“My name is Menez, and I’ll be instructing you~” The white-haired, cat-eared instructor approached Fenris. Fenris noticed a few jealous glares directed at him, but ignored them since he didn't particularly understand why they were aimed at him in the first place.
“I’m gonna poke at you a few times so that you can get used to the feel of blocking, ‘kay~? Try to catch it with the middle of your shield so the hit doesn't slide off,” Menez said, lowering the cloth-covered tip of the practice spear.
“Nn.” Fenris lowered his stance and braced the shield in front of him. He received about half a dozen hits, getting used to the weight of the thrusts, before noticing a sudden glint in Menez’s eyes.
With a carefree “Toh~”, she gave a quick jab towards Fenris’s head. Feeling something off as he raised his shield to block, Fenris lept back after the hit, granting him enough time to catch the low thrust following it.
“Oh, have you done this before?” Menez asked, surprised that he’d managed to defend against both strikes.
“No, I just felt like something was coming, so…”
“It's instincts, then…? When you lift your shield up like that, it blocks your vision; it’s hard to react to follow-up attacks that you can't see, so creating space like you did is good practice.”
“Nn, got it.”
Menez paused for a moment. A mischievous smile crept to her face as she took a glance at her surroundings.
“Say,” she whispered, leaning forwards slightly. “It seems like you already have a pretty good sense of how to keep yourself safe, so how about a little bit of sparring~?”
“... I don't know how to attack yet.” Fenris tilted his head. A match seemed like it would be one-sided.
“It's fine, it's fine, I’ll go easy on you~” Menez waved off his concerns. “Besides, learning to attack safely is also a part of defense, y’know?”
“I see,” Fenris replied, deceived by her sophistry. Menez grinned as he readied his shield.
“Alright then… let's—go!”
Menez punctuated her sentence with another thrust aimed at Fenris’s head. Fenris once again raised his shield to block—but instead of stepping backwards, he took a step to the right and swung his sword at Menez.
Blocking with the butt of her spear, she shouted—
“Too slow! Tighten up that swing path!”
— before pivoting the spear around her lower hand, simultaneously redirecting Fenris’s sword and going for a slash of her own.
“Stop.” A sudden chill froze Menez—or rather, everyone on the training ground—mid-swing.
Reynald was smiling.
“We are supposed to be practicing blocking, Ms. Menez. (What in the Eight Hells are you doing?)”
“He already had a good understanding of defending, so I judged that active training would be more beneficial to him.” Menez returned the smile.
“And why was he striking back? (Choose your next words wisely.)”
Menez started sweating.
“Well, you see, learning to attack safely is also a part of defense--"
“You should conserve your energy, Ms. Menez (I am going to end you later). You still have to teach the rest of the day’s trainees.”
“Can I fight you, then?”
Reynald turned towards Fenris.
“My name is Menez, and I’ll be instructing you~” The white-haired, cat-eared instructor approached Fenris. Fenris noticed a few jealous glares directed at him, but ignored them since he didn't particularly understand why they were aimed at him in the first place.
“I’m gonna poke at you a few times so that you can get used to the feel of blocking, ‘kay~? Try to catch it with the middle of your shield so the hit doesn't slide off,” Menez said, lowering the cloth-covered tip of the practice spear.
“Nn.” Fenris lowered his stance and braced the shield in front of him. He received about half a dozen hits, getting used to the weight of the thrusts, before noticing a sudden glint in Menez’s eyes.
With a carefree “Toh~”, she gave a quick jab towards Fenris’s head. Feeling something off as he raised his shield to block, Fenris lept back after the hit, granting him enough time to catch the low thrust following it.
“Oh, have you done this before?” Menez asked, surprised that he’d managed to defend against both strikes.
“No, I just felt like something was coming, so…”
“It's instincts, then…? When you lift your shield up like that, it blocks your vision; it’s hard to react to follow-up attacks that you can't see, so creating space like you did is good practice.”
“Nn, got it.”
Menez paused for a moment. A mischievous smile crept to her face as she took a glance at her surroundings.
“Say,” she whispered, leaning forwards slightly. “It seems like you already have a pretty good sense of how to keep yourself safe, so how about a little bit of sparring~?”
“... I don't know how to attack yet.” Fenris tilted his head. A match seemed like it would be one-sided.
“It's fine, it's fine, I’ll go easy on you~” Menez waved off his concerns. “Besides, learning to attack safely is also a part of defense, y’know?”
“I see,” Fenris replied, deceived by her sophistry. Menez grinned as he readied his shield.
“Alright then… let's—go!”
Menez punctuated her sentence with another thrust aimed at Fenris’s head. Fenris once again raised his shield to block—but instead of stepping backwards, he took a step to the right and swung his sword at Menez.
Blocking with the butt of her spear, she shouted—
“Too slow! Tighten up that swing path!”
— before pivoting the spear around her lower hand, simultaneously redirecting Fenris’s sword and going for a slash of her own.
“Stop.” A sudden chill froze Menez—or rather, everyone on the training ground—mid-swing.
Reynald was smiling.
“We are supposed to be practicing blocking, Ms. Menez. (What in the Eight Hells are you doing?)”
“He already had a good understanding of defending, so I judged that active training would be more beneficial to him.” Menez returned the smile.
“And why was he striking back? (Choose your next words wisely.)”
Menez started sweating.
“Well, you see, learning to attack safely is also a part of defense--"
“You should conserve your energy, Ms. Menez (I am going to end you later). You still have to teach the rest of the day’s trainees.”
“Can I fight you, then?”
Reynald turned towards Fenris.
