Solo Long Odds

[Vypec]

12th of Winter, 515 A.V. Kendoka Sasaran The ring of clashing steel, the thump of spear and quarterstaff, the grunt of Akalaks grappling, these were the morning sounds. These were the familiar sounds of Riverfall. Vypec had grown to adulthood with these combat sounds, and he felt most at home in the ring with them. His sweat beaded along his brow and he ignored it. The novice warrior may take the time to indulge comfort, but the master new comfort was an illusion. An Illusion not worthy of the attention. Or at least that was what his grandfather and father always said. Vypec went through the circles he had been taught in his Grandfather's Dimakarux style as he did every morning. Though he had not graduated to a second blade yet, he was eager. The second blade would be the mark of the first true hurtle to overcome in the Dimakarux style. Like wiping sweat from the brow, indulging in daydreams of future accomplishment was a mental weight. The warrior needed to properly purge himself of these weights. Ego was heavy and cumbersome, the warrior needed to be light and agile in both mind and body. Vypec moved into the first defensive stance with his blade guarding his front, or the first sector of the prime circle. This was called the Standard Guard. He shifted his blade to the left, the morning light catching the steel and painting it a bright orange hue. The second position was called a Back Guard. From this position he was precariously able to block attacks from the side or swing into a party from the opposite direction if need be. Or he could spin and switch back into a Standard Guard facing the third sector, or rear. But this was all the theory of the Dimakarux. Vypec himself had not mastered all it had to offer, and he was really only practicing the Onmakarux, which was the beginnings of the more advanced style with a single blade. The Kendoka Sasaran was packed with Akalak and Kavran in their morning exercises and combat training. Vypec had claimed a small patch of the smooth wooden floor. The huge purple Akalak went through the motions of his training with little thought as to their mechanics. The first circle, at least with a single blade, was very familiar to him. He lunged and parried, fighting imaginary opponents all over the training room. The exertion was a welcome distraction from life. It was a kind of relaxing meditation for the Akalak. He would move through the stances and motions of the Onmakarux and his mind would slip away. It was just reaction and instinct here in the Kendoka Sasaran. Vypec thrust with the gladius, the shorter blade jabbing viciously at various locations around the first circle. His orientation and his movements shifting as the circle did. It was all wonderfully fluid and artistic to the huge warrior. He imagined an enemy approach suddenly from behind. He spun on his heel and the gladius shot a lunge behind him at the rear. His spin shifted the circle. It was important to keep the orientation of the circles and sectors in mind as he was moving. Eventually he would become so competent that the sectors and the circles would not be needed. For now, however, he was hardly skilled enough to dream of that achievement. He needed to practice the proper techniques for each sector. The idea was to maintain an offensive stance whilst also keeping up a strong defense. Most of the defense was oriented around finesse and deflecting. This was only truly achieved with the use of two gladii. He would have to make due with the slightly less formidable Onmakarux style. But Vypec felt he was lacking something this morning. The movements are al Lowell and good, but he wasn't really paying the training the attention it needed. He was simply practicing, not fighting. He hated the practice sessions where he was alone and there was no need to perform correctly. If there was no punishment is was fake. It was not as sharp and crisp as it was if the element of competition arose somewhere in there. 693 words

[Vypec]

In Riverfall, competition, especially in combat oriented activities, was not hard to find. Why, there was competition in the room with him. Vypec stood straight, taking a momentary reprieve from his training to look around the room. His gladius fell by his side and his body cleaned with sweat. The men in the Kendoka Sasaran were all mostly Akalak, with a few humans mixed in. Some fought in pairs, grunting and hissing their will to defeat the opponent who wished the same thing upon them. And yet more fought alone, silently training their skill, drilling it until it was muscle memory, like Vypec. It was to these singular combatants that Vypec turned. He tried to look for a viable sparring partner in one of them. If he could find a suitable sparring partner his workout would be elevated to that level of grind he needed to possibly make an improvement. There was no use practicing what he knew perfectly. The addition of a real person trying to hurt him would be just the edge he needed to pump himself up. How about that fellow? Vypal said in his head. The 'fellow' in question was a huge mammoth of Akalak, with a bastard sword that looked just as mean as he did. He wore his head shaved and bore many scars on his body, clearly relics of a life spent in serious combat. The man was sparring against a wooden dummy by himself, sweating with the effort. Vypal clearly meant to have them killed if he wanted Vypec to face off against that man, he was a giant even for an Akalak. Or you could keep fighting your imaginary friends. Vypec knew what his brother was doing. Antagonizing him for the sake of it. He did this when he was bored, or when he felt Vypec was embarrassing him. Today it was probably both. Vypal understood his brother very well. He pushed all the right nerves and played him like a flute, even if Vypec was more than aware of what his brother was doing. So while he hated himself for doing it, Vypec played into his brother's game. "Hey, you." Vypec hollered over to the man. A few turned and looked, including the behemoth. He looked over, his face broken into a grimace. The veins in his neck bulging from the effort it took to batter his solid wooden dummy. Upon seeing that Vypec was talking to him, the Akalak thrust his chin up as if to say 'what the petch do you want'. Vypec had a moment's hesitation where he entertained the thought of simply waving him off. 'Oh no, nothing. Just wanted to say you are doing a great job over there'. But no. He would never hear the end of it if he backed down now. He motioned him over and said "Let's spar. I need a skilled opponent to get my heart-rate up." He hoped his Tukant sounded convincing enough to belay any hesitation. At this the man's face broke into a grin. He seemed very pleased to have a sparring partner. As he lumbered over a few people had to move their duels out of his way. Vypec got the impression that he would have just muscled through them if they had not. The man cracked his neck as he reached Vypec and held out a ham of a hand to be shook. His grip was vice-like and his palms callus from what Vypec presumed were years in the Sasaran. 585 words

[Vypec]

"It's not everyday I find a sparring partner." He said, his voice pleasant and cheery, though deep. "I am Macerces Dosolvix." "Vypec Algranos." Vypec said, at least the man seemed pleasant. The man swung his mean looking sword once and twice, stretching his shoulder and arm out. "Shall we get to it?" He asked, looking impatiently at Vypec and his shorter gladius. Vypec nodded and spread his feet below him, crouching with the gladius held in front of him. It was the Low Guard of the Onmakarux style. Macerces smiled and held his sword aloft. "I recognize your stance! You are training for Dimakarux, yes? How close are you to achieving your second blade?" He asked pleasantly, starting to circle Vypec. The fact that the huge warrior instantly recognized his stance unsettled Vypec. Macerces had clearly spent a lot of time in the Sasaran, fighting with all kinds of opponents. Vypec stepped smoothly into the circling motion as well. Macerces made a hard stroke downward and the combat began. Steel clashed against steel as the bastard sword came down hard on his gladius. Vypec would have ideally deflected the blow and Moved around the bigger man, but the strength behind it made deflection impossible. Instead Vypec was forced to use both arms to block the huge strike with his gladius. The blades struggled against each other for a moment before Macerces pulled away and reset. Vypec felt his fingers aching. The gladius seemed a feebly small defense against this huge warrior. He seemed to know exactly how to counter the Onmakarux style as Vypec made a few side strikes and jabs. Every attack he made was met with a vicious deflection and a quick answering press. The bastard sword seemed to move with a life of its own. Vypec was constantly forced into the defensive as Macerces felt out his style more and more. He had to find a weakness to the huge blade, but he could barely think with all the motion. Macerces barely gave him a moment's respite between assaults. Vypec forced his mind to watch the Akalak critically while they fought. Steel clashed and ground together as gladius met sword over and over again. Each blow made his arm ache more and each perry seemed more desperate. Vypec was losing and it was easy for Macerces to move in and gain ground. But the man needed momentum to swing his blade. Thrusts seemed to be wholly out of his style. Vypec though he could capitalize on that. With the next downward strike, Vypec side-stepped towards his sword arm. He let the bastard sword slip past his torso harmlessly. Vypec brought his blade up to slice across the outside of Macerces' arm. The man quickly moved away, turning the sword in his hand to face Vypec as he did so. He immediately returned to his assault. But for an instant there, Vypec had him on the defensive. It was a small, but important victory. Macerces seemed to understand too. He had a wide grin across his lips as he made sure not to allow himself to be taken in like that again. "You would have had me if you were Dimakarux. I think you will be quite deadly, someday." The last word was added with a rueful bark of laughter. Despite his vicious onslaught during this match, Vypec found himself quite liking this Macerces Dosolvix. "Yes I can see I have been really giving you a workout." Vypec shot back between heavy breaths. 585 words

[Vypec]

"I have faced practiced Dimakarux Warriors before, many times. You have the potential, you just need the practice." Macerces said, lunging again with that huge sword of his. Vypec stepped in, knowing that the inner circle of the Dimakarux was where to counter a bigger opponent. But he had but one blade. As he stepped inwards, Vypec slid his gladius past Macerces's arm, towards the neck. His lightning fast thrust was offset by an elbow to the face. Macerces hauled Vypec around and threw him bodily away from him. "You will have to do better than that, young warrior." He roared, really enjoying himself for the first time. Vypec exhaled half in exhaustion and half in humor. The older warrior was really putting him through his paces. Vypec decided to press the offensive one last time. He lunged forward, continuing with his thrusts. But he fainted the initial thrust and forced the other to attempt a perry. As the heavy bastard sword swung into place for the perry, Vypec pulled back and did a counter thrust, curving in from the left forward sector of the Dimakarux circle. The move was called the Feint, left thrust. And Macerces knew it. He did, however, seem surprised to see it from Vypec. Macerces spun back, turning his blade to push the deadly point of the gladius downwards. Then he reversed his grip seamlessly and brought the edge of his bastard sword to within an inch of Vypec's neck. The younger Akalak stumbled down onto the floor in his attempt to move away from the blade. "Yield then." He said, waving a hand and grinning sheepishly. Macerces set his sword on his shoulder and held out a hand to help him up. Vypec took it and was brought back to his feet. "You did well, young Algranos." Macerces said seriously. Vypec thought he was making attempt to spare the younger Akalak some dignity. "I was bested soundly. But thank you." Vypec said, not wanting to seem weak. "Don't be so dramatic. I've been doing this since before you were born!" Macerces thumped him on the shoulder. His words seemed to lift Vypec. "Pain and failure bring wisdom, Algranos. You won't fall for that move again, I'd wager. The Dimakarux is a strong school of combat if mastered. You will get there." With that Macerces Dosolvix strode out of the Sasaran with his bastard sword still laying against his shoulder. Vypec thought that though he was exhausted from the bout, he had found some reserve to keep training. He resumed his Onmakarux circle movements to the sounds of his peers grunting and huffing with effort. 440 words

[Theo Popcampio]

XP Award!

Name:Vypec
XP Award:

• Gladius 3
• Socialization 3
• Observation 4
• Endurance 2
• Acrobatics 1

Lore:

• Onmakarux guards
• Vypec: Needs punishment in practice
• Macerces Dosolvix: Giant Akalak
• Macerces Dosolvix: Elder warrior

Notes: Nice little thread. Good to see someone with enough humility to give their character a beating. Please mark this thread as graded in the request thread. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Or, God forbid, I missed anything!

Also, please excuse my lack of template. It's on the way