Overwhelm.

[16:56] Energy seems to radiate off of this man, he'd noticed. As an energy mage of particularly high sensitivity, he glimpses those cyan wisps Tototl emits and quirks a brow.

"You must be real damn good," he says out of nowhere to the older Gehennan.
(Siegfried)
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[17:00] Tototl's head cants gently to the side at the comment. He'd flash a brief smile as a hand rest atop his collarbone. A brief flicker of light is seen within those brown hues as the cyan wisps begin to gently drift towards his own neck.

"I was good, but now I'm merely decent." The elder Gehennan replied with a light shrug of his shoulders. It'd take a few moments, but eventually an ethereal snake takes form atop Tototl's frame.
(Tototl)
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[17:03] He was bored. There wasn't a whole lot of reason for him to approach this man, outside of the fact that he had noticed something that was relatively rare among notable magi in Agartha these days - infact, he was fairly certain the only dedicated energy mage who carried around melee weapons these days were himself and Nym. Or atleast, he sure as hell hadn't seen any others.

There's a momentary flash of azure in his own pale blue eyes, as if acknowledging what Tototl'd just done, and then, he gives his signature wolfish grin.

"Spar with me. I'm sure you're still better than I am."

He nudges his head to the fields over abit and to the right.

"Siegfried, by the way. Lot o' people call me Sieg'. You caught me sober today, so no Siggy."
(Siegfried)
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[17:03] Cornflakes Tezcacoatl exclaims, "wow!"
[17:03] Ardith asks, "Eh?"
[17:03] Ardith asks, "Sup, kid?"
[17:04] Cornflakes floats off without another word.
(Cornflakes Tezcacoatl)
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[17:06] Ardith says, "Sup, Sig."
[17:06] Siegfried says, "Heya', Ardy'."
[17:08] Ardith asks, "What's shakin'?"
[17:08] Siegfried says, "Pesterin' this guy right here to show me his skills."
[17:10] Spar with me.

Well, it had been a few moments since he'd left his house and someone was already asking for a spar. Drawing in a slow breath he'd grumble for a moment before pressing off the temple. Patting down his form for his sword he'd furrow his brow-- Perhaps he should've brought it along after all.

"Bah, I'll do a round then get back to my crops. Caught me without my sword but..."

Tototl shrugged his shoulders. Another flash rolled through those brown hues as he lifted himself from the ground, the ethereal boa promptly dissipating into their respective wisps.

"I'm Tototl, however. Acting ah... Seer and Elder in these parts."
(Tototl)
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[17:14] Siegfried exclaims, "Then I won't use mine either!"
[17:20] It was understandable, for his irritation to have set in at the request. The man seemed many years older than Siegfried, and he'd assuredly had to put up with that many more requests for spars, one of the only favored past times of the magi around Agartha. For whatever reason, the one thing the vast majority of them were united in the enjoyment of was kicking the crap out of each other..

Probably helped explain why things were consistently so bloody all over the place.

"How're you doin' that? The serpent?" He asks, conversationally.

Siegfried himself was working on honing a very specific technique. That technique was what was going to help him take himself to the next level, and hopefully accomplish all of the goals that he had set out to.

Hopefully.

That said, he slips into a tried and true stance...both of his hands in his pockets. It was like he had that much faith in his own inhuman speed, that he didn't even bother with a guard. A thin layer of energy reinforced his body, and at moments in which he had to move, he'd expel mana in bursts, accelerating himself dramatically.
(Siegfried)
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[17:29] It's the saddest truth of all-- If a magi is to grow one must fight another, and from it their circuitry evolves. Whereas many had honed their skills in battle Tototl had as well. Yet, there came the moments when one needed to reflect on their own casting: meditation. That was where the elder had excelled.

"The serpent?" The elder repeated on back, a low hum held as he rolled his head about. Flexing his left hand he'd let a strand of mana roll out of a shining ring upon his finger, glowing hues transfixed on the other.

"It's mana manipulation in its entirety, but at the same time ah... A past old friend of mine." There's a flicker of a smile on his lips as he cants his head to the side. "See, I've a multitude of ties to the Spirit Realm. I've fought within it, prayed to the Spirits about me, and extended my senses by allowing it all to just... Drift on out."

Answering as if he'd been asked the same question time and time again he'd pull back into his own stance. One fist remains out stretched, the other clutched to his chest as his frame shifts inward-- It's mocking a coiled snake to an extent. The Seer patiently floated there, mana oozing continuously from his form.

"If you know how your mana works the impossible becomes possible. You can bend it in any way you truly wish."
(Tototl)
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[17:29] Siegfried says, "..."
[17:30] Siegfried says, "Interesting..."
[17:31] Siegfried says, "What the fu-'..."
[17:42] Siegfried is barraged by an onslaught of blows, but, strangely enough aside from that, that spectral snake seems able to barrage him even when there are blows he'd thought he avoided. Just outside of the range and scope of his perception, the man seemed able to hit him even when he wasn't being hit.

Siegfried hasn't gotten his ass kicked like that in a hand-to-hand brawl in a pretty extensive time period. Infact, so floored is he with that result, sent tumbling back and into the grass, it's his immediate response to stand and just... stare.

"So this is where mana manipulation gets you once you figure it out..." he mutters to himself, eying Tototl with a whole new respect.

His hands leave his pockets, and he squats down and into a real stance. Ethereal blue wisps begin to trail from his eyes, and like in his training with Tobias, he decides to begin to ante up the pressure his mana is able to generate. Siegfried begins to push himself, subconsciously trying to adapt bits and pieces of what Tototl is doing into his own fighting style.

Having delved into the realm of Spirits himself, being touched by a spirit, and donning a pendant that's reflection catches glimpses of his deceased father, his spiritual sensitivity has been elevated to new heights. His eye is opening to this world.

But Tototl comfortably lives in it...and he hopes to snatch at that glory.

"Now you got me real fired up!"
(Siegfried)
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[17:46] Anders Storms whispers something.
[17:46] Anders Storms whispers something.
[17:50] Anders Storms says, "Hope we're not imposing by sitting in on your... Conversation. Though if we are, we'll leave."
[17:54] Tototl, perhaps, had been lying about being just decent. Despite the ticking years of his age he still held finesse in battle. While Siegfried held inhuman speed the Seer held mystical strength! Each strike holds an ethereal cold upon its collision, the other's circuitry practically feeling the blows as they went.

As they're sent tumbling back he'd wave his hand about, letting the old bones get their fair share of a break. Spirits, he hadn't punched like this in a few months. A light smile is cast towards the other as they rise on up, eyeing the blue wisps that trailed from the others eyes.

"Mana manipulation, yes, and its perfection. Spirits, you should see what happens when you let it all take over-- Let it overwhelm you."

Gently canting his head to the side he'd once more pull on back into his coiled stance. Brown hues flare with cyan mana, the irises slowly becoming consumedby those ethereal flames.

"Show me how you are when you're serious, yes? Blade or not-- How far can you manipulate your circuitry?" The Seer called on out, the ethereal boa slithering down the length of his arm to join his left fist.

That brilliant, ethereal glow that shone from his ring perhaps told far more than it should. Should Siegfried watch a burst of mana be cast from his left hand he'd find its glow to grow, a strand of pure mana escaping into the world about them.
(Tototl)
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[18:13] Show me how you are when you're serious, yes?

That was where he thrived. It was only natural for them, those whose bodies were conduit for the might of the soul itself. That soul reacted to adversity, the strength of an energy magi infamous for surging near the point of defeat. From the jaws of loss, time and again, he'd been able to unearth an upset, a surprise victory, startling himself and those around him...

Tototl, of course, was a master of principles both advanced and basic - and he displayed that most prominently now.

Siegfried explodes from the ground with a dazzling display of speed, phantom images materializing every which way about them. Tototl would be encircled by the phantom copies, and Siegfried would utilize them as cover, deploying a touch of guile to make up for that little bit of extra oomph the Seer had over him.

Raw strength, however, was in the court of Tototl.

Ethereal constructs of mana drudged up from his soul materialize in brief, startlingly bright flashes, yet they do not yet have shape, unguided, lacking the raw intent and practiced ease. But for a time, he is beating Tototl back, seemingly even pushing him on the ropes. Devastating combinations coming out of high speed maneuvers look like they just may floor the older combatant...

Until the man becomes a miracle.

Let it overwhelm you.

Suddenly, his blows seem even more precise, even faster, and it's Siegfried on the defensive, just trying to stay alive with that ethereal snake nipping at him. From his body is propelled bursts of mana to mitigate the incoming damage, a technique he'd honed with Tobias, but even still, he takes great amounts of damage, eyes widening a fraction as he's pushed back, and the training he'd done, and his second wind...Would still leave him coming up short.

Tototl absolutely floors him, in a quick burst, like he'd just called his lifeline. Jettisoning from the man's hands like a missile is a burst of energy burning bright with such intensity it tears along the ground and makes to impact him brutally, Siegfried's own hands coming up as he digs both feet into the ground, reinforces his stance, and begins to emit that telltale glow...

And then his hands shoot an erupting, cascading wave of light of their own, his own energy burst, of almost comparable size. Everything he has left in the tank is thrown into it, and steadying his shaking arm, he can feel Taiga's defiance, his tremoring form braced by that comforting embrace from the Spirit World, as it always was...

It's not enough.

How far can you manipulate your circuitry?

Tototl's blast swallows his, and then him, having expended all of the energy he could to even make it this far. His entire field of vision becomes startling blue and then white light, and he's sent skidding backward, skipping like a stone, on his back, smoldering in the dirt trail left by the impact.

"The answer is...not far enough."

Siegfried shakily draws himself up to his feet, huffing and puffing, but grinning. Almost having managed to pull off a miracle all his own, but coming short...well, wasn't that the tale of Shirou Taiyang, the boy who called himself Siegfried, at this point?

But what'd changed, you might ask, about the boy, who'd become the man?

"Yet."

The revolutionary was always looking forward, knowing that there was always a new horizon to conquer.

Tototl…

Had showed him what he could become.
(Siegfried)
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[18:32] Siegfried's rush of speed is nothing he's unfamiliar to; The coiled Seer lets the fist upon his chest slowly unfurl to bare his palm. Those cyan orbs watch the phantom images about him calmly, merely waiting for the first of many to strike. To survive on Agartha one had to be clever, perhaps even unblinking to the foes that stood before them.

Tototl, sadly, had learnt this the hard way.

The Seer's able to hold some ground under the relentless strikes of the other. Punches are redirected, heavy blows are exchanged by one another as they contest their rushes. Siegfried's offensive is overwhelming if not oppressive. The Gehennan finds himself losing more ground by the moment, his flight staggering as his concentration begins to slip.

All up until the Seer merely lets it all rush on out.

Cyan mana flares from the elder's frame. It was, as he said, mastery over his circuitry and the manipulation of his mana. The snake's form flares with the newfound energy, lashing out further upon each blow that strikes against the other. Rush by rush, strike by strike, he begins to gain back the ground he'd lost.

The definitive finish came through as the gem among Tototl's ring flares. Jutting his left palm forth a torrent of mana is sent towards the other in an attempt to close the spar. It's yet another contest, however, as Siegfried forces their mana to an extent they hadn't before. It's a failed attempt, but Siegfried was taking a step.

Those glowing orbs wait for the dust to settle, squinting ever so lightly at the smoldering dirt that had followed the other's flight. As they begin to rise he'd let a small smile creep onto those neutral lips, taking a few moments to right himself and fix his own breathing.

Spirits, when was the last he'd fought like that?

"Then keep pushing it, all of it. Let your mana break and overwhelm you. See just how much you're able to control, and when you find that limit?"

Shatter it." A slow, shaky exhale left the elder Gehennan as he placed his feet among the ground. It's a passing wince, but the after effects of the spar were evident on the aging man. He couldn't keep doing these spars as the years continued on.
(Tototl)
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[18:41] Break your limits.

Such a simple thing, the man twice his age had just told him. It's like when you'd been seeking the answer to a riddle, and delved into all kinds of complex, twisted fabrications, not realizing that the truth had lied before you, all along, staring you dead in the eye.

He could see the shadows of greatness, feel the memories in those blows. Kraus...this was when he really came alive. This is what living was.

"Man, you gotta let me get you a drink, and tell me some stories some time. I'm sure you've seen some shit."

The lad is moving elsewhere, already, even banged up as he was. He notices the exhaustion, the old aches and pains that the Seer had, though, and they bring him pause.

"...I will never forget what you've taught me here today, Tototl. In these hands are this lesson, and I'll teach it to my enemies.

Spirits protect."

And then, the non-Gehennan staggers off, the same goofy grin on his face from before he'd gotten his ass kicked by the old vet.
(Siegfried)
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[18:49] Tototl can't help but stifle a rising chuckle at the offer they'd placed. Gently shaking his head he'd shakily begin dusting off his armor, wincing a bit at the bruises he'd have to tend to for the days to come.

"Seen some shit, fought some shit. It's ah... Agartha has this strange constant of pulling out obscene things before us."

The Seer didn't seem to give any heed, however, as the other began shifting away. Injuries were a symbol of progress for one another-- Steps made towards a goal of improving one's abilities. He bore his scars from the years past daily.

Spirits know his torso was been littered in scars.

"Take the lessons well, young one, and be wary of who you fight. It's the clever and cunning who thrive on Agartha. Yet...

Spirits protect."

A light huff of amusement parts from the elder as he turns towards those gathered at the field. He'd give them a brief little wave before attempting to move on back towards his home.

Fighting was getting far more tiring these days.
(Tototl)
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