Break it Down [Closed]

Gabriel stared down the first gate.

Nervous wasn't a word he would use to describe himself. No. He needed to progress and this gate keeper was just in his way. He wasn't overly confident either. That would just be his down fall.

He had to just think of this as a simple fight. He was just another opponent and this was just any old boss out of a video game. He stood ready for anything to come at him from that gate. His spear held by his side ready to be moved in any way as needed to defend himself. He would have to play this correctly if he wanted to win. He was decent at a mid range with his spear. He could manipulate it to extend to a longer range though he lacked some ability for short range he could deal with it in other ways than just his weapon.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and let out a small sigh calming himself. He was ready for this challenge. And he wouldn't accept anything but winning. He would put forth his best effort until he won.

The gatekeeper had been busy. He was a tall man with the appearance of tree bark for skin. But it was cracked along his knees, his elbows; he sat against a tree with his arms crossed, and when he saw Gabe appear, gave an impatient sigh. No performances. No opening monolog. It was hard to see the mien of a man whose face was half covered, but his eye was narrowed, his mouth closed. Quietly, he took a fighter's stance. There was a snap from somewhere in his bones.

Gabe assumed from the fighting stance the man tree took, this was the gate keeper. This was going to be the person or thing he had to fight. "So how is this going to play out?" Gabriel asked he knew he had to fight, but he didn't know what was going to come. He didn't want to outright attack the gate keeper if the gate keeper's challenge was for him to fight something else.

From underneath the skull mask, the tall, lanky man smiled. "We're a patient folk," he finally said. His voice was deep, his accent posh. "We meditate for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can wait if you aren't ready." The man had his own assortment of battles in the last few days. Some of them he initiated, but this time, he decided, would be different. His long, treebark fingers curled and uncurled.

"Well at least you have something good going for you." Gabriel said being sincere most people failed at being patient. "Sadly, I'm not as patient." He could assume from the way the man talked they were going to be fighting, and Gabe had to start it, which is what he was going to do. He quickly ready his spear and dash at the man.

The man tensed as the player charged, and as he got closer, shot his fingers outward. They grew to vines, long tendrils that kept stretching from his forearm. When the spear reached in front of his face, he had already grabbed the hilt, and it stopped just in front of the skull. The gatekeeper didn't move. He didn't like moving. "My name is Richter," he said. "I'm the most powerful mage on this level. Let this be a lesson to never charge a mage."

And his vinelike fingers shot out again, pushing the lance's blunt side back to its wielder, away from himself.

"It's an honor to battle you then Richter." Gaberiel said remaining level headed even though the mage had taken over the situation. The boy yanked his weapon free, before it could be too much of a threat to himself. He took a step back extending his weapon arm and spinning his weapon, using the first skill his class had to offer. Hoping the blast of energy would do some damage to the mage.

The skill caught him off guard. The mage expected an old-fashioned jab or poke, and the spin caused him to put his arms up in defense. A blast of energy, of cuts and slashes, emerged. When it was over, the gatekeeper's arms were cut up, his HP slashed. It was no longer the lush green it was.

A little irritated, the man straightened up, putting down his battered arms. He moved his fingers in what seemed to be arbitrary gestures. It didn't seem so random, however, as the ground began to rumble. Under Gabriel's feet, large, thorny vines jumped out, rushing and jabbing at the boy, trying to grab at him. Two went for his arms, another two for his legs, the rest doing their best to cut him up otherwise.

Gabe's face contorted into that of something of a mix of fear and slight irritation. He didn't want to deal with this. One of the vines caught his leg as he hesitated to move backwards. He moved quickly to cut himself free vines cutting here and there. He stuck his lance into the ground and used it to push himself backwards to escape the onslaught of vines as best as he could. He would need to get closer if he wished to strike but he had to wait for an opening.

The boy did well to escape most of the vines, but the others reached out to slap and scrape at him, whittling away at HP. Meanwhile, Richter was walking closer. The massive man took a surprisingly physical approach, bringing a hard punch the boy's way, right towards his face. He grunted, the thrust taking all of his body.

The boy narrowly dodged the power filled punch, feeling the fist brush across his hair, he wanted to back up but he saw his opening. Twisted his lance he managed to slash up in a diagonal direction toward's the mages chest, hoping the Mage hadn't noticed the opening and wouldn't dodge.

The punch took most of his momentum, and when he missed, he stumbled forward a bit, awkwardly being left mid-lung, his body extended. He tried to collect himself, looking wide-eyed towards the boy, but couldn't dodge the attack. He reared back, but took the brunt of the slash. A massive chunk of HP shattered from his bar like glass. He stumbled back, the mark hard and red against his chest.

"My mistake," the man grumbled. "That kind of fighting is not my forte." He rose his hands into fists, but instead of lunging to punch, vines rose again from the ground. This time, however, it was under his own feet. They latched to his legs, pushing him up into the air, holding him as he balanced. He was twenty feet above the player. Vines encircled the high ground he had created, ready to fight off the boy. These massive, thorny plants shot forth, doing their best to try and impale Gabe, going for his stomach.

The boy reared back dodging the vines as best he could. Some of them chipping away at his hp as he barely managed to dodge them, others he cut away with ease. Some of them took more hp then basic cuts, but he couldn't let it stop him nor could he let it fully impale him like they were aiming for. He had to win. Gabriel backed up free himself from the vines long enough to shove his pole into the ground sending him flying into the air, readying himself to strike the mage. Another one of his skills, the third one for the basic Lancer.

The mage tried to stop him the best he could. As the boy flew forward, he swiped vines his way, trying to intercept him midair. The vines he rode cut through the ground, slowly but surely pushing him backwards, hoping to outrun the momentum the boy build it flying forward.

Gabriel did a flip in the air unintentionally but managed to correct himself to aim the head of his spear for the mage, He could only hope his momentum carried him far enough and Richter didn't out move him. If he did manage to hit there was enough momentum behind his spear to cause a decent amount of damage, if he missed... Well that was a long fall to the ground.