Annie sprang backward just as Tiyun's flaming fist crashed into the ground where she'd been standing. Fire burst outward from the point of impact, racing across the stone toward her in a widening trail. She immediately sidestepped, watching the flames change direction slightly as if trying to follow her before sputtering out a few moments later without scorching the street or the nearby buildings.
"Was that tracking me," she asked curiously, tilting her head, "or does it just shoot out in a straight line?"
Tiyun didn't answer. He vanished. The crowd gasped as he disappeared from where he'd been standing.
"Your second assumption is correct."
His voice came from directly behind her.
He'd already crossed the distance.
His palm shot toward the middle of her back with enough force to crack stone, but Annie twisted at the waist and let it pass inches from her body. The strike continued into empty air, where ripples spread outward as though he'd slammed his hand into the surface of an invisible lake.
"I wonder what that would've done?" she mused, glancing at the distortion.
Tiyun didn't stop. He lowered himself into a stance, drew in a deep breath, and chi surged through his body. Blue flames slowly ignited around both fists, dancing across his knuckles.
Then he attacked.
He exploded forward with a far faster barrage than before. A straight punch flew toward her face, immediately flowing into a left hook, then a right elbow, a rising knee, and another flaming palm. Annie met every attack head-on. She deflected the straight with the outside of her forearm, slipped beneath the hook, redirected the elbow with a sharp parry, knocked the knee aside with her shin, then caught his wrist before the flaming palm could connect, forcing it harmlessly past her shoulder. Throughout the exchange she deliberately avoided touching the burning fists themselves, letting every block and parry meet only his forearms or wrists.
A split second later she retaliated.
A lightning-fast jab shot into his throat.
Tiyun's body seized as his breath caught, his entire offensive stopping for a heartbeat.
"Not bad," Annie remarked calmly, "but I'd recommend you use your sword... or have Zamin join in."
Murmurs swept through the crowd as they watched the exchange unfold.
Zamin swallowed.
*We... might've underestimated her...*
Before Tiyun could fully recover his breathing, Annie stepped in.
A jab snapped into his cheek.
A cross immediately followed into his guard, knocking his arms apart just enough for a short hook to slam into his ribs. She stepped outside his stance as he swung back, slipping the counter by inches before driving her shoulder into his chest. Tiyun stumbled but recovered quickly, throwing another flaming punch toward her jaw. Annie caught his forearm with both hands, redirected it past her head, slammed her knee into his stomach, then released him only to spin around his side. He tried to pivot and strike with a backfist, but she ducked underneath it, answered with two quick body blows that forced the air from his lungs, then swept around behind him in one smooth motion.
Her foot drove into the back of his knee.
His leg buckled instantly, forcing him down onto one knee.
Before he could recover, Annie rotated her hips and brought her elbow crashing into the side of his temple.
The impact finally sent Tiyun sprawling onto the street, this time leaving him on the ground instead of immediately recovering.
"That wasn't bad," Annie remarked, giving a small nod of approval as though she'd just finished evaluating a lesson rather than a fight. "I think I did well enough. Of course, you're not as strong as the man I'm searching for, but..." She rested a finger against her chin for a moment before smiling. "This gives me a much better idea of how I'll do."
With that, she turned away from Tiyun entirely and calmly scanned the stunned crowd surrounding them. Her gaze wandered over the dozens of faces before settling on Zamin.
"There you are," she said pleasantly. "Now, it's your turn, isn't it?"
Zamin instinctively raised both hands.
"Now hold on a—"
Before he could finish, Annie's ears caught the sound of movement behind her.
Someone slowly getting back to their feet.
A heartbeat later came the unmistakable scrape of steel sliding free from its sheath.
"I am not done yet," Tiyun muttered through heavy breaths.
Annie's smile widened.
She slowly turned back around to face him.
"Oh~?" she said with a light giggle. "My apologies then. I shouldn't have counted you out just yet."
Tiyun stood several paces away, bruised, blood still trickling from his nose, his breathing noticeably heavier than before, yet the determination in his eyes hadn't faded in the slightest.
With both hands, he raised his sword into a hanging right stance.
The blade itself was straight and double-edged, though its proportions made it clear it had been designed primarily for thrusting rather than heavy cuts.
He inhaled deeply.
Chi coursed through his body once more.
Thin strands of crimson flame slowly crept across the length of the blade, clinging to the steel like living threads of fire before steadily growing brighter.
The spectators instinctively backed away another few steps, giving the two even more room.
"I suggest you be on your guard," Tiyun said, never taking his eyes off Annie. "And be fully serious fighting me now... because I'll be taking this fight as if my life was on the line."