Narrowly dodging the attack, Lukazio noticed that the thorn-tines of Sinthell's trident were oily, coated in something. This reminded him that being stabbed by the trident might only be the start of his problems.
The Break Soul Sword in his hand be used it to swat the trident away, attempting to close the distance to a better range for his shorter weapon. Sinthell merely darted to the right, such that the two simply rotated positions, with her maintaining enough distance to keep his weapon ineffective.
Nonetheless, Lukazio's improved physique was already putting in the necessary work as he even managed to dodge Sinthell's follow up strike.
Then, he began to truly learn how to even fight with a sword.
Or he would have, if he hadn't currently been awkwardly dodging while holding a blanket around himself. The loose tuck came looser and the blanket nearly fell free as he squawked and tried to further secure it.
The prior fight with Sentry was difficult, but different in that Lukazio was basically swinging a sharp metal club at his enemy while trying to avoid multiple creature-like attacks.
This was different because Sinthell was skilled with her weapon as she easily countered and parried the few strikes Lukazio was able to make. All while he grew more and more red-faced, knowing his dignity was soon possibly going to depart.
The fight was prolonged by his dodges, made
more difficult by his situation, and her weapon's longer reach. Despite being a 'short' polearm weapon, it still had better range than his sword, which had a much smaller margin for errors.
When Lukazio's attacks missed, he had to worry about whether Sinthell's positioning was favorable for a follow-up attack and still try to hold the blanket's loosening grip, made worse by his exaggerated movements.
However, he soon learned the hard way to 'expect the unexpected' as Sinthell dodged Lukazio's swing. He felt safe enough as she pivoted out of the way of his weapon and he had a clear view of hers as she did so.
Nonetheless, he was stunned senseless when a blow suddenly struck the left side of his head, painfully stunning him as his vision swam.
Shaking his blurry vision away, he swung wildly to keep her back while trying to apprise the situation and clear his head. Lukazio felt wetness on the side of his head, above his ear and very close to his temple. Touching his head with his empty left hand, he looked at his fingers and saw some blood.
Then he realized his weaponless hand was empty, because he came out of the stun enough to notice that he had lost the blanket. He was now naked.
Sinthell was grinning, moving slowly side to side with the points of her trident wavering
menacingly. Her eyes glowed with both mischievousness, and appreciation, as she giggled and merely said "Nice."
Not understanding whether she was referring to her successful but still-unknown attack, or if she meant him now being naked, he studied her back and put a little distance between them.
Although he felt embarrassed, Sinthell's brief looks and laughs didn't make him feel too badly overall.
Instead, he decided to let his nakedness go, for now. He still couldn't be sure this fight wasn't more serious than it seemed to be, as all of Sinthell's attacks seemed to have her full intention to injure or kill him.
Sinthell obviously wasn't too concerned with his state as she instead tried a few different tactics, including attacking with surprise kicks or elbows.
Lukazio got a few more surprise pains in his side and back, hitting him with loud thumps. Then he saw a flicker from the corner of his eyes while hearing a whizzing noise. Both only a moment before the strike hit his jaw.
Lukazio immediately looked at her other hand, which was empty. "The hell!" Lukazio cursed. She was clearly in his view, and he hadn't seen her do anything. Somehow, he was still struck!
Suddenly laughing at his confusion, she cried out "First blood was already mine! You better step it up if you don't want to get left behind!"
Looking down at his feet briefly, Lukazio saw a small rock that wasn't there before.
At this, she twirled the haft and reversed her grip on on the weapon. Taking this more domineering stance with a stabbing grip allowed her to have a faster thrust, as well as better leverage for close-ranged attacks.
The change in fight styles took Lukzio aback and he adopted a more cautious approach to compensate. Using wide attacks to keep her back while he thought up a strategy, he knew he would only have one shot.
Sinthell, who had her arm into position to take short quick attacks, rushed in to close range, easily sidestepping his slice at her and thrusting quickly.
Lukazio's arm was still extended from his attack but he turned his body to avoid being pierced. One trident tine scraped his chest as it darted past, leaving a tiny red gash that burned feverishly immediately.
Hissing, Lukazio pulled his weapon in a backswing and caught the space between her hand and the head of the trident with a notch on the backside of his sword.
With an ecstatic expression on his face that
could be easily misinterpreted as lewd under the circumstances, he tried to break her weapon. Lukazio turned, flicked, and rotated trying to initiate a break- all to no avail.
Her enthusiasm seemingly lowered by their entanglement, Sinthell tried to pull her trident loose but Lukazio's movements made it difficult to manage in a quick movement.
Her face was suddenly filled with a grin so wicked and wide that Lukazio almost stepped back involuntarily. Several whirrings and whistles shrieked toward him.
Finally Lukazio realized Sinthell was somehow lobbing rocks at him! Most of them hit him, as he was locked with Sinthell's weapon.
The smaller pebbles stung while the larger stones left varying wounds. The pain brought some clarity and Lukazio realized that he could instead use the notches on the Break Soul Sword-breaker to control an opponent's attacks.
Sinthell managed to dislodge her Trident and resumed her strange polearm fighting stance, right hand gripping the short haft in her reverse grip. She lunged forward, thrusting for an attack.
Lukazio swung early with two hands, and in a lackluster fashion. His blade moved slightly past the incoming trident before he angled the notches toward the incoming haft.
He reversed his easy swung, the two handed force easily overtaking the momentum of his earlier lackadaisical strike to catch the trident in his sword-breaker's grasp again.
This time, he pushed forward, throwing Sinthell off balance and kicking at her midsection with the sole of his foot.
Lukazio's kick connected and shoved her away, while the force released her trident from his sword-breaker.
Grinning widely, Sinthell said "Well done indeed, stop- I really don't mean you any real harm."
Examining the number of wounds over his body while feeling the blood-matted hair on the side of his head he replied, "This is you not meaning any harm?"
Rolling her eyes, she went a short distance away and retrieved his blanket. Walking back she demurely averted her eyes and handed it to him. "We were just dancing; the style, combat."
Shaking his head ruefully, Lukazio fixed the blanket around and asked "How did I do for a
beginner?"
"Terrible. If I hadn't been missing on purpose to see that weapon in action, you would've died many times." She looked dead serious.
Lukazio believed her. Although greatly improved over his previous self, he could tell he had a lot to learn still.
"Although, your use of the Nion, your sword type, is most unusual." Sintell replied.
Lukazio arched an eyebrow, "You know about these types of weapons?"
"No, I myself do not, but some of the elders do and specialized guards do. It is an antiquated weapon, with a bit of history from our old world that I'm not familiar with." Sintell answered a bit sheepishly.
She turned and began walking deeper into the wondrous silvery groves before stopping and turning a side-eye at him. "You're welcome to follow me, you'll be allowed some time among the People if I vouch for you, which I will for now. Unless you have elsewhere to be?"
Lukazio shook his head and Sintell continued eyeing him. After a moment she seemed to become impatient, and Lukazio answered her out loud in the negative, as he realized her spell couldn't translate his nonverbal gestures.
He followed her through the groves, until the great noise from the massive courtyard city was dulled by the lines after lines of trees.
The grounds seemed wild, but also well maintained. Though Lukazio didn't see anyone doing anything about upkeep the walkways were clear and the plant-life looked trimmed, pruned, and very presentable.
Although there did not appear to be any large, lavish homes, there were still a few smaller above-ground shelters. Following Sinthell inside one, he realized it was a place to obtain clothing by the rolls of fabric and finished pieces carefully stored on the shelves.
Sinthell took care of the details, while several older male and female elves took measurements and made adjustments to accommodate him with elven clothing. They provided him with a set of sturdy traveling clothes: a brown tunic and trousers with footwear closely resembling sandals, except strapping entirely around the ankles.
Feeling much more relaxed and comfortable, with some covering, he followed Sinthell toward a large tower sitting nestled amongst several taller trees.
In front of the tower were several elf warriors, though Lukazio couldn't tell their genders apart. Nonetheless they each appeared to be stern warriors, eyeing him suspiciously and their hands gripping their weapons.
Sinthell made a gesture near her heart and said "Chief Ranger greets the Honor Guard, wanting to present an interesting individual I met at the edges. Another user of the Nion."
The tallest guard stepped forward, towering over Lukazio a bit. "I don't see any weapon, but I'd be interested in seeing how others use one." The voice, though not as musical as Sinthell's had the same melodic qualities.
Sinthell nodded and turned to Lukazio. "Show them, if you will. I promise Alonsha and her brothers here won't harm you." Adding quickly, "They won't offer to dance, either."
Alonsha and the two brothers looked at Sinthell weirdly. Shrugging, Lukazio focused and willed the Break Soul Sword to appear.
The sword appeared in his hand and he slowly turned it to show them. Nodding appreciatively, the guards inspected it slowly before taking a step back, each drawing different weapons.
Stepping forward, Alonsha showed hers. A rounded hilt and large circular cross guard followed by a long metal bar, tapering down to a dull point. "This is the oldest version of your weapon, what we call the Nion. It is essentially a mace or truncheon, as it is just a rounded bar, heavy enough to break many smaller weapons."
Lukazio nodded at her as the brother on her right stepped forward, moving the lengths of blonde hair from his face before showing his, nearly identical to Alonsha's except with portions of the metal bar sectioned off in segments.
The shortest brother, though admittedly not by much, stepped forward from
Alonsha's left. Drawing a long dagger- which looked very similar to Lukazio's Break Soul Sword- he showed it to Lukazio, who noticed a large ring set on the side of the hilt near the cross guard.
"What is that for?" He asked.
The younger brother showed him by gripping the hilt while running a finger through the ring to increase his control and grip of the shorter version.
Lukazio held his weapon up for comparison. Looking over to Sinthell he jested, "I had to miss on purpose a few times too- all to get into position the right way to catch you up with this."
Arching an eyebrow, Sinthell crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.
Alonsha laughed, a musical peal that sounded charming to Lukazio until he heard her next words, "That's because you aren't holding it right."