• Solo • The Duel, Part 2

[Devin]

Continued from here.

Ashan 50, Arc 722

“You really should be using a smallsword instead, Your Grace”, Jessil pointed out when Devin showed him his Grave Gold and Geminite shortswords and flashed him an absolutely brilliant smile, revealing his perfect white teeth in the process. He didn’t look impressed, at least not as much as Devin had expected him to, considering how very shiny and expensive his weapons were. That irked the Mortalborn slightly, to be honest.

“Smallswords are specifically intended for dueling”, Jessil continued. “They are slender, fast and very light, and it’s easy to prick an arm and a leg with them, without seriously wounding your opponent. Shortswords are beefier and more suited to actual battles. I have to admit, Your Grace, I expected you to at least have fought some duels when I decided to challenge you. Have I been wrong?” he wanted to know and raised one of his perfectly groomed dark eyebrows questioningly.

“Nah”, Devin replied instead of admitting that he knew next to nothing about dueling, apart from the fact that duels involved two people fighting, for a variety of different reasons. “I just thought that we might as well be using more dangerous weapons, considering how skilled we both are”, he claimed and grinned. “But fine. We’ll be using smallswords, if it suits you. I don’t really have a preference. I can fight with all kinds of blades”, he said, put his very shiny swords back where they belonged and grabbed a pair of smallswords made of steel, one for himself and one for Hessil.

He had half expected Jessil to change his mind because he didn’t want to be taken for a coward, but the Lysorian simply smiled brilliantly, bowed in a somewhat dramatic fashion and took the smallsword, checking how it felt in his hands and how it was balanced before he inclined his head slightly. It seemed as if he approved of it, Devin decided.

“I prefer to follow a certain set of rules and a certain code”, he explained in that certain tone of voice that was oh so arrogant but also sweet as honey and quite appealing. “It tends get you further and increase your fame more than randomly hitting people with a sword, or several of them, and pretending that it’s a proper duel. Not that I would ever accuse Your Grace of such, of course”, he claimed and smiled seductively.

“Of course not”, Devin replied and smiled back in much the same way before he gestured for Jessil to follow him. He had to admit, he was enjoying this, more than he thought that he would, even though Jessil was a bit of an ass (of the two-legged rather than one the four-legged variety, of course) – or maybe because of it. Jessil was an ass – a good-looking, sarcastic ass – and he planned on defeating him utterly and completely, in front of everybody.

Before long, they had changed into outfits that were more suitable for dueling – they offered some protection for the vital areas while not restricting your movement in any way – and then they were finally on their way to the garden where the duel would be taking place.

Devin was pleased to notice that a number of residents of the Barony were already waiting for them. Someone had procured a couple of chairs for people to sit on, and there were food and drinks as well. It was just like he had hoped that it would be – a small event rather than a normal duel.

He smiled radiantly at his audience because he enjoyed being the center of attention – until his gaze fell on two people in particular. His parents – his mortal parents - were sitting there as well. While his father merely seemed to be curious, his mother definitely didn’t look pleased. In fact, “not pleased” might have been the understatement of the arc!

[Devin]

Emma Thorn nearly seemed to be fuming when she marched over to Devin, but upon reaching him, the expression on her face became much gentler, and she wanted to know, “Do you really have to do this? People already know that you are quite skilled with a blade. Fighting when you don’t have to doesn’t make any sense to me. Besides, I’m worried about you”, she admitted. Once upon a time, she might have thought differently about duels, or fighting for sport, but her husband and she had feared for their life in Rynmere. Besides, they had only just been reunited with their son.

“And you, young man”, she said and pointed at Jessil who raised an eyebrow slightly before he smiled charmingly at her. “I do not understand what the appeal of travelling around Scalvoris – and beyond – and challenging people to a fight is. If you really want to make a living with your sword, protect the island instead. Scalvoris faces problems on a regular basis. The island could use people like you”, she told him.

For a moment, it seemed as if Jessil would simply ignore the grey-haired lady in front of him – Emma Thorn was not as persuasive as her son was, not by far - but then he bowed deeply to Devin’s mother and told her in a tone of voice that was both very serious and utterly charming at the same time, “I appreciate that you are so concerned about your son’s wellbeing, ma’am. I wish that I still had a mother and that she cared about me. I promise that I will take good care of His Grace. It will only be a fight until first blood, nothing more, just a comparison of our skills.”

“As for what the appeal of dueling is”, he continued. “People have always enjoyed finding out who is better at something, and dueling provides a relatively controlled environment to do so when it comes to combat. Here”, he said, abruptly walked over to the chairs, took two empty ones and placed them right next to where they’d be fighting. “From here, your husband and you will be able to keep an especially close eye on us and make sure that we are doing this properly. Again, I appreciate your concern ma’am”, he assured her before he turned back to Devin.

While Devin’s parents hesitantly took the offered seats, Devin looked at Jessil in confusion because that had been highly unexpected. He’d expected Jessil to make fun of him, or his mother, or both of them, but instead, it seemed almost as if he had been touched by his her concern. It didn’t make any sense to him. He’d already pretty much come to the conclusion that Jessil was a bit of an ass, but someone that was an ass wasn’t nice to old ladies.

At least, he didn’t think so.

“Love your mother and spend time with her as long as you still can, and be glad that she cares”, Jessil told Devin in a slightly melancholic tone of voice before he abruptly straightened himself and marched to the center of the area where they would be fighting.

He was back to being his usual arrogant self.

“I will”, Devin assured him in a firm tone of voice. “I almost lost my parents, and I didn’t find out about it until much later”, he added, feeling much less embarrassed about his mother’s action now, before he joined Jessil.

They stretched a bit, to warm up before the fight.

When they were done, Devin gestured for Aidan and Marvin, the cadouri chief engineer to walk over to them. Turning back to Jessil, he explained, “We need someone to watch us and play the part of the referee in case it isn’t clear who of us strikes first blood. Aidan is quite a good swordsman, but Marvin is more observant. Together, they should do a decent job. Provided that you are willing to oversee our duel, gentlemen?” he asked.

Both men nodded and positioned themselves left and right of Devin’s parents.

A moment later, Devin and Jessil stood facing each other, their swords lowered. Jessil bowed to Devin, and Devin bowed to Jessil. At a sign from Marvin who seemed to be quite excited about the fact that he had been given such an important task, they raised their swords and …

… began.

[Devin]

“I’ll let you go first”, Jessil replied in an almost overly generous tone of voice and added, “You might need it.” Having said that, he flashed Devin a brilliant smile and waited.

Devin knew exactly what his opponent was suggesting. Jessil was more or less suggesting that he was less experienced and that he needed every advantage that he could get. He briefly wondered if he should be irritated, but then he decided that you didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If Jessil wanted to give him an advantage, he’d gladly take it!

So, he advanced, blade extended towards Jessil. Jessil responded by extending his blade as well.

Devin didn’t march straight towards his opponent though, and he definitely didn’t rush towards him.

Instead, he briefly pretended to look at something behind Jessil’s shoulder. His eyebrows rose, and his eyes widened as if he had noticed something very interesting – something very interesting that wasn’t there. He was quite excellent at pretending to see interesting things that weren’t really there. He was in fact so good at it that it was very hard to tell that he was lying.

His body language was just right!

Devin had decided that he wanted to do this properly, that he wanted to play by the rules for the most part because that would increase his fame more – and he wanted Scalvoris, and the rest of Idalos, to recognize him as a swordsman of far above average skill - but there was nothing wrong with a little deception and a little feint every now and then, right?

Besides, it made the show more entertaining, and he wanted to also give people a great show!

For just a moment, Jessil turned his head and looked behind himself. Devin took advantage of the situation and quickly closed the distance, driving his opponent back with a few quick and precise strikes with his sword. For just a moment, there was barely any space between the two men, and then Jessil abruptly pushed Devin back and regained the initiative.

The Lysorian was too experienced a swordsman to get in serious trouble due to one moment of inattention!

Before long, he had gained the upper hand – and didn’t lose it again. Devin just about managed to parry his opponent’s attacks and rarely had the opportunity to make a counterattack.

Jessil was good. He was more than just good, in fact, although Devin would never admit that out loud.

They moved back and forth. Sometimes, they changed direction. Sometimes, they moved in circles.

Jessil was always the driving force, the one that determined the direction of their little duel.

Devin had mostly relied on his skill with blade so far because revealing everything that you were capable of right away was a bad strategy, but he decided that it was finally time for one of the aces that he had up his sleeve and that would hopefully prevent him from losing now.

Whenever Jessil tried to close the distance, he quickly moved out of the way of his attack. He spun around. He ducked. He twisted his body in ways that would have given a less experienced acrobat a bad case of lumbago. At one point, he simply jumped back.

His goal was to either tire Jessil out, or confuse him so much with his acrobatic moves that he wouldn’t be able to react to an incoming attack in time anymore, or both, and he was having a lot of fun, even though it irked him slightly that his opponent refused to give up or go down.

Jessil on the other hand was having a lot less fun. During a short pause, when they found themselves some distance away from each other again, he actually muttered, “Would you please stop jumping around for a moment, Your Grace? How am I supposed to hit you first if you simply move away whenever I attack you? Do me the favour!”

Devin laughed before he remarked, “I could stand still, but where would the fun in that be? Besides, it makes for an entertaining show, doesn’t it? Come on, Jessil, try a little harder!”

Jessil who had been mildly irritated by Devin’s acrobatic antics before risked a glance at their audience, smiled radiantly at them and bowed before he closed the distance again.

“As you wish”, he proclaimed.

As for the audience? Devin’s mother still looked a little worried. His father considered himself to be wonderfully entertained. The cook and her son cheered him on. Marvin still looked extraordinarily proud and excited, and Aidan who had nearly swooned in Jessil’s presence before seemed to have himself under control and was paying attention now.

It helped a great deal that Jessil wasn’t looking at him and being seductive anymore.

Aidan could handle himself as long as the swordsman from Lysoria wasn’t looking at him like that!

[Devin]

Devin’s acrobatic moves had given him a bit of an edge, but there were two problems that he could see: He wasn’t sure when the best time to attack again and try to gain the upper hand would be, and he was also worried that his audience would grow bored if he didn’t do anything but jump around and duck and turn his body this way and that way!

As he waited for Jessil to advance, he wondered what he was supposed to do about that, and then the Lysorian was already there, and there was no more time to think. Jessil raised his sword, attempting to execute a diagonal cut, and Devin quickly stepped out of the way of the attack, his sword in front of him.

A moment passed, and then Jessil changed the angle of his sword and followed him.

He always followed him. Through his sheer skill at acrobatics Devin had been able to avoid being hit so far, but no matter what he did, Jessil was always there before long, ready to attack again. His goal had been to confuse Jessil so much that he wouldn’t be able to react to his, Devin’s, attack in time anymore, but things weren’t going quite the way that he had planned!

Devin frowned a little before he jumped aside again. The next time that Jessil advanced towards him, he didn’t just move out of the way of the attack. He glanced left, as if he were going to move that way, and then he quickly jumped to the right and spun around, his sword pointing straight towards Jessil. For a moment, it seemed as if he would finally be lucky, but then his sword made contact with Jessil’s sword rather than his body.

Someone applauded.

The next round began.

Devin was feeling a little warm at this point, but he was far from exhausted yet. A bit of sweat was beading on Jessil’s forehead, but just like the Mortalborn, he still had a lot of energy left.

More than enough to defeat the Baron!

Jessil grinned as he moved towards Devin again. Devin moved out of the way of the attack, trying to make it unclear whether he would be going left or right or simply move back before he advanced. He had come to the decision that it was time for the second ace that he had up his sleeve, so he countered with a series of quick, straight jabs, or so it seemed.

He altered all of them horizontally, and he executed his attacks in rapid succession. Jessil blocked all of them just in time though, forcing Devin to quickly retreat once more.

When he attacked again, the Mortalborn didn’t simply move towards him, but quickly moved to the left, twisting his body slightly in the process, and executed another two brief feints, followed by an immediate powerful lunge towards his opponent. Jessil was a highly skilled swordsman, but that only made Devin more determined to defeat him.

Somehow.

Sword met sword once more. Another round began. Jessil was still doing quite well, but sometimes Devin actually got lucky – well, almost. No matter what he did, he hadn’t made Jessil bleed so far. He executed another series of feints, changing the direction of his blade at the last moment.

Jessil moved to parry again.

Their swords neared each other. A moment later, Devin winced – and so did Jessil. The two men stared at each other incredulously for a moment, and then they lowered their swords at the same time. Devin pulled his sleeve up and narrowed his eyes as he inspected the thin cut on his left arm. Jessil was quite irritated by his cut that was a little lower.

“That might leave a scar, Your Grace”, Jessil remarked in a tone of voice that managed to be both sarcastic and utterly charming at the same time. “A small scar, but still definitely a scar”, he continued before he turned to look at Aidan and Marvin expectantly.

“Well, you might get a scar as well”, Devin retorted and tried to smile even more charmingly than Jessil before he decided that he would treat his cut as soon as possible in order to minimize the risk of him getting a scar. Some people admired warriors that had scars and thought they were very strong and brave, but he didn’t want one regardless.

Having come to that decision, he turned to look at Aidan and Marvin as well. How would they decide?

Aidan and Marvin whispered something to each other. Aidan said something, but Marvin shook his head. Aidan frowned, before he let out a deep sigh.

“We’ve come to the decision that it’s a draw. You hit each other at the same time, or so close after each other that we couldn’t tell the difference, at least, Congratulations, gentlemen”, he proclaimed, and the audience proceeded to applaud. Even Devin’s mother clapped her hands – and she looked almost overwhelmingly relieved.

“You still need to practice a bit before you will be capable of defeating me”, Jessil pointed out after he had bowed and smiled, thanked everybody and enjoyed the audience’s attention sufficiently. “I think that we should fight again sometime in the near future. What do you think, Your Grace?” he asked and raised an eyebrow slightly.

“So do you”, Devin replied. He had been irritated by the fact that he hadn’t been able to defeat Jessil at first, but a draw against a master of the blade was a pretty great thing, everything considered; and besides, people seemed to have loved watching. He bowed as well and smiled radiantly at the audience, and then he turned to Jessil again. “I’d love to fight you again sometime”, he said and extended his hand for the other man to shake.

Jessil accepted the handshake.

A moment later, Talieson, the bard, Devin’s other roommate, stepped forward, Devin’s medical kit in one hand and a bottle of fine wine in the other hand. “I didn’t know what you wanted or needed more, so I decided to bring you something to treat your wounds with and celebrate the outcome of your duel”, he explained and handed both items to Devin who accepted them with a radiant smile and bowed to his friend.

A moment later, when Jessil extended his arm towards him, he frowned before he nodded reluctantly and inspected Jessil’s cut. Having come to the decision that it unfortunately wasn’t deep enough to require stitches, he disinfected it, applied some ointment that would speed up the healing process and expertly wrapped a bandage around it.

Once he was done, he disinfected his own cut that didn’t require stitches either, but that had begun to sting a little now that most of the adrenaline had worn off, put some ointment on it – and gestured for Aidan who had some skill in medicine himself to come over and put his hand on the bandage so that he would be able to wrap it around his arm properly.

Once he had checked the bandage to make sure that it was tight, but not too tight because that wouldn’t be good at either, he looked at Jessil again who had helped himself to some of the wine in the meantime – and who was eying Talieson with unmistakeable interest. Was he … by the Immortals, was he flirting with his other roommate now?!

He muttered something under his breath, just as Jessil turned to face him and poured him a glass of wine.

“Let’s celebrate, Your Grace, shall we?” the Lysorian asked and smiled, and they both raised their glasses in a toast. Before long, their audience joined them and congratulated them. Devin’s mother walked over to her son and hugged him while his father simply patted him on the back. Everybody was enjoying themselves and having a lot of fun.

And Jessil was definitely having the most fun out of all of them. He was still standing very, very close to Talieson, but he also winked at Mrs. Adams, the cook, a widow that was at least ten arcs his senior – and that didn’t seem to mind the attention of such a young man at all!

[Jackalope]

Could it be? Devin Thorn von Smooglenuff meets his match, not only in sword fighting but in showing off, smiling brilliantly, and flirting seductively with man and woman alike?! Preposterous! This will not stand!

I was actually impressed with how Devin put up with this “ass” and the challenge he presented. I like how Devin never seems to act petty or threatened by such competition. I also like how you make the antagonist smug and annoying without being completely unsympathetic. I can see people liking him. I still would like to see Devin put him on his butt, though.

Enjoy your rewards!

Devin

• Renown: 10
• Injuries: A scratch on his left arm. It won’t leave much of a scar, and Devin can flex his muscles for people trying to look for one!
• XP: 10
• Knowledges:
  • Deception: There's something behind you!
  • Combat: Blades: Driving your opponent back with quick and precise strikes
  • Tactics: When fighting, don't reveal everything that you are capable of right away!
  • Athletics: Using acrobatic moves to avoid your opponent's attacks
  • Combat: Blades: A series of straight jabs, altered horizontally
  • Combat: Blades: Executing feints and immediately following up with a lunge