Leaving the manor the pair trailed down the familiar street to the city gate. They were skipping a visit to the guild altogether. With a friendly nod to the guards, they left the city and made their way into the woods, quickly arriving at their favorite clearing for training.
Ravina was already on the ground pushing out a few push-ups before Aurelia could call out for her to “Start the warm-ups then do a few laps.”
Ravina was up to 23 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. After that, it was a couple of laps around the clearing. It felt good to be moving again but after those simple exercises, the pants and shirt she changed into was slick with sweat. It felt good to stretch her muscles and the sharp white pain in her lungs felt really good.
“You’ve gotten lazy,” Aurelia commented as the young raven returned to her. “You're struggling with the last few exercises and you're a couple of seconds slower in the run.” It was harsh commentary but completely accurate. Ravina could only smile at the criticism. “Come, we will work on your stance, if you remember how to hold the sword I’ll show you how to do a proper thrust, but first show me an overhead cut!”
As Aurelia spoke, Ravina listened, taking the sword that Aurelia gave her. Between the two only one of them had a weapon so she lent it to her whenever they trained. The weight of a real blade was heavy, yet because it was masterfully crafted the balanced blade allowed its holder to feel all the weight in the handle, allowing them to move the tip with precision. The blade was designed to be held in one hand, inspiration taken from a fencing saber. However, it still had an edge and weight of a standard sword. The delicately crafted tool was one in a million and hardly used because of its combination build. The thin blade was fragile and the added weight held the user back from thrusting. However, Aurelia had become used to such a sword and was second to none in its use.
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Ravina hoped to do the same. So she curled her small fingers around the handle just like her instructor had shown her on her first day. Taking a proper stance with her feet apart, the right foot ahead of the left, and a slight bend of her knees. Her confidence showed on her face as she smiled at the familiar position, well used to such things by now.
On Aurelia's command, she pulled the blade back as she raised her arm keeping the back of her hand in sight of her eye. Then when her hand was level with her eye, a few inches away she thrust out her arm at speed, pushing her elbow to the ground and turning the sword in an arch, the tip of the sword rose up quickly as she brought it down, performing a horizontal strike on an imaginary opponent.
This was the basic overhead strike. Something that used both skill, guile, and speed. With the blade pointed down the opponent would figure that they were preparing for a thrust attack, however when the elbow feel the blade rose slightly above the user's head. As they pushed the blade forward and their forearm sped to the ground the blade tore through the air in a slicing strike instead of a piercing thrust. While weaker than a powerful cut, this action would catch many skilled fighters off guard.
“Again.” Heeding Aurelia's call, Ravina practiced this maneuver once more. “Again.” and again, and again. Until Aurelia finally stopped her. “Watch your elbow, don't let it drop. Again.” She did it 10 more times. Aurelia corrected her when she failed to maintain the move properly. Finally, after the 10th swing, the young girl's arm was shaking and she was having a problem holding the blade correctly.
“That's enough,” Aurelia relented. Despite the low numbers Ravina was doing well. Aurelia barely had to correct her and she was getting good at endurance training.
“Alright, now let's go over the thrust. After this, I’ll have you do some agility training.” Before, the woman wouldn't have paid attention to such things. However, after training with the guard showed her how efficient these training exercises could be. Her own form had improved quite a bit, and training against skilled opponents made her more efficient in the dance of battle.
She passed on this knowledge to her only pupil. After all, the girl had hired her, and she was not one to leave a task finished half done.