A plain of grass going very far into the distance. It's an open field that allows almost no running away, so as to keep head-on battles, so to say, head-on.

FIGHT!

Rules: No items

Why had he sought out a duel with someone? Why had he even thought of training for something he knew he’d do well on because of his level? He did it…because he seriously needed some work on combos and skills. He had asked, and what had he gotten, someone who went in close for some beat ‘em up action. Did he want that? He wasn’t so sure, but he might even face this person in the tournament that was to come. He just hoped he could hold his own against someone two levels higher than him.

Shenmock, the opponent of Centrus, stood there waiting for his opponent to arrive. He was a level seventeen Long Arm facing a level nineteen Fist Fighter. Basically, if he kept his distance and tried to keep away from his powerful arms and legs, he’d be fine. Yet it was never as easy as that. He had seen in other duels that he hadn’t played to the advantage, spelling certain doom for himself. He had decided to equip his strongest weapon and armor. He’d be able to use his element, Rue, to whatever advantage he had. He had a strength boost spell that would help him too, so that was always good to have.

Shenmock pulled his River Spear out and looked it over. The Spear had blue markings scattered about and the tip was razor sharp. This would be his first time using it in battle. He threw it up, letting it flip a few times before letting it fall into his grasp again. He looked around. It was an empty plain. It was only him and the grass. There were no rocks, no buildings, no nothing. It was plain and simple, and that was how the tournament was going to be, right?

He stretched his arms and looked himself over. He looked like himself. The pants, the jacket, and his shirt were on just right. The only thing that stood out really was that he had no shoes and no gloves like most people did. His light blue hair was swept back in the wind as a breeze flowed past the field and into another area. He wished he was just carried like that, but those were dreams, not reality. He looked at the grass where he was and thought he heard something. It was time.

“Ap Corv,” he muttered. The white aura surrounded him and he looked up, feeling his strength rise a bit. Would it be even? That wasn’t very likely. Would he try and defeat him? Heck yeah.

SP Count: 86/100

How the hell do people arrange meeting times online? I mean, even if you play on the same national server, there is no way to ensure that you are in the same time zone. What if things ended up three hours different, and someone sat around for that long? What if Shenmock is waiting right now? Should I head out? Should I stop thinking so damn much and just do something about it? The Fist Fighter cursed himself for not thinking of all of this sooner. How long had he kept Shenmock waiting? What if he had left already? God, how could he do this to him? He had never even met the kid, and here he was already letting him down. This was typical Ian, and by extension, typical Cent. He just couldn’t follow through with what he started. Beating himself up done as he reached the Chaos Gate. He set in the Keywords, and allowed himself to be whisked away by the triple-fold rings of release.

As he arrived in the field, two things happened. The first was to offer his apology. “Sorry if you were waiting a few hours! Sometimes I just can’t believe myself.” The second thing that happened was a switching of mind-frames. Self-loathing was done, observation was now key. The field was set up to be flat, an obvious attempt to keep level ground between them. Neutral terrain meant a focus on class advantages. This mean that the Long Arm’s plans probably revolved around keeping the Fist Fighter at a distance. That was all well and good, but it was a little easy to pick up on. It was a bit more of a plan than he had expected from the boy; he had to admit that. The white glow around his opponent was also a surprise. It seemed that the kid did have an element of a tactician in him. If nothing else, he came prepared. Perhaps there was a future for him in this game.

The thing about this Fist Fighter was that he had experienced quite a few battles of his own. He knew how to handle the well prepared, even if only to a small degree. Things would be would, and Centrus knew he would have to deal with them as they came. All he could do now was launch his first offense.

He began his dash to the boy at an all out pace. He couldn’t help but think how refreshing it was not to have to worry about fatigue while in game. As worrisome as the Long Arm might be, he was taking steps to ensure success. The first of which included the burst of speed that resulted from the Ap Do he had cast midway through his run. This speed, in addition to his class’s already high evasion, would make things a lot easier on the Fist Fighter, not to mention the unexpected nature of the duck to his right and the launching of a fist for the Long Arm’s left ribcage. If it connected, it should be enough to stagger him a little. If not, well, Centrus would deal with that when the time came.
------
SP: 95+1= 96/110

Shenmock looked at the player that materialized in front of him. For one thing, he knew by his looks alone that he was a more experienced player than him. He had silver hair, a peculiar color for hair. He wore a tattered white cloak with a hood. They didn't look very much alike in his opinion. He prepared his River Spear as Centrus turned to him, looking him over for a millisecond before he made his apologies.

“Sorry if you were waiting a few hours! Sometimes I just can’t believe myself.”

He only smiled at Centrus. This battle would prove interesting. He bent his knees and prepared his spear as Centrus readied his fist. He was prepared to defend, but if he got in close and caught him off guard, he wouldn't last very long. He prepared his spear as Centrus came at him. He prepared his spear to slash at whatever oncoming assault came at him. He knew he was an inexperienced fighter compared to this fist fighter, but it didn't matter at the moment. He was going to try, and didn't that matter? In a second, he was closing in for a blow. He swung his spear, but missed horribly, seeing as he ducked to the right and landed a blow right on his life rib cage.

The blow was something that would probably be the start of a huge combo. He staggered back, noticing the fist fighter was planning another attack. He had to act quickly or else he'd be as good as some kicked up Shenmock. In a second, he had raised his left hand, not even thinking of the spell in his arsenal that he'd use. "Juk Rom!" he yelled. He regained his balance and started backstepping, hardly aware of where he was going. He just wanted to keep away from the fist fighter that was going to come at him. He jumped back once and landed in the grass, sliding back a little before he regained balance. He prepared his River Spear, looking at the Fist Fighter, unaware if he had counterattacked the spell.

Shenmock saw Centrus there, standing. Now it was his turn to fight! He forced himself to run forward, his fingers wanting to pull him back from the fight and try to go on defense. He charged forward, trying to get enough speed to land a good blow. Well, if he was lucky enough. He leaped off the ground, clearing only a few feet before he landed on the ground, swinging his spear sideways once and stabbing forward twice. If he failed in the attempt out of Centrus' speed, so be it. He'd just have to deal with fighting a Fist Fighter sooner or later, right? He prepared his spear, aware of the serious bruises he'd have after the fight. He just hoped none of them were permanent.

SP Count: 77/100

The Fist Fighter had to admit that he was a little bit proud of himself for landing that punch. This was his first duel that wouldn’t be riddled with utter ridiculousness as his only previous duel had been. Fighting in front of a massive group of undead zombies that had wanted to eat them all alive? Yeah, that was normal. His mind flashed back to the task at hand. He had connected with one hit, and, as was customary, he should attempt to throw another one out there to continue the combo. If he could build off of the success he was starting, why shouldn’t he. A fist reared back as he prepared to slam this one into the small of the Long Arm’s back. He dashed forward, finding himself thankful for the boost to his speed.

What he hadn’t counted on when casting the Ap Do moments before was needing it to dodge a sudden Juk Rom. He leapt out of the spell’s path as best he could, but he found himself watching his decently sized health bar slipping away a little. He was shocked, a but frazzled really; taken back to the point that he had left himself just standing there as Shenmock began his charge. The boy’s choice of tactic however, left something to be desired. The leaping attack was a good idea for the offensive player, as it allowed a little bit of time for the set-up. This set-up, however, is what allows the opponent to read what the other was about to do. The position necessary for an effective horizontal strike is a fairly telltale one, especially for someone who had spent what seemed like an eternity questing with one. The Fist Fighter was able to step away from the horizontal strike, but found himself ill prepared for the jab that followed. A River Speak sank into his shoulder, and another chunk of his heal slipped away from him.

The bladed end slipped out from his shoulder and he remembered about the Long Arm’s stat-enhancing spell. Luckily, his own class’s speed partnered with the speed spell he had cast was enough to allow him to dodge the second jab. “You appear to be quite adept at whittling away at my health. You’re like a little parasite. I meant that in the best way possible, I assure you. Rue Rom.”

He tacked the last two words onto the monologue in an attempt to catch boy off guard. As the Rom spell erupted, he hoped it would keep Shenmock occupied enough for him to sneak around to the boy’s right side. The punch that was thrown was aimed for the boy’s head, and a leg sweep was incorporated once the Fist Fighter had recovered his momentum enough to allow him to launch the second physical attack. None of the assaults would be incredibly difficult to dodge, but Cent had always been a big fan of the “Throw enough crap at the wall and something’s bound to stick” adage.

After all, monkeys throw their feces, and look how cute they are.

SP: 95-10+1+1=87/110

He found that his first attack was anything, but successful. His swing was basically a dead giveaway that he wasn't very good at fighting, but his first jab was pretty successful, depleting his HP meter down a little. But that was pretty much all he got in. The second hit was dodged easily by his opponent. He had a speed spell on his side while all he had was a strength spell. In his personal opinion, the speed spell was the better one and would probably prevail if there was a fight between the two. He took two steps back and prepared his spear.

“You appear to be quite adept at whittling away at my health. You’re like a little parasite. I meant that in the best way possible, I assure you. Rue Rom.”

This attack got him completely by surprise. Having been paying attention to his words, he left his whole character ready to be tackled. A full-blown Rue Rom spell came at him from below him. A blue aura surrounded his opponent and at that moment, a tornado of water came around him, cutting him where he'd least expect it and dealing loads of damage. Though he wasn't a Wavemaster, the magic damage was still a good amount. He had gotten him with a Juk Rom, but he had had time to do a bit of guarding for that spell. The spell subsided and he was left only to prepare his spear for any ongoing attacks. He was completely unguarded. Centrus came up, fast and furious, landing a punch on his cheek. He stumbled back, the glancing blow making a big puffy mark on the side of his cheek. He winced as it swelled a bit, but prepared his spear nonetheless. He jumped back, barely dodging a quick sweep of his opponents foot. It skimmed across his jacket, not managing to deplete health, but managing to scare the crap out of Shenmock for how close that had become to hitting.

Shenmock started backstepping, stumbling a bit since he hadn't really done it that much, still keeping an eye on his opponent. He stopped once he felt safe enough. He was only a good 5 yards from his opponent. He prepared his spear, not trying to hide that he was going to send out a powerful skill at his opponent. He charged forward, his spear about to cut sideways to try and catch his opponent off guard. Though it was obvious that he was going to use a skill, dodging one wasn't so easy, at least for him. He had the advantage of that spell, and his was just about to wear off after he cast the skill. Just as long as he could get this skill out, he'd be fine, well, hopefully. He was two steps away from his opponent. He yelled the key words that activated this spell.

"Rue Wipe!"

He had never used this skill before. He swung his spear sideways, trying to get a glancing blow at his chest. A blue aura surrounded him, making his hair fly back and his jacket fly about. He stepped forward with his barefoot as he swung, hoping that he could get at his opponent. His swing finished. He was unaware if he had hit his target or not. He just hoped that he had sent him spinning. If he hadn't gotten through, well, he was basically a chicken in the road waiting to be run over.

SP Count: 68/100

The Fist Fighter’s combat instincts were running in high gear. This kind of close combat was unlike what he had seen in the Eventides. There had been no scuffles, just all out battles for life with countless numbers of possibilities. Everything could kill you in a way you couldn’t have expected, and nothing that was thrown at you gave any hint whatsoever as to what they were about to do. Everything was uncertain, a stark contrast to what was going on here. Fighting someone that was just a regular player, someone not entirely unlike him, was a breath of fresh air. Not having to worry about feeling each hit, whether or not you would wake up if you died, it freed Centrus up a little bit. It allowed him to take liberties that he wouldn’t have normally taken. It allowed him to be just a little bit stupid tactically.

The Long Arm made it obvious enough that he was about to unleash something, and based on his weapon, it wasn’t that hard to guess that it was going to be the Rue Wipe skill that the spear carried. How one would take this and turn it to their own advantage took a little more thought and preparation though. Suicidal as it might seem, he definitely had something up his sleeve. Casting a quick La Repth as Shenmock’s hair began to flitter about in the pre-skill wind; the Fist Fighter prepared himself for a blow that would hurt. Shenmock’s spear glowed an azure hue, and Cent centered himself on his martial arts training. As the Rue Wipe made its advance on the calmed player, he did the only thing he could think of.

He stepped forward.

Spear connected with hipbone, and health dropped from his bar as fast as one would expect from a skill upped by an Ap Corv. Stepping in had decreased the swing distance, and therefore the amount of power behind it, but the attack booster made up for that fact. The La Repth had been necessary to leave him at a reasonable health level after such a stupid move, but it had allowed him a means of doing something that one should not be doing in a one-on-one fight against a Pole Arm. He had wrapped his arms around the shaft of the spear when it connected, and now he might just have a bit of leverage against the opposition.

He dug his feet into the grassy plain. Dropping himself by squatting even less than an inch, the Fist Fighter used a combination of movement from his center and the leverage the spear should offer him to roll the shoulder of the Long Arm. If he could use his shoulder as a fulcrum, then he could possibly bring the Long Arm to his knees with this movement.

He was at about half health, and this was the best plan he had available.
--
SP:87-20+1+1=69/110

Shenmock immediately found that he connected his skill with Centrus. He had gotten a hit in on his opponent! It was a pretty big hit as he saw it. His hair flew back as he went through the full swing. His opponent’s HP dropped, but he had stepped forward, making the blow do less damage than he had expected. His spell wore off at that second. He frowned at that, seeing as it had helped a load. He could always cast it again, but that just wouldn’t add on to the challenge. He went forward through the whole swing, then realized that something was wrong. He looked forward and saw that he was somewhat falling into a trap with the swing. Centrus probably had a good idea about pinning, but this seemed a bit more complicated than that. And it could just bring him to an end if he wasn’t lucky.

His spear shaft was pinned with Centrus’ hands being able to hold them and pin him. He couldn’t move and if he let go of his spear, he’d be left weaponless, making him lose the duel. He couldn’t let go of his spear unless he wanted an instant Game Over for him. He thought about casting a spell, but that would waste his SP and it might hurt him. He was in a trap and he couldn’t do anything. Centrus wasn’t aiming to attack, but he had made his move and if he could get it full through, Shenmock was done. He tried to pull his spear from the grasp, but the fist fighter’s grasp was way too tight for anything to work.

Maybe if he let go of the spear, jumped back, and did a spell. It would work, but then after it, he’d be left there…weaponless. Or…to say, more dead than alive. This guy was skilled in combat skills and strategy, he could give him that. He tried pulling again, but couldn’t budge the spear. He felt something, though. He was making his move again. His opponent was…twisting his spear. He wasn’t sure of what he was doing, but his legs were slowly going down. He tried to move them back up, but it was no use. Centrus was bringing him to the ground at that moment and he was pretty hopeless to do anything else too.

“Man, this is SO crappy!” he muttered.

He couldn’t do anything. If he risked using a spell, he’d lose more SP. He wanted to conserve it for healing when he needed. He didn’t need it too much now. He was around the same health as Centrus, and yet he seemed to be going down a bit easier. As he saw it, if he healed now, he might live. If he healed later, he might not live. He muttered a quick Repth and watched the aura surround him. He was brought to his knees. Now what?

SP Count: 59/100

As the Fist Fighter discovered that his tactic was slowly becoming increasingly effective, he discovered that he was running into two new dilemmas. The first problem that he would now have to deal with was one of upholding his beliefs as a person. He had joined the Swordbreakers for many reasons, but one toward the top of the list had been for its motto. “Noble Throughout Eternity” was a phrase that quite simply encompassed what Centrus had wanted to achieve in The World. Now that Shenmock was nearing his knees, face dropped, what option did the Fist Fighter have that would uphold this grand tradition? He surely could not turn his back on his family now, but losing this match was definitely not an option. The second, and probably least stressing problem was that his Ap Do had just worn off. It was an easy enough fix, just not one that he was willing to go through with at that moment.

The Repth spell that surrounded the Long Arm was a bit disconcerting, as it implied that he might not go for the plan that Centrus had devised in the last thirty seconds. Whether ot not it actually meant he was assuming it did had yet to be seen, but there was little else that he could do that would be considered “noble”. That is not to be interpreted to mean that the plan he came up with was entirely chivalrous or anything, no. All this meant was that he was successfully fighting the urge to jam a boot up the boy’s nostril. As enjoyable as that might be, it would hardly live up to the clan motto, and as the recruiter, he had ideals to live up to. Finding no real other option, Cent made his proposal.

“So, Shenny m’boy. While I have your attention, I thought I would give you some choices. Your first option is to tell me to go die, and leap up and attack me once I release your spear from my hip. It sounds nice, but I really don’t recommend it. I’m in close, and I like to think that I would have the advantage at this short range. Your second, and probably a bit more viable option would be simple. I propose we call this bout of combat a draw, on account of the tournament starting in a little under an hour, and leave the judgment of this match up to the CC Admins. I’m sure we both have preparations to make, things to meditate upon.”

He couldn’t say for sure that Shenmock would take him up on his offer, but he knew that he had done the right thing not taking advantage of the boy’s compromised position. Either way, an “Ap Do” was muttered. He would let go of the spear once the boy responded, regardless of the answer.

The only thing that would change was the part that would follow his answer.
----
SP69-15+1+1=56/110

((Basically, my proposal is that we call it an IC draw, but still let the actual winner be determined by the judging. This way we can both only have one duel at a time to worry about in the coming months.))

It was something that surprised Shenmock a lot. A proposal from his opponent. He was aware that there was a huge tournament in the coming hour, and he was making a proposal to call it a tie so they could go? It was partly a good deal to him because he'd probably shove his fist into his face and make a permanent mark... That wouldn't be pretty. But if he attacked, he might win...or he could fail in the attempt. It was a hard choice for sure. He was being nice to him, and if he didn't take the offer, there were going to be consequences that he wouldn't be able to handle. Maybe a draw was the best idea. For all he knew, he could be facing him in the tournament since he had entered. He didn't know...but it was okay to just call it a draw.

Centrus let go of the spear and muttered a spell that seemed to be a strengthening spell. It was always good to be prepared if he attacked. Shenmock slowly got up, his spear held tight in his hand. Both were cautious at this point. He switched his spear so he only held it in his left hand. In his head, he made a quick decision. He could surprise Centrus and attack or he could just call it a draw. The draw was the better one unless he was a cocky person. He held out his hand to shake.

"I think it'll be fine to make a draw. The tournament'll be starting soon and who knows..." He paused, looking off into the distant plain. "I might get another chance at fighting you." He grinned at Centrus. It was always good to meet a nice new fighter to make friends with. Well, at least he hoped he could make friends with this guy. He was powerful at that, and a nice guy too.

With that, he waited, not making another move. His spear disappearead in a flash of light. That was it. That was the match.

SP Count: 60/100

((OOC:

-Shenmock-
Tactics - 8.0
Fairness - 9.0
SP Regulation - 8.0
Quality - 8.0
Technicality - 8.0
OVERALL - 8.2

*NOTES: Shenmock, your biggest problem was your understanding of how SP works (in the sense of getting it back). You get +1 SP for the each of each players round. Thus, when you were giving yourself +1, you should have been giving yourself +2 instead. That dinged you fairly often. You also, at one point, did three attacks in a post. It's not two of each kind you're limited to, but two total. You did a spell and two stabs, I believe. You also should never, ever edit your post without putting up a reason why you did it. That bit into your technicality. Usually, you don't want to edit it anyway, as it will still hurt your technicality, but if it was SP the pain would have been less severe.

-Centrus-
Tactics - 9.0
Fairness - 8.5
SP Regulation - 9.5
Quality - 9.0
Technicality - 8.0
OVERALL - 8.8

*NOTES: You did the edit thing a few times as well, so watch out for that in the tournament. I'm a stickler. Like I told Shenmock, you did three attacks in a post as well, which hurt your fairness score. You showed some above average tactics and posting effort, however, and that's what netted you the win.

Thanks for the read, guys.

WINNER: Centrus

:OOC))