[Training] Duel at Dawn (Korin)

[Vitalos Umbreffigia]

17th of the Summer Season
Riverfall
Outskirts of the City

Dawn splits the night in two and light shines on everything. The walls of Riverfall are painted with a golden hue, the Bluevein glistens and sparkles, and the Sea of Grass shimmers in the light. A lone man stands on the bank of the Bluevein, for the moment staring out across the water, breathing in the scene. He looks down to see his shadow and scowls. He was never certain why, but there always seemed to be something sinister about it. He shakes it off, then closes his eyes.

Vitalos concentrates on his breathing. He draws in the summer air, faintly chilled by the retreating night, then exhales. He drinks in his surroundings, painting every curve of the river, every stone on the ground, every copse of grass in his mind's eye. Then, with eyes shut, he strikes behind him, whirls and immediately adopts his stance.

Vitalos places his left hand high, hovering just in front of his face, and his right hand lower, cocked back at his waist. The fingers on both hands were curled, easily able to flow into either an open palm or a closed fist. He halts, as though awaiting his opponent's move. His phantom attacker strikes for his chest, the apparent opening. Vitalos slaps his left hand down, palm open to push away the wrist of his foe, then slams the heel of his palm upward. The blow would land just below the elbow of his opponent, a move meant to break arms. It wasn't perfect, but it would work against an untrained opponent.

But he wasn't much interested in combating an untrained opponent. He was far more interested in fighting against individuals who had skill on par or above his. Vitalos follows through with his movements, placing a knee to the gut, then retreating. He ducks below a palm strike and slams his fist into his opponent's gut, whirls and places an elbow in the ribs. He continues like this for some time, sweat beading on his brow. This would last for some time, and then he would head back into the city and take it in while he could.

[Korin]

As dawn approaches, a lone man walks along the Bluevine, heading toward Riverfall. Cloaked in darkness, he walks undisturbed. The night air cool and comforting. The grass whistles softly in the breeze as the lone wanderer travels along the river. As the sun slowly rises, and dawn splits the sky, a small shape appears in the distance. Slowly he nears the shape, until a human form becomes visible. While it is close to Riverfall, a strange person outside of the city can be dangerous, so entering the tall grass, the Kelvic slowly makes his way toward the person.

As he nears, the shape becomes familiar, until the man is revealed as Vitalos. Just the previous day, Vitalos became Korin's newest companion. Slowly approaching, the large Kelvic watches are the human flows through various strikes, as if fighting an invisible opponent. It is not that he is fighting some one, he is training. It is something the Kelvic knows well. Like the human, Korin himself is a martial artist, and while their forms are different, there goals are the same.

Silently watching the impressive display, Korin's desire to improve and train is kindled. It has been a while since he last trained with a person, and normally he would pass by, without saying a word. But this time is different, Korin knows this person. What could be the harm of asking to join him?

Stepping out from the grass, but keeping his distance, as to not startle his fellow martial artist, the Kelvic calls, "Hey, Vitalos, what a coincidence meeting you out here. Care if I join you with your training?"

[Vitalos Umbreffigia]

Vitalos snaps into attention at the new presence, instantly adopting a completely different stance, his left arm held high just above his head to guard his face, right arm hovering over his ribs for a strike. The stance, to the trained eye, was meant to combat larger opponents, which made sense considering that Vit spent much of his time sparring against the Akalak.

He takes a moment to recognize Korin, and another moment to recognize his request. It was a simple enough request, Vitalos had no reason to deny it. Indeed, it was always far more interesting to train with a partner than to train alone, if for no other reason than it tested one's abilities... As well as one's opponent's.

Yes... I should like to see what Korin is capable of. Perhaps I may even earn his respect through combat? We'll see. It'll certainly be cliche, but I doubt it can hurt. Time to see what he's made of...

"Yeah. Sure; it's fine by me. It's been a long time since I've trained with anyone within a foot of my height. Barring Griffith, of course. Would you care for a sparring match?"

He grins at the prospect. Vitalos was almost always up for a good round of sparring. He was looking forward to the idea of combating a Kelvic.

I wonder how his bestial tendencies will show through in his style? More likely he doesn't have a formal one. Well, time to see...

[Korin]

Sparring. Its been a long time since the Kelvic has sparred any one, but the thought excites him. While he has trained and fought since he left his old home, Korin has not had the chance to spar some one since he stopped training with his master. At the same time, the thought worries him, since he has not sparred in so long, using the right power won't be the easiest thing.

I wonder how good he is... I don't want to hurt him, but i guess it is better to know how strong the people you may be fighting with are. Though from what I saw earlier, he may be the one hurting me...

Moving closer to the small man, Korin nods, saying, "I haven't sparred any one in a while, but if you are fine with that, I gladly accept your offer."

Breathing deeply, the Kelvic shifts his right foot behind him, lowering into a stance. His knees are bent, his right foot pointing towards the right, and his left leading foot pointed foreword. Both his hands are open, raised in the air, but relaxed. The left hand is up closer to the face but extended, the right hand about a foot lower, and both hands are in the center of the body.

"Whenever your ready."

[Vitalos Umbreffigia]

Vitalos arches a brow. Korin was certainly quick to get down to business; no hesitation or even preparation. Vitalos admired him for that. He was a calm man, it seemed. But enough gauging of his psyche. Now was the time to fight. And he had to play this smart; Korin was certainly stronger and of higher stature than Vit. Which meant the human had to play this smart, and rely on skill and speed.

Not like I've never done that before...

He narrows his eyes slightly, gauging his opponent's stance. The best thing to do now would be to test his defenses, see how he reacted to different strikes. At the same time, he had to be sure not to commit himself to anything. Not until he knew what Korin was capable of.

Slowly, Vitalos inches closer, until he was just outside of what he gauged to be Korin's reach. He studies him closely, then dances forward for a brief instant, right hand coming in for a low strike at Korin's gut on his left side. The blow was quick, and Vitalos would pull it back before it could do any serious damage.

[Korin]

As the smaller man moves in closer, Korin relaxes deeper into his stance. He stairs at the other martial artist, but not focused on him, more like the area around him. It was an old trick, if you focus on one particular part of the enemy, then they would hit you with something you couldn't see. Instead, if you focus on the area around the enemy, all their movements are noticeable. This is what Korin's master taught him.

When Vitalos enters into striking range, he darts forward, and his fist flies rapidly toward the Kelvic's stomach. As the punch moves in, Korin squares his hips, and lowers his arm, not moving it much, but now it covers his stomach. With the rotation of his hips, he launches his right hand forward into a palm strike, aimed at the center of the smaller mans chest. It was thrown with speed, but little strength, more to make the man jump back then to connect.

He is testing me... So I will test him to...

[Vitalos Umbreffigia]

Vitalos slams his left arm down toward Korin's wrist, pushing the blow down and away even as he pivots his left foot back. The contradictory movements did not allow him to push Korin's arm very hard or far, but it was enough to give Vitalos some space. He dances backward a few paces, once more outside of Korin's reach, then adopts his same stance. He would not attack this time. This time he would remain steadfast.

It did seem as though he'd been right about Korin's fighting style. He imagined the Kelvic would take things slow at first, remain calm. Vit seriously doubted, however, that he would remain like this. Few Kelvics could ever remain so calm. At some point, Vitalos imagined he would begin to fight ferociously. And that is when the human would triumph.

... With hope...

For the moment, Vitalos merely watched Korin, waiting for his next move. For now, it was a waiting game. It all depended on how patient Korin was. Perhaps he would press the assault now that he'd tasted an exchange. Perhaps not...

[Korin]

As Korin's arm is knocked away, he doesn't resist. His hand's fall back into his stance as Vitalos jumps back. As the human settles back into his stance Korin shifts his. His weight shifts to his front foot, and his back leg straightens. His front knee bending, his hips squared.

Vitalos seemed to be fighting very cautiously. First an attack just to check for a reaction, followed by a retreat into a defensive stance. It seemed like he was waiting for something, or maybe he really was just taking the fight slowly.

If I attack now, I will be falling into his trap... But I have fallen for worse traps before...

Scooting forward without shifting his stance, Korin quickly enters into striking range. Without stopping his movement he launches a quick front kick with his left foot at Vitalos' stomach, his weight balanced on his back foot though, ready to quickly retreat if needed.

[Vitalos Umbreffigia]

The instant that Korin's foot lashes out, Vitalos pivots back on his left foot, sidestepping the blow even as he lashes out with a palm strike with his right hand, attempting to shunt aside Korin's foot and knock him off balance. With hope, Korin would be rattled enough to leave his side exposed, where Vit would launch a palm strike with his left hand into Korin's rib cage.

It was still a big if, though. Vitalos could count a thousand ways for Korin to get out of this counterattack, or even turn the advantage to his own. While he could not accurately block his attacks at the moment, he still had many ways to avoid them. Vitalos had to remain on his guard. One did not best giants by being reckless...

But then, is Korin much of a giant? I suppose that remains to be seen...

[Korin]

As his foot is knocked aside, the Kelvic brings it back into him, entering into a wide horse stance. If he had truly committed to the attack, that would of went badly. Seeing how he left his weight in his back leg, the strike to his attacking leg barely broke his balance. As he enters into his stance he launches his palms outward into a double palm strike, at the entering Human. The strike might hurt if it connects, but it was more of a hasty move to try to buy the Kelvic time to recover and gain him some space.

Vitalos is fast. If he manages to get in close he will have a big advantage. Normally it is thought that larger fighters have the advantage, but if a smaller fighter can get into their guard, the larger fighters longer arms and legs actually become a disadvantage. Though, the range of Korin's blows should be a little longer then that of the smaller Vitalos.

I need to keep him at a distance... If I do that then I am sure this fight will be mine...