Alberto
*Otoka stands by to watch the spar between Nilus and Gursht.*
Darlene
*Dado watches the spar, occasionally glancing at Eve to see how she's doing. This is far more interesting, as he's already seen Eve in combat.*
Mary
You can also react to a tupper message of your own with a ❌ and itll delete it
Aaron
Gursht Kept his head down and shirked against the blow. It seemed his new gear helped him out quite a lot here... But it didn't prevent all of the attack from getting through.

Gursht then shoved Nilus away, before lunging with his own counter-attack.

```Bonus Action: Phase 2 [Turn 1 / 5]
-Action 1 - Block 3 against Blitz: 622 mitigated from 1504 [35 AP]
=882 Damage from Blitz
Armor cushions 30% of 882 = 617
200 - 617 = -417: Armor Broken!

Final Damage Taken = 417

Action 2: Sliding Dash - 335 Dmg [10 AP]
Action 3: Counterhammer - 345 Dmg [35 AP]

HP: 4371 / 4788
MP: 140 / 140
AP: 100 / 180
Armor: 0 / 200```

Gursht braced himself for the first hit, the attack hitting his helmet with a hardy CLANG - before Gursht roared, letting out a huge cloud of steam from his nostrils before shoving against Nilus's sheer force once more.

```Phase 2 [Turn 2 / 5]
Bonus Action: Unbound Strength [10 AP drain per Turn]
+25% to Strength and Defense

-Action 1 - Raw Defense Mitigation: = 708 Mitigated from 1676
Final Damage Taken = 967

-Action 2: Raw Strength = 386
-Action 3: Raw Strength = 386

HP: 3404 / 4788
MP: 140 / 140
AP: 90 / 180
Armor: 0 / 200```
Carol
Gursht's blows easily struck Nilus once more as the Olympian tanked the hits, using them as fuel for his next attack thanks to Lifestream!
```HP=5620-386-386=4488```
"With this gift of Life, I shall end thy battle!" 

Nilus pulled out a Hi-Potion and consumed the item in order to further strength his attack! 

```Hi-Potion - 4488>6300 


Nilus charged once more at Gursht but this time instead of only focusing on one attack, Nilus unleashed three attacks on Gursht! He began with another No Mercy, before following up with a Horizontal Slash and ending with Finishing Plus. 
```No Mercy - 1541dmg
Horizontal Slash - 1541dmg
Finishing Plus - 1541+1388=2879dmg```
Aaron
Gursht saw exactly what was coming for him.

Oh no.

"Oh-oh!"

And He quickly scrambled into self-preservation mode!

```Phase 2 [Turn 3 / 5]
Unbound Strength - 10 AP +25% to Strength and Defense

-Action 1 - Cura [50 MP]
+3591 Recovered
-1541 Taken from No Mercy


-Action 2: Block 2 Against Horizontal Slash: = 758 Mitigated from 1541 [20 AP]
=783

-Action 3: Block 2 Against Finishing Plus: = 758 Mitigated from 2879 [20 AP]
=2121

HP: 1884 / 4788
MP: 90 / 140
AP: 40 / 180
Armor: 0 / 200```
Darlene
*Dado watches, concerned. This isn't looking good for Gursht. He's pretty far on the defensive, and appears to be taking more damage than he's mitigating. He covertly draws his Esuna rune, ready to strengthen it into a Raise cast if things get ugly.*
Aaron
Gursht couldn't block all of it, he couldn't out-heal all of it either. He couldn't manage a single word as Nilus left gash after gash - the blood slowly turned from red to an unnatural black the weaker he became - some of the droplets even fading into mist before it could hit the ground; yet Gursht's instincts wouldn't let him go down to the ground...

**Stop!**

**STOP!**

**S T O P!**

**YOU'RE GOING TO FREE IT IF YOU KEEP HITTING HIM LIKE THAT!**

**GURSHT STOP!**

A feminine voice screamed practically from nowhere, coming from nobody in the room, but trying to beseech Nilus all the same - as it seemed Gursht either wouldn't or couldn't. But whoever or whatever it was, it was finally enough motivation to let Gursht crumble to the ground and give up.
Darlene
"Fuck! Arise, Heal!" *The rune he'd pre-emptively drawn pays off, siphoning magic from Dado and into Gursht.*

```
Arise! Gursht is raised with 25% HP.
Curaga! Gursht +100% HP.
```

*And he wanted to take on the biggest attack Xion could throw? Holy hell. He could've been a red stain on the grass, had Otoka let him.*

*He rushes over to the dinosaur.* "Gursht. You okay? Can you stand?"
Aaron
Gursht rumbled, his eyes slowly opened and they seemed sad...

"...Gursht can stand... Gursht does not want to stand. Gursht is a weakling. Should be left to the scavengers, that is all the good Gursht does."
Darlene
"Hey. It's okay. That's what training's for." 

*He hesitates, then steps back. If anyone can likely help comfort him, it's probably his friend and not him.*
Aaron
"Training does no good if everything's gone..." He rumbled, still not moving from his spot on the ground. "Gursht still cannot help protect his home, Gursht could not last time..."
Alberto
*Otoka did not step in, for he intended to see how far the two were willing to push it... Perhaps he should have stepped in before Nilus' final blow.*

"True strength comes from being able to stand again from the worst defeat."

*The old man took a few steps towards Gursht.*

"Your world may be gone, but you should carry on for their sake. As long as you live, the memories of your home will not be lost."

*He chuckled to himself. Who was he to give this advice? He had given up himself so long ago...*

"The darkness takes and takes, rarely giving back. I think I've only ever met one being of darkness that didn't act for itself."

*He put his hand to his chin, wondering how that one humanoid heartless was doing, but shook his head afterwards. Not the time to get lost int hought.*

"So it is your choice whether or not you stand up against this rising darkness, or let it defeat you and erase these precious memories of home. However, no one can make the choice for you. You have to decide to stand on your own. You are no weakling, Gursht."
Carol
Nilus immediately dematerialises his keyblade and runs to Gursht's side after watching him drop. He had told his friend to yield if it was too much, why would he stay standing! Nilus kneels by Gursht's side, checking if his friend was okay. He silently thanked Dado who had been watchful enough to have an arise at the ready in case of an accident like this. 

"Gursht! I told you to yield... I thought thy refusal meant thee had more left in the tank. I'm sorry friend." 

The end of that spar was quite the blur but Nilus did not forget what he heard. It sounded like a feminine voice cried out for Gursht but neither Eve nor Xion were paying attention to the spar and Aria was still in the tower so whose voice could that have been? 

Once Nilus was sure Gursht was relatively stable thanks to Dado, he stood up beside his friend, a solemn look on his face as the guilt of hurting Gursht affected him quite hard. He was trying to help prove Gursht's strength, making him feel like a weakling was the last thing he wanted. 

Nilus had forgotten that Otoka had been spectating the spar until the old man stepped towards Gursht and offered some advice which Nilus wholeheartedly agreed with, evident by his nodding. 

"Listen to him Gursht, You're no weakling. Donst make the mistake of confusing learning for failing."
Aaron
Gursht:
"Gursht is not sure they care to be remembered. They wanted to live."

Gursht paused... A part of him wanted to stay on the ground, but yet his instincts wouldn't let him stay anymore. The will to survive was both useful... And very much a curse. It was very much a curse when a part of you just wanted to die peacefully; but Gursht Persists.

So, the dinosaur finally pushed himself up off the ground.

"Gursht has only ever been taken from; if darkness only acts for itself, then maybe we aren't much better."

Gursht said that, maybe not necessarily referring to the current company - but he seems to say that with some frustration towards life itself. He let out a large huff - a sigh.

"...It is hard to learn when failing means you die."

He finally said to Nilus simply, as if it was just a fact of life.
Alberto
"In the end, you'll never know when a given failure will be your last."

*He turned away from the three and started walking away back towards the main group.*

"It's up to you whether or not you'll always run from failure, or seize success when it matters most."
Darlene
*Dado hesitates for a moment, then follows Otoka. There's nothing else he can do.*