Sorry this took so long to post up, but work experience and some other assorted matters decided to feast upon my spare time. I shall be more punctual in future



The sand stretched away for as far as the eye could see, the small dunes which could be seen in the distance being the only thing which broke the monotonous plain. This place was a fighting ground long abandoned by men, but still frequented by the gods; an arena where a man was taken to test his mettle. And it was here that once more a newcomer would be brought into this world and tested to see whether they would survive in this land of DI.

The arena surface was hard-packed sand, with enough stability for normal running, but still able to be displaced by any real amount of force. The air, however, was very different to what would normally be expected in a desert, as it still contained the same amount of moisture as any regular grassland in DI. A great circle was marked in the sand by glowing runes which marked the edge of the arena, but as the arena was made for deities and monstrous creatures alike, it would take a great deal of time for a regular human to walk to the edge of the arena, so the border would serve no purpose in the skirmish to come.

Into this silent and flawless arena swirled an eddy of wind, which swirled the sand up into a cone and then let it fall back to the earth, leaving the (slightly sandy) figure of Infineon kneeling in the centre of the circle of displaced sand. Infineon looked up and around, quickly assessing the situation for any threats before the welcome voice of Zoltan spoke directly to him.

“I have brought you to this place so that you may teach the skills of survival to a man not too dissimilar to yourself. Convert him to your cause if you can, but above all be a teacher to this newcomer in the world.”

Even as Infineon replied his acknowledgement of the task, the presence of Zoltan retreated from his mind, remaining only to be a witness to Infineon’s actions. Lacking an obvious opponent, and without Levitas to keep him company, Infineon sat crossed legged on the sand and closed his eyes to wait for his trainee. And while his eyes seemed to be closed in sleep, Infineon’s mind was still sharp, and ready to react to any indication that this newcomer had arrived to be trained.
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Infineon is sitting down and is the only landmark for miles. Feel free to enter the battle in any way you see fit. Levitas will not be participating in this training. Since you’ve already completed most of a training battle, this should just me more of a formality, but that doesn’t mean you can slack off!
Stress: 0

A dazzling light filtered itself through Tralok's sight, his vision becoming blurry. Gradually his field of view was restored, a few spots of light remaining and then no more. His immediate surroundings invited him to take a look and feel; he did exactly so. As far as the sight of a human could tell, there was sand, and not the normal type of it either, instead it was a surface that closely resembled hardened dirt; as if it had recently rained, yet the water was not humid. Nevertheless that didn't mean that the place itself wasn't either, walking by didn't feel too dissimilar from strolling through the plains or forest, perhaps the sound of burrowing rodents was missing, plus the lack of trees in the vicinity would have made anyone conscious that they were not standing on such a place.

But what exactly was the place he was standing in, the mage took a second of his time to take that question into account, yet he disregarded it eventually with the reasoning that his experience of the outside world wasn't close to enough to make a judgment. What would he do next?, he had initially considered sleeping for a while, but his good sense prevented him from doing so, even if he was a water mage, he'd eventually run out of enerrgy to cast, and f he didn't find somewhere to eat and sleep within at least five days, he'd be better counted off as dead. Tralok chose a direction arbitrarily, making a steady step towards it.

The unmoving scenery was suddenly disturbed by a brief, movement in the wind, Tralok looked in the direction of the Wind instinctively and saw a man sitting completely alone. Whether it was fate or chance that brought him to take view of the figure wasn't something that the water mage knew, the only thing that he could suppose was that the man knew if there was somewhere close to eat or sleep.

-Hello sir, if it isn't too much to ask, would you mind telling a fellow traveler where the closest source of food may lie?

He asked politely, utilizing the high elven manners that were taught within the land of the Ek'thin, hoping for an answer or at the very least a reaction.

Ok, judging by your first post, your writing ability is certainly up to scratch, but in future it would be nice to put communication in “quotation marks”. Your next post will test your ability to react to an attack and then test your ability to reply in kind.
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It was the sound of soft footsteps in the sand which brought Infineon back from his meditation. Infineon knew on instinct that this person was the one he had been sent here to train. The footsteps stopped a fair distance from where Infineon was, and a male voice carried across the distance between them.
“Hello sir, if it isn't too much to ask, would you mind telling a fellow traveller where the closest source of food may lie?”
Infineon’s eyes opened at this, and he laughed sourly in amusement. He now saw one area that this man would need to be trained in.

“No need to call me sir, I’m just a traveller like yourself.” Infineon replied with a smile,
“In any case, welcome to the training fields of the Gods. It is here that you have been sent so that I may test your skill, and judge whether you are worthy to call yourself a member of this fair land. If you can meet my standards, then you will be transported from this arena to the nearest town, so please do your best to succeed here.
Now that we have the formalities over and done with, allow me to commence your training…”

With that, Infineon crossed the distance between himself and his opponent [Lightning Speed]. While he had been talking, Infineon had casually picked up his quarterstaff, and now held it forwards and slightly to the side, where the metal-shod end would slam into his opponent’s chest at 45 degree angle if his trainee didn’t dodge. It wasn’t a particularly hard attack to see coming, but the speed at which Infineon moved would make it hard to both dodge and get a close-quarters attack in before Infineon had gone right past. In essence, this attack was merely done to test the waters of this battle, and to see what kind of battle prowess his opponent possessed, rather than actually trying to harm him.

If the attack hit anything, then Infineon would simply roll away forward and to his left to try and avoid any retaliatory strike, and if it missed, then Infineon would keep running straight for a second before sliding and taking up a defensive position facing back the way he came
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Infineon ends this post about 5 feet from you
Stress: 0 (2/4)

Tralok took all of the info, using a moment of his time to process what he had heard, and if he had done so correctly. Supposing that what the man was speaking was true, he was in some form of test from the gods to see if he was worthy of staying within that land. Tralok only believed in Ahkkaryp, since she was the only one that aligned herself to his element of choice, but his time for doubting and pondering was cut short quickly by the sudden attack of his opponent. The person that stood in front of him was much faster than his rather short height would imply, And unfortunately for Tralok, his adversary held a quarterstaff.

Nevertheless, fortune seemed to smile upon the young caster, the attack for which the quarterstaff was utilized bore a heavy resemblance to the most basic of voulge techniques, the stab. the attack was slightly tiled meaning it was not a normal forward thrust, however Tralok was able to avoid it by jumping in a diagonal to the back and to the right. The sand below his feet was pushed back with a slight hissing sound, but it was not enough to make him lose his balance, instead he utilized the short distance to launch his counterattack. He raised his right hand back to the voulge at his back in order to allow himself to pull it out before he received any serious damage, meanwhile, and utilizing his left hand he started casting the simplest of is spells, a snowball. The bizarre moisture in the air gathered around his hand in a swirling motion (Familiar Waters), and as soon as the close to instant casting process ended, the fluffy sphere would be shot towards his opponent's face (Snowball 3 left) (Full Ek'thin Heritage stage 1), that would give him time to make the field even, which he did by taking his weapon with both of his hands.

The caster held his weapon in a very slightly angular form, the sharp end was just barely below the height of his shoulder. His hands held the weapon confidently by holding it from the center with a separation of around two and a half knuckles, he was comfortable in that position since it allowed hiam to switch quickly from forward thrusts, to rapid slashes and if needed, a blunt strikes utilizing the backside and twirling it around. But even with that variety of moves, he knew that underestimating his opponent could transform quickly into a terrible mistake.

"Well, I agree to the training, however I'd like to have a proper introduction first, I am Tralok, and you?"

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Stress level (1/6)

Notes: Good edit, well done, but next to your stress counter you should put how many turns it is before you regain stress. Otherwise, you're doing well.
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The quarterstaff encountered no resistance as Infineon’s opponent quickly skipped back and to the side, easily dodging the questing strike. Infineon took a couple more steps to put distance between himself and his opponent, but no attack appeared to be immediately forthcoming. However, as Infineon turned to face his opponent, he recognised the casting style of a phlegmatic mage. Infineon had not trained outside the area of the sanguine teachings, but he still recognised the similar casting style.

The mage in front of him drew water from the air and Infineon braced for a powerful attack. Instead, his opponent basically threw a snowball at him. Infineon raised his eyebrow as he easily swatted the snowball from the air with his quarterstaff, leaving the top third of the staff covered in a light sheen of melting snow.

By the time Infineon focused once more on the mage, he had drawn an intricately carved voulge from behind his back, and was holding it like he knew how to use it. The mage held the staff in an odd way, with both hands close to the middle of the staff. Infineon knew from experience that while that stance would make it easy to switch attacking styles, it would also make it difficult to get as much power behind a blow because of the odd leverage required to use it effectively from that position.

"Well, I agree to the training, however I'd like to have a proper introduction first, I am Tralok, and you?"

“A proper introduction would take far too long, Tralok. So I’ll keep it short. I am Infineon, a servant of Zoltan. Perhaps we might meet again somewhere in DI, where I would be more willing to meet you properly. However, at present, keep your mind on passing.”

With that, Infineon quickly crossed the distance between the two fighters, but with far more care this time, swinging his quarterstaff down and to the left, aiming at his opponent’s left shoulder. As he did so, Infineon continued moving steadily forwards towards his opponent, trying to negate his opponent’s ability to swing his weapon effectively. In close quarters the blade on the end of the voulge would be almost less than useless, as there would not be room to swing it with any power at all.
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At the end of this post, Infineon is about 3 feet away from you, swinging down at your left shoulder, and still moving towards you steadily
Stress: 0 (3/4)

Sorry for the delay, and also sorry in advance, I will be visiting my family from tomorrow, and until at least the 30th. Sorry
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The attack had had the desired effect upon his opponent, it had been no more than a minimal distraction for his opponent, however it had given Tralok enough time to arm himself. They were on equal grounds, if anything, the voulge gave the water mage a slight advantage. His opponent introduced himself as Infineon, and without wasting a second of his time, he launched himself towards Tralok, attempting to hit the left shoulder with his quarterstaff.

Tralok was able to see the attack, however his opponent's speed had proven once more to be a defining factor in the effectivity of his attacks. The attack would have dislodged the shoulder if it was to hit, however the voulge user knew better than to stand still while waiting for his opponent to take action. he sidestepped to the right while tilting his voulge in a vertical position before the staff had a chance to hit its intended target; instead hitting the outer edge of Tralok's biceps. It was painful, Tralok gritted his teeth without opening his mouth to avoid showing it to his opponent, however the upside was that it wouldn't be more than a particularly painful bruise, thus avoiding a form of tide turning damage.

It also had the added advantage of allowing the water mage to counter in kind quickly enough, with Kath'yu, his voulge, held in a barely angular fashion, straightened up vertically; he disposed himself to commence his assail. the attack would be a simple one, but also one that would show his opponent that he was a competent fighter at any range. He closed the distance between himself and his opponent with a step, standing a short distance diagonally to Infineon's left. From there, he gracefully pushed the lower half of his voulge towards his opponent's back and pulled the top towards himself. Rapidly, he pulled the back towards himself once more, attempting to hit the back of Infineon's knee with the bottom tip of Kath'yu. The process took place in two seconds or less, but if the attack hit, it'd probably make his opponent fall back.

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Stress level (1/6) 3 posts remain

That’s all good. Hope to see you in the new year then! Nice work taking a hit there, and I see what you did thar . I think there will only be a couple of posts left in this TB. Maybe one or two to wrap up the fighting, and then one final post as a conclusion. Don’t stuff up now!
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Infineon felt the satisfying thwack of wood hitting flesh reverberate down the length of his staff as it struck his trainee on the upper arm. Tralok’s movement meant that the staff did not strike exactly where Infineon had intended it to, and that it was the wooden part of the staff, rather than the metal bit which hit his opponent. However, Infineon had never really intended to do much damage anyway, merely to test the resilience of his pupil, and given the clearly strained but controlled look on his pupil’s face, Infineon was sure Tralok was used to at least a bit of punishment, and that would do.

Immediately after the strike hit, Tralok moved to return the favour by attacking Infineon. The base of his Voulge lunged out behind Infineon’s legs, and then swung back towards the back of his knees, aiming to trip Infineon up. However, while Infineon noted that this showed ingenuity, Tralok had played directly into Infineon’s hands. Infineon had closed to close combat for one reason alone, and that was to test his trainee’s magical resistances, but Tralok had saved Infineon the trouble by moving closer anyway.

As smart as the attack was, it was a very obvious manoeuvre, and lacked any real subtlety. Hence as the back of the staff swung back towards Infineon’s legs, it found itself blocked at a 90 degree angle by Infineon’s quarterstaff, which he had slammed down into the compacted sand with his left hand a moment before. The angle at which Infineon had defended himself meant that it made little difference of the strength of his opponent, since the planted staff had a point of contact both above and below the strike. Hence, the bottom of Tralok’s voulge merely bounced off Infineon’s defence.

Even as the strike struck home, Infineon was already casting, drawing the threads of power from the air around his fist, before solidifying them into power which Infineon stored in his right hand [Bolt Touch Readied]. Still holding onto the quarterstaff with his left hand, Infineon kicked off the ground [Lightning Speed] and balled his right hand into a fist trying to get as much force behind the punch as he could. Since only one pace separated the trainer and his trainee, Infineon didn’t get all that much momentum behind his attack, but his uppercut still had the full strength of his legs and torso behind it, and the power of lightning contained within it. Infineon aimed the punch at the centre of his opponent’s gut, since if the strike were to hit any part of his opponent at all, the spell would still cast [Bolt Touch Used] so it was best to aim for the largest mass. Infineon grinned as the strike hurtled through the air towards his opponent; he would definitely give the guy a break if he even remained on his feet after this attack…
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As described, Infineon is basically only centimetres away from you at the end of this post with an Uppercut containing Bolt Touch aimed at your gut. Note also that Infineon is still accelerating towards you, and would collide with you bodily if he wasn't already trying to punch you
Stress: 0 (Whether or not Bolt Touch casts) (4/4)
Bolt touch: 1 (+1 if you completely dodge the punch)

Oh trainee of mine, don't fail now! Not when you've come so far already!
It has been 8 days after your minimum deadline for return, but a week and a half is pushing it since your last post.

You have 4 days to post, or I will unfortunately be forced to fail you...

bump

Sorry, sorry, I was swamped because of my bad organization (AKA, not doing what I was supposed to do before vacations, and finishing it within a week.)
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Tralok was hit by the realization that his opponent was able to block his attack with ease, and even worse, he had set himself in a position where a counterattck would be ridiculously simple. The strike had been well applied that was true, however he didn't take into consideration using the floor as a base for protection, forgetting for a minute that he was standing on sand, hard as it was. He breathed deeply before setting the base of his voulge in the ground to allow fluid motions for battle. But Infineon's speed proved itself once more to be an incredible attack force to determine the course of the battle, but then again, Tralok wouldn't give in for such minor details.

The other staff wielder commenced his offense. Tralok was expecting an attack with the staff, any form of short range combat utilizing it, what he wasn't expecting was an attempt to utilize the most basic of human weapons, a fist. The attack came from below, and towards Tralok's abdomen, visibly loaded with electricity, which identified Infineon as a fellow mage, wielder of the sanguine element. Had the water mage been a spectator, he'd have applauded the simple, yet effective blow, but, as thins were, he'd be on the receiving end of it, and there was nothing he could do to avoid it. However the fact that he would definitely receive some damage didn't stop him from doing something else, he'd give an eye for an eye.

Tralok tensed his abdominal area in order to avoid at least some of the pain associated with a fist strike, then he released his grip with the left hand, holding Kath'yu only with his right. Afterwards, hefinally took the damage that he had been expecting, painful, if he didn't have his right hand on his voulge, he'd have fallen to the ground, however the fact that he had it there allowed him to only lower his back slightly. His pride as a mage wouldn't let him do so, even less at that moment when he had identified his opponent as practitioner of another one of the elements. Thus he used a technique quite similar to the one that had been displayed before him, only that utilizing the phlegmatic element.

He opened the palm of the hand he had released previously, and together with the power granted to him by the moist around (Familiar waters) he released a dash of cold through his fingers and unto the center of his hand (Cold Shoulder, 1x left). He moved his palm towards Infineon's right cheek, utilizing his legs and the impulse of the voulge's base to give it power. He wasn't an expert in bare handed combat, actually calling him an amateur would've been generous, but he was sure that if he was able to hit, it'd be painful.

Just a few quick things in this last proper post from me. Firstly, you seem to have basically ignored the damage from my /medium/ level spell which accompanied the punch, but that could just be me mis-interpreting your writing. In any case, remember that if you get hit with an ability (especially of medium level or above) it’s not something that can just be ignored or so simply shrugged off! Secondly you forgot to put your stress count down the bottom of your post. Otherwise good work! Wrap up the battle in your post as you wish, leave the arena in an inventive way, and I believe you will have passed!
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The distinctive smell of ozone filled the air as Infineon’s punch struck home against his opponent’s chest and the built up electricity in Infineon’s fist surged into his opponent’s body. Infineon smirked; that would give his opponent a shock, and probably a bruise that would last quite a while. However, even as he congratulated himself on landing the punch, Infineon’s attention was dragged back to the present by his opponent’s actions. Instead of being stunned or overtly effected by the punch, his trainee had released his voulge and was mustering a counter attack in a fashion very similar to the attack which Infineon just made.

The air suddenly seemed to become less humid, and Infineon’s trainee began an obvious casting progress. Swiftly, a shimmering aura of pure cold built up around the fist of Infineon’s opponent, furthering Infineon’s certainty that his opponent was a fellow mage. With little more than a token casting sequence, his opponent had competently cast an instantaneous combat spell; Infineon would have been proud had he been this mage’s teacher. This display of skill was enough to make Infineon certain of the offensive capabilities of his trainee, and the way in which he shrugged off Infineon’s Bolt Touch showed that he had the ability to take a hit as well. All in all, Infineon was now satisfied that his trainee would stand up well in the world of DI.

As soon as this had run through Infineon’s head, a spiral of wind swirled up from the ground, completely enveloping Infineon as he called on his God’s power to end the fight. By the time the incoming fist swung through the place Infineon would have been, there was nothing there but sand caught up in the quickly weakening eddy of air which remained after Infineon’s departure. Across the arena, where Infineon had first appeared, an identical spiral of air appeared once more, leaving Infineon standing in its wake when the sand settled. Taking a second to orient himself, Infineon turned to face his trainee and spoke across the space between the two mages.

“Congratulations! You have passed the standards which I set, and you shall shortly be formally inducted into the world of DI. Your performance here was admirable, and I should love to meet you in a less rushed manner at some point in the future, either to continue our battle or simply to discuss the art of Magery between comrades. Should you wish to seek me out, my dwelling place is the site of the Grand Cathedral, and in all likelihood you will find me there. Finally, I wish you good luck and safe travels, and may the blessings of Zoltan be with you.”

With that, Infineon turned on his heel and was once again thrown through space, to continue his divine work.
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Infineon has left the Battleground
Stress: 0