Vir flitted around the man like a bird, but the shield was there every time, blocking his every attack. He attacked high, he swiped low with his legs, deploying his toe blade. But the man either defended or stepped away to safety.
Feinting with his katar, Vir threw a chakri at point-blank range, forcing his opponent to raise the shield in defense.
Gotcha.
Vir snaked under the shield and swept his katar upward.
To no effect—the man’s brigandine negated any damage.
An armored knee forced him to block, pushing him away. The shield returned, resetting the fight.
With throbbing arms, he gazed at his opponent. Vir had always struggled against armor—his answer had been to rely on Talents, specifically Micro Leap and Empower, but those tools weren’t available to him right now.
If he was going to win this, he needed a better strategy. What’s more, he’d have to use every trick he knew to score highly. Vir switched things up. It’d be a risky play, but if he didn’t give this everything he had, he’d rank poorly, and that was unacceptable.
They reengaged, the clang of metal resonating through the still night air. Vir’s breath grew ragged, his form sloppier.
Each time the man attacked, Vir dodged, neglecting to parry, escaping by a hair’s breadth. With each dodge, the man’s talwar came closer and closer to nicking his flesh.
Vir’s haphazard katar strikes against the man’s shield only emboldened his opponent, who grew aggressive, paying less and less attention to his own defense.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A dozen times, Vir was forced to block the man’s unrelenting series of attacks.
Does this guy have unending stamina, or what?
But Vir wasn’t waiting for the warrior to tire.
Just a little more.
With a roar, the man attacked Vir with his most powerful strike yet—a vicious downward slash.
This time, Vir neither dodged nor parried. He used an old trick—dirt. He threw a fistful at his opponent’s helm, distracting the man for a split second.
With explosive force, he jumped right at the man, arresting his attack. Vir wrenched his shield aside and tackled him, sending them both to the ground.
They crashed into the dirt, locked together in a tangle of limbs. While the warrior was winded, Vir was ready.
He threw his weight on the man, weaving his legs into his opponents’, binding them in place.
Vir brought his katar to bear, but seeing his plan, his opponent grabbed his arm, trying to hold the katar away from his neck.
The man’s two arms overpowered Vir’s one, but Vir had an advantage his opponent lacked. Leverage.
Bracing the hilt of his katar against his chest, Vir leaned forward, driving the blade down. Down to the man’s neck.
Inch by inch, he gained ground. The man’s desperation grew. He kicked with his legs, he struggled with his arms. His actions became more haphazard.
The katar slipped into the gap between the man’s helm and cuirass.
“My loss,” he said immediately, ceasing his resistance. “Were this a real fight, I’d be dead. I yield.”
Vir immediately rolled off and offered him an arm up, which he gladly took.
“You say that, but you were holding back, weren’t you?”
Vir couldn’t see the man’s face from behind his helm, but he thought he sensed a grin. “My job is to test you, not to beat you down.”
“Well done,” the Kin’jali proctor rasped, appearing between the two combatants. He spoke in a low baritone almost as boomy as Riyan’s.
That wasn’t Leap… Must’ve been Blink, Vir sensed. To this day, he’d been unable to learn that Talent. After endless hours of experimentation, he’d concluded that it simply required more Ash prana than was available.
Ash prana’s advantage only went so far. He’d learned that several Talents were simply impossible without more prana, and Blink was just such one.
“Many newer warriors are often overeager, leaping at their enemy with misplaced courage,” the Kin’jali proctor said. “Not you. You began by scoping your enemy. Then, when pressured, you pretended to give ground, luring your opponent into a trap. Not to mention that trick with the dirt. This was an excellent application of the element of surprise.”
“Does that factor into my ranking?” Vir asked.
“Absolutely. Physical prowess is but one element of combat power. Wit, cunning, tactics, and strategy are all equally—if not more—important. Many warriors boast a superior Balar Rank to those more physically capable than them. Mejai are a prime example. Without their magic, they often rely on their cunning and wit to keep themselves safe.”
Vir thought of Maiya, hurling her Ember spell at him as a show of brute force. Sounds like she has a way to go…
“Well fought, Apramor,” the warrior said, casually brushing off his armor.
Knew it.
He’d felt it during the battle, that the man had felt restrained. Even his movement speed seemed to come with a slight delay. An artificial delay. Vir wondered what his opponent’s Balar Rank was. He guessed the man was merely playing a role, matching his own skills to Vir’s level.
“Now, we move onto the unrestricted portion of the exam. I don’t know if you can use magic or Talents. Similarly, you know nothing of my abilities either, so we are on equal footing.”
Except, not really, Vir thought with a smirk. He already knew there would be no magic hurled his way. The man was a Talent user. While Prana Vision might not have the same direct combat applications as his other abilities, it was by far the most useful of them all.
For this round, they faced off thirty paces away. Both Talent wielders and mejai gained from more distance. Introducing these abilities completely changed the way the duel would be fought, and their starting distance reflected that.
This time, there would be no scoping the enemy out. Vir would move in right away, hurling everything he had. Because while he knew the opponent wielded Talents, he couldn’t tell which Talents. And some of them could end a fight in an instant. Riyan had spoken of metaphysical blades that could travel through the air, slicing enemies apart, or even warriors who could cause localized earthquakes.
His opponent’s prana signature made any of those unlikely, but his enemy definitely had more up his sleeve than he let on. The issue this time was that Vir had to show off all of his Talents in a way that synergized and harmonized them with his physical capabilities. All while fighting off his opponent.
He’d never be able to do that if he let his enemy dictate the flow of the fight.
Vir pressed his hands upon the ground in anticipation, sucking Ash Affinity prana into both arms and both legs.
“Fight!”
Vir and his opponent acted simultaneously. Vir shot forth with Leap, closing the distance in an instant, while the man… roared. But this was no ordinary roar. It reverberated through the air, slamming into Vir’s chest with the force of a great drum as a torrent of prana rushed into his enemy.
Then it passed, seemingly having done nothing… Vir used the opportunity to touch the ground. An Empowered katar slammed into the man’s armor. A normal katar strike wouldn’t have done anything against brigandine, but an Empowered one? Vir was sure it’d at least have thrown the man off-balance.
And yet, it was Vir who was sent reeling as the shock of impact shook his very bones. As if he’d taken the force of his own blow.