58th of Zi'da, Arc 716
Maria had been paired up with a slim young Paltharnum, Prae noted as the pair approached him cautiously. That meant that Prae had the strength and size advantage, for once. Both of his opponents used spears, which was going to be interesting; it meant all three of them had the same weapon range, which was something of a novelty for Praetorum.
Prae waited patiently as his opponents drew closer, mildly amused. Praetorum was meant to take a mostly defensive role in this exercise, which was why he let them come to him. But with this slow pace, in a proper spar or fight, they'd soon find themselves on the defensive.
Although, having to wait for them to come to him didn't mean he couldn't take on a more proactive role....
The Paltharnum was within sprinting range now. If he could bait her over here...
"You two going to attack him, or are you just going to wait for the time to run out?" One of the humans jeered at them, and Prae seized his chance. Glancing over at the human, Prae let his shield drop, just a little— just enough to expose a gap in Praetorum's defense. Now, the question was, was the Paltharnum bold enough to seize that opportunity, without her partner?
Out of the corner of his eye, Prae saw a sudden burst of movement towards him, and immediately spun on one foot out of the way, the butt of his scythe lashing out to catch the Paltharnum's foot. The wood vibrated in his hands as it connected with something; Prae didn't have time to stop to see what, but there was a yelp of surprise, and then a crash as the heavily armored trainee tumbled to the arena floor.
The woman had been going at a dead sprint when Prae tripped her up; falling to the ground, she managed to tuck into a clumsy roll, and ended up half rolling, half skidding across the arena.
Shaking his head, Praetorum turned his attention to Maria, who'd taken advantage of the distraction to close the distance between her and Prae. She was closer than he'd expected; if he had to guess, she'd used her partner to create a blind spot in Prae's vision, to try and get close and launch a surprise attack. If that was the case, she had good instincts.
Circling around to keep both foes in his field of vision, Prae caught Maria's spear on his shield easily, letting the weapon bounce off. Good instincts, but only so-so reflexes, it seemed. The next blow, she aimed at his legs, and he shifted to the side, letting the blow not bounce, but slide off his shield, throwing her off balance, and bringing her into easy reach.
He was able to jab at her once, twice, thrice, before she righted herself and pulled away, shoulders tense in anxiety. The Paltharnum had gotten to her feet, and was running over now, visibly worried for her partner; In something of a mischievous mood, Prae elected to use that against her. It was a bit risky, trying this tactic again when they'd just seen him use it against the last pair, but that was part of the exercise too: learning your enemy's tactics and starting to predict them
This was supposed to be an exercise in cooperation, Prae thought to himself. And one of the most important rules of the battlefield was this; always know where everyone is. Losing track of an enemy, or even a friend in the heat of battle could get you killed.
Circling around Maria a little more, he exchanged a few glancing blows with her as he waited for the Paltharnum to get closer. Then she was only a few feet from Maria, and Prae sprung into action. Shifting positions again to place Maria between himself and the Paltharnum, Praetorum lunged at Maria, feinting a shield slam; and right on cue, she leaped backwards, and promptly crashed into her partner. She was smaller than the Paltharnum, so they didn't fall over, but it gave Prae an opening to take his next move.
After all, Praetorum already had his shield up and his feet planted; why not simply continue the motion?
Before the two women could disentangle themselves from each other, Prae was charging them with all the speed his half Paltharnum legs could muster, his shield held at an angle, his body low to the ground. Peering over the metal rim, he caught sight of a pair of near identical, aghast expressions from the pair before they both tried to get out of the way.
Maria, in a rather daring move, dropped both her spear and shield, and leaped out of the way, her tail barely clipping Prae's arm as she slid across the ground. The Paltharnum was not so lucky; she had barely started readying herself to sprint when Prae crashed into her with all the force of a stampeding bull. With the angle his shield was held in, the bottom edge caught her in the shins, knocking her off her feet and directly onto Prae's shield.
And, like a bull goring whatever poor bastard had gotten in his way, Prae heaved, pressing his other arm against the bottom of his shield, and tossed the Paltharnum over his shoulder, leveraging his shield to send her flying while he himself continued on forwards. By the time he came skidding to a stop, he was a good fifteen feet from the pair, giving him plenty of space to watch every move the two recruits made.
Neither was in very good shape. Maria had dropped her weapon and shield, and the Paltharnum had been thrown on top of them, and showed no signs of wanting to get up.
"Are you okay?" Praetorum called out, cupping his hands over his mouth. Had he been a little too rough? He forgot sometimes, that not all recruits had already had training from an experienced cavalier.
"'m fine." The Paltharnum shouted back, rolling over onto her back. "How much time do we have left?"
Marcus consulted his hourglass. "Half a bit. I think we can just call it there for now. Zero points, you two."
"What even is the point of this?" One of the humans snapped, as Maria and her partner started to limp back towards them, and Prae returned to the centre of the arena. "Are you just trying to show us how outclassed we are by the more experienced legionaires? I think we've got that. "
Marco sighed then, and Prae raised a brow, impressed. That was a properly irritated sigh; Prae hadn't heard that on in arcs. "Praetorum, why were none of these fine recruits able to lay a finger on you?"
Praetorum pretended to consider this for a while. "Well, mostly I'd say it's because I'm from a military family, and have been a legionnaire for four years." Marco's eyes narrowed in warning. "But both pairs would have been able to at least land a couple of hits if they'd worked together properly."
"We worked together!" Maria protested, helping her partner out of her armor.
"You tried to work together." Prae retorted. "That's not the same thing at all. You let me scare you into crashing into your partner because you didn't keep track of where she was, she rushed out in front of you without thinking— what is your name, anyways?"
"She's Tullia."
"Right, Tullia seized an opportunity she saw without coordinating with you. And the pair before — What are your names—" Appius and Crotilo, said the Thiussum and Wyvarnth respectively— "you two didn't even seem to have a plan. You could have circled around, split my attention, or tried to catch me off guard or anything other than just run directly at me and hope for the best. What about you two?" Prae pointed now at the two humans, the last pair to fight him. "You two gonna do any better?" Praetorum demanded, mostly rhetorically. He didn't expect very much from them, truth be told; he'd seen the way they'd been glaring daggers at each other earlier. There were very few people who could effectively fight alongside those they hated.
All the same, the two humans looked at each other for a long while, and seemed to come to some sort of agreement, nodding in unison. "You're damn right we are."
Prae waited patiently as his opponents drew closer, mildly amused. Praetorum was meant to take a mostly defensive role in this exercise, which was why he let them come to him. But with this slow pace, in a proper spar or fight, they'd soon find themselves on the defensive.
Although, having to wait for them to come to him didn't mean he couldn't take on a more proactive role....
The Paltharnum was within sprinting range now. If he could bait her over here...
"You two going to attack him, or are you just going to wait for the time to run out?" One of the humans jeered at them, and Prae seized his chance. Glancing over at the human, Prae let his shield drop, just a little— just enough to expose a gap in Praetorum's defense. Now, the question was, was the Paltharnum bold enough to seize that opportunity, without her partner?
Out of the corner of his eye, Prae saw a sudden burst of movement towards him, and immediately spun on one foot out of the way, the butt of his scythe lashing out to catch the Paltharnum's foot. The wood vibrated in his hands as it connected with something; Prae didn't have time to stop to see what, but there was a yelp of surprise, and then a crash as the heavily armored trainee tumbled to the arena floor.
The woman had been going at a dead sprint when Prae tripped her up; falling to the ground, she managed to tuck into a clumsy roll, and ended up half rolling, half skidding across the arena.
Shaking his head, Praetorum turned his attention to Maria, who'd taken advantage of the distraction to close the distance between her and Prae. She was closer than he'd expected; if he had to guess, she'd used her partner to create a blind spot in Prae's vision, to try and get close and launch a surprise attack. If that was the case, she had good instincts.
Circling around to keep both foes in his field of vision, Prae caught Maria's spear on his shield easily, letting the weapon bounce off. Good instincts, but only so-so reflexes, it seemed. The next blow, she aimed at his legs, and he shifted to the side, letting the blow not bounce, but slide off his shield, throwing her off balance, and bringing her into easy reach.
He was able to jab at her once, twice, thrice, before she righted herself and pulled away, shoulders tense in anxiety. The Paltharnum had gotten to her feet, and was running over now, visibly worried for her partner; In something of a mischievous mood, Prae elected to use that against her. It was a bit risky, trying this tactic again when they'd just seen him use it against the last pair, but that was part of the exercise too: learning your enemy's tactics and starting to predict them
This was supposed to be an exercise in cooperation, Prae thought to himself. And one of the most important rules of the battlefield was this; always know where everyone is. Losing track of an enemy, or even a friend in the heat of battle could get you killed.
Circling around Maria a little more, he exchanged a few glancing blows with her as he waited for the Paltharnum to get closer. Then she was only a few feet from Maria, and Prae sprung into action. Shifting positions again to place Maria between himself and the Paltharnum, Praetorum lunged at Maria, feinting a shield slam; and right on cue, she leaped backwards, and promptly crashed into her partner. She was smaller than the Paltharnum, so they didn't fall over, but it gave Prae an opening to take his next move.
After all, Praetorum already had his shield up and his feet planted; why not simply continue the motion?
Before the two women could disentangle themselves from each other, Prae was charging them with all the speed his half Paltharnum legs could muster, his shield held at an angle, his body low to the ground. Peering over the metal rim, he caught sight of a pair of near identical, aghast expressions from the pair before they both tried to get out of the way.
Maria, in a rather daring move, dropped both her spear and shield, and leaped out of the way, her tail barely clipping Prae's arm as she slid across the ground. The Paltharnum was not so lucky; she had barely started readying herself to sprint when Prae crashed into her with all the force of a stampeding bull. With the angle his shield was held in, the bottom edge caught her in the shins, knocking her off her feet and directly onto Prae's shield.
And, like a bull goring whatever poor bastard had gotten in his way, Prae heaved, pressing his other arm against the bottom of his shield, and tossed the Paltharnum over his shoulder, leveraging his shield to send her flying while he himself continued on forwards. By the time he came skidding to a stop, he was a good fifteen feet from the pair, giving him plenty of space to watch every move the two recruits made.
Neither was in very good shape. Maria had dropped her weapon and shield, and the Paltharnum had been thrown on top of them, and showed no signs of wanting to get up.
"Are you okay?" Praetorum called out, cupping his hands over his mouth. Had he been a little too rough? He forgot sometimes, that not all recruits had already had training from an experienced cavalier.
"'m fine." The Paltharnum shouted back, rolling over onto her back. "How much time do we have left?"
Marcus consulted his hourglass. "Half a bit. I think we can just call it there for now. Zero points, you two."
"What even is the point of this?" One of the humans snapped, as Maria and her partner started to limp back towards them, and Prae returned to the centre of the arena. "Are you just trying to show us how outclassed we are by the more experienced legionaires? I think we've got that. "
Marco sighed then, and Prae raised a brow, impressed. That was a properly irritated sigh; Prae hadn't heard that on in arcs. "Praetorum, why were none of these fine recruits able to lay a finger on you?"
Praetorum pretended to consider this for a while. "Well, mostly I'd say it's because I'm from a military family, and have been a legionnaire for four years." Marco's eyes narrowed in warning. "But both pairs would have been able to at least land a couple of hits if they'd worked together properly."
"We worked together!" Maria protested, helping her partner out of her armor.
"You tried to work together." Prae retorted. "That's not the same thing at all. You let me scare you into crashing into your partner because you didn't keep track of where she was, she rushed out in front of you without thinking— what is your name, anyways?"
"She's Tullia."
"Right, Tullia seized an opportunity she saw without coordinating with you. And the pair before — What are your names—" Appius and Crotilo, said the Thiussum and Wyvarnth respectively— "you two didn't even seem to have a plan. You could have circled around, split my attention, or tried to catch me off guard or anything other than just run directly at me and hope for the best. What about you two?" Prae pointed now at the two humans, the last pair to fight him. "You two gonna do any better?" Praetorum demanded, mostly rhetorically. He didn't expect very much from them, truth be told; he'd seen the way they'd been glaring daggers at each other earlier. There were very few people who could effectively fight alongside those they hated.
All the same, the two humans looked at each other for a long while, and seemed to come to some sort of agreement, nodding in unison. "You're damn right we are."
