imperial_script | Tournament Round 1: Levin vs. Jace

Who: Levin and Jace
Where: Imperial City
What: Tournament!
When: After a few rounds of fighting NPCs

The tournament had been progressing nicely so far. He'd signed up on a whim, not expecting much out of it but a chance to practice his magic with some decent fighters. While he felt a personal responsibility to ensure that his skills stayed as sharp as they possibly could, practicing on his own wasn't quite the same as actually wielding his magic in combat.

He was taking this about as seriously as he took anything. His brand of insolence and cheekiness lent itself to gaining the favor of the crowd; the last match had ended with the poor sap being blown off his feet and right out the exit. While he wouldn't describe the applause as thundering or even especially enthusiastic, he had, naturally, milked his victory for all it was worth.

Looked like things would be a little different now. Jace Beleren... The moment he'd laid eyes on his opponent, he'd known, of course, that the man held a Destiny Crystal as he did. Levin smiles cheerfully and takes an extravagant bow.

"Let's make this a good one. Ready?"

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Jace nods. He doesn't say much, as he's trying to figure out his opponent from the moment they both entered. This was an excellent way to test his skills, particularly those that have gotten rusty due to not attracting too much attention. The sheer amount of people would make it very hard for him to get some info, but he'll try nonetheless.

"Ready when you are."

Jace could probably ascertain immediately that Levin was something of a show-off. The wind around him somehow seemed to position itself just right to make his scarves and cloak flutter out as dramatically as possible. Levin finishes his bow.

"Let's start things off slow."

And as he straightens up, he flings a hand out, sending a blade of air shooting towards Jace. Round 1, begin!

Jace moved out of the way of the blade rather effortlessly. He's much more relaxed, seeing his opponent be a bit of a showman means that he just has to capitalize on one of those show-y moments. As the wind passes him, he seems to chant something. A strange blue force emanates from Jace, sending the wind boomeranging back towards the bard.

"Impressive showmanship. Seems the very wind is at your back. Though it'll take more than a few harsh winds to take out me."

The hand flicks now to the side; the wind blade veers sharply off course to slam into the arena walls, chipping away at the stone. In controlling the wind, there was, he thought with some measure of truth, few who could rival his technique.

"I gotcha, I gotcha. Not happy with the little gusts and eddies, huh? We want flair. We want style. We want a show."

Without further ado, Levin propels himself forward, closing some of the distance between them, feet barely seeming to skim the surface of the ground. He seems to randomly flail at the air as he runs - But Jace will feel the magic manifesting, exciting the still air and launching it forward towards his opponent. Minor annoyances at best, but enough, hopefully to catch him off-balance.

And it works, Jace's balance is indeed thrown. But only for a moment. He recovers, impressed. Though the gap between them is closing fast. He does the only thing he can think. Make an illusion of himself, and take a few steps back. Hoping hitting dead air would throw off Levin's balance as well.

"Looks like you move as fast as the winds you control. I'm outmatched in that regard. However...is your mind as fast as the winds too?"

Having no idea of Jace's abilities as of yet, Levin falls for the illusion beautifully. Though he feels the wind suddenly rippling straight through his target, the idea that he's been tricked doesn't even occur to him until he's barreled straight through the image of Jace. Levin doesn't exactly trip over his own feet, but skidding to a halt is far from the most dignified move he's ever performed.

"Whoops.

Guess not."

Jace, appearing a little bit behind where his illusion was uses the moment of oppurtunity to send a blast of magic towards Levin.

"Just as planned."

Even unbalanced, Levin proves slippery enough to avoid being struck directly. He's flat on the ground in the blink of an eye, though Jace has certainly struck the first blow of the match. The back of his clothes have been torn open, exposing some bloody flesh.

"Illusion magic... Haven't seen that in a while... Try and dodge this!"

And from his prone position, Levin catapults off the ground to land on both feet. The dirt devil that had propelled him begins to whirl towards Jace, shooting flurries off in every direction.

This actually catches Jace off guard. He can't tell which direction the source of the attack is coming from, and can't get a decent reading from his opponent either. All he can do is nullify the attacks from every direction as much as he can. He can't dodge them all though. One of the flurries hits him, actually knocking him off his feet. Though, he'll try hard to create obstacles to keep Levin away while he recovers. He conjures a wall of thick vapor, hoping it'll give him enough time to regain his bearings....

((*Dust devil, whoops!))

Levin is busy assessing his wound for a few moments - No good fighting if he bled too much and passed out halfway through. He determines soon enough that the cuts aren't too deep, though, and he returns his attention to the fight as Jace attempts to dodge the mid-level wind magic. He begins to concentrate, preparing a more powerful spell...

When the vapor appears though, he changes tacks immediately. Releasing his magic, the small vortex immediately increases in size, simultaneously concentrating its energy into rotation rather than attack. The quickly spiraling winds sucks the mist within itself, then dissipates.

That didn't quite work out as planned. But Jace was undeterred. He uses the distraction to create a phantasmal double of himself. The double was taking aim, appearing to ready up a fake psionic blast of its own. Jace also plans to bluff an attack, countering whatever Levin does and using that against him.. However Jace's first strike was rash thinking on his part, and it certainly was not without consequence. He's not sure how long he can keep the illusion up or if his plan will even work. If it didn't, well, he'd try and regroup with another strategy.

From a short distance, Levin again shoots out a short burst of wind in the space of a few seconds - only enough to distract rather than injure, merely summoned to scatter the energy of the spell before it could be fully realized. The wind shoots forth swiftly and...

Hm.

...Odd. That wasn't blocked; it hadn't hit anything at --

"Hah. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice..."

Levin withdraws a thin tome from beneath his robes and flicks it open. It hovers in the air passively as he faces where he believes the real Jace to be.

Tournament Round 1: Levin vs. Jace

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