The terms of "not smashing with the blade's edge" had also been requested by his last sparring partner, and so this request, at least, wasn't much of a surprise. And the other--well, Giggle had made it clear that she didn't very much like the void. Her threat was... unwelcome, but it sparked no emotion in him.

"It will not strike her with the bladed edge. And it will not send her to the void." As for injury, its sparring partners in the Chaos Forge hadn't often really held back.

"It wishes her to attack as powerfully as she can. It wishes to learn," he told her.

Then he took up his fighting stance, halberd lifted and ready.

"'As powerfully as she can,' huh?" Giggle echoed, both warning and very faint amusement in her tone. "If you say so."

Truth be told, she wasn't too sure about his magic. She didn't know what it was that he could do--could he crush her mind, her body? Fling her across the room, or grip her with those tentacles? Bones, she thought, as soon as the memory of that thing struck her--and her eyes strayed toward the patch of black. I hope he doesn't call up more of them.

Giggle turned, putting a bit of distance between them--not a great deal, maybe thirty feet or so to give herself some breathing room.

Then, she gave him a nod.

"Ready," she offered, and tensed herself, her mind emptying of thought--sudden unexpected tension, and uneasy excitement, rising in her at the prospect of a fight.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

He clutched the butt of the halberd strongly in one hand, holding the haft at its middle or upper third, or so, more loosely. He'd been taught, and learned himself, that this allowed quick adjustments--that the bottom hand could perform a nasty thrust through the loose front hand, or that it could be turned to block, and so on, in this way.

He eyed Giggle, for a moment. She'd put some distance between them, but if he were quick he could get to her before a spellcast. He wasn't sure what her magic could do very quickly, though she had mentioned a fungus that could strip away his flesh.

Well, time to find out. He was here for experience, not for guessing.

He tensed, then rushed in, a charge made as fast as he could, claws scraping at the mud for purchase.

Round: 1/5?
Attempt: Rush Giggle
Defense: --
Injuries: --

She didn't flinch, instead watching him as he came. Some part of her was calculating, and almost felt bad for the obviously-inexperienced fighter. Another part saw a black-shrouded, seven-foot-tall monster with spikes, glowing bits and a halberd rushing her, and grew distinctly nervous.

But she did have a plan, if an uncertain one: she would teach him more closely about Mother. Not with Mother itself--but something similar, an infectious fungus that'd be certain to sway him, if it took hold in time.

She snared her magic out--and with it, her spores--as he drew closer, scrambling back to try and give it time to work...

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Round: 1/5?
Attempt: Cordyceps, pacify the Sentinel
Defense: a bit of range, nothing more
Injuries: --

He bore down on her, the halberd coming up, calculating a good strike without the blade hitting her-... and then faltered.

Why am I fighting? She is-... friend. His thoughts buzzed, confused; he saw Giggle suddenly as he imagined she truly was: friendly, kind, helpful. His ally and friend. She was helping him, despite his missteps. Why were they fighting..?

Confusion struck him, and he lowered his halberd, hesitating in bewilderment. It was difficult to think, let alone to reason out what had just happened, and he found himself not only baffled but outright distressed. Why could he not remember-? What was wrong with his mind..?

He shook his head and pulled back, confused, lifting his halberd and turning this way and that--as if to protect himself, or Giggle, from some unknown, unseen threat.

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Taking a defensive stance
Defense: in, like, the negative right now--he thinks giggle's his new bff...
Injuries: temporarily brainwashed

Giggle eyed him with dark amusement. Well, it worked, she thought, and took a beat to gently reassure Omen, along their link, that this was only a spar.

She called on her magic, speaking aloud as she did so. "This is one of the powers of my magic. I can... influence you. Affect you. Turn you to my side. You think you're my guardian, now? Something like that-?" she guessed, glancing the Sentinel over. A few gooey black frills began to spread over her coat--nothing as thick as she'd have liked, but it was some defense against a physical strike, at least. And maybe some few forms of magic.

"We're meant to be sparring, Sentinel," she told him with amusement, and turned to step a few paces away. She turned back, looking at him, then urged him on: "-So spar with me."

This was, if she wasn't mistaken, already a distinctly useful lesson for him.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Round: 2/5
Attempt: Prepare inky caps
Defense: Has Sentinel cordyceps'd
Injuries: --

There was confusion, in him--rising, swirling chaotically, like some baffling maelstrom of incoherent emotion and thought. The cordyceps was already fading, by the hyena's will and the withdrawal of her magicka, but it would take time for him to return to fully normal.

Already, however, the gravity of the situation--or rather, the strength of her magic--was dawning on him. From a distance, with no visible movement, she'd rendered him harmless. Helpless, even, really. Even her command--'spar'--he was obeying without thought before he realized it, charging in again with halberd raised.

He noticed the black goop before any impact, and adjusted accordingly; instead of a thwack for flank or chest, he aimed for her limbs, instead, in a sweeping strike intended to perhaps trip her off her feet. Maybe if she were rolling or midair, she'd have a little more trouble focusing on magic. He wanted to know what the fungus could do, certainly--what the hyena could do--but he wanted to know, too, how effective his own brute-rush style would be against such things.

Round: 3/5?
Attempt: Trip Giggle
Defense: --
Injuries: Kinda zombied

One moment he was rushing toward her--and then the world was spinning, and then she was hitting her back and flank hard enough to knock the air from her lungs for a moment. The throbbing pain in her limbs kicked in a moment later; the haft had swept them out from under her, and the impact had not been gentle or kind.

"Fuck," she breathed, and glanced up.

He was a shadow--a towering, dark figure--standing over her, raising his weapon to strike again. She flinched and lashed her magic out instinctively, along with a rush of spores from the fungus all around. She'd done this before--many times, in fact; it was an attempt to fill his mind with hallucinations, to warp reality and confuse his senses long enough to give her some space--and some time--to react. If it worked she'd be scrambling up, getting a couple feet away to prepare her next attack--or defense.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Round: 3/5?
Attempt: Make the Sentinel hallucinate to buy herself some time to skidaddle
Defense: inky capped
Injuries: sore legs

One moment, there was a hyena lying beneath him, ready for his halberd to come smashing down.

The next, there was a pit, deep and black and so close that he nearly fell. He reeled back, and found the air filled with Fairyflies, trailing thick pink dust behind them.

He sneezed and stumbled, and then they had teeth: teeth, and there were flying flowers coming for him. A hiss of confusion, of frustration, escaped him. He lifted the halberd, stumbling back, wondering how Giggle had hidden this assault from him so well. To spring such an ambush, to hide that deep pit, without him ever realizing-! He began to swing his halberd wildly, stepping back--he didn't know where Giggle had gone, and he didn't want to let her get too close.

Nor did he want these packs of ravening Fairyflies near him.

Who knew what those teeth could do-?

Wait-... Were they bats, now?

Round: 4/?
Attempt: Blind flailing
Defense: --
Injuries: Hallucinating

She scrambled back as the Sentinel stumbled away. He was turning away from her, flailing blindly at the air--nothing dangerous and nowhere near her. She took the time to take a breath, and to gather her magic--and her presence of mind--again.

If she could keep him focused on something other than her, it'd be both an excellent lesson and a solid strategy for combat. Plus, it was good practice for her. She didn't fight often, or even spar all that much, and this was proving more amusing than she'd expected. She felt a little bad, watching him fight thin air, but it was pretty funny, too.

She just hoped he wouldn't hurt himself.

He's fine, she gently assured Omen, who was watching with bewildered concern.

Then she cast out her magic, trying to just generally make things so much worse.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Round: 4
Attempt: Terrorize him
Defense: Inky capped
Injuries: Sore legs