Back at the tavern

*Blodwulf enters the tavern and asks for his usual order of a mug of ale. Waiting for Prince Kalil to arrive.*

The sooner I get back on the ship and out to sea for Lady Jade, the better. I can see why I started sailing to begin with" he mumbles to himself.

When Blodwulf arrives in the tavern, a Draconian soldier steps out of the tavern. About an hour after Blodwulf arrives, the doors to the tavern swing open and Prince Kalil walks into the tavern. He looks around briefly and upon spotting Blodwulf heads over to his table.

"Hey." He takes a sizable bag off his hip and places it on the table. It clinks loudly with the sound of coin. "As promised. Your payment. And I also said I had something else for you." He pulls out a chair, spins it around and sits in it with either leg on each side and resting his elbows on the top of the back of the chair. "On top of the gold, I'd like to offer you an opportunity. After fighting with you this last time, I've come to realize you don't seem all that confident in your skills or know exactly what you should be doing on the battlefield. Like I said at the village, a fighter should be holding the enemies attention so mages and others can do their thing." He taps his fingers along the top of the chair. "So, I'd like to offer you a private sparring session. It'll be me and a couple of my soldiers and we'll work on teaching you how to better maneuver on the battlefield and keep your mages alive. What do you say?"

*taking the coin purse from the table and putting it in his bag, Blodwulf looks at Kalil* A private training session with the Prince? I could always use extra training. But, with that being said, shouldn't it be a two way thing? The fighters keep the mages alive and the mages keep the fighters alive, it's supposed to be a cohesive unit. Ya know? But, I've rambled too long, I've got to get back out to sea before the Autumn storms come through. You're more than welcome to come aboard before we leave port, Kalil.

Kalil shrugs. "It is a two way thing. You distract the enemy while the mages and others do their thing, including healing you. Your healer gets attacked and you're screwed. Your mage is under attack and they can't cast spells that may end the fight. You have to do your part so the others can do theirs. Can't concentrate on a spell if you're running for your life because your fighter is too scared to step up. You've gotta learn to trust your team. Yeah, you'll be taking the brunt of the attack but while you're doing that, I can sneak around and kill them or knock them out. Meanwhile, you're blocking the enemy from getting to your healer who is behind you trying to keep you up." He taps his fingers along the back of the chair and taps his foot. "It's a cycle and if one person breaks that cycle, it all falls apart. I wouldn't have been taken down nearly as much if you'd've been distracting the enemy while I snuck around. Now, don't get me wrong, you did do it right a few times but not nearly as often as you should have. You've gotta trust your team. You've gotta be trust worthy too. If you run off when the heat gets to be too much, you've just exposed the healers and mages behind you. It's better to take as much as you can and fall then run away. That split second that you wasted by running off could've been the split second your mage needed to get off their spell. Hold your ground. Take the hits. That's what you're supposed to do. And if you're doing that well, the rest of the group can do what they're good at without dying.

You're right. It'd be much easier if the team would listen to me about battle formations. Even you've got to admit formations are what hold a unit together, everytime we come under attack our formation breaks, and when are formation breaks the enemy is scattered about, I can only be one place at a time. A few times out in the field a simple wedge formation would have worked wonders with myself on point. That way the enemy has no choice but to focus on me. The next time we go to battle, let's at least try it.

Kalil shrugs. "Discuss it with your team. Come up with a battle plan. But always be prepared to just step in and take the hits. Focus on blocking your mages and especially your healer. I saw Guildmaster Miquella doing quite a bit of fighting and he shouldn't have had to." Kalil winces at the mention of joining them. "Honestly? After the mess that was the attack on the Orc village and how often I was taken down, I probably won't be joining you guys for a while. Selena would lose her shit. Wolfrum too probably." He sighs. "I've got a lot of training to do myself. I've gotta be able to take more of those poisons and things they were throwing at us. I rely too much on Connor..." His attention seems to drift off for a second before he shakes his head slightly and snaps back to reality. "Anyways, give me about a week to recoup. I've got a lot to do at the manor. I'll meet you in the Orc Village a week from today alright? We'll have our sparring session then."