Muscle vs Magic (CTP Training, Brock)

[Kaen Youji]

After Brock's demonstration at the academy, Kaen had been thinking a little on kido. He'd abandoned it some time ago, after proving completely inept at it. Honestly, Kaen trying to use Sho was more a danger to himself, than to anyone around him! Kaen figured that even if he couldn't use kido though, it'd be a good idea of how to deal with a competent kido user. Since Squad 7 was internal affairs, the odds of him fighting another shinigami in serious combat was a lot higher than other divisions.

While he'd yet to have dealt with a good kido user yet, it was a possibility. As such, he'd asked Brock if he could come for a sparring session. Although there was a considerable difference in fighting ability, Brock had proven to be inventive in his use of kido. Hell, he'd get to drill defences against fast opponents powerful, and Kaen would get practice against kido users. Win, win? Right?

Well, Kaen was now waiting for Brock. He had done his standard training drills for a warmup, standing under a waterfall for a bit prior and then sprinting his way to the training grounds, where'd done a few hundred pushups, some situps, and used a nearby treebranch for a bunch of one handed pull ups. If he had some of his training gear he'd have done more, but he felt he was suitably warmed up. He'd been early, but now it was right about the time he'd arranged to train with Manabu-kun. Kaen grinned a bit. Alright. Anytime Manabu-kun. Anytime....

[Manabu Brock]

OOC: Please post stats.

IC: Manabu Brock suddenly appeared behind the unsuspecting 3rd seat. He had been watching him for quite a while. Brock was an aspiring sensor and developing skill as a tracker, but it didn't take much to spy on someone who wasn't trying to hide anything. It did however, take a little to be able to hide in the open. That was the reason they were training today. Bakudo 26, Kyakko, was one of Brock's favorite kido, and he preferred to enter battle using if he could. His Dai-san-seki had wanted to do combat training with a kido user, and it was Manabu's duty to do his best.

Now the kido dropped away as Manabu leapt through the air. He came down as his sword went through Kaen's neck. Well, it didn't go through so much as it thumped. Manabu left the scabbard on. After all, there's nothing to gain by inflicting real damage. This opening move was largely to prove a point.

Remaining Reiatsu: 450

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - 70%[71 - 50] Points

Speed - 70%[71 - 50] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [50] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [50] Points

Light Aura - [75] Points

Dark Aura - [25] Points

Instinct - 200%[50 - 100] Points

Senses - 200%[50 - 100] Points

Energy sensory - 200%[33 - 66] Points

Healing Expertise - [75] Points


Total SP: [450] Points

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen only had the senses of a normal person. He didn't hear Brock's approach. What saved him here were his instincts. Out of the corner of his eye, he picked up Brock's movement. Not Brock himself, but the movement was noticeable. Kaen reacted instinctively, as the blade drove down towards him, his arm snapping up to collide with the side of the weapon, to deflect the blade. A standard karate block. Kaen almost fired back with a reverse punch, but restrained himself. He didn't want to hurt his sparring partner too badly on a reflex!

"Quite an introduction you made there, Manabu-kun." Kaen stated with a grin. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow. Ooooo... that was close. Another fraction of a second and the blow would have connected. Kaen smirked. By that entry, I suppose you don't want to waste time, huh? Fine by me." Distance would be crucial here. In close, Manabu's binding spells would be dangerous, and he could attack with Hado at a distance. What to do... what to do...

Well, not true. Kaen already knew what had to be done. What had to be his answer from the start. Kaen couldn't use kido, so he had no choice. Hand to hand combat it was! But eh. It was a sparring match, so formalities still had their place. Rather than attack Brock, Kaen jumped back to put about 5-6 feet between the two and gave a short incline of his head without taking his eyes off his opponent as a greeting. After that entry, he couldn't guarantee that Brock wouldn't attack him. "Well then. I'm not going to mince words. Shall we begin?" He proposed, waiting on Brock to take the first move.

SPOILER: Click to show

Stats:

Strength: 160 (320)
Speed: 150 (300)
Spiritual pressure: 200 (100)
Reiatsu strength: 140 (70)
Light Aura: 45
Dark Aura: 55
Instinct: 100
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 50
Healing Expertise: 0

[Manabu Brock]

"Thank you, Dai-san-seki. It's not necessarily that I am in a hurry. I just wanted to make a point. A kido user could have any of many, different powers without even considering his zanpakuto..."

Manabu replaced his own zanpakuto at his side when he saw that Kaen wasn't drawing any kind of weapon. It seems he was going to try hand to hand combat. Was that really the best choice? If he would use a weapon, that would force Manabu to use a weapon, and having at least one occupied hand ought to make it more difficult to cast kido. Was he looking for more of a challenge? Come to think of it, what exactly would the parameters of the fight be?

"Dai-san-seki, what exactly are the parameters of this fight going to be? Do you want me to focus on an particular kido or style of fighting?"

Manabu really needed to know how to maximize this exercise moment by moment. He was requested because of his kido proficiency, but he had only so much reiatsu. Even when full, he could fire only 5 sokkatsui before being completely drained. He'd have to choose his kido carefully in order to make this worth his 3rd seat's while.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen blinked in surprise at that question. "Parameters? huh. Didn't think of that. I really don't like to set 'em. Free-sparring and all. You can use whatever you like. Bakudo, hado, whatever. You don't have to worry about me blasting you with some kido spell, I got no talent with kido, whatsoever. Can barely manage a good Sho, and that'd be on a GOOD day." He stated. "Besides, I think it's good for members of a division to have a feel for how their comrades fight. It means that in a tactical situation we can work according to the strengths of those involved, right? You're clever at using kido spells, but you probably still have holes. I want to assess those holes, so if we're ever in a battle in the future, I can cover for them. I'd expect you to do the same for me, Manabu-kun. In battle, people have to work as a team, not a bunch of individuals. Knowing your comrades strengths and weaknesses helps that."

Kaen cracked his neck. "Don't worry about making an impression. Just fight however you feel like! Ready or not, we're starting!" Kaen exclaimed and then started it off. Fast. He shot forwards, but immediately changed course, seeming to turn on a dime, and moving in a zig-zagging pattern. This would make him quite difficult to target with a kido spell, especially with his speed.

Kaen would break from this zigzag pattern in an unusual pattern as he neared Brock. Likely the shinigami would be expecting a lunging strike, or for Kaen to come at his sides. Nope~ Kaen strove for the unorthodox in his combat style. As he neared Brock, Kaen launched into a frontflip to carry him over Brock's head. As he would pass over, Kaen would then launch a sharp back kick at the back of Manabu's head, holding back enough that it wouldn't kill him to do so. He then tucked into a roll as he hit the ground, rolling back up to his feet, facing his opponent again.

[Manabu Brock]

Sigh. I guess I'll just see what happens...[/i] Manabu watched as the 3rd seat darted around. He was, indeed, fast. Manabu put up his guard and prepared himself to receive in a Tai Chi fashion. He was neither fast enough to dodge nor strong enough to block effectively. He'd have to take hits and move with them. Kaen finally came in close, and just as Manabu was getting ready to get hit, he went up and over him! Perfect!

Manabu spun around and put up his hand. Uh oh. Kaen was launching a kick in mid air! Manabu threw his head back while trying to lean back as well. He managed to get his feet up when the foot connected. Of course, he didn't get out of the way. He got smashed out of the way. Manabu's head slammed into the ground. Dust and dirt flew up all around, and Manabu's most powerful weapon was now embedded in the soil. Kaen had plenty of time to finish his roll and get into a ready stance before Manabu got up. In fact, he would have time to make and eat lunch before Manabu would get up.

Luckily, Manabu's neck wasn't broken, but it might have been worse if he hadn't slightly prepared himself for the hit. He lay there. He bled a bit. No, this wasn't some sort of new fighting style he'd developed. This was unconsciousness from a blow to the head (followed by another blow to the head). Looks like it's advantage Kaen.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen's kick connected. Success! ....Sort of. Kaen paused as he rolled up and saw Brock lying there. Was he playing dead? Kaen hadn't hit with enough force to kill him, and jumping like Brock had would have absorbed a bit of the impact, right? "Aaahhh.... Manabu-kun?" Kaen started still tensed, in case he was playing dead. "Erm.... you alright?" He asked with a blink. And then his face assumed a appearance. "...Oh. Whoops."

The third seat approached the unseated officer. He knew no first aid, whatsoever, but he kneeled down to nudge the shinigami awake. He shouldn't have been out for too long. Kaen had held back. "Aiya.... Sorry. Shoulda restrained myself a little more. After your kido demonstration the other day, I half expected you to whip out some big destructive move, or binding attack and stop me in my tracks... heh." He admitted as he got back up, cracking his neck. "Sorry about that. Wanna try again?"

(ooc: Sorry for the lousy post >> In a rush tonight and didn't want to hold the thread up)

[Manabu Brock]

Manabu's eyes opened slowly to a blurred, new world. It slowly came into focus to reveal a slightly concerned Kaen. He was kneeling over him and apologizing now. It was a good thing he had been holding back.

"Hai... I'm sorry, Dai-san-seki. I am quite deficient in not only strength but speed as well. If you would like any sort of contest, you will need to restrain your speed as well as your strength. For the moment, I need to determine whether I need medical attention. Don't worry, I expected that something like this would happen."

With that, Manabu pulled out a small pouch and withdrew a pinch of some ground herbs, which he then snorted. After some humorous facial expressions, Manabu took out a small notepad and opened it to a page that was blank except for a formula at the top. Manabu stared at this for at least half a minute before turning to the back few pages. There were many, simpler formulae there, and Manabu scanned for a few seconds before smirking. He put the notebook away and pulled out another one. This one seemed to be a journal. There were time-marked entries starting from the morning. If Kaen were to read it, he would note that the last several hours were observations of him! Finally, he pulled out a third notebook with some chess problems, one of which he quickly solved.

"I don't have a concussion." Manabu sprang back up and adopted a ready stance. "I may have some tricks up my sleeve called kido, but being completely outclassed is something that cannot be overcome so easily. Perhaps you should let me start with Bakudo number 9, Horin!" The orange tendril sprang out of Manabu's hand and gripped Kaen. This should prove more interesting for the 3rd seat. Manabu swung him around a bit, lifted him a little and slammed him into the ground, chanting all the while:

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado number 33, Sokatsui! As the right hand held Kaen in place with the bakudo, the left fired the hado. Right now Kaen had enough to deal with, so he might not yet appreciate the skill Manabu was using. Combining dual casting with incantation after casting while actually maintaining a bakudo was a tactic that he probably wouldn't see from most kido users.

Remaining Reiatsu: 330

[Kaen Youji]

Oh good. He was alright! Kaen saw Brock come to, and reached out a hand to help him up after he had given himself due medical attention. He'd have to hold back a little more. He understood that clearly now. "Alright. That seems fair." He replied. He decided to fight at about half his normal strength, as he got up. But Brock seemed ready to start already, blasting Kaen with a Bakudo spell, and binding him. "...Oro?" And then Kaen was hurled through the air a few times. He's trying to make me dizzy.... blech, it's working too![/color] But before Brock could accomplish this, he slammed Kaen to the ground and Kaen could already hear a second incantation in the works.

Kaen wasn't out of the bakudo spell though. "Aiyaa... most impressive, Manabu-kun." He stated. The control this must have taken did not shoot over Kaen's head. He couldn't even manage a single basic kido. To not only maintain one while making the incantation for another, and then FIRING that other while still maintaining the first one, must not have been an easy task. But it wasn't going to be quite enough this time.

Bakudo #9 didn't immobilize Kaen, merely bound him. He could still move freely, which is something he took advantage of, kicking off the ground to roll himself out of the path of the Soukatsui and back to his feet. Immediately after, Kaen kicked off the ground, launching himself at Brock with a push kick, aimed at his stomach. Now he was fully holding back, so it was possible that Brock might evade, and even if it landed it likely wouldn't cause similar results to last time.

SPOILER: Click to show

Current stats that Kaen is fighting at:

Strength-- 160
Speed-- 150

[Manabu Brock]

Apparently Kaen-dai-san-seki doesn't grasp Horin entirely. At least, not as well as it grasps him. Heh, that was funny. You know, I should probably concentrate.[/i] Kaen made his kick, but Manabu just slammed him back into the ground. He swung him around a bit more.

"Well, it seems that we may be at an impasse. While I am still able to prevent your close range attacks, you retain the ability to dodge my long-range attacks. We will remain at stalemate until one of us either loses a defensive capability or the other gains an offensive capability. On the other hand, I think I may have the upper hand. I can do this."

Manabu swung the 3rd seat again and deposited him back on the ground roughly. "Would you care to concede this round of combat to me under these circumstances? Let's not forget that you're fighting at half capacity though."

Remaining reiatsu: 330

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen grinned at Brock even as he was slammed back to the ground. "Yare yare... it seems I'm at a disadvantage!" He commented. "But." He added in a contradicting tone. "I can still do this!" Kaen began to focus his reiatsu and began to press outwards, in an attempt to shatter the kido spell. And given that his reiatsu strength was a little higher than Brock's it would likely succeed! Which meant Brock would have to come up with a plan B pretty fast, because even at only half his normal speed, Kaen was still much faster than Brock was.

Fortunately, his method of attack was a lot more direct this time. Kaen simply lunged forwards, barehanded and both arms snapped out, one aiming to loop around the shinigami's side and grab the back of Brock's belt and the other aimed at grabbing the sleeve of his shinigami uniform. This was one of the things Kaen didn't like about the shinigami's standard uniform and why he'd customized his without sleeves. While there were numerous wrist escapes, getting someone to let go of your sleeve could be a pain, especially if it was a loose sleeve, like the ones on the shinigami's haori.

Anyways, why was Kaen grabbing Brock's belt and sleeve? Well, he was about to find out as the third seat spun into Brock. "Grappling techniques 101. O-goshi." Kaen muttered to the officer as he slid his hips downwards and pushed back into Brock's legs to push the officer off balance. Due to Kaen's grip however, Brock wouldn't be able to escape, and if he became off-balanced, Kaen would throw his sparring partner over his hip, slamming him to the ground.

Fortunately for Brock, Kaen was restricting his strength even further in this technique as he was uncertain if Brock knew a proper breakfall. And if that was the case, a full powered throw from Kaen, or even a half powered one would risk serious injury to his partner. Not wanting that, Kaen held back even more of his full strength, using less than 1/3 of his full strength. This is going to hurt a lot, Manabu-kun, and you might be a bit winded, but at least you probably won't be knocked out. Unfortunately that lower strength Kaen was applying wouldn't make this throw much easier to break out of, as Kaen was applying body mechanics here, not merely brute force. The brute force merely amplified the damage the throw could cause.

SPOILER: Click to show

Current strength-- 90

[Manabu Brock]

As if! Brock would have to come up with a plan B? Brock was now preparing to implement plan D. If things went on in a difficult fashion for while, maybe he'd have to come up with a plan S. As soon as Kaen said, "I can still do this!" Manabu blasted him with a sho and sprinted forward. While it may be true that Kaen could do "this" Manabu wasn't about to let him. For someone like Manabu, allowing an enemy to successfully do something often means the end of the fight. After all, he was knocked unconscious earlier by a successful kick to the head. If this hadn't been training, his opponent would have taken that opportunity to kill him.

Manabu's sprint ended with a two footed dropkick, which sent Kaen flying back. He was already headed that direction from the sho. If not for the preparatory "off-kiltering", that kick would have been significantly less effective. In fact, Kaen-dai-san-seki could probably have just caught Manabu and thrown him away. For that matter, if he were fighting at normal capacity, he'd probably be able to handle this too. Manabu transitioned from the dropkick into a seated position.

"Sokkatsui." It would probably be a lot more difficult for Kaen to dodge in mid-air.

Let's hope this works...[/i]

Remaining reiatsu: 210

[Kaen Youji]

Sho, huh!? But it wasn't enough. Although the kido spell rammed Kaen backwards, the 3rd seat's higher reiatsu strength allowed him to maintain his focus. It also helped that he'd already been gathering reiatsu, allowing him to absorb a bit of the brunt of the blow. Anyways, the point of the matter is that Horin got broken. Kaen was free. And not a moment too soon! Kaen saw Brock attempt his double dropkick, but the shinigami was already moving to retaliate. Yes, he was off balanced, but that didn't mean he couldn't react.

In fact, Kaen used this to his advantage! He didn't let himself fall off balance. He simply fell backwards, turning away from Brock as he did so. This is where his Capoeira training came in handy. It allowed him to react from such awkward positions. Kaen countered Brock's dropkick with a kick of his own, slamming his palm onto the ground for stability and his other leg rocketing backwards, to kick Brock in the gut, and knock him backwards. Kaen was using full extention of the leg, which meant his kick would have a better range than Brock's, and thus connect first, and keep him from getting close. This would also interfere with his ability to have performed the Soukatsui.

Immediately after the kick, Kaen spun back to his feet facing Brock, and just in time. Kaen pulled his sheath off his back, and then resheathed his blade, shifting into an iaido stance. Let's see you handle THIS then, Manabu-kun. Kaen used Shunpo, to move himself to Brock's side! Instead of drawing his entire sword though, as Brock might have expected, if he recognized Kaen's stance, Kaen only launched it out halfway, intending to strike Brock's liver with the hilt of the sword. This would hurt like hell. The liver was a very sensitive spot to get hit, afterall. Kaen finished off this combo with a quick smashing blow with the sheathed blade at Brock's temple!

Reiatsu remaining: 950

[Manabu Brock]

Kaen managed to completely avoid the dropkick. Manabu actually hadn't expected that. He was unaccustomed to dealing with people who could control their bodies in mid fall. Now Manabu found himself in a failed dropkick next to a close combatant opponent. That's a bad thing.

To make matters worse, Kaen was now launching a counterattack. He'd turned his fall into the basis of a crushing kick, which was now barreling towards Manabu. On the plus side, this gave him an opportunity to use one of his kido.

"Seki!" He brought his right hand to block the incoming kick, and a small ball formed in front of it. When Kaen's foot collided with the ball, it was stopped and harshly repelled. Manabu used this opportunity to get back on his feet, but it didn't take long for Kaen to get on his either. Now Manabu proceeded to do what he wasn't able to do before. He shot his palm out at Kaen.

"Sokkatsui!" The ball of blue fired shot out and looked to incinerate its target. Even if it connected, it wouldn't actually incinerate him. However, Kaen was quick on the draw. He drew his zanpakuto and cut the kido in half. He'd have been better off dodging because in the wake of the fireball was a Manabu Brock.

He placed a a sort of jumping roundhouse in Kaen's side. It was more of a shunpo roundhouse. Combining the momentum gained during shunpo with an attack made for a much more powerful blow. Now Kaen was sent reeling off to his left.

If he'd had more reiatsu (and wanted to kill his Third Seat), Manabu would have fired a Haien. That was already into the fifties, and that sort of hado could cause some real damage. However, that wasn't going to happen. Manabu had only one more kido he could practically use here, and this was not a bad time to use it. He pulled out his tanto with and flicked the adamantine blast.

"Koungoubakuha."

Hopefully Kaen would enjoy that. It was a big, fiery, ball of lava. What more could he ask for? Furthermore, Manabu would be pretty much tapped out now. Manabu would either have to incapacitate him and let him know or just explain it after his next period of unconsciousness, which should be coming shortly.

Remaining reiatsu: 40

[Kaen Youji]

Seki, huh? Nice application! As expected of a shinigami with Manabu's mind. Kaen felt himself get blown backwards by the kido spell, but absorbed most of the impact by rolling. Still. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling in the world. It wasn't fun. ....By which I mean it was fun. Kaen was weird that way, and the fact that it hadn't been as easy as that made him quite happy! Odd, but whatever. That's just the kind of person Kaen was.

Manabu launched his destructive kido, and Kaen managed to use his Iaido to deflect it. But what Manabu did next surprised him. A jumping roundhouse kick? Now, against most opponents, this would not have been surprising to Kaen at all. But thus far, Manabu had shown knowledge in not wanting to tangle with Kaen in a close range fight. It was the smart thing to do. Which meant it was all the more unexpected when someone came at you with the stupidest thing they could possibly do. Kaen abused that principle a few times himself.

In short, Manabu's kick connected, though his significantly lower strength only managed to push Kaen back a few steps. The Shunpo idea was exceptional, but Manabu was pitting above average strength for a human against the strength of an animal! It managed to hurt Kaen, and push him back but the shinigami still managed to stay composed. His next choice of kido interested Kaen greatly though. A giant ball of lava? Kaen grinned. "Ooohhh... very scary, Manabu-kun! And at point blank range!"

Kaen pointed his Kodachi directly at the hado and braced himself for it. The kido impacted the point of his zanpakuto and erupted, rapidly driving the shinigami back. It was all Kaen could do to maintain his footing, for if he lost it and fell, he knew that the kido would overwhelm him! And he'd rather avoid that happening. Kaen had great tolerance for heat, which was the only reason he could stand his ground now. He needed high heat tolerance to utilize his own zanpakuto. But even that wouldn't help him if he suffered a direct hit from this kido!

Kaen realized, however, that sooner or later his footing was going to give. He had to do something before that happened. He had one shot. Kaen suddenly abandoned his defence, kicking off to the side in an attempt to leap clear of the blast. His evasion was far from perfect however, and his right arm and leg were both caught by the blast, seriously burning them and sending Kaen spiralling through the air, crashing down onto the ground. But the full effects of the attack had failed-- something Manabu would witness first hand, as Kaen began to rise back to his feet. "Yare, yare.... that was pretty good. I couldn't dodge it, OR block it. That was a very good idea. Casting a large kido at point blank range, following up after a melee blow was an excellent strategy." He commented. "But I can still fight Manabu-kun! It almost worked, but unfortunately, almost doesn't quite work out." He flipped his kodachi into a reverse grip in his left hand and shifted his stance so that his weight would be mostly off his right leg. "Ready or not, here I come!"

Kaen launched himself into a second Shunpo, moving to take Manabu Brock's back. He intended to finish this battle with little more than a gesture, attempting to whip his Kodachi about, to set the back of the blade against Manabu's throat. A move that if done with the sharp edge and completed would have, at the very least, slit the officer's throat if not outright decapitated him. But again. Sparring. Kaen certainly didn't want to kill one of his division members, especially not one that was this promising. Kaen had enjoyed this match, and it'd be so wasteful not to keep Manabu around for future battles.

Reiatsu remaining: 900