Polaris vs Kite

UNYIELDING POLARIS has set the site of their duel, keeping a close eye on all aspects of Kite's prospective investigation to make _sure_ that nothing gets past the knight while this is being sorted out. "HERE!" They declare dramatically, slamming the hilt of a spear into the ground. "We shall settle your efforts here, where all can see!" They gesture widely over the cliff, indicating the ease by which anyone can see the battle that takes place here.

That spear points dramatically at Kite. "But know this! I am a knight, and that means that even scheming intruders like yourself may benefit from my honor! We will fight... but only to red hit points! I will not strike you beyond such a color! The first to reach it -- and it shall be you! -- reaches their loss! Do you agree?"

Kite rests his hands on the hilts of his mail breakers before drawing them, spaced a good fifteen feet apart from Polaris. Both were too headstrong to compromise well enough on the matter of the barrier to settle things with only their voice, and so now, they were left with little choice but to decide who was right with their fists.

His weapons of choice were low levelled shortswords, with blades only just thicker than a saber or a rapier and using highly tapered tips which allow them to sink easier into thick hides and armor with thrusting attacks, hence their name. With one in each hand, Kite hunkers his upper body down ever so slightly, reversing his grip on one of them. "That's fine with me. The first one to reach red has to concede."

"As well, since you're fighting by yourself .. I won't call for help. As well, no potions for either of us until after the duel finishes."

Those all sounded like agreeable terms to him.

"Hmhmhm! Good!" Polaris calls out, clenching a heavy gauntlet. "GOOD! The terms of a proper duel to demonstrate the worthiness of your cause! Well then!" Their spear flips dramatically, and stylishly. This isn't an arte, no, they've just practiced dramatic spear flipping. "Come then, intruder! If you should seek what I, THE LEGENDARY UNYIELDING POLARIS, have sealed away? Then I will know the worth of your efforts first!! PROVE YOUR RESOLVE, OR WALLOW IN DEFEEEEEEAAAAAAT!!"

SLAM! Their foot clomps down hard, and their grip tightens on their spear in a dramatic offensive stance, equipping a new shield to compliment the wide-headed spear they wield. "THE NORTH STAR IS BURNING BRIGHT!" The black knight roars. "EN GARDE, ADVENTURER!!" And they take off. By which I mean they just fucking BOOK IT straight at Kite, leaping up and bringing down the spear with an overhead hammer-strike! "HOOOOOAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Kite raises both arms, the spear strike nearly driving him into the ground as the spear clashes with his crossed blades, applying pressure to his wrists, elbows, his health meter beginning to drop out of the corner of his eye, ever so slightly. With a huff, Kite pushed to the side to deflect as much of the blow as he could, shifting himself to the side with a sudden jet of flames roaring after him, threatening to lick and burn at the spearman if he pursued Kite immediately.

Having bought a moment of breathing room, he whirls around with his body shining with a bright white aura. "ELECTRIC FUZZ!"

His body flashed like a lightning bolt in an attempt to inflict a series of status down effects on Polaris, hoping to make him vulnerable to a follow up attack. "SPLASH BRAVE!"

In the form of a swipe of his mail breaker, water blasting along its edge to create an elongated, buzzsaw like blade to try and cut at Polaris' armored head before his unbuffed mail breaker is sent in a thrust to his wrist.

Polaris pursues! The black knight is unyielding!! "RROOOOOOAAAAHHH!!" They shout loudly! Their shield shoves forward through the flames! "INADEQUATE!! THIS HEAT IS PALTRY COMPARED TO THE BURNING FIRE OF MY SOUL!!" Somehow, impossibly, they use their shield to shove the wave of heat back towards Kite! "REPELLING SHIIIIELD!!"

The Electric Fuzz slams into them, filling their helm with crackling light! "GHHH! You've obfuscated your intentions, but..." And Polaris charges forward. "MY GUIDING LIGHT CANNOT BE DARKENED!!" They HEADBUTT the Splash Brave dead-on, seemingly suffering only a few scratches through it! They're still charging! This knight is completely unyielding, clearly specced hard to tank!!

"You have these scheming intentions, but are they worth a legend?! You intend to play with dangerous things!! Tell me! What drives this effort? What could make it more worthy of a legend than I, who fought to SAVE THE WORLD!?" Only _during_ the fight does Polaris seem to remotely give a shit about why this whole duel started in the first place.

Kite is forced back, covering his face with his arms at the wave of heat washing over him. He was on the backfoot now, an unfortunate turn of circumstances.

Polaris was incredibly powerful, and even Kite's attack power as a DPS wasn't currently able to overcome his foe's defensive properties .. he had to start really pulling up all the stops rather than fighting conservatively if he wanted to pierce that incredibly thick armor.

"I won't give up! The incidents seven years ago ... and the secret to saving my friend. The answers are waiting for me in there, I'm positive! ARCANE EYE! TWIN DARKNESS! AIRSTEP!"

Rotating three of his skills, a smal glowing circle opened itself on his forehead, glaring straight at Polaris.

It guided Kite's next blows, two incredibly fast thrusts of his dark-coated mail breakers aimed at the seams of Polaris' chest plate.

With the activation of the third skill, an aura of wind gathered around his body, with Kite intent on trying to propel himself around the massive knight before he could launch a counterattack.

Polaris brings up the spear to block the Twin Darkness... and it SNAPS, dramatically shattering as the blow annihilates the weapon's durability! Before crashing hard into the shield! "FIERCE BLOOOOOCK!! AN INCIDENT! An inciting event, to drive the hero's journey? Hmmmhmhm! We will see! But no matter how much darkness you might bring hero, THE NORTH STAR IS BURNING BRIGHT!!" They begin to shove the blow back, having only taken a thin slice off their HP! "TELL ME THEN!" They roar! "TELL ME! WHAT DOES THIS FRIEND MEAN TO YOU!? WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SAVE THEM?! AND WHAT WILL YOU DO... TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE?! HaaaaaaAAAAAAH!"

SHOVE! Polaris manages to drive Kite back! And as they flank, the large knight refuses to move. "What justice will you exact? What lengths shall you go to? When you find what wronged your treasured friend, what will you make of this world?! And what world shall they return to, when you save them?! Tell me!! WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES YOU WORTHYYYYY!?!"

Momentarily releasing his weapons, the power of wind still surrounding him, Kite performs three swift motions with his hands before splaying his palms out in front of him, a great heat building within the gap. What a truly sturdy foe .. after all of that, he'd still only eaten chip damage!

    "I just want Orca to wake up again! FIREBALL!"

A blazing orb blasts from his outstretched hands and explodes on contact!

Yasuhiko ... his player name had been Orca. Kite's best friend since they were both children, everything had been robbed from hm that day. His entire puberty, the springtime of his youth was stolen away just like that. Kite's one, single resolve was to get to the bottom of things and wake him, once and for all.

"I don't know what I'd do to the person responsible. All I know is that I want to wake Orca..!"

Polaris stands mightily, summoning up a fresh longsword to match their shield! "AND WHAT WILL YOU DO?!" They roar! "TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN?!" And as the fireball arcs in, they rush through the heat! For the first time, they'll be suffering real damage, for tremendous effect. They come out of the other side of the fireball totally alight, burning all over, landing with a dramatic skid! "Would you find the power to defeat me?!" They leap forward with tremendous force! "WOULD YOU FIGHT, WIN, AGAINST IMMORTAL BEASTS AND POWERFUL ARMIES?!" Their burning form arcs high.

"IF THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES STAND AGAINST YOU AND DEMAND YOU ACCEPT THIS LOSS, WOULD YOU TELL THEM, 'NO'!?!" HELM-GLEAM! The black knight is full of stellar fire, shining like their namesake! "FOR ORCA, HOW FAAAAAR WOOOULD YOOOOOU GOOOOOOO!!!" And they descend like a falling star, their sword blazing with an arte like their body is blazing with fire, absolutely massive damage incoming at lightning speed!

As the blow descends, Kite's body is covered with the blindling light of electricity, attempting to curve himself away from the titanic strike heading his way. "ELECTRIC FUZZ! -- hngh!"

He doesn't quite make it, and winds up losing half of his own HP in a single strike that plants him into the dirt, skidding through it and digging a trench from the force. "Uwuh.."

He was down to about a third in total. Another hit, even one just a bit weaker than that one, would put him out of the fight, and he had hardly scratched the knight's HP bar. "I won't give up. No matter how much it hurts ... or how many times I have to stand back up. No matter who gets in my way, and even if the server itself tells me to give up, I won't..!"

Forcing himself back up, a massive red tear running down his chest, Kite slashes one of his weapons in a tri-motion before jabbing it outwards, sending a a massive churl of lightning roaring at his opponent.

        "THUNDER FURY!"

Polaris tears forward, unstoppable, unyielding. Their helm is full of sparking light, blinding them. Lightning crashes into them and they are deflecting it with repeated, rapid sword strokes. It surges through their burning body, adding sparks to their fire as it carves fragments off the HP. "You won't give up. Good. GOOD! THEN SHOW ME THAT! SHOW ME THE STRENGTH THAT WILL MAKE YOU RISE, RISE, RISE AGAIN WHEN YOU ARE CAST DOWN! WHEN THE WORLD TURNS AGAINST YOUR CAUSE! WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE BESIDES YOUR WILL, SHOW ME THAT WILL IS WORTHYYYYYYY!!"

The lightning surges into Polaris's arm, looking like it's going to force them to halt their attack. But they don't halt. Roaring with willpower, they simply force through the effect. They move in fast, terrifyingly quick. Charging over the earth, they move for a hefty lunging strike! Kite's so agonizingly close to red, they're going to work to finish it with a gleaming, strike that limits _Kite's_ offensive options, an effort to bring the hero to their knees! "GOUGE!!"

"For you can claim all you like that you will stand eternal, but to be truly unyielding in a great legend requires the heat of a star in your soul. Show me its light! Show me even its smallest spark!!" They challenge Kite, demanding even more of them!

The lunging blade comes, provocative words being just as sharp. Kite forces his arms out to catch the strike inbetween his mail breakers, as if they were a pair of scissors. "Huoh..!"

Polaris demands he meet the challenge; that he show just how stern the stuff he was made of, really was. But Kite wasn't so sure. It'd been seven years since he'd last pursued justice for Orca .. and even then, it hadn't taxed him as physically as it had now. The 'reality' of Elder Tale was, in some ways, even scarier than Fragment.

But ... remembering his promise gave him strength. Remembering the bonds he'd created back then, and the feeling that had welled inside him when he'd pursued Skeith. It was like a hearth that had sat long since cold had finally sparked flame. "FLAME WAAAAAAAAALLLL!!"

A fiery aura burst from his body and rushed outwards with gusto, forcing the clash to come to an end with a mighty blast of flame.

"LIGHTNINGSTEP! BEAAAT CRAAAAACK!!" Kite's body radiates the might of thunder, as he begins blurring, re-appearing with a thundercrack to strike at the knight's side, seeming to 'blink' above him to strike at Polaris' helmet before dashing away with the speed of lightning once again, coming to strike his chest with a mighty thrust, a vigorous counterattack just before the redline.

Polaris is blasted back by the fire, skidding dramatically and hiding behind their shield as hit points shave away! That helm gleams brightly. And... this time, it's more a thoughtful gleam. "A spark." speaks Polaris, under their breath. "Only a spark, not a star. But it's there."

"Better... BETTER! I SEE THE FORESHADOWING OF A LEGEND!" Polaris calls out, exhaling a huge gush of smoke from their helm. "But it is still..." SLAM! That blade crashes into the side. "NOT!!" SLAM!! There goes that next impact at the helm! "ENOOOUUUUGH!!!" SLAM!!! Polaris... moves. Just one inch, maybe, but they move when that blade crashes into their breastplate.

Not for long. The shield slings out to counterattack. CRASH!! The shield bash whooshes brutally out towards Kite, intent on slamming them back. An eye shines below the helm, brilliant and white. Some sort of fire is lit inside Polaris, and they intend to finish this now. And yet... Kite has proven something to them. And that will have meaning, when this battle is done. They move to strike, again and again with the shield, trying to beat the boy down into the dirt while they chant a few spells of healing to shore up their own faltering HP.

    "Uwuh!"

Kite's head rocks back from the sudden blow, barely managing to hit him from the first bash. The second one, he knew was coming, and immediately pointed his hands to the ground, a glowing red mark marring his face from where he'd been struck silly.

    "ROCK CRADLE!"

The magic forms a stalwart pillar of slanted stone, similar to a crag, the juts out and absorbs the blow from the large knight, standing strong against his battering bash.

Kite breathes out heavily, his HP meter dwindling further. He felt this would be the decisive moment .. his last chance. The bleeding effect had him riding the border between yellow and red HP. Sucking a breath, he darts from behind his protection, mail breakers sparking together and bursting into flaming lances. "TWIN DRAGON! Take this!"

Kite flips his guard around to hold both weapons proper and slashes with them twice, intending to drag a burning hot cross over Polaris' upper body. "It's not a matter of if its enough or not ... I'll make it!"

Polaris roars with joy! "HAHAHA! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! Well then! I'll hope you _will_ make it!" Polaris shouts, uproarously. Their shield plants in the rock... And then, with their sword, they slam aside the twin dragons. "AND YET!" They shout. "NOT!!" CRASH! "TODAY!!!" The tiniest fraction of chip damage makes it through, as they lash out with a kick to get some distance from Kite!

"TODAY, YOU SEE WHY I AM A LEGEND! WHY THE NORTH STAR NEVER YIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEELDS!!" They're getting down to the wire. One more good hit from Polaris should finish Kite off. So they make it the big one. That sword raises, and begins to shine like a star. Here comes the fierce strike. No more lightning in their helmet, no more clouding their vision. They rush at Kite, sword high. It comes down like an executioner's axe, intent on ending this once -- though not, of course, for all.

"I SEE THE SPARK OF A LEGEND-WORTHY FIRE IN YOUR SOUL! BUT YOU STILL HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN BEFORE YOU COULD EVER THINK TO MAKE THE UNYIELDING POLARIS LOSE A DUEL!! I WILL SHOW YOU THE HEIGHTS TO WHICH YOU COULD ASPIRE!!"

    "ROCK CRADLE!"

Forming another earthen shield, Polaris' might smashes through, cleaving apart the stone as easy as butter. But it did provide him with the key moment that he needed, charging his body with the power of flame. "FLAME ROLL! I'm not out of this yet, Polaris!" he yelled back, leaving a burning backdraft in his wake

There was a kind of respect forming for the massive knight. As quirky and bombastic as his personality was, Kite had begun to wonder if this hadn't just been an effort done out of worry for his safety.

As if to say, 'you need to be at least as strong as I am before you proceed'. But Kite was determined, more than simply believing in himself, he believed in his friends. He believed in a good ending.

"I'll give it everything I've got! ELECTRICAL FUZZ!"

Shining with the light of lightning, Kite releases a bright flash. "Now follow it up with a RUPTURE!"

His mail breaker seemed to glimmer with an un-natural sheen, a keen edge that it didn't have previously, as he slashed down with it in an attempt to inflict an armor-shattering effect before hopping back.

    "Now, FIREBAAAAALL!"

His arms repeated the motions from earlier before splaying his fingers out, blasting an explosive orb of flame directly at Polaris!

ZAP! The helm is full of light again! "GHHHH!!!" CRASH-SLAM!! "YOU WILL NEED EVERYTHING!" Polaris roars, as massive bursting red damage glows boil over their armor, exploding with massive armor reduction! "YOU WILL NEED TO LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE! TO HOLD NOTHING BACK! YOU WILL NEED EVERY OUNCE OF BLOOD, EVERY INCH OF WILL, EVERY DEGREE OF THE HEAT YOUR SOUL CAN MUSTER!"

And the fireball. Enough to annihilate almost all of Polaris's remaining orange hit points. Their shield raises and the fire consumes them entirely. When the smoke clears... it's hard to tell if the black knight has fallen. Their black armor is easy to miss among the charred earth.

Until they stand. "But you must grow. Before you are enough... you must _grow more._ You must become the equal of your task. The world has taken from you. You must be more than the world. You must rise to the heat of a star, before you can walk the end of this path. And this spark is a start. But it is only a start. See now, how you persist far longer than you ever would have before? See now, how you have survived so much more?"

The sword points dramatically. "This is the spark. And you _must_ feed it before you can exceed me. This lesson of this duel is complete. Now you face strength beyond your means." They stride forward. "You see your remaining hit points. One more solid hit is your end. You know it is." They toss their sword up, flipping it in mid-air and grabbing it by the blade in a gauntleted hand, before swinging a titanic, shining Hammer Strike!

Kite's body was covered in glowing red gashes and tears at this point. It ran most heavily along his chest and arms, though several splinters had appeared on his face as well. One more solid hit .. he knew it was the truth. But, even still, Kite refused.

He needed to grow, it was true, in more ways than one. The rust of seven years had showed, this game was a new beast almost entirely from Fragment, even if it held the same basis. Kite had the determination to see things through, but if he'd fought Skeith as he was now, he'd have been the one defeated back then.

Kite needed to grow and not only match the 'him' from seven years prior, but to exceed that threshold.

        "AIRSTEP! FLASHSTEP!"

Activating the skills the moment they came off cooldown, Kite leapt from his spot just before the hammer blow could put him down for the count. Even still, he almost hadn't made it, the hit grazing his body with a thin line of damage even as he'd pushed his evasiveness to the max.

"You may be correct, I may need to grow ... but there's one thing you've got wrong. I can defeat you. I will!"

He was glad that Polaris challenged him like this. If he hadn't, Kite wasn't sure if he truly would have the grit to fight this hard. With a burst of desperate strength, he lunged at the massive knight, whose body was showing just as many signs of damage as his own, intent on stabbing into him with a flurry of sword thrusts.

Implacably, Polaris continues. Sword strikes fall upon them and fail to move them, though they don't fail to move that HP bar. It's almost as if they don't feel the filtered pain. One more. Just the one more, and this takes Kite down. "It is one thing to show the spark of a legend. It is another to wield its fires! A legend is what changes the impossible! What challenges the inevitable! A legend is what stands against the turning of the heavens, and becomes the hub around which they turn! That is what it means to be the North Star. That is what it means to be a legend! RUPTURE!" Their blade boils with dangerous defense-shattering power.

Their voice is calmer, but still full of bombast, bursting with power. "You will learn eventually. But not today. You still have more to write in your prologue!" They swipe, and swing. More. They slash and sweep. More. They implacably, inevitably, advance. More. They do not yield. Polaris won't be moved. They just swing. They just keep striking, and they're all dangerous enough to put Kite down with one blow!

But that HP is chipping away...

Kite understood what he meant. A living legend ... someone like Balmung, for example, could be said to be the pinnacle of a player. Someone who toppled impossible odds, insurmountable foes such as The One Sin ... Kite, he wasn't like that. Everything he'd ever accomplished, he'd done it pushed forward by his friends.

Kite understood that he was being told, without having the quality to challenge fate in that same way, loss was inevitible. To be a legend would be to obtain victory, even when such a state isn't achievable.

Kite's mail breakers slash out and meet the strikes of his foe head on. They chip at eachother's HP, dragging eachother closer and closer to the finish line. Polaris, he was already even with Kite in HP.

This was it, he realized. The final blow. Whoever struck first, would be the one who claimed victory. A foe that had seemed unbeatable to him mere minutes earlier was now teetering on defeat alongside him. The defense breaking properies of Rupture meant that he had to push back somehow.

Kite sucks in a breath, "AEROOO!! FLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAME WAAAALLLL!!" he shouts.

The combined powers of flame and wind encompasses his body as Polaris' next strike comes, the heatforce overcoming Rupture to stop the attack dead before pushing outwards in a full-counter, "Goooooooooo!!!"

Kite thrusts his sword forward, the flame launching out, threatening to swallow the knight whole before dissipating a moment later, the power expended.

The fire consumes Polaris.

It consumes everything. It shines, for a moment, like a star.

And when it clears...

HELM-GLEAM!?

The blade is lodged in Polaris's side. Their own sword is raised to strike Kite down, but it's frozen. The knight has stopped. Their HP inches down, down... and the heat has brought them, just barely, down to the threshold of red. One pixel less would have left Polaris that tiny fragment of orange. But... no. They are defeated.

They tilt their head. "Remarkable... REMARKABLE! Perhaps not just a spark, but even a flickering candle's flame!" That eye shines, no, that eye _blazes_ hot white. They plant their sword in the earth and extricate themselves from Kite's blade. "HA HA HA HA! To think an unexpected insolent little intruder would hold that much of the beginnings of a legend!"

HELM-GLEAM! They strike a fresh pose with gauntlets on their hips. "By my word and my honor, I'm bound to give you your prize of passage and information, then, trespasser! But know this!!" They plant their right gauntlet's index finger squarely on Kite's face, pressing just a bit too much on the boy's nose. "You've not seen the last of the UNYIELDING NORTH STAR! I will test you again, and guarantee your growth continues as it ought to, or else guarantee that your progress is halted! You've not seen the last of POLARIS!"

Kite breathes out in relief, the automatic-counterattack of the skill Fire Wall having saved his bacon, if only barely, having been further strengthened by the air element skill, Aero. The backhanded compliments of the great black knight slowly sink as Kite chuckles exhaustedly, reaching to rub the back of his head.

"Well...t....thanks...? -- " he finds an armored finger pushing uncomfortably onto his nose. He never let anything get him down, huh? At least, that's what it seemed like to Kite, who smiled. "..right. I'm looking forward to it, 'North Star'."

Kite moves to sheathe both of his weapons.

Polaris crosses their arms, and gives exposition. "What you seek is the nature of the Event. You believe it's tied to the Dark Wave, don't you? Well, to get inside, you'll have to investigate the source of the Barrier, to gain passage! And to investigate the source of the Barrier, you'll have to visit the Install Port responsible for its creation!"

"Only one is known to exist, and it is quite near here! The True Bandit King sealed it away, but perhaps you can learn something about how to unseal it, and investigate what was done! Allow me to mark its location for you." Polaris fusses with their own game map, intending to provide Kite with exact locations for the Ezzo Empire's Install Port!

"This is where the True Bandit King and I worked together to save the world! While I've let you pass today, if you undo my work there, I will _hunt you much more thoroughly_, intruder!" HELM-GLEAM! They laugh in a way that wordlessly indicates far more vicious futures if Kite ruins that legendary work. "So take some care with your investigations!"

Kite nods in understanding, gladly accepting the assistance. He was somewhat surprised to find that the Install Port was indeed, outside of the barrier .. though from what he was able to discern from his conversation with the black knight themself, it's that part of the 'legendary work' with what Kite suspected had been a System Administrator, had been sealing off access to it.

It seemed like as good a place to start as any. "Don't worry, we'll be careful," he affirms. "The 'Dark Wave' .. let's just say that I have my own suspicions about it for now."

"Ah, and one more thing." Polaris says, finishing this up. "There is one player I know who has some dire association with the Infection. You will contact me if you catch sight of them in your work! Their arm is badly cursed, and bears within it a dangerous link to the Dark Wave and its Infection! I am hunting them to ensure it is put to a just use!"

"His name is Haseo! His accursed arm seems to... _drain_ their Infection, showing some link. If you see him, contact me immediately so I can ambush him for a duel!!" Uh oh.

Anyway, this seems to be the last of this duel. Kite and his companions are free to explore without being harassed further by Polaris!