Flashback [Training] Steeped in Glory

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A city floating in the center of a lake, Ravok is a place of dark beauty, romance and culture. Behind it all though is the presence of Rhysol, God of Evil and Betrayal. The city is controlled by The Black Sun, a religious organization devoted to Rhysol. [Lore]

[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:41 pm

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67th Day of Spring, 508 AV

Elias winced as the boot found his ribs again.

Nothing felt broken yet but that did not mean it wasn’t agony. He closed his eyes in a vein attempt to make the pain go away, but no matter how he tried to ignore it, the throbbing in his ribs refused to go away. Another fresh bloom of blistering pain exploded across his side and Elias balled up into a fetal position in an attempt to protect him from more harm. He heard laughter around him just before more shots rained down against him from seemingly every-which direction.

Questions began to run through his blurred mind: What was going on? Why were they hurting him? Then, as the beating continued, he began to return to his senses. His name was Elias. He was a petitioner. This was happening… because he had asked for it? Yes, that was right. He had wanted this -demanded it even. The match had been arranged at the last minute to be a handicapped one by his own hand. He remembered quite clearly now that he himself had picked out the opponents as well. Two of the meanest, nastiest looking men on the line up the pit master had to offer. Neither of them would be baring any weapon save for their fists, just like Elias himself. This match was to be a bare hands fight only.

To his mounting shame, he had gone down quickly after the bout had begun. One of them had a sloppy guard and so he had pressed the attack in his arrogance. A few of his blows had connected but he could not get out of the way of the second opponent’s fist as it sailed from seemingly out of nowhere and impacted the side of his face. The blow had dazed him long enough for his two assailants to move in and begin delivering their punishment. He managed to deflect a few, but it had only taken one lucky hit on the edge of his chin to make the young stryfer in training to realize what a mistake this had been. His vision had swam for a few moments before the second blow had come in and everything in the world faded to nothing. The next thing he knew he was being kicked about in the ribs.

The two men did not seem to be in any hurry to finish playing with their food. That was a mistake. If he were in their shoes Elias would have never allowed them to have woken back up until the next day at the very least. In fact, considering what they had done, he wasn’t sure if either would survive today. Every moment he kept breathing was another moment their lives were in jeopardy.

Elias adjusted his body slightly to guard his vitals better as the two men continued to laugh and assault their victim. They did not seem to notice or care that they were no longer doing as much damage with their strikes. They had simply taken his squirming as another feeble attempt at trying to get away from them. One of them said something to the other that elected a harsh, guttural laugh from both.

The petitioner did his best to lay still as they continued to strike at him, but under the cover of his arms Elias clenched his teeth. It did not matter if he was protecting his vitals. After this he would be bruised for days. That was of course, if he survived. Thankfully, his chance to escape the dire situation he was in presented itself when one of the assailants had stopped kicking him. "Is he dead?" he heard blurted out from overhead. The other man hesitated and stopped his kicking as well. At the same time, the newly initated flux novice began to feel around for the magic beneath the surface. Scratching and clawing at the elusive creature that he still didn't quite understand.

Now was the time...

With the speed of a serpent, the Caldera uncoiled his body and struck. Arms shot out in both directions, each of his hands wrapping around both of their ankles as bloodied fingers eagerly found their marks. Elias yanked on both with a roar, djed rushing through his arms and into the very muscles of his body, filling him with a surge of energy that could hardly be described with words. With a startled yelp, the two fighters collapsed to the ground in a jumble of flailing limbs.

Now came the real fight!
Last edited by Elias Caldera on August 12th, 2016, 4:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:41 pm

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Elias was the first to untangle himself and reach his feet. The other two men were quick to rise as well, already on their toes and ready to go before he could even manage to move in and do any damage. He had forgotten their names, or had just never learned them before thrusting himself into the fight. They were both around the same height as he was, both of their builds, again similar to Elias’s, were lean and strong, but not overly bulky either. Aside from the tattoos both men had marking their shoulders and backs, the most notable difference between his combatants were that one of them had brilliant blonde hair, dazzling like the sun in its golden shine. Elias would call him Goldy. The other was much easier to identify with the ghastly scar on his face. The knotted and ugly thing ran all the way from the corner of his lip up to his right ear. And you I’ll call Smiles.

They both had a grin on their faces as they slowly advanced, and the ravokian swore under his breath as they dropped into fighting stances he recognized…

He cautiously shuffled backwards, careful not to give either of them an opening to exploit. He knew somewhere up in stands Malfus, the king of this vile place, was enjoying himself immensely. The scarred giant had never liked Elias to begin with after the young apprentice had begun to flaunt his power and position over the pit master, so when the arrogant Caldera had demanded a real fight, the gladiator had been uncharacteristically happy to oblige. Now Elias understood why.

As Smiles and Goldy moved closer he began to notice things that, in his agitated state, he had initially missed; there were little oddities about both their stances and how they moved. It was true that they both had some form of training in hand to hand combat, but neither of them seemed to be totally at home with it. Truth be told, neither was Elias really, but where as they were mere pit slaves, he was a chosen soldier of Rhysol. The fools didn’t yet realize how little chance they stood.

Elias ducked under the first fist thrown his way, but before he had a chance to retaliate, another came racing in from a second direction. This hand almost managed to find its mark against his head, but he managed to knock it away at the last moment. The petitioner hastily took a step back and away from the duo once more. He could not allow them to attack him from opposite directions. If he let that happen it would not matter who was better, it would just be a matter of numbers at that point. What had happened when he had first arrived was a painful testament to what would happen if the fluxer allowed the two to circle him. He had already learned that lesson the hard way earlier and he was not so keen to undergo another class. Elias's eyes darted back and forth between his two opponents as they moved, each hungry to see their prey brought down low in defeat.

He brought his forearm up to knock away another jab, then without warning, Elias dropped to a kneeling position to avoid the next series of attacks, using his left leg for balance while he pivoted around. As his body twisted and turned violently in a circular motion, he extended his remaining leg, the rapidly launched kick sweeping in for his two opponent's. Smiles, the wily son of a whore, managed to move out of the way of the attack just in time. The blonde one however, wasn’t so lucky, and failed to fend off Elias's attack in time. He went crashing to the ground in a clattering thud. Elias eagerly moved in to finish the man before he could recover, but Goldy’s scarred companion fended him off with a quick combination of punches and kicks that forced the young ravokian to retreat before he could have his fun.

Shyke
Last edited by Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:41 pm

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Elias could feel the meager crowd growing displeased with his actions. They had come to watch a fight, not some kid keep running away from his fate. In this type of sport, something Elias had once never thought he’d ever waste his time betting on, let alone actually taking part in, the crowd could be just as decisive when it came to whether a man lived or died as much the other guy who was trying to kill him was. When he thought about it, it really was not the crowd that caused him to growl in irritation at having to retreat from his opponent, it was the retreating itself that coaxed such outrage from him. He felt that retreating meant he was losing.

He hadn’t come here to lose.

He did not like to lose.

He refused to lose.

He halted his backwards retreat with an abruptness that surprised even his perpetually smiling assailant. He was done falling back. He hadn’t come this wretched filth pit to flee from his opponents. He had left the comfort and safety of the training grounds at the Vitrax because he had wanted foes who were not trained as he was. Not as predictable or bound by the same mindset as his fellow prospects. So with that determination taking root at the forefront of his thoughts, not only did he not move another step back, but as his attacker closed in, Elias countered, using those smooth and practiced movements he had learned to side step his opponent's faltering punch. The petitioner took another step inward, keeping his enemy’s body to his right before sliding his right foot behind the man's left and driving his heel into the slave’s ankle. As he did this, that wondrous magic he knew only how to describe as the flux came into play. The magic coursed across his body, flooding into his arms and legs as the young boy, simultaneous to his leg maneuver, hooked his arm around the man's waste. Elias's actions caused the man to be torn off his feet and then subsequently flung into the air before his body slammed back into the ground.

The man's eyes went wide as the air was forced from his lungs. His blond partner in crime chose that moment to make his reappearance in the melee, sweeping in from beyond Elias's field of vision and almost managed to land a hit on the petitioner from behind. The proud Caldera, flushed with the rushing wave of energy that his unnatural ability granted him, managed to twist out of the way of the man's foot before it could strike him in the back. He did not retreat though. No more of that. Instead he launched himself back into the fray after the man's kick had missed. Goldy seemed surprised that his prey had decided to go on the offensive so readily. He could hardly fault the man; up until now Elias had reserved himself to staying on the defensive since the debacle at the onset of the match.

For his complacency, the man would pay the price.

The blonde one did not have enough time to raise a defence as Elias's vicious first punch dug deep into his gut. His shot hadn’t hit anything important under the skin, but Elias simply liked starting in this place with his combos because it was difficult to guard without moving your whole body to do so. Elias's following uppercut impacted proved his logic valid as it landed with enough force to send a spray of blood and mucus into the air as Goldy's head rocked back uncontrollably.

Feeling his enemy go limp and slump forward slightly, the stryfer took a step back, but not as an act of mercy. Before his opponent could recover or move, he gripped the blonde’s shoulders, and using that as leverage, brought his knee up into the slave warrior’s stomach once more. The knee drove hard into the tender underbelly with more force than anything before it. Goldy began to gag as his innards were churned into butter by the wicked blow, but Elias did not let up from his assault. The petitioner brought his knee down and then back up again in an unrelenting assault, This driving the knee into man's chin. The crunch it let out was as satisfying as the promise of victory that now loomed within reach. He released his grip and his feet moved with practiced grace as he danced away from his opponent.

The man swayed back and forth as his body tried to keep its self from crumbling. Elias twisted in a circular motion, leaping off the ground and and bringing his heel to bear across the side of the pit fighter’s jaw. Needless to say the sod fell to the ground with a dull and brutal thud. The fighter did not stir after he came to skidding halt in the sand and a thin streak of blood stained the already blood soaked sands of the arena.

Now for your friend…
Last edited by Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:42 pm

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Despite looking forward to apprecitating his fine work, Elias eventually let his eyes wander from the prone body to the scarred compatriot who was still active. The man was already rising to his feet and plainly furious with his current predicament. The darker man's glare all but spoke of the fire raging behind such enraged eyes. Elias's opponent did not spare even a passing glance for his fallen comrade, his sole focus was on the petitioner that had embarrassed him in front of all of those in attendance. A temporary hush fell over the crowd as the two men continued to glower at one another from across the ring. They did not move. Not yet. This was a test of wills for the time being, and the one that lasted the longest would be the winner.

That said, it was undeniable now that Elias had the advantage in this little contest, and the cocky grin he gave the dark skinned slave must have been like salt in the wound. With his mental fortitude sundered by the silent insult, the stryfer launched one last attack to finish off his foe’s ability to think clearly. He pursed his bloodied lips and blew his enemy a kiss.

The slave snarled and launched himself at Elias, fury bubbling over as he flung himself into the violent embrace of combat. In that moment man was no longer the same one he had been fighting earlier. Now, he was what Elias had turned him into with but a few taunts and gestures; a victim, not a fighter.

The man's first punch was so filled with anger and aimless emotion that Elias had to do nothing but knock it aside with the back of his hand. To his growing animosity, the berserker’s next attack ended much the same way. To Elias, It was almost as though he were simply smacking aside slow flying june bugs out of the air. That wasn’t to say his opponent’s attacks were not slow or harmless, far from it in fact. The truth of it simply was there was no thought behind any of them. Perhaps in a drunken street brawl such uncontrolled flailing would be acceptable, but in the ring, amidst real warriors, it was a death sentence.

He let the frenzied assault press on, allowing his opponent to over extend just the way he wanted before finally striking back. His enemy launched a rather quick punch at Elias's face that missed completely as the young man ducked around it. Yet instead of backing away as he should have, the man pressed in and tried to mirror Elias's earlier combination of knees. It was easy enough to shove himself free from the clumsy, clawing hold, and in doing so Elias opened up his enemy’s already weakened guard even more. Muscles tensed and shivered in blossoming might as liquid power gushed throughout the arm. Elias connected an uppercut to the man's ribs without a second thought. The blow was doubly damaging for it had been powered by the flux.

By the expression on his face in the brief instant afterward, it appeared as if Smiles had barely even to time to recognize the pain before he was thrown from his feet by Elias's concluding leg sweep.

The Caldera backed away from his fallen enemy, smiling contently as he danced across the arena. There was no sense in fighting someone that was this far gone. There was simply no fun in it anymore, and worse yet, nothing to learn. Time to end it. "You’re weak, slave. You’re nothing but a miserable failure." He hissed sadistically, voice thick with malice. The man's face grew even more crimson in response. As he managed to regain his feet, he suddenly stopped, eyes widening in delighted surprise, then narrowing in venomous gloating.

Elias paused in uncertainty, then carefully turned to look over his shoulder to where his adversary had seen the thing that had suddenly made him so confident again.

It was Goldy, and the bastard was somehow back on his feet, his body heaving with each labored breath his bloodied mouth could draw in. His head hung low and he glared at Elias with dangerous eyes from beneath the shadow of his brow. The stryfer had seen that look before…

There was murder in his eyes.
Last edited by Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Elias Caldera on June 7th, 2015, 8:42 pm

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He never took his eyes off of his scarred adversary, even as the other enemy began to move in. It didn’t take long before the two of them were moving in concert with one another, readying to strike in deadly unison.

Elias pulled in a deep breath through his mouth and began to concentrate while the two vultures circled. Slowly he exhaled the air through his nostrils, closing his eyes to keep them from trying to follow his opponents in nervous apprehension. He could hear the two of them talking in some guttural, foreign language as they stalked him, but still Elias did not move from his spot. He seemed a statue more than a man at that moment.

Even though he could not see the two fighters, the stryfer could practically feel Smiles’s arrogant smirk burning through his closed eye lids.

Elias reached deeply into himself and began to coax the energies inside him. His ‘djed’ responded as he gradually began to manipulate into a proper thing, not just another instinctual reaction like the other uses before had been. He could have forced it up through his body in a great, overwhelming swell, letting the glorious power rush into his limbs and heart, but he was still too cautious to commit to something like that. He prized his body and refused to waste it on something as trivial as a lack of patience. At first, slowly, he simply gave it small nudges as it began to flow in the directions he wanted. Then, when the bread was kneaded so to speak, he began to push. Not hard, but just enough. Slowly a euphoric feeling began to flow up from the limbs he had concentrated the djed into as the waves of energy rolled into position. The feeling that he could suddenly do anything and everything was exhilarating.

As the djed pooled into his arms it began to affect them in another way. The blood veins in each of his arms began to rise and darken as djed filled the nearby tissue. Within a few minutes the vessels bulged to the point that they more than just a little noticeable. The two circling him began to notice the color change and exchanged unsure glances. The must have known something was wrong because they charged him almost at the same time. Unfortunately they had given their nightmare enough time to fill his arms with flux. It was already too late.

The men had almost made it to Elias when his eyes shot open. For him, time seemed to slow down as it always did when he got into a situation like this. Faintly he could hear his heart thudding in his ears like a distant and growing storm on the horizon. By now the veins in his arms were bulbous and strained beyond anything natural. The first man to reach him happened to be Goldy. Muddy brown eyes snapped onto the man as he intruded into Elias's bubble.

Elias grabbed the man's out stretched arm and pulled him forward roughly. As the man was propelled forward with the extra momentum, the fluxer stepped back and held out his other arm, slamming his outstretched forearm into the the pit slave’s chest. The vicious closeline sent the unsuspecting pit dog flipping through the air with a cry. Elias didn’t even bother watching him fall before he was on to the next enemy.

At the last moment, as Smiles extended his arm in the best jab he could manage in the hectic scenario, Elias turned his back to the man. With a fighter's quickness enhanced by the surge of greatness going on beneath his flesh, he grasped the man's arm with both his hands. He gave the arm a forceful yank, just like Goldy, and promptly slammed his heel into the man's shin. Elias's flux fueled strength and the lever he had created with his body caused the man to be launched off his feet and over the stryfer's shoulder.

Smile’s hit the floor just as his partner was struggling to get off his knees. Elias spun, the flow in his arms dissipating as it cascaded down into his legs. He brought an ungodly amount of force to bear as he crashed down upon the back of the blonde warrior’s head, smashing his head deep into the sand with a satisfying crunch. The sand of course, not the man’s skull. Elias was no savage, though the inclination to cross that line sung to him a like a siren upon the craggy shore.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Wailed Smiles in pleading desperation. Elias felt what was probably a tooth bury itself into his shin and he delivered a second augmented kick into the man’s face. Smiles went limp and crumpled to the sand without another word, his mouth a foul mess of shattered teeth and blood.

Somewhere up in those stand, Malfus's own grin had disappeared just as quickly.
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[Training] Steeped in Glory

Postby Dove Brown on January 21st, 2016, 12:10 am

Your Grades!
Brought to you on the wings of a Dove!


Please remember to edit your grading request. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM.


Name: Elias Caldera
XP Award:
  • Subterfuge 1
  • Endurance 1
  • Flux 3
  • Tactics 3
  • Unarmed Combat 4
Lore:
  • Subterfuge: playing dead
  • Tactics: avoid being flanked
  • Tactics: insulting your opponent
  • Flux: strengthening arms and legs

Injuries: Bruises and small cuts all over his ribs and back - will heal in 3-5 days
Overgiving pains like stabbing cramp in his arms and legs for the next day from repeated use of flux.
Notes: Please remember that Flux is moving your own strength around, not pulling in new strength. If you are putting flux in both arms and legs at once, where is it coming from?
Very busy at work. May not be around much for a while.
Threads: 3/3

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Dove Brown
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