Kace grinned at the sight of Roland gripping his sword and subtly began moving his hand to where his own axe and sword lie next to him, propped against the railing of the ship. Before he could grip his blade, however, Elric stepped in between them. The words he spoke were true, and Kace felt a sudden pang of brotherhood and camaraderie with the Falkian. He could tell almost entirely in that moment that Elric would be a steadfast friend. Though, however much Kace valued the words Elric spoke, Roland had insulted Kace, his honor and the honor of his family one too many times. The generally amiable half-dwarf also knew when to defend his name, and now was that moment.
 
	He picked up his langes messer and acted as if he was about to follow Elric’s suggestion of standing on the opposite side of the ship from Roland before spinning around the Falkian and drawing his blade in the arc of the spin. Kace was a lefthanded swordsman, making him an unconventional and difficult opponent, as most knights were trained to fight righthanded opponents, therefore all of their muscle memory needed to be reversed in a duel with Kace. The half-dwarf knew how to effectively use this to his advantage.
 
	As he completed the spin, he threw his scabbard like a kunai, striking Sir Roland squarely in the forehead. Kace used this moment of confusion to launch his attack. He jumped and kicked off of a barrel, leaping high into the air to bring down a thunderous overhead strike, gripping the messer with both hands, roaring like a lion as he went. His cut was intercepted, however. The two warriors exchanged a furious flurry of blows before both disengaging and stepping back to quickly catch their breath. 

	“I guess tourney melees are at least good at preparing you for dueling,” Kace said behind a smirk, “I’m actually impressed neither of us have disarmed or dismembered the other yet. Let’s try and change that, shall we?” he said insolently before stepping forward to engage again. He feinted an upwards slash before redirecting to a hanging guard cut, hoping to catch the Ethorian off guard. Time seemed to slow down as Kace waited for his sword to either connect with Roland’s skull, Roland’s blade, or for Roland to duck under Kace’s sword, making the feint miss entirely.