"FIREBALL!"
Alwyn watched, wide-eyed, as the massive vortex of flame whizzed through the air towards the counter. He was completely shocked to see his own apprentice cast a spell, and that was ignoring his sudden and seemingly random violent aggression.
The two men didn't even flinch, and instead, the masked man effortlessly swatted at the fireball, sending it flying into the shop's wall.
The helmeted one instantaneously blinked in front of Linnie, grabbing his hands so as to prevent him from casting another spell. The masked one violently shoved Aliza to the ground to remove her from the fight.
Holding Linnie, he spoke, "So you are the maridim that—"
Alwyn shot a powerful kick at his face, but the helmeted man stopped it with a simple block inches before it hit and grabbed his foot.
Narrowing his eyes, Alwyn pointed a finger at his head. The helmeted man tensed for the first time, and the masked one, still near Aliza, flew into Alwyn's ribs with a flying drop kick.
"Shit—that actually hurt." Alwyn winced.
They crashed out the side of the now-burning building, rolling onto the bustling morning street. The masked man raised his fist to pummel Alwyn into the ground.
The impression of his grinning face could be made out through the mask. All he hit were the bricks of the road, though, and Alwyn calmly placed his hand onto the man's chest.
"Ha!" he laughed, leaping far into the air. "Damn, you nearly just killed me there! Who the hell are you!?"
Meanwhile, Linnie and Aliza were frozen, staring at the unmoving helmeted man. He clicked his tongue and grabbed Linnie by his clothes, throwing him onto the ground beside Aliza.
"Neither of you move until I get back. Or you'll die."
Aliza scowled and Linnie bared his teeth, growling. Aliza grabbed him, stopping him from charging at the man as he jumped into the street after his comrade.
"Why're you holding me back!? They're gonna gang up on Alwyn, that's not a fair fight at all!"
"Don't be an idiot, you wouldn't be able to do anything! You'd only get in the way! Did you seriously get a big head now that you beat some senile old man!?" she said, wrestling him in place.
"No—what!? You said it yourself, those guys are super strong! You're just gonna let him die like that!?"
"...Die? I don't think... those guys are capable of that, though."
"Gaud damn it, what are these guys even doing here? It's lucky they don't know about me, or else this would've been a lot more annoying. Their confidence is a little laughable, though..."
The two men were carefully circling Alwyn, waiting for their chance to attack.
"Hello? Everyone?" he called out, waving to the crowd of onlookers. "Ahem, by charter of the Crown and the Tower, I, The Everflame Wizard Alwyn, in service, act in fulfillment of duty. Witness me, as I bind duty to deed... yada-yada. Everyone scram before you're hurt!"
The two men leapt at Alwyn from each side, one kicking and the other throwing a punch. Alwyn caught both attacks, sending a small shockwave through the air. He let off two small explosions in his hands, sending the two flying in opposite directions.
Walls of dirt and gravel materialized in their paths, causing them to slam into them repeatedly until they lost momentum. Alwyn sighed, and shot a lance of ice in each direction.
The helmeted man narrowly dodged, letting the lance whizz past him. The masked man grabbed it mid-air, spinning around and attempting to return it to the sender. Before he could let go, though, it exploded into frozen mist, turning his hand black with frost.
"Shit! My hand!" he screamed, blowing on it. "This damn mask!"
He tore the fabric away from his head, revealing his face. It was that of a young man with tan brown skin and light brown hair.
"Tell me, powerful maridim, what is your name?"
"Are you deaf? I thought I said it loud enough for everyone to hear already," Alwyn said mockingly.
"I mean your full name. I didn't recognize your given name, and I didn't hear your lineage. It must be great and well-known to spawn talent like yours."
"Don't make me laugh. I don't have a lineage. Alwyn, The Everflame Wizard; that's it, you hear!? Tell everyone! Wait, actually don't do that. It'd be bad if my name was already known within your forces... well, not that it matters, since you'll be dead!" he laughed, holding his hand out into the air.
"Well, I'm Samir Zahhan, son of The Lion God! It's my honor to fight someone as powerful as you!"
"It seems your friend doesn't share that sentiment..."
The helmeted man was shaking with rage. He reached for the sword on his hip, unsheathing it and pointing it at Alwyn.
"Samir, help me kill this man, or I'll kill you. And stop talking, both of you loud-mouth bastards!"
He charged at Alwyn, closing the gap in an instant. He swung his sword up at Alwyn's throat, but it merely bounced off the wooden body of Alwyn's staff.
"Took you long enough, dear staff. Where'd I leave you anyway...?"
Alwyn brushed the base of his staff against the ground and a pillar of rock shot up, uppercutting the helmeted man. Alwyn, taking advantage of the man's stunned state, charged his staff with mana. The staff, glowing with heat, slammed into the man's neck.
From behind, Samir, the previously masked man, kicked Alwyn in the back. Alwyn flew through the air towards the side of a building. He came to a stop right before hitting the wall, and gently stood against it, staring down at the two men.
"Attacking from behind? I thought you were honorable!" Alwyn scoffed, aiming his staff.
"Any form of attack is fair in a battle, if I held myself back, that would be an insult to my opponent!"
Alwyn laughed. "Right... you guys are like that."
With a slight flick of his wrist, a pyroclasmic bloom of floating sparks appeared, surrounding the two. They looked around for a moment, confused at the spectacle. Then, a harsh popping filled the air as each of the sparks blossomed into flowers of fire, exploding on top of them.
They both jumped into the air and away from the cloud of fire, but were only met with two tentacles made from the roofing of the building Alwyn was standing on.
Entrapped by the tentacles' grasp, they squirmed, punching and slashing at the tiles which only reformed with each hit.
Alwyn calmly walked up the building and onto the roof, placing his staff down and taking a seat.
"Who's the khazar that leads your group?"
"We'd die before telling you, filthy Caelthari scum."
"It's pronounced 'Caelth,' uneducated pig," Alwyn said, rolling his eyes. "You guys are pretty strong. You must be group leaders, right?"
"How's he know so much about our—"
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up, you idiotic bastard!" the helmeted man screamed.
Suddenly, a spear appeared, soaring through the air at lightning speeds. It stopped centimeters from Alwyn's face, sending a massive crack through his barrier.
"Daddy come to save you two? I don't think this barrier would've stopped a khazar's attack, though... hm. Who is it?"
"Thank gaud I set up this barrier. That would've actually taken me out..." he thought, looking around. But there was no one to be seen.
"You're screwed now! He's come to save us! The general's right-hand man!"
"I'm going to kill you..." the helmeted man spat.
Alwyn stood up, grabbing his staff and squinting, looking for any sign of movement. But the area was completely deserted.
That's when a fist collided with his cheek from the side, sending him flying into the building next to them. He crashed through the wall and rolled across the floor, crashing into furniture and scaring the people hiding inside.
"It's all under control, don't worry," he said, giving a thumbs up.
The wide-eyed family nodded quickly, not making a noise.
He brushed off his clothes and climbed back through the hole he had entered from. He spotted the three men, now running away.
"Oh, seriously!? Don't run now!"
Alwyn jumped atop his staff and started following them, flying through the air as if the weapon were a surfboard. He shot through the air, closing the gap between them. The helmeted man looked back at him and wiggled his finger, pointing back up the street.
Alwyn looked to where he was pointing and saw Aliza's shop, consumed in flames. Samir waved goodbye, smirking. In his arms was the golden artifact, shining in the sunlight.
"Damn it! I didn't even get a good look at the third one... but I can't let them die. Well, I can't let Linnie die, at least..."
Alwyn turned the staff around and flew back to the shop, bursting into the flaming building. He looked around for Linnie and Aliza, but couldn't find them anywhere. After a few minutes of searching, the entire building was on the verge of collapse.
"Did they escape...?"
He flew out of the building as it imploded, and saw the two sitting on the other side of the street.
"Damn it, you guys are safe!?"
"Huh? You want us to be dead or something!?" Aliza asked, offended.
"No, but I could've—why didn't you tell me? I just wasted so much time, I might've been able to catch those bastards!"
"We tried when we saw you fly into the shop, but you couldn't hear us over the fire," Linnie explained. "You really thought something like that would take me out? Who do you think I am?"
"...Tch," Alwyn huffed, sitting beside them on the sidewalk. "I'm not paying you for the building."