Sparring Match (Jacogos vs. Sparkinth3Dark3)

[Jacogos]

NOTES: This is an unofficial battle between the two Players in the title. The results of this battle will have no affect on In Game status or Faction Power. Whether this becomes part of the lore for Realms (as in it actually happened or not) is up to the discretion of E1 when the battle completes. With that in mind, let the duel commence!



Clang! Clang! Shink! Tang! were a few of the sounds that came from the sparring ring, metal clashing on metal. Kaizan's wings were folded tightly against his back to keep them from getting in his way, as he needed every edge just to keep himself in his advantageous position. Stepping back from the last hit, Kaizan moved to the side as his opponent lunged forward suddenly and then quickly recovered from the miss. Kaizan underestimated the woman's speed and attempted to retaliate, almost getting cut across the cheek for his mistake.

"You're not bad, Deborah..." Kaizan said, locking eyes with his opponent. The woman smirked slightly, then feinted another lunge with her rapier, twirling her blade in her palm to complete the flourish before striking at Kaizan's chest. However, the winged man had anticipated the feint and beat the woman to the strike, knocking Deborah's blade aside and pushing his rapier to a mere centimeter from the woman's open chest.

"Dead," Kaizan said with a smirk. Withdrawing his weapon, the Lieutenant chuckled lightly before bowing to his opponent.

"You're a magnificent swordsman, Deborah. It'll be an honor to fight by your side." The swordsman mirrored Kaizan's gesture.

"You're better than they say, sir. I'm proud to serve in your troop." Taking her training blade, Deborah exited the sparring circle, an empty tiled area about 50 yards in diameter. Kaizan stood near the center, bare-chested and glistening with sweat.

"Anyone else care to join me in the ring this day?" he asked the small crowd that had gathered. There were usually a few people who watched the sparring rings daily, but this crowd was slightly larger than normal. He'd like to think it wasn't because of him.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah hears the sound of steel upon steel sounding off in the distance, fast paced and quick, the sound of skill matched against skill. Cracking his neck he walked towards the sound, he saw a large group of people around what was obviously a ring for sparring. Inside the ring a man was saluting a woman, whom was giving the same courtesy to him in return.

"Well if you could call a man with wings a man anyways," Seritah thought with a smirk.

"Anyone else care to join me in the ring this day?"

Seritah placed his hand on Mercy and stepped through the crowd, pushed the hair from his eyes and stepped to the edge. He placed his bag and helmet upon the edge of the ring, he took his breastplate off, and stared into the mans eyes.

"I have no idea whom you are, good sir. But I would like to spar with you," Seritah said confidently. "Perhaps you would be willing to dance the dance of death that sings within our hearts?"

[Jacogos]

Kaizan looked over towards the newcomer, taking in the man's posture, equipment and stature in the matter of a few seconds. Well armed for a recruit... Or is he some General I've yet to meet? the winged man thought, tapping one finger on the pommel of his training rapier. The man's words certainly intrigued him.

"You don't know Lieutenant Kurotsubasa?!" cried a man from the crowd. "He's the one that killed the Archeon Queen! The one who drove back the Disgeran horde from Nin Yhao!" A few of the others agreed with him or shouted out his other accomplishment. Kaizan blushed lightly and shook his head.

"Well, it seems I need not introduce myself. I'll do so anyway; I am Kaizan Kurotsubasa. Rank matters not here. We fight as equals. Though, as far as a 'dance of death' goes, this is a simple sparring match, friend. I'll not kill a fellow Aeregosian."

Taking his rapier in hand, Kaizan stepped from the center of the ring a few feet back to allow his opponent to come closer without fear of a preemptive strike. However, Kaizan had also noticed the man's weapon of choice.

"Will you fight with your own weapon, or will you take a training rapier like mine?" Kaizan asked, indicating the rack near the north side of the sparring match. Otherwise, Kaizan would have to put his weapon aside, as the rapier would do nothing against that long sword.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

"Feats in battle against already dead enemies mean nothing to someone who is of entirely different skill, good sir. Perhaps some untested farmer with a good staff could wipe out this beloved lieutenant of yours," Seritah said to the crowd. "The past is gone the future yet to pass. Remember... nothing is as to be expected in the great ebb and flow of the world."

"Well, it seems I need not introduce myself. I'll do so anyway; I am Kaizan Kurotsubasa. Rank matters not here. We fight as equals. Though, as far as a 'dance of death' goes, this is a simple sparring match, friend. I'll not kill a fellow Aeregosian."

Seritah undid his sword belt and dropped it next to his growing supply of armor, once his garb was only a pair of cut-off pants held together with a simple piece of rope he entered the ring. "Seems like an apt way to go about this."

"Will you fight with your own weapon, or will you take a training rapier like mine?" Kaizan asked him, eyeing the longsword.

"It matters not, as this is a sparing match," Seritah walked over to his equipment and sheathed his sword in its scabbard.

Seritah approached the rack eyeing the man's stature and overall appearance, with a quick glance he saw that they were all made with quality, but they were all the same weight and length. Pulling one free Seritah placed the tip in the dirt and dragged it slowly behind him as he walked to the opposite center of the arena. He brought it forward and up in a salute, then turned his body so he gave Kaizan the least of his profile.

"My name is Seritah Maelstrom, I am ready when you are," Seritah said blandly.

[Jacogos]

His lips curled up slightly at the edges, Kaizan bowed slowly, never taking his eyes off of his opponent.

"Well then, Seritah, it will be an honor to duel you. May the better man win," Kaizan stated, whipping his rapier from the ground and holding it at the ready. His primary fighting style was with the rapier, so it would be interesting to see how this new-blood would stand up to him. Feeling out his opponent, Kaizan moved forward with intent for a moment, then slowed and began to circle to the left of the warrior.

Staying just out of lunge-range, Kaizan kept his rapier moving ever so slightly, a minor dancing of the tip that tended to distract or at least irritate lesser opponents.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah kept his eyes on Kaizan as he bowed from the waist, the mans eyes were on his as he awaited the match. When Kaizan started to circle to the left of Seritah he mirrored the movement, his rapier felt light in his hand as he held it with a grip that wasn't to tight, yet not to loose, he kept looking for variations in his movements, while keeping his awareness on where Kaizan placed his line of sight. As the eyes were the only way you would have any intent of where the blow would come, unless you were a truly experienced when it came to misdirection.

Seritah exploded forward with a lunge, before spinning around to his right and attempting a jab at Kaizan's thigh. Although it wasn't expected to work it was an attack to test the defenses of his opponent.

[Jacogos]

Kaizan waited it out and eventually got his wish; Seritah moved first, a forward motion that seemed sluggish for an unarmored man. Of course, Kaizan was blessed to have supernatural reflexes, so for him it was normal. Hopping backwards, Kaizan began to move his rapier to knock aside a central blow when his opponent circle to his left hand side. Recalculating, Kaizan brought his left leg back and moved his blade to intercept.

Letting Seritah's blade tap against his, Kaizan attempted to knock the blade wide. Afterwards, he would hop backwards again and reposition himself, not about to go on the offensive yet. If Seritah did not follow through with his original attack, Kaizan would reposition anyway, unable to get his blade into a position to knock the other rapier aside.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah felt his rapiers blade touch kaizan's, he felt the powerful attempt to knock the blade wide to leave him open for a finish, he let it happen feigning surprise on his face for a second before spinning around faster then his first attack coming back in place as Kaizan stepped backwards in a defensive stance.

Seritah rushed forward with a lunge slightly extending himself just the slightest. If it went the way he wanted kaizan would move for the atypical blocking move he'd launch into a roll and come up behind him, and hopefully it'd catch him off balance to get a few good moves against him.

[Jacogos]

Kaizan smirked slightly as the man spun, a rather daring move after your opponent just opened you up. If Kaizan had decided to shove his rapier forward, it would've caught the man in his side and then where would he have been? However, instead of poking at the man's actions, Kaizan kept silent and allowed his knowing smirk to stay.

Another lunge and Kaizan stepped to its side, not even bothering to do anything to the man's blade; Kaizan simply moved faster than him. However, a surprise! Instead of staying there, the man rolled, flanking the winged man in a smooth motion. Because of Kaizan's previous movement, the man only came up to his side and slightly behind, instead of directly behind him. Chuckling, Kaizan did a bold move; instead of moving away, Kaizan leaped forward as Seritah regained his footing, placing the winged man mere inches from the challenger, too close to get a rapier strike in. As such, Kaizan moved forward more in an attempt to body check Seritah to the ground.

If the body-check didn't work, Kaizan would leap back again, having kept his weight centered well enough to reverse his momentum quickly. If it did, Kaizan would flick his rapier toward's Seritah's shin, aiming for a shallow but long cut.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah came up and out of his roll and spun, the sight of Kaizan mere feet away and coming towards him, with basically a full on body check. In response Seritah threw his leg out in a quick sweeping motion, bringing his body low, attempting a quick play for time, as the winged man Kaizan was obviously faster then Seritah had originally judged.

So it would seem that he would need to be a bit more patient instead of his usually finish quickly by brutal attacking. While he still managed finesse with that choice of style, this man was seemingly immune to such styles.

So if he managed to get a little bit of space he would get to his feet and be patient and wait for the right moment to strike.

[Jacogos]

Unprepared for this unforeseen maneuver, Kaizan was toppled momentarily, his legs no longer under him as Seritah's swept them aside. In his momentary panic, Kaizan flailed his wings, suddenly flinging feathers everywhere and gusting wind at his opponent as the winged man pushed himself airborne and back a few feet, managing to gain himself a moment to put his legs back under him. Panting slightly, Kaizan laughed good-naturedly as he folded his wings against his back again.

"I'll have to admit, you surprised me with that one. I don't usually use my wings in the ring. I find it to be an unfair advantage in these fights, ya know?" he said with a smile, returning to his pose. "Now that I know what's coming and when it might come, that shouldn't be a problem anymore." He swung his sword in practice a few times, starting to get antsy from holding to his defensive streak.

"At your ready," he said finally, slowly beginning his circling of Seritah again.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah smiled grimly as the man used his wings, he cracked his neck a little, irritation slowly creeping up, but he pushed it away with a simple breath. He assumed his usual defensive posture, knees slightly bent, legs shoulder width apart. His eyes following Kaizan's as he landed in front of him a bit.

"I'll have to admit, you surprised me with that one. I don't usually use my wings in the ring. I find it to be an unfair advantage in these fights, ya know?" kaizan said with a smile, returning to his pose. "Now that I know what's coming and when it might come, that shouldn't be a problem anymore."

Seritah smiled at Kaizan, "How could you know that's all I got? That is a saying of ignorance, as not ability of a swordsman is shown within the first few minutes. I fight to win, so what does that tell you?"

Seritah started to mirror his opponent's moves, as he wouldn't waste his energy on a man that was already faster then him, and could evade all his attacks.

[Jacogos]

"Perhaps it's to make you think I'm underestimating you," Kaizan said with a hearty laugh, hopping forward to jab at his opponent's side. Regardless of the move's success, Kaizan lept to his left in expectation of Seritah retaliating in some way.

Now came the tricky part. If Seritah struck out with his blade in either a horizontal or vertical slash, Kaizan was prepared to block the blow and attempt to knock it aside. If it was a stab, Kaizan knew he could dodge it and attempt a counter-blow. A kick or other sort of retaliation he'd have to figure out... Anything else, and Kaizan might be unprepared.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah studied Kaizan for a moment, his smile wasn't seen but, Seritah was smiling, here in this ring was a man who could accomplish many things. It would be an honor to best him, Kaizan lept forward with a jab with the rapier, Seritah deflected it with the top half of his rapier in a downward thrust. He continued with a flying roundhouse kick knowing that the winged man would be expecting something along the lines of physical attack along with his swordsmanship.

Depending on how Kaizan would react to Seritah's move, he would come out with a quick probing thrust, but if he was farther away then a thrust would be stupid he would just wait in a defensive position.

[Jacogos]

A roundhouse was rather unexpected; Kaizan moved back out of the man's range quickly, positioning himself yet again a few meters away.

"My... we're rather matched, are we not?" the man said with a chuckle, knowing the man was good. Coming in close again, Kaizan was prepared for a more eloquent maneuver.... Jab, circle right, slash horizontally once, then twice, back up, close with a vertical slash then kick at the legs before circling left.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah smiled at the man's banter, perhaps he was being truthful, or rather he was a more subtle opponent trying to get his opponent to be less cautious. Nevertheless he'd pretend to go along with what he thought was a ploy, smiling like some misbegotten youth who is getting praise from a better. He pretended to lower his defenses slightly and gave kaizan a momentary advantage, one that he was slightly sure he knew how to come away without a loss but with a bit of respect for his hard trained and long days of honing his skills.

He went into his combat stance, his feet were slightly closer together then normal, and his body wasn't turned as much either. Giving his opponent a slightly more advantageous target. If all went well Kaizan might fall for the deception, and he'd get an unsuspected knee to the face for his troubles.

[Jacogos]

In the middle of his attack, Kaizan noticed the man's demeanor change ever so slightly. His attack completed without incident nor hit, the winged man backed up and reevaluated his foe. And there he saw the problem. The man was leaving himself open, ever so slightly, just enough for Kaizan to be tempted to take the bait. However, what the man didn't realize was that Kaizan wasn't about to underestimate someone who had put up such a good fight thus far.

And Kaizan was about to play that to his favor. Acting as if he'd taken the bait, Kaizan lunged forward, the point of his rapier aimed toward's the man's exposed side. Then, at the last moment, Kaizan twirled, away from the man's rising knee and now at the man's back. There, Kaizan struck out towards the back of Seritah's knee.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah saw Kaizan pause for a moment, as if he was evaluating his posture for deception, Kaizan without showing any obvious recognition of Seritah's intent. Kaizan came at Seritah's exposed side, with a lunge, Seritah made for his quick defensive knee to the face, but the winged man was ever to fast for someone without super speed or reflexes. But Seritah had something he'd trained to get, it was reflexes. Kaizan spun around towards Seritah's back, looking for a wounding blow but not a finisher, Seritah made to jump above where he thought the attack wasn't going to be. He felt the tip of Kaizan's rapier hit his foot, sending his balance off and he landed slightly off-kilter.

Seritah flailed as he stumbled forward, he regained his balance by starting to run towards the fence line, he jumped, his foot landing on the top of the post, he back flipped and spun so that he landed facing Kaizan. He felt a slight complaint from his ankle on the foot where Kaizan had struck. It wasn't to damaged but, maybe he could play it of a little bit to his advantage. He took a halting step forward as if he was testing his foot, he gave a faux wince, and stopped and grimaced. He got into his defensive position, he smiled ferally by pulling his lips against his teeth. He raised his free hand and beckoned Kaizan forward.

[Jacogos]

Kaizan wasn't quite satisfied with his attack, but he was indeed impressed with the man's reflexes, enough to basically dodge his attack. The winged man flicked blood from his blade and watched as Seritah flipped rather superfluously.

"Usually I fight to first blood... Do you wish to continue, Seritah?" Kaizan asked, noticing his opponent's wince. He wasn't sure that he had gotten deep enough for that much pain, but he was willing to believe otherwise. Shaking his hair slightly, Kaizan waited for his opponent's answer.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

"Phaw!" Seritah said with a smirk. "My little sister hits harder. T'was only my foot anyways, continue."

Seritah shook his head, not knowing what he'd gain by goading in such a way, but it was the best way to gain a man's measure. Getting him to the point of anger and seeing how the man reacts in a fighting situation when the are in fact angry. He raised his free hand and beckoned Kaizan over with the tips of two fingers.

"The winner will be decided by who has the killing blow," Seritah said. "But not actually doing said killing blow. Agreed?"

[Jacogos]

"If that is your wish, I can only hope you know restraint," Kaizan chuckled. "Very well then..." Moving forward, the winged man began to test the waters again. Hopping forward, Kaizan jabbed at the man's leg, then hopped back and moved towards the man's side with the hurt foot. Hopefully, this would make him step back with that foot and likely show just how hurt it really was.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah nodded assent to Kaizan's words, he saw the determination on the man's eyes, as he came forward in a jab. Quickly Kaizan jumped backwards and came to the side in which Seritah pretended to favor, Seritah was forced to back pedal a step, and he let it appear to buckle as he came around to face Kaizan. He took a slight halting step forward, then he jumped forward landing so his "good" leg took the weight of the jump. Within attacking distance, Seritah lashed out with the point of his sword, aiming for the hand. Attempting for a quick disarming attack.

[Jacogos]

Satisfied that the man was actually hurt and unwary of the ruse, Kaizan began to play offensively. Even as Seritah struck out at Kaizan's hand the winged man moved forward, intercepting the strike with a butt from his rapier's crossguard. Anticipating Seritah's attack being thrown wide, Kaizan lunged in for a jab at the man's side, obviously ignoring a killing blow as that was not him aim in this sparring match.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah's attack was knocked wide, and he saw Kaizan coming forward with a duel ending attack. Smiling inwardly, he realized that if he didn't end this ruse quickly he would lose the duel. His rapier went wide as Kaizan knocked it away, Seritah raised his arm to deflect the blow while grabbing at Kaizan's head and he attempted to headbutt him.

If Kaizan managed to escape Seritah expected to follow close and fast, coming on with a lunge that would hopefully end up on the side of Kaizan's neck. It would only work if Kaizan would do his usual back off towards the side. The question was... which side would Kaizan choose? Or would he do the unexpected.

[Jacogos]

Kaizan was still back enough to be out of Seritah's reach, so Kaizan effectively dodged the heabutt. As it came forward, the winged man leaned back while still keeping his legs firmly planted, keeping himself balanced.

Then, Seritah came forward and Kaizan angled his blade as an extension of his arm, awkwardly attempting to bring it down on Seritah, as if to pierce his chest. Since they were so close, Kaizan expected Seritah's attempted maneuver wouldn't be able to get in to him, but he could certainly be surprised... It was all about expectations now.

Well, that and speed. Who could get in first?

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

"All or nothing now," Seritah thought as he saw Kaizan do the unexpected. A smile came upon his face, exhaustion was starting to set in, sweat started to bead his brow. Kaizan brought his sword down at Seritah, he moved and spun so that the sword passed by his chest, leaving his sword arm free and he grabbed for Kaizan's sword arm. If he managed he would wrap his arm around Kaizan's Arm and than sweep his leg from his body. Than place his sword at the Kaizan's neck.

[Jacogos]

My my, but he was getting himself into a pickle. The winged man grunted as he felt his sword arm get trapped by the other man, suddenly in a disadvantageous position. Thinking quick, as he saw Seritah start to move his own weapon, Kaizan brought a knee up, aiming to connect with the man's stomach before he could get his leg under Kaizan's own.

As that happened, Kaizan attempted to push the man's sword arm away with his free left arm to buy himself more time.

[Sparkinth3Dark3]

Seritah felt a knee connect with his stomach and an Ofph of surprise escaped his mouth as most of his breath left his stomach. He felt Kaizan trying to remove his free left arm, so Seritah swung his head forward blindly trying to get a good blow to the head at the winged man. Disorienting a fast opponent was a good tactic, and a slightly desperate one at that.