Stances - 2

Just as Damon caught his breath, Umbra strolled onto the training ground.

She had a wooden broadsword and a buckler shield in hand, clearly both prepared for Damon to use.

"Alright boys are you ready to start?" she asked as she approached the dueling platform.

Damon nodded his head, getting up from the dueling platform, and William stood up out of his meditation.

Umbra tossed the sword and shield at Damon, and he caught them, equipping the shield then picking up the sword.

"Woah there, lets relax for a little. No need to equip them yet, we're going to start with the basics of the basics." Said Umbra, taking a seat on the dueling platform.

Damon sighed and put down the sword and shield.

"Good, now, first question. What do you think the basics of basics means when it comes to using a sword?" Asked Umbra.

She raised a palm towards William, who had already perked up to answer.

"Nothing from you William, you're to remain silent unless I specifically call on you." Said Umbra.

"I.." said William.

"As a matter of fact, I know you can't help yourself, so why don't you go back to meditating." Interrupted Umbra.

William sighed and settled back into a meditative position, closing his eyes and trying his best to tune out the lesson going one.

"Damon?" asked Umbra.

Damon didn't have to think to answer.

"It would be stances and footwork. The power in your strike is generated from your stance, and footwork is the basis of attacking and defending properly." Said Damon.

Umbra clapped her hands.

"Excellent, it's nice having bright students." She said.

She stood up onto the dueling platform and started pacing around it.

"So, we'll be starting with the basic stances of Aristian Royal Swordsmanship." Said Umbra.

Damon nodded his head.

The Aristian Royal Swordsmanship was a simplified version of the sword style that had been developed by Aris, the founding King of Aristia, first patriarch and founder of the Aristum house. Definitively the strongest individual in the history of the Terril continent, and arguably the strongest individual in the history of the world.

Despite his direct descendants being mostly mages, unable to inherit the True Aristian Sword Style, the simplified version of his style that was used by the army and the royal guards lay the foundation for Aristia to be known as the greatest military force on the continent of Terril.

It was not a particularly flashy, intricate or complicated sword style. It was very simple and covered all of the basics whilst still being very effective. This made it easy to learn and allowed for even the lowest level of soldier in the Aristian army to be a decent swordsman.

The true merit of the style, however, lay in the fact that whilst it was not overly complicated, it was technical enough that there was a lot of room for growth once one learnt the basics.

In a nutshell, it was easy to learn but difficult to master, as truly mastering it meant mastering all of the basic forms of swordplay and applying them perfectly as the situation called.

The simplistic style also meant that it was quite easily modified to suit an individual's strengths of weaknesses, allowing for those of higher levels to learn or create more complicated techniques whilst using the Royal Swordsmanship as a basis.

As Damon was a prince of Aristia, it was only right for him to learn the swordsmanship that formed the backbone of his Kingdom's army. Furthermore, if he grew to be an exceptional warrior, there was a chance that he would gain the right to learn Aris's True Aristian Sword, which used the Royal Swordsmanship as a basis.

"There are five basic stances that the Royal Sword is built from." Said Umbra.

"These are the Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central stances." Continued Umbra, counting each off with a finger on her raised hand.

She settled into a neutral stance, her weight evenly balanced on both legs.

"This is the Central Royal Stance, and it is the starting point. From here, attacking, defending, and evading are all doable. The central stance is not particularly suited to either of them but is not unsuitable to any either." Said Umbra.

She shifted into a more aggressive stance, with one leg forward bearing 60-70 percent of her weight.

"Now this, is the Northern Royal stance. From here, it is possible to deal powerful attacks whilst still being able to withstand some incoming attacks, but evading is difficult. The northern stance is aggressive in nature, and you need to be suitably strong and sturdy to have your fighting style based off it." Said Umbra.

She shifted her leg back, taking on a more stable stance with 60-70% of her weight on her back leg.

"This is the Southern Royal Stance. It is the optimal stance to defend from, allowing you to block and manage incoming attacks. It is also possible to attack from this stance, but you are more likely to be successful is you create an opportunity to counter-attack. Similarly to the northern stance, evasion is not so easy." Said Umbra.

She stood up normally again.

"The northern, southern and central stances are the bread and butter for most knights and soldiers. Wearing sturdy enough armor mitigates some of the downside of the mobility lost, and those who have powerful builds can take advantage of the north and south stances to deal devastating attacks and maintain a strong defense, with the central stance as a go-between to feel out the opponent." Said Umbra.

She paused, then smiled.

"For someone like me, however, I prefer the last two." She said.

As she spoke, she got into a stance where her weight was shift forward, and her knees were slightly bent. More of her weight was held on her toes as her heels were up.

Stable was not exactly the word that Damon would use to describe it, but there was a certain lithe feel to it.

"This is the Eastern Royal Stance. It is built around agility, and is suited for advancing towards an enemy and striking in quick, strong attacks. Most of your weight is geared towards pushing towards an enemy, so the downside is that effectively blocking an incoming attack is very difficult, and even evasion, whilst possible, is not so easy." Said Umbra.

"It is suited for those who are confident enough in their speed and strength to end things in a single blow, not allowing an enemy to respond. Typically, great agility is also required, as it is possible to evade whilst maintaining attack if one's agility is high enough."

She then took on a variation of the same stance, but with the weight evenly spread. There was a lighter, more mobile feel to the way she carried herself and placed her feet.

"And finally, this is the Western Royal Stance. It is also built around agility, but specifically evasion. This stance is suited for those with high speed, agility, and stamina. It allows one to weave in and out of an opponent's range, chipping away to with several light attacks whilst avoiding taking any damage." Said Umbra.

"The eastern and western stances are mostly used by inquisitors, assassins, and rangers. Some mages will learn them too as it helps them stay mobile." Said Umbra.

She stood normally again and began pacing the dueling platform once more.

"To effectively use the Royal Swordsmanship, you need to be comfortable in getting into the various stances, as well as shifting your weight properly whilst converting from stance to stance." Said Umbra.

"Luckily for you, you dear bodyguard had managed to win a copy of the royal gourds' stance shift technique which will massively help with this." Continued Umbra.

"Not only do you need to assume the stances though, but you also need to be able to read them. The fact is, almost any sword style you come across will fall into a category that corresponds to one of these stances." Said Umbra, she emphasized this point strongly.

"An advantage of the Royal Swordsmanship is that you will be able to observe an enemy using a sword technique you haven't seen before, but based on how they shift their weight and how they angle their body, you will be able to make an informed guess on whether they will be relying on agile attacks, strong defense or powerful blows." Said Umbra.

"It helps you analyse your enemy, and information is crucial in a battle." She concluded.

Once Umbra had finished her explanations, she began to show Damon the details of each sword stance, having him try to get into each one.

Initially, she had intended to have him focus on proper foot and leg placement. It was typical to take a few days to get this down and have it ingrained for each stance.

In Umbra's mind, once Damon got these down, they would then progress to weight placement and eventually they would start worrying about proper balance and what to do with his upper body.

She had a strong feeling that Damon was going to be talented with the sword, but what she saw left her dumbfounded.

Once he placed his feet, he naturally assumed almost perfect weight distribution, and furthermore, his body seemed to naturally align with the placement of his legs, finding good balance.

To Damon, it was intriguing learning the details of the stances. He had never had formal training, so he had simply stood in ways that felt most comfortable to him, and so even now, once he placed his feet in the ways that Umbra described, he imagined having to fight from such a stance, and shifted his weight so he would be comfortable with a sword in his hand.

The wealth of experience built of the various battles of his previous life became a monstrous talent and natural sense for sword fighting in the eyes of Umbra.

After just a few tips regarding each stance, Damon had perfected them as if he had been training them for months.

She found herself fighting back a grin at the thought of the monster that she was raising.