Chapter 135: 133 Duel: Monsters

The first thing Titanyana did was take a step back from blade, her momentum changing from forwards to backwards in an instant. It was an instinctual reaction, but it proved to be correct. His grip, for only a moment, slipped in his hands, extending his range by a considerable margin.

'There it was.'

Titanyana recognized this as his 'trick'. One of them at least. If he had come to the conclusion that was a valid tactic based on her introduction to the crowd alone, then Titanyana might have to think seriously about how she approached. Teaching something to Donovan was desirable, but her ultimate goal was victory.

Victory was, much to her chagrin, looking to be a fairly difficult thing to accomplish. That little trick was easy, even if pulling it off in a window that wouldn't give her time to react was a bit harder. It did not reveal the true depths of his skill, which was going to be the real yardstick for her shot at victory, but she hadn't yet played any of the cards in her hand.

He had surprises, but so did she. At least she hoped she did. It was always possible that this person had fought against an individual with a similar level of experience as her, and revealed some of those tricks. Hopefully 'chasing' was secret that hadn't been disclosed yet.

Hopefully it was a secret only Titanyana knew.

Life would become a lot more difficult if someone managed to find an easy counter, not that she had any idea how they would go about that. She was taking advantage of her opponent's momentum, something not so easily dissipated despite her own performance owing entirely to the weapon's weight.

Whatever the case though, Titanyana was going to have to be careful of the range her opponent was displaying, and any potential ranges he could fight at with his lance.

Her thinking done, for now, she began to circle her opponent. As usual, she was looking for peculiarities in his stance, weaknesses she could take advantage of or strengths she should avoid. Once she made a full circle in one direction, she walked the other. Her opponent remained calm, this was a common tactic for swordsmen to familiarize themselves with their target's stance, and lunging would only invite an assault.

Titanyana might look like she was in easy striking distance, but couldn't be further away in his eyes. She was fast, faster than he could probably ever dream of achieving while holding on to a lance, so dodging would be easy for her.

- - - - -

"What's she doing?" Donovan had leaned over to Wall while Titanyana circled in order to get some commentary. He didn't have much idea of how to duel beyond the low-level stuff, so this was new to him. "I've seen her do it before, but I don't know what it is."

"I'd like to say she's looking for weak points, but she could also be trying to unnerve her opponent."

"Unnerve them?"

"Yeah. It works against the more insecure individuals who think they have a weakness they haven't fully concealed, but I don't think that'll work here. The guy seems too confident."

"I see. . ." Donovan watched on in apprehension as Titanyana turned around. Her stride was steady, slow, and stable, ready to turn into a combat stance at the drop of a hat.

Her ear flicked, a sign to Donovan that she had seen something, though maybe not to her liking.

- - - - -

'He doesn't move his feet as often as he should.'

That was all Titanyana could come up with, but that mistake should open up enough of a gap in his response for her to make a dive. It still bothered her though, the fact that this was everything she could see, because it meant that the only mistake this person was making in regards to their stance was the rate at which they turned to face her. It could be entirely attributed to his lance too, probably a bit longer and heavier than he was used to.

She was going to have to make this quick, if at all.

Without warning, Titanyana started walking the other way around him, not only to confirm her suspicions but to prepare for her attack. If she was going to pull it off, it would have to be as her opponent opened his stance slightly. He wouldn't have as much power bringing the lance back out in front of him, which promised to be the problematic portion of her run. 

'One, two, three, now. One, two, three, now. One, two, three, now.'

She was counting how many steps she needed to take to force that small opening, the ever so slight step of adjustment. The foot would only be in the air for a fraction of a fraction of a second, a time where her opponent would be unable to properly react, but it should be all the time she needed.

'One, two, three, NOW!'

She opened up by slapping the tip of her opponent's lance away from her along the direction her opponent was stepping. This, hopefully, would cause some further overextension, but the primary objective was to buy her a bit of time and space. Time she would use to close that space. 

In the time it took for her opponent to recover, she had already ran up close to a fourth of the lance's total length, but her opponent wasn't stupid. The instant he noticed her assault, he pulled the lance back with his less dominant hand to increase leverage and keep the blade firmly at Titanyana's distance. He was also swinging of course, but he was off-balance. This maneuver had well and truly surprised him, and he was struggling to regain his control.

Titanyana, on the other hand, merely ducked under this oncoming blade and put more energy into her legs, energy which she used to chase the pole of the lance as she kept advancing.

It was at this moment that any experienced fighter would recognize that this duel was over, Titanyana had won. For a lance of this length she was too close and too fast to counter. He couldn't bring the pole into a position to block, and he couldn't get the leverage to make a meaningful strike.

All Titanyana had to do was take that extra step, and she drove her sword straight through her opponent's ribcage.

- - - - -

When faced with an opponent with a trick up their sleeve, the best course of action was to not let them try it. Letting them give it a shot was playing into their hand. Titanyana was fine with not knowing what her opponent had in store, she had just defeated him. Those tricks were no longer a problem, at least in the immediate.

Tremendous applause met her ears as she was returned to her circle, though she could very clearly hear some 'boo'-s and jeers. This man was almost certainly a crowd favorite.

Was this an 'upset'? When a weaker or unknown combatant defeats the one favored to win? Maybe, but Titanyana knew she didn't like it. It was too loud here, especially for her sensitive ears. Eager to return to the levee, she bowed to her opponent and turned around. It might have been a bit rude that she didn't wait for her opponent's return gesture, but she didn't care for it. If he hated her, so what? She had already won.

This time the entire levee was applauding, even the helmsman, as she ascended the ramp.

- - - - -

"What did you think of her, Kiblym?" One of the men on the opposing levee didn't even bother to offer Kiblym his condolences over his loss. Losing was something that happened all the time in the field of battle, sympathizing with someone who lost was more condescending than anything.

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"She's fast, but that's about it." Kiblym shrugged. He lost fair and square, but he didn't think his opponent's combat style was particularly difficult to comprehend. "So long as you can keep up you should be fine."

"And how hard will that be?"

"I don't think anyone in our squad would be able to handle her, no offense." He gestured apologetically towards a certain individual, his squad leader.

"What of the other squads?"

Kiblym took a second to think. "I can think of maybe three or four in our entire army."

"Damn."

The squad fell silent. Kiblym was their best solo combatant by a fair clip, and he had the most experience. He was the one to go to when you wanted to judge someone's general combat ability.

"Those damn Holifanians and their monsters. Where did they get this one from again? Nekh? Is that one of their protectorates or subjects?" The squad leader finally spoke up, ruffling his hair in annoyance. He, much the same as every other army, was beginning to get fed up by the Holifanian's supremacy. Right now they were in second because there had only been individual and squad level tournaments. Once the regiment level competitions started they would once again ascend to their number one position.

"I don't recall there being a nation like that."

". . . What are the chances we could draw her to our side?" Kiblym, eyes still closed, started thinking out loud. "Surely she'd have a price if she isn't bound by a subject relationship, right?"

"We'd still have to wait until next year though."

More silence, more thinking.

"The second army promises to dominate this year as well. We should focus on giving ourselves that chance next year."

"Are you saying we just give up?"

"On first place, yes. Let's be honest, it just isn't going to happen for us. Forget the Holifanians, we have the other three empires to deal with."

"So just focus on building strength for next year, right?"

"That's what I had in mind."

The squad leader squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. "I'll bring it up with the general."

- - - - -

"Was that 'chasing'?" Where the other levee was discussing the future of their army, Donovan was much more interested in what Titanyana had done. He was sure that it was 'chasing', but he needed to hear it from the horses mouth.

"Mm. I wanted to show you more, but he was too good to draw it out. I needed to end the match there if I wanted to win."

Donovan understood. He wanted to learn, she wanted to teach, but both of them wanted her to win even more than that. Winning was good for her, there was a reward she would receive for performing well, but the primary objective was to draw good press. If she could get some more help evacuating her people, even just one or two more ships, then it would be worth it.

"I see. Well, your matches are probably only going to get more difficult from this point on, so don't even bother with trying to teach me something from them." Donovan didn't want to be a burden to her. "I still might ask some questions though. Prioritize your matches, I'm sure I can strike up conversation with Len and Wall in the mean time."

Titanyana nodded. She was interested in teaching him right now, but there really wasn't anything that would match his level of skill. When was he going to fight someone who could pull that sort of slipping lance trick? When was he going to fight someone who would need to use that against him? Not any time soon, that was for sure.

Her conversation with Donovan finished, perhaps for the rest of the tournament, Titanyana moved towards the butler-esque man.

"Could I please get something to drink?"

"Hm? Oh of course madam. Would you prefer something alcoholic? Something fruity? A tea, perhaps?"

The tips of her ears pointed outwards as she furrowed her eyebrows. Alcohol? Did people really drink before fighting? In a tournament? Wasn't that a bad idea?

"I think I'll just have a water, for now."

"A water? Very well. Would you like anything to eat alongside it?"

Titanyana shook her head. Food would weigh her down. Food would make her lethargic. She could handle a little hunger, but she needed water to replace what she was losing to sweat. Even if it evaporated before it drenched her clothing, she knew she was losing it.

"I see. You may take a seat if you so please. I will bring your water out shortly." 

Titanyana watched the man go to the back of the levee, behind the helmsman, and open up a small hatch in the floor. It was a curious design, but she guessed it didn't need to be watertight. Rain wasn't much of an issue, and the levee clearly never rested in water. Titanyana thanked the butler for the water, and began to sip it slowly.

As the feeling of water flowing down her throat calmed her nerves she looked towards Donovan, who was sitting with his eyes close. She was grateful for him, both for the salvation, however partial, he promised her people, as well as giving her the chance to fight like this. Seated like this, her legs were shaking, but it wasn't fear. There wasn't any tension in them, nor was there any desire to run away. Titanyana was thankful for the chance to fight.

For once in her life, Titanyana was having fun.

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