Perfect Day to Spar (Antar/Open)

[Mok]

10:23 am, 24th of Summer, 511

It was mid-morning and everything seemed to being going well. All the camp chores were completed and now everyone that stuck around was just relaxing around their makeshift hearth. The sky was overcast and there was a light breeze in the air. It was arguably the best weather that could be achieved in Sunberth. During the summer, the humidity from the ocean crept into the hills and the sun practically baked you. Anyone wearing any tip of metallic armor during a Sylrian summer day was either crazy or insane. You just didn’t do it! Today on the other hand was special, the sun was sleeping and that meant everyone else could do as they pleased in comfort.

Mok was leaning back on a log he dragged to the camp earlier and he was loving it. Although Mok was accustomed to the hot, humid climate of Faylndar, nothing beat the cool breezy winds that blessed them that day. Today is the perfect day to spar, thought the warrior as he opened one eye and to peak at who was still around the camp. Surprisingly, Antar was sitting across from him enjoying the weather as well. Antar mentioned earlier that he wanted to train his sword fighting skills and this was the perfect opportunity.

The half-blood stood up from his resting position and dusted the dirt of his pants. Mok opened his bag and drew his gladius from its scabbard. The blade was a dull redish orange color that was particular to weapons made in Taloba. Mok wasn’t sure if it gave him an edge, but it definitely makes the blade seem more special to a normal man. The young myrian had a wide grin and a happy face when he approached Antar, “My friend, will you spar with me? You said once that you wish to learn to use your blade better. Let us spar then.”

The myrian stepped backwards onto a soft patch of earth that his toes sunk into. He knew that this treacherous under footing could be used for his advantage. Mok held his gladius with his right hand, keeping the blade parallel to the floor.

As he crouched in his myrian style stance, he wondered what Antar’s first strike would be like. Would he trust? Stab? Slash? Rush? Deceive? All Mok could do now was wait for the friendly duel to begin.

Red = Myrian
Bold = Common

[Antar]

Noth smiled as the day seemed to delight him with an opportunity he seldom had. A chance to improve his swordsmanship.

Noth was predominantly an Archer in the group, so he hoped never to need to draw his sword. Instead he'd rather wish to kill or destroy anyone coming to kill him from afar. But, ever the pragmatist, Noth knew that there would always be those who might catch him off guard, or blitz through into close range. That was why he was determined to learn the ways of two weapons, the first being the shortsword, and the second being a dagger.

But what he was interested in most right now was training with the gladius with Mok. The warrior had a better grasp of the blade in question, and Noth was want to prosper from the other's knowledge. So when Mok asked to spar, Antar was quick to retrieve his own blade. Walking back from his own tent to the patch of earth they would be sparring at proceeded to inspect it checking it's metal for chips which might be dangerous to either of them but finding none in the wasp waisted twenty-one inch doubled edge. The metal wasn't colored the same as Mok's was, looking more ordinary and plain, and the hilt was a full metal core wrapped in wood and leather in the usual style of the blade. To Noth, it was adequate, and before it had come into his possession he figured it had seen some use in other hands which was fine with him.

Taking a look at his crouching opponent Noth smiled and spoke,"Thank you for your patience as I fetched my sword. Please understand I'm still quite new to the weapon, though I'll gladly take a moment to spar with you here. I guess this means we shall begin?"

With the blade parrallel to the ground in his right hand, Noth started offf with a simple, albeit slow thrust towards the man's sternum . Ensuring that Mok possessed ample time to see the action in question.

[Mok]

When Antar thrust the point of his sword forwards, Mok couldn’t help but grinning. It was obvious that Antar had never trained with a close range weapon like a short sword before. Although the lanky archer’s trust was well aimed, his footwork was horrendous. When trusting a sword, one must take care to step into the attack and follow through with the strike. Overreaching would put the person off balance then they would be easily susceptible to falling. Mok was determined to show his sparring partner exactly what this meant.

Using the flat of his blade, the half-blood parried downward on Antar’s strike then grabbed the man’s wrist with his free hand. With a heavy thug, Mok pulled him down onto the floor. Letting go of his wrist, the warrior explained what just happened, “Use your body Antar. This is not arrow fightomg; you need to get up close. Close enough to smell your opponent. Follow through your strikes or you will find yourself on the floor. Come again!”

Red = Myrian
Bold = Common

[Antar]

Nodding his head in reply, Antar struggled to his feet wondering what he had done wrong to let himself get so easily pulled down. After listening to Mok's words, Noth concentrated on the firm planting of his feet and reattempted the move, this time stepping forward with the same foot as the arm he was thrusting with as he turned the blade.

Noth put his body weight into the motion, and grunted as he extended his arm, trying to get in closer like Mok had said. Yet still he was sure to be slow enough that his newfound friend might see what was afoot as he concentrated on the technique and form of his thrust.

[Mok]

Antar made the same attack again, but this time he actually put his body into it. Although he was still a little off balanced, the human had successfully figured out how to transfer kinetic energy through his body into the tip of the sword. Yes. It was now apparent to Mok that even archers used their bodies’ kinetic energy to shoot their bows and that Antar was no foreigner to this concept.

Mok parried the incoming strike in the same manner that he did the first one, grabbing Antar’s wrist and all. Giving a thug on his arm, Mok tried to pull him down again to no success. The two training partners looked at each other and smiled. Mok released his grip andtook a step back praising Antar, “Good, you strike well. Let’s practice our guards today. The basics of not being killed in a swordfight are to be able to parry incoming attacks. Hold your sword like this – yes good – now I am going to strike you several times, block each attack with the flat of your blade, do not use the blade itself. Ready? Hiyah!!”

Red = Myrian
Bold = Common

[Antar]

The first blow from Mok's sword was a right handed swing from the left, and noth met it's metal with a hesitant sidewards swipe from his own weapon; trying to deflect it from its course as he instinctively stepped backwards.

The sound of metal meeting metal rang in his ears, and his forearm shook with the vibration as Mok's second strike came crosswise, duplicating the slash save for it coming on Noth's right this time. Forcing Antar back another step, as he forced himself to adjust his grip upon the weapon's hilt.

This was duplicated a few more times, each time forcing Noth back a step before Mok began with a slow jab like Noth had done before. Ever the quick learner, Antar did a shaky downward parry, forcing Mok's blade to one side before responding with an excessively slow thrust of his own, making sure Mok saw it all the while.

[Mok]

A bead of sweat trickled down onto the earth. Although they needed to train somewhat slowly, Antar’s hand eye coordination was already superb. All his experience in ranged combat had increased his natural perception, so sword fighting would start off very easily for the man. Although Mok had been training with the gladius all his life, he would not be surprised if Antar’s skills reached his own fairly quickly. Even so Antar’s quickness was not something to brag about just yet. He was constantly fighting to just keep up with Mok’s strikes.

He stopped for a moment and let Antar compose himself again. Mok now took another guard that was probably unfamiliar to Antar. He held his gladius with two hands, one grasping another, then held the blade tip towards the sky. He shifted his legs underfoot and used his right leg as a lead step. Slowly, Mok pulled the sword overhead in a long, graceful arc, and then suddenly he brought it down in a chopping motion. Antar pulled his sword overhead to block, but he was not fast enough. The sheer force of his strike knocked the archer’s sword out of his hands. “You must be quick and strong my friend. Also, never block with your blade – always the flat – or your weapon will go flying.”

Mok picked up his friend’s sword and handed it to him. “Hold your sword in this position. It is called Falcon. Higher – yes use both hands – hold it steady. The Falcon guard will deliver powerful blows. Good. Now... come at me!”

Red = Myrian
Bold = Common

[Antar]

Like any person hearing another language for the first time, he stutteringly repeated, "Falcon, Erhh... what does that mean?"

Noth did as he was instructed, putting his hands over his head as he tried to keep the point as high as possible. He could see what Mok meant, this guard would allow for a full body swing, however he was worried as it seemed to scream out one should provoke an enemy to attack oneself. It was a thought Antar would file away for later.

Instead he concentrated on his footwork, placing his right foot slightly forwards with his left foot behind, slightly bent to spring backwards if need be. He adjusted his grip on the hand and a half hilt of his gladius, his left halfway resting on the rounded pommel, his right holding it as close to the hilted guard as possible.

Taking three practice swipes he saw how the blade's passage was strong, if not as swift as a thrust. Nodding to show he was ready, Noth began to duplicate long slashes with the blade towards Mok, first diagonally from up high, right to left, and then after a short recover to reimplement the stance, he made another downwards swipe, left to right.

[Mok]

Using his left arm only for balance, Mok worked on blocking Antar’s heavy strikes with only one arm. Mok’s experience did not help him in this part of the bought. No matter how much of a better swordsman one was, blocking such strikes with only one arm was extremely difficult. Antar’s first strike was the most devastating. Mok made the mistake of parrying it in the normal fashion. As the blades made contact, the myrian’s wrist and elbow buckled. For a split second he was open to a death blow, but a recovery was made and Mok regained his composure. Direct force would be needed in order to effectively parry the attacks.

The next strike that came to Mok’s left shoulder. With a single quick and powerful movement, he advanced six inches towards Antar, but he did not change the position of his legs. It was almost as if he shifted or slide towards his opponent. Grunting loudly, Mok swung with the flat of his blade and produced just enough force to knock Antar’s away from his shoulder. Mok recognized an opening in Antar’s defenses, but he decided not to take it. Instead Mok moved back again and prepared to receive another blow. The jungle boy performed the same parry as the previous strike over and over until Antar had finished.

Moks hands and forearms were red and sweaty from the strain of single handedly blocking those overhead chops. Normally, Mok would never block such attacks with only one arm, but he wanted to train as well, not just teach. Also by this time both men were breathing a little heavier than usual. Like usual, Mok could really notice the altitude change on his breathing. Even after years away from Taloba, he was still not used to the Syliran air. As Mok caught his breath he explained to Antar further about this guard, “Falcon or guard of the Falcon. It is called this because you strike like lightning from above. Strikes from the Falcon are fast and strong, but you have very little control. If you hit someone with this strike, you will definitely kill…Now I want [you] to use the guard of the Falcon to strike and use the simple guard to defend.”

Mok knew that even though they techniques were elementary and not the most effective, they were enough for him to spar effectively. Mok now crouched in his low myrian stance, one much differently than the one that he taught to Antar, then he positioned himself in the guard of the Viper. His left arm was free, and his right arm held the gladius over his head, but the point was aimed right at his opponent’s forehead. From this position, Mok could make overhand and underhand trusts that were extremely difficult to block and parry. On the flip side though, he would not be able to parry Antar’s swings as well as before.

The warrior began to circle the archer. The pleasant smile Mok had before was now a serious scowl. He was not going to hurt Antar, but he was going to show him what speed truly meant. “Prepare yourself,” Mok said before he lunged forward…

Red = Myrian
Bold = Common

[Antar]

Ever the willing pupil, Noth put his mind and body to the task at hand.

Back in the simple guard, he held the blade from his sternum almost at a forty - five degree angle with his legs slightly bent at the knees in order to move quickly backwards and forwards.

It was very fortunate that he started out in this stance, as Mok began a series of hard pressed atttacks, leaving Noth struggling to ward them off with the flat of his blade as he was pushed back. At first he was spurned to wait out the flashing tumult of blows to his sword, with Mok's movements becoming swifter and swifter. For a time, they were circling each other, with Mok creating a pattern of one handed strikes. The first being an overhand thrust, followed by a sideways swipe to beat back Antar's blade before it was capitalized on by a shovelled down upwards thrust towards the heart.

Pushed to the brink, Noth barely parried each in time, for some long sideways slashes he was forced to literally jump back away from the strikes. Finally he saw an opening, when he took a double lengthed jump backwards his feet shifted to the falcon guard and brought the blade downwards in a diagonal slash. He knew this strike was powerful, and swift but he ventured it was only 'slow' in that the strike coreagraphed its use by the wielder's own body movement, and thus it gave the enemy a single opportunity to breach the guard of an enemy.

However, after a wild rush where the opponent might be off balance Noth figured it served even chances with even a beginner to be a startling tool in the arsenal of moves...