“Yes, that’s the Imperial Standard Blade CQC,” replied Talyss. “It’s taught to every Drogar that’s gone through military training. It’s kind of a… culmination of traditional combat arts developed across different schools, and combined to make the ‘ultimate knife combat’ style.” “But?” “It’s extrem
She felt the soil on her fingertips, along with the blood that pumped up and down her arms. She smelled the grass that was all around, along with the taste of copper in her throat. She heard the sound of the breeze as it wound between the trees, along with the sounds of her own heavy breaths. And a
Cheers erupted from the stands as duelists cut each other to ribbons on the arena floor below. Fresh blood splattered down across the fighting rings, and clumped up from the sand surrounding. With slightly labored breaths, Eva adjusted her stance as she reassessed her opponent. There were a number
Every cycle she spent practicing her dances, her breathing, her Ascendant Form - it felt as though she was finally coming onto her own. This is what she was meant to be. And more. Eva twirled her blade in her hand as she took a few wide steps around her opponent. She wanted to give her a moment t
She upped the tempo of her beats bit by bit. Her steps became harder, faster, more decisive as she expertly danced around the Drogar’s attacks. Eva allowed herself to sink into her dance, to fall into her beat, to allow her trait to guide her blade. Every step and spin and parry and dodge got her
With her blade high in the air, Eva swung it down with incredible power. Her slash tore at the air in front of her and headed straight towards her opponent’s head. But before it could get there, it was stopped by her opponent’s beltknife. Though her opponent was able to parry her decisive blow, he
“I’m guessing that’s a bad thing? I’m not much for games of chance. I prefer to play games that I can influence, that I can control. Much more fun that way.” Gravoss threw his hands in the air and replied with exasperation in his voice. “Of course it’s bad!” he said. “Most fighters climb slowly an
Alevos turned towards her and shrugged slightly. “Just how things are,” he replied. “The lower the odds, the more confidence in the duelist. Absolute winners have fractions of odds. 0.03 to 1, for example. Their payouts are abysmal.” “But we don’t have to get there,” added Szereth. “We can still k