A New Kind Of Grind

"Die!"

"No."

As a Level 1 Wizard, spells take effort. It's hard, it takes focus, and if you want to be able to do it reliably, you need a lot of practice. As a Level 3 Wizard, with a Sevenfold Necklace and a bunch of potions... it wasn't effortless, not yet, but it was a lot easier to cast spells.

And when I combined that with a spell I already knew very well? Well, I didn't even have to say [Telekinesis] to throw Metal Legs across the warehouse, landing in a mostly-empty standing shelf that broke and collapsed on top of her, like a jenga tower of dry rot and tetanus.

"My best friend is a Mystic Artificer," I said calmly, "who has seen fit to enchant everything I own to make me not only a much more capable magician, but also much more difficult to injure. On top of that, I am, myself, an Alchemist, and before I came in here, I drank multiple enhancement potions that will last me through the next hour- which should be more than enough time to kick your ass. So, let me repeat my offer: surrender and release my friends, and we'll just walk away. And if you say no, I am going to break every bone in your body." I shrugged. "Your choice."

Frankly, I was underselling my preparations. The big longcoat I was wearing was enchanted to be super protective by Akane, sure, but it was also made by me out of alchemically-synthesized threads that were basically super-kevlar, and would disperse the energy of attempted stabbings over a wider area. When it came to effects of the same type, whether or not they stacked was a tricky question to answer. But when an armor piece's efficacy is being boosted by external alchemy and by enchantment? Those absolutely stacked.

"You might have some new tricks," Knife Girl- who I'd now be calling Grip, because she had a metal hand. "But you're not the only one who's leveled up since then."

She pounced like a cat, knife bearing down on me, and I pulled a buckler from my inventory, catching the knife on the enchanted orichalcum boss. Orichalcum, being primarily gold, was more than twice as heavy as steel, and so was typically a bad idea for low-levels to use on account it was so heavy and they weren't always strong enough to use it, but I had maxed-out Body Stats, so I took that more as a polite suggestion.

I drew my matching sword from my inventory, and slashed horizontally at Grip, forcing her to back off.

"Don't just stand there, you worthless shits!" Grip yelled at her shell-shocked spellcasters. "Fucking do something!"

This jolted the burn-faced wizard- who I decided was now Ash- into action, and she hastily raised her hands, casting "[Sparks]!"

"Did you know lightning follows the path of least resistance?" I asked calmly, as the lightning flowed through my coat and into the chainmail I'd sewed into my pants, then out through some chains that wrapped around the bottom of my boots and into the ground. "It's why a good Wizard knows better than to use lightning against an armored target."

Of course, if you used enough lightning, then even conductive armor would have enough resistance to superheat and sear the flesh of the wearer, but, one, that much lightning would also sear your retinas and burst your eardrums if you were merely in the same room as it, so defending against it pretty much wasn't an option, and two, Wizards generally couldn't use that much lightning. Most definitely not below Level 10, anyway.

"Shut up!" the eyepatched healer- who I disgraced with the generic name of Scar- shouted, rushing forward as a shield and mace of light formed in their hands.

I recalled my time in the gym with Akane, training with sticks, and I set my feet.

Just before the first exchange, I poured magic into the buckler's enchantment, and it grew from one foot across to three feet across, being now fit for a soldier rather than a fencer; catching Scar's mace on that would be much easier, and allow me more focus to... try and fail to stab Scar, because she also knows how to use a shield.

Dammit, why do my enemies have to be good at fighting?

Legs had, by this point, gotten back up, and dusted off the wreckage of the shelf. She charged at me once more, and I grimaced at the prospect of three people with weapons working together to use them on me. So, I needed to split up the group.

Use [Telekinesis] to power a jump, line up Grip and Scar, and nail Grip with another casting of [Telekinesis], launching her into Scar like a cannonball and sending them both tumbling to the floor. Now that it was just me and Legs-

"Eat [Firebolt]!" Ash yelled, hurling a screaming mass of flame at me, prompting me to duck behind my shield. It took the impact like a champion, and the insulative enchantments did stop the flames from crispy-frying my arm, but it also blocked my vision of Legs, for long enough that Legs could get right up in my face, sword raised high and ready to swing down.

I raised my shield to block, swinging my sword at Legs' midsection, and was disappointed; Legs had armor of her own that turned my disemboweling strike into a mere punch in the gut, and that sword strike to my shield still fucking hurt, jarring my arm like crazy. If I wasn't as strong as I was, that probably would've dislocated my shoulder.

I didn't have any time to rest, as Legs wound up for another swing, but this time, I stepped into it, swinging my shield rather than my sword, and catching them in the helmet with the rim of my shield, ringing her head like a bell.

Pain erupted in my back, and I knew without looking that Grip had gotten behind me and stabbed me. Unfortunately for Grip, she was not wearing conductive armor, and the [Sparks] I cast through her knife and hand in retaliation made her scream and stumble.

Wordlessly, I lept up and backwards, putting away my sword and pulling out my dart gun in mid-air- later on, I'd freak out about how fucking cool it was, but right now, I was trying to hurt people- and shot Grip in the back of the head, right where the skull met the spine, and where her thick leather jacket didn't quite protect her.

"...Ah, shit," I muttered, as I realized my shield arm was drooping. Grip must've cut some muscles when she nailed me; I could barely move that arm. Oh well, back into inventory with the shield, too. "Well, c'mon, shitheads. Let's finish this dance."

The next bandit to drop was Ash, who'd been standing in the back, presumably preparing some spells that could safely be cast into melee; the dart hit her in the face, and she was down barely two seconds later.

Legs and Scar, however, remained adamantly, stubbornly on their feet, and worse, were both wearing somewhat more comprehensive armor, which a mere dart gun could never hope to penetrate.

"[Purge Poison]," Scar cast on Grip, who slowly got up, but as I dodged a wild swing from (a very probably concussed) Legs, I squeezed off a desperate shot that slipped right through Scar's chainmail armpit armor and pumped her full of knockout drugs. Then I shot Grip in the face again for good measure.

Legs finally landed a solid blow on me, swinging a fist to knock the pistol out of my one good hand, and then slammed her armored forehead into my own unarmored forehead. I saw stars, and stumbled back... riiiight into the ideal range of Legs' sword.

I dropped voluntarily to dodge the swing, but that just made me a sitting duck for the next swing. I pulled my shield back out, this time in my good hand, and caught the next swing on it, but there was only so long that could save me if I didn't get up. Fortunately for me...

"[Telekinesis]!" I cast, flinging myself into Legs like a rocket, the flat of my shield catching her in the helmet. It ate a lot of magic; [Telekinesis] was not meant to be used this way, but oh well, tough shit. It was the spell I had, and it did still work. All the same... I was running very, very low on magic, and I didn't trust those darts to keep the other three down for very long.

"Why... won't... you... die?" Legs panted, her breathing ragged as she stumbled backwards to a stop.

"Don't... know how," I said, getting my own feet under me.

"I'll fucking teach you!" Legs roared, launching herself at me in one last charge.

My bad arm, while injured, wasn't quite useless, and I was able to pull out a glass potion bottle with it... and toss it onto the floor, where it shattered.

And that's how Legs slipped in a puddle of alchemical lubricant, landing flat on her face.

"[Sleep]," I cast, just as my magic had recharged enough.

I sighed heavily as I surveyed the warehouse, and all of the unconscious bandits. I was... pretty confident I hadn't killed anyone today. Definitely hopeful that I hadn't. As much as some of these people sucked, and were assholes who hated me and wanted me dead, the fact remained that I didn't want any of them dead. I just... couldn't find it in myself.

"Ahem," Veronica said, reminding me that she and Akane were still tied to chairs.

"Ah, right," I said. "Let's get you two untied, shall we? I... may need some healing from you, Veronica."

I took a step, swayed a bit, and grimaced.

"Okay. Yep that's a concussion alright."

"Are you- oh. No, you're not," Akane said as I collapsed to the floor.

"You two can... free yourselves, right?" I asked as my head spun and my eyelids grew heavy.

"[Magic Trick]," Akane cast.

"Cool... Wake me when it's over..."