Arthur immediately shot up, his eyes darted toward where the explosion originated, but the ringing in his ears impaired him.
Fire… smoke… are those… people?
By the time his supposition was confirmed, he was already looking at something else smoking.
Cedric!
He had never felt such relief when he saw the blue glow of a half-formed hexagonal grid of a Magic Shield surrounding Cedric with the dissipation of the smoke. But his mind was awake again, and so was his rationality.
He tossed the pendant under the bed, and pointed his sword at the two figures steadily floating into the room.
"Hoooo…" Arthur exhaled.
Of course this had to be done the night that all the instructors are gone. This must be a planned attack, but could it be a test by the instructors?
No, they had no guarantee that Cedric would have been able to respond to a surprise attack. This is real. We have to survive this fight by ourselves.
Cedric took a firm stance as they landed on the ground. They both wore a hood, and a mask that covered their entire face, leaving only gaps for the eyes. Their sizes varied, the one facing Cedric was only a few inches taller, and did not have the figure of a seasoned fighter, but he wielded a long, obsidian-black lance at least twice his height. The other was much taller, but wielded no weapon. He only glanced at Arthur for a moment before staring down Cedric.
So their target is Cedric, huh? Judging from their appearance, they aren't mages, which means I'm going to have to be holding both of them off while Cedric supports from behind.
No one is making any moves… I don't particularly enjoy using the War God Style, but I need to get them away from Cedric.
Tightening his feet and lowering his center of mass, he creeps toward his target, accelerating as he closer. He brings his hand back slightly, before charging at the one wielding the polearm, with a thrust.
"CLANG" A heavy ringing sound vibrates through the air when the end of the lance strikes the ground, stopping the tip of the sword completely at the center of its thin body. He jumps back with his weapon in hand, as the sword twists, winding around the past bind. The other man does the same, taking three casual steps back from the clash.
Arthur straightens his stance, shuffling sideways to place himself directly between the two men and Cedric.
Now that I got them away from Cedric, I need to keep them away. Ugh… He looks so much bigger up close. He might even be taller than my Sword Instructor.
The two hooded figures look at each other before shifting their focus to Arthur.
Neither of them are moving. I can't tell what either of them are thinking with those masks.
I can't see any advantages on our side. So I'll have to make one.
He readies his sword and charges at the spearman, and this time, he doesn't attempt to conceal his steps.
The spearman puts both hands on the pole, and points it at a downward angle. Arthur does the same, but rather than facing the spear directly, he begins to circle him, just barely out of the spear's range.
Why is he just watching?
The spear continues to adjust itself to point directly at its target, but before making a quarter of a circle around, Arthur's eyes meet Cedric, and he intentionally enters the spear range.
"CLANG!" The dense metals bind together, his sword caught in the crossguard of the spear.
With a quick movement, the spearman spins the pole, the end of it striking the sword with full force.
My wrist!
As the spearman got his lance back into position, a brown object flashed in, and out of sight. With it, the spearman jolted, and stumbled, but did not fall when the block of earth and rock fell.
His head whipped toward the direction it came from.
"You!" He shouted in a deep, broken voice.
His eyes were red, filled with rage in Arthur's imagination.
He raised his hand, and a glowing orange circle appeared in front of it, twice the diameter of the length of his hand. Within it, there was already a symbol in the center, the symbol of fire. Around it, more symbols began to form, and with it, twelve orbs of fire began to form as well. Arthur recognized all of them. They were Magic text. Runes he had learned to decipher in his Magic Engineering class. And this was a magic circle. The most advanced method of Spellcasting he had yet to learn.
He was excited, not because of his fascination with magic, but because the fool had exposed himself.
Arthur brought his down to the Spearman's shoulder, the arm that held the lance stationary.
"AUUGHHH!" He screamed as the blade made contact with his body. The affected hand was barely able to keep its grip on the pole, while the other rushed to comfort the wound, releasing the magic circle before completion. And with it, the fireballs disappeared as well.
Arthur brought back his sword when he heard a heavy stomp coming from his right direction, preparing himself to face the other man, but a voice brought him back.
"DON'T ENGAGE! I can do this myself."
How stubborn. I appreciate it, but your arrogance will be your downfall.
An orange light seeped through the gaps between his fingers. Arthur could see the tightening of his grip on the spear, it was trembling violently.
When he removed his hand from his left shoulder, a black scar, uneven scar had formed. He brought his right hand onto the top of the lance, and took the same position he did when they began.
This time, now that he had both time and distance he looked into the Spearman's eyes. Was it always black? Deep beyond his confidence, he felt an unshakable feeling of doom, and he dared not enter the range of his spear like he did before.