The Giant and the Dragon Slayer

[Kotone]

The man cried out in pain as the hilt of a blade slammed into his stomach. Or rather, he tried to, but barely a sound came out as the wind rushed out of his lungs. He doubled over beside the young woman who’d delivered the blow, who was already ready for the next guy. She stepped aside, dodging a lightning strike and returning the favor with a blade of pure wind, which cut into her opponent and sent him to the floor where he joined his unconscious comrade. Icy blue eyes could be seen cutting through the shadows of the alleyway, belonging to the girl the men were quickly falling to. “I made a promise,” she told the remaining three people calmly as a combination of wind and cold whipped around her. “that you lowlife thugs would pay for hurting my friends.”

Moving quickly, the girl slammed her knee into another man before he could react, blocking his buddy’s weapon attack with her Katana before pushing him back and whipping the blade around to clock him in the head with the unsharpened part. The last man was backing up slowly. He’d lost his nerve when his four friends had gone down so quickly. “Get out of here,” the girl told him. “You can tell your Shadow Heart buddies that the Spell Breaker is out to ruin their day.”

The man took off in a panicked run, and the dragon slayer, Kotone, slid her katana back into its sheath on her back and let out a sigh as the icy light faded from her amber eyes. She flipped her long brown hair behind her back, and shrugged her jacket more properly back onto her shoulders as she inserted her hands into the pockets and strolled casually out of the alleyways of Onibus. Beating up Shadow Heart thugs was a pretty nice bit of exercise, if she did say so herself. They were like cockroaches. They were everywhere, and that meant she was never bored lately while Kade was busy.

Kotone had grown quite a bit in the last eight months, strangely enough, and looked a lot more grown up than the last time she was in this part of Fiore. She wasn’t complaining, though it had caused some fun reactions so far. Roejaster had said she had grown up too quickly. She’d told him he was just old.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum growled lowly his normally soft and pleasant smile a wide and crazed grin of a monster as he dragged an dark cloaked man behind him as he struggled to escape the Giants determined grip.  The man was kicked and screamed as Atrum dragged the man and lifted him up to show him what he had done just to get to him.  This particular Shadow heart member was hiring mercenaries to help them cast a larger net of control over the town.  Atrum didn't care all he knew was that he recognized the markings of shadow heart and that Atrum wanted nothing more than to watch them reduced to a smouldering pile of mulch.  It was even a joy to rip through those who were helping Shadow heart, and though he didn't kill anyone he wasn't satisfied with this.  No he couldn't be, not when the one truly responsible was still out there.  He wouldn't stop until he found the leader of shadow heart, and watched him burn.  Atrum dropped the shadow heart member and planted his foot down on him pinning him to the ground.

"It was fun really, coming for you, those mercs were a nice challenge and a decent work out.  They were no match for a proper practitioner of war however.  Get it?  Your leader's actions have woken a sleeping terror, Fairy Tail fought in the five year war.  We fought so you slimes could live free of Valland's rule, I was not even born here and I fought for you!"  Atrum picked up his foot and brought it back down angrily, he was not one for complaining but damn it he had never felt so betrayed before.  "Maybe you simply do not understand why I am so angry with Shadow heart.  It is understandable you seem to think you are fighting for some good cause half the time right?"  Atrum snarled this time lifting his foot to give extra emphasis on what he was about to say.  "You.  Bastards.  Killed.  Part.  Of.  My.  Family."  He growled bringing his foot down with every word.  The Shadow Heart member most likely had a few broken ribs by this point, but he'd live.  Atrum wouldn't kill him, no he wouldn't kill a single member, but they would wish he had.

"Are you wounded?"  Atrum asked putting his foot underneath the man and flipping him over the question directed at both him and the broken and beaten mercenaries scatter about the place.  "Those of you who can."  He growled looking over and finding a few people still conscious.  "Pick yourselves of the ground, hurry back, tell your leaders-"  He paused to give them all a earnest grin all fangs and rage.  "You will need more men!"  He announced before turning about and leaving the building placing his hand into his pockets after lowering his hat over his eyes.  He kicked the door open and left into the street, the Giant knew why he felt so betrayed.  He had gotten comfortable, grown used to the peacefulness of this land, and wasn't prepared for the attack.  In truth it was also his fault that this attack had happened, he was not prepared for it, he wasn't even at the guild when it happened.  He let them get away with it, and that was the true reason for his rage.  The giant didn't want to admit it, refused to even acknowledge it.  Still that did not make it any less true.

Atrum walked down the street cursing angrily the smile that normally painted his face almost non-existent and looking more forced and solemn than anything out brought of joy.  The others he had met must have all grown and yet.  He had stagnated, not grown at all, for all his talk of loving a good fight how many had he really had?  Atrum needed to grow stronger needed to fight and if beating down mercenaries and shadow heart members was how he did it he was not going to complain.  No he would relish the chance to make up for his mistakes.

[Kotone]

Kotone, meanwhile, had lost track of her man she’d let go. Not that she was trying to watch him. This simply meant that he wasn’t coming back to try and sneak up on her. His scent wasn’t even in the air by the time she’d emerged from the alley. Another smell, however… it seemed familiar. Kotone’s eyes widened slightly and she looked in the direction the scent was coming from. Fire. It was the scent of fire. Not Raven’s fire… that meant… “Atrum.”

Kotone turned around just as Atrum rounded the corner. She was waiting with a slightly fanged grin on her face, not entirely surprised to see the frown on his face. “I thought I caught your scent.” Kotone took her left hand out of her pocket, letting it hang limp. Her knuckles had the telltale signs of combat on them since she’d just finished her own fight. “I was just cleaning up some riff raff who thought they’d hang out on the street and pick on some of my guild friends.” Kotone looked him over, noting that he looked like he’d been fighting as well. Maybe she hadn’t caught all of them then. Oh well, Onibus wasn’t the smallest town. “You?”

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum blinked as he looked at Kotone, it had been a while since he had seen her last and, she had grown in more ways than one since back then.  He was happy she had grown but still it only emphasized the feeling of standing still that only served to infuriate him.  Another reminder of his failure, another thing that he refused to admit was true.  Still he was glad to see Kotone, and glad to see her personality was the same as when he met her.  She was a good person back then as well, the giant looked at her state and figured she must've been fighting, and she confirmed as much.  Watching the streets totally like the young woman he had met back then, a good person to be sure.  He took off his hat with a flourish and gave his friend a bow, replacing his hat back upon his head with another flourish.

"Kotone it is a pleasure to see you again."  He said giving her a slightly larger smile than the one he was originally sporting.  "I was simply venting some frustration on some mercenaries willing to work for Shadow Heart."  He said plainly, his expression darkening as he remembered the ordeal.  "Other than that I have been attempting to get stronger.  I intend to avenge the damage that the self righteous Shadow Heart ten fold.  I need to get stronger first however."  He said more to himself than to Kotone trying to remind himself why he was doing this, given the chance to grab more strength he would definitely go for it.  "It has been a trying time for me.   How have you been since we parted ways?  Well I hope."

[Kotone]

Kotone had changed a lot since Atrum had seen her last. At her core though, she was still the same highly confident and heroic girl from nearly a year ago. She stood there, grinning confidently as he bowed in greeting. She didn’t return the bow, but then anyone who knew Kotone knew she wouldn’t even bow to a king, so it was hardly surprising that she didn’t. “Sounds like we’ve been up to the same activities lately,” she told Atrum. She gave him that same grin she’d given him months ago when they’d met and pretended to beat each other to a pulp. She’d even made the same vow – to make any Shadow Heart member she came across pay tenfold.

“It’s been an interesting eight months,” Kotone told Atrum, her eyes appraising him quickly. He seemed to be perfectly fine, at least. “Your guild mate Tatsuma pushed me to stop slacking off and get a lot stronger. That’s a long story. It didn’t end so well for him.” Kotone flashed him a confident grin. “Not the second time anyway.” Kotone let out a small sigh as she started walking again, gesturing for Atrum to follow her. “I heard about Fairy Tail from Roejaster a couple of weeks back,” she admitted, glancing at Atrum. “I’ve been doing what I can to help both them and my new friends at Lamia Scale since then. I suppose you could say I’ve been out asking for trouble. It’s easier to find it that way.”

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum smirked when he heard about Tatsuma meeting the Ice slayer with the fiery personality, he couldn't have gotten a worse match up if he tried.  That would explain his attitude back then, hurt pride from getting caught with his pant down explained a lot.  Honestly though Atrum hadn't expected her to lose to him the first time around, still it was good to hear that Tatsuma got his ass handed to him once again the kid needed a blow to his confidence if he was going to improve, though Atrum guessed he might just be a busy body.  Atrum followed Kotone as she gestured for him to walk with her, lowering his hat over his eyes as he did so.  He wasn't surprised she had heard about the attack, it was a pretty public thing by this point.  A lot of people seemed to doubt that Fairy Tail mages could even defend themselves because of it they had lost faith in the guild.  The Giant couldn't blame the public for that either, though that did not make it hurt any less.  He had come to accept this place as his home, and now he felt as if this place was rejecting him.  he wasn't about to give up on Fiore like he had his old homeland, this was nothing compared to the catastrophe that had befallen his home.  

"I appreciate what you are doing then, you did not have to do so...but I am glad that you did, Kotone."  He said giving her a pleasant smile,  Kotone was one of the better fighters he had run into since his time in this country and he was glad that she was out there helping the guilds that had been hurt by Shadow Heart.  "I suppose you are correct, though getting information out of them have proven more, problematic than I originally suspected.  The only information I have gathered from them is where other low ranking groups have gathered, no one higher up the ladder, it is starting to get to me to be honest."  He said choosing to skip talking specifically about what happened to fairy Tail.  He rather not talk about how he only got to see the after math of the attack, he didn't want to relive his failure to protect his family.  "You have made some friends At Lamia Scale?  They seem to be a good bunch, a lot of adorkable members last I checked"  He chuckled to himself remembering the few member he had personally met and those he had seen from the recent tourney.  "It is good to know you have met some decent people though."

[Kotone]

Kotone shrugged off Atrum’s thanks. She was a dragon slayer. Even though each dragon slayer seemed to have their own mission, hers was literally something very close to being a hero. So handing out a little justice and getting her hands dirty was just part of the job description, as far as she was concerned. She grinned when he admitted gaining information was hard. “They seem to have a Cell structure in their organization,” Kotone told Atrum. “They’re united as a guild, but only certain people know what certain people are up to at any given time. It means they’re cautious. It also means the entire thing isn’t privy to the same information. They’ve got low level grunts who aren’t worth crap except for being enforcers and thugs where needed. A few of them seem to be smarter, and they’re in charge of more.” That was kind of a given for any organization, Kotone supposed, but she might as well explain what she knew.

“At the top is someone called the Shadow Lord. He’s the one member every group I’ve hit have mentioned. He’s in charge, and he’s crazy smart and powerful. He’s also next to untrackable.” Next to meant it could probably be done, and dragon slayers were amongst the best trackers in the land. But she wasn’t ready to do that, and she knew it.

“But enough about that for now,” Kotone told Atrum. She closed her eyes and managed to somehow look more casual than she normally did. “The way I see it, for now there’s one of two things we can do. We can either go looking for trouble as seems to have been our previous plans, or I can show you what I’ve learned since we last met.” She grinned. She wasn’t challenging him out of a sense of pride. She had no idea if he’d improved or not. It was out of a combination of respect for him, and a desire to help Fairy Tail where she could. Sparring matches revealed a lot about a person, as well as their opponent. “Master Elswere has taught me a lot, and so has several other things. I honestly don’t think I could have beaten you before. Now though...” Kotone’s eyes flashed an icy blue again. “I’m a lot stronger than I was then.”

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum nodded as Kotone explained what she knew, a lot of it was information he had also heard fromc he idiots he had beaten up.  The cell structure was smart but annoying it meant that Atrum had to work to do any real damage to the guild.  He wasn't happy with the confirmation of this fact, it meant that he would be striking at the dark for a while before he did anything of note.  Still, beating on their grunts would ruin a lot of their operations in towns, at the very least it would delay them.  What interested him was the information on this 'Shadow Lord', he was the one who decided everything that Shadow heart did.  The one who decided that members of his family had to die for this vision he had been hearing being spouted by their lips every time he asked them why.  He had given up looking for a reason, to be honest the reason didn't really matter, what did was the Shadow lord.  Atrum had a name for his target now, he was going to find him, make him scream, burn him, Atrum wanted to see him punished for his crimes against his family.  He would pay dearly but right now Atrum was talking to Kotone.

"Still thank you for sharing the information is useful if nothing else I have a better picture of what I am doing on that front.  It has been since I have indulged in my peoples eagerness to go to war, this only helps me and for that I thank you."  He said giving a pleasant smile that contrasted with his angry eyes, but that changed as soon as Kotone suggested a change in activities for the two of them and Atrum's ears perked up when she suggested a second sparring match between the two.  The smile widened into an eager grin his fangs on full display as he considered the chance to fight the spell breaker once again.  He wasn't sure he could keep up with her now but he wasn't about to let that stop him no if anything this distance between them lit a fire inside him he wanted to push himself against a mountain he wasn't garunteed to cross.  He wanted to push himself to his limits.  He wanted to fight!  "Kotone like I would turn down a chance to fight someone as strong as you were.  If you are even stronger than you were back then, I think I can push myself to my limit, maybe even cut loose for real if you are as strong as the impression I am getting.  Geh heh my blood is already boiling!  Let us really set this place ablaze!"  He said Smashing his fists together small flames flickering from his fists as they collided.  He needed this.

Atrum mind shifted gears his worries not forgotten but rather pushed aside he could feel his body heating up.  His muscles reflexively twitching as his body prepared itself for the strain of a fight.  He could almost taste the upcoming fight, it was delicious, it made him hungry.  Oh that's right; He Hungered.

[Kotone]

Kotone’s grin only widened as Atrum literally heated up at the thought of a fight with her. To tell the truth, whether she was stronger or not, she knew it would be a fun match. Atrum was one of the more powerful fire wizards she personally knew. “Glad to hear you haven’t lost any of the fire in your spirit.” Kotone told him, shifting her feet to a more ready position as the air chilled around her dangerously. The ground and building next to them started icing over, and arctic winds whipped up around her body.

Her eyes narrowed as she eyed Atrum, remembering his long grip and resilient body. He was physically and mentally suborn, and last time that had caused a problem with her. But Kotone was equally stubborn. Magical energy practically bled off of the girl. She didn’t go for her Katana as she usually did. She was going to see what Atrum did first. “Alright, Straw Hat. I’m going to let the guy go first. But don’t think I’m going easy on you,” she warned him. “I’m not holding back. I’m not doing either of us any favors by not going all-out.” With that, Kotone’s further away foot scooted backwards, ready for whatever Atrum came at her with.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrim's grin turn sinister as he snapped his fingers a small flame appearing in between him and Kotone floating and dancing directly in front of her vision to distract her As Atrum immediately charged forwards. Atrum's intended goal was rather simple distract Kotone and go for her legs and try to deny her easy footing at the very start of the fight. She was more agile than Atrum was he needed to deny her that advantage, force her to fight harder than he had to. He swung his own leg at her feet a heavy sweep meant to knock her over, he wasn't expecting this to work properly she was agile as all hells. Something he admired about her she wasn't as tough as him so she made up for it by hitting harder and moving about with more agility.

Still he was incredibly durable he was sure that he could take what she could dish out, he had faith in his durability and experience. This was going to be so much fun he hadn't been in a difficult fight in a while, and Kotone was definitely going to be a difficult opponent. He could only guess how much more powerful she since they last met, he hoped she had something new to show him because despite all his kicking of himself, he hadn't stayed still either. He had learned a few tricks in the few fights he had since they parted ways and he couldn't wait to show her them.

[Kotone]

With a snap, a small flame appeared between Kotone and Atrum. What was the point of that? A distraction tactic. Still staring at the flame, Kotone hopped the leg sweep, still grinning as she came back down, attempting to punch Atrum before he could move fast enough to get out of the way.As she impacted with either him or the ground, she used her legs to shove off and move backwards, on the defensive despite her superior strength. She was still sizing him up. The tactic had worked on Fayte, and Tatsuma before her.

As she landed a few feet away, a shard of ice appeared over her left shoulder, quickly firing at Atrum with what would normally be deadly velocity. Kotone was nothing if not a talented wizard, and knew how to instantly reshape her normally sharp ice shards so that they would hurt enough to do their job, but not enough to do permanent damage if it impacted with Atrum as intended. Atrum had some new tricks to show Kotone, but Kotone had plenty to show him as well. The ice dragon slayer had plenty to prove to Atrum. She’d learned a lot, and fought people with superior speed and even strength at times, but few opponents were as durable as the big man. It was time to see if her newfound power could punch through a mountain. As Atrum was either hit with the ice shard or managed to defend somehow, her grin widened. She had a good feeling about how fun this fight would be.

MP 295/325:

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum had immediately followed up his leg sweep with an attempted knee to Kotone's gut, instead he got punched in his knee immediately Kotone backed off, Atrum gave a legitimate frown as he watched her dance away.  She had gotten better for sure the way she carried herself and reacted to his proddings.  She wasn't the stubborn fighter he had met back then she had much more experience, he was going to have to be more careful if she outclassed him in power- was that a bunch of ice shards? Atrum didn't have time to think out a strategy he needed to act now before she overwhelmed him.

Flames covered Atrum's body as he dusted off an oldie but a gooddie, he wasn't fast enough to dodge and he couldn't counter all of the ice shards but he could limit their effectiveness.  He blinked and felt the impact of the shard unable to counter it at the speed it was moving.  He didn't have anything fast enough to counter it either, but this attack was about as powerful as his average punch.  Nothing to impressive in the damage department, but the speed was definitely a problem.  He smiled to himself as he knew that he was definitely going to learn something from this battle, he was ready to show Kotone one of his new tricks when he realized he still had to cross the distance between them to do so.  He had just the thing to do it to, he grinned as he lifted his left hand and pointed it at Kotone.  Certainly she remembered this one, his favorite spell that saw so much use during their first bout and the jail break soon after.  He doubted she was prepared for what he could do with it now though.  There was the sound of thunder and a bolt of flame struck from the sky directly behind Kotone and Atrum rushed forwards attempting to tackle her to the ground while she was reeling from his Thunderous Flame.

Mp:165/200:

[Kotone]

Kotone was more successful than she’d expected in her initial assault, her ice shard dealing at least a small amount of damage to Atrum even through the fire covering his body. Her eyes flicked to his hand momentarily as she realized his favorite attack was about to come her way. Immediately, scales made of ice covered her body, and the shock bolt crashed into her, hitting her square in the gut. She was pushed back a few feet, down to one knee with her fist on the ground to steady herself. The ice was cracked, but Atrum’s didn’t actually hurt her.

Kotone grinned, impressed by Atrum as much as the reaction that had saved her from getting a sizeable combination burn and bruise to her torso. She didn’t waste time, however, instead launching herself at Atrum as claws appeared on her right hand, slashing straight at Atrum. After she slashed with the claws, they disappeared, and she followed up with a kick from the opposite side. Once again, she danced back after her combination attack. “Nice one,” she told Atrum, moving and talking at the same time. “That would have got me good without my magic.” Atrum had gotten better. Not to the same extent that she had, it seemed, but he was certainly no pushover. She’d beaten Tatsuma with an assault like that more easily, since he was more fragile than Atrum.

MP 255/325:

[Atrum Furea]

"Scales?  Someone has been working out, I am impressed, can't wait to rip through those."  He chuckled as she came right at him ice claws slashing at him before he could try and dodge, instead he chose to respond with his Fist, punching down and winching as the claws slashed into him.  Kotone was giving him more trouble than he expected, but that only made him want to fight more.  That's when he felt the kick smacking into his back, damn she was relentless.  "Claws as well, you definitely have been improving."  She was going to keep going on like this until he couldn't fight anymore, it was time to really cut lose then.  He growled and to world slowed down to him, adrenaline pumping through him at heightened levels Atrum gave in to his battle lust entrusting this battle entirely to his instincts.  He had enough sitting back and testing the waters, who cares about winning and losing?  He was going to fight!

The Giant chuckled and strode forwards his arms in front of him like a boxers as her crossed the distance between him and her, throwing two quick jabs and then ducking down and attempting to get a firm grip on on of her arms, all he needed was a firm grip and he was pretty sure he could end the fight in a single move.  Hopefully she was confident in her armor to allow him to test it's strength with his jabs but those were just distractions anyways, in fact even though he wasn't actively thinking anymore he fully expected Kotone to dodge and/or counter attack.  The fire of his aura would continue to inflict damage regardless as long as he stayed close.

Mp: 160/200 (Burning Aura sustain)

[Kotone]

Kotone only grinned when she was told she was improving. “Not enough,” she told him simply. His punch during her claw slash had got her good in the shoulder, and it stung. But it wasn’t enough to slow her down, and that was what mattered. The look in Atrum’s eyes was one of a ferocious beast that had been awoken. She’d seen it once before. She wondered if she would have lost that fight had it not been interrupted, but she didn’t have long to wonder, because two quick jabs were thrown her way. The dragon slayer turned aside the punches, but it still singed her a bit. It would have been worse, but their magics seemed to be cancelling out each other’s major side effects. It was a battle of strength rather than the natural gimmicks of their magic.

Suddenly, an arm came up and gripped Kotone. She had a flash of the last time this happened. She’d nearly twisted her own leg out of place to get out of it. The heat was intense at this distance, and she could feel the burn despite the thin layer of ice still on her arm. Despite the pain, she grinned. “Dodge this.” Opening her mouth, she let out her signature Ice Dragon Roar. It was much more powerful than the one she’d used on him before, and even as she did she pulled at his grip, trying to escape and using the momentum of the blast to push her backward rather than grounding herself as she usually did.

MP 220/325:

[Atrum Furea]

Even if Atrum wanted to he couldn't have dodge the roar of the tiny dragon he held in his grip, this attack as well had become more powerful since they had left.  Definitely one of the more painful attacks he had taken since as well, but that only served for him to tighten his grip.  He remembered how this happened last time, the surprise of the attack and it's ferocity had knocked him loose and even made him loose his grip on his spell.  This time was different as soon as he saw her open her fanged Maw Atrum lifted up the Dragon slayer and charged forwards attempting to slam her into the nearest building however the strength of her attack soon made it apparent that he needed to change tactics.  The Giant grinned as he drew back his left hand, shutting out the pain as a spark of flame formed before his hand. he was about to lose his grip anyways might as well show her his new trick!

"Thanks for the blast from the past, Here is a little something new!"  He shouted as he overcharged his dancing flame spell it spiraling around his hand like a drill he had used this spell to break her out of jail when they first met but there was a little something new behind this one.  The flames on his arm suddenly grew larger as he threw his fist forwards aiming towards her gut.  "Let us see how well your scales stand up to this!"  He growled striking at her, if the attack hit the dancing flames would weaken her armor while his Mar's Crash did the job of dealing all the damage, at the very least the detonation of his crash would deal some damage as well.  He definitely did not have a grip on her anymore but he doubted she was fast enough to dodge this one, he was pretty hurt from that roar though it hit harder than he expected.

Mp: 120/200:

[Kotone]

Kotone put her arms in front of her face as Atrum’s flames crashed into her. She wasn’t out of tricks yet, though, and her icy scales renewed in strength just as she took the brunt of Atrum’s fiery attack. Steam filled the air as the flames collided with the ice. The icy armor melted off in the wake of the attack, leaving a still grinning Kotone standing there as the steam started to clear, wind kicking up around her and focusing into her palm. She was far from done showing off to her friend. Oh no, she was just getting started.

Swinging her arm as if she were tossing a Frisbee, the wind tore away from her as it condensed into a sharpened blade, barreling at high speeds into the still rather close Atrum. Kotone’s arm hurt. The worst of the burns had been blunted by what remained of her ice armor, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t take a day or two to get over what she already had.

Even as the Hurricane Blade left her hand, her other hand formed a shuriken of ice, which she also launched at a high velocity in a throwing motion. She backed up the entire time, finally summersaulting backwards and landing in a readied position, sword drawn as a ringing sound filled the air. She was panting slightly, but the grin on her face said that she was nowhere near finished.

145/325 MP:

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum's eyes widened as as Kotone retaliated with something that he wasn't expecting; wind magic. It smashed into him before he had time to register the sudden change in magic, he might've paused in confusion if it wasn't for the fact that this only excited him further. Atrum smashed his fists together and charged forwards, only to see the second projectile flying at him. The giant unable to dodge still slightly stunned by the wind spell that had hit him. The giant grinned ferociously he was clearly outmatched when it came to magic, she had grown so much that the vision he held of her in combat could barely compare to what he was facing now.

"In we were only using magic, it would be no question who would win this battle." He started panting the grin only widening on his face, she had chilled him to his boned beaten and battered him. In a battle of magic she was the victor every time at the moment, however Atrum knew there was more to battle than simply the power of ones magic. She had improved so much in that category alone, Atrum wondered how much she had improved in the other categories. "Kotone you have come pretty far this is truly a magnificent battle. Let us change the tempo a bit." He chuckled removing his had and dropping it on the ground behind it the stonewheat article sinking into the ground, then he lifted his hands in front of him similar to before when he adopted a boxers stance. Strangely enough though instead of the insides of his hand facing each other they were pointed outwards in front of him turn ever so slightly inwards. Atrum gave Kotone a pleasant smile and stood still waiting for his friend to make a move.

Mp: 115/200 Burning aura sustain.

[Kotone]

Kotone watched as Atrum congratulated her, assuming his almost boxer’s stance as he danced around, challenging her to change the tempo. She smirked a bit, repositioning herself to what was still a ready position. She let out a breath before sticking the Katana in the ground for the moment, pulling out a ribbon and tying her hair into the ponytail she used to wear all the time. As she grinned, a single fang poked over her lower lip. “Alright, you want to change it up?” she asked Atrum. “What say we see who wins in a good old fashioned brawl?”

Kotone left the sword there, allowing Atrum to decide how the rest of the battle would proceed with how he responded. Kotone feinted straight at Atrum before diving down and trying to kick his legs out from under him. She spun as she got back up quickly, using the momentum to try and elbow him in the stomach since she was so close. Her tactics were less lazy and direct than before. She was faster, and unnaturally strong for her size, but he was tougher. Being direct wouldn’t work to her advantage, and that only left one option: fight smarter, not harder.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum smirked as Kotone rushed at him, her kick came as his leg and he dropped to a knee letting it smack his leg. Immediately he pushed back up bring a knee and his elbow down on Kotone's elbow trapping her attack before it did any real damage, He had fought many people who used their superior speed and agility to try and overwhelm him. He knew that while he wasn't as fast as they were in certain areas in his small area just a few inches from his body he was able to react quickly enough to block and prevent the real damage from seeping through. He smiled as he felt the sting of Kotone's blows.

"You hit harder as well, that is good but I have only gotten tougher since we last met." He grinned throwing his left fist towards her face, and releasing her elbow so he could press forwards and throw his right fist into her gut. Experience was Atrum's best weapon, every new fight every loss and victory taught him something new. He had learned from Kotone already, absorbing the strategies she used and filing them away in his mind. She was good and he respected her, but more than that he didn't want this fight to end. Regardless if she took the punches or dodged them Atrum keep going moving his hands to grab her shoulders if he got a grip on her he was going to headbutt her shake her up. This should be good.

[Kotone]

Kotone’s initial assault failed, but to tell the truth she wasn’t especially surprised. Atrum was an incredible close range fighter, and she was reminded of this as his fist flew towards her face, which she caight in her own fist as she was scooted slightly backwards. The man really was like a mountain. She was pretty tough, herself, but was a bit worse at taking sudden fists to her gut. She squeaked a bit as the breath left her, but she managed not to lose her focus despite losing the fist she’d gripped.

Kotone had to remind herself she’d promised not to keep using her magic as he grabbed her shoulders. She knew what was coming next. Kotone braced herself as best she could, but she still saw stars when Atrum headbutted her as hard as he did. She stumbled back. No one won in a headbutt, but Atrum was a special man. She didn’t think of him a mountain for just one reason. He also seemed to be able to take a headbutt better than most people. Kotone lunged at him in retaliation, trying to slam her shoulder into his stomach as hard as she could. She was superior in magic, but when it came to straight up fighting… Atrum had the toughness to weather more than she would have liked when the two of them fought.

[Atrum Furea]

Oh good gods that was adorable, It made Atrum lose focus for the briefest second and suddenly, the wind left Atrum's stomach as Kotone's blow smacked into his gut. Atrum growled alound kicking himself for losing focus over Kotone's squeak, he hadn't expected such a sound to come from her and now he was getting punished for it. A headbutt? No problem Atrum was tough all around, but something adorable always screw with his focus. It didn't help that Kotone was powerful enough to really screw him over if it kept happening, he had to get back him momentum.

The Giant twisted suddenly trying to get his arms around Kotone pulling the Dragon slayer towards the ground. It made sense really, with his superior weight and size Atrum would have a huge advantage in a grappling based match. All he had to do was lock out any avenues of escape for the agile dragon slayer, though he highly doubted that he could do that, that would be underestimating Kotone greatly. The Dragon slayer even back then was at the very least as stubborn as he was, if she couldn't find a escape route she'd make one, and if she couldn't she'd just beat him until he lost his grip. He could respect that, it's what he would do as well. Still the rush was back he had lost focus for a second and Kotone would probably capitalize on that he had to keep his focus, or she'd break him.

[Kotone]

At first, Kotone was actually rather surprised that she'd been successful in hitting him so hard. He usually didn't react like that. Wait... had he been reacting to her squeak? She hadn't even meant to- BAM. Now she was distracted as Atrum decided it was time to drag her to the ground and turn this into a wrestling match. She couldn't have that. But she did have very little choice in the matter as she'd lost her focus when she'd wondered why he'd gotten distracted. Kotone needed to escape. Unfortunately, her resolve not to use her magic meant that an easy escape was going to be a hard one.

The dragon slayer struggled underneath Atrum as he attempted to create a situation where Kotone couldn't escape. Sure, she knew she'd already won round one when they pair had both been using magic, but round two reminded her that she was, in fact, an average sized eighteen year old girl in a wrestling match with one of the tallest men she knew. Kotone grunted as she tried to struggle. She might be able to escape if she managed to squeak again, but she didn't want to win on some stupid technicality like that.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum was still surprised that she had simply allowed him to drag her to the ground but at the moment he was more concerned with getting his arms underneath Kotone's to keep her from punching him properly. Instead he chose to grip her in a bear hug and start squeezing, there were multiple reasons for this. mostly because choosing to strike her would require him to get into a weaken position and allow to get most of her strength and strike back, partly because he was determined to keep her locked down and keep her agility advantage down to a minimum. He wasn't sure how much experience she had fighting larger opponents without magic but it he couldn't claim to have that much either though for entirely different reasons.

Atrum had a clear advantage in this kind of fight, mostly it was his experience but his size and strength would also equally invaluable in this regard, it made engaging with him in a pure brawl a nightmare for those who weren't used to combat. Kotone was strong, but his size and weight were working against her more than one would expect. He was surprised really he had figured that she would've gotten out a lot sooner but it seems he was off when it came to her timing or maybe she was trying something else? Either way he figured that he needed to be careful with her or she would leave flat on his ass.

[Kotone]

Kotone needed to think of something, and fast. She was strong, possibly stronger than him, but the difference in weight and his leverage was making it hard to use her strength. Either way, the bear hug she was being given made it a bit hard to breath, and it made her arms useless and her legs almost so. Kotone looked behind herself at Atrum with the corner of her eye.

The man was bigger than her, and he was more resilient than her. That was a surprising feat, all things considered about the girl. But it was most certainly true. Her still aching head was a reminder of that. She wondered if he could even still feel the pain of anything she’d done. He didn’t seem to slow down no matter what she did.

She wasn’t about to give up. Not yet. The dragon slayer swung her leg back as hard as she could into Atrum’s knee using her superior flexibility, trying with all of her might to break free of the bear hug as she did so. If it worked, she would roll away , and stand back up defensively, panting from her previous lack of oxygen. If not… well, she was still in a bad position.

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