Ascendant: Divine Inheritance (IC)

RebelMurf · Jan 26, 2019

(Oath, Hope, Taboo Sho, Become and I)

As Ariana and Lilith made their way toward the training ground, Ariana turned her focus from the events of the morning to the coming class. Combat training had always been one of her favourite subjects, especially with the other ascendants. It was one of the most useful ways of evaluating her future competition. She pushed her still drying tunic straight on her shoulders as she drew a breath to speak. “Combat should be interesting today… with the two new people.”

Lilith shrugged at her friend’s words, “I suppose. But the biggest problem is that given the way the meeting went our newbloods aren’t necessarily going to be in the best moods come their turns. It might be best to brace yourself for a more aggressive stance if you’re partnered with one of them, just to be safe.”

A slight smile played at the corner of Ari’s lips. “I’m counting on it.” as usual there was a calculating tone behind her words. “Angry fighters don’t hold back.”

As they approached the training grounds she noticed the massive Amazon newcomer already present with one of his entourage. “They give away more information than they would otherwise.” she spoke in a more hushed tone.

Lilith rolled her eyes but reluctantly nodded in agreement, “Hate to admit it, but you aren’t wrong. Be cautious. I myself am not too worried about fighting this time around, considering our instructor had me do every fight last time around and my dad nearly had his head on a platter when he found out.” As they got close and they quieted their voices, Lilith added, “Also if you get that Alexandros guy or Fenris give them a double dose of hurting for me would ya?”

“You know it.” Ariana put up a fist that was met by Lilith’s. The two girls took seats on the benches surrounding the grounds and watched the others file in.

*****

Roxanne wasn't sure where to go right after the Coalition. Luckily, there were enough of her peers going in the same direction for her to figure it out. She arrived not long after the Amazon boy and two girls she had met earlier. She sat down on the same series of benches as they did, but far from them. She watched the loud mouthed boy walk in with another with dark hair pulled into a bun. Behind them, a tall girl with tight curls and dark skin. Roxanne recognized her from the Miran seat in the Coalition. Behind her, the boy with bright red hair and a cocky grin from Sindalis. He was accompanied by two others whom Roxanne recognized from the Coalition but not from where they came. Like before, the group was a mix of some who kept to themselves and others who seemed to gravitate to each other. There was a soft murmur of quiet conversations kept between groups that was quieted down by the presence of three people who stepped into the open in front of the benches where all of her peers now sat. The three were all middle aged at least

*****

Left, more or less, alone by his attendant, Alexandros loitered upon the edge of training ground for a short while. After a handful of minutes wrestling down a deprecating train of thought, he returned his mind to external matters in time to find that he was no longer without the company of peers. Arriving in pairs and small clusters, those among the Ascendants had been convening upon the training grounds. “Clearly,” Alexandros spoke softly, looking off in the direction of Areximacha’s exit, “you knew this was coming.” The Amazon couldn’t help but chuckle, even slightly, at this. It would be just like Areximacha to set him up in such a way.

Alexandros would spent the following moment observing his peers as they filtered in, ultimately gathering at a bench set up on the opposite side of the grounds from where he stood. His watch was vigilant, yet casual at the same time. His sole point of telling intent came upon his spotting the one who had slandered him to his face. Admirable to face a man as he endeavours to break them down; foolish even so. His brows furrowed as his eyes narrowed in disdain. If there was anything that the Prince needed to prove, he would do so upon the training grounds. Any dissent towards or hovering doubts regarding who he was or what he was capable of, would have to be put down promptly.

In a preparation for the approaching ordeal, he ran his hands about himself in check of his armaments: shield, slung proper upon his back for travelling; sword in scabbard, securely strapped at his waist; spear… a short, cold rush swept through him. For an instant, he might have panicked had he been a less prepared warrior… the feeling, yet, was quelled almost as soon as it had begun to swell. A soldier among the castle guard approached him, carrying what he knew to be his spear delivered as per order of Areximacha.

Thankful to his attendant and the guard, he circled his way across to the bench that the other Ascendants were taking their respective seats upon. They sat facing a trio of older people, by all visible signs, experienced in some walk or another. “I take it,” Alexandros made himself first to speak up, “That this is when things get physical?”

“Your power of deduction is most impressive” Fenris said dryly. “We are in an arena surrounded by weapons and training dummies. Clearly you are more suited to be standing with those straw stuffed stick men then with us. As I said before, you don’t belong here”.

A few of the other ascendants snickered at Fenris’s remarks. The comment earned a disapproving look from Lilith and small smile tugged at Ariana’s lips.

“And you’ll be certain,” Alexandros responded hotly, “to find yourself prematurely acquainted with the rodents and nightcrawlers if you can’t learn to keep your tongue well behind your teeth.”

The tension was broken by one of the older men addressing them. “You will split into two groups.” He pointed to Roxanne, Fenris, Ariana, Callach, Alexandros and the cocky redhead. “First group will follow myself and Farson to the battle mats where you will be paired and then spar. The rest will go and run circuit three under the watchful eye of Alekos.” There was an audible groan as Lilith and the others stood and made their way towards the running grounds.

“Looking forward to this Callach?” Fenris asked as he made his way to the mats stretching as he did. “Come now, smile. It's not every day you are encouraged to play with your food” he sneered.

At least I get to cut loose from the get go, the Amazon told himself. Though he would be visibly among the most elated to be getting straight to the combat training, he aptly set himself into the rear of the group moving towards the mats. He’d have much rather taken up the front end; but then he’d have maintain an air of subtlety in sneaking backwards glances at his possible opponents. From the back, he had all the more opportunity to contemplate the match-ups he might get.

Even still, it was a spotty effort. The only one among those headed into the spars that Alexandros could surmise anything of was Ariana, whom he still only knew of through hearing of her father; if she held up to Roan’s reputation, even in the slightest, she would be one for the Amazon to be cautious of. Those he didn’t know, of course, would still require a careful approach; what he didn’t know could prove more detrimental than what he did.

As the half-dozen Ascendants and the trainers neared the mats, Alexandros broke his own inner tension with a more sincere inquiry than his previous one, directed specifically at one of the trainers. “Any ground rules I should be aware of for the sparring? Empty-handed or weapons, and such? Or is this an ‘all’s fair’ session, more or less?”

The head instructor answered the Amazon’s question indirectly as he addressed the six as a whole. “You will each pair off in groups of two. You may choose your opponents. When you have done so, you may begin going over the basics to warm up. Take turns attacking and parrying or dodging.”

Before the head trainer had finished speaking, Ariana made her way toward Roxanne. Before the new girl could protest Ariana greeted her with a soft smile. “You don’t want to partner with one of the others. Fenris is a jerk. And Callach well... he’s worse.” she teased.

Callach chuckled at Ariana’s comment but otherwise ignored it and threw a playful, yet still aggressive, punch at Heros to indicate he would partner with him.

The exchange warranted an eye roll from Roxanne. But she shrugged, tossing up her hands in disinterest. “Yeah… okay whatever.” she followed Ariana to stand opposite her where the instructor directed.

Fenris rubbed his hands together and smiled. “Well big man, looks like you're my plaything for the next little while.” He said to the Amazon. “Hopefully the foolishness that comes from that mouth of yours isn't indicative of your fighting skills; else this won't be any fun.” He jeered making his way to the area marked by the second instructor.

The Amazon shrugged off the biting of the comment with an enthused chuckle. He too directed himself towards the space indicated by the instructor, standing opposite the loudmouth. Without any further prompting he took up an unorthodox fighting stance, leaving his right hand in front, as a left-handed fighter would. Though he doubted his opponent would be wise to it, in doing so, Alexandros would be commencing the coming spar in a stance that would bank on a non-dominant left hand for most of its heavy hitting; the Amazon’s prior training had practically masked the obvious tells of right-handedness. “I pray that your tongue isn’t the only part of you that’s of any use.”

Nova · May 15, 2020

(Myself and oath...)

As usual for combat practice, the pairs were instructed to separate a distance apart to not run into each other. Ariana and Roxanne were directed to the middle space, marked off by flags. Ari chose the training sword that most suited her style from a row at the edge of the ground and joined Roxanne there. She was surprised to see her standing there with a dumb look on her face. “Uhmmmmm” there was a short chuckle behind her tone “aren’t you forgetting something?”

Just like before, the attitude that was just radiating off of Ariana was enough to prickle Roxanne’s patience. She simply glared back at her, watching for her first move.
Ariana took Roxanne’s silence as more ignorance. “Your weapon?” she waved her training sword at her impatiently.

“Don’t need it.” Roxanne shifted her weight to her hip, clearly disinterested.

Ariana’s eyes widened slightly with disbelief. She could hear the clash of the weapons from the others cracking loudly around them. “You can’t just not use one.” she gestured to the other two groups, already going after each other with their weapons “You’ll get hurt if you can’t block me.”

The only response she was given was a light shrug.

Ari studied the new girl for a moment. She’s cocky… she thought to herself, digging her heel into the grass. She viewed Roxanne’s lack of compliance as a challenge, or possibly an insult. That wasn’t something she would let slide. Without another word of protest, she struck.

The blow came as quickly as a flick of a wrist. Roxanne felt the life leave her lungs as she hit the ground on her back. With an irritable groan, she propped herself up on her elbows just to meet a point on her collar. Her crimson eyes followed the tip of the training sword up to match the vibrant blue ones of the girl standing triumphantly above her.

“Dead.” Ariana said flatly. “You don’t need one, huh?” she scoffed “Don’t be so careless. I am a threat to you. Now get your weapon.”

Roxanne was steel. She kept her expression blank. No anger, no surprise, nothing. She just met Ariana’s gaze with indifference.

Roxanne was unsuccessful in thinking of a person more insufferable than Ariana Vangard. As she stood her ground she felt the heat behind her own temperament. But she knew exactly what the Saxan brat was doing, and had no desire to take part. Casually dusting off her clothes, she repeated “I don’t need one.”

Ariana didn’t hesitate to strike again. Annoyance drove her to strike harder than before. But this time she was met by a surprise when her attack hit thin air. Her own momentum now her enemy, she stumbled forward only to be tripped from the side. Her face hit the turf, and she gasped to try to bring the wind back into her lungs as she quickly rolled back to her feet, narrowly avoiding a second kick from Roxanne. She was way faster than Ariana had expected her to be. Now on the defensive, Ari bounced back and tried to regain control of the fight by lunging forward with another attack of her own. Again, Roxanne dodged her. But this time, Ari was counting on it. As Roxanne attempted to move to the side, Ariana adjusted her move to match Roxanne’s new location and landed a hit to her ribs. She jumped back to avoid a counter strike from Roxanne before finishing without hesitation. Once again, Roxanne was knocked down with a fake sword on her throat.

"Dead." Ariana waited another moment to see if she would get any reaction at all before she smirked.

“Oh, I get it. You don’t want to bother trying because you know you’re outmatched.” she propped her sword on her shoulder and started walking back to her original position. “I get it… you are up against a Vangard child of Zeus. Raised and trained by war heroes and royalty. What hope does some poor outlander from a worthless clan have? But just some advice, you’re going to have to make an effort. I won’t go easy on you just because you won’t fight back.”

But as she turned back to face Roxanne again she was impressed to see she had already gotten back on her feet- blank expression still infuriatingly present. “And neither will any of the others.”

True to her word, she started the third round with another bold attack.

Too hasty. Roxanne had anticipated Ariana’s impatience and used her forearm to glance the pretend sword on it’s blunt side. In the same motion she moved forward and used that same forearm to brace Ariana’s before landing a punch to her elbow. There was an uncomfortable shifting sound and Ariana’s training sword flew to the side before Roxanne grabbed the back of Ariana’s head by her hair, kicked her legs out from under her, and slammed her face into the grass. It was over as swiftly as it had started. Roxanne jammed her knee into the back of Arianas head and grabbed the training sword as was about to hit the ground.

Ariana was stunned. As she moved to get up she felt the tip of her own weapon against her spine. "Dead" Roxanne's voice was a smoldering hiss through the ringing in Ari's ears “And buried.”
In a second, her face was smashed back into the dirt, with the strength to press it into the cold soil and fill her mouth, nose, and ears with earth.

Roxanne took her smoking hand off of the back of Arianas submerged head and stood up. She took a deep breath to stay her temper. Having lost interest in the Saxan brat- struggling to pull herself free- and the training session in general she simply moved to leave the grounds.

Legendseeker · May 16, 2020

(This is an original posting of Sho, Caboose, and myself)

Oryx preferred to let his opponents strike first, that way he would be able to assess them and gauge their abilities, but he decided to go against this usual method of his and go on the offensive. He rushed forward every step sending vibrations through the earth like the ripples you see when tossing a rock into the water. He closed the distance quite fast and portrayed himself as looking like he was going to swing his axe down on top of Lucius, but his swing came very short and his fist clenching the handle of the axe came full force slamming into the ground.

A small earthquake erupted from where Oryx hit the ground, enough that it would make the ground unbalanced where Lucius and Pagos stood. With his fist and the hilt of this axe placed firmly against the ground Oryx performed a sideways handstand and shot his feet full force at Lucius in attempt to hit him with a double kick to the chest.

Lucius cursed himself as Oryx feinted his strike and struck the ground in front of him. The ground erupted around their feet and sent clumps of snow flying everywhere. Lucius felt Oryx’s feet hit him square in the chest and send him back a step. In retaliation, Lucius gripped the man’s ankle as he drove his sword tip into the earth by Oryx’s axe and sent his power coursing through his weapon. An explosion rocked the earth and sent both men flying apart. Lucius hit the ground and rolled to his feet.

“Boy!” he growled, charging forward. “Take charge now!”

“Right!” Págos exclaimed, lifting the Staff into the air as the temperature immediately dropped tremendously, and clouds formed above the battleground and snow began falling heavily. “The blizzard is here, Sir, use the decreased visibility to engage, I will support you with cover fire!” He shouted just loud enough for Lucius to hear as he maneuvered his way around the blizzard with ease. He formed swords, spears and other various weapons from the ice and began launching them as cover for Lucius to proceed.

Oryx was happy that his first initial attack had hit target, but he knew a man such as Lucius was definitely quick and tactful enough to bounce back quickly. Oryx was sent flying back across the small area that he just recently dashed across and as he crawled to his feet through the powers of magic a blizzard had set in. The boy was good, but sadly he was at a disadvantage. Oryx had the power of fire within him, but he would hide it away for now and continue to gauge the strengths of his opponents.

“Good moves young lassie, but takes more than a blizzard to chip away at the mountain…” Oryx said as he slashed at the various weapons flying at him, metal to ice, metal always wins.

Lucius kept low as the weapons of ice Págos sent out whooshed past him. Oryx knocked them away with relative ease and boasted his strength. Lucius remained silent as he reached out and snatched one of the ice weapons from the air. Ordinarily, he would also boast his own strength. But something about Oryx threw Lucius off and he did not wanna take any chances. He swept in low and attempted to sweep out Oryx’s legs with the makeshift weapon.

Oryx knew it was a bold move, but his adrenaline was pumping and he decided to make a statement. Oryx braced his legs and as the ice weapon make contact it shattered against his lower legs while he quickly twirled his one sided axe and aimed to hit Lucius in his lower torso with the stick. He had to focus on Lucius since he had moved in close, he would have to take the risk of exposing his back to Págos.

Págos could see the fight clear as day, his divine blood allowing him to fight at a distinct advantage in conditions such as these. Oryx had his fire, certainly, but they were not out to kill each other, and he was sure Oryx would only use the fire against Lucius, as it was very clearly Págos weakness and could potentially kill him. With that thought in mind, he conjured two golems by Oryx that grew straight up from under both his arms in a bold move to lock his arms in place with their immense strength to give Lucius a free shot.

The blunt end of Oryx’s ass smacked into Lucius’ side. He sucked in a breath and swung his arm around, grabbing a hold of the axe and pulling himself to Oryx. Right as he got in close, the golems erupted from the ground, grabbing at Oryx. The one to his right knocked Lucius away. “Damnit, boy!” he growled. He grabbed a clump of snow and launched himself up, focusing his power through his fist. He held back enough to be able to rattle Oryx’s helmet as he delivered a right hook at the man and rolled under the golems.

Oryx was caught off guard as weird golems rose from the earth and locked arms with him, it had helped in one way as Lucius was briefly knocked away from him, but he soon found himself unable to move as the golem’s had a tight grip on him, but it wouldn’t keep him down. “I use to arm wrestle with golems lassie!” Oryx said heartedly. As Oryx began to break free of their clutches his head began to rattle as a power fist connected with his face. His vision rattled for a bit, but Oryx’s head was already pretty empty so he came to it pretty quick and was irritated by the golems. “That’s enough hugging for you lassies!” Oryx flexed and increased his body temperature which made it easier for him to break his arms free. He was quick to pick one up and then the other and threw them at Págos.

Págos gasped as the snow golems crashed into him and he was buried beneath mounds of snow and rubble. For a moment, there was no response, but then the snow rose with Págos within as he merged with the golems and took on an offensive stance staff in hand. With the snow still dampening the views of the two other combatants, Págos took the chance to charge in quietly against the snow beneath his feet, making nary a sound as he approached Oryx from behind looking to put him in a full nelson to hold him in place.

Lucius readied himself as Oryx faced towards him. He saw Págos get buried under the snow. Not wasting time, Lucius to off sprinting back towards the man. As Oryx readied himself to guard against the attack, Lucius also prepared himself for the blowback of what he was going to do. He waited until he was a few feet shy of Oryx, then sent his power coursing through his legs. As he pushed himself off his feet, Lucius released the force and shot himself straight at Oryx. In an instant, they were barely a hairs breadth apart. Lucius could smell the mead seeping from Oryx's mouth. Lucius rammed his shoulder straight into Oryx's chest and sent the giant stumbling back a step, right into Págos’ arms. As they closed around Oryx, Lucius took the chance to swipe the tip of his sword across the ground in front of the two, channeling his power through the sword. The ground erupted with snow and dirt and sprayed over Oryx and Págos to cover them completely.

The teamwork between his opponents was a fine tuned a symphony at the moment. Lucius saw his pupils movements and matched them with his own steps. The world seemed to spiral out of control for Oryx as Lucius hit him hard in the chest, a hit with such force that would have easily killed a weaker man, but for someone like Oryx it was just enough to knock the wind out of him and to send him back into the arms of Págos. The small arms went underneath his arms and wrapped around the back of his neck while a swath of snow covered them both.

Sorry little lassie, but it’s time to walk on sunshine… Oryx thought to himself as he intensified his internal body’s heat. He had to be careful as not to lose control, he didn’t want to burn the entire area to the ground. As his body temperature rose, the snow around him melted quickly and then began to evaporate. Oryx quickly rose to his feet with the little warrior still wrapped around him. He knew Págos would not be able to handle that kind of heat and the little warriors attempt to overpower him physically would be impossible given the large differences in the two. “Better hold on lassie…” Oryx said aloud as he crouched low and then sprung very high into the air. When at the peak of his jump Oryx slowly began leaning backwards as to flop on his back straight into the ground below.

Lucius involuntarily stepped back as he felt Oryx turn up the heat. There were no flames, but he could see Págos beginning to weaken from the rise in temperature. Before Lucius could make a move, Oryx launched them into the air. The force blew a wave of hot air rolling over Lucius, who began to cough. He noticed Oryx orientate himself to slam his rider to the ground.

Lucius reacted without thinking. Abandoning his sword to the ground, he began to channel his power into his legs. With a raging war cry, Lucius launched himself up into the air towards the duo. The ground shattered at his feet and he went sailing up. The pain in his legs were almost unbearable, but Lucius grinned through the pain. He reached the pair as they were descending, knocking them off course and towards a group of tents. Lucius managed to grab a hold of Págos, ripping him from brute and flinging him towards the snow. As soon as he released Págos, Lucius curled up a fist and struck Oryx in the head, sending him flying towards the nearest tent. The force of the blow backlashed and sent Lucius soaring away from Oryx and right into a tent. The tent exploded with a giant boom and laid quiet.

Oryx struggled about as he found himself wrapped in a tent. One of the most strongest men to be found and he was no match for a large piece of cloth. He eventually emerged and the tent had managed to wrap itself around him like like some dress or toga. Oryx looked at himself with glee, “you know I have always wondered what I would look like if I got into my more fashionable side, but sadly I don’t wear dresses to battle…” within moments the tent garb burst into flames and was nothing more than smoldering ashes blowing away in the wind.

The large barbarian held out his hands and a flaming maul generated from thin air, it burned bright orange and yellow and wavered slightly. “Time to turn up the heat lassies.” Oryx said with a smirk before leaping into the air and slamming the maul into the ground sending a shockwave of fire that turned the snow into mist and steam.

Págos rose from the snow just as Oryx came slamming down and lifted his staff high into the air, “Guide me!” With a bright flash the storm he had summoned began to swirl around the Staff and became a concentrated blast of snow and water towards the fiery shockwave, stopping it in its tracks and breaking through, the beam heading straight towards Oryx.

Oryx saw the beam barreling towards him. With a big inhale of his breath he exhaled a large fiery blast that hit the opposing beam. The collision created a large shockwave the shook the area. “My fiery breath has bested even dragons lassie, impressive power young warrior!” Oryx said in respect. He soon began spinning in a circle with his flaming maul picking up speed before letting it fly like a speeding bullet at the two warriors.

Lucius slowly drew himself out of the destroyed tent. The closest soldiers watching looked on in awe as Lucius cracked his neck once and began advancing on the battle. He witnessed Págos holding his own against Oryx's blast. The shockwave sent everyone flying back but Lucius. He threw himself between Págos and Oryx right as the brute flung his hammer towards them. The hammer slammed right into Lucius’ chest, blowing all the air out of him and sent him skidding back right in front of Págos. The hammer had cracked his armor and nearly burned itself through.

“By the gods, and this was my good armor!” Lucius exclaimed. Part of him knew that he should halt the battle soon, as it was unwise to tire oneself out so close to an enemy. But Oryx's raw power and fighting spirit was too much for Lucius to let pass. “Boy,” Lucius said to Págos, who looked up at him. “On my mark, unleash as much power as you can. Bury us in snow, if you can manage.”

“Y-yes sir!” Págos readied himself as Lucius took a stance and faced Oryx. The barbarian looked almost bored waiting for them. “Now!” Lucius exclaimed as he pushed off the ground. Págos yelled out as he swept his staff in a wide arc, lifting the snow over twenty feet into a massive wave. Lucius rode through the wave, snow nearly blinding him as he hurdled towards Oryx. The man steadied himself to face the onslaught, but Lucius was already there. He drove his fist straight through Oryx's block and into his stomach. Oryx was flung back as the snow enveloped them both in a cold makeshift grave.

It was a mighty blow to the proud warrior and Oryx found himself covered from head to toe in snow. He didn't move for a bit, taking in the pain as the snow that covered him melted away. While the blow knocked the wind out of him it was far from keeping the veteran down. Oryx rose to his feet with some slight panting. He took a moment to look around and could see all the awestruck faces as well as the damage that was being done to the camp.

“Aye fellow warriors, this battle could rage as fiercely and as long as the battle between Odin and Fenrir, however I think it be best to take a rest, lest we destroy this entire camp of yours.” Oryx said to Lucius and Págos. “You are as fierce and mighty as the stories say, I bow my head in respect and are honored to have crossed mettle with you General Lucius. And you Págos have proven yourself to walk a path to join such legends as your mentor.”

Lucius pulled himself up from the blanket of snow and shook himself clean. He was fairly sure he had at least one broken finger from that final strike, but he didn't let it show. “You certainly are a powerful warrior. I'd love to see what a real fight would bring.”

Págos smiled as he ran up to the two, though he was clearly running on empty, "Impressing Sir Lucius is no easy feat! But I must say I'm impressed as well. You're a magnificent fighter Oryx!"

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Ascendant: Divine Inheritance (IC)

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