He ain't that Big (Solo - Job)

[Lyner]

Day 51, Winter 511 AV Afternoon Liliana was minding her own business, carving her way through a freshly grilled steak and was happily devouring it when her brother came bursting through the door of their dining chamber with her tall, brusque looking body guard right behind him. The man was like a giant, seven feet of pure muscle. His weapon was similar to Lyner's own, only bigger. A flamberge with a undulating cutting edge. This was the first time Lyner had met the boy and his ward, but he'd been warned about the two by the other household staff. The boy was a brat and the man had manners but they were inseparable, this man was the only one the boy seemed to respect aside from his father and elder brother. The young boy started eating but half-way into his meal he looked up at Lyner who was keeping his eyes down on the floor. "Your bodyguard isn't that big is he?" Lyner wanted to glare at the boy but he couldn't, he was Liliana's slightly older brother, the second, spoiled brat who was every bit the trouble maker Liliana was but deprived of most of her kindness. He wasn't evil, just downright annoying and overbearing when he wanted to be. "He's probably better than your body guard." Liliana blurted out in Lyner's defense much to his discomfort. He didn't want this discussion to go where he thought it was going to go. "Oh yeah?" the boy waved his fork and the juicy piece of meat hanging on it splattered sauce all over the table. "How much are you willing to be about that eh?" Liliana continued to gaze into her brother's eyes with a fierce fire burning within those usually mischievous orbs. "An eight of my allowance for two weeks." Her brother laughed and popped the piece of meat into his lips, chewing crassly and then swallowed it without a hint of dignity. "Not confident enough are you?" "A fourth." she smiled mockingly, egging her sibling to drive up the stakes with her eyes. "Now what will I do with that, maybe I can go to the market and buy myself a new sword." "Half." he finally declared firmly. They must have had a hefty allowance, the face of boy's bodyguard seemed to light up. Lyner was not going to enjoy how this was going to turn out, the man must have been good or he wouldn't have been hired for this. The Syliran was certain of it.

[Lyner]

Lyner didn't want to get involved in this, but the pressure from the two children of the house was bearing down on him. The other man wasn't against it either, Liliana's sibling had promised the Zeltivan half the winnings and it was a tempting enough offer that the man was eager to put his blade to the test. The Syliran wasn't as eager to fight as the other man, but Lyner didn't like the insults tossed his way when he voiced out his desire to avoid confrontation. And now here they were, in the middle of a vacant place in the city that was away from the eyes of many passerby who would interrupt the duel that would commence. Lyner only hoped the other man wasn't going to turn this fight into something more than that. He sighed, taking up his shield in his left hand and the steel sparring sword in the other. The opponent didn't seem to have, or did not want to use a sparring weapon. He favored the undulating flame-like blade of his large two-handed sword and assumed a high guard. The bearded fellow's grin told Lyner that he was being underestimated. "First blood drawn wins. Begin." Liliana's sibling brought his hands down and stepped away from the center of the empty place where the two swordsmen would fight. The Zeltivan was first to attack with an overhand smash and Lyner positioned his shield to defend, angling it so that it slanted towards his left. In his right, he had his long sword resting upon the ground so he could swiftly bring it up. Lyner did, but the Zeltivan saw the glint of steel rising and pinned it earthward. In a skilled move, he slid it up, towards Lyner with no restrained and Liliana's gasp was replaced with a cheer when the Syliran lifted his shield in time to halt the flamberge completely. Lyner disengaged and the man did the same, they were both two meters from each other and the Zeltivan's eyes shone with a brief recognition of Lyner's skill. In that brief exchange, he'd learned that he was facing someone competent, the Zeltivan understood that Lyner was no simple muscle-bound fool. They quickly reassessed each other, finding a worthy opponent in each other, but the Zeltivan had money riding on this and he adjusted his stance and grip to a more cautious form. Lyner, who had been using such a stance from the get go did not bother to change his form. He simply reinforced his will and concentration. He would fight this Zeltivan as if the bearded man were a seasoned Knight of Sylir. The Zeltivan opened the battle again, his slash fast but compact. There were no wasteful movements in this offensive barrage that was meant to displace Lyner's shield but the Syliran would not stand for it. He weathered five strikes before pushing with the shield in time with the sixth. The vibration caught the man off guard and he retreated. Lyner was quick to react, pursuing the retreating foe with a thrust. He was fast however, despite his size he was able to quickly dip the sword low in the fool's guard and then swung it up, diagonally to force Lyner off his mark. Expecting retalliation Lyner turned on his heel, bringing the shield forward in time to absorb a smashing blow. That was unexpected, so much that Lyner's hold on his shield faltered even as he retreated. The Zeltivan smiled, but Liliana's protector would not be so easily broken. He may have not had a wealth of experience with the shield, but he was familiar with the two-handed sword style he'd used for the three years in his captivity as a pit fighter.

[Lyner]

Lyner walked carefully, he kept his feet from crossing and his eyes on the Zeltivan's flamberg and his legs. The Syliran did not want to get caught unaware, he did not want to become the victim of a momentary lapse of confidence. He fought with the mindset of an underdog and truly, the bigger opponent had the advantage in strength... his technique however was not as polished as Lyner who hadn't relied on his physique from the start. The Syliran had developed his style while he was a lanky boy, now that he had a well toned body he had more to bring to the table and it was his skill combined with the hard earned body that was allowing him to keep up with this great-sword wielder. They waited for each other again, but this time Lyner sprung forward to throw off the man's confidence. The man was used to setting the pace and the assault left him a fraction unbalanced. His hasty defense wasn't solid and Lyner was able to push him with a two-handed grip back. Just when Lyner thought he was about to succeed the man found his feet again and with a powerful roar pushed back. The Syliran did not want to take the adrenaline fueled counter attack and jumped back and started to defending. With his sword pointing forward he ran, luring the anger-charged attacker to take big wide steps and swing his weapon so that he would tire. Lyner himself had to parry frantically, mobing his longsword to intercept the flame-blade in its course and redirect it whenever it got too close for comfort. The Zeltivan saw through the ruse however and quickly recovered, taking an orthodox stance with his sword low. Lyner was going to have a harder time now, the man thought rationally... but still, the Zeltivan's momentary burst was not without its price. His breathing had become slightly quickened in comparison to Lyner's relative stillness. Lyner pretended to charge, longsword swinging out diagonally but he quickly retreated as soon as he saw the man raise his sword from the fool's guard. Then he struck the weapon, trying to attack the man's grip instead of the man himself. This was one strategy he'd learned to disarm opponents, if it would work against this man who knew his stuff was a different story entirely.

[Lyner]

The battle was starting to slow down, into a controlled pace. Lyner liked fighting that way, most of the time, but when he had an advantage against his opponent he didn't want to allow the other to recover. Thus Lyner reinforced his assault, he opened the melee with a shallow thrust to force a reaction from the Zeltivan. A backstep was was he was dealt, Lyner drew back his blade spinning on one heel to swing out with a pump of his rear foot to smash against the man's guard. The power of the blow caused a loud clang of steel to ring and echo around them but Lyner had prepared himself for that and he was already retreating in light of the counter-thrust of his adversary. Now he'd damaged his opponent's mental state, Lyner drew back, allowing himself to recover from those two attacks instead of compounding the attacks. He picked up his shield again, raising it protectively over his shoulder. With the sheet of steel protecting him, Lyner cautiously moved forward to the Zeltivan and thrust forward, his blade snaking from behind the shield. The opponent aware of the dangerous tongues of steel sniping away from behind the barrier retreatedand when Lyner stopped attacking he changed strategy back to overpowering Lyner. But the Syliran was counting on that and he only waited for the man to raise his sword in a powerful blow before dashing in. The shield crashed into the man's chest, knocking away wind but he was able to catch Lyner with a hook that came from his off-hand and the Syliran staggered. Both fighters had taken damage and there were observers watching their fight now. The sound of steel dancing was not one that bode niceties and they had bad attention on them now. Liliana was the first to suggest the fight to end and even if her brother wanted to see this through, the risks involved in becoming grounded outweighed the profit to be gained here. He grumpily ordered his bodyguard to cease the fight and Lyner was only too happy to end the spar. "Nothing to see here, just a spar." the Syliran told some of the people who were watching slack jawed. The Zeltivan recovered and he chuckled and sheathed his sword. "Kid's right, nothing to see here." he made a showy display of warmth and held out a hand for Lyner to shake. That was all it took for the crowd to lose interest and when Lyner sheathed his own sword the Zeltivan was the one to break the silence. "You're a good man," the Zeltivan admitted ruefully. "Lily's going to be safe in your hands I reckon." "I guess he is okay," Liliana's older brother interrupted with a loud cough. "Even if he ain't that big."

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Lyner XP Award: Shield-2 Longsword-3 Observation-2 Lore: Being an object of a bet Taking advantage of an opponents irrational attacks Psychological warfare Notes: Aw, they ended the fight before there was even a winner. Haha, well that was a nice read. If you wish to expand the thread for more XPs feel free to do so, but it was a good read and your clients family is interesting... Fun, a little 'evil', but interesting. "Even if it ain't that big" Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM