Talc stood up.
"Go easy on her Talc. Dont take her by surprise too much." I laughed. I sat down on a rock and brought my knee up to rest my arm comfortably.
"No promises." Talc muttered.
I smiled again and sat to watch the show. I saw Solas stand next to me. His staff strapped to his back. I was studying it when I felt Varric flop down next to me.
"You picked a good seat Trouble. Time to enjoy the show."
"Indeed Master Tethras." I laughed. "Indeed."
My confident mischievous smile returned and I settled down and awaited the anticipated fight.
Talc strutted into the training field. Confidence oozing off her. This was going to be a good fight indeed. A hush waved over the crowd. Cassandra joined and turned to face her.
"Last chance to back out of the bet, Trouble." Varric whispered to me.
"Not a chance."
(Talc POV)
The noise was defeating as TinTin stepped into the ring. She was well liked by the crowd. I'd seen the bets changing hands.
Cassandra Pentagast, famous bloodline of dragon hunters, royalty even if 87 people would have to die for her to take the throne, commander, battle-hardened warrior. Crowd favorite to win. Melina had talked about TinTin during our training sessions in the fade. Melina really liked her too.
TinTin waved to the crowd and then set her eyes on me, daring me to come forward. I pushed my hands out and cracked my fingers, "challenge accepted" I muttered.
I was about to step into the arena when a small hand tugged at my belt. It was Taran
"Master!" She was shouting above the noise, but her voice was still too small and frail for me to hear. She was pulling a small wagon behind her. A large create was perched precariously on it.
"Pipsqueak! come to watch your master get her butt kicked?" I joked. She shook her head and gripped my hand in her two tiny ones, the most determined look in her eyes. I bent down to hear her words.
"Don't lose Master!" She cried. It was probably the most forceful she's ever been in her whole life. A massive smile forced its way to my face before I could stop it. I gave a happy sigh and tussled the hair on her head,
"Well, I can't very well shame my favorite servant now can I?"
Her little chest puffed with pride and she shook her head. She motioned to the crate.
"It's for you! From Robin!" I clapped my hand together. My shiny baby had arrived just in time! I tore the lid off the crate.
There, laid in hay and wrapped in soot covered cloth, was The most beautiful sword. Massive and absolutely gorgeous. It looked exactly like it had in the Fade.
It was a deep blue, almost black, blade that was nearly as long as I was tall and twice as wide. Like an oversized hunting knife, its tip curved sharply into a deadly point. The hilt was intricately carved with characters I didn't recognize. I hadn't designed that. I guess I'd have to ask Robin what they said if I got the chance. Unknown to anyone but me was a hollow space that ran up the spine of the knife. It housed a flexible coil of steel. My chain whip. There was a portion of the hilt that could be removed and it served as the grip for the whip. Two weapons in one.
I admired this sword. Robin had really shown the mastery of his craft. He was definitely wasted in a Hicksville like this. I started to pick it up and stopped. Melina might not like a Fade-touched blade attracting too much attention. I shredded the cloth it had come in and carefully wrapped it before taking it out.
I pressed my finger to its razor sharp edge. A small trickle of blood flowed out. With all eyes on Cassandra, I had a moment to enchant the cloth. I'd need it to stand up against some pretty serious slicing and dicing.
Foresight taught me to enchant items with my glyphs. To change and advance their properties. It was a lot easier than summoning a whole new item. The effect was always the same with enchanting. With summoning things from my database, the more complex the codes were to create an item, the more complex the corresponding glyph had to be.
I drew the bloody glyph quickly on the cloth that would harden it to a near stone-like construction. This would dull my cuts, but it's not like I needed to kill Cassandra.
"Then again..." I toyed with the idea but ultimately rejected it. I had once played Morrow Wind: The Elder Scrolls. I had played a solid month into the game and then accidentally killed one of the main story characters. The story stagnated and I never played the game again. Best to avoid that if I wanted to get home.
The glyph shimmered faintly and seeped into the cloth, hardening it as expected. I stood and gave the bandaged blade a swing. Perfect balance. Robin had included a shoulder harness for it so I could strap it to my back. The only way to carry such a sword.
After equipping it, I rummaged around in the box for two more items I had asked Robin for. I pulled out two leather bracers. These were the weapons I was most excited about. I strapped them on. To the naked eye, they just looked like fancy arm warmers, but Robin had fitted them with hidden blades. I had considered making them like the Assassins Creed blades, but opted for a slightly different variation.
Each bracer held a twin blade that could extend over the back of my hands like mutant X23's bone claws. The space constraint of mechanical claws made it the most efficient and comfortable arrangement. Each blade ran the length of my upper arm and stopped just short of my wrist so I could still bend my hand backwards. The bracers had steel plates that lay over the back of my hand to protect me from flaying my own skin during a fight.
I stood and started into the ring, giving Taran a salute as I walked away. She threw a weak punch, her strongest I'm sure, and nodded fiercely, trying to will me to victory. I tossed my hair. There's no way I was gonna lose to the rusty tin can.
As I entered the ring, the cheers stopped. I could hear the scattered whispers and final exchange of bets dying down in the crowd. I was sure the only bet in my favor was the one I had placed on myself. Cassandra had her sword and shield out, ready to fight. I left mine sheathed on my back. Rage had taught me hand to hand combat against armed opponents, I wanted to give it a try against TinTin.
Foresight had an entirely different approach to fighting. She had quietly whispered that 80-90% of fights could be won before the first punch was thrown. It was a battle of the mind. Make your opponent lose the will to fight, or compromise their ability to focus on the fight, and the battle was yours. To get them off balance from the beginning was key, the method didn't matter.
I was sure I could mind break Cassandra easily. She flew off the handle more than I did. She was a fiercely proud woman and not without reason. I'd attack her pride before I attacked her body. Pushing her buttons would be like shooting gimpy fish in a very small barrel with a shotgun.
She banged her sword on her shield. "Well, Qunari!? Draw your weapon! Don't fool yourself for a moment thinking I won't give you a thrashing just because you're the Herald's wet nurse!" She barked.
I said nothing. I slowly undid the harness straps and took it off, sword and all. I gave Cassandra a bored stare and made a great show of throwing the whole lot carelessly to the ground. The weighted harness hit the ground with a loud thud and a small poof of dirt.
A new surge of chaos rippled through the peanut gallery. I could hear more money tinkling as it exchanged hands.
"I think I came over dressed." I smirked.
I could see Tintin's eyes bulge from all the way across the arena.
"Take this seriously! There are lives at stake!" She bellowed.
Enraged, She rushed at me with her sword dragging behind for a swift kill. My eyes narrowed as I prepared myself. I refused to move.
It went against my aikido training, but this was the only way to pull off Burnout without making it obvious to everyone. Rage had warned me that using it continuously for more than ten minutes would totally destroy me. I'm sure a few seconds here and there would be just fine.
Cassandra was on me in a flash, her sword already on a path to slice my torso in half, but I had to wait till. The. Veery. Laaaast. SECOND! Cassandra's blade was a hair's width away from cutting me down to my original size.
I channeled my energy into every fiber of my being as Rage had taught me. The world suddenly sloooowed down. I was moving so much faster than everything else that Cassandra's blade seem to be moving through molasses.
It was brief, milliseconds even. To the outside eye it would have been completely unnoticeable, but I had all the time I needed to step out of the way. I released my technique and Cassandra flew by, completely off balance and my elbow in her face.
She stumbled before regaining her footing. "First blood goes to Lady Talc!" The announcer cried.
Cassandra turned, wiping the blood from her nose away, leaving a red smear mark across her face. A cacophony of sound erupted from the crowd. Cheering, boos, and more money.
"Is that the best the great Pentagast family can do?" I chided loudly, "How the mighty have fallen, TinTin."
"A lucky shot. I'll put an end to your tongue-wagging." Cassandra snarled as she lunged at me.
It was useless though. I was Spider-man and she was Flash the Sloth from Zootopia. The more wildly she swung her blade, the harder I was to hit. There was no lack of skill on her part. I was just too fast even though I had barely moved my place. I deflected her blows, her anger mounting with every shot she failed to land and with every kick that sent her stumbling backwards.
To add insult to injury, she was losing to an unarmed opponent.
I took advantage of every opening I created, landing kicks to her torso, Palm strikes to her chest. Her armor was heavy though and protected her from most of my attacks.
I had to break through that armor. I couldn't keep turning My technique on and off forever either. It was starting to take its toll. I was getting tired. She finally managed to trip me up. I stumbled to the ground and caught her knee with my face. She'd returned my Nosebleed with interest.
I managed to roll out of the way as her next thrust impaled the ground where I had been seconds before. I could see her gloating. She'd finally forced me to move.
The victory spurred her on. I was still on the ground when she came down like lightning from above.
She was nowhere near as intimidating as Rage, but I'd used up a good bit of stamina fooling around with my special technique. It would be an even fight from here on out.
I threw up my hands to block her strike. She would've gladly cut off my arms if not for the hidden blades that kept her steel at bay.
"Yield!" she yelled at me as she put her full weight behind her sword.
"I might if you had the upper hand." I grunted. I released the tiny switch on the bracers that allowed the blades to spring into action. They flew forward with a high-pitch "Shink!" It startled TinTin just enough for me to push her back with one arm as I brought the other around to slice at her legs.
The blades ripped through her leather greaves, but heavy armor kept it from being a debilitating blow. The blood and look on her face still told me it had hurt plenty.
"ARGH!" She yelled.
As she hobbled away, trying to bear the pain, I stood and admired the razor-sharp edges of my twin blades that were now sticky with her blood. It was time to end this. I'd have to get close.
I dipped my finger in blood on the blade and went for a sucker-punch as she tried to walk off the pain in her leg. I managed to smear a mark on her back. She swung her sword wide and forced me back, the blade cut across my naval. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to convince her to renew her efforts.
She tried to ram me with her shield, but I sidestepped. As she stumbled by, I smeared another mark on her back. She kicked backwards. But I leapt back and returned her kick with a strike to the side of her head. I missed as she ducked, but added another mark to the small, forming image on her back.
The completed glyph glimmered faintly before seeping into her armor and disappearing. She spun around, her sword leading the way. I guided it downwards into the ground, grateful it torn into the ground instead of me. Her spin came to a jarring halt as a third of the blade was forced into the dirt. Before she could pull the sword out I gave it a vicious stomp.
The sword snapped in half. Metal splinters went flying all around. She growled in frustration and brought her shield up to break my face. I pulled my arm back and prayed my brittle-glyph had worked as I landed a bone-shattering blow to her breastplate.
The armor crumbled, sparing my hand, and I made contact with the soft body inside. She went flying back amidst a rush of "oohs" and "ahs" from the crowd. I was on her sprawled form in a flash. I put my full weight on her bruised torso. She glared up at me. My twin blades came to rest with their razor edges over her neck. "Do you yield?"
"I yield." She spat.
"Good," I said digging into my pocket. I pulled out a few crumpled order forms from the forge. " looks like you'll be needing a new sword and extra armour." I chuckled.
I let the papers scatter over her body. "Guess you'll have to come to MY forge for some new ones." I laughed standing up.
I turned to the crowd, "Ten percent off your first purchase! Tell your friends!" I shouted raising my arms to their cheers. She let loose a frustrating growl and tore up the papers as I walked away victorious.