Chapter 134: 132 Duel: Two out of Eight

"You tucked in under his arm there, what was that about?" Donovan started with a question, he wanted to know what she was thinking when she fought. "You could have attacked him there, but you didn't. Why?"

Titanyana smiled, a rare occurrence for her, but she was so giddy inside that it bled through. The fact he could even tell she had done something there meant two things to her. The first was that his own ability to perceive and pick out important details in a high-speed engagement was improving. The second was the fact that she was able to tone down her movements enough to make it clear that there was indeed something there she wanted him to see.

She had managed to communicate something without speaking, quite the achievement for her, even if she had done something like it before.

"It was to demonstrate that there are locations where people can't really hit you unless they move. In that position I was below and behind his sword arm, well inside the range of his sword but in a position where he would need to move a considerable amount in order to actually hit me." 

Titanyana stood up and brandished her sword, demonstrating how she had to twist and turn in order to hit the chair, which was in a similar position to where she was.

"In addition, they would also have to step away from you in order to get any meaningful power behind the strike."

Titanyana once again demonstrated what she meant. This time, the foot nearest the chair stepped backwards, turning her torso as she whipped her sword across as fast as she could along in front of her waist. She missed the chair, intentionally of course, but the draft the swing caused made it rattle.

It was fast, but not nearly as fast as many of Titanyana's other strikes.

"The idea behind getting there is that they can't get that strike off in the first place. Not only can't they attack here, they are also incredibly vulnerable. Most races have vital organs in that area of the body so most attacks you can get off will do pretty heavy damage. My guess is that your fists and elbow strikes could probably prove fatal as well."

Donovan nodded, demonstrating his attention and understanding. Just based on Terran anatomy he could see the damage he could do. Accomplished martial artists back home could reasonably be expected to break someone's ribs if they got a good punch off there, so what might he be able to do with split? Ruptured organs wouldn't be off the table, so the internal bleeding was liable to be heavy.

"Unfortunately, there aren't many of these positions, and they are pretty hard to get to. The back is a pretty reliable one, just because most people can't reach it easily, but underneath the sword-arm as well as being to the off-hand side for people wielding single handed weapons, as well as being close to the chest to the chest of someone using two handed or a particularly long single-handed weapon are pretty reliable spots as well."

"Why do there? I mean I get the deal with the single handed weapons, swords and daggers, it's just hard to reach those areas, but why the chest for people using both hands?"

Titanyana looked around for a bit, trying to find something long and pole-like to use as a prop. Not finding any, and assuming she would have a fair bit of time between now and her next fight, she unbuckled her scabbard. She didn't have gloves that she could use to grab her blade, they would be too heavy for her, so she need to keep it covered in some other way.

"The long and short is that it is difficult to hit someone this close to your chest when you have to keep both hands on your weapon." She started to move and angle the scabbard around in front of her, trying to get a 'sharp bit' an imaginary distance away from the sword tip close to her. "Lancers won't be able to get their tips this close and any hammer, axe, or great sword wielders can't get any leverage if they try to attack you here."

Donovan tried to mirror what she was doing with her scabbard, looking to the sky in a bid to imagine what it might be like. He hadn't been given the chance to wield anything but a lance and an axe, even those were a long time ago on the Oberlux, but he could see how it would be hard to get the weapon in a position to do damage. The best he could think of was to not use the weapon, just throw an elbow or a knee. He stood up and approached Titanyana.

"I know what getting hit by you feels like normally, can you demonstrated the difference here? I want to know what to expect."

He crouched down a bit, getting to about the level he would expect to be. This, both unfortunately and awkwardly, meant he was abut head height with Titanyana.

"Mkay?" This was a little confusing for her. Donovan could be considered a little eccentric when it came to training examples, but he had never actually asked her to hit him. "Should I just-" holding it close to her chest like she might a lance, she pushed it out and away, "-or more like-" she brought it down from above, like she was holding some sort of large sword or axe. "-?"

"Both."

Both . . . So he wanted to get hit not once, but twice, maybe more?

"O-okay? Are you sure?"

"Just do it."

Donovan was waiting, patiently if Titanyana was to describe him. She obliged, obediently, bringing her scabbard in front of her. 

puh

It was pretty heavy, easily enough to knock him off his feet if he was standing up, but it didn't really hurt. That might have been more a function of Titanyana's body though, that and she wasn't used to that sort of motion.

"Not that bad." Don stepped back once more. "Again, the other way this time."

Titanyana frowned. She didn't know if she should have taken that comment as a backhanded insult, but she wasn't about to make a fuss about it. Donovan was a tough nut to crack, after all.

pah

This time it came from above, both of her hands close to one end of the scabbard. She couldn't get as much power into it as she would a normal swing, but it was still pretty strong.

"Mrrph. Good hit!" Donovan rolled his shoulders. He didn't want to take a blow like that, but it was better than getting slashed open. "Anything else I should know?"

Titanyana thought about it. If she was to say anything else right now, it should probably be related, right?

"While these positions are good guidelines and are . . . fairly constant, there are more reliable positions. The only problem is that they move with relation to your opponent's weapon."

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"What do you mean?"

"Well, it can be pretty hit someone with the blade of your sword if they are in a certain position relative to where your sword currently is." She moved to the right of Donovan, assuming the position she would if she had just stabbed. "It's pretty difficult to change from a stab to a slash, especially when your opponent is so close to your blade, which is something you can use to your advantage. These opportunities don't last very long though, only as long as it takes for them to draw their blade back to a defensive position, but you can get out of a bind if you play it right."

Titanyana handed her sword to Donovan.

"I'm sure you noticed how I approached Zhoie when she went for wide, sweeping attack, right?"

"Yeah, it looked like you followed her spears."

"Mm. I call it 'chasing', and it is a god way for someone like me, who focuses on speed but lack's range, to close the distance with an enemy that has longer reaching weapons. Go ahead, swing it and try to hit me on the backswing."

Donovan, for only a moment, looked apprehensive. That was, of course, until he realized who he was dealing with. This was Titanyana, someone who closed with and dispatched an enemy in five seconds while taking the time to show him an example of what he could do to improve. He was someone who couldn't use split, she would be fine.

Donovan swung Titanyana's blade. For an instant she fell backwards, getting slightly outside of Don's range while building power in her back leg. The instant it was far enough away for her to chase, she shot off towards it. She could have gone straight for Donovan, he was close enough and slow enough for it, but that wasn't the point. Keeping a good distance behind the tip of the blade, she dipped down a bit once Donovan managed to get it going back towards her. It was only enough to not get cut, but it served its purpose. Now the blade was headed away from her and she was clear to approach.

"Like that."

"Alright everybody, we are heading to the second match!" The helmsman had already pulled up the ramp, and the levee was heading in a new direction.

"Hmm. Maybe I'll demonstrate for you."

- - - - -

Lucky lucky Titanyana, her next opponent walked off of their levee holding a lance - a longer variant at that! Well, maybe it was Donovan who was the lucky one, either way he would learn something from this match, but there was always the chance this foe could overpower Titanyana in the field of combat.

"Good luck!" "Go get 'em."

A few cheers of encouragement from her compatriots as she walked out to her circle.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, in the white circle is a warrior from a special squad in the second army, Titanyana Strapper!" A different voice this time, but equally as loud. "Hailing from the Kingdom of Nekh, she wields a sword and was notable in the preliminaries for her quick dispatch of her opponents. Even her first match, her debut match might I add, was won by her in short order. Of course, this is her first tournament! Be sure to show her your support!"

More yelling and cheering, from the crowd. Was there some tradition where individuals in their first tournament were applauded or something?

"And in the black ring, hailing from a squad in the forty-seventh army, Kiblym Styres!" The good-looking man lazily waved towards the crowd as he walked forward. Judging from the screams of some of the female members of the audience, he was a frequent flier. There was no other explanation for their enthusiasm. "Hailing from the Sqroitif Empire, he wields a lance and has, what many experts say at least, an elegant style of combat. With a total 'Final 8 Tournament' record - so far - of 278 wins to 123 losses in his four years at the academy, this is his 51st time reaching the Final 8!"

The crowd went wild at this. Titanyana had no idea what this meant to them, but most of the people up there probably knew him.

"Are both of you ready?" The enforcer, the signal for Titanyana to refocus.

"Of course."

"Mhm."

"Keep your extremities inside the ring and prepare to fight on my mark. All good?"

"No, wait. Sorry. I need to get my lance in place."

The enforcer paused. Of course he couldn't hold his lance the way he wanted while keeping it in the circle when it was that long. 

"I am prepared, sir." He was still jostling his grip about a bit, but he still nodded his head to the enforcer.

"Very well. Remember, on my mark. Three, two, one, GO!"

Once and as always, Titanyana shot from her position. Her opponent also moved forward, though not as fast as she might have expected.

Now was a good time to analyze him, to see what trick he might be hiding. His grip of his lance, for one, could be described as 'neutral'. It wasn't in an aggressive position, a grip where he tried to extend his range as much as possible, but it wasn't defensive either, a position where the hands were equidistant from the lance's center of mass in order to give it the greatest leverage.

He wasn't an idiot. He could tell she was fast, so he wasn't going to over extend and hand her the chance to close. He was already setting up to take her assault head on. However he was also confident, perhaps overconfident. Maybe it was just because he had misjudged Titanyana's speed, thinking this initial burst was all that she had to play with, but he was preparing to slash at her with the bladed at the tip.

He couldn't be doing that without a plan, could he?

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