Breaker vs Blade: Closing the Battledome

[Breaker]

This thread takes place just prior to The last place to look. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=9635)


I stepped onto the octagonal mats one last time and looked around at my arena. It held many memories, some of sweet victory, others of horrid pain. The building had become a part of me in the past six months, a time I spent training and duelling each challenger the Pagoda sent me. It was with a feeling of mixed excitement and regret that I looked over the dim interior for what I thought would be the last time. My eyes lingered on the walls where my collection of weapons had hung, now packed away in storage. They paused upon the now empty bookshelf, with two armchairs and a small round table standing next to it. Dust cloths had been draped over the furniture, making them appear as spectres in the twilight. Finally I looked down at the hard blue mats which gave slightly beneath my hiking boots. So much blood and sweat had been spilt upon them, and yet they remained spotless, scoured clean after each battle.

I sighed, a sound of contentment. I would miss the arena and everything it represented, but my excitement was taking over. I giddy feeling swept my body, wiping away all signs of regret. Two weeks prior I had petitioned the Pagoda Council for permission to challenge a Master. That morning, I received the news. In just five days I would battle the half elf named Shadar for his position as Pagoda Master. An electric energy filled me, like a kid on Christmas. Finally, I was moving up the ladder. Once I established myself as a Master my power group Imperial could really take off. Dirk Xalstad and I had been working tirelessly on it, but as I warrior I just didn't have enough free time or money. But all that was about to change.

"Hey killer, are you ready to go? The pub's going to run out of ale if we're much later." I turned to the brunette girl who had spoken. Marie lived nearby; we met some time before by frequenting the same alehouses. I had invited her out that night to help me celebrate. With an uncontrollable smile I walked over and threw an arm around her shoulders, guiding her towards the arena's double doors.
"Just wait baby," I teased, tickling her neck, "Tonight we're going to--"

The doors burst open. I had my hand on the bayonet sheathed on the back of my belt before I realized who had entered. Danny, a young teen who worked as a messenger for the Pagoda. He had probably run all the way to my arena, but barely seemed to be breathing hard. I liked the kid.

"Josh, you've got a challenger on the way!" He exploded. Danny always talked a little louder than normal around pretty women, and Marie certainly fit that description. I was taken aback by his message, so much so that Marie spoke first.
"That can't be true," she exclaimed, "His schedule is clear for the next five days until he fights Shadar." I hoped Danny wouldn't inquire as to why Marie knew my schedule was clear for the next five days. A good kid, but still too young to know some things. He looked crestfallen at being contradicted by the leggy brunette and shrugged dismally.
"It's some guy in a suit of armor with a huge sword. He was supposed to fight Orun, but that green freak pulled out." Some people seemed to have a problem with Orun simply because of his heritage. I couldn't pass judgement; I had never met the half orc.
"It's fine," I said, not wanting to ruin the night. "Marie, you go to the bar and have a good time; I'll catch up with you later. Danny--" the boy perked up. I pressed a few coins into his palm. "Every lady needs a good man to buy her drinks. Take care of her until I get there, okay?" The lad's eyes widened and Marie chuckled. They would keep each other in good company until I arrived.

I watched them disappear down the dirt path then re-entered my arena, leaving the double doors wide open. The last rays of evening sunlight stretched the shadows long, the red light causing the glass domed ceiling of my arena to glow. Normally I met challengers bare footed, but I kept my hiking boots on. I figured I would finish the fight quickly and toss on a jacket before joining my friends, to make the most of the night. To warm up I went through a quick stretching routine, then leapt high and grabbed the octagonal grid work of iron bars which took the place of a ceiling. I began pulling myself up over and over again, working the muscles in my triceps and shoulders.

It seemed the arena and I had one last challenger to defeat together.

[Rok the Blade]

“Ikh frûmob uglgoth traumu latishu trovat ghaash,”

...

"Raaaaaaaaaaaagh!" The knight screamed as electricity brought pain and agony to his weakened body, forcing his muscles to tighten immediately then go limp involuntarily. Thud. He fell, and then his fleeting vision showed no signs of victory... Or defeat.

He couldn't live with it. Who had won that battle? After a vicious battle between two brutish fighters, seemingly no one had come out victorious. A tie? It couldn't be. As Rok thought about his previous, and first, Pagoda battle he couldn't remember anyone winning. But he just couldn't fathom the thought. He had to try again, try and win for sure. But no, they had turned him down, prohibited him from dueling the same person right over again. Now he was to be pitted against a Pagoda veteran, one who apparently hasn't been beaten. The thought made the knight angry, a sense of want washed over him. A want to fight more, fight again, and win.

He knew he was better than that. He wasn't some barbarian who only lived to fight, not even in the least. But after such a fight like that against the half-orc, he just had to fight him again. But he couldn't, not now. Now he had to fight again, someone different, and win so he can continue his journey.

Rage began to boil beneath his calm and chivalrous exterior as he walked along the well-trodden path toward his opponent's fighting arena. He just felt it... He had a feeling that if things were going to go badly tonight, then he might become filled with a rage that he had never felt before in his knightly life.

Rok's booted feet made soft thuds as he took each heavy step. He was glad about one thing, though, and that was the destination and form of his opponent's arena. It wasn't some bizarre place way up in the sky where the weather was just as much an enemy as the guy with an axe in front of you, nor was it in some ethereal realm that you had to be teleported to via some giant ritual where you stand in the middle of twenty chanting mages. It was simple, clean, effective. Rok knew this because he could see the dome arena in front of him, in the distance. Sitting in the middle of a courtyard, plain as day. It would only be a minute before the knight was standing tall at the large doors that lay open.

The setting sun cast a reddish glow about the area from over the horizon, something a calm and peaceful Rokusho would've loved to sit and watch for hours. But not now. Now was the time for action. The red glow of dusk made his shiny armor look like it had a slight red tint to it. It was either that or his own swelling anger manifesting physically in his chest plate. He was glad that the coming night also came with a cool breeze, a perfect temperature that kept you loose and limber like heat usually did but not too hot to make one feel faint. He hoped it'd be the same in the arena.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

Slow and evenly paced steps had Rok approaching the open double doors to his opponent's chosen arena. He began to think quickly of how his arena would look like, if he became a warrior and as thus was allowed to create his own place for fighting. He would have probably preferred some place cool, calm. A waterfall. The hush waves cascading a serene feeling over the environment. Yeah... That'd be his arena.

Thud. Thud. Thud. He stepped onto the matted surface of his opponent's arena, his steps immediately becoming muffled. He looked down. Blue mats lay about, evenly spaced across the wide and open floor. An arena that tested only the fighting prowess of it's competitors, rather than having them navigate through any sort of obstacle. It was a nice change from the slippery, raging and electrifying surface from his previous battle. The room was empty except some cloth-covered furniture to one side of the wall. Chances were that they wouldn't have to worry about those. Other then that, the dimly lit room would suit well as a battle arena.

Then, through his dirty blond hair, he gazed upon his opponent straight ahead with piercing blue eyes. He was... Exercising? Doing pull-ups on the low-hanging canopy of metal bars. He silently cursed at the sight. That would certainly hinder his movement, considering the fact that he wouldn't be able to hold his gigantic sword straight overhead unless he wanted to hit the bars. His opponent looked loose and limber, as he was. Well, Rok was as loose and limber as a knight like him could get, after doing some stretching before going there, as should any experienced fighter. Rokusho kept his mouth shut as his hands inched up towards the hilt of Redeemer. He grabbed it, and the handle felt sure in his grasp. With little effort, he hefted the blade from it's rest and brought it to bear in front of him, holding it upright, the tip of the blade just missed touching the metal bars above.

After a second Rokusho silently counted to himself, "1... 2... 3!"

ZZT! Redeemer's blade erupted with a loud crackle of energy as blue/purple cords of electricity wrapped themselves around the metal, the sound buzzing through the entire arena and casting an electrifying glow about the knight to give him an almost surreal look in the dim light. He knew for sure that that would take a choke hold on Joshua's attention.

He grinned and stood there with his blade in front of him. He refused to say the first words this time, they had no meaning. Whether or not he was chivalrous, blood would be spilt that night.

[Breaker]

A normal part of my pre-fight routine involved getting myself locked into a deep state of pranic meditation. The continuous motion of pulling myself up over and over again helped focus my thoughts, and before long I had immersed myself in a meditative void. My senses gradually increased until they became superhuman, allowing me to notice things most wouldn't. My eyes picked out imperfections in the glass dome above, like tiny cuts in the crimson ambience of the sunset. The smell of night air gusted in through the open doors, heavy, damp, and intoxicating. I increased the speed of my pull-ups, wanting my challenger to arrive so I could finish him and get on with my night. Marie was waiting.

Thud, thud, thud.

A dull noise entered my sensory radius, distant but distinct. It seemed too constant to be a part of nature. A moment later I identified the sound.

"Footsteps."

Thud, thud, thud.

Even with my improved senses, I felt surprised I could hear the man approaching at such a great distance.

"That must be my challenger. He walks awfully loud. Danny did say something about him wearing a suit of armor. Ah well... at least he won't be sneaking up on me."

Thud, thud, thud.

The footsteps entered the arena, along with the sound of metal on metal. The clanking of armor was a melody to my ears; finally, I could get the battle started. In a separate part of my mind I had been counting the pull-ups, and being at around one eighty-five, decided to finish the full two hundred. The knight had made me wait, so I would return the favour. An instant later a massive sword blade came into my field of vision. I felt confused for a moment, but my confusion turned to surprise when the weapon began to glow.

I dropped to the ground, my soft landing inaudible over the harsh buzzing noise which grated on my ears. "That's a hell of a way to introduce yourself," I thought.

The knight was perhaps the most impressive looking opponent the Pagoda had ever sent me. It's unusual for me to have to lift my chin in order to look someone in the face, but he towered a good six inches taller than me. His height aside, the suit of battle armor he wore must have turned heads wherever he went. Silver in color, it shone a rose-tinted hue in the sun's dying rays. The sword he held above his head crackled with blue energy, and made the most formidable statement about the knight's power. It looked as long as I was tall, with a ridiculously wide blade. Seeing him lift it above his head told me he possessed strength beyond most mortal men.

A small smile played about my lips. Impressive to look at, but impractical for fighting purposes. I wondered how quickly he could move in the cumbersome armor, how fast he could defend with the oblong sword which reminded me of a cheap neon sign from back home on Earth. "If he etched 'Live Nudes' on the blade," I thought, "He could make a lot of money by standing around outside the right places." The man made no move to introduce himself, so I took the initiative, my mind on Marie and the alcohol which awaited me.

"Would you mind turning that thing off?" I shouted to be heard over the buzzing. In the glow of his sword I could see the knight wore a wide, self appreciative smile. "Maybe he just learned how to do that. Christ, he looks like a kid with a new toy." Wanting to get the battle out of the way, I hastened through my usual formalities.

"They call me Breaker. What's your name, knight?"

[Rok the Blade]

Was this man actually proposing an... Introduction? An intro before the fight that awaited them? Rok's smile quickly faded and reshaped into an emotionless expression. He came, lighted up his sword and expected his opponent to come charging at him, swords flaring. Obviously he wasn't the mindless barbarian that he has assumed him to be. Rokusho didn't want to believe it, but his opponent actually had a sense of wit about him, a sense of knowing. That's most likely why he had been undefeated as of late. His previous opponent also had some intelligence behind his beastly exterior, but he wasn't polite enough to ask for in introduction.

Trying to dismiss his recent anger, remembering that he was a virtuous knight who couldn't reject politeness, he was simply forced to respond...

"Wulfenbraz."

... No one ever said that he had to tell the truth to be polite! Rokusho just didn't fell the need to tell his opponent his real name, chances were they would never meet again after that night.

"Breaker..." Rok repeated the name inside his head... "What kind of a name is Breaker?" His sword lowered a little bit, when he realized that he was still holding it up, gung-ho for a fight.

"So. A fight, then? Or a chat?"

[Breaker]

The knight did not move, except to lower his sword a little. "Is he trying to impress me by holding that gargantuan thing up? I wonder if he'd be impressed if I lifted him, sword and all..." the strange knight amused me enough that I considered carrying on the conversation. There were several things I would have liked to ask him-- why he wore a full suit of plate mail to a duel the foremost among them. I had only ever seen cavalry riding into battle wearing such outfits before. "Well, if he wants to move slowly and tire himself out, that's his business."

Quite suddenly the sun sank out of sight, the ruby glow fading from the glass dome overhead. "A battle starting at sundown. Sounds like a reverse cliche. Well, I suppose I'll have to get this started if I want to get to the bar any time soon."

"You paid for a fight, I'm assuming, unless you really just came here for an invigorating conversation. Never fear; I always strive to give my challengers their money's worth." My tone hinted at sarcasm, tip-toeing around insulting cynicism. For a man with a six foot sword, Wulfenbraz certainly didn't take much initiative.
"No matter. I know how to get a fight started."

Without warning I sprang forward, covering the eight feet between us in two quick bounds. I landed with my feet firmly planted to the taller man's left, hoping to get inside his range and create an awkward angle for the massive sword. I could think of no better way of ending the battle quickly than to knock the knight out, so I did something I don't often do. Rather than using one of my usual variety of exotic open-handed techniques, I tried to punch him in the face. My arm shot out in a quick right hook, knuckles carrying the full weight of my superhuman strength straight to his jaw.

[Rok the Blade]

As if the sudden darkness that swept over the arena was the signal for "Begin!", Rok's opponent bounded forward, quick and fearlessly. The knight was mildly surprised, but only because he had anticipated from his appearance that his foe was a quick one. But rather than whipping out the deadly blades on his person, he jumped forward and attempted to jab the knight in his face.

Not usually having to move so fast with pure instinct and reflex taking control, Rokusho grunted as he scooted forward with uncanny quickness. His opponent, shorter than he was, had to be punching upward to reach his face, so using that fact he hoped that moving forward would force the punching fist into his armored upper chest. Rok would be damned if he let his face get bashed in like it had on the floating disk by the brute half-orc, especially so early in the fight.

As soon as the punch made contact with his armored upper chest, the end result was entirely different than Rok had thought, and hoped. The man's strength was enormous, much more so than one would've guessed just by looking at him from afar. He had hoped that the punch would just bounce off his armor, having his opponent wince in pain or something, but when the punch his, it was he that was forced to let out a loud "Oof!" that echoed quietly in the domed arena. If that had been his face, only the gods knew what would've happened, the fight could have been ended just then.

Rok still had both hands gripped around Redeemer's hilt like he were clinging for his life. His opponent was too close to swing over to the side effectively and have him back off, he had jumped too close. But where the sword was good at longer ranges, his protective armor and brute strength usually gave him the advantage when he got close enough so that his foe couldn't even use whatever weapon they had. The scoot forward pretty much had Rok standing less than arm's reach with his lithe enemy. He took a hand off of Redeemer, the one closest to his opponent and jabbed his metal elbow forward aimed at the strangely-dressed man's upper chest.

[Breaker]

Clang!

The sound of bone on metal rang through my arena like a starting bell. The fight had begun.

Externally, I did not react. Internally, I cringed in pain. I heard the sudden release of air from Wulfenbraz's lungs and knew the weight of my punch had carried through the armor like a blow from a hammer. But my fist was not a hammer; already I could feel the knuckles beginning to swell. They did not seem broken, but all the same I decided to avoid hitting anything with my right fist for awhile. I frequently train by breaking boards, but an iron chest plate designed for warfare is a wholly different obstacle. Still, I felt some satisfaction knowing the knight now appreciated who he was dealing with.

The knight's speed worried me. Despite being weighed down by the cantankerous iron, he had moved quickly enough to avoid my punch. In addition, the armor covered nearly his entire body, making it difficult for me to do damage. I needed to prioritize, and take the paladin apart piece by piece. "Think about him like a tower, not a mountain," I schooled myself, "He has many strengths holding him up like supports. Take them away and he'll fall over easily." At the same time as I devised a methodical plan for defeating my opponent, I felt impatient, wanting it done quickly. "The bars don't stay open forever..."

The knight's elbow jab provided me with little difficulty. I had been expecting something of the sort. Since he had moved too close to use his sword, it followed logically that he would try to hit me with some part of his heavy bodysuit. "He's just lucky he didn't try to kick me," I thought as I ducked smoothly under the stiff jab. "because if he did, he'd be on his back already." By taking one hand off his sword, Wulfenbraz had given me an opportunity I intended to capitalize on. As I came up from the duck I moved slightly in front of him and my right foot lashed out. I used a straight front kick, aiming the bottom of my heavy hiking boot for the hilt of Wulfenbraz's sword, right where his gauntleted fingers curled around. I followed through, stepping down on my right foot. As soon as I had my weight forward I pivoted left swiftly, throwing a left spinning back fist high at Wulfenbraz's temple.

"No one in a tin suit's gonna' go hand to hand with me," I taunted. The words sounded odd. Normally I didn't ridicule my challengers, but I figured the angrier I made Wulfenbraz, the faster I could beat him, get to the bar, and ultimately get laid.

[Rok the Blade]

After Rokusho's elbow strike, whether it hit or not, his next immediate thought was to get out. There was no way he was flexible or skilled enough to keep up with Joshua in hand-to-hand combat, he had to start using that big sword of his!

Almost simultaneous to the elbow attack, Rok's powerful legs kicked backwards. The mats made the effort almost inaudible, as was the rest of the fight, save for various grunts or winces. Thankfully, the knight and his opponent separated just as Joshua lashed out two other strong attacks, one even going for his sword. He wasn't going to lose his sword again. The thought enraged him just a little bit more, but whatever rage he had was hidden beneath a well-practiced outward calm, leaving the expression on his face a calm, 'enjoying-the-fight' one.

The knight's booted feet landed on the floor, just in front of the still wide-open double doors. He was a good four feet away from Joshua, but it was starting to get hard to see him with such dim lighting. If it weren't for his blazing electro-sword he probably wouldn't be able to see at all. The night behind him was most likely pitch black.

"Get back." Rok said to himself quietly, just for his own sake rather than for Josh to hear. He grabbed Redeemer with both hands, which a second ago was being held loosely with his right dominant hand to one side, turned it to the bladed side, and swung with his giant-like might, putting that strength of his to use but still keeping the blade under control. The blade sailed for the crouched Joshua's face, the middle of the long blade was the thing that would be doing the slicing. He was in a loose fighting stance, keeping his feet at shoulder's length. He readied his left foot for a quick kick to counter something like a roll towards him.

[Breaker]

As Wulfenbraz evaded me again, I felt a tickling amusement undermining my impatience. Despite wanting to finish the paladin quickly, I found myself simultaneously wanting to draw the battle out. My opponent looked like a larger-than-life sized robot in his shiny suit of armor. It still sparkled magnificently in the vibrant sword's energy, but gave a less dramatic effect when the owner kept hopping around to avoid being hit. I felt I should have been concerned by Wulfenbraz's high mobility despite the impediment of his armor, but figured the man would tire quickly.

"Ahh... now we're getting somewhere."

Finally my opponent took it upon himself to launch a decent offensive. Although it was only decent in the sense it gave me an opening to attack. The sheer size of the blade gave me plenty of warning as to where he intended to strike, and I reacted accordingly. I waited until the last possible second then moved left and forward, ducking as the massive weapon cleaved nothing but air. My choice of movement had not been a coincidence; I noticed Wulfenbraz had most of his weight shifted to his right side, and intended to exploit that by preying on his right leg.

As I came out of the defensive crouch I lifted my right leg then brought it down in a diagonal stomp, driving the bottom of my heel at the side of Wulfenbraz's knee. It was the kind of kick that could shatter a cinderblock. I smirked as I thought what that kind of power would do to the knight. In order to move a suit of armor must have joints, and since the paladin hadn't goose-stepped into my arena, I figured the knee of his armor might be a little weaker than the breast plate. My hand still twitched with pain at the memory of that attack.

"I hope this hurts him badly enough to make him turn that damn sword off."

The buzzing had begun to annoy me, echoing off the walls of the near-empty dome. Also, my superior vision would lend me a larger advantage once light stopped emanating from the thick blade.

[Rok the Blade]

Rokusho grunted and his armor groaned in defiance as Joshua's foot came down on Rokusho's bent knee. Being almost impossible to dodge due to the fact that most of Rok's energy was being put into swinging Redeemer around. Though his foe was too nimble, too quick and too disciplined. The knight was quickly filled with thoughts of losing. But now wasn't the time to think much about winning or losing, now was the time to fight.

In order to avoid having his right knee broken, and with just as much luck as reflex, Rokusho attempted to drop his knee as the foot of his foe came crashing down on it. The lithe and wiry form of Joshua greatly belied his strength, his foot immediately denting the metal as Rok's knee deliberately fell out from beneath him. He used the sudden change in movement as his body fell towards the side that he dropped the knee combined with the swinging momentum of Redeemer to go into a quick sideways roll that took him away from Joshua. He grunted loudly as the armor clanked as it moved awkwardly on his body, screaming in protest to resist the movement that other, more normal suits of armor like it shouldn't have to go through.

The only sounds in the entire darkened arena were those of Rokusho moving, his armor constantly clanking, along with the constant hiss of Redeemer as the enchantment roared. Strangely it had lasted longer than normal, a blessing perhaps. Maybe someone up there wanted him to finally win but could do nothing but intervene a tiny bit. If Rokusho could get one good swing on Joshua, having the blade even scratch him, a mild surge of unnatural electricity would rip through his muscles and maybe, hopefully, stopping him for a second, just enough to get Rok back into the game. Now was his chance!

"Raaaaaaaaaah!" The knight screamed, he refused to go down quickly as Joshua probably hoped. He came out of the roll successfully but a little painfully and used the momentum coming out from the roll to swing his glowing Redeemer upward diagonally from Joshua's left, the long blade cutting a line through the air as it soared through it towards his opponent.

Rok's blue eyes met with his opponent's in the bright, luminous purple light that served as the only source for sight as Joshua was about to be smitten by his might!

This was his time to shine, his time to win, his trip to the top of the Dajas Pagoda began there!

Darkness swept over the entire domed arena. The remaining sound was his giant blade gliding through the black air, his Arcana spell had ceased...

Screeeeeeeeeech! His blade kept rising up until it collided more fiercely with the network of metal bars overhead than it had been trying to do in the past moments with Joshua. The metal on metal impact sent bright red sparks crashing down onto Rokusho, forcing him to stop Redeemer's flight and lower his head for protection.

Then it was quiet.

"Shit! Right as I was about to win, my blade just had to power down?!" The knight thought to himself quickly and furiously, beginning to get frustrated and annoyed. He had gotten too caught up in the moment, thinking he had his opponent right where he wanted him. At that moment he had stood back up, Redeemer was held up in a light stance and he could feel the bent metal in his knee armor brushing up against the leg itself. It would be a hard walk back, he could feel the bruise forming from the near-break. A close call. But for now, back to the fight.

He looked around, darkness. He could see the outside of the open double-doors that made the entrance, and could discern between the inside and outside due to the light. But he could barely see inside, where it mattered.

... Where was Joshua?

[Breaker]

My boot struck Wulfenbraz a glancing blow. I heard the grind of metal on metal as his armor dented. "That should stop him from hopping around," I told myself triumphantly. But my foot glanced off the iron armor at an odd angle and I stumbled, forced to spin away rather than capitalize on the opportunity. By the time I regained my balance Wulfenbraz was coming out of a roll. I exploded like a sprinter off the blocks, racing towards him for a quick kill. The knight straightened up with snakelike speed, wielding the blade wildly.

"Shit."

I had forgotten the awesome length of the blade, and wielder's might. My feet ground to a halt, digging into the hard mats. I dove backwards as the weapon flashed towards me, rolling several times before coming to a halt in a compact crouch.

"Son of a bitch..."

A long diagonal gash stretched from the left side of my rib cage almost to my right shoulder. More of a scratch, really. Blood seeped from it slowly, slowly enough that it would clot long before I could bleed out. But it looked messy, it hurt, and it left my shirt a complete mess.

"Son of a bitch, I'm gonna' have to change my shirt. Ah well... at least he turned the damn sword off."

Inside the void my mind rested, calm as a monk. Outside the void, my body was pissed off. Doubly so; I felt angry towards Wulfenbraz for taking up my time and ruining my shirt, and angry towards myself for letting the sword touch me at all. My mind turned the fury into cold determination.

I imagined the octagonal room like a clock. If I treated the large double doors like twelve o'clock, my frantic rolling had brought me to the three o'clock position. Wulfenbraz stood almost exactly between me and the open doors. I saw his armor as a beacon, leading me to him. My right hand plucked the prevaldia bayonet from its sheath as I crept towards the enemy. The azure blade did not even whisper as it left the leather scabbard. My feet made even less noise, confident and quiet on the floor I knew so well. "In and out," I thought, [I]"strike quickly to a vital area. The armor should protect my clothes from the blood spatter. I stepped into striking range like a wraith, the dagger gripped tight by sore knuckles. I stabbed at the paladin's left thigh, making sure to use enough force to drive the point through the iron protection. At the end of the extension I pulled back quickly, hoping to slice an artery or leave Wulfenbraz's quadricep crippled.

[Breaker]

Rok has exceeded the ten-day posting period, and by Pagoda rules this entitles me to the winner's GP. Since Rok hasn't expressed any interest in finishing this, I'm posting a conclusion and submitting it. Karuka can be contacted for verification of Pagoda rules.


Wulfenbraz had left, another worthy challenger defeated. I stood bare-chested by the round coffee table, my backpack open on top of it. I applied a light field dressing to the laceration on my chest and found an intact, unstained shirt to wear. I would seek healing later; at that moment I wanted to meet my friends. Wincing slightly, I pulled the backpack over one shoulder and skirted the bloody mats, heading for the door.

I paused on the threshold, turning to take a final look at the arena. The moon had come out, casting a silvery glow through the glass domed ceiling. The blood on the mats looked black in the moonlight, spattered and smeared like some revolutionary piece of art. I smiled. I was glad Wulfenbraz had challenged me after all. Leaving the arena so spotless hadn't seemed right, somehow. Now, with my own blood and sweat mingling with an opponent’s on the battle floor, I could say goodbye to the octagonal building.

"Maybe I'll be back one day," I said, not feeling in the slightest bit silly for talking to an empty room. I stepped outside and closed the doors, and the whisper they made coming together had an air of finality to it. Despite the ugly gash on my chest, I had defeated Wulfenbraz without having to fully exert myself. I had been confident about my battle with Shadar before, but now I felt invincible, looking forward to fighting the half elf and usurping his title. With a spring in my step I walked down the dirt road, my thoughts already on the activities to come.

"I hope Danny didn't steal my woman."


Requesting the Warrior's EXP bonus with a winning streak of 1

[Call me J]

As is generally my policy on incomplete threads, I didn’t include too many comments. One of the reasons here is with incomplete threads, is hard to know what people were planning towards the end, and thus, its hard to know where you were going.

016573

Total- 64. This is an atrociously high score for a thread this incomplete. And I mean that in a good way.

Continuity- 5. You mentioned that you would be having a battle against Shadar shortly, but I didn’t really feel like I got much of a sense of why this battle mattered, or where it really fit.

Setting- 6. You described the setting really well here, but you could have done something more interesting with it.

Pacing- 3. This low score is largely an artifact of how the thread had to end.

Dialogue- 8. There was some very good work in making dialogue consistent with your character.

Action- 6. I was really pleased with the way that you incorporated Rokusho’s appearance here. Your score is a bit lower because I really didn’t like the way you made this conclusion happen.

Persona- 8. This thread oozed persona from your perspective. I felt you could have done something interesting had you chosen as the thread got moving.

Mechanics- 9. I noticed a goof proof reading could have avoided. Not a big deal, but it still means you don’t get a 10.

Technique- 7. You didn’t really have a lot of time to impress me here.

Clarity- 9. The transition between your last two posts was confusing.

Wild Card- 3. This low score emerges out of my ire for the way this thing ended.

Rok the Blade

Total- 57. This is another score that is a bit higher than a thread that ends this early in probably deserves. Good work.

Continuity- 9. The way you brought your previous battle into this thread was downright brilliant.

Setting- 6. I liked how you built on 016753’s setting by adding your own details.

Pacing- 3. See 016573’s comments.

Dialogue- 6. It wasn’t bad, but for the most part, it wasn’t astounding. Only the internal monologues showed character.

Action- 5. I don’t think you’ve really thought through the implications of having a character wearing armor.

Persona- 6. I think you have to work a bit on thinking through what depth there is to Rokusho other than that he’s a knight.

Mechanics- 9. Same case as 016573.

Technique- 5. You could stand to be more adventurous. I noticed the onomonopoeia but that was about it as far as technique was concerned.

Clarity- 8. Things could occasionally get a little jumbled, but they were good for the most part. You might want to read over things a little more closely.

Wild Card- 0. For the incomplete.


Spoils
016573 receives 1650 EXP and 150 GP
Rok the Blade receives 450 EXP

[Karuka]

EXP/GP added! Rok the Blade levels up!