Daniel felt the hit connect and he smirked.

The monk was fast, being able to dodge his sweep kick by hopping onto a fallen coffin.

He hadn't been fast enough to dodge that though. No one really expected a swordsman to use his sword as a staff anyway.

The hit he made stopped his spin quite nicely, but opened him up for attack, which of course the monk did, his bow swiftly changing into a bo staff that he swung downward at his neck. He could see it whistling in from his upper left, the monk's lean body twisting and flexing as his arms brought the staff to bear.

He ducked and swivelled his body to the left, feeling the staff clear the back of his head and his neck, barely grazing his ponytail. The staff swung by harmlessly, and as he straightened up he raised his sword arm in a circular motion and then brought it crashing straight down onto the coffin the monk stood on, his fist and sword smashing its lid and body to pieces almost effortlessly. He stood and continued the coffin smashing, twisting to the left and pivoting on his left foot as he brought up his right in a football kick that completely destroyed the wooden coffin.

As he did so, his heightened senses kicked in, for he had a plan.

No doubt he'd dislodged the errant monk by destroying his only foothold in the water.

He probably thought his ice could only affect the water.

Wrong.

As he felt his kick connect with the coffin in slow motion, he channeled his ice magic into his body then pushed it into his right leg. The magic dispersed through his right foot just as the kick punched through the coffin, smashing it to pieces as the splinters and shards of wood froze into deadly sharp shards of ice that erupted everywhere, most sent flying straight at his opponent.

Two seconds passed.

He completed the spin as his kick sent his rudimentary projectile attack away, and he bent into a crouch, smoothly transferring his sheathed sword from his right hand to his left. His new sword hand gripped the sheath tightly as he lowered himself, his right coming to rest on the hilt of his sword.

He inhaled briefly.

Four seconds.

The water underneath him froze to provide him a stable foothold as he braced his feet, tensing up for a good burst of speed. Left foot in front of right. Crouched.

Five.

He kicked off his left foot and closed the distance in two strides, charging his way through the frozen debris cloud he'd made with the remains of the coffin. His right pulled his katana from its sheath and, in a single stroke, he drew and swung from his lower left to his upper right, meaning the monk would see the sword slash coming from his lower right to his upper left, if he had time to block it at all.

After the swing, his momentum carried him two steps forward where he stopped in a crouch, sword still raised in the air. Head lowered, body relaxed. Left foot ahead of right.

Seven.

He exhaled.

[i]Iai.[/i]