Shit, Albatos thought to himself.
That was, in essence, what their situation was. If you looked at the simple variables, they had a five-on-five matchup in the room. If they had been ordinary warriors that wouldn't be so concerning in and of itself, but Albatos knew their foe wasn't enough of a fool to believe that he himself would be the only sorcerer he needed. In all likelihood at least three or maybe all of the extras he brought along were also sorcerers.
Albatos knew from experience that battles between sorcerers were unimaginably more complex than two people simply slugging or slashing it out. So adding more sorcerers into the mix only served to amplify the complexity, and once you had more than four total the amount of complexity increased exponentially, to the point where the battle became such a clusterfuck survival was based more on luck than any sort of skill. He'd heard of a situation where seven domains were expanded on top of each other and the conflicting projection conditions resulted in the instant deaths of all seven sorcerers.
The worst part of their situation though was how horridly unprepared they were for this encounter. While the enemy was fully armed and ready they were completely weaponless, burdened by a civilian, and caught by surprise by the intrusion.
I didn't expect this damn fool of a noble would be so completely witless as to think she was immune to this conflict that she willingly brought into her home, that she would allocate her own personal guard to protect the city instead of herself. A decision so ill-advised and foolish that not only did it leave her and us completely defenseless, but by the sound of those bells it seems to have been completely in vain.
Albatos could only assume that the crash they heard was where the beast boy was. He highly doubted these people would care enough to target any of the servants.
"I must go," Annora said softly into his ear.
"What?" Albatos hissed back furiously.
"If they've gone after Orelio they've likely gone after my husband as well," She said, eyes still fixed on Lleig, who gave a small sardonic grin at her. "Besides, I must extricate my sister from this mess."
"I'd like to remind you that you are under contract, and this is insubordination in the extreme. Do not forget our objective here."
"Sorry, boss. Family trumps duty, I'm afraid," And with that she grabbed a startled Andora and dashed toward the wall on their right, breaking through it and continuing on. Her husband wasn't far behind, leaving Stein and Albatos behind on their own. Lleig looked at two of his companions and gave a flick of his head and a sharp whistle. The two dashed back out the front door and made off in pursuit of the dwarven trio.
Great, now it's three on two. Fucking wonderful.
In all honesty, Albatos hadn't expected any of Lleig's entourage to follow them, but he understood the logic. If Lleig freely let them leave the Area he had established they could act as ranged fire support and greatly increase Albatos and Stein's chances. It also made sense for him to have sent a man after Bodelee at the workshop too, as if he or any of the others returned with their equipment it would turn the odds in their favor.
Just as Albatos was about to think to himself that they were soundly fucked, footsteps echoed down the hall, followed by the figure of a slim animal-eared man. Dust stuck to every inch of him and he wielded an ordinary longsword in his right hand. Albatos couldn't help but notice the cut on his arm, a light trail of blood flowing down over his dust-covered arm, and his left hand seeming slightly off.
Orelio looked toward the hole in the wall Andora had created and almost seemed to want to follow, but stalked over to stand next to them after a moment. Stein had talked about how when he'd first met Orelio in combat it was like he'd been staring down a predator, completely different in attitude to how he normally acted. Albatos saw now what Stein had meant and more. The youth's face was one of absolute focus, and his eyes betrayed a hint of rage that his composed demeanor hid.
"Tsk, talk about false advertising. After that man talked himself up the way he did I had hoped he'd be worth half a damn in a fight," Lleig said, eyeing Orelio's appearance.
None of them bothered to make any response, all eyes focused on their enemy, waiting for the first move. As they waited in the moments between heartbeats Albatos studied each of their opponents.
Lleig was flanked by one ally on the left and the right, one a stocky dwarf with braids in his beard and a halberd in his hands, what looked like an adventurer's pack across his back. The other a lithe dark-skinned human woman with a one-sided dwarven cleaver sword leaned against her shoulder and a bow strapped to her back.
Now that's an interesting choice of weapon. Why use a bow when a gun would suffice? No doubt it's meant to be used to satisfy a projection's condition, but will it be an internal or domain projection? Regardless, their weapon types give a clear tell of what style of fighting they prefer.
In Albatos' opinion, there were generally six styles of fighters you could encounter. Warriors and mages were a given, with battlemages being the unification of the two specialties. Sorcerers could similarly be defined as such, but with far more variation in their individual categories. Some used projections to enhance or supplement their physical capabilities or give themselves an edge, Stein, Orelio, and Lleig were present examples of enhanced warriors. Others like himself used projections to further boost their magical abilities, like himself. And finally, there were those with projections so unusual they couldn't hope to be categorized, he called those uniques.
If he was honest with himself enhanced mages were by far the weakest of the sorcerer groups, because their talents could be easily canceled out with an Area. That made him the weak link in their group, and almost certainly the first target.
"Domain Expansion," Lleig made the first move, opening his arms as though to embrace the world, "Sense."
Albatos felt the nature of Lleig's sphere of influence change slightly, but didn't feel the anticipated pain of Orelio's cut or busted hand. Stein had said Lleig used sensory overload by sharing the sensation of pain between every person encompassed in his domain as his means to overwhelm his victims. Based on the lack of shared pain and the different incantation Albatos assumed this to be a separate projection, one that allowed him to focus all that shared pain on himself.
He's an experienced sadist through and through.
Pain was a bother, but like every other bodily sensation it could be acclimated to. If you experience something long enough the mind automatically starts to filter it out, which means if Lleig simply left 'Sync' up everyone else would gradually adapt or even overcome the added burden.
It's likely also a bothersome projection in a group fight like this. In a situation he has complete control he can fully expect and predict the additional incoming sensations, but on a stage with multiple participants there will be things entirely outside his control, putting him at risk as well. He'll wait until just the right moment to deploy his ace… but we'll be doing the same.
Stein fell into the stance that activated his projection and Orelio… did nothing. He continued staring straight ahead, waiting for the true opening move. Albatos wasn't the only one confused as to why Orelio wasn't activating his projection, he saw the sliver of a frown on Stein's face.
"Domain Expansion," The dark-skinned woman intoned next, "Inner World." Albatos felt the domain overlap Lleig's and watched as waist-high prairie grass seemed to cover the full expanse of every visible grounded surface he could see. He glanced behind him and saw the stuff extended all the way up the stairs and onto the second floor as well. By the time he glanced back toward the enemy the woman was already gone, disappeared into the swaying grass.
Now that's unique. A stealth type ranger then? No doubt this person has spent a great deal of time hunting to develop an inner world such as this. Let's try…
"Domain Expansion, Inner World," Abatos intoned, forcing a clash between the two juxtaposed worlds. He made a, "Tsk," as his was almost immediately crushed.
Still worth a try, even if the outcome was obvious.
Albatos rescinded his domain as soon as the Inner World collapsed, not seeing any point in maintaining a domain that gave no practical benefits. Albatos' Inner World, which took the form of a stale and dusty old library, was about median strength in its conceptual soundness, but he found it to rarely be of any help against someone who actually employed Inner World as a means of offense.
It was interesting, he thought, that those with a tumultuous past tended to excel in the use of Inner World. The way that Inner World could take the scars seared upon one's soul and manifest them as a weapon seemed both a boon and a curse. That wasn't always the case, as with this woman. He highly doubted there was some deeper meaning behind this Inner World, just the culmination of a lifetime of predating for survival.
As Albatos deliberated whether it would be more advantageous to search for the woman among the grass or join a joint assault, Orelio made the first move. Orelio dashed towards Lleig before bringing down his sword and sounding the clash of steel across the room. Stein too dashed towards the opposite opponent, the dwarf.
So Orelio tagged Lleig as being the more dangerous opponent. The boy has a good eye for this kind of stuff so I'll have to trust his judgment.
Orelio and Lleig engaged in a furious melee, neither seeming to have the advantage. Lleig had the motions of a well trained swordsman while Orelio swung his around like a barbarian. The boy was a spearman and his lack of training with the blade was showing, but his raw talent and agility allowed him to dominate the fight as Lleig was forced to relentless attacks.
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Stein and the dwarf was completely different, with Stein being on the defensive and dodging attack after attack. The halberdier handily kept Stein at a range while he attacked, giving Stein no openings to exploit and close the distance.
Both fights seemed in a stalemate, but Albatos knew it couldn't last and he couldn't predict which combatant would emerge victorious in either engagement. Worst of all was the ever-present threat of the hidden archer.
Albatos could throw himself into either of the melees and help give his comrades the advantage, but that would leave the archer free to exploit any opening any of them left. He could hunt the archer, but without a guarantee he could find the woman that course of action could result in him doing nothing but floundering around as the hunter picked off both Stein and Orelio.
I could… no. Maybe… no. I… no. Fuck, the possibilities in this cramped room are too damn narrow!
Gritting his teeth in anger at the pathetically small number of viable options available to him, he makes a mad dash around Orelio and Lleig toward the doorway. Before he ran through the gateway he yelled out, "Outside!" as Lleig simultaneously screamed, "The mage!"
Before he could cross the threshold an arrow split the grass on the second floor overlooking the foyer. Before Albatos could perceive that the projectile had been launched the shaft was embedded in his torso. He felt the pain blossom in his chest but kept running out into the haze.
He immediately sidestepped left once out the doors to break line of sight with the archer and took a deep breath as he looked down at the tip of the arrow protruding out his chest. By the fact that he didn't feel as though he had any trouble breathing it seemed as though the arrow had struck south of the lungs. Though the archer had missed both the lungs and heart, the taste of iron in his mouth told him the archer had hit something, most likely the stomach.
With a scowl, he broke off the shaft protruding out his chest but didn't bother pulling it out completely. Stomach wounds were messy, even more so if they were open and exposed. He continued his dash across the lawn trying to ignore the shortness of breath that came from the pain.
Heh. So the archer follows the commands of the leader. Something tells me she wasn't originally aiming for me or she wouldn't have missed my vitals. Most likely Lleig told her in advance to off the kid as soon as possible. The fact he changed strategy mid-battle means he recognizes the threat I could pose if I can escape the bounds of this Area infused domain.
That archer was certainly a formidable form of fire support, but it was nothing compared to the havoc a combat mage can wreak if left unchecked.
Now that he'd escaped the confines of the manor Albatos could very clearly perceive the bounds of both Lleig and the archer's domains. He took rough estimates of the diameter of both domains based on the edges he could see and the positions of the casters. Information was an incredibly potent weapon, and Albatos was very skilled at gathering it on the fly.
Albatos glanced back and saw Lleig chasing him outside, Orelio hot on his heels. A crash from within the manor indicated Stein had chosen the Annora method.
Looking forward Albatos saw what he truly sought by going outside. Beside the gate were two slain guards, their swords not even drawn from their sheathes. He ran up and knelt beside the corpses as he heard another clash of steel as Orelio caught up to Lleig. Albatos was sure Lleig could have kept avoiding him, but it seemed the man didn't seem to consider the prospect of them arming themselves as being as bad of an outcome as a loose mage.
Albatos finished drawing both the swords off the belts of the dead men as he heard a second crash that signaled Stein breaking free from the interior as he was pursued by the dwarf, who wasn't keeping up nearly as well as Orelio kept up with Lleig. Albatos started running toward the youth, hoping that their transition to outside bought them at least a little time while the archer was no doubt forced to reposition.
Seeing the blades in Albatos' hands, Stein immediately understood the intent and changed course slightly so they'd meet. As their paths intersected Albatos passed one of the blades into Stein's hand and kept running past. Stein did a 180 once the sword was in his hand and he met the dwarf head on, blocking and parrying attacks from the halberd instead of just dodging.
Albatos circled around the dwarf and attempted to flank the stout halberdier, but the dwarf saw him coming and chose to retreat slightly back into the hole Stein created in the outer wall of the manor. There he took up a defensive stance that Albatos could immediately see they wouldn't be able to safely work around within the short amount of time before the archer was ready to fire again.
Albatos knew instinctively that if they were to win this they needed to have all their opponents in the open, where they could be readily struck at. Having one take a defensive position like the dwarf had done was highly disadvantageous because if one of them decided to contest that position they would give the archer a perfect opportunity for a kill shot.
The dwarf didn't feel pressured enough to be forced into that position by the kid alone, so let's…
Albatos gave a small tug on Stein's shirt before dashing away toward Lleig and Orelio. Stein read his intent and followed suit. As expected, the dwarf responded to their movement by giving chase, abandoning the defensive position he'd taken up. Albatos made a hand signal to Stein who nodded and turned back to once again face the dwarf.
From what he'd seen, the dwarf didn't seem to be a sorcerer, merely a battlemage. Given Stein's extensive training and the advantage of a projection to boot, Albatos didn't foresee any issues with the kid engaging the dwarf alone now that he was armed.
Albatos struggled more and more with the arrow lodged in his chest as the battle wore on. He knew it wasn't a good sign, as such a wound would drastically increase the effectiveness of Lleig's 'Sync' once he decided to employ it. He knew he wouldn't be much help to Orelio, but from what he knew of Lleig Albatos thought it much less likely the man would behave like a dwarf. No, the man would stand his ground and bite back most likely.
Still, I don't know how to turn this situation around fast enough. Even if we can deal with Lleig and the dwarf fine on their own, we can't do it fast enough to prevent that archer from taking another shot. Their victory condition is far easier to achieve than ours. If that archer can land one good shot on the kid then they can simply pull out and fuck off, no extra work needed. I need to think of some way to prevent that, but inside an Area there's about fuck all I can actually do. I could make a break for the outer edge of the domains again, drawing the fire towards myself, but I highly doubt I'll be so lucky again.
However, before Albatos could make a choice events started happening that he couldn't anticipate.
"Domain Expansion, Double Up," Orelio intoned as he angled his sword down and rested his busted left hand along the edge near the end of the blade, drawing blood that dripped down his fingers. Albatos felt himself be encompassed in a third overlapping domain.
Albatos heard the snap of the bowstring and the ding of the arrow being reflected off steel simultaneously, but Orelio had seen and even anticipated it long before him. The archer had taken a shot at Orelio, who had somehow anticipated and moved to deflect the projectile with his blade in less than the space of a breath.
As Lleig attempted to step forward and take advantage of Orelio's distraction he seemed to step too far and throw himself off balance, swinging completely wide of Orelio's blurring figure as the beastkin dashed away at unbelievable speeds.
That boy's talent is truly staggering. Honestly, if a god hadn't been the one to directly point out the kid, I'd assume Orelio was the blessed one.
Through some astounding intuition Orelio had foreseen the approximate moment the archer would be ready to fire and chose that instant to deploy his domain, drawing the archer's fire upon himself and managing to use the conditions of his domain projection and his insane reflexes to deflect an arrow he couldn't predict the direction of.
Orelio's domain projection, much like Albatos' and Lleig's, relied upon the most basic method of employing the effect; applying it to everyone equally within the bounds of the domain. Orelio had chosen an effect he was intimately familiar with, increased speed. More specifically, Orelio's domain allowed every individual within to move at double their normal speed.
However, Orelio's actions went beyond deploying the domain at the perfect moment. Likely only Albatos understood the sublime slight of hand he'd played, and he finally understood why he hadn't bothered applying a projection onto himself earlier in the fight.
Albatos moved in on Lleig far faster than the build of a mage would suggest him being capable of, and Lleig found himself the surprised defender of a desperate assault from the mage.
Lleig was waiting for the right moment to put his domain into play for maximum shock value, but people who liked to hold aces up their sleeve often forgot others could do it too. Just as Lleig's domain needed to be acclimated to, so too did Orelio's. People used to combat grow comfortable with their body, familiar with how it moves and operates. When you force them to kick it into a higher gear when they're not ready for it they get tripped up, giving the caster or anyone else already used to the effect a significant advantage.
There were still differences in the methodology of the effects, of course. Orelio's projection gave an overwhelming initial advantage that could be adapted to reasonably quickly. If Lleig's projection was managed improperly it could come out weak, but under the right circumstances the effects could compound, leaving the intended opponent incapable of fighting back. Stein had been the unfortunate test case of this.
It was standard practice for sorcerers to keep their projections to themselves, thus forcing the enemy to figure out how to adapt on the spot. Albatos and Stein had the advantage of being able to train with Orelio for a month, they were both already comfortable moving at double speed, even if Albatos still wasn't great in a physical fight.
Knowing Lleig's projection in advance was an unbelievable stroke of luck for them in this fight as well. Even if they hadn't adapted to it yet simply knowing it was coming had helped them strategize and prepare for it.
Albatos dodged and weaved around Lleig, throwing out slashes and stabs to try to keep the man off balance. It's easier to learn how to swing faster than it is to adjust footwork to a new tempo, so Albatos circled around as he pressed the attack, continually forcing Lleig to shift his stance and pivot.
For some reason Albatos couldn't pinpoint, Lleig seemed strained. Of course, 'Sense' was still active, so he was presumably feeling the pain of everyone on the field, but so far as Albatos was aware nobody so far had suffered any truly debilitating injuries, though the arrow still sticking through his chest was reaching the point of agony as he continued. But from the way Stein had described the man's tolerance, that shouldn't have been any great hindrance.
After several seconds of this intense back and forth Albatos heard the crackling of fire and smelled fresh smoke.
Did the fire on the lower levels finally break through to the surface?
He glanced behind him and saw something he hadn't expected, but that instant of distraction was all it took for the more seasoned warrior to wrest back control and strike back.
In the instant Albatos moved to look back at Lleig, mind still occupied with what Orelio had done, Lleig brought down a slash aimed at his head. Albatos felt the searing explosion of pain down his face as the end of Lleig's blade carved a path along the right side of his face. The blade destroyed his eye and cut straight through his cheek, leaving blood and other fluid leaking from his wrecked eye to flow into his mouth freely.
In the instant Albatos thought he was about to die as Lleig prepared another swing, Orelio appeared in the space next to Lleig as though he'd teleported. Even as Lleig brought his sword up for an upward slash, Orelio brought his down with a speed defying common sense. Orelio's blade cleaved through Lleig's left arm, severing it without any resistance.
Albatos leaped away as far as he could as Orelio seemed to flash away again. Before Albatos could even land he heard a scream of rage and, "Sync!" He felt the nature of one of the domains change and felt piercing throughout his body. Worst was the mind numbing sensation of a ring of fire that permeated his left arm where Lleig's had been severed.
He collapsed amid a field of ash and fire before losing consciousness.