[Flashback] Better...Stronger...Faster...(Bob)

[Xalet]

"It's not so much a joke. I was thinking about the akalak culture. The one I never experienced growing up here in Syliras. There are hunts that help one ascend into adulthood. I simply thought of my words 'violence for the sake of violence' and thought it ironic." he commented just prior to their quick exchange. Even Xalet could never be exactly sure which akalak parts were overwritten or highly influenced by human culture, and which parts were bred deep inside, unable to be removed or changed. The dark half within him was one of those parts, never disappearing completely. Though well masked and mostly dorment, it was always there and Xalet could feel it. Like flexing a muscle, but without ever experiencing relief or rest. The city of peace known as Syliras definitely had some influence, but it could never change the fact that inside of Xalet was another's desires.

As Xalet moved he could see it, the reactionary time of Bob had stalled for something, and allowed him a solid blow with his palm. The palm strike was a basic but useful attack taught to Xalet during his time with the Knights, used mainly to create distance or disorient. Due to the akalak's often significant weight and height difference over his peers, it could also be used to unbalance an opponent completely or knock them to the ground as in this instance. A grounded foe was still a foe, although they always had the option to surrender.

Having underestimated the light weight of someone Bob's size, Xalet's sword met nothing but air as it skimmed just above the area where Bob was resided, prior to his arcing travel toward the ground. Pulling his gladius back he prepared to continue seeing Bob quickly attempting to kip himself up. The opportunity to re-engage never came, as the man simply flopped back to the floor with a dull thud.

"Was it foul? I thought the hand and sword went together in combat. Do you know of different rules?" Xalet scratched his head slightly as he walked over, flipping his sword into a reverse grip and tucking it under his arm. It seemed if Bob was asking for assistance, Xalet was willing enough to provide it without any questions. Having to bend substantially at the waist, Xalet opened his hand and reach down to grip Bob's and pull him to his feet.

[Bob Barton]

Akalak culture. Was that something about the things Xalet mentioned earlier? "What culture is that? The one about balance and perfection?" Bob asked Xalet just to distract him as the akalak reached out with his hand. It might be interesting to learn more about their culture and those hunts but Xalet himself already admitted that he did not know much about them. More interesting was the idea which got into Bob's head when thinking about this perfect balance. "Lets put it to the test shall we?" he thought to himself.

If Xalet was going to pull a foul move, so can Bob. The akalak will know that Bob is not afraid to play dirty too. Lifting his body up he reached for the open hand. But as soon as Bob had both hands clasped firmly to it, he grinned. Bob released the strain on his hips which kept his body up, allowing his full body weight to go back down. At the same time he pulled and tugged at Xalet's arm. As an added bonus, Bob also trashed his legs around. Kicking them at Xalet's feet to make him lose his footing. If he was lucky those in itself would be enough to bring the akalak down with him.

"Of course if was foul. How do you like getting caught unaware? I thought this was sparring and not winning." saying the same thing whether Xalet fell or not seeing that he would have gotten the message through either way. Then huffing and panting, Bob will take this opportunity to take some much needed rest before they have to go with the swords again.

[Xalet]

"Hmm?" Xalet said the moment both hands reached up to grip his own. Shortly thereafter the full weight of Bob came yanking and thrashing downward. "Trickery!" the squire growled, attempting to keep his feet beneath him. Immediately his shoulder wrenched downward, forcing him to raise his opposite arm upward in an attempt to counter balance his body weight. That was until Bob began kicking at his feet. During an attempt to reposition his stance, Xalet found himself unable to gain a decent footing. Stumbling forward the large akalak took efforts in not stepping onto Bob beneath him, which would have been quite harmful given the combined weight of man and metal.

Between attempting to miss Bob's vital areas with his large plate covered feet, as well as dealing with the unusual take-down attempt, Xalet's large frame fell forward causing him to plant his second arm onto the ground suddenly and drop to a knee. "What...what type of battle technique is this?" questioned the purple skin before yanking his hand away.

"I...believed you were ready." was his response, just resting upon one knee with his hand reinforcing the weight of his body. "But you must put your effort in sparring, shouldn't you? This is how you progress. It is the same way with strength. If you do not go above your body's capacity, your body will have no reason to get stronger. If you only practice within your limits, you will stay as you are." he made his mental opinions out loud for Bob to hear. Xalet was naive in ways, but the philosophical rhetoric of his people still ran within his veins.

[Bob Barton]

Apparently the attack worked. Yet another successful move Bob had used to take down Xalet the Akalak. Excellent. If this keeps up then taking on bigger and stronger people would not be a dream. Bob still puffing and panting from exerting himself turned to the Akalak beside him. "Were you looking forward to another Kneecap? No I don't have a name for this one yet. Though I might just call it Xalet?" he said with a laugh. Wondering if the akalak would take it as a friendly joke or a bad compliment.

Bob put his hands on the floor and used it to push himself up. Sigh. His back hurt from suddenly falling back on the floor to bring down Xalet. It took even more energy getting up than pulling the Akalak down. Even with his minimal body weight, it was still heavy. He kept taking his arms up and smacking them on the ground over and over again to build force. Right until his hands were burning and his arms aching. One final push. Bob smacked his palms on the ground as hard as possible to go against his weight. Bringing his body up to a seating position and pushing back his arms in front of him so he won't go any further.

"Well, I was not. Did I say I was ready? Nope. So why did you think that?" Bob answered with the most straightforward answer he can think of. Then he held up an arm towards Xalet. "Now with that misunderstanding out of the way, can you help me up? No tricks up this time." Bob shook his head and gave a smile to reaffirm Xalet of his intentions.

[Xalet]

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." replied Xalet in a conflicted tone. A move named after him. Even if it was a joke, he still felt it odd that Bob named his attacks. Must have been some cultural thing. Then again, Bob didn't seem like he followed culture all that well. Bob was a human all his own, strange as the day was long. That wasn't such a bad thing though, it was what made him memorable.

"Assumption. Squires are taught to always be ready. I suppose it's just something I hadn't thought about. I haven't sparred many people who aren't squires or Knights." With a quick bout of pressure against the ground, that palm that steadied his position gave him the upward momentum to stand once again, despite the weight of his armor. That was enough for today, he had decided. Every person had their limits, and while you wanted to move past them you couldn't go too far too fast. That was a good way to get a person injured.

Reaching down he lifted Bob to his feet with minimal effort, given the man's small size and light weight. "I'll meet you back at the gates in two days time, same time of day as before. Slowly but surely you'll begin to feel a difference. Trust me." Xalet walked over, picking up the sandbag that had so recently been perforated, scrunching up the top and trying to minimize the sand loss, "Until then, stay out of trouble."

[Templar]

Xalet: Teaching: 5 – Bodybuilding: 5 – Short Sword: 4 – Tactics: 1 – Unarmed Combat: 1 Lore: Bob: Bodybuilding: 5 – Interogation: 2 – Rhetorics: 3 – Cane sword: 4 – Tactics: 1 – Unarmed ”combat”: 1 Lore: Sandy the bag – Sagallius (Basic) – Priskil (Basic) – Watchtowers Additional notes: Well done thread! Good mix of training, sparing and teaching. Xalet I went with Teaching for you rather than Rhetorics, because Xalet is a big purple teacher. – But feel free to PM me if I missed something!