Through the Maze(Artemishiu)

[Jisenki]

The Eclipse Tower stood before Zaulqs, blocking the sun above and claiming possession of the skies above. It became quickly apparent where such a tower had received its name from. The area around him felt calm and peaceful as an eerie wind passed between him and the collosal structure that he had made his goal to explore. He had heard of this place, this Eclipse Tower, from other fellow travelers who also had a thirst for knowledge and a thirst that could only be quenched by the exploration that one could find through trial and error. Trial and error...such were the methods that Zaulqs built his life upon. The questions that he asked and the answers that he would supply himself were the gears that controlled, drove, and pushed his life. "Who made this tower? Why was it known as the Eclipse Tower? What kind of secrets were inside? What dangers or treasures awaited those that dared to venture into its stronghold?" All were questions that Zaulqs desired to have answered.

Step by step in perfect rhythm, Zaulqs proceeded to the intimidating doors that blocked intruders from entering. The sand around the tower made Zaulqs fairly cautious as he placed his hand an inch from the door.
"Hmm? So much sand around this tower causes me to worry. What if, by some chance, the door itself is a trap? Could it be possible that this entire tower is filled with sand? It could be possible, however, the probability of this isn't very high. I'll take my chances and continue forward." Zaulqs pulled the door open quickly, releasing only the scent that lingered within the Tower. Such a scent, having been trapped within the tower for what could be assumed to be a distinct amount of time, whiffed past him and escaped into the outside. The dark room that seemed to strech on for miles surprised Zaulqs. As the door slammed shut, the inside could be clearly seen as a maze. The maze of the Eclipse Tower was no simple maze either. Staircases, twists, turns, dead ends, dark pathways, holes in the walls and in the ground that appeared to stretch on into eternity itself, an endless cycle of structures that seemed to lead to absolutely nowhere.

Zaulqs smiled as he knew that he would, for sure, learn something new about this place once he's able to return outside...IF he's able to return outside.

[artemishiu]

(OOC): How the heck are we going to fight in a maze?
............................................................................
Shang slowly walked up to the Eclipse Tower. It was named quite well for it blocked out the sun with the round dome on the top just like a solar eclipse. He had been called here by an acquaintance, Zaulqs. It seemed that he had wanted to spar. However, this tower did not seem to be a good place to have a sparring match. 'Oh well', he thought not wanting to think so much. He would just trust his friend and have some fun while at it. He approached the doors, noting how big they were. An ordinary human would not be able to open these doors, at least not by themselves. But then again, who said that he was ordinary? The door seemed to have recently been opened. 'Just like Zaulqs', he thought. 'Always the one with the insatiable curiosity, he must have gone ahead.' He opened the doors and entered. The musty smell was rather irritating, the entire building just gave off an aura of being around for many centuries and probably out of use for just as long. His eyes quickly surveyed the room. It was gigantic and full of different passages, just like a maze. Zaulqs had certainly chosen an interesting place to have a sparring match. 'All it needed was a minotaur', he mused. 'And it would be like a fairy tale.' He then saw Zaulqs about 50 meters from where he stood. He ran over and greeted Zaulqs, "Interesting place you found here, Zaulqs. So we'll be exploring this place, huh? Thought we were just going to have a simple sparring match." He laughed good naturedly, amused by his friend's antics.

[Jisenki]

OOC: You'll see. The maze surrounding shouldn't overall affect things. Once the fight starts, I'll show you what I mean.

IC: Zaulqs had been surveying the area, remaining cautious and making sure that he didn't fall into any ancient traps that this place may have. As he heard a voice nearby, he turned to see a person that he had met in the past. This friend of his was also a fellow wanderer and was assumed, by Zaulqs, to also have some type of thirst for knowledge. "I do believe that this is quite the interesting place as well. Who would have possibly known that such a tower would include a large and magnificent maze such as this with winding pathways, seemingly endless stairs, and other various traps to confuse and disorient the one that wishes to enter and search inside of it."

"As for the battle...." Zaulqs had never been the one to fight pointlessly. He always had some reason for his actions, some kind of method to his madness. With this 'spar', as it was called, Zaulqs wished to learn more about wanderers outside The Sanction as well as journey through the Eclipse Tower at the same time. Doing so would allow, as well as force, both Zaulqs and Shang to learn about the tower and about each other. Afterall, a battle was always a good way to understand the thinking process and even the personality of a warrior and a person. "...I believe that this setting would be perfect for such an occasion. This will force us both to learn about the tower while learning about each other as well. Maybe through this experience we can become much better people, wouldn't you say, Shang-kun?"
I'm curious to see what this wanderer can do. I don't know where this person came from, but I know that wherever he came from and however he was raised, I can learn just a little more from this battle through his mannerisms and movements. Hopefully, the two of us will be able to happily learn something while being granted with the gift of being able to see the light of day, or lack of it, that resides directly outside this tower.

[artemishiu]

Shang laughed, this was Zaulqs all right, always the one with the inquisitive mind and the honorifics. He said,"Yes, I agree but I don't think I am sure that I want you to know too much about me..." He never liked people who knew him too well, it always gave them an advantage over him. "...but I guess it'll be an interesting experience and hopefully, we'll get out of this ancient maze alive. Come on, let's go, we'll never get anything done if we're just going to stand here yapping away." He proceeded to walk furthur into the maze, expecting Zaulqs to follow him. He never was one to do much thinking or talking, he liked to take the initiative. He was wary of any traps, knowing that in ancient times, traps were used more often for killing then just capturing one's enemy. He didn't want to die so young, after all, he still had to keep the promise with his father. He started comtemplating, 'I wonder what is running through that kid's brain. Just how many questions is he thinking of answering about this tower before he's satisfied? I'm not all that fond of being trapped here for too long. I hope he knows what he's doing. Sheesh, why am I thinking so much? Zaulqs must be rubbing off on me. But still, I wonder what he can do, I know that he is a puppeteer. So I really want to check out his creatures and items. It'll be very interesting to see how my mainly melee techniques work against a guy who usually fights long range. Of course, if anything goes wrong, I can still rely on my trump card, Magia Obscurio. This will be fun...' And his thoughts trailed on to other subjects which had nothing to do with the current situation. It was just like him. Shang was never one to dwell on anything for too long. He was a brilliant strategist but he didn't like to think too much for he would start second-guessing himself. He stopped as he reached a fork in the pathway and asked, "Hey Zaulqs, which path do you want to take?"

[Jisenki]

Zaulqs looked at the two pathways. Both of them seemed to be equally unknown and the fact that this place was filled with twists and turns didn't give Zaulqs any ease when considering the choice. For all they knew, each path lead to its own doom for the one foolish enough to take it. Zaulqs was one who would usually think about everything and consider possibilities, but this might be an exception. He looked at Shang and instantly, his cards surrounded him. "Shang-kun, perhaps instead of considering the most logical option, we should blindly make our decision by pure impulse. I think now would be the perfect time to start our spar and see where this takes us. Wouldn't you say."

The set of cards surrounded Zaulqs. A set of cards spun in a vertical circle to the left of Zaulqs, with the cards facing inward so that Shang couldn't see them. Another similar set of cards spun vertically to the right of Zaulqs in the same manner as the first, keeping their identity concealed. The final set circled outside and around Zaulqs and the other two sets of cards, spinning clockwise and spinning with great speed so that the pictures on the cards could hardly be seen. In the center of everything stood Zaulqs who appeared to be making the first move. "I start this match off then."

Zaulqs glanced to his right, and snatched a card from those that were rotating. Using his middle and index finger, he turned the card to Shang to show him the card. On the card: a rod and what appeared to be light. "This is one of my Soul Cards, a card that is a physical manifestation of the powers and experiences that I've had. This card is known as Flash. I'd say that although it is a moderately powered move, it would be interesting nonetheless to see how you react to my opening Gambit."
From the card came an extended rod that shone a bright light that would inflict 50 damage to the opponent if successful. It wasn't clear if this technique would be successful or not, but the card returned to the rotating group of cards on the right. Suddenly, Zaulqs muttered a few words to himself, "Iwherz Juckryaf", and a large card appeared that had a picture of a large stone beast. From the card came the stone beast and he stood outside of the rotating cards staring at the light in order to see what had happened to Shang once the light from the attack had vanished. This was the ability of Zaulqs known as Vhenrif Kershwih, which always and automatically called for a creature to take his side. He muttered just a few more words, "Fefefnu Jhurckuy", and another card appeared that had a picture of a water-like humanoid creature. From the picture came the creature and the floors began to get wet due to the creature's aquatic and therefore non-solid form. Two creatures were out now, and the water creature who was known as Umeri Jhutva stood on Zaulqs left. Zaulqs was now finished and he was curious to see how his opponent would react and respond to the events to occurred.

Soul Card-Flash
Attack Power: 50
Jisenki carried out 1 launched of one (Attack Dice.) :

17

Abilities Used:
-Swift Gathering (Vhenrif Kershwih)
-Skill Card-Side Summon (Fefefnu Jhurckuy)

--Creatures on the field:
Iwherz Juckryaf the Earth Elemental
HP: 1200

Umeri Jhutvha the Water Elemental
HP: 850

[artemishiu]

'Finally', thought Shang. 'I finally get to have some fun.' He looked at the two creatures on his opponent's side. They looked like what could become a hindrance. He decided to conserve his tsukara and not defend against Zaulqs' attack. After all, he had more dangerous things to worry about. He decided that he needed to destroy or disable his opponent's creatures to give himself time to think. He decided to use an electric attack to see how the water elemental would react and a wind one to see how the earth one would react. But then he realized that the earth elemental could just take the electric attack head on without flinching so he decided to just use his favorite move for disabling the opponent, Lightning Barrage.

Lightning Barrage
Attack Power: 25 x dice roll
artemishiu carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

9

Lightning Barrage
Attack Power: 25 x dice roll
artemishiu carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

12

If roll is 15 or higher, Zaulqs is put into assistance lock, regardless of whether the attack is successful or not.

OOC: We have already established that if you are put into assistance lock, your creatures and cards, even those on the field are disabled for how ever many turns, correct?

I edited so the current dice that show up don't count. The dice I rolled was a 10 and a 11, 10 for the first and 11 for the second. I apologize for the trouble.

[Jisenki]

The lightning techniques created by Shang flared nearby towards Zaulqs.
The two creatures stood nearby and watched Zaulqs to see if he would give them some kind of hint regarding whether or not to make a move. Zaulqs thought of a few different methods to respond to this, but at this point, he decided that he would let his creatures perform the actions for him, although he realized that time was of the importance. Absorbing a little of what Shang had just done, it became fairly obvious that he uses the lightning technique or at least some techniques that resemble lightning in appearance and function. The two techniques didn't seem too difficult to avoid, however Zaulqs needed to do something fast and letting the technique hit him was the best option.

He maneuvered to the right as quickly as possible, and his Earth creature Iwherz Juckryaf followed, using his Intercept ability Iwherz moved in front of Zaulqs and defended with his body. At the same time, Zaulqs
summoned another creature using his Side Summon Ability, plucking a card from almost nowhere and revealing it, creating a burst of flames that revealed a feminine creature covered with flames. This was a creature that would keep Zaulqs offensive and defensive simultaneously. Zaulqs was done, but his creature wasn't. As the attack struck Iwherz, Circhre Syutre used her technique Magma Lock, covering the surrounding area in glowing flames that would nullify elements of any technique that wasn't fire or non-elemental. It also increased the Dice Value of non-elemental techniques by 1 and all fire techniques are decreased by 1. Circhre looked a little weak using this technique since she had to give up 100 HP to use it, but it was worth it.

Zaulqs turned around to another pathway and stepped on a panel that caused needles to fall. He managed to roll out of the way, but it was a close call. Maintaining his calm composure, a bead of sweat fell from his face. The maze was tricky, fighting and avoiding the techniques at the same time was difficult, however, it was still rewarding in its own way. Once he focused, another creature appeared. This creature was Qanct Pik.

Abilities & Techniques used:

Swift Gathering (Vhenrif Kershwih)
Skill Card-Side Summon (Fefefnu Jhurckuy)

Intercept
Jisenki carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

8

Magma Lock- By paying 100 HP, for 5 turns, only Fire attribute and non-attribute techniques can be used.
Jisenki carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

10

Creatures On The Field

Umeri- 850/850 HP
Iwherz- 675/1200 HP
Qanct- 700/700 HP
Circhre- 700/700 HP

[Jisenki]

OOC: Circhre has 600 left. I forgot to add that in.

[artemishiu]

Question:
Since Magna Lock uses a die, does that mean I could stop it with a block or an evade or counter?

[Jisenki]

OOC: Its not Offensive or Defense, which means that it can't be "chained" as the term goes. Both Intercept and Magma Lock are Special techniques that generally can't be avoided....Generally. There are ways, but these ways could involve items, abilities, creatures, equipment, etc.

[artemishiu]

You never told me just which Lightning Barrage you were going to take and the intercept failed so does that mean your rock creature takes damage?

[artemishiu]

'Damn', thought Shang. He had been trapped, if only there was some way to avoid that technique. Now he couldn't do anything. To be trapped by an opponent this easily, this was a disgrace. He decided to resign himself to the fact and decided to analyze the situation by sending 2 hook punches at Zaulqs.

Hook Punch- 75
artemishiu carried out 1 launched of one (Attack Dice.) :

14

Hook Punch- 75
artemishiu carried out 1 launched of one (Attack Dice.) :

6

[Jisenki]

Zaulqs watched as Shang made his way around his creatures and passed through his cards, delivering two punches at him Zaulqs could only grunt as the punches hit him hard in the face, causing his nose to bleed a little. Zaulqs fell to the floor with a thump, and his 4 creatures watched as their summoner had been hit. This was a knew experience that Zaulqs had now faced. Back in The Sanction, all of the warriors there fought using magic and various tools. Besides the creatures, no one used physical combat. A punch was new, although it was to be expected from someone outside The Sanction. Zaulqs did learn something at that moment. He now understood more about Shang's agreesiveness and realized that Shang was a person that remained on offensive, or so it seemed from the battle so far. This gave Zaulqs an idea. Suddenly, he heard a loud rumble and it had seemed that he pressed his elbow on a hidden switch that released a smokescreen. There was no danger from it, but it did help Zaulqs as he could now secretly perform his next move.

He rolled forward and leaped up. His cards gathered around him again, and he pulled a card from nearby, staring at it carefully through the thick smoke. As the smoke cleared, Zaulqs was holding the card with its picture facing Shang. The picture had a man that was bound by chains, forcing him to drop his weapons. "Do you see it Shang-kun? This is one of my Soul Card's known as Ceasefire. This card instantly keeps you from attacking (you can't roll Special [Offensive] or Attack Dice) if you have attacked me at least three times in a row. The two punches from a moment ago count, and the two lightning bolts from before makes four consecutive attacks." Immediately, chains created by the magic of Zaulqs's illusions bound Shang's fist. They would allow him to move, but if he were to attack or even think it, they would pull him back, thus stopping him completely. "Unfortunately, you should are too impulsive. You should consider the consequences of your actions and find a less agressive way to deal with them, or if nothing else, find some method of fighting without putting yourself at risk. I understand though. Based on your situation, with 4 creatures--soon to be 5, attacking you and thwarting your moves, I would find it hard not to relentlessly attack the one who is the cause of the problem. I apologize if I sound arrogant or cocky in any way. I am merely speaking of the situation as it appears to me." Zaulqs looked to his water beast Umeri Jhutva. He nodded his head, and the creature nodded back. He then reached his hands up and his body grew and then turned into a water that spread to everything on the field. At this moment, every creature gained 100 HP, every non-creature (including Zaulqs and Shang) takes 100, and Zaulqs takes 100 more because of the strain that he receives from his creature performing such a move. Zaulqs began to back up, making his way up a staircase while touching the wall, remaining cautious of the traps that could exist. He decided that this would be as good a time as any to create some distance between himself and his opponent.

As he moved away, his final creature appeared through his ability Swift Gathering and a large gust of wind blew, rippling the robe that Zaulqs wore and pushing his hair in front of his eyes.


Techniques used:

Soul Card- Ceasefire
Jisenki carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

4

Flash Flood
Jisenki carried out 1 launched of one (Special Dice.) :

7

Creatures On The Field:

Umeri- 850/850 HP
Iwherz- 775/1200 HP
Qanct- 700/700 HP
Circhre- 700/700 HP
Vres- 800/800

[Jisenki]

OOC: Still there?

[artemishiu]

OOC: I quit because you have too many techniques that can't be blocked or avoided.

[Jisenki]

OOC: They can be, but if you choose to quit then I'll accept my victory.

[artemishiu]

OOC: If they can be avoided or blocked that how do I avoid or block your techniques that prevent me from doing stuff, huh. You told me yourself that I couldn't really block them or avoid them so what do you mean that they can be all of a sudden?

[Jisenki]

OOC: You fight and wait the few turns until they wear off or you find an alternative. You don't necessarily need to avoid little status conditions and effects in order to win. There is always some way. You just need to find it. But if you still want to quit then it doesn't really matter too much does it?

[artemishiu]

You shut off every single one of my techniques, I think that is known as defeat.
Or am I mistakened?

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