Happenings concerning this morning aside, Veis was actually just outside the barracks. All prior mentioned was just a recollection of events. In the now, the sun hung high in the sky beating down on all the hard working Marines gathered outside for physical training. Sweat dripping from his brow and chin, he pushed off his knees with his hands and walked over to the Marine who was standing by with paper cups of water. Taking two, Veis drank them back to back and discarded them in the nearby trash receptacle. He was of Noble blood and placed himself above these other Marines of common backgrounds, but he wasn't too good for a workout and it wasn't like he had a choice since this was required of him as a Marine.
"Veis, would you mind sparring with me?" Veis knew it was the current commander of his unit just from the sound of his voice alone, but turned over his shoulder to respectfully face him and confirm his guess. "I don't see why not." It was true that Veis was still an Ensign in his unit, but his exemplary performance in the field and his intelligence placed him on a higher pedestal than the other Ensigns. While many recognized this and flocked towards Veis due to him being seen as somewhat of a prodigy, Veis could detect that Commander Stark gravitated towards him for other reasons. He didn't look at Veis with the same admiring glimmer in his eyes that the others did. He didn't dare look down on Veis either, but instead he looked at him with eyes green with envy. He saw Veis as a potential equal and for that reason Veis was an enemy.
Well, perhaps Veis wasn't an enemy, but he surely wasn't an ally. He was someone who the Commander itched to outshine as to let the limelight rain backdown upon him like things were before Veis came along. "What's the record now? Twenty-six wins to eight wins?" Veis chuckled softly as the two journeyed to the sparring grounds. Commander Stark wasn't the type to lose count of such a thing, it wasn't in his rivalrous nature. "I believe I'm actually at twenty-eight wins while you are at seven, but I could be wrong." Normally Veis wouldn't give into the bait the Commander tossed out, but today wasn't a normal day. He had just gotten word he'd be moving to a new battalion soon, so he no longer had reason to coddle this man's feelings for soon whether Veis got promoted or not wouldn't be something he could effect.
The sparring ground was a large twenty-five meter circle outlined in white on a dirt ground. Both the participants were handed a wooden replica of the weapon of their choice. Veis was given something more similar to a Bokken, despite his actual field weapon being a saber, but he wouldn't complain. Commander Stark was given a wooden staff despite actually using a pole-arm out in the field. An idle marine would walk into the circle and signal the start of the match between the two. With ten meters of space left in between them, Veis began to plan how and when he'd close the space since his opponent had the advantage in the range department. Strafing in such a way that'd he'd be moving in a circle, the Commander too side stepped cautiously, neither of them making a move towards the other, not yet, it was too early.
Marines would begin to gather on the edge of the white line to observe the spar as they always did, but only when it came to Veis and Commander Stark sparring. They saw it as two equals fighting against the other for the sake of self improvement and it disgusted Veis. The thought of someone seeing the Commander as his equal, it made Veis even more trained on attaining victory.
With his battle plan locked in his mind which was akin to a steel trap, Veis would charge the Commander and as he did so the voices of the Marines raised in excitement. The Commander stopped in his tracks in preparation for Veis' assault, but surely the Commander's attack would come first since he possessed superior range. His sword held in a defensive manner as he proceeded forwarded, just as he was about to enter the Commander's range he prepped his sword for a strike that would go downwards and jumped upwards. Commander Stark prepped his weapon as he saw Veis about to enter his range, drawing back lightly to give him a range of motion to work with and as Veis jumped up, he angled his weapon in a similar manner. Swinging downward with his bokken, in a manner that went from his left shoulder to his right, the weapon in his right hand, Veis' weapon would collide with the staff and prod it to Veis' own right side. Landing on the ground he'd be within the Commander's immediate vicinity, his wooden blade working as a margin, keeping the Commander's staff outside of it so it wouldn't be able to cause harm to him.
Lowering his fram while he switched his grip to a backhanded weapon grip, the weapon would keep its positioning, but more muscle would be able to be pit against it to keep the staff at bay. Next he'd turn his body to have his left shoulder directed at the Commander, before propelling himself at his superior. His shoulder digging square into Commander Stark's sternum, the man was knocked off balance and lost the air in his lungs.
Forcing the Commander backwards off his feet, Stark would land on his posterior and lightly roll to his back. He wouldn't stop there however. A traditional spar would usually end there, with one of the participants being forced to their back's, but Stark was a special case and Veis could see this in his eyes as he rolled over. There was a flame burning behind his irises and they burned a bit too bright for the setting of a spar, he wanted to crush Veis and shame him in front of the rest of the unit. Veis recognized this with just a glance, it was a familiar look he'd received from many Nobles and even his own brother at one time or another in his past. Words had crossed his mind, but he remained silent, for not only would it expose the Commander's true face, but it'd possibly smug off a portion of the persona he had worked so hard to paint to these Marines in his unit.
As he stood now, poised elegantly while his opponent was crouched down baring his fangs at him, he was a holy masterpiece and the wave of awe struck shouts he heard when he employed his gambit let him know he was seen as such. Silent a muffled rage influencing his next attack, Commander Stark took his staff into both of his hands and began to execute a series of thrust against Veis. Light and ever so nimble on his feet, Veis deftly avoided the thrust. Trying a parry as to increase his chances of evading all the thrust, he found he played into Commander Stark's hand. The moment his weapon moved to cast a thrust to the side, the direction of the staff moved towards to the bokken. He's parrying my parry?"
His bokken slapped off to his left side, making his right arm reach uncomfortably over to the left side of his body, Veis was left wide open, off balance, and vulnerable. Going with the flow of things since he had nothing else in mind, Veis pushed off the only foot that he had left on the ground in the direction he was falling, but as he did so he also pushed himself slightly upwards. As a person performing a high jump in the olympics would jump, he aimed to hoist his body over the horizontal plane Stark's weapon occupied, for the quickest attack he had access to was a horizontal slap at Veis' ribs. Knowing how feisty and eager the Commander was to shame Veis, he'd surely take the most immediate route to what he saw as success.
The result was Veis gliding over the horizontal swing and as he collided with the ground he'd roll over his left shoulder in a lithe manner to disperse the impact with the ground and the lateral momentum. Ending up on his feet and his weapon in his hand, he'd pull back with his bokken then lunge out with his right leg and foot, while thrusting with the weapon that was in his right hand. The Commander wasn't prepared for Veis' evasive maneuver and for that reason after he swung, though he tried to turn to face Veis and put up a defensive front, the width of his weapon didn't cover much space.
Taking advantage of this lack of surface area, Veis' thrust would hit its mark which was right below the ribs of the Commander. A small grin slid across Veis' visage as he felt his wooden sword hit resistance, it meant victory. Mouths' of the idle Marines agape, they let out a yell of excitement as the battle had a freeze fram moment showcasing the Noble's superiority. Pulling his leg and weapon back in, Veis used his free hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Good spar Commander." Deep down he wanted to press the victory into the man's skin until it left sear marks that were unable to be forgotten, but he had an image to continue crafting, so he remained humble.
Though his back was turned as he walked away from his sparring partner towards the showers, he could feel the ill intent in the Commander's being. It was a hot fire that would either burn the man up till he was nothing but ashes or that would burn all in his path to the top, Veis doubted it'd be the latter mentioned, but was content with knowing the Commander envied him so. It let Veis know that not only was his blood of a higher grade, but he was just a tier above the Commander and he wouldn't be touched anytime soon.
