The hilt extended twice in its length. The sword had a telescoping, or collapsible, shaft that could extend and retract. He let go of it. Now Liz had a long, beautiful spear in her hands. Its patterns of flowers continued throughout the whole shaft. Now she could see that those flowers were roses with a long network of thorns.

  Beautiful but deadly.

  “Give it a whirl,” the Hat-Man said.

  She lunged forward with the spear. The move was steady, accurate, and easy. Such a long reach excited her, and the speed of motion also increased. She liked the leverage it had rather than just blunt force.

  She kept launching offensive strikes (a fast extension of the spear toward the imaginary target). Liz performed a fast, high-reach attack, where the spear slid through the lead hand, until the hands met, then she immediately returned to the defensive position. She spun and used the rear end of the spear to "whack" an imaginary opponent if they got too close, then used the middle shaft of the spear to push the target away, resetting the distance. She did the low swipes, aiming for the lower parts of the target.

  Liz finished her performance by bringing the spear down sharply to slap the ground, which created a distraction, followed by an immediate strike on the target. She shifted her weight forward, a deep, extended lunge, often combined with a series of swipes.

  She was lying on the grass, out of breath, but felt so liberated. Liz never knew she could do all of that. Every move, every strike was a pure improv. The stress she accumulated in the past couple of bad days was now relieved.

  It took her a long time, but now she just realized that he was the one who showed her that the sword could transition.

  “How did you know it could do that?”

  “It’s your weapon, how could you not know about that?” he almost chuckled when he answered.

  “I guess my previous teacher sucked,” she said, smiling a full-face smile. Liz didn’t hide her emotions anymore. It was something new she wanted to try for a long time.

  “I guess they did.”

  They were both laughing.

  The whole time she had this magnificent weapon, she thought it must not be for her. Despite her lack of experience, she could recognize the excellence of this thing. It was a piece of art nonetheless.

  “How do I turn it back into a sword?”

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  “The same way, just twist it with both hands.”

  She rotated her hand in different directions in the middle of the long shaft. The spear retracted to a smaller, more elegant blade. It turned back to a familiar shape she was used to wielding.

  How much more do I need to learn about being a demon hunter? She asked herself.

  Liz wasn’t discouraged by those thoughts, quite the opposite, she was excited to learn more.

  I need to take advantage of the situation and learn as much as I can from this guy.

  Then again, who is this guy? He doesn’t look like a newbie. If anything else, he is probably overqualified to be a low-ranking hunter, too.

  I need to ask him about that later, when he trusts me more. Also, I’m dying to see his face. Although, he is a little bit short. She measured him visually. Hmm, I think he is even shorter than me.

  Suddenly, he coughed a little, as if he could hear thoughts in her head.

  The Hat-Man stood and began stretching. After a few seconds, he cracked his fingers and said.

  “Okay, it’s time for real practice.”

  “What do you mean by ‘real practice’?”

  “I will spar with you.“

  “Nooooah,” she said playfully.

  “Yes.”

  “Nooooah.”

  “Uh-huh”

  Damn.

  At that point, her awkward smile left the chat…

  Liz shrugged, thinking: Why does it feel like he just read my mind?

  Liz knew she had no time for mental preparation, so she simply took a leap of faith in herself and got ready for the sparring. She stood the same way he showed her, with her feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, the foot on the same side as a sword, forward, both hands active.

  “Are you not going to draw your weapon?”

  “It’s not necessarily, “ he said flatly.

  Liz swallowed hard. She wanted to punish him for being so cocky. She tried to throw away all the defeating thoughts. Maybe it wasn’t that bad, and she could take him by surprise. Regardless, she was ready to make him pay for underestimating her.

  Nevertheless, she had one trump card in her arsenal, and no one could top it. Anti-magic.

  Liz was standing in a fighting stance, waiting for a good moment to attack. While Hat-Man simply stood, not moving, fully open. He acted as if he wasn’t the one who suggested they should spar. At one point, Liz could swear she heard him yawning.

  Then she heard the loud, harsh caw from the raven above them. She didn’t dare to look up. The moment later, she heard it launching, a distinct ‘swoosh,’ deep, powerful downstrokes hit the tree branches.

  Liz took it as a signal to start. She dashed explosively toward the opponent, and when she bridged the gap, a rapid barrage of swipes rained upon Hat-Man. He avoided them with ease, one by one, as if they were moving at different speeds. He swiftly ducked, stepped away, and leaned his body just enough to evade all of her blows. When she exhausted herself, he grabbed her by the wrist and spun her in the air.

  One moment, she was looking at the target in front of her, and in the next, her world was upside down. She fell on her back. The pain rushed through her body. She clenched her teeth tightly and got up.

  This time, she twisted the shaft of her sword. It extended to a spear form. She spun in the air above her head, allowing the momentum to carry on, which gave more power to her swing. She transitioned the spear from top to middle, creating a powerful cut. But when she was about to hit the target, he just caught the blade with his bare hand, absorbing the blow as if it was nothing.