Annabeth's body had taken quite the toll from physically fighting against the bandits and casting her magical spells.
This was the first time she controlled her 'Dancing Inferno' spell for so long and she felt drained. She needed to catch her breath before attempting to fight the healer and the severely injured Ujarak.
Annabeth received a kick to her back before her vision returned completely. She felt helplessly to the ground with a loud thud. The healer mage immediately cast another flash spell on her before moving Ujarak away and beginning his healing procedure.
Annabeth stood up but she was too busy trying to sense where the next attack would come from while her vision was gone again. She thought of the possibility of the healer healing Ujarak and she panicked a little. She quickly started conjuring Tier 3 fireball spells and blindly attacked (no pun intended) the direction the kick had come from.
With no sounds coming from her enemies, she could only wait for her vision to return and hope Ujarak wasn't healed by the time it did. The blind attacks had just wasted more of her already low magical energy levels.
By the time her vision had returned, only a few of Ujarak's injuries had been healed but he could stand up now. His body looked terrible with fresh burn marks and his hair was burnt into a single ball.
Annabeth started to laugh at the fact that he now had a hideous scar he needed to hide but no hair to cover it up with. If the healer mage was any good however, with plenty of time and energy, Ujarak could be completely healed.
Ujarak immediately began conjuring a spell. It was a Tier 3 spell to enchant his body to become metallic. He was done playing around and didn't say anything to anyone, not even a thank you to his healer. Annabeth ran to find her dagger which the healer had dropped to begin healing himself.
Ujarak didn't chase after her but casually walked until he reached the area where the other bandits had been slain. He looked around and picked up the sword of a bandit whose head was missing.
After a few swings and shoulder rolls, he turned to face Annabeth who had managed to catch her breath and recover slightly. They both knew this would be their final fight, and only one of them would be alive when it ended.
Annabeth raised the dagger to her chest and Ujarak held the sword with both hands.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, Ujarak was the first to move. His slash was aimed for her waist but she threw her hips and legs backwards while extending the hand with the dagger to throw it. Ujarak didn't even try to dodge as it bounced right off him. Ordinary weapons like that just wouldn't cut him, especially not from a Tier 4 mage.
Annabeth created some distance and conjured a Tier 3 lightning spell quickly. She didn't have much magical energy left so she had to make this count. Ujarak saw the electric sparks on her left hand's fingers and knew she was about to launch a lightning spell. He tried to disrupt her releasing it at him by throwing the sword at her and running to her.
She dodged the sword by slightly side-stepping and pointed her hand with the electric sparks at him. Ujarak was not able to reach her in time since being metallic made him heavy and slow. He received the lightning bolt in all its glory, the stun effect freezing his body as electricity coursed through him.
Annabeth went in to weaken him further with a few blows while he couldn't move. She managed to hit him twice on the face before he dodged the third punch and kneed her stomach. She bent over from the pain and some blood gushed out of her mouth. Without giving her a chance, Ujarak hit her with a double hammer fist to send her to the ground below.
Just like the strength mage had done, he sat on her back while she put her hands on her head and neck. She covered them with a little earth magic but unfortunately for her, Ujarak was aiming for something else.
He threw heavy punches at her shoulders and exposed ribs that weakened her arms and body considerably. The pain in her ribs got too severe and her arms moved to protect them. With the back of her head exposed, Ujarak finally landed two blows to knock her out.
After making sure she was out cold, he got up and looked for a sword. He picked the sword he had thrown at her before standing over her and swinging it to cut her head off.
The sword had almost reached her neck but it stopped with a clanking sound a hairs width away from her skin. Someone was standing next to him with a sword that was blocking his own from reaching Annabeth's neck. Ujarak tried reaching down with all his might but the sword blocking him was not budging.
The unknown man released a killing intent and Ujarak jumped away, abandoning his sword. The stranger did not give chase however but silently reached down to pick up the unconscious Annabeth.
Ujarak was baffled by this new man and immediately sought out for the healer who probably would have seen what had happened. Turning his head slightly he found the healer, staring at the unknown man carrying Annabeth. The healer had an expression that mixed fear and curiosity in the worst way, making him look like he had seen an interesting but extremely dangerous ghost.
Ujarak walked up to the healer but before he could ask anything, the healer started to talk.
"T-that man… that man is fast," he stammered.
"I need to get out of here," the healer bandit said, "I don't get paid enough to deal with this sh*t."
The healer bandit was about to go when Ujarak held on to him.
"Please heal me first, I want to face him," Ujarak pleaded.
"You… are you nuts?! You didn't even see him until he blocked your sword and you want to face him?!" The healer saw nothing but stupidity in Ujarak's cause.
"I'm metallic and a skilled swordsman. Do you really think being fast will get him anywhere?" Ujarak replied, looking at the healer mage with wide eyes and a sinister smile.
"Fine, I'll heal you. But I'm not getting involved in this. I'll go-"
"You'll go where? Huh?" Ujarak interjected.
"No matter where you go our boss will find you. It's either that or you will be executed by whoever runs a background check on you. This is the only city the kingdom lets us exist since it gets a lot of money in return, and we get to do some of its dirty work," Ujarak said.
The healer bandit was frustrated by the truth but silently began to heal Ujarak. He too knew the kingdom paid a blind eye to Liberdade City's crime since it secretly got a lot of tax from it. Additionally, many of the corrupt king's faction members had shady connections with groups within the city and so he turned a blind eye to please them.
The healer mage shook his head to get rid of the distracting thoughts as he finished up healing Ujarak. Ujarak gave him a nod of appreciation and turned to face the unknown man, who was returning after putting the unconscious girl in the wagon.
The stranger had silvery-white hair and was dressed in fancy black clothes that matched the color of his eyes. He looked to be in his 40's and moderately muscular like he was a military man or a bodyguard.
If Talin saw this man, he would have immediately recognized him as the bodyguard/driver that came with Annabeth. If Annabeth saw him, she would have called him Menzine.