Getting Stronger (Closed Fight)

[Lord_Valient]

This thread is closed to Tevan and Valient


Valient stood in the broad halls of the Citadel. He had just finished his fight with the cat lady. Something inside of the big man wanted more. His urge to fight had not been satiated with just the one battle. A couple monks looked at him and waited for him to ask for a room, but Valient was unsure of himself at the moment.

Finally he pulled one of the robed figures to the side and asked him a question. "Are all the rooms the same?"

"No. All the rooms are different. Some of the same rooms even contain different environments. It is all based on magic. Magic sometimes does not follow the rules of man. We, as guidance for the Citadel, cannot predict how it works. That is for the wizards of old who created this place. Would you like a different room?"

Valient nodded. The monk smiled and led him down a different hall than before. He held his hand out in invitation. Valient, not knowing what else to do, bowed his head slightly to show the monk his appreciation. The monk's smile returned and grew. He was obviously not used to being treated with much more than indifference. The big man figured that most people saw the monks here as just a simple tool of the Citadel.

Valient opened the door and stepped inside. As with the previous time, he closed his eyes as he went through. He didn't know what it looked like when he went through the portal, but at the same time, he didn't want to know. When he opened his eyes, his heart sank into his stomach.

He was standing on a large pedastal, and around him was nothing. It was like being in a black void. The silence itself made his ears ring. There was no wind, or heat, or cold. It was as if the place just barely existed in reality. Valient took a deep breath and walked across the platform.

The platform was only thirty strides across. It was not the biggest arena he had ever seen. He peered over the edge of the platform and could see nothing below. He wondered how he could even see the platform. The big man looked up to see a white light shining from above. The light surrounded the pedastal, and that was the extent of it. Not a single ray of the light went beyond the stone. He took a deep breath and waited impatiently.

The silence of the place made him nervous and he began to figit. He drew his daggers and twirled them in his hands just for something to do while he waited. His mind suddenly wrapped around thoughts of who his opponent might be. He hoped the next one would not be like the cat lady. The big man clenched a meaty fist around one of his daggers and hoped that this time he could have a nice fight with someone who used their fists, or at least a natural weapon.

[icer189]

Wandering was something that was becoming more and more familiar for Tevan. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, but he would continue to roam until he found his place.

A mounted individual began to approach him fairly quick. Tevan did not notice the man at first, but turned to see him approaching when he started to yell his name.

"You are the one they call Tevan, yes?"

"My name is Tevan if that is what you inquire."

"Sir, I beg of you to come with me. You are summoned to the citadel. You must come immediately."

Why should I believe him? What good is it? I don't have anywhere else to go... I might as well... no one would miss me if I was gone, no one would care. No one knows who I am... my mentors gone... my family's gone... nothing else to lose.

The young mage slowly nodded, "I will go with you."

"What are you waiting for then, hop on!"

The mage slowly climbed onto the man's horse and rode quickly to the place called "The Citadel". Along the way, the man told Tevan about the citadel what its purpose was. A place where people simply fought. A gladiator arena of sorts. Whatever its purpose was, Tevan didn't exactly care. He was moving on, which is all he could have hoped for.

The two arrived at the citadel, and they dismounted.

"Where is my fight supposed to take place?"

"Eager to lose are ya? I'll show you where it'll be. The arena's change in just about every way possible, from different weather conditions, to different terrains. You'd be surprised as to the variety of areas possible."

"If I lose, it was meant to be... just lead me to wherever it is I am supposed to be...May I have the name of the one I am fighting?"

"He is called Valient."

Tevan nodded and followed the man silently. The mage had never seen so many people in one area before. People walking nearly everywhere, idle chatter between others, and individuals walking in and out of doors. The leading man suddenly stopped.

"Through this door, your opponent waits. Good luck to you Tevan."

Tevan nodded and bowed slowly, showing his appreciation. The monk smiled back before leaving Tevan to himself. The door was open, and a portal appeared to him. Something held him back momentarily, cautioning him that what lay in front of him could very well cause harm to Tevan. The mage stepped into the portal however, just wanting to get this over with.

It seemed like a mistake from the start. As Tevan entered the arena, he got a glimpse of his opponent. Tevan was intimidated simply by looking at Valient. He stood a good 6 inches taller then him. He could tell simply by looking at him, that physically he was way outmatched. He hoped that his own wit would be the factor that would make the match at least a little bit interesting. With the arena such a close space, Tevan could be easily knocked off the edge and into the seemingly endless abyss, or worse.

The terrain for this was definitely in Valient's favor, and Tevan had to figure a way around it. He wasn't really adept in combat though, so it would certainly be a big learning experience.

Am I going to die in here....?

[Lord_Valient]

Valient turned around when he felt another presence. He hoped it was someone like him, who was skilled in the arts of hand to hand combat. What he saw disappointed him. First he received a cat lady as an opponent, now he was given a little runt. The big man took a short estimate of the smaller guy he was fighting. The man had no distinguishable qualities about him. Just an ordinary guy with long hair tied back in pony tail.

Valient looked up towards the light above him and shook his head. Disappointed was an understatement to what he truly felt. He shrugged off the feeling rather quickly and held his knives before him in an offensive stance. He took a deep breath and put his mind on the fight. If he had to fight this runt, then he would fight him.

The big man's muscles flexed as he struggled to find the right posture. Another deep breath came and then went. For some reason, sweat beaded at his forehead. Something was nagging at him in the back of his mind. The cat lady was small as well, but he was quick to learn that she packed quite the punch. But she looked different. This man did not look different. Though the room felt neither hot or cold, Valient felt his face heat up.

"My name is Valient Stark. I will be your opponent so it seems. Just remember when this is over with. It is nothing personal. We are both here to fight, and when you fight, you do not bring emotion into it. With that, I give you fair warning that I will make the first strike."

Usually, this was the point at which a smile or a grin would crease upon his face, but this time it did not come. He did not feel right about trouncing someone so small. But alas, he had no choice. In order to get out of the room, a winner had to be decided. One way or another, they were going to fight.

With a grunt of effort, Valient pushed off with his right foot and charged at the smaller man. He kept his eyes firmly on his opponent. At the last instant before he attacked, he saw the eyes... That was the one thing that stuck out the most. But for now, he put that out of his mind.

He made a feint jab with his left dagger, aimed at the man's face, and then retracted it quickly and then brought his right dagger in a sweeping motion, aimed for a horizontal cut across the smaller man's abdomen.

[icer189]

So Valient Stark was the name of his opponent… Tevan wasn’t sure what worried him more, his intimidating size or the two daggers he wielded. Tevan could only assume that by him having two daggers, he also had to have some sort of quickness to use them properly.

Tevan had never fought a real opponent before; only targets that Xellan had set up, or various training exercises. He wasn’t sure if he should go all out, or just try to be defensive, and try to pick out a weakness in his opponents defense.

“You may call me Tevan.” The mage replied instinctively to hearing his opponent speak. Then, he charged.

His speed and quickness were more then he expected, and caught him off guard. For being such a large man, it was impressive. Reacting to the feint to his face, Tevan hopped backwards, avoiding the fake blow. The real strike still hit though, all though not as strong as it would have been. Ripping open his abdomen only slightly, a small trickle of blood began to come through the wound, soaking his robe.

The pain of flesh being ripped from his body was something new to Tevan. He had never felt real, hard, physical pain before. Sure, some of the training sessions were straining on Tevan’s mind or his muscles, but nothing quite like this. What started out as a slight shock, turned into sharp stinging pain right in his gut. Tevan tried his best to ignore the pain as much as possible, to continue fighting.

The mage’s hands then erupted in fire; it was his time to strike. His opponent was still close to him, close enough that missing his target would be very unlikely. Thrusting his right palm forward, a small fireball was sent flying toward Valient, aimed at his chest. The mages body then began to glow an eerie blue color, as his body was covered with a magical shield. Sweat had begun to form on his forehead, and his mind was starting to become tired. He was not used to such an intense fight, and was becoming more and more tired, not only physically, but mentally. The mage only hoped that he could end the fight quick, or that it would be ended for him. Taking a step backward, the mage held his abdomen as it continued to bleed. Even though the wound wasn’t deep, it still caused him enough discomfort and pain to take his mind off of his opponent.