by Vanidor » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:59 pm
"When you are in the melee, Glenn, art and skill... Not as important as staying alive. This is where the unorthodoxy comes from. I have been in ten major engagements in my life, and numerous skirmishes, not counting any tomfoolery I may have found myself in during my visits to Myrken. Skill, yes. Being able to read your foe, but the art? Better to be focused and let into the simplicity of battle. Better to learn to ignore the pains that float across the shoulders, down the thigh or up from the foot, by being in the void, than being slain because your combatant speared you in the belly."
Glenn was trying, and each were impressive little bits of swordplay. Burel would never say it, of course, but he actually had to think about how to counter each little maneuver, rather than just letting it all be rote mechanic and muscle-memorized motion. Ariane did not skimp when it came to training someone, as long as they actually paid attention to the lessons. That almost pleased Burel more than Glenn accepting.
"Though, admittedly, not being in the void leads to it's own unorthodoxy, does it not?" Here, then, as Glenn made another motion to defeat Burel's guard, the Duke would simply step forward instead of reversing like he had the last four or five times. Inwards, and truly into the dangerous range of that dagger. That was fine, wasn't it? Especially as his scabbard had drooped and acted in much the same way as the weapon Glenn had. He'd move to drive Glenn's, and his own, sword upwards. As if over their heads.
One should always be drunk. That's all that matters... But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk. - Charles Baudelaire