Gaius Antonius Omake #5: The Duel, Part 2
Gaius still wasn't sure if this was a good decision or not. That was probably not the right kind of thought to be having about an event two years in the making, but honestly, it was true. In his time cultivating, he had become intimately aware of the illusion of humans as singular beings - in reality, the mind is the gestalt product of many parts of the brain acting independently, clashing together and giving rise to something greater than the sum of its parts, which was then copied and imprinted onto the soul. In that sense, he had decided to spend two years following the part of him that Sought even more than he usually did, and that process had led him here. Tunnel vision? Perhaps, but he didn't mind; he always needed something to strive towards, and Herod had worked just fine.
He looked around, as if in a vain hope that some heretofore unnoticed detail of his environment would spark an epiphany for the coming match - no such luck. It was the same spartan stone corridor as ever, lined with old, sturdy bricks smoothed by the passage of time. The stone floor was covered in dirt and grit, tracked in from the training grounds it led to by untold thousands of feet over the years. Out the other end of the corridor, it opened up into a larger, circular open-air arena, far too modest to be called a coliseum. The seats could hold perhaps one thousand, and the grounds themselves were no more than fifty yards across. This was the kind of place that would serve a single Centuria, And certainly not a prestigious one. Even then it would struggle to fill that demand. Any and all equipment had been stripped away, rendering it down to nothing but a big dirt circle surrounded by smooth walls.
This would serve them fine; they had rented this space for two hours - far more than they needed, but a precaution in case something went wrong and they needed to fix it. Such things, the same as just about everything else in the Dawn Fortress, had cost them contribution points. It was cleverly priced: just high enough that it stung both of their accounts to split the difference. Such measures repulsed more casual renters, ensuring that when a duel happened, it was usually something worth dueling over.
Once again Gaius saw Herod on the opposite side of the arena in his own corridor, sat in a meditative position, with his shield slung over his back and his spear across his lap. On that note, the Aspirant once more ruminated on all the information he had managed to glean on Herod. He knew the older man favored a shield and spear, that much was obvious. He also knew that Herod had an affinity for Formations, which would not come into play here. Finally, Gaius knew that his opponent used the Royal Viper Style in personal engagements. As for what individual spins on the style Herod would employ, the Aspirant had no idea. Adding together everything he knew with everything he had planned...
"60% chance at most, and that's in the best case scenario. Depending on factors outside my control, it could drop as low as 20%." Gaius muttered to himself. Though he liked to view it in terms of numbers, a one-on-one fight was too chaotic for any serious calculations. He sighed. He was just attaching numbers to his feelings to act as if he had any certainty.
"Well, it's about time..." He remarked, walking out onto the training ground without fanfare. It wasn't like there was any need for showboating with a crowd like this. Thirty or so people in all, at least a quarter of whom were just friends of Gaius or Herod. The Aspirant heard some isolated cheers and turned his head in the direction they came from - indeed, there were some friends of his now, come to encourage him.
"Amazing. You really do have things backwards, big man. You're looking easy-breezy now, but every time you lose a bracelet or an earring you freak out." Jiang Li taunted from where he sat, feet kicked up on the empty seat in front of him.
Next to speak up was the somber Diana. Sullen-eyed, dressed in a dark gown and with her hair cut into a neat little bob, she could be said to be the rationality of the group. She did her best to reign in their worst excesses and in turn they encouraged her to rove out and explore rather than shrink into herself. "You've done a great job cultivating this fast, but um... I'll support you but I can't approve of you starting trouble like this. When this is over we have to have a talk about boundaries." She said, looking apologetic but holding a quiet intensity behind the statement.
"To be fair, he really is hotheaded when you push his buttons, isn't he?" Xie Chin commented right beside her. Tall, curvaceous and elegant, with a waterfall of black hair going down to her mid-back, this woman seemed the definition of feminine wiles... until you got to know her, at least. In truth, she possessed a vicious streak a mile wide toward those who she felt deserved it, and would drink, curse and sing with the rowdiest folks around when she was in the right mood. Indeed, Xie Chin was truly yin and yang in one. "Gaius, you just remember that whatever happens out there, we're all proud of your accomplishment. Just try not to make a habit of dueling people above your level, I doubt most of them will be as accommodating as dear Herod over there." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but with a core of genuine encouragement.
"Don't you dare write me off yet. I've got a plan, and I'd like to think it's pretty good." Gaius smirked.
"Nonsense." Xie Chin replied with a wave of her hand. "We've got no right to speculate on you. You're the first of us to reach the Third Heavenstage. That means you're a real warrior, not a glorified cadet. We all want to see your first battle as a warrior, so make it a good one."
"That's more like it!" Gaius responded with a bashful laugh, ruffling his hair. "That's a lot of pressure, but I'll be sure to give you guys a good show!" And with that he was off, toward the center of the ring. All three watched intently, excited to see his unusual talents be demonstrated at a new, higher level.
——
Herod was not in a good mood. He supposed people hardly ever showed up to a duel in a good mood, since if they did, whatever was nothing them wouldn't be serious enough to duel over. Still, while Cultivators were perhaps more famous for their stupid duels than they were literally anything else, he felt that this duel was
uniquely stupid. Herod considered himself mild-mannered(most of the time) so perhaps he wasn't an unbiased judge of what was worth starting a battle over, but he was fairly certain that remembering your reason for starting a duel should have been a prerequisite.
He sighed as he strode to the center of the ring. This wasn't his first time pissing someone off by not taking something seriously enough, but it was definitely the most severe. He just wanted to live and let live amongst comrades, was that really too much to ask for? It always went this way, his head would start hurting, he'd get impatient, and so he'd try to resolve a situation quick and dirty and be on his way. But noooo, something always had to get in Herod's way, usually some dipshit going on about honor over something that didn't matter in the slightest!
The spear-toting warrior shook his head, dispelling the errant thoughts. Something to worry about another time. Right now, it was time to get this stupid fight over with. He'd be fine either winning or losing; while he would of course rather not be injured, if Gaius won then things would be settled between them, and if Herod won then Gaius would hopefully learn a painful lesson about taking things too far. Still, it wasn't like he could throw the fight - his opponent would sense the lack of intent in his qi, get mad at him for not dueling in earnest, and things would get even more complicated and annoying. No, better to just give it his all and let fate decide.
In no time at all, Herod was there, and so was Gaius. A short sword was held in the tall man's right hand and a dagger in his left, and Herod quietly adjusted his strategy to best handle that. The two stood face to face for a good half a minute before the proctor arrived, having taken his sweet time getting there, what with the missing leg and all. This being wartime, the only Seniors who could be spared for a job this petty were those who couldn't meaningfully participate in the field. A legionnaire in some higher Heavenstage, Herod couldn't place it directly, the man didn't seem particularly enthused, and recited the rules of the duel to both combatants by rote. It was the kind of stuff you'd expect: blunted weapons, no attacks to the eyes or throat, if a combatant gives up or can no longer fight the duel will be declared over, and so on.
No, Herod's eyes remained focused on his opponent, who was shrouded in an energy which was nothing like the demeanor he'd demonstrated before. Gaius had been relentlessly headstrong before, but not so hyperfocused, not in this way. It was as if every part of the being known as Gaius Antonius that was not useful for this confrontation had been cast aside for the time being. This put Herod on edge immediately, a feeling which tripled when the taller man slicked his bangs back and
looked at him.
A weight seemed to settle on Herod's shoulders in that moment, for reasons he could not fully understand. Gaius' eyes were impossibly deep, in that moment. The man's perception seemed to radiate out of him and sink into his surroundings like a thick fog. This fog touched every inch of Herod's body, becoming a condensation which clung to him and made his instincts ring out in alarm. He glanced to the side, the proctor's arm was raised. Shit, he had to shake off this weight! With a surge of mental effort, he broke out of the fugue state; a tenth of a second later, the proctor swung his arm down.
"BEGIN!"
And they were off!
...Or they at least should have been. Gaius sprung backwards, entered a defensive stance and continued to quietly analyze Herod with those piercing eyes. Herod in turn dug in his heels and raised his shield for an attack that didn't come, and took a single second to ponder this. This was a decidedly unfavorable matchup of weapons for Gaius, one which would demand that he be aggressive, take the offensive and get inside his opponent's reach. Rather than follow such an incentive, the sword-wielding Aspirant hung back, seemingly content to hand the initiative off to Herod. And so, for a few more precious seconds, the combatants circled each other, already battling mentally.
Herod was no longer unsettled, he was outright perturbed. Two things he didn't understand: that immense pressure Gaius' eyes had brought forth, still pressing against the edges of his mind, and these strange, counter-productive tactics, too deliberate to be the fumbling of an amateur. One unknown variable could be accounted for, two was too much. No matter - he would herd his opponent's tactics into another shape.
At last came the first exchange. Herod obliged Gaius' timidity with a flurry of thrusts from his spear, each one flashing out with incredible speed and precise motion. Every thrust was aimed for a separate vital point, aiming to cripple the enemy before he could do anything. With a blunted spear like this, the damage would be less severe, but torn tendons and broken bones would still be inevitable.
Royal Viper's Hundred Bites
Gaius twisted and juked with exemplary quickness, avoiding several thrusts entirely, and parrying several more would-be near-misses with his dagger. Nonetheless, after enduring a dozen of these attacks, his stance began to collapse, and he gave ground, springing backward to save himself from the barrage. This was the true terror of the Royal Viper's Hundred Bites. Avoiding one strike set you up to be struck by the next - with every attack one survived, one was only drawn further into the constricting embrace of the serpent.
Hot on the heels of the first exchange emerged the second. Again Herod closed in with his deadly flurry of blows, but this time Gaius countered. The tall man's movements became hazy, seeming to bleed into each other into a single blob of color. He was like an image that had been drawn with too much ink, becoming indistinct as he seeped into his surroundings. Herod had heard of this at some point, he thought. A defensive technique which utilized illusion and mobility in equal parts. Only useful against the same Heavenstage or lower, or perhaps a single Heavenstage higher for practitioner who mastered it to the fullest extent, it was nonetheless a potent tool in the right situation.
Heat Haze Step
Herod's accuracy was thrown off, so while Gaius was still harried, the attacks were shut down with far greater ease. Batting aside the spear once again with his dagger, Gaius went on the offensive, getting inside Herod's reach and bringing his sword to bear. As if it would be that easy - the older man parried the slash aside and bashed the rim of his shield into his attacker's hastily-raised guard. A wave of force erupted from the point of impact, spreading out in a wide cone-shape in front of Herod. Taking this attack at minimum range, Gaius felt the full impact and was flung back nearly ten feet, landing painfully on his back.
Mighty Bronze Gong
That was more like it, thought Herod. He wouldn't let Gaius dictate the flow of the battle. In fact, from this point until the end of the match, he wouldn't even let his opponent regain his bearings. The tall man quickly scrambled back to his feet, only to immediately bend over backward as a bolt of qi whizzed by where his head had been. Drawing back the offending weapon, Herod thrust his spear several more times, launching another qi bolt from the end each time. This technique had no name, it was simply ordinary Sword Qi, albiet modified by Herod to be usable at a lower Heavenstage than usual. Gaius swung his sword and dagger alike with masterful precision, deflecting every last one of the bolts, and then there was no more time to think, as Herod was on him again, once more in physical range.
Yet again, a spear lashed out; there was no time to activate Heat Haze Step again, and retreating would only bring on another barrage of Sword Qi, so Gaius performed his only viable action - rather than retreat, he took the bait and advanced, batting Herod's spear aside once more and slashing at his opponent again and again. Yet no purchase was found; Herod's shield hand was quick and resolute, stopping every attack cold. His foot flashed out with the same viper-like quickness and precision as his spear, striking Gaius' ankle and making him trip. For just a moment, the tall man's grip faltered, and Herod sent the sword flying end over end out of his hand. Once more, the shield bash came, but this time it did not strike true.
Herod's eyes grew wide in shock as his opponent dropped the dagger to catch the rim of his shield with both hands. The Mighty Bronze Gong erupted immediately, sending Gaius skidding back, but not violently flung like before. No, this was from momentum. There, shimmering, caught in some kind of field radiating from Gaius' hands, was the Qi of Herod's attack - the Aspirant had
caught it. Skidding to a stop, he drew his hand back and then thrust it forward, flinging the spearman's own wave of force back upon him.
Overturning Heaven and Earth
Herod rose his shield to take the impact, and it was nearly torn from his hand in the collision. In a flash, he found himself knocked prone, and leapt back up to his feet after a moment. This wasn't right. No, it wasn't right at all. Herod didn't know what technique that was, but its principles were easy enough to surmise. He thought on this as he cautiously advanced once more, kicking his opponent's fallen dagger far behind him when he reached it.
Gaius had emitted a net. No, not a net, more like a bubble. By encasing the Qi and cancelling out its momentum, the Aspirant had taken control of the attack and thrown it back. This part made sense; what didn't was why he would use such a technique in the first place. Catching the force and throwing it back would naturally be far more taxing to Gaius' qi reserves than simply deflecting it to the side, as he would have needed to not just stop the momentum, but enhance his own physical strength enough to gain control of it. In Qi Condensation, a Cultivator's qi reserves generally rose in proportion to their physical strength. Thus, Gaius would have had to put in more qi than Herod had in order to take control of the blast, on top of the qi spent to create that bubble. Why? Why would this man, who seemed to be a shrewd and capable fighter, do such a thing when it clearly wasn't worth it? Herod's mind continued to boggle, but then something happened.
Gaius took a new stance entirely. Herod knew the positioning of those legs, the bend of that back - that was Bronze Arhat Style! And it didn't have the desperate intensity of a man resorting to a backup strategy, but a relaxed familiarity greater than when Gaius held his blades! Revelation struck the older combatant in a flash, and he couldn't help but let out a bark of nervous laughter.
"So that's how you did it. Gaius... you're a Body Cultivator, aren't you? That's how you have enough strength to use that redirection trick on someone of the same level." Herod explained, leveling his spear and pointing it accusingly at his opponent.
"You're really smart, Herod. Guilty as charged." Gaius replied, gaze growing more focused and intense by the second. Indeed, what had once been a blunt force pressing on Herod from all sides now felt painfully sharp. The man's very awareness seemed to penetrate through Herod's armor and skin, peering through his very innards like the pages of a book. This marked a clear turn in the battle. Those blades had never been intended to finish the battle, they had been for defense, to tease out as much of Herod's capabilities as possible, so that their wielded could analyze him further. Now, Gaius seemed satisfied with what he had learned, and ready to put things to an end.
How naive. "You think you've read me, think you know everything I can do? You're far too cocky,
Junior!" Herod jumped backward, increasing the distance between the two substantially, and breatheD deeply. He inhaled until his lungs could contain no more, then violently expelled that tension with a shout, wreathing the tip of his spear with an aura of burning embers. Outright setting it on fire would be too demanding of his qi reserves at his lowly cultivation level, but Herod had once again found a way around that.
Herod once more used his modified Sword Qi, blasting bolts of qi from the tip of his spear. This time, each bolt carried a few of the embers within it, and whipped up by the sudden and violent bursts of energy, the air around these bolts ignited, turning them from mere projectiles to small fireballs, which were fired off at an impressive rate.
Shooting Star Assault
A true elemental technique at the Third Heavenstage was extremely rare, and an unarmed opponent of the same level would have no way of easily dealing with the flames should they be ignited. Those piercing eyes widened in shock, as Gaius desperately dodged and weaved, leapt and dived, assailed by the storm of projectiles. Eventually, inevitably, he slipped up, and was struck by two of the blasts and sent tumbling end-over end.
Herod saw that his aura of embers was depleted and took a moment to replenish it, relishing in the success of his technique. This was his first time using Shooting Star Assault against a living opponent, and he was relieved to see it working as well as he'd hoped. He drew back his spear once more - as soon as Gaius was standing against, Herod would assail him with another volley, and this would continue until a surrender was forced out of him. The tall Aspirant struggled back up to his feet, blood dripping from somewhere under his mass of curly locks, as well as from a half-cauterized wound in his chest. With a roar, Herod attacked again, unleashing another barrage of fire.
The events that followed seemed to Herod's eyes as if they played out in slow motion. Gaius, burning his qi like cheap tinder to the point it slightly distorted the air around him, raised his left arm skyward. He then rotated his arm in a full circle, his hand tracing a path of bright red light through the air until it connected with the origin point, creating a gleaming circle in front of the Aspirant. Finally, Gaius swung his hand down to the middle of the circle and pointed his palm straight out. In response, the area within the circle glowed gold, and a wave of freezing air blasted out. This defense was hardly enough to stop the bolts, but that was seemingly never the goal, the cold causing the flames to gutter out and the headwind reducing their speed just a bit.
Aegis Incarnation: Fire
In a flash of movement, Gaius summoned up that bubble technique in his right hand and caught all of the bolts one after the other, then pulled his hand back to launch them all at Herod. Outright panicking now, Herod shifted back into a fully defensive posture. The bolts were indeed thrown, now having jumbled together into an inchoate mass of force. This time, rather that try to just block the redirected attack, the Aspirant exerted every ounce of might he had and
parried. For several seconds the blast resisted his attempts, only to finally be overcome and knocked aside, smashing into the perimeter wall and leaving a small crater in the stonework.
By the time he turned the attack aside, Gaius was already inside his guard with a burst of intense speed, throwing a flying knee strike at Herod's solar plexus. With no room to maneuver, Herod dropped his spear and interposed his hand, catching his opponent's knee and attempting to seize the taller man's thigh and transition into a takedown. But before he could do anything more, the world before his eyes burst into a mess of blurred colors. Realization came half a second after impact; Gaius had struck him in the temple with a swift, scything elbow strike. Herod fell.
No.
Herod wasn't finished yet. At some point in all this, he had started having fun. This was no longer an obligation, he burned with the desire to claim victory. His left hand shot out, grabbing the collar of Gaius' armor and arresting his fall. Re-planting his feet, Herod made a spear-hand with his right hand and surged forward with a roar, aiming for Gaius' chest.
However, his fellow Aspirant wanted to win just as badly. Stepping into the attack and causing Herod's fingers to bury an inch into his shoulder with a wet
squelch, Gaius slammed a palm strike into Herod's other temple and swept his foot at the same time. This time, for a fraction of a second, the world went black entirely. Consciousness returned for an instant, only Gaius' fist to strike the downed warrior's face dead-center, sending him into a longer sleep.
As his conscious mind receded for the time being, Herod's thoughts returned to those eyes, so impossibly deep. Like an ocean, sucking him in. How? How could a human have eyes like that...?
——
"Owww. Ugh, that hurts a lot..."
The proctor declared Gaius the victor and two of the on-site medics -mortals, of course. No medical cultivator would be called in for a duel between such lowly Aspirants - went to tend to Herod. Gaius had no interest in watching this, and slowly stumbled back to the area where his friends sat, clutching his head. Reaching the spot in question, where all three were cheering and congratulating him, leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. The group quieted down for a few minutes as Gaius turned away from the evening sun and waited for his splitting headache to die down.
Once he was feeling a bit better, he leapt up over the wall(immediately regretting this as he jostled the gaping holes in his shoulder) and took a seat in the stands, his friends swarming around him like piranhas. Several questions were shot his way, most of them being something long the lines of "how the hell did you pull that off?" Or "how far ahead did you plan that?"
"I'm gonna be honest with you guys," Gaius replied after a moment of thought. "A third of my success was just blind luck. All of that guy's techniques were very compatible with mine." He explained, holding up one finger. "A further third came down to information advantage. It seems Herod didn't bother to do much research about me; if he had, he might have realized I was a Body Cultivator, and without that ruse I don't think I'd have won." He elaborated, holding up a second finger. "Only the last third was my own skill and talent." He finally concluded, adding a third finger.
"Seriously, dude? You just took home the victory, but you're making excuses for the other guy?" Jiang Li chuckled, patting Gaius' shoulder(the good one).
"I mean it!" Protested the victor in question. "Herod is definitely stronger than me right now. I mean, he's a lot more proficient with the techniques he knows, for one. I'm an idiot who learned too many."
"You say that, but it seems like you don't have any offensive qi techniques at all, besides academy-standard Bronze Arhat." Challenged Diana.
"That's correct, I don't." Gaius revealed, to the incredulity of all three. "I learned seven techniques in total from the Palace: Heat Haze Step, Overturning Heaven and Earth, and all five versions of Aegis Incarnation. I'm counting on my own perception and intuition to shore up my offense."
"You seriously learned a different specialized defense against every element? That's insane." Xie Chin spoke up harshly. "No wonder your techniques are still unpolished. You would be better off learning one more all-purpose defense in place of those. Then you'd have more time for your offense."
"That's absolutely the rational choice." Gaius shot back. "For the vast majority of people, that would be more useful and efficient. But I'm not rational, I'm The Seeker. I have to be prepared for the harshest possible obstacles, and thus I take the longest, hardest path."
There was a moment of somber silence; all three of his friends knew what he meant by that: Thirteenth Heavenstage. Single-Pillar Foundation Establishment. Madness. Suicide. The group had discussed this before, and Gaius' complete devotion to his path had been made clear time and again. A shadow seemed to drape over the trio, as if they were already mourning their friend.
This gloomy moment soon passed, however, and Gaius and the others fell into comfortable, personable small-talk as another medic arrived to tend to his own injuries. Damn, the migraine headache had occupied his attention at first, but his shoulder hurt quite a bit too; if he was a mortal, this would be a serious wound. Thankfully, all he needed was some disinfection, suturing and bandages and he would be mostly healed in a month. Normally it would be more like a week - all but the worst flesh wounds were trivial for a Cultivator - but he could feel that one of his meridians had been torn clean in half, which would complicate the process.
As he held still under the medic's ministrations, Gaius saw Herod, now mostly conscious, being helped out of the arena, and felt a pang of guilt. He probably had been unreasonable after all. He didn't necessarily regret the actions that led him here; there was no room for doubt in the heart of The Seeker. Plus, he probably wouldn't have hit the Third Heavenstage this fast if not for having a milestone to chase after. Still, he had used a man who wanted no part in this for his own gain. He would definitely have to buy Herod a gift. Maybe some low-grade medicinal pills?
"Bullheaded." "Far too headstrong." "Daft motherfucker." "Don't need to follow a Dao yet." All of these were things Herod had accused him of, and, permitting himself a moment of self-awareness, he admitted that the man was right. Still, he couldn't allow himself to step off the path. No, Gaius would remain selfish for a very long time, and while he felt some degree of remorse, he would never allow one iota of regret.
5110 words, Jesus Christ. That makes 12,197 words in total. This one really got away from me. I tried to write this fight scene with the pacing and framing of a really good fight in a manga, hopefully it's not too bloated.
Not much character stuff here, I just wanted to demonstrate how Gaius fights. Also, the attack names in italics are meant to be like, big kill la kill-esque subtitles.
@Kaboomatic
