Why is Magic so hard?

Tommy was leaning against his training dummy taking a short break from the hacking and slashing when his eyes had wandered over to Azima. The guy was just standing there holding the staff out in front of him as if he expected it to move on its own. Believing that the kid might be a little slow, Tommy was about to call out a sarcastic comment like 'You expect it to move on its own?' when thats what it did, moved on its own. The staff was holding itself up in the air without any assistance. Bewildered, Tommy watched as the staff moved began to pulverized the dummy all on its own. Mind blown, Tommy began to try to sort out what was happening in front him. He knew some of the campers possessed magical abilities but he had never witnessed it before first hand. Stunned and wanting to learn more, Tommy removed his sword that was lodged half way through the wooden skull of the dummy, grabbed his shield and made his way to Azima.

"Hey Mr. Genie, how'd you do that?" He asked bluntly, straight to the point. Why he called him Genie? Well the reason might be a little racial but Azima reminded Tommy of the people from Aladdin and the one with magic powers in that movie was a genie, so connect the dots and you can see where Tommy's mind went. Tommy, with his father being Ares, was definitely musycular toned but ss he approached Azima, Tommy found he was slightly taller, only by a half an inch maybe a full one. Tommy was definitely sizing him up, mostly because he never trusted magic or the super natural, and he wanted to make sure that he would be able to handel the situation if the staff decided to start flying around again. Realizing that he was staring he decided to broach the subject again. "So... did you do that or do we need to turn that stick to saw dust?" He asked gripping his sword tightly.

Tommy gave the staff one last suspicious look before answering Azima.  "Tommy."  He answered, latching the shield and sword on to the straps on his back.  Tommy was exactly stupid, he was quite intelligent as a matter of fact, but he often spoke without thinking which could lead people to think he was lacking some brain cells, at least less then the average person has.  Still, mostly his unfamiliarity with magic was due to the fact that he distrusted it, deep down feared it.  This was second year at camp and he was deciding that maybe this year he should try to get pass his distaste.  

Taking a deep breath and putting on a facade of cocky confidence he looked at Azima and stated, "Genie, I want you to do me a favor," the nickname Genie probably would stick with Azima until Tommy came up with a better or more suitable, "I want to practice fighting against your umm.. concentration as you put it.  It's not something I'm familiar with,"  He admitted but that was only half the truth.  Truthfully, he had an extreme fear of the paranormal which in his mind was a link to magic.  Of course he was going tot admit his fear to someone he just met, so training against something new was a good cover up.  "So what do ya say?"  He asked with an that arrogant grin of his that usually masked his face. 

Tommy's faced drop into a wide eyed, opened mouth expression. "Bear in mind! You can conjure up bears too!" He asked completely astounded, mystified, and a little worried. A few seconds later, however, he understood what Azima meant. "Oh.. wait.. you meant... you know what? Never mind lets get started," he said with a conceded expression on his face that said 'I know, im an idiot you don't need to say anything,'. Backing up a few paces Tommy withdrew his sword and unbundled his shield, shouting, "Let's go!" as he bounced on the balls of his feet, holding the shield out in front of him while keeping the sword pointed at his enemy- which was ultimately the staff.

Watching the staff float free from Azima's hands, it finally dawned on Tommy that he could be in for a rough time. What he hated most about paranormal stuff is that Tommy felt like there was no way to fight it because there was nothing to hit. And that was exactly what he was facing. Taking a deep breath, Tommy began to repeatedly tell himself, 'Dont worry its just a stick,' and tried to analyze his enemy as he would with anything else. From his observations, the staff was made of a strong wood with celestial bronze armor protecting it. Tommy figured that at full swing, with nothing slowing him down and the staff holding still, his force could only make it halfway through the wood. And he could develop a lot of force. But with him loaded down with shield and the small armor he wore across his chest and torso, not to mention his target constantly moving, Tommy probably wouldn't do any serious harm to it. Taking another breath Tommy waited for Azima to make the first move.


OOC: I hope u don't mind I described Azima's weapon a little, if you want I can edit it later

Like I said Tommy is smart, he just doesn't show it all the time.  Tommy's main plan was to find a way to cut off Azima's power to the staff without attacking Azima directly.  Still, a less rash individual would have probably asked Azima a little more the staff and how his powers worked.  Parrying the blow to his legs with his sword, Tommy moved to counter attack and swung his sword in an arc to where normally the enemies shoulder would be.  But his sword whisked through empty air and Tommy immediately fell back behind his shield.  Cursing himself for forgetting the little detail that Azima wasn't actually there, Tommy started moving clock wise around his opponent, the staff, trying to spot a weakness any weakness.  He was going to fight until one of them drop and he was determined to make sure it was the staff.  'All I have to do was cut off power or maybe disarm Genie?'  He thought trying to work out a plan.  An idea came and, having nothing better to go off of, Tommy decided to try it.  Swinging his blade and aiming to strike the end of the staff, where the celestial bronze was, Tommy watched Azima to see if the impact from his blow on the staff affected Azima in any way. 

Tommy caught Azima's reaction to his blow and the beginning workings of a plan bean to formulate.  However, persistent jabs needed to be fended off first before Tommy could put his plan into action.  Defending with his shield, Tommy manage to catch two of the sharp prods, with his shield, another caught him on his chest piece, and the last hit manage to catch him on that pressure point on the thigh a few inches above where if its hit it causes intense pain, than a numbing feeling followed by a tingling sensation, and lastly a dull ache.  Grimacing more from annoyance than the actual pain itself Tommy lashed out with an overhead cut to the left end of the staff, followed by a left cross smashing the edge of his shield into the center of the staff.  Stepping forward, Tommy threw a second strike at the staff trying to force it to float backwards.  The first step of his plan create a relentless assault against the staff, forcing to defend backwards.  "I'm going to turn you into a tooth pick!"  He growled as he swung again.  Tommy had no literal intention of picking his teeth with Azima's staff but it was in his nature to taunt his opponent during a fight and inanimate objects were no exception. 

With his arm right reared back, Tommy was about to throw another strike when Azima changed tactics.  The staff was spinning so fast it looked like there was more just two ends to it.  Half held in awe half horrified, Tommy raised the shield and braced himself as blow after blow struck repeatedly grinding him lower and lower to the ground giving him no chance.  " What the hell," He muttered through gritted teeth trying to keep his balance.  Down to one leg in a kneeling position Tommy tried to think of a way out of his predicament.  Starting to sink into ground from the force of the blow, he started to notice how the blows only came from one direction.  A risky idea formed but he knew that he what either have to concede defeat to the staff or put himself in harms way to maybe win.  For Tommy the choice was simple.

Forcing himself to stand under the pressure, Tommy shifted his weight to his back leg and raised his sword arm, rearing it back to strike.  With his weight on his back leg he could only with stand a few more blows before he lost his balance.  Taking a deep breath, Tommy moved.  Shifting his shield so he had room to strike, the staff struck twice on his arm both times on the bicep.  With his shield out of the way though his was strike the center of the staff hopefully forcing it to the ground. 

Tommy watched as Azima lost control of the staff, but he wasn't exactly sure what was going on. When the staff started spinning and driving itself dangerously close to Azima, Tommy didn't exactly feel concerned but more curious about what Azima was doing putting himself in harms way. As the staff dropped to the floor, Tommy watched in anticipation waiting for the staff make move. But it didn't and Azima picked up the staff and challenged Tommy to an actual combat. Pumped, Tommy laughed and nearly shouted, "Hell yeah Genie! If your done playing around let's do this!" and charged Azima, planning on ramming with his shield for a very painful, frontal attack if it landed.