The Arcane Trickster

CHAPTER 7 - SPARING PT3

-” Oh? This took quite the interesting turn.” Derwyn grinned, he looked at Asahel and then towards Reynald and held his stick like a sword.

Derwyn observed the two for a few seconds and moved towards Asahel, who instantly jumped back, seeing the boy retreat he stopped and turned to Reynald that was performing a thrust towards him.

-” Your form is horrible, with no speed, and no precision.” Derwyn's grin only grew wider as he saw Reynald retreat as he saw him turn towards him. “ Did my kicks hurt? You two are so careful now.” Derwyn tried to provoke them.

Reynald gritted his teeth and was about to rush towards him again when Asahel screamed. “DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!” Asahel scream made Reynald stop. “ The range of your thrust is greater than the range of his kicks and of his stick, you just need to hit him with the tip of his sword.” Asahel continued to explain.

When Reynald heard Asahel his eyes shone, he calmed down and focused, he was regaining his composure. Asahel surprised Derwyn, he finally was showing his analytical and composed side, Derwyn was finally happy with the boys performance.

-” Do you know that I’m listening right?” Derwyn continued to provoke the two.

-” It doesn't matter, I will try to distract him so use it to attack him.” Asahel's eyes were serious, he was determined to win this spar.

He remembered the movements that Derwyn taught him, he thought that the second movement was something useful in this situation. Asahel prepared himself and gave a small dashed forward with his dagger next to his ribs, while in the dash he stabbed quickly in a direct line.

Derwyn nodded as he saw Asahel using what he taught, he used his stick to parry the attack and advanced towards him, but Asahel didn't give him the chance and jumped back as his stab was parried.

Derwyn was about to continue advancing when Reynald attacked, Derwyn dodged to the right and revolved around with his stick, but Reynald too backed off leaving his stick to hit the air.

The spar continued like this for two to three more bouts, Derwyn felt that the two were finally getting the hang of things, they were faster and their cooperation better. Derwyn didn't like to spar with Reynald because he was too hotheaded to learn something from a fight, but, now with Asahel taking the lead in the fight, he was finally learning something.

-” Hahahaha, who would expect that rushing towards your enemy blindly wasn't the best way to fight right?” Derwyn's mockery made them a bit ashamed, especially Reynald who did this for every spar until today.

Derwyn was trying to provoke them, but his mockery only made them more resolute to win, Asahel kept using the movements that he had taught him, as the spar continued he started to learn how and when to use them efficiently.

From stabs to slashes and even backstabs, Asahel tried all the movements, some worked better than the others. Reynald saw Asahel using the movements that he learned and bitterly started to do the same.

He focused on thrust, but sometimes used slashes and swings, he even paired a few hits of Derwyn's stick. The two made great progress in the spar, even if they lost Derwyn wanted to reward them, yet, from the looks on their eyes he knew that they wouldn't stop until they won.

Asahel was about to perform the stab movement again when Derwyn dashed toward him, Asahel was caught off guard, yet, he didn't panic, he now had a better understanding of his abilities and how to defend himself.

As Derwyn approached him, he saw that Derwyn was performing a downward slash, so he focused completely on his legs, Asahel ran towards him with his daggers and arms over his head.

Asahel knew that if he stayed in the range of the stick he was at a disadvantage, and so he decided to try to be closer to Derwyn, as this would deny him a better usage of his stick, and give him a better chance to use his dagger

Derwyn surprise only grew as he spared with Asahel, he had a great mind and was composed, those traits were essential for a good fighter, and even more important to his classes.

Asahel felt the heavy impact of the stick in his arms, he felt his arms lose strengthen, but, clenched his teeth and kept adavancing as he tried his best to keep his grip over the dagger firmly.

Derwyn noticed Reynald move as he hit Asahel, he jumped back to create distance between him and Asahel and was about to turn back to face Reynald, when Asahel jumped too.

Derwyn who was still in the middle of his jump prepared to kick the approaching Asahel, but, he frowned as he saw a dagger flying toward him. Derwyn kicked his dagger and used his other leg to kick towards Asahel who ate the kick with his face, Derwyn used the impact of the kick to spin mid-air and turn to Reynald.

As Derwyn landed on his knees, Reynald's thrust was just reaching him, he dropped his stick and held the blade of the sword in the middle of his palms, Reynald saw his uncle block his attack again and tried to give him a kick making Derwyn drop his sword and block the kick with his left palm.

Asahel's vision almost went black from the kick, yet, he held strong and wobbled towards his dagger, Asahel saw Reynald kickng Derwyn and threw his dagger again. Asahel didn't want to lose this chance as Derwyn was still blocking Reynald attacks and his back was wide open.

Derwyn sensed the incoming dagger and still holding Reynald's feet he turned to face it, Reynald lost his balance and was sent flying as Derwyn let go of his feet, and he caught the dagger with his left hand as he punched straight with his right hand towards Asahel who approached him limply.

The punch hit Asahel in his already bleeding face, making even more blood come out of his nose. Derwyn felt pity for the boy, he was taking them more seriously than what he wanted now, especially in the last few bouts.

Derwyn wanted to finish the spar, the boys were injured, and continuing this didn't make sense, the boys had a good performance in the spar and deserved a reward. But before he could even talk, Reynald was already up and walking towards his sword, determination flashed in his eyes.

-” Hey we almost got him there, I think the next one may be it.” Asahel's voice surprised Derwyn and made him turn to face him again, he just hit him in the face, however, the boy was already up.

-” Yeah, I fucked up kicking him, dropping my sword, and punching him would be better.” Reynald's face was swoolen as he spoke, a little blood dripping from his nose.

-” It was a good try.” The two walked towards Derwyn again, their confidence was unshakable.