Completed Sword Partner (Turrin)

[Syveris]

42nd of Fall, 513 AV

Syveris sat on the rocky surface, facing the Fighting Pit. She had been watching Jhinapar for a while now. The giant man unsettled her, and he was the only reason she didn't come too much to the area. The Avora knew she was just being silly, since she knew the man wouldn't hurt her if not provoked. But the uneasiness was still there. Syveris loved danger, she pursued it, but when she looked at the man it wasn't the wonderful feeling of danger she saw. It wasn't even fear, it was only a feeling that nothing good would come out of the encounter. There were things she wasn't willing to try.

The Avora still didn't know what she was truly doing there. Through the day, on the Glass Reverie, she had heard that the traders from Avanthal still hadn't returned, and she felt more sadness than anger. Syveris couldn't begin to figure out what was going on during Fall. It had been one strange thing after the other, and she had a feeling they wouldn't stop so soon. She strongly hoped she was wrong.

So there she was, after grabbing her talon sword. She just wanted to think, just wanted to feel the wind around her. Syveris knew she could always go to the Edge of the World, but today, she wanted to fight. To discount her frustrations and worries, to spend the anger that had been building up inside her. However, when she got to her destination, she had just sit down, her talon sword by her side, watching the Fighting Pit.

Sighing, Syveris looked up to the sky. She wasn't one to pray for Gods, but if the strange events continued to occur, she might consider start doing it. With another sigh, she returned her gaze to the Pit, absently grabbing and releasing her black bryda. She truly needed to vent. She needed to fight. Her other hand closed around her sword.

Calm down, damn it. she thought angrily to herself. Yes, there had been some strange things happening in Wind Reach, the water being the one that had worried her the most. Luckily, she hadn't got sick, but she began to be very careful with the water she drank. However, it wasn't even the middle of Fall yet. Syveris tried to calm herself down, assuring that the worst had gone. And truly, the Inartans always had trouble, but they would always survive it. This time it wouldn't be different. It didn't change the fact that she was stressed, though.

[Turrin]

“Come on Turrin! It is just a friendly spar between comrades...I promise I won't go overboard.” Turrin looked at Samen as he challenged him to a “friendly” spar. The Myrian knew the hot headed Inarta's smile was neither friendly or genuine as he stared at his fellow flight comrade. Holding his sword off the to side and pointed at the ground, Turrin knew his comrade wouldn't try to kill him, but he knew that Samen always had a rivalry with him since he joined the War hawk Flight, but Turrin been hearing whispers from his fellow flight members that Samen was turning his friendly rivalry into a grudge with him. After Turrin humiliate him in the kitchen when he denied him his fun with Azira. He knew that it would never be the same between them, so he just sat there in silence and watched his friendship fall apart before his eyes. Turrin knew Samen and him were basically even in skill when it came to fighting with a talon sword, so it would be determination that would decided the match. Turrin looked at his friend and asked softly, “Do you want to use really blades, or would you like to use wooden, so we can beat the petch out of each other?” Turrin knew some Inarta who are foolish enough to use really metal blades when sparring. Most of the time, they don't come back from the spar session with all their limbs or fingers attached. Turrin knew using real metal in battle mean someone will die, so he will refuse any spar if they ask to use really blades because most of the time, they don't have the skill or discipline to be welding it at all. Samen said with a smirk, “I would like to you real metal...” Turrin's golden eyes glared at the Inarta and thought to himself, “Stupid barbarian...” Turrin was about to sheathe his sword and walk away, but Samen said with a laugh, “However, I doubt our flight commander will enjoy us coming to our next drills with to few fingers, so we can beat the hell out of each other with wooden swords.” Turrin smiled at his friend and sheathed his talon sword. Unstrapping the scabbard from his hip, he set the sword on top of his backpack. Walking over to the wooden weapon rack, Turrin grabbed two wooden talon sword. Turrin make sure the wooden blade was pointed at the ground. Before tossed the wooden sword towards Samen. The other Endal caught it with ease and did a few practice swings with the replica. Watching Samen get into his stance, Turrin noticed his friend always used the stance with his right foot forward and left foot back. He held the sword out in front of him with the sword pointed up at his head. It was good for quick thrusts and defense. The Myrian put his left foot forward and right foot back. He held the sword with his right hand over his head and his left hand out in front of him in a fist. His father told him that he should be either holding a shield or another weapon in this stance, but since the half-Inarta wasn't using any other weapon at the moment. It was just a fist. Turrin stared at the green eyed Endal for a chime and said with a smile, “May Myri guide your sword, Samen.” The battle started in a instance as Samen jumped forward with a quick thrust of his talon sword. Turrin knew the pale Endal was fast, but Turrin was equally as quick, so he stepped forward and swung across his body deflecting the thrust away from his body. The Myrian saw a opening, so he after his followed through with the swing. He swung back with his elbow at the face of Samen with all his strength. Samen saw the elbow coming, so he ducked under Turrin's arm and swung his sword up and across the belly of Myrian. Turrin saw the quickness of his friend's sword as he sliced across his stomach. The half-Inarta had a split second to react, so he decided feebly put his talon sword of in the way of the on coming slash. It softened the blow of the Samen's talon sword by intercepting the full motion of his sword, but he felt the edge of his opponents sword hit the side of his stomach. The pain was intense as he stumbled back from the blow. He had a bad feeling about the blow because the force of the swing will cause of severe bruise. Holding his side with his non weapon hand, Turrin held the wooden talon sword out in front of him and started to side step to the side. When he saw a opening, the half-Myrian jumped forward and thrust towards his head. Because of the pain in his side, he was much slower, so the thrust missed with the deflection of Samen's wooden talon sword. Turrin left himself open for a attack and Samen stuck Turrin across the stomach with the flat of his sword. Turrin let out a loud grunt and stumbled back from the blow and congratulated his opponent, "Good strike, Samen." Traditionally in a spar when a opponent lands a blow. They step back to their respective sides and start again anew, but Samen had no intention of stopping his assault. Turrin narrowed his eyes at Samen and got into Samen originally stance with the left foot back and right forward. The Myrian held the sword, so his left hand was behind him and his right had was holding the sword up at the face of Samen. Like a wild yukman, Samen came at him with a overhand swing aiming at the top of Turrin's head. Turrin knew that even a wooden sword could kill a man if it hit correctly since it basically a club. Learning the discipline techniques of his clan, Turrin was taught to meet his enemies head in battle with no fear. The Myrian jumped forward lifted his right hand up, turned his talon sword horizontal, so the sword intercepted the downward swing of the sword. Turrin could feel the downward force of his blade on his wooden blade, so Turrin decided to use Samen's strength against him and tilted his talon sword down and away from him. As Samen's sword slipped down his sword, the pale Endal stumbled forward. Turrin sided stepped out of his way and swung around his talon sword at the back of his hamstring. The Myrian smiled victorious as the pale skinned warrior cried out in pain, dropped to the ground, and clutching the back of his leg. If it was his real talon sword, it would have cleaved through his leg with ease, but luckily for his former friend it was just a replica. Turrin took no pleasure in his suffering, but he was glad that he won the spar for Myri. Turrin reached down and offered a hand to Samen, “You fought well my friend. Do you need help standing?” As quick as his sword thrust, Samen slapped his hand away, threw his wooden sword to the ground, and slowly got to his feet and said sharply to him in Nari, “Don't you patronize me, Mongrel!” After his outburst, Turrin watched his comrade limp away and sulk.

[Syveris]

It took a moment for the Avora to calm herself down, but she managed to do it. However, now she was not only stressed, but also starting to get bored. Jhinapar was fun to look at only for a moment, but, right then, he wasn't doing anything exciting. Syveris wondered if she should just go, do something useful. That would probably be better than to just sit there, doing nothing.

Getting up, she patted her bryda, trying to get the dust out of it. And then, the sound of wood clashing made her look up, curious, trying to find who were fighting. The Avora smiled when her gaze met the frame of the half-Myrian she had met some days before. She watched as he fought another man, much paler than him, and probably an Endal too. Turrin managed to hit the other man's leg after deflecting his attack, making him fall in the ground. The paler Inarta cried out in pain, and Syveris smiled when she saw Turrin offering a hand to help the other up.

Her smile quickly grew into a frown when she saw the defeated Inarta slap the hand that was offered to him, before getting up and limping away. He probably couldn't take a defeat. The Avora wondered if it was a serious fight among the two of them, or if it had been just training. Judging by the behavior of the man, she supposed it was serious, in some level or another.

Syveris scowled slightly at the man when he passed through her, getting away from the Fighting Pit. He was clearly sulking, and probably didn't even noticed her face. Although she didn't want any problem with an Endal, she kind of wished he had seen her. He had denied help in a quite arrogant way, and arrogance wasn't a quality she appreciated. Besides, she was more than willing to fight.

Shaking the thoughts out of her mind, the Avora walked towards Turrin, smiling at the man. She took the two wooden swords from the ground, weighing them on her hand. It felt a little different from her own talon sword, but she supposed it was good enough for training. She offered one of them to Turrin.

"Hello again." Syveris greeted the man in Nari. "That was your friend? Is something wrong with him for him to be sulking like that?" she asked, truly interested. Syveris supposed the man could offer help to anyone if he had simply won a friendly spar, but she wasn't sure the fight had been very friendly, judging by the reaction of the other.

"Anyway, I saw you two fighting. You're very good with the talon sword." Syveris complimented. At least, he was very good compared to her. "Hey, do you think you can teach me? I have been wanting to learn it for quite some time now." she had brought the sword on a stall in the market, mostly because she had been enchanted by the beautiful designs and blade. However, she had never fought with a sword, and found out it wasn't a very simple thing to do. "I can only hold it in my hand without cutting myself, basically." the Avora wasn't pleased by her lack of skill, but if she wanted Turrin to teach her, she had to tell him what her real abilities were. Or lack of them, which was more close to the truth.

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[Turrin]

For a moment, Turrin watched Samen walk away from him, but he was soon approached by a familiar face, Syveris. The Avora greeted him in Nari, so he returned the gesture with a greeting of his own in Nari, “It good to see you again, Syveris.” The next question made him pause for a moment as he tried to think of the best way to describe his friendship with Samen. Turrin decided not to lie to the young woman and said simply, “The Endal and I are not friend anymore. The bond is now broken between us.” Turrin laughed slightly at the last part of her her question and said softly in Nari, “Samen has lot of pride. He sulk cause he not used to losing. It is a bad trait in warrior. He will die in dirt if he doesn't control emotions in battle in future.” Turrin gave her a smile when the young woman complimented him on his swordsmanship and said humbly, “My soul and my blade are guided by Myri, so your praise should be directed towards her, Syveris, but I thank you none the less for your kind words.” Turrin tried to remember the religious teaching of his father when it came to the martial arts and Myri. A true warrior of Myri gains the strength from the Goddess-Queen, and she gifts them with the dedication and focus needed for victory. In this clarity, Myri's children find the strength to gain victory after victory in battle. Turrin put the wooden sword on his shoulder and walked to Syveris. He could tell that she frustrated with her lack of skill and wanted to learn more about swordsmanship. He said with a straight face, “I am still a student in martial art myself, but I can show you the basics of swordsmanship with a talon sword.” The half-Myrian smirked at her jest and said with a laugh, “Good, you can admit. You have lot to learn about swordsmanship. If you were arrogant about your skills, I would have sent you away in a heartbeat.” Walking backwards with his golden eyes still watching her, Turrin stood in a ready position with his right foot out and his wooden talon sword pointed at the head of Syveris. The half-Myrian said simply in Nari, “I want you to attack me, so I can see your sword skills than I will start the training you.” The Endal put on a emotionless face as his golden eyes watched and waited for her first strike. He murmured a soft prayer to Myri in common, “My Goddess guide my sword to victory..”

[Syveris]

"I think excess of pride is a bad trait in anyone, just not an warrior." Syveris' smile had faltered when Turrin answered her question. The bond is now broken between us. So they had been friends, at least they had been before. The Avora wondered why their friendship had been broken, but she only commented on the last part of Turrin's answer.

When the half-Myrian laughed, Syveris raised an eyebrow, although she couldn't hold her smile back. She hadn't intended to say anything funny, it was only the truth. However, if Turrin believed her, then he could laugh all he wanted. It wasn't a mean laugh, and so, Syveris didn't mind it. The Avora watched as the other walked away from her, taking position and pointing his sword to her head.

Syveris nodded to the Endal, and trying to grip the sword. Turrin was holding his sword with just a single hand, but Syveris wasn't sure she would be able to do the same without letting the sword fall. She could grip the sword without cutting herself, but that didn't mean she knew how to hold it right. Closing her two hands around the handle, she took a strong grip, and waited until Turrin finished talking whatever he was talking. She could only see his lips moving, not being able to understand any word, so she supposed he was talking in Common.

When he finished, Syveris walked forward, raising the weapon above her head. She lowered it, with all her strength. The Avora trusted that Turrin would be able to deflect all her strikes, as she was sure that none of them were actually effective, and so, she did not mind the strength she put on the blow. Just like she thought, Turrin blocked it, so she took a step back and tried again.

Syveris kept striking, trying to hit his sides and his head. She couldn't land a single blow, and if she was in a real fight, the Avora knew she would get very frustrated. Fortunately, she was already prepared to this outcome, so she simply prepared herself to strike once more, before stopping. Her hands gripped the handled even stronger, and she stroke.

"Petch!" she exclaimed. Pain shot through her arm, and she dropped the sword as quickly as she could. Syveris realized what she had said. "I'm sorry." she added, almost instantaneously. The Avora rubbed her arms, looking at the sword on the floor. The pain was subduing, and it went away after some ticks. Syveris frowned. "Hmm... What just happened?" she mumbled. Maybe she had been gripping the sword too strongly. She wouldn't know. Shrugging, she gave Turrin a half-smile, a little embarrassed for her exclamation. "Well, I think you have a lot to teach me."

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[Turrin]

As Syveris walked forward and raised her wooden talon sword over her head, Turrin brought up his sword, so the wooden blade of the talon sword was horizontal in front of his face. Wearing a emotionless mask on his face, he waited for the Avora to strike. Turrin watched as the glass maker sprung into action with over head swing at his head. The half-Myrian could think of a half a dozen things to incapacitate her at the moment, but he wanted to teach her not humiliate her. Quickly, Turrin brought the wooden blade of his sword up to intercept the death blow to his head. The Avora's wooden sword caught the wood of his talon sword replicas and loud clunk reverberated through the Fighting Pits. When Syveris stepped backwards to prepare for another strike, Turrin lowered his wooden talon sword, so the end of the blade was now pointing up at her forehead, and he took a step backwards, so she would have to take two steps to get into striking range. The second swing came quickly as she swung her sword in a wide arc, so the wooden blade came to the side of his head. Turrin side stepped away from her swing, brought her wooden sword up, and angled the wooden blade, so his blade of the wooden sword would be in the trajectory of her weapon. The all to familiar sound of wood hitting wood echoed through the out cropping of the mountain. Turrin was surprised at the amount of strength the young woman put behind her swings. Syveris stopped again, so still holding the wooden talon sword with two hands, Turrin took a step back raising his sword over up and over his head. The half-Myrian just stared at her with his golden eyes waiting for her to attack. The third attack was similar to her second attack, so he stepped forward with a swing arcing down and across his body at her wooden talon sword. When the two wooden blades intercepted in the air, Syveris cried out in pain, dropped her wooden talon sword, and swore out loud. The Avora started to rub her arms and started to apologize for her foul language. Still holding his sword in hand, Turrin shook his head and said with a smile in Nari, “No worries about offend me. I am no delicate flower. Besides, I am sure friends swear around or at each other from time to time.” When the Avora asked what she did wrong. Turrin took a deep breath and said simply, “You hold sword to tight, Syveris.” Turrin walked over to her with his own wooden sword, rested the flat of the blade on his free arm, and opened his hand around the handle and said, “When you hold any sword, you must not hold it to tightly. When you hit sword against sword, the sword will vibrate, and if you are holding it to tightly, the vibration with go directly up you arm causing pain and discomfort.” Turrin closed his hand around the sword hilt firmly, but he didn't to it hard enough to whiten his knuckles. The large man said, “You must hold it firm enough, so you don't loose grip of sword. However, you must not hold to tight either otherwise you loose flexibly in your sword hand. Also you must not hold to loose otherwise you can throw your weapon during a swing. Loosing weapon is first thing a warrior should never do in battle.” Turrin glanced at the ground for a moment and realize that she was putting to much power in her first couple of swings. He could understand if she wanted to finish the battle quickly to come at her with such ferocity, but all she did was make herself fatigued and vulnerable to his counter attacks. Turrin looked at young woman and said in Nari, “Syveris, you were putting to much force behind initial swings. Since you were using a lot of force to attack while gripping your sword to tightly, you caused yourself to drop sword...You were working against yourself in our spar. ” Turrin waited for the young woman to ponder over his words and continued, “Talon sword is not a chopping weapon. Yes, you could sever a man's arm off easily with the weapon if he swing at him hard enough, but you risk embedding sword in opponents body if you swing too hard.” Turrin hoped he was sounding like he is lecturing her, but he knew that he wanted to teach her correctly, “It is a sword made for slashing.” Walking over to his real talon sword by his back back, he tossed the wooden sword to the ground and picked up his metal sword. Walking back to her, Turrin unsheathed his talon sword and said quietly, so only she can hear, “All talon swords are razor sharp, so you don't need to much force to cut through skin, muscle, and tendon. Also you don't always have to go for the head since you can easily slash at the legs, arms, and chest. Taking off somebodies leg is sometimes more effective in battle than decapitating your enemy. Does this make sense?”

[Syveris]

When Turrin began to explain what she was doing wrong, Syveris listened to him carefully. Don't grip it too strongly and don't grip it too lightly. The Avora weighed the sword into her hand once again, trying to figure out what would the best strength to hold it would be. Suddenly, she remembered that Virat had told her something very similar when she was starting to learn glassblowing. Back then, she had also held her tools too strongly. Maybe it was something she did frequently. Syveris knew that, in practice, sword fighting and glassworking were two completely different things, but if she could draw a comparison between them, even if it just made sense in her head, maybe she would be able to grip the sword with the right force more easily. It wouldn't hurt to try.

Watching how Turrin's hand holded the handle, Syveris closed her own once again, adjusting her fingers so her hold would be more like the Endal's. It felt weird, and she adjusted her hand, trying to find a more comfortable position. Not too strongly, but also not too lightly. She swung the sword again, and and could feel it trying to escape her hands. Gripping the handler tighter, she repeated the movement. This time, the sword stayed in her hands, and it really was easier to move it, although Syveris was sure she would've to train more after this to be able to figure out the exact strength she would need. But that would have to wait.

Focusing on Turrin once more, she listened as he talked about how she was putting too much force on the strikes. Again the strength problem. The Avora watched as he went to take his sword and came back, explaining to her why the Talon Sword was considered to be a slashing weapon and what could she do with it. The thought of decapitating someone was almost sickening, so she decided to focus on what she could do by not aiming on the head. Knowing how to defend herself with a weapon was always useful, but she wasn't planning on entering a real battle if she could avoid it.

"Yes, it makes sense." she answered the Endal, focusing on the real sword in his hand. "Less strength, slash, not chop and aim for the legs, arms and chest." Syveris repeated, making sure she had got everything correct. "I think it'll be a while before I can strike with the right force. The grip will be easier, but you don't go hitting people with the blow pipe..." the Avora trailed off, realizing that the comparison wouldn't be clear to Turrin, specially since he wasn't a glassworker. "I mean, I thought about holding the blow pipe. If you hold it too tightly, you won't have the flexibility to twist it and create the glass piece, but if you hold it too lightly, you will drop it." realizing she was changing the subject too much, Syveris shook her head. "It's not important. So, do we try again? I think I can get it right this time. Well, not right, but better."

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[Turrin]

Turrin listened to her comparison between holding her instrument for blowing glass and wielding a sword. He wasn't quite sure what she was talking about when it pertained to glassblowing, but he was glad that she was able to make a comparison to help her better understand what he was teasching her about swordsmanship. The half-Myrian could tell the woman was eager to learn this martial art, but he wanted to make sure the purpose for using a sword or any weapon. Turrin walked over and sheathed his metal talon sword and said as he turned to face her, “Syveris, before we continue, I want you to ask yourself the main purpose for using a sword? It is important because you will learn how to respect your weapon, and in turn, the weapon will respect you.” He knew that he might of sounded cryptic, but he wanted to make a point and continued, “My Inarta mother taught me how to use the talon sword, and she told me that the only true purpose of a talon sword is to kill. The reasons that you choose to kill are your own; for example, self-preservation and protecting another, but the purpose of owning a metal sword is to kill, maim, or incapacitate.” Running a hand through his head, he looked away for a few ticks, turned his golden eyes back to her, and said plainly, ”, so if you pull your sword on someone, you best be ready to either incapacitate, maim, or kill them since you opponent will show you no mercy either...It self-preservation nothing more.” After his little philosophy lecture, Turrin got into his ready position and said with a emotionless stare, “Ready.” Turrin wanted to see her reaction if he attacked her. Putting one foot forward, Turrin held his sword with one hand over his shoulder and started to side step to his left trying to keep his gaze with her own. Suddenly, Turrin took two steps forward and swung his wooden talon sword horizontally across her chest. When he was finished attacking, he quickly moved back and started to circle the young woman like she was his prey. Turrin wasn't trying to hit her. He just wanted to see how well reacts under pressure to see her defensive instincts. Turrin pointed the tip of her talon sword at the young woman's head. The half Myrian circled her for another chime than he surged forward with a down and across slash across her body and missed his first attack, but he followed through with a quick backward slash across the belly of the Avora. The Endal wasn't putting all his effort into his attacks, but he wanted to try to simulate a real battle with Syveris. He was curious to see if she would attack him on her own without being prompted to by him.

[Syveris]

Turrin's words surprised her. The reason to use a sword? Syveris could simply answer 'for defence', but when the half-Myrian kept talking, she supposed her answer wasn't good enough. He didn't want to know why she wanted to use the sword, but if she was ready to do so if there was a need. Could she kill someone else if the situation demanded? She wasn't sure. Just the thought sent a shiver through her spine. She could hunt an animal and kill it if needed, but a person?

"I have no intention of pulling my sword on someone. I've no intention of killing nor maiming anyone." that was the truth. The Avora looked at Turrin, wondering if the warrior would think of her as a coward for it. Probably. But she was tired of hurting others, of fighting. She had done that enough while she was a Yasi. Syveris wasn't so innocent to think that it didn't happen: Wind Reach executed many criminals, and she didn't mind. But to do it herself was a completely different matter. "I will do it, if it means that I'm protecting someone, but my intention of learning how to fight with a weapon is only this: protecting, either me or someone important to me." if killing was what it took to protect, then she would do it, but not under any other circumstances.

Syveris raised her own wood sword when Turrin got in position once again. She was surprised to see that his sword was raised, in a quite different way than before. Was he going to attack her? She got her answer when the half-Myrian stepped forward, swinging his sword. On instinct, she raised her arms, blocking the blow with her own sword, awkwardly. She winced at the pain, and scolded herself mentally. Hold lighter. She relaxed her hands, taking a deep breath and noticing that Turrin started to circle her.

So he was doing the attack now. Well, she could deal with it. Years of fighting had taught her how to expect a blow and to know where it was coming from. They were fighting with sword, which meant that she might not be able to stop the blow, but at least Turrin wouldn't catch her by surprise. At least that was what she hoped.

The Avora watched, focused, as he pointed his sword at her head, her eyes never leaving the weapon. He was taking a while to attack, and it made her a little nervous, but she tried to relax.

Then he brought his sword down on a slash, and Syveris jumped out of the way. It missed, but she could feel the sword's tip touching her belly on the second attack. It didn't hurt, but she was sure that, if the sword was real, she would now have a slash across her belly. Relax. If she could keep calm, she could keep fighting. Noticing that the Endal has stopped, the Avora swung her sword towards Turrin's head once again. She missed, as she knew she would, but at least the impact hadn't sent a shot of pain to her arms. Quickly taking a step back, she attacked again, aiming at the Endal's belly, mimicking his movements. However, when she followed the attack with the backslash, she aimed lower, at his thigh. If Turrin thought she was truly copying his movements, at least Syveris could try and get him by surprise.

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[Turrin]

Concentrating on his opponent, Turrin watched as she jumped back out of the way of his first attack. However, the Myrian's second attack sliced across her belly. If it was a real sword, she would have been disemboweled, but it was just a spar, so their would be not blood today. As the Endal watched her, he noticed that the young woman must have been in one type of battle or another in her lifetime because she was standing her ground against him and her defensive movement seem natural. Turrin was curious if she participated in a lot of spars in her left or got into a lot of tussles with yasi in her class. Anyhow, she was doing good for a fledgling swordsman. Turrin watched as she slashed at his head, so he ducked out of the way of wooden blade. The second slash seemed similar to his own attack on her, so with one hand, he tilted his sword handle downward, so his wooden blade was in the path of her sword. The sound of wooden clashing against wood echoed in the air. Syveris pulled back her wooden sword and slashed at his thigh. Turrin wasn't expecting for her to be aggressiveness, so he took a step back away from her and tilted his his sword handle downward in the other direction to intercept her back slash. However, he was to slow with his downward block, and she whacked him in the hip with her wooden talon sword. Yelping in pain, Turrin stumbled back from the blow. Putting up his hand for her to stop, he took a step back rubbing the side of his hip and said with a smile, “Nicely done, Syveris. I am sure that I will have a nice size welt there tomorrow morning.” Rubbing the side of hip for a chime, he looked over at Syveris and said with a smile, “You know when my mother asked me that question long time ago. My answer was much different than yours. Since I am Myrian, we were taught at a young age to win battles at all cost for our Queen-Goddess, so I told my mother that a sword was to kill to gain victory over my enemies. Keep in mind, I was age seven when I answer that question.” Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he continued with a sad smile on his face, “My mother was horrified that her son at such a young age had such little disregard for life at a young age, so she walked away in disgust and told me that I would never be great swordsman if I didn't learn how to respect life and death equally.” Turrin looked up at her with his golden eyes and said with a frown, “When I was thirteen years old, a skull of great importance to my clan honor was stolen by a thief. This thief was close to my family, so it was even more of a insult than just some random person.” Running a hand through his hair, he said with hesitation in his voice, “My father was able to convince a rival clan to help retrieve the artifact, and when we finally retrieved the skull. My father was killed by the thief, and I hunted her down and help killed her for the sake of my clan. I brought her severed head back to the Matriarch of Twisted Vine Clan and presented it to her to show my victory the traitor.” Turrin swallowed and continued with a shake in his voice, “When everyone was celebrating our victory over our enemies, I had trouble getting the look on her face out of my head when I killed her.” Turrin stared into nothingness for a moment and said simply, “When you kill someone, Syveris, you will pay a price yourself in the end, and every time your kill, it will become easier and easier, and you start to see your enemy as less as a person and more of obstacle to your own survival... Now I understand why my mother asked me those questions when I first learned how to use my talon sword.” Turrin stared at her and said simply, “So when I asked, what is a sword used for. I really asked what is it purpose? It is to kill. When you understand a tools purpose than you as the wielder can apply it to a task, and the reason you use your tool is your own choosing.” Suddenly, the Endal changed his somber mood to a more playful mood on a whim when Turrin gave her a wink and said with a laugh, “If I am boring you to death with my philosophy on swordsmanship, you could always swing your wooden sword at my head again to get me to stop! Shall we go again?” Getting back into his stance with his talon sword pointing at her head, he said with smile, “Since you got me last time, I will give you first strike this time around.”