[RING] - The air is thick with the smell of sweat and your ears ring with the sound of loud cheers and disappointed yells. There’s no place for elegance here, only who could land a clean hit first! The rules are simple: bring your weapons, your gadgets, and what have you! Today is special, today you can go all out. Just be sure you don’t kill each other.
THE FIRST IS GOING TO ENJOY THIS, stepping into the ring with an almost vicious posture. Unlike the conflict with the Pyro Archon, born of a deep seeded necessity, the match with the Anemo Archon can only be called a grudge, the same grudge Rozalyne once held and one he intends to see fulfilled.
"Barbatos." A name growled in disgust for the Archon who he remembers so vividly, a hatred as deep-seated as that held for the shades as the blade of ice, of frozen hopes, manifests by his side. He is here as witness and reminder, to carry on the life of the Crimson Witch of Flames, as his gaze looks to the shorter god.
"Or is it Venti? Or the nameless bard? No matter, I, Il Capitano, First of the Fatui Harbingers, challenge you here and now. Come, God of Freedom, let us see if your reputation is as deserving as those that survived claim." A thrown gauntlet, bringing the blade high as the arts of a dead people envelop him, life, hopes, dreams and the remnants of distant souls becoming one within him.
One would think that the First of the Fatui Harbingers would have enough decorum to not be throwing an Archon’s name everywhere. Venti sighed. A flash of green, and a burst of Anemo energy - and he sidestepped the Harbinger’s icy blade.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure what action of his would warrant such behavior; after all, the memory of gods was a fickle thing. But, he decided, it would be better to calm the situation than to add fuel to the flame. Especially here, in the middle of a mortal establishment.
“I would rather that you called me Venti,” he said quietly. “And I don’t want to fight you here, regardless of what grudge you have against me. This festival is held to celebrate new life, no? This is not the place to dwell on the past. Find me after returning to Tevyat if you wish - but I’m sure you have better things to do than to go picking fights with Archons.”
With that, he raised his arms in surrender and climbed out of the ring.