“Hugan!”

The armored Warden raised a shield almost the length of his body, and set his feet with a resounding thud. Maiz tensed, but held himself back.

“Juya, head!”

The Journeyman Warrior Monk moved in to attack the snake’s hissing maw, brandishing her staff with expert skill. She didn’t move with quite the grace Maiz knew she was capable of, but then that wouldn’t have been interesting at all.

“Rajit, Maiz, head!”

Maiz sprang into motion, sensing more than seeing Rajit beside him. His Windblade coiled around his staff, and beneath the Color Tapestry, shadows pooled at his feet. As he closed with the monster and it made to snap at him, he loosened the grip of his right foot on the ground, turning smoothly and converting his momentum into pure rotation. His staff came up and…

Not too much.

He jerked his strike slightly to the side, taking a chunk out of the monster and letting Rajit get in a kick as it reared back. He was using Perfect Strike, so the attack landed swiftly and accurately, making a portion of the creature’s muscle go limp. Maiz took the opportunity to unleash the Blood Paralysis he’d been holding in reserve. He spread the magic out across a wide portion of its body, hoping he’d gauged the creature’s resistances right. Too little, and nothing would happen. Too much, and he might force obvious muscles cramps that would raise questions.

This was perfect however, and the monster slowed its undulations in a way that, while obvious to Maiz, wouldn’t be noticeable to the others as more than a reaction to their assault.

“Rajit, slow it down more. Maiz, be ready to finish that side!”

The huge snake’s head facing them was going in for another blow, but it went for Rajit instead of Maiz. That was probably due to Damper Aura, the very niche ability he kept active in the hopes that he would attract less attention from his allies, as well as potential enemies. It worked out well here, though it wasn’t a very powerful effect by itself. Maiz began forming a Flaming Strike. A few meters to the left, the snake’s other head hissed as Juya got in a solid hit with her staff. Maiz hadn’t been paying attention, but from the placement, it seemed like she’d used Illusion Strike.

“Watch--”

The cry would have come too late, if Maiz was only a Spellsword. The head he was engaged with had taken a snap at Rajit, and then jerked away as he aimed another kick at its jaw. Maiz saw the strike coming, and by reflex his back foot become slippery against the ground. He moved to push himself away, limbs under the influence of Fast Feet, but he stopped himself. Instead, as the head swung at him, he pretended to take a clumsy step to the side, Nightwalker aiding his move.

The head crashed into him, much of the force reduced by Maiz’s step, and he heard the bell ring in his ears. There was a clang from behind as Hugan took the blow on his raised shield, and Maiz let himself stumble before fixing his balance. Hs action coincided with a pained hiss from the snake.

“Rajit, move out! Maiz, go!”

Maiz dashed at the snake. It’s huge jaw was hanging unhinged, its body waving weakly about. He could see that it was already recovering, but the small opportunity was enough. Flaming Strike snapped into place, and he shoved his staff into the beast’s mouth.

He’d certainly had plenty of experience getting covered in monster gore, but it still wasn’t fun.

“Everyone, support for the other side!”

Finally, Adrian joined the fight as Rajit ran past Maiz. The three Warrior Monks began engaging the snake head slowly, carefully, and clearly without using Fast Feet. Occasionally Rajit--the lowest ranked of the three--took a hit which Hugan absorbed with a clang. Maiz moved around the back, not bothering to activate another Flaming Strike. He caught Adrian’s eye as the snake took a snap at Juya and Rajit landed a punch. They nodded at each other.

Unseen Assault was a perfect skill for Maiz. It increased the damage and speed of his attacks, and inflicted a heavy bleed on the opponent, so long as they weren't aware of him. The skill just looked as though he was attacking with his staff--only he could feel the extra power and agility in the blows, so he could use it freely.

It took only a few seconds to cut the snake to ribbons just behind its second head. Already slowed by the Warrior Monks, it had no chance to retaliate.

“Phew, that was a nightmare!” Rajit wiped his brow, though he didn’t seem so tired to Maiz.

“You are joking?” Juya smacked him with one hand. She also seemed unruffled by the experience.

“What? Taking that long to take down Coatza?” Rajit gave a mock shudder. “I felt like an Apprentice again.”

“You are still closer to Apprentice than Adept, Raj,” Adrian interrupted, deadpan. Maiz saw the smirk playing around the corners of his mouth, and let out a smile of his own.

“Thanks for the training,” he offered, as he came back around the head.

“Yeah!” Hugan clambered up to them. Maiz gave him a concerned look, but he seemed fine. Putting up Shield Stance and being ready to fight helped, then. Most of this had been an exercise for him, to practice using the new skill of his.

“Of course,” Adrian smiled at them. “I think this is working quite well now. Although Maiz,” he looked directly at Maiz as he continued, “if Hugan is able to guard you from a distance, I think you will do better fighting without a partner unless we need your help. You can focus on surprise attacks and individual targets, and Hugan can leave his ability up for you while he fights with us. That way, we will not have to worry about clearing the way for that big attack of yours.”

Maiz nodded, just managing to keep the excitement out of his face. This was perfect--with a bit of free reign and Damper Aura to keep his allies from examining him too closely, he could actually get some real fighting done! He’d been able to incorporate his abilities subtly into that fight, but that was still with him actively trying to hold back so Hugan could practice. He was eager to find out what he could do against real opponents now.

This particular Dungeon had actually surfaced above ground, into an alcove sheltered by a pair of rocks on either side--as they moved towards the rune-inscribed wall to the side, Maiz opened the flashing purple icon in his Notifications Sheet.

You have slain Coazca, Rank 30! +364 exp (150*2.8 knowledge modifier*.9 Shieldmate modifier)

You have achieved rank 34 in Nameless! You have unassigned attribute points (4/2000 to next rank)

You have improved Flaming Strike to rank 38! +10 exp (14/2000 to next rank)

You have improved Nightwalker to ranks 15-19! +25 exp (39/2000 to next rank)

You have improved Blood Paralysis to rank 14! +5 exp (44/2000 to next rank)

You have improved Damper Aura to ranks 5-7! +15 exp (59/2000 to next rank)

It took him a moment to get through all of the notifications. He’d used quite a few abilities in this fight--it was nice to see a Flaming Strike boost, as well as all of the other skills. Nightwalker and Blood Paralysis were beginning to approach the Apprentice ranks--he’d gained a big boost in Nightwalker, which meant his understanding of the skill was currently outpacing its rank. But he had a feeling he needed to do something… more before he got to Apprentice in the skill.

The rank up was certainly the best part of the list. With the experience requirements becoming so high, it had taken him much longer to get through these later ranks than the earlier ones--though fighting the two Journeymen the previous day had been worth a full rank, almost two. He’d gained boosted experience for that fight, for fighting humans ranked higher than he was. Now he knew why the Adepts didn’t just deal with these parties on their own. Training the next generation of fighters would end up serving them better than taking paltry experience for themselves.

Hugan’s Shieldmate had also impacted his experience gain then, but he didn’t mind. His friend certainly needed to rank up quickly as well, and if Maiz could help him get there, all the better. He opened his Name Sheet, and allocated his points. He put two into Strength and three in Dexterity, to round out his physical attributes, then looked at the entire summation.

Maiz-Spellsword (Rank 34)

Title Status-Hidden (Default)

View Bonus Titles

Title Options Available

Health-280/280

Mana-390/390 (+ 3.5 pts/second)

Stamina: 350/350 (+ 3.5 pts/second)

Attributes:

Age

16

Constitution

28

Intelligence

39

Wisdom

35

Strength

35

Dexterity

35

Agility

35

Charisma

26

Luck

14

View Skills

View Spells

Maiz grinned to himself, as they returned to the Path. It was gratifying to see just how far his attributes had gone. He almost focused on the prompts to view his skills and spells--they had appeared when he’d hit ten in each category--but he already knew the ones he cared about. He was reaching the point where he’d have to avoid showing off his physical attributes too much in battle, but hopefully Damper Aura would help with that.

Hm. It seemed as though he was banking quite a bit on that spell. He opened its description.

Damper Aura (Heartshaper): Emotional responses to the user’s actions are significantly dampened, rendering them less interesting to all observers in range. Beings that mentally focus on the user may be able to pierce the effect based on their Intelligence and the user’s Charisma.

Rank: 7

Cost: .7 mana per second

Effect: Emotional responses to the user are dampened in a maximum radius of 7 meters. Focused individuals may pierce the effect if their Intelligence is 1.07*(the user’s Charisma).

Maiz grimaced. It was a bit of a thin string to hang his identity on. But then, he was working on a contingency for that. And perhaps… he was already at rank 34--once he hit 35, he would need to complete the Journeyman feat for Nameless, a task he hadn’t been putting enough effort into yet. He’d been focused on Apprentice, and then on getting a handle on his new abilities. He thought back to what Riala had told him, more than a month ago.

“Those feats are all about you wearing other skins--using different titles. For Apprentice, you have to do the Apprentice feats for a Common, Rare, and Epic title. Easy, right? Journeyman, you have to show insight into your masks. Make an ability out of at least three different titles’ capabilities. That’s normally an Adept-level thing, but hey--you’re a God-Chosen!”

Maiz had started thinking about what ability to make. His first thought had been some sort of tool for improving his senses. Then he’d found Thousand Eyes, one of the three divination abilities he’d learned, and realized that there was no chance of him using anything even just that complex in actual battle for a while. He’d considered a better attack of some kind, or a defense to augment Fast Feet, but those both seemed a bit… obsolete. He had more attacks than he knew what to do with, as well as Stormcloak and Shield Stance--Aeromancer and Warden abilities--for defensive backup. Now, he had something to focus his efforts on: an ability to make him truly invisible in plain sight, not just ‘less interesting.’

They took a crack at the Journeyman portion together, but Hugan and Maiz fell out at a challenge where stone pillars came dashing down at random intervals across the room, in which the floor was designed to wobble at every impact. Hugan blocked exactly one pillar before he caught another unprotected and was sent back. Maiz probably could have kept going slightly farther, but he didn’t want to show of his Agility and Dexterity to the Warrior Monks. He purposefully took a hit on an arm while diving out of the way of another pillar, and blinked as he reappeared back at the beginning of the entrance. He expected to be alone--Hugan still hadn’t managed to get to the Novice Dungeons without help, and he’d been dogged about pursuing that goal--but when he looked around, there was his friend, grinning as usual and holding a dented shield.

His other hand was on the shoulder of a girl wearing a white tunic. Her hair had grown out a little, and she apparently hadn't gotten the time to cut it yet. Every inch of her exposed skin was bruised, so that she almost looked like purple was her natural skin color. Maiz hardly would have recognized her except for her clear gray eyes.

“Holy hells Lila, are you alright?”

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and a kick was flashing at him in an instant. Oww.

“I’m fine.” Her words were clipped, annoyed, but Maiz could hear a hint of… something behind them. Bashfulness? “My mother gave me the first round of beatings right after I woke up. I’ll get healed tonight so she can do it again tomorrow.”

Her eyes dared Maiz, then Hugan, to say something.

“Darn, I’m sorry Lila! That doesn’t seem fair,” Hugan sounded truly sympathetic, but also like he’d experienced something similar before. Wasn’t his mother a guardswoman? Maybe he had.

Lila lifted her knee up sharply--on reflex, it seemed--but relaxed. “I took a risk, and I’m paying the price. It’s fine.”

Maiz nodded dumbly. “So you’re recovered from the, uh, sickness?” He didn’t want to give away that he knew what it was, but he was concerned about how long she’d been asleep.

She nodded. “It was just a skill overuse. Had to pay back a debt. Oh, they said that ZIya would be better by tomorrow--we should visit her then.”

Hugan nodded vigorously, but Maiz grimaced. “We have battle duty tomorrow morning--we’ll have to see her after that.”

He’d expected her to ask about what he meant, but she just nodded. “I know. My mother told me after I regained consciousness from the beating. I’m going with you, and Rajit’s moving to another group. She decided your team was too strong as it was, apparently.” For some reason, she looked at Hugan as she said that.

Maiz raised his eyebrows. That was unexpected, but he agreed that they didn’t really need the three Journeymen helping them.

“That’s great!” Hugan was excitable as always, though he didn’t pound Lila on the back, thankfully.

Lila flashed him a smile, and suddenly all the bruises didn’t matter much. “Why don’t we go get some training in, like old times?”

“Great idea!”

This time, Hugan forgot to restrain himself slapping Lila on the back. She let out a strangled yell before attacking him with a series of punches and kicks that he barely managed to defend against. Maiz smiled. It was new, and definitely much more dangerous, but he was glad he was with his friends again.