Nala had twin blades that she would always have by her side. Unlike the night before, she was wearing something you can take as light armor.
She was wearing a crop top that seemed to be made of beast hide together with the rest of what she was wearing, which was long slim pants that seemed to be made of some kind of snake's skin resembling those worn by Pulchra, which were ninja pants.
She was wearing light half shoes that had a rope that crisscrossed around and up her legs, presenting a unique style. Her twin blades were made of some kind of beast's teeth, possibly a huge snake's.
They were sharpened but still had holes on the tips that poison came out of. The handle was made of some sort of pink and green crystals intertwining each other, complimenting her eyes. Whoever made them was a fool, as only a fool would turn such materials into unique and exquisite weapons and not keep them to themselves.
Nolamine looked at her and all he could see was a model only having a catwalk missing in her descent from above. He shook the thought and prepared himself.
She did not take them out and took a bare-knuckle stance, similar to kickboxing. Nolamine had no weapons and it was going to be unfair to him. It was going to be a one-on-one fight using what he knew best, hand-to-hand combat.
The villagers cheered on.
"So you are not going to let me rest a little?"
He asked, still trying to catch a breather.
"Would your enemies give you such courtesy?"
As soon as she said that, she dashed in without warning.
'fast.'
Nolamine thought as she had covered the distance between them in a blink of an eye.
He did not want to fight her, but a fight was a fight and he was not going to hold back just because he liked her. In fact, he hoped that beating her would make her acknowledge his strength.
He threw a left hook at her, aimed for her jaw, and since she was coming at him, he was sure it would land. He was surprised when she vanished right as it was about to connect.
She had somehow increased her speed and using precise movements, had gone under the punch and maneuvered herself to the back of him.
Hands wrapped around his waist, a move unexpected as he did not remember their training in any grabbling techniques when they were young.
In an instant, he was up in the air and falling backwards.
'Strong.'
He thought as he was up in the air with nothing that he could do.
She was shorter than him, had a smaller frame, and weighed less, but she lifted him up like he weighed nothing.
The mother of all suplexes was about to dawn upon him. She let him go as he was about to hit the ground, the momentum making him hit the ground, pumping his head and roll a distance away. The move was made to make him temporarily lose his bearings.
The crowd went wild.
In an instant, she was next to him as he finally stopped rolling. A kick aimed at his head was seen by him coming at him like a steam train. He put his hands up, blocking the kick but the momentum and power behind it pushed his hands back, making them hit his face, the force lifting him up off the ground temporarily as he was pushed back.
His hands went numb for a second.
'What the?'
He thought, unable to think straight. In just those two exchanges he knew for sure she was nothing like what he had faced before. She was vicious, with her attacks having both power and a purpose behind them, a stark difference to her looks. Going back to his fast attack, it was like she knew it was coming.
She pulled back and allowed him to get up. Such were her instructions, to make him remember what he was capable of when he was younger.
The feeling came back to his hands. A fire was being lit in his eyes but controlled as he focused on nothing else but the fight. She smiled inwardly and went for round two.
He blocked the technically perfect kick launched at his head. The kick was as strong as the previous one. It made him give up on blocking and just try to evade her attacks or parry them. If he did not, he was going to suffer some bone fractures.
He did not notice that while the pain of blocking it was still there, his determination had increased the steadiness of his body. The kick had not pushed or affected him like the previous one. It was something that Nala noticed straight away.
They exchanged punches, Nolamine missing with every punch he launched at her but hers hitting their mark. It seemed she was done warming up.
His face and stomach were hit several times. The potion that Second gave him had reversed the swelling from the mosquito bites and he was looking like himself again, but the punches had made his face swell back up. His nose was bleeding at that point.
They were fast. His power and speed increased as they fought on. She was using different techniques to counter and attack him every time.
It was not that he was lacking, but it was like she could predict where he was going to attack or where he was going to block. Him, being able to block her attacks would be a pretense to her landing a clean hit thereafter.
He stepped back to gather his thoughts and to breathe. He did not know how to fight such a person. To put salt to his wound, she was even nimble and flexible too. With all that said, it was like she was not showing what she was truly capable of yet.
She did not let him take a breather and went after him. The annoyance of it all lifted the lid of the boiling feelings of hopelessness he was having about his fight against her so far.
For some seconds, his strength and speed exceeded anyone's guess. He instantly launched a punch at an incoming Nala, who, even when facing something that seemed to come out of nowhere with force and ferocity was still calm.
She leaned her head to the side, her ear feeling the heat like a bullet had just passed inches from it, the punch missing her like Nolamine could not aim to even save his own life. The force behind the punch produced a burst of air.
She launched a punch that hit the side of his rips and just like her first kick, the power behind it jerked him off the ground. She had reciprocated his increase in power. But, this was Nolamine. He was not going to be on the back foot for long.
As his feet left the ground, using the same hand he had used to launch a punch at her, he grabbed the hand used to punch him. As he landed back on the ground, he pulled her towards him as he stepped in, wanting to hit her using his elbow.
Nala ducked under it and moved the hand that was being grabbed around his, making her grab him as she again moved towards his back, trying a do a submission move.
' There it is.'
The Grand Witch thought.
'Using his leg, he swooped at her leg, tripping her and making her fall while holding his arm. He turned around swiftly and launched a downward punch aimed at her head, his eyes calm with no emotion.
She shifted her head at the last second and it went on to hit the ground.
"Boom!"
Dust flew everywhere and the ground cracked. The dust settled and they were visible again.
Nala was on his back, still holding his arm that was now at the back of him with him lying stomach first on the ground and with her other arm around his neck.
She had kicked the leg that carried his weight when launching his punch and when it missed, she swiftly maneuvered herself around his body as he fell face first, resulting in what everyone was seeing.
Everyone was quiet. It was not the fact that it was the first time seeing someone managing to grab Nala during a fight, or the power he had just shown. They were all looking at the Grand Witch and she was smiling.
"Makhosi!"
They all said as they put one knee on the ground and kneeled, Nala letting go of the suffocating Nolamine and doing the same.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
A brief moment passed and then someone in the crowd stood up and started to yell in a crazed state of mind and ran everywhere. The others did nothing to stop her. Nolamine, who was bruised and battered, also out of breath, did not know what was going on. Even Mi-sun was doing the same, kneeling towards the Grand Witch.
After running all around, the girl stood in one spot and looked straight into the bright sunlight and smiled, like she was in ecstasy.
"We shall have a good harvest this year."
She said as she then fainted, dropping down on the ground right then and there.
Everyone got up and celebrated, stopping after a while.
"Fifth and First, you shall train him from now on. Second, you shall heal his wounds every day when the moon swallows the sun."
She said and turned, walking back to her hut. After disappearing into it, the villagers went into a joyous celebration again. They picked Nolamine up as they sang.
He still did not know what was going on, but one thing was for sure, these people at that moment did not care if he was in pain or not. They were just in such a good mode. He hoped someone would save him as he thought he had a broken rib.
Only Nala, the other five, and Sazi knew what had happened.