Between Theft And Envy [Veralia/Mura]

The carnage of battle heightened emotions and brought out the sweet taste of desire. It is for this reason that Veralia's eyes flickered between blood and gem-green hues; sensing the envy, will, and excitement from their clash caused the woman to enjoy herself.

Wanting to feel him, Veralia didn't run and instead sought to have her knee meet his own as the two's spiritual energy boiled further and released a blinding flare of white light which leveled everything around them for ten feet in every direction. Chunks of earth and dirt scattered about as Veralia leaned in closely to Mura and grinned.

"Give me more of that desire. I'm having fun."

As her tone was drenched in anticipation and delight, Veralia moved like a predator. In a fluid motion, she launched herself backward, creating a momentary distance only to close it again with an explosive force. Her elbow, aimed with a precision born of countless battles, sought to find its mark in Mura's gut—a strike intended not just to wound but to unbalance, to remind him of the peril and pleasure interwoven in the fabric of their duel.

Mura had to evaluate his achievements in this little bout of theirs.

Most of his attacks were easily offset by her pyromancy. His wind scythes intensified her flames, pushing them back but not landing on their actual target often. She was rapid, agile, and great at evading his techniques in spite of his versatility… then again, how versatile could wind scythes be?

It and Fa Jin, to his knowledge, was all he knew… he could only hope to break through her airtight defenses with enough offense to tip the scales more and more to his favor. It made him feel a tad desperate, though – he didn’t know why, but he had a faint inkling that she had her own skills stored away… and power to spare. He couldn’t help but feel that he wasn’t entertaining enough, not at this level. It was a weird feeling.

His knee only met hers – shivering, aching vibrations ran in all directions, lifting the ground around them and releasing flares of ferocious Reishi in all directions. Veralia expressed her joy, and for a moment, Mura felt that his previous thoughts were invalidated by her apparent enjoyment – she didn’t let him take in new thoughts before planting an elbow on his gut, moving blindingly fast with her smaller frame and predatory rush. Air escaped his lungs from the impact, his eyes widened in shock, and his diaphragm cranking and retracting itself to prevent further damage.

But he kept his stance, didn’t let himself launch away, and his feet buried into the earth beneath them, making him look exposed to a follow-up attack… but he was gathering Reishi, amplifying his strength for some sort of purpose. Still, that elbow strike landed well, so he was unable to counter-attack immediately. "T-Try again..." he bluffed, a bit odd of an action for the likes of him, but he needed just another moment.

As the winds died down around them, the burning gaze of Veralia's blood stare locked on the visage of Mura. There was an expression of delight and joy still shining behind her eyes as she grinned at him trying his best to stand the might of her envious inferno.

"Take as much time as you need~"

Humming happily without a care in the world, Veralia's body responded to her desires. Soon, she had wisps of emerald flame flow around her as she chuckled with excitement behind her voice. She wasn't a fool, she could tell the man was getting winded from all of this. Yet, one doesn't grow by taking it easy and never pushing themselves against insurmountable odds.

As she winked at him, this simple gesture carried with it the weight of challenge and promise. Despite the ferocity of their battle, there was an underlying respect for the trial by fire he was enduring. It was a testament to the complex dynamics of power, where strength was not only measured by physical might but also by the resilience of the spirit.

"Show me more of your desire~"

Her voice carried with it a tone of sternness and teasing; as this wasn't just a call to continue the fight; it was an acknowledgment of Mura's potential, a recognition that within him lay the capacity for greatness, should he choose to reach for it.

Her green fires were starting to approach from all around him, likely stirred by how much Veralia enjoyed this bout. Her fires almost emulated her emotions, something Mura once only thought was in fairytales. Controlling flames like that… what a sick ability. Even the way they hugged her form spoke of just how magical these Arrancars really were.

While in his troubled mind, Veralia wanted more from him – as if encouraging a resilient student, she didn’t immediately capitalize on his winded moment and simply egged him to go on. Usually, when someone like Kyūken got on his nerves about needing to try harder, Mura would quickly lose his patience, but with Veralia… it was different. Was it because she was a woman? Now, that just sounded like bigotry, but there was something in her. Her voice. Her gaze. It easily drew him to continue the fight. It was as if those green flames didn’t even hurt, but tickled him, prompting him to fight back – no hesitation, no worries, he intended to prove something here and now, and that was that he was far stronger than she thought.

*Inhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaale*

His lungs rapidly took in the air, expanding and nourishing Mura’s blood flow with oxygen. Even amidst the raging, hot fires, Mura found plenty of fresh air to breathe – the Breath of Day and Night woud allow him to breathe without being bothered by the ashes and particles lingering in the air around him.

Then, he went around her at full speed… and kept running around her. Air kicked up, spun in his direction, then began rising higher as if veils were trying to surround her form. Veils of cutting winds trying to choke out her green fires… and her, too, in the progress. The veils would only creep in closer the longer he kept his momentum.

This was his desire – to beat her. To impress her… to amaze her, even.

Techs Used:

Veralia remained in place; eyes moving from side to side as she assessed the situation. Her smirk widened, eyes alight with the thrill of the challenge as she watched her emerald flames intertwine with the tempest before her.

"Let's give you a workout then, shall we?"

With a deliberate motion, she licked all the fingertips of her right hand, igniting them with swirling, hellish green energy. These emerald tendrils then spiraled into the twister around them. Pushing the extent of the man's durability and stamina was on her mind, so it would be an inevitability of whether or not one of these wisps of energy would streak him in the vortex of their powers.

Unyielding at the epicenter of this storm, her presence was a testament to her power and her unwavering spirit, eager to see how her adversary would respond.

"Do you think it's wise to try and corner an opponent you cannot overpower so easily?"

Although her tone was questioning, it came not out of a place of arrogance, but curiosity for what the male had planned as chunks of the earth started to break and crumble away as she stood at the heart of this tornado of will, power, and wind.

While he thought that he’d imprisoned her in a dome of spinning wind, she began setting that vortex on fire with her manipulation of green inferno. Due to the nature of fire and wind, her pyromagical spell was starting to reach and lick at his blade, prompting Mura to expand and make distance from her… but this would ultimately weaken the Dragon-Eating Blade. And he was running out of options – the fight had already taken quite some time now, and he was only fresh due to that breathing technique… but his Kamaitachi, his wind scythes, they had a bad match-up against her fires. Think, Mura, think!

But he could barely think due to the falling debris of dirt… and rocks… that was it! Fires were just being fed by wind, so if he mixed it with dirt…

Recklessly, he shoved the tip of Harukami straight into the loose ground, ending his Dragon-Eating Blade and causing the sphere of spinning wind to pop in a wild fashion. His hair blown aback by the shockwave, Mura immediately followed up by slinging the earth in an ascending strike, manifesting a new tornado like before… but one that was dark, muddy and threatening to choke out whoever got caught in its violent wake. All of the debris that their battle had kicked up was being sucked into the vortex, flung upwards clockwise and contributing to some extra weight and firepower.

But it made it much harder to see Veralia’s position. He’d have to rely on her now very recognizable Spiritual Pressure – a very hungry, ambitious soul.

Techs Used:

"Interesting."

Sucking her teeth in an amused fashion, Veralia's eyes reflected a sense of delight as she saw the swordsman begin to make some distance before ultimately unleashing his debris-filled twister upon her. This was what she wanted to see as she grinned and felt the brunt of his determination and soul rushing at her.

Veralia held her right arm out and soon flames enveloped her palm before taking shape in the form of a long katana-like blade. Her Zanpukto, Deseo Ardiente, had been summoned and she was going to give him her highest form of respect by responding with her soul. Eyeing down the vortex, she let out a fierce roar that bore her fangs. In that instant, she slammed down her blade and unleashed a wave of fire that resulted in the two colliding once more.

Projectiles of debris blitz through the wall of flame and wind; causing her to get hit with chunks of earth and tree. Dirt and tears came across the woman's clothing, followed by cuts, scratches, and minor bruises which left dull aching burning in her body in response to the pain. As a grin came across her face, the time to act had come upon her.

In a display of raw speed, Veralia launched herself from the carnage, her figure slicing through the chaos as she aimed directly at Mura. Her blade sought his gut in a fierce slash, followed by a kick designed to send him plummeting back to the ground. Just before her attack found its mark, she voiced a truth that resonated with the heart of their conflict:

"Good job. Every diamond's brilliance is born from the relentless embrace of pressure."

So much dirt and rocks in the air, it was still hard to see Veralia… but he could sense her. And she unleashed something from between her hands, and then emerald flames were sent asunder, colliding with the spinning landslide-

Mura felt like he’d seen this scene before, so he began stepping aside, making his way from the splash zone – with such a powerful impact, who knew what debris would slam into him? And even though he evaded the aftermath of his attack, once again did Veralia overwhelm him with her sheer speed and mobility, making it through the destruction and aiming her flame sword at his gut…

Panic, panic, panic, panic, PANIC! Mura couldn’t evade this, not at this range, so in response, his packs tensed up, with his Reishi traveling down to his belly as if he was trying to punch her with his gut. As a result, her sword did slice across its frame, and her words almost had direct influence of the match itself.

He met the ground and created a crater, but surprisingly, he was still intact – his belly had a clear cut wound on it, but it was also lighting up with Reishi. This was a new way to use Fa Jin, but of all the techniques that ancient Xaolin cult cultivated, this was clearly the one Mura had adopted the most. He was still heavily injured – it just meant that Veralia didn’t accidently make his insides spill out.

“T-That was close… too close for comfort.”

“I-I can’t believe what I’m witnessing, this is… unbearable to watch…” Kyūken groaned, turning his face away in both fear, disappointment, and disbelief. Mura, on the other hand, had a new revelation about Fa Jin that he probably should’ve realized earlier – nigh-instant tensions of muscles like these weren’t just good for mobility. “That’s another scar to live with, I guess…”

He didn't look totally out of steam, but he was curious again. "That sword- is that one of those swords? The soul-slaying blades that I've heard about?"

Surprise, surprise~

Veralia lingered in the air; looking down at the evasion maneuver that Mura pulled off. Judging from the surprised look on his face, that technique was something new as she sensed a great deal of reishi building upon his gut. Nodding her head as if affirming something to herself, Veralia's face eased into a pleased smirk. Gently falling to the earth with a gentle thud, she pointed her flaming blade at him.

Then, in a nonchalant tone of voice, Veralia spoke up and confirmed his suspicions.

"Pretty much, yeah."

Despite being close to his gut, the sword wouldn't emit damaging heat. The aura radiating from it felt akin to a gentle warmth; as if one were sitting in place at the firepit on a cold winter's day. Feeling this comfort, a more relaxed expression came across Veralia's face as she continued speaking to Mura.

"Though I don't call a soul-slaying blade. I just call it my Zanpakutō. You can call her Llamarada de Envidia. She's a fiery one as you can tell."

Giggling with a sense of amusement in her words, she slowly moved her blade away from him and kept it on her side.

"But more importantly, I think I got what I wanted out of you. Not sure if you are in a shape to keep on, but you did something new there. Think the battle was worth it to force that out of you?"

Not gonna lie… he tightened up a bit when her flaming sword was approaching his wound, but to his surprise… the heat didn’t hurt at all. Had he gone numb there? No, it felt more pleasant than scalding. What sort of otherworldly force forged that sword for her? Was it even something that could be forged?

Either way, after a very ‘random’ duel, Mura did relax some more now. Kyūken, however, was another story – grimacing further away from them as he basically witnessed his martial art bite the dust. His allegedly invincible art was defeated – how’d he feel about that? Livid. As for Mura? He couldn’t care less…

“Zanpakutō…” He could’ve sworn it was something akin to ‘soul-slaying sword’, “That, she is…” He didn’t take notice of her way of referring to the Zanpakutō as a ‘she’, since usually an artist of any caliber would refer to their works as a ‘she’. She did have a difficult name to fully remember, though. “… That’s an awfully fancy name for a sword,” he joked, unaware of the importance of names in the world of Zanpakutō.

She revealed her intentions – merely to bring something new out of him. Thinking back, most of the battle went as expected – he didn’t really pull off any creative combinations, so… maybe she meant the last effort of his? He avoided a nasty injury from getting way worse by sort of… it was hard to tell what he did, but his Reishi ran towards his belly and sort of propelled it forward. Like Fa Jin, but instead of a punch or a kick to launch himself, he propelled his torso forward- except… he didn’t.

The Reishi didn’t burst him forward – it just gathered in his belly. Reinforcing it. That wasn’t ordinary Fa Jin…

“… Mhm. I think it was,” he replied after a moment of deep thoughts, “But… I have a lot of questions. Just what… like… what are you? What are Zanpakutō? And what are Arrancars? You made it sound like everyone knows by default, but I’m not exactly an Arrancologist… it’s all news to me.” He knew more about Hollows, but that was where his knowledge ran dry.