Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

Alexander moved to gain a good distance away from Zara, preparing to open her up for an attack. 

Zara watched with eyes narrowed, burning with determination and excitement. "Are you tired?" She taunted, "You've been running for… a while." She said with a heavy breath and grin.

Alexander chuckled as he danced and on his feet and swished his fists. 

He was indeed tired, but now he had a strong strategy, and he was ready to use it.

"A little bit." Alexander replied, his expression and tone filling with confidence, "But I can do this all day."

Zara smiled, "is that so?" She replied, her tone intrigued. "That's good, really… good." Zara began to charge her feet as she lowered herself to charge Alexander again.

Alexander, upon seeing Zera charging her feet, narrowed his eyes. 

This is it, I need to move now.

Without hesitation, Alexander dashed towards Zara at full speed. 

His feet stomping against the ground, crushing the grass and soil beneath him. 

Zara widened her eyes in surprise as Alexander blitzed her, clearly caught off guard.

She swiftly moved to make a defensive stance however, before she could complete her move, Alexander had already closed the distance.

Stopping at her side Alexander quickly charged his fists, the heat swelling in his chest before filtering towards his palms.

With his palms crackling and filled with white-hot mana, he forcefully thrust them into her side.

White sparks of mana filled the air, snapping and popping all around Alexander's fists as they made contact with Zara's side.

"Nyah!" Zara let out a pain-filled groan as she stumbled to the right while holding her side. 

Alexander felt a pang of guilt as he watched Zara recoiling in pain, Her tail began whipping around wildly as she gritted her teeth. 

But feeling sorry wasn't going to get him the win, he needed to build on this progress.

Alexander charged his feet with mana before blitzing Zara again. 

This time, he wanted to attack her from behind hoping to drop Zara to her knees.

As he blitzed her, Zara hurriedly moved to escape Alexander, while still grabbing her side.

Seeing her run away, Alexander stopped dead in his tracks.  

She's running, I can't get greedy, not now.

Alexander slowly backed off, reserving his energy as he watched Zara patiently.

Zara, realizing Alexander wasn't pursuing her, stopped running, and looked down to her side.

Looking down, she slowly removed her hand from her side, revealing a sticky blue liquid that stuck to her hand and oozed from her side.

Alexander raised an eyebrow as the large blue wound was revealed. 

Singed cloths stuck to Zara's skin around the wound, and if it wasn't for her black skin, there'd have certainly been searing marks along with it.

Starring at the wound, Zara blinked in slight disbelief. "H-how…" she whispered to herself softly.

Seeing her reaction, Alexander slowly began to fall into a slight panic.

Had he hurt Zara?

"A-are you okay?" Alexander asks worriedly, slowly moving to approach Zara with his hand outstretched. "I didn't mean to–"

Zara slowly looked up at Alexander, her expression unreadable. 

Seeing this, Alexander completely snapped away from his hyper-focused mode, panic now beginning its return.

"Zara?" Alexander called to her, taking another step closer.

"How?" Zara repeated, stumbling forward while tightly grabbing her side, "How could you have–" Zara paused mid-sentence, dropping to one knee as her head drooped down.

Alexander's eyes went wide. "Zara!" Alexander shouted, breaking out into a sprint, racing towards Zara. 

His heart pounded in his chest as his panic continued to surge like a tidal wave. 

Shut I never meant to hurt her, shit… shit… shit!

Sliding on his knees as he neared Zara, Alexander quickly reached to examine her side. "Zara, please, what do I need to do?!"

Zara let out a pained groan, slowly raising her head as she turned to face Alexander. "How could you," she repeated, her eye glistening with something more than pain. 

"I didn't mean to!" Alexander exclaimed, "I-i just–"

Before Alexander could finish explaining himself, Zara had already begun to grin, albeit strained. "How could you, have fallen for my ploy." She said, her tone calm and calculating.

"H-huh?" Alexander stammered, looking up from Zara's wound and into her grinning face. "Wait–"

Zara laughed as she quickly grabbed Alexander's face, both her hands latching onto his cheeks. "You can read openings, but can you read faints?" She asked, before dragging Alexander's face towards the ground. 

With the swift, unexpected move, Alexander's face collided with the dirt, smacking against it hard.

While Alexander ate dirt, Zara quickly moved to an upright position with surprising speed and agility. 

She then dropped her knee on Alexander's back, forcing him to stay pressed against the ground.

Alexander struggled to turn his head to the side, spitting out dirt as his bloodied face began to heal. "You weren't even hurt!" Alexander shouted in frustration, seething at how easily he fell for Zara's faint. "Why?!"

Zara giggled as she tightly gripped her side, "No… you hurt me, very badly." She replied, "But pain is temporary, the fight… continues."

Alexander groaned as blood trickled from his nose, "you can't do that." He said, his voice strained as he struggled underneath Zara's knee. "I was scared you know!"

Zara smiled as her tail wagged happily, "I'm glad, It means you care."

Alexander took a deep breath as he relaxed, "of course I care." He replied.

Besides, if it wasn't for Zara, I wouldn't even be alive right now, or worse…

Zara took a deep, triumphant breath, before removing her knee from Alexander's back. "You fought well, better than I expected." Zara said, "But still, you have much to learn."

Alexander sighed as he rose to his knees, dusting himself off as he processed what happened.

"Mhmm, so what's next?" Alexander asked, his voice still strained. 

"Not letting your guard down," Zara replied, ripping into her pants to remove a piece. "You need to be focused, be… unemotional."

Alexander nodded, "got it, expect dirty tricks and hidden hands."

Zara giggled as she used her tail, wrapping it around her waist to keep her makeshift bandage in place. "Yes."