Sword vs Sniper

There certainly was a difference between the actual CORPSE training facilities from whatever the fuck his drug induced fantasy produced by Spectra had created. Before Investigator Karris had explained that everything Kajiya saw during his little "test", was illusion created by a drug he had unknowingly ingested, he was under the impression that all CORPSE facilities held little mock ghost towns meant to simulate live combat. And to a degree, that was true, as he later found out in his independent research after he lost--rather badly, mind you-- to Karris. However, they were well out of the way of any towns and major centers, to avoid the stray bullet or two striking some unsuspecting civilian. Plus...why would you even put a mock ghost town within an already existing, populated town anyway?


Regardless, the Sector 3 training facility was about as impressive as he had expected from a massive company's private army. Series of closed off domes, perfect for the firing of weaponry and use of heavy magic without endangering the nearby community. As he stepped inside, he watched silently as Meilius crossed over to the other side, as was customary during training sessions. Once they were of sufficient distance, Kajiya couldn't help but crack a smile as he held his hands out in front of him, feeling his body overtaken by magical essence. This is what he was...and strangely, although he wasn't the greatest warrior in the world, and was a pretty average Sniper as far as his gun skills went, he prided himself in his own talent for magic. It was one of the few things he could claim as his. Something that didn't bring him as much pain as it did joy.

"Now this is ten times better than some shitty party!" Kajiya exclaimed as he began to mutter incantations under his breath, the foreign tongue flowing forth from his lips. He made no move to draw a weapon...yet. For to a degree, he had two weapons.

And his words were bringing forth one of them.

"Void Pit." Kajiya said as he knelt before the ground, touching his right palm upon the white tiled floor.



Similarly to what happened back in the party hall, Kajiya would begin to open up inky colored portals in the ground...yet not directly under his hand. Instead, they would begin to open up midway down the field, several dark colored portals opening up, the murky, swamp like nature of the void within swirling in slow motions if one were to look directly inside. Each portal would open up for a few moments, a dark colored sphere popping up in the ground, before closing up and vanishing, restoring the tiled floor to its' natural state. Then a portal would open up somewhere else, in a completely different place, creating a rather dangerous minefield, for who knew where one's footstep could take them. If one were to theoretically misstep and step inside the portal, they would feel as if their feet were submerged in swamp water....if swamp water was boiling and could burn.

With that trap set, Kajiya, still feeling the magic churn through his veins, let back his head and let out a terrific scream that would have probably resounded throughout the entire compound if the door to the facility wasn't closed, and the walls weren't soundproof. Nevertheless, within the confines of the arena, the sound was deafening, a powerful shrill screech that could easily shatter glass. Banshees were known for their shrieks almost as much as their aura of perpetual sadness, with a Banshee's shriek infused with enough magic to debilitate their foes, and potentially even demoralize them.

There were few things worse than fighting a sorcerer...if Kajiya could even be called that.

Post Count: 1 | Meilius Varkala

BATTLE TRACKER


HP: 36/36 | Armor: 18 | MA: 3 | MS: 4 | Magic Track 1/5[/div]





1d100·1d100

The trap was set, and the playing field was now in his hands.

Kajiya had learned if he wasn't able to win through brute force and power (he had long since accepted that he would never be a truly exceptional fighter), then he thought it best to at least be able to help others defeat their foes, and play the field in a way that it would be most inconvenient for any opponent of his to freely move about and coordinate any plans of their own.

If he couldn't beat them outright, the least he could do is outsmart them.


This was the first attempt of Kajiya's in all of his life to actually apply himself at something. Either out of laziness, or spiting his parents, he had always glided by on mediocrity, never putting his true effort into anything, whether academic based or athletic. His genius was squandered on his own personality, and he self sabotaged his own life up until this point, just to escape the expectation that others would have for him if he began to perform too well. Now? Now he had a cause to fight for, and a desire to actually prove himself to the people above him. Investigator Karris saw something in him, hence why he was allowed to be an Investigator in the first place. However, he had proved utterly worthless in battle against the Onryo, and for some reason that sparked a flame within Kajiya's heart, a determination to become better...to not be the cause for a mission failure, or unnecessary death.

This was his life now. It was no longer the life of his parents. He was no longer a vessel for his father to steer towards a future that was not of Kajiya's own creation. This was his life, and it took nearly dying to reach that life.


His body still crackling with Somnium energy, he smiled to Meilius:

"Let's begin with the parade. Let's see what you can do!" The white haired Banshee said, his right hand outstretching. As he began to mutter foreign words under his breath, strange markings began to overtake Kajiya's right hand, the strange runes glowing with purple light as yet another dark colored portal began to rip itself into existence, this one occupying the space in front of Kajiya, taking a rather strange rectangular shape, almost fitting the correct dimensions of a door frame.



"Balcony" Kajiya whispered, right before plunging himself into the portal...and his whole world went black.

There was nothing worse than traveling through dimensional rifts. If he wasn't a Revenant, he was sure that such pure magic that coursed through the portals that he created would just about rip him apart, or make him into some mutated Chimera beast, or something else of fantastical foundation. Yet, since he was already as fantastical as can be, all that came to him was momentary nausea.

Extreme momentary nausea.

Popping out of the portal that brought him to one of the vantage balconies inside the arena, Kajiya immediately doubled over, retching for about five full seconds, trying to will himself not to outright vomit all over the floor. Just because he was sure there was a cleaning staff to restore the arena to full operating capacity after every fight, didn't mean he didn't want to leave gross, disgusting messes behind for them to clean up, either.

Nevertheless, he used the portal for two reasons.

One, was to get out of Meilius's sight. His teleportation magic allowed for very sudden, swift movement that was difficult to track unless they had means of sensing his whereabouts. Popping in and out of places could disorient someone already more than naturally in a battle scenario. In a situation where every instant counted, a moment's disorientation could very well mean the difference between life and death.

The second, was to retrieve his weapon from his personal portal space:



A standard issue CORPSE Sniper Rifle. Nothing fancy, of course....but bullets were bullets, right? Leaning forward, Kajiya began to set up his rifle, pulling out the tripod to rest upon, all the while muttering words under his breath. After all, the setup was precious seconds wasted. He couldn't let Meilius just get the jump on him, right?

"Shackle..." He muttered. If his spell was successfully cast, Meilius would suddenly feel a great tugging at his feet, as ethereal chains began to suddenly wrap themselves around his feet, almost dragging him to the ground, in an attempt to ensnare him and make movement difficult, if only for a moment.

And a moment later, the deafening sound of a gunshot sounded the true beginning to this battle.


Post Count: 2 | Meilius Varkala

BATTLE TRACKER


HP: 36/36 | Armor: 18 | MA: 3 | MS: 4 | Magic Track 2/5[/div]
1d100·1d100-10·4d10+4

Shit, was that too far?

If this were a real battle scenario, there was probably a chance that the boy would have taken a moment to celebrate his victory. After all, this was the first time he had successfully hit a live, moving target! He was nearly killed by a gunman's bullet, and failed to protect his sibling because he was too slow to draw a pistol in defense of his family's store. Then fast forward to his test against Investigator Karris, in which the defining moment of that battle took place in little over three seconds. Kajiya had a chance to make his shot, and he most certainly did....but he missed. For Snipers, missing was the worst thing one could do...for there was no do-over. To miss was to expose your position with no reward. Sniper Rifles didn't have the rate of fire of something like an assault rifle, or even a pistol. One's ability to remain hidden, and to line up the shot defined everything.

Which was what made the feeling of a successful hit all the more enjoyable. Yet, he didn't really enjoy it. This was a newfound friend of his that he was shooting, and although he was used to his own enhanced body, which allowed him to take more devastating hits compared to the average human, he still wasn't used to other Revenants, and thus he couldn't help but feel a spike of fear rise in his chest as he saw the blood of Meilius splatter the ground. Not only would killing Meilius give Kajiya no way to cover up the fact that they broke the rules and left the party before the allotted hour, but he would have lost the only friend he made at this godforsaken party.

Thankfully, his fears turned out to be unfounded, for Meilius was not dead. Which was good on one level, and bad on another. It meant that Kajiya's friend was still kicking, and obviously, by the look in his eye, still had the strength to keep on fighting.

The bad part? Meilius still had the strength to keep on fighting.

"Fuck!" Kajiya said as he scrambled back, his position compromised. He had met his mark, but had underestimated Meilus's endurance. In a rush to get on out of his current position, Kajiya's mouth moved rapidly as he tried to speed through an incantation to reopen the void pit that had allowed him to teleport to the balcony in the first place.

However, Kajiya could only watch in awe as Meilius leaped into the air, his physical strength something to behold as Meilius launched himself straight at the balcony. Looking back as a dark, inky sphere of blackness tore through the air behind him, Kajiya prepared to make the jump, yet Meilus was quicker. Throwing his Sniper Rifle into the void, Kajiya leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the first wild horizontal swing. Yet, just as his back graced the empty air of the dimensional rift, Kajiya's red eyes suddenly widened and he coughed up blood as Meilius's sword buried itself within his gut.

If Meilius wished to relish his victory, however, he hardly had the chance as Kajiya fell back into the void, disentangling himself from the boy's sword before disappearing rather ungracefully inside the Void Pit, the portal closing itself behind him.

All was silent for a terrible five seconds. Teleportation Magic was tricky business. It was easy to get lost within one's own pocket dimension, and be stuck wandering through a void for all eternity, slowly crumbling away within a space of pure Somnium energy. Even if one managed to not get trapped within the void, losing concentration for even a moment could end up spitting the user out anywhere in the world. When initially studying teleportation magic, Kajiya accidentally teleported himself from Japan to the city of León, in Mexico. Needless to say it was quite the stressful situation. Yet, now that Kajiya was injured moments before vanishing inside the portal, who was to say where he would end up? Could he maintain the concentration to even envision a destination?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a portal opened back onto the main floor, and out crawled Kajiya. His eyes were wild, and moments after he left the portal, he bowed his head and vomited over the floor, blood leaking from his gut, the physical imbalance of the trip, paired with his injury, disoriented the Banshee beyond comparison.

"Fuck...." Kajiya muttered as he shuffled into a kneeling position, his body shaking as he tried to stand. He needed time to recollect himself. He was fine. The injury hurt but he could work with it. He just needed a moment to recollect himself. Looking to a patch of clear tile to his left, Kajiya placed his palm upon it, and muttered one word.

"Shackle" He muttered, repeating the spell from earlier that never went into effect, summoning once again the ethereal chains from the ground that would attempt to ensnare Meilius and keep him from moving too far.

Post Count: 3 | Meilius Varkala

BATTLE TRACKER


HP: 26/36 | Armor: 18 | MA: 3 | MS: 4 | Magic Track 3/5
1d100

Dammit. Fucking. MOVE!

Kajiya internally screamed as he shakily tried to stand. He hated magic sometimes. Why the fuck did it have to mess him up so badly? How could he minimize the effects of disorientation? He couldn't hope to be any time of fighter if he was constantly vomiting his lunch every time he needed to teleport somewhere. And in battle, he was bound to get injured to some degree. The amount of disorientation and sickness he was feeling now was bound to get him killed one day. Hell, if this were an actual battle instead of a spar, that day might have been today.

Yet, there was...still a chance.

He saw Meilius charging across the sky, the blonde boy's determined face a shock to the Banshee. This kid took a full on Sniper shot. Sure, they were Revenants, but he just got stabbed and that shit hurt like hell. How...could he keep on going full force like that? Forcing himself off his knees, Kajiya steeled himself. He couldn't move as quickly as this boy. If he tried, he would only open himself up to a surprise attack from behind. He needed to teleport again. Which meant he had to stop being a little bitch and just go through the portal..and come out without vomiting.

He had to do it, or risk losing this battle when victory was still in sight.

As Meilius came within close range, Kajiya reared his body back, feeling the blade slice across his body diagonally. Blood splattered across the tiling as Kajiya felt his hoodie soak up his blood. It hurt like hell...but he couldn't care about that at the moment. Muttering an incantation, yet another inky portal opened up behind Kajiya, and the Banshee disappeared inside.

The pause in time between his disappearance and reappearance wasn't nearly as dramatic as the last time, for within moments the boy reappeared, slipping out a portal in the floor of yet another balcony, adjacent to the previous one. Leaning forward, Kajiya forced the sickness away as he set up his Sniper Rifle, which was once again in his hand. There was no time to dawdle. No time to cast spells. No time to do anything but shoot. With shaking hands, Kajiya wiped sweat from his brow as he peered through the scope, trying to zero in on Meilius. Not wasting a breath, as soon as Kajiya caught the man within his sights, he pulled the trigger, sending a hasty yet hopefully accurate bullet across the field, in an attempt to end this fight before he lost.


Post Count: 4 | Meilius Varkala

BATTLE TRACKER


HP: 10/36 | Armor: 18 | MA: 3 | MS: 4 | Magic Track 3/5
1d100·4d10+4

Fuck!

He didn't hit the mark. He hit Meilius, which was a great thing. But...it wasn't nearly enough. As Kajiya's bullet ripped through the Deogen's right palm, Kajiya immediately got up from his prone position, opening a portal and throwing the Sniper Rifle inside, before closing it. He had to book it. If he gave Meilius even a split second to recover himself...it was game over. And he couldn't let it be game over.

Muttering in the foreign tongue needed to speak the incantation, Kajiya spread both hands out in front of him, spreading them out wider as seconds passed. A small black hole began to open...but it did not open nearly as quick as Kajiya would have liked. A natural magic user as Kajiya was, even he had his limits. Teleportation Magic was risky business, sure, but it was also taxing business. One couldn't just jump between one's pocket dimension and reality freely. Each use drew heavily from the caster's reserves, and if one truly overextended themselves, it was quite possible they could become lost in the void of their own pocket dimension, never to return to the living world. Kajiya had come close to such a fate once, when initially training himself in teleportation magic several months prior, in which he misjudged how much energy it took to make the jump, and nearly passed out mid travel. If it weren't for his own willpower and refusal to die in such an instance, he most definitely wouldn't be here right now.

And here he was again, not quite in as dire a situation, but nearing the point of exhaustion. Breathing heavily, Kajiya forced his hands apart farther, forcing the rift open farther as he strained to complete the spell. With a grunt of exertion, Kajiya's arms spread to his sides as he created yet another human sized portal, the murky circular portal beckoning him in. His only escape. Just as Kajiya turned to gauge how far Meilius was from him, he was greeted with the sight of the blond Revenant.

As for what happened next? Kajiya couldn't truly recall. The next thing he was aware of, he was laying on his back on the floor of the balcony. The portal was nowhere to be seen, and the floor beneath him felt warm and sticky. Raising his right hand slowly, he saw his fingers stained red with blood.

He had lost.

Post Count: 5 | Meilius Varkala