Reim Empire

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, say what you want. Have fun with the pretty boy, Erza~" he said as he walked away from the red-haired gladiator. "Hey, pink one! You're comin' with me."

In the meantime, Fudo was also honing in on the interaction between gladiators, gathering from Erza's body language that she'd be taking him on. Judging by her general demeanor, and a few key bits of knowledge, he could at least assume why this was the case, but that hardly mattered anyway. "I take it neither of you was ever opposed to doing this, then. This seems promising."

Makarov, on the other hand, had been silently moving away from the group. He eventually reached a far enough distance that his voice would only be heard if he yelled. So, he did exactly that. "Shadiya! Come along!"

[Apollymi]

Erza scoffed, but it seemed her choice of person was already headed her way. With that in mind she simply shrugged. "I will." and there after she was addressed directly by Fudo which made her look at the young man oddly. He was at least perceptive which was a good place to start, as for how they all felt about it she could only imagine. "I can't speak for him, but I was never opposed. I am always looking for a new challenge and nothing makes a reasonable one more than making sure your opponent is ready."

Yasmin was soon approached by another and when she was, she looked at the man as if confused. "Well, fine. I'm Yasmin, nice to meet you." she said giving a small bow. In this interaction she was called pink one, but she supposed she'd been called worse before so this didn't bother her in the slightest which is why she'd introduced herself anyways.

Shadiya was urged to come along and so she did since the voice carried far off. It didn't take her very long to catch up with the older gentleman and once she was right behind him she took on his pace. "Ready!" the purple haired girl mentioned utterly excited by the prospect of learning something different.

Nasira watched as the rest drifted off, and given this she was more than content to finish what she had been doing previously which included getting them all settled into this new place and checking on Bakura who had been unconscious an awful long time.

[Bloodedge]

"Fair enough," Fudo replied as he followed the red-haired woman. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

The white-haired man whom Yasmin followed looked over his shoulder with narrow eyes as she introduced herself. He didn't care much for introductions, but he supposed if he was going to be taking care of this one's development, he may as well be acquainted. "Caelus. Caelus Aratus," he said. He continued moving forward until he reached the inside of an old building with nothing short of open space betwixt its four walls. "Alright, kid. Show me what ya' got."

Meanwhile, Malik took a side to Nasira as she checked in on the sleeping lad in the carriage. It seemed the ashen-haired boy was beginning to stir. When he opened his eyes, Nasira was his first sight, which brought comfort to the fact that he had nary a clue where he was at the time being. "Ugh... What happened to me?"

[Apollymi]

"Good." said Erza as she stepped into another large space just off the Colosseum which she'd use to train this young man. She looked to the sword at this young man's side and though the large space was basically empty she walked to the side and retrieved something which looked like a large polearm with a spear head attached to one end only it was much shorter than one would think a polearm should be. "Assuming you know what to do with that sword at your side. Let's see it." she said twirling the spear around in her hand motioning for the young man to come.

Yasmin soon found herself in a large room with a vast space with this lone white haired man who introduced himself shortly before asking her to show him what she had. "Alright then." Yasmin held the assumption that Gladiators would always be ready for a coming battle and with that in mind she didn't stop herself in the slightest. She removed her flabellum from its place at her side and channelled her Magoi into it. This would create a weapon in the form of a long spear which the girl would immediately use. Her body falling into the practiced movements she always seemed to possess when using a long weapon. A few steps would be taken forward as she changed the positioning of her hands on the weapon so that she could create quick sweeping motion from left to right aimed into the center of this man's being.

As the battles and trainings ensued, Nasira found the missing male household member of theirs finally stirring from his extending slumber. A grin came to her face as he seemed to be alright and she was also distinctly aware that Malik was still at her side and as such she would begin to answer Bakura's question while offering him a hand up. "Well, you tried to sacrifice yourself to save Yasmin and got stabbed facing that guy in Parthevia. But Samiya fixed you up before you could bleed out completely. You gave us all a serious scare, especially Yasmin." she said calmly. "But we're happy you're alright, and you've missed a lot, so I'll help you get caught up." she said.

[Bloodedge]

"As you wish," Fudo said while drawing his sword. Foregoing the use of his Djinn Weapon Equip once again, he held his sword in his right hand, and pressed his left forearm against his lower back while making a fast approach. He could already see one benefit to this battle; he'd be able to better himself against long weapons. When he was in range, he aimed a simple, swift jab of his blade at Erza's face. It was a strike which, whether it hit or miss, would immediately be withdrawn to allow a potential evasive maneuver... one Fudo figured he would be needing very soon.

At about the same time, Caelus was being charged by Yasmin, who thought it a good idea to utilize her Djinn Weapon Equip against him. Sighing, the man held out his right arm against the weapon she bore, stopping it in its path toward his center. "No," he said, using his own Magoi through his hand to counteract the Magoi in Yasmin's weapon. In doing so, he intended to negate the magic which allowed this weapon to maintain its form. "Magoi against Magoi. The more focused one always wins. You might be an early Dungeon Capturer, but at this level, it's nothing to shut down that Metal Vessel of yours."

[Apollymi]

Erza found herself facing a boy who obviously had more than a little training in the use of his weapon. Even so, it would only impress the woman a tiny bit as he'd chosen not to use the Djinn Equip he more than likely possessed. As the strike came towards her face the blunt end of the woman's weapon met the sword only to have, Fudo immediately move towards an evasive stance. The smirk on this woman's face didn't change as she moved forward not with her body but with her weapon, more specifically with the Ki her Magoi created channelled through her weapon which gave more reach than her shortened version of the long weapon would normally have. Such a movement would make it appear as if she intended to stab the young man in the face with the added length and efficiency of her weapon, only for it to be spun and the blunt end to be brought into the young man's torso instead. "You're always going to be at a disadvantage against more ranged weapons if you carry on like that. You should be using your Magoi and your Djinn to remove your weaknesses... not allowing them to add new ones." she mentioned of the boy's form and fighting style.

Yasmin soon found herself stopped in the middle of what would have been an attack. Her weapon equip simply disappearing in contact with the older man's Magoi. That was kind of an amazing feat and left the pink haired girl wide eyed as she stared at her flabellum in its original form in her hand. By what he said it was obvious that he was the more focused of the two of them, but she wasn't sure what to do with that information. "What do you suggest?" she asked of him, if this was all about controlling her Magoi then she needed to understand how he made it work to so easily disrupt what she'd done, that way she could keep it from happening at every turn. And just like that the former slave girl was becoming an avid learner.

[Bloodedge]

From the stance he'd taken, Fudo had what he thought to be a reasonable view toward any incoming attack. In fact, he had exactly that. He was able to react to the incoming stab to his face by ducking, but in not anticipating high maneuverability with this polearm, he only left his face susceptible to the true strike of Erza's weapon meant for his torso. The blunt end of her halberd slammed into the front of the prince's face, knocking him back on impact. When he recovered, blood was dripping from his nose, which seemed to have broken. "I didn't intend to use my Djinn at all, to be honest. I'd hoped I could overcome that weakness completely with skill alone..." Without another word spoken, Fudo returned to his previous stance and charged Erza again. He seemed to be going for the same move again, but this strike came with a sudden alteration. 'Amon!' Calling on the power of his Djinn, Fudo quickly transformed his Metal Vessel into the large, black sword of Amon. This occurred before his normal blade would have been considered within striking distance. Fudo's aim was simply to have the sword elongate when changing forms, enough to cut across Erza's left cheek as it did so. "Amol Saiqa!"

Meanwhile, Caelus finally drew his twin swords in the face of Yasmin. This training session seemed to oppose that of Erza and Fudo, as he was requiring his trainee to go without her Djinn Weapon Equip. However, this was not the case. He only wished for her to make it better. "The first use of Magoi Manipulation is countering someone else's Magoi by using your own. This works by touch. Fire beats fire. You use your Magoi to make a weapon, so I use mine to shut yours out. If you did the same thing at the right time, you could stop me from killing that weapon of yours."

[Apollymi]

Erza seemed content to continue on in the way she was. And though she'd caused this young man a greater injury than she'd intended, he seemed content to continue without treating it so she'd do just that as she watched him put her advice into practice. As he attempted his next strike it seemed unreasonably similar to his previous one. The main change would come with the summoning of the Djinn's weapon which would happen in a shorter space than his previous type of strike. This would end of course, with a cut appearing on Erza's left cheek. But unlike most who would have been stunned by this when she moved to retaliate she had more to say. "Yeah, that's better. Using Magoi in this way, trusting the Ki to your weapon is one way to use it. It modifies your fighting style and allows you to reach that which wouldn't normally be capable of." she said, moving the large halberd in her hand to aim a series of strikes at this young man's sword, totaling three in downward powerful strokes. If she succeeded in this it would make the larger sword harder for the young man to pick up creating another opening for her to strike at the center of his being with the blunted end of her weapon providing him an image of the weakness caused by the use of such a large weapon when he wasn't properly used to it.

Meanwhile, Yasmin was told by Caelus what he'd meant by his earlier statement. His words seemed to click together in the pink haired girl's mind and as he drew his weapons she created hers spinning the staff around in her hand and trying to think of how best to time her manipulation of Magoi through the weapon to keep it whole as she attacked and dealt with counterattacks. With this in mind, she attacked again not bothering to clarify her understanding or interpretation of what this man had to say. This time her staff travelled in a quick downward strike coming from above this man's left shoulder and aiming to travel straight and hard towards the man's feet. The entire time she as using a minimal amount of her Magoi to keep her weapon in its form, waiting for a coming counter to test her timing.

[Bloodedge]

"But?" Fudo questioned. It was then that his sword received a trio of strikes atop it, forcing its weight down to open him up for a counterattack. As she transitioned into this attack, Fudo reacted by altering the size of his sword. It became a small, blackened and somewhat jagged version of his original weapon. His attack range became a bit longer than the sword itself due to the heat emitted directly from the blade. With this smaller, lighter form though, he became able to parry the next strike Erza had in store for him, then perform two jabs at her upper left arm with his burning sword. "Amon's Royal Sword."

"Alright, let's see it," Caelus said in preparation for Yasmin's developed ability. Her strike warranted an evasion to Caelus' right, followed by the dropping of his right sword. With a free right hand, he reached out to thrust his palm into Yasmin's abdomen, once again performing the Magoi counteraction.

[Apollymi]

Fudo's question would go unanswered for a few seconds. As the attack she'd planned didn't turn out the way that Erza had intended. In fact, she was more than a bit surprised at the ease with which this young man switched between the two different forms of his sword. Once he was able to fully utilize his Djinn Equip he'd be quite scary to face in combat. But right at the moment there was still experience separating the two and so the duo of jabs aimed at her left were instead absorbed into her magoi wrapped around her weapon. "That's, surprising." she said spinning the weapon around in her hands and once the blunt end was pointed towards Fudo once more she explained. "It's better but where's the rest of it?" she questioned the magoi which was manifested around her halberd spreading up her arms and across her shoulders, spreading even down to her legs as she used her magoi to enforce her body and though she could strike this way it receded. "Weapons and skill with those weapons are nice, but until your magoi stretches the power of your Djinn to its full limits... you're going to find yourself outmatched." she finished gesturing towards herself to encourage another attack.

The man's movements to avoid her strike didn't really surprise Yasmin. In fact, she was prepared for this her body flowing and her staff moving from one hand to another so that she could aim another strike. And though this man's hand did make contact with her torso, she was more than capable of pushing her magoi back against his nullification. Holding on to her Djinn's Weapon Equip the strike that was coming was swift and from her left straight into this man's right hand side aiming a quick jab into his person with the end of her weapon.

[Bloodedge]

"The rest, huh?" At this point, the Magoi of his trainer was clearly visible to Fudo. The fact that she invited him to make the next assault was a bit of a relief, as he now had a moment to think over the next move. As he thought it over, he came to realize that he had yet to attempt more of a Djinn Equip than this. Actually, he sought to use his Djinn sparingly, as he knew it to be one of a very dangerous element. On the other hand, though, he was better off working on the full equip now, rather than later. Until now, he had been focusing Amon's flames into the sword and his hands for Djinn Weapon Equip. Logical progression dictated that he burn his entire body with the flames, focusing them throughout his core to progress the transformation. And so, he did exactly that, engulfing himself in Amon's flames and aiming to focus his form on his entire body. There was a bit of progression in the form of his arms gaining armor, instead of the usual smoldering appearance they took. However, this seemed to stagnate there. "Tell me something. Your master seems opposed to using these abilities for power, but you seem very combat oriented for a person trained by such a man. Why is this?"

Caelus could see the progression of ability within Yasmin, but he knew there was still much to be done here. As such, when the young woman aimed to lash out at him again, he raised his right arm against her weapon to parry. "Your Djinn Equip is missing something. Your Magoi is being held back more than it should be. I don't know what's missing, but you're not getting everything that weapon form has to offer."

[Apollymi]

Erza seemed to come under question from her chosen pupil about her choices as far as combat was concerned. When one thought about it from the outside perspective she supposed she could see how one might take her randomly aggressive use of fighting and her outwardly cold nature, but it was more complicated than that. As she watched this young man start on his full Djinn Equip she noted that it progressed if only to move his Magoi up his lower arms. "Well, I'm from the Sasan Kingdom. I was sent here as part of my training to become a Sasan Knight. Strength and conviction are simply part of who I am... it isn't me wanting to be powerful. I was here to learn patience and discipline to go along with my physical prowess." she said not knowing if this would be fully understood. She explained of herself. After this she moved right along staring at his arms she could tell he was still holding back by a great deal considering the stopping point of his transformation. But she wasn't sure just yet whether this was his intention or if it was that he was mentally stuck there. 'Two options, it's mental... and he has some sort of hangup which stops him from fully committing to the Djinn Equip. Or it's physical and he doesn't have enough.' Erza found it a bit complicated to deal with and until she figured out which thing it was she couldn't well move on from this point of his training. "You know you have an entire body right?" she asked somewhat rhetorically waiting to see if he would come up with more or see if he would need motivation.

Meanwhile Yasmin was having a similar conversation with her trainer about not getting enough out of her weapon equip, which was more than obvious considering that he was still able to parry what would have otherwise been a fairly good blow. With this new information she backed away... taking a deep breath. "I know. I saw it fully when Fudo and I were looking into our likeness, he used it so I know what it is. Besides the weapon it comes with armor..." she said her face gaining a slightly pink tint. Yasmin didn't purposefully hold back, it was simply built into her personality to withhold a bit of herself, which was likely due to the time she spent enslaved. It was rather difficult to truly lend that much of herself to any given form when doing anything that fully rash before this point had always lead to full disaster. It seemed a great deal of caution was built into the girl's persona and it had made its way into her Magoi Manipulation for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

"I see... So you are from Sasan. I knew you weren't from here," Fudo said as he contemplated the redhead's words. Still, he had made no progress on furthering his Djinn Equip. Though he had Magoi in excess, he could not bring himself to finish the evolution. From what he already understood of this Metal Vessel, he could only assume that its ultimate form was a force to be reckoned with, and he felt as if its power was very dangerous to those around him. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't seem like it's working for me, though. Maybe I should try something else instead."

"Eh? Wait, wait, wait..." Caelus was astounded by what he was hearing from this girl. So astounded, in fact, that he dropped his other sword and looked at her as if she'd gone mad right in front of his eyes. "You mean to tell me... that you've known this entire time what that thing could do... and you haven't been doing it? What the hell are we doing here if you're not giving it all you've got?"

[Apollymi]

Erza looked at this young man and was a bit confused by what she was seeing. Because it became obvious to her that he had the excess Magoi to complete the transformation yet he claimed he couldn't do it. 'Ah, in his head then.' she said thinking about it she didn't know enough about this boy to figure out what was keeping him from his transformation. "And now you know where I am from... what about you?" she asked of the young man seeming to have relaxed completely and was now leaning against her halberd which she planted into the ground. Afterall, there was no point in continuing to fight the young man as he was, if he couldn't push past whatever was keeping him from a transformation he could obviously activate.

Yasmin was in her own training receiving a much more direct bit of disbelief at her present state of inaction. She had the grace to look a bit embarrassed and tried to think of how to explain it. "I didn't mean to hold back. It's just kind of hard to unlearn the habit... it's all still really new to me." Yasmin mentioned. It was true that she had a more than reasonable amount of power, but until very recently she never considered herself to be very powerful at all. Given that and the known negatives she had for throwing herself into things, she was always very cautious.

[Bloodedge]

Seeing Erza's relaxed state, Fudo dropped his fighting stance as well, and did away with Amon's flames and his Djinn Equip. "I'm from Sindria. I won't lie and say I'm not here for power. What I want is to be able to deal with any challenge thrown my way as I go on to realize my ultimate goal: creating a world without poverty or suffering, as a king that treats all of his subjects as members of the royal palace."

Caelus remained surprised by what he was hearing. He knew there was something he disliked about this group of people that had come to the Yambala Gladiators, and now he knew exactly what it was. "Ah... You're a peaceful bunch, huh? A bunch of Dungeon Capturers who don't like killing people. You're gonna have a hard time in this world if you don't learn when to put some killer instinct behind that soft ass weapon of yours."