“No, you don’t need to leave. If you want those coins, fight the girl. I promise that if you won’t try to attack me, I won’t help her.”

  “WHAT?” she screamed so loud that you could hear her voice echoing.

  “They are really weak, I know you can win,” he said, giggling.

  “Can we trust him?” Leia asked her, looking at the TT.

  “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  Luke and Leia turned to TT at the same time, with their brows raised. So he elaborated.

  “You won’t let us leave if we try to run away, right?”

  “Bingo.”

  The Hat Man made finger guns with both of his hands and playfully shot a round at TT, signaling he was right on point.

  At this point, Liz understood that it wasn’t a joke. He was serious. She threw waterskins on the land, hoping they wouldn't pop. She was glad. She knew something like that could happen, so she took her weapon with her, even though it wasn’t really convenient.

  “Okay, let's do this,” Luke said and headed towards Liz in the middle of the shallow river.

  “I'm sorry, kiddo, it's not gonna be pretty.”

  When Luke reached Liz, he hid behind his shield, with his right hand holding a sword, ready to attack.

  “I promise we didn’t want to fight. We thought we’d catch y'all in the trap and peacefully take your coins. So blame your friend for what I’m gonna do.”

  Liz's heart was drumming like crazy. The real fight, this was actually happening, it wasn’t a dream. She tried to get a grip on herself, but the very next second, her anxiety took over again. She tried to steady her hand, so her sword wouldn't shake as much, but she failed miserably.

  Luke launched at her, trying to knock her down with his shield. She dodged his first attack, but it created an opening for his next move. Liz was able to read the attack quickly enough and barely escaped it. He swung the sword precisely and deliberately, without wasting his energy, the true veteran soldier. The metal clanged each time she blocked his swings.

  “Are you only going to dodge him? Attack!” the Hat Man instructed.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Then he also murmured: “Didn’t she hear I said she’s stronger?” his hat moved side to side, unapprovingly.

  Luke’s attacks slowed while Liz felt as if she just warmed up. Seeing that made her bolder. She started to attack herself, and very quickly began to overwhelm him.

  Why does it feel so easy now? She thought.

  Liz began to corner him. He had no more openings, and he was losing his ground. Luke felt he was about to lose this young girl in the raw power match. He had an edge in experience, but her instincts made up for that.

  When Liz was about to hit him for the first time, the stream of black liquid struck her. She was doused in a cold, heavy, and messy substance. It had a thick, slippery texture with a sharp, chemical smell.

  “WHAT IS THAT?” she yelled, disgusted. The substance got into her mouth. When she spat it out, she almost gagged.

  It was Leia who shut with her magic. Her magic power was ink. She could make it out of thin air and control it the way she wants. Leia was standing with her feet shoulder-width apart, her hands clenched together. Her thumbs were sticking out, pressed against each other, with the index and middle fingers extended together. The other fingers were bent. It somewhat resembled a pointing or finger-gun-like gesture.

  “IT’S YOUR CHANCE, LUKE,” she yelled.

  It didn’t take long before the ink disappeared. Due to the magical nature of the ink, it couldn't stay for long on the embodiment of anti-magic. Liz was able to regain her focus and evade Luke's next strike in time.

  “What is going on? Where did my ink go?” Leia murmured.

  “Wait, I thought you knew her.” The Hat Man said.

  “We do, but what is this?”

  “She is the Anti-Mage.”

  “I thought that was a lie! Are you telling me she actually exists? The Child of Prophecy…” TT said.

  “Yeah. something like that.”

  TT couldn't believe it. He heard from his friends in Zayah, somewhere about seven years ago, that there were some girl hunters rescued from the destroyed Frey. They believed she was the Child of Prophecy, the Great Anti-Mage. He always thought it was just a drunken talk, but it was true. She was right in front of him this whole time.

  Meanwhile, the collective effort from Luke and Leia was unsuccessful. Liz quickly adapted to the new challenge. Every time Leia tried to hit her with ink, Liz made an anti-magic barrier that completely absorbed the magic.

  Leia thought that if she attacked more rapidly, she could overwhelm her. She changed her hands to a new gesture. Her thumbs and index fingers were touching to form a diamond or triangle shape, with the palms facing downward and the other fingers extended and slightly angled inward.

  The ink was raining out of her hands, showering Liz in rapid attacks. Leia couldn’t hold it for long. Soon enough, she was exhausted from her source.

  Liz twisted the shaft, and her weapon transformed into a spear. With the new approach, she completely overwhelmed Luke and beat him up with the back of her spear. Luke was lying in the shallow water, exhausted and defeated.

  The highly retractable spear was transformed into a sword again when Liz got to her next target. Leia had no physical strength whatsoever, so Liz defeated her without any resistance. She launched at her, then, with the spin kick, knocked her on the ground, and pointed her weapon at her face. Leia raised her hands in the air. She gave up.

  The last one standing was old man TT. Deep down, he knew it was already over, but his pride couldn’t allow him to back down against the little girl (even though, technically, she was taller than he was).