Closed Tuesday Afternoon

[Astra]

Winter 2, 124

Astra was not the type to get into fights that she knew she couldn't win. Fighting, in general, was just not seen as a good use of her time. She'd rather be doing anything else. Singing a song, composing a new verse, having her admirers fawn over her. Alas, there were always times where one needed to sharpen their skills. Getting the rush of landing a good punch in someone's face was also quite entertaining from time to time.

And so, she made her way to one of the training areas outside of the school part of town. She drew looks of awe as she usually did, enhanced ever so slightly by the wave of lust she pulsed around her like an aura. The way she looked as she walked said something along the lines of, "look at me, while you can." She grinned upon seeing one man blush. Cute guy, maybe she'd have to seek him out later.

She arrived at a place where fights could be held without having to worry about people killing each other. The purpose of this place was to train and get stronger, not to mutilate. One could easily find a mundane round of fisticuffs or a clash of blades.

Astra shrugged her bag off and made sure to put on at least a little bit of protective gear, then unsheathed her daggers just to make sure they weren't rusted or damaged. They were rarely used as she barely knew how to use them. But she was feeling confident today so she thought she'd try them out. They had been dulled heavily purely for the purposes of training and she didn't really see a need to have them sharpened until she felt confident she wouldn't accidentally poke her own eyes out.

"Hello," she said as she waved to someone who looked to be waiting for a good fight. She stood opposite him and showed that she was using blades and then she started to attack.

She ran up to him and sliced with one dagger at his stomach. It was a sloppy move and she nearly ran right into him. God it had been so long since she practiced. She continued to spin far too much, so much that she decided she might as well complete the spin and slash with her second blade. She slid her foot out to stop her momentum, and then stepped forward to try stabbing at his stomach with both blades at once. Finally, she slashed her blades outwards in a V shaped motion as she stepped back.

After completing her flurry of attacks, she'd pant slightly and see how her attacks were perceived. Had she done a good job? Or maybe she was too slow and awkward for the attacks to do as much damage as she thought they would. Maybe she should have warmed up on a training dummy? But a training dummy couldn't fawn over her and be enchanted by her looks.

: math

2 – 0.01 Idolatry Novice Cast = 1.99

 

[Shadow]

The combatant was ready for a good brawl but he wasn't defenseless. He had abation on his side and since it wasn't a harmful arcana he was going to use it. He held out a hand to slow Astra's arms during the attacks which would make it harder to do any damage. He wouldn't be able to slow her completely but it made it easier to block her blades. On her final slash, he tried to slow her even further.

"You will have to try better than that" He told her with a sneer. He saw how pretty she was and did not think she had any business holding a weapon let alone two. He would show her what a real bladesman would be able to do to her.

He sheathed his sword and held out both hands now to try compressing her and slowing her. He would be happy to end things quickly.

 

[Astra]

Astra didn't like having her movements frozen. She fought against the effects, feeling that if her opponent was going to use dirty tricks then so should she. She sent a pulse of energy out of her body, fighting against the effects that sought to immobilize her entirely. With any luck she would be able to keep moving for at least a little while longer, if not ignore the effects entirely. And then he tried to crush her with his magic.

She found herself holding her forearms at her side and pushing outwards, as if she were physically pushing against the powers that were trying to confine her. It felt like a great effort just to stay standing, but she persisted. She had to – how could she fall from this alone? She needed to prove that she wasn't just a pretty face, not just a royal figurehead. Even as her limbs started to lock up she pushed and pushed until she overcame the effects with a grunt of effort.

"That's a neat little trick you have," she said as she caught her breath. "I wonder what else you got!"

She sheathed her daggers and ran at him to try slamming a fist into his stomach. She would then try to grab onto his shoulders and ram her knee into his gut for good measure. She was hoping that her opponent was too distracted with trying to perform fancy magical moves to react properly, but Astra was likely the less experienced of the two. Most of her fights seemed to devolve into a shit show like this, slapping and going for desperate moves. It wasn't that she hadn't been trained, but training only did so much to quell one's natural fighting instinct. Hers was to go all out without pause.

: math

1.99 - 1 (subtracting from an ongoing thread) – 0.04 Apprentice Unyielding Will = 0.95