Ice 4

[18:17] Astelle drew water from the ocean behind her, causing an orb to form in front of her. Rather than drawing heat from the whole thing and turning it into ice, however, she instead caused a single droplet to separate from it, and held it in the palm of her hand. Her facial features relaxed, and her calm became evident on her face, as the small droplet within it began glowing, and frost began to gather on her hand.

"I'll have the water do it for me."

The droplet of water was thrown straight ahead. Rather than causing the water to become still, Astelle instead instilled that sense of stillness into the water droplet itself, causing it to react to the water that naturally existed within the atmosphere. Vapor turned to liquid, and that liquid immediately solidified into ice, causing a trail of ice to form where the droplet went. The trail didn't last long, and the ice quickly shattered after, showing she needed to practice, but...

That practice was all she needed. She had the method down. All it'd take from here on was time.

"The small drops of water I control will freeze all the water around it, creating ice wherever they go."
(Astelle Nora)
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[18:25] Agni stood especially eager in this moment. Truth be told, he was waiting for this exact moment the entire day. He wanted to see just what Astelle learned, or how much more powerful she may have been made by the ritual performed on her.

Better still, his wound fully recovered, despite him really pushing what his body was capable of and skating the line between keeping recovery possible or making the gash even worse. When Astelle draw a single drop of water from the mass of liquid that was gathered, he raised a brow, but...

Funnily enough? When she froze that single drop, he knew what she was up to right there. "That's clever." he muttered even before she started speaking of her plan.

It made sense--in fact, it was similar to how he himself learned to use magic simultaneously with a weapon. For many spells, one would just take a portion of their mana, configure it to the needed element--if any--and then expel it from their body. When he firststarted training with swords, he envisioned that same process... taking his mana, and pushing it onto whatever weapon he used to enhance his skill with it.

It never worked.

Rather, when he instead imagined that his weapon was part of his very body, he instead looked at the process as one which he took his mana, and shifted it into another focal point on his body. In this case, his 'body' was his sword, acting as a natural extension of his hand. From that moment, it all clicked with him. All it took was practice to bring him to where he was today.

"I'm impressed, truthfully. Makes me look forward to this even more!"

Agni shifts into a combat stance, and with nimble hands, whips his sword out from its sheath behind his cloak and poises for combat.
(Agnimazud Ishwaratu)
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[18:30] Astelle nodded, causing water to envelop her body. This is where she'd test her theory, and even though it wasn't likely for her to succeed outright, she knew that the knowledge she'd gain from putting this into practice would be enough to make her make that final breakthrough.

She was on the precipice of success.

It was time to grasp it.

"Then let's go, Agni!"

Her normally excitable nature was dropped, but her enthusiasm remained. It was channeled into a focus and drive that she rarely felt, and even more rarely put on display.

It felt good.
(Astelle Nora)
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[18:36] Mathias Adimaros asks, "Hmn?"
[18:39]
{LOAD GAME}

[18:42] Mathias Adimaros asks, "Hmn? What's goin' on?"
[18:45] The enhancements she gained from her new equipment, as well as the increasing of her strength and focus, proved to be more than enough to win her the fight. Make no mistake, it was close. They went blow for blow, as whips parried sword strikes and vice versa, but they both landed most of their strongest moves on each other, too. But in the end, Astelle outfought him, by however small an amount, and the fruits of her work showed themselves: Ice was literred around the battlefield, and by the end of the fight, the water vapor on Agni himself began to freeze.

It was the breakthrough she needed. Not only did she win, but this fight earned her the final piece of the puzzle she needed to learn the magic she desired, and apply it in a fight. Sure, she needed more time, but that's all she needed. Her knowledge had fully solidified, and it was only a matter of time until she could wield ice on her own.

"That was fun!!!"

The sense of true accomplishment wasn't quite there yet, though, but once she finally had it down...

"Really, really fun!!!"

She'd probably never shut up.
(Astelle Nora)
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[18:51] Agni was sent crashing down upon the ground with a familiar blunt force impact from Astelle's water magic. In fact, it was an even harder hitting pummeling because she was beginning to solidify the water further and make it more akin to ice.

The Drakanite boy lifts himself up from the sand...

But there's absolute rage in his eyes. Not for Astelle, but for himself. "...No..." he mumbles.

His draconic iris becomes thinner, his pupils dilating. In a burst of frustration, he slams the sandy ground with his unarmored fist. Is this really how far he'd come? Even with his body healed, and having refined the manner in which he used his sword skills, down to the very order of them.

That was it?

"Again. AGAIN." The words were nigh snarled, there was a sort of beast-like fervor in how he spoke, phlegm moving and making way for his shouted words. It was a side unseen for Astelle. Agni snatched his sword up, planting his feet into the ground, and...

Well, he launched himself right into Astelle, even before she accepted the rematch. "That can't be it--I can do better. I MUST do better!"

It was like he was in a trance, or perhaps even another person all together.
(Agnimazud Ishwaratu)
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[18:54] * You have been awarded 3 Roleplay Points! *
[19:00] This... was unexpected. No, this was actually worrying. She had rarely ever felt fear before, especially in the presence of a friend, but all she could really ask herself was...

Why? What was happening? Why was he doing this...?

...

Was she about to get hurt?

When she fought, she fought to defend. She fought with a sense of anxiety bordering on panic, and she fought with a sadness that she had to fight a friend like this.

...Could she continue to hone her magic like this, though? If she could utilize her ice under such stress, she'd know for a fact she had all she needed. The problem is whether or not she could think to do that.

It wasn't looking likely.
(Astelle Nora)
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[19:05] Agnimazud Ishwaratu says, "..."
[19:08] Astelle fought harder. And harder. And harder. The girl had a learning curve, but once she got into the groove, she was a force to be reckoned with. With every fight she partook in, that became more and more clear. As before, they were close, but Astelle started off with such an enormous advantage that it seemed as if it wasn't even a contest. But as Agni fought on in his state, he managed to catch up to her, barely.

This time, rather than finishing him off with a beam or a whip, Astelle threw her hands forth, causing a wave of water to surround his body, freezing him from the neck down so he couldn't attack her again right after; unless he found the strength to break free, that is. But hopefully he wouldn't be angry enough to do that.

"Agni?! What's wrong with you! Get ahold of yourself!"

She hoped that, if her magic didn't reach him, that her words would.
(Astelle Nora)
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[19:19] Astelle caused the ice surrounding him to disperse upon noticing him calm down, allowing him to stand (or fall to his knees, depending). Astelle strolled over to him and gazed upon him, her expression soft and her words comforting, hoping he wouldn't take them as condescension. Astelle didn't even know how to be condescending.

"Maybe you just need to make more friends. Maybe your weakness is coming from your reason to be strong."

"I wanna be strong because I wanna defend myself. I wanna be strong because I don't wanna let my friends down. Why do you want to be strong, Agni?"

Once more, an uncharacteristic display of insight from her, although it was worded in the same bubbly way that she worded everything else.
(Astelle Nora)
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[19:29] The Drakanite boy falls to his knees limply, just barely keeping himself upright. His words faded into silence and the look in his eyes reverts to something more in line with what it usually was. Still, his gaze was undirected. With Astelle having walked up to him, he'd more or less just be staring right into her belly while kneeled in the sand.

"...Power isn't everything. Power is, however, a means to an end."

Even if looking unfocused, he did take in all of Astelle's words. The teen goes on to continue speaking, just blankly fixated on the fabric of the girl's clothes before him.

"So many doors are opened by having 'power'. The strongest live an entirely different reality from you or I. They see things we could never see. Experience things we could never experience. Unbarred by things that would destroy lesser people."

Shaking his head, Agni finally lifts his head, staring into Astelle's eyes for the first time. His words took a turn from where started, and appeared to keep going.

"I don't want to let you down either. I want to be able to protect you, too. But."

A shift in gears. Seemed what he was getting at when he first began speaking was returning.

"That is just one of the things I could accomplish if I were strong... the strongest, even. I could do those things, and so much more. In short--your possibilities are endless. Whatever goals or ambitions I develop down the line--if I were strong--they too, would become exceedingly easier to achieve."

A sigh.

"Because it all comes back to power."
(Agnimazud Ishwaratu)
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[19:33] Astelle Nora says, "...yeah."
[19:33] Astelle Nora says, "You're right."
[19:33] Astelle Nora says, "But I feel as if power isn't something you aim for."
[19:33] Astelle Nora says, "I feel as if it's something you gain along the path to other things."
[19:34] Agnimazud Ishwaratu says, "...I've gotten to where I am now by dedicating my efforts toward amassing more of it."
[19:35] Agnimazud Ishwaratu says, "I just... I'm just not doing enough. That's all. Not trying as hard as I could be. I have to do more."
[19:35] Astelle Nora exclaims, "And now that you've hit a wall, maybe it's time to go down another path for a little while!"
[19:35] Astelle Nora asks, "All roads lead to the same destination, right?"
[19:35] Astelle Nora exclaims, "And that destination is death!!!!"
[19:35] Agnimazud Ishwaratu says, "...Maybe."
[19:35] Astelle Nora says, "So just enjoy the pathway there for what it's worth and see what you get along the way."
[19:36] Agnimazud Ishwaratu says, "I'm just... not trying hard enough. All I can do is push myself further. Search harder."
[19:36] Astelle lapsed back into normal rather quickly, and forgot the point of her metaphor.
(Astelle Nora)
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