You rolled up your sleeves, picked up a rapier and swung it a few times while the captain of the fencing team covered her mouth with a closed fist, chuckling smugly. You sighed, noting how strange it felt. Swinging a weapon was familiar, but you used a mace in your original body, and the shape you had in your former life educated a lot of your stances. You were someone who fought with overwhelming physical power stuck in a small body that was not even particularly fast to make up for the size.
"Uugh." You groaned, shoulders slumping.
"Realising you're out of your depth? Do not get me wrong. You can learn and get better, but that takes humility." You stared down at the sword and stood with a squared stance. It was lowered at your side. You could see in the way she was staring that the captain was taking apart your stance with her eyes.
"It's just unfamiliar to me... I don't know this kinda swordplay."
Both Johan and the captain lifted a brow. "What type of swordplay are you familiar with?" He asked you curiously.
You gulped. `Shit. That slipped out. I shouldn't really know about this stuff should I?` Looking down at the sword, you felt it was probably the right thing to lose on purpose, but at the same time you'd feel worse about quitting than losing, so you resolved to just go for it.
"I just... Picked up a bit here and there." You offered innocently, scratching your cheek as you averted your gaze.
The captain rolled her eyes. "An enthusiast... You see a few videos online and suddenly everyone's an expert."
With the new knowledge that Finn was likely just a smug beginner, Johan stepped in and insisted desperately.
"You should really wear padding. The swords are dull but you can still get hurt. The tip can hit your eye or break a rib."
"Oh~" You smiled.
"Eh?" Both Johan and the Captain looked at you at the same time and reacted with the same confused noise as you showed excitement.
"Uhm... I was saying you could get hurt."
"That'll just motivate me to not get hit." You explained, moving to get your blood pumping.
`Thought it'd be boring but I forgot how weak this body was. That means there's some stakes involved. Kinda need that to be able to put any passion into it.`
"Are you ready?" The captain asked suddenly.
You tilted your head shoulder to shoulder, then rolled your shoulder to limber up. `This guy never moved a bit in his life so I'm gonna run out of stamina quick.` You breathed and responded to her.
"As I'll ever be." You stood square, leaving your front wide open. The girl lunged forward and Johan flinched. Both thought that it would be over quickly.
`Djir.` Fin remarked.
`This is a human fight, so don't you think that you should use human fighting techniques?`
`What do you mean?`
`I mean... You aren't a Gnoll, idiot. You even thought that. You know how I fight, right?` He asked. You nodded slowly and decided to step back and turn your body to the side. You leaned forward and placed your face forward and the sword out. You studied it pretty intently, since it was Fin's fighting style.
Johan opened his eyes as, instead of a yelp he heard a clashing sound. His eyes fell upon the sight of the captain being parried skillfully, and then getting pushed back with a jab. It could have hit, but you were slow, so the girl got away. Johan was a bit confused, because the stance looked close to a fencing stance, but was a little different.
"What is that... It looks dangerous for both of them." For you because he was leading with his face, and for the captain, since you were so unexpectedly aggressive. You filled the space left by surprise at your skill and lunged forward, whipping the sword around towards her. You knew you just had to hit, and the light sword was perfect for your small body. Anything else would've been impossible.
The girl parried back, but you followed the path of the sword with your eyes and jabbed with the tip while parrying with the base of the rapier. You tried to get in close and... looked down to see her rapier bending as the blunted tip pressed on your side quite hard. You paused. The captain looked at you. The whole room was quiet until your eyes rolled up into your skull and yelped. You bent over, falling to your knees in pain.
"Ow ow ow!"
Johan rushed forward to try and help. He got down on one knee rested his hand on your back.
"I told you you should've used padding..."
"It huuuurts!" You whined out loud.
"This body sucks! If I had my Soma this shit wouldn't even hurt!"
"Your what?" Johan asked with a confused look.
The captain shrugged and popped down into a squat in front of you. She extended her hand. "You talk a lot of nonsense... But I can make a fencer out of you. My name's Su, but you can call me captain." She waited with a wide smile, hand extended. After a few seconds you were still writhing on the ground holding your side.
"I don't think he's listening... You stabbed him very hard." Johan explained.