Seaside Fight Night: Mizu vs Ehefra

A Shinigami.

Ehefra's curiosity buzzed in her head as she watched the young woman from across the Arena. She'd been collecting data for the entirety of the event, but this was an opportunity for her to collect information directly. And as the pair of combatants approached one another from across the field, Ehefra had of course prodded a little into the information they had on this woman. Some information had been provided. Apparently she was a member of Squad Eight. Interesting, it was the new squad that had popped up after the whole Incident with Kurosaki. Tch, leave it up to the soul reapers to react to the slightest thing. But the question was how strong this new squad was. What did they specialize in?

Under normal circumstances, she might have put on a friendly face, even gone for a bit of friendly banter with the woman. But the bags under Ehefra's eyes showed her lack of sleep, and there was a low buzz of energy about the Quincy, as if something was just a little off. That something, subtly in the background, was bothering her. And in her Exhaustion, Ehefra really didn't care much about trying to weasel any information out of Mizu. No, she'd be fine just beating the data she needed out of her.

"Nervous?" She asked tiredly. Beeps floated up behind her. A small little floating cube, seemingly eyeballing Mizu over Ehefra's shoulder. As if scrutinizing every detail about the woman's body and spiritual pressure.

"Hm. That right? And why are you so confident?" Came that tired response. As Ehefra would vanish from the other woman's vision. A Hirenkyaku that would all but completely eradicate Ehefra from one's senses as she shot forward and closed the distance between herself and Mizu. Ehefra was the first and foremost expert on spellcraft, and for Quincy, both their spells and their high speed motion fell under that very category. And thus, as she seemed to simply materialize in Mizu's face, a thin patch of Reishi formed along her wrist. A little rail of Hirenkyaku just along her wrist, and promptly caused her left arm to blur. A Crackle of Reishi forming along Ehefra's fingertips to form bright glowing blue claws. Claws that would suddenly whip diagonally, aiming to claw from Mizu's left hip all the way to the opposite shoulder. Aiming to shred that uniform and bite into the woman's flesh so fast that her arm would seem to vanish.

A maneuver that, in the past, Ehefra would have to focus in order to keep from fucking up her own arm. But practice, and honing this little move of hers made it almost effortless to execute. Those tired eyes staring balefully at Mizu as those bright blue eyes locked onto the shinigami. Waiting expectantly for a response from the woman. "If you wanna get out of this match in one piece. You might wanna use that sword of yours. I'm not interested in sword play. Show me what makes you shinigami so special."

Hm. The feeling of her claws sliding into that barrier was enough to make Ehefra's eyes narrow ever so slightly. A barrier? A Quick one too. And Ehefra watched as Mizu started to back off. Her lip curling for just a fraction of a second before she cocked her other fist back. Reishi collecting along her knuckles before she threw a punch. Her knuckles connecting with that barrier which then SHATTERED with concussive force! Twisting her whole body into the strike, and using her full unadulterated strength caused that barrier to explode violently, sending a flurry of broken bits of kido after Mizu as Ehefra's eyes narrowed. Keying onto the sudden spike of reiryoku. She raised her own hand and closed her fingers. A sudden burst of Reishi and her own Reiryoku burning together.

"Stechendhimmel" She growled out. A thin sliver of energy collapsing into her hand before blazing to life. A brilliant sword forming in her hand before she brought it down. FWASH! A streaking arc of spiritual energy was unleashed, a sudden violent explosion of spiritual energy as she unleashed the spell. A burst of her own reiryoku that was designed to ignite the reishi in the air, causing a sudden and vicious wave of blue reishi and her own spiritual energy. A spell she'd designed based on Data from Kurosaki's attack. An attack inspired by his Getsuga Tenshou. That sudden raging blue flame crashed into the incoming spell with tremendous force, both women were well above their peers when it came to spellcraft.

But Ehefra was a cut above. Not just in the sheer level of her spell, but also the energy she put behind it. Even as that incincerating flame exploded and sent a shock through the arena, that blade of roaring energy cut through, splitting the beam in half as it raged in Mizu's direction with what energy remained. Either way, whether that attack hit Mizu or not, the dust would take a moment to settle in the area, and an annoyed sigh would escape Ehefra.

"I'm talking about your Shikai. But.... I'll admit. That spell was pretty interesting. What was that.... some sort of modifier you added on?" She murmured. Even exhausted, and half-tired, Ehefra had been able to notice the ...quirk with that spell. And gotten a sense of the way Mizu had constructed it. Ugh.... if she were well rested, she might have even been able to just deconstruct the damn thing at the first glance. But no, instead, she was ....intrigued.

"That look..... on your face." Ehefra narrowed her eyes slightly. "You think you can beat me huh. Well I guess that's something. I can see you really don't wanna disappoint your friends or something. You got that kinda look on your face. But it's not gonna help you."

MORIKAWA MIZU

Mizu watched as their spells clashed mightily, a roar of sound and wind sent out in every direction, and grimaced as her own spell was overcome by Ehefra's. She couldn't help but be slightly disappointed given the added power from adding her own created spell on top of the Haien, but Mizu knew she could not dwell on such a thing. All that mattered was the weakened remains of Ehefra's attack hurdling towards her.

Not wanting to risk another barrier breaking due to taking the attack head-on, Mizu grasped her hands together and formed a Kidō barrier shaped like an arrow head. Instead of just slamming into the wall, Ehefra's spell would hit it's jutting point and split in two before being sent in either direction harmlessly, like a knife splitting a water current. If she could not match this woman in power, she would have to be creative; a reality that was hardly unfamiliar to Mizu. After all she had always struggled to keep up with her peers. Craftiness was often the only advantage she had over them.

"Genso Kakusan is a spell of my own creation, and as you surmised it modifies another Kidō spell when cast. Impact is a pretty straightforward modification, but it isn't the only one it can make." Though she wouldn't usually explain the specifics of her attacks to an opponent, Mizu could not see Ehefra as an enemy. They weren't here to be enemies. This bout was to encourage the exact opposite kind of relationship, and she figured someone in the same organization as Solomon couldn't be too bad.

"I am not here to fight for my friends, Kleinmund-san. I am here as a Shinigami of the Gotei United. So I can't expect anybody or anything to help me. If I could I wouldn't be worthy of that title! And if you want to see a Shinigami's Shikai, you better be willing to do what it takes!"

TAKING IT SERIOUS | END POST

Ehefra rolled her eyes and sighed softly as she listened to the woman. Those tired eyes piercing the shinigami as they went on about titles. This girl really had way too much energy for her. Honestly, she had to consider just what she was to do about this whole fight. She could, naturally, break down energy, but this girl's Kido was off limits. Hell she had a hard time breaking down ANY spells, let alone ones this advanced. So anything this girl churned out, she'd have to match. Ugh, she really shouldn't have signed up for this damn event. Reaching up, she slowly rubbed her eyelids.

"Yea yea, I'm sure you got a lot to prove and all that shit. But ave you considered the possibility that none of that matters?" She ventured before lowering her hand and giving the woman a frank stare. "Being a shinigami isn't some noble status. You cut down hollows and cram souls into your little rukongai slums for a living. Don't you think you're romanticizing things? I just don't get it. An to be fair, I don't get the whole quincy pride thing either. Just a bunch of nonsense to pump yourself up over. Hey, I hear that some shinigami even think less of eachother if they used to be alive versus being born in soul society. What do they call themselves.... Nobles or something? Are you a Noble, Mizu? Do you think that all your fellow shinigami just trying to make ends meet and who don't treat it like some kinda badge are lesser than you?" A slow, sneering smile spread over Ehefra's face as she started walking toward Mizu.

UUgh....if she weren't so tired, she could have been putting together a script while talking. But she was just too exhausted. She didn't have the energy to do that AND taunt her opponent. Still, a thin band of code formed around her right wrist. Her Spirit weapon. "Don't worry Little Mizu. I'm sure when this is all over, plenty of your coworkers will pat your back and tell you what a good job and how much hard wok you put into all these matches you lost." That smile widened.

MORIKAWA MIZU

Mizu's doggedly determined gaze remained unchanging as she listened to Ehefra talk. She wasn't terribly concerned with what others thought of her, if she was fighting to win it was to push herself and show herself she could, not for any kind of reward or pat on the back. Mizu knew these things to be true, but she couldn't blame the Quincy for thinking her objectives weren't so honest or in good faith. The world's complexities, though not always in her focus, weren't lost on Mizu. She knew there could be any of a million reasons why this weary woman was so mistrusting of her. Or, she considered, maybe Ehefra was just trying to bait her.

"I'm no noble, and I certainly don't believe anyone with honest beliefs is lesser than anyone else. I do not know if you are simply intentionally trying to goad me, but for what it's worth one of the finest, most stand up people I know is a Seireitei noble. And your apprehension about an unfair system is exactly why I'm a Shinigami, why I'm here, and why I try my hardest every single day to improve. To ensure a future comes about where no one is left out, or trapped by circumstances beyond their control!"

With fire in her eyes Mizu lifted her Zanpakuto in front of her and decided to show Ehefra exactly what she was made of "I'll grant your wish, as well. Crystallize, Shousenmaru!" Upon saying her Shikai release command, her weapon's blade suddenly shattered into hundreds of small glass-like crystal shards, all of which fell to the ground around her. Her spiritual presence also flared out as the release empowered her from top to bottom. Mizu assumed a prepared, defensive stance with her bladeless Zanpakuto in an open challenge to Ehefra to make the next move.

TAKING IT SERIOUS | END POST

A slow grin flashed across Ehefra's lips as she watched that stonry look of determination fail to falter. The fact that Mizu didn't seem to take any stake in her words only seemed to cause a bit of energy to course through ehefra. Tch. Of COURSE the girl wasn't the type to listen to the words of others. "Hm, is that right?" She chimed, mirth slowly bleeding into her voice as she locked her gaze onot the shinigami infront of her. Sheer disgust twisting through her chest as she imagined this blonde bitch brushing this fight off after the fact. That made her angry, the idea of all her words just crashing like waves against this damn reaper's ears.

What, did she think herself ABOVE Ehefra's words? Some damn human bitch she just had to ignore and focus on beating. Slowly, a soft crackling filled the air, the sound od Ehefra's knuckles popping as spiritual energy began to steam around her, a slow, curling billow of power that wrapped around her body before suddenly vanishing. A sigh escaping from her as she let her shoulders sink, that anger and menace dropping back into fatigued annoyance. Tch. "Oh yea? Well feel free to knock yourself out." She murmured, giving a baleful peer toward the Shinigami as she goaded them into attacking. Her eyes studying that fog of small blades. How should she deal with THAT? A sigh of annoyance escaping her. She wasn't going to be able to block all of those, this was a bit of a problem. Not without just shitting out her own energy reserves. What a damn pain.

All the same, thin lines crawled along her skin, slowly creeping along her frame as she activated her blut, pumping energy into her Blut Arterie, augmenting her own strength and speed, before her palm opened up and she held her hand out, her palm facing the ground as lines of code etched themselves into the ground beneath her. A clock forming along the ground, it's arms slowly starting to speed up, spinning beneath her as she recited. "Rise from your knees and reach out your hand. Let god's grace pull you from your feet. Let the breath in your lungs rise." That chant emerged as a glow from the spinning gears and hands flowed up the length of her body. A spell pumping spirit energy through her body to further energize herself, causing a sudden spike in her own spiritual pressure as she prepared herself to deal with Mizu's next attack.

"Come on, don't hold back. Give me all you got, Shinigami."