Grima
Level 5 (Holding 1 level up)
6/50 EXP
Location: Esaka - Middle Tier: The Pools
Wordcount: 2703 (+4)(Grima gained 20 EXP from completing her second round) ((Will change if this is false and is just +10 per round))
Grima did not stay around the Wine Cup Hold for that long. Instead she made her leave shortly after the Seekers and UN did, with the staff of the Hold being left with the question of who the white haired woman that had joined them for one morning was. The G-Corp situation would likely not be handled during the time of at least one battle, so Grima could…
Grace their efforts later.
In the meantime, she made her way back to the pools, preparing herself for yet another duel. The Pools were a sight she was getting used to. Which annoyed her to no end, the urge to keep her head down conflicting with her hatred of walking in the dredges with the rest of the lower tiers.
Her opponent this time, a young, pink haired school girl, was already waiting for her, giving a cheerful wave at the Fell Vessel… Before jogging up before the fight was announced, “Heya! How are you doing today? Pleasure to meet another opponent!” she stated, extending her hand towards Grima with a large smile, “My name’s Heart!”
The act left Grima off guard for a second, the vessel blinking slowly before shaking her head,
“We’re foes, not friends, child. And I certainly have no intention of befriending someone like… You” Grima stated, raising her hand and nonchalantly batting Heart’s hand away with the back of her own hand. The contact, brief as it was, shot a connection between Heart and Grima Or rather, from what Grima could gather, between two beings bound to these vessels. Somehow, this ‘Heart’ had a being of power, and though the Fell Dragon could not gather how strong they were, she could feel the nauseating presence of light.
Heart blinks for a moment, clearly processing the action before she nods, “Oh, um… Okay! Well, I’m used to a few grumps. But don’t worry, by the end of this match, you’ll see that cheer and love have a power of their own!” she states, pumping her fist into the air before backpeddling to her side of the arena, leaving Grima to tilt her head in confusion.
Love. A paltry emotion humans cling to before their world crumbles around them.
Round 1, FIGHTAs soon as the announcement came through, Grima’s hand shot up, a ball of dark energy forming in it before firing out towards Heart. The young girl in question didn’t flinch at the sight, simply putting her hands in front of her and gathering pink energy of her own to create a trio of pink spheres, which then fired out to intercept Grima’s own. Despite being swiftly made, Grima’s magic managed to overcome the first two without issue, but the final pink sphere finally burnt out the remaining magic within it, causing both to sputter out and vanish.
The vanishing of the two spheres was punctuated swiftly by Grima’s sword arcing down at Heart’s head, the vessel having charged forth with her approach covered. Heart, for her part, simply jumped back… Not even having to hit the ground before she launched forward herself, her fist striking out and slamming into a quickly erected magical barrier, right before a geyser of dark magic erupted from the barrier to throw Heart back.
The starting round continued like this for a significant period of time, with both Heart and Grima landing small hits but unable to seal the deal. For Grima, she was simply testing the waters, seeing what this child could do. But soon enough, the vessel grew bored of the back and forth, and when Heart dashed in for an attack, Grima chose to end the first round, her hand glowing with purple light, making a grabbing motion at her side like she was gripping the very air itself before snapping it up.
As Grima threw her hand up, a torrent of dark magic exploded from the ground. Yet Heart did not bother to dodge the attack. Instead, she simply twisted her body to the side, pink light swirling into her shoulder and grounding her against the attack. It was a classic shoulder check, one that was meant to absorb the force of the blow coming towards her and then strike back with brute force.
In an instant, Grima held her sword up, aiming to block Heart’s attack… Yet the sheer force of Heart’s shoulder check caused her to stagger back, her blade arm being knocked aside and leaving the vessel itself exposed. As soon as Grima’s guard was broken, Heart turned her body to the side, her other arm rapidly spinning to the point where it looked like a pure circle.
“SUPER DUPER AMAZING IRON FIST PUNCH OF LOVE!”
The rapid fire words that came from Heart elicited a small expression of confusion from Grima, right before Heart’s fist slammed into her face. The massive smashing sound that followed was agonizing, especially for Grima herself as she was sent flying, tumbling head first across the ground before coming to a slow stop.
KO!
HEART WINS!A silence fell upon the arena for a few moments, punctuated only by Heart pumping her fist into the air, “Alright! Score one for the power of love~!” she calls out
Despite the quick regeneration from the Heavenly Principles and the next round preparing to start, Grima remained still for a moment, almost seemingly ko’d entirely. But slowly, she pushed herself up, her hand coming to her nose… And when her red eyes looked up, there was a notable malice within them, enough to cause Heart to flinch.
For Grima, this was an insult. An almost insurmountable insult. She had been fooled in two separate occasions, her guard being breached by a lucky strike that she did not anticipate at first. But this went beyond a small hit that reset the tempo of a duel. This had been a blow that
took a round. She had chosen to give this
child a more serious battle than others on the basis that she could avoid getting blindsided yet again, especially with the extra power that Heart seemed to possess.
And yet she, the Fell Dragon’s vessel and will,
lost.
“Fine then. No more games, child” Grima mutters, twirling her sword as she took up her position
ROUND 2, FIGHTThe start of round two was fairly similar to the first, with both sides launching their spheres towards each other. Yet as soon as Heart dashed forward, she was forced to duck as a small beam of dark magic fired out, with Grima barely having moved from her position, her red eyes narrowed in full concentration. The beam was sudden, throwing Heart off for a moment but in short order she continued, charging forth to take Grima on directly.
But this time, there was no flash to Grima’s movements. Just pure, economic movement from a warrior who was no longer trying to show off, but rather win. Every jab that Heart threw was easily blocked, and every committing attack was pivoted, a swift slash being rewarded to Heart for each misstep. As cheerful as Heart was, even she could tell what was happening: Grima was learning, and more importantly, she was using that knowledge to dismantle her fighting style.
Heart wasn’t one to become scared. But she couldn’t help but feel… Unnerved by Grima’s shift in demeanor. It was enough to cause her to go further on the offensive, trying to get back the initiative and catch back up to the lead Grima had taken.
And eventually, she found what appeared to be an opening. As Heart leapt into the air, Grima brought her sword up, aiming to intercept her jump in… Only for Heart to suddenly fly back through the air, a faint ring of pink energy flowing around her.
Grima had slipped, and in that moment, she had made an opening that Heart would capitalize on, “Special kick!” Heart yelled out once more, a torrent of pink energy flowing around her legs as she dove down feet first.
Unfortunately, Grima had anticipated this move from her. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Grima raised her hand, Heart’s kick slammed into yet another magical barrier. Yet in the same instant, Grima snapped her fingers, several dark tendrils snapping out from under her cloak and grabbing Heart’s leg, barely giving the young girl enough time to process it before Grima swung her arm over her head, yanking Heart with her and slamming them into the stone, hard enough to send cracks in the arena’s floor.
KO!
GRIMA WINS!Silence falls for a few moments as Grima lets go of Heart’s leg, the tendrils withdrawing into her robes as the white haired woman ran a hand through her hair,
“Mortals like you annoy me to no end. I could spend all day tearing your fragile philosophy apart, but fools like you will only learn when the truth is bashed into your head” Grima states, standing over Heart as the latter began to push herself up,
“‘Love’ is a fool’s ‘passion’. A bastion that the weak hide behind to ignore the crushing weight of reality’s despair. It is itself weak."Heart blinks, rising to one knee as she looked up at Grima, “No, it’s not. Love is-”
“Weak” Grima suddenly interrupts, leaning down to be face to face with Heart,
“It can inspire the weak to fight, true. But the weak will always remain weak. Your first round victory was a fluke, nothing more. I have seen more of humanity’s depravity than you could comprehend, child. And I will tell you: Love never won wars. It merely acted as the excuse for man to slit their comrade’s throats” with that Grima straightens, turning on her heel and walking towards her side of the arena,
“You’re fighting for nothing. It would be a far better use of everyone’s time if you went home and thought about how the world really works.”Heart stared at Grima’s back, her eyes falling for a moment as the vessel’s words ran through her mind, “If I lose… Then that would mean that…” she murmured, before shaking her head violently, clapping both of her cheeks, “No, I can’t let that line of thinking win. I’ll just have to prove Love can prevail!” with her own words of encouragement, Heart jumps back to her feet, running over to her starting position and preparing for the final battle.
While Grima had no intention of continuing the conversation, she could at least hear Heart’s words, and when she looked back, the vessel could see Heart prepared to go into the final round with all her might. A fact that caused… Confusion for Grima.
Why was this child still bothering to fight? They had nothing to stand for, nothing to gain. Were they truly so dense that they believed that a ‘cheerful smile’ and ‘fighting for love’ could ever hope to match ruination itself?
A small ache in the vessel’s heart was the only answer that came to them, a statement that Grima quickly buried, instead letting out a sigh as she took her position for the final round.
ROUND 3, FIGHTThe final round between Heart and Grima erupted in action, the two sides charging each other without a moment’s delay. Heart herself leapt into the air, using her power’s natural floatiness to attack Grima from above and swerve away from the vessel’s counter swings, whilst Grima herself launched a variety of dark spells up towards her.
Yet, despite it all, Grima had learned Heart’s style. And the Fell Dragon’s vessel was not intending on losing. Not in general, and certainly not to a mortal child.
Thus, for any onlooker, it became increasingly clear who would take the match. While Heart was able to sneak in light blows here and there, the white haired woman was capable of predicting every other move Heart made. Every dash and dive was expertly countered, and when Heart chose to be defensive, Grima was able to pry it apart with a well timed grab between sword strikes, blasting Heart away with an explosion of dark magic.
While Heart was certainly not the brightest bulb in the bunch, she could tell when she was losing. And because of that, she decided that she had to pull out all the stops.
“Okay Partinas!” Heart yelled as she came to a stop, thrusting her fist to the sky… Which was punctuated by a massive burst of energy as a massive figure simply
appeared behind her. A mature woman with long pink hair and a set of six angelic wings, an orb of pink magic already forming in the palms of her hands.
For an instant, a flash of pure surprise went across Grima’s eyes. She had been surprised before by these other fighters, and she had known that this child was harboring a being of power. But the sense of power she felt was akin to that of her eternal foe Naga, a strength that when fully unleashed could harm even her true form.
… Yet, the surprise vanished as quickly as it came, with Grima’s grip tightening on her blade’s hilt. This spirit, strong as it was, clearly had limits since it only appeared now when its host was on her last legs. It was a last ditch attempt to swing the momentum back into the child’s favor, and while it was certainly powerful, it was merely a small hurdle for the being that puppetted this body,
“I see this battle has reached its conclusion. Very well, I shall answer in kind” Grima says, a slow grin forming on her face as she lifted her free hand, shadows beginning to coil around her, quickly forming into the massive, shrouded shadow that was Grima themselves. Unlike before, the shadows seemed to coil around the platform itself, the six red eyes absolutely massive in the darkness.
Heart’s eyes widened herself as Grima’s true form was revealed, but she quickly steeled herself, lifting both of her hands as the pink orb that Partinas created grew larger and larger, refusing to be frightened by Grima's display.
“Partinas is what you called that pathetic spirit, wasn’t it? Soon enough even that will be wiped from memory. Now…” the vessel and shadow spoke, their voices in sync… Before the shadow itself took the lead, its eyes flashing with malevolent intent,
“KNEEL. EXPERATION!”With that, the two sides unleashed their attacks. From the shadows, a massive beam of black magic tore through the air towards Heart herself, whilst Heart and Partinas threw their now gargantuan orb of pure Love energy into the darkness. Thanks to the angle, the two attacks quickly slammed into each other, a shockwave of kinetic force sending a massive ripple across the water. While Heart herself had to raise her arms to protect herself from the backblast, Grima simply stood where she was, her robes fluttering wildly, her arm outstretched as if holding the attack together.
And then, just as abruptly, a massive explosion erupted from where both attacks had clashed. Grima barely had a moment to recognize the explosion, shielding herself with her arms due to her expended mana from Expiration, before the shockwave sent her flying back. The vessel tumbled over herself, barely managing to slam her sword into the ground to skid to a stop just a few feet away from the opposite edge. Grima remained there for a few moments, panting heavily, thrown off by the fact that her spell had only matched the child’s own attack. She was vulnerable now, and if they-
RING OUT.
GRIMA WINSThe announcement broke through Grima’s thoughts like a knife through butter. A ring out, and this time unintentional. But when she thought about it, it made sense. The initiative had been hers, and because of that she was able to push Heart closer to the edge of the arena. Even if they were capable of limited flying, the injuries and expenditure of energy meant that it was unlikely they could sustain it to get back to the arena.
Victory was hers, the path to the top still open.
Yet victory felt…
Hollow.
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