Complacency was never good for a group, no matter how peaceful times had become. That wasn't to say that Aurum wasn't glad for the peace that Tanglewood had at the moment, considering how hard fought it had been. However, he also knew one thing that had been drilled into his mind constantly by his father – war was always on the horizon. Even in the most peaceful of times, there would be threats lingering in the shadows, and one had to be ready to face them, head on. For the most part, Tanglewood had been good about this. While they weren't a particularly violent group, they knew how to handle themselves, and they had certainly proved themselves more than capable when it came to the final battle against the Pitt. Since then, however, they had begun to get... soft. Most of their members were either older or very young, and most also weren't particularly well versed in the art of fighting. He knew Vigenere to be a warrior, of course, but Vig also had larger things to worry about than just some simple combat training. He was also sure that Vig would've wanted to try and avoid such a thing, not exactly seeming the type to enjoy conflict. Aurum didn't enjoy it either, but he also accepted it, as an eventual reality.

With this in mind, the lion had done as he had many months ago, creating several dummies out of straw and salvaged cloth from the various destroyed houses that were scattered around, as well as the junkyard. Once he had several dummies behind him, along with a few of the weapons that had been included when Roxie had come with gifts from the Pitt, the angel felt as though everything was ready. Rolling his shoulders a bit, Aurum raised his head high, calling out in a gruff rumble, "Anyone who'd be interested in learning combat skills, or sharpening their old ones, feel free to join me over here!" As he sat there, the shaderunner hoped that Vigenere wasn't too annoyed with him for organizing such an event without asking, but he doubted it. After all, his job was to help make sure things were running smoothly, and making sure they could defend themselves was part of that. Once upon a time, perhaps Red would've been around to help him out with the lesson, and the two of them would work alongside each other, making sure that their individual techniques were understood. Still, that was now a time long past, as much as it hurt to accept.

Lifting his head when a pair of both heavy and very soft footsteps approaches him, Aurum was unsurprised to see that it was Delilah, and Vigenere. They were two of the most active members of Tanglewood, after all, besides himself. Despite his infinite familiarity with both faces present, the angel still found himself smiling as per usual, always glad to see two of his friends. Nodding firmly at both Delilah and Vig, Aurum spoke in an even, and instructive tone, "Thank you both, for coming over. The two of you participating together will be... interesting, considering the size difference. But I can actually use that for teaching purposes." A soft hum left the lion as he moved closer to the pair, nudging both Delilah and Vig so that they would be facing each other head on – save for Delilah having to look down, of course. Stepping back once they were into position, Aurum questioned both patiently, "First, I'll need to see what I'm working with. So, Vig, you're going up against a much larger opponent. What would you try to do to gain the upper hand? And Delilah, you're going up against a much smaller opponent. What do you think he will do to try and win?" This was how his father had taught him – through a series of trial and error. See what someone thought was the right choice, see how close they were to it being true, and then nudge them in the right direction.

Aurum was extremely glad to hear both Vigenere and Delilah listening to his orders, instead of being stubborn about his training style. He hadn't truly expected any conflict or protest from either of them, but he had become unfortunately used to... very outspoken voices popping up every once in a while. Thankfully, it seemed as though things were going well, and the lion found himself nodding as he heard the dragoness, letting out a soft chuff in response, "Very good, you're right. Any opponent that is smaller but has higher speed is always going to go for a weak point, since they know they have to hit hard to inflict real damage." He then watched as Vigenere lunged forward, tail twitching in thought as he nodded and continued, "That was good, too. You need to get a bit of breathing room, make sure that you have a moment you can take advantage of. Delilah, what do you suppose you should do in response? Hunker down, make sure that your larger center of mass can give you more stability?" He didn't want to just give Delilah the answer, but he was supposed to be the teacher here, and he intended to make sure she knew how to handle all kinds of opponents, both big and small.

Turning his gaze then to Vig, he said with a bit of a chuckle, "And Vig... if she does do that, what do you think your chances are then? In a one on one fight with a heavy but stable opponent, what do you think you should do?" The obvious answer was to try and get to their back side, since if they were entirely focused on keeping their stability, they wouldn't have as much speed to stop an attack from the back. A frontal attack, by any means, would probably be a horrible idea.