Round 3: Khalxaen vs. Culix

[Atzar]

This round is open until 12:00 AM E.S.T. on May 13th. Good luck! Remember, the earlier you finish, the earlier your battle gets judged!

[Culix]

Sorry about the lateness, Khalxaen. Just took me a while to find the time. Damn you, Finals! My wrath shall be slow in coming, but no less terrible for it! A thousand curses be upon your name until said indignation's arrival! Blargh and whatnot!

"So, this's the old McGuffin place?"
"Yes, mi'lohd."
The youth smiled. When addressed, he usually heard nothing like an honorific; he used to presume he expected too much of others, and let the matter slide. So, when a teenage commoner, apparently the hamlet's greeter, spoke to him with those two syllables at the end of every sentence, it was all the boy could do to contain himself; he could even forgive the earsplitting accent. Finally, someone with respect! I've gotta remember this guy's name; when the world's mine, I'm definitely letting him run this town. What's it called, again? Notwor Thit?

Indeed, Knotwood Thicket -- a name folklore agreed came after drawing woodland words from a hat -- had seemed a cheerier place to Jannin after such a greeting. That alone made it easy to overlook how few shops seemed worth a penny, how minimal the inn experience looked, and even how often the citizens spat. However, when the preceding words told him, "We don't 'ave a lah-brury 'round 'eah," not even the concluding "mi'lohd," could salvage the boy's enthusiasm. Honestly! If it's got no library, it's a lie ta call it a society! While his feelings on the subject were normally strong, the young man had extra cause for displeasure; finding a decent book was his motivation for wandering the last few days. Jannin would have certainly found such reading material had he stayed in Radasanth, but, as his last pursuit of a book in that city had led to said tome's incineration... Well, the had decided to take his chances elsewhere. Thus, the 'day' he'd set aside as a break from his world domination plans stretched into a week of searching for a worthwhile book.

Mention of this intent brought visitor and village greeter to the front gates of the McGuffin estate. Shiny, Jannin observed of the gates, failing to wonder at how they'd remained so after a supposed forty year period of neglect. He slid them open without a creak and stepped onto the grounds. "The service's appreciated, peasant," the smiling boy told his guide without a trace of contempt.
"Best o' luck t'ya, mi'lohd," replied the teenager as he waved and watched the visiting child walk down the entry road. After waving for a sufficiently long time, a smirk replaced the vacant grin. "Have fun, kiddo," he told himself with a chuckle. Not as rich a chuckle as last time, though. It was getting too easy; the last one had taken at least more persuasion than, "Ol' McGuffin left behoind some moighty foin litrichuh up theh." Oh, well. Practice with the 'reverent commoner' act's always nice. Great way to pass the time, too. He wondered absently how long it would take the kid to get out. "Seems a 'days' type, to me," he decided, chuckling anew.

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"Again, thanks for showing me the way in." He paused. On cue, the familiar grinding sound of stone on stone came from somewhere to his right. The walking resumed. "And for tellin' me getting to the house's as easy as gettin' through the maze." Another pause, another rumble, to his left this time, another resumption. "Can't find fault with, anything, really." The cycle repeated for the umteenth time. "Oh, but one thing--" The sudden quaking ahead of schedule, with the culprit in plain sight, threw him into a rage. The segment of rock slid out from the right, noisily turning the open path into a dead end, as he shouted over it, "Could ya have mentioned that the walls move!?" The boy contemplated kicking the new obstacle after some good old-fashioned seething, then recalled his left foot's twinge from the last one. So, he prudently skipped to the step where he took a few deep breaths and turned around.

"I will beat you, Maze," Jannin told the high stone walls around him. "I'll find an exit, and I'll leave, and I'll come back with a hammer and a chisel, and, oh, the things I'm gonna do ta you..." As if to spite the boy, the labyrinth's next adjustment placed another wall in his way. The purple-haired child stopped and glared. Least that wasn't all bad; it got the sun out of my eyes. He then became irritated that he was defending it. After a cough, the lad declared, "I think left sounds good," and turned down another corridor of thick stone panels, kicking some gray dust as he went. Just you wait, ya blasted puzzle... Just you wait...

[Khalxaen]

"Hmm. Loud." Khalxaen mused under her breath as she stared at the odd stone wall around her. They made all sorts of noises as they moved on their own accord, and she could even swear she heard a lion's roar in the distance. She could have sworn that the girl she spoke to told her this place used to be a playground to the local children, and so she couldn't understand what games they used to play. 'Maybe the one who doesn't get eaten up by the lion is the winner..? Awesome.'

She had ended up in that certain town because of coincidence, as usual. Khalxaen had no interest in it at all when she set foot on it, and the accents of the townspeople did nothing but give her a headache. Imagine her surprise when she passed by a strange mansion, was engrossed at it, and a little girl walked up to her and asked her if she was interested. Khalxaen, hesitating because she hated how they walked, gave in anyway and listened to her story. She was told that there was a huge maze inside, keeping in all sorts of valuable artifacts that the previous owner had. Khalxaen's scarlet eyes flashed just then, and she flicked the girl on the forehead and rushed in. She could have sworn the girl yelled something behind her about danger, but Khalxaen didn't pay much attention. What could be so dangerous about a maze?

Indeed, the maze really was a danger. She couldn't find her way out. At one point, she stopped to lean on a wall, and it abruptly gave away behind her, causing her to fall on the dirt in surprise. There were strage things inside the maze, like statues of an old man. There were also several tall trees that the stone walls seemed to avoid when they moved. Khalxaen looked up to the sky and saw that it would be some time before dark came, but she had to find her way out before then. Or even better, find a valuable artifact that she could keep for herself. Then, her eyes trailed to the walls. They were about three times her height, but the cracks that accompanied the stone made it look possible to climb. If she could walk on the top of the walls until where the exit was, she could emmerge victorious. She just had to be quick, or else the wall would probably give away before her again.

"Here goes...!" Khalxaen mumbled, and she quickly grasped one of the deep cracks. The tips of her feet found other holes, and she started to climb as quick as she could. She was just a few inchies away from the top, when to her dismay, the wall started to rumble. "Guh!" She said in frustration. The demon had been able to poke her head above the edge to get a better view of things when the stone wall flung her away. Landing on the dirt on her feet, she blinked. 'Did I just see a tiny head on the other side?'

The demon looked around again, and noticed there was a tall tree nearby. She climbed up to one of the branches and poked her head around until she could see another person on the other side of the wall. "H-hey, you!"

[Culix]

Another delay. Lousy timing... Sorry again.

Huh... Jannin stared reflectively at the tuft of grass and flowers peeking from beneath a wall segment. The youth's heavy breathing had quieted, once he'd decided the growling noises were sufficiently far away. He reached toward the plants. Wonder how that stays alive with all the moving. The boy jerked his hand back as the answer came: the wall slid to his left, the flora coming along as one unit. Ahhah. What if it's going past a wall, though? His eyes then caught the splatter of blue in a new segment. After the eye-catching bit slid from behind the perpendicular section into full view, it made a quiet springing sound as it leaped out. With a step back and a gasp, Jannin studied the new mushroom in wonder. It really was a lovely shade of blue. "Pretty..." he mouthed and began to reach for it.

At that moment, Khalxaen's voice reached him. "Dah!" The lad jumped and drew his hand back. He then brought his staff into a more defensive position and nervously looked in every direction the voice hadn't come from. "Alright, alright, I won't touch your mushrooms!" This was for the best; as a rule, touching fungi in a place clearly influenced by magic is unwise.

Finally, his eyes alighted on the person who had spoken. "Ah," the boy said, deciding it was not the maze who had spoken to him. His eyes told him the person was atop a panel, but little else; she was right between Jannin and the sun. Some might have found the halo of light it cast around her ironic, not that the kid would have made the connection, or cared, knew he the girl's heritage. Instead, a genuine smile played over his face as he raised the staff to shield his vision. "Hello, there!" An insect buzzed near his face, prompting him to bat at it with his free hand. "Nice to see someone el--" The smile crystalized. As the hand brushed his forehead, it found quite a bit of moisture. Considering the boy'd been running through an unfairly shifting maze from a wild animal he could only hear for almost two hours in the middle of the day, this should not have come as a shock. And yet, it did. Ya look awful! Fix it. Fix it! Maybe if ya do it fast enough, whoever's up there'll... uhh... forget. ... Well, ya can save face, at least! Now, get cracking with that spell, so ya can look presentable and ask for directions! That said directions would very quickly become obsolete did not occur to him.

Jannin closed his eyes, as though using the faulty logic of, "If I can't see them, they can't see me." He then proceeded to chant a spell he numbered amongst his top two; scorching his foes was all well and good, but what did it mean, he wondered, if he had to smell like a hobo as he did it? The lad's vanity told him this question deserved serious contemplation. So, the arcane syllables for what he'd dubbed 'Freshen Up' began drifting through the air.

[Khalxaen]

"Mushrooms? There are mushrooms? Darn, I'm hungry, maybe I should get some mushrooms..." She muttered under her breath as she heard the reply of the other person. The other person had been leaning down, face away from her so she couldn't see him clearly. After his amusing statements about fungi, he stood up in a panic and looked around for her, giving her a better view of him.

Khalxaen's expression falted as she feasted her eyes on the person on the other side. She wasn't exactly expecting a young kid in such a seemingly dangerous place. The demon was just about to ask him if he was lost and wanted an 'adult's' help, when she stopped herself to listen to the greetings of the young boy. 'But, seriously, why's there a kid in this place? Guh, maybe he's just another monster like that lion thing. An obstacle! Because, honestly, I don't see why he should be here.'

Maybe the demon should have listened to the few fragments of his greeting before she jumped to conclusions. She couldn't quite understand what he had said, but it was because he hadn't finished it. He seemed much more interested on whatever was on his forehead. A very obvious expression of frustration graced his face. "Hey, kid, are you alright?" Khalxaen called out, blinking to focus her eyes and see the short child more clearly. "Huh?"

Khalxaen knew that look of concentration he had, especially since she was also a mage. 'The fool's casting a spell! I knew it, he's like that dumb lion obstacle...!' She jumped to this conclusion because she couldn't see any other reason on why the young mage would cast a spell out in the open. There were no other threats visible, and she seemed to be the only possible target at the moment.

"Fine, you want to play it that way, monster baby?" Khalxaen called out. She took a few moments to chant her own spells and hoped she was at least quicker than her opponent. The wind around her became ice-cold and the few water droplets in the air materialized into small frozen spikes, and then flew themselves towards the boy. And then, Khalxaen hoped she wouldn't fall flat on her face on her next move: from the tree she was resting on, she hopped on the top of the wall seperating her and her opponent and then jumped again, landing on the dirt a few feet in front of him. Her eyes glazed with happiness. "Yey, I didn't trip!"

The demon didn't even muse about the fact that doing all this would probably make her an easier target, but she was afraid she would have lost sight of him if the walls had moved again. She didn't care if he was indeed a monster baby, he might still know the way out. Especially if she pounded it out of him.

[Culix]

Spick and span in moments flat. Yes inde-- Mmm? A lid squinted open, displaying the confusion in the eye behind it. What's happening, now? It was probably the 'monster baby' comment that really threw him. Jannin's chant trailed off and his brow furrowed as his mind tried to make sense of things. Which was especially tricky, as a nearby part of the maze then decided it was time to move a few feet. Reeeeally startin' ta hate that... Much as the boy wished his ears would shut down, they suddenly perked up. She's saying... something, but-- It was tough to hear amid the noise, but the tone finally hit him. Jannin knew well the quiet, almost resonant, emphasis placed on the syllables, all spoken with such deliberate clarity. A spell was coming. "Uhh--"

A sudden movement. He lurched. The move spared his throat, but made suffer his hand, shoulder and staff. The lad grimaced, while the staff slipped from his fingers. His eyes made their diagnosis: the icy spikes had peppered his staff, luckily only cutting his fingers a little, but a few had reached the shoulder. The pain went from sharp to dull, however, as rage took its place in Jannin's attention. I try ta spruce myself up, and this is the thanks I get!? His free hand caught the falling staff, narrowly missing the imbedded ice. His fingers tightened on their positions in an odd take on Five-Finger Fillet.

She hopped down from her vantage point, and seemed pleased with herself at the landing. The girl was taller than him, but shorter than everyone else he'd ever faced. Little other sensory information slipped through the boy's anger. He supposed from the ears she was an elf, but her heritage didn't weigh too heavily on him at the moment. It was just as well he wasn't paying much attention; with another stone's grinding, he wouldn't have heard the unseen beast's nearer cries, anyway.

The tactician in Jannin began to stir, and then demanded to know just how in the hell things had gone so badly so quickly. Quickly reclaiming its calm, it observed that the corridor was wide enough for its purposes, and directed the boy's next acts. "Hope that was fun, 'cause I'm about ta try!" The lad cringed, sapping a bit of his anger; his theatrical side just had to get some pre-fight banter in, but grew annoyed at how unimpressive it was. Might as well have shouted, "Die!" Ugh! His mind left this concern after another, shorter chant, this one to his other favorite spell, sent a surge of magical energy through his body and a roaring orb of flame to the palm of his injured hand. A confident smile overtook the cringe. I'll lob it at her after I've returned her favor. With his staff in hand, he pulled back the weapon and took a swing, aiming for her with the pointy implements she'd helped install. This, of course, required Jannin to wield the staff in a way few masters would condone. However, as one of those same masters said, in a crisis, why stray from what you know?

[Atzar]

Timeliness alone is going to cost you this one, Culix. There was a total of 10 days of waiting for three posts. Keeping in mind the fact that the round is only 14 days long, that's too much.

Thus, Khalxaen gains 100 EXP and advances to Round 4!

Culix gains 50 EXP.

[Cyrus the virus]

EXP added!