Again, Pride--an apt pupil--listened intently to Reseda's words. Her explanations, her instruction. Her demonstration of a spell of-... Finer control. He tilted his head lightly as one reptile became two, as a second komodo dragon was formed from pure energy.

Interesting.

Pride stepped aside, delicately treading around first one, then the other, inspecting them. Scenting them, listening to them. Perhaps one would smell of nothing. Perhaps only one would breathe. Or perhaps both things could be imitated, with enough precise control.

After a long moment of watching, Pride turned away, staring off into the air. He focused on himself, and on the world around him. He concentrated on what made him--physically speaking--himself. He imagined a second version of him: of picking up the air, of thrusting the cave's energy, into that exact and perfect shape.

Time passed. At first, nothing seemed to happen: and then Pride stepped left. And right. Each of him--his control indeed precise--stepped two neat steps away from the other. The left-hand one turned to its left, slowly rotating to face Reseda. The right image mirrored it, rotating to its right, until both stood eerily identical, watching the komodo dragon with the same placid, detached gaze.

"Is this correct?" they asked, in unison.

@Reseda

Reseda wasn't sure what to make of this. She wasn't sure how to react to Pride picking up these spells so quickly. She wasn't sure how to feel that Pride had mastered this spell immediately, a spell that she herself still had difficulty casting sometimes. However, perhaps it was for the best that it was doing better then her. It needed a reason to be prideful. And her praise would do good.

She forced a smile. "You are a talented magician. You will go far with your abilities." But not as far as her, oh no. There could only be one at the very top and it would be her. This she swore to herself.

But what would she teach it now? She did not know if it could learn more spells now. She didn't want to overload it with all of her knowledge so quickly. Then their relationship would not last long. No, they had to keep practicing here. "Now that you have a concept of the powers at your disposal, its time to put them into action. You have shown good prowess so far...but will that carry over into a fight? We shall spar. No claws...or hooves. Magic only. Come at me." She got herself into a prepared position, ready for whatever strike Pride would throw at her first.


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

Pride listened closely, and nodded once.

"I will. I will, try." A spar, a practice test. A chance to pit their abilities against one another, for him to put them into context in the form of battle, and to learn, but... But first.

He allowed his Drift double to disappear, and then he turned, speaking further. "Drink. First." He needed a moment to rest, a breather, a bit of water before he began. Quietly, delicately, he paced across Polaris to the river. He could hear the water-smell it--but he found that the banks were steep, and it took some searching to even find a place where he could get down to it.

At length he managed, slipping and stumbling on the slick stone. Pale nose dipped down, slender white neck arched to meet the shimmering surface, and the fawn half-closed grey eyes in contented satisfaction as the refreshing cold slipped down his throat.

This-... This was good. Simple pleasures, he thought to himself.

He turned back, taking a few heaving little leaps to get back up the hill--hooves scrabbling at the rock. Then he approached Reseda once more, pawing at the ground briefly once, dipping his head in acknowledgement and readiness.

"I am... prepared," he offered simply.

@Reseda

Reseda was a little annoyed when Pride stepped away, but she did not dare chase after it or tell it off. She simply gave it a nod and sat, waiting patiently while it drank water. She did not require such things right now. Perhaps after the fight, but now she was wait for Pride to be ready.

When it had returned, she stood from her place. Apparently, now, she would be the one to start. She crouched and thought quickly through her spells. She would have to put off Pulsar for now. It was much too powerful for the young thing to handle. And even her, a fully grown creature of magic had to create a spell for herself to recover from its ill effects. No, she would use simpler magic for now.

Her favorite trick, then, she would start with. She prepared the magic and, just as she was about to cast it, she leaped to the side. However, at the corner of her eyes, she realized that the spell had not worked. Too bad. Her first move was wasted. She would not run to one side like she had planned.

Round: 1
Attempt: Use a doppelganger to fool Pride
Defense: defensive stance
Injuries: none


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

Pride watched quietly, tensed and ready to move, though his young fawn's limbs would be more likely to clumsily tangle themselves than actually bring him away in a graceful bound. For a moment he considered his options, feeling his heart rate abruptly rocket as his first taste of adrenaline took him. And for an instant, this too distracted him. In one sense it was unpleasant, but in another-...

Thrilling.

Energized, breaths coming in abrupt sharp pants through flared nostrils, he watched as Reseda did nothing. He felt the faintest tinge of magicka stirring--or was that the Spire's doing?--but she did not yet attack.

Taking this as a sign, however, that the fight--the spar, rather--had begun, he focused his own magic abruptly and sharply.

His intention was to send that sudden, focused shockwave rocking along the ground, to throw her back and off her feet.

Round: 1
Attempt: Throw Reseda violently away
Defense: None
Injuries: None

@Reseda

Reseda could feel the stirring of magic in front of her as Pride prepared a spell. She didn't act fast enough and a wave of magic slammed into her chest and threw her away. For a couple of moments she was in the air before she crashed to the ground. She'd probably bruise a little later, but it wasn't a terrible injury. She had failed enough with dispel and its more advanced version enough so that she was used to it.

Once she was back on her feet, she decided that she might toss the same spell right back at it. She readied her magicka and let out a good, forceful push into the air.

Round: 2
Attempt: Throw Pride
Defense: none
Injuries: possibly bruising


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

Pride felt his magicka burst forth, felt the spell flow out of him, beautifully directed and manipulated. He watched with his first taste of the thrill of triumph, of success, as Reseda went flying backwards, tumbling over the stone. Perfect, he thought softly to himself.

A moment later, he was readying his magic again, for another blast--but Reseda was on her feet, and swifter than he. Undoubtedly, she was the far more experienced of the pair, and his grim thought as the impact struck him and the world went tumbling away, was, I will need more practice.

As he staggered back to his feet, to face Reseda, he gathered his magicka again. He could feel his first taste, too, of pain--of that sharp and unpleasant battered feeling that twinged wherever his little body had hit the ground.

He didn't like that.

However, he ignored it, focusing pridefully on his work, on his magic, on performing to his utmost. On succeeding. He concentrated on the reptile's left hind leg, aiming to grip ahold of it with his magic and flip her, to pull it out from under her and into the air, to knock her onto her back. He was too inexperienced to try anything more dramatic, as yet, but if it worked, it would do.

Round: 2
Attempt: Flip Reseda over
Defense: None
Injuries: A bit banged up

@Reseda

Reseda watched Pride fall back from her spell and gave herself a small, satisfied smile. Nothing it would be able to see, knowing that, if it did, she would probably be in trouble. She needed to keep herself level. Keep herself in control. She knew that this fight could easily be ended with a single beam of radiation, but she didn't want to kill the young thing. Keep control.
She was planning on sending another shockwave Pride's way when, suddenly, magic gripped her ankle and she was pulled into the air. The world flipped upside down and she no longer had any orientation. Instead, she switched to the advanced spell and sent out a shockwave in every direction instead of picking one and going for it.

She then hit the ground with an oof before she scrambled to her feet, shaking her head to reorient herself.

Round: 3
Attempt: vacuum everywhere
Defense: none
Injuries: possibly bruising


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

Pride watched as Reseda flipped--it worked--and felt that same surge of dizzying triumph. He knew she would aim another blast at him the moment she was back up, and so he turned, trying to skitter with a clatter of hooves away and to one side, angling off in the hopes that whatever she might strike him with would miss.

Of course, she might just create a double, or get a grip right on him as he had her, but all he could think of was to get some space. She was stronger than he at her magic, and he had to use his mind as well as his abilities if he stood any hope of winning.

Not that winning was the point, not exactly; it was about performing to his utmost, learning how battle worked, learning from his mistakes, and gaining ideas for future potential combat. He didn't know how often fights cropped up in this world, nor had he decided, just yet, if he enjoyed it--but it was best to prepared.

As he skittered away he felt the blast wave strike him, sending him again off his feet, this time skidding harshly over stone. For a moment he flailed, slender little legs kicking tiny hooves into the air as he struggled to get back up.

Round: 3
Attempt: Dodge
Defense: None
Injuries: A bit banged up

@Reseda

Reseda watched the world spin for a moment as she struggled out of the disorienting sensation of the flip. However, once she was stable, she saw that Pride had been thrown over by her attack and hadn't gotten up yet. An opportunity to cast a spell she had not cast yet, but knew she had in the back of her mind.

It had come from the strange fungus, the whirling storm, pressure and air whipping across her body. Dizzying, powerful. She collected her breath and magic, but the instant she breathed out to create the storm, the magic died away. Annoyed, she knew that she had missed her chance and, instead, crouched down, ready for Pride's next move.

Round: 4
Attempt: throw Pride around with a tornado
Defense: none
Injuries: possibly bruising


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes: