The smoke took a while to disperse, curling in lazy spirals through the treetops as if reluctant to unveil what remained. It clung to the ground, stirred only by the faint rustle of breeze weaving between trunks. The scent of scorched earth and singed moss hung heavy in the clearing, sharp and bitter, laced with the acrid tang of vaporized mana. Every leaf seemed to hold its breath.
When it finally cleared, Titania stood in the center of the blast radius, her silhouette wreathed in dissipating heatwaves. Her hair, slightly tousled by the shockwave, framed a smirk that curled slowly along her lips.
"Not bad," she said, brushing smoke from her shoulder with the casual indifference of someone dusting off an old coat. "Not bad at all. It's been… quite some time since I was last hit."
There was no mockery in her tone. Only a simmering thrill, the kind that came when an opponent proved just slightly more capable than expected.
