Post by Killiak on Feb 4, 2024 0:14:00 GMT
[OOC: Continued from old-new forum. Will re-add old posts once they're retrieved]
{BGM: “Counterattack”}
The change in his new pupil was immediately apparent to the Lord Knight, a fact that pleased him greatly to say the least. Her reactions were never slow, the woman able to avoid the majority of his attacks even from the first time they met and yet there was a noticeable improvement following her rebirth. Myra was able to not only follow his actions, but rather than seek to avoid them entirely she was learning to properly counter him, at least to some degree. She still had so much to learn, and the odds were stacked against her. This wasn’t due to the difference in their strength; no, what Myra lacked was experience in fighting an enemy on equal footing—let alone one that outclassed her enough to teach her…
The orbiting shields the woman controlled moved between the two warriors, resulting in a powerful shockwave erupting between and beneath them. The ground suffered more than anything else as it became unstable, breaking apart as though it were a sheet of glass struck by a stray stone. When most warriors might be unsettled by the ground giving way in such a fashion, Myra was not the only one to maintain sure footing. Even the hulking Lord Knight was able to stand his ground, continuing to pursue the woman as she maneuvered away from the location of their previous clash. As such, the gap between their shields colliding and his onslaught with the Eclipsed Moon was every bit as miniscule as he’d intended. It was in this moment Myra might have noticed the aura building and emanating from the Lord Knight’s armor…
Nevertheless, Myra was able to parry his first strike, though the method in which she did was an unusual one as she conjured a replica of her massive dual-bladed chainaxe. Edward immediately recognized the power responsible for this creation; noting it for later, he continued his attack as planned, their axes smashing into one another. Myra aimed hers such that the blade of the Eclipsed Moon was lodged between its dual tracks, with the chainaxe roaring to life immediately upon contact. Where other, lesser weapons might have been shattered into little more than dust, the Eclipsed Moon was no ordinary weapon. While both of their weapons were roughly the same size, the Eclipsed Moon was an ancient and powerful weapon forged long before the Age of Man, which meant it was even older than Edward himself. He had won it as a reward for turning the tide in a battle—on a planet home to a race of giants—in favor of the Sarfrist Nation. Known for their legendary blacksmiths, the King of the Sarfrist Nation gifted the Eclipsed Moon to Edward, the first mortal to serve in the Grand Army and not only live to tell about it, but to claim the most kills and victories over their enemy in over a century.
The Eclipsed Moon was forged of alloys the likes of which men couldn’t begin to fathom, bearing properties which made them unwieldy to lesser beings. Upon Edward’s receipt of the axe, whatever mystical power it commanded caused the weapon to condense into a more appropriate size without losing an ounce of its weight and power. From the moment he first took hold of the Eclipsed Moon, Edward was miraculously able to wield it single-handedly, causing the Sarfrists to revere the man. Its blades, fashioned after the Twin Moons of Razfir’tul and Korfir’tul, are menacingly sharp, rumored to grow sharper over time. The orb which constitutes its pommel is likewise a testament of its power, bearing a perpetually churning storm of grey clouds symbolizing the so-called Power of Neutrality. Said power was forever bound and burdened upon its wielder, and as the story goes, both Edward and his axe have continued to grow stronger for the thousands of years which followed…
When the two axes collided and Myra’s attempted to chew through his, the result was not what she hoped for. In fact, lest the Ouroboros bear similar durability [indestructibility], it was more likely her own weapon would break itself upon his. Due to the natural movements between the two and his intended assault though, their connection was not long enough to find out. The release of his spell, Chains of Cerberus, further interfered with this as it caused an immediate reaction from Myra by way of her connection with the Force. She rejected his spell at every turn, preventing the chains from ever connecting with her axe. This reaction told Edward that she was indeed sharper, more astute than before. Where most would fall in disgrace, Myra succeeded and he would not deny her that accomplishment, but he was far from finished.
Myra decided to press her own assault after parrying several of Edward’s, this time inserting some sort of accessory into her weapon which forced it into a higher output. The sound of the chainaxe roaring into high gear was liken to a thousand storms descending upon them all at once, though it didn’t faze the knight within the protection of his armor. Her aim was true as she sought to dismember his left arm—funny how it was always his left—whilst simultaneously positioning her axe beyond the wall that was his shield. She would soon find out that her instincts were not the only ones working in concert with their battle’s every turn, nor were they the only ones aided by a mystical power. In other words, Edward saw through her attack with ease and answered in kind, but not in a way she might expect…
Where most would reposition their shield or parry with their weapon, Edward drew the Eclipsed Moon back while stepping backward with the same side foot. Pivoting the massive great axe against the back of his gauntlet which he flipped to ultimately reverse his hold on it, Edward slammed the massive weapon into the ground, impaling it to the point the jade skull was submerged beneath the surface, leaving only the bottom few inches of the twin blades exposed and the shaft and pommel aimed to the sky. The aura surrounding the Lord Knight surged as his armor accelerated his every movement, and the mysterious gem at the center of his hauberk continued to drink of Myra’s power with the Force. Where that power went, beyond the gem, was anyone’s guess, as the woman would find herself lost of its touch entirely. Any deeper ramifications were not of Edward’s concern as the reaction was thoroughly independent of his own. As it were, the intended crushing of his armor would never come to pass.
While Edward drew his axe back and impaled it into the earth, his right arm bearing the Highlord’s Tower moved forward and up, releasing the massive shield into the air, directly at Myra. Left unchecked the shield would smash into her upper torso and skull, but the intention of the Lord Knight was to obscure his actions from sight, as well as to potentially deflect the woman’s attack entirely. The moment he released his shield, Edward shifted his weight back, raised his right foot and struck the ground in practiced form—and then he was gone.
Using the enchantment of his greaves, Edward moved far more quickly than he had shown himself capable of, in close proximity to Myra as he drew the Joyeuse from his left hip in a forward sweep. He would pass the woman in an instant, the blade of his sword on a path to disembowel her in a single stroke on her left side. Before he was completely beyond her position, a thunderous crack erupted from his body as he summoned a second sword, its scabbard appearing fixed to his right hip. The scabbard was a sight to behold all its own—bearing an ivory base with platinum, gold, and jade filigree from end to end. The blade’s hilt was likewise constructed of some mystical alloy consisting of interwoven jade and gold bearing a simple cross-shape several inches long, with a thicker base that tapered to two identical spheres of marbled jade and platinum. The handle was large with a thicker center giving it an almost oval shape made of wound platinum and enchanted leather.
Stopping just two meters to Myra’s left flank, Edward drew the new sword without hesitation. The instant its blade was exposed to the light it reflected it in all directions, creating a highly disorienting, blinding beacon that never seemed to fade or falter. To those able to penetrate this holy light, they would bear witness to a blade some four feet long, approximately eight inches wide at the hilt tapering to a menacing point, featuring a pearl like finish. Along the face of the blade are raised traces of gold and platinum extending a few inches down from the hilt, surrounded by concentric lines of jade and a diamond like gemstone embedded into the center on either side. Closer to the point of the blade, faint lines could be found along the razor sharp, platinum hued edges, suggesting that the blade possessed some greater form or other similar secrets. This was one of a select number of legendary weapons that had been deemed worthy of a powerful reforging process within the Jade Horizon—it was none other than the Excalibur Prime.
The Lord-Knight immediately continued his attack on the woman, effectively firing himself at her with the same quickness as just prior, this time aiming himself to the woman’s right side. Again, the Joyeuse was presented first as he twisted his body counterclockwise, sent forward in a powerful thrust with all the Lord-Knight’s weight, speed, and considerable strength backing the strike in addition to the enchantment of his pauldrons & gauntlet. Unlike before, this attack managed to trigger the Joyeuse’s innate ability to multiply its strikes, sending the thrusting blade three additional times in nearly an instant. Its point was aimed at the small of the woman’s back just to the right of her spine, but in truth the expectation was that her shield would maneuver between blade and armor and flesh. In fact, Edward was planning on it.
Following the natural turn of his torso, the Excalibur Prime made a sweeping strike at the back of Myra’s legs, moving well beneath the path of the Joyeuse. It traveled more slowly, ensuring the Joyeuse was due to strike first despite being held in his outside hand. Once more, Edward stopped himself dead in his tracks, knees bending to lower his stance momentarily before he vaulted into the air, executing a spinning flip to present his blades yet again. This resulted in the entire movement becoming a deadly affair of death—the Joyeuse and Excalibur Prime being swung in intersecting paths aimed to remove the woman’s head, shoulders, arms, and shred her from throat to hips. Any attempt at parrying his strikes, should she manage to overcome the constant drain on her power, would not suffice in pushing the Lord-Knight back.
The rapid succession of strikes was, again, executed with uncanny precision and frightening speed—each and every pass of either blade possessed enough raw physical force to rend all but the toughest armors with ease. Edward landed in a crouched position directly in front of Myra, within arm’s reach of his axe, his two swords crossed in front of him with blades pointed to the sky. This gave the pace of battle a noticeable pause liken to the calm before the storm.
{BGM: “Counterattack”}
The change in his new pupil was immediately apparent to the Lord Knight, a fact that pleased him greatly to say the least. Her reactions were never slow, the woman able to avoid the majority of his attacks even from the first time they met and yet there was a noticeable improvement following her rebirth. Myra was able to not only follow his actions, but rather than seek to avoid them entirely she was learning to properly counter him, at least to some degree. She still had so much to learn, and the odds were stacked against her. This wasn’t due to the difference in their strength; no, what Myra lacked was experience in fighting an enemy on equal footing—let alone one that outclassed her enough to teach her…
The orbiting shields the woman controlled moved between the two warriors, resulting in a powerful shockwave erupting between and beneath them. The ground suffered more than anything else as it became unstable, breaking apart as though it were a sheet of glass struck by a stray stone. When most warriors might be unsettled by the ground giving way in such a fashion, Myra was not the only one to maintain sure footing. Even the hulking Lord Knight was able to stand his ground, continuing to pursue the woman as she maneuvered away from the location of their previous clash. As such, the gap between their shields colliding and his onslaught with the Eclipsed Moon was every bit as miniscule as he’d intended. It was in this moment Myra might have noticed the aura building and emanating from the Lord Knight’s armor…
Nevertheless, Myra was able to parry his first strike, though the method in which she did was an unusual one as she conjured a replica of her massive dual-bladed chainaxe. Edward immediately recognized the power responsible for this creation; noting it for later, he continued his attack as planned, their axes smashing into one another. Myra aimed hers such that the blade of the Eclipsed Moon was lodged between its dual tracks, with the chainaxe roaring to life immediately upon contact. Where other, lesser weapons might have been shattered into little more than dust, the Eclipsed Moon was no ordinary weapon. While both of their weapons were roughly the same size, the Eclipsed Moon was an ancient and powerful weapon forged long before the Age of Man, which meant it was even older than Edward himself. He had won it as a reward for turning the tide in a battle—on a planet home to a race of giants—in favor of the Sarfrist Nation. Known for their legendary blacksmiths, the King of the Sarfrist Nation gifted the Eclipsed Moon to Edward, the first mortal to serve in the Grand Army and not only live to tell about it, but to claim the most kills and victories over their enemy in over a century.
The Eclipsed Moon was forged of alloys the likes of which men couldn’t begin to fathom, bearing properties which made them unwieldy to lesser beings. Upon Edward’s receipt of the axe, whatever mystical power it commanded caused the weapon to condense into a more appropriate size without losing an ounce of its weight and power. From the moment he first took hold of the Eclipsed Moon, Edward was miraculously able to wield it single-handedly, causing the Sarfrists to revere the man. Its blades, fashioned after the Twin Moons of Razfir’tul and Korfir’tul, are menacingly sharp, rumored to grow sharper over time. The orb which constitutes its pommel is likewise a testament of its power, bearing a perpetually churning storm of grey clouds symbolizing the so-called Power of Neutrality. Said power was forever bound and burdened upon its wielder, and as the story goes, both Edward and his axe have continued to grow stronger for the thousands of years which followed…
When the two axes collided and Myra’s attempted to chew through his, the result was not what she hoped for. In fact, lest the Ouroboros bear similar durability [indestructibility], it was more likely her own weapon would break itself upon his. Due to the natural movements between the two and his intended assault though, their connection was not long enough to find out. The release of his spell, Chains of Cerberus, further interfered with this as it caused an immediate reaction from Myra by way of her connection with the Force. She rejected his spell at every turn, preventing the chains from ever connecting with her axe. This reaction told Edward that she was indeed sharper, more astute than before. Where most would fall in disgrace, Myra succeeded and he would not deny her that accomplishment, but he was far from finished.
Myra decided to press her own assault after parrying several of Edward’s, this time inserting some sort of accessory into her weapon which forced it into a higher output. The sound of the chainaxe roaring into high gear was liken to a thousand storms descending upon them all at once, though it didn’t faze the knight within the protection of his armor. Her aim was true as she sought to dismember his left arm—funny how it was always his left—whilst simultaneously positioning her axe beyond the wall that was his shield. She would soon find out that her instincts were not the only ones working in concert with their battle’s every turn, nor were they the only ones aided by a mystical power. In other words, Edward saw through her attack with ease and answered in kind, but not in a way she might expect…
Where most would reposition their shield or parry with their weapon, Edward drew the Eclipsed Moon back while stepping backward with the same side foot. Pivoting the massive great axe against the back of his gauntlet which he flipped to ultimately reverse his hold on it, Edward slammed the massive weapon into the ground, impaling it to the point the jade skull was submerged beneath the surface, leaving only the bottom few inches of the twin blades exposed and the shaft and pommel aimed to the sky. The aura surrounding the Lord Knight surged as his armor accelerated his every movement, and the mysterious gem at the center of his hauberk continued to drink of Myra’s power with the Force. Where that power went, beyond the gem, was anyone’s guess, as the woman would find herself lost of its touch entirely. Any deeper ramifications were not of Edward’s concern as the reaction was thoroughly independent of his own. As it were, the intended crushing of his armor would never come to pass.
While Edward drew his axe back and impaled it into the earth, his right arm bearing the Highlord’s Tower moved forward and up, releasing the massive shield into the air, directly at Myra. Left unchecked the shield would smash into her upper torso and skull, but the intention of the Lord Knight was to obscure his actions from sight, as well as to potentially deflect the woman’s attack entirely. The moment he released his shield, Edward shifted his weight back, raised his right foot and struck the ground in practiced form—and then he was gone.
Using the enchantment of his greaves, Edward moved far more quickly than he had shown himself capable of, in close proximity to Myra as he drew the Joyeuse from his left hip in a forward sweep. He would pass the woman in an instant, the blade of his sword on a path to disembowel her in a single stroke on her left side. Before he was completely beyond her position, a thunderous crack erupted from his body as he summoned a second sword, its scabbard appearing fixed to his right hip. The scabbard was a sight to behold all its own—bearing an ivory base with platinum, gold, and jade filigree from end to end. The blade’s hilt was likewise constructed of some mystical alloy consisting of interwoven jade and gold bearing a simple cross-shape several inches long, with a thicker base that tapered to two identical spheres of marbled jade and platinum. The handle was large with a thicker center giving it an almost oval shape made of wound platinum and enchanted leather.
Stopping just two meters to Myra’s left flank, Edward drew the new sword without hesitation. The instant its blade was exposed to the light it reflected it in all directions, creating a highly disorienting, blinding beacon that never seemed to fade or falter. To those able to penetrate this holy light, they would bear witness to a blade some four feet long, approximately eight inches wide at the hilt tapering to a menacing point, featuring a pearl like finish. Along the face of the blade are raised traces of gold and platinum extending a few inches down from the hilt, surrounded by concentric lines of jade and a diamond like gemstone embedded into the center on either side. Closer to the point of the blade, faint lines could be found along the razor sharp, platinum hued edges, suggesting that the blade possessed some greater form or other similar secrets. This was one of a select number of legendary weapons that had been deemed worthy of a powerful reforging process within the Jade Horizon—it was none other than the Excalibur Prime.
The Lord-Knight immediately continued his attack on the woman, effectively firing himself at her with the same quickness as just prior, this time aiming himself to the woman’s right side. Again, the Joyeuse was presented first as he twisted his body counterclockwise, sent forward in a powerful thrust with all the Lord-Knight’s weight, speed, and considerable strength backing the strike in addition to the enchantment of his pauldrons & gauntlet. Unlike before, this attack managed to trigger the Joyeuse’s innate ability to multiply its strikes, sending the thrusting blade three additional times in nearly an instant. Its point was aimed at the small of the woman’s back just to the right of her spine, but in truth the expectation was that her shield would maneuver between blade and armor and flesh. In fact, Edward was planning on it.
Following the natural turn of his torso, the Excalibur Prime made a sweeping strike at the back of Myra’s legs, moving well beneath the path of the Joyeuse. It traveled more slowly, ensuring the Joyeuse was due to strike first despite being held in his outside hand. Once more, Edward stopped himself dead in his tracks, knees bending to lower his stance momentarily before he vaulted into the air, executing a spinning flip to present his blades yet again. This resulted in the entire movement becoming a deadly affair of death—the Joyeuse and Excalibur Prime being swung in intersecting paths aimed to remove the woman’s head, shoulders, arms, and shred her from throat to hips. Any attempt at parrying his strikes, should she manage to overcome the constant drain on her power, would not suffice in pushing the Lord-Knight back.
The rapid succession of strikes was, again, executed with uncanny precision and frightening speed—each and every pass of either blade possessed enough raw physical force to rend all but the toughest armors with ease. Edward landed in a crouched position directly in front of Myra, within arm’s reach of his axe, his two swords crossed in front of him with blades pointed to the sky. This gave the pace of battle a noticeable pause liken to the calm before the storm.