Max had had a surprisingly fun time in the central area, but he was glad to be heading back to Summoner Academy now. All of the packages he'd bought were still wrapped. Opening them all and flashing that amount of wealth in public probably would not have been a smart idea.

After he’d met up with Lance again, his friend had made a fuss over how much Max had bought. Belle had done a good job hiding it, but Max could see a tiny flash of jealousy in her eyes. He still wasn't sure how he felt about her, so he decided to merely keep an eye on her for the time being.

Max congratulated himself for deciding not to open any packages, not to hand out any presents. If Belle had seen Max hand Lance a fortune, it could introduce complications into their brand new relationship that they were not ready for. Of course, it could be that Max was just being paranoid again, but either way, he was glad that all of the gifts he'd bought were still safely wrapped up.

If Lance and Belle broke up, he didn’t want to be the one responsible for it.

He’d had such a fun time, he’d almost begun to believe that nothing would go wrong.

The attack came when the group was nearing the mall, getting closer to the Summoner Academy gates. One minute everything was the same as it had been the rest of the day, with small groups of students walking around. The next minute, Max knew something was wrong. He tensed, about to act, but stopped when the golems began to move. One of them zoomed above him, covering him in shadow, blocking more than one spear that had been thrown at the same time. A moment later, the second golem took its place to one side of the group, and the last golem situated itself on the other side.

Belle screamed and Lance grunted in surprise. Momo crouched with a knife in her hand, trying to watch every direction at once. Most of the uninvolved students were already running away.

The golem that had just blocked the spears aimed for Max said in its artificial voice, "Please hurry to your destination. This location is no longer safe."

Max's old sword was in his hand and he wished he’d already put on his new sword, the Blackmist Incident. He'd sensed the attack and had barely been prepared for it in time, but he was grateful for the golems all the same. While able to protect himself, there was a possibility that Momo, Lance, or Belle could have been caught up in some collateral damage.

Unlike the fancier spears that Max had seen Mystic Spear Path fighters throw in the past, the missiles that the golems had blocked did not return to their owners. Most got shattered by the golems’ stomping feet, but a few lay on the ground where Max could get a better look at them. They weren't much better than just a dowel and a plain iron spearhead. When Max had been causing trouble in the Mystic Spear Path Academy, he'd seen many cheap spears like this. These had obviously not been meant as more than throwaway weapons.

Of course, enhanced by Mystic Spearman, he was sure they would still be plenty deadly.

The people around his group on the street were still reacting quickly to the violence. Most had already run away to take cover but a few were quickly scanning the area to understand the situation, similar to what Max was doing. Curiously, there were very few screams or sounds of panic like there would have been on Earth, but that made sense considering most everyone walking around was likely a Challenger—a warrior in the making, someone who had killed a monster to even be invited to the Quartet in the first place.

Suddenly, about ten people dressed in black with face masks jumped down from a distant rooftop and ran at Max's group. All of them had a spear in both hands. They split, with half going one way and half trying to flank around. Max could quickly see what they were after and also understood why the golems had already preemptively taken a position on either side.

Leaving the protection of the surrounding golems would not be smart. But none of the golems were counterattacking, either. Max was sure they had ranged weapons.

Several things ran through Max's mind at once. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Golems, are you allowed to take action against attacking students?"

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The golem to Max's left, apparently affiliated with the Mystic Spear Path Academy since it was carrying a giant stone spear, answered, "We may not kill students."

Max growled, "Then what the hell good are you for?"

The same golem answered, "We must protect our charges, and if attacked, we must incapacitate and impose demerits on the aggressing party."

“Can you at least tell us the identities of those attacking us!? They have masks on.”

“We cannot unless they are incapacitated and their coverings removed.”

Max watched the ambushers continue trying to flank and face-palmed. "Just fucking great," he said. "Lance, Bell, Momo, get moving." He suited action to words by jogging forward. The three golems began to keep pace, and the Mystic Spear Path attackers hissed something at each other in code. More flew in, slamming into two golems’ blocking arms. The missiles impacted with ferocious energy, thrown with superhuman strength and precious, charged with destructive energies.

"Man, these guys really want you dead," panted Lance.

"Tell me about it," said Max. He was weighing the pros and cons of getting directly involved. If he left the protection of the golems, he could definitely kill some of the attackers… He decided against it again. This attack by the spearman felt too much like a suicide mission. In fact, Max suspected that every weapon the attackers were carrying was just a cheap throwing spear like they'd already used before. It was likely that they'd all put their money and other, serious gear in safekeeping so if they were killed during this attempted murder, they wouldn’t lose anything important. At least that's what Max would have done, and he wasn't willing to assume that his enemies were stupid.

It was also reasonable to assume they had a plan in place in case Max closed with them.

Hiding his new Path was already a pain in the ass. It would be relatively easy for him to throw a handful of beads and obliterate all of them. But doing so would basically be announcing to the world his capabilities without really getting much reward from it.

He stayed with his little group as they ran toward the safety of the Summoner academy. Max watched his attackers carefully, even telling the golems when to speed up or slow down. After the initial ambush, Max had gotten a good idea of how well the golems could block attacks, which luckily was actually quite good.

As his group got closer to the Summoner gate, Max had a quick conversation with Saliron. If I put one of your subordinate spirits in the bones of each person attacking us, would you be able to eavesdrop on them or get any kind of information that way?

The dark spirit responded, You would be able to identify them by the presence of the spirits later, but they cannot spy for you. They are connoisseurs of bones, nothing more.

And they can’t actually eat those bones unless I make contact first, right?

Correct.

I thought that might be the case, said Max. Then he instructed, "Saliron, please have one of your spirits enter the bones of each of our attackers right now."

With pleasure. The dark spirit laughed.

Max counted a total of nine ambushers. Despite their masks, he could tell they were frustrated. The moment Saliron’s spirits entered their bones, Max could sense them now. From this point on, even if they were concealing their identities, Max would easily be able to recognize them if he encountered them again.

The would-be assassins threw their spears again before Max and his group were a hundred yards from the Summoner Academy gate. Max had anticipated the attack. He'd carefully placed himself in a position that made hitting him even more problematic. Only one of the attackers actually targeted any of Max's friends, but that spear was blocked the same as the others.

When Max had first been told he'd have three golem nannies, he hadn't been too happy about it. But right now, he was grateful for the bodyguards. With his current level of power, he was currently sure that he'd be able to kill some of the assassins, but he didn't think he would have been able to protect his friends. There was also no way he’d be able to kill all of his enemies without revealing his third Path.

As his group got within spitting distance of the Summoner Academy gates, the ambushers attempted one more attack. The golems blocked all but one spear, and Max managed to cut it out of the air. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Every fiber of his being wanted to retaliate. Max made a mental note to get some new ranged weapons in the future if he hadn't revealed his three-Path nature yet.

As Max, Lance, and their dates crossed through the Summoner Academy gates, the Mystic Spear Path attackers turned and fled. One screamed, "You're still dead, Max Cunningham!"

Lance stood tall and gave the retreating group the finger with a smirk. At least two attackers had turned back to look before vanishing. Max groaned. All of the aggressors had mostly just been going after Max. If they also began intentionally attacking Lance, it would make his life more difficult. But he couldn't begrudge his friend for talking some trash to assholes that had just tried to murder him again.

"Well, that was exciting," said Max. He gave the group an exaggerated grin. “Anyone hurt?”

“I don’t thinks so,” replied Belle. She was checking herself as she spoke.

"Is it always like this with you?" Momo asked.

"Pretty much," said Lance.