Dancing in Circles (Open 2/3)

[Shuwen]

Word Count: 362

After having finally found himself in Windsor forest, Shuwen tried to get his bearings and head back to London. However, it seemed he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, because his attempt to leave the forest had resulted in him ending up in another forest entirely. Whoops! Normally, he'd just use the Call oh Home skill to teleport back, but quite frankly, he couldn't rightly remember the last town he had been to, and wasn't sure where he'd end up if he used it. Well, he wasn't really in a rush to get anywhere anyways. After all, it seemed like he'd already spent quite a bit of time away from civilization. Taking a little longer probably wouldn't hurt. Besides; he liked the atmosphere of Moon Dance Forest. As a forest, the terrain was fairly familiar to him, but it had an exotic air about it that gave it a bit of an edge. The fact that the monsters in it tended to be significantly stronger also lended itself to that. Fortunately, he hadn't run into any monsters since entering the area. That's what he thought anyways, until he heard a loud howling noise coming from somewhere ahead of him. Whoops, looks like a monster spotted me.

Suddenly, the branches ahead of him parted, revealing a large red hand. It was a Lesser Oni, angry enough to spittle, and carrying an ominously large hammer. While far from the most powerful thing in the forest, it's level was fairly high; almost high enough to pose a significant challenge to him while he was by himself, especially since he was still somewhat out of practice. Uh oh. This could be trou-ble~ The let out another howl, clearing the immediate area of other wildlife, then charged him, bringing it's large hammer about for a horizontal swing. Let's see if I can get the timing right. Shuwen thought. As the beast charged, he turned slightly to one side, putting one foot a few feet ahead of him, while the other was planted solidly behind him. Leaning forward, he put most of his weight on his front foot and stared at the beast intently as it closed in. Closer... closer....

[Deleted]

Words: 652
Total: 652
Tags: Shuwen

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Hunt and defeat three Oni. It was a simple quest, honestly, and part of that was what bored Dumah about this. "We only have one more Oni to hunt. It shouldn't be too difficult a task, we've been breezing through them thus far and the last two were easy enough." Dumah walked through the thick forest, shielding himself from the overgrowth and foliage with his forearms. "I almost wish I had a machete, I could just cut my way through all of this foliage..."

As Dumah continued to walk through the heavy brush and fauna of the forest, a young girl's voice chimed in, following behind him. "Honestly, I think you could cut through the vines just fine if you only had a better sword. You really need to replace that old thing, you've had it since level five, dad!" The girl followed her father's example, using her staff and arm to shield herself from thick leaves and branches.

"Well, Klide had agreed to make me a new one, actually." Dumah looked down at the sheathed sword hanging from his left hip, able to glance at the blade for only a brief moment before having to look straight again so as not to run into a tree or heavy branch.

"Really? Well do you have any idea when he is going to have it finished for you? What kind of sword will it be?" The girl began to utter a series of inquiring questions regarding the sword that had been commissioned by Noihara's co-founding member and one of the Iino family's oldest friends.

Dumah smiled hopelessly as he was asked all of these questions. He began to answer them in the order of which they were asked. "Really, he did. Unfortunately I have no idea when he will have it finished, however. I had requested a long sword. Two, actually."

"You ordered two long swords? You don't even dual wield, do you? Most of the time I see you fight, you are using a single sword, leaving another hand free to cast your magic. You wouldn't need magic if you always brought me along for adventures, though!" She smiled, jokingly teasing her father.

In response to the jest, Dumah smiled as well. "Yes, I suppose that is true, but you are not always available for adventuring, are you?" He smiled a bit longer, losing his smile as his words grew more serious. "Besides, there are many times when we do not know what we are getting ourselves into. You are a strong girl, Alette, but I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

"That's what I have guild mates like you and Klide for! Besides, Katarina's a good healer, I'm sure she can keep me topped off! Those tanks don't really need to be kept alive, do they~?" She giggled at her own joke, smiling a bit before the duo came into a clearing and they could stop worrying about the foliage hitting them.

Alette's smile and laughter was - as it always had been for Dumah - contagious, and the Spellsword couldn't help but smile along with her. "No, I suppose-" Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a loud howl. "What was that?!" The two turned towards the direction from which the sound came. "Come on, Alette!" They broke into a run as they approached the source of the sound, finding a man and a large beast. The very beast Dumah and Alette had come to this forest to hunt. "There is a Lesser Oni!" Dumah came within earshot of the fighter, noticing that he seemed to be waiting. Not wanting to throw off his timing or disrupt his focus, he allowed the man a moment before speaking up. "Excuse me! Need any help? We are hunting Oni for a quest and if you do not mind sharing, we would appreciate you letting us fight beside you!"

[Shuwen]

Words: 927

Despite most of his attention being on the beast in front of him, he heard something else off to one side. Movement? Not good. I thought the oni would scare everything away, but what if more of it's own kind show up? I'd better finish this quickly. The oni had an advantage in size and reach, especially with that hammer. Generally, the lack of a weapon was considered to be one of the primary disadvantages of being an unarmed combat wielder; after all, fighting with one's hands was usually something of a disadvantage when you were up against someone with a sword, axe, or hammer. However, that wasn't necessarily true in his case. As the oni got within range, it let out a triumphant bellow and swung the hammer with rage-fueled glee. However, Shu didn't intend to let things go that easily for it.

Stepping forward, he brought up his shield arm. The Lesser Oni had swung the hammer in a wide arc, made wider by the size of the hammer itself. As he had chosen not to move before the attack was launched, the monk would have been hard pressed to move out of the attack's range before it connected. However, that had never been Shuwen's intention from the beginning. Instead of moving way, he moved inwards, towards the oni instead of away from it. As a result, he didn't collide with the oni's hammer; he was much too close, and the hammer's shaft was simply too long for the oni to retract it effectively. Instead, his body collided with the hammer's shaft, or more specifically, his shield did. Shuwen's teeth rattled from the impact. It wasn't the type of move that would allow him to completely escape damage; it was a type of block, not a dodge. But the use of his shield, along with the fact he hadn't been hit with the part of the weapon intended to deal damage, caused the resulting loss of HP to be paltry at best. It wasn't a problem for someone of the Monk class, which possessed the highest base HP.

My turn. Realizing that it's opponent had moved in too close, the oni tried to back up, trying to get into a range suited for the use of its hammer. However, Shuwen had no intention of letting it do so. Shuwen's arms reached upwards, wrapping around the taller creature's head. His hands clapsed together as they met behind the monster's noggin, and pulled it forward and down, bringing the oni's head within range.

Shuwen's back leg flew upwards. The oni was too close to perform any kind of kicking attack. Not effectively anyways, but Shuwen made do with a knee strike. As his hands pulled the oni's head down towards the vicinity of his chest, his knee pushed upwards, heading towards the selfsame location. The result was somewhat obvious a moment before it occurred.

BAM!

The oni reeled back. It wasn't completely stunned; it kept a tight grip on its hammer, and managed to keep itself in a fighting stance. It didn't have the focus necessary to attack right away, and probably wouldn't for another second or two, but that was fine with him. Pulling one hand back, Shuwen threw a jab at it, followed by a cross with which he activated the Battering Ram skill. It wasn't enough to outright destroy the beast's hammer, but it certainly left it's mark; with a audible cracking sound, fractures began to appear at several points, and a red icon appeared on it's status bar; a defence debuff.

The individuals Shuwen had failed to properly notice chose that moment to speak up, presumably because the first exchange of blows had ended. It wasn't another oni like Shuwen had thought, but another adventurer like him, if his words were any indication. Shuwen didn't want to take his eyes off the oni, so he couldn't turn his head to get a good look at the newcomer. "Gimme a sec." He gasped out. He didn't sure of the newcomer would understand or properly interpret what he was saying, but he didn't really have the time or attention to spare and give him a proper explanation.

Seeing it's hammer had been compromised, the oni tossed the weapon to the side, and to Shuwen's slight suprise, attacked him with a barrage of powerful punches. Well this looks sort of familiar. He thought, noting the similarities between the oni's latest attack and one of the monk skills that he was familiar with. However, he didn't plan on letting the oni proceed with it's barrage. He blocked the first two punches with his shield, then as it's arm shot forward to make the third punch, he grabbed it's outstretched and and pulled it. The oni had expected resistance from it's target, not for it to help extend it, so it couldn't modify it's punch in time. This led to the arm overextending, pulling the beast off-balance. Turning in place, Shuwen used his shoulder as a fulcrum for a judo-style throw, tossing the monster over his shoulder and onto it's back.

"Go ahead." Shuwen said in the general direction of the newcomer. He thought that what he intended was fairly obvious; betweent he damage the oni had already taken, and the opening he'd created by throwing it, the two of them could easily finish off the oni as things currently stood, and the newcomer was welcome to join him and doing so. Of course, whether said newcomer would properly interpret his words and the situation was another matter.

[Deleted]

Words: 713
Total: 1365
Tags: Shuwen

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The small party of two stood to the side as they watched the Monk take on the large beast, the same one that Dumah and Alette had been hunting for themselves. The man was clearly a skilled fighter, though watching the way his feet all but seemed to practically glide around the enemy made it clear to Dumah. This man was not only skilled in his combat art thanks to fighting in Elder Tale, but rather it seemed he had real training in martial arts. Whether this training was from before the Apocalypse or whether he had been trained by someone here in Elder Tale, Dumah could never tell. However, he knew one thing, and that was that this man here was a proficient fighter.

Alette sat down on the grass, her legs stretched forward as she held onto her wooden staff in her right hand, letting it rest upon the ground. "He seems really strong!" The young girl's head bobbed up and down, side to side, as she watched the Oni and the unknown fighter exchange blows.

Dumah remained standing, drawing his sword from the sheath it had been resting in, hanging from his left hip. He held the blade by his side, ready to join the fight when granted permission. "Yes, he does. The way he moves, the look in his eyes, the way he seems to methodically calculate the outcomes of his motions."

"Reminds me of you, dad!" The young sorceress giggled softly, looking up at her father with a wide smile. The smile was returned, though the Spellsword did not look away, wanting to watch the battle. The man had managed to flip the oni onto its back, giving the two interlopers the go ahead. Alette bounced up excitedly, holding her staff tight. "Let's go!" With that, the girl raised her staff high above her head, looking up to the sky. The clouds began to swirl and darken, mana flooding the air. "Magi Lightning, Grand Fall!" As she seemingly shouted this skill name to the skies, a fierce bolt of lightning crashed down on the earth, striking the Oni where it lie. "There you go, dad!"

Getting a signal from Alette, Dumah tightened his grip on the handle of his sword, running at the oni as it started to stand again. "It is still standing ever after the barrage of attacks from the Monk and Alette's Magi Lightning? It cannot be far from death now." As he came closer to the monster, he pulled his sword back. "Blind Bet!" The sword glowed a faint blue as its wielder thrust the blade forward towards the oni, striking the tough skin of the beast. "Right Bower!" With the first debuff applied, Dumah allowed himself some time to recover, easily dodging as the oni flailed its arms about in a futile attempt to hit the Spellsword. A sudden bout of blindness seemed to have come over the oni, and for five seconds Dumah easily sidestepped, evaded, and dodged each attack, slashing back in retaliation. His attacks were stronger now thanks to his Right Bower ability, but he planned to use up all of his five buffs granted by Right Bower. In quick succession, Dumah attacked the arm tendons of the thrashing monster before him, a stream of blood gushing out with each strike. By the time the fifth strike had been made, Dumah pulled his sword back once again, the familiar blue glow emanating from the blade as he once again blinded the monster. Blindness and five stacks of the poison debuff. Dumah smiled as he leaped back, standing out of range of the pitiful oni. He had forgotten how powerful Swashbucklers can be, as he had spent much of his time building his skill set around his build of Spellsword. The oni, staggering now and ready to collapse, was a pitiful excuse for an enemy, a crippled animal that needed to be put out of its misery.

Dumah dashed forward, pulling his blade back over his left shoulder for a backhanded slash, only to stop as a sharp chunk of ice flew by his head, the spear impaling the oni. Dumah looked back, seeing Alette bowing a bit and smiling, playfully taunting him for stealing his kill. "You were too slow~!"

[Shuwen]

Words: 518

With the monster briefly incapacitated, Shuwen took the time to take a look at the newcomers, both adventurers from the look of them. The older (for a given value of older) male's status bar indicated that his name was @dumah that he was a Swashbuckler, though for some reason Shuwen could only see one sword on his person, odd for a class noted for it's proficiency in duel wielding. the younger female, who's name was apparently Alette, appeared to be a Sorceress. This was, of course, confirmed a few seconds later when she promptly dropped a bolt of lightning on the fallen monster.

"Gyah!" Shuwen flopped back, trying to cover his eyes and ears. While it wasn't the first time he had witnessed offensive magic since the apocalypse, it had been quite some time since he had last done so, and never such a dramatic spell at such close range. Fortunately, it didn't have the lasting effects that experiencing a lightning bolt and point blank range would have back on Earth, because he managed to recover fairly quickly. He just needed a few seconds longer to clear the spots from his eyes. By the time he managed to do so, the Swashbuckler was already in action, striking the Oni with several debuffing skills. He was about to finish it off, but the Sorceress managed to get the last blow in before him, striking it with a spear of ice. I guess she has a mischievous streak. That, or she has something to prove.

"Well I guess that's that." Shu said anticlimactically. In hindsight, he realized that his extended isolation must have altered his speaking habits; making him talk in shorter sentences, and more bluntly. He wasn't really happy with that, but until he remembered how to talk more proficiently, it looked like he was stuck with it. After standing there indecisively for a few seconds, he grasped at some straws in hopes of continuing their conversation (for a given value of the world) "Y-you said you were hunting them for a quest right?" He asked, doing his best not to stutter. "How manany more do you need to kill?" There - he COULD talk in complete sentences. Not without stuttering, but it was an improvement.

Listening to their reply, his mind quickly kicked into high gear. If there were there to hunt oni, they probably weren't interested in stopping and chatting for very long, particularly not the Swashbuckler. He looked like the stoic no-nonsense type. At least, that's the impression he gave off. But then again, maybe that was just the impression he was trying to give off? It wasn't exactly uncommon in the mmo world. Well, regardless, his reply would probably reveal that. Idly, he leaned forwards, taking a step forward, attempting to rest his foot against what was left of the Oni. Too late, he remember that monster's bodies disintegrated upon death, and he ended up stumbling forward another step before catching himself. Well that probably looked more then a little silly. He thought, suppressing a grimace. He hoped neither of them would comment on it.