A Spar to Remember

A Spar to Remember
Quietly moving through the bustling streets of Crocus was a somewhat odd individual, wearing a black cloak with his face being covered by the black hood over his head, that seemed to be searching for a specific place. Occasionally, he would glance at a small piece of paper in his hand that had some scribbled words written on it. Numerous people who walked by him all couldn't help but stare at his rather suspicious appearance that wasn't a common sight for those that lived in this area but minded their own business whenever the man would take notice and turn their direction.

A tired sigh escaped the man's mouth as he had gotten used to the treatment by now. "This is all that damned council's fault. If those pests would just leave me alone, I wouldn't have to hide my face in public like this. That lunatic Sophia isn't helping this either, what with trying to chase me down for several hours. Anyway, where is this gym that Lindsey told me about? Her directions are simple enough and yet I still can't find it..."

Ludius Grande Di Tetsuya, the infamous guild master of the independent guild Dawn Horizon had been on the run once again from the Magic Council, who always seemed to have extra time on their hands to track him down. After he had escaped and blended in with the crowd, his focus had been turned towards finding the supposed owner of a gym located somewhere in Crocus that Lindsey, one of his guild mates and information broker, had told him about. The rumor surrounding this gym owner, who was supposed to be quite a skillful combatant, was enough to spur Tetsuya's desire to recruit more powerful mages into his guild ablaze and he set out on this needlessly long journey across Crocus to find her. The chase hadn't been easy but he had finally narrowed down the general location by asking, albeit discretely, anyone who he saw in the area.

Tetsuya's vision wandered across the street he was in, eyes narrowing when he came across a building that fit the description of what one could a "gym". He even noticed that a few people entering and leaving the building were wearing sports wear and towels that were wrapped around their necks. The corners of Tetsuya's mouth formed into a small grin at having found the place he was looking for.

"Bingo"

He crumpled the piece of paper that he was holding onto, tossing it away into some dark alley before making his way towards the entrance of the gym. It looked normal enough and gave off a welcoming and cheerful vibe that Tetsuya responded to as he let himself in, assuming that the place was the kind where anyone could just walk into freely. Since he believed he wouldn't have to worry about being discovered by any potential council members, Tetsuya released the hood over his face and ruffled his wavy black hair, the attention of a few members of the gym, particularly the girls, now being drawn towards the young guild master.

"Now, I wonder which one of them is the owner..." Tetsuya murmured, ignoring the curious gazes sent his way as he surveyed around the gym to seek out the target he had been itching to meet.

Jazz stood in the center of her gym, in a boxing style ring. Her fists were raised, donned in her typical athletic attire, as there was brief lapse in the chaos that was her current spar. Her opponent was Mala Emafenti, Wizard Saint and liaison of Ledua.

Suddenly they began to move again. Jazz moving in for an uppercut before it was blocked, followed up by a knee to the gut. She took the blow, staggering back a step- broad smile still resting in her face. Then it was cacophony, and the patrons working the equipment turned to stare. Their blows were even, matching each other in a fast-paced form with no clear victor. A minute minute. Then two. Then, Mala ducked low, sweeping Jazz off her feet and to the ground. But Jazz hadn't gone alone. They both fell, bodies pressed together.

Jazz laughed shakily through shared heavy breaths, a faint flush on her cheeks. "You really do sweep me off my feet."

Mala's laugh was deep and of pure amusement, "I think that's yet another win."

They were both smiling, looking at each other with pure adoration and respect until a sharp two-toned vocal whistle cut through the moment.

Jazz recognizes the sound instantly, sliding from underneath Mala as the two stood. She directed her attention to Kevin Oreki, who in his usual way was staring at her as if she'd killed his puppy. It was only natural of him.

She raised an eyebrow, asking him a silent question. His response was in action, pointing at a cloaked man who has walked through the door. Jazz looked for a moment before turning back to Kevin with a nod.

Jazz fluidly climbed out of the ring in one step, grabbing a bottle of water from the ground near her, waving goodbye to Mala who was leaving through the back like she usually did. She drank her water while she walking to the entrance, standing in front of the taller man.

"Hey, my name's Jazz, is there anything I can do for you?" She said, introducing herself casually.

Having been approached by this unfamiliar woman and nobody else, Tetsuya's gut feeling told him that she could potentially be the owner of the gym that he had been searching for. He silently observed her from top to bottom, noting that she had a unique charm about her and a rather impressive figure for a woman as she clearly took her fitness seriously judging by her toned and slim build that was highlighted by her outfit. Her casual approach towards him made him feel oddly comfortable as he was far too used to being treated like some sort of display case whenever he was seen in public.

Tetsuya responded to Jazz's welcome with a charming smile as he introduced himself. "I'm Tetsuya, its a pleasure to meet you, Jazz. Actually, there is something that I'd like you to help me with, if you can. You see, I'm actually looking for the owner of this institute. Would you perhaps know where I could find them?"

Her smile was bright and effortless as she laughed at his words, "You didn't read the sign?" She asked, "My name is right on it. This is my gym, what do you need?"

"Oh is that right? I must have missed it" Tetsuya chuckled himself, a bright smile still plastered on his face as a welsh of excitement rose from within him. Looks like his gut feeling was right. "So you're the owner huh? Perfect, I've been searching for you for quite some time. You see, I'm currently on the lookout for individuals who catch my eye and I've heard of your reputation as a capable fighter"

In typical fashion for Tetsuya, he stepped a bit closer to Jazz as his bad habit of not respecting personal space and his instincts for sensing strong fighters was beginning to take shape in his actions. "How would you say to a friendly sparring match? I'd like to see your moves up close, if that's alright with you."

She didn't flinch as he got closer to her, even leaning a hair inward, eyes gleaming in excitement, "That's some sort of challenge. I like challenges, I don't ever turn them down. In the ring," she said, referencing to the fighting ring in the center of the main floor, "Or downstairs?" she continued, in reference to the large MCAA regulation ring designed for magic-inclusive combat.

Tetsuya could feel Jazz's excitement that was similar to his own as he was impressed by the woman's confidence and lack of shyness in her response. She responded without hesitation and didn't get distracted by his looks, a good sign for Tetsuya who found that women who faced him with as much boldness and self-confidence as Jazz usually turned out to be very dangerous.

"Hmm.." Tetsuya hummed, cupping his chin in thought at the two options that Jazz had presented him regarding their fight. Truthfully, it didn't really matter where they fought but since he believed that the best way to gauge a person's true ability was through seeing all they had to offer, fighting in a place with more room, as opposed to a restricted ring, was probably the wiser choice.

"Downstairs sounds good, the way I fight isn't really meant to be contained in a ring. I'm curious though, is that the options you give all your challengers?" A soft grin then appeared on Tetsuya's face as he placed his hand on his hips. "Or am I a special exception?"

"Nah, anyone can decide whether they'd like me to kick their ass with only my fists or while using magic as well." Jazz said, turning around and striding across the gym floor, "Kevin," She said, "Make sure things run smoothly up here. Tell Aaron to do an extra mile today and Anna to focus more on combat with you. Only let her use her feet- she needs to get her balance up." Jazz opened a door, took him down a wide staircase and into a lower floor that housed a full-sized regulation ring- plaster floor, color-coded sides and magic barriers lining the wall to protect from damage. She vaulted the rope into the ring, picking her favorite side, and waiting for Tetsuya to make his choice.

Tetsuya whistled as he looked around the arena Jazz had brought him too as he noted the similarity of it to his own guild's training arena. It was just the way Tetsuya wanted it, a well constructed and spacious area to have two people duke it out with one another with no worries of going overboard. After watching Jazz step into the ring and pick which side she would fight on, Tetsuya took off the cloak and sweater he was wearing and placed them near the entrance of where they had descended from after folding the two items. He also unstrapped the black and golden katana he wore around his waist, leaving him with only his tight white shirt as he made his way over towards the arena and picked the opposite side of where Jazz was standing.

"Forgive me if that confused you but I assumed the use of weaponry in this battle was prohibited. Even if it isn't, I would prefer facing you without resorting to using a weapon. Besides, I'm pretty confident that it won't make a difference in the end," Tetsuya boasted as he proceeded to do a few stretches, the dense muscles of his body being somewhat highlighted by the subtle actions. "Any rules that I should know before we start?"

Jazz snorted at his arrogance. He was just like Mikhael. "Only rules are: Try not to rough up the arena and room too badly- I don't want to waste money getting them repaired, Also: You're paying for your own hospital bill." Jazz tapped her bare foot against the floor once, making constant as a pulse of her energy crossed the area in her vicinity, transforming the earth-based plaster into solid stone. "Now," She said, tilting her head to crack her neck, "Come show me how good you say you are."

"Heh, that's good to hear," Tetsuya smiled as he had just finished his stretches and raised his left arm into the air, sparks of electricity surging around his hands. "If you're as skilled as you are confident, this'll definitely be a spar to remember."

Aiming his raised hand towards Jazz's idle figure, Tetsuya fired off a stream of lightning that zigzagged in different directions, an attempt at throwing off his opponent who was waiting for him to make the first move. Up, down, left, right; there was no path that the lightning hadn't taken before it locked onto Jazz's location and headed straight downwards from above her.

Jazz's posture shifted, one foot forward, knee bent while the opposite arm rose in a hook. , a wall of rock rose in front of her, folding in an arc in front of her, shielding her from the bolt. She moved again, pushing both hands forward as the rock obeyed her command, rushing across the arena at Tetsuya with great force.

"Hoh..." Tetsuya hummed in interest as he watched his opening attack be negated rather easily, observing Jazz's art like movements as she proceeded to manipulate the earth to propel a moving rock towards him. "So you're proficient in Earth style magic, huh?"

Shifting his stance, Tetsuya's body then began to crouch as he threw both his arms to the side and gathered a volume of electricity within his palms. Kicking off of the ground, Tetsuya made a b-line straight towards the incoming boulder and connected both of his arms in front of his body, piercing straight through the rock as if it was a piece of wet tissue paper. His assault didn't end there as his body continued forward with impressive speed, planning on piercing through Jazz with his electric fingers conjoined with one another.

Jazz didn't answer, instead, raising her hands as her aura rapidly manifested, forming a barrier of sound energy about ten feet in front of her as a low hum resounded through the arena, blocking Tetsuya's attack. After, she moved, putting weight on her right leg before shooting off as the barrier fell. She closed the gap in an instant with Reduced Earth, appearing directly in front of Tetsuya, throwing a right hook at his sternum as her body hardened via the Harrizko spell.