Saturday, January 19, 2019

Master of Strings Ch69: Brotherhood

Cruxis and his brother Aakif stood firm with their misty blade auras pointed right at each other. Aakif moved in first and the two long swords clashed with the crimson and white mist blasting off the edges from the force of the air. Cruxis swung his shield in to knock into Aakif's head, but his brother deflected the attack with the bulk of his shoulder gear and a twist of his head.

The two of them disconnect with both of them showing their symbols of Freya on their shields, Aakif shouts out to be blessed with Righteous Vigor while Cruxis invokes a Litany of Defense to counter that. Aakif's strikes now became more precise every strike he made, but Cruxis' shining newly warded armor was the perfect counter to this more accurate assault.

Next Cruxis activated his blade's new enchantment and the mist that already coated the blade now crystallized and froze in the air as an enchantment of Icy Burst, but Aakif fired back by casting Lesser Angelic Aspect to resist damage from the chilling weapon.

Back and forth, the two of them used spells that had on hand to try and gain an edge, only to be quashed by the other casting the precise spell that countered theirs. Unlike Zilo and Leo's spell slinging match, these two keep their quarrel much more intimate, never resorting to explosive or ranged attacks, just simply their swords and shields.

After a few moments the auras of the two paladins flickered around shining and distorting any light that came their way and their clashes shook the dust at their feet with every blow. Cruxis was astounded by Aakif's swordsmanship, he was never this skilled in their days in Freya's temple. In their matches before Cruxis would normally emerge the victor.

Noting this, Cruxis noticed that Aakif wasn't even looking to his blade when he defended with it, but rather focused wholly on his assault. It was reckless, and yet Aakif held his ground. After their latest clash Cruxis raised his shield but poked over it to ask, "You're defense is more fool proof than Helreginn's kite shield Aakif, you must've trained from dawn til dusk to have skill like that."

Aakif breaths heavy from the clashing, now with a cooler head, and holds his sword aloft and snickers, "I do train much, but sadly I cannot take full credit. This blade has been enchanted with the blessings of a guardian and a defending grace. With it, my defense can shift from simple to stalwart at my will. Come, I'll show you."

Aakif drops his shield and extends out his blade goading Cruxis in. Cruxis smiles and charges in with a shield bash, but Aakif leans left and knocks it away with the flat of his blade. Cruxis spins off the deflection and tries a back hand cut, but again, Aakif's blade catches it on the vertical. Cruxis follows through on his spin and tries to crash his shield into his own blade to push past the defense, but Aakif's blade angles down and Cruxis' two weapons slide up and over his target.

Aakif twirls around low as a result of the deflection, and Cruxis thinks he sees an opening, but Aakif's blade springs to life as his back is turned and flicks up to knock the icy blade away inches from Aakif's shoulder while his eyes remain averted. Cruxis looks in awe after seeing the display of defense, and leaves himself open for a swift heel kick from Aakif finishing his spin.

Cruxis stands ready, now on the defense for a follow up attack, but flinches as Aakif picks his shield from the exact spot he left it in. Cruxis bites his lip and remarks, "You didn't take a single step, incredible."

"Time has many advantages, Freya teaches that the way to peace is through hardship and determination, and so I've made sure my blade can protect as well as slay."

"A noble venture, but I fear I have picked up a few trick as well." Cruxis drops to a guard stance, flicking his shield past his lower torso and back into position. He motions for Aakif to attack him as he had just attack Aakif before speaking, "Care to see them?"

Aakif smiles and says, "I'd be delighted." And the man attacks with an overhead swing and Cruxis predictably raises his shield to block, only at the moment of impact the shield falters and flips off to the left of Cruxis guard, falling away along with Aakif's swing. Aakif looks up shocked from the audacity of forgoing your best defense, only to feel a sharp horrible pain in his shoulder.

The crowd explodes from the first significant blow of the match and Aakif stumbles away as he feels his shoulder become soaked down to the arm. He feels for and removes a dagger planted in it. He chuckles, followed by a Lay on Hands to repair the damage. Cruxis chuckles back as he snatches his shield off the ground in the same exact motion Aakif had.

Aakif tilts his head with a playful grin and points to the dagger with his blade, asking, "You learned to be a cheater in your time deserting."

"I've met two men, both with noses glued to spell books, and they taught me two important things. First, cunning can be the decider between living and dying, and no oaths can change that. With your head stuck in the scripture you probably wouldn't notice me gripping a dagger under my shield rather than the shield. The second man taught me a bit about that blade of yours."

Aakif looks to his enchanted blade as Cruxis continues, tapping his own magic blade as he does, "I looked at a few different options for crafting my blade Permafrost here. I looked at the defending and guardian options, but my friend warned me that I can't gain that kind of defense from nowhere, and it would come at the cost of my blade's edge. So I figured you can't attack and defend at the same time, or at least not very well."

Aakif's face hardens, but then relaxes again before he shakes his face and he readies a stance, saying, "Its... good to know you've made new friends since leaving."

Cruxis' resolve finally shows a bit of relaxation and says back, "That isn't the same as forgetting the old you know... and I think you know that."

"I-I-... Yes, you always tried to convince me to sneak out down to the city. I always told you the sisters would be testing us on the scripture, but you always complained saying it was boring reading and rereading it all the time."

"My little field trips were important too, its why I became a better fighter than you." Aakif squints at that, but his face eventually breaks and he chuckles, "Yeah, you're probably right... Hey Cruxis, You don't need to tell me, but... Why does Arete bless a dropout like you with her power to smite?"

Cruxis looks to his blade with the crystal crimson mist melting away and he says, "Its actually kinda simple, as the prayer goes, 'I am the sword that forges ahead for peace.' She said you were on a violent path, one that Freya mistakenly put you on. and if she simply took your power, you'd be resentful."

Cruxis taps his blade to his own chest and motions out to the whole arena, "So she asked Arete to help put all this on, so that I might bring you back to the light you swore to stay with."

Aakif's eyes flashed as he fell to his knees. Both his shield and weapon clattered to the ground with the auras he had accumulated disappearing. Cruxis' own aura faded as well as Aakif put words to his feelings, "So I wasn't sent for you, I was sent... for me."

"I only learned moments ago, but I must know... are we still brothers?" Asks Cruxis extending a hand. Aakif looks to the hand, smiles and grips it, standing alongside his brother. The reformed vengeful man looks to the stands and shouts to them, "I, Aakif Harlix, concede. The match goes to Cruxis Vailor!"

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