- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
Proxy Duel
Nie Wuxing appears to be holding nothing back. Pacing restlessly, he is talking quietly to the participants that will be under his command. He has lent his Chunjun Sword to Bai Jiutian, recruited Zhang Minyue’s help, and Su Cheng of Taishan had volunteered his disciple’s service quite eagerly to make up the numbers. You are facing three Great Sword wielders in this fight; on your side, you only have Song Lingshu with her newly obtained Chixiao Sword, and the hope that the Twins’ familiarity with the duel’s style and their teamwork will be enough.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Nie Shuixian gives you an apprehensive look – she does not seem to have much confidence in your abilities. “You have not done anything like this before.”
“Don’t worry.” Giving her a lackadaisical grin, you say, “I’ll make sure you and your sister get out of this mess unharmed. All you need to do is to listen to my voice alone. Nothing else matters.”
“R-right.”
Turning to Lingshu, you say, “Are you ready?”
She nods confidently. “I’ll be fine. Just listen to your voice, right? I can do that.”
“Good. They’re already waiting for us, so let’s get this over with,” you smile.
As Song Lingshu and the Twin Flowers square off against their opponents, you consider your tactics one more time. You have practiced similar exercises with Master Zhang in the past, as a drill for both defensive and offensive movements. They were done in less restrictive conditions than this fight, of course, but you are not entirely unfamiliar with the concept. Nie Wuxing has the major advantage of his vast experience in this match: he can make his commands more efficiently, and more quickly to boot. The speed at which you can formulate and shout out your order is going to be a vital point. Furthermore, he has the advantage of possessing three Great Swords – of these, you have encountered the properties of the Chengying and Tai’e swords. You are not sure how much progress Lingshu has made with the Chixiao Sword, but she is unlikely to have mastered it to any reliable extent compared to those two. Similarly, Bai Jiutian should be unfamiliar with the Chunjun Sword… for a brief while, you wonder if that may be a weak point to exploit, but you swiftly dismiss the notion.
With or without a Great Sword, she is still the greatest threat on the field.
The Sword Saint signals the start of the match, and you turn your full attention to the fight in front of you. Nie Wuxing begins barking his commands swiftly, and the duelists make their move.
Three steps to the left.
Sea-Piercing Flying Stab.
Block. Downwards slash.
Waning Crescent Step.
Leap over your opponent and att-
No, go right to evade the oncoming stab.
You try to match them move-for-move, but as expected, the Twins show a slight delay in following your orders, as they attempt to translate your commands into actual moves that they understand. Lingshu fares better, as you are able to instruct her to execute the techniques that she has learnt from you. It is a difficult fight. You find yourself focusing intensely in order to avoid falling behind. Nie Wuxing is relentless. Zhang Minyue is perhaps the weakest of the fighters there, but her Chengying Sword is difficult to predict; often you have found yourself having to withdraw your combatants in a hurry when your attention shifts from her for just an instant, leading you to misjudge that thin blade’s reach. To your pleasant surprise, Lingshu’s Chixiao Sword seems to be neutralizing the fearful aura of the Tai’e Sword for now, but you are not sure if that will change. Bai Jiutian, on the other hand, is quickly proving herself to be a real nuisance. She is so self-assured of the moves to be taken that often she will have begun executing a move before Nie has even finished the sentence, and she has not made a single mistake thus far. Even with the Twins working together, you are finding it difficult to handle her attacks.
You have not been sitting idle, of course. Indeed, Nie Wuxing’s offensive strategy is powerful, and leaves you with little room to counter – though this owes more to the quality of his duelists rather than any ingenuity of his – but being forced to defend, too, is something that you are using to your advantage at the moment.
With the technique names being called out so eagerly by Nie Wuxing, your Wuxiang Qiankun has been slowly able to absorb and put together the moves of Huashan and Taishan that have been displayed thus far. At the same time you attune yourself to Lingshu, Shuixian and Mudan by feeling the movements of their qi, acting as an intermediary to meld their teamwork together more seamlessly.
The match is in Nie Wuxing’s favour thus far; you wonder if you should continue playing safe, consolidating information until you – hopefully – have enough to overcome your opponents in a single turn, or if you should attempt a gambit or two…
***
A. You continue ordering the girls to be on the defensive so that you can use Wuxiang Qiankun to gain an even fuller picture of your opponents’ techniques and counter them completely when the time comes.
B. You have the girls go on the offensive with what you have learnt thus far. This should provoke the use of more techniques from the other side, and should end the match faster. It will be far riskier, but just sitting back isn’t your style.
C. You have the girls move forward quickly, running towards and past Nie Wuxing. They never defined the arena for the fight after all. Let’s see him direct a fight when the fighters are jumping all around him.
D. You have the girls retreat, attempting to lure the enemy team past you. Your presence may be enough to throw them off balance, and by using yourself as a human shield you may be able to disrupt their movements.
***
A. You make full use of Wuxiang Qiankun, using the names you have learnt from Nie Wuxing to improve the technical performance of the Twins instead of having them follow your impromptu commands.
B. You hold back on this part: you don’t think you need to go so far to win. Your opponents may find it suspicious that you are able to figure out their techniques and use it for Shuixian and Mudan so swiftly after all.
Nie Wuxing appears to be holding nothing back. Pacing restlessly, he is talking quietly to the participants that will be under his command. He has lent his Chunjun Sword to Bai Jiutian, recruited Zhang Minyue’s help, and Su Cheng of Taishan had volunteered his disciple’s service quite eagerly to make up the numbers. You are facing three Great Sword wielders in this fight; on your side, you only have Song Lingshu with her newly obtained Chixiao Sword, and the hope that the Twins’ familiarity with the duel’s style and their teamwork will be enough.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Nie Shuixian gives you an apprehensive look – she does not seem to have much confidence in your abilities. “You have not done anything like this before.”
“Don’t worry.” Giving her a lackadaisical grin, you say, “I’ll make sure you and your sister get out of this mess unharmed. All you need to do is to listen to my voice alone. Nothing else matters.”
“R-right.”
Turning to Lingshu, you say, “Are you ready?”
She nods confidently. “I’ll be fine. Just listen to your voice, right? I can do that.”
“Good. They’re already waiting for us, so let’s get this over with,” you smile.
As Song Lingshu and the Twin Flowers square off against their opponents, you consider your tactics one more time. You have practiced similar exercises with Master Zhang in the past, as a drill for both defensive and offensive movements. They were done in less restrictive conditions than this fight, of course, but you are not entirely unfamiliar with the concept. Nie Wuxing has the major advantage of his vast experience in this match: he can make his commands more efficiently, and more quickly to boot. The speed at which you can formulate and shout out your order is going to be a vital point. Furthermore, he has the advantage of possessing three Great Swords – of these, you have encountered the properties of the Chengying and Tai’e swords. You are not sure how much progress Lingshu has made with the Chixiao Sword, but she is unlikely to have mastered it to any reliable extent compared to those two. Similarly, Bai Jiutian should be unfamiliar with the Chunjun Sword… for a brief while, you wonder if that may be a weak point to exploit, but you swiftly dismiss the notion.
With or without a Great Sword, she is still the greatest threat on the field.
The Sword Saint signals the start of the match, and you turn your full attention to the fight in front of you. Nie Wuxing begins barking his commands swiftly, and the duelists make their move.
Three steps to the left.
Sea-Piercing Flying Stab.
Block. Downwards slash.
Waning Crescent Step.
Leap over your opponent and att-
No, go right to evade the oncoming stab.
You try to match them move-for-move, but as expected, the Twins show a slight delay in following your orders, as they attempt to translate your commands into actual moves that they understand. Lingshu fares better, as you are able to instruct her to execute the techniques that she has learnt from you. It is a difficult fight. You find yourself focusing intensely in order to avoid falling behind. Nie Wuxing is relentless. Zhang Minyue is perhaps the weakest of the fighters there, but her Chengying Sword is difficult to predict; often you have found yourself having to withdraw your combatants in a hurry when your attention shifts from her for just an instant, leading you to misjudge that thin blade’s reach. To your pleasant surprise, Lingshu’s Chixiao Sword seems to be neutralizing the fearful aura of the Tai’e Sword for now, but you are not sure if that will change. Bai Jiutian, on the other hand, is quickly proving herself to be a real nuisance. She is so self-assured of the moves to be taken that often she will have begun executing a move before Nie has even finished the sentence, and she has not made a single mistake thus far. Even with the Twins working together, you are finding it difficult to handle her attacks.
You have not been sitting idle, of course. Indeed, Nie Wuxing’s offensive strategy is powerful, and leaves you with little room to counter – though this owes more to the quality of his duelists rather than any ingenuity of his – but being forced to defend, too, is something that you are using to your advantage at the moment.
With the technique names being called out so eagerly by Nie Wuxing, your Wuxiang Qiankun has been slowly able to absorb and put together the moves of Huashan and Taishan that have been displayed thus far. At the same time you attune yourself to Lingshu, Shuixian and Mudan by feeling the movements of their qi, acting as an intermediary to meld their teamwork together more seamlessly.
The match is in Nie Wuxing’s favour thus far; you wonder if you should continue playing safe, consolidating information until you – hopefully – have enough to overcome your opponents in a single turn, or if you should attempt a gambit or two…
***
A. You continue ordering the girls to be on the defensive so that you can use Wuxiang Qiankun to gain an even fuller picture of your opponents’ techniques and counter them completely when the time comes.
B. You have the girls go on the offensive with what you have learnt thus far. This should provoke the use of more techniques from the other side, and should end the match faster. It will be far riskier, but just sitting back isn’t your style.
C. You have the girls move forward quickly, running towards and past Nie Wuxing. They never defined the arena for the fight after all. Let’s see him direct a fight when the fighters are jumping all around him.
D. You have the girls retreat, attempting to lure the enemy team past you. Your presence may be enough to throw them off balance, and by using yourself as a human shield you may be able to disrupt their movements.
***
A. You make full use of Wuxiang Qiankun, using the names you have learnt from Nie Wuxing to improve the technical performance of the Twins instead of having them follow your impromptu commands.
B. You hold back on this part: you don’t think you need to go so far to win. Your opponents may find it suspicious that you are able to figure out their techniques and use it for Shuixian and Mudan so swiftly after all.
