Completed [Fighter Pit]To Spar With A Knight(Markus Andres)

[Sei Tendo]

TP: 9th of Fall, 513AV 6th bell

Sei pushed his way past the crowded streets of Syliras, and headed for the Anthonus Fighter Pit. He hummed to himself and strooled xasually through the masses. He smiled happily while turning a corner. He had left his rucksack at the apartment, and had brought only his Longsword, dagger, and his gaunlets. People often wondered why he wore mismatch gauntlets, but he replied simply with and "Don't worry about it" and continued on his way. He broke through another large crowd and turned to his left. By this time, it was busy, and if he didn't hurry the 7th bell masses would start to overload the streets. He continued his casual stroll and thought about his sparing partner. Markus Andres, was it? Markus was a full-blown Knight. They had met in the rearing stallion, and Sei had convinced him to spar. From what he could observe, Markus was formidable, and it was likely that he would lose, but Sei didn't care. He continued up the busy streets until he hit the Fighter Pit.

Ah, the smell of home.

He stepped through the pit and put his sheath across his back. He had only practiced with it, and had never used it in his life. Until today. He practiced removing the sword, seeing as Marcus hadn't arrived yet. He jabbed at the air with the longsword, and focused on maintaining it's weight for control. He slashed at the air and tried to balance his footing. Placing his left foot forward he stabbed the air in a singular motion, and turned the blade all at once. He turned a circle and flowed with the blade, swinging it down in an arc. He lost his footing for a moment and caught himself, struggled to remove the blade from the ground. He finally lifted it and stumbled a bit. He took in a deep breath and waited for the knight to appear.

[Markus Andres]

The fighters pit. In the relative short time this wonderful place had existed in Syliras, Markus had grown rather fond of it. A rugged charm to the place. Stripped down to the bare essentials for men and women beating the everliving shyke out of each other. For a young knight like Markus, such a place was outstanding. His eyes scanned the premises, first and foremost looking for the stranger he had met at the stallion, after having ended up agreeing to a spar. There had been reservations on his part, mainly because he was a knight and arranging spars with the civilian population did perhaps fall outside proper knight etiquette. But he had given his word and that superseded any etiquette. There had been something about the man, though, that he caught Markus' attention. Something inexplicable that reminded him of someone he had met years back. But he had dismissed the notion when he had left the stallion and by then, it had been too late to go back on his word. Markus being over six feet tall and weighing over a tenth of a ton, he did draw some attention. Large creatures always drew the attention of the locals. He wore his knightly armour, the bastard hung by his left hip, shield over his shoulder and onto his back. His helmet in his left hand. The season may not be summer anymore, but it was still too unpleasant to be wearing the helmet at all times. The aforementioned size though did help him to get a better overview and he soon spotted the almost equally tall to-be-sparring partner. Markus approached him and to his dismay, saw the way the man moved as he swung the sword around. Markus had trained squies and this man looked like he wasn't on par with the worth of them. The lost footing, the stumble that followed. Either it was a clever ruse to throw Markus' off guard, or he was just unfamiliar with the finer points of fighting with a sword. He shrugged and continued, the man might still surprise him. "Sei, well met." The heavily armoured man said as he approached Sei. A natural warm smile graced his face as his right hand was extended to the stranger-turned-sparring-partner for the day. "Are you ready?"

[Sei Tendo]

Sei whipped his head around, and found the knight from before looming over him. He gave the knight a once over, and observed his features. He was covered in heavy armor, and carried a helmet in one arm with a huge sword sheathed at his waist. This, to Sei, was strange however. He wasn't used to looking people in the eye without looking down a bit, and Markus was about his height if not taller. He spoke clearly and warmly, and it took Sei a moment to realize Markus had spoken. "Oh sorry! I uh.. Um.." He fumbled with his words and tried again. "Yes Ser! I'm as ready as I'll ever be Ser!" He was antsy with anticipation, and he hadn't noticed he had saluted Markus. He was anxious to start, but he was also doubting that he should start. He had conviced a knight to spar, and now he was worried he'd embarrass himself.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous Ser!" He said clearly. He picked up the sword and walked into the ring. He was hoping he'd have beginners luck, and get at least one lucky shot. If he managed to keep his balance, and the blade in his hand that is. He dug the blade into the ground, and wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt. He removed the blade from the ground and spoke. "I've never used a sword, but I plan to train until I can Ser." He said.

[Markus Andres]

The stranger had respect, that much was certain. The bountiful use of ser indicated this and Markus enjoyed the respect his station provided him. The salutation brought a grin to his lips and he was doing his best to keep down a laughter. He would feel bad for whipping this respectful man around the ring. But when the man spoke again, Markus could not hide the disappointment on his face when it was revealed that the fighter he had arranged a spar with, was not only a novice, but unfamiliar with the blade al-together. Wasn't sure if the overly respectful beginning was just to hide that Markus had just come out to face a terrible swordsman. That he, in an essence, was wasting Markus' time. Markus stood there a little, contemplating just to leave even more now. But the man had gotten into Markus' grace by at least being respectful to him. The blade had been dug into the ground, it was an excellent way to blunt the tip, which was perhaps the most useful aspect in a fight against a knight. "Please, just call me Markus. And there's no need to be nervous, I am not here to kill you. Might limp a little around the next couple of days. But, nothing permanent." Markus said, still with a tinge of disappointment in the appearance, but with obvious humour on the lips. "First advice I can give you is simple. Spar with people around your own level. If too outclassed, you will learn next to little." Markus advised as he placed his helmet by the ring's edge. He slid his hands into the holdings on the heater shield and drew the Bastard. He rotated the sword in his hand, mainly to warm his hand and arm up. If this man was a clever bastard and was a master swordsman, Markus did not want to get caught unprepared. He dropped into his usual starting stance. Left leg, and shield, leading. Right leg and Bastard behind. Ready to chop down if Sei should charge at him. "Ready?" When Sei said yes, Markus intended to test if he was a dirty liar or not. Quickly advance into his own optimal striking range with a single step forward with the right, roughly four feet away from Sei and then swing the sword out in a vicious swipe at his left arm. Since Markus had not intention of cutting the poor man in half, the blade was twisted so it was the flat part of the blade that would strike him, should it connect.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei was almost surprised when Markus charged, and he clumsily brough his sword to his side, wincing at the sound of clashing metal, and the smack against his side. His blade had softened the blow, but he still felt a slight sting. He pushed past his worries, and tried his best to bring his sword around. He lifted the sword, took a step back, and brought the longsword down toard Markus's shoulder. His movement was slow, and could easily be dodged, and by turning to a certain degree, Sei had left his stomach exposed to attacks.

He tried to shift, but by the time he noticed, it would be around the time he would've been hit already if not for his slight jerk backwards, which faultered his balance. He regained his footing, and took the offensive. He charged Markus, and brought the sword around in a controlless swing. He would've dropped the sword if he hadn't stopped his swing, slowing it down a bit to catch his footing.

"I'm terrible aren't I..." He said with a sigh.

[Markus Andres]

Markus stepped back away from the enemy fighter. Getting out of range for his easy to read attack. Markus was about to step in when Sei decided that it was time to retreat and Markus shook his head a little at the display. Actor or not, this was not something Markus wished to waste his time fighting. Almost just by avoiding the man's attack were he disrupting the man's balance. But it did not deter the man from striking at Markus again. Violently charging and swinging out with no real control behind the attack. Master actor or just a terrible swordsman. Possibly both. Markus hammered his shield into the blade, stopping the momentum dead in its tracks. Any short range jerk of Sei's wrist would do little to damage him or his armour. Markus' sword was thrust straight forward at Sei's left shoulder. Going above the meat with a fairly wide margin as he had no intention of cutting the man. Although a part of wished to punish him for needlessly challenge Markus to a fight. Thinking back on it, perhaps Markus should have vetted him better before accepting. The sword would snap down. Striking his shoulder hard with the flat part. In no subtle terms making the man realize that Markus could at any time just slide to sword sideways and cut a deep gash into his unarmoured neck. Markus just let it rest there, a reminder to the man. "Or am I just that good?" Markus half joking half serious responded to him. Markus was a bit arrogant but that did not mean that the kind smile on his lips did not remain. "You really should work on your balance. It is all over the place."

[Sei Tendo]

Sei Tendo Sei tried to scramble out of range, but he soon found it to no avail. Markus bashed his shield into Sei's sword, knocking it from his hands. He tried his best to hold onto it, but it fell to the ground. Soon after, the knights' sword was on his shoulders, causing him to break into a cold sweat. Though he seemed nice, his meaning was clear. If he had angered this man, or was in a fight, he would have lost his head immediately. He sighed heavily, and spoke with a depressing aura. "This. Is. Pathetic. I can't even swing the petching sword!" He exclaimed. He was still locked in place unsure if he should move, also not caring where he was.

OOCI'm so SORRY! I've been so busy with other threads, and I hadn't subscribed to this one! I hope you can forgive me!

[Markus Andres]

"We have all been there-" Markus said looking at the truthfully pathetic swordplay by the opponent. Markus knew he himself was a great swordsman, but anyone worth their salt could hang onto their sword from such an attack. Markus' eyes looked about and there were indeed some people watching the duo, they must be bored out of their minds from the horrible display of a fight. It being over within the first couple of seconds from a pair of knightly strokes of the sword. Markus sighed and shook his head. "Right, because you had the guts to actually challenge me, I will give you some pointers on how to wield the sword. But how about we do it a place with less of a crowd wanting me to chop your head off for a very short fight?" Markus offered patiently. Although he would rather spend his time fighting someone worthwhile or spend the time with Fallon and see if he could get her to blush and speak non-sense again. But if this guy ever drew his sword again there was probably a huge risk that he would injure himself rather than any attacker. "Not often a knight offers to give you some training, so the offer might not come again any time soon." Markus moved the blade away from Sei's neck and sheathed the blade with a single fluid motion. Silently thanking Wysar for the precision in that movement so he didn't miss the sheath and looked like a fool.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei looked around, and noticed the weird looks they were getting from the crowds. He calmed down a bit when Markus removed his blade and sheathed it. Sei trudged over to his long sword, and fiddled with it to get it in the sheath. After a few moments, he finally sheathed it correctly, and walked over to Markus. "Where do you suggest we go?" It was still upsetting to have lost so quickly, and the crowd was pushing even closer to the edge by staring.

[Markus Andres]

"Not quite sure yet. Let's just go to a training area. But let us first get out of here so other people might best each other." Markus said as he motioned for Sei to follow him out of the area. Brushing past the crowd who, to put it mildly, were a bit annoyed with the lack of a proper fight between the two combatants. Luckily knightly armour and his sheer size made sure that people noticed him and more importantly, gave him space to leave the area unprovoked. He rolled with his shoulders as he moved. The padding underneath had moved a bit as he had swung the sword and it actually annoyed him somewhat and felt itchy. He would need to get that replaced soon. When he emerged from the crowd near the exit and waited for the stranger to show up behind him. Markus had a couple of questions he wanted the stranger to answer for him before they continued. Because this was, perhaps, the last chance to pull out of his promise gracefully should Sei turn out to be a scoundrel. "Why do you want to learn how to fight? You going travelling or just childhood dream of becoming a great hero and defeat? ... Or perhaps more nefarious reasons?" The last couple of words were said in an odd mixture of light and serious tone of voice. He could not in good conscience teach someone how to fight if they planned on using it against the knights. "There are conditions however- I do not want to see you brandishing your sword outside the pit. If threatened inside the city, find us knights. Don't take the law into your own hand. If you cannot understand or follow these simple rules, I will have to refuse teaching you. Oh, and I guess it goes without saying, but never pull your sword on us knights." - Markus was basically telling him the laws of Syliras now. But he figured it would be better to say the blatantly obvious rather than Sei thinking himself special because he had received training from a knight. But perhaps Markus could recruit the man into the knights when he found out more about him.