ORIGIN

Vargas nodded once. But there was a sinking feeling in him; combat training was important, and a large part of what Chaos-Two would have to teach the new spawn. Starting from near-scratch would take time.

"We will go over that, then. We can do that now if you want to take a break and then return, head clearer; or we can begin tomorrow, or the next day. Completing that training will take time. Incidentally, I presume it was you who taught the Sentinel to use his halberd-? If so, well done," he added, leaning back to expose the underside of his massively-muscled throat. There was a jagged wound there, healed but visibly fresh--likely inflicted a cycle ago or so, at the most. It looked as though something large, and sharp, had been impaled straight through Vargas's lower jaw and out the back. "He uses it well. He will be a good defender, when he returns, I think." He lowered his head back to its normal resting pose, and his rigid face twisted a little in a near-grimace, his limbs flexing as if to loosen up his muscles. It was an absent gesture more than a deliberate one.

"We will need to teach you to read your opponent's movements, to know what they will do next. To use your own footwork to grant you an advantage. Where to strike, and how, and how to cover yourself. Maneuvers to use your foe's movements and momentum to their own disadvantage. The fundamentals of bleeding, and stamina. The importance of the first strike. We'll have to cover physical training, too--that is, keeping yourself fit enough to fight. And anatomy--where to hit, how, and why." Vargas let out a grunt. "Has any of that been taught to you, yet?" he asked; no point in covering the same topics twice.

Vargas listened in silence, taking note, as always, of each thing that Chaos-Two said. "Good, the footwork is good," he murmured, commenting without really interrupting. When it was finished, he had a couple of comments: "The throat, or anywhere an artery runs beneath a major joint--beneath the forearm or the hind, where it hits the body," and he reached forward to attempt a tap at Chaos-Two's armpit and inner thigh. "I have not heard anything about the groin, however. There is a pelvis there?"

He looked briefly puzzled, and then his six eyes widened a tad with recognition. "Ahh! The genitals! -That is a new development. Good thinking; I had not considered it. They must be sensitive to pain, then?"

None of the Chaos spawn had any of that--it hadn't ever been necessary, and was simply omitted from their anatomy. And if it's that sensitive, a good thing--no weakness there, Vargas thought to himself cheerfully.

"Go, eat and rest, clear your head. It is not good to focus too long at once on these lessons or you tend to lose half of it. Do not bother to bring me food; I will get my own," he added, though he didn't feel particularly hungry now.

It hadn't been a long wait--surprisingly short, in fact--and Vargas took note that Chaos-Two was eager to learn after having been starved of lessons.

"From what you told me prior," he began, without preamble, "you already grasp footwork and the importance of a first strike. Before we begin I'd like you to elaborate on what you know of that second point, as it is one of the most important factors in any fight."

He turned fully toward Chaos-Two, and sat again. These lessons were proving to be more verbal than physical, for now--but practice would certainly be on the table soon enough.

"Good, yes. Orthoclase taught you the important parts, then," he began, and then took a moment--a very brief few seconds--to think. "A fight is two things. It is, beneath, a test of stamina. Many imagine battles to take long minutes, but in reality most combatants only last a few, if that. Exhaustion comes on quite quickly. That is why the first strike is important; a bleed can mean unconsciousness in moments. Given a good first strike, and decent agility, an attacker could sever a vein and move away and simply let their opponent bleed out, exhausting themselves in an attempt to give chase. In a protracted battle, almost without exception the one bleeding will fail and die. But!" and here Vargas lifted his chin, staring solemnly and intently at Chaos-Two with all six unblinking eyes. "The second thing that a fight is, is luck. Even the most skilled fighter in the world can take an unlucky hit; even the least-experienced fool might strike a one in one hundred deadly blow. That makes the first strike doubly important, for if the fight draws out, that one in one hundred chance is a terrible thing to gamble your life on moment by moment."

He pushed up, pacing away, tail swinging behind him, in his likely now-familiar "thinking aloud" back-and-forth strides. "That also makes defense important. So while Orthoclase-Alpha taught you well about the 'what,' now you have more of the 'why' and the details--stamina, bleeding, and so forth, though I think you had a strong grasp of those basics regardless. But defense comes into play. Your defense can be magical, it can be physical, it can be speed or a weapon, a shield, natural armor. These," and he paced forward to gesture to Chaos-Two's new arm-plating, "can do well in blocking a more basic attack, I should think. But it will be up to you to pick out the weaknesses and strengths in our spawn, and to teach them how to cover the former, and use the latter. When you look at me, and at you, what strengths and weaknesses do you see in our defenses?"

Vargas leaned back, as if to present himself more fully, and turned slightly to the side. He was showing Chaos-Two his full form, flank and ribs, talons and quills, long and slender tail and massive jaws. "I do not know if Orthoclase-Alpha covered this at all--and I do not imply that you should know the answer--but with what weaknesses you do see, and what strengths you see, how would you best cover for and make use of them?"

Vargas studied Chaos-Two as his spawn pointed out its own weaknesses. It struck in him a sharp realization. "There also the option of armor! Where one's natural armor or weaponry fails, or lacks, it can be... augmented, let's say, by steel and spikes. The Blacksmith could help you with that, I am certain," he added. He was fairly sure he remembered one, or more, of them mentioning going to the Blacksmith in the past--so maybe Chaos-Two was waiting on something to be made, already?

"You are right about my hide; it is thick, but it is not armored, in most places. But you miss an important factor about my neck," he added, and with a smooth movement reached one lanky forearm up over his own shoulder. It took doing, but it was clearly possible; his limbs were long, and it was easy for him to snatch something off his back, should it become necessary. "I can reach it. That would put you in great danger. My eyes are also fairly well-protected," and he leaned closer as if to show Chaos-Two his eyes in detail: they were nearly pits sunken into a rigid faceplate more than the soft-lidded structures of most eye sockets. "But with magic or luck, yes, going for the eyes could blind me. The wiser bet would, as you mentioned, be striking me from beneath; aiming, perhaps, for an artery or vein, or to disembowel and flee. These are good assessments!" he added, with loud praise. It wasn't enthusiastic, but it was strong approval nonetheless. "Now; let us say the worst happens, and an enemy gets a good strike on you at the outset. Let us say... you're bleeding, and haven't yet managed a strike, and now they're dancing about just out of range! Use me as your example: large, fast, you have just covered where my weaknesses and strengths lie. What would you do then?"