Center Style/ Bear Blade

The Bear Blade discipline is the first sword style to ever exist. It is also typically the first style ever taught to a student as its moves and strategy are all very simple. It is not a specialized style however and can be predictable.

Development and Strategy
The Bear Blade was originally developed as "The Center Style" thousands of years ago in Grand Herand. It was given this name officially because it was considered the center from which all other styles branched from. After the magic purge, it was given the named after the Bear for its simple and powerful strokes. It was soon taught to all soldiers once it was refined by the developers. Bear Blade was developed to deal with creatures and other humans wearing no armor and simple weapons since sword-to-sword combat was not common. However, as multiple styles began to surface, Bear Blade fell out of favor with duelists and warriors alike. While it still continues to be taught as a means of basic self-defense, it is generally the least popular style in Divintera.

The strategy of the Bear Blade discipline is to defeat the opponent with powerful and lethal strikes while evading any attacks that may be thrown back. As it was rare for defenders to be able to effectively block a sword, most slashes in the Bear Blade style are very direct. Since the style had only simple blocks, users were taught to rely on their evasion and keep a feet away from their target at all times. This also made the style ill-suited to warriors in heavy armor as it mading evading more difficult.

Variants
Though the three main variants for Bear Blade exist, Two-Handed and Dual Blade variants were not developed further due to being impractical in the hands of most fighters.

Single Blade: The user stands with their free arm's shoulder facing the enemy with their blade held just above the waist, pointing at their opponent. Their feet are only slightly spread, generally ready to evade a blow at a moment's notice. This variant is generally the most popular as a shield is commonly used to make up for the lack of defensive manuevers in the Bear Blade style, used by both warriors and duelists.

Two-Handed: The user stands mostly facing his opponent, though a shoulder is slightly tilted in the direction of the attacker. The feet are once again barely spread and the blade is held near the waist, diagonally pointing to the sky and towards the opponent. This style was not often used either due to the predictability of the style. While users would sometimes briefly swap to a two-handed grip to deliver finishing blows, this variant was rarely used exclusively.

Dual Blade: The user stance is similar to Single Blade, with a shoulder facing the enemy with their feet only slightly spread. Both blades are held near the waist and one blade is pointed at the enemy. This style was often only used by amateurs to intimidate other combatants. It is not considered an effective style because it doesn't make good use of the second blade since the strikes are still rather predictable.