"So, your husband against my second, eh?" Hal casually asks as you finish swapping out your Fast-stowed tricks. He was watching you all the while, so he knows what used to be in your Fasts, but that won't tell him what they now contain. "How'd you meet the big guy anyways?"
You grin as fond memories bring warm feelings. "It's a bit of a long story, so I'll just say that I saved him from getting stuck in a tree and leave it at that." A shared laugh slips free from both your lips as a thought occurs to you. "Say, Hal, do you have a wife or somebody waiting for you back in Vestfold?"
Abjorn the Adorable. He's a real teddy bear.
The smile freezes on Hal's face, "I, uh, something like that, yeah," he coughs and waves a hand towards the sparring field, "Regardless," a sharp edge gleams in his eye as he locks his with yours, "we've got a spar to fight."
Well, Hallr (probably) liked guys, so there's no shame in that.
As the grins fade into sighs and tension falls across the sparring field, Hal's lack of weapons stands out prominently. A man like him would have more then enough silver for a skillfully crafted sword, let alone a fine axe or sax, so where are they? He doesn't even have a work-knife, for crying out loud!
Despite his apparent lack of weapons, you can't help but shiver as dread trickles down your spine. After all, you know all too well that a lack of arms does not mean a lack of danger—Abjorn alone proves that theory.
Twin hearts hammer a harmonic rhythm as steel meets steel. If he's skilled in wrestling, then close is the last place you want to be. As Hal darts forward with crimson fire swirling in his palms, you kick off the ground and let your Fasts release a trick.
Hal manages to hides a whole lot of his tricks. Very tricky and sneaky, this one is.
He also has Stoker State, but unlike us has no teacher. Presumably, anyway.
As a trio of Folded Kindle Spinners burn a path across the tent-filled sparring grounds, another trio of Kindle Spinners race to meet them. Crimson fire strikes red flames and both explode together. However, it's clear to both you and Hal's eyes that your Ignition is stronger—which means that his Kindle Spinners are worthless against you and, more importantly, that your fire is effective against him!
Kindle Spinner is such a signature Blackhand move that Hal has it as well.
Drawing your hands back, you loose a laugh as a barrage of crimson flames rains down around Hal. He darts this way and that, his eyes never leaving yours as he skillfully dodges in between flaming raindrops. Suddenly, he drives a foot into the ground and throws himself to the side, putting a tent's cloth between you and him.
As expected, the camp kind of plays to Hal's advantage here. Well I suppose it's fair enough.
Your flames swiftly devour the woolen folds of the tent, but it gives him just enough time to emerge with shining metal in his hand. Your eyes widen as you trace the shape of the fleinn in his grasp—where in all the realms did he get that?!
Hal used the concealment to hide his withdrawing of the Fleinn from our eyes. It was also pretty fast, certainly faster than normal Fylgja withdrawal.
His fleinn-arm draws back as his free hand takes aim, fire raining down around him all the while. He takes a powerful step forward—his full weight adding further momentum to the iron-headed throwing-spear—and lets it fly with all his might behind it.
Crimson orthstirr explodes from the fleinn as it leaves Hal's fingers—a leather strap flapping in his hand. It spins as it flies, crimson power streaking off it in great arms of might. It blurs across the sky at such speeds that you struggle to follow it—but that was never something you had to do.
(Honed Trick Attack: 67+6=73 vs Sword Guard: 605+9=614, Sword Guard Wins, but Fleinn disables it!)
Hal is Orthficient, unlike us. This also like the third time we've faced tricks with instant break persistent defences.
A Sword Guard bursting at the seams with orthstirr dives in from where it floated next to your shoulder. Crimson power spills free with every movement as it deftly intercepts the fleinn and smacks it aside, only for something to happen.
As the spectral sword met shining iron, the ghostly material shatters! Though the sword still ruins the fleinn's flight, the throwing-spear still manages to disable your protector. Shattered pieces of your Sword Guard accompany the fleinn as it tumbles through the air.
We really should split our Sword guards more, guys.
Or at least assume our opponents have such capabilities, because anyone who is a threat to us would have them.
Though Hal seems to rely on the Fleinn to pull it off instead of having a dedicated trick.
But even as the fleinn falls, your eyes stay locked to Hal's. After all, something isn't quite right. The way he casually dodged your probing fire barrage was well beyond the capabilities of a mere First-Grade Berserk and the way his latest attack flew just confirmed your suspicions. The bastard's hiding his Frenzy!
As your mind races at speeds far beyond a mortal's ken, Hal's forefinger curls and an invisible length of orthstirr tightens. The fleinn shudders and leaps from the ground towards his outstretched hand. The moment it crosses the halfway point is the moment you make your move.
I imagine Hal would have hid all his Frenzy if he could.
That was recall, huh? Maybe we should have Quick-Recalled his Fleinn.
Flinging out a hand, you let the next trick in your Fast fly free. Spiraling out from your hand is a trio of overlapping fields of stilling force. And as Hal's fingers wrap around his fleinn, so too do the frozen folds of Standstill wrap around his limbs.
He freezes on the spot and his shocked eyes swivel towards yours. A smug grin spreads across your face as crimson lightning crackles across Sagaseeker's blade while he purrs in your hand. Spinning him around, you throw yourself into a laughing, thunderous dive. Fire explodes from both your and Sagaseeker's backs as you stoke yourselves to ever-faster speeds.
Sus, Hal,
sus.
Halla, this guy has 10 years of experience on you, you can't seriously think he would have been caught by a Hugareida grapple, did you?
Moments before the Flashfire Cleave makes contact, you meet Hal's eyes one last time—just in time to catch the last dregs of false fear. The corners of his mouth quirk up into a smirk as his fingers twitch. The fleinn vanishes as it's replaced by a pair of simple, unadorned swords. The sudden appearance of the swords ruptures Standstill, freeing Hal from its grasp.
Crimson power surges down the lengths of his swords as a pair of small explosions throw them into motion. Iron swings in, racing to strike you as you prepare to deliver the Flashfire Cleave. There's no trick here, it's just a contest between warriors of equal speed.
Hal's going for dual wielding swords huh?
Reverse firebomb to push them to attack us. That sounds familiar - oh wait I've been advocating for a similar trick for quite awhile!
Crimson power surges down the lengths of his swords as a pair of small explosions throw them into motion. Iron swings in, racing to strike you as you prepare to deliver the Flashfire Cleave. There's no trick here, it's just a contest between warriors of equal speed.
(Halla's Hamr: 115+5=120 vs Hal's Hamr: 43+6=49, Halla Wins! Punctured! 13 Damage!)
As the furnace of your heart stokes your strength to ever-grander heights, you slip through his intercepting blades and drive Sagaseeker's edge into his chest. But just before Sagaseeker strikes iron chain, a crimson flash shines out and your eyes spark.
Thanks to your spark-filled eyes, you spy the flickering shape of a wolf's hide appearing just long enough to absorb the blow before disappearing in that flash.
Both Ignition and Forgefire can pull off a blinding flash. But this one is likely Ignition. Hal isn't a Forgefire person.
And Hal sees the need to hide his Wolfhound (seems to be confirmation of a Wolf Fylgja) Cloakguard from our eyes again.
Interesting.
Hal flips as he's thrown back and he lands on steady feet—undaunted, undamaged, and undeterred. But as he lands, it's not to a breather or a pause in the fight. No. He lands just in time to receive your follow-up charge.
Sparkbomb screams in your palm as he staggers back, only for the trick to sputter out as you make contact with his armor. His steely eyes flash with wolf-like, bloodthirsty joy as he winks and grins. "Looks like I've the better Emberwind, eh?"
Though outwardly calm and collected, you don't miss the spark of relief flashing behind that mask of his. He wasn't sure of his superiority, but that doesn't change the result.
Emberwind 4 without Alloys, huh.
It seems you have Ignition 4.
Swiveling around, tongues of crimson flame spill from your hand as you turn to meet the pursuing Hal. Kindle Spinner leaps from your hand, a punishment for the ground-dwelling fools who dare to challenge the goddess of the skies! It burns through the air with a majestic spin to its arc, only for Hal's hand to twitch.
(Shield Sacrifice)
His sword disappears, replaced by a simple, poorly-crafted wooden shield. A low-quality shield it may be, but a shield it still is. Though Kindle Spinner reduces it to kindling, the shield does the job it was made for.
Ablative Shield spam is real good.
Hal's other arm swings down and releases the sword-replacing fleinn. It spins as it flies, crossing the space between you in no time at all. Your hand springs up with Halting Vortex already spinning into existence—that'll stop it in its tracks!
(Halting Vortex'd, but Fleinns disable shields and guards)
Stop the fleinn it does, but the weapon punches through the shell of stopping power regardless. Something cracks deep within your soul, in the place where your knowledge of Halting Vortex is stored. It's not broken and the damage will heal quickly—a few seconds at most—but until it does, Halting Vortex cannot be used.
You're forced to drop Halting Vortex as a sword appears in Hal's hand—for fear of him further damaging the trick. The fleinn tumbles through the air as Hal starts to swing. The blade draws closer, the world slowing down as Sagaseeker's words slip into your ears.
Halla needs more lessons in Norse mythology.
Also, Halla, you should do an Abjorn and Quick Recall his Flein and dump it into the ground or something.
(Trick Attack: 24+5=29 vs Reinforced Defense: 15+11=26, Attacker Wins! 8 Damage! Armor Pierced!)
Stunned as he is by the impossible speed of Sagaseeker's strike, Hal can only barely muster a basic—if strongly Reinforced—defense as you deliver your own. He crosses his orthstirr-coated arms before his head, but your hand darts under and crimson fire meets the armor over his stomach.
Broken links of iron chain explode out as the force sends Hal hurtling to the ground. He hits the dirt with a heavy crunch, but a fall from that height matters little to a man of Hal's strength. Hal grits his teeth as he climbs to his feet—just in time for you to give him something that does matter.
We're doing surprisingly well for where I thought this battle would be going against someone with 2x our experience.
Hal Wolfhound is a dangerous man, that much is clear. Overall, he's physically stronger than you but lacks the same mental fortitude. He thinks slower then you do, is what that essentially means. He beats you out on Frenzy and is clearly very clever, but you have the greater Hugr between the two of you.
Hal's Stats/Resources:
Hamr 8+, probably 9 (Most likely Infusion 7)
Hugr 6 (Infusion 6)
Fylgja 10? (Infusion 7+, minimum Stat + Infusion 14+)
??? Fylgja Slots (14+ total minimum)???
2x Basic Shields (Expended)
1x Fleinn
1x Pair of Swords (Unclear if counts as 2 slots or 1 slot)
Frenzy????
Emberwind 4+ (But most likely 4 if he was unsure of our comparative prowess)
Orthstirr: Probably 800~900ish
He probably spent no more than 100 Orthstirr in this round. Hal seems like an Orthficient person.
Hal's demonstrated Hugareida shouldn't allow for Perfect defences, but there are Perfects with normal weapons.
Hal has not demonstrated any Glima tricks. It would be real funny if it turns out he's not great at Glima (he's a trickster after all), but I wouldn't count on it.
His Frenzy hiding seems to be a perfectly even split between himself and his Fylgja. This suggests some nature to his Fylgja merge trick.
