Solo How To Swing A Sword...

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross 15 of Fall 515 Alexander stared out toward the horizon, the cool fall air tousling his chin-length brown hair. With a sigh, he brushed a lock of it away from his face and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. It would be days like these where he would just laze about and daydream, or possibly even take a small nap. Ever since he had been in Abura, he had been feeling much better. He still had trouble sleeping, but at least he was eating regularly now. He looked down at his torso, letting out a sigh. There was no doubt that he had gained a bit of weight, but he still looked as thin as a twig. He shook his head, thinking that as soon as he arrived back to Syliras, then he would work on losing some of that weight. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he pulled his longsword out of its sheath on his hip, staring at the blade that seemed to gleam in the morning sunlight. It was a rather depressing thought, the fact that he would have to leave the Order once he was proficient enough with it. He never wanted to tell Ranqor this, but the reason he was always so reluctant to make friends was because he would only end up losing them... in some form or another. The only thing he wanted to do at the moment was practice and gain as much skill as he could, before finding a way to get to Wind Reach. Blinking a few times, he gave the sword a practice swing, admiring how the blade whistled through the air with relative ease. He grinned, thinking that with how tired he was at the moment, then he would need a small exercise to get the blood flowing. After all, it had been a full week since he had last trained, so it might be helpful to regain some of that lost skill. Grasping the hilt of the longsword in both of his hands tightly, he slashed the blade through the air again, cutting down an imaginary enemy. In his mind's eye, a six foot-tall bandit charged at him from behind, and he quickly turned to deliver a powerful kick... before stumbling and falling on his side. He let out a small grunt as he fell onto his side, before quickly rolling to his feet and dusting himself off. He quickly glanced around to make sure no one saw his mistake. The last thing he needed was to be laughed at for not knowing a damned thing about unarmed combat. However, it did not stop him from trying to teach himself a few things. Taking a deep breath, he grasped his sword in both hands, before slashing it upwards across an imaginary enemy's torso. He rolled his shoulders a bit to loosen the muscles, before planting his feet in a solid stance, waiting patiently for the next "enemy" to attack.

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross Alexander blinked as a drop of sweat traveled down his forehead and into his eye, and quickly reached his arm up to wipe away the irritating stinging sensation. In all reality, that would have been a perfect time for any enemies to charge in and attack him while he was distracted… and that’s exactly what happened. The scene played out in his mind as three enemies charged at him. Even though he was able to fend off one, the other two were a completely different matter. One sword impaled him through one of his lungs, while the other one came down and cleaved his head. Alex blinked and cursed under his breath and shook his head, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. Again, this would leave enemies open to attack him at any time… but he did not dream up anymore imaginary enemies at that moment. Taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart, the young man reached his hand up and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away any sweat that had accumulated on his brow. Not only was the sweat bothering him, but his long hair was also starting to become a nuisance as well. He resolved to have it cut sometime while he was still in Abura. He rolled the shoulder of his sword arm to relax the muscles a bit, before brushing a lock of hair out of his face. Taking a deep breath, he planted his feet solid on the ground, ready to resume his “battle”. Once again, he began to set up the scene in his mind, reverting back to having one “enemy” attack at a time. One began to charge him from behind, and Alex quickly turned to strike the imaginary enemy’s face with his elbow. Of course, it did not seem all that powerful, considering that his footing was horribly off. He cursed himself again and let out a sigh. Attacking imaginary foes seemed much more difficult than attacking the sparring dummies back in Syliras…

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross “Your footing is off again, lad.” The sudden interruption did not necessarily startle Alex, but it surprised him enough to where the next swing of his sword was executed rather sloppily, and he squeezed the hilt of his weapon in utter frustration. He had thought that this would be a spot where he could train privately, away from the prying eyes of judgmental and bickering know-it-alls. Constructive criticism was something Alexander took to heart, because he knew the importance of bettering himself. However, he also found it helpful to put a stop to the advice and criticism for at least a few hours. “Hm. Figures.” Alex replied, turning to greet his patron with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and exhaustion, reaching up to rub the aching shoulder of his sword arm. “It’s too bad you don’t have your armor, or else I would give you another sparring session.” Ranqor said, grossing his arms over his chest. “Widen your stance a bit, and keep your knees bent.” Alexander sighed, before doing as he said. Keeping his footing was horrible problem he had, and he hoped to fix that before he moved back to Syliras. Taking a deep breath, he launched a few attacks, blinking in surprise as the strikes were almost perfectly executed, and how well balanced out he felt. “You see?” His patron said, circling around him a bit, eyeing him critically. “If you keep your stance widened out, it allows you to deliver more attacks without stumbling about and losing your balance. Now, try again.”

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross Thirty more minutes ticked by, and Alex was already having trouble catching his breath. His heart pounded heavily within his chest, and his arms ached to the point where it was getting increasingly difficult to continue swinging the sword. After enduring the discomfort for another five minutes, his arms dropped to his sides, and he panted heavily, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. "Congratulations. You've just been impaled three times." Ranqor snorted. "Usually you have good cardio. But now, you can barely last an hour of practice without collapsing. Either you're growing lazy, or you're stressed about something." Alex gritted his teeth and rolled his shoulders, before returning the blade to its scabbard. "Why would I be stressed?" He asked, giving a reluctant shrug. "I'm feeling perfectly fine." Ranqor suddenly let out a loud bark of laughter... the type of laugh that always made Ross jump in surprise. "Hah! If there's anything about you that I know, it's two things: You're harder to read than most squires I've ever worked with, and you're always stressed about something. Given your history, it's hard to blame you." Alex crossed his arms and looked away, simply giving a sigh in response. Ranqor's expression changed from amused to confusion, before shaking his head. "Wind Reach is a long journey from here, lad. Long and perilous. Enough so that you may never even survive it. You have friends and people who care residing closer to you than you think, who may loath the thought of seeing you leave. Life is an endless maze of difficult decisions, lad. I can only hope that you'll make the right ones that you won't regret later in life." Alex blinked and looked up at his patron in surprise. That was definitely not the response the squire had been expecting... It was always extremely vague on whether or not Ranqor supported the young man's ambitions. This, however, gave him a small idea... and it made him wonder. If he made it to Wind Reach and found his father, would his life be accomplished? Would he truly be happy? "Get yourself something to eat. It looks to me as if you've gotten skinnier since we first arrived." Ranqor said, before walking off down the path. After a few minutes he followed after, reaching a hand up to wipe his nose... and noticing with a hint of confusion the bit of blood on his hand. Yeah, I'll make the right decisions... Syliras doesn't need me anyway.

[Aladari Coolwater]

Grades Ahoy!

Name: Alexander Ross

XP Award:

• Weapon: Longsword + 4
• Acrobatics + 1
• Endurance + 3
• Unarmed Combat + 2

Lore:

• Wider Stances Give Better Balance
• Acrobatics: Recovering from a Misstep
• Ser Ranqor: Cares About My Ambitions?
• Syliras Doesn't Need Me
• Longsword: Controlling the Weight with Good Footing
• Endurance: Drops Without Constant Practice

Penalties/Rewards :

Shield Points:
+ 3 for training
+ 1 for thread with patron
Total: + 4 Shield Points

Comments :

Please be sure to edit out your request in the grading thread. If you have any questions, please PM me or the local ST.