19 Vhalar 722
"Balthazar Black! Welcome back, it has been a while. Are you to teach or to participate in the contests?" Bramwell asked with a pleasant smile on his face. Balthazar saw no signs to indicate that Bramwell's smile was false, so he felt a little more comfortable immediately. At least Foy wasn't planning some massive attack against Balthazar like the one in Rharne. Then again, what were the odds that it happened twice?
"I came for the contests but I wouldn't mind giving some lessons. I'm good with a few weapons but best with my hands." Balthazar asked as Bramwell gestured for the mage to follow him towards the middle of the sandpit. Balthazar turned and walked with Bramwell right at his side. His legs were a little longer than the owner of The Proving Ground's but Foy kept pace without any trouble.
"The competition begin as mid-trial, until then feel free to lead your own demonstrations. I'll announce the rules for it before we begin." Bramwell explained with a broader gesture to the groupings around them. It suddenly made more sense that he'd seen so many people grouped together. They were not small gatherings of friends, they were participants gathering to learn lessons from the various experts in the sand. It was comforting to the suspicious mind of the mage.
"I look forward to it, but for now I'll let you go. I imagine hosting this event pulls you in many directions." Balthazar said, offering Bramwell a path out of their conversation to avoid dragging it out. Bramwell gave him a small, thankful nod and departed in a manner that Balthazar could only describe as soft. Everything about Bramwell Foy seemed soft. His size, the way he spoke, and now the way he carried himself around his own land. It seemed soft but Balthazar knew that it was not. He had never seen Foy in combat but he recognized certain signs. A roughness to his knuckles and a quickness to his reactions when people neared him. There was more than met the eye to that one but little would be learned by asking him questions. Time would reveal more. Time and a little dedicated effort. For the moment, Bramwell was not someone who Balthazar felt any need to investigate and so he wouldn't.
Until the contests began, Balthazar was more than willing to offer lessons in unarmed combat to anyone who approached him. He would have started by teaching Robin if he hadn't sent the lad off to protect Simula. Better safe than sorry but it could have been avoided if he'd brought more of the Black Cats with him. He didn't though so until someone approached him, Balthazar went through his old motions. He adopted his old, open palm stance and moved his limbs quickly as if he was fighting multiple different opponents made of air. It looked strange to the untrained eye but to anyone who knew a good amount about combat, it looked remarkable.
The trial crawled along but for the mage in The Proving Grounds it felt like time was passing quickly. He gave a few more regretful thoughts to his decision to send Robin off to protect Simula but as soon as people began to show up for demonstrations, lessons, and challenges the thoughts about Robin became less frequent. He spent a good break of his trial while he was waiting for the contest to begin by teaching a few spectators unarmed combat. Simple lessons which didn't really stress his ability to teach. They had no magic and The Proving Grounds were not exactly the place to teach others the more advanced techniques from the combat forms he knew, so he kept with basic punches and kicks. Some people needed help learning to kick without completely sacrificing their balance and others needed to learn not to grip their thumb when they punched because of the damage it would do to their hands.
He often forgot that the majority of the people around Scalvoris were so inexperienced with most things that they couldn't begin with elaborate takedowns and grapple escapes. Eventually a few people who seemed a bit more competent with their hands inquired more specifically about takedowns and escapes. Balthazar gave careful and slow demonstrations of those moves, utilizing volunteers from the crowd forming around him. He had to go slowly to avoid injuring them as he worked through the moves but he also had to go slowly to ensure that they'd actually retain it. Precision and careful explanations were important to get the message across to those who were trying to learn. Some escapes focused on using your own body weight to break the grip of you attacker, other escapes focused on targeted strikes to weak points- feet, stomachs, then throats when the attacker's grip weakened. Well, if it weakened. Balthazar took time to explain how each escape worked differently depending on an individual's size. He was taller than most, for example, so he tended to have a weight advantage.
Breaks passed and when the time came for the competitions to begin, the mage was more than ready to participate. Those who'd been around for his lessons were equally ready to watch and see what he could actually do. It was one thing to listen to him talk and watch his demonstrations but it was another entirely to actually see him fighting. When he'd been a member of the Elements, he didn't train in public often. When he discovered The Decked Halls, he reduced his public training more, and then more again when he had Haven to train in. Altogether this made the competition a somewhat special occasion and opportunity for the general public of Scalvoris to learn from him.
After Rharne, one might have thought that Balthazar didn't want to show what he could do in public settings but his strength was not entirely about what he could do physically. Most people saw the physical and forgot the depth of the magical abilities he possessed. He could do much more than throw a punch or a ball of fire and he didn't often show it. Life was not as cut and dry as simply being good at one single thing. For his shortcomings that his enemies would try to exploit, he almost always had something to keep himself safe. All the same, when Bramwell announced that the competition would begin, Balthazar was not the first to arrive. He lingered in the back and watched the others who approached eagerly first. Anyone who presented themself with skill was someone who the Black Cats might benefit from recruiting.
They had a well rounded group of competent individuals who Balthazar's leadership could promote to levels of skill beyond their normal capabilities, but they didn't have a large number of fighters yet. It couldn't hurt to keep an eye out for a few more. As the number of Black Cats grew, the number of contracts they could take on at one time would grow as well. Supply and demand. Basic business management... or perhaps it was just logistics. Leading mercenaries and selling goods he made from his forge were not the same sort of business. Regardless of his mind wandering, he didn't forget what he was looking for as he scanned the other fighters.
As Bramwell gave a quick explanation of the rules it became clear that the competition was not as elaborate as the setup for the tournament in Rharne had been. People were paired with other participants, including Balthazar when he finally approached, and they were moved into portions of the sand with circles drawn in for them to fight. If you stepped out of the circle, you were disqualified. If you were struck in the chest your opponent earn one point, the head was off limits, below the waist was off limits, and each fight would go for till one fighter earned three points. Unarmed opponents were facing unarmed opponents, sword fighters were facing sword fighters, and so on and so forth. The contests were organized by the weapon you chose to participate with and Balthazar opted to participate in the contest of the sword. He was no gladiator and was not looking to entertain the crowd more than he was looking to win, but he knew his unarmed skill would give him an edge that his opponents would not have.
