Metal Bones [Duel | Mura versus Crimzon]

Flat ground. Dust flying up. Open space upwards. Pretty much what described the arena before the shaman's eyes as he stepped a foot on it. Immediately, he could feel a strong wind push his hair back, while he focused towards the small opening at the other side of the battleground; the place where his opponent most likely would walk out of. On both his sides were his two closest spirits, Kyuken the Heaven/Earth Swordsman and Zirconis the Jade Dragon. Both powerful beings, but under the drawback of being mere auras; souls that were relying on Mura's use of them in order to accomplish their goals. All he had to do at the moment was wait... wait for the challenger to step up.

Stats:

Aether had little-to-no combat experience in his new body, but considering he was naught but bones now he felt much lighter, and with the lacrima-enhanced clothing he wore he could swear he was wearing nothing at all. Looking down at the small purple haired demi-human beside him he grinned as much as he could considering he now lacked the muscles to do so, forming a toothy baring of his pointed maw, causing the small girl to giggle to herself as she wrapped the arms of her jacket around her neck, her tail swaying to and fro as she smiled back up at the demon-skulled skeleton man.

Casting his attention back to the entrance to the arena Aether pulled his veil over his face, glamouring himself to appear human as he and Umbra walked into the arena, pulling his staff from his shadow plain within his robe as he carried himself with confidence into the arena.

stats:

”There you are,” Mura spoke to the figures that walked into the arena, “Alright, one minute, please.” Surprisingly, the samurai would kneel down on his left knee, before adjusting himself into a cross-legged position, having the two spirit heads float around his ears. “Ehm, Mura…” Kyuken tried to ask the shaman about his actions, but Mura knew better. A minute of silence was needed, especially to come up with a good strategy. He expected the other male to do the same, alongside his companion if he wanted. Although, why was there a girl too? Perhaps she wasn’t just another human that edited the situation to 2v1; it could’ve most likely been a transformed animal. He did have his experience with such beings in his battle against Takumi, but every companion was different. Now, how should his battling style stay in this round..?

After a while of thinking, he slowly stood up again and unsheathed both his swords, the short and sturdy antiquity and the long and sharp Harusame. “Okay. I’m ready,” he spoke to the couple at the other side of the arena, “You begin.”

Passive Abilities:

The veil was working as intended, his opponent hadn’t noticed the demon-like look of his skull, no doubt looking at a generally older man. He cast his attention on what appeared to be two spirits beside his opponent, his veil allowing him to stare deep into their place in space, causing them to appear more solid in his sight than others would, confirming that they were not just simple illusions. A spirit magic. Aether thought. Most likely the summoning and control of spirits bound by contract. “Well they definitely don’t have any sort of physical form.” Aether heard from within his mind, the spirit of the shadow dragon that resides within his clothes speaking to him telepathically. “They have no shadows, and only those who lack a physical form lack a shadow.” Nox continued. “I must thank you again for allowing me some sort of freedom undead one, it has been eons since I was trapped within that lacrima. It might not be much but I will use this form to the best of my abilities, be sure to use me well.” The memories of the dragon reiterated again, causing Aether to break into a small smile.

Aether examined his opponent further this time, taking notice of the weapons he possessed. One appeared to be a large dagger, red in colour and thick enough with very little decorative purpose, from what Aether could assume it was a sort of ceremonial dagger that dated back a few centuries old at the least. The other weapon he possessed appeared to be a katana, a simple design with a fine blade though slightly weathered from possible battles in its lifetime, other than that it appeared to be in great shape, however Aether couldn’t really place an age on the item, a century at the least.

Before long Aether had examined the positioning of himself and his opponent in the arena, roughly 10 meters away from each other he began taking note of how he sat and the subtle changes in his face when he thought before he rose and drew his weapons, letting Aether take note of his footing and stance to see how prepared his opponent was and what sort of estimation he had placed on both himself and his partner. Nodding to his opponent Aether twisted his staff around in his hand and took a traditional fencing position, using his ability to telecommunicate with Umbra and explain his plan with her as a chibified version of his skeletal form appeared in her vision. Upon listening to his plan Umbra took a few steps back, standing back far away enough for her to not be caught in the fray but close enough to keep an eye on the battle and jump in upon Aether’s command. He didn’t want to display his magic just yet, he had that advantage so far as his opponent had no clue as to what he possessed other than his staff, and this would be a great opportunity to throw his opponent off with what he was capable of. Letting power flow into his staff as a ball of energy formed at the pointed tip of his weapon, pulling it back over his shoulder to prepare for a sweeping motion just as the ball of energy released its power all at once in the form of a laser as it swept across his field of vision suddenly in an attempt to get a quick first hit in before Aether himself began to retreat back towards Umbra, keeping an eye on his radar in case his opponent decided to head straight in for a melee attack so that he could be prepared to defend himself.

abilities used:

Hm, Mura was still thinking about the purpose of the companion that was following Aether. Appearing to be a small girl, he was quite curious whether she would engage in battle sooner or later. Due to their condition at outnumbering him, he began thinking about how he should counter that in the future. If the lady attempted to jump in, he was lucky to have just the right ability to even things out when it came to that point. Now, his eyes moved back at the Aether guy; taking a quick look at his spirit and its status, his opponent appeared quite the big struggle to defeat. His soul was strong, indeed; perhaps even stronger than Mura’s. the shaman quickly closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again to cause a small smile on his face; it was a little exciting to find out how skilled his opponent was. Although, he was more concentrated at finding out how much that he’d improved…

The challenger sure took some time preparing himself for the battle to start. The opponent appeared to have examined on Mura, just before a staff was pulled out. The companion dashed away, which indicated that a huge effect was about to occur, most likely by the staff that was equipped. Kyuken stood ready behind the metal blade that Mura was wielding on his right hand, ready to enter anytime. Surely, it was a smart move to do, because out of the staff was a huge energy ball fired right at the shaman, almost as large as the entire arena as it approached him instantly. A calm smile remained on his face, while his samurai ghost emerged into the core of his katana Harusame. You could’ve seen a bluish aura leak out of his body, before the spatial blast collided into solid material and, thus, causing a giant reaction in form of an explosion to crash a big part of the arena below their feet…

Smoke had taken over the area around Mura and his newly, spirit-bound embodiment; only visible by the bluish light that the giant golem of Kyuken shone out, he would lift up the giant katana that was re-molded in an auric fashion. With a swift swing by the arm, he would swing his sword downwards as the giant, bluish blade came visible out of the smoke, aiming for Aether and his companion.

Stats:

Umbra watched as the beam of spacial energy swept over their opponent, preparing herself to jump in at any moment in case the katana wielding young man managed to brush off the massive amount of energy. But she knew it wouldn’t be that simple, a smile crossing her lips as a massive explosion took place, Aether running back towards her as the smoke rose up from the crater. What happened next was a quick rush as a blueish glow emanated from the smoky crater, a giant blade of blue energy emerging from the dust cloud before being brought down towards both Aether and herself. Without hesitation she ran towards Aether, sidestepping quickly to wrap her tail around his waist and fling him up and to the side to avoid the giant blade that descended upon them as she gripped the ground on all fours, a vortex of abyss energy surrounding her instantaneously as it rapidly expanded before dispersing.

Taking on her combat form, she channelled more abyss energy that formed a sphere of abyss energy between her horns, condensing and generating it at a rate fast enough to appear as though it was coated in flames, bucking her head directly up into the oncoming strike to hit the blade with the ball of energy as she fired off a powerful beam to cause an explosion as it ripped through the blade, dispersing the spirit instantaneously as the energy quickly built up along the ground the beam crossed, causing a line of explosions to follow before fading quickly. Spreading her wings Umbra roared a protective screech as she quickly let her wing-arms rest on her back, similar to how her jacket hung around her neck like a cape, backing off to stand beside Aether.

abilities used:

The fog could’ve been a fine factor of a successful hit now, but apparently, Mura managed to hit something more severely. He didn’t appear to have damaged Aether in any way; rather, the opponent kind of switched places with what looked to be some kind of draconian beast. “Huh…” he let out as he watched around the area, while the smoke settled. There were no particular signs of Aether’s companion, which indicated the identity of the beast. It must’ve transformed… but things were getting tenser as it charged up its spell.

His spirit golem was vulnerable, so the opponent might’ve planned to strike now. Either way, the sphere on top of the beast’s head appeared to be an upcoming attack, but as he saw it have its main aim at the spirit blade, then he realized that it was a counter to dissolve his spirit manifestation. And sure it did; as the blast was launched off between its horns, it shattered through his spirit blade and caused a belt of explosions to follow up in the air above them. Dust came flying like a hurricane, before the atmosphere settled more peacefully. Mura had covered his face with an arm, while having Zirconis looking towards Umbra. "... You're up, Zir," he suddenly spoke, before grabbing the dragon's spirit and merging it into his chest. As soon as it leaked in, a green aura surrounded his skin and manifested as scales, pretty similar to those of one who'd activated Dragon Force. The air became more intimidating around him and Umbra, before he took a step forward in a large leap, clenching his fist towards Umbra. His fist would engulf itself in a greenish gem, before he launched it right at Umbra's forehead.

Stats:

Aether placed a hand on the large black beast’s leg reassuringly, using the cover of the dust that began to kick up to manipulate his own bones to push himself up and onto the back of the abyssal creature. Thank you Umbra, Aether telepathically spoke to her, stroking the back of her neck with a slight smile growing across the face of his glamour. Then he sensed the sudden magical buildup, familiar but incomplete. He’s a slayer? No, it is incomplete, an imitation. Aether relayed, keeping his eye on the radar that appeared in his vision if his opponent were to make any movements he would know and instantly relay the information to Umbra. Is he still in front of us? Yes, prepare to counter a physical attack. I shall let you know what direction he is coming from.

Then suddenly as he finished the meeting of the mind, Mura had made his move with what looked like on his radar to be a large jump in distance. Directly ahead, break the dust and I’ll slow him down for you. Aether ordered, prompting Umbra to quickly spread and flap her wings, casting aside all dust and revealing their opponent. Shadow Dragon’s Pins. Suddenly and without warning Mura would find himself coming to a complete stop midair, his gem encased fist inches away from hitting the intended target. His shadow had become pinned down by what appeared to be five spikes of shadow, spiking out from each limb and one on the body of his shadow, leaving his head to remain the only part of him that would be capable of moving.

You couldn’t have done that sooner? Umbra asked, pulling away at the suddenly appearing man in front of her. The dust made it harder to pin it down, if there is no shadow I couldn’t have pinned him down. Aether replied, jumping back down from Umbra as two white eye-like circles appeared on the back of his robe and began to suck in shadows to replenish his mana. "I am not the kind of person to harm an opponent that has been rendered immobile, but that doesn't mean that I will not take advantage of this opportunity." Aether spoke to the black haired mage as he moved to a suitable distance away from Umbra and his opponent, tapping his cane along the way until he was 40 meters away from Umbra as she emitted a dense sound pulse from around her body, similar to a gong. There was no escaping the pins that held him in place, leaving him at the complete mercy of the large abyss walker as she sealed away the abilities of the weapons and magic he used, leaving him only his spells and the buffs that he had placed upon himself just as the pins released themselves and dropped the man to the ground, that is if he didn't have any way to cover his ears or any sort of skills that involved his head in any way.

stats:

The target was on sight, and Mura had tried his best to hurry up for a direct hit; however, as he found himself stuck right in front of the opponent, something had happened to him. He couldn’t move his limbs, and he found himself in midair, mere centimeters from the target. “Huh…” he let out in mild shock. Quickly, he struggled to set his muscles in motion, but in pure vain; the shadow pins were having a good grab on his mobility. Crap!!!, the dragon’s spirit within him roared out in wild rage, Not one of those again! They’re everyone, damn it! At first, Mura didn’t understand the complaint from such a hardcore dragon, but as his eyes were struggling to look at anything else than what appeared before him, he slowly considered if this guy used some kind of magic that Zirconis hated. It couldn’t be...

Mura found himself landing on the ground again, shaking a little as his muscles were about to go numb. Apparently, Aether had made his distance from Mura, in which indicated that he didn’t wish for Mura to get any closer. In that case, Mura thought about switching to long-distance attacks; however, surprisingly, the shaman just stood there. Waiting. Just waiting… for an opening.

Stats:

Aether wasted little time after the deed had been done, teleporting behind his opponent in an instant using the large shadow that Umbra’s wings cast across him in order to get closer, and since his abilities were now sealed there was no way he could have been detected if his opponent relied on magical abilities to detect his opponents. However, he prepared himself as he communed with Nox, activating the Shadow Coat ability just in case the man had enough reaction time and smarts to figure out where he was to render his next attack harmless as his form became incorporeal.

Bone Demon’s Rejection. Aether spent little time afterwards as he reached out and placed a hand on the man, triggering his spell and causing the bones within his target to suddenly fly away from him like two of the same magnetic poles, sending the dragon-boosted mage far away from him. Bone Demon’s Thorns. Aether whispered to himself, creating a ball of bone that was filled to the brim with teeth in front of his outstretched palm before manipulating it to fly after his opponent as though it had been launched from a cannon, easily traveling 60m/s and catching up with the launched man, which if nothing were to be done, would explode upon contact. The white circles appeared on his coat once more as the shadows were consumed by the white eyes, restoring his mana.

Stats:

Mura eyes targeted the front, suddenly spotting the absence of Aether. When an enemy was out of sight, then it was most likely due to a prepared surprise attack, in which Mura found himself exposed for any attacks at the moment. The opponent was out of sight, and no signs of Aether's spiritual level could be felt anywhere. He was completely gone for the moment, which surprised the shaman a lot. Perhaps it was due to Aether's magic, because Mura was accustomed to track down his opponent from all angles in a certain range; however, that didn't seem to work at the moment. In a second, he felt a touch on his skin that caused his bones to suddenly charge away from the opponent. “WOOOAHHHH!!!” he roared out in confusion, feeling completely stunned as his bones wouldn’t move. The next thing that happened was an approaching bone that was about to lay a hit on the shaman, if not for a counter! Now that he felt that the opponent was behind him (due to being launched forward and by the touch), he had a good idea of Aether's location now.

Suddenly, a ball contacted his back. It was for a brief moment, and it appeared impossible to parry, before it sent out teeth in all directions, covering a good area around Mura. Quickly, he landed on his feet, but the velocity made it difficult as he was about to fall on his face. He felt pretty hurt from the sudden combo that Aether had performed. "Heh... ouch," he let out, while turning around, "Nice one, guy..." It was a dangerous situation; he'd felt magic power do more damage than this spell, but if it was larger, then it could've clearly been fatal for the outcome of the match. Let's see the defensive side of yours, he thought as he turned his face around to launch a huge storm of jade shards towards Aether from his mouth.

Stats:

Umbra, we shall not give him time to counter. Head up and prepare for an aerial slam. Aether ordered, prompting the Abyss Walker to ascend into the sky as he waited for his opponent to unleash his counter before activating his next ability. Gripping his staff tightly he allowed it to pull him from his current standing in space as he suddenly teleported high above his opponent, disappearing from his opponent’s sight once more. Shadow Dragons Shade. Aethers shadow quickly moved to directly under him in the form of a small circle, surrounding his opponent as it quickly burst out, overtaking the spirit mage’s own shadow and inflicting its effects.

Aether began to pool magical energy into his skull, his eyes glowing a bright white as he manipulated his own bones to fall faster than the effects of gravity could pull him down, landing directly behind the dragon-imbued mage, cracking the ground beneath him as the wind from his fall causing his veil to rise off his face temporarily to reveal his true skeletal form. “Too slow.” Before he gave his opponent any time to move he unleashed his spell from point blank range upon his back, opening his jaw as a torrent of pure, holy bones of various sizes erupted from his gaping maw, his positioning prompting his opponent to be taken with the torrent towards the sky where the waiting Abyss Walker had prepared her own attack.

Umbra didn’t have to wait long after taking to the sky for a large volume of bones to suddenly appear around her, along with their opponent. Wasting no time she channelled Abyss energy from her horns, having it flow down her back and surround her tail as a vortex of void energy, spikes protruding from every angle as at the centre of the vortex a singular red cross had formed. As the vortex was forming Umbra flew straight towards their opponent before unleashing a front flip tail strike, the vortex blade reaching full power and length in mere moments before her attempt to strike the spirit mage in an attempt to launch him back down towards the ground, the blade vortex itself reaching up to 80m in length and barely missing her partner as it cut through the earth with ease. Aether proceeded to pull a bone from his coat and consume it as his cloak consumed the shadow cast by the large dragon-like companion in the sky.

Stats:

Mura’s eyes spotted the ascending figure dodge his roar just as it had reached its target’s location. He’s in the air! Proceed!, the dragon within him prompted, and his feet were already about to elevate him when he suddenly felt bolted to the ground. An effect that reminded him of what Aether used on him earlier had immobilized him, and it was most likely a new technique from the bone mage. Now that Mura couldn’t move, then he could quickly guess that Aether was up for a follow-up attack like last time, in which he quickly let his spirit burst out just as Aether showed up behind him. Instantly, his body was getting pushed back by a storm of various-sized bones that shone like stars in the battlefield. It was a powerful technique, but Mura wasn’t going to let himself bow to the immobilization again as he was found right in front of Aether in the middle of the roar. An armor had formed around him, and the scales that symbolized the draconian fusion were thicker than ever, protecting him from the devastating roar…

His fist was fiercely charged towards the face of Aether as he found his foothold a mere meter from his earlier position. Thanks to his spirit burst, he shrugged the bone spell away and wasn’t hesitating a mere second in sending his counterattack towards its target. All while he was unaware of Umbra’s upcoming attack, until he could hear it… the vortex that was approaching him, hidden away from his vision that wasn’t even at its fullest thanks to whatever Aether had done to him in the during of the battle. Reflexes from his soon-to-be cancelled spell would instinctively let him leap to the side after attempting to strike a punch at Aether's face. If the attack would appear to fail, then he would at least make space between the two of them...

Stats:

Aether gritted his glamoured teeth as his roar spell hadn’t managed to even lift his opponent from the ground, placing him a bit too close for comfort up against his opponent. Incoming! Umbra telepathically shouted to him, the vortex of Abyss energy making its way towards them both yet Aether had a more pressing matter. The spirit mage’s defensive spell had protected him from his roar but it appeared to still be active in some way, he could feel the resounding magical energy emitting from the adolescents body. Aether had little time to spare as the man began his counter, rushing towards him as the vortex of energy descended upon them, and with no time to effectively move out of the way from either attack he made a quick, split second decision as he noticed the spirit mage’s fist quickly approaching his face.

He didn’t like to consume the bones of the living, but at this point he felt he had no choice and with the opportune movement of his opponent he couldn’t give up the chance to place himself at an advantage. His jaw was still agape after the roar, and as he moved just out of the way to avoid the fist he manipulated his skull to quickly twist back around as the veil which kept him glamoured flew off his face as the punch flew past, his skull becoming clearly visible as he dug his teeth directly into the flesh of his opponent’s forearm with a crushing force similar to that of a crocodile, and at the moment his fangs connected with his opponent’s Ulna and Radius bones he triggered the consumption whilst holding his opponent there with him, preventing any sort of escape as the Abyss Vortex descended upon them. As the vortex cut through them both Aether would place a hand covered with unnoticeable bone-needles on his opponent, tapping into his skeletal system for just enough time to deal the spells effects.

Stats:

Mura was just about to hit the skull, but somehow, Aether was still fast enough to dodge the punch by moving back. At that point, Mura would’ve gone for another punch as he was clearly getting close up on the opponent, but something marvelous (and creepy) happened; Aether appeared to reveal his head, or in this case a skull, that drilled its teeth into Mura’s arm. “ARGH!” he let out in pain as the jaws were squashing his arm like a sausage. It came totally unexpected, and Mura wasn’t fast nor stable enough to react with a counter. It also damaged him a lot.

Now, he could’ve jumped away whilst holding his suddenly loosened arm, but Aether was quick; he was already having his long nails drilled into Mura. It felt like long needles were stabbing into his bare skin, and Aether’s head… was it a skull now? Where was the human face? Mura couldn’t stop thinking, but at the same time had trouble thinking of what to do as another threat was descending upon them both. It came right through them both as if Aether tried to sacrifice some health to let Mura get hit. It was tense, but after the vortex pierced through, three clones 5 clones appeared out of nowhere; all looking like Mura. He was unable to move much due to the needle-like grab holding onto him, but his clones were free to swing their katanas at Aether. Although, only two of them were doing that; the three others went after Umbra as the beast had descended. They relied on their katanas as well as he wanted to safe mana for later; it would cost too much to let all clones do a spell. Somehow, they couldn’t fly; a very unique ability of his was unable to be activated, in which they all grinded their teeth in mere speculation of how it was possible…

Stats:

(OOC: still not sure about the abyss vortex's amount of damage, but plz tell, so I can edit ^^)

Releasing his opponent from his maw Aether quickly took in what he had done, five clones of the spirit mage had spawned themselves from seemingly nowhere around them, with two aiming to strike at his back as three moved in to go after Umbra who had landed nearby to prepare for a follow-up attack. “Perhaps now is the time to get serious undead one?” The voice of the shadow dragon asked in Aethers mind, its white eyes and mouth appearing on the cloak as it opened the gateway to its personal shadow realm, hundreds of bone daggers ejecting from the white of its mouth as they both intersected the incoming blade strikes and attempted to impale the clones. “If they aren’t alive, then it’s okay to slay them. Isn’t that right Undead one?” the voice spoke out of the coat, shadows being drawn into the mouth as more knives flew out to be suspended in the air before rushing towards the three clones that went to attack Umbra, turning around to continue their assault on the clones if they were deflected or missed to cause an unending onslaught of bone.

“You will not lay a hand on her.” Aether spoke, his teeth sinking further into his opponents flesh. “One wrong move and you will know undeath.” The skeleton warned, his glowing red eyes locking with the spirit mages as several bone knives positioned themselves around the young man’s body; The small of his back, either side of his neck, the back of his skull, under his jaw, and behind both knee’s. “Do you yield?” as he spoke the knives pressed gently against the points they were to pierce, his life held in the balance of one simple answer.

Stats:

… Damn. Somehow, bones from Aether’s cloak appeared to counter his clones’ strikes, impaling them brutally and into nonexistence. He expected as much due to his state; who would’ve guessed that he would lose an arm during this fight? Nonetheless did he remain calm, and his soul was extraordinarily strong in spirit. However, he would need more than that to turn the tables in this fight, while Aether buried his teeth into the disappearing flesh that used to be his arm with bone and everything.

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew way tenser as Aether warned him of any single wrong move; his eyeballs rolled around as daggers of calcium surrounded his body, from knee to head, each preparing to impale his entire physique. Listening to the warning, Mura found himself pretty cornered; however, a faint light began to emit from his antiquity that was barely unsheathed at the moment, in which he felt a little more confident in the time of worry. “Eh. I don’t know, I’m… ouch, having fun now,” he let out with a slight interruption from the heavy pain that still hung onto his arm. Slowly, the bluish aura from his antiquity made it across his body, and as he was ready, his free arm was sent towards Aether’s skull as he was holding onto Mura with those teeth. He felt secured from the daggers that would most likely hit him, or maybe he activated his shield in vain..?
(OOC: Kinda slow on the punch cuz debuff, just saying. It's possible to dodge my punch in point-blank range for now o3o)

Stats: