Completed [Training Grounds] Deadly Dance of None-Death(Letixia)

[Kreig Messer]

38th of Spring. 14th Bell 17th chime

Kreig raised the blunt blade over his head before bringing it down for an overhead strike, the edge striking the shoulder of the dummy as it sent shivers through his arms, causing him to nearly drop it. He rather liked those shivers, it meant he was applying force and force was good. He then followed up with an upward slash that resulted in a similar application of force, however he ended up dropping that one as soon as it struck the dummy and pommel struck his , causing him to jump up and down in pain as his hands grasped his pained foot.

After the passing of a few more chimes, Kreig was still at it but he was becoming quite bored. There was only so much joy to be had when you are striking a dummy that doesn’t fight back, and it only refines the moves one’s taught without actual knowledge of when to use it and how effective it would be against certain foes. He stopped now, the tip of the blade stabbing the earth as he looked around, dressed in his own equipment of armor, it wasn’t full plate, but it offered enough protection.

‘ Who would be my foe for the day?
x

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti raised her longsword, slowly, up and at an angle, to parry away an equally slow approaching chop at her right shoulder. She then stepped forward with her left leg, her right leg following short after, and attempted to shove her patron away. But he was stronger than her and stood firm, then pushed her back. The slow motion of the fight might look confusing to some, but it was something Ser Ranqor liked to instill in his squires. It gave them time to think as they attacked, and yet even so, they could still discern that they were still the inferior fighter. He stood up straight, indicating that this particular exercise was on hold. She stopped and bowed her head to him, "Thank you Ser." He smiled at her, "You're starting to make better choices in these exercises, meaning you're indeed improving your mind as well as your sword. However, you only get the most out of this exercise from an opponent of roughly equal skill. He looked around the training area, and spotted a lonely squire, training by himself. He shouted, Leti immediately recognizing him from her stint at the Mithryn Outpost. "You there, squire. Come here." Leti stood at attention for her patron, her shield held at proper height, her sword pointed at the ground. Her patron continued, ignoring if the squire had actually made his way over to them or not. "Hurry up, we don't have all day. I want you to do a single attack with your weapon against me, and you best be trying to actually injure me. Start now." Leti knew what he was doing, determining the squire's skill level in order to determine if he was equal enough to perform in the exercise with her. Unless the gods truly smiled upon this squire, she knew Ser Ranqor would repel whatever attack was unleashed upon him.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig turned to look at the Patron who called for him, he was nevouse suddenly, but an order was an order as he lowered his sword and shield and approached the Patron. He perked up a bit as he saw a familiar face, it was that Leti girl whom he'd met during the stint at the Outpost earlier in spring. She was a hard working lass, he knew that much about her and was a fine training partner. He nodded to the patron as he ordered him to attack, Raising his sword over his head and pointed at the Patron whilst his shield was raised forward "Yes Ser!" Kreig responded enthusiastically, he was worried howeve as he appeoached, Kreig was far more used to holding his longsword with both hands rather than one, and his shield arm was just as inexperianced.

Still, he had to do as told and to the best of his abilities as he raised his blade up in the air for an overhead strike, trying to give it the maximus force and speed that a one-handed strike could allow.'Here goes nothing'

x

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti watched in silence as Kreig attacked her patron. Her eyes then grew wide at the events that unfolded. Ser Ranqor kicked his right leg back, and spun on a pivot so that his body was now sideways to Kreig. Seemingly without effort, she saw his own sword rise above Kreigs, and a quick chop slammed down on the back of his blade. The force from the blow had knocked the blade from Kreig's hand and slammed it into the ground below. Her eyes were to busy watching that to see Ser Ranqor duck down low, place his shoulder into his shield and explode up and outward into Kreig's torso. Immediately after the counter attack, he sheathed his weapon and stood up straight. She knew that his analysis would come next. In a simple quiet voice, "You're not used to using your blade with just one hand are you? Your grip was too relaxed. You also open your chest too much when you swing, a problem that wouldn't occur often in a two handed style. You also don't maintain your shield in a defensive position when you attack, exposing you to counter attacks. On the plus side, your swing was quite strong and controlled, your body gave away little about your intentions, and for an opening attack it was a well picked choice." He then turned to speak to them both, "You two will face each other in combat. But I want you to go extra slow in your attacks. Feel the flow of combat, think about what is going on around you. Combat is as much of the mind as it is of the body. And don't get overly complicated, you still must master the basics. Attack and defend, then counter attack, rinse, repeat. Control your breathing, your footwork, focus on everything. These things need to become second nature. If you two were to do this exercise every day, you would eventually get faster and better at it without even realizing it. But for now, slow and flowing is the name of the game. Now face each other and ready your yourselves." "Yes Ser." Leti said a quick prayer to Wysar, Yahal, and Sylir, to keep their training honorable, to gain the most from it, and to keep their minds pure. She slipped into her stance, left foot forward her right back a bit. She kept her weight balanced, her shoulders in line with her feet. Her shield was in her left arm, held to cover from chest to waist. Her sword was held at an upward angle, her grip firm, but not too tight. She nodded at Kreig letting her know that she was ready for him.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig sighed as he quickly found himself on the ground, the patron knew his craft well although if Kreig were fighting is own way....thing's would have been tremoundously different, he saw the Patron's attack a mile away but using a style he had no experiance in limited his effectiveness greately. Slowly he stood to his knees, then pushed down against the rim of his shield to raise himself up and picked up the sheild at the same time and moved to retrieve his longsword. All the while his ears heard the Patron's quite detailed analysis and deduction of Kreig's form and experiance, it was all quite impressive. Kreig stood next to Letixia, nodding to her in greeting and giving her a sheepish grin.

As the patron turned to look at them, Kreig stood to attention and further listened to his words....although he winced at the fact that he ordered them to fight 'slow'. How does one fight slow?' Kreig was no stranger to teaching, a novice at it but not a stranger nonetheless, so he knew how to hold back and let his students go at him to the fullest of their capabilities and direct their attacks to....but slow was not quite in his repertoire, his own patron preferring high-speed spars to keep the Brawler interested.

Still....orders are orders "Yes Ser" Kreig responded and then turned towards Letixia, stepping back a few steps to allow some space for preparation. He tightened his grip on his longsword, raising the blade over his head once more and pointed at hs foe, his shield raised before him like a wall although perhaps one from a makeshift cottage rather than a fortress. His left leg was crouched forward while his right was extended slightly to the back.

With the confirmation of her readiness given to him by her nodding, Kreig moved forward and launched his shield in a slamming motion, its speed, like the Patron asked of them, was slower than normal and would soon be followed by a thrust. If she were to block that or parry it then he would do his best to block her next blow or dodge it and counter with an upward swing, however the awkwardness of it all nagged at his mind and thus he felt like a fish out of water....

' Best give it more than my all then'

x

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti's eyes studied her opponent fiercely, and recalled everything her patron had said about him. She understood that his swordplay was strong, likely strong than hers, but his shield play much less so. The only problem was, she didn't know how to use this information to her advantage. Leti thought his combat stance quite odd, with his sword so high and above his head, pointing at her, much like the scorpions her dad told her stories about. Unlike a scorpion, however, he charged at her with his shield first. She braced her shield arm, raising it to match his own shield's height. She bent down at the knees a bit more, in order to absorb the shock of the attack, and recoil it back at him. She could already see in Kreig's eyes that his mind was too busy thinking. During this exercise, she often found herself in that exact same situation. She could feel the strength of his body behind the charge, and she rebuked it back with her own, a dull bong resonating from their shields. The scorpion's stinger thrust forward, and Leti turned her own blade toward the left of her body, and pushed up. This exposed them both on their sword sides, but being a one versus one fight, didn't matter much. Leti pulled her arm in, ready to counterattack when a voice rang out. "Stop! Hold your positions." Ser Ranqor approached the pair, starting with Letixia. "You did well to match his charge with your shield, and to use your legs to support you. Your parry was sloppy, however. You extended out your elbow, rather than keeping it within. If your elbow had been beneath your blade as you pushed upward, it would help protect your exposed torso, as well as give more power to your upswing." He then turned to Kreig, "You have quite the interesting style of holding your sword. I don't personally know this style, but it has its highs and lows, so I will not comment on that. Starting a series of an attack with a shield charge is often dangerous, especially against a stationary opponent. It opens yourself up to being thrown off balance either with side step or a stronger, braced rebound. Your opponent did the latter, and used your own strength, with her own, against you. Your grip has improved, and the attack of choice, while slightly predictable from your style, was well executed. Remember, the both of you, feel the flow of the combat. You need to think, but not over think, for as in all things, balance is key." "Continue." Letixia resumed pulling her sword arm in, then thrust it back out toward the center of Kreig's torso. While his side was exposed, he would know this, so she went for lesser risk, lesser reward target. Even if this were true combat, she couldn't manage a life threatening blow with such an attack. But she did hope to possibly cause Kreig to make a mistake in his defense.

[Kreig Messer]

In truth, kreig's style of holding the blade was a two-handed adapted to one handed use, he really didn't think much of it, just use what he knew to try and make the best of it. He also found the Patron's words interesting, with each criticism came a praise and vice versa. It seemed that he was trying to both keep his student's spirits up whilst also keeping them down to earth, pointing out what they've done wrong and right all the while so they could learn from ' Have to admit, it feels quite effective'

Kreig also had to learn not only from the words directed at him, but the ones directed towards Letixia, for all he knew he could be making the same mistakes as her and at the same time he wanted to take what he could use from this to improve himself further ' All give and take, after all' And then came the words to resume from the Patron's lips. Leti had pulled her sword arm back and then thrust it. His eyes were focused on her form, each little action would tell him would tell him of her immediate plans and were she aimed to strike and so, barely even, he brought the rim of his shield and pushed her blade away, closing in with a thrust aimed at her foot and follow up with a light bash of his shield.

x

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti let her sword hand get repelled off to her right by Kreig's shield. She let it extended to the limit of her reach, then redirected it back as a downward slash to his shield hand thigh. But in order to pull this off, she had to shift more weight to her shield leg, causing her balance to shift abruptly forward. Which is why, when Kreig had sent a stab toward her foot, she was in a poor position, and panicked. Her instinct brought her shield down atop the attacking sword, looking to pin it to the ground before it struck. But this motion took a lot of the power out of her own sword's attack. She'd effectively screwed up her entire rhythm. The only saving grace was that her attack had twisted her torso so that her upper sword arm would absorb the shield attack from Kreig. But it was certainly a trade she had lost. "Stop. Hold your positions." He approached Letixia first, disappointment evident in his face. "You over committed to a nonlethal attack. I'm sure you can tell you put yourself in a terrible predicament that would only let you get away uninjured on sheer luck. The only silver lining in this was your shield maneuver against his sword." He then turned to Kreig, "You picked a very strong series of attacks, and executed them well, with the exception of your stab at her foot. I would never recommend such an attack for several reasons. The most important is how she reacted. If she were faster, stronger, she would've snapped your sword against the ground with her shield. Secondly, hitting a small target like the foot, at such an angle, is a level of difficulty out of reach by most swordsmen. A simple readjustment of the footwork would render the attack useless, and open you up to strong counterattacks. However, you've won this first trade. Reset your positions, and start again." "Yes Ser. Leti was disappointed in herself. The only thing she'd done right, she'd done out of panic and instinct. That was not how a Knight would fight. She needed to better herself, and she needed to do it now. She bowed her head to Kreig, then slipped into her stance once more. Her feet were shoulder's width apart, the shield leg a bit more forward, and her sword leg a bit back. Her shield held high, her sword at an angle that pointed up and away from her body. She would wait until Kreig was in position, for he was a more aggressive attacker, but how would he do on defense. She did a quick series of steps forward, and started with a downward slash angled at his shield side collarbone. She then immediately shifted her weight, to brace herself onto her back leg, waiting for him to counterstrike. If he swung at her with his sword, she would punch at it with her shield, with the hopes of either dislodging the sword, or at least numbing the sword arm.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig had indeed won the first bout, though he couldn't help but feel sheepish as Leti's Patron, whilst mostly praised, admonished him slightly and went into detail as to why he shouldn't aim to stab a target he had little hope of hitting. Still, he listened even as he nervously raised a brow and scratched the back of his head, letting his shield rest against his own form. After he had stepped away, Kreig carried his shield once more and took battle position once the Patron announced for them to resume.

This time Kreig himself was on the defense as Leti came at him with a downward sword strike. Kreig could do no more but block as blow after blow struck his shield, he tried to deflect, he did but his own inexperience with the shield showed as he messed up the timing and the rim of the sword hardly even touched the blade. All he could do now was retaliate with his sword and he did so by retaliating with an upward sword strike, however he found it awkward as in his mind he was doing a two-handed strike with just about the same force. However, he soon found the blade dropping from his grip forcefully as Leti struck back with a punch of her shield....this time, he had lost....

x

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti's slow downward chop, while feeling strange in her grip, apparently worked against her fellow squire, forcing him to block. If they had been going at proper speed, instead of this slow motion practice, she'd likely have lost her grip on her blade, or at least jarred her arm a bit. She'd decided to repeat the attack, trying to get a more comfortable grip. She rotated her fingers a bit, and gripped a bit looser, and her assault continued. The slowness of their combat truly did let her adjust as she went. However, in her pride at being successful in her assault, she failed to notice Kreig's upward swing right away. It struck her armor just beneath her elbow, effectively stopping her attack. But the clang that rang in her ears had come from him dropping his sword. She punched forward with her shield, to put distance between him and his weapon. "Stop. Relax." "You both have several strengths and weaknesses in your styles. Letixia, you're more comfortable in defensive posturing, but lack the reflexes and and planning to be aggressive. Kreig, you're quite the opposite, you have smart attacks, and your reflexes are quite sound, but when you get behind your shield, you crumble. You both need to work on these weakened areas, for it is better to be balanced than to be mastered in simply one area. I'd recommend you two sparring more with each other in the future. But you have one more practice to do before you're dismissed." Ser Ranqor stepped back, "This time, both of you have the same opponent. Me." He drew his sword and readied his shield. He slipped into a readied stance, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Remember, slow, fight smart, and feel the flow of the fight. Now come." Leti knew he'd want her to go full offensive against him, especially after the advice he'd just given her. She gulped down her nervousness, and took up her posture. She bowed her head to Ser Ranqor, then started forward, beginning with a crossing upward stab. She found it awkward to cross her body in such an attack, but she was trying to get past that. Ser Ranqor countered easily with a simple punch of his shield, pinning her sword between the two masses of metal, effectively stopping her attack. He stepped backward, waiting for the pair to continue their assault.