Leo_G

Hehe, yeah....

But even I had a crush on my 3rd grade teacher way back when...It was all harmless presents of construction paper hearts and things(not to mention it probably only lasted a month and a half)...but....yeaaaaah....

I'll probably think of some weird things later. One thing I find odd in most threads I'm in:

Tech. Almost everyone has it, the tech can do everything that can be done magically, mutantly and naturally but to a better degree than anything else. Who's to say so-and-so's magical sword isn't superior than so-and-so's disintegrator blade? I'm not saying nerf RP tech or anything but Experiment 2.0 is the only person I've seen that uses tech that actually malfunctions on its own(one of the drawbacks of using tech I would say). Maybe I'm just noticing the tech/gadget guys more than the magic/mutant guys.

This probably won’t work, but it’s worth a shot, thought Ian, among dozens of other things. From within the shell of earth Ian’s voice shouted, “Gambler’s Cut to Lotus Drop!” About three Ian’s leapt from the rock formations and descended down on the nearby Coralax with swords held over their heads ready for a vertical attack.

While Schizo was preparing his thorn attack, Ian was planning on a way to defend against it. His spirit slipped into the ground, "Please, earth. Just a little cover if you will." As the thorn approached, a half dozen pillars of rock jut from the ground around Ian, some catching the thorn before it came near.

“WHAT!?” Ian shouted as the Coralax blasted him with a freezing burst of air. Ian desperately swiped at the air to block the cold but only managed to weaken the freezing breath. Ian was thrown on his back by the cold, shivering greatly as he slowly picked himself back up. It was hard for him to try to make a counter attack until he could get himself a bit warmed up.

No melee attacks!? Ian gasped in his mind, ...but that’s nearly all I have. He began thinking of ways to overcome this stipulation as he watched Schizo stabbing himself.

[ QUOTE ]
"And now that we've cleared that up,"

[/ QUOTE ]

Still crouching low to the ground, he focused a little of his chakra into his feet and the hand that he was balancing himself with and launched himself at Schizo’s feet.

[ QUOTE ]
"you can die."

[/ QUOTE ]

Ian was already striking at Schizo’s shins before he even launched his attack. Ian plowed through Schizo’s legs with his own body and a strike with his bokken. Ian did a hand spring and a front flip back to his crouching slide and charged again for another lateral slash.

Not surprised by extra speed in his release, Ian skillfully changed positions in the air to face Schizophrenias as the thorns zipped in his direction. With a graceful stroke of his bokken, the air distorted by the sheer force being summoned by the wind. Ian landed on the ground in a crouching pose with a bit of a skid, using his free hand along with his feet to bring him to a stop. Soon, the thorns that he struck away rained down, landing straight up in the ground randomly. “Why didn’t my attack hurt you?” Ian asked a bit peeved with the results of his attack.

Now if you’ve actually read all that, something must be wrong with you. If you're using it as a cheat sheet to find ways to beat me in RPs then something more serious must be wrong....Anyway, you’ve probably still got questions if you’ve gotten this far and I’ll try and think what others think when they read these three character’s powers.

“Why do they always do those hand signs? It’s repetitive and corny.” Well, they only use those hand signs when using techniques that require a lot of spirit power. The signs are used to focus the spirit more quickly and concentrated in the place/form needed. All three of these characters could go without using hand signs but without the signs it would require more time(usually more time than is available) to perform the same skill. It’s a way to emphasize how difficult/powerful a skill or technique is because just expending lots of spirit energy doesn’t exhaust the body, it only makes other skills that use spirit to be less effective/restrict their use.

“How does spirit power translate to controlling wind/earth/water/fire/lightning?” Ian and Ryjuta use chakra to change ‘frequencies’ to that of the element they are wanting to affect. They don’t really control the element but alter its will by changing to the element’s ‘frequency’, essentially becoming the element on a spiritual level.

“How does spirit energy translate to manipulating force?” The spirit is only used to activate Hyun-ki’s innate power of force manipulation. The spirit isn’t actually messing around with the force, the spirit is just used to ‘switch on’ his powers. Hyun-ki’s ability comes from the blood flowing through him.

“But if it’s the blood altering force, how does Ian know how to manipulate force?” Spirit can do anything, all you need is the time to learn how and the knowledge needed to learn it. With Hyun-ki’s experience manipulating force, it is possible to teach others how to. Problem is, Hyun-ki isn’t using spirit to manipulate force, just relaying experiences so the only force manipulation that’s teachable by these means is a very simplified version that can’t do even a fraction of what is possible.

“So Jase’s powers are magic....and spiritual?” Yes. His skills take on properties of natural spirit and magical energies.

“Okay, what about Ian using ‘Gambler’s Cut’ and making a copy of himself?” *Wipes sweat off forehead* Okay, here goes. Just as a soul/spirit core can project itself in many ways(into a floating ball of flame or orb of light or as a projection of the former body), Ian can project his spirit into an image of himself. His chakra takes the form of him but only to sight, sound, heat signatures and psychically by bending light, create its own body heat and copies the surface of the mind. Essentially, it’s a piece of his spirit and that chunk of spirit alters its form to that of Ian’s body but cannot affect others or be affected. Although he can push a large surge of spirit energy into the projected copy so that it can affect others and be affected this takes a lot of chakra. Normally, this would drain him of all his chakra energy, leaving him unable to perform other chakra related powers but the surge of spirit he sends only lasts for a very short instant to deal a single attack.

Understand, Ian can’t actually do all that on a whim like normal super powers. He must perform a technique that allows this and only in the confines of the abilities itself.

“So if these spirit copies would take up so much energy, what’s with Jase? Magic?” Yes, its magic. But Jase’s copies don’t come from pure spirit energy like Ian. Jase can make a sort of puppet that he must control by gathering shadows from his surroundings and making the clump of shadows solid. Jase’s double(his shadow) acts on its own, freely fighting along side Jase. During this time, Jase has no shadow so sometimes it might be difficult for him to escape danger because he can’t escape in his own shadow but has to find another shadow.

“Ian has a spirit blade? That can cut through anything? Overpowered much? How do you explain that?” It’s late and I can’t really think of another excu-....errr...explanation right now. Just watch Yu-Yu Hakusho....they do all the spirit energy/spirit guns/spirit blades there.

Before I continue, I should make note of Hyun-ki’s kinetic manipulation. It doesn’t matter if an object has 300N of force or 287, 900,000,000,000N of force, he can manipulate it through use of fractioning the force. What really matters is the size and shape of an object. Example: If the real Superman(TM) comes at Hyun-ki and starts throwing super strength punches at him, Hyun-ki could easily deflect/negate the punches with just a pair of fingers but if Supes picked up a mountain or a building or something very big and threw it at Hyun-ki, there’s no way Hyun-ki would be able to alter the force of the entire object in time before the object crushes him to death.


Jason(Jase) Morgan (Throwing Weapon/Shadow Mastery or essentially Spines/Dark armor)

Although not spines, I tailored his style of attacks like a spines Stalker. It makes sense too, no quills for stalkers which would be difficult to explain with throwing daggers. Anyway, Jase is a mutant and is not natural in any way. When I get a chance to write the full story, you’ll discover how he obtained each of his abilities, tools and skills. His power is telethapy and he gained his awesome fighting skills by defeating skilled fighters and draining their minds of all emotions, memories, skills and experiences leaving the person brain dead. His shadow manipulating abilities are a stolen skill from a demon ninja(a story to tell some other time).

--Throwing Weapons: A drained ability from the same demon ninja he got his shadow powers from. He seemingly never runs out because he can go to his Shadow Place to retrieve more that he stores there. He’s very accurate and the poison on the tips of each blade is capable of paralyzing a moose in seconds for nearly an hour. Jase has grown immune to his specially tailored poison after years of ‘mistakes’ with it.

--Unji and Unsho: Large kunai knives(swords is more like it) that he has strapped to his back. Each blade has a curse on it, Unji draining the life(HP) from its wielder and Unsho draining the energy(END) from its wielder. Jase found a way to break the curse on Unji(another story to tell) but is still looking for a way to release Unsho. Unji is very fast and almost never misses but its strength is only ‘above average’. Unsho on the other hand has ‘average’ speed and accuracy but is horrendously powerful in its strikes; it’s Jase’s most powerful weapon. One reason Unsho isn’t constantly making him suck air is because he puts the blade to ‘sleep’ so it doesn’t draw on its user but this also puts the blade’s powers to sleep. Jase must call their names upon drawing them to awake them and invoke the weapons’ special traits.

--Shadow Manipulation: This is easy to explain. This is magic, plain and simple. Jase uses his chakra to manage the magic more easily(not being very skilled in magic) but the skills are an odd combination of natural spirit energy and magical energies. He’s got many tricks, including his “Shadow Thread”, “Shadow Bind” and “Shadow Hold” which are not really explainable in-game but the rest of his powers relate to Dark Armor...well, his “Double Team” technique could be explained by Villain PPP but instead of taking the minion of an Arch Villain he just makes one with his own shadow.

--Shadow Place: A gateway dimension; not really a dimension itself but a doorway to others. When people travel from one realm to another, they may pass through his Shadow Place but they move so fast they probably don’t even realize it. There, Jase slowly heals any wounds he may suffer but staying too long the place will drain at his energy and then his life force/spirit. Another note: the reason why he can travel there is because he is the ‘key’ to the dimension and if anyone follows him there they can’t escape unless he releases them. If they do manage to escape on their own, their shadows stay behind so when they return to their own dimension they are changed into a ‘Shadow Ripper’, a being incapable of surviving in the light for vary long and feeds on the shadows of those that have them to continue the cursed existance.

((Here's a picture of some bokken ))

Ian leapt up to escape the thorns coming up at him. He still held his bokken with one hand as he moved over Schizo. Using his shoulder as leverage, Ian attempted to lever the bokken out of Schizo’s grip. With Ian’s flip, he would either release his sword from the villains neck and continue the swords path in a circle to strike from above at Schizo’s shoulder or simply launch Schizophrenias over into the air with his bokken still tightly held by his neck muscles.

“Marcus? Heh, well if you have any strats you want to share, feel free,” Ian returned with a smirk.

Schizo fired thorns at Ian which he dodged seemingly without effort. Ian countered Schizo’s attack with a silly face, his thumbs planted in his ears and his tongue sticking out. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” Ian mocked as he slowly moved his right hand toward his bokken. His slow hand contrasted greatly with his quick feet which were rushing at Schizo. With his mastery in Iaido, Ian drew his bokken and struck Schizo in the neck with a lightning fast blunt attack.

Ian marched into the arena, his small chest thrust out before him. He wanted to put on a good show and win the match too but he couldn't help but wonder what was special about this match. A simple two on two match? Kind of boring...

"Oh, hey Hal," Ian said as he waved to the crowd. "So I'm going to be fighting you? Heh, good luck not embarrassing yourself," he laughed then added with a dismissive hand gesture, "I'm only kidding...but I'm not going easy on you."

Ian's eye traveled to Schizophrenias, "Who's your teammate there?....and for that matter, who's mine?"

When Ian heard the announcement, he nearly leapt out of his seat. “Teacher! May I PLEEEEEASE enter this match?” he begged, his violet eyes wide with anticipation.

Ryjuta just eyed him for a moment before he smiled, “Sure, be my guest.” He was laughing inside because only he knew the circumstances of the match. It should be impossible for him to win this one.

“WOOOOOHOOO! Here I come!” Ian shouted as he quickly ran to the next match area. This time I won’t lose….I can’t!

((1,2,3…called it))

Seung Hyun-ki(Kinetic Aura/Kinetic Melee or basically Invulnerability/Super Strength):

Ah, my favorite and probably the most confusing powerwise. Essentially, he is a mutant but his whole family would be as well. Supposedly the last in the Hyeon bloodline, all those that were descended from the bloodline have the potential to bend physical law. Although born with the ability to manipulate potential and kinetic force, one must train to learn how(no accidental “whoops, I flung that jumbo jet with my uncontrollable force manipulation"). Also, a simplified version of this ability is teachable(one of Ian’s techniques uses this) but it is basic in its possible applications. And that's why I categorize him as natural.

--Martial Arts: As a form of meditation, Hyun-ki has mastered the five forms of Shaolin Kung-Fu. Even with the potential to maul enemies with little effort, Hyun-ki has taken a vow of peace and tranquility so will not kill an opponent. His fighting style is to make his enemy less of a threat through disabling with various strikes.

--Invulnerability: Through training, Hyun-ki has gained control of his mind, body and spirit. He can drown out all emotion, pain and passion(Dull Pain pretty much). His muscles and bones are naturally sturdier than normal but not by much. A technique to alter his own potential force in his body allows him to withstand much more intense attacks for a short time.

--Super Strength: Using spirit energy, Hyun-ki can seek out kinetic forces and alter them in several ways but only what he touches with his body. Let’s say someone tossed a 10 metric ton boulder at Hyun-ki at a speed of 50m/s. That boulder would have 500,000 N of force behind it(I’m no physics major so I may have gotten a formula wrong). Hyun-ki could focus a little chakra so his innate powers activate and: a.) the instant the boulder connects with his hands, he can absorb that 500,000 N of force into his body(the boulder loses all movement) and use that force in a later attack but this can cause him much pain and if he takes in too much he could literally explode; b.) manipulating the force in a special way, cutting the force into two parts of 250k N of force and reversing that force back on the object itself(negating the boulder’s movements); c.) absorb the 500k N of force through his hand, into his body and out into another object in another hand. The boulder would act as if it had never been moving while the other object takes all the force; d.) some random combination of the above. There are a few other things he’s capable of, and many more very destructive things that his mother does(she’s no pacifist) but I’ll spare you.

Okay, now I’ll start putting some explanation behind those characters of mine(at least the ones that are humans and use spirit energy which is all three of them so far). I’ll start with...

Ian Kelly(Katana/Super Reflex):

Essentially born a mutant although his power isn’t visible. His mind is faster than almost any human, capable of thinking through dozens of scenarios and thousands of battle tactics in the blink of an eye. This gives him a slight edge in battle(although his body isn’t always capable of moving at the speed of his mind) and a boost in school(where he can almost always do homework and take notes at the same time).

--Reflexes: Ian doesn’t have the natural speed to evade fast moving objects like bullets but he can enhance his speed for a short time with chakra(Sprint+Swift+Quickness+Elude). Ian’s natural ability to evade attacks with ease comes from understanding and speaking the metaphorical language of battle. He can read an enemy’s fighting style and tactics to the point he knows when to evade and how to evade.

--Sword Techniques: Using the katana powerset in CoH, Ian has six techniques using his bokken. He can combine those six techniques to perform twelve more combination techniques, all doing various things. What those various things are and how they translate to spirit energy I will not go into in the open(PMs only). His sword is made of wood from a mystical tree that is able to absorb spirit energy; a spirit tree one might say. After using it for practice and fighting, Ian projects his spirit into the wood to perform the techniques. As time moves forward, the wooden sword grows just as a tree grows from a sapling and becomes stronger. Eventually, after he finally masters the spirit blade(just projecting spirit energy into the weapon), he will be capable of cutting things that would be far more difficult with a traditional blade.

--Elemental Affinity: Elements are naturally occurring anomalies of energy that, as long as they naturally manifest themselves(i.e. not being a part of something unnatural), pertain their own identities and their own will. With the use of spirit energy, Ian is able to influence the will of elements. With enough training, one is capable of changing the will of elements(i.e. controlling) with the spirit but such abilities take many years to master which is most likely never for Ian although he can still perform nine elemental techniques in conjunction with the spirit blade.

If you have time to read something, you’ve got time to read something good so go to another thread before it’s too late. If you *REALLY* have nothing more to do then you’ll at least get a bit of insight into my mind if you can even call it one. This is a general explanation of my character’s powers and abilities with a brief summary of their origin. It’s not a story or an RP but more to explain what my characters can and can’t do. If this contradicts anyone else’s views, please share them so I can try working that into my theory.

First of all, humans. Like many races of beings across the universe, humans also have special powers and abilities. This trait is the human spirit which has limitless potential. Even after death, a human can live on for eternity as a pure spirit in the form of a voice, a smell, a ghost/apparition or even as an embodiment of an element. A human can use their spirit energy to obtain almost any sort of ability you can think of, from fire manipulation to energy blasts to invulnerability but there are limits. Those limits are:

1.) One must gain knowledge of their spirit and the means to use that spirit to gain the ability(you can’t expect to shoot spirit beams from your eyes just by clenching your butt muscles and groaning). One reason you don’t see too many humans with the ability to cause mass destruction on a universal scale with only their spirit is because no one knows how.

2.) Although a human’s spirit can grow stronger over time, it can be exhausted to the point of expending your life.

3.) One must train to not only gain control of their own spirit but to train to learn the ability which takes time. It might take someone 40 years to learn how to shoot lazer beams from their eyes using spirit and that’s just 40 years of life spent. Eventually, that human will die so they will never learn all that there is to learn.

Spirit energy or ki or chi or chakra or soul powah is naturally invisible but can be seen if one has the ability but sometimes the spirit can become visible if strong enough. Spirit energy’s effects are too numerous to list and can take many shapes and intensities. Spirit energy is probably the only energy that can be so vast that it expands to the edges of the universe yet is too weak to affect anything or so small it’s impossible to sense but shines through any opposition.

Did you actually read all that? Yeah right, you’re not fooling anyone....but if you did, bravo on doing a horrible job of ignoring me.

Thanks for the kind words, Burning. I still need to read more of Blightlord though. Fighting hoards of undead is always fun.

But Billyboy’s critique got me thinking about my past. Now that I remember, I was always poor when I was young and couldn’t afford comic books so I was exposed to Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers before comics. Don’t get me wrong, I love comics and have been reading my cousin’s Marvel collection for years but I can see why I’m more favorable to martial arts. Now that I have a job and money, I don’t buy comics. I buy anime DVDs, manga and kung-fu movies among other things. I actually bought a season of Power Rangers on video when I found out my sensei’s teacher was a Power Ranger.

Anyway, thanks for the words. I never even really thought about that in my past so I’m closer to understanding myself. I’ll write some more serious notes in a few days.

[ QUOTE ]
Leo, I really don't know what I can say about Ian. He's pretty well done. I just hope he stops insatiably asking for fights. Of course, I really don't like fight scenes and prefer other styles of character growth. So maybe it's just me.

[/ QUOTE ]

It’s the power of youth! He’ll probably cool off when he’s older and married but as a teen he’s always going to be itching for a scrap but I try not to let that be the only part of his personality he exhibits. Besides, I’ve got a tanking character that *doesn’t* like to fight so it kind of evens out, right?

Anyways, here’s a few critiques but I’ll try to keep them short.

PlagueOfUndeath: Most of my recent experience with your posts is in Millennium Arena(which I’d suggest a few more people try out). It’s that and GToA(so not much to look back on although I kept up with AH101 up to around page 110) but I sense a definite theme for those characters. I can’t wait to find out the full extent of your characters’ powers but with the rate of your thread it might take a while. Sometimes when I read new info on the personalities of your characters I tend to say to myself, “Dang. I wish I thought of that,” so I might copy some of your stuff a bit(at least I will with my new characters). BUT....put some dang space between your paragraphs!

Pyrria: When I read your posts, I feel so....inadequate. You seem so well versed and knowledgeable which is reflected in your posts. Not to mention Susan is a dominator and I love dominators. But....you don’t post enough. I think I can forgive you for that though.

BurningBrawler: I wish I could get myself to read your bio thread but with all the other threads and school starting for me next week I doubt I’ll get around to it. You’ve developed an intricate universe for your characters and it’s all well written. I would write a ‘but’ but you have a nice diverse line up of characters, in concept, powers and personallity. I just need to get more in-game story arc knowledge to write/read at your level.

Hermod: I like that you go into detail about your stories and characters(mainly because I need the extra help to keep up). Keep up the level of detail, at least for my sake(I know I’m selfish so don’t remind me). It makes your posts interesting to read and I can usually rely on you giving a ‘why’ or ‘where’ to keep me on track(Hey, that could be a ‘but’ for Burning’s critique...not enough ‘why’s and ‘where’s for me to keep up....but that’s my problem I guess). But.....Hmmm.....you spell stuff wrong.....and I didn’t know if Alex was female or male until like 40 or whatever pages into an RP.

Hallucinogen: I don’t think your characters are two dimensional but in SH101 Hal can be a bit dull at times. I haven’t read Cosmic Chess at all so maybe he’s vastly different. If I were suggesting a change, just get him to mix it up a bit or hang around someone who will mix it up for him(you can PM whoever you buddy with). Okay.....I can’t really think of a ‘but’ except you’re not in enough of the threads I’m in(I know, selfish). I’m always jealous of your creative concepts(I really like Hal & Gabriel but still learning about Schizo).

Mechagogue: ....You’ll screw up eventually and I’ll say mean things to you and hurt your cat. So far, your track record is spotless. Character[check], Concept[check], Personality[check], Style[check].

Cuppaguy: I like your avatar. Seriously, I haven’t RP’ed with you enough but I still like Experiment 2.0 and heard you used 3.0 in Cosmic Chess(which I haven’t read). You keep your characters personality pretty well-rounded and their powers balanced. I wish I could join the RP thread you made but my characters don’t know yours well enough and I’m tired of using Ian in everything....maybe Jase? Anyways, you should open up your character to interact with others more readily(don’t even say that phrase “Practice what you preach”).

Halo: I remember when your posts were really difficult for people to read. You’ve come a long way since then and have nearly perfected description and detail. Meagan: I don’t know much about her personality yet but she’s developing well so far. Shane: I’m interested how his powers will turn out(will he ever control them?) and it’s enjoyable to read the difficulties he has but if Ian knew how nice and helpful Shane was all the time in that thread, he would attack Shane on sight.

Soviet: I’m probably the only poster that isn’t a fan of your trolls. I know it’s a style on its own but I just don’t get into it as much as the others. I can barely understand some of what they say, their actions and personality seem shallow but I like their concept and powers. Of course, your Malta characters are a joy to read. Those characters seem more developed to me and a long ways ahead of your trolls. But don’t hold back on my account. I’m still going to make extra efforts to interact with your characters even if I’m ignored a lot.

S-6: I like things that are cute, good, innocent and all that rot....seriously, I’m a 19 year old that likes stuffed animals(I like to act like I hate the world but I really don’t). I have a huge plush tiger on my dresser that I see every morning and my friends always give me teddy bears and what not. But even I have a limit. When I pass that limit, I want to break stuff but I will ignore that desire when I’m talking about Essex. In all seriousness, I think you're a tad too passive even as a GM. If you think something should happen, it should happen(kind of like you did in 24HV by getting everyone infected). Don’t let the other posters bully you(if Hyun-ki was suppose to kill that fake Zealstorm you should have FORCED HIM!). And whenever you start up GToA, please let Rosalind do something; if she doesn’t approve of something make her do something about it....I feel like I’m dragging her around against her will.

Oh, did I get a bit personal there? Sorry, just go back to ignoring me if you haven’t already. I’ll post a few more on my next day off.

PS: THANK YOU BILLYBOY! Finally, I feel like I’m getting insight on what people *Really* think about my characters. Thankfully, I only have four characters who do the whole hand-sign thing and one of those, Ryjuta, won’t be doing any fighting so I’m down to three. As for an explanation of their abilities, I can do that I just haven’t found a place to explain it besides making a whole new thread. I’m still looking for more opportunities to use my other characters like Phoenix-Archer, Star-Gazer, Flora-Thorn and Rend-Raptor.

PPS: Most of this post was in jest so you don't even have to read it.

Now that's some quality critiquing. Some nice advice and worded perfectly. Heh, I'm critiquing a critique....

And thanks for the feedback, Ess but that wasn't harsh at all. I didn't even get the chance to take it personally and bite your head off. Anyways, I'm still putting together the critiques for those that requested it that are in GToA, SH101, 24HV, CoT and MA.

I helped come up with the idea of a critique thread and got 0 feedback I didn't even get an "I hate you. Fix it!" so I must be doing something amazingly well or horrendously bad.

Anyways, I try to be harsh with my critiques so I receive the same treatment but instead get ignored. Anyways, now that I've RP'ed with a few more people and longer I can write better and harsher critisizm which I'll take my time putting in.

PS: I HATE YOU ALL!.......See you at church next week.

[ QUOTE ]
Looking at Ian, the peacebringer chuckled, "You've got a lot to learn about women, kid. Try calming those hormones, and then maybe someone like me can give you some pointers about how to actually be nice to a lady."

[/ QUOTE ]

Ian's brow twitched, "I may have a lot to learn but I'm knowledgeable, none the less. It's just Elaine teases me all the time."

"Whatever," Elaine sighed, "Let's just meet this Neimand guy." She slipped her hand under Cuore's arm and put her other hand on his forearm, letting him lead her out.

Ian just growled as they walked out, staring a hole through Cuore. "You know I'm always here if she dumps you, Ian," Jase tentatively said.

"Shut up," was all Ian could say.

((I'm really sorry for your loss and I hope everything will soon be okay, Plague.

I haven't posted cause the other threads are running me through the wringer but I should be able to stay caught up now.))

Ryjuta waited a bit as Cuore’s voice began to trail off. “That sounds like a most entertaining match but I’m afraid it is up to Elaine if she wants-”

Ian looked to Cuore then to Elaine, who had her arms crossed as she thought of her decision, then back to Cuore. “Hey! Don’t go making googly eyes at *my* Elaine!” he interrupted his master’s words, “I’ve had my eye on her first so-”

“What!?” Elaine interrupted, “Maybe you should grow a little more hair before you go chasin’ women older than yourself.”

“You didn’t tell me you liked Elaine,” Jase said, twiddling his thumbs and staring down at his feet.

“I’ve got plenty of hair!” Ian shouted, “I’m covered with hair! You couldn’t tell if I were a man or beast if you saw how hairy!” he exaggerated. He continued to jabber on but everyone pretty much began to ignore him.

“You humans and your primal need to impress the opposite sex is amusing,” Gazer said with a shake of his head.

“Hey, Ian is the exception not the rule,” Hyun-ki responded to Gazer, “I’ve long severed any desire for such relationships to focus on the true path.”

“If that’s the only way to find the ‘true path’, I think I’ll take the detour first,” Ian said with a chuckle.

Everyone continued to talk and yell while Ryjuta simply grit his teeth. His eyebrow was twitching, a habit Ian picked up from him, and he began clenching his fist. “SILENCE!” Everyone stopped and quickly turned to the master. “Ahem, yes an archery match. What say you Elaine?”

“Sure, sounds like fun. If it’s just a friendly match, I’d like to meet my opponent before the match,” she answered to Cuore.

((Because it's important to me I'm going to ask.

Does this fit into any particular time line? My main character has a huge transition in personality in his younger years so I gotta know...))

“What do you mean only one gladiator per sponsor?!” Elaine shouted at one of the representatives that helped organize each match for the fighters. “It says 2 vs.2 doesn’t it!?” she shouted again, slamming her fist on the gentleman’s desk. His computer and monitor shook as he nearly jumped from his seat from Elaine’s intimidation.

“I-it says two on two which means one gladiator from a single master that teams up with someone else during the match,” the young man said again with a bit of a stutter.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hyun-ki said with a grin, “I didn’t really want to fight anyways so you can take this match.”

The arena representative raised a finger to interrupt further chatting, “Um, I’m sorry but the match is closed. Only four fighters are permitted and the limit has been reached.”

Elaine began gritting her teeth in annoyance, ready to belt the guy over the head for not mentioning that sooner but Hyun-ki had quickly grabbed her by the shoulders. “Hehe, oh well. Too bad. Let’s get going then, Elaine,” he quickly stated as he dragged his team member away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Ryjuta and Jase were traveling to the medstation to check on Ian who was sitting on an examination table while one of the nurses adjusted his mediport watch. When he saw his sensei enter the room he nearly turned white. “I’m sorry, master. I know we weren’t suppose to enter arena matches without permission but I was bored and I was...”

The old instructor just smiled warmly, “Just don’t do it again or I won’t be so forgiving.”

“Forgiving my [censored],” Jase mumbled behind him which Ryjuta ignored.

Soon the three were back to their rendezvous area and noticed someone familiar and unfamiliar in the room. “Gazer? When did you get back? And who is this intruding in our domain?” he asked looking over at Cuore.

The floating orb of bluish energy began to grow and take on a different shape; a tall thin figure with a head that was rather thin and long. His skin was a dull grey and his black hair was tied behind him. The man wore a dark blue robe spotted with stars up his sleeve and loose flowing blue leggings with green stars up the legs. His cape was a simple dark blue on the outside and a pale yellow on the inside that reached down to his bare feet. Obviously he wasn't human but currently he had took the form of a human-like creature to actively interact with others. “I am unsure as he would not answer me so I just ignored him,” Star-Gazer replied.

“You could have summoned me with your watch or telepathically if it was important.”

“Apparently it wasn’t,” Gazer answered, turning his incandescent green eyes toward the guest.

Hmmm....so what is this new game all about anyway? Yeah, I'm probably going to check it out but not because Cuppa is heading it.......well maybe.....

Aww, why is she leaving? I obviously missed the memo too.