Tania and Ana stood face to face, while Rodrigo had taken the spot where Tania had been sitting earlier.

  “Well, Rui. You’ve already learned that ichor is our vitality, and now you must learn about manná—the source of our energy and magic,”

  said Ana, as a sword appeared in her hand.

  Tania raised her right hand as well, her nails lengthening into claws of fire as she took a fighting stance.

  “The summoning of my sword and Tania’s flame claws both consume our manná. If we use it all up in battle, we won’t be able to perform any tricks. That’s why you mustn’t waste it all at once—manage it carefully. Without it, you’ll only be able to defend yourself with your fists and feet.”

  Tania and Ana lunged toward each other. Ana tried to slash Tania with her sword, but Tania stopped the attack with her bare flaming hand. The clash of their powers produced a massive shockwave that tore up the ground and sent Rodrigo flying.

  Tania threw Ana back with the momentum of her technique, and with her other hand—also turned into a fiery claw—she aimed a strike at Ana’s head, but Ana narrowly dodged it. Using a couple of flips, she gained distance and took her fighting stance again.

  Then Tania began forming tiny points of light at the tips of her claws and shouted:

  “Shahar!”

  The small lights turned into enormous fireballs. Ana wrapped her sword in dark energy and swiftly slashed through each of them—except the last, which struck her and caused a massive explosion.

  Ana fell to her knees, and Tania leapt toward her again, preparing the same attack. The five fireballs hit Ana squarely, detonating with tremendous force. But when the smoke cleared, Ana had conjured a shield to defend herself.

  “Crág Dubán!” Ana cried, and at that, she made the shield vanish. Quickly, she bent low as if to sprint, then launched herself forward, her sword thrust like a spear.

  “Beanna pollta!” she shouted, moving like an arrow so fast Rodrigo couldn’t even see her. Behind her, the image of a crow appeared.

  But Tania managed to block Ana’s strike, catching the blade between her two flaming hands, and threw her violently against one of the cavern’s walls, which crumbled to pieces. Ana’s body continued flying from the force of the impact until she collided with the dimensional barrier, coughing up blood from the blow.

  Yet Ana was not defeated. She used the recoil from the wall to propel herself forward once more.

  “Beanna pollta!” she cried again, darting forward like a lightning-fast arrow. Tania tried to stop her, but this time Ana moved even faster—her blade piercing Tania’s abdomen. The two of them shot across the cavern with explosive speed, tearing the place apart until they reached the edge of the dimensional wall.

  The Berber goddess, mid-flight, tore the sword out of her abdomen and slammed Ana with all her strength against the wall again. Tania drew her twin claws of fire and shouted:

  “Tsemp Dalaq!”

  In a blur of motion, she unleashed thousands of slashes in an instant, brutally punishing Ana, who could neither defend nor escape, her back pressed against the dimensional barrier. Ana seemed unconscious.

  Then Tania drew back one of her claws, gathering a massive surge of fire within it, and drove it straight through Ana’s abdomen, pinning her to the wall as if crucified.

  Seeing this, Rodrigo screamed desperately for the goddess to stop. Tania withdrew her claw and turned her back as Ana’s body exploded into thousands of pieces.

  “I win again,”

  she said with a smile of satisfaction.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  When Rodrigo finally managed to stand after witnessing such a ferocious and destructive fight, he ran toward where Ana’s remains were falling, yelling at Tania that she didn’t have to kill his friend.

  Tania laughed.

  To her surprise, Ana was still alive—kneeling on one leg, her immense wounds closing before their eyes.

  “Ugh… ugh… Don’t worry, Rui,” said the dark-haired goddess.

  “It would take more than that to kill me.”

  “With that attack, I lost a tenth of my ichor,” Ana said, grasping Rodrigo’s hand as he helped her up.

  “At the same time, I only used a hundredth of my manná for my techniques. The techniques we shout are the ones that consume the most—they’re our secret arts,”

  she added, brushing the dust from her body.

  Then Rodrigo felt a blood-soaked gaze staring at him. Nervously, he turned around and saw Tania staring at him with a crazed face.

  “Well then, it’s your turn now, ‘Rui,’” said Tania sarcastically, mocking the nickname Ana had given him.

  “Since the crow-head is too soft on you, I’ll make sure you draw out your true abilities against me. Let’s see if you dare to strike back when I come for you.”

  Tania swung her hand with tremendous speed, creating a shockwave that sent Rodrigo flying several meters away, far from Ana, who was still trying to recover her strength.

  “Ugh… Don’t kill him, Tania,”

  Ana said as she slowly got back on her feet.

  “If he dies, it’ll be from his own weakness!” Tania roared, summoning her twin flaming claws and taking her stance again.

  “Once I start fighting, my feline instincts won’t stop until I’ve caught my prey,” she said, licking her lips.

  Rodrigo felt cornered.

  I’m going to die. I’m really going to die this time. I’m sure of it, he thought.

  Tania howled and moved so fast that she vanished, leaving a trail of fire where she had stood. Rodrigo looked around, unable to see her, when a blazing claw-shaped streak tore through his stomach, flooding him with unbearable pain.

  Fueled by adrenaline, he remained on his feet, trying to spot Tania—but it was impossible. Another strike hit his right shoulder, then his left leg, then his abdomen. Rodrigo was in shock.

  “Attack me, or I’ll end up sinking my teeth into your neck!”

  roared the furious goddess, as more gashes appeared all over his body.

  Then Rodrigo remembered the same helplessness he’d felt when he couldn’t kill Almanzor. He shouted in rage, his power erupting in a tremor that shook the entire cavern. The surge forced Tania to leap back before she could go for his neck.

  Nearly unconscious, Rodrigo stared at her with his green eyes burning with fury—and for the first time, Tania felt fear.

  The apprentice, in a fit of rage, raised his arm and formed a sphere of energy, launching it at Tania—but deliberately missing. The blast tore a massive hole through the ruins of the cavern.

  The fire goddess was astonished.

  “Did he do it?”

  Ana asked as she approached the battlefield.

  But Rodrigo collapsed to the ground, exhausted—he had used up all his manná in that single attack.

  “Are you all right, Rui?” Ana asked, helping him to his feet. Rodrigo, still breathing heavily, managed to stand with her support.

  “You did it. Congratulations! Now you must learn not to spend all your manná at once,” said the dark-haired goddess with a proud smile.

  Tania remained in shock until Ana spoke to her again.

  “I didn’t trust your methods, but you made it work—you’re amazing!”

  “Yeah… it was nothing,”

  replied the fire goddess, her eyes still distant.

  “I honestly thought you were going to kill him for a moment. I’m glad you held back at the end,”

  Ana said as she helped Rodrigo walk and dissolved the dimensional space around them.

  Tania stayed silent for a moment.

  Those eyes… that bloodlust… No, it’s impossible, she thought, forcing herself to shake off the fear.

  Rodrigo slept through the entire day.