Re: Wolf in a Dragon's Palace

Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:02 am

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So she wasn't going to move at him, this was becoming a trying incident indeed. He wasn't going to be able to do a lot more than what he mustered. Wait a minute, why the hell was he giving up on something. Fire, he'd done a lot with it as he looked at the smoke he got an idea. Was it reckless and stupid beyond all reason? Yes, it was highly stupid and likely would cost him a bit of time up and about. Instead of shooting his fire off all over the place. That method didn't work as it was too much at once. The smoke reminded him of ashes, how they fluttered about in the air. How they could reignite with a single spark of fire. His eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind now. He grinned a bit as she said that, it was about time to show her just how stubborn and dangerous he could be. He took in a deep breath expelling a lot of ashes from his mouth. The room was covered in them in moments. The entire room had them clinging and lingering to it. Now the process of creating a good old fashioned explosion wasn't easy.

But in this case, Mirja provided the cold air needed and along with the ashes. There was no visibility in the room as his cape of inferno seemed to flicker down smaller. He brought his hand up snapping his finger when everything got hot quickly. High amounts of oxygen became exposed and the entire room literally exploded. He felt his body blown into the wall further as he winced. He'd hoped at the very least with this strategy that he'd injured her. Or did something that would register as a tickle. He felt the scales beginning to vanish as his durability had been pushed to its limits. Zenou Release was reaching its conclusion as was his energy in this bout. Making an entire room into a bomb, he was a crazy bastard at all times. He'd make a bomb go off in his face to take or show how serious he was. Nothing was off the table in terms of fighting. Sure he wasn't the most elegant fighter at times, but results matter more. His body ached with pain but something kept him up right.

It was a pure stubborn determination, something inside him that refused. He would not fall no matter what he had to do. He'd die standing on his feet before going down. His resolve wasn't something so simple one could put it into words. Qiang's will had been tested time and time again. Survival and things like that hardened him into a stubborn Sugiura. He wouldn't bow or break the wind. No matter how the wind howled the mountain did not bow. Nor would Li Qiang without some serious blows. Oh, he knew damn well that couldn't of beaten Mirja. The strategy of using her own tricks against her was the best he had. She could use the wind he guessed, but that would simply add more oxygen and make the explosion even bigger and stronger. The barriers seemed to be holding up greatly still despite this attempted suicide by a King. He could leave Justice any time now, he felt control of Balmung and it's things. This wouldn't be a simple matter of fighting without purpose.

He was gaining ideas and thoughts on what he could do with fire. There were several options he could utilize here. Being in Justice's purest form would allow that much. But the strength here wasn't as grand as the rest of his forms. He'd need some healing later for sure, his arm was damaged. So was his body from head to toe from the blast. There was only so much heat and explosive force his body could absorb. The good news was the majority of the blast epicenter would be on Mirja. The bad news was, they both still stood in the middle of an explosion. That was his best attempt and strategy he could come up with. He still was wagering on taking a punch to land a blow on her. A punch or a kick, it would likely break some bones. So he fought keeping Joushou active as long as he could. He couldn't afford to lose his entire form here. He'd use fire as a shield and try to land a single blow. His Mystic Eyes stared at her watching for an outcome. Something he could see coming from the smoke.

Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:32 am

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

Wolf in a Dragon's Palace - Page 2 6EdIfMt

ENTER THE FLUFFY WOLF

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A - Word Count: N/A

Standing tall like a giant in front of men, Mirja watched Li, with her arms dripping blood, and wondered what he would do. She was feeling a bit winded at this point, it always happened when she went so hard. Durable though her body was, not even it could handle the immense strain a lot of her techiques put on it when all used at once. Her blood vessels felt rubbed raw from the increased flow, her body as a whole was feeling the effects of the rushing power that was Tundra Scream, and her heart was still pumping at three hundred, which was never a comfortable feeling.

But it seemed Li was also on the ropes, as he pulled off quite the strange and decidedly suicidal trick. The roaring onset of the explosion gave Mirja time to react, but there was little you could do to parry an explosion, so she simply dissolved her Hollow Mask. The mask was not as durable as she was, and so it would have cracked under the force, and that would have hurt Hvit. Mirja would take this blow head-on and save Hvit from that fate. If she could protect her Hollow from anything, then she would, without question.

Still, despite saving Hvit from it, that did nothing to stop her from taking the hit, so she spawned her six Tulpa arms and launched them into the ground just as the explosion hit. No normal arms would have made it there in time, but she had pushed them to the limit to make them capable of supersonic speed, and so the cracking booms of the fists moving and then slamming into the ground echoed the thunderous roar of Li's own explosion, before Mirja closed her eyes and let it wash over her. The force of the blast was enough to shatter her arms, they had never been overly durable, but they survived long enough to take the brunt of it, so she could use her own balance and leg muscles to fight against the rest.

And then it was over. Her Shihakusho had torn from the force, and her skin tingled. There was a durable sponge of latex-esque matieral in her sub-dermals, which had gone a long way to soaking the force for her body, but her head lacked such a thing, and was currently ringing. It was a good shot, all in all. Except it also hit Li, so not such a good shot. And the smoke obscured what Mirja might be doing within it.

It might have been the tingling skin, but she could feel something, between her and the smoke. Some sort of barrier that she could put her palms against....and push....she slid her fingers across it, felt it. Became intimate with this strange new barrier. But that was not something she was going to get into dramatically right now. So she just caught the Wind Road and decided to do her own version of an explosion. She built up speed within the small distance avalible to her, and then snapped out a wide-band Fangs Of The Wind. She didn't hit Li directly with it, that would probably obliterate him, but she filled the entire room in front of her with a vicious gale that would slam into anything it came into contact with like a runaway truck. And the ash and dust in the air would be accelerated to such a degree they would act like tiny knives. Since they were comparing area of effect techniques, Mirja had no problem showing him her own.

Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:53 am

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So in terms of who could take a bigger ass kicking it was her by the mile. But by god, he refused to give this fight up without landing a punch on her. Sure the explosion did count to an extent, but that was a reckless move he made. To do damage to her and try to bring down her stamina. It worked and he'd managed to keep standing through sheer willpower. But that would only carry him so far, next to him sat Balmung. The smoke was still here and time was limited so he gave the blade a kick sending it silently across the floor behind her. Or at least where he guessed was behind her. This spot he was standing in was about to become akin to a Firing Squad Wall. He knew it not because of his eyes which couldn't see. But because common sense dictated she could do something similar. Without the effort, he put in and turn him into a mince meat. So a single punch with everything he had on it. That was all he was banking on at this point, the question was could he time it well. He'd need everything he had to do this so channeling his internal force he began.

He teleported again moving away from that location and behind her. Just before her attack began, was it because of luck? Yes and he could hear her muscles and body beginning. Als a strange sense of death like aura came from Mirja. She was going to do some serious damage to that wall. Sneaking around wasn't his style as the smoke from the previous explosion and whatever debris was sent into that wall like daggers. He decided on the punch, throwing it ass he stood after her massive attack. He had to use some flame on his heels just to steady. He was getting a feel for the control in Joushou. He figured out Justice a great deal in this match. He would let her feel his determination in one punch. As his punch soared towards her jaw a couple things were clear. As he sped his punch up with fire as a propulsion only on that side. He'd gained an effective weapon for fighting. With quick jet based movement when using this. Was it perfect at this moment, was he the next most brilliant fire user? No, he was fighting on instinct alone at this point.

He wasn't sure how much damage it would do if it hit Mirja's jawline. He'd saved one trump card for the last punch of the game. But something else was clear, he was ready to take her punch. His punch would be heavy, it contained every ounce of determination and sheer drive he had. This wasn't a lightly thrown one as he'd likely pass out afterward. Or collapse afterward, his entire goal had been to land a hand on Mirja. Sure it wasn't a direct win or anything like that in a nutshell. But he was determined and planning on doing things his own way. Sure Qiang wasn't the most pretty or elegant warrior in the building. Nor was he the fastest or the stronger, nor the smartest in the world. But he could take a beating and keep going, his sheer endurance deserved respect. The pain was a common thing as was exhaustion. His father beat that concept into his son effectively. Qiang was pulling from reserves as his lungs burned and his chest rose and fell.

Sweat trickled down his body from pushing himself well past what he could normally accomplish. This situation was bad enough as it was, but he could only push so much more out of an empty tank. After his punch which he could change the angle of if need be to adjust for a hit. His scales faded as did the flames and heat from his body. Qiang had been trying hard to do something. To prove himself first to Mirja in a way, the Sugiura she was meeting and his Kingdom. He'd let her see what kind of fire lingered in the Kingdom of the East. Johan and Kamui had their ways and he had his. He would show her that the Fire in the Eastern Kingdom was Burning Red.

Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:38 am

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE FLUFFY WOLF

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A sword flew past her just as she was about to make her kick, and then it all clicked into place, as he vanished from where he stood just in time to avoid the room-wrecking attack that roared from her kick. He could teleport to anywhere his sword was, so it wasn't teleportation exactly, more like a reverse-summoning technique. Had he used it more cautiously, it would have taken Mirja a while longer to realize the secret of his teleporting, but these two uses in such a short space of time, both preceeded by the throwing of the sword, basically screamed the secret to her.

Any other way of getting behind her might have caught her off guard, slipping into the Calm Zone and then striking with her attention focused elsewhere. But Li had caught her focus with the thrown sword, and she was ready when he popped in with his fist, so full of fury and zeal, she could hearthe scream of his heart as it flew towards her. But, that was not enough. Mirja had absurd balance, and so even with one foot raised in the air as it was, she could still react normally. So she brought one hand up, and with the Fourth Lotus, took his punch.

It was quite in the vein of mirroring, really. The Fourth Lotus was pretty easy to see through after the first time it was used, which made it an ace in the hole for situations just like this. She hated to crush his heart and reject his final blow, so filled with his own determination as it was, but that was the way of life. Sometimes, it didn't matter how much you put into your goal, it was never going to happen. She waited until the very Last Second before moving, so that even if he saw it coming, he would be to comitted to change course. Then the Fourth Lotus would take all the power that had been launched at her, and redirect it back as a punch. That would miss Li entirely, on purpose, because he didn't need his face caved in as well as all the rest.

Tue Sep 05, 2017 4:52 pm

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His hand struck her palm but something else happened. Before he could continue his Joushou ended but so did something else. His eyes were fierce as he stared at her. He wasn't sure what else he could do as things felt heavy. He refused to fall down or kneel in any way or form. This was his fight and he'd not give in yet. But his body sadly had a disagreement so did his energy pool. Qiang could only do so much as the features began to vanish of the Dragon. His Fool Tarot began to return as his eyes remained fiercely staring at her. His other arm had been positioned to finish the job but it had not made it to her rib cage. But sadly it fell short as Qiang lost his consciousness. In terms of pure grit and determination, he fought hard against her. He didn't intend to show her anything less than his best till every drop and beyond was gone. He'd expand everything he had to the bones and soul of his being. He'd not been able to land a solid blow on her yet, he'd not been able to succeed in his mission.

Balmung faded away as the weapon didn't have the energy to remain. Qiang had spent his entire being on fighting the woman without anything else is left. His eyes remained open as he'd passed out fully upright with both eyes wide open. His sheer determination not to fall kept him from going down. He'd keep his pride and strength no matter what he refused to fall. His body was rigid and standing in that position. If only he had a bit more to expand against her. If only the gap wasn't so far, he had no regrets on this confrontation. He'd given Mirja a workout even she could enjoy. His eye remained fixed on her, something in them held defiance. He wasn't accepting or backing down from her or anyone else. Li Qiang was a King to be respected even if there was a difference in power. He gained knowledge and experience in this fight, controlling his powers better. Using the capabilities at his fingertips so much more. The fire burned in his chest at this knowledge given to him

Most people would have freaked out or fallen into despair. They would have been concerned by the situation. They failed their final attack entirely and weren't able. But a grin was on his lips something that lingered an excitement. This fight was exciting to see so much stronger enemies out there. To see that the world was just as big as he imagined. That he wasn't the strongest or greatest warrior, there existed many things to learn. The world was diverse and had ripples that went on for a mile as he sat in the darkness of his mind. This fight was a testimony to her skill and control. What was it for him, that was a hard thing to imagine or figure out. One thing can be said of the Warrior King who passed out smiling. He had a satisfied and almost hungry grin on his lips. This was only the beginning of his growth and capabilities. Mirja would learn that the King of the East had some intense potential that slept beneath the surface. But the rest was for her to decide as the barrier and room would be opened after she decided to leave.

Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:08 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE FLUFFY WOLF

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The fight, such as it was, was finally over. There was more Mirja could have done. Harder of the Heart's Kiai, turn herself into a giant wolf, push her speed faster and her fists harder, used her Tulpa more and exercised her mastery of Plus Ultra. Strong as this building was, Mirja was confident she could destroy it if she wanted to. But, victory was not the point. The point was to show Li the mountian, so he could make plans on how to climb it. Nobody ran at a wall blindfolded and scaled it until they reached the top. There was always prepration needed.

And so she let out an exhausted sigh and dropped her scream and her arms and her Dantian cycling. She was still doing the tingle thing from the explosion, 'a tingle' was a bit to vague for her Tulpa. And there was still the barrier in which she had felt in the smoke, that she would experiment with in time. But for now she would pick Li up and take him out to go see howevr fixed up royalty around here. Mirja wasn't going to leave him like that when he had fought so grandly.

Explaining what had happened to leave their King in this state was an awkward one, but she got through it eventually and then found herself somewhere nice and high before sitting down and begining her Cultivation Technique. With the Iramasha Gem she had gotten from joining the Guild of Heroes, her Cultivation was doing pretty well. Silver 2 was much broader than any Bronze realm she had been in, so she was quite a way off even with all the things she had and all the things she had been through, but for now, she could just relax and focus inwards until Li woke. Then, they could probably go somewhere else. He needed allies and was a pretty awesome guy. Maybe, Vastime?