Birthday Cup: Ramza/Crowe vs. Beatrix/Nil

Nil's query of how Beatrix fared was answered not with words but action as the swordswoman rushed into the fray once more. To watch her fight was truly awe inspiring and while the sheltered behemoth had very little to go on in the way of combat, it was obvious even to him that it was an art, and Beatrix a master of the craft. She moved with style, grace, finesse, and power. It was so cool! Nil glanced down at his keyblade, maybe she could teach him some things! He wanted to be that cool too! That would have to wait til after the tourney though...For the most part. Nil was trying his hardest to assess everything he could during the fight, stances, swings, everything here was a learning experience for him that could make him a better fighter in the future!...Heh, that's not something he would have ever considered himself this morning. A fighter? It hadn't ever occurred to him. But here he was now, having the time of his life! The abuse from home was finally the furthest thing from his mind.

While the battlemage had managed to part Ramza of his sword, it didn't last as long as Nil had hoped. Dodging his strike, the swordsman had zipped past him and reunited with his blade. He fully expected Ramza to come after him once he was rearmed, but instead the knight had opted to...throw some rocks at the Holy spell he had cast on Crowe moment ago? Nil paused in disbelief. That seemed like a terrible idea! The rocks would likely just disintegrate or bounce off the powerful magic like a...uh..like uhm. Like a rock off a bigger rock? Nil shook his head and moved to rush in again himself, though Beatrix was a step ahead of him, her blade crackling with power as she swung towards Ramza. However the knight still had a trick or two up his sleeves that weren't rocks. The air around him erupted with magic and threatened to push Beatrix back and off from her assault. Nil was glad he hadn't caught the brunt of that, but hoped his partner would be quick enough to keep on her toes.

Once Ramza's burst of magic had cleared, that's when Nil would finally press forward. He and Beatrix had the advantage once again it seemed and it would be dumb to squander the opportunity. Rushing towards Ramza, Nil hoped to take the same advantage the swordsman had early and catch him off guard, dropping to all fours as he got close he would seek to slam those thick horns into Ramza this time and Heave the young man into the air. "No hard feelings!" Whether this blow would land or not, Nil would opt to retreat out of melee range with a little hop as he gripped his keyblade two handed and landed in a stance echoing that of Beatrix's. Focusing his magic through the blade in a Wave of Mutilation, the paint dripping from his weapon shifted in colour from the fantastical prismatic to a bright white and blue. With an upward swing towards Ramza, a single and rapidly growing orb would rush towards him whether he was falling or fleeing. With a downward swing towards Crowe the colour shifted to a dark smouldering brown and painted a portal in the air from which droves of rocks zipped towards the distracted, and possibly blinded, woman. Nil knew that he'd not have enough energy to pull off a trick like that again, he felt it in the last fight too, like a well running dry. Could he train himself past that he wondered? With one more flick of his wrist towards Crowe, an icy shard of Blizzard would follow not long after the barrage of meteors.

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Action 1: Heave: Wanting to press the advantage posed by Ramza's partner being distracted, Nil aims to send the swordsman skyward with a powerful Heave: Charge at the foe, slamming into them with large pointed horns for heavy Physical damage before tossing them up into the air. Often opening the opponent up for aerial combos. Can only be performed on the ground.
Cooldown: 2 Posts.

Action 2: Wave of Mutilation: Striking a familiar battle pose, Nil continues his assault by attacking both Ramza and Crowe with the homing magic of Wave of Mutilation: Channel magical energies into the keyblade before slashing towards an enemy twice releasing waves of homing magic attacks. This ability acts as a form of Double Cast, allowing two of the same spell, or two different spells to be launched in quick succession. The cooldown of this attack is always 1 less than that of the spell used, but no less than 1 Post. Extremely powerful magics such as Ecliptic Meteor or beneficial magics such as Protect or Shell cannot be channeled in this way.
Magics Used:
- Targeting Ramza: Ultima: An explosion of ancient magic erupts across the battlefield dealing heavy Non-Elemental Magic damage and ignoring the magical defenses of those unfortunate enough to be struck by it
- Targeting Crowe: Meteor: Droves of flaming meteors rain from above, devastating the surrounding landscape and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity with heavy Non-Elemental Magic damage.
Uses: 0/2 Uses Remaining.

Action 3: Blizzard: Hoping to get a little bit more damage in after his last spell, Nil targets Crowe with another Blizzard: Rapidly freeze water in the air to create a large chunk of ice before launching it towards an opponent dealing average Ice-Elemental Magic damage.
Cooldown: 1 Post.

Buffs:
Reflect has Ran Out!

Cooldowns:
Devil Claw: 0 Posts Remaining, Available Next Post!
Pop Drop: 0 Posts Remaining, Available Next Post!
Holy: 2 Posts Remaining.

Nil watched as his spells soared towards Crowe, the woman had thrown her arms up, outstretched, and summoned some sort of force field around her and the whole of the arena floor. The meteors seemed to push through with a little effort, but the chunk of ice merely crumbled...That was a neat trick! Sure, it meant that his magic hadn't done nearly as much as he wanted it to, but he couldn't help but be impressed. The behemoth felt simultaneously like a sheep among wolves and a kid in a candy shop. Having only ever read stories of battles in the past, text really didn't do this justice. Sure, a well written book could put you in the moment. Let you feel a fraction of the excitement, a taste of the rush. But nothing compared to actually being here! And that was honestly a little frightening. Nil picked up on things quicker than most, but reading only scratched the surface and learning on the fly like this was proving to be difficult. Keeping track of not only his own positioning, but that of his partners and both enemies was harder than it seemed! It wasn't like back in the labs where the most he had to keep track of were some stationary beakers and burners. He was getting better at his situational awareness, but he was far from a real fighter yet.

Case in point came in the form of Ramza's retaliation. So preoccupied with watching the course of his own spells was Nil, that he hadn't noticed the knight readying his own. Nil threw his arms up reflexively as the Ultima erupted around him. Nearly knocking him off his feet with its force...Pain shot though his body and ached him to the core...But somehow it hadn't hurt as much as he had expected. This barrier that Crowe had thrown up seemed to be a double edged sword for her team, and for that he was thankful. Doubly so he was thankful when he felt Beatrix's soothing curative magics flow across him, soothing his aches and renewing his vigor. The fight had become evenly matched once again for the most part now. Both parties had taken some knocks and been on the back foot. It felt like an even playing field again sure, but they all knew that things were coming down to the wire. Nil's eyes flicked between his opponents and his partner. His short time in this tournament had done wonders for the behemoth. He was feeling stronger, more confident, like he actually belonged in these worlds. It was hard to say if it was just the rush of battle and the thrill of their last victory that was working its magic, or if this feeling would last. What wasn't hard to say though was just how much stronger his desire was to win. But he was running out of options. He glanced down at the keyblade in his paw, whatever magical reserves it held had been drained for now, he couldn't rely on its magic for now. He did have another option though...This was a game of sorts, that much was true. And it wasn't do or die either. But didn't he owe it to everyone here to go all out? To really go all out? If they made it to the next round, the fight would only be harder than this, he couldn't hold back. He couldn't be a cornered animal anymore. He'd have to start acting like the hunter, not the hunted.

And the hunt was on.

Wasting no more time, Nil would rush across the field towards his opponents. An eager smile across his face. "That was really cool Ramza! Maybe someday my magic will be that strong. Or even stronger!" swinging his arm towards the Knight, the battlemage's claws began to glow through the gloves of his robe as he made an effort to leap forward strike Ramza with a Devil Claw. Spinning on his paws, Nil would disengage from Ramza and rush around to Crowe's side. Once in range he would swing his keyblade in quick succession to try and knock the woman up into the air with a well placed Pop Drop. "This has been a lot of fun, I hope we can be friends after the tournament is over!" with his initial assault attempted, Nil would rush back away from melee range and stop in the center of the arena and pause. "I'll be honest. I was afraid to be in these fights at first. But after all this, and seeing how fun it is and how no one's holding anything back. And maybe this just the adrenaline talking but..." Nil let his keyblade vanish from his grasp. His mane began to billow in the wind as magic gathered. This was a gamble. He knew from experience that he'd be practical without magic for the rest of this fight, but there was no going back now. He dug his claws into the ground of the arena floor.

"I won't hold back either." Throwing his head back to the sky, Nil let out a surprisingly mighty roar for his small frame. The ground began to shake and the sky over the arena began to cloud and turn a dark red. In the brief moments before you could see it, you could hear it. The loud, earth shaking rumbling from the sky. Piercing the clouds was a gigantic meteor, far large than the ones the behemoth had launched from his keyblade. The rock roared through the sky and descended towards Ramza and Crowe. The Ecliptic Meteor would violently crash into the ground by the two and erupt into an explosion of fire and debris. Still on all fours, Nil panted heavily and stared ahead at the devastation wrought. He hoped it had worked...because after all of that he wasn't sure how much of a fight he could still put up.

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Action 1: Devil Claw: Feeling the urge to give his all at last, Nil starts off his assault by striking at Ramza with a Devil Claw: Lash out with blade or claws, dealing average Non-Elemental Physical damage and dispelling any Reflect spell on the target.
Cooldown: 2 Posts

Action 2: Pop Drop: Following up he swings at Crowe to try and knock her into the air with a Pop Drop: A standard three hit combo with the Keyblade. When executed on the ground the last hit knocks enemies into the air. When executed in the air the last hit knocks enemies down to the ground. Deals average Physical damage.
Cooldown: 1 Post.

Action 3: Ecliptic Meteor: In an attempt to sway the advantage back to his team's side, and hold up his promise to himself of no longer holding back, Nil puts the majority of his magical reserves into his ultimate attack, Ecliptic Meteor: An exceedingly large meteor comes crashing down into the area, causing massive Non-Elemental Magic damage and exploding in a bright flash of fire and space rock. The explosion from this blast is extremely bright, blinding even those further from the impact, while those struck by the meteor or chucks of it find themselves sickened. This ability requires a lot of energy, leaving the use drained and unable to cast certain other spells.
Use: 1 per thread.

Inflicts: Blind, Paralysis, Bio. Averting your eyes can avoid the Blind entirely. These status effects can be cleansed with spells such as Esuna.

Blind Duration: 2 Turns.
Blind Percent: 10-50% (1-5 or below on a d10) Miss Chance, based on distance from explosion.

Paralysis Duration: 2 Turns.
Paralysis Percent: 30% (3 or below on a d10) Stun Chance.

Bio Duration: 4 Turns.
Bio Damage: Minor poison damage per turn for the duration.
Special: Cannot be cast if Meteor or Ultima has been cast during the thread. Prevents casting of Meteor, Ultima, or Holy after use.


Cooldowns:
Heave: 1 Post Remaining.
Wave of Mutilation: 0 Uses Remaining.
Blizzard: 0 Posts Remaining! Available next post!
Holy: Locked Out by Ecliptic Meteor.