Rules:
- No special abilities.
- No healing spells or healing items
- No time restriction.
- No Grunties

Field Description:

First move to Uruvei.

FIGHT!

Jenn woke in the dim gray light that preluded dawn. Immediately, she was awake and alert, knowing that she must've overslept. A glance at her clock confirmed it: 7:11, no way she could possibly make it to school on time now. There was only one way her mom would have let her sleep in like this. The teen turned to her window and pushed the blinds up. YESSS! SNOW DAY! There were already about two inches piled up on the back deck, and a light powdery snow was falling. Smiling happily, Jenn rolled over in her bed and went back to sleep.

Several hours later, she got herself up and had some soup. Hmm, what to do with an unexpected free day? There was, of course, homework left over from last night. But what fun was that? Jenn rinsed the bowl off in the sink, then wandered into her room, where her eye fell on the computer and HMD. Well, why not? She logged in to The World and checked the BBS first. For some reason, her eye fell on the 'Duel Challenges' section. Her last duel had been a tournament sort of deal, and had fallen through after the first match. Maybe a one-on-one duel with no strings attached would go over better. At any rate, it would be an okay way to eat up some time.

A few hours later, somebody responded to her post. His name wad Dien, which seemed familiar. Probably, his name had shown up on the BBS in the past. It was not in Uruvei's personality to jump into something without information, so she immediately pulled up list of contacts. A few messages sent should be all that was needed; somebody had to have seen this Dien before! Sure enough, a friend pinged her back with a description of her opponant. Level 14 blademaster, good duel record. Probably going to be hard to beat. Uruvei sent back a thank-you and returned to the BBS. Hmm. It was a difficult choice. Obviously, Dien would have the upper hand. But Uruvei was getting very bored, and his conditions were interesting: no healing items or spells. In other words, it was just wearing down the enemy until one of them fell.

Ah, what the heck. I accept.

Uruvei typed a response to the blademaster and gated to the field he'd chosen as their battleground, Forsaken Her Tender Embrace. She hadn't done any research on the field, so it was a bit of a surprise to find herself on a round, flat surface. Sixty feet in diameter, give or take a few, of a grainy, sandy-colored stone. Curious, she walked to one of the tall, narrow poles around the edge. It was just wide enough that her fingers couldn't meet when she wrapped her hand around it. Holding on to it for balance, Uruvei leaned over the edge and looked down. Far, far below she could see shifting seas of mist, or maybe clouds. The ground was not visible.

Since Dien hadn't shown up yet, Uruvei turned her attention to the other main feature of this "field." A huge spike sticking up from the center, as wide around as an old oak tree, it didn't look like it would be of much advantage in a duel. However, there were smaller spikes sticking out at regular intervals, like spokes on a wagon wheel. They narrowed to nasty points, and those looked more promising for battle. Gingerly, Uruvei touched the end of one of them. It pricked her forefinger, and a tiny bead of crimson swelled from the spot. Uruvei sucked on the stuck finger, thoughtful. Maybe in picking this field, Dien had given her an advantage that evened out the level difference. After all, she had the longer reach, and a slight advantage in speed. With the iron taste of blood in her mouth, Uruvei felt a new determination filling her. She would win this duel, no matter what!

(OOC: just a note for story purposes, this happens after my next solo in Mainplot, despite the level difference. Oh, and I can’t access the BBS while in a coma @_@)

::Theta: Corrupted Hidden Expanse::

Dawn greeted the field master as he sat on the edge of a rock outcropping near the top of the mountains. He’d not been programmed to require sleep, but that didn’t matter. The sun’s rays plastered themselves over his face, illuminating it in a brilliant golden glow as blue streaked across the sky. It was remarkable how far one could see from just this height of the mountain – and just how expansive the field was. One particular aspect of it, though, caught the man’s attention. It was something he’d not seen before, and something that no human eye could see at the distance he was watching. Amidst a maelstrom of low clouds, a massive pillar stood illuminated in the morning sun.

“New growth?” he asked to no one in particular, closing one eye to scan the structure from afar. Indeed, it was new – only created just recently. At its peak was a gate-in point, and from what he could tell the “field” it referenced was relatively small. It was an anomaly in The World, yes, but still a small dungeonless field. It would probably be a breeding ground for PKers – and as such he couldn’t allow it as part of the Hidden Expanse. Dien had to know about it, had to go and establish the coordinates of the gate-in point. If he did that, then the field master could destroy it and solve the problem before it started.

“Delta: Forsaken Her Tender Embrace,” he quoted, reading the coordinates of the gate point. He couldn’t fix its location from this distance. That was the only real reason he needed Dien to gate in. When that happened, he’d hear the ping and know exactly where it was. After that, it would only be a matter of time before he could destroy the gate-in point, and maybe even that part of the field. It would take a lot of power, but from the field master’s perspective nothing was absolutely impossible.

Golden eyes glazed over for a moment, and a connection was established.

::Lambda Hideout: Brilliant Cultural City::

Dien, are you there? The blademaster stirred from his sleep, his hand knocking against the wall and pulling him further from his sleep. Dreams disturbed, he could only respond.

Yeah, There was no real need to convey the mild annoyance he felt at having been awoken, but he continued, what’s up? The specific words of the field master had been that he wouldn’t contact him unless it was something important, but as of yet he’d not received anything that the AI considered as such. Hell, this was the first communication that the program had sent, so there wasn’t even any way to know what it considered important.

We’ve got a problem, was its reply, there’s a new gate-in point here in the expanse-

You woke me up for that? Dien interrupted, Sheesh, we really need to redefine your parameters for what’s important.

Give me a little more credit please, he said back, the point is on top of a statue – a circle no more than 20 yards in diameter. If a normal player fell off there it would mean death, so there’s no way down. As it stands, once it’s found out, it’s bound to be a brood for PKers.

I still fail to see the importance of it, the hacker replied, having sat up and stretched during the master’s discourse, if you’re that concerned, put a warning there or just destroy it.

There’s the problem, there was a slight pause, I can’t pinpoint it unless people gate in.

Really, I thought your protocols gave you access to it.

You never really learned AI coding, did you? the program retorted, continuing before the player could, before I can do anything in that section of the field, someone needs to gate in there. My protocols index the render buffers-

Yes, yes, I know how your program works, he stood up, cracking his neck from side to side, I’ll take care of it, just give me the keywords.

Delta: Forsaken Her Tender Embrace, the program ticked off, and Dien noted each word. He’d have to check out what it was a statue of before gating back out, you’ll need to bring another person with you so I can triangulate the gate-point. I’ll contact you again once I’ve got it, so stick around until then.

Right, how the hell was he supposed to do that? I’ll be there soon. The link was dissolved, and the blademaster was left to thinking. No, he couldn’t drag a Freedom Fighter along with him – the only ones still present in the hideout were Raine and Sheena, and they were busy tracking Marionette. Everyone else was going after one of the hubs, and for whatever reason the two lady-administrators of this locale forbade him joining up with them. No, he had to find someone else…but who? Futune? No, the fox had practically disappeared after the event in the tower. Raquar? No, he was also busy. Wait—how had he met those two in the first place? Wasn’t it…

“A duel!” he exclaimed, a short walk leaving him in front of the Chaos Gate. He’d have to make a stop at the Unity Bastion for a post on the BBS, but that was done easily enough. Thankful as ever for that innovation he’d made for the field of the Unity, he dug out the dagger and was disappeared through a trio of rings. (OOC: Okay, so I know I can’t post in the BBS, but I had to figure out something so our posts don’t contradict)

::Delta: Forsaken Her Tender Embrace::

How she’d gotten there before him was beyond Dien’s ability to imagine. He hadn’t taken more than an hour between posting the message and actually getting to the field, but then again he’d done a lot before leaving the Bastion. Perhaps it was more than he’d thought? Whatever the case, she was here, and the field master could now figure out the gate point. All that was left was the duel. The description of the field he’d been given didn’t even come close to what was actually there. Yes, it was a disk of about 20 yards, and falling would result in death, but the most impressive part of it wasn’t that. No, the most prominent point (no pun intended) was the spire at the field’s center. Twelve spikes branched off it sharply, undoubtedly sharp enough to impale someone unfortunate enough to lean back on them, and each one pointed to a pole on the outside rim of the field.

Interesting, he thought, turning his attention to his opponent. She was a longarm, dressed more appropriately than he was for this fantasy realm and sporting a pony tail. Either she hadn’t noticed his gating in, or had and was just waiting for him to make the first move, but whichever it was, the blademaster had more honor than to attack a woman who was facing away. No, instead he called out a pair from his small collection of rare equipment: Zanzamas and the Heavenly Bead Tiara. What was special about them was the spells they possessed:

“Ap Do, Rig Gaem,” quickly, for the first was a speed-enhancement spell, the two magicks came to fruition about his character. Undoubtedly they would have caught the attention of the longarm, but just in case, he continued to speak, “I’m sorry, I neglected to check the BBS before logging into this field. I assume you’re here for the duel?” Of course she was – how else could she know about it? It was likely she’d attack him straight off. Goodness, how long had it been? Pull out your sword, you idiot! Hell, he was making mistakes left and right. Zanzamas was equipped, but a more powerful sword lay in wait if he needed it. As it was, the blade of time would do, despite its less-than-spectacular stats. He didn’t need anything marvelous yet, and it was always good to be able to hold back in a fight.


62 – 25 (Rig Gaem) – 15 (Ap Do) + 4 (Rig Gaem) + 1 (Turn point) =
27/62 SP

(OOC: edit was to finish post)

Uruvei heard the soft sound of someone gating in, and immediately panicked. For all her stubborn determination of a moment earlier, the longarm knew she was now locked into a duel she couldn't possibly win. Unless her sources were wrong - and her sources were never wrong - the player that now stood behind her was more than twice her level. But more than that, he was well enough known to garner a quick response to an inquiry. "Good duel record," her friend had said. Uruvei knew she was about to become another point on that record, and it petrified her. Breath suddenly came short, and the girl couldn't turn around to save her life. She closed her eyes.

It'll be over in a moment. He'll finish me off, and then I can log out and give up dueling.

While Uruvei was having a panic attack, Dien was calmly casting strengthening spells on himself. Uruvei heard the words, but didn't make sense of them. Gradually, she realized that she wasn't going to be struck down instantly from behind. Her eyes reopened, but the panic didn't yet abate. It just meant that now it would take longer for the inevitable to occur.

"I'm sorry, I neglected to check the BBS before logging into this field. I assume you’re here for the duel?"

His voice was pleasant at least, maybe even kind. The fact that he addressed her brought her back more than anything else. It humanized him - he wasn't some sort of duel-winning machine, he was just another player. A measure of the former confidence returned, enough to free her from the fists squeezing all the air of her lungs. Uruvei took a deep breath and turned to face her opponent.

He didn't look terribly threatening. Just a dark blue jacket and some khakis, almost something you would find in the real world. He was holding a sword that Uruvei recognized as a rare. She also thought it was.... level six? Hmm. Was he using a weapon the same level as her on purpose, as a sort of handicap? Indignation chased away the last of the panic attack. No, her logical side decided, it's for the Ap Do spell. Which he's using. Which means he's faster than you. MOVE!

Uruvei gave Dien a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her heart was still thudding a little irregularly, and it wasn't likely to have the chance to settle any time soon.

"Yes, I'm Uruvei, and I'm here for the duel. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Dien."

Now that she was back in focus, plans and strategies swirled around in her head. Zanzamas was probably helpful to her, whether Dien meant it to be or not, simply because it would deal her a more manageable amount of damage. That lessened the amount of time she'd probably need to spend healing, but SP conservation still seemed a good strategy. Better to start off cautious. Perhaps the best move would be to test his reflexes.

"Vak Kruz!" Uruvei sent a fireball at his feet, charging in almost the same instant that she cast the Waves. Her Glaive was leveled at his chest, a heart-squewering aggressive attack with enough force behind it to pierce a ribcage. Hopefully. Maybe if she could drive him back to the lip of the ring, she could nudge him over with a well-timed spell and actually win this.

50 - 10 (Vak Kruz) + 1 (turn)=
41/50 SP

“Yes, I'm Uruvei, and I'm here for the duel. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Dien.” She was polite, to say the least. Kind of timid in appearance after she turned around, at least her words were kind. She was nervous as all Hell, as was to be expected when dueling someone more than twice your level—especially after he’d pulled out not one but two rare items to cast spells on himself. It spoke of his status more than he could imagine, and the fearful respect in this Uruvei’s eyes was very evident. Then her eyes hardened and the soft smile disappeared. He could see her looking about, trying to judge the terrain and form a strategy that would give her the win.

To Dien, the duel was inconsequential. His task had already been accomplished, he just needed to hold her off long enough for the field master to get a lock on the gate point and tell him it was ready to be deleted—

Oh crap, He honestly hadn’t expected that. A simple level-one fire spell had been cast on him, but enhanced perception enabled him to see that it wasn’t her intent. Dien held Zanzamas up high in front of him, but in this instance he’d need to reduce the damage amounts as much as possible. No, he had to make a switch. It was early to be playing this card, but her quick tactic had forced his hand. Zanzamas wouldn’t cut it – he needed a stronger sword.

“Jinsaran,” he said aloud, the avatar of a sword in his hand seeming to ignite into flames as the equipment switched. Why this sword? Simple: its Vak stat was higher than anything else available for a good many levels yet to come, and it would reduce the damage done by the spell she’d fired significantly. Still, he was locked in place, and her spear was aimed in a charge toward his chest. At her speed, it would probably puncture pretty deep, but then again the level difference might just permit him to take it without fear of losing too much HP.

Then again, the pain would be something entirely different to deal with – something he really didn’t want to have to deal with. When his infection first hit, he’d gone into shock. That was before Hakouin had came into being – when the Twilight was fighting everything inside him and dealing him more pain than anyone else in the World could ever know. It numbed him slightly, and put everything else into perspective. Stubbing his toe seemed inconsequential after that first experience – losing an arm was no worse than falling over and scraping a knee. It was all different, and all of it was less. Just the same, he didn’t want to have to deal with the pain of being stabbed through the ribs. Even with the scale tipped, that one still sucked.

It left him with only a small handful of options left for dealing with Uruvei. The Vak spell had him standing still, and only a handful of things could save him from the fate of being stuck on the end of her spear. One was that he could rip open one of Jinsaran’s skills on her and cut her down in one fell swoop. It would be quick, and for her painless. He’d be able to completely avoid her spear and, with the level difference, cut her completely in half. There wouldn’t even be any blood – the heat given by his weapon would cauterize the wound.

…wait, what would happen if he attacked her? He was infected, and wasn’t the virus usually transmitted via powerful attacks. NO! He couldn’t attack her. He probably couldn’t even look at her funny without boosting her infection. Shit, her levels had probably already gone up in just being near him and on this field. There was a reason besides PKers that he had to help delete the extra gate-in points. Twilight was infused heavily in every new part of the field that was made, and while it was usually encoded deep within the environment, beyond the access of any normal player, gate-in points usually meant an eruption of the virus—the spikes on the spire in the center were evidence of it.

“Dammit,” he cursed, wincing as the spell began to take effect. Her spear lunged forward, and he was indeed powerless to evade. He could feel as his skin was punctured, feel as the head of the spear ground at his ribs and was forced to a stop there. The collision jarred his body, but he couldn’t imagine how it would affect hers. By sheer fact that he was more than twice her level, her spear had been stopped from a full-on charge, and blood was seeping out of the wound. Then the spell ended, and his free hand grabbed the spear that was partially stuck in his flesh before she could withdraw it.

“*-ngh!-* I…need to ask you a question before you attack again,” he said, releasing the spear as he put his sword back into its hilt. Withdrawing the spear would be painful, but it was better than leaving it in there, “do you want me to kill you, or would you rather I checkmate you so you can surrender peacefully?” Please say checkmate, he thought afterward, begging against hope that she would. In either case, this would have to be a purely defensive fight on his part until the field master contacted him again. At that point he’d force the win – he’d have to be in total control, more control than he’d ever had to use. He couldn’t let her hit the spikes, couldn’t let her kill him, couldn’t let her die by his hand. The power difference was great enough to make the amount of restraint he’d need frightening. Already he’d given himself the necessary advantages to hopefully give him more control of the situation. There was only one way he could let her die, and that was by falling over the edge.

All that was left was her response, and in order to prevent himself from killing her straight out, he switched weapons – Jinsaran for its less powerful sibling of flames known as Corpseblade. It would appear differently when drawn from its hilt. He could only hope she had enough honor to not take advantage of his kindness. Dien’s mind had changed since he’d last dueled, and it made him think more about people and the blessing he’d been given wrapped in a curse.

SP:

28 + 1 (turn point) + 4 (Rig Gaem) =
33/62 SP

"Jinsaran," Dien said aloud, suddenly switching weapons on her. That was something she hadn't thought of, and she mentally smacked herself. Of course he'd have higher lever swords! Uruvei almost faltered and swerved away, but that would only make things worse. As it stood now, she might manage to scratch him before he lopped off her head. She clenched her teeth and drove on.

To her utter surprise, he didn't even raise his weapon. There was a moment when she thought he would, when she was sure she wasn't even going to land a hit before losing. But, with flames licking around his feet, he only cursed and took the full impact of her attack. At first, Uruvei was afraid her spear would actually run him through. As much as she hated to lose, the longarm also hated gore. That was one of the reasons for her choice of weapon: a nine foot pole meant most of the blood stayed at a reasonable distance.

The spear jammed itself between two of Dien's ribs and stuck there, leaving Uruvei feeling like she'd just tried to stab a broom handle into an air duct (something she had a certain expiriance with, for reasons I don't have time to mention). There was a certain nasty grating noise as Uruvei's momentum tried to push her foreward where the spear couldn't go. The impact was abrupt, worse than she'd braced for. It almost knocked her off her feet, and her head snapped back then foreward, gracing her with a bit toungue. Uruvei almost cursed, herself.

Recovering her equalibruim, the longarm realized she was still alive and not lying in two pieces at Dien's feet, so she tried to to withdraw her weapon. If she could just assume a defensive stance before the blademaster decided to attack, maybe she could last for at least a little while. Cringing at the idea of what the spearhead must be doing to Dien's ribs, Uruvei tried to yank it out cleanly. It didn't budge.

Funny, I didn't think it was that stuck. I mean, it felt like I hit a brick wall... what? Oh. Dien was holding the spearshaft, which would explain why it wasn't going anywhere. This tactic seemed to be intended to get the longarm's attention. It worked.

"I… need to ask you a question before you attack again. Do you want me to kill you, or would you rather I checkmate you so you can surrender peacefully?"

The question stopped her cold. She honestly didn't know what to make of it. On one hand, it was incredibly arrogant, but he delivered it as if offering her a kindness. Then again, it drove home just how unthinkable victory was for her. A bulls-eye thrust with all her strength behind it couldn't even hit something vital. Was that why he didn't even bother to deflect her attack? To prove just how inferior she was to him?

The seconds ticked by as Uruvei processed this new development in the duel. She had the chance to lose without really losing. It made sense to accept peaceful defeat. Less pain, less difficulty. Just accept a token duel with Dien moderating his strength to make things seem even. It didn't matter if she knew that he was holding back, it wouldn't feel that way.

"Neither." Inside, Uruvei smoldered with indignation that reached her eyes as a sort of muted cold fury, turning them the color of a distant winter sky. "If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already. You can try to checkmate me if you wish, but I won't surrender. I'm a person who's always trying to push herself to new limits. If I let myself quit, even when I don't have a chance, then I'll never find out just how far I can go. Kill me if you can." With the last words, Uruvei wrenched her Glaive out of Dien's chest, not particularly caring if it hurt him. She backed several steps away, toward the center of the platform.

Her heard beat a jackhammer melody against her own ribs, trying to jump into her throat. She knew her words were foolishness as she uttered them, especially the last five. Now I'm really gonna get it... The panic trickled down the base of her skull, eating away at her concentration like acid, but she fought it with the anger. Caught between the urge to do something completely irrational and the need to curl up in a corner and hide, Uruvei couldn't think of anything to do against Dien. All she managed was to brace herself in a defensive stance and wait for impending doom.

42 + 1 (turn)=
43/50

EDIT: To fix SP bar.

(OOC: SP bar edit excused, at least by me, so please skip over it, Lyra. Oh, and Uruvei, would you like to also negate my breach of the time limit and resultant penalty this round?)

“Neither.” The girl’s reply was short, but succinct. She wanted a fight. Of course, why wouldn’t she want a fight? He’d called her here to fight, at least in her mind, and not satiating that would probably end in his own death. He knew what he had to do, and as she opened her mouth once again he began sorting through his inventory mentally. “If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already. You can try to checkmate me if you wish, but I won't surrender. I'm a person who’s always trying to push herself to new limits. If I let myself quit, even when I don't have a chance, then I'll never find out just how far I can go. Kill me if you can.”

“Right then,” he said, clutching one hand to the wound she’d left after the spear was removed, “Rai Rom!” The Silver Bracer had been equipped during her monologue, and the spell began to activate. This gave Dien an opening, as he’d planned for it to. He knew it wasn’t a matter of her not believing that she was weaker than her opponent—no, her problem wasn’t that at all. She was scared spitless, and despite how well she tried to hide it, he could see her digits quivering ever so slightly. No, her problem wasn’t that, it was more a matter of pride and intent.

One foot pushed forward, and then the other, starting him towards the girl who stood timidly opposite. Information would work just as well as his plan would. If he told her all of the dangers she faced by just being here, there was no doubt they could end this peacefully. If Twilight were told to her, the history Dien had with this field, and its true identity, and the ulterior motive behind his having posted in the BBS, then perhaps she’d listen to him. Perhaps she would stop fighting him altogether. But therein lay the threat. The information that could save them this grief was sensitive; too sensitive. Only great need would be able to control whether or not she would know. If things went bad and things turned towards the worst, only then would he tell her as a last resort.

Corpseblade was pulled from the sheath at his side, and its brittle surface smoldered in the altitude-chilled air. Smoke billowed off it, and his intent was to use its lower level to only slightly injure Uruvei. The sword was raised, and as he ran he picked out three target points on her body—three points that would injure her significantly without killing her. Why three? Contingency planning. If she somehow managed to block one or the spell didn’t catch, he’d just go for the next. His first target was right below her left shoulder. Hidden there amidst the mass of muscle was a hub of the nervous system. No, she wouldn’t be able to feel the pain, but if the game’s mechanics worked as he knew them to, she would no longer be able to use her arm if he stabbed hard enough, and other parts of her body would likely be inhibited as well. Too hard, though, and it could end up killing her, and he didn’t want to run the risk of infecting her.

His second target was her stomach. A wound there wouldn’t really be too detrimental to her HP, he hoped, but might give him the advantage of slurred controls on her behalf. Granted, his sword didn’t have any added attributes such as a poisonous tip or anything of that nature, but such a hit would impair her in real life. The blademaster would have to rely on the game’s mechanics to translate this into its virtual reality. The third target? Anywhere on one of her arms or legs. A deep cut there would seriously inhibit her ability to maneuver, and thus her ability to continue fighting at her best. A healing spell would remedy that, but he seriously hoped she wouldn’t count on something so cheap. In his view, healing elements took the fun out of dueling. If someone was stocked up on enough health drinks, they would be able to fight indefinitely and outlast their opponent based solely on how fat their wallet was. Not to mention the fact that a well-timed Repth could undo certain death.

Mid stride, though, he was reminded how helpful healing elements could be, especially when pain could be felt. A sudden shock raced through his system from the stab wound she’d inflicted, waves of hurt echoing through his form and causing him to stumble. Shit! The Ap Do had enhanced his speed, and while that was a blessing when it came to staying on one’s feet, if you tripped and fell you had that much less time to catch yourself. He’d even taken off before ensuring that the Rai Rom had activated properly, and his vision blurred so he couldn’t double check. None of his senses seemed to be working correctly. If the sparks were circling their target as he’d intended, then he could neither hear the crackling nor smell the ozone produced.

A stab was made as he ran, hopefully nowhere embarrassing, but even more hopefully nowhere that could prove fatal. He didn’t want her blood on his hands, hell, he didn’t want anyone’s blood on his hands, and now that he was infected he had the capability to strike someone with a coma and an infection that had no known antidote. A coma inflicted was not something he could bear, not yet.

SP:

34 – 10 (Rai Rom) + 1 (turn point) + 4 (Rig Gaem) =
29/62 SP

(OOC: Okay, we can overlook this time, but let's both try not to go over the one-week limit after this.)

Electricity arced around Uruvei's legs, the current gluing her feet to the floor. So much for rubber soles. Physics only counted for so much where magic was concerned. Shocks traveled up her legs, making them tense and twitch. But it hardly made a differance; Uruvei's knees were knocking anyway as she watched Dien draw his sword and charge.

He's switched swords on me again...

Despite the Rai Rom, Uruvei found she still had fairly decent motor control over her upper body. She tried to judge where Dien would strike, in the hopes of deflecting at least some of it. Just when she thought he was aiming for her shoulder, he half-stumbled in his run and gave a more random jab. Uruvei countered it to the best of her ability. Instead of piercing through her abdomen the Corpseblade grazed her left side, taking with it a chunk of flesh and HP, but nothing too vital. It was a wound in an area that bled quite profously, but, as long as she kept in mind that it was just virtual gore, it didn't bother her too much.

The static released her feet, and Uruvei reeled backwards. She held her hand to her side, feeling the torn muscle and skin between her fingers. Without thinking, she started to utter: "Rep--" But no! Just in time, the longarm cancelled the healing spell. That was one of the qualifications of this duel: it was based on stamina alone. Of course, Dien had far more HP to pull from, which meant that Uruvei needed to avoid his attacks as much as possible. No more letting herself get pinned down by magic!

Pinned down.. hmm... Uruvei glanced at that spikey thing in the middle, measuring with her eyes the distance from it to Dien. Not everything in this game was measured according to level. She might not be able to do a lot of damage, but if she got enough force behind her, she might be able to move the blademaster where she wanted him to go.

Uruvei backed up a bit and tried another charge, but this time she didn't aim the spearhead at Dien. Instead, she let it trail behind her as she picked up momentum. Her grip shifted until she was holding it like a golf club or baseball bat. Only a few feet remained between them. Continuing her foreward motion, the longarm swung her glaive in a horizontal long arc. Her goal was to hit Dien square across the ribs and propell him into or toward the spikes. Should he somehow dodge the shaft, there was always the backswing...

44/50 SP + 1 (turn) =
45/50

(OOC: Another placeholder, but this time for an explanation. Tomorrow I am going to be at an airport with my laptop sans internet access for a good long while. I won't be able to post up my post, but I guarantee that it will be written by the time given.

EDIT:
>_< Looks like I did it again. I’ll take the heat for this one.)

Her hit had been stronger than assumed. A quick check of his HP bar revealed this to Dien, who now rested at just over 2/3 health. He imagined that she was at roughly the same level, after his misdirected stab had managed to carve out a piece from her side. Unlike him, however, her character wasn’t dealing with the pain. No, Uruvei couldn’t know what it felt like to have had a good portion of her side chopped off, and probably never would. No, she wouldn’t. The blademaster was here to ensure that much. That fact had been forgotten, but now with that knowledge reinstated the pain from her last attack faded slightly. Most of it was psychosomatic anyway.

A word, which he thought to be a spell that apparently failed to activate for whatever reason, and she was off. This tactic wasn’t orthodox for a longarm at all; her hand was at the bottom of the shaft and the head was dragging behind her as she ran – almost like she intended to use it like some oversized combination between a heavy blade and a heavy axe. No, that wasn’t it. Despite the large size of the head, it wouldn’t be enough to cleave through him without some kind of skill…

No, longarm skills required a grip at the center of the shaft. With the way she was holding it, swinging it would not only yield a massive radius comparable to that of a whipmaster, but would also leave one hell of a hit towards the end – a hit that would undoubtedly move him from his position. The only reason her last hit hadn’t done that was because of the spell that had been locking him in place. So her objective was to move him by force. Okay, so there were easier ways to move a person, but if that was her choice then so be it. Where, then, did she want him to be?

The swing would hit him from the left, driving him hard to the right if it hit full-on. Ah, he thought, the Ap Do being the only thing that enabled him to take so much time, the spikes. The Twilight-smothered spikes at the “field’s” center glared ominously back at him, and he turned his gaze to Uruvei as she began her swing. Right now, there were three obvious options. First, he could charge in at her. If he managed to avoid the head of the weapon, he’d only get a bruise against his arm, and he’d have the ability to attack her almost unhindered while her avatar suffered the recoil. Still, there was a bruise to deal with, and the pain in his chest reminded him of how painful her attacks could be.

The second option involved ripping his sword to the left at just the right moment and knocking away her weapon, possibly even disarming her. In either case, the attack would be followed by an even longer period in which she couldn’t attack him. Her character would obviously be shaken up by the shock of having had her weapon batted away so harshly, and he would only have to get close enough for his sword to reach—with his Ap Do, that would be significantly easier. There would be a shock on his own arm because of the mere shock of having to bat away the weapon, the same shock that a batter got when hitting a home run. It’d be hard to keep his sword steady afterward, but her weapon was fast approaching, and he liked the possibility of disarming her better than the third option of just ducking under the attack. Just to make that option more feasible, though…

“Komura!” Once again, the fiery blade was called into effect, and he waited a moment for the spear to get into position before activating the desired skill: “Revolver!” At an angle, the skill’s path put the sword and the spear together with enough force to eject it from her hand before continuing through and sending the blademaster on a full revolution. He didn’t know if the spear was ejected, and nor did he care. Fancy footwork at the skill’s end left him directly in front of the longarm, and he raised his sword to rest calmly against the front of her neck, his left hand gripping her arm to keep her there. A smile crossed his lips before they parted:

“Check.”

SP:

30 – 10 (Revolver) + 1 (turn point) + 4 (Rig Gaem) =
25/62 SP

His dueling strategy was becoming abundantly obvious, even if his intentions were not. Once again, the sword was changed, this time to the Komura, a level ten blade. Geez, how many swords does this guy have? Uruvei had just enough time to wonder. Dien activated a skill, giving his swing an extra punch. It was enough to jerk her Glaive from her hands, and send it clattering across the rough surface. Acting more on instinct than thought, Uruvei hop-skipped backward to avoid the remainder of the attack. Still augmented by Ap Do, Dien was too fast for her. He ended the skill with the Komura gently pricking her throat. She tried to jerk away, and found herself held in place by a hand that was stronger than her. She was trapped.

Dien smiled, perhaps only a small smile of victory, or even relief, but in Uruvei's eyes it was the smuggest of smirks. His voice seemed to drip with condescension as he spoke a single word.

"Check."

It was true. She was caught in a deadly position, weaponless, defenseless. This was it. Nothing to do but curl up and die... The Atychiphobia, the fear of failure, the absolute inability for her brain to cope with one more mistake ordered her body to shut down. But as Jenn's sweat-coated fingers slipped on the controller and her eyelids squeezed shut against the glare of the HMD, the longarm Uruvei seemed to reject the idea of just giving up. The avatar stopped shaking in tune with her human counterpart and went rigid, stiff like a marionette. Her blue eyes were already glazed from the panic attack, but now they took on a different quality, whites showing like a spooked horse. Small teeth bared themselves in a grimace commonly seen on a cornered animal. Indeed, that was more or less what Dien was now facing.

Uruvei grabbed Komura's blade with her free hand, disregarding where it cut her fingers to the bone. She forced the point up, away from her neck and face, pointing it harmlessly at the sky. Her other arm wrapped itself around Dien's until it was uncertain who was holding whom down. He was stronger, but she was desperate now, and not exactly lucid. Using his own arm for leverage, she suddenly leapt up and bashed her head against his. No telling how effective the head butt would be; it could do anything from breaking his nose to giving him a minor bruise. On the way back down, Uruvei put all her weight on Dien's sword arm, awkwardly trying to twist it to the point of breaking - or at least much pain.

Jen blinked. Am I doing that..? It hardly seemed likely, as she wasn't even managing to sit up straight in her computer chair. Her fingers, though, were working a mile a minute on the controller, apparently without conscious direction. It scared her, almost as much as the ferocity of her avatar's assault. Almost as much as the way she became entirely useless when faced with something she couldn't fight or control. In this out-of-body state, Jen felt she could see both her own frail self and this vicious, unknown gaming personality as two distinct people. But which one was she?

She looked at the screen. The purple longarm, so docile a minute before, was practically snarling at the smug blademaster. How would he react to this sudden change of personality? Jen hardly knew what to do, herself. She frowned at the pictures displayed across her vision. In this moment of clarity, something about the way Dien had been acting struck her as wrong. How many opportunities had there been for him to strike her down thus far? And yet the avatar was still mostly whole, not even halfway through her HP. Why wasn't she dead yet? Why was Dien holding back?


46/50 + 1 (turn)=
47/50

(OOC: Sorry for the month-long delay. Please disregard time limits in the grading.)

Something snapped. When his mouth opened and poured out the chess board’s call, the character before him underwent a change. It wasn’t physical or anything of the sort (or Dien would have had cause to worry), merely mentally and emotionally. Somehow it managed to show through her avatar, but it couldn’t have any real effect on her playing style, could it? What the… he thought. His sword was pointing skyward. Either he hadn’t been paying attention, or she really had improved. Again it happened, and this time it was something a bit more serious. Uruvei’s arm wrapped itself about his, putting her in position for any number of attacks.

Before she could make another move, the blademaster pulled his hand away from her arm, taking away a considerable chunk of the leverage she would’ve had. If she continued to try an attack, her hand would likely just slip off his arm and leave her with next to no support. Thank God for Ap Do, he thought, knowing that it had helped him out significantly in this fight. Still, by it he would need to come up with some non-life-threatening method to make this girl break off her attacks. If she were to die here and fall comatose…

How much longer? he asked, hoping the program was listening. There was no response, and he rolled his eyes quickly as the longarm leaned in for…a headbutt? Oh no, this was not going to happen. The utmost of precision would be needed to stop her without killing her, and he dropped Komura into her path, his other slightly-more-detained arm rising in spite of her grip to support his defense. The flat of the blade was held up against her advancing forehead, the edges simmering as hairs met their demise in them. Sheer force had been put into the headbutt, and this was the first time in all of his fighting that anyone had tried to use it. Indeed, it did push him back a half-step, but at least he was undamaged by it.

Actually, I was done only moments after your fight began, came the voice of the field master, I was just curious to see how the fight would turn out.

“Oh, that bastard,” Dien said aloud, probably to the confusion of his opponent. He pulled his blade away, her onslaught successfully halted. When were you going to tell me?

After the fight, came the reply, and speaking of, your virus levels aren’t enough to infect anyone else yet. If she had hit the center? Perhaps, but in case you hadn’t noticed I took the liberty of moving that to the laboratory. A quick check over Uruvei’s shoulder revealed what the AI said to be true, and the blademaster smirked.

“Pick up your spear; it’s time to end this,” he said, pulling his sword up into a combative stance, “Jinsaran!” Immediately the weapon in his hands was replaced by another of a much higher level of power. Flames burst off its edges as the air around it seemed to almost burn off under the pressure. This was the power of the game’s second-most-powerful fire sword. Instinctively, the blademaster’s once-blue eyes now glowed with the orange-red of his weapon.

Dien would wait once again for her to attack, but this time would be different—this time he didn’t have to worry about hitting back. Honor would be kept, but just the same he fully intended to win the duel. He couldn’t let his record tarnish now, could he?


25 + 1 (turn point) + 4 (Rig Gaem) =
30/62 SP

(So much for time limits on this duel. I say we should ignore that category altogether. Yeah?)

Uruvei's forehead met metal with an audible twang. The longarm reeled back a step and promptly collapsed to her knees in a daze. Jen felt her fingers go still on the controller. She twiddled a thumb experimentally, and found that her hands were back under her own control. The tip of her forefinger hurt quite a bit, but she ignored it. She was more worried about what had just happened. The instant she regained control coincided exactly with the moment that Uruvei sustained a concussion. Jen couldn't help but make a connection, but the implications were more than she was willing to accept. She was the player, the one who controlled the virtual avatar... not the other way around! Even the thought was impossible.

So wrapped up in this problem was she that she barely heard Dien's words through the headphones of her FMD. "Pick up your spear; it’s time to end this," took a moment to register. The Uruvei avatar jerked to alertness, movements stiffer and less fluid now that it was once again remote controlled. Uruvei stared at her empty hands for a moment, as if surprised to find her spear missing. The girl blinked at the ready swordsman before her, the duel suddenly not seeming so very important. Still... the purpled character found herself getting back into her usual spirit. Might as well go out with a bang!

Uruvei deliberately turned her back on the blademaster and took her time walking to where her weapon lay. By now, she was convinced of Dien's reluctance to take life. If he would, it would surely be in honorable face-to-face combat. The extra time was used plotting her final attack. It would also hopefully wear off most of the remaining Ap Do, which was surely nearly up by now. Uruvei bent down and her Glaive seemed to jump eagerly into her hands.

Uruvei paced slowly to the side, now facing Dien and circling him until he was between her and the edge of the disc they battled on. The way she saw it, she had one option left that might end in something resembling a tie. If not-- Jen crushed that line of thought. Another panic attack might cause that something to take control again. For now, that fear was stronger than the other, familiar fear of failure. Before she could think herself out of what she was about to do, the longarm charged. When he was within her striking distance, just milliseconds before she was also in his, Uruvei activated her Repulse Cage skill. It was a flurry of short jabs, designed more for fending off a mob of monsters than attacking a single opponent. However, in this case, many short jabs would be hard to block. Sure, one hit wouldn't do a lot of damage, but it's human instinct to avoid any unnecessary pain. The momentum of Uruvei's charge carried her forward, toward the platforms edge...

48/50 - 10 + 1 (turn)=
39/50

(OOC: Yeah, we should. I’ll edit my first post to make sure whoever grades this understands that much)

He had waited. After she picked up her spear, the character had turned about and started walking away. Her plan by this had probably been to burn off his Ap Do with the time spent in figuring out a final attack, and it succeeded. The World resumed its normal pace, and the normal dizzying side effects of the down came into play. It was brief, but at the same time not something he would’ve liked to face while dealing with whatever killing blow she came up with. Fortunately, it passed before she turned around again.

Her course brought her sideways from Dien’s viewpoint and towards the center of the platform, where the spikeyness had been removed. Spear was held aloft, and within moments she’d begun her charge. Something had come over her in battle before, something that had caused her to change. Movements had been more fluid and natural, attacks had been better thought out, and whatever berserker had been pulled as an ace in the hole had almost frightened him. This attack, though, it wasn’t like that. She was considerably less jittery, but that was also understandable. She was letting her adrenaline pull her all-in to her attack, and so was driven away from fear towards her focus: ending this duel in the best way possible.

His vision was blurring in waves. Pain from the wound to his chest and the burns on his legs now echoed vividly through him, and the added effect of a broken nose didn’t help much. Each step she took seemed to send a new wave of pain through his body, and that effect was perhaps more dizzying than the down from Ap Do. There was a temptation to ease the suffering and call Repth. Doing so would relieve him of all the pain he faced, and would make the task of deflecting her onslaught that much easier, but some portion of his will held out, forcing him to endure. He would endure, and would see this contest to its end.

A fight was brought to mind from ages past. The Hacker Elites had attacked Mac Anu, and Dien had been there to face it. In the chaos, he’d crossed weapons with a Heavy Axeman who was nearly twice his own level. Blow for blow had been matched between them, but in the end it had been his ability to cast repth that had saved him. Damage given had been damage taken, but a La Repth had more than made up for the level difference. In this instance, Uruvei actually had the advantage. His role had been reversed, and he was now the higher-level player. He’d taken a lot more hits than she had, and the inability to Repth them away could very easily be his undoing.

All at once, her attack began, and as soon as the spear began to move, Dien knew the skill: “Repulse Cage.” It had been used against him in his first fight against Blue Fox, and had pushed him backward into a raging Gan Zot. Since then, he had replayed the move in his head countless times, memorizing the spear’s movements and analyzing them for any chance at an opening at all. It was a technique he knew well enough to call his own, though the game prevented him from actually doing so.

He would take the first opportunity he saw and interrupt her attack mid-stride. The trick would be not getting stuck in the process. Well, maybe. He was high enough in level for it not to hurt too bad, but the less damage the better. A jab, and the spear began to be repelled, and then it began again moving towards him. NOW!

“Vak Revolver!” Instantly the sword in his hands lit aflame, and his body was flung towards the charging Uruvei who was but feet away. The technique would take him on a full 360-degree turn. Sword met spear, and the jab was redirected. Either that or the blademaster had been forcibly moved out of its path. In any case, what came next would be the defining moment of the battle. Before the skill could pull the spear back for another jab, he was upon her, and the sword in mighty flames would rend her flesh open; seared by the heat, but exposed enough to render death, if the conditions were right.

This, however, was left in fate’s hands.


31 - 30 (Vak Revolver) + 1 (turn point) + 4 (Rig Gaem) =
6/62 SP

(OOC: That's all, folks!)

((OOC:

-Uruvei-
Tactics - 9.0
Fairness - 9.0
SP Regulation - 8.0
Quality - 6.5
Technicality - 9.5
OVERALL - 8.4

*NOTES: Your biggest problem, Uruvei, was your spelling mistakes in your first few posts and the couple that were a good paragraph less than a page. You forgot your SP in your first post and miscalculated slightly on another. In the end, it was mostly the technical stuff that got you.

-Dien-
Tactics - 9.0
Fairness - 8.0
SP Regulation - 9.5
Quality - 9.0
Technicality - 9.5
OVERALL - 9.0

*NOTES: Dien; good job on the win. Your main issue was the fairness, but you barely took a hit there. Your Aps went on a little longer than what I considerered prudent (if only by a turn), so that hurt you a little. There was also a time or two (the thing that comes to mind first was saying her hands were shaking when she hadn't mentioned that at all) when you misrepresented her, but I barely dinged you for that instead of giving you a full point Godmodding penalty (as I don't think that was entirely what had happened). Just small stuff. Complain to me and I slap you; you won, get over it.

For you both: Thanks for the read! That was actually a rather entertaining duel.

WINNER: Dien

:OOC))

The clash between spear and sword, of levels both low and high, made the confrontation truly a sight to behold. In the end, however, a misstep during the Long Arm's skill was exploited by the Freedom Fighter. With but a simple sidestep, a use of her momentum against her and a flaming strike that caught her right behind the shoulder, Uruvei stumbled over the edge of the disk and plummeted to her death, weapon and player flipping madly until they disappeared in the mists.