[center][h1][i][color=Plum]Valencia Coquerdale[/color][/i][/h1][/center]

Valencia was glad that a couple of others were getting their own shots in at Patrick; Both because he deserved it, and because she didn't want to be the only one, particularly if she alone would get in trouble for it. It seemed to be that quite a few people were switching positions in the running column; Some were pushing forward, some were falling back. Valencia herself kept her pace and kept in the middle. She didn't want to fall behind too much, and felt that if she were to suddenly sprint forward she would falter and slow down quite quickly. It seemed that getting hit by arrows was an extra reason for people slowing down.

Keeping most of her attention on Dex paid off, because an arrow was fired at her - presumably, it was revenge for what she had done against Patrick, for she certainly wasn't at the back of the crowd. She shifted her arm a little, and it struck; as intended, her arm slammed against her side, taking most of the brunt of the hit. She let out a little breath, though continued to run, staying on her feet and clunking along. [color=Plum][i]It'll take more than that,[/i][/color] she thought to herself, her eyes fixing on Finn as he ran past. Her cheeks turned a little pink as he gave her a wink, but she was too exhausted to do anything back.

Another lap. Another lap. Another lap. Finally, when the last lap ended, Valencia dropped to her hands and knees, sucking in what air she could. Her knees were trembling a little, but after a few moments she picked herself up off of the ground to line up with the rest of the students, breathing heavy and sweating. She wondered if there was a way for, in future classes, to determine whether or not she needed to wear armour. Perhaps she could take the time to enchant her armour with runes that allowed her to simply step in and out of it, however she feared damaging the integrity of the armour if she failed. 

Valencia quietly, with the exception of her breathing as she fought to get it under control, watched the drow woman (which the mannequin revealed was named Maya Jhalavar) get ready to duel. The pale woman couldn't help but admire Maya's form briefly, before quickly blinking and refocusing on the fight that was about to happen and not on Maya specifically. First Dex, now Maya. All the teachers seemed to be alluring in their own ways to Valencia.

The fight was spectacular. Valencia was confident in her own fighting capabilities, however Maya was definitely a lot more skilled in the affair - obviously she had a lot more experience. Slowly, Valencia's lips curled into a smile, one of glee, of awe, as Maya expertly fought the mannequins. One day, [i]she[/i] was going to be like that, but not in a school. Out in the field, she was going to be making a name for herself, she was going to work on changing the Coquerdale name to something of excellence, of pride, of good. She was going to show her father that she didn't need him to make herself powerful, and that she was going to grow into a powerful, strong person without him trying to guide her every step. Her eyes tracked the final mannequin's head as it flew in their direction, instinctively ducking a little before Vermont caught it. 

[color=Plum][i]Me, I'm ready to start,[/i][/color] Valencia mentally replies. She made her way over a dummy that was armed with a sword, standing before it and giving it a respectful bow. She mentally repeated what Vermont had said, that the better she was, the better it would fight. She had fought opponents before that had underestimated her, guards that at first had thought she was a rich stuck-up, and that the training that she had done was akin to that of fantasy fights rather than real ones. They had went easy on her, and she had taken advantage of that. Soon, they had learned that she was only pretending to be a novice, most through getting their butts handed to them, and others through word of mouth. From there on, she hadn't been able to make them underestimate her, but that didn't mean she wasn't a good fighter against opponents who knew her skill level. Drawing [i]Lazarus[/i] from it's sheath, Valencia believed a similar approach would work on the mannequin. If it adapted to her level of skill, she could constantly one-up it until she reached her peak.

She held Lazarus with one hand, and the mannequin readied itself to fight. Surprisingly, it struck first. She gave a weak defence, tilting her sword to guard against the mannequin's blow. It pulled back, and struck again, for which it received another weak block from Valencia. On the third strike, Valencia struck hard against the mannequin's sword, parried, and thrust forward. The mannequin adapted [i]a lot[/i] quicker than she thought, for it cut at her own sword, pushing it down before it could connect with it's chest. Valencia's reaction was to bring her sword around, letting the end of her blade drift near her opponent's fingers. A connection was almost made, but the mannequin twisted away, creating a step of distance, before pushing straight back in.

It was then that Valencia upped the ante once more, adding proper footwork into the mix. She sprang forward with speed, lunging at the mannequin. It had to step back. It then moved forward, sword raised for and overhead strike. She brought her sword up to bear, but kicked for it's midsection. The first hit had been landed. Now that it knew that she was able to fight properly, the mannequin didn't seem to want to hold back; it went for a sideways cut, which was parried, and then without missing a beat, Valencia went on the counterattack. She went for her own horizontal slash, then vertical, pushing the mannequin onto the defence. It tried to bring it's sword to bear, but she cut from beneath, and it was forced to bring it's sword on the defensive again.

Valencia picked out the change in skill of the mannequin as it happened. It released it's sword with one hand, making a sudden grab for her arm. She stepped back, out of it's range, and brought her sword to bear on it's arm. It pulled it's arm back, and brought it's sword down on the back of her own sword. She pushed back as it pulled back, bringing her sword back into position swiftly, and used that same momentum to twist her sword and go for another strike.

Then, the trick to finish the mannequin, Valencia performed another quick slash of her sword from below. It was parried, of course, but ass their sword connected, she sidestepped into her opponent's space, on it's sword-arm's side. She brought her hands to the mannequin's hands, locking their swords, and swung her leg around, swiftly kicking at the back of the mannequin's knees before it was able to unlock their blades, knocking it's stance out and letting it fall. She slid her blade down and out from the lock, spinning in a flourish to allow the mannequin to drop to the ground, and connecting her blade with it's back at the other side of the spin. With that, she stepped back.

The mannequin rose to it's feet, albeit now with the wood on it's back scarred from her blade. Valencia had won that fight. [color=Plum]"Let's go again,"[/color] she says. She stepped forward to strike, and the second fight began.