Two rows of pillars surrounded on both sides by row after row, column after column of pews that lead up to a large, hanging pedestal. Hovering in the air is the large stone structure, suspended by magic overlooking the pews and gates that lead into the tower. At the center of the middle-aisle cut between the pews is a round rune on the floor with the diameter of a full-grown man's height. Mystical orbs of light hang several feet over the pews providing them with ample light. Lining the walls from the doorway to the furthest end are tall thin iron candleholders that stand 10 feet tall. Hovering just over the ornate tips are more light-orbs. Down the center aisle sit several mages in the pews studying books or praying. Behind the pedestal is a wall, standing before it is a gigantic statue of an archangel with its mythril sword brandished, preparing to strike. The statue had to be 40 feet tall, and the cathedral's room was about 50 feet tall plus tiered gothic-arches in the ceiling.

With a wave of the hand, a Mage separates the pews into a wider aisle, all the benches sliding off to the walls of the massive room. Upon the pillars that line the center aisle are lanterns hanging upon ornate iron hooks that jut out a foot from the pillars themselves. It is here that the two would compete under the eye of the Mage Tower. An unnatural light forces its way through the ceiling, illuminating the floor's center in a wonderous circle. Outside the stainglass windows sunlight beams through weakly, sprawling many colors upon the floor, and the sun is high: Noon is approaching.

Valcrist stood in the shadows, his back to the wall and his arms folded across his chest. As of yet his opponent had not bothered to show himself, but Valcrist was sure that soon enough he would be enganged in battle. Until then he was content to sit and wait, not bothering to warm up. Valcrist found that taking the time to sit and focus proved far more beneficial then a few practice swings. A clear head could devise strategies. Practice swings could result in looser muscles, or could in fact pull them in the first place.

I wonder who my opponent is. Hopefully someone I can deal with directly, like a sword or axeman. I'm not in the mood to dodge fire balls today. Not that the pillars in this place wouldn't provide some decent cover... Valcrist surveyed his surroundings yet again. There was an open space in the middle of the room, and great pillars of some kind of stone stretched upwards to the ceiling. Those will help for cover against an opponent with a projectile attack...They look nice too.

Valcrist snapped to attention as footsteps could be heard approaching from the stairs to the floor below. He moved into close proximity of one of the pillars, hoping that his opponent would be good enough to challenge him formally and not just charge into combat immediately.

Arion had always been a bit rash when it came to entering battle. He was the one who would always rush ahead and start slashing away, even when the odds were piled against him. Maybe this was the one quality that had seen him through the few, but impressive battles he had decided to engage himself in over his time as a Ranger. Here he was, standing outside an old church-like building, knowing that his newest opponent was inside.

"Hopefully this one will provide more of a challenge than the beasts around here. I'm getting bored of killing animals."

He adjusted his sheath which held his only weapon at that moment - A silver-bladed rapier that used to belong to his grandfather. He ran his hand across the handle before gripping it between finger and thumber and pulling the small weapon out of it's holder and let the blade hang in the sunlight for a moment. Raising a hand, Arion pulled his cloak over most of his face, and heaved the door open, stepping into the murky interior.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the murky light, his first impression was of a dusty room full of dusty and broken objects. But a sound from above told Arion all he needed to know - His opponent was on the floor above. He walked the length of the hall and put his "best foot forward", and began climbing the stairs.

He reached the top and emerged into a magical room, lit by lanterns all around the room. His opponent was here, he could sense him. The rapier held in his left hand hung limply at his side, his cloak rippling gently as he moved towards the center of the room.

"Hello?" he called to no-one in particular, but a sound from behind him made him spin on his heel, gazing across at the shadowy figure enveloped in the shadows of one of the pillars. Arion slid his right foot back and raised his rapier, holding it across his front at a slight angle - a classic defensive stance. After all, Arion didn't know his opponent and the way he fought.

"You're my opponent? Great. Let's get started."

Valcrist eyed his opponent for a brief period of time, then responded.

"You seem to be the hasty one. Very well, I'm eager to begin as well."

Valcrist removed his swords from their sheaths, his broadsword heavy in his right hand and his rapier, loose and ready to parry oncoming blows, in his left. Valcrist was unsure of the skill of his opponent, so left his rapier close to his body, a good position from which to thrust and guard. He felt that he could safely rely on his broadsword if need be, as his adversary's rapier would do little to hold against a powerful slash from top or side.

Best not to get hasty though. The broadsword can easily deflect a blow from his rapier but getting it into position quickly enough could be difficult in tight situations.

"Seeing as we are both in such a hurry, I shall begin this for us."

Valcrist approached his foe gingerly, wanting to begin but remaining on the side of caution. Deciding to get a feeling for his opponent, Valcrist took a tentative thrust with his rapier, not far enough in to reach his opponent, then brought it back to his torso, ready to parry an attack from any angle. Following suit he broght his broadsword down hard above his head at his opponent, then tensed his left arm, preparing a quick counter to whatever came next.

"You seem to be the hasty one. Very well, I'm eager to begin as well."

Damn right i'm hasty. This is gonna be a good battle. I hope you're up to it.

Arion clenched his fists and tried to calm himself down as he watched his opponent draw his two weapons - A rapier, similar to his, and a large broadsword. Closing his eyes for a moment, Arion began to think about the best way to parry any attacks that came his way.

"Seeing as we are both in such a hurry, I shall begin this for us."

"Go ahead, be my guest."

Arion watched his opponent walk towards him slowly, but something didn't feel right. As his opponent threw his rapier forward and then pulled it back straight away, he raised his rapier in a defensive hold across his chest, but as the heavy blade of the broadsword screamed through the air, Arion smirked, and seconds before the blade collided with his shoulder, he threw his body to the right in a sideways roll as the sword fell past his right shoulder, his rapier blade clattering on the hard floor as he moved back onto his feet, gripping his rapier tightly in his left hand and reaching up to pull his cloak down from his face so it lay gently across his shoulders.

"Hm, seems like you've got some skill. So let's have some fun" Arion laughed, gripping his rapier tighter and thrusting it out towards his opponents left arm.

"Fun is always welcome," replied Valcrist, though not in a tone that fit with the comment. He was sincere in his reply, but concentrating on the fight left little room for much else in his mind.

He's testing me. That thrust was aimed straight for my parrying arm. Well, I suppose the best thing would be to try and make the most of it.

Valcrist moved his own rapier into collision with Arion's, then brought his sword up until the hilts met. Then, close to his dueling partner, Valcrist made an attempt to ram the pommel of his broadsword against Arion's wrist while holding his guard. With luck he could disarm the ranger, but more likely the attack would fail. However, Arion's only initial means of evasion would be to bring his sword-arm out to the left, which was an ideal place for it to be in relation to Valcrist. From there, it would not be exceedingly difficult to parry, unless Arion had something mischievious up his sleeve.

Arion barely had time to blink as the rapier of his opponent swung up to meet his, the blades colliding in mid-air, a few sparks flying off and landing on the dusty floor. His opponents blade shot along his until the hilts clashed together, a dull metallic ring echoing round the chamber as Valcrists broadsword shot up to meet his wrist. Glove and hilt collided, causing Arion to wince as his grip on his rapier weakened, the blade almost falling from his hand, but he twitched his fingers at the last moment and managed to regain his hold on his weapon. He took a small hop backwards and span his rapier round modestly in front of him. Arion took a moment to study his surroundings, gazing at the iron candleholders for a moment.

Can I use them somehow? It might help if I can knock him down with one, I guess. But he'd have to be going pretty slowly to get hit by it.

Sliding his left foot a single step back across the dusty floor, Arion smirked, closed his eyes for a moment and then raced forwards, past his opponent to the nearest candleholder. Pushing off from a pillar with his right foot, using both his hands, Arion pushed the candleholder with all his might as it gave a lurch, and swung down through the air towards the head of his opponent.

Valcrist brought his blades close, ready to evade an attack as Arion dashed forward. A frontal attack seemed evident, but as Valcrist readied himself for whatever might come at him, something peculiar happened. The ranger ran past him, then, propelling himself from the nearest stone pillar, kicked the candelabra down at his head. Initially Valcrist was caught off guard. But his natural instinct to simply get out of the way of danger kicked in, and he was able to jump to the left, rolling along the ground and finally resting on his back. A boom echoed throughout the massive room as the full weight of the iron stand collided with the floor, and a sound much like the beat of a gong rang throughout as the candleabra reverberated from the impact. Realizing the predicament he was now in Valcrist struggled quicly to his feet and brought his swords up ready to defend himself, rapier forward and broadsword behind, but the time he took had given Arion time to set up another offensive.

Defense is the key Valcrist. Wait for the moment to attack.

Valcrist did wait, but not for long.

Arion smiled to himself as the candelabra slowly descended on it's crash course to the floor below, but his smile quickly vanished as his opponent rolled to the side out of harm's way. He covered his eyes for a moment as the giant metallic object slammed into the floor, shaking the room and sending out a chilling note that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He raised his rapier in front of his face, and with his spare hand tightened his sword glove. He closed his eyes for a moment and imagined his grandfather smiling at him. This gave him a burst of energy, and he edged round the fallen candelabra slowly.

He smiled to himself as he watched his opponent hold his broadsword behind him, his rapier held out in front in what seemed to be an attack position. Their eyes connected for a moment, and that was when Arion realised his opponent hadn't been phased by his earlier display of power. He smirked and broke eye contact, one again looking around the chamber for anything else he could use as a weapon. He looked at the candelabra once more, noticing a small metal spike protruding from the wreckage, but before he could even more towards it, his opponent came charging forwards on the attack. Arion threw his body to the side in an attempt to dodge, but the rapier blade of his opponent sliced through his armour and flesh, a searing pain shooting through his arm as warm blood splattered the floor and the torn arm of his robes.

"You'll pay for that."

Summoning all the strength he could, Arion pulled himself to his feet and swung out with his good arm at his opponent's head.

Before he knew what had come over him Valcrist found himself charging at Arion. In the three paces to his opponent Valcrist pulled his arm back, clutching his rapier to his side, then let it fly at his opponent's chest. It appeared to be on course for its mark, but at the last instant Arion threw himself to the side. It was an excellent evasive maneuver with such little warning, but Valcrist was still able to pierce the ranger's flesh across his mid-bicep.

So much for defense. I got lucky this time, but any more loss of restraint could land me in a very ugly position. Best to stay on my guard from now on.

As quick as he was to attempt a leap out of the way, Arion was more quick on executing a counter-move. He thrust his rapier with deadly accuracy at Valcrist's forhead. The knight raised his broadsword in an attempt to parry, but the blade was too heavy for this instance. As Valcrist turned his head the rapier slid along the broadsword's edge, slicing through his forhead just above his left eye. The cut was clean, and soon blood was flowing. The eye begin to sting, and then burn as blood seeped into it. Valcrist closed his eyelids tightly, but cleaning out the socket was an impossibility as he needed both hands ready to defend himself.

Actually, nevermind defense, that hurts. And my vision is impaired as well...Let's step this up a notch. If he can propell himself off of the pillar, then so can I.

Valcrist slashed horizontally to his front with his rapier, not so much as an offensive move but to keep his opponent at bay while he prepared his attack. Valcrist, much as Arion had done just moments before, jumped back against the pillar, then kicked off from it. Unlike for Arion though, this was for the purpose of gaining some extra height on his opponent. When Valcrist was airborn, shoulders at about the eye-level of Arion, he brought his arms to the opposite ends of his body, then slashed wide with both. Hopefully this would trap the ranger in a scissor-like attack.

That's a good set up. The range to my sides on this attack is too great for him to safely evade, and I'm not high enough for him to roll under me to attack from below. He cannot parry, as the other blade would surely slash his shoulder. This leaves only a retreat to his rear, over the fallen candle holder. It will prove to more than a little bit of an hindrance, especially if he either steps on, or trips and falls on the menacing spike he's been eyeing.

Arion

Tactics: 8 (Excellent Job. Congratulations.)

Regulation: 9 (I didn't see any skills. You could have used at least one, or tried to.)

Quailty: 8.5 (Great job! I was very impressed with your posting. Keep it up.)

Fairness: 8.5 (Again, another good job.)

Technicaility: 9 (Very unique opening dodge with the strafing roll. Nice.)

Overall: 8.6 (Excellent Job)
-1 for Time Constraint (You stopped posting before the duel was over, thus keeping it from being complete.)

Overall: 7.6 =(



Valcrist

Tactics: 9 (Concrete techniques and thought processes to support them. Nice.)

Regulation: 9 (You failed to use a move, but the duel wasn't over. However, I can only grade you on what's there.)

Quailty: 9 (Exquisite job in posting. You had plenty of thoughts, but plenty of actions as well. It was described quite nicely, too. I had no trouble visualizing the battle.)

Fairness: 10 (You were far more than fair, and the fact that there were posts you did with 1 major action, not 2, gives your opponent a "technical advantage" which needn't be given, but was. Thus you got a perfect score. Good job.)

Technicaility: 9 (Quality evasions, congrats.)

Overall: 9.2 (Extremely close to two levels. But an excellent job. Keep it up and I could see you going into the Semi-Finals.)

Valcrist + 1 Lvl.