Fencing Practice: First Day

The day had been a long one, Tykal had finished a meeting with the student government. Over his shoulder a gym bag and in one hand a Second Maid he had purchased from a vending machine just before the meeting. Fencing practice started just short of a good half an hour. Tykal decided it might be best to show up a bit early, besides it wasn't like he had anything better to do.  With plenty of time to spare Tykal was in his whites with fencing rapier in hand. His white fit a bit snug. He disliked when fabric hugged his skin directly rather than resting on it. Still he knew all about the importance of safety gear.  His helmet sitting besides him, he sat legs crossed against the wall in the corner not really communicating with anyone there. He seemed occupied reading a news article on his phone.

" Pro Landscape and Gardening Tips: Volume 4 "

Tykal seemed focused reading it with a pleasant warmth in his solitude. He liked gardening. It was making something beautiful and watching it grow. It was something that showed that with patience and perseverance there was a glorious reward for the world to see. The gardening club tried to snag him once but his schedule didn't allow for it. In hindsight if there wasn't a social benefit to being here, he'd likely have joined that club.  His dorm was easy to find. The balcony was filled with hanging and potted plants giving off an earth safe haven. Tykal liked to sit there basking in the sun and studying in the peace and quiet of it. The plants didn't talk but they communicated through their health. In his ideal home it'd be like an indoor forest with a giant glass roof to let in the sun off in some secluded yet scenic area.

It was getting close to time for practice to begin. Tykal looked up from his phone looking for Lui. After spotting him he stood up and smiled.  "Good to see you again, Captain." Tykal welcomed.

Another day, another round of schooling to sit through. Had it not been for his commitments to the Fencing Club, Lui would've considered just disappearing altogether today. Today was extra important as he recalled that Tykal, that suspiciously friendly fellow from the café, was planning to stop by for practice. Lui ran through the mental checklist of his previous students and wondered where exactly this kid would fit on the spectrum of skills. Nevertheless, Lui took in a deep breath as he stepped into the side room to suit up. With his trusty saber and foil at his side, Lui welcomed the students as they passed in, following closely behind them.

"Good to see you again, Captain"

The chipper tune of the voice beside him caused him to turn and spot the suited Tykal waiting for him. Lui nodded at Tykal's greeting and invited him to step into the room. The four other male students took quick surprised glances at Tykal before quick discussion emerged between them. One of the students, a shorter brown-haired boy approached the two, a distasteful tone in his voice.

"Oh, hey Captain Lui. So, you got some other outsider to try and kick my ass again? Or is this guy an actual student like the rest of us?"
"Well, Gus, this is Tykal. Unlike Zaku, he's here to train alongside you all. Depending on his level of skill, you may even get your chance to practice with him during sparring. For now, just get the others ready for warm-up. I'll be over to the mats in a minute."

After waiving away the cocky fencer, Lui walked alongside Tykal heading towards the main room, Instructor Kamizura organizing the students.

"So, can I get a little bit of background on your fencing experience? Depending on what you know, I can assign you a proper sparring partner."

Tykal turned his head as the brown haired boy approached them and spoke. It was reassuring to hear that this student had no idea who Tykal was. It meant that if the two crossed blades, he wouldn't be out to strike him for any other reason than the sport. Well that and Tykal didn't have to stress about over performing at a sport he was mediocre in. He didn't know this Zaku person they mentioned but he was able pick up on the brown haired boy being someone named Gus. Tykal followed beside Lui to their instructor. "Hello Mr. Kamizura." Tykal said pleasantly. Another faculty member on Tykal's watch list. Well, in all fairness, none of the faculty wasn't on that last to some degree and thanks to the bargain with Lui, Kamizura shooted up on the priority bracket.

"So, can I get a little bit of background on your fencing experience? Depending on what you know, I can assign you a proper sparring partner."


"I haven't really been on the fencing team since my freshman year. Well that and some private lessons back home. I'm not really good at anything besides dodging and counter attacking really." Tykal placed his hand on the back of his neck tilting his head some. To the others it could be mistaken for modesty or even underestimation of ones own abilities. That wasn't the case unfortunately, a rapier didn't feel right in his hands. Also Tykal wasn't fond of a thrusting attack. Though as an upside, his movement were slippery and he was agile enough to evade most blows in a match. His few notable wins were mostly just him dodging attacks until he saw an opening and took it. Also athleticism wasn't really his thing. He could pull off some flashy maneuvers but in terms of stamina or pain tolerance, sadly he was lacking below average.

"I'm probably extremely rusty, it might be best if I practice with the first years. At least until I get back into the groove of things as it were." Tykal commented.

"I haven't really been on the fencing team since my freshman year. Well that and some private lessons back home. I'm not really good at anything besides dodging and counter attacking really."
"Any experience can make for a good start, Tykal. If you got dodging and counters down, we can work on you offensive moves when we got the time. Much to Gus's disappointment, I agree that you would be better partnered with one of the newer members. Go ahead and put your weapons off the mat over there and we'll begin with warmups."

Calling the class to attention, Ms. Kamizura instructed the students to begin warmups by running laps around the matted area as Lui moved some rope ladders from the side room and laid them out in the middle of the mat. After laps, the class would begin stretching before practicing footwork on the rope ladders. While three of the other students shuffled through the ladder with no problem, one of the younger kids, a blond boy about a year behind Lui, was having trouble with the exercise. Seeing how the boy was getting a touch anxious on holding up the line, Lui brought him to another ladder and walked him through the rhythm to get the style down. Seeing that look of glee and satisfaction in finally getting the movements down, Lui genuinely cracked a smile as the students grabbed their masks and weapons to prepare for free sparring. As Ms. Kamizura joined the older fencers in their match, Lui walked over alongside the blond boy towards Tykal. The boy bowed lightly towards Tykal as he spoke in a nervous, flustered voice.
"A-alright, Tykal. Captain L-Lui said that we'd be sparing together to, um, see what you remember. My name's, um, Arthur. P-please give it your best effort."
As Arthur shuffled to his side of the mat and looked through his weapons, Lui would walk over to Tykal and talk briefly with him.
"Arthur's the newest regular member to the club, so I'll be judging your reactions to his moves. Consider it a lesson between the three of us. Now, what weapon do you want to work with? Club sparring mainly focused on either foils, epees, or sabers."

Stretching and footwork were tiresome. It had been some time since Tykal had to move his body like that. He did get a few looks while stretching. Tykal was rather flexible if the gymnastics team had saw his flexibility they might've tried to snag him too. In truth, he was only so flexible thanks to a weird idea that stretching was kind of like a game. The one who could stretch the most won. Even a pre-workout stretch to him was worthy of giving it his all. He did about average on the rope ladders. It seemed like he was putting more effort into not tripping up than speed. Tykal was a bit shorter than many of the students so it made sense that he'd be at a disadvantage in sparring. Though when the stuttering blonde boy showed up Tykal couldn't help but show his disappointment on his face. Tykal sighed before smiling friendly and giving a formal bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you Arthur. I hope you don't go easy on me just because it's my first day. "

Tykal walked over to his side of the mat listening to Lui. "I'd prefer a saber however, I'm equally as comfortable with an espee." Tykal leaned in some and whispered to Lui, "I don't want to seem arrogant or rude, but are you sure this Arthur is going to fair well?" Tykal couldn't really complain. None of them really saw him spar and he did say he'd be better with first years. Still Arthur seemed nervous, he needed to at least have the confidence to acknowledge himself properly if he wanted to be taken seriously. Tykal retrieved a saber and went back to the mat. He liked the saber over an espee. Not only was it lighter than an espee, the saber was able to score with the curve of the blade much like a real sword. The rules were a bit stricter on maneuvers and scoring but it felt more like true combat than sport this way. Tykal lowered his visor and held out his blade waiting for the match to start.

"Then let's work with sabers today. Arthur and I are pretty good with sabers, so it'll work out nicely for the whole group.."
Seeing that Tykal had taken up the saber, Arthur had scrambled over to his weapons and traded his foil for the saber before shuffling into position. Lui lightly smiled at Arthur before he heard Tykal's comment.
"I don't want to seem arrogant or rude, but are you sure this Arthur is going to fair well?"
To this, Lui gave a mischievous smirk; similar to how Gus had underestimated Zaku, it seems Tykal was also having doubts on Arthur's abilities. Sure, the kid was pretty quiet, but he picked up on an opponent's style rather quickly. Starting off, Lui taught Arthur how to watch an opponent's footing to determine where they planned to go and how they would strike. If Tykal was indeed more focused on technique rather than speed, he might have some trouble when Arthur starts to get serious.
"If I didn't think Arthur could do well, he wouldn't be here. Every student here has been under my tutelage, and I've helped them tap into their greatest talents. To underestimate anyone in this room would be a grave mistake on your end. Besides, the best way to figure out is to give him a chance anyhow."

As Tykal took his spot, Arthur slid his mask down over his face and got into a ready position, his weight shifting forward and back as he prepared to take the first action. Lui stood between the two, his eyes void of expression and filled with focus.

"En garde... Pret... Fence!"

((So, there are two ways I see us handling this battle of blades. We can either simply RP through it as normal to a predetermined winner.

Or we can handle this battle with RNG to decide the winner. If you want to use RNG, the battle will be handled in phases. First, Arthur will start with a random Attack value from 1-10. You can attempt to Defend by rolling a higher or equal value. If you defend, you can Counter by rolling a new attack number. Cycle continues until someone rolls lower and touches the other. 3 touches win the match.

Your choice. Here is Arthur's attack roll if you're interested.))

Attack:

Tykal looked over at Lui as he grinned mischievously and raised an unseen brow taking his position. Tykal held his saber in hand in proper form.  Tykal's eyes widened as Arthur immediately took the offensive.  

'This kid is fast!'


Evasion Roll

Random number (1,10) :

6

As Tykal attempted to dodge the kid's assault, he unawaringly left his torso wide open. One sideways swipe left the blade of the saber planted on Tykal's chest. Lui whistled to call off the attack.

"Point! Well executed, Arthur. Now. let's see how Tykal attacks, correct? Tykal, you may have right of way this round. Show us your technique!"

Dodge:

Tykal backed off for a moment after the attack landed Arthur the point. That speed caught him by surprise. He'd have to note it when it came to his offensive. Tykal readied his blade and came in for an attack of his own.

Random number (1,10) :

8

As Tykal charged in for the attack, Arthur had tried to disengage to attempt a counter. As Arthur prepared to parry, Tykal made an unexpected move and moved around his counter, striking him around the stomach. Tykal had finally scored a point on Arthur. Another whistle ended the match.

"Nice reaction, Tykal. Arthur, watch where you hold your guard. It could be easy for your opponent to maneuver out of your parry if you're not watching their blade. All right, one each. Arthur, your go."

Tykal was a promising student. With the right molding, he could be quite a formidable ally. Better keep rapier training off the menu...

Arthur On the Attack:

Tykal nodded when Lui gave him input on his fencing style. The maneuvering around his opponent wasn't planned. Tykal's short slim frame naturally made his body move faster and thanks to some flexibility and, while he thought about it, impressive natural reflexes and reaction time. Tykal saw Arthur come in. He was leaving several openings. Tykal wondered if this was to bait him in and score another point. Regardless of whether this was intentional or just lack of awareness Tykal had to seize the chance.

Tykal readies and takes a quick step in feinting at the left side and readying to attack at the shoulder instead.

Random number (1,10) :

7

Tykal wasn't the only one seeing the glaring weaknesses in Arthur's stance; Lui was nervously watching Arthur as he made an attempt to intimidate Tykal with a quick cut. Tykal took a cautious move to feint out to the side to avoid whatever move Arthur had made and prepared to slash Arthur's shoulder. Should Arthur's technique exceed Tykal, Arthur would slap Tykal's saber out of the way and move for a slash along the waist.

Arthur Fights Back!: