Radiance of Light and Heat

Aether walked calmly through the plains. He had been asked to meet someone here, but he did not know who. He was still cautious however, as he had been called under similar circumstances before. He waited for the one who had asked for him

At the far end of the vast plains, sat a woman, clad in white winter robes and furry hat, completely ill fittingly clothed for this warm spring day. Carwen Khapree sat calmly on blanket and feasted on some biscuits and tea. She looked up to see Aether slowly approaching her. She riased her middle and index finger to her forehead and did a salute like motion.

"I remember you," said Aether as he approached the woman. "From the Dragon Slayer Royale. Carwen Khapree. We fought, but our battle ended somewhat inconclusively. Are you the one that called me out here?"

Carwen smiled. "Indeed I am." She waved her hand over the blanket. "Take a seat, take a sandwich, enjoy your stay."

Aether sat down on the blanket, and took a sandwich, as instructed. He began eating. He may be a gentleman, but he was still a Dragon Slayer with a voracious appetite. He finished the first sandwich in three bites, but refrained from asking for another. "Why have you asked for me to come?"

Carwen shrugged. "Curiosity, mostly."

"What are you so curious about?" asked Aether. He liked to know everything he could about people. It helped him to better understand what motivated them.

Carwen rose up and began to circle around the picnic blanket as she hummed a happy little tune. "Regarding our previous battle. It had me considering if I deserved to get as far as I did in the little tournament. The first battle, not much of a surprise, it was a young child after all, but you dropped out before our fight could be concluded. Then when I moved on, I was strucken out without any greater effort. And in the most recent fight, I was struck out in the first round. This had me wondering... Did I deserve to move on? Should it perhaps have been you? All these questions which have gone unanswered." she spoke before she halted right in front of Aether, giving him a predatory grin. "Wanna help me find the answer?"

Aether rose to his feet. "I've never been one to back down from a challenge," he said. "If you truly wish to find out who should have moved on in that Royale, I will be more than happy to oblige you." He took up a fighting stance. "The first move is yours."

The words had barely had the time to leave Aether's mouth before Divine Propulsors had spwaned across Carwen's body as she dashed forward, throwing a punch at Aether. Something that Aether would quickly take notice of is how much faster Carwen was now compared to the previous royale.

However, Aether was faster as well, and his sensory abilities more acute as he immediately took note of the rise in Carwen's magic. He quickly blocked the punch, coating his own hand in his plasma. The mere contact would burn her skin but the force still made him skid across the ground. "You're fast, but not quite fast enough."

"Never insult a woman's skills." She spoke with a gleeful smile. "Divine Dragon's Coat!" Se cried out and suddenly she was surrounded by a shining "coat" of divine light. This coat protected her from further harm from the heat, and Carwen was quick to grab a hold on Aether's arm, swinging in for a mighty kick.

Using his free hand, Aether blocked with another plasma imbibed hand. "I'm not the kind of person to ever think someone is weak based on their gender," he said as a smile etched onto his face. "I can just tell when someone is weaker than me." His hand latched onto Carwen's leg as he wrestled his other arm free from Carwen's grasp. He used his immense strength to throw her a great distance.

Carwenw as quick to stabalize herself through the aid of her Divine propulsors. Carwen rushed forward, in her left hand, a dazzling, crackling orb of "divine" light took form, which she seemingly crushed in her grasp as she charged. Her right hand reared back and went in for a propulsor enhanced punch.

As Carwen charged at him, Aether prepared his own attack. He cupped his hands and plasma began to charge in them. "Plasma Dragon's Electron Cannon!" he called, blasting a large wave of plasma towards his adversary, aiming to interrupt her attack before it could be finished, and using the incredible heat and force to send to her backwards.

The wave of plasma came her way and had she not been ready for it, she could and would most likely have been thrown out of balance. She kept her approach stable as she neared her foe at a slightly slower speed. As she stood a mere two feet away from him she thrust forward, sending a blast of pieces of divine light straight at Aether's body. "Divine Dragon's Hail Shot!" The blast was weakened due to the Electron Cannon, but it carried enough strength to knock him backwards and interrupting the canon. "Have you already forgotten, dear guild master? Heat is useless against me."

Aether stumbled backwards, the damage done by the spell being superficial, but Aether knew better from their previous fight. Sure enough a magic circle had appeared on his body. "No I didn't forget." He created a strong of plasma, and cut it into his skin, breaking the circle and causing it dissipate. The burn was minor, considering his overall immunity to temperature change. "It seems to work on these fine though. You've better developed your circles. I'm impressed" He began to walk towards Carwen. "Plasma Drive," he said, and suddenly he had disappeared. He reappeared right in front of Carwen, his aura much more vibrant than before, aiming a plasma enhanced punch right towards her gut. Even if the plasma wouldn't deal much damage, the sheer speed and strength behind the blow would certainly do some damage.

Almost too fast for the human eye to catch on to, Carwen's hand soared to the place where Aether was aiming his strike. She claimed his hand in her firm grasp and held him there like a vice. Carwen gave a twist to his fist and went in for the punch, her fist dazzling and crackling with the divine. "Divine Dragon's Iron Fist!" she cried out.

"Ripple!" His magical energy moved from his body into Carwen's. His magical energy in her body would be detrimental to her systems. He couldn't attack from a range effectively, and as such would rely on more up close techniques. The sudden pain would slow her down, just long enough for Aether to move his body out of the way, as well as weaken her grip on his fist. His free hand suddenly shot towards her throat, aiming to grab her by it, and slam her hard into the ground.

Carwen flinched from the sudden intruding pain within her body. As she attempted to retaliate for it, a hand had already closed aroudher throat and forced her into the ground. She gazed down to the best of her ability, taking notice of the grass clinging to her feet. ''So that's how he did it. ''she thought. Carwen grabbed Aether's hand with her own, and applied so much pressure into it that it felt as if his hand was being crushed by a mountain, forcing him to let go of her. The moment he let go of her, she began to spin at insane speeds. "Divine Dragon's Iron Fist! Divine Dragon's Tail!" she cried out, her feet and hands ablaze with divine energies. she began to rapidly spin and travel towards Aether in a flurry of punches and kicks.

At speeds so fast, that even those with trained eyes would only see a blue flash, Aether had already unsheathed and slashed with his swords, imbuing them with his magic. He had completed the attack and sheathed his blades in one fluid motion. " Plasma Dragon's Atomic Cutlass! " he called as he had cut into Carwen's own attack.

Her hand collided with his blade, but it did nothing to impair her assault. The cuts kept coming and she continued delivering blow after blow. And as Aether finally sheated his blade, she was nowhere near done. her coat had perfectly protected her from it's sharp edge, rendering swordplay a far less effective means of combat against her, and the plasma coating did little to aid in breaking her. Her spinning proceeded and if no action was taken against her, there would soon be to many blows and stigmatas at a time to keep up with.

Suddenly Aether's forearms became covered in scales. In Carwen's flurry of attacks, he caught one of her legs and one of her arms, hindering her ability to retaliate, and keeping her off balance. He then aimed to slam her into the ground with enough force to shatter the ground.

Carwen utilized her Divine Propulsors to maintain her ascended state and used it to boost her self toward Aether's legs in a curving arc. Due to the effort that Aether puts behind his slam, togehter with her tackle towards his legs, this could cause him to flip and crash with even greater force than what he was applying to Carwen.

Aether fell towards the ground, a giant crater being formed from his fall, but he got up without a scratch. His aura had solidified, providing a powerful defense from the fall. "Plasma Dragon's Scales." He said as the aura went back to its standard wavy motion. "You've improved greatly from our last battle. But I can tell you're still holding back. As am I." The scales on Aether's arms receded and transformed back t normal skin. "Jutsu Shiki!" He slammed his hand onto the ground, and Jutsu Shiki barrier began formulating over the entire expanse of their battlefield. "The rules of this barrier ensure that neither of us can leave until after one has fallen. It also ensures that neither of us can devour our element to regain energy until that time has come as well. Whoever does will lose consciousness and automatically lose the match. Show me your true power Carwen Khapree, and in turn I'll show you mine."

Carwen hovered above the ground, her arms crossed and a grin plastered upon her features. Carwen gave a short and firm nod. "That pleases me, Aether. As for holding back..." Carwen darted forward, too quick for Aether to keep up with had he not been under the influence of the Drive spell. "You realy don't want me to go all out, little drake." Carwen said as she went in for the punch, her fists and feet still dazzling with the divine.

Aether quickly dodged, spinning his body around Carwen, and movie behind her. "I'm taller than you aren't I? Plasma Dragon's Fission Spear!" Plasma collected around Aether's open palm, which also became covered in scales and Aether's claws, and he aimed to attack Carwen's back. This plasma however, was more fine, sharper. Using the incredible sharpness of this attack, he aimed to cut through Carwen's Coat.

Carwen quickly spun around in order to try and intercept whatever it was that Aether had coming towards her. All it took was a single glance to realize what was going to happen and that she had to do something else. Her fists still radiating her magical energies, she went in for a dual punch while taking the full strike from the spear. As she had anticipated, the spear did little to stop her. The sharpness and the heat alike was effectively hindered from harming her, rendring the strike near useless due to her high restance to blunt force trauma, something the strike held little of due to the intent to cut.

"So even the Fission Spear won't cut it huh?" Aether backed off, flying with his incredible speed towards the ends of the barrier he had created. He touched it, and began feverishly rewriting the runes. The speed of his body and magical enhancement assisted in this process. He aimed to rewrite the barrier to prevent any shields made from magic as well. Although this would lock out Carwen's Divine Dragon's Coat, it would also prevent Aether from activating his Plasma Dragon's Scales, a trade off he was more than willing to make. Expecting Carwen to follow him to the edge, and attempt to stop his plan, he aimed to utilize his Mountain Earth Magic spell, which would, at the very least, temporarily hold her in the construct of earth.

Carwen took notice of how he disengaged from teh confrontation and put a considerale distance between her and him. What she also took notice of was that he was getting awfully close to the barrier. Fearing the worst, knowing what one can do, given the appropriate time to adjust it, she immediately made her way towards him only to find herself caught within an earthen construct. Figuring that she did not have the time do anything traditional with this, she took to her best option at this time. "Secret Art: Divine Horn Drill!" She cried out as divine energies began to circle around her. Taking use of her propulsors, Carwen boosted forward, drilling her way straight through the mountain and continued her way towards Aether at a remarkably rapid pace, hoping to stop whatever it was that he had planned.

The few seconds that the Mountain spell granted Aether was just enough to finish his spell. He removed his hand from the rewritten runes just in time to narrowly avoid Carwen's Secret Art, which, if she hadn't stopped herself, would send her slamming into the barrier. Although the speed he had been forced to rewrite the runes in were somewhat sloppy, they would suffice. He looked upon Carwen, noticing her Coat beginning to fade. He took the opportunity. He held out his hand above him, quickly collecting the plasma into his hand, and forming the shape of a giant shuriken. "Plasma Dragon's Spiraling Shuriken!" he called, throwing the large projectile at his target, which would make contact right as the coat faded completely away, if she did not dodge.

She did not immediately realize that her coat had evaporated, not until the plasma shuriken was close enough for her to feel the heat. As soon as she even romtely felt it, she had moved out of the way, lowering herself and standing still on the ground, looking at her body, realizing that her coat was now gone. She looked up at Aether, at first annoyed but then almost playfully. "A bit rude, don't you think? Stripping a woman of her clothes like that? I'm practically naked now!"

"Perhaps," answered Aether, "and perhaps you remember this move. Scatter!" his shuriken split into thousands of tiny needles, spreading out in all directions.

"Divine Dragon's Shield!" She cried out and directed her shielded hand towards the approaching needles. Due to their minimal size and retricted power, the shield was not lowered until the danger was past her. Carwen stretched a bit and made a few cracks with her neck. "Not gonna lie, this is gonna get a lot harder now. That coat was practicaly my be all and end all of defenses against your spells."

"That change in the barrier had a cost as well," said Aether. "I lost my ability to use my own defensive spell. I think the trade off was worth it though." Plasma covered his hand as he approached Carwen. "Perhaps you'd like to show your true power now."

"Heh, my "true" power is a a bit too much for someone like you... no disrespect. I am just those hundred steps above you, dear Aether."

Aether's aura died down. "Prove it to me then." He wore a cocky smile, trying to provoke her. But the next strike wouldn't be hers. In a flash of light he was behind her, plasma already gathered in his hand. "Plasma Dragon's Spiraling Sphere!" he called as he aimed the powerful ball at her back, an attack that would send her spinning forward with a circular burn on her back, if it made contact. Afterwards, he immediately moved in front of her, aiming to kick her in the front, and back towards the other direction.

As Aether's strike approached, she had suddenly spun around and grabbed hold of Aether's arm, the globe of plasma just mere inches away from her face. "Let's start of small, shall we?" she cooed sweetly. An intense aura began to grow around her, Divine crackling energies along with... glass dust? She dived down, to the ground, pulling his arms to the side, attempting to throw him over her shoulder while going in for a punch to his gut.

The first thing she would've noticed however, is how much it burned. The second she made contact with him, Aether immediately began heating up his body with his plasma, making it so hot that it burned just to touch. With her coat now gone, she could no longer defend against the heat. The extreme heat would cause any normal individual to let go of his body. But, if she did manage to resist the heat, as she flipped him over, his muscles tensed as he flew into the air, aiming to take Carwen up with him, who he would them slam into the ground by immediately flying back down into the ground in order to slam her into it.

Carwen let go of Aether's arm as she felt it begin to heat up and distanced herslf from the man. "That's some hot tricks, Aether. But i hope that you've still got more than that up your sleeve. Divine Glass Dragon's Roar!" she cried out as a great beam of Divine energies burst out of her gaping mouth, traces of glass shards and dust trailing with it.

"Plasma Dragon's Roar!" cried Aether, as he fired his own Roar. The heat from his Roar quickly melted through the glass, and threatened to overpower the light in Carwen's Roar as well, but the two ended up just canceling each other out. Aether remembered the number of times he had touched Carwen in their altercation, and quickly raised his magical energy, revealing the appropriate number of seals. Using his Plasma Dragon's String, he quickly cut through them all. The cuts on his body were quickly seared closed from his magic, and his power was once again at full strength, minus the magic he had already utilized.

"Secret Art: Lance of Longinus!" Carwen called out as a spear of divine energies took form in the palm of her hand. She began charging towards Aether, her dazzling spear in hand, ready to thrust it into his shoulder.

With his power restored, Aether sidestepped her attack, and grabbed her wrist, delivering a burning feeling from the exertion of his magical energy. "If you keep using your Secret Arts like that you'll burn through all of your magical energy. Plasma Dragon's Spiraling Sphere!" With her unable to escape him through normal means, he aimed the plasma sphere towards the side of her body.

Carwen spun her spear in her hand, now holding it backwards, aiming to use her free arm to stab at Aether's shoulder. She would undoubtedly get struck by the spiraling sphere, but just like how her options of escape was severely limited, so was his if he intended on going on with his attack. "You obviously know very little about me if you think that."

Aether flew backwards, using his plasma body to avoid her spear and gain some distance. Yet, Aether's sphere had remained there. "Plasma Dragon's Blue Bomb!" The sphere rapidly expanded, generating a giant, crater making explosion in the area Carwen was still standing in. While retreating, Aether had quickly changed his spell, rapidly increasing the speed of the plasma in order to generate said explosion.

The moment Carwen felt Aether's hand leave her arm, she immediately began to use her propulsors to dodge to the side in order to avoid the plasma bomb. Her speed was astonishing but it was not quite enough to completely avoid th blast. The plasma bomb coolided with her, sending her hurtling away, tumbling along the ground, tearing it up while doing so. As her movements ceased, she carried herself up and stood straight, striking a confident pose, her spear still in hand. "Impressive. That was certainly a good one, though it is quite honestly lessened by the fact that you stripped me of one of my spells. Guess, I'll just have to compensate and stop taking it easy." she said as scaly patterns bagan to take form around her body.

"Excellent," said Aether. His aura began to increase in size as his magic power skyrocketed. In an instant, his hair turned blue, scales covered his body, and his canines had increased in sharpness. He had activated Dragon Force. He quickly collected his plasma into the shape of another two shurikens. "Plasma Dragon's Spiraling Sphere!" He said as he threw both the shurikens, but these were different. Unbeknownst to Carwen he had attacks his Plasma Dragon's String to them, allowing him to freely control their movements.

Seemingly unbeknownst to Aether, Carwen now currently held the upper hand as it was not dragon force which had been activated, but rather an early stage of the Draco Surge, vastly heightening her physical and magical prowess. Granted, at this early stage it could not quite match Aether's dragon force on it's own, but with the Divine Glass Mode simultaneously active, her magical strength was above and beyond Aether's current range. "Let's try this again. Divine Glass Dragon's Roar!" She cried out, glass and divine light bursting out of her gaping mouth, utterly consuming the spiraling spheres, and was now making it's way towards Aether, almost too fast to react to. However, with Aether's Dragon Force, there was no doubt in Carwen's mind that he would prove able to at least dodge.