A Button for your Thoughts (Garland)

[Nivel]

Nivel was so relieved that her plan had actually worked, she was certain that climbing a moving subject would be much harder than it was. Her acrobatics seemed to help her climb tall folk in ways she didn't think were possible. She was also surprised at the rush she had gotten from swinging herself around this tall folk like some kind of monkey. It was a tactic she would absolutely have to try again, even if it wasn't guaranteed to work out. As Nivel mercilessly attacked Garlands arm pits with her elongated tails and ear tentacles, she could hear faint giggles hidden amongst the cries of pain. While pycons don't feel pain in the same way humans do they aren't strangers to tickling, Nivel personally enjoyed having tickle fights with her friends in Pyconia growing up. As soon as Garland fell to his knees, Nivel focused all her efforts on tickling his arm pits. She wanted to see if she could get the talk folk to laugh out loud like a mad man and create as much of a scene as possible. Because of Nivel's extremely small stature, many of the spectators probably only saw Garland and though he was the one making all the noise and bizarre movements on his own accord. The pycon was having too much fun to really prepare for what happened next, Since Garland wasn't having any luck pulling Nivel off he rolled onto his back. Nivel found herself flattened under the weight of Garlands massive body with no way of escaping. She made a cry and flailed her arms and tails in protest but that was all she could really do. "AGGH!!...I..ffforfit..IFRRORfit!" her muffled voice yelled. When He rolled off her she was a flattened mass that slowly started to regain its shape. "You win this round.." she said with a touch of disappointment "Would you like to fight again?" As her body slowly reformed, it had more cat like qualities than it did before. The claws had stayed and her face looked more like an anthropomorphic cat than it had when this battle had began. She jumped back to her feet ready to ether talk or start another round of sparing.

[Garland]

"I'm always ready." He said getting back into position, this time, with his shield low and and his sword right beside him. for any quick slashes or stabs he could pull off. "Do you need a chance to recover first or should we get started."

He said stretching his limbs, to shake off the tickling he had received from her earlier. This wasn't your typical sparring, it felt more like a bit of play-fighting kids would do, but for all intents and purposes, he was learning how to fight Pycons so that was a plus.

He looked at the gathering crowd, blushing a bit, as the crowd hid their snickers from him. Most of them seemed to think that Pycons would be weak. They have not met Ball or Arch yet, probably.

With a small sigh he got ready again, he was embarrassed, being put in a defenseless position earlier, but he was glad he was fighting a fairly good, at least better than him, tactician.

[Nivel]

“No I'm ready to go” Nivel replied with also preforming some quick stretches to keep her body limber. Nivel did ache a bit but not even close enough to stop her from continuing the fight. She internally debated as to whether she should employ flux magic to the spar if only to get that shield out of the way. It didn't seem fair that he could use a huge metal barrier and a giant sword if she couldn't use her magic. She started her gesturing to start the flow of energy with in her astral body. She tried to make it seem like a silly dance so he wouldn't think to interrupt. The pycon waved her arms around to an invisible rhythm that actually helped her focus on her underhanded task. If he chose to attack at the moment she would be pretty vulnerable to attack but with his defensive stance she hoped he wouldn't. When her strange performance was done, she rushed at her opponent with an unnatural speed heading right for his shield. She shifted her energy to her upper body as she got to her destination with the hope of delivering an explosive punch to the Tall Folks shield. Nivel hoped it would ether hurl the sheild out of the way or at the very least startle her opponent. If this ploy worked and she wasn't too tired after all the exertion she would have a perfect opportunity to climb his now crouched body. She saw a nice area behind his neck that she could see herself crawling into and delivering blows behind the safety of his armour. She just needed to avoid the sword that could easily slice her in half.

[Garland]

He watched her do her little dance, it was strange, but also very cute. Well for him at least, he waited for her to finish her little dance.

it must be some sort of Pycon tradition or something He thought to himself, after she was finished, she rushed at him at an incredible speed, Garland held his ground, but only barely, the shield was knocked out of his hand, sending it flying towards the side.

He dropped down to the ground and tried to roll away to the side, avoiding Nivel as best his could. He held his sword high, to be ready if Nivel gets close to him again. He needed to play on the defensive for now, he needed to learn how Nivel fights, it seems that she is focusing on close quarters combat, he needed to stay at range and fight her with his sword, hopefully he could get a strike in while he's on the defensive.

Even though he's on the defensive he needed to keep Nivel guessing, he lunged in, striking with his sword, and kicking up some dust, to keep her distracted. He wasn't hoping to hit her, just keep her on edge, and not to make her feel like she's winning.

With another low slash with his sword, he hopped back to a safe distance, putting up his guard and getting ready for her retaliation. It seemed like the dance she did gave her the needed speed and strength to even out this match, or give her an advantage. Was it some sort of spell? Or was it something only Pycons could do? He had seen Ball break metal bars with his hands, so Nivel gaining strength to knock away his shield didn't seem so far-fetched.

[Nivel]

Nivel succeeded in ridding herself of the first obstacle in her way but Garland swiftly rolled out of the way before she could gain her advantage. It would be unwise for her to use Flux again, she could already feel the start of the ache that was soon to come for her earlier use. She took notice of his sword and wondered if she could be agile enough to use it as a ramp to get where she wanted. It would be risky but it was really the best option she could think of. She ran full steam at the tall folk, she was no near as fast as she was with the help of her flux magic but she wasn't a turtle ether. The tall folk kicked dust at her but with the help of Auristics, obstructions to sight were easily thwarted. She saw the aura of the blade coming toward her, which she easily dodged but was unable to jump on. A second swipe of the sword came her way and she was still unable to mount it. She tried to slash at him with her elongated tentacle arms but he hoped to safety yet again. Nivel was starting to get frustrated with the futility of her efforts but kept pressing on. Garland had his guard up now, she had to think of a way that she could get his arm in the proper position. chasing after him didn't seem to accomplish anything she needed to get him after her. She threw pebble at him to lure him her way. Nivel's limbs were starting to get a bit tired and numb, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. It just made her idea of turning him into the pursuer all the more ideal. She wouldn't be able to run after him or dodge as well as she'd been doing, so it was best to let him tire himself out instead of her. Although with all manures he'd been doing with his heavy armour he was probably just as tired as she was.

[Garland]

Nivel was right, he was getting tired. He was used to making fights short and sweet, usually in one rush he could knock out an opponent, but fighting a Pycon was different, and fighting a squire as well. She must have some experience under the belt, so he had to play it safe... And stomping around like an idiot will most likely get him killed if they were fighting for real.

He was hiding his tired breath, looking at Nivel waiting for her to make a move. He was still getting use to the heavy plate armor he was wearing. The entire fight with Nivel was also a big fight for endurance for him. The lack of armor for Nivel was probably one of her largest advantages over him. She had more speed and maneuverability than he does and she can also morph to an extent.

With a small sigh, it seemed like neither of them could really go on for much longer, but Garland will more or less make sure he goes down last. After a few chimes of regaining his breath, he charged. Using his leg to kick up dust and attack, he had no idea of her Auristics and what she could do with them.

He had no idea what other kinds of magic she could do here, he would usually keep away from her and let her tire herself out and maybe even get her to show her repertoire of skills to him, but right now she was on the ropes, at least Garland thought so.

He pressed the attack, giving a low stab with his sword, hoping to impale her and pin her to the ground, making this spar a win.

[Nivel]

The rocks Nivel threw went unnoticed by the tall folk, he seemed to tired from moving around to even notice such a small threat as some thrown pebbles. Although Nivel hadn't even thrown them very far, she was to tired to give them the needed distance. The tall folk took a moment to catch his breath and Nivel did the same. The air coming from her mouth hole was heavy from all the exertion and she even had little pearls of sweat that made her already sparkling skin all the more shiny. As soon as Garland was done is brief resting period he charged for Nivel, kicking dust at her yet again. Although, With her auristics still active, it had no effect. It was still a useful strategy to use against other pycons but not even remotely useful against a aurist, since the glowing aura would always shine through the dust. Although there would be no way that Garland could know this and she wasn't about to tell him about it. Some days she wished her magic was more showy but having more subtle magic came in handy since it just made her seem like she was naturally stronger, faster and more knowledgeable than she really was. His sword came down in an effort to pin her but she could see it coming and took the opportunity to run up the his arm like she had seen Arch and Ball do many times in their spars with other Tall Folk. She successfully jumped on the arm, but her tired legs made her trip and fall not soon after. "Can we call it a tie?" She said faintly as she laid on the ground feeling too tired to move. It was possible she could keep going but she just felt too exhausted to push herself. She was glad her patron wasn't there to see her give up. "Maybe we can have a rematch sometime?" Nivel did enjoy herself even if she felt like like shyke at the moment. The fight was good and she hoped to beat him fair and square next time. OocWe can maybe talk a bit more or hand it in and maybe start another one. Ether option is good for me

[Garland]

"A tie? Sounds good..." He said before bending down and picking up Nivel in his hand. "You are really good, I'm actually surprised a bit at how strong you are. I understand why Ball was strong, mostly because he's been training his strength for a long time, but I didn't expect it from a mage-squire." He said with heavy breath.

He went over to a bench for the squires to rest for a little bit before resuming or leaving. He sat down and placed Nivel right next to him. "I'm a bit curious as to why you didn't use magic when we were fighting, I wouldn't have mind the extra challenge, and it would be good practice for you to fight with magic." He said, not exactly knowing that Nivel did use magic, he wiped off his forehead with his hand and shook off the excess sweat.

He leaned back, relaxing a bit after that strange spar they had, to the older squires and knights, it would have seem normal for a Pycon to fight a human or other larger opponents and hold their own as well as anyone else.

Though to the younger squires, they were probably laughing behind Garland's back for calling a draw with a tiny clay thing instead of winning. From what he gathered from the other Pycon's here, it would be no problem for Ball or that clay squirrel to put them in their place sooner or later.

[Nivel]

Nivel was glad to hear that Garland had agreed to a tie, it was pretty clear that he could have won if he really wanted to. At least that's how the pycon saw it, He seemed pretty tired but he could probably go on a bit longer. With little energy left in her body she was perfectly content just lying on the cold stone ground forever. It was still nice when Garland picked her up and held her in his warm hands even if they were a bit sweaty. It was a bit disappointing to be laid back on bench but she wasn't going to complain. "My magic isn't as flashy as what most people are used to" Nivel explained to the other squire. "I know how to read the Auras of people and objects and learn from them, I can also improve my strength and speed by manipulating the flow of my astral body, And I just learned how to create invisible barriers" Nivel let out a tiny sight and rolled her head back "I'm not nearly as strong as Ball or the squirrel, I would never have been able to punch that shield away under normal circumstances" Nivel admired her other pycon squires but was getting a bit tired of being constantly compared to them all the time. She wanted to be known for her own strength and skills, and not as the lesser version of other more experienced Squires. " I am hoping to learn Reimancy from my Patron soon, It's a type of magic that can be used to create and control the natural elements" Nivel sighed yet again "Although it won't be very useful for a while, Magic is draining and doesn't do much when your just starting out... just punching your shield nearly drained all my strength" She hesitated a bit before continuing to speak “…I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but when you kicked sand in my face it didn’t do anything. My eyes are made of clay and I can see your aura through the cloud of dust” Nivel really didn’t need to tell him but her conscience wouldn’t allow herself to be dishonest to her new friend. "Anyway...I should probably be on my way...I need to rest" Nivel said as she lifted her tired body up and jumped off the bench. "I would love to have another spar with you in the future if your up to it."

[Garland]

"I know how to read the Auras of people and objects and learn from them, I can also improve my strength and speed by manipulating the flow of my astral body, And I just learned how to create invisible barriers."

"Really? Well, sometimes the most flashy things aren't the best. If I knew you were using magic I would have probably been more cautious and stayed away from you more... You seem like you are getting better, sooner or later you'll be the best mage here!" He said, followed by a confident laugh to help Nivel feel better.

" I am hoping to learn Reimancy from my Patron soon, It's a type of magic that can be used to create and control the natural elements. Although it won't be very useful for a while, Magic is draining and doesn't do much when your just starting out... just punching your shield nearly drained all my strength"


Garland smiled and pointed to his shield in the corner of their little sparring area. "Well, if this was a two-on-one spar than I would have been in a lot of trouble. You will eventually have more stamina when you keep training, it is only natural. Just keep training and maybe you can knock me off of my feet with your magic... What was it called again? Ducks? Flex? Flus!" He said, trying to remember the name of that branch of magic. "It's on the tip of my tongue... Flux! There we go..."

“…I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but when you kicked sand in my face it didn’t do anything. My eyes are made of clay and I can see your aura through the cloud of dust”

Garland waved his hand dismissing her statement. "I should have figured it out sooner. Even if you weren't using your magic, you are still made out of clay, it wouldn't have effected your eyes, and you react fast enough to avoid , most of my attack."

"Anyway...I should probably be on my way...I need to rest. I would love to have another spar with you in the future if your up to it."


"I'm always up for it! I'll just stay here for a little while longer, see you later, Nivel!" He said, and waved his hand goodbye. He slumped back down on the bench and yawned a bit. He needed a rest after this.