Weapon Training

Adrian woke at dawn, his body aching from the practice session he'd had with Sierra and her bullet dodging bullshit. It seemed that after he beat her that first time she just decided to shoot him every time he got close. But he didn't really care about why she shot him. Only that she did! Didn't she know that it hurt like hell? She had to, he'd complained about it every time she shot him. The body armor had done it's job though. And done it quite well. He'd been thrown off his feet by the force of the bullet but it hadn't pierced the armor he wore.

He moved from his bed toward a set of hanging robes. Today he and another demon hunter had work to do. He slid the robes on as his door opened and Sierra stepped in. Seeing him as he dressed brought a blush to her cheeks but other than that she wasn't bothered. He slid the robes on as he waited for her to speak. But when nothing came he turned to face her.

"You're not one to get shy on her pupil." he said, watching her. "What is it?"

"Juraviel is waiting for you on the practice fields. He asked me to tell you that if you don't come at him with the intent to kill him, you'll never make it through his half of the training." the white haired woman said once she found her voice.

"And what is it he'll be teaching me?"

"He's going to work with you on weapon skills. You have to get better if you hope to fight that demon on even terms. You have to get stronger if you wish to leave a mark in the eyes of history. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die, Adrian. Now go meet with Juraviel, before you get in trouble. And don't expect me to save you if you do."

Adrian nodded at her as he slid the kimono top into place. He pulled the long red sash from it's perch and attempted to tie it but failed miserably as the top opened. Sierra just laughed as she moved to stand behind him. She folded his robes closed her body pressing against Adrian's back. The trainee's face flushed as he felt her hot breath against his neck. His hands replaced her own, holding the top closed as the white haired woman tied the sash around his waist.

"There. That's better. It's hard to do until you get used to it. Now get going." she said, slapping his ass as she left him.

Adrian jumped slightly and frowned before he grabbed the Devil's Teardrop from the corner of the room. He walked from his quarters and made his way to the training grounds. He saw Juraviel there, waiting for him. He breathed slowly, nervous around the weapon's expert of the demon hunters. He had no idea what Juraviel was going to do to him, let alone how he was goinng to survive if it came down to a true fight. Entering the training grounds he waited for the weapon trainer to speak.

(523/500)

"Well well. You're finally here. Are you ready to get your hands dirty? Or do you intend to play it safe and go run off with Sierra?" Juraviel asked, his voice dripping with venom.

"If you have a problem with the way Sierra treats me then that's your problem and not my own. I'm here to better myself. To master the skills passed to me by my grandmother, and to become a greater demon hunter than you ever will be!" Adrian responded.

Juraviel's expression softened somewhat before it hardened again. Obviously the response had taken him by surprise. Most people facing a man like Juraviel would find themselves frightened. Juraviel was nearly seven feet tall with more muscle mass than one could imagine in a human. He looked like a human ogre hybrid, with a shaved head. The dark skinned male moved forward, grinning behind his sunglasses. His left hand was missing, a metal stump set into place. It was designed to work with several weapons that were set on a table near by. He had taken a weakness he had gotten from battle and made it into a powerful skill.

"I haven't seen a trainee with balls like yours since Terrenon Denonial. And he was skilled far beyond your own. You're nothing. You're weak. An ant among gods. So pack up your shit and leave before you get hurt." the tall man warned.

"I wont leave. You can't scare me off. I was chosen by Goranova. I am Adrian Darren Farenheights, heir of the Utaku clan! I will NOT be taken down by you or anyone else! I've survived this long by the skin of my teeth. If I'm destined to die, so be it!" Adrian stated, glaring up at him.

"You really do have balls kid. Fine. Let's get this going. If you're faced with an opponent with a weapon far more deadly than your own?"

"I take them out before they can use it."

"Nice answer. But what if you can't do that? What if they get the first attack in?"

"Then I cut their hands off. They can't use a weapon if they don't have any hands."

"Another decent one. But what if you can't get inside of the weapon's range?"

Adrian didn't have an answer for that. He'd cut weapons down before but never thought of it that way. Or rather Fu Leng had, not Adrian.

"You break the weapon so it can't be used against you." Juraviel said. "Now, come cut my weapons down to size."

With that the larger man grabbed an ax head from his table and slamming it into place on his stump. The larger man swung the ax, grinning as Adrian dove to one side. As Adrian came up he threw the scabard for the Devil's teardrop aside, and brought the sword up into position. The two of them stared at one another. As Juraviel stood, the large ax tore free of the ground, revealing a large hole where he'd hit the ground.

(503/500)

"Good! You're a very skilled swordsman! Now, come at me! Cut my weapon from my hand and we'll call it a day!" the large man explained, grinning.

Adrian shot forward, his sword spinning in his hand. His body twirled to the right, his sword coming up in a slash. But as his blade came around, the ax dropped, before coming at Adrian's face. Leaning back he felt it cut his chin. His eyes were wide as he narrowly dodged the attack, before he thrust the Devil's Teardrop toward the other man's throat. But missed as Juraviel leaned back. But his blade gave just as much as Adrian had taken. He'd missed the throat, but had cut the larger man's cheek.

The two of them lept back, away from one another, Juraviel shocked that he'd been struck. The two stared at one another, Adrian sizing the man up, his eyes scanning every inch of Juraviel he could spot. He had to study his opponent, and he'd never been allowed to face the other male before. He breathed slowly as he watched his teacher. But Juraviel either knew what Adrian was doing or wasn't going to give him a chance to even try. Adrian brought his arms up as he jumped back and bent forward a bit as the ax passed under his chest, barely missing the attempted strike to the trainee's stomach.

"You stupid son of a bitch! I told you to cut the ax off! Stop dodging and take the offensive!" he demanded.

Adrian's facial expression told the other male that said he was confused. Adrian didn't understand the meaning of this training exercise. It wasn't coming to him. His mind was racing as he slid to the side, the ax passing down in front of him before he brought the Devil's Teardrop around to deflect another blow. His body leaned back again before he was thrown to the ground. Sitting up he glared at Juraviel but only for a moment. His anger turned to panic as the ax came down. His body shifted backwards his legs spreading as the ax came down between them. He'd barely avoided getting hit as he brought the Devil's Teardrop around, cutting through the neck of the ax as hard as he could.

"Very good!" the dark skinned male said as he rose to his full height. "You finally see why you're here?"

Adrian shook his head as he got to his feet, his expression still one of confusion. He wasn't sure why his body had reacted but he'd taken the opportunity to take down the weapon that had almost turned him into a eunich. He breathed slowly as he dusted himself off and stuck the Devil's Teardrop in the ground.

"You really don't understand? You're such a fool then. Your body knows how to react but you have to be able to use more than reflex. Your body can react all you want but at this point you have to be able to know exactly how you're going to react. So what are you gonna do about the next round? I'm not giving you another chance. I wont hold back this time." Juraviel said.

At that adrian's eyes widened. They were going to go again but Juraviel was holding back last time. Adrian wasn't sure he could survive another one. His reflexes had allowed him to react. But Juraviel had said he couldn't just rely on his reflexes. And Adrian could understand. Was that it?

"Reflexes... That's the key. I have to learn how to make my body react the way I want it to when I want it to." Adrian said.

"Very good! You picked it up. Now let's try again. But go on the defensive. Don't block at all." the larger man said.

(632/500)

Juraviel moved back to his table of weapons, before he twisted his arm. As it did Adrian saw the large ball shaped end of the ax fly out. All of the weapons had that same small neck and ball at the end to lock it into place in the man's stump. Adrian frowned as he watched Juraviel attach a new weapon to his arm. Adrian quickly drew the Devil's Teardrop as he stood there, waiting as his eyes narrowed. If the other male had been holding back durring their last fight, he was fucked. He breathed slowly as he frowned. He waited for the other man to finish attaching the sword, before he threw the Devil's teardrop into the air. Adrian rushed forward at full speed, his vision tunneling on the other man, ignoring everything else around him.

Juraviel turned, and was surprised to see Adrian flying at him. He brought the blade out in a thrust but only cut a few hairs from the other man's head. Adrian turned, his hand jabbing out against Juraviel's chest lightly before his other hand came up. He saw Juraviel's blade coming back in a slash toward him. But by the time Juraviel had turned around Adrian had the Devil's Teardrop in his hand, and brought his blade down hard against the larger man's.

Juraviel frowned as his blade was caught and jabbed Adrian, across the jaw. Adrian stepped away, his body shaking as his knees quaked lightly. He fell to one knee, his hand pressing to the ground before he turned, his blade digging into the larger man's thrusting blade. He brought himself to his feet before he broke the weapon lock and brought the weapon down across the dark skinned male's weapon, before he lept back and away. As he landed his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, panting as the world continued to spin around him. He coughed up blood before getting up to his feet.

His eyes came up and widened as he saw the man's fist came at him. He turned with the blow, but used the force of it to his advantage. As he came around he gripped the Devil's Teardrop with both hands and brought it down toward the other man's weapon grinning as it cracked under the pressure of his weapon. He breathed slowly as his eyes locked on the sunglasses of the larger male.

"You are not going to get under my skin!" he said, glaring at him.

"STOP TRYING TO DO IT AND DO IT! BREAK THE WEAPON!" Juraviel demanded.

The two of them stayed like that for a moment before Adrian drew his weapon back and ducked. The larger male's arm and weapon passed over his head before he brought the Devil's Teardrop up, cutting through the sword before he turned, his leg coming out in a roundhouse kick toward the other man's side. But his kick never connected. Adrian felt himself lifted as the world inverted before he fell again to the ground, groaning as he lay there, staring up at the bigger man.

"You're getting better. Now all you have to do is never piss me off. We'll work on your unarmed combat eventually. But for now you have to get back on your feet. Sierra wants to put you through your paces with an opponent that's faster than I am." the tall man said, smiling as he walked away.

(572/500)

Adrian lay there panting. He'd just had his ass kicked by one of his trainers. And now, instead of resting he had to get up and go fight someone with much faster speed than his own and his most recent opponent's. He had no choice but to get up. If he was late, Sierra was going to kick his ass. He probably had a few minutes though. There was no way she had predicted he'd beat his opponent as quickly as he had done. He breathed as he waited there, catching his breath. Getting to his feet slowly he grumbled under his breath before he went to pick up the sheath of his sword. Picking it up he slid it into the sash around his waist before willing the weapon to his hand. Sheathing the Devil's Teardrop he made his way from the training grounds back toward his quarters. Entering he grabbed his favorite lighter and his cigar 'wallet'. Tucking them into the pocket on the inside of the kimono he yawned. He lit one as he walked back outside, and moving toward the training field Sierra usually occupied.

He saw the white haired demon hunter waiting for him. She wore her usual school girl like outfit, a grin on her face as she held a rapier in her hand. He laughed as he exhaled a lung full of smoke from his cigar. Once he was done with it he dropped it and pressed his foot down on it. He twisted his ankle slightly, snuffing the flame out before he turned his attention to his teacher. He bowed to her slowly as he waited for her to speak. When training he was supposed to wait for them to speak to him first, but other than that they were free to converse as any others would. That in itself was training. A form of self discipline. Then again he knew what would happen if he wasn't careful. And that scared him, more than any demon ever could.

"You beat your opponent quite quickly. That's interesting. Your combat training is going faster than we thought it would. But can you cut through my rapier? Because I'd be willing to put anything on the line that says you can't." she said, grinning.

"Alright... If I win what do I get?" he asked, tilting his head.

"I'll give you me. Any place and any time. You'll have complete access to me to do with what you will."

"I know it's too good to be true, but it's very tempting. You wouldn't put yourself on the line unless you knew a way to stop your sword from breaking. So I'll have to say no."

"And here I thought you wanted to have some fun. There's nothing to lose but everything to gain. But you're smarter than most give you credit for, I guess. A trap is a trap. A real con artist doesn't bet unless there is something in their favor. So let's begin shall we?"

(501/500)