Snow had tied her hair in some kind of bun. Pablo didn’t know what it was called so he just preferred bun.
But still some hairs were still on her face and due to the sweat, those hairs were glued to her skin.
Few such hairs came close to her nostrils and they made her feel all kinds of tingly.
She had to remove those hairs. She had to. There was no other way.
The criminal was in front of her and if she sneezed, her eyes would close and the man would use that time to attack her.
For that, she had to remove her hair so she raised her hand.
She raised her right hand that also held the sword and she instantly knew she made a mistake because if the criminal moved towards her now, she won’t be able to efficiently use her sword to protect herself.
But now that her hand was already raised she decided to just remove the hair anyway.
And luckily, the criminal did nothing to her and her nose felt comfortable again.
At that moment though, her mind registered something else as well.
Something profound. Something strange.
He is focused on me. He is staring at me for all this time. And yet, when I raised my hand with the sword, he didn’t even flinch. If he is looking at me so intently he should have become wary when I raised my sword. But he did nothing. It was as if he didn’t even see me raising my sword. Could it be...
He is only looking at my face?
The criminal’s Ego only works if he stared at his target’s face for twenty minutes straight. And the criminal was doing that. He was doing that with all his being. He did that with so much conviction, he was doing that with so much focus, he was staring at her face with so much attention that everything else vanished for him. Everything including the other body parts of Snow.
So, what Snow was thinking was absolutely correct.
The criminal was only looking at her face.
But the girl wasn’t sure. She had to confirm it. She had to confirm it and use it to her advantage.
That’s why she made a plan.
The plan was very simple.
She did the same thing she did a few seconds ago.
She, simply, raised her sword again.
But this time she acted like she was attacking the man.
She acted like she would throw the sword at him.
And when she did that, she finally figured it out.
The man didn’t make even a single movement.
They both were still walking in circles and Snow knew that she had acted throwing her sword very well.
Anyone would have flinched. Even if it was Pablo, he would have flinched too.
Since the man didn’t show even the slightest of movement, there was only one possible reason for that.
The man wasn’t looking at her at all.
His eyes were only on her face.
Snow didn’t know why that was but if she had to guess, she believed it had something to do with the Ego of the man.
So if he stares at my face for some particular minutes, he could do something to me. He is waiting for his Ego to work. I get it.
Snow made up her mind and concocted a plan instantly.
She had to do something fast as she couldn’t wait too long in case his Ego starts working.
Therefore, she brought her plan in motion.
She was already side-stepping like the criminal but now she also began moving forward little by little.
She started walking towards the criminal slowly and steady, not making the criminal come out of his stupor of staring at her face.
She wasn’t going to reach just in front of him. She just needed to stand close to a certain distance from the man.
Snow carried on her plan and the man also didn’t feel something wrong as he was fully focused on her face.
Pablo and everyone didn’t disturb any of the fighters but Pablo surely saw Snow reaching closer to the criminal.
The girl took baby steps, but she had to do it fast as well. She couldn’t take the risk of his Ego suddenly taking place.
Nevertheless, she kept her cool and walked closer to the criminal at a steady pace.
And after a few tense seconds, she finally reached the desired distance near the criminal.
She wasn’t too close to him and she wasn’t too far from the man either.
She was at the exact distance she wanted and she won’t waste any single second now.
She even stopped side-stepping but the criminal was still doing that.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t care less anymore and raised her sword.
She would use the very same thing that she had learned all her life, even in Quintus—the city where slaves are sold—and even before she was sent to Quintus.
She had one skill. She had one simple skill and she had mastery over it.
And it was time for her skill to shine.
She had her sword in her right hand but after raising it, she held her sword from below the handle. She held her sword only with her thumb and index finger.
The sword’s tip hung behind her head as she raised it in the air. She also made sure not to make her hand appear anywhere near her face so as to not make the criminal see what she was doing.
Pablo understood what she was about to do and he waited for her to do it.
Snow steadied her breath, she calmed down her heart and was ready to do it.
The criminal was side-stepping and when the criminal stepped to a spot where she wanted him to...
She threw her sword at the criminal.
And this was the very same thing, she had a mastery over. She could throw things with precision, with speed and she can hit any target with any thing. Even if it was a sword.
And this time, her target was...
The head of the criminal.