[Book 1 Completed] Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World [Kingdom Building LitRPG]
B2 | Chapter 26 – A Problem

Theodore POV

He had to admit, thermal energy absorption was turning out to be far more practical than he had first thought. Who would have thought that pulling heat from magical attacks would be so satisfying? Not only satisfying, but also helpful in a variety of ways.

Even he was astonished by the snap choice he made when he saw the first plasma sphere flying at him. He'd let go of his [Mana Shield] after barely a moment's hesitation, thinking that this would be excellent training, and more importantly, he could finally test just how much thermal energy his body could actually absorb before reaching his limits.

As it happened, the answer was that he could absorb far more thermal energy than he had anticipated.

The first plasma orb had been like drinking from a pleasant stream when you're mildly thirsty. The second had been more substantial, like a proper meal after skipping breakfast. He felt his internal reserves genuinely starting to fill up only after absorbing the third plasma orb, like a vessel that had been operating on empty suddenly being filled off.

James's spell was powerful, Theodore would give him that, but he had met an unfortunate enemy.

Of course, now James was dead, which was unfortunate but hardly unexpected given the circumstances. When it came to a battle he didn't initiate, Theodore had never been one to back down.

"J-James!"

Theodore turned to see Liam charging toward him with his blade already drawn. Anger twisted the man's face.

"You monster!"

Theodore tilted his head slightly.

Curious thing, how perspective worked.

The man was clearly grieving, and grief had a way of making people sloppy, but it also had a way of making them desperate, which could be dangerous in its own right. Liam's footwork was adequate, his grip on his sword properly positioned, but Theodore could see how shook Liam was. There was also the slight hitch in his breathing that spoke of someone who was running on pure emotion rather than tactical thinking.

Still, Theodore had to respect the man's courage, even if his judgment was questionable.

Liam's first strike came down in a powerful overhead swing, and Theodore sidestepped it easily, noting how the blade whistled through the air where his head had been. It was obvious that the man's strikes were supported by strength, but strength without accuracy was just lost energy. Just as Liam recovered and swung a horizontal slash at Theodore, he raised his hand and created a [Mana Shield] and the the well-known wall of crystalline magic formed between them, protecting Theodore from the incoming attack.

The sword made a ringing sound as it impacted the shield, and Theodore felt the force enter his arm through the magical construction. The energy behind it was palpable, albeit not painful in the slightest even as it traveled through his arm. It was fascinating to see how Liam was stronger than he had first appeared to be.

Liam pressed his attack, raining down blow after blow against the shield, each one followed by a frustrated and labored groan. As the man fought, Theodore could see that his fury was not dulling his skills as he had expected but rather sharpening them them into focus. That was troubling. Anger could make people sloppy, but it could also strip away hesitation and self-doubt, leaving behind pure, unadulterated intent.

Theodore could see the precise moment when Liam realized his attacks weren't having the desired impact, and as Theodore watched that realization take place, sweat started to form on Liam's brow and his breathing got more labored. Given the amount of damage it was causing to the [Mana Shield], Liam's sword may as well have been a kid's toy. It was frankly disappointing.

But Theodore had to give the man credit for persistence. Liam wasted no time using threats or profanity, nor did he back down. He simply continued to attack, carefully navigating around the shield, trying various approaches and angles in search of a weakness that Theodore knew he wouldn't discover.

It wasn't until Liam's final attack which was a frantic downward hack that threw all of his body weight behind the sword, that Theodore felt the shield crack. Although the [Mana Shield] didn't exactly shatter—rather, it cracked like ice under pressure—it was sufficient to inform him that Liam wasn't quite as innocuous as he had first seemed. The man was more powerful than Theodore had realized, and he would not make the same mistake twice.

The crack spread across the surface of the shield like a spider web, and Theodore could feel the magical construct beginning to destabilize. When he heard the rush of air behind him and sensed the distinct presence of someone moving very quickly toward him, he was about to reinforce the [Mana Shield] but he couldn't as he had to spin around in time.

As Theodore turned, he saw Rufus charging at him, his huge two-handed ax already in motion and pointed straight for Theodore's skull. Theodore hardly had time to think before the ax was whizzing through the air toward his head because the man was moving so quickly—faster than a man his stature should be.

At the same instant that Rufus's weapon reached the spot where Theodore's head would have been had he not moved, the [Mana Shield] behind him broke completely under Liam's last blow, and suddenly Theodore found himself caught between two opponents who had apparently decided to coordinate their assault without any verbal communication whatsoever.

Theodore flung himself aside and constructed another [Mana Shield] right away, avoiding the error of constructing a single barrier this time. Instead, he built the magical structure in layers, combining many sheets of crystallized mana to create a far more difficult-to-break structure. Kinetic energy was intended to be absorbed by the first layer, dispersed by the second, and held strong against whatever was left by the third.

Theodore felt his teeth vibrate as Rufus's ax impacted the multilayer shield and rebounded off with a thunderous boom, sending shockwaves up his arm. Theodore could feel the earth magic radiating from the guy like fire from a forge, and he was strong, far stronger than Liam. In fact, it was coursing through his body in ways that augmented his innate powers, not merely radiating. Rufus was more than simply a large man wielding an ax; he was a large man wielding an ax who was enhancing his size and threat by utilizing magic.

Which made him all the more dangerous.

Theodore had hardly finished his thoughts when Liam was upon him once more, his sword searching for weaknesses in Theodore's armor with the tenacity of water searching for fissures in rock. The man had recovered from his first emotional outburst and was now battling with the calculating coldness of someone who knew that strategy, not emotion, would win this fight.

And that was when Theodore realized he had a problem.

Individually, neither Liam nor Rufus would have been particularly challenging opponents. Liam was skilled but not exceptionally powerful, and Rufus was powerful but not particularly sophisticated in his approach to combat. Together, however, they were covering for each other's weaknesses in ways that were making Theodore's life significantly more difficult than he'd anticipated.

Every time Theodore tried to focus his attention on Liam, Rufus would come at him from another angle, forcing him to split his concentration. Every time he tried to deal with Rufus's overwhelming physical presence, Liam would dart in with his blade, striking at Theodore's flanks or back with the precision of someone who understood exactly how to exploit momentary distractions.

They were battling as a single organism with two very distinct but complimentary skill sets, not merely as a team. Theodore was always on the defensive because of the rhythm of attack and defense that Liam and Rufus were able to create. Liam offered speed and accuracy, while Rufus supplied strength and durability.

Theodore's lips twitched into the hint of a smile, despite the sudden uptick in difficulty. He could have ended this already. A surge of thermal energy, or a multitude of different ways, and both of them would be dead before they realized what had happened.

But that wasn’t the point.

There was no challenge in overwhelming an enemy and certainly no growth. No test of the self. Fighting was different than killing. The former demanded precision, timing, control. The latter required only sufficient power and a willingness to use it.

So no—he wouldn’t simply end it. Not yet. He wanted to see if he could win this, not crush it. To beat them at their best, even when they moved as one. Because if they could push him this far already, then this was a battle worth having.

So when he found himself backing up and his [Mana Shield] flickering under the continuous attack, he couldn't help but grin wider. Instead of confronting them as a cohesive team, he had anticipated being able to deal with them one at a time, eliminating each one separately. He was instead being made to defend rather than attack, to react rather than act, and that was never a good position to be in while fighting.

Theodore felt the magical construct stretch as Rufus's ax fell again in a huge overhead swing and he caught it on his shield. Theodore could clearly see that the guy was using earth magic to increase his strength, channeling energy from the ground beneath his feet into his body to increase the impact of his assaults. It was crude but effective, and it was making each of Rufus's strikes feel like being hit by a falling boulder.

At the same moment, Liam slipped around to Theodore's left side, his blade moving in a quick, precise thrust aimed at Theodore's ribs. Given that maintaining a spherical shield was mana intensive, Theodore had been using a square shield and moving it around however he needed it. So now, in order to stop the attack coming for his ribs, Theodore had to move his shield, making him temporarily exposed to Rufus's next blow, which arrived more quickly than Theodore had anticipated and almost severed his skull had he not ducked under the ax and tried to create some distance.

However, Liam was already moving to cut off his retreat, and Rufus was adjusting his position to maintain the pressure. They were working together like they'd been doing this for years, covering each other's errors, predicting each other's next move, and creating openings that neither of them could have managed alone.

Theodore constructed another [Mana Shield] and added many layers to strengthen it, but he could already tell that this strategy wouldn't hold up over time. He was expending energy faster than he was gaining it, and while his reserves were substantial thanks to his recent absorption of James's thermal energy and class evolution, they weren't infinite. He would ultimately run out of power if this conflict went on at this rate, and then things would get much more interesting in ways Theodore didn't want.

Rufus slammed his ax against the shield again, and this time Theodore felt the outer layer crack. The guy was learning, modifying his method to take into consideration Theodore's shield's multi-layered structure. He was concentrating his attacks on certain areas of the barrier, searching for structural flaws that he might take advantage of, rather than attempting to break it all at once.

Liam was doing something similar with his blade work in the meanwhile, testing various approaches and angles, probing for weaknesses in Theodore's defenses, and creating a mental map of Theodore's strengths and weaknesses. Theodore had underestimated the man's intelligence, and that was starting to become an issue.

Theodore had to change the fight's dynamics, go from defense to attack, and figure out how to keep these two apart so he could handle them separately rather than together. However, each time he attempted to open a gap for himself, they were there to seal it, collaborating with a smoothness that suggested either a high level of training or a natural affinity.

Or both, which was even more troubling.

Theodore caught Rufus's next attack on his shield and immediately spun to block Liam's follow-up strike, and as he did so, he realized that he was going to have to get creative if he wanted to win this fight. Straightforward magical combat was not going to cut it, not against opponents this dedicated and well-coordinated.

In addition to being faster and smarter than they were, he would also need to figure out how to capitalize on their coordination, which was their greatest strength.

The question was how to do that without getting himself killed in the process.

***

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