Swords Lessons for Neo

Small school of dueling held in the basement of Tormay's home. The aim is to study techniques, old and new, and train to be better duelists, in and out of the rings.

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Tormay Eludes
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Swords Lessons for Neo

Post by Tormay Eludes »

In the basement of Houes deGorol, Tormay waited for Neo. He had promised to teach Neo how to duel properly with weapons, and he was certain he could find a way to do it. Normal training would do no good for Neo, his physical abilities were already equal to or above what Tormay could hope to pull off. Instead, it would be straight onto the rings and beating each other up.

Once Neo had entered the basement, Tormay flashed him a big grin, "I hope you are ready for this. First, drop your weapons off in your locker, then come back into this ring. We will start as soon as you are ready."

As Neo returns from the lockers, Tormay continues, "The rules for this session are simple. This is your weapon," Holding up a bokken before dropping it at his feet in the center of the ring, "What you have to do is get past me and my weapon," holding up his own bokken at this point, "to retrieve your weapon and hit me three times."

"Oh, now the restrictions," Tormay grins, this is where he gets to be mean, "No magic, only your body and wits are to be used. No strike arts, and no flash step. You cheat, and I will be forced to even the odds. I may start slinging spells as well, or just go invisible on you, or even..." he trails off, letting his free hand drift down to the sword at his waist, live steel.

Tormay quickly brings that free hand back up and to his ready position. Neo would have the advantage of physical ability, but Tormay had the experience in the rings. This would be rough on Neo, but that is what Tormay was hoping for. The best way to get better was to get knocked around.

"Don't think, just move," His last word of advice before he started the first swing.
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Tormay Eludes
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((Live play with Neo, edited for this post))

Post by Tormay Eludes »

Neo was actually pretty excited for some training. He's a great fighter, but there are areas that need work. Specifically, he needed to learn the subtleties of swordplay. He's done most of his close range fighting primarily using strike artes, using his vast ki reserves to enhance his close-range fighting. Training with someone as skilled as Tormay can only make him a better fighter. With a grin, he holds his hands out to the side, “I pull my weapons out of thin air, or summon them to my hands. No weapons on me. Promise,” he walks on into the ring then.

Tormay just grins and gives a nod, “Fair enough.”

Neo nods after the explanation of the rules, understanding thus far. Of course, there had to be a catch. So he waited for the restrictions, and nodded with a smile upon hearing them, “Got it.”

After a quick glance to Taneth, who was sitting on the steps and watching the training session, Tormay started, “Don’t think, just move.”

Darting forward quickly, he aims the bokken at Neo’s throat as he moves in. With a grin, Neo dive-rolls to the side, quickly recovering his feet to dash and dive for the bokken in the center of the ring.

Tormay wasn’t going to let it be that easy though, turning to kick sand up in front of Neo before bringing the sword down, aiming for Neo’s back, “Even in the rings people fight dirty, expect it!”

Neo hadn’t expected the sand, but thanks to the tip, he would be on guard for underhanded tricks from then on. Even with the sand irritating his eyes, he had enough sense to react to the sword coming in at him. Neo briefly considers using his arm to block the attack since it is only a wooden sword, but that would be very smart to get used to. Most swords were not wood, they’ll be sharp and he would lose an arm most likely. Instead, he uses his arm in a less destructive manner. Planting his hand into the sand, he pushes himself away from the attack and his bokken, eyeing it as he regained his footing and waits for the next attack to come.

As Neo wasted time rubbing his eyes to clear the sand, Tormay steps over the bokken on the ground, knowing it to be an insult in many cultures to step over another warrior’s weapon in most cultures, and grins to Neo before kicking it behind him and towards on the ring corners, “Don't stop moving, it opens you up.”

Another bit of advice before dashing in again, swinging the bokken in a horizontal arc for Neo's chest. Even as he does this, he is readying the real attack, a swift kick coming in low.

“So noted!” Neo exclaimed. Ducking low and underneath the horizontal swing, he grasps the incoming leg and pushes it upwards to try and tip Tormay over.
The surprise Tormay was experiencing was obvious as his eyes widen. Using the boost from the upward push on his leg, Tormay throws himself backwards into a flip. Tormay’s landing wouldn’t get him into the Olympics, he couldn’t get upright in time to land on his feet, only into a kneeling position. Neo on the other hand, had already started forward, placing his hands onto Tormay’s shoulders and launching himself over in reverse leapfrog.

“Watch the wings!” Yelling, Tormay spins to face Neo, going from kneeling to standing as he does. Even though it was obvious Neo would finally gain a weapon, Tormay wasn’t going to allow any time for thought or celebration.

“Don't worry, I'm watching 'em!” Neo snatches it up the bokken and spins around, already in a relaxed ready stance. The bokken is gripped in his right hand, and his left hand is free, normally to manipulate energy, but now just to stay in a stance he's comfortable with. Tormay had already covered the five steps to get to Neo, but Neo was the one to make the first move, lunging forth with a plain thrust toward Tormay’s shoulder.

A quick grin from Tormay showed his approval. As long as Neo stayed this fluid, it wouldn’t be hard to get him up to speed in the duels. A quick pivot on his right foot moves his body of the line of the thrust. At the same time he brings the wooden blade up and to the side, using just enough energy in his parry to knock the blade away from connecting with him. The extra time he saves over a full strength parry is used to counter quickly, almost like a jab at Neo with the bokken.

Neo was thinking quick to adjust. His blade diverted, and the arm hanging onto it, he was plenty open to the counter attack en-route. While he can't raise an arm to block a real sword, he can still knock away a real sword with his arm. Using that free arm, Neo bats the bokken to the side, making contact along the flat of the blade. He even manage a counterattack of his own with a kick to the chest.

Tormay had to roll back his weight onto his heels and push back, hopping back to take some of the force of the impact away. He even shoots Neo another grin as he steps back even further, “Good, use your whole body as a weapon and for defense! That's one hit. Think you have two more in you?”

“I think so.”

“Then hit me.”
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Post by Tormay Eludes »

“I'm on it!” With a quick dash forward, Neo starts off with a quick low swing towards Tormay’s shin.

At the start of the swing, Tormay steps forward right onto Neo’s forward foot and put most of his weight down onto it. The action was not to cause pain to Neo, if it did it wouldn’t really affect anything, it was just to keep Neo from getting away quickly. Planted properly, Tormay brings his own weapon to Neo’s opening, opposite of where Neo’s blade was coming in. Neo had only a moment to decide on trading blows, Tormay’s shin for possibly Neo’s neck, or throwing his weight around completely to deflect the attack and losing his chance to strike.

Neo chooses quickly and shifts his weight to defend, bringing the bokken around just in time to block. Doing so left him in a very awkward position. One foot stuck to the ground thanks to Tormay’s weight and twisted around, his back was fully to Tormay. While he could have done more to take advantage of the situation, Tormay only stepped forward with his other foot, placing it between Neo’s and pushes slightly to ruin the balance even more.

“Don't go in blindly. Feint, move, dance, and dodge. Anything to open it up or at least keep it even.”
Tormay’s weight on Neo’s foot kept him from falling over completely. Being held in one place wasn’t going to work for him though, so he pulled hard with his leg as he begun a vertical swing to come down on Tormay’s left shoulder. Feeling the shift in weight on Neo’s part, Tormay just rolled back his weight to let Neo go and leap back. With Neo not being restricted anymore, he went further back than planned, just far enough for his attack to brush Tormay’s tunic and nothing more.

“Don't attack without a plan, be ready to follow up every time and always have an escape ready.”

Neo already understood some of the tips Tormay was giving; he was, after all, an experienced fighter. Correcting the distance with a quick hop forward as he swung his bokken again, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. Neo certainly knew how to chain normal attacks, though, and was ready for the next move instinctively.

Tormay stepped in to meet the attack head on with his own bokken, but Neo was expecting something along those lines and shifted the attack from cut to forcing the point in towards Tormay’s shoulder. Tormay’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as Neo went to fluid combat quickly, and without the time to defend could only drop and roll past Neo.

Using the position of the thrusted-out bokken as a starting point, Neo twisted his body slightly to begin another vertical swing, this time to come down onto Tormay’s back. A quick pivot and Tormay could see he didn’t have time for anything fancy, and instead he just gave a swift kick to Neo’s shin. Despite it being the shin that Kitty had decided to kick early that night, Neo didn’t pause his attack, although he did wince slightly.

“Two,” Not being able to gain good footing or hold a defense up just meant Tormay would have to move more, and move he does. A quick roll to the side set him up to aim a strike to the back of Neo’s knee.

Neo would have to move more know as a result to keep up with the elusive fairy. Using his own bokken as a cane, he managed to block the low strike and vault himself over Tormay in one go. Turning and stepping in close, he brought the bokken down where Tormay had started his swing and was now open.

“Tsk,” Leaving himself open like that to Neo was bad, made it too easy. “Three,” he said simply as he stood from the crouch.

“Good, you are staying fluid and moving quick. That alone will help you much more in the rings,” Tormay continued with a grin, “Although, in the rings, matches don’t tend to move that fast. Sadly.”

After letting out a breath in relief, Neo smiled to him, “Right, that was more at the pace of normal fights. But it was still helpful in any case. Thanks for the training. I look forward to training more with you.”

“Sure thing, next time, we will go over tactics. We need to get you to fight at that speed and have those in your head controlling your movements,” he grinned in anticipation, “Make sure to rest up!”

“Of course, you too.”


“I will,” Tormay peered over to the now sleeping Taneth.

“Alright, back to the tower then,” returning the bokken to the weapons rack before waving to Tormay, “Good night, Tormay. Good night, Taneth. Oh, looks like she’s one step ahead of me there,” a short pause, “or five.”


“Sure does,” as Tormay hops from the ring and puts his own bokken on the rack.

Tormay chuckled as he went over to Taneth, lifting her gently and carrying her up the stairs behind Neo. After opening the door for Tormay and Taneth at the top of the stairs, Neo was paid a nod and a smile before Tormay went on to take Taneth to bed. Neo then took his exit and went back to his tower.
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