Jomei

As fragment of the crystal continued to shatter under the weight of his hand, the feeling returned to him faster than he had anticipated. Like standing in front of a burning fireplace after being outside in a snow storm, the theoretical frost melted away. Moving just a few fingers to confirm, he would slowly exhale a sigh of relief. Whether Acanthus seemed to catch on to his little act or not, he was unsure. However, her reluctance to attack while he was down meant she was, once again, dangerously low on energy. Perhaps not even enough for her weapon to process even the simplest of sword arts.

A sound unlike any he had heard come from the quiet girl's lungs before. The adorably, strange girl who found her fun, not with socializing, but digging holes on the beach. A spark of rage ignited within her, and the fire in her eyes ready to burn Jomei down to the ground - her with it, if it was necessary. Falling onto his back foot as Acanthus pressed forward, he barely had enough time to bring his rapier up to defend against Acanthus' onslaught. The weight of her longsword easily outmatched Jomei's rapier, not to mention the power Acanthus put into each strike. He needed to rely on parrying

"Me neither." he finally spoke, shaking his head. The reality of the situation was, they were both done. The thick blanket of exhaustion was draped over them as they each fought for the upper hand with what little energy reserves they had left. Acanthus had relied more on defense, keeping her shield up until the right moment to strike. Jomei, however, would not give her that option. His strikes were not nearly as accurate as they once were, or else he would be able to sneak the point of the rapier around Acanthus' wall with ease. The switch to a 'tank' build wasn't looking too helpf

You're making a fool out of yourself again. Shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths, loose hairs stuck to his sweat slick skin. The blade he clutched in his hand began to feel heavy, despite its lithe build. Crashing against the face of Acanthus' steel defense over and over, he'd nearly lose his grip on the rapier. Talked a big game, made Acanthus feel uncomfortable. Her apology in the heat of battle did not seem to reach Jomei, although he heard her words loud and clear. The self doubt that plagued his mind was far louder. An issue he thought he had put to rest, coming back

"Don't apologize." Quite the hypocritical statement to make after apologizing himself. Jomei would flash her a smile, very small, very forced. But he shared no other words, as she had requested. “But I don’t want to hear your answer. I want to see it." All of a sudden it sounded as if he was the one being tested. To prove that he was where he should be, fighting on the frontlines and being a beacon of hope for those unable to. The doubt sowed deep within, imposter syndrome at its worst, began to sprout and take root. The wit, the charm, all a face that he put on to mask

Sharp words pierced his chest, dealing more damage than any weapon or sword art. An awful, real pain settled in as icy daggers tunneled to his heart. A chill ran up his spine and, for a moment, he was the one left paralyzed instead of Acanthus. While words were not spoken loud enough for any others to hear, the entire arena fell silent to Jomei. "I-" a lump caught in his throat. What could he even say to combat that? He was just trying to have a spot of fun, give the audience a show like the performer he was. Was that newfound confidence that he had been tapping into turn him into some so

She's taunting you. Don't fall for it. Their weapons fought for power over the other, their wielders pushing back and forth. Jomei would eye the sharp edge of Acanthus' botan as it pressed into the thin length of Vicious Mockery. But he would not allow her to gain the upper hand so easily. "You see, my dear Acanthus." he spoke through a grunt as he turned his sword, forcing Acanthus to stumble as she followed her momentum. But she was fast, and that shield was back in his face before he could even act upon the moment. "If it were that easy, this would be over already. That, and you

A silent sigh to himself, Jomei gently shook his head with closed eyes. He could understand Acanthus' need to prove herself to him - to Aincrad - that she was meant to be here. In his mind, she had already proved it. But he could see that she was stubborn, and stuck in her ways of needing to treat this as if it were a serious battle. "If that's how it has to be." Jomei would nod, "I'll step it up. Take things more seriously. If you'd prefer that, that is." It wasn't going to stop him from enjoying himself. With the fear of death no longer present in this moment, there was the abili

"Pity?" Jomei questioned her with a small scoff. He could see that she was really taking this seriously. A first time going up against other players, perhaps. Players who's names have been carved into the history of each floor that they cleared. He could understand the pressure she felt.. but she was also forgetting that she too fought on the frontlines. One fight, or a dozen fights - it mattered not. They were on equal levels, comrades in arms. Did she feel that he thought he was better than her? "No, no pity. Just think we both could use a minute. I can tell you're low on reserves." he

With a sword hand raised to strike down at the stunned Acanthus, he was taken by surprise when a small shockwave rushed out from her person. The energy that traveled throughout her body to hold her in place was suddenly forced out. A little gift from defeating a certain boss, he was familiar with it and should have expected as much. Damn, no chance, he would think to himself as he attempted to recover from the shock and jump back into the action before Acanthus fully brought her defense back up. Steel against steel, Jomei's rapier bounced off of the face of Acanthus' shield once more. Fo

The dust settled, and the Scintillating Blade (the third) returned to its natural, yet still glistening, state. Acanthus had been blown off of her feet, knocked to the opposite end of the arena with just a single landed strike. And as he stood in wait, blade at the ready, and confidence returning.. she made that damage he had dealt seem like nothing. Double fisting a healing potion and crystal, Acanthus' health leapt back into safer waters. While not all of the damage had been reversed, a little more than half of it healed as she downed the potion. On the bright side, if she had to use b

He waited patiently for the right moment to strike, keeping the guise of defense up for as long as he needed. The goal was to land at least one hit, one chance to knock her off of her guard and gain the upper hand. Maybe not enough to seal his victory, but just something to make this look like an even bout. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. A change in her breathing, a tiny but sharp inhale through her nostrils as she took a retreating step. Something sparked a reaction out of her - just the one he needed. Jomei followed suit, as if a rope attached his leg to Acanthus'. The momen

"Shit!" the man hissed as Acanthus' blade plunged into his hip. The numbness, in place of searing hot pain, began to set in as sidestepped from his opponent. Teeth bore in a grimace, he would swing wildly at Acanthus in desperate retaliation. The length of his blade passing over her head, barely scathing the top of the shield. Now frustrated at his repeated failure to break Acanthus' defenses, he would reach out with his free hand to grip the side of the woman's shield. Yanking and pushing, he attempted to catch her off guard and pry the barrier out of her hands. Even that proved less than fru

CRACK Tiny shards of broken glass skipped across Jomei's face, leaving bright red trails in their wake. Fumbling steps backwards, a hand rose to his cheek that pulsed from the impact. No pain, more shock than anything. Even more surprised when he felt a lukewarm wetness beneath his fingertips. His human instinct told him it was blood, but the Aincrad adventurer knew better. Instead of the harsh smell of iron, his nose caught the scent of sweet citrus. Suddenly, each step back felt slower and heavier - some sort of potion used against him, it seemed. "Heh." he would chuckle, bringing

"You do you" the ginger scoffed. Shoulders rose and fell with a shrug, "I don't kink shame." Arabelle did well to fill Jomei in on the details of what was going on, though he was already aware of the gist of it. Multiple elite monsters, and a masked individual with a black crystal? Something about this whole attack was seeming a bit more premeditated then he would like. "Right, ran through a mad dash of players trying to find somewhere safe. Should hopefully be warping out by now. Saw the fist come down from the sky and crush some buildings.. but I didn't realize the situation wa

Jomei the emerald duelist "Ah right, sorry Adere.. forgot you can't be out there with me." A soft smile shining up to his owl companion, as she sidestepped from his shoulder to an outstretched elbow. With a high pitched coo, her eyes like the abyss looked at Jomei, head tilting to the side curiously. "Off you go, find yourself a snack, maybe watch from up top if you'd like." A louder shriek of approval, and Adere's wings unfolded, carrying herself up into the open sky above the old arena. The ginger would watch her off with sigh, unti

Approved

“Oh” Jomei would respond to Ryo, his voice cold. “We aren’t, uh, seeing each other anymore.” He would raise a gentle palm and shake his head, as if to stop Ryo before responding. “It was a mutual thing, kind of, and it was a while ago now. So I’m past it.” He should have expected the topic of his relationship with Telrenya to pop up at some point. When they met Ryo, the two were together and practically inseparable. There was no way he would have known they weren’t together anymore unless Tel mentioned it. With nothing else to say on the matter, he would brush it off and continue on with the g

"Huh, that's a neat little easter egg" Jomei would comment on the hoops they would need to jump through to unlock this additional skill. "I suppose not too many would know to do that, mostly everyone wants to just barge in, kill the damned thing and leave." Stretching his neck for a moment, he would recall the last time he was on this floor. "I take it we need to take on the beefed up version, yeah? Lessa and I were here not too long ago to fight the other Cerberus... but that fight would be too easy for the three of us for there to be a reward like that." Wouldn't make a difference, he

Jomei the emerald duelist "Are you alright?" Lowering himself down to a squat, the man clad in long green cloak spoke to tow players on the ground. One obviously wounded from trying to fight off the monster invasion, though the extent of how much health remained was unknown the him. The other, a friend, lover, or just a kind passerby, tended to them the best they could while also shielding them from the continued onslaught of rain. "The plaza is still a bit backed up with others warping in and out.. there's some healers held up in the o

Its time to kick gum, and chew ass.

"You mind if I see that?" The Shambler, as the text above their now depleted health bar once read, had been taken out with ease. Left behind were a couple of items, weapons mostly, but one in particular caught his attention. Usually, weapons that took on the look of something other than a sword - a broom or frying pan, for example - were crafted by players, for players. This cork screw was the first instance he had seen where it was in a fallen monster's pockets. Though it would need to see an appraiser to reveal any hidden talents or traits, he wondered if it had any other significance. Some

“Hell of a feeling, isn’t it” Jomei would respond with a laugh. He himself had his fair share of soloing quests that lower level players would need a full party to accomplish. A bit of pride in his hard work to get to the level he was today never hurt. “We still get humbled every now and again, but times like this. Feels good.” As frost began to form at the end of Kumatetsu’s fur, and their muscles seized up, Jomei would relax for just a moment. Its health trickled down into its final quarter, an easy enough clean up for either Wulfrin or himself “Guess I’ll have to test out the tank stuff nex

Jomei the emerald duelist Leaves like burning embers danced along the branches of the trees as a cold breeze crossed the twenty eighth floor. Even a floor locked in eternal autumn couldn’t escape at least an inkling of winter’s chill. The folks in Glyndebourne didn’t seem to mind much, adding a heavier coat or scarf to their everyday attire and going about their daily business. Jomei did not mind it much either, in fact he preferred it. Never did too well in the heat, and the sun was an ever imposing danger to his ginger skin - at least

Spoke too soon indeed. The droning of dozens of insects caught both of their attention, though where it was coming from was still unknown to them. Being the Guardian's favorite for the day, Jomei instinctually turned around, rapier at the ready to intercept the nasty, flying critters. Not behind him, but- Not as fast as he should have been, Jomei whipped around, prepared to cut down both vine and bug. Rude it would be of him to leave her hanging while she continuously saved his hide from the Guardian's grasp. "Lessa!" Jomei would shout, "I'm-." His call was cut short as something cau