Tihana always had a very versatile approach to hunting. It was good in a group since she could fill any position the team was lacking in, but when you are good at everything, you are not excellent at anything. She could go full assault, defend, attack from distance, and even support a little, but she lacked a focused set of skills, which she always made up with the speed. So that was the front Satoshi Tanaka couldn't overpower her with.
A dance of two blade masters. That's the best description I can give for what happened after the first probing attack.
Without using any fancy tricks, they decided to step forward and start swinging. The parts showered them as the weapons collided, over and over, and over again, blurred by the speed. I bet people could only see them briefly as they collided producing those bursts of orange, with loud clangs of steel.
It was obvious who was in charge from the beginning, as Satoshi Tanaka only used one sword, while Tihana was utilizing both of her scimitars, and yet it was he who was defending.
"This is too much", I thought to myself. "There is no way he got this strong hunting only in Arc, even if he spent a ton of money on buying the crystals while hunting himself. He got some more from outside. He knows about the hidden city in Japan, and about Blue. He has to know."
After all, Tihana got plenty of support from me, more than money could buy, so there was only a very slim chance somebody could keep up with her, not to mention excel her by as much as I was witnessing on the TV screen.
She for frustrated by the fact that she couldn't pierce through his defenses. I noticed it in her moves. The rest probably registered it too when she suddenly shadow walking behind him to strike at his back. At the last moment, he pulled the second blade, turned, and blocked both scimitars before they reached his face.
They struggled in this clinch for a few seconds putting a lot of strength behind their weapons, to the point their hands started trampling, and then Tihana retreated by jumping back. She didn't even land on the ground, since she shadow walked midair, just to repeat the same attack. He blocked it again, just with one blade.
With the other one, he attempted to hit her in the stomach with the handle since the distance was too short for a slash.
Tihana twisted her body as she landed on her fit, turning the dodge into a spin, which got blocked again by Satoshi Tanaka. A shower of sparks covered my daughter, who escaped once again by tumbling to the side, trying to slash her opponent's legs.
The speed of the samurai was again showcased, as a blade appeared seemingly out of nowhere to block her combination of attacks. She changed a group on her scimitar, trying to slide it alongside his weapon, to still somehow reach, but he jumped above her, turning in the air, and attacking with his second katana.
Tihana blocked it, but the power behind his attack send her tumbling further. She was defenseless as she lost her balance, so she shadow walked to escape before he could follow up with something else.
The distance between them increased.
- It looks like she is in trouble - Celestine pointed out, speaking over the commentators who also had a lot to say.
- She still has some tricks up her sleeve - I told her.
- We know, but still, it doesn't look good - Leonel joined the conversation.
Even if I really wanted to argue with him, I couldn't. It didn't look too good for her because the guy was only defending and easily matched her skills, without diving too deep into his own.
Tihana called upon her armory and replaced one of the scimitars with a shield. Her speed failed her, so she changed the approach to a more defensive one. It was definitely a good idea.
Satoshi Tanaka observed her closely as she did that, and even turned his head slightly to the side before smiling. He then looked at the katana in his right hand. His lips moved slightly and the blade got covered by jumping discharges of electricity.
"Fancy trick, but useless. It won't work, because that shield came out from my hands, you asshole", I thought to myself.
The defensive piece looked like a long, lean scale, covering the whole forearm of my daughter. It lacked the ability for a broad-scale defense, working more or less as a normal shield, but it was way, way more durable. Not to mention almost immune to any type of elemental damage and much, much more.
Something I especially designed to work with her speed.
Without hesitation Tihana charged forward, accelerating very quickly, and shadow walking a few times to change the angle of her approach, confusing her opponent, before she suddenly appeared from the side, slashing and hitting with her shield. Following a pattern of complicated combo.
Satoshi Tanaka had to really work to parry and deflect all of that. The two again were showered by bright orange sparks rapidly produced with the loud clangs of steel, as they fought at a speed barely visible to the regular naked eye.
I didn't have trouble with tracking them, but the audience probably did.
Since the assault didn't really work, my daughter shadow walked once again, continuing the chain, and changing the angles to attack from every direction, only increasing the pace. This caused some problems for Satoshi Tanaka. His teeth showed when he was struggling to deflect it all, staying in a defensive position, before he was forced to try and escape. Tihana wasn't having it, she followed him.
The exchange got prolonged, putting even their incredible stamina on the edge. I started to worry if my daughter would be able to keep it up. It was wrong.
Satoshi Tanaka suddenly yelled at Tihana, creating a burst of sonic waves, which pushed her away, into the air. She shadow walked away a few times to increase the distance between them, covering her head with the shield.
She was disoriented, and barely able to stand on her feet due to the attack.
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