"How about we strike a deal? Just this one time?" Draid asked Sam at the dojo.
"So... let's see... This is the first time you hold a sword in your hands, you don't even have the armor and you want to beat all my students one by one? Just for letting you join in today for free? Boy, if you asked, I would've let you have it free for today but if you insist then, here; beat 'em all and I'll letcha have 3 free days here. Oh and since that armor can easily protect the wearer from your swings, feel free to go all-out on the armored parts." Draid was more than happy to hear this. Sam told all the nobles what Draid planned on doing and leaned against the wall to watch the show to ensue. "You'll probably die from one stronger slash so you'd better watch your ass because I won't do it for you." Sam warned him.
"If I don't die here, I'll just rot away in the slums. What can I do to survive in the slums if I can't even wield a proper weapon?"
The nobles still had grins planted on their faces when they started. "Okay, first off can be... you." Sam pointed at one of the nobles.
"Me?" The noble rhetorically asked. A long-haired noble stepped out of the crowd and stood before his opponent.
"Aaron."
"Draid."
"Rules. Aaron, since Draid doesn't have any armor, you can attack anywhere. Draid, you can only attack Aaron where he is protected by the armor. Get either the opponent or their sword on the ground and you win." Sam announced the rules. "That goes for all of you dumbasses."
"Pah, he won't even beat Aaron." One of them indirectly mocked Draid, who heard it but didn't bother looking.
Aaron assumed the basic stance, a slight lean forward, left leg before the right and the sword in the left hand which is aligned with the leg. His opponent, on the contrary, held his sword in the left hand but let it just hang and its tip touch the wooden floor. He just stood there and waited for Aaron to attack. He did just that, a straightforward slash at Draid, who side-stepped it, caught his wrist and forced the sword out of his hand, throwing it on the ground. "A what now?" Someone asked while Aaron, ashamed, returned to the others.
"Winner - Draid." Sam announced. "Next?" Draid asked nonchalantly. Sam was surprised, but recovered quickly and selected another opponent. "Next one... uhh... you." He pointed at another noble, this one fatter than would be expected for a soldier. He stepped out.
"Jack."
"Draid".
Just like Aaron, Jack began by assuming the default stance. This time, Draid did it as well. He used the little bit of momentum he had from being slightly leaned forward and made a reckless horizontal slash. The blow connected but failed to do more than that, the armor deflecting it completely. Jack used the opportunity he got from that to swing at him but Draid parried it. He then locked his blade with Jack's and started steadily pushing it towards the side until he had an opening to punch him straight in the face. "Bullshit!" Jack exclaimed as he let go of his sword. "Winner - Draid."
He won about 7 or 8 matches because of the recklessness of his opponenets but his luck was coming to an end. He had many shallow cuts - when he failed to completely dodge the blade along with the wound on his shoulder from yesterday that had opened up but he wasn't planning on giving up just yet. Just one last guy left to beat and he'd be done.
"Dave."
"Draid."
Dave took up the basic stance while Draid had his sword hung over his left shoulder. He took his sword in both hands, ignoring the burning pain from the shoulder and making a swing forward. Dave managed to block it with the flat of his sword and he tried using his free hand to his advantage by punching him in the face. Draid disengaged by pushing them away from each other with his sword. He switched to the basic stance, holding the sword in just his left hand. Dave swung just as his opponent backed off, making a shallow cut above his eye that started bleeding, blinding his eye. Draid wiped the blood with the back of his hand but it didn't stop so he gave up. The crowd cheered Dave on while cursing Draid. He ignored them as well as everything else, focusing on the fight at hand. "No use in directly attacking him, that armor of his blocks it all... Hafta get him or his sword on the ground. Think, Draid...think..."
"Another!" He breathed. He made the same swing like before, getting the same results. Parried swing, failed punch, failed retaliation swing - this time he dodged it. "Another!" He thought. He was almost completely exhausted as a result from battles beforehand so he wanted to finish this as fast as possible. This time he swung just with his left hand, a swing his opponent didn't even bother parrying. Instead, Dave thrust his sword forward, piercing Draid's stomach from front to back. Thinking the duel to be over, Dave relaxed his grip on his sword and glanced at Sam, waiting for him to call the match. However, while he was distracted, Draid grasped Dave's sword and wrenched it out of his hand before withdrawing it from his body and throwing it to the ground where it landed a moment ahead of Draid's body. "I...won..." He barely managed to utter those two words as he spat out blood. Sam rushed to him and tried to stop the bleeding with his hands. "WHAT ARE YOU SITTING THERE FOR?" He yelled at the stunned onlookers. "GO GET BANDAGES!"