Reaper Sparring

The holder of the Torch Blade thought for a second. "I need to go out into the open."

Shadow quietly waited behind his spot, continuing to bandage his wounds.

The blade charged up with fire.

Shadow could feel the fire burn from far away, but he chose to remain in his position.

Nikolai decided to go to clean land and duke it out there. He started taking a stroll through the forest.

Shadow held his breath and climbed the tree he hid behind to get high ground. Still in stealth mode, he carefully gauged his opponent's movements, observing and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Nikolai stopped for a second.

Shadow continued waiting... waiting... ever... so... patiently...

Goddamn it. Nikolai had managed to keep his composure for a while but began to lose it.

Shadow could see Nikolai beginning to lose his composure, but waited a little longer.

The Torch Blade grew hotter as Nikolai became angrier.

Shadow finally saw his chance to attack and dropped down onto ground level in front of Nikolai. Focusing power to his agility, he charged forward.

Nikolai released the fire in his Torch Blade as he muttered the incantation.

Despite the oncoming heat wave, Shadow wasn't deterred. Using his agility and jumping power, he vaulted himself over the large projectile while dousing his blades in the flame, burning off the sleeves of his clothing and producing burn marks on his arms, all while burning the nearby trees to the ground. Still in midair, Shadow aimed to slash down at Nikolai with a pair of vertical slashes.

Nikolai raised his blade to deflect the attacks.

Shadow faked his attack and landed on the ground, immediately appearing behind Nikolai with blinding speed and slashed with his fire-enhanced swords.

Nikolai could sense the reaper's spiritual energy signature and turned to see two blades rushing towards him. He made haste in holding his sword up to create a defense, and if that worked, he would attempt to blow the fire.

Shadow once again faked his attack and reappeared behind Nikolai again using agility, aiming yet another slice to his backside.

Nikolai began an offensive approach to the fakes. "How stupid do you think I am? You can continue to evade my attacks, just know that I'll be there to come in with another."

Shadow stopped his attacks just as the fire from his swords faded away. He then focused on evasion from Nikolai's onslaught.

Nikolai continued his offensive, charging up his Release.

Shadow saw Nikolai trying to release the power from his sword again, but he continued dodging the initial slashes.

The fire again grew hotter as Nikolai kept slashing.

Shadow kept dodging and staying close, despite the feeling of the fire burning before him.

Nikolai could hear a voice call out his name as the temperature of the fire increased. "Nikolai! Nikolai!" he heard as he kept his offensive.