Some would call it leading from the front. Others would call it arrogance. I, bearing witness to my thoughts and urges, can only call it what it is: indignation. I didn't remain to defend this place so I could hide behind my juniors. I have taken position in the first cavern the intruders will encounter.
As anticipated, they arrive. "Welcome, intruders." I rise from my seat, a throne carved from the native cavern stone. "The Order knows that nothing valuable is won without struggle. Let us show you how dearly we value this place." I activate my foci.
One is some sort of warrior, the other a Cursed rogue. His unmistakable black aura confirms it. The Cursed have hired an assassin, and sent a mere team of two to assault our home. I detest being underestimated.
"Amplify Curse." The circumstances of the Cursed are tragic. A malevolent deity cast a generational curse upon them, forcing them to crave humanoid blood, and grow wild as they hunger. Whatever ancestor angered this deity, and how, is lost to time; but their curse remains. "Let this be your warning. Take your companion and leave now, and never return."
The warrior begins sprinting toward me. "Ray." Magic defense! That must be the source of his confidence. Very well.
I move my foci into a penetrating configuration. "Ray." A searing beam whizzes over my shoulder. Reflection? That's unheard of in this age!
"Blink." I touch down on a platform along the cavern wall.
It seems this warrior is equipped to overcome most magicians of this day. But we are not most magicians, and certainly not of this day! So many secrets our Order has unearthed centered on overcoming sophisticated defenses that are now lost to time.
"You're an interesting one! Carry my praise to the elders, they chose their assassin well. But don't underestimate the magic of the ancients!" The fundamental way to overcome magical defenses is to simply not trigger them. Instead of projecting magical fire, use magic to produce a plume of ordinary fire.
I move my foci to an efficient configuration. "Tarpit." To the ancients, direct attack magic was merely used to train magicians; actual combat was always done using indirect attack magic.