Verling placed signs all over the city saying that he would be training anyone who wanted to learn. He had arrived a few hours early than he stated and began practicing on his own. The grass field was soft on his feet, and the wind was flowing softly through the air. It was a beutiful day and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. It did not appear there would be any rain and few clouds today.

Jahesd had saw the signs allover the city about the new teache of amrs. Jahesd made his way to the grass field and saw the new teacher already practicing. He walked up to him and introudced himself. Hello, teacher. I am Jahesd, and I am wanting to master the martial arts with the staff. I have no other weapons, but only a staff. Teach me your ways of fighting. I am a mage, and have neglected my fighting skills. So i wish to learn now.

Verling looked at him and said "You are a mage seeking my help? That is very noble. Most mages seem to stay with magic. They never realy learn to fight with a weapon. My name is Verling, and I will be more than happy to teach you. He turned around and walked a few feet away from him and then faced the mage and said "But first Jahesd, I will need to see what you already know." He readied his sword and said "I need to now whether you have good habits or bad ones when handleing your staff."

Sargoth had been walking through the indoor arena admiring the intricate decorations and designs as a diversion. He had shown up early for a training session marked on a few signs throughout the city. A match had just been declared, signifying to Sargoth that he was now actually about to be late. He needed to keep his fighting skills in check since he would be returning to the wilds very soon.

Sargoth held on to Rekki and used Maru as the base of a walking stick as he made his way down a winding hall that led to the training arena. Before he entered the marked pit, he saw two men standing opposite of one another. The first seemed well experienced in battle judging by how he held his sword. Sargoth assumed that he was the training master for this session. The second man was most likely the student, he was standing all wrong for a warrior and his staff was held loosely and unprepared. Sargoth stepped inside the boundary of the arena and leaned on Maru to take some of the weight off of his legs. It appeared the two were about to start a match and Sargoth was just as happy watching for the moment.

He made no secret about his entrance but stood quietly. He waited for the trainer to take notice and call him over.

Verling held his sword up perfectly as he wached his student ready his staff. He noticed the loose hold he had on it and is poor posture. Before they started he looked over and saw someone standing on the side. He looked over to the man and said to him "Why are you standing on the side? fi you want my help come forward do not worry. I can train both of you at the same time. Come on, don't be afraid."

Sargoth was immediately offended by the tone used to address him. It was like this trainer felt that he was a mere child. Sargoth gave a hard glare to the man as he leaned on his staff. Sargoth hoped this man was skilled enough at the art of fighting to support his wagging tongue. For the moment, he would say nothing and simply let fate decide what was to happen next. There was a second student present and Sargoth did not want to waste the person's time by arguing.

Sargoth shifted his balance back to his feet and picked Rekki-Maru off of the ground. He walked forward with the weapon held slightly aggressively, he had let the tip of his blade lean forward in his right hand so that it pointed toward the trainer. As he cleared the distance of the arena floor between him and his would-be teacher, Rekki-Maru was shifted across Sargoth's front to be held firmly with both hands. Sargoth was simply itching for a fight now: he had a score to settle.

"Fear plays no role in my actions, just a degree of respect for a fellow student," Sargoth said aloud, mainly to try and befriend the staff-wielding man beside him. Sargoth loved the art of staffwork so this man gained his favor by default.

Verling wached as the two men redied themselves to fight. "This will be interesting. One of them nows what there doing and it seems the other has no idea. He did say he had no practice fighting with his staff. I guess the new guy will have to do most of the fighting." He looked at the two men standing there ready to start. He looked to the man who had just joined in and said to him "Before we start could you tell me your name? It would be rude of me to simply call you the new guy all day" As he waited for a reply his gaze continualy moved from one of them to the other.

"You may call me Sargoth," Sargoth said cooly, returning the gaze that the trainer had given him. He would not ask for this man's name in return for the moment, there was little need to bother with the question. If the man chose to give it, that would be his business.

"Shall we begin, then?" Sargoth asked.

Verling looked at the two men for a few more minutes. Studying the way they stood. When he was done he looked at the two men and said "Begin." Then waited for them to make them first mone.

"Begin?" Sargoth said without bothering to think it through. "Begin what? Shall we fight eachother or are we to fight you together."

Sargoth stepped back out of the group to give himself some space. Either answer would do him little good if he was in close quarters with his opponent. He was hoping he would not have to fight the other trainee so soon, he doubted that he would learn much from actual combat until he understood the methods behind each of the movements. Sargoth watched the trainer hoping to hear more specific instructions.

Almost as soon as he said begin Verling looked at the Sargoth and said "Since you seem to have the best handle on things I want you to attack me first. I am going to show you a deffensive move I learned a while back. It is great for blocking with a staff. Don't know how well I can pull it off using a sword but it won't be to hard."

Sargoth nodded with an added grunt of acceptance and he stood tall analyzing his opponent. This trainer did seem confident in himself but he was unsure if it was warrented yet. He hoped it was on some inner level, these were not practice weapons and there was no attempt made to switch to them. Sargoth had killed far too many things with Rekki-Maru. For an awkward sense of compromise, he concentrated hard on the weapon in his hand. Almost by magic, Rekki-Maru transformed into Mekki-Maru, which Sargoth had less kills scored under. The transformation was impressive to most as two seperate blades seemed to grow and blossom forth from the center spearpoint. The staff also had grown in length, but few noticed that change when there was a much more eye-pleasing spectacle going on at the top of the weapon.

Sargoth spun Mekki-Maru in his hands to get aquainted with its added size and weight, making sure to shift his hands over slightly to regain the center weight. Sargoth figured this trainer meant to show him how to block an overhand attack, something that was very common in battle. Sargoth felt like obliging with an obvious strike so that the other trainee could learn from it. Sargoth spun his staff a few times more and then let it slide outward when Mekki was almost vertical in the air. Holding on to Maru with both of his hands, Sargoth sent Mekki directly down toward the trainer. He made sure that the blunt side of the tip was parallel to the ground to ensure that nothing unfortunate would happen.

Verling quickly bent his sword downward in a verticle to block the attack the way he had meant and picked up the half of Sargoth's staff that had been thrown. He looked at it then threw it back to Sargoth and said to his original student "As you can see it is very easy to block an attack if you know how. If you don't that could be a problem." He then looked at Sargoth and said "Good work. I can tell you are no beginner."

(It tends to be bad form to snap someone's weapon in two, especially if there is no way of knowing if it is actually possible.)

Sargoth grumbled as he held his damaged weapon in his hands. He had taken the oppurtunity to show courtesy with his attack and this was the response. With a scowl that shot daggers, Sargoth release the weapon back to the orb in his chest, only to call upon it again. It stood vertically in his right hand, Mekki glinting valiently in the sunlight, as if it had never seen combat. Sargoth shook unnoticeably as part of his life energy was spent in the creation of the weapon.

"I have been fighting for a long time," Sargoth understated dramatically. "I came primarily for a workout before I return to the wilds."

((I thought you meant the sword/staff split into two. Mikki-Maru, Holding on to Maru with both of his hands, Sargoth sent Mekki directly down toward the trainer. ))

"Well if it is a workout you want it is a workout you will get" Verling motioned the tranea off the pad then redied himself. "You should have said so. I would have been more than happy to give you a bit of a warm up." He said with a grin. "You seem to be itching to get on with this so lets go. Would you like the first strike?"

(Consider it like I was holding onto the staff like a sword for the attack)

"Real combat does not start by anyone's preference, it begins with reflex," Sargoth stated, readying himself for any incoming strike. "It begins with the first taste for blood."

Sargoth backed up into the center of the arena to keep the flashing weapons away from the other student. He seemed far too quiet to participate in the battle about to begin. With little effort, Sargoth covered his hands with a pair of shining battle gauntlets. He deemed it necessary since the trainer seemed adamant about using real weapons.

While Sargoth was getting ready Verlig walked to the side and took off all of his extra weapons. He placed the Kelgoran, his dagger and axe to the side then walked bakc to where he had been standing. He looked to Sargoth once more and began to prepare himself. He cleared his mind of everything around him and focused on the opponent in front of him. He did not intend to harm Sargoth, if this man had been fighting his whole life there would be no need for fake weapons.

In order to stretch out his leather armor from a long bout of restricted movement, Sargoth began spinning Mekki-Maru in several directions. He began on his right side and then moved it to the left, making his arms bend the leather joints again. It was tough at first but began to move fluently as the material was reminded how to act. With a particularly interesting show, Sargoth finished his warmup with a twirling of the staff over his head. The sound of the leather fighting his movements could be heard across the training pit. Obviously, the armor was there more for show than particular use, or Sargoth would not be treating it so roughly.

Sargoth moved into one of his most aggressive stances as the trainer's comments began to take hold. It was time to fight in Sargoth's mind, if for no other reason than to simply fight. Sargoth stood with legs slightly more than shoulder-with apart and leaned forward at a small angle. In his right arm, Rekki-Maru ran down the inside of his forearm, hiding Maru behind his back. The bladed portion stuck out obviously, glinting in the light. It pointed about thirty degrees up into the sky as Sargoth held it in waiting. His other arm maintained the same position on the opposite side of his body, without a weapon in it. Instead, it was a metal-gloved fist.

As Verling wached Sargoth's stunning display he smirked a bit at the strange warm up and leather suit. "The suit is fighting against him" Verling thought "His movements will most likely be slower than I remember. I guess I will have to go a bit easier than I entended." He got into his fighting stance and wieghed his sword for a moment. Making sure he knew wher the sword was heviest, lightest, and most balanced. When he was done he got back to his fighting stance and looking at Sargoth said "Would you like to begin now or do you want to spin your weapon a bit longer?"

"You'll excuse me if I have been wasting your time," Sargoth said with an edge in his voice. "I suppose human flesh is not hard enough to warrent stretching." Sargoth held a fixed, slightly evil looking grin on his face. The first signs of a strange, pulsating, green structure appeared beneath Sargoth's armor, the tip reaching sunlight as it began to loop around the guardian's neck. It was almost like a vine, but it did not seem natural.

Sargoth winced, which only strengthened the ferocity of his smile. Sargoth's right arm seemed to jerk violently and then shake as the same green substance followed his arteries up into his hand, covering his arm and hand like a pulsating net. The left arm followed suit and was also soon affected.

With a roar that signified either pain or power, Sargoth held his staff over his head, recalling its power back to himself to reform Rekki-Maru. The weighted spear was hoisted back and hurled with screeching velocity toward the trainer, its sharpened tip thirsting for blood.

With the help of his wings Verling was able to jump over the spear and land safely on the ground, the staff just barely missing him. When he had landed on the ground he ran forward and faked an upper cut. Once again with the help of his wings he stopped the attack mid way through and jumped over Sargoth. He turned around then jumped backwards abit and said to him Sarcastically "You missed me" He then stood there waiting for a reaction.

((OOC: Sorry for the short post. I'll try and make it longer next time))

"Did I miss you? Whatever do you mean?" Sargoth said in an accused voice. He pointed back toward Verling's original spot and looked in shock. "That was an impressive move; especially when done out of paranoia." There was absolutely nothing on the ground in the direction that Sargoth had apparently thrown his weapon.

Sargoth held both of his hands palm-up in the air. He shrugged his shoulders as he stated, "I would love to see the acrobatics that would ensue if you were really under attack."

The guardian smiled his evil smile once again as he began to gesture spinning his staff again. The difference was that there was no staff present, he was only moving his hands in the proper manner.

"I'm sorry, am I wasting your time again?"

Verling smiled at Sargoth. "Impressive teqnique. You are not wasting my time at all." He looked around to see if the staff was nearby but he could see nothing. He scratched his head as he thought to himself "Well that was interesting. I wonder if it is realy invisible. Let's test my theory!" He charged at Sargoth and attacked in the exact place the sword was apparently being spun. "Ha, let's see what's going on" He shouted.

Sargoth watched as the trainer pondered the puzzle he had just been given. There was something about watching a warrior think that simply tickled Sargoth. The man had definately come to a conclusion far too soon for it to be correct; Sargoth was more clever than most gave him credit for. In battle, those who doubted him died before they could rectify the mistake.

Sargoth stared directly into the trainer's eyes as he man raced forward toward him. As the sunlight hit the guardian's face, it seemed to shift spectrums, showing Sargoth's gaze in a red glow. Before the trainer had advanced half the distance between himself and Sargoth, the grinning guardian halted the apparent spinning of his weapon and shifted position. It now appeared like one end of the weapon was now pointing directly at the charging man's head. Whether it was supposed to be Mekki or Maru was unclear.

Verling wached closely as he ran towards Sargoth. He stopped a few feet away from the apparent weapon and looked at Sargoth's hands wiehging out his choices. "I could just charge forward but that may result in a very painful expeirence. I could also hit away what apears to be the weapon and ram into him with no problem. Of course there is also the matter of his leather armour. I may not be able to do anything to him if I decided to try to ram into him." He thought to himslef. He stood there for about two seconds thinining about this before he made his decision. "I'll hit his weapon away and hope I can harm him by ramming into him." He then charged forward reading for his attack.

Almost motionless, Sargoth awaited the inevitable attack by the trainer. The green tendrils had risen further, surrounding his neck and intruding across his cheek. Something terrible seemed to be happening as the mysterious tentacle moved further and further around the guardian's body; it looked like it was tearing through his flesh like a plow instead of rolling over it like a vine.

As the trainer approached, Sargoth saw him wave his weapon infront of him, like he was trying to bat away a spear or halberd. Sargoth smiled as his sword cleaved only air and continued its motion to the outside of his charge. With the makings of a diabolic laughter, Sargoth watched as Mekki-Maru appeared inside of his grip. It materialized off to the side of the trainer's charge, giving Sargoth enough time to make a downward push with the staff, hoping to strike his assailant's wrist and disarm him. Sargoth inwardly wished that the trainer had misjudged and lashed out at the non-existant weapon sooner so that he could send the blades of Mekki at his wrist instead of the rounded staff beneath them.

Verling had put so much power into the attack that as soon as the weapon missed he began to fall to the ground. Sargoth's weapon hit his wrist but his weapon was already lying on the ground. Verling hit the ground hard but jumped up grabbing his weapon in the process and moving a good distance away. "That was an excellent trick." He said. His head was throbing from hitting the ground at such a hard fall and he had a strong headack. He stumbled a bit trying to stand and after a few seconds finaly made it up. He was to tired to attack and decided to try letting Sargoth attack so he could make a counter attack of his own.

Sargoth quickly followed his foe as he jumped back; the guardian was now on offensive. Within moments, Mekki-Maru had disappeared once again but Sargoth continued his charge. He held his hands and arms as if he was holding onto his weapon on his right side, beneath his armpit at his side, and proceeded to make a stabbing gesture, aiming toward the trainer's chest. He planned to summon his weapon back after a single decoy jab to try and throw the man off guard.

At this point, the vines surrounding Sargoth's body had just about stopped growing, covering a large portion of the guardian. His arms were almost entirely covered with spiderwebs of tiny green tendrils and the single large green vine had circled around his head, passing his face across his nose and making its way up the back of his head. His eyes no longer glowed red from the sunlight but rather from an inner power.

Verling qiuckly realized what he was doing and thought to himself "I am not falling for that invisible weapon trick again. It is obvious his weapon is not there." He quickly ducked under where Sargoth's apparent weapon was and aimed the hilt of his sword at the mans chest. As he went under Sargoth's arms he said "Try and block this!"

Following Verling's movements carefully, he watched as the man ducked beneath his strike range before he had a chance to cause any damage, followed by a counterattack beneath his blow. Systematically, Sargoth quickly shifted his feet, stepping one foot back and keeping the other stable to pivot with the impending blow. Verling's hilt glanced off Sargoth's chest without causing enough pressure for damage due to the angle of the attack.

"Why block when dodging works just as well?" Sargoth responded almost in an insult.

Sargoth decided to continue his aggression and attempted to elbow the trainer in the back of the skull. While his feet had shifted, his arms had remained generally in the same outstretched position, giving him just enough room to pull his elbow back and cause some damage. As he attempted this maneuver, he summoned Mekki-Maru back into his hands, allowing it to flail wildly for a moment while he focused on the martial attack.

Seeing the movement of Sargoth's body Verling realized he could not make a counter attack if he where struck. He quickly dropped to the ground and rolled a few feet away. After getting up he said mockingly "You where right. Dodging can be useful." He then ran towards Sargoth sent the blade of his sword in the same direction as Mikki-Maru, hoping to knock the weapon away from Sargoth.

Sargoth regained the grip on his weapon with both hands after the trainer barely dodged the elbow to the back of his head. Sargoth had hoped to strike him hard and knock him unconcious, but it was not fated that day. Sargoth spun around while still crouching, only beginning to stand up when he saw his foe charge him again. The sword landed directly behind the blades of Mekki and almost made the haft slip from Sargoth's forward hand, but he was able to hold on to it and tighten his grip.

With the strength in his back and arms he pushed in the opposite direction of the blow, hoping to catch the trainer off guard and send the sword to the ground. Sargoth put a lot of power into the return push so he planned on using the momentum gained to spin around in a sweeping slash if the opponent decided to let his blade slip under the counterattack.

Verling was pushed back by Sargoth's couterattack. The push was just strong enough to make one of Verling's hands lose it's grip on the sword but he was able to keep his sword in the other and get back to a fighting position. He was able to duck under his opponents staff with only a few inches of space between him and the blades of Mekki. He bent the sword's blade towards him and sent the hilt directly towards Sargoth's chest hopping to knock him back.

*Walking through the acadamy, Kore heard a fight going on in the arena. With a smile he decided to check it out. Kilgorin was being cleaned and polished so all he was strapped with was his demon claws and his two-handed sword which was strapped to his back. He leaned on the entrance to the arena and saw Sargoth and Verling fighting. With a sigh he looked to Penalia* Who do you think has this one babe? My money is on Sargoth But Penny, you don't have any money... So what, I'll use yours *Kore laughed as she sat upon his shoulder and watched the fight continue*