Almost Unbearable [Calen]

[Tallis]

Day 9 Winter 512 AV Although Tallis had been the one to extend the invitation of settling their differences, he really wasn’t quite sure how to go about doing just that. Would they take turns exchanging vulgar insults about each other’s mothers? If Calen’s earlier insult had been any indication of his proficiency at bad-mouthing, then that would clearly be a short-lived and unsatisfying bout. Perhaps they would end up scuffling like school children, pulling and tearing at clothing and hair while awkwardly flailing their limbs in an attempt to score a hit on one other. That would certainly be a sight. Standing in the middle of the Storm Shrine wondering exactly what they would do next, Tallis decided that, whatever they ended up doing, it would be in their best interests to avoid prying eyes and ears. He had a strong feeling that magic would be mentioned and possibly even used in whatever “settlement” the two arrived at. Motioning for Calen to follow him, he made his way out of the shrine and towards the surrounding hills. Even on a good day, few people ventured past the shrine to explore these foothills as the undulating topography made for a rather uncomfortable trek. And on a day as chilly as this one, most people were content to simply head back down into the hustle and bustle of the main city. It was safe to assume that, at a fair distance, the hills and copses would hide the two men from view. In terms of sound, the noise of regular conversation wouldn’t carry to perceptive ears. However, if Calen were to scream like a little girl, that might rouse some suspicion. Turning to the man who had walked up beside him, Tallis took the initiative and introduced himself. “My name’s Tallis.” It wasn’t a particularly good introduction, and he didn’t really expect a response, but he felt that something needed to be said and an introduction was as good a start as any.

[Calen]

As the man came to an abrupt stop, Calen followed suit, standing to the fellow's side and a bit behind him as he waited for him to move again. Though he could not see his expression he presumed it was one of contemplation; though Calen had only met the fellow twice and both times, for only a few chimes, he was quite certain he was not a man of rash decisions. Of course, Calen WAS a man of rash behavior and so he jammed his balled fists into the pockets of his trousers and shuffled from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable with simply standing about. His head swiveled from left to right, his gaze never resting on any object within the shrine for more than a few moments. When he returned his attention to the man he was so intent on beating the ever-loving-dung out of, he realized that he was a few paces ahead of him, having moved as Calen simply looked around him. Calen had missed the man's motion for him to follow, more due to his own actions than the man's but nonetheless, he decided that he firmly disliked the fellow all the more. Breaking out into a speedy gait that was much less comfortable but many times more appropriate considering the fact that he was aiming to catch up to the fellow, Calen was only just in time to catch the man's name. Snorting so that he would know he heard Calen opened his mouth to reply and found himself suddenly uncomfortable doing so. He felt as if the exchange of name's would suddenly lessen his dislike for the other fellow and thus, his ability to beat him as he intended to. For a few tense seconds, Calen wrestled with this strange theory and its validity until he decided that it didn't really matter; he was fairly certain he could justify the beating of anyone. Besides, it wasn't like exchanging names was suddenly going to make this 'Tallis' fellow his best friend. "My name is Calen" he muttered, by now, keeping stride with the man as they traveled to what he was presuming was the hills away from the more active parts of the city.

[Tallis]

As the young man caught up to him, Tallis managed to hear his muttered reply. So Calen was his name. There was a certain satisfaction in putting a name to the face. Tallis wasn’t quite sure what to say now that the two had introduced themselves. And what more was there to say? They weren’t here to gossip. In the awkward silence, an inkling of doubt crept into his mind. Was it possible that he had misjudged Calen? Why were they even in contention? From Calen’s earlier reaction, it seemed that he was not the one who had caused the sudden drop in his arcane abilities, in fact, it appeared that Calen had experienced the same problems. Yet equal parts of pride and paranoia ruled over Tallis’ thoughts, blocking out this logical and rational reasoning. Whatever had happened, Tallis needed to prove his superiority to Calen. Turning back to look at the path they had followed, Tallis was satisfied that they were a suitable distance away from prying eyes. As was expected, they had not seen anyone on their way and the only thing that could be seen of the Storm Shrine was the lightning-rod spire. In the horizon, the unnaturally thin and straight metal construct stood out against the stark and barren branches of the surrounding trees. They finally stopped at a small clearing. The Shrine stood far to their east and the bleak mountain-sides stretched across the west. To their north and south, they were surrounded by the forest. This close to the rocky faces of the mountain, there were fewer trees, but the ones that grew here were old, strong, and weather-worn. Most had stood the test of time, however, a few of their number had fallen and their long trunks lay flat, their unearthed roots revealed gaping, loamy craters. There were five large boulders in the clearing – perhaps they had knocked down the trees as they descended from the mountains. This was the spot where Tallis and Calen would finish with whatever business they had to deal with. “We’re here. Now, before I beat you to a pulp, perhaps it would be best to set some conditions for our duel. I’m assuming that we are, in fact, dueling?”

[Calen]

As the silence continued to grow increasingly awkward, which, in itself was an accomplishment, Calen was infected with the urge to crack the tension with a terribly inappropriate joke; perhaps one about the male genitalia. However, even as the was born, grew to occupy his thoughts and then seemingly migrated to his lips, ready to be loosed like some sort of verbal, notched arrow, Calen did not let fly with it. It wasn't that it was not a funny joke, all of Calen's jokes were utterly hilarious, it was just that he couldn't seem to bring himself to share it with this 'Tallis' fellow. Now that he thought about it, Calen honestly couldn't really remember WHY he was all that angry with Tallis. It was obvious that whatever had transpired to disturb their magic hadn't been caused by each other's proximity to one another, so even as they walked to 'settle' this matter, he couldn't seem to come up with a valid reason that they should. But then again, Calen rarely needed a valid reason to do things, such was the curse and strength of youth. "You know, if things had turned out differently, I think we might have been friends" Calen whispered too quietly for anyone but himself to hear. He wasn't about to back down and be the coward in this case. Finally, it seemed the pair had reached their final destination when Tallis stopped at a small clearing. Eying the surroundings as he turned round, Calen took note that they had put both the main body of the city and the shrine far behind them. That meant they had also put anybody who could stop them should things get out of hand, far behind them. Gulping as he turned his back on Tallis, Calen suddenly realized that he might have bit off more than he could chew; but again, he'd be damned if he was the first to back down. It didn't help that Tallis described what was going to transpired as 'beating him to a pulp'. "I am going to wreck that pretty-boy face of yours" Calen retorted bluntly, a slight smile on his lips. "Rules are as follows: No lethal attacks, no weaponry, no disfiguring wounds. I'm sure you're just as eager as I am to avoid being labelled a criminal" Calen said as he walked until he stood at what he perceived was roughly five paces from where he had been standing. He extended a hand before sweeping it across the clearing as if to say 'Now its your turn'.

[Tallis]

So Calen wasn’t backing down. Tallis hadn’t expected him to, and truth be told, since the moment they had walked away from the shrine he had decided that there was no turning back. As Calen listed off his conditions, Tallis couldn’t help feeling a tingle of eager anticipation. This was going to happen. Mirroring Calen’s motions Tallis also stepped back and turned to face the man. “Your rules are accepted. The duel ends when one of us admits defeat - or when first blood is drawn. Any objections?” Despite feeling highly confident about his ability to win the duel, Tallis hoped that Calen would be able to give him a run for his money. An electric tingle of excitement coursed through the mage as he prepared to face off against his adversary. It had been a while since he had used his abilities, and as the djed began flowing through him, slowly gathering towards his hands, a certain part of him couldn’t wait to throw-down with reckless abandon. However, Tallis had more self-control than that. Although it would feel nice to simply force Calen into submission, he wanted to toy with the fellow mage a bit. “If you have nothing to add, I’m ready whenever you are.” oocShort and sweet, it is what it is. Looking forward to seeing what moves Calen can pull. You’d better impress me. Let’s get down to business ;D

[Calen]

As his opponent spoke, Calen couldn't help but roll his eyes and adopt a look of exasperated boredom. He was simultaneously paying heed to what Tallis was saying, if only because he had been polite enough to give him consent to design the rules of the engagement, and resisting his urge to use Auristics on the man. He was just SO tempted to try and figure out what it was that made his aura so strange. However much as he did whenever his mind obsessed with what he believed was a bad idea, he did not pay heed. After Tallis finally seemed to be finished Calen's gaze snapped back to his face and he grinned at him broadly. Strangely enough, as nervous as he had been before, he now found himself rather excited for this entire 'duel' business. "Guess it's showtime!" he thought to himself as he stretched his neck, wincing slightly when it popped. His grin slipping from his lips, the hazel-haired youth wiggled his fingers as if stretching them before muttering "Let's get down to business". Taking a deep breath in Calen, prepared himself as best he could for what was about to transpire. Raising both hands so that they covered the lower half of his face, Calen dropped them whilst he simultaneously exhaled through pursed lips, as if he were blowing a kiss to Tallis. What he was actually doing was preparing Res for a fair bit of reimancy. Whilst he had held his breath, Calen had been going through the always mentally strenuous task of both grasping and reworking his djed into a more...appropriate form. As he had breathed out, the now much more malleable and easily transmuted djed, which he knew was referred to as Res, poured forth from his lips. The Res from his exhalation had been much more solid than one might expect from a boy like Calen, but, nonetheless, soon reworked itself into a rather large, perfectly round orb that he simply allowed to hang in mid-air for an instant. Having taken a lesson from his earlier exploits with reimancy, Calen had built an orb of res that was fragile, but nonetheless, solid on the outside and more gaseous in the middle. Of course, it wasn't perfect, but given his purpose for it, he assumed it would work just fine. Transmuting the res into his element of choice, earth, Calen made what could be as a hollowed out ball of fragile stone, which was, roughly, a quarter of the way filled with incredibly smaller grains, the same ones he had used to make his own eyes water at a relative's funeral; in short, he had made a collection of dust surrounded by an incredibly flimsy orb of stone, though it could barely be called stone due to its fragile state. Sighing in equal parts due to the difficulty of what he had done and in appreciation at it, Calen finally turned his attention back on Tallis. The entire process had taken little more than a quarter of a chime. 'Hey buddy, catch' and with that, Calen threw his creation, best as he could at Tallis.

oocI always feel terrified using any kind of magic because I don't think I describe the process too well, but, whatever. Do try not to flux-punch Calen in the face Tallis; I'm sure breaking his jaw would fall under 'disfiguring injuries'

[Tallis]

Was Calen stupid? As if Tallis was dumb enough to stand still and allow a rock to hit him in the face. Having already drawn on his djed, Tallis quickly channeled res out of the palms of his hands. The magical substance was slightly translucent and had a pale white colour and it flowed from him with the consistency of a fog or mist, forming a thick cloud in front of Tallis’ upper body. As Calen’s sphere approached him, Tallis formed the res into a wall with a surface area slightly larger than the approaching ball. Then he split the Res into an inner and outer layer. Most reimancers would have transmuted the outer layer of res into earth, water, or fire to form a sort of shell around an inner layer of res. However, the same was a lot more difficult to do with air. It would simply dissipate into the environment. As such, Tallis performed a flipped transmutation: Instead of using an inner layer of res to hold together a transmuted outer layer, Tallis used an outer layer of res to contain a transmuted inner layer. Tallis fed more and more res into the inner layer while simultaneously transmuting it into air. Maintaining the shape of the outer layer of res, the air was densely packed inside this magical case, thus holding the entire construct together. In essence, Tallis had formed a shield of almost solid air – light and durable. The earth-ball collided with Tallis’ air-shield before it had time to fully solidify. Caving in towards him, the ball finally stopped mere inches from him face, held in place by the now curved wall of air. Wrapping the air-shield around the ball, Tallis sent the sphere flying back towards Calen’s pompous face. “You’ll have to do better than that!” Having already allowed Calen to make the first move, Tallis decided to take control of the flow of the battle. He was ready to go on the offensive. Tallis held his hands about half a foot apart, almost as if he was preparing to clap. Channeling res into the gap between his hands, he formed the shape of a funnel tapering out towards Calen. The outer layer of the funnel was comprised of a thick layer of res while the inner layer of res was transmuted into highly compressed air. At the tip of the funnel was a small sphere of res, ready to be transmuted when needed. Loosening the res at the tip of the funnel, the compressed air rushed out in a violent stream, sending the small sphere of res hurtling towards Calen’s midsection. It was like watching a cork fly off a bottle of champagne, only with a force strong enough to make Tallis take a step back from the recoil. With his attack unleashed, Tallis quickly transmuted the tiny sphere of res into a dense marble of air. If it made it to his target, Calen would be left with a sizeable welt. oocSo I guess these are the Mizahar equivalents of dodgeball and paintball. *ahem* COME AT ME BRO.

[Calen]

As Tallis' Res, a foggy, white affair, began to fill the air in front of him, Calen set to work completing a counter to what he undoubtedly believed would be Tallis' counterattack. Had he been intent on injuring Tallis, perhaps, even maiming him, Calen would have simply used a much more effective manner of throwing his dust bomb. "Crap! I was really hoping he didn't know how to use reimancy" Calen thought to himself as he once more drew upon his djed, taking a deep breath in as he did so. Under normal circumstances, he would have closed his eyes whilst he did so, but as new as he was to dueling and combat in general, he assumed closing your eyes whilst in the middle was probably not the safest bet. He was also impressed by what Tallis was doing with his reimancy; he couldn't truly appreciate the entirety of it, but, for the most part, he understood what had transpired once he saw his dust bomb flying back at him, though with reduced force. "Well, no time for gawping" he thought as he exhaled, much like last time, Res flowing from his lips until it formed an opague, light tan wall in front of his face. It hung about a foot and half from his nose and was relatively small, but thick; he had formed it into a small wall that blocked off a majority of his abdomen, roughly from the bottom of his ribcage to just above his head. Focusing, he thrust the Res forward, simultaneously morphing it, mid-flight into a wall of solid air. Though he was drawing inspiration from what he assumed Tallis was attempting to do, he knew he lacked the reflexes or skill to rebound the orb back at Tallis once more; his best bet was to simply remove it from the equation all together. It certainly helped that the ball was traveling slower due to the force Tallis' elastic barrier had absorbed from it. The small wall of air smacked into the ball, reducing the force it traveled with to null, and, actually, pushing it backwards a few inches before it fell to the soft dirt below. Normally, Calen would have sighed or pumped his fist at his success, but just as the wall of air hit the ball, something slammed into his stomach and he pitched forwards in a mixture of surprise and pain. Grunting as he did so, Calen removed his hands, which had flew to cover the spot he had been hit at and frowned as he saw nothing there. For an instant, he was confused but then he whipped his head to look at Tallis, still doubled over, if only in surprise, now. "D-did you...how?" he asked, his tone soft and questioning. He would have time for being furious later, curiosity first.

[Tallis]

The sphere fell to the forest floor, letting out an audible crack as it did so along with a sizeable cloud of dust. So that had been the plan. Calen had tried using a rather clever trick there. Not only would the hard shell of the sphere damage an opponent, the dust would hamper their movements as it invaded eyes and throats. Quite clever indeed. Tallis was pleasantly surprised. And to add on to his incredulity, it appeared that Calen manipulated the same elements as he did. The young man was smart, Tallis would give him that. It wasn’t a simple feat, copying a technique after seeing it once. However, based on the intricacy of his first attack and the relative sloppiness of his air-shield, it appeared that Calen’s prowess lay in his mastery of earth reimancy. Calen also lacked overall battle experience. Tallis had put his life on the line more than once now, and he knew never to let your guard down. Calen clearly hadn’t been expecting a second shot. Arms akimbo, Tallis glared at Calen disapprovingly. For all his talk and arrogance, the man was proving to be a weak opponent. “It was quite simple, really. A high speed ball of air. I’d give you details, but you’d probably do better sticking with your earth reimancy. Unless you have other tricks up your sleeve?” Tallis certainly hoped that Calen had more to show. He was hoping for more excitement. Abiding by the rules of the duel, Calen had not admitted defeat, and Tallis was sure that his attack had not drawn blood. As such, it was only fair for Tallis to continue with his attacks. For now he’d keep them small. He wanted to draw out Calen’s full battle potential. Inspired by Calen’s dust-ball and his copycat antics, Tallis decided to do his own twist on the attack. Once again holding his hands in the open clap position, Tallis formed a dense sphere of res, no larger than a sizeable grapefruit. The res was then split into an inner and outer layer. The outer layer of the sphere was transmuted into a thick and sticky mud, encasing the dense inner layer of res. While working on his new attack, Tallis had moved towards Calen, slightly lessening the distance between them. The mage had almost fully recovered from being hit by the bullet of air, and Tallis made use of what little time he had left of his target remaining moderately stationary. Tossing his creation at Calen, Tallis watched in satisfaction as the sticky mud bubble glued itself on to the sleeve of his target. As soon as the bubble affixed itself to its target, Tallis transmuted the dense layers of res inside into air. Under all that pressure, the air struggled to escape from its gooey prison, and it managed to do so with a fair amount of force. Tallis imagined it must’ve felt like being punched in the arm by a fairly strong man. Not to mention the explosion had caused sticky mud to fly about haphazardly. Some of it landed on Tallis’ boot and he wiped it off with disgust. “Well come on, don’t keep me waiting.” oocYou are bringing out my inner sadist, and I’m sort of scared and excited all at once. WHATCHU GON DO NOW, SON?

[Calen]

As he remained doubled over, Calen attempted to make sense of why he seemed to be losing this confrontation. He had correctly presumed that Tallis was not only a fellow user of magic but that, due to their similar ages, he could not be that much better than Calen; the simple fact that he had been able to copy, though to a lesser degree, Tallis' choice in defensive measure proved that. Yet, all the details aside, it seemed that the upper-hand was remaining firmly within Tallis' grasp. "I just don't get it" Calen thought to himself as he straightened up. Though it hurt his pride to do so, Calen made sure to commit Tallis' relatively short explanation to memory; he thought it was a pretty clever trick, trading destructive force for speed, especially with air reimancy. 'I got plenty' he spat back just before taking a deep breath in. Strangely enough, despite the fact that, he was doubting the validity of the plan, he couldn't help but put it into action. As he exhaled, rather than allowing his res to escape with his breath, Calen instead exuded it from both of his hands. Following the plan he had constructed not even on chime ago, Calen made sure that his right hand was level at Tallis palm first so that the gaseous, tan-colored res it exuded would be both visible and distracting. Simultaneously, Calen allowed his left hand to remain over the bruise Tallis had inflicted over him, focusing as best he could on both fronts so that the res would do as he was instructing it to. Though he normally preferred to release his res from his lips in an exhalation, this time, Calen was using his hands as the escape point for the substance. Truth be told, much like his wall of air, this was because the hazel-haired youth was copying Tallis and attempting to use his tricks to supplement his own; he figured a hybrid repertoire was better than a single-man one. Following his previously established plan, Calen simply allowed the tan, gaseous Res that he exuded from his right hand to accumulate in front of the appendage, taking up space and spreading out rather thin, all things considered. However, this was all a part of the plan as he was doing his best to use the gaseous substance to obscure Tallis' view of his left hand and what he was doing with it. Where he was exuding a majority of the Res that he had drew up from his right hand, the bit that he was allowing to slip forth from his left hand was slipping slowly and meticulously up his sleeve. Truth be told, the res that he had exuded from his right hand had formed a thin sheet in front of him, thus obscuring a majority of his body from the hip up, from view, due, primarily, to its opaque nature. Of course, this suited Calen just fine. With an uncharacteristically large amount of mental effort, Calen pushed the res sheet that he had collected in front of him forwards, ignoring the weight that had settled over his right bicep; he had a very bad feeling it was only there due to Tallis' interference. Whilst the paper-thin wall of res flew Calen set to work transmuting them both, though, he did so in fundamentally different ways. Choosing to go with a more, end all be all, method to his reimancy, Calen turned the thin, plate of res that he had thrown towards Tallis into another, though this time thinner, wall of poorly constructed solid air that he hoped would, at least, distract him enough for what was to come next. He doubted it would even knock him off his feet or anything of the sort, but doing anything with the thin, plate of res was better than doing nothing. As he did that, Calen turned the much smaller accumulation of res that he had drew up and slipped into his sleeve, he hoped, stealthily, into what could only be described as a sort of needle of stone, though its point was hardly sharp enough to really be called a needle. It might cut flesh, but really, at worst, it would only hurt a bit if one were to be jabbed. As he completed those endeavors he found himself suddenly thrown off balance as something exploded against his right bicep. He knew instantly it was Tallis' work, and thus, fought his instinct to curl into a ball or bend over once more, somehow stumbling, but remaining on his feet all the same. On shaky legs and with his left hand holding, and hiding, the needle he had constructed, Calen looked at Tallis through watery eyes and muttered 'I-wh-what did you just hit me with?' before grasping at the limp arm where the mud accumulation and the pain was the worst, at the bicep. He made sure to keep a firm grasp on the fragile, stone needle he had constructed. 'I think you might've broken it'. He was, of course, lying; he was no expert on broken bones, but this definitely felt like a particularly bad bruise at the worst and besides, he was pretty sure he would have passed out or something if it had broken. That was how it worked after all, right?

OOCI tried to justify ICly, why Calen always wears brown, but, lets face it; we all know he only does so cause I hate to find complimentary colors for his skintone. However, at the same time, it turns out my including the word 'tan' in the descriptions for both his clothes back in 'A Favorable Wind' and in this thread for his Res, kind of worked out well. Lol. Also, in response to your OOC taunting Tallis