Did you. [He asks, taking a step forward, and then another, dark eyes flickering quickly from that bandit lying facedown in the dirt at Stratos's feet to the mage himself. Even if this is to escalate, to come to blows, he will not act rashly. Duelling a mage is quite a different affair from duelling a band of ragtags outlaws.]
[He stops a few feet away from Stratos, just outside of his blade's distance, and sizes the man up. The enchantment seems to be maintaining, for the moment, but Bennet knows he can't keep it up forever, whatever it is. A spell of protection, most like. Even without ever having seen it before, the way it has altered the mage's skin makes its intended purpose easy enough to guess.]
[What now? If attacking had been the man's aim, he would have done so already. He holds his blade at the ready, not poised as a hunter over prey, but ready just the same. Better than most men, he knows how quickly one must move to beat a mage to the draw.]
And how do you intend to do that? [Perhaps it's worse that he asks the question so calmly, as cool and dispassionate as he had been when Stratos was safely bound, despite having fought with such exultation just moments before.]
no subject
[He stops a few feet away from Stratos, just outside of his blade's distance, and sizes the man up. The enchantment seems to be maintaining, for the moment, but Bennet knows he can't keep it up forever, whatever it is. A spell of protection, most like. Even without ever having seen it before, the way it has altered the mage's skin makes its intended purpose easy enough to guess.]
[What now? If attacking had been the man's aim, he would have done so already. He holds his blade at the ready, not poised as a hunter over prey, but ready just the same. Better than most men, he knows how quickly one must move to beat a mage to the draw.]
And how do you intend to do that? [Perhaps it's worse that he asks the question so calmly, as cool and dispassionate as he had been when Stratos was safely bound, despite having fought with such exultation just moments before.]