(Day 9 LA) Practice for the Birds

[Miya Mei]

Mei smirked slightly as the two moved toward each other. her wrist rotated and drew her shinai in a graceful arc downward, tapping the tiniest edge of Bantu's shoulder. Enough that he would feel the strike, but not enough to even leave a red spot.

She stands for a moment thinking to herself before turning around and bowing low.

"Your speed was quite an improvement that time, Soshi-san."

----Rolls----
[D9 LA] Strike 2 + Kakita 1 + Center, 3 called raises: 8d10o10k6+4 53

[Soshi Bantu]

Bantu returned the bow to his opponent before taking a half step back.

"Perhaps it is the extra time studying the styles of the Academy that granted me a little more insight." Bantu theorized out loud. "No disrespect to Asako-san's extremely effective skills, but when a style has the reputation that yours does Miya-san, there is no shortage of documentation on proposed counter methods."

He smirks slightly. "But apparently one still needs a great amount of skill to follow through successfully."

[Miya Mei]

Mei motions to the device.

"And this is why I use this to train. It might not match my style, but it ensures one is both swift and precise."

"In either case, you are both excellent practitioners, and I was honored to stand against you."

Mei taps her chin in thought.

"It is a shame the Unicorn did not have a competition. It would have been lovely"

[Soshi Bantu]

"The honor was mine, to face both of you has provided me much incentive to continue my studies in this field." Bantu genuinely replied.

"I would have enjoyed a larger scale contest, but I don't think the art as we know it now was as established back in the time when the Ki-Rin left the Empire. I would have been concerned if they tried to host one based on the unrefined rules of the old days and offended the purist practitioners of the rules of the art as it stands today."

[Asako Yuki]

Yuki showed appropriate admiration for the kharmic strike that was settled by one of the opponents missing.

"I've heard that the Unicorn were forbidden by Shinjo from shedding each other's blood. That is why Bariqu came to be so popular among the Unicorn, as it allowed them to settle disputes without bloodshed." Yuki explained from what she had heard.

[Miya Mei]

"I see. Well, I know from my duel with Otaku Kitakuhime-sama they are at least familiar with the art."

She shrugs

"Though I could not read her stance at all."

[Asako Yuki]

"Or have perhaps picked it up since their return?" Yuki offered as conjecture with a shrug. "Though I am curious as to their stance now, if they have kept the form all this time, and if it has changed by contact with the outside, or stayed more traditional. I know the people of the Sands have a form of dueling they call Tahaddi, but it's nothing like Iai."