Lillia’s palm drove into Arwin’s unprotected stomach. He let out a grunt of pain and stumbled back, shifting his weight to keep from falling. She spun, lowering her center of mass and sweeping her leg out to take his feet out from under him. Arwin leapt over the attack and lunged at Lillia. She shot upright, grabbing a piece of scrap metal from the ground on her way up, and flicked it. The scrap struck him in the shoulder and bounced off harmlessly. They both froze. Arwin let his hands drop. “Could have been poisoned,” Lillia said as she straightened. Arwin nodded and scratched at his chin. “Yeah. I guessed that much. That probably would have been a covered area if I were wearing armor, though.” Rodrick, who stood in the corner of the smithy to observe them, nodded in agreement but raised a finger. “What if it had hit an unprotected area?” “Good point,” Arwin admitted as he sat down on the edge of his anvil with a thoughtful frown. “Damn. There are just so many different angles to consider. More than I can possibly put into a single set of armor if I want to keep it relatively limited in power and avoid broadcasting the full range of my abilities to everyone in the kingdom.” He and Lillia had been trying to pin down every trait Melissa’s armor would need to let her survive an assassin attack. Rodrick had been present for the whole of it, giving them suggestions and sharing all the information he knew on the assassins. They’d been at it for the past hour, running through every ability they’d seen the assassins display as well as a few extras just in case. Unfortunately, as good of a warrior as Lillia was, it just wasn’t enough. She wasn’t an assassin. And, as useful as Rodrick was, knowledge wasn’t the same as experience. Arwin had a huge list of traits he wanted the armor to include, but he wasn’t sure which ones were the most important. And, for some reason, he was completely barefoot. “What the fuck?” Leena muttered. “Doesn’t matter,” Riker whispered back. He rose slightly, his blades sliding soundlessly from their sheaths. “Let’s go.” Leena rose as well. Even though they stood in plain sight, the darkness completely obscured their forms. She almost felt bad for the strange man in the street below. Leena generally made it a point not to get to know her targets too well. That made it harder to forget their faces once they were dead. She leapt from the rooftop, drawing her own daggers in the process. Riker was a shadow beside her as they both shot down toward their unsuspecting target. The wind gathered around Leena as she fell, aiding her movements as she drove her daggers for the exposed parts of the man’s flesh. She’d killed more than a dozen targets with the very same blow, and this one would be no different. Her blades carved down. Beside her, Riker struck as well. A pair of perfectly synchronized blows, both so silent and sudden that nobody would ever even get a chance to — A howl split the night as a wall of wind slammed into Leena’s face with such intensity that her lips flapped and her eyes flared with pinpricks of pain. She hit the ground in a practiced roll and sprung to her feet, disbelief marring her features. Riker rose just a few feet away from her, his longer sword held before him defensively. A chill ran down Leena’s spine and she lowered into a fighting stance of her own. They’d been stopped. Their target had been ready for them. “Is this a setup?” Leena hissed. “How did he know—” “Focus on the mission,” Riker said, his voice flat. Leena’s eyes flicked back to the armored man. He hadn’t made any move toward them. Instead, to her complete befuddlement, he’d pulled out a quill and a sheaf of papers. “Wind… worked,” the man muttered under his breath. He finished writing and looked up at them. His face was completely cast in shadow, but the movement almost felt… expectant. “What are you waiting for? Get on with it.” Leena didn’t need to be told twice. Shadows twisted up from the ground and she sank into them. One of the core skills of an assassin — [Shadow Walk]. Any assassin worth their salt mastered it long before anything else. The world flashed by and she rose up beside the man. His bare heels were right in front of her, but she was no fool. Anyone that walked around with such extensive armor and completely bare feet was definitely trying to bait her into attacking them. He probably had some form of skill that let him use them defensively — and an assassin was never predictable. She drove her daggers for the joints of the armor in the back of his legs and activated [Piercing Strike]. Magical energy poured out of her and into the blades, sharpening their tips and increasing the speed of the blow. A loud clang echoed out. Leena’s training kicked in and she hurled herself to the side to avoid a counter attack, but her mind was reeling. Her strike hadn’t penetrated the armor. Impossible. I’ve ripped through solid steel with [Piercing Strike] before. How could I fail to cut through thin metal? Whatever. As long as I have his attention, Riker will finish him off. She hit the ground in a roll and sprung to her feet as a second clang rang out. Leena turned just in time to see the man holding his arm up, having blocked Riker’s strike with the palm of his hand. The gemstones on his legs and palms were glowing a dim white. Leena grabbed a poisoned throwing blade from her kit. But, even as she went to throw it, a brilliant flash tore through the street. The shadows were momentarily banished, preventing her from using [Shadow Walk]. Leena swore and jumped back, raising her hands defensively before her face. No attack ever came. When she dropped her hands, the man was still standing in the center of the square and writing on his notepad once more. Riker had retreated as well. He was equally uninjured. Disbelief slammed into Leena like a hammer. The armor on the man’s chest was whole. A huge scar ran along the center of the chestplate, but it hadn’t been cut in two. Riker’s [Shadow Slash] is nearly twice as strong as my own attack. How is that armor still in one piece? It’s enchanted. It has to be.