Jahar widened his smile as the assassin took several steps back; he would easily have the seconds he needed for the tattoos to gather the requisite energy.  This was what he had been waiting for, a chance to test the full breadth of his skills against one of the most feared contract killers in the realms.  His long weeks of planning and waiting had come to this moment.  All that remained was to see whether his suspicions were correct about the true skill of the man he fought.  That D'Angelo had been holding back he was certain, likely taking the time to assess his strengths and weaknesses; it almost made Jahar laugh aloud...the man had no idea what he faced.  He soon would, however, and Jahar would finally know whether this man was good enough to give him what he wanted, the Thrill of true life or death battle that was the only thing that made him feel [i]alive[/i] again.

The dark killer prepared to lunge forward in an attack, following the assassin's swift retreat, but his smile froze on his face, eyes widening fractionally as the man darted his nimble fingers into the pouches upon his belt, flicking a pair of objects toward him.  Jahar had faced a great many assassins and was familiar with some of the tricks they employed in their work, though he eschewed such tactics himself, preferring the visceral feel of a blade tearing through flesh.  His mind whirled with the possibilities, none of them pleasant.  With only a moment's hesitation brought by his interrupted plan of attack, Jahar instead took a series of short, swift bounds that carried him back and to his right, away from the impact of the thrown objects.

The adhesive gel struck the ground, covering the cobbles in a tarry substance, but the Blackvine did not even see it as the smoke pellet exploded and he was caught in the outer part of the cloud mid movement.  Inwardly he cursed, assuming the worst and holding his breath against what he assumed was some sort of toxin as the grey smoke filled the air around him, stinging his eye for a moment before he cleared it to land upon the sand a few paces from the corner of the platform.  He heard the sound of the grappling hook striking the roof tile on the other side of the smoke cloud and instinctively turned to face it, his sword held out before him.  After a few moments he relaxed slightly and drew another breath, reasonably certain that he was far enough from the already dissipating cloud.

At that moment the storm of energy gathering inside of him reached a roaring crescendo, and Jahar could suddenly feel the enormous well of writhing, seething power filling the tattoos surrounding his body, ready and almost begging to be used.  To him, as it always did, the power felt vast, infinite, and it very likely was as the tattoos continued to absorb ambient magic from his surroundings.  Jahar knew from experience, however, that while he had a near infinite well from which to draw, his body could only handle so much of the raw energy before it would literally destroy him from the inside.  Reflexively, he glanced at the flower blossom upon the back of his left hand.  Of course, he had not yet utilized any of his power so all the petals were yet fully intact, but he still found it strangely reassuring.

As the smoke cleared, Jahar easily located the Veiled-One upon the rooftop with the aid of his Onyx Eye, fifty feet away from where he stood.  A loud echoing laugh resounded about the arena, tinged with an edge of contempt.  "Are we playing cat and mouse now?  One might begin to think you're afraid of me, assassin."  Jahar's tone was full of equal parts amusement and mockery as he began to walk casually across the sand toward Nicoli, letting his sword drop to his side in a one handed grip.  "Try not to feel badly about it, most cowards are."  If Nicoli did nothing in response, Jahar would come to a stop near the other side of the platform, twenty feet or so from the edge of the courtyard below the rooftop upon which the assassin stood.  He assumed no stance, appearing completely relaxed as though clearly goading D'Angelo to attack.