Continued from here.
Ymiden 81, Arc 721
Afternoon
“But we already have swords!” a young human male with curly brown hair, a stableboy, if Devin remembered correctly, interjected just as the Mortalborn was about to show his newest students how to stand correctly. “We have a few of them. We just haven’t been trained to use them properly yet”, he explained, and the two cat Cadouri maids nodded emphatically.
Devin just stood there for a moment, because he had been ready (and perfectly willing!) to fork over a few dozen onyx nels in order to supply people with swords and didn't know what to do now. If he didn’t have to buy swords, then he could buy them other things though. Maybe, he’d get his people shields – or armor – or Echo Scrolls, because fast communication was important in case of danger as well!
He’d buy Echo Scrolls for the heads of staff and the Barons, and maybe a few spare ones on top of it, he decided, before he turned to focus on the matter at hand again – which was …
… standing!
“Alright”, he said and cracked a smile. “Since this issue is actually a non-issue, we’ll move on with the lesson. I already said that standing when you are fighting and standing when you are just standing are different things. So, without further ado, let’s put our feet approximately shoulder-width apart, bend our knees slightly and position our feet like that”, he continued in an enthusiastic tone of voice before he drew his very shiny swords because it was about time people got to see them, and settled into his stance.
To his surprise, the ten or so employees that had decided to participate in the first of what would hopefully become regular lessons, did not all try to follow his example. Instead, some of them eyed the practice swords on the table with some measure of confusion.
He eyed his students with a similarly confused expression on his face for a few moments before he realized that he was holding a sword while they hadn’t been given any – which might be one of the problems here. So, he slipped his very shiny swords back into their sheaths, and proclaimed, with a smile that was even wider than before and utterly charming, “I just wanted to show you what the whole thing looks like. I’d like you to practice your stance without a weapon first though so that you can focus on your footwork and on nothing but that”, he said.
“The proper footwork can make a difference in a fight”, he added because that was pretty important. There were understanding nods all around, and the various employees tried to imitate him, some with more and some with noticeably less success, although the stable boy that had spoken before did not do so without asking another question – which Devin was fine with, of course, because it was a great question.
“What kind of swords do you have, by the way?” he wanted to know.
“Two shortswords made of a Grave Gold and Geminite alloy. Grave Gold is resistant to rust!” he proudly proclaimed because that was a pretty important trait in his opinion. Rusty weapons were ugly, and besides, using a rusty weapon in a fight probably put you at a serious disadvantage. He preferred to always win though – and look good while doing so!
Ymiden 81, Arc 721
Afternoon
“But we already have swords!” a young human male with curly brown hair, a stableboy, if Devin remembered correctly, interjected just as the Mortalborn was about to show his newest students how to stand correctly. “We have a few of them. We just haven’t been trained to use them properly yet”, he explained, and the two cat Cadouri maids nodded emphatically.
Devin just stood there for a moment, because he had been ready (and perfectly willing!) to fork over a few dozen onyx nels in order to supply people with swords and didn't know what to do now. If he didn’t have to buy swords, then he could buy them other things though. Maybe, he’d get his people shields – or armor – or Echo Scrolls, because fast communication was important in case of danger as well!
He’d buy Echo Scrolls for the heads of staff and the Barons, and maybe a few spare ones on top of it, he decided, before he turned to focus on the matter at hand again – which was …
… standing!
“Alright”, he said and cracked a smile. “Since this issue is actually a non-issue, we’ll move on with the lesson. I already said that standing when you are fighting and standing when you are just standing are different things. So, without further ado, let’s put our feet approximately shoulder-width apart, bend our knees slightly and position our feet like that”, he continued in an enthusiastic tone of voice before he drew his very shiny swords because it was about time people got to see them, and settled into his stance.
To his surprise, the ten or so employees that had decided to participate in the first of what would hopefully become regular lessons, did not all try to follow his example. Instead, some of them eyed the practice swords on the table with some measure of confusion.
He eyed his students with a similarly confused expression on his face for a few moments before he realized that he was holding a sword while they hadn’t been given any – which might be one of the problems here. So, he slipped his very shiny swords back into their sheaths, and proclaimed, with a smile that was even wider than before and utterly charming, “I just wanted to show you what the whole thing looks like. I’d like you to practice your stance without a weapon first though so that you can focus on your footwork and on nothing but that”, he said.
“The proper footwork can make a difference in a fight”, he added because that was pretty important. There were understanding nods all around, and the various employees tried to imitate him, some with more and some with noticeably less success, although the stable boy that had spoken before did not do so without asking another question – which Devin was fine with, of course, because it was a great question.
“What kind of swords do you have, by the way?” he wanted to know.
“Two shortswords made of a Grave Gold and Geminite alloy. Grave Gold is resistant to rust!” he proudly proclaimed because that was a pretty important trait in his opinion. Rusty weapons were ugly, and besides, using a rusty weapon in a fight probably put you at a serious disadvantage. He preferred to always win though – and look good while doing so!
