[Continuation of Lecture Time!] She hadn't really given him as much choice as she meant to as she dragged her new training partner to her favorite spot in Brisshal. It was a clearing she'd brought many a fighter to, though just as often went to on her lonesome. It was in this particular clearing she was known to sneak around picking herbs and moss, just before setting up herself to do some kendo practice. This spot, with the trees only covering a circle around them, let the sun go down gently in their sight. She could see any part of nature's beauty here, leaving a great spiritual strength in her heart as she practiced. Letting go of her ally's hand, Solaria smiled and watched the light breeze brushing her green locks along with the white hair on the man beside her, her skirt bellowing below the wind. Taking a stance in the center of the clearing for her usual methods, she drew her sword. "@Grim, what method do you usually use anyway? Your fighting style was hard to follow to me back then...Is it a mix of things? I usually use the kendo I learned IRL to help me fight...I've been learning other methods too, but I feel like there's something more to your fighting style that I couldn't put my finger on. Do you think I'll understand if I watch you practice?" She spoke her words swiftly, but not without movement. Every time she finished a statement or question, she sliced the air with a verticle blow, as if trying to do a head smack against an invisible opponent. Each blow was equally fierce despite her regularly altered breathing from talking to the man nearby her. As she finished her questioning, she calmed her stance and took a deep breath. It had been enough to start with. Now, she wanted to watch him. "If we work together and learn from one another, we can fight off something as a team much better than we would be able otherwise."
As the nearly white haired Felis followed the green haired female, upon reaching the location of the region she relayed to him upon a few moments ago, Grim couldn't help but be taken aback by the wondrous site of the entirety of the location. He watched how Solaria drew her blade and began training, swinging it about and slashing at the air before her, much so as if she was facing against another individual, but when her question arises, he sighed gently. "It's a form I created myself, something I made for a custom class, a unique one in fact in one of the games I made while in high school." He relates to the young female, walking before her, standing next to her and then pulling his blade from its leathery sheath, using his tail to keep the scabbard close to his back while he went into the stance. Holding the blade at the angle like before, the tip near the ground but also ahead of him, both hands upon the handle while his legs were spread to provide support and his body leaning in to allow him for quick movement. He rushed forwards, thrusting his blade fiercely, then arching back only to pull the weapon upwards, then back down before jumping back and standing upright, placing the blade upon his shoulders, letting it rest there while he stared at his comrade. "Curiosity is a beautiful thing, shows you want to know more." "And knowing more means you have a drive to learn and increase your intellect." Grim stated as he gave her a wink and looked about, his feline ears flicking as he listened in on the surroundings, loving that place that Solaria brought him to, calm, peaceful and gorgeous. "Perhaps when I get enough gold, I'll put a house here, it seems rather nice." He retorted out while slowly pulling his weapon off his shoulder, stabbing the tip into the ground before him and resting his hands upon the pommel, looking back at Solaria to see her answer and see if she had anymore questions.
It was somehow always energizing when she shared her favorite spot with a new friend only to see them like it as much as she did. The feline eyeing around with enthusiasm had her grinning like an idiot, but that was a good thing wasn't it? His excitement was a great thing to see. Sharing, after all, was a form of care. As he expressed his own style and gave her a peak, the elf stared for a moment, mind still lingering on his words. "You said you created this style in a game you made...So you make games? I've never actually met a game developer. Isn't it pretty hard?" For a moment, the concept of games was now her focus...Until it wasn't anymore. "Let's see here...So in your case, you lean into the attack..." To practice was to learn, and so she tried to mimic his stance in order to understand him and his methods a bit better. Her eyes stared at the tip of her blade that seemed ready to dig into the dirt, a frown at her mouth. "I feel like if I move in this stance, I'd end up getting stuck in the mud literally. Can you show me how you attack from this angle again?"
Grim watched as Solaria began to try and mimic his stance and thrust forwards, only to fail at it, this made him chuckle and slowly walk behind her, helping her up and whispering into her ear gently while placing one hand on her arm holding her weapon. "I made the stance because it incorporates a two handed weapon, in your case, since you're using a one handed weapon." He stated, being extremely close to her, his words tickling her ear while placing his other hand against the other hand of the elven woman. Placing her hand upon her waist and using his feet to adjust her stance, making her footing perfect for being used with a Rapier, and once Grim was done he stepped back and returned to his weapon. "Try thrusting if you were using a Rapier, and slash if using a straight sword." Grims tone was very instructor like, as he had to train many players in a few of his games how to use certain stances for in his games, learning the stance was how you unlocked the weapon skills, it more immersive that instantly know them, like in many games he played. "And yes, I do make games, just small indie types, and some games with third person views." "Nothing too big or complex." The white-blonde haired male stated as he watched how Solaria tried out this stance he put her in, it was one that he also created, something one-handed players could used easily, and since he was expecting her to have trouble understand his stance as well. "Unless you're willing to fall on your face, try to not mimic my stance unless you have a great sword or lance, please." He stated with a smile, giving her a peek at his pearl white teeth, letting his feline fangs glimmer out, and once he settled down he winked at her once more, being very playful with her.
She hadn't used a two-handed weapon in ages, but realized she might want to try one upon his explanation of why the stance didn't quite work for her. He was a bit closer than she was used to when learning, but she entertained herself with it, giggling upon feeling his breath. "Rather than a developer, are you sure you're not a teacher?" Well, he could be both, perhaps. She'd have to ask more about his games later on either way out of her gamer's curiosity. "Did you create this other style, too? It's fairly more comfortable. It has some similarities to my usual kendo practice, at least..." Smiling, she attempted a strike using the new stance. It felt familiar yet foreign, and seemed to change compared to what he showed her. Slowly but surely, she began to make it her own, mixing it with her usual training style to make another stance she'd never felt her limbs create before. "If I adjust it just right, it's like I'm right at home. I like it. Must've been made by someone knowing."
Grim could only nod to her words about the stance, and to her question about being a teacher as well as a developer, his silver eyes locked onto her gems whenever she looked towards him. "Yes, I am a teacher, I had to be one since in most of my games, base stances are learned during the opening of my games." "You might be familiar with one called "Calls of Arma: Journey of Thados"?" He asked, as he sold the rights over to a company that bought it from him, he didn't really care, he knew people in the company that wouldn't ruin in game, but wouldn't completely leave it base vanilla. "Anyways, tell me cutie, you seem to catch on quickly, are you sure you haven't seen this stance before?" He stated, asking her as the way Solaria moved, incorporated Kendo into her new stance, it made him smile more as he watched the young female catch onto one of the more difficult stances to use since it used two stances together. "That could just be me thinking outside of the box here." "So, what's say you?" "Shall we dual for fun and practice?" His voice became suddenly more masculine as he quickly pulled his sword out from the ground, swinging it around his head and using his other arm to stop it in a swift manner while resting in on his free forearm. "Considering you're getting the hand of this, I want to gauge my skill against yours, no magic if you have any." "Just blade upon blade, a good ol' fashion knights dual."
"I've heard of it vaguely, but never played it." She mused, smiling. "I tend towards games that have less big companies behind them lately. Well, at least, ones that aren't as big in general. I have no idea the company behind this one..." Shaking her head a bit when she remembered seeing an advertisement for the first time after already having some time in the game, she couldn't help wonder further if there was more to TerraSphere than met the eye. But really, did it matter? The fact was, they were there. She met some great people through it, too...So all was probably well and good in the world for the moment. "I prefer to play samurai over knight, but a duel in either form is surely fun." When was the last time she'd been in a duel, anyway? It wasn't like her magic would help much in a fight, of course- and she didn't plan to channel it into her weapon. "As per your question earlier, as to why I seem used to it...I take kendo offline. That's why it comes more naturally to me to include it when I'm fighting. I know it's rarer in the states, but...It's not impossible to find a dojo for it, if you look hard enough. I mean, mine was in a small town! But yeah, don't worry. My magic is mostly for healing, not really fighting so much."
Grim was glad to hear that someone heard of his first successful RPG with online sections, and as he listened more to what the girl was stating about herself and how she knew about this stance, it became apparent she was talented. "Kendo?" "Do you also study Iaijutsu?" He asked, quoting the old term for the art of drawing the blade from the scabbard, hearing her state about being a Samurai, he realized her stance was rather incorrect, but how she modified it was interesting which mad things better. "Yeah, healing magic would make you more powerful, which is why I want to try and unlock the magic I picked out." He stated, knowing that he had no points invested into his Geomancy, and he wasn't sure how good of a magic it was, until he did more research on it, he wouldn't bother in making it stronger, perhaps he could find magic good against mages. "Anyways, let's just have fun, alright?" He asked her, going back into his stance he designed for his two handed weapon, slowly inching his way towards her, the expression on his face was calm, almost like he was a doll. He always was like this whenever he fought in games, never getting shaky, sweaty or panicked, but instead becoming emotionless, dull and rather unreadable, his eyes holding no shimmer in them, as he suddenly thrusts his blade towards her. Wanting to see what reaction would occur as it was nearly inches from her face when he jumped back slightly, using the weight to gain a few feet away from her being. "First to strike the other person three times is the winner, use the flat part of your blade or the pommel, no blade to skin."
Though she had some surprise on her face when asked about her studies, she nodded. "Only a bit. My teacher thought it was important in the beginning of my lessons to learn various techniques to start a fight, just like it was important to learn to defend." Smiling as she took her spot on their little training ground, it was nice to talk about the teacher she hadn't seen lately. "It's kind of boring training on my own. Think I can drag you to spar in Amherst sometime? I'm lacking partners." Laughing, she was actually surprised when the sword came near her face, but she was quick to draw her katana to deflect it- or at least, to try to, unaware it wasn't quite close enough to touch. When he was separated from her, she let out a sigh of relief. "I'll try to stick to the pommel then. It'd be bad if instinct took over and I went for a slice instead of a poke. So...Three points. What happens once we have a winner? Well, I guess that's better left for after."
Grim could only nod as he watched Solaria, being extra careful as she had actual training in this game, compared to him who had barely any other than his prior knowledge to his stance, he was going to be out matched by her. And considering who she dodged his swords thrust, he knew she would be though, but with the rules in place he knew he's have a better chance at surviving since she seemed to agree, and how she said she would use the pommel. He had an even better chance considering katanas have very short pommels, considering how short they were to begin with compared to a claymore, which had an even longer handle. "Alright Solaria, if I win I'll... hmmm... let me ponder on that, and if you win I'll go to this Amherst with you." He states as he rushes at her, turning his blade in a manner that the flat side would strike her first, he was aiming at her left arm, wanting to disarm her first before taking the last two strikes as his win. However if she was to somehow dodge it, he would reverse the strike, getting closer and thrusting his large spherical pommel towards her left shoulder and or using the quillion (Cross guards) blocks as a weapon as well. He knew much about the weapon he was using, seeing how he did a hell of a lot of research on every bladed weapon, blunt or even ranged weapons from the dark ages and before, going by every culture in existence.
She hadn't thought that hard about how a katana was formed, a long blade and short handle making her decision rather pathetic at best. However, it wasn't her first rodeo- she'd actually done this once before in her classes (though, to be honest, she still didn't know why). "Er, let's skip Amherst since you don't know where it is. Actually, pretend I never mentioned it so my roommate doesn't throw a fit." Laughter ensued before their little battle continued. It had surprised her when he tried to disarm her so quickly. Particularly, it was his quick movements that kept her amazed. Even if she wanted to go easy on him, however, she found it hard to avoid going into instinctual fighting. Her hand in an unusual position to wield her sword, she switched arms and turned- only to find herself getting a hit on her shoulder. "Okay, that's one to zero." She was surely impressed that he got her already- but that was just one third of what he needed. Grinning, her interest in the battle only grew. At least he had some moves- now if she worked hard enough, she might just learn and be able to use them against him.
As the short burst of energy seemed to have caught Solaria off guard for a moment, allowing Grim to land one hit, it was satisfying to have shown her how he moved, and see that his combat stance was able to make someone as experience as Solaria nervous in a way. And as he watched her movements, he knew she wasn't use to, he smiled and thought of something that might give him an advantage as he changes his stance slightly. Now his weapon upon his shoulder, facing the pommel towards Solaria, keeping the tip pointed away from her while using one hand to hold his weapon and the other at his side, in a tiger paw like fashion. "Du und ich machen ein gutes Paar, nicht?" He asked her as the text bubble popped beside his head and the words translated into two different variations of the English words, a traditional and a rough translation, both having similar ways of saying the sentence, but having slightly different meanings. "You and I make a good pair, no?" Was one of the two, it being the rough translation while the next one was the traditional. "You and I make a good couple, don't you?" And when he finished his words he rushed in for another attack, swiftly doing and over the shoulder downward slash using the flat part of the weapon, wanting to hit her shoulder once more. Knowing she might try to dodge this, and if she did, he would then use his other hand to grab at her, if he was successful he would pull her close, close to his face, almost as if he was going to kiss her and then throw her back.
His sudden song did surprise her, but she didn't lose enough focus to keep from dodging- even if, in her mind, she was rather intrigued by the translation she'd seen. Before his secondary attack, she had already gotten in closer during her dodge to react- or, so she'd thought. Unfortunately, he'd been quick to catch her again, getting far too close for her understanding considering they were in the midst of a spar. Feeling they were only inches apart, it was a lucky change that she wasn't easily phased by closeness, especially in a game where she took pride in letting herself cut loose. Though she wasn't inclined to kiss him, she did giggle to herself and whisper a reaction to his song. "A pair we do make, don't we? Names as dark as death and bright as the sun, healing and destruction collide well. A fine pair indeed." The moment she was being thrown back, she was already moving her blade- still holding the edge of the sword's handle, trying to aim the pommel wherever it might reach. Preferrably, to her, she would nicely tap his arm- but, if she wasn't careful when trying to halt her movement, she could possibly fail to keep the 'no blade' promise. Instead, however, she fell back, her free hand unthinkingly grabbing for him in hopes of keeping from hitting the ground, but ultimately failing. "Ow...Ah-" Making sure she'd let go, she sighed softly. "Sorry if I yanked too hard. I was hoping not to fall for long. Or rather, not to land."
As the battle raged onwards between the two figure, despite it being just nothing but a sparring match, Grim was more than happy to consider this to be a battle between two forces, during their near lip contact moment all Grim could do was nod to her words. But when he tossed her backwards he felt a sensation of a object striking his left arm, the one that he used to grabbed Solaria, he smiled briefly as it seemed his opponent finally landed a strike on him. "One to one now, prepare yourself, because here I come!" He roars out as he see's her fall upon her behind and seeing her grabbing hand, he reaches out to grab her arm, trying to pull her back onto her feet and possibly gain another strike upon her, he knew a chance whenever he saw one. The moment he saw her strike the ground, he winces as he was too slow to give her a hand, but once he saw her begin talking to him he sighed and gave her a hand with the left one, looking down at her while holding his claymore with his other one. "Here, take my hand." Grims words were calm, cool and collected as when he began assisting Solaria the sounds of snapping branches caught his ear which made him suddenly look around. "Quickly, somethings here." His concern now reaching a new level as the sounds increased in all directions, and what he saw were several glowing eyes looking at him and Solaria, and low growling sounds filling the air about them. "What?" The bleach blonde inquired as whenever Solaria stood up, the sight of four wolves emerged from the brush, all growling at the two dueling beings, snapping their jaws as their fur was standing on end, surrounding the two fairly quickly. "Guess training is over, Solaria, rules are off, go all out on these beasties." He stated upon suddenly going into his previous stance, the one he developed, his tail flicking behind him as his ears also began to twitch, and the excitement was making the hair on his tail puff up. His grin creeping across his face as he waited for her to get ready, and as he noted this one of the wolves rushed at him, causing him to dash forwards and strike it in the jaw with the pommel of his blade, and then quickly use a motion to have his blade slice at its leg, this made the three focus on him and begin circling him.
His need to help her was a good aid- both in her perception of him, and also for giving them a moment before the wolves arrived to take over their spar. A full fledged battle wasn't quite what she'd expected, but she wasn't likely to complain about it in the end. "With four of 'em, that leaves us with two each. I'll give you first pick, since they're not much different. But, I do have a trick or two up my sleeve that might help..." Swiftly summoning some bottles from her inventory, she held out an energy drink to him. "Not sure about you, but a good work-out leaves me drained. This should give us a boost to keep up. And...If we add some holy magic to the mix, we can get quite a stand against them." Holding a hand to her blade and then his as she chanted her favorite spell, a light shone upon the blades, a glow encompassing them. "With this, we have a little more edge. As you said, we should go all out, right?" With a grin and not much more, she took her preferred stance and called out, rushing at whichever wolves he'd opt to leave to her. To her surprise, one jumped over her, causing her to require a spinning slash she wasn't quite used to. "Tricky pests, aren't they? More nimble than they look! Keep an eye out!"
