[Antinous Grounds] Form and Failure (Solo)

[Xalet]

36th day of Winter, 511 AV

Xalet knew that not all training for combat was done out in the field against an opponent. Sometimes you had to concentrate on your flaws, observe them, magnify them, and with the help of an outside source with greater experience than your own, remedy them. Today was such a day, with Xalet as the focal point of the young Knight watching him. Though the man was probably not much older than Xalet, it was clear that he either had started his training at a younger age, or simply picked up more quickly. His ability with short bladed weapons was superior to Xalet's, to the point where nearly every movement Xalet made against the training dummy had the Knight making a small comment.

The young Knights dirty blonde hair ruffled slightly in the winter's wind, a few flurries drifting downward from the dull grey sky. His arms laid across his chest as he observed Xalet's strikes, "Elbows in. Keep those elbows in, don't let them flare out when you strike. Closer. Yes, that's it. Bent the knees...ok let me show you something..." he waved his hand dismissively, signalling Xalet to cease his assault on the unmoving target. Walking up serenely, the Human removed his own short sword, lining his body up along side the much larger Akalak's. While Xalet stood at a near seven feet in height, the Human was more along the lines of two hands above five feet. His clean shaven face gave him a babied appearance, and most would have most likely considered him a handsome man, except for one thing...

"PPpft!" the Knight spat a large wad of chewed tobacco spit to the side. He was nearly always chewing tobacco, so much that when he spoke or smiled his otherwise pearly white teeth had dark stains that trailed all the way to his gums. "When you strike low, and come upward, do not turn your wrist inward. It will end up with your wrist beneath the palm showing to your enemy. If you get cut on your wrist, that's bad. A lot of the stuff that makes your hand work is right there. Ok, so we're going to drive upward, and your thumb is going to ride up the grip, you're going to keep your wrist straight, and then when you pull back, you're going to pull back the same way." he explained, twirling a finger in the air as he stepped back in order to signal for Xalet to continue his training.

"Right, good. None of that stab and twist crap. We'll worry about that some other time, right now I just want to make sure that weapon stays in your hand." he scratched his chin idly as another wad of chew vaulted from his lips, requiring a secondary spit to get all of the remaining saliva from in-between his teeth.

Xalet seemed to be working hard enough. He was outfitted as would be appropriate for the task, his shield upon his left arm, his short sword in his right hand in a normal grip. He stepped and swung his arm down low like a pendulum, rising up to cut the underside of the dummy in a forceful jab. His left knee bent forward with each thrust, the weight of his body moving to aid in the penetration factor. Through the dulled hum of his own breath resonating within his helm, he could hear the Knight commenting on keeping his elbow inward yet again.

[Xalet]

Xalet was working the training post for all it was worth, the light, stout blade of the short sword making contact over and over. There were still times when his strike was less than true, such as when his arm began to tire or when his focus wavered. In instances like these, Xalet found his upward stab going awry and skipping off to the side of the post, rendering the attack ineffective. His trainer did not seem to pay the occasional misses any mind, mentally filing that they were simply a part of typical skill progression and muscular exhaustion. "Alright squire, take a break. I'm going to show you a few maneuvers right quick, and then we'll have you practice them. Go and grab a sip of water and watch closely." commanded the Knight, projecting out another wad of tobacco spit.

"Ok, so the question I get a lot is, 'is there anything a short sword can do, that a long sword can't?' and the answer is yes. Typically people see the range advantage and believe that the short sword is an inferior weapon, but that's not always the case. There is an attack that I have developed that works extremely well, and is impossible to perform with a long sword, and I'll show you why." the Knight then took up his stance while Xalet crouched down, his breathing labored, and picked up his waterskin. The squire took a long drag from the tanned container of gut, drawing forth the cool water within, kept a nicely chilled temperature simply by the temperature of the winter environment. His eyes raised to watch the instructor, attempting to observe every muscle movement he made, and ever piece of the technique.

"Now originally I made this because I was fighting much bigger, larger, and taller guys, like yourself, whom used a heavier weapon or a longer weapon. Now you are a bigger, taller guy but you can still use this. Back then I would come in with stabbing blows from the low point using the forward grip..." he demonstrated a few strikes before flipping the short sword around in his hand so that the point of the blade was facing downward toward the ground, "...or with overhead blows to the head, shoulders, and neck using the reverse grip, and these big guys would just tuck their stomachs or chest way back and use the length of their arms to deflect my attacks down low or up high. The problem was, even if I was faster, or if I slipped past my arms just weren't long enough to reach them. So I made a technique with maximum range, a fast blow that is not only difficult to block, but is deceptive and can be modified both in the middle and after the attack. Watch here..." he said before doing something Xalet had never truly seen before. The Knight held the short sword forward in an forward grip, which seemed typically. Then he drew his elbow up extremely high, to the point where his very elbow looked as if it was going into his armpit. From there he shot his arm forward, his elbow flexing from that strange position beneath his armpit and jammed the point of his sword into the post.

The Knight performed this technique several times for Xalet's benefit before loosening up his stance and going into further explanation, "See that attack right there achieves maximum range because it literally has no arc. The point comes almost straight from the shoulder, and move that a longer blade simply cannot replicate. It cannot be replicated due to the balance of the weapon, and the distance between the point and the grip. A longer blade would put too much pressure in the first and second finger, and cause the wrist to buckle from the arm being forced into such an extreme position. This would cause the point to become completely inaccurate. Stand up next to me and lets do this a few times." his gauntlet clad hand waved inward, before pointing Xalet to a standing place next to him.

"Ok, the arm comes back, with the elbow tucking up as far as you can get it in your armor. Feel the squeeze in your ribs and in your armpit, that's right. Stand before the training post here, alright. Now, just like you would throw a punch fire that blade out and retract it, straight out." he then demonstrated to the left of Xalet, whom took one last good look before attempting his own trial at the maneuver. There was no other way to say it, it felt awkward to perform, but the landing of the point was solid enough, even if the weapon he practiced with was dulled. "Right, shift your weight, just like a punch. See how hard that would be to defend against? You can't simply raise your sword up to parry it, you have to get your body out of the way because there's no arc at all."

[Xalet]

Xalet found the utility in such a maneuver, but there was difficulty in it as well. An attack that was perfectly straight hand to land perfectly as well, otherwise it simply skipped off the side of the training post, causing little if any damage. The Akalak's knees were bent, his left arm was kept in close to his body. When the time came to strike he swiveled his hips, turned his shoulders and shot the point of his short sword outward, burying into the padding and wood beneath. This was what it was to develop a proper form. Many trainers within the Knights recognized that to use a technique properly, even in the heat of combat, you had to train it until it could be performed without thinking. Reflexive attack and defense, that was the ultimate understanding of a maneuver.

"Alright alright, stop there. I'm going to show you one more thing, then we're going to test it out...one moment here..." the Knight paused, tapping his hands against the overcoat he wore. For a moment he searched until he found what he was looking for, his last remaining plug of tobacco. Bringing it to his lips he tore into it with his teeth, talking now with a slightly muffled tone, "Ok. I'm going to show you something you can do with this move. Back when I made that straight stab to deal with those big guys, they started to get wise to it, dodging instead of blocking it. It's hard to do, but once they saw it enough times anyone with half a skill in fighting could develop a counter to it. So, I went further and developed something that countered their counter. If you want to perform it fully, you'll need to stretch out your arms and shoulders every day. Without flexibility it won't work."

Coughing a bit, as if a piece of that plug had gotten stuck in his lungs, the Knight waved Xalet to the side so he could show him visually what he was talking about. Bringing his short sword up into the previously described cocked starting point he threw his arm out slowly, so that Xalet could catch the subtle nature of the move with his eyes. "I would throw this, and then knowing it was a straight thrust, the target would move their head to the left, or the right. When that happens you can pull in your elbow toward your left hand..." he mentioned, awkwardly crimping his elbow inward, causing his wrist to extend to the right at the last moment, "...or you can push your elbow out toward the right, and feel your hand and wrist flex in toward the left." he then retracted his arm and performed the secondary gesture, causing his blade to turn to the left at the last moment. "Once I figured this out, I could attack from any angle, using just one stab. It doesn't work all the time, but it's perfect against an enemy that's lightly armored, or has an open faced helm. Even a light blow to the face is usually enough to tip the fight in your favor. It's all up here, you know?" he relaxed his form, tapping his empty left hand against his head.

"Alright, stand up here, get your weapon ready, lets give this a go." the Knight continued, with Xalet following his directions as best he could. Both men bent their knees similarly, they prepared their arms similarly, but when it came to the movement of the elbow at the very end of the thrust, Xalet was often either too early, causing the blade of the sword to brush against the target, causing little if any damage, or too late, bringing the point around to the back of the top of the post. "It's all about timing. You've got to get the timing down. It's not going to be easy with all that armor on, but lets keep trying here until you make contact a few good times. Then it'll be up to you to practice it and learn the timing, because it's going to vary based on the length of your arm. Your arms are much longer than mine, so you can't jerk your elbow at the same time I do."

[Xalet]

The two worked for a few chimes, the Knight attempting to help Xalet learn the intricacies of short bladed combat. There was quite a few small but important ideas behind using a short weapon, including getting in close and attacking places of importance, especially those that were unable to be covered in armor, or those that if attacked would cripple the movement of an opponent. The face was one of the most important attacking points, as the Knight had expressed to Xalet through their training. Anything but a full helm left the face open to attack, and even then most people felt too stuffy to wear a full helm all the time. To carve into the delicate flesh of the face, or even manage to strike one of the most vital parts of the body, the eyes, was most certainly a killing blow for any short sword user.

Alright, not bad, you've got the idea. Actually you're coming along quite well, I'm pretty surprised at how well your body adapts to new techniques. You're not even really looking directly at me, but it seems you pick up the movements well enough. Good peripheral vision, eh?" the Knight shrugged, spitting out a wad of brown tainted spot before moving over to his waterskin and taking a drink, tucking his chew beneath his lower lip against his gum while he quenched his thirst. "Get yourself ready, we're going to try all this stuff out. Take that huge shield off too...you won't learn anything fighting against me with that thing slowing you down. Here, use this..." the man said, bending down near a pile of practice equipment, set out for the benefit of the squires and Knights alike. All of the piece were used and abused, but they were still important and cared for pieces of equipment, all of which had to be replaced after any training was completed. From that pile the Knight pulled out a small wooden shield, spherical in nature, typically called a buckler and tossed it to Xalet.

With his hands full the squire could only fumble and allow the buckler to fall to the ground. After a moment of preparation he disarmed himself of his large shield and prepared the small buckler against his forearm instead, keeping a close eye on the Knight as he did the same. Xalet flexed his hand, getting a feel for the weight before looking over to his trainer, waiting for him to give the go ahead.

"Well?" the man said with a shrug, twirling his short sword around as he dipped into a low stance, "Come and get me. Lets see if you can perform those techniques in a spar."

Xalet felt nervous, and at the same time part of his attention was given toward his Evantia Aura, locking onto the Knight and drinking from the fount of his many movements. What the Knight had not known was that the reason Xalet picked up so quickly upon his simple maneuvers was due to his body mimicking the information given directly to his brain from his aura. He wasn't simply registering the movements, he was literally copying them. In a training scenario it was simple, but in real combat? That was something that would no doubt take practice. Preparing his weapon and feeling the great weight removed from his body at the behest of a much smaller shield, Xalet rushed forward, tucking his arm upward and piecing his practice sword forward.

[Xalet]

"You don't talk much do you?" the Knight mused as Xalet came rushing toward him, just as he expected. Further more, just as he expected, the Akalak began using his own technique against him. Of course this was as he wished, since it was the best way to learn how to use it properly. Luckily for the Knight he knew exactly how the maneuver worked, having invented it. All he needed to do was shift his weight slightly and...

"What the petch!?" the short man's eyes went wide as Xalet's blade followed his suble bodily shift. Sure, the Knight wasn't given it his all, the squire wouldn't learn anything if all he ever hit was air, which certainly would have been the case if the instructor had been putting all of his efforts into the spar, but this wasn't at all what he was expecting. Displaying an impressive amount of strength for a smaller Human man, the Knight reached out and gripped Xalet's attacking hand by the wrist, forcing it to the side while simultaneously displaying his incredible reactionary talents. As an extremely close quarter's fighter, the Knight had to learn to react quicker than those that fought at the range of a longsword or spear, as he had less time to prepare his defense or offense due to the short time travel between him and his opponent.

Looking to give Xalet a taste of what it was like to feel the wrath of such an attack, the Knight shot his own arm forward, only to have it caught by Xalet's free hand! In essence, both men were grappling each other now, both literally mirroring each other, though Xalet's extreme height advantage was driving the Knight downward. "Ok, maybe I'll need to step it up just a bit..." he reasoned. Xalet wasn't a first year squire, the Knight knew that well enough, but the Akalak had a long history of losing rather thoroughly to the superior skills of his Knightly trainers. With an abrupt quickness the Knight brought his foot up and jammed his heel against Xalet's inner thigh, wrenching his knee outward and causing the Akalak to stumble backward, releasing a grip so tight that it was starting to cut off the circulation in the Knight's hand.

"Alright, you've got some skill, I'll admit. If you---SHYKE!" the man arched his back and brought his head backward, nearly dodging a round-house kick from Xalet. With their height difference, such a maneuver would have been impossible against someone Xalet's own height, but when his opponents head only came to his mid-chest, getting his leg up high enough to possibly connect was not out of the question. Just as Xalet's foot came to the ground he shot his short sword outward, the tip of that blade just barely missing the Knight's upper chest, despite his best attempts at dodging. As the Knight's hand came in to grip Xalet's sword arm yet again it was intercepted by Xalet's own free hand, the Akalak then stepping into the Knight and hooking his leg behind his trainer's thigh before blasting him in the chest with a folded elbow, knocking him clear off of his feet. The Knight twisted in mid air, landing on his hands and toes before vaulting rather acrobatically to his feet.

"I've got to go on the offensive, to even this out. He's a bit better than I originally thought. It's almost like he can see where I'm going to move..." the tobacco addicted Knight thought to himself as he began to stab outward at Xalet, a quick barrage of surgical attacks that Xalet had to defend against with his buckler as best he could. All that time he had been utilizing the powers of his Evantia Aura, and against singular attacks coming at him the registering of the movement to his brain was seamless. But mass attacks like this were still overwhelming, causing the huge inflex of information to trip him up. Despite his buckler intercepting some of the blows, a few slipped past, scoring noticeable scratches onto his armor despite the dulled nature of the weapons.

[Xalet]

With Xalet's large frame being driven back further and further, the vigor of the two sparring against one another had drawn the interest of a few other squires that had been doing their own solitary exercises. A Human driving back an Akalak with probably a foot and a half in height, and a hundred and fifty pounds in weight difference was really something else. Unable to cope with the sheer volume of attacks, Xalet gave control over to Xuphim momentarily, whom reacted by sweeping his buckler and grinding the banded edge into the Knights wrist during one of his extended thrusts. Seething from the sharp bruising pain despite his gauntlet, the Knights short sword skipped against the rocks of the training grounds before finally coming to a rest.

Without any wasted movements, the man quickly retrieved a secondary short sword tucked into his belt and just barely managed to back away from a spinning backfist as he took a moment to assess the situation. Xalet, or Xuphim as was now the case needed to catch his breath as well, as moving in all that armor was beginning to make every movement he had slow down. Once both men had mutually rested, they seemed to give an understanding nod toward one another before advancing simultaneously and meeting in the middle.

The Akalak found using the buckler difficult, but not completely unlike his typically heater shield. There was a familiarity in keeping that defensive measure up, and a certain ease in it's movement thanks to it's lighter, smaller profile. Though the margin for error was much smaller, it could still deflect blows if one had the skill and preparedness to place it correctly. Slashing his short sword out, Xalet following up with a side thrust kick which caught the Knight in the gut, making his eyes bulge out momentarily. Reflexively the man's arms folded into his abdomen, just barely catching Xalet's plated boot before it could retract, and with a quick spinning jerk, twisting the purple man's heel and toe in a counter-clockwise directly, the Knight had put him down on his grounded knee, his hands forced to splay out in front of him to keep his balance from falling completely on his face.

Reaching forward the Knight peeled off Xalet's helm to show him the value of dis-armoring an opponent before landing a final, telling blow, only to finally recognize the glowing flame upon Xalet's neck. Pausing for a moment, the Knight released the squires foot and sheathed his short sword, "The mark of Wysar...so that's how you managed to keep up well enough. You didn't tell me you were marked."

"Sorry Ser, you didn't ask." Xalet, whom had now regained the primary consciousness of his body responded.

Such a response had the Knight scratching his head, confused at how exactly that would have been a pointed question to ask anyone. In the end he assumed it was some sort of Akalak humor. "Whatever...look, you did pretty good. Just keep practicing those maneuvers, and try to come up with things that work for you sometime. I made these myself because of my height, and I'm sure there's stuff that will work for you because of yours. Anyway, dismissed, I'm out of chew."

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Xalet Skills Weapon: Short Sword- 5 XP Shield- 3 XP Observation- 3 XP Tactics- 2 XP Lores A New Maneuver Under Pressure Comments : Very nice sparring thread here. Weapon and shield XP is self explanatory. Observation for picking up the attack from watching. Tactics from learning a new attack and how and when to use it. If you have problem, shoot me a PM!