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Post by Mana on Aug 5, 2014 18:56:08 GMT -6
“It’s pretty obvious you have feelings for him."
Mana heard something snap inside her head when Richter launched his "finishing blow". The Ilian said something else afterward but the words failed to reach the girl's exploded brain. She mumbled random sound as she threw her last fruit. Everything he had said was true and she understood her own feeling, but it wasn't easy to hear it from other people. "I-I don't..." she whispered weakly.
Alriiight....he was asking for this....The Sacaen girl's brain started working to formulate a perfect payback. Yeees, he probably didn't have bad intention but Mana wouldn't let herself be the only one embarassed here. The Sacaen swordswoman knew what he said was 100% fact but she wasn't ready to admit it openly. This blushing probably wouldn't stop anytime soon. "You are doing it on purpose, aren't you?"
"I am not sure....I guess I and my friend will go back to the encampment. It depends on when she will finish her meeting with this tribe chief though...........Hey! Don't change the subject!" Mana realized that she hadn't done her "revenge" after she replied to his question, pointing her finger at him. She continued thinking a way to embarrass him as much as he had done to her. However, Mana was never good with thinking so she eventually gave up. There was only one way to appease this weird anger in her heart.
Mana had creepy smile on her face as she approached the Ilian. "There's an open ground used for sparing there. Wanna to give it a go?" It was irritating she couldn't find something to tease him back but the Sacaen girl believed she would feel better IF she could hit him a few times. Unfortunately for her, Richter would probably hit much harder.
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Post by Richter Abend on Aug 10, 2014 15:48:15 GMT -6
"Doing what?" replied Richter with a small smirk on his face. He realized Mana still hadn't moved off of the boyfriend talk. He hadn't meant anything mean by it, but it seemed Mana was the type of woman who wasn't going to let someone else tell her who she cared about, regardless of how obvious it was. Richter could empathize with the attitude, as he was the same way, but that also let him know exactly what buttons to press. Old grudges might be gone, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have a little fun with her. "I'm just making conversation." It was the truth, and he hadn't been trying to change the subject, but she seemed very flustered by the question, so Richter decided he'd go along with it.
Then, however, the Sacaen girl stood up and thrust a finger in his face, approaching him with a wry smile. Richter would have wondered what exactly she was up to, but he was given no time before Mana, very directly, requested to spar with him. Sparring, hmm? Was she trying to regain some lost ground by challenging him to a fight? Well, the Ilian hadn't wanted to draw too much attention to himself, but he was having a change of heart. Perhaps he was letting his emotions get the best of him, but Richter decided he wasn't going to let this headstrong little girl challenge him and get away with it.
"Fine," he said, rising to his feet. "Let's give it a go." There was a competitive fire in his eyes that he'd almost forgotten over the gloominess and hardship of the last year. He wasn't preparing for a battle, or trying to hone his skills, or even just teaching someone the ropes. No, right now he was just going to show someone who was boss.
"Just remember, I may not fight as fancy as your idol, Kenshin, but I don't lose."
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Post by Mana on Aug 22, 2014 16:40:59 GMT -6
"Wait...wait....why Richter suddenly looked excited?" she thought. Mana did feel a little intimidated a little by his reputation but an airhead like her wouldn't think about the consequences of her challenge. "Awright! That's the spirit!" Mana looked overexcited when the Ilian agreed to spar. This was the only way for her to satisfy the girl after experienced crushing defeat in teasing battle. Intentional or not, he had "tortured" her by stating the obvious.
"Nice words, Richt....Richard. But you must prove it!" she remarked. Mana always wanted to face someone strong in battle, preferably stronger than her, and this time she even had extra motivation. It seemed Richter was interested too and his eyes showed burning spirit as he replied. For some reason, it felt like she would enjoy this spar. "Lets go then."
Mana headed toward the sparring ground, assuming Richter following her. Luckily, no one was using the ground so they could use it and fight as much as they wanted. The sparring ground was simply a wide open space with some lines drawn to make an "arena". It also had a few box of wooden weapons placed near. "I've heard you are quite good with sword. Now I hope that isn't an exaggerated rumor. Well, actually I watched you fight once and I must admit...you are even better than Yaen." That wasn't flattery, Mana wouldn't praise someone if they didn't deserve it. She might be itching to beat the Ilian for her selfish reason but it wouldn't stop her from admitting how good he was. The Sacaen swordswoman picked a wooden sword and headed to the middle of the arena. She then did some stretching as she waited for her opponent.
"Tell me when you are ready!" she said, grinning.
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Post by Richter Abend on Aug 27, 2014 22:53:54 GMT -6
"Of course I'm better than Yaen," said Richter as he removed his jacket and tossed it on the ground. "I beat him." He shot Mana a wolfish grin.
Richter glanced up at the sky, before walking over to the crate filled with wooden weapons. Most of the practice weapons mimicked swords of Sacaen make, but there was one about the length and width of a bastard sword, so he drew that from the box. Rolling his shoulders, he headed over to the sparring ground and stood opposite of Mana. With his skin now exposed, he could feel the heat beating down upon him. Perhaps sparring with his shirt off wasn't the best idea in this climate considering how quickly Ilians typically burned, but it was a habit of his, borne from the thick coats of Ilian winter, and Richter figured the match wouldn't last long enough to cause any real harm.
The sun's light illuminated the long, twisted scars that ran up and down his arms, and across his chest and back. Each was a story of the battles he'd fought, and the men that he'd killed. There were many scars, but three stood out to Richter the most. First was the track on the side of his gut was where he'd been struck by Ariston's knife while fighting atop a dragon, and second was the lump on the other side was where he'd had to stitch up the hole made by his broken rib while trapped in the frigid prison cart. But the most impressive story was told by the long, ropy, root-like scar that spread out across his sternum. That soldier had shattered Richter's chest, and if not for Damonzahn's unnatural power, the Ilian would be dead right now. It's vampiric power had brought him back from the brink of death, but even its magic hadn't been able to wipe the wound clean.
Above all, these scars spoke to one important truth, that Richter was no mere soldier. He was no reluctant conscript of circumstance, or a youth whose wide eyes still looked to seek adventure. He wasn't a noble's son, thrust into power over no real merit of his own, and he wasn't a nationalist fighting for the good of his country, though he had at one point convinced himself that he was. No, he was a mercenary, a warrior, a man who lived for battle and the havoc it brought. He was a man who had sworn death to the Prophet, and vowed to end the evil he wrought. He was a man that had seen some of the fiercest of battles of the decade, and had escaped situations in ways others had deemed impossible... including death itself. He wasn't known as the Winter Lion for nothing.
"I'm ready," he said, stepping back with his dominate foot while letting his sword arm hang loosely at his side. He would let Mana make the first move, since this had been her idea to begin with. "I won't be pulling any punches."
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Post by Mana on Aug 28, 2014 17:37:05 GMT -6
"Oooh...He's brimming with self-confidence..." Mana thought as she grinned to him. The girl couldn't blame him, though. He was truly strong. But Mana wouldn't lose in battle of spirit, she never averted her eyes from Richter like a hawk watching its prey. She did feel the Ilian's intimidating aura but her courage wouldn't be easily shattered. "You? I thought it was Ardus," she teased him by "correcting" him. Of course she kept her voice low so no one would hear it.
Mana stared at him and tried to count how many scars he had. "Wow, I wonder how many times this person got stabbed..." she thought. For some reason she became more and more excited after seeing his proof of surviving many battles. Not just the scars, she could tell from his muscles that this man was well-trained and hardened warrior. Those dark eyes of hers now had flames burning passionately. To be honest, Mana began to forget her initial reason for challenging him.
The Sacaen chuckled when he let her to take the first move. Perfect! Attacking first and pushing on offensive was her favorite style so this was like a gift for her. She positioned her left side toward Richter and lowered her posture a bit. The wooden sword in the right hand and the left arm put in front of her chest, Mana was planning to dash toward him with all her strength. And then it began.
Some grasses and dirt were thrown to the air when the girl kicked the ground. It was worth to watch whether her speed and agility could press the famous Winter Lion. She dashed straight toward Richter and then accelerated faster when she was about to enter his range, hoping the sudden acceleration would disrupt his timing to block. The wooden sword cut thought the air in a wide slash as it went right to his abdomen.
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Post by Richter Abend on Aug 28, 2014 22:45:10 GMT -6
"Ha," was all Richter would say to the girl's joke as he maintained his casual fighting stance. The Ilian could see her eyes scanning him over, and he figured she was most likely scanning for a weakness. He didn't think she would find one, but he figured she'd have to find something to work with. But you never really did know what people would perceive as weakness, or what others would see as an opportunity, and Mana seemed quite the hothead. She was probably glad Richter was giving her the first move.
And like that, the dark haired Maiden of the Blade was darting towards him. Her sprint began so quickly, she kicked up grass and dirt behind her as she began her burst of speed. She came straight into his zone of control, making little effort to feint or dodge in favor of simply increasing her speed the closer she got. He had expected her to be fast, given her small, lithe frame, but this was faster than he had predicted. Still, speed in and of itself was a far too basic of a maneuver to catch him off guard. Was she getting a feel for his agility against her own? People did tend to forget that he wasn't just strong, he was fast too.
With the fight just beginning, Richter decided to keep it simple. A basic block for a basic strike. He stepped in with his dominant foot, bringing his sword arm in between Mana and himself, and swung his training sword out, attempting to catch the Sacaen's wooden blade on his own. The idea was simply to knock her sword off course, aimlessly into the air next to him. He didn't expect the parry to do anything incredible, such as knock her off balance or crush her resolve like it would a novice; after all Mana was a skilled swordswoman. But Richter wasn't going to let himself get tagged so early by such a straight forward attack. He'd make Mana work for this.
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Post by Mana on Aug 30, 2014 17:48:05 GMT -6
Of course Mana didn't expect Richter would fall to this simple first attack. It was only a "greeting" between the two warriors. She was a little startled by the power of his parry, though. His power might be close to Wyatt but she couldn't accurately tell who was stronger. Maybe Wyatt would best him in raw strength, she wasn't sure, which mean she had to test it! Expecting a counter, Mana pulled her sword, forcing it to separate with his sword, and took a careful step back to prepare for this retaliation. She frowned when the expected blow never came, wondering if he was still measuring her strength. Well, to be fair, Mana hadn't planned to go for a decisive blow as well, hoping to learn his strength and weakness first. "Alriiight.....I am going to force you to go all out then!" she shouted, looking excited. Mana had always liked good fight, not really caring for the result but always aiming to win. She hated losing more than most people but would gladly accept it if the opponent was worthy and beat her fair and square.
Now that they were in each other range, she figured she might as well exchange as many blows as she could. The Sacaen girl had realized from her last attack that Richter would never fall from simple attack so she had to outsmart him somehow. This might be a sparring, only a "game" for exercise and honing skill, but she truly wanted to win and had some extra motivation to do some revenge so the swordswoman had decided to give Richter trouble, much trouble.
Mana made a feint to his right by moving her shoulder a bit and rolling her eyes to the same direction. She then attempted to fool him to thinking that she was aiming to strike his right thigh with a low blow by ducking a little and lowering her sword arm. She measured the timing carefully, planning to dash to his left. If she succeeded, her swift movement would leave an afterimage that would go to attack Richter's right thigh while the real Mana would disappear from his line of sight by diving into his left. She would then try to hit his abdomen with a horizontal slash, not even holding back. Who would be so foolish to challenge the Winter Lion with half-assed attack? Not Mana, obviously.
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Post by Richter Abend on Sept 3, 2014 20:48:08 GMT -6
Richter couldn't help but instinctively lean into Mana's first strike, bringing across his training sword to parry a strike that looked to be aimed at his thigh. But when the Maiden's weight began shifting the other way, bringing her body around to his left, he realized it was a feint. After batting aside that painfully obvious initial attack, Richter hadn't quite been expecting a fake-out. It was his error, of course, as he should have been expecting nothing less. Mana was a quick, agile sword fighter, trained in the same school of Sacaen martial combat as Kenshin and Yaen. She wasn't going to come at him head on, utilizing speed and rhythm over straight power, but unlike fighters like Valcrist, she wasn't just going to hang back and wait for her opponent to trip up. She was going to try and control the pace of the fight by staying one step ahead of Richter and force him to react to her. She was really stepping it up.
But Richter wasn't about to let himself get strung around by a little girl, no matter how good her swordplay was. Controlling fights was his business, and getting sidestepped wasn't going to change that. Yes, Mana had created an opening, but did she think she was fast enough to capitalize on it? He'd show her otherwise. If she had the courage to come into his zone of control so brazenly, then he would teach her to respect the strength that waited inside of it. With a growl-like grunt, the shirtless warrior tore his sword up from its defensive position over his thigh right into Mana's follow-up attack. He batted the girl's wooden sword aside, hopefully forcing her to step back and take the defensive, before stepping straight into her guard and bringing his sword down in powerful cutting strike aimed at her shoulder. His father had always called his maneuver the "Man Carver". It was an attack designed to capitalize on a slow, armored opponent by attacking the weak point at their collarbone. It wasn't designed to be used against a fast, unarmored fighter, but Richter figured that even if Mana evaded it, it would still remind her who she was dealing with.
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Post by Mana on Sept 6, 2014 23:29:38 GMT -6
Her feint had successfully made the Ilian go to defend his thigh from an attack that would never come. The girl believed she was going to get the first hit as she launched her strike. But Richter was much faster than she had thought, proving that he wasn't a simple strength type but also possessed remarkable agility. How he was able to match her speed made Mana wondering who was faster between them, it wasn't easy to tell, though. Most people would consider to play safe and retreat for a moment but Mana was a bold fighter, instead of stepping back as Richter hoped the Sacaen girl stayed within his range while looking to exploit any opening. His retaliation then came as a direct vertical slash aiming to her shoulder, probably going to break her bones if the attack connected.
Mana brought up her sword to meet Richter's. She wasn't planning to block his strike, though, the agile swordswoman knew too well that in this position he would easily knock her down by pushing her from above her parry with his superior strength. Sparring with Wyatt had taught many things! Their sword clashed, but only briefly. This little trick was something she had obtained after fighting against the White Lion in that tournament in Bern, she had practiced it a lot and this timing was the right time to use the technique in a real match. Positioning her block in slightly diagonal and gripping the hilt with both hands, Mana barely put any resistance to repel Richter's sword, she simply made small step to the side, shifting her shoulder away from his sword's trajectory, as she allowed the great commander's sword push hers down while slightly changing its trajectory by making it slide down on top of her sword. It might look like he easily overpowered her but it was actually hers guiding his sword toward the ground. If Richter was expecting hard block he might lose his balance after her "soft" defense, unless he had foreseen this outcome.
The girl's natural energy flowed to her wooden sword as soon as she abandoned her defensive position. Mana then forcibly separated their swords. "Lets see how you will handle this one...." The Sacaen had decided to use a special technique to attack Richter. She brought up her sword, swinging the wooden stick to the space between his body and his right arm. The plan was to hit the pink-haired commander in his abdomen with her sword and an invisible blade created from her natural energy.
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Post by Richter Abend on Sept 8, 2014 16:32:50 GMT -6
Richter was admittedly surprised by Mana’s refusal to lose any ground. Instead of taking just a few steps back and dodging the strike completely, she was choosing to defend against the powerful attack head on. It was by far the riskier maneuver, but it would allow the swordswoman to maintain her position if it worked. Hah! Was her confidence born from an actual belief that she could win, or was she taking advantage of the fact that this was only a spar? Regardless, the Sacaen had guts. Fine then. He had given her the opportunity to evade, but she was throwing it away. If this was how she wanted to fight, Richter would oblige.
The Ilian leaned forward, putting all the force he could into his downward slice, but just as he heard the sharp clack of his wooden sword striking hers, Richter could immediately feel the Maiden’s blade give way. To a less experienced swordsman this would feel like a victory, but the experienced fighter in Richter knew what was happening instantly. It wasn’t that he was overpowering her. No, if that were the case there would be a good amount of resistance, but there was barely any all. Like the clever swordswoman she was, Mana wasn’t trying to block his strike, she was trying to bait him into overextending, into throwing himself off balance, so that she could attack unimpeded. Richter could already see her shifting her weight to the side, and figured that after sidestepping she would move back in with a counterattack.
The warrior’s read of the situation was correct. The Ilian’s blade continued downward, thought now on a slightly altered path, and the moment Richter’s training blade struck the dirt, Mana came at him with a follow-up strike. Fortunately he was ready. Having seen the maneuver coming, Richter had made sure not to second guess himself, following through with his cut and allowing his momentum to be safely absorbed into the ground where he could stabilize his stance. Then, as Mana’s sword cut in towards his midsection, Richter swung his off-hand upwards, catching the Sacaen’s sword arm at the joint and forcing it towards the sky. He watched as the training weapon went sailing harmlessly over his head, but flinched as he felt himself be struck across the side of the face.
...What?
Richter took a step back in surprise as his defending arm shot to his jaw. What just happened? He’d seen Mana’s strike miss him, he knew it hadn’t connected, so why did it still feel like he got struck? The warrior lowered his hand from his aching cheek. Damn, that stung like hell!
The warrior looked back at Mana, taking a second to recollect himself. Wait, he knew what this was. He’d heard stories of it from fellow mercenaries back in the day. There was a technique certain swordsman utilized, notably Sacaen ones, where the combatant focused their internal energy, or their qi as they called it, on the edge of their blade, creating a phantom sword that could strike alongside their physical one. Some fighters would use it to maximize the effectiveness of a sure strike, doubling or even tripling the force of an attack on weakened point, but others could separate the blades at the last moment, hitting spots where the physical weapon was otherwise incapable of reaching. Richter must have redirected Mana’s attack, but not enough to completely evade the ghosted follow-up.
A low chuckle escaped Richter’s lips. Mana had managed to get the first hit in. Very well done. Had he underestimated her? Maybe, but to attribute this success solely to that would be an insult. The Sacaen had skill, and the Ilian would acknowledge that. “You got me,” he said, taking a step towards the girl. He slowly lowered himself into a squared stance, abandoning his casual one. “Now let’s see if you can do it again.”
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Post by Mana on Sept 16, 2014 4:16:06 GMT -6
Mana retreated almost at the same time when the Ilian stepped back.
"That was close..." she thought as she exhaled. Mana stared at Richter with confidence from her successful attack. However, the Sacaen swordswoman had been seriously scared when the commander had caught her arm. How could he do that? Not only that he had read through her tricky block, he had even managed to react in time to her follow-up strike. Mana grinned, savoring her small victory from drawing the first blood in this match. But she wasn't getting cocky. She understood that if she had used a normal strike, without natural energy blade, Richter would have had her completely vulnerable within his range, like a mouse inside a lion's jaw. She was lucky that time. "I guess I couldn't use that defense trick again huh? Well, maybe only once more..." she thought as she corrected her footing.
The swordswoman took another step back when the Ilian approached her. Using two-handed grip this time, she faced the incoming Winter Lion with a wide grin. "I will do it as many times as you like," she boasted. Overconfident? Maybe. Sure landing a blow against him wouldn't be an easy task but Mana believed she could do it, although she also noted that the chance wasn't very high. That blow seemed to make him serious now, intimidating indeed but also made this fight even more entertaining, at least for a duel-freak like Mana. "Here I come!"
Like before, Mana charged toward him like a thunder. This time she added another feint by running zig-zag to confuse Richter's judgement. Her energy flow into the wooden sword again as she swung it upward, aiming to hit Richter on his jaw. Using qi sword or natural energy sword twice in row was exhausting but the Sacaen wanted to exploit it before Richter could come up with a countermeasure.
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Post by Richter Abend on Sept 19, 2014 18:03:37 GMT -6
"Not this time!" shouted Richter in response as Mana began charging him yet again. This time she spiced things up with a serpentine bob and weave, but by now, after dealing with two of her attacks already, the Ilian warrior had begun to read into her style. She liked to move a lot, impressing her opponents with her speed, but the extraneous movement was simply to distract her enemy from reading into her very straight forward attacks. A lesser opponent wouldn't be able to follow her feints, and would find themselves tripping over their own feet, but Richter was no lesser opponent.
The warrior took a deep breath as he braced for the swordswoman's attack, bringing his sword across his midsection to parry the her upward slash, but upon doing so he grew still, reaching deep into the energy within himself. Richter had never been known for his subtlety, but when you had been fighting as long as the Ilian had, you learned a few tricks along the way that extended beyond "slice" and "chop". The second Richter felt the edge of Mana's weapon strike the flat of his own, he responded by swinging outwards and parrying Mana's cut. Then, with the girl's blade forced out of the way, Richter roared, emanating qi from his body. The air around him immediately grew heavy.
Daunt, as it was commonly called among the mercenaries, was the art of releasing one's natural energy from one's body to interfere with the senses of one's opponents, slowing and dizzying them. Unlike the technique that Mana was using, which required finesse and good control over one's qi, the strength of one's daunt was tied solely to the power of one's body, which made it a popular technique among the elite warbands of Ilia as Ilian mercenaries were war machines of strength and endurance honed by repeated battles.
With his aura flying into the face the Sacaen while his arm was already in perfect position for a counter-strike, Richter stepped forward and sliced inward with a fast, powerful blow aimed right at Mana's vulnerable side. With real swords, this would be a killing blow, the kind of strike that spilled a foe's guts across the ground, but with wooden swords, this would only break a rib or two at most.
Mana should have known what she was getting in to when she challenged the Winter Lion.
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Post by Mana on Sept 21, 2014 16:02:39 GMT -6
"Tsk..." Mana seemed displeased when Richter parried her attack by simply putting strong defense followed by a swing. "I wasted my qi..." she thought, gritting her teeth. Her wooden sword almost left her grip as her arm was thrown away by the impact of their weapons clashing. It seemed she really couldn't compete with him in term of strength. This was like fighting Wyatt with better swordplay, although the blacksmith's strength was stronger. But this range was perfect for the swordswoman so she refused to retreat again. Glaring at Richter, she planned to quickly feint and then dash to behind him. The Sacaen believed that it would be very difficult even to the famous Winter Lion to catch up with her fast movement in this close range.
That was the plan. But Richter had some clever trick...
Suddenly, the scene before her eyes became warped irregularly. Things started randomly moving and exploding in extreme pace. Mana blinked when she felt a painful sensation inside her head as the dizziness attacked her. What was happening? She didn't recall getting hit in the head or sustaining some damage that might cause this sensation. Was it an old injury from her fight in Bern? Probably not. That was a simple brain concussion, the doctor had explained that much. So why? What had caused this buzzing sound that pierced her eardrum? As if she had gotten petrified, the agile Maiden of The Blade was forced to stop by the pressure from Richter's energy burst.
This time, again, Mana showed the great willpower that had been her trademark and probably her strongest weapon. She managed keep glaring at the Ilian commander despite having fuzzy sight and headache caused by Daunt. Unfortunately, her willpower seemed to be not enough to completely repel the effect of Richter's Daunt. This man was truly frightening. Although the Sacaen was already too late when she realized the incoming blow, which was impossible for her to dodge, she wouldn't let him finish him with this attack. The next movement was done almost without thinking, guided mostly by Mana's battle instinct. If it was impossible to dodge then she would just receive his attack but also tried to give the opponent some damage.
Mana boldly leapt forward. She heaved her head backward and then launched it toward Richter, trying to headbutt him. Of course she was much slower because of Daunt so this desperate stunt would probably fail.
Regardless her headbutt was a success or not, the wooden sword hit her side. Her slender body was thrown away by the blow along with some painful sound of broken ribs from the spot where the blow landed. Mana bounced two times and rolled on the grass until she stopped a few meters from Richter. They didn't have many spectators but few people had come to watch the intense sparring, they were probably interested by both fighters' high level movements. Some of them gasped when Mana lied helpless on the ground, breathing hardy and having blank stare.
"What just happened? Oh, I see...So he really got me there. Nice...As expected of Richter the White Lion....or Winter Lion? I can't really remember. Anyway, I am starting to feel it...the pain. Probably one or two of my ribs got broken..."
She grinned, a small trail of blood flowing out of her mouth.
Still a little dizzy but it wouldn't stop her. Mana slowly got up to her feet, stabbing the wooden sword to the ground to support her shaking legs. The effect from that blow wouldn't disappear soon. "Nice one....How do you do that trick? The one that messed my head?" she asked, still breathing hardly. The fire in her eyes hadn't died yet, those glare still directed to the Ilian like a wild beast. "But this match isn't over yet..." she added. The Sacaen raised her sword in defensive stance, planning to stall time until she recovered enough. "Don't stop just because I am injured a little. This is nothing..." A bluff. The broken ribs hurt a lot.
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Post by Richter Abend on Sept 22, 2014 10:56:08 GMT -6
Richter knew Mana had a stubbornness to her, but he hadn't expected the Sacaen to be this persistent. With her side wide open and her movements bogged down by his aura, he'd thought she'd at least back off and try to mitigate what damage she could, but she instead decided to try and get one last hit in. It was impressive, and somewhat admirable, but it was stupid. The girl, as small as she was, would already have trouble putting enough power into a last second headbutt to cause Richter any real damage, but under his aura it was practically impossible.
So the Ilian warrior ignored Mana's fruitless attempt and followed through with his own killing stroke. The result was visceral and damaging. He could feel the crack of the swordswoman's ribs as wood struck flesh, the reverberation of the blow traveling all the way up his arm and into his shoulder. Richter himself almost winced at the hit, but followed through nonetheless, watching Mana as she went tumbling backwards. For a second, as she lay on the ground, the pink haired Ilian wasn't sure if he'd done even more damage than expected. If she hadn't been so over committed to seeing her attack succeed in such a small way, she may have been able to at least soften the blow. She'd only made it worse, so Richter was relieved when she got to her feet. Hopefully she'd learn a lesson from this, because if his sword had been real, she wouldn't have gotten up.
Richter lowered his weapon. Mana's bravado was lost on him. He wasn't a novice; he knew when a fight was over. He could see it in her legs, although her eyes tried to hide it.
"Stop," he said, stabbing his sword into the ground as a sign that he was done fighting. If either of them had been more defensive fighters, this spar might have taken longer and been a bit safer, but when you had two combatants that were as all-in as the two of them were, the fight was bound to end in someone getting hurt. "I've won, you've lost. Fighting more will just make it worse." Richter didn't know if she'd listen to him, but he hoped she would. If she came at him again, he'd respond in kind, and with her side in the condition it was, it would take much more than a fist to make her buckle again.
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Post by Mana on Jan 15, 2015 13:32:36 GMT -6
"Hey...Hey...Don't stop the match when you are in the lead. That's a little sneaky, you know..." Mana enjoyed this match too much, she was unwilling to stop now. Maybe after a few more bouts. Taking her chance when Richter stood uninterested to continue, the Sacaen took her time recovering by controlling her breath and rubbing the sore spot. The pain wouldn't disappear for a while but at least she could wait until it was less hurting.
"I wonder if that time the dragon didn't appear maybe you and I would have had a match," she said. Mana quickly realized that she had just touched an sensitive subject, though. Her fighting spirit slowly disappeared as she stood there with her sword lowered, rubbing her head. "I talked too much. Sorry about that...." she apologized weakly looking away.
A little frustated, the girl let herself fall to the ground. It just felt nice to lie down after this exercise, especially that her side felt sore and aching. She put her hand above her eyes to cover them from the strong sunlight. Now this brought back memories. In the past, she often lied down on the grasses, exhausted and beaten, after training.
"Tch...I was planning to give him some good beating but look at me now..." The lost swordswoman sulked as she rested.
"I must admit that was fun...I guess you aren't just titles and fame. You hit harder than anyone I've ever faced, except Wyatt. He did me a lot harder," she remarked, looking at Richter. There was no hostility within her words, only respect for someone she had just fought with, someone who she had acknowledged. "And...that last trick...Care to tell me how you did that?" That was like magic but Mana knew it wasn't.
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