Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit, and being responsible for most of the highly choreographed duel between Eclair and Weiss. Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.
And of course, thanks to everyone who has favored, followed, and reviewed my story. I have never imagined a D list writer like myself would have a story that joins the 3K club of this site. Serious thanks to all of you guys!
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
"Bad form!" Screamed one of the guards, his thumb points down at Weiss. Obviously at her attempt to kill Éclair with a high level weapon art.
"You can do it, knight lass! Shown that southern flower the true northern spirit!" More guards joins together to give their support to Éclair.
It's rather presumptuous of the Whiterun's men to assume Éclair come from the north, simply because she isn't borderline exploiting the loophole of the two of them fighting in a free for all spar, and not a tightly monitored duel.
Granted, they are right as Éclair is the heiress of House Seatto. The High Lord of one of the two northern Melromarc province. But how the Whiterun guards automatically assumes northerner are more noble than the south rubs the princess the wrong way.
She releases her frustration with a deep breath and refocus her attention back to the duel again.
Weiss thrusted forward into a left swing, then a right slash into a parried slash - all while Eclair nonchalantly kept ducking and backstepping. (1)
Spinning to her left, Weiss attempted another failed thrust, along with a subsequent spinning right slash, blocked by the low guard of Eclair's sword.
Exerting her strength, Eclair lifted both blades up, forcing Weiss to parry the knight's spinning left overhead strike, failing to land a slash at her head soon after. (2)
With Weiss spinning to her left again, Eclair blocked a thrust at center mass, and ducked underneath a spinning slash in the other direction ...
… before Eclair decked the Schnee in the face, forcing her back with locked blades. (3)
Chapter 38: Honor For All
"Tired already, heiress?" Éclair's voice is even, more like a fencing instructor telling their student the flaw of their form than a combatant taunting her opponent to make them lose their cool. "You exposed your body multiple times with your spinning tricks. I'm a lot faster than you think. If I wasn't holding back, you would have more than a few cuts with the way you keep leaving yourself open and unguarded."
Mein is sure the Schnee girl will take this as gloating anyway. It's what she herself would take it as, if she's the one in her shoes.
Snarling with rage, Weiss proceeded to flash kick upward, pushing Éclair away through the momentum of her kick.
With Myrtenaster now in reverse grip, she found her blade intercepted with Eclair's offhand, forcing her to duck to the right to avoid the diagonal slash. (4)
The exchange between the two heiresses ends up with the knight manages to outlast through the merchant's furious assault, their swords crossed over their heads as they stared into each other's faces.
With locked blades, both ladies resorted to merely shoving in a show of brute strength. Éclair obviously has superior strength, as she easily pushes Weiss back. "There's no point in continuing, if you can't break through my defenses. You are only tiring yourself out."
Mein can't but shake her head at Éclair's show of mercy. The knight has the chance to end their duel right then and there with a well timed punch, or pommel strike to the Schnee's face. Yet she wasted her chance by simply breaking their deadlock, simply shoving her sabaton to the Schnee's solar plexus, sending the snow-haired scion sprawling across the surface.
Though Gundyr may be lost to the Wave, I am certain that he would be smiling from the heavens should he see that kick, Mein consolingly thought as Eclair readied herself for what Weiss would do next.
If the princess is sure of one thing, a prideful girl like Weiss won't back down after Éclair made her lose face in front of so many people. She herself certainly wouldn't.
"No more holding back then." Weiss scowls at Éclair. A gust of wind begins to surround her as she propels herself forward with its help. She closes their distance much quicker this time, forcing Éclair to finally move her feet as she strikes with greater strength and speed assisted by the wind.
Weiss then charges herself, spinning to her left to duck beneath Eclair's horizontal swing, cartwheeling past the next chop, spins to her left into a leap twice into two left slashes against Eclair's high guard, before darting forward with [Air Glide] to a strike towards Eclair's poleyns into a forward somersault.
Pirouetting into a left slash, Weiss launches from her bent stance - spinning to her right slash, into an overhead down slash, into a left slash, finally spinning into a right slash before launching herself up with [Air Glide] again, slashing up to knock Eclair's high guard off-balance. (5)
"Go, Big Sister Weiss go!" Cute cheered.
That said, being midair would slow her momentum, and both women knew what would happen next.
With an uneasy grimace, Weiss braced for impact, holding Myrtenaster in front to take the hit of Eclair's rightward swing, the sheer force of which sent the Schnee skidding on the floor with her high heels. Only when she evaded the following downwards chop with a one-handed handstand spinning cartwheel to her right, did she find herself time to breathe. (6)
The Seatto didn't let up, however, as she advanced upon the scion. That said, she felt tense in the spine, for she knew that Weiss was already hard to hit, given that her own choice of weapon and armor was designed to hide her identity, not to go face-to-face against a fancy, experienced fencer unencumbered by plating and chainmail.
Starting with a horizontal slash, Eclair spun around into a diagonal and vertical slash, making something that Naofumi recognized as a "4".
Huh, Mein thought. Now that you mention it, [Savage Fulcrum]'s trajectory reminds me of Naofumi's strange symbol from his world. I should inquire about this from him and the sword hero whenever I get the chance.
Weiss made the exchange when a constant barrage of triangular shapes formed out of the flurry of strokes formed. "[Triangular]".
With an upper right slash, Eclair sent Weiss backflipping away, breaking Weiss' rhythm and gaining herself some breathing room. (7)
Every time Weiss lunged, Eclair would simply lean off to the side and duck, before parrying her upper left slash with one of the knight's own. (8)
Of course, Eclair's right slash is ducked by Weiss, thrust parried thrice, while spinning lower left sweep is dodged with Weiss using Air Glide. (9)
Weiss thrusts herself forward to a blocked lunge, finding her spinning slashes and diagonal slashes redirected from the opposite angle, constantly frustrated that her opponent mirrored her strikes. (10)
"You dare use my own skill against me!?" Weiss angrily huffed.
Just as Éclair confirmed it with an attempt on the ten-hit combo [Nova Ascension], something was wrong when Weiss planted her foot firmly on the ground, determined to regain some footing when intercepting the move entirely.
"[Sacred Cross]".
Immediately, Weiss thrusted Myrtenaster forward, then to her upper right, lower right, upper left, upper right, lower left, upper left, upper right, lower left - finally thrusting forward for a total of 9 times, that would leave a cross of six hits when successfully executed, had it not been for the economical guard of the broadsword.
That stupid wench, Mein thought.So she has studied sacred weapon arts passed down from the previous Sword Hero, and his lost lover, 'Asuna'. The Schnee may have great taste in swordsmanship, but it will all be for naught.
And at the right second, Eclair caught the rapier with her off hand, before elbowing Weiss in the face with her dominant arm.
Twirling her sword in her dominant hand, Eclair began charging towards the Schnee scion, whose sword arm was drawn back, beckoning the knight to draw herself closer.
Don't do it, Seatto, Malty thought. The Aldori style may backfire on you. She's going to lure you into a trap!
Eclair's downward swing was redirected when Weiss simply lowered (I)Myrtenaster(I) towards the ground, before turning ever so slightly to her left, kicking the hedge knight away with her foot, sending the latter back as the Schnee backflipped to set up a lunging thrust that barely missed Eclair's helmet, before the knight used a high guard to block the following slash to Weiss' lower right.
Even when the knight attempted a retaliatory leftwards slash, the Schnee easily leapt into the air, spun into a slash to her right, against a barely blocked broadsword, landing into a crouch to dodge another rightwards sword swipe, leaving Eclair open to a hook kick to the face, before the Schnee spun to her leftwards slash, staggering the Seatto heiress into breaking her guard ...
… and damning her when Weiss thrusted, landing a shallow scratch on the helmet's cheek area. She could only count herself lucky that the blade was lower by a few centimeters, otherwise Eclair's eye would have been gouged through the slits.
With a cocky smile, the Schnee scion prepared a final lunging thrust with Myrtenaster, confident that she would send the hedge knight staggering onto the way for her victory (11).
Malty tensed up in that split second, knowing that Weiss had the upper hand with her impressively fancy acrobatics acting as a sense of misdirection to control the pace of the fight in her relentless assault against the slower, heavier loadout of Eclair's knightly build.
Having had enough, Eclair simply shoulder tackled Weiss' body to disrupt her momentum, so that she could gain some more distance with a vertical slash that had the time being forced Weiss to dash back, much to the relief of the undercover princess.
As Weiss, Eclair redirected the rapier to land on her left before it was time to unleash her own sword skill.
"[Vertical Square]".
Slashing the blade to her lower right, she forced Weiss back before parrying the subsequent strike with a slash in the other direction - the upper left, before spinning to her right twice, slashing with the momentum, where the shape of a square could easily be seen.
Weiss' relentless transitions to graceful blocks and parries were a tell as she consistently swept away the more traditional slashes and heavy swings with ease and flair. It didn't help that there was some economy of motion, allowing her to last as long as she could.
Mein had her suspicions, but this pretty much confirmed it. The Schnee heiress is using a modified version of the Ataru style, named after the aggressive hawk-bat living in Ivalice forest of Siltvelt North Eastern province. The style favored by Eldritch Knights, and Spellblades with strong wind affinity.
Finally, Éclair simply redirected the rapier up, and smacked Weiss down to the floor on her bottom with a horizontal slash.
Éclair simply concentrated as much strength and swung as hard as she could.
"[Avalanche]."
With little time to react to Eclair's overhead chop, a small orb of air began to appear at her offhand as Weiss hurriedly recited the incantation.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and blow from my hands. [Gale Palm]."
Immediately after, Weiss sent out a huge blast of air from her hand that staggered the hedge knight backwards, leaving her wide open as Weiss propped herself back up, and promptly forced back the hedge knight with a pillar of ice through the "[Frozen Trail]" spell, air freezing the vial's worth of water coming from the blade.
Wait a moment, Malty thought, Did she just use wind magic!? And ice too!?
"You - how dare you, a fencer use magical projectiles in a duel between blades! It's one thing to enhance your fighting style, but pelting your opponent with magic!? Have you no shame!?" The princess cries out in indignation together with a fresh wave of booing from Whiterun guards. She willingly ignore the fact she herself would have done the same in Weiss' shoes, because she hates losing as much as the merchant wench.
"So, the lowborn commoner has the gall to interrupt our match and officiate how we ought to fight? Biased much, now aren't we? I just can't wait for you to try and punish me for a baseless violation, all to save face! As I said earlier, 'chivalry and nobility are the outmoded hallmarks of yesterday's fools.' Since when do you and your ilk deserve the honor of fighting like nobles, when we blue-blooded folk should teach you to know your place, mongrel?" Weiss retorted with smug superiority unsupported by her social status.
There was another advantage to being concealed behind her hood and half-mask - it served to hide the seething rage behind her blushed cheeks. Again, as much she was tempted to intervene, she had to let this one slide, lest she lose Eclair's positive opinion of her and expose herself to the wrong person.
To think her, the First Princess of Melromarc is being lectured on the privilege of social status by the daughter of a lowly merchant!
It didn't help that the terms of the "spar" were so loosely defined so that Weiss could freely abuse a loophole to cheat. This was typical behavior coming from a Schnee such as herself - always attempting an underhanded method to save themselves from a disadvantage.
"Hmph. You have nothing valuable to say. That's what I thought," Weiss scoffed.
Éclair nodded, reassuring the princess that she could handle the Schnee after the recent developments. Malty, however, was not so sure, she had a snowflake's chance in hell of winning - partially because the snowflake herself was outright merciless.
Buffing her blade with wind, Weiss parried Eclair's downwards chop with an upper slash, spinning twice to her Right, then impaled ground for ice pillars that forced the knight back (12).
Charging again for a lunge, Éclair noticed too late that Weiss had already spun, a current of air forming around the rapier itself.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and push away the invasion of this space. [Gale Force]." (13)
Immediately was Éclair shoved back, her timely landing saving her at the last second.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and freeze the foe ahead. [Ice Crystal]".
Several shards of ice flew from the watery mist formed around the blade, aiming straight for the hedge knight, who quickly armed herself with a Miracle.
"[Divine Grace]".
Eclair twirled her glowing blade like a polearm, carefully timing its position to perfectly shatter the first few crystals, before she eventually rolled away from the remainder, which hit the floor instead (14).
But soon, she was knocked aside, when a blast of air was thrust from the blade.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and erode the immovable object who stands before me. [Water Cutter]."
The water stream that erupted from Myrtenaster's barrel was so focused and narrow, it formed essentially a second blade with every lunge or slash, increasing the reach and cutting power of her strokes. Eclair could easily feel the recoil of having a sharp blade made of water, grunting as she held firm.
Oh no … she's going to try to force a ring out for a quick victory!
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and drown all in your path. [Flood of Fury]."
With the force of a monsoon, a near-endless supply of water shot out of the blade, as Weiss alternated between wind and water spells.
A massive gust of wind and torrential splashes of water continued to hammer onto the hedge knight's broadsword. (15)
Éclair found herself on the back foot as waves of water and blades of wind kept pushing her ever so closer towards the edge of the arena.
Deep inside her helmet, Éclair had probably been unfazed, let alone grinning. Though it was true that Weiss now held the unfair advantage, she still held the moral high ground given that she refused to compromise her honor in favor of using projectile magic to win.
Additionally, some part of her seemed to enjoy a proper challenge. She wanted to see all that Weiss had to offer. And she would be laughing all the way to the treasury if she managed to outfight the Schnee heiress at full strength with her simpler approach to combat.
Besides, her techniques and magic were all style and no substance - they were easily dispersed with the flat of her blade and would waste the Schnee's stamina sooner or later, in a fighting style that accomplished nothing but wasted movements.
And if there was an unspoken rule of duelling, it was that wasted movements led to defeat. (Monty Oum interview)
"Don't lose your composure. Stay focused and strong like a rock against the wind. Wait for the good opening. You only need to strike once." Mein began to quietly chant a mantra her fencing coach taught her. She digs her nails into her palm as she quietly sends her support towards Éclair.
The knight may be backing towards the edge of their dueling ring now, but her retreat is evenly paced and slow compared to the young Sword Hero from earlier. It's clear that every step is well calculated by Éclair even as she adjusts herself with this new pace set up by Weiss.
The wind and water blasts were easily parted in two, as Eclair maintained a strong stance and pushed forward against the current as best as she could. Weiss was bound to arrogantly force the issue, so all she had to do was wait for that perfectly impatient little moment.
As the knight is about to cross over out of the ring, she finally catches up to the chance she's no doubt waiting for. The Schnee heiress over extended her rapier in an attempt to force a ring out. After parrying Weiss' lunge attack, Éclair manages to have enough time to bring the hilt of her sword up and hit the merchant daughter right on her unprotected chin.
Weiss could only backflip away several consecutive times under the following wide sweeps of the broadsword, successfully allowing Eclair to avoid the ring out by virtue of advancing towards the center of the arena (16).
Charging ever so forward, Eclair's spinning strike was blocked by Weiss' use of [Zephyr Shield], repelling the blow, and eventually herself once it expanded outwards. (17)
The next overhead was brought down to the ground through Weiss' ninety-degree low guard, before spinning to her right into a thrust that pushed Eclair back a step.
Sensing an opportunity, Weiss then spun left into a leap, smacking Eclair's helmet behind her mid flight before gracefully landing on both feet in a different part of the field. (18)
Lt attempts mid left slash, so Weiss ducks in backflip, then upper slash to left upon landing, spins to her left for a left slash again, thrusts, crouches into upper left slash again, sending Lt on floor (19)
Weiss cartwheels to her right, ready to keep Eclair on the edge with sword skill after sword skill.
First, was the five hit rapier combo [Neutron]. Weiss would leave no quarter with each and every skill combo she kept throwing out, and she wanted more than just the typical grunting of her opponent. (I)She wanted outright humiliation right this instant(I).
"[Howling Octave!]"
Five rapid-fire thrusts, followed by a cut both up and down that preceded an overhead slash, tipped Eclair off balance. It was just what Weiss needed.
"This ends now! [Vorpal Strike]!"
As Weiss furiously charged again with a lunging thrust, Eclair held her blade in a perpendicular high stance, causing the Schnee scion to lose her footing - before Eclair quickly spun to her left and struck Weiss at the back, sending her face flat on the floor.
Malty chortled a little as she now understood why Eclair didn't call foul. For all her bluster about her image, she couldn't even handle a lowly hedge knight, let alone the Sword Hero, who would mercilessly destroy her in five seconds. And this was done with a few simple, pragmatic maneuvers in spite of Weiss' blatant use of using magical projectiles. Perhaps demolishing Weiss' fighting style in this matter was akin to rubbing salt in the wounds of Weiss' fragile, broken ego.
Snarling, she decided to use another fencing trick after being insulted. She would show her how to really fight like a warrior.
"[Star Splash]".
Weiss forced Eclair into a high guard with three light jabs at the chest, then sent the knight stumbling back with two strikes towards the greaves, finishing with a high-low and middle jab that struck the flat side of the blocking blade, pushing the knight ever so further.
As Weiss closed in, Eclair concentrated hard, ready to deflect with just the one hand.
"[Quadruple Pain]".
Immediately, Weiss saw her thrusts knocked aside in a split second - up, down, right, up, down. Reactions that fast were simply impossible for a knight, especially when seeing through a skill such as Quadruple Pain!
The adrenaline pumping through Eclair's veins made her entire sword feel lighter and easier to wield.
Eclair's sword thrusted gradually from her upper right to bottom left, drawing back for five more thrusts from upper left to bottom right, before finishing with a spinning lunge at the center. If not for Weiss' senses and muscles working past the fortnight barely parrying away each thrust, she would have been left with an x-shaped scar on her chest from the attack, and some serious blood loss, instead barely escaping away unscathed with a high backflip. (20)
Both Weiss and Mein were stunned at this rare sword skill. Cute, however, had to admit that the new move was so much fun!
"Was that [Mother's Rosario!?] Since when did you learn how to fence so well!?" Weiss screamed in bewildered shock.
"When you dined with the nobles, I studied the blade," Eclair succinctly replied as she slowly advanced ever so further past the clearing dust, dedicating all her brain and lung power for the next phase of her relentless assault. "While you wasted your days at tea parties in pursuit of vanity, I pursued inner strength. Who is useless now?" (21)
Mein can't help but lowers her head in shame as her cheek heats up. The same thing said to the Schnee wench can be said about herself. She had the best tutors Melromarc had available: Her magic tutor, Aldrecht the Calamity was one of the greatest Melromarc - if not one of the greatest on Medea - mage who is often compared to the greats such as Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Faubley's Hero Academy, or Kel'Thuzad the Grey. Her fencing coach Zellus taught her one of the undisputed best dueling form since youth.
Yet she squandered most of her life, to the point she'd have died to a group of angry squatters, none of them pass level 10, if not thanks to a slum thief, and a gang of demi-human thugs.
She forces her attention back to the duel again, surprised at how the Seatto heiress still had the energy to furiously increase the tempo of the duel, treating her broadsword like a rapier with relatively low fatigue.
Éclair immediately swung to her lower left, then towards Weiss' face at the upper right, followed by a downwards chop before deflecting Myrtenaster down, setting herself up for four more strikes before locking blades and leaning forward to force Weiss to bend back just to maintain her footing. (22)
Ironically, now it was Weiss' turn to feel the heat, her smug confidence slowly melting away as she was now forced to play against the rules of the longsword, when she once forced Éclair to play against the rules of the rapier.
Finally forcing their blades up to break the deadlock, Weiss backpedalled and quickly hurled a few more ice shards with [Ice Crystal], all deflected to no avail.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and confound my enemy, O mercurial wind. [Sublime Mist]".
The approaching ice shards quickly exploded to create a smokescreen, hoping to cause second doubts in the knight's mindset and allow Weiss breathing room to form a strategy.
But Éclair threw all reservation to the wind, charging with a one-handed slash to her right, then redirecting the rapier to her upper left, before closing in for eight consecutive swift and short strikes, in an attempt to force a ring out (23).
Resisting the temptation to panic, Weiss instead had conjured a ball of wind in her hand, and recited the incantation.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and affix thyself to the earth, O mercurial wind. [Strato-Sphere]."
Suddenly, a dome of rotating air currents blocked the sword strike, grinding against the edge of the broadsword, before expanding outwards and forcing the hedge knight back.
As Weiss advanced forward with a thrust, Éclair simply spun to her right to parry the blade, their bodies spinning like clockwork to meet their blades once more, before Weiss' aggressive slash forced Éclair to duck underneath the parried blade. (24)
With the two fighters exchanging blows, Mein wondered where this newfound vigor from Éclair came from. More importantly, what other fighting styles did the knight have up her bag of tricks? First, the archaic sword skills from past Sword Heroes, and now a more aggressive technique that could be performed with heavier broadswords?
If Weiss practices Ataru, then was that just now the rumored Djem-So offensive style for mixed-handed longswords?
Éclair pressed on the assault, her mid strike parried by Weiss' reverse guard, swiping the blade left in reverse grip, then switching momentum to slash to the right, before setting Weiss up to duck from the overhead chop, spinning and slicing to force Weiss on the backfoot, blocking or stepping back to avoid the constant barrage of swipes and swings. (25)
Twirling her blade after a couple strikes, Éclair found her one-handed thrust redirected …
… before smacking Weiss with a gauntleted backhand, following up with a headbutt from the helmet. It was only through blocking a high strike that Weiss was able to recover her bearings, though it didn't save her from the offhand smack to the cheek. (26)
Backpedalling again, Weiss gritted her teeth as she was kept on the backfoot, her elegant epee negated by the heavy swings of the bucket-headed barbarians.
"Fine - if that's how you want to play, then I'll give you a taste of your own elixir!"
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature, strengthen the blade to cut down the foe! " [Enhance Armament: Sword of Snow].
With a wind spell to freeze the water from the rapier's barrel, she now held in her hand an arming-sword formed from the hard ice encasing the blade.
"Lay on, lowly knight! Away with your own bloodletting!"
Running ever so closer, the two proceeded to exchange two-handed strikes. Furiously aiming for the helmet, Weiss slashed to her right, then to the left, before punching her in the face. (27)
But there was a difference between flailing angrily with a two-handed sword, and being a master of it, which Éclair saw to neatly parry all of them.
Continuing with her desperate attacks, Weiss then realized that Éclair could both keep up pace and maintain some part of her two-handed form, seeing the last of her strikes redirected to the side, forcing her to aim a roundhouse to the head just to buy some space. (28)
Now it was Éclair's turn - a pommel strike to the leg after moving the blade down, Éclair twirled the sword, spinning to her right so she would aim high and force Weiss to duck, before laying on the pressure (29).
Immediately, Weiss unleashed a high strike, matching blow for blow the weighted strikes from the Midgardian broadsword, sending it down on the floor. Twirling her blade, Éclair lunged against a narrow parry from the enhanced rapier before forcing her back. (30)
"[Snake Bite]."
Weiss' eyes widened as she saw the ice slowly crack as Éclair relentlessly hammered on the blade from left to right, before shattering the outer ice completely, leaving Weiss with an ordinary rapier once more.
"As the source of thy power. I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and spin through all that stands in your path. [Divine Lance]!" Weiss hurriedly recited, hoping to replace her enhanced blade with another.
Soon, rotating air currents surrounded the rapier, forming a lance that would drill upon impact. With each heavy lunge, she was sure that Éclair would suffer so much damage that she would have to retire.
But much to her chagrin, her rotating blade could easily be redirected with the right maneuvers
"[Danse Macabre]".
Propelling herself, Éclair repeatedly swung left and right, before unleashing a flurry of lunges, another left and right combo before leaving a massive spinning slash to her left that knocked Weiss back a good three paces.
"[Allant's Assault]".
Huh, the technique named after one of her most famous ancestor, Allant the Steadfast. Rather fitting the sole heir of House Seatto is now pressing her advantage with her ancestor's technique.
Weiss was continuously hammered from left, right and left again, after the 3-hit combo of a fallen king of a long bygone age, his last mementos being a noble sword skill passed down to generations of knights.
Weiss thrusts again when crouched, then performs [Haste] - thrusting back and forth the first four times, spun into a left slash for 5, flipped up and spun to her right into a right slash for 6, spins to her right into a left slash for 7, finishing with a double right spin right slash assisted by multiple instances of [Air Glide]. (31)
Weiss then air boosts down into a thrust, then initiates a pseudo slo-mo crane stance with Myrtenaster and dominant arm behind her, off arm in front with two fingers up, and dominant knee bent.
As Weiss attempted a midair pose, ready to lunge, dominant arm as far back as possible, offhand arm outstretched with knees bent, Mein couldn't help but laugh on the inside based on how monumentally stupid her dramatic posing maneuver was. She wonders if Éclair feels the same.
The extra time wasted on that pathetic excuse of a crane stance left Weiss' own body vulnerable to a counterattack …
"Come hither, saucy brat!"
… and allowed Éclair to simply react faster, grabbing Weiss by the face and choke slamming her head back onto the ground. It didn't help that Weiss was as light as a feather and fragile like glass. (32)
Picking up the Schnee's body once more, Éclair tossed her up into the air, and with both hands on the hilt, immediately swung left and right with the flatside repeatedly, before twirling her blade to impale her downwards, forcing Weiss to roll away at the last second to avoid getting hit - or be staggered by the sheer force of the stab. (33)
Weiss stared with widened eyes at just how formidable her opponent was. Eclair was being merciful that she didn't buff her blade with some Miracle that time - otherwise she would've been done for.
Even with the power of [Haste] dilating their perception of time and accelerating her abilities, Eclair played the waiting game and countered her blows. How dare she not have respect for her elegance!
Mein smiled when she saw Eclair's counterattack.
Good, she affirmed. Teach her a lesson.
Ducking and blocking the next few consecutive slashes, Eclair then spun around and with both hands on the blade for the murderstroke, jabbed Weiss on the cheek again.
Just as the knight would close in for a downwards chop, another [Gale Palm] erupted from Weiss' hand, giving her space as Éclair was pushed back. (34)
As Weiss ran up the length of Eclair's blade at the swing, she was ready to kick off the bucket-shaped helmet, but in that split second, found her dominant foot caught by Eclair's off hand - and found herself swung on the floor back and forth, repeatedly finding her head planted on the floor several times. (35)
Okay, it was official - actually seeing that snooty merchant getting battered was more hilarious than keeping an unofficial decorum about sparring like honorable knights who lived by the code of their swords. Malty held her snickering behaviour, trying her damnedest not to burst out in navel-busting laughter.
When Weiss attempted a roundhouse kick, Éclair simply grabbed the long reach of her leg, elbowed her in the face again, spun her around by the leg a couple times, before tossing her across the arena like yesterday's refuse.
"Big Sister Weiss!"
"I've got this," Weiss mumbled. "[Flashing Penetrator]".
Weiss leapt up, posed in the air, and outstretched her arm as hard as she could. There was no way her opponent could react at the incredible speed Weiss was flying at, a shockwave forming a trail behind her.
Eclair simply chuckled as she timed against the telegraphed thrust, grabbing the blade with the offhand and jabbing Weiss in the cheek with the pommel of her murderstroke, sending her tumbling to the ground.
This was one of Weiss' favorite moves, and here she had been outplayed by a mere hedge knight.
It seems that Weiss is on her last legs already. She's losing her composure, Mein gleefully surmised. Now do you understand? Excessive shows of flair will not save you in a real duel, no matter how much magical energy you throw at your enemy.
Eclair continued her relentless assault by planting, and hurling some debris in her eyes, momentarily blinding the Schnee scion …
… for the hedge knight to run forward, leap up, ram her knee on Weiss' face and land an overhead slam down onto the staggered opponent. Even her meager defenses at parrying the downwards chop only sent her tumbling down on the floor from the sheer force of the swing.
It amazed Malty just how cunning Éclair was to combine her practical fighting expertise and make Cute's flashy chop actually work in practical combat. It was as if the hedge knight was subtly insulting the Schnee by turning an inferior move into a powerful offensive combo - and this was after going against the grain of her knightly teachings, perfectly replicating the mindset after observing Cute perform the telegraphed chop once.
Perhaps Eclair knows a lot more on how to fight than even I gave her credit for. It's as if she knows how to read fighting styles the same way I know how to read any situation when dealing with people.
Weiss couldn't believe it either - the same maneuver she so gracefully intercepted earlier, now caught her by surprise.
"[Deadly Sins]".
Alternating between slashes and spins all diagonal, horizontal and vertical, Eclair somersaulted back to repeat the same maneuver, ending with a horizontal spinning slash - all of which Weiss struggled to block.
As Weiss charged towards Éclair, the hedge knight simply tossed her blade upwards, leaving it spinning in midair.
"Are you mad!? What do you think you're -"
But Weiss never found the chance to finish her sentence as she recoiled from being punched in the chest by Eclair's gauntlet. In fact, she barely heard the last two words of the hedge knight's next incantation when the latter's leaping charge saw her fist glowing hot with orange fire, as she remained staggered, barely putting up a defensive posture.
[Meteor Fall].
Catching her sword, now wreathed in flame, she immediately sent a radiant wave of fire the moment it collided with Myrtenaster via an overhead chop, sending Weiss back from the sheer force of the collision.
And to her horror, she had to reload the water vials in the rapier - what meager amount was left evaporated the moment the flaming sword made contact with her blade.
As Éclair charged forward, following up on a diagonal slash with a strike aimed at the neck, Weiss instinctively summoned wind to her palm again.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and create a wall of wind to stand before me. [Zephyr Shield]."
And to her horror, her localized wind barrier, said to repel virtually most projectile and physical attacks, began to falter, ducking at the last second to avoid the swing.
Weiss spun to her left, before she found her high slash blocked by Eclair's high block, which Éclair effortlessly shoved aside. (36)
Frustrated, Weiss' lower left and right slashes was easily parried, with the subsequent right spin easily guarded and redirected towards the ground by Eclair's broadsword, before the Schnee quickly forced herself back up. (37)
Knocking her blade aside, Éclair quickly backstepped away from Weiss' slash, before blocking the rapier against a diagonal strike.
Once again, Weiss saw her spinning slash redirected to her right thanks to the movement of the enemy blade. (38)
High slashes, rising slashes, diagonal slashes, all of them were effortlessly warded off with minimal movements. (39) To make it all worse, Weiss was losing her composure, treating her rapier as a longsword and forgetting the fencing style she was taught as a child.
"Concede while you still can," Éclair taunted.
But Weiss would have none of it.
In the princess' opinion, Weiss is way past the point of conceding now. Considering they aren't locked in a Trial of Combat to the death, yield, or down. The standard proceeding should have been first good hit decide the winner.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"
Éclair noted how Weiss were probably at her last legs - she hadn't generated a wind or water spell in a long while. Her labored breathing was an obvious tell.
"[Sharp Nail!]"
At this point, Weiss was just going back and forth with her diagonal slashes, her timing now becoming oh-so very predictable.
"Haa … [Sonic … Leap] … haa."
A leaping downwards strike was easily punted - Éclair having pushed Weiss away with both hands at the blade. Weiss was now aimlessly trying to stab, just praying to land some kind of hit.
Too tired to put up any resistance, Éclair easily forced the snow white blade down with both hands, feeling how weak her feeble thrusts were.
The knight doesn't waste her chance this time. She simply punches the dazed Schnee right onto the ground, and places her chipped steel sword on Weiss' neck, as she panted with labored breathing. An ignoble finish perhaps, but one well-earned, from the Schnee who deserved to be taken down a few notches.
"Thank you for the duel. The real knights from the Silver Hand, however, are much stronger than I."
Mein rolled her eyes, for she couldn't believe that the skilled Éclair would consider herself a novice knight as opposed to being the best among their numbers at the very least. After that impressive display of swordsmanship in her eyes, the Seatto scion, in her honest opinion, should be considered a formidable opponent that would give even the Sword Heroes past and present, a run for their money. Tonight, she didn't just defeat Weiss in a show of skill and strength - she took apart the flashy fencing style, shattered her ego, insulted her pride, and taught her a true lesson about utilizing pragmatism to seize victory on the battlefield.
Employing slower, pragmatic maneuvers to control the pace, and even a hidden skill for rapid-fire fencing to match opponents blow for blow, she tactically exhausted Weiss' fighting moves until she was too tired to continue. On top of that, her vast breadth of maneuvers, with an ability to memorize and analyze sword skills and fighting styles allowed for impressive counterattacks, along with a creative knack for insulting opponents through use of their own maneuvers.
Either she is still selling herself short as usual, or the knights are too formidable an opponent to toy with.
Would she herself have fared any better, if she was in Weiss' shoes? It takes but a moment for the princess to know the answer. No, her style might have suited better to fight Éclair, but coach Zellus has long taught her that it's the people using the style that'll determine victory or defeat.
It's not helped that while Aldori style is formidable, it's effectiveness is also highly dependent of its user's skill. It's philosophy of continuous attack would falter very quickly, if the user lacks the perception to quickly find weakness in the opponent, or the dexterity and speed to exploit them.
The princess would be lying to herself if she fancies herself to be more skilled than the dishonored Seatto heir. She can't help but feel like she acted like a clown, to be presumptuous enough to give Éclair tips before her duel with Weiss.
And speaking of the Schnee, Weiss blinks a couple of times as she stays on the ground. The merchant's daughter probably can't comprehend how she went from winning the duel to losing in an instant. But the scowl is back on her face as she hisses at the knight, too stubborn to yield.
"You think beating me in a duel changes anything? Who do you think helped Lord Reichnott when he had problems with money after the Bitch Lord's raid? Who supplied him with the raw ores to make weapons and armor when the animal brigands came knocking on his door? It was my family, not old man Seatto and his empty talk of honor."
"And you believe YOUR family helped?" Mein squeezes herself into the dueling ring to point her finger at the arrogant Schnee. "Greedy merchants like your family are only loyal to coins. I bet he'd only stick behind Reichnott because there's money to be made, and he'll be the first to toss Van Reichnott to the wind after he bleeds the County dry!"
"That's not true! The father of Big Sister Weiss gave money to Father when our people were starving after the raid of the Bitch Lord!" Cute runs behind the Schnee heiress as she starts to shout at Mein with her youthful screeching voice. "Seatto promised us protection, but not a single man showed up when the bandits raided our village and town!"
Éclair seems to wither under the accusation, something that stung more than losing the duel outright.
"Well, maybe Reichnott doesn't deserve any help from his High Lord in the first place, if he's actually COMPETENT!" Mein screams right back at the foolish child. "He can't even protect himself and his people from a bandit leader, what will I do when the Siltvelt army comes knocking again!? Get on his knees and BEG them to go away!?"
Mein wants to keep going till' she tears a few new holes to both the merchant and the clueless young noble. But a harsh tap on her wrist stops her. "Please, let's stop throwing insults at each other," Éclair pleaded.
"I see the hedge knight has enough sense to admit defeat to her betters. Good for her, unlike an uncivilized filthy commoner like you." The merchant's daughter picks up her rapier, and walks away while Cute Reichnott chases after her.
The nerve of that... that BITCH!
Éclair's face turns to follow their retreating form, no doubt staring at the back of her childhood friend.
"Don't mind that shrew. She's barking like a beaten dog after a good battering, that's all." Mein quickly spins on her heels and places a hand on Éclair's shaking shoulder.
The dishonored knight stays completely still for a few beats. She turns to look at Mein, no doubt wanting some confirmation from the princess. "Was she wrong?"
The princess opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. Mein wants to dispute the upstart commoner who thinks herself a noble, but can't bring herself to it. The truth was, Melromarc itself owes much of its post Great War recovery to the merchants, and noble houses who embraced trading like House Amelia. If not for them, there is a good chance much of the country is still lying in squalor after the devastation of the Great War.
"I... I need to be alone for a moment. Please forgive me." Éclair pushes away from Mein. The knight somehow looks even more defeated despite her victory in the duel.
Mein doesn't have too much time to think about Éclair. The steward of Lord Balgruuf steps out of the front gate of Dragonsreach amongst the dispersing guards. He gives her a small gesture to follow him. The princess quickly shoves whatever unpleasant feeling she has towards the merchant's daughter into the dark corner of her mind. She'll need all her wits to play The Game with a well established lord.
Winning Lord Balgruuf's allegiance in the upcoming succession war will be the most ideal, but also unlikely. The Midgardian lord doesn't meddle in The Game after all, despite him being a staunch ally of Mother. As long as she can ensure Lord Balgruuf's neutrality, it's a victory for her.
She also needs to be careful on what to say to the lord. It can't be too confidential like the conversations she shared with Éclair. Now that they are in an enclosed space and with no crowd in sight, her mother's shadow can no doubt creep close to pick up even a whisper between the two of them. Possibly right outside the window of the Count's bedroom.
The walk back into the main hall of the Dragonsreach, and upstairs towards the Count's personal bedroom doesn't take too long. It's enough time to have Mein regain her wits, as well as coming up with a basic plan on what to say to a lord of Midgardian descent. Not too long, the Romalian steward stops at a pair of double doors and gently knocks on the frame. "My jarl, your guest has arrived."
"Come in." The old, muffled voice of Count Balgruuf pierces the door, prompting the steward to open the door and let Mein in. He gives a bow of respect to his lord, quickly excuses himself, and shuts the door behind him. As for the grey haired Midgard lord, he quickly stands up from his chair and bows towards Mein before handing the signet ring back to her. "The Dragonsreach hasn't been graced by a royal princess since the Great War. I apologize if my welcoming seems meager by your standards, Your Highness."
"There's no need for formalities, Lord Balgruuf. As you probably noticed, I didn't come with Mother, or Father's official business." Mein slips her signet ring back into her inner garments for safekeeping. "Shortly before the hero summoning, I noticed an increasing malicious influence amongst Father's court. That's why I decided to go undercover besides one of the heroes, trying to uncover a possible conspiracy against our glorious nation."
"Ah, yes. Malicious influence. No doubt some of the players aim to increase their influence by feeding the sadness of His Grace. A shame indeed." Balgruuf nods his head while walking around his room.
Now that Mein has a good chance to inspect his room, it's rather sparse of luxury despite its large size. A large bed, a dresser, a table and a chair is all there is. Two heads of tundra saber-toothed tigers from Skyguard, and some weapons crossed over behind a shield decorate the walls. It seems like the Count lives a rather lonely and simple life after the passing of his wife.
"Although now that I think about it, shouldn't that be the duty of the Spy Master, and Her Majesty's shadows?" The Midgardian lord narrows his eyes as he looks at Mein once again. "As a princess, surely you have your own studies to attend to. Not running around with a hero, and possibly get yourself hurt."
Well... a bit too late for that trial of thought.
"I admit, I have my own reasons for getting involved with this current courtly affair... and a summoned hero. I may not be the first in line for the Melromarc throne, but I don't exactly look forward to being my uncle's trophy either." Mein looks down at her own feet, she makes sure she scoffs loud enough to let Lord Balgruuf hear it. "As much as my uncle Egbert being the king of the most powerful nation, even he can't simply take away the bride of a legendary hero."
"Ah yes, about that. I don't make it a habit to question Her Majesty's decision, but I am still a son of Skyrim at heart. I would have preferred to die in a blaze of glory myself, than beg for peace by selling off my own daughter." Lord Balgruuf returns Mein's faked self-depreciation with a scowl of his own. The princess can't help but smile at his reaction.
The Midgardian lords obviously aren't very happy with Mother's decision, which means she should have some basis of sympathy to work with.
"Enough about me, Lord Balgruuf. I'm not my mother's shadow, or an agent of Lord Noches. But I did uncover some sensitive information while traveling with the Shield Hero." Mein quickly turns the direction of their conversation away from speaking her own unofficial betrothal with her distant uncle. While fanning the flame of the Count's distaste towards her unfair treatment is advantageous, it's also a dangerous topic to have the shadow bring to her mother. "Did you know your request for the Adventurer's Guild regarding the Dragon Emperor has been wildly tampered with?"
"I'm sure there's the usual error of mistranslation when the message is passed from one mouth to another..." Lord Balgruuf's reply makes Mein's eyebrow raise.
So, he didn't even send out a written request to the Adventurer's Guild? No doubt, more of his simple Midgardian lifestyle. And a vulnerability his enemies no doubt exploited.
"Excuse me for interrupting you. But I'm afraid the end result is more than mere 'error of mistranslation from one mouth to another', my lord." Mein quickly holds her hand up to stop the lord of House Whiterun. "Before we ran out to confront the Sword Hero, he told us what quest he was working for the Adventurer's Guild. It's not about dealing with a Dragon Emperor, with a possible dragon flight. It's about killing a single wayward dragon, a regular one."
"WHAT!" Lord Balgruuf's reaction is about the same as Mein expected. His exclamation is loud enough to make his knotted goatee shake on his chin. "You are right. That's no mere mistranslation. My courier should be well versed in draconic lore to not mistake a Dragon Emperor with a wayward stray dragon. This is no doubt malicious tampering by someone..."
The Midgardian lord walks around a few circles before turning to look at Mein again, his eyes narrow and eyebrow raised. "And neither hero bothered to inform me this back in my court... because?"
"I apologized on their behalf, Lord Balgruuf. But please excuse them." Mein pulls her cloth mask down and strips her hood, letting the Midgard lord have a good look at her face... and scars. "I talked with the Shield Hero, he went to a school similar to Faubley's Hero Academy. As you probably know, politics isn't a topic covered in that kind of facilities, unlike myself who enjoys Mother's homeschooling and tutors. It probably slipped their minds, which is why I came to see you tonight to warn you before I depart tomorrow."
"Ah, apologies. I forget they are still new to this Game of Thrones." Lord Balgruuf quickly looks away from Mein, a shade of pink decorating his face.
"A game where it's 'all game, no sports'. Right?" Mein lets out a chuckle to lighten the mood a little. "Think about it this way, Lord Balgruuf. At least your enemies wouldn't know their plot has already been discovered, and revealed to you by an undercover princess."
"Quite right, Your Highness. I see you are well versed in courtly affairs. And yes, I suppose the heroes' oversight is a blessing in disguise for me, thanks to your initiation." The lord of House Whiterun returns her laugh as he walks to the table and uncorks a bottle of mead. "Would you like to share a drink?"
"Thank you for your hospitality." Mein takes over the iron tankard from the old lord, he isn't one for luxury indeed. "Although I would like to ask for your honesty in return. When you mentioned the necromancers in that southern forest, they aren't simply heresy and old wives' tales, are they? The animals of Siltvelt are many things. Superstitious, yes. Cowardly, not in the least."
"You are right, Your Highness. I didn't want to cause unfounded duress in the heroes, or trouble for my people's benefactors." The shoulders of the Midgardian lord slump. No doubt, he takes no pleasure from hiding the truth. "The couple, they hailed from a minor branch from one of those Faubley great houses that had long affiliation with Dark Magic. Either the LeStranges, or the Carrows. I never asked them which exact family they are from, and it makes no difference to me. And yes, they discovered their affinity was Necromancy back when they attended Faubley's Hero Academy."
"Go on." Mein nods her head to let Lord Balgruuf continue.
"They ran away from Faubley about twenty six summers ago, when their family got involved with the secret warfare between two wannabe Dark Lords fighting for power in the court." Balgruuf nods his head again, he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "To think they escaped from a secret war of cloaks and daggers, only to run head first into an open one with blood and thunder. The Chief God is cruel sometimes."
"That was the supposed shadow war between Lord Subal Mudbelrode, and Lord Voldemort, wasn't it?" Mein nods her head along as she recalls her history lesson. It was the excuse her Faubley uncle gave to her mother on why Faubley didn't join Melromarc's attack on Siltvelt initially.
Mein always figured it was a political hogwash her uncle made up, because he wanted to knock both of his strongest competing countries down the ladder once Siltvelt and Melromarc finished bleeding each other. It seems like this supposed 'Shadow War of Two Dark Lords' wasn't just a dark fairytale.
"Yes, indeed. During the Great War, they used their necromancy to scare away the invaders. And a lot of my people survived the war under their protection." Lord Balgruuf opens his eyes again. "Although I'm not lying when I say they live as harmless hermits now. They hold spirit rituals for people to make peace with their deceased family, or help break curses. But they don't go around reanimating dead people, or experiment on them."
"I see - a fascinating tale for someone who has Necromantic affinity." Mein takes the tankard up to her lips. "More importantly than the necromancer hermits, what do you plan to do now that you know a conspiracy is afoot for not only father, but you as well? Who do you plan to send with your supply caravan?"
"With all the things happening around the country and the world, I need someone reliable. I'm still going to have my Housecarl Irileth lead the caravan to Balafon, and manage its defense till' everything is in order." The Midgardian lord moves his only chair besides Mein, while he himself sits down on his bed.
"You are going to send your Sworn Shield away while someone wants you dead? Is that truly wise?" Mein looks up at Lord Balgruuf. There is being brave, and then there is being foolhardy. The Midgardian lord's choice borders on the latter.
"Maybe not. But as I said, I need someone I can trust in Balafon, especially if someone seeks to do me harm. I have my younger brother, and my men to protect me in my keep. Plus..." The old lord downs the mead in his tankard in one go, turns around and picks a great sword off the wall. He easily swings it around with a single hand despite his grey hair. "I'm not exactly defenseless myself. I will meet anyone who wants to kill me with my own sword arm."
"Is your younger brother trustworthy? Your own children? While it's likely the ones who want you gone are the same ones whispering honey dipped poison into my father's ears, you can't ignore the home turf either." Mein takes a small sip of her mead as she sits down on the chair.
"True, but unlikely. Hrongar has more appetite for fighting than ruling. If he becomes the Jarl after me, he'll probably toss all the courtly duty to poor, poor Proventus and run around hunting monsters and brigands himself. Probably raise everyone's taxes to support the extra fighting men. As for my children..." The Jarl sets his sword on his dresser and sits back on his bed, the old man lets out a tired sigh. "They are troubled, probably because they grew up without their mother and I'm constantly tied up in my courtly duty. But I'd like to think they don't hate me enough to want me dead. Well, at any rate, Hrongar would be the next Jarl, if they want me dead."
"A shame indeed." Mein nods her head as she takes another short sip of her mead.
"What would you have me do?" Lord Balgruuf's voice makes her look up at the old Midgardian lord once again. She briefly wonders if she should simply support what the lord of House Whiterun wants, but she figures that it would come off too obviously dishonest.
And if she knows one thing about old Midgardian culture, it is dishonesty that is heavily frowned upon.
"Honestly, if I'm smart, I'd simply nod my head along." Mein's words make Lord Balgruuf chuckles again. "But since you have been courteous and honest with me, I'd rather not give you insincere appeasement. I think you should hold off your supply caravan, and especially keep your Sworn Shield close. At least till you figure out who wants you dead in the first place. Surely, your people won't be better off without you, with you describing your younger brother and children."
"I can see the rationale behind your argument. Alas, I can't follow your advice." The Midgardian lord stands up and walks to his window overlooking his keep and town. He points his finger in some non-descriptive direction. "My granary is filled with wheat, dried fruit, pickled vegetables thanks to Balafon when the harvest was good, and I don't have to worry about going to sleep with an empty stomach while the Wave of Catastrophe is going on. If I leave my people to their own devices now they are facing starvation, I would have failed my duty as their Jarl without someone to kill me first."
A man who holds sentimentality greater than logic... It's a wonder that the lord of House Whiterun sees himself as a loyal banner man of Mother than Father, which he would arguably have a lot more in common with. Or perhaps, he is only loyal to the crown.
"It's late, and I should excuse myself before I do more damage to my name." Mein puts her empty tankard back on the Count's table. She pulls up her hood, and then her cloth mask. "I bid you fair night, may the Chief Good protect you, Lord Balgruuf."
"And you as well, Your Highness." The Midgardian lord turns around to look at Mein once again. His expression was still tired, but stern with his well chiseled face. "I will not dispute my queen on who should be her first heir, but know this. If the pig king of Faubley decide to do something idiotic, like taking you away from the Shield Hero, my men and I will be the first line of your shield wall against his cowardly army of fire stick holders."
Not exactly a sworn fealty like she hopes to get out of the Seatto heiress. But the best she could have managed with the Midgardian lord regardless. This night has been fruitful for her indeed. "I thank you for your faithfulness, Lord Balgruuf."
End Note:
Here is the part two of my original chapter 37... and most of the duel between Eclair and Weiss written by Ace-Triad. As I was saying, poor poor Eclair. Winning the duel, but only ends up with a hollowed victory when she realizes she has no good come back at Weiss for looking down on the ideology her family represented.
Not going to lie, I was already toying with the idea of mixing the Boletaria lore from Demon's Soul into Eclair's family even before Ace-Triad made Eclair use King Allant's combo in his script, even if her father is obviously a Warcraft reference. Ace-Triad's writing made me decided to have King Allant be an ancestor of Eclair instead.
Editor's Note:
Hi, Ace-Triad here. Thanks again for reading this double feature. I really put my heart and soul into it, especially when writing fights. Here was my writing process, if you were curious.
A RWBY Youtuber named Twiins iink summed up a flaw in writing Weiss now that her Semblance was strong. So this meant that Weiss had to "play dumb" just to create a sense of stakes, which meant the loss of seeing her fence once more. With different mechanics, references and a focus on extensive fencing, this was less of a problem for me.
Thankfully, I looked long and hard as to what Weiss was vulnerable to - and it hit me.
Weiss is not only petite and fragile, her fencing fighting style is ultimately oh-so predictable, and the long reach of her high heels, thrusting rapier, and ponytail allows massive points of leverage for her enemies to grab a hold of and unleash many different counterattacks. Plus spamming magical abilities will eventually drain her stamina.
As much as I wanted to reveal these weaknesses at a separate occasion for a completely different plan, I wanted to capitalize on the rare opportunity of showing to the world my penchant and passion for writing and describing prose, especially choreographed fights.
I hate boring readers with long blurbs, but I wanted to give the ultimate duelling experience that would make people enjoy themselves. Thus I dragged out the fight so that Weiss would fight at her strongest (for a novice wannabe, at least) - and be systematically destroyed at the end of it.
In order, here are the references for this leg of the duel. (1-4) references Geralt vs. Renfri from the Witcher show, 5-6 come from the Last Jedi Throne Room fight, 7-10 reference Weiss vs Mitsuru from Death Battle, 11 references a Japanese-exclusive opening to Sword Art Online: Alicization (where Kirito fights Quinella), 12 references the White Trailer, 13-14 is from Kya vs. Zaheer from the Legend of Korra, 15 is from Korra's first Pro-Bending Battle, 16 is from Winter vs. Qrow, 17-19 and 31-32 is from the episode "No Brakes" again, 20-21 is from Rey vs. Kylo on the Death Star, 22-26, 34 is from Sc. 38 Reimagined, 27-30 is from Bond vs Graves in Die Another Day, 33 is from Soul of Cinder's Phase 2 combo in Dark Souls 3, 35 is from Hulk smashing Loki in Avengers, and the remainder (36 - 39) is from Kylo vs. Rey on Kijimi in The Rise of Skywalker.
My rendition of Myrtenaster honors the spirit of the late Monty Oum, by incorporating a ranged element to the rapier. However, since firearms have yet to be invented in Melromarc, I had to improvise with a more medieval design.
In lieu of Dust or gunpowder, six glass vials of compressed water are loaded into a more primitive revolving mechanism, with a crossbow's trigger and water pistol stopper propelling the water out past the barrel. The water can then reduce the strain of Weiss casting water spells, and allows Myrtenaster to be buffed with ice attacks, or allow an ice blade to form around the rapier itself.
When Malty compares Weiss' Myrtenaster, she invokes the names of beautiful Sword Art Online rapiers as comparison - namely Asuna's Lambent Light, her Alicization blade Radiant Light, and Quinella's gorgeous Silvery Eternity in Alicization. Seeing that Kirito was the past Sword Hero, it would make sense given his exploits on Medea and him passing down his teachings based on his life on Earth.
Many of the sword moves borrow upon various sources I've looked up.
Sharp Nail, Sonic Leap, Vertical Arc, Nova Ascension, Treble Scythe, Howling Octave, Vertical Square, Mother's Rosario, Vorpal Strike, Crucifixion (named Sacred Cross in this fic), Quadruple Pain, MeteorFall, Triangular, Avalanche, Enhance Armament, Deadly Sins, Flashing Penetrator, Snake Bite and Star Splash are all derived from sword skills in Sword Art Online.
Gale Palm, Zephyr Shield and Zephyr Blade are based upon wind ninjutsu found in Naruto.
Allant's Assault is a three hit combo from Old King Allant in Demon's Souls, while Danse Macabre is a combo from Dante's moveset in Devil May Cry.
Flood of Fury and Gale Force derive from bending moves in Legend of Korra. Water Cutter describes an attack made by Metal Gear RAY.
Haste, Pillar of Ice, Ice Crystal and Air Glide belongs to Weiss' moveset.
Divine Lance is a magical version of Wamu's signature move, Divine Sandstorm, from Jojo's Bizzarre Adventure.
Sublime Mist and Strato-Sphere are original moves designed by me.
Eclair also quotes Macbeth and the "I studied the blade" Reddit Copypasta, while Weiss paraphrases Severus Snape in Half-Blood Prince.
You can also find alliterative appeal in "bucket-headed barbarians" and "simply shoving her sabaton to the Schnee's solar plexus, sending the snow-haired scion sprawling across the surface."
All in all, if you love a good fight, and wanted to see Weiss in all of her glory, here you go! I do hope you enjoyed what I have to offer! This was a work of pride to write, besides editing the other part of this instalment a mere seven hours since I got it the past Monday.
See you again soon, and happy reading!
