A Simple Bet Between Friends

Chapter 29

Crocea Mors cut a path downward, all his strength behind the swing as he set to cut his opponent down the middle. She danced out of the way before the hit could connect, leaving behind something else to take the hit instead.

The strike landed and cut deep. Jaune had the time to panic before his target exploded in fire. Blakes Shadow clones had a tendency to do that whenever she was fighting him.

She insisted it was simply her way of dealing with his large aura reserves. He was still not very sure of that excuse, by that logic she should have done the same with Yang or Pyrrha, but he was willing to accept it at the very least.

He held his shield up to block the shots he knew were coming as he struggled to regain his footing and breath. He was unprepared for the sudden strike to his shield but managed to keep himself from falling back, at least until the next strike hit and he lost his footing entirely, stumbling back.

Jaune pulled back and repositioned his shield in front of him, careful to keep his sword ready to counter attack in the break between his opponent's strikes. Blake was never a very hard hitter by Beacon standards, preferring hit and run tactics to brute force, but that didn't mean she was weak either.

When she wanted to she could really pack a punch, and he currently had the aura level to prove it, but she usually decided to wait to use that strength until her opponent was unprepared. She liked to wait for an opening, and unfortunately for him, he had a lot of them.

He saw the slight tension in her knees build just before she prepared to lunge, a subtle thing Yang had warned him to look for in spars with her partner. He was able to get his shield up to block the first strike and he used the second of pause to bring his sword around in a wide arc. It didn't connect with anything but he had been prepared for that.

Jaune stepped towards his opponent, forcing Blake to step back or risk losing her footing. It wasn't a difficult choice to make and she took a step back, then another when Jaune repeated the step forward. This time shoving his shield out to push her further.

Blake was paranoid at the best of times, and she suspected he was up to something before the third attempt. Her narrowed eyes betrayed her thoughts as she tried to unravel his plan. She was smart and had already started to pull back before Jaune was able to press her anymore.

It just so happened that his third shield bash had been meant as a feint.

This time he did more than push with his shield, instead he extended his arm out, forcing Blake to dodge to the right, leaving her unprepared for his sword to follow up.

It was an okay plan, something she probably wouldn't let him get away with again, and it might have worked, If she hadn't used her semblance the second she came to a stop, leaving a clone behind to take her place as she jumped back. His sword hit its mark and a second later it exploded.

Fighting Blake was like that, Ren was similar though a little easier without the convenient semblance.

Try to hit, miss, take hit, come up with a plan to land a hit, execute plan, miss, take hit. It was a tad bit frustrating to fight people who were just so much faster and more agile. It required him to think on his feet and not just muscle his way through.

He always enjoyed it despite the frustration, even when he lost. That wasn't to say he never won. Ren wasn't too bad, while he was agile Jaune could at least lock him down in an engagement and knock out a few hits. He'd managed a couple wins from their spars.

Blake was a different matter. Any time he started to back her into a corner, she could semblance her way out of it. Ruby was the same way, albeit for a different reason. Blake was a skilled fighter and she was more than smart enough to figure out his plans before he could really use any. Still, he had managed one or two victories, though none of them had ever been glamorous and had mostly just been luck on his part.