I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or any of the characters.
Training
Jasper sighed as he finished strapping his weapons on, passing the broken Ironwood Rapier to Edgin.
"How do you expect me to use a broken sword?" Edgin asked. "Especially as bad as I am with it."
"Firstly, it's Ironwood, not metal," Jasper explained. "It regrows, so it'll be good as new in about another day. Secondly, we're going to begin your training now."
"Fine," Edgin sighed. "But can't I at least have a normal-sized sword? This one's so small. It's kind of hurting my pride."
"It shouldn't," Jasper said. "It's a rapier. It's designed for quick strikes, not power. Those who master rapiers are precise, agile, and intelligent. You're naturally creative and quick-witted, which makes you perfect for learning to use it. You're flexible in tight situations, mentally, at least, and you're sharp enough to be able to figure out the best way to handle a situation, whether the foe is a monster or a person, even when we fought against Sofina. If you can learn to wield that sword properly, which you will, you'll be a force to be reconned with, even without assistance."
Edgin stared at the sword before nodding. "What do we do first?"
"First, we're working on your speed," Jasper said. "There's a reason I chose this cave for us to stay in for a couple of weeks instead of a town, besides the cave having a spring fed pool where we can bathe and wash our clothes. This is the same cave where I trained to wield a rapier. Come with me."
He leg Edgin deeper into the cave, to where water was dripping from a stalactite into a small pool in the top of a hollowed-out stalagmite. Jasper had Edgin stand across from him, both watching the water fall. He held his hand out, allowing Edgin to see it hit his hand, then wiped the moisture away. then, he jabbed his hand into the path of the falling droplets and withdrew it, raising his perfectly dry hand. Edgin glanced up at the stalactite, then traced the falling stream of drops to the small pool.
"You try," Jasper instructed.
Edgin nodded and took a breath, then jabbed his hand, only for the droplets to hit his hand. He tried again, with the same result. On his third attempt, he put too much force into the movement and his hand swung to the side, the droplets still hitting his hand and the blunt side of Jasper's rapier striking a moment later.
"Ow!" Edgin yelped. "What the hell!?"
"Pain is the best teacher," Jasper said simply. "We'll be at this cave for a week. In that time, you need to be able to thrust and retract your hand before the water hits your hand."
Edgin groaned, nodding. Then, he settled in to train in the most unconventional way he'd ever heard of. After a while, once he'd learned not to put too much strength into his thrusts, Jasper headed back to the front of the cave to check on the others.
"How's your arm holding up?" Doric asked.
Jasper held it up, inspecting the injury, now wrapped in real bandages. "Not bad. Should be healed in a few days or so. I'm going to see if I can get it to heal by either changing my form or being an animal soon."
Doric nodded, and Jasper looked to the Aranea.
"How are you feeling?" Jasper asked.
"It still hurts, but it's mostly healed now," the Aranea nodded.
"What should we call you?" Mia asked. "You never told us your name."
"Aranea is fine," she said. "I've been alone so long I don't remember my real name anyway."
Jasper nodded. "Can you use any weapons?"
"Physically, yes," Aranea nodded. "At least once I'm healed, and obviously not in my spider form. But I've never trained to use any."
Jasper nodded. "We'll find you something. It'll be easier to blend in if you don't have to rely on your spider or hybrid forms to defend yourself." He paused. "At least, if you want to come with us. You're free to leave if you'd prefer."
Aranea looked around, then shook her head. "I'll travel with you for a bit. I...miss having company."
Jasper nodded, smiling slightly, then glanced back into the cavern. He sat down, drawing his rapier and beginning to clean it, Holga cleaning her axe as well. After a bit, Jasper sheathed his rapier and shifted to sit against the wall, Mia sitting sideways in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
"So, you never told us how you beat that Blackguard," Simon frowned.
"His skin was as hard as Adamantine, but no spell of that nature, Stoneskin, Barkskin, none of them affect the eye. His eyes were still as fragile and vulnerable as ever, so I used his body to wittle down the rapier's blade, masking it as trying to find a weak point, then drove what was left into the weakpoint I'd already chosen," Jasper explained. "Then the enchantment I'd cast on my blade dispelled the evil magic sustaining his unlife, turning him back into a corpse, permanently."
"What was that enchantment?" Doric asked.
"It was the holy symbol of a Paladin friend of ours a very long time ago," Jasper said. "He was the first and only person until all of you to know what we are and accept us, so as soon as we found out that the leader of our mercenary gang was the Paladin who'd killed my son reanimated into a Blackguard, the first place we went was to our Paladin friend. He enchanted the charm so that it could be used to kill the Blackguard if necessary. However, he warned that I wasn't ready to face a Blackguard at the time, so we've been avoiding him. Fortunately, I got better in the mean time."
Doric shook her head.
"How many Paladins have you met?" Simon asked.
"Including the friend who gave me the charm and counting the Blackguard as only one instead of two, three," Jasper said. "The third obviously being Xenk Yendar."
Simon nodded. "Makes sense."
For the next few days, they passed the days with Jasper and Mia describing the vast list of things they had done, keeping the descriptions appropriate for Kira, and with Jasper monitoring Edgin's training closely. He was more determined than Jasper had expected, standing at the stalagmite from before sunrise until after sunset, relentlessly trying and failing to thrust his hand between the drops properly. Finally, after the fifth day, Jasper stopped him early.
"That's enough for today," Jasper said.
"But I still can't get it," Edgin said.
"I know," Jasper nodded. "For the next day, you're not going to use your right arm at all." He tied Edgin's arm into a sling. "We'll continue once your arm has rested."
Edgin nodded, sighing, and they rejoined the others, Edgin explaining the sling was so he had to rest his arm. The next day was spent with Jasper beginning to teach Aranea to use a spear. She picked it up quickly, since a spear was relatively easy to use at base. Then, on the seventh day they had been at the cave, Jasper and Edgin returned to the stalagmite.
"Do it," Jasper intructed simply.
Edgin nodded, focusing, then jabbed his hand, his habd coming back dry. His eyes widened, and he grinned, then jabbed again, and again, and again. The third time his hand came back wet and he cursed.
"You got cocky and lost focus," Jasper said. "Even if this training goes flawlessly and you completely master wielding a rapier, you'll still be at a disadvantage against others in a fight. Not because they're better, but because they have something I won't be able to teach you. Experience. Take me and Xenk for example. He and I are about equal in skill, albeit with two different fighting styles. However, if he and I fought to the death, I would lose, because he has more than a century of experience."
Edgin nodded. "I understand."
Jasper nodded. "Good, now come with me. It's time for your next step."
Edgin nodded, and they walked back to the front. "Are we going to spar, now?"
"No," Jasper said. "What were the two main things I said you needed to have to wield a rapier?"
"Speed and precision," Edgin answered.
Jasper nodded, picking up a long, straight stick about two inches wide he'd gotten from a nearby tree, then sharpened on one end. He stabbed it into the ground, then used his dagger to carve a pair of lines around the stick, about three inches wide.
"Stab the stick between the lines," Jasper instructed, several of the others, including Edgin, grimacing.
Jasper nodded and drew his rapier, then focused before stabbing. He missed, though it was close, and the side of his blade smacked the side of the stick, too high. Edgin shook his head, trying again. This time he was lined up for height but on the opposite side. He tried again, his blade deflecting off of the stick an inch low and just barely on the side, chipping the stick.
"Keep trying until you can pierce the stick between the lines," Jasper instructed. "We'll be able to travel with this one, so you can keep trying every night until you can get it reliably."
"Oh, what, and you can get it dead center every time?" Edgin asked.
"Not every time, no," Jasper shook his head. "To get it dead center even once requires every ounce of concentration I have. It's how I was able to pierce the Blackguard's eye. However, I can strike the stick, even a grazing strike, between the lines, every time. That is what I expect from you. Not to be perfect, but to be proficient."
Edgin nodded, and returned his focus to the stick.
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