[Spring Tournament, Round 1] Morn at Four, Eve at Three

[Jett Variona]

It had taken him all day to complete, but it was finally ready. Dusk was about to set its table when the appointed match was to begin, and he had spent all day focused upon one almost draining task. It had to be slow. Precise. Perfect. First it had been too heavy. Then it was too thin. And after that it had to be far too ugly. The tourney was about to start by the time Jett finally got the blasted thing correct. It fit like a glove and gave comfort like a lover's embrace. Well, not quite. It was only heated by his own sweat and skin, but was otherwise rather cold. No matter anymore, there was no more time to fret over it. The fight was upon them and it would have to do. It seemed almost as if time itself had slowed as he turned the corner. The cheering audience above the maze of the Warfields seemed distant, muted. Of course, that might have been due to the red stone helmet that adorned his head. He had crafted his masterpiece with care, and from his opinion it wasn't too shabby for a wizard of his skill. It had almost the shape of a knight's helmet that he'd seen illustrated in a book once, but was lovingly shaped from the stone that gave Nyka its skin. A day's worth of reimancy had gone into it, and it effectively covered most of Jett's entire head. There was a oval shaped opening for his eyes, and the brow of the helm curved downwards to give him a menacing look. The sides and mouth piece were crude and not very shapely, but the curves hugged his form enough to stay upon his head. For breathing purposes the stone around his mouth had been shaped into slits that were uneven but provided more than enough room, but still covered his face from cheek to cheek. Those who knew Jett would not recognize him now. He did not even have his trusty Agnis. She had been replaced by a intricately carved quarter staff that he leaned upon as he walked. Other than his helmet he wore his usual robes, though somewhat dirtier from the effort of his labors and the dust from the Warfields maze. The staff and aid for the helm had both been provided for by Jett's uncle, who stood silently in the stands above with his arms folded across his barrel chest. It reminded Jett of the day he had first become a monk, where he had stood by much the same way as he fought another hopeful. Jett Variona gave his relative a firm nod before turning back to his opponent, gripping the staff tightly in both hands.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas didn’t have a fancy helmet. He had no idea how to make a helmet, and he didn’t have reimancy either. His only experience with magic consisted of trying to open a void once because he’d thought he’d discover treasure on the other side. His armor was much less impressive than Jett’s, an old helmet that he had found somewhere in a closet in Syliras, a suit of leather armor and a shield that looked as if his parents and grandparents had already owned it. Truth to be told, he’d much rather fight in his normal clothes - he found armor uncomfortable - but there was always the chance that Jett would just stick whatever weapon he had right into his head or into his chest. His sword was likewise a heirloom, inherited from his father.

None of his relatives were watching the fight. His dear parents were still in Syliras, playing knights and pretending to be all noble and honorable, but he didn’t need an audience anyway. It would only distract him if his family cheered for him – or at least pretended to cheer for him. It was much better the way it was now.

Unlike Jett Lucas didn’t look manacing at all. He was much shorter than his opponent. What little was visible of his face clearly told the monk that he was facing somebody who hadn’t been allowed to drink not so long ago. The hair that peeked out under his helmet was bright red. Not only was Jett facing a teenager, he was also facing a foreigner who probably had no idea about the way things worked in Nyka.

Lucas didn’t grip his weapon tighlty either. He waved his sword around and did a few exercises. Only then did he face his opponent, grip his sword tightly and settled into what he thought was the appropriate stance, one leg in front of the other one, feet shoulder width apart for a bit of increased stability. Since he had never fought somebody with a staff he didn’t rush at his opponent and tried to stick his sword into him before he could react – such moves were usually doomed to fail - but gestured for him to come closer.

He wanted to see how he moved.

“Hey, chupra!” he exclaimed. Since it was unlikely that Jett spoke Arumenic, the poor monk probably had no idea that Lucas had just accused him of having sex with goats, but from the tone of the boy’s voice it was obvious that it hadn’t been a compliment. “Let’s start this. Attack me. Or are you scared?”

[Jett Variona]

"Scared?" Came the muffled, tired reply from within the red helmet. "Nope. Just weary. Why, are you?" His laughter was croaking, an odd sound when coming from his makeshift mask, as if it reverberated from ancient lips. Jett was tired from his exertions, and it showed. He knew he should have rested more. Never a man for words more than action, the monk breathed in deeply and placed a hand upon the stone that remained heated by the sun of the day. A deep rumbling sounded from the maze's walls, and a short time later a jagged outcropping burst out of a crack that had formed going from Jett's hand and to next to Lucas. The stalagmite shoved itself from the wall towards the boy's midsection. A upset cry raised itself among the Uphis residents watching at the destruction of their finely crafted maze. Jett couldn't help but crack a smile at that. Pompous monks, those who answered to Uphis often deserved to be put in their place anyway. Besides, when all was said and done he'd help clean the place up. He was a mason as well as a monk after all.

[Lucas Arias]

„No, definitely not!“ Lucas insisted. „I’m never scared.“ He watched the monk and waited for him to attack with that staff of his, but no attack come, at least not exactly in the way the failed squire had anticipated. As Jett placed a hand upon the stone, Lucas looked at him in confusion. As he heard the rumbling sound, his eyes widened. By the time the stalagmite moved towards him, they looked as if they were ready to drop out of their sockets. By Kelwyn, what was the man doing?

„Hey, I thought magic wasn’t allowed!“ he complained. For the fraction of a second he considered retaliating with a bit of magic of his own, but then it occured of him that he had only tried to open a void once, so he might accidentially void himself instead of the stalagmite which was definitely not a good idea. He wasn’t particularly keen on spending the rest of his life in a place where there were no food and no air to be honest.

So he did what he always did when he was in a fight. He decided to play a little game with his opponent. In mock shock he screamed, „Look! Uphis is coming for you!“ to distract the monk, and then he ran as fast as he could, holding his shield in front of his midsection, just in case. He wanted to try and come at Jett from behind or the side, it didn’t really matter from where, and aim for his torso.

[Jett Variona]

"Nonsense!" Jett wheezed out through his stony protection. It was hard to make himself heard over the noise. "Whoever told you that? I'm a monk, aren't I? Gimme all you got!" Despite the ludicrousness of the statement intended to distract him, the sheer normality of looking where someone pointed, Jett turned. It was not as if he expected to see Uphis coming for him, but rather sheer habit. It seemed the monk did not entirely think of Lucas as an enemy to be defeated yet. After all, they had survived the Aperture together. Such a trial tended to bring people together, and Jett found himself more fond of those he actually interacted with down in the depths, those who had had a impact on their situation. Lucas, he had found, was a delightful companion if nothing else. Jett reacted, perhaps too late in retaliation to the boy's attack. He was knocked backwards, but while falling he managed to cause his magic to pull forth three shards of rock and fling them through the air aimed at Lucas. He could not see if he hit the boy, for his back met the ground and the wind escaped from him. He hit hard, and his entire body shook. Luckily the helm protected his head from the fall, and rather than seriously injured the monk was simply stunned for a moment.

[Lucas Arias]

As Jett stated that he was a monk, the boy laughed. He would have been able to come up with a number of slightly offensive ways to react to that right away, but unfortunately there was no time to discuss monks right now. And unfortuntely he was also very aware that informing Jett that they had only fought with weapons in Syliras would not have the desired effect and make him stop using his rock magic or whatever it was called. So he decided to be obedient and give the monk all he had, just as Jett apparently wanted.

Satisfied that his little distraction had worked, despite how ridiculous it had been, Lucas was about to make another attack. It was true that surviving the Aperture had brought them together, and he was glad to have had Jett by his side, but in a tournament such as this one their previous history mattered little. Lucas wanted to win, even though the fact that Jett kept attacking him with rocks made that challenging to say the least.

As the rocks came towards him, Lucas ducked, raised his shield and hoped that the rocks wouldn’t damage it too much because he intended to hit Jett with it. A spar with one Marcus Braeden in Syliras had taught him that shields made excellent weapons under the right circumstances (he could still feel the pain when he thought of it).

What was better than something you could simultaneously use to protect yourself and hurt others?

[Jett Variona]

The stones, though thrown with as much accuracy as someone falling could muster, lacked greatly in power. The monk might have very well have thrown them himself for all their velocity. When Lucas raised his shield, some missiles either soared over his head or reflected off the barrier with a metallic clang. They clattered uselessly to the ground. Jett was in a poor position. His sides were stitched in pain, and black dots danced around the edge of his vision. He was tired and hurt, and anyone with half a wit could tell that this was not the normal conditioning of a man of Jett's age and stature. Something was definitely up. There was little he could do in this situation. The helmet was still too heavy even after all his craft, and Jett could not lift it in his exhaustion. The only thing he could do, he figured, was to wait here for his strength to return. Drawing upon what he felt was the last reserves of his magic, the monk forced the stones beneath him to crawl up to his person, cradling him and protecting him with their solidity. He was a sitting duck, but he'd be damned if he were going down so easily.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas couldn’t help but grin as his opponent fell. Truth to be told, he hadn’t anticipated it to be quite that easy, especially since Jett used magic which was something that the redhead was almost completely unfamiliar with. Once he was sure that no more rocks would be coming his way, he lowered his shield somewhat so that he could see what the monk was up to. Not much, judging by the looks of it. He didn’t seem to be in a position to attack right now.

So Lucas advanced. As the stones suddenly started crawling up his opponent – as if they were living beings – he hesitated for a moment. Since Jett was on the ground now, there didn’t seem to be any reason to hit him with his shield anymore. So Lucas just held his shield in front of him and extended his sword so that the tip pointed at the monk’s throat.

„You may be covered with stones now, but I’m pretty sure I could still stick my sword somewhere between the stones and hurt you“, he remarked. „You should just have used your staff instead of magic. There’s a reason why I prefer my sword. Do you give up?“

[Jett Variona]

There wasn't any more left to do. Despite his hard shell, the boy was right. Were this a real fight, all Lucas would have to do would be to give his sword a shove into one of the weaker points and it'd all be over. After all, Jett's reimancy was still not masterful, and even rocks had their weaknesses. The boy had won, and Jett knew it. "I...I give." He said weakly. When word reached the crowd that was watching their little skirmish erupted into applause, laughter, and other noises of surprise all at once. They had known Jett's reputation, known that he was a monk, known who his opponent was, and had in all honesty expected him to win against the boy. Some were furious, thinking that he had thrown the match intentionally. Most, however, were complacent and commended Lucas for his win. "Good job my friend." Jett said. "You win. Now, can you move that blade from my throat please?" When he had, Jett relaxed and the stones crumbled from his body. There were cracks all along the crafted stone helm as well, but that still held together desperately. He rose with difficulty, perhaps with some help from his previous opponent, until he could stand on his own two feet again. Gingerly he reached up and took hold of the construct. When he lifted it from his head, a small gasp drew up amongst those still watching. The face beneath the stone was not at all the youthful, arrogant face people who knew him expected to see. Instead, the hair underneath was long and wispy and white as snow. The laugh lines around his mouth seemed to have stretched outward and across his entire face, and there was a general weariness in his countenance that was more than just exhaustion from their battle. It was still Jett Variona, but it looked as if he had aged forty years overnight. He smiled weakly at his friend. "I am sorry I couldn't give you the fight you were looking for Lucas. Still, congratulations on your victory."

[Liar]

EXPERIENCE AWARD Jett Skill Points Reimancy 3 Lore Reimancer’s Craft Saving Strength Notes You worked the reimancy a little too hard, but it was still a good read. Let me know if you have any questions. Lucas Arias Skill Points Shield 2 Intimidation 1 Subterfuge 1 Lore Defense Against a Reimancer Notes Lucas never ceases to make me smile, though it was unfortunate that I couldn’t watch him swing around his sword a little. Good job!