Solo The Empty Circle

[Nayato]

10th Day of Fall, 523 AV

Nayato stood across from Eleuia the Strong at the center of the Proving Grounds small circular arena. He had no khopesh sickle-sword, no shield, and wore no armor. The Chaktawe was honestly confused when Captain Eleuia specifically pulled him away from the on going weapons class that Marshal Iztel was overseeing out in the main area, and ordered him to remove his armor.

"Ready yourself."

Nayato held his hands up into balled fists at the level of his chin while he was dressed in just a tattered linen shirt and a pair of old sunbleached buckskin pants. They were the same clothes he had worn for years since leaving his homelands ages ago. He tucked his chin down towards his chest and protected his chin behind his fists. He stood in a half-crouched boxers posture as he stood on with most of his weight on the balls of his feet with his heels slightly lifted off the ground. Eleuia walked around the new Dragoon Raider like a vulture.

"Hmm, a rookie boxer? Unexpected style.... a skill you picked up during your squirehood no doubt. Why did you not stay in Syliras, rookie?"

Her question made Nayato slightly cant his head to one side behind his raised fists. "Some said I was too content with being a squire forever." Nayato's eyes ran across Eleuia in search of a weakness, but unlike him she was dressed in a full set of heavy armor with a longsword sheathed at her hip. She absently rested her gauntlet covered hand on the pommel of her sword while processing Nay's answer. She circled him two more times before halting her stride directly in front of him. "And so you ran away?" She asked while looking him right in his obsidian eyes. "Running away? No, a person can only 'run away' if they believed the place they left was their home. I 'moved on' to find something better."

Eleuia's hand lashed outwards.

She timed the blow with Nayato's breathing to bash her fist against the bottom of his ribs when his lungs were full of air. Nayato almost vomited as he got the wind knocked out of him and fell to his knees to the dirt. " You flare your elbows too much. Keep your elbows tucked in to protect your ribs." All he could do was hug his abdomen while waiting for his uncontrollable coughing to end. "Get up, rookie." The Captain said while turning to retrieve a small leather shield she had leaned against the arena wall.

Nayato planted his hands on the ground as he forced himself back to his feet. He used the back of his shirts sleeve to wipe spittle away from his face before returning to his boxing stance.

Nayato made one adjustment to his stance given how ill prepared he was for Eleuia's attack. He abandoned the offensive capabilities a half-crouch offered by rolling his shoulders slightly deeper as he slightly increased the bend angle of his knees to enter into a full-crouch defensive stance. He took her word of advice and tucked in his elbows to keep his rib cage protected.

Eleuia held up the leather shield in front of her as she retook her spot in front of him. "Strike."

Nayato's lead left hand extended outward as he drove his fist against the leather of the shield. The pain of hitting a solid surface radiated through his knuckled, but Eleuia stood in her own fighting position. As Nayato's hand punched the leather shield, she rocked her bodyweight backwards onto her backfoot to dissipate a lot of the force so her Dragoon did not break his hand. She measured the power of his strike, attack range, and his skill level all from that one punch. He pulled his left arm backwards back into position to guard his chin.

WC: 639

[Nayato]

Captain Eleuia the Strong led Nayato through a call-and-respond routine of pressing him back and forth. Her back was inches from the arena wall as she pressed her shield towards the Raider to force him to fight while moving backwards to test his footwork.

"Jab." She called out while stepping forward to bash the leather shield against his blocking forearms with enough force to disrupt Nayato's focus.

Nayato gathered his feet back under him to step backwards with his rear leg while shuffling his front leg into proper position. As the Captain stepped forward this time, he struck out at the shield as soon as the ball of his rear foot felt stable enough to drive down against the ground. The thigh and calf muscles of his back leg compacted to gather energy like a spring. He used the forward movement of his rolling shoulders to send that energy out from his body in a left forward jab.

The collision of his fist against the leather shield caused a heavy thudding sound to erupt through the arena. "You're punches lack intent. Don't punch at the shield, drive your fist through it or I'll break your wrist. Jab!" The Captain called out while shoving the leather shield forward yet again. Nayato was still in a full-crouch since he wanted to defend any attacks, but since he was doing nothing but attacking, Nayato rolled his shoulders back to stand in an upright stance.

The higher stance gave him a bit more range to attack as he pressed his back foot down against the ground while he rotated his lead shoulder to cause his jabbing fist to snap out like a whip.

"Kicking knee!" The Rookie boxer was dumbfounded for a moment as Eleuia bashed Nayato's forearms against his own chest with the shield and shoved him to the ground. She stood over the fallen Raider with a smirk on her face. "Get up." She said while tossing the leather shield aside.

Nayato stood to his feet to find the Captain standing across from him in her own fighting stance. "Your whole body is a weapon not just your hands. Bite, claw, headbutt, and kick if your life is on the line." Eleuia closed the distance to Nayato until she was close enough to grab the back of his neck. She pulled the Raider's upper body down while kicking her back foot forward to drive the tip of her knee right into his stomach.

A spew of saliva flung from his mouth as he fell to the floor clutching his stomach. Eleuia kicked him just hard enough to teach him a lesson then stepped backwards to give him a moment to wallow in the pain.

"The Dragoons are the fighting force of the Sun's Birth. If you can not fight then you are useless to us because the city will take advantage of every weakness you have. I really don't care why you are here, I myself never wanted to be a knight, but if you are strong than the Sun's will never abandon you like The Syliran Order did to Warmarshal Joander and the other Knights under his command; like my sister Marshal Iztel, who wear Sylir's mark with pride. Loyalty and strength are all we ask for to improve the quality of life of the shit infested city beyond our territory. Imagine if Sunberth was as prosperous as Syliras."

Nayato's mind was present.

He could hear everything that she was saying. He watched between eyes squinting in pain as she approached him.

However, his body was busy writhing on the ground.

"I pulled you aside because you've not show any interest in why we do what we do. There are no loners in this group if you make it beyond the rank of Raider, we need to know that you won't run and abandon others in the face of danger. You will be asked to support any benefactors businesses that needs aid or take from others for the sake of our own survival."

She used a foot to kick at Nayato's boot to catch his attention. He rolled over to lay on his back to look up at her as the sharp pain in his gut started to dull. "Now, knee!" She stood back while holding the palm of her hand down for him to strike at.

WC: 726

[Nayato]

Without a hint of complaint, he stood up to his full height, brushed the dust off of his body, and put his fists back up into a fighting position. "It's the same footwork as when you throw a jab, but use the ball of your lead foot to gather the power to drive your knee upwards and forward." Captain Eleuia held her gauntlet covered hand with her palm facing down towards the ground near her abdomen and also held her other hand up towards the side of her chin. "Forward. Twin jabs, knee."

Nayato swallowed his own spit, where others might have spit it on the ground, his life of growing up in the desert made him not want to waste the water. He took a small step forward with his left leg while leaning slightly forward to punch his left arm out to drive his fist against Eleuia's gauntleted palm that she held next to her chin. His arm fully extended before he retracted his fist to do the same thing a second time.

The rookie boxer took a half step backwards while shifting his eyes down to his feet for a moment. He was not sure of the proper technique, so he just preformed the same front step like he was going to do a jab, but this time flexed his back leg to swing his right knee upwards to stab his kneecap into the palm of the Captains lowered palm trying to emulate the way that she kneed him moments ago. Nayato dropped that foot to the ground and took two steps backward to return to his ready position.

"It lacked all power and every blind person across the city could tell it was coming, but its a start. If you don't want to fully kick, then at least practice using your knees. They can help you in a close range clinch fight." Nayato just nodded in acknowledgment while ignoring the fact that his abdomen was starting to burn from his constant movement on the balls of his feet and from being hit twice.

You can learn other kicks on your own time, at least you already know the basics of boxing so we'll stick to that for now. I mentioned the clinch, so lets see your uppercut. She lifted her lowered hand with the palm facing the ground up to just below her collarbone. Uppercut.

Nayato took a step forward while dipping his left shoulder to the side in an attempt to gather is bodyweight for an attack. He spotted out of the corner of his eye the sudden motion Eleuia made as she reached out with the palm that Nayato was suppose to hit and struck him in the forehead with the ball of her palm.

She used enough strength to cause him to see a few sparkling lights before returning the palm to the level of her collarbone. "Keep your hands up. Don't dip your whole body, just bend your knees to dip into the uppercut, and rotate your hips to add power to the punch as you rise up. And always keep your eyes on your enemy." Nayato made a sharp huffing exhale of air to ignore the agitated emotions he felt from getting hit in the face as he lifted his hands up to protect his head.

WC: 555

[Nayato]

Nayato was happy that Captain Eleuia mostly tasked him with preforming jabs. His lead arm had much more strength since his right bicep still burned from the application of his Sun's Birth initiation brand. The Captain's previous talk about loyalty to the gang made him think that she respected the fact that he had the bravery to join and accept the brand.

Well, she respected him enough to let that arm of his heal but not enough to not knee him into another city. Nayato accepted the fact that he was not going to be blocking any of her strikes anytime soon, so he entered into a full offensive upright boxing stance to make his own strikes more fluid to preform.

Nayato bent his knees as he lowered his backside to the ground in a squatting motion. He kept his hips down towards the ground as he dipped his left shoulder while rotating his hips in a crescent shaped motion towards his left. The rotation of his bodyweight became the source of his punches power as sent his left fist rocketing upwards as a left lead uppercut that hit the bottom of the Captain's palm.

Nayato's hand would have continued to arch upwards until Eleuia grabbed his wrist to stop it from hitting her chin. "What did you just do wrong?" It was a question that took Nayato to moment to respond to before taking a guess at the answer. "I took too long to pull my punch back?"

Eleuia nodded her head as she held onto his wrist. It was an akward moment for the Raider, but he took the time to ask her a question. "Are you a boxer?" The Captain threw his hand aside by his wrist. "No, it is not my combat style of choice but I have fought many who used it. I have extensive knowledge of proper striking techniques that can help you, but if you wish to be a boxer use what you can to be the best."

Nayato lifted his fists into an attack position while staring at Eleuia through the area between his arms. "Captain, did the Order really abandon Warmarshal Joander and your sister?" The Dragoon Captain just nodded her head, "Yes, although It's not my story to tell. I was a sellsword who happened to rejoin my sister later here in Sunberth when the Sun's were first organizing the Dragoons. If you are brave enough, you can ask Marshal Iztel or any of the old Knights about their experience someday. For now, lead uppercut."

Nayato properly raised his dominant right hand up near his chin with his left hand raised slightly ahead to both cover his face and allow for him to properly attack with it as his lead hand. He slid his right foot about a shoulder-width apart from his front left leg while standing on the balls of his feet again.

Eleuia reached out with her free hand to slap at Nayato's right forearm. She used the strike to remind the Raider to keep his right hand up to protect his face. He pressed his right forearm out against her slap to shrug it away as if he had blocked it, then tucked his right hand back into a protective position. He dropped his hips as he put a slight bend in his knees yet again to lower his body, then rotated his hips to strike at an upwards angle with his left fist into the palm of her hand. This time, he retracted his hand back into a fighting position shortly after his fist made contact.

WC: 600

[Nayato]

Nayato’s body flung backwards when the heel of a booted foot attempted to bash at the rookie boxer’s abdomen. He saw the foot coming, but his attempt to block the attack failed as he shifted his right forearm down to swat at her calve to push her foot away. In a way, the block worked. All he did was end up with his right forearm pinned between his abdomen and her foot as she made Nayato hit himself in the gut with his own arm. He fumbled backwards although he managed to stabilize himself enough to not fall. The boxer grunted in pain as he shook out his right arm. "If you don’t know if you can reach your opponent, then find your range with a jab while keeping your head protected with your other arm."

Captain Eleuia pressed onward mainly to force Nayato further backwards rather than to outright attack him. She lashed out with her own lead jab in a simulacrum of a punch that had no kinetic power, but was only meant to shove his forehead backwards with her knuckles. “That was an idiotic block. If you can't block an attack then slip or move out of the way. I want you to shadow box to sharpen your skills. Practice your jabs and uppercuts at a slow pace with proper form. When you feel you are ready, fight your imaginary enemy at full speed. That will help get rid of your awkward movement and find your bodies hand speed rhythm. ”

Nayato listened to her as she began to circle around him. He did not stand still this time as he pivoted on his lead foot while stepping aside with his rear right foot. This allowed him to spin his body towards her direction while staying in the same place. He kept his chin down while keeping a constant eye on her between his arms.

"Jab, cross." She called out after a sudden stop. Nayato kept his elbow pointing towards the ground as he flung his forearm forward like a whip to snap his punch at the open air. He retracted his left fist to protect his face before he shifted weight from his rear foot as he rotated his hips to punch at the same spot in the open air with a straight right punch.

He drove forward with his knuckles to punch through the air as if he wanted to break something in half. Nayato gritted his teeth as the freshness of his Sun's Birth brand still radiated with pain along his inner right bicep. His right arm dipped low then retracted backwards at the speed of a hurt turtle returning its head back into its shell.

Captain Eleuia held her hand up in a raised fist that meant for the Raider to stop and stand at attention. Nayato dropped his fighting stance to stand at attention as the Captain turned away from him to talk with someone else who stepped onto the area sands. His obsidian eyes followed the Captain as she headed over to where Marshal Iztel the Swift stood watching him by the entrance to the arena. He could not hear what they were saying to each other and he was not an idiot as to ignore the Captain's order to stand ready.

The two senior ranking Dragoons whispered to each other for a few ticks before their conversation ended. Marshal Iztel returned to the main training area as Captain Eleuia returned to stand in front of Nayato. "That is all for now. You are dismissed to join the Marshal's next group class. You will be here early tomorrow to continue your unarmed training with me."

Understood, Captain. Nayato responded as he quickly acknowledged the order she had given. He then exited the small arena where he put his weapons and armor back on to wait for the Marshal's next group training session.

WC: 651

[Quzon]

Self-Grade

Skills:

Observation: 3
Boxing: 5
Socialization: 2
Endurance: 3
Unarmed Combat: 2

Lore:

Eleuia the Strong: Sun’s Birth Captain & trainer.
Boxing: keep elbows tucked in.
Boxing: Full-crouch stance for defense.
Boxing: Half-crouch stance for balanced attack & defense.
Boxing: Leather shield punch training.
Boxing: proper jab form.
Boxing: follow-through for power.
Endurance: Recover from a knee to the abdomen.
Endurance: Seeing stars, a strike to the face.
Unarmed Combat: The whole body is a weapon.
Unarmed Combat: Knee in the clinch.
Unarmed Combat: Knee; the same footwork as a jab.
Sun’s Birth: Abandoned by the Syliran Knights.
Sun’s Birth: Dragoon fighting force.
Sun's Birth: Loyalty to each other.
Sun's Birth: The Strength to improve the Sunberth.
Boxing: Always keep your hands up.
Boxing: Always keep your eyes on the opponent.
Boxing: Proper uppercut form.
Boxing: Retract punches faster.
Boxing: If you can’t block then slip or avoid attacks.
Boxing: Find range with a jab.
Boxing: Shadowbox to sharpen skill.
Boxing: Straight right cross.