Walking through the forests of Crocus, Shichiro didn't really have a destination in mind at the moment. He had completed most of the tasks he had set out to do in a short amount of time and even made leaps and strides in when it comes to gaining power. He smirked a bit as his growth was exponential in the past few months but at the same time, he felt it wasn't enough to actually achieve his end goal. He figured instead of just working out his body alone, he'd gather artifacts of power that would be worthy of him using. Another thing he decided was, he would definitely need to join a faction. Not exactly a guild, but a more privatized one where he would select a small group of people to carry out their goals of some kind without authority or societal norms hampering down the group. He didn't view himself as a leader as he didn't have a surefire goal of his own but if he could find somebody else that could think for him and guide his actions that could lead to furthering his agenda. He doesn't necessarily need them to be the strongest in all of Fiore, but he would need for them to a least be able to hold their own long enough for him to offer assistance.

This was not limited to just physical, magical or economic strength. No, it was mainly about perseverance and learning to find ways out of a certain situations or perils. And overall, it was about their level of ambition. He'd need somebody he'd be proud to follow and wouldn't have regrets about. He thought Achak was a strong leader but in the end, he was too soft, both he and his brother were soft, although in a different sense. Well, it's not like he'd find a random person if he sat around here wandering about. The other problem of his growth, he decided he would be able to handle it on his own, if it came down to it anyways. Exploring the forest outside of Crocus, he hoped he could find something to take his mind off of his current dilemma. He wasn't exactly a people person and can count the amount of friends he has on one finger, if he could call her that.

Placing his hands into his pockets, Shichiro continued along his path. Pondering on the ideas that was swimming through the back of his mind, he wondered what he should about his situation. He was still thinking about people he met through his travels and wondered if they could use a mercenary like him in the group. He wasn't planning on charging them directly for their services but he would want to claim a share on certain goods and jewels if they ever came across a payload. Well, he would think about all of that later. For now, he could tell he wasn't alone for the most part. He could smell two distinct scents coming from nearby. One of them being a werewolf like himself, that much was clear. He spent most of his day around Achak and his tribe to not mistake the scent of another werewolf. The other scent, he wasn't too sure of. It was a reptile but he wasn't so sure what kind it was. He was new to this sort of sensation so, he decided he would remain on guard until he could determine if they were friend or foe. Treading carefully, Shichiro constantly shifted his eyes from left to right as he concentrated on the smell.

Eventually, he heard a voice call out to him asking who he was. Shichiro paused for a bit to spot another dark skinned man near a winged serpent creature he's never seen before. It looks like a dragon but it wasn't. He focused his gaze on the humanoid figure in front of him since most likely he'd be the one to pose a threat. Shichiro didn't exactly take kindly to people asking who he was unsolicited so he retorted, "Whose asking? What do you want?" He continued to focus his gaze towards them as he said this readying himself for a battle if it led to one.

Standing fast, Shichiro was a bit wary himself with a stranger casually approaching him like this. He wasn't exactly friendly but at the same time, he wasn't threatening to Shichiro either. He's sure under normal circumstances, the man might intimidate most with his sheer size and appearance. The man looks to be around seven feet tall, silver white hair and gray eyes. He had a pretty good physique and build so he was at least sure that he was a fighter of sorts, not purely the magical kind anyway. He figured he would at least hear him out to see what he had to offer. The titan introduced himself as Vali Onfroy, an alpha. This introduction caused Shichiro to look from side to side. He wasn't exactly sure why but that rubbed him the wrong way. He claimed he was an alpha but he didn't see anybody else with him except the winged serpent behind him. Removing his hands from his pockets, Shichiro used his left hand to scratch the back of his right hand. He then placed them back into his pockets before the giant man continued to inquire about Shichiro's identity. He wasn't sure how to answer this at all. He wasn't exactly famous by any means, not yet at least, and if he did, it would be against his will. 

He sighed and decided there was no need for him to conceal his identity anyways. "The name is Shichiro, most people call me Shichi for short, i guess. Now, i ask once more, what do you need," He said in a low tone. There was only two people that approach him nowadays. Paying individuals that want him to do a job or fodder who wishes to take revenge or claim a bounty of some kind. Either way, he was a great mood today so he didn't mind which one it was. Though, he hopes it's the paying kind of individual. Lastly, he noticed the winged serpent now flapping it's wings in an attempt to create gusts of wind in his direction. He didn't know why but he took that as a threat and pulled his hands out of his pockets once more. He wasn't about to let his guard down in front of potential danger before getting an answer.

Holding fast, Shichiro continued to eye the wyvern moving sporadically as well as its handler in front of it. Shichiro then heard what he was afraid of, as if a creature larger than the two of them couldn't be threatening at all, regardless if it was a child or not. After all, he knew from personal experience since he was still considered a child. "Even children can be dangerous, under the right circumstances, bud," Shichiro said with a low, threatening tone. As the wyvern relaxed, shichiro also eased up but he didn't put his hands back into his pockets. Instead he stood there, looking towards just Vali now as he said something that was quite amusing to him. "Is that a fact," he said, a sneer now appearing across Shichiro's face. That sounds like a challenge to him but as far as he knew, he didn't have anything of value so he most likely wouldn't have to battle this man unless he could help it. He wouldn't shy away from combat if the need arises though. After all, he viewed it as fun but recently, he's been fascinated by materialistic things and wouldn't fight for just the sport of it anymore. 

He held his sneer as the man complemented his strength until he heard the words 'join me'. His sneer turned into a frown once more and he waited to see what he had to offer. According to this giant, he had villages under his control. He was also offering arbitrary things like a freedom, a home and authority. In the grand scheme of things, he didn't care about any of that. He has all the freedom he could stand now by travelling the world as a mercenary for hire. He didn't have need for land as he'd be away from it for far to long just to come back to an uncleaned mess nor a home for that matter. Nourishment on the other and was a different matter. He often found himself wanting more filling meals but couldn't afford it most of the time since work was slow right now. Well, Shichiro did inquire about one thing. "As well and dandy as all of that sounds, I only work for money. Everything else has little value to me right now and is over all inconsequential. The food is nice but, it doesn't pay the bills, if you get what i mean? Also, i don't know how we'd be like 'brothers' if I'm swearing loyalty towards you. So what else can you offer me, besides what was stated previously?" 

What a funny guy, Shichiro thought to himself. According to him, he was a king of some sort but he's running around in a forest from only the gods know where. Well, as fun as all of that sounds to Shichiro, he figured maybe it wouldn't hurt to see what this man had in store for him. He figured he'd just tag along with this guy until he got bored. If this man present him more work opportunities to greater gains and bounty, he wouldn't mind working for him and seeing what was in store for his future. However, if there was any sign of detriment to himself, at the first sign of it, Shichiro would opt out as above all, he would be looking out for number one. What the heck, this might actually turn out to be fun. "Yeah, yeah, sure. You have all the riches in the world, i get it. Fine, I'll join you. For the right price of course. Even if you can't afford to pay me yourself, i expect opportunities and other compensation for my services. Well, let's get down to business. I suppose you have something in mind for me to do right now or some long term plan ahead of us," Shichiro said in a sort of dismissive tone.

With that, Shichiro had thought this would conclude their business deal but apparently, it wasn't. First, the man had called out to Shichiro. He then claimed he had heard him the first time around but maybe Shichiro and him weren't on the same page, it seems. The man had begun to walk towards Shichiro to which now made him very uncomfortable. Shichiro decided to take a combat stance as he approached, standing with his feet shoulder-width apart and taking one step back with his right foot and orienting it so his feet are at right angles to each other. His left leg was relaxed, with the majority of his weight on their right foot, keeping his body straight but maintained the same angle. He brought his hands in front of his face, curling them whiling lean his head forward behind them for better coverage of the face and holding his elbows forward so he could maneuver his arms to block body shots to his ribs or liver. This was a basic stance for a person that primarily used kicks in fights because it lends itself well to kicking and allows for greater mobility and stability. 

Now the man is claiming, he would be apart of something far greater than both of them, which of course Shichiro didn't believe for a second. Its nice to have a glorified reasoning for wanting to achieve your goals and meet quota but in the end, he knew what was rooted deep in the hearts of many, greed. He didn't considered Vali nor himself any different, the only difference was Shichiro wasn't sugarcoating it with fancy agendas and flavorful ideals like 'for the fate of the world' or 'bigger than us' in order to satisfy his ego. Now the one thing Shichiro couldn't tolerate was being approached casually without knowing a person's nature and Vali had went and broke that unspoken rule, he should have known what kind of personality Shichiro had when he felt uncomfortable when it came towards the winged beast behind him and now he, himself, was making unnecessary and irrational movements by slowly walking towards him. He wasn't sure what would happen next but he didn't like the vibes he was feeling from this man and his mount.

Shichiro's Total Statistics:

His words said one thing, his actions said another. Shichiro doesn't know if he was genuinely confused or if this guy was threatening him. Regardless, he wouldn't stand idly and allow any harm come to him, especially if it was another giving him mixed signals. He had resolved to take any further inconsistencies are threats since he couldn't come up with a solution himself. It was always the way he survived as he traveled. Still, the man claims he wasn't his enemy or wasn't looking for a fight but the way he presented himself was entirely different, at least in Shichiro's eyes. Now he would respond with, "Your actions and your words don't match up, you trying to recruit me or threaten me. Either way, I don't tolerate people i just met getting close to me. You get one warning, back off to a comfortable distance. I don't mind having to battle you over this, i promise, it won't be pretty." Shichiro made it clear that he didn't like the man's current vibe and would attack if he felt any more pressure on his safety. They definitely just met and with all the sporadic movement between the man's beast and the man himself, he didn't want to take the risk of having his guard lowered to be taken advantage of.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The air between Vali and Shichiro had become tense; So much so it was palpable. It was to be expected, really. When two people who fancied themselves at the top of the food chain collided, it would seem natural that they would have to compete for the top. There was very little room as one climbed, and these two were already fighting for space.

It was the very tension that made it feel as though chaos could break out at any moment that seemed to have sucked the noise out of the environment. The countries capital, Crocus, was so silent it was sickening. If either of them had paid attention to anyone other than the one before them, perhaps they would have noticed the eerie silence that had fallen around them. Instead, it was made obvious by the sounds of grass and leaves crunching under foot.

One of the biggest and most developed cities in the world, Crocus didn't have a forest in the way one would imagine from Oak or Worth Woodsea. No, their trees were sparse and their nature far from ample. Yet even here, just outside the city and relatively deep into the trees, the sound of the city had been oh so prevalent until only just recently.

And then, the sound of the footsteps formed an appearance. A man, over six feet tall, with hair black and skin tanned. He was handsome, though he had an air about him that the two may find suffocating if they were at all in tune with such a thing. It was not quite killing intent, yet it was an oppressive aura of someone who had fought many such battles as they seemed to have almost faced. Countless encounters that had pitted two powerful people against one another to see who would come out dominant.

And he radiated an ambiance of a victor.

The would never recognize him. He had, after all, changed his physical appearance completely just recently. Yet there was a chance, if they had heard of the one known as the "God of Death", that they recognized the sword that poked out from behind his back, strapped to an open halberd that allowed him to not only quickly draw his weapon, but to do so and bring it forward from any angle upon its unsheathing. Yes, he was Death, and those in tuned with fighting as a way to live would feel such from him.

His feet stopped, and while they may have turned their attention to him, neither of them had yet moved from their spot. After all, they'd have only just heard him and had time to react at all before he'd already halted roughly eight meters away.

"This doesn't seem to be a place of meeting for those who intend to do good." His words were cold in such a way that those who once knew him, perhaps even those who knew him now, would be shocked. He gazed over the two still individuals. "Care to share your secrets?" If they were smart, they'd talk instead of trying to just act. And if they weren't, well, Finn would respond as necessary.

Stats:

Staring at the giant in front of him to make his move, Shichiro had noticed a sudden chill in the air that would make his fur stand up on his beck, if he had any. Taking a whiff of a new scent that wasn't Vali or his mounted beast behind him. A completely new presence that he's never smelled before but he knew he'd never forget after just one encounter. The next thing he noticed was, when he stared into the giant's eyes in front of him, his gaze and attention seemed to be elsewhere. No longer fixated on him, Shichiro decided to turn his as far back as humanely possible in order to see what new challenger could inspire such an ambiance.

Noting the new character's arrival, Shichiro decided he'd look the man up and down to see what was going for him. Like Vali in front of him, this new person was estimated to be roughly over sex feet tall and had black air. He has a rather dangerous looking weapon on him and if things got hairy, he wouldn't mind swiping it off of the man's unconscious, or even lifeless, body. Shichiro wasn't in the best of moods at the moment and things seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Still, there was something about this character that bothered him but he couldn't quite pick up on it. An air of familiarity seemed to have cloaked itself around Shichiro but he couldn't say he quite remembered a face like his. Either way, this man had appeared at a rather inconvenient time.

The newcomer had stated something along the lines of this not being a place where nobody who had good intentions would meet. This made Shichiro stifle a chuckle before returning to his previous demeanor followed by strange outburst from Vali which would technically, be a similar response Shichiro would give out himself. What surprised him briefly was the surprise of which Vali seems to have regretted his previous statement. He briefly turned back to Vali to see he was no longer had his boisterous attitude. 

This made him wonder who this man was since he had no idea who he was but apparently Vali had known his weapon. 'God of Death' he called him. How hubristic of a title it was that it almost made him chuckle once more. Well, Shichiro wasn't impressed. He fancied calling himself the ultimate mercenary but he wasn't gonna go around announcing it himself. It was his turn now to speak, he turned towards the new person, still in his combat stance looking towards the man. "One can at least give a name before requesting secrets from another, at least buy a man some dinner before you ask him to put out," Shichiro said, in a snarky tone.

These men were not necessarily threatening. They had not said or done anything that necessarily made him think that they meant him harm. That said, they hadn't done anything to make him believe they weren't dangerous. In the moments after a meeting in which one sensed they may be in danger, one would take the smallest hints and make broad assumptions from those. It was with that mentality that he took in how the two reacted to his arrival.

The first man, orange hair and tanned skin, was the most abrasive in his tone. He spoke in a way that not only seemed confrontational, but he recognized Finn based on his weapon alone. As he spoke the epithet that he had been assigned, his eyes immediately narrowed. His gaze turned from one that had been cautious to an almost menacing glare. There weren't many who would be so affiliated with mages or warriors that such minute details would get them so quickly to an understanding of their identity. The fact that this man could make such an accurate deduction with so little information must have meant that such information was important to his line of work. That, paired with the suspicious nature of the events unfolding, was practically enough for Finn to make his decision.

The second male, turning to face the man from Blue Pegasus a bit better, spoke as well. His words seemed to reach for a joke that they just couldn't grasp, yet still ensured that his tone was standoffish with Finn. With that, Finn's hands found their way to his hilt and brought his blade before him, its point facing the two of them in a single fluid motion. "Well, I'll just have to make sure not to kill them." His words were under his breath, so they would not hear him. Yet the drawing of his blade was declaration enough of what was to come.

Stats:

What a lively bunch the three of them were, so to speak. He didn't really grasp the fully situation of the dilemma he was currently in but he wouldn't shy away from the experience. Shichiro watched as the newcomer placed his hand onto the hilt of his weapon, drawing it, making sure it was aimed at the two in front of him. The two being Shichiro himself and the know known as Vali. Judging from the sudden change in facial expression and the sudden reaction the stranger took of drawing his weapon, he concluded the statement Vali had made was not to his liking. "Great going bud, ya pissed him off. You have a way of charming everybody you meet, don't ya? Well, not that i mind. At least it'll be fun. So, 'God of death' huh? Normally, I'd rather handle my battles alone but if he's calling both of us out, who am i to stop you from assisting. Besides, I'd rather be the one that has help than be at a disadvantage so, truce," Kizmaru said in a slightly concerned tone. After all, his opponent has what seems to a be a legendary weapon, at least, from Vali's reactions and responses. 

He did just meet this guy as well and wasn't putting too much stock into his information but it was better than not knowing anything about this man at all. After all, Shichiro was just a mercenary and only kept things simple. He didn't learn the history or lore of weapons he came across, he just used them to help fulfill whatever deed needed to be done at the time. He also noted the man had seemed to have started to say something but words didn't come out. Maybe it was some sort of weird spell or him uttering under his breath. He figured he'd be able to hear it with his heightened senses and all but he assumed wrong. Now, it seems like Vali was finally ready to show what he was made of against this stranger regardless of what he had asked, still he decided to wait for a reply before he took the first action.

Shichiro's Total Statistics:

Finn's sword, held out in front of him, had been held in a way that the blade was completely horizontal. Both hands were on the hilt, the tip was pointing at the two of them and although they would be unable to tell from there it was specifically pointed at Shichiro's right arm, and Finn's words had left his lips. The two of them had entered their fighting stances. The stage was set for this battle to begin, and it seemed like it was going to be a two versus one from the beginning. Looking at it, there was a clear disadvantage on the battlefield.

But he was sure they'd manage regardless.

Without hesitation, in the very moment after his final word left his lips, a few things happened, all at the same moment in time.

The first of these few things was lightning had sparked from the ring. Perhaps during the day it would not have been noticeable, but on such a dark night and within the trees it was painfully obvious. This electricity had simultaneously appeared all over the blade within Finn's hand, which was likely what the two had focused on. At the same moment that the lightning had appeared on the ring and the blade, the blade had entered its motion.

Finn dragged his blade through the space before him, to his right and across his body, making a large cut through space itself that was shooting towards the two, stretching a bit over a meter or so to the left of Shichiro and a bit over a meter or so to his right. This lightning blade would close the distance to the two enemy combatants in less half a second, hardly enough time to react to anything at all. However, Finn was not one to take chances. It was that aversion to leaving loose ends that drove his third and final act here.

As the blade lightning blade formed from the tip of the blade, starting its travel at just over six meters away from the two, a lightning hook would have already shot from the ring, angled down towards the ground. This hook would have been completely hidden by the large lightning blade that had been forming formed from the blade, and so the two enemies would have no way of seeing this hook form, or the fact that it embedded itself five meters in front of Finn in the dirt.

The hook would have reached the ground the split second before the lightning blade would have reached the closest target. As the hook embedded into the earth, still hidden from their vision due to the lightning blade, Finn would have kicked off the ground and had the hook pull him towards its location, his blade pointed ahead of him and his two hands grasped tightly upon the hilt. The hook would have begun pulling right as it had embedded into the earth, leaving absolutely no delay.

This would make it so that regardless of if they blocked or dodged, Finn would be immediately following the lightning blade up and appearing before them. They'd have likely not seen his arrival at all, as the blade would have taken up their complete vision at the moment he began propelling towards them, and that would give them less than half the time to react to Finn than they had to react to the lightning blade.

As Finn would near the location of the hook, the hook would dissolve so as to not pull him downwards towards the ground, and to instead allow him to propel at spell speed towards the location Shichiro had stood at the beginning of this series of events. Finn would then be able to swing his blade, still pointed in front of him and poking out a couple feet in front of his head, in any direction needed to hit the man had he attempted to dodge, or to simply continue its current trajectory and stab through his chest if he had chosen to stand still and block the initial attack.

Stats:

Spells Used| Mana: 1120/1670:

This was it, the battle had commenced with the stranger taking action first. Even in the dead of night, Shichiro could see through the darkness clearly with his new found night vision. He could make out that his first target of choice was indeed Shichiro, which was fine with him. Shichiro had already been ready to do combat with Vali previously so he did not re-adjust his stance. Keeping in mind his position, Vali was roughly two meters, or six feet, apart from one another. This fact wasn't really all that important to him unless Vali was about to do something that would end up getting both of them killed but the problem was, the amount of actions the stranger was taking in such a brief amount of time. He witnessed his opponent create electricity from a trinket on his hand, which he assumed was a ring, as well as beginning to swing his blade from left to right as the lightning began to course through his blade.

 Well, that’s all he needed to observe before he knew how he wanted to go about evading the incoming. Lifting his left while simultaneously bending his right leg and leaning slightly forward, he slammed his left foot on the ground before pushing both of his feet off the ground, primarily off of the right foot, lunging diagonally into the air towards the direction of the stranger’s attack. Both him and a spike of magma that was one and a half feet long with half of its width following closing to him, almost parallel to each other but the spike’s maximum length was only at his knees, travelling at four meters.

By lunging in such a direction, Shichiro would ascend into the air four meters, well above the spell that was being hurled horizontally at him. Now that he was airborne, Shichiro could spot another spell that had been launched from his opponent. As the first spell had harmlessly passed below Shichiro, he noticed a hook had managed to anchor at a specific spot below him. Now that he made it to the max distance of his lunge which was five meters, Shichiro tapped both his feet together before he pulled his left leg backwards. 

When he curled his leg as far back as he could, he fired it at the magma spike that was now in the perfect position to be kicked, redirecting the spike towards where the hook had anchored. Coincidentally, the stranger had kicked off of the ground towards the direction of where the hook was at the same time he kicked the spike. He wasn’t exactly expecting this but this would be to his advantage if done right. The stranger was now travelling at twenty meters a second in the direction of where the hook had last anchored. If Shichiro did this right, the magma spike would collide into the stranger as he dashed forward. At the very least, the spike would at least hit the ground in front of the stranger’s trajectory that would cause him to collide with it. Either way, in one way or another, he was planning for his attack to land since the chance had arise.

2,800/2,850 Mana Spells used:

Here for the battle mod requested in this topic.

After looking over everything the ruling is as stated below.

Vague Ruling:

Since it's been brought to my attention that this post can come off as a bit vague, plus certain things about spells were clarified for me, I'm going to clarify a few things here. If something seems to conflict with what I've mentioned previously please refer to what I'm stating below as the ruling to follow and once again just PM/DM me for questions.

1. Vali's Charge motion is not starting from the second to last post he has made. Spell motions have to be done in the post of their activation so the motion for reaction, digging in feet, then charging, etc is what turns Vali's post into Vali now being in the process of charging directly at Finn since his Charge is immediate he'd actually be shooting forward. Thus the running into the spell.

The other two rulings still stand as is, check the spoiler for more info.

As Finn's spell collided with one of the mages, it interacted in quite the strange way. It had not cut through him, as what would be expected, but instead seemed to break around him. Judging by the loud clanking and sound of metal twisting and snapping, he assumed that there was some sort of breaking of armor there. That said, what had happened here was pretty clear cut. The man, traveling at speeds that Finn could only speculate at but truly reached near twenty five meters per second, had very suddenly and instantly been stopped by running into what was essentially a giant, pointy wall. This giant, pointy wall was powerful enough to completely break his armor, and instantly stop his forward momentum.

Realistically he probably had the breath knocked out of him due to the forty five meter per second collision, but at the very least what could be confirmed was that he had been knocked flat on his back. Of that, there was no possible question. And it was due to that, and Finn's already in-motion travel towards Vali, that nothing would stop him.

This was a matter of separating what was important from what wasn't. Currently, Finn was outnumbered two to one. Seemingly both of them could use magic, based on the bright orange glow Finn caught from his peripherals and the weird burst of speed demonstrated by the man who now lay on his back. So with that in mind, it only seemed natural that Finn wished to even the odds.

And so as Vali was hit hard and knocked to his back, and Shichiro launched an attack at Finn's exposed back, Finn would drive his sword forward and towards Vali's torso, meant to intercept the body wherever it was or was falling. Vali would no sooner fall than the follow up of Finn be upon him, and the man who got knocked from his feet would feel the blade of Durendal pierce his body. Finn had completely ignored the weak spell that had smacked desperately onto around his shoulder. He had resolved to tank the blow regardless of how powerful it was, and luckily it wasn't even enough to phase him or hinder him in the slightest. Had it been a more powerful spell, that would have truly put Finn in a precarious position.

Pulling the blade out in a slight arc in order to make the wound larger on its way out, Finn wished to make a few things certain. While the man on the ground would not bleed out quickly, he would most certainly be out of the fight. Realistically in most cases he would have passed out from the pain the moment he was impaled, but perhaps in this instance he could stay awake. Regardless, he was down and out for the fight.

That said, Finn had never finished moving. His blade that had entered Vali's body had been withdrawn, and he had already begun to turn. It was the turning of the body that caused the rougher withdraw of his blade from the man. Now, he turned his attention now fully to the werewolf who had previously been airborne and had only just recently landed. Realistically, he was likely turning around the same time that Finn was. That placed both of them at a distance of just over five meters apart.

Despite the obvious intensity of their exchange, a smile was on Finn's face that reflected adrenaline and familiarity. As much as he worked to change, this was truly where he felt at home. The sword was drawn back up in front of him, held at the ready, the pool of blood from the fallen luckily pooling away from Finn's feet. It was as though, even despite the unfortunate miscalculation, the man found a way to respect the duel between the two who still stood.

Stats: