Covering all bases ~ {Johann}

Things had been rather curious lately. After joining the guild Amalie didn't return to the West Fiore Trading Company often, occasionally perhaps to submit a job report or sign up for something new. But otherwise, her presence in the guild was somewhat sparse. It suited its purpose, for the most part, a means of connecting her to sources of income, having the add-on effect of allowing her to grow more adept with her magic. However, there was one dilemma she noticed when she went out on jobs and faced various foes. Although her magic had an apparent range of medium to long-distance attacks. It turned out her close combat material was pretty limited. She knew how brawls worked well enough, having seen many of them over the years. In the Corvin family, were there ever a dispute with the wives, they would be made to deal with it in front of the entire family. Sometimes Amalie lost, sometimes she won. It depended on who she faced. But although that had made her somewhat scrappy, she hadn't quite developed any skill. It was essentially a weakness.

She had walked through her room in the early morning one day, only to notice an object resting on the mantelpiece of her fireplace. At first, she had panicked and assumed someone was in her apartment messing with her. Perhaps Charles. But as she searched the place, she found that it was empty. She approached the item, which was wrapped in a delicate silk cloth. She could sense magic from it, but for some reason, it felt familiar, almost comforting. As she pulled the white fabric away, she revealed a long silver rapier with a decorative handle embedded with a blue gemstone. She had examined in for a while, before wrapping it back up and taking it to a magical blacksmith for reviewing. They had found nothing malignant in the blade, just pure magical energy, specifically light based. It was also individually responsive to her. She didn't understand it, but she decided to hold onto it and see what it meant. With all the strange things that had been happening to her lately, it was worth testing out and observing. The only issue was, Amalie wasn't skilled with a sword. She had never handled one in her life, the Corvin's preferred less refined weapons for fighting or otherwise their fists along sufficed.

It was because of this she had decided to reached out to her guild, to find out what well well-versed enough with a sword to train her how to use it. So here she was, standing in the training ground, waiting for her 'tutor' to arrive. She was standing there in the usual white uniform of a member of the West Fiore Trading Company. Her hair was tied back away from her face in a high ponytail. She had a sheath she had purchase after receiving the sword in one hand and the sword in the other. Still wrapped in the white silk cloth.

WC: 502 / 2000

As Amalie waited on the training grounds for her so-called 'tutor' to arrive, she would slowly pull away at the cloth covering the blade. Allowing it to fall to the ground, admiring the sharp blade and intricate handle. Amalie would run a finger along it's the flat side of the blade, tilting her head as the light bounced off of the metal. It was a beautiful sword if she ever saw one. Unfortunately, she just wasn't very well trained with them. It was a little frustrating to have such a nice weapon that she couldn't use, but hopefully, whoever her tutor was, they would be competent enough to build up some amount of skill. She also hoped that they were polite enough to maintain some decretion about training her. She didn't exactly like the idea of her guildmates knowing she had a weakness, even if it was just sword fighting.

She would hear the steps approaching from the entrance of the training grounds; she would glance up, recognising the man approaching her. She was certainly seeing a lot of him lately. She would cock a brow at the white-haired man, of all the individuals to train her; it just had to be him. She was still contemplating a few things following their little conversation at the Winters ball. But at the least, with what she understood about the matter filling in a great deal of the blanks. She felt more at ease in his presence, now that she had managed to grasp some concept what she was dealing with.

"Good afternoon Johann," She said, turning to face the Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company, offering him a polite smile. She looked down at the sword before returning her gaze to him. It wasn't that surprising that Johann was the one they had sent, she remembered vaguely seeing him carrying a sword around, she was also sure that he had used it in the job they had done together, although her memories of that had been pretty vague based on the 'experience' she had been forced to endure. "Yes, I am." She replied, she knew she would have to inform Johann on some of the details of her past, at least in regards to her combat knowledge. She would just had to structure it carefully so as not to give away too much, keeping it vague enough to protect her, yet detailed enough to avoid suspicion. "My combat experience is magical use and hand to hand fighting, I've never actually wielded a sword in my life. But it seems this item found it's way to me, and I've been informed the magic embedded in it adheres strictly to myself. So I figured the best option would be to have someone teach me how to handle it. Think you can manage that?" She said, with a slightly challenging smirk.

WC: 480
Total: 982 / 2000

Amalie considered herself quite lucky in this circumstance, Johann didn't seem to mess around. She could have easily landed herself a less suitable tutor, someone eccentric or someone who wanted to show off. Someone who would undoubtedly cause her to storm off and forget the whole thing entirely. Fortunately for Amalie, Johann wasn't like that. Getting straight to the point, he began to explain some of the details about the sword and how they were generally used. She listened quietly, glancing at the blade as he described the techniques most associated it. It was curious that this was the type of sword that would fall into her lap, not a broadsword or something more clunky. She couldn't exactly image herself throwing away a giant blade and hacking away at people. It seemed from what Johann was describing; the sword was ideal for her. Yet, why had it come to her, and how did it end up in her apartment? It was still a mystery to the Articulation mage, amongst several other things.  Like that strange sensation that had occurred inside her a few weeks back. Still, as she stood here with Johann now, she couldn't feel anything. She felt normal; there was no nausea or strange twisting sensation in her gut. She could only presume that this meant, whatever it was her body was reacting to. Had something strictly to do with Mars, the seal Johann had told her about. She wasn't quite ready to test that theory out just yet; she still hadn't gone through half her reading material yet. She wanted to know before she pursued that possibility. She doubted that today's little lesson would give her any reason to threat over the matter.

He would speak once again, talking more about the technique it is used for. She would listen carefully, mentally noting what he was saying. She wasn't exactly a slow learner, but even Amalie wasn't so arrogant as to presume she would pick up the technique straight away, She would undoubtedly need some practice before she used the sword in the field. As Johann, said she didn't want to risk shattering the blade. She would imagine she could hire out the West Fiore Trading Company's training grounds for a few sessions by herself. Get a handle on the sword and her technique, depending on what Johann would go over today.

His next question came as no surprise. Amalie took a moment to think; she could only work with what she had seen in books. As she told him she had never wielded a sword in her life, so knowing whether she was doing it right was beyond her. Yet, she had seen diagrams in books, that she could use as an example of what she might consider her stance. She didn't expect it to be perfect, that was the whole reason she had requested a tutor after all. She swapped the hilt of the sword into her right hand, taking a step back, she shifted onto her back foot. Raising the sword, she would hold it out in front of her. Arm fully extended and sword pointing directly ahead. She glanced over to him, awaiting any criticism or further instruction he may have for her.


WC: 541
Total: 1523 / 2000

Amalie observed as Johann set about mimicking her stance, and showing her where she could make improvements. Her body would shift to match the way he stood, and tucking her free arm behind her back as he had. Nodding, she would adjust herself as he instructed. Amalie never had any qualms when it came to taking instruction. That had always been the feedback on her report guards growing up, 'Sharp Mind, Able to grasp concepts quickly, Doesn't get on with peers, no clear goals for future.' Not that her mother had ever cared to read the report cards, maybe once or twice, but she hadn't made any comments. Perhaps offer a scoff and then throw the papers in the bin. Amalie at that point hadn't had any dream careers, as a child, whenever her teachers asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she had always given them the same blunt answer. 'Wealthy'. As a child sick of living on the poverty line, it was all she could aspire for. Now her goals, albeit slightly more structured pretty much lay on the same lines — money, Power and Success. To rise about the restrictions set about her from her upbringing and to leave that problematic history where it belonged; in the dust.

They moved on from stances to basic attacks. Johann set about going through explaining how lunging attacks worked. Something that wasn't too complicated, although had to be followed through with keen precision. Amalie could already envision where such attacks would be useful. Quick strikes in the right place, could easily take down a target. Efficient, he was right. It suited her. Then he broke down attacks that involved slashing and stabbing, continuing on to cover a wide range of techniques and combinations. She would pay attention, occasionally question him here and there about certain techniques. But would do little to interrupted to slow his instruction. After all, they were here for a reason. So she could learn how to wield the sword at least at a basic level. Hours seemed to pass quickly, and as time went on Amalie found herself getting used to wielding the blade. After a while, she would naturally shift in the stance that Johann had shown her with little need for correction. She actually found herself quite enjoying the study, after all, he was an excellent instructor, and she was a keen student. The night seemed to have fallen on the grounds, and Amalie could feel her muscles growing with ache, having been at it for hours. She felt she had enough information for her to work with. She wasn't an expert sword fighter by any means, but at the very least she now knew enough that with time and practice. She would be well accustomed to it soon enough. When it seemed they had finished, Amalie would sheath her sword, looking up at Johann, she swept her hair back.  "Thank you for today Johann, it had proved much more beneficial than I anticipated." She admitted, with a curt nod goodbye, she would turn and make her way out of the training grounds. She was quite pleased, training with Johann had given her a basic set of skills that she could now take with her and hone to suit her fighting abilities. Another tool in her pocket for the future, and whatever that would bring.


WC: 567
Total: 2090 / 2000 Total Wc Reached