"It's finally the time for the second round of the tournament!" Rafael shouted as he soared over the crowd gathered around the arena. They had been waiting for what seemed like months, and many of the members had grown impatient.

As Kuro walked into the ring, the impatience was remedied with hope that the battle was actually almost ready to start. Many of the cheered on the competitors, while the rest merely stood wherever they could go to watch. "Let's begin the first match of round two!" Rafael shouted, swooping down to get a better view of the fight.

OOC: Arrika gets first attack.

OoC: I'm not disqualified, am I??? Sorry, been busy, had no idea this topic was up here!

IC: Arrika stepped into the ring, her face composed and betraying no emotion. Kobas was somewhere behind her in the crowd, watching, his face probably hooded to give his eyes a even more solemn look. Rhyss had come to the last match and relayed every single point of interest of the round; Kobas had been more than disappointed and annoyed to find out that she had fought poorly, even though she had won.

"What's the point of winning if you make a fool of yourself in the process?" She murmured, echoing Kobas's lecture moments before. "Farore help me," she growled, then drew her dagger.

She charged forward, slicing at Kuro so fast that a dark flash lingered in the air long after her blade moved.

Kuro had braced himself for Arrika's swift onslaught. Unfortunately, he hadn't braced himself well enough, because Arrika's dagger catches Kuro's right cheek (19+6[roll+AGI] vs. 17+3[DEF+AGI]) dealing 8 damage to the nomad. His attempts to dodge weren't what most of the audience had expected; Kuro had tried to fall backwards, and get up in an elegant back flip. All everyone else saw though, was him getting hit and his mouth opening to release a scream of agony as he fell flat on his back.

He remained there for half a minute before Rafael began to speak. "Is he finished already?" he asked to himself. "Did that blow do it?" he asked, watching the boy intently to see if he made any movements at all. "Well, let's bring out the medical te-"

"No, wait!" Rafael had been cut off by a boy who seemed to be around 11 years old who was pointing at Kuro's seemingly lifeless body.

In a split second, Kuro's hand raised and he shot out an orb of magic at Arrika from his hand while having a wild--almost evil--grin on his injured face. The orb takes on a green color, symbolizing the element it's chosen: nature. The orb hits Arrika with full force (15+1[roll+SPI]), dealing 10 damage to the Sheikan.

"What an attack!" Rafael shouts. Clearly he had no idea of what Kuro had been plotting from the ground. "How will Arrika retaliate?"

OOC:
Arrika: HP-31, SPL-17
Kuro: HP-64, SPL-2

No, your not disqualified. I was feeling lazy so I didn't make a note that you exceeded the five day limit, so you got a lucky break.

Arrika hit the ground hard as she was struck by his magic, and it had hurt. The evil grin on his face suggested he was crazy, or at least obsessed with winning, which could possibly make him a berserker. She searched her mind for any of the tips Kobas had dug up somehow about Kuro; all that she could remember at the moment was that he had great stamina, probably twice as much as she did. She would have to win by speed and agility; but what if she ended up missing twice like the last round? No, she didn't have the time to waste that way; every move had to count if she wanted to at least have a chance at victory.

"Elemental Burst!" Arrika cried, thinking to fight magic with magic, and hoped that her element would be the most effective.

Kuro was still on the ground from Arrika's first attack, and hadn't bothered with getting up. As the burst was fired, his arms instinctively crossed each other to try resisting the magic. His attempts were to no avail, as the burst of fire reach his body before his arms could block the spell (12+2[roll+SPI]). The small bonfire did a healthy 13 damage before it dissipated, leaving Kuro with a burnt jacket and some burnt skin on his chest.

Kuro was able to hold down the scream this time, despite the pain being worse than the previous attack. He jumped up, trying to ignore the pain as best he could. He reached to the sword that was still sheathed, and gave it a small tug. It was nothing fancy; it's blade was scratched up from quite a bit of use, with a few minor blood stains on the tip that were barely noticeable.

With a small soft grunt, he lunges at Arrika, swinging his sword in a high arc above their heads, then bringing it down on her. But somehow, Arrika manages to avoid the attack completely (12+3[roll+AGI] vs. 16+6[DEF+AGI]).

OOC:
Arrika: HP-31, SPL-11
Kuro: HP-51, SPL-2

Arrika dodged with an easy sidestep, but did not feel superior or triumphant in any way; Kuro had already proved that he should not be underestimated, and she didn't want to take any more chances.

"Elemental Burst!" She cried again, wanting to cause as much damage as possible before resorting to close combat with her dagger, where she could be at a disadvantage as his blade was much longer.

Kuro doesn't even have time to raise his arms in defense at the Elemental burst. It cycles through it's possible elements before deciding upon water. It slams into Kuro with enough ferocity that he is knocked down (17+2[roll+SPI]) and he loses 13 HP.

The soaked teenager slowly stands back up. He takes a deep breath before sheathing his sword; something the crowd would not likely expect. If one looks closely, they would likely notice a few minor movements of his mouth. He's praying [Favor of the Goddesses]. The boy is surrounded by a bright light in an instant, and vanishes as quickly as it had come. The boy emerges from the light with a completely healed body. The goddesses had given the boy mercy in his situation (12+4[roll+INT] vs. 15).

OOC:
Arrika: HP-31, SPL-11
Kuro: HP-72, SPL-2

Arrika knew what was going to happen before it did. Kuro had healed himself effortlessly, and all of her own dwindling SPL had been wasted. She cursed; how could she beat someone who could undo all of her attacks?

She decided more underhanded tactics were worth a try. Her body melted away as she used Stealth, the more general Shadowmeld.

Kuro watched Arrika's body disappear from sight (16+3[roll+INT]). He sighed. How had he not thought of her doing that? She was a thief, and a skilled one at that. He sheathed his sword as he thought over his options. It would be a waste to attack now, he had no reason to heal himself, and he was not about to forfeit.

A slight grin appeared on the Nomad's mouth for a split second as he thought up his plan. His knees bent slightly and his head lifted up slightly and he looked around for where Arrika would appear. He was planning to dodge. [Dodge Check]

OOC:
Arrika: HP-31, SPL-11
Kuro: HP-72, SPL-2

The thief grinned as she disappeared before Kuro's eyes, but the expression faded back to seriousness as she saw the experienced way he handled the situation.

She whipped out her garrote and lunged toward Kuro, wrapping it around his neck so hard that she was afraid she might snap his neck instead of just rendering him unconscious. Not that snapping his neck would be a bad thing.

Arrika's grin told it all. But Kuro dodged it. He jumped back and grabbed the Garrote and pulling it making Arrika fall. Who will win?



ooc:Arrika: HP-31, SPL-11
Kuro: HP-72, SPL-2

OOC: Suko, please don't god-mod.

IC: Kuro jumped forward just in time to dodge the attack. He turned around to face Arrika, then regained a his breath. He took advantage of his dodge to charge at Arrika once more. He held the sword over his head, and brought it down toward Arrika, aiming for her shoulder, then taking a step back to analyze the results of his attack.