~~~
Rosvyliana was patrolling the streets once again, always making sure that the streets were in order. She did so with an iron fist, ensuring that no such debacherous situations occur in public. But even then, it's been a timeless habit of hers to do these daily patrols in the mornings, and hone her swordsmanship skills through training at night...
Especially when (#@03490?!@--
Thus, when she noticed that there was another guard put in place, she couldn't help but stop in her tracks momentarily, a flash of confusion...and even wariness, on her face.
Something was wrong. She could sense it.
"Leone," She calls out, as the dagger-equipped guard with short white hair looks at her with lazy eyes and dark eye bags.
"I greet the madam," The woman smiles, her expression still droopy and her tone bored, yet Rosyvliana doesn't mind her lack of etiquette one bit. She was focused on a much pressing issue, wondering why another guard was situated in that spot. "Why are you here?"
"Ah...well, Alvana was training with master," Leone yawns, looking at Rosyvliana with a carefree smile. In return, she looks at Leone with shock, the implications of her words dawning on her.
"Alvana? It's undeniable that she is an exceptional professional when working..." Rosyvliana stops her words, looking up at the mountaintop with unease. "But she's nothing more than a wild boar when she's battling."
Leone chuckles and nods, still feeling rather dazed than fully awake. "Well? Should I send someone to monitor them?" Leone asks. Rosvyliana shakes her head in response, staring heavily at the mountain.
"No. My husband should deal with his troubles himself," She responds, but something inside makes her feel anxious about the outcome of their training.
"Guard your post well you uncouth sloth! Don't be sloppy," Rosvyliana warns, and leaves to continue patrolling. This causes Leone to chuckle and mumble under her breath.
"I'm an uncouth sloth...but sloppy? Never," Leone laughs to herself, looking at the players from a distance.
~~~
I breathe heavily and nod, bracing myself for a clash with the spearwoman guard. "I'm ready," I say, holding my spear tightly and pointing it at her...of course, with the right posture this time.
The guard smirks, as she points her spear at me with a carefree attitude. "Do your best," She says, as she immediately tries to hit my head.
Did I get hit? Almost! In fact, she immediately changed the direction of the spear as it got too close to my head. "You would have been dead if this were an actual battle," She taunts, making me grit my teeth at my own weakness.
I try to hit her, particularly aiming at her shoulder, but she dodges swiftly as if my spear was not something to harm her, but just air passing by... "I won't give you any room to hit me," She laughs, this time thrusting the spear to my neck, which, undoubtedly, almost hits me again. A simple trajectory change stops a near-fatal injury though.
"Come on, give me some challenge," She taunts again, this time...aiming below?! Isn't that what she told me to avoid?!
As my head wanders off space, the moment I notice where she's aiming at, I am already too late to dodge the crippling attack on my legs. I then fall to the ground, looking above to see her point the spear on my head.
"Lesson one, you can use the spear to immobilize your enemy's footing," She smirks. "In this case, I was using a slash attack instead of a thrust. This was merely because we're sparring,"
I look up at her, asking a question. "And...if it were a real battle? Would you use the thrust?" I ask for further clarification.
She nods. "Yes, it's good if you can pierce your opponent's legs. The bleeding will help you in many cases when blunt force isn't enough to immobilize your enemy".
I then stand up and get back to my position, eager to spar with the guard again. She backs away, aiming her spear at me. "Go,"
...and thus, after 2 hours of practice, I've successfully learned one spearmanship skill: slash. I've already learned how to thrust, so I've just increased my perception of it a little more...however, it's a different case for slash.
My slash was very...amateur. I still don't get concepts like keeping vision and maintaining distance.
It seems like it's more of a perception and footwork skill, so of course, I'm very sluggish with them.
I bow to her respectfully and smile. "Thank you for your lesson," I thank, and she grins.
"You know that's not necessary, right?" She laughs, making me smile shyly.
"Well...I like to pay back my debt with gratitude and respect. It's the way my mother taught me," I answer, and a sentimental gaze is in her eyes.
"Hmm...the word mother is a word I haven't heard in a long time," She ponders, looking at me with curiosity. "You are blessed," She answers, returning to her professional attitude.
"Come to think of it, I never knew your name," I ask, as she smirks and grins at me.
"My name? It's Alvana, the Savage of the Lianths!" She responds, making me look at her with awe. It's a wonderful name...it's quite unique, just like Rosalina's.
And yes...I still find it hard to enunciate 'Rosvyliana'.
"Well, what do you plan on doing next master?" She asks, looking at me with clear eyes...quite the opposite look from when we were battling. She looked like a madwoman when we were.
"I was...hoping this training could be a daily thing?" I look up and see her professional gaze immediately turn into a barbaric one.
"Daily training? Are you sure you want that?" She laughs, glaring at me with a menacing aura…but this is all just for show. She doesn't actually want to hurt me, she wants to see my resolve.
"I'm sure of it," I answer, facing her aura with my steel will. Thus, after seconds of applying pressure on me with her aura, she retracts it and gives out her hand. "I'll look forward to fighting with you then, master,"
I look at her in disbelief…wondering why she even wants to keep calling me formally.
"Just call me Rodrick, it's easier that way," I sigh, and she only looks at me pensively, scrutinizing me. She then looks at me for a whole minute, and I can't help but wonder why she's continuously looking at me with a serious gaze.
"Hmm…well, just so I won't anger the madam, I might as well call you disciple Rodrick," She grins.
Wait? Disciple?
Me? I'm a disciple?
…damn. So my guess was right! This place is really an actual sect!