resuming his stance in preparation for another assault.

It was interesting to see the difference in their fighting styles. This perhaps hinted at a very different view on life altogether. Aka was wild, sporadic and completely on the offensive. Aoren was calm, disciplined and defensive. Whereas he was concerned with testing the extent of his limits in the interest of furthering his understanding, Aka seemed intent on utterly annihilating him.

“Alright, Aka. Your move.” His cobalt eyes found the Dhani sorceress. What would she throw his way next?