A Little Rusty

[Balthazar Black]

Saun 723

"I think it's a fun idea." Robin asked Balthazar as the mage took off his boots. The Feats of Strength was hosting a derby of sorts throughout the early trials of Saun. In an attempt to help everyone get their minds off of the troubles that had so recently passed, Balthazar and a few members of the Black Cats signed up to participate. None of them had aspirations of victory but they were hoping to have a little fun. Balthazar most of all. It was hard for him to get out of his own head but he knew it was also hard to be in his head while he was running through an obstacle course or engaged in combat.

"Well you know, you could still sign up?" Balthazar replied to Robin while they looked out at the competition. There were a lot of physically impressive people warming up before the first round of demonstrations. A few large, muscle bound people who looked like they might not have been able to touch their toes. A couple of thinner individuals with strong legs. Intimidating competition for a mage who was without his magic for these contests. He could cheat but that would defeat the purpose of participating.

"No, no. Lyanna and I are content to watch." Robin replied with a smirk.

"Ah, so you brought Lyanna? Who asked who?" Balthazar dug his toes into the floor for a few trills before taking a deep breath and reaching inward to soothe the sparks which would have given him a physical advantage. He could do nothing about his marks and forging, but he was fairly certain that none of them enhanced his physical abilities by any notable amount. His glowing skin dulled and his eyes shifted into their original gold color. The etheric cracks faded from his cheeks and his arms. He almost looked normal again- apart from the white hair, glowing bands around his arm, blackened fingertips, lightning pattern across his exposed chest, and the green etheric cracks over his heart... so not very normal still.

"We just came to support you, don't ruin it." Robin pat Balthazar on the shoulder. "Good luck, I'm going back to my seat."

Robin departed from the warm up area and Balthazar began going through stretches that he hadn't done in a long time. Between starting a settlement, losing the settlement, building a mercenary company, and getting a job with the merchant guild Balthazar's physical routine had become somewhat laid back. He worked out and found himself in battle enough to stay in shape but he was going to need more than 'in shape' to win here. He was hoping that the stretches would help him shake off the rust.

[Rakvald]

Bona Fide

"I'm telling you, baby. I'm a fucking pillar of society now, Bona Fide!" Rakvald shouted a little too loud from his spot in the bleachers that had been set up around the gymnasium. At his side, a comfortable distance away, was

Ildred.

Svartholda wasn't there with her, as she wanted to be sure that Rakvald really was to be trusted. Rumors swirled about him, that he'd descended into some form of madness or succumbed to some sort of magical entity. Rakvald couldn't really say. He felt more powerful than ever before, but he didn't feel like... 'not Rakvald'. If anything, he felt more Rakvald than ever! Just maybe a little more interested in exploring the mysteries of the flesh. But he drew the line at experimenting on his family... Honest.

"See this? This is what's keeping your house from collapsing into the foundations!" He gestured at the gymnasium around him. "This Feats of Strength gym, yeah, it's proceeds went exclusively toward your lifestyle, babe. Not that I mind! It's a pittance compared to my medical practice." Rakvald boasted, winking at her. She pointedly turned her face away from him, and watched the contestants getting ready on the floor.

Still, she wasn't entirely frosty to him, not as much as he'd expected of a woman who once thought nothing of stabbing him in the jewels. She almost seemed conciliatory, for Ildred.

"So whaddya say? Maybe have a visit with Svartholda, and let me see my girl?"

Ildred sighed, and then shrugged, "Alright, I'll give you a chance, but no shenanigans."

"Great!" He pumped his tentacle'd arm into the air once, and then sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Oh hey, Balthazar is competing?!" Rakvald looked down at the central floor of the gym.

"Oh shit, I didn't expect we'd actually get any mages. Come to think of it, the turn out has been pretty bad." Rakvald rubbed his chin with his free hand. "Balthazar is going to slaughter the other contestants..."

Ildred said nothing to that, but watched the proceedings with interest.

"Hmmm..." Rakvald thought to himself. And soon was extricating himself from Ildred's side.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back, don't worry, just... Gotta make some last minute adjustments to the whole contest."



Down on the floor, eventually Rakvald emerged from the side entrance to the gymnasium. He was wearing a very richly appointed robe, and his face-tentacles drooped nearly down to his chest now. Yet his eyes were smiling at all the contestants that had gathered. "Now now, settle down folks."

He gestured with his hands, shrugging. "Listen, all of you, with the exception of Balthazar, are losers. Destined to fail. At this point, it's a race to second place in my humble opinion. So! Slight adjustment to the Feats of Strength competition!"

Rakvald smiled deeper, but more sinister, and his horizontal pupils dilated in pleasure. "I challenge Balthazar to a winner take all challenge. Top prize, and I'll even throw in a Paradigm Ring."

"You all can just have the honor of watching our contest, none of you are fit to compete against Balthazar." He looked around with an apologetic twinge to his eye-flesh, but then he stared with glee at Balthazar himself. "If I win, I get to make some improvements to you, Balthazar! Really, you can't lose, whatever happens!"

Rakvald giggled, thinking there was no way Balthazar would be able to back away from such a challenge. "All's you gotta do, if you accept the challenge, is pin me to the ground for the count of ten. What do you say?"

Rakvald turned an eye up to the bleachers at Ildred, so far she didn't look impressed. But he was determined to change that.

"But the catch is, you gotta use your physical abilities, no magic stuff. Sorry! Which means, you got to wear the Paradigm Ring! Oh heck, I'll throw it in for good measure if you lose. I got no use for it anymore." Rakvald smirked. "Well?"

[Balthazar Black]

Saun 723

Balthazar could feel Rakvald's eyes on him when his fellow mage noticed him warming up. Balthazar had been doing toe touches at the time so when his extra explanatory sensesBalthazar has developed a general sense of when he is being watched. When being observed through mundane or arcane means that he can perceive, Balthazar feels a strange sensation like an itch on the scars across his body. The location of sensation felt on the scars is specific enough that Balthazar can tell, in general, the direction and distance from which he is being watched. warned him that someone was looking, he assumed it was just the crowd. However a quick sweepBalthazar has developed an acute ability to break down and analyze that which he can perceive at almost a glance. From finding the seam in a cane hiding a sword to noticing the a red hair on the coat of a brunette individual, within the first few trills to a bit (depending on size) of examining a person, object or place, Balthazar will be able to discern any visible oddities and details as accurately as others would with much more focus and time dedicated to it. of the audience in the bleachers revealed the ever changing yet still familiar mutated Rakvald. He noticed Robin and Lyanna moving to sit in the same set of bleachers as well but he'd already spoken with Robin so he didn't regard it with as much thought. Balthazar smiled to his old ally but he didn't stop going through his stretched. He was still concerned he was going to pull a muscle and fall half-way through the course. He was so focused on his warm ups that he didn't notice Rakvald departing the bleachers to rearrange some the contest.

He would never have thought the decision was motivated by a belief that Balthazar would slaughter the rest of the contestants... but that was likely due to Balthazar's waning confidence in his own ability to do anything but destroy.

By the time Balthazar was done warming up his body for the contest, Rakvald emerged from one of the side entrances with a very nice robe and long tentacle beard. The other mage called for all of their attention and Balthazar fell into the crowd beside two of the Black Cats who'd come to compete for fun as well. He was doing as much as he could not to be singled out and noticed. The time for that would be when he ran the courses. Unfortunately, the effort was for naught. As soon as he had the attention of the group, Rakvald declared it would practically be a race for second since the mage was participating.

Balthazar was less confident in his physical ability but something in him stirred at the compliment. The Black Cats who had signed up to participate smirked at each other. Some nudged others with small jokes passing between them. Apparently they felt the same way and forgot that Balthazar had very, very good hearing. What came next surprised them all.

Rakvald challenged Balthazar directly. The mage felt taken back to his arcs in Yaralon and the honor system behind the dueling. There were far too many witnesses for him to refuse the challenge. Robin and Lyanna would never let it go, nor would any of the Black Cats in the gymnasium. Balthazar didn't hide his surprise- he wore it clearly on his face. He might have been willing to throw the original contest just to boost the moral of Scalvorians- but he would not throw a duel. Winner take all- top prize and a paradigm ring, was a very alluring challenge. He didn't particularly like paradigm but having the option to corral all four sparks was an interesting one... and if he had the ring then he could study the metal for a way to extract or expand its properties.

The price of losing might have been a high one to pay as well and Balthazar had to consider that he might indeed lose. He liked Rakvald but he had no desire for a tentacle beard. He didn't like the number of mutations changing him already... but they were the price he paid for the power the sparks gave him access to. Whatever Rakvald did to him would be the price he had to pay for his own foolish pride... for being Yari even arcs after he left the land. It was a price he was willing to pay.

Rakvald laid out the challenge and the rewards while Balthazar considered the consequences of what was coming. This challenge was too public to deny and Rakvald knew it. Balthazar felt like he knew it. That was the point. Cruel to leverage a man's sense of honor against him. Or perhaps... it was a gift? Rakvald's terms were generous and the challenge seemed fair. All he had to do was pin Rakvald to the ground for ten trills. All he needed to do that was to strike Rakvald hard enough in the head with a single finger. Ilaren had taught him well. Perhaps Rakvald didn't know that though. Rakvald did know that combat was Balthazar's speciality though so the challenge was unnerving. The odds are greater that Balthazar would stumble in an obstacle course than in a fight... this was going to be entertaining.

The twist came at the end as it almost always did. Rakvald was going to bar Balthazar from using magic without explicitly baring himself from doing the same. To participate, Balthazar would need to wear the ring- and Rakvald quickly added that he would allow the mage to keep the ring whether he succeeded or not in the challenge. Balthazar was beginning to think he knew more about paradigm than his challenger. He had learned the ways around it when he was bound by the Albarech's order. He had more power at his disposal than simple domain magic. Even with the ring on he had access to the powers the spirits gave him and the powers he had been gifted by immortals. He had what he wanted when he was a child- uncontainable power, and it was nothing like what he hoped it would be.

Now the crowd was waiting for the mage to respond. "I could never refuse such an honorable challenge, but I need a few points of clarity. I'll be sealing away my magic, but you will have access, and use yours?" Balthazar watched carefully to see how Rakvald reacted to it. Whatever the answer, he had cast his own doubts out into the crowd for his allies and fans to consider. It wouldn't be an even match, but the point of a feat of strength was to overcome challenges. Balthazar understood and respected it... he just also didn't want to completely embarrass himself with a loss.

"Second, do you win by the same means? You have to pin me down for ten trills?" It was important to establish what constituted a loss for the mage. He had some concerns that he couldn't pin Rakvald after rendering him unconscious but he was fairly certain Rakvald could not pin him down for the same amount of time. Not without Balthazar landing a painful blow. Rakvald could probably kill him with magic... but that wasn't the same.

"Lastly, the challenge includes the ring to weaken me but I seek to compete fairly by the rules you set. Be specific, am I not to use domain magic or am I not to use anything but my body? You face two very different opponents depending on your answer." Depending on the answer, Balthazar could put on the ring and still hurl a few frightening bolts of lightning at his challenger... and a few balls of fire... and he could merge with Fuego... he had a lot of options.

[Rakvald]

As Rakvald began citing the terms for the challenge, and then Balthazar rebutted asking if he was expected to play by the same rules, Rakvald was taken aback, and honestly flummoxed. He knew there were just some advatanges that were baked in at this point, to his own body in part because of Becoming, Graft, and to an extent other factors. The pause was enough of an opportunity for Ildred to stand up from the bleachers, and shout down. "In what world does the challenger set the terms for the match? I propose a neutral arbiter. And who better than me?"

Rakvald ground his maw teeth at the idea of Ildred setting the match terms, but he turned to Balthazar, quirking his brow flesh as if to ask what he thought of that. Ildred came down from the bleachers, and stood between them. "I say no holds barred, no restrictions. Just the two of you, everything on the table, short of bringing the ceiling of this Gymnasium down on all of us."

"Uhh yeah..." Rakvald said, grumbling. "Probably fairer that way. Not like I have any magics that are really for destroying property anwyay... But Balthazar, he can spit fire with his hands! How is that fair?"

Ildred crossed her arms. "Those are the terms, fight as you are or not at all, and let Balthazar get on with the competition. Enough posturing."

Rakvald grumbled, and scratched the back of his neck with his tentacle hand. "Fine. But if he destroys my gym, I'll take the cost of any damages out of his winnings."

This settled, seemingly, so long as Balthazar had no objections, Rakvald took the paradigm ring and gave it to Ildred, for safe keeping.

He took on a stance, that was in part Da'riiya, and Ki'Oriaq, the fisherman's martial art. Rakvald's fighting style was one that emphasized closing the distance quickly with whipping strikes from his limbs, until he could wrap around the opponent and bring them to the ground.

"But now that we've settled that we're using what we got..." Rakvald said, smirking, "Count of a bit before we engage. Use whatever you got to get ready, and I'll do the same."

So saying, Rakvald began caressing his arms with runes of strength and endurance, and did the same with his legs, his core, and a singular rune of Endurance on his cranium. Once that was done, he supposed that was the sum of his needed preparations for a fight. Unity only knew how many tricks Balthazar coulld bring to bear within a bit before they fought...

[Balthazar Black]

Saun 723

Balthazar looked to Rakvald in the same moment that the fellow mage looked at him for an opinion on the Ildred's intercession. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. She wasn't wrong. In Yaralon the challenger and the challenged didn't get to set the terms, a darstrion did. He wasn't opposed to Rakvald setting the terms as long as he knew what the rules would be but this new option had intrigued Balthazar as quickly as the original challenge. Ildred's proposition seemed to lean in Balthazar's favor. He could do a lot of damage from a distance and even more up close if he had all of his magic accessible during the fight. It was the sort of damage that could bring down a building. He'd done as much before. He wasn't the ball of etheric destruction that he used to be, but he could be if he chose to.

Balthazar noticed little signs coming from Rakvald that made the mage think his friend didn't like Ildred's challenge. A clenched jaw signaled grinding teeth and who ground their teeth when they were happy? When Rakvald looked to him to see if Balthazar agreed with the terms, the mage offered an indifferent shrug. He followed it quickly with an approving nod. He was being challenged, it wasn't fitting to avoid giving input when asked. The challenge was laid out and Rakvald seemed to accept the new, looser terms. Balthazar's eye shifted around the building, collecting each face in the crowd for his memory before his focus shifted to the gymnasium itself. It was a sturdy building but he thought it best to be careful with his magic. If he brought the building down on all of them, he brought it down on himself as well.

Rakvald protested Balthazar's ability to throw fire from his hands and the mage's brow furrow slightly. Was victory still earned by pinning your opponent? Fire would be of no use in that endeavor... then again he supposed the victor would be clear in the end regardless if the two of them were to truly go at each other as they were. Ildred did not budge from the terms she had set and Rakvald mentioned that anything Balthazar broke would be taken from his winnings. Balthazar offered a nod in agreement. "I can and will repair all that I break- but I'll be careful. I have little desire to bring down the building I'm standing in."

The challenge was set and accepted. Rakvald assumed an unfamiliar combat stance and Balthazar assumed his own in response. His style was not a written one anymore. He had taken all of his best knowledge from Solum, Nomos, Ustrina, and Imber- four martial arts focusing around the elements that he had begun to create when his interest in unarmed combat began, and he had combined it with his experiences in life. Now he fought with his body as if it was an extension of the best of each element. Ferocity like fire. Agility like the wind. Movement like a stream. Power like the earth. "She's the one who stabbed you isn't she?" Balthazar asked Rakvald once all the terms were set.

Rakvald declared the bout would begin in a trill and quickly began using the time to draw unfamiliar runes across his body. Balthazar's head tilted slightly in confusion but quickly shifted into tactical tomfoolery. A bit to prepare was an eternity for a man who had conditioned and built himself to respond in an instant. Rakvald was using a magic Balthazar did not have to enhance himself and by extension that made it a magic Balthazar knew very little about... so he quickly decided how he was going to handle it. He stopped soothing the mutations he had concealed to make the physical contest more fair. His eyes began to glow a brilliant blue and etheric cracks spread from them down his cheeks at the same times as they spread up his hands and forearms.

He immediately began to attune to Rakvald's frequency. He knew it would take about half of the bit that he had to do so and wanted to waste no time obtaining his advantage. It had been a while since he attuned to something as complex as Rakvald. He let himself attune to little object every once in a while but that was only because he couldn't entirely resist the spark's desire to learn and absorb new things. Rakvald's frequency was more complex than that and it required more focus- but it probably didn't look very entertaining to the crowd. To them, Rakvald was painting himself and Balthazar was standing there, staring at him with pulsing, glowing eyes. It worked well enough though because by the end of the thirty trills it took, Balthazar had a grasp of Rakvald's frequency.

Now came the tricky part. Did he want to search for the spark he didn't know and risk the precious trills that he had left or did he want to establish an advantage. He felt like he could search for the spark during their combat. True or not, it lead him to synchronize himself (partially) with Rakvald's frequency. It was easier than dedicating an entire spark to stifle the unknown spark in Rakvald. Physically, his choice would give him an edge because it would grant him an almost perfect ability to predict what his mutated and beautiful friend was going to do. Well... it wasn't really 'prediction' because it was an exact knowledge of what was intended and coming at Balthazar. Prediction felt like an educated guest compared to synchronism.

As the time drew near to a close, Balthazar confidently said, "Let's give them something to remember." Balthazar prepared to unleash a intense burst of the flames Rakvald had mentioned when he noticed something familiar inside Rakvald's spark. A note that sounded the same but different. A note accompanied by other, different notes and yet it was the same at it's core as the note in Balthazar. Transmutation? He had no time to see how loudly the note sang but he knew the risks. Rakvald would be able to absorb ether from his spark-based attacks... then again... that meant Balthazar could steal ether from whatever runes Rakvald had painted himself with.

Next, he launched his attack. As always, strike first, strike hard. Balthazar knew the advantages to such a ferocity but Elisabeth had shown him the risks as well. He was tempered but he was the same. Dangerous. His attack came first by nature. The moment the bit was done Balthazar hurled a bolt of black and red lightning2 Things: 1. From now on, whenever Balthazar controls elemental lightning in any form, he can toggle it's color, to a black core, red outline.

2. The character is able to control more lightning, and at longer distances. Their limit is extended to a distance of 100 feet before the lightning dissipates, and can be bounced up to two times, to strike a total of three targets. Capable of throwing two lightning bolts a bit. If the bolt hits it can cause lingering pains, numbness, and slight burns to any struck body parts. Those hit by the bounce effects of this ability are dealt damage as though hit by a bolt of the Minor version. Alcohol intoxication diminishes the power of this ability towards Rakvald's midsection. If the bolt hit, Balthazar would push his energy and travel alongBalthazar is able to travel along any bolt thrown using his Elemental Manipulation, ending where the bolt impacts or at his Elemental Manipulations maximum distance. Alcohol intoxication diminishes the power of this ability. the bolt to land a powerful series ofBalthazar has learned to attack with devastating speed in small bursts at close quarters. This ability allows Balthazar to strike a single opponent five times for every two strikes that someone of his skill level would normally be able to throw with normal accuracy making him an overwhelming combatant at close quarters. The speed of his strikes is such that he can not alternate between attacking and defending while using the flurry of blows. punches to Rakvald's midsection. If Rakvald managed to avoid it, which Balthazar would only be able to predict in the moment due to synchronizingPartial Synchrony is of immense benefit to the Attuner as it grants the mage near perfect ability to predict the movements of the subject. As they are synchronized, the mage can feel the muscles moving and even the subject’s emotional state. While this does not allow an Attuner to necessarily react fast enough to avoid the attacks of a master or Grandmaster swordsman...in a one on one battle, an Attuner is always able to gain an edge on their opponent provided they have actively Attuned to the person first., Balthazar would wait for Rakvald to close the distance between them himself.

[Rakvald]

But that was neither here nor there. Still, if Balthazar thought pinning Rakvald down would be as simple as conjuring some earthen stone, he'd have another thing coming. Rakvald was slippery enough on his own, but with a form that was as flexible and squishy as his, he'd find any such holds ephemeral at best.

And though Rakvald had only seen Balthazar fight a few times, he wondered if the bold mage he'd met in a Dreamscape had it in him to reign in his power. Surely the sparks had a say in that as well? How many domains were ready to claim him as one of the Revealed by now? Rakvald was almost curious enough to ask. Maybe later, though. For now, Rakvald didn't mind a little surprise, in finding his opponent far more capable than he'd anticipated.

"She's the one who stabbed you isn't she?"

Rakvald heard Balthazar say after the terms were all set and agreed to. No holds barred, save for those that endangered the lives of the audience. And Rakvald was sure Balthazar would want to avoid being associated with another mass destruction event. Rakvald had heard vague things about the Volcano, and Balthazar's involvement had trickled down through the grapevine.

"Yes, stabbed me directly in the gonads." Rakvald said cheerfully. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth, the tongue of a woman? Or her pitchfork in that case." He guffawed.

But it was true in the sense that her tongue had now gotten him into a stickier situation than he'd wanted.

"By the way, if you win, you can still apply for an enhancement. Maybe we can get in you a second heart, like a backup in case the first gets stabbed by someone." He shrugged, "Just a thought. I've been examining the structure of the heart lately, various creatures. Lots of interesting enhancements I can fineagle even on top of having a back-up. Something to think about anyway."

For the battle, and as he was, Rakvald had assumed his favorite form for combat. At least currently. It was a three-way gestalt, of mer, lotharro, and ascended mantis. Rakvald hadn't considered giving it a name, ,but as it was the closest totem in relation to his prior self, he supposed Rakvald was as good a thing to call it as any. As if a difference in form could suppress the recognizable aura of charisma and magnificence that was Rakvald!

He didn't assume any kind of recognizable defensive posture as he stood aside from Balthazar, but began using his leg tentacles, which began growing spontaneously from his ankle. Or perhaps they were separating from the main flesh. It wasn't easy to say.

The tentacle began drawing runes on Rakvald's legs, strength and endurance chained runes. As his ankle tentacle worked that part of the body, with his upper tentacles he drew runes of the same kind on his abdomen, his arms, and finally his collarbone and shoulder area.

Thus fortified, he felt suddenly lighter than usual, and the natural agility he inherited from the Ascended Mantis gave him a sense of assurance, that if this were down to a physical fight, he'd have it on lock. As it was, he might have to complicate Balthazar's efforts at not knocking down the building, in order to force him into using less of his magic than he'd like.

So he stood, his arms raised in a sort of wrestling stance, if it was anything. Rakvald had only trained formally, and briefly in the House of Rivers in Desnind. While he'd learned a good deal about squirming and reversing force, he was a wrestler at heart.

So, the bit glass drained of sand, eventually, and the preparation period was over. Rakvald squared away, allowing that Balthazar should make the first move, whether it was to close the distance, or engage in some magical chicanery before his attack...

[Balthazar Black]

Saun 723

If Balthazar was ever to critique Rakvald's approach to the moment that was coming- he would have told Rakvald to draw the runes on his body while watching Balthazar tire himself out on a course. Instead he gave the mage the most dangerous thing he could have given him- time to wonder. What were those runes? What form of magic was it that he saw sitting before him? How might he be able to counter it? That was the important question now. How would he stop Rakvald's magic... he had two ideas. One of them gave the audience the show that they wanted to see and the other might have ended it all too quickly. The choice became more clear when he had the time to sift through Rakvald's frequency.

Every rune Rakvald drew in the time they were preparing allowed for Balthazar to focus on and find notes. Specifically the notes that signaled the presence of a spark. He found four. Some were louder than others. Rakvald was more than a man now. He was revealed. The note from that magic sang over the rest of them but Balthazar had the time to decipher all four. Graft, Becoming, Hone, and a familiar note- Transmutation. He might have thanked Rakvald for the plethora of new notes if not for the battle to come. He had never searched and frequency and comprehended the notes for three of the magics before that moment, and now his collection was nearly complete... but which of them was he using for the runes on his body? Attunement granted knowledge in that it told him the name of the magic but not how it functioned. He had only hints at best.

To the crowd it would look as if Balthazar was doing nothing while his opponent prepared runes but the mage's mind and sparks were engaged fully. His eye's shimmered with different colors- a result of surviving his first encounter with Faldrass, and as those eyes shimmered, Balthazar came to understand more and more. He was not confident that he could absorb the ether from the runes. He wasn't sure that his spark was stronger than Rakvald's. There was another option though. He couldn't cripple Rakvald's magic, there was too much and his spark would have dedicate all of its power to stopping one of his opponent's sparks. That was still a useful advantage, Balthazar decided.

Rakvald made a kind offer, kind enough that Balthazar almost felt bad for using the trills to prepare and search the frequency even further. A second heart could have had many uses but at the same time Balthazar knew little about anatomy and medicine. It seems to him like a second heart could cause problems. Twice the heartburn for instance- ouch. "If I die because I let you alter my heart, I will haunt you." Balthazar was joking but Rakvald gained a momentary distraction as the mage's mind flashed back to Syroa's claw and his throat. Death. Death was not something to joke about. He swallowed slightly, like he'd been unable to do when Syroa opened his neck. "I'm content with one heart for now, but I'll keep the offer in mind when we are done here. I'm far from perfect."

The time for preparation ended and Balthazar struck. He decided that the best way to progress was to test his theories. He made his decision as reasonably as he could. Balthazar wanted to learn and he had methods to escape being pinned down- the problem was that Rakvald likely did as well. Four sparks against four sparks with only one in common between them. No destroying the building... fine. Balthazar rushed forward towards Rakvald and hurled a bolt of black and red lightning directly at the other mage's midsection using his special abilities rather that magic. He dedicated his magic to the blink portal that quickly engulfed him in a small burst of fire and deposited him beside Rakvald so he wouldn't end up in the path of his own lightning.

His hands lashed out as quickly as the bolt of black and red electricity with two strikes. The first was aimed at his arm and meant to paralyze the whole limbAs his novice gateway ability, Balthazar has learned to focus his unarmed skill to literally the tip of his finger. A single strike of that finger against flesh can do one of two things. It can render someone unconscious for ten full trills or it can render them paralyzed for an equal time. Strikes aimed towards the neck and head of people and creatures will render them unconscious where strikes against limbs and central mass will paralyze all local muscles related to the region that was struck, exceeding the strength and effect of his paralyzing strike capstone in regards to time and the need to target specific muscles rather than whole limbs. The second was aimed towards the side of his abdomen but it carried the same force behind it.

[Rakvald]

Scribbles on flesh, that's all they amounted to in the end. As Rakvald realized that his magical talent for Runewrighty was being dampened, perhaps outright disabled. The etchings on his flesh granted no higher stamina or strength. So be it, Rakvald was strong enough, as he demonstrated as he flexed for the crowd, his tentacle-like limb curling around his own neck as he did a little stretch to impress them.

Soon enough though the fight began in earnest, with a literal flash as Balthazar blinked and simultaneously released a bit of lightning. Rakvald thought he should've been able to detect some measure of ether being expended, by virtue of his connection to magic if not through his talent for transmutation. But there was nothing of magic about the way Balthazar was weilding this lightning.

The lightning strike hit his right limb, disabling it immediately.

Rakvald growled in frustration as he absorbed the rest of the man's assault as he shifted to target Rakvald's abdomen. The hardened dermis, granted by virtue of his gestalt connection to the Ascended Mantis absorbed the impact like a hardened piece of armor, deflecting much of the physical power of the blow, and thus dampening the paralytic effect. It threw off his balance, no denying that, but Rakvald was still able to stand.

His useless arm, he began absorbing back into the mass of his body. Before the eyes of the crowd, the arm slithered and retracted into his amorphous flesh, and even as it retracted, another arm grew, and then a third. Rakvald grinned beneath his nasal tentacles, as his one arm flew forward to punch Balthazar in the center of his mass, even as the other defended or tried to absorb any form of counterattack.

While those two right arms did their thing, Rakvald began concentrating. His magic working overtime to restore the feeling to his abdomen, and restore the enervations that flowed through it, so that it could maintain his balance again.

His equilibrium was disrupted, but Balthazar would have to put in more work before he incapacitated a Chimera.

[Balthazar Black]

Saun 723

Okay, one limb down. Next- whoa his arm is gone... and here come two more.

It was difficult to keep up with how quickly Rakvald could discard and regrow his own limbs but not impossible. Pinning him down would be another issue entirely. The first few testing strikes had revealed a decent amount of information about Rakvald. Information that would be put through the next stage of testing. His abdomen was harder than his arms- almost armored but strong enough to take the impact of his strikes and mitigate the paralysis. Limbs were the vulnerable target but they were easily expendable for Rakvald. If he stopped jamming the Hone spark he could try to jam another and stop Rakvald's rapidly shifting appendages... but would the written runes reactivate? Risky. Before Balthazar had time to consider more, Rakvald's new limbs moved to attack.

Rakvald has displayed his strength for the crowd and Balthazar had a feeling each arm he made was equally as strong as the one that had been disabled. He could take the hit but he had a feeling it would hurt so he opted to try and avoid being hit. He kept Rakvald's blocking arm busy with a fast, right hand strike while his left hand swept over his midsection to push Rakvald's arm off-path without stopping the force behind it. Rakvald was quick, but it wasn't his speed that would help him in a hand to hand fight with Balthazar- it was the fact that he could have so many hands.

Unwilling to give Rakvald the chance to conjure more arms and overwhelm his defenses, Balthazar introduced a little more magic to the fight. He pushed backwards to gain a little distance and hurled a ball of fireThe Fireforged can conjure a ball of fire the size of their palm in their hand. This fire will not harm them or any other Fireforged, but to anything else will burn like any regular fire. They can hold it as if it were a solid object, and throw it at anyone as if it were a baseball. The Fireforged can create one fireball per trial for every five points they possess in the Order of the Forged. Balth has 69 Points at Rakvald to stall him while Balthazar leapt through another blink portal- appearing behind Rakvald once again for another set of paralytic strikes moving upwards towards Rakvald's head. Balthazar knew the torso would endure but he wanted to see how long it could endure these quick hit-and-run attacks. He didn't know what would happen if he hit Rakvald's head though- that he would have to work to find out.

[Rakvald]

Balthazar’s style was flashy, and Rakvald had some inkling at what to expect, given Balthazar’s widespread reputation, more than Rakvald’s minimal ability to keep his ear to the ground of gossip. He was not disappointed, even though he wouldn’t see the true breadth of destructive potential that Balthazar could summon, he was treated to a small fist-sized fireball that lit his lower robes on fire.

The distraction was enough for Rakvald to take his eye off of Balthazar just long enough to allow the other mage to disappear in a blinking portal, while putting out the burning in his robes. By the time he regained control and doused the flame beneath his foot, Balthazar was already behind him and using his lightning strikes to target his spinal column. A dangerous threat, and one that could have very well ended Rakvald’s life. A Chimera could heal most damage, but the true weakness of them was that if the body was separated from the brain through a severed spinal column, it spelled doom for the creature.

Rakvald couldn’t have that, but the pain from the strike was excruciating. It would take a few moments for Rakvald to dull the pain, but the shock of it prompted him to run forward, toward one of the gymnasium apparatus. A high bunch of monkey bars, which he now climbed to the top of, challenging Balthazar to follow him.

But he wasn’t content to leave it at that. He began hurling Ether bolts at the other mage, to try and disrupt any spells that came his way, as well as corrode the floor beneath Balthazar’s feet to complicate his approach.

Should Balthazar try to attack the sphere of metal bars, Rakvald would leap from them, and transform into the Dubaebo, a black wolf-like creature. Blind, but for the bristles to sense movement on the air and footpads able to sense movement on the ground.

He didn’t wait around when he unleashed into the squid-faced wolf-like creature. He snapped his jaws trying to snap a piece of Balthazar with every crush of his jaws.

While he did this, a long and muscular pair of tentacles grew from the dubaebo’s flanks, which then worked like a tail in that it tried to sweep the area to the side of it, in case Balthazar made an attempt to attack his rear or flanks. These were decked with sharp teeth-like bones, which would cut as well as pierce. Having only just formed them, however, they were still needing time to harden, and would barely offer more cutting power than a thorn on a vine. At least, unless Rakvald made them a more persistent addition to this form.

He went around the arena thus, a rotary of thorny tentacles whipping this way and that while his head snapped with his sharp teeth at anything that found its way in his path.

Rakvald was starting to lose himself to the battle rage, something that had not happened in quite a long time.