Dance of the Damned [Cinematic PvP]

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Thread Title: Dance of the Damned
Participants: Saburō Shimada vs. Yui Tsumugi
World: Human World
Death Setting: Permanent Injuries Enabled
Rating: R
Location: Karakura Shopping District, around Midnight.
Special Conditions: N/A.
Circumstances: After receiving an ominous letter while at work from an unnamed beneficiary, Yui meets with an individual offering to "train the girl".

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Looking around her surroundings as the night progressed, Yui did what she could to take in every sight she could. She most definitely did not like being out at night; that much should've made itself rather apparent. No, she would've much rather spent her time inside, reading a book or tackling what schoolwork she had. But, after what had happened a few hours prior had rather easily convinced her that she needed to be out this evening, doing what she could in order to resolve some sort of conflict.

Looking over the note that this person left her, Yui sighed to herself. She wasn't quite sure why someone had made an offer to train her, but could she really turn it down? After all, it seemed that they knew her secret. She didn't have much of an option on that front but to go and at least meet with them. See who they were, and try to figure out the steps that could be taken from there. Only time would tell if this was going to be a worthwhile experience or not, but she couldn't've just ignored it. Soul King only knew what would come from her doing that.

So instead, she found herself sitting on a bench nearer to Karakura's shopping districts. There wasn't really any place where she had been told to meet this person at, so she figured that just waiting it out was likely to be her best option here. After all, what more could be done without any kind of clear information? With a soft huff to herself, she kicked her feet about, snapping her fingers all the while. Sure, she was nervous, but she couldn't let something like that get to her at this point. She needed to tough it out, even for a bit.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Yui's Stats & Skills}
Type: Soldier, Version 2

Stats & Skills:

Strength: 40 [28]
Speed: 50 [50]
Reiatsu Strength: 100 [125]
Spiritual Pressure: 200 [200]
Instinct: 50 [50]
Senses: 40 [40]
Energy Sensory: 40 [40]
Healing Expertise: 0 [0]

Light Aura: 100
Dark Aura: 0

----------

Weapons - Swords: 1
Kido: 1
Mental Incantations: 1
Cold Tolerance: 1
Battle Analysis: 1
Crafting: 1
Pain Tolerance: 1

[Saburō Shimada]

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of their cane echoed along the pavement as they approached the shopping districts, taking in what little light made itself clear. It was a time they rather enjoyed; the freedom from prying eyes. The ability to do what they liked, when they liked it. It was liberating. Very much unlike the hellish place they had originally come from and subsequently left not long ago. They had no desire to go back, but every last desire to live as they saw fit. Didn't matter what that entailed; in fact, this evening entailed helping a girl currently serving under a friend of theirs.

After all, they felt that they owed Ailene a bit of an answer. They had disappeared so very suddenly, after all. And, while that offer had originally been meant for Ailene, this situation was far too good to pass up. Given this girl had taken up a position within Regina underneath Saburō's longtime friend, it seemed rather fitting to help her hone her spiritual prowess, whether for good or bad. Ultimately only time would tell whether or not that would be worthwhile, but if nothing else? She'd be the key to letting Ailene know that Orobas was alive.

"Well, hello there," they called out to the girl sitting on her lonesome, "I believe I recognize you from before. Quite nice of you to decide to meet me here, after all." From there, they wouldn't say anything more. They stopped moving, and simply stood there for a moment, before tapping their cane on the ground twice in succession. As they did, and as the weapon transformed in a flash of green flame, Saburō quickly found themselves holding a rather intimidating staff.

Without so much as saying another word, they held their hand toward the green flame currently residing at the head of the staff, and seemed to almost grab a handful of it, before throwing it directly toward the girl. As the sphere of fire travelled toward the bench, it threatened to engulf both her and the wooden seat if she hadn't moved out of the way. Quite an introduction, all things considered. "How about we see just what you're capable of, no? See if you can truly hold a candle to my own prowess. If you can, I may be able to help you improve your capabilities. If not, then you will fall tonight, Tsumugi Yui."

Fullbring Level One: 1/10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Saburō's Stats & Skills}
Type: Mystic

Saburō's Stats:

Strength: 50 [25]
Speed: 50 [25]
Reiatsu Strength: 75 [112]
Spiritual Pressure: 100 [125]
Senses: 50 [50]
Instinct: 50 [50]
Energy Sensory: 25 [25]
Healing Expertise: 0 [0]

Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50
----------

Analysis: 2
Science - Chemistry: 2
Strength of Will: 2
War Strategy: 2
Pain Tolerance: 2
Battle Analysis: 2
Science - Biology: 2

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool & Resources}
Reiatsu Pool: 1,050/1,250
-200 for Fullbring Level One.
----------
Souls & Fragments: 3/0
----------
Demonic Influence: 5/100
+15 per post.
-10 for basic attack.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Subjugation of the Damned}
Beginning with Subjugation of the Sinned, Philosophy of a Damned Empire focuses rather heavily on making use of the denizens of hell. Beginning with Level One, this Fullbring focuses heavily toward the summoning, subjugation, and commanding of a demon empire to do the ex-Akki's bidding. Through both of Saburo's Fullbrings, new resources are tracked; Souls and Soul Fragments, Demonic Influence, and Control.

Upon releasing this weapon, Saburo is immediately given three Souls, and can hold a maximum of five. Any time they successfully strike a target - whether through physical and spiritual interaction, or attacks from their demons - Saburo is granted a Soul Fragment. Five Soul Fragments are automatically converted into one Soul. Souls and by extension Soul Fragments are predominantly used for Saburo's summoning abilities.

Demonic Influence as a resource is built naturally. Having a maximum of 100, and building 15 per post, Demonic Influence is used as a part of Saburo's spiritual attacks channeled through their release. If desired, Saburo is also capable of destroying a Soul Fragment in order to automatically gain 4 Demonic Influence, or a Soul in order to gain 20.

And lastly, we've Control. Instead of being something that benefits Saburo for simply gaining more, Control represents the command and authority that Saburo has over their summoned demons. Control is spent in order to pay for actions that Saburo can command their demons to take; as one might expect, reaching 0 on this will be incredibly detrimental, with Saburo's demons turning against them completely should that occur. Control begins and caps at 100, and 15 Control is gained per post.

While they certainly see more use during Saburo's Fullbring Level Two, each of these resources possess rather basic options for the Fullbringer during Level One. Beginning with Soul Fragments, Saburo can forcibly rip the soul from run-of-the-mill non-player characters; those without stats can be immediately sacrificed in order to fuel this Fullbringer's release, granting one Soul Fragment. Such can be done up to five times per post, but requires not only non-player characters, but also somatic motion from Saburo for them to rip the soul from an entity, making it obvious when it's being done.

By destroying 1 Soul, and with a minimum expenditure of 150 reiatsu or 15 Demonic Influence, Saburo is capable of conjuring forth a basic demon. More often than not some form of low-power Hell-Beast or Hason, these creatures will begin with a total of 150 SP to divide amongst Strength, Speed, Reiatsu Strength, Instinct, Senses, and Energy Sensory. Every additional 10 reiatsu or 1 Demonic Influence spent to bring forth these beings will grant them 10 additional SP, up to Saburo's total SP, or 1,000; whichever is lower. These demons have durability equal to twice their Strength, and are capable of taking one commanded action on their own per post. Commanding a demon to take additional actions per post will cost 10 Control per action.

As desired, Saburo is capable of expending 10 Demonic Influence in order to fire a basic bolt of green felfire. This bolt functions as one would expect; travels in a straight line, 800 Speed, one-foot diameter, and functions off of Saburo's Reiatsu Strength. All-in-all, the applications of this ability are rather basic in nature, and tend to just be used as a form of "basic attack". Saburo's summoned demons can fire these bolts as well with their commanded actions, and doing so invokes no cost from them, but Control is still required to account for their action costs. Felfire is a suitable target for Soul Command.

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

As they finished speaking, Yui took the opportunity to smile toward them. "O-oh, of course~!" She spoke excitedly, "the proposal seemed to be quite interesting~! Not to mention, it seems that you happen to know my secret, so I'm not exactly in any position to argue, haha~" She giggled nervously at the fact, knowing full-well that Saburō had a good bit of rather damning information over her. If they decided to utilize that, the results could be quite dreadful for the girl.

Though, part of her wondered just how they figured that out. Was it as easily as Ailene had? She had no way of really knowing for certain, but frankly she wasn't in any position to really ask on something like that. Though, she was pulled from her own thoughts rather quickly as Saburō tapped their cane against the ground. Feeling a wave of spiritual energy release from that cane, she watched on in shock as it had transformed rather quickly. In truth, this was her first real time being exposed to any kind of noteworthy spiritual abilities like this; just how was she supposed to react??

Unfortunately, it seemed her time to react was going to be cut short quite quickly. In fact, the bolt of flame had found her before she even had the chance to react to the blast. Finding herself knocked onto the ground in a rousing amount of pain, Yui winced as she forced herself to stand back up. Before she had the chance to say much of anything, it seemed that Saburō was getting ready to speak. As they did, Yui's eyes widened. "W-what?" She asked, genuine fear lacing her voice, "no, I won't let you!"

Unraveling her sword, and drawing it to face the Fullbringer, Yui stared them down with an intensity that she reserved for those she sought to fight. It seemed that there truly wasn't much of a way out of this situation, so she was to fight with the best of her ability! She had to. Especially if Saburō's words were to be believed on the matter! And lord, how those words frightened her.

Though, showing any kind of fear to someone like this would've very much been her downfall. She couldn't let that happen! Pointing the tip of her sword to the enemy, Yui spoke the name of the spell she'd grown so used to casting. "Hadō #4: Byakurai!" As she finished those words, a bolt of lightning shot from the tip of her sword, aiming to strike down her foe as quick as possible. Was she going to be able to damage her foe as well as they had just done to her?? All of that had remained to be seen, but she did have one question.

"H-hey!" she called out, "if we're going to be doing this, t-tell me your name. I'd like to know whom I'm going to be fighting!" That was a statement she genuinely meant; she had no clue who this person was! In truth, it wasn't the first time she'd seen them; they had been in Regina a number of times in the past, but this was the first time she was aware they were like this. It was a confusing thought.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 1,975/2,000
-25 from Byakurai.

[Saburō Shimada]

As they watched their fireball strike the girl in front of them, Saburō let a soft smirk rise to their face. This situation didn't seem like it was to be the most difficult for them to come out on top of. Especially if she wasn't going to take the opportunity to dodge even the simplest strike like that. Though, it seemed that this Shinigami dog had some teeth.

As Yui called them out, and subsequently prepared to fire a strike of their own, Saburō simply waived their hand toward the girl, forcing a demonic being to burst forth from the ground in order to 'body-block' the shot. Taking the lightning bolt like a champ, the demon let out a grunt of agonizing pain, before looking to act on their own volition. Winding back a fist, before promptly looking to plant it square in Yui's face, the demon took a step back close to Saburō afterward. Throwing up a guard, the demon simply watched in wait.

"My name?" Saburō asked, "well, there's the fanon answer, the spoiler answer, the theoretic answer, and the obvious answer. But, for the sake of giving you the information you're looking for, Mister Shimada works just fine." Giving her another sly smirk, they placed one hand behind them, pulling out a small book, and holding it in their hand.

Once again pointing the tip of their staff toward the girl, and fired off another flare toward her general direction. Given she knew it was coming, perhaps she would be able to dodge or deflect that incoming attack? They were morbidly curious to see what was going to happen. Perhaps she'd take the hit head on? The thought made them smile quite a bit. Though, they'd have to wait and see what was to happen.

Returning their staff to the standard "on the ground" position that they had it as originally, Saburō took the time to crack open the book in their hand before taking the opportunity to read it aloud. "'Perhaps if Death is kind, and there can be returning, / We will come back to earth some fragrant night," they started, intentionally keeping their eyes off of the girl, "And take these lanes to find the sea, and bending / Breathe the same honeysuckle, low and white.' Tell me, Yui, are you a fan of poetry?"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool & Resources}
Reiatsu Pool: 750/1,250
-300 for Summoning.
----------
Souls & Fragments: 2/1
+1 fragment for striking Yui.
-1 Soul for Summoning.
----------
Demonic Influence: 10/100
+15 per post.
-10 for a basic attack.
----------
Demon A: 175/300 Durability
Strength: 150
Speed: 50
Reiatsu Strength: 0
Spiritual Pressure: 0
Instinct: 50
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

[Yuki & Yui Tsumugi]

Yui watched on in dread as her spell was blocked quite well by the beast that seemingly appeared from thin air. She couldn't explain how something like that could've happened. It bewildered, confused, and concerned her quite a bit. Though, once again, she didn't have much time to fully process just what was going on at the moment, as a punch seemed to be coming straight for her regardless of whether she was ready or not.

Throwing up her sword once again in defense against the blow, Yui found herself sent back quite a number of feet as the demon's fist collided with spiritual steel, leaving the girl skidding across the concrete beneath her feet. With a short huff, she was glad if nothing else that she was relatively unharmed, but the force behind that strike left her somewhat shivering. What if that had made contact with her? She would've been in a world of hurt after something like that.

Looking forward to try and piece together just what had happened, she took a closer look at that staff of theirs. It certainly seemed... almost otherworldly. Like nothing that she had ever learned about before. And, this monster in front of her? It was certainly an odd creature, to say the least. Was there anything that she could even compare it to? A hollow, perhaps, but even that was a stretch.

"J-just what are you!?" She called out nervously, "what is that thing?" She didn't expect to get any sort of answer on the matter, but she certainly wanted one. If nothing else though, she was glad that they answered the name question. "M-Mister Shimada?" She asked, quizzically, "I... I feel like I've heard that name before." In truth, she had.

Though, whether or not she'd recall it in that scenario was up in the air. After all, this was quite the high-intensity situation for the both of them to be in - well, that wasn't inherently true. Yui's hold over the conflict was waning rather quickly, as she had been shown to be rather out of her league. This 'Mister Shimada' had what seemed like an arsenal of a bunch of different attacks, and even demons that they could summon! And, she didn't even have her Shikai yet.

And once again, it seemed that a bolt of fire was coming her way. Thankfully with the distance between herself and Saburō at this point, she'd been able to quickly strafe to the side thanks to the use of a well-placed Shunpō, but even that had been exceedingly close. She hadn't quite gotten burned, but even a split-second later on the movement, and she would've taken quite the nasty burn.

Gripping her blade ever tighter as they began to recite some sort of poetry, Yui found herself getting rather upset. Just who did they think they were? They seemed grossly overconfident in their abilities, that was for sure. She needed to teach them a lesson on that one, if nothing else. "I-I do," she started, "but not when it's recited by someone like you, Mister Shimada!"

Thinking back to her time in the academy, Yui immediately had quite the idea that she prepared to utilize against the Fullbringer in quite the powerful way. Pointing her sword in front of her, she began to recite an incantation. "A drop of water ripples across the ocean surface, a leviathan rises from his slumber. Go forth, depths of the sea, rise from your slumber to drown the land in your magnificent expanse; turn earth to sea, air to liquid, bring forth your deep embrace! Hadō #40: Gōzen Demizu!"

As her words finished, quite the large wave of water surged forth in front of her, crashing down in front of the Fullbringer with quite the amount of force backing it, likely slamming them into the ground in the process. She wasn't sure just who could withstand such a force, but she hadn't the thought that it would be this individual. Though, just to be certain? She had another technique that she prepared from her time in Shin'ō.

Piercing her sword into the watery waste that she'd just created, Yui began to recite another incantation. "Birds, trees, humans, demons, and even angels. All must bow before the unrelenting might of the cold. All can die if their fingers are numbed to the bone. There is no escape from the heart of Winter! Hadō #42: Amimono Shimokumo!"

As those words finished, the water pooling in front of her quickly began to freeze into a solid block of ice. As this frozen hell began to rush toward the Fullbringer, there was little chance of them getting out of the water in time; especially given their sub-par physical abilities. Taking a deep breath, and keeping her sword at the ready, Yui watched on with a squinted view toward Saburō, she looked forward to make sure that this whole situation had been fully, finally over.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 1,725/2,000
-50 from Shunpō.
-100 from Gōzen Demizu.
-100 from Amimono Shimokumo.

[Saburō Shimada]

It seemed that their ideas on this girl were proven right. As a tidal wave of water rushed from the girl's feet, Saburō quickly felt themselves swept off their own, and crashed to the ground from the force of the wave. That was certainly quite the technique; and not at all one that they were expecting.

As they tried to stand themselves up from such a strike, noticing that their demon had all but dissipated, they watched on in surprise as Yui continued to cast another one of those spells. Another one that they knew during their time down in hell. And, in an instant, the water that they were standing in quickly froze over, trapping their legs in a thick coating of ice. Suffice to say, they'd gotten the test that they wanted.

"I know you're not going to do it," they started, "I know full well that, even though you have me in such a compromising position, you don't have the desire to kill. You don't have the desire to take a life from someone you don't have an idea about. Am I correct?" Taking the girl's silence as a response, they decided to continue with their words.

"Truthfully, Yui, I'm impressed. You've proven that you can do quite a bit of damage when you desire to, even if it's not your goal to put down your opponent in such a manner. You've quite the potential in you, and I appreciate that." Utilizing their free hand once more, they threw another orb of fire down toward their feet, thawing them out rather quickly. Stepping overtop the ice, they took a moment to look around the area, and truly get a feel for just how much had been frozen over from Yui's little technique. It was quite a bit.

"With that, I'd like to think you're fairly combat capable. At least, for now. We'll see each other again in the future, I promise you that." Tapping their staff against the ground once again, it quickly reverted back into the same cane that they had brought into the area originally. Sealing their weapon, they turned around.

"Oh," they started one last time, "before I leave; when you next head into Ailene's tea house, head into the back office. Check the third tile northwest from the corner of the door. Lift it up, and press the button beneath. There, you'll find the basement. You're free to use this area to train yourself as you see fit; Ailene doesn't know about it. If you need to keep it private, feel free, but I believe it would be good to say something to her sooner rather than later."

And with that, they began to walk away.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

I'll tackling grading this. Since it's cinematic both characters gain TP at the same rate for every paragraph. Thus with 35 Total paragraphs each character gains 350 TP. Don't forget this also counts for 2 thread points for your next skill point since its DP.