Sparring and A Talk Between a Lord and a Knight

Lifting my shield, I covered the majority of my upper body while I held my practice longsword to the side of my body, having it poised to strike.

Brienne and I circled around the ring, looking at one another, and waiting for the other to make a move.

I held the advantage. Both in weapons and physical abilities.

Having a shield allowed me to easily block her first strike and counter with my own, and put together with my higher physical ability and she knew she'd have to wait for me to strike first otherwise she'd get taken out very quickly.

We'd sparred for little over a year. Brienne was...extremely talented at fighting. It's just bad luck that I'm her sparring partner.

I dashed forward, the shield held steady over my torso, ready to move out and block whatever she sent at me. But she didn't send out anything, knowing I'd block it easily. Instead she waited for her chance. I smirked and let down my shield slightly, lifting my sword up and then slamming it down in a slash.

Brienne twisted her torso out of the way before moving her leg as well. She steadied her footwork and sent a thrust back but I brought my shield back and blocked it, "Gotta do better than that, Brienne~!" I teased before bashing her sword and her body back with a vicious shield bash.

She stumbled back but her footing held true and she didn't fall over.

Though she looked slightly pissed off at my teasing but after as many spars as she'd had with me, she knew some of my tricks by now and calmed herself down quickly enough.

She kept her guard steady and left as little openings as possible. I could bash through her guard and her blocks with my brute strength...but what would I learn if I did that? Nothing. I'd just learn how to be a bumbling idiot who relies purely on brute strength like the Mountain. Don't get me wrong, brute strength has it's uses but right now, I need to train my skill in handling weapons. Using brute force here wouldn't do me any favors.

Same goes for using 'Spartan Time'. I can't do anything about my naturally obscene reflexes but I can stop myself from entering that slow-mo state that would allow me to easily dodge everything Brienne threw at me.

Using such an ability would take away from the gains I'd get from this training...

Brienne went in for an attack, an obvious feint, but I met it with my sword anyway. There was no power behind her attack and I saw her lift her foot to plant it into my stomach. I smirked and spun out of the way, whipping my left elbow around to catch Brienne right in the face.

She stumbled to the side before falling down onto one knee.

...But even if I didn't use my full brute strength and Spartan Time, I was still leagues ahead of Brienne physically. Reflexes, coordination, balance, stamina--all of it. I was just better. Yet that didn't stop Brienne. She grunted and slammed her sword's tip into the dirt before pushing herself up with it like some sort of walking cane.

A bit of blood dribbled down from her lip and her blue eyes were burning with determination as she looked over at me.

Man, even when she knows she's outmatched she never gives up. What a wonderful person.

And so it continued, the spar, mainly with me blocking and hitting Brienne but she still got some hits in when I made unnecessary movements that put me at risk. Overall, it was a decent spar and I could tell Brienne had learnt a lot from it.

I, on the other hand, learnt something from it as well. To keep my movements concise no matter what. I only got hit because I did one too many steps or moved my arm in an awkward way that wouldn't allow for me to block the second strike from Brienne.

Good thing about my brain? It's like a goddamn computer. Every experience I go through is recorded and my brain figures out how to improve on it next time.

You may be wondering, why I haven't already gotten rid of unnecessary movements after a year of training? Well, 1) I'm using a new sword that's bigger and heavier than my old one. Mistakes will be made. 2) I've been able to get away with unnecessary movements so far because Brienne didn't punish them, so I didn't really learn my lesson. But now that her skill has reached a certain level through sparring--and getting beaten by me--and her tutelage under Ser Goodwin who gives her extra lessons, has let her get to the point where she can punish mistakes of mine.

Why does he give her extra lessons? She's his Lords daughter and I'm just some page from a House of Landed Knights. Why should he go out of his way to give me extra lessons? Plus, I'm doing just fine without them.

I'm already much better with a sword and shield than I thought I'd be by now. Even better is that I never planned or knew I'd get prior training before becoming a Squire so I'll be an even better fighter by the time canon starts and I've gone through all this training. So, TLDR of this is: I'm already better than I thought I would be at this point in time, so there's no need to complain about unfair treatment.

The spar came to an end with Brienne looking like the day I'd met her - a bloodied lip, some blood running down her nose and onto her lip, and a face covered in dirt. Her face was a bit red raw as well, which would no doubt turn into bruises come tomorrow.

But she was much better at taking hits than she was. Constant fights against me had taught her how to take a hit and mitigate as much damage as possible.

It was entirely possible that constant sparring against me for a year had made her body tougher.

Well, either way, she's probably gonna be a better fighter than she was in canon. Which is good. Also why I'm so harsh on her when we fight. I don't want to go easy on her because she'd hate me if I did that and because I don't want to be the reason she's not strong enough to survive in the future. She's my first friend in this world. My only friend, for that matter, so I don't want her to die. If stopping that from happening means being harsh on her in our sparring sessions, than so be it.

Ser Goodwin looked between the two of us and gave a nod before barking out an order, "Good spar...but it could be better! Brienne, you need to work on your dodging and parrying! Connington, you need to stop it with those bloody useless moves of yours and start being efficient!" he quickly pinpointed our problems before he picked up his own practice sword and motioned for Brienne to come over to him, "Brienne, come spar with me. We'll sort out your footwork and your dodging technique," then he turned to me, "Connington, go over to the dummies and practice your swings. I'll come over and see your progress when I'm done with Brienne."

Nodding, I walked over to the edge of the ring and hopped over the rope before jogging over to the dummies to practice my swing and get used to the new weight and length of my new practice sword.

. . .

POV Change - Ser Goodwin (3rd Person)

Ser Goodwin walked away from the training courtyard, a light sweat building on his brow. He lifted a handkerchief up to wipe it away, muttering about how he was getting old, and walked through one of the many entrances/exits for the courtyard.

Though this time, the exit he walked through was the main one because he knew he had to meet someone there.

Standing in the hallway, just out of sight from the doorway and those in the courtyard, stood a tall man with sapphire blue eyes and blond hair that was greying on the sides. Fitting of his tall figure, he had a muscular physique like that of a warrior. Yet despite this, the limp he seemed to have as he turned and walked to Ser Goodwin showed why he wasn't the one to teach his daughter, Brienne, how to fight:

He had a bad, limp leg that limited both his movement and therefore his ability in a fight.

This was Selwyn Tarth, the Evenstar of House Tarth. Ser Goodwin instantly bowed, a respectful look on his face and a politeness in his gait, "Evenstar, good morning," he greeted, keeping his head down until Selwyn spoke with a wave of his hand.

"Lift your head, old friend. What have I said about bowing so much? It's bad for an old man's back," opposed to how you'd expect a Lord of a House to speak, Selwyn spoke without an air of arrogance or the pompous tone that seemed to run in the blood of most Houses like the Tyrells and the Lannisters.

Ser Goodwin could do nothing but smile wryly as he lifted his head, looking at his Lord, "You asked me to meet you after this training sessions. If I may be so bold, Evenstar, I would like to ask why?" Ser Goodwin raised an eyebrow, his rough face wrinkling slightly as he did.

Selwyn heard the question and leaned his back against the nearby hallway wall. He didn't answer for a few seconds but Ser Goodwin didn't worry - Evenstar Selwyn was known to think out his answers fully before he replied to questions. Finally, the Lord of Tarth stopped rubbed his chin before speaking.

"I wanted to ask you about Brienne's progress. Is she making enough progress for you to continue training her or is a fruitless endeavor?" he asked with a somewhat sad expression.

Hearing the question, Ser Goodwin realized that today had been just over the 1st year anniversary of Brienne starting her training under him. He and the Lord had come to a deal - that if Brienne hadn't the talent to become a proper warrior, they'd try their best to get her to take up a passion other than fighting.

Ser Goodwin also knew why Evenstar Selwyn was upset as well but he kept the teasing look off of his face and gave a serious reply, "She's making tremendous progress, Evenstar. I believe she's got to have the most talent out of all the boys from Tarth," he nodded his head, stroking his beard lightly, "She's got the strength and the speed needed. The learning ability too. But she's also as stubborn as the cliffs of Tarth themselves. No matter how many blows she takes and no matter how many times she's knocked down, she keeps on fighting," the Knight spoke with a rare display of pride on his face as he spoke about Brienne.

Selwyn sighed a sigh of relief, his face lightening up and the tenseness that had been in his posture was gone as he relaxed with a small smile, "That's good. I really didn't want to make her drop the thing she's felt most passionate about since her...since her mother passed," he spoke with a sad smile, a sense of melancholy around him. This caused a silence between the Knight and the Lord for a few seconds before Selwyn spoke up again, "What about the page? How is his training going?"

Hearing the mention of that little whelp, Ser Goodwin couldn't help but groan with an aggravated expression on his face, "If Brienne is one of the best talents to come out of Tarth, that little brat is one of the best talents to come out of the Stormlands. Maybe even the entire Seven Kingdoms," Ser Goodwin shook his head with a small wry smile on his face.

Selwyn, however, looked toward his old friend with a shocked expression, noting the sincerity and seriousness on Ser Goodwin's face.

"Really? How so? I thought he only had a bit of Giant's blood in him," Selwyn spoke with a confused voice, remembering his first meeting with the boy.

The red-haired 5-year-old looked more like an 11-year-old and from what Brienne had told him, he took on a Knight's son and his friends without breaking a sweat. Just from his big size and strength, it was easy to see he had Giant's blood.

But Ser Goodwin just scoffed, fulling dropping the pleasantries he kept up to not embarrass or disrespect Selwyn when in front of other people, "Aye, he has a bit of Giant's blood in him. But he doesn't have any of the disadvantages," Selwyn motioned for him to elaborate, so the Knight did, "He's not big, dumb and slow like other Giant Blooded people. He's big, clever and as agile as a Dornish bloody spear-user. Brienne's older than him and has a good bit of natural strength and athleticism herself but when up against that Connington boy, she stands no chance of overpowering him. He's a bloody beast in human skin if I've ever seen one," Ser Goodwin chuckled to himself, not showcasing any of the drill instructor-esque nature he usually showed to Brienne and Lucius.

Selwyn stood still and in silence for a good few seconds before finally doing something, "You're dismissed, Ser Goodwin. Keep me up to date with both Brienne's and Lucius' progress," he said before walking passed the Knight and toward the courtyard where Brienne was resting and Lucius was still practicing against a dummy.