Ari had a sly smile on his face and started to chuckle at Sir Vandron’s words, until he noticed the serious expression on the elf’s graceful face. Ari looked to Champion Ruenr, but he struggled to parse the beastfolk’s expressions at the best of times.
“So, is this one of your jokes? I appreciate your confidence with how I have grown over the months, but I’ve only ever fought other people. And in a controlled setting, this-”
“Monsters are dumber than humans” the rumbling voice of the champion cut him off “well, they are usually dumber.”
Without further fanfare, Sir Vandron pulled the covering off the massive cage to reveal three unconscious bird-like monsters. They were about the size of a large dog, and were reminiscent of big chickens with incredibly sharp claws and feathered arms where wings would normally be. They had long necks that ended with a three eyed head and a serrated beak. Wherever the creatures lacked their brown and blue feathers, leathery grayish skin was revealed. Ruenr opened the cage by sliding the top out, and with the snap of Sir Vandron’s fingers the closest stirred awake. Ari stepped back when the monsters glowing yellow eyes passed over him before locking onto the old elf.
Vandron stood wearing his traditional white garb of the Imperial Mage Corps, his hood down and long blonde flocks blew in a gentle breeze. He hopped back several yards away from the cage, seemingly blown with the wind as he made room for his upcoming demonstration. The bird-beast made a strange shrieking noise as it slowly made its way to Sir Vandron, slowly circling him as he spoke. The whole time Vandron kept the left side of his body angled toward the bird, his right hand holding his blue-tipped staff parallel with the earth.
“Juvenile Terror Birds. These were hatched by an acquaintance of mine for a chimeric experiment, but these lacked the temperament he was looking for. They were too aggressive and kept attempting to kill the rest of their clutches. This is the oldest and largest of the three, since my combat style will make a better example since my weapon is blade-less, I took the liberty of deciding to fight the most dangerous of the three.”
Just as the man uttered the final word of his sentence, he slowed down and allowed the Terror bird to reach his blind spot. When the creature lunged at him, its legs and arms came up with claws primed to strike. Vandron quickly readjusted and stepped quickly to the left, his magestaff being used at full length to stop the beast's lunge and direct it toward his right. The bird tumbled but quickly got to its feet.
“They prefer to run down their prey, then leap at them from their blind spot. They are only good for straight line charges, unlike other flightless birds and avian monsters, these lack maneuverability. Use this to your advantage to try and feint hem or bait out an attack.”
The wizard performed a similar feint each time striking the beast in its torso, beak, or one of its outstretched appendages while directing it slightly away from him. Ari tried to take note of how the beast reacted when a different location was struck. He also noticed that based on how quickly the mage could move, he had enough time to strike the beast once or twice before it rose but chose not to. After doing this for a few short minutes, the beast stopped and lowered its head. It backed up a yard or so before charging at the elf with its beak opened wide, moving slightly slower and more controlled than when it would pounce.
“The bird has realized it cannot successfully attack my blind spot, so it has decided to try and get in close and remain a bit more agile so it can either claw at me or get me with its beak. Preferably, since I have a short-staff compared to what you were using, I would normally not allow it to try and engage me this way since it has similar reach with its long neck when it tries to lunge forward and snap at me before hopping back. I am going to demonstrate a few staff blows before killing it, but these are all forms you were taught by Amsre so this is mostly a refresher and demonstration of how to place them against a shorter non-humanoid foe.”
The beast received a few jabs of the staff into its open mouth or torso when it would move in to snap, or overhead strikes that diagonally battered it in the neck or arms when it made a swipe at Sir Vandron. Each of the wizard’s movements were controlled and precise, barely moving more than was necessary to keep just outside the beast's range while occasionally half stepping to land one of his own attacks. After a few more minutes or so, the Terror Bird visibly began to tire and slow. That was when Vandron went on the offensive.
Blow after blow came down on the beast's head and neck, he began pressing the bird while spinning and shifting the position of his staff to parry or redirect strikes the bird made in desperation. The spins of his staff were slightly slower and less controlled than when he faced the guards and Cyrus, but were still at the pinnacle of what Ari could hope to perform on his best days. The bird made to try and escape when it realized the fight was impossible, and as it made to charge away Vandron made an extremely powerful overhead strike on the base of where its neck contacted its torse. This stunned the bird and he continued to beat it until it fell unconscious and stopped breathing. There were splatters of dark blood across the lower grasses where the demonstration took place, and a few stray drops landed on Vandron’s outfit before the enchantment cleaned them away.
Without a word Vandron walked away, snapping his fingers the bird was encased in crystal, and floated over to land beside the cage. Ari tried to engrave what he just witnessed into his mind. He wasn’t sure if they would actually let the bird kill him, but he was positive they would let it maul him in order to teach him a lesson about the dangers of monsters. When Vandron walked to Ruenr, he nodded at the large beastman and with one leap the Champion landed where the fight took place. The scythe began to rise from Ruenr’s shadow, covered in a liquid and inky black substance that dripped off the weapon, when it fully emerged from his shadow he took the large weapon and spun it in an arc over his head. The black liquid was launched away from the warscythe, but stopped after a certain distance in mid air before flying back to merge with the beastly man’s shadow.
“A reaper warscythe is slightly different than your glaive or halberd, it is still primarily a cutting weapon but the way it can be used has a bit more in common with battle axes than it does with other polearms. The polearm maneuvers will be more applicable to you, so that is the style I will use. The reason it is important you learn this style might not be evident now, but when your way with druidic magic is farther along you will hopefully understand.”
Vandron once again snapped his fingers and the second largest of the monstrous avians was awoken and made its way to Ruenr. Its gaze barely registered the other two people, the same way as the first, and Ari assumed it was some sort of magic compulsion spell in effect. Ruenr took a stance that seemed slightly different than Vandron’s, one that kept the weapon pointed towards his opponent, one furry forearm placed parallel along the haft of the weapon. Unlike the earlier demonstration, the beast never got to the blindspot of the champion, but seemed more hesitant to charge forward and engage in a melee like its kin.
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“It can see I have a longer and sharper claw, so it is more cautious and attempting to observe a bit more. That is good, because I don’t have the opportunity to demonstrate a polearm maneuver multiple times against this thing. After the first or second strike this beast will lay dead and in pieces, so keep your fucking eyes open for when I go on the offensive.”
Ari nodded, and forced his eyes open so he wouldn’t blink and miss it. In one short step Ruener thrusted the weapon slightly beyond the creature’s head, mid-motion he did something that Ari couldn’t quite understand. To his eyes the scythe blade remained just to the left of the creature's skinny neck, even as the haft went from parallel with its long body to perpendicular. He then noticed that the blade traced a half circle around the monster’s neck, and Ruenr was no longer in front of the beast but behind it. Ruenr then pulled the scythe back to him, severing the head of the creature in the process. Ari just gaped, nothing about what Champion Ruenr just did was like any of the ‘basic polearm maneuvers’ he was taught by the guards.
The blood splattered in an arc towards Ruenr, but the apex of it fell just short of landing on his patchwork clothes. The dark scythe flowed back into his shadow like liquid smoke before he turned again and gave a rough approximation of a smile to Ari, further scaring the young man. Ruenr, paying no mind to the boy’s emotions, called him over with a wave of his hand and the high pitched barking laughter. When Ari arrived near the warrior, and the decapitated corpse, Ruenr bent down slightly to look the druid-to-be in the eyes. Champion Ruenr could clearly tell that Ari missed the important details, so he explained after a sigh.
“I used a basic thrust, baiting a charge, then a formal half step to reposition myself while I changed my thrust to a controlled quarter swing. Taking a formal side step after ensuring the beast was still moving away, since I reversed my grip after the initial thrust to keep optimal hand positioning I had to reposition, I maintained the length of the scythe stayed near its neck. When the blade ended up in front of its neck, it stopped its charge short. I observed the earlier fights and saw the way they turn around after a failed charge, so right as it went to turn I pulled my scythe back to me. I utilized a basic thrust, basic footwork, a basic swing, and ensured I used the entirety of the weapon's length to maintain distance and control the tempo of the fight.”
Ruenr patted the stunned young man on the shoulder, and stepped over the crystallizing corpse. When Ari was alone in the field, the anxiety started to set in as his nerves began to buzz. His pulse was audible in his ears and it seemed to him like his heartbeat was becoming faster and more chaotic. Sweat built up on the palms of his hands, and he started to panic. Right when Vandron thought the boy would need help, Ari took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A moment later, Ari opened them and nodded to Sir Vandron. He looked at the quarterstaff floating towards him and hesitated before asking a question.
“Can I get a crook on the end of my staff?”
“A criminal?” Ruenr asked in puzzlement eliciting a chuckle from Sir Vandron.
“No he means a hook, a shepherd's crook has a hook on it to maneuver sheep and stop or hold back animals. I understand why he wants to use one after seeing the way your scythe was able to control the position of the little bird.” Vandron nodded with a smirk.
“Very well Ari, let us hope this doesn’t complicate your execution by adding too much complexity to your weapon.”
With a snap of Sir Vandron’s fingers, one that seemed to echo in Ari’s head as the adrenaline began pumping again, a crystalline hook appeared on the end of Ari’s quarterstaff. He marveled at it for a moment, before the young man quickly noticed the Terror Bird making its way in his direction. Ari took the position he normally did when sparring, but bent his knees slightly more upon taking note of the difference in height between him and his opponent. His usual style had his leading leg slightly farther forward than the other two combatants, but he maintained a balanced stance as he made a slow circle to keep his weapon pointed flat side at the bird.
He made a short step forward while attempting to fake a stumble, which successfully attracted the attention of the avian monstrosity. When the bird reared up to make a clawed leap at Ari, he readjusted his stance and quickly dashed to the right. He passed just in front of the beast while it launched itself, and spun his staff with a twirl that pulled the crook around to catch the beast in a more dangerous mimicry of what Ruenr did. Ari realized his mistake too late, without a blade to cut into the charging creature the bird continued on pulling him and the staff forward. He had yet to fully set his feet so he was slightly off balance, Ari was pulled off of his feet and on to the ground.
The boy let go of the staff on the way to the ground, but rolled to jump back to his feet. To his left, the beast was still recovering, the crook was still hung from its neck. Ari didn’t hesitate, and dashed to grab the end of the staff so he could arm himself. As the boy made contact with the staff, the Terror Bird freed itself and sprang to its feet with a mad dash. Ari tried to jump out of the way instead of using the blocks and parries of Sir Vandron, which opened the amateur combatant up to a glancing blow with the beast's razor sharp talons. Ari grunted in pain as the bladed wing-arm carved into his right leg as he careened away.
At the last second before impacting the ground, Ari looked over his shoulder to look his death in the eye. The beast was rearing up to leap, and would be in the air before he would be able to properly return to his feet. Upon impact with the earth, Ari quickly braced the staff against the ground to try and deflect the airborne monster with the rounded crook. It was only a partial success since the beast didn’t land on him, but was still within reach to slam down its head and take a nasty chomp of his shoulder with its serrated beak. The beast pulled its neck back, tearing flesh and muscle, eliciting an agonized scream from Ari.
He rolled over to stand, and as the beast lunged over for more meat, Ari delivered a partial spinning kick that stunned the bid momentarily. The young man took the opportunity to recover to a battle stance, but with the quickly bleeding wound and ruined shoulder he began to feel the emotion of the bird’s namesake. Ari could tell the blood was flowing quickly, he knew that he would only last for another two engagements maximum. Ari waited for the lunge of the avian once more, and successfully sidestepped it. He threw all his might into a swing that pulled him nearly off his feet, his torso twisting to follow through with his good arm to compensate for lost power. The outer side of the hook connected with the back of the avian, but the swing's timing was bad and lacked the positioning demonstrated by Sir Vandron. As the Terror Bird tried to recover, Ari pounced and began attempting to align the beats middle eye as he slammed it down.
What followed was a bloody hail of blows that ended with the bird convulsing on the ground. Ari took a staggering step forward bracing himself with the staff, and stomped on the bird's neck while screaming until it was still. After he recovered enough to remember where he was, he wobbled around to look back at the two instructors. His body felt so heavy, and he was just on the edge of consciousness while teetering to reach them. The scared boy collapsed at the two’s feet and looked up, to see Sir Vandron with one of the vials from when he arrived with his grave injuries.
“This was a test, and you have failed it.”