The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 457 - You Show Me & I’ll Show You: Parasitism Is Sometimes Symbiosis
Hammering continued right up until the last hour, as scaffold supports were driven into place around the planned site of the duel. What had been a much simpler practice area for local cultivators only a week ago now resembled an impromptu arena, with rough wooden stands rising in tiers around the cleared space. Leaving an area about a hundred meters in diameter with two rings of scaffolds around it.
Every available willing volunteer had contributed in some way, including merchants who made extra trips to secure lumber knowing they would make up the expense and time on tourism. Each rectangular section arrayed around the training field turned dueling site was designed to hold about a hundred people... and while a few voices had claimed they might be going overboard with the second layer that rose vertically behind the first, the sigilists that had shown up and reinforced everything the construction guilds were aiding with made it all possible.
’Room for six thousand still seems like it has gotten out of hand to me. Though my wife might cry out that it should have been even more grand since it was a stage set for me.’
Qatrand gil Yecine stood in her training outfit, balanced on the guideline between two of the towers while watching people claiming their standing room - and claiming food. Pigeon blues especially tracked visiting cultivators drawn by word of the formal challenge. She’d warned her own forces to keep an eye out for troublemakers, but couldn’t help adding her own oversight for a little while after days of being secluded away in final preparations.
"Half the continent’s going to hear about this. Was that your plan?"
Leysah muttered from beside her, hands restless on the hilts at her sides. The curved-blade wielder had been up there since dawn also keeping an eye on things. Very few knew that the strange feature had been added thanks to her existence. It had only taken one instance of the Kinetic Element user jumping off of a cliff mid-battle during the strikeforce days to show Qatrand the benefits... of her subordinate building that sort of force and redirecting it suddenly into a different vector.
’As a first-strike method on a single target, the speed and power of that technique... she missed the core organ of that leader-class by only a hair.’
"No, I do not plan things like that as well as others. But letting them hear about the result is not a bad thing."
Her low voice held steady as her eyes ticked toward the cluster of various Guild representatives clustered in one section. A flash of reddish-blonde hair had caught her attention as Nysoi er Valmenf mingled in their number. The Clairvoyant had also sat her sights on analyzing the betting pools quite quickly when they formed, rarely choosing to remain idle when connections - and the money that flows from them - were waiting to be made or solidified.
Qat turned and walked across the guideline without any more words to the anxious friend made on the battlefield, before taking the lift down one tower. A horn blast signaled the top of the hour and echoed across the settlement to rush those who had not yet arrived. Its deep note also silenced the waiting spectators who expected that both women would not be late. Even if confirming their settlement leader as that gender in their minds was still strange to some visitors.
Both combatants entered the large ring only a minute from each other, under the eyes of quite a few thousand viewers. Corde hez Iralev moved fluidly in her battle dress - and with the famed sword on her side, dark hair and eyes... she served as an interesting foil to Qatrand gil Yecine with a much heavier sword strapped across her back, in less serious seeming outfit... blonde hair tied back in a stance that seemed relaxed but alert.
’And confident.’
Zonnel judged of both of them as she stood just outside the center of the arena. She had been made one of the referees of the match for two reasons. As an Empath, she could potentially be one of the first to sense the formation of light wounds or the intention of continuing to fight past knowing one had lost. It was also always good to have a healer as close as possible in any live blade match, despite the assumption of only small harm being sought.
"The standard terms for this duel are first blood or yield. You may begin when ready."
Corde didn’t waste time because she knew her trainee did not need it. Her blade whispered the sound of Frost scrubbing its sheath in a draw-cut. The opening strike was less an attempt to end things in one move and more of a test of Qat’s reflexes after a week of ’missed’ training. To the observant onlookers, the whole motion marked a veteran - no wasted energy.
However, her opponent’s response came only as a measured backstep that kept her just outside the blade’s reach. Her own large weapon remained sheathed as pigeon blues tracked the recovery of the superior judged fighter’s stance. Qat was reading the subtle tells that spoke to the older woman’s preferred angles of attack. Some part of her wondered if she had held something back intentionally... not just in that first strike, but during the training.
’I’m not sure it fits her, but El often spoke of keeping my techniques as hidden as possible. There must be things she has not shown me.’
Flowing into another probe that angled low toward the blonde’s lead leg, which turned into a series of feints and then a straight stab towards her torso... Corde backed off and finally spoke after three series much like this. With a sort of disappointment in her voice that could not be hidden.
"Come now. I know you’re better than keeping to evasion."
The crowd had begun to murmur among themselves as the exchange continued in this pattern... as to most observers, it appeared exactly as expected. An experienced warrior was gradually wearing down a younger opponent who lacked the confidence to commit to any exchanges. These people thought that, at best, the Warden Patrician was playing it too safe.
But the cultivators with more refined combat experience had noticed subtleties in the combat. Minimal effort footwork that showed no signs of haste or slips despite the constant repositioning. Most tellingly, unless Corde was trying to take it easy on her student - which did not seem to be the case to these people, no matter what any mortal thought - having her distance managed so competently was puzzling.
Excitement soon rang out across the arena as metals met, Qatrand finally drawing her heavy blade to intercept a strike that would have opened a gash in her shoulder - or worse, if dodged. The impact sent a sharp whistling note into the surroundings before those watching saw the Frozen Duskblade kick off the large blade and reassess. Looking at the sections of ice that had cracked and pulled off of her blade, it seemed clear that Gravity was already in play.
"Now we’re getting somewhere. I hadn’t seen that one yet."
Qat murmured her assessment quietly, though her opponent was certainly close enough to hear. Understanding what her student meant, the next set of assaults came with styles cycled through in groups the older woman did not use often, but knew by heart nonetheless. Slashing cuts that sought to overwhelm through momentum, strangely curving thrusts aimed at every possible gap from, and doubled chops designed to punish parries.
Each flowed seamlessly into the next, a demonstration of her mastery that had been honed across decades of combat. But where appropriate, the heavy blade met these attacks with impeccable timing. Defense held firm as spiritual tendrils laced with her essence field lashed through the path of the frosty blade, not quite overwhelming the stronger elementalist but still affecting things minutely.
Peers felt the light blade should have drawn blood by now - multiple times - and similar ripples of realization soon began in even the mortals who watched so intently. The younger cultivator was still standing... and still hadn’t been touched with anything that any of the six referees would count. Even the sharp shards of Frost that broke off and were flung towards her in the clashes did not break the skin.
"How?"
Asking the question didn’t stop the older cultivator’s sword movements - attempts to expose a vulnerable moment in the young *female*, who could also not possibly be an Enchanter anymore... Peak or not. The resistance felt when blades met had hardened from weeks before. Strength changed with the added resilience of someone who had crossed the realm.
Primalist in three fields within eighteen years suggested genius. It suggested dedication. It suggested secrets and hidden resources. Everything that she had seen, heard, or imagined about Qatrand gil Yecine crystallized as the Frozen Duskblade crouched and shot straight forward. The impact of this ’proof’ exchange sent vibrations through the older woman’s arms as she was forced back and had to evade a counter. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Although a light sheen of sweat was on Qat’s forehead... it was almost entirely the fault of the thousands of people with eyes on her rather than the duel itself. It became clearer to Corde that an effect of Cynosure was piling up. That the blonde had not completely firmed up the understanding of its changes.
’But I’m not losing sight of myself to attack her. Am I?’
Her student had broken through in physical cultivation, she was sure... and hidden it. Logically, that meant the Physique’s special qualities could increase in effectiveness or in *number*. Checking the edge of her blade again, the woman sheathed it in order to make use of the Frost left inside that slim container. She had assumed the former Yecine had avoided training out of emotions, but it looked like the truth was more... practical.
"When?"
"Recently."
It was all the answer Qat was willing to give, as she had spent her last days isolated at the abandoned quarry. The same one she’d sent the three to her El at which had already proven itself as lacking observation. There, she’d consumed dense foods and the remaining section of Crystallized Amber from her wedding gifts.
Efficient conversion techniques that the reincarnator had personally taught her in private sessions so long ago had been further refined against the latest illusory training tool. Tailored breathing patterns and methods of circulating the existing physical energy to more easily capture every possible fraction of the consumption. Hastening what would have taken a few months still into a hundred grueling hours of concentration. Not that anyone on the continent was able to tell with such precision just how far off someone was.
"Well. Congratulations. But I hope you don’t think that keeping this from me was enough to win."
"It was enough not to lose miserably to a woman who treats the memories I have with the person I love like some sort of parasite. One that I can’t possibly recognize the same way you can."
As she spoke her mind, something finally shifted. A minor adjustment in her stance, a small twist of her heavy blade. That was all that precipitated the coming offensive rush that thousands would see turn the most famed swordswoman into the one who could only dodge with her sword still sheathed.
For there was no simple parrying the mass and speed that would have left catastrophic injury. Not with eyes that suggested she was just waiting for the adopted daughter of the Iralev family to dare try.
