Hajin glared at the nicks along his shortsword's edge, then shoved the blade home and raised his empty right hand.
Beneath the lilac surface, the nine currents still turned, slower and weaker, but nowhere near finished with any of them. He closed his fingers into a fist and felt the difference between borrowing power for one strike and owning it.
'Plain steel lost this argument twice, so my fist gets the next word, and it'll want a damn cloth afterward.'
Juna crouched at the fourth position with her claws clear of the facet, waiting for his wrist to settle first. Elise held her rapier beside the spot its earlier touch caught, while Sable narrowed her wind against the neighboring point.
"Round three, you overgrown gemstone," Hajin cracked his knuckles while keeping his fist just outside the ward.
"Match the guide, not its whole damn force"
"Grab the portion you can actually hold, hit together, and ride the recoil out instead of eating another return with your chest."
