To Humble Thy Foes...

[Mutant_Lorenor]

An unlikely figure wandered the Citadel district in Radasanth. After a series of events that had recently occurred, it seemed unlikely that the figure would ever return. But the master that that figure followed was a highly particular lady. She kept tabs on her servants active or nay and those tabs are what pulled the high priest out of what was supposed to be an eternal slumber in Haidia. Back to his roots he had gone, back to where it all began in the caverns of that dreadful circle of Hell.

The chambers of the Citadel were numerous and dizzying in their expansiveness. Lorenor had oft walked through those halls in his career. It had been a long one bathed in blood and it was recent times that the high priest was feeling his age. He'd suddenly grown old by Althanian standards in a much more rapid fashion than most species. It was probably a by product of being undead. As Lorenor walked he studied the various paintings on the walls, ceilings and floor.

Long had he admired those paintings which depicted the battles of old. In one particular battle was a displayed a cell quite similar to the one he had recently participated in. The Cell in all it's destructive glorious. Apparently, he had been a participant at the original the Cell, the monks had shown him his combat records from that incarnation of the Citadel League.

"Thinking about the past old man?" Came a familiar voice of one of the monks of the order.

"Amongst other matters." Lorenor said as he turned to greet a monk named Hank. "It has been a while has it not?" Lorenor said.

"Far too long. We were beginning to worry and sent out couriers to your city." The monk said. "They have not returned, we would like them back if that could be arranged."

"Perhaps that can be arranged Sir. More importantly, I have been feeling rather nostalgic since i was shown my Citadel League records." Lorenor continued. "You guys did me a service. I was having trouble remembering."

"History is a funny thing. When one looks at one's own history oft are errors made by our own deductive reasoning." The monk said. "It seems our perspective have a great effects on what we choose to remember. But I digress. Surely you are not here to parlay with an old monk like me?"

"Nay good sir." Lorenor said. "I am here on business. Set up my usual Chamber. There is a fellow I wish to meet in battle for a...rematch of sorts. I owe him an eye after he took one of mine." Lorenor said with a grin. "I intend to cut this person."

"And who might that person be that has awakened such ire?"

"An old acquaintance of ours..." Lorenor began.

***

Sometime later, chamber number three was prepared for the Grand Primus and his opponent. It was a basic combat school, similar to what would appear in the various military academies of Radasanth. Lorenor requested the military academies of Corone's current Empire. Lorenor was not a fan of the Empire, but he admired the efficiency of the regime. The Grand Primus stared at the door with his masterwork prevalida weapon drawn. Glowing purple energy swelled out of the depths of his eye sockets. He stared and waited, his face serious.

When his opponent would arrive, the ghosts of the past would haunt the battlefield anew.

(Closed)

[Hysteria]

A well of energy boiled up within Talen as he remembered the note he had received a few days earlier. The flowing script have been simple, Come to the Citadel for a rematch and the date. What had caused the excitement was not what was written on the note, but who it was from. The youth had been moulded into who he was today by a demon of sorts, the Terror of Terra, the Grand Primus of N'Jal, Lorenor V'halkulus. It had been months since Talen had even heard a whisper of the Ascended's doings and now he got to see his old Master face to face.

The youth practically glided up the stairs and into the Citadel, such was his excitement. He approached one of the Monks that always stood in the main hall to direct people.

“Hey. I am here to fight Lorenor V'halkulus. Can you tell me which room he is in?” Talen could barely suppress the excitement in his voice.

The monk on the other hand looked at him as if he was a lunatic.

“W...well he's in room two? But kid, don't you know what you're getting yourself into?”

“Blood, probably death and a very good fight!”

Talen turned away from the stunned man and walked to his destiny. The monk's reaction was normal for the boy. His apparent age of 13 caused many to think of him as just a boy, rather than the moderately powerful being he was. Talen's pale skin shone slightly as light reflected off the sheen of sweat that had formed. He took hold of the metal door handle and paused. He took a deep breath as he idly felt the hold door nob in his hand. Somewhat calmed, he pushed open the door.

The room that greeted the young warrior was at first an empty training room. The youth would not have given it a second glance if not for the sudden movement that jumped into being. Pale shades and ghosts of those who had used the room puffed into existence as Talen looked around in shock. The figures sparred, exercised and training on the myriad of machines and tools. Talen regained his composure and looked to Lorenor standing in the middle of the room, unconcerned about the ghosts of the past that wandered around him.

The image of Lorenor among the ghosts struck a cord for the youth. The endless being Lorenor outlived all, a set point in the sea of time. One of the few rocks that had managed to hold out against the inevitable tide. Talen knew that there was no way for him to win this fight, all he hopped to do was impress.

“It is good to see you again,” Talen bowed his head slightly, “Any specific rules, or should we just jump into it?”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Waiting had become an art form for the high priest. His eyes studied the area where the front doors were. His bosom rose up and down with the excitement in his heart. Long had it been since the high priest felt such euphoria. Winning or loosing no longer mattered, what mattered was that he passed the knowledge he had accrued down. His entire lifetime's worth of power passed down to only a select core of individuals he could say he honestly trusted.

Sometime later, his chosen opponent had arrived. Talen. The youth that he had hand-picked to train as a member of N'Jal's forces. Lorenor had already drawn his fabled, masterwork, steel sword. It was laying on the ground before him. On it's own, it gave off an exceedingly vile darkness-based aura with purposes unknown. The power source of the sword was a solitary jewel that was located at the epicenter of the hilt of the weapon. Lorenor rarely used the weapon. But he was eager for a chance to do so. As he studied the youth's face, Lorenor felt regret at what he was about to ask him. He knew where Talen's loyalties lay, but there was the latest discovery...

"Talen. I figured that this was the safest place where we could meet." Lorenor said carefully choosing his words. "I know that you have been dealing with our enemies, the Ixian Knights. I know you have been working alongside them. It is not relevant how I figured this out, what is relevant is where your loyalties are." Lorenor continued hoping that the youth understood the high priest's position. Lorenor suddenly became quite serious. "Look. Talen. I am not asking you to cease your relations with the Knights. I know that would be extremely unfair of me." Lorenor paused and became distant as if he was looking at something very far away. Then, his attention returned. "Understand. Sei is in a very dangerous position here." Lorenor said.

"Though he is our ally, his personal agenda also makes him my enemy. I would ask a favor of you Talen. This would be a very crucial favor if Dissonance is to survive a future confrontation with the Ixian Knights..." Lorenor said. He waited for the youth's response.

[Hysteria]

Dissonance

Talen had heard of the millitant organisation that had sprung up around a select group of N'Jal followers. While the youth was a servant of N'Jal, he didn't thing of the group as much more than a bunch of people who liked to blow their own horn. At least, that is what they were at the moment.

“You can ask away, but I cannot give you an answer before I hear the question.” Talen looked around the busy training room, “We best fight or else the monks might be suspicious. Besides... I have some new skills to show you.”

The youth cupped his hands in front of him and pointed them at Lorenor. The shadowmancer quickly sorted the correct energies and let them flow from his palms into a pool between his hands. The mass of darkness grew and then exploded forth. From the device strapped to the underside of his wrist a spark shot up and into the attack, turning it into a torrent of fire.

The youth had created a particular variant of his skill. The liquid was sticky, enough so that it would hold onto the person it touched. It also burnt hot, enough to cause massive damage should it connect. The youth didn't believe that it would cause Lorenor even the slightest trouble, but as the jet of burning liquid shot through the air he hoped it would impress.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Talen had grown since the last time that Lorenor had seen the youth. The last time that Lorenor and Talen crossed paths, the duo had entered into an unlikely alliance. Lorenor trusted Talen to make the right choices in the end. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, Talen attacked. Lorenor frowned at that realization as the youth released some sort of shadowmancy spell at the Grand Primus. Lorenor recalled the last time that the two met in battle and remembered the magma field that was chosen as their battleground. Talen had given up then, but that Talen was not the Talen that he was facing then and there.

Remembering where he was, Lorenor sighed and moved right into action. However, the jet-stream of shadowmancy power moved much faster than Lorenor could react. Preparing himself for impact, the high priest felt tremendous pain as the augmented tar-like substance found it's way to his arm. It was the arm that lacked the aegis bracer. Lorenor half-stepped away from the general direction of the jet-stream, his arm was outstretched as a result of the movement. He could not avoid intercepting the attack as it came. Lorenor growled in agony. The smoldering hot substance easily melted away the simple Vlince robe that he wore as clothing and armour. Lorenor knew he could have summoned the endless, but at that point, it was already too late.

His arm burnt quickly and exploded in blue-fire. The flesh and bone quickly turned to smoldering remnants of ash that flowed about in the light afternoon breeze. Lorenor was not pleased. His face became a twisted mask of pain as he looked at the stump that was his arm. Sticky substance hit the floor and burnt with acidic properties. Lorenor quickly turned his attention to Talen and barely managed a grin. A moment prior, he was going to lay on Talen the mission of his life. Now, Lorenor just wanted to kick the kid's ass.

"Pretty good young one. I see that you have been training well. Very well. First blood belongs to you. But I am going to make you eat that sneak attack." Lorenor readied the steel weapon he had drawn earlier with his remaining arm. Rushing at Talen full speed, Lorenor kept his eyes locked on the youth's own. As he rushed, he maneuvered his upper body in a slashing motion with his sword. The masterwork steel weapon gave off it's own radiant aura of evil as it swung majestically through the air. Lorenor kept a game face on as he swung the weapon. The blade's tip took a sudden downward shift and he aimed to sever one of Talen's legs. He didn't care which, he was only attempting to return the favor to the youth.

"Now as I was saying. I have a request of you. But first, Talen, scream for me."

[Hysteria]

Well that... was unexpected.

Talen was more than a little surprised by his combustible opponent. The youth's attack was far more damaging than he had expected, he'd go even so far as to say that it was astonishing that it attack had struck at all. However, every action had a reaction and the reaction of Lorenor was death.

The ghoulish figure was fast, faster than Talen could imagine. One second he was standing with a gaze that could kill a small mammal, the next he was charging Talen with sword drawn. The youth reacted out of instinct and leapt forwards past his attacker. Lorenor's blade sung through the air and the melody was blood. The steal sliced into Talen's leg as dove and the youth cried out in pain before crashing against the ground and rolling over to the smouldering ashes of Lorenor's arm.

The youth pushed himself to a sitting position as blood slowly seeped out of the large cut across his calf. Despite the pain he smiled at his enraged master.

“I haven't made you mad have I?”

Talen reached into a pocket and clicked open a metal case and pulled out a cigarette. The youth lowered it to the small flames from the ashes. Slow and purposefully he lifted it back to his mouth and took a long drag.

“Can't go past fresh roasted Lorenor huh?”

As the magic of the cigarette worked to increase the youth's speed the boy stood and exhaled the smoke towards Lorenor, a twisted smiled formed on his face while he watched.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Black smoke with the tendrils of a demon coursed through the air as Talen smoked. Lorenor had to give it to the kid, he had grown immensely. The smoke had a chemical after-taste that bothered the mutant ever so subtly. But his physical expression never changed, it wore the same cold, calculating expression. Lorenor's blade licked Talen's flesh and he'd caused the youth to bleed. Blood spilled on the ground, Lorenor could taste the blood in his mouth. It lulled the mutant to a state of hunger and lust for the flesh. The mutant turned around towards the general direction of the smoke and grinned at that. He took an inhale of the smoke, feeling the black substance pouring into his already corrupt lungs.

The mutant readied his one-armed fighting stance. His purple eyes narrowed to thin slits. He studied the injured leg of his opponent and for a moment felt concern for Talen. Then, he remembered where he was. Even in his senile old age, the high priest was a formidable opponent. Lorenor took a half-step backwards as if he was expecting Talen to launch some other trick at him. Then, the mutant prepared some trickery of his own. He accessed his full powers, burning blood pool as necessary. Then, he was at peak. He could chose certain options if need be, but he would save those for a trump card maneuver. In the meantime, his super-genius intellect began to plan and calculate.

Talen was an unknown quantity despite the fact that the mutant had a hand in the boy's training. Lorenor continued to stare at the youth as he readied his next few actions. Always fight with a plan. "There is love in your technique." Lorenor began. "The love was not there before. Pain is serious business. When you want to inflict pain, you go right for the heart Talen. Always remember that. You do have love in your basic technique now. I look forward to seeing that love turned into a blissful symphony. Show me pain Talen. Show me passion." Lorenor's expression was distant for a couple of moments, and then it returned to normal.

Lorenor slowly began to walk towards Talen. Sword's tip pointing downward towards the ground, strategy in mind and plan in his evil brain.

[Hysteria]

“Love? Love may be a many splendid thing, but it is a far flung one for me.”

The youth gingerly put weight on his leg and was happy that it didn't offer too much pain. What disturbed him was how much his words sounded like something Duffy Braken would say. The flambouant member of the Ixian Knights seemed to be having a bad influence over Talen. The thoughts of the Actor-Knight quickly faded as the boy brought his hands together in front of his chest and almost looked as if he was praying. His stance and the cigarette releasing curls of smoke into the air made him look like a depraved parody of a priest.

Throughout his time fighting in the citadel Talen had learned that it was common for people to walk slowly when they were fighting. The movement screamed confidence and arrogance, or rarely fear. Talen never moved slowly. From within himself the youth pulled out dark energy and stored them within his hands. Ready to release the darkness, the youth point both palms towards Lorenor as another smile slithered across his lips. The calm blue eyes that normally adorned Talen's face were open wider than normal, twisting his face with madness.

Dark energy exploded from Talen's finger tips in thick black torrents. The dark strands spiralled through the air and arched out around Lorenor, then back inwards as they attempted to catch the ghoulish being in their dark grasp. As they travelled they interlaced and twisted around each other before hardening into a web of black metal. If the youth had his way, Lorenor would be trapped.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Walking with a distinct purpose in his heart, the high priest only smiled. A sadomasochist in nature, Lorenor enjoyed inflicting pain as much as he enjoyed receiving it. A part of it was curiosity, or some perverse feeling of attraction to Talen. The high priest did not attempt to evade the trap. Instead, he relished in it, he allowed it to happen. He wanted to see the full maturity of Talen for himself, and ultimately, he wanted to consume the boy. When the web solidified into a cage around the high priest, the forward walk suddenly stopped.

All movement stopped. Lorenor simply stared at the boy from behind the bars. Still holding his sword, the mutant relaxed his posture somewhat. Then, he smiled even wider. He knew he was at the mercy of the youth just then. The cage had successfully trapped Lorenor, though in a lot of ways, the mutant had allowed that event to come to pass. It was of only small merit to Talen. Eager to see what would happen next, Lorenor studied his opponent and then began to speak. Using his powers of manipulation in an attempt to bring about certain doom.

"Now that you have me trapped young one, whatever shall you do? This is indeed a most compromising position to be in. However, I shall leave mercy to the hands of those who would give it. Do-not go easy on an old man Talen, just because he is old. Instead, show me the love that you have learned. Show me the true power that N'Jal has given you!" Then, Lorenor suddenly began to laugh with glee.

[Hysteria]

“a-ha” Talen managed an uneasy laugh.

Dude's psycho... well more psycho than I thought. Then again... such a twisted mind. If he was a fly he'd probably fly into a spider's web to give the creature thoughts of victory before breaking free and eating it.

“O-K. I'll play along. This little shindig might as well come to an end with your death rather than mine.”

Talen sounded sure of himself, but he wasn't. Too many times had the youth been beaten in battle for him to assume victory this early. However, if Lorenor wanted Talen to show him his power, then he would.

The youth lifted his hands into the air and focused, drawing out the darkness within himself again. The black energy ran up his arms in a visible surge and rose up into a ball from his palms. The darkness hovered in mid air as it took the shape of a black clock. The hovering form of the clock only had the numbers two to nine on its face, and the single hand started to make its way around. Talen lowered his hand and looked Lorenor in the eyes and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

“There's that. We'll come back to that later though. You're already familiar with my liquid ooze ability and shadow hold. Unfortunately that’s the extent of my abilities. Or at least it would be if I wasn't covered with other useful items.”

Talen reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small wand. He pointed the tip of it to the device strapped to his wrist.

“On my wrist is the Bright Spark, while this wand is called Elruiand's Light. I made sure I brought it to face you, I'm sorry but this might hurt.”

Talen lifted the wand into the air as it exploded with bright white light. The ghostly spirits that walked aimlessly around the training room were instantly blown aside by power of the wand as the white light expanded and filled the entire room with is powerful glow. The flooding light was a bane to the undead, normal types were kept back by its power, but for Lorenor, the youth had no idea.

Talen did know that he had to act quickly. He walked forwards with his free hand outstretched and summoned the dark liquid again. The oil burst out from his palm and once more he flicked his wrist and sent the spark into the liquid and set it on fire. Through the binding haze the jet of burning liquid shot towards Lorenor.

“You wanted to see what I could do.”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

"Yes, young one. I have felt the love in your attacks. I have seen your growth."

The entire time, the tactical mind of the super-genius was planning, prepping, waiting. The beast that he was, Lorenor had access to a tremendous amount of power. He had allowed himself to get trapped within the cage to experiment and taste the love of the boy first-hand. As a sadomasochist, the boy had brought Lorenor great pleasure. Both in the amount of pain that he had inflicted, and the amount of pain that would be coming. Lorenor cherished pain, it was a form of art. In the wrong hands it could bring needless suffering to many. In the right hands, pain had the power to change the very future of Althanas. And forge many possible futures...one of billions of streams that flowed from one single epicenter.

"Boy, would ye leave your prey trapped within a hollowed out cage? To suffer a prolonged agony of death from undisciplined hands. There is love in your attacks boy. Make no mistake. N'Jal has gifted you well. But this mark has tricks of his own for an old man. The mark has felt the sprung snare that creates a bulge in the pants. The sprung snare that hunters o so fear to lay to rest. Like a rotten corpse, this mark has laid a few snares of his and ye hast fallen into thy mark's own designed trap..." Lorenor said.

Lorenor then released the power just in conjunction with Talen summoning up the power from his wand. Fast was the mutant, and he would use all of his speed and quick thought to manipulate reality to his will. In a blinding fast moment, the mutant had summoned up a gate from Phantaria, realm of doors. From the kingdom, a single gate manifested within the cage meant to imprison Lorenor to his doom. Though the mutant would laugh at death once again and rob his opponent from a clear-cut victory. He moved rapidly into the door, and then, whilst he was in Phantaria, he accessed his celerity at level two.

Lorenor became a blur of movement as he reappeared back on the Firmanent slightly behind Talen. A few paces away. He had manipulated the land of doors to his will. It would not be the last time that the reality walker would do so. A fine moment of battle, the flash of energy/light magics passed harmlessly through the Antifirmanent as Lorenor used his reality walker ability. He came back to the Firmanent, manifesting his physical body elegantly, expertly. The reality walker studied Talen's back for a moment just as the blinding light receded, so there was a subtle moment of pain that touched the mutant's body.

Steam rose from the mutant's outer flesh. He liked the pain, there was an elegance in the pain. A moment or two earlier, and the blinding light would have burned the mutant to ash. Lorenor was still in blink-movement and so he manipulated his body so that it was exactly right behind Talen's own person. He pointed his steel, masterwork sword at the back of Talen's neck. Then, the mutant high priest grinned lavishly, a hideous expression. Lorenor liked Talen, and that emotion would equate to a twisted version of love in the back of the mutant's mind. As he watched the boy for a moment or two, he allowed the blink movement to wear off, and then he prepared his next set of plans of attack.

"Ye has mastered the secrets of N'Jal well. Now master the love behind pain. And thou shalt become unstoppable even to those who would be thy superior. Like me. Always have a plan young one. And in this, I shalt reveal my design for you. Go to thy ken, the Ixian Knights, and N'Jal decrees that ye bring me back tactical information. Roster data, strategic points of skirmish warfare, weapons capacity. Everything. I am at war with the Knights Talen. And rather than have an ally fall in that war, I wouoldst prefer that ye become a useful dual agent." Lorenor kept his weapon at the back of Talen's necck. "Consider this your only chance at survival Talen. What do ye sayeth? Are ye in or out?" Lorenor waited.

Check-mate boy.

[Hysteria]

“You speak of love and war, of comrades and friends as if I care.”

Talen went quite, thoughtful even. The youth had seen the bluff coming, but it didn't make it any easier to doge the man picked by a god to be her representative on Althanas. Talen had a backup plan of course, he always had one.

“True I have accepted you as a master, and all that entails of loyalty. But you seem blinded by these notions. There are things in this world that seek to crush and destroy you. Forces that will fight because you are there, without reason or logic. The Knights of the Dawn are such a force, it is these... these assholes that we should destroy before the Ixian Knights. Sei's rag-tag bunch of misfits are no match for the Knights of the Dawn. We should strike our strongest adversary while we have the essence of surprise!”

The youth fell silent, but his breathing hard. The youth had found a family within the Knights, and even he was not sure if he was speaking out of tactics or something else. Regardless his silence was accompanied by preperations of a spell. Lorenor was not the only one who could jump planes, although Talen's method was far less impressive, it was simpler; especially when doing very short distances.

The seconds counted by, but they had barely begun before the youth disappeared in a puff of darkness. Behind Lorenor the darkness twisted into existence as Talen re-appeared in the material world. The youth's hand was on the blade in his belt he brought it out in a wide slash across his Master's back. Vaguely the youth wondered if Lorenor had forgotten about his similar ability to shadow-step, or if it was another web of tricks he was about to fall into.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

He caught me...off guard...

Lorenor vaguely remembered thinking that. Very few people had the ability to catch the high priest off guard, and it seemed that this boy was now one of them. But, one thing was dreadfully clear. I can no longer count on him as an ally. He has chosen those bastard Knights over N'Jal. He is of no use. Feeling the pain as his opponent slashed across his back, the mutant realized one dreadful matter: that's the best he can do. Lorenor fell forward on purpose, into a roll, and willed his regenerative powers to activate. The gash was a costly maneuver, a miscalculation on Lorenor's behalf. After all, even though he had a tremendous intellectual capacity, he had no way of calculating every single variable. He had expected Talen to embrace him, instead the boy had gone down his own path.

Again the thought: He is of no use to me. Lorenor felt a gash of pain in his heart greater than any blow could produce. The gash of betrayal. Clutching at his chest for a moment, Lorenor got up after he had completed a forward roll. It was not an elegant maneuver due to the tragedy of the moment at hand. Shaking his head, Lorenor stood up without the elegance of his normal self. In their original battle, it had been Talen who had forfeited their match. This time, it would be Lorenor's turn. There is no reason to fight him any longer. When next we clash blades it will be on a real battlefield. Traitor... Lorenor thought to himself even as the deadly wound that Talen had inflicted on him mended itself. Lorenor looked at Talen with an almost accusing glare.

"I withdraw from this battle. Talen. Betrayer. When next we meet, I will return the favor and cut you. I will make you bleed for what you have done today." Lorenor knew it, the boy had grown greatly and now could hurt the master. Talen was dangerous. He had opted to become a dangerous enemy. Turning towards where he new the front gates awaited, the battle was over. With a heart filled with lead, he sheathed his steel weapon and walked away from the battle. He thought he could communicate and reach his student, but instead, he had made a darker monster. How cruel the fates were. Alas, it was poetry. A man that Lorenor once called brother now wore the mantle of enemy. It was true; Lorenor had grown old and represented an era of Althanas that was quietly fading away without a battle.

Lorenor knew that to be truth, and with a heavy heart he took his leave of the arena and his opponent.

Fin!

[Hysteria]

Talen stood shocked in the middle of the empty training hall. The ghosts of students past fluttered into existence around the youth and took their positions around the ageing equipment. The small pale boy lowered his head as the rejection sunk home. Lorenor thought Talen had abandoned him, but the emotional mutant turned Talen's excitement to despair. For the boy with no family, he felt he had lost an older brother.

The little shadowmancer sunk to the ground amid the ghostly visages and neglect. The dull thump as his butt hit the floor released a puff of dust, but Talen didn't register. The two parts of his life had collided, with only one the victor. The stench of loss hung in the air as the friendship of the mutant and the boy putrefied and decayed into nothing.

“Ahem.”

Talen looked up at the small bald monk standing in the doorway.

“We need this room now.”

The youth pushed himself back to his feet and slid his sword back into it's sheath. Each step he took was heavy as he left the room marked with the taint of defeat. The victory, the fight, was for naught. A shallow win that stood as a sign of loss. The boy would head back to the Ixian Castle. His home, the side of his life that had survived, but would feel no joy at his arrival.

[Breaker]

Music: Antivenom by USS
Mood: Cheerful

Not at all a bad battle. I noticed some significant improvements from what I've seen in the past from both of you, so I commend you for that.

I'm gonna put Lorenor's scores in bold and Talen's in normal text, cuz that's easier for me and won't be different across the skins.

Story ~ 6/10 ~ 4/10
This is one of the areas where Lorenor excelled and Talen came up short. While I got some information about Talen's backstory and the IK throughout the thread, there was nothing to situate me in his storyline at the beginning. Your opening post would have benefited greatly from having something about Talen's present life - if the message had interrupted his work at the IK, for example, it would have provided the reader with an understanding of who Talen is on a day to day basis.

Lorenor, your introduction could have also benefited from a little more detail (not more information in general, just more precise facts over vague notions) but overall you did good job of introducing both characters, and keeping the story moving. Your conclusion was confusing but was nonetheless, a conclusion. I'd advise you to put a little more time into planning your storyline. That doesn't mean you need to predict the outcome or actions of the battle, but if you know where you're going the whole time, it's easier to get there.

Continuity ~ 6.5/10 ~ 5.5/10
This thread definitely felt like it was on Althanas, and I commend you both for that. Everything was consistent, and even your magics played well off each other, which I added an extra half point for. Overall Lorenor did a better job of going above and beyond, so he gets the advantage as well.

Setting ~ 4/10 ~ 5/10
Lorenor, you have some great descriptions brewing but nothing really hit me as great, and often your unedited writing makes me lose my mental image completely. Also there was some confusion near the beginning as to whether your sword was prevaldia or steel. Talen, you didn't do much better, but on occasion some of your actions did give me clear visuals of your character and his surroundings, so I gave you the advantage here.

Creativity ~ 6.5/10 ~ 6/10
I must say, there were instances in this thread where you both impressed me equally with your writing style. Lorenor, you're getting to the point where you craft and occasional brilliant metaphor. Talen, there are moments of truth in your writing that I wish you could expand to encompass entire posts. My suggestion is that both of you re-read this thread, find your favourite parts, and remember how you wrote them. Then apply that same energy to everything you write from now on. It will require great effort at first, but it becomes instinctive with time.

Character ~ 5/10 ~ 6.5/10
Lorenor, most of the time your character was consistent and powerful, but there are times where I lost track of him completely. One thing that caused this were the constant references to Lorenor's "super genius intellect"... Lorenor never did anything that made him seem especially intelligent or wise. In fact the way you described him as the narrator frequently conflicted with his actions. I think if you just stopped telling things about your character and just let him show the reader who he is, your score in this category would rocket up.

Talen really grew three-dimensionally throughout this thread, which brought you a heightened score here. If you had started this battle writing the same way you finished it, this would be even higher.

Interaction ~ 5/10 ~ 5/10
Both of you have instances of excellent interaction followed by long expanses with very little. If your character's actions become essential to every part of your writing, it will bring this score and most likely others up immediately. Think about not only the conscious things they do to accomplish their goals but the subconscious mannerisms that make them who they are, and also their reactions. You both did well at this but have a long way to go.

Strategy ~ 5/10 ~ 6/10
There was not an awful lot of strategy at play despite the nature of the battle, but Talen's organic actions edged him ahead.

Clarity ~ 5/10 ~ 5/10

Mechanics ~ 5/10 ~ 5/10
For such a short battle, this was fairly ripe with grammatical errors and moments that made me pause to my thoughts or re-read. You both need to improve your editing habits considerably to do better than average in these categories.

Wildcard ~ 6/10 ~ 6/10

Totals: 54/100 - It's a tie!

Mutant_Lorenor receives 900 EXP and 100 GP
Hysteria receives 900 EXP and 200 GP

[Silence Sei]

Exp-GP Added.

The Ole Lore Leveled. Oh!