Steel on Steel (Cadabra)

    The Majin swordsgal had wandered across the land once more, before finding herself staring out over the ocean. She’d seen the protagonist do this once or twice, before making a pivotal decision that would shape the course of his destiny. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t seen any monsters rise up from her own ‘Eclipse’, and hadn’t found a rival that played by the rules of a Swordsman.

You’d think that finding a decent fighter, who was willing to play by the rules of one sword versus another, would be easy! But it's a nightmare at best!

Clicking her tongue in irritation, she pulled her cloak up over her mouth and started to turn away from the voiceless ocean. She was in time to notice another girl, this one strange in appearance. She was shaking salt and water from her hair and armor, a unique type the Majin had never seen before. Then she started talking to herself, as she bent over to take a drink of the ocean water. Cadabra winced at the clear displeasure the strange girl showed, flinging the remaining water back into the sand and spitting it from her mouth. There was some more muttered phrases, before the girl fell into a seated position on the sand.

“I don’t know what you seek here, strange one. Have you seen a swordsman or terrifying demon in the area? I fought a dragon once, but they’re no fun.” Cadabra strolled forward, smile on her pink face. Her sword wasn’t hidden on her back, gleaming silver in the burning sun overhead. “I’m trying to find a rival or enemy, so I can get stronger. That’s how all the heroes did it in the stories. My name is Cadabra, and I’m the protagonist of my story.”

A gauntlet-clad hand was extended towards the seated girl, open and inviting. The smile on the Majin’s face was sincere, as Cadabra waited for the response from the strange girl.

    The Majin scratched her head sheepishly as the young girl gushed over her weapon and attire. Her sword had been sculpted from an image that existed in her heart, combining her desires and dreams into one. She still hadn’t coined a name for it, but the blade had been her constant companion over the duration of her travel thus far. Then came the next question, regarding the dragon.

“Maybe? I just know it had wings, was huge, and could breathe fire. Do normal dinosaurs do that?” The Majin was left to puzzle over the debate whether Slayg qualified as a Dinosaur on top of being a Dragon. But her dilemma was soon tossed aside by the next comment of the woman.


So she’s a swordsman? I guess my journey to this island wasn’t a complete failure then. I should be as honest as she is, in order to reward her sincerity.

“I want to be upfront, I don’t practice any of the styles of Swordplay currently taught on Earth. My swordstyle is original, designed around the giant blade that has been my companion throughout my journey thus far. If I had to give it a title, it would be…’Dragonslaying Blade’.”

As the red-haired woman drew her longsword and assumed a fighting stance that Cadabra had never seen before, the Majin reached over one shoulder with her hand. Grasping the handle of her giant sword, she hefted it off her back. It wasn’t an easy weight to control, and was far cruder than the simple blade the opposing woman wielded. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her attack.

“Out of respect for your wishes, I’ll start this duel.” With that, the armored Majin dashed forward, raising the blade high. With a shout of effort, she swung it downward, leaving a cut through the sand that extended a dozen meters from the edge of the blade, and sent sand flying into the air. Its placement was simple; directly on top of the woman’s head. Cadabra knew she would dodge...or could she?

    The Majin’s eyes widened in shock and appreciation, as the young swordsman shifted her stance to one side, avoiding the blow with her movement. A simple flourish of her sword blocked the rising sand, keeping her vision clear. Cadabra tried to heft her sword up, but the Konatsian leaped onto the blade, using the motion of the Majin to boost her ascent.

    Using the blade as a springboard, the Konatsian dashed up the long blade and leaped overhead. Her blade flashed downward, a blinding thrust aimed at Cadabra’s blind spot. For a normal swordsman, this would’ve doubtless been a grievous injury; but the Majin wasn’t a simple swordsman.

    As the woman used the sword to leap upwards, the Majin released her hold on the handle, before tucking into a roll across the length of the blade. With her motion, she dodged just under the edge of the stabbing sword. If the enemy swordsman landed across from her, behind their original position, the armored knight would slam her boot into the buried blade’s tip, sending it spinning up towards her. Gripping the handle and slumping back from the weight, the girl kicked the blade again, using the added force to heft the blade up and onto her shoulder.

“You move fast! Konatsian swordplay is definitely flashy! I like that. You never mentioned your name, stranger.” With that statement, the Majin charged back in, this time stabbing outwards with the huge blade held level, attempting to use the broad sword to force the woman to dodge to either side rather than fleeing to the sky again.

    The Majin swordsman felt the jarring impact as the Konatsian spun her blade up, catching the edge of her own greatsword with her sword and sliding to one side. The Majin noticed as the woman stumbled back in the loose sand, the impact of Cadabra’s blade forcing her off balance. But the Majin had put too much force in her eager stab, and was unable to yank her blade back to guard as Crotona found her footing and shot forward into a torrent of strikes.


    The Majin released her grip on the handle of her sword, letting the blade fly freely to bury itself in the sand meters away. She thrust down and out with her freed hands, sending her billowing cloak up to block the view of the enemy swordsman. The shining blade still shot forward, and the Majin caught the blade on the edge of her gauntlets, sending sparks into the air. She spun around as more slashes came, catching them and redirecting them into her billowing cloak. For each cut the blade added to the large cloth, it remained around the blade as shredded pieces.

    Noting precisely when there was enough cloth in the space between them, the Majin jumped backwards and slammed her armored fist into the downward slash of the Konatsian. Rotating her wrist and catching the tattered remains of her now destroyed cloak in her hand, the swordsman yanked firmly and drew the strips taut. If Crotona didn’t catch the trap the Majin was setting, there would now be around seven strands of reinforced cloth binding her wrists and holding her sword in place as the Majin held the cloth between them. The giant sword was still buried around twenty feet from where the two were standing. If her cloth bindings completely failed, the Majin would make a diving leap to retrieve her sword. This was simply a ploy to buy time.