Syd vs The Archimago: The trap (part 1)

Deciding to use an ambush to confront the heroine Syd allocated more if his XP to his classes and got to work immediately preparing the stage of his battle a few days later after he was confident in his preparation he used a number of proxies to send a letter to Archimago informing her of the existence of an unidentified plant monster with unusual abilities in the near woods.

The heroine had teleported to the ambush site almost the moment she got the letter, Syd was honestly surprised to come so fast she must had barely made any preparation this was good however that's when he noticed something weird, despite her seemingly walking in his temporary lair without care, Citrinas had expertly avoided every single trap she comes across or at least every single trap Syd intended to actually activate. This told him that rather than spotting the trap Archimago had likely the ability or some spell that allowed her to see into the future to a limited degree, based on her reactions Syd estimated she could see 5-6 seconds into the future although he suspected she might be able to peek even further if she concentrated.

This was certainly a problem Syd's plans for taking her on were mostly based on underhanded tactics, if she was able to predict his actions most of his plans would be rendered useless... hmm, now that he thought about it depending on how this ability worked there might be ways to use it in his favor. The first thing he needed to check was how well Citrinas could predict reactions, was her ability giving her insight on all possible futures or just the effects of the actions she took? Depending on the answer his strategy for taking her on would differ greatly. Sensing her arrival near one of his more complex traps Syd made a mental pledge to only activate the core of his trap but would set off immediately parts if the Archimago tried to escape to their direction.

Despite his efforts, the heroine was able to avoid or counter each trap part almost immediately as it was set off, however, "almost" immediately was not immediately, and actually just the fact the trap components were activated at all told Syd all he needed to know about the nature of her power and how he should move to achieve victory.