The fight had found its shape.
Tessa managing distance with Arcane Bolts and Chains and Shield — the magical techniques creating and maintaining the space that her ability required. Rax closing distance with Flash Step and breaking through whatever caught him with Iron Fist — the compressed aura finding the physical interaction point in each magical construct.
The specific tension was the shield.
Tessa's Arcane Shield was the one technique Rax hadn't broken yet. The chains — Iron Fist disruption at the contact point. The bolts — Guard Point absorption. The surge — partial Guard Point absorption and two steps of knockback. The shield had held every press, every Guard Point test, every attempt to find the physical aura interaction point that had worked on the chains.
But Rax had been feeling the shield's surface every time he pressed against it.
And he had been learning something.
