debonairmonk (debonairmonk) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-07-10 19:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, drake liu, pyr min |
Makes me that much stronger, makes me work a little bit harder
Who: Drake & Pyr
What: Training!
Where: Lyndwyrm Hall
When: Last Friday (July 5)
Rating: PG
Status: Complete!
Pyr made his way to the training grounds at Lindwyrm Hall with plenty of time to spare, for once. He didn't want to be late to his meeting with Councilman Liu, the way he almost had been to his morning spar with Juliette the day before. It was fifteen minutes to six, and the grounds were lively with the voices of other Fighters' Guild members getting some exercise in while the sun was still in the sky. Pyr found evenings agreed with him better. Seeing so many people about filled him with energy, and he felt more awake as the evening progressed than he ever did in the mornings.
The downside was that, with so many people on the grounds, it wasn't easy to tell if the Councilor had already arrived, especially since Pyr had no clue what he looked like. Over the network he'd only seen his initials D.L., no pictures. Pyr had arrived in the middle of that disastrous attack on the docks the previous week and his injuries had barred him from training with the other FG members until recently. He'd heard a lot about Councilman Liu's martial ability (for example, that he was proficient with claws – one reason Pyr really wanted to train with him) but nothing about his physical appearance.
Since he was early, Pyr decided to take a walk around the grounds. Maybe he could ask one of the other FG members if they'd seen the Councilor.
He'd made sure to get there a little early - it helped that he'd had a meeting at Lyndwyrm that he'd forgotten about - and was already changed and on the grounds. It had been some time since he'd had the chance to actually do some training, and had jumped at the chance to spar with one of the newly minted berserkers. Normally, he'd avoid that class - one could only have so many broken bones - but the kid was barely into his first year, and Drake had worked with him before.
Just as he was finishing up when he saw some kid wandering around, looking like he was searching for someone. Must be Pyr, Drake thought, helping his opponent off the floor and giving him a few tips on defense which he knew would be ignored. It was a hazard of the class.
Excusing himself, he jogged across the yard and caught up with the kid. "Pyr?"
Pyr's plan to take a walk around the grounds turned out to be a good one, though it was Councilman Liu who found him, instead of the other way around. "Yes, it's me!" He bowed his head lightly as the Councilor caught up with him.
The first thing that caught Pyr's eye about Councilman's Liu appearance were his arms. They were muscled, which Pyr supposed made sense since, as a monk, his body was his weapon, but he couldn't help feeling impressed. He decided to ask Councilman Liu to give him a couple of exercises to build up his strength; with his skinny arms, even if his speed allowed him to land multiple hits, he could only deal minimal damage with each. The Councilman's training clothes looked so familiar, Pyr barely looked at them. Many of his instructors back home at the local FG in Ordalia favored similar outfits. He wondered if the Councilor was from that continent too.
"I'm new, so I don't really know if training works differently here," Pyr said. "I'm pretty fast, but my endurance is crap, so I'd like to work on my strength. If you could give me exercises to help with that, that'd be great." And, since it was the reason he'd been excited to train with Councilman Liu, he added, "I'd also like to learn to use claws."
The kid didn't look to be in bad shape, which he was grateful for. The last few squires that he'd worked with that had come from different guilds had been in varying physical shape and Drake had long ago come to the conclusion that most people thought squires were meant to fetch coffee and haul gear. But this kid looked like he could probably keep up with Drake, if Drake were to slow his pace a little.
He listened as Pyr spoke and led him to a more secluded part of the grounds. Drake could still be seen and approached if someone needed it - and, let's face it, Drake thought, when was the last time he walked around any hall without being stopped? - but it was private enough that the two of them could talk and Drake could see what the kid needed.
Pyr's assessment of his skills had Drake shifting a few things in his mind. Speedy, but lacking endurance. He could work with that. "I can give you a few pointers," he said after a moment. "If your going to transition to monk, endurance and upper body strength will be key. If you go the path of the archer, upper body and accuracy is what you'll want to focus on." He'd have to talk to Zacheus, see if he had any tips for working with someone who thought that they might want to go down that route. "Let's hold off on the claws until I can get a better feel of what you can do.
"Let's start with something simple, then," Drake said, grinning. "Five laps around the training grounds. I'll even run with you."
Pyr knew he'd have to decide which way he wanted to go sooner or later, but he hadn't made up his mind yet. In the guild back home, he'd just gone through the basic exercises the mentors gave all the squires, not really thinking about which path he wanted to take in the future. He still had another two years to go until he could transition to a class, and until arriving in Emillion, he'd thought two years was forever and he had plenty of time to decide. No one in the FG in Emillion seemed to share this view; they kept asking, and he kept replying he wasn't sure and getting surprised looks for his words, as if to say if you haven't thought about it, what have you been doing? In truth, he hadn't really expected to leave home and come to the city for training. Other squires back home had talked about how they'd master such-and-such skill when they became such-and-such class, but Pyr hadn't really seen the point in thinking that far ahead. Learning to fight was fun, and that was enough for the moment.
Now, though, he was feeling the pressure. He'd been trying to sort all his possible options into three columns: cool, maybe cool, no way. Being a Holy Knight didn't hold much interest (not that he'd be a very good Holy Knight, he thought, with his habit of sleeping through services when he was forced to attend), and a regular Knight was too plain. Monk and archer were definitely in the cool column, but after seeing one of the Dragoons around the FG, he had to admit riding a wyvern into battle was really cool too. His problem wasn't a lack of options, but the inability to choose between them.
He'd have to build up his endurance, whichever way he decided to go. He nodded when Councilman Liu told him to run laps around the grounds, and was surprised when he offered to run together. His mentors back home usually watched while the squires ran. Sometimes, they shouted at them to keep up the pace or some such ridiculous advice.
Pyr began to run his laps and, true to his word, Councilman Liu began to run with him. He would have earned Pyr's respect right then, if he hadn't already had it. Five laps wasn't too bad, and Pyr was used to running; being the pranksters they were, he and Sky often needed to escape from their furious victims. Still, the company was appreciated.
The kid wasn't slow, but if his endurance was as bad as he'd said it was, then he wasn't going to last at the pace he was currently pushing. Five laps didn't sound difficult when first evaluating it, but once Pyr had a feel for the length of each lap, he'd probably think differently. The main advantage to the monk class, Drake had always thought, was that they could run without armor. He'd tried the circuit with armor once before and had done his entire run - 25 laps - but he wasn't able to move for the next three days without his body radiating pain in protest.
Pyr's pace was comfortable for Drake, but once they started on the third lap, he watched as the kid started to flag. "Only two more," Drake said cheerfully, trying to encourage him. If push came to shove, he'd stop them after this lap. Regardless, running was going to be on Pyr's training menu without question.
They finished out all five laps and Drake patted the kid on his back. "Grab some water and then we can start." He was trying to figure out whether or not he wanted to do some weapons training or hand to hand. Bare handed seemed the best option, if only so he could figure out where in his training Pyr was, but if he hadn't committed to a class, it might not be of any help. By the time Pyr had returned, Drake had made up his mind.
"So," he started, stretching his hands over his head. "What kinds of weapons are you trained in, and where are you in plain hand to hand?" Depending on his answer, Drake would train accordingly.
After completing his first lap, it was obvious to Pyr he'd underestimated the size of the grounds. He'd thought five laps would be a breeze even for him; back home, he'd had no problem doing ten. Then again, the training grounds at the Fighters' Guild Hall back home were tiny compared to the grounds at Lindwyrm Hall. By the third lap, keeping up the pace, which had been easy at the beginning, was starting to seem like a challenge. He could still run, but it was starting to wear on him. Drake noticed. His words encouraged Pyr: only two more. He'd already done more than half of the laps. With that thought in mind, Pyr gritted his teeth and resolved to hang in there until the end of the fifth, no matter how much his body might protest.
He held out, somehow. The short break Drake offered was welcome. Pyr drank as much water as he thought he needed -- not nearly as much as he wanted to drink -- and splashed his face to wash away some of the sweat and clear his mind. He jogged back to Drake, to the displeasure of his leg muscles, but he couldn't allow his body to cool down just yet. He remembered he still hadn't finished the cookies Councilor Cassul had brought him a week ago, and the promise of double chocolate chunk goodness gave him strength.
To answer Drake's question, he said, "I'm most comfortable with knives. I can use daggers a bit, too, but I don't really like them. Hand-to-hand... I can dodge pretty well, and as for attack, I'm fast enough I can surprise my opponents. I figure if I throw enough kicks and punches fast enough, some of them will hit, even if they don't do much damage." He shrugged. He wondered what Drake would teach him. He hoped for some sweet moves he could put into practice next time he sparred with Juliette; he was pretty sure she was still pissed off about his "cheating", and Pyr had no plans to get any more broken bones ever, or at least not in the next few months.
The best way to find out just how comfortable the kid was with knives was to test it. Mind made up, Drake nodded. "Grab a set of practice knives," he instructed, walking over to the weapons rack. He grabbed a staff for himself and twirled it. Man, it had been a while since he'd used one of these. It had been a while since he'd used any weapon. Not that he felt the need to rectify that in battle, but getting a handle on weaponry if he was going to be training with the squires with any regularity was probably a good thing.
"Let's take it easy at first," he said, once Pyr had selected his weapon. "First bout ends with a blow. Get one on me, you win." He twirled the staff again and grinned. "I'll take defense for a while, but I will eventually move into offense." He really hoped the kid wasn't going to have a problem getting hit with the staff, though Drake knew that he would end up pulling his blows, anyway.
"Shall we begin?"
Pyr adjusted his grip on the practice knives and considered the situation. If the Councilman was going to limit himself to defending at first, then Pyr's best chance was to try to get a hit on him at the beginning. All he needed to win was to get one of his attacks to connect, and the bout would be over. Of course, if Councilman Liu didn't want to get hit, he wouldn't be, but Pyr was fairly sure he would provide some sort of opening to see if he could see it and take advantage of it. He would have to work for it, but it wasn't impossible.
Of course, he couldn't just launch blindly into a flurry of attacks and hope one of them hit its mark. That would be reckless in a real fight, and he was certain the Councilman would punish such a tactic. And if he went on the offensive too soon, Pyr may never get a chance to strike, and he wouldn't be able to withstand more than a few hits, even if the Councilman pulled his strength. He had to be careful.
Pyr made a quick jab at the Councilman's abdomen, which was easily blocked with the staff. He hadn't expected it to land, of course. True to his word, the Councilman didn't counterattack, and simply waited for Pyr's next move.
Pyr hid his left knife behind his back and with his right launched an attack aimed at the Councilman's chest, but it was only a diversion; the real attack was the follow-up with his left, a slash at the ribs. As he feinted right, he let his left shoulder drop slightly. The Councilman parried both hits, but Pyr didn't mind; this was only the setup. He feinted a few more times, always dropping the right shoulder before feinting left, and vice versa.
Then he launched another feint. He placed his right knife in a low guard and dropped his right shoulder as he threw a cut at the Councilman's left shoulder with his left knife and followed it up with a jab with his right, as had been his pattern, but instead of stepping out of the staff's reach right after, he aimed a lightning-quick slash at the Councilman's side with his left knife at the moment the staff moved to parry his right. It may have been a simple trick, but it had served Pyr well enough in his sparring bouts back home.
He couldn't fault the kid's motions, and it seemed that he had more real world experience than most of the squires Drake regularly trained with. It took a few exchanges before he felt comfortable enough with the rhythm to start looking for patterns. After a moment, it became apparent that Pyr was a feinter, and Drake realized that he was going to have to watch that. It was definitely a different technique, but effective if not overused. And Pyr certainly appeared to have no qualms doing the same thing over and over.
It wasn't until Pyr's last feint that Drake realized what he could be doing. Smiling, he blocked Pyr's right hand with his staff and quickly jerked up, barely getting the staff in position to block Pyr's left hand slash. "Not bad," he praised, sweeping his staff down and dragging it on the floor right under Pyr's feet. "Now let's see how well you keep up."
Pyr almost thought his trap had worked, but Drake blocked his hand at the last moment. It was a disappointment, but Pyr was determined. Councilman Liu could beat him in seconds if he fought seriously, but this was a sparring bout; there would have been no point to it if he just defeated Pyr without giving him some chance. Hearing the Councilman praise him felt good, though; maybe his plan hadn't been so bad, even if it hadn't worked. "Thank you for the compliment." He grinned. "I would have preferred a successful hit over a compliment, but there's always next time." He didn't care that he was being cocky, and he had a feeling the Councilor wouldn't mind much either, if Pyr showed him he could get the hit next time.
When the Councilor went on the offensive, though, all those thoughts went out of the window. He was fast -- not that Pyr should've been surprised -- and even though Pyr's speed was his strong point, dodging the Councilor's blows was taxing enough that attacking was out of the question. Using his left arm as a guard, he parried a blow that would have hit his collarbone, and the impact sent a shock up and down his arm. If this was the Councilor's strength when he pulled his blows, then Pyr sure as hell never wanted to face him in a real fight. He couldn't take too many blows like that, but on the bright side, he was starting to get a feel for the Councilman's rhythm, and was beginning to think about attacking again. He would not win if he only defended, so he would have to strike back sooner rather than later, before his endurance ran out. Pyr felt pretty confident he could match the Councilor's speed, at least long enough to try to get back the initiative and find his chance to land a hit and end the bout.
The bright side of sparring with someone who had recently spent time on bed rest was that they were afraid to get hit; it improved their defense without them realizing it. The bad thing was that once the encounter was forgotten, so would the up in defense. Drake admittedly wasn't the best defensive fighter, but he knew how to dodge so he didn't get hit. Didn't always work, but he hadn't ended up dead or out of commission for a while, so he figured that there was something to it.
He raised the lower end of the staff up in a sweeping motion, which Pyr blocked with his left hand. He was pretty sure that would sting, but he could deal with healing the kid afterward. Besides, it wasn't a full force hit. Unless Pyr bruised easily, it wouldn't do much except smart for a while. But there was a lesson to be learned from fighting while in pain, as well, and he wrapped the edge of his staff against the kid's hip before falling back into a defensive posture.
All right, he thought, dropping his right shoulder low and positioning his staff just a tad too far out. Break through, kid.
Pyr kept an eye out for a chance to turn the tide, but the Councilor's defense was rock-solid. There were no holes, at least none that he could see. But he was running out of juice; if he was going to land a hit, he would have to do it soon. The blows he hadn't been able to avoid were smarting, but Pyr knew if he focused on the pain, his performance would only drop. He reminded himself of the battle on the docks; the pain had been much worse then. He could withstand this much, no problem.
He was trying to think of a plan to provoke an opening, somehow, when the Councilor provided one. It wasn't a big opening, but it was there. As if the Councilor was taunting him to go in and take advantage of it. Pyr grinned. Taking advantage of the height difference, he moved to slash the Councilor's right thigh. When the Councilman twirled the staff to knock away his hand, the slight imbalance that had been present in his stance created a hole in his defense. As the staff was about to collide with Pyr's hands, he took a step to the side and turned quickly, getting past the staff's defensive wall and slashing the Councilman's side with the practice knife's blunted edge.
"Yes!" he shouted, laughing.
"Good job," Drake said, inclining his head to show that the bout was over. The kid was fast, and he had a good eye. "Not bad."
He lifted his arms, placing the staff against the back of his neck and grinned down at Pyr. "What exactly do you want to work on? Because I can give you tips, I can spar with you, and I can tell you how to train, but if you're not sure what you want, it makes it a little hard. Might also want to find an archer to train with, if you're thinking of it. Cressida is a good one." He'd have suggested Zacheus, but he knew the Ranger was busy.
Pyr nodded and considered Drake's question. "Well, I'll need upper body strength whichever way I end up going, and I don't have a lot of that." He too had thought it might do him some good to train with an archer. "I'll ask Cressida, then. And I'll let you know, when I decide."
He put his practice knives back on the rack and returned Drake's light bow. "I had fun. Please train me again sometime!" He would be sore tomorrow, but it had been absolutely worth it.