Just what cockroach could be crawling deep inside this boy's head? How could capturing me make him king? I just got out of the hiding place and now I'm a will-make-king item? The boy then made a stance with great focus towards me. Strong determination can be seen written on his light blue eyes as they stare directly towards mine. In response, I placed my bag down on the ground and gripped tightly on my staff. Age and gender mattered not to me as long as I consider them as an enemy. Thus, I too was determined to take my revenge against using my favorite dish as a bait (which I did not fall into).

"Your quite naive huh? To think you could take a mage alone," I spoke in a clear intimidating voice. "Specifically, this mage."

"Heh! A true warrior fights with his own strength, not by the aid of any other warriors," he stated with pride and confidence. His feet ready to spring into action at any moment.

The heavy atmosphere weighed upon us, and with a quick step, the boy dashed himself towards me. Swinging his wooden sword, he sliced through the heavy atmosphere which no longer weighed upon him with the intention of hitting me. Indeed, I too was quite fazed by his speed, yet I was not like any other mage. Raising my staff, I blocked his open attack with ease. The impact of his sword and my staff released a sound which echoed towards the forest. The look upon the boy's eyes were those of a lion, in full solemnity, while I was keeping my calm demeanor like that of an owl. I then shoved my staff forward with strength, shoving the boy away from me. He in turn was pushed back but immediately retaliated through dashing at my side. He then went full force on his attack which I intended to block again yet upon nearing me, he tumbled down in speed towards my back and continued his attack. I quickly managed to dodge his first swing which he pursued on multiple more swings, all which I also dodged with ease. Upon the seventh slash, I blocked it with my staff and again pushed him away with it. His speed is indeed praiseworthy, but he is too open. Specially his next attack by leaping towards the air above and slamming his wooden sword towards me, which again I dodged with ease (I'm good aren't I?). The strength of his slam left a small crack on the ground.

"I'm not done yet!!" he exclaimed as he went on producing more multiple slashes. This time his speed increased twice as fast as it was before which unintended led me to dodge all the way in front of a tree. "Gotcha!!" was probably his way of ending the fight and did one huge slash, which he probably thought was his victory ticket. However, despite his eagerness and perseverance, I once again blocked his attack and pushed him away with more force this time which pushed him farther. I could say his fighting was quite entertaining, but too readable.

"Oi! Is blocking all you know? Why don't you attack me with your mage powers?" was quite a brave statement for him. Along his irritating half smile comes too much self-confidence. "I heard mages are supposed to be powerful. Why don't you show me this 'power' you have?"

I believed this kid to be tired of being alive as I felt my temples formed on the sides of my forehead. "You seem to be overestimating yourself kid!" was my reply to that brat.

"You’re the kid here short stuff!" was so daring of him to say to me. Even I could tell were about the same age (I called him kid to intimidate him) and height. Well he was a bit taller than me (only a bit) but that never even once, mattered (it never did).

Still maintaining my calm composure, I took a deep breath and exhaled. "So, you no longer have any will to be alive then," I slowly raised my staff in front of my face, my temper already on the edge of murdering him. "Then I'll show you, this 'power' you wish to see," and without further ado, I raised my staff unto the air.

"Come forth, Sun Child..." and instantly, a massive ball of fire was summoned by my command. It was bigger than even ten of him combined. My magic power was already impressive after multiple training regimen by my mother. She was always calm and gentle, but was more terrifying than a demon in training me magic. The very heat of the fire caused the surrounding elements of nature to burn and die. The trees made crackling sounds as the heat made fire from their branches. Ashes from burned leaves waltzed around me as the force of the heat swelled up even further.

"Oi! Oioioioioioioioioi!!"What's with that?" his annoying half smile finally rid of this world as he spoke. "Th-that's a bit too much!"

Finally, I showed him my capabilities which made him shocked (where's your half smile now?). I then pushed my staff forward, commanding the ball of fire to fall towards that bratty, self-confident kid. Without delay, the ball of fire fell towards him with speed and power, leading him to no escape attempt, for the ball of fire hit the ground before he could. It made a massive explosion, producing flames spouting in any direction. The force made trees near it to collapse and burn.

I didn't want to burn more of nature to the ground, so I waved my staff in front of me and commanded wind to blow the flames away. I probably burned the boy to ashes. Only that at that time, I was shocked by what I heard, inside of what looked like a glimpse of hell was continuous shouts of pain from a voice I clearly know.

"Ah! Owowowowowow! Aah! It hurts! The flames hurt!" were the words I heard so I immediately blew the flames away to confirm. And yes, there he was, jumping and rolling all over the place like a fish out of water. When all the flames have been blown away and the soot from the heat was very visible, he finally stopped and stood up in an angry pose. "Oi! That was too powerful! I could've died you know!"

I was shocked at the fact that he was still alive after that massive attacked, but... What happened next was more shocking (I mean really, really shocking).

All of a sudden while he was still speaking, his clothes which was burned in most places, fell off like a leaf of a tree's branch, revealing things which shouldn't have been revealed. It made me see things which I shouldn't have seen.

I had no other choice but to let out a huge, "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" as I, with great effort, covered my face against the scene of man's wickedness.

"What are you screaming for?" he dared to ask such a question. "Oi! What's the matter?" He slowly moved forward towards me with a confused look.

"Stay back you fiendish beast!!" I waved my staff as if to stop him from coming closer, with the other hand desperate to avoid even a glimpse of it. However, as irritating as it was, my curiosity urged for a moment and intended to look at him even for a second (hey, I'm a healthy ten-year-old mage girl, things like this happen...). Thankfully, I managed to suppress my filthy thoughts and covered my eyes away from evil.

"Your pretty weird huh?" was his dumbfounded response to my reaction.

"A-are you not ashamed of yourself?!!" still trying not to look I started moving backwards.

"What do you mean by that?" he kept moving closer, as I was moving farther.

"Look at yourself!!" was my exclamation in hopes to awaken him from his stupidity. "Your practically one with the world you know!!"

At last he stopped and started looking at himself. He looked down at his small petite self for quite a few seconds before looking back up to me as he said, "You mean I'm naked?"

"Yes!! What other issue is there?!" me still giving my best effort not to look.

With the stupidest look on his curios face, he bluntly replied a, "So?"

"WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF SHAME FOR THE GODS' SAKE??!!" I truly cannot believe this human (could it be all humans are like this?).

"Oi, it was you who did this to me! I mean I could've died from that explosion, and those flames did hurt you know," he started crossing his arms looking like a winner, a truly irritating sight. "Aah, my sword got burned to ashes. No other choice but to make another one".

Hearing those words which I thought was a sign for him to leave, I slowly turned my somehow reddening face to look at him while his back was turned towards me, until I looked away again as he turned back.

"You have to wait for me ok? I'll go make another sword," he demanded with a stern look on his dumb face before he started running away. The moment his running steps cannot be heard, I finally was able to face my front and relax myself.

"What in the name of the gods was that human? He was so stupid I could puke (I mean after what I almost saw... Ok truth be told; I did saw a little bit but it's not my fault!!). How could someone be so stupid and shameless. Has he had no value of his own body? I believe mages and humans look almost alike except for that they have small curved ears and black hair. Us mages have long ears, like that of a deer, and clear white hair as white as snow. Putting that aside, I slapped my cheeks with both my hands and returned to my usual composure. "Humph! What an airhead." I then turned my back to continue back on track. I picked up my staff and went to pick up my bag when I heard running steps coming from behind.

"Ooii!!" was the voice I heard together with the steps which were coming to me fast.

I turned to look, or should I say to confirm, and what I saw was the same naked figure I was desperate to not see. "Nope, no more," I whispered to myself before I hurriedly ran towards the depths of the forest. I no longer wish for any form of encounter with him, ever. With that in mind, I accelerated my running speed more. I passed by huge trees, jumping from huge boulders, and under gigantic tree roots. Deeper and deeper I went and faster and faster, I ran with high hopes of losing him.

However, despite my best effort, that same naked figure managed to catch up, and with a loud voice said, "Wait!!"

Upside down while holding on to a huge vine, he appeared in front of me from above. I instantly halted my steps and without enough time, was face to face with him, just lips distance away.

There was a slight pause as leaves fell slowly around us, touching the ground as gentle as can be. Silence went together with the short pause as I observed his serious-looking face extremely close to mine.

He then let go of the vine, bumped his head on the ground, stood up sluggishly, then stood firm before saying, "Promise."

"W-what?" was my bashful response to his serious tone.

He extended to me his hand with only the pinky finger standing open.

"Do this with your hand too."

"H-hah?! Why would I-" he picked up my hand and closed all four of my fingers from the thumb to the ring finger.

Looking at my hand, I questioned, "what is this for?!"

He then made the same gesture and without warning, crossed his index finger with mine, gripping it tightly.

"You have to promise me you won't get caught by other people. I need to be the one to capture you, ok?" he then let go of my index finger and placed both of his hands on his waist and with a prideful face said, "I will definitely become king!"

After that stupid declaration he just did, he ran off past me without looking back, straight towards the depths of the forest. Slowly his footsteps can no longer be heard until I was left in complete silence with probably a dumb look on my face. Although it's still is a mystery to me why capturing me would make him king.

I did remember my mother's warning that humans may still be after us mages but she never mentioned their intention. According to her, humans fear what they cannot understand and treat differently those who are different. Seven years have passed since that day, yet everything still felt so vivid.

I returned to my normal self, gripped my staff tightly, and turned my back. After all, he is still a human with the intention to capture me. I should never spare him the next time we meet.