[i]Too slow,[/i] Crow clicked his tongue as his dagger was stopped by hers yet again. He noticed he had gotten closer this time, although he wasn’t sure if it was because he had sped up or she had slowed down. He wanted to believe he was getting better, and that she had reacted at the last second because she’d had no other option, but in the heat of the fight, it was too hard to say for sure. He would just have to try to get past her defense again.

He pulled back his blade, preparing to follow up with another attack before she could fully recover, but she moved first. Quickly raising his weapon, he diverted her dagger as she struck at him again. However, during that time she had already shifted far enough away from him that he couldn’t swing at her again.

Unable to come up with another plan, he stepped back as well, lifting his blade defensively in case she tried to come at him first. He watched her for a moment with steely focus, noting how she was still regaining her footing from his last attack, before he moved in on her once more. Attacking her from the side opposite of where her weight was shifted, he hoped to unbalance her again in order to gain the upper hand in the fight.