One reason of she using Desperate instead of a longsword would be because she prefieres a sword that is lighter than others just because that is her fighting style or the kind of weapon she is more used to. In any case all the problems that she could have because of using Desperate are countered by Ariel

Well,it is custom made for her and her magic and skill. I don't think many authors actually think about weapons that much sometimes especially when it is their first series. But it is fantasy,and you can make your own comfortable weapon which suits your powers and preferances.

Desperate is neither a rapier, nor is it described as one. It is labled as a saberin the LNs, although in reality it is a side sword. A long sword refers to a two handed cruciform sword, though they are light enough to be used one handed for a particular technique or in a bind. The one handed cruciform sword is referred to as an arming sword.

Side swords are cut and thrust swords, generally with a complex hilt. This is what Desperate is. Desperate has the narrow thrusting point and wider cuttting blade lower down. While it is labled as a saber it lacks the curve that is typically associated with sabers.

The loaner sword that Ais used that was described as a rapier is actually more of a spadroon or a proto-rapier.

By the way long sword and rapiers have similar weight. The blade geometry is obviously different, but the arguably more important difference is that the center of mass in a rapier is in the hillt or guard, while in a long sword it is a few to several inches above the guard. Long swords were a side arm for both civilian life as well as battle. The rapier by contrast was mostly for civilian life and was common in dueling. There are exception where rapiers used in battle such as the Swedish Caroleans, but the would be more robust versions with somewhat more cutting ability.

Note: Swords can and did vary greatly from example to example, including those that are labled of the same type or even the same model. Such as the British model 1796 light cavalry saber and the British model 1821 light cavalry saber.

then they should change the naming of it in the Wiki if it's incorrect, I mean, I though it was odd, but because of the name, I saw these problem's in it, and you are someone I can easily get along with with the like's of medieval weapon's, my favorite word's, by the way, are hunting sword's, they're small enougth to easily carry compared to a long sword, and long enough to not be a dagger or knife weapon, perfect balance in my opinion

The wiki uses the names that are present because they are what is used in the LN. The author and editor can't fairly be expected to know the various differences and changing the wiki would just cause unnecessary confusion.

Not sure why you remove you post

The fights would be very different if realism was the goal, so I give the author a pass when it comes to the fight scenes--this is meant to be for entertainment right?

I'm not super knowledgeable about swords like this fellow but, as he said, Desperate was described as a saber not a rapier. She was given a rapier (according to the novel) as a loan although I think she did use it to slash instead of stab.

I had to go back and check again cause I was under the impression it was a rapier too but these guys are right.

When it comes down to it. Fantasy/fiction weapons do some far fetched things that would be impossible for a real sword. Ryu's weapon was wood and she did things with it that wouldn't happen in real life.