dissonates | [Voice / Action]

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[Voice / Action]

Natalia's gone back.

[And he's... not sure how he even feels about that, especially since it's the second time now. He's not the sort to broadcast his feelings on the matter anyway, so he'll leave it at that.]

[Locked to Dist - 75% Unhackable]

If you've prepared everything you need, it's about time we meet.

[Asch won't be around the house much today; he'll probably be home late. His main haunts today will be the Battle Dome, the library, (maybe a quick bite to eat in the plaza |D) and finally Good Spirits to ~~sulk~~ read a book in a tucked-away corner of the bar. ...Though the amount of reading may decrease depending on what he's drinking over the course of the evening...

Oddly enough, Star the cheagle will be tagging along with him over the course of the day.]

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[Luke's pretty sure Asch didn't want him to keep talking to him, anyway. He gapes just slightly, shuts his mouth, glances away... Then lets out a groan. Maybe this'll be better than hacking away at holograms, anyway.]

Fine, I'll spar with you. [And with a glance at Star and a tilt of his head:] Wait for us out here, okay Star?

[Star just nods, then scampers upstairs to the viewing area. Asch doesn't even give either of them a second glance, finishing the set-up and stepping inside the training area.

Inside probably doesn't look familiar, though Luke will probably recognize that it's a fonic glyph in the center of the floor.]

[Luke looks around the area, slightly impressed by what Asch decided to choose... but indeed, he does recognize that glyph on the floor. Wait... Was this somewhere in their world?]

Where are we?

[Asch pauses briefly, focusing on unsheathing his sword and examining it. An Oracle Knight sword... not quite the same as the one he took from the soldiers before he died, but close enough. Though it's true that when he fought Luke here originally, he was using the Key...

...ah, whatever. He can't waste something like that on a spar, it would look suspicious. Belatedly, he finally answers Luke.]

It's a cathedral in Hod.

[...Close enough.]

... Hod? That Hod?

[Upon seeing Asch unsheathe his sword, Luke did so, too. He holds it at his side, ready just in case Asch decides to start the spar right then and there. Still, Luke can't help but glance around. This... This is a part of Hod? Guy's home? It looks like it must've been grand...]

[Asch scoffs faintly, adjusting his grip, though he doesn't attack just yet. With Luke surprised like that, the spar would be over too quickly. Though he really should get that sample to Dist before he wanders off...]

What other Hod could I possibly mean?

But... How did it know about Hod?

[A whole, not destroyed Hod, for that matter.]

How am I supposed to know? It was in the options so I picked it. [...Well, sort of. If Luke were to look for it again, "Hod" would probably show up as "Eldrant"... but oh well.] How does this place ever know anything about Auldrant?

I guess... [It still doesn't really make sense to Luke, but then again, when does anything in Luceti make sense?

After another moment of looking, Luke shakes his head, adjusts his grip on his sword and holds it out slightly behind him as he gets into his battle stance.]

Okay, I'm ready.

[Good enough for Asch. With a quick nod, he wastes no time, dashing forward with a lunging jab. This is more than just for Dist's request, now- the setting cemented that. This is about victory, now.]

[And, of course, Luke just thinks Asch decided to go with a pretty setting for their spar. There's nothing more on Luke's mind than to work out his frustration and get his mind off of the fact that Natalia is gone, though that doesn't mean he won't try his best.

The moment Asch moved forward, Luke gripped his sword tighter to watch what he was doing, then leaped back once the jab came. It might have been easier to dodge to the side instead, but Luke only thinks about that for a second before he swings his sword in an effort to throw Asch's sword off of its path, then perform a vertical strike towards Asch's shoulder.]

[With his sword deflected and Luke too close for him to recover properly, Asch hurriedly stretches out a palm, a brief flare of energy blasting between them as he uses Raging Blast. That should separate them enough for him to go back on the attack.]

[Damn, Luke hates that move when he's not the one using it. He saw that glow in Asch's hand, but the fact that he was still in the motion of swinging his sword makes him unable to move out of the way, and thus Luke finds himself flying backwards and landing on his back.

He won't stay down there long, though. As soon as his body stops sliding on the floor, Luke gets himself up - first into a kneeling position with his sword in front of him just in case Asch decided to immediately follow that up with an attack, and then to his feet. Now that Asch had such a huge opening and time to think of what to do next, it'd be best for Luke to stay on the defensive for a bit.]

[Said opening was used not to attack outright but to remain further back, chanting under his breath as a glyph appears under his feet. As Luke gets back to his feet, Asch lifts his sword abruptly, the glow fades and reappears beneath Luke.]

Stalagmite!

[Might want to get moving again, Luke. SUDDENLY THERE ARE ROCKS]

[OH CRAP THERE ARE ROCKS

Luke widens his eyes once he realizes what Asch is doing, and he tries to run out of the way as the glow appears beneath him. He's mostly successful in getting out of the way - the outer ring of the attack still got him and pushed him roughly against the central rock that rose up, but all that will do is just make his feet and back ache for a little while.

Dammit, if he cleared that attack completely, he could've had an opening - but Luke will just have to accept his losses and come up with something else. For now, he raises his fist to unleash a Demon Fist; Asch might be recovered by the time Luke got to him, but maybe not before he's hit by Luke's sole long-distance arte.]

[Asch notices the arte, eyes narrowing, but the recovery delay on his fonic arte has him fixed in place until the remnants of the glyph disappears. He lifts his arms and sword to defend instead, letting the arte hit him. It stung, but at least it's a relatively weak attack. He doesn't give himself time to dwell on it, shaking off the ache in his legs where the majority of the attack connected and dashing forward, aiming to clash swords with Luke once again. He's hoping that by stirring things up, they won't run into the problem they've had a few times already- namely, using the same artes and mingling their fonons to the point of hyperresonance. He didn't feel like getting blown clear to the ocean or something.]

[While Asch runs toward him, Luke takes the opportunity to gather what little fonons are in the air and let it strengthen him - the Steel arte. Once he's finished, Asch is relatively close, so without much time to react further, Luke swings his sword towards Asch's side. Either that, or he'll probably clash swords with him. He just hopes their fonons won't mingle together too much; Luke definitely knows the dangers of fighting with another seventh fonist. He found out first hand when he first clashed weapons with Tear.]

[Asch has better control over his hyperresonance than he used to, certainly, so the danger of explosions and whatnot is significantly reduced. (Thankfully.) He slams his blade against Luke's, blocking the attack, and pushes forward, trying to make his replica unbalanced enough for him to go back on the offensive. He really only needs to get one crucial hit in- there's no need to prolong this.]

[If Luke hadn't used Steel, he might have been successfully pushed back. But as it stands, he just grits his teeth and pushes forward, too, with the same objective in mind as Asch. Whether this was his own thought or if it was influenced by Asch, he doesn't know, but that doesn't really matter to him, anyway.]

[If Luke is too strong right now for Asch to push away, he opts to change tactics instead- after a moment, he abruptly lets himself fall roll backwards, allowing Luke's momentum to drag his replica forward so Asch can flip him away.]

[Luke definitely wasn't expecting that. He can't even react when he falls forward except to widen his eyes and let out a surprised noise. And the next thing he knew, there was pressure against his stomach, and the world violently turned upside-down.

Once Luke lands on his back, he stares ahead for a second, trying to figure out what just happened... But then he realizes that he's still in the middle of a spar, and one with Asch at that, so he rolls to his stomach, gets himself up into a kneeling position and tries for an arte that can be used to attack at all sides.

The arte is risky, sure, since it leaves him open to attack if it fails, but with that moment of being stunned by the flip, Luke figure that maybe Asch might be caught up in it. He spins, dragging his sword along the floor to create a circle of light - and a glyph appears beneath his feet as he jabs his sword into the floor.]

Guardian Field!

[Guardian Field, huh. Asch pays it little heed- in relation to his goal - namely, a decent injury - the damage it deals is fairly low. He continues charging forward, skidding to a halt just inside the circle and counters with Guardian, allowing the arte to protect him and take the brunt of the attack.]

[Once the arte finishes, Luke yanks his sword back, then swings it forward once again; as he's still kneeling, Luke is aiming for Asch's knees, if only to make him jump away and give Luke the opportunity to stand and be mobile again.]

[Asch curses inwardly and backsteps, but rather than just stand there and let Luke have a moment to recover, he slashes his sword through the air in front of him and then slams it down onto the ground, a blast of fiery fonons - Devil's Inferno - flaring upwards from the collision.]

[For the small second of time that Asch gave him, and once Luke sees the attack he's going to make, he scrambles backwards, knowing that he can't possibly just stand up and run. Still, the outer part of the attack hits his cheek - and it burns, making Luke hiss, but it doesn't deter him.

Once he's out of range, Luke stands again, a light cringe on his face thanks to the results of the arte. Now that he's up, he'll go for another arte - Swallow Fury - and, if successful, will make Luke dart behind Asch and use a series of kicks to make him fly upward into the air.]

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