Arty hovered above. Her chest rising and falling in controlled breaths.
From the very beginning she had been careful and holding back, measuring her power to not strike to kill.
Every blast she unleashed had been aimed to pressure him without really aiming at him.
But that boy… he just wouldn't stop. Every time he got knocked down he came back clawing more vicious and more reckless, like a wild beast refusing the leash.
And now, after drinking whatever cursed vial he had hidden, his lightning flared stronger than ever, tearing the forest apart with each step.
His aura no longer felt human. It was violent like some kind of evil storm tearing itself free.
Arty's patience thinned. Her heart pounded hotter. Her blood boiling at his stubborn defiance to keep making trouble.
"Is that what you want?" she whispered, her lips curling into something sharper and more dangerous. "Okay then."
