Sundown Duel

With the barren nature of the arena, distraction would pose no issue and her eyes focused intensely enough on her opponent that one could swear she was attempting to bore holes into his very being. She silently stood across from Mordane, clad dominantly in white with no armor in sight save for a peculiar white jacket lined with gold trimming that she wore over her traditional Chinese attire. Within her right hand was her jian that she held at rest with its tip facing earthward.

Supinating right her wrist and loosening her grip upon her weapon, she allowed the force of the supination to shift her sword into a single, twirling flourish before she grasped it and extended her right arm toward her adversary to point her weapon. Simultaneously, she shifted to face to her left to reduce her target area while the index and forefingers of her left hand were held across her lower back in an opening stance that indicated that she was ready.

With no spectators in the stands and no time limit constraining their match, she could take all the time that she needed and would start off slow. First, there were some key things that she needed to assess: one being his speed of reflexes. Others, she had already made an assumption herself. His choice of weapon was one fitting for a knight and, while she was trumped in range, she was certain that she'd have the advantage in speed and precision where she'd possibly be able to get two or three moves in before his one. However, his one move would surely have some formidable force... force that she wouldn't underestimate. There was also the problem of his armor, though even armor had its weaknesses.

With a deep exhalation of breath, she steadied her mind and watched her opponent as he advanced albeit slowly. Opting to do the same, she planted her right foot at the forefront and pressed off with enough force to agitate the sandy terrain and kick up a small plume of dust while she simultaneously sprinted. Aiming to place Mordane within the range of the tip of her blade, she'd slow herself and attempt to execute a three-stroke volley; two of those strokes being diagonally skyward and beginning from her bottom right to her upper left before curving about to start again from her bottom left to her top right in a horizontal figure eight.

Both of the strokes would cut against the ground at their beginnings in an effort to kick up sprays of dust particles each time she rose her blade in an attempt to spray sand through Mordane's visor to dwindle his sightfor her last stroke would have Kristall chambering her arm at her right for only a fraction of a second before she pronated her wrist and thrust forth toward her opponent's solar plexus.

Feeling her strikes shift off course, she kept with the flow of movement until she felt the friction of his armor and registered his movement. Weighing her options, an evasion would open her guard and he could press the attack, which meant the would have to perform a irregular response. As his pommel came down, her she'd supinate her wrist while shifting her right arm to her left to bypass the pommel as well as bear the cutting edge of her blade toward Mordane's wrists. Intending to raise her arm and, in turn, her opponent's sword arm, she hoped to expose his torso, twist herself to her left, and raise her right leg in a side-ward kick toward his abdomen.

Even though Mordane had his armor and a physical hit could harm someone, her significantly lengthened training had made the repercussions of striking something as hard as armor nonexistent and she'd release a formidable amount of concussive force that could stagger him from her position and put some distance between them if contact was made.

The strike was a sacrifice to make as it was a better alternative than being set off balance if she chose to evade. With her chosen jacket, the movement of her blade, as well as the kick offsetting her opponent, the full power of his blade would be dispersed into a swipe against her person from his backward movement. Due to the wards dulling their weapons, blood would not be drawn, but the weight of such a weapon was still unpleasant. Now that she managed to put distance between them, she'd be able to regain her bearings.

Shifting her left foot to her forefront, she brought her left hand over to grasp the hilt of her blade in a dual-handed hold, twisting her prominent, right wrist to her left to angle her weapon horizontally in order to point its tip toward her adversary once more.

Granted a moment of rest, her eyes narrowed when she discovered that her opponent began his slow advance yet again, but didn't initiate an attack. With this in mind, she exhaled a mild sigh and her overall exterior became casual as her stance discontinued to a neutral stare with her right hand grasping her weapon in a relaxed hold at her right side. It was then that she began to advance slowly toward her opponent as well, but stepped off to her right in a slight strafe.

Closing the distance, she twirled her weapon in leisure flourishes, before grasping it once more and launching herself forward with her right foot. Intending to place herself within striking range like before, she'd step off to her right once again while advancing, hoping to place herself at his left as she turned toward her left in an attempt to execute a light, horizontal stroke toward the head of her adversary before curving her blade about to her right, should the stroke go unimpeded. If it continued, she'd supinate her wrist and repetitively thrust her weapon forward in a trio of quick lunges toward the same area as her initial strike.

Considering that she stepped off toward her opponent's flank, the positioning would have given her plenty of time to react even if she chose to continue her assault, especially when he chose to angle himself during her advance. With this in mind, she'd shift into her swing to her left and guide her blade on an intercept course with his own as she was forced to change her target. Her opponent's weapon was more powerful, but she wouldn't be meeting it head on entirely. Instead, she'd use the bottom-most portion of her weapon to initiate a brief lock, tilting her wrist back to have his blade slide along hers where its force could be diffused.

With a shove of her blade hand, Kristall aimed to parry the weapon before turning to her right and grasping her weapon with both hands to guide it across in a horizontal swing toward Mordane's left underarm.

Witnessing his quick motion, she felt the familiar resistance of steel and caught sound of the metallic shrill as their blades clashed. Fortunately, her strike was enough to off-set her opponent and she would press this advantage by pursuing him and curving her blade back to her right side after her strike to chamber it. Lunging her weapon forward, her arm moved akin to a piston and aimed to execute a flurry of five quick jabs of her blade that didn't aim to make contact, but were made to upset his balance even further before she slid her right foot forward and lowered herself into a sudden dip.

Guiding her blade from her left to her right, she intended to execute a wide, sweeping stroke against Mordane's legs in an attempt to completely rob his balance should her offense made contact.