Stealing Attention

Mallory had taken away a lot of the attention from what was going on elsewhere.

Her magic spell was just too flashy in appearance that most eyes would have to pay attention to it.

The glistening white and golden magic runes linked up to form a spell matrix along a semitransparent projection of pure white magic that took the form similar to a mirror or glass screen.

The sunlight from above shone from above making it look even more beautiful and made it stand out much more.

She had cast the same spell which caused their arrows to be stopped and bounce off it many times protecting those behind it.

The barrier may have been small but it was big enough to protect everyone that was behind it and it never broke under their assault so it caused many to take Mallory more seriously as someone that could be a potential threat among the enemies.

Magic casters were the bane of any kind of scenario if they were able to have the time to chant their spells.

A single spell could be what could help one group turn the tides in their favour if it was one that was very useful and powerful enough while being aimed carefully and strategically.

The magic Mallory had shown was merely a type of protective magic in their eyes but the way she had maintained it and kept it casted had let them believe that she was no ordinary magic caster.

If she was a more skilled magic caster then there was always a chance that she was holding back a powerful spell as her frump card.

Mallory did not have a second spell but her display of her magic abilities had ket others believe that she was capable of such things.

They wanted to take her down quickly so they concentrated their fire upon her and put more pressure on her hoping her magic power would run out resulting in a mind down.

The later show of talismans had helped them to confirm their previous guesses and let them think that perhaps another magic user was hidden among those hiding close behind Mallory.

They kept missing the small appearances of Nia who was leaping from one cover to the next.

Those further away failed to notice their allies being sliced apart by the small black haired cat girl wielding a large sword.

Nia was too experienced in combat and had raised her status well over the years so her exchanges with each person was very short before she gained the advantage and landed a fatal slash to their bodies.

If the battle went on for any longer then she may have been in a vulnerable position but luck was on her side thanks to the distraction Mallory had provided.

Another figure had climbed over the rocks and difficult terrain in order to kill a single person who was opening fire upon Mallory.

Swaine stole the cloak and other clothes that would help him blend in with the enemy forces then made it look like he was supporting them after he had left the body behind hoping that others would not find their dead ally there.

Either he hid the body well enough in a place that he knew few would pass by or he just got lucky from where he found and killed that person before dumping them nearby.

One would show his strategic thinking when in battle while the other would suggest that he was just making things up as he went and was just lucky to not have anything go wrong.

It was like a small protective wave of probability was slowly building up around him that looked upon him favourably.

His luck was growing slowly and that luck let the odds turn in his favour whether it was protecting his life or helping him in times when he really needed it.

There would be times when it may have triggered without him knowing over smaller or pointless things but it was not really something he had any real control over.

Passive skills worked on their own and had various triggers and rules behind them that let them function and activate in certain scenarios most fitting to the type of passive skill it was.

If a person understood the ability enough then they could find a way to force the passive ability to be triggered by certain events similar to how a last man standing ability only worked under certain conditions.

Not everyone was so willing to try out everything possible if it meant putting themselves in danger each time to discover how their passive skill worked.

Most adventurers preferred to have much simpler skills or spells that required a skill or spell name or phrase to be called out to activate it due to them having more control over when they could make use of it.

Swaine was just going with the flow as he went about his usual activities oblivious to the fact that he possessed such a skill involving luck.

He did not get much attention as he seemed to appear as one of the enemy group until he got closer to someone.

Just as someone spotted him and became suspicious of the person close to them that they did not recognise, Swaine's blade had been pulled out and stabbed through their throat before they could call for help or fight back.

Another body fell down and was left behind as he continued further towards where the main forces had gathered.

Nia was coming in from the right while he came in from the left while Mallory was bringing them all towards the middle where they would become more vulnerable as they were losing more of their ammunition and people with each passing second.

The barriers created by the talismans had yet to fall but many had continued to focus their fire upon them not noticing the dangers beside or behind them.

Someone took aim towards the barrier and released an arrow flying into the sky until it fell down against the barrier and bounced off it.

The next moment a hand had pulled them back holding their mouth to keep them quiet as a blade pierced through their body. "Mmf..hegh..urk.."

Their groans and cries were muffled by the hand blocking their mouth then they were lowered down as their life faded away.

Swaine thought back to his past days as a mercenary then sighed before continuing what he was doing. 'Ever since I got this status.. everything just seems to be going smoothly. Is this the influence of my status as a Seshat Familia member or is it the influence or Mallory?'