Synchronicity [Levi]

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi nodded as he wiped the remaining sweat from his brow before snapping his hands down to his sides, blades of light that seemed to be worn like gauntlets formed on his hands. He wasn't accustomed to the use of lethal weapons in a fight, at least not like Kyrie was.

"No...."

Levi shook his head and the blades disappeared, thought the expression on his face was not the one of someone who was thinking about quiting, he was innovating.

"Let's take a simpler variation on my last idea....six feet all around me is the area I can freely manipulate light with almost no effort at all.....a field of awareness if you will...."

Levi held out both hands, forming two blades of white light the floated in front of him on each side. He found the swords much easier to manipulate and since they were close to him, he was able to control them freely. He smiled at the young blonde as he beckoned her.

"Much more my style, more flexible too I think. Want to test them out?"

[Kyrie Blaze]

At first, Kyrie watched curiously, wondering why, exactly, he dismantled his weapons of light. With a blink, she turned and moved more towards the open space, near the hanging bag of sand. The toes of her shoes wriggled lightly against the small pile that gathered on the floor.

She looked over her shoulder as he explained, reaching around the back of her neck to pull her hair over the opposite shoulder. Her eyes were quiet again. Focused. Thoughtful. She pivotted slowly, stretching her limbs a little. The edges of her eyes crinkled in a sort of smile though her lips didn't move. She lifted her hands, and two black spheres of shadow were held in the dip between thumb and pointer finger by tension alone. She was ready for the strain that was surely going to take place. Aside from times of absolute need, she couldn't hold her weapons long after the first strike. Instead of taxing her energy by fighting herself, she went with the flow.

This would be different.

"E ehjeda oui du syga dra vencd suja."

A double-edged test.

When - not if- Levi began to move forwards, Kyrie would immediately clamp the two spheres together, an end plunging down into the sand with a bit of a flat edge at the tip. She would then twist partway to fling the sand upwards, into him, and convert the shadow 'stick' to a slender, beautiful weapon: a rapier. Kyrie took a stance she had not used for years: the stance of a fencer.

A bit rusty, but she wasn't concerned.

He said he had a field of awareness. What better way to test it if she was certain his eyes were closed?

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi watched as she walked over to the pile of sand. He was certain she was planning something, but as usual, he wasn't a hundred percent sure what her plan was. His advance was not a result of impatience, but of intrigue: He wanted to learn all he could about his partner in combat and the best way to do it would be to trigger her trap and see what came of it. Levi lunged forward, his eyes bright with excitment and his swords positioning themselves to strike. Just as he began to strike Kyrie's trap went off as sand was flung into his eyes.

"HOBBITS!"

A bright flash of white light burst forth from Levi to cover his retreat and hopefully foil any follow-up to her trap. Levi's eyes felt as if someone had set them on fire, making opening his eyes impossible for the time being as they watered heavily. Levi quickly understood Kyrie's reasoning behind her devious trap and he force a smile away as he squared himself to her, the pain in his eyes still causing tears to flow down his face. This was a test of his ability that could not be seen, much as Leon had done before, and Levi was more than happy to oblige as this was a way for Kyrie to understand the extent of his abilities. He shook his head with a chuckle in his voice.

"Direct as usual.....you could have asked to see this without the sand....but you wouldn't be the Earth Dragon's apprentice if you did."

Levi's eyebrow raised as he studied the woman's form, recognizing it as a fencing form after a few moments. Interesting...Levi began his approach again as his mind raced through variations of counters and openings much as a chess player would, the only question being: which move would she make first? His luminescent swords twirled as he began walking slowly, beckoning her once again.

"Engarde!"

[Kyrie Blaze]

The light she should have expected! But as she wasn't fast enough on the draw, the blonde backed off with her unarmed hand rising to block. Well. It seemed she would have to test and push her stamina further still. Taking a slow, deep breath, a simple strip of shadow covered her eyes, protecting them from any sudden shifts, hopefully.

A smile flashed over her lips at his words, there and gone again as he used the traditional French term to be ready--on guard. Kyrie shifted her stance so she was comfortably balanced, right foot pointed towards him and her rapier at a fourty-five degree angle, held mid-level.

He took one step.

"Pret..."

He could learn terms as they went. A breath. He advanced another step.

"Allez!"

With the brisk word, energized and quick, Kiyr made a simple, rapid lunge, the tip of the rapier cutting through and into the six feet of space very quickly, along with the rest of her body.

Her target was Levi's left shoulder, but this would prove to be a diversion as she twitched her wrist, the joint flexible and nimble to change the course for his center line as quickly as she could manage.

Her eyes were wide and watchful. He had the field advantage and he had two blades in comparison to her one, not to mention it had been years since she'd done any fencing. Her choice of weapon was as much due to the fact she hadn't fenced in so long as that she needed the added reach and increased speed it provided to hopefully cut through his defence.

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi watched as the blonde's counterattack came forth. A basic strike, requiring little creativeness..... his instincts immediately screamed "this is a trick." He had come to at least somewhat understand how Kyrie's fighting style worked, and it was anything but straightforward, however Levi would defend with a parry of his right blade to spring the trap and hope he could deal with the result.

heheh hobbits...

Levi's suspicion had been dead on as Kyrie's sword weaved straight past his defending sword and towards his chest. As if her sword was already touching him, Levi felt the blade change course within his six-foot range as a second blade rushed from the defending blade to follow and strike Kyrie's, a loud crashing noise echoing through the old gym. Levi's plan had changed, but the objective was the same: get a clean hit. Levi's remaining blade came downwards, aiming to cross Kyrie at the chest as a decisive blow.

[Kyrie Blaze]

As the second blade crashed into the slender blade her held, the blonde woman held it for a moment, and then allowed the weapon to dissipate. Especially considering she had the third blade to contend with and she wouldn't be able to move her hand behind her quickly enough. Shadow coated her arm, hard and thick, and as she stepped to the side, used it to deflect the blade of light with her teeth grit together.

And then...

...and then she did a rather curious thing.

She continued to shift her body to bring her left hand to bear, another rapier forming in that had to replace the one she let go. And at this close range, lunged, light and quick on her feet; left foot forwards, blade aimed higher, this time, for his throat--though, if she did manage to make it, she would rapidly shrink the weapon so she wasn't actually thrusting in to his neck. Her right hand was in a partial-guard, still held behind herself, somewhat, but should she have need, she could perhaps manage to block or attack.

Ambidextrous.

[Levi Kayamei]

Much to Levi's delight, the blonde plunged herself into the sacred territory of his control. Levi felt Kyrie push aside the light around him and draw her second blade as she approached, his eyes watchful. Much like the second blade on his right, a second blade swung down from the left blade, parrying the second blade and attempting to direct her arm outward to remove her balance. Regardless of the success of the parry, Levi would aim to bring the other three blades down on top of the Shadow Dragon as he bludgeoned the edges to make them more like baseball bats than swords.

[Kyrie Blaze]

'Nice.'

Of course, despite the thought, she wasn't giving up. His parry worked perfectly, and the blonde transferred her weight backwards to compensate for the break in her balance and line...and went with the motion.

Spine arched, Kyrie snapped herself back to catch herself with her hands and shoulders, brining her legs in to tuck them against her chest. The swords-turned-bats smacked against her feet and caused her to bobble before she managed to bring her legs completely in. Despite her wince - and silent appreciation he blunted his weapons - she managed to stabilize herself before unfurling her body to launch herself, feet-first, towards him, shooting high for his face.

There was no saying she had to use her Qi to attack.

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi watched as Kyrie rolled backwards, then leaned backwards as she launched herself towards him suddenly. He had been contemplating his next move for a while, but had been hesitant due to the fact that he assumed "weapons" only and preferred to not be the one to escalate an encounter, however with this rule out of the window, Levi did the only sensible thing. Levi's left hand rose in front of his face swiftly and closed violently into a fist, the light around him becoming solid, trapping Kyrie within it inches from his face. He had been careful not to injure her as normally this move would be a crushing maneuver.

"Hobbits.....now for a bit of a test......"

Levi reached out and held the prison of light in place as he backed away slowly, stopping 10 feet away. His four "light bats" looming closer as he spoke.

"Let's see you break this...."

Levi's weapons would seem unobstructed as they began to swing towards Kyrie, though not at any kind of force that would casue anything more than a bruise or a minor cut. This was training stepped up to the next level where injury was almost a right of passage and a motivation to become stronger, however given the lack of medical factilities, Levi would err on the side of caution. Levi hoped Kyrie would understand this.

OCC: Prison is about a 43 cha

[Kyrie Blaze]

With the sudden stop and compression, Kyrie's heart slammed into her throat, and she offered a wide-eyed blink. Then the panic-stricken look was gone and she pulled in a deep breath, eyes flashing to Levi, narrowing despite going slightly pale. One could say that this was a bit of a personal fear, but what the root was she wasn't going to say.

She flexed her body and muscles, testing her physical strength against the light bonds.

Levi managed to get his ten feet away as Kyrie gathered her inner strength, forcibly steadying her breathing. She saw the flash of the light bats descending and her eyes closed. Everything she had was condensed and compressed. The first blunted weapon sliced through and connected, causing her eyes to snap open as the trapped blonde pushed what was currently the full compliment of her qi in an explosion along her body.

Any sound of pain was withheld. The light 'box' didn't budge at first. Kyrie's blue eyes seemed to flash and flicker; a trick of the light for the most part. The other bats connected. At least one partially knocked the wind from her, but she used the pain with grit teeth to push harder, because this was exactly like staying down.

And she was one to relentlessly get up. He would not contain her against her will.

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi's face took on an intrigued expression as his brow furrowed slightly. Kyrie's reaction to his technique was more than just surprise, it was....fear? He could feel her heartbeat and his senses with her were always more keen to her emotional state. The intent had not been to scare her and the purpose had yet to be fulfilled, so Levi would not stop, instead he would initiate the second phase his plan.

"Focus your Qi inside your body, an external solution will only be possible after you aquire internal strength.....push yourself further, beyond your conventional limits."

This would hopefully be the only hint he would have to give Kyrie as he continued his assault, a part of him feeling guilt for exposing what he assumed was a fear of hers.

[Kyrie Blaze]

She closed her eyes. It didn't help the slight tremours or slow her heartbeat. But it did help her to focus. Everything retracted - leaving her defenceless, yes - and condensed once again. Building as her fear was wrestled into receding. A very base translation for what he said was that he wanted her to essentially overload herself.

Her body jerked under the assault, and slowly her eyes opened when she was sure she could hold her focus without being distracted and diverted from the flashes of light. She may have been floating in water, her mind was blank but focused upon her task. It started as a flicker in her eyes, a darkening of the normally crystalline blue.

...it felt like she was overflowing with it, and by the time she couldn't hold anything more, when she was moments away from bursting, something clicked into place and the inner strength rushed through her. She drew in a partial breath that was cut off as the darkness cut through the light. It freed her and sent her sprawling to the floor, gasping and only just managing to prevent herself from landing awkwardly and hurting herself.

The shadows dissipated as she couldn't hold them - utter exhaustion forced her to release it before she passed out from the continued strain - and she grimaced. Her eyes closed, but she gathered her arms to push against the floor, to push herself back up.

Kyrie had to get back up.

The blonde sat for a moment, one foot braced against the floor, hands acting to stabilize herself, while her weight was upon her folded leg beneath herself. She reigned in her breathing quickly, turning her once again normal gaze towards Levi.

. o O ( Due to the "overload", Kyrie gained +10CHA on a temporary basis, leaving her exhausted in regards to CHA and with CON lessened; given some time she may use only minor qi usage for the duration of the thread. )

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi lowered his hand with a proud smile as his prison was shattered. He looked for signs of permanent injury and it appeared as if he had succeeded in managing not to injure his sparring partner. He was not in the mood to stop training and had much more for them to do, but the question was: Was Kyrie up for it? First things were first, however, condolences for his ignorance. Levi began to walk forward as he spoke.

"You okay? It's pretty draining the first time if you're not careful, I know I invoked some emotions with that last maneuver you probably didn't appreciate, I apologize."

[Kyrie Blaze]

Kyrie could feel the bruises, but she would survive. The pain...well, she could deal with it. It wasn't as though it was the first time she'd been overcome. She pushed up to her feet with his first step forwards and found her balance after an unsteady moment or two.

She was just tired.

"I am okay." She breathed the words out on an exhale and held a hand up to stop him before lowering it to her side. She used the time to think of her response, and spoke again. "You have no need to apologize for putting me in an uncomfortable situation in a training scenario. Barker and his men, along with anyone else we face, will not spare any concern...they will exploit it if given the chance."

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi stopped at her signal and listened to her words intently. It was true that this was exactly the kind of training they both would need to prepare themselves for the ruthlessness that was Barker.

Levi wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes focused on the blonde, "Can you keep going or should we call it day?" Levi said with a hint of expectation in his voice. He certainly had stamina over Kyrie and so was not as fatigued, however, the harshest training was often the best training.