The Wind Speaks Of A Journey - Vincent vs Fenris

[Dirge]

T1 MP-FP. Standard rules. The whole shebang with a crowd filling the arena stands!

I'll get a starter up as soon as possible.

[Fenris]

Mk. Has to be exhibition since my character is stuck in other stuff plot-wise atm or perhaps we can say this happened a while ago.

[Dirge]

Legends often speak of untold wonders across the expanse of the Multiverse and beyond...

They speak of stories that drive the youth of many a world to take up arms, to train endlessly day after day in order to explore their immediate surroundings and, if they are lucky, the many worlds scattered throughout the void of space. Some in particular spoke about the Celesin Empire, one of the many manifestations of divine or cosmic authority throughout the Multiverse or, on a bigger scale, the Omniverse. Despite the ambiguous concept of morality the empire holds, there was little doubt about their fame and fortune - and, more importantly, their power. Songs were sung in many planets about them, especially in the cities of Shad’Rae, Lu’Rae, Am’Rae, and other holds under their control.

Vincent Fiorelli was no stranger to the ways of Celesin.

The Secret Library of Hyades was an astounding place filled to the brim with knowledge and wisdom. The former was available to any soul brave and intelligent enough to enter the hidden realm; the latter, not quite as much. True wisdom was seldom offered to the lucky traveler. The sentient realm hand-picked those with the most potential and revealed its secrets one at a time, testing the patience of the studious and the intelligence of the scholar. The renowned magister suffered a terrible curse from birth, product of the demon that had spawned him along with his twin sister; he was to search for knowledge wherever he went, forced to study everything there it is to study until his thirst is sated.

But curses and blessings are relative and the magister had been able to turn this fate around, adapting every resource he managed to discover to his needs and whims. From the humans in the Isamahii Gardens and the Jinchuu assassination division, he learned swordsmanship and honed his senses beyond the limits of common men. With Zericho Azerich, he discovered an ancient magic school that the two of them picked up, deciphering the scrolls protected within crumbling ruins before refining each and every single spell. And from every encounter throughout the Omniverse, he did nothing more but to grow, recognizing patterns in his enemies and studying their abilities. Every time he stumbled across something new and studied it, his power grew exponentially in a controlled manner. After all, power without control would have undoubtedly destroyed his humanoid vessel.

Regardless of the Fiorelli’s past, there was no denying he had been a rising figure through the years and had become a driving force in the study of magic, energy, and technological modifications. His recent forays steered him toward the technology of one of the many universes around; one of his Aspects had successfully infiltrated a faction whose universe was embroiled in turmoil. Under the cover of war, technological and scientific developments were lightning fast compared to research undergone in times of peace. These quick developments initially drew Vincent’s interest toward that universe and, presently, he had acquired enough schematics and information to begin producing his own masterpieces.

In any event, Hyades had provided him with enough data to accurately pinpoint the location of one of Celesin’s generals. As expected, the skilled Primoris was gracing an infamous arena with his presence, no doubt about to put on an exhibition match of sorts against the local rabble. It occurred to Vincent that perhaps, just perhaps, the warrior could do with a better challenge than the people of that place. Arenas could hold a jewel or two amongst their fighters, but they were by no means real challenges to people like the Primoris or the Halfling. They often ended up splattered all across the walls with their blood raining down and drying up along the sand.

“It’s as good a time as any. Let’s see your wings, Vaitroye!”

From the confines of a hyperdimensional portal creating many a ripple through time and space, the ominous visage of a penta-tipped helmet crowned with three rhomb-shaped jewels protruded from the gap. Hovering tall at 44 meters, the sleek, metallic surface of the humanlike mechanoid’s body reflected an array of different colors when the sunlight touched it. Other jewels, embedded into the shoulders, forearms, and a singular round one embedded in the center of its chest, radiated an aura of dread and terror, aiming to strike fear in the hearts of those who witnessed the Personal Trooper.

Sets of three sharp claws protruded from the forearms, under the jewels and extending past its fingers’ reach, vaguely reminiscent of ninjas of old. A pair of blades protruded along the shins, extending slightly in front of the knees and ending in sharp tips. The mechanoid’s left hand held onto a straight, slender sword that matched its height from its pommel to the tip. The most unique feature of this mechanoid was the crimson cape that extended from the back of its neck, caressing along the base of the quadruple shoulderpads protecting its back, and spreading outward. There it was, the Vaitroye in all its splendor.

The air grew cold for all but a moment – it almost appeared as though those few seconds spanned a lifetime of bloodshed. The Vaitroye instilled awe and horror in any who dared stand in its way. To Vincent’s allies, it would be a symbol of hope and a shield to protect those who needed it. To his enemies, it would be nothing more than the harbinger of terror, the Scythe of Harpe, designed solely to cull the meek and crush the opposition.

It coaxed Vincent into its cockpit before sliding into the portal from whence it came. The magister was rapidly inputting new coordinates and modifying the exit point of the gap in time-space only to tear through the veil that separated dimensions, gracing the crowd of the arena with the Vaitroye’s terrifying form. The augmented twin Tesla Drives of class S designation swept up an enormous cloud of dust once joined by the powerful force of the Troye class thrusters underneath the mechanoid’s cape. The common humans lining the stands rapidly began to make their way toward the exit of the arena, the majority of them affected by the kinetic force of the thrusters’ shockwave and either flying through the air or remaining pinned against the ground or walls.

Once the Vaitroye’s 131 and a half tons landed onto the grounds of the arena, Vincent’s voice echoed out through the area in the radius of a kilometer around the venue. Enhanced through technological and magical means, the words boomed out, causing the ground to tremble and the nearby buildings to vibrate with raw power.

“Come out, warrior! I have a proposal for you, seeing as how these humans cannot stand up against you. I wish to test your mettle, your power in combat. If you accept my challenge, step forth.”

There was little doubt in the Fiorelli’s mind that the one he was addressing would soon enter the grounds. With a few mental commands here and there, the Vaitroye’s communications returned to normal. Vincent began to list the systems on the Personal Trooper, vastly proud of his accomplishments with it.

“So far, so good. Tesla drives are in perfect flight condition and the Troye thrusters haven’t blown up. Draconic Drive Core stable, Troye generator stable, Direct Feedback Motion System working perfectly… Auric sensors, Hyades terminal, Aethera terminal, Endless dimensional tracer and subsystems active.”

With a wide grin upon his lips, the magister approached the exit of the Vaitroye’s cockpit, which opened up and allowed him to float in front of its visage before closing right back up.

“Stand at attention, ‘troye. You will not be required for hostile action just yet. Observe and learn. This is your job for the moment.”

[Fenris]

(Sometime before the current battles...)


Fenris of Olfwood was in the arena, but rarely in these days was he compelled to fight or test himself against the fodder that occupied the lands of Nexxus. He wore the white cloak of his station trimmed with silver-fur a customization afforded to him. Beneath that cloak was the vest, and bracers, combat-boots, and dark-denim, with a utility belt for various innocuous things. He had been brooding upon the area sitting at the highest point of the arena and watching the area before him absently as he smoked his pipe.

Fenris had learned from many people but his greatest teachers had been his enemies. They taught him how to survive, gave him experience, showed him tactics, refined his technique, pointed out his mistakes. He tempered this lessons with instinct, intuition, and his own experience till he stood as the being he now was. The Primoris Ultonis, The "First of Vengeance". When the portal opened throughout and the mech emerged he frowned. "Not again..." he all but groaned. If he was going to fight he had preferred something a bit different, but it was not his choice but his enemies, and he knew he was the one that Vincent was referring too.

He rose slowly cracking his neck but kept his narrowed gaze upon the mechanical-knight, the terror it typically inspired held no omen for Fenris, this was not his first rodeo and he did not think it would be his last. He did not precisely have the high-ground as the 44 meter tall floating mech probably was taller than the entire structure and elevated to boot though it seemed to set itself on the ground after too long. Fenris was already gathering his power, honing his presence, as his instrinsic-arming began to seep through his pores bubbling from beneath the surface of his form. "Tell me..." his voice echoing throughout the arena with the sound of thunder despite his tone being calm and casual.

"Do you intend to fight me with....that?" he asked referring to the mech. "If so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to get a little nasty unless you come out of that killer-can..." he said rising up, his vigilance already high as he honed his precision and senses to a "battle-ready" format perfectly willing to forgo his questioning if the male decided to attack suddenly from his mech, as he gathered his inner potency.

(Edit:)

It seemed the male emerged from the mech however and Fenris tilted his head. "Did you come to challenge or to start a war?" he asked, though his tone was fairly casual as he regarded the massive A.M.A or the name Fenris had taken to refer to such contraptions. "Auto-Mechanical-Armour" though he was no scientist he could tell that it would be a formidable weapon in combat, and its destructive yield would be "excessive" for a dueling challenge but if it came to that it came to that. "So then... You came here to fight... I suppose I'll give you the first move then..."

As he spoke he remained vigilant ready to discontinue his communication attempts if they proved futile, vigilant and ready to act.

[Dirge]

“There you are!”

The nonchalant tone lacing Vincent’s words denoted an air of unparalleled confidence that some mistook for sheer arrogance. There was no reason for him to hide just how exceptional his prowess in the battlefield was, no matter the surroundings. Arenas were hardly unfamiliar – the Isamahii Gardens possessed several of these – and he felt right at home amongst the dust beginning to clear up. Contrary to these popular arenas, the stands in the Gardens looked ghostly with the exception of a handful people observing. One could say to have so many people watching – even though the majority were focused on running away – was a very nice change of pace.

No sooner had he arrived in this new universe, the Halfling had already begun to map out every bit of the area around him. This particular skill worked through a combination of Extrasensoria Perceptio – or ESP – plus a myriad other abilities working behind the scenes. It was a canvas visible to his mind in where the ‘network’ of auric – physical and spiritual energy signatures amongst others – painted a pretty little picture which only his eyes were privy to. Perhaps it was enough to classify him as omnipotent in one sense, capable of reading, tracking, following, and sensing the energy hiding deep within living and non-living objects in a defined or multiple planes of existence.

That said… His mind’s eyes had been on Fenris the whole time after he’d showed up in the Vaitroye.

“Ara? Fight you with the Vaitroye? No, no. There’s no need to unleash the power of my baby in this planet. This Personal Trooper will see battle another time. I was just testing its systems and sub-systems. The weaponry test will be in a live combat session soon enough…”

The Vaitroye’s arms outstretched only for Vincent to walk along the extent of the left appendage, treading along the sleek metal surface in a snake-like route. It appeared as though there were external forces radiating from the Halfling’s body; the soles of his layered leather boots did not touch the blue and gray metals. A few millimeters away from his clothes and composite materials that made up his skin, an invisible layer of physical light manifested itself around him in a passive manner.

Although simple in execution, the practice known as Reinforcement had been completely mastered by the Fiorelli over the years. Normally, it involved the practitioner focusing their inner chi, qi, ki - or raw physical energy – along with their mana, prana – or raw spiritual and mental energies – into an external protective aura  as well as into an internal empowerment of the body. Even though he looked carefree, a single look at the way the air distorted around him was enough to pick up the pressure radiating from his body.

The final result was obvious; mages could perform as well as trained superhuman soldiers in the arts of melee combat and become capable of resisting mundane attacks that would normally destroy them. It was a nifty yet useful concept, one that Vincent had practiced for years on end and that he no longer needed to ‘activate’ in the midst of the battlefield. But power was relative to the situation and he had little doubt that his opponent possessed a similar technique that, in the end, accomplished the same goal. After all, Fenris was an elite, chosen by a higher power to belong in the Primoris. None of them were pushovers; none of them knew weakness.

And that is exactly why – in the Fiorelli’s head – they needed to be taught.

“I’m not seeking a war just yet. ‘tis only me requesting a duel. We shall see if the Privy Council deems it fit to go to war after my… Observations.”

Vincent chuckled under his breath, ensuring that each and every little word escaping his mouth traveled through the medium of ‘air’ only to eventually reach Fenris’ ears. Controlling the mediums through which he could communicate was a piece of cake at this point in his life for the magister. It ensured people far away could hear him as though they were within a short distance of each other.

“But while I’m not using the ‘troye to fight…”

The words trailed off in the distance as Vincent pried the fingers of the Vaitroye’s hand open only to grasp upon the enormous sword it had been holding. The magister had experimented with the metals that had conformed the first and second predecessors of the Vaitroye to the point of considering – and manufacturing – several alloys for its production. The final product was a mixture of Zynthium ore, Zfylud crystals, Fiorellite, and various minor materials that barely had any effect in its construction. The information and schematics for Zynthium had been acquired directly from the Aesir Empire, namely from a small number of engineers that he had been in contact with for the creation of other Personal Troopers, Armored Modules, and Super Robots. The Zfylud crystals had been acquired from an alternate universe where an Aspect of his currently resided, continuously sending him technology and updates on the developments of the factions within that specific universe. Fiorellite alloy had been created by the magister a few years ago, and it was a material that straddled the definition of metal and non-metal, capable of molding itself to the wielder’s whims and growing with them. Fiorellite was usually configured to a specific wielder through tracking their energy signature, genetic makeup, or other codes and designation across the Omniverse which, ultimately, left equipment crafted out of this material useable by one person.

And the Vaitroye’s sword was crafted out of both Zfylud crystals and Fiorellite.

It was a formidable weapon.

A weapon that was raised high into the air by the magister with as much ease as one would lift a feather from the ground. It was weightless for the wielder but it could not be denied that its sheer weight for anybody else bordered a ton or so, if not more. Powerful gusts of wind enveloped the sword once it had reached the apex of its ascent, causing the air to ripple around it as they spread outward. The blade cried out toward the horizon as Vincent smirked sadistically.

“I never said I wouldn’t use this!”

And without further ado, the Vaitroye’s sword descended toward the top of Fenris’ head.

The force behind the length and weight of the sword would’ve caused several small pocket dimensions to practically shatter in the wake of the slash. It was the kind of weapon that could easily tear through a moon or a tiny planet – and it would undoubtedly demolish the arena underneath. There was little need to denote what could become of Fenris if the slab of metal managed to connect with his body; all the magister hoped was that he could avoid it.

[Fenris]

Fenris was well known for his sensory capabilities, but there was more to this than mere calculation, or perception, intuition and experience played a role, cunning to guide precision, precision which was attuned to the ambient-cosmos itself. However there was a deeper priority in what he focused his perceptions on, but for now it was tempered with vigilance.

"Yes, yes nice Robot." he said as released a fragment of his essence into his left hand where it elongated into a three and a half foot grosse-messer that was almost transparent but a dark black colour that was oddly reflective giving the object an appearance that varied between dim light, and liquid shadow as it moved. He loosened the bondage upon his presence, an easy transition that was less difficult than maintaining the restriction. Eyes a fierce shade of gold, with void black scelera, fangs elongated as he felt lighter, and less encumbered.


The males manipulation of the medium was something Fen was more than familiar with, and as the male spoke he would notice that the medium around Fenris tensing as if something larger than Fenris was occupying it. He heard the males speech regardless. The essence that comprised Fenris' Intrinsic arming were extensions of his presence, with no real set physical composition, though for the moment they were probably something akin to liquid metaloid, held in a state of tension as the blades edge began to cycle and its surface began to hum resonating with the cycling of the edge as both forces built off of each other in a loop converting that energy to manifest a "magna-field" around the surface of the blade.


The sheer mass of the blade would ensure its telegraphing to the vigilant Ultonis, though the speed with which it was wielded was worth noting Fenris had expected it to handle as easily as a real sword. Regardless as Vincent lifted the sword up, Fenris pointed his own significantly shorter weapon at the Magister, and as the arc began the pressurized liquid of the blade shot forward independent of his arms movement in a magnetically accelerated jet-stream focused into a singular point as the blades extension broke the sound-barrier, it was aimed at the males chest at an angle from Vincents right as the descent of the blade began, traversing distance like living liquid lightning seeking to strike from outside the massive blades guard and getting around it with the narrower blade.

This was done as his opponent was in mid-movement as well, and the speed and force behind the counter was further supplemented by Fenris' honed precision focusing the force into a single honed point. Precise timing increasing chance of a hit, further supplemented by speed, which increased power, which was finally honed by precision guiding the force of the attack into a point of pure efficiency. All of these factors working in tandem to support the effectiveness of the attack. Simultaneous with the strike Fenris hopped off line and in his "less-encumbered" state the single stride was enough to bring him off line of the blades falling mass and power getting a distance of about 20 feet.


Fenris' right hand was obscured by his cloak and he was handling his blade with a single hand. Regardless the force of the piercing strike was enough to penetrate the hull of a military-class heavy vehicle such as a mech, tank, or ship, essentially the jet traversing with the power of a rail-gun while the high-frequency and ionizing effect could potentially disrupt energy or force shields. It was also worth noting that that the "hop" had come from an angle, and was causing Fenris to close in steadily towards Vincent in an ascent approaching from the far-right of the male.

[Dirge]

The show was finally on the road.

It was often said that when two master swordsmen met, none of them required attack each other with deadly force in order to understand who would win a duel to the death. Simple swings of the blade being met with an opposing force let them know – through the vibrations of the metal, through the sound of clashing blades, through the movements of each other’s bodies – who would ultimately come out on top. After their little training session was done and over with, they went their separate ways to continue teaching or honing their skills.

Vincent had a different way of doings.

While experienced humans saw no need to fight other experienced people to grow stronger, the magister saw each and every possible fight ahead of him as an opportunity to learn. The Omniverse was a vast place and he had not even explored one percent of it. That singular point was rendered completely worthless by the fact that the number of universes and multiverses that encompassed it continued to grow day by day, adding more to the pile and making his quest for knowledge all the more relevant. But while the lore scattered throughout it was different, comparisons could easily be made when looking at the hundreds of thousands of powers that people possessed.

The magister’s mind processed new information with as much ease as the technologically advanced processors of a state of the art supercomputer. The amounts of concentration and focus that he had required to achieve over the years culminated in the perfect – or as good as he could – control of the supernatural energies he was able to conjure, manifest physically and spiritually, and burn to cast spells. But there was more than that, more than just the control of the supernatural. His basic senses and his perception had been honed to the point that very little often escaped him – and when coupled with the fact that he could easily map out his surroundings, it practically rendered surprise attacks useless.

The fact that Fenris had drawn his weapon, a translucent grosse-messer of unknown origins, and was pointing it intently toward his floating form easily telegraphed either an attack or a diversion. Scenarios played out in Vincent’s head with astounding speed, enough that it seemed that the world slowed down for the both of them in the midst of conflict. In reality, Vincent’s perception allowed him to notice every single detail of the world around him, even as his blade began to descend from its former apex.

The sudden shot of pressurized liquid metal was akin to an empowered bullet coursing through the air. It was not comparable to the likes of Technocratic weaponry, but it certainly could not be denied that it would pierce through the bodies of common humans with relative ease. However, all things considered, the magister saw no need to shift from his current vantage point.

The kinetic force held by the thin yet powerful piercing stream of liquid metal collided with the layer of physical light around the magister squarely, though instead of stopping the ‘bullet’, it was redirected in the blink of an eye. Objects like raindrops, debris, and even shockwaves from an explosion seemed to be drawn around Vincent whenever they clashed with the thin layer around him. Anything that approached him at a fixed angle was often repurposed and given new coordinates to follow while utilizing the very own speed and power propelling them to begin with. In essence, the blade’s extension did nothing more than graze the outer layer surrounding the magister, tracing a semi-circle along the front of his chest only to exit behind him, following the same trajectory as the projectile would have if it did, indeed, manage to pierce through him. The high-frequency effect was hardly a factor, as it merely followed the same process and trajectory, being funneled along with the object. It did leave a noticeable scratch in the layer of light, something that not many could boast of.

In a simultaneous manner, however, the Vaitroye’s sword had begun to transition into the last part of its swing. Fenris had hopped away from the blade’s originally intended trajectory at the same moment his strike ensued, which created an opening the magister could exploit in his current state. It was even easier to perform since the man was actually attempting to close the distance through ascending from the ground!

With how light the 44 meter blade was when he was wielding it, all it took for the Fiorelli to catch his opponent off-guard was the simple alteration of the weapon’s trajectory in its descent. The final result was a perpendicular shift toward his right, meeting the angle that Fenris had given him only to bring the flat of the blade dangerously close to the Primoris. It was only natural for the Halfling to lure their enemies in with an easily avoidable hostile action only to flip the chess board when they thought they had the advantage. Once Fenris was certain he could not be hit by the blade, Vincent introduced an additional variable; the forty five degree shifting of the sword’s original trajectory to make the vertical slash a diagonal one right as the man was in the middle of his ascent to ensure a direct strike.

That would certainly not mean the end of the Primoris if the sword slammed against him, seeing as how the magister was going for a non-lethal approach. When you thought about it, however, getting smacked with 44 meters of metal weighing nearly a ton or two could leave some nasty consequences.

Regardless of the weapon striking its target, the sword shrunk little by little until it was nothing more than a standard issue lowlander greatsword. Truthfully, the Zfylud crystals and Fiorellite structure of the weapon allowed it to transform at will to the whims of the wielder, growing with each and every single combat they participated in.

[Fenris]

There was more to Fenris' actions than his opponent had perceived. For instance he had struck his opponent in mid-movement during Vincents commitment with a faster thrusting attack to counter and pierce, however the passive barrier reprieved the male of such a fate. There was also the fact Fenris had purposely decided to step when his opponents sword had been committed to the fully downward arc, it seemed however the blades direction shifted in mid-movement heedless of its own weight or trajectory.

His blade flowing like lightning was glanced aside, but as it did so the power within it seemed to come to a crescendo as the blade burst into particles that would surround and saturate the mediums surrounding his opponent but not quite touching the barrier, instead immersing the area around Vincent in the shadowy particulate fog, extending Fenris' imposed presence through the ambient and surrounding his opponent with it as the energy stored within the blade hummed through the various mediums imposing an influence upon the area of effect.

His lightened-form would allow him lee-way in avoiding the next move, as the massive wake of the blades sudden shift came from the far right, like a leaf in the wind he would ride the wake as it came. The displaced air-flow ensued before the blade reached Fenris who was still a small target. The blades own imposition of mass and force would displace the air and accelerate Fenris' ascension causing him to drift off the trajectory of the attack and ride the flow upward slipping over the blade as it came down and moving more towards Fen's right evading the second swing. It seemed that his opponents large weapon might not be optimal for taking on Fenris. The Ultonis accelerated this natural reaction or rather amplified it with his own properties to make use of it in his evasion, joining his intent with the ambient, and blurring the line between wielder and instrument.

He channeled and redirected the wind as well, taking control of it allowing it to propel him further upward as his right hidden hand pitched something at the fog, even as he evaded the strike, a dark substance that traversed almost as quickly as the previous "rail-stab".

[Dirge]

The perception of time varied wildly from one universe to another.

What could constitute as a day for the common iterations of Earth could be perceived as a year in another realm. In some universes, time was distorted from start to finish, and events could replay as many times as possible. But that didn’t occur in this particular realm. Here, time flowed normally and events occurred in order. Simultaneous events, however, always occurred at the same time. There was no before and after – there were two constant situations being played at the exact same time. The outcomes were naturally different from chained events, where one thing occurred before the other and the outcome of the latter was directly affected by the former.

While Fenris had struck the magister while the latter was in mid-movement, hopping simultaneously and gaining him a distance of twenty feet from the blade’s originally intended trajectory, taking every event into account in this simultaneous manner would’ve netted the Primoris a gratuitous smack to the face.

But that was only one possible scenario of the myriad others that existed. Each and every single one of these created a new temporary universe, just like any other choice.

In the scenario that was pursued, Fenris managed to narrowly avoid the enormous slab of metal and attempted to ride the powerful rending gales that radiated from it, product of the massive kinetic energy the weapon carried along the extent of its length. Without the need for an incantation, the surface of the Zfylud-Fiorellite sword reacted in kin to the magister’s influence and thoughts, and a familiar glow illuminated the area around it.

Zfylud crystals were known for possessing a variety of useful properties for the creation of weapons and armor, and made for excellent engine materials. They are nanomachine-like particles that can reproduce at will, repair themselves with very little effort, generate energy, and even gain sentience. When mixed with Fiorellite, these basic properties only grow with the wielder, capable of shapeshifting at the wielder’s will and assuming the appearance of various weapons, armor, and other useful objects in the midst of combat. It allowed the wielder to change fighting styles in the blink of an eye, making it a formidable tool of war.

It helped that Fenris was a small target while the rending gales were particularly enormous.

There was already residual energy around him from the collision of the ‘bullet’ of liquid metal that had collided with his barrier. While it was funneled along the outer layer of physical light to practically redirect it, there was nothing preventing him from harnessing this residual energy and burn it for his own purposes. It did not even need to be coupled with the natural energy from the Vaitroye’s sword. Vincent’s presence and the influence in the area around him generated pressure that threw the air surrounding him in turmoil. It had manifested initially when he was walking down the Vaitroye’s arm – if anything, this show of pressure was far stronger at the moment.

So while Fenris busied himself with letting his blade burst into surrounding particles that did not quite touch the Fiorelli’s barrier, Vincent busied himself with a basic yet useful technique in this very moment.

The magically enriched sword – still not quite shrunk to size – was twisted once in his grasp in order to create a sizable enough tear in the “sphere” that the particles of Fenris’ blade had created around the magister. It was large enough for the Halfling to pass through it, and there was no time wasted once this occurred.

The residual energy fixed the light damage manifesting in the form of a gash on the layer of light surrounding Vincent, and a small portion of the energy contained within the Zfylud of the Vaitroye's sword simply transferred from the pommel to the magister. It was not exactly necessary for his next movement, but he figured he’d have some sort of insurance policy in case things went south. After all, he had already thought out every possible scenario in his mind.

It was in that very moment that Vincent practically darted toward the ascending form of the Primoris at an accelerated burst of speed that resembled instantaneous movement. It was one of his trademark speed techniques – one of four – that, for a basic practitioner, allowed the nearly instantaneous transition between point A and point B. However, for a novice, the range was limited from seven to ten meters. Such restrictions did not apply to the magister. The technique was found far and wide across the Multiverse as something basic, something that did not particularly require an enormous amount of training to perfect.

In the midst of his dash, Vincent was able to simultaneously avoid the dark substance that Fenris had pitched toward the location where he previously was. The substance sunk into the fog that rapidly filled the empty space within it and it was out of sight. The 44 meter blade that the magister once held looked awfully small compared to the weapon in his hand merely a second ago. It had shrunk in the wake of his counter-attack, catching Fenris in the midst of his ascent right after the displaced flow of air had accelerated him toward Vincent’s former location.

His opponent had taken the hook, line, and sinker, all according to the magister’s calculations. It could not be denied that Fenris was confident; however, once the magister noticed how committed he had been in closing the distance, he simply used it to his advantage. He had flipped the chessboard over and now presented Fenris with a glowing blade aimed directly – and suddenly, one might say – toward the middle of his chest. The light radiating from the shorter blade appeared to possess a disrupting effect. Ripples formed around the edge, as though small gravitational pulls randomly occurred near the sword.

The vast pressure around the magister only continued to grow by the second, almost resembling a vacuum that began to pull nearby clouds toward him. The Vaitroye appeared unaffected, however, stalwart and standing completely still amidst the wreckage of the arena. Oh. Speaking about the arena… The rending gales had shredded the buildings underneath, producing a large gash that extended for around two hundred meters and leaving a rather sizable scar in the surface of the city. Whoops.

[Fenris]

Yes timing was everything, and though Fenris was not a magician, his capabilities allowed him to direct things through intuition, he knew some academics but he could not bind, he could not craft, and he could not perform spells, but he had no need too to do what he was meant to do. Regardless the timing of the toss saw him throw the substance in tandem with his evasion which had been during his opponents follow up, yes it had required uncanny precision and awareness, but these were his bread and butter.

The substance thrown during the evasion meant it would be on its course during the action of Vincents previous attack, and the pressure exerted by blade and wielder was guided by the fog having bonded to the ambient medium flowing with the course of the forces his opponents was radiating and directing them through the medium they traversed while using the combined mass of the particles to generate greater momentum and "weight" forming the sphere into a shrinking vortex that built off the power created by the pressure and also added to them.

The force of the maelstrom was compressed and focused to a point that all its effects would be confined to the haze itself while the resonance with the ambient around it saw it not only affect wind and motion but also the fundamental-forces within the confines of the cloud. Gravity itself was present in all sides of the cloud dragging his opponent from all sides simultaneously as the EM field destabilized causing energy to move freely within the confines of the twister no longer performing the functions of holding matter and energy into coherent form.

Assuming that Vincent did have time to try and split he cloud, he would also have to contest with the conflicting forces that were now seeking to tear him apart, Fenris was not really trying to kill him, but he was already sort of annoyed and wanted to end this, and so far his opposition had showcased an ability to take damage. Regardless if the swords revolution still came the conflicting gravity would impose itself upon the blades own anomalies and though it weighed nothing to Vincent, the weight and power it could exert was very real, which suggested that it was subject to universal-factors as much as they were subject to the blade. Thus trying to lift the blade much less accurately as it was tugged in dozens of different directions simultaneously should have been extremely difficult much less in the span of time Vincent had to escape, while the gravitic anomalies upon the blade would also be potentially influenced by the flux.

As the vortex compressed its revolution drew the already attracted substance towards it that much faster, and upon contact it would disperse into a rippling effect through the vortex lacing into it, and suddenly causing it to very suddenly -stop- inducing "shock" as the forces were dispersed and destabilized with Vincent at the center, the cosmic equivalent of being suddenly accelerated and then even more suddenly stopped on a dime, seeking to induce an extreme strain on his opponents physical and metaphysical integrity. Perhaps this would see him blasted from the eye of  storm about a mile out at a diagonal angle towards the ground out of the arena where if he was unable to stop his descent another shock would ensue upon the hitting the earth. Triple-fold damage of forces seeking to rip Vincent apart, then those forces being stopped suddenly, and the resulting effect sending Vincents form towards the ground with the force of a comet.

[Dirge]

For someone who boasted about having no magical powers or any sort, the air was filled with supernatural energies that only appeared to increase in intensity by the second. First off there was the ambient medium apparently affected by Fenris’ own influence and which allowed him to control it all at will. Now if there was something Fenris needed to learn about an aura of influence was how easily these things crumbled with the right approach. Usually, all that needed to be done was exert an amount of influence equal or greater to the former in order to free the objects or medium it possessed, essentially cancelling each other out and leaving the stuff they controlled free from any extraneous hold.

What happened when that influence collided with the magister’s barrier? The answer was simple.

While the barrier had been a passive ability given form, there was no denying it had the magister’s own influence written all over it coupled with vast magical energy plus the residual energy coming from the rail-stab that had been accurately deflected. These variables all worked in tandem so that when the fog even attempted to shrink and to crush the barrier, the forces cancelled each other out and all forms of influence upon the air were practically erased. The maelstrom did not even have time to form, though Vincent had long since left the confines of the fog – which was now simply particles of metal falling down to the ground beneath them.

What appeared to be an overwhelming amount of power against the magister was countered with nothing more than a logical mind, negating the snowballing and practically denying the Primoris his coup de grâce.  

The sword wasn’t even enormous anymore. It was tiny compared to its previous iteration. But if the Primoris wanted to play with gravitational and centrifugal forces, then the Fiorelli needed to show him just how exactly do to so. Whether Fenris was shocked when his attack was felled with relative ease was to be seen; but for the most part Vincent progressed just the way he had wanted to – remaining in front of the Primoris with his Zfylud-Fiorellite blade shooting into a jab for Fenris’ chest.

It had already been said that the magister’s mind worked as though it were a state of the art supercomputer, taking in every bit of information flawlessly and processing it while taking a look at countless possible scenarios that could stem from each and every single action. It was natural that his perception was vastly enhanced compared to the common human. Throughout the entirety of their encounter, it seemed as though the Primoris thought he had the upper hand time and time again, but in reality, it was the Fiorelli who – without even accessing a vast quantity of his magical powers nor casting a single spell – had been able to turn each and every situation around.

Truthfully, Vincent’s sword never possessed a gravitational pull around its edge – the ripples forming around the extent of its metallic surface were similar to them. All they meant to do was disrupt barriers like his own, walls erected out of magical power, or even pierce through technologically advanced constructs. The way it worked was simple – upon contact with the spiritual or physical surface, the ripples drilled into the spiritual or physical make up of the defensive wall. For energy, this meant that the bonds joining the entire construct together began to disjoint one by one, growing disrupted and dissipating in the blink of an eye. For physical constructs, it simply tore them apart at a molecular level.

There were some objects it could simply not penetrate, however, such as Zynthium alloy amongst other particularly crafty substances – mostly due to their method of elaboration.

Should any being attempt to take control of these ripples – and of the one possessing an enormous amount of centrifugal force at the tip –, they would be met with a terrible fate. It was, perhaps, the only inkling of magic that he managed to exhibit at the moment besides the barrier. And if that wasn’t enough, the pressure that the Fiorelli exerted around him even went so far as to stretch near the edge of the blade, right hand awaiting to strike as a sudden flash of cerulean enveloped it.

He had no time for petty games and novice traps.

This was supposed to be a fight, not a party where people showcased flashy but hardly practical attacks!

[Fenris]

His opponent did not seem to comprehend that the term "magic" was just that, a term, energy was energy, and forces were forces, and factors were factors no matter what they were called. To those in Celesin it had been established long ago that the line between science and "magic" was non-existant, there was merely the application of knowledge, or in Fenris' case typically an intuitive grasp of the cosmos around him.

At this point the semi-passive influence his opposition exerted seemingly with little effort sought to cancel the effect out, however the influence had already been established, and the influence his opponent was exerting was what had drawn the forces into such a state, resisting the influence or trying to cancel it out would actually work only it would help achieve Fenris' objective that much quicker, which was to suddenly STOP all the power at once, causing a "shock" into the environment itself which would lead to the attack happening sooner anyway, his opponent essentially only hastening the effect by trying to cancel it out since doing so would stop the motion being enacted,which was the method of how the attack would be enacted anyway...

(Essentially I imposed a state of high-motion in the area, and in addition to it trying to tear you apart, I was going to suddenly stop the effect to induce shock, by canceling out the influence and thusly the motion you just made it happen quicker...)

[Dirge]

Alas...

There were many different interpretations regarding what magic was to the many societies, communities, clans, and congregations throughout the Multiverse. To some, it was a system encompassing their knowledge from the very beginning of time to the present, molding the future through power not normally accessible to the commonfolk. Those privileged enough to use magic could bend the laws of reality to their will and only the most skilled magic users could outright ignore a few principles widely accepted by other societies. To the common human Earthling, magic has had many different meanings throughout their history. It was once a concept closely tied to religion, dating as far back as the ancient Egypt and evolving as time passed. While fire itself was branded a form of magic along with chemistry, alchemy, astrology, and so on, the way human thoughts and theories shifted over the course of history allowed them to classify each and every single one of these phenomena with concepts and theorems that adhered to reality rather than the fantastic. As such, the diverse sciences which govern over the present Earth came to be.

However, those are simply two interpretations that do not encompass the entire extent of the Multiverse itself. There are as many lores as universes and that is exactly what makes the Multiverse such an appealing place to explore. While there are similarities amongst the myriad forms of magic and science that each and every single individual employs on an everyday basis, it cannot be argued that there are also plenty of differences within their ideologies and methods. No matter how hard a researcher, scientist, or wizard wanted to encompass an entire world under their own point of view, interpret everything the way he or she wanted it to, and make their word law, such notion was fundamentally flawed.

If the Primoris wanted to impose their view upon the world upon the galaxies encompassing their imperium or even beyond that, then the Halfling had nothing more to do than to reject them. As a seeker of knowledge, constantly hungering for new information, topics to research, and more things to apply through the creation of weapons, armor, and so on, Vincent inherently could not accept their narrow points of view. His very personality rejected it. As for intuitive grasps of the cosmos and the environment around them… The Fiorelli took that concept and further expanded on it, not only offering actual explanations and documents as to how his supernatural abilities worked, but also comparing them to already existing theorems and laws.

Given that there had been no attempt to stop the magister from zipping through the air in a straight line and that the 44 meter blade had shrunk to the size of a regular claymore – though its composition remained the same -, it was not exactly difficult to figure out the consequences. The Primoris ended up impaled in the very blink of an eye itself. The momentum carried through the blade and the added force applied by the magister himself, which was nothing short of several tons coupled with how the Primoris had been closing in the distance in midair ensured that the tip of the sword penetrated plate, skin, flesh, and bone.

Meanwhile, the space where he had been just a few seconds ago was currently getting crushed by an immense amount of pressure.

A subtle tap onto the flat surface of the blade near the hand guard also ensured that said momentum transferred fully within the Primoris’ body through the adaptation of one of the many martial arts the Halfling had picked up. An esoteric technique within Chinese martial arts, normally said technique was executed with an open palm impacting against an opponent’s chest so that the resulting force was explosively released inside an opponent's body to damage their internal organs flawlessly. Akin to a simple bend in the second law of thermodynamics, if the kinetic energy carried by the sword is considered as heat, and the opponent’s body as cold, the common result would have been thermal equilibrium. In this case, however, the kinetic energy did not dissipate through Fenris’ body, but instead carried over in full force. Metaphorically speaking, Fenris burned from the inside out with his organs turning to ash. Realistically speaking, the kinetic energy explosively assaulting Fenris' body from the inside out caused a massive strain upon organs and muscles to the point of causing internal bleeding beyond reparation, outright decimating him from within.

[Fenris]

As far as the Universe was concerned magic was nothing more but a general-term for a type of technology or rather knowledge applied which was technology. Whether a fireball was crafted from the realm of hell-fire, or created with flint and oil it was still heat. In other words energy was energy no matter what you called it. Even if there was something "special" within an energy, it was the effects that one ultimately had to deal with, not the philosophical implications.

Fenris was not imposing his view on anyone, he was simply working within the confines of something bigger than himself, a double edged sword that could just as easily work against him as for him. If his opponent could somehow bend the rules of creation so they did not apply to himself, he would not be the first nor the last. Whether Vincent agreed with how Fenris interpreted things, or if he could even comprehend it, simply did not matter when it came down to the nitty gritty.

His opponent ignored the tactical trap, the trap he had already been saturated in by virtue of Vincents  previous and currentpositioning and not some arbitrary statement. His decision to essentially stick his head in the sand and pretend it could not hurt him, never really served people well, and what his defense had amounted too was essentially cutting the line to a giant anvil on top of him, and screaming "I DONT BELIEVE IN YOU!" as a means of defense. Just... Just no... Vincent had *Caused* the shock by STOPPING the force suddenly, his own actions serving as the catalyst for the attack which he now claimed arbitrary immunity too while in the midst of Vincent actually inadvertently causing the attack to happen by his own actions no less...

The shockwave had essentially been a sudden STOP of force which had surrounded him, meaning there was no propulsion to send him forward at Fenris, as the force around him which he had tried too and failed too defend against for.... 3 times now. was more akin to a crushing attack than anything else. This was getting tedious, and above all else sad. Srsly just take the fucking hit...



to recap the last few turns.

The blade Fen had shot exploded; saturating the area around Vincent which had become a vortex of rotating particles that had surrounded him which had been planned to suddenly stop anyway, Vincent had merely stopped the Vortex sooner which had been the entire effing means through which the attack was intended to deliver its damage.

In other words

By stopping the vortex so suddenly Vincent caused a kinetic shock from the spontaneous stop in the motions of the rotation which was the entire intent of the attack to begin with.

so basically Vincent had CAUSED the attack to happen to himself, by means of his defense, and was now trying to ignore the effect he himself had caused, while in the middle of stopping the rotation which had caused the shock to begin with... While trying to use non-existent kinetic force (Cause you know, the shock was caused by the sudden absence of intense motion rather than a sudden acceleration.)to propel himself forward in an auto-hit... What I'm basically seeing here is you're character can afford to make half a dozen mistakes and does not have to pay for them cause you don't feel like it...

(We both know neither of us is agreeing, if you want to persist in this farce, you are not going to get the validation you seek from us. Sorry. You came to this site and fought here, we have our standards, if you don't like our standards then gtfo. I'm calling in a judgement cause I've hit you if not killed you 3 times already and you are basically munching to the point of somehow blocking/ignoring the effects of your own actions while in the middle of defending against my own attacks... And continuing this is pointless anyway cause neither of us will agree and this will amount too "nuh uh" "yuh huh" before too long.)

[Dirge]

The ignorance with which this specific Primoris operated did nothing more than amuse the Halfling time and time again. Putting aside the fact that the ‘trap’ Vincent ‘had been caught’ in was nothing more than a series of domino pieces lined up and that the magister had removed one of the essential pieces for it to fully unfold, there was practically nothing stopping him from moving from the current position and downward to meet the ascending Primoris. The area of effect of the particles had been affixed to a specific space in midair, and the fact that the Fiorelli had disrupted the influence Fenris had upon the air itself as well as enacted a whirlwind strong enough to push each and every single particle away easily put a spoke in the opponent’s wheel. Moreover, Vincent had moved from that specific location through focusing energy within himself in order to apply one of his four speed techniques to the current situation. That technique did not exert propulsion or focus energy on the outside of his body, but rather within it. All that he needed to do afterwards was push off of air itself to close the distance. Given the current situation, it was practically impossible for his opponent’s ‘trap’ to stop him.

It was the fact that Fenris had been so overconfident and arrogant what ultimately sealed his demise. A general lack of intricate analysis from his part, it was very easy for the magister to reveal that the Primoris’ battle plan hinged on a single attack. Fenris had no backup plans. He had no other strategies or approaches as to how to deal with someone who had shown his superior battle prowess effortlessly without even resorting to the majority of his own magic.
Above all things, besides enjoying a good tussle here and there amongst many things… Vincent was a researcher. He did not only research the myriad styles of the opponents he had faced throughout years on end, but also analyzed what he could and could not do, thus allowing him to reach greater wisdom in the end. Those who relied on a single approach and never managed to think about anything else usually ended up disappointed at their own myopic personalities. The magister never enjoyed killing but if it had to be done to weed out the ignorance plaguing the Multiverse, he was hardly one to argue against it.

In the end, Fenris’ near-sightedness did not do him any favors, but assuming the particles were unaffected by the influence exerted by the magister, by the powerful whirlwinds pushing them away, and by the Fiorelli moving away from his previous location, they still had one more thing to get past by: the translucent layer of physical light surrounding his form. While said barrier had already managed to redirect the kinetic energy that the ‘bullet’ shot Vincent’s way carried, leaving a minor scratch upon its surface, those particles simply could not be able to do much unless they managed to penetrate it. They were akin to mosquito bites, though the moment the magister propelled himself forward easily caused them to crash against the layer of light with immense force, essentially shattering the barrier but leaving him ultimately unscathed.
Naturally, Fenris was not only stabbed but his body blew up from the inside out, as nothing he had done managed to affect the magister directly, or in a timely manner.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recapitulating from the beginning all the way to the end…

1) Fenris shot a ‘blade’ that acted like a bullet.
1.1) Bullet was redirected by the barrier around Vincent, which formed before the attack occurred. It caused the bullet to ride the surface of the barrier through simple redirection instead of letting it penetrate. Projectiles, missile attacks, and ranged attacks in general are almost always affected in this way. Barrier was scratched.

2) Vincent swung the 44 meter weightless – to him - blade downward in an attempt to catch Fenris, who was down on the ground at the time.
2.1) Fenris dodged early as seen in his posts, prompting an easy redirection from the magister.
2.2) Under normal conditions, the attack would’ve connected. Instead, I decided to go with the scenario where Fenris avoided said contact.

3) Fenris broke the ‘blade’ bullet into particles that surrounded the area around Vincent. Shot a dark substance towards the ‘fog’ after it was enacted.
3.1) Vincent heightened his own pressure and aura of influence. By twisting the blade in his hand, thus allowing the weapon’s physical mass to practically push the particles away in the blink of an eye, Vincent exited the area of influence of said particles.
3.2) Vincent accelerated in a linear burst of nigh instantaneous speed, shrinking his sword and avoiding the dark substance throughout the dash, and catching Fenris in the midst of the latter’s ascent with a direct thrust to the Primoris’ chest.

4) Fenris mentions the substance thrown during the evasion, which acknowledges Vincent’s successful defense. However…
4.1) Fenris goes on to ignore both the mass of Vincent’s sword pushing the particles away and the influence exerted in the air around the latter in order to impose his own attack, thus forcing the sphere the particles of metal were enacting to shrink into a slicing maelstrom. Inherently flawed attack hinging on the assumption that the opponent’s defense failed instead of addressing it accordingly.
4.2) The timeline is ignored in lieu of Fenris wanting this attack to land, however, his first statement already acknowledges the rest of his post would not occur given the state of the situation.

5) Vincent addresses both Fenris’ and his own influence upon the air. They cancel each other out.
5.1) Vincent addresses how the maelstrom could not form based on his previous actions and how he was no longer within the fog but rather outside of it.
5.2) Given that Fenris did not address how Vincent closed the distance even when mentioning the successful evasion, and that the thrust was not addressed either, the attack connection should have occurred in this post.

6) Fenris presumptuously ignores the cancelling of both areas of influence in an effort to make his attack connect.
6.1) The ‘shock’ was unable to form due to every single event leading up to this specific point.
6.2) No mention of a feasible defense from the Primoris’ part.

7) Vincent connects the thrust attempt, successfully penetrating through Fenris’ chest.
7.1) The attempt of another technique is executed after the stab.

Fenris still refuses to acknowledge that his ‘trap’ no longer exists, also refusing to acknowledge the change of Vincent’s position.
8.1) There’s still not a feasible defense from his part to the thrust in his multiple attempts to mess with the general timeline of the battle. The thrust connected due to these constant oversights.

9) Fight ended through summing up the last few moments of the battle.

This last analysis was done in the same manner I’ve analyzed fights in the past to judge them, addressing the variables in play from both sides, checking the strategic value of both, the writing involved and the intent, and ultimately how the posts and actions unfold. If you still have a problem with this, I’ll submit the fight to another judge on RPGW or another site. There’s many judges out there that could judge something like this, though the outcome is very clear based on the analysis I’ve just put together.

If you cannot accept a loss because your pride blinds you or because you don’t want to become an embarrassment to your own community – god forbid someone loses a fight – that is not my problem.

[Fenris]

The "trap" had actually been pretty simple, and his opponent had done nothing to remove any factor that would stop the attack. The halfling could be amused all he wanted, that did not make him any less hit. His opponent also did not seem to understand how kinetic shock worked. His opponent HAD stopped the motion of the revolution... Which caused the kinetic shock, which was the attack.

Fenris had seen this guy dozens of times over the years, he had Vincent pegged from the moment he showed up in the gundam, there was no arrogance, simply observation based on the fact that Vincent could not even understand suddenly stopping motion caused shock.  The fact of the matter was *VINCENT HAD AFFECTED THE WRONG THINGS.* he HAD affected the particles which had stopped the force, which had caused the shock, while the shock itself ultimately had very little to do with the particles... It was Vincents complete ignorance of these factors that caused him to burst into a fine red spray of mist and bone that quickly evaporated to join the ambient.


1. True

(A). Only issue here is you basically said your barrier defended against my attack cause it "could" rather than actually giving a logical reason as to why it could defend against the attack. Basically it was an auto-defense with no rhyme or reason.

2. Thats an assumption I stepped off line early, but hell I'll give you that I should have been more specefic in my timing, hence why I used the displacement of you swinging around such a massive hulk of mass to continue avoiding it.

3. Your defense was to literally try and disperse and stop the force surrounding you. Which was the means of my attack. You can't seem to comprehend that your defense actually *helped* me since you suddenly stopped the force which was the whole means through which the attack was delivered.

4. You got timing wrong as its clearly stated that the dark substance was thrown while vincent was IN THE MIDDLE of doing something else. It was not an acknowledgement of your defense happening, but me being "Oh look he retconned his post to get his chance to defend back." which did not do you any good anyway. : /

(A) If anything your timing is the one that is shot to shit, since the dark substance was tossed while you were in the middle of doing something else, at which point you should have been in the middle of something else, regardless yes you DID in fact disperse the cloud... which once again caused the shock. Am I getting through here? You're defense happened, it just got turned into an offense against you cause you did not understand how to properly deal with the shock.

5. Yes they cancel each other out or w/e in this situation, while my shit was already enacted and you stop it, you STOPPING it caused the shock. FUCK. Like how many times do I have to say this?

6. The maelstrom is unable to form? So basically you are retconning and canceling things you were doing previously in lieu of trying to stop the vortex from ever forming to begin with when it was already too late cause you had been doing other shit and were right in the middle of the "eye of the storm"? Are you serious? While tbh swinging around a giant sword in the middle of a twister would be a whole other host of problems anyway...

7. I haven't ignored anything, you just keep fucking yourself then blame me for it...

8. Nobody cares what you judged or when. Clearly you don't know much though... : /

[Arbitrator]

This combat is now closed. Neither party can reach an agreement and Fenris has asked for a verdict to be rendered through judgement. Any further posts will be disregarded. The Tribunal is currently looking over this fight and will render a verdict once a majority decision has been achieved.

[Arbitrator]

To preface this ruling, and as a courtesy to both players since this is our first implementation of the Judging system, this judgement will offer a more thorough breakdown of how our decision was made as well as the sort of thinking we as judges use.  In the future, this level of detail should not be expected.

On Sanctum the general and preferred methodology used for combat is called Turn Based Logic. What this means is that there is very little restriction in the sense of what characters can do, the means by which they do them, or the systems chosen to employ these methods. However, there is an expectation that abilities follow a readily apparent series of connections.  We prefer that powers and abilities be in some way connected, and not just thrown together.  While characters and users are free to deem powers and abilities as “magical” in their origin, they should still work and interact with the world in a sensible way: i.e. all efforts should require some exertion of energy, or require some sacrifice from the enacting character equivalent to the effect being produced.  Additionally, if the fundamental laws of reality are going to be frequently broken, it would be preferred if some thought was given to how, why, and what all the consequences of that are for the user as well as the intended victim. Suspension of belief is one thing, this is a fantasy world where anything is possible and everything exists.  However there needs to be a logical rationalization behind that existence.  A mechanic to how something functions within this fantasy world.

At the end of the day, neither the judges nor the readers should have to be scientists or occultists to understand and follow a post; clarity and simplicity are some of a writer’s greatest tools, which is precisely what we are all here to do: tell stories.  Without them our abilities as writers are diminished.  Similarly, a level of fairness is necessary for everyone’s stories to work together, making wanton and laziness detrimental to everyone’s fun.

That being said, each post has been combed through, the methods and explanations of each action taken into account by multiple parties.  We assess how each action should have played out according to what was understood in the posts, and will break down the fight action by action.

In considering the actions within the posts, there were a number of missed details on the parts of both participants, and both participants lost points in terms of clarity.  To put it simply, there was a great deal of confusion, especially in the way of timing.  

The Fight:

Post Turn 2

For the first attack, Dirge activates some passive abilities, explaining that at one point they were active. But due to mastery were now passive.  He then procures a roughly 150 ft sword from the fingers of his large mech; the sword is weightless to him, but not in respect to his environment.   It should be noted that this was the first instance where judges had to suspend belief: we found it difficult to believe that Dirge could grip the handle of a blade designed for a mech; the handle presumably dwarfed Dirge by a large margin.  Dirge proceeds to attack Fenris with a vertical strike.  The sword, actually weighing somewhere in the realm of a ton, in turn causes tremendous winds and tears apart dimensions, an attack that presumably demolishes the arena.

Fenris begins by using one of his abilities and creating a sword from some substance he is seemingly capable of secreting at will.  He also brings forth some sort of “aura”, and produces what is assumed to be a “magnetic field” around his sword.  The material of the sword is then shot towards Dirge, described as being as powerful as a rail shot, and ostensibly just as fast.  

It is here that the first discrepancy of timing is encountered.  The timing of this attack was immediately after Vincent began his vertical strike; initiated while he was committed to the downward strike.  This was later misunderstood as being an “early” move, when in reality the post reads as though it were delayed so as to expressly avoid telegraphing his dodge to Dirge.  The dodge and the shot were done simultaneously.

Post turn 3

Dirge defends with a “magic” shield and attempts to redirect his attack.  It should be noted the existence of the shield was not previously mentioned.  There were some issues found with the ability to redirect a sword of that size at the speed at which Dirge attempted, but it is sufficient to find one flaw in order to say that the entire action was unfair for the opponent, the flaw being that Fenris moved when the sword was presumably committed to swinging downward, and Dirge in responses didn’t seemingly sacrifice anything to counter the force used to swing his sword so forcefully.  In terms of the shield, the shot from Fenris is deflected, though it leaves a scratch in the shield’s surface.


In Fenris’ post, he accepts the shield deflecting the shot and counters by dispersing it into mist mere inches from the shield’s surface.  As Fenris has shown the ability to secrete and shoot the material, it was not a large leap to assume he can control what it does at will. Fenris proceeds to saturate the area around Dirge in his aforementioned “aura” or “influence”, presumably taking control of the area and setting up for another attack.

Although Judges found fault with Dirge redirecting his sword, Fenris attempted to dodge the blade a second time by using the powerful winds created by its movement to essentially push him around.  It is unclear how he controlled himself or the winds, but we assume it was done with the aura/influence he’d released around himself in round 2.

Post Turn 4

Dirge accepts Fenris’ dodge of his vertical strike, and then attempts to cut through the particle cloud in order to escape it. Swinging a sword through a cloud of mist tends to do little more than temporarily displace the mist for a single moment in time, though it is clear Dirge meant to create some more substantial vacuum to use as an exit.  He then attempts a form of instantaneous movement, and at the end of said instantaneous movement claims his sword is now proper size. When before it was still shrinking, the time frame of cutting the mist with instant movement to a suddenly now instantly shrunk sword is confusing. If the movement was instant or near instant, the sword would still be shrinking as Dirge claimed it took at least a second.  He then goes on to say the pressure around him is increasing by the second, but the timing of his attack and strike would need to be near instant in order to escape the mist cloud. In essence, Judges found the timing here confusing and inconsistent.

Fenris utilizes the pressures his opponent is creating to empower the effects of his mist sphere, which is generating an increasing vibrational resonance.  To such a degree it degrades the state of energy and matter into chaos.  If we follow the timing of events this effect began prior to Dire’s attempt to cut and escape. Which Fenris sought to counter by increasing the gravity on the sword itself, as the sword would have still been larger to cut the mist. The increased effect of gravity on the sword would require Dirge to exert more force in order to swing and secure his escape.  Despite the sword being weightless to Dirge, at the very least he would have to fight against the gravity exerted on the blade by Fenris—in essence a feather with a heavy dumbbell attached to it. The end of Fenris’ attack attempt was to cause an immediate stop to the chaos and induce a state of shock.

Post Turn 5 and beyond

At this point the fight is essentially over as the posts are just a series of thinly veiled insults and attempts to discredit one another’s actions of the previous turns.  Dirge attempts to cancel out the effects of the Maelstrom of chaos Fenris had created by countering his sphere of influence.  While possible, as originally stated, we’d want to see it done with an equivalent amount of energy or an appropriately balanced sacrifice.  Since what Fenris did amounts to a two-three post build up, we’d want to see an appropriate amount of power from Dirge to overcome it.  From what was read in the post, this wasn’t provided.

The timing of the chaos began when Dirge attempted to cut through the mist with the still partially enlarged sword. Attempting to nullify it later before it manifest is another reestablishment of the timeline. Or a retroactive change to his actions, which we find is unfair.  Attempting to cancel out Fenris’  area of influence further implies that Dirge was still within its effect which means that he never left the mist.  In addition he claimed to have used the energy meant for his instant movement to cancel the effects instead of the movement, making him even further stuck within the sphere.  Again, we question if this attempt was sufficient to overcome or equal what amounted to Fenris’ two-three post build up.  Further actions from Dirge appeared dependent on him escaping the sphere.  As his escape is called into question, so too are the actions that follow.

In post round 4, Fenris attempted to suddenly halt the effects, creating a state of multi-layered shock induced in the area that Dirge currently inhabited.  It is not our place to determine whether this would sufficiently render Dirge incapable of acting further or the how much damage it would cause him. However it is our assessment that the attack would hit, given that Dirge was still trapped inside and was aiding the end result.

The victory of this bout is awarded to Fenris for scoring one successful hit.

It could be argued that both players suffered from a lack of knowledge about each other’s capabilities; the judging panel in particular would have benefitted from more information on its combatants.  Specifically, the character Dirge was clearly in possession of a number of abilities, and it may have saved involved parties from devolving into bickering had they all been mentioned and understood before the fight began.  The same could be said about Fenris’ character.

[Dirge]

Probs should first consult with both fighters to see if they agree with the judge before issuing a clearly biased judgment.

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