Complete Private ✪ Finweald Shields Up, Hearts Open

[Lune]

Thirty minutes have passed, and the sounds of weapons clashing don't stop. Eyes of many Knight and Squires are currently fixated on the two figures doing a 'friendly sparring' inside the training hall. One of them was not even a member of the Lions, but Hanno reassured her it will be okay for them to use the Lions Pride Headquarters.

Occasionally, oohs and woahs were murmured by the crowd. The pair have been fighting non-stop using their preferred weapon yet none of them seemed to be visibly exhausted.

Yet.

There was a reason Moonsong never used physical weapons. For her, it was way too unreliable; shape, flexibility, and damage. The edge of her steel claymore was already chipped due to the high amount of force applied to each strike that would make everyone shiver. Hanno did say that she shouldn't always rely on her magic, and instead go back to the basics of handling weapons correctly.

Ok fine, but that shield is outright indestructible.

Not everyone could see it, but slowly her stance and footwork turned sloppy. The amount of steel in this place was sickening, she could already feel the shard of steel gradually inching closer deep into her chest, threatening to cut into her arteries while also growing outwards. Pain visibly reflected on her face and she panted heavily.

The songstress then rushed to her shield-wielding mentor with her claymore ready behind her back.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno was serious.

As usual, he was a friendly and easygoing guy, but it turned out that teaching-wise, he was a bit more strict, especially in Moonsong's case, the one that had Corvella in her. In one way or another. And if there was one thing he learned during these years, was that he couldn't be there all the time to try and save others.

And even when he was, there was no guarantee he would manage, so people need to know how to defend themselves... And in Moonsong's case and desire, to protect someone else too.

The greatsword wielder advanced at Hanno, and he stomped his feet back to brace himself. His shield was still in its mundane shape, albeit weird looking but not awakened, it was still quite of an aegis that covered most of his body.

He glared up at her expression of pain, and while he felt bad for it, he couldn't allow himself to go easy on her.

Taking a side step, he prepared for a blow, hoping to deflect the giant blade for a counterattack.

"Come on!" Hanno roared, going in for a shield bash.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Moonsong jumped towards the faerin, raising her claymore overhead with just one hand, a display of overwhelming power. Her one-handed heavy slash enabled her to put more motion and momentum into the strike by swinging her whole upper body, trading it for her form structure.

She swung it downwards with her entire bodyweight to burst through Hanno's defense. There's something weird with Hanno's stance though. As if he's not committing to that defense.

Wait, he's not blocking it. He's moving sideways to deflect it.

Clang!

The massive blade flew through the air, before planting itself in the training hall stone ground. The knights cheered as the painstakingly long match ended. About time, since the Moonsong felt that the steel shard inside her chest could pierce her heart if she continued the match any longer. "Uh, Hanno. May I go to the restroom? It's... woman business." She excused herself, running to the nearest restroom.

Clang.

The brunette painfully extracted the steel shard embedded in her chest with her hands, dropping it on the restroom floor. That one was big enough to be a knife. She couldn't help herself, almost all of the knights were equipped with steel armor and weaponry, causing the heartsteel to grow at an alarming rate. She watched the exit wound close quickly as another layer of steel formed in her middle chest.

"I'm back!" She waved at Hanno, still waiting in the training hall. "So how's my fighting?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

With the blade being thrown aside, Hanno couldn't help but frown slightly. That felt a bit off. Certainly the woman wasn't fighting with her full capabilities, and it was fair, after all it was just a practice.

Still...

Hanno eased his muscles, looking at Moonsong and crossing her arms and nodding, "Sure, buddy! A pause would do well." He said, watching her going before looking at her greatsword, pondering for a moment before slipping a sigh.

He took her sword to himself, resting it on his shoulder and carrying it with him to take a seat, waiting patiently for the fellow warrior.

His mind was running at full speed, and when she approached, he smiled. "You were good. Maybe we need to work a bit more on reflexes against unexpected maneuvers." Hanno said, standing up and holding her sword with both of his hands to offer it.

"... You were fighting much better at Camp Hope though." He said, looking at her sincerely. "You didn't look as much strained fighting there, and what we are doing here is just a training." Hanno said, letting the blade go when Moonsong took it.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

As Moonsong approached, the cyan-haired faerin offered her claymore, which she accepted with a respectful nod. She was surprised that Hanno did notice that her performance was worse compared to her fighting during the Camp Hope battle, but the brunette didn't feel comfortable yet sharing about the steel shard that's continuously growing in proximity with steel.

"Oh... yeah, about that..." She inadvertently looked away, as the songstress was never really good at lying.

"... maybe I'm just a little bit under the weather today. And the claymore! I don't use physical blades that often. Probably because of that!"

But maybe she could tell him? He knew about her death already. The things with Quinn, and also about Corvella's memories inside of her. Suddenly she realized that they were never that close, and they just started to know each other during the Camp Hope assault.

Sigh. Maybe later.

Running out of excuses, Moonsong switched into the key stance, claymore resting on her left arm. "How about one more round?" The brunette challenged Hanno to spar once again to distract him. "You go first this time, let's see if I can learn one or two things about unexpected maneuvers."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno listened to Moonsong's reasoning, nodding slowly as he watched her expressions mismatching with her explanations. Saying he believed it entirely would be a lie, but he wasn't going to force anything out of anyone, especially someone that had gone through so much lately.

With a reassuring smile, he finally spoke- "I see but it is like I told you. Relying only on magic isn't the best. It is powerful, but it can't be your only tool, especially when people's lives depend on you." He said, fluttering his mana wings and dragging his giant shield and pushing it to Moonsong.

The Shield rumbled as Hanno left her to the songstress, taking his combat gauntlets off.

"Another spar sounds good. I will be with my bare fists this time, I am much faster this way... And you are the protector here this time, not me." He said, following to remove his armor, putting it away and throwing a handful of quick punches, that blurred in a fast movement.

"... I will give you a mission this time."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

It looks like Hanno bought into her lie, or he was just letting her off the hook for now.

For the next sparring round, he suddenly passed his shield to the songstress. The shield is unbelievably heavy, and the rumbling indicated that it's actually alive. Well, it's far better than handling steel. "Uh, ok."

"I will be with my bare fists this time, I am much faster this way." Even as Hanno removed his armor gently, it still produced a loud thud. She then realized how fast is the faerin actually without his heavy armor weighing him down.

Maybe he could've moved as fast as the likes of Zel on the battlefield just from seeing his blurry punches.

"... a mission?" She asked confusedly, still trying to adapt the unusual shield into her stance. Every shield technique Corvella had was passed into her, one-to-one, but it's still a different shield than the blonde protector used when she was more alive.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno watched Moonsong with a small smile as she struggled to use the shield. "Yeah, a mission. It will sound weird, but..." Hanno pointed at the Shield. "Your mission is to protect her from me." For a moment, the Shield rumbled again, this time stronger as it began releasing sounds of ripping flesh, and its armarillo carapace was slowly replaced by its mundane, darkwood shape, slightly corrupted by dissonance, the same beginner's shield Hanno used to fight against Titanus.

The weight decreased considerably, and even its size shrunk by about a third before something seemed to come out of it.

In front of it and Moonsong, a faerin girl was crouched, with a tentacle wiggling on her lower back as if it was a tail, and she slowly peered behind her back to look at the songstress before turning around to face her with a mischievous smile, resting her hands behind her back innocently.

"Your mission is to not let me touch her. No matter what. You can hit me, you can get hit. We can crack our skulls as far as I care. But you must not let me touch her. Alright? You can use the shield if you want to try, but do your best." He said, assertively as he readied himself, taking a steady breath as the woman got ready with the girl.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

"Your mission is to protect her from me."

"Her?" Moonsong tilted her head, before the shield suddenly rumbled again, vibrating as the shape slowly morphed into a completely different shield. A tentacle came out in front of it, before taking a shape of a faerin girl. "What—"

She was going to ask what the hell just happened, but Hanno already interrupted her with the mission for this training. "Your mission is to not let me touch her. No matter what." Well, she can always ask questions later. The brunette walked up, positioning herself between the girl that suspiciously looked like Hanno and the shieldman himself.

"Alright, this is more my size. Bring it on." Left palm planted on the ground, right hand gripping shield tight, her stance low for better mobility, mimicking a certain blonde shielder. Her eyes locked on Hanno's legs, trying to figure out the man's first movement to intercept him. This is different than just attacking or trying not to die, protecting someone is an art in itself.

Once Hanno showed any signs of movement, Moonsong will dash to close the gap, while still keeping the girl at most one meter away from her.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

The little faerin girl giggled at Moonsong's reaction, and her tentacle wagged excitedly, leaning in as the songstress placed herself defensively in front of her. "Protect me well, Big Sis. I am counting on you." She cheered on with a cute yet distorted voice, that sounded more like a mockery than anything else.

"Focus on me." Hanno said, just in case Moonsong had become distracted by Ghast, before darting off and going for a straight attack, without much distraction and charging directly at Moonsong with a flurry of direct blows.

He didn't go straight to the girl Moonsong was meant to protect yet, but it wasn't because he was going easy on the songstress, it was because he needed a better distraction first. One of a combat one.

Would she be able to protect herself and be able to react as soon as she would need to shift her focus?

Speeding up the attacks, Hanno tried to tire her down, bracing himself for retaliation.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Now that the crowd of knights had dispersed, and Hanno took off his armor, Moonsong could focus without her chest being slowly pierced by a piece of steel. "Protect me well, Big Sis. I am counting on you." The distorted voice the girl produced was disturbing enough that she almost looked behind, but then the faerin reminded her to focus on him.

Instead of circling or jumping, Hanno went straight toward her. Moonsong quickly met him in the middle, putting the shield forwards to block the flurry of strikes. As soon as the strikes impacted, however, she found herself pushed back by sheer physical force. "What the-" Eyes opened wide in surprise, the brunette tried to keep her shield lifted high against the barrage of punches. If this was kept up, her grip would be gone in just a few seconds.

She quickly flipped through Corvella's playbook in her mind, looking for the move the blonde would've done in situations like this.

Found it.

Moonsong quickly dropped down, then tried to do an upwards uppercut-like deflect to stop the accelerating punches. She was not trained in guard arts at all, so the move was not replicated anywhere even close to the original, but it should be able to at least pause the continuous assault, giving her time to focus back on the distance and his footwork.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

3 / 3

The vague distraction was disapproving, but Hanno understood it was too much for Moonsong to understand right away.

Hanno clenched his fists, continuing his flurry of attacks without wasting a moment, with most of them being defended by @Moonsong, yet somehow he managed to push her back. That wasn't good--

Thankfully, the songstress was quick to think of a recovery, and Hanno was forced to back off when the uppercut parted their close combat.

A whistle escaped from Hanno. "You are really tough. But try to keep your stance more firm. A protector must be as rigid as a wall." He said, taking another side step and charging in once again, this time, however, he aimed to circle around Moonsong, exchanging blows in the process if necessary.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (10) + 25 = 35
Martial Arts | Hanno Futaba | 1439C1

Protect the not!Faerin

It is an even simpler version of the PvP mechanics made during Red Fever.

Moonsong and Hanno must roll Mastery Checks, and the one who rolls the lowest lose 1 HP. Both of them have 3 HP, that will represent their Stamina to keep fighting. The first one to reach Zero either got disarmed, or failed on their objective, or simply got too tired to continue.

 

[Lune]

3 / 3

There was a brief pause as the faerin defender criticized her choice of defense.

"But try to keep your stance more firm."

Firm stance. She suddenly remembered this one short boxing training she did for a while as a part of a Korean variety show shoot. Sometimes it's not about guarding; weaving around the attacks might be the better way to conserve stamina.

Legs spaced, planted firm on the floor to avoid getting pushed back. Her hips squared, both her arms on her sides and her right fist tight beside her cheek.

"Let's go."

As Hanno suddenly circled around her, Moonsong quickly moved around to block his path from the tentacle girl. The man's quick jabs were certainly too fast for anyone to even predict and dodge, but the brunette was able to use her precognitive abilities to see incoming attacks, enabling her to weave through attacks with minimum stamina cost.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (15) + 25 = 40
Astramancy | Moonsong | 1439C1

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

2 / 3

-1 HP from Cycle 1

Ghast watched the spar intently, with a waving tentacle excitedly wiggling as she kept her hands behind her back, wishing she could step in the fun as well.

"Ooooh!" She cheered on Moonsong's successful defense, fending Hanno off and making the faerin retreat for a moment. "This gives me nostalgia." She hummed.

Hanno tried to ignore the girl, focusing on Corvella's stance and pondering. Something more technical... Hanno could approve that, it was already a nice start, and Moonsong's raw potential was more than enough.

Huffing, he tried another feint, but this time he didn't hold back, throwing kicks at Moonsong on an attempt to sweep through her dodges, hoping the kicks that cornered the woman would make her lose her balance while defending herself and trying to develop the attack sequence to overcome and surpass her.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (60) + 25 = 85
Martial Arts | Hanno Futaba | 1439C2

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

2 / 3

The punches were already recorded in her mind, only the trajectory had to be predicted, and it was easier with her precognition. But her eyes were so focused on his upper body that when Hanno suddenly threw an unpredictable low kick. "Ugh!"

Moonsong had never really learned how to defend against kicks, and instead just took it on her calf, almost causing her to fall to her knees. Thankfully, she quickly recovered with some quick footwork she learned from her dance routines.

"That was dangerous."

If she was to fall down to the ground, the training would be over. Now that Hanno's mixing punches and kicks, the songstress had to make more distance to be able to observe the movement of his entire body. During the long attack sequence, the woman tried to save her precognitive abilities and tried to look for patterns instead. Everyone has a pattern, no matter how skilled they might be.

On the next punch, she would try to deflect Hanno's arm to the side with his own shield. The differences between their martial arts skill were too far apart, if she didn't start trying to utilize the shield it might be over for her soon.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (33) + 25 = 58
Astramancy | Moonsong | 1439C2

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

2 / 3

Didn't receive damage last Cycle

Moonsong stood as quickly as she fell, which brought a gasp out of Ghast, and a smirk out of Hanno. "Quick recovery, this is important." He said, clenching his fists and taking another step back.

Enemies wouldn't focus only on physical attacks. He wished to train her on everything. Her strength, her speed, her mind.

His eyes focused on Moonsong's, with the faerin red ring of his eyes brimming in a threatening aura, trying to pull her attention to an offensive stance rather than a defensive one before he stomped forward, attempting to strike her while she was taunted, looking for an opening.

They wouldn't hold back either, they could play dirty, they could have no honor. You needed to be ready for everything.

Corvella taught him that. Could Moonsong learn all of it as well?

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (6) + 25 = 31 (Flavor wise, he is Taunting)
Martial Arts | Hanno Futaba | 1439C2

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

2 / 3

Taking a step back, Hanno smirked. He stood there as if inviting an attack, his aura suddenly burst and filled the air around them.

If she was fast enough, she might be able to strike the currently defenseless shielder and finish the fight. He was not in any defensive stance whatsoever. As if she was committing to a full attack, Moonsong jumped into the air trying to deliver a jumping right straight punch.

Suddenly, Hanno stomped forwards, almost closing into a distance where he could quickly punch her weakest spot. The assault was stopped by a sudden object flying towards Hanno, blocking his sight of the airborne songstress; his own shield, thrown back at him.

Having canceled Hanno's bait attack, the woman landed on the ground, now without any more weapons or tricks to utilize. "That was in the playbook;" She smirked, memorizing the unwritten rules of battle. "Never let your emotions get the best of you."

Her fists gripped tight, now she can only hope to last long with her precog vision against Hanno's next attack.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (60) + 25 = 85
Astramancy | Moonsong | 1439C3

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

1 / 3

-1 HP from Cycle 3

The counterattack was unexpected, and Hanno only managed to defend himself enough to not end the fight right away.

Landing back, Hanno tightened his stance, looking at Moonsong and huffing a chuckle at her words. "Perfect-" He said, actually meaning it when seeing the other was in fact prepared mentally. Perhaps even more than himself, that many times got entangled in emotional dilemmas that affected his performance.

"Get ready, Big Sis, you can do it!" The girl encouraged, wagging her tentacle-tail while watching what would seem to be the last round.

Hanno darted off once again, this time in an all-out attack. Throwing punches forwardly, kicks on the sides, and quick side steps trying to surpass Moonsong, expecting to catch a chance to slip past her defenses, trying to reach for Ghast before Moonsong could react.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (20) + 25 = 45
Martial Arts | Hanno Futaba | 1439C2

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

2 / 3

"Perfect-"

"Thanks." Moonsong grinned, wiping a drop of sweat off her face. The spar wasn't anywhere as long as the previous one, but it was more intense.

"Get ready, Big Sis, you can do it!"

With the tentacle girl's cheering, the faerin defender darted, again unleashing his barrage of attacks, this time it was a mix of everything; flurries of punches, side kicks, and footwork steps. The assault was relentless, forcing Moonsong to raise her hand higher. It was at that moment that she quickly lost sight of the man, and when she realized it, he was already dashing past her, trying to reach the girl.

"Not on my watch!" The songstress jumped, tackling Hanno with her entire body weight trying to bring him down to the ground with her. Next plan? Well, just hope that he doesn't pummel her face while on the ground.

Rolls

Mastery Check
1d100 (56) + 25 = 81

Astramancy | Moonsong | 1439C4

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

0 / 3

-1 HP from Cycle 4

Slipping through, Hanno reached his arm out to try and touch Ghast, that looked at him with a mischievous smile before a sudden weight got on his back and made one of his steps stagger, sending him straight to the ground as he nearly ate dirt if it wasn't for his arms quickly going to cushion his fall.

He groaned and frowned, looking at the faerin girl's feet about a meter away from him and then turning to look at Moonsong, letting out a sigh and a chuckle.

"Seems like you have won," Hanno said, not really willing to go on a pummel fight on the ground with the songstress. Even because the training has already been quite tiring, and she had already proved the results had been productive. "Much better than our last sparring too-" He said, trying to sit and rest his hands on the ground if Moonsong got off him.

"That's a good sign. Seems like you fight better when you have an objective, now it is a matter of honing it." Hanno added, while Ghast approached from behind him, leaning down to look at the woman.

"Hehe, she did great." The girl said. "My hero~" She joked with a wink.

@Moonsong