Learning the hard way.

The spectral hands arranged themselves like a boxer's, two fists in a guarding stance, and waited for her first move.

M'neisa was torn between fear at the ghostly hands sudden appearance and the rush of adrenaline that the surprise had given her. The slight ache that the tug on her tail had given her made her pause a moment.

"Where did you come from? There havent been any reports of spirits out here, much less monsters jumping people for duels!" She kept her stance and shouted at the hands. To her surprise they responded, one of the hands breaking the guard to tap at the thin air where the other hands wrist would be.

"The Bracelets? Youre possessing them?" She asked, the bracers merely gave her a 'come get it' gesture with one hand.

"Grrrr, fine then!" The pugilist shouted and leapt forward aiming a strike below the guard, where she judged the spirits belly would be. One hand came down with an odd block that pushed her hand off course, the other aimed a flat palm at her shoulder, pushing her sideways and to the spirits left. As she tumbled into a roll she felt one of the hands brush down her bare back.

As she rose from the roll she turned and growled, leaping forward to strike again, aiming this time to strike low at a knee. The hands jerked right, acting as if the spectral roegadyn had stepped to the side to dodge the strike. M'neisa expected this and swept her leg out to try and catch one of the moving legs. She felt a moment of resistance as her shin passed through where one leg should have been and the hands dropped to the ground. She rolled to her feet again and stood watching her the hands rise. They offered her a silent clap before returning to a boxing stance.

M'neisa smirked and offered her own taunting gesture, pounding a fist into her other hand and growling. No sooner had she returned to her stance did the fists fly forward, she blocked the strike with her arms crossed, her feet skidded back on the dirt and she yelped as the other hand struck her side. Her block broke and she twisted as the first hand seized her wrist and spun her in place, twisting it behind her back.

It held her arm high and she groaned in pain, her head whirling around to try and catch sight of the other hand. She stopped looking when she felt it spank her backside, open palmed and harsh, the slap echoed around the canyon followed shortly by her squeal. The hand that held her arm behind her back shoved her forward and she fell to her knees, hands reaching behind her to clutch at her stinging ass through her shorts.

"Heyyy!" She shouted. "Keep your hands to yourself!" She turned and rose, the hands were already up, mimicking her own guard.

"Well if youre going to go there ive had enough!" She reached to grab one of the bracers and tug it off, she felt it resist her and she tried the other. Neither bracer would move and she groaned in frustration before trying her identification magic again. This time she spotted something, where it had once had shown an unknown property there was now a long description. The gist of it read that the bracers could not be removed unless the user reached 100% spiritbond with them, and that the bracers would give her opponents to train against, and each level of opponent beaten would provide 10% of the required spiritbond.

She scowled at the bracers and looked up at the hands, they were waiting threaded together for her to try again. She returned to a combat stance and shouted.

"I just have to beat you ten times then? Good, then lets make it quick!" The hands took a guard stance and he lunged, aiming for the hands themselves this time. She baited out one strike and turned it away with one hand before throwing an uppercut through the broken guard. Her fist met resistance again and this time the hands flew several yalms and landed palm up and apart, her opponent was down.

"Hahaa yes, one down!" She whooped a cheer and took a moment to examine her bracers again, indeed 10% had been added to the spiritbond. She looked around for her next opponent, and saw another set of hands appear. This pair looked like it belonged to a Miqote, smaller but still larger than hers and with short claws. They flexed for her, showing off the points before coming up to guard in a clawed grip.

"Thats more like it, familiar!" She adjusted her stance and taunted them to attack. The claws struck forward, but at that moment her legs were swept out from under her. Her back hit the floor and then carried on as her ankle was seized and hoisted into the air. She dangled from one ankle as she looked up to spot one of the roegadyn hands clamped around her leg.

"Wha?" She exclaimed before spotting the other roe hand reaching for her free and flailing leg. It caught her, holding her upside down by her ankles with her head a couple of yalms from the arid dirt, and she began swinging wildly in front of her. Her hands met light resistance but it didnt seem to cause any damage to what she presumed were the roe's legs.

"Let me go! This isnt fair, how can i fight two of you!" She shouted, a moment later her breath hitched as she felt a pointed claw scratching lightly down her spine. It started at the base of her tail and trailed lazily until it reached the bottom of her tube top before hooking in.

She shouted wordlessly and tried to reach behind her to slap the hand away but found no leverage as the claw slowly drew the garment down until it slipped over her shoulders. The top trapped her arms over her head and she struggled to get them free. The clawed hand traced one claw back up her back, towards her ass, before leaving her skin and slapping down on her buttock again. The dull tips of the claws dug into her flesh as the hand squeezed and she squirmed desperately. The hand let go and spanked her once again before the hands holding her legs let go unceremoniously.

She scrabbled in the dirt, trying to free her arms from her tangled top...