Can i change my character, if i provide a different one before the tournament starts? I can guarantee it is not for the purposes of hard-countering anyone; rather, i want to use a character that i personally feel is less complicated to use than Ijok.
Quick question Gun. How come the first guy that entered has a move that allows him to break the sound barrier but you asked someone else after him to tone down their speed to below that of sound?
Well, because it's a move, with a specific, limited application and a cooldown too. The reason i asked for Swordicon's speed to be nerfed, is because it was implied that breaking the sound barrier is natural to him, meaning that instead of a simple forwards dash, he can apply supersonic speed to more complicated forms of movement, as well as his attacks and dodges; without the cooldown, as well.
I think Swordicon is bordering on high-tier. Heck, he's like my character in both terms of flexibility and damage negation, only without the limitations i put on Ijok to bog him down to mid-tier. And on top of that, he can also render himself invisible and manipulate ambient temperatures or lighting.
And he can break the sound barrier as well, which is at least triple Ijok's speed.
In a discussion with Polybius, we figured out a neat idea: how about we divide the posts into two different categories - Narrative posts, which are directly related to the plot and are posted in IC tab; and Encyclopedic, which are posted in the CHAR tab and simply provide information on the world, such as geography, magical systems, the species inhabiting it, their culture, technology and et cetera?
Ijok’s existence in the physical plane is assured by a magical artifact that conducts his mind and energy from the spiritual plane. The conduit itself is a grapefruit sized ball of crystallized mana – a substance created when a mana storm in the spirit plane is strong enough open a rift to the physical dimension. Such crystals are not an incredible rarity, but few of his kind can establish a connection to one by themselves, as that would either require highly advanced technology and deep knowledge of how both dimensions interact, or enough raw power to enter the raging storm itself and establish a link to the crystal while the rift is still open.
Being the conducting medium between him and the physical plane, it allows him to transfer a certain amount of his own energy through it, and also doubles as an eye, allowing him to see the full electromagnetic spectrum (with the option to filter out certain wavelengths) - while the rest of his sensory information is received from a different source. He also has the natural ability to perceive energy moving through the spiritual plane, effectively detecting a majority of the existing magical signatures.
Breaking it into more than one part would sever his connection, and this isn't too hard of a task for somebody of comparable strength, the ball being just as hard and only slightly less brittle than diamond.
Kzich
Kzich is the physical manifestation of Ijok’s personal energy – the result of filtering raw mana through his spiritual body, making it the most straightforward of his powers to use. By gradually pushing this energy into the physical plane through his conduit, he converts it into Kzich, and as long as it remains within Ijok’s own sphere of influence, the substance remains stable and can be freely manipulated by him. However, creating Kzich is a rather lengthy process, taking several days to generate about a ton; plus, there is a maximum amount that he can hold at once, prompting somewhat limited and cautious use. The aforementioned sphere of influence is an extension of Ijok’s spiritual body, propagating from within the conduit and measuring about 8 meters in diameter; it is essential for the creation of Kzich, and any amount of it caught outside of this area immediately dissipates back into magical energy. Moreover, direct contact with the conduit itself is important as well, as only then is he able to take control over the substance; otherwise, the substance would remain intact, but completely unusable until it touches either the conduit itself, or any other mass of Kzich that has contact with it. This is because the aura emanated through the conduit is too weak to support the amounts of energy required for the process of manipulation, whereas direct contact allows for a much wider channel, thus, higher energy transfer.
When the Kzich remains stabilized, though, the range of manipulations he can perform is rather impressive: he can detach and reattach parts of it will, decrease its density, turning it into a gas expanding as far as the sphere of influence allows, or increase it to the same level as lead, measuring at around 10 g/cm3; likewise, he can change its hardness, either making it comparable to boron carbide, or slightly softening it, in favor of the substance being tougher and less brittle, such as steel. Its structure can also be changed by Ijok, shifting between amorphous and crystalline, or on a larger scale, between bulk, porous, fibrous and etcetera. Finally, he can telekinetically move the substance around, at a rate of 3 m/s, regardless of mass.
However, there are certain aspects of his Kzich that Ijok cannot control: its opacity, combustibility and electrical resistance. It is completely transparent; at temperatures of 1500 celcius and higher, it starts burning, slowly whittling down his mass, while something as hot as 6000 celcius could take out massive chunks of his body, destroying hundreds of pounds with a single swipe. And while his body does provide a certain amount of electrical resistance, he cannot make it completely insulating, half a million volts being strong enough of a current to spread across a whole limb.
While electricity does not damage the core itself, this can still be very problematic, as Ijok's combat ability is mostly granted to him by forming Kzich into strands of electroactive material - artificial muscle. While its performance varies over the forms and shapes he can take on, 150 m/s and 1500000 joules of force for striking speed, 5 tons of lifting strength and 100 m/s for running speed remain significant benchmarks, greater feats possible, but requiring a very specific body shape, focusing the entirety of his Kzich supplies on a single task. The muscles are controlled by electrical currents generated directly inside them, using the substance's own energy channels in place of nerves to conduct mana, which is then transformed into electricity. The currents are generally high amperage and low voltage, creating strong contractions, but never interfering with muscles other than the targeted ones. However, this ability can be weaponized, and in this case, Ijok can raise the voltage as high as 1000000 volts and the amperage as high as 100 amps, easily capable of boiling a normal human's insides.
The last function of Kzich is the sensory function: by saturating it with energy, Ijok can sense changes in pressure and vibrations passing through it, as well as perceive temperature by observing the kinetic energy of the molecules composing it. In combination with the core allowing him to perceive his surrounding visually, this serves as a replacement for all human senses but smell and taste.
Cognitive functions
Ijok has an incredibly high level of cognitive function compared to a human. His mental capacity allows for an astonishing degree of multitasking, even under the pressure of combat: once, he had been able to combat 10 weaker assailants at once, splitting his Kzich into 10 separate bodies to fight them all simultaneously - and even then, he wasn't put at his limit. His reaction speed is somewhat sluggish in comparison, averaging at 180 ms, which is about the same as that of an ordinary human.
Magical Power
Being a rather powerful and tenacious spirit, as evident by him successfully venturing into a raging mana storm, he can resist powerful magical influences by combating it with energy of his own. This encompasses almost any attack based purely on magical energy, without having a physical form. A fireball wouldn't be effected, for example, but illusion magic, telekinesis, or pure energy blasts can all be countered by Ijok, more often than not, his mana supply being superior to that of his opponent, resulting in complete negation of the ability.