Completed [Antinous Training Grounds] A Morning for Melee

[Nayato]

2nd Day of Summer, 514AV.
Morning, 8th Bell.

As a creature of very few habits before joining the Knights, it would have been an understatement to say that Nayato was a morning person. He was always happy to wake each morning before Syna's light to watch the sun rise into the sky. It was his only true habit. However, now that he was a squire in the Syliran Order his habits were growing with each day. Now, he would awaken to check and wipe clean the full plate armor he wore before putting it on for training. Afterwards, he would sit down with other squires for breakfast before feeding Osawa his pet Akinva Deerstalker before leaving for the training grounds.

Ever so slowly, Nayato was becoming a morning regular to the members of the order who traversed the Training Grounds. As he stood in front of a wooden training dummy he couldn't help but feel a little out of sorts. He felt as if he had lost his balance, or that he wasn't training hard enough. He was closer to himself than he had ever been due to his constant training; he knew that much at least, but he wasn't entirely clear about how much progress he had been making. All he knew was that he was growing accustomed to being beaten into rough shape by his Patron knight; the man who he was currently waiting for to show up and begin their sparing session of his training. Until then, he would train with the dummy.

Nayato drew his Khopesh from its scabbard with his right hand. The feeling of the hilt in his gauntlet covered hand felt alien only for a moment as he adjusted his grip. He held the single handed weapon with a proper firm grip. He lifted his right arm to slash at the ragged worn armor the wooden post was dressed in to test his hand comfort. His slash was a relaxed one until just before the moment of contact with the dummy. Then, his grip tightened as his wrists followed through with the strike to transmit the final snap of power into slash.

Arriving a few chimes late once again, Ser Cagus Brimholt soon made his way towards the training area to find Nayato at the dummies. "You beat me to the grounds every time Naya. It is very refreshing to see that you are so enthusiastic to begin each day. However, this is starting to become a race to the grounds that I believe I shall constantly loose." Cagus replied with a nod to the Squire. "I believe the saying goes 'the early bird catches the worm', Ser. It is a saying I lived by when I worked as a guide before becoming a squire."

As the conversation came to a small halt, Ser Cagus placed the helmet that he carried under his arm on his head with the visor up. "Truer words have never been spoken. Now lets get to work."

[Nayato]

Nayato was growing to enjoy this part. The initiation of combat.

They had moved their spar into a imitation hallway area built to give combatants a taste of close quarter combat that matched corridors of the castle. He stood calm. His body language questioning and curious as he faced Ser Cagus in a true standoff in every sense of the word. Nayato's left foot slid across the ground to apply his weight equally and give him mobility. The buckler shield attached to his left arm was held up in front of him, his stance low, and brought his khopesh forward in his right hand.

"Remember, the keys to good stance means keeping the dominant foot as the main source movement, keeping the knees slightly bent and never rigid. To defend properly... keep the back straight, and constant. But most of all quell the nerves with calm breathing. Stay alert Squire." With eyes fixed on Nayato from beyond his helmet, Ser Cagus began his charge after drawing his Gladius. With great speed he closed the gap and began with an overhand slash aimed from Nayato's right shoulder to left hip.

The direct attack was expected causing Nayato's instinct to take over. Both of the men's swords were different in nature, however they were both made of steel, and both equally sharpened for lethal use. The Squire had asked the patron only once before why they never used training weapons. It was a genuine question that Ser Cagus answered honestly. "Because our enemies weapons won't be fake." They used real weapons because real danger made a warrior 'carefully aggressive' as Ser Cagus called it.

Nayato side-stepped his body to the left, the buckler shield up as he swung out with the shield, using the step itself to put his body weight behind a sturdy block. The knights Gladius was blocked. The impact of his first strike sang on his left shield, the force of it straining his arm. And so now they were in the throngs of battle. Wasting no more time than he should Nayato moved his right hand to swing the khopesh in a horizontal arch, aiming to slash at the knights Midsection.

With a quick backstep the Chaktawe's first strike went wide allowing the Human Knight to bare down onto the khopesh with a hammering slice of his Gladius. Nayato gripped his sword firmly. Clashing his sword up against Ser Cagus's causing their blades to lock. Cagus stepped forward gliding his blade across Nayato's blade. The Squire stepping to his right while pushing his blade upward to grind his blade across that of his Patrons. With a turn of the wrist they both found their swords cross locked above their heads.

They both fought with their right hands, leaving their shield arms close to their bodies. Ser Cagus was faster in lashing out with his shield than Nayato, resulting in the Squire taking a shield bash to the gut. It wasn't a direct hit as Nayato held his shield arm out, however the knights attack cause Nayato's own arm to be shoved against him when their shields collided. The underside of his left arm hammering painfully into the steel of his plate armor.

"Gahhh!" He groaned out and did his best to lunge backwards to get away from the patron. He ended up jumping a foot backwards during his lunging retreat. He landed in a defensive stance with his sword held pointing forward at the level of his waist.

Nayato only taking a moment to shake his left arm twice in attempt to shake away the pain. It was an absent effort as the tingle of pain subsided on its own. "That almost hurt." He joked towards his patron and retook a proper defense with his shield arm raised.

[Nayato]

"There is a power in a swordsman's 'Charge'." he explained, granting Nayato the chance to recover as he spoke. "It can disturb your opponent. They can be taken by surprise when you do not hesitate. But it can leave you wide open, and it can cause you to trick yourself. Their is a difference between a well executed plan and haste which causes the abandon of all common sense." To Ser Cagus, the truth was that as long as Nayato could hold his ground during a battle, the knight considered that knowledge was efficient for the squire, but he made sure to give pointers about specific tactics during each session.

"Rest assured, I will take your advice to heart Ser Cagus." He responded. The khopesh in his right hand slashed out in another horizontal arch towards the knights midsection, but Cagus swayed backwards, gladius and buckler at the ready and avoided Nayato's attack altogether. Nayato nodded in understanding once the combat slowed, he took the lessons on the chin and responded with maturity but kept his focus on the spar at hand.

He held his sword low, and stepped backwards, placing the weight on his back right foot and keeping his front foot parallel to his sword. His right arm moved back and bent at the elbow to point the tip of the Khopesh at his Patron. From the way the Squire prepared his weapon, it was clear to the knight that Nayato was no longer in a defensive posture. It was a fact that was soon verified when Nayato continued with a barrage of strikes. His shoulder rolled as he swung down aiming to hit Ser Cagus's armor at least once.

The momentum in his slash arched upwards aiming to cut from left hip up to right shoulder. Backstepping with each strike, Ser Cagus remained on the defensive. If a blow was powerful, he batted it away with ease allowing The Squire to expel precious energy. If a blow was light he met it with power in hopes of disarming the man. He pressed his attack, feeling the dull thuds of steel against the Knights shield as his sword arm felt heavy with each slash.

"I can do this." Nayato thought to himself as he continued the assault. There was a repetition to his attack. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. An upward slash followed by a sudden dropping cleave which momentum was used to make a third midsection cut at the bottom of the second slash. "Now." He tried to trick Ser Cagus by suddenly changing his attack. A upward slash; the knight responded by batting it away with his buckler shield. A downward dropping cleave; Ser Cagus parried the attack with his Gladius.

A slash at the midsection. That was what changed. The Patron Knight had primed his left arm to defend with his buckler by setting his arm low from instinct alone. However, rather than slash at the knight Nayato made a jabbing thrust with his Khopesh. He used the curve of the his weapons blade to arch around Ser Cagus's shield to slip his defense. The curvature of the squires sword caught the edges of Cagus's buckler glide along its edge during the thrust aimed to touch the armor on the man shoulder.

The sudden change in his Squires attack only shocked the man for a moment. In response, he swiftly slammed the his broad side of his Gladius's blade against Nayato's helmet. The force of the hit caused his helmet to turn slightly ajar on his head before toppling to the floor.

As Nayato laid splayed out along Ser Cagus could only laugh. "That was good an example of the difference between a well executed plan and the absence of sense. "

[Nayato]

Well. That did not go precisely as planned at all. He still thought if he could be a little bit quicker, and better skilled that it would have been doable. Clearly, Ser Cagus just had too much experience in spars like these. That was good though, one never knew how good your real opponents would be. Better to spar against experts and fight novices than the other way around. Nayato groaned as he found himself yet again knocked to the floor of the training grounds in the early morning. "I'm just going to lay here for a moment." He spoke as he held his left hand to his helmet in attempt to stop his ringing head after the helmet was stuck used like a bell.

"Just so you know, after this we are going to start your Boxing training today to give you the some manner of unarmed combat skill that you lack." Nayato sat upright at the mention of unarmed combat and removed his helmet. "Boxing? I'm going to learn boxing?" Cagus nodded. "Yes, we won't be training here. Instead, we will go to the Figters Pit for the rest of your lessons. Now shake it off and get up. We aren't done yet."

The Knight helped Nayato to his feet with a groan of pain slipping from his mouth once he was upright. He then moved away falling in to a guard stance, his lit obsidian gaze clealy blazed with excitement; seen through his open visor. Nayato could tell his opponent was very skilled, and the want to not be hit on the head again awakened his thirst for combat. His expression, save for his eyes, was blank, his body language the same, gone was the earlier expressions. His whole focus was on the man who was training him, even if a vague part of him still wanted to strike the mans armor at least once before the day ended.

He began the spar with a side slash from the left to right. It was a simple slash Ser Cagus responded to with the exact same attack. The Squire and knights blades slamming into each others followed up by a quick shield bash from Nayato aimed to hit the Knights ribs, however, Ser Cagus repeated the squires attack to slam Buckler against buckler. "You can do better." The man spoke with a hint of mischief to his voice that caused Nayato to lower his visor.

Thing were about to get very serious.

[Radiant]

Nayato :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+2 XP
Socialization	+2 XP
Rhetoric	+1 XP
Weapon: Khopesh	+3 XP
Weapon: Buckler	+2 XP
Endurance	+2 XP
Tactics	+2 XP
Philosophy	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Combat: Dominant Foot As Main Source Of Movement

Combat: 'Charge' Technique

Khopesh: Three-Strike Combo

Buckler: Shield Bash

Loots

+5 Shield Points

Notes :

One step closer to Knighthood, Nayato! Good job!

Enjoy your grades!

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.