Many beasts have their own ways to escape danger. Be that the ability to lose and regrow limbs, like certain lizards, or the tough skin that some larger herbivores carry. Maybe they avoid danger by remaining undetected.

That is the state of nature on Earth, a realm without Mana.

In a world with Mana that is slightly different. After all, just having Mana run through your body strengthens it. All beings are naturally stronger than they would be on Earth, but as such these unique features remain. Just, they are also strengthened by Mana.

Giant spiders that turn invisible. Tree-sized Tortoises with shells made of literal metal. Skin harder than suits of metal. Even then, most beings can use their Mana to erect a barrier to defend from direct attacks.

That is the state of realms with Mana.

Yet, some beings are in constant turmoil or have no particular natural abilities to help them. And for those beings a sturdy shell would without a doubt be the most appropriate.

And Humans, they are such beings.

And using their tools and their unique wits they have found ways to create the sturdiest shells of all, by using the sturdy shells of other beings as their base.

Using the materials from such powerful beasts and further enhancing their features using the wondrous force of Mana.

But creating them is not the only part that is important.

One must also be adept in their usage to become a proper wall.

A proper wall to protect their companions.

And one such wall is obviously present within the Twelve.

Amadeus.

Always friendly, always boisterous. Amadeus is the perfect image of a gentle mountain. Well, friendly mountain. Gentle is one thing he is certainly not.

BANG.

An earth-shattering sound rang out as the equally earth-shattering action of bashing a training dummy into the earth finished. Amadeus pulled out his hammer from the hole he created and began shaking it around like a twig to get rid of the dirt on it.

“YES! HA!” He turned around with a joyful shout, swinging his massive Warhammer, as tall as himself, with a single hand. His target was a certain someone that attempted to get the drop on him, a regular sparring partner.

Of course, the person in question did not get caught by this. Superior agility to the fully-armoured Amadeus, they went and used the Warhammer as a foothold to jump off of and go for an strike to the neck in an attempt to find a single gap in the armour.

But it did not even faze Amadeus, who simply ignored this attack and tried to hit his assailant with his fist after letting go of his hammer for a moment. Usually, such an action would have been suicide. Who would ignore a dagger aimed at their neck?

But that usual logic does not apply to people that have trained their Mana.

The dagger that was supposed to hit an artery after snaking through that small hole instead bounced off, having hit hard steel instead of soft flesh. The assailant in question had even hidden another dagger strike from the left side, but that one bounced off in the same way.

Of course, such a feat of agility speaks highly to their ability, so they in turn also dodged the shield strike with ease, but it did force them to jump away, using the body of Amadeus like a springboard to get some momentum.

“Ugh. I still don’t get how you can control your armour like that.”

“The same way you blend into the wind, Daron my friend. It’s all thanks to Mana.”

“I mean, obviously. But still. Oh well, I’ll get you one of these days.”

“You will! There is no doubt you will. But I will always do my best to survive. You do need someone to play with you like this after all.”

Daron simply waved him off and with a gust of wind disappeared, his body nowhere to be seen, his presence nowhere to be felt.

Amadeus in turn went back to his training, this time a parkour course to be completed while in his full equipment. And his equipment was certainly not easy to carry. After all, it was a massive set of plate armour fitting his over two metre tall frame, a massive, supposed, two-handed Warhammer of equal height and a large amount of metal that merely covered the armour to be used for Magic.

Yes, of course, due to the fact that this armour was made correctly and properly, it was well-balanced and barely impacted the wearers general mobility. Yet, the materials themselves proved much heavier than anything usually used on earth for such purposes. Plus, he insisted on carrying around his own body weight in extra metal to use.

And one must also account for the fact that it was in fact an actual parkour course. That is to say, including wall jumps, high-knee jumps, drops from varying heights and so on. He was expected to climb walls with no clear footholds and jump further than even somewhat athletic people can without wearing about 150kg in excess.

Yet, he insisted on doing this to train his mobility and strength. It did show incredible results, but it was also dangerous. Although he always used Emily, the resident healer, as an excuse to say that even if he did overtax his muscles she could heal anything short of death anyway.

It did not however mean the others worried any less.

But he would not let go.

He had to become the best wall the world had ever seen.

He had to protect everyone until he came back to them.

All of it.

For Ray.

***

The pitiful axe that was aimed at his chest did not even leave a scratch on the shining breastplate that protected him. It was a truly laughable attempt considering the vast difference of quality between the two items.

A crude axe that could barely be considered more than a somewhat sharp rock tied to a thick stick. Simple, primitive and made with awful craftsmanship. It looked as if it would not survive more than a few strikes. In fact, the string was already getting loose after bouncing off.

Then on the other hand a smooth and shining breastplate, reflecting the few rays of sunlight in the forest with a slight blue tint. Even at a glance the toughness and defensive ability of this item was obvious. In fact, even after several of these axe strikes from previous beings, it did not even suffer the slightest damage.

Although one might make the argument that the difference in stature of the two beings holding these items might be able to make up for it.

A behemoth of green skin and bulging muscles towering well above two and a half metres, with the axe being of the same size. Two large tusks protruding out of its mouth, looking sharp enough to tear most armour into pieces even without any other weapons.

An Orc was holding this large, but crude, war axe.

Then a figure, completely covered in plate armour, of the same quality as the single breastplate. Not a single weakness to be found, even the gaps that are present at the hinges and joints did not look like weaknesses. A halberd, equally of its own body height, in its hand, with craftsmanship no less than that of the armour. Yet, the figure looked diminutive and fragile against the mass of muscle of the Orc.

A Human was standing its ground, with its lacking stature.

Yet, no sign of fear could be felt from the Human.

No, the fear came from the Orc.

It was fearful, angry, confused and desperate.

The Human was calm, composed, sharp and at ease.

A path of destruction, filled with cut up trees and Orc corpses laid testament to these emotional states. Dozens and dozens laid there, all of which had been taken out by the Human with the same composure they demonstrated now. And despite all of this fighting, not a single scratch could be found.

It did not take much more than another second for the axe and the halberd to collide in mid-air, but the result could not have been more obvious. Without even stopping the halberd cut through the axe and using the momentum to swing back up, it cut through the Orc with a clean diagonal swipe.

No resistance was faced even from the tough and powerful muscles of the Orc, as if they weren’t even there.

The Human stood still for another moment while the newly created corpse slowly collapsed into two pieces. Then, another passed and with wet thud of the meat collapsing into its own blood, they relaxed.

Taking a seat on a nearby stump, they took off their helmet and stuck the halberd into the soil, now muddy with blood.

It was, of course, Ray, who was testing out his new equipment in actual combat.

The results?

More than satisfactory to him.

The halberd was obviously wonderful, although still lacking as it lacked Noelle’s touch.

And the armour had the same problem. But still, he was somewhat okay with it. After all, he would prefer to not have a need for armour in the first place. Dodging is far more efficient. And he did usually prefer that, he really only let himself get hit to test the effectiveness.

But, for safety’s sake, he did decide to wear it even in the future. Of course, it was of utmost importance still that it did not hinder his movements. And luckily it did not. He did after all create it with this idea in mind.

The words that led to this decision wandered in his mind as he thought about this.

‘What good is a protector if they can’t be there in time?’

He could not allow that person to worry about him.

He would not let go.

He had to ensure that he would become perfect.

He had to protect himself so that he could focus on protecting everyone.

All of it.

For Amadeus.