Joshua and Fitz's initial charge brought forth many things. The ice of the Cold Cage and the thorns from the Lord of Thorns. The two elements, began to strike at one another as their masters fought with their blade. Exchanging blows faster than the eye could see, it was a miracle for anyone to keep up. A single strike was actually 7 to them. Their blade's sharpness was evenly matched and even their footwork.Joshua stopped the blow, where Fitz kicked him back to make a gap between them. Firing his gunblade, that was formed with the body of a 1911 with an elongated blade attached to it by the hand guard.

Joshua could see the bullets, merely tilting his blade to match the ocnoming shots. Slicing them in half due to the sharpness of Ashen Phoenix alone. The bullets that were slashed exploded behind him, but Joshua did not bother to look as his thorns provided a sheet of cover to dampen the impact.

"A bulletproof sword? Guess this mean's I'll have to go in close then." Fitz vanished from sight, Joshua managed to block the attack. Seeing Fitz smirk as he was putting weight over the blade to angle his shots over to Joshua. Path of Florescence, as the thorns appeared to block off the gunfire as Joshua created a cage for himself.

Fitz clicked his tongue as he fired at the cage of thorns, only to narrowly dodge a thrust from Joshua's blade. A kick to send him flying, Fitz flipped in the air as he got close to the wall. Springing back at Joshua, firing off a few more shots. Imbued with ice into them, Joshua took steps to dodge the bullets watching them create pillars of ice.

The designs of the pillars of ice. It had human shapes to them. Human like statues that were chained and cuffed.It made it clearer for Joshua now, the Cold Cage was someone who went through something far worse than he did. The madness that was brought up the Cold Cage... He was even younger than Joshua perhaps. Joshua was 19 heading to 20 but Cold Cage? Must have been a teenager around Joshua's age when he first became a Seedling.

A battlefield of influence, so this was the set up. Joshua sheathed his blade and took his stance. Fitz began firing at him.

"The First Movement. Devil's Maw." Undrawing the blade was enough for Fitz to block it with his blade, forming entire blocks ice between him and Joshua. Watching the ice shatter as the strike caused him to hit the wall. A shot went after Joshua which sent him flying to the wall as well.

A chip on his health was dropped as a result, but it has been a while since an attack pierced his endurance but it seems that even Fitz had this as well. Their stats, may or may not be similar but even so. Joshua cannot back down. Charging straight into Fitz's firing range without much thought. Fitz then drew another gunblade, firing both of them at Joshua.

"I normally keep both of them a secret... But it seems I have to use both. You pushed me quite well. Say, do you ever play games when you were a kid?"

"RPGs." Joshua answered as he pulled out Thanatos's Blade.

"Never pictured you for a fantasy type."

"Guess you went through hell too, to become the Cold Cage." Joshua's words turned that grin on Fitz's face to a scorn.

"Fuck. You!" Fitz began firing at Joshua it seemed as if he didn't need to reload at all but each shot was leaving pillars of ice all around him. Those words were not meant to be offensive, did Fitz go through something that turned him into nothing but a ruthless killer? The madness that he had brought?

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Fitz began to rampage, unleashing his element of ice in various shapes to strike Joshua, they took shape of humans in suits and dresses, wielding gunblades to strike him.Joshua countered them as he wielded his gunblade, it seems that despite Fitz's name as the Cold Cage he was far too easily provoked.

"Fitz!"

"Shut up!" Joshua sheathed Ashen Phoenix, as he used Fluorescent Rage to compliment with Path of Florescence. Increasing his damage potential, though he cut down the ice shaped humans. They left a residual cold over him, it was depleting his stamina. Collecting energy into his veins.

"Ancient of Summer's Blessing, Vermillion Flames!" Joshua punched the ground, erupting a fire that circled him. Seeing his stamina slowly recover as he popped a potion. Fitz put the gunblades away as he took some potions too. Mana potions to refill his MP as he readied the pair of gunblades.

Firing at Joshua's surroundings, Joshua rolled to the side, watching the bullets form a cage with pillars that closed in. A strategy to crush opponents before they could escape. The pillar crashed into themselves within a second. Fitz fired off more of the ice pillars to cage Joshua up, this time firing the entire area.

"Ancient of Winter's Blessing, The Dragon's Path." Joshua whispered as the cage and pillars shattered. For what would a cage hold a beast such as Bayran into a cage. Though there was that time when Joshua pulled out the Cherry Blossoms from his body that kept him in pain for half a millennium.

Joshua went straight after Fitz, who amassed the ice all around him to stop Joshua. The pillars began to flip around with the humans carrying chains to bind Joshua. They manage to bind him as Joshua gazed into Fitz's eyes. Crying as he smiled.Pointing the gun at Joshua with glee, but his eyes spoke sadness. It was like the madness Joshua had became during his first lost to the Outsiders and the HDF.

"The Cold Cage. You sure live up to your name... But Fitz." Joshua broke through the binds as he grabbed Fitz and hugged him.

"Where are you!? Are you in a duel with the Lord of Thorns!? Or are you in your personal hell?! Which is it!?" Fitz snapped out of it as he kicked Joshua back.

Gasping for air, as his ice shattered away, leaving a mist that blanketed the entire area.

"Sorry... Sorry. I know this was supposed to be a PvP but.."

"It's fine... But those humans? Did you turn them into that?"

"My trial was to be the one to kill my friends and family that became enslaved... Then I was given the title of Cold Cage. What about you?"

"Lost everything in a blink of an eye. Stayed in my personal hell for 3 years, but... I doubt that matters. We both still have to fight."

"Thanks.. For what it's worth.. Taking me seriously." Fitz said as he crossed his gunblades together. Forming thousands of spears of ice at Joshua.

"If you're calm. It'll be easier to fight. You were draining your mana like no tomorrow."

"If I lose, I may not have a tomorrow." Fitz said as the spears of ice went at Joshua, another cast of Vermillion Flames where the thorns formed walls around Joshua, unleashing petals of red that burned the ice, creating more steam. Engulfing themselves to this battle, they were going to have to go at it with all that they had.

Joshua used Shimmering Gale to weave through the attacks, this time wearing the ice skates he got from Mulligan to help keep his footing considering how much ice Fitz had generated. The burning petals of red would buy him time, but ice was Fitz's element. This put Joshua at a disadvantage.

The fight was not going smoothly nor was it going poorly. A stalemate of sorts.

"Ancient of Springs, Divine Wind." The wind blew away the mist that was blanketing them, Fitz had created sharks of ice that began to roam on the floor, firing his gunblade to cast more of them. He directed the sharks with the wave of his gunblade, as if leading them to their prey. Sharks in ice, he could barely see anything from the floor aside from his thorns.

Joshua raised his right hand as the thorns formed into griffins that dived to strike after the sharks. Fitz's firing unleashed sharks directly out of his gunblade. Joshua sliced one in half with Shimmering Gale, watching how the shark that was cut in half be repaired by the mist, forming into two new ones.

Brilliant control of magic with multi tasking powers.

"So you played a lot of strategy when you were younger. Makes sense to why you can micromanage everything."

"I guess that's a dead give away. I've always liked Summoner classes. I get to work with a familiar in a fight." Fitz spoke with a smile. The two sides readied their weapons and their elements took form of beasts.