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She had the right of it for the most part. This wasn't a sprint, but a marathon. Not in the sense that they needed to conserve actual energy, but in the sense that in most cases they had no real space to pick up speed. Surprisingly enough, in spite of his shorter stature meaning an equally shorter step, Makoto's advantage lay in his lesser mass. Each gamble posed a slightly lesser risk to him because of that. Of course, if she were paying attention, taking such risks would give away a trace of his personality to her.
Fortunately, that was something he could live with.
One particular point of ascension would prove tough to support two people. This was where he needed to pick up the pace. Spotting a certain crumbling formation, Makoto picked a piece of debris off the ground and suddenly threw it with great force. The impact shattered the formation outward, and he leapt forward off the ledge a moment or so after Nuan did. Two amazing things happened one after the other, in the reverse order that will be presented now.
First, by curling his body mid-leap, Makoto managed to gain momentum enough to dart past his opponent. By taking that position, he sacrificed upward momentum for forward speed - and that meant he would fall short of his expected goal on the wall. That SHOULD be what happened, except Makoto had thrown that rock with such timing that as he fell, so did the debris that would have prevented him from leaping at the same time as Li Nuan. And those selfsame debris were used as stepping stones for him to pick up even more speed and traverse the otherwise empty space between the ledges. His landing would be smoother, giving him a precious second or two ahead of his opponent.
Second, as he passed Nuan, she would have felt the very distinct and very bold sensation of something slapping her butt. This is isn't so much "amazing" as it is funny, but it had the intention of breaking her concentration for a moment. After all, a lady has her modesty.