Motoyasu's Spear shone at the tip, as he charged in, thrusting it a half a dozen times into Naofumi's face. The clash of metals rang out, as each strike was different, Motoyasu changing the spear between every hit, each time causing it to change elements, which filled the air with electricity, caused a rumble within the earth, spun a cyclone of dust, and finally covered everything in a layer of frost.

When he leapt backwards, Naofumi tossing him away with a swing of his arm, the Shield Hero found his footing almost impossible to keep, as the softened dirt, with ice sheets along it, gave little traction at all, causing him to nearly fall flat on his face, even as Motoyasu, arms wide, smiled at him, spinning his weapon in the air before him, and then planting the butt into the hard ground with a crack.

The Spear shifted into a form that had a 'mane' around the tip, obviously the thing he'd unlocked from the Lion Head of the Chimera. The dragon had been fire, my own goat had been wind, and the viper tail head had been darkness, which apparently meant poison for Naofumi. As it turned out, the Lion Spear was Earth based, as he used it like a lever, pulling it hard to the side, and literally rending the ground in front of him upwards in the form of a huge boulder.

Pulling his Spear from the ground, he swung it like a bat, and the boulder, half again as big as he was, shattered into hundreds of smaller stones that were pelted against Naofumi, who summoned his glowing (Air Strike Shield), to defend himself for a moment. It didn't last longer than a moment though, as all the rocks pelting it began to make cracks, and finally, the Shield Hero was forced to dive out of the way and let the remaining projectiles sail over him into the lightning cage.

The 'bars' arced out, and vaporized the stones, filling the air with dust, blocking our view of the fight for an instant, rendering the two combatants down to shadows that swung hard at each other. Metallic noises came screaming out of every confrontation, and then, with a swirl, Motoyasu brought his spear down from above, hard enough that it not only drove Naofumi down into the ground a bit, but also blew away the dust cloud.

Once they stood revealed, Motoyasu hanging in the air, his teeth grit, and Naofumi, actually taking a knee before him, but still giving no more ground than he was forced to, it was pretty clear the two were going all out. Despite that fact, a quick (Insight) check showed that, while both had lost some SP, neither was injured in the slightest, and they parted with a 'ching' noise, as the Spear slid off the Shield, and Motoyasu landed a bit away.

Holding up his hand, he chanted something, and small wheels of runes appeared before him, more rocks seemingly materializing out of the air, and then flying towards Naofumi, but at odd angles. It took me a moment to realize that he was somehow directing each stone towards Naofumi, each rock flying as if he were puppeting it, forcing the Shield Hero to move his Weapon in odd ways to keep from getting smacked by the heavy things.

"Rock Missile," I said, not sure if that was the name of the attack, but it made sense to me, as Naofumi found himself unable to guard completely, and once one broke through, hitting him in the side hard enough to nearly toss him from his feet, and causing a ringing noise to fill the area, it wasn't long before another one hit the other side. Then another, and another, even as he tried to protect himself.

Finally, one sailed past him, almost towards the barrier, but Motoyasu, making a motion with his hand, seemed to reel it back towards him, causing Naofumi, who was barely on his feet, to take a hit right to his back, literally knocking him into the now mud like dirt around him, staining his armor and cloak. That appeared to satisfy the Spear Hero, even though the damage done was, at best, negligible.

Naofumi, looking like he was growling, clambered up to his feet, as Motoyasu smiled at him, making a motion with his hands, telling him to bring it on, and for a moment, a spark of flame seemed to dance around the edges of the Shield, making me afraid Motoyasu had pushed too hard, and the Spear Hero was about to taste Wrath in its purest form. Luckily, Naofumi had other ways to attack.

As Motoyasu had used the Lion, the Viper became Naofumi's, his Shield shifting into the form granted by the Chimera's Viper Head, and the 'decorative' bits of it unwinding, and leaping towards the Spear Hero. Motoyasu, seeing them coming, barely let them get near to him, in fact, he seemed to dance between them, as the two heads tried to bite him, whipping around like tendrils.

First a duck under one, then a twist under the other, and finally, as they tried to constrict around him, he did a kind of bending leap, staying at around waist height and spinning out of the way of both by kind of vaulting between them, before landing gracefully on his feet, and jamming his Spear into the earth again, this time to show his contempt for the attack, as Naofumi, drawing the snakes back towards him, stared in awe.

"When the hell did you get this strong?" he asked, and Motoyasu smirked at him, spinning his Spear like the flag at the front of a marching band, causing it to blur for a moment, before he tossed it into sky, and spun around, snatching it out of the air before it could fall, and then pointing it at Naofumi again.

"I've always been this strong, or did you think you were the only Hero leveling up? Seriously, how much of an egomaniac are you?" he chides, and Naofumi, with a growl loud enough for us to hear this time, charges at him, his Shield quickly shifted between a few forms, before settling into one of the filolials ones, which gave him a bit of HP regeneration. It was enough to visibly start his HP bar refilling, even as he held out his arm, and the Shield shone with power.

"Shield Prison!" he cried out loudly, and the metal cocoon appeared around Motoyasu, but the last plate had barely settled into place before he literally tore it away, blasting it out of his way with attacks from his own weapon, causing the cocoon to explode outward and vanish. The moment he was free he charged Naofumi again, his smile a sharp counterpoint to Naofumi's grimace as he gave ground.

Or at least, Naofumi TRIED to give ground, as Motoyasu, without warning, suddenly moved a lot faster than before, seemingly flash stepping behind him, and forcing Naofumi to spin on his heels, only for the Spear Hero to bat him away with the shaft of his weapon. Metal armor met metal rod, and while neither was found wanting, Naofumi found himself lifted off the ground, and flying a meter to the side, and right into the cage he'd been backing towards, having failed to notice Motoyasu herding him into a position where he could be flung against it.

Arcs of electricity surged into his body, his hair standing on end, and for just a moment I was sure I could see his skeleton, as his body writhed and wriggled. Raptalia, Filo, and even Melty cried out his name, and even the groups I could see beyond the cage had looks of shared empathy with him, as the man's scream echoed over the horizon, before he finally fell backwards, smoke issuing forth from his body as he laid there, breathing heavily.

I took this moment to wonder how exactly Motoyasu had gotten this strong myself, as, while he was no slouch, and even had some good stats and skills, this was an extreme improvement for only a few days. I had an easy guess as to what was happening, however, and quickly focused in on him, using (Insight) to list out all the abilities and equipment he had, one of which was almost begging me to look at it closer.

"The Armor of the Ancients, a set of plates forged long ago by a Clan to aid the Heroes of their day. It allows the wearer to transfer stats between categories with a thought," I read allowed, skimming the rest of it. The stuff was old, like thousands of years, and it looked eastern inspired because it apparently was, developed by a family of martial artists that then used it between the comings of Heroes to become adventurers.

However, the more recent history said the descendents of the Clan, now the Ivyred family, had become landed nobles of Melromarc, but had hidden the stuff away during the wars with Siltvelt, after five of their family had died in them, underestimating their enemies, and overestimating their skill. That made sense, looking at Motoyasu's stats, he was transferring his points between categories easily enough, but if he missed a beat, and Naofumi hit him when he was zero in either of his defenses? He might well die.

Struggling back to his feet, Naofumi faced off against him, shifting his Shield back into the filolial form, starting his HP regenerating at a faster rate, and forcing Motoyasu onto the offensive again. Naofumi saw it coming now though, and stood against the barrier, letting it defend his backside for him. This time he didn't try to fight back, instead he waited as the burns on his skin visibly healed, and his hair seemed to crumble to ash, only to regrow in the blink of an eye, as his HP returned to full.

This cost him, however, as his SP was taking a big hit pulling out that Shield, however, the moment he was full, he shifted it into the basic form again, and started to advance, quickly shifting his stance to keep the Shield between himself and Motoyasu, and even summoning the (Airstrike Shield) in between the two of them, forcing the Spear Hero to stumble backwards, as he finally reached the middle of their arena.

The Shield shifted again, this time into the horrid visage of the Soul Eater, and Motoyasu, seeing it, was on guard, his eyes darting around. The violet glow from the Shield soon spawned a mirror of it, larger than Motoyasu was tall, behind the Spear Hero. Motoyasu, who knew what was happening thanks to a shadow on the ground, didn't allow the thing to touch him, as it had me back during the incident in the cliffs, and instead, rushed towards Naofumi.

The Shield and Spear collided, and the floating head of the monster faded into nothing but purple motes of light again, as Motoyasu, smirking, smashed into Naofumi's shield with his Weapon several times, trying to drive him to his knees, and only stopping when the Shield Hero summoned his Shield Pirson around himself, the cocoon bursting apart a moment later, and forcing Motoyasu back to avoid the flying metal plates it had summoned.

The moment he had freedom, I could feel the heat from behind me, and turned to see Filo's eyes glowing red with power, as Naofumi pulled out the Rage Shield once again. Raphtalia, sensing the same thing, hugged the avian tightly, their bodies trembling in unison, but nothing else happening, as I turned back towards the battle, and watched as Naofumi completed the transformation, and stood there, his body appearing to be on fire.

"This is what you wanted, right Motoyasu? Me going all out?" he asked, his voice shaking, and looking into his eyes, I saw a glint of the madness that Raphtalia had spoken of when he used this power…but only a glint. His eyes remained his own, and that grin, sharp as the edges were, was not a thing born of rage or fury, but more of enjoyment, of finally getting to let loose on the one before him. Motoyasu, his face nearly mirroring Naofumi's, nodded.

"Exactly! I want you to hit me with everything you've got, because I want to prove that you aren't some singular, destined Hero, that the rest of us aren't just fuck ups you come behind, but that you are just good at playing the mighty glacier!" he said, and then spun his Spear again, this time doing it to the weapon, rather than spinning it in a circle before him. As if thrown off by the force of the rotation, the 'spear' gained two side points, becoming a trident, decked out in blue, with a serpentine dragon wrapped around it in silver.

"Can I interest you in a beam struggle?" he said with a laugh, and then pointed his Weapon straight at Naofumi, a glowing blue light shooting from it, revealing itself to be some kind of 'charged' water, that Naofumi, either getting what he was asking, or just having nothing better to do, responded in kind, a blast of flames leaping away from his Shield and smashing into the water beam, the two clashing in the air between.

It was strange to watch, as the two fighters began to circle each other, careful to keep the beam between them, as the meeting point moved back and forth, gaining ground against one, before they redoubled their efforts and shoved it back towards their opponent. Interestingly, no steam rose from the meeting of the elements, as it had when I'd had my party use a similar trick, and I was curious why.

I had no time to ask, as both their SP scores came close to bottoming out, and Naofumi, with a roar through gritted teeth, swung his weapon wide, creating a burst of power that drove them both backwards, the pair falling to their knees and breathing heavily, sweat pouring down their faces. Naofumi, however, was grinning, as he used the moment of respite to shift to another Shield, this one a green filolial thing, increasing his SP Regen, even as it drained his MP.

Motoyasu, struggling to stand back up, using his Spear as a crutch, climbed to his feet, and seemed to acknowledge Naofumi was as good as he was, but then he spun his weapon again, shifting it back to his normal spear, and then into another form I hadn't seen before, one with no tip at the end. It left him wielding a stick, but one that shimmered with power as he funneled the last of his SP and MP into it.

"Finishing Blow! Thousand Spears!" he cried out, his voice having some kind of echo effect to it, as he surged forward, the head of his spear reappearing as he came to a stop right in front of Naofumi, and struck out with it, pulling back for another thrust, and the head switching to another. Then another with another thrust. This repeated what seemed to be half a dozen times, before Naofumi was sent tumbling backwards, landing on the ground.

Rather than being done, Motoyasu leapt into the air, doing a propeller spin with his Spear as if it were lifting him higher, before he pointed the blunt end downward, and brought it into the ground. The instant it touched the ground, glowing orange cracks formed, and Naofumi, trying to struggle to his feet, found them coming together beneath him, before there was a crack like thunder, and dozens of spears literally tore through the earth, and tossed him skyward.

He screamed, his HP fell to lower than half, not yet in the danger zone of dying, but certainly not as stable as it had been even after the moment touching the cage. Worse, he landed heavily in the dirt, and before he could even hope to do more than roll onto his back, he found Motoyasu's spear at his throat, the head returning, turning into a wickedly sharp looking polearm at the end, with the blade glinting in the light from the lightning cage.

Motoyasu was breathing heavily, his HP was untouched, but his MP, which I hadn't noticed before but was apparently one of the stats he could move around, was only slowly refilling after he'd emptied it to just one point during the battle. His SP was nearly empty, despite the boost from his MP, and you could tell, he was barely standing, even as he glared down at Naofumi, taking several seconds to catch his wind and finally speak.

"Yield," he said simply, and Naofumi, looking from the weapon, to him, and then towards the sky, finally laid his head back, closed his eyes, and nodded, the lightning cage fading away, the bars seeming to arc into the ground, as Motoyasu fell towards the side, and the green haired woman rushing forward, catching him before he could hit the ground, while Filo and Raphtalia ran to help Naofumi.

Melty tried, for a moment, to do likewise, but Lucia held her shoulder tight enough to show her that was not going to happen, as she turned to me, looking still mad, but not as much, as she motioned with her head, and we walked past the two recovering Heroes, to join the groups on the other side of them, Ren having the gall to not only smirk at me, but make the 'whip' motion with his hand that almost had me smacking him in the face, as I was led to stand next to him and the Spear Hero's other party members, waiting for the two combatants to recover.

(A/N: The Spear/Trident is Ivar's Barbed Trident from Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, who's element was water, thus the counter to Wrath's Fire. Beam Struggle is just because anime.

The 'Thousand Spears' is Jack's Spear Volty Blast from Radiata Stories, basically his version of a Special Attack.)