Jake was prepared to be escorted out of the Warrior complex to be trained, but he wasn't ready for where Darius brought him. At the floor level of the Warrior Association building, a tunnel had been dug into the wall which led to a massive training dome tucked away. Guards were even posted at its entrance to keep those without permission out. The room was large enough to supply plenty of room to several squads and entire platoons could conduct small movement exercises. However, it wasn't a free-for-all. Most of the spaces seemed to be 'owned' by the teams training within them, as labels and signs were set in the rock to show who was currently in ownership of the area. However, Darius ignored one of the signs as he led Jake into a large circular space towards the back of the dome.
Several warriors that were training around them threw Jake a few quick glances and also looked at Darius quite a bit but the Elf ignored their judgemental gazes. He took his spot at the center of the large circle and then turned to face his new student. Jake wanted to observe the other warrior teams a bit longer but that wasn't why he was here. Jake stopped a short distance from the Elf, a bit closer than he normally would, and prepared for his lesson. Darius stared at him, the golden eyes of the Elf sizing Jake up once more.
"Since you've been trained by Mur, I trust you have an understanding of the basics, yes?" Darius placed his hands on his waist and set his feet, taking a bit of a towering stance over Jake. The Elf had almost four inches on the boy and there was plenty of age behind his eyes. It was surprising to see such color still within them. Jake wondered how old Darius truly was.
"Enough to survive with, I guess," Jake answered, shrugging off the answer for the most part. Mur hadn't ever given any formal instruction on how to fight and the few tips he was given were hardly done in any professional manner. Jake was mostly told to figure it out on his own after being given a stick to swing. After being thrown into the ring enough, the boy developed his technique to a level where he could at least survive against the Maedra. It was nothing excessive. Nothing that would win him a formal duel with rules and boundaries.
"Good," Darius spat. Jake raised his eyebrows. "If you had, I would have had to beat them out of you."
Jake clenched his teeth and swallowed a lump in his throat.
Darius plucked his blades from his waist and then motioned for Jake to do the same. The boy still had Darius's knife, so he held that in one hand and drew out his dagger in the other. Then, Darius took a stance. It was a low one. His right hand went back to his side, his left raised partially in front of him, and his hips twisted to stagger his feet. His right foot angled off partially to the side, while both his left foot and left blade stuck out straight towards Jake.
"Copy me," Darius said. Jake nodded and stared hard at Darius, slowly moving to mirror the stance. As he was moving, Darius tilted his sword and pointed its tip at Jake. "Wait, you're left-handed?"
"I am," Jake said. Darius nodded and switched positions, flipping his hands and feet. It was the same stance, just opposite.
"Alright. Now mirror me." He said. Jake tilted his head, but then he realized why Darius had moved. Jake was left-handed and the subtle adjustment would place his left hand behind him.
The right hand was for parrying. The left was for attacking. With Jake having more natural control over his left, keeping that arm loaded and ready to deliver powerful blows was the more strategic move. His right hand, a bit sloppier and less accurate, was still formidable as a defensive tool. Especially since Jake hadn't trained in the dual-handed style. Unfortunately, it seemed that he would need to learn to fight all over again.
Jake switched his feet, planting his right firmly forward while raising the tip of his knife to point toward Darius. The Elf's head practically sat atop the very tip of the knife's edge in Jake's view. Once he was ready, he checked himself to ensure he was proper and then looked at Darius for his next instruction. The Elf nodded.
"Don't move," Darius said. He withdrew his weapons and approached. With his hands, he began to move Jake's body. He adjusted the boy's hips first, kicked at his feet to slide them into place, and nudged at his knees to make them bend slightly. "Never lock your knees," he pointed out.
"Why?" Jake asked, keeping his eyes straight ahead as the Elf fixed him.
"Cuts off the blood flow. Stand like that too long, and you'll pass out," Darius returned. He nudged at Jake's left arm, shifting it further back and tilting it so the blade was almost parallel with the floor. Then, he twisted Jake's grip on the handle, angling the blade forward. He then tapped at Jake's right arm, lowering it. Like with the left hand, adjusted the boy's hold on the knife, raising its edge slightly. Jake immediately noticed why. With just that slight adjustment, his view had widened.
"Comfortable?" He asked. Jake nodded.
"A little awkward. Easy to react with." Jake hadn't used such a stance, but he could already visualize how he would react to being attacked while in it- or how he would move to the offensive. The position allowed for both. While it did open his back to a potential flanking attack, the angle of Jake's hips would allow him to twist out of the way. His feet were also both pointed at an angle in the same direction. Moving away from such an attack wouldn't require any extra energy. Of course, all of that would rely on him standing entirely still. In combat, stillness meant death. But it would work for a starting point.
"Most teachers will tell you to square your hips. Some will tell you to minimize your exposed body. Others will favor both hands forward or any number of areas- but they rarely recommend putting one behind you. Do you know why this stance ignores those rules?" Darius stepped around Jake and stood at his back. The boy stared straight ahead for a second but then looked to his right over his shoulder to stare at Darius. That's when Jake realized that the Elf was standing there for a reason.
"....I can attack behind me."
"Turn your hips. Rotate your hands and invert your stance." Darius ordered. Jake moved as instructed. His hips snapped. His wrists twisted. And his toes flipped.
Now, he faced behind him with his sword positions flipped so his left was facing ahead and his right was angled to his side. It was the exact same stance- just now he was ready to attack in the other direction.
"The only blind spot is here," Darius placed a finger on Jake's back, the exact center of his spine. "No matter which way you stand, if you want to see or attack me you will have to turn in order to do so." Darius retracted his hand and then stepped slowly to the left, putting himself in view again. "But, you specifically won't have to."
"Why is that?" Jake asked, lowering his daggers. Darius kicked his leg. The muscle spasmed and Jake nearly folded at the knee.
"I never said lower them," he hissed. Jake clenched his teeth and lifted his weapons again. His muscles were starting to tire.
"You know magic," Darius said as he slowly began to walk in a circle around Jake. "That stance you are now in was developed by the High Elves of the Enderwood forest. It is a simple-looking stance but it is versatile and effective for your skill set. It trades offensive capabilities for a wide defensive arc and it allows the Mage to react smoothly to threats fore and behind. For Battle Mages, or Sword Singers as the High Elves called them, it is a stance that allows you to utilize your magic to its fullest in tandem with your blade work."
Jake blinked, his eyes locking with Darius as the Elf stopped in front of him. The tall, silky-haired being folded his arms over his chest and tensed his jaw for a second.
"Sword Singers?" Jake repeated.
"Yes. Sword Singers. I won't bore you with their history so just know they have quite the reputation," Darius huffed and his eyes rolled. Why, Jake didn't know. Maybe the Elf had a history with the Sword Singers?
"Why teach me this?" Jake asked. He was both curious to know the thinking for teaching him such a stance but Jake also wanted to know why the Elf would share a technique from his own kin with a Human. From their initial meeting, Jake got the feeling that Elves and Humans weren't exactly friendly with one another.
"Because it suits you best," Darius said flatly. After a brief pause his arms lowered and he stepped forward. He placed a finger on the tip of Jake's dagger and glowered down at him. "I hate Humans. I hate your people, I hate what your kind has done to mine. However, that hate I have does not apply down here within the Ravine. I hate the Maedra far more than I hate your kind, and from what I have heard- you're very good at killing them. So, I'm going to make you even better at it." Darius flicked Jake's dagger and then drew his own blades again. He stepped over to Jake's side and assumed the same stance.
"If teaching you this style means you become more effective, then I can put aside my hate for just a little while. Besides, I'm too old to make much of a difference anymore." A heavy sigh fell from the Elf's lips with the last bit. Jake blinked and looked up at the Elf, his desire to learn of his experience now burning even more.
"Turn around to favor your left hand. It's time to teach you how to fight." Not giving Jake the opportunity to linger on that desire, Darius quickly ordered him to adjust to his preferred stance again. Jake did so and stared straight ahead.
"The Sword Singer style relies on magic. However, when Magic is too difficult due to proximity with the enemy, you must use your hands and feet. The style does not work to give you distance. No. It seeks to eliminate the foe quickly, fiercely, and without relenting."
"But shouldn't mages try to disengage and turn back to their magic?" Jake asked. Adopting a style that would abandon magic seemed counterproductive.
"Yes. However, Sword Singers never fought on their own. They fought side-by-side with other Elves and found themselves in the heart of the fighting most of the time. Spacing and timing were not a luxury they were given. Thus, the style's goal is to kill in order to create space," Darius explained. Jake envisioned what he meant. He placed himself in battle, surrounded by Warriors and Maedra. He imagined himself fighting the foe, the grotesque beasts in his face, and never awarding him an opportunity to cast. Indeed, having his hands tied and being forced to focus not only on his own safety but on that of the surrounding men would make casting magic nearly impossible. Even at his level, he would struggle with such a feat.
Sword Singers must have been quite stalwart magicians.
"The toolkit for the Sword Singer style is rudimentary; deflect and parry, slice and gouge. Pivot and cut. Lock and cast," Darius said as he twirled the blade in his right hand. "Using these motions in tandem, flowing through the carnage, and creating as much space as possible in the chaos to cast is how you will make yourself a worthy Sword Singer."
"That's quite simple for a style made by mages," Jake spat. Darius chuckled.
"It is but it's quite efficient. The Sword Singers knew their role as casters and support mages. Unlike our regular foot soldiers, they could not afford to cross swords and lock shields. They needed to remain mobile and keep their hands free at all times. They needed to remain nimble on the battlefield and had to keep their wits about them. Each Sword Singer was responsible for assisting up to twenty fighters at one time. Sitting still and focusing only on a single foe wasn't an option." As he explained, Darius began to move.
His right forward hand twisted and cut, carrying an imaginary blade out of the way. The left then followed from behind him as his hips swung forward. The blade sliced across, cutting low and through the imaginary abdomen. The right twisted and then came across, carving out the throat. The left then jutted upwards- spearing through the sternum. With the kill finished, Darius pivoted on his feet and turned to face the next foe. However, here he paused and looked at Jake. The boy nodded and began to go through the same motions.
However, he moved far more slowly, focusing on getting the motion correct rather than rushing through it. With each flex, each twist, he looked for confirmation. Darius lowered his blades and then retook his initial stance.
"Parry and deflect. Ensure you catch the weapon of your foe and guide it away from their body." As he explained, Darius repeated the initial motion of catching and gliding the enemy blade away from himself.
"Then, target their body. A quick strike. It doesn't have to be deep. It doesn't have to connect. Something to catch their attention low. If you hit, carry through and all the way across. Target the core- the soft underbelly. Or try to catch a misplaced leg to imbalance them." Darius twisted his hips forward, taking the momentum of the motion to increase the speed of his swing. His blade snapped across his body and carved through the air with a whistle.
Jake shadowed him, imagining the enemy in front of himself as he cut across the empty air.
"Next, bring your right arm back to the front. If the foe is distracted by your low attack, now you must hit them. Aim for vitals. Aim for their sword arm. Aim for their eyes. Slice. Do not stab. If you have lost a blade and now have a blunt weapon, bludgeon their skull." The right arm came across in a similarly quick manner, however, Darius did not carry his arm all the way through. He sliced and then retracted it quickly, allowing his hips to move him forward into another step.
"Then, finish. Stab through the torso or their soft underbelly. Target organs. Cause as much damage with your strike as possible. If they remain standing or have leaned towards you, drag your right arm back across for another cut to the face." Darius jutted his left arm forward, beneath his right arm for a moment as he jammed the weapon into the belly of his opponent. The right arm followed, cutting back across as he returned it to his side.
"Smooth and constant. From the moment you stop their momentum, take the opening and dispatch the enemy swiftly. Do not let them reset their feet or recover. Understand?" Darius lowered his weapons and looked at Jake, who was still shadowing the motions.
"I understand," Jake answered. Darius smirked and nodded.
"Good. Now practice that until it comes naturally. Deflect. Slice. Cut. Stab. Finish." Darius sheathed his blades and moved off to the side. Jake grit his teeth and reset himself, taking his initial stance.
"Deflect..." He muttered, parrying the imaginary blade.
"Slice..." His left arm crossed his body, sliding through the air and through the gut of his target.
"Cut." Twisting his right wrist, rotating the blade in his hand, Jake carried his arm across his face- his weapon across the face of his enemy.
"Stab." His right arm pulled away and his left thrust forward. As it did, he stepped into the jab to provide power behind the blow. Then…
"Finish." He muttered, retracting his left hand and cutting with his right, splicing the foe from shoulder to hip.
"Again," Darius barked quickly from his side. Jake nodded and reset his stance, and his mind. He cleared his view and imagined a Maedra in his face- lunging at him. Then, he repeated the motions. One step at a time, he flowed through the stages of the movement. Just like when he taught himself the Flow of Chi techniques.
"Again." Darius ordered.
"Again." He spat once again.
"Fix your right arm." Darius rapped his fist against Jake's right tricep, causing the arm to buckle and the boy to wince. "Start over."
"Left arm, too slow. Step deeper when you stab and pivot with authority." Darius slapped the boy's left arm, just above the elbow to target the nerve. Jake flinched from the strike but quickly reset to avoid another reprimanding strike.
"You're right leg is exposed." Darius whacked the boy's leg with a small wooden sword he'd found. But, then he adjusted Jake's form to show him the better position. "Again."
"You missed the parry. Now you're bleeding. Good job."
With each movement, Darius circled Jake like a predator. His golden eyes missed no mistake, missed no failed movement, and he was quick to correct the boy. Over and over, Darius whacked, poked, jabbed, and smacked. Jake felt his body flinch instinctively each time he messed up. However, if he wanted to not be hit- all he had to do was be perfect. Or at least, close to it. During a few iterations, Jake had clearly made a mistake. However, the boy adjusted quickly and followed through without hesitating, correcting himself and carrying on to the next step. As long as he did so without a stutter or a major slip, Darius would tell him to go again without striking out. If Jake wasn't already experienced in combat, he would have found it strange to be given freedom with his movements.
Darius was teaching Jake the foundations of the Sword Singer style, but he wasn't expecting Jake to replicate the style exactly. No situation would go perfectly as planned. There was no script to a fight. No two swings were exactly the same and Jake was not expected to follow the routine to the letter. No. Repetition would teach Jake the move set available to him within the style. It would be up to him to utilize those moves in battle. He would not always parry and deflect before slicing or cutting. He might slice and then parry, or stab before slicing. However, knowing the movements and learning the best ways to connect them in training would make the motions far more fluid in actual battles.
"Good," Darius called out after several dozen iterations. The Elf yawned and started to walk away. "Now do that about a thousand times and then come find me."
"What?" Jake spat, lowering his arms and turning towards the Elf. Darius raised his eyebrows and stared at the boy, looking as if he was the surprised one.
"You heard me. A thousand times," he repeated. Jake clenched his jaw for a second and then squeezed his dagger and knife.
"You're messing with me, aren't you?" Jake hissed. Darius laughed.
"I am not. You want to learn our ways? Then you'll train the same," Darius planted his hands on his hips and glowered down at Jake, his joyful expression souring. "How old are you again?" he asked flatly.
"Fifteen," Jake answered. Darius nodded.
"Exactly. To us Elves, time is different. We age significantly slower than your kind. However, our fighters begin training at the age of eight. A Sword Singer apprentice, when fifteen in elf years, would have been training for almost forty human years." Darius's voice remained flat, but there was a bit of annoyance in his eyes as he stared at the boy. Jake frowned and looked down at the twin blades in his hands.
"You're behind, Jake. By a lot. If you want to make up for it, then you need to have the discipline to train four times as hard as a youth Singer," Darius said.
Four times as hard...
"Four times..." Jake mumbled. As he repeated it out loud, a spark flickered in his mind. His eyes widened and he looked over at Darius. "I can do that!"
"Do what?" Darius said, confused by the sudden change in Jake's mood. The boy sheathed his blades and grinned.
"Train four times as hard!" Jake said. "You said that Elves live longer, right? That they have a lot more time to train?" This time, it was Jake's turn to puff out his chest.
"Yea? I did. Elves live longer than you weak gened humans," Darius said without a hint of care. Jake nodded and raised a finger.
"Then all I need to do is slow down my own time."
"You're talking as if you can," Darius sighed and turned away. "There's no such thing, kid. I'm going to take a nap. When you're done practicing, I'll be over here." Darius shook his head and walked towards a stack of crates full of practice equipment. Jake stood still, watching his teacher lazily walk away from him, his smirk remaining. If Darius wanted him to practice, then Jake would do just that. Except, he wouldn't do it in the normal place.
The boy followed Darius over to the crates and sat down beside them. Darius heard the rustling and glared down at him.
"What are you doing? I told you to practice." Darius rumbled, still confused and now quite annoyed by what looked to be Jake's defiance.
"I am," Jake closed his eyes and folded his legs beneath him. He was just about to dive to the Library when he felt the back of his head get knocked by the Elf's hand.
"Get up and practice, boy. I'm not going to waste my time on a runt who doesn't listen to instructions," Darius seethed. The Elf stood up off the crates and loomed over the boy, his shadow darkening the air around Jake. Jake narrowed his eyes and quickly created a stone dome around himself, shielding himself from any further transgression.
"You little-!" Darius barked from the other side of the rock. Jake sighed and closed his eyes.
"You have plenty of time to be patient and wait, Elf. So how about you do that?" Jake said.
However, just as he once more reached for his mana, he heard the stone crackle around him. His eyes opened once more as the dome crumbled. A hand reached through the dust, and Jake found his throat snatched up by a vicious grip. Darius yanked the boy off his ass, lifting him upwards, and dangled him in the air. Jake's trachea was pinched, blocking oxygen from his lungs as he gagged and kicked. His hands latched onto Darius's hand, but the leathered appendage was protected from the boy's meager scratching.
"I warned you and said no magic," Darius snarled. Jake coughed and wheezed, his eyes bulging as he felt pressure on the sides of his neck. He looked down to see Darius standing there, a thin veil of mana coating the Elf's body. "You've relied on it to survive until now but need I remind you how weak and pathetic you are without it?" Darius squeezed even tighter, his fingers digging into the sides of Jake's neck. Just as the boy's consciousness began to slip from the restriction of blood flow, Darius turned and threw the boy into the training arena.
"If you want to learn how to fight as a real warrior, then you will train like one!" Darius shouted, his voice booming through the air as he stomped over to the struggling Jake. "You will suffer here, in the Overworld." Darius stepped up beside Jake, and then his boot swung forward and into the boy's stomach. Jake coughed and was pushed onto his back.
"You will train here, in the pit of this Ravine, surrounded by this hostile air, coated in the dirt and dust of your failures." As he talked down to the boy, Darius planted his boot firmly into the center of Jake's chest, pinning him to the ground. "Mur was gentle with you because he had many other students to teach. I am not so kind. Not to mention I relish the idea of punishing a human who thinks he can become anything more than a waste of oxygen."
Darius's eyes narrowed as he pressed the toe of his boot down onto Jake's sternum. Jake glared up at the Elf and grabbed onto the Elf's ankle, struggling to get his wind back as he dumped mana into his fingers. He attempted to call forth a spell and tried to melt off Darius's leg as an answer but then Darius's eyes flared yellow. Jake felt his mana shatter, crumbling as it slipped from his grasp.
"Not gonna work, kid. Seems you need to learn the hard way." Darius tore his boot away and then kicked Jake in the temple. In an instant, Jake's vision blanked as he was knocked unconscious.
