Stahlmin 99 [Claes, Goib]

"Luck is a false concept made up by those with no control over their fate!" Kiara, despite the sheer length of that sentence, stood proudly and gave a thumbs up like she'd spoken some kind of catch phrase. "It's skill and aspiration that's needed, and I have both." She said rather seriously. Her behavior was changing just a bit as the time for the fight grew near. Either she was overly confident or psyching herself up. Either way, she had a smile on her face as they began to move towards the square. "I promise I'll be careful though, Claes." She added fairly quickly as they moved.

"He's the chief for a reason, I'm not going to underestimate that." If she won though...That would be amazing! Imagine that!? 'Cadet beats commander!' She'd be on the fast track to success after that! In no time, maybe she'd be a high enough rank to fire Chastian herself too!

At the thought, Kiara paused a moment, looking at the two before her with a shocked face. "I have to win this." She'd murmur before suddenly striding forward with increased vigor.

Claes sighed as Kiara rushed forward.

"Well, I guess there's no stopping her," she said. "Let's go, McCrae."


The three would arrive at the courtyard where Richard was already waiting. He was still in uniform, though he had taken off his jacket and he seemed to be testing the balance of a rapier in his hand. When the three were in eye shot, he gave a small nod.

"Ah, you're here," he said. "Let's keep it simple: this is a test of efficiency for your tattoos. I won't be holding back, but I'm not about to destroy the building to win either. We're going to keep things within the confines of the courtyard. Goibniu and Claes will be keeping watch. The goal is to push the opponent out of the ring. Namely this one."

Richard raised his free hand. In a split moment, a series of marks formed around the courtyard and created a glowing circle.

"In terms of charges, you're free to use as you regularly carry. I'll be doing the same," he said. "Is that clear for everyone?"

Claes glanced at the Commander worriedly.

"Yes, Chief," she said. "Though, is this really necessary?"

The Chief Commander shrugged.

"I'd like to properly assess the situation at hand. Plus I'm on my break. Why waste that time having tea or closing my eyes to sleep?"


In all honest, you look like you really do need to sleep... Claes thought, quite aware of the dark lines under the Chief's eyes.

"We start at the opposite ends," Richard said. He gestured for Kiara to stand at one edge of the ring while he did the same on the other side.

"Officer McCrae," he then said. "Feel free to give us the signal to start."

Now, it was very clear that Kiara seemed to be very enthusiastic about her disposition to fight, putting a lot of emphasis in how she apparently needed to have enough physical and mental fortitude to prevail. Goibniu, optimistic as he was, believed that this mainly because Kiara had a firm assessment of her self, rather than something like bravado or overconfidence. After all, wanting to challenge the Chief Commander was definitely not something you can do at the drop of a hat!

Once Kiara made her choice, the trio went towards the courtyard, where Commander Veiller was already waiting for them, a rapier at the ready. The rules were explained, it was going to be a regular spar between Kiara and Richard, weapons used being the ones each brought, and defeat would include being knocked out, surrender, or thrown out of the ring. Even if Goibniu was more of a ranged user, he always felt that defeat by ring-out was... kind of a cheap tactic? Unless the battlefield is an arena suspended above a dangerous terrain, most of the time battles outside would take place in rather spacious locations where retreating far enough wasn't sometimes an option to disengage. But those were the rules, and they will have to adhere by them. "Perfectly clear." Goibniu nodded, a smile was still in his face as the Commander instructed him to give the go ahead.

And then, when both of the parties were ready and in position to start, Goibniu raised one arm slowly... and swung it downwards in a quick motion. "Begin!"

Kiara took a small study of the Commander as she walked into the 'ring'. He would be wielding a rapier. In melee combat, he'd be at a disadvantage with her spear, maybe hammer as well. Still, she expected him to tip the scales with magic. She, of course, would do the same.

She stayed unusually quiet as Goibniu readied the signal, placing her spear in the dirt. As he swung downwards, Kiara placed her hands on her forearm tattoos and trailed downwards. electric sparks seem to radiate off her as the spell Haste was cast. She wasted no time, holding her palms out. A brief flash and two small red orbs shot out, arching around the ring, and hovering near Richard. Kiara closed her hands and the orbs suddenly burst into fire expanding out towards Richard rather quickly. Kiara finally, grabbed her spear and placed the back end on the ground behind her. There was a sound of crackling flame and a high pitched whine, but nothing else was happening.

Yet.

Richard stayed motionless as Kiara cast her spell and sent fire sending towards him. He had expected her to make the first move.

Without straying from his spot, he raised his hand and cast several marks. Frosty mist burst and spreaded outwards as a series of ice shards created a barrier around him. They'd come in contact with the fire and prevent Kiara's attack from hurting him.

Richard then raised his sword and cast another spell, this time creating a glyph beneath Kiara that would attempt to keep her in place.

As soon as he sent his signal, the two officers began their fight with Kiara performing the first move. The sigils in her arm allowed her to cast a spell on herself, followed by one to attack Richard. And the Commander was able to deftly defend himself from it through an ice spell, before attempting to retaliate.

All the while, Goibniu stared at the confrontation practically with sparkles in his eyes. Not just because it was a spar match between officers, an exercise that will give each of them experience for the field, but also because it was a chance to see what kind of abilities Kiara had, as well as seeing how cool the Commander was in battle. "Wow... who do you think, Officer Alfson?" He asked Claes, wondering what she thought of the match, clearly ignoring (or perhaps, unaware of?) her apprehension towards it.

Kiara smiled as the Commander blocked her opener. Just a test of his defenses, what came next should test them just a bit further so long a-

Oh! A counterattack! Her eyes shot down as a glyph opened up below her. She hopped up, balancing on the propped spear a moment, it gave way slightly as she jumped off. In mid jump she twisted in the air, curling and tracing her fingers down her shins. A glow came from her tattoos and then she suddenly landed mid air. She quickly jumped again and again, getting higher and higher as she angled towards the right side of the Commander.

Finally, her charged spear went off. Originally it was aimed right at the Commander, but her jump had dug it into the ground slightly. A large gout of fire tore up the ground in front of the Commander, rapidly approaching him. The spear itself would crack the ground behind it, then rapidly shoot back. Kiara let out a small "Eep!" As she reached out, glyphs appeared just above her hand, then pulled inwards. Surrounding her hand was a watery bubble, it shot out, latching onto the back of the spear and hardening quickly into rock. The spear was firing stable for now, no longer threatening to hit a bystander. The unfortunate reality, Kiara knew, was that she wasn't able to do more to overwhelm the Commander for now.