Chapter 180: Footwork 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"And you can also come up with a footwork that works best for you. The main truck to being a good fighter is to be one with your weapon but also to make every move your own. Every turn should be yours. Every kick, every stab, each of them should be yours and they should be good enough that they don’t leave space for opening." He informed them.

"Sis," Nia called out to her sister.

"Yeah?" Laia answered her.

"I think this is going to be harder than we thought."

"True."

Orion chuckled and then put them into a slow drill: one step, one parry, one riposte. He walked among them, correcting the angle of a blade, loosening a clenched hand, smoothing a stumble into a clean recovery. When Joren struck clumsily, Orion tapped his wrist and made him do it again; the second time the movement sharpened. Each correction was a lesson.

When Orion returned to Sophia he lingered again, but this time his instructions dropped to a murmur, almost intimate in the way he spoke. "Keep your chin down. It’s not a head to head battle. Watch your opponent, if there’s no opening then you create one. Don’t rush, be observant."

She moved. The wooden sword felt different after his hands were on it — lighter, somehow hungrier. He watched without speaking for a long moment, arms folded, eyes narrowed with something like approval. "Good," he said finally, and there was warmth in it that had nothing to do with the day’s sun.

Nia finished the drill next to them and breathed hard. "So if I want to borrow the long-sword’s reach, I pivot wide?"

"Yes," Orion said. "But don’t overcommit. That’s the drain. The shortsword allows you to counter that reach with angles and speed. Use your off-hand to create space. Step in, step out. Let the blade find the gap."

"Is it supposed to feel like dancing?" Laia asked again, half-mocking and half-serious.

"It could be. But for me, it’s more like how a stream flows which is why I said it should flow. Use a footwork you are comfortable with. Just because I used that if the longsword doesn’t mean you have to do it." He told her.

Orion turned to Sophia. "Do you know any footwork?" He asked her.

"Yeah."

"Oh?" He said in shock because he had not been expecting her to know any footwork. "What’s it called?" He asked her.

"Walking." Sophia told him.

Orion paused and stared at her as Laia once more burst out laughing with her twin.

Orion sighed. He really had to go for a smartass?

"You know that’s not what I mean." He told her.

"I know but that’s the only footwork I know." She told him.

Orion paused for a while as he considered her. "Do you remember that game we played?" He asked her.

"What game?" She asked with a frown on her face.

"The ball game." He told her.

"Oh, the one where you cheated?" She asked him.

Orion’s lips twitched with a smile. "Yes...the one where you fell."

She narrowed her eyes at him and nodded.

"How about we use that footwork?" He asked her.

"To fight?"

"Yes." He said. "One main issue you have is your stamina and how low it is." He said as he closed the distance between them. "And how you fall asleep in the midst of important conversations."

Sophia stared at him with a frown. "I’ve never..."

Orion stared back with a raised eyebrow. She understood what he meant then. But it wasn’t her fault that she had been tired. They moved around the festival grounds, exploring each stall so if course she would be tired after everything that happened.

"I don’t lie." He said with a smug smile and she rolled her eyes.

"But as I was saying," he continued. "I took note of how you were able to conserve energy when we played that game. Your stamina lasted a bit better during the game and we played for hours I think, I’m not sure."

"So...I should use that footwork and apply it to swordfighting?" She asked him.

Orion nodded.

"But I don’t even know how I did it? I was as shocked as you were that day that I was even able to play the game for that long." She told him.

"There’s a reason you have me. We are going to come up with a way you can incorporate that into swordfighting. You already know the footwork. It’s one with you already, all we have to do now is turn that into something that could help you wield the sword and also make you stronger." He told her.

Sophia nodded. "This was what you meant by coming up with one’s own footwork right?" She asked him.

Orion nodded.

"Can I learn it too?" Joren asked him.

Orion turned to him with tilted head. "Do you have any knowledge regarding any footwork?"

"Um..." He swallowed. "...I think so."

"You think so or you know so?"

"I know so. I know a footwork but I don’t know if it’ll go well...it’s more like what sir Garron uses."

"Brawlers." Orion said to him. "That’s actually going to pair really well."

Orion turned to their group. "I’m going to be repeating myself a whole lot but I hope you all get what I’m trying to say, it doesn’t matter what footwork you learn, it doesn’t matter what techniques you learn, it doesn’t matter what weapon you use. What matters is how much you can adapt, adjust and make all these yours." He told them.

"Swordfighting has rules but rules are meant to be broken. Use what fits you best, be it a brawler’s footwork," he glanced at Joren "or even that of an axe bearer or a game between people. Use what fits you best, besides in war, no one will notice your footwork, no one will tell you that your stance is wrong. Practice is what makes you know and what makes you win against your enemy."