Sword Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Shrug.
> "To be perfectly honest with you, the clash of claims does not matter to me. She herself did not even seem that perturbed. I am mostly curious to see precisely where you are coming from, given you seem to be content to use her sword."

>"Are you satisfied?" she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "In that particular regard, yes. There are other problems in other regards, though."

[Hello Purvis]

> "In that particular regard, yes. There are other problems in other regards, though."

>"And what do you plan to do about them?" she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Frown.
> "I'm not sure. To tell you the truth, before I found out about this, I wanted to invite you to join a small dueling group that just organized today, including myself, Seiga's boss, and the oni swordswoman."

[Hello Purvis]

> Frown.
> "I'm not sure. To tell you the truth, before I found out about this, I wanted to invite you to join a small dueling group that just organized today, including myself, Seiga's boss, and the oni swordswoman."

>"I'd be happy to host it, once we get things sorted," says Meira, in a tone that suggests she knows your plans have changed.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Your participation would be most appreciated. But...what you're doing here clearly means a lot to you, and I must return that life force to the Saigyou Ayakashi, as well as prevent calamity in Higan, so we have a deeper personal clash to resolve first before we reach that point. If we even do."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Your participation would be most appreciated. But...what you're doing here clearly means a lot to you, and I must return that life force to the Saigyou Ayakashi, as well as prevent calamity in Higan, so we have a deeper personal clash to resolve first before we reach that point. If we even do."

>"That's what I thought," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Is it possible for you to achieve what you seek without these things?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Is it possible for you to achieve what you seek without these things?"

>"Maybe," she says, "But I have them, so it's a moot point."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have we been traveling all this time?

> Nod with a frown.
> "Very well. In that case, I wish to make clear that I hold nothing against you personally for this conflict. I hope you understand my situation and feel the same way."

[Hello Purvis]

> Have we been traveling all this time?

> Nod with a frown.
> "Very well. In that case, I wish to make clear that I hold nothing against you personally for this conflict. I hope you understand my situation and feel the same way."

>Very slowly. The horse is taking a pretty relaxed pace.
>"Well, you're trying to condemn us back to obscurity, so I can't say it isn't personal," says Meira, as she stops the horse, "But I'll let you have it isn't your main goal. You are getting banished for this, though."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Touch down on the ground on the path between the horse and the river.
> "I am saddened that you see it as such. I would much prefer we not be enemies. But I suppose there is only the one way for this conflict to be resolved."

[Hello Purvis]

> Touch down on the ground on the path between the horse and the river.
> "I am saddened that you see it as such. I would much prefer we not be enemies. But I suppose there is only the one way for this conflict to be resolved."

>"Can't have people just coming at me without any kind of consequence," she says. "You understand, I'm sure."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Of course."
> Withdraw swords.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Of course."
> Withdraw swords.

>Presumably you mean draw swords.
>Meira watches you draw your swords, then draws her appropriated weapon. It is a long, straight-bladed sword of archaic style. Even from here, you can sense that it is brimming with spiritual power. She holds it out at her side, her offhand on the horse's reigns.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is she right- or left-handed?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is she right- or left-handed?

>Right-handed.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Sprint toward Meira, angling to her sword side, and aim a right-handed slash at her side, fully expecting her to block or parry it. We need to see what sort of strength, speed, and technique we're up against here.

[Hello Purvis]

> Sprint toward Meira, angling to her sword side, and aim a right-handed slash at her side, fully expecting her to block or parry it. We need to see what sort of strength, speed, and technique we're up against here.

>You sprint toward Meira, and she kicks her horse into a run. Acceleration favors you, and you close in before the horse can become a real danger. You prepare to strike at Meira, but her sword comes out at blinding speed, leveled toward your head!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it a horizontal slash, a diagonal downward slash, or a stab?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it a horizontal slash, a diagonal downward slash, or a stab?

>Very slightly diagonal downward slash; she is a very good level to strike at your head right now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Swing our Meira-side sword up to block her swing from below, hopefully deflecting the blade upward. At the same time, duck our head a little bit so as to give ourselves a little blade-avoidance leeway.

[Hello Purvis]

> Swing our Meira-side sword up to block her swing from below, hopefully deflecting the blade upward. At the same time, duck our head a little bit so as to give ourselves a little blade-avoidance leeway.

>You deflect the blade upward, and are pleased to find she is nowhere near as strong as Konngara. She is still, however, worryingly strong. Meira rides past you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How long does it take us to set our ghost half up with a sword?
> How far can we separate ourselves from our ghost half while it has a sword?
> How long can we keep our sword-wielding ghost half in our form in battle if we are doing relatively similar things?

[Hello Purvis]

> How long does it take us to set our ghost half up with a sword?
> How far can we separate ourselves from our ghost half while it has a sword?
> How long can we keep our sword-wielding ghost half in our form in battle if we are doing relatively similar things?

>Right now, you would need a few moments, you haven't had much time to let this battle sharpen your focus yet.
>The same as usual, a few yards.
>It varies based on how focused you are, how strenuous your actions are, and how hard your opponent is fighting back.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Stop and turn around to get a gauge on how much agility that horse has.

[Hello Purvis]

> Stop and turn around to get a gauge on how much agility that horse has.

>You turn as the horse runs off, putting some yards between you two. It's speedy, certainly. Meira brings it around slowly, you wonder if this is intentional, or if it is just slow to turn around?

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it still running at a high speed while turning, or did it slow greatly/ stop like us?
> In which direction is it turning?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it still running at a high speed while turning, or did it slow greatly/ stop like us?
> In which direction is it turning?

>She has slowed the horse down, and it it turning back toward you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is the horse turning to the left or to the right, from our perspective?