Beginning of the End [first gate;closed]

Pathways snaked around the columns of bark towering overhead like old lamp-posts in the city, foliage scattered across the ground with the damp scent of pines lifting the atmosphere beyond the shimmering barrier before it. Light streaks cascaded through the boughs in both brilliant and shadowy beams, illuminating the greenery with a viriscent riot. Throughout the dense woodlands, the trees sheltered many creatures with their canopy of leaves, making the humid air all the more bearable. A symphony where the leaves danced in an unheard of beat, whispering their songs with the wind. The sky almost vanished completely, mere fragments of blue remaining like scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; it was more broken up than the prism that the eye could normally see.

Each featherweight step through the ground felt as though he were walking on foam, the earth hugging his boots with its roots and gently releasing them. Every so often, he would stop to listen for a voice - as though he were not the only one out in the middle of the abyss thus far - or another sign of life, but nothing answered. The end of the road was nigh, and the crystalline gate that seemed so small before was a giant mass of metal looming overhead. Trees vanished one by one and then there were none.

The azure puzzle was whole once more.

Yellow-green eyes gazed around the surroundings for a bit, seeking someone or something. His fingers stayed close to the hilt of the sword hanging from his belt with an almost casual air. He was the first challenger. It wasn't the original plan, but alas, it had turned to that. The gatekeeper didn't seem to be around. Or rather...

Swiftly, he unsheathed the blade with one hand, spinning on his heel to cleanly cut the vine extending towards him like a bolt of lightning from the undergrowth. With a benign smile, he tilted his head slightly to the side as he faced the gatekeeper.

"I didn't expect you to play dirty like that."

The Gatekeeper sat in the center of the trees, meditating calmly. He smirked, not bothering to open his eyes or anything else to acknowledge that anyone was standing in front of him. "Expect the unexpected, boy," Richter told Callum in a deep and slow voice. With a flick of one of his wrists, more vines shot out at the boy. It was an easy move to counter, but Richter was feeling nice today.

Instead of taking the chance to slash at the vines and make the necessary movements to get rid of the immediate danger, he scarcely twisted and curved his body around to dodge, almost as though he were floating off the ground. His defense and HP were too low to risk getting hit yet he chose to take a much more careless method of fighting. With a few steps back, he swiftly allowed his blade to strike, leaving the tendrils to fall lifelessly to the ground. "I could say the same to you," Callum replied nonchalantly. "Save playing easy for a less-skilled player."

Ah, so the boy wanted a real challenge. Richter finally opened his eyes but continued to be in a meditating position. He snapped his bark-covered fingers and vines shot up from the ground underneath Callum's feet, entangling the boy. He set the vines to crawl up the boy's body slowly, starting from the knees. There wasn't much to gain from this battle, so Richter didn't feel the need to try just yet. "I don't think you could handle me if I were actually trying," the Gatekeeper said. If he wished it, the boy would already have been defeated. But his mission wasn't to be impassible, but to be challenging.

Callum's smile didn't falter a tiny bit as he stared right into Richter's eyes, the socket of one hollow and dark, as though staring into an empty void in a skeletal valley. Slender strings of green could snake around him as much as they'd like - he didn't need to be able to move just yet. Raking his blade, he quickly got rid of the vines that had been intended to immobilize him. "Try me." A bladed weapon really did make this fight much easier than needed, considering it was clear the gatekeeper was more-so focused around plant magic. He still didn't make any signs of battling in anything other than a defensive stance, shifting his leg to be ready in case he needed to make a dash for it. "I'm sure you'd like to have a bit of fun too."

A deep and slow chuckle came from Richter's throat. "I can have fun when I want to. Right now I'm bored," he replied, faking a yawn. With another flick of the wrist, a single, thick vine wrapped around Callum's leg and yanked it out from underneath him. "How's that? Is that gettin' you going?" joked the Gatekeeper.

The moment he felt it from beneath him, Callum only shrugged, nearly losing his balance in the midst of it. He caught himself beforehand and within the same swing that he used to swerve himself back upright, the ground projectile launched from his sword straight towards the mage. "Hmm..." he feigned a contemplative expression. "Not at all, Richter. The other Wicken on the floor were more challenging than you."

Richter easily blocked the projectile with a tree that was grown in front of the blast. That remark about the Wicken being tougher than him caused the Gatekeeper to scowl. "You must not be able to hear me when I said I wasn't exactly trying, boy," he spat back at Callum.

Callum allowed his smile to widen, replying snidely, "Aww, I thought this was your best effort." He had stalled for the amount of time that he needed to, feeling the power surge through his veins. The passive was ready. Without warning, he darted forward towards the mage, unleashing a flurry of strikes without any care towards his own safety or whether or not could be struck out of the blue. His slashes were random, but his movements were even more sporadic. Pausing a little bit away from Richter, he kept a steady beat with his feet, holding his hand out. "Let's get started."

Callum's strikes were inaccurate, but because of Richter's slow movements a few managed to hit. The tough bark that was replacing his skin was the biggest savior, however. Finally, the towering guardian stood up, his body creaking like wood. He brought up his leg and stomped on the ground, causing roots to form around Callum's feet. "That actually managed to hurt me, but I think it's time you stood still," said the Gatekeeper.

"Too bad for you that I'm not a statue," Callum quipped, having anticipated the move as soon as Richter had raised his leg. The good thing about someone moving so slowly was that it made it easier to predict what they were going to do next, so instead of stepping back to avoid it, he leaped into the air, spinning with a flashing backhand in a more reckless manner. Upon landing, he immediately leveled the tip and thrust the blade forward at the mage's face with better coordination and grace than his previous hack and slashes.

His fatal flaw. Slow movement. Richter mentally kicked himself for not seeing this. Callum easily dashed out of the way of his roots and wasted no time in shoving a sword in the Gatekeepers face. Thankfully, Richter had enough time to back up to avoid the fatality of the blow, although his health was too low to continue. "Okay okay, I yield. Now get out. I need time to heal before the next challenger," he told the boy. "And watch your arrogance. It'll get you killed."

Sheathing his sword away, Callum laughed a bit, "I did tell you to save playing easy for someone else." Foresight had made it easier, and the fact that Richter had immediately underestimated his skill had made the battle end much more swiftly without a question as to who the victor would be. As the gate shattered into a million of pieces like glass, he walked past the Gatekeeper, eyes eerily radiating with a faint luminescence.

"I'm not like the rest of them."