Employee Evaluation [R / NDE]

[Deleted]

Thread Title:
Participants: Kazura and Luke
World: Human World
Death Setting: Non Death Enabled
Rating: R
Location:
Special Conditions:
Circumstances:

[Deleted]

”Uzaki Enterprise is a technological company based in Karakura Town headed by Kazura Uzaki. His goal is to gather spiritually aware individuals and provide them with training so that we may protect the human world from threats, both external and internal. There aren't enough shinigami to stop all hollow attacks, so that's where we come in. Kazura Uzaki is a great man, and he provides very generous compensation to his employees in the form of a large salary, commission, and benefits. Please consider joining us.”

It was funny that Luke still remembered it that well. The message that Marcus, when the Fullbringer was still disabled, had told him when they had first met. Marcus had been the one to bring Luke into Uzaki Enterprise. He had explained that the company was one that wanted to train and strengthen the spiritually aware so that they could defend the human world from spiritual threats. Everything Marcus had told Luke had been true. There wasn’t a single lie in that. That really was the goal of the company. This recent Hollow Handler disaster and the response to it was proof enough of that. The efforts put out by the company to keeping Karakura safe from Hollows was also noteworthy.

Dissatisfied. That was the primary emotion that Luke felt though. The wooden sword came down, hard, onto the rubber practice dummy that resulted in a loud, echoing, smack in the training room. Beads of sweat dripped down off of Luke’s chin or trailed down his neck to further soak the gray tank top he wore. Taking a few pants, Luke took a couple steps back away from the bruised and worn Century Bob. The tip of the bokken he held touched the matted floor for a moment as Luke looked at the dummy with a foggy look in his eyes. Luke was, essentially, just going through the motions. Like a machine.

Over the past few weeks Luke had noticed that he had a growing irritation with working for Kazura Uzaki. It wasn’t the fact that Kazura was a bad boss or anything. On the contrary, Kazura was the best boss that Luke ever had. He was a man who loved his work and respected and cared for his employees. He didn’t treat them like tools he treated them like people. Luke found himself respecting Kazura because of this behavior and what the man set out to do. But Luke wasn’t blindly in love with the guy like a certain someone was. Luke noticed that he had a growing annoyance towards his boss.

Luke’s place in U.E was simple. He wasn’t like Marcus who worked in accounting. Luke was entirely focused on the combat division. He had made it clear when he joined that protecting the city and its people and fighting those who used their powers to hurt others was his entire goal. That was why he didn’t take a second job in UE. Fighting was his entire reason for being there. Luke wasn’t a thug. He was just someone with heroic ambitions who wanted to properly use his strengths. So why was he mad? It all had to do with the last meeting.

When the news of the Hollow attacks broke, everyone in UE was assigned a task. Marcus and Jak had been ordered to infiltrate and gather information from the gangs in Karakura. Vesta and those two other women had been sent to Russia and to assist the local police. Everyone had their jobs. And Luke? "Luke, feel free to get in contact with your underground connection. Report back to me what you find, of course." That was it. SMACK. Luke ended up hitting the dummy again as he practiced his sword skills on it, aiming to get past the mediocre skill level he had from only using the sword for less than a year. ”I shouldn’t have suggested that.. Luke grumbled to himself, closing his eyes for a moment to let out a built up sigh.

He had done what was asked. He’d gone to Taka for information. Disappointingly she knew nothing. Nothing about anything other than what was already public knowledge had come in. Essentially, it was a pointless effort. ”It wasn’t a bad suggestion though.” Windstarke, his Doll, commented as Luke took up his stance again. Since that meeting, Luke had just been doing his normal line of work. During the day he remained at UE and trained to master his sword skills and Bount powers. Being one of the Bount meant that, begrudgingly, he only had his full power at night when the sun was down. That meant that Luke’s real work didn’t begin till the sun went down. Was for the better anyways. Trouble didn’t usually come crawling out during the day.

Another loud smack came from Luke smashing that wooden sword onto the dummy, before blinking with surprise when he noticed that he had swung a little too hard. The wooden blade was cracked a bit, causing Luke to let out a little bit of a groan. ”That’s comin straight outta yo paycheck foo’.” Jäger commented, being stupid again. Looking at the sword for a few moments, the Bount frowned before saying something. ”Maybe I should apply for Manager..” the sudden silence and surprise from his Dolls were a good response. ”You’d certainly be given more responsibilities...but wouldn’t it also take away more of your time?” Windstarke asked.

”Oh pft. Like senior Uzaki is gonna promote a dumb grunt. We all know Luke only got Senior Employee is because there wasn’t anyone else to give it to. Or Kazura didn’t want to get called racist and get sued, keke. Gotta appease this super special diversity hire, right dumbpire?” Jäger snickered, earning himself a well deserved grumble from Luke as the Bount sat himself down on the bench and just stared at the blue mats on the floor. What should he do?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Skills and Stats}

• [Weapon: Swords] {2}
  
  
• [Battle Analysis] {3}
  
  
• [Strength of Will] {3}
  
  
• [Pain Tolerance] {2}
  
  
• [Anti-Stealth] {2}
  
  
• [Charisma/Leadership] {1}
  
  
• [Battle Focus] {3}
  
  

Luke | Soldier

Strength - 200 Points

Speed - 300 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 400 - 700 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 100 - 60 Points

Light Aura - 90 Points

Dark Aura - 10 Points

Instinct - 150 Points

Senses - 150 Points

Energy sensory - 100 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Total SP: 1400 Points

[Kazura Uzaki]

Collecting the last items from his penthouse office that was soon to be converted into HR's main location, Kazura moved to his new corner office in the middle of the building that was more safe in case of attack on the building. With rising tensions due to this new Hollow threat, Uzaki Enterprises needed as much stability and safety as could possibly be. So, taking the advice of his security Manager Zeich, Kazura moved his office to somewhere more secure. And more accessible to for people who wanted to knock on his door and chat awhile.

Dodging one of these conversations by saying he had a meeting to attend to, the fullbringer made his way down to the secret basement floors of the spiritual department. He really needed to get some pent up energy out with some old fashioned exercise. He had been inventing like crazy lately with the help of allies and employees and felt like he just needed to get back to a routine of exercise to keep up his physical fitness. When he made it down to the dojo, he walked in to see Luke hit the training dummy with enough force to crack the wooden sword and then go and sit down and stare at the floor. ”Maybe I should apply for Manager..”

Walking up with much less stealth than he had in his younger days, Kazura placed his hand on the bokken and used Soul command on it. He reconnected the wooden grain and repaired the weapon to its prime. "Something got you down?" Kazura wondered how he would come across to Luke who seemed upset about something. It was true that the CEO often came across as more intimidating than lighthearted, no matter how much he tried. There was just something about his aura that gave off bad vibes slightly more than the good vibes. Though he tried to be kind, when it came to those who harmed innocent life he could gain quite a cruel streak...

Luke, however, had shown that he was a good hearted individual. One that constantly was working to protect this town from those that would harm it. His reports were consistent and informative, rivaling even Marcus' reporting habits and Marcus was one of Kazura's biggest fans. Luke was a good employee and though Kazura didn't know him well outside of work, he had the feeling that Luke was a good person in general. That's what his analysis of the situation showed. But something was weighing heavily on the Bount's mind. Something that his boss probably would be the worst person to talk to about right now. But KAzura was still going to try.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}


Strength - [200 x.5 (100)] Points

Speed - [300] Points

Light Aura - [40] Points

Dark Aura - [60] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [400 x2.5 (1,000)] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [150] Points

Instinct - [250 x2 (500)] Points

Senses [150 x.5 (75)] Points

Energy sensory - [50] Points

Healing Expertise - [100] Points


Total SP: [1600] Points

Abilities

• [Crafting/Forging] {4}
  
  
• [Strength of Will] {3}
  
  
• [Analysis] {2}
  
  
• [Learning] {2}
  
  
• [Krav Maga] {2}
  
  
• [Street Fighting] {2}
  
  
• [Leadership/Charisma] {2}
  

Total SKP: 18

[Deleted]

Suddenly blinking with surprise, Luke was pulled out of his thoughts when he became aware of another’s presence in the room with him. Energy Sensory was a good thing to have. Lifting his head, Luke practically choked on a lung when he saw that the new arrival was none other than Kazura himself. Luke realized it was someone strong, considering Uzaki’s ridiculous Spiritual Pressure, but he was still surprised that it was the boss man himself. Especially when Luke was just grumbling to himself about the man. ”Mr. Uzaki...hey. I didn’t sense you coming.” Luke said sheepishly, chastising himself for being so focused on his thoughts that he failed to sense the walking battleship of reiatsu.

Watching as his boss repaired the bokken, Luke blinked with worry when Kazura suddenly asked him if something was wrong. Did he hear what Luke had said? ”Kekeke good job stupid.” Luke heard Jäger laugh. A awkward silence formed between Luke and Kazura as the Bount looked at his boss, not really sure what to say for a second. Talking about the issues he currently had with his boss was probably a really, really, stupid idea.

But Luke was a honest person. In the past he never had a problem with telling his bosses to kiss his ass or telling them why they sucked at their job. He’d called down substantially since then. Hell, it was almost like Luke was a entirely different person. The selfish, anger issue plagued man was basically dead at this point. Weird way to put it but still. Rising to his feet, Luke decided to stand instead of sit if he was going to have this chat. Taking the new repaired bokken back to the barrel holding a few more of the swords, Luke decided to just say it. ”It doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough around here.” he let that sink in for a few moments before turning to face Kazura again.

Kazura had an intimidating aura about him, but Luke chopped that up to the fact that he was a CEO and his boss. Nothing about Kazura was threatening, in a life threatening sense. He was a good man. It was just that Luke recognized him as his boss and a man more powerful than him in a lot of ways. ”You sent just about everyone out on actual missions, and just sent me to ask a friend a favor. Marcus is out looking into the gangs with Jak, and Vesta and the others are out in Russia. I’m annoyed that you haven’t given me anything to do.” Luke explained, revealing to Kazura that this was about the Hollow Handler situation and the meeting. It was no secret that, on Luke’s end of things, asking the Taka’s Club for information had been a dead end.

”I’m not trying to be prideful or childish. I know protecting Karakura and everyone in it is more important, and it’s good that I’m around to do that while everyone is assigned to their tasks. I just want to do more to help.” Luke confessed, his brown eyes looking from Kazura as he confessed how he felt to his boss.

[Kazura Uzaki]

”It doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough around here.”

Kazura let that sink in a little, absorb it a little, before responding. He heard Luke explain how everyone was getting to go off on missions but he was just asking a friend for a favor. The fullbringer felt bad that he hadn't given everyone equal tasks and thought about what he could do to make it right. He hadn't forgotten that Luke had mentioned his desire to apply for Manager, he just hadn't fully mulled over it yet. True, he had done a lot for the company. That couldn't be denied. But presently Kazura's only manager was Zeich, a former Shinigami that could purify hollows still as well as beat Kazura up and leave him for near dead if he felt the urge.

Did Luke have what it took to be on the same level as the Vizard? They were very different people, that's for sure. Luke was probably even better suited for the task of managing others as Zeich was since the Bount was a lot less abrasive. Did Luke have the respect of others and the power to hold the position? Kazura wasn't sure, since they hadn't interacted enough. He did remember the tension that Irina felt towards the Bount for brushing her off in her attempt to recruit him during their last meeting, but the cold shoulder she gave him seemed to go unnoticed.

When Luke was finished speaking, Kazura finally spoke up. "I respect that drive to do more, be more. I really do. But the truth is, while you come highly recommended, I still don’t know fully what you’re capable of. To know where to best send you, I need to know where your strengths lie and who can shore up your weaknesses. Does that make sense? Your lack of tasks comes from my lack of knowledge, not your lack of ability. I’d like to get to know your skills better, if you’ll let me. Where should we begin? Is this a good setting, or should we take a trip elsewhere?”

[Deleted]

”But the truth is, while you come highly recommended, I still don’t know fully what you’re capable of.”

So that’s what it was. Luke’s muddy brown eyes softened in thought, averting their gaze from Kazura as the Fullbringer answered Luke’s complaints with reasonable explanations. The answer wasn’t that that Kazura didn’t have faith in Luke’s abilities it was that he didn’t know Luke’s abilities. He didn’t know Luke’s strengths or weaknesses. Kazura just didn’t know enough about Luke. The Bount felt a little embarrassed. Here he thought that Kazura simply didn’t have any faith in him and yet the answer was so stupidly simple. Luke hadn’t put in the time to grow his relationship with his boss. In truth, Marcus was the only person in Uzaki’s that Luke put any effort into getting to know. The Fullbringer invited the Bount to his wedding after all. Seems that was a area that Luke still needed to grow in.

”You’d think you beating a Sternritter would be enough to convince him.” Jager suddenly commented. No. Just because Luke reported that he defeated a Sternritter didn’t mean that Kazura would know anything about Luke’s abilities. Sure, it meant that the boss knew Luke was strong, but still. ”I’d like to get to know your skills better, if you’ll let me.” Luke returned his gaze back to Kazura, contemplating what his boss said for a moment. The meaning behind his request wasn’t lost. Exhaling and smirking, Luke decided to go ahead and go through this.

”Used to be that fighting my boss would get me fired. This’ll be a nice change of pace.” Luke joked, entertainment apparent in his voice. ”Alright. Come on. Let’s go to the sparring rooms.” Luke answered, knowing full well how crazy and ridiculous it could get when two people fought. Leading the way, Luke made his way to the same sparring rooms that he and Marcus regularly used. Stepping into the same room he fought Marcus in, Luke was relieved to see that the damage done to the room had been repaired. Stretching his arms and getting his elbows to crack, Luke made his way to the other side of the room and turned to face Kazura.

His eyes rested on his boss, giving him to the time to get ready, and used that time to get a better reading on Kazura. The most obvious feature about Kazura was the mans fucking ridiculous amount of Spiritual Pressure. Feeling Kazura out with Energy Sensory was a lot like standing next to a summer time bonfire. And I thought I had a lot of reiatsu.. Luke commented to himself. Honestly, it was surprising. When Luke first met Kazura he didn’t get the impression that he was a fighter himself. Honestly it was surprising that Kazura fought at all. Luke assumed that Kazura was a rich, spiritually aware, man who wanted to use his money and position to better the world.

It wasn’t a stretch. The assumption was that Kazura found, trained, and supplied people like Luke and Marcus so that they did the fighting. But finding out that Kazura was just as, if not potentially more, strong as Marcus and Luke was surprising. Really showed that Luke needed to get to know his coworkers better. ”He ain’t that tough.” Luke heard Jager comment. ”That’s what you thought about Marcus too. And how did that turn out?” Windstarke quipped. Before Jager could respond, Luke decided to break the two up. Enough you two. Cracking his knuckles, Luke began to wonder how he should approach this. Kazura wanted to know Luke’s strengths…so should the Bount fight seriously? Frowning to himself, Luke decided to just ask. ”So…how serious do you want this to be?”

[Kazura Uzaki]

"So... how serious do you want this to be?" The question was simple. The answer, however, not so simple. The sparring gyms were great for kendo practice, or fencing, or wrestling, or even mixed martial arts, but were they fully equipped to handle Luke and Kazura going all out? Kazura could, himself, limit damage to the building by nature of focusing on only his soul command abilities and his fullbring if necessary, but would he get to see the full extent of Luke's abilities if he chose to limit the battle? And if he chose to limit it, how much was too much before it became nothing more than a light workout and a social interaction.

No, Kazura wanted to get pretty serious. He needed to know the extent of his employee's abilities and needed to know firsthand how powerful Luke was. Against Vesta, Kazura had taken a hit of her Nether and lost feeling in his arm for a while. Kazura had soon stopped the fight after that by just putting up a defensive wall that she couldn't break through. It was... almost cowardly, how he had acted. He didn't want a repeat of that, no. But then again, he didn't want to go so serious as to bring out his full arsenal of equipment as those guns and laser weapons were meant to maim and kill...

Kazura left all of his equipment behind, besides his scarred belt that was his primary fullbring. He knew that he was drastically weakened by this as he wouldn't have any tools to manipulate, but he wanted to practice his hand to hand combat and get into better shape. He was really good at improvising with his fighting style, but wanted to perfect one unique style that was his own. To do that, he had to get himself into situations that he needed to fight his way out of. Relying on his Fullbring and weapons would just weaken his muscle memory.

Kazura scanned the room with his Energy Sensory before coming to a decision. First, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary with the room, so Luke didn't appear to be setting a trap for him with his powers or anything. Second, he noticed that Luke was very much like him in that he had a lot of amount of spiritual energy but it wasn't necessarily sharp. Even so, Kazura didn't want to hurt Luke with his spiritual pressure in the form of cutback, so he reigned in his own presence and dialed it back by sharpening his energy. Giving up amount for strength. That should allow for the fight to be more fair and more fun.

"I'll go as serious as you're willing to go. I can hold back or I can-" Pushing off with his foot and leaving behind just a pillar of light, Kazura utilized Bringer Light to get closer to Luke. He attempted to get right into his space with just enough room to swing a punch at the Bount's gut. He could have gone faster, could have fueled his punch with Bringer Flash, but it just didn't feel right. He wanted to first test out Luke's reaction times, test out his martial combat skills, test out his willingness to punch his boss before going too far in this spar.

Luke would probably need to be quick in reaction times, proficient in martial combat skills, and vedidnry willing to punch his boss if he had any hope of proving himself to Kazura. By moving first, the fullbringer opened himself up to retaliation, but proved that he wasn't holding back. He was allowing himself to get punched, allowing himself to train fully with Luke, and there should be no reservations in the Bount's mind. If he didn't react, didn't block, didn't dodge, he was going to be punched in the gut. And if he didn't fight back, then... Well, then neither of them would have any fun.

Remaining Reiatsu: 7,450/7,500 (-300 Conversion, overflow is then lost, -50 Bringer Light)
100 SpPr -> RS Conversion
New SpPr: 300 x2.5 = 750
New RS: 250

[Deleted]

Luke’s eyes narrowed for a moment when he felt the sudden shift in Kazura’s reiatsu. The ridiculous quantity of his reiatsu plummeted but at the same time it felt sharper than before. Did he just sacrifice his reiatsu to make it stronger? Why? The way the differences were a minute ago meant that Kazura would have a cutback advantage against Luke. Here the Bount figured his boss would have wanted to see how he’d get around Cutback. In fairness, the answer would have been simple. He would have used Output: Push to ignore Kazura’s Spiritual Pressure defense and press the assault. For a moment, Luke wondered if Kazura knew that was what Luke was going to do.

The fighters of the Human World all had one thing in common. They all, if they wanted to be strong and successful, shared the same set of techniques. When you fought a Fullbringer, you could make a safe assumption about their abilities. Yes. They absolutely had their unique twists. But it didn’t change the fact that there was a specific set of abilities they’d no doubt have. Willpower, Output, and Movement. So Luke was left wondering if Kazura assumed Luke had that ability and decided to just forgo a defense that wouldn’t serve him well anyways. But why convert his Spiritual Pressure into Reiatsu Strength? That cut a good chunk of Kazura’s reiatsu pool. What was the Fullbringer really planning?

”For fucks sake can you just get to the fight?” Jäger suddenly complained. There was literally nothing wrong analyzing your opponent before a fight began! "I'll go as serious as you're willing to go. I can hold back or I can-" the CEO would say before suddenly vanishing. A brief flicker of light was all that was left behind when Kazura suddenly vanished. He would suddenly reappear, right in Luke’s face, close enough to throw a hard punch right for Luke’s gut. Well, thankfully, Kazura decided against using Bringer Flash. Had he decided to use that move to open, then Luke wouldn’t have expected it right away. Why would he? He didn’t know that existed.

But because Kazura threw a punch with his normal speed, Luke was more than able to react to it. The Bount was a close ranged fighter. The space between them was a comfort zone for Luke. He was more than capable of fighting at this distance. The sound of Kazura’s fist smacking against the palm of Luke’s hand bounced across the gym as the Bount caught his bosses attack. Clenching his fingers tightly onto Kazura’s fist, the Bount’s brown eyes flashed with a determined fire as they glared at the CEO. At his speed and with a purely, simply, frontal attack...yeah, Luke could handle that easily. After all, Luke had been trained by, and fought against, much faster than this.

Flicking his free arm out from his body the air in the palm of his hand flashed for a moment. Air and reiatsu mixed together like love and marriage to create a simple, transparent, sword shaped construct. Kazura wasn’t the only guy who liked to craft things. Gripping the sword tightly, Luke immediately swung the weapon diagonally to bring it down onto Kazura’s shoulder. It was a simple move, one Luke expected Kazura to counter, but it was done to serve a few purposes. First was, unintentionally, to satisfy Kazura’s worry that Luke might hold back against his boss. Second, it was to gauge how Kazura reacted to something like this. Was Kazura like Marcus and full of tricks? Or was he a more honest fighter. Luke didn’t know. So instead of tiptoeing around the safety line, Luke decided to jump headfirst across that line and see where the fight went from there.

Remaining Reiatsu: 6800 / 7000
-200 for Class 4 Offensive Advanced Air Arsenal

[Kazura Uzaki]

Luke effortlessly caught Kazura's attack, pinning his hand into place and holding it fast with a vastly superior grip. While Kazura's physical strength was athletic, Luke's was superhuman. That fist aimed for the Bount's gut wasn't going anywhere just yet. The fullbringer watched as his employee threw his free hand backwards and summoned a panel of air ground into his hand. At least, that's what the compression of air appeared to be. With his level of instincts, Kazura could tell that the weapon in Luke's hand was a mixture of air and reiatsu in some shaped form. The durability and cutting power were obviously unknown to him, so he couldn't rely on his Earthen Spirit or his Ken.

Kazura watched as the blade started falling towards his shoulder. He noticed the speed at which it was being swung and clocked Luke's speed as being equivalent to his own. That would make things more interesting... Fun, even. As the blade continued to swing closer and closer to the shoulder, Kazura showed no signs of moving. His hand was caught by Luke, so using a step technique would just rip his arm off or at least out of socket. That would put a damper on this spar, for sure. As the blade moved all the way to Kazura's shoulder, piercing his clothes, the man would attempt to stop it as soon as it made contact with his skin.

Kazura's Soul Dominance activated in an instant, grabbing the sword with superior Reiatsu Strength to Luke's by over four times and superior Reiatsu Strength to Luke's Strength by a small margin. Kazura willed the soul of the air in the sword to just stop and be still, resisting Luke's ability to affect it with either his physical or spiritual strength. With the weapon willed to just stay in place, unable to cut into Kazura further than the skin layer that it had already pierced, the fullbringer pushed the soul of the muscles in his free arm to shoot out towards Luke's chest. Green reiatsu spooled off of his arm as it traveled at 1,500 speed to try and just make contact with the Bount's shirt.

If the contact was made with the shirt, Kazura would will the soul of the shirt (again with Soul Dominance) to bunch up and constrict. It would pull backwards at Luke's arms and attempt to cause the fabric to form into a straight jacket instead of a shirt. Luke's physical strength would be more than enough to deal with said straight jacket, but it would be hard to resist the initial pull backwards of the fabric. Pulling his arms backwards and away from Kazura's fist and away from the Advanced Air Arsenal sword, leaving them both behind.

If this complicated maneuver was successful, Kazura would hop backwards to let Luke deal with his shirt turn straight jacket. Always the analytical one, the fullbringer studied Luke's reactions. First, the reaction to the punch had been martially perfect. That meant that the Bount was competent at close quarters combat, at the very least, and wasn't phased by something so trivial as the opponent disappearing and launching a surprise attack. Second, the commitment to the fight had been clear. Summoning a sword and swinging it at one's opponent was not holding back. That meant Kazura could continue to push himself and push Luke into more and more difficult situations to see how they came out of them.

"So, what makes you qualified to Manage a department of employees? What do you bring to the table that exceeds that of your peers?"

Remaining Reiatsu: 7,100/7,500 (-50 Bringer Flash, -300 2x Soul Dominance)

[Deleted]

Shock and surprise plastered itself all across Luke’s face when he saw, and felt, his Air Panel sword suddenly halt. What the hell just happened? For a split second he could have sworn he saw green sparks inside of the blade when it made contact with Kazura, but he wasn’t given the time to process what had just happened at all. Just as Luke realized that his sword was halted he could feel reiatsu kicking into action with Kazura. The Fullbringers arm suddenly vanished and, expected a punch, Luke readied himself quickly. But the punch never came. Instead, the Fullbringer just touched Luke’s tanktop.

Without warning the Bounts shirt began to squirm and move as if it was a living thing. Brown eyes widened with surprise as his shirt ripped and tore itself to move itself into position. Because Luke was wearing a tank top, a shirt that lacked sleeves, it meant that his shirt needed to rip itself into pieces to get what Kazura had commanded it to completed. Hugging across his body like a straight jacket, Luke immediately back pedaled just as Kazura did. He went backwards incase Kazura had intended to launch his own attack at Luke now that his arms were rended useless, but was surprised, and relieved, to see that his boss decided against pressing the assault.

Grumbling to himself as he pulled, the fabric came loose pretty easily once contact was separated between the two. With a moment to think, Luke realized pretty quickly what the Fullbringer had done. It was something that he’d experienced Marcus do before. Not just him though. Luke was reminded of the serial killer and rapist, Anjuro Katagiri, that he had eliminated. He had done something similar to this as well. Luke had been stupid to forget about a Fullbringers unique ability. They had the ability to command the souls inside of, well, everything but people to do their will. Frankly, the idea that a table had a soul was stupid to him but...well, seeing was believing.

Chastising himself for getting caught in that, Luke tossed the remains of his shirt onto the floor as Kazura presented his question to him. Luke’s brown eyes locked themselves onto Kazura, thinking over the question in silence. What did he bring to the table that exceeded everyone else? Luke was quiet as he mulled over that question. ”Oh oh. I know the answer! Nobody floods a city quite like Luke!” Jäger suddenly said, making Luke flinch slightly. ”What is wrong with you??” Windstarke suddenly snapped at the shadow. Luke could even feel tension from Springflut. Jäger, however, was just snickering. ”What? I thought it would be funny..”

Luke found himself frowning and, for a moment, he wasn’t looking at Kazura despite his eyes being on him. Blinking, Luke decided to focus on the fight once more. The same light as before flashed once more, but this time in both of his hands. Once again, Luke generated another curved, small, sword made from airground although this time he had two. He was much more comfortable using two swords than one. He realized that he was going to need to be careful, seeing how Kazura could just stop his swords with a thought if they touched him. Knowing this, Luke had prepared something a little different with these two swords.

The surface of the panels blade was actually a different kind of Air Panel. One completely inconspicuous and basically impossible to tell was different than a normal one. Luke had set up a Air Trap Panel on the surface of his swords. Luke would suddenly vanish though when he activated the Bount Step Technique, Schiene. A rail of reiatsu connected from him to a space in the air above Kazura. The Bount travelled along the rail at 7x his normal speed before he reappeared above Kazura with both arms held above his head. With gravity pulling him back down, Luke swung downwards with both arms at Kazura. If the Fullbringer let those swords touch him again he’d be in for a bad surprise. The Trap panels would activate and detonate at a force of 500 and could be potentially lethal. Granted, Luke didn’t want to accidently cripple or kill Kazura. He, instead, wanted to scare Kazura out of trying to use Soul Dominance on his swords again.

Reiatsu Remaining: 6200 / 7000
-400 for x2 Class 4 Air Panel Swords
-150 for Class 4 Air Trap
-50 for Schiene

[Kazura Uzaki]

Luke just... frowned at Kazura's question. It wasn't a question made to intimidate the Bount, rather it was more like an interview question made so that the boss could understand his employee more. Understand his intentions, his skills, his level of confidence. Something was going on in Luke's head that had upset him. Upset him to the point that he didn't speak but continued the sparring match instead. Wordlessly, Luke summoned two more swords and began to charge forwards. This worried the fullbringer, but he said nothing of his worry for the other man.

Bount techniques were quite unknown to Kazura, this use of Schiene being the first time he'd ever seen the step technique used. The rail of reiatsu was quite intriguing to look at as Luke soared into the air, rapidly, and used gravity to assist in his assault. Kazura had a few options to deal with the attack. First, he could try and use Soul Dominance again. With there being two swords now, the man doubted he could catch them both simultaneously without losing a shoulder despite his honed instincts. Second, he could boost his power with Gate and either use Ken or his Earthen Spirit to deflect or absorb the attack.

Or... he could just step out of the way. With Luke using just gravity to fuel his attack, while there would be plenty of momentum from the Schiene there would still be time for the fullbringer to react and jump out of the way with Movement or Bringer Light. All these options glanced across Kazura's mind as he was quickly running out of time to employ one of them. Then, the perfect idea came to Kazura. He jumped backwards with Bringer Light, leaving a pillar of energy where he had previously been. From the other side of the room, he began to experiment.

Training for Advanced Air Platform Class 8 using Instincts and Learning Skill

Luke seemed to be able to mix air and reiatsu in his hand and just shape a sword out of nowhere. That was a skill that Kazura wanted for himself. That was a technique that he was sure that he could learn to master due to the fact that he could focus his energy in his feet to form air ground already. The air was saturated with energy to the point where it could solidify under his feet. What was stopping him from focusing energy into his hands to do the same thing? First, though, he needed to start with the basics.

Running towards Luke, Kazura pooled energy in his feet and started mixing air with reiatsu like he had seen the Bount doing. He started to run like he was walking up stairs, climbing in altitude using this new form of air platform. One that was born from his body rather than born from the saturation of the air. Doing so was more tiring than before, and required him to spend energy, but it was worth it as the fullbringer climbed into the air three steps and then ran back down towards the ground. Luke would probably seek to stop him by now, so Kazura needed a plan to prevent that.

Forcing his spirit energy to pump out aggressively, Kazura heightened his abilities by both sharpening his reiatsu strength as well as increasing his spiritual pressure reserves. Gate was a simple technique in theory, but draining in practice. But, it would allow Kazura to fully utilize his Earthen Spirit. Impossible had given Kazura this gift before he had left to... do whatever it is he couldn't do under the fullbringer's employ. Now, instead of exerting gravitational pressure when he invoked his Spirit, he turned his body into a living Shield.

Becoming like Steel, Kazura charged forwards again, this time much much slower. His speed had been cut from as fast as a speeding race car to as fast as a sprinting cheetah. Still quite fast for human standards, but slow to the point that Kazura would be at a distinct disadvantage against the Bount. He'd have to utilize his instincts, his streetfighting mastery, his Krav Maga proficiency, and all the luck he could get to overcome this new gap that he had created in their fighting ability. It would help that his body was now a moving steel plate with 500 durability, but that could easily be cut through if Luke's swords grew any sharper using Advanced Air Arsenal.

So again, Kazura aimed a punch at Luke. A steel punch headed towards the face, assuming that Luke hadn't done anything to press the attack while the fullbringer had been experimenting with Advanced Air Platforming on the other side of the gym.

Remaining Reiatsu: 6,025/15,000 (-50 Bringer Light, -25 Advanced Air Platform Class 8, -200 Gate, -800 An Elemental Switch)
New SpPr: 1,500
New RS: 500
New Speed: 150
An Elemental Switch: 1/5
An Elemental Switch current Durability: 500

So that I remember later, Gate doubles Reiatsu usage, as does An Elemental Switch. So I doubled both of their costs since Gate is an End of post cost and Gate was active while An Elemental Switch was activated. In the future, I will quadruple reiatsu costs while both are active.

[Deleted]

Sorry for bleh post

To say that what Jäger had said to Luke had bothered the man would be an understatement. It was as if Jäger had stabbed into a still open and festering wound with a knife. He’d twist that knife just to watch Luke squirm further in pain. Why the Doll had decided to bring that up suddenly was a question that Luke would press for a answer to later. Maybe Jäger really was just that stupid and, somehow, didn’t realize that it still bothered Luke to that degree. Or maybe he was being intentionally malicious for some reason. Luke didn't’t know. Nor did he knew what Kazura would think when answered with silence.

Luke’s feet came to a stop on the floor once he landed, slicing outwards so his air swords didn’t slam against the floor and reveal the secrets of the Trap Panel. Kazura had, predictable, avoided his attack. While Luke was almost hoping that Kazura would try and use the same trick as before on his swords he couldn’t help but feel relieved that he didn’t. If Kazura had opted to let those Trap Panel blades collide with his shoulder then the CEO would need to be rushed off to the ER. A flicking pillar of light was all that was left behind after Kazura used his Step Technique to relocate to the other side of the room.

Standing straight, Luke gazed at Kazura and waited for what the Fullbringer did next. Tightening his grip on the swords in his hands, he became aware that the Trap panels broke apart back into air. Damn. He thought to himself. Those things didn’t last long at all. Thankfully, being Class 4 constructs, Luke would keep the swords for a few minutes longer (a post) before they would vanish as well. But he’d lost, for now, the secret weapon he planned to use. Though it seemed that Kazura wasn’t interested in doing the same trick twice. In fact, he’d just straight up decided to do something completely unexpected.

The Fullbringer began to barrel towards Luke. The Bount, in response, readied himself by raising both of those swords up in preparation to either block or counter attack whatever Kazura had in mind for him. Imagine his surprise when he suddenly felt the reiatsu in Kazura’s feet give rise to a set of stairs created from the very air itself. The Bount’s eyes widened with surprise when he realized, rather quickly, just what the hell that was. Is...is he learning how to use it? Luke questioned mentally as he watched what Kazura did. It was surprising. Luke had learned how to do this from the techniques very creator. While he had caught on rather quickly, watching Kazura using it basically immediately after seeing it was stunning.

What confused Luke though was what Kazura was doing. He ran up about three steps of his newly created staircase and then immediately came back down. Luke watched, with a frown, as his boss did this. ”You’re not going to do anything?” Jäger asked, and hearing his voice caused Luke’s temper to fire up for a moment. Hearing Jäger’s voice right now was the last thing Luke needed. But as Luke watched Kazura, the Fullbringer would suddenly explode with Gate! Luke raised his swords defensively when he was hit with the sudden increase in Kazura’s Spiritual Pressure, raising him to ridiculous levels.

”Tch.” Luke muttered to himself, wondering what he should do now. With his Energy Sensory, he was able to feel that the Fullbringer was focusing his energy across his skin. He was up to something. Luke noticed something as Kazura suddenly charged at him. Was Kazura moving slower on purpose? Or was his sudden drop in speed a consequence of whatever technique he used? Narrowing his eyes, Luke readied himself for Kazura’s attack. It looked like he intended to throw a punch. The CEO would notice that Luke didn’t seem particularly worried about it. Instead, it looked like the Bount was growing rather frustrated. A frustration he intended to let out on Kazura.

When the Fullbringer threw his punch at Luke it seemed as if it would connect with the Bounts face. But when the two collided, Luke’s body suddenly exploded into white mist. Expanding outward at a ridiculous speed and filling the gym within mere moments, it would be as if Kazura had stepped into Silent Hill. This was Nebel, one of the defensive techniques of the Bount. But Luke didn’t intend to give the Fullbringer time to collect himself. Within the mist, Luke reformed in the air above Kazura with his right first pulled back. In that moment, Luke activated Output to its fullest capabilities.

His right arm, first, became enshrouded in a white, smokey, aura that was different than the streams of mist floating from his body. The first part Luke activated was Push. With Kazura’s Spiritual Pressure the way it was, there was no way he was going to make an attempt without Push removing the risk of Cutback. What’s more, the durability Kazura was given by Elemental Switch would be rendered useless thanks to Push, since it would simply push past the defense and hit the squishy man beneath. But Luke wasn’t hitting Kazura with his base strength. No no no.

Lights streaked through Luke’s arm as if they were illuminated veins. Muscles bulged intensely beneath his skin. When he swung, aiming his fist at Kazura’s back, a crimson aura conned around his fist. Luke was using Impact. Luke’s punch would rock the gymnasium, causing the floor to rise up like it was a wave and made out of water before cracking and shattering the floor. The force escaped from the impact would slam against the windows, pushing them outwards slightly. With an 800 Strength punch, Luke had created a shockwave without even meaning too.

Shoes colliding with some of the destroyed floor, Luke grabbed at his right arm after landing. Nebel’s mist began to fill the gymnasium again as the Bount took some deep breaths. No matter how used to it he got, everytime he used Impact he ended up feeling drained. What’s more, his right arm was twitching with pain. He had exhausted the muscles to the point he couldn’t even close his fingers together. Impact wasn’t something to rely on in a fight, and yet it seemed as though Luke was using it each and every fight. Once again he destroyed the gymnasium with the same attack.

Staring ahead into the mist where he had thrown that punch at Kazura, the Fullbringer's question rung through his head again. Grinding his teeth together, Luke found himself unable to answer it. Given time to think about it, he realized he didn't actually have anything that made him for qualified than, say, Marcus to be a Manager. All he could do was fight. He was no better than, for example, someone like Jak. As Luke stood there, panting, he realized something. He wasn't feeling confident. He wasn't feeling confident at all. Kazura's question and Jäger's nonsense had shaken Luke's confidence. Why? He wasn't sure. Was realizing that he didn't have the skill to lead others bothering him? Being reminded of that nights fight had rattled him, that's for sure...but Luke didn't expect a basic interview question to bother him like this.

Reiatsu Remaining: 5650 / 7000
-100 for Nebel
-150 for "Partial Reform"
-100 for Output: Push
-200 for Output: Impact

Nebel Duration: 1 / 5

Output Push Duration: 1 / 5

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura fully expected Luke to react to the punch in some manner, but didn't know just how the Bount was going to do so. Would he block with his air swords, would he dodge with the rail of reiatsu, would he simply catch the punch like he had done with the attack at his gut? He did none of these things, instead turning into a fine mist instantly upon contact with Kazura's fist. This was an ability Kazura had never seen before, and was instantly on high alert. Luke's reiatsu was everywhere, so it was hard to pinpoint anything at all.

Breathe, Kazura. Your instincts are tuned enough to be able to react wherever he aims for... But first you have to be able to know where he's aiming... Breathe..." Calming down himself by an internal pep talk, he focused his energy into his awareness using Output while letting go of Gate. He couldn't afford to burn through all his energy in one go. The same white aura that surrounded Luke's right arm was now surrounding Kazura as he utilized Push to bump his awareness up by two inches. Two inches wasn't very much, but it was all he needed if he could catch a glimpse of a shadow across the white mist, sense the buildup of powerful reiatsu behind him, or hear anything. His senses weren't well honed, but they were above average for a human.

To fully be able to detect Luke, though, Kazura's head burst into blue flames as he utilized the Pulley Variant available to Mod Souls and Fullbringers. His Instincts, Senses, and Energy Sensory all jumped up by a little less than a third pushing his physical senses to the peak of a human's ability and his energy senses a little bit higher than usual. His instinct, though, would skyrocket in comparison to what it had already been, gaining a large boost in reaction time. Combined with Push, Kazura should have just an inkling of a moment to be able to sense the punch headed for his now unprotected back.

"Stand Beside Me!"

All of a sudden, the golden automaton that was always in the corner of his eye emerged into existence arm first. Coming out of Kazura's back as the Fullbringer turned his head to the side, the golden fist was aimed right for Luke's bulging punch. If they collided, the 800 Strength of Luke's punch would meet 1000 Strength of Kazura's punch and not just create a shockwave that would destroy the gym's floor and walls, but could potentially cause structural damage that would leak to the floor below. Kazura didn't want that, at all, so at the last moment the Stand opened his fist to try and catch Luke's punch instead.

Taking all of the impact of Impact into his Stand's fist would reduce the severity of the shockwave, but not eliminate it, but would come at a cost as Kazura's left hand ached even through the body of steel that he couldn't turn off until it had run its course. He couldn't really do anything to reduce said pain because his body was, well, like steel. Not much he could do there even with his knowledge of healing that was comparable to a Nurse Practitioner. The Fullbringer could only press the attack further and risk damaging his body more. The full body of the Stand would emerge from Kazura's body after the punch had been caught, or not, and would swing a right hook towards Luke with the free hand at 700 stat speed and 400 strength. Holding back would be a good idea in this situation.

Having burnt through most of his considerable reiatsu reserves, already, and pushing his body to the limit of its sensory and awareness capabilities was already taking its toll on Kazura. He was exhausted and the sparring had barely begun. He couldn't afford to experiment any more with Advanced Air Platform at this moment and he willed the Stand to fight on his behalf. The stamina taxation would still be reflected to Kazura, especially for the fast punch, which would only serve to drain the boss even more. Walking forwards, with his arms dragging, he turned fully towards Luke, barely able to stay standing at this point. He really needed to work on his stamina...

Remaining Reiatsu: 3,925/7,500 (-200 Push, -600 Pulley, -1300 Stand)
An Elemental Switch: 2/5
Summoning Discipline: Stand: 1/10

Returned to 750 SpPr and 250 RS
An Elemental Switch Durability: 250
Instinct: 650
Senses: 98
Energy Sensory: 65

[Deleted]

What?! was the thought that blasted through Luke’s head as he watched what looked to be an arm emerge from Kazura’s body to intercept his fist. What...the hell is- Luke mentally questioned as the entity that emerged from Kazura opened its hand to catch Luke’s impact powered fist in its hand. The air exploded from the contact but the damage that would be done to the gymnasium was nullified. The force of Luke’s blow was sent into the manifestation rather than the building, so thankfully Luke didn’t end up destroying the gym again. His facial expression perfectly expressed the legitimate surprise and confusion that was bouncing around in his head as Kazura summoned his Stand, which wasted no time trying to deliver its own attack.

At a staggering speed the golden automaton threw a right hook at Luke’s exposed flank. Shit! Luke mentally cursed, his eye’s narrowing as he activated Nebel again as the Stand’s fist made contact with his side. The man’s body broke apart into streams of mist that flew backwards and away from Kazura at Luke’s full speed, coming together once again at the other end of the gymnasium. The mist collected together and reformed into Luke. Breathing heavily from the stamina draining effects of Impact and the sudden shock of Kazura’s Stand, Luke stared intently at Kazura and that entity before suddenly wincing and grabbing his side.

”Ggghhk!” Luke winced as his knee slammed into the floor. His hand shot to the spot that hurt, revealing that it was the same spot that Kazura’s Stand had hit. Maybe the question “How did he get hit if he used that technique” crossed Kazura’s thoughts, as it did Luke’s. It was true that Stand used physical force to get what it wanted done it didn’t change the fact that the Stand was pure, living, Will. It looked like Nebel couldn’t protect Luke from Stand because of the entities unique existence. Nebel could protect you from pure physical attacks...not spiritual ones. ”What is that thing? There’s no way it could be a Doll, right? Right?” Jäger asked in panic, just as confused as Luke was.

”No it...couldn’t be. We would have known if he was a Bount.” Windstarke replied. Getting back to his feet, Luke never let his eyes leave Kazura and the Stand. The Bount’s mind was at work trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding this thing. Luke realized he didn’t have enough information yet to deduce anything other than the fact that this thing could hit him during Nebel, which meant it was at least partially spiritual in nature, and that it was putting a drain on Kazura. His bosses sudden exhaustion was not lost on the Bount. He had tanked his reiatsu during this fight and it hadn’t even been going on for very long.

With a deep breath, Luke removed his hand from his hurting spot. No doubt there was going to be a bruise there unless Luke had it checked out or went into one of his healing sleeps. He was also certain a rib or worse might be bruised. It actually hurt a bit to breath. But Luke didn’t intend to let pain slow him down. I need to keep my distance.. Luke said to himself, and as he did began to work the silver wrist watch he wore off. If Kazura was going to turn this into a two versus one, then Luke would respond appropriately. There was also the fact that this might actually be the Fullbringer’s release, especially considering that callout phrase Kazura had said.

Suddenly Luke’s reiatsu would flare to life before he let the words, ”Ziege dich..” drop from his mouth. The watch exploded into streams of blue white energy that collected itself together in front of the Bount before taking shape and detail. ”Windstarke.” Luke finished just as the Doll finished being fully formed. It was about six feet in height with a wingspan of thirteen feet when fully stretched. While it was clearly in the shape of a bird it possessed no flesh or feathers. Its body seemed comprised entirely of ice except for what looked to be a metallic skeleton from which that ice grew. But its appearance was deceitful. That metallic looking structure was ice as well. A single horn of ice extended from its beak, and two glowing blue eyes focused themselves intensely on the Fullbringer before it.

Kazura would feel the temperature of the air in the gym suddenly drop as ice vapor appeared around the Doll. ”So, you’ve chosen to summon me. I will heed your call and fight for you then.” the Doll said, directed at Luke, with a motionless beak. It’s focus never left Kazura and the Stand though. Windstarke then opened his wings fully as if he were preparing to take flight. ”Hmph.” the Doll muttered before suddenly, without any warning, Kazura was blasted with pure wind. Spawning from the Doll itself, winds possessing Windstarke’s Reiatsu Strength in power slammed into Kazura and his Stand. With the way the gymnasium was set up it was practically impossible to avoid the winds. There were no things to hide behind, no alleys to maneuver through, it was a straight path with Windstarke occupying one end. His blast of constant wind filled the entire gym except where he and Luke stood.

With 600 Reiatsu Strength, it was possible for Kazura’s Stand to block the winds for his Fullbringer host. But there was another problem. Even if the Stand was exposed to the winds, Kazura would realize that the winds were like they were from Antartica itself. They were freezing! Windstarke’s freezing gales would reduce the temperature of whatever they were exposed to be 150 degrees Celsius a post. At least, that’s how it normally worked. Windstarke had toned down the freezing temperatures. The Doll was entirely aware of who Kazura was to his Master and that this was no fight to the death. Luke was fighting Kazura for the reason of personal growth. Windstarke was fine helping his Master with this. So Windstarke had weakened his freezing abilities to 10 degrees celsius, which would be 50 in fahrenheit. The goal wasn’t to kill Kazura, but to defeat him. Thanks, Windstarke. The Doll suddenly heard in his head, surprising him. He didn’t realize Luke was aware of what he was doing. ”Save your thanks for if we win.” the Doll replied, maintaining his focus to keep blasting Kazura with his wind.

Luke's Remaining Reiatsu: 5150 / 7000
-100 for Nebel [Ended]
-400 for Doll Release

Windstarke's Remaining Reiatsu: 3000 / 3000

SPOILER: Click to show

{Windstarke Stats}
Windstärke | Spirited


Strength - 100 Points

Speed - 300 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 200 - 300 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 400 - 600 Points

Light Aura - 50 Points

Dark Aura - 50 Points

Instinct - 250 - 163 Points

Senses - 200 - 130 Points

Energy sensory - 150 - 101 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points


Total SP: 1600 Points

[Kazura Uzaki]

Gotta... keep going...

As Kazura worked to regain his breath, Luke reformed on the other edge of the room, placing a hand where the stand had struck him with considerable force. So the Stand had been able to bypass the mist technique and deliver a blow to the Bount. That would be important to remember for the future. Luke seemed to get more serious, though, and removed his watch which transformed into a large bird named Windstarke. Kazura had seen a Bount's doll before, when he sparred with Vesta, but the power coming off of this doll was greatly superior to Zorn. He also appeared to be much more durable than the lightning tiger had been... The metallic ice looked quite durable indeed.

Before Kazura had a chance to really catch his breath, Windstarke let loose a blast of freezing wind. The golden automaton moved fast, stepping off the gym floor and cracking the floor as he moved through Kazura to get behind the fullbringer, at the man's mental command. Lifting his hands, Kazura used Soul Dominance to try and pull the floorboard up to create a wall to block the winds. Kazura could react fast, but his less than average Reiatsu Strength didn't give him a lot of pull to the Soul Command abilities he could utilize. He tried to fall backwards into the arms of his Stand, but those winds were still going to catch his extremities.

Man, those winds were cold. While they could be colder, a lot colder, they were still very cold even with Windstarke holding back. Kazura snapped his fingers and used Soul Dominance again to vibrate the wood that he had pulled up from the floor. The aim was to start a small fire that would restore a little heat to the fullbringer's immediate area. He'd need something else more permanent if he was going to resist the attrition coming from Windstarke... Strong attrition that would easily wear him down quickly if the temperature got much lower.

Sending his stand to kick the wood that had been lifted into a wall and caught on fire at its base, Kazura used Soul Dominance yet a third time, wearing his stamina reserves down farther, to lift the wall up after it had been broken off by the Stand. Lifting it aloft, Kazura charged forwards with the fires in front of him. The golden robot followed behind closely. If Kazura managed to get anywhere close to Windstarke, the Stand would come out from the right flank, aiming a full force punch at the metallic ice of the Doll's face. At 1,000 Strength, it could do serious damage if left unchecked. Kazura didn't know what it would do to Luke if his Doll was punched this hard, if anything, but he needed to go all out if he was going to have any hope of coming out on top of this sparring match.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3,025/7,500(-900 3x Soul Dominance)
An Elemental Switch: 3/5
Summoning Discipline: Stand: 2/10

Instinct: 625
Senses: 94
Energy Sensory: 63