Arn’s eyes were trained on his current adversary.  He had managed, through many different trial and error moves and plenty of painful reminders on what not to do, to defeat one mannequin.  Many places in his body throbbed and ached from the hits received.  His armor had served him well.  Thousands of years in engineering and a war like culture that demanded the best protection possible enabled him to keep his limbs.  Pain meant you were still alive.  

Even if the weapons would not have been blunt, the scales in his armor were designed to absorb the slash or the stab by compressing into a solid sheet and the padding underneath with a small layer of strong hide minimized the damage even more.  Hence, most dwarves used maces, hammers, or powerful armor piercing projectiles fired from crossbows or Scorpios to overcome these defenses.  Mobility was not compromised and a dwarf’s inherent strength allowed for easy movements.  This still did not fully take away the damage that blunt weapons could cause. Broken bones were common battlefield injuries between dwarven clan's fights. 

Another reason he was learning his lesson’s so painfully was because all dwarves are trained from a very young age to fight as a unit.  The strength that comes from having a person to your left and to your right trained like you and almost the same skill level as you is reassuring.  It is not difficult to know why they call themselves shield brothers or sisters.  Breaking through a shield formation of veteran dwarves is like trying to carve a mountain with a spoon.  


Dwarves were bred for fighting.  They have processes and procedures that are literally beaten into their psyche.  Even if a dwarf was blinded, they would still be able to fight in the shield line thanks to cadences and war songs that synchronized each strike, each block.  A true proud warrior culture.  They have a saying [color=0054a6][i]“my family is my strength”.[/i][/color] 

Each warrior is tasked with being the strongest they can be, not so they can fight alone, but so that they are not the weakest link.  So for Arn,  fighting in the open with no back up, no shield brethren, and against a faster opponent,  stretches the limit of his skill.

Add that to the fact that combat doctors are kept in the middle lines to provide support and quick combat care, and you have a dwarf who is cautiously watching the movements the mannequin armed with a sword and a dagger.  An experienced fighter such as the lovely Drown lady would have made mince meet of him, armor or not, in a matter of seconds. 

As the two opponents circled each other, the young cadet’s eyes fell on his roommate and the young man who had been pushed down by the bully.  They seemed to be talking very comfortably.  [color=0054a6][i]Did they know each other?  Maybe, they were together? [/i][/color] The distraction was enough that he lost momentary sight of the dummy.  It was almost too late when he brought up his shield to protect from a downward cut that would have sliced his shield shoulder at the neck.  His block was exactly what the mannequin wanted.  The dagger tried finding the exposed underarm.  Thanks to the painful lesson’s he had been learning,  Arn was fast enough to use the shaft of his hammer to push the deadly blade just enough that it missed and made the dummy follow the momentum 

However, this was also expected by the dummy and using the momentum, delivered a round house kick to the young cleric’s head.  The heel connected solidly with the back of the head with enough force to make the helmet fly clean off.  The force of the impact sent the young dwarf falling forward into the arena’s sand with a very audible huff. 

Rage and shame rushed through the cadet.  He had been defeated because he had lost concentration over his roommate’s interaction with another boy.  [color=0054a6][i]What did he care?[/i][/color]  It was not like they even spoke really.  So what if she was talking to other people.  [color=0054a6][i]Why did it make him feel so strange?[/i][/color]  All these questions and no answer fueled the sudden rush of adrenalin that surged through him. 

He quickly got into a kneeling position and regarded his opponent.  The glowing eyes and expressionless face made him feel even more enraged.  The young dwarf was sure the dummy was judging and laughing at him.  

With a growl, the cadet lunged forward utilizing the shield to bash.  The nimble opponent easily dodged to the dwarf’s left trying to take advantage of the exposed flank.  However, this was predicted and the dwarf followed through with a back hand strike powered by the head of his war hammer.  Again the move was easily dodged by the mannequin who ducked beneath blow.  This time however, Arn was nimble himself and maintaining the spin momentum, he flattened his shield and used it as an edged weapon against the dummy aiming just below the knees.  

Unable to doge quickly enough, the shield connected with an audible crack as both shin’s of the mannequin broke.  Using  brute force and the power of his torso and abs, Arn stopped the spinning motion, hefted the hammer above his head allowing the shaft to slide through his hand to the very end and then with a  grunt, he brought the hammer down one handed on the back of the dummy’s head. 

The head exploded into a thousand wooden splinters.  Arn’s breath came in gasps.  He turned to see another mannequin approaching but he must much too unstable to continue.  The young cadet held up a hand and stated breathlessly. [color=0054a6] “I request quarter…”[/color]   The emotionless dummy simply stopped. [color=fff200] “Break has been requested.  Please inform me when you are ready to continue.”[/color]  With that it lowered the two headed battle axe it was holding and stayed perfectly still. 

The dwarf grunted as he stood up and looked around.  He had forgotten to bring a canteen or water skin.  Would the school provide liquid relief?