Isaak POV
Things had just settled down around the haven, the Empress and her ladies, and almost all the drakewardens had just left towards the horizon, leaving them with two drakewardens who were apparently supposed to be tending to the eggs they had given to Vitmori. Speaking of Vitmori, it looks like he walks among them now. Isaak wasn't too sure what to make of the man; he had listened to the few stories Zasutir had shared of Vitmori's world and the things Vitmori had to survive. Yet, when he saw him, yeah, he could see what Zasutir talked about; the pressure he exuded was on par with veteran adventurers and even paladins of the church he had seen passing by while serving as a guard. Despite the kindness Vitmori displayed, Isaak felt that something was off; he felt Vitmori was far too put together for a man who had slaughtered thousands of undead and slain several dozen men and women. Isaak couldn't even imagine the burden of killing another sentient being, let alone the supposed kill count Vitmori managed to accrue.
It unnerved him, though; at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder how strong someone would have to be to achieve the feats he had heard about, especially as a human in a world without mana. Though as he set up by the old fireplace outside to start sharpening his blade, he spotted a crowd forming as Vitmori and Reonim left the longhouse. The duo made their way into a clearing and started talking, though the fact that people were beginning to cluster around had piqued his curiosity. Making his way over, he sidled up beside Cinco and spoke up. "What's going on here?" He asked in a hushed tone while crossing his arms.
Cinco flashed a grin as he looked at Isaak and was quick to explain. "It seems we're about to get a demonstration on how Vitmori fights." He said as his ears waggled with anticipation, though Cinco looked vaguely startled for a moment but immediately relaxed as the very earth shifted, a sort of sparring ring with a fence forming in mere moments, separating the people from the duo.
Isaak glanced over at Cinco curiously. "You okay?" He asked as the others started to spread out more evenly around the quickly formed ring.
Cinco flashed a bit of a smile. "Yeah, sorry, I just felt the ground shifting; I didn't realize Vitmori could shape the earth so quickly without chanting or preparing a spell. I wasn't expecting it at all." He explained before looking back to the forming spectacle.
Isaak nodded intently, deciding to step closer and watch the fight as closely as he could manage, his hands resting on the stone fence, though he quickly realized he found himself next to Miriam, who seemed to notice him at the same time and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Isaak." She said quietly with a small hand wave.
Isaak choked on his words for longer than a moment but smiled in response. "Hey, Miri..." He said with a smile on his face.
"And where's my 'hey'?" Trisha asked with an amused look on her face as she peeked around from the other side of Miriam before settling against the stone fence.
He didn't even realize she was there and cleared his throat. "Hey Trisha, what are you all up to?" He asked as he managed to properly collect himself now that he had a topic to focus on, glancing over at Reonim and Vitmori as they seemingly discussed some more, having waved Zasutir over.
Trisha grinned as she looked out at Vitmori and Reonim. "Well, I gotta see how Vitmori fights so I can get an idea of what sort of weapons he uses. I'm the one who'll be equipping him after all." She explained before gesturing over at Sylvia, who was on the other end of the ring, standing with Zasutir. "She's likely doing the same regarding what sort of armor would suit him best." She mentioned before settling on the stone fence again.
Miriam nodded intently at Trisha before looking over to Isaak. "Vitmori asked me to outfit all those in his service; that likely means Vitmori himself, so I'm gonna get his measurements once he's done." She explained as she clapped her hands together. "Besides, it might be fun to watch. There's not much to do by way of entertainment nowadays, and watching your sparring sessions are always good to pass the time with." She enthused cheerfully.
Isaak nodded before looking away as he could feel his cheeks burn at the idea that Miriam had been watching him get his butt handed to him most days to pass the time. "I... I see." He replied slowly before focusing on Vitmori and Reonim.
"Are you sure you don't want armor? I know this is just a spar, but why take the hit if you don't need to?" Vitmori asked Reonim as he looked up at the bullkin.
Reonim offered a confident smile. "I appreciate the concern Vitmori; however, I'll be protected without armor." He stated before continuing as he noticed Vitmori's confused expression. "It's called barkskin, though I can actually go up to stoneskin thanks to you improving my manaheart." Though at Vitmori's continued confusion, he decided to explain a little more. "My mana flows through my body and forms a protective shield in my skin, it takes effort to maintain, but it can protect a warrior if they're caught out of armor or reinforce what armor they have."
At that, Vitmori nodded in understanding. "I see, so I won't worry too much about holding back." He said with amusement as he held out his hands, piles of stone falling from seemingly out of nowhere. He then plunged his hands into the stone, he first drew out what looked like a blunt dagger, tucking it into the waistband of his clothes, next drawing out what looked to be five stones in the shape of throwing knives, tucking those away in his sleeve when he then drew out a stone short sword. "You use an oversized great sword, right?" Vitmori asked as he shaped the remaining stone into a weapon similar to one that Reonim is usually seen carrying before handing it off with a little bit of a struggle. "Damn, I really don't want to be hit by that." Vitmori mentioned with a grin. Reonim responded with a chuckle as he hefted the stone blade onto his shoulder.
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Zasutir spoke up once it appeared Vitmori and Reonim were readied. "Alright, we shall have a good, clean fight. The terms of victory are as follows..." He started to say, gesturing to Reonim first. "If Reonim is able to hit Vitmori three times, he wins." Zasutir then gestured over to Vitmori. "If Vitmori is able to knock Reonim off his feet, he wins." With the rules established, Zasutir snapped his fingers before calling out. "Begin!"
At the command, Reonim moved deceptively fast, swinging the massive stone sword in a wide horizontal arc; Vitmori seemed to just barely duck under the swing, having dropped to his hands and knees before rolling to his feet as Reonim brought down a follow-up vertical swing which dented the earth where Vitmori was just moments ago. Vitmori retaliated by flinging out two stone-throwing knives, their dulled edges impacting along Reonim's forearm and wrist, earning a wince from the bullkin as he retaliated with the greatsword in a downward diagonal swing towards Vitmori.
Vitmori moved to dodge, but the sheer wind pressure of the stone blade sent Vitmori tumbling to his hands and knees as he fell to the side. The man had a rather surprised expression on his face from what happened, though it was immediately replaced by an amused grin as he got to his feet. Now drawing his stone short sword, he decided to close the distance with a fierce lunge.
Reonim reacted quickly again, bringing his greatsword around and smashing Vitmori's sword with a downwards vertical slash, following it up with a hard kick to Vitmori's chest while he was vulnerable in the interrupted lunge, which sent the man flying against the stone fence.
The stone fence held against the impact as Vitmori pushed off the fence and got back to his feet, seemingly fine after the impact. "So that's how it's done." He exclaimed to nobody in particular, taking out the stone dagger he tucked away and fusing the remains of the stone blade into the dagger, making the knife a little longer but not quite the same length as the short sword it was before.
Reonim respectfully allowed Vitmori to gather himself before lunging forward, the wind starting to swirl visibly around the stone blade as he did a wide overhead swing, bringing the sword down on Vitmori.
Though instead of dodging away from the blade this time, Vitmori dramatically picked up speed, leaning into the winds of the sword before sliding between Reonim's legs while smacking the stone knife against the bullkin's calves. Though as Vitmori went to get back to his feet, he stumbled and rolled, losing his footing as the speed burst he managed to use a moment ago appeared to run out and ruined his momentum.
Reonim was quick on the backswing, pivoting on one of his hooves as he brought the stone sword down on Vitmori. However, he was anticipating Vitmori to have moved faster to avoid the swing; instead, there was a resounding crack and a sickening crunch as Reonim cleaved through Vitmori's waist.
Screams of panic were heard from the crowd as Isaak's skin went cold, wondering if he just witnessed a death. This was supposed to be a sparring match between two great warriors; how could it have gone this badly?!
Reonim looked relatively calm for someone who just killed someone, though Zasutir was quick to move, leaping over the stone fence and hurrying over to Vitmori's broken body. "Vitmori! Vitmori, are you okay?" He asked as he grabbed Vitmori's torso by the shoulder, turning him around.
Surprisingly, Vitmori responded quickly enough as he sighed audibly. "Damn, I thought I had a chance in the end..." He said, disappointment clear in his voice before he seemed to focus on the moment and looked over to Zasutir. "Whoa, hey, when did you get here?" He asked curiously before furrowing his brows. "Why can't I feel my legs?" He asked, much to Zasutir's apparent confusion as the lizardkin stammered a bit. Being somewhat propped up by Zasutir, Vitmori looked down at himself and seemed somewhat surprised. "Ah... That's why I can't feel my legs... Huh, well, I suppose that's my loss." He said as he looked over at Reonim before glancing up to Zasutir. "Do you mind... Er... Bringing my legs over? I think I should be able to reattach them myself."
Zasutir still looked rather confused but nodded as he gingerly laid Vitmori on his back when he stepped away, going over and grabbing the lower half of Vitmori's body. Though as Zasutir grabbed one of the legs, he immediately realized what was going on as he looked at the others. "He's made of wood. He'll be fine." He explained as he brought the legs over, flipping them around right side up before lining them up to Vitmori's torso.
Reonim looked over at the others who had been watching the fight and quirked a brow curiously. "Did you all not know he was made of wood?" He asked, plunging the end of the large stone sword into the dirt and leaning against it as he seemed rather relaxed despite cleaving a man in half just a few moments ago.
The others needed a moment to wind back down, the shock and subsequent reveal having been a jarring spin of emotions as they now lingered to watch Vitmori put himself back together with morbid curiosity. Vitmori, for his part, set about reconnecting his torso with his legs. Threads of solid wood started reaching out from his waist and had made contact with his legs, similar threads stretching out at that point as the legs were slowly scooted through the dirt until they fused back together. Within moments he managed to start wiggling his toes before pushing up to his feet; he wobbled for a moment, nearly losing his balance, though he caught himself quickly enough before approaching Reonim and holding his hand out. "You were excellent; thank you for showing me how much I've got to work on." He said with a cheerful smile as Reonim gladly met his hand and shook it.
Isaak simply shook his head at the sight before looking over to Miriam and Trisha, addressing Trisha in particular. "Well, what did you make of all that?"
Trisha seemed vaguely unnerved before looking over to Isaak and shrugging a bit. "Not sure. From what I could tell, Vitmori isn't particularly weak, but Reonim simply outclassed him in overall ability." She considered, gradually collecting herself as she spoke. "I think Vitmori likes to be quick on his feet, preferring small blades and throwing knives based on what he made for himself. However, I have a feeling that is what he resorted to using out of convenience. Ultimately, I'll have to ask him what he would like for himself." She explained as she pushed away from the stone fence.
Miriam seemed to have calmed down from earlier, looking rather embarrassed as she was one of the few to have screamed after seeing Vitmori get cleaved in two. "I think I would like to see less dismemberment in sparring matches. Otherwise, it was quite an impressive display from Reonim." She said with a small smile before looking over at Vitmori. "Not to dismiss Vitmori or anything, he performed valiantly against a much more powerful opponent. I'm certain it is only a matter of time until he is able to fight on par with a warrior like Reonim." She expressed encouragingly, though Isaak wasn't sure who she was trying to support since Vitmori was off talking with Reonim while cleaning up the sparring ring. The earth and stone shifted as it all started to sink into the ground; Trisha nearly fell over as she failed to notice the fence disappearing until it was almost too late.
Isaak smirked with amusement at Trisha having to catch herself, though he looked back over at Vitmori and Reonim. Some small part of him felt confident that he could probably take on Vitmori as he is right now. Though another part of him had to wonder; if Reonim was that strong, how powerful was Basti if she managed to slaughter Reonim before he could put up a proper fight?