This fight was always a hurricane. What else could it be with the magic that Hyra of the wolves had wielded? It was a fight to make the viewer spin about, to look here and there and see everywhere something happening. Maidens collapsing, explosions, a dragon bursting onto the scene. Then once the team was free, people were dashing across the room, criss-crossing this way and that, toppling groups of guards, slowing the reinforcements, and making a general mess of everything. 

Chen had begun as a piece of that hurricane, and Rose had become the whole of the storm. Her eyes were the lightning, her arms the thunder, her hair the swirling clouds. Within it, Chen was flying. She had already circled the room, then found herself momentarily on the back foot as the Countess, freed from her grapple with Hyra, had gathered her bow, her naginata, and her guards. But of those, the latter had been scattered by Rose as Chen dashed in and out among them flowing like water. 

It spoke too of their bond that Chen could operate so with Rose. That she manages, in what is almost certainly for her, the best presence of mind she has ever shown, to grow warm with a blush as one of Rose's arms gently brushes her cheek and yet maintain her form perfectly, disarming one of the guards and sending her flying. That she then completes a parry and riposte of another who goes flailing to the floor and in completing the move finds herself with a moment to smile at Rose and, as she slides through the storm again, run her own free hand through Rose's soft, supple hair en route to the countess.

You see, at first, the hurricane was made for Hyra. She was the eye. She stood still amidst the chaos. But, she has vacated that position and Chen has claimed it in her place.

The guards are scattered and as the Countess looses another arrow, Chen's arm is already in motion. Her muscles ripple and her wrist snaps the blade forwards, cleaving the great arrow in two along the tip. Yue, did you catch that one as you were running? That might come in handy at some point. 

And then Chen is upon the countess and she's matching her new sword vs. the Countess' naginata. Here, then, is the final lesson of training at the sky castle: winning a duel is about who learns the best. 

That's not to say that it's not about other things as well. Speed and strength, conditioning, reflexes, and technique all play a part of course. If one duelist is slow and out of practice, they might well lose to an opponent who attacks quickly before there's even a chance to size anyone up. A reckless beginner may find themselves face first on the floor without even knowing what hit them. But we are imagining skilled combatants, people who have dedicated themselves to the craft and, as with anyone who dedicates themselves to something, have developed their own preferences, specialty, and style. And in such a match, the winner is the one who learns the best.

There is a second part to this grand secret as well. You learn more from losing than from winning. If we may, again, reflect on Qiu for a moment, this is her great source of frustration. If nobody can offer her a proper challenge, she cannot learn and grow. For Keron, the last fight with Chen was an exercise in what she already knew: fight with crushing power and punish a poor fool who hesitated and left an opening. If you didn't want with all your heart, she knew how to punish that and offer something better. But for Chen, it was the start of completely rethinking how she approached her fights. Importantly, it was also rethinking how to fight a naginata. 

If you saw the duel between Chen and Yue, you might have figured out what she was testing back then. When she slid backwards in the air in response to Yue getting a good shot, Chen was using the dynamics of magical swords to change the shape of the duel and then she countered before Yue was ready. Keron was much, much stronger than Yue, but that also meant that her swings had that much more momentum to play off. 

Chen closes forwards past the arrow, dodges sideways in response to an overhead swing, and then when the countess rotates and brings her naginata around sideways with all the strength of her powerful hips, Chen takes it for a ride. Her sword blocks the blade with a resounding clang and her free hand grabs the haft as she's thrown from the impact, rotating her in a circle around the countess with all the strength of Keron's blow. She comes around the side faster than Keron can rotate after she's already committed to her move and this time, there is no hesitation. Instead, there's a smile and a promise, unspoken, that she had to keep: "we can do something beautiful together." And then she strikes and her thrust hits with enough force to shatter a piece of breastplate and send the Countess flying onto her back. 

[Fight: 6+2+2=10. Chen is taking a string on Keron, Seizing a super position of landing a decisive blow and sending her sprawling, and creating an opportunity for Hyra to make her escape. Keron may pick one in return.

This also triggers impressive swordplay and, if Phoe agrees, I want to take a string on Yue, who may be taking a bunch of notes on this as Chen's friend and dueling partner.]