Delicacy
The blade he wielded seemed simple, if not for its golden and white guard, it might even pass as a most regular two-edged sword, but once enveloped in sword intent, the peculiar energy was visible to the eyes of even the common person, its presence and lethality grew quantitatively, rather than bright however, as one might have expected from one dressed as a disciple of the Bright Sword Peak, it was a palish blue.
Like some sort of water that stuck to the blade, as Dajian thrusted forth, the intent was thrown forward as well, elongating, reaching for the shadow's chest, and the opponent did not move, simply pointing his rapier forth and stabbing toward the sword cultivator's face, at this point, it was a duel of nerves, of who was willing to potentially be grievously wounded for committing to their strike.
'Shit!' Dajian threw himself aside, the rapier whistling right past his head, it did not touch him, but he could still feel like it slashed right through his ear.
'It- No it's not anything to worry about, it's just me…' he momentarily feared that the dark silhouette had done something more than just perform a thrust attack, no one could know what technique someone was cultivating unless they were a master with most fine wits, in the first place, Dajian couldn't even be certain whether or not the enemy was a cultivator, just a member of a more powerful species or even a practitioner of another way of power, he did not possess the means to know unless something obvious occurred.
The shadow turned his head toward him, saying nothing as he simply turned to face Dajian and assumed the same stance as before, this time, the cultivator paid more attention as he did not rush forward in an attempt to seize the initiative, the one who had already slain multiple men seemed to be willing to take risky bets, and that without a shred of apparent worry or fear.
He had just decided to attack and not dodge, and he had done it without apprehension, or so Dajian assumed, it was hard to tell anything about a silent adversary dressed in black from head to toe.
"What is your name, assassin? I feel that someone such as yourself wielding a rapier would be somewhat well-known"
"Now, what sort of assassin is well-known?"
"...The kind that just kill everything in between their target and themself"
"That's a good answer" stepping forward with a long stride, Dajian focused, the ground the assassin could cover in a single movement was far superior to what he could do, not to mention that even with sword intent, he did not have the advantage of reach.
If anything, Dajian needed to close the distance, a sword of this length would be impractical to properly swing from up-close.
Evading a rapid thrust to the side, he noticed the blade being halted in its momentum had dragged right back at him, although primarily a weapon for stabbing, a rapier could definitely cut, and this one's edge was definitely sharp as he could hear it slicing through the air, and then through his hair as he narrowly avoided it by ducking down, running closer to the shadow and swinging at the waist.
Twisting his grip, the rapier was slightly turned so that the flat side would be facing its wielder, and instead of just stopping its movement, he doubled down and let the side slam against his own chest, bringing it right back to him quicker than Dajian had anticipated, and just punched using the intricate guard.
Dajian cursed, and forced the sword intent to move away from the blade as much as it could to cover his face before the strike landed.
Blood was drawn, and the sword cultivator stumbled back, fairly certain that one of his teeth had come loose.
Over the horizon, the sun was soon going to set, and the world was immersed in a dark orange glow, reflecting upon the fresh blood flowing from Dajian's face whilst the dark-clad one inspected the guard of his blade, rubbing the blood off.
"Damnit…"
"You are… A rather poor swordsman- Did you tell me your name? If you did, my apologies, but I seem to have forgotten… In any case, I can see why you would be here now, the Bright Sword Peak, like all other sects or clans that pride themselves over a particular weapon, does not only want success in cultivation, but martial prowess as well, and it seems like you lack in the second department"
"Silence!"
"You could manifest sword intent, but you failed to show talent, or perhaps effort in learning actual swordsmanship, so you got kicked out, a shame really, because that lead you here, with me" the shadow shrugged his shoulders, and it was then that Dajian realised why his first attack had failed, and why his enemy's had seemed to cut him when it didn't.
It was because his opponent was actually wielding his weapon of choice with true skill and finesse, his posture was correct and not extravagant, at all times it seemed like he had known exactly what to do and how to use his sword, even unconventionally.
Meanwhile, Dajian only had a very superficial understanding of the martial arts he had been taught, he failed to properly execute the movements, he failed to pick up on the fact that what was most important wasn't the sword intent, but the sword itself, or rather, he knew it, but he just couldn't put it into practise.
"Bastard, my cultivation talent is above all of the others who joined alongside me! I don't need good swordsmanship to kill you!"
"Very impressive, but don't the Bright Sword Peak's techniques all require specific manuals to be cultivated? How would your talent matter, when you can't use it? And why would any of that matter, when you have been rotting working for a petty little criminal and doing nothing for what? A year? More than that?"
"Fuck you!"
"You are a weak, inept one, but a cultivator nonetheless… Once you fall to the ground, I'll tear open your ribcage and eat your heart- I will stuff the rest of you in a bag alongside some pieces of those other men, and then I shall feast upon your remains alongside some potatoes, carrots and cabbages"
Dajian gripped his sword harder.
"You think you can scare me with that nonsense?!" the sword intent flared up as he moved forward, his speed seemingly unaffected by the blow he received to the face.
The pale blue energy was dragged and slung forward with each of his swings, but although it was manifested very well, he had no flexibility with it, it extended his reach and widened his blade, and that was it, the shadow could dodge every strike like it was just a regular sword being swung at him.
Dajian didn't seem that much stronger or faster than a normal person who had had some training either.
After another successful dodge, the assassin decided that it was enough and stepped upon one of his opponent's arms, the flimsy thing snapping like a twig and dragging the swordsman down onto the ground.
Sheathing his rapier, he reached down, grabbed Dajian's hair, and slammed his head down against the ground, until the struggling grew weak.
"I do not pity those who can't tell the difference between a statement and threat, but I do think it's a shame that your cultivation career was cut so short, you learned sword intent, and that's all, you became a vagrant working for someone lesser than you" the shadow spoke casually, kicking the sword away before picked the man up, grabbing his head with both hands, and with a sudden motion, snapped Dajian's neck, letting the corpse fall to the ground like a broken puppet.
"..."
Edrick cracked his neck before reaching down, finding a key inside of his prey's pocket, before opening up the corpse's robes, following through with his promise, nauseating tearing and breaking followed before he grasped the still warm heart, lifted his mask a little bit, and began feasting upon it.
'Mmh… Delicious'