Another Challenger

This was probably bound to be interesting.

Seeing the new enemy approach him with such challenge, he knew that this would be opportunity to practice the application of Storm in combat once more- thankfully, because Arthur already knew how such thing is done, it wouldn't be taking long for him to conjure the powerful Storms by his side.

Immediately, his hands were raised up in the air, smoothly manipulating the air circulation around him; a massive whirlwind of cold, tornado-shaped air stretched out to the sky, creating a cyclone that was promising to shape the local atmosphere with ease- it wasn't too long until the lightning was added into that mix, to create the currents of heated air, and thus condense the air into creating a proper Storm.

But of course, he couldn't leave out the important part that water plays in this, right?

Humidity was raised too. Even for spectators, it was somewhat more challenging to breathe - the air was humid, almost tropical, and surely it would conduct the lightning well, on top of providing the necessary environment to support the actual Storm.

On top of having the weather on his side, even if on a smaller scale, his hand stretched out to the sky once more to draw the lightning - much like the lightning rod, his arm conducted electricity surging through his arm, and yet... Arthur didn't seem to be in pain?

"This'll be good practice."

"Give me your best."
(Arthur Rowan)

"I guess I should try to go all out or whatever," Windsor mutters, before girding himself with a sturdy-looking breastplate that was somehow somewhere in his pockets. It seemed he liked to enshroud himself in those particular mysteries - like the mystery of where he's storing all his stuff, or the mystery of why he doesn't always talk like an actual astrologian.

The student slams towards the grass, his foot touching upon the ground with the accompaniment of a light shockwave. The earth underneath rises, surrounding him in a pillar before collapsing around him. As the rock crumbles away, the teenager's skin appears to be hewn of stone, a rough, stony crust keeping him relatively protected from the elements.

The elements, that is, that Arthur could bring to bear. What little Windsor knew of the redhead, magically speaking, was that electricity and fire both hurt. The constellations and equations that wheeled around his orbspun faster as he steeled himself for battle. From the Orichalcum-founded confluence in the center of his orb, a light shone as bright as ever.

It shrouded his glasses in obfuscating white. "Uh huh," he merely spoke, before literally charging in headlong.

And also getting his face whipped in by a Babline.
(Windsor)

This was harder than he expected to be.

No matter how much he'd try and set himself up in order to unleash all of the terror that Storm magic was bearing in itself, something suggested that Windsor is sometimes just too fast. Really, it was hard to catch him off guard- and even at times he succeeded on getting a hand on him, Windsor was quick to evade, as always.

Annoying strategy to deal with, but it wasn't the first time Arthur faced it. In fact, that's how his brother fought like.

Exchange of bolts of lightning, of cosmic dust, of gravity pushes and cutting winds - it was all an environment hazard that promised absolutely no good to the one that'd be caught in it. Evidently, both fighters were doing their best in combat, and if anything, Arthur clearly had far more struggle than he ever had with him before.

He's grown. But it's time to end it.

Nearing the final showdown, Arthur was quick to lock up his joints with the bloodmagic- a dirty, invasive trick known by hemomancers, but clearly effective if it brought him victory. Thanks to such moment, he was able to close in his distance at Windsor, if only to use the whirlwind of Storm to raise him up in the mid-air--

-- and shock him full of lightning as if there was no tomorrow.

Suspended in mid-air, with his joints locked, and his body thrashed by the cutting wind, there was no hope, no exit, no victory for Windsor- a struggle paid off to Arthur, and leaving his opponent spasming due to electricity coursing in his muscles, Arthur at last released him.

Huffing and puffing, he spoke.

"--You've gotten good, I'll give you that."
(Arthur Rowan)

He had come a long way from the bumbling idiot who had no recourse but to run into fights with his fists up. He had something to work with this time around, but that in itself was not necessarily enough. There was still more growing to do for Windsor, who managed to dance around the battlefield with ramping alacrity and care.

Crow's words rung in his head when he found himself getting locked up. It was a dirty trick indeed - and one he'd have to anticipate next time he chose to go toe-to-toe with someone who could manipulate blood. Buckled onto the ground, the student braced himself for the coming assault, barely crossing his arms over his chest to take on what Arthur had prepared.

All the steel in the world might have been able to protect him from a rain of arrows or a flash of blades, but steel was a pretty good conductor for electricity. A thought crossed once more through his mind as bolts of lightning struck at him from all directions - he needed to adapt better, and vary himself more.

The same approach wouldn't work again and again. Using the same tricks over and over would become stale, predictable, and worse: exploitable. He tried to keep his mind focused on that as his body was overwhelmed with lightning, but it was understandably a difficult task. Still, for how thoroughly seared Windsor appeared to be at the end of it, his knees to the ground, he just... got back up again, drawing out his astrolabe.

One thing was for sure: the guy hurt.

"Thanks, but..." He looked to the crowd. "I mighta lost, but that's not enough for me. I'll take you on again anytime, Arthur -- even now, but I figure that's it for you. Anyone else? Ithaca? Those thirty minutes pass yet?"
(Windsor)

That was the end of it.

Just as Storm was quickly summoned, Arthur was quick to dissipate it again- by utilizing the Mixed Casting, he was able to employ the large amounts of mana coming from within, and utilize the cognitive processes in his mind to ensure the precision with which the storm fades away. He wouldn't want to get anyone unnecessarily hurt, now that the fighting is over, would he?

Thanks to reflexive abilities of his mind, several tasks were performed at once in that. The winds were dying down, the lightning was getting soaked into Arthur as if he were their very host, and humidity was also fading, leaving a much drier air, one that everyone is more used to.

In a moment's notice, the Storm was almost gone, the weather clearing out and the traces of electricity arcs around him dissipating as well.

"That's it for me, for now."

"I'll leave you two to fight each other as you'd like. Good luck."
(Arthur Rowan)