Avan turns away from Popp and draws his sword, only to briefly look back over his shoulder with his usual cheeky grin and a thumbs-up with his free hand.
"It'll be over before you know it!" With that, he darts forward to close the remaining distance to the snail, and as he engages it, two things will become obvious to Popp in quick succession.
The first is that Avan is a lot better than he's been pretending to be. He dodges, blocks, and counters the snail's flails with ease, and the number of tendrils is rapidly decreasing. There's no doubt that he's well-trained and quite talented, anyone would be able to tell that.
The second thing that Popp, specifically, would be able to tell is that Avan is a lot worse than the Master he'll someday be. The snail's not a serious threat to him, sure, but it's enough of one that he's still focused on the fight ahead of him, no goofing off. He's not as fast as Master Avan, his hits don't have the same power, his technique isn't as smooth and polished.
But he doesn't have to be as good as Master Avan to take out the snail, right? It sure seems that way as he shears the last tendril off, but then the snail pulls its head back into its shell and it starts... wailing?
"Uhhh...?" Avan half-lowers his sword uncertainly, not quite sure how to handle this new development. And the situation doesn't improve any as the water in the bay shifts. A giant crab surfaces, and the displaced water coalesces into a third monster, an elemental. They approach, clearly drawn by the snail's cries.
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"It'll be over before you know it!" With that, he darts forward to close the remaining distance to the snail, and as he engages it, two things will become obvious to Popp in quick succession.
The first is that Avan is a lot better than he's been pretending to be. He dodges, blocks, and counters the snail's flails with ease, and the number of tendrils is rapidly decreasing. There's no doubt that he's well-trained and quite talented, anyone would be able to tell that.
The second thing that Popp, specifically, would be able to tell is that Avan is a lot worse than the Master he'll someday be. The snail's not a serious threat to him, sure, but it's enough of one that he's still focused on the fight ahead of him, no goofing off. He's not as fast as Master Avan, his hits don't have the same power, his technique isn't as smooth and polished.
But he doesn't have to be as good as Master Avan to take out the snail, right? It sure seems that way as he shears the last tendril off, but then the snail pulls its head back into its shell and it starts... wailing?
"Uhhh...?" Avan half-lowers his sword uncertainly, not quite sure how to handle this new development. And the situation doesn't improve any as the water in the bay shifts. A giant crab surfaces, and the displaced water coalesces into a third monster, an elemental. They approach, clearly drawn by the snail's cries.
"Oh, that's not good."