There was no time for introductions.  Even as Sir Wiegraf acknowledged Lady Avelia's greetings, Piero saw her glance around sharply.  Calculator Magi were trained to constant observation, and she'd clearly noticed something.  But what, he wondered as he looked around himself.  What had she seen?  It was Sir Wiegraf who provided the answer, shouting warning of an ambush as archers and knights emerged into view.<br/><br/>"How tall are the walls?" Lady Avelia asked calmly, moving 7 steps backwards to keep the knights between herself and the oncoming enemies.<br/><br/>"Is this really the time..?" Piero asked, terrified and disbelieving.  They were under attack, and she was still<i>teaching</i>?<br/><br/>"How tall?" she repeated, unslinging her Mithril Whip as she spoke.<br/><br/>He glanced at it, swallowing hard and estimating, then flinched as Sir Folmalv slashed the air and blue light stunned two of the archers.  "Uhm.. 45 feet," he managed, trying not to watch the enemy knights charging towards them.  "A multiple of three and of five."<br/><br/>"Well spotted," Mistress Avelia said, approvingly.  "Now..."  The pitch of her voice changed, and unseen winds stirred her clothes.  "<i><b>Fira!</b></i>"  Mana surged as she rewrote part of the source description of the world, and flame erupted along the battlements.  The archers and the chemist screamed as they transformed into living pyres, collapsing before his stunned gaze.  Then a woman was on him, unarmed and hard-eyed, leaping into him and driving a foot into his gut.<br/><br/>Piero staggered backwards, feeling pain lance through his chest as two of his ribs cracked.  As she closed in, he fumbled his blade from it's scabbard - sixteen inches of single-edged blade, two short to be considered a sword but far too long to be a simple tool.  The monk closed in again, throwing a complex array of punches.  It was more luck than skill that kept them from connecting as he stumbled backwards, desperately waving his knife in an attempt to parry.  At one point, he felt the sickly crunch of steel edge parting flesh, and suddenly the monk stopped short.  He watched, heart pounding, as she looked wildly about with eyes filmed over.<br/><br/>The alchemical treatment of the Blind Blade had done it's work.<br/><br/>Nerving himself, Piero gripped the hilt with a clammy, sweat-slick hand.  "For... for Ivalice!' he shouted, driving the dagger into the nearly-defenseless monk's belly.