She said one word - Magic - and then proceeded to make Sano worry. No, it wasn't a case of him feeling insubstantial in terms of magic ability. His ability was strong and he was sure of its power. It responded to his thoughts and even instincts, so that even an unfocused desire to protect himself would become a defense. No, what worried him was what Nashya proceeded to do after she spoke. It wasn't the look on her face. That didn't help matters, but it was when her power began to manifest that Sano's eyes widened.
Oh hell, not THIS again!
It was shadow magic, or a similar power over darkness. As Nashya began to form her hounds - her very large hounds - and extend the force of shadow from the tree, Sano wisely backed up, giving himself some room to work with, since this was a magic duel and that meant you could blow yourself away, casting too close to your given target. Sano had previously been attacked with shadow magic in a confrontation with an unreasoning half-phoenix man-thing. He had no idea why a phoenix would have dark powers and he really didn't care. Now, Nashya was telling him not to worry about hurting her.
"Easy for you to say. I figured you had alot of power, but I didn't expect this."
There was another reason why he would worry, regardless of her request. She didn't know - She would have no idea - that he was trained in the art of assassination...
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"Now remember, we're keeping your weapons dull, but they are weapons. Every strike will hurt like hell, and I will NOT be going easy on you."
A simple forest clearing, daytime. A younger Sano and Keefe stand in a small clearing, outside of La'Marri. Sano is in ordinary day-to-day clothes. Keefe is in her black leather assassin gear, with the hood and all. She is a Beastkin, as stated, effectively an upright ferret-person by the same token that Gnolls are upright jackal-people. She is slender, quick, and dangerous. Yes, even with dull weapons.
"Doesn't 'Not going easy on me' mean 'Gonna kill you' in Keefe-talk?"
"Dead people can't feel pain anymore..."
Those words...combined with that frosty glare...made him shudder, briefly. As per their training this time, Keefe was using only a pair of daggers and Sano had only a sword. No creations, no powers - just skill, speed, and endurance. The two of them began, and at first it seemed like Sano had a good handle on deflections, but Keefe stepped up her game by altering her own balance and stabbing in as he shoved aside one of her daggers. Sano grunted and backed away as Keefe pressed forwards.
"Distraction is lethal."
He regained his edge and began to force her back with a number of swungs that would knock her hands away and probably disarm a lesser opponent if the blades connected. Then, she blocked blocked with both daggers in a scissor position and kicked him twice in the stomach, rapidly.
"We're not just fighting with swords. You see an opening, you take it, no hesitation."
From here, she parried the attacks he was using to put some space between them by striking against the flat of his sword, interrupting the flow of his swings with lightning speed and precision aim. She was completely calm...until she kicked the sword right out of his hands, and then went to town on his torso!
"Strike first! Strike always!"
In the midst of this, Sano's fist came out and wickedly pounded into her diaphragm, and then he got in a few other good shots, even one across the cheekbone that caused her to lose balance. This would've been great if she hadn't been dealing with this stuff for years now. She was at least five years older than him, five years ahead of him in development. Keefe let the fall take her into a roll, which spun into her kicking his feet out from under him suddenly, and then grabbing him before he hit the ground to use great speed and momentum to thrust him into a tree! Sano's body was blasted suddenly with pain. He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes to find Keefe just looking at him a moment.
"I'm surprised you could take that level of punishment without passing out, much less retaliate in that condition. I mean, you'd still be DEAD, but I guess you're improving."
"Am I gonna become...just like you when we're done with this training?"
She considered that possibility, a thoughtful expression on her face, then shook her head.
"No. You look like the forgiving type. I'll teach you everything I know, and that may make it harder for you not to kill when you're fighting, but you're not that ruthless, Sano. Not if you don't want to be."
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Assassins can fight, but assassins don't need to fight. Their job is to kill. Though...it seemed like there was more than one target here. Were these hounds alive? What happens when he harms one? Only one way to find out. Sano drew his sword, but when he did...his magic came into play. Thus far, Nashya had only viewed a few simple tricks of his power. What popped right out of the skin of his sword were a pair of morningstar heads...about six feet in diameter. They were as big as a human was tall, and they flew at the darkhounds! Might as well have been flung by a catapult, the way they were moving, trying to crush those things' faces in.