Post by Kaen Youji on Jul 7, 2017 23:08:10 GMT -5
Lien was a savvy swordsman. Naturally he knew the drawbacks of the high guard, and that despite the speed and power it afforded, it made his attacks predictable. That's why he made sure to be flexible in his swordsmanship. The moment Hikari placed her hand on the back of her shinai, he already had begun to anticipate her countermove. She intercepted his blow midway, but contrary to her expectations, Lien did not stagger or stumble back. His footwork was grounded and he was strong. Strong enough to stay in control. Angel also would not have the chance to continue her attack as she wished. The moment she locked blades with Lien and drove into him, he backed off in a controlled manner, and moved off to the side. At the same time he released his left hand from the hilt of the sword and planted the palm of his hand against Angel's forearm, driving it away from him, and subtly but efficiently redirecting her momentum, while simultaneously blocking her sword arm, preventing her from making a counter swing. He was keeping distance, despite his sudden grapple and Angel's ankle kick would do little more than graze the front of Lien's shin. That was not the problem though. The problem was that as Lien stepped diagonally offline, and blocked her sword arm, he now dipped the tip of his blade to drop it below and free of the blade lock, between immediately cutting up at Angel's belly, beneath her guard. While he may have been slightly out of range of Angel's low kick, this was still extremely short range for a sword fight, and with Angel's arm blocked by Lien's, it would be extremely difficult to defend or counter in time.
This would, consequently, make Angel's other follow-ups difficult to complete, as the position Lien had taken was radically different from what had been expected. However, aside from blocking off her line of attack, Lien seemed satisfied with his body cut, and allowed Angel to retreat a step or two. If Angel insisted on performing her counter-cut, Lien would step back as well, creating enough distance between them that Angel's slash would narrowly miss. Angel would have picked up on a second trait of Lien's if she was at all apt at analysis. Her ankle kick and cut had missed by the smallest of hairs. Either Lien was extremely lucky... Or he was excellent at judging measure. The reach of the opponent's sword and his own. If he knew Angel's sword measure then landing a blow would be extremely difficult and it would open up extremely efficient defenses for her opponent. With her sword slash missing, Angel would also find her kick hopelessly out of range.
Barely giving Angel pause for breath, Lien bore back into the fray, this time with his blade held in a low guard on his right side. As he neared Hikari, he flicked his weapon up, slashing with the back of the blade!? No. It wasn't quite the back. Lien was slashing at Akane with the tip of his sword. A very precise attack! However. It opened up a myriad of options for Lien, and depending on how Angel reacted would determine the follow-up. Given Lien was cutting with only the tip of his sword, one might have thought that Angel could simply dodge backwards a hair to avoid it. However, if she did this, she would suffer an unpleasant surprise as Lien suddenly transitioned into a thrust at her face, with almost no room to evade! If Angel attempted to parry the blow, Lien would attempt a low bind-- possible from his low to high angle on the slash and wind around the outside of Angel's sword to skewer her in the side. Lastly, Angel could attempt a more unorthodox charge, but with Lien's known aptitude at hand to hand combat, and bladesmanship, there were doubtlessly even more options that would open themselves if she risked that. Lien was indeed a far more dangerous physical combatant than Akane had been, and he was not being caught off guard by Angel's aggression, only meeting it in turn.
This would, consequently, make Angel's other follow-ups difficult to complete, as the position Lien had taken was radically different from what had been expected. However, aside from blocking off her line of attack, Lien seemed satisfied with his body cut, and allowed Angel to retreat a step or two. If Angel insisted on performing her counter-cut, Lien would step back as well, creating enough distance between them that Angel's slash would narrowly miss. Angel would have picked up on a second trait of Lien's if she was at all apt at analysis. Her ankle kick and cut had missed by the smallest of hairs. Either Lien was extremely lucky... Or he was excellent at judging measure. The reach of the opponent's sword and his own. If he knew Angel's sword measure then landing a blow would be extremely difficult and it would open up extremely efficient defenses for her opponent. With her sword slash missing, Angel would also find her kick hopelessly out of range.
Barely giving Angel pause for breath, Lien bore back into the fray, this time with his blade held in a low guard on his right side. As he neared Hikari, he flicked his weapon up, slashing with the back of the blade!? No. It wasn't quite the back. Lien was slashing at Akane with the tip of his sword. A very precise attack! However. It opened up a myriad of options for Lien, and depending on how Angel reacted would determine the follow-up. Given Lien was cutting with only the tip of his sword, one might have thought that Angel could simply dodge backwards a hair to avoid it. However, if she did this, she would suffer an unpleasant surprise as Lien suddenly transitioned into a thrust at her face, with almost no room to evade! If Angel attempted to parry the blow, Lien would attempt a low bind-- possible from his low to high angle on the slash and wind around the outside of Angel's sword to skewer her in the side. Lastly, Angel could attempt a more unorthodox charge, but with Lien's known aptitude at hand to hand combat, and bladesmanship, there were doubtlessly even more options that would open themselves if she risked that. Lien was indeed a far more dangerous physical combatant than Akane had been, and he was not being caught off guard by Angel's aggression, only meeting it in turn.