Chapter 2
("Been a while since I've fought a person, all I can do is hope she's third-rate") he thought as he prepared a fireball in one hand. "So that's your answer." she nonchalantly remarked. She took up a fighting stance and Tibaut braced himself for what was about to come next.
He took the initiative and threw his fireball while she responded by gracefully dodging it and closing the short distance between them as quickly as possible. He prepared another fireball but she had already closed in. She swung her blade at him while thinking "Well this was eas-" before being slugged by Tibaut's free hand. She flew back a few meters but effortlessly landed on her feet.
The only thing the punch seemed to do was piss her off. It seemed to have cut her lip but she simply wiped the blood with her thumb and turned to Tibaut. She looked at him like a lion stalking its prey. Tibaut, undeterred, simply threw another fireball but before he could even finish the motion of the throw she closed the distance between them with even greater speed than before and slugged him with a punch of her own.
For a brief moment, Tibaut's consciousness fades and she grabs his neck. He quickly comes back and kicks off her chest to break her grip. He holds his neck while thinking to himself, "Who the hell is this monster? Between getting hit by that or a bull, I'd probably take the bull. At least I'm warmed up now, so this fight shouldn't be as bad going forward."
The blonde menace continues her assault with her sword but Tibaut is just barely able to evade his way through the rain of stabs she throws his way. Tibaut tries to open some distance between them while throwing fireballs in a desperate attempt to be on the offensive while she follows ensuring to avoid the heat coming her way.
Finally, *fsst* "Shit" He audibly mumbled. When tried to summon a fireball, all that came out was a minuscule spark. Even though all that appeared on the woman's face was a mild smirk, Tibaut knew what this signified. ("You're in deep shit now") was probably what the blonde banshee was thinking. With that in mind, Tibaut charged her to at least try to gain an advantage in close quarters. He came in swinging and was briefly able to put her on the defensive.
However, her lack of effort was now quite evident. It was quickly apparent what she doing to Tibaut. She was taking it easy. She no longer saw this as a life or death. She believed her victory was assured. Eventually, Tibaut attacks slowed down. And he started to audibly breathe hard. The blonde demon immediately took note of this and started back the previously suspended offensive.
All Tibaut could possibly do was defend himself. He still was able to dodge the stabs he was being harassed by, though they were now able to make contact with his skin. While she was not able to land any decisive blows, she was whittling him down, ever so slightly. He could only do so much while she was inflicting various small cuts all over his body. Finally, he dropped his guard. "He finally realized he's outclassed," the blonde woman thought to herself.
She muttered under her breath "Was that all?". A smirk appeared on Tibaut's face, "Heh, of course not." The blonde warrior was sent flying through the air however this time she sensed the damage was much more than superficial. Her back was burned and had also experienced an immense blow. While she was momentarily dazed by this Tibuat used this opportunity to pile on the pressure. He conjured three fireballs in front of him and sent them her way. "These aren't that fast, I should be able to dodge and then-" But before finishing her thought these three spheres of fury assaulted the young woman.
As the dust from the blast settles, the woman is still standing, guarding with her sword. Unfortunately, it was not enough. Her hands were numb from the shock of the blast. She sustained several burns on her body including half of her face. Her body was screaming out in pain but she refused to entertain it. "Where the hell is he getting this strength from? Wasn't he out of mana?" and then the realization hit her. She starts laughing "Ha ha ha, you really let yourself become a punching bag for one good attack."
"Out of the two of us, it was a bit obvious who the weaker one was," he said while shrugging his shoulders.
"You coward, how dare you hide your strength from me!" she said while raising her voice.
"Coward? I don't know who taught you but I'd say they did a real crap job," he said with new-found confidence.
She scowled at him. "You can shoot me nasty looks all you want but it's not like I'm speaking out my ass." he continued "There was a power difference between us and I used my wit to overcome it. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is who survives an encounter. Anyone who doesn't tell you at least that much is full of a load of sh-" Before Tibaut had realised, she was already in front of him. The only reason he hadn't lost an arm was due to his beast-like reflexes.
However, the top half of his right hand wasn't as fortunate. With one look in her eyes, he knew she wasn't going to give him the luxury of lecturing her anymore. Their fight quickly resumed with the blonde warrior pursuing the defensive Tibaut. "Damnit, she was just buying time to recover" he lamented "And she has the nerve to call me a coward". It seemed she was through playing games as each fireball he summoned was cut down before it could be used.
Finally, Tibaut was cornered against the wall of a village house. He summoned three more fireballs as a last line of defence. She eradicated them as soon as he made them. ("If all you focus on is your front there's no way you beat me") he triumphantly told himself while trying to keep a straight face. With how close she was to him, he could easily summon a fireball behind her. It would be nigh impossible for her to react to it. His victory was assured. However, just as it was summoned, within one motion she sliced through it and stabbed her blade directly into Tibaut's chest.