He didn't want to show his hand, but his father had told him Chess was based in varying ways on war, and he was damn good at it. All too often he'd turned the tables on his father by going first and creating a false mistake or by making his first turn as observant as the waiting phase. What could be called an attack but wouldn't kill one of them if he screwed up? Jack whipped one of his hands over the lump and pulled an orb out of it which quickly became a dense, but blunt disk and flung it at Zane as hard as he could. The disk flew perfectly as if guided by Jack and not proper physics.
The summoning and launching of the metal projectile instantly revealed to Zane his opponents element. That gave him something to work with. He began devising a plan that would hopefully unnerve his opponent, even if it was just a sparring match. As the projectile neared him he threw out his left arm, taking the attack head on. Pain echoed throughout his arm, indicating that something may have broken, but it was all part of his game. He wanted to send a message that he wasn't afraid of Jack's attacks and that he was something far greater to be feared. With his right arm he made the signature pose of his Light Beam attack, with the finger gun aimed directly at Jacks lower right leg. If Jack couldn't stand, then logic would dictate his throwing range would be limited, but that was merely a front. With finger gun aimed, a streak of light came blazing out, faster than a bullet. The shot was merely the beginning, though, as Zane was not one to relax his would be advantage. He rushed in for a follow-up attack, one that would disorient his opponent should it connect. As he got closer to Jack he looked to see if the initial shot had landed.
The attack hit... perfectly? Zane had just taken the hit like some kind of psychopath. Jack grimaced, more at the crunching sound Zane's arm made than the act itself.
He's definitely the one with the attitude advantage in this fight. But if he thinks I'm going to be afraid of someone just because they're cocky enough to handicap themselves he's got another thing coming... unless he's crazy in which case there isn't any point trying to figure him out. Jack was still staring at Zane's arm when he noticed a shift in his countenance. A finger pistol? Crazy or not there was no way he'd take a free hit and then just stand there posing unless he didn't even want to win. Jack didn't have time to try and figure out where Zane was aiming after not even being sure it was an attack, so he just moved. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice because his leg moved just enough to get a cut instead of a hole.
He'd kept his eyes on his opponent the whole time but he wasn't sure what had hit him, it hadn't looked like anything.
Air..no too fast, and I didn't feel anything else...then what. He didn't have time for any great revelation before Zane rushed him. There is one rule of war that could never be captured by a turn based game, even one as complex as Chess, and that is that neither attacking nor defending is superior to the other. It is instead ideal to do both. Jack took advantage of the fact that Zane hadn't wasted a second thought on the metal disk and made what almost looked like a "get over here!" gesture towards himself, pulling it as hard as he'd thrown it towards them and Zane's back. In a panic he couldn't think of what kind of shield to make on the spot so he spread out and hardened a plate of metal almost the size of his body in between himself and Zane.
In an instant, a large plate of metal spawned in between his planned path. His rush was deviated to the side just barely past his intended target, but still well within his range. It was unfortunate that his Light Beam attack only grazed Jack, but at least Jack didn't seem to know what occurred. Zane's body began glowing as he closed in on Jack, probably about nine or ten feet away. He decided to fire off one more shot before his Flashbang would go off, but this time he aimed for the center of mass, regardless of how potentially deadly it could be. Jack had already shown that he was adept to perceiving things, so Zane gave him an ultimatum: either bite the bullet or face the unknown. The beam shot straight and true, aimed perfectly near Jack's lower abdomen. Either he'd dodge that attack or he'd be taking one helluva hit.
Jack honestly hadn't expected the match to get this heated this quickly, he'd had no idea what to expect but nonetheless he was amazed. Zane's attack apparently didn't have to be too soon and the makeshift shield proved pointless, but Zane still hadn't noticed the disk chasing him. Jack prepared to make a staff or rod of some sort to crack Zane in the stomach before he could get off whatever was making him glow, but just when he thought he'd made a good move Zane made the deadly shape with his hand once again.
Ugh, he's got me, there's no way I could dodge something so fast I couldn't see it from a distance when he's this close...and whatever's glowing has to be a doozy. It wasn't ideal but luckily Jack was no stranger to pain, so he made his choice. He beckoned once again, bringing the large metal plate behind the disk at the same pace and lunged straight at Zane.
The shot went right through his stomach and he could have sworn everything turned black for a split second in perfect sync with the lance of pain that went right from the wound to his brain. When he got even closer to Zane the glowing made him shut his eyes for a second but accuracy shouldn't be a problem at this point, now Zane had no better opportunity to dodge than he did, and if there was one thing his broad shoulders and well-used arms were good for it was a tackle.
This Jack kid was proving to be a gutsier opponent than he had expected, especially seeing how he'd just arrived. His statement only lasted for a few moments, as the shot connected, technically leaving Jack with less guts as it tore through his stomach. What followed next actually caught Zane a bit off-guard. Jack plowed forward, seemingly unphased, though Zane knew how bad the damage had to be. After all, he'd seen someone almost bleed out from a shoulder wound, let alone what Jack just took. Even if it surprised Zane, his spell had already began and there was no stopping it. The glowing reached its zenith over the span of the tackle. Light burst forth, followed by concussive wave of sound and pressure. For those not particularly close to the user it seemed like a simple flash mixed with a sonic boom, but for those close enough to feel the true effect it was nightmarish. To be blunt, it was like putting your head in a jet fighter engine while it was taking off.
He was of course no expert, but Jack definitely hadn't been expecting anything with so much raw power from a first year student. He seemed to be successfully pushing Zane in the surprise of his charge, but before the collision he was hoping for could happen all his senses were assaulted at once. His eyes throbbed from the bright light even through his lids, if they hadn't been closed he sure would have been blinded by a point blank blast. His ears registered a single pop and then nothing but a dull ringing, and his entire body felt like it had run into a wall that hit's back. He was flung almost 10 feet away from Zane and after hitting the ground he tasted copper and smelled the sickly-sweet stench of blood from both his nose and his mouth. Surely after something like that Zane would be in no condition to dodge or endure a hit too well? He could only hope so when he finally managed to open his still-pulsing eyes again.
Zane's flashbang seemed to have the desired effect, much like it did in his first fight with Christian. It was so crude, yet rather amazing in it's simplicity, much like the weapon he had based it on. Even though he seemed to be in the advantageous spot, he was still unaware of the two incoming projectiles. The concussive force of the flashbang impeded their momentum, but they weren't completely stopped. Before he even knew it, the two pieces of metal collided with his right shoulder. The attack was clearly weaker than before, but it still hurt. It felt like being punched in the arm by a trained fighter, something you'd rather avoid than take. After recovering from the blow, he backed up, making sure that he wasn't the victim of another surprise attack.
The next step Zane had for his little experiment could finally begin now that he had some time to prepare. Throughout the match he had been waiting for such a moment. He created a small orb of light in his palm, nothing more than a parlor trick in most situations. With it he planned to reverse the ideology behind his Vector Shift spell. In other words, he planned on turning light into a solid instead of turning a solid into light. He continued to fiddle with the spell all while waiting for Jack to recover.
Jack spent a good 30 seconds recovering his breath, beside the fact that the wind had been knocked out of him there was a bleeding hole in his abdoment and he may have cracked a rib or two. But he wasn't thinking about it like a sparring match anymore, now it was all a matter of winning, thankfully Zane gave him a chance to stand all the way back up. It hurt like hell, so bad in fact Jack almost lost his balance even though his legs had probably been far luckier than the rest of him. "As long as I've got a chance, let me say despite all the...well all the pain this is kinda fun! That last one kicked my ass pretty hard, but I'm not done yet.
His eyes darted around quickly but however he looked at it he came up short, the earlier projectiles were too close to Zane to do any real damage and the lump of metal he'd been using for ammunition was now too small to be reliable. He unconsciously touched his stomach and recoiled at the spike of pain and feeling of wetness.
Crap... maybe I'm done after all...I mean what am I supposed to do while I'm bleeding ou-oh...ohhhh... Sometimes small bits of information can count for a lot, and it just so happens in this instance it's wonderful to know that human blood contains traces of iron. Jack focused as hard as he could manage on his stomach and pulled the same way he did when he felt minerals in the ground, he doubled over in pain for a second but he could feel it working.
Okay, he freaking shot me, I have a hole in me now. I can't afford to worry about only using blunt objects anymore. He pulled with his hand on the hole in his stomach, what happened could only be called "gruesome, yet beautiful" Appearing as if he was the stone pulling Excalibur out on it's own, Jack did pulled a large double-edged sword with a thick cross-guard from his stomach. It looked mostly plain, in the heat of the moment Jack hadn't shaped it to be a work of art, but the metal was tinged red, almost as if the sword was made of completely opaque polished ruby. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I had no idea I could do that. Thanks for the breather, real sporting of you Zane."
"No problem, though I'd be lying if I said it was me being a good sport. I told ya that I was working on a new spell, didn't I? I just needed time to try and work out the kinks." It was mostly true with what he said. Zane didn't let Jack up just because he was being nice, that'd be disrespectful to many. It'd be like taking it easy on him, though Zane technically already was, but that was for his own safety more so than Jack's. The overwhelming image of the sword gave Zane a bit of pause, as it would require him to succeed in his new spell or suffer the consequences. It wasn't a reassuring thought, seeing how it took quite a bit of time for him to develop the progenitor of the spell. He refocused his attention on the orb of light in his hand, glancing back and forth every few seconds to keep an eye on Jack. Timing would be a must if his plan was to succeed.
Ok, there was no way Zane could make himself explode again so soon, especially since he wasn't already charging it, so getting close shouldn't be nearly as stupid. Jack was well aware at this point however that they were both quick thinking and full of tricks, he couldn't just run in but he couldn't wait. A small idea formed in Jack's head and he rubbed his stomach with his left hand, coating his fingers with some fresh blood, morbid as it was. It was time for the double check stalemate to end. Jack poised the sword in front of his left shoulder pointing right at Zane and sprinted at him as hard as he could.
Ok, just don't kill him just don't kill him. For the love of god don't hit him right in the chest if you get him, don't start off the school year with murder. Jack focused on either of Zane's shoulders, if he got him in the shoulder it was very unlikely he'd kill him but he'd probably be down for the count, especially if it was the same shoulder that had already been hit.
Jack thrust the bloodmetal blade at Zane's left shoulder with all the strength he had, keeping a tight grip on it so at a moment's notice he could twist to strike a different part of his opponent's body if he was about to parry.
In a matter of seconds, Jack was upon Zane. The sword was poised to be thrust cleanly into Zane's shoulder area of his injured arm. As the blade neared its mark, Zane prepared his counter for his last defense. With the now solidifying ball of light glowing a dull violet in his right hand, he slid the orb into the path of the sword. Initially, the block appeared to work. The orb of light forced the sword to partially deviate from its intended target, but before the parry could complete its motion, the orb shattered. A stunningly sharp pain sliced straight through the outside of Zane's left shoulder, continuing to knock him back and on the ground. Zane, while lying on the ground, gazed towards Jack to see what he would do. Satisfied with the progress of his new spell, he had already resigned to his fate.
The new spell's failure to complete threw Jack for such a loop he had almost missed Zane and fell flat on his face. He had started to twist the sword to hit Zane's other shoulder when he moved to parry but the shattering of what seemed to be a light sword messed up his trajectory and he was barely able to hit his original target and avoid a much more dangerous thrust to the chest. He still lost his balance and after the attack they both fell, Jack only staying upright because he was still holding on to the hilt of the sword in Zane's shoulder. He pushed himself upright and dematerialized the sword so Zane wouldn't have to suffer the pain of it being pulled out. Then he offered Zane his hand. "So, I'd say that's checkmate, it always ends when you've got the king cornered not after you finish him off right? That was crazy, who knows what would have happened if that wasn't your first time ever trying that spell."
Zane accepted his defeat, even if it was only a sparring session. He wasn't the kind of person to take any loss, unless it served a purpose, and for this loss in particular, it served a tremendous purpose. Sure, the spell didn't work exactly as planned, but he proved that the process was possible. "Yep," Zane cringed. "I think you won. And yeah, who knows how it would've gone if my spell actually worked, then again I'm not one to worry about such things. Nope, I just move on and make sure I do better next time." After his statement he made a painful attempt at a laugh.
