"Haaaah…haaah…I have to do it…"
An exhausted groan fills up what seems to be a huge, empty, training ground. Upon the vast empty space, a sword was being swung endlessly by a desperate and assiduous noble woman.
"...to become…a Swordmaster…"
After a while, the sword fell to the ground as its wielder's grip has grown tired and sore. Sweating like buckets, the woman reaches her hand to the sword that has fallen. As she was about to touch the handle, a foot assisted her and lightly tipped the sword towards her hand. As the noble woman looks up, she saw the figure of the individual who seems to be watching her from afar.
"You're too rough on yourself, but you have the spirit. My name is Jaina, a hunter. May I know yours, milady?"
"....."
"Fiona…dun Cormelia…"
— — —
"-I'll go full offensive."
As Jaina declares her intention, Fiona shows a concerned expression, but then she shakes her head and does a nod. She then takes a deep breathe and assumes a stance.
"I'm going to keep up with you no matter what. So please, don't hold yourself back!"
"Fiona, you– heh…"
Jaina pulls the chain hanging on her belt, followed suit by all of her daggers tethered up on the said chain.
"I'll leave my back to you."
Ajax whistles after witnessing Jaina's trick.
"Color me surprised. It seems we have almost the same type of attribute skill."
The tethered daggers float around Jaina like she is their center of gravity. She touches every tip of her daggers like she's checking their sharpness.
"I hold every dagger of mine with absolute care. They are my fangs that helps me deal with those who are after my life and my comrades. I must say, however, your unique skill may be more profound– but my
Attribute Skill
Jaina dashes towards Ajax, despite him having the higher ground. She propels herself using the surrounding trees, jumping from one tree to another, as she finally reaches Ajax's position. Jaina draws a floating dagger (red) and swiftly slashes towards Ajax's face.
It all happened so fast that Ajax wouldn't able to keep up, however, he barely dodges a fatal slash and only got his left cheek cut.
'Kkh!! So fast! Her precision and agility is top notch!'
Just a while, Ajax felt an excruciating pain coming from his small wound in the cheek.
"Ghk–gaaah!!"
'What the hell!? Is this the effect of her weapon?!'
Ajax lightly scratches his wound and glares at Jaina who is now charging towards him once again.
"Tch!"
Ajax jumps away, making quite a distance from him and Jaina.
'I will pressure her with long ranged attacks for now. Facing her in close combat in that state is quite a bother– huh?'
He then felt a violent surge coming close. Since he's currently midair, he has no choice but to face it. As a response, he actively whirls his spear around in contrast to the upcoming surge to lessen its impact and throws it towards her afterwards.
"You're still on business, swordswoman?!"
Fiona does not bother to give a response and swiftly dodges the whirling spear. Ajax, on the other hand notices that her pupils moved for a second as if she's following the movement of a certain someone.
"She's close."
Ajax successfully detects Jaina and calls out for his arrows to surround her. But then, a gust of wind knocks it all down.
'I can't fully utilize my arrows because of this damn woman!'
Jaina catches up to Ajax and draws two of her floating daggers (red and silver) and does a series of quick slashes. As someone who has years of battle experience, Ajax adapts with Jaina and matches her speed, continuously evading her attacks while also watching out for any of Fiona's interruptions.
'Here it comes!'
A sharp gust of wind passes by Ajax, making him lose some of his balance as they're fighting on top of a thick tree trunk.
'Drat!'
Just a second more til Jaina's daggers hit Ajax, his continuously whirling spear hits the trunk they're standing on and cuts it in half, resulting in Jaina to fall while Ajax still stands on the remaining half of the trunk.
'Wha-!? The spear passes my detection!'
Fiona rushes towards the falling Jaina, but then she stops her.
"Fiona, focus on yourself!"
As soon as she hears that remark, Fiona tightly grips the handle of her sword and does an elegant spin, producing a twister as it knocks the whirling spear that is going towards her position.
Jaina on the other hand smoothly landed on her feet as if she weighs nothing at all. Not wasting time, she pursues Ajax, showing no hesitation with getting close to him.
"I praise you hunter! Your skills are one of the few that is giving me a hard time. But–"
Ajax welcomes the challenge and jumps from the trunk to meet her.
"I am the top fighter of this generation!"
Ajax draws one of his swords and clashes blades with Jaina once again. This time however, they continuously slash one another, while also blocking each other's attack.
"Hahahaha!! Are you also enjoying this!?"
"Don't lump me in with you, battle freak."
Jaina can be seen using two daggers, but when clashing blades, she is prioritizing the rust-colored dagger to confront the sword. By which, Ajax notices.
'Something– is off!'
Crack!
A small crack has shown itself in Ajax's sword. Upon closer inspection, the blade affected has rusted and is slowly falling off.
'So that's it! This certain dagger–'
"Surprised? This serpent's venom is not only poisonous against the living you see."
Jaina then points the rust dagger towards Ajax.
"I told you right, I am on full offensive."
"HAHAHA! Don't tell me you already think that you've won after just this? I'll shatter your hope of victory with my strength!"
Ajax calls back his spear, but as it's spinning towards him, it gets knocked by a strong gust of wind.
"Tch! That woman ag–"
CLANG!
Despite having his attention divided, Ajax still managed to block Jaina's daggers with his shattering sword.
"Impressive. Even when distracted, your instincts still tell you when to strike. But then–"
The sword can be seen slowly shattering due to the effect of Jaina's rust dagger, ultimately breaking it in half, leaving him with only one sword left.
"You snake!"
As Ajax jumps back to form a distance, Jaina follows his tracks and does not show any sign of letting him get far. Meanwhile, Fiona continues zoning him so that he won't get far.
'Keh! Even if I get a bit of distance, this annoying woman is marking me with her long ranged sword skills. These two, they're so in sync with each other that it's annoying.'
Jaina draws out her silver dagger which makes Ajax wary.
'I haven't seen the effect of that one yet.'
"Hah!"
She then throws her red dagger towards Ajax as a surprise, by which Ajax responds with a quick sidestep.
'Wait…'
The thrown dagger was then quickly pulled back to Jaina as if she's a magnet. One of the deadly features of a serpent is its ability to attack and immediately withdraw in order to prepare for another assault.
"HAAAAH!!"
Just like a serpent, she moves like one. Slithering around Ajax all the while continuously slashing and withdrawing with her daggers, not giving Ajax the chance to reciprocate and catch his breath. Despite the chainmail and some other protective gears Ajax is wearing, Jaina's silver dagger could be seen to easily cut through the armor.
'Ghk!! I'm prioritizing not to get hit on my vulnerable parts in reflex, but my armored segments are being easily pierced! This silver dagger might just be her sharpest one!'
'Now!' ← Jaina
While Ajax's mind is preoccupied with her "slithering" around him, Jaina finds an opportunity to unleash her most prized dagger.
"...!!?"
Precisely pinpointing an open and vulnerable spot for an attack, Jaina draws her golden dagger at an unbelievable speed and is successful at strucking Ajax in his right shoulder. On the other hand, Ajax still managed to get his hand on the dagger but it's too late.
"Grraah!!"
The dagger then glows and emits a golden voltage, shocking Ajax in the process. The golden dagger represents the suppressing aspect of a serpent, stunning its prey as it prepares for the final blow. The wound it also causes will take a lot of time to heal even with the help of a healer.
"Aghh…Gaaaaahhk!! You— damned…hunter!"
Feeling his muscles getting more numb every passing second, Ajax resorts to brute force as he struggles to get out of Jaina's suppression.
"You're done!"
Grabbing her red dagger, Jaina is determined to close the fight. As she was about to land the killing blow, Ajax screamed from the bottom of his lungs.
"GRRRR….!! HRAAAAAAAHH!"
A deafening warcry that sends shivers down their spine. But that doesn't stop Jaina. The moment the tip of the dagger touched his neck, a certain force pushed her away.
"Ugh…!"
"Jaina!"
Fiona called out and ran towards her after seeing Jaina mysteriously sent flying away. Before hitting the ground, Jaina was cushioned by a gentle wind produced by Fiona's sword.
"Guh…what just happened..?"
Fiona shakes her head, clueless about what just transpired. Jaina then checks her floating daggers and confirms that it's still complete. She then thinks–
'That kind of force…it's as if my daggers bent to his will and forced me away. No, that's impossible, my unique skill is still active…my daggers are supposed to be connected to me. Isn't his unique skill only applicable to his own weapons?'
She then stands up and takes a deep breath in order to relax herself. After all, the movements she does back then are too much for a normal hunter to handle.
As Jaina and Fiona readies for another assault, Ajax stands up. His shoulder and other parts that are hit are dripping blood, putting him in a serious predicament. While gasping, he still managed to let out a smirk.
"You're really good, it's been a long time since I've bled this much."
Jaina confidently responds.
"I'll take that commendation. However–"
The two of them assume a battle stance.
"-this time, no more escaping."