Oh boy, this'll be good. A character based off of the crusading knights versus an almost literal werewolf. I hope you're as excited as I am with this.
Storm and Faye walked into the sparring room just in time to see the end of a match. Gaia was fighting Reese Chloris, and Gaia seemed to be winning. He hadn't seen Chloris fight much, but he knew that Gaia might have an unfair advantage here.
Chloris was hovering in the air on her board, safely out of Gaia's reach. Gaia only had dual axes as weapons, which could combine into one if need be, so at range she was less than at an advantage. But then again, in his experience, that could change very quickly.
Gaia threw one of her axes, hitting Chloris's hoverboard, and making fall a little. The axe was jammed into the board, and Gaia jumped, grabbed it, and swung herself up and over the board, kicking Chloris off. As Chloris slammed into the ground face first, her aura hit the red zone, ending the match.
Just as Gaia landed on her feet with the hovorboard spiraling down, Mother caught the board and said, "The match is over everyone. And I have to say, that was very impressive."
"Thank you," Gaia said, smiling. "I practiced that for a while."
Storm and Faye found some empty seats next to Azura and Rusti. "What were you guys doing?" Rusti asked.
Storm looked to Faye, and she nodded. Taking that as an approval to tell them, he said, "We were just working some stuff out."
"Oh, like a second date?" Rusti asked. "It's got to turn out better than your first."
"Well, we didn't," Storm admitted. "But I think we will some time, right?"
Storm looked to Faye. "Soon would be good, but if I remember correctly, you are busy tonight." That was right. He was meeting Rayne tonight since last night didn't work out so well. "Perhaps tomorrow morning?"
"That sounds like a good time to talk about this," Storm said.
Meanwhile, Gaia and Chloris left the arena, and Storm's mom clapped her hands together. "Well, we have time, I think, for one last match. Could Taline Ironskin and Redell Sapphire to come down?"
Storm was excited by this development. Of all the people at this school, they were the most ridiculously powerful. Redell, once he started going, was unstoppable. And Taline was just as strong. He tried figuring out who would win, but he just couldn't imagine either of them losing to the other.
They were both dressed for battle. Redell wore his normal gray furs and maroon armor, with a cape, and a wolf-head shaped metal helmet covering almost all of his head except his lower face—which seemed to be unshaven. Taline wore black except for her turquoise vest and belt, and silvery armor in the standard fashion.
Once Redell and Taline entered the arena, Mom made a special announcement. "A rule specifically for this one match: the match is over once someone's aura has been completely drained—not when they enter the red zone." She stepped outside the arena and put the force field up as she noted, "And please, don't kill each other."
Redell drew his sword—which was just a normal sword made of dark gray metal—and Taline assumed a fighting stance. She apparently didn't think the sword at her belt was necessary, which may have been a mistake. Then again, she was very strong; the braces on her forearms could let her generate fire with Dust, and was an excellent fist fighter. Who knew who'd win?
As the match began, Taline threw a series of fireballs at Redell. His armor and aura took the hit, and he charged Taline. He swung his sword; she blocked with one arm, and staggered back. "You're stronger than I thought," Taline said.
Redell chuckled. "That's nice to hear."
"But you're not that strong," Taline said, throwing a huge fireball—which she had been generating with both hands while they'd been talking. It engulfed Redell in blue fire, and he staggered back several feet.
He then ran back at her, and swung again, this time over his head. She blocked with both arms, and then jumped out from under the sword. She then threw a couple fireballs, and while he was reeling from those, she charged him. She delivered a series of quick, strong punches, and then a flaming kick to his chest that sent him back a few steps.
Just from all that, a chunk of his aura was gone. It was a little over a quarter gone. Then it shot right back up as the eyes on his helmet started to glow bright red. "Now you hurt my feelings," Redell said almost passively.
Rusti decided now was a good time to ask Storm a question. "Why are his eyes glowing?"
"Those aren't his eyes," Storm said. "He sees through the nostrils, actually. I have no idea why the eyes glow though—it's weird."
"Okay, but why are they glowing?"
After a moment, Storm realized there was something that was worth mentioning. "Well, when his eyes glow that means… You've heard of those stories about werewolves."
"Yeah."
"Well," Storm said, hesitating, "he kinda does that, in a sense." Rusti's eyes grew very wide. "His strength goes through the roof, and he gets a whole lot faster." His aura also became almost invincible. His intelligence also decreased, relying on instinct most. But still… "I've never seen anybody beat him while he was like this," Storm noted.
Before Rusti could say anything, Redell roared. He then charged and swiped at Taline, which she tried blocking with both arms, but she flew backwards into the force field. As she sat up, it was clear her aura had taken a pounding.
She grabbed her long sword, drawing it. As it was drawn, blue-green energy came from the Dust crystal in the cross guard, and weaved around the silvery blade. Once it was fully drawn, the energy solidified, and formed a turquoise blade much larger than the original.
"Come on now, monster." Dual jets of flame burst beneath Taline's feet, and propelled her at least twenty feet into the air. "Try me."
Redell ran at Taline, though he couldn't get her in the air. Taline swung her sword multiple times and thick ribbons of energy flew at Redell. They all hit Redell, and he wasn't even fazed. He then jumped into the air, at Taline, and swung at her. Taline raised her sword to block almost like a shield. Redell then swatted her out of the air, and she landed on her feet with a thump.
As he was coming down, he was aiming for her. It looked like she was going to block when she ducked out at the last minute, and put her sword away. She'd probably realized that the only way to beat Redell when he was like this was to outlast him.
She was smart in that respect. Redell could only keep this up for so long, and it did put a lot of stress on his body, which was the reason his hair had gone gray prematurely. Assuming that was somewhat foolish though and outlasting him would be exceedingly difficult.
Taline tried keeping her distance, and dodged Redell's attacks, but that plan soon failed. He caught up with her and slammed her into the ground. She'd failed, but Storm was concerned with something else.
Because of the amount of stress it put on him, he usually used it for about a minute—which they had determined didn't cause any long term side effects—if he could help it. He'd now gone for over two minutes, which almost guaranteed something bad.
Just as Redell was about to swing his blade down, assuring Taline's aura going down as well, his helmet's eyes stopped glowing, and he looked disoriented. He was probably trying to assess whether or not Taline's aura was still up, as when he used that form he could make very large errors in judgement. Taline capitalized on this, and drew her sword, slashing Redell across the chest. His aura went down instantly as he staggered back.
Taline got back up, and Storm's mom said, "Taline Ironskin is the winner!" She looked to the board where their aura levels were displayed, and added, "By a thread."
Redell and Taline shook hands and left the arena.
But that wasn't it from Mom. "Alright, students. While not everyone has gone today, we'll finish up tomorrow, and then start on the next bracket. But for now, everyone have a pleasant evening and good night. Dismissed." Everyone got up, and started filing out.
Rusti turned to Storm and said, "I had no idea you were related to people that powerful."
"Oh yeah," Storm said. "It goes all the way back to my great aunt Locaster."
"Who?"
Storm sighed. "Locaster Sapphire." The name still didn't seem to ring any bells for Rusti. "Her name is synonymous with advanced aural techniques, right up there with all the greats."
"Look, I don't even any of their names," Rusti said. "And I'm pretty sure no one else here has heard them either."
"Well, we'll see." Storm looked to Azura and Faye. "You've heard of her right?"
"No," Azura said simply.
"Not that I can recall," Faye said. "I am very sorry, Storm."
"It's alright." He'd just have to find Crystal. "Hey, does anyone know where Crystal is," he asked his friends.
"I think she went over to team JSPR," Rusti answered.
"Why?" Storm asked.
"I don't know." Rusti shrugged. "It was after the fight between Jasper and Azura." Then he had an odd grin on his face.
After a moment, Storm realized what Rusti was thinking of. Could Crystal possibly be attracted to…? There was only one way to find out, and that meant finding Crystal.
So, the knight won. And yes, Taline's the knight, but that's not the only thing I drew inspiration from. If you're smart, you'll figure it out. A clue is in the origin of her name. Once you have that, you'll have the first clue. But anyway...