destinystrings | Free Battle: Capricorn

Entry tags:

Free Battle: Capricorn

Who: Atsuro Kihara, Open
Where: Leo -> Capricorn District, night
Summary: Skill cracking, magnetite-farming, and leveling up. Atsuro's no stranger to training...
Warnings: None

[private, voice to Ludwig Beilschmidt]
Hey, ah... Ludwig. ...Do you mind if I call you that?

We're getting close to another full moon. ...That's when they said the demons came out in full force, right? I think we should try and get a handle on summoning our Personas before we have to face something else like last time. I've tried to call Enki a few more times; I don't think it's possible just to do it for fun - it might not work unless we're really in danger.

Can we meet tonight by the town hall in Leo? Let's say... about 11:30. I saw you were asking about Personas; I can fill you in on what Enki can do then before we head out.

[public text]
Hey! I'm heading out to do some training tonight. Free Battles are a free action, right? Don't wait up; I won't be getting back until after that 13th Hour.

Feel free to join me if you want. I'll be outside Capricorn.

[action, town hall]
Half an hour to go.

Atsuro shuffles nervously in front of the hall, his fingers toying with the adjustable strap on his bag. The text had essentially been spam; he wasn't sure why he'd felt the urge to announce his plans to the whole city. He'd met maybe ten people here. Probably three or four of them actually cared. Naoya, of course, would want to keep tabs on him, but Naoya kept tabs on everything without anyone needing to check in, anyway.

The real reason, of course, was so that someone would come looking if he ended up dead or unconscious somewhere. He wasn't afraid of the demons... Not really. A pack of Waira were nothing in comparison to Belberith or Babel. But he'd been shaken; the idea of being plucked from the verge of defeat by what was essentially a happy coincidence didn't sit well with him. What if it'd been a one-time deal? What if his Persona just... never came out again?

Thou art I and I am thou. He'd never thought of himself as a great fighter. All he'd ever wanted to do was survive. No one had asked him to join a team or become a part of something greater - He, along with the rest of Tokyo, had simply been thrust into a situation where they had to pull out all stops if they wanted to live to see the next sunrise. Of course, he'd given it his all. But after living through those seven days of terror and panic, these three weeks of leisure had reminded him... This was what he'd been fighting for. So that the world would go back to normal and he could resume his normal life. Did he really want to stay here and keep on fighting? For some purpose he didn't even fully understand? Yeah, it was neat and exciting and novel. But so was the thought of playing an MMO with his forum buddies again, cramming for placement exams, and hanging out with Yuzu and Kazuya at the mall.

...He sighs slightly and shakes himself out of his thoughts. The important thing at the moment was to gain control of this power he didn't understand. Making a decision when he still felt lost and confused... Probably wasn't the best idea.

Atsuro finally stops fidgeting and seats himself on the steps of the building, watching the nightlife die down as the 13th Hour rapidly approaches. Ludwig ought to show up soon. ...Maybe some others would too. He finds himself scanning the faces of those passing by, hoping to find someone familiar.

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The zap is enough to cause the Airavata to jolt, though its sheer bulk means it shrugs off the damage quickly enough. Its anger, far from being placated by the attack, has intensified all the more and it lands heavily on the ground, simultaneously throwing its head up towards the sky.

"Hrruuuuuuuuuuun!"

The trumpeting cry is all the warning Ludwig will get before the clouds open up and a twister smashes into the ground where he stands. Though Atsuro was accustomed to Zandyne, the feel of the spell he was familiar with wasn't exactly the same. The element here was Wind rather than Force.

Behind Airavata, Atsuro has staggered to his feet and input the commands on his device. "Seiten Taisei! Badb Catha!" A jolt of light and his demons stand by his side. "Keep that thing at bay!"

With a grunt of pain, Ludwig was knocked down. This must be how it felt to get hit with magic... a force that he had never really understood before (and didn't particularly understand now). As far as he could tell, though, there was no blood (yet), so he'd be fine for now. With some effort, he got to his feet and summoned his Persona once more. This time, the warrior used Cleave on the beast with his sword. If it didn't take much damage from elemental attacks, perhaps physical attacks would be more effective?

Unfortunately, the blade is just as spiritual as the Persona is and so the elephant is not immediately cleaved in twain. More fortunately, it appears that the Cleave maneuver is slightly more successful than the attempted magic by dint of Ludwig's Persona having a more physical bent. The beast staggers back a few steps, though it's far from being defeated. It lashes out with its trunk towards Ludwig as it retreats, seemingly out of reflex.

"Now!"

Before it can fully recover, it's being simultaneously pummeled by Seiten Taisei's staff and Badb Catha's tearing claws - the latter, despite its tiny size, is clever enough to aim for the weaker points. Atsuro, in the meantime, seems to be closing his eyes in concentration. Perhaps not the best idea.

The demonic support is much appreciated; Ludwig was left feeling a little winded from using his Persona twice in a row. However, when Ludwig saw Atsuro close his eyes, he jumped back into action. "I'll guard you!" He got in front of Atsuro and tried to keep the Airavata at bay with a few pistol shots. He somewhat expected to take a hit while guarding, so he braced himself for an oncoming blow. Unless the elephant was dexterous enough to get around him, it'd have to go through him to get to Atsuro. Hopefully those bullets would distract it for a bit till Atsuro summoned his Persona or whatever he was preparing to do.

As Ludwig shoots, the white elephant dances back and forth with surprisingly lissome steps. Not that it has any chance whatsoever of evading the shots entirely, but it can at least ensure they don't strike anything vital. One of Ludwig's shots go wide and pierce a hole straight through the ear; unexpectedly, the elephant trumpets as loudly as it ever has through this entire fight.

It immediately lets loose with another gale-force cutting wind, this one aimed right at Ludwig's pistol hand with the intent to destroy it.

HP: 339/623

Almost simultaneously, Atsuro's eyes fly open. "Haaah... One demon against four...? There's no question that we'll survive!" There is the sound of crystal shattering as he feels the familiar surge of power, followed closely by a surge of excitement. He'd done it for a second time. So it wasn't just some fluke, then...

With Enki's appearance comes a flood of water that slams into Airavata. It bore the attack well, but the water did make the ground a bit more slippery...

Edited 2012-10-10 02:13 (UTC)

Ludwig took the hit hard, and it sent him sprawling. He felt sure that he might be bleeding somewhere, but wasn't quite sure where. Leaning up, he fired another shot. "Atsuro! I need you to cover me for just a moment!" He wasn't feeling quite so hot after that impact, and he needed a few extra minutes to regain his energy so that he could summon his Persona once more.

"A-Ah, of course! Hang tight!" Sadly, neither Seiten Taisei nor Badb Catha knew any healing techniques, and there wasn't enough time at the moment to summon up Laksmi. Atsuro takes the nearest chance he can get to dart towards Ludwig, his fists held at the ready just in case the Airavata shook off his demons.

"You OK? Airavata's good for some pretty powerful Force-based spells..." He glances back as he takes a defensive position in front of Ludwig. "Let me know if you're badly hurt. I can call for some healing."

The Airavata swipes Seiten Taisei out of the way and lowers its head for a charge; the rush of adrenaline immediately fills Atsuro again as he calls upon Enki to knock it dizzy.

"I think I'll be alright. It's nothing that won't heal up quickly." Slowly, Ludwig got to his feet. "It was simply a bit more than I expected. Give me just a few more moments, and I'll be back in the fray." Summoning a Persona really was draining, and this was probably even more so due to him not quite being so experienced with Persona summoning. He fired one more shot at the Airavata then stopped to reload his gun. After this, he'd probably be good to go.

Airavata isn't the only one getting dizzy. Atsuro blinks through his double-vision as Enki fades away; he isn't sure if the Skull Cracker was effective or not, but it seemed certain that Airavata was rearing up for another attack. A Confused large elephant doesn't seem to be very distinguishable from a Very Angry Rampaging large elephant.

"I'll bring out Laksmi soon, anyway."

The elephant's next Zandyne uproots a tree ten feet away from where Atsuro and Ludwig were standing. Looks like the status effect had hit...

"Good work on distracting it!" Ludwig said as he got back into a battle stance. "I'm ready to go now! If you need a moment, now's the time to take it." With a moment to focus, he brought out his Persona once more and struck again with Cleave. Since that was more effective, he figured he'd stick to the physical attacks for now.

((Sorry to keep you waiting again. I've been out of town on hiatus for the last week. Again, feel free to drop if you'd rather not go on.))

"OK, I'll leave it to you - falling back!"

Atsuro retreats quickly as he begins to punch in commands and sift through the options of his game console. Over the next few minutes, as Ludwig continues to fight the Airavata, Badb Catha will disappear, replaced shortly after by the elegant goddess.

In the meantime, the Confused Airavata continues to launch Zandyne after Zandyne at nothing in particular. This was more bearable, to a point, but Ludwig may want to avoid the occasional tree branch sent flying towards his head. This was a battle of endurance - Airavata's Endurance was immense, and it would take at least two or three more solid strikes before it would be brought to its knees. But persistence and careful maneuvering would prevail...

((It's fine! If anything, I'm going to be a bit slow due to the projects I have.))

Ludwig leapt away from a Zandyne that nearly grazed him on its path to nowhere. He noticed Atsuro summoning Laksmi and acknowledged it with a nod in Atsuro's direction. Her services might be needed soon. With that, he brought Siegfried out once more for another Cleave. Slow and steady won the race, and he was willing to chip away at the large elephant-creature till it either gave in or was finished off.

((Thanks! And don't worry; take all the time you need! I think it's a good time to start wrapping up, too.))

"Here!"

As Atsuro completes his switch, Laksmi takes a few steps forward to smile gently at the tired fighters before gracing them all with an Affection. Though Atsuro hadn't suffered much damage, he feels himself reenergized from the strain of summoning a Persona, nonetheless.

"It can't hold on much longer - Let's bring it down! Together!"

Atsuro readies himself as he draws upon that now-almost-familiar feeling...

"Enki!"

And the Persona coalesces, rushing forward with an iron rod to time its attack to strike simultaneously alongside Siegfried.

"Yes! Ready..." Siegfried appeared as Ludwig prepared himself for the dual strike. "Go!" With that, Siegfried rushed forward for one last Cleave, staying aligned with Enki as he did. When the hit struck, Ludwig wondered aloud, "Is this it?"

"I... I'm not sure."

With a great bellow, the floating white elephant sways steadily in place for a few moments before slowly, painfully slowly, toppling over to the side. When it lands, there is an almighty crash as it falls to earth. All that can be heard afterwards is the sound of protracted breathing as its body heaves with exertion.

"............I feel kinda bad now. Maybe we should -- "

Before Atsuro can finish the sentence, the beast falls quiet and before their eyes, dissolves into mist.

Ludwig could understand why Atsuro felt bad, but it was in his nature as a soldier to not flinch at these sorts of things. "We did what had to be done. Perhaps it could have survived... but it's a little late for that. Just know that it's out of its misery and that we stopped a potential threat before it could go any further." He sighed and idly kicked at the ground. "Something strange must have been going on to stir it up into such a fury in the first place, don't you think? Perhaps we should look for a cause some other time."

"Phew..." Atsuro nods. "Emphasis on 'some other day'. I don't remember how tough they were before, but I think that one would've been a lot easier if we had any Agi skills..." He takes a moment or two to punch a few commands into his system; Laksmi and Seiten Taisei disappear in a flash of light back to wherever the demons spent their spare time.

"You're probably right, though. It's supposed to be a holy beast, so it shouldn't be going around rampaging..."

"Would it have? What a shame. We managed to deal with it well with what we had." Ludwig paused, putting a hand to his chin in contemplation. "It's a holy beast, you say? Perhaps it was disturbed by something unholy, whether it was a creature or a force."

"Yeah, holiness never stopped them from trying to squish us before. Or a whole bunch of angels from blasting us. Our idea of what we'd like out of a battle probably clashes a little bit with their goals." Atsuro shrugs slightly. "Still, that one was... acting pretty weird."

Some things were not meant for man to understand. At least, until after the second or third sidequest. Atsuro files this down in his head as 'potential plot hook' before glancing back towards the bulk of the city.

"What do you think? Is that enough training for the day or do you want to keep going?"

"You've fought angels before?" That came as a bit of a shock to Ludwig. Maybe, at this point, he shouldn't be surprised, but the idea of angels as things that could be fought caught him off guard a bit. At Atsuro's question, Ludwig simply shook his head. "As much as I'd like to keep going, I think that's enough havoc for today. Using my Persona took more out of me than I thought."

"...Yeah. It's never a bad idea to get rest when you need it." Atsuro nods in agreement. "It's not like the demons will be going anywhere."

Glancing briefly again towards the spot where the Airavata had been, Atsuro hesitates for a split second before turning back towards the city.

"And... yeah. It wasn't just demons attacking more than it was a three-way war back home."

"A three-way war, with angels involved? The three forces being angels, demons, and humans? You really have been through a lot." Ludwig was getting quite a bit of respect for this young man who had been through so much and seemed so capable of handling himself.

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Free Battle: Capricorn

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