A short dress fluttered in the wind.

The straps of small pieces of armour were tightened.

The echo of tremors made the scenery hazy with movement.

The moon shone against the brilliant bronze, cluttered with symbols and runes, making the reflection of the moon look twisted and broken up.

Yuri stood still at the top of a tall building. Despite the ground she was standing on shaking every few minutes, she somehow still remained completely still.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing calm.

“Six spells in my gauntlet..six in each boot...twelve in my boots..the wind is strong..the city is moving..a lot of noise, can't rely on hearing..which means eyesight is most important..”

She tied her hair back into a pony tail, in order to avoid it getting into her eyes.

“Now..where..are you!”

She activated some runes she had drawn on the ground earlier, her foot slid over the runes, making them shine a brilliant red.

The air in front of her twisted and cleared, and she opened her eyes, they were different from her usually mellow gaze. Her eyes were slightly squinted, not wavering in the slightest, her concentration was too great.

The twisted air in front of her served as makeshift binoculars. It made the scene she was looking at much larger.

The city was bustling with activity. With the sudden movement of the city and its approach to the next destination, everyone was unprepared and hurried with their preparations for the trading.

Despite everyone being in a formless mass of people, Yuri still managed to find what she was looking for.

A man wearing red, a pigeon mask strapped to his head, blending almost perfectly into the crowd despite his peculiar appearance.

“If you want to hide..then you should have taken off your mask..!”

Yuri jumped through the twisted air in front of her and towards the crowded streets below.

She didn't even have to use any spells, instead opting for landing on a wagon carrying soft fabrics.

She immediately rushed toward where she had seen Pi, her target.

He was walking while holding onto some sort of street food.

Yuri didn't bother wondering how he could eat while still wearing that mask, and instead ran at him, her gauntlet-clad fist preparing to activate a spell.

His head turned suddenly, the unmissable dark yellow eyes of the mask looking straight at Yuri.

She had been spotted.

His hand moved, and something was flung at Yuri.

She dodged to the side, but what she thought was some sort of weapon thrown at her, ended up being the food he was eating, which splattered across the face of a random pedestrian.

Looking back, he was already gone.

She ran around attempting to locate him again.

He was sprinting down the road while somehow dodging every pedestrian on this almost overly populated street.

Yuri rushed after him, bumping into people who got in her way and pushing them aside, which wasn't that easy considering her smaller size.

He was quickly getting further and further away from her vision.

“One.”

She activated the runes on one of her boots by touching it with her hand while crouching under a wagon to get past it.

Her boot lit up red and shot out a stream of highly condensed air, which propelled her upwards and over the crowd.

She found him, he was there, still running without anyone even touching him, seemingly unaffected by concepts such as obstacles and fatigue.

She smiled slightly and tilted her entire body, so the sole of her boot was facing away from him.

She was shot at her target like a rocket by the still remaining force coming out of the boot.

Her dagger was drawn and ready to slice apart the mask that would unveil the face of her target.

The pigeon head turned toward her, but kept running at the same pace. Just before Yuri flew straight into him, he tilted and turned his body to the side, dodging her and her attack with a hairs breadth, nothing except a small scratch on his mask was there.

Yuri had too much acceleration, and missing her target, she continued flying toward the ground, luckily for her, but not for the pedestrians, the pedestrians served as a cushion to soften her fall.

She got up and looked around, he was already getting away.

All of the people were blocking her vision. Something needed to be done about that.

She activated a rune on her gauntlet, which began to spew out black smoke, filling the entire street.

Everyone was blinded, and while trying to find their way, bumped into each other, falling over and creating one large traffic jam of people which spread through the entire area, with people falling and pushing like dominoes.

She was sure he had been caught up in the traffic jam. No matter how skilled he was at not being touched, if it was this much, then surely.

The smoke quickly cleared due to the strong winds and what she saw was something she did not expect.

Running without any hindrance what so ever, was the masked Pi. Except instead of running while dodging people, he now could simply run over their fallen bodies and jump from head to head, swiftly getting further away from her.

“You're not getting away that easily! You're not the only one who can do that!”

Jumping up onto the body of nearby fallen guard, she began to run over the mass as people as well.

Where as Pi had run over the bodies of the crowed with barely anyone noticing that he did so, by only lightly tapping the body of the person he walked upon, making the force he applied very small and unnoticeable.

Yuri left in her wake a trail of people moaning in pain, holding their faces where she had crudely landed with her feet, or their shoulders and backs which still had the imprint of her heavy bronze boots.

Seeing her doing the same, Pi jumped up onto a nearby donkey, which was pulling a wagon, and rode away on it, getting quickly away from Yuri.

They had gotten out of the crowded parts of the city and were now near almost empty streets, since most of the population had headed down to the city centre to prepare.

This meant Pi could ride his donkey at full speed, without anyone getting in the way.

“Damn!” Looking around, she could only see the wagon the donkey was previously attached to, standing near it was a very angry looking merchant who was cursing at Pi for stealing his donkey.

Not seeing any other way, Yuri jumped onto the wagon.

She had no time to draw runes, if she did, her target would get away.

She activated two spells, one on each of her boots, and held tightly on the wagon.

“Three..!”

Powerful winds shot from her boots like a tornado, the two streams of wind mixed together, creating a tornado behind her and almost ripping her off the heavy wagon.

The wagon flew up the street at a speed rivalling the fastest of horses.

She quickly caught up to the donkey, which now seemed to run at a snails pace compared to her.

The wagon pushed against the behind of the donkey, carrying it with it while it continued to fly forward.

Pi turned around and stood up at the donkey, he took something out of the pouches on his clothes and clicked it.

Something expanded in his hand, it grew longer and longer until it was almost the length of his body, it was a long metal pole with a line going around it like a candy cane. Except instead of being colourful, this was a silver pole, it also had a very small fine blade attached to the end of it.

“An extendable spear..!”

Yuri gasped. She was prepared for him to have had small weapons. But a spear meant he had a significant advantage in reach.

The spear was lifted and swung at the spot where Yuri was holding onto the wagon.

She was unsure of what to do. If she let go, he would get away on his mount, and she would fly off into a random direction. If she didn't she would be skewered on his spear.

She looked past Pi's shoulder and something caught her eye.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

(I just need to dodge this one..!)

She let go of the wagon for a single moment, the force still coming from her boots made her instantly fly up.

That single moment was more than enough and she grabbed the wagon again.

The momentum from that single moment was enough for her to turn over while holding onto the wagon, so she lay on her back.

The spear stabbed right next to her head. Sticking through the thick wood.

It was lifted with a slow movement that seemed to say it wouldn't miss again.

At that moment, Yuri let go of the wagon completely and the remaining force that was still shooting from her boots launched her up into the air.

The pigeon mask remained motionless, its eyes unmoving.

Pi jumped up from the donkey with incredible strength, making him easily jump onto the roof of a nearby building.

The wagon smashed against a wall. The end of the street meant no way out. The donkey got completely crushed because of the wagon's momentum and splinters. If either of them had remained on that cart, they would have been equally as shredded and smashed up as the animal.

They stared at each other for a moment while standing on opposite buildings. The splinters from the wagons flying past their eyes.

“Four”

Yuri launched herself through the airborne splinters towards him.

Her right foot was raised into a high kicking posture, water shot out from the back of her boot, propelling her kick and herself through the space between buildings.

Pi merely leaned back to dodge her kick.

With still some momentum, Yuri managed to land behind him and rushed towards him. Her left hand lit with a loud crackling of lightning.

She thrust her electrified gauntlet at his face.

He could not block out electricity with his bare body, as such he was forced to use his spear to knock aside her arm.

She knew he would be forced to do this, once he had twisted his spear to strike her left arm. Her right arm shot out with a dagger aiming straight for her eyes.

She had him.

Or so she thought. The beak of Pi's mask opened without warning. In it was a small slip of paper with something written on it.

(A spell!?)

Her dagger had barely made a scratch on his mask when she instantly jumped back. She was lucky she had done so, a single moment later and it would have been too late.

The paper disappeared and in its place shot out a small stream of water, small enough to be barely seen.

Normally something like that wouldn't even faze a child. But Yuri was on guard, her suspicions were confirmed when the small stream of water flew just past her face, cleanly cutting off small strands of her hair.

“Damn trickster...”

She breathed out slightly.

“Not bad..but not good enough..!”

Yuri jumped back as far away as she could. Which made the pigeon mask tilt slightly in confusion.

Had he won? But her tone implied differently.

Then he noticed it, the ground beneath him was glowing.

No it wasn't the ground itself, but something on it, covered by a thin layer of dust that made the small object almost invisible.

A small bronze plate, with runes etched on it.

BOOM

An explosion strong enough to be felt deep into the stomachs of everyone nearby.

“Fool. For a thief, there is no dirty method. We take whatever victory we can get, and then we take your valuables too..!”

Yuri smiled to herself, knowing he probably couldn't hear her now.

But something appeared from the smokes of the explosion.

A figure with streams of white smoke coming off it.

“What the..how?”

Then she saw it, the white smoke was steam. His clothes were wet and soaked.

“Used water to lessen the impact..but I can still tell you didn't get out of that with no damage!”

She ran towards him, and raised her dagger.

There was noise behind her.

She couldn't afford to look back and lose this moment of opportunity. Her eyes remained glued on her opponent while she rushed onwards.

Then she noticed something strange.

His spear was nowhere to be seen. It would be fair to explain that as the explosion having blown it away, but instead of his spear, he held onto a small slip of paper.

He ripped it with one hand and kept standing still.

(The noise behind me?!)

She turned her head back. Something silvery was pointed right at her. No not just pointed, it was flying straight at her.

It was his spear, it was flying toward Yuri's biggest body target, her torso, to be more precise, its trajectory meant it was aimed right at her heart.

With no time to think, Yuri activated her third spell on her gauntlet. A shot of wind that was supposed to be used as a killing move, she was instead forced to used it to dodge this attack.

She had no time to reach for her boots.

The wind shot from her palm and hit the spear.

It wasn't enough, the spear was hit, but it had enough momentum to ignore most of the impact and just keep flying toward her with a slightly altered trajectory.

It would still hit her.

But the shot of wind did more than just disrupt the spear, it also made Yuri's arm fly to the side, which she used to pull her entire body along with it. It wasn't as much force as the spells she created specifically for moving her body.

But it was enough. Just barely.

The spear flew past her body, ripping the side of her dress.

It was caught by Pi, while Yuri fell on the ground, breathing heavily, while holding her side.

Luckily it seemed the spear had not cut deep. In fact It was nothing more than a tiny scratch. But it still bled, no matter how small.

Soaking her pure white dress in red.

“You..are definitely not bad..”

Yuri slowly caught her breath while her opponent waited motionlessly for her, observing her.

“I can't win against you in a straight up fight..then how about this!”

“Five..!”

She activated a rune on her boot and slammed her foot against the ground.

The stone around her foot cracked and broke away, creating a small hole which was just barely large enough for her to fit through.

Jumping through the hole, she made a funny mocking face.

Pi slowly brushed his clothes from water and ash, before quickly running away, jumping to another building, and then the next.

Yuri followed him, running beneath him, making sure she wasn't spotted by travelling through the buildings he was running over.

She waited for the right spot while continuously running beneath him.

(This is the spot..!)

“Seven..!”

As he jumped from one roof to another, still in mid air, Yuri activated the runes on both her boots.

Both spells activated a burst of water, together they were enough to shoot Yuri up at the speed of an arrow.

He saw her coming, perhaps he was aware of her shadowing him.

He twisted his spear in mid air, and hit it against Yuri, who blocked it with her gauntlet and slashed at him with the dagger.

Once again, she managed only to leave a slight scar on his mask before he pushed her away at the last moment. The strike wasn't meant for hitting her, it was expected that his attack would be blocked, since there was no way to dodge in mid air.

He pushed against his spear, shifting her and him away from each other with that force.

The fact that he was forced to push against her to dodge her dagger, meant he had lost his sideways momentum, and was now falling down, while Yuri kept flying up because of the residue force of the spells.

She twisted her body so her legs were facing the sky and activated one more runes on her boot.

“eight!”

She flew straight down, the winds behind her twisting in a tornado.

Her dagger was held in front of her like a an arrow, her speed was so quick that her dagger was splitting the air in front of her.

He couldn't escape, even if he pushed her away with his spear, the force she was flying at him was great enough that he would be crushed against the ground.

He was still falling in mid air, he couldn't simply dodge.

Taking his spear, he pushed it into the wall of building he was falling next to. Getting it jammed between some bricks. The force of his descent had ruined a fair bit of the spear, it was no longer sharp.

But that didn't matter, it was worth it if he could dodge.

He twisted his arms and jumped up onto the spear that was now sticking out from the side of the building.

He had stopped his fall, and in doing so, meant he could jump away from Yuri's trajectory.

Which is precisely what he did, pushing his legs against the wall, to jump sideways while pulling free his spear behind him.

Yuri would now crash head first into the ground.

She activated the fourth spell on her gauntlet right before she impacted the ground.

She slowly stood up from the small crater she created and looked at Pi who was standing only a few meters away.

She smiled. Like everything went according to what she wanted, it was a smug smile.

She had counted on him dodging her attack. And knowing she had a very useful spell still on her gauntlet, she made sure to make him stop at this part of the city.

The spell was one that created an unbreakable shield around her for only a moment or two.

But that moment was all she needed to survive.

Now she was looking at her opponent. He was at a disadvantage, not just because his spear was mostly ruined.

She rushed towards him.

“Nine!”

She kicked at him, a rune on the back of her boot propelling her kick faster than what could otherwise be achieved.

He twisted his body backwards and barely dodged her kick, having to lean back on his spear behind him for support in order to not fall backwards.

“Ten..!”

The spell on her other boot was activated and she turned her body in a whirlwind, shifting from right leg to left. This kick much quicker than the previous one due to the increased bodily momentum from the previous one.

He could not escape. Pi had no choice but to block.

But blocking with his arm meant losing that arm. He was forced to block with what remained of his spear.

Holding the spear at each end, the kick landed squarely in the middle of it, bending the spear so it was now unusable.

“Eleven..!”

He turned his body away from her other foot, but no kick came.

“Just kidding!”

She slashed at him with her dagger. Suddenly being tricked like that made him more confused than surprised. He was dodging away from her non-existing kick at such an angle that there was no way for him to dodge her small slash.

His hand went into his pocket and retrieved another small paper. This one was crushed in his hand, which activated it, giving his body momentary speed.

It was a spell Yuri hadn't ever read about, much less seen before.

With his increased body movement, he managed to once again barely dodge her slash.

Yuri moved her arm as fast as she could, landing only a small scratch on his mask, despite knowing she couldn't hit him, as if wanting to land even a scratch, just to mock him.

Seemed Pi was getting tired of being on the defensive. His spear was lost, he had no weapon left to defend with.

His speed now having faded, since the magic seemed to last only a few moments.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and took out a slip of paper in each one.

One of the papers suddenly burst into fire, covering his hand in a small flame, while the other was thrown into the air above them.

The paper floating above them lit up into a burst of bright yellow light.

“UGH, My eyes!”

Yuri covered her eyes.

She was now momentarily blinded. But she knew an attack was coming.

She couldn't dodge or block.

(I wanted to save this for a good moment..damnit..!)

She activated the metal plates they were both standing on.

They were the small bronze plates which Yuri had prepared beforehand and scattered through the city at random spots.

She knew that most of them would be left unused.

But if even one could give her an advantage, it was worth the effort.

The entire ground around them lit up at random places.

(Ah...I forgot how many I put in this place...)

She could see the red lights even through her momentary blindness. Making her sweat slightly.