Six Jesters, marked by clown hats engraved in their fancy pauldrons, stood outside my ice wall. They wore fine armor, and the lowest gear score among them was no less than six. One Jester slammed a burning ax into the ice barricade. He alone was trying to convince the others that something wasn’t right.

  “Relax, Cinder,” another Jester said. The level-headed Jester was the highest-ranking assassin among them. The water templar was at the last stage of templar rank before becoming a sage.

  Within the templar realm were five stages—one for each new layer of the soul added. The stages were disciple, priest, bishop, cardinal, and apostle. Lipper was a disciple, and so was I, technically. My progression had somewhat stagnated upon reaching the templar stage. I had already reforged my mind, which sorta put me in a pseudo-sage rank. It was a messy ranking system.

  The Jesters outside my dome were all templars. One disciple, two apostles, two bishops, and one priest.

  The smoker with the ax was the priest and, judging by his actions, was the newest member of the assassin squad. The dowser trying to calm Cinder down was at the apostle rank. Cyan energy pulsed from her; if she wanted to, she could easily crush my dome. Standing close to her was a sleeper at the cardinal rank and a bishop-ranked bloomer. The other bishop and cardinal—a bloomer and a puffer—stood on the opposite side of the dome as if they had no care.

  Clouds covered me in the dome, allowing me to take my time and prepare for the fight. My splits were running through multiple battles already… The outcome was looking good. With no more preparation to be made, I turned my attention to Cyanne, checking for any hidden surprises.

  The town, specifically the tavern, were ill-fated victims of a predestined fight. Fortunately, the damage had been minimal. I’d be able to cover a grounder’s cost to repair the damage with some of the change Purity loaned me.

  I was glad to see no second-hand injuries from the fight, either. I knew there would be no lasting consequences, but I didn’t want to get sloppy. That could lead to bad habits. There were a few people who lingered outside of the stores, watching from a distance. I couldn’t see any guards among them, however there were maybe one or two enthusiastic fighters in the crowd. They looked like they were itching to get involved one way or another. Hopefully, they’d stay out of it.

  Marine tactics provided my target order. Take out the dark mana users first unless there were life casters on the field. Then it was lights and death. The order didn’t necessitate power as a priority. Instead, it was the order of annoyance. Annoyance was a bit of a subjective indicator, allowing for a bit of discrepancy in a marine’s attack order. However, the order usually stayed the same. Sleepers and bloomers, then creepers, and then the pales.

  Before dropping my dome, I took aim at the biggest threat. Two arrows smashed into the apostle, striking her heart and lungs. Before the attack registered, another two arrows slammed into Cinder. The priest died faster than the apostle, who received the aid of both bloomers.

  “Save your ma—” The dowser tried to speak. Her words were interrupted by another arrow volley. All her focus on staying alive stopped her from using her mana.

  I shot the apostle two more times just to make sure she couldn’t get up. As I picked my new target, darkness surrounded my shell, and wind energy whipped into it. My shell cracked a second later.

  I released the arrows as darkness poured in, and my mist was absorbed. My mana was locked down due to a silencing skill, and I had to roll away from a torrent of wind blades ripping through the darkness.

  I fired two arrows at the apostle, who still hadn’t kicked the bucket. Repositioned, dodging more attacks, and fired again. That would be the last of the arrows spent on the downed dowser. Now, it would be a race to eliminate the rest of her squad before she was back on her feet. Two bloomers on one team was unfair.

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  Pockets of darkness and air exploded around my position. The sleeper was closest with his attacks, always locking onto my position and forcing me to move. I shot more arrows, this time aimed at the bloomers who had nearly brought the dowser back to life.

  Night terrors, monsters of darkness, were summoned, adding another element to the chaotic fight. Their proximity forced me to put away Snowpiercer and unsheath Light’s Edge. The blade on my back was ready to be drawn precisely for this moment. Perfect slashes cut through night terrors, wind blades, and condensed energy pockets. I swung frantically to keep up with the demands of the fight, careful of my position.

  Two bloomers, a puffer, and a sleeper, surrounded me in darkness. And if I didn’t finish the fight soon, a dowser would join them. The fight wasn’t like my simulations, but it wasn’t far off. My blood pumped rapidly. My grip tightened, and I dashed toward the bloomer on my right, cutting night terrors in half as I closed the gap.

  The bloomer pulled his healing from the downed dowser. His arms morphed into that of a bear, and huge ripping claws poked through. The rest of his body morphed, turning him into a shield-warrior-type fighter. Golden energy shrouded him in another protective barrier.

  At the last second, I twisted my body and lunged away from the bulky bloomer. His claws ripped into nothingness. With intense speed, I slid several feet and stabbed my outstretched blade into the heart of the sleeper. The shocked templar created a black knife of darkness. I pulled on Light’s Edge and sliced through his neck before he could attack.

  Both bloomers shouted in terror as the templar dropped. No longer shackled by darkness, cyan energy bursts from my channels. Layers of ice cover the ground. Mist and water from around us. Golden energy domains of the two life templars push back on my power. They were too weak. The domains shattered, leaving the bloomers and puffer at my mercy.

  I directed all my ice razors at the puffer. The air templar wielded a staff and commanded the wind to battle my projectiles. She used large sweeping swings to keep my attack at bay. However, my razors attacked at every angle faster than she could defend herself. Her aura was the first to drop. Then it was her will.

  The second life templar started a body transformation similar to the first. Instead of a tank build, she was much more agile and deadlier. They attacked as one. The tank charged at my front—yelling and spitting out curses. The cutter was at my back within a blink of an eye. Knowing the danger behind me, I wanted to turn and face it. However, the tanker demanded all my attention.

  I countered the attacks with a heavy push of my mana. The air seemed to freeze. While not frozen solid, the opposing templars moved at a quarter of the speed they were before. I executed several cuts into the tank, slashing through his toughened body, and then I kicked with the bottom of my boot. As the tanks flew back, his body ripped open.

  A monster’s blade swung over my ducked head. Water glistened from the blade, and I created an anchor from it to the ground. As the cutter was pulled toward the anchor, I cut off her other arm, preventing a follow-up swing. She was dead before she realized what happened. I pulled the blade from her chest.

  A quick scan revealed that the rest of the Jesters were dead. All that was left was a sleeping dowser. She died peacefully.

  All things considered, it was a pretty good fight. The fact that I was still alive was proof that my training was paying off. I could’ve done things better… probably, like not changing up the kill order. However, the Jesters seemed prepared for that very tactic. If there was another time, I’d stick to the traditional strategy.

  Although I was triumphant, I didn’t have time to celebrate my success. The fight had drawn a lot of attention. It wasn’t the good kind either. The fact was that seven elves with high-quality gear were lying in the street, and I was the only one with claims to it. This didn’t sit well with some of the power-hungry people of Cyanne. The same type of people would jump a merchant’s cart on their way back home. There were even some familiar faces in the crowd.

  “Ao’s bloody pits,” I muttered, my head hung low.

  It was these familiar faces that condemned the entire group. I didn’t care about the gear of the Jesters. Sure, I was going to help myself with a few things, but I wouldn’t fight over it. They had nothing that would be better than I already had in Lana’s ring. I would've walked away, but sensed energy pulsing from a few of them. The bandits wanted a fight just as much as they wanted the gear.

  “Don’t suppose—” I tightened my hand into a tight fist. My domain solidified around me. Water, ice, and mist surrounded all of us as we were covered by a dome. I attacked without finishing the sentence. Truth be told, I didn't know what I was gonna say. I wanted this fight and wasn’t gonna talk myself out of it. I dropped two rune bombs, adding darkness to the fight dome. Then I attacked.