Adamon's Basic Dual Wielding Training (Self Mod)

[Adamon Mylenthar]

A whole pattern had passed since the vysstichi had last stepped into the training grounds of Demios. He was not the same anymore, had changed … almost beyond measure. Those few cycles he had spent on the island – before he had gone to Jaedaxia to fullfill a promise he had given – seemed as if they belonged to another life now, so impossibly far away and happier than they had really been. He had been innocent back then, a young, idealistic mortal man who wanted to become a priest and do a little good in a world that sorely needed it. All his illusions, all his ridiculous dreams had been shattered in not more than a few months … he had become bitter, had become darker. Aeternia had a hold on his soul now, a vampire owned him – the marks that decorated his chest were proof of that … and a goddess of the light loved him. He was torn between the darkness and the light, more than ever, wishing for redemption, for healing and not knowing how such a thing could be accomplished and driven by the unnatural hunger for blood at the same time …

He had become stronger and more powerful as well since his rebirth to darkness. Not more than an apprentice when he had first set a foot on the island, he was well on his way to mastership now. But there were enemies that could not be beaten by arcana, that could only be defeated in a physical fight, that could sever his connection to the astral plane with a mere thought. He had to learn more, must never stop training and improving if he wanted to survive, if he wanted to accomplish the goals he had set for himself, to become better than his maker. It was foolish to rely solely on arcana. His fight with the vampire Dainli’laen had shown him how fast his vis reserves could be exhausted … how little time it took to render him incapable of casting anything but initiate spells.

And of course his visit to the training grounds would give him an opportunity to see an old friend. Milthrandir the sea elf had been his teacher during his intermediate training. He had hated him at first, had hated him because he was a dark elf, but the hatred had soon turned into friendship. That had shown him that it was possible to put an end to racism, that an understanding between the races could be accomplished. As a mortal man he had made it his goal to bring the races of Telath together, to fight prejudice - he had almost been a saint – but he had cast that goal aside now. It was not up to him to accomplish that feat anymore. He was dead. How could the dead protect the living, fight for the living? It would be strange if a vampire fought for the very same creatures that provided him with food every night. That could not be his mission anymore.

How would Milthrandir react to the friend that had left so suddenly a pattern ago and showed up unexpectedly, literally returned from the dead? Would he realize that he had changed? Maybe it had been a foolish idea to look for his old teacher again, to talk to one of the few friends he had had during his mortal life, one of the few friends that were still among the living, that had not been murdered, suffered from the Pox or died a natural death. He had once been told to avoid those that had known him before, to sever his ties to the mortal world. But then again, things with Skay had worked out just fine. She was mortal and loved him, had never tried to betray him. She was the one who kept the darkness inside of him at bay.

„Daragin!“ he called the name of the dwarf who owned the training grounds. The short creature was still there, waiting if one last student would come before the school was closed for the night. As he heard the elf’s voice he looked up and frowned – he was not especially fond of those pointy eared people, but the frown soon made way to a puzzled expression. There was something faintly familiar about the young man in his black leather armor, with his elegant blue cloak … Had he been a student here before? He failed to see the unnatural in the vysstichi, saw only an ebony skinned youth, better dressed and a bit more confident than most … „Is Milthrandir here?“ the vysstichi asked as he came closer. Daragin nodded and called out his associate’s name.

A black haired man with greenish skin peeked out from a tent, wondering why he was being summoned. He scanned the training grounds – and then his gaze fell on the vysstichi. His eyes widened in disbelief, and then a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He left the tent at once. „Adamon!“ he exclaimed, studying his old friend closely. „What … happened? Why did you disappear so suddenly? Why did you only return to the island now?“ The vysstichi stood there quietly for a few seconds, wondering what he was supposed to say, how he should react. „I told you that I gave the man who saved me from the Pox a promise, didn’t I?“ The sea elf nodded. „I told him that I would find a woman for him. I found her, but there was a fight, and I was hurt. I’ve only recovered now. I haven’t been able to return to my beloved island until now …“ A sigh escaped his lips. He had told Milthrandir the truth after all … he had just left the part about the vampires out. He would not lie to an old friend.

„The most important thing is that you have recovered, that you are still alive …“ the sea elf stated. „Tell me, Milthrandir …“ the dark elf began. „Would you be willing to continue our training? I enjoyed the previous lessons …“ He drew the two long knives at his belt and showed them to the sea elf. „I want to learn how to use both of them at once. Had I been a better fighter things in Jaedaxia had turned out differently …“ He sheathed the knives again and removed a couple of banknotes from his pocket. The sea elf shook his head – he would not take money from a friend – but the vysstichi pressed the money into his hand and closed his fingers around it. Milthrandir shuddered for a brief moment. Adamon’s hands were cold … but then again, it was only spring, besides he had admitted to having been ill he quickly told himself. „Of … of course …“ the sea elf stammered as he pocketed the money. „Come with me to the hill where we trained the last time. I take it you still remember what I taught you?“


OOC: Permission to self mod given by GM Selene.

[Adamon Mylenthar]

„I do, Milthrandir …“ he answered. „I remember every single move that you taught me, every single attack, every detail of our fights. What I learned from you was useful to me. I don’t think I would have survived at all if it had not been for your lessons …“ The sea elf smiled and shook his head again in amazement. He still could not believe that his talented student had returned, that he was alive. Apart from that coldness of his hands the dark elf did not seem to have changed at all. He was still the same polite, thoughtful and ambitious young man, still the same elf that had approached him all those months ago. He had already recognized the elf’s potential then … Adamon would make it far in this world. He would succeed where others had failed.

A large crate stood on the hill where Milthrandir taught most of his lessons. He walked right up to it and opened it. „We won’t fight with real weapons for now,“ he explained. „No offense, but I’d rather not have to go to a healer to be sewn together again after this here is over. And I assume it’s the same for you …“ The vysstichi laughed softly – something as simple as a cut could not harm him, besides he could heal himself, he could heal both of them – but he let his teacher be. Practice weapons would do for now. He would have time to try his skill in a real fight later. He would not keep the elf from teaching the lesson the way he wanted to.

„Here …“ Milthrandir handed his student two wooden blades and took the two steel longknives to store them in the crate for now. „You’ve already learned how to slash and to parry. Now I want you to combine the two. I will attack you, and you will parry with one of your knives … push my blade aside, as far away as you can. This will create a gap in my defense that you can exploit …“ He took another pair of knives and waited for his student to get ready as well before he lunged forward …

The vysstichi immediately spun around, brought his right blade up to meet the sea elf’s and pushed it away before he thrust the second knife towards Milthrandir’s stomach. The sea elf jumped back so that the attack only met with air and smiled. „That was good …“ he remarked. „You are fast …“ The vysstichi only shrugged his shoulders and waited for his teacher to continue. „And now …“ Milthrandir said. „On to the next move …“

[Adamon Mylenthar]

„When wielding two weapons you must always keep one thing in mind, Adamon,“ the sea elf told his student. The expression on his face had become completely serious. He momentarily tucked his blades away and looked at the dark elf. „A good defense is a better offense. The more aggressive you are the the less your opponent can concentrate. Even more so if he is only wielding a single blade, most of the time if you keep the pressure he is forced to give up ground …“ The dark elf simply smiled and nodded. He had already watched fights between one who had had two weapons and one who had only had a single blade. The one with the single blade had often succeeded to parry the first attack, but his opponent had followed with an attack with his other weapon and hit.

It was one of the reasons for why he had chosen to learn this particular style of combat, for why he had not simply continued his lessons with the knife or the sword. He admired the grace of those fighters, their speed, their aggressiveness, preferred weapons that demanded dexterity from its user rather than brute force. The knives were his weapons. They were small and decidedly harmless looking – in comparison to a sword at least – and easily concealed. A knife fighter could keep his weapons hidden and appear unarmed, just like the vampire would always appear to be a harmless young man who had never even thought about taking a life.

„Even a skilled opponent – no, especially a skilled opponent –will know that he can not move fast enough to parry two advancing weapons and still be able to follow up with a counter …“ Those words were proof that the sea elf know what he was talking about. Milthrandir had long left his home in the water to claim the land for him and become a fighter – for reasons that would forever remain a mystery to his student. He missed the ocean sometimes, but all in all he enjoyed this life, enjoyed passing his knowledge on to others and helping them improve – especially when the student grasped the concepts he talked about as fast as the vysstichi. Little did he knew that the dark elf’s newfound strength and speed did not come from practice, but were of rather unnatural origin, that they were as much of a curse as they were a blessing. Using those abilities always came with a price … the need for blood.

„When entering a duel or a fight I have found it best to make an overhead slash and follow up with a trust …“ He stopped and simply stood there, readied his blades again, a sign that the other elf was supposed to attack. Adamon studied his teacher for a while, watched the way he stood, observed the way he held himself. Their eyes met for a moment, and then the vysstichi lunged forward. His right hand was already moving forward in a slashing motion so that the knife would come in contact just at the time that he stopped in front of his teacher. Milthrandir brought one of his knives up to parry the attack, but a thrust followed soon enough. Since the sea elf had wisely provided his student with a practice weapon, there was no real pain associated with the hit.

[Adamon Mylenthar]

„I assume you have already learned the cross slash during your basic knife training?“ Milthrandir arched an eyebrow and stepped back from his student to perform another move, to demonstrate what he meant with ‚cross slash’. He took his right blade, and, starting from a point in front of the vysstichi’s shoulder came down towards his left hip. „It’s quite an important maneuver …“ The dark elf smiled. „I have learned it, Milthrandir …“

’Learned it’ actually was the wrong word. He had never had basic training with any weapon. The knowledge how to wield a knife was due to the mystic’s tampering, a result of what had happened to him in the Pegasi Woods – but of course he would not tell his old friend that. Milthrandir would likely find the revelation that his student had not always been an elf, that he had already died twice find rather disturbing, and for now he wanted to continue their friendship, wanted to behave just like the young man he had been before.

„There are two more slashes …“ Milthrandir explained. „The horizontal slash …“ He drew a straight line in the air in front of the dark elf’s midsection. „… and the vertical slash …“ His knife went up and down. „Of course you can combine those slashes …“ He smirked and made a slash from Adamon’s right shoulder to his left hip before he followed up with a slash across the vysstichi’s midsection. „Quite a useful move, isn’t it?“

The vysstichi did not answer, but stepped forward and cut through the air with his blades. First came a slash from Milthrandir’s left shoulder to his right hip, and then another slash with his other knife, from the right shoulder to his left hip. The sea elf smiled – even though he had expected his student to say something rather than trying the attack out right away.

[Adamon Mylenthar]

„Here is another possible maneuver …“ Milthrandir said after a moment. „It’s simple … cross slash down to your right hip with your right hand – and cut a horizontal line across your shoulders with your left hand …“ As he spoke, the sea elf demonstrated the attack. His weapons went flying through the air. Every movement was perfect, flawless, he had practiced the attacks for patterns. The mere fact that he had been admitted as a teacher at a combat school was testament to his skills. The vysstichi watched him closely with a small amount of respect and admiration and then mimicked the attack. It was not too difficult … he had already practiced the individual moves a fair bit. The only thing that was really different was that he had to fight with two weapons this time, that he had to combine two moves into a single one, execute two attacks at the same time.

„Tell me, what could the point of such a move be?“ Milthrandir asked and put his knives down again. „It’s supposed to distract my opponent. He will concentrate on my first attack and try to parry it and not see my second one coming … or react to it too late …“ The sea elf nodded, agreeing with that. „That’s correct. You should practice this move and similar ones a bit on your own after we are done with this here. There’s always a chance that your arms will get all entangled, that your blows won’t be as effective as they should be because you move so fast and are thus unable to concentrate on a single attack. A bit of practice should take care of that problem …“ He smirked as if he was just picturing one of his students making a couple of strange looking moves and ending up hitting himself rather than his opponent.

„Remember that the moves I’m teaching you now only work if you are dealing with one person. If you fight multiple opponents you will have to use different methods - but those will come later. For now we are going to work on the basics …“ He tightened his grip around his sword again and shot his left knife into the air, curving it into a slash across what would have been an enemys neckline. His other blade went forward in a thrust. At a sign from him, the vysstichi did the same. He went through the move several times, paying close attention to the sea elf’s every movement to be sure that he would do things right.

[Adamon Mylenthar]

„And now try this move …“ Milthrandir said. The sea elf was not tired yet even though they had already practiced a fair bit. He was just getting into the right mood to fight, was just beginning to enjoy it. His student picked up the maneuvers fast. It was fun to teach him, amazing to fight with an old friend he had not seen in some time. If he had known the truth about what had happened to the vysstichi while he had been away from the island he would not have believed it. People tended to be blind towards the changes that those around them went through, especially if those changes were negative. „Try to mimick me again …“

He took his left arm in to cut across an invisible opponent’s midsection and at the same time did a stab at an angle up underneath his chin area. It was not quite a vertical stab, but it was not horizontal either. It was a compromise between both. The vysstichi watched him, taking note of the odd angle of the second attack and then stepped forward with his right foot, settled into the stance he had been taught during his last class. He began with a horizontal slash and followed up with a stab with his lefthand weapon at that rather odd angle. He performed the move several times, to be sure that he understood it, that he had gotten it right.

Milthrandir nodded approvingly as he put his knives down again. „Now … can you tell me which of the blows was the distracting one and which was the one that would have killed your opponent?“ he asked. „I’m quite sure that the first one was meant to be distracting and the other one was the killing blow …“ the dark elf answered with confidence. Milthrandir nodded. „That was a good answer. You can take a break now if you want, and then we will have a little fight so that I can see if you have understood what I taught so far …“

[Adamon Mylenthar]

But the vysstichi did not need a break yet. He could go much longer without sitting down and resting now. The long darkenings spent in the forest, hunting, had made him tougher. There had been times when he had not left his hideouts in caves or abandoned houses for cycles … he had spent much of the time in animal form, experiencing a freedom that was impossible for those that walked upon two legs. That had found an abrupt end though when he had met Skay, his draconic love. Still, the fact that it took more than a simple combat exercise to make him feel tired remained. His tolerance to pain had become higher, even if nothing was painless. Even the dead felt it when somebody drove a sword into their chest, the sensation was just a bit dulled, different.

Milthrandir nodded as if he instinctively knew of the other elf’s decision, as if there was an understanding between them that was not dependant on words. As soon as the dark elf had readied his blades, he attacked. His right blade came down in a slash from Adamon’s left shoulder to his right hip while he executed a thrust at the vysstichi’s stomach with his left blade. The undead’s eyes shimmered brightly as he realized what it was that the sea elf wanted to do. He brought his first blade upwards to block the slash while his other blade descended to parry the thrust. The parries had been executed with enough force that they stopped Milthrandir momentarily.

But he attacked again soon enough. Two horizontal slashes - one on the left side and one on the right side of his opponent’s head – that would lead to painful bruises followed soon enough. The vysstichi glanced at the rapidly approaching blades for a fraction of a second – he had not seen that attack before – before he brought his blades up in defense. The weapons made contact with a loud sound – and then the sea elf jumped bac and looked his student over. „Well done …“ he remarked – and immediately attacked again.

He made a slash from Adamon’s right shoulder to his left hip. The vysstichi brought his blade up to parry it, pushed his teacher’s blade aside and made a thrust at Milthrandir’s midsection. The attack was in turn parried by the sea elf. And so it continued for a fair bit. One attacked, the other one parried … until one of Milthrandir’s knives landed on the ground. One of Adamon’s followed soon afterwards … and then the sea elf stepped back.

„That is enough for now. I see that you understand the basics …“ he declared and gestured for his student to follow him back to the tents. „I have to admit I’m curious about your adventures. Would you mind telling me your story? There should be something to drink in one of the tents, a bit of wine. I hope you are going to stay longer …“ The vysstichi nodded. „I’ll tell you what I did while I was away, but I’m afraid I have to decline the offer of wine for now. My stomach tends to be rather sensitive. Maybe later …“ Milthrandir looked at him for a moment, then he shrugged his shoulders and disappeared in a tent, soon followed by the vysstichi.

[Minerva]

~Basic Dual Wielding approved by my hand!~