Unless he can pull that sword out of the guy's hand, that's kinda like grabbing a tiger by the tail.

There's some wire/chain to spare. Just kick in the groin and garrote him with the slack until unconscious or un-alive.

not really as now he can trip up sword guy and also has his main weapon blocked. Sooo sword guy has to drop his sword and fight with fists or is doomed to play a tug of war with a trickster. ssss

I agree. Kassen is well placed to give a quick kick behind the knee of his opponent.

Honestly he looks like he has enough extra wire there to where he should be able to swing it and hit the enemy with the I'm not sure if that's a mace or something else that's at the end of The Wire

lol he is not a tiger, he a man!

i'm not sure if that's better.
i mean last time i grabed a man by their tail it...

actually, no, when it comes to swords, angle of approach is everything and any amount of leverage can render them completely useless. Why they are preferred in battle is that they are easily made and can kill an opponent with a single blow while also being a versatile weapon. There's actually a sword made specifically to take advantage of this called a swordbreaker. When a sword is given leverage, the opponent is in control. Spears were favored more so being even cheaper and having long reach with minimal training required, both of which are rendered useless against a shield whereas a mace is not. The problem with maces though, they're unwieldy and heavy, so the best tactic is to distance yourself and strike again

Throughout the history of warfare, the one constant is measure and counter

Another major reason swords were super popular is they were also swift to bring into action, and thus made an excellent sidearm when violence came a-knocking and you didn't see it coming. If you do see it, then bows, pikes, and halberds are nastier than swords with longer reach. If not, well, a sword is a heluva lot better than harsh words!

This is why daggers are a thing.

For when you gotta dag something

How I beat my instructor in sword class once. Nobody ever let me get away with that again!

A few minutes ago before i even saw this page my mind was clicking and figured that "hey this is what Kass remembered of in page 95 when Elim was fighting the ganglet!!"
Maybe not though

There was more than one encounter during their flight from Dinnlan!

Still enough free wire to wrap around a neck and tug.

I see where this might be going but i could be wrong

Deleted previous comment because it was a mess of partial thoughts. After reading the description I'm curious about whether Kas still has that wire... It'd make a handy line to string hardwood or metal beads onto as ornamentation and a garrote or rope-dart/meteor hammer. Not sure if Beletam specializes in falchion-like swords, but does Dinnlan prefer cudgel and mace weapons?

On another note, can't help but wonder what classes/roles yinglets would take in D&D or computer RPG game. Their affinity for spears makes Dragoon from Final Fantasy an option, their resistance to poison and affinity for stabbing Rogue or Alchemist (for the clever), but there still remain so many questions about yinglets and all of this world. Apologies for rambling...

I think a lot of folks think of them as being similar to kobolds in a lot of ways.

I made my dnd ying a monk/rogue. Streetfighter type. Not sure if it was the best combo, bit she survived White Plume Mountain and now owns Wave the trident. That was a funny assed conversation.
Wave: i am the legendary Wave. Pledge your loyalty to the Sea God and my powers can be yours.
Ying: Does zhis sea god have clams?
Wave: ummmm, yes?
Ying: huzzah. Praise zhe god of clams!

Hmm... Did the trident itself grant proficiency or did the DM-fiat grant it? Monk and rogue can dovetail nicely I suppose, though a trident is more unusual weapon for either to wield. Regardless, I suppose promise of mollusk delicacies could secure quite the following of yinglets for aquatic deities and spirits.

We are treating it as a spear, which yings are proficient in.

Savvy on the outside, absolute disaster on the inside XD

He's just like me fr!

Oh.

So he has yinglet thoughts as a human too. :V

the game was rigged from the start

well he didn't go crosseyes
yet.

Well someone is handling the stress of war!

And we see that Kass always had a smart mouth.

A very smart mouth! And yet on occasion, incredibly problem-creating

Hmmm.....

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This is why you act first, then talk after. Don't let your mind wander in the midst of battle.

It's never easy for anybody. Having to kill just to survive and over such silly traditions.

Instead of chatting, you might want to be thinking about yanking on that wire to disarm, trip, or catch that dude off balance, Kass.

Sounds like the concept of honor scares this guy.

That is a unique style of short sword i must admit

It appears to be a combination of broadsword and scimitar...problem is, the way that sword is designed, it's made for piercing like a spear. No wonder they defected when the weapon has all of its weight on the handle

I remember that wire from the Elim Altered Fates.

THREE SECONDS TO GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND BEG THE OFFICER FOR FORGIVENESS BEFORE I START MURDERIN'

*Spinny spin, now featuring murderous intent*

Kassen uses his most practiced and dangerous weapon against the enemy. His mouth and unrepentant ability to tear someone a new one verbally.

Does Kas still have that weapon? It would be a cool scene to have them just examining it, maybe running there hands over it trying to use it and barely being able lift the ball.

On the very second page of the prologue Kass is using it to intimidate bandits haha

No I meant is it in their new room.

It would be funny to see yinglet Kass pick up their weapon of choice and totally kick butt.

Unfortunately Yinglet physiology really doesn't accommodate wide, arcing swings. There's a reason why yinglets almost exclusively use shivs and spears. Their arms just don't have the appropriate range of motion to effectively swing a weapon

Plus those puny wittle arms

Yup. Strength is probably not their long suit.

It's times like this that you forget what happened almost 200 chapters ago XD

The heart of battle has no place for diplomacy; a commander is the sole ruler and decider.

That includes doubts and misgivings.

I'm looking at these 'weapons', especially the ball in a cup/paddleball thing Kass is using and I instantly understand why their side lost.

I seem to remember their old country being something of a merchant kingdom. I wouldn't be surprised if the people calling the shots didn't actually know what they were doing and were too proud to ask for advice from people who did, and as a result they armed their troops with weapons they thought looked imposing but were actually ridiculously impractical. Elim's mace is alright, I wouldn't be surprised if someone in his family was a professional soldier with proper weapons, but the weird, bottom heavy sword and the ball and tether are definitely designs born from someone's interpretation of rule of cool.

pretty much, yinglets were able to match them in combat after all, even if they did outnumber them 10 to 1 . Interestingly, a bottom/hilt heavy sword would be useful for penetrating thick armor when thrust, but it's almost useless elsewhere unless you're cutting meat on a flat surface. I'm actually more concerned about the sword than the ball and chain. A weapon that serves as a disarming method is useful...wouldn't do squat against a spear though

Ya might wanna have at least a dagger as well, too. I'm assuming Kass has some sort of offensive weapon.

Of course, that would also make a fine garotte, but that's a much better sneak weapon, or possibly of some use after your opponent is disarmed if you're lucky.

Yeah, that tracks.

Thia feels like high school sorta

Damn, just re-read through the whole series again and it's cool to finally get more info on Kass and Elim's backstory that's not just a fragment in a conversation or other scene. Also, how's Yannit been doing? Feel like we haven't seen much about her recently in the comic (although I def understand why other storylines have been focused on more).

Good of you to notice! We're about to get a whole lotta Yannit. >: D

Wow these are coming out quick! And I didn't know about this weapon type,t hat's very cool~

Looks like that was Kass's very first taste of the frantic way yinglets think. Didn't even need to transform for that one. XD

sword appears to be a hacker kind like an inverted falchion of sorts, while our not ying boy apears to be using a rther fancy looking flail/meteor hammer style thing wich can incredibly lethal, specially agganist armored targets, while unarmored one are bound to get grisly deaths

nah, weapons like that are designed for piercing, which doesn't do much for heavy swords. If you look at it, all of the weight is on the handle...it runs a terrible risk of breaking there and with its shape is only good for stabbing or cutting meat on a flat surface

OK, now I am glad I lowered my Patreon donation to $3.
My guardian would have canceled my credit card next month with all these strips.
Mind, I am glad for you, Val, and glad to get more strips, but you are making it hard for us Patreons to budget!

Haha; no worries at all, Important Life Stuff definitely needs to be budgeted before anything else, especially in these times! I am absolutely thankful for your $3. : D

I hate to say this but..there's enough wire there. he could wrap it around the man's neck if he doesn't let go of his blade. If he does. Well...pointy end in the other man

Kass out there in battle using the dang thunderball from watch dogs 2. i guess dinnian was so desperate for fighters they didnt mind if they brought something from home.

Hey man you did some cool anime shit, just do some more it'll be fine.

Sadly Kas was never tought how to properly use that weapon he has. Its a hell of a lot more efective than he thinks. Something like that was designed specificly for taking out swordmen, can be used with a fair bit of range, or a lot closer if desired. One nice thing with it is that it does not take a ton of training to make it efective.

Something tells me this is his first or second time using it in actual battle ever.

Would nmot suprise me, seems the Dinish did not train there troops at all well, and the invaders where just out for a kill not a capture.

And now we see that Kass' runaway train of thought was not a yinglet invention, just one that is better when piloted by a yinglet. *toot toot*

"It's time for mah epic wire fightin' maneuver!"

Kill or be killed eh? Ehhh... such sad situation...

"Deserter, dog, filth, shit for honor"... Maybe. Or maybe simply someone who doesn't want to die for someone, who doesn't give half a shit for him & his life. Simply someone who just wants to live?
Not saying that honor is something definitely not important.
I don't know all circumstances there.
But there's great difference between, let's say, not fighting for a tyrant, escaping a rule and/or order that's just way too terrible for you to do... and deserting from a battle that's let's say, defending a city, protecting innocent lives there from intruders of some kind. One would indeed be quite awful & dishonorable to commit, to just run away from as a soldier. But many situations aren't. Again, don't know the circumstances there, and don't say honor is something unimportant, but you can't just call someone filth for wanting to live.

*yes, I guess I'm taking it 'bit' too seriously*

Sooo, if this is Elim's Flashback and whatnot from a trip down memory lane, how is he knowing all this dialogue through Kass' head?

Ah, so he had 'Skav' thoughts even before his transformation?

Not gonna lie, Kass is kind of being a dick. I mean, I guess I wouldn’t be nice to the guy who’s trying to kill me, but honestly I could see myself trying to reason with my opponent if applicable. Although, that might just show a sign of weakness: a soldier with no confidence in his own ability to defend himself, thus an easy target to defeat.

Don’t know why this Beletam soldier cares so much that an enemy soldier is deserting their nation. It’s actually two less guys to fight yet they chose to fight them anyway.

Also, I can’t get this out of my head but…

Beletam soldier: “Your over confidence is your weakness.”
Kass: “Your faith in your honor is yours.”

And now let's imagine a re-match, yinglady Kass versus unnamed Beletan soldier!

Death by ankle bite.

ooooooo Backstory!