It all began one sunny morning when the northern wind and the sun engaged in a duel. The girl stood by the rocky beach, her red cloak fluttering in the wind. With one hand rested on her waist and the other holding her staff, she threw a meaningful gaze to the sea lion next to her.

“You know,” She said as she stroked her non-existent beard, “The day has come. The day where Mia Giselle Dendragon surpassed her predecessor and bring glory to her kind.”

“nom..nom..nom..” Said the oblivious sea lion who chewed a fish in its mouth.

“You are right, I just know this is the day,” Mia said again without a single tint of doubt in her tone. “I heard them calling. It is time for I, Mia, the greatest to fulfill my destiny. To save a damsel in distress and help the princess to slay the dragon.”

“nom…nom…nom…” said the sea lion again.

“Ah, such a pity. You won’t understand such responsibility I carried on my shoulder. For I, Mia, is the greatest, and you are only a sea lion.” Mia spoke again, this time she wiped her fake teardrops with her cloak.

At the rocky beach where the northern wind and the sun engaged in a duel, the sea lion stared at the girl in a red cloak who spewed nonsense from her mouth. It was such a bad morning and a horrible omen to him. All he wanted was a peaceful morning, and yet! Ah, forget it he said as he dashed towards the sea and vowed to never come back. He has a better fish to fry other than listening to some wishful nonsense.

The girl in red cloak watched as the sea lion disappeared, swallowed by the sea.

“Poor sea lion, he must be very envious of me,” Mia muttered and shook her head.

With no one to talk to, Mia sat on the big stone and listened. Ah, the sun won the duel. The northern wind had stopped blowing fiercely, replaced by a gentle breeze. Her fingers fidgeted around her staff bestowed by Deonoa.

“Deonoa, the Goddess of Destiny, speak to me,” Mia muttered.

Minutes passed but nothing happened except for the sudden gush of wind that came without warning and hit her face.

“DAMN IT!” Mia yelled.

“Help me!” Said a panic voice.

“WHAT?!” Mia asked.

“HELP – HELP ME!” The voice spoke again, slightly panting and gasping for air.

Bewildered, Mia looked around. Then she saw it – the man who will change her destiny.

A big and burly man was running towards her direction. The sun baked him harshly that he ranked as the most tanned man Mia ever met. His clothes were tattered that it barely could hide what he intended to hide under that ragged piece of clothes. Behind him, was an ugly green monster that looks no better than a bunch of weeds thrown to the sea by the fisherman. As the ugly monster extended its weedy arm, the burly man swung his sword and chopped its arm. A big lump of weeds fell on the ground, and a new arm grew back. The agitated ugly monster reached him with its other arm. The burly man blocked its ugly hand with a hooked on his right hand.

“Ah, he cut it off again,” Mia commented on the side.

She sat there and observed the endless fight that was none of her business. Should she interfere?

No, no, no. I might end up eaten, Mia shook her head.

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Pretending that she didn’t witness anything, Mia turned to the other side and sneaked away.

“He- help!” The hooked man yelled again, this time more desperate.

Mia froze where she stood, thinking. Should she lend a hand to a stranger she didn’t know? What are the probability of her winning or at least, help the man to escape the ugly monster?

Her peanut brain started to count. It would probably be zero chance, said the little voice in her head. She shuddered at the thought of being strangle by the ugly monster. She hummed and pretended that she didn’t hear anything as she walked away.

The man yelled again, screaming in pain.

“Ahhh… I can’t do this…” She whispered.

She took off her fluttering cloak and ran to the rescue, approaching nearer to the hooked man who was on the brink of losing the fierce battle. Her nose twitched by the strong stench that was nowhere as pleasant as the fresh ocean. The smell of sulfur and rotten eggs. Not wanting to offend both the man wielding the sword nor the ugly weed monster, she fought the urge to throw up.

The ugly monster who had a new target in sight, extended its arm and tried to grab her. Scared and desperate, Mia raised her staff high to the air and –

KNOCKED HIM ON THE HEAD.

Up high in the seventh heaven, Deonoa slammed her head on the table. She drew a few shaky breaths to calm herself. How could she forget what a stupid girl Mia was?

“Mia, shoot him, not knock him!” An invisible voice shouted at Mia.

‘Deonoa?’

“Channeled your mana through the staff and shoot him with Firebolt like how you did with your wand.”

Mia stared at the wooden stick the Goddess of Destiny called staff. Not giving her a time to retort back to the goddess, the angry and ugly monster threw its body to her direction. The hooked man dashed to the rescue and blocked its attack. The ugly hand fell on the ground and a new one grew back followed by a hissing sound.

“This weed monster is troublesome, it refused to die easily,” The hooked man warned her. He grabbed her hand and ran away along the coast, chased by the weed monster.

Although, Mia thought, they were already running as fast as the wind, the ugly monster’s speed was comparable to a tornado. Soon, it caught up with them and grabbed her by the collar.

Mia stumbled on the ground and the ugly monster bellowed. Its ugly and smelly hand was reaching closer to her face, not more than a foot away. Her hand fumbled on the sand and lifted the staff once again.

“Firebolt!”

A streak of fire came shooting from the staff and roasted the weed monster, but not strong enough to cook it thoroughly. Shocked by the sudden attack, the weed monster halted. The hooked man grabbed her arms and helped her to stand.

Mia shot another Firebolt at the weed monster who bawled angrily. The ugly monster who was one hundred percent of weeds and no brain at all didn’t bother to dodge. It endured her attack and stride its way to Mia.

The hooked man and Mia continued their tagging game and climbed over the huge rocks scattered along the beach.

Panting and gasping for air, her hand trembled as she struggled to climb the mossy rock. The ugly monster was so close to her, the horrid smell lingered on her nose.

“Ahhh! You smelly monster!” Mia yelled and gagged.

She shot another Firebolt and the ugly monster stumbled on the rock. Seeing that it was having a hard time to stand up, she poured all her mana and sent a continuous Firebolt to the fallen ugly monster. Her hand trembled as her mana drained faster than the time she took to finish a piece of cake.

Her heart pumped harder than any of the time she had experienced when she faced Edgar’s wrath.

‘No, I can’t give up.’

Whatever it cost, she must fight and survived.

“Firebolt!”

Another streak of fire dashed towards the ugly monster that had turned brownish-yellow.

“Its almost dead!” The hooked man said. He dashed over and thrust his sword. The weed monster waved its hand and slammed the hooked man. He fell on the hard stone and scraped his head on the sharp edge.

Cold sweats rolled down her face like the blood gushing out from the hooked man’s head. Mia only had enough mana for one more attack.

One last attack.

The ugly monster charged after the hooked man. He dodged and swung his sword, but the stone was slippery with moss. The hooked man fumbled for support. Blood dripped continuously along his scarred face.

“Hey, you ugly thing!” Mia yelled.

The ugly monster ignored her and walked toward the hooked man. It extended its slimy hand to reach him. The hooked man swung his sword and cut its arm. It squealed and dashed at the man.

“Firebolt!”

Mia drew every bit of mana she had left and shot the ugly monster. It stumbled on the ground and quivered. The man rushed to finish it off. He thrust his sword and chopped it apart. The weed on its body wilted and it slowly turned brown like a wilted weed under the hot sun.

Exhausted, Mia slumped on the ground.

“Are you alright?” The man asked.

“I’ll be fine. Just exhausted.” Mia gasped.