My Kingdom for a... Pet Shop? [o]

[Eric]

The streets of the capital buzzed with the energy the midday summer's sun inspired.  Hardly a cloud in the sky to dampen his spirits.  That is, if he was outside to begin with.  The young nobleman looked out the window of the shop, his purple eyes skimming over a few faces before wandering over to the face of the man who was fervently trying to sell him a peculiar looking bird.  He'd known his garb would undoubtedly cause a stir.  Still, he'd found it much easier to put up with the 'discounts' on the obviously over-priced merchandise.  Not that he was interested in what the man sold here anyway.  He ignored the man's clamoring for a sale and moved to look among the shelves at the animals held hostage.  Why, pray tell, was he here if he had no interest in what he was shopping for?  He let out a small breath as though he were wondering the same thing himself.  He'd entered the store on the sole thought that it was the day before Amilia's birthday, one of the caretakers of the gardens.  She had one of the greenest thumbs he'd ever seen, her work having served the Eldrich house for four decades.  He hadn't been alive for most her career, but it seemed like she was lonely.  A pet had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that he was here he had no idea what sort of an animal she would like.

Even now, the man still persisted that he knew exactly what it was Eric had come for, despite not knowing himself what he was going to get.  An exotic fish in a bowl was shoved in his face, two vacant eyes staring back at him, giving him an uncomprehending look.  The multicolored scales were stunning, but the tiny fish would hardly amount to 40 years of dedicated service.  "Sir, I would inquire if you have anything more... substantial."  Eric finally spoke, breaking his silence, conceding at least that much to the shopkeeper.  "I'm looking for something that won't die in a few weeks.  Something that doesn't need to be caged and kept trapped.  Something someone can depend on and show affection to.  Do you not have anything that meets these criteria?"

The man paused, perhaps a little stunned Eric had spoken once more and in such a tone as to infer his shop was anything but exceptional.  His response was stuttered as he frantically searched for something that would net himself a sale.  Money is money, Eric thought to himself, especially when it's coming from a noble.  These types always look to exploit the unwitting, make them walk away with a bad deal by pricing things higher than usual.  He'd dealt with these types before, however.  It was simply a game of who would break first.  The shop owner could lose out on making a substantial profit and the noble could potentially not find a store willing to part with the product at a reasonable enough price.  While the prices were dropping, he wasn't sure they would drop enough for the cost to outweigh an unknowable result.  If only there was someone around who knew more about this present shopping thing... 

[Dao]

Dao wanted to hiss at the sun. It was affectionately too bright, giving everyone else a rather fine day to do whatever it was they had to do but him. The sellsword preferred it when the sun was low, where long shadows were being cast all around instead of the damn ball of fire being smack dab in the middle of the cloudless sky. It was annoying too to note that there was a lack of cloud up there, not because he liked the fluffy things, no. It was more because without them to provide some kind of natural shade over the streets, he'd have to mingle with the other townsmen milling about. Certainly, having his face be recognised would be the worst thing to happen. It didn't matter that he wore a long scarf to hide part of his face whenever he was out and about in the fields doing his work. Some people were undoubtedly sharp and with his paranoia at an all time high during this time of the day, Dao certainly didn't want to risk it.

Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing to do at camp. No one wanted to fight, and after a less than spectacular performance in the last raid, Dao didn't have the chance to challenge the bastard. His equipment were all clean and well maintained still, his favourite bronze sword hanging off his waist and well hidden beneath the thick tied cloak that he wore over his shoulders. And so he had volunteered instead to go do some scouting. There were plans of another raid, and not a lot of people liked doing the grunt work of mapping the new location out for anything valuable. Dao was different though, different in the sense that he knew why it was important.

It gave him directions, places and pictures to strike in his head. He could understand the layout of the city and where to hide if it ever came down to it. It annoyed him to do the job of milling with people but the simple chance of increasing his odds against that man far outweighed his preferences on the matter. Narrowed black eyes continued to look around but in a more discreet manner and nothing like a tourist. He'd been doing this job for a long time after all and he knew how to do it well. Crossing the street after some of the carriages had finally passed by, Dao easily slunk through some of the busier streets. Bumping against a couple of people, faking it out as well as he could. The frazzled look, frightened and weak, was always effective. Caught up in the possibility of having hurt someone, the fools never took note that their little pouches tied to the side were gone.

And so Dao continued through the streets. His tattered brown cloak covering enough of him as the leather he usually wore into battle was replaced with dirty cloths to make sneaking around that much easier. A cough escaped his throat as he passed by an alleyway, moving through the town still with his eyes memorising the details and the paths available. He only had a couple more days left before he had to report back after all, and he'd want to get as much information as he could before then. Not for the others no, they could rot in hell for all he cared.

He had just been about to pass another idle shop by when he heard the shockingly adorable mewling of a kitten. His glance moved as fast as they would have when faced against a blade. Immediately, the young man's face traced the sound and followed to see the small animal in a small cage. He bit his lip, slightly, as if debating with himself….and he gave himself a small excuse to see. Just for a bit. He had managed to steal a bit of coin after all, he was sure stealing a pet for the day wouldn't be that difficult. He crossed the threshold, the door bell on top of the door frame ringing as he entered the establishment.

Eyes saw a nobleman and the shop keeper arguing, whatever it was Dao certainly paid no heed to it. Focused on the wide array of animals, he followed his steps back to find the proper viewing area for the litter of kittens. Squatting down just a bit, placing himself at a rough eye level with the infants, Dao felt his perpetual frown just shift a bit more into something more positive. Raising a finger up to offer to the little mammals, Dao felt his gut flutter just the tiniest bit when he saw it yawn cutely at him.

…Well, he could probably visit the store later tonight.

With his sword brandished.

It certainly wouldn't be that difficult.

[Eric]

How is it that such people provide successful business?  There seemed to be nothing here fitting as such a gift and the longer he talked to this man who seemed only interested in profit the more it seemed he was wasting his time.  The young man turned and was about to walk out the door when he noticed another around his age.  Perhaps this person would be of some use.  Eric made his way over to Dao, something fuzzy caught his eye.  "What on Ylisse is this?!"  The surprised lord couldn't help but gasp stare at it.  What sorcery..?  It was as though simply looking at the animal was making his heart feel lighter, a small warmth spread through him.  No!  This was against his will!  Maintain control!  It was no use.  A small smile was plastered on Eric's face as he watched it.  "What beast is this that it would affect someone so greatly?"  he mused to himself out loud, his head tilting curiously.  I must have it!  The voice in his head shouted at him.  It was, by far, the most perfect present he could think of.  "Why, pray tell, did you not point me to this?"  He turned to the shop-keep, shooting the man a look before turning back to the kitten.  "Perfect.  I must have it."  He stood, decided in his course of action.   He pulled out a purse of bullion and handed it to the man.  "This should more than compensate you for your trouble."

He walked back to the creature and hesitated.  How was he supposed to get this home?  Carry it?  No!  He couldn't!  He was unworthy of such an honor!  He would sooner endure an eternal fast than to potentially ruin such innocence, such bliss.  That's when it dawned on him... he had no idea what this thing was in the first place.  What did it eat?  How was one supposed to care for something so cute and pure?  He looked back at the young man who had come to the shop just a moment before.  He didn't look like a noble, in fact, his entire demeanor spoke contrary.  He would thusly be the perfect person to ask.  "You there.  What manner of creature is this?"

[Dao]

The other two were annoying, that much Dao could honestly say. With their high talk and flamboyant sounding tones, the Myrmidon could most likely assume that it was some hogwash concerning money or some other inadvertently unimportant thing that could be easily solved with just a bit of violence. The shouting was also grating in his ears, and it was a frustrating thing to have to go through because the little kittens that he had been playing with were becoming agitated. Sure the seventeen year old didn't mind if the litter of infants became closer to him, but he really preferred to see them not be so scared of the world around them. He had been about to offer a few rumblings of encouragement but even that plan was foiled when he had been called out.

He felt his eyebrows furrow…but he couldn't really hold it at the sight of the little kittens that were being frightened by the rather explosive personality that nobleman seemed to posses. Trailing his finger over the head of the closest creature to him, snuggling it between the ears and giving it a light scratch, it was really the most that the Myrmidon could do to help the cute critters out. For that matter, Dao would have really focused more on trying to take care of the kittens and making sure they were okay as opposed to even bother responding to the other male.

Which, technically, was what the bandit did. He had ignored the summons of the other male and instead continued to pet the kittens that were beginning to at least feel marginally better about the situation they were in. He didn’t particularly care about the ‘no petting’ sign either. Little things like that didn’t matter as much as the welfare of these adorable creatures. Dao had also begun to smile a bit more as well after a few more moments of giving the kittens a few scratches here and there.

Then the owner of the establishment decided to be an ass about life and snagged the Myrmidon by the scruff of his cloak. A shock of black hair was revealed and Dao felt himself being dragged away from the cats for but a moment’s time. Hands lashed out, the mind threatened, and immediately the merchant had found himself kissing the pavement of his own shop with a sharpened bronze sword ready to bite his artery.

[Eric]

Eric was slightly vexed that this one had simply ignored him. He should have guessed that manners were too far above this one's capabilities. So, he was dealing with a rebellious type was he? They were harder to deal with being stubborn as pack mules and seemingly being contrary for the sake of it. The noble sighed and shrugged to himself. There wasn't any chance of dealing with him as long as he had a mind not to be dealt with. With that Eric walked t the corner of the room, pondering his dilemma of the transportation of the kitten back home. The shopkeeper made his move while the young lord was in his own world. The shop-keep could spot the lowlife types from a mile away and had his eye on Dao from the moment he'd walked in. Now that he had his hands on the merchandise when there was a sign explicitly warning against doing so, that was the last of a very small pile of straws. Before the man had been able to 'escort' Dao off the premises, he'd found himself thrown to the ground with a sword to his neck.

Eric looked over at the sound and sighed. "A rebel and a ruffian? I see two problems with your plan already. Firstly, after doing this don't you think as soon as you let him up he'll call the guards? Even should you silence him with your blade, there's still a witness here to report you." Eric waved at Dao, placing his other hand on the sword hilt hanging at his side, giving light to the fact that even if he did attempt to silence him, it wouldn't be so easy as with the shop-keep. "Secondly, you seem to have no purpose for your outburst. You gain nothing from this violence that words couldn't have solved. These two facts combined make this a poor, thoughtless course of action."   Eric already knew full well that this boy wasn't going to actually hurt the shop-keep from these two facts alone. Even if he did, it would only serve to condemn him and put his face on wanted posters from here to the borders of Regna Ferox.  Still, the boy was skilled as a fighter, that much he could tell from the fluid motion he'd used to both pin the man and draw his sword.  If a fight did break out, Eric wasn't confident he'd win.  Rather than promote further violence, the more prudent course of action would be to diffuse the situation early.

"Put your sword away and let's try this exchange again. My name's Eric of the house of Eldrich, and you are?"

[Dao]

His mind was in a buzz. Mental routes were spreading out like wild fire on the harvest as several venues of continuance began to appear. From where he could slant his sword to let a spray of blood cover the other male that had approached them to simply nicking the shop keeper's neck and letting him bleed to death. Both options certainly sounded rather useful in distracting the stranger that seemed so hell bent on lecturing him. It also meant that he'd be able to run away and create a bigger difference in distance. Unfortunately, the only thing that had legitimately stopped him from doing so were the kittens that he had gotten attached to.

Letting a fight start here, or even just crowding the place with people, would be harmful for them. Eyes then glanced upwards as he neared the blade of his weapon against the downed shop keeper's neck. Narrowed black eyes had the sharpness of steel behind them as he kept tabs on the purple haired swordsman across him. The two had been talking over and away from him, and the shopkeeper had at least tried to drag the Bandit away and out through the door. From the pull of his instincts, Dao was confident that he was that much closer to the door and retreating towards it would still be the most preferred action.

Carefully, exercising as much caution as a man stuck on a rope bridge would, the Feroxi let go of the downed male's neck and with savage like grace did he get up into a standing position. Needless to say, the sword in his hand was still pointed at the general direction of the other two individuals within the establishment…and what was baffling really was that, from what Dao could understand, ' Eric ' actually expected him to reply. Another step back with his sword still held towards the person he now considered an 'adversary', the teenager was slowly inching towards the exit.

He certainly was not going to stick around, that and his body didn't quite know if the other male could be defeated within a matter of moments. Taking too long to duke it out, if he was to be forced to do so, would lead to him being captured. Judging from the cloth and over all air, Dao also had the unfortunate luck to be fending off a Lord, or at least a man of noble standing, of all things. His sword hand tightened, body slightly leaning forward with tense shoulders.

And again, there was no need for words to speak of the situation.

[Eric]

Eric stiffened a little as he looked into the young man's eyes. They were cold as steel, sharp as a blade. He hadn't seen it before because he'd been too absorbed arguing with the shop-keep, however now that the swordsman was in this position there was no denying that he was serious. If provoked, he would kill. Several flags went off immediately as he pointed his sword at Eric, who in turn drew his own sword. He noted wary movements toward the exit and followed, moving the same speed toward the kittens at the center of the room. He glanced at them and back to the young man. Before, he'd seemed infatuated with them. Though human life meant nothing to him, it was transparent he had shared some connection with these creatures. It was then something dawned on Eric.

"You are a very spontaneous person, you know this?" He calmed down a little bit, his smile fading but his mind working overtime. "You play with beasts one moment and threaten a life the next. Perhaps you think of these creatures to be more human and us the beasts?"

He had to think, how did this make any sense? how could he explain these seemingly random events? First thing that came to mind was his response to being grabbed. Almost out of instinct he had fluidly pinned the shop-keep and drawn his sword. So, he was trained with a blade. Why had he continued on with the act? Possibly he felt trapped, like it was his only method of escape. No, that wasn't true, Eric had offered him another out. Perhaps he was distrusting? He felt trapped because he viewed everyone as the enemy? That being the case, it would make sense. Next, he was serious in his threat to kill. His swordsmanship gave away training. Was he part of a military? No, those sorts had rules about killing. Was he a mercenary then? Possibly. What didn't make sense was why he would ruin any ability to maintain contacts within the city. Perhaps he didn't care about such a reputation? He could feel he was drawing closer to his answer, but he was running out of time. He was almost at the doorway.

"Must be difficult. Putting yourself in such a precarious situation, letting your guard down for a moment only to have that be what gave you away." Eric let his eyes stare right into Dao's, maintaining contact, searching for weakness. "Your actions are all very suspicious, I'm sure there are a few people here who'd be very interested to hear what you have to say." He went on, Dao at this point was at the doorway-- when it opened. Eric's sword drooped a little. "Ah, officer, perfect timing."

As soon as Dao's eyes broke contact, Eric would make his move, lunging forward and slapping Dao's sword away. Though shaken the shop-keep had enough sense to headbutt the young man after Eric had made his move and scrambled, if not unsteadily, away from danger leaving the baffled woman in the doorway looking on shocked.

[Dao]

What was this man going on about? Words and ideas that didn't make sense to him were being thrown about without anything. This was, however, in the intellectual sense. Dao was not a very educated man. He knew basics, and he knew how to understand whatever it was that people were trying to say. The intricacy of things however were lost on him and all he could grasp when faced in such a situation was the general idea of what was being said to him. And dearly, what he could garner from the tone and the eventual unsheathing of his adversary's weapon was that he was being threatened. Eyes didn't break contact, wary of how they moved.

And there it was.

Dao heard the movement of the door faster than the words had left the Lord's lips. Dao's eyes saw the movement of the nobleman's eyes, shifting away slightly from him. In that moment, that one happenstance of exchange between both swordsmen, the Feroxi moved. Fingers gripping on the sword reversed, holding the hilt in such a way that his thumb was closer to the butt of the handle. The bandit's feet shifted, as if he was dancing, and lunged first at the person who had entered the establishment. He was faster by a margin in terms of reaction, and in consequence had nulled the disarming action that Eric had preferred to take. The shop keeper too, his efforts wasted at doing nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Effectively, the only victim that had come out of the stream of actions that had followed was the female civilian standing stock still like a deer caught in the headlights. The woman was untrained, despite whatever bluff that the nobleman had given at the start, and easily crumpled to the floor as Dao thrusted the butt of his weapon into the woman's solar plexus. With no one blocking his path, the bandit easily found himself scrambling out of the establishment like a man possessed. His hood being hastily thrown up over his head to hide his features, the Feroxi male's light footedness quickly found him traversing through the alleyway beside the building's entrance.

Looks like he'd have to put the information in his head to use much earlier than intended.

[Eric]

Eric blinked as the young man charged straight back into the person in the doorway. There was no hesitation in his actions as he'd barreled past the woman. Eric's eyes had never left Dao's and he followed a bit delayed as a result of his words going unheeded. Honestly, it hadn't mattered who was at the door. As long as Dao had believed his words it would have served enough purpose. Even so, that was the third time he had been ignored outright. Did this boy simply not understand what Eric was saying? Maybe he didn't speak this language? It seemed unreasonable, but it was the only conclusion he could reach at this point. Perhaps he just didn't care and had tuned him out. That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation, but in such a circumstance, anyone who'd heard the word 'officer' might have felt their heart leap a bit, especially with their back directly to a trained soldier. Such thoughts were milling through his head as he barreled past the woman and turned the corner to catch the glimpse of someone turning the corner quickly, eyes looking curiously in the direction he had run. The young nobleman didn't have any reason to pursue, however he wasn't going to just let it sit at that. The boy hadn't hurt anyone, he hadn't taken anything-- but something about the way he acted tugged at the back of Eric's mind.

There wasn't any reason to call out for the boy to stop, breath was too important in this situation to waste on what would be ignored anyway. Though a noble, Eric wasn't about to be shown up. Somehow he managed to keep stride with the boy, matching him in terms of speed as they bolted down the alleyway. He could only imagine the shopkeeper would contact the guards. Purple hair trailed behind him, his shoes padding on the ground dully. He could smell fresh bread as they passed the open backdoor of a bakery. He was roughly seven yards behind Dao, the rhythm of his steps probably audible to his quarry.

[Dao]

Leather covered feet slapped against the hard pavement beneath them as the bandit practically glided through the alleyway. The young man who was currently running away from the predicament had not given much thought to why there were several crates and the like that lined up around the rather extensive route that he found himself in. Moving faster, his eyes beginning to focus on the road ahead of him, the unnecessary sounds of the world around him then began to blur out. He had not taken note of the sound of people shouting, or the delectable scent of fresh bread being served to customers in the bakery that he had passed not too long ago. His eyes then lifted a bit, away from where he was going for just a second in order to take note the roof tops above. From the information he had been able to gather, there were a few buildings that had flat rooftops…though some of them weren't quite made out of the sturdiest materials.

Still, it was an avenue he was willing to exploit. It was a preferable venue as well since, from years of experience, most chasers didn't particularly follow after him so long as he kept to the roof tops. Nimbleness and Agility didn't quite seem to be the forte of majority of the militia after all. He trusted his gut instinct to tell him where his chaser had been as his breath continued to come to him normally, if a bit more extensive than normal. Down the alleyway they continued, at least until there were a bunch of crates that heavily built men had been stacking. They were probably meant to be loaded into the caravan if the distracting whiny of the nearby horses were anything to go by. Taking it as his chance to lose the other male, Dao immediately hopped upwards as if he was a feline with springs for feet. Launching himself upward over and over again, legs curling and bursting upwards in a repeated alternating motion per crate stacked, Dao soon found himself landing on a blank rooftop.

"The hell is his problem?"

The thought came at him as his body told him to keep moving. The danger level that his gut told him, that his instincts refused to let go, was still there. No way was he going to stop until he could garner confirmation that he was relatively safe from getting himself caught.

[Eric]

"Tch." The sharp exhale came when he saw his target start jumping up on crates that came up to about Eric's chest. Just what he needed, an obstacle. Still, it wasn't like he was going to... He watched as his thought was proven wrong. What was he thinking, climbing up on the roofs? There, he had essentially trapped himself. There was nothing but a straight drop on all sides, and being the last building on the row, he'd have to double back through Eric to get to the next building. The nobleman jumped, trying to emulate what he'd just seen-- but it didn't work out as well for him. He got up on the first box, but he couldn't keep the motion going. Instead, he clamoured up the rest of the boxes as quickly as he could, scaling up the wall to skip the last box to make up for the lost time.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." Eric called over to the boy, trying to catch his attention, his hands raising away from the sword that he had sheathed upon scaling the crates.

[Dao]

…okay. Instinctual mistakes were certainly not often but they did happen from time to time. Whether it was by luck or some other external factor, Dao didn't exactly have complete mastery in regards to discriminating bad and good instincts. It was an annoying occurrence but not something that Dao wouldn't be able to get himself out of. All he had to do to get off of this building was to either back track to where he had come from to reach the other building or jump off said building while aiming for another person to land on. Sure that would most likely get the guy a few broken bones, but Dao could ultimately care less about the well being of people that had nothing to do with him.

With his eyes turned to look down on the passerby's below, scoping out a human cushion to land on, the Feroxi male's shoulders tensed up again when he heard the voice echo out from the other side of the building. His hand reached out for the bronze sword he kept with him and in turn pulled the scabbard free as well. The scabbard hand was kept to his side but the actual sword hand was pointed defensively towards the man who refused to leave him alone.

"What?" The first words uttered by the male was laced with distaste, and over all irritation to having been followed this long. "You say that yet you follow. What reason besides selfishness does that?"

[Eric]

The young man before him whirled around, the sword clenched in his hand as he glared at Eric. It was obvious from his glare that he was thoroughly fed up with the pursuit-- perhaps he felt more comfortable up here rather than on the ground with the crowds, it was certainly away from prying eyes. Eric took a few more cautious steps forward, not wanting to scare him off. It was so sudden it caught Eric by surprise and left him speechless for a moment. It was a voice he hadn't expected to have heard. The guy actually spoke! Chalk up one minor victory, it hadn't been a complete waste of time going after this guy after all. Though, now that he'd caught up with him, Eric wasn't sure what to say. He felt a little foolish now, having taken such measures to keep up with this stranger.

Eric, truthfully, wasn't one to take interest in complete strangers so easily. People, more or less, became background in his daily life and he'd never given a second thought to it. He only really took notice of people who showed signs of possessing something. He wasn't sure how to name it, but it was a quality easily identifiable if you knew what to look for. It had been something in that moment about this boy that had shone through earlier, despite his rugged demeanor and his obvious lack of civility. Perhaps it was something about that which simply added to how he could shine so brightly, even for a brief moment in time.

"It's true, I don't mean you any harm. However, I guess I lied about only wishing to talk. Now that I'm here, there is something I want to see." He spoke, drawing his sword. "Spar with me. If you win, I'll let you go-- no more questions asked. If I win, though, and you refuse to answer my questions, I'm going to hand you over to the guard-- they might have a few questions about your assault earlier, themselves. The shorter the match, the sooner you can leave."  Eric, at least, thought it was a fair proposition... not that this boy really had an option but to accept.  His only escape was behind Eric, unless he wished to jump and risk injury.

[Dao]

The drawn sword was an announcement that any person could easily pick up on. No matter what race, gender, age, or whatever other identifier one could place upon them, the general idea of a person drawing a sword at you would always be similar. To those who had a better understanding of it however, the language written by the swords, there would be a different meaning, an actual purpose, to such actions. Of course, such minute details are often ignored whenever the other party has spouted frivolous words. Misleading either portion could be, a person often ends up believing one or the other.

So when the nobleman had offered a battle, a supposed ‘spar’, Dao scarcely believed such a thing. A spar? Against a bandit such as he? Though the teenager may not have the extensive vocabulary to properly describe the feeling in his gut, it certainly was not just a ‘simple spar.’ Yet he was offered freedom upon victory, caging upon defeat. In between such extremes lied as many possibilities as there were answers.

And as if Dao would believe he’d get off the hook that easily.

Pretty words and generous promises had long since lost their meaning to him. His sword hand regulated the pressure instinctively. Fixing the amount of pressure applied to his weapon to ensure that he could efficiently wield it both offensively and defensively. Experienced eyes gave the opponent another look, one that carried a much more sophisticated measurement behind them. The fingers that were wrapped around his sheathe drummed for a moment before it returned the scabbard to its original position.

One blade should fit the current situation better.

Adjusting his stance, body leaning forward and his legs curled, the young man placed his weapon to his side then. A heartbeat, and then two followed by a flicker of his eyes.

A moment left to start, and a wordless acceptance of the conditions of the ‘spar.’

[Eric]

There wasn't any response, as Eric noted, to his proposal albeit a silent nod. Back to square one again, he sighed to himself. He'd finally gotten him to speak and already it was back to normal. Well, he supposed just being able to get him say anything at all was a victory in itself. The young swordsman shifted, if only slightly, into a more aggressive stance, waiting as if Eric would make the first move. Eric had thought he might get this boy to talk while fighting, but it was becoming more and more apparent that he wasn't one for many words. Perhaps the only was he could get through to him was through such a contest. For now, nothing mattered but the moment. He wasn't a nobleman. He wasn't special or entitled to victory. Whatever the outcome was as much effort as he'd put into his training. Then again, a fight like this would be much different than practicing against an imaginary opponent or his teacher.

Eric's stance was squared and centered, holding his sword with his back hand. He raised the sword back at shoulder height, steadying it with his front elbow while shifting his weight back for a moment. His stance likened to the sword style passed down through the true nobility of Ylisse. It was deliberate, powerful, and fluid-- much like how he had been raised to emulate. He pushed forward to take the offensive. A powerful horizontal back slash, his charge stopping as he quickly reset himself for the strike, his left hand grabbing the hilt at the last moment to add more control revealing it to be a two handed style.

From what he'd seen Eric knew this sudden change in attack wouldn't be enough to surprise the swordsman, he was counting on it. It was more than an attack it was a greeting, deliberate and strong.