Swordmaster

"Do you think he'll have trouble with this one? I only know it's fast," Guyan said.

Sir Khalid bin Walid nodded. "I believe he wilt. Usually, a spear wouldst be good against only a sword, but its speed is simply on another level. It is perchance his worst enemy."

"It's that bad?!"

"It is. Thou must understand that the Sun Guard is not revered because of individual strength, though they art very formidable." He gestured at Goleil. "I mean, look at him. He wears a mask even now to hide his identity, and his name isn't even his. Who knows if he even hath one."

Guyan nodded. He had heard something similar, rumor had it that he gained his name in the battle against a hundred or more knights. Or so Mord had told him.

Khalid continued. "They art revered because they art the perfect phalanx. They don't see themselves as individuals but as part of something else, something greater. They were trained to operate in a close formation and never break, even if they were sure of impending death."

"That's it?" Guyan asked.

The Adalian scoffed. "What dost thou mean, that's it? They art so coordinated it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. They art more than just the sum of their parts as a unit. It's-" He paused as he saw the fight beginning. "It's difficult to explain. Watch."

...

Goleil and the swordsman stared at each other, their weapons almost touching.

The sun knight had a slight reach advantage, but he really wished he had a shield. Now that he had regained his ability to circulate mana, weight wasn't an issue.

Suddenly, Goleil couldn't see the swordsman anymore.

He felt a prickling sensation on his neck and quickly ducked, a blade passing just overhead.

Goleil tried to create some space, swinging his glaive toward his opponent, but the swordmaster wouldn't have it.

He closed in on the sun warrior quickly, raising his massive sword over his head to deliver a killing strike.

Instead of retreating, Goleil charged the swordsman. The black figure brought his sword down in a massive arc, the wind whipping at Goleil's cloak as he just barely dodged.

Goleil circulated his mana, increasing his strength as he kicked the swordmaster in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet.

'By the Flame, it's like kicking a boulder,' He thought.

Goleil attempted to pierce the man's head, but he was able to just barely evade. Goleil realized he could see his movements better now that he was circulating his mana, and it occurred to him just how much stronger even the Lower Manaforgers were over the champions he had just fought.

As Goleil kept the swordsman away, he realized he needed to change his style. Thrusts wouldn't work since he was so fast, and moving to slashes could open him up due to that same speed.

'Damn, I wish I had my sidearm on me!' He thought as he just barely missed his enemy's leg.

Before he could think about it anymore, the swordsman rushed within his spears range, making it almost entirely useless.

Red coils of energy poured off Goleil's body as he prepared to meet the man in close combat, an extremely disadvantageous position for him.

The swordmaster's blade created wind of its own as it ripped through the air, barely glancing off Goleil's armor as he dodged.

Ty'Bral materialized as Goleil was dodging for his life.

"You know, you aren't just a spearman, right? You can use magic."

Goleil remembered he had once used magic to create a glaive, so he formed a shield in his left hand just in time to block a savage strike aimed to cut him in two.

He threw his glaive to the side as he summoned a short sword not even half the other blade's length.

"I thought the Sun Guard only wielded spears," Guyan said.

"Apparently not," Sir Khalid responded.

Goleil was by no means a swordmaster, and he had only been taught enough to be able to kill an enemy should he lose his primary weapon in battle.

'He has the reach advantage and skill advantage. I'll need to get creative,' Goleil thought as a nasty plan formed in his mind.

He quickly pushed the offensive, pushing his speed to the max as he matched the swordmaster strike for strike, blocking whatever slashes he couldn't deflect.

They battled back and forth, the massive sword slamming into Goleil's shield, the sun knight steadily being pushed back farther and farther. He began to slow down as he breathed heavier and heavier, seemingly getting more and more fatigued.

The Adalian shook his head. Was this truly as far as the sun knight would go? How disappointing.

Soon Goleil was forced on the defensive. Every strike he blocked sent tremors through the ground.

Goleil tried to remove the swordmaster's arm, only to overextend and almost have his arms sliced off as the swordmaster skillfully dodged.

The man didn't let up, and as Goleil retreated towards the edge of the ring, he pushed his advantage.

Strike after strike, Goleil felt his shield get rocked repeatedly, his mana output beginning to exhaust him as he constantly reformed the mana construct.

The swordmaster made a horizontal slash aimed at his neck that seemed to scream toward him.

'This is it!' Goleil thought.

He leaned back, letting the blade pass over his head as he tried to recover from his unbalanced position.

The swordmaster couldn't let such an opportunity go to waste and raised its sword over its head to split Goleil in half.

And yet, suddenly, there was a massive blood-red mana spike straight through its body.

Behind Goleil, the base of the spike protruded up from the ground and passed through Goleil and finally into the swordmaster.

The sword clattered to the ground as the master looked down at the wound incredulously.

Goleil chuckled as he remembered that magic could not harm its caster. It certainly felt weird having a spike phase through him, however.

He looked around at the stunned crowd who had thought him defeated.

'What idiots, did they really think I would fall?!'

He had used his body to mask the spike until it was too late. The spike disappeared as Goleil released the mana construct, and the swordmaster began dissipating.