-insert "And my axe!" meme-

Artorias beamed proudly at his son, watching while Solaire removed his axe and set it aside. Solaire was correct in assuming they wouldn't be starting with their edged weapons to begin with, but Art had planned out carefully how to train his unorthodox son's requests. "All right, Sol! I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to best train you to use your new weapon since you literally have the only axe in the Hallows and I think I figured out a method to teach you the techniques safely." Not keeping his methods a mystery for long, Artorias stepped out of the ring and picked up two quarterstaffs leaned up against the wall. He brought the staffs over and handed one to Solaire. While not as hefty as the axe, the movements and control would be similar enough to teach the young budding warrior.

"We'll be training with staffs together until you master the techniques and motions. Striking with a staff is very similar to aiming the head of your axe at your opponents, but this will be less lethal while we practice," Artorias explained, then motioned with a flick of his head for Sol to follow him to their first training dummy. "Unlike a sword, your axe has two points of lethality on it—the head and the pommel. How you strike with each end differs greatly, so you''ll need to be very aware of your movements, your enemy's positions, and the aim of your weapon." Slipping seamlessly into a fighting stance, Artorias demonstrated with a wide swing of the staff that bonked one of the dulled ends against the dummy's head. "The bits of the axe need to be swung like a slashing or arcing motion at your opponent to ensure the blades make full contact." Using the opposite end of the staff, Art jabbed it into the dummy's chest like a spear. "The spiked pommel can act like a spear. This is only effective with stabbing motions." Artorias stepped back then and gestured with a wave of his paw for Solaire to step up and practice for himself.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"