Stay Away from Crazy People (DKC x Seiki)

Adrian just kicked off the ground, throwing himself up and over the other male. His body came down in a roll before he came up, extending the black bladed weapon above his head. He grinned as the air around it began to swirl slowly. The blade distorted as the air broke, moving to his will as he stood there. His eyes focused on the other male, grinning before he turned, slashing his blade. The weapon flashed out, the air erupting away from him, tearing a long line in the ground, six feet wide. He grinned, turning back to Seiki. The Devil's Teardrop sat at his side.

Woah... That was new.

Goranova's voice did little, if anything, to hide the fact that she had never seen that before.

"Eight..." he said.

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"Let nothing cloud your judgement. If there is doubt, banish it! Let nothing rise against you! If something gets in your way smash through it. Seven." he said.

He moved, dancing out of the range of the thrust, his body moving with speed that the other male could keep up with. But as he moved he slid back and away from the blade, moving around behind Seiki. He shook his head. But Adrian had mastered the lessons of all five elements and when looked at from the right angle, anyone could apply it to themselves. But it only took a little bit of understanding of the elements to know what to look for in a person.

"Lesson one. Air is mercurial and enigmatic. An element of understanding and intuition, of subtlety and innuendo, the source of speed and storms. The wrathful aspects of air can capsize ships, tear down buildings, and lend speed to even the swiftest of warriors. Air exists everywhere except for within the deepest domains of the other elements, and is witness to all that occurs there. Those that are weak in the aspects of Air are sluggish and clueless. It is the manifestation of lady Doji's will. The breath of the mortal world."

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You don't honestly think you can beat him like that do you!?

The world went white, Seiki standing alone in a room with no doors or windows. The walls were made of beautiful blue-white crystals, all of them polished to a mirror sheen. But Seiki would cast no reflection. Instead, inside the crystals, before him, was a beautiful woman. Her hair was a deep silver-white shade of gray, and fell straight down her back, though it curled around her face. Something about her belied her age, though her face gave no indication of the toll of time that age took on beauty. Her eyes were a deep shade of Azure, and they were locked on the male that had intruded into her 'territory'. She had mimicked his stance, and would continue to do so.

She wore simple brown leather boots that came up around her knees. Under them black leggings were exposed for a few inches disappearing under an off-white skirt. The skirt too disappeared under the forest green shirt she wore. The sleeves were long and had an off-white fringe coming from them. Her forearms were barely exposed, her hands hidden under black gloves. Around her waist was a brown leather belt, the ivory sheath of the Sword of Light attached to it.

Her eyes narrowed toward him as she stood there, still mimicking him.

"You're such a fool! What was lesson one, when you learned to fight with your fists? You must use your thoughts, your mind to conquer him. Ashram is more powerful a swordsman than any other even in this time. And in your time, he is without peer. Granted that's mostly because nobody uses swords there, but the point is still the same. Learn. Study your opponent and strike at weaknesses! I can point out ten things faulty with the stance he holds, and that's NOT counting the obvious holes in his defense that he's been drawing you toward! Warriors of ancient times would train together all the time. But rushing into a fight NEVER yields the results you want... Here time doesn't exist... I can teach you anything you want to know. All you have to do is tell me what my name is." she said, grinning.

"OF COURSE I'M THE MOTHER FUCKING SWORD OF LIGHT, YOU STUPID DOLT! BUT THAT IS ONLY A DESCRIPTION OF ME! NOW TELL ME MY NAME!!!" she shouted, her mimicking ending.

She had her arms at her sides, her hands balled into fists, and she was leaning forward, her eyes focused on him. She growled lightly to herself before she folded her arms over her chest and turned her back to him. Sticking her nose up into the air she 'humphed'.

"If you can't tell me my name, boy, I will not teach you." she said, her head turning to peek over her shoulder toward him.

She wasn't good at holding a grudge, but he didn't know that.

"Correct." she said.

As she spoke she turned to face him. She was smiling, her hands locked behind her back, her body bent over slightly. It was both adorable and slightly creepy at the same time, though there was no way to tell how or why. She smirked and tapped her chin lightly with a finger as she walked from crystal to crystal, looking him over from different angles. Shaking her head she giggled gently before she shrugged.

"Alright. You want to kick his ass? Then cheat. Throw me at him. Then charge him. If you're fast enough you're more than capable of catching me and slashing him. You'll succeed, but... I don't know if you have the ability to move that fast. He can move fast but if you can close the distance he'll have no choice but to play his hand." she said, nodding. "It's a technique he knows, but your reaction speed might be higher than his is."

"Yeah... No. I don't like getting dizzy but at this point that smug bastard has it coming and there is NOTHING we can do but this, so let's do this. I really hope you can move fast enough. Like, in the blink of an eye fast. That's how quick we're talking. Otherwise he's going to get to zero and he's going to do to us what he showed us. He wont know that anything here has transpired. As we've been talking only a second has passed in the real world. The stronger my master the more I can manifest myself. For now this is the best I can do. But if you can perfect your skill with a sword I can manifest myself at your side anytime I choose!" she said, as if that in itself were a reward.

With the two of them in agreement the crystal world fractured and vanished. Seiki was back in reality, in the forest clearing with Adrian. Adrian just stood there, watching the other male. He didn't seem to have moved at all. Perhaps Goranova was true to her word about being able to manipulate the flow of time when people were in her world. Had anything more than a second passed, there was no way to tell. Adrian just stood there, his blade at his side as he waited and watched.

'Not going to do anything? Fine. Six." he said, grinning as he waited.

Again the black blade of his sword began to warp, or perhaps it was the very air around it that was distorting, giving the illusion of the metal twisting and writhing in the swordsman's hands.

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Adrian stood there, grinning as he watched the blade come at him. Slipping slightly back he shook his head. That was until he saw Seiki vanish. His eyes widened and he turned, his sword coming around to bare. The black blade of the Devil's Teardrop pushed the weapon up, but there was no way for him to avoid it completely. His head tilted, and several hairs were cut by the razor sharp crystal-like blade of the sword of light. The blade cut his hair as he leaned, before he vanished, reappearing fifty feet away, panting lightly from the shock. His shock quickly faded, giving way to the smile that burst forward. He smiled softly before he sank the Devil's Teardrop into the ground, all the way up to the hilt. He moved toward his pupil, nodding as he went.

He extended his hand toward Seiki for a handshake. The boy had proved himself. The speed by which he moved was perfect. But the stroke was too slow. But then again you could only use a sword like that if you knew the weight by heart. But then again if Adrian hadn't stopped holding back he never would have blocked the attack as much as he did.

"You did well. You passed your first lesson." he said, grinning. "How do you feel?"

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"You have passed the test. Your objective was to align your thoughts with the will of the sword. And you did exactly that. Though I'm surprised she taught you to move that fast so quickly. But you have taken your first steps into a large new world. You said before that you wanted to learn spells. Well I will teach you to use what is, in some circles, known as blade magic. Maneuvers, tactics, and the like, to make it appear as if you are using magic as you fight. But to do so you will have to master all five lessons. Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and the last element. But we will come to that when it comes time. Do you believe you can learn my lessons? If not, tell me now, and I will release you from my teachings. Goranova is yours, no matter what you choose. And don't bother resisting, I insist. But keep this lesson in mind above all else. Those that hunt monsters should take great care that they do not become monsters themselves... You will be at the forefront of combat. A shining light and example to cast down your enemies. A flaming sword to cut through the neck of the Hydra that is evil. You must become a paragon of humanity. To lead them against their enemies, no matter who they may be."

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"You will learn much from your sword as well as at the feet of your master. And as your sensei, I give you full permission to seek out another sensei to learn under. But if you desire a third you must have the permission of your next master." he said, nodding. "But I will teach you the Way of the Lord of Nightmares. I will teach you of Fu Leng, and the power of the Shadow Dragon. Beware though. Every step you take into the layer of the spider, each step you take closer to the powers of darkness themselves. And there have never been any that can walk in the worlds of both darkness and light. But one can stray close to the other and try to seek the gray area. But take one step too far in the wrong direction and you may find yourself seduced by the darkness there. Remember the story of the Highwayman. Emotions can be powerful. They can grant you the strength you desire, in times of need. But they can be tools of the enemy as well."

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"One can be bound by darkness quite easily. But it depends on your point of view. Slay a group of bandits in one village and you may yet find out that in another village they were heroes. You must objectify the world around you. Look at it with the eyes of the innocent and the tainted alike. But no, I am not bound by the darkness. I use the powers of darkness to my advantage. I draw upon the darkness the same way it draws upon the light, so in a way, I might be bound by it. But I do not fight to destroy humanity. I fight to make it stronger, to suppress the demons of the western woods. There are very few things in this world that fight like demons. And I am one of them. I will teach YOU to fight like them. If you know how a demon fights, you know what to expect. To know what openings to look for, what attacks to expect from what creatures. But my powers are spiritual in nature. Which makes them afraid of me. I wield the magics of the sacred. But I fight with the heart of a demon. Make the choice for yourself if I am bound by darkness." he said, leaping back.

His body came down on the hilt of the devil's teardrop, his body balanced on the hilt of the sword. He wobbled for a moment before he kicked off, throwing himself in a back flip before he landed in a crouch, his hand moving to catch the earth under him. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he looked at the other male.

"Fu Leng... Is known as the Shadow Dragon. The Dragon of Darkness. The ruler of Hell. There's a long story behind him. Do you want to hear it?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Oh fuck... Not this again...

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Waving his hand Adrian dismissed the other male, not bothering to go into the story of Fu Leng. Eventually Seiki would hear it. But it could wait. Boys will be boys and when given a new toy they always wanted to go off and have fun with it more than anything else. And the speed ability that Seiki had learned from Goranova had been more than enough to excite him. As long as he was excited about the training he would receive was a good thing. Drawing the Devil's Teardrop from the ground he released the blade. With a black swirl of mist the blade vanished, though the swordsman moved his hand across his neck, making it look like he put it somewhere else. Pulling the necklace from under his robes, he smiled. It was nothing more than a simple chain with a comma shaped sapphire attached to it.

Smiling Adrian let his hands vanish into the sleeves of his robes before he began walking away. He glanced up as a bright pink cat came at him from the sky. She had wings that fluttered quickly as she moved toward him. He watched her his arm extending toward her. She ran down his left arm and across the back of his shoulders before sitting on his right. He smirked stroking her chin as she nuzzled his head.

"Seiki, just don't overdo it. Taxation is not just monetary. If you get tired, then come back." Adrian said, nodding.

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