Round 2: Uukan Kimari vs. Solomon

[Ther]

This battle will last until March 16th at 11 P.M. E.S.T. Good luck!

Also, Solomon leveled up in the last round and a Level 3 update will count for the purposes of this match provided its approved before his first post in this thread. The same goes for Uukan and his Level 1 update.

[Solomon]

"Give me a room, and send in a challenger immediately." Solomon had said to the monk who stood in the foyer of the citadel. He had only just entered the doorway, shedding the red afternoon sun into the wide tiled room and stealing the surprise of the quiet patrons that sat around in their separate interests. The heavy light seemed to weigh down on everyone who saw it, illuminating the lines of sweat that sat upon their foreheads, previously unnoticed. Not only that, but the crack of light that stood behind the six foot warrior showed the dust that littered the foyer. It danced in the air all around the room, tiny specs that couldn't even be felt between your fingers. Yet even though the allergen was now exposed, nobody cared. Once the shock of his entrance ended they all went back to what they were doing.

"Certainly." The monk replied. The edge of his lips hinting a smile. His garments were long and drab, as though he had been born in them and never once been given anything else to wear. He turned his back on Solomon, like his disruption to their peace had been nothing, and took him down the hallway right in front of them. Obviously the man had dealt with people who's faces and voices echoed with much more anger and distain. Solomon was no new story to him.

However, Solomon did not intend to disrupt or to exercise power, or anything else that many aggravated men might try and do. Had he been in a better mind he would have made sure he was calm, and at least attempted to be polite to the strangers. He just wanted to get from where he was and into a fight with as little delay as possible. The less time he stopped to think, the less likely it would be that he‘d change his mind.

The red headed girl had dragged him all the way out of the forest. His great bulk was pulled right over her shoulder and dragged him all through the thicket and back to the village she had just come from. He wasn't exactly unconscious, but he wasn't really in his mind either. As far as he could remember. He thought he was going to see people who wanted him dead, or wanted him to pay for the damage he had caused to a local hospital when he lost his temper. This was not the case. The men wanted him for a job, not the girl who just beat him up and delivered him, but Solomon himself. They were regular men, as far as he could tell. They didn't seem too out of the ordinary. The only reason Solomon was suspicious of them was the fact that they dressed the same, meaning they came from the same clan, or obeyed the same master, or something like that.

They didn't threaten him, or bribe him. They asked him. It wasn't eloquently, or rude, or abruptly. It was a plain and simple request. They needed someone with his type of skills, with his type of body to fulfil an undisclosed duty for them. Of course, Solomon immediately denied. He wanted to be left alone again, not wanting to be seen by other people. However, the strangers simply nodded their acceptance of his request. If that is what he truly wanted, they would leave him be. However, they had a task for him that none of their own could fulfill. It would be risky, but they guaranteed whatever compensation he desired it would be his.

He spent a day laying in bed, thinking it over and passing through all his memories once more. At dawn the next morning he threw himself out of the bed at the inn and met with the men in the village's library. Where they had told him to come if he changed his mind.

"What do you want me to do?" He had asked them.

And so they sent him here. To the citadel to prove his own in combat. They told him before they could take him any further, he must prove his abilities so they were certain he could fulfill their chore. He accepted without delay, then set out on foot from that morning and arrived only now.

The chance to do something again. The chance to get out of his head and get back into the world. To be useful again instead of just taking up space. He didn't care about the compensation, nor did he really care about doing a favour for the strangers. He only wanted to have a focus again. A purpose, even if it was liquid, it was still a reason to keep going.

The monk lead him down the first hallway, and stopped on a corner room that was still close enough to the main corridor to see the dreary lobby. Someone had closed the great wooden door behind him, and the only other lights came from the rays that lined the curtains over the glassless windows.

"Through here. Don't worry about stepping on anyone." The man said with a grin. Solomon gave him a puzzled look, not even realizing it, as the comment aligned itself in his mind. The monk walked by and left him alone with the door.

He grabbed the knob, and pulled the door open without a moments delay. He stepped into darkness, and the door slammed shut behind him. Before he could even turn his head to see how the door had closed a great white flash ripped across the darkness, like a bolt of lightening marked especially for him. He only heard the thunder as the great bolt passed through his body. He screamed, but the sound was dwarfed by the massive crack of the thunder. As he passed into darkness, it was the last thing he remembered.

***

He awoke to the light of the sun, shinning down on him from a cloudless blue sky. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it definitely wasn't the afternoon anymore. This was just before high noon, meaning a day had already gone by. What had happened in that room? Did his opponent kill him before he was even ready? Perhaps that's why the monk thought he was so clever. He put him in a room with a great and powerful white mage, or something like that. The foe had obliterated him in an instant.

Then why aren't I in bed? Having all my wounds treated?

"This is the fight isn't it?" Solomon thought aloud. The dizziness leftover from the lightening bolt slowly receded as he began to realize where he was. He was outside, laying on his back. Just waiting for his challenger to show up. He brought his hand up to his forehead, and pushed his bangs out of the way. In the meantime he released a great yawn. It felt as though he had just awoken from a nap. The outside air was warm, slightly humid and clean. There weren't many sounds to hear where he lay, but he could hear the faint sound of ocean waves somewhere in the near distance.

This seems pretty basic. I wonder why the monks chose this? He sat upright, and looked across into the water. The ocean was huge. He could see for miles before it touched the horizon. It rolled with little white capped ripples, crashing into the fragments of rocks that sat around the shoreline. The little waves had made ruts and statues into the pieces of earth, making it look like a scale image of a costal cliff he had seen around Radasanth...

His jaw dropped open, and his arms fell lip at his sides. Suddenly he realized what was wrong with the picture. He was more dazed than he though. Those little ripples were not ripples, they were white-capped ocean waves! Those little pebbles along the bank were not just mimicking the cliffs, they were the cliffs. They weren't small. He was humongous.

He stood up, his lightweight boot smoothing out one of the hilltops in the process. He couldn't believe it. The forests, the plains, even the city of Radasanth, it was all laid out before his eyes. The tallest of the trees stood out like a large toadstool, reaching only as high as his shins. He couldn't believe it. He was a giant!

Don't worry about stepping on anyone. The phrase found its way back to his mind.

[Uukan Kimari]

On the outskirts of Radasanth, an inn covered in snow could be found. Before Uukan lost his eyesight, he had stayed at this inn on several occasions for a cheap nights rest while partaking of almost decent swill and grub.

"Uukan, what are you doing back so soon," an old man behind the bar asked. "You look like you were hit by a horse."

Groaning in response, the samurai plopped his body into the first chair in sight. A waitress set a tall glass filled to the rim with whisky in front of him. In four quick gulps, half of the liquor vanished as fast as Uukan's remaining strength, when his hand trembled and spilled some of the remaining drink on the floor.

"Oh yeah, Uuki, this came for you," the elderly barkeep announced after slamming a piece of paper to the counter. "Give it to him, Tamara."

Uukan reached into the pouch that sat below his heart and retrieved a cylinder object. Grasping it with the middle and pointer finger, he leaned back into the chair, as the barmaid walked over once more with the note in her hand. He struggled to move his left arm higher than the table to receive the paper, when the girl placed it near the glass.

"Do you have a light, miss," Uukan asked the girl and extended his right arm with the smoke in tow.

After finishing the cigarette, Uukan slinked off to his room on the second floor. Upon the entering the room, a reflection of him stared back with crimson eyes. He noticed how broken and beaten his body became from the fight. The bandages long overdue for a change, he started a hot bath and disrobed.

Two days later.

A white rose concealing its thorny interior of carnage and blood shed within pure white pewter walls of the Citadel. Starring at the monument, Uukan's hairs on his arms and neck stood on ends in anticipation. Scars carved into the samurai's body from past battles never fully heal. Shattered ribs and broken limbs all burned into memory. The smell of sweat and tears wafted through the crack of the oaken door, as it jutted open.

"I welcome you to the Citadel," a bald monk announced. "All warriors are welcomed here to fight to the death."

The aura of the building never changed in two years. Uukan thought, as he reached into his pouch and revealed a slip of paper. Extending his right arm, the samurai handed the monk the note. The man nodded in acceptance, as he scanned the letter.

"You are the one we choose to test out the new room," the bald man raised his voice. "Come this way, your opponent is waiting."

The man in reddish brown robes led the samurai to a normal looking room. However, inside it a man in a white gown stood in front of a fallen blacked haired fellow. Uukan felt his arms and legs become heavy. The walls began to spin when a loud thud resounded throughout the room.

"Is this a trap," Uukan said with his last ounce of consciousness.

Instinctively scratching his nose, Uukan felt the five o'clock shadow he did not have before entering the strange room. He rolled off his back, when he felt twigs jab into him. Glancing back, trees no higher than his shoulder brushed against the samurai. Grabbing the trees, he lifted them like a gardener removing weeds from his garden.

Is this real?

[Solomon]

He stood in his place looking out towards the western ocean, the giant between the comb mountains and the city of Radasanth. Never before had he seen the jagged mountains of the north. He had never ventured that far before. Now he could see them as spires that broke through the blue sky. They were still a ways away, but with his size he could probably run up an touch them in less than ten minutes.

I wonder how detailed the monks got with this... It feels so real. He took a sniff of the air. It was far warmer where he was than his feet felt on the ground. Had he been a little taller he might have passed out from breathing in too much thin air.

He took a step over the Niema River, it was less than a single bound for him, and approached the city walls that covered the tiny town. Thinking very little of the situation he peered his head overtop of the city, his head casting an ominous and terrifying shadow down into the cobblestone streets below. He saw the people, not even as high as his thumb, all pause in their affairs. The market merchants and shoppers, the jailors on patrol, and even the nobles in their carriages stopped in their midst. Solomon bit his lower lip in embarrassment as all these tiny faces gawked up at him. He hadn't expected the monks to go this far.

They whipped about like ants running from fire. The whole city scrambled with noises that his ears could not understand. It hadn’t taken them long to realize the threat that loomed over them. Once they were certain their eyes were not lying they darted about in fear for their lives.

"I shouldn't have done that." He thought aloud. Suddenly there was a tremor in the ground behind him. He turned his back on the alerted townspeople and back to the east. There was young man laying there on his back, roughly the same size as him from what he could tell. Immediately Solomon dismissed the terror he had just caused from within the city walls and put himself in a wide stance over the river. The second giant had arrived. The battle was underway.

However, the man looked just as disillusioned as Solomon had when he woke up in this place. He loosed his stance just slightly, relaxing his legs instead of keeping them tense as he watched the man enter this world. He grabbed one of the trees in a hand with tanned skin, staring at it as though he wasn't sure if it was actually a tree or just some familiar plant he couldn’t quite name. His hair was grey, which was a little odd for someone who looked young, and he carried weapons that looked very quick and precise.

"That's a Douglas fir, if I'm not mistaking." Solomon said to the man as he eyed the tree. "It's not small either. We're huge. I have no doubt that you're my challenger?"

Solomon put himself back into his low and wide stance, keeping his fists out in front of him. Although the scenery was nearly unreal, and took a moment to absorb, he remembered very well why he was here.

[Uukan Kimari]

Everything looks like it is from a dollhouse. Uukan pondered while examining the trees in his palm. A voice bellowed loudly throughout the lands and caught ire of the samurai. A figure, which looked similar to the black haired man collapsed in that accursed room, stood in the distance observing Uukan's actions. The man stood above the trees and rivaled the mountains in height. He wore a black gi and a pair of boots.

I must be in the Citadel still and that must be my opponent. Uukan thought and responded to the person by pushing off the soil with his right hand, as he quickly maneuvered into a fighting stance. When he landed on the ground, the samurai destroyed any wildlife beneath him and sent a shockwave that even startled the ocean’s waves. His left hand laid motionless on the sheathes, while the right hovered over the hilt of the cursed katana. With an injured left arm, Uukan reverted to drawing the sword with his right hand.

[Solomon]

He knows why he's here. Solomon grinned to himself. The opposing man didn't bother saying anything in return, unlike many of his challengers usually did. Instead he answered him with a movement. He stood up and prepared himself for the battle. That was a good sign, that meant they wouldn't be here very long and they'd get right to what mattered most. Those two strangers were waiting patiently for him back at their little Inn. He might impress them if he came back a little early.

Don't get over confident! His mind warned him, as it always did. However, Solomon was in the ready. His legs were crouched down low and wide, the bold river between his feet looked nothing more than a stream a child digs on the beach. He could do this. He could do this pretty easily.

His advasary prepared himself with his sword. He looked like a very formidable foe, and he had a selection of blades to choose from. An option that might give him an edge. The bridge over the Niema was the only real divider between the two of them, and even calling it a divider was a stretch. It kept them on their separate sides, like the line drawn in the fighter's ring, but it didn't reach much farther than six inches across.

Without even taking in breath, or focussing his energy Solomon dashed off on one foot towards the swordsman. He cleared the distance between them very quickly, and acted on a plan that had come to him all of a sudden. He had to be weary of the blade, he needed to try and get around it as best he could. If not, then the fight would be in the bald weaver’s favour.

He thrust out with his right hand. Hooking the fist around towards the man's stomach, but before he even extended his arm all the way he pushed his right leg into the ground and sprung to the left, with his torso lowered so it was no higher than the man’s elbow. He was hoping to end up on the outside of the man's sword arm in the display. The punch was the bait, if he did what Solomon thought he would, which was swing the blade down towards him from right to lower left, then he was in the clear. From there he could initiate his real attack.

[Uukan Kimari]

The man wearing the black gi ran with miraculous amounts of speed. Rocks and dirt crumbled instantly and left indents large enough to fill with fresh river water. Uukan intently followed the man with crimson eyes. He reacted accordingly by shifting all weight onto his right sandal. The left foot tore through the earth, when it responsed to the katana rising over the samurai's head.

Uukan closed his eyes and through his nose sucked in a vast amount of oxygen. While the sound of footsteps grew louder, an image of a sword became clearer. Black mist emitted by the cursed sword enveloped its blade. When sound stopped, he took a step forward moving all of his weight to his left foot and slanted the blade. As the blade fell to the ground in a diagonal angle, mist in the shape of the blade shot forth from the katana and headed towards the person who charged at Uukan like a bull.

[Solomon]

His adversary acted quickly to Solomon's strike. He had covered the short distance between the two of them in only seconds, but the sword bearer was prepared nonetheless. His sword was raised, just like he had anticipated, and so he thrust out his decoy punch and he dodged away to the left. However, instead of striking down on an arch the man enchanted his blade. Solomon only saw it coming as his torso turned through the air.

Abort! Abort! He yelled in his mind.

He fell backwards, letting his legs bend at the knees, and then collapse completely to the ground as a strange black essence shot out of the blade like a long, thick arrow of shadows. This man wasn't an ordinary swordsman.

The beam passed by only an inch from his chest. Whizzing by his hair and leaving a cold sensation running up the side of his face. He was lucky he had been in the midst of a dodge when the blade came down to fire. Had he not been passing under the sword he would have caught it in the chest. However, now he was fallen, and his foe was above him with a readied sword. He was not in a good position at all. He had to get out of there, but dodging to either side wouldn't be quick enough. He'd be gutted by the lifeless steel before he could get to his feet. He had to attack from the ground, and hope he could ward the samurai off for a chance to get to his feet.

The thoughts passed through his head like a breeze through an open window. Filling in for only a moment, just enough to feel them, then whisking away in the blink of an eye. The beam had passed him by, and his back had just hit the ground when he knew what he had to do next. He'd attacked the man's leg, swift and strong. He stretched out his left foot, trying to bring it around the man's ankle, and with his right boot he thrust it upon his open shin. Once it made contact, all he'd have to do was pull with his left foot and the giant would fall.

[Uukan Kimari]

An explosion rang in Uukan's eardrums. Upon opening his eyes, the samurai saw his enlarged opponent lying helplessly on the ground. Thinking it was over; he exhaled and let the tension flow from his muscles. Catching the back of the cursed blade, Uukan guided the sword into its sheath with his pointer finger.

What the fuck was that. Uukan screamed in the back of his mind, when a boot collided with the ronin's right knee. With a loud pop, he lost all feeling below his disjointed knee. Uukan instinctively closed his eyes on impact and twisted his hips in the direction of the attacker. In freefall, Uukan reached into the silk neckpiece of the kimono and extracted a hidden dagger, while the bulk of the body did the work.

[Solomon]

The sword wielder began sheathing his blade, a look coming into his eyes that seemed out of place for a battle. As though he had only just realized something, or just understood something that was said. Whatever it was it caused him to replaced the weapon he held in his hands. Unfortunately that moment's distraction left Solomon on an open course for his take down move.

I scratchy throated 'Yah!' ripped through Solomon's teeth as he kicked his foot out at the middle of the man's shin. His hidden strength revealed itself, even in the mildness of the blow. The boot passed on through the man's leg bone, somewhat further than it should have gone. It gave a sound similar to a corked bottle bursting in a fireplace, and the target foot lifted up as his left foot pulled in for the take-down, passing under his heel and failing completely.

Wonderful! Solomon thought as his foot missed the back of his foe's ankle. I should have hooked up and-

The thought was even cut off as the man's torso jutted around on it's leg and threw his momentum forward. He didn't stagger, stumble, or fight for control of his motion. He merely threw his body downwards, probably trying to keep him from getting back up.

"So, it's grappling you want?" Solomon thought aloud, preparing for his oncoming opponent. Quickly he brought his knees closer to his body, and reached out with his hands to grab the arms as they fell onto him. So long as Solomon kept his arms and his knees between his body and his challengers he would have the trump card. He could roll him onto his back and choke him to death with his own forearm. He could turn his wrist and spin him around onto his side, keeping control of him by tormenting the limits his wrist could bend. Then there was something else that he could do. This is what he would do. He would catch his arms in his hands, catch his lower torso with his knees, then fling him into the air and send him crashing into the dirt.

Solomon was ready and waiting as his foe fell onto him. However, when he raised his hands and knees up to intercept he failed to see the swordsman arming himself with a new blade.

[Uukan Kimari]

bunnying approved

The man in the black gi appeared confident in his skills, when Uukan used his back to hide the length of the blade. Knees gouged into the samurai's kidneys, as he tasted a familiar, metallic flavor engulf his gullet.

"I will not lose," Uukan announced in a raspy voice, as he bled through his teeth.

Uukan hoped to distract his opponent, when flailed his left hand and revealed the other with the dagger. The man with black hair grabbed Uukan’s left wrist and wrought it over the samurai's head. Before his opponent could spin him around, Uukan thrust the blade to where the gi met the man's arm.

[Solomon]

You have him! Go! GO! GO! Solomon grinned as his hands and knees captured his opponent just the way he needed to be. The warrior seized up in pain, and spat bleeding words upon Solomon's face.

"I will not lose." Was all the man said.

Live with it Solomon muttered in his thoughts, absorbing the moment of his victory. Because you're about to. The grin spread a little wider and wilder as he looked into his foe's screaming eyes. The man's eyes, deep and down, were a dark and red. He had never seen eyes like this on a human being before.

Silencing himself, he proceeded with his manoeuvre. He shouldn't be thinking about his opponents struggle, he was just here to battle and get it over with. That was all there was to it. If he started thinking about anything else he'd loose, and he was not about to start loosing again. He had already lost more than he could bear.

There was only a shimmer of silver, dancing on the sunbeams and singing through the wind. Solomon's eye's widened, but that was the only reaction he could muster in that short time. His grip on his foe failed, he turned with his knees out of pure reaction to the attack, only to release his challenger from his attack.

Bugger, he got me... Solomon clutched the wound, the long knife stabbed through the tendons of his arm so suddenly, then left his body narrowly missing the joint that connected his arm to his torso.

It's only the arm. Get up. GET UP!

Solomon turned his body, managing to get up to his knees in an amount of time short enough that his foe wouldn't have time to stand and make his next attack. However, that was the end of Solomon's short burst of speed. His mouth hung open, the air rushing in and out through the space between his teeth. His feet had torn up the riverbank when he rolled to his knees, and the water billowed up against his ankle like a great fallen log in a narrow stream.

He only gave his challenger one eye. He knew he was a little wounded, and probably wouldn't jump into the next attack. In the meantime, he had to find a way to strike him back. The knife had really done a number on his arm, his right arm. The one he used the most. It was a set back, and the wound seemed to grow angrier with each breath he took. Nevertheless, he was still far from over.

Without saying a word, Solomon grabbed with his left hand towards the earth. It only took a second of breath before he had uprooted the lean and straight elm tree. He held it in his hand for only a moment, letting his opponent see it. Solomon hadn't bothered getting off his knees, but that wouldn't take away from his power. They were still at a close range. However, he was well aware he could hardly hit the broadside of a barn with his left hand. Nevertheless, he could explode a rock just by hurling it at a brick wall. If the tree hit him, it would do damage. If not, then he had a backup plan.

"Think fast!" Solomon bellowed through a part in his teeth. He hurled the tree, and as it left his hand he brought in his breath and clenched his stomach muscles. His arm hadn't stopped it's screaming from the blade that cut into it, but the pain seemed to add to the bright blue ball that he pictured in his mind. His energy core.

If the tree missed, his fatal vision attack would be ready and waiting.

((Edited with permission. Misunderstanding about current location of the knife))

[Uukan Kimari]

Uukan's dagger struck true to its aim. Upon extracting it, polished steel now tainted by freshly drawn blood. Losing sight of his opponent, the sudden urge to lick the blade clean crossed his mind. Not for strength, agility, or wisdom but for the sheer pleasure of partaking of the man's lifeblood, when the samurai held the dagger an inch from his curled lips. What am I doing? Uukan realized his actions and tossed the bloodied weapon aside.

Uukan's legs began to wobble like rubber beneath his weight. Stumbling to his knees, the samurai felt a brisk, cold stream soak his kimono. The elongated river was merely a puddle compared to the size of him. Dazed, Uukan looked up to see a javelin shoot towards him. His right hand instinctively rose to protect the ronin’s face. Tearing through his flesh like a knife through butter, the tree bisected the gap between Uukan's thumb and middle finger, until it pierced the cartilage of his nose.

The water stained a bright crimson from tears and blood splashing from a tremendous height, when the samurai quickly ripped the tree from his flesh. Pain scrawled across Uukan's face, while his opponent only just started his onslaught of attacks. Move, move, MOVE! Uukan yelled at his legs, as he lightly padded them with his left fist. The samurai reached his left hand up to the newly wounded one and guided it to the hilt of the cursed katana.

"I do not care anymore, evil spirit or whatever you are," Uukan pleaded to the demon that possessed him. "I have no strength left in my legs.

Therefore, you want me to help now. A voice entered the samurai's mind. You think I am that forgiving. I simple wanted them dead, but you denied me that pleasure.

"With or without you, I am going to win no matter what." Uukan sternly replied.

A black mist flooded the surroundings the moment Uukan revealed a sliver of the cursed steel. Muscles tore to shreds, when he stood with renew vigor. Already past his limit, the ronin let his eyes fall shut. Unable to take a step forward, he slowly wrought the blade above his head and focused on the shape of a sword. Darkness began to flow towards the sword, as it poured onto the field. With the last ounce of energy, the samurai swung the blade horizontally in the direction of his opponent, as he sent a dark blade of mist cutting through the air.

[Solomon]

Solomon rose to his feet, the empty space in his shoulder growing cold as the winds found their way inside of him. His tough skin had managed to stop the blood from coming out like a fountain, but it still fell down from the wound like water reaching the edge of a river dam.

The tree had hit the man right in the face, causing him to reel back and bleed with new pain. The challenger’s body was pretty weak about now, his face bleeding and his leg only partially connected. All he had to do was hit him with the fatal vision beams and the man would probably fall down for the count, not able to take any more punishment. Solomon grinned momentarily at the thought of this, but tried to fight off the urge. He wasn’t here for the battle, he was here to win and move on. That was the important thing, right?

"Fatal Vision!" Solomon felt the energy billow up inside of him, like a sudden urge to shout at the top of his lungs. His eyesight became tinted as the beams flew out of his eyes like two smooth arrows of blue, darting onwards with their secret mission towards Solomon's opponent.

They never made it there.

The man had become something different. A darkness seemed to swirl around him as he swatted the air with his blade. Solomon could feel the change in his energy immediately, his life sign was becoming darker and deeper than it ever was before. The black haze that shimmered off his sword swallowed the beams like deep water swallows a drowning soul. They were there, then they were small, then they were nothing at all.

The darkness cast itself upon him, his fatal vision energy nowhere to be felt. He saw it coming, and he tried to turn away, but it had come on him so quickly he did not have the time. It was cold as it cut above his right hip. Not the kind of cold you feel from something that's frozen, something that emits cool energy. No. This was a different type of cold. Like it sucked the heat out of him.

It left him with a open patch on his gi, his blood and muscles twitching as they met the outside air for the first time in their existence. It wasn't as deep as the initial pain would have made him believe, however it was enough for Solomon to realize he had to finish this now or his victory might be lost.

If he has the power to do that, than I need a blast that he couldn't possibly absorb. He thought to himself, not knowing where his enemies power had come from or how much more of it he had in store.

"You fight well." Solomon announced, hoping to buy more time as he drew back in four wide paces. "I'd like to see you handle this." He had stepped back to increase the distance between them, needed room to perform his greatest attack. As he prepared the manoeuvre his mind immediately rushed him

What are you doing? This takes too long! What if he hits you first? What if it misses?

Nevertheless Solomon got into position. The wounds on his right side pulsed with warm blood as his heart beat steadily inside of him. They were warmed, then suddenly cooled as the new mixture touched the outside air.

You hardly ever use your left hand. His mind warned him once more. However, Solomon was bent on using the technique. He knew the beam itself was wide and accurate, and he wasn't a cripple using his other hand. Not to mention his foe was wounded, even with his new darkness, it would not match the power of this beam. It drained him of nearly everything he had just to use it.

His feet dug into the ground, carving through the hills like a gardener sweeps over an ants mound. The pressure of his landing boots sent flocks of birds and other creatures fleeing from their power like worms and beetles that squirm out through a log caught underfoot. He brought his left hand back towards his hip while his right arm trembled at it's side.

Eradication. Solomon thought the name of the attack. Not that it was necessary, just out of habit. Trying to familiarize the feeling of the energy with the name. He took in a breath, and the beating of his heart began to increase. A surge of energy flowed through him, feeding the very center of his body with each beat. In his mind, the picture of this energy grew and grew until it's rays felt like they would break through his skin. He clutched his left fist tightly, but could not close it all the way for the power that now sat inside of it.

His fist trembled, growing faster and faster with each passing breath. Steady. He said to himself. Keep it steady, or you'll loose it. His energy core continued to pulse and sparkle somewhere under his eyes, and the winds and wounds that touched his body were absent for a moment. His limbs fell cold, and his body was becoming still and solid. Yet his arm pulsed as energy was fed into it. His hand began to burn, trying to contain the beam but urging to release it. The lines between his fingers began to light up, pale rays trying to escape it. He held it there for a moment longer, until his body no longer ached but felt equally numb all around.

There was a tearing through his throat as his voice preceded the blast of light. His eyes turned up and fixed on his opponent, his hand bursting out from his hip as though yanked by an invisible legion. The beam ignited the valley, spreading out from his palm like a lampshade and staying strong as if focussed in on his opponent. His palm shook as though his whole body was being sucked out through his hand, but he held as strong as he could for as long as it lasted. The lights were so furious and so dense that it would tear through most men, leaving them shivering on the ground as large portions of their tissues were ground down to the bone. What would it do to this man? How far did his darkness reach?

The beam ended. The six seconds of melting light energy were up. Solomon felt the numbness recede, and realize his body was trembling and cold. He fell to his knees, his vision was foggy. He couldn't yet see what he had done.

((Post's contents APPROVED by Uukan Kimari))

[Uukan Kimari]

Uukan’s cursed sword cleaved the waterway in two and caused crags to form around the blade. Unable to free the sword, he weakly nudged the blade entrapped by rocks, until he slumped over the hilt in exhaustion. The samurai watched the attacks collide, as a light faded and dispersed into the artificial night taking the dark blade with it.

The cold and unforgiving darkness lulled Uukan into a slumber. His eyelids grew heavy, as he tried to maintain some visual of his opponent through the muck. All around him, the black mist started to retreat into the sword that brought it forth. What kept the ronin conscious was not of his own doing, but the temporary strength provided by the darkness.

Blacking out, Uukan fell into a coma like state. Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP A demonic voice resounded throughout his mind. It had been a whole minute, before he opened his eyes to a bright light. "Is that you god," The man with grey hair meekly asked under his breath. No, but you will meet him soon at this rate. The demon replied grimly to barely aware Uukan.

The beam only grew brighter. Crippled, Uukan moved an inch before the light tore through the samurai's kimono and flesh covering his left shoulder. Blood did not freely flow from the wound, but he felt every nerve ending there die in a single moment. Before Uukan could take his last breath, the world around him vanished. A doorknob rattled, as the monk from earlier rushed to the samurai's unscathed body. The figure in white, still in a meditative state, ignored every scream of agony that filled the room as ordered.

"He is dead," the bald monk announced after checking the swordsman's pulse. "This room still has a few bugs in it."

The end of my posting. Solomon can finish off the story.

[Solomon]

His knees rattled, even when pressing into the deep earth. The injuries on his right hand side no longer stung with pain, but instead felt cold and limited his movements with a stiffness he did not have before. His body hadn't released the numbness in that area, for it remembered well the pain they had caused him and didn't want to bring it back.

Stand up now. Stand up and be ready to fight! His inner voice encouraged him. For a moment he just wanted to lay back down, as through the hills he knelt upon were suddenly as inviting as a warm bed at an Inn. However, he pushed himself up onto his feet nonetheless. His vision cleared as he did so.

"He should at least be wounded. I can probably still finish him off, even in my condition." He thought aloud. However, when he rose up to his feet and stared out across the land his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Only cluttering footprints remained of him.

Solomon lowered his forehead. His fists uncoiled as he did so, and his mouth perked up into a light grin.

I've done it. I've won.

He felt the smile growing wider and wider, almost to the point where he was ready to laugh. It had been so long since anything had worked out for him. Now here he was, standing alone in the field of victory. He had to get back to those strangers now. He had to tell them what he had accomplished and find out what it was they had in store for him.

Don't get excited. You still don't know what it is they want from you. His mind warned him. However, Solomon paid it little attention. He didn't want to think about that right now. He didn't want to think about anything. The fight was over, it was time to get back and see what those men would have him do next.

There was a mild sting that caught his side. A feeling like being stung by a bee. He carelessly brushed it aside, only to find another sting came to his neck, then to his hand.

"What on earth-?" He muttered as he turned to see the pesky insect. When he did he saw a fiery ball whirl up and whack him in the forehead, causing another aggravating sting. A collective cry filled the ground to the west, reaching his ears as nothing more than an angry whisper. He stepped back a pace as he saw the mass marching on towards him.

"KILL THE GIANT! KILL THE GIANT!" He could hear the voices, crying at the tops of their lungs. Thousands of citizens, catapults, and arrows all came marching on towards him. Another hurdle of flaming projectiles came up at him, and the archers fired arrows with long tethers around his legs.

"KILL THE GIANT!" They all cried again. Solomon could do nothing but stare into the mass as they relentlessly came forth.

"You've got to be kidding me." He muttered.


((END of Round 2))

[Atzar]

Solomon

Continuity: 5 (There were a few holes in your reason for fighting, but good overall)
Setting: 6
Pacing: 3 (This was awkward throughout the quest from both of you. The action jumped back and forth in time, and it was hard to get a grasp on when everything was happening)

Dialogue: 5 (Nothing really wrong, I just got a Goku-esque feeling from Solomon’s thoughts and actions. Both of the characters in this battle seemed like they were straight out of anime)
Action: 6 (Confusing every now and then, but it’s hard to describe a hand-to-hand fight without this happening. Solid overall)
Persona: 5

Mechanics: 6
Technique: 5
Clarity: 6 (Your first action in the fight was hard to follow. I had to read it over a few times before I actually understood what you meant)

Wild Card: 5 (None of your posts were late)

Total: 52



Uukan Kimari

Continuity: 3 (Your intro was sort of random. I don’t know if you intended to do something with that in the battle, but I never saw it happen)
Setting: 6
Pacing: 3 (See Solomon’s comment)

Dialogue: 6 (See Solomon’s comment. I thought your dialogue was a bit more interesting and unique, thus the extra point here)
Action: 6
Persona: 4 (Uukan seemed wooden to me, even with the possession)

Mechanics: 6
Technique: 5
Clarity: 6

Wild Card: 5 (None of your posts were late)

Total: 50

Solomon gains 1250 exp + 500 exp for completing the thread. Solomon advances to round 3.
Uukan Kimari gains 375 exp + 500 exp for completing the thread.

[Cyrus the virus]

EXP added.