“Master Meyner! Master Meyner!”

Master Raezel Meyner, one of the only two master malsirs in Arkthur, was resting peacefully in her bed chambers. Being a master malsir in the royal army she had her own county outside of Arkthur, but unlike most of her compatriots she neither governed it nor lived there. She had a particular attachment to Arkthur and its people. Plus, she felt too young to be given the rank of Count. Of all the master malsirs in the Alden Empire she was the youngest. She wasn’t even just the youngest, she was almost 40 years younger than the average. She didn't let it get to her head though. She didn’t join the military for the glory or the money, she joined to get stronger and to help the less fortunate people of Arkthur. She was well on her way to accomplishing both.

Meyner’s School for the Gifted and Talented. Despite what the name would imply, the school Raezel opened up didn’t favor the gifted or the talented. In a purposely ironic twist, only underprivileged students were allowed admission. On top of that, students who were admitted weren’t charged any fees until they obtained steady jobs. It was an amazing school for the improvised and it brought Raezel much joy. So much joy, she sold her house in the nobles district and lived on campus.

“Rae!”

A man in a red and yellow, the official colors of Meyner's School, robe frantically burst into Raezel’s bed chamber.

“What is it Marcus?” Raezel spoke softly, her drowsiness apparent.

Marcus was a childhood friend of Raezel’s. They, and another friend named Lily, were inseparable. They had stuck with each other for decades.

Marcus rushed to Raezel’s wardrobe and quickly pulled out some armor, “Bandits! On the northern wall.”

Raezel snapped awake, “What?! North?” She grabbed the armor Marcus picked out and put it on immediately, “Have they gotten into the city?”

Marcus turned to face the door, “I don’t think so. The canons were firing when I rushed over.”

In truth, Arkthur had long been prepared for the day one of the bandit groups set their eyes on them. They had at least 600 soldiers stationed on the southern wall at all times. They weren’t the most elite soldiers, those were busy guarding the two central rings, but they should have been enough to handle any attempted assault. In having that many people stationed on one side of the wall the other sections were neglected. The northern side was especially.

“Where is Lily?”

Marcus responded immediately, “With the students. We’re moving them to our property in the district 5.”

Raezel frowned, “Then why are you here with me?”

“One of us needed to wake you.”

Raezel finished suiting up and headed for the door, “I mean why you. You’d be able to protect them much better than anyone there can.”

Marcus quickly followed after her, “Because I have a feeling you don’t plan on meeting up with them.”

Outside the door there were two malsirs, guards brought along by Marcus. From their barriers, Raezel reasoned they were at least professionals.

“I didn’t get stronger to hide behind taller walls.”

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Marcus smiled, “I know. That's why we’re coming with.”

Raezel didn’t try to argue, she knew there was no way around it, “Fine. Let's head to the garrison first. They’ll probably have a better understanding of what's going on.”

—————-

What the hell is happening here?

Marcus couldn’t believe his eyes. He had accompanied Raezel to protect her, but it was only really to protect her from herself. He didn’t think there were opponents that could be serious threats to her. She was a master, they didn’t have threats. Yet here she was, not only fighting a threat but losing to them.

She stretched out her hand and a huge ball of fire shot out immediately. It was about as tall as the average house and as wide as the average wingspan. She had started the fight refraining from using the most of her destructive power, but she could no longer afford that luxury. The bandit she was fighting was fast, incredibly fast. He had dodged almost everything she threw at him.

He dodged the fireball too and swiftly closed in on her again. Rae brought her hands towards her then sharply pushed them out, pushing a wave of fire outward. The bandit was pushed back, but not for long. The fires slowly dispersed as they got further away from Rae. Before the fires had even completely dispersed, the bandit jumped back at her. Rae let off a beam of heat energy when he was in between steps. He still somehow had the reflexes to move out the way, but he couldn’t dodge it completely. The beam didn’t burn through his barrier completely, but it was noticeably weaker in that area. The bandit stepped back, seemingly weighing his options. A few seconds later he abrupting punched the ground.

Huh?

The move confused Marcus, he clearly wasn’t a caster or an artisir. He couldn’t do anything with the earth below.

After punching the ground with one hand, the bandit reached down with his second hand. He lifted a two huge chunks of the road they were on and threw them at Rae. She in turn aimed both her arms at the incoming masses and shot out two fireballs. Marcus wanted desperately to intervene, but he held himself. He had to trust Rae.

The fireballs Rae shot out were smaller that the one she shot out before, but they did their jobs. In the aftermath of the two mini-explosions a mass of sand and dust clouded her line of sight. The bandit used it as a smokescreen and got in close. Rae had anticipated that however. She put her hands together and lit a blue flame. It looked miniscule, but when she faced her palms outward it caused a massive explosion. The force of it instantly cleared the dust and sand as well as most of the street immediately in front of her. The road, the sidewalk, the streetlights, even some of the houses by the road, they were all affected. Unfortunately, the bandit wasn’t. She had missed him, by the time the explosion went off he was already behind her. Fortunately, she was able to turn in time to dodge his first punch.

She didn’t waste any time, she spread a wave of fire around herself. The bandit retreated again. After moving back a safe distance he stood still. Marcus could see his lip moving, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying. He turned to look at Rae and winced a little. She was exhausted. The bandit hadn’t managed to do any damage to her, but he had succeeded in making her deplete her sahir reserves. The bandit suddenly dashed at her. Rae’s arms burst into flames in response.

She’s running out of sahir.

Rae only ever fought hand to hand when she was trying to save sahir. She wasn’t great at hand to hand combat, but that fact that her fires slowly melted away her opponent’s barriers helped. When the bandit got in range, Rae swung. She missed, but she was a combo fight not a heavy hitter. After the first punch, a flurry of others followed. They all missed their mark. The bandit’s punch however, didn’t.

Rae!

Marcus watched in shock and horror as the bandit punched right into Rae’s gut. She flew. Marcus couldn’t see how many buildings she went through, but it couldn’t have been less than ten. She was in a whole other district. Marcus wanted to rush over to her immediately, but he’d have to cross the street. That wasn’t a smart move. The bandit didn’t seem keen on continuing the fight with Rae and after what Marcus just saw the bandit do, he knew he wouldn’t survive being seen by him. He’d just have to wait for the ban—

“Oy! You guys over there.”

Marcus was stunned. He and the two guards he brought along were hiding on one of the houses on the side of the road. They watched the fight through windows.

He can’t be talking to us right? Right?!

“I know you’re there. If you don’t want to come out suit yourself, but you’re going to need to get to her. She’ll die if you leave her there.”

The bandit didn’t wait for a response. He left immediately after.