Jack Puts Me Through My Paces [open post]

[summerdude]

"Señor, you really should practice more," Jack says, as Magnus rearranges his mental notes and sighs.

(Anyone else might think Magnus is just lying back on a bench on the grounds, staring at the sky, lost in thought. And technically, he is. But he's working hard!!! He's trying to sort out everyone he's encountered so far!!!)

"You're right," Magnus groans. Being in a weird Mansion with no way out, no established Battle Practice, and no pressing quests to go on is not an excuse to let his limited fighting skills fall by the wayside. He hauls himself upright and shoves his (still largely blank) notebook into his backpack.

Twenty minutes later, he's secured a practice sword from some random closet or another in the Mansion. It's dull steel, not sentient, and heavy in his hands.

"Perfect," Jack decides, so Magnus tramps back out to the spacious lawn, one sword in each hand. Checking to make sure no one is directly in harm's way, he releases Jack and brings the dull training sword up, ready to parry whatever attack Jack decides to throw at him.

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[sagramore]

Sagramore hasn't used his sword much since he arrived. When he practices with Laertes, as he occasionally does, he uses one of the practice foils; his own greatsword is heavier and more unwieldy, all the wrong style. When he sees Magnus practicing, it makes him suddenly realize that he misses the heft of that sword in his hand.

"Would you mind a third?"

[summerdude]

"Hey!" Magnus says, casting back through his memory to affix a name to this face. "Sagramore, right? The more the merrier, dude." He grins, and jokes^*, "I promise I won't try to kill you."

*It's not really a joke. He has to remind himself that here, people can die.

[sagramore]

"I'd appreciate that, actually. My sword's upstairs, give me a moment."

He's back shortly with the scabbard belted on, though he immediately undoes the buckle when he's close enough (it's unwieldy to wear for practice).

[summerdude]

"Oh, cool sword," Magnus says, looking at it. "And sword... holder." He doesn't know much about scabbards, given that Jack takes the shape of a necklace pendant when Magnus isn't using him. "Do you wanna go one on one, or two on one --" here, he gestures at Jack -- "or more of a free for all? One on one on one, I guess."

[sagramore]

"Thank you. It was my father's," lightly. "We can do melee."

[summerdude]

"Sick," Magnus says. "Jack is training me to do better at fighting without relying on him to do most of the work. I think I've gotten pretty good at it?"

"Passable," Jack observes. He tilts his blade toward Sagramore, taking in Sagramore's sword at the same time. "Oh, I bet this beauty can fight," he says, happily, and takes what can only be described as a very... flirtatious swing at Sagramore's sword.

[sagramore]

That's new! But as an inveterate flirt himself, Sagramore feels he should take it in stride.

His sword is a two-handed, doubled-edged blade, so it takes more effort to wield and swing, but he's been keeping his upper body strength relatively trained and he blocks smoothly.

[summerdude]

Jack wheels, as if in delight. "What's her name, boss?" he asks Sagramore -- and then, as if remembering the purpose of the day, swings at Magnus and his practice sword, too. Magnus also blocks, then whirls and lunges at Sagramore, telegraphing his moves carefully so Sagramore can block him easily. He wants to get the lay of the land before he puts all his effort into the bout.

[sagramore]

"My father never told me, I'm afraid."

He's also being careful -- like Magnus, he's not sure of his partner's skill, and his sword isn't blunt. As in his bout with Laertes, he's a perfectly average swordsman; he's never made a great effort to be good at it and his purposes in combat are mainly not to get killed.

[summerdude]

If Magnus knew this, he would frankly sigh in relief. For all that he has, essentially, a magical and superpowered weapon, he himself is just okay. His primary defensive tactic is the Peace of Frey, which disarms everyone in a 30-foot radius, and he usually doesn't even do that on purpose. Jack has trained him well, but of all the einherjar in Valhalla, Magnus is definitely in the lower quintile, personal ability-wise. His friends are the particularly strong ones.

That said, as an einherji, he's also very strong and extremely durable. Which counts for a lot, in a fight. And even though he's bad for one of Valhalla's heroes, he's pretty good for a regular guy.

"A mysterious blade," Jack sighs, happily, and intercepts Magnus's next attack on Sagramore with a very show-offy block.

[sagramore]

Sagramore catches Magnus' eye and grins about this, sort of a wow, your sword is pretty horny commiserating grin. He's having fun -- he knew he missed the challenge of sparring, but it's different actually doing it.

[summerdude]

"He's like this all the time," Magnus assures Sagramore, rolling his eyes a little, fondly. It feels good to fight with someone else. Not aiming any of the really important veins is new, but he likes the challenge. It's a new way of approaching a fight, and one that he finds he quite enjoys.

[sagramore]

As he gets more familiar with Magnus' fighting style and his skill he relaxes a little more; they're not so unevenly matched, and Sagramore lets himself be more playful, especially with Jack, who he's not at all afraid of hurting. He has a fluid way of moving with his sword, even with the two-handed grip, as if the whole business were some sort of acrobatics or dance.

[summerdude]

Magnus can feel himself working up a sweat. It's not a particularly hot day, but between the sun and the exertion, it's enough to warm a guy up. Sagramore is fun to spar with. Kind of like -- well, none of Magnus's hallmates really use swords; Alex has her garrote wire and shapeshifting, Halfborn has his battle-axe, TJ has his union rifle with the bone-steel bayonet; Mallory has her knives. But if any of them did wield a greatsword and also couldn't be accidentally killed, Magnus imagines fighting them would feel like this.

So he decides to play around some more. He hops nimbly onto a decorative... boulder? Statue? Roundish rock that stands about three feet above the ground, knocking Jack out of the way with a move that one would typically use to disarm an opponent. There's a way for people who don't have einherji dexterity and strength to climb up, too, though it might require a little more than just a simple jump. "Come at me, bro," he tells Sagramore, eyes twinkling.

[sagramore]

He laughs, pleased. "You're light on your feet," scrambling up the boulder with considerably less dexterity.

[summerdude]

"It's nothing," Magnus says. It's not false modesty, precisely: this is par for the course for an einherjar. "A lot of my friends can fly." He extends a hand to help Sagramore up the rest of the way, should Sagramore choose to use it.

[sagramore]

He takes it and pulls himself up, shifting his sword to just one hand.

"A few months ago that would have surprised me, but no longer."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji stops in his own pursuits (a dutiful patrol of the perimeter of the woods, primarily) to observe Magnus and Jack at their work. He watches from a moderate distance, sincerely interested in the techniques that Magnus and his talking sword may choose to use.

Bichen is, of course, at his side, a steady spiritual presence. Lan Wangji curls his fingers around the hilt as he takes in the scene before him.

[summerdude]

"Yeah, this place is wild, huh?" Magnus asks. "Have you gotten used to it?"

[sagramore]

"I'd say more or less, but it seems like tempting fate. I've been happy here so far, though."

[summerdude]

"Oh!" Magnus says, when he catches sight of Lan Wangji. What was it that Shen Qingqiu had called him? A title. It meant Light-Bearing Lord.

He parries Jack's next attack, then tells him to hold on, quietly. Then he gives Lan Wangji a cheery wave. On second thought, though -- he follows it up with an awkward bow. "Hanguang-jun," he tries. That was the it, right? That was the name Shen Qingqiu had given. "Hello! What's up?"

[summerdude]

"Yeah," Magnus says, with a little sigh. "I miss Alex and all my friends a lot, but it's nice to get a break from Battle Practice and quests. And the Mansion certainly doesn't suck."

[lightbearinglord]

Admittedly, Lan Wangji is lightly startled to hear his title from the mouth of a teenager who is so clearly not from his own world. Here, he has grown nearly accustomed to hearing it from no one but Wei Ying, who is biting back a laugh half of the time that he says it.

"Young master Chase," he greets him. He nods toward Jack, an indication of his interest in their practice.

[sagramore]

That makes him laugh again. "I'd say that word for word, but Dinadin instead of Alex."

[summerdude]

"Oh!" Magnus says. "Is Dinadin your... person, then?"