Temple of Terror

[Scarlet]

A seemingly hopeless situation had just gotten worse now that Scarlet had been forced to the ground once again. This time though the monster hadn’t physically pushed her over with its body, instead relying on whatever sort of strange powers it happened to have. The pain that had been pretty localized was now spreading with a heavy throbbing on her chest. Scarlet knew she’d smile at herself in a normal situation, or well any situation where she felt this sort of pain that didn’t involve a monster.

The throbbing in her chest was something she would laugh at knowing it was how so many described the sensation of love. Right now though hers was caused by damage right to her chest. Putting her right hand on the cement Scarlet places most of her body weight to get up while feeling immense pain surging through her arm. Her right side is bleeding enough that most of her arm looks painted now and Scarlet begins to really feel cold. “The monster, focus on the monster!” Scarlet screams internally at herself to ignore everything else happening.

The monster getting closer unhinging its jaw was a clear sign of what it wanted to do, like a snake getting ready to eat something much bigger than itself. Getting up into her feet with about seven feet of distance between them now Scarlet’s vision clears and her left arm tightens around her ax. She’d trained her body, pushed to learn how to handle bad situations, she’d been taught by her family to never back down. She wasn’t going to just sit back and let this monster win!

A deep growl from the monster and then a king forward just like he had the first time. The only difference now, Scarlet knew the limited speed of this fiend. Stepping backwards once the monster gets within arms length, Scarlet swings sideways and finds the edge of her ax clashes against the side of the monster's claws. If not the one already cracked then this side will be damaged. If the one side already cracked they’d likely all break. Regardless though Scarlet was quick to aid twisting her wrist as her ax bounced backwards in order to deliver a second swing immediately after, this one aimed right for the middle of the mouth. That lower jaw was coming right off!

[Eshin Sōtō]

Eshin approached with calculated caution, his glowing red eyes fixed on the wounded warrior before him. He was like a predator closing in on his prey, his mind calculating every possible move she could make. Despite her injuries, Eshin was well aware that she was still a formidable opponent, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He was approaching her like how a hunter would approach a trapped animal, bleeding and afraid, but that fear was what made them dangerous. Despite the monstrous nature that Eshin now had, this human was proving to be a far more capable beast than he had thought, but it wasn't enough to finish him off. He wouldn't let it. He had a mission, a goal that was far too important for him to be deterred by a single human.

As he watched her struggle, using her injured arm to push herself up from the ground, the blood pouring and painting her arm at this point, Eshin couldn't help but feel envious of her strength and her spirit. Her one track mind and endless willpower reminded him of Benjiro, but this rat didn't deserve to be compared to him. Still, he stopped in his tracks, keenly aware of their difference in agility, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Despite the wounds she had sustained, her warrior spirit refused to fade. Eshin longed for that kind of power, and he was determined to take it. He needed it to achieve his ultimate goal, and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way.

Eshin lunged forward suddenly, aiming to utilize a sudden shift in momentum to catch her off guard despite his lack of speed, his claws at the ready. His sharp mind was already predicting the possible moves that she could have made. Had she gone for a kick or a swing of her axe, then the only logical place to intercept it would have been around his torso and arm level. True enough, as his claws missed their mark due to their difference in agility, she swung her axe and clashed against the already cracked claws, shattering them completely. Using the momentum, she spun around and attempted to swing up towards his jaw, raising her arm and showing off its under side to Eshin's mangled hand, already pointing at it.

The under side of one's arm was crippling in and of itself, if struck in the right way. With the force she was swinging at, should her joint be pierced, she could permanently damage her arm, possibly crippling her completely. Eshin was counting on that, as his envy manifested from his finger tip, pointing right at her armpit. Four bolts of twisted lightning shot out of his finger, each one nigh instantaneous in their manifestation, but with a much weaker power. Still, Eshin hoped that this was enough to at least lose the power in her swing. As soon as this happened, he brought his grotesque head down to her axe arm in the attempt to bite at her, sinking his gnarled fangs into her flesh in an attempt to devour her soul. The Kiyomizudera temple was the battlefield for this final showdown, the courtyard a testament to the brutal struggle between Eshin and the wounded warrior. The fate of the warrior was in the hands of the monster, and his fate, in turn, was in hers.

Wounds now: Kicked in the torso, shattered claws on one arm, deep cut into the clawless arm
 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats & Skills}Converting Sppr -> RS again 3 posts later

25 Sppr -> 10 Sppr

75 RS -> 90 RS


Strength - 50 (33) Points


Speed - 25 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 75 (112) Points -> 10 (15) Points


Reiatsu Strength - 25 Points -> 90 Points


Light Aura - 0 Points


Dark Aura - 100 Points


Instinct - 50 (33) Points

Senses - 15 Points

Energy sensory - 35 (52) Points

Healing Expertise - 25 (8) Points

Battle Focus: 1

Battle Analysis: 1

Focused Eye: 1

Strength of Will: 1

Martial Arts: Natural Weapons: 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techniques and Reiatsu}Technique Name: Finger Bullet



Class: 6



Technique Type: Bala



Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): Hollow/Arrancar



Technique Element: Reiatsu



Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect):



Finger bullet is a unique, but weak type of bala that takes the naturally fast and numerous nature of the technique to its next step in exchange for making it even weaker. The user will focus a flicker of reiatsu around one of their fingers or toes and create a very small bala the size of a normal .45 caliber bullet. Due to how small it is, this takes almost no time at all to form, even for an average practitioner. This bala can then be released like any other, shooting forward. What makes this special is that it is not only extremely cheap, but can be used excessively. Each blast only cost 10 reiatsu and and can be used in rapid succession. Their small size also makes it harder to notice individual shots in the chaos of a fight. While weak, they can be used to distract, manipulate the flow of the battlefield, interrupt someone, and actually torture someone with a barrage of painful stings if used in rapid succession. At learned, a person will only be able to fire these from a single finger. At proficient. it extends to every digit of their hands, even able to fire from all of them at once. At mastered, they'll even be able to simultaneously fire from the toes of the feet and the tip of a tail if the user has one.



How to use technique (How is it activated?): Gathering energy around a finger and releasing it.



Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc)



Firstly, these bullets are extremely weak individually. Their power comes from the instantaneous use and strategic application in number. Because of this each individual bullet will only use 25% of the user's reiatsu strength to determine their power. This makes almost any kind of defensive ability able to completely negate these tiny little attacks. Also, the damage they inflict individually is fairly minor. To get any serious damage per shot would require some very high reiatsu strength. Using them in high number can also rack up the reiatsu cost fairly quickly, since each individual bullet has a cost.



Made By: Zane



Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): No


Reiatsu:
145-40= 105/150 Four Finger Bullets of 22 RS each

[Scarlet]

The hop back and swing was successful enough that Scarlet watched the edge of her ax shatter the hard claws of this monster like glass. The splinters of bone and flesh normally would have reminded her of wood logs and how splitting them with her ax often had the same look right now though her kid was rushing as everything seemed to be happening in a breath of time. Her follow up was now though and it seemed her that the action was just a bit too open, too wide and it let this monster have an opening.

In the next couple of moments so many things happened that Scarlet would have normally liked to watch in slow motion and pick apart all the different movements and learn everything. This wasn’t a karate match though. The four orbs of light sent off from the mutilated hand that Scarlet hadn’t planned on being an issue anymore. Well those four orbs although small and weaker than everything else that’d hit her up to this point hurt. Each one only possessed enough force to push her arm upwards while burning her like a lit cigar.

This monster was going for some attack that’d destroy her arm, but just like Scarlet it didn’t know its own power yet. The burn of the orbs though did manage to mess with Scarlet’s follow up and in the end neither of them would achieve what they sought to end this battle. The monster moving in to bite her head would find the shaft of her ax smacking against the side of its mouth hard enough that it might just wish not to open its mouth again. As for Scarlet well the ax was getting harder and harder to lift now and that might have been her last good shot.

Following up with her motion her body turns clockwise along with her ax and then her feet begin to take off. This thing was proving that it could keep using whatever strange power it did have even when up close. She was confident with her talent using an ax, but knew the limitations of what she could do at the moment. This was a high risk situation right now. When moving through a burning building you don’t just keep breaking down every door. There’s a point when you have to get away and that is now. Rushing down the stairs of the temple while sprinting and doing her best not to pass out or fall down, Scarlet does her best to be aware of the monster potentially behind her.

“Damn it.”

[Eshin Sōtō]

Eshin's envy burned with a furious intensity as the arcs of twisted lightning leapt from his fingertips, striking the warrior's arm with a searing burn. Her axe swung wide, missing its intended mark, and Eshin saw his opportunity to strike. He felt an immediate sense of superiority, the sensation he had longed to feel throughout this battle, that dominating feeling in which everything he wanted had come to pass, the perfect moment to take advantage of the situation, to strike at her weak point and end this battle once and for all. The moment was ripe for the taking, the time to claim the warrior's power for his own. With his jaw retching open, Eshin prepared to devour her soul and consume the embers of her soul, the embers that he longed for.

Suddenly, the thrill of battle suddenly disappeared, leaving Eshin with a sense of numbing shock. Her axe had one last good swing in it, striking his jaw hard enough to make all of his senses disassociate. The monster fell forward, shocked, and forced to feel the full weight of his failure. He couldn't see her, not anymore, especially as the rat decided to run away, but he could feel her. Throughout the battle, he had gained a sense of her fire, her warrior's spirit, and though he thought that was only a sense of her determination, as she ran, he could actually feel her spirit and track where she went. The flickering flames of her soul taunting him as she retreated.

Eshin struggled to stand, frustrated by his inability to pursue the warrior. The rat was quick, far too quick for him to catch, but he knew exactly where she was headed. He felt his frustrations building up inside of him, reaching another boiling point as he tried his hardest to force his body to move, but the monstrous form was too damaged to respond. The hollowed one was too weak to continue the battle. He roared in a tempest of negativity, from envy to anger and everything in between, the monstrous shriek echoing throughout the hollow and hallowed halls of the Kiyomizudera temple.

In the end, Eshin realized the foolishness of his pursuit, the scarlet-haired warrior leaving a stain of shame on his soul. She truly showed him his folly, his arrogance. To think he could call himself a Buddha as he was now, truly idiotic. His transformation was incomplete, it must have been. After all, a true Buddha transcended hunger. The hunger itself was a weakness, a sign that he needed sustenance for growth. It was time to feast. He needed to feast. Upon reaching the Chamber of the Abbot, Eshin's presence completely vanished, his form melting into the shadows, leaving only a perfect golden mask, presenting Buddha's likeness. One day, the Abbot and the monks would return, the monstrous energy vanishing, and when they did, he would be ready.

Wounds taken: Kicked in the torso, shattered claws on one arm, deep cut into the clawless arm, and a nearly dislocated jaw

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techniques and Reiatsu}

Technique Name: Máscara de Inocencia (Mask of Innocence)



Technique Class: 6



Technique Type: Specialized Hollow Technique



Usable By: Eshin



Technique Element: None



Technique Cost: 50 per post active



Description: Through focus, Eshin manages to suppress and hide his spiritual pressure completely to create a facade of innocence. This facade focuses on his mask, making it appear as if a completely unassuming and innocent mask. By channeling his reiatsu into this innocent mask, he's able to make it look more alluring to his victims despite its unsettling appearance. The purpose of this was to draw his victims in without raising their guard, as the mask seemed to be an inanimate object. While looking at the mask while this technique is active, Eshin's body was concealed as if it was made of shadow. However, this technique is not foolproof, as those with an Energy Sensing of 250 or above, or those with a 2 or more in a skill such as Anti-Stealth, or skills of a similar ability, will be able to see through the mask and identify the hollow.



How to Use: Eshin has to remain completely still while this technique is active. His chosen victim must be in line of sight and the mask must be within their line of sight.



Drawbacks: Eshin has to remain perfectly still to keep up the facade.



Incantation: None



Made By: Joshua



Reserved?: Yes, Eshin

Reiatsu:
105-50=55/150

[Kitai Yoru]

Scarlet: 34 paragraphs, 340 TP, plus 50 TP for draw
Eshin Sōtō: 38 paragraphs, 380 TP, plus 50TP for draw