If there was one place Odin knew he'd feel comfortable in the great capital of Crocus, it was Domus Flau, where he currently stood in the center of, with three badly beaten men on the ground around him. If there was one thing Odin knew and respected, it was combat, and where better for him to spend his time while in Crocus than in the greatest arena in Fiore, where countless battles are held each year. Having entered the arena a few hours previously, Odin had found the three gentlemen currently knocked down sparring with each other in an attempt to become stronger. Asking for a fight only got him a few laughs from the men as they viewed Odin as a weakling undeserving of their time, but a few insults here, and taking one of them out in an instant soon changed their minds.

And now they stood, stumbling out of the arena having lost their fight, leaving only Odin standing in the center, imagining how much fun he could have in this arena while he was here. All he needed was for another opponent to arrive for him to defeat. Eventually, he would defeat them all, but he didn't want to let his boredom take over. After all, he had his spells and his magic to fight with, but there was a certain rush one felt when engaging in fisticuffs that simply wasn't experienced in any other situation, especially when one won a bout, something Odin was planning on doing until the end of the day.

Nate looked up from his book. He'd positioned himself in Crocus' grand arena in an effort to perform a little data recovery. Light mages and Knights alike flocked to the place every day in order to show off their talents. Several were strong, stronger than Nate was in his present condition, though his visitation wasn't necessarily t pick fights, more learn about what the enemy had to offer. One of the current specimens had done a reasonable job of dispatching a number of louts, enough for Nate to take notice from his vantage point in the stands. He was wearing his sunglasses in order to conceal hie eye patch and maintain a low profile, not that he had any intention of starting trouble. Thus far at least. The meagre jobs he'd picked up int he capital were enough to sate his desire for violence. Though one could never be sure.

Closing his book, Nate leaned forward in his seat. Blowing warm air into his cupped hands before rubbing them together. Observations for now, perhaps a move if he was feeling a little, restless.

It seemed boredom was not, in fact, going to get the better of Odin today. It took but a few moments, but in time the same thugs he had previously beaten up returned in force, with who looked like a leader of sorts, as well as two more of them. With the already broken two, it was a total of five combatants. Five men all wanting to pick a fight with the one mage, two of whom much angrier than the others, and one of whom clearly stronger than his fellows. Now, there was not much training one could have for taking on five men at once and winning, but it was only a challenge if either they ganged up on you and used their numbers to win, or if they were all overall stronger than the one they were facing off against. In this case, the latter was not true in the slightest, so that just left strength by numbers.

The first of the thugs came forwards, neither the strongest nor the one's whom Odin had previously defeated, hoping to prove himself next to his leader. He walked with a swagger, boasting about his strength as he told his friends how he'd be able to win this all on his own. It took one mistake for him to end up on the ground, completely unconscious. His first move had been that mistake, as he had run up to Odin, planning on sending a right hook towards the boy's face. Odin had simply ducked, and then brought his knee to meet the man's chin, hands on his head as they both fell, the boy using the momentum and his hands to slam the man's head onto the cold, rock ground, instantly defeating him.

Now that they knew who they were facing, all of the thugs moved as one, the two broken men on one side of the leader with the other, currently surprised and slightly worried new fighter on the other, all looking to their leader for orders. The order was simple: surround and beat. Shame the simplest orders were always the easiest to counteract.

The leader came in first, with the other three a few milliseconds behind as he sent a kick straight forward, hoping to topple Odin over. Odin knew that, if he fell, it was game over for him so he had to react quickly. He span to his side, away from the leader's foot and right into the paths of the two already half beaten men, who he sent to the ground by throwing both his fists into their faces, one fist each as their noses exploded in blood and they fell to the ground.

At this point, the two remaining men were behind Odin and attacking. The first, the one who had yet to face Odin at all, managed to get a kick to Odin's leg, sending him forwards towards the ground, but he used this as an excuse to forward roll and get back on his feet, about a meter away from his opponents. They ran at him, and he ran at them, sacrificing one attack to land another, as he jumped and placed his entire body weight on the newcomer, sending him to the ground and finishing him off with a quick punch to his nose, bursting it as he had the other two. This left the leader, with all his accomplices unconscious.

It was disappointing at that point then, that the leader would choose to run away from the fight, sprinting out the arena and leaving his allies to fend for themselves. Shaking his head disapprovingly, Odin sat down in the arena where he had previously stood, watching as one by one, the men got up and went home, having been beaten, some twice, by an opponent they had thought was simply a little kid. Oh how wrong they had been.

An interesting fighting style. Nate smirked. Slightly sloppy, brutal and seemingly unplanned. Several manoeuvres left the kid exposed. Kid as it turned out was most likely the most appropriate word. Didn't seem to have a bearing on ability though. Wasn't Knight trained, hell didn't seem trained at all. Self taught seemed the most likely reason for this 'devil-may-care' school of combat. Straightening up, Nate walked down the steps at the side of the arena, moving down towards the pit itself. The lad had taken a seat amongst the blood splatters, possibly revelling in his little victory.

Once Nate set foot on the pit floor, he tucked his notebook into his coat and lit up a cigarette.
"You ok kid?" His old habits got the better of him. He wagered the lad wasn't a Knight and most likely wasn't a dark mage, so his ire was stowed for the time being, replaced with a gruff form of concern. Without waiting for a reply he walked over to stand beside the seated combatant. "Certainly gave those bastards a thing or two to think about."

Perfect, just when one ends another shows up. Today might be interesting after all...

This was Odin's first thought as he witnessed a man come down from the stands and onto the ground of the arena, having seemingly watched the previous fight, and possibly the one before that. Failing his normal wishes as an observer, Odin hadn't noticed anyone sitting on the stands, so it's very possible that the man could have been here longer than he himself had been. That being said, it didn't look like the man was trying to be hostile at all, instead asking if Odin, who he referred to as a kid, was okay. Now, although it was true that compared to this man he was much younger, Odin was not a child, at least not in his mind.

And then, as the man, who didn't even wait for an answer, walked over to Odin's position, he spoke again, although this time he almost sounded impressed by Odin's fight, having taught 'those bastards' a thing or two. At his words Odin just smirked, his former annoyance at the term kid being used gone, as he looked at the man before him, the form of the man blocking the sun and casting Odin in his shade. "They were foolish enough to try and fight a battle they had no hope of winning, I merely showed them inevitability. Would you like to see it too?"

Despite the man's kindness and care, they were both still in the arena, and Odin was still itching for a fight. Maybe this man, unlike everyone before hbim, could prove somewhat of a challenge.

Nate folded his arms across his chest, his mouth twitching into a smirk.
"That would be something." The opportunity of first hand data recovery. The other men had been common street thugs, he was a fully trained Knight, much more likely to know how to hold his own and less likely to go down. Grimoire's influence was also taking hold now too, he was faster and ever so slightly more brutal, as his previous self-restrictions ebbed away. He threw off his heavy black coat, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. The shirt beneath was a dark red, making it easier to hide blood stains, both his or that of his opponents.
"I'll bite. Let's see what you've got." The lad's language was slightly odd, lofty and callous at a base level. Worth noting.

Not one for a smile, but Odin couldn't help it as the man agreed to a quick bout of combat. Discarding what looked like a heavy coat, the man, who was strangely enough wearing an eyepatch with a cigarette in his mouth as Odin took a closer look at him. His undershirt was the colour of human blood, almost as if he had planned on getting into a combat situation while he was there. Odin, having already been in a few fights that day, was currently simply wearing his dark blue training gear, with his black strapped shoes. He knew what he felt comfortable in, and he took no issues with fighting in what he was wearing, despite how sticky it was starting to feel on the relatively warm day.

With the two both ready, Odin wasted no time in beginning. He feinted to one side, then dashed to the man's blind side: the side where his eyepatch was. Being, if all went well, in an area where the man couldn't see him, the young Grimoire mage brought his right arm to meet the man's face, using his dash to give him extra momentum in this attack. The man still had a cigarette in his mouth, and a pair of sunglasses on, but Odin was not prepared to give the man a chance in this. His fist would no doubt connect with the man's nose, probably not breaking it but likely bursting it and potentially smashing his sunglasses, which could send glass into the man's good eye. As much as he didn't really care due to their situation and the battle, Odin had to admit that would be fucking painful if it happened.

The kid went in fast, darting into Nate's blind side. Good tactic, but one a lot of people thought of. He twisted, exposing his back to the target, then his right side, his good side. The reason for his spin lay in his right fist, which was coming up and being brought around in a vicious hammerblow. He was side on now, and Odin's attack passed him by, narrowly missing the back of his head. The back of Nate's fist however was on target. He had more reach than the lad, longer arms and a great deal more body weight. These advantages would put the punch in good stead if they landed, hopefully causing him to stagger and leave him open for a follow up.

These options all went through Nate's head in less than a second, just before what would be the impact of his fist against Odin's face, assuming nothing intervened.

It had seemed a really good idea at the time. You have a blind opponent, so you attack where his weakness lies. Although, if someone who had a blind spot was well versed in combat, then they knew exactly who to counter when someone dived into it, which is exactly what happened. In hindsight, not such a smart idea after all. But it had happened, and now Odin was at his foe's mercy, and had to live with those consequences. He had barely a second to use when the man started to move, but Odin had time required. The man span, turning his body to get into sight of Odin, and at that moment Odin knew his attack had failed, but he had time still to react.

Having now span, his opponent was no longer in front of him, and now Odin had an enemy on his left flank, spinning and getting ready to counter attack. In this moment, just when the way forward was clear, Odin used his momentum to carry himself forwards, almost diving into a forward roll to land a few meters away from the man, unharmed save from the scrapes he suffered in his botched roll. The match was back to where it had been before, but their sides were reversed, and both were still unharmed. Now Odin had knowledge of the man: he knew his weakness, and he knew how to counter it. If Odin was to win this, he was going to have to be smart in his next assault.

His opponent refused to act, a strange thing to do when in battle, and so Odin pushed, darting towards the man and sending a strong right hook into the man's jaw, sending him to the ground and ending the battle. It had seemed interesting at the start, but now Odin was fed up, and felt no reason to continue, nor any reason to attack someone who wasn't going to put up a fight, he wasn't worth the dark mage's time, so Odin simply left, heading back into Crocus to see what other mischief he could cause.

-Exit-