Fire Away [Lukas/Nero]

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Fire.

It was in some of his dreams. The pain of burning alive, the lack of sensation as your body gives out. Not enough to scar him, but enough to remember. To mull over.

"Pain in the ass finding anything out about Sternritter." Bemoaning his usual lack of popularity, Lukas squinted at address plate after address plate as he walked the street. A slightly smudged address decorating the palm of his hand, he stopped before a general housing unit. Standard living quarters.

The name of the kid had seemed familiar, 'Arant'. Same as the old geezer he had danced with a while back, and the main reason the brief file caught his attention. What got him to come was the small snippet of combat aptitude he could pull - 'Specializes in reishi techniques utilizing fire'. That was enough to do more than remember.

Stepping up, he rang the doorbell. At no immediate response, he'd smash it back in, a good two to seven times in rapid succession. Lukas might've started to change, but he was still an impatient jackass at heart.

The prompt swing of a door would end the incessant ringing. However, what met him first was not the intended co-owner of the house he was looking for, but a group of children that started throwing water balloons at him in rapid succession. The knock at once startled them and excited them as they made a game out of who could hit him first if he had chosen to evade them. From upstairs, a frustrated voice called out to them as hurried footsteps dominated the flight of stairs.

An effeminate individual of average height stepped in to pinch most of their ears, directing them to go elsewhere as he sighed softly. Moving the slightly messy green hair from his magenta-colored eyes, Nero let out a frustrated exhale as he shook his head. It was obvious from a glance that his clothing indicated intentions of enjoying a day off, but considering the appearance of Lukas, that seemed to be far from the case.

How unsightly. Tying his hair into a bow, Nero would lean against the door as he regarded him with a scrutinizing gaze. He didn't appear to be a member of the Sternritter, but if his memory served him correctly, this was Lukas. A member of the Todgestalten. What was his purpose in coming here of all places?

"Forgive my younger siblings for their antics. I didn't expect any visits today. Lukas, right? Todgestalten? I'm Nero Arant. What brings you here?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas batted away the water balloons with an annoyed look, catching the last one to slap back at the children. Stopping with his arm drawn back, sheer contempt poured out from him before he'd drop it onto the steps. A faint splash around his feet, the intensity of his stare turning towards the approaching sternritter.

"Okay, ignoring how you know who I am, I'm here to challenge you to a spar." A blink as he raised a hand, the quincy cross on the back of his wrist plainly visible in the daylight. Flinchy-types would often mistake the gesture as a backhand, sprung to deliver. "From what I understand, you use elemental properties. Specifically, fire. Me," Fingers pointed to Lukas' chest before he gestured sideways, a slashing motion into thin air as Ahnengeist materialized.

"I had to cut into an arrancar spewing flames and smoke everywhere. So, help me out, and I'll bring you his head when I'm done." Lukas spoke plainly, no malice, no aversion. But his eyes spoke daggers still.

"His head?"

Nero retorted softly, regarding the silver-haired male with blinking eyes, his head tilted to the side in genuine confusion. What an odd thing to say. He had no problem with honoring his request, but what did he stand to gain from his head of all things? Was it bravado perhaps? A bold declaration? For a moment, Nero paused, gazing at his facial expression. There was a natural intensity about him that left Nero curious, but he paid it no particular heed as he waved his hand to confirm his acquiescence.

"I can't imagine his head will be of much worth to me. Nonetheless, I'll honor your request. I can tell you have a score to settle with him, and one less enemy of the Vandenreich is one less enemy of mine."

Surveying his outfit for a moment, Nero decided that since it was a spar, casual slacks would suffice. Knowing his own capabilities, the clothing might end up torn, anyway. He simply added an additional piece by donning a red jacket as he motioned for the man to lead them to a training ground in the Vandenreich barracks. Or perhaps they could find open terrain? The choice ultimately lay with him.

"As for how I know your name, Natasha thinks rather highly of you. Solomon... not so much. I guess you resembled their description of you. Intense, silver-hair... not exactly the most approachable. In any case, where would you like our spar to take place?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"You put an animal's head on your wall. It's not that hard." Lukas bit back, a sigh before he'd gesture the other man forward. Ahnengeist faded out with a flourish, Lukas stepping away from the home. "Not much hair left, nowadays. Follow me."

Lukas moved with no regard for Nero's ability to keep up, pushing into the training hall. The hall was much the same as his last visit; still scarred, beaten, stained. The smell of blood, sweat more prominent, ever-present. He took a deep breath, contented, if only a moment. Facing Nero whenever he'd enter - be it directly after or some time - Lukas would begin walking backwards as he spoke.

"Alright, pretty simple stuff." His arms crossed, stopping some distance away from Nero. "Spar until one of us taps out, don't absorb too much reishi from the structure so it stays up, so on and so on. As the challenger, I'll give you a bit of a head start."

Drawing his shoulders back, Lukas' spiritual pressure flooded the room, a single movement discarding his jacket for the threadbare tank underneath. Muscle tightened, as faint scars shimmered. "Come on, kid."

"I doubt my siblings would welcome a severed head on our wall."

Nero didn't pay much mind to Lukas' disdain for his enemy. He requested his aid, Nero acquiesced, and now they were walking toward the training area. Viewing it as a common routine between fellow peers, his mind was focused wholly on the upcoming spar.

Muddying his thoughts with anything extraneous would have been unbecoming. Entering the training hall, magentas surveying their spacious room, Nero analyzed the series of stances and positions he could act from once the battle began.

His stride past Lukas carried him to the other side of the training hall while Lukas laid out the rules for their imminent battle. After laying down the framework of their battle, Lukas offered him the first move, prompting Nero to materialize a ornate longbow within the palm of his hand.

"Arvakr."

Employing the quick draw technique, Nero formed five long arrows of reishi around his fingers instantaneously, nocking them against Sol's bowstring, launching the luminous projectiles from his spirit weapon in the blink of an eye. The average enemy would likely regard the flaming arrows as imperceptible blurs, but Lukas was no average opponent.

Judging from his intuition, he would have to maintain a distance from this veteran opponent. Wear him down through consistent arrowfire. To emphasize his intention, he repeated the technique a second time, vanishing through the air to reappear ten meters from his rear, firing a second wave of blazing arrows to betray the man's senses.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas' gaze traced Nero's immediate movement, narrowing as flames split into arrows. His pressure felt outwards, attempting to focus around the incoming projectiles as he started moving forward. First step halved the distance, flames mirroring against his eyes and hair.

The projectiles pushed faster than he'd expect, an audible hiss of disappointment; air shooting between clenched teeth. Not enough focus? Not enough pressure? Lukas began to think as Ahnengeist materialized, an open side of the blade betraying the arrows as they'd near. Three caught into it, another sang past the man's head, and the last stabbed into his shoulder.

The attempt at trickery set Lukas' grin wide, teeth baring at Nero with a fresh wave of animosity. Another expectation met, same as always.

He spun at the flow of reiatsu, swinging his blade back down. Ahnengeist shot back a flurry of arrows, repurposed from Nero's attack - their heads still flickering with color. A step into his rotation and his hand wrapped around the shaft pushing into his skin, the flames that rippled off of it subdued by the proximity. Another moment of focus and they'd fade completely. The arrow turning to splinters as it was swung into whatever arrows had not clashed, flame sputtering into reishi at his feet. Still feels like the distance...

Lukas made no attempt at closing the gap, stepping to circle his fellow quincy. The grin closed, heavy in expression as his mind fought to keep up with the pace of his legs. I can subdue the fire when it gets close, but trying to slow them down doesn't seem to affect that. Where's the difference...

HIs spirit weapon leveled, goading Nero with a yell. "One head start not enough for ya, kid?"

Skalavarei? Even if his mannerisms indicate those of a man who isn't quite sane, underestimating him would be unwise.

Such was his thought process the moment his arrows were torn apart at the seams, modified into a counterattack slashing back at him. It was the expected result considering the exploratory nature of his first strike. Battle was always a feeling out proccess in Nero's eyes, but his bouts with Emil had told him that treating flesh and blood enemies like mindless beasts was, at once, an excersise in futility and the closest ticket to a death wish.

Precisely because of that lesson the engimatic man had imparted, his next attack would be a far more entertaining affair. With that conviction in mind, his magenta gaze observed the veteran warrior circling him, challenging him to draw out something greater than a mere preliminary effort.

Rotating his body to evade any of the repurposed arrows that may have sought to earn purchase against his body, Nero followed the patterns of his sparring partner's feet, moving in lockstep with the man whilst maintaining a distance he was comfortable with regarding their positions.

"I was merely feeling out your capabilities as a combatant. Don't worry. I will not make the same error a second time, Lukas."

Turning to face him entirely, five fingers nocked against the bowstring, the fair archer composes a singular arrow of flame along his the edge of Sol's longbow. Accumulating reishi at an exceptional rate, the arrow exhibited a far greater capacity for destruction than his first volley. Vanishing in a burst of speed influenced by the boon granted by steigen, Nero appeared ten meters above Lukas, launching the arrow at close range - a tactic no doubt employed to strengthen the overall effect of his attack.

If he was not effected by a volley of arrows, Nero would simply strike with the force of a thousand behind a few. If push came to shove, perhaps he would even use his Letz Stil. That is, if push came to shove.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"Easier to make the same mistake twice than once." Fact of it being, he hadn't managed to catch the arrow any easier than he did Solomon's lightning. At least Lukas' mistakes were more forgiving, for the time being.

The reishi in the room dropped significantly, a shift against skin that made Lukas' eyes narrow. As the arrow born from it formed, his toes pushed forward, a blister of reishi cushioning under heel as options presented themselves. Nero attempting to blink from his sight again, the thinning reishi within the room making it all the easier to read the current of steigen - even failing that, he found his fellow quincy's speed lack luster.

As Nero appeared above him, his neck snapped back, locking silver to magenta. The ground underneath him shuddered, appearing between the quincy and his bow as it took to explode with a spiderweb of cracks. Ahnengeist dissapeared as a fist shot to slam the man's arms sideways, attempting to send any managed projectile wayward.

Close enough for Nero to feel Lukas' breath, a kick from the side aimed to send him crashing back downwards. "Remember to follow the rules." He'd half mutter, half yell at the man, wherever he ended up in turn.

He was fast. A single observation from his mind's eye had declared that Lukas was a step above in the realm of steigen. In an instant, the distance between them collapsed. Where he was once positioned above the man, his arrow poised in preparation to strike his target true, Nero now found himself in a different position altogether on the ground. His arrow sailed haplessly off course as a result of the counter, the young archer grimacing softly at the pain in his side.

Currently, the pain was negibible. It was a preliminary blow, but even that was enough to tell him that he was martially sound to a degree. To what extent? Venturing a guess was useless, he reasoned, and so he simply commited himself to devising another plan of action that wouldn't end with him embracing the ground a second time.

"Of course. I'll keep them in mind."

In truth, Nero recognized that he was at a disadvantage here. For a man who primarily excelled at long-ranged combat, this room didn't exactly lend itself to freeflowing movement, much less an ideal distance he could freely operate from and fire his arrows. Excuses. He failed to hit him this time. That was all there was to it. Worrying about anything else was not a conducive practice, much less an honorable one.

Flashing from his position on the ground, Nero appeared further apart from Lukas this time, still above, yet far enough to require a more dedicated stride to reach him. Using his reiryoku as a catalyst, generating a wave of luminous reishi along his bow, Nero soared through the skies to unleash another attack.

"Sonnenlicht Regen."

A numerous volley of fiery arrows rained down from above to strike at Lukas without end. It was a technique that closely resembled Licht Regen in nature, encompassing a wide radius of offense that dwarfed his previous attacks.