Raygin Vs Aro

It was such a nice day. The sun was high in the sky, the temperature was nice and warm. Everything was just…well…swell. There was not a cloud in the sky which was blue as a robins egg. It was a perfect day to be walking, to be traveling. It was Wednesday of some month that really did not matter, but it was spring. And since it was spring, animals where horny. Squirrels were running around humping one another, foxes were frolicking, deer were fighting over mates. Spring was the season for love.

Raygin let out a yawn as he pocked the smaller fire he had made in front of him. There was not much of it left since he made it last night so there was a large amount of ash left at the bottom of the fire place. Raygin had a small pot in his hand held over the fire. Inside of it was a small amount of chunky looking stew. Bits of herbs and rabbit meat in a chunky yellow stew boiled inside it. Ray smiled as he took a whiff of it. It smelt ready. Breakfast was going to be good. Raygin pulled the pot back and picked up a bowl he had sitting beside him. He poured he stew into the bowl and placed the pot on the ground. Ray pulled out a spoon from his pocket and began to eat. The stew was warm and had a somewhat sweet taste to it. Maybe it was because of the herbs Raygin had put into it. The rabbit meat was small and dark so it was a tad bit tough, so it made it far tastier than it should have been.

Ray took a few bites with his spoon before he drank the rest of it. ”Mmmmmmm” Raygin said as he whipped a little stream dripping from his lip. He licked it off the back of his hand and smiled. It wasn’t much of a breakfast but it was at least something in his stomach. Raygin lifted the bowl up and started to clean it out with his tongue and spoon, getting whatever was left. After finishing his leftovers Ray grabbed one of his three canteens and started to wash his pot and bowl out. He smiled after he finished and took a swig of his water. He placed the clean yet wet things into his back and then stood up.

Raygin was wearing his Iron Armor instead of his usual clothes. He had been coming home from a job that had taken him a good distance south. Some farmers were having trouble with a Jaggi pack, so Ray had decided to head down and help them. He was not a member of any guild, so he had heard about this from rumors and asking people if they had heard anything lately. It had taken Ray three days to get their by foot and only a day to take care of the problem. The Jaggi pack were nothing but the E-class versions, the little raptors. No females or alpha males to deal with. So the job had been easy and netted Raygin a fair amount of jewels…that he ended up spending on extra food. This was probably not the smartest idea, but he had spent a good part of it to dine in a local restaurant. Oh gosh did Raygin love food from restaurants. What was it he got again? Chicken with melted cheese all over it. Wow it was good. Just remembering it made Raygins tongue salivate and brought a smile to his face.

Raygin reached down and picked up his pack and put it on his back. Boy was it heavy. But luckily he had not brought his usual surplus of supplies. The heavier things he had where his armor, his pack, his tent, bedroll, and his sword. His sword was strapped to his waist in its sheath. The young man poured some of his canteen water on his fire to put it out and started to walk. Raygin couldn’t help but smile as he began to travel again. Within a few hours he would be at his house, be able to put everything away, and take a nice nap on his soft bed. Oh it was going to be so nice. Raygin smiled as he thought about it. What was he going to have for lunch? He knew he would be home by at least lunch time. There was that river behind Raygins apartment so he COULD fish himself up some riverfood. Or Ray could hunt for some venison…or maybe some squirrel. Actually, he could just have some instant noodles. Something easy and tasty rather than something difficult and more filling.

Ray did not have his typical cloak on, nor did he have his usual bandages covering his scarred arms or face. In this armor he really did not need to cover his arms, no the three claw marks on his face where the only visible scars right now. His long hair was tied in a extremely thick pony tail and went down to his waist. Raygin had been considering cutting it, but it always grew back extremely quickly. Still, having long hair was problematic and often made Raygin look more homeless than he really was. So, Ray decided to do it. He decided to cut his hair when he got home. It would be for the best. Raygin grinned, having both lunch planned and what else to do when he got home rather than nap. ”Today is going to be a good day!” Raygin chuckled.

He walked for a few more minutes, enjoying the day, when he noticed something up the road. A man. From what Ray could tell this man was…tall. He was still a good couple of yards (35) away from him, but Raygin could see him. He had shoulder length black hair and something about him oozed overconfidence. Ray didn’t know why, but his body seemed to tense up. It was something of a natural body reaction to situations that might be dangerous. Seeing a single man on the road was always something to at least be wary of. He could be a bandit, he could even have comrades hiding nearby. He might even be a pickpocket, or worse! A cannibal. Raygin still had a relaxed air about him, even a cheerful face, but his body was tensed up as each step brought him closer to the man. When they were close enough Raygin waved and said ”Morning friend! It’s a nice day today isn’t it? Not a cloud in the sky, animals are all about looking for mates, the plants are budding anew. Spring is in the air isn’t it?” Raygin said. That…was a lot for a simple greeting. Raygin over talked, a lot. He was social awkward and ended up saying far more than he should have.

There was no sort of response on Rays face to what Aro had said. Something about this man was off. He was intimidating, standing a few inches higher than Raygin and looking like he never took showers. But this man was something…odd. He had an evil aura about him so Ray just had to curse his luck a bit. Here he had thought that he had met someone nice enough to have a little chat with, well maybe a bad guy liked to talk? It wasn’t impossible right? Heic, maybe this guy would even share some of his food with Raygin? Well it seemed that was not going to be the case, sadly. Raygin was always looking for new friends and it seemed this guy was not going to be one of them.

"The animals are looking for mates, true. A pair of mating squirrels is currently being destroyed by my internal acids. You should probably get lost." Oh boy did Aro just set himself up right there. He did two things; he gave Ray a opening to make a stupid joke and second he looked down on Ray. Only people actually stronger than Ray could look down on him. ”Wait, you have a pair of squirrels…mating…inside you? What does that make you? A love hotel?” Raygin asked with a smile. Aro would find that Raygin did not move even when Aro asked him to. Raygin wasn’t going to move either. Aro issued a challenge in a way, and if anybody was going to move it was going to be Aro.

Ray smelt something. It was a familiar stench that caused Raygin to become even more tense. Blood. This mans leather armor smelt like blood. Ray could see the leather and ene noticed something else. One of this mans arms bore a gauntlet. So, this guy was armed? Good to know in case he tried to rob Ray. Raygin still had his friendly smile on and said ”No, please, after you.” This meant something. No was a response to Aro telling Ray to get lose. After you was implying that Aro was the under dog here and so he should be the one to get lost. Ray was too nice to say something that blunt but he had no problem saying something like that.

Hitpoints: 175
Stamina: 30 / 30

Raygin narrowed his eyes when Aro spoke. It seemed the male seemed to strike a nerve or piss him off. Shame, Raygin was looking forward to having a new friend. But sometimes things just did not work out like they were supposed to. "I came across two squirrels in the forest not an hour ago. They were mating, and I tore them apart from each other. I reveled in the heartbreak at the unlucky male who hadn't finished, and tore into their flesh, raw, leaving nothing but bones and fur." So...this dude...ate two mating squirrels without even cooking them? Was this guy an idiot!? You did not eat animals raw! It ruins the taste! Not only that the squirrels could have been carrying diseases!

"Did he finish inside you?" Raygin asked before blinking. He noticed the arm go back and the words and the circle, but was unable to react properly to what just happened. Aros fist slammed into Rays forhead and did it hurt. Well, it wasn't this agonizing pain but the little spikes didn't help. Aro did not possess the physical strength to actually do any major damage to Raygin, but his attack caught Raygin off guard for sure. Aro would feel his still connected fist being pushed back by Rays head. Rays arm shot like a viper and grabbed a hold of Aros gauntlet. It was a nice gauntlet, that was for sure. Raygin moved the gauntlet from his face, and boy was he mad. A nice red spot on his forehead from where the gauntlet hit. "So you wanna fight!?" Raygin shouted before tugging on Aros arm. The man was taller than Ray, but the shorter man was clearly alot stronger. That tug would pull Aro in, right into Rays own fist. When he tugged Aro he had brought his fist back and slugged the man right in the face.

Aro did not have the processing speed to be able to dodge the punch. Rays speed was naturally greater than Aros as well as his strength. The same thing Aro did to Ray, Ray did to Aro plus some additional power. Raygin released Aro and looked at the man. They were still in close quarters combat range, so Ray decided to cut Aro down to size. Raygin drew Townsaver and held the point towards his opponent. Raygin then used his natural higher speed than Aro and rushed him. The distance between them was sparse, so Aro was going to have to do something to be able to dodge Raygins stab. Ray was going to run Aro through, end this fight right here. Ray wasn't going to let this man deprive him of a good meal and a haircut.

Hitpoints: 160
Stamina: 29 / 30

The metal gauntlet struck out and hit Ray in the face, causing a little damage but not too much. The pain wouldn't be too great. However, before Aro could pull his arm back from the punch, Ray grabbed his arm quite firmly. Immediately, the red cloaked man realized that he may have bitten off more than he could chew. His arm was quite firmly locked down and helpless as Ray moved the spiked glove from his face, revealing little more than a little redness where it had struck him, and a scowl of distaste. "You wanna fight?" Aro felt himself get pulled forward forcibly, and saw the other man wind his arm back for a large punch much like Aro himself had performed just a few seconds ago.

With the obvious difference in strength, Ray's punch would probably hurt a bit more than Aro's punch, even though Aro had struck out with metal instead of flesh. Weakly he brought up his right arm to cushion the damage of the blow, but he was still struck firmly in the face, then released from the stronger man's grip. {21 - (15/2)blocking - 4 armor reduction = 10 damage} Ray drew the sword that he had threateningly placed his hand on earlier. It was a simple blade, pretty boring in Aro's opinion, but it looked pretty well made, even though it also seemed as it had quite a few years of use on it. Aro had really made this guy mad, it seemed, which could be very problematic.

Ray charged, blade extended, ready to run it straight through Aro's armor and flesh. "Air Make: Claw" A claw of wind surrounded the metal gauntlet on Aro's left hand which then struck outwards again. As Ray was charging blindly, maybe he'd be expecting a dodge or a block, but that wasn't going to be effective in this situation. Aro was going for mutually assured destruction, more of a draw than a victory in this clash of blades. Ray's blade was aimed pretty low, going for Aro's gut, and Aro's hand was much higher up, aimed for Ray's solar plexus, the center of balance.

Ray would strike Aro, his blade gliding through the light armor and cutting deep into flesh. {21 damage} Ray also would run into Aro's arm, whose extended arm was longer than Ray's by a little bit, making avoidance near impossible if he wanted to actually score a good hit. With his reckless rush, he'd find it very difficult to react to the sudden claw of wind and still be able to cut as deep into Aro as he did. The claw of wind wasn't too damaging on it's own (10 damage if hit) but the real surprise would be the force of the wind that would blast Ray back two feet.

Normally, strength that was higher than the damage potential of the claw would be able to resist the knock back effect, however due to the crazed charge due to the anger that Raygin was feeling, he would most likely not even think to dig his feet in and try and tank the knock back effect of the claw. He didn't even know that the claw would throw him back, so he couldn't very well react to it without knowing that it was there. As he was thrown back suddenly, as well as cut into by the claw, it would be very possible that he let go of his sword. If he did, then Aro would fling it to the side after removing it from his body. If he didn't let go, then it was pulled out of Aro and wouldn't matter anymore anyways.

In the entire exchange, Aro's right hand remained under the red cloak, completely hidden and not contributing at all. After Ray was thrown back, or not, the hand came out to reveal a gun with three barrels. "Bringing a blade to a gun fight, usually doesn't help your cause." If Raygin had resisted the knock back effect of the claw somehow, a point blank bullet to the chest would get him away, and if he had been thrown backwards, a bullet travelling at 40 speed would hit him before he knew what was happening (30 damage if hit). The bullets would hurt twice as much as the punch from before, and would be aimed at Ray's exposed legs, causing a fair amount of discomfort if hit.

HP: 144/175
Stamina: 23/35 (-5 Air Make: Claw)

Ray was hit, hard, causing him and his sword to go flying backwards. Usually the effect would only push someone back two feet, however he was so off balance by his reckless charge that he tumbled head over heels multiple times, leaving him a good distance away. This didn't stop the bullet from cutting deep into his leg, causing a fair amount of pain. The man yelled out in pain, revealing him to not be one who could tank pain. He might have a fair amount of armor that would allow him to receive less pain, however he was not someone who was able to take a lot of it. Ray stood up, gritting his teeth and revealing the toll that the damage had done to him.

Aro, too, was starting to get weaker. He had a sweat coating his body and his breathing was a little bit quicker. The constant magic spells were taking a serious toll on him. If he didn't stop for a rest soon, he might burn himself out, which would only lead to defeat. Standing there, they both worked on catching their breath before Ray charged. For some odd reason, he kept the sword low to the ground, in such a way that it would have been utterly useless for any sort of attack in the way that it was currently pointed. Just what was he planning to do? Ram the hilt into Aro's gut? That wouldn't be very effective...

The distance between the two men got closer until it was around five feet. Suddenly, Ray lifted up the sword and a big energy blast went out. A wizard?? Luckily, Aro's arm was already close to the path of this attack. Throwing his hand to the side, the Air Claw struck the Energy Slash and, because of how close the damage potentials were, both spells were simply cancelled out in a burst of light and wind. In that burst of distracting dust, Ray was suddenly in close range, his sword cutting down deep into Aro's gun arm. {21 damage} Once again, his armor was helpless against the sword and did nothing for him.

The body instinctively retracts from pain, it's an exploitable weakness that many martial artists are taught. Whether it is being exploited or not, places where pain is exerted are made to move away without any conscious action made by the brain. This would happen to Aro, as the sword cut into his flesh unexpectedly. Immediately bringing his hand backwards to try and get away from the pain that he was feeling. As a result, Ray would have to reach a fair amount of distance to grab the gun arm's wrist. He would successfully grab it, no question, as he was faster by a fair margin, however, he'd put himself at a disadvantage.

Reaching so far past Aro to grab his wrist would cause him to have to pivot his chest and lean forwards, especially because his arms were smaller than Aro's. This would leave his chest puffed out and facing Aro's gauntlet arm but also, more importantly, leave his legs spread wide apart. Before Ray could try and awkwardly raise up his sword from such an inconvenient angle, Aro swung his foot upwards, catching Ray in a very unfortunately unarmored location. Right in between the spread out legs was the place where Aro's foot hit with a fairly strong blow. (15 damage)

Ray had already shown that he was no masochist, he had yelled out in pain at the gunshot wound earlier. Being hit in such a sensitive place would be no laughing matter. It wouldn't do as much damage as the bullet from earlier, but his leg would already be sore and in pain from that bullet. Adding to that pain would probably send him over the edge. He had no particular skill in resisting pain, so it would be near impossible for him to ignore the sudden pain in one of the most sensitive regions, most likely resulting in him letting go of Aro's wrist in order to clutch at himself or double over in pain.

Taking advantage of his weakened opponent, Aro quickly, and painfully, moved his gun arm to double tap Ray in the chest. (30 base damage -8 armor reduction +4 armor penetration = 26 damage x2) It kinda hurt to move the arm, as the sword had dealt a highly damaging attack to it, and the armor that had been covering it had been useless. Still, grunting his way through the pain, Aro had directed the gun a little bit to strike out at Ray while he was yet in pain. It was this sort of attack that was highly looked down upon in most societies, but Aro didn't care. Fighting dirty was just another way of getting the upper hand, and if it wasn't clear before, it might be blatantly obvious that Aro was in a Dark Guild for that reason, so he didn't have to play by the rules.

HP: 123/175
Stamina: 20/35 (-1 extra gunshot, -1 Air Make: Claw continuation)

Notes: Air Make: Claw has been ended because of Energy Slash

There's no such thing as foul play, as all is fair in love and war. Raygin had been beat down by Aro, left on the ground in agony and then, to add even more injury, had been shot in the chest twice. Struggling to breathe, struggling to stand, and his face completely red with absolute fury, Ray shouted obscenities before dragging his sword forwards in a massive slash of energy. This one was bigger than the last one, but that didn't mean that Aro was caught completely off guard. Once again, Ray attempted to do the same thing, block Aro's vision with the slash as it connected. This tactic wouldn't work twice, at least, it wouldn't work completely the second time.

The big slash of energy did connect with Aro's chest and face, but what Ray didn't account for was the fact that the slash would send him skidding backwards a little bit. {15 damage} Ray's sword had a fair amount of reach, so he was still in range of the targeted shoulder, however it wouldn't be as solid a hit as he thought. As the edge of the sword cut into the flesh of the shoulder, a surge of wind met the blade. {21 damage} "Air Make: Jet Stream" What had Aro done? Using considerable speed, his elbow had snapped forwards and his gauntlet was now wrapped around the blade.

The gauntlet was over top leather gloves, so the combined weapon and armor value covering Aro's hand would keep the blade from being able to just slide right through them like butter. Aro was gripping the blade so tight that it actually was actually resting on the leather glove, being fully covered by the metal of the gauntlet on all sides. As Ray tried to pull the sword out of Aro's shoulder to keep the combo going, he'd have a bit of a hard time. Normally it would be easy for Ray to do so, however there were a few factors in Aro's favor. The first of which was Ray's encumbrance.

Ray was currently wearing quite heavy armor, 66 pounds of it. With his lifting strength of 105, he currently could only lift 39 pounds. If he hadn't taken off his gear, he'd be absolutely useless right now by how much he was bogged down by everything, but luckily for him he had relieved himself of the burden. Either way, Ray was not strong enough to lift up the entirety of Aro's body, and as stated before, his blade didn't really have the cutting power to cut through the entirety of Aro's armored hand. The second factor in Aro's favor was the more important one; Ray was tired.

That last slash had taken a lot out of him, and now they were both on equal grounds, breathing heavily and sweating a lot. Breathing was difficult for them both, and physics was on Aro's side. It was harder to get an object to move against resistance than it is for the item to remain at rest, and though Ray was stronger, he was trying to lift Aro's entire body up now, instead of just his sword. Aro was holding down six pounds, and Ray was trying to lift up 125 pounds, more than his normal max lifting strength. In short, Aro wasn't budging and Ray was pretty stuck.

He could try and force his blade farther into Aro's flesh, but that wouldn't be entirely effective as Aro had the leverage of his elbow being propped up against his side to act against more force. Also, Ray would have to either push down with one hand, which would be difficult, or push down with two hands, which would put him in an awkward pose, with his blade trapped the way it was. Truly the only thing that could be done, which was a logical thing to do, would be to pull the blade backwards, sliding out of Aro's shoulder and out of the grip of the gauntlet. That would, however, take a fair amount of time as well as a very specific directional pull that Aro could shift his hand to slow down the rate of success.

The real question could be, why would Aro do that? It was simple. By reacting to the cut in his arm, and using his gauntlet that was already in the path of the blade to counterattack, especially with the added boost of speed, Aro had created an opening. He wasn't aware that Ray planned to perform a combination attack, or that he had stopped it from happening, but he did know that Ray's arm was stuck for even just a split second as he tried to pick up the sword and the red cloaked man. Two more gunshots rang out, the first in the leg, and the second, the battle ender, in the face. {30 base damage x2}

Ray would fall to the ground, overcome by the pain of the bullets ripping through his flesh yet again. Shrugging off the blade that was stuck in his gauntlet, and leaving it next to the unconscious body, Aro slowly limped his way to the stream that he had been at just a few minutes before. Plopping down and taking his fill of the cool water, he let it simply run over his wounds and let the ache wash away. When he felt rested from a few moments of laying down, he began to wash his armor and buff out the dents and cuts into it. It would need more work at home, so abandoning the mission he made his way back. Maybe... Maybe I shouldn't have been so feisty against a random traveler. If he had any sort of guild, they might be after me."

HP:87
Stamina: 14/35 (-5 Air Make: Jet Stream)