"Alright, well, first of all," Prae said patiently. "Don't hold your daggers like that."
All around him, the scouts who'd come to Prae for training looked sheepishly at their blades, some of them adjusting their grips. Prae continued, summoning a dagger of light to his hand. "This kind of overhand grip is good if you want to stab someone in the back, so don't discount it entirely—I might ask you all to do something like that in the future. But for a head on fight, you want to hold it like this." He demonstrated, giving the blade a few swings through the air.
Once they'd all gotten the right grip down, Prae had them spread out, and start to move around with them, get used to the feel of the weapon in their hands in this orientation. Of the people who had come to join the company as scouts, many of them had been petty crooks and thieves before, people who knew how to stay silent and hidden, but whose only experience with a blade had been to threaten or backstab. Prae wasn't judging them, not when they had willingly come to him to do something better, but it did mean that, while they all knew how to use knives and daggers a bit, few of them knew how to use them in the way Prae wanted.
"None of you," Prae told them as they acclimated, "are going to be called on to fight on the front lines. I won't even ask you to stand and fight anyone who discovers you. That's my way, not yours. But you're all going to need to learn how to defend yourselves with these daggers, just long enough to get away if you get into a fight."
"Why not ask us to pick up a shield then, boss?" One of the scouts piped up.
"As much as I want to extol the virtues of the Serpent's mighty shield," Prae said dryly, to a few chuckles, "the dagger's a more versatile tool, honestly. It can defend, it can kill, and it can be used for all sorts of non combat related tasks. You all need to move fast and light, so a single tool that can do almost anything is better than having a buckler on you at all times."
"Now," Prae continued, "since you're never going to be engaging in a fair fight, all you need to do is not get hit. Easy to say, hard to pull off. Tell me, how do you guys think you should avoid getting hit?"
"Don't get spotted," one of the younger scouts immediately said, and Prae laughed.
"Good answer. Aside from that?"
"Dodging?" Another scout offered. "Seen you pull off all sorts of fancy footwork, maybe—"
"Parrying!" Someone else burst out excitedly. "I saw Valbjorn throw Clarissa's sword clear across the yard one time!"
"Good, good," Prae said. "Once you're spotted, both dodging and parrying will keep your enemies from making contact. But there's one more you all missed, and that's to disable your enemy first. They can't hit you if you've stabbed them in the hand first. This won't work against heavily armored enemies, of course, but most bandits we fight aren't going to be clanking around in full plate like I do. If their hands are exposed, and you get a good opening, take it."
They all nodded, and Prae smiled, glad that they were all attentive. "Still, parrying and disabling are slightly more advanced, so for now, let's do some footwork training."
All around him, the scouts who'd come to Prae for training looked sheepishly at their blades, some of them adjusting their grips. Prae continued, summoning a dagger of light to his hand. "This kind of overhand grip is good if you want to stab someone in the back, so don't discount it entirely—I might ask you all to do something like that in the future. But for a head on fight, you want to hold it like this." He demonstrated, giving the blade a few swings through the air.
Once they'd all gotten the right grip down, Prae had them spread out, and start to move around with them, get used to the feel of the weapon in their hands in this orientation. Of the people who had come to join the company as scouts, many of them had been petty crooks and thieves before, people who knew how to stay silent and hidden, but whose only experience with a blade had been to threaten or backstab. Prae wasn't judging them, not when they had willingly come to him to do something better, but it did mean that, while they all knew how to use knives and daggers a bit, few of them knew how to use them in the way Prae wanted.
"None of you," Prae told them as they acclimated, "are going to be called on to fight on the front lines. I won't even ask you to stand and fight anyone who discovers you. That's my way, not yours. But you're all going to need to learn how to defend yourselves with these daggers, just long enough to get away if you get into a fight."
"Why not ask us to pick up a shield then, boss?" One of the scouts piped up.
"As much as I want to extol the virtues of the Serpent's mighty shield," Prae said dryly, to a few chuckles, "the dagger's a more versatile tool, honestly. It can defend, it can kill, and it can be used for all sorts of non combat related tasks. You all need to move fast and light, so a single tool that can do almost anything is better than having a buckler on you at all times."
"Now," Prae continued, "since you're never going to be engaging in a fair fight, all you need to do is not get hit. Easy to say, hard to pull off. Tell me, how do you guys think you should avoid getting hit?"
"Don't get spotted," one of the younger scouts immediately said, and Prae laughed.
"Good answer. Aside from that?"
"Dodging?" Another scout offered. "Seen you pull off all sorts of fancy footwork, maybe—"
"Parrying!" Someone else burst out excitedly. "I saw Valbjorn throw Clarissa's sword clear across the yard one time!"
"Good, good," Prae said. "Once you're spotted, both dodging and parrying will keep your enemies from making contact. But there's one more you all missed, and that's to disable your enemy first. They can't hit you if you've stabbed them in the hand first. This won't work against heavily armored enemies, of course, but most bandits we fight aren't going to be clanking around in full plate like I do. If their hands are exposed, and you get a good opening, take it."
They all nodded, and Prae smiled, glad that they were all attentive. "Still, parrying and disabling are slightly more advanced, so for now, let's do some footwork training."
