Practice, not Perfect (open)

[Erin]

Erin entered the training grounds for the second time since his arrival at the academy. Of course, he was about a week or two into his time staying at the academy, but he wasn't too into the training. Hell, he didn't really like training, period. But, it was hard to argue with a samurai. Earlier, he had changed to the Ayakashi mask, figuring that the samurai would be interested in a little practice with the three guards. But no. Instead, Ayakashi told Erin to screw off and train his own self. After all, even a samurai spirit needed a good body to use itself. And, Erin knew better than to argue with the samurai. That left him with only one option.

It also left him with practice to do.

His sandaled foot quickly found itself in the sand of the desert training ground. Erin was in a fairly flat area of it, but even so, it would be annoying to fight there. The soft footing made it somewhat of a challenge for one to fight. Good for practice, not good for Erin.

Now standing alone, Erin placed his hand on his mask, quickly unlocking three layers with no motion and no sign, but even so, they were removed. The paper-thin layers were quickly heaved outward in a fluid motion, the masks seperating easily. Almost instantly, a semi-transparent warrior in all-white samurai gear appeared in each mask. None of them had sandals, but all stood with ease, the warriors ignoring the fact that the sand was about a thousand degrees.

"Alright guys. I need some practice. So, if you will. Oh, no killing me. Or cutting anything off of me."

Erin widened his stance, adjusting himself into a typical martial arts form. The guards simply drew their white-handled katanas, all of them spread out so to make sure it would be hard for Erin to keep his concentration on anyone of them.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

More silence.

When's this gonna start!?

Silence.

Gaah!

Silence.

Silence.

Attack!

Erin's eyes quickly shifted to the guard on his right, the spirit's sword coming across for a quick vertical slash along Erin' left side. However, this wasn't the attack. No, while the spirit on the right was attacking, so was the spirit on the left, that guard getting the side of his blade along in a nice strike across the back of Erin's head. The young adult instantly fell forward, apparently right into the oncoming side of one the right guard. Erin bent over, and once again, found an attack. The tip of the middle guard's sword. It instantly pierced the front layer of the doji mask, throwing Erin about five feet backward. The mask split in two.

"..."

Erin slowly sat up, shaking his head.

"Ow, guys! That hurt!"

He began to stand up, but without even a moment of hesitation, the left guard came across once again, sending the side of his blade across Erin's throat. He fell backwards again, his breathing stalled for a moment.

Silence.

Erin coughed, regaining his breath.

"Damn, guys! *Cough* You have no mercy, do you?"

He got his answer once again. The middle guard went for a momentum-filled stab, the tip of the blade hitting right between the eyes of the Doji mask, and once again piercing the front-most layer.

Erin was almost out cold, now.

[Nils]

Nils had enjoyed watching this match. This guy had strange powers and seemed capable of doing many things with that mask of his.
It also seemed like it was indestructable but the guy was losing now. What a shame it would be after giving Nils the opportunity to study his techniques.
And it would also be a waste of fun not to help him now that he had clearly lost.
Nils walked over to him while preparing firespells meanwhile.

He began to walk as the first fireball hit one of the summoned warriors.

He closed up on them as they began to turn around when the second warrior got hit by another fireball.

He dodged a sword and placed his hand in the face of the last one and shot the fireball from close distance.

Then he helped the boy up. He was clearly beaten up and those warriors would probably have been more of a challenge if he hadn't sneaked up on them.

"That was a nice match. Do you do this often?"

[Erin]

Erin coughed heavily, himself unsurprised that the warriors had been destroyed. They were not to harm any students at the academy unless otherwise commanded, or if they deemed that Erin was in any immediate danger. It seemed they sensed nothing fairly bad, so they let themselves get destroyed.

Erin took the strangers hand, coughing once again as he stood up. He noticed fairly quickly that he was a good amount younger than Erin himself, but that was not particularly a problem. After all, Erin wasn't very tall, and neither was he considerably mature. He fit right in to the highschool crowd!

"Thank you, s-..."

He was cut short by another small coughing fit, soon clearing his throat with one somewhat sickening, deep sound coming from himself.

"Thank you sir! However, I wasn't really in any danger. But, I guess that speaks for the fact that they didn't kill me, now doesn't it?"

The twenty-four year old stood up straight, remembering that he had somewhat ignored the stranger. He had been asked a question!

"Only when one of my masks tells me off, but that's not all that often. He just wants my body in good condition, though, so I don't usually mind too much."

Erin smiled, the expression unseen beneath the Doji mask, but still there.

"Anyways, my name's Erin. May I ask your own?"

[Nils]

"I'm Nils. Your masks tells you to train? Wow, if it's that bad you really seem to need it."

Nils said that with a big smile. He thought it was funny that you could be bossed around by a piece of wood but since this is the arcane academy he could understand that.
Then he got an idea.

"And if you really need it that bad, how about taking a sparring match? You got me curious with those masks."

((OOC: Sorry for shortness. I'm low on ideas for a challenge.))

[Erin]

The one called Nils caught Erin by surprise. A challenge, of all things, was not what he expected. Especially so bluntly. It seemed this fire user was like the element he used. In a good way, of course. It wasn't like Erin was going to just openly tell someone they were like fire. That could be interpreted in a number of negative ways.

Erin thought about the offer for a moment. Of course, his magic was quite limited in it's strength, a most likely loss for him to go up against a person who used fire. Of course, with one of his masks previously, he had gotten a draw, but who was to say he'd have that luck again.

Meh!

"Well, I guess I could. Heck! Might as well."

Erin gave a quick nod of his head, then, without another word, ran back about ten feet, giving some distance between the two. He figured he'd need it, given the circumstances. One would just have to see.

"Etiquette says that the challenger should start, so..."

He trailed off, figuring Nils could draw the last bit in his own mind.

[Nils]

"I'm most gratefull for that, so here I come."

He drew back his left hand and a small flame appeared in his palm. Then he moved the right hand out of the was and made a small ball of fire appear in it. The fireball was continiously growing while he used the firebolt he had prepared in his left hand to attack. He quickly threw the firebolt at his opponent following right up with the fireball which was considerably larger.

[Erin]

Erin watched onward as fire began to appear in Nils' hands, one of them quickly blasting toward Erin. With a girlish, unheard scream, Erin leaped to his left, the fire blazing past him. But, his fun wasn't over yet. He stood back up, getting off of his stomach and running foreward, desperately trying to get away from the large fireball. Once again, he dived, landing on his stomach and the fore barely missing him. This was getting too close for comfort, now.

Erin quickly stood back up, removing three layers from his Doji mask but never letting them go. Instead, he kept them in his right hand, waiting for a good time to summon his guards. After all, his mask was the only magic he could even hope to summon, at the current point in time. Soon, though.

"Warai-jyo."

Erin spoke lightly, probably not even enough for Nils to hear. He was bringing forth one of his favourite masks, the Warai-jyo form. His back hunched over, the mask changing to Waraijyo form and the figure giving out a typical old man chuckle. Although the Ayakashi form would not like that Erin had summoned one of the masks, not using his own physical abilities, but Erin had to use his magic where he could.

The laughing stopped as Erin moved now with a renewed speed, easily breaking the ten foot gap differing between himself and Nils. With this speed, Erin would lower himself, sending a quick roundabout kick in order to send Nils onto his face.

[Nils]

Ah, son of a...

Nils didn't get a chance to think more than that before he had to break his fall with his hands. He quickly rolled over and snapped his fingers.

BAM!

Four walls of fire appeared around Erin and imprisoned him. Nils quickly began to create another fireball as he let the walls close in on Erin.

[Erin]

The four fire walls erected around Erin, but it was not too much of a big deal. He quickly reacted, doing a front-flip foreward into and quickly out of the flames. With his new found speed, the fire never really had a big chance to catch him, and thus, besides being a little warm, Erin's body was fine.

The Warai-jyo from of Erin was now only maybe three feet from Nils, and thus, he would take advantage of the wizard's obvious weakness: physical ability. He did so by running foreward, barely even leaving the ground. His attack was basically just a quick step, sending a swift left foot towards Nils' gut. After all, he didn't want to hurt the boy too much. That would just be mean, after all.

If the step hit, chances were Nils' would be out of breath and if not a little bit stunned for a moment. During this time, Erin would take two steps quickly foreward, then do a backwards somersault to once again place his weight (this time through his hands) against Nils' belly. With momentum from this, and once again Nils being a little out of breath, Erin would land, and send a double straight knee shot into Nils' ribs. Erin didn't have the strength, at the moment, to break them, but it wouldn't exactly be a relaxing massage, either.

[Nils]

When Erin jumped out of the fire Nils had prepared the fireball and threw it at him.
It missed but only with an inch. This time he was prepared for the speed, but couldn't match it so all he did was to move the hit to an area where it did less damage. Then he shot another firebolt against Erin with his right hand and drew his dagger with the left one having the blade downwards. Now he was prepared for close combat as well.
The dagger looked really nasty in the fire.

[Erin]

As Nils was prepared for Erin's speed, so was he for Nils' fire attacks. As soon as he saw the firebolt come at him, he ducked bacwards, almost matrix-like, except with a foot behind, so it wasn't quite so impossible-looking.

As soon as Erin dodged, he fell backwards, letting the foot behind him slip out and kick Nils in the side. If it landed, which was likely enough, Erin would roll backwards into a squatting position before Nils really had any time to react. It was about this time that he saw Nils' knife, himself letting out another old man chuckle.

Still crouching, Erin began to talk, his voice quite obviously not his own. It was slightly more powerful, with a bit of a higher pitch. Experience was carried behind every sound.

"I truly do hope you are better with that knife than your physical ability has yet shown. After all, I wouldn't want to hurt a young one such as yourself."

He gaev another chuckle, still crouching and waiting, either for a reply or an attack.

[Nils]

Nils raised his hands in an excusive manner.

"No, I'm afraid not. I don't fight in close combat if I can avoid it. This is just for people that I hate."

As he had raised his hands and begun to speak he had created a firewall behind Erin that quickly moved against his back.

"But you know how it is, I'm a mage and not a martial artist. Under that mask you're the same. Are you not?"

[Erin]

Erin, instantly feeling the heat behind himself, slipped his hands slightly upward so that they could not be seen coming from his sleeves. From there, he back-flipped in a sort of diagonal motion, letting the motion of his cloth keep the fire generally away from his body as he rolled through it. Upon the small landing, he would dive his hands into the sand, any amount of flame instantly becoming extinguished. Once again, he chuckled.

"Well, it seems you are not above fox tactics, but to answer your question, I am not a mage. Truth be told, Erin is barely even a mage. His magic is unpowerful to one such as yourself, if not pathetic, which is why he relies on one such as me. Such a pity, really. He has much potential, yet he seems only interestd in the masks. Well, maybe this academy will change him. Either way..."

Erin stood up, still keeping a slight hunch in his posture, eyes on Nils.

"This fight is over. I wish not for this body nor your own to be injured, and considering the way this match is going, injury will be sure to occur soon. This should be a draw for now, unless you do truly wish to keep going."

OOC: Sorry. Late post. Me had no posting energy the last few days.