"IS THIS THE BEST YOU HAVE GOT?"

A heavy body crashed down in the dirt, moaning loudly before rolling over and desperately trying to scramble away. Before the man could get anywhere, however, a booted foot drove into his behind and knocked him over again, face-first this time.

"They say this city has good fighters! They say, 'go to Ominar, Tekla, you will find challenge there!' But all I find-"

The man on the ground flinched as a huge figure loomed over him, wincing before a blow that did not come. Instead, his opponent simply spat, then turned away.

"-IS A BUNCH OF WIMPS!"

The victor stood tall, bunched muscles standing out in the dim light, glaring at the ring of hooting figures around her. By day, this park was a simple gathering place for civilians. By night, it was home to delinquents, street fighters, martial artists looking to prove their worth. A battleground, where the strong and the violent let loose their frustrations upon each other.

Right now, however, none of the watching fighters and low-lifes dared step forward to face her. Six had tried, and six times Tekla had sent them whimpering back to their friends, pissing their pants in fear. Though she was one of the only women present, she stood taller than most, with an imposing figure that seemed at odds with the flowery tattoos covering her arms and the bright pink and blue dyes in her hair. Some had questioned her ability at first, but there were no doubters now.

She still fought unarmed. These boys were weak. Grunting with disappointment, she spread her arms wide.

"I ask you for the last time! Is there ANYONE here who can give me a FIGHT?"

From behind a tree a little distance away, Alexander quietly watched the scene playing out in front of him with mild amusement. With his fancy manner of dress he was quite unlike the other ruffians gathered around in front of him, the ones more eager to recklessly throw themselves into a fight with the physically imposing woman with no sense of plan or purpose. It took a while but this reckless attitude of theirs had diminished from defeat after defeat. They still tried to act tough, at least the ones who hadn’t been beaten to a pulp, but they certainly weren’t stepping up to bat now.

In all honesty he would be content to allow himself to be called a coward and just walk away. She was clearly a dangerous opponent at least on his level, and as such it would be foolish to engage in a fair fight. However, orders were orders. He was sent here to further his training, and as such he was expected to fight the strongest person he could find. Well, he clearly found her.

Sigh.

He stepped out from behind the tree, having seen enough and his mind made up how to fight her in this David and Goliath situation he now found himself in. He strolled passed the ring of men into the middle of the circle where his target was waiting. With the two of them standing so close the size difference was all the more relevant. Alexander was just a runt.

“Guess I’ll do,” he said, using his left hand to gently pat the hilt of the blade attached to his hip. “Don’t mind if I use a little assistance here?”

That question was for the most part rhetorical. Of course he would use the sword if it would help him get out of this battle the victor. He widened his stance and hunched slightly over slightly on the balls of his feet, turning his right shoulder towards her and gripping onto the handle with his right hand. He wasn’t one the make the first strike. She would come to him, he could feel.

For a few heartbeats, no one stepped forwards. Young men shoved each other gently, urging friends on, but none dared enter the ring themselves. Until suddenly, one moved.

He came from outside the ring, quietly entering the crowd and triggering a wave of excited murmurs as he pushed through and emerged on the other side. Who's that kid? Doesn't look like he's from one of the gangs- Holy shit, is that a sword? Dude must have a grudge if he's bringing shit like that into the ring... Hey, hey, place your bets!

The tall woman simply stared back at him, completely unfazed by the presence of a deadly weapon. A wolfish smile slowly spread across her features, and she threw her arms open, roaring with pleasure.

"HAH! Whatever you want, friend! Maybe with sword, you will not break so fast."

Unlikely that would actually be the case. Her blood was already pumping, a pulse of raw fire, eager to let loose. There would be no holding back for Tekla.

She started forwards. Long, confident strides, quickly closing the distance without committing to a charge. Her arms were up around chest level, hands loose and relaxed, her torso leaning just slightly forwards and her shadow stretching out before her. She advanced on him like a boulder rolling downhill, showing no signs of slowing down until she'd crushed him beneath her feet.

Although not normally one for straightforward attacks, given the situation he thought it prudent to execute a quick and easy move that could potentially end the battle right then and there without much showmanship involved on his part. Anyone familiar with fencing could recognize this basic move, although how well an unarmed woman could counter him remained to be seen, especially with the speeds he was capable of and if his ferocity could catch her off guard.

Just as she got within lunging distance he lashed out to do exactly that, his sword arm straightening into a thrusting maneuver with the point of his blade aimed straight towards her heart. At the same time his front foot kicked outward to land back down onto the ground with his knee at a near right angle, his back leg pushing his body forward to close the distance between the two combatants. He was committed into the lunge until his forward foot had landed and the stab was complete, but afterwards he knew if the attack didn’t land a critical blow he would have to quickly recuperate and execute his next move, whatever it may be based on her reaction.

He tried to keep this attack as light as a lunge could be, enough to pierce through an unarmed woman such as herself but not continue with all the force he could muster barreling through her, as that would be overkill and leave it harder for him to recover. He saw some of what she was capable of, but over committing when he didn’t know all of her secrets could be a fatal mistake.

As Tekla approached, her opponent drew his sword from where it had previously rested at his right hip and pointed it towards her. If he'd forgotten to do so, it would have been quite difficult to execute any kind of attack, but seeing as he was attempting a lunge he must have gotten it out at some point along the line.

Not that it made much difference to her. She didn't slow down or react when the steel came out, merely noted its length and carried on her relentless advance, until she hit the threshold of her opponent's striking range.

And sped up.

Both fighters lunged at the same time, drawing gasps from the crowd around them. Rather than backing off or trying to dart around the lunge, Tekla barreled on through, practically guaranteeing that the blade would score a hit- but not one that would end her, or even harm her. The moment her opponent made his move, she countered it, not with a parry or a dodge, but with a manifestation. A solid steel cuirass, bursting into being around her torso just as she threw herself into the oncoming strike.

Metal screeched against metal, the swordpoint crashing into Tekla's plate armor and sliding off to one side, deflected under her left arm. Her opponent hadn't fully committed to his lunge, but Tekla had committed to hers, and the very instant after the boy's sword tried and failed to penetrate her, she struck back.

If she'd aimed for his body, perhaps he would have had time to duck or back away. She gave him no such opportunity. She had momentum on her side, pushing onward in spite of the impact on her chest and letting her left side swing back in response, bringing her right side forward, her right arm forward, darting out with deadly accuracy and great big fingers twisted like steel talons, reaching for her opponent's right wrist and seizing it, crushing it, yanking it towards her. No room for avoidance here- the boy had just lunged, and reversing the momentum of his arm would take time, not to mention that the short length of his sword put her target immediately within reach. By the time he realized what she was doing, it would already be too late.

But would Tekla stop there? No. She was still moving forwards, faster than ever now, her huge and muscled form bearing down on the challenger before her. While one hand immobilized his sword arm and dragged him towards her, her left arm would plunge forwards, driving for his throat.

Now that was flat out unfair! How was he supposed to know she could summon armor at a moment’s notice? With any other opponent he would have already won, but now his eyes widened in shock and fear at this revelation. If his thrust hadn’t glanced off to the side he would have broken his blade, but this luck was of little immediate help as he was in the most rotten situation he had been for some time. The force behind his blow did next to nothing to stop the behemoth momentum bearing down at him, leaving his only option at the moment to do his best to dodge and regroup. He winched in pain as a crushing hand grasped around his wrist. So much for his only option, as short lived as it was.

It took all his willpower to keep a grip on his sword with the pain flooding the joint, but he somehow managed. Perhaps he could still catch her off guard and stab her with it if she for just a moment lost her powerful grip on him.

She may have been wearing armor on her torso, but her face was wide open! He wasn’t the strongest but he knew the following move could still hurt her good if it connected. His left hand shot forward as his foe’s own left did the same, only his target was her nose, his hand extending palm outward in a classic palm thrust. He let out a pained gasp as her attack smashed against his throat, but this would do nothing to halt his own attack as it would connect within that very second should nothing have been done about it.

The boy had at least some fight in him- even though Tekla caught him off guard with her ability, he still kept his focus and threw out a quick counterattack with his left. Splendid!

It was a simple move, but an effective one: Tekla’s forward momentum made it impossible for her to move back in time, her left arm was already committed to an attack, and if she defended with her right, she risked letting his sword arm loose. Worse, her weapon-conjuring ability couldn’t be used for a few seconds after each summoning, and she’d spent it to make her armor and get in close. Simple attack or no, she had few options to work with.

However, Tekla wasn’t going to be stopped by one little palm thrust.

As the boy’s arm lashed out, she ducked her head in response, tucking her chin tight. She couldn’t avoid the strike entirely- Tekla wasn’t that fast -but she could keep it from hitting where he wanted.

A hard smack resounded from the impact. Rather than crushing the soft cartilage of her nose, the boy's palm slammed against her hard forehead, knocking her head back. It was still a painful blow, one that jarred her brain and made her vision swim, but her skull bore the brunt of it, and she’d been ready. Her thoughts were dazed, dizzy, she grunted in pain- but she had him.

She had him.

The boy could hit harder than one would have thought for his size, but she still held his right wrist tight, and her left hand now smashed into his throat, and the momentum of Tekla’s bulrush carried them on, her sheer weight and speed pushing him off his feet and towards the ground.

At the same time, her fingers closed around his neck.

The blow to the throat wouldn’t hit quite so hard as Alexander expected, especially given his opponent’s size. Tekla hadn’t simply been seeking to hurt him, however. Rather than hit with a closed fist or jabbing fingers, the blow landed as an open hand, delivering a relatively light impact- until Tekla gripped hard, wrapping her long fingers around the side and back of his neck to keep hold whilst her thumb pressed in, crushing his windpipe and cutting off his breath. With her weight, momentum, and a solid hold on him, she’d slam him painfully to the ground, strangling him with her left hand, her left arm now fully extended.

This last was important. Not only had her attack given her the hold she could use to choke and likely pin him down, it also let her keep him at a set distance. She was taller than him, her reach longer. Her face might have been open, but with her now holding her opponent at arm’s length by the neck, he effectively wouldn’t be able to reach her head with any follow-up strikes. He might be able to get a body shot in, but she still had armor there. In short: his left arm couldn’t reach her, his right arm was still caught, and he was very likely pinned and unable to breathe.

Tekla glared down at him, teeth bared in a ferocious expression, leaving no doubt at all that she would strangle him until he lost consciousness if need be.

“Yield. Drop the sword.”

Alexander let out a pained cry as the back of his head slammed into the ground along with the rest of his body. All he could see was flashing lights before his vision returned to normal, revealing the snarling face of his foe hovering over him just out of reach. He did his best to squirm his way out of his situation but the woman’s grip was solid. He’d never come across someone so strong. Not any human being, at least.

He gritted his teeth, feeling the available oxygen leaving his body, his lungs now aching along with his head and neck. There was no escape. Narrowing his eyes, he released his grip on his weapon, allowing it to clatter to the ground. He wasn’t about to continue a fight he couldn’t win merely for pride’s sake. Pride would get him killed or at the very least more injured than he already was when all he wanted was for this battle to end so he could nurse himself back to health.

His pained expression attempted to take on a more bored, aloof look, his eyes darting off to the right to look at nothing in particular. In short he was playing it cool. She didn’t seem like a murderer or else he would certainly be freaking out right about now. He just hoped she’d let go of him soon or else things might turn dire.