Tournament Arc: Forrest Waldstein vs Vlithra Qing Long

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest was not looking forward to this bout. He heard about Vlithra's exploits in her previous bouts. She was physically stronger, a very intelligent fighter, and possibly faster than he was. He felt backed into a corner, like a caged animal. Anxiety ran high as he walked to his corner of the arena, giving himself a mental pep talk amidst the loudest crowd he had heard.

Just do the best you can, don't let fear stop you now. Put your worries aside and you'll be fine... Forrest mused to himself as he continued walking, rubbing the temples of his head. Hopefully by the time that Vlithra had arrived, he'd be cool, calm and composed. However, he still felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck, practically shaking like a leaf on a tree. Forrest started performing some deep breathing exercises to help alleviate his stress, wishing that his opponent wouldn't walk in right now to see him in such an anxious state.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra was looking forward for this next fight. There being several reasons this time around and not necessarily the same for when she‘d be looking forward to fight Asterion for example. She was facing Forrest Waldstein next, who had knocked Al, one of the few students the tigress could call a rival, into the loosers bracket. Since then she had been keen to testing this guys mettle herself and now she‘s got the chance to see for herself how he managed to get past the fiery wolf.

Like a beast on the prowl, her confident gait carried her into the arena, yet her expression seemed relaxed. The jacket on her shoulder swayed from side to side with each step. The bumping of her weapons against each other on her hip was drowned out by the crowd. No wonder that more people have been watching this time around, since the pep rally was steadily appraoching it‘s end. She eventually halted where her starting position was, her gorgon gaze locked onto her opponent, like a predator that had zeroed in on it‘s next kill. The subtleties became clear at a glance, he was anxious… among other things. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she gave him a moment.

“Forrest!“ she calls out to him after exhaling sharply through her nose, her voice as loud as the parylizing roar of a tiger. “You better prove to me that your win against Al wasn‘t just some fluke!“ she continues, this time a bit more quieter, after which she puts her arms through the sleeves of her jacket so she can properly wear it without possibly getting in the way. She intended to spurn him on a bit with her comment, even if her words weren‘t exactly kind in that regard.

[Forrest Waldstein]

So, she believes it too... Forrest thought. It's as if she had delved into his mind and knew exactly what strings to pull. After all, he was sure that he wasn't the only one that had thought the same. Nevertheless, he had to soldier on.

"Right..." Forrest replied, steeling himself as he unsheathed Grashalm, ready for the bout to begin.

I'll have to be very careful, Vlithra is a formidable opponent. I think it's safe to assume that she won't be holding back either... Forrest mused. He assumed a defensive stance, ready for just about anything that Vlithra could throw at him.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Now that was a better look. As soon as Forrest had drawn his weapon, a momentary faint smile formed on Vlithra‘s face. With that she shifted her body forward, as if she was going to go into a full sprint the moment the fight started, one hand wandering to the familiar dust pouch on her belt ready to yank out a dust shell in response to the situation that would evolve. After a deep breath in and out, her eyes flared up as sparks of green started dancing across her body, static rising just as the tension did. The grin had vanished to make way for a stern and serious expression.

As soon as that klaxon sounded Vlithra stormed forward, pulling a cartridge with water dust from her pouch without needing to look and inserting it into the pommel of her secondary blade. While water could porbably help Forrest with his semblance if she wasn‘t careful, a blade of water can become quite destructive when strong enough. At least that was the case when she practiced with it in the forest. Her right hand firmly grasped the grip of Viridian Naraka to pull it free from it‘s sheath with a fierce swing as she got closer and closer to Forrest.

[Forrest Waldstein]

By waiting and paying close attention, Forrest got a good read on Vlithra's intentions: getting up close and personal. Knowing how likely he'd be outclassed in melee with her, Forrest conjured a pair of gnarled, pointed roots from both sides of Vlithra that sought their quarry like a heat-seeking missile. However, their bark is worse than their bite, as these roots were not intended for damage, but to slow her down. Closing in on both sides, the roots would likely pressure Vlithra into going faster or slowing down, and Forrest was banking on the former. He leapt back, transforming Grashalm into the rifle form, and loaded a Combustion Dust round.

Take the bait... Forrest thought. Once he had landed, he aimed and waited for Vlithra to speed up.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

In the corner of her eyes, despite her focused gaze, Vlithra noticed those roots crawling towards her. This alone made her oponnents strategy very clear to her. He was aiming to keep her away and has left the tigress with a choice. Either slow down and deal with an obstacle or speed up to leave it in the dust. Regrettably, either way she looses something. Slowing down would just make it so she has to exert more effort later on to catch him. Speeding up meant she kept momentum, but opened herself up for an opportunity. After all, she‘d be surrounded, the last thing you want to happen in a fight. Her instincts told her she had to prevent that from happening, but she simply had to get to him...

Those plants are an issue... she mused, as the lightning around her body seemed to intensify. She felt confident she was ready for whatever was coming out of that barrel of his. She needed to get her own strategem started before she could go full throttle. If he was going to make her exert more effort, then she shall return that favor in kind.

Vlithra let out a grunt as she swiftly pulled Carnassial Talon like a dagger, twirling it in her hand once to hold it normaly and slashing diagonally at Forrest in one fluid motion. The deep blue blade let out a razor-thin slash of water that flew right at her opponent, giving him something to dodge aswell. Another horizontal slash followed as she decided to pick up her pace.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest hadn't expected Vlithra to create her own answer to the problem. Realizing the pressure was on him now, he had to do something. Forrest fired the Combustion Dust round and sidestepped the arc of water coming at him.

Hopefully she doesn't expect what I have planned... Forrest thought as he predicted the path of the bullet.

The bullet found its mark, hitting the arena floor behind Vlithra. The ensuing explosion would cause the roots to splinter into many sharp pieces, inevitably being thrown in Vlithra's direction. Being able to place pressure on Vlithra from multiple angles would be advantageous to his situation in the bout. Forrest then loaded a Gravity Dust bullet into Grashalm, aimed, and awaited for an advantageous opportunity to fire.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

With a click the cartridge, with it‘s payload spent, ejected itsself out of the weapon after which Vlithra put the grip of Carnassial Talon between her teeth so she could prepare her next dust cartridge. This time it was an ice cartridge she quickly inserted into her blade, the motion almost appearing like she had slapped the pommel of the weapon that was in her mouth. The wave then crashed down, the body of water missing it‘s intended target, but spreading throughout the arena.

Just then a shot rang out and Vlithra noticed a bullet fling right past her as an explosion erupted behind the roots, turning them into a mass of projectiles. Vlithra fought against her instinctive urge to just use her semblance to repel them. If she was going to spend aura, she wanted to make sure she could turn the attack of her opponent against them. Therefore she hesitated and only barely managed to roll to the side out of harms way as she took her blade out of her mouth and stabbed it into the ground in the same motion as she regained her footing. She had to give Forrest some credit, he was crafty coming up with such a way of attack. Though he was going to need some more than that. It was time for step two. Putting him on ice.

The now bright blue blade sank into the ground, it‘s cold creating a frozen mist as ice then crawled from the blade outwards into all directions. The body of water, that had spread into a wide cone encompassing almost half the arena, froze solid in a mere moment, quickly becoming a thick mass of ruggedy uneven ice.

Thanks to the water providing ample fluid for the sheet of ice, Vlithra didn‘t have to expend as much of her dust as she had initially expected, so she was left with one charge.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest watched in shock as the leftover water began freezing over. No doubt it was a clever trick, it would hamper his Semblance's effectiveness in the frozen areas. Forrest thought of a countertactic that could potentially turn the tide of battle in his favor, though he had to be quick about it. He ejected the Gravity Dust bullet and inserted a Steam Dust bullet first before loading the Gravity Dust bullet back in and three Combustion Dust bullets in quick succession. He aimed just ahead of Vlithra before pulling the trigger.

A colossal cloud of heat and moisture formed, and Forrest put his plan into action. The added heat and moisture would greatly accelerate the growth of Sylvan Anthem's plants, so Forrest conjured a twenty foot tall, six inch thick wooden wall which sucked up the steam like a sponge. It grew at a very rapid pace, separating the arena into two halves. Though the steam had helped dramatically, it still expended a significant portion of his Aura.

I don't think I can make another structure like that again, so I have to make this one count! Forrest thought, growing a tall flat-topped tree to use as a vantage point as he aimed beyond the wooden wall and fired at the outside wall of the arena. The Gravity Dust bullet hit the arena wall, causing it to erupt in a deluge of gravitational energy. It pulled anything and everything it could to its epicenter. Forrest kept aiming, hoping that Vlithra would get pulled back so he could get a clear shot at his opponent.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra dashed forward at Forrest, unleashing her semblance the moment she saw and heard him shoot a shot. She recoiled as a torrent of hot steam appeared in front of her instead of the bullet hitting her. Damnit. She thought as she had used her power for nothing as it seemed, the static around her body having dissipated for the moment. Then the ground rumbled shortly as a wall of wood shot up in front of her. She could just see him up behind it on a tree. Another shot rings out, this time landing at the edge of the arena. It was a gravity well pulling Vlithra towards it.

Oh, I don‘t think so! Vlithra mused as she stabbed both her swords down to not be moved any further, kneeling down and holding on as best as she could. The remaining ice discharged from Carnasial Talon, forming a 10 inch thick wall of ruggedy ice in a half sphere in front of Vlithra as a temporary protection against enemy fire. The gravity pulling at her from behind her was straining, but she could endure. Hopefully her defence held until the gravity relented.

“This is getting tedious!“ She complained to herself as she build up her semblance again. The cartridge in Carnassial Talon ejected and she put the blade again to her mouth to hold it there. Rummaging in her holster, she pulled the combustion cartridge from it, looking at it in her hand before inserting it. It was high time she got more serious.

Her semblance built up more and more, the green lightning starting to be coated in oily black as it raged around Vlithra‘s body. Her hair almost seemed to become more greener by the second. The light emitted was clearly visible from behind the ice wall. She waited until the gravity dust had depleted.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Two can play at that game! Forrest thought as he loaded two Fire Dust bullets into Grashalm before firing at the icy half-sphere. The ice looked thick, but Forrest was sure that it wouldn't be able to withstand the barrage of Dust rounds coming towards Vlithra.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The three Combustion Dust rounds hit their mark, damaging and cracking the ice. Then the Fire Dust bullets were next.

BANG! BANG!

The defensive ice structure remained standing, albeit barely. It seemed to be more resilient than Forrest gave it credit for. That's when the Gravity Dust bullet had run its course. That's when he created some large, thick branches from the wooden wall in an attempt to bash Vlithra and the defensive ice structure.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

When the gravity finally let up Vlithra straightened herself immediately to full height with a wicked grin. Just as she hoped, Forrest had chipped away at the wall enough for it to be weakened. He practicall di her work for him and she‘d need it. Her aura was draining at an increased rate as she built up more and more kinetic energy. Her grip around her blades tightened and tightened as her muscles flexed and strained more and more, until finally...

“RRHHAAAA!“ With an ear piercing roar she ran against the wall, unleashing some of the energy she had ammassed in a broad shockwave. The weakened wall gives out and it‘s pieces scatter and fly towards Forrest and his own wall. Some hit the incoming branches, others crash into the structure, while others fly over the wall randomly landing on the other side. In any case Vlithra‘s full strenght was now brought to bare and for everyone to see. Her body was wreathed in unatural oil black and green lightning, her stripes glowed through her clothing and her glowing gorgon gaze stared down Forrest from a distance.

The wild tigress threw Carnassial Talon into the wood wall, enhanced with kinetic energy. Each time she released some energy, the strain on her body grew weaker and she‘d loose less aura. The sword flies in between the branches, barely missing one of them and embedded itsself almost perfectly into the wall with it‘s blade. There it discharged it‘s combustion dust, infusing it into the structure and letting all of it loose with one big enormous explosion and a resulting cloud of black smoke that blocked the vision of each of the combatants.

My turn! Vlithra mused as she then became a flash of light as she took one step and flew forward like lightning itsself, only slowing down when she slid across the ice floor to catch her weapon when it landed on the ice. Another step and she jumped through the smoke in an angle she‘d crash down on her opponent, swinging her swowd down with such reckless abandon, it‘ll break apart the arena floor.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Uh oh, I really fucked up this time... Forrest thought in shock as he realized that it was all a part of Vlithra's plan. She wanted him to weaken the defensive ice structure to use against him. As the ice shot past Forrest, barely dodging it, he realized that his vantage point had been compromised. He caused the tree to descend until his feet hit the ground, loading three more Combustion Dust bullets into Grashalm. He landed when an explosion shattered the wooden wall and sent smoke billowing into the arena.

That's when she leapt from the cloud, headed right for him.

SHIT! Forrest mused as he transformed Grashalm to the sword form and leaping back before Vlithra came crashing down, shattering the arena floor in the immediate vicinity to smithereens. He was really feeling like a cornered animal now. Once Vlithra charged him from the crater he'd be fighting on her terms, inevitably bad for Forrest whose luck seemed to be running out. Only a few meters from the edge of the arena, the most he could do was assume a defensive position with Grashalm and hope that several well-placed counterattacks would be able to push her back.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra quickly straightened herself again, putting Carnassial Talon once more into her mouth after the cartridge ejected. She now stood amidst a small crater of stone, glowing and sparking slightly less than before.

Her body had aclimated quite a lot to her channeling the semblance through her limbs. No wonder with how often she used it these days. Still there was some recoil she had to contend with, she sharply exhaled as she started feeling the soreness in her legs. There it was, that familiar feeling.
It was the reason she didn‘t immediately dash at Forrest like that again, otherwise she reckoned she‘d seriously damage herself. Instead, she picked up a piece of debris that was jutting out of the ground next to her and launched it with a focused blast of her semblance at Forrest as she slowly started running at him. She then pulled her last cartridge, wind dust, from her hip and inserted it. At least she had something to bite down on as she got used to the pain in her legs.

Now I got you! She took the sword from her mouth once more and ran as fast as she could at Forrest, like a hunter that had cornered it‘s meal and was closing in for the kill.
Once there she started swinging with Viridan Naraka at him, using Carnassial Talon to cover any gaps she might leave open. She reckoned he was going to try and dodge, so covering any gaps was vital for her. Like that, Viridian Naraka slashed the air asunder as it came down in a diagonal at her opponent.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Noticing that Vlithra took some time before charging him, Forrest took that time to slide a Gravity Dust crystal into Grashalm, taking out the gemstone that was there before. Unlike the bullets, this type of Gravity Dust was made to push things away if he managed to land a hit on Vlithra. As the debris flew over towards Forrest, he formed a shield and blocked the debris. The shield cracked and shattered under the immense power of the thrown debris but managed to buy him enough time to dip his head underneath it.

Vlithra charged at him, and realizing that his wooden shield was busted, he morphed it into a wooden shortsword. Vlithra had an advantage in dual wielding, but Forrest could do the same by using his Semblance. It wouldn't be able to withstand a head on strike from one of Vlithra's weapons, so it would be best suited to parrying and deflecting. In an interesting turn of events, Forrest stood his ground instead of dodging, using his Semblance to keep his feet firmly planted and stable on the ground against Vlithra's assault.

For a moment, it appeared that no one could gain the upper hand. Vlithra swung, Forrest parried. Vlithra swung again, Forrest deflected. This pattern kept repeating for a while. Forrest held out longer than he anticipated, only taking a few minor scrapes here and there as they clashed until one blow shattered the wooden shortsword. He didn't have time to create another, and Vlithra wouldn't let up her assault. Forrest took some more damaging slashes trying his best to defend himself. That's when Vlithra swung diagonally down at him with immense power.

NOT LIKE THIS! Forrest thought as Grashalm met the incoming blade. It at first seemed like a successful block were it not for the creaking and breaking of metal as a split formed in Grashalm's blade originating where the swords met. That's when Forrest realized that things took a turn for the worse, as he saw the familiar orange glow of a Combustion Dust Bullet from inside the crack of his weapon. That's right, he had left them inside Grashalm when he had descended the tree. There was the tiniest crack in the bullet, and even the tiniest structural failure on something explosive meant only one thing...

KABOOM!

The klaxon sounded immediately after the explosion, but the smoke had obstructed any view of the arena. The onlookers fell silent as they anxiously awaited to see who had remained standing, if anyone...

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra swung at him with all the ferocity she could muster. Having been kep at a distance from the beginning, Vlithra was estatic that she finally got to clash swords with Forrest. And to her surprise, he was holding his own for a while. He managed to successfully parry or deflect her swings at him, up until he could not longer endure the relentless assault she was putting him under. Her grin only widened when her blade shattered the improvised sword he had been using to match her. All the while she charged her semblance up for a big shockwave that‘ll end the fight when his guard was broken.

Viridian Naraka came down at Grashalm, the metal blade audibly creaking as it impacted. This would seal his fate surely…
A glistening orange light, pierced her eyes and her grin turned quickly into a stunned frown.

KABOOM!

Vlithra opened her eyes to a ringing in her ears in a bed of bellowing smoke from the explosion. She found herself knelt down, coughing from the smoke and not having heard the klaxon at all. She felt the joints in her body ache as she straightened herself, needing to use Viridan Naraka to push herself up easier. She was not glowing anymore, having discharged all of her kinetic energy during the explosion…

Now where did he go? she thought as she brandished Carnassial Talon. There was only one way to find out for sure. The white blade sung as Vlithra spun around her own axis once, creating a small whirlwind that pushed the smoke out and dispersed it somewhat. She stumbles a bit as she comes to a halt, frantically looking for her opponent, until her gaze fell upon him and the fragments of his now damaged weapon, not with the same estatic grin as before, but a somber more shocked expression.

[Forrest Waldstein]

The smoke had cleared by this point, revealing the fractured, irreparable remains of Grashalm and the battered and beaten Forrest. Much of his body was covered in a grey soot from the explosion, and his Aura completely shattered. The wall behind him which he was leaning back against appeared to be dented in, Forrest was likely knocked back into the wall immediately after the explosion. Although Forrest looked completely exhausted, the tiniest cracks of a smile were evident at the corners of his mouth as he stood upright.

"Vlithra," Forrest began hoarsely.

"Why are you so upset? You won." he continued, the coarseness remaining in his voice. Despite his exhausted and damaged state, he still managed to crack a wide smile at Vlithra.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Seeing Forrest take the loss in stride, Vlithra‘s expression became more neutral. He was right as it seemed, she won. But the fact she had destroyed Forrest‘s weapon weighed a bit on her. She relaxed her body as she started walking over to Forrest. She did an elegant swing with Viridian Naraka and then subsequently sheathed it in an elegant manner, as if that movement had been ingrained in her mind. She then also sheathed Carnassial Talon after twirling it in her hand once.

“I‘m not upset.“ she retorted as she approached. “Just didn‘t exactly expect to break your weapon you know.“ she continued, looking down at him for a moment. After a moment she lowered herself so she could offer him an hand. “Come, let‘s get you up.“