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[IamanElfCollaborator]

Madoka can feel Hiroyuki's eyes on her, following her as she observes him. His grip on his lance is strong, his feet subtly moving to adjust his positioning. His lance is positioned ready to block her first strike, and he is positioned ready to take advantage of his height and range.

An Imperial spearman is not normally the most intimidating of foes, but the way Hiroyuki carries himself shines through; she is not fighting a mere guardsman. In all likelihood, he is probably the sort of man who wrote the metaphorical book.

Of course, as she must surely recognise, if she knows his weapon is stronger on the defensive, then he must definitely know. Which makes a prospect of him making the first strike somewhat vain, but not improbable. He slowly advances onto her, his stance not changing except to accomodate his movement, trying to maintain enough distance to comfortably counter her strike with one of superior reach.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"...We just arrived and this is happening, huh."

[IcyTea31]

"You were bored, weren't you?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"As long as no one gets hurt....I trust that they're skilled enough, but I can't help but worry a little."

[mastermepp]

"Hm? What's going on? Crap, is there a fight happening?" She questioned with a yawn, stretching as she stepped out of carriage. She spent most of the trip just lounging or sleeping, not used to being in the company of so many faces for extended periods. It didn't seem that anyone was particularly alarmed, so at least it wasn't an enemy.

"Aw yeah, KICK HIS ASS!" Any drowsiness Haru looks to have quickly faded, given her sudden enthusiasm at the duel. She didn't quite know exactly how the two reached this point, but she'd always have to cheer for their ally.

[RedMageCole]

"Man, she loves fighting, doesn't she?" Kazuki paused for a moment. "You think they'd hate it if I threw one of my bombs in their vicinity?" Kazuki jokingly suggested with a small laugh.

[Chevaleresse]

Madoka began to circle, moving in the direction of what seemed to be her foe's main hand. She doubted he was amateurish enough to be put totally off balance by this, but it did give more opportunity to get within his reach. She continued analyzing his stance for a moment, then decided to probe his defenses. A clench of her hand, a slight stutter of her step - just enough to begin reacting to, before she stopped the feint, waited a split second, and then began another attack in the exact same spot, trying to draw out a premature parry and exploit the gap to land her strike.

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Yes, but we cannot say this is what we had in mind."

[SeriousConcentrate]

The snake Misaki glanced at Kazuki.

"Let them have their fun, and consider it reconnaissance. If you - or I, for that matter - ever need to fight either one of them, it is good to memorize their technique now."

Setsurou folded his arms and watched the two swordsmen.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Circling, circling, circling, Madoka can't quite find that gap in his defences. The man seems to be like a fortress. Defender of Miyashita Pass or not, he could certainly pass for it.

At least, until she finds it.  Her hand clenches, a twitch of the hilt, and he seemingly moves to parry, his lance moving up. Now was her chance. Maybe he might be feinting her in return, maybe not. The chance was there.

[Aurorix]

Traxesa raised an eyebrow and stared back at the old man unamused. Perhaps he could fool normal people with his claims but from what he could sense the old geezer is just another normal person. The thought never even crossed the boy's mind on whether this man had a cure cooked up. Definitely didn't seem like the type to be able to make one.


"I suppose as long as both parties are willing, who are we to stop them? Though I am curious if the sudden sound would startle the girl enough for the hood to fall of.." Traxesa chimed-in jokingly after Setsurou. His mind then goes back to his Gnosis' strange reaction. Just what does that mean?

[IamanElfCollaborator]

As Traxesa's mind wanders, his Gnosis (and the Kaneko twins') gently pulse again. This time, he might notice Momo's own Gnosis, hanging off the side of her belt as she watches Hiroyuki and Madoka duel. It appeared to be an Aura Gnosis, like his own. But something seemed weird about it.

Specifically, that it doesn't seem to react at all to whatever was going on. Specifically, that something about it looked.....off.

[Chevaleresse]

Madoka began her draw, moving as if to strike where the man was parrying. As she made her strike, she twisted her grip slightly. Her sword would take slightly longer to get there, take a slightly wider path - enough that, if she succeeded, she would neatly weave around the defense and dart into the opening it left. She pressed the assault, surging forward to try to get inside his effective striking range and seize the advantage.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

In a flash, it's over.

Iaijutsu was meant to end a fight in a single strike. In that art, Madoka was only rivalled by three men in all of the Five Kingdoms. Hiroyuki Honda was not one of them.

One second, Madoka moves to strike. Her sword flashes like lightning, her smaller frame managing to get under his defenses and through, seizing the moment, a thunderstorm lighting up a mountain pass, lightning cleaving earth-

The next, Hiroyuki is on one knee, propping himself up on his spear, a neat cut on his face where Madoka had struck him, a light amount of blood seeping from it. A smile is on his face.
"....close. You win. But I was close."

Madoka is suddenly keenly aware of a stinging pain on her cheek. If she were to touch a hand the source of the pain, she'd realise that her skin was broken, but not bleeding. A scrape, rather than a cut. A little deeper, and their duel would have been a draw, rather than a win.

The Great Bull was beaten, but not broken.
"It was to first blood. Had I been a bit younger, a bit faster, a bit less rusty....but no matter. The young Todayama did the same to me when I trained her. Like I said, you remind me of her."

[IcyTea31]

That was too fast to be useful. Would it have taken longer if this was the real Honda? Would he have won? Maybe I'll have to ask Madoka what she thinks of his skills. But not in his presence.