The night was beginning to fall when Will's party once again approached the village on their way back.

  Just like previously, they took off the road and traversed some narrow paths in order to avoid the locals until they got on the minor road that led to the border.

  However, when they reached the clearing where they had taken a brief break previously, the road was blocked.

  Ten footmen and twenty riders stood in formation. Behind them, seven people clad in fine clothes sat on tall horses.

  Protection from Arrows (II) triggered.

  Absorb Elements (II) triggered.

  The reception didn't look friendly, and Will decided not to take any chances.

  "It's brave of you to venture so deep into our territory!" A woman's mocking voice rang out.

  "Torches out!" Holmstr?m roared, and the soldiers obeyed.

  With the lights out, it became possible to see further ahead in the darkness than just the area around the torches. Or, at least for Will it did. The others likely couldn't adjust so well unless they also happened to be half-elves. Or dwarves.

  "Who are you?" Holmstr?m demanded.

  "My name is of no concern to the likes of you, but you may call me Firebird."

  Will was nervous, but he also felt like giggling. He could see that the woman was fairly pretty and had her nose high up in the air. She wore what looked like a red dress in the faint moonlight.

  "The name suits her," he commented to Limul, who had stopped his horse right next to him. The dwarf glanced at him but didn't reply.

  "Whoever you are, you can move aside or die," Holmstr?m shouted back.

  "How generous! Personally, I can only offer you death. Men, advance!"

  The footmen on the opposing side readied their spears and looked around uncertainly. Someone inched forward a bit, but stopped and backtracked when nobody else had moved.

  "Move it!!!" A rough male voice roared within the enemy lines.

  A rider on the other side moved up to the front and proceeded to slap a footman on the back with his long lance.

  The man yelped but took a few steps forward. The others followed gingerly.

  "Don't let their riders circle around us!" Holmst?rm shouted.

  "As you command!" the captain assigned under him answered before barking orders to his men.

  Several men got off their horses and quickly started to form a line. Some stayed on horseback and close to the friendly mages.

  Will promptly started to cast the Cat's Eye spell.

  While he could see pretty well in the relatively dark night, and Limul could do so even better, the numerous humans around them would be half-blind.

  When the spell was complete, Will had positioned his horse so that the spell effect caught Limul and two of the other mages. A couple of riders who hadn't dismounted fell within the range as well.

  "Whoa!" Limul interjected. "Was that you?" he asked, looking at Will.

  "Yeah."

  "It's nearly as bright as the day..."

  The effect probably wasn't as exaggerated for the others, but they needed it even more.

  Will moved to the High Mage and the remaining two mages and took another minute to repeat his level-one utility spell.

  By now, the battle was in full swing, with men from both sides meeting in the middle on foot.

  A rider on the other side was observing the melee from a short distance back, so Will decided to take aim at his horse.

  After a few seconds, a glowing arrow sped forth, striking the horse in the chest. It whinnied and ran off, taking the rider along.

  Will spied another similar target on the other side of the road and repeated his trick. This time, the Magic Arrow struck it on the flank, and the horse threw its rider on the ground before running off.

  The small fire spells from the other side had been going for their fighters, but a few moments after Will's trickery, three larger ones bloomed at once and headed for him.

  He abandoned his next Magic Arrow and kicked his horse to move. The animal didn't react quickly enough.

  One of the fireballs missed Will, but he wasn't able to avoid two of them fully. One of them hit him in the chest while the other one exploded right above him.

  The resulting flames weren't too large. They were readily absorbed by Will's protective spell, but his horse took absolute umbrage when it felt searing heat right above its back.

  Will was thrown off, and the horse ran back into the forest.

  Shit! I should have cast a protection for the horse, too, he thought while spinning around nimbly to land on his two feet.

  "Boy! You're still alive?" Holmstr?m yelled.

  "I'm fine. My shield absorbed the attacks."

  "You can shield?! No, that's beside the point. To think that they could hit you all the way here... These guys are good!"

  Will didn't respond but started to refill a second-level slot with another Absorb Elements spell in case his current one got taken down.

  That accomplished, he ran to Limul and took nearly another minute to cast the same spell on him as well.

  "What did you do this time?" Limul asked when Will touched his shoulder. Sparks danced around the dwarf briefly.

  "A shield against elemental energy," Will explained briefly. Limul simply stared back at him. "You should consider getting off your horse. I think their mages can reach here easily," Will added.

  The dwarf remained on horseback. Will realized he was likely too short to see what was going on if he didn't stay up.

  Will ran a little closer to the front. He had a spell he had been training specifically with the mages of this country in mind.

  He wasn't good at it, so it took twenty seconds to prepare, but finally the Minor Acid Splash was ready. Will slowly walked closer, careful not to let the spell fizzle out.

  He chose a mage he felt was within range. When a crossbow bolt hit Will's arrow shield (it felt like a finger jab on his chest), he decided it was high time to finally cast the spell.

  His chosen target had his left palm up, just like the previous mages Will had faced. A red flash sprung forth to intercept the approaching green orb, but it was only partially annihilated.

  A sizable splash of acid reached the man, hitting him in the chest and neck. A few drops even reached his face.

  The victim screamed and went fumbling for a potion bottle.

  Will ran back in a zigzag line before the six other mages retaliated or more crossbowmen chipped away at his arrow protection, which had limited durability.

  "What did you do?" Holmstr?m demanded when Will had got back near the other mages' position again.

  "I threw some acid at one of them."

  "Remarkable," the High Mage complimented. "What else can you do?"

  "I have a wide-area fire spell that could probably get all of them, but I need three minutes to cast it."

  "Three minutes?! What the hell? No... If it takes so long, it must be powerful, right?"

  "Damn right."

  "Do it! I'll get you a promotion if you kill a single one of their mages."

  Will was sold.

  "I'll get to it right away!"

  Will backed off behind the other mages and started going through the long motions of the preparation phase for Fireball.

  The other mages pelted the enemy fighters with very small spells, while the enemy mages pelted Holmstr?m's fighters with slightly bigger spells. Occasionally, a hostile mage cast a bigger spell at a mage on Will's side, forcing some potions to be used, while Holmstr?m face-tanked the fires without a care.

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  Finally, Will's spell was ready. The glowing ember seed shot forth from his hand, landing in the middle of the enemy mages.

  With a loud whoomp, the fireball expanded.

  People screamed. Horses screamed.

  The fires started to fade, and Will realized he had misjudged this 3D world.

  The fireball had exploded at ground level, while all of the other mages had stayed on horseback. Their mounts had ended up absorbing most of the fire from the spell.

  The horses had died or thrown off their burdens and run off with their coats ablaze. Two mages were still standing when the flames disappeared. Four people were sitting or kneeling on the ground. All six of them were surrounded by glowing, blue shields.

  "Damn," Holmstr?m murmured.

  "Is that enough for a promotion?" Will asked. "I'm not sure anyone died."

  "Sure, but we are in trouble." Holmstr?m answered. "They've all got spell shields."

  "Do we not?"

  "You and me only. The rest don't have much. I doubt they can even afford spellstones."

  "Oh. Well, I'd best start casting my shield on the others, then," Will surmised.

  "You... How?! Never mind. Just do it! Please!"

  Will got to work, but chaos ensued in just half a minute when the enemy mages began to recover from the shock and pain of Will's Fireball with the help of their potions.

  Will had just cast an Absorb Elements on one of the mages when another became the victim of a barrage.

  Five somewhat decently sized fireballs came blazing at a mage who stood next to Holmstr?m. The man had the sense to react to it, but the spells were too fast. By the time he got off his horse, he was already a screaming human torch.

  The magical flames burned quickly, and the screams died just as soon. The mage didn't get up from where he had fallen.

  "I'm going all out!" Holmstr?m shouted and took out a spellstone.

  His eyes started to glow just like Albrecht's had, but what followed was different.

  A lightning extended from his hand at one of the enemies. It overwhelmed the shield, and the man fell to the ground, screaming. From how the screams continued intermittently even when another mage began tending to him, it didn't seem like Holmstr?m's target had died.

  That didn't stump the High Mage. Another crushed spellstone later, a massive water bullet struck another target.

  This time, the target stayed down. If the mage wasn't dead, he was at least knocked out.

  "It's got to be him!" A woman screamed. It was the one who had called herself Firebird. "Get him!"

  Ten seconds later, three of those semi-decent fireballs blazed across the field toward Holmstr?m.

  The mage swatted one of them aside, while two collided with his leg and a shoulder. His horse chose to throw the man off at that point. Will could see something blue glowing around his form when he sailed across the air and landed on his back.

  The old man got quickly back up on his two feet. Clearly, he remained mostly untouched by the kerfuffle.

  Will started shielding yet another mage, although he was beginning to wonder if it was the best use of his time.

  Still, watching your allies die was demoralizing. Not just for him, but others, too. Besides, the lesser mages could harass the enemy longer if Will helped them stay alive.

  "Hey, this is pretty bad, don't you think?" the woman commented fearfully. Will couldn't answer when he was busy mouthing his spell.

  Thankfully, she kept casting her small ice spears instead of running or panicking uselessly.

  "Done. It only shields you from elemental damage, and it doesn't cover your horse," Will told the woman.

  He started to jog off but stopped to say a final thing. "Don't worry too much. I have a big spellstone on me. The show is only starting!"

  After casting a final Absorb Elements, Will repeated the same words to the last mage on their side before walking back to Holmstr?m's side.

  He took ten seconds to cast the much easier level-one Arcane Shield on himself and moved right next to the man who was still being pelted with mid-sized spells.

  The next incoming spell hit Will's Shield some two feet away from them. Some of the fire splattered harmlessly past the two men, while the majority still went through the shield that was only semi-tangible.

  "I got an additional shield that can cover us for a while," he explained. "I came here to discuss reimbursement."

  "What?! What are you talking about?"

  "See, I have a big spellstone on me. There's a dispelling spell on it."

  "Hmm. What can it dispel?"

  "I was thinking I could try it on those shields of theirs."

  "Really?" The old man's expression brightened.

  "Now, if it doesn't work, fine. My loss. But if it does dispel them... What can I get for my contribution?"

  "Just do it! I'll handle the cost!"

  "Good!" The simple promise was plenty enough for Will, given how he wasn't really spending anything but a slotted level-three spell.

  Will put his hand inside his pocket and withdrew it with a massive spellstone seemingly sitting in it.

  "What's with that size?!"

  Did I botch it? Will wondered for a split second. Albrecht's stone had been smaller, perhaps, but Will's spell would be better.

  He began mouthing the trigger syllables and made the accompanying gestures with his free hand before closing his fist and seemingly crushing the stone.

  Dispel (III) triggered.

  A white orb flew out from his palm, landing in the middle of the enemy mages.

  They had spread out more since the fireball, but the area of effect for Dispel was large, and Will still got four of them, including the Firebird woman.

  All four were startled at the development, and while the woman pulled out another spellstone to quickly produce a new shield, the three others remained unshielded.

  "There!" Will rejoiced. "Three of them are naked now! I think I'll go with acid."

  Before he could take a step, the obviously female woman on the other side started to rage loudly.

  "You have made a mistake coming here! Behold!" She roared while pulling out another big spellstone. "The power of Grand Mage In-gwi!"

  "That one looks green," Will noted out loud.

  "Do you mean it's an emerald spellstone?!" Holmstr?m reacted to his words in an agitated tone.

  "It's hard to see colors at night, but yeah, it should be green." The stone flashed briefly in green when the woman crushed it. "Yeah, very much green."

  There was a sudden breeze. A dust devil rapidly formed next to Firebird, who took several steps back and shielded her eyes from the wind.

  The spell didn't send anyone flying but condensed down to a seven-foot-tall twister.

  "An air elemental!" Holmstr?m lamented.

  "Oh!" Will shouted, finally recognizing the creature for what it was. "And two of our guys use lightning," he realized, remembering air elementals' high resistance to lightning.

  Two of the lesser mages on his side kept zapping the fighters at the front with cantrip-sized effects, creating openings for their own men but accomplishing little else.

  "Shit, it's fast!" Will felt slightly alarmed when the creature had finished forming and started to race across the field.

  What damage type do Air Elementals deal? he wondered.

  The creature jumped easily over the fighters and landed softly on the other side. It kept coming for the mages.

  "Fuck!"

  Primitive Power (II) triggered.

  For this slotted spell, Will skipped the spellstone trick. Its effect was invisible anyway.

  He stepped back from Holmstr?m and clumsily pulled forth the staff that was tied to his back and glanced around. Seeing no eyes on him, Will promptly threw the ordinary staff aside, summoning the better one from his inventory to replace it.

  Meanwhile, Holmstr?m threw an ice spear at the elemental.

  The strange creature was fast and almost dodged it, but the spell was even faster. It managed to connect, if barely.

  Despite the hit, the spell didn't seem to do much to the elemental. The ice shattered on impact, and the pieces went flying all around from the insides of the cyclone-like creature.

  It's like stabbing air, Will thought to himself.

  Will held on to the staff for safety but chose not to engage the elemental when it went for one of the mages. At least it wasn't Limul.

  Will began casting Magic Arrow.

  The creature reached the unfortunate mage and moved right on top of him.

  The victim managed to throw out a little lightning bolt, which did basically nothing to the creature.

  At the same time, three mid-sized fireballs landed on another mage. It was the woman. Predictably, her horse immediately threw her off when the fires licked its back hide, and she didn't seem to land as painlessly as the old man had.

  Her elemental shield wasn't visible to the eye, but Will knew it must have gone out with that much fire. At least it seemed to have deflected the full round of attacks before failing.

  Will's magic arrow flew out at that point. It sank into the elemental with a sizzle, creating a brief, visible hole through it. The creature hissed, but the wound disappeared soon.

  The elemental seemed to be slowly shredding its victim by simply staying on top of him. It had also formed two fist-like appendages it used to pummel the poor man.

  All in all, it looked bad, but not super bad. The creature was just a bundle of semi-solid air, and it carried no weapons. Will was sure that wooden practice weapons were much more deadly than its fists.

  Will glanced back. Holmstr?m was shooting his spells at the shieldless mages. It was perhaps the correct thing to do since the elemental had targeted someone else.

  "Fuck it!" I could be a little bit heroic!

  He took off in a jog toward the air elemental. The mage underneath it was still alive and struggling, although his clothes were being shredded and his skin was bloody.

  Will took a swing, and to his surprise, the weapon connected with some solidity. Eventually, it did pass through the creature when the resistance suddenly disappeared.

  Still, the initial hit had felt good enough.

  Will swung at it again, and the creature hissed, turning to him.

  Fuck me.

  Panicking slightly, Will swung as hard as he could. It turned out to be a stupid idea. The creature dodged his staff nimbly, and Will ended up losing his balance.

  He turned the stumble into a roll past the creature, throwing his staff up and forward. As he rolled on the uneven ground, he felt a punch or kick in his side.

  Definitely physical!

  Will sprung up. The staff had landed right next to him, upright like he had meant it to. It was about to fall over when Will grabbed it. He managed to continue the motion into a clumsy swing at the summoned creature that was about to run him over.

  This time, the strike connected, and the naturally floating elemental was briefly shoved aside by the force behind the blow. Then, it somehow found purchase in the air again and corrected its course.

  Will reacted by driving the staff like a spear where the creature's chest should be, trying to keep it at bay.

  It worked for a second, until the elemental once more turned intangible at the contact point and began to creep closer.

  That was his final cue. Too risky!

  Minor Physical Immunity (IV) triggered.

  It wasn't ideal to use the spell now, but Will's weapon was stuck, so there was little choice. At least the spell didn't have any flashy effects.

  The creature pummeled him, but it didn't even amount to vibrations on Will's skin. Its attacks were truly too weak. Will only had to keep dodging enough that it couldn't push him to the ground and pin him down.

  Will pulled at the staff that was still halfway stuck in the elemental. He managed to free it by holding on to it and repeatedly kicking the elemental back. He then went right back to taking free swings at the creature that was too stupid to switch targets, even though its efforts were clearly wasted on Will.

  Will felt that his physical protection spell was about to run out soon, but it didn't seem to be too important anymore. The elemental was getting literally out of shape, and Will kept severing its appendages as they appeared. Soon enough, the thing was unable to get a single punch in.

  With every hit, the magical creature took a little longer to fix its wounds, until a final strike scattered the whole apparition back to the winds.

  After catching his breath, Will quickly pulled out an orange potion and took a tiny sip. He fed the rest of it to the bloodied mage, who still lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

  The man's wounds started to close, but it would probably be a while until he recovered enough to fight again, assuming he wasn't psychologically done for.

  Will peeked at their enemies. Two mages seemed to be down, while the rest were occupied with Holmstr?m.

  Limul and the other two mages back on their side were harassing the fighters with their spells, and it seemed to be working wonders now that the other side wasn't engaging in the same mischief anymore.

  It wasn't long before the remaining hostile mages started to run for the uninjured horses behind them. The woman screamed orders of retreat just before riding off herself.