[Grand] Arken's Front Yard - Sword Training

[Arken Lancaster]

TS: 2nd Cycle of Ponutis, Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIV Post-Fractum

Arken Lancaster was anxious.

Of course it was only natural to be so considering that fact that his only sparring partner up to this point had been a scarecrow, well there was also his aunt but he didn't really consider that sparring. The woman practically ended their training sessions with one flick of the wrist, of course he didn't really expect that he would have a chance against his aunt but he had expected to have been able to at least block the initial strike.

Taking his swept-hilt rapier in hand, he tried to get a good feel of the weapon's weight in his hand. It was completely different from his training blade, much heavier - of course that wasn't the problem, he probably had muscles enough to lift a greatsword if it was needed, his problem was that it didn't behave the way he wanted it too. It always veered away from the target by a notch, which wasn't half bad had he been any ordinary swordsman. However the rapier demanded pin-point precision, if he didn't get over this problem of his he could quite possibly dissapoint Mizushin who had been kind enough to train him.

"I wonder what's taking him." Arken murmured.

The young noble took notice of the presence of leaves on the lawn and wondered if this front yard would accommodate the Thelyri's needs. It was probably big enough and there were no presence of vegetation besides the ones that crawled up the walls but maybe he should have woken up earlier so he could have trimmed the grass short.

Looking up at the sky, he wondered if Thelyri took to the heat well. Being sea elves and all that Arken supposed the sun may cause so discomfort to Mizushin, perhaps they should have chosen a different venue for their exercises.

[Mizushin Junzo]

"Getting anxious, aren't we?" The thelyri spoke, his voice suddenly appearing from somewhere to Arken's side. The sea-elf, contrary to Arken's thoughts, had no discomfort in the least from heat. What discomforted sea elves was dryness and the lack of humidity, rather than high temperatures. He strode forth steadily, looking at the young charge he had before him. Junzo eyed Arken for a moment, then glanced around the yard.

"All right, this will do. So, let us begin, shall we?" The thelyri nodded at Arken. He walked a short distance away from Arken, about six or so paces away and gestured at the young noble's sword. "Let's see how much skill you have so far. Draw your blade, young Lancaster, and demonstrate what you know and have been taught thus far." Before Junzo could teach him, he needed to know what Arken could do. This was far more important, due to the differences in their choice of swords. The thelyri could use most sorts of long blades, but nonetheless it never hurt to be careful.

He waited patiently for Arken to show what he could do, and eyed the young nobleman intently.

[Arken Lancaster]

The thelyri wanted him to attack first? Arken blinked at his teacher's demand. First and foremost, his technique's greatest strength was in it's riposte - the counterattacks. How was he to show what he was capable of without being given the opportunity to demonstrate his strengths in the first place?

Then again, attacking first - despite that being his style's greatest weakness happened to be something the impatient noble was more than willing to. How could he refuse such a request?

Arken unsheathed his swept-hilt rapier in one smooth motion and with one flick of the wrist, he had blade-point aimed at Mizushin's head. The young noble could tell that the thelyri was way beyond his league, but still, if he could at least force Mizushin to defend, that would be more than enough to prove himself, would it?

Shaking his head, the young noble cleared his mind of all thoughts. As he was trained to do he would focus solely on opponent and only the opponent, he couldn't afford any distractions. Even the hot-blooded Arken knew this. The key to prolonging the match would be figuring out the range of the thelyri's weapon, with that he supposed he might be able to avoid Mizushin's attacks - even by a fluke.

Without so much as a warning, Arken literally stomped on the ground using his right feet to propell himself into motion. Like a dart headed for it's target, the young noble extended his right hand as far as it could go and drew back the other behind him to further extend his reach.

It was a textbook lunge, but one he had perfected through countless days of training with a stationary target - of course that was a problem with this technique. As refined as it was, it was still a basic slash with little wasteful movement and no finesse, fast, effective but very easy to read.

[Mizushin Junzo]

The thelyri had asked Arken to make a demonstration of what he knew. Now, he had not taken into consideration that the hot-blooded fellow might have interpreted that differently from what Junzo had thought. Indeed, Arken had thought differently from the sea-elf. Junzo had intended that Arken simply display his knowledge by showing the basics of sword fighting, the stance, the grip and the basic attacks and motions. But he had not thought that Arken would display his knowledge on his own person.

Junzo's suspicion that something was a bit...amiss, started when Arken raised up his sword and pointed at the thelyri.What's this? He noted the young nobleman shake his head, as if clearing his thoughts. Then in a bit of alarm he realized that Arken had thought that Junzo was asking him to demonstrate his skills on his teacher. Just as the young man stomped his foot and made a lunge, the thelyri pulled out his katana smoothly. He shifted his body to his left, rather, Arken's left, and pushed the course of the thrust aside.

Arken's lunge caused him to go off-balance slightly. He found his arm quickly and firmly grasped by Junzo's left hand, strongly clamped on his sword arm's forearm. "That was interesting." He drew closer and looked at Arken. "But what I meant for you to do, young sir, was to just show me your skills. Not show them on my person." He withdrew his grasp and took a few paces back, not sheathing his sword. "But as you do seem so eager to show your skills, I shall oblige."

"So, let's go over the basics, shall we?" He allowed a slight smile, to help blunt any possible tension in the air. "Even I am familiar with that, as much sword fighting, and combat indeed, has some fundamentals which should be adhered to. Try again, young Lancaster. I want you to show me all the basic cuts and thrusts that you know." The thelyri took up a classic two-handed hold on his katana, its tip pointed at Arken's throat, as he awaited Arken's move.

[Arken Lancaster]

Arken's face turned beet red at the thelyri's words. He had completely misunderstood his teacher and was feeling much like a fool - a fool that had embarrassed himself utterly.

The thelyri didn't appear angry however, in fact there was a slight hint of a smile on Mizushin's face. His teacher brought up his blade in what appeared to be a classic two hand grip.

Arken bowed apologetically trying to salvage his dignity as best as he could. "I'm very sorry Master Mizushin, I was not aware of the proper decorum concerning training exercises. You see my aunt, my first teacher was a very..." the boy paused, trying to think of a word that could best describe his aunt. "...a very eccentric woman. Please forgive me, I didn't know that one had to observe certain protocols before a mock duel, she had always attacked me with little warning so I assumed that was only normal."

Arken waited for a response but apparently the thelyri was still waiting for him. The young noble knew that it was rude to make anyone wait, this time he took a few steps back from his teacher and after giving the older thelyri is slight bow he assumed a basic Lado Favorecido Forward stance where his dominant side would face the more experienced fighter.

Ideally, this stance would minimize the vulnerable target areas of his body by only exposing his strongest side, but considering that his opponent was of an entirely different caliber there was little if no real purpose at all to his form. Taking on a stance was simply something that had been hammered into the noble's head from when he was young, something that had been ingrained so deeply into his thought processes that assuming a stance - any stance, was second nature to the boy.

"Alright then, I will demonstrate my skills - however meager they might be."

With a flick of the wrist, his rapier was once more pointed in the direction of the thelyri.

"En Garde!" he said in a clear, singular tone.

Again the young noble moved forward, right foot first but instead of aiming for the man's torso, the young man decided to try and execute a feint thrust aimed at his teacher's left shoulder. Then perhaps, if luck was on his side he could deliver a light stroke aimed at his teacher's legs.

And then at the last moment it occurred to him.

He was not able to measure the length of Mizushin's blade.

"Not good." he muttered under his breath.

[Mizushin Junzo]

Junzo waited patiently, as Arken explained himself. He didn't think badly of the youth, he was well aware of the kinds of students one had to deal with, him being one such himself a time ago. After a few moments of that, the young Lancaster took up a basic stance. It was a narrow one, and one that was well suited for dueling. The thelyri was of the sort who practiced combat not only for duels, but for the field of battle as well, and was familiar with it.

Arken spoke again to signal that he was beginning, another statement here. He pointed his sword at Junzo, the blade points able a pace and a half away from each other. He then made a thrust at Junzo's arm. The thelyri saw the attack coming towards his arm, but noticed a lack of strength in his shoulders. The shift of weight however, was unmistakable. A feint? His eyes seemed to flash in realization, and yes, there it was, the sudden shift in the attacks' angle. A stroke flickered downwards towards his lower body, the true intent of Arken's strike.

This young man... Junzo shifted his weight to take a quick half step back, at the same time executing a light downward tap with the tip of his blade. The strike was enough to send Arken's cut on its way a bit too fast and without control. By the time he'd regained full control of his weapon, the thelyri had settled into his stance once again. ...talks too much. He looked at Arken without expression of emotion. "A feint, not bad. But I'd advise against relying on those too much until you've developed more control and speed."

The thelyri took an almost languorous step to his right, beginning to circle Arken in a counter-clockwise motion. "Defend." That was the sole word he said to Arken. He continued circling Arken for a moment longer, then began his attack. He made sure not to put a complete follow-through on them however. His initial strike was a simple overhead cut, which flowed into a left-sided crescent from Arken's point of view.

[Arken Lancaster]

"Defend."

Arken's eyes snapped open in response to the thelyri's instruction. Mizushin wasted no time in bringing down his sword in a simple but perfectly executed vertical slash. Immediately the boy took two steps backwards, right foot still in front while he shifted all his weight one behind him but apparently he was still in the range of the thelyri's attack.

There was something really different about this training session than what he had experienced under his aunt's tutelage. Something that sent a chilling sensation running down the boy's spine. Mizushin's movements were not wasteful but at the same time they were dynamic. This was far from the antics his aunt had treated him to during their sparring sessions. This time he had a proper teacher, and one who didn't appear to take him lightly.

Arken could feel his heart beating wildly, his muscles tensed and he could feel the rush of adrenaline that threatened to take over. The young noble felt obliged to return his teacher's respect tenfold - the thelyri had earned his admiration, he did not want to disappoint.

The young noble could see it, the sudden shift in the blade's bearing, the sword was moving to the left in a gentle arc that would send it veering to the right. Could he use Mizushin's momentum against him? Taking a dangerous risk, Arken pretended to move his rapier forward against his teacher, but this time while the intent was false the power he placed into the thrust was not lacking. His plan was simple, to cause the man's blade to slide against his and send it veering to the right.

In that moment, there would be an opening to the right and then perhaps he could land a well placed punch on the thelyri's chest.

[Mizushin Junzo]

In the course of Junzo's attacks, he vaguely felt the emotions that flickered across Arken's face. They were quick and faint, as they were in a fight after all never mind that it was one intended for training. It was enough for him to tell that Arken was getting into the fight however. The tension of muscles in the young boy was barely palpable in the sword he carried, as he made his move in counter to Mizushin's own.

The youth pushed his blade forward in an attempt to thwart Junzo's cut, but the effort was simply carried away by the speed and strength of his katana's motion. Foolish... Junzo thought, initially. But there was something different about it. As he flung the blade aside, off-balance and out of control once again, Arken came out of his narrow stance and attempted to throw a punch at the thelyri. The idea wasn't wrong, but motion was simply too slow and took too much time to execute, especially considering Arken's original dueling stance.

In any case, it was enough time for him to turn his shoulder and recieve the blow on it. The punch force was greatly diffused, due to various factors, such as not being able to hit at the proper angle and point of impact, Arken's untrained state, and most importantly, Arken's lack of punching strength. Let's see how you like this... Junzo shoved against Arken forcefully, forcing him to take a step back, his rapier down and hardly in a striking position. Junzo quickly took a step forward and brought his katana up in a slash that ended mere inches from Arken's collarbone. In a quick motion, the thelyri jerked the blade back from that threatening gesture to tap the blade of the rapier in Arken's hand with the flat of his own katana, forcing it down yet again. This time however, he kept his katana down to pin the rapier.

"Halt." Junzo spoke again, calling a stop to the brief fight. He had barely begun to breath any more heavily than he had at the start. Once he was sure that Arken wouldn't make any other actions, he took a few steps back and held his katana in a single grip at his right, taking a more 'at ease' position. "Take a breather, young Lancaster." Junzo began to pace around him, keeping his eyes centered on the nobleman. "Tell me, Arken Lancaster, how do you believe a rapier should be used? What sort of weapon do you think it serves as?"

[Arken Lancaster]

Nodding a soft affirmative to the thelyri's instructions, the young noble resheated his blade once more. This battle was an amazing learning experience. From this one battle he could tell how much more skilled the thelyri was from him, there truly was so much he could learn from Mizushin Junzo. This man is really... amazing. Arken thought before finally exhaling a breath he never knew he had been holding in, Arken finally allowed himself to relax some as he contemplated on the thelyri's question.

Crossing his arms the young man bit his thumb as he tried to recall what he had been taught a long time ago. "The rapier, from what I gather is a weapon originally created for the single purpose of one-on-one sword combat. The rapier is very very fast, but greatly lacking in power and it relies heavily in exploiting it's speed to produce counter-attacks that would be almost impossible with any other weapon. That being said, it's predominantly a thrusting weapon more than anything else." the young noble looked up at Mizushin his face still crunched up in contemplation.

"Do you think there is anything you can teach me master? Anything at all?"

[Mizushin Junzo]

Junzo's eyebrow arched at Arken's words. "What do you think I've been doing this entire time? Dancing?" The thelyri snorted in amusement, though even that sound failed to sound undignified for some reason. "However, your teacher was right. The rapier is a weapon that does excel in single combat due to its speed. Thrust and cut techniques are the heart of rapier combat." His eyes locked with Arken's for a moment, emphasizing those words.

"Another important aspect of combat from which all the attacks of the rapier are launched, indeed from which all combat derives, is the center of balance." He used his left hand to pat the lower part of his abdomen. "Center of balance! Without it, we cannot control our bodies. This is the effect of our stance, not just to change our attack profile or exposure alone, remember it." He continued his gradual, steady pace around Arken, never taking his attention of the young nobleman.

"Lastly, remember this, for this is the golden rule of most swordsmanship." Mizushin allowed a small smile at this. "If you can not do it fast. Do not do it." It was a very simple statement, but in it lay a commandment that ensured the life of a swordsman and tempered his self control. "There are few cases where you can afford to take your time with things. So remember that." He paused here, sheathing his katana as he did so. He carefully took these weapons out and laid them off to the side. Kneeling down, there was a small bundle which he unwrapped. From it, he took out two wooden swords, each reminiscent of their favored weapons. "Here!" He took the one which resembled a rapier and tossed it to Arken, while he stood with a bokken in his hand.

"Now, what we shall learn, young Lancaster," he had a predatory gleam in his eyes as he spoke, "are a few things. First you shall work on your grip and control, then your reflexes and speed, and on your balance." He stopped barely two paces away from Arken. "Our training has already begun, Arken. Do not forget." Junzo let a moment of silence appear just quick enough to be palpable before he barked, "Guard!" And with that action, executed a quick one-two slash which cut at the chest from one side then the other, coming in at Arken from the nobleman's left, then his right.

[Arken Lancaster]

The thelyri's attacks were fast and fluid.

If he had not been as tense as he was the young noble would not have been able to register the strike coming in from the left. In the split second before the attack connected Arken's took one, no - two steps back. What did the thelyri tell him? That balance was the key to perfect control? Suddenly aware of his bad form the young noble parried the first attack successfuly albiet poorly.

The second blow came almost instantaneously. However this time the young noble wasn't caught off guard. Form, grip, control and speed, all of these he attempted to integrate into his second defensive parry. He would not risk a counter-attack this time, the opponent was far too skilled to be caught in something as shabby as that.

He met the bokken with his wooden rapier, except instead of attempting to resist the strike he adjusted the angle of his hand in a subtle and gentle motion. Ideally this would cause the bokken to slide harmlessly against his weapon but knowing Mizushin this attack was probably only a prelude to a third strike.

Probably a thurst aimed at his chest.

Arken was aware that there were risks to every duel, but even in this sparring match he couldn't afford to be reckless. Instead of trying to adjust the bokken's bearing, the young noble pulled his wooden sword away as he retreated, taking three steps backwards before stopping to assume the Lado Favorecido Forward stance, except this time his wooden rapier was not aimed at Mizushin, but at his bokken instead.

[Mizushin Junzo]

Junzo's attacks had been fluid and swift, true. Or at least so it seemed to Arken's eyes. To Junzo, the attacks were indeed fluid, but not particularly swift, as they lacked the full strength of his stance and form behind them. They were executed to test Arken's reactions, not to overpower and strike the youth down.

The nobleman's reactions to Junzo's offense had been to retreat and reposition himself, rather than to take the initiative and counter-attack. It wasn't wrong in itself, but the sea-elf hoped that this wasn't a sign of Arken's normal personality. Withdrawing from the exchange could be a tactical move, but as long as it did not reflect fear or such. Arken's actions and the way he pointed his sword at Junzo's bokken did not go unnoticed. The thelyri raised an eyebrow slightly at this, noting Arken's shift in attention.

He lowered his blade at this point and took a step back. "Hmm. Perhaps we are going about this the wrong way." Junzo murmured, as he paced around Arken. "Young master Lancaster, at ease." He waited for the youth to relax before he spoke again. "As I mentioned, we would be strengthening and refining certain of your abilities and techniques. For the first, we shall work on your grip. Here is how we shall do this..."

Junzo went from there into a quick explanation of the exercises that Arken was to do. He tasked Arken to execute all the basic thrusts and cuts he knew in succession. All along, while Arken was doing so against an invisible target, Junzo would be standing beside him and observing his series of attacks. Every now and then, the thelyri would raise his bokken and quickly deliver a rap or a soft, but quick, strike on Arken's own wooden blade at the lower half.

[Arken Lancaster]

Time seemed to slip by unnoticed, it was only when the sky had turned dim did the young noble realize that they had been practicing for much longer than he had imagined. Exhaustion caught up on him and shortly after, the pang of hunger did too.

"Master Mizushin, are you hungry?" he asked the sea-elf, his tone still jovial despite having gone through the most difficult training he had ever experienced.

Arken and wiped the sweat on his brow with the back of his hand. Candlemarks spent in demonstrating various kata which were the core of his style had taken much out of the young noble. There was also pressure, unlike his previous self-training sessions here he felt the need to perform. Every cut, thrust, counter-maneuver he could manage he used against his imaginary opponent. In his mind, he was fighting a mirror-image of himself in a duel to the death.

Of course that wasn't all there was too it, the sea-elf had corrected him wherever he made a mistake. Mizushin was a brutal teacher yes, but that was why he was good. Arken never felt this good during training before, there was a constant need to impress. He was able to take the thelyri's lessons to heart and apply what he had learned up to this point into each motion no matter how minute.

A thought then crossed the noble's mind. A serious expression formed on his face while he asked himself. What do thelyri eat anyway? Would they prefer seafood? Or could it be that serving fish would be an insult in the extreme.

This was a predicament.

[Mizushin Junzo]

The thelyri took stock of the afternoon's training, the hours slipping from the hazy glow of orange to the light-punctuated shades of dusk. For the most part he had focused on making sure that Arken practiced his arm work. It was a curious exercise, something which the thelyri himself had realized that he might have not focused on.

Generally speaking, combat drew strength from the body as a whole, functioning as an organic mechanism which based force from the very tip of one's toes, channeling it through to the very point of contact, as was the case with executing the fluid strikes he did with his katana. He'd developed a full fighting style and form that supported it, of course, but this aspect of training had reminded him that he as well needed to remember to continuously strengthen the minute aspects of sword fighting.

"Ah, dinner is it?" Junzo turned to Arken at the mention of hunger. The thelyri considered it, then nodded his agreement. "Yes, that should be fine for now. You need to rest and take some food to replenish your energy," He paused as he nodded at the young man, "you had best stretch out your muscles a bit, gradually and carefully, to ensure that you don't suffer too much fatigue and pain from them later on. Cool your body slowly." It was something he'd learned himself, experience gained from many hours of training himself.

"Tomorrow we shall continue of course, and tomorrow we shall focus on two things..." He looked at Arken pointedly, "honing your sense of balance and refining your reflexes." Junzo grinned at this point. "So you had best take care of yourself well, boy." He chuckled softly as he picked up his weapons, taking the wooden duplicates with him. He knew that Arken would be suffering a bit of a backlash shortly from the strain on his muscles. Quite soon... He strode towards the townhouse, and would so go onto the dinner that was to be prepared for them. Tomorrow they would continue, for now, they had much to speak about.

[Arken Lancaster]

Honing his sense of balance and his reflexes? The young noble wondered what the thelyri had in mind. It was still early, but already Arken was pacing back and forth on his front yard. It was best to start early, after all he needed to warm up for whatever exercises the sea-elf would have him run through.

Drawing his rapier from its sheath, the young man shifted into his forward stance this time taking extreme caution of how he held his weapon. He made sure to grip the hilt tightly but not so much that he sacrificed it's mobility. Flexing his arms slowly, he went through the various warm-up exercises as not to strain his body so early in the morning, after he had built up a little sweat he figured it was about time to start practicing.

Arken started thrusting into thin air, in his mind he was fighting an enemy once more - only this time he imagined a much faster, much tougher opponent that he had faced yesterday. He was happy about his progress, but there was one thing that was bothering him.

"I was not able to ask him about the fish!" he said in sudden realization.