Edric vs. Sexton

It was still fairly cold in Hyrule, so Sec knew the extra layers would slow him down. The winter months had all but passed at this point and the horrible blizzard had finally ceased. Though it would take some time for the snow to finally pass.

Sec wasn't sure how he was bribed into an arena fight, that lady pirate at the bar could make him do anything. Her seductively touching his lips somehow made him jump to fight someone for money. And at what kind of battlefield was the fight at? None but a frozen lake, there was land nearby but who knows where the lake begins and ends through all the snow. There was some dead vegetation in trees and shrubbery on the horizon. Sec had no idea how he would subdue an enemy in such a strange climate. Hopefully his opponent would be at just the same disadvantage, Sec didn't think so considering his last name was Snow.

Boots crunched through the thin layer of snow covering the lake as Edric walked toward that day's opponent. He had no memory of what this place actually was, though he knew what was expected of him. Edric was here to test his mettle against another of Hyrule's finest warriors, or so he hoped. He certainly wouldn't get any better fighting the likes of some of the trainees back at the Northwatch.

As he stepped forward, he fixed his gloves and flexed his right hand, working out the aches in his fingers, and feeling the scarred flesh stretching over his bones. Standing opposite him was a frankly peculiar-looking Hylian. Edric could not tell whether the man was younger or older, but it was far from likely that anyone younger would be fit to fight in the arena, given that he was a rather young and relatively unblooded swordsman to begin with. So, as he crossed the battlefield, Edric decided he would not simply ignore the potential merits of his foe.

"My name is Edric Snow. I will not kill you unless at the uttermost end of need, but should I find you at the end of my blade, I would hope to know your name."

Even before Sexton could answer, Snow loosened Longclaw and drew it from its scabbard. The sword came free with the sound of steel scraping on leather, until the point of the blade was free and the sword sang softly into the wind.

His four and a half foot sword worried Sec slightly, the fact that it was drawn in such a dramatic manner made it worse. At this point in his journey, Sec knew not to fraternize with the enemy. Instead of exchanging a fancy dialogue with his opponent he pulled out his dagger and moved his scarf down which was covering his nose to his face to keep it warm and muffled out, "Sexton Hardcastle."

Sec secured the scarf back to its original position as he stared and observed the man if you could call him that, he looked nothing more than a boy. But Sec was even younger when he started his adventures. The blade in Sexton's left hand was cold to the touch, even through his gloves, but that might be because Sec had placed a bit of magic and enchanted the blade with an ice enchantment. Sec was always a more defensive fighter, so he pulled his scarf down once more, "It's your move."

Edric was most interested in his opponent's choice of arms. It would have seemed that Sexton meant to best Edric's sword-play with knife-play. Perhaps the dagger might have been a quicker, more precise weapon by some margin, but what he could expect to do against Longclaw's reach, he could not tell. Even so, no enemy deserves underestimating.

In this cold, Edric reckoned his enemy would have a disadvantage, as he seemed more lightly clad. His muscles might be more likely to cramp or seize up, or just be slow generally. Edric could not necessarily expect himself to be much faster, with thick layers of wool and leather, and a coat of steel mail, he could not possibly be as nimble as a Kokiri in summertime, but at the very least he could figure the match might be evened.

Rather than charge Sexton recklessly, Edric elected to move in and begin to tactically make his attacks and maneuvers. He walked briskly forward at first, then slowed and assumed a middle guard to face his enemy within striking distance. From this point, he remained on the defensive, but it was clear Sexton was not going to break his stance. As such, Edric decided to start off easy to get things moving. With no particular flourish, he put his guard forward into a quick thrust toward Sexton's midsection.

Sec observed his opponents movements, he wasn't going to be able to beat his opponent in a show of strength wielding a dagger, he had to outwit his opponent. Every movement that his opponent made cracked the snow, or maybe it was the ice of the frozen pond or water. With each step Sec pondered if the body of water was frozen solid or not, they never quite give you enough information about these fights.

His opposition seemed to start off slow, obviously just attempting to test the waters with a standard lunge attack. Sec scoffed and jumped backwards away from the lunge. Sexton's boots slipped a bit when he landed and he fell backwards before yelling, "Woah!"

This was detrimental for obvious reasons. How can the opponent take him seriously after that? Sec didn't let his opponent take advantage of the situation though he began to toss the snow at his opponent, to distract him and give him enough time to roll out of the way and picked himself up. "I meant to do that, by the way."

This was a dead giveaway that a defensive game would not work in such an environment. He would have to fight him face to face. "Fun and games are over, this isn't a snow ball fight," Sec said as he readied an attack. With the Ice Enchantment on his blade, maybe he can at least take his opponent by surprise. Sec lunged forward and swung his dagger, aiming for one of the arms not that it mattered. The dagger was more of a feint, the real attack was a heavy knee aimed at the opponents side

Edric was about to land a second attack when a handful of snow flew toward his face. He paused and covered his face with his left forearm while the white cloud sprayed over his head. He backed off a moment, returning to the defensive while Sexton scrambled to his feet. He was probably less distracted by his opponent's lobbing of snow and more by his immediate loss of footing.

Is this it? This one isn't a fighter... He's a fool, just without a jingling hat.

"Fun and games are over, this isn't a snow ball fight!"

"Hm... Indeed not."

Edric's overall strategy would certainly have to involve keeping this buffoon out of range of a good dagger strike. No doubt this would not prove too difficult; Longclaw allowed many feet of blade to be placed between him and Sexton, while Sexton had only a dagger. This was, therefore, a no-brainer decision, any swordsman worth his salt knew not to let his opponent get any closer than was necessary. This proved beneficial almost immediately, as it afforded him the time to react to Sexton's next move.

As the dagger moved toward his arms, he threw his guard high, letting the swipe miss low, still too far to reach his torso. However, within another instant, Sexton's knee was thrust into his flank. He grunted as the blow impacted his coat of steel rings, though he trusted it must have felt no less painful for his assailant. Indeed, he would have expected it to be more painful, though not particularly damaging.

He was resolved to give his enemy no advantage, and though the blow came as a surprise, Edric was not prevented from grappling his now very close opponent. After taking a knee to the side, from which he still grimaced, he brought both arms down around his foe. His left hand flew to halt Sexton's left forearm, preventing him from bringing his dagger to bear for a follow-up strike. Meanwhile, his right arm, holding Longclaw in one hand, landed on Sexton's shoulder and upper body to stabilize Edric, to keep him from falling over, but also to draw Sexton into the grapple. At that point, trusting himself to secure Sexton's dagger arm, he released his right arm and used his own grip to smash the hilt of his weapon into the face of his enemy, looking to knock him to the ground.

Sec got smashed in the face with the Hilt of the enemies weapon. If not for the impact of the attack knocking him over, his lack of traction would have. Sec's forehead was in serious pain after that, he could barely see straight. He knew that being flat on his bum in a fight is the last place you want to be but he was not at a time to question his fortune.

Without giving his opponent a chance to gain a serious advantage he took out his Magic Rod, suddenly the rod turned blue and with a quick wave of his right hand a ball of icy energy shot out at his opponent. Sec then used the rod to get to a vertical basis. He sheathed his dagger and held the rod with both hands as he put a bit of distance from his opponent.