Ludwig Karlfeldt
Mind's Edge, A Shared Path
???
---Your body follows the path outlined to it.
While your emotions have no longer been needlessly repressed, the movements that emerge from the body of Ludwig Karlfeldt are not too far off from what some call Mushin still others Wuxin. They are the practiced movements of the unconscious, of training that has disregarded the body and conscious mind as unnecessary, far too slow, relying instead on the skills of the unconscious self, that self that does not need to think, that self that simply does as it had been taught to do, yes...
This is not quite it of course, you have not trained nearly enough to reach the ____ state on your own, but this...
In a sense this is similar.
After all...
---Ludwig Karlfeldt trusts this 'star' completely, so following her lead -letting her guide his attacks- is more or less second nature to him.
There is no inner struggle against it.
---So naturally you avoid it.
That fist radiating hostility -so fierce it appears as crimson to your eyes- simply slides past where your body should be; you continue to stay in the flow, gathering reiki from wells that seem almost limitless, mind and soul each doing their own thing now that the body has the physical conflict handled, however-
"...?"
-the moment the attack should be launched, it is simply snuffed out by the world around it.
Or rather...
The reiki that was meant to power it vanishes the moment it exists your body, as if it had been drawn out of this reality entirely.
Spirited away by that strange power as if it was nothing, a disappearance into 'smoke' that was as simple as snapping one's fingers.
---It's bizarre.
---It's nonsensical.
---It's annoying. This is the second time now, right? Was there a pattern to this that you just weren't seeing?
---Maybe. Maybe not.
---Either way.
A long time ago, a certain older sister of yours had told you something about fights.
"The modern world loves it's big, flashy magical attacks Lud, but well... Here's a secret for you."
"...Punching someone in the face is fast, energy efficient and will never ever go out of style."
Ludwig. Go for the crystals. Cripple that bitch.
Same energy.
Your hand shoots out for your enemy's gradient eyes. They're the color and texture of crystal, a strange looking sort of material that reminded you somewhat of a plume of dusk, glowing with a faint light in the darkness. She deflects your clawing grasp of course, hand grasping your wrist and pulling it down, trying to throw your posture off balance by pulling you closer to her, making you stumble, a shift in the center of your gravity.
---You stumble.
---That stumble becomes a charge.
Your shoulder rams into hers, the weight of your strike threatening -for a moment- to break her newfound grip.
It doesn't.
Muscles in her body tense out of ingrained practice; she lifts your body from the ground for a moment, swinging you around one hundred and eighty degrees before letting loose with superhuman force.
You go flying.
But that's fine, after all---
[Get ready to kick her in the face.]
Another hand catches your wrist as you go flying back. The hand of an experienced fighter, a certain 'star' in the flesh, who spins with you to counteract the force you had been launched at her with, in order to...
Launch you back at your opponent.
"...?!"
---Lara did always favor somewhat unconventional tactics.