Faceplant

Julie tilted her head curiously at the thin boy as if questioning whether he was sane, the same frown on her face. She wordlessly turned her head toward Jien with a questioning look only to see him shrug his shoulders before turning back to Rebecca and Carmichael. From what he could tell the boy only wanted to challenge Julie, likely for dubious reasons. Jien felt that it was likely the boy's funeral and figured that if he had paid any attention at all the tall boy would have held back from this challenge.

Julie took Jien's shrug as a positive response, or more likely a response showing that he didn't care because he had faith that she would end the fight in their favor anyway. Worst case scenario the bet was control of the other for a single day and he doubted that even if Julie somehow lost that he would be able to do anything to the beast of a girl. She stepped forward, holding her spear loosely with the tip hovering no more than an inch from the ground. She dropped her shield, something that none of them had seen her do in a fight prior.Her style had always been a mix of spear and shield, but she seemed to be just as comfortable without the defensive measure. As she stepped forward her frown seemed to flip into a smile that soon stretched until his looked like a beast bearing its fangs. Her eyes seemed to radiate a cruelty not unlike a predator staring down on prey. "The name is Bennet. Better remember it because you will be serving me for the next day." the tall boy said, staring her in the eyes as he licked his lips.Everyone, even his own unit seemed to look at the boy named Bennet with an odd look in their eyes. Did this guy even actually watch the practice they had just gone through? If he had did, he watch it through a brick wall or was he just blind? Throughout the whole thing, regardless of what position Julie had fought in she had done a decent job. She couldn't effectively provide support at a distance, and she didn't know any healing spells, but she had even faired decently in those roles using potions and working to draw enemies to her so that she wouldn't need to be at range.Of course, perhaps he felt confident because Jien's unit had been going about their training harder than any of the other units present. That being said as the day went on it was probably only Jien and his group that knew that both Jien and Julie were holding back a fair amount. The first match was them fighting at full boar but if the others had thought that they stopped because they couldn't do it again, they were sorely mistaken.As Julie made her way to the area where Bennet was standing her spear flipped up casually until it looked like she was cradling it like a child. The look in her eyes was still as vicious but her posture was almost like that of a new mother cradling her babe. "I'll be sure to forget that name shortly after we are done here." she stated with poison that contrasted with the way she was carrying herself to a degree that it honestly started to confuse the others. This was a posture that Jien and his unit had seen a few times in the past few days but never particularly in a battle scenario. Jien being one of the most curious about how she would fight while abandoning her shield.Bennet's smug look turned slightly ugly at Julie's statement before turning back into a sadistic grin, though he didn't respond beyond taking a somewhat formal fighting stance with his axes in hand. Julie looked over to Jien again and gave him a nod, asking him to do the honors. To fulfill the request he stepped forward quickly, raised his hand before dropping it and calling "Start!" loud enough for everyone to hear.The first to move was Julie, her movements soft, like the flowing water of a gentle river. She still cradled the spear, as if she would not be willing to even use it in this fight. It was only once she had reached within the tall boy's reach that he struck out. His arm seemed to become a blur as he whipped it out in an almost haphazard manner, aiming for her neck with a ruthless efficiency of a practiced killer.The next few moments seemed to stretch for an eternity yet end in an instant. As the axe approached her neck Julie used her cradling posture to spin the spear like a bo staff. The first spin came from a above, the spearhead catching the top of the axe forcing it down, tipping the tall boy forward while she calmly stepped forward into his space leaving the space of the axe head. Her spear flipped in the opposite direction smoothly, and with a slight spin she seemed to catch the boy's foot, having covered more distance.With a continuation of her spin, she pulled Bennet off his feet, forcing his overreach into a forward fall. The boy made to turn the fall into a simple yet practiced roll only to find that as he tried to curl a foot struck his gut. After sweeping his foot Julie had spun in on herself to reverse direction, keeping momentum which she used to kick the taller boy firmly in the gut. The response was as she had expected, a grunt of pain and the failure of the roll, leaving the boy's face to be planted in the sand. "If that's all then I will figure out what you will be doing for me for a day." she spoke with a casual tone, her vicious smile dimming some in what others could only guess to be disappointment.