Maiz was in a bit of trouble.

An invisible blade of wind screamed through the air, and Maiz jerked to the side. He felt a line of pain appear along his side, and grimaced. He couldn’t use his usual tactics all that well against this opponent--the invisible, swift attacks of an Aeromancer could do serious damage to him. I need pressure.

He swept in, Fast Feet boosting his Agility, and Nightwalker letting him easily dart around irregularly to avoid the woman’s attacks. His robed opponent was motionless, though attacks continued to come at him without stopping. The air stirred, Maiz’s feet turned slick against the ground, and he glided to the left as an attack flew through the space where he’d been a moment before. His grip against the floor increased abruptly, and he continued running. Hopefully, he wasn’t being too obvious, but he had Damper Aura active and last he’d checked, Lila and Juya had both been having a good deal of trouble with their opponents. All the more reason to move quickly. He was close enough now to see the ichor stains on the woman’s white robes. She had streaks of gray in her short dark hair, and though she held no weapons, Maiz could see her palms were turned outwards at her sides as she faced him, almost as though in supplication. Just a few more steps.

He felt the air stirring again, and he as he let his feet turn slick, he squatted down. From this distance, no one else would notice if he slid over the ground a meter or so to engage with his opponent. He let himself glide forward, preparing for another blade of wind to fly over his head. The attack didn’t come when Maiz expected it, and he frowned. He finally reached within striking distance of the robed mage, and felt a wall of air--the woman’s Storm Armor, no doubt. Then the wall shrank back, and Maiz’s eyes widened.

With a woosh of air, the bubble of wind surrounding the woman exploded outwards, leaving nowhere for Maiz to dodge. It wasn’t close to the strength of Hakim’s spells, but Maiz’s feet had no traction against the ground. He went flying, his vision a blur of gray rock as he tumbled through the air. Hells. He twisted as best he could and activated Shield Stance, but he wasn’t worried. Hugan would be able to guard him with Shieldmate--he was standing before Ziya near the entrance of the cave behind Maiz, watching to see who would need his help.

Maiz landed hard on his rear, and didn’t hear the chime of a temple bell in his head. Owww. But more than the pain, a spike of worry pierced him. If Hugan hadn’t guarded him, it could only mean that someone else was in deeper trouble. Maiz could hear shouting over the clang of weapons, but he couldn’t focus on the words. He rolled to the side, and a moment later the crack of stone signified how close he’d come to being skewered. No time. If he could just see the damned Aeromancer’s attacks, he could get in close. Oh, I’m a Massahn-touched fool.

Maiz activated Mana Sense, and the world lit in a sea of red overlaid with sky blue and white and the silver of his own mana--his mana always showed as silver, no matter how he used it. Then a spear of blue flashed towards him, and he sprang out of the way, getting his feet under him in the process. He saw movement flashing out of the corner of his eye, farther off to the right. Was that Lila? But that was where Juya had been taking on another of the shield-bearing armored combatants. What?

Another spell flew out from the Aeromancer, and Maiz tensed. The blade of wind streaked towards him, but it was far off target and Maiz let it fly over his shoulder as he rushed towards the--

A sharp clang and screech of metal sounded behind Maiz, and his stomach dropped. He whirled, using Nightwalker to arrest his momentum. Hugan was still standing in front of Lila by the entrance, his shield raised and shoulders hunched. There was a rent in the metal of the shield, but Maiz couldn’t see red, and he felt a flash of relief. Still, a look at the many dents in his friend’s armor--undoubtedly from uses of Shieldmate--told him that he needed to move faster.

With a growl, Maiz turned and began running, weaving a Color Tapestry at the same time. It took moments, and as he sidestepped another streak of blue, he threw the spell at the mage’s eyes. Blue mana surged as the woman’s Storm Armor ripped his spell apart, but Maiz was already gathering more spells, mana thrumming in his body like a raging storm. Maiz’s own air blasts didn’t even strain the woman’s swirling defense, but in the physical world, he could see her brow furrow. He was close to reaching her again, and he focused on his staff as he drew closer. The mage’s Storm Armor contracted again, and Maiz felt a savage smile on his face. When the wave of air came to blast him away again, he ducked like before, and used Nightwalker to strengthen his grip on the floor to the point where felt his body rooted to the ground. The attack passed over him, but though it pushed hard enough to bring tears briefly to his eyes, he didn’t go flying.

Maiz released Nightwalker’s grip on the floor and took a single step. His staff came whirling around, streaks of floating flame blurring through the air--with his Mana Sense Maiz could see the blue of the Aeromancer’s Storm Armor emerging from her skin again, but he slammed his staff into her side with ferocious speed, and the resulting blast took care of the rest.

“Help--gah!”

Hugan’s shout was interrupted by a clang of metal and a grunt, but Maiz still turned. Two of the other combatants lay either dead or incapacitated--a second, much weaker mage, and an axeman who Lila had been fighting. But the third…

Lila dodged as a charging wall of metal streaked at her, but though the enemy missed her with all the momentum of a falling boulder, the gray metal streak shifted directions an instant later without pause, turning to slam into Lila. She hopped into the air with startling speed of her own, and managed to get her feet in between herself and the shield. She still went flying at a worrying speed, and there was another clang from Hugan as she hit the far wall. Juya came up from behind with her staff and swung at the chink between the neck-guard and the helmet, but the enemy turned at the same time, and her staff struck against armor instead of skin with an ineffectual thunk. Maiz frowned. That seemed… off, somehow, but he was more focused on running to help his friends as soon as possible.

The shieldbearer was already readying another charge, and Juya sprang to the side an instant too early. Rather than dodging past an incoming rush, she left herself an easy target for her opponent to readjust and slam into her. She didn’t dodge quite as well as Lila had though she managed to only take part of the impact and she went sailing backwards in a heap at the blow. The sound of Hugan’s armor taking the impact was much louder, and Maiz’s friend let out a cry of pain.

Blood Paralysis connected just as the man moved to begin another charge towards Lila, and though it barely had an effect against the man’s clearly monumental Strength and Constitution, it was enough to give him a moment’s pause. Maiz used the time to close, Windblade already snapping into place around his staff. He took aim at the chink at the shoulder, but the man raised his armored forearm to block. Fine. But though the Maiz’s windbladed staff screeched against the armor, it didn’t do as much damage as Maiz would have expected--the armor was still intact, with only a scratch to show the attack had even happened. Hells.

Maiz let a barrage of strikes fly from his staff, if only to keep the man from beginning his unstoppable charge again, but his enemy just lifted his shield. He was of a height with Hugan, and his shield spanned his entire torso. Every blow of Maiz’s, which should have at least caused damage to the man’s armor, did nothing. This is bad. When he began bracing for another charge, Maiz growled. He slipped aside as the brute shot forward, and panted for a moment. His stamina was getting drained from the use of Nightwalker and Fast Feet, and it didn’t recover at nearly the same rate as his mana. Still, he couldn't let up. As soon as the man wasn't feeling pressure from him, Lila, or Juya, he might consider taking Hugan directly, and Maiz was almost certain he was an Adept.

Maiz was ready for the charging man to come back around at him, but when he switched directions it was to make for Lila, who’d been running back towards the fight. She spun out of the way and nearly stumbled from clear exhaustion--the cost of Fast Feet. Maiz sprinted forward. He had to end this soon or they would all die to this single opponent.

“Hugan, help, Ziya, heal him!”

That was all Maiz dared yell as he formed a Flaming Strike and cast Blood Paralysis on the man. He slowed for a moment, whirling around to face Maiz, and Maiz grimaced. Sorry Hugan.

When the charge came, Maiz was ready with a staff sharper than any ordinary blade, primed to explode with the damage of a Spellsword. Nightwalker anchored him to the floor and he braced himself forward. The mass of metal slammed into him, and Maiz angled his staff to hit the man’s legs--the only part left exposed by his shield. A chime sounded in Maiz’s head, and a blow that should have broken bones barely registered, except by the enormous crash which came from Hugan’s position, and the thud of a body hitting the floor.

The Flaming Strike, in combination with the Windblade and the sheer momentum of the man’s own charge, finally penetrated the armor, and the resulting damage knocked the man off his feet. Maiz formed a second Flaming Strike as quickly as possible, thankful for every rank which had reduced its cost, and drove his staff down at the dazed man’s skull. Whatever skill he’d been using to reinforce his armor hadn’t survived the distraction of the first injury, and the blow connected, shearing metal and exploding against flesh. Maiz almost relaxed, but he realized that, though the armor hadn’t resisted, the man himself was still moving. Oh gods above, how much Constitution does he have?

Maiz raised his staff again, but the last dregs of his mana were dwindling away, and he had to release his Windblade. Weakly, he stabbed down with his staff, but without any spells, all he could do was poke at the man’s bloody face. The downed soldier was beginning to get his bearings, though he was clearly hurt by Maiz’s two attacks. Maiz increased the pace of his poking, but he was still seconds away from being able to summon Windblade again. Should he--

--an axe sliced down at the man’s head. The slender arms holding it couldn’t do much damage, but after a few swings with the instrument at the critical area, the enemy was finally dead.

“Thanks Lila.”

“No problem.”

The exchange was brief--Maiz was already running to Hugan, Lila on his heels. Ziya was standing over the armored young man--his shield and the front face of his armor were actually slightly concave--Maiz was concerned for a moment, but the Hugan grinned weakly as they approached. There was red staining his teeth, though the color was bleached slightly by all the white light emanating from him. Even as Maiz watched, a bruise on his cheek faded from dark purple to only a slightly darker brown than the rest of his skin.

“Good move! That guy was an Adept for sure--I got a rank from Shieldmate’s experience thing, and I wasn’t even close to earning another one. Plus, another hit like that last one would have, uh, been bad.”

Miaz grimaced. That was clear enough, and Maiz hadn’t stood a chance any other way, but… “I’m so--”

“--don’t be an idiot, that’s my job! That was … too close for all of us, anyways.”

Maiz laughed a bit, but Hugan’s other words rang too true for much mirth. “Ziya, does he need the bracelet?”

“Give it to Juya, please. I have stabilized her, but she still needs some healing.”

By the time that was done, and Lila had helped Juya over to the entrance, Hugan was sitting up, still looking a bit worse for wear. Maiz had also had a moment to think, and he’d realized what was bothering him. He checked his Notification Sheet--there were rank-ups listed for Wind Blast and Blood Paralysis, but Nightwalker had been capped by his knowledge at rank 19, annoyingly. Neither Flaming Strike nor Windblade had received a rank, but those had been becoming few and far between as his understanding of the spells began matching their ranks. The most important line was the first.

You have slain Adept Juggernaut, rank 60!

The experience gain was massive, enough to get him to rank 35. He grinned at the thought that, with the help of a Journeyman and three other very skilled Apprentices, he’d managed to bring down an actual Adept. Still, the important bit was the man’s title. Juggernaut. The same as the other two shield-bearing men Maiz had fought before.

“Uh, do you all remember the other shield-user from yesterday?”

The group all nodded, looking at him quizzically. Then Lila’s eyes widened. “That is strange--our attacks bounced off of him, didn’t they? This one was just reinforcing his armor, I thought.”

Maiz nodded. “And that guy wasn’t an Adept--he was weak for a Journeyman, except--”

“--for the bouncy thing,” Hugan interjected. “Yeah, it seems weird. If the Adept had a skill like that, your attack probably wouldn’t have worked at all, and we would have lost. And no Journeyman knows a better skill than an Adept.”

“The armor.”

Maiz frowned. “What, Ziya?”

“The first man’s armor must have been enchanted. It did not seem inscribed, but that is the only explanation.”

Juya nodded. “Yes, I remember that in our first conflict, they used an enchanted item which produced a bright flash of light. I thought it was odd, as I had heard there were few Enchanters in this part of the world.”

Maiz had forgotten about that, though Juya was right--the portal outposts around Corunti and the ancient golems in the capital were the work of Enchanters from a very few families made up of Western immigrants. It was why Maiz’s bracelet, powerful as it was, was also so unique, and why almost no one in the area used enchanted weapons.

“Yes, there is far too much enchanted equipment circulating around this army, and much of it is… well, let us not worry about that.”

Maiz whipped his head around. The gray haired Adept from his first battle with the invaders was standing at the entrance, smiling. “ I am very impressed you five managed to bring down an Adept without a single loss--I received word of the danger and rushed here as quickly as I could, but there were similar issues in another battles as well. You have a defensive specialist with you as well as a healer, so I had hoped you could hold out.”

The man continued to smile, but he as looking at Lila with a hint of relief in his eyes. “I am glad you are all well. Now then, why don’t we head back to the Temple, and I can brief you all on the new battle plans?”