[PP-F24] The Flame breathes Fury, the Void brings Tranquility

[Morgenstern 1]

Stats

Spoiler Morgenstern, The Storm Samurai Level: 31 Paragon Level: 50 HP: 880/880 EN: 100/100 Stats: Damage: 21 Mitigation: 122 Accuracy: 1 Battle Healing: 48 BLD IMMUNE BRN IMMUNE FL. THRN: 8 PARA IMMUNE P.V.O THRNS: 72 Equipped Gear: Weapon: Raikiri T4 Katana | DMG III, Para. Venom Armor: Hallowed Raikage | Thorns II, Flame Thorns, Cursed Misc: Orgoth's Defiance | Fireproof, Para Immune, Blood Clot Custom Skill: Skills: Katana R5 Heavy Armor R5 Battle Healing R5 Fighting Spirit Active Mods: Emergency Recovery Impetus Vengeful Riposte Inactive Mods: Addons: Focus Iron Skin Precision Active Extra Skills: Survival Meditation First Aid R5 Parry Inactive Extra Skills: Battle Ready Inventory: ITEM x1 Housing Buffs: Well Rested: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat Squeaky Clean: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down) Hard Working: +2 EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. Guild Hall Buffs: Scents of the Wild: Wedding Ring:

It had been a few days since the tournament's passing and something had bothered him relentlessly. The Storm Samurai had been easily defeated at the hands of a Martial Arts user. Not only had she beaten him, but it was a landslide. Against her quick attacks, he hadn't stood a chance. Could he had even fended her off with a real blade? There was no telling. If push came to shove, could he compete in a real fight against a martial artist? It was these questions that had brought him to his Sensei's abode. 

The White King adorned a red tracksuit accompanied by his standard white garb. Blue-green eyes looked ahead at the door to his master's dojo. His left hand rested on the white-and-gold hilt of a katana that was sheathed at his side. A knock on the door to the dojo would be followed by the words: "Pardon me!" before the door would slide open. Stepping into the dojo, his eyes would fall onto a golden-haired woman who was bending down to pick up some wooden weapons which had been lying on the floor. 

"Someone leave their stuff on the ground again?" he would ask @Snow. "If you want, tell me who did it and I'll knock some sense into them." His words were phrased in a way that was obviously a joke. "You see Baldur anywhere around here? I need some help with something." His eyes watched intently as he waited for an answer.

 @Baldur @Koga

[Snow 0]

In her morning routine of walking the grounds, Snow found herself in the dojo where every so often, she came upon a sight of scattered weapons, tatami stands, and other various forms of dishevelment. With a sigh, she busied herself with moving the tatami stands back in the storage room where Hirru sometimes still slept. Other times, he woke early enough to catch a few fish before the sun fully crested the horizon. After finishing with the stands, she returned to the dojo to pick up the scattered practice weapons. This time, a familiar face greeted her.

"Oh! Hello! You're up and about early," Snow greeted to Morgenstern. She giggled at his offer to knock sense into the lazy bones that left their stuff lying around.

"No, no, that's alright. I've threatened the usual culprits to the point they don't do this anymore. Someone must have brought guests and gotten swept away in the moment." As she spoke, she gathered the half dozen or so wooden sticks in her arms.

"Baldur?" she repeated. Snow had a moment where she thought back on their journey to the Monument of Life. Then, she remembered his lilting flute and the calm waters he liked to sit near as the sun rose.

"Hmm..." she paused and nudged a bokken back into place in her arms before it tried to escape. "I think he should be making the rounds himself any minute now. He's an early bird like me. I wouldn't be surprised if we--"

@Baldur

Spoiler

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Snow

[Baldur 0]

One of the shoji panel doors slid open, and Baldur walked in dressed in the same haori he always wore. The first sight he saw was Snow, dressed in her haori, and picking up a handful of weapons to put them away. He was beginning to feel that she played the role of cinderella in their home. He would have to make it up to her. Then his eyes slide over to @Morgenstern, his errant student. He did not come regularly, but his coming and going of the island wasn't uncommon either.

"Jon!" Baldur called to the man with a smile, bowing to the kamidana before stepping fully into the dojo.

"It is always a pleasure to see you here at the dojo. When are you going to bring @tricolor_mina by for a meal?" He walked over and clasped Jon on the shoulder in friendly camaraderie. 

He turned, making sure his body language included Snow in the conversation and didn't close it off to omit her from the gathering.

"What brings you by the dojo today?"

Spoiler

» Baldur, The Gaijin Samurai 

• Base HP: 920
• Base EN: 126 (includes 20 for Energist)
• Base MIT: 78
• Base ACC: 5 (includes AA and does not automatically miss on 1s)
• Base DMG: 23 
• Base EVA: 2
• Battle Heal: 46 HP
• Keen: +1
• Recovery: +4 EN

» Items Equipped:

• Warden's Fury - Absolute Accuracy/2 Paralyze
• Muramasa - Absolute Accuracy/Fallen/Blight/Burn
• Ethereal Tether - Zanshin - Absolute Accuracy/Keen/Freeze/Burn
• Montsuki haori - 48 DMG MIT/+1 EVASION/+4 EN RECOVERY
• Emerald Matagama | Perfect | +3 Accuracy
• Hammerspace Backpack (HB) +1 BR item (allows stacks up to 7)

» Battle-Ready Inventory:

• Medium Damage Potion ^x7 | Rare T2 Item | +2 Damage
• Basic Teleportation Crystal ^x1 | Good Item | Teleports player to the Town of Beginnings
• Max Mass HP Recovery Crystal ^x7 | Perfect T2 Item | +30*Target Tier (30/60/90)
• Max T2 HP Recovery Crystal II ^x4 | Perfect T2 Item | +180 HP
• Safeguard Potion ^x3 | Perfect Tier 1 | Safeguard
• HB: Max Vitality Snack ^x2 | Rare Tier 2 | Grants +12 Energy
• EWL: Medium Antidote Potion ^x1 | Rare Tier 2 | Immune to negative status effects for 2 turns
• EWL: Muramasa or Warden's Fury
• EWL:
• SC: Emerald Teardrop - +2 ACC/+1 EVASION
   

» Skills:

• One Hand Curved Sword | Rank 1/5 | 
• Katana | Rank 5/5 | 
• Battle Healing | Rank 5/5 | 
• Light Armor | Rank 5/5 | 
• Charge | Purchased | 
• Quick Change | Purchased
• Extended Weight Limit | Purchased
• Energist | Purchased
• Combat Shift | ST Specialist
• Searching| Rank 3/5

» Extra Skills:

• Concentration | Equipped
• Survival | Un-equipped
• Meditation | Equipped
• Parry | Equipped
• Forgotten King's Authority | Equipped
• Shatter | Not Yet Unlocked

» Mods:

• Meticulous: Equipped
• Emergency Recovery: Equipped
• [Mod Slot Empty
• [Mod Slot Empty]
• [Mod Slot Empty]
• ADD-ON Ferocity: Equipped
• ADD-ON Stamina: Equipped
• ADD-ON: Precision: Equipped
• ADD-ON: Resolve: Equipped

» Housing Bonuses:

• Rested: -1 EN on first 2 uses
• Tasty: Turns 2 food into feast for 4
• Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread 1/month
• Filling: Add 1 extra tier 1 slot to food
• Item Stash: +1 BR item slot
• Relaxed: OOC regen 5*tier, recover EN out of combat after 2 turns in lieu of 3
• Angler: +1 Mat when fishing

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Baldur

[Morgenstern 1]

Looking at Snow, it was obvious that he was underdressed as always. Jonathan never really embraced the Japanese culture as much as the others had. It at least made sense since most of the students were actually Japanese, Jonathan however was an American. The blond respected Baldur's habits and when a large number of visitors would come he would find himself wearing more traditional clothing.

As always, Snow's voice was cheery and spoken with a smile. The girl was insanely cute but in the eyes of many, she had almost felt like a little sister although she was a bit older than Jon himself. "If I stay in bed for too long Mina will get crass with me. Personally, I think she just gets bored being up by herself. Good to see you by the way." 

Their conversation continued, only lasting for a moment before the Master had arrived himself. The sound of the sliding panels would pull his attention, blue-green eyes looking onto Baldur as he entered. Even now it would appear that the Gaijin Samurai adorned his standard Haori. When was the last time he had seen the two apart?

Baldur would greet him but then immediately poked at him with a joke. "I'll try sometime but she's got a friend who prepares some mean dishes. Anyway, I'm not too sure about it, if I bring her then I've just set myself up for being teased on two sides. Major disadvantage." His last words were spoken with a fake sorrow. 

"What brings you by the dojo today?"

Jonathan's left head would ride to ruffle his hair, an apologetic expression growing on his face. "Well, after the tournament I've been thinking a lot... about how I lost. I realized, I'd never had a chance to face off against a Martial Artist. I don't know how to even try to fight them. I don't know anyone who uses that skill so I was hoping you might." 

"It is definitely weird going against someone using fists with a sword. I can at least say that much." 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur smiled as Jon made a joke about being at a disadvantage when surrounded by Mina and Baldur. Truth be told, he was pretty good natured about being teased. In response to the gaijin's question, however, the man suddenly seemed a little embarrassed, using his common tell of ruffling his own hair. Baldur was going to be quick with a platitude, assuaging his student's confidence and ego, but then a thought occurred to him that he could kill three birds with a single stone.

"Asymmetry is definitely a challenge that only improves with exposure and practice. When I was learning to fence, not kendo mind you, one of my good friends in the club whom I often sparred with, was a leftie. It was a very bizarre experience, but it stopped being an advantage for him because we fought so much. However, every person he fought was right handed. When, at tournament, we both fought another leftie, I was the one without a disadvantage. For neither leftie had ever fought one before." He chuckled softly.

"All that is to stay, having practice against all different forms of combat is very important. If all you ever fight are mobs or other katana users, you're not going to know how to handle it when something new comes across your way.... aaaand I think I know just the person."

He had been meaning to summon the man here after the floor boss, but he had gotten caught up in the events of the tournament and resuming his mid floor habits. There was always a cycle to the floor exploration, and now that they had cleared the previous boss, it was the eye of the storm. The low tide.

With a gesture, Baldur summoned his HUD and opened up a message.

@Koga

Quote

Koga:\> Koga-san, I have a student here that would like to have a match against a martial arts user. Would you please do me the honor of helping train one of my students? I will make sure that we have good food and drink as a reward for a hard days work.

After sending the message, Baldur smiled proudly at Jon, feeling pleased with his plan.

"Koga-san should be here soon. I saw his fight with Alkor, and I think he would make an excellent partner for you."

[Koga 0]

k o g a the elder wolf Spoiler notes: notice me senpai i make myself wanna vomit sometimes   Koga Lvl 32/46 | HP: 860 | EN: 120 | DMG: 23 | EVA: 2 | MIT: 30 | ACC: 5 | LD: 3 | BRN: 56 | BLT: 32/20 | FALN: 8 | REC: 4 | B.HEALING: 47/94   equipped battle-ready inventory T4 Demonic Katana <<Tsuki no Hikari>> [ CRSED // BRN I // BLT I // FALN I ] T4 Perfect Light Armor <<Twilight Coat>> [ EVA II // REC I ] T1 Perfect Trinket <<Kashira Cable - Wolf>> [ ACC III ] none   skills Spoiler | UTILITY Gathering: Fishing I | Successfully forage for materials on a LD 14+ | 0/49 EXP  Searching III | +1 LD per rank. +1 to Stealth Detection per rank. | 14 SP Night Vision | Ignores any penalties from low light or darkness. Negates the bonus Stealth Rating from low light or darkness. | 3 SP | COMBAT Combat Shift: Single Target | For the following Sword Arts, +3 to multipliers and +2 to EN cost; ST-I, ST-II, ST-B. No other Shifts may be taken. | 10 SP Mastery: Damage III | Gain 1 * Tier Damage per rank | 13 SP Battle Healing V | Recover 5% (rounded down) of your maximum HP at the start of your turn | 30 SP Emergency Recovery | When non-fatal damage would leave you with 25% or less of your maximum HP, recover 10% of your maximum HP after the attack resolves. Effect cannot occur more than once per thread.  When activated if the player has lower than 10 energy remaining, simply reduce the player's energy to 0. | 6 SP EN Cost: 10 Energist | Increase Base Energy by 5 * Tier | 8 SP Charge | Perform a single attack/Sword Art with +5 base damage. Charge attacks have a -1 Accuracy debuff and cannot be affected by any auto-hit effects. | 10 SP Cooldown: 3 Posts | WEAPON Katana V | +7 DMG when equipped with a Katana | 30 SP Stamina | Reduces the energy of all Katana attacks by 2 EN | 4 SP Precision | Gain +1 ACC. | 2 SP Ferocity | +2 DMG when using Katana Sword Arts | 4 SP | ARMOR Light Armor V | +30 MIT when equipped with Light Armor, -2 Stealth | 30 SP Meticulous | +1 DMG when equipped with Light Armor | 4 SP Resolve | +1 ACC and +10 * Tier HP when equipped with Light Armor | 6 SP | EXTRAS Familiar Master: Rending | You and your familiar attack in tandem, applying Rend [7*tier unmitigatable damage] to the target that lasts for two turns. | 10 SP Cooldown: 5 Turns Survival | Increases Healing effects received from all sources by 10%. Grants immunity to all damage dealing environmental attacks/effects. | 0 SP Parry | Apply the energy cost upon proc, not activation. Reduces the final damage of the next successful attack against you by 50% (rounded down) and negates stun/paralysis effects of that attack. If hit by multiple attacks, only apply parry to the first attack against you. Parry lasts for three turns. Cooldown starts when the player activates the Skill. If the player is hit when using Parry, the cooldown is reset to 3 turns. | 10 SP 9 EN, Cooldown: 3 Turns Vengeful Riposte | A successful Parry also returns 50% (rounded down) of the raw damage that would be dealt to you back to your opponent. The reflected damage can be mitigated by the opponent. | 6 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns Justified Riposte | A successful Parry also stuns the target for 1 turn. | 5 SP Cooldown: 4 Turns buffs Spoiler | PARAGON REWARDS Lv. 5 | Earn Col equivalent to 15% of player’s EXP earned in thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to Looting | BUFFS <<Well Rested>> | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat. <<Squeaky Clean>> | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down). <<Filling>> | Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. <<Item Stash>> | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot <<Tasty>> | Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. <<Relaxed>> | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. <<Multipurpose>> | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll.

To say that Koga hadn't been expecting a message from Baldur would've been an understatement. Seeing the man's name at the top of his notifications felt more like getting called to the principle's office than finally being noticed by senpai. Whatever the hell that meant.

Thankfully, opening the message revealed that the message was not, in fact, a 'come to the office' message. Well, sort of. Baldur was indeed requesting the man's presence at his dojo, but, surprisingly, it was to help him in teaching a student. Notice me senpai, indeed.

Be there in a bit

The man wrote back promptly, and was soon stepping out of his store, locking it behind him, before twirling the key and stuffing it back into his pocket, where it would disappear into his inventory. The journey wouldn't be too long, thankfully, save for the peaceful boat ride over to the island.

--

As Koga stepped off the boat, the brunette man who'd ferried him during the tournament directed Koga towards where Baldur and the others were waiting. Koga thanked the man with a small bow, before heading off in that direction, Okami padding alongside him.

Despite his prompt departure and arrival on the island, Koga actually arrived quite a bit later than expected. "Hey," he greeted those present as he stepped into the building. He'd gotten lost in the massive estate, wandering the halls and open spaces for the better part of fifteen minutes before he'd finally come across another NPC who'd been able to direct him towards the dojo.

"Woah, wait, you guys actually where those all the time around here?" Koga asked, a quizzical look on his face as he observed Baldur and the two strangers. Baldur, he had at least expected to be wearing his traditional garments, attributing them to the man's battledress, but the others? Maybe it was part of their school's uniform? "I'd have brought my gi if I'd known."

Edited March 11, 2022 by Koga

[Snow 0]

Snow let Baldur and his student talk while she occupied herself with putting the various training weapons back in their places. A place for everything and everything in its place they always said. While she placed  the last of the tools away, her ears caught wind of the conversation regarding combat and different styles. If she heard correctly, Baldur's student struggled in a match against an unarmed combatant. The discussion triggered a faint memory of the tournament. Snow's brows furrowed as she considered her own knowledge of combat, which she admitted was sorely lacking. If someone could be bested with a sword, then what would that mean for her and her spear? Did range not matter once the gap had been closed? The whole point of her choosing the spear was to keep danger as far away from her as possible to avoid being hit.

Snow approached Baldur and his student.

"Excuse me," she interrupted as they seemed to be waiting for a third. "Would it be too distracting if I sat in on the lesson?"

She concluded her request with a humble bow of her head which seemed to become habit from her time spent in Japan before SAO.

[Morgenstern 1]

It would seem that the young man was due for a lesson and one did not simply have a lesson without a story. The only thing Jon actually managed to take from the story that apparently fighting left-handed users were difficult to fight. "I've practiced against a few non-katana users. Not much I haven't seen I don't think, except for Martial Arts. I actually forgot the skill existed there for a while." He had seen most of the weapons out there and had a pretty good idea how to counter each of them. Unless someone brought a unique style or weapon to the field he was usually good for a fight. 

The blond watched as Baldur typed up a quick message. Koga was a name unknown to him. Not one he had heard of in passing. Or had he? Was it one of the names that were listed in the tournament? Unclear, Jonathan would fold his arms and wait patiently for 'Koga' to arrive. 

"Excuse me, would it be too distracting if I sat in on the lesson?" 

Blue-green eyes turned to Snow. "No, I don't think it should be too much of a problem." A smirked passed over his face before he turned away. "Can't be distracted if you are properly using Mushin anyway." He nodded to acknowledge himself for remembering the term. Albeit, Mushin wasn't something he had mastered. Fudoshin seemed to be the easiest thing for him to pick up and had been incorporated into his fighting style the most. As a man that was already in a relationship though, it should be easy enough to not be distracted by a simple girl.

The panel door slid open, revealing a simple dark haired man. There was nothing outstanding about his looks and from the first sentence there wasn't anything outstanding with his way of words. He was... normal. Honestly, it was sort of refreshing. "Don't know what you're talking about. Baldur and the others really enjoy the traditional style, though you can just wear what is most comfortable. Are you Koga?" 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur smiled at Snow as she asked if she could sit in on the lesson, "I think it would be beneficial for us all to watch. We'll get the two of them started, and then we'll sit to the side and let Jon and Koga wail on each other for a while. Using Sword arts are different from the fighting you typically saw at the tournament, so it'll be an adjustment. Plus, the system affects us in subtle ways, with the enhancements of our equipment, so I think we'll witness quite the show today."

After they had spent a bit preparing for Koga's arrival, Baldur would smile and greet the rakishly handsome man.

"Koga-san, thank you for coming. No gi's are necessary, though I have some spare ones from the tournament if you wish to change. But yes, I am always with my haori, and Snow just recently picked hers out, isn't it lovely?" Baldur gestured at the woman and smiled proudly, showing her off. He was very proud of everyone in his guild and household.

"As I just alluded, this is Snow-chan and Jon-kun." He gestured to the young, handsome man with blond hair and a track suit.

"Jon fought in the tournament against Astralin and lost. He has told me he felt very awkward fighting someone without a weapon and wanted to get a bit more experience with it. I thought you would be an excellent teacher, as you have experience with both the katana and unarmed combat, both in and out of Aincrad."

He then gestured to encompass the entirety of the dojo.

"If neither of you mind, Snow and I shall watch from the side, and I may interject from time to time if I feel I have input that would help Jon out."

[Koga 0]

The blonde haired man was the first to respond to respond to Koga, first explaining that they did not, in fact, all wear traditional garments, and then asking his identity to which, Koga responded with a nod. "Yeah, that's me. Good to meet you guys," he replied looking first at the blonde man, then the woman.

Koga held up an open palmed hand when Baldur offered to let him borrow a gi from the tournament. "No, I'm good, thanks though," he said with a shake of his head before eyes drifted over to the lady of the trio at Baldur's behest. "Yeah, it looks great on you," Koga said with a small smile before returning to the matter at hand.

"Ah...Astralin. Yeah, she's a bit of a strange one," Koga admitted. He'd met her on several occasions, and even fought with her a couple of times. The one thing he'd never really understood was her obsession with trying to replicate magic in Aincrad...but whatever floated her boat.

"I'm good with whatever," Koga answered to his now would-be audience. "I'm just here to beat up and get beat on."

Edited March 16, 2022 by Koga

[Morgenstern 1]

The blond man would raise an eyebrow as Koga began to compliment Snow. The woman was quite attractive but to begin flirting immediately? Quite odd. That, or the man wasn't the best at typical social interaction. "Astralin didn't seem too strange to me. It just looked like she had something to prove, that's all. I only got to know her over a sparring match though." His thoughts traveled to his fight with the woman. The Martial Artist hadn't attacked him head-on and reading her moves was nearly impossible. Perhaps after seeing more attacks, he would learn to read them better. 

"I'm good with whatever, I'm just here to beat up and get beat on."

"It might be a while before you start getting beat on. It was a pretty bitter defeat," he would say before stepping over to the racks of available wooden weapons. Choosing one, he would give it a few test swings before walking back to the center of the dojo. "If you're ready I guess we can get started." 

[Koga 0]

"She's not bad," Koga explained, going into his inventory to dispel his coat, boots and weapon, leaving him in just a shirt and jeans. The man bowed before stepping onto the mat and continuing with what he was saying. "She's just...eccentric as all, can take a moment to get used to her sometimes. I like her well enough otherwise."

"Sure, let's do it," Koga replied, cracking his knuckles before shaking them out and taking up a fairly basic stance, his hands held up in a guard. It was noticeably looser than what most would consider appropriate however, not a single tensed muscle in Koga's body to hinder his movements.

Jon technically had the advantage in a fight like this. With the blade's extra reach, and the fact that it was...ya know...a deadly blade, Koga would be forced to play on the defensive and look for openings. His only hope of actually winning a fight like this was to find a way to sneak within Jon's guard and make sure he was able to stay there. In the real world, Koga would have just turned and ran from a fight from a fight like this (well, if someone was walking around carrying a sword as opposed to a gun, he had other concerns), but this wasn't real life.

[Morgenstern 1]

The sound of Koga's cracking knuckles would reach him before the man would suddenly take a stance. From there, a few seconds would pass before Jonathan realized that the man wasn't going to attack. What happened to the rushing attacks that Astralin had implored? The woman had rushed him and then used feinting attacks to catch him off-guard. He never even got the chance to learn how to detect the intent in her attacks. With both fists available, it was hard to decipher the possible attacks. 

A sigh would exhale from Jonathan's lungs. "I was kind of hoping you'd make the first attack. My offense is just fine." A stance would be taken, followed by a sharp exhale of breath and the steeling of his emotions. The Storm Style that he had developed from Baldur's teachings heavily utilized Fudoshin to harness his own emotions for speed and strength. 

In the time it would take him to simply reach for his weapon at his side, he would suddenly be charging forward at an almost untraceable speed. 'Shock Drop' was originally made as an aerial downward strike and had been used against Skalaugh the Reaver, however; he found the attack typically only worked on larger targets. Repurposing the ability, he would exchange speed for the force of gravity and create an attack that would work on the ground. 

At a blinding speed, the blond-haired man would suddenly be feet away from Koga and executing his attack. The wooden blade reached straight towards the man's face without hesitation. 

206339 BD:8 vs. Koga

[Koga 0]

Everything about Jon seemed to indicate a degree of impatience. The words, the near-blinding speed. Were it not that Jon's impatience actually seemed to be of some benefit to him, Koga would've made some kind of snippy quip.

But the opponent's speed surpassed Koga's own, the blitz-like attack hardly giving Koga anytime to move. Attempting to move with the blade, Koga swayed the left. Not quick enough. The wooden blade connected with his shoulder with a dull smack, some paltry padding provided by his shirt. Not that it made the blow hurt any less.

Undeterred though, Koga continued with his movement, gaining a bit of momentum, the pivot and twist of body intended to lend strength to his uppercut as he stepped closer to his opponent, closing what little space was between them. With the blade already well past his body, the tightened fist of left hand intent on driving itself into Jon's sternum.

---

| 206381, BD6, ouch
| 206381. BD8, attacking

Edited March 17, 2022 by Koga