Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25101508-20140710153417/@comment-29458028-20140715133831

Sorin Steelfang shook Alyssa awake. While she did need a nap after her training, she needed more training. He led Alyssa to the courtyard once more, returning the raven to it's cage as it came flying in. He passed Kantar along the way, only nodding in acknowledgement.

Sorin Steelfang stood opposite Alyssa. He eschewed the iron swords for a pair of wooden swords, conveniently bought from a general goods merchant. Passing one over to Alyssa, he said "Well, part two begins now. You won't master the blade after so few lessons, but at least Leon won't be able to kill you that easily. Focus on defense and dodging!"

-

Alyssa ducked to her right as Sorin came in with a lunge. She instinctively swung the sword at him, only to have it knocked out of her hands, the wooden blade Sorin carrying hitting the back of her knee. She fell over and picked up her wooden sword again. Sorin said "I said focus on dodging, blocking and parrying. Do not attack."

Again, Sorin attacked, this time utilizing a wide, sweeping arc. Alyssa parried his blow and jumped back at the same time, following up with a sideways roll to duck under another swing. She blocked a vertical swing, then managed to parry yet another horizontal swing. Alyssa was feeling good when a stab came in, knocking her over. Sorin again admonished her "Focus! You do not have time to gloat in battle if your opponent is skilled."

"Well, I am trying, aren't I" said Alyssa, as she readied her wooden sword once again. The pair trained repeatedly, but Alyssa didn't show much improvement after Sorin floored her for the 9th time.

Sorin Steelfang sighed "Some people just can't learn. Lets try with fists again."

In unarmed combat, Alyssa did a fair amount better, successfully dodging most of Sorin's attacks without the encumbrance of a sword in her hands. She managed to get off a few attacks, but none hit Sorin, who was much more skilled. Alyssa finally surrendered, tired out again.

Sorin shook his head "You really suck at close combat. You don't need to waste energy dodging everything. Block with your fists! When you had a sword, you didn't even try!"

"Well, I tried my best. Just because you can kill an Akaviri blademaster within seven moves dosen't mean you are a good teacher."

Leon Steelfang stood before the bandit clan. Vladimir stood beside him, fully kitted out in dwarven gear, wielding a dwarven sword and shield. The other bandits were all outfitted in dwarven gear as well, taking weapons of their choice, some wielding magic. Leon proclaimed "Today, you shall train under me. Tomorrow, you will all be deadly assassins, mages and warriors."

The bandits cheered. They had a new sorceror-chief.

(The bandits are all already pretty skilled and experienced, so Leon has the guts to make big claims. They will all become deadly and fighting them later will be a chore, trust me.)