[Antinous Grounds] A New Opponent Emerges! (Xalet)

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Season of Summer, Day 14, 511 AV

Over the last couple seasons Jaelyn had started to grow more and more comfortable with her skills in fighting with her various weapons, and so today, instead of heading to the sparring rooms on third tier, she headed up to the first tier and the Antinous Training Grounds there.

She had been up here a few times before, and each time it had proven to be some of the most grueling and intense training she had ever experienced. Hopefully her work here would help make up for her lack of dedication previously. If nothing else it would be the punishing she deserved for her lax training that left her far behind her peers.

Wearing the heavy full plate of a proper Knight made the hike up the stairs was hard work by itself. At least now she could make the walk wearing armor. She could remember a time when she had needed to put the armor on after climbing the stairs. Now her muscles complained, but they performed still.

Finally she arrived at the open expanse of the Training Grounds, and she lifted her visor up to look about the area. At her side was strapped a dulled training blade, on her left arm was a shield, and her right hand held a dulled training spear. Hopefully she would find someone to train with up here, but if not she was prepared to go through exercises by herself. She would do what she needed to complete her training!

[Xalet]

A second hand training sword, a second hand shield, and some second hand armor. Xalet felt like a true second hand Knight. His armor needed some heavy adjusting, and his focus was upon tightening his straps and making sure the plates were in proper position. The training gear afforded to the Squires always appeared 'well used', no matter how well he tried to take care of it. The shield itself appeared to have once had some heraldic emblem upon it, but it was so bleached by the sun and gouged from practice that it wasn't readily apparent if it was a coat of arms or some rowdy Squire's artistic mischief.

Xalet sat upon the grounds, finally satisfied with the fitting of his plate armor. A large body meant a large suit of armor, and ensuring the weight was properly distributed was the different between swinging a sword, and swinging your body out of control. Slowly sliding his gauntlets onto his hands, he looked outward at the figure blocking the sun. Whether inadvertent or not, he was thankful. "Looking for something?" he asked to her. His voice wasn't overly low and baritone, but it had a certain depth to it that one would expect of an Akalak.

Rolling forward slightly onto his knees, he flexed his calf muscles and stood up. Now it was his turn to block out the sun for her. She was a tall woman, though the near foot and a half of height Xalet had made most Humans look childish. As it was, due to the armor and the full helm, Xalet could not even tell what gender she was. Under all that metal most Squires looked the same, he felt. "Your passion will define you." Someone important to him told him that once. Sometimes he wondered if it was blasphemous to keep part of that passion buried away. The dark brother always wanted some time in the sun.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

A nearby voice drew Jaelyn's attention, and she turned her gaze to find an Akalak sitting in her shadow. She felt a little silly for having not noticed him before, but still gave him a soft smile as she replied to his question, "Yes, actually. I was hoping to find someone to do some sparring and training with," noticing no one else nearby she asked after a brief breath, "Would you care to train together, or are you waiting for something?"

When the Akalak stood up Jaelyn's gray eyes widened slightly in surprise at the impressive height the man had. It was not terribly often that Jaelyn felt small, but compared to this dark skinned man she felt more like a child. Realizing she had practically been staring she flushed slightly as she offered an armored hand in greeting, "By the way, I am Jaelyn Baroth. Squire to Ser Raynard Darcy. Might I know your name?"

[Xalet]

"Yes. Training would be appreciated. I was not waiting, just preparing." he replied. After a multitude of times of taking his armor off and putting it back on, the action became almost reflexive. It still took time, due to the amount of armor laid upon the body of a squire. He wasn't certain what he was going to do after he had completed the task, and so it was fortunate that Jaelyn came along when she did. Xalet had practiced techniques with his Patron, and had done work against unmoving targets. He had not had much time to actively spar other squires though. It was a good chance to test himself.

Test himself against a female, it seemed. Xalet had no prejudice against female squires, especially considering his Patron was a female Knight. If one looked toward Xalet's armaments, it seemed he kept a heavy crossbow strapped across his back, and his training sword appeared to be of a short bladed variety. Akalak were known for their unarmed combat maneuvers, so in theory a short blade was a good companion toward a militaristic hand to hand combat style.

"I am Xalet, squire to Sergeant Irine Bracklin. I understand Akalak are unusual in the ranks of the squires, I appreciate the opportunity to spar." unlike Humans, or even typical Akalak, Xalet had no second name. He was simply Xalet. He could have taken his mother's second name he supposed, but being the only Xalet he knew the large man saw no reason to do so. In response Xalet grabbed her hand in his and shook it, subsequently placing his helm down atop his head and completing his suit of armor.

As he walked toward an unoccupied place where they could begin, he turned slightly to speak to her, "Jaelyn Baroth, is this how you like to be addressed? Which sort of training did you want to start with first?"

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"A pleasure to meet you Xalet," Jaelyn responded to Xalet's introduction with a soft smile and nod of her head, and tried not to stare in wonderment at how small her armored limb seemed compared against his. His size and strength really gave her the impression like she was a child again, and it was certainly a strange feeling.

"You may simply call my Jaelyn, Xalet," she responded to his question politely as she flipped her visor down and moved into the empty training area, "And perhaps we should start with a simple spar? We have not practiced together before, and so it might be good to get the experience of facing someone of unknown skill and ability?"

The area they had moved into was a flat area scattered with rocks sized up to about a foot around. The overall effect was a very rough and treacherous area that would make for uneven footing at best. It reminded Jaelyn of the training she had done last season with Markus and Dimitri, but she quickly pushed that thought away. She had to work hard to become a Knight, and that meant not dreaming of the past.

Bringing her spear and shield to the ready, her spear in a grip further up the shaft to allow her better control with just one hand, she smiled softly behind her visor as she called out, "Are you ready, Xalet?"

[Xalet]

Following her into an area where they could proceed, Xalet responded by affixing his helm appropriately and drawing his short blade. "Very well, that is agreeable Jaelyn. Good luck, battle well." The akalak took a moment to survey the different rocks and obstacles that could potentially get in the way. It was just a brief scan of the battlefield. A glance to mentally remember where possible places of advance and retreat would be.

Slinging his shield to the front of his body, Xalet prepared it before him, his shield side angled slightly forward in a traditional fighting pose. He took his breaths carefully, just like his Patron had showed him. Slow, precise breaths. Combat breaths. "I am." he responded, upon which he wasted no time maneuvering forward.

Xalet wasn't experienced enough to utilize any unusual tactics or techniques. Instead he stuck with the basics and attempted to employ them properly. A typical combination for short bladed combatants, the akalak swung his shield forward and out to the left, attempting to stay in as close as possible and subsequently thrust forward with his gladius. The idea was to attempt to get as close as possible to fully utilize the advantages of a short blade, clear a path with the shield, and then attack in a line with the sword.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Watching Xalet through the slits of her visor Jaelyn had to admit he was a very impressive sight as he moved forward to attack. His large and obviously muscle body encased in shinning metal armor, with shield and gladius at the ready, would probably be enough to send a bandit or other untrained opponent running in terror. Jaelyn was trained however, and even slightly experienced in combat.

Not wanting to take the full brunt of the Akalak's shield strike Jaelyn took a careful step backwards and leaned back slightly, letting his shield glance off of her own, and then brought her shield around to block Xalet's strike with his sword. As she moved her shield she twisted slightly at her waist, letting her body pivot off of the strength of his strike, and brought her spear around in a thrust. With Xalet's shield out she came in low and from a slight angle towards his left, hoping to get under his guard and land a strike against his armored torso.

[Xalet]

Xalet was unprepared for the level of skill Jaelyn possessed. While Xalet was no shop boy given a sword, simply from the way she responded appropriately to his attack and countered quickly without taking a moment to breathe showed him there was a difference in their experience. He was so committed to his attack that he was unable to defend against something so quickly looking to get past his defenses.

Ting came the sound of metal against metal. Xalet was prepared enough to attempt to twist his body, but not quick enough to complete such a nimble dodge while encumbered his both his armor and shield. "You're...quite skilled..." he mentioned, just enough verbalization in between breathes to let her knew he understood where they both existed in the realm of combat. As his Sergeant had told him before, this was the time to attempt to breach previous knowledge of combat and see true gains in ones own prowess.

This as it was, Xalet side stepped and kept his sword extended. Slashing it horizontally at a high arc he prepared his secondary attack while his sword was in motion. Attempting to use his style of sword and unarmed attacks as best he could, once his sword made contact with whatever it could find, he readied his left foot to strike outward in a quick swing kick. The swing kick was a simple attack, meant to buckle the stance of an opponent by striking the shins, knees, or lower extremities. It was often used in conjunction with a more deadly attack, but right now Xalet had to concentrate on staying close while utilizing the best footwork he could.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"As are you," Jaelyn replied with a soft smile, hidden by her visor but audible in her tone of voice, to Xalet's compliment.

Seeing Xalet's next attack with his sword come around Jaelyn shifted the position of her shield to catch and deflect the blade up and away from her. She retaliated with a swing of her spear aimed at Xalet's side. It was hard for her to maneuver the long weapon in as close as Xalet had moved, and she contemplated tossing the weapon aside to draw her sword.

Before she could make a decision a sudden impact on her left shin brought her attention downwards and to Xalet's kick. The force of the blow pushed her leg back and broke her stance, and as Jaelyn moved her left foot, to try and recover her balance, she caught her heel on one of the rocks scattered about. This did nothing to help her stability, and Jaelyn staggered back a couple steps trying to recover her footing. As she moved in her unintentional retreat she gave an awkward thrust of his spear in Xalet's direction in an attempt to force him to keep his distance while she was vulnerable.

[Xalet]

Xalet moved forward to capitalize quickly, but had to shuffle back briefly to keep away from Jaelyn's spear. It was then that he realized, he was being cautious, even without attempting to do so intuitively. For Xalet, very rarely was he cautious when testing himself, which meant he was subconsciously concerned about Jaelyn's weapon. "I've got to get inside and stay there." he was determined to do so. The question was how to do so without overly exposing himself.

Quickly changing the direction of his motion, Xalet began to move to the side, toward Jaelyn's shield arm. If he could keep as many barriers between him and the spear, he felt there was the potential to get close enough to get some solid strikes with his sword. His knees bent in preparation to propel him forward. The muscular training he did aided in moving his heavy body about, covered in the equipment of a squire, but it was still not at his maximum speed. Some of that had to be given up for the heavy protection platemail allowed.

Trying to keep himself steady despite the ground beneath him, Xalet lunged forward hard, committed to keeping on Jaelyn's shield side and getting their distance reduced as much as physically possible. "The spear has won many battles in formation." he said, stabbing his short sword forward while attempting to butt shields with Jaelyn. Formation was the key, he wanted to see how the weapon would fare one on one. Still, for all his attempting, he knew he had to keep on his toes or risk succumbing to the female squires experience.