Tag Archives: Enchanting Skill

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #036

West Drop:  Kinetic-Potential Talent School

The Kinetic-Potential school’s talents were incredible fun.  The ability to move things in unexpected ways challenged Brisa’s mind and was visually appealing.  Often times, the simplest of effects repeated several times over made the most beautiful of patterns.

Currently, Brisa was practicing a particularly challenging and visually beautiful feet using simple pencils.  Arm stretched, she sweet bullets as dozens, almost hundreds of pencils hovered, rotated and flipped slowly.  Together, they made something that looked like a giant spinning wooden bagel.  Occasionally parts of the large form turned pink as the untouching pencils’ erasers came into view.

Vangie Ren, her instructor, stood near matching Brisa’s pose.  She had lavender skin.  Her plain clothes revealed her yellow and eggshell splotches of color that formed vertically along her arms.  Her face was of average beauty but was calm and focused as she glanced over to see Brisa’s hand shaking.  Seeing that Brisa was struggling with the simple task, she decided to end the lesson.  

All at once, the pencils moved as one back into their respective boxes on the shelf, all except five.  Brisa focused on her pencils half a second longer before realizing the lesson was over.  At this realization, her pencils fell to the table.  As they hit, they joined their kind on the trip to the pencil boxes.

“You did well for your first lesson,” Vangie said smiling.

Brisa looked immediately at the colored highlights in Vangie’s black hair.  It took less than half a minute for Brisa to realize that those portions of Vangie’s hair were enchanted.  They changed colors with Vangie’s mood and brightened greatly when she lied.  Right now the deep dark indigo shade told her that although Vangie was quite disappointed, she wasn’t lying.  “Thank you Instructor,” she replied.

Vangie nodded in response.  “I told you before, Vangie is just fine,” she said as her hair brightened to a slightly less deep shade of indigo.  “It’s getting late,” Vangie resumed, “You should stay the night here with us.”

Brisa’s perception enchant shown its brilliant glow again.  The near miss earlier that day was still getting to her, if that’s what it was.  This city was quite dangerous, but the wall of thoughts and prick of warning didn’t hit her this time.  

Brisa sighed, eased by the slight comfort, “How much are the rooms?”

“Not that much,” Vangie giggled, “You get a discount for being a student.  You get even more of a discount if you choose to learn more from us.”

Brisa looked to check her banknotes as the two walked to the front desk.  From the little traveling she did, she knew that term “not that much” translated differently between a seller and a buyer.

The two ladies returned to the front of the crazy building where the prices for a night’s rest were proudly displayed.  They caused Brisa some concern.  

The discounts were nice but with all the training she had already done that day, she was starting to run low on funds.  Brisa may not be able to pay for her trip to Bear Gate!  However, she’ll need that money later and this was now.  Right now, she needed to rest and this was the best place she could think of.

Brisa resigned to what was happening now, “Kay, I’ll take the room.”

#1 – Opportunity #35

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #29

Not far from where the Ganker’s trap was laid, a small pile of stolen equipment sat in a room with four Champions.  Two Champions, a male and a female, checked the equipment for any upgrades they could steal.  Another pair, the leader and his right hand lady studied a holographic image.  The team had used it to keep track of a fearsome quarry.  However, the trail was a continuous puzzle.

Shinsaku Yu sat at the desk in what was now his warrior’s garb, the most powerful armor picked from the stolen gear.  He was rather tall for a Crisho and not all of the pieces fit.  His gold skin peeked from beneath the helmet while a red patch of skin escaped for his right glove.  The armor didn’t look right on him, but it could easily be refitted.

The Champion they tracked had stood out as a tournament hopeful from the moment she stepped off the shuttle.  She looked utterly fearsome especially with that maul.  If anyone in RedBatty was going to win, this warrior could not be allowed to fight in the tournament.

“Now she’s going into the Casting Talent School,” Shinsaku stated while pointing at the miniature image on his desk.

It was a comment of utter confusion.  His companion Ione Zhang had watched the same image for the last hour.  She knew everything the mysterious warrior had done.  Their cloaked tracking droid had followed the target since she walked away from their alley.

Ione watched the image of the warrior entering the Caster Talent School.  Her orange skin and thin mahogany stripes shown through her tattered disguise.  “How do you know it’s a she?  He seemed quite strong to me.”

Shinsaku couldn’t help but glance at Ione.  She was an essential member of RedBatty, but she questioned just about everything he said.  Sometimes he wondered if he was really the leader of this team, “The warrior’s armor, particularly the belt, suggests a torso to leg ratio fitting that of a female.”

Whatever, smarty-pants… Ione couldn’t help but roll her eyes listening to Shinsaku’s intellectual dribble.  “Fine whatever, why is she going there,” Ione asked resigning to his logic.  She snapped her fingers with the dawn of inspiration, “She’s an enchanter.”

Ione had charmed the fearsome looking warrior just as they planned.  She guided the warrior directly towards the trap but it took a great deal of strength to get her moving.  If this was truly a lady, powerful strength enchants must be in play.

Shinsaku had pegged her for a Combatant Talent user.  That was the only explanation he could find for that heavy destructive weapon.  It was big enough to wreck someone with a single hit, the focus of the Combatant Talent Set.  But now she went into the Caster school?

“She has to be an enchantress,” Shinsaku was confident in that statement.  Enchanting skills were usually taught in the Casting Schools so that explained things well enough.  Ione was the most powerful enchantress he knew but this warrior shook off her charms.  That was only possible if this fighter had powerful enchants of her own.

While someone could be a Combatant and a Caster, there were only a few moves in the two sets that worked well together.  The other moves took too long to channel or were too weak to make a difference.  She had to be walking from school to school for a reason.

“Fine.  So, how are we going to get her,” Ione looked to Shinsaku.

Shinsaku had no immediate answer.  After a little though he spoke, “I don’t know.”  He stood and turned away from the image, “Keep watching her.  I’ll review the tapes for clues.  I could have sworn she was talking to herself earlier.”

#1 – Opportunity #28 – Opportunity #30

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #028

As they kept walking through West Drop, Kiley kept phasing out of vision.  About every thirty seconds he would vanish completely only to slowly phase back.  He’d reappear; keeping pace as though nothing had happened.  Others on the street had to notice this spectacle.  Brisa’s eyes darted around each time he disappeared.  No one on the street seemed to care but since he was leading her to the Kinetic-Potential Talent School.  It was getting annoying.

After about six minutes of this, she had to ask, “Why do you keep doing that?”

He turned around, walking backwards to address her, “That droid is still up there,” he said pointing up and behind her.  He disappeared again and continued, “Whyever it’s following you, I don’t want it to start tracking me too.”  The ghost of his image started phasing back into her vision.  He was walking forward again right next to her now as he said, “I’m throwing it off of my track.”

Brisa looked back again.  Up down all around, she couldn’t see it.  “How do we get rid of it?”

Kiley thought a bit before answering.  “Well, usually those things aren’t sturdy.  They use energy to float and for defense.  All we have to do is hit it hard enough to get through its energy fields.”

Brisa looked at Kiley expectantly.  After a few paces she thought he would hit it with something.  Seeing that he didn’t, she thought she’d speed up the process, “Well?”

It took a while Kiley to get the hint.  “Oh,” he said surprised, “I can’t hit it.  It’s way too high for me to jump,” he looked at Brisa noting that she was not convinced, “and my ranged weapons are too weak to do any damage.  They’d just bounce off its deflector and… yeah.  But I can see it because of my talents and perception.”

Brisa remembered the perception Hanja on her mask.  She should be able to see a great deal more than usual.  If she couldn’t see it, his natural perception had to be incredible.  “Ok, so we have to wait,” she said looking at where Kiley’s voice had just came from.  He was gone; yet again.  Really?  Again?  Her eyes expressed her frustration at talking to nothing once more.  She was equally shocked when a casually loud voice came from the empty air she was looking through.

“Maybe you can find a skill that will help you in here,” Kiley said as he was phasing back into her view, “The Caster Talent School is in there too,” he said pointing at the strange building in front of them, “Maybe you can hit it with your large axe-hammer thing.”

Brisa thought about the maul Catlin got and enchanted for her.  She’d have to thank Catlin; if she ever decided to talk to her again.  Brisa looked up at the school.  This is a school?

The large building looked more like a mystic’s night club; or a giant playground.  The rounded walls made the building look like someone squished a bunch of giant clay balls together. The painter had to be completely color blind and the spinning orbs floating above closely resembled disco balls.  The fact that they floated was the only indication that there could be anything to learn here.

Brisa had to be certain, “This is a school.”  It was meant as a question.  However, her voice reflected severe doubt.  From this building, she’d have trouble believing it was a school even if she was met by a welcoming committee.

“This is the school,” Kiley told her.  To prove it, he walked with her up to the circled window to watch the students practicing the Kinetic-Potential techniques.

Brisa still didn’t believe him completely but she had no choice but to see for herself.  After thanking him, she headed for what looked like the entrance.

“You’re welcome,” Kiley said eagerly, “Good luck in the tournament!”

#1 – Opportunity #27 – Opportunity #29