( Morning in squire training ground )
{ Pov: Draco }
I was standing in front of both my instructors and the other two squires who trained me didn't show up after all it was a choice to come or take a day off and I was offered private training with two experienced knights of the Tyrell so, of course, I will come for more tips and to improve myself even if my body hurts a lot.
Ser Rickter was standing to the side after my warm-up exercise while wearing the heavy training armor, and Ser Helton was standing in front of me.
He had given me a practice mace and shield and he did as well have them, the thing he is training me in is how to correctly use his form and I was listening carefully to his instructions, gone was that playful tone of his, and now a serious knight who takes his job seriously.
I took the stance and waited for his guides and I didn't have to wait long.
"Your knees are to spread apart bring them closer." He told me and I did as he told me and brought my knees closer together.
"Buck them slightly more forward and sift your body a little more." He instructed me and I kept following his orders and did that.
"Better now thanks to that your body is more capable of absorbing and deflecting any attacks and your body has more cover not giving any future foe an opening to attack." He explained.
"Now your mace hand is good as it is and now we will do a light spar to get you used to the form and I will point out any flaws." He told me he got into his stance
Ser Rickter walked in between us to act as the referee and he lifted his hand into the air and after a few seconds brought it down without a word he moved out of the way and Halton charged me and with his practice sword went for an overhead strike.
I raised my shield in response and as the shield and practice blade clashed I absorbed the blow lifted the sword upwards and went for a swing but I got a practice blade to my throw for my effort and Halton started to talk.
"You were too aggressive you need to be more focused on your foe's movement and his strikes." He explained and I only nodded in return.
So we started over again and continued he went for another upward strike and this time I stepped back this time and made him miss my shield by a few centimeters and went for a strike after seeing an opening when he swang but.
I had just in time moved out of the way because he had tried to bash me with his shield but luckily I saw it in time and I went for a downward strike and clashed against his shield but he used my forward movement against me and moved backward causing me to stumble forward and losing my balance.
I fell face-first into the ground and he had his weapon to my back and he spoke in response to my loss and I had learned a new move from that.
"You did well at first but you were too focused on me and didn't pay attention to your movement and always keep an eye on your footing." He warned me
So it went on for hours and we sparred I Had started to get used to it after many and I mean many losses and fails after all I learn best from trial and error.
I learned a few new moves in the process along with my own and basic skill sets.
{{ Shield bash }}
Allows a person to stun an enemy out of a block or attack and leave them vulnerable for a second.
(( Low blow ))
A quick strike to the lower abdomen of the body is a weak strike but just the power to stun the enemy for a few seconds.
(( Power strike ))
It is a very powerful downward strike putting the full body mass into the strike making it very deadly the power of the strike can shatter shields or even break through any defense.
(( Leg sweep ))
The force of the sweep either runs perpendicular to the opponent's leg or rises as it strikes the leg, lifting the foot from the ground. A sweep can be used to take the opponent to the ground or it can simply disrupt the opponent's balance long enough to make an opening.
That's most of what I learned but I am still a novice at them and need training to properly use them in combat so I took a break after the amount of training I had done I had lost all of them and only got a few blows on him.
He started to explain another stance to me and I even got the names of both stances the first stance name was: Heavly Guards stance and Helton started to explain they're uses and the other stance that I will learn.
{{ Heavly Guard stance }}
A stance that's mostly focused on the shield that allows the user to absorb and deflect all coming attacks with ez and able to give good counters that why I had an easy time with the other squires and this stance is very good for beginners at least that's what Ser Helton told me.
{{ Ripost stance }}
Unlike most other fencing styles, the standard stance for Sword and Shield is what is known as a riposte. In riposte, the shield arm and leg lead, while the fighting arm and leg follow behind. The stance is very defensive allowing for the shield to be better at defending and opening op attacks with the sword.
But just with a mace instead of a sword that I can shatter with my mace.
Both he and Rikter told me how to properly hold both the shield and a one-handed weapon.
"Gripping the one-handed sword is nothing too spectacular or special, the handle is simply gripped comfortably by the hand for ease of use. The crossguard may be fingered, but this is discouraged due to the finger being exposed and possibly being hit in a fight. The Shield can be held with a single handle with the arm outstretched (similar to bucklers in rapier and cut-and-thrust), however, most shields will have either a handle and a strap, or two straps (one that is gripped by the hand) allowing the shield to be braced over the forearm. There should be a relatively decent gap between the body and the shield to allow the shield to have enough room to protect against attacks"
They explained and I slowly learned a lot of flaws in my stances and different ways to hold both my shield and mace for a certain attack or strike even block certain way.
But they continue to explain to me how to better fight with the mace and shield or at least a one-handed weapon mostly Helton explained the shield and one-handed stuff and how to better use them but he uses a sword as a reference to the one-handed blade due to him using it and not mace.
"While most fencing styles use the sword as both an attacking and parrying device, in Sword and Shield, your defense relies on the shield you hold. The Shield should be held with a decent gap from the body, where most of it should cover your upper body. This allows for substantial movement of the shield to protect where it needs to. A rule of thumb is always counter if you have blocked an attack with your shield. Parrying is uncommon in Sword and Shield and should not be relied on when defending as the only other option in a real battle would be to shield bash, which is only legal when fighting with Polymer swords and LARP shields. However, if a blade is parried, allow the enemy blade to slide along yours and off, allowing you to regain your momentum and attack."
Then I asked a question that I needed to know after all I want a fighting stance for my dual weld style so that I can do a lot of damage when I want to.
"Do either of you know a way to train me in a duel-wielding stance for two maces?"I asked and Helton answered me first.
"Sorry young one but I do not i am skilled in sword and Shield stances only a bit in others like aspear or lance but not a duel welding one," He told me and I only nodded at that and then Rickter started to talk to me.
"I do have a stance I can teach you but it will take time to master you sure you can handle it?"
I only gave a strong gase towards him and answered him in a serious tone.
"Break my bones and bleed me dry until I can't stand or breathe properly." That was what I Told him and he just nodded at that and started to explain everything I needed to know which took a few hours as well.
"With Dual Blades or Maces in your case, you'll attack extremely fast, and can aggressively press the attack, but quickly react to incoming threats due to the unique ability that lets you guard or dodge while the attack animation is still starting up, canceling out the attack and pivoting to defense."
"The Double-Bladed and Dual Wield is one of the best Stance pairings in the game because each directly covers for the other's weaknesses by offering complimentary strengths. In addition, the attack speed is similar, so it feels very fluid to swap between them."
"The problem with dual wielding is that you have to spend a bonus action to attack with your off-hand. This makes you sacrifice all your bonus actions if you want to do damage. Something someone with a 2-hander has not to do."
"The biggest advantage to dual wielding is that it looks cool. You also have a spare weapon. If you've been gifted with dexterity you can use one to compliment the other. The disadvantages include, but aren't limited to most people have enough trouble tracking one target and weapon."
So he explained to me and he then told me how to train in them.
"Dual wielding swords is often erroneously claimed to not be a historical practice in Brawos water dancing swordsmanship. This is erroneous because some surviving historical fencing treatises do provide instructions for how to fence while wielding two swords."
"To dual-wield swords, you need to make sure you have the right kind of swords. or again maces in your case but usually Long swords are great for beginners because they're easier to handle and control, but you'll have great difficulty dual-wielding two longswords together due to their length. It's better to use side swords instead as these have shorter blades."
"So, if you're looking for dual-wield swords, wooden macess form, and technique are a great place to start. "
"I will show you step for step so listen and watch closely." He told me after explaining everything.
(( A/N That's all for today hope you all enjoyed and liked the chapter a future warning there will be a time skip soon and It dame hard to find actual training materials and all that for all this yes I was studying and doing tests why I took so long to post a chapter but no worry I am back for now but until next time bye. ))