Rogal immediately charged towards Svane swiftly, swinging his greatsword.

  Svane raised his longsword to parry.

  CLANG.

  The impact drove Svane’s boots into the stone floor. The force was immense. Normally, Svane would have cast ‘Scutum’ to create an arcane shield and block the attack.

  But when he reached for the magic, there was nothing there. It was like reaching for a weapon that wasn't in its sheath.

  Svane grunted, forced backward. He was fighting with one hand tied behind his back. The Aegis entire combat style, the weave of steel and spell, was shattered.

  Ray realizing the situation was dire and disadvantageous against Svane, he immediately activates the Understudy Protocol’s ‘Resonant Link Communication’ this time to both Rina and Kaelen.

  Rina get to Titus, get to a safe distance and secure him! Kaelen, you and I support Svane!

  Ray mentally commanded.

  Rina broke from the shadows, sprinting toward Titus.

  Kaelen was shocked as this is her first time experiencing the ‘Resonant Link Communication,’ she thought it was the cantrip spell ‘Message’ but the feeling is different. She decided it was not the time to study Ray’s method and decided to listen to him and moved into action as well.

  Rogal didn't turn. He didn't even look at Rina who moved towards Titus.

  He was locked in a blade combat with Svane, their steel grinding together. But as Rina crossed the threshold of his range, Rogal’s Null-Plate armor clicked.

  Snap. Hiss.

  From the blind spot of his left pauldron and the back of his greaves, a volley of needle-thin silver darts erupted. They weren't magical; they were spring-loaded, mechanical, and silent.

  Rina’s ‘Survival instinct’ screamed. She threw herself into a slide, skidding across the gravel as the darts stitched a line of death right where her head had been a second ago.

  "What?"

  Rina gasped, scrambling behind a pillar.

  Rogal shoved Svane back with a burst of raw strength.

  "You think that since I am alone you can do whatever you want?"

  Rogal sneered.

  "I am a one man army."

  “AAAHHHH”

  Svane roared in response, stepping back in. He abandoned magic, trusting his Aegis swordsmanship. He feinted high, then went for a low sweep to cripple Rogal’s legs.

  Rogal stepped into the sweep. He dropped his greatsword, letting it hang by a wrist chain, and his hands blurred.

  Click.

  Blades, curved and wicked like raptor talons, snapped out from his gauntlets.

  He caught Svane’s longsword between his armored palms. With a twist of his hips, he redirected the massive soldier’s momentum, sending Svane stumbling past him.

  As Svane passed, Rogal triggered a mechanism in his elbow. A short, pneumatic spike punched out, slamming into Svane’s leather armor.

  UUGH.

  Svane gasped, the wind knocked out of him. His heavy leather armor was the only thing that saved his spine from being severed.

  "Sloppy,"

  Rogal critiqued.

  After seeing Rogal and Svane still locked in combat Rina tried again. She used Flowing Shadow Technique to make her presence scarce and moved towards Titus.

  Rogal pivoted on one foot. He didn't need to see her. He heard the shift in the gravel.

  He raised his arm. The forearm guard split open like a blooming flower.

  Thwip-thwip-thwip.

  A fan of steel darts sprayed. Rina cried out, a dart tearing through her shoulder, forcing her to retreat again.

  He was fighting Svane and Rina simultaneously, and he wasn't even breathing hard. He was a whirlwind of hidden steel, needles from his boots, blades from his elbows, darts from his shoulders. Every movement was a lethal trap.

  "This is the difference between you and me,"

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  Rogal said, catching Svane’s recovery strike with a hidden blade in his boot, kicking the sword upward.

  "You rely on spells to save you. I rely on skills and mechanics."

  He spun, unleashing a roundhouse kick that also fired weighted balls from his heel, tangling Svane’s legs and sending the Captain crashing to the ground.

  Rogal had dominated against two opponents in the short time.

  He stood over them, the serrated greatsword flipping back into his hand. He was an impregnable fortress of hidden death.

  Ray watched as Rogal dismantled Svane and prevented Rina from closing in to Titus. His analytical eyes determined that Rogal wasn't just a tank; he was a walking fortress of hidden mechanisms. Every time Svane closed the distance, a new blade or dart sprang from a blind spot.

  But Ray saw something else.

  The Void Ore dampens magic, Rogal is carrying every dart, every blade, and every bolt physically on his armor. His supply is finite.

  Ray thought and realized.

  That means spatial items don't work down here.

  Ray tapped his ear cuff and connected to Rina and Kaelen again via ‘Resonant Link Communication.’

  Rina. Kaelen. Listen to me.’

  Ray mentally communicated.

  “Captain Svane, can you hear me?”

  "My lord?"

  Svane grunted, dodging a weighted net.

  "He’s... difficult."

  "He’s running on a script,"

  Ray said calmly, stepping out from behind the stalagmites.

  "And we are going to rewrite it. Do not engage to kill. Engage to exhaust. Make him fire everything he has."

  Ray stepped into the light. He held no weapon, only his belt of tools and alchemy.

  "Let’s begin the dance of attrition.”

  Ray immediately activated ‘Quad-Concurrent Partial Immersion,’ his innate passive ‘Cognitive Network’ humming lowly on his mind in preparation for the mental strain.

  He activated the Grizzled Veteran’s ‘Tactical Assessment’ skill and the Gritty Detective's ‘Observation’ skill.

  Rogal saw the new arrival. He sneered, raising his left gauntlet.

  "Another insect?"

  “Duck, Captain. Left. Low.”

  Ray commanded.

  Svane didn't hesitate. He dropped to one knee instantly.

  Thwip-thwip.

  Two poison darts sailed over Svane’s head, embedding themselves in the stone where his throat had been.

  Rogal frowned. He adjusted his aim toward Ray.

  Rina, move towards Titus now!

  Ray commanded mentally while activating the Stoic Assassin's ‘Marksmanship’ skill to flick a couple of pellets towards Rogal and adding the Serene Cultivator’s ‘Aetheric Perception’ skill.

  Rina popped up from behind a pillar, and rushed towards Titus.

  The pellets Ray threw landed near Rogal, exploding in a cloud of dust.

  "Gah!"

  Rogal roared, his vision whiting out. He triggered a defensive mechanism, a 360-degree spray of needles from his pauldrons to clear the area.

  “Rina, stop and find cover.

  Ray commanded mentally.

  “Captain hold position. Let him spray.”

  Ray communicated to Svane with his ear cuff.

  The team stayed behind cover as the needles clattered uselessly against stone.

  Ray walked forward calmly. He threw a flask of his own, Viscous Glue. It smashed against Rogal’s right knee joint.

  Rogal tried to step forward to engage Svane, but the glue seized the gears. He stumbled.

  "What?"

  Rogal snarled. He tried to feint a high strike with his greatsword while triggering a hidden toe-blade.

  “He’s feinting high, watch the boot.”

  Svane didn't block the sword. He stepped back, swatting the hidden boot-blade aside with his shield.

  Rogal felt the situation slowly change and his frustration mounted. It felt like fighting a ghost. Every trap he sprung was anticipated. Every hidden blade was blocked. Every dart missed by inches.

  He was being read like a book.

  "Stop moving!"

  Rogal screamed, firing his elbow spikes blindly at Rina’s shadow.

  Click.

  Ray smiled.

  "He’s dry on the left arm."

  Kaelen, guided by Ray, threw a heavy rock from the darkness, hitting Rogal’s helmet. It did no damage, but it drew his aggression.

  Rogal spun, unleashing his final volley of steel darts at the sound until,

  Click. Clack.

  Nothing came out.

  Rogal froze. He shook his gauntlets. The mechanisms whirred, but the magazines were empty.

  Ray stopped walking. He stood twenty feet away, his eyes glowing, he saw the battlefield full of information, his Art of Transience: Fulcrum Principle in full effect.

  "Magic is suppressed here, so spatial items also don't work down here, you should know that Rogal,"

  Ray said, his voice echoing in the sudden silence.

  "You carried quite a number of darts with you, but they are still finite. And now you're empty."

  Rogal looked at his useless hidden mechanisms. He looked at Ray, then at Svane who was standing back up, sword ready.

  Rogal growled, discarding finesse. He gripped his serrated greatsword with both hands, the only weapon he had left.

  "I don't need tricks to kill a bunch of cripples."

  Rogal roared, charging at Ray.

  "Got you."

  Ray whispered.

  He didn't dodge. He didn't run. He raised his arms towards the charging Rogal.

  "Ignis!"

  Ray shouted.

  Rogal laughed when he saw what Ray was trying to do.

  “You fool! You just said earlier magic is suppressed here!”

  Ray continued to cast the cantrip spell Fire Bolt but this time used Aether-Infusion technique, he channeled about 30% of his max aether to the spell.

  The orange Fire Bolt formed in his hand and then suddenly changed to a bright golden color.

  Rogal was committed to the swing. He couldn't dodge. He didn't bother to dodge. His eyes widened

  Ray fired.

  The golden Fire Bolt screamed across the cavern. It didn't fizzle. It didn't fade. It pushed through ignoring the suppression field like a bullet through smoke.

  CRACK.

  It hit Rogal square in the chest.

  The Null-Plate armor acted as a dampener, but the aether infused Fire Bolt ignored it with sheer kinetic and thermal density. Rogal was blasted backward mid-charge, his greatsword clattering away, his chestplate glowing cherry-red.

  "What?"

  Rogal gasped, struggling to rise, smoke pouring from his ruined armor.

  "That... that wasn't mana!"

  Ray stood over him, his hand smoking.

  "No, it's something else."

  Ray said standing over Rogal, his Theorist Gloves smoking.

  A blue translucent screen appeared in front of him.

  [SKILLED APPLICATION DETECTED]

  [EVENT: ASYMMETRIC WARFARE (MANA-NULL ZONE)]

  [PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: INSPIRED]

  [ANALYSIS: Host successfully maintained ‘Quad-Concurrent Partial Immersion’ while navigating a Mana Suppression Field. Using ‘Tactical Assessment’ (Grizzled Veteran’s) and ‘Observation’ (Gritty Detective) you have masterfully controlled the battlefield and synchronized commanded your party to overcome the environmental handicap and use the opponent’s reliance on munitions into a fatal vulnerability. The final application of ‘Aether Infusion’ technique achieved a state of 'Hyper-Density,' effectively overcoming the suppression threshold of the Void Ore. A flawless execution of strategy over suppression.]

  [Tactical Assessment +20% (CAPSTONE already reached, adding half of mastery gain to the next archetype skill 'Survival Instincts'), Observation Skill +15%, Aether Weaving +10%]

  [INSPIRED Result. New Innate passive skill unlocked, ‘Null-Breaker’: Your Aether-infused spells now possess a passive density that ignores 15% of Anti-Magic resistances and dampening fields.]