Students of the great art (Hector vs Julian).

[TheSummerian]

Dawn in the gardens of Nerron was a truly breath-taking sight to behold. The suns first beams washed over the ancient pillars and statues of the once proud race who had lived here long before the time of man. They were gone now however - their mystic work bringing them too close to the attention of the elder gods who had devoured their entire species leaving naught but ruins and memories. Hector however took a fondness to their ruined marble statues and the strange vines and trees that seemed to grow nowhere else in the world and so wanting to arrange a meeting with a fellow practitioner of the occult ways he had chosen such a spot. Behind Hector Ulysses made a low hissing noise before sliding to his full height of around 8 feet and stretching his tail and neck out to a full length of 15. Hector felt he was almost ready to bring the fight to those with inherent magical power but it would probably be a good idea to test himself against another acolyte of the learned arts before he took on someone who had magic since birth. This was the reason that Hector had sent a summons for an opponent and this was also the reason Hector had performed a ritual to a goddess of mercy soon after coming here so that the last blow to the fight would become non-lethal merely resulting in a KO. This way the combatants could compare notes and formulas following the fight - after all why kill someone when a traded titbit of knowledge might save your life one day?

[prygus]

Thin quadrants of light cast themselves upon shattered stone as another dawn rose over the hubris of the ancients. Cracked masonry fell from the structures around the approaching youth. Shadows and patches of light resolved themselves into the form of Julian Luthor as day broke upon the city. Upon a mountain ridge it sat, closer to the gods than any known settlement, and the worse for it as the crumbling statues would indicate.

Pushing vines aside through a half-missing doorway, the alchemic being found himself awash in light as he came upon a wide terrace. Lined on all sides with pillars supporting a roof long ago, the courtyard was now strewn with chunks of marbled stone and fallen supports. Vines and ferns wound around the mess, snaking up and down the fallen statues. Upon further examination, it appeared that the structure was open on the three remaining sides. Behind Julian, a tall yet somewhat collapsed wall separated it from the other remnants. To the right, the pillars opened onto a hallway of some form, which appeared to have a semi-intact roof at some points. To the front and left, the terrace gave way to a sheer cliff, near this cliff was a man. This man's presence was already known to Julian, as he had met with him once before. Agreements were made, hands were shaken in a sense; here, the two would clash. Clad in a metal armor of some form, and accompanied by what appeared to be a small dragon, the practitioner of the one true art seemed to be looking out over the edge.

Picking his way across the debris to the man's side, Julian would understand why: below him, and stretching off in all directions was the most breathtaking garden he had ever seen. Cut into the very slopes below, it was a maze of twisting marble canals and paths, now clad in vines and an overgrowth of trees. Dappled light shone through to the undergrowth, where benches and amphitheaters could be spotted off to both the left and right.

"Quite a view..." The youth spoke quietly before backing away from the man, and making his way back to the door. Standing a few feet in front of it, he would bow at his opponent across the 20 meter or so breadth of the courtyard. Such was the honorable way to begin a battle, and no dishonor would be appropriate in a place such as this...

[TheSummerian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGtnBnmJ8MA : Intro/battle music 1

"Certainly - both beautiful and a potent reminder of the price one has to pay if they grow complacent with their place in reality" Hector turned to face the alchemically enhanced warrior. “Every time I view it I am reassured in my path to keep humanity safe from the things that lurk within the dark corners of the Earth and indeed beneath the surface of reality always waiting for a sign of weakness. But to do this requires constant training and new knowledge - to fall behind means death beyond death".

With a bow of his head Hector returned the respect shown by Julian and then fastened his helmet to his head taking pleasure in the noise of the clamps thudding down linking the headpiece to the armour. "Begin" Hector gave the signal for the match to start and immediately Ulysses instincts tempered by years of training leaped over his master to take up an imposing position with wings spread to their maximum length with hissing lightly.

Two hidden compartments in Hectors armour sprang open leaving the charms attached to them swinging like oversized pendulums. Swift application of pressure to the correct points and the tops of the vials Hector grabbed from the concealed spaces were open and spewing forth green smoke. In the middle of the miasma Hector started the chant necessary to the ritual of شوراى نگهبان از نور جاودانه which if concluded would encase his body in a greater figure of light aiding his already formidable defence and granting him swift energy attacks. This would take time however and if Ulysses did not manage to fend Julian off long enough the ritual could be broken or even backfire - something that Hector had had painful experiences with in the past.

[prygus]

Formalities completed and pleasantries exchanged, the two duelists would move on to the true purpose of their meeting: battle. Both warriors made their minor preparations; Hector applying a helmet, Julian removing gloves. The worn garments were slipped carefully into a rear pant pocket, straps hanging out, as the silvery-black nature of the alchemy being's hands were revealed. A dull shade, the dawn's sun would not reflect off of their metallic surfaces, though it would glint off of the goggles worn by the youth.

A flurry of movement would start the battle. Julian's concealed eyes raked the battlefield, searching for approaches and environmental help, even as his foe's draconic ally swept into a defensive position. From its un-signaled movement, he concluded that it had much experience in battle situations, or that the two could communicate telepathically. Moving on to a plan of attack, Julian would focus on a tall, somewhat-intact pillar behind and slightly to the left of Hector. His left eye would shut tightly as he swept his right arm across the air between the combatants. Starting a slow and controlled stride to the left, so as to keep his foe in sight, he would feel the currents and eddies of the ruin's undisturbed air, his hand moving to and fro across the air's fronts.

For several feet this march would continue, until, as suddenly as it had closed, Julian's left eye would fly open, staring directly past dragon and its master. At the same moment, a sizable cloud of air before the youth would dematerialize, leaving a momentary vacuum and a lingering breeze. Stopping and stooping, the alchemic being would pick a brick-sized chunk of marble from the ground with his right hand, hefting its weight with ease and all the while studying the pillar behind his foe.

[TheSummerian]

Inside the emerald cloud Hectors chant began to intensify as he began to summon the luminous form of an ancient watchman over his own. Briefly noticing the pull exerted on the cloud by the influx but entirely missing Julian picking up the marble chunk Hectors body began to pulse with radiant energy. Soon the working would be complete and Hector would attempt to overpower his opponent with an onslaught of energy bolts and strikes from his then charged great sword.

Meanwhile Ulysses was circling Hector keeping in sync with Julian’s movements. His wyverian brain was not as advanced as that of a true dragon and thus he had no idea what the disappearing oxygen or the void it caused meant. Ulysses knew what picking up the white rock meant though. The Human wished to throw it at him or his master just as the fog giants would hurl their great boulders at each other in the peaks of his home. Like an oversized serpent Ulysses snapped his head back launching a black ball of noxious looking flame from his fanged jaws at Julian. Ulysses hoped the ball would hit causing the human to drop the chunk as the flames scorched over him.

[prygus]

And the combat finally began. Hector's dragon led, with a quick snapping back of the head. Julian, while no expert on dragons, could tell that this was no defensive maneuver, and moved accordingly. His gut reaction told him to duck quickly behind a pillar, but he had to keep a line-of-sight on the pillar behind Hector. Taking his next best option, Julian jumped.

Bending quickly to the knees, the alchemic being would propel himself upward with moderate force, but his ascent seemed to occur without gravity. Harnessing the air essence he had just acquired, Julian's density fell to that of air's, making him near weightless. Rising to a peak 6 meters off the ground, he lighted upon one of the pillars lining his side of the courtyard. Across, he could now clearly see the green haze behind the dragon's defensive wings; below, he saw the fiery remains of the wyrm's attack smoldering on the stony spire.

The youth's left eye snapped shut. Instantly, a single brick in the pillar behind Hector would disappear, its mass now ethereal. The pillar's structure now so damaged, it began to topple into the courtyard; its fall placed most of the crumbling masonry directly on Hector's position. Caressing the air to his left, Julian began to draw in more of the air's essence as he watched stone and dust, a crushing attack on his foe.

[TheSummerian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SWnSgOopw0 : Battle music 2

Hector heard the creak as the ancient masonry began to give way - there was no time to dodge and to abort the ritual now would be dangerous. His mind working like lightning Hector made a minimalistic alteration to his now final utterance before the pillar came down on him. This was not a dodge or a block it was too late for that - this was damage control pure and simple. Hector's original ritual had been to summon اثبات بقای روح guardian of the 5th gates form over his but circumstance had forced him to alter the ritual to شكارچي ارواح lesser guardian of the 3rd in order to pull it off in time.

The pillar crashed down on the ritualist sending out waves of otherworldly energy. Sensing that the metaphorical shit was about to go down Ulysses took to the air with a powerful leap from his powerful thighs. From in the haze of dust and rubble Hector’s new form emerged covered in a protrusion of light in the shape of a glowing knight. Not all was well however as on closer inspection the apparition was leaking essence from heavy rends and dents in its back. Hector’s dual visored head fixed on Julius’s new vantage point and with a bound he was springing forth for Julian’s position sword drawn from his back and swinging for the young fighter. The swords already sizeable length was further extended by the light resulting in an attack that would be difficult for all bar those skilled in highflying acrobatics to avoid.

[prygus]

Momentum Gaining Music

Julian carefully observed His opponent rise from his stony near-grave. Now clad in shining light, Hector would appear to be a holy Paladin, guarded now not only by his draconic pet, but also glowing armor. No weaknesses were immediately apparent, but the youth's musings on the subject became markedly brief as he noticed the alchemist's bent legs. Evasive actions would need to be taken. His stance suggested a jump, and a jump meant a dodge, as it was unlikely that the man could turn in mid-air.

As the light covered warrior took his forward bound, Julian leaned left, exposing himself to a suddenly formed vacuum. Air essence safely absorbed, he pushed off left and slightly back, gaining additional velocity from the suction of the vacuum. Flailing at the next pillar down the line, the alchemic being's left hand found its mark, clawing its way into a gap in the masonry. Its form had changed; in place of a hand was a hardened metal claw, its talon like extremities literally digging into the stone. Swinging around the pillar, Julian brought forth the second phase of his plan. During his leap, he had been fusing his air essence into the long held brick; its time had now arrived. The air was dispersed almost evenly, with small nodes of high pressure scattered about.

Coming to the far side of the pillar, Julian kicked off towards the next, swinging even lower along the line of ancient architecture. As he transferred, he caught a glimpse of the holy warrior his opponent had now become, just arriving at his point of origin. Despite Hector's intense speed and leaping capabilities, it still took a considerable time for him to cross the more than twenty meters that had separated them. His back was slightly visible, and even in the short window of time that Julian possessed, it was clear that damage had been done to it. As his opponent moved out of sight, behind the blocking pillars, the youth tossed the brick into the courtyard. Just a few feet out his hand, it burst into an enormous cloud of stony dust, blanketing the near half of the plaza and cutting off most vision.

Luckily, Julian had other vision. His right eye's pupil grew to cover its entire surface as a whole new world opened up to him. A small drain on the stone he had previously absorbed allowed the alchemic being to sense the elements around him. Grabbing for the next pillar, he calmly watched his opponent's next move, his now complete field of vision allowing him to also keep track of Hector's airborne companion.

[TheSummerian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGg1qRe_mng : Battle 3

The pillar strike was a taxing for Hector in more ways than one. Firstly it had forced Hector to draw on the abilities of a lesser being that what he had originally intended resulting in a weaker armour. Secondly the armours essence was leaking from the rends in its back meaning it would soon dissipate. To make matters even worse Julian had dodged his swing and surrounded the area in a cloud of rock dust making visibility naught.

Hector smiled. These were the kind of conditions that made him feel alive - relying on ones wits to get out of a perilous situation and pass the great and deadly test we call life. This kind of situation would be what faced him after he had finished this training match and unlike this controlled test the later ones would be fought against predators from the abyss that would end him in a second should he so fail. Tensing his body he readied the energy that made up the luminous armour before sending it out across the battlefield as a harmful wave which would eventually evaporate as it reached the battle fields borders. This would serve to both blow away the rock dust and deal some initial damage to Julian. Hector believed this would be a more than fair trade for the loss of his glowing protection.


High in the sky Ulysses watched Julian’s form. As soon as the foe had taken his attention off the green reptile Ulysses would dive down and attempt to pin him in a maneuver similar that Wyverns used when hunting sheep and goats.

[prygus]

Swinging from his perch to the next pillar along the courtyard, Julian found himself with an unexpected challenge before him. As he planted his feet onto the pillar, now about halfway up its 6 meter height, his foe would seemingly detonate his armor, releasing forth a blast of light energy. As localized as it was, it shook the pillars with great intensity, causing all of the spires between the two combatants to tumble outward from the blast. Without any time to think, Julian would finally default to instinct, leaping backwards off of the pillar to try to avoid being caught in its inevitable collapse.

Unfortunately, his leap took him closer towards the expanding lightwave. With a mid-air tumble, the youth would be propelled from whence he came as the wavefront passed. When he collided with the pillar he had just abandoned, he found it mid collapse from the already passed attack. Becoming tangled in the crumbling masonry, he managed to flail out an arm and grab hold of a falling chunk, about head sized, and then curl into a ball. His alchemic powers once again called upon, the alchemic being's skin would become hard as stone as he came to a halt at the base of the pile of masonry, becoming shallowly buried beneath the stonework.

Not too shallowly, though, thought the partially upright youth as his right eye observed the now failed attack of wyvern, its claws scrabbling against the now protective layer of rubble. Though not deep, the stones shifted under the attack, causing the brunt of it to be redirected amongst the pile. Hand closing on a now empty vacuum, Julian took account of his position with his now refueled right eye. Physically, the youth was in an acceptable condition; his lower arms and face were cut in a few places, though the injuries were not deep. His torso had was somewhat bruised, but he had sustained no broken bones or internal injuries. Furthermore, the stones above him were not too thickly distributed, and he could shift his weight and rise from the rubble without too much issue if need be. For now, though, he would watch and wait, his former calm restored.

[TheSummerian]

(I'm the summerian's friend, he was busy, so he get me to post: this is his post ^^)

Hector smiled a devilish smile before taking his blade and throwing off his left gauntlet, digging deeply into the flesh of his hand, almost carving deeply into the bone, but merely grazing it, he bot his lip until it too bled to contain the pain and hold his focus.

"Ulysses! hold him there as long as possible!" He called out to the Wyrven as it began to dig, instead standing upon where his opponent lay beneath the rubble, intending to pin him under not only the weight of stone, but also the weight of almost a tonne of dragon kin.

In the air with his bleeding hand he began to call on names and messages accompanied with repeating a single gesture touching the blood to his forehead, his gut and from left shoulder then to right.

"By the powers of Metatron, legacy and regent of the Lord, who reigns as sovereign in his stead

By the wisdom of Akatriel, presence of the Lord, who bathes the land in flames of the holiest breed formed from his silver skin.

By the Form of Sandalphon, Power of the Lord, who's strength, greater than any man or army, who cripples even the mightiest of men with but a touch of his finger. I call upon you to bless me with the strength of the saint, the blood of the saviour, and a tongue to preach your word..."

Hector would continue to chant, repeating the cross gesture with his own blood, several of the symbols on his skin beginning to light up. Though his opponent would have 'bigger' problems.