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Keira barely had time to register his speed before Liam was in front of her. Reacting on instinct, she conjured a protective barrier, a translucent dome of ashen light.
Bombardier
Liam jumped up in the air and with his legs hit at the barrier Keira had built and then spin back at his position, only for the place that Liam had hit, burst out in flames, making the whole barrier shatter and within seconds fall down. The sheer pressure forced Keira back a few steps.
Her breath hitched.
"What the.."
Liam didn't answer. He simply raised his hand, conjuring a blades of fiery arrows—Fusillade. A dozen golden arrows materialized in the air and shot toward Keira at breakneck speed.
Keira teleported at the last second, reappearing a few feet away. But before she could catch her breath, the temperature around her plummeted a bit. Liam had summoned a small ball of water and threw it at Keira and before she knew it she found herself a huge ball of water that floated up, taking her along.
She was in water domain, and it was revolving and moving in such a fast speed that she couldn't just extricate herself at all. Keira barely had time to conjure a counterspell, forming a barrier of space to not let her drown.
She was drenched in water when she was out of the water domain. Her magic came from her chants in Elder speech, but Liam didn't need any of that. Now she believed when Liam said that magic came to him as abilities and not as learned magic. No wonder Liam had such a high talent for magic.
He was given. His blood had mana written in it. It all made sense now.
Keira was pissed a bit but as she tried to chant once again, she saw Liam close to her with a bow in his hand and arrow made of Bifrost pointing at her face. A small chant and the arrow would leave the bow. This was Liam's way of telling.
"Move and you will perish."
"Checkmate," Liam murmured. Keira exhaled sharply, then raised her hands in surrender.
"Alright, you win."
"That was fun." Liam said as he stepped back and took back the bow.
"That wasn't a duel. That was one-sided domination." Triss mentioned from the sidelines. She had questions about the magic Liam had displayed. Unlike Keira, who was busy with defending herself, she sense different kinds of magic from Liam. Especially the wraith form of Liam.
It gave her a very familiar feeling, but she couldn't point out where.
"Tell me again of how you lost that hand? There is no way one could have done that easily." Keira said. Liam had always evaded about his missing hand and she felt that Liam was very much ashamed to talk about it. But with what she had seen today, she was pretty sure that Liam wasn't even trying to overwhelm her and even then she lost horribly. It was more of an exhibition and a being like Liam actually lost a hand.
"He was ignorant." the Ancient One said.
"No wonder." Triss nodded as only that explanation could explain why Liam lost a hand. When Vilgefortz lost his life, it was also because he was ignorant and thought himself to be unbeatable. But at the end lost to a witcher.
Though she was curious, just like Keira, of who was the person who delivered that shock to Liam. But didn't ask as she could Liam had a gloomy face once Ancient One said those words.
-----
Back at Stark Tower, the group gathered in the lounge, the atmosphere calmer than before. Keira was still wringing out the water from her hair with mild irritation, while Triss sat thoughtfully, still pondering the abilities Liam had displayed.
"You fight like a damn monster," Keira muttered. "No spells, no chants, yet you can summon elements, distort space, and move like a ghost."
"You're just mad I won." Liam said.
"Tch," she huffed.
"You are quite the anomaly, Liam. Even for a world filled with the things that I have witnessed."
"I get that a lot." Liam glanced at Triss and Keira. "Anyway, we've spent enough time here. We need to head back to Kaer Morhen."
"Back to the cold and monster-infested lands. Can't say I'm excited." Triss said. A part of her really didn't want to go. Natasha was right. She loved it here. Keira, who was the first person to say no to moving here, had her eyes showed that she was reluctant too to leave.
Pepper had returned from her office and was also sad to know that they would be leaving.
"I promise to bring Tony next time I return. Tell Fury if he calls that we have left. He doesn't need to put extra security here." Liam said as he had noticed that after he had arrived the Stark Tower had more security, which he could understand.
Pepper nodded and Liam soon opened a portal but before Liam stepped in along with the two women, he looked at Pepper and said.
"Tell Fury that we need Banner. Not for the monster, but for his brain."
"Huh?" Pepper was confused about what Liam meant.
"Relay Fury my words. He will understand." Liam said. Pepper nodded out of habit and remembered his words.
----
The cold, crisp air of Kaer Morhen greeted them instantly. Snow crunched beneath their boots as they emerged onto the fortress's worn stone steps. The sky above was painted with streaks of grey and white, the morning sun barely breaking through the thick clouds.
"Great. Back to freezing my ass off." Keira said.
"At least we know we can go back now." Triss said while looking at Liam who just shrugged his shoulders. His gaze had already landed on Vesemir, who was standing in the courtyard, tending to Uma.
"Where in the devil's name have you three been?" Vesemir demanded. "You left for a simple scouting trip, and it's been over two weeks!"
Liam's expression remained neutral, but Triss and Keira both stiffened.
"Two weeks?" Triss repeated. "Vesemir, we were only gone for three days."
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