Blade And Hammer

Ingen rises to his feet with raised brows, eyes glued to the tanned woman landing on the deck before him. A green shape flashes through the air and lands in her hand, a sword. The hilt is long and skinny with an oval-shaped guard separating it from the blade, which is paper thin with a slight upward curve from the middle to the tip. With the hilt and blade together, the weapon is as long as Ingen is tall.

The woman in question is nearly the average height for a Rajin man, perhaps a bit shorter than Kyro. Her white tunic hangs loosely from her generously endowed chest and hides her stomach like a curtain, her pants are much the same, tight around the thighs and fanning out below the knee. Under the tight parts of her clothing, Ingen notices muscles like thin plates of iron armor, an unexpected detail on such a lanky figure.

Ingen narrows his eyes as he studies the woman's face, humming, "You're half-Utherian, aren't you?" he asks, mumbling his next words, "I can't tell what the other half is though..."

The woman raises a brow, watching for sudden movements with golden eyes, "Observant, I see," she replies. Despite her toned body, the woman's face is rather soft.

"I've seen enough Utherians to know what to look for," Ingen says, swinging his warhammer up into both hands. The diamond covering his torse grows, the sound like shattering glass as it spreads over his arms and legs. His lips curl slightly, "Shall we?"

"Of course," the woman replies, spinning the sword in her hands, the tip cleaving through the deck with ease. She dashes forward, blade held down by her side.

Ingen grunts, raising his warhammer back and over his head, then bringing it down with the increased strength given to him by Vas. The woman arrives before him as this happens, staring up at the spiked face as it drops on her head. She sidesteps the attack and the warhammer falls in an explosion of wooden shrapnel.

That long blade flashes in a wide arc, biting a few inches into the diamond armor covering Ingen's leg. Ingen looks down at the blade with raised brows, noticing that it's merely centimeters from his thigh. He looks to the woman at his side, the muscles under her tanned skin bulging as she tries to pull the blade from his leg.

"Well then," Ingen says, slamming his diamond-covered fist into the woman's jaw and sending her tumbling across the deck. Ingen looks down at the blade left behind. It seems he won't be able to completely rely on his armor, a disappointing revelation. Ingen reaches down and grabs the blade, the diamond protecting his hand. He pulls, and the weapon budges slightly, then his hand closes on empty air.

The sword puffs into existence with green light particles in the woman's hand, who rises to her feet several paces from Ingen. She wipes the blood leaking from her nose, looks down at her hand, then puts a finger to one nostril and blows, staining the deck with crimson clumps.

Ingen gazes at the woman for a moment, "Your name?" he asks, looking down and noticing the cut left behind in his leg armor filling out slowly.

The woman furrows her brows, wiping her hand on her shirt and staining it dark red, "Why do you care?" she asks incredulously.

Ingen shrugs, lifting his warhammer and spinning it in one hand, "Acknowledging a fellow warrior," he says, glancing over at the ship with Cage on it and raising his brows as he sees him speaking to two Utherian men, "Something like that," he says, eyes trailing to the woman.

Ingen has seen the uniforms that the two men wear many times before. What in Betor's name could a General and Leutenant want to speak to Cage about?

The woman holds Ingen's gaze in silence, an analytic gleam in her eyes, "Shari," she says, "Yours?"

"Ingen," the Rajin replies, returning his own investigative look. Something is off about Shari. It's as if the woman is reluctant to fight him. And her complete apathy toward the slain soldiers on her ship only confuses Ingen further. One thing is certain though, he and this woman are enemies, "Well, Shari, I hope you'll forgive my violence in the next life."

The only answer his words earn is a roaring charge from Shari. That long blade flashes in an overhead swing. Ingen catches the attack with his warhammer, shoving the blade to the side easily and throwing Shari off-balance. However, she's still able to duck under the next horizontal swing that was meant to shatter her skull.

Shari's glowing blade leaves green trails as she slices and stabs again and again. Ingen dodges, blocks, and bats away as many attacks as he can. But he's bigger and slower than her, which reduces his attempted counterattacks to openings for Shari to cut into his diamond armor.

Ingen grimaces, frustrated by his warhammer repeatedly meeting empty air. Shari thrusts her long blade toward his chest with her full strength. Ingen catches the blade, and it cuts through the diamond on his palm and scraps his skin, drawing blood. Ignoring the stinging pain, Ingen yanks the sword, pulling Shari toward him with it.

Ingen grabs the woman by the throat, lifts her light body into the air and slams her down with a guttural cry. Shari lies in the crater formed in the deck, coughing blood and sighing. Ingen holds her gaze as he stands over her, muscles rippling in his arms as he raises his warhammer and prepares to end the battle, "I'm sorry," he says.

Shari's eyes flash with a look of surprise, but that is soon replaced by anger. Ingen snaps his vision up as he sees something in the corner of his eye. That long, green glowing blade floats above, tip pointed down. Then, it begins to spin counterclockwise slowly.

Ingen lowers his warhammer, lips parted as he watches the sword duplicate as it spins, eventually leaving behind eight identical blades, all without a hilt save for the original. The blades then zip through the air, all flying directly toward Ingen from different angles.

Ingen's eyes widen, he isn't very experienced with his magic yet, but he must do something or he'll be skewered. He tenses his muscles, grimacing as black diamond explodes from his body in every direction in sharp spikes, spreading across the deck like wildfire. The blades sink into the diamond one by one, which is so thick that they are all still far from reaching Ingen who is completely encased in the crystal mountain.

Suddenly, the blades all disappear, leaving behind long and narrow tunnels. Most of the diamond falls away a moment later, dissolving like melting snow until all that's left is the layer of armor on Ingen's body. Ingen leans on his warhammer, panting with exertion.

It's a strange feeling, being low on Vas. It's as if his body is hollow, void of organs, blood, and bone. Kyro had told him that his stores would become larger the more he uses the magic, but still, he didn't expect to burn through it so quickly. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so eager with the soldiers.

It would have taken longer, and he might have earned a few cuts and scrapes, but he could have handled them without the diamond.

Ingen looks to see Shari standing several feet away, those blades floating above her head. One hand holds the original sword, the other is placed gently on her stomach. She looks up at something past him with an annoyed expression, clearly favoring one leg. This woman is a strong Anima user, much stronger than most. She's fast, strong, and clearly experienced in battle. Not to mention that blade and it's abilities.

Attempting to gather himself, Ingen finds himself even more confused than before. Shari could have kept cutting through his diamond, and she would eventually have killed him. Yet she didn't.

Ingen straightens himself, his movement earning Shari's gaze, "Why-"

Something slams into Ingen's back, and he's forced to catch himself with his warhammer to keep from falling. It doesn't hurt much, but he notices that the middle of his back is rather warm.

"Ingen," a voice whispers, a Utherian man standing much too close and looking up at him, golden eyes wide and an unsettling grin on his lips.

Ingen keeps himself from flinching, and only furrows his brows as he looks at the man, "Who are you?" he asks.

"A friend. Name's Nemari," the man responds, raising a hand, or what should be one. Instead, there's only solid light there, the colors shifting constantly. He thrusts the light hand toward Ingen, and the Rajin moves sluggishly to defend himself

Suddenly, a crash booms into the ears of all present. Ingen looks over to see a black figure tumbling through the air, heading straight for him.