VanguardFor a moment, he looked surprised when his hands struck nothing but air. But the surprise was short lived,
for the sky was crackling. Coconut
"DEATH BALL!" A high-pitched, shrill voice screamed down from up high, and the crackling ball of condensed magical energy came hurtling down upon Vanguard at frightening speeds.
He raised his hand, with surprising accuracy! No, it wasn't speed. For the first time in this clash, he used that thing. Or perhaps it was more fair to say that his instincts caused him to reflexively fall back to such a thing. That technique. All that mattered was that on that moment, he grabbed the ball of light, and the impact caused the energy to go wild and
explode.
[POST INITIATIVE]: Countering your opponent by responding to their movements.
[COUNTER INITIATIVE]: Discerning the moment your opponent will make a move and striking first by moving at the same time.
[PRE INITIATIVE]: Reading your opponent's inception of intent and striking before they move.
And [TRUE INITIATIVE]. To dominate the flow of battle through your own actions, to scatter like the winds in a manner impossible to decipher. The ultimate counter to [PRE INITIATIVE]
Someone had once taught him that. But he hoped he'd never have to take such lessons to heart.
He opened his eyes, surrounded by a cloud of dust and debris. Blood dripped all around his arm, his armour was leaking like a fountain. Bone melded with metal, his fingers twisted shut and dislocated gruesomely. Even his face was bleeding a bit, his hair flat down on his face. That silhouette of a man rising his broken fist against the heaven just stood still beneath the cloud of smoke. And for a moment, everything was quiet.
Until he
sighed. And when he did, his age... his very essence changed. An oppressive chill filled the forest immediately, and a pressure rushed to choke the both of them. Or perhaps it was merely... the weight of its existence.
"I could say the same. It is quite the hurdle. Fighting while sleep walking.
Isn't that right, fleeting flame?" Something beneath the cloud began to glow coldly.
