Alia watched him switch where he had positioned his sword and smiled. He had the right idea and as he retied it on and resheathed his sword and pulled it out again she nodded. Yes placement was everything but trying to tell someone the theory of placement wasn't as easy as showing the theory behind the placement. Even the placement of your hands. She had a two handed weapon so it was a little different for her. She liked fighting with a two handed weapon but the one handed ones made for an interesting show as well and she could not in game right now but outside weild what was in her hand single handedly but it always felt better in two hands but it was an extention of her body, her arm, her personality. Swift it cut down her enemies and softly as if she had some divine power but really didn't. She had to nod as he gripped the sword a little more naturally and for a second she smiled at Fred who was running widly but staying out of the way of their fun. "Well centering is so that you remain firm. Its something your learn so that you can with stand some force. Keeps you balanced. For instance. defend as you think you should against my strike" She held back some but not alot as she moved with grace and ease as she struck at him and his sword hoping he would be able to parry it she was moving slow enough she ws sure. She was teaching after all. @Valther
Valther's eyes carefully watched Alia's grip on her sword; trained, firm, confident. A poor reflection of Val's stance; the tip of his blade quivered like a balloon sword, and he frequently readjusted his grip on the black leather of the hilt as if seeking comfort. "Alright... so I guess keeping myself and my sword in a position to-" but before he could finish, Alia sprung on him, her blade whirling through the air like a tornado, and Val clumsily raised his blade to his side, forgetting to change to a more solid stance as he did. While he did manage to deflect the blow, the sound of crappy steel against crappy steel ringing crudely, the suddenness of the assault threw Val off balance and he tumbled to the earth, sitting firmly on his rump, planting his blade into the earth to anchor himself. He blew his amethyst hair from his eyes and pouted up at Alia. "Jeez, could've given me a little more warning," he groaned and hauled himself up, half-stumbling as he did so and retrieved his weapon. "I'm not used to my height remember, I'm easy to put off balance," he grumbled quietly, looking around them as if someone else might hear him complaining about his height. Breathing out heavily, he slid his right foot forward slightly and sat back on his left, holding his blade centre with Alia's torso. "Alright, come at me again, I'm ready," he encouraged her with a smirk. @Alia
Alia had a tendency to always be able to throw people off with her first attack. Even she warned them they seemed to not be able to do much. But she hadn't expected him to actually fall as badly as he did. She looked a little upset about it but he got back up she was all good and sort of giggled at his pout. "I did give you warning but remember an enemy never really will give all that much of a warning." She took a moment wait for him to regain his footing and all that. "I had totally forgotten you weren't used to your height just yet. but its the quickest way to teach anyone to center themselves." She smiled a little bit and moved into attack stance again as she was told to come at him yet again. She went at him again her motions fluid and moved to hit his sword so that she didn't actually hurt him any save of course if he stayed right where he was. She moved back after steel hit steel and looked at him hoping this time that he would stay standing. "Since I've come at you come at me next" she said as she went into her own defence stance. @Valther
Valther folded his arms, careful to keep his sword down and not gut himself and make a mess. "Still, I'm only just learning to fight, you could be a little more careful with your warnings..." he grumbled and half-pouted at Alia. "I understand enemies won't, but cut me some slack, I don't plan on getting into trouble while I'm still new to all this," he added and sighed, bringing his sword back up, holding it firmly and more confidently, the tip standing still between his eyes like the iron sights of a rifle, something he was much more familiar with. "You can be a little more mean when I can actually defend myself properly." Val chuckled and looked into Alia's eyes. At Val's provocation, Alia ripped through the air again, obviously aiming for his blade to avoid injury, and Val swept his foot out wide to take a more balanced stance while facing the point of impact and raising his weapon in a swift motion, striking upwards into the air and deflecting the blow, careful not to overbalance himself as well. Settling back into a firm stance he looked at Alia. "Don't parry me too hard please," he grumbled and struck, taking a quick step forward with his left foot and swung swiftly and lightly from his left shoulder towards Alia's blade, careful not to strike too hard either. @Alia
Alia wasn't really one to be provoked with words. She had learned to let it go through all of her training. Provocation and giving into it would actually cause problems really but she was perfectly fine with what Valther was telling her. she could be but she wasn't like that. she wasn't even gentle when teaching the kids that she did. Basics were basics and maybe she gave the little ones more warning in attacks. Regardless the older you were she just held back and taught you fast and dirty. it was just how it went. She smirked a bit as he asked her not to parry him to hard. She was positioned and so when he came at her swinging swiftly. She barely moved to parry his blow. Her katana held in reverse so it wouldn't slice through the other sword just in case. She smiled. "That was good. can you strike faster?" She said her body barely moved when she parried either though it did move so she would head back into the defensive stance. @Valther Tyrell
Val felt his blade jerk away from Alia's as she parried with the spine of her katana, metal clanging against metal, sending a jarring vibration down the length of the sword and into Valther's palm and wrist, like a small electrical shock as the weapon almost fought to leap from his grip. He grabbed his wrist firmly with his free hand to halt the strange shaking sensation. Regaining his form, he stood tall and firm once more, aligning the length of the blade with Alia's body once more. "Faster?" he asked and raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to compose himself, before stepping forward with his right foot instead, sweeping his blade up swiftly from his right hip, the edge making a course towards her waist, before angling up towards her face, where he would stop if the girl didn't manage to block in time. Faster, he told himself in his head, trying to attain the swiftness to duke his opponent out and catch them off guard. If he could catch her just this once, he'd already be on his way to being a greater swordsman. @Alia
Alia smiled when she felt the vibration of metal hitting metal and she gave a nod for when Valther actually calmed the sensation at least for himself. She had not tried to hit hard but it seemed that might have happened this time. She shrugged that off. He wasn't as bad as he intially though himself to be at least as far as she could tell. Or maybe it was that he was a quick learner which was why she wanted him to strike her faster. The faster the strikes came the more likely one of them was to be caught off guard or the more she could actually defend agains him so that he would learn more and more. The quicker lighter blades had the advantage to her own and she knew that. But she also knew how to compenstate for it. She took a step back nearly unmovable as he came at her again she struck his blade parry it right at the last second and it did off balance her a little bit but she was quick to correct herself and smiled. "Good. You are a quick learner. You can move your sword faster than i can move my own as mine is two handed and takes a bit more. Your's is only one handed. I have more experience and can compenstate but you still have the advantage. I know how to move fast with even a two handed sword but that's because of the training i have outside the game. And you are doing better at centering yourself. what i want you to do now is run at me. think speed in your whole body. strike and movement." She got ready in a defensive stance. @Valther Tyrell
Val's blade shook and buzzed from the impact once more, and he gripped the hilt with both hands to still the sword's vigorous wavering. He kept his eyes on Alia as his blade was bounced away, and noticed his strike had definitely come close to bypassing her guard, even knocking her off balance momentarily; such a large weapon would certainly take time to parry with. "I've been told I'm a quick learner multiple times," he smiled and stood in a firm stance, keeping his blade in line with Alia's body, the edge bisecting her image. "Yeah, I was trying to play off of that, I expected you to be skilled enough to parry that, but I was sort of hoping I could bypass your large weapon with speed," he admitted with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "Speed... okay then..." he sighed and stepped right back, putting a large amount of distance between them. She probably expected him to run directly at her, with a head-on attack... but that wasn't his style. His aim was to be a quick, hit-and-run, close-range sword-and-spell fighter. Maybe he'd mix it up a little. Valther bent down low and pushed off, aiming to make himself as streamlined as possible. He thought speed. Speed in his step, speed in his mind, speed in his muscles and nerves, and speed in his blade. He continued to rush forward, beginning to dart side to side like some sort of ninja. Raising his blade up to his left shoulder, he made a motion as if to swung down and slice into her shoulder once within melee range of her. Of course, he aimed to stop if he miraculously pass her guard with such a half-assed strike. But instead swinging for the shoulder, he swung the blade around into a reverse grip and crouched low, using his momentum to glide a meter or so along the grass like a skater on ice, to Alia's right and below any guard or counter attack she may have planned, and stood up behind her, aiming the tip of his blade at her back, panting heavily. "No way... could I pull that off again... in the next three weeks..." @Alia
Alia was one of those fighters that when she was teaching she would stay on the same level as the person until they showed that they could take more and more of what she could dish out in her own right. so she wondered if Val could do the same. She took a breath she knew he was still a beginner but with the speed he had shown her she was sure that as quick a learn as he was he would be able to deal with her at a more comfortable pattern for herself. She loved teaching others new things. She loved teaching sword play as it were as well. Val was not a young kid so she was certain she could move in a different direction with him. If he noticed he'd notice that her defense stance had changed only slightly. She was glad that he had been told he was quick learner it was ture. "You can." She said to him as he repeated the word speak and said okay. She watched him she was not a good fighter if she thought he was going to come at her head on. She would know better. After all she had fought others with one handed weapons before. She took a breath her mind clearing and now it was on. She wanted him increase his speed and she smiled. The whole thing made her smile. He knew what he wanted and he would get there with more practice. His blade was up at his left shoulder still she didn't move. She actually side stepped him but his glide of a meter or so along the grass got him right where her wanted to be. She smiled. The tip of his blade was aimed at her back. Of course it was in a spot that wouldn't cause fatal damage but it would cause enough and it looked like her had gotten through all his stamina as well. She moved to sheath her sword and turn careful to turn the opposite way so that she wouldn't hit his own sword her hand going out to slightly push the blade down towards the ground. "That was really good. You did have me there. Your movements are consistant with the lighter blades as well. I'm glad you had that in you but how bout you don't give everything you got into one strike. Its the follow up and the second strike that can mean life or death. even if you make the first strike fatal you always have to plan for it not being that way. Had I been dual wielding that would have been another trick of fun." She laughed a little bit. "I am certainly impressed but my suggestion practice running and sliding. practice dodging with your feet and not the blade. proper foot work can mean everything as well. Once you do that. learn to keep yourself steady even when you are being nimble and quick." she thought for a moment. "What i mean by that is keep the speed but remember what i said about centering do that as you strike." She pulled her one handed sword and eyed a scarecrow. She could help put it back together later. She walked over to the farmer and he obliged to let her practice. She moved back to val. "Here watch this." She lined herself up for a run attack like his own towards the scarscrow. She was not afraid of hurting anything but she took off with spead and grace. And in an instand like he had done she had aimed for the scarecrow hiting it with the back of her blade and letting its resistance shake her only a little before she was behind it with a strike that didn't harm it. It was more to show him what he had done and how if someone had given him resistance at any point in time it could be interesting. The second time she went after the scarecrow it literally didn't have a chance and straw flew out of its side and the farmer and those watching clapped as she blushed a little turning back to Valther and walking to him once more. "Its easier to practice with a dummy trust me. But you can see how i'm still standing without being too out of breath. to do speed you must have stamina and you must be able to hold your own when the first strike doesn't hit. What made you pick a single handed blade?" @Valther
Shutting his eyes and breathing deeply, Val raised the blade and sheathed it carefully, the hilt clicking loudly against the locket of the scabbard. He turned to face Alia as she gave him a quick, although wordy rundown of his technique, obviously impressed by the sudden change in his performance. "Yeah, I don't plan on doing something like that again... but I just wanted to see truly how fast I could go while still keeping form," he explained and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I promise I won't waste myself next time," he reassured her and grinned goofily. Val sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah... if you were dual wielding I probably would have been more careful about that. But with your stance, I knew that side would be less defensible, and you'd have to make a larger movement to parry, so I took a chance," he explained quietly, mumbling his critique more to himself. "Got it, feet, not the sword," he repeated succinctly, his focus suddenly shifting to his feet, which sat firmly against the ground in a balanced stance. "Yeah, got it. So I need to focus on both my speed and my balance, can't have one without the other or I'm fucked," he paraphrased her suggestion and laughed loudly. "Would be a nightmare if I suddenly slipped on the grass or kicked my own ankle while making a strike. By the time I do that I'd probably be dead," he sighed quietly, folding his arms thoughtfully. He watched as Alia demonstrated two different situations. The first was much like his own, the blade clattering against the back of the scarecrow harmlessly, leaving little more than a dent in the potato sack flesh of the dummy. The second was far more successful, the edge cleaving through the straw muscles and sinew of the stationary opponent, the hay spilling against the dusty earth in a heap. Valther applauded like the NPCs nearby and smiled at Alia as she approached him. "Yeah, I can see that. I need to not put everything into one strike like I did earlier," he explained, more to drill it into his own mind than to acknowledge Alia. He raised an eyebrow to Alia's question and scratched his chin. "I'm aiming to be a spellblade, so I need a free hand to be able to cast my magic, or line my blade with it, right?" he explained matter-of-factly. "And as a mage, I'll want to use relatively light armor, so I need to be able to strike quickly and get out as soon as I can," he clarified and grasped the hilt of his sword, drawing it slowly, centering the tip at the head of the scarecrow, in a thoughtful manner rather than an offensive one, focusing on the tip as if using it to align his thoughts. "I want to be able to quickly alternate between sword slashes and fireballs without having to drop my guard." @Alia
Alia was still working on not being wordy with people she didn't have to be wordy with. When she was teaching the little ones the teachers wanted you to go over everything from what was wrong to how it could be improved and then some. It was something that annoyed her but that she had been doing for so long that she couldn't actually help it. She was glad to know that Val wouldn't waste himself the next time that he tried to so something like that. If he wanted to get in and out quickly he'd have to make sure that he could move quick enough and keep form. And still hold his defense while he did everything else he wanted but she was confident he'd do good with the hit and run tactics he wanted to employ and he had magic and that could compenstate him for what little mistakes he would make. Even she still made mistakes. She gave him a nod when he said that her side would be less defensible. He was right about that. It wasn't impossible because she blocked those types of blows by dodging but he was right. That was the disadvantage of using a two handed sword. Alia nodded when he paraphased what she had said about him keeping his balance while keeping his speed. After all you lacked in either of those and things well they got messy. It was mostly because even Alia had found that she could use speed with a two handed sword but that if she wasn't balanced and centered the force of the blow would knock her on her ass and or not do the damage she wanted to do. She could do really well with speed and a two handed sword. Something that even amazed her teachers but it took alot out of you and you had to be careful. She remembered in training wasting herself more than a few times trying to be as fast with her two handed sword as she was with a rapier. It had taken her time to adjust just right and still have amazing speed behind her blows. She tired not to giggle as his use of an example. She saw him clapping like the Npc's which she made her happy that he had been watching. She would fix the dummy in a little bit. after all she had promised to help the farmer pick stuff up and get it all back to normal after she had used it. she wasn't going to go back on that. Then he told her what he was aiming to be and it made alot of sense for him to be a one handed sword weilder. She wondered though if he wouldn't do better with a little bit heavier of a sword though. That would come with time and telling someone to forge something with a little more weight to it. "Okay that makes sense. You do need something a little sturdier than a rapier. but when you get a chance to commission your own short sword perhaps as for it to have a little more weight to it. I'm sure a really good craftsman can help you out with that. Rapiers and cutlesses will be traditionally lighter." She thought for a moment. "now i'm not sure on the magic thing. but isn't a fireball traditionally a longer ranged spell. its possible that you could engulf your sword in fire. making it light things on fire as you make your strike. Though i'm not sure how hot that fire burns of it it would damage the blade. like i said not really sure on the magic stuff. but it games i've read about it seems like that shouldn't be too far fetched an idea." She smiled at him. She never thought of using magic more wanting to win and do what she could under her own power. It was just the way she was. @Valther Tyrell
Val pulled the sword back and laid the flat of the blade against his free palm, giving it a gentle jostle between his hands. "Yeah, I need something heavier. Sure, speed is good, but when you want to last for a decent length of time in close quarters you need some power behind your attacks and guard," he sighed, raising the weapon and shaking it from side to side, the blade almost seeming to wobble as he did so. "Starting weapons are so flimsy... I need something tougher, something that won't just snap like a twig if I slam it against a shield," he added quietly, beginning to mumble. "I also don't want to be using a curved sword. For my fighting style, I'll need both sides of the blade free and easy to strike with," he explained as he turned to Alia, running his fingers gently against each of the edges of his weapon. Valther nodded to Alia's question. "Yeah, they are, and that's what I want, a mix of close and long-range combat. And setting my sword on fire is one of my biggest aims, that's what I think will define me as a 'spell blade'," he explained and smiled wide. "Even freezing it would be good too. And I'm sure an RPG like this wouldn't be limited by real-world weapon physics. I'm sure I could do it, and if not maybe I can enchant a sword to let it hold magic," he continued on, his enthusiasm clear in his upright posture and confident tone. Valther turned back around to face the half-shredded scarecrow Alia had taken the edge of her weapon to and he leveled the tip of his blade with the target's head, like aiming down the iron sights of a rifle, his right foot forward. With one swift motion he lunged forward with his left foot, jerking his sword up towards his left shoulder and striking downwards, cleaving into the shoulder of the scarecrow and through the opposite hip, the hay filling the target spilling out into a pile on the left side of it. Turning with a satisfied expression, he grasped the leather sheath and raised his sword, driving the blade into the housing slowly, the cheap steel hissing against the leather and the hilt clicking against the locket. "I feel like finding something to kill, gotta test my technique. Wanna find like.. a boar or a slime or whatever the starter enemies in this game are?" he suggested with a goofy smile, pushing down on the hilt of his sword casually. @Alia
