Christian moved out of the way and raised his leg to try and trip Yahto who was still moving forward. Yahto swung at his leg with both of his daggers but Christian managed to move it back and lower it just enough so that Yahto missed with his daggers but Christian still hit him with his leg in the shin area. Yahto tripped over his foot but managed to turn the fall into a roll and sprang back up ready to fight some more.

As soon as Christian saw Yahto had fallen he bounded towards him and swung both swords just as Yahto looked up.

Love flew past in a long, stretch sweep, so that if Yahto didn't block the sword, he'd probably get smacked in the mouth, but at the same time, Hope was on a slightly lower sweep in the same direction, aiming to cut through Yahto's side.

But that wasn't all. Christian had held Hope so that the blade was facing downwards. Not too abnormal when considered on its own, but this allowed him to hold the blade at a deflective, slightly diagonal angle that would cause another blade to either bounce off or simply slide along Hope without pushing it too stray too far from it's target. It would take a force pushing in the completely opposite direction to actually stop Hope, but with any luck, Love would be preoccuping the dagger in the better position to do that.

Christian was still not done however. He was already twisting his torso back round so that if both blades were stopped, he could easily fling up a knee into Yahto's gut or thigh and incapacitate him enough to hold a sword to his throat and force a surrender.

As one final precaution, Christian had held Love with two fingers either side of the handle. Perculiar, maybe, but it was an old Vendallion trick that allowed the wielder to quickly snap the sword around in a circular movement, in this case, effectively covering two thrids of Christian's body from an attack if Yahto were to somehow break through this mass, complication of an attack and luanch a counter-attack that would be potentially devastating given Yahto's proximity.

It was very true to say that Christian was a cautious fighter. But the moment he saw the chance... he swept in with no mercy.

"Aussir!" Yahto yelled. He made a diving roll to the side, moving in the same direction as Christian's blades in an attempt to avoid the worst of the damage. Love missed his face and Hope didn't hit his side in the place that it was meant to, so the gash that he obtained wasn't as deep as it would have been otherwise.

Yahto came out of his roll in a kneeling position and noticed that, out of pure luck, his spell on Christian's feet had worked and that they were now covered in ice.

"That was a very nice try but you won't be able to kill me quite that easily," said Yahto, a grin on his face and a hand to his side as he froze his wound with his magic so that the bleeding stopped. Yahto's magical armor had started healing his wound almost instantaneously, but it would take some time for it to fully heal.

"Sjach," he said, still clutching his side, and billowing clouds of fog came from out of nowhere, completely concealing the part of arena that they were in. Yahto crouched low to the ground and quickly made his way around to Christian's most vulnerable side, his back. Keeping his distance, he hoped that Christian had not yet freed himself from the ice around his feet.

<font color=orange>Okay, a kinda cheeky post... For starters, your last couple of posts were considerbly worse than mine, so in theory you shouldn't just be able to main my character. But you still took a hit, which is good, and you avoided the attack in a realistic manner. Plus, this post was very good, good enough for you to get away with it at the very least. So, nicely done.

Just a tip, you stated that Yahto was hoping that Christian hadn't freed himself, but didn't say what he was going to do about it if he was, leaving yourself a little bit open.</font>


Christian leaned down and carefully worked away at the ice with Hope. Carving the ice into an almost new set of boots, Christian listened carefully. Yahto may have been extremely acrobat for his size, but he was still a big, heavy man and that meant his foot steps made considerbly sound to anyone willing to listen.

He sensed Yahto moving behind him, closing in on where he would be most vunerable, he listened as Yahto cautiously strafed around to his side and then his rear... suddenly, there was a grunt and a large slab or ice came flying out of the fog, straight towards Yahto's face as Christian swung his leg backwards and the ice flew off of his foot.

He was aware that Yahto wouldn't see the ice until late, and there was a thud and a cry as the ice smacked into him. Now that he was perfectly certain of Yahto's position within the fog, Christian flung his leg round to gain momentum and distance and then brought his other foot, still incased in ice, around in a large, powerful round-house kick that smashed the ice squarely against Yahto's head and sent his sprawling to the ground.

<font color=blue>"An equally nice try..."</font> Christian whispered morbidly, moving silently around the arena, his light, padded boots absorbing the sounds of his movements, <font color=blue>"But when vision is lacking... I <i>always</i> have the advantage..."</font>

Christian heard Yahto moan and took it as a sign of his quickly regaining focus. Christian then became aware of two choices... he could either pounce of Yahto again, now...

Or he could play mind games. When the enemy is confused - trick him, when the enemy is frightened - surprise him and when the enemy is frustrated... attack him.

Christian changed direction, slowly circling where he could hear Yahto was.

<font color=blue>"We can stop now, if you've had enough?"</font> Christian called while still moving. He changed diection again afterwards. Without allievating the fog, Yahto would have no way of getting an accurate reading of Christian's position. None-the-less, Christian held both his blades across his body and crouched down low, ready to deflect any attack and then spring past Yahto if neccssary.


<font color=orange>Seriously, let me know when you've had enough, because I can't think of anything else worth teaching you right now. At least not until you've gotten some real experience and then you probably won't need me training you anyway.</font>


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Both participants have agreed to end thread.

Well done DL, you did really well. I don't see much point in posting a formal ending, so we'll just leave it here.

Serenity, now frustrated to the point of exhaustion, sheathed her dagger and then punched her open hand forward through the air. Elysian’s knife flew from her fingertips and landed in Serenity’s palm, promptly evaporating into thin air.

<font color=purple>If you can’t properly wield the weapon, you don’t deserve to carry it. When you decide you want to learn, I’ll give it back.</font>

A dark oak staff appeared between them, it’s apex twisted into knots. It hovered in front of a startled Elysian.

<font color=purple>Take it.</font>

Elysian just stared, dumbstruck at having something brought before her when it had been safe in her own stores. Without a word, Serenity brought forth her own quarterstaff. It was thick, a foot longer than Elysian’s and more simplistic in design. Gaea, as it was called, was obviously meant to do physical damage, not just aid in magic.

<font color=purple>I know you know how to use that. Now, pick it up.</font>

The staff remained where it was, under Elysian’s astounded gaze. Serenity snatched her own from the air and her figure hovered a few feet above the ground. Her fingertips began to glow with magic, the light reflecting in her eyes. Her face was blank, empty except for a look of cold indifference as she stared down at Elise.

<font color=purple>If I have to ask you again, you wont be able to walk out of this arena. <i>PICK IT UP</i>!</font>

The light flared at her fingertips. One way or another, she was going to make Elysian fight her.