Chao-Li Xin [DONE]

Xin was a fighter. He always had been- ever since the day of his birth. He trained in various martial arts since he learned how to walk and primarily received instruction from his father, Chao-Wei Yun- a powerful mage who made a large portion of his family’s income through winning battle tournaments in fight clubs across Fiore.  Chao-Wei was known throughout the underground fighting industry for his explosive power and relentless offense. Few crossed him; he had that intimidating demeanor which helped “psyche his opponents out”, making them drop their guard and become easier to beat. Naturally, he’d wanted his son Chao-Li Xin to carry on his legacy, and began to mold him into a championship warrior since he was born. The warrior’s son began to show promise after only a short period of time training, and Chao-Wei knew his talent had been passed down. However, when Xin was entered into his first tournaments, it became obvious that he had not inherited his father’s luck. He would advance to quarterfinals or semifinals only to be crushed by one of his opponents. This seemed to be a common occurrence not just on the battlefield but in all forms of competition- academics, music (he took up the violin and the guitar), and even sports, among other things. Over time, the young Xin became bitter and envious of those more skilled than him, and his focus and desires shifted onto solely two things- victory and recognition.
Today he would finally see a chance to taste this victory. Just the day before, a request had been posted to Xin’s guild, Dragon Heart, calling for wizards of all skill levels to participate in a sort of underground battle-royale. Xin saw an opportunity to take advantage of- perhaps here he could finally display his ability in such a way that would grant him the glory he had been chasing after for so long. He had grabbed the request and saved the location, keeping the physical copy with him to turn in to the attendants when he arrived at the arena to sign up.  

Xin had woken up this morning and walked from his city flat in Magnolia to the proposed “arena”. This was not an easy job- he had to travel through a maze of dingy alleyways, and he encountered a whole cast of shady folk along the way. At long last he reached a pair of rusted steel doors. Two burly men wearing white dress shirts and black pants guarded the entrance like soldiers. They asked to see the request which Xin had picked up earlier- upon flashing it, he was let inside, where he submitted the paper he had used to get in to an official sitting at a collapsible table. Upon doing this he was presented with a form upon which several names were hastily scribbled- this was where he would pencil in his name and information. Grabbing a pencil on the floor at his feet, he wrote his own name- Chao-Li Xin- and returned the form, before being led to the area where all the fighters were kept before the battle began.

When he entered this area he surveyed the people who now surrounded him. There seemed to be a mixture of different wizards; no two shared many similarities with one another. Xin took note of seasoned, experienced-looking fighters who appeared to have participated in these events many times in the past- he also noticed those whose eyes darted back and forth, fidgeting nervously- they were likely here to make a quick buck or to get out of a financial pinch. He didn’t plan on speaking with any of these people, however- his intention was to win. Kindling a friendship now would only be a hindrance later on. After all, there would only be one victor.

Among the people who surrounded him, Xin identified a few potential threats. There was one man who wore ripped jeans and no shirt; another had long, black hair and wore chest armor. Both of these men were incredibly built (in a muscular context) ; the shirtless man (who was snarling and growling at people and to himself) had very defined abs and the man wearing the chest armor had incredibly toned biceps. Xin tried to avert his glance from these people lest they meet his and start a confrontation. He would stay away from them once the fight began, to try and measure how they fared in the battle before engaging on them. To identify them, he gave them nicknames- the one with the armor would be “Bruiser”, and the one without the shirt would be “Maniac.” Among the rest of the competitors, Xin took note of a man whose arms seemed to morph into reptilian claws at the forearms- his tongue flickered in and out like a viper- and he would be known as such (“Serpent”). Another man wore a mage robe and carried around a large wizard’s staff and a spherical lacrima; Xin decided to name this man “Warlock”. Most of the other people in the ring were not as noteworthy- Xin just knew to stay away from the four he had identified.

A man came in to explain the rules (standard rules of a competitive fight) and led the fighters to the arena; it was surprisingly large, (a 60m long, 30m wide oval with a dirt floor) considering the cramped exterior location. The battleground was elevated and its perimeter was encompassed by a rope barrier to keep fighters from toppling into the audience, who spectated from about a meter below. Xin kicked up some dust as he walked, surveying his surroundings. A blinding light shone down upon the fighters as they walked upon the stage and the packed audience cheered. Xin paid this no attention; the only thing on his mind was victory.

The fighters all stood in a circle, facing each other, with about 10 meters of distance from the one across from them. A holographic referee was created by a projection lacrima hanging overhead; after a quick mental count Xin deduced that there were 24 in total, including him. The fight’s announcers introduced each competitor- but Xin was not paying any attention to him- he was busy tapping into his focus. At the sound of the bell to begin the match, his mind entered a state of extreme concentration. He watched the rest of the contestants spring to life; Serpent had knocked a meek-looking man to the ground and begun brutalizing him, striking him with poison-tipped claws which glowed green. Bruiser cocked his fist like he was re-loading a shotgun and expelled from it a concentrated blast of bluish energy; it smacked  a skinny man with blonde hair and a pointy nose clean in the chest and sent him flying out of the arena into the audience. Warlock stood still and watched as a woman leapt upwards, aiming a flying knee at his head. Moments before she would make contact with him, he tossed his lacrima into the air. Using some form of telekinesis magic he commanded the lacrima to fly towards the woman at breakneck speed, knocking her from the air onto the ground. The offending lacrima drifted up lazily before it was commanded downwards again, at a much faster velocity; the woman was struck in the chest. She coughed up blood and did not move. While Xin was watching this, he felt a sharp pain strike the center of his back, knocking him down and stunning him momentarily. Maniac, the shirtless man, had sprinted towards him from afar and rammed his head into the spine of Xin, catching him by surprise. As Maniac recoiled from the attack and prepared to follow it up with more strikes, Xin leapt to his feet. His shirtless enemy threw a punch; his fist was coated in a red energy. Before the hit could connect with Xin, it was deflected; Xin had caught Maniac’s fist in his palm. He balled his other hand into a fist and pulled Maniac inwards before landing a sharp blow to the enemy’s face. Maniac flew to the ground a few meters away, but before he could get up Xin stomped his boot into the earth. The floor seemed to explode in a direct line from the boot to Maniac, sending dust and shards of earth flying. The shirtless fighter was launched into the air. Once he got near the ground Xin leapt up and locked his arms around Maniac’s neck; they fell to earth together. Upon contact with the battlefield floor Xin heard a faint crack; Maniac was down and out.

With one potential threat eliminated and three more on the horizon, Xin focused on staying away from those who may be dangerous to him and attacking those who posed no threat. He eliminated most of the weaker fighters. Soon it was down to five men; Xin, “Bruiser”, “Serpent”, “Warlock”, and a bald, tan-skinned man who looked incredibly muscular and wore spiked armor. Xin had noticed this man earlier, but he was wearing a cloak over the armor then, and did not look too intimidating with it on. He resolved to call this new challenge “Spike”. The crowd was cheering like crazy. Xin hung back, watching the other men fight each other. He strategized; currently Bruiser and Serpent were fighting each other, as were Warlock and Spike. Bruiser took down Serpent by using that shotgun-esque move with his fist; however, instead of doing it from a distance he fired the bluish ball of energy at point blank making full contact with his opponent’s abdomen. The reptilian man flew back and slammed into the turnbuckle post of the ring; he had been taken out of the fight.
Meanwhile, Warlock tried to use his telekinesis-style magic and orb to keep Spike at bay; however, when the orb slammed into the big bald man’s dome head it appeared to have little effect on him. After trying this, he attempted to attack Spike’s chestplate by repeatedly slamming the orb into it- however, the sharp steel thorns on the armor scraped and eventually shattered the ball. Warlock backed up as Spike flew towards him, but walked into Bruiser, who focused his attention on the staff-bearing mage as well. He tried to use his staff to defend himself, but Bruiser was on top of him before he could do anything. He rained down on Warlock with an onslaught of fierce jabs and kicks, but was interrupted; Spike picked both Bruiser and Warlock up by the necks and slammed them into the ground on their backs, before leaping up. When his boots landed on the ground a crater was formed- and the impact that created the crater put both Bruiser and Warlock out of the fight. Now it was just Xin and Spike.

Xin had sized Spike up, and concluded that if he got enough strikes to unprotected areas (like the bald man’s head) he might be able to win. There was no point in trying to soften the man’s steel armor, as the spikes would shred Xin to pieces if he even made contact with them. Spike charged towards Xin and attempted to grab him but missed, overshooting a few meters and falling to the ground. Xin capitalized on this, and slammed his foot into the ground once more, creating a line of explosions in the earth heading towards Spike. Spike was launched into the air; Once more, Xin leapt upwards after him, but instead of putting the bald man in a headlock and slamming into the ground with him, he kicked the man’s head; he fell to the ground. Had Xin done it? Had he won? The suspense and the tension built. When Xin landed (a few seconds after Spike) he walked up to the man wearing the spiked armor. He surveyed the damage he had done. As he was doing this, he was surprised to see movement- Spike was standing up slowly. Xin’s eyes grew wide with disbelief; his opponent shrugged off the blow like it was nothing. The muscular man stood and cracked his neck, before walking slowly towards Xin. Xin slashed his arms in an X-formation, and a purple X-shaped projection of energy flew towards Spike and hit his chestplate. He was slowed momentarily, but continued walking towards Xin. Xin flew into a frenzy of attacks; he shot purple energy in a stream towards Spike, who stuck out his forearm and blocked it easily; then, he followed up by stamping his boot into the ground and causing the explosions once more. Spike was sent a few feet into the air by this, but he landed afterwards and was not shaken. Xin did a backflip-kick, and a purple stream of energy shot from his foot as he did this, arcing towards Spike; but once again, it was shrugged off. Spike was getting closer; Xin had to do something fast.

After trying several more techniques, Xin was running out of steam. When Spike reached him, he looked no weaker than he had appeared at the start of the onslaught. Xin tried one last technique- he had been cornered at the ropes- he used this to his advantage, climbing up onto the top rope and leaping onto the head of the bald man in the spiked armor. He kicked the man’s skull once more, in an attempt to disorientate him; however, this did not work. Xin landed on the ground, and his opponent turned around. He felt fingers close around his neck; he was lifted off of the ground and slammed onto his back. A giant boot landed upon his chest, and the world around him faded into unconsciousness.

He felt nothing now but a disdain and sense of envy for the victor. He would never be the best at anything- not even at things he thought he was good at. A bitter anger filled Xin’s unconscious thoughts. He had come so far.

He would not lose the next time.

RETALIATION: When Xin falls below 50% health, his offensive spells deal 20% more HP damage. When used in conjunction with Furor, the boost is reduced to 10%.

FUROR:  When Xin is hit by an enemy spell, he gains a stack of Fury. Each stack of Fury amplifies the power of the next spell cast by 5%. He can store up to 3 stacks of Fury before releasing it, allowing for a maximum of up to 15% extra damage dealt. He can only accumulate a total of 3 stacks of Fury throughout a single fight. Using this passive in conjunction with Retaliation reduces the former passive's damage boost by 10%.