-Break-
Location: Outer Eastern edge of Căderea-dracului
Φ "D-Dumnorix," Cyrus says as he walks through a forest in a black sleeveless silk shirt with a series of rope knots in the middle serving as buttons, with his scarf from Skydust wrapped around his waist.
As he speaks, Cyrus looks at a cursed squirrel that runs past him, and bowing his head to it, he says, "I am so-orry for being loud."
But the squirrel merely throws a nut at him and continues on. "I need to be quieter. I can't go bothering the animals here."
Cyrus raises his head, and as his eyes fall on the trees, he sees that the body of each tree is shaped like a face, and he pulls out his sword for protection. "S-Stay ba-ack!"
The faces on the tree start to change shape more and more, and as they do, Cyrus gets prepared to strike at them. But then, from their mouths, a burst of laughter emanates, all directed towards Cyrus.
He takes a moment to look around and then falls to the ground and says, "I AM SORRY FOR MAKING SO MUCH NOISE!"
He then covers his mouth with his hands and says, "I am sorry."
"HOW PATHETIC!" A large voice shouts down.
Looking up, Cyrus sees Dumnorix standing on the top of one of the cursed trees, reaching his finger into the sky as he poses. Soon the trees bend their bodies and a shining purple light design on him and he says, "The greatest in all creation has arrived!"
"Dumnorix, where we-ere you? Eve-eryone was loo-oking for you!"
With a proud smile, he says, "I was training for when I introduce myself as the envoy of the beastkin to the queen of the Nightmares."
"Y-You need to co-ome right now."
"Sorry, I don't listen to people like you."
Jumping down off the tree and landing perfectly, Dumnorix says, "You have the strength of a dragon, and a legacy. Yet you act so cowardly! What kind of respect to hope to gain when you constantly hang your head down low? Cyrus, you're 10cm taller than me, but as far as I care, you're not even a fourth of my height."
Turning, Dumnorix starts to walk away, and Cyrus says, "Wher-re are yo-ou goi-ing?"
"I don't speak to babies, go home and suck on your big sister milk."
As Dumnorix continues to walk away, Cyrus constantly fidgets with his hands, whilst following Dumnorix and saying, "You need to come-e ba-ack."
With his voice echoing through the area, Dumnorix says, "I can't hear you!"
Putting a little more power into his voice, Cyrus says, "C-Come ba-ack, please."
Dumnorix ignores Cyrus and keeps walking, so Cyrus just follows after him and, lowering his head, he says, "You're mean."
"I'm mean? What are we in school? Life is a horrific battle, and a man such as yourself is nothing more than a burden."
"O-Orb said I am not a burd-den. That if we work together, we can do anything."
"Only equals can work together, and an adult and a child never can and never should be equals."
"Don't talk down about Orb!"
Stopping and turning, Dumnorix says, "Do you really think Orb was the child in my scenario? He is the one who is constantly fighting, and being proactive isn't he? Leading the way while you follow behind him and just do what you're told. Like. A. Child!"
Turning again, Dumnorix walks forward and says, "Yet I wouldn't call a child a burden, but one who refuses to grow up and eternally rest in the bosom of their mother will be. Such a person will only be able to sit down and watch as everything around them is destroyed. The fate of trash like you, Cyrus."
As Cyrus hears these words, he grits his teeth and shakes, then reaching for his sword, he pulls it and slashes towards the ground where Dumnorix stand.
With one lung, Dumnorix dodges, and with a smile, he says, "Is the little baby throwing a tantrum?"
Holding his sword with rage as he shakes, Cyrus says, "I know I am weak! But I still want to move forward. I know better than anyone how they coddle me, but I won't weigh down on my loved ones any more. I will protect everyone in Nifhilem! And right now you're causing issues, so I am going to d-drag you back!"
"Like you have the courage to do that?"
"Abbán said I can use force if I have to."
"SO, you can only do something if you have received permission from a master first?"
"No, right now I want to punch you in the face."
Dumnorix lets out a heavy laugh, then with a bright smile on his face, he pulls out his needle-like sword, and says, "Some me you're worth respecting, Cyrus. Come at me!"
Φ Sending spirit energy through my sword, I rush toward Dumnorix and swing it at him, but he dodges and skirts away from me, and with spirit energy flowing through the sword, he strikes me in my arm.
But feeling nothing more than a pinch, I swipe at him, creating enough force to push him back and blast away the trees.
"I didn't see it before, but those thick black and purple scales on you are not the only ones. On your skin are microscales so small that I can barely make them out from normal skin."
I rush towards him again, and he dodges yet again, and manages to strike me, but I swipe at his knees with my sword, causing the same result as last time to happen, and he says, "I guess I will just have to look for a way around this."
He takes a few lunges back and then says, "Red branch battle arts, Star flower."
He quickly rushes towards me and lets out seven strikes towards my body with each hurting me a little, and I swing my sword, but then he says, "Red branch battle arts; Camellia Japonica."
And he disappears, then strikes me in the back. "No soft spots in the front or back, looks like this might take a while."
I swing at him again, and he parries me with his sword, and then he moves to strike me, but I manage to keep up in close combat. His sword is tiny; it feels like a single direct strike should break it, but he is simply so good at parrying away all my blows that my sword barely even impacts his own. Is this the difference between us?
If so, I will just do what I can to win. Whatever it takes, you must have been given this strong body for a reason.
Lifting up my foot, I slam it into the ground, smashing the area around us, which causes stones to fly into the air, and the trees around us to fall a bit.
Dumnorix jumps backwards onto one of the stones in the air, but I let out a roar that blows the stones away and sends him flying back, then I dash forward with my sword in hand.
Moving close to him, I swing towards his body, but he plunges his scorpion tail right into the ground, and then lifts his body far away from my strike, so I move to hit his tail. But in one quick moment, he moves it upwards and cuts my cheek, before taking a few more steps back. Then, with a smile, he holds his tail with my blood on it and says, "With that, the battle is over."
Suddenly, I feel my body shake, and then he says, "I am a skerlegh beastkin, the poison made from its body is enough to even knock down a tiritrex with all its adaptability. That one was a sleep drug, goodnight."
I stare at my shaky hand, and then, sticking out my tongue, I say, "Yuck. So gross that you're inside me."
Dumnorix looks confused, so I dash forward and continue my assault against him. "I see you must just have that strong a constitution. Guess I will need to try harder."
As I continue to swing at him, I see my blood on his tail being absorbed into it, but I just continue my clash against him. Though he suddenly comes to a stop, and using his tail, says, "Red Branch battle arts; Sonic thrust."
Sending his spear-like tail towards me in an instant at high speed, he pierces my chest, and as more of my blood falls onto his tail, he absorbs it, and says, "All that effort for such a little cut. You really will be fun to defeat."
Dumnorix tail is similar to that of a scorpion, but the top of it is like a lance which he can use as a second blade along with his tail, but due to his longer reach and the fact that since it is organ to his body he can send spirit energy through it easier further increasing his destructive power. But if he can use his tail, so can I.
I dash forward, and he uses red branch battle arts to meet me and attack yet again. I struggle to keep up with his fast thrust with my sword, so I just allow them to hit, only making an effort to block his tail, which can pierce me.
And with all the force I can muster, I swing my sword, which he dodges even at this close range again and again, so I keep swinging it harder and harder, which causes the wind pressure made from this to continuously send him off balance.
As I swing, I remember the words Suzuka said to me, "Sparing with you is putting me in a bad habit."
"A bad habit?"
"Your blows are easier to dodge, but if one were to hit me, it would probably kill me. So I end up getting stuck in this habit of overly focusing on them despite how easy it is to dodge. If you were smarter and through in a sneak attack, I would probably get hit. BUT I DON'T MEAN YOU DUMB CYRUS, I LOVE YOU LOTS!"
With Dumnorix in front of me as I let out another powerful swing, which he prepares to dodge by moving his body left of my body, I drop my sword, and his eyes follow it for a moment, then in that same moment, I send my tail to strike him in the side.
Dumnorix tail a quick step back, dodging it, but fully extending my tail out, I say, "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"
Φ If my tail is like a lance, Cyrus' tail is light a giant, scaly slab of destruction. His tail is attached to his waist and has the same bluish black scales as all his other visible ones. Just from the way he usually moves it, you can tell it's heavy and a single hit from it could probably rip someone in half, but what's worse than all of that is the length of it. It is usually compact and fat, but a mere moment ago, it just extended while keeping a similar level of thickness. Right now, just judging by its length, it went from the same size as his leg to double his body height.
Cyrus starts to furiously swing around his tail, and I dodge it again and again. I hate to think this, but if it wasn't for my higher spatial awareness due to my legacy, I would have been hit by this and been critically injured.
But this has confirmed something to me, Cyrus. You're not normal for a dragon.
It is said that a long time ago that dragons used to do battle with humans and beastkin. But if the average dragon could do all you could, Cyrus, it would be a complete slaughter. Not to mention the fact that you aren't even in your dragon form.
Unlike humans us beastkin physical abilities have a lot to do with our bloodline, and I am guessing the same is true for you, dragons. Yet from what the stories I can tell your sister didn't have this same level of extreme strength like you do.
The only option must mean that your legacy, which has a dragon's name, must be influencing your own body. I thought it was weird for Orb and Suzuka to have legacies that held such power, like freezing a continent or cursing a land.
But yours might just be as scary and powerful as theirs. "Those who bear relations to Mable, and Gabi, the family of Lux. How interesting."