Against the Wall [Solomon/Lukas]

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas wasn't able to catch the lightning very well. His feet skidded through the training room floor, flash seared against his sight for a moment. Burning pain rallying as several pink contact marks appeared across his chest. A particularly rough burn directly above his eye, faint swelling already starting.

There was no hesitation as blisters of reishi formed under heel, flying forward to meet Solomon's continued push. The low strike of Keraunos met with a rearing windup from Lukas, the red of his blut shining under skin. Slamming downwards into the weapon, sparks of red would shower if it made contact, slamming the weapon into the ground. "Look at you! Already getting smarter."

Lukas' head turned upward with a blur, his left arm coming forward to grab and pull away Solomon's free limb. Light flickered against silver as his eyes shot towards the other quincy, aiming to pin the man's arms. His spiritual pressure rattled around them as he did, attempting to focus on potential reactions. Put him in a position to break out. Then I gotta get to where it actually stops him.

Once again, it appeared as though their battle would come down to a test of mettle. In the few times they crossed blades, this had become a familiar routine, after all. As before, Lukas was ferocious in his offense. There was no finesse to his prowess, only the sheer display of merciless brutality as he chose the quickest route to suppressing his opponent.

It was far away from the offense Solomon employed, of course, but that was precisely why he chose to approach this battle with an aggressive offense of his own. Pain still shot through his lower abdomen as a result of the consecutive punches to his liver, but he paid no heed to it, ignoring the discomfort in favor of pressing an advantage.

Aggression for aggression. He would see how far this foolish strategy would take him. At every pace, he would attempt to answer. After his bolt of electrified energy connected successfully, Solomon maintained his charge as he bolted further in. Keraunos collided with fist as crimson sparks showered between them. The blade would consequently meet the ground in the resulting clash, yet that did little to perturb him. It was foolish to put his entire faith into one weapon alone, after all. To think otherwise would be foolish.

The moment his sword hit the ground, electrified reishi roared into existence within his palm, constructed in the shape of a long dagger. Turning to face him for the follow-up, Solomon thrust that free limb of his with blade in hand, straight toward Lukas' palm, aiming to stab the blade through his palm, or if nothing else than to compromise the motion of his attack. His other hand shot forward to meet any potential resistance as he attempted, in practice, at least, to enter a contest of strength with the man.

Solomon had no intent of allowing his opponent to force him down so easily. Of course, the rattling spiritual pressure, vastly improved from before, weighed down on his shoulders. Gritting through it, Solomon activated Blut Arterie as he drew in even further reishi to incite even further shock damage. Thunderous whips of reishi indiscriminately lashed out, irrespective of either opponent.

It was reckless to execute an offense that harmed the user itself, but that was secondary in his mind. Nothing else would sate his adrenaline more than showing the scope of his capability without the ideal circumstances, that crucial ability to adapt on the fly.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained! I figured a trick like that would be right up your alley, Luke!"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
The makeshift dagger met with a surprising kickback, the reiryoku that surrounded Lukas' left hand thick enough to prevent it from fully connecting. Instead, the quincy's fingers would begin to close as he attempted to rip the reishi out of it.

'Course the hand's going to be easier. Not too different from training a letzt. Errant thought aside, the man's full attention stayed glued to Solomon.

Half expecting it this time, Lukas could tell the electricity had some less oomph to it, whatever resistance he was focusing into existence paying off. Not enough, he could recognize; pain started to wrap his neck and side in a less than favorable manner. The skin patterned with light pink bolts, jagged as they crossed above skeleton and sinew.

Gritting his teeth, Lukas pulled on the dagger wielding arm, releasing his fist on Keraunos to duck underneath Solomon's arm. Doing so, he'd aim to twist the other quincy's arm backwards, barring it behind his back. Yet every step he moved, the dagger dug into his palm. Weaker or not, the pain was starting to cloud his concentration, the brimming tide of anger looming.

In the ensuing contest of resistance, Solomon expressed no shock toward Lukas pushing back against his dagger. After all, he expected Lukas to react with that dogged tenacity he had grown familiar with. He prepared himself in advance because he predicted that his expectations would hold true even now. Even if he was disarmed of all his weaponry, there was always another option to shift the tide. Glued to him as he was, Solomon's strategies were limited to a certain degree, but such a fact was little more than a nuisance in his mind.

Another moment passed, and Solomon noticed another limb shooting forward to compromise him further. Of course, since he had no intent of being wound into a compromising position, he shifted his body around in a sudden spin to avoid being drawn in too close. Since he recognized that his electricity proved to be the one trick in his bag that maintained a passable advantage against Lukas, a wild thought roared to the surface. It would likely compromise his movement moving forward, but what of it? As far as he was concerned, to falter here would have been an undeniably poor showing.

"Let's take it up a notch, shall we!?"

Speaking through pure adrenaline alone, Solomon legs pressed against the ground as he shot forward in an all-out rush, aiming to tackle directly into Lukas's body. At first glance, such an act would have invited confounding disbelief. The answer lies between the open palms of both of his hands.

Between the Blut Arterie pushing him forward and his physical strength, he was drawing in every particle of reishi his body could feasibly handle. Electrified reishi filled his body like a volatile battery waiting to burst as he offered everything forward to land a devastating attack. The dagger vanished into the ether, and so too did Keraunos. A foolish gamble destined to lead to a foolish end.

Even so, he persisted. He could lose. From the moment they stepped into the training hall, such a thought had already crossed his mind. But that was defeatist nonsense. Forcibly tearing away the reishi of his own constructs, Solomon released all of the reishi in an all-consuming explosion of voltaic energy, holding onto - if he had even grabbed him to begin with - Lukas with every fiber of his strength. The pain that accompanied his bold act was immensely excruciating, and there was no guarantee, if Lukas noticed it, that it would land successfully, but none of that mattered. At present, he was risking it all to achieve victory. He could deal with the repercussions of his foolishness later.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Not bad. He'd acknowledge Solomon, if silently. Getting rid of the dagger left Lukas' grip empty, giving the man plenty of opportunity to shift, and push into Lukas with all of his force. A half grin formed, even as the bruises started to take hold on his chest.

Ground rushed to meet them, sliding some yards as Solomon acted.

The reishi that was drawing into Solomon dragged around the two, Lukas recognizing it immediately. He'd consider humoring it, trying to take whatever Solomon could throw at him again - but the burns, the stiffness in his muscle, he could already feel that whatever came next would be something he wouldn't want to take. Not with his makeshift hierro, not yet.

Saying wouldn't use Ahnengeist, by and large, Lukas had been intending to stay true to that. Unfortunately, it looked like he needed more stopping power.

The handle glimmered in his hand for a moment, the reishi of it dissapearing immediately as his fist tightened. Ahnengist's reishi flooding his arm as he drew blut to the surface, Lukas' left was visibly bright, even amongst the hall's light. Knuckles cracked with the tightening of his fist, pain exploding through the limb. Sucks having to use this.

Back against the floor, the quincy wouldn't allow Solomon to unleash his attack freely. With the culmination of his might, speed, kreuzen und blut, Lukas shot a knockout punch directly into Solomon's gut. If it connected, he doubted the man would be getting back up for a while; or that he'd go home without smelling like vomit.

"Krgh!"

A fierce blow barreled directly into his stomach. Though far from an unexpected counter, Solomon had foolishly gambled on the idea that Lukas, as he claimed, would have taken the attack directly. Even more so, there was no conceivable way he could have properly released that attack as effortlessly as he intended. Techniques of any kind that required buildup only ever thrive on the element of surprise. If the enemy can ascertain the charge, even the grandest of techniques will prove futile. As punishment for his misstep, he felt an immense pain that outclassed anything he felt during their battle; even the three liver blows had paled in comparison to an attack of this magnitude.

Since he had given his all unto the tackle and self-explosion that never occurred, no immediate counter accompanied his adrenaline-fueled charge this time. His insides were upturned in a way that caused him to double over, his body trembling from the sheer impact as he forced himself to maintain consciousness through sheer willpower, struggling in one last bid of desperate resistance.

Yet, all that accompanied that struggle was diminishing particles of electrified reishi that swept around his body. Vomiting onto the floor, Solomon stumbled onto the floor as he held his stomach, his body faltering towards the ground in one final display of rebellion. He was down for the count, no doubt. That was astoundingly clear. Even so, he turned back to Lukas with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Won't use my Ahnegeist my ass..."

Humored words through strained lips, Solomon currently had nothing else to offer beyond occupying a less-than-enviable position on the ground. It was clear he still had a long path ahead toward progress.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"Surprised you could tell." Lukas cracked his neck as he stood, a sigh of relief as he made it onto two feet. His left arm still glowing, another grunt of appreciation as Ahnengeist shot from underneath his skin, forming in its entirety for a moment before he'd slash it downwards; dissapearing into a mist of reishi.

His back was scraped, bruising decorating the majority of his torso where contact had been made. It was easier to see now, although discerning between new wounds and old scars wasn't the easiest task one could be assigned. The easiest to recognize were lightning strikes, the points of impact spiderwebbing into the crevices of Lukas' skin. No way around it; shit hurt.

"Not my fault you went for the hail mary, though. Y'probably could drag it out further than that, and something like what you were trying is better when your opponent is tired." Snorting with a thumb over his nostril, Lukas shot out a loogie of blood and phlegm. His teeth showed red as he faced Solomon, a faint smile with an extended hand to pull the man up.

"Good offense, though."

"Of course I could. There's a normal punch, and then there's whatever the hell that was just now. Even now, it's difficult to stand on two feet."

Indeed, it was clear that Solomon was only conscious by his own sheer will. Competitively displaying his defiance even in a loss. Against someone he viewed as something close to a rival, it was the best way to save face now. Did he enjoy a loss? Certainly not. He hated it. But, as with all things, a lesson could be taken from a loss to improve in future battles. For one, he fell far too much into Luka's rhythm rather than maintaining his own. Two, he foolishly collected energy for an attack that had no hope of success whatsoever. The preparation was commendable(from his perspective), but the execution of it definitely left much to be desire. In any case, there was no use fretting over the loss. Move on and grow stronger from it; that ought to be the approach. Nothing more, nothing less. With that in mind, he grabbed onto Lukas hand as he willed himself up.

"Yeah. The Hail Mary attempt was predicated on the idea you might have been bold enough to take another strong attack head on. As expected, a reckless pursuit ended with a reckless result. You live with the risk, though. You weren't half bad out there, either."

He humored, nudging the man in the shoulder as he walked beside him.