Dyo pulled away from Shani with his whole body still aching as he massaged his neck. To be honest with himself, the experience stung a little mentally too, especially with how casually she’d done it and was now hefting up her lost shield. It was blatantly clear that without his powers, he would have been dead several times over but if Shani had them, she’d probably be unstoppable.

“So how are we going to start this?”

She shrugged, “Ercole!”

His eyes flicked to her, “Is my appreciation time up?”

“Of course, it is! You need to teach him some basic footwork here.” Shani said with a roll of her eyes.

“A shame… Would you want me to take over duelling too?” He asked, slipping over to his bag and pulling out his gambeson.

“Not now, I have a few other things to teach him now. Dyo, are you ready?”

He sighed, “Do you want me to come at you again!?”

“No, I want you to tell me, do you wanna learn to fight knights and nobles, or common foot soldiers.”

Dyo paused as his fingers traced the ribs of his horns, thinking. “Who are we going to fight more of? And what do they both fight with?”

“Regular troops of course, but with our luck it wouldn’t surprise me if we ended up facing up against a group of knights. As for weapons… I know the ones they’d use around home but not around here.”

“It doesn’t change too much,” piped up Ercole as he stood up, walking to the side of Dyo, “at least in the general themes. Commoners can usually only afford spears, short swords, clubs, and axes. Nobles however nobles can afford longer swords and more refined war hammers. Both groups use and value various types of polearms such as bardiches, billhooks, halberds, and the knight’s favourite, the poleaxe. All will kill you if you cannot counter them, but the noble’s weapons are certainly more dangerous-”

“But a commoner is not always the less skilled one when compared to a noble.” Shani finished, the gaze of her narrowed eyes flicking over to Ercole.

He raised an eyebrow, “Do you want to test that?”

“After you teach your new student which reminds me,” her gaze flicked back to Dyo, “You give away your movements and intentions with your eyes. They always go to where you’re about to strike or what you’re going to block, so don’t do it with our poncy noble.”

“I’ll try not to.”

She took her mail veil from her face and smiled as she gave a small nod. “Don’t worry about messing him up a little, I think it will be very enjoyable to watch it.”

Ercole’s mouth went slack, “Surely you don’t mean that dear!?”

“If you call me dear one more time, or get horny while I’m in earshot again, then, if we ever get to Cudesh, I will find a demon hippo and I will feed you to it, even if it kills me.”

There was a slight pause as Ercole’s mind processed that threat, “Noted.”

“Good, then I leave the teaching to you.”

Shani gave another smile and patted Ercole on the back as she went past, sitting down beside Hreysti and Agrippa, arms folded.

Ercole let out a brief sigh before composing himself and striding out in front of Dyo.

“So,” Dyo asked, “What’s first? Please don’t tell me that you want to test me…”

Ercole chuckled, “I’ve already seen all I need from your little dance with Shani and I want to start out simple.”

“How simple?”

He pointed to Dyo’s sword, “What that’s actually for.”

Dyo frowned, “It’s a sword... You slash and stab people with it.”

“That’s the general idea but every type of sword is different. Take the Gladius; it’s a very old design that the Emorans have used for over a thousand years, though now it’s only used as a backup weapon. It is designed primarily for thrusting and not for slashing, it’s too short to clove anything in half and its blade ends in a small, sharp, point.”

“And this?”

“And that is a langmesser as you already know. I will admit it’s not a sword I have a lot of knowledge of. For one it’s a rather new sword from Neuhderland knife makers, and secondly, it’s a commoner’s sword.” He snorted, “Something that I can only describe to be an odd origin. From what I can tell they vary a lot in size and exact shape, but it’s very much a one-handed slashing and cutting weapon. The point isn’t quite as effective as some other swords with it only having one long cutting edge. To use it you’ll have to keep that in mind.”

Dyo slipped it out of its sheath, studying it. It was certainly different to Ercole’s sword, with a slim, straight blade that ended in a knife-like point that sprung from the base that was again, rather knife-like with a long tang that was pressed between two wooden parts which formed the hilt. It wasn’t embellished in any way either apart from the wood of the hilt being polished and varnished to a glossy smoothness. But at the start of the blade there was a sturdy cross-shaped guard that did make the weapon look a lot more ‘sword like’ in his eyes.

It was simple but refined in a way. A commoner’s weapon but still carrying prestige. A weapon from an odd origin but had already been used in a dramatic fight.

“I think I might do quite well with it…” He muttered.

A small smirk spread across Ercole face, “Well then, let’s get started on learning how to use it. Do you remember what I said about guards?”

Dyo’s eyebrows furrowed, “They’re neutral positions to be ready to react and move?”

“And they’re transitional stages in other moves. Footwork is essential in a fight and they’re a large part of guards, blocks and strikes.”

The demigod nodded.

“In that fight however yours was lacking,” He continued. “You weren’t putting as much force into your strikes as you could have, nor were you moving as fast you could, though I know you can use your magic to do so as well.”

“Do you want me to use it now?”

“No, we’ll wait till you have the basics down before I really test you.” Ercole chuckled, “For now I want to improve your footwork and teach you an actual series of strikes and blocks, pay attention.”

The sharp sound of a sword exiting its scabbard ringed throughout the camp.

“My sword is what’s either known as a bastard or hand-and-a-half sword, it is both single and two-handed with a good blade length, a conventional design, and it’s much more versatility than your weapon with two edges.”

Ercole stance shifted, his feet placed one in front of the other with his legs spread somewhat wide. Dyo watched as the noble started to move, their front foot sliding to the side with his back one following suit as they started to slowly circle around him.

“This is a side step, with this,” His back foot lunged to the side much further than the other steps with his front following, “being a cross step which is just a larger side step. With both of these, I have good agility left and right without losing my balance or being too vulnerable. Then forwards and backwards it’s somewhat similar.”

He demonstrated, first doing little steps with the front foot pushing forward before the back, and then moving up to larger ones with the back passing the front, always keeping his stance throughout all of them without it being rigid or unnatural.

But Dyo couldn’t help but notice where Ercole’s sword was, slowly rising up and over his shoulder as he edged closer and closer with every move back and forth.

“Those are your lunge and passing steps which are the standard ones for going both forwards and backwards to either approach your opponent, dodge, or strike.”

Ercole dashed forward, closing the gap within moments before swinging down in a bold strike that he stepped his entire body into. Dyo moved as fast as he could, bringing his own sword up to block the sharp blade that he watched with trembling eyes coming right down onto his shoulder-

As it then stopped a hair’s breadth away from meeting his.

“Like that.”

A loud animalistic snarl ripped through the air, “You could have fucking killed him!” Hreysti roared, “Why the fuck did you do that!?”

“To give a little more realism to the demonstration. You know as well as me that I wouldn’t dare hurt our beautiful Dyo and I think his face looks far more divine without any scars.”

“You still had a naked blade going down on him!”

Dyo swallowed, “I would have wanted some warning before that.”

The blade slipped away, “And in real combat you wouldn’t!”

“In real combat I might have turned you into fertiliser for a new part of the forest.”

It was Ercole’s turn to swallow as the Demigod’s rich purple eyes bore into his.

The blade slipped into its sheath, “You know, I didn’t expect to be threatened with potential death twice today.”

“And both times it was your fault,” Shani muttered.

“I didn’t think that the first time would end with that Shani d-“

Shani’s eyebrow raised.

“Moving on! How to attack now!”

Dyo sighed, “I hope you’ll keep your sword in the sheath this time.”

“Of course! Also, I won’t be throttling you like Shani either, we’ll be taking it slow and just going through the motions and thoughts. So, use the footwork you just saw and have your sword up ready over your shoulder to strike down at. Then, once I’m within reach strike down and make sure to get your timing right of blade, then arm, then body going in. Don’t rush it.”

He breathed in, bringing his blade up and taking the stance, eyes studying Ercole and his sword held across his chest. It was clearly a pose that the noble could easily defend from but he moved forwards anyway, swinging down with a deliberate speed with Ercole’s blade swinging up to meet it.

“And what do you think you should do next?” He asked.

“I-” Dyo thought for a moment, “I could grab your sword arm, or maybe try to push the point into you?”

Ercole nodded, “Both could work, but if your opponent is physically stronger than you or is experienced in grappling the first is unlikely to work and will draw your attention away from your sword arm. The second may be impossible if the opponent blocks in such a way to make your blade glance off his, or if he has a greater reach than you. Would you have any other options?”

“Retreating?”

“Any more?”

“Maybe going into a cut against your side?”

“Those two are better and are safer. If you were worried that your opponent is more skilled than you, or is faster, or you were facing more than one, I’d retreat and look for a new opportunity. But now, I want you to take the opportunity to strike again.”

Dyo pulled his blade back, circling it around and sweeping down and into Ercole’s side with the same slow speed as the last strike. Again, the noble blocked.

“If your opponent weren’t very skilled, quick, or aware, that would be them dead. I would not be caught off guard like that, however, nor would most other knights and nobles. From here or the last strike they might try to counterattack themselves. But since we are just starting out, I want you to end this with a thrust.”

Dyo nodded, “Would I just pull back and thrust into your gut?”

“Exactly that, but also you should try to step out of the way of a potential counterattack that would surely come. Now, go for it.”

He pulled back, quickly cross-stepping to the left and he thrust forth straight into Ercole’s gut, the strike connecting just as Ercole swung forward.

“And that,” Ercole said, a smile spread across his face, “Is a short example of a duel. Do you think you could do that at full speed now?”

Dyo smiled back, “If you’re ready.”

He nodded, “Go back a few paces, and strike.”

They both stepped back, swords ready.

He surged forth, swinging down in a quick strike that was met by the block, the dull sound of the impact echoing around the clearing. Without waiting for another moment Dyo went into the next move, pulling out and then sweeping around to again feel the sudden hard jolt of the two swords connecting. He only needed to execute the last part now.

So finally, he pulled back, swiftly cross-stepping and giving the final thrust that ended it all. Ercole’s covered blade swept down just where he had been as the mock final gasp of what would have been a dead enemy.

“Congratulations! I think you’ll be just a little less likely to die next time.”