After the slight altercation Oliver and his party all look a each other and begin to laugh. Living so close to the wilderness, Shadow Glades is kind of a rough and tumble kind of place. They'd all been given combat training since they were young with Brutus and Oliver's training being more severe because of their parents'positions. So that slight altercation really did not weigh on their minds at all. If Vincent and his party try to make problems for them again they would just handle it accordingly. As far as Vincent's threat went they didn't pay it any mind.
With them having found their cots they proceeded outside to await their orders. The thin red haired man had told them that they would have combat training for the first half of the week so they proceed to the large field that's positioned in the middle of the long houses where they see a large group of young adults like themselves lined up in front of the same red haired man who gave them their last orders. They line up in the back of the group and await orders.
"Okay I think that's about everyone so let me get straight to it. For the first half of he week you will be having combat training so that you can get used to fighting other humans. This combat training will consist of one on one sparing as well as group battles with your parties. Today we will be having one on one spars so that way I can judge how proficient each of you is in using the weapons you prefer. Now in order for you not to get hurt we will be providing you all with blunted practice weapons which you can get from the weapons racks behind me. By the way my name is Richard and I'm in charge of your batch of recruits." Richard explains to everyone.
"Now these spars are for training purposes which means that you shouldn't try and kill each other. Accidents do happen which is why we have a staff of healers here at camp that will be able to treat all but the most severe of injuries. You will each be broken into groups of two by me and the rest of my staff. We will monitor you to see how you hold up. Now I'll say this, those of you who perform better in these exercises will be awarded gold and more resources to help your progression." Richard says.
Richard and his staff then proceed to break everyone up into groups of two. Whether by coincidence or not Oliver finds him self across from Vincent. Vincent is smiling at Oliver menacingly, all his bravado from before on full display as he says "You and your party caught us by surprise before but now I will give you a taste of what it means to go against the Vale family."
Vincent then wields his practice weapon in a two handed grip with the sword slightly raised above his head. Before Vincent has a chance to charge at Oliver they hear Richard say "Today is all about getting a read on how proficient your group is with their weapons of choice, which means we will not allow you to use skills today."
After Richard says that Vincent reveals a slight scowl on his face before he charges at Oliver, obviously intending to not hold back in order to teach Oliver a lesson. Vincent slashes down at Oliver with an overhead slash which Oliver steps to the side to avoid. Oliver then steps forward past Vincent's guard and is about to slash at Vincent's head but Vincent jumps back before Oliver's dagger has a chance to strike him. Its obvious to Oliver at that moment that Vincent may be an entitled noble but he at least does have some skill in combat.
Instead of Oliver being worried due to Vincent's skill he becomes excited, one of Oliver's favorite pastimes is sparing. Oliver has been a battle maniac since he was young and never shy's away from a challenge when it comes to martial prowess.
Vincent then dives back into the fight, this time he goes to stab Oliver in the stomach with his blunted weapon. Instead of stepping back as Vincent expects Oliver steps into the attack and parries it with the dagger in his left hand, he then spins his body around with his right handed dagger extended, intending to hit Vincent upside the head with his practice dagger. Vincent is just barely able to duck below this swift attack and attempts to put some space between himself and Oliver. But how could Oliver not know the weaknesses of his daggers. Vincent has the advantage in range if he was to play it safe and whittle away at Oliver a distance it would be hard for Oliver to break through his guard without using his skills. Which is why Oliver doesn't let him get away this time, As Vincent moves to back away and regain the range advantage, Oliver continues to step in towards Vincent, the full weight of Oliver's high Agility on display as Vincent moves his sword up into a upward diagonal slash which leaves no room or Oliver to dodge either right or left at such close range. Vincent expects Oliver to jump back to avoid the slash, but instead Oliver crosses his daggers and meets Vincent's blade with his own blades, Oliver then moves Vincent's blade to the side and downward, using Vincent's momentum against him to push Vincent's blade into the dirt of the training field, all while moving his daggers up Vincent's blade where he eventually moves them past Vincent's arms to rest both blades against Vincent's neck with enough force to make him gag. If Oliver's blades hadn't been blunted Vincent's throat would've been slit from the momentum alone.
"That's enough" Richard says. It turns out that Vincent had asked Richard to be paired against Oliver. He'd noticed the animosity behind Vincent's request which is why he had been paying such close attention to Oliver and Vincent's spar. "That was a good move recruit, what is your name?" Richard asks Oliver.
"My name is Oliver Shadowmere sir." Oliver replies.
"Keep up the good work, if you keep performing like this you'll make quite a bit of gold from from our weekly combat training. I'm going to award you five gold for being the first recruit to end their spar with a win." Richard says as he steps close to Oliver and uses his system to give Oliver five gold.
Oliver and Vincent's spar had only taken place within a few breaths.
"Now for you, the recruit who lost. You need to work on using your long swords advantage in reach. If you hadn't over committed while stabbing at Oliver he never would've been able to use so much of your own momentum against you. From now on I expect you to use your range advantage and not give Oliver anymore easy victories." Richard says.
Vincent's face burns with embarrassment at Richards'words as he backs away from Oliver and positions his sword slightly above his head like he did the first time. This time he closes the distance with Oliver at a much more subdued pace instead of charging at him recklessly like he did the first time. Vincent uses his sword to keep Oliver at a distance never truly committing to any strike so as not to give Oliver any of his momentum to use as a counter attack. Oliver uses his agility to constantly dodge Vincent's attacks all the while stepping forward constantly in order to try and get past Vincent's guard. Vincent's frustration continues to mount because he's forced to keep taking steps back so that Oliver cannot get within range to use his daggers.
This goes on for several minutes, until Vincent finds himself with his back right at the edge of the field they were standing on for combat training. Richard has been watching them the whole time and says "If you never commit to any strike then you'll never be able to force him back out of your guard, you must time your committed strikes well in order to limit Oliver's movements and force him into a position that's favorable for your weapon." Richard them steps forward to demonstrate.
Richard stands across from Oliver with a blunted long sword held in the same way that Vincent was holding his sword. Richard then steps forward and slash's an over head slash towards Oliver, when Oliver dodges to the left to get out of the way Richard then stops his momentum perfectly and switch's to a horizontal slash which heads towards Oliver's stomach, this strike from Richard makes Oliver jump back and to increase the distance between himself and Richard.
"See you limit his movements with certain slashes then plan to strike where he's going to be instead of where he actually is at the moment. This is the way you must fight a class which has a higher agility than you. You must use your brain instead of just going through the swordsmanship forms you've been taught. You use your forms in accordance with how your opponent is moving instead of just following a preset of strikes in an attempt to overwhelm your opponent." Richard lectures Vincent, which again makes Vincent's face flush with embarrassment.