Keeping her eyes firmly on Valerie, Mina frowned to herself. Noticing that while the woman moved gracefully, stalking like a great cat or a large crane in a measured step---there was something strange about her. Something that Mina couldn't quite place, until she realized just how low Valerie's hands were compared to her own, making her arch a brow as she mused aloud. "Your arms.....they're longer than usual."

Giving a slight sway to her lanky limbs, the taller woman's mellow laugh sliced through the air as keenly as her blade did. The edge practically singing with the ease from which it parted the space in front of it---was this the difference a single-edged blade could make compared to a double-edged one like Mina's? As Valerie held up the shamshir, it became all too apparent how different their reaches were. The blade nearly a third again longer than her own, and with those arms....Valerie's lips curved into a wry smile as she gave a soft coo. "Ah~ Realized the disadavantage you're in, hm? Princeton might have the market cornered on strength, but when it comes to slicing first, it's me that'll take the lead every time."

Off to the side, Sir Princeton gave a small nod. Folding his arms under his bloodied chest with a humph that bristled his mustache. "Unlike my greatsword, which shortens the reach it has by taking both hands to wield, Miss Valerie is only using a one-handed blade. Maximizing her reach to the extremes with her naturally long arms." Kincade blinked, frowning as he looked up at the taller man. "Wait a sec, doesn't that mean that Mina's totally outmatched here? She two-hands hers, like I do." Princeton's expression turned solemn, nodding slightly as he reached a hand up to stroke his mustache. "On paper, it would certainly seem that way. But Miss Mina.....well, keep your eyes peeled, Kincade, you'll see why this match is more even than it looks."

Mina blocked out the chatter from her mind(though a part of her did puff up at hearing Sir Princeton's praise), focusing on that ribbon of death, and the woman who wielded it. Valerie was moving slowly.....though whether that was her genuine pace, or a bait for Mina to act recklessly, she didn't know. Nor could she take chances to test out the woman's speed, else she might be playing right into her hand. It was as Mina was caught in thought that she caught the shift in Valerie's footing and instinctively shifted her blade. Parrying the strike that had arched towards her face of all things, only for her counter-swing to be met with empty air. The difference in reach was so immense! Her whole body was vulnerable to that wickedly curved blade, and it seemed to push the gulf between her and Valerie all the wider---making Mina click her tongue as a droplet of sweat crept down her neck. This...might be a much harder challenge than fighting Princeton had been.

The next few clashes were no better. Every time she approached, that blade flashed out, and she had to parry it. If she stepped back, Valerie chased the lead and forced her to dodge or open herself with a low guard. She couldn't get a blow in edge-wise to make any kind of decisive strike! As another strike came towards her, Mina shifted her blade to parry it---and the blade simply slipped past hers. As though the steel had turned to a ribbon of silk, refusing to bind as the sweep of it curved around her sword and that gleaming edge came right for her face.

Blood trickling down Mina's cheek as she blinked, barely having even felt the sword cut her. Just how sharp was that blade??? Valerie gave a quiet laugh at her perplexed face, and flicked the shamshir to clear the blood off it as she adjusted her posture. Bringing the blade up in a loose grip. "Didn't expect that, did you Mina? I think that's enough of a warm up, though, so shall we get a bit more serious with this?"

Without waiting for her to answer, Valerie's whole demeanor changed. The cadence of her strikes turning irregular and picking up speed, battering Mina with a barrage of attacks as she was forced onto the defensive even further. Barely able to block the blows she could see, and those that she couldn't slipping past her guard to start lacerating her with cuts. Nothing deep enough to be fatal, only deep enough to hurt like a bitch. Her skin burning where the blade cut her, blood weeping from a dozen cuts across her arms, her legs, and her torso. Gritting her teeth as Valerie laughed, sneering while her strange footwork made the ribbon-like blade flick and flash.

"What's wrong Mina? Where'd all that bravado go?" Another cut flashed across her leg, as the taller woman sneered. "Don't tell me this is all you have, you really won't pass if you keep this up~ How pathetic! Maybe I'll send you back to the spawning statue if you beg~"

Watching the rather one-sided fight, Kincade rubbed the back of his neck. Tsking softly as he groaned. "Man....there she goes again. I really hate this side of her sometimes. It just gives me an ick I can't quite explain." Princeton nodded solemnly, watching the match despite the bead of sweat that slipped down his forehead at the sight of Valerie at her worst. Rubbing a hand through his beard as he gave a quiet hum and cleared his throat. "Y-yes. There is something left to be desired, seeing Miss Valerie live up to her nickname." Kincade frowned and glanced up at the taller man. Gesturing with a hand towards the fight. "Are you sure the captain really picked her herself? I mean who looks at the Mad-Ribbon and goes "Yes, I totally want that", there's gotta be more of a story behind it than that! Right?" Shaking his head, Princeton gave a heavy sigh. "It is a long story, Kincade, and a bit before your time. But suffice to say that Miss Valerie is very efficient, when aimed in the right direction."

The pain was really starting to eat at her, but Mina tuned out Valerie's taunts. Focusing on the other woman's movements. She had a limber flow to her body that was difficult to read, but the more she took hits from it the clearer it was to her as she watched that ribbon of deathly sharpness dance and flick---flashing with her own blood. She hadn't been certain about it before, but it was a familiar rhythm to her, like a dance. Reminding Mina of one of the many hobbies she'd picked up to perfect to the limits of her ability, and then dropped when it became too boring and routine to keep her attention. The way Valerie was stepping.....she was a dancer, wasn't she? Out in the world of rote lives and boring days that held no adrenaline to it, no color. It was pissing her off. More than the wounds, that mundane thread had seeped into her fun---and her eyes flashed gold as she took another cut, this time on her other cheek. Glowering at the taller woman.

"Making me think about that boring place....you're really pissing me off." Without waiting for Valerie to ask what she meant, or giving the woman the satisfaction of making another snide remark, she stepped forward. Slipping into the same rhythm of the dance that Valerie was doing, as her blade shifted and she deflected the strike. Parrying it to the side as she matched the next and deflected it downward---away from her legs. This one earning a frown from the taller woman as Valerie tsked. Pivoting and bringing her blade back up to a more guarded posture, finally letting Mina get a break from the onslaught as the long-armed woman's brows furrowed.

"How....." Valerie checked the edge of her blade, as though making sure it was still sharp and that this hadn't been a trick. Before her fingers tightened around the hilt of the curved sword. "How did you match my steps? No one's been able to catch up to me like that, once I start my footwork. What the hell did you do?!"

"It's simple, Valerie." Mina adjusted her posture as she lifted her blade back into position. The simple longsword gleaming in the light as the scent of her own blood filled the air of the sparring space with an iron tang. Shifting her footing in the ground that was starting to turn muddy from the clashes. "I danced. You didn't think you were the only one that knew how to dance, did you? I even got pretty good at it, before it became boring." With a surge of speed she met Valerie's step and deflected the ribbon-like shamshir upwards and away from her as she took control of the tempo. Her steps faster than the taller woman's making use of her smaller size to make tighter movements as she began to push Valerie back across the bloodsoaked ground with gritted teeth. She still couldn't close the gap of the woman's longer reach!

It was as Valerie made a reckless swing at her that Mina came up with the idea. Deflecting the strike down, then catching the next when Valerie tried to recover. Her grip on the longsword reversed from her usual hand placement, making Princeton's eyes widen and Kincade blink confusedly as Mina grabbed Valerie's wrist. Ducking into range and cocking her hand back only to strain her muscles with an explosive movement as she punched the taller woman square in the stomach. Knocking the wind out of Valerie as she growled. "You're not so unreachable now, Valerie. So how about you fuck. Right. Off!"

Punctuating each of her words was another blow. Another fist into the kidney this time, a foot stomping on the taller woman's toes, and finally a pommel strike right to Valerie's chin. Sending the woman toppling to the ground as Mina stepped over her and gripped her sword in both hands again---poised to deliver the final blow and pierce the blade through the other woman's throat. Only to be stopped by Valerie's coughed words.

"You pass. You pass! Jesus, Mina..." She held up her hands to show her surrender, shamshir left laying at her side and out of her grasp. A bit of blood trickling from her lips from what was likely a bitten tongue. Watching as Mina pulled her sword away before sitting up and rubbing her jaw. "I never thought you'd take Princeton's advice like that. Let alone put it to use so fast."

"It was good advice, what can I say?" Shrugging, Mina offered the taller woman a hand, pulling her to her feet. Before shaking out the hand that had punched her. "Besides, I couldn't beat the crap out of you if I didn't get close enough to you. You and those long arms of yours are hard to fight against, so....I just did what I could to negate it." Which in this case had meant grabbing her mid-swing and closing the gap for a bit of hand to hand. It felt....odd. Like it wasn't how she should have solved that puzzle, but she'd won. And that was what mattered, right?

She could feel her lips pull into a grin before she'd even fully processed the thought. She was tired to the bone. Her body was battered and bleeding. Her.....friends....as she thought of them fondly for a moment, were in various states of weariness themselves---this was going to be a challenge! Something that she would either live to see victory through, or die and learn from for the next time she clashed. But the lightly armored ones didn't seem like enough of a struggle to face it---she wanted the heavies. Grip tightening around the pommel that was slick with her own blood, a reckless idea flashed in her mind---and she moved her hands to the blade, gripping her sword tight with the pommel raised toward the enemy. Her gold eyes twinkling with anticipation as she called to the others.

"I've got the big ones. Think you can take the rest?"

Mina didn't wait for an answer. Lunging forward as she rushed the oncoming foes, feeling her blood plunging in her veins once more. This! This was it! This was how she could feel alive, when the stakes were at their highest yet! This was why she loved this game!