[Flashback] Careful! Those wooden sticks hurt! (solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 20, Spring of 503 AV 10 Chimes after the 11th Bell The Academy Eridanus remained in the courtyard after his unarmed combat instructor left, apparently satisfied with the amount of data he could derive from observations made during his assessment. He stretched his body, ready for his next assessment. This time he was more confident, for his ability with the deadly weapon have kept him alive for many years, and the fact that he was alive and well even now was the very evidence of his skill. Still, he felt that he needed to improve if he were to stand a better chance of surviving the many magical and bizarre dangers of the new world, and what better place there was then this martial city? A middle-aged man strolled whistling into the courtyard, a sack slung on his shoulder and he jovially greeted the Vantha. Well that's strange. Judging from the rumors he heard about Oliver Camlach's skill, he expected the instructor to be a pretty strict and protocol-minded person, probably worse than the human who assessed his martial arts ability just now. The heart-warming grin he received immediately changed his perception, and unlike earlier it was not in an ungrudging manner that he paid his respects to the instructor with a slightly bow. "Master Camlach, I have heard much about you. Pleased to meet you", he formally greeted the teacher. "Heard? I suppose you'd expected something pretty different, eh?", Camlach laughed. "I usually tell my students not to let others know of my teaching method, but they decided to kick it up a notch and well... you know how rumours always turn out", he winked. Eridanus laughed nervously, for he was not sure how he was supposed to react, but replied, "I'll be sure to do the same, Master Camlach. Won't want to damage your well-earned reputation, wouldn't we?" "Right-o, boy-o", Oliver snapped his fingers, then dropped the sack on the floor in a corner of the courtyard, revealing a bunch of wooden sticks. "These are practice swords, wouldn't want us cutting each other into ribbons. It's pretty hard to learn when you're dead", the instructor cracked a joke. Eridanus nodded and went forward, opening the sack to expose many wooden swords tied neatly together in a bunch that gave the impression of sticks or reeeaaaaalllyyyy thick hay. He undid the knot and took out a practice sword most similar to his own in length and he weighted it carefully, noting with appreciation how the weight of the real thing was somehow simulated pretty well. It might be possibly due to the extra dense metal core, in which it would make a pretty bad bruise if it landed hard. He made a mental note not to be a hero and sustain any hits. Not that he could help it if he did anyway. Oliver Camlach raised an eyebrow and prompted, "Only one? Your application right here says that you use two. Now now, it can't be that you're looking down on me just because I'm so friendly?" Embarrassed, the Vantha tried to clear the misunderstanding, but the instructor continued, "Don't be worried. I do not train in a particular style, or am so rigid that I force you to do it my way. What I do is teach my students to excel in what they're comfortable at." Eridanus tried not to look too flustered as he reached into the pack, finding a practice sword that weighed like his cold-iron blade. His two swords were weighted differently, for cold-iron and steel were completely different materials, and so he picked his wooden weapons appropriately to simulate the actual thing as much as possible. "When you're done choosing hand me my practice sword. It has my initials - O.C. - edged into the hilt." Eri found the weapon, took it and handed it over. The instructor motioned for them to move to the center of the courtyard where they had more space for manoeuvring, and he assumed a stance, motioning for the Vantha to follow. "Now, I seem friendly because teaching is my passion, and nothing makes me happier than to see my students reach greater heights. But because of this I do warn you that I am perfectly serious during training, and you'd realize that some of the things you heard about may be true after all." Great, like that would be comforting at all. Oliver probably caught the worried expression that appeared on the student's face, for he continued, "All I request is for you to put your heart and soul into my lessons and to focus on whatever that I'm teaching. If you do that there is nothing to worry. Now let me see what you've got." Eridanus murmured an assent and he gripped both blades, assuming his usual stance of placing his two blades in a similar way to his hands when fighting unarmed, except much wider apart and in a larger angle in order to maximize the long swords' reach to cover as much of his body as possible - for unlike a punch, contact with an errant blade is bound to cause some serious injuries or even possible loss of limbs.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus edged forward, maintaining his stance. He remembered the previous lesson and maintained some semblance of the movement that the unarmed instructor had desired - maintaining a generally similar distance between your legs as one moved - and he was met with a raised brow from Master Camlach, signifying his slight amusement. "There will be no need for the stuff that Master Jernwick in my class, student Eridanus. I want an accurate assessment of your prior skills, and it's for your own good that I get precise results to structure your syllabus properly. And also for my own good if I don't have to fight a humanoid crab." Oliver chuckled, bringing a blush to the Vantha. Eridanus coughed, and his body slid into his more relaxed posture, and he strolled forward, projecting a sense of serenity while actually preparing for the strike. It was like the calm before the storm, and the long swords instructor could detect, grinning slightly. "Now we're talking", the human said, tightening his grip on his own practice sword. The student suddenly snapped into an attack, dashing forward and used the momentum of his leap and his body weight to bring both blades heavily down in a diagonal motion, the left one following the line that aimed to sever from one side of the neck to the bottom part of the other shoulder, and the right one following the line that aimed to sever from the middle of the chest from one side to the area on the other side that joined the hip and thigh. Oliver stepped sideways, but in the direction of his swinging motion, using his practice sword to mightily clash Eri's left blade upwards, then using the recoil generated from the collision, combined with the use of his body weight, to bring his sword down hard on Eri's right sword, driving it all the way to the ground, and he raised his leg to step on it as it came down, causing a wooden clatter as its pointed end knocked onto the ground. The left blade sailed harmlessly over the instructor's shoulder, and this caused Eri to over-extend, moving forward and he felt his throat being gently grasped by Oliver's fingers which were shaped in a claw-like motion. "Interesting tactic, no doubt hoping to capitalize on you having more blades than me. But that also meant that you have one less hand than me, please do remember that as well." Eridanus nodded, and Master Camlach released his grip, motioning for him to go back to create some space for the two of them. "Here's the first question for you. It's part of the test. I believe that theory play an important part in learning the art as well, not just practicals." Oliver looked at Eridanus straight in the eye, and asked, "Why didn't you swing both swords in perfectly opposite motions at me, if you intended to capitalize on your perceived advantage? If you did so, I would be able to block one sword with mine, but my hand cannot possibly stop the blade of the other." Whew, that was easy. I did consider such a tactic initially, but I learned the hard way that it didn't work. This was undoubtedly a question to weed out the pretenders and to separate the true novices from the ones who had at least some real-life experience. "Sir, it is because I approached you with a slanted angle and was not facing you up front when I executed that attack, therefore such a move would be disadvantageous to me as the other blade would need a longer time to travel to you, by the time you would have parried the first blade and would be free to parry the other." Master Camlach nodded, and replied, "But what if you were facing me up front?" "I won't be fac-" "Hypothetically speaking, of course. I know that you would not do so, judging from the easy way you slid into that stance." Eridanus thought for a moment, and tried to imagine himself trying to cut the man using that technique but facing up front. He drew a blank, then imagined himself being attacked by someone using that technique. The answer immediately came to him. "Because if I did so it would not only be inefficient when there are better options, but you could also easily just step backwards and doge both hits. Using two blades, it would be optimal to go for a thrust or a minimal angle swing." "With both swords?" "Alternate." Oliver Camlach nodded with approval, and resumed his stance, indicating for the student to follow again. "Alright, we'll do this again. Come at me."

[Eridanus]

Eri gripped his swords, edging forward while eyeing the instructor cautiously. The man used a fighting style he was not used to, and it was certainly as unorthodox as his owned. He was glad that he came to Denval after all, for their fighting style seemed to be full of unexpected moves, though being surprisingly practical. It was probably due to the pragmatism of Denvali culture, stripping away the non-essential parts of martial combat and implementing only what works. Not just what works, but what works in the most efficient manner. Eri admired this culture and thus he intended to make full use of his time here to understand and assimilate their thinking in both culture and martial arts into his own way of life. He leaped forward, lightly swinging his swords in a haphazard manner, uninterested in whether it hit or not. Oliver Camlach casually flung the careless attack aside, but Eri already leapt back in a diagonal manner in an attempt to sidestep the instructor. He leaped forward again, this time swinging his main blade parallel to the floor in chop the Denvali at the waist. The instructor made a small tutting sound, but he seemed pleased as he deflected that attack, thrusting his own sword in a measured manner towards the Vantha. By then Eri had already stepped back again diagonally as per the previous time, and he leapt forward again, bringing his swords downwards in an over-head swing. The instructor side-stepped the perpendicular attack and he suddenly dashed forward with one leg, stabbing at the Vantha not unlike the last technique that Eri used in the previous unarmed class. Oliver was fast, but Eri was fortunately more skilled in the art of swordplay than in hand-to-hand, and he had already anticipated that attack. He narrowly avoided the thrust with a sidestep, and he quickly used his off-hand sword to slash down hard on the instructor's extended sword. This led to him bringing down the sword, and he quickly stepped on it with his boot just like what the instructor did to him earlier, and he lunged forward with his other blade. The Denvali released his blade, and cleverly side-stepped the thrust, moving forward to meet Eri's approaching body. He jabbed at the student, and Eri quickly released the blade he used to lock down the Oliver's own released blade, barely deflecting that hit. Oliver tutted again, though his face had an expression of joy, and he stepped further towards Eri to invade his personal space, unleashing a succession of jabs aimed at Eri's elbow and forearm, causing him to release the outstretched sword. Eri brought his right arm down in a chop, and the instructor blocked that hit while aiming a jab at his student's torso, forcing the Vantha to leap back, though the tip of his fingers managed to poke his stomach before he leaped backward. Eri brought his hands up in an unarmed pose, and he looked like he was ready to leap forward again when the Denvali raised a hand to represent a pause. "Interesting chain of events, I must say," Master Camlach remarked, chuckling at the sight of the Vantha who was now furiously rubbing his left hand which sustained that series of jabs that forced him to drop his off-hand sword. "Didn't leave any permanent on you?" He inquired, and the student shook his head. "Right that's good." Oliver Camlach seemed to be deep in thought as he studied Eri, and after a while he came to a sort of conclusion as he snapped his fingers. "Hand me back my sword - thanks - and let's do this again. I think I'll need one more. " He noticed the worried look again on Eri's face, and he reassured the Vantha, "You're doing fine, don't worry. I just tend to be a little... meticulous when gathering data. It's all for your own good, boy."

[Eridanus]

Eri passed Master Camlach his O.C.-marked sword, and picked up his own practice blades, assuming his usual position. He felt weird, and he realized that he was wielding the wrong weighted swords in wrong hands. It was difficult to tell the difference for the blades were all the same in colour and length, the only difference being its weight. He coughed in slight embarrassment and swapped the blades, hoping that Oliver did not see that. The Denvali had seen that, but he looked at the sky with an innocent expression on his face as he whistled, looking down after a while to find that Eri was ready for their next clash. He entered his own stance, body slightly angled and blade along the length of his chest in a posture that suggested that he used other hand to attack as often as he swung his blade. The Vantha thought for a moment, trying to think of something creative to completely surprise the experienced swordsman, as he warily circled the instructor, then Devali himself nonchalantly turning to face the Vantha. Eri lunged forward again with his master foot forward, generating the sudden burst of energy as he aimed to strike Master Camlach with his main sword. The instructor twitched as his reflexes reacted, bringing up his sword to parry that sudden attack. Eri followed up with a swing from his off-hand sword, and the instructor twirled his sword such that it lay above Eri's own sword, bringing it down suddenly with a surprising amount of strength in a downwards diagonal motion, essentially locking down two blades with one. Sensing the opportunity, Master Camlach nimbly stepped forward to grasp Eri's throat. The student was ready for it, as his mind had already expected that on a subconscious level, and his battle-hardened reflexes took over, using his main arm to release his sword due to Oliver's superior strength locking it down just in time raise it at his throat level to deny the choking attempt with his forearm with his hands bent at the elbow. Eri saw a blur of motion from the corner of his eyes, and he quickly released the grip his other hand on his sword, chopping in a sideways motion in time to block Oliver's sneaky attack, which was a low punch after he released his own sword. There was a clatter on the floor as the blades dropped, and instead of continuing a hand-to-hand exchange, Eri quickly deflected an uppercut and he dropped down low to avoid a series of crosses, blindly grasping for one of the blades below which he quickly brought up to meet an incoming attack. The Denvali had been attempting to chop down on Eri's neck, but he interrupted his attack when he saw the blade incoming, leaping backward and using his feet to drag one of the blades towards him. He quickly crouched to grab the sword, but Eri was already dashing towards him, bringing the sword down. Oliver crouched lower to the floor, granting his legs greater reach and he kicked forcefully towards Eri's knees as he approached. Eri saw that intent, but his momentum was too great to avoid it, and so he jumped over the crouched instructor, tumbling over the Denvali. He momentarily lost his sense of direction, and while standing up he swung his blade blindly, only to find a wooden stub poke at his neck when he finally found the swordsman. "Bam," Master Camlach stated simply, and Eri's eyes widened. The teacher began chuckling, and Eri smiled weakly. "Very good Eridanus. That was a pretty creative way you integrated what you knew together. The idea is there, but I dare say your form needs work." He removed the sword from Eri's throat, and walked towards the sack of practice swords that they had placed in the corner in the beginning of the session. He motioned for Eri to help put back the other swords, and when they were done he tightened the mouth of the sack, hauling it on his back with a grunt. "Keep using that brain of yours, boy. Creativity is important in combat survival, as with any form of art," He told the Vantha, gesturing with his hand that they should walk together out of the courtyard. "I see from your application form that you included Flux as a form of magic you know. Let us walk, and we'll see if your thirst for knowledge is strong enough for a certain... recommendation I have in mind. For now, I'm sure both of us are famished. You have nothing on later right? Me too, let's grab a bite, shall we?" Before they fully left the courtyard, the Denvali paused for a moment as if remembering that he had something to do first, and he turned to face the Vantha formally with an outstretched hand, "But first, Master Oliver Camlach of Denval Academy is pleased to accept you as a student." As Eridanus shook the instructor's hand, the man smiled and said warmly, "It will be a pleasure to work with you Eridanus. Welcome to Denval."

[Legion]

Thread Award Eridanus: Acrobatics +1, Dual Wield +3, Longsword +3, Unarmed Combat +2 Comments Nicely written training thread. We are pleased with your portrayal of Oliver Camlach. If you have any requests or concerns, feel free to PM me.