The three thugs who broke into the lower level ran straight into the main ground floor. And right into a veritable hail of magic.
The pair of bowguns on the other end of the room tapped into a modified wand, which instead of flying down range like a crossbow bolt, simply fired a magical bolt that flew towards the thugs. They couldn't appreciate the deftness with which the bowguns tracked their movements but they did know that there was no escape from the flurry of magical bolts that aimed unerringly at them however they tried to dance.
Upstairs, Landar laughed as she watched the action through the floor with her magic sense. "Attack me on a prepared ground?" she snorted, "without magic at all? I wonder what these people are thinking. "
She couldn't hear their curses but she could feel the bowguns swiveling towards the activated floor boards by the direction of the magical wands. Wherever they might set foot, the magical floors would sense it and her spell would aim the bowguns. The reservoir of magic Landar had woven into the walls and floors throughout the last few days would power the wands for more shots than they could tolerate.
"You see, I did learn from making the robot," Landar said to Cato, who was also watching. "Making the robot take a step was far more difficult than this," she continued. She frowned as a magical bolt missed a target trying to climb in through the alley side window. Hrm, were the hinges out of alignment already? She tweaked the magic a little, just a touch on the angle, and the next bolt sent the thug into a dream-less sleep of magical exhaustion.
"They don't stand a chance," Landar laughed harder as a thug tried to enter through the kitchen backdoor and one of the bowguns swiveled all the way around to fire straight through the walls at him. Or her. Landar couldn't know if she couldn't see them.
She ignored the sidelong look that Cato was giving her.
There was a series of explosions from below and she felt parts of the spell in the house die away. A pair of magical bolts had shot at the bowguns and destroyed them. From the explosions, that was probably a fireball.
Landar was quite flattered whoever it was had considered the two bowguns threatening enough to use that famous fire and pressure combo. Fireballs were inefficient and weak, for the amount of magic they needed to work, but they worked on just about anything. It meant they didn't know what to make of the bowguns and weren't going to risk getting shot.
The new intruders stepped into the trapped main room, a strong magical bubble grazing the top of her floor enchantment. Aw, they weren't going to be overly cautious and try to dispel her magical floor. Well, it was too much to hope they would waste magical power... unless she made them do it. After all, it was bad of them to assume she had made the floor solely for aiming purposes.
The three intruders got halfway across the room towards the stairs leading up when the magic underneath seemed to boil upwards. Each of the spells making up the enchantment of the walls and floors had been based ff the same idea that made the robot move, they could transfer signals and magical power to each other, and each of those individual arms-length squares could also be turned into a magical bomb at a mere signal.
They were, after all, just large flat squares of raw magic meant to feed the bowguns. Without the bowguns, Landar didn't have any use for them anymore.
The expanding clouds of raw disruptive magic from the floors near the bubble shield began to eat away at it rapidly. As if that wasn't enough, the squares right below where the trio were standing began to attack them directly.
Flashes of dispelling magic swept away the clouds, but not before it had cost the intruders their shield. As the magical barrier of the shield dropped, Landar choked in surprise.
A clear image of a long cylinder glowing with magic appeared in her magic sense, formerly concealed beneath the shield.
"What is that thing?"
"That's an iron staff," Landar answered Cato's query, "alchemy enchantments can only support a limited amount of magic based on volume, but certain materials, especially iron and steel, can support much more. That magical density you feel down there is only possible with iron. "
She could see him nodding to himself and turned her focus back to the three intruders. They were making their gingerly across the first floor, heading for the stairs up. The shield was back now and they were slowly dismantling all of the remaining sensor panels on the first floor.
Landar grinned, there was more yet to come.
----------------------------------------
The leading wizard drew more magic from the staff and smashed the enchantment on another wooden plank.
"Just how many of these things are there?" said the wizard.
"She had only a week!" wailed the battlemage, "how could she have enchanted this much of the house?"
"I still think we have enough magic to get to her. The question is whether we have enough to fight her afterwards. " The archer at the back observed, gazing up at their dome of magical disruption centered on the wizard's staff. It was convenient, having a magical shield, when entering the lair of a mad alchemist who didn't know that traps didn't work against a well-prepared team.
Only that her traps were so dense that clearing them was putting a serious drain on their magic. And the magical shield was also blocking their magic sense, so that they didn't realize they were walking into traps until the shield took hits or they got close enough for the trap to be under the shield.
"Those living bowguns were the worst though," the wizard said after they got into the back room. The stairs were there and all of them were fairly sure the target was staying on the second floor. No one in their right mind would live on a floor trapped to that extent.
"I'm not so sure though," the battlemage said. They fired their magic in unison at a cloud of magical disruption that boiled up to attack them from the stairs.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to make things aim like that?" the wizard protested, "maybe you think it's easy because you can shoot magic at things, but I did not detect her controlling the bowguns. Those spells were aiming themselves. "
"You're freaking out," the battlemage replied, "surely there must have been some trick behind it. Besides, the magical bolts didn't chase their targets. They just flew straight. "
"That's not what I'm worried-"
"Discuss it later!" the archer interrupted, pointing at the door at the top of the staircase, "are we going to talk about her impossibilities all night or are we going up the stairs?"
The trio looked at each other. Where the other Iris man had disappeared to was unknown but they had agreed not to interfere with each other. For now.
"Let me check the stairs," the wizard approached it and the bubble of magic around them shrank back into the staff.
The huge crushing weight of magic appeared around them again. Their path in was obvious by the way they had carved a line out of the magically active structure, but that line was small compared with the cloud of enchanted walls and doorways that glowed all over the building.
"Stairs are very much NOT clear," muttered the wizard. He took aim at the enchantment on the door at the top and fired a blast from the staff.
The magical blast bounced. It hit the door and somehow reversed direction.
"What in-" The disrupting blast burst on the hastily deployed shield amid surprised curses.
"What was that?!" the archer asked.
"A parlour trick," the wizard spat, "if I was just a bit slower, it would have even worked. The door hijacks all magical blasts and reverses their directions. I got careless and thought all the enchants were the same bomb types, just by keeping my connection to the spell, I could have prevented that. "
"Doesn't everyone keep their connection?" the battlemage asked.
"We're not all like you," the wizard snapped back, "And I already know my own mistake. "
He leveled the staff at the door and blew away the enchantment. Behind it, a wall of magical mist that came rolling down the stairs. It had been trapped behind the door and was now silently pouring down the steps in a eerie green glow.
"Miasma?!"
"How can that be here?"
That was the last straw and the mercenaries ran away, there were just too many traps here to deal with. The screams faded away as the stairs were vacated once again.
The greenish glow faded slowly, leaving only a few wisps of white pooling on the landing.
----------------------------------------
"How did you make Miasma?" Cato asked Landar, as the yells echoed into the night.
"It's fake," she grinned back, "I used Mist here, with a layer of liquid Light. I just tuned it to look green. No one can make Miasma, the people who try have a tendency to end up dead. But I suppose I showed them enough unusual things they might have thought I could do it. "
She looked at the retreating glow of the iron staff, "well, I guess being known as the Mad Alchemist helped too. "
Not for the first time, Cato thought that the nickname was quite well deserved.
"You can make Light emit a certain colour?" Cato asked. He decided to focus on a nice safe question.
"Yeah, it's possible. And if you keep liquid Light in a very dark place, it won't disappear so quickly. It doesn't make light if you don't shine any light on it, so the magic doesn't get spent. "
Huh.
"So is that the last of them?" Cato asked after a few more moments of silence.
"Yeah, it is-"
There was a loud crash from below. A large magical flare below appeared, then concentrated into a thin plane. The plane swung outwards in an arc, smashing aside walls, both the magical ones and not.
"No, apparently not," Landar said, frowning.
"Is there something wrong?"
"That's not a mercenary," Landar muttered, "someone powerful enough to create a spell that strong? And a spell as sharply focused as that?" She shook her head, "That's a summoner. Probably my father sent them, and gave them a sword stone too. "
"Is that the Minor Phantom I heard about in Wendy's Fort?"
"It's one of the types," Landar said, looking down at the plane of magic swinging around.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
She shook her head again, "the traps aren't going to work against someone like that, I'll have to go fight him directly. At least Iris won't want my head, only my freedom. "
Or wait for him to come. There was another swing and crash as the magical blade demolished the door at the top of the stairs and a rough stocky man stepped onto the second floor landing where Landar and Cato had planted themselves.
"Your father wants you to return, Landar," the man said as they looked at each other, "it's not safe here. "
"Who do you think is making it unsafe for me?" Landar spat acidly. She gestured at the mess of wood splinters the man's orbiting blade had made of the house.
"Those petty tricks you use," the man began, "they work against useless people like Corbin's mercenaries but not if she's serious about trying to kill you. Come with me, Iris will protect you. " He nodded at Cato, "of course, your companion is welcome too. Although you'll have to give up on the relationship to get a proper marriage. "
Landar managed to laugh and glare at him at the same time. "What? We're not involved like that," she laughed bitterly, "and I see that my father still thinks of me as a play piece in his little family games. I'm not going. Not unless you carry me back and chop my legs off to stop me running away. "
The man ground his teeth audibly and the blade of force swung down horizontally to knee height. "Even if it's your own family, to think you would insult the second branch like that.... perhaps what you say is just what you need to learn how to behave. "
Landar responded by glowing in magic sight, in more power than Cato had ever seen her use. It coalesced into a dense ball in front of her, a turbulent wildfire facing off against the laser-sharp fineness of the blade summon.
They stared at each other for a while, magic building into a crescendo of raw power enough to level the building. Then the blade shot forward to collide with Landar's ball, grinding and churning in a contest of strength, magic flaring and ebbing like tides.
This was not the same way the knights gave battle, not the darting stinging blows and sudden hails of destructive bolts that Cato had seen at Wendy's Fort. This battle between two Iris was more like two sledgehammers, wielded by eggshells. Considering how little power it took to throw deadly crossbow bolts, the two globs of magic were strong enough to snap a person in half. And grind the remainder into powder.
The two balls sprang apart, gashes and wounds healing over into calm smoothness. The Iris man's blade had been deformed into a shapeless lump but grew back into the familiar sharp edge again. Looking at them try to gauge each other's remaining strength, Cato thought Landar might have come off worse. She was already breathing hard even though her ball of magic was still strong. They stared at each other, tension coiling like a snake waiting to strike.
The second round was interrupted by the sound of Reki footfalls in the street. The pounding of feet and voices surrounding the front of the house drifted up through the window, drawing their attention.
Both of them were too busy watching each other so Cato decided to take a look.
"Um, there's a lot of people outside with torches," Cato described it. The people were wearing armour too.
"The local knights," Landar said triumphantly, "give it up. You can't make me come with you. Not with the order of knights here. "
"Are you sure they're here to rescue you?" the man asked, "Perhaps Corbin paid them too. "
Landar suddenly looked less sure.
The man sighed and drew something out from his pocket, "my first duty was to make sure you're safe. Even if your power is lacking for a second branch, you should still be able to handle this. " He tossed a small green crystal at her.
Landar caught it and gasped, "Phalanx is Major Phantom! My father actually gave this to you?"
"He expects it back," the man said dryly, "it would be beyond embarrassment if you stole another summoning stone. "
Landar snorted and her ball of magic seemed to drain into the stone and out the other side. Raw power fed into the stone in one direction and a dizzyingly complex network of magical lines and power came out the other, filling out the ghostly shape of a curved shield. Then before it reached the eye watering magical density of the man's blade, another shield began to form.
Somehow, Cato could still see the lines connecting the shields to the rough green stone in Landar's hand. Magic flowed up and down the lines, balancing power between the shields and coordinating them to form a ring around Landar. The shields didn't seem to care that some of them clipped through walls, even though they had a misty look that made them physically visible.
Cato reached out and poked the shield at Landar's back. It felt solid and his finger didn't get very far in. He quickly drew back, the magic in the shield was eating into his lifeforce and while it didn't feel like anything, Cato wasn't about to risk any damage.
"Just keep in mind that the sword always beats the shield and we'll get through this just fine," the man said.
"I've handled a Ritual Phantom before you know," Landar remarked, "I'm not a little kid using a stone for the first time, thinking he's invincible. I'll give it back. "
"Then let's go meet them and see what they want. "
----------------------------------------
"Who goes there?"
"Chakim of Iris," said the Iris man as they stepped out of the house into the light drizzle and the circle of torchlight around the front door.
The circle of adventurers looked at each other. Cato could see how they were divided, each of the seven groups stood slightly apart from the rest, each group watching both Cato and the other groups. It wasn't quite distrust, they were not fighting each other, but they weren't used to working together. The large group of Rekis behind them in the street shuffled and snorted at their handlers, also divided into groups.
"There was a report of a disturbance in this house," said the leader, "the three of you are clearly involved. Explain what happened and what you were doing here. "
"You presume to question the Iris on our internal matters?" Chakim said, "and towards the daughter of the second branch herself?"
"We cannot overlook a fight of this scale," the leader stated flatly, "the order of knights will launch a full scale investigation. You will cooperate. "
"It is a strictly internal affair," Chakim growled, "Iris politics are not for you to question. "
"They are if it happens in Corbin town. "
"Then submit a protest to Iris but you will not detain us," Chakim said.
Chakim and the leader glared at each other. Landar glared at Chakim. And Cato looked around at the circle of adventurers, thinking that there was no way Chakim and Landar could fight them all if the leader of this group decided to start one.
The tension was climbing and Cato began to search for a convenient corner to hide in, perhaps behind Landar's crate of armour. Then the sound of heavy Reki footfalls broke the tension as people glanced towards the newcomers. There were a few shouts and the crowd of the adventurer's Rekis parted to let a small party of three enter the ring of torches.
"I am Arthur of Chancellor Minmay's household," the lead rider announced with a deep voice, "what is going on here?"
"Arthur sir!" the leader of the adventurers bowed hurriedly, "we received a report that a large fight has been going on in this house. We were just investigating these suspicious characters. "
Arthur looked over to Cato from his Reki and indicated for them to state their business.
Chakim opened his mouth hotly again but Landar cut him off with a wave of her hand. She stepped forward, "you are Chancellor Minmay's assistant, if I recall correctly. I am Landar, alchemist. What is your business here?"
Arthur looked at her sharply then hopped off his Reki. "You are Landar then?" he held onto the reins while examining the ghostly shields around her, "my business is with you. The chancellor is very pleased with your piece and wishes to commission another work. He extends his invitation to you to come to his residence to discuss the details. "
"Thank you for your kind praise," Landar said but didn't reply further.
She frowned and seemed to think for a while. Everyone else seemed to be watching her, which only made Cato confused.
"What's going on?" Cato whispered, coming up behind her.
"We need to make our decision now," Landar explained softly, "I think Chakim can get us away from here, even if we can't fight everyone. Arthur has Minmay's backing and he can override the local authorities. I don't think the order of knights in Corbin is truly listening to her, so my arbitration request should attract attention, enough to make things safer after this. But we may not be able to trust them?"
So the question was whether Minmay could be trusted enough to make him a better choice than going to Landar's family? Cato stepped around Landar, attracting their attention.
"Sir Arthur," he said, "our residence here in Corbin was attacked by thugs and then later by three mercenaries. They were almost certainly sent by Mayor Corbin who was very interested in detaining us for our services. What assurance can you give to say that Minmay will not do such a thing?"
There was a series of gasps and dumbfounded looks from the adventurers. Arthur and Chakim were staring at him as if Cato was an alien.
"What under the light of all Selna are you doing?" Landar whispered urgently.
"Why are they doing that?" Cato asked, watching them looking a little lost, "Did I just say something wrong?"
"You just accused Corbin of trying to kill us!"
"But she did do that, and those mercenaries are almost certainly hers too," Cato stated. There was another round of whispers.
Landar performed a very good imitation of a facepalm for the resident of another world. "She is a noble," Landar hissed, "you do not do these things!"
Oh. Hm, that might be a problem.
----------------------------------------
21st century experience meets feudal justice system...