Ba-
Clang! The sound of a refined blade clashing against Quies' bloodied forearm resonated in the great hall.
-dump.
That heartbeat.
'It's Evengarde's… I can hear it.'
That recurring heartbeat beating within his ears. It wasn't his own, it was Evengarde's. He didn't know ho-
Ba-
Clang!
-dump.
Evengarde struck again, this time from right behind Quies. He turned quickly, following the sound of his song—and now, his heartbeat— to predict when and where he was about to strike. The blade slid off of Quies' blood covered forearm.
When they had started this sparring session, he had wanted to pause and ask Evengarde whether he could use a sword. Did Evengarde really expect him to block the sharp edge of his katana with just his forearms without failing his goal?
However, at just the last moment before Evengarde made his first strike, Quies realized he could coat his forearms in blood—like he had in Etris that one time— and use that to defend against Evengarde's attacks. It took a few times to get used to the feeling of simply blocking a sword with his arm, but he-
Ba-
-dump
Quies didn't block this time. Instead, he dodged to the side.
He could tell that Evengarde was taking it easy on him. Compared to his relentless barrage the first time they fought, he only attacked every half second, now.
Which was still fast, but fast enough for Quies to keep up, at least for the time being.
Badump
But now Quies could hear Evengarde's heartbeat… and, well, he obviously had to capitalize on that advantage.
How could he do that, though?
Ba-
Slash!
-dump
'There!'
The gears of thought and thinking began to turn in Quies' mind. That single observation had given him clarity in the midst of an exhausting fight. Things began to click.
'He syncs his attacks with his heartbeat, though I don't know whether that's a conscious or subconscious decision by him… For his level of skill, I would assume the latter.'
With Evengarde being so in tune with the song and his own, resonant soul, this act of timing his strikes with his heartbeat must have come naturally from hours of practice. It was like his body and his mi-
Ba-
Quies dodged again, the blade hit the ground.
-dump.
For just a moment, Quies was able to catch a glimpse of Evengarde's face. It looked stoic as ever. Except…
…Was there a hint of surprise?
'I've rarely attempted to dodge his attacks, mostly blocking them…'
Quies prepared to receive another strike from Evengarde. This time, he relied on the heartbeat rather than the song, just to test things out.
Ba-
'There!'
Quies could feel the air begin to part on his right before he could even see anything materialize there. In anticipation, he-
Clang!
-dump
-moved his arm to the side, perfectly parrying Evengarde's thrust. He disappeared once more.
Quies waited in anticipation again.
An interesting facet of this fight with Evengarde was that, even though he can't be visually seen when he blitzes through the air, there is still a trace of his song in the world which Quies can track.
'But how can I hear his heartbeat?'
Quies blocked another strike from Evengarde. He seemed to be increasing the pace, since this strike came a tad faster than the others.
Earlier, he had used his 'Flow' mantra to allow him the ability to manipulate and flow blood to his will. However, he didn't really know the actual specificities of such an ability.
For example, what types of blood could he manipulate? Was it all types of blood, or only ones he was familiar with? He never experimented with the blood of an animal which he hadn't encountered.
And how, exactly, does his mantra affect the blood? Does it only affect exposed blood? What about blood that's still inside a living being?
Quies believed he could answer the latter, because 'Flow' also happens to affect the blood that's in living beings, just in a different way.
Obviously, Quies wasn't able to control the blood within other living beings. At least, not yet. However, that didn't mean his mantra didn't have an effect on them. In fact, 'Flow' might be why he could hear Evengarde's heartbeat right now, among other factors such as practice with his attunement.
Well, actually, 'hear' wouldn't properly describe the sense. It was like he had a second heartbeat outside his body. It was faint, but if he focused, he could sense it. This didn't happen the last few instances he used the mantra because, mainly, he was only starting to get the hang of his attunement's mantra. That fight with the Etrean guard was only the second time where he used his 'Flow' ability in a fighting scenario.
Ba-
Ba-
Clang!
Dump.
Dump.
Quies hadn't noticed it before, but now… their heartbeats seemed to sync up.
'If I can line up my heartbeat with him… maybe I can pace myself better. Line up my actions with his…'
Pace… Tempo.
It was an important facet not only in fighting, but also in the song. Moving with the natural tempo of your heart—your song— rather than clashing with it, made one's movements cleaner and less exhausting. Every person's tempo was different, and of course, you could experiment within the time signature. For example, syncopation…
That was why Evengarde's attacks were always occurring at somewhat even intervals, and also why he never seemed exhausted.
It was something Quies wasn't even aware of, even during this fight. But by trying to sync his heartbeat to Evengarde's, he would be making the first step towards that goal.
Song. Tempo. Ether. Attunement. Mantras. Resonance…
Badump.
Badump.
Quies' arm and Evengarde's blade met once more. Their pace was now synced.