Tournament: Mikage vs Jurou

The tournament has continued in Eas, with those who have made it beyond the initial rounds now finding themselves against new opponents. People have begun to gather again, a hum of the crowd audible until a young Adventurer steps up to the podium to act as announcer.

"Welcome everyone!" Nezumi, resident animal-obsessed announcer from the Ninetails Dominion seems to have taken up the mantle of Master of Ceremonies for the moment. "We've got a fun one for you today! In one corner, we have Mikage Yurei! The Were Fang Ranger and her really cute lynx companion, Rama! Don't you just want to pet him, he's adorable!" Someone whispers in her ear, as if reminding her that the added commentary about cuteness may not be necessary.

At this point, Mikage steps forward, raising a hand and offering a shy wave to the crowd. She has never felt really comfortable in front of large groups of people, but matches like this require it. The pale girl bows respectfully, Rama trotting in circles around her ankles.

"And in the other corner, we have Jurou Firedancer! She's fire-wielding Salamander warrior from Scale Emblem, who has some pretty solid defenses! Let's give them both a warm welcome!"

The crowd cheers and claps, some calling out for one fighter or another as a clock begins to tick down to the start of the match.  

Finding herself somewhat surprisingly in the second round, Jurou suppresses anxiety at all the crowd around her as she walks out into the grassy battleground, taking in her opponent Mikage with an apprehensive eye. And her lynx too, she'd have to fight them both - that might make things interesting.
"We meet again, Mikage" Jurou says as she comes near, "Not sure if you remember, but I think you took me out on my first expedition into the wilderness." it had been a fairly long time ago. At the same time, the tall girl unslings her greatsword from over her back and lets the point fall down and rest on the earth between them.

"I remember." Mikage replies, offering a shy sort of smile. She rests her hand on her sword, slowly removing a blue gemstone from around her neck and slotting it into a notch within the weapon. "Seems like you've learned a lot since then. It'll be interesting to see how you fight."

With that, Mikage glances up at the clock as it ticks down, and then **START** appears along with a sound effect. With a motion of her hand, Mikage channels some magical energy into the lynx at her side, who starts to spark as he steps forward. The little cat zooms towards Jurou, launching at her and swiping with claws that aren't aimed at doing damage, but with transferring status defects in the process.

Using Rama as a distraction, Miki raises her sword skyward, summoning a hail of icy projectiles from the sky, raining down on where Jurou is standing.

As the cat moves in to attack, Jurou brings her sword up to slash at it, but the lynx is fast and evades the sword, hopping back and moving in from another angle. Jurou then feels the first of the icicles land on her, flinching and bringing her shield up over her head to block some of them.
Then, being attacked from all sides, she returns the attack to all sides, igniting her blade with a gesture, and sweeping it up in an arc of fire, turning some of the ice to rain and steam, before bringing the sword crashing down and sending a wave of flame along the ground part of the way towards Mikage, and charging along the lit and cleared path to lunge with her oversized sword.

The challenge would always be trying to break through Jurou's defenses, Mikage knew this much going into the match. There is a hiss if pain as she draws her sword back, the fire lashing against her fingers and nearly causing her to drop the weapon in the process.

Rama bristles, his fur standing slightly on end as Mikage makes a whistling sound, obviously passing some new command to the feline. The cat jumps, once more, into the fray, but this time it is not simply a distraction, the cat tries to latch on to Jurou's ankle, hoping to further slow down the tanky Salamander.

Around Mikage, a bit of channeled energy flows through her, causing a flicker of light along her form, even as she moves to send another wave of those same icy shards back into Jurou's direction. "Water vs fire. Seems like we're going to make some interesting fireworks for the crowd." Miki comments, as steam rises around them.

Again, the two enemies makes it hard to keep an eye on both at the same time, the lynx biting at her heels whenever she tries to focus on Mikage, and the mage winding up a spell when she turns to push back the familiar.
Jurou carves a line of flame behind herself to get some breathing room, and hides her head behind her small shield as she moves to get in close to Mikage, ice shards ricocheting off the metal, a few scoring hits on exposed flesh. She tosses a small blast of flame at the mage as the lynx comes around the edge of the flame wall and she has to fend it off again with the point of her blade.

For the second time in a row, Mikage is singed by the powerful fire magic that is thrown back her way, causing her to shield her face slightly with one arm. This time, however, she drops her sword. In that quick movement, though, she's managed to snag the gemstone from the weapon, placing it into the rod that she draws out from a sheath along her spine.

As the crystal is inserted, the weapon extends into a bow, which starts to channel powerful magic into it. Raising the weapon towards Jurou, Mikage draws an arrow from a quiver at her side, aiming it towards the tank with a keen eye.

Rama, drawing backward, retreats closer to Mikage, even as she fires a powerful bolt of light energy in Jurou's direction, the magic rippling through the air as the arrow zooms towards the Salamander's chest.

Unsure whether to press the advantage or withdraw once Mikage drops her weapon, fearing a trap, Jurou hesitates. Then it becomes clear what the mage is up to, and she tries to outpace the attack.
She's not quite fast enough with her heavy weapon, the arrow digs into her shoulder rather than her chest as she's moving on Mikage, and she stumbles as she swings, the wide arcing blow scything towards her opponent's legs rather than head as Jurou drops to one knee, using her shield hand to yank the glowing arrow from her shoulder, the magic shattering into motes of light in the air, leaving the red slash of her wound.

Without the aid of her sword in defense, Mikage is forced to depend on her natural agility, alone. That isn't quite as effective, in this particular scenario, causing her legs to take the brunt of the damage being cast in her direction. Mikage growls under her breath, drawing backwards a few steps as red lines show across one leg.

It seems that she is not done with that bow of hers, yet, though. Another arrow is pulled from the quiver, even as she continues to push back, trying to keep distance between herself and Jurou. However, rather than light energy, this seems to be pulling water from the surroundings, making the air feel dry on the battleground.

A bit of that same electrical energy that had been seen earlier starts to form around the tip of the arrow, as well as a swirling vortex of water. When this one is fired, it seems to have a ripple effect behind it, creating waves of impact damage through elemental air and water.

As the electricity and water start to swirl around the attack, Jurou frowns, sensing something powerful incoming. She plants her feet and sword in the ground, and drops to one knee, murmuring something quietly. At the same time as the energy builds up behind the arrow, with the crowd taking in an anticipatory breath, a ring of white circles and swirling writing builds up around Jurou's shield, gaining intensity and spin.
The arrow's waves of power smash against the magical shield wall, shattering sections of the pattern, and forcing the Salamander girl back, through sheer force, leaving furrows in the ground where her feet and sword were planted. But it holds.
The flame-touched warrior puts her palm on the ground and sends a line of scarlet light shooting through the ground towards Mikage's feet, where a burst of flame erupts from the ground.

It's not many who can completely negate the power of Dawnbreaker's attack, but Mikage doens't seem particularly surprised by it. Perhaps she'd heard of just how tanky the Salamander girl really is. However, she is a bit wary of those flames, even if all she does to avoid it is shift herself backwards, giving a wince at the burn effect on her feet.

There is, once again, that quick movement as the gemstone is plucked from Dawnbreaker and moves almost fluidly as Mikage rolls to pluck up her sword, inserting the crystal into it. It seems to be some key to both of her weapons, so she has built her fighting style around moving the blue stone between them. Dawnbreaker is holstered again along her back for the time being, giving Mikage a bit more room to move along with the flow of battle.

With Jurou pulling out stronger defenses, Miki pushes the attack. Rama continues to move around the periphery of the fighting, but he seems to avoid jumping in, at least for now. Instead, she reaches for a vial of some kind of liquid at her waist, plucking the cork with her teeth and then lacing it along the blade.

The weapon is swept through the air three times, forming blades of wind which hover in front of her before Mikage extends a hand out, sending them flying towards Jurou from all directions. Then, she follows up by moving forward, slashing out with that same sword, laced with a green poison that threatens to infect wherever it hits.

"What's the fancy blue rock, some kind of magical focus?" Jurou asks, filling in the silence with something other than the grunts of combat and the elemental crackles and snaps. Of course, then Mikage's mouth is a little busy decorking a bottle.
The slicked blade does not escape Jurou's notice, and she prepares her blade in a defensive stance to make sure none of that hits her, but she's not prepared for Mikage whipping the air blades at her - you can't parry air! She dives to the side, evading one, and bringing her blade up to split the second in two, but the wind attack still moves on past her blade and nicks her in the arms on either side of the block, the third catching her in the side with a grunt of pain.
Jurou grimaces as the edges of her vision are tinged with a sickly green, and holds her blade out to the side as she moves in on the mage, using that momentum to swing the blade out in an slash, then a second and a third, twisting her waist to throw the huge weapon with surprising speed.

It is all about speed at that moment for Mikage. The constant flames that seem to come off of Jurou are something that she can't seem to avoid, only try to push through given enough time. It's obvious that both combatants have taken a fair share of damage, and there is sweat that beads on the forehead of the Ranger as she seems to kick her evasion up a notch, attempting to avoid more of the impending attack.

Panting to catch her breath, the girl answers, "It's a relic that was part of the power source for some ancient machina." The corner of her lip quirks, "My sword and shield both have slots that can use it, so it better focuses my magic."

Then, after that answer she shouts, "Rama!" The call of the lynx's name is the only sign that there is something else coming Jurou's way. From his place at the sidelines, Rama bolts towards Jurou, swiping at her legs with his claws and chomping at her with more of those quick-footed movements. The two seem to work together in moments like these, one attack and then aother.

So it is probably little surprise that Mikage draws back just far enough to slash her sword through the air, creating a blast of force that extends forward from the tip of the weapon, moving outward in an arc of energy that launches towards Jurou.

The poison still making her feel woozy, Jurou gets hit by a claw in the back of her leg as she wheels to defend herself from the lynx. She whips her shield down to catch the following strikes, and turns her sword flat to interpose against the incoming air attack.
As the mage gets ready for the next assault, it's clear that though most of her hits taken have been papercuts, they have been steadily wearing her down. She seems tired, and worse for wear than Mikage. She holds her sword, point towards Mikage and sends fire swirling down the blade in a bolt of heat, trying to steady herself.

Balancing her defense and offense, Mikage sweeps her sword out to the side, managing to parry some of the effect of Jurou's flaming sword while rolling off to the side, careful to put some distance between the two of them.

In another quick movement, Mikage sheaths her sword, her hand immediately reaching back for Dawnbreaker and sliding the crystal back into place on her bow. Everything about the interaction between the two weapons is fluid and practiced, as if she had done this many hundreds of times before, so much that it is almost second nature.

Of course, with the swap to her bow, it is a sure sign that she has recovered enough mana for one of those more powerful attacks. Rama's withdrawl to the outer edge of the arena seems to also indicate that. However, foresight isn't always enough.

Another arrow, and once again light magic begins to form up around her bow and weapon, radiating along the almost mechanical lines of the elemental machine weapon. When it fires, there is a sound like a hum in the air, the light energy exploding off of it in a powerful, single blast.

Jurou tries to prepare herself to absorb the incoming arrow once again, but the number of wounds and the poison, beginning to fade now but still weakening her, make the effort too little to really stop the arrow. It rebounds off her shield without penetrating, but throws her back against the wall of the arena, hard, and she crumbles when she hits the ground, barely staying on her feet. One trembling hand reaches out and a faintly smouldering piece of Mikage's leather glows hot and starts to sputter flame.

There is a shake of one arm as that part of her armor starts to catch flame, a clapping of her hand against it to try to put out the worst of it. It doesn't mean that the burning doesn't linger, even beyond that. The thicker, padded armor that she wears, holding the heat against her skin.

Gritting her teeth, she pushes through the effect, drawing another arrow. Just like before, it seems that the right timing has placed her more powerful technique at just after that Empyrial arrow. Water and wind energy swirls around the tip of the arrow, causing it to turn into a storm vortex which extends outward as the arrow is shot towards Jurou.

However, this time, she follows up by flat out roaring in the direction of the seemingly weakening Salamander. The roar comes with a flash of her eyes that suggests some hint of her monster form, though Mikage doesn't ever seem to truly shift. However, from this roar, there is a blast of icy cold energy that sweeps across the arena, seeming to lash out like ferocious claws.

Jurou summons her flames to be her defense, bringing up a bonfire blaze in a circle around her. It isn't enough to stop the arrow, and she takes the hit, falling back against the wall, and the flames erupting out from her circle, and then going out. She's on her knees, breathing heavily and trying to catch her breath.

There is a bit of fanfaire music and a rainbow announcing: WINNER which appears above Mikage's head. Thus ending the duel. "We have a winner, everyone! It's Mikage Yurei and Rama who move on to the next round, but let's give both fighters a round of applause!" Nezumi calls out, followed by cheering the crowd.

Mikage lets out a breath, seeming to lose some of the tension that this sort of fight might bring. She leans forward, panting a bit as she tries to calm her breathing. Then, holstering her bow back in the scabbard along her back, she walks forward and offers a hand out to Jurou. "You're damn tanky, and those flames are really strong." That said, she offers the Salamander a hand up.

"Come on, let's get us both to one of the healers." Besides, Jurou likely has someone in the audience more than a little worried after the fight, as a certain blue-haired mage can be seen making her way down from the crowd.