(Eris POV)

"I never thought Lady Eris to be a swordmaiden."

I looked up at Lydia who had paused sharpening her sword while sitting atop a small rock, her shield laid by her side.

"Incorrect… Swordmaster..."

"Ah, I see. Apologies for the insensitive remark. I had thought all of Master Lin's disciples would be Practitioners in nature."

"Natural conclusion… But flawed..."

Lydia nodded and went back to sharpening her sword with her whetstone while I resumed my own sword dance.

Sooo… 'nyone else thinks she's a little sus? [Bait]

This one humbly thinks that she is simply the serious kind of worker. [Denna]

Agreed… [Laverna]

At least she hasn't done anything suspicious so far. Though it might just be because we've been keeping a constant eye on her. [Eris]

Ya think she's dat assassin? She ain't look like da sneaky type ta' me thou'. [Bait]

Facade… [Laverna]

Mmm… I think so too. I supposed the best choice for us is just to continue keeping an eye on her for now. [Eris]

Lydia stood up from the rock, using her foot to kick up her shield to strap it back onto her arm.

"I am ready, Lady Eris."

I finished my warmup and nodded to her, my own blade held by my side with the sharp side pointed towards her direction.

Just like how Lian Li had her spars with Keqing, I have mine with Lydia who turned out to be quite proficient with the blade herself.

She claims that she belongs to a group of shield maidens in their Sect, women Practitioners who focus their skills into the sword and shield.

Apparently their specialty lies in their firm defense that can shrug off almost any Technique thrown at them.

Now, if only they had been at the frontline during the war, we might not have had such a hard time before Elaria showed up. [Eris]

Heh, that's why dey' sent her to us, didn' they? Dey' think dats' enuff for all dis' to be water under the bridge? Bunch o' sissies. [Bait]

We do benefit from this anyway, so it's not like we can say much. [Eris]

Wouldna stop me from tryna beat her up though! [Bait]

This one humbly reminds you that her performance will be judged by Master as a reflection of our own. Do not go overboard. [Denna]

Awww, dun' worry yer little self 'bout it. We got Master's protection thingy here, innit? Everything will be fine! [Bait]

If you say so… [Denna]

So we starting or what?! I'm rarin' ta go! [Bait]

Go… [Laverna]

I lifted my sword and charged forward, aiming an overhead slash down at Lydia.

She took a step back to brace herself against her right foot, her shield raised high to meet me.

I stopped myself just as I reached arm's length of her, pulling my sword back from my feint to lunge at her unguarded flank.

Lydia reacted quickly and brought her shield back down, using it to deflect my thrust to the side.

She immediately followed up with a sword thrust of her own, her sword piercing through the air to reach towards my chest.

I leaned to my right, barely avoiding her thrust to let it go in between the gap of my arm and side.

Taking the opportunity for this close of a distance, I curled in the fingers of my left hand and shoved my palm towards her chin in a palm strike.

Lydia tilted her head upwards, my wrist just grazing past the bottom of her chin.

Both of us leapt back from each other at the same time, widening the distance to reset our stances.

Lydia was the one to initiate the next clash, her shield encased in what seems to be molten magma as she charged towards me.

I got this! [Bait]

I pulled up my sword before slashing downwards in front of me, sending out a wave of lightning that struck directly in the middle of her shield.

Instead of being pushed back like I thought, my lightning was merely shrugged aside by her defense.

Tsk, seems like she got a lil' stronger than last time. [Bait]

My turn… [Laverna]

I pulled back my sword before thrusting it out like a rapier, a giant blast of air shooting out from the tip of my sword.

This time, Lydia's shield was thrown back by the blast, halting her in her tracks as she fought to maintain her footing.

Not going to let that opportunity go to waste, I hefted my sword again and charged her, my balde now encased in electricity.

I slashed my sword upwards diagonally, her own sword meeting mine in the middle to block it.

Lydia had encased her blade with a layer of earth, otherwise my lightning would have shocked her just by making contact.

She leaned forward and her shield came swinging towards my side, forcing me to disengage by leaping back from her.

I raised my sword once more and brought it down on top of her head, my strike blocked once again by her raised shield.

Damn this stupid ass shield! [Bait]

The sides… [Laverna]

Push through! [Eris]

Lydia tried to stab me with her sword but I was a bit faster than her.

With my strength, I had pushed her shield down just enough to reveal her face, leaving her open for an elbow strike to her cheek.

She stumbled back from the blow but kept her shield up, blocking my follow up stab with it.

I grabbed the offending barricade with my free hand and shoved her shield to the side, raising my fist to smash the pommel of my sword on her nose with a loud crack.

A little violent there, don't you think? [Eris]

Shaddup! This is payback for that time she smashed her damned shield in our gut! [Bait]

I moved forward again, ducking underneath her blind swing with her sword to stab my sword straight into her chest, my blade passing clean through her back.

"Kuh! Ugh… Seems like… It's my loss… Lady Eris…" She gasped, body hanging on me limply..

I withdrew my sword to allow Master's inscription to revert her back to perfect health, the girl gasping as she was healed with sound of a bell ringing in the background.

"Well fought Lady Eris. I admit I did not see that pommel strike coming," she commented, standing back up to sheathe her sword.

I smiled at her, "I need to pull out all sorts of tricks if I plan to win against you."

She bowed her head, "I'll take that as a compliment. Your own skills are extraordinary, Lady Eris, which I suppose is as expected of Master Lin's disciple. It makes me wonder how strong Master Lin's sword skills actually are."

"You wouldn't last four seconds with Master."

"So I can at least hold my ground for three seconds? I would love to cross blades with Master Lin if the time comes. Please continue your guidance of me, Lady Eris."

This girl is a battle maniac ain't she? [Bait]

Possibly… [Laverna]

Well, at least Master would give us high grades for this right? [Eris]

This one humbly wishes to receive Master's embrace tonight. [Denna]

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