The first move goes to Jpec...

Above him was the light of millions of stars, shining down with their dull light onto him. Below was a smooth, glasslike surface that reflected that light like back at him, making it seem like billions of tiny diamonds had been embedded in a velvet sphere, and that sphere now surrounded him. Dien had found this field one day while trying verious keywords at the Chaos Gate. Its unique appearance and ability held out in his mind, and its keywords had not been forgotten.

However, his opponent might not have been so fortunate as to remember them. I hope this Raquar figure puts up a decent fight, he thought, I've fought my share of longarms, and so far they've all fought the same way. This field would not be apt for any spellcasting advantages; only darkness would have any aid here. That, however, did not matter. One of the conditions of this fights had been the inability of either party to cast spells. Even their weapons' respective skills, the Repulse Cage and the Crack Beat, would be void. This battle would solely rely on tactics.

The only thing left for Dien was to wait for his opponent's arrival. He sent the man a flashmail, reminding him of the duel and of the keywords to the field. The only thing going through his mind at that point was the memory of the first time he'd set eyes upon this field. After having said the keywords aloud in front of the blue, spinning surface of the Chaos Gate, the golden rings shot up his body, disintegrating it and transporting it through the data streams of the Delta Server.

A harmless hack he'd made allowed him to witness the transfer instead of the usual momentary unconsciousness that accompanied it, and it had been a spectacular sight it was. His body was an incoherent blob of light, soaring in a stream of other such lights. He had no control over it, but the feeling was unlike many things he'd experienced. It was most comparable to the feeling you get when you first go over the tallest hill of a roller coaster. Adrenaline shoots out of your glands, making everything blur, and for those few moments, you fear for your life as the slope gets steeper and steeper. Your pulse races and your eyes widen in fear and anticipation. This was the feeling Dien received, traveling to the field.

Other distant streams of light wound in careless streams, traveling quickly until finally appearing on the field. At one point, the incoherent blob that was his body veered off the main course, traveling not far to reach its final destination. The limbs, torso, and head of his body reformed quickly upon arrival, and the golden rings opened his body to the field.

At first, all he saw was darkness. After his eyes' having been exposed to the light of Mac Anu and the transfer, they were not ready for the consuming darkness this field contained. Initially he had sat down, waiting for his eyes to pick up on the dim starlight. It was the clang of his Brave Sword on the glassy face that made its composition apparent, and it was thereafter that he stood, his eyes finally coming to recognize the distant lights shining in the darkness. After nearly an hour of staring in wonder he gated back, reappearing at Mac Anu and storing the keywords in the confines of his memory.

Now, though, he was back at the field, waiting for his opponent to appear. I had better prepare for when he does arrive, he thought, because God only knows how dirty of a fighter he is. The Brave Sword rested in the firm grip of his hand, waiting for its opponent to appear. It lusted for blood, and Dien could only do his best to calm that lust as he waited. Hopefully, it wouldn't take that long.

SP: 10/10

A beeping sound caused Josh to raise his head groggily. The computer screen was flashing brightly causing the whole room to be sporadically illuminated. He stretched, yawned, and slowly meandered over to his computer which displayed the following message:
"You have 1 new flashmail." Josh quickly plopped on the VR goggles and opened the message. "Ah," he thought, "it's a reminder of my duel with this... Dien." Quickly, with the seasons of practice branded into his fingers he logged onto "The World"
Login: Raquar
Password: ******
Processing
Welcome to the World.

Normally, the sight of Mac Anu caused the breath to vanish from his body. Not today however, today there were more important things to be taken care of. He immeadiatly headed toward the Choas Gate at a pace that was more than a walk but less than a jog. He reached the Gate soon and stood there a moment to compose himself. After making sure all of his senses were completely aware he spoke the keywords that would bring him to this special field.

The golden rings started to slow which was the first sight of his arrival. He opened his eyes and pain flared across his mind as a thousand needles bore into his eyes. He closed them quickly again and stood massaging his head. Slowly, ever so slowly as to get acclimatized to the light Raquar opened his eyes again. A glassy surface reflected the lights of a myriad of stars and other celestial bodies. He gazed around the field before grinding the butt of his spear into the ground. It was going to be hard to see.

Raquar glanced down and saw his own distorted reflection stare up at him. "My eyes," he thought in horror. He distinctly remembered registering that part of his appearance. "Fiery red cornias with white pupils." Raquar realized that his eyes would give off his location like burnished torches. He hung his head in disappointment as he realized his sight would be more of a hinderance that a help. "Time to dwell on that later," he growled. Scanning the horizon he made out the dim outline of a shape to his west.

Raquar jogged over towards the outline. As he neared he realized it was his opponent. He glanced towards this Dien, before realizing he didn't really care what his opponent looked like as he was trying not to use his eyes. He hefted his spear, prepared himself for battle, and closed his eyes signaling the start of the duel.

EDIT: 20/20 SP

(OOC: Edited because I forgot to put SP bar. My bad.)

The golden glow of his opponent's gating in faded quickly to reveal the torches the man held for eyes. It was not something Dien was used to seeing. Normally people had their average eyes, but for some reason this man's eyes were literally alight with fire. This could present a problem for Raquar either way.

Leaving his eyes open would leave his position vulnerable in this stealth-favoring field. Their fire would be easily distinguishable off the starry sky and placid surface below. He would need them open to be able to see, and Dien would use their registered hack to his advantage.

However, as the long-arm approached, dragging his spear behind him, Dien noticed something that would be just as beneficial as if he were to keep his eyes open. Right as the spear-wielding foe appeared before him, his eyes clamped themselves shut. From a close distance, Dien could see the light of his eyes shining very barely through the thin eyelids.

The tactic was one he'd not considered, but as he thought it over it provided a clear, easy advantage for him. The eyes provided possibly the most reliable sense in this game: sight. It was already hindered by the dark nature of the field they were in, but with eyes closed it would be completely forsaken. This could be used by Dien for his own advantage.

Granted, he couldn't see too well either, but at least he knew where his opponent was. All that Raquar was working with was his four other senses, two of which would be essentially useless (taste and smell). The two remaining usable senses would be exceedingly easy to betray their user with. Hearing was, at this point, the long-arm's most valuable asset, and it was easily used to betray a person.

With eyes open, an audible distraction could still capture a person's attention for minutes on end. With eyes closed, that captivity could be drawn out as long as the distractor could remain silent. That would be the trick to this ideal.

With the agility of a cat, Dien leapt back, silently digging a scroll out of his inventory and throwing it aside. The percussion of the wood against the even surface of this world would be much louder than Dien's landing, and would hopefully throw his blind opponent off if he did try to pursue. I gotta remember to pick that up later, he thought, watching his opponent's figure against the light of the stars behind him.

It would be even more advantageous to Dien if Raquar stood still. That way, he would have the most time to react to any impromptu attacks (if he was foolish enough to attack in the blind).

The biggest thing Dien could see at this point that would give him victory would be tiny discrepancies between the audible and the unseen visual--where the audible would tell Raquar to react differently than if he were actually seeing what was going on. For Dien, the advantage of fighting a blind man in a dark world became very clear.

SP: 10/10

Raquar stood and listened for a small while, before hearing an distinct thud. Raquar smiled to himself as he raised his head toward the sky. He knew of this Dien being a cunning, sly person, so it was not unexpected that he would try to do something to throw of Raquar's hearing. There was one thing he did not know.

Raquar slowly bent down and placed his ear to the ground. He could hear the muffled thud of an escaping Dien. He grinned impishly and turned around to face his opponent. He stood there a moment sharpening his sense of small. It was a small difference, but he finally noticed a small contrast. The field itself smelled rank and grimy. Dien however, smelled of vigor and possibly even... bloodlust. Raquar knew it was time for action.

Without a second thought, Raquar charged in the direction of his opponent. When he judged the "smell" to be about five feet away, he whirled his spear around his head and made a swing toward Dien's right rib. Time seemed to slow down and the spear cut through the air. At the last possible moment, Raquar dropped to one knee, reversed the swing of the spear, and made an attempt to end the running Dien would do in this duel. He waited to hear the sound of metal crunching bone.

EDIT: 20/20 SP

(OOC: Once again I edited because I forgot the SP bar. Sorry!!!)

(OOC: so short...)

Perfect... Dien thought as his opponent approached. He was using smell as a reference for where the blademaster actually was. It was an ingenious idea come to think of it. Wherever Dien had been, whether passing through the air or just lightly stepping on the ground, his scent would follow. It would remain as a trail for his opponent to follow, and for a moment, Dien felt like he was the fox who ran from the hound.

Raquar's approach was clear, as he ran full-speed toward his blademaster-foe. It was blatantly obvious to Dien that his intent was to skewer him on the spear's tip; and he would not allow this. The Brave Sword that had seen him through so many fights was angled in such a way to send the spear's end to the ground in a parry. How Raquar knew the level one blademaster's location, Dien could not tell.

For one, his sense of smell could not have been that sharp. Even a person months blind could not have used their nose as the long-arm now was. Smell was such a very, very vague sense that it surprised Dien very much when the long-arm stopped some five feet away (on the money) and swung the spear. It amazed Dien that he could even be so accurate as to target the ribs without any eyes to see, but Dien also knew one truth; no eyes made fighting even harder.

As the spear ricocheted towards the ground, Dien would use the added momentum to initiate his propulsion upward. With the grace of an expert diver his body flipped over Raquar's head, landing on the other side and immediately going into a rapid spin. His blade extended with the start of the spin, and Dien knew that it would very likely cut straight through his opponent's midsection, rendering a KO.

SP: 10/10

Raquar heard a thump behind him, and confusion ripped through his body. It was obvious Dien had moved, but... the "smell" was still in front of him. It was with horror that the realization crashed into him like an anvil. It wasn't Dien he had scented, it was himself.

Raquar heard the whistling of a blade and reached the conclusion that Dien could only be doing two possible things. He was either performing an overheard stroke, or a slash aimed at his midsection. Knowing he was almost out of time, Raquar guessed that the Dien would be doing was the overheard stroke, and raised his spear in defense. As so not to be left totally defenseless if he was wrong, Raquar thrust his arm out to defend against the slash. Of course, Dien chose to perform the latter of the two possibilites.

He roared in agony, as metal sliced through skin to crunch into bone. His eyes snapped open as pain lanced through his body. He gazed dizzily at the foot of steel sticking out of his arm. He slowly raised his stare to look Dien in the eye. He stood there for a moment just listening to the solid ploop of his blood falling on the glassy surface of the field. His eyes burned with a hopeless rage.

Feeling the blood drain from his head, Raquar concentrated his last coherent thoughts on an attack. Hoping the blade was still wedged in his arm (as to prevent Dien from escaping), Raquar lunged forward stabbing at Dien's torso. He had forgotten one thing though, the ground was soaked with blood. As Raquar lunged his front knee slid on the pool of blood collected under his arm, and the thrust went wild. He wasn't even able to discern if his attack had actually connected.

SP: 20/20

A fire burned in Raquar's eyes as they turned up to glare at Dien. More than in the literal sense, they seemed alight with anger, disbelief, and frustration. In that instant, Dien pulled back the sword, a line of blood drops splattering on the ground in its path and adding to the already large puddle.

Wait a second, he thought. Why would there be a large puddle of blood on the ground after such a small wound? He looked down, seeing possibly one of the biggest glitches he'd known in this system (outside of his own flying; which had been promptly corrected in the last duel he'd fought). The blood on the ground was so thick that it turned the smooth surface into an oil slick, and dien couldn't help but wonder why if the long-arm had lost so much blood he was still alive. It was making the whole surface stickily slippery around them, and Dien figured it would be best to get away while he could still stand.

Raquar had beat him to the task, though, and moved forward, attempting to jab Dien in the chest with the tip of his Iron Spear. His body slid forward in the blood, and as the blademaster tried to parry the spear away, he lost his own balance, slipping and falling in the crimson surface. The spear shot right over his head, and Dien quickly scrambled to get away, looking like a deer trying to run on a patch of ice moreso than a human being.

Eventually, though, he did make it out of the pool. He was covered in the blood of his opponent, but at least the ground under his feet was dry. For now, he would shift to a defensive mode. His location would remained concealed for the most part, unless Raquar could pick his silhouette out from the starry sky. Raquar, however, had a disadvantage. His eyes were now open, and the fire that literally burned inside of them would betray to Dien his position.

The stance Dien would use would be a defensive stance that he'd perfected with weeks of practice. He would face his opponent, his sword in the right hand in a diagonal line across his front. This was the best position he'd found the sword to be in, he'd found, as it made parrying a matter of thought. His legs were bent slightly at the knees, and split apart. If he needed to, this part of the form would allow for a quick shift of weight for rapid movement.

Even if Raquar were to close his eyes oncemore, his fury would likely drive him to attack once more, and Dien would be able to hear exactly where he was coming from (the whir of a spear flying through air is very distinct), and even then his silhouette would be plain against the full night sky.

SP: 10/10

Raquar stood up as feeling came back into his body. Pain coursed through his body as he stared at his mutilated arm. Looking at the stump of an arm he realized it would be hurt him more still attached to his body. Gritting his teeth in pain, Raquar swung the spear in an upwards arc. A scream wracked the air as the disembodied limb fell to the ground.

Raquar waited a moment for the pain to recede before looking around. He could see nothing but shadows, and even that was obscured by a red haze. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Raquar shoved the butt of his spear into the ground where it slipped a bit before becoming steady. He looked down in disgust at the pool of blood, but to his astonishment, it glowed a brilliant white in his filmy eyes. "So everything that isn't red appears red," Raquar growled, "and everything that is red appears white." With an gasp of glee, Raquar realized he would be able to see his opponent, who was soaked in his blood.

He looked at his severed arm thoughtfully. "That gives me an idea," Raquar muttered. Slowly tucking the spear into his left armpit he grabbed the severed hand and held it a moment. Deciding that this would probably be the last option before he died, he took his unattached arm, and made it grip the spear. Now to find Dien.

He searched the ground looking for any clues as to where his opponent might have gone. After turning quite a few times, he saw a glowing sandal print heading east from his current position. Knowing this might be his final action, he staggered in that direction.

After sluffing along for a few feet, he caught the makings of a brilliant white sphere in his peripheral vision. Turning, he saw spots of white light, which he assumed were the flecks of blood upon Dien, jacket. "Dien," Raquar called, "I want you to keep my... arm as a souvenir." "Here!" With the last of his energy, he launched his spear-holding, disembodied limb at the whiteness that was his opponent. He collapsed onto the ground, with the corners of his vision growing dark.

EDIT: 20/20 SP

OOC: Forgot SP again. Sorry.

A scream? Now why would Raquar do something like that--unless... Dien's thoughts trailed off as the source of the yell was easily recognized. The silhouette of the longarm kneeling in pain caught his eyes against the reflection of stars off the glassy surface. The distance between the two fighters made Raquar's shape no larger than the face of a dime, but it was very distinct. Silently, but hastily, Dien moved forward towards the figure, keeping his body level as it moved. With luck, Raquar would be oblivious to his movements (even if he could somehow manage to see).

The fire of the long-arm's eyes gave his position away as he approached, running full-speed towards the now disabled player. Yet, as he kneeled, he did something that surprised Dien very much. Somehow, he affixed his now severed hand to the spear, and now pulled his left arm back to throw the spear javelin-style at the approaching blademaster.

Is he mad? came the thought, and within a moment’s notice, his feet came across the slick of blood that had coated the ground from the loss of an arm, and he fell flat on his back, his cranium taking quite a beating in the process. The sound of a spear flying through the air over the ten feet of blood (definitely a bug in the game if his opponent could produce this much blood—there was more here than could have been contained in an entire human body) hit Dien’s ears, and he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the spear as it stuck itself erect into the hard, serene earth below them.

He’s a pretty good shot, Dien thought, even with his left hand; maybe he’s a lefty… Still, Dien had no time for this sort of thinking. His hand grasped at his opponent’s spear, using it to support his weight as he clambered to his feet. His Brave Sword remained at his side as he cut the fingers from the hand that remained steady on its owner’s weapon. The plop of the appendage hitting the blood-covered earth below resounded surprisingly clearly, and Dien began to walk forward towards his opponent once more, always wary of an attack, but not wanting to rush himself over this oil slick.

His intent was simple; the warrior had been disgraced, and now Dien felt that it was his only duty left to at least give the man an honorable death by the ancient Bushido code. Althought it was only the world, Dien felt he had outfought this opponent on every tactical level there was (how else could he have eliminated Raquar's arm so readily?). His sword was drawn, and a game over was at hand for the man behind Raquar.

SP: 10/10

(OOC: It was my left arm that I cut off.)

Raquar raised his head with a groan as he saw his opponent. The spear had gone right past his head leaving his opponent unharmed. "Damn!" Raquar thought, "that was my last option." As Dien approached, Raquar saw his spear gripped in Dien's left hand, and his opponent's sword in his right. It was obvious what he was going to attempt to do. He was going to send Raquar on his way by the ancient Bushido code. But Raquar was starting to get ideas.

Raquar slowly erected himself as his opponent approached. He spit blood as he spoke his last words. "Don't forget... the scroll... you dropped... *cough*" Raquar was wracked by a coughing fit. Dien drew his sword and prepared to swing, as Raquar performed his last action in this duel. As Dien's sword started to descend, Raquar's right hand darted out and affixed itself to his own spear. With a roar, he thrust the spear into his navel, then drawing it horizontally, performed the honorable suicide, hara-kiri.

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Josh's screen blacked out before he knew if Dien's last attack had struck.

EDIT: 20/20 SP

OOC: Grrr. Forgot SP again.

(OOC: we need to work on our communication skills a little more...oh, and I never actually carried your spear, I just used it for support)

"Thanks," Dien said as his opponent's body disintegrated into data, along with the blood that had coated the ground beneath him. The brilliant light of Raquar's end illuminated the area enough for him to be able to at least see the scroll, and he walked over to it, slowly recalling the events of this incredibly short fight. The stars loomed overhead as he slowly bent over to pick it up. The words "Mage's Soul" were printed very cleanly on the side, and a smirk errupted from Dien's usually stern mouth.

"'Mage's Soul,'" he read aloud, "it's really too bad I didn't need to use it." It was true. This entire battle had been fought without the aid of skill points--not even their weapons' abilities were to have been used. It truly was an interesting fight. The use of magic and special skills might have turned the outcome, or at least drawn it out a little longer. In the end, though, it was Dien's superior control of the blade that won him the KO.

Packing the scroll back into his inventory, he stood, also putting the Brave Sword back into its sheath. For a long time he stood there, just staring at the stars that surrounded him. The entire cosmos seemed to be revealed to him there, and he could not help but stare in awe at it. There were no familiar constellations, but it did not matter. The image burned itself on his brain, and with the comforting thought of the world's reality, he gated away, leaving nothing but his footprints and a crack in the hard surface.

SP: 10/10

flamingmonkey 92

Tactics: 7

Fairness: 8

SP Regulation: 10

Quality: 7

Technicality: 10

Overall: 8.4

Jpec07

Tactics; 8

Fairness: 10

SP Regulation: 10

Quality: 8

Technicality: 10

Overall: 9.4

Jpec07 wins the duel. Flamingmonkey 92, you can't really smell or have the ability to see in the dark. I considered that as a hack in my opinion.