"Something to dedicate myself to" 12/21

Emerald eyes note the Commander of the City Watch in the Dojo. A fully healed right rises so she can take hold of her conical straw hat and toss it towards one of the dummy, managing to somehow stick landing it atop the wood and straw training device's head. She'd only seen Task fight so much and thus she wanted to know something more about his fighting style.

Id enters the arena and turns to wait, seeing if he'll take her silent offer.
(Id)
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 Task would pace in tiredly from his patrols with a raised eyebrow to the mute, shrugging lightly as he raised his fists in preparation to engage in a bare knuckles brawl, a crescendo of clashing energy magic and brute force. The commander of the city watch wasn't unfamiliar with the particulars of such an endeavor.

"As you say...or don't say in this case I suppose."

Nodding across the expanse of the dojo, the bald watchman would grit his teeth as a fiery blue shroud of pulsating, shimmering mana would surround his form, his musculature bulging forth with concentration of energy as the bald man would bow respectfully across the field before preparing to enage in this determined pugilism.

It could go either way, Id had always been a prodigy, if eccentric. Most of the city was eccentric.
(Task)
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 Her gaze is almost unblinking as she notes Task's stance, his aura, his determination. Is it right to show him, or is it wrong? Then he'd know. The other two nearby would know too. Both of her hands are brought up to undo the loosely buckled lengths of leather around her upper cloak, loosening the garment until she casts it aside in entirety. It's been a long time since she's removed her cloak in front of anyone and one can only question why.

They could also question what she's wearing. White and gray cloth flows over her dress almost like a surcoat, hiding the extent of her lower arms too. That's not all it hides, though. It doesn't necessarily look like Id is comfortable without the heavy brown cloak, but she makes do.

Her right hand pulls back slowly, palm more facing away from her, fingers not wholly solid but held in an almost spear-hand form, while her left extends forward as she turns and broadens her stance so her side is facing Task. Her left hand faces the floor and is lax much like her right, not balled into a fist, seemingly not prepared to strike.

It's obvious, though, that she's relaxed in this stance for a reason. Her eyes close for a moment and then snap open, glowing a pale blue as similarly pigmented, ethereal flames flow across her. Why did she learn it if not to practice it in actual combat, even if it's not full fledged?

Her right hand moves forward as she turns and maneuvers closer, her right hand throwing a punch towards the air. In an instant, a fist of raw mana strikes for Task, being almost as big as the man himself. It threatens to overwhelm his will and leave him momentarily shaken should it hit... What kind of power is this?

Id begins the spar with that.
(Id)
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It's not a matter of who has the better physique here, Task obviously does. Id is a light weight, her build slender and made more for the task of running away. But, she's not going to run from this. Why would she run from this now? Her movements leave a strange sort of glowing after image as she lays into her opponent. The cloak is off for the sole reason that she can adopt this strange stance.

The truth of this was that she still didn't have enough social confidence to show herself for long outside of it. That much limited her, and that much she was berated for. A neutral, almost stoic expression becomes her facial features as she battles the Commander and it's noteworthy in one aspect.

His chances run out, Id grasps his arm as he moves for one more attack and her aura flares as she shoulders his weight, changes his momentum and slams Task straight into the floor and onto his back after taking control of the flow of battle. The energy beam he fires ends up striking her in the side, but despite there being a light flinch...

Her knee is on his torso and her right hand is already pulled back, preparing to punch as her mana condenses over her skin many times over. Flow control attained, she rolls off of Task and onto her feet, then turns so she can observe how he takes this.

All with an expression that says nothing about what she feels in this moment.
(Id)
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Task would engage Id in a concussive bout of energy and pugilism with his usual firm resolve, but the bald commander had found that he was not fighting the same Id he'd once proved the superior manipulator of flow to. The watchman learned with his fists, through repeated trial and error to master his own weaknesses and seize the iron fist.

But Id's concussive blows had changed. There was a sense of exceptional presence to the usually cloaked woman's aura, an overwhelming presence of an indomitable will. Though the bald watchman was bigger, it seemed the green haired martial artist had grown far more attuned to the natural flow of energy.

Slammed upon his back by the victorious mute, the watch commander would glance up blankly at the woman for a time in mild shock as the knee was pressed upon him. His brown eyes would flick to the condensed mana around the woman's fist with clarity, blinking lightly as the gears began to roll in his now slammed head.

After a few moments of silence, the watch commander would burst out into laughter as he slowly rose from the ground, thoroughly amused and clearly impressed by Id's growth.

"Now that was something! I haven't fought fists that determined in quite some time. You aren't fighting like usual Id, you've improved dramatically...what's changed?"
(Task)
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Her lips twitch as if she's about to smile but she represses all those emotions again and moves over to her cloak to pick up the discarded cloth and buckled leather lengths and don the attire once more.

Only after her heavy traveling cloak is fully secure does she turn towards Task, then moves to walk past him. A flick of her wrist summons the hat and it nearly slams into the City Watch Commander as it whirls over to her and she manages to catch it this time but does not put it on.

She stops at his side, then there's a quiet statement from a soft voice. Maybe the bald man would understand what she had gained if he understands what she had found beforehand. The truth was that Id hadn't really changed much, this was the road that she was pushed down and decided to walk after seeing it wasn't so bad.

All that the one-eyed watchman needed was exactly what she had found, and maybe some pointers once she fully understands it herself. He could grasp it, too, she's certain of that. It just needed a spark to ignite.

A short pause follows her whisper, then Id wanders off towards the entrance of the dojo as her ghostly flames die down and with them, the oddly refined raw mana that she had used to fight him with.
(Id)
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 Id whispers: I found something to dedicate myself to...
Task would blink steadily as he received his answer from the green haired mute, taking a thoughtful drag from his corncob pipe in minute confusion before the gears continued to turn in his bald head. The commander had found a sense of refinement in Id's mana throughout the battle, and seeing it disperse only caused the watch commander's mouth to drop lightly in revelation.

Id had found a firm resolve. Something to fight for that pushed their limits.

The bald watchman would think then of Audree, their evening drinking and sharing woes, the poem...things to fight for, to keep safe and to keep the city they both were sworn to safe. Task would raise his fist to the air with a flash of his missing toothed grin to Id, giving her a thumbs of firm assent and understanding.

"I understand! You have my thanks."
(Task)