Brink of Delusion; Crystal's Shine ((Full))

[Draconia Crystalis]

((Sorry about that all, guys, I've been trying to look for a new job to supplement my income. Gots to have the moneyz. So far no luck, but I've taken the time to give you guys something to work off of, and I'll try to be more frequent.))

Giovanni Infinito Dragoni
I just.... I just don't want to see anyone hurt because of me. I want to be able to protect them.... protect them all.

Gio's teeth clenched in anticipation as he saw his first blow blocked and deflected slightly upwards, only slightly altering his momentum as he spun around on one heel to deliver a second blow. Still, having been blocked successfully, that meant that there was a good chance for retaliation, and as he began to return to facing Suri in his spin, he could see him out of the corner of his eye. The edges of his body were closer than they had been before, and such close range put him at a disadvantage both in the weapon he wielded, and in the current state of his footwork, which was liable to be tripped by the slightest interruption. Right now, his legs were his weak point, and he had to remove that weakness quickly, before he spun around completely.

Using that altered momentum, Gio swung his blade high, then pulled it down and tucked it in close to his body. His mind flashed for an instant to his fight before, where he had performed a high flip by kicking off with one foot to avoid an attack from Kai. It was almost the same, except as he spun around he used that new downward momentum from pulling the blade in to stamp his lifted foot hard into the ground, kicking off of the ground, and using his continued horizontal momentum to spin in midair. When he was completely upside down in midair, he saw that indeed Suri had planned to trip him, as his leg had been outstretched into his previous path, but now the act was rendered useless. Gio had jumped so high that his head passed right over Suri's left shoulder, which he firmly planted his one free hand on and used as a vaulting platform, pushing off of him to stop his rotation and turn him right-side up. The push also had the chance to cause Suri to stumble if he didn't brace himself in time.

Gio then landed safely behind Suri, and took a quick step back. He had a feeling things were about to change, and Orin wasn't being too subtle about it, seeing as how he could feel the air growing damper and more chilled around him, that meant a switch was likely to happen soon.

Almost as an afterthought, Gio flung out his hand and caught the whirling windmill-shuriken that he had thrown just seconds ago. If he hadn't have caught it, it would have buzzed right past him and embedded itself in Suri's back. "If you were an ordinary human, you would have been taken out, Suri. My shuriken would have struck home in your back," he said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. He bent his knees and brandished the weapons in each of his hands, trying to be ready for an attack from any angle.  

[Jest_A_Clown]

Suri noted Orin's change of the battlefield, it a few more moments, the footing would become treacherous, but a few moments was still time to fight. He'd been surprised when Gio not only avoided tripping himself up, but managed to vault himself completely over and behind Suri. He was further surprised when the shuriken that he'd forgotten about was caught by Gio, whereas it would have hit him in the back had Gio remained in front of him as planned. For a moment Suri considered if the shuriken was of a strong enough metal and whether it was going fast enough to actually pierce him, then thought against it. A switch was about to be made, and Suri wanted something to counter Gio's evasion. For this practice, Suri decided not to use his element, but that would change next time.

Crouching low and springing from his feet, Suri once again closed in on Gio with a speed one might think unlikely for his size. Suri's metal arms were thicker and a few inches longer than the average human's arm, but couldn't compare to the reach of an actual weapon. Suri knew his weaknesses, but was attempting to make up for it with his Crystal. In this instance though, it was back to the basics. Using his height advantage to keep most of Gio's blocks focused on raising his arms against high blows, Suri began striking in just that manner. Starting off light at first, he gave three fast jabs, then decided to let go just a little, giving up a few of his heavier blows that might have winded Gio if he didn't correctly block or evade them. Feeling his footing start to become unsteady beneath his shifting bulk, Suri drew off his attacks and quickly back-pedaled from the sparring area, seeing as Orin was now in position.  

[Vizzion]

Orin Beleren

Orin waited until his spell took on full power and finally coat the area in a clear sheet of ice. By now, the area which the group was in was feeling like the summers of Crylos, cold but not bone chilling as it is in the summer. Orin waited until Suri was ready to swap but as he did he kept watching Gio and his amazing acrobatics. "Quite impressive...." Orin muttered to himself as he kept watching the sparring match that was taking place before infront of him. After a while, Orin noticed that Suri was quickly retreating out of the sparring area.

"My turn then.." Orin said to the Metrino Cyborg as he looked at Suri and started to pull and gather the moisture around the air once more. "Well then, I am not really not proficient with weapons or hand to hand combat. However, I am quite proficient with magic. Now, let's start with a basic one shall we?" Orin said as the gathered moisture crystallized into a totem sized ice block. "How well can one dodge in unstable footing?" Orin asked Gio as he threw the Ice block in his direction.

 

[Draconia Crystalis]

Giovanni Infinito Dragoni
I just.... I just don't want to see anyone hurt because of me. I want to be able to protect them.... protect them all.

Gio braced himself as Suri turned to face him and charged. Before he could do anything about it, the cyborg was in extreme close-quarters, which put him at a disadvantage, leaving him barely any room to move his sword, definitely not enough room for an attacking swing. Suri's long arms shot out in sequence at him, and at the moment it was everything he cold do to prevent himself from getting hit. Even more so as the blows steadily grew faster and more powerful each second. There was no way he could effectively block even one of Suri's blows, because the full force of one of those punches would be enough to ruin his sword for good, leaving it unusable. Instead, he had to resort to narrow dodges and parrying the blows, pushing them aside to keep the full force from hitting him or his weapons. He also kept spinning the shuriken in his left hand as a sort of deterrent. The razor blade had a shorter range in melee than Suri's arms, so it would keep him from getting any closer than he was now, or risk a potential cut to his more fleshy appendages.

After a few moments of frantically dodging the blows, he saw Suri gear back for one last strike, his arm pulled back farther than any of the other punches. When he flung it forward, it moved faster and with more force than any of the other punches, which was typical of the final blow in a combo. However, it was moving too fast for him to dodge, and within moments he felt it strike his shoulder, making him gasp at the sudden force against his body, "GAH!" As best he could, he rolled his shoulder with the blow, catching the momentum rather than stopping it, and using it for a quick escape. His feet almost fell out from under him as he slid back on the now icy surface of the ground thanks to Orin's magic, but he didn't escape unfazed. He would definitely have a decent bruise on his shoulder when he next checked it.

Unable to stop his backward slide, Orin quickly took Suri's place as his opponent, and began to gather chilly magical energies around him, creating an enormous pillar of ice that was thrown with magical force right at him. Whew! Talk abut not getting a break, but this was exactly what he wanted. Non-stop, spur of the moment practice combat that would help him re-assert his old abilities. But was he stronger than he had been before? He had never fought this well against the Nero Angeal children that used to hate him and goad him into fights in order to prove their superiority, especially that woman, Seraphima, who was his most frequent aggressor. Was it possible he was stronger than before? Or were Angeals and Nero Angeals just that much more powerful, even compared to humans just learning to use their Crystals? Had he grown a bit stronger from all the years of traveling he had done with Rigo? Or perhaps a bit of the strength from before had clung to him even after it disappeared? No, his body hadn't felt any different in the last fight... only his mind had felt different. That strength he had used was his own, but the skill was not his, he could feel that much.

He was thinking too much, a pillar of concentrated ice magic was hurling towards him, and he was still sliding backwards on the slick, grassy floor beneath him. Without a moment's hesitation, Gio crouched down, using that force to slightly increase his backwards speed, and twisted his Shuriken in his hand, jamming one of the spikes into the ground. Using the weapon as a pole, he swung his momentum off of it and turned his direction around in a complete 180, sending him right at Orin and his magical pillar, pulling the shuriken back out of the ice as he flew forward. Hunched over already, he completely let himself hit the ground, sliding under the flying pillar and aiming to topple Orin, as his slide sent his feet straight for Orin's exposed legs.  

[Vizzion]

Orin Beleren

Orin was quite impressed at how Gio maneuvered himself through the slippery ice that he coated the area with. Orin never expected the Ice block that he had thrown to hit Gio in any way, even if the footing is not as secure to those who are not used to the ice terrain, the ice block was large enough to be seen from afar and thus one can avoid it with relative ease. The Ice block merely served as a diversion and a vessel for a better offensive ice spell. "Impressive, to use the terrain to your advantage using your weapons. Quite ingenious I must say." Orin said, laying a hand on the ice, as he watched Gio pull a full 180 and quickly slide towards him. With a focus blast Orin created a thick wall of ice between him and the quickly sliding Gio. He knew Gio was aiming for his legs and thus took actions to protect himself.

As one of his hands created the Ice wall, he also focused towards his shattered pillar. Much like his fight with Kai, he took control of the small and sharp shards of ice that formed from the shattered pillar. As he sparred a small grin graced Orin's face. He had not really been able to practice his Ice Magics to this extent in quite a long time. Crylos did know about his abilities but when they are shown in the public, all the questions that Orin had to hear could give the most patient man a headache. "Anyways, let us practice dodging once more shall we?" Orin said in a tone that could be considered playful as he pulled all the shards and hurled them towards the sliding Gio.

((Gah, I haven't had a fight in an RP in a while so Im a little rusty. If I am going to way too quick, just give me a heads up and I can slow down!))  

[Draconia Crystalis]

((Not at all, you're doing just great, Viz.))

Giovanni Infinito Dragoni
I just.... I just don't want to see anyone hurt because of me. I want to be able to protect them.... protect them all.

In mid-slide, Gio heard the cracking of ice behind him, and turned his head for a brief moment to see the pillar he had slid under turn to dust in midair... but more than that, the micro-shards of ice began to whirl in place, then hurl themselves at him. This was the Shards of Winter attack that he had seen Orin use against Kai, but he himself hd no way of defending against such a spell.... Orin did, however.

Turning back to see the wall that Orin had created, Gio geared himself for another evasion. This one would be a bit trickier than before, and if he did it wrong, this fight would be over. Slashing at the icy floor with his blade, Gio pushed himself onto his feet while maintaining his forward momentum, and quickly threw his shuriken at the frozen wall, making the blades stick into it halfway up. When he reached the wal his hand shot up and grabbed one of the handles, and he kicked off as best as he could from the slick ground, making sure to put the force straight upwards rather than at an angle to avoid slipping. With his hand on the grip a a pivot, he rotated in mid-air and pulled his legs down to land firmly on the embedded weapon.

Orin's attack was almost here, it seemed, as Gio lifted his head to see the whirling cloud of deadly ice approaching rapidly. Gio closed his eyes, willing himself to jump, pushing off from his shuriken-platform and launching himself over the remaining half of the wall.His head cleared the wall, and his eyes snapped open. He saw Orin below him, and spun himself around, wielding his blade in a crushing overhead blow as he descended on him, keeping as silent as possible to avoid detection. He had to be careful and judge his swing though, he had to make it miss, but still show that he had attacked, that way Orin could either guard, or technically be hit without suffering injuries.  

[Vizzion]

Orin Beleren

Orin did not really aim his shards all that well. It was only meant to either scratch Gio or miss him completely. After all this is a sparring match and not an actual battle where his life was in the line. The drawback of this wall is that I cannot see past it. This is a great defensive spell but I am starting to think that it's drawbacks are just too great. Orin thought as he listened closely and tried to piece together what was happening past his wall. He heard a thunk against his wall and looked down to see what seemed to be a blade sticking out from the wall. He's not planning to cut down this wall of ice while the shards are bearing down on him is he? No, that would be too foolish Orin thought as he took a step back. After he did he heard, what he assumed were his shards, slamming against his wall.

"Odd, no sounds of pain whatsoever. I must have missed him completely..." Orin muttered to himself as he tried to piece together what was happening outside of this opaque wall of Ice. After a while Orin began to notice that the sun that once was providing him with glare, suddenly stopped and that there was a shadow descending towards him. Orin looked up immediately and saw Gio quickly descending towards him, blade aimed at Orin. "Oh Damn!" was all Orin could say as he quickly summoned a small ice shield. However, since it was created with haste and not much thought, it was on the thinner side and while it did manage to lessen the power of the blow, Gio's attack went through and cut a strip from Orin's coat.

"Heh, I am quite impressed. Using my Wall of Ice and your shuriken as leverage to jump that high. I barely had time to think, and for a scholar, that's quite a compliment." Orin said as he looked at the damage on his coat. It was small and non-consequential, but Orin knew that if Gio had meant to kill him, he would have a serious wound instead of the small cut on his coat. "Well, I no longer desire to lengthen this training session. I think we should start moving again. What say everyone?" Orin said aloud to everyone in the camp as he patted his coat.

 

[Scythe de Zaran]

((Shameless bump in place of a post that would be here if I figured out what to post. sweatdrop ))  

[Draconia Crystalis]

Giovanni Infinito Dragoni
I just.... I just don't want to see anyone hurt because of me. I want to be able to protect them.... protect them all.

Panting, gasping for breath, Gio stared at his blade as drops of freezing water dripped from the edge. Orin had blocked, but he had been slow to realize the attack coming from above, and the shield had been incomplete. Even still, Gio's arms felt numb from the sheer force of resistance he had cut through. He had just cut through magic. A power greater than any simple blade, regardless of how incomplete it was. He felt accomplished. He felt like he had really done something worth feeling proud of, especially with Orin's compliment. But his body was also sore and aching from the sudden exertion he had put on it, and he fell to one knee, sticking his blade in the frozen ground to hold himself up.

"Gah-hah," he gasped, processing Orin's words slowly. Indeed, he was much more worn out than he had thought he would be, even after only facing two of them... He couldn't even imagine facing Miya right after all of that. "I-I" he struggled to make his lungs stop gasping long enough to form coherent words, finally getting out, "I think that's a good idea. We've taken up enough time and we need to reach the place the bandits are at well before nightfall." He didn't want to say that he was too worn out and wanted a break, even if his body said that for him. He hadn't exerted himself like that in a long time, and the shock to his muscles was severe.

Pressing his hand on the hilt, he used his blade to push himself onto his feet, then pulled it up, cleaned off the mess from the ground, and slid it quickly into its sheath. He looked to everyone for a moment, sub-consciously lowering his gaze when he looked at Jolyre, and went to retrieve his shuriken, tying his weapons on the saddle of his Chocobo. He expected everyone else would be getting ready to leave, so he made sure to throw a bit of the snowy powder from Orin's magic onto the fire. They definitely didn't want to leave stray embers burning when they left.

Everyone at the camp helped pack up, and in a few short minutes, they were all on their Chocobos and riding off to their destination.

((Sorry about the delay in my post. Lots of stuff going on in my life, the biggest of which was helping my granddad move into our house. It was a lot of work and it drained me.))  

[Jest_A_Clown]

((It's fine, just the long silences is what gets to me. If you can't post in the RP, giving us a few status updates in the OOC would be great, even if you have to double or triple post. And my own apology for the shortness of this post, its mostly just to let you guys know im alive.))

Suri watched as Orin and Gio's fight commenced. He was rather impressed at the skill displayed by both. But it appeared Gio would need some work on his stamina, a prolonged fight could prove deadly at this point. The training had ended for now and everyone was saddling up to continue their journey. Within a short amount of time they were on the move again. If all went as planned they would be at the bandit encampment around nightfall, perfect for launching an attack. With so many talented warriors, he scarcely believed much could go wrong, but overconfidence could prove fatal to even the most skilled fighters. There was a reason these bandits weren't being kept in check by the locals, whether by numbers or power, and either would prove troublesome.  

[Kasumi the ocean]

Kasumi

Kasumi watched the fight unfold and end. The whole time she sat on a log, watching them. Every time one of them got hurt, she found her self digging her hands into the wooden log beneath her. She could somehow managed to watch the whole fight, even though it was painful.

Watching people fight each other, weather it was battle or training, she never liked it. Kasumi watched the fight end and stood up. She saw Gio fall to one knee, his body exhausted and weary. That was obvious.

She wanted to tell him to rest, to at least allow her to help heal his wounds, but didn't get the chance too. They needed to keep moving to their destination, that was their main objective. As she mounted her Chocobo, she looked at Orin and Miya. They were skilled fighters, neither of them looking exhausted or injured badly. She looked down at her hands and sighed. She wondered if she would be able to use her control of water to fight as well as Orin did with his control of ice magic. Kasumi shrugged her shoulders. Probably not. She kept an eye on Gio, making sure that he didn't faint and fall off his Chocobo.