In the meantime, Bryan was most likely on the losing side, seeing that he could never land his blow on Tomoe. His sword was shaking when Tomoe's blade was stable. His hands were burning as he gripped onto the katana.
Tomoe gave another smile as looked at poor Bryan faltering. Taking advantage, Tomoe pulled his katana away from clashing with Bryan's sword. This shocked Bryan, who was now confused and falling frontwards. Tomoe then gave a kick to Bryan by kneeing the latter in the chest.
Bryan coughed out some saliva as he flew into the air. Knowing that Tomoe was faster, Bryan knew he needed to be a few steps in front of his opponent. He turned around, while still in the air, just in time to clash with Tomoe again. But the force of the clash made Bryan fall to the ground once more.
Tomoe landed properly onto the ground, looking at Bryan's pitiful shape and form.
"With your skill like this, it was amazing that you could face off with the High Queen... It will surely help me if you were using the same technique as you did with her battle in this duel with me. Or else, I'm starting to think twice about training a weakling like you!" shouted Tomoe.
He launched forwards at Bryan who was still recovering. With no time to spare, Tomoe was increasing his attacks, both in his speed and quantity. Bryan could still meet with each attack but he was getting pushed back. He was desperately trying to find an opening.
Breathe.
Bryan opened his eyes bigger as he heard that word. That voice... Is Mavislin here? Bryan turned his head, facing away from his opponent. Big mistake as it gave Tomoe the chance to strike at Bryan's neck. But luckily, the Slayer wouldn't have been in the Pillars if he was that slow.
Bryan quickly used the Nagasa of his sword to block Tomoe's strike. This caused quite a shockwave as Tomoe intended to put his weight on the attack. The two were engulfed by the winds they had kicked up, making it impossible to see if anyone got hurt.
"Damn it! I can't see if Bryan got hurt!" yelled Baldwin, eyes squinting.
With another horizontal slash, Tomoe cleared the battlefield and backed away from Bryan.
"That was quick thinking. But you are still far from passing," said Tomoe, rushing forwards to Bryan once more.
Bryan quickly caught wind of what Tomoe was trying to do as he saw the familiar's sword held up high. Tomoe brought down the blade, creating a vertical strike that nearly sliced Bryan if the Slayer hadn't moved away. While gravity was at play for Tomoe, it was Bryan's turn to attack.
Bryan tried to wound the Kitsune by delivering a horizontal strike at Tomoe's head. But Tomoe was no young pup as he continued the vertical slash to get under striking distance. Tomoe dodged the horizontal strike and contorted his body, delivering a 360-degree slash.
Since Bryan's upper body was tilted backward, his lower half was prone to the full circle slash by Tomoe's second move. This happened in seconds and ended with Bryan falling flat onto the ground, with his ankles grazed by the second move.
"What is that fox trying to do now?" asked Baldwin, looking at how Tomoe fought.
"I've never seen those moves before. They are certainly not native to my fighting technique or anything I have seen. Not even Mavislin could keep up with this style if she did not know about it beforehand. Any idea, Z?"
Z remained silent as his eyes followed the battle. He didn't mean to ignore his friend's question but he was just too focused on what Bryan and Tomoe's fighting method was. Both were similar. It was completely foreign to him as well. A snap of the Angry Man's fingers caused him to turn to Baldwin.
"Sorry, I have no clue about this fighting style either. I'm just as clueless as you now. Whatever it is, it is still quite the show to watch," noted Z.
"Well, whatever happens, let's agree to stop before anyone of them gets fatally hurt... Alright?"
"Sure. I wouldn't want them to lose their lives before the next mission. I would be bringing Mavislin along as well," agreed Z.
"The next mission for Mavislin would be under the Blizzard Faction?" questioned Baldwin, looking puzzled.
"No, it's just that she needs my guidance to get to the area she needs. At the same time, there have been a few problems in that particular area. And seeing that these two possess quite the talent, I am hoping to drag them along as well."
Baldwin laughed looking at his pal.
"I'll have you know that Tomoe hates being in the water," replied Baldwin, shaking his head.