Mock Fight IC - Ratione VS Ebony

[homin-Ratione]

Ratione Intro Post

Ratione walked over the glazed wood paneling in the human school's apprent recreational center. Specifically, where the human students were practitioned in a traditional form of martial arts known commonly as "Kendo", or at least that had been what the Novan was told. Honestly, he had not been given much insight by the Ambassador before being dropped in this world, per usual. All he knew was that he was supposed to be replacing a decomissioned instructor, and he had to teach a class of children how to fight his way, instead of theirs.

Easy enough.

Resting on his shoulder, tip up and pommel cupped in his hand, was his own greatsword, and he was attired in his armor's jumpsuit as a form of "workout clothes", as the humans called it. Oddly enough, no one had commented on the fact that, in this context, he was an alien. Then again, Switch did say they would not noticed unless it was pointed out. The Furtumin figured it had something to do with the reality warping.

However, observing the style of kento lent other more localized questions for the Novan. Specifically, the inferiority of their training. It was so contained and rehearsed, he would be surprised if any one of these students could handle themselves in war. On top of that, if they were training some kind of militia, why not train them in polearms? In his own experience, it was a lot easier to train a lot of inexperienced men to walk and move in unison with pikes rather than the intricacies of sword play.

The Furtumin shrugged his shoulders to his own internal monologue. Ah, well, he was not one to question his mission here. In fact most of the time these kinds of missions required him to be as ignorant as possible to the actual agenda for things to work. The old man opted to wait for his class to shuffle in, checking his human wrist watch and taking a few minutes to interpret their time-keeping language.

[Ebonywood Hellscythe]

Ebony ignored the snickers as she walked through the hallways dressed in her signature cloak, belts, gloves, boots, and all. She didn't care, they were just jealous. She was the cool new transfer student, of course, so it was only natural they would be. Even if no one took her seriously with her current attire, she, herself, still thought it was awesome. She'd made it herself, even if it had been done by magic, although she couldn't tell anyone about that. She wasn't quite sure why though, but no one else seemed to possess such an ability. She'd almost caught herself trying to lift things with her mind in the presence of the other normal students, and would have actually done so if she hadn't had quick enough reactions to suppress her magic in time.

She was still stronger than her size might suggest and didn't bruise easily, although she never bothered to hide that, finding it amusing when she was able to beat some of the guys at arm wrestling - always maintaining a silly smile on her face. Musing to herself, she shrugged, carrying on with her walk to the next lesson. She was running a tad late, having spent a bit too long adjusting her outfit, but kept moving at a steady pace. Suddenly bursting into a run wasn't as cool as simply walking everywhere. The latter option always left an aura of mystery, and Ebony revelled in that feeling.

Finally, she pushed through the doors into the dojo. The teacher overseeing practice was odd. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he just looked strange, her gaze lingered on him longer than usual as a result. Shrugging, she moved into the room further. She'd much prefer to summon her scythe rather than using the practice wooden swords, yet she felt revealing her magic to the world wasn't a good idea, even if a sword was probably a more conventional weapon. 

Not bothering to equip herself with protective gear, she looked at her first opponent, subtly using her magic to give her a slight edge but weakly manipulating her foes blade with telekinesis. It might have been cheating. She may have had an unfair advantage, but at heart, she was surprisingly competitive. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the teacher watching.

Intro post. Kinda short, I guess.

This Ebony is slightly AU, so is kinda the same in personality and abilities, and with her "ideal self" thing. But besides that she's just a normal girl that probably read too much fiction or watched too much anime.

Honestly, I'm not sure where you wanted to go with this, so I couldn't easily set up a fight up between us.

Eb thinks the teacher is weird, and her gaze lingered on him, but she didn't quite see through the ruse regarding his appearance, yet. So she's fighting a throwaway NPC and subtly cheating a bit with magic.

[homin-Ratione]

"You!" Ratione barked across the empty space, all but one of the students jumping in place. The one girl who casually turned to the source of the voice appeared to be a foriegner, likely more used to teachers being loud than the Japanese students.

"Where's your protective gear?" The other junior-high kids all had fencing masks, robes, and padded gloves. This one was wearing... something quite ridiculous, in the Novan's eyes.

"Didn't wanna wear it." The foriegn student replied with surprisingly fluent Japanese.

"Don't care. Leave and put it on, then you're allowed back in." As he said this, projecting his voice across the dojo, Ratione strode up to the little girl and towered over her. The Furtumin held her eyes with his own, "Or do I have to repeat myself?"

The girl rolled her eyes, scoffing as she walked off into the locker rooms. Ten minutes later, ten minutes of awkward silence as Ratione stood over the others, she returned in full and proper gear.

Ratione's eyes narrowed, and he beckoned the girl to the center of the dojo. "Okay, kid." The Novan let down his own weapon, tossing it to the side. The heap of metal made a dull, but loud, thud on the wood. "Come at me."

The girl cocked her head to the side, holding her hands out in an "are you serious" gesture. When the teacher made no response, she shook her head before sprinting forward. The student kept their wooden katana at their side, in a low tail guard.

Ratione waited for her to make an ascending cut, her right to left, before swinging back his own right leg and leaning backwards at a shallow angle. The weapon whistled as it cut through the air, sending a small gust through his hair. The instructor could see the student's eyes widen behind the face mask, then wince as his open palm shoved into her stomach and sent her off balance, reeling and taking a few steps to steady.

The two of them paused, the girl holding her training weapon lazily to the side, the Furtumin grinning. "You threw your body forward too hard, ahead of your weapon. Not only that, but you wound up, made yourself obvious." The old man extended his hand, wagging his fingers, "Try again."

[Ebonywood Hellscythe]

And so, Ebony did try again, making no effort to change her style of attack, opting to swing harder and faster instead. She was fresh, not tired nor sweaty - Ebony had the vigour to spare.

Ebony stepped forwards swiftly, hunched into the movement just as before. Her arms mimicked the stereotypical "anime running" pose, despite her right holding the sword. It may have been meant for two hands, but she was strong - at least, her magic was. She followed up with a second step, landing on her left leg and finishing the short sprint. From there, she pivoted, using what mass and magic she had to drive the sword downwards at an angle. The old dude raised his own weapon, bracing it, preparing to allow the predictable strike to glance off before retaliating.

Wooden practice swords collided, the sheer force supplied by Ebony travelled through the body of her opponent and into the sprung wooden floor, sending noticeable tremors towards the other students.

Just as before, his palm slammed into her lower chest, shoving her back. She stumbled but managed to keep her balance, again holding the sword in a lazy grip.

"You won't get anywhere if you just repeat the same mistakes. Lead with your sword, not your body. Make swift movements, you don't need to turn into your attacks."

Ebony shook her head slightly with an indignant look on her face. "I bet you feel so proud, beating up people both younger and less experienced than you - right sensei."

"I feel satisfaction from teaching them, yes."

"Tch." Ebony mustered her rebellious side, but it didn't encompass enough of her being to prompt her to spit to the side. And she had headgear on so it would have been awkward to get through the grill. That, and it was unhygienic.

Despite the prior failures, Ebony repeated the same manoeuvre yet again, but this time making a sideways swing with both arms. It was actually weaker than before, she intended to back the other direction afterwards. A feint, but probably not a good one considering the obvious opening it would leave. Although Ebony had neither the patience nor skill to execute anything more refined - opting to base all her attacks solely on a mixture of stubbornness and determination. She was Ebonywood Hellscythe: she was going to win, it would look cool, and she'd do it her way.

Magic may be considered cheating to some, but most of those people didn't even know of its existence - and if they did they'd totally abuse it. Like she did, subtly enough for it to be a coincidence.

There just happened to be a slight rise in the flooring behind the teacher. A teeny tiny ledge, not created by her slightly tearing at the wood with magic. At least as far as everyone else knew. 

The edge was just large enough, and just well enough placed, that her opponent tripped while attempting to dodge back, landing in a roll and quickly making his way upright. He didn't make the thump she was expecting, but the opening allowed her followup slash to connect without being risked by the gap in her guard, thus allowing it to smash his protected head with a loud slam.

"I win." Ebony spoke loudly and happily. Even muffled by her headguard, everyone was able to hear the sense of satisfaction in her voice.

[homin-Ratione]

When the blade connected, Ratione felt a tinge of surprise by the energy behind it. He felt himself having to take a step to the side in order to keep his balance, and whipped his right leg around to face the student.

Ratione grinned underneath the face-mask. "Good job, pupil." He straightened up, taking in a deep breathe before relaxing into a low stance, holding his greatsword out the side. "Class is in session, students. Pay attention."

Lunging forward the Novan feinted a descending cut from the right. The female student brought her own practice sword up to parry, but Ratione relaxed his grip and allowed his the tip of his blade to be pushed up and slide over. His left hand re-positioned to half way down the actual blade past the lugs, where he leveraged the pommel into an uppercut straight at the girl's helmet. She was able to throw her upper half only partially out of the way, the bottom end of the sword still slightly connecting. Her head snapped back, her legs stumbling backwards as well.

The female student righted herself, free hand shooting a finger at her teacher. "No fair! You can't do that with a sword! You'll cut your hand!"

"What?" Ratione looked at his blade, realizing the practice sheathe was still on. "Oh, right." The furtumin undid the ties holding it down, and slid off the thick wool sheathe to reveal the sharp blade underneath. The old man tossed the whole thing into the air with one hand, catching the weapon on the blade itself, holding the entire thing upside down.

Ratione held the sword out to his student, grip forward. "Take this out of my hand."

Underneath the face-mask, the girl rolled her eyes before stepping towards her teacher. She gripped the handle with both hands, and began slowly tugging. Her tension increased with each passing second, and Ratione kept digging the balls of his feet into the floor. His forerams and calves bulged, his knees bent, and he kept his left arm behind his back.

The girl began to dig her heels into the wooden panels, slowly chunking out foot-shaped gashes as she attempted to lunge back. Ratione's arm would be stretched forward, and his muscles would instantly grow denser before relaxing and pulling back. This back-and-forth continued for a solid minute, before eventually the female student growled, yelled, let go of the blade and lunged at Ratione.

The Furtumin's eyes widened, and he took a step back while trying to pull the handle back to his hand. Ebony swung, smacking the wooden practice sword into his arm, then pulling back and whipping the weapon again into his helmet. This time Ratione was forced to step back in order to regain balance, sword hilt now nestled in his left hand.

"Alright, kid-" He spat, "-I'll give you the real thing."

[Ebonywood Hellscythe]

Metal. Sharp, shiny, reflective metal. It glinted in the sunlight, projecting the bright rays that protruded from the cracks between the curtains. A thin sheen of dust guided the daylight as the sun reached just the right height outside, allowing the beam to remain solid for a few seconds in the near-perfect timing of nature. Once faded, the electrical lighting of the room prevailed.

Ebony flinched.

This was real. He could actually hurt her...

...But a teacher wouldn't do that, would he?

And she did have protective gear, not that she needed it, of course. She was too cool for that... right.

Gripping the wooden handle tightly, Ebony brought the sword, holding it level and ready in front of her, frowning. "This isn't fair! How come you get a proper sword and I don't?"

The teacher paused for a moment, weighing the outcomes, before reaching to a rack behind him and handing a weapon to her. It wasn't straight like his, nor was it as long. It was also missing the crossguard he possessed.

Ebony was about to complain further when the bell rang, signalling it was time for lunch. She blinked, not expecting that much time to have passed. Had this really taken up the full hour? Sensei seemed to react similarly, pacing over towards his chair where he left a watch. It did, indeed, agree that a full hour had passed since the start of class.

Waving his arms vaguely at the students, he spoke. "You may leave. Class dismissed."

After having psyched herself up, Ebony was almost disappointed for a moment, shoulders drooping as she awkwardly looked for a place to put her new sword. Those thoughts were instantly left behind when the instructor issued another command.

"Except you. You're staying."

A faint grin curled up Ebony's face. "What? Haven't had enough of being beaten up by your own students yet?" She threw the practice sword towards the rack, subtly using her telekinesis to guide it in place making the object appear as if it was thrown with precision.

He looked at her, seemingly attempting to muster his authority. "Don't abuse school equipment."

She didn't reach, not having a response without detailing how her magic made it all fine.

On that note, though. Should she use magic now, only he would witness it. And, presumably, the world would just think he was crazy or something. Not that risking it was a good idea. But maybe other mages would find her if she did, like in the manga she'd read. Then they'd teach her how to do more magic. That wasn't to say she wasn't already proficient, but it'd be nice to learn more. Get stronger, and get cooler.

Forgetting about the inconsistencies in her sword compared to his, Ebony held her blade at the ready, waiting for a signal that she could start. She wasn't really sure how this was going to go, however. If something went wrong, she could hurt him, or the other way around - even with armour. Regardless, she steeled her nerves, focusing.

"Fight me, kid."

"Don't call me a kid, old man." She dashed forwards with one quick step, before jumping back in the air like a startled cat, allowing the teacher's sword to cut through her former path.

This wasn't fair. He was old and skilled. She'd never even used an actual katana before - nor the European blade he wielded. It did move faster than the practice swords, but that didn't exactly help - she wasn't used to the speed, and while physically a petite girl, Ebony prefered to put more force into her strikes. 

"We talked about this before, don't repeat the same mistakes."

"It's not a mistake if it works!"

Behind the gear, her opponent raised an eyebrow, before swiftly clenching his muscles to bring his sword to deflect one of Ebony's strikes. He skidded, even as her blade bounced off to the side, feet scraping against the wood with a rough noise. She was strong, much stronger than one much expect.

Expertly, he brought up his own blade, this time going on the offensive with multiple calculated strikes. He presumably knew she could dodge or block most, supported by him telegraphing them. But that wasn't the point. The set up was only part of the motion, allowing him to slowly but surely pivot around, pushing her back to the same crooked floorboard he'd tripped over before.

A good plan, and one that actually worked.

As he expected, she dodged right when he swung down, frantically swinging to try and halt his attacks in the small gap he left. Naturally, the heavyhanded swing missed, and in the opening, the teacher stepped forwards, pushing his palm against her solar plexus and digging it in sharply. Reflexively, Ebony stepped back, only to have her foot catch on the wood. 

Arms flailed in the air, hoping to keep her upright, clawing at nothing.

Slam.

Victoriously, the man pointed his sword down at her, as if making a point of his win. He was about to make some feedback, but the moment was short-lived.

Somehow, in a way unknown to him, his torso was similarly pushed by a seemingly invisible force, shoving him away from Ebony and sending him crashing into a rack of practice swords.

Ebony flinched, not intending to go that far.

As her opponent pried himself from the wood, Ebony slowly rose to her feet, tentatively smiling under her helm.

Things were about to get interesting.

Sorry for the delay bro. Better later than never though.