A/N: You know guys, I put so much research into this fic, it's ridiculous. I researched:
Weapon types, and their weaknesses.
Attacks used by swords.
Horse breeds and what they specialise in.
The whole 'Great War' thing so I could guess ages and how people would act.
Actually, mostly swords.
That's a whole lot more research than I usual do. Usually I just check backgrounds and leave it at that.
The group spent a couple of months just doing easy travel, allowing the two boys to regain their strength.
Due to the fact that they had been lugging around heavy blocks for the last two years, they had been left with fit - though thin - bodies. This meant that as they slowly regained muscle and fat, how well toned their bodies were was quickly noticed.
Duke also bought them a couple of swords at the next town they stopped at, and they restarted their training, practicing by fighting against each other. Flynn could see the irritation on Yuri's face as he realised just how dulled his abilities had become, but they were both patient and began to regain some of their former strength.
They were resting on Nam Cobanda Isle, the rain pouring down around them. Duke, Flynn and Yuri were sitting under Elucifer's wing, Flynn lying against Elucifer's side and Yuri patted his head, which was also under the wing with them.
"Children," Duke said suddenly, and both boys looked up, gazing at him with bright eyes. He gazed at them a moment, then closed his eyes. "You have grown strong over the short time you have been with us," he noted.
"Do you think? I still feel pretty weak.." Yuri mumbled, clenching his fist reflexively.
"It is more likely that you are now much stronger, and so the level of strength you were at before is only a portion of your true ability."
"I suppose that would make sense," Flynn agreed.
"You will likely be unable to reach the level of strength that matches to your abilities without particular training," Duke continued.
Yuri looked at him blankly, while Flynn nodded slowly. "Are you offering to teach us?" he asked.
"If you so wish it," Duke replied.
"I don't get why you talk so fancy," Yuri sighed.
"Therefore, we shall begin training tomorrow if that is suitable?" Duke suggested, ignoring Yuri.
"That would be great. Thanks, Duke," Flynn said happily, Yuri nodding.
The next morning, the four of them stood in the field, Elucifer and Yuri off to one side while Flynn and Duke stood with their weapons drawn.
"Get into your stance," Duke ordered. Flynn did so, his sword raised infront of him and legs spread apart. Duke eyed him a moment, then nodded. "Strike," he ordered, and Flynn lunged. Duke blocked him, then threw him back. "Good. Strike, but faster."
Flynn frowned, considering this a moment, before lunging. He quickly drew back, attacking over and over as quickly as he could. Duke blocked each of his attacks, but backed away a little each time, giving ground to Flynn.
Yuri gazed at Flynn a moment, then gave a hum of thought. "Flynn's got a different style from me," he realised.
Elucifer glanced at him in surprise. "How so?"
"He uses a two-handed weapon. I only use one hand. But our weapons are the same size."
Elucifer considered this, looking back at Flynn. "True. We didn't think when picking your swords, we just both got you shortswords. I suppose if you have different styles, that puts you at a disadvantage..."
"Well, not entirely. It works for me, because a short sword is better for my style. It's lighter, after all, so easy to handle," Yuri shrugged. Then he frowned. "Though it does mean I have less reach. I worked on my speed a lot when I was a kid to make up for the lack of reach, but I've gotten a lot slower after all this time. I'll have to work it up again."
"I guess Flynn's the only one at a disadvantage then," Elucifer said.
"Mmm. It'll be weird for him, actually. When he gets a proper two-handed sword, he'll be used to the weight of the shortsword, so he'll probably need to learn all this over again."
"That's true. We should get him a sword better suited for his style soon then, so he doesn't get too off-balance." Elucifer glanced at Yuri. "Why do you only use one hand, though? Don't you need a shield or something?"
"No...I've never used a shield. I use my free hand for punching, and then obviously I've learnt how to use both my hands while fighting."
"Oh, so that you can fight easily with the other if your main hand gets taken out?"
"Right. Though, it is my weaker hand, so it puts a lot more strain on it."
"I can imagine."
"How do you fight, Elucifer?"
Elucifer grinned, showing off his pointed teeth. "Tooth and claw. I'm an Entelexia, after all."
"Oh, good point. I guess you don't really need a weapon, huh."
Elucifer shrugged. "Some Entelexia do learn how to fight in their human forms with weapons, so that they can blend in with humans, but I'm not really that bothered. If someone is stupid enough to attack me or my friends, I'll rip 'em to shreds."
Yuri laughed. "Man, that must be cool."
Elucifer chuckled. "You bet it is. No one ever bothers me."
"Yuri! Your turn!" Flynn called as he walked back up to them, sweating lightly. Yuri nodded and drew his sword, walking past Flynn and taking his place infront of Duke.
"Are you ready?"
"Sure am, old man."
Duke refrained from rolling his eyes at the nickname, instead frowning. "Get into your stance."
Yuri stood with his sword gripped in one hand infront of him, feet again apart. Duke shook his head.
"Turn to the side. If you're only using one hand for your weapon, making it so that only your blade is facing your opponent makes you less of a target," he said.
Yuri shrugged, turning so that he was sideways on to Duke. He grunted in discomfort, rolling his shoulders.
"This is killing my neck," he muttered.
"For your style, it is necessary. Now, strike."
Yuri lunged forward, yelping as Duke brought his sword down and easily disarmed Yuri. The younger boy sighed and reached down, picking up his sword again.
"I really need to work on my speed..."
"I assume you aren't all that familiar with fighting different styles."
"Huh? Well, I've fought Flynn before, but that's about it. Everyone at the palace I fought against all used one hand."
"It is not the best style. Most people, when learning swordsmanship, learn to use a weapon one-handed to begin with, then move onto a better style. Continuing to use a one-handed sword style puts you at a disadvantage to many other styles; such as two-handed, sword and shield, large weapons, polearms, even the florentine style."
"Florentine?"
"Dual-weilding. Florentine is the correct term."
Yuri considered this. "Well, there isn't much I can do about that. I've only ever been taught one-hand, and I've already got a style to it. It'd be pretty hard to suddenly swap to a different style."
"Indeed...But I think we'll teach you another as a precaution. Elucifer? Any thoughts?" Duke asked.
Elucifer considered. "Florentine, probably. You said you already use your other hand in attacks, don't you?" he asked Yuri.
"Yeah...but I prefer leaving it free so I can easily swap between hands."
Duke inclined his head. "Then, please demonstrate," he said, lowering into his stance again.
Yuri did the same, the two remaining still for a moment, then Yuri ran forward, lunging. Duke went to block, but Yuri dodged round it, aiming for his chest. Duke brought his sword up, beating Yuri's blade back. The raven-head stumbled back slightly, then reached up and grabbed with his other hand, suddenly striking underneath Duke's weapon on the other side.
The two came to a stand-still, Yuri standing with his weapon pointed at Duke's side. Finally Duke nodded.
"Very well. You incorporate it well. Is this the only way you use your other hand to attack?"
"No...I was starting to make it so I punched and stuff with my free hand, too."
"Then we'll work on that as well. We should, however, incorporate a florentine style; a dagger to use to block attacks when you are in a more difficult situation should work well, and it will smoothly fit into what I want to teach you."
Yuri sighed but nodded. Duke looked up at Flynn, beckoning the other boy over.
"Flynn, you are already very adept at using a two-handed weapon already; I have noticed it is the wrong size and type, of course, which we shall amend soon. However, it would be wise for you also to learn a different style."
"Florentine?" asked Flynn, who quite liked the idea of using two swords.
"No. Rather, learning how to also handle a short-sword and using it as a one-handed weapon. To that extent, you can learn how to use florentine as well if you can easily grasp it."
"Wait, so Flynn's going to learn how to use one-hand too?" asked Yuri, confused.
"Correct. It means that should he be put in a position where he loses one hand, he can easily use a lighter weapon to accomodate - also the reason why you may not need to learn the florentine, Flynn. We will, of course, teach you how to use both hands with the short sword. Having a small shield on one arm for if you do happen to lose a hand and need to use a short sword may also be useful."
"Won't that make it awkward if I'm attacking with the arm which has the shield on?" asked Flynn.
"True...Armguards instead, then. This should also be helpful for your normal two-handed style."
"This sounds like it's going to be a lot of work..." Yuri sighed.
"We can't gain anything if we don't work hard for it, Yuri. Plus, having more than one style at our disposal to cover our weaknesses can be useful in surprising enemies," Flynn said sagely.
"Ugh, you're starting to sound like Duke."
"And you're sounding remarkably like Elucifer."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!"
Elucifer blinked, meeting Duke's gaze, then shrugged. He walked over, grinning and ruffling their hair.
"Alright, let's go into town and get you the weapons you'll need," he said.
A/N: DO YOU SEE HOW MUCH RESEARCH!? LOOK AT ALL THAT SWORDY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THAT FLORENTINE STUFF, I RESEARCHED ALL THAT!
(For a good site about stuff like this, I recommend Lukrain's Guide to Boffers. It doesn't have full information on some stuff, but for simple things such as one-handed, two-handed and florentine, there's plenty to work with.)