Stephen asked Andrew Rowe:

At the AA protagonists current levels, I would expect fights against vastly stronger opponents to go more differently. The common explanation for Corin and his friends to survive those battles has been that their opponents were holding back. Especially one fast move from Saffron should have killed Corin. Are there other explanations than the protagonists opponents always luckly holding back?

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[There are a few factors in play here, some of which are battle-specific.

1. First off, some of the toughest battles *have* involved people holding back. Orden explicitly didn't want Corin and co. killed, for example, and Derek's specific instructions made it harder for him to fight (which Corin exploited). Mizuchi, again, explicitly was not trying to kill the children at the winter ball - if she had wanted to, she would have turned into her serpent form and just rolled over on them or something.

2. Beyond that, the main factor is that Corin and his friends simply haven't been the main targets in any of the really big fights they've been present for. As low-level attuned, they're basically beneath the notice of people like Saffron and Mizuchi unless they prove otherwise. Saffron was focused on Elora (then later Derek). A more tactical fighter might have removed Corin from the equation - but Saffron is much more of a berserker-type. He's used to plowing through enemies without any difficulty or consequences, due to his absurd durability and regeneration. He also had a very specific reason to be fixated on Elora once he saw her, which is hinted at in the dialogue.

Mizuchi was focused lots and lots of higher level attuned, notably Teft and Meltlake, and she was also deliberately limiting collateral damage. She didn't want the kids at the ball dead.

If Saffron or Mizuchi went up against Corin while Corin was alone, they could have obliterated him if they wanted to. No question.

3. Corin and his friends are vastly overgeared for their level, which Mizuchi lampshades with her "people handing out legendary swords to children" joke. Beyond just Selys-Lyann and Ceris, they're also better protected - Corin is running around with multiple shield sigils, regeneration gear, etc. That's not standard for students of their level.

4. Physical combat ability is relevant. Corin's family treated him terribly, but he's absolutely learned how to use a sword (and a dueling cane) from a young age. He practices constantly, including getting lessons from masters like Keras. Combat skill is relevant to performance in ways that many attuned ignore in favor of raw numbers. Because of this, Corin and Mara in particular perform higher than their attunement levels might otherwise indicate.

5. Corin also has a speed advantage over most opponents in his same level range due to his training with Haste, the jump ring, and transference mana in general. There are other people in the same level who have done similar training, but he's much faster than your average attuned - and that's important for survival against high level opponents. (hide spoiler)]

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