Burn My Dread [DP PvP]

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Thread Title: Burn My Dread
Participants: Rozelyn H. Castellanos vs. Ambrose Grail
World: Human World
Death Setting: Permanent Injuries Enabled
Rating: R
Location: Karakura Town.

Special Conditions: Ambrose possesses the option to utilise the technique 'Candescence Dance', should their player desire.
Circumstances: A Saika takes issue with a Vandenreich doing her duties. Violence ensues.

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

"Don't make me do this!" Hiyori shouted, holding her blade defensively, "I'm not looking for wanton violence like this! At the very least, hear out what I've to say!" Grunting to herself as she continued to backpedal, Hiyori did what she could in order to keep herself protected from the incoming barrage of arrows headed her way.

A number of Quincy continued to open-fire on the girl, aiming to pepper her with a number of arrows as quick as they could. Deflecting each incoming shot, Hiyori did what she could in order to make sure that she hadn't taken any hits, and neither had those around her. Her goal here wasn't senseless slaughter, after all. "Get out of here!" A Quincy shouted back toward her, "quit looking to pander to us about that false god of yours! Your kind deserves to rot for what you've done to the other Quincy tribes!"

Grunting her teeth, Hiyori took that as twice the insult it was. For one, she knew full-well the amount of unnecessary lives that had been lost during these little 'extinction campaigns'. Similarly, she knew the damage that Shinigami had done to the Quincy in the past, with the genocides that had once plagued the spiritually-apt archers. Unfortunately, she still affiliated herself with those crimes. More so now that Quincy blood ran through her, whether she was pure or not. It wasn't something she could just ignore.

"Do you think I'm proud of that history!?" She called out, quickly closing the distance with each step she could, "Do you think that I enjoy taking lives?" Ironically, as she finished that line, Hiyori took the opportunity to cut down a single Quincy that had been firing toward her. "Do you think that I get some kind of fulfillment out of these attacks against your people? Our people?"

Holding the blade of her katana against the throat of the Quincy that had been shouting back toward her - presumably the leader of the lot - Hiyori took a deep breath. "I'll ask one last time. Please, don't make me do this. Join me in Silbern, and we can-" Her words were interrupted by the man spitting on the ground in front of her.

---

If nothing else, at least her clothes had been spiritually fortuitous enough to avoid the random bloodstain on it. Naturally this wasn't the first problem, nor was it going to be the last. Not without some sort of method to convince these folk in a... less violent way. Though, she couldn't really do much if those she sought aimed to kill her on sight. Seemed to be the case more often than not.

# of Properties Active: 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{Hiyori's Stats & Skills}
Type: Brave

Hiyori's Stats:

Strength: 400 [1,000]
Speed: 400 [700]
Reiatsu Strength: 100 [50]
Spiritual Pressure: 400 [200]
Instinct: 300
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 50
Healing Expertise: 0

Light Aura: 100 (0 in Vollstandig)
Dark Aura: 0 (100 in Vollstandig)
----------
Weapons - Katana: 3
Strength of Will: 3
Pain Tolerance: 3
Damage Recovery: 3
Martial Arts - Oni Lotus Tradition: 3

SPOILER: Click to show

{Class 6 - Arrow Form - 神剣 - Shinken (lit. 'Divine Sword')}
The first of Hiyori's Bow Release properties, Shinken allows Hiyori to transform the arrows she fires into katana. This is an opt-in ability, and need not be activated with each firing of her bow. Upon activation of this property, two of these katana-arrows form immediately on Hiyori's hip at a Class equal to her own, for no cost. Each katana fired after that costs an additional 10 reiatsu per Class of the arrow. When this property is deactivated, all but the two katana on Hiyori's hip will revert to normal arrows.

[Ambrose Grail]

New age sushi. Definitely not the kind of thing that would have been available back when Ambrose was still alive. Not that he had any memories of that, but the calendar is a fine measuring tool, and the history of culinary arts had lead him to believe that nowhere was there a time he could have come from that had the artisanal potential of new age sushi.

This particular roll was a particular monstrosity of the old traditions, as well. Some absolute madman of a so-called sushi chef had abominated sushi by putting a corn dog in a deep-fried roll. It was so large that even Ambrose's big mouth could barely get around it. And was it ever divine? Oh yes. The saika reveled in how good it could possibly taste, one slice at a time, as he sauntered...

No, swaggered down the street. He was in hog heaven, after all. Freshly escaped from Hell again and already enjoying his next lease on something-like-life to the fullest. He had gorged himself already. This sushi was the sixth thing on his list of things to try this time, right after his Great Work, the Opus of Enki. Oh, and was it ever good? The top, I'm telling you. That rare steak hit the spot. The little crumbles of goat cheese made his day. Nothing could ruin his spirits now.

He wandered through a field of corpses and continued on his wait-- nope there was something wrong with that. Stuffing another slice of deep-fried corn dog sushi into his mouth, he peered around back behind him, trying to get a good look at the gaggle of ghoulish gristles.

Damn, someone had really done a number on these guys. He analyzed each body, noting its freshness and the distinct lack of nearby Pluses. Had one of those shinigami already come through here? This fast? Seemed unlikely. He was pretty far out from the city center, but then, he didn't know the patrol habits of the death reapers, either. Maybe this was a quasi-normal scene, after all.

Probably not. Setting his mouth into a thin line, he started putting pieces together, assembling the scene from scratch. The perpetrator was fighting a defensive battle. The wounds indicated difficulty committing to violent acts. That didn't change what they'd done, though. Ambrose knew more than most that remorse didn't tip the cosmic scales.

The bodies radiated a trace of spiritual energy. These were intra-spiritually-aware killings. Was someone going around slaughtering Hollow-hunters? Or psychopomps? Whatever these people were, that is. Neither of those would be a good thing. He got his mouth around another slice of fried corn dog sushi. He must surely have been a denizen of the pit-- even when faced with this macabre display, he was utterly unbothered.

Still, however, he thought to himself while he continued down the street. He should keep a lookout for... who was that? And why did she radiate such spiritual strength? She had a pensive appearance. Ambrose's brow furrowed. Was this the connecting piece? He popped the last slice into his mouth, wiped off his hands on his cloak, and swaggered up to the young woman, holding out his right hand for a shake. The sinner's chain on his wrist jangled and glinted in the daytime light.

The way he walked had no hint of fear or caution in it. He walked directly toward her, in a way that no mistake could be made of his intentions. His casual, matter-of-course dismissal of any threat she may pose was apparent. He saw her as an equal or less.

"Ambrose Grail," he told her, without preamble. "Concerned spiritual denizen. I happen'd ta notice some unfortunate business nearby. Do you know about it?" A lazy tongue of pure flame rolled out of one of the puckered swirls on his chest, licked languidly at the air, and then withdrew back into his chest with a burp of deep black smoke.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ambrose's Stats & Skills}Type: Kenpachi

Ambrose's Stats:

Strength: 00 [275]
Speed: 00 [275]
Reiatsu Strength: 100
Spiritual Pressure: 300 (650) [800]
Instinct: 300
Senses: 150
Energy Sensory: 100
Healing Expertise: 00

Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50
----------
Strength of Will: 2
Martial Arts (Pugilism): 2
Pain Tolerance: 2
Bleeding Tolerance: 2
Battle Focus: 2
Culinary Arts: 3

SPOILER: Click to show

{Opus of Enki, Preserver of Life}Name: Opus of Enki, Preserver of Life
Description: Drenched in highly concentrated, wild reiatsu throughout, a portion of a perfectly marbled cut of professionally-aged beef is seared with lime oil at high temperature and drizzled with lime juice during the resting phase. Once mostly dry, the beef is sauced with a jasmine honey-based caramel and speckled with small shards of black lava salt. It is accompanied by a salad of arugula, crushed smoked walnuts, and slices of dates featuring irregular pieces of breaded goat cheese that have been baked until crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth gooey on the inside.
Class: 1
Item Type: Consumable Armor
Item Power (IP): 1000
Offense Type: None
Durability: 2500
Bonuses: This meal may be consumed before the beginning of a thread, but its consumption must be tracked in the thread participant's opening post. Once consumed, this meal benefits its eater for one entire thread. The benefits of the meal are that it functions as armor for every location of the consumer's body until its durability expires, and even once its durability has expired, it continues to reduce the severity of injuries its consumer suffers from. Critical injuries are reduced to major injuries, major injuries are reduced to moderate ones, moderate injuries become minor injuries, and minor injuries can be ignored as a result of causing no real harm at all.

For this meal, critical injuries are defined as up to complete blood loss, destroyed internal organs, powdered bones, and fourth-degree burns. Major injuries are defined as major blood loss, destroyed or missing flesh, complex broken bones, and third-degree burns. Moderate injuries are defined as moderate blood loss, crushed flesh and heavy lacerations, broken bones, and second-degree burns. Minor injuries are defined as disorienting blood loss, heavy bruising and light lacerations, light fractures, and first-degree burns.
Drawbacks: Ryo cost. Gadgeteers cannot boost this meal. Multiple purchases of the meal do not stack. 15% of the Offensive Strength of each attack striking the consumer will punch through the armor's protection and be deducted from the Durability of the item.
Cost: 20,000 Ryo
Crafting Skills: Culinary Arts 3
Donated to Urahara's: No

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Walking away from the scene that had just occurred as though nothing happened, Hiyori found herself quickly being approached by someone she hadn't recognized. While she couldn't 'feel' them approaching, she was made distinctly aware of their presence the moment that they spoke. Prompting a quick turn on her heel to face them, she stared the Saika down with a glare.

As Ambrose spoke, Hiyori simply kept her head nodded down, keeping her face as hidden as she could via her kasa. "I think I'd have an idea, yes," she spoke, keeping up her guard. She wasn't sure just who - or what, for that matter - this person was, but she was in no desire to stick around long and find out. He didn't exactly seem 'human'. Well, he did, but not in the traditional sense. This felt wrong... most certainly impure.

"Who's asking, though?" While she didn't quite want to look for a fight, it certainly wasn't above her. Especially not after she'd just spent the afternoon tearing apart an entire camp of Quincy. But, if such a fate was unavoidable, she wasn't going to be the individual to turn that down. After all, the goal here was to wipe out the encampment; if there was an unauthorized individual here that couldn't learn the benevolence of His Majesty, then surely she'd have to deal with them, right?

"I understand your name as Ambrose Grail, yet that's not quite what I'm looking for; what brings you to this area? What business might you have here?" Keeping a hand held to the Quincy's swords, she prepared to draw the weapons at a moment's notice if she needed to. Unfortunately there wasn't much room for her to get a grip on this individual's spiritual nor physical aptitudes, thanks to her own lack of ability on the matter, but she did what she could to size up her foe.

Above all else though, she made no effort to hide her intentions when it came to cutting down this new foe. If he hadn't decided to simply depart, never speak of this again, and go about his day, she wouldn't act. But, if that hadn't been the case? The last thing she wanted was information of this extinction campaign spreading to the other Gemischt camps in the area. She'd never be able to get to them in time. So, just what was the move going to be?

# of Properties Active: 1

[Ambrose Grail]

Rudely, and making no attempt to cover up for his behavior or excuse himself, Ambrose belched loudly. The deep-fried corn dog sushi roll had a little venom in it, it would appear. And so did the woman. She wouldn't even shake a poor sinner's hand. He peered down at his hand, waited several seconds in awkward silence for her to take it, and then eventually withdrew the limb. Well then.

He grabbed his snack satchel and opened it up casually, producing one of the three tropical slushies he'd picked up from a nearby gas station, and tore the sticker off the top. He plopped a straw down into the treat and slurped down some ice-cold vending machine-quality flavored sugar water. He stared at her the whole time he did this, clearly giving her his attention while she spoke, but clearly not giving her the deference she deserved.

He closed the satchel. She wanted to know who he was, but she wouldn't take his hand. Ambrose knew disrespect when he saw it, but his skin was thicker than needing her validation. "I just crawled out of a little hellhole nearby not long ago," he admitted, letting her decide how literally to take that. "And this is where I ended up. So I'm doing what I do; I'm collecting culinary creations and adding their unique elements to my repertoire. I was just on my way to a restaurant on the other end of town to look into their menu, and now here I am."

Slurrrrrrrp. "And as I mentioned, I'm a concerned spiritual citizen. Can't have some psychopath going around slaughtering good Hollow-huntin' folk for no good reason, ya feel me?" He tossed the mostly-empty slushie container onto the ground nearby. He looked at her hand, hovering over the hilt of one of her two swords, and winced. "Augh. Brain freeze." He expressed a little bit of his 650 spiritual pressure, flexing it until the brain freeze went away, rubbing his jaw and temples. "Screw me sideways with a boat oar. Those are awful..."

He belched again, and let his reiatsu relax. He looked back at the position of her hand. Yeah, he could figure out what she meant by having an idea. "Go ahead," he invited her. "If you want to open that door though, just remember it swings both ways."

SPOILER: Click to show

{Relevant Stats}Out of Hell posts: 2/100

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Keeping her hand almost attached to her side all the while, Hiyori continued to stare down the Hellion as they spoke. It took almost every fiber of her being not to respond to Ambrose's comment about crawling out of a hellhole with 'literally'. Despite that though, she gave him the deserved respect to hear out his words at the very least. Even if they weren't supposed to be there for a time, she wasn't just going to kill 'em and be done with it. Not yet, at least.

Watching the Saika's actions, Hiyori scoffed. Wasteful, she thought to herself as he threw the slushie onto the ground. It was safe to say that she wasn't exactly formulating the greatest of first impression of this individual. Though, catching the girl off guard, Ambrose immediately unleashed their spiritual presence on the girl, quickly taking her aback. Given her guarded tendency, she knew immediately that something needed to be dealt with; she wasn't going to let something like this get the better of her.

Bolting forward through Hirenkyaku, Hiyori immediately drew one of her two blades, slashing vertically across Ambrose's center. She wasn't going to let him take the opportunity to unleash anything on her; not when quite a bit seemed to be on the line - her mission included. Taking a leap back from her last strike, Hiyori kept her blade out, assuming a defensive stance while staring down her soon-to-be opponent. "Hiyori Castellanos; I'd like to formally challenge you to a dual 'til either of us yield. Do you accept, Ambrose Grail?"

# of Properties Active: 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 2,000/2,000
-50 for Hirenkyaku.
+50 from Quincy regeneration.

[Ambrose Grail]

His opposite vanished she moved like such a bolt out of the blue. He didn't feel any pain from the sword slicing across his body; it had happened too quickly and the blade was far too sharp-- and left far too little an injury for him to care. Barely more than a scratch, it traced up his abdomen, chest, nest, and the side of his jaw. The injury immediately sealed shut from Ambrose's regeneration. The thin line of blood that has escaped turned into lava, and from that into cruddy obsidian when the harsh air touched it.

He didn't directly deal with the attack. She was moving too fast for him to respond to like that, so he simply didn't engage with that part of the confrontation. Instead, he popped a candied spirit snack out of his snack satchel and into his mouth. He crunched it up quickly and swallowed. In response, his spiritual energy surged inside of him, welling up and eager for use.

Of course, she had used a frontal assault. Why would she not? They always do. At this point, it was an axiom, and he could nearly devise a counter-technique specifically for such an attack. "I accept. Do you mind if I get us started, then?" he asked both casually and blithely, as though he hadn't noticed the attack at all. He turned around to get a look at her face, widened his stances, and settled into a stance just as defensive as hers.

"I think I'll start with..." he mused out loud. The sensation of gushing reiatsu around him closed up. His spiritual energy railed against his skin from the inside, but he had done something to close off its escape, and one of the circle-arc tattoos on his chest began to glow. A tongue of flames escaped from every swirl on his chest, and then they likewise closed up again. "My defenses are in place," he told her. "Why don't you make the first attack, whenever you're ready?" Ambrose narrowed his eyes as he spoke, clearly boasting about how he hadn't noticed such a weak attack come across the first time.

On the inside, he was having a real good time. There was a real good feeling, like lightning deep in his bones. A fight was coming. He was all but sure she'd try to cut him again, maybe a little harder this time. In that moment when they collided together, that's when he planned to take the hit and open a window of opportunity. His eyes were on the span of her shoulders, but he was aiming for her liver. His stance was not a still one. If she could believe it, it was almost like he was dancing.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Item Use}Name: Candied Sandalwood Nut Filled Chocolate-dipped Strawberry
Description: Sandalwood nuts, chopped finely and candied, and then filled into the center of a hollowed strawberry, and then dipped in dark chocolate to seal up the snack.
Class: 5
Item Type: Consumable
Item Power (IP): N/A
Offense Type: None
Durability: 100
Bonuses: When consumed, the user's reiatsu burgeons for the next 4 posts. During this time, the strawberry pays for the first 100 reiatsu of the consumer's techniques and effects per post.
Drawbacks: Each filled strawberry is consumed on use, even in an NDE thread. Consuming multiple strawberries does not make this enhancement or its duration stack.
Cost: 2,500 Ryo each
Crafting Skills: Culinary Arts 2
Donated to Urahara's: No

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techniques}Technique Name: Force and Pressure, Stage One
Class: 7
Technique Type: Other
Usable By: Kenpachi only
Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: The user gains a capacity for Force stacks, up to 5.

At the cost of 300 reiatsu, the user may enter Impel Mode for the duration of 6 posts. Upon entering the mode and at the beginning of each post, the user gains 1 stack of Force.

Up to 1 Force stack can be transferred into an opponent on physical contact. In an opponent, Force stacks exacerbate damage taken, projecting a secondary, explosive spike with a combined Offensive Stat equal to 10% of the user's Reiatsu Strength per stack, out the opposite side of the body, whenever the victim suffers a physical injury. When 6 or more Force stacks accumulate, the next blow causes a volatile chain reaction, venting all accumulated Force out of the body and resetting the number of stacks to 0.

An opponent with Force stacks vents them automatically after going 2 posts without gaining a stack, at the rate of 1 Force stack per post. Alternatively, they can forcefully purge their reiatsu by paying 50 reiatsu to eliminate a stack of Force.

How to use technique: The user's capacity for Force stacks is a passive, always-active feature. To enter Impel Mode, the user partially traps their enormous reiatsu output inside their body, greatly increasing its pressure.

Technique Drawbacks: If the user's Force stacks exceed their capacity, the stacks vent forcefully out of their body, inflicting body-wide second-degree burns and inch-deep lacerations in an explosion 10 feet wide.

Made By: Ammutseba

Reserved? No


(For the counter-attack)
Technique Name: Output

Class: 2

Technique Type: Other

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects:
This technique is one that makes use of the body directly, using the user’s spiritual strength to increase the body’s capabilities in specific ways. Like Willpower, this technique comes in stages as well, but is limited to two:
[Stage 1: Push]: This power coats the user in a sort of "Output Aura." It does two things. First, awareness can extend out by two more inches. This means someone will become more aware of an incoming attack two inches of distance from the attack earlier than normal. It means that one can try to use this to predict enemies, though not as successfully as actual prediction or reading. The secondary point expands "damage." Essentially, it bypasses defenses. A human using this is completely immune to cutback effect regardless of state, and this extends to weapon uses too. Hierro is also completely ignored during use of Push. This defense ignoring is only present during physical attacks. Reiatsu-based strikes can still meet Hierro resistance. This lasts for 5 posts, and costs 100 Reiatsu.

[Stage 2: Impact]: This stage can be used only for physical confrontation. When activated, hit strength triples. This means that one can activate it while punching an enemy. If the user has 200 strength, that strength will count as 600 during the instance of the punch. This is very physically draining, and quickly exhausts the body's nutrients. It shortens lifespan to use too often, and it weakens stamina very quickly. This lasts for 1 post, and costs 200 Reiatsu.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Usage}Strength: 275
Speed: 275
Reiatsu Strength: 100
Spiritual Pressure: 650
Instinct: 300
Senses: 150
Energy Sensory: 100
Healing Expertise: 00

Reiatsu: 6050/6500
Opus of Enki: 1850 Durability
Strawberry: 1/4 posts

Out of Hell Posts: 3/100

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Watching as her slash did effectively nothing, the Saika almost healing around her blade, Hiyori scoffed. Good lord, just what was this person made of? Something didn't quite add up, and she wasn't exactly inclined to figure out why she wasn't doing much of anything to them. No matter, she'd just need a different plan of attack against them.

"Tch," she scoffed, "you want to see a 'first move'? Fine, then. Don't say I didn't warn you, though." As her words finished, her own reiatsu emblazoned around her, quickly taking hold across her body as a suit of samurai armor. Sitting directly attached to the suit on her back, a banner of war displayed itself prominently, sparkling as though it weren't actually there. With a deep breath, a soft glow covered over her body, almost like that of a circular shell.

"My defenses are in place as well. Let's begin, shall we?" It wasn't to be the most apparent change, but glittering blue streaks quickly took hold across Hiyori's body, not to protect her but to amplify her physical capabilities. She was more than prepared at this point to take on her opponent, and was to hold nothing back. Such was the requirement behind a duel until yield! Grasping her blade tightly, Hiyori did as expected, and went in for another frontal assault on Ambrose, aided without a stepping technique, but rather at a leisurely 300 Speed.

Keeping her blade held low, Hiyori went in for another strike across the Saika's abdomen, raking diagonally upward with as much force as she could, throwing a full two-thousand Strength behind her slash. Presumably, it hadn't done much of anything like before, but that ultimately was not a worry for her; she wasn't looking to deal damage at the moment. Instead, she sought to gather a feel for how her opponent fought.

And, fight back it seemed he did. As Ambrose's fist aimed to connect with the girl, he'd quickly find it meeting that same glossy barrier around her, protecting her from the attack. Smirking beneath the helmet she wore, Hiyori shouted out with another diagonal strike, this time going across the opposite side of his chest. "Futile!" She shouted, taking another step back, before readying her stance once again.

Hitting the tsuba of her weapon against the plates covering her chest, Hiyori called out. "Such paltry strikes will not be enough to break through my guard. Perhaps you should up your game?" She flashed a friendly smile. Sure, this was an individual that she needed to take care of, but she wasn't going to simply not enjoy the fight. Especially when there wasn't an intent to kill. She'd take her time with this one.

# of Active Properties: 2

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool - 1,700/2,000}
-200 for Kyōryokuna Yōsai activation.
-250 for Sensō Umajirushi activation.
-250 for Blut Arterie.
+400 from Quincy Regeneration.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Class 4 - Power - 戦争の馬印 - Sensō Umajirushi (lit. ‘Uma-jirushi of War’)}
Upon activation, a spiritual Uma-jirushi forms behind Hiyori, as though affixed to her or her armor. Said Uma-jirushi doesn’t impede her movements in any way, and simply exists quasi-realistically. While formed, Hiyori becomes a powerful commander, granting noteworthy benefits to her allies. Hiyori and those within 100 feet of her are granted a protective barrier with a durability equivalent to her Strength. This barrier protects from incoming attacks and effects, and deducts before any other defensive abilities. By spending the Reiatsu cost of an arrow, Hiyori can restore the durability on this barrier for all allies within the banner’s radius by an amount equal to 10-70% of her Strength, based on the costs paid, granting 1% per point of reiatsu spent. Regardless of the cost, this barrier is treated as Class 4.

By spending 50 Reiatsu, Hiyori can command her allies to reposition themselves within the banner’s radius, so long as they can see and/or hear Hiyori. Said command will add Hiyori's Offensive Stat on top of the ally's clash against movement-impairing abilities, allowing them to move should they succeed in said clash. This can move her Phantom Samurai. RPCs do not need to follow this command, but this impairment-breaking effect will only occur if they take the command, in addition to costing 75 reiatsu instead of the standard amount. Hiyori cannot command herself.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Class 3 - Mass - 強力な要塞 - Kyōryokuna Yōsai (lit. ‘Mighty Bastion’)}
Upon activation, Kyōryokuna Yōsai takes form as a suit of heavy samurai armor, covering Hiyori from head to toe. This armor will protect Hiyori against attacks with an OS equivalent to her Strength or less, but comes with another unique feature. By reducing her Speed by a chosen amount on activation (or after spending 50 Reiatsu to adjust after activating), she can increase the OS required to get through this armor by an equal amount. This effect functions similarly to the Spiritual Pressure/Reiatsu Strength transfer mechanic, though only affects this armor’s defense and does not alter Hiyori’s Strength otherwise, and can only be performed once per post. Activating this property alongside Blut removes the cut to regeneration, and halves the per-post reiatsu cost. The effects of Blut do not apply to Kyōryokuna Yōsai.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Blut}Technique Name: Blut (Blood)

Technique Class: 3 - 80 TTP

Technique Type: Vandenreich.

Usable By: Vandenreich Quincy.

Technique Element: Spirit.

Technique Cost: 300 Reiatsu/post for Vene, 500 Reiatsu/post for Arterie.

Description: Blut, translated as “blood,” is a powerful technique that is passed down through all pure-blooded Quincies of the Vandenreich Empire. This technique is a gift from the Vandenreich Emperor, and only exists as long as he, or someone of similar power who has assumed his role, is alive. Channeling that leader's power through their very veins, Vandenreich Quincy are able to draw upon it and make use of it either defensively or offensively in combat. This technique is not active by default, however, and a cost must be paid to trigger it.

The first half of this technique is Blut Vein, the defensive half of the ability. Acting similar to an Arrancar's Hierro, Blut Vein allows the user to protect themselves on the skin level, preventing any physical damage to the body as long as the user possesses a superior offensive stat. Unlike Hierro, though, this armor will not degrade over time. However, attacks with impact behind them can still send the user flying, though the bodily damage will be negated. Blut Vein costs 300 Reiatsu per post to keep active.

The other half of the technique is Blut Arterie, which focuses on offensive ability. While this ability is active, the Emperor's power flows through the user's body and soul, doubling either physical or spiritual stats. This takes up one of the user's long-term stat boost slots, and costs 500 Reiatsu per post to keep active. Note that only one of these two techniques can be active at a time; if one is activated, the other is deactivated.

How to Use: Spend Reiatsu to draw out the latent power in the user's blood.

Drawbacks: The first major drawback to Blut Vein is that it can be bypassed in one of three ways. First, if the opponent's offensive stat is higher by even a single point, then Blut Vein is ignored. Second, if the opponent is of a superior Class, then Blut Vein is bypassed. Finally, “final forms” of Release, such as Bankai, can ignore Blut Vein.

Blut Arterie has its own drawbacks as well. When active, Blut Vein is removed, removing the user's defenses. Aside from taking up a stat boost slot, the user is constantly funneling excess energy through their body, which is a tiring effect over time. Finally, while active, the user draws in half as much Reiatsu per post as normal, as they are focused on output more than they are on drawing it in.

[Ambrose Grail]

She performed exactly as he had expected. She went for the front attack again. That tore it, really. He'd have to develop a movement and a reaction to attacks like that. Despite how slowly she was moving, he allowed the slash to land and was cut similarly to the time before. His resistance to harm and the regenerative properties he had developed went immediately to work on repairing that injury.

She must have practiced kendo, though, as she said something... and slashed again. There was no reason to stick around for this one, however. Ambrose was quickly replaced by a column of green light, shifting backward to evade her reach. If she was going to move at a speed he could track, he should take advantage of that, after all.

But... up his game? Not likely. He was already fighting near his best, and from what Ambrose could observe, it didn't mean even a lick of difference to his opponent's defenses. His shoulders slumped, and his stance came to a standstill. He waved a hand in front of his face as if scaring off a fly. "Nah," he said. "I'm not really that invested. I've got other things to do today, so I'll just take a loss here and call it good."

His stance and general countenance reflected his words; he was no longer guarded or even alert. The glowing arc on his chest embered away into relative darkness. He was still glowing, but it appeared there was nothing he could do about that. It would just have to run its course. Could he have kept fighting? Most definitely, but at this point, it would have been far too much work for far too little gain.

He could have been halfway to the restaurant by now if it weren't for this little distraction, and it seemed like-- though he might have been wrong-- his opposite player wasn't all that interested or bound to fighting, either. "I really want to hit up that venue; I can't be losing time on this. You're welcome to tag along if you want. My treat."

It wasn't even a bluff, or a brag for that matter. It wasn't that he was certain he'd lose the engagement, but he would have had to try awfully hard to bridge the gap between them. She was faster by far, stronger by an equal margin, and her defense might as well have been solid steel to his flimsy offensive capability. He didn't really specialize in fighting; he couldn't even form a proper conjugation of his spirit, it all just poured out of him, uncontrolled and raw.

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{Techniques}

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{Bringer Light}Technique Name: Bringer Light
Class: 4
Technique Type: Human Technique
Technique Element: None
Technique Description and Effects:
This is the stepping technique for humans. It increases their speed for a single step by 10 times for 50 Reiatsu. It leaves a column of flickering light in the place where the user previously occupied. Unlike other steps, this one can be used to build speed. If used in succession, the speed and cost go up with each additional step. The second step is a 13x increase, and costs 100 Reiatsu. The third step is a 15x increase, and costs 200 Reiatsu. From there, the cost doubles with each additional step, and the speed increase goes up by 1 time. Meaning the fourth step is 16x and 400 Reiatsu, the fifth is 17x and 800 Reiatsu, etc. Though at first the column of light is visible where the user was, once the third step is reached, the column of light is no longer there. This technique does not take up a technique slot.
How to use technique: To work, this technique manipulates the soul in whatever the user is standing on, allowing for feats such as high jumping, or the step which increases speed.
Drawback: None

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{Stats and Usage}Strength: 275
Speed: 275
Reiatsu Strength: 100
Spiritual Pressure: 650
Instinct: 300
Senses: 150
Energy Sensory: 100
Healing Expertise: 00

Reiatsu: 6050/6500
Opus of Enki: 550 Durability
Strawberry: 2/4 posts

Out of Hell posts: 4/100

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

As he'd disappeared backward, leaving behind a flash of light in the process, Hiyori flicked her blade to the side. Seemed that this one had a bit of fight, after all! Was certainly a nice change of pace, after her last endeavors. Especially while she'd been forced to fight as she had against her last few opponents. If nothing else this one was going to be interesting to her!

Though, the descriptor 'interesting' had a lot of different meanings for such a situation like this.

As he swung his hand, reflecting his desire to throw in the towel, Hiyori took a deep breath. She wasn't exactly the type to trust something like that - especially from someone that seemed to be of hellish descent - but at the same time, his guard had noticeably dropped. Raising an eyebrow at the matter, she decided to do what she could to examine just what had gone through his head.

"You're... not looking to fight?" She asked quizzically, lowering her blade. She'd been prepared to utilize something like Blut at a moment's notice, but... it didn't seem like there was going to be a need for something like that. It had appeared as though he hadn't meant any sort of harm at this point. "Huh. Well, I suppose as long as you're willing to clear out from here, then all is good, yeah?" She gave a soft smile.

Listening once more as he spoke, Hiyori followed in suit and sheathed her blade. There was no sense in fighting an opponent that hadn't wanted a combat. "I cannot say I'd be against that." As she finished speaking, her Quincy powers had dissipated. Instead, left the Ex-Shinigami as she had originally shown up, though with a larger smile on her face.

"So!" She spoke, clapping her hands together, "where're we headed?"

[FIN]

[Kitai Yoru]

Hiyori Castellanos: 24 paragraphs, 240 TP awarded, plus 100 TP for winning
Ambrose Grail: 26 paragraphs, 260 TP awarded